I meant to update this after Doctor Who finished up its fifth season in June, and somehow that week's wait turned into four. I've got a bevy of shows I need to ramble about, including some promising programming from Lifetime (two things I never thought I'd see in the same sentence), and some major envy steam to let loose.
Being Human, The Big Bang Theory, Fringe, Bones, and White Collar are all showcasing panels this year. I'm distraught at missing BH, Fringe, and WC. DISTRAUGHT. So those of you lucky enough to brave four days of massive pop culture madness had better indulge wisely. AAAARRRRGGGHHH.
Also, SyFy, get it together and stop trying to push reality shows. Your audience would much rather you finish up Caprica properly than watch some "psychic" harp at her family, or people running around with night vision footage chasing phantoms.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Weekend Watching
I don't claim to be the biggest Doctor Who fan out there. I'd hardly say I'm a casual fan, I know what a T.A.R.D.I.S. is, and I can tell you the names of the past three actors who've brought the Doctor to life as well as the most recent acctresses that have played companions and their characters' names. Aside from that I hardly know what goes on in most of the episodes, and I got lost in the Master storyline both the first and second time round. Still, I was sad to see David Tennant leave the show, and hesitant to tune in and see what Matt Smith does with the part. I liked Christopher Eccleston's number Nine, even though he seemed a bit harsh at times, but I think Tennant's Ten brought the show back to life. He made the Doctor slightly eccentric and a lot of fun to watch. I think Smith's Eleven picks up on that, and from what I'd seen in the first episode, he's off to a great start. I love the backstory on his companion, and I think Amy's got a great chemistry with Eleven. I could actually make heads from tales with this episode (that seems like a first), and now I'm stoked for the rest of the season.
I remember catching a bit of Merlin when I was in Ireland, it showed up on RTE One or something and I couldn't help but think that it was pure cheese. Which, of course, means I'd watch it. I thought NBC was carrying this show in the states, but I guess it moved over to SyFy, which is a more fitting channel if you ask me. I would have placed it on BBC America, but their scheduling is odd. The effects are kind of cheesy, like Doctor Who's tend to be, and the costumes are reminiscent of the BBC's attempt at Robin Hood. Historical? Why sure, let's throw Morgana in some evening heels and give Arthur a knock off Thriller-esque leather jacket. Costume hilarities (and folklore interpretation fail) aside, the stories are pretty well knitted and I like the origin they've created for Merlin. I still don't buy Gwen and Arthur's relationship, but now that Morgana's aware of her magical abilites, Mordred's alive and well and living with the Druids, and Merlin's growing ever stronger, it seems like things are shaping up well. I wonder when they're going to kill Uther off though, shouldn't he be gone already? Next week: Lancelot shows up! Woot.
Legend of the Seeker is great. Full stop. I managed to catch up on last week's episode which dealt with a vengeful father of five (who lost his sons to the war and a manipulative king), some magical evil thing that made its victims look like the mummy (once again, Zedd fails as a wizard, surprise, surprise), and Kahlan and Cara faced off in a battle of "who's going to sacrifice themselves for the greater good?" Oh yeah, and it was Richard's birthday. Sometimes I think this show sounds a lot crackier than it turns out to be, but at least it doesn't suffer from Heroes' syndrome, in which it actually is a pile of crazy. This week's LOTS had Gimli, okay, John Rhys Davies, as Darken Rahl and Richard's father. I'll update this when I've seen the full episode.
I remember catching a bit of Merlin when I was in Ireland, it showed up on RTE One or something and I couldn't help but think that it was pure cheese. Which, of course, means I'd watch it. I thought NBC was carrying this show in the states, but I guess it moved over to SyFy, which is a more fitting channel if you ask me. I would have placed it on BBC America, but their scheduling is odd. The effects are kind of cheesy, like Doctor Who's tend to be, and the costumes are reminiscent of the BBC's attempt at Robin Hood. Historical? Why sure, let's throw Morgana in some evening heels and give Arthur a knock off Thriller-esque leather jacket. Costume hilarities (and folklore interpretation fail) aside, the stories are pretty well knitted and I like the origin they've created for Merlin. I still don't buy Gwen and Arthur's relationship, but now that Morgana's aware of her magical abilites, Mordred's alive and well and living with the Druids, and Merlin's growing ever stronger, it seems like things are shaping up well. I wonder when they're going to kill Uther off though, shouldn't he be gone already? Next week: Lancelot shows up! Woot.
Legend of the Seeker is great. Full stop. I managed to catch up on last week's episode which dealt with a vengeful father of five (who lost his sons to the war and a manipulative king), some magical evil thing that made its victims look like the mummy (once again, Zedd fails as a wizard, surprise, surprise), and Kahlan and Cara faced off in a battle of "who's going to sacrifice themselves for the greater good?" Oh yeah, and it was Richard's birthday. Sometimes I think this show sounds a lot crackier than it turns out to be, but at least it doesn't suffer from Heroes' syndrome, in which it actually is a pile of crazy. This week's LOTS had Gimli, okay, John Rhys Davies, as Darken Rahl and Richard's father. I'll update this when I've seen the full episode.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Time Travel Thursday
I'm starting to wonder if J.J. Abrahms has a thing for time travel. I hear it's a significant element in Lost, it played a part in his Star Trek reboot, and it was the center of this week's Fringe. The gang chases a man who's altered his body to speed up in particles, allowing him to move through time. Unfortunately for dozens of innocent bystanders, this process sucks the life out of everything (electronic and otherwise) around him wherever he ends up. My favorite Bishop discovers a kindred spirit in the man, when the gang finds out that he is a doctor who's trying to travel back to the point when his fiance was killed in a car accident. Walter has a poignant conversation with the man about the lengths they are willing to go to in order to resurrect, or save their loved ones, leading the former to contemplate the secret he needs to divulge with Peter. Walter gets close to telling Peter the truth about his origins, writing a letter that explains everything, but he burns it instead of giving it to his son. I definitely think this episode held more gravitas than last week's, putting it second to "Peter" as the best episode this season. It's such a good show, and I'm delighted that the writers have managed to carve away the crazy elements that bogged season one (Olivia's telepathy and dreams, that odd chamber in Walter's lab, the whole fiance shtick) and produce a tightly woven season long story arc that reveals details throughout. I love, love, love it!
Bones got to go back in time this week as well, sort of. A case that involved a former classmate brought Brennan back to her high school for a reunion and some undercover action from Booth. Well, he went undercover anyway. We learn that: no one liked and still don't appreciate Brennan, although, her attempts at parlaying admiration fall way short, Brennan hung around the creepy janitor (played by the guy that was Freddy Kruger) and counted him as her friend, and that the popular girl was seriously disturbed. Good case, but the cases usually take a backseat to the interpersonal relationships of the main cast of Jeffersonian characters. Angela broke up with Wendell (who didn't see that coming?), and commiserated with Hodgins. Frankly, I've fallen out of love with the two of them as a pair, and I hope the writers give Hodgins someone else to fall in love with. After seeing the number of paramours Angela's had in the past couple of seasons, I feel like she'd only end up with Hodgins as a rebound.
I have no words for Project Runway. The judging was whack as far as I'm concerned, and I can't believe they went with black and white Mila over Jay's innovative if "out there" cut out designs. WHISKY TANGO FOXTROT! This is why I stop caring about the top three by the end of the season. My favorite axed herself from the competition and the others end up exploding in their own ego or being dropped by some crack judging. Ugh.
Bones got to go back in time this week as well, sort of. A case that involved a former classmate brought Brennan back to her high school for a reunion and some undercover action from Booth. Well, he went undercover anyway. We learn that: no one liked and still don't appreciate Brennan, although, her attempts at parlaying admiration fall way short, Brennan hung around the creepy janitor (played by the guy that was Freddy Kruger) and counted him as her friend, and that the popular girl was seriously disturbed. Good case, but the cases usually take a backseat to the interpersonal relationships of the main cast of Jeffersonian characters. Angela broke up with Wendell (who didn't see that coming?), and commiserated with Hodgins. Frankly, I've fallen out of love with the two of them as a pair, and I hope the writers give Hodgins someone else to fall in love with. After seeing the number of paramours Angela's had in the past couple of seasons, I feel like she'd only end up with Hodgins as a rebound.
I have no words for Project Runway. The judging was whack as far as I'm concerned, and I can't believe they went with black and white Mila over Jay's innovative if "out there" cut out designs. WHISKY TANGO FOXTROT! This is why I stop caring about the top three by the end of the season. My favorite axed herself from the competition and the others end up exploding in their own ego or being dropped by some crack judging. Ugh.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Middle
In Plain Sight was pretty depressing this week, juxtaposing Mary's inevitable yet still surprising break up with her fiance with a witness who emerged from a coma only to find he'd been put into witness protection and lost his girlfriend to his former partner. I had suspicions that Mary and Marshall will eventually end up together (M&M? much weirder as a couple name than Booth and Bones) after the second season's finale and Marshall's freakout over Mary's shooting. They got put to rest after Mary got engaged, but it did seem like a breakup was impending, since she's been increasingly reserved in terms of her fiance as of late.
Modern Family was cute and cringeworthy, with Cameron nearly messing up Mitchell's potential job offer at a prestigious environmental law firm. Jay and Phil squabbled over the position of Coach at the kids' basketball game, the former finally conceding the lead to the latter when it became obvious the kids were losing horribly. Gloria and Claire fought over baby Lily after being shunned by their respective preteens. Claire exacted revenge on Alex by embarrassing her in front of some popular girls. Nothing outstanding in terms of humor, but I like that the show maintains doesn't have the family members dissolve into a group of people who are related and hate each other. That seems like the standard when it comes to sitcoms.
I also managed to catch an episode of The Middle, with Everybody Loves Raymond's Patricia Heaton. It's like a throwback to Roseanne, with a blue collar family as the focus, which is a nice change from all of the well to do middle class families currently in Primetime. The family had to deal with financial cutbacks in this episode, with the parents proposing an eschewing of cable in order to save money. The irony lay in their complete dependence on it while the kids picked up hobbies. It's a show I think I could get into, but I'm not entirely gung ho about, and I doubt that I'd mark it in my weekly TV agenda.
Modern Family was cute and cringeworthy, with Cameron nearly messing up Mitchell's potential job offer at a prestigious environmental law firm. Jay and Phil squabbled over the position of Coach at the kids' basketball game, the former finally conceding the lead to the latter when it became obvious the kids were losing horribly. Gloria and Claire fought over baby Lily after being shunned by their respective preteens. Claire exacted revenge on Alex by embarrassing her in front of some popular girls. Nothing outstanding in terms of humor, but I like that the show maintains doesn't have the family members dissolve into a group of people who are related and hate each other. That seems like the standard when it comes to sitcoms.
I also managed to catch an episode of The Middle, with Everybody Loves Raymond's Patricia Heaton. It's like a throwback to Roseanne, with a blue collar family as the focus, which is a nice change from all of the well to do middle class families currently in Primetime. The family had to deal with financial cutbacks in this episode, with the parents proposing an eschewing of cable in order to save money. The irony lay in their complete dependence on it while the kids picked up hobbies. It's a show I think I could get into, but I'm not entirely gung ho about, and I doubt that I'd mark it in my weekly TV agenda.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Hell-o Hell-o!
It's been a long, cold winter without Glee. I'm loathe to speak of middle of the season hiatuses, and less inclined to check out shows when they return because of it (oh who am I kidding, I anticipate the returns). However, I've been ticking the dates off on my calendar for this show to come back, and I won't deny the fits of glee that hit every time a promo came on TV.
So...tonight's episode was a smash. I loved the balance of musical numbers and plot moving drama.Sue was in top form, having blackmailed the principal into letting her back as the Cheerios coach (through hilariously devious means), terrorizing students and her arch nemesis. She set Santana and the brilliantly dim witted Brittany on Finn to tear New Directions apart by breaking Rachel's heart, which backfired, as usual. I missed Brittany's one liners, and tonight we got some great ones:
- "Did you know dolphins are gay sharks?"
- "Sometimes I forget my middle name."
We got Jonathan Groff and Idina Menzel as guest stars, both Broadway notables and Vocal Adrenaline rivals to Schue and co. The former was in Spring Awakening with Lea Michele (Rachel) and the latter was in Wicked and Rent. Personally, I'm hoping the writers make Idina's character Rachel's birth mother, because she and Lea look so much alike it's ridiculous.
Romance blossomed and died all over this episode, from Finn and Rachel (I'm glad they're currently OFF for the forseeable future) to Schue and Emma. Emma realized that Will needed some time to reconnect with himself by being single, in a move I expected but didn't really think she'd make. Teri stopped by to intimidate her impromptu date night, and pick up some Bruckheimer DVDS (perfect!).
It was great as a comeback episode, not nearly as gripping or tightly executed as Fringe's "Peter" was, but that's comparing apples to oranges. This made the hiatus well worth the wait, and it's making me tick off the days till next Tuesday.
Plus! We got a music video of Sue Sylvester covering Madonna's "Vogue" as a preview for next week. Kurt and Mercedes guest starred, and Sue's inclusion of "Will Schuester/ I hate you" was absolutely divine. The minute scrunch of Kurt's face when she snapped that line was perfection. GOD I love this show.
Thanks to Hulu. Go WATCH. NOW.
So...tonight's episode was a smash. I loved the balance of musical numbers and plot moving drama.Sue was in top form, having blackmailed the principal into letting her back as the Cheerios coach (through hilariously devious means), terrorizing students and her arch nemesis. She set Santana and the brilliantly dim witted Brittany on Finn to tear New Directions apart by breaking Rachel's heart, which backfired, as usual. I missed Brittany's one liners, and tonight we got some great ones:
- "Did you know dolphins are gay sharks?"
- "Sometimes I forget my middle name."
We got Jonathan Groff and Idina Menzel as guest stars, both Broadway notables and Vocal Adrenaline rivals to Schue and co. The former was in Spring Awakening with Lea Michele (Rachel) and the latter was in Wicked and Rent. Personally, I'm hoping the writers make Idina's character Rachel's birth mother, because she and Lea look so much alike it's ridiculous.
Romance blossomed and died all over this episode, from Finn and Rachel (I'm glad they're currently OFF for the forseeable future) to Schue and Emma. Emma realized that Will needed some time to reconnect with himself by being single, in a move I expected but didn't really think she'd make. Teri stopped by to intimidate her impromptu date night, and pick up some Bruckheimer DVDS (perfect!).
It was great as a comeback episode, not nearly as gripping or tightly executed as Fringe's "Peter" was, but that's comparing apples to oranges. This made the hiatus well worth the wait, and it's making me tick off the days till next Tuesday.
Plus! We got a music video of Sue Sylvester covering Madonna's "Vogue" as a preview for next week. Kurt and Mercedes guest starred, and Sue's inclusion of "Will Schuester/ I hate you" was absolutely divine. The minute scrunch of Kurt's face when she snapped that line was perfection. GOD I love this show.
Thanks to Hulu. Go WATCH. NOW.
Catching Up is Hard To Do
I missed half of In Plain Sight, and all of Modern Family and SVU last week, so I'll try to get to those as soon as I see them. As for other shows, I don't understand the inconsistent airings of new episodes. Either show the season in its entirety, or just make the damn thing shorter. The British do it all the time, and cable channels have learned it's nothing to sneer at. I'm easily annoyed by this because I don't know whether or not next week's episode is going to be worth watching since it just might be a repeat. Peppering a new season, even a lagging second half, with episodes from the first half is nearly as bad as prolonging the hiatus of a show between seasons. I think viewers lose interest (I for one, do), and if you're trying to attract viewers, isn't this counterproductive?
Anywho, I have some shows to get to, let's see...what day did I leave off with?
Oh right. Thursday! Wednesday is moot at this point...
If last week's Bones was filler, this was the heavy duty meaty stuff. Pretty solid for a 100th episode, with David Boreanez directing. Entertainment Weekly had an interesting quote from Hugh Laurie regarding directing (he directed his fellow cast members in Monday's episode), that it's odd to step up to management and boss your co-stars around. Somehow that popped into my head when I thought of this episode, and it makes me wonder how the scenes between Boreanez's Booth and Emily Deschanel's Bones play out. It gave us some back story into the origins of Booth's distinctive flair (ties, socks) and an odd explanation for the sexual tension between our favorite B&B. So it seems, they started out amorous, nearly acted on it, and have been flirting with the notion ever since. I hope the writers don't have them pair up until the end of the series, because in most cases, this ruins "will they or won't they" couples.
Anything I could say about Fringe would pretty much be moot at this point, because it's hard to top an episode like "Peter." Still, "Olivia, In the Lab, With a Revolver" was a good follow up. The mystery of the week was interesting, we got a snazzy cameo from Diane Kruger, and it supplemented the greater mystery that's plaguing the Fringe universe. I love Thursdays. Gosh I do.
Merlin was and is a cheesefest. That's not an insult, mind you, I personally think shows like this are the icing on the cake. This week gave us prince and pauper-esque shenanigans with Arthur fleeing his courtly duties but not his haughtier than thou attitude and ordering Merlin and Guenevere around. The one thing I don't get about this interpretation of the Arthurian legend is how Guenevere is a servant in the Pen-dragon castle.... Care to explain?
Monday
The thing I love about Damages is that it truly lives up to its title. Both Patty and Ellen are ruthless, even when they have their hearts in the right place with good intentions. After learning of Tessa Marquetti's murder in Antigua, along with that of her trusted investigator, Patty vows to tear the Tobin family apart by turning them against one another. And right as rain, she lives up to that. Poor Leonard Winstone (ne one Lester Wiggens) gets ousted by Ellen, and disowned by the Tobins. Joe Tobin is turning out to be a real son of a gun, failing to see through Len's logic (even if he was scrabbling to keep his one position of power), and turning him away in a move that's clearly meant to come back and bite him in the ass. Next week is the finale, and I'm wondering how many more characters (Patty and Ellen excluded) are going to get axed.
I miss the back to back hour of comedy that CBS used to provide in having The Big Bang Theory follow How I Met Your Mother. Now I've got to sit an hour between shows, and tolerate a couple of unfunny minutes of 2.5 Men just to get to the Big Bang Theory. HIMYM has been pretty rocky this season, veering from the usual crazy into whiskey tango foxtrot territory, and they achieved the latter with this episode about Marshall getting mugged and then lying outrageously so as not to freak Lily out. I still love it though, which may be the reason I forgive its foibles so often. The same goes for The Big Bang Theory which seems to have taken a note from 2.5 Men this season, throwing in low brow frat jokes and, up to Monday night's episode, clinging to the utter FAIL of a couple that is Leonard and Penny. I'm inclined to like "The Wheaton Recurrence" because it gave us the destruction of L/P, brought back the spectacular Will Wheaton and Sheldon's unmitigated hatred of him, and had the boys dress up as female superheroes as the result of a failed bet. I'd say that sums up a laugh out loud episode.
Finally, I'd fallen off the Life Unexpected bandwagon for a while, I missed a week's episode, but wasn't really in any rush to catch up. As per soap opera de rigeur, Life culminated its first season with Cate and Ryan's wedding, and requisite wedding crasher, Baze. I'll admit that even though I'm fond of all of the characters, the constant "will they or won't they" of Baze/Cate/Ryan got kind of boring. Somehow, the love triangle lacks the charm that Gilmore Girls' Christopher/Lorelai/Luke had. I do like that the writers have allowed the trio of adults to grow, most notably Cate and Baze (Ryan seems pretty level headed and mature, certainly the only one out of the entire cast of characters). In spite of the wedding crashing, it was nice to see Cate successfully tie the knot with Ryan. Whether or not her feelings for Baze, and his tendency to realize things a little to late interfere with the newlyweds is yet to be seen. Can't wait for season two!
Anywho, I have some shows to get to, let's see...what day did I leave off with?
Oh right. Thursday! Wednesday is moot at this point...
If last week's Bones was filler, this was the heavy duty meaty stuff. Pretty solid for a 100th episode, with David Boreanez directing. Entertainment Weekly had an interesting quote from Hugh Laurie regarding directing (he directed his fellow cast members in Monday's episode), that it's odd to step up to management and boss your co-stars around. Somehow that popped into my head when I thought of this episode, and it makes me wonder how the scenes between Boreanez's Booth and Emily Deschanel's Bones play out. It gave us some back story into the origins of Booth's distinctive flair (ties, socks) and an odd explanation for the sexual tension between our favorite B&B. So it seems, they started out amorous, nearly acted on it, and have been flirting with the notion ever since. I hope the writers don't have them pair up until the end of the series, because in most cases, this ruins "will they or won't they" couples.
Anything I could say about Fringe would pretty much be moot at this point, because it's hard to top an episode like "Peter." Still, "Olivia, In the Lab, With a Revolver" was a good follow up. The mystery of the week was interesting, we got a snazzy cameo from Diane Kruger, and it supplemented the greater mystery that's plaguing the Fringe universe. I love Thursdays. Gosh I do.
Merlin was and is a cheesefest. That's not an insult, mind you, I personally think shows like this are the icing on the cake. This week gave us prince and pauper-esque shenanigans with Arthur fleeing his courtly duties but not his haughtier than thou attitude and ordering Merlin and Guenevere around. The one thing I don't get about this interpretation of the Arthurian legend is how Guenevere is a servant in the Pen-dragon castle.... Care to explain?
Monday
The thing I love about Damages is that it truly lives up to its title. Both Patty and Ellen are ruthless, even when they have their hearts in the right place with good intentions. After learning of Tessa Marquetti's murder in Antigua, along with that of her trusted investigator, Patty vows to tear the Tobin family apart by turning them against one another. And right as rain, she lives up to that. Poor Leonard Winstone (ne one Lester Wiggens) gets ousted by Ellen, and disowned by the Tobins. Joe Tobin is turning out to be a real son of a gun, failing to see through Len's logic (even if he was scrabbling to keep his one position of power), and turning him away in a move that's clearly meant to come back and bite him in the ass. Next week is the finale, and I'm wondering how many more characters (Patty and Ellen excluded) are going to get axed.
I miss the back to back hour of comedy that CBS used to provide in having The Big Bang Theory follow How I Met Your Mother. Now I've got to sit an hour between shows, and tolerate a couple of unfunny minutes of 2.5 Men just to get to the Big Bang Theory. HIMYM has been pretty rocky this season, veering from the usual crazy into whiskey tango foxtrot territory, and they achieved the latter with this episode about Marshall getting mugged and then lying outrageously so as not to freak Lily out. I still love it though, which may be the reason I forgive its foibles so often. The same goes for The Big Bang Theory which seems to have taken a note from 2.5 Men this season, throwing in low brow frat jokes and, up to Monday night's episode, clinging to the utter FAIL of a couple that is Leonard and Penny. I'm inclined to like "The Wheaton Recurrence" because it gave us the destruction of L/P, brought back the spectacular Will Wheaton and Sheldon's unmitigated hatred of him, and had the boys dress up as female superheroes as the result of a failed bet. I'd say that sums up a laugh out loud episode.
Finally, I'd fallen off the Life Unexpected bandwagon for a while, I missed a week's episode, but wasn't really in any rush to catch up. As per soap opera de rigeur, Life culminated its first season with Cate and Ryan's wedding, and requisite wedding crasher, Baze. I'll admit that even though I'm fond of all of the characters, the constant "will they or won't they" of Baze/Cate/Ryan got kind of boring. Somehow, the love triangle lacks the charm that Gilmore Girls' Christopher/Lorelai/Luke had. I do like that the writers have allowed the trio of adults to grow, most notably Cate and Baze (Ryan seems pretty level headed and mature, certainly the only one out of the entire cast of characters). In spite of the wedding crashing, it was nice to see Cate successfully tie the knot with Ryan. Whether or not her feelings for Baze, and his tendency to realize things a little to late interfere with the newlyweds is yet to be seen. Can't wait for season two!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
End of the Road
I wonder if there's any point in commenting on the second half of Tuesday night's Criminal Intent episode. I missed last week's (though not for a lack of trying), and only caught a snippet of the captain being shot, so parts of this episode were confusing.
This was the end of the road for both Goren and Eames, the latter of whom declined the promotion to Captain and quit after having to fire her former partner. It's kind of a relief to see D'Onofrio's Goren leave after so many seasons of seeing his character get strung out repeatedly. It's not that I don't like Goren, I did, once, before he became entrenched in several breakdowns. I missed the dialogue between him and Eames, the partnership in struggling to solve a case. He's always had a Holmes-like quality in being able to perceive details, but it started to get to the point where everything became personal, and still, his judgment infallible. The things I like about the original L&O and SVU are that both shows aren't afraid to have their detectives make mistakes in collaring suspects, sometimes the ramifications are great and tragic. Anyway, long story short, I got tired of the entire show revolving around Goren's becoming a pariah. I gave up watching the G&E episodes and stuck with the Logan then Nichols ones. Hopefully the writers won't do the same thing to Nichols, I adore Goldblum's thoughtful, analytical detective. He seems to get along fairly well with his new partner. We'll see how things go next week, when the MCS gets a new captain.
The second season of Southland is over, already! I really hope TNT does the smart thing and brings it back, because I don't know what I'll do without this show. This week Lydia got Russ back as her partner, shizz hit the fan regarding Salinger's affair, his idiot daughter Kimmie, and his poor wife, and the rest of the squad were put on maximum deployment (to Cooper's distress) in order to catch a serial rapist masquerading as a patrol cop.
I'm going to have to go back and watch this episode again, because I was so blindsided with joy over the fact that Lydia and Russ were reunited, that I missed details in their case. Russ is still coping with the aftereffects of being shot, and it's taken a toll on his ability to perform in the field. The dynamic between him and Lydia makes me wish the writers would have them pair up as a couple outside of work (and I'm not just saying this because I want his character to stay). Hopefully, Russ will still make an appearance every now and again, even if he isn't a mainstay in the show anymore.
A buddy of mine refers to Salinger as "The Fossil," a description I like to think is apt. I can think of ruder terms... This week, Salinger's idiot daughter Kimmie got herself into yet another bad situation and, once again exercised poor judgment. No joke, when she started freaking out to him on the phone, and subsequently maced the poor good Samaritan who stopped to ask if she needed help, I face-palmed and yelled 'WTF' at the TV. The icing on the cake included Kimmie blackmailing her father into letting her go out under threat of exposing his affair to her mother, which eventually happened in the end. Salinger's wife thinks he is resentful of her higher status in their shared work environment and her return to the work force. He denied it, but if it's true, holy hell, that in addition to his adultery is more than enough fuel for her to dump him. She should take off and leave their moronic spawn with him.
John threw his back out, requested and got more drugs from his ex and other illicit means, pushed everyone away in denial of his addiction, and turned down his ex wife in her offer to help her become pregnant. Ben found the baby of the first rape victim, called his stubborn sister to warn her about being cautious, and was confronted by Chickie over John's addiction and turning a blind eye to it. She bluntly told him that whether or not he actively ignores John's personal problems, once they come to light, he'll be dragged down too. She should know, no one wanted to work with her after Dewey got thrown back into rehab.
Speaking of Chickie, girl finally got her moment in this episode, and what a means for redemption! I thought this storyline was going to carry over, and/or leave us with a cliffhanger, which would be terrible. But no! In the last five nail-GNAWING minutes of the show, Chickie spots an unmarked car resembling a squad unit on her way home. She immediately switches into cop mode and goes off road, stumbling upon the attacker and his latest victim. While apprehending him, and ignoring his assertions of working for the force, he kicks her and takes off. I had my doubts that she would catch him, but she did, and boooooy was it cathartic to see her kick the crap out of him and angrily inform him that he is NOT a cop, and furthermore, an insult to officers everywhere in his charade. I would say it's the best moment of the season, but there have been a few of those. So instead, it's one of the best moments I've seen on a police drama ever. And that's no understatement.
Next week I'll have Glee back, huzzah! Also, I spy with my actor obsessive eye, little Georgiana Darcy as Henry VIII's latest wife on the Tudors. I'd pick that show back up again, but I get bored with all of the yammering.
This was the end of the road for both Goren and Eames, the latter of whom declined the promotion to Captain and quit after having to fire her former partner. It's kind of a relief to see D'Onofrio's Goren leave after so many seasons of seeing his character get strung out repeatedly. It's not that I don't like Goren, I did, once, before he became entrenched in several breakdowns. I missed the dialogue between him and Eames, the partnership in struggling to solve a case. He's always had a Holmes-like quality in being able to perceive details, but it started to get to the point where everything became personal, and still, his judgment infallible. The things I like about the original L&O and SVU are that both shows aren't afraid to have their detectives make mistakes in collaring suspects, sometimes the ramifications are great and tragic. Anyway, long story short, I got tired of the entire show revolving around Goren's becoming a pariah. I gave up watching the G&E episodes and stuck with the Logan then Nichols ones. Hopefully the writers won't do the same thing to Nichols, I adore Goldblum's thoughtful, analytical detective. He seems to get along fairly well with his new partner. We'll see how things go next week, when the MCS gets a new captain.
The second season of Southland is over, already! I really hope TNT does the smart thing and brings it back, because I don't know what I'll do without this show. This week Lydia got Russ back as her partner, shizz hit the fan regarding Salinger's affair, his idiot daughter Kimmie, and his poor wife, and the rest of the squad were put on maximum deployment (to Cooper's distress) in order to catch a serial rapist masquerading as a patrol cop.
I'm going to have to go back and watch this episode again, because I was so blindsided with joy over the fact that Lydia and Russ were reunited, that I missed details in their case. Russ is still coping with the aftereffects of being shot, and it's taken a toll on his ability to perform in the field. The dynamic between him and Lydia makes me wish the writers would have them pair up as a couple outside of work (and I'm not just saying this because I want his character to stay). Hopefully, Russ will still make an appearance every now and again, even if he isn't a mainstay in the show anymore.
A buddy of mine refers to Salinger as "The Fossil," a description I like to think is apt. I can think of ruder terms... This week, Salinger's idiot daughter Kimmie got herself into yet another bad situation and, once again exercised poor judgment. No joke, when she started freaking out to him on the phone, and subsequently maced the poor good Samaritan who stopped to ask if she needed help, I face-palmed and yelled 'WTF' at the TV. The icing on the cake included Kimmie blackmailing her father into letting her go out under threat of exposing his affair to her mother, which eventually happened in the end. Salinger's wife thinks he is resentful of her higher status in their shared work environment and her return to the work force. He denied it, but if it's true, holy hell, that in addition to his adultery is more than enough fuel for her to dump him. She should take off and leave their moronic spawn with him.
John threw his back out, requested and got more drugs from his ex and other illicit means, pushed everyone away in denial of his addiction, and turned down his ex wife in her offer to help her become pregnant. Ben found the baby of the first rape victim, called his stubborn sister to warn her about being cautious, and was confronted by Chickie over John's addiction and turning a blind eye to it. She bluntly told him that whether or not he actively ignores John's personal problems, once they come to light, he'll be dragged down too. She should know, no one wanted to work with her after Dewey got thrown back into rehab.
Speaking of Chickie, girl finally got her moment in this episode, and what a means for redemption! I thought this storyline was going to carry over, and/or leave us with a cliffhanger, which would be terrible. But no! In the last five nail-GNAWING minutes of the show, Chickie spots an unmarked car resembling a squad unit on her way home. She immediately switches into cop mode and goes off road, stumbling upon the attacker and his latest victim. While apprehending him, and ignoring his assertions of working for the force, he kicks her and takes off. I had my doubts that she would catch him, but she did, and boooooy was it cathartic to see her kick the crap out of him and angrily inform him that he is NOT a cop, and furthermore, an insult to officers everywhere in his charade. I would say it's the best moment of the season, but there have been a few of those. So instead, it's one of the best moments I've seen on a police drama ever. And that's no understatement.
Next week I'll have Glee back, huzzah! Also, I spy with my actor obsessive eye, little Georgiana Darcy as Henry VIII's latest wife on the Tudors. I'd pick that show back up again, but I get bored with all of the yammering.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Take Two
I suppose the well worn adage about not judging books by their covers rings too true. Having family over means having to put up with a barrage of comments that necessitates second viewings of everything worthy of denoting TV time to. It also means that I'm subjected to things I would never look twice at on my telly guide, like Lifetime's upteenthmillionth adaptation of the Nora Roberts/Danielle Steele/Thomas Kinkaide novels. I jest, the latter is a painter. Ha.
I sat down for the Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday Night totally expecting to be annoyed by the Trump-ster and his ephemeral piece of hair. Not so my friend! And I don't say this with a gigantic bias towards any Harry Potter promotions as the central project...It was guys v. girls, and the former governer of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich got fired. Basically, the two teams had to present a three dimensonal interactive promo for the new Orlando theme park, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (aka fandom heaven actualized). Blagojevich and a Victoria Secret's model were the project managers, and the latter kicked butt with organizing, utilizing technoligy to communicate with her team, and essentially designing the faux Hogwarts to show a bunch of lucky tweens. Rod shunted, I mean delegated the task to Brett Michaels (he of Rock of Lovestd's fame). In the second WTF moment of the week, Michaels took up the task and did a pretty good job with the creative design of the project. Highlights definitely included: Cyndi Lauper's frazzled and freaky professor lurching at kids rambling, "muggles and wizards, muggles and wizards!," Michaels' freaking out over the skeez factor of unintentional innuendos dropped by his team members (HA!), and Blagejovich looking underneath a laptop as if some mysterious manual would drop down. I've given this show too little credit in the past, it's entertaining and one of the better reality game shows I've seen.
Caught up on Top Gear this weekend, and I don't even know where to begin. Is BBC America one of your cable channels? If not, order it posthaste! Jeremy, Richard, and James are the three funniest men on my telly currently, and you don't even have to understand car-speak to get the show. The dynamic between the three sometimes borders on Stooges like comedy, but I sit down for the outrageous challenges:
-building a hybrid from scratch (the Hammerhead Thrust i, nee Geoff) and subsequently putting said car through a series of tests
-driving a trio of sportscars around Romania (and watching James get lost several times, and attempt to speak to the locals...epic fail)
-flying a homemade caravan (trailer) with a hot air balloon attached to the top (James again) and landing it in an open field where it promptly topples over
-racing two notoriously poorly built cars (Lancias both) and racing them rally style around a track until one gives out and gets squished by a baby grand piano and the other catches on fire (Richard and Jeremy).
These and countless other CLASSIC challenges are comedy gold, the boys bicker, sabotage one another, and declare their personal choices to be the penultimate. Plus, there's the "Star in the Reasonably Priced Car" which has had such greats as Dame Mirren swearing whilst tearing around the Top Gear track, the Cool Wall, and the perpetually snoozy Top Gear dog. Oh! There's also the Stig. Some say he...well, it doesn't matter, the intros are always ridiculous.
Damages really lived up to its title this week, knocking off Patty's henchman, Malcom (so sad to see you go *sniff*) and Danielle's daughter, Tessa Marquetti (who was Joe Tobin's daughter, not his half sister by his father). We're two episodes away from the finale and with the headcount this high, it seems as though Ellen and Patty are the only two that will be left standing. Marilyn Tobin plays it cold, lying outright to Len and telling him that she's revealed Tessa's connection to Joe, while reassuring the latter that he's not to blame for putting a hit on her in order to protect their financial assets now that they know where it's located. Ellen learned that her mother nearly gave her up for adoption, and hallucinated about her dead fiance (who hasn't been thought about since season one). Patty clashed with Ellen, kicked her out of the office and off the case, butted heads with the DA over the Tobins and Tessa M., and fired the new attorney, Alex. Next week ties up Tom's death (boo, I'm gonna miss Shayes), and Patty's resolvement to tear the Tobins down and apart.
I realize that nostalgia sounds silly for someone my age, but I miss the golden heydey of Channel 5's The WB. Xena, Hercules, Angel, Gilmore Girls, and hell, even Seventh Heaven. It was a great channel, well stocked with engaging primetime dramas. Nowadays, it's home to Top Models, the painfully boring GG (Gossip Girl), and the surprisingly long running One Tree Hill. I don't know what else gets played on the CW, I only care about Life Unexpected. This week we got to meet Cate's deadbeat dad, whom Baze recognized as no-good because he could spot the reluctant approach to fatherhood that he once felt. The dysfunctionally cute family took a road trip, while Bug (as much as I love this show, someone needs to work on the kids' names) tried to clean up Baze's bar after finding it trashed in retaliation against him (Bug). I almost gave up on this little gem for a while, fearing that we'd get Lux and the Abercrombie kid, Jones smushed in our faces as a couple, while Baze/Cate/Ryan danced around in the most awkward not Big-Love-near-polygamist-trio.
I don't know what to think regarding the love triangle of baby daddy/baby mama/fiance trope, I flitted between wanting Lorelai to end up with Christopher in GG (the only double G that counts), and wanting her to take the leap with other loves, first Max then Luke. Ultimately, she did end up with Christopher for a while, and though the two had always had a great dynamic, they failed as marrieds so badly. I'm kind of getting the same vibe from Baze/Cate and Ryan, even though episodes that focus strongly on the former put me in a pro "get the family back together" mood. Next week is the season finale...WHAT, ALREADY?! And of course, the requisite cliffhanger! trope of the wedding being crashed by the crazy former lover. I think I got tired of trying to figure out who I wanted the girl to choose after getting so heavily invested in the Hendricksons.
My favorite part of this episode had to be Bug's apology to Baze about the bar, fully expecting to be fired, and Baze's nonchalant, "see you tomorrow." His understanding of Bug's continual effort to move forward and change worked well in ways that Seventh Heaven never managed to when it came to "life lessons 101." I love that Baze has grown as a character over the course of this season and that I'm actually rooting for him even when he fumbles.
Tara got found out in The United States of Tara. She tried to break up with Buck's girlfriend and completely blew her cover, leading the desperation addled woman to follow Tara and family to the ice rink and pronounce her love for Buck/Tara over the microphone. Marshall engaged in more sexual experimentation with his slightly weird not girlfriend, and Kate started hanging out at the artist's studio. This show moves super quickly for a full half hour, I don't even know where time goes when I watch it. I guess that's a good sign...
Southland's season finale is tomorrow *sad face*, and I have got to find some way to see the season premire of CI before part II airs. Rawr.
I sat down for the Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday Night totally expecting to be annoyed by the Trump-ster and his ephemeral piece of hair. Not so my friend! And I don't say this with a gigantic bias towards any Harry Potter promotions as the central project...It was guys v. girls, and the former governer of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich got fired. Basically, the two teams had to present a three dimensonal interactive promo for the new Orlando theme park, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (aka fandom heaven actualized). Blagojevich and a Victoria Secret's model were the project managers, and the latter kicked butt with organizing, utilizing technoligy to communicate with her team, and essentially designing the faux Hogwarts to show a bunch of lucky tweens. Rod shunted, I mean delegated the task to Brett Michaels (he of Rock of Love
Caught up on Top Gear this weekend, and I don't even know where to begin. Is BBC America one of your cable channels? If not, order it posthaste! Jeremy, Richard, and James are the three funniest men on my telly currently, and you don't even have to understand car-speak to get the show. The dynamic between the three sometimes borders on Stooges like comedy, but I sit down for the outrageous challenges:
-building a hybrid from scratch (the Hammerhead Thrust i, nee Geoff) and subsequently putting said car through a series of tests
-driving a trio of sportscars around Romania (and watching James get lost several times, and attempt to speak to the locals...epic fail)
-flying a homemade caravan (trailer) with a hot air balloon attached to the top (James again) and landing it in an open field where it promptly topples over
-racing two notoriously poorly built cars (Lancias both) and racing them rally style around a track until one gives out and gets squished by a baby grand piano and the other catches on fire (Richard and Jeremy).
These and countless other CLASSIC challenges are comedy gold, the boys bicker, sabotage one another, and declare their personal choices to be the penultimate. Plus, there's the "Star in the Reasonably Priced Car" which has had such greats as Dame Mirren swearing whilst tearing around the Top Gear track, the Cool Wall, and the perpetually snoozy Top Gear dog. Oh! There's also the Stig. Some say he...well, it doesn't matter, the intros are always ridiculous.
Damages really lived up to its title this week, knocking off Patty's henchman, Malcom (so sad to see you go *sniff*) and Danielle's daughter, Tessa Marquetti (who was Joe Tobin's daughter, not his half sister by his father). We're two episodes away from the finale and with the headcount this high, it seems as though Ellen and Patty are the only two that will be left standing. Marilyn Tobin plays it cold, lying outright to Len and telling him that she's revealed Tessa's connection to Joe, while reassuring the latter that he's not to blame for putting a hit on her in order to protect their financial assets now that they know where it's located. Ellen learned that her mother nearly gave her up for adoption, and hallucinated about her dead fiance (who hasn't been thought about since season one). Patty clashed with Ellen, kicked her out of the office and off the case, butted heads with the DA over the Tobins and Tessa M., and fired the new attorney, Alex. Next week ties up Tom's death (boo, I'm gonna miss Shayes), and Patty's resolvement to tear the Tobins down and apart.
I realize that nostalgia sounds silly for someone my age, but I miss the golden heydey of Channel 5's The WB. Xena, Hercules, Angel, Gilmore Girls, and hell, even Seventh Heaven. It was a great channel, well stocked with engaging primetime dramas. Nowadays, it's home to Top Models, the painfully boring GG (Gossip Girl), and the surprisingly long running One Tree Hill. I don't know what else gets played on the CW, I only care about Life Unexpected. This week we got to meet Cate's deadbeat dad, whom Baze recognized as no-good because he could spot the reluctant approach to fatherhood that he once felt. The dysfunctionally cute family took a road trip, while Bug (as much as I love this show, someone needs to work on the kids' names) tried to clean up Baze's bar after finding it trashed in retaliation against him (Bug). I almost gave up on this little gem for a while, fearing that we'd get Lux and the Abercrombie kid, Jones smushed in our faces as a couple, while Baze/Cate/Ryan danced around in the most awkward not Big-Love-near-polygamist-trio.
I don't know what to think regarding the love triangle of baby daddy/baby mama/fiance trope, I flitted between wanting Lorelai to end up with Christopher in GG (the only double G that counts), and wanting her to take the leap with other loves, first Max then Luke. Ultimately, she did end up with Christopher for a while, and though the two had always had a great dynamic, they failed as marrieds so badly. I'm kind of getting the same vibe from Baze/Cate and Ryan, even though episodes that focus strongly on the former put me in a pro "get the family back together" mood. Next week is the season finale...WHAT, ALREADY?! And of course, the requisite cliffhanger! trope of the wedding being crashed by the crazy former lover. I think I got tired of trying to figure out who I wanted the girl to choose after getting so heavily invested in the Hendricksons.
My favorite part of this episode had to be Bug's apology to Baze about the bar, fully expecting to be fired, and Baze's nonchalant, "see you tomorrow." His understanding of Bug's continual effort to move forward and change worked well in ways that Seventh Heaven never managed to when it came to "life lessons 101." I love that Baze has grown as a character over the course of this season and that I'm actually rooting for him even when he fumbles.
Tara got found out in The United States of Tara. She tried to break up with Buck's girlfriend and completely blew her cover, leading the desperation addled woman to follow Tara and family to the ice rink and pronounce her love for Buck/Tara over the microphone. Marshall engaged in more sexual experimentation with his slightly weird not girlfriend, and Kate started hanging out at the artist's studio. This show moves super quickly for a full half hour, I don't even know where time goes when I watch it. I guess that's a good sign...
Southland's season finale is tomorrow *sad face*, and I have got to find some way to see the season premire of CI before part II airs. Rawr.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Terrific Thursday
The day my little Fringe counter had been ticking away to has come and gone, and what a doozy of a return episode that was! Before I get to that I should mention the other two shows I set Thursdays aside for: Project Runway and Bones.
I have a love hate relationship with PR. Most of the time I think the judges are out of it when they pick winners and whichever of the unlucky losers to go home. My loyalties to the contestants usually fluctuates if their work steadily produces head scratching creations. This week Maya pulled herself out of the game, in a move no one saw coming. My guess would be that the judges continually overlooked her strongest efforts and never gave her a win up to this point. Boo, I really liked her aesthetic, and hoped she'd end up in the top three at Bryant Park. This led production to bring Anthony and his barrel of quotes back. The challenge was a major step down from last week's innovative "create your own textile" look. It was yet another red carpet look, for Heidi. Blah blah blah, booring. And most of the dresses were, okay, all of them could have used a bit more "oomph." Emilio and Anthony got a double win, somehow...the judges are getting lazy! But it was well warranted, because out of all of the dresses on the catwalk, those two were the only ones I could feasibly see being worn by Heidi (and guest judge, Jessica Alba) on the red carpet. Jay made a pretty white mini that dissolved into a diaper at the skirt, Seth Aaron's dress looked like a Middle Aged undergarment, Mila's was colorblocked and blah, and poor ousted Jonathan didn't get a charmer on his third try, he ended up with a sad drapey sack. The edits are clear foreshadowers of who's going home, and Jonathan's constant reworking left him without a necessary amount of workable fabric, and hardly a smidge of confidence to put together an awesome dress. Next week the challenge had better be something outrageous, or I'm just going to tune in at the 40 minute mark to see the runway.
I feel terrible (okay, not really) about admitting this, but my enthusiasm for Bones has waned some since TNT plays the same damn repeats over and over. There are at least five seasons to choose from, how is it that the same twenty episodes get airtime?! (/rant) Anyway, my fondness for Angela and her twenty first sexuality sensibilities have diminished considerably since she dropped Hodges and was confronted by Sweets about her relationship and commitment issues. It boils down to this: Hodges and his misanthropy are endearing (yes, really), and I'm tired of seeing him mope around every time the focus shifts to Angie and whatever new fling she's got. Anyway, I was surprised I wasn't more stoked for this episode. It was essentially, just a time filler till Fringe started. This week had Sweets confronting issues about mortality and the importance of living life to the fullest while in capacity to do so. This arose and messed with his psychaitrist self after seeing a man with a promising future ahead of him die in a subway car when a water main broke. He freaked Daisy out, causing her to grate on the nerves of the Jeffersonian's best with her endless chatter, and ultimately proposed to her with his mother's ring. I did NOT see that coming. I thought he was going to go all Gordon Gordon and either embrace his former goth metal roots and join a band, or become a chef.
Back to the murder mystery. The upending of the subway washed the decomposed corpse of a blind man into the tunnel, leading Bones and the gang to test rat feces, delve into the victim's life as a professional letter writer (interesting), and dig into a messy love triangle involving a security officer, her boyfriend, and this other guy who wanted to garner her affections. Bones also had a Japanese reporter shadow her and pepper her with questions about the steamy relationship between her characters and their similarities to people in Brennan's real life. Despite Bones' attempts to shift the focus back to the forensics aspect of her novels, no one, especially not the reporter seemed to buy it. The lady cop ended up being the murderer, the reporter gathered enough information for her article (and hinted that it's SO CLEARLY obvious that B&B are meant to be...haha), and I can't believe I remember this much for an episode that wasn't as gripping as Bones often delivers. Next week we get to see how Booth and Brennan met and became partners. I know one of the driving points of this show is the "will they or won't they" chemistry that the double B's have going on, but as awesome as they are together, I don't want to see it happen until the final episode. Or unless Booth has another freak tumor and dream about the "alternate" life he and Temperance live.
Speaking of alternates, Fringe delivered the BEST episode to date, delving into Walter's past and giving a hell of a story in an episode aptly titled, "Peter." I have been waiting two months for this (sad, I know) and after all of the clues, Walter's desperation any time Peter comes close to death, and Olivia's realization that Peter is from the alternate universe, the truth is finally revealed. Through Walter's retelling, and flashbacks to 1985, we learn of the window Walter has built to view his alternate self (Walternate, hah) at work and Peter's illness and death. The death of his son drives Walter to take action when Walternate fails to harness the proper solution to cure alt-Peter's illness. The interruption of one of the Observers causes Walternate to turn his back, and in a moment, he loses the vital solution in its perfect state. Walter's desperation to see alt-Peter survive into adulthood drives him to break through the barrier and administer the solution he'd copied to his son himself, in spite of opposition from Nina Sharp and his assistant, Carla. When he returns from the alternate universe, Walter becomes overwhelmed at the thought of losing Peter again, and he and Elizabeth decide to keep the child.
Before Fringe, John Noble was Denethor, Steward of Gondor in my mind. He lost both his sons in Lord of the Rings as well, one to a lust for the One Ring and a seriously scary Uruk-Hai, and the other because he failed to acknowledge his existance and nearly tried to kill him. I didn't like Denethor in the slightest, and loathed his inability to see past his grief. Ironically, I adore Walter in spite of that same quality and the havoc it subsequently wreaks. Noble does an excellent job with both Denethor and Walter in conveying their grief, with different approaches. The look on his face when Peter goes limp is single-handedly the biggest tearjerker of a scene I've seen since the marriage montage in Up! It's easy to be swayed by Walter's absent minded charm and eccentricites, which make his more lucid moments and clear acts of deceit all the more jarring. I find myself forgetting that Walter Bishop was once a shrewd and brilliant mind, and through his act of selfishness and anguish, he wrought a massive imbalance on the two universes.
Also loved the 80s ish intro to this episode, massive geek-gasm! Check it out:
Thanks to Fringe Television and Youtube.
I have a love hate relationship with PR. Most of the time I think the judges are out of it when they pick winners and whichever of the unlucky losers to go home. My loyalties to the contestants usually fluctuates if their work steadily produces head scratching creations. This week Maya pulled herself out of the game, in a move no one saw coming. My guess would be that the judges continually overlooked her strongest efforts and never gave her a win up to this point. Boo, I really liked her aesthetic, and hoped she'd end up in the top three at Bryant Park. This led production to bring Anthony and his barrel of quotes back. The challenge was a major step down from last week's innovative "create your own textile" look. It was yet another red carpet look, for Heidi. Blah blah blah, booring. And most of the dresses were, okay, all of them could have used a bit more "oomph." Emilio and Anthony got a double win, somehow...the judges are getting lazy! But it was well warranted, because out of all of the dresses on the catwalk, those two were the only ones I could feasibly see being worn by Heidi (and guest judge, Jessica Alba) on the red carpet. Jay made a pretty white mini that dissolved into a diaper at the skirt, Seth Aaron's dress looked like a Middle Aged undergarment, Mila's was colorblocked and blah, and poor ousted Jonathan didn't get a charmer on his third try, he ended up with a sad drapey sack. The edits are clear foreshadowers of who's going home, and Jonathan's constant reworking left him without a necessary amount of workable fabric, and hardly a smidge of confidence to put together an awesome dress. Next week the challenge had better be something outrageous, or I'm just going to tune in at the 40 minute mark to see the runway.
I feel terrible (okay, not really) about admitting this, but my enthusiasm for Bones has waned some since TNT plays the same damn repeats over and over. There are at least five seasons to choose from, how is it that the same twenty episodes get airtime?! (/rant) Anyway, my fondness for Angela and her twenty first sexuality sensibilities have diminished considerably since she dropped Hodges and was confronted by Sweets about her relationship and commitment issues. It boils down to this: Hodges and his misanthropy are endearing (yes, really), and I'm tired of seeing him mope around every time the focus shifts to Angie and whatever new fling she's got. Anyway, I was surprised I wasn't more stoked for this episode. It was essentially, just a time filler till Fringe started. This week had Sweets confronting issues about mortality and the importance of living life to the fullest while in capacity to do so. This arose and messed with his psychaitrist self after seeing a man with a promising future ahead of him die in a subway car when a water main broke. He freaked Daisy out, causing her to grate on the nerves of the Jeffersonian's best with her endless chatter, and ultimately proposed to her with his mother's ring. I did NOT see that coming. I thought he was going to go all Gordon Gordon and either embrace his former goth metal roots and join a band, or become a chef.
Back to the murder mystery. The upending of the subway washed the decomposed corpse of a blind man into the tunnel, leading Bones and the gang to test rat feces, delve into the victim's life as a professional letter writer (interesting), and dig into a messy love triangle involving a security officer, her boyfriend, and this other guy who wanted to garner her affections. Bones also had a Japanese reporter shadow her and pepper her with questions about the steamy relationship between her characters and their similarities to people in Brennan's real life. Despite Bones' attempts to shift the focus back to the forensics aspect of her novels, no one, especially not the reporter seemed to buy it. The lady cop ended up being the murderer, the reporter gathered enough information for her article (and hinted that it's SO CLEARLY obvious that B&B are meant to be...haha), and I can't believe I remember this much for an episode that wasn't as gripping as Bones often delivers. Next week we get to see how Booth and Brennan met and became partners. I know one of the driving points of this show is the "will they or won't they" chemistry that the double B's have going on, but as awesome as they are together, I don't want to see it happen until the final episode. Or unless Booth has another freak tumor and dream about the "alternate" life he and Temperance live.
Speaking of alternates, Fringe delivered the BEST episode to date, delving into Walter's past and giving a hell of a story in an episode aptly titled, "Peter." I have been waiting two months for this (sad, I know) and after all of the clues, Walter's desperation any time Peter comes close to death, and Olivia's realization that Peter is from the alternate universe, the truth is finally revealed. Through Walter's retelling, and flashbacks to 1985, we learn of the window Walter has built to view his alternate self (Walternate, hah) at work and Peter's illness and death. The death of his son drives Walter to take action when Walternate fails to harness the proper solution to cure alt-Peter's illness. The interruption of one of the Observers causes Walternate to turn his back, and in a moment, he loses the vital solution in its perfect state. Walter's desperation to see alt-Peter survive into adulthood drives him to break through the barrier and administer the solution he'd copied to his son himself, in spite of opposition from Nina Sharp and his assistant, Carla. When he returns from the alternate universe, Walter becomes overwhelmed at the thought of losing Peter again, and he and Elizabeth decide to keep the child.
Before Fringe, John Noble was Denethor, Steward of Gondor in my mind. He lost both his sons in Lord of the Rings as well, one to a lust for the One Ring and a seriously scary Uruk-Hai, and the other because he failed to acknowledge his existance and nearly tried to kill him. I didn't like Denethor in the slightest, and loathed his inability to see past his grief. Ironically, I adore Walter in spite of that same quality and the havoc it subsequently wreaks. Noble does an excellent job with both Denethor and Walter in conveying their grief, with different approaches. The look on his face when Peter goes limp is single-handedly the biggest tearjerker of a scene I've seen since the marriage montage in Up! It's easy to be swayed by Walter's absent minded charm and eccentricites, which make his more lucid moments and clear acts of deceit all the more jarring. I find myself forgetting that Walter Bishop was once a shrewd and brilliant mind, and through his act of selfishness and anguish, he wrought a massive imbalance on the two universes.
Also loved the 80s ish intro to this episode, massive geek-gasm! Check it out:
Thanks to Fringe Television and Youtube.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Middle of the Road
It's the middle of the week, and thanks to some network schedule restructering, I can breathe a sigh of relief. When Glee comes back in two weeks, I won't have to gnash my teeth over the fact that I'm missing both L&O: SVU AND Modern Family. PRAISE THE LORD! Plus, thanks to the fact that USA plays its shows on the regular as repeats, I won't have to worry quite so much about missing Mary and Marshall in In Plain Sight.
In Plain Sight came back this week after a hella long hiatus, and even though it had the requisite "here's what you forgot from last time" intro, I still felt like I would have benifited from an all day marathon of the previous season. What gives, USA? Help a viewer out a bit. Anyway, at least the major things were in order, and got resolved. Mary got shot, she's recovering but well enough to go around kicking ass, she's still with her fiance, her sister's still with the guy from Alcoholics Anonymous, and her house got fixed up. In the season opener, we get a witness who used to hustle and gets tied up in some mess. Turns out it's actually his son and his stepson who end up messing with some low life scum causing the double team of M and M to come running to the rescue. I'll be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the witness case this week. The dad seemed like he thought punching, shooting and then asking questions were the best ways to approach a problem, while the kid got the crap beat out of him by the low life and his thugs.
It was much more interesting to watch Marshall slip back into his smart aleck mode, irritating the hell out of the leader of one of the gangs in order to get him to cough up the name of Mary's shooter. His one request that Marshall never come near him again in exchange for the name was hilarious, a lot funnier than Mary chasing after her morbidly obese shooter lumbering away with a teeny Chihuahua in his arms. I thought the latter would be more dramatic, but it came off slightly weird.
Here's hoping the second season shapes up with a really good storyline.
I CANNOT wait for Modern Family's freshman season to finish. Why's that? I love the show, and want the DVD in my grubby fangirl hands ASAP. It's sassy and hilarious, but unlike most comedies where there seems to be an underlying hatred of one another, this clan clearly loves each other even if they don't fully understand their quirks. This week was Phil's birthday, and the poor guy just wanted an IPad...and possibly a surprise party. Claire fell asleep on the couch when she was supposed to get in line to get one at the Apple store, and spent a majority of the episode desperately searching for one. Littlest Dunphy, Luke managed to snag one through his dad's "geek" friends, by lying about his father's health. Gloria and Manny pretended to be awful at chess only to whup Jay's butt at it later, and in an "aw shucks" moment, Jay and Gloria resolve to quit playing their increasingly competitive game because one of them will inevitably lose and end up moping. The confessional scene that follows is all the more hilarious because it's so relatable. Gloria admits that she could have beat Jay in two moves, and Jay thinks he would have had a chance. Mitchell was paranoid about his lack of self defense skills, tried and failed to properly master the Jiu Jitsu tips his father tried to relay to him, and ended up in the silliest little fight outside the Apple store where Claire was in line. Cameron spent the entire episode spying on a couple of neighbors via the baby moniter's wacky signal in the driest story of the three families, finally interfering and setting things right.
This week SVU was crazy. Flat out crazy. The first case was a dummy one, dealing with a serial killer who seemingly resurfaced and was quickly caught and convicted. Case closed. The one victim who wasn't really killed by the suspect turned out to be the actual focus this week, centering on a trio of retro fab actresses as former mistresses of a matress selling mogul. The cop who was a rookie and on their case ended up being the delusional killer. Sometimes I think I know where this show is going and then it veers off in a completely different direction. That's all and well, but it has a tendency to pile on the batshit so the drama becomes an afterthought. Take a clue from Original Flavor SVU, next week's episode looks like it gets back to the nitty gritty of a case minus the guest star extravaganza.
And on that note: ONE DAY TILL FRINGE RETURNS! HUZZAH!
Also: God, I really hope ratings were good enough for Southland to return for a third season and then some. Give it a chance TNT! It's such a good show, on all fronts!
In Plain Sight came back this week after a hella long hiatus, and even though it had the requisite "here's what you forgot from last time" intro, I still felt like I would have benifited from an all day marathon of the previous season. What gives, USA? Help a viewer out a bit. Anyway, at least the major things were in order, and got resolved. Mary got shot, she's recovering but well enough to go around kicking ass, she's still with her fiance, her sister's still with the guy from Alcoholics Anonymous, and her house got fixed up. In the season opener, we get a witness who used to hustle and gets tied up in some mess. Turns out it's actually his son and his stepson who end up messing with some low life scum causing the double team of M and M to come running to the rescue. I'll be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the witness case this week. The dad seemed like he thought punching, shooting and then asking questions were the best ways to approach a problem, while the kid got the crap beat out of him by the low life and his thugs.
It was much more interesting to watch Marshall slip back into his smart aleck mode, irritating the hell out of the leader of one of the gangs in order to get him to cough up the name of Mary's shooter. His one request that Marshall never come near him again in exchange for the name was hilarious, a lot funnier than Mary chasing after her morbidly obese shooter lumbering away with a teeny Chihuahua in his arms. I thought the latter would be more dramatic, but it came off slightly weird.
Here's hoping the second season shapes up with a really good storyline.
I CANNOT wait for Modern Family's freshman season to finish. Why's that? I love the show, and want the DVD in my grubby fangirl hands ASAP. It's sassy and hilarious, but unlike most comedies where there seems to be an underlying hatred of one another, this clan clearly loves each other even if they don't fully understand their quirks. This week was Phil's birthday, and the poor guy just wanted an IPad...and possibly a surprise party. Claire fell asleep on the couch when she was supposed to get in line to get one at the Apple store, and spent a majority of the episode desperately searching for one. Littlest Dunphy, Luke managed to snag one through his dad's "geek" friends, by lying about his father's health. Gloria and Manny pretended to be awful at chess only to whup Jay's butt at it later, and in an "aw shucks" moment, Jay and Gloria resolve to quit playing their increasingly competitive game because one of them will inevitably lose and end up moping. The confessional scene that follows is all the more hilarious because it's so relatable. Gloria admits that she could have beat Jay in two moves, and Jay thinks he would have had a chance. Mitchell was paranoid about his lack of self defense skills, tried and failed to properly master the Jiu Jitsu tips his father tried to relay to him, and ended up in the silliest little fight outside the Apple store where Claire was in line. Cameron spent the entire episode spying on a couple of neighbors via the baby moniter's wacky signal in the driest story of the three families, finally interfering and setting things right.
This week SVU was crazy. Flat out crazy. The first case was a dummy one, dealing with a serial killer who seemingly resurfaced and was quickly caught and convicted. Case closed. The one victim who wasn't really killed by the suspect turned out to be the actual focus this week, centering on a trio of retro fab actresses as former mistresses of a matress selling mogul. The cop who was a rookie and on their case ended up being the delusional killer. Sometimes I think I know where this show is going and then it veers off in a completely different direction. That's all and well, but it has a tendency to pile on the batshit so the drama becomes an afterthought. Take a clue from Original Flavor SVU, next week's episode looks like it gets back to the nitty gritty of a case minus the guest star extravaganza.
And on that note: ONE DAY TILL FRINGE RETURNS! HUZZAH!
Also: God, I really hope ratings were good enough for Southland to return for a third season and then some. Give it a chance TNT! It's such a good show, on all fronts!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Say It Ain't So
Jeez, the more I try to adhere to a strict TV schedule so I can update this thing, the more I want a DVR. The advent of family visiting usually means a compromise in what gets watched for the evening. Let me tell you, two and a half hours of tennis is the lesser of two evils (the greater evil would be having to sit through a full hour of 2.5 Men), Dancing With the Stars could easily make me a convert, and I must be old to get nostalgic over Degrassi: The Next Generation circa 2005 episodes.
Times like these make me happy that channels like FX and USA are liberal in their reairings of current episodes. This means that I can catch Tuesday night's Law and Order: Criminal Intent premiere (sacrificed for two hours of Roger Federer battling a Czech guy who was ranked 16 at an Open in Florida) later this week without chewing my nails off wondering what will happen toGoren and Eames. Well, I already know since D'Onofrio and Erbe's departure from the cast have been discussed in the blogosphere, and thanks to some spoilery conversation with a friend. Whatever, I want to see how things play out now that Goldblum's Detective Nichols is taking the lead. I seriously hope the writers don't trap him in that twitchy "know-it-all plagued by his past" mode. That deteriorated Goren's character for me over the past few seasons, and he became a one note character. Big hopes for this season, y'all.
For my Monday night lineup:
Damages
I'm happy that I took a class back in college that introduced me to several new shows. Most of these are now staples in my weekly TV watching, and rather up there on my fandom list. I am so hooked on this season I rewatch episodes whenever I can catch them. The fact that Patty, Ellen, and Tom are all closer than acquaintances and colleagues, but nothing near enough to describe as friends is compelling. The three continually defend, assist, and still! lie to one another for their own purposes. Tom's conflict of interest in the Tobin case has been slowly revealed over the course of the season thus far, and now that we now how he died, I'm curious to see who actually delivered the mortal wound that got him there. He's getting more erratic in his behavior, troubled by the weight of his family's and his in-laws' financial woes, so it's understandable that he would lash out to Tessa Marquetti in order to get her to reveal whatever she knows about where the Tobin's stashed their money. His wife doesn't seem like she's got her financial priorities in order (seriously, keep the vacation home? sell the damn thing!) so the weight of it all falls on him. The fact that he handed Patty a resignation letter last week, and got her suspicious of his personal dealings this week makes me wonder if she had a hand in his death. I wouldn't put it past her.
Speaking of Patty, it's good to see her and Ellen on the same page. The latter is a lot like her mentor, and I rooted for her when she told her sister that she could help with alleviating the drug charges, but that she wouldn't. It was a very smart move to look out for herself in spite of the opposition and anger she'd receive from her parents. The dream sequences were weird, but at least they made more sense than Patty's pony party with Uncle Pete. When Ellen asked her sister if she remembered the taunts she used to make about her (Ellen) being adopted, the wierd dreams about the former babysitter made a bit more sense. I wonder if she really is Ellen's birth mother...
Martin Short's Leonard Winstone is fantastic. There, enough said. Just kidding, I thought his backstory with origins in a trailer park and hick father would be cliche, but boy was I wrong. His father's a low life extortionist jerk who pocketed the money Len sent home for his ailing mother, and now that she's passed, he's followed his son up to New York with threats to expose him to the Tobins unless he gets a continual hefty sum in return for his silence. Short definitely can put on a scary face when the role permits, and when he glowers at his father masquerading as a retired former law professor, I thought his jaw would snap from the tension. Well done! I have a feeling old Wiggins has some nefarious role to play in the Tobin case, but I would kind of like to see Ray put a hit on him.
Law & Order
Guest starring: Buster Bluth! I'll never get over the mind trip that is casting comic actors in dramatic roles. It's jarring, and I kept thinking Lucille was going to show up and drag him off to a Mother-Boy pageant to cheer him up. Okay, that's cruel. The episode was actually very good, sharply written, and left me feeling kind of down at the end. The best L&O episodes usually do for some masochistic reason. Buster played a divorced father whose last name was Shoemaker (I thought it was Schumacher, as in: ruined Batman & Robin) that was accused of poisoning his ex-wife's Brazilian husband so that he could regain custody of their daughter. Of course, since this is L&O we're talking about, there was a twist. Turns out, the ex-wife's parents had teamed up with their former son-in-law to poison the new hubs, and get Shoemaker's daughter back to the US. The wife had taken their daughter to Brazil against court order, and kept her there for three years and ultimately was rewarded for that. All thanks to D.A. Michael Cutter.
Linus Roache's Cutter really is a good successor to Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy; he's a tenacious, by the law, hard nosed driver who managed to get Shoemaker to confess on the stand that he was a co-conspirator in the attempted murder of his ex's husband. After the defense attorney brought his paternal abandonement issues into question in court, he made no qualms about pressing charges against the desperate father who wanted to see his daughter again. I thought he should have left it alone, the girl's mother was worse off as a caregiver, and now the poor child will have one hell of a mess to come to terms with when she gets old enough to understand it all.
By the way, Detectives Bernard and Lupo were once again fabulous, and I love that the energy between the two is reminiscent of the prickly and drily humorous Brisco and veerrry early Logan. I can't believe this show is in it's twentieth season! It's practically as old as I am!
United States of Tara
I won't claim to know what's really going on this season as a resolution to the last one, since I missed a significant portion of that, but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Diablo Cody's snappy dialogue.
In the second episode of this second season, Tara lost time by slipping into her hick alter, Butch. He subsequently seduced the ditsy bartender at the local bar, caused a whole hell of a mix up for Tara, and reduced her to hiding out in the closet of their suicide victim neighbor. Kate scored a comission at her debt collecting job, and befriended a feirce artist, while Marshall fell for the glbt+some ally, Courteney, putting him at odds with the flamboyantly gay kid. Charmaine flaunted her engagement ring to all, and moved in with Tara's family (only till she ties the knot), while Max coaxed Tara into putting an offer on the neighbor's house, and giddly set to work with plans to flip the property. Best moments in the episode have to be Tara attempting to piece together the awkward run in with bartender girl, subsequently putting said pieces together, and then arguing with Buck over use of "the body."
And.....last but not least, Tuesday night's offerings:
Southland
I can't believe this show only has one episode left. The hiatus between this season and the third had better not be too long or heads will roll. I don't even know where to begin, except that Lydia Adams absence was duly noted! The presence of the rest of the awesome detectives did make up for that though. I'm elated that the writers kept to the ensemble format even though the show jumped networks, I had serious fears before season two started, that the focus would be limited to three of the characters, and I'm glad this isn't the case. This show is too good for NBC, can I just come out and say that? I do sometimes wonder what it would be like if HBO had it instead of TNT. For all of the censured F-bombs that get dropped, I'm surprised the violence isn't tampered down as well. Not that I want it to be, mind you, the show excels in expressing the violent brutality of murder and crime that the detectives and street cops have to deal with on a daily basis.
This episode continued the gang related case that resulted in Moretti's daughter becoming involved with one of the thugs and reunited him with his old narcotics partner who butts heads with every one of the detectives in his current department, and makes Bryant jealous. Moretti's daughter becomes involved in the case when she witnesses the murder of two of the thugs in a nightclub, and actually refers to him as "daddy," when he comes home to find her still covered in the victim's blood. Bryant's idiot wife really takes the cake this week; between photographing gang members tied to several open cases, getting stoned with a much younger skater kid, who subsequently steals her 2k camera and Macbook, she blatantly ignores her husband's warnings about the dangers of her thoughtlessness and accuses him of failing to see the artistry in her work. WTF woman. I can't even get started on her failure to control Richter, who lunges at the skater kid during their initial meeting and starts ripping at the kid's backpack. Good thing the loser was too stoned, or he would have pressed charges *snark*.
I felt terrible for Sammy Bryant this week, the poor guy just couldn't catch a break. On top of his wife's monumental FAIL, Detective Bryant tried to mentor a hyper-literate kid in the hopes of preventing him from joining a gang. Sammy gets called to a crime scene where a second middle school age boy has been found dead from a gunshot wound. After asking a nearby witness for details regarding the murder, the detective is faced with the gut punching revelation that his young protege was seen fleeing the scene of the crime. In the most heart breaking scene ever, Sammy runs down the street to the boy's house, busts in and charges into the boy's room to find him crying on the bed, cradling the murder weapon. Both are openly weeping, and poor Sammy struggles to cuff his once promising charge while the boy apologizes.
The subsequent scene where Tammi apologizes profusely for her mid-day smokeout and camera/computer handout was like a fist to the face. Her histrionics fade into white noise as Sammy gets up without a word and leaves the room, turning the television sound up. I hope season three (MAKE IT HAPPEN TNT) brings about a divorce, or at least a separation for the Bryants. Watching Sammy hobble around in his personal life with his ball and chain is too depressing. Plus, the realization that Sammy and Tammi are a rhyming couple is gag inducing...BARF.
Times like these make me happy that channels like FX and USA are liberal in their reairings of current episodes. This means that I can catch Tuesday night's Law and Order: Criminal Intent premiere (sacrificed for two hours of Roger Federer battling a Czech guy who was ranked 16 at an Open in Florida) later this week without chewing my nails off wondering what will happen to
For my Monday night lineup:
Damages
I'm happy that I took a class back in college that introduced me to several new shows. Most of these are now staples in my weekly TV watching, and rather up there on my fandom list. I am so hooked on this season I rewatch episodes whenever I can catch them. The fact that Patty, Ellen, and Tom are all closer than acquaintances and colleagues, but nothing near enough to describe as friends is compelling. The three continually defend, assist, and still! lie to one another for their own purposes. Tom's conflict of interest in the Tobin case has been slowly revealed over the course of the season thus far, and now that we now how he died, I'm curious to see who actually delivered the mortal wound that got him there. He's getting more erratic in his behavior, troubled by the weight of his family's and his in-laws' financial woes, so it's understandable that he would lash out to Tessa Marquetti in order to get her to reveal whatever she knows about where the Tobin's stashed their money. His wife doesn't seem like she's got her financial priorities in order (seriously, keep the vacation home? sell the damn thing!) so the weight of it all falls on him. The fact that he handed Patty a resignation letter last week, and got her suspicious of his personal dealings this week makes me wonder if she had a hand in his death. I wouldn't put it past her.
Speaking of Patty, it's good to see her and Ellen on the same page. The latter is a lot like her mentor, and I rooted for her when she told her sister that she could help with alleviating the drug charges, but that she wouldn't. It was a very smart move to look out for herself in spite of the opposition and anger she'd receive from her parents. The dream sequences were weird, but at least they made more sense than Patty's pony party with Uncle Pete. When Ellen asked her sister if she remembered the taunts she used to make about her (Ellen) being adopted, the wierd dreams about the former babysitter made a bit more sense. I wonder if she really is Ellen's birth mother...
Martin Short's Leonard Winstone is fantastic. There, enough said. Just kidding, I thought his backstory with origins in a trailer park and hick father would be cliche, but boy was I wrong. His father's a low life extortionist jerk who pocketed the money Len sent home for his ailing mother, and now that she's passed, he's followed his son up to New York with threats to expose him to the Tobins unless he gets a continual hefty sum in return for his silence. Short definitely can put on a scary face when the role permits, and when he glowers at his father masquerading as a retired former law professor, I thought his jaw would snap from the tension. Well done! I have a feeling old Wiggins has some nefarious role to play in the Tobin case, but I would kind of like to see Ray put a hit on him.
Law & Order
Guest starring: Buster Bluth! I'll never get over the mind trip that is casting comic actors in dramatic roles. It's jarring, and I kept thinking Lucille was going to show up and drag him off to a Mother-Boy pageant to cheer him up. Okay, that's cruel. The episode was actually very good, sharply written, and left me feeling kind of down at the end. The best L&O episodes usually do for some masochistic reason. Buster played a divorced father whose last name was Shoemaker (I thought it was Schumacher, as in: ruined Batman & Robin) that was accused of poisoning his ex-wife's Brazilian husband so that he could regain custody of their daughter. Of course, since this is L&O we're talking about, there was a twist. Turns out, the ex-wife's parents had teamed up with their former son-in-law to poison the new hubs, and get Shoemaker's daughter back to the US. The wife had taken their daughter to Brazil against court order, and kept her there for three years and ultimately was rewarded for that. All thanks to D.A. Michael Cutter.
Linus Roache's Cutter really is a good successor to Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy; he's a tenacious, by the law, hard nosed driver who managed to get Shoemaker to confess on the stand that he was a co-conspirator in the attempted murder of his ex's husband. After the defense attorney brought his paternal abandonement issues into question in court, he made no qualms about pressing charges against the desperate father who wanted to see his daughter again. I thought he should have left it alone, the girl's mother was worse off as a caregiver, and now the poor child will have one hell of a mess to come to terms with when she gets old enough to understand it all.
By the way, Detectives Bernard and Lupo were once again fabulous, and I love that the energy between the two is reminiscent of the prickly and drily humorous Brisco and veerrry early Logan. I can't believe this show is in it's twentieth season! It's practically as old as I am!
United States of Tara
I won't claim to know what's really going on this season as a resolution to the last one, since I missed a significant portion of that, but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Diablo Cody's snappy dialogue.
In the second episode of this second season, Tara lost time by slipping into her hick alter, Butch. He subsequently seduced the ditsy bartender at the local bar, caused a whole hell of a mix up for Tara, and reduced her to hiding out in the closet of their suicide victim neighbor. Kate scored a comission at her debt collecting job, and befriended a feirce artist, while Marshall fell for the glbt+some ally, Courteney, putting him at odds with the flamboyantly gay kid. Charmaine flaunted her engagement ring to all, and moved in with Tara's family (only till she ties the knot), while Max coaxed Tara into putting an offer on the neighbor's house, and giddly set to work with plans to flip the property. Best moments in the episode have to be Tara attempting to piece together the awkward run in with bartender girl, subsequently putting said pieces together, and then arguing with Buck over use of "the body."
And.....last but not least, Tuesday night's offerings:
Southland
I can't believe this show only has one episode left. The hiatus between this season and the third had better not be too long or heads will roll. I don't even know where to begin, except that Lydia Adams absence was duly noted! The presence of the rest of the awesome detectives did make up for that though. I'm elated that the writers kept to the ensemble format even though the show jumped networks, I had serious fears before season two started, that the focus would be limited to three of the characters, and I'm glad this isn't the case. This show is too good for NBC, can I just come out and say that? I do sometimes wonder what it would be like if HBO had it instead of TNT. For all of the censured F-bombs that get dropped, I'm surprised the violence isn't tampered down as well. Not that I want it to be, mind you, the show excels in expressing the violent brutality of murder and crime that the detectives and street cops have to deal with on a daily basis.
This episode continued the gang related case that resulted in Moretti's daughter becoming involved with one of the thugs and reunited him with his old narcotics partner who butts heads with every one of the detectives in his current department, and makes Bryant jealous. Moretti's daughter becomes involved in the case when she witnesses the murder of two of the thugs in a nightclub, and actually refers to him as "daddy," when he comes home to find her still covered in the victim's blood. Bryant's idiot wife really takes the cake this week; between photographing gang members tied to several open cases, getting stoned with a much younger skater kid, who subsequently steals her 2k camera and Macbook, she blatantly ignores her husband's warnings about the dangers of her thoughtlessness and accuses him of failing to see the artistry in her work. WTF woman. I can't even get started on her failure to control Richter, who lunges at the skater kid during their initial meeting and starts ripping at the kid's backpack. Good thing the loser was too stoned, or he would have pressed charges *snark*.
I felt terrible for Sammy Bryant this week, the poor guy just couldn't catch a break. On top of his wife's monumental FAIL, Detective Bryant tried to mentor a hyper-literate kid in the hopes of preventing him from joining a gang. Sammy gets called to a crime scene where a second middle school age boy has been found dead from a gunshot wound. After asking a nearby witness for details regarding the murder, the detective is faced with the gut punching revelation that his young protege was seen fleeing the scene of the crime. In the most heart breaking scene ever, Sammy runs down the street to the boy's house, busts in and charges into the boy's room to find him crying on the bed, cradling the murder weapon. Both are openly weeping, and poor Sammy struggles to cuff his once promising charge while the boy apologizes.
The subsequent scene where Tammi apologizes profusely for her mid-day smokeout and camera/computer handout was like a fist to the face. Her histrionics fade into white noise as Sammy gets up without a word and leaves the room, turning the television sound up. I hope season three (MAKE IT HAPPEN TNT) brings about a divorce, or at least a separation for the Bryants. Watching Sammy hobble around in his personal life with his ball and chain is too depressing. Plus, the realization that Sammy and Tammi are a rhyming couple is gag inducing...BARF.
Monday, March 29, 2010
YES!!!
You guys, I'm so excited! This week everything returns to my telly.
L&O: Criminal Intent on Tuesdays (even if it's going to become the Jeff Goldblum show, I'm still happy)...
In Plain Sight on Wednesdays is back! WHOO HOO MARSHALL.
Plus, if you've noticed the awesome/fantastic/sublime counter to the right of the blog, you will note that it is T -3 days and counting till we get Peter Bishop's backstory, and the desperation that led Walter to majorly screw up the balance between "our" universe and the alternate one. I CAN'T WAIT. THURSDAYS are less than 3. <3
I think the returning episode of Bones is going to introduce how Booth and Brennan became partners, yay more backstory!
Caprica may be over until the season starts up again *boo*, but thanks to SyFy's marathon of the BBC's Merlin, I'm hooked. Season two starts up on Friday and I've got my calendar marked. It's by no means historically accurate (or as much as a legend based on historical figures can be), I mean, Morgana wears evening heels that look like something from my childhood Barbie, and Arthur sports a knock off red leather jacket that makes him look like he's trying to emulate Thriller era Michael Jackson. These are good points, by the way, costume choices like these made me fall for the equally over the top campy Robin Hood (as did the good looking cast and hilarious sheriff), and I always appreciate a show that throws in a wildcat with the head of a cobra. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT. You think I'm kidding? Check it out:
Thanks to the BBC and Youtube for this.
Sadly, it doesn't seem like there's going to be a new episode of Legend of the Seeker this week. Although, given the pretty spiffy episode we got this past weekend, I can take the mini hiatus, maybe I'll do something productive with my Saturday for once (yeah right, I'm going to see that Dreamworks Dragon movie). This past Saturday, we got to see The Creator, or at least someone who claimed she was one. She had the powers to go with, but only because the Sisters of Light gave her all of their Han. As per usual, someone was out for Richard's head, this time it was the so called Creator, who claimed to follow the prophecy everyone and their mama believes. Cara called bullshit, Zedd stood around and confessed that he pretty much doubted Richard (thanks a lot old man!), while Kahlan tried to rally all of Richard's good points.
Turns out, the Keeper and the Creator used to be lovers once upon the beginning of the world, before he betrayed her and they moved to the Underworld, and...wherever the Creator exists. Keisha Castle Hughes guest starred as the Creator, and I really think she should be in the Hobbit, if filming ever starts. She totally looks like an elf. Long story short, Darken Rahl failed to open a crack in the earth and cause everyone and the "Creator" to fall in, the Keeper creeper actually got a disembodied voice, banelings were killed, Richard and co. saved the day, and we still don't know what the "Creator" really was. A deluded nut job who abandoned her mortal husband when the Sisters of Light came a-knockin', or the actual deity realized.
On an unrelated note, Sam Raimi's brother Ted always has some guest spot in his work, most notably in my mind as the fantastic Joxer the Mighty. Raimi brother number two also did a single episode stint on Legend, and I know it's crazy because she's on Spartacus currently, but I would LO-O-O-O-O-O-VE for Lucy Lawless to guest spot. Or heck, even Karl Urban, I'll take that.
L&O: Criminal Intent on Tuesdays (even if it's going to become the Jeff Goldblum show, I'm still happy)...
In Plain Sight on Wednesdays is back! WHOO HOO MARSHALL.
Plus, if you've noticed the awesome/fantastic/sublime counter to the right of the blog, you will note that it is T -3 days and counting till we get Peter Bishop's backstory, and the desperation that led Walter to majorly screw up the balance between "our" universe and the alternate one. I CAN'T WAIT. THURSDAYS are less than 3. <3
I think the returning episode of Bones is going to introduce how Booth and Brennan became partners, yay more backstory!
Caprica may be over until the season starts up again *boo*, but thanks to SyFy's marathon of the BBC's Merlin, I'm hooked. Season two starts up on Friday and I've got my calendar marked. It's by no means historically accurate (or as much as a legend based on historical figures can be), I mean, Morgana wears evening heels that look like something from my childhood Barbie, and Arthur sports a knock off red leather jacket that makes him look like he's trying to emulate Thriller era Michael Jackson. These are good points, by the way, costume choices like these made me fall for the equally over the top campy Robin Hood (as did the good looking cast and hilarious sheriff), and I always appreciate a show that throws in a wildcat with the head of a cobra. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT. You think I'm kidding? Check it out:
Thanks to the BBC and Youtube for this.
Sadly, it doesn't seem like there's going to be a new episode of Legend of the Seeker this week. Although, given the pretty spiffy episode we got this past weekend, I can take the mini hiatus, maybe I'll do something productive with my Saturday for once (yeah right, I'm going to see that Dreamworks Dragon movie). This past Saturday, we got to see The Creator, or at least someone who claimed she was one. She had the powers to go with, but only because the Sisters of Light gave her all of their Han. As per usual, someone was out for Richard's head, this time it was the so called Creator, who claimed to follow the prophecy everyone and their mama believes. Cara called bullshit, Zedd stood around and confessed that he pretty much doubted Richard (thanks a lot old man!), while Kahlan tried to rally all of Richard's good points.
Turns out, the Keeper and the Creator used to be lovers once upon the beginning of the world, before he betrayed her and they moved to the Underworld, and...wherever the Creator exists. Keisha Castle Hughes guest starred as the Creator, and I really think she should be in the Hobbit, if filming ever starts. She totally looks like an elf. Long story short, Darken Rahl failed to open a crack in the earth and cause everyone and the "Creator" to fall in, the Keeper creeper actually got a disembodied voice, banelings were killed, Richard and co. saved the day, and we still don't know what the "Creator" really was. A deluded nut job who abandoned her mortal husband when the Sisters of Light came a-knockin', or the actual deity realized.
On an unrelated note, Sam Raimi's brother Ted always has some guest spot in his work, most notably in my mind as the fantastic Joxer the Mighty. Raimi brother number two also did a single episode stint on Legend, and I know it's crazy because she's on Spartacus currently, but I would LO-O-O-O-O-O-VE for Lucy Lawless to guest spot. Or heck, even Karl Urban, I'll take that.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Manic Mondays and Twisted Tuesdays
I'm starting to wish that every channel, cable and network alike, would follow USA's model of rotating their series so everything isn't playing at once. I'm also dead serious about wanting a DVR. Why must every show be on Monday? The stinkin' CW stopped replaying Life Unexpected for ANTM on Wednesdays, so I'm relegated to watching it online. I think I'm starting to lose count of what I watch.
So, Mondays....
Damages
How many more episodes of Damages are there going to be this season? I'm hooked, and if we're getting near the end, I can't wait for an all day marathon. The entire Tobin family is chock full of drama and they make Arthur Frobisher look like child's play for Patty. It's been said before, but I've got to reiterate that comedians do drama so well it's twisted. Love Ted Dansen, and if you missed out on Martin Short's super creepy sex offender on SVU, you can catch him straddling the line between just short of mercenary and sympathetically desperate on Damages. I think his Ray Winstone is one of the best characters on the show, and after the writers have highlighted his crappy background, it's understandable that he would latch on so closely to the Tobins.
I had a feeling Ellen's sister was a good for nothing druggie, seriously, meth? Yikes. But I'm hoping she won't cave to her mother's pleading and risk her career for in spite of the fact that it is her sister who's in trouble. She just reeks of the type of situation that would drag Ellen down and eventually come back to bite her in the you know what.
I need to consult the almighty Wikipedia for analysis help regarding Patty's dreams. They're triping me out, and making me wonder what the hell is going on in her head. Although, that latter bit is something that I always wonder when I watch this show. Whatever happened to her divorce? At least her son's back in her life, sort of. It's interesting that he's with an older woman, and coming to see Patty about family history? Ooooh.
I'm so torn about the fact that Tom gets killed off this season! I love the mystery that it's given to the show, and how clues and events are revealed week by week, but I'm going to miss him! After finding out that he and Ellen were going to start their own firm, I'm wondering if Patty really did kill him. I wouldn't put it past her, she did put that hit on Ellen in season one.
How I Met Your Mother
Lily turns 32! And we learn that Ted has a rude and sort of sweet habit of bringing random girls to the group's milestone events. AND that the Barnacle is so photogenic he can't take a bad picture. This is such an improvement over that episode a few weeks back when Carrie Underwood guest starred. I swear that was so boring I fell asleep and didn't bother to catch up. I love it when the group's makeshift family dynamic comes into play, and their devotion to one another is highlighted. HOW ADORABLE IS MARSHALL ERIKSSON?! The sweet couple-y things he and Lily do for one another are alternately hilarious and "aaaawwww"-inducing. I'm still surprised they don't make me want to retch. I also loved Robin's multiple attempts at catching a lousy picture of Barney. Hilarious.
The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon+stage fright+liquid courage=Laugh out loud
I have got to get my shizz together and get thee to a taping of this show. This season's been pretty rocky, and skating awfully close to Two and a Half Men in terms of humor at times (that's an insult, because the latter is dreadfully unfunny in my opinion). I still wish Leonard and Penny were just an awkward memory that no one bothered to remember, but at least they weren't cringe inducing in this episode. I liked that the buddy dynamic returned this week, and that the gang banded together to help Sheldon overcome his stage fright. There have been times this season where I've wondered why the guys even hang out together due to their irritation with one another, but thank goodness this returned them to the season one goofballs who help each other out. LOVED the shopping scene with Penny, dark, fitted suits are super flattering on tall, thin men. I know it's cliche, but alcohol as liquid courage (and an actor who can play a hilarious drunk) never gets old for me. All I ask for next week is more Raj. BBT ALWAYS NEEDS MORE RAJ.
L&O
I never expected Anthony Anderson to be so good on Law and Order, or that I would like the new line up of characters so much. I miss McCoy irking judges and defense lawyers alike in the court room, but Cutter has an edge as well, and it's awesome to see him and McCoy clash over cases. This week dealt with the shooting of four cops by an informant that two of them used as a pawn to become detectives. It was a really good case, and the defense pushed that the shooter was driven to protect his mother from the cops, who had pretty much given him an ultimatum of death by the crime lord (inevitable if he ratted), or being the cause his mother would go to prison for. It was eventually revealed that he was bitter over the fact that they didn't pay him enough under the table for his informant tips. On the sideline, the two detectives struggled over loyalties to their police brethren, or sticking by the book and allowing justice to play out in the courts. I adore this show, and it seems like it's really sinking its teeth into some complex stories, even if some are "ripped from the headlines" while SVU vears off into crazy-land with Stabler, Benson, and company pulling all sorts of shenanigins (so help me I still love it). Criminal Intent might just be on the rocks too, since it seems that Goren's getting written off. Okay, that I understand, because even though D'Onofrio is awesome, his character was becoming a slightly buffoonish parody of the detective he was in earlier seasons. I don't want to see his partner, Eames, go though! She's such a great character, tough and analytical but not off her rocker like Goren. If it becomes the Jeff Goldblum show (and he starts to go the route of Goren in terms of character) I might have to give it up altogether. Gah. Oh L&O, why do you do this to me?
Trippy Tuesdays....
Southland
DirecTV lied. LIED! The prompter said that this week's case had something to do with a USC student, and instead we get a weird mash-up of USC/our rivals, UCLA/and some Cal State in SULA (Some University, Los Angeles possibly?!) as the highlighted school. I wonder why they didn't just throw in some school that actually exists, like the Closer's done before (thanks, and yes, that was USC too). Sheesh, just cause we're located in South LA doesn't literally mean there's gangs everywhere. Anyway, some girl who was supposedly an "A" student-athlete, turned out to be a crack whore (seriously) who stole from her dealers and made enemies all around because of that. Her footballer boyfriend turned out to be a real louse, and the school tried stonewalling the supremely awesome Detective Lydia Adams as she tried to get to the bottom of the whole thing. Epic fail fake school, because Det. Adams kicks so much ass she has a safe in her home that houses a shotgun which she uses to snipe out gang members. Booyah. I know it wasn't supposed to be funny, but the idiot who was contracted to "take care" of the murder victim said he aimed for her legs so she wouldn't run, and missed. I laughed out loud, literally.
In other news, John and Ben went to see Dewey in hisresort, um, rehab center way out in the desert. I wonder if Dewey's really sobering up, since his apology to Ben seemed sincere. Although, John wasn't having any of it. Talk about pot calling kettle black, I mean what with John's shady perscription drug habit? He's clearly in denial too.
Oh, and while I loooove Det. Clarke, I got to like Det. Cordero, and the chemistry between him and Lydia. So, where the heck was he this week? We get a new guy, whose name I can't remember, and he ends up being background scenery! Okay, he had a few lines, like verbally re-confirming how amazing Det. Adams is a character, but seriously, bring Cordero back! This new guy had a creeper 'stache anyhow. Eek.
This show needs more Moretta! I like that he and Sammy Bryant are buddies as well as partners (Sammy's jealousy when Nate's buddy from narcotics pops up was undeniably cute), and they still manage to be fantastic as detectives. More squee inducing moments from them? Sammy pretending to hussle one of his youth informants to help the kid get a rep as a tough guy on the street. Thank GOD TNT had the foresight to see what a great show this is and could be, and snapped it up when NBC stupidly canceled it. I'm never going to get tired of saying it, but seriously NBC? Forsaking the mighty 10 PM drama for a talk show with Leno? Lameness to the tenth power.
This last one is way past its write up date (I'm also missing a couple of shows from the weekend, but that's for later), but I have to gush about it. I never got into BSG (Battlestar Galactica), although I should have, because apparently Xena was in it?! OMFG. However, I happened to flip through to SYFY (the spelling is still horrible, by the way) and catch an episode of Caprica a few weeks ago, and now, I'm hooked. It's ridiculous; Frak has snuck into my vocabulary and is threatening to overtake my pirate's like swearing! It's so good, SO SO SO SO GOOD. I'm reduced to babbling. I'll admit, I only half know what's going...okay, my understanding of the plot is probably about 35%-40% in terms of where things are. However, Daniel Graystone's machinations are twisted, and his treatment of cylon-daughter, Zoe was wicked this past week. I'm starting to wonder how he would treat her if he ever finds out Zoe is in the cylon. Anyway, I don't know quite enough about it to comment on how it is relative to BSG (gotta watch that!), but I'm keeping my eye on this one. Looks like SYFY is starting to churn out some good shows; I'm a sucker for Warehouse 13, when is that one coming back?
Can't wait for next week: In Plain Sight and L&O: CI are back, whoo! It's April I'm really gunning for, I NEED FRINGE. What will Peter do once he finds out that Walter stole him from the alternate universe? Will we see Walter Bishop and his old frenemy,Mr. Spock William Bell join forces to stop the rift? Or will they clash? I am so excited, I LOVE THIS SHOW. It's edged Bones out as my Thursday favorite. I can't take watching Hodgins suffer over Angela anymore, she's becoming less endearing with her relationship hopping, and his mooning is so sad! I do stick around because Sweets is adorable, and Booth and Brennan rock.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that The United States of Tara is on Monday too? What the frak.
So, Mondays....
Damages
How many more episodes of Damages are there going to be this season? I'm hooked, and if we're getting near the end, I can't wait for an all day marathon. The entire Tobin family is chock full of drama and they make Arthur Frobisher look like child's play for Patty. It's been said before, but I've got to reiterate that comedians do drama so well it's twisted. Love Ted Dansen, and if you missed out on Martin Short's super creepy sex offender on SVU, you can catch him straddling the line between just short of mercenary and sympathetically desperate on Damages. I think his Ray Winstone is one of the best characters on the show, and after the writers have highlighted his crappy background, it's understandable that he would latch on so closely to the Tobins.
I had a feeling Ellen's sister was a good for nothing druggie, seriously, meth? Yikes. But I'm hoping she won't cave to her mother's pleading and risk her career for in spite of the fact that it is her sister who's in trouble. She just reeks of the type of situation that would drag Ellen down and eventually come back to bite her in the you know what.
I need to consult the almighty Wikipedia for analysis help regarding Patty's dreams. They're triping me out, and making me wonder what the hell is going on in her head. Although, that latter bit is something that I always wonder when I watch this show. Whatever happened to her divorce? At least her son's back in her life, sort of. It's interesting that he's with an older woman, and coming to see Patty about family history? Ooooh.
I'm so torn about the fact that Tom gets killed off this season! I love the mystery that it's given to the show, and how clues and events are revealed week by week, but I'm going to miss him! After finding out that he and Ellen were going to start their own firm, I'm wondering if Patty really did kill him. I wouldn't put it past her, she did put that hit on Ellen in season one.
How I Met Your Mother
Lily turns 32! And we learn that Ted has a rude and sort of sweet habit of bringing random girls to the group's milestone events. AND that the Barnacle is so photogenic he can't take a bad picture. This is such an improvement over that episode a few weeks back when Carrie Underwood guest starred. I swear that was so boring I fell asleep and didn't bother to catch up. I love it when the group's makeshift family dynamic comes into play, and their devotion to one another is highlighted. HOW ADORABLE IS MARSHALL ERIKSSON?! The sweet couple-y things he and Lily do for one another are alternately hilarious and "aaaawwww"-inducing. I'm still surprised they don't make me want to retch. I also loved Robin's multiple attempts at catching a lousy picture of Barney. Hilarious.
The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon+stage fright+liquid courage=Laugh out loud
I have got to get my shizz together and get thee to a taping of this show. This season's been pretty rocky, and skating awfully close to Two and a Half Men in terms of humor at times (that's an insult, because the latter is dreadfully unfunny in my opinion). I still wish Leonard and Penny were just an awkward memory that no one bothered to remember, but at least they weren't cringe inducing in this episode. I liked that the buddy dynamic returned this week, and that the gang banded together to help Sheldon overcome his stage fright. There have been times this season where I've wondered why the guys even hang out together due to their irritation with one another, but thank goodness this returned them to the season one goofballs who help each other out. LOVED the shopping scene with Penny, dark, fitted suits are super flattering on tall, thin men. I know it's cliche, but alcohol as liquid courage (and an actor who can play a hilarious drunk) never gets old for me. All I ask for next week is more Raj. BBT ALWAYS NEEDS MORE RAJ.
L&O
I never expected Anthony Anderson to be so good on Law and Order, or that I would like the new line up of characters so much. I miss McCoy irking judges and defense lawyers alike in the court room, but Cutter has an edge as well, and it's awesome to see him and McCoy clash over cases. This week dealt with the shooting of four cops by an informant that two of them used as a pawn to become detectives. It was a really good case, and the defense pushed that the shooter was driven to protect his mother from the cops, who had pretty much given him an ultimatum of death by the crime lord (inevitable if he ratted), or being the cause his mother would go to prison for. It was eventually revealed that he was bitter over the fact that they didn't pay him enough under the table for his informant tips. On the sideline, the two detectives struggled over loyalties to their police brethren, or sticking by the book and allowing justice to play out in the courts. I adore this show, and it seems like it's really sinking its teeth into some complex stories, even if some are "ripped from the headlines" while SVU vears off into crazy-land with Stabler, Benson, and company pulling all sorts of shenanigins (so help me I still love it). Criminal Intent might just be on the rocks too, since it seems that Goren's getting written off. Okay, that I understand, because even though D'Onofrio is awesome, his character was becoming a slightly buffoonish parody of the detective he was in earlier seasons. I don't want to see his partner, Eames, go though! She's such a great character, tough and analytical but not off her rocker like Goren. If it becomes the Jeff Goldblum show (and he starts to go the route of Goren in terms of character) I might have to give it up altogether. Gah. Oh L&O, why do you do this to me?
Trippy Tuesdays....
Southland
DirecTV lied. LIED! The prompter said that this week's case had something to do with a USC student, and instead we get a weird mash-up of USC/our rivals, UCLA/and some Cal State in SULA (Some University, Los Angeles possibly?!) as the highlighted school. I wonder why they didn't just throw in some school that actually exists, like the Closer's done before (thanks, and yes, that was USC too). Sheesh, just cause we're located in South LA doesn't literally mean there's gangs everywhere. Anyway, some girl who was supposedly an "A" student-athlete, turned out to be a crack whore (seriously) who stole from her dealers and made enemies all around because of that. Her footballer boyfriend turned out to be a real louse, and the school tried stonewalling the supremely awesome Detective Lydia Adams as she tried to get to the bottom of the whole thing. Epic fail fake school, because Det. Adams kicks so much ass she has a safe in her home that houses a shotgun which she uses to snipe out gang members. Booyah. I know it wasn't supposed to be funny, but the idiot who was contracted to "take care" of the murder victim said he aimed for her legs so she wouldn't run, and missed. I laughed out loud, literally.
In other news, John and Ben went to see Dewey in his
Oh, and while I loooove Det. Clarke, I got to like Det. Cordero, and the chemistry between him and Lydia. So, where the heck was he this week? We get a new guy, whose name I can't remember, and he ends up being background scenery! Okay, he had a few lines, like verbally re-confirming how amazing Det. Adams is a character, but seriously, bring Cordero back! This new guy had a creeper 'stache anyhow. Eek.
This show needs more Moretta! I like that he and Sammy Bryant are buddies as well as partners (Sammy's jealousy when Nate's buddy from narcotics pops up was undeniably cute), and they still manage to be fantastic as detectives. More squee inducing moments from them? Sammy pretending to hussle one of his youth informants to help the kid get a rep as a tough guy on the street. Thank GOD TNT had the foresight to see what a great show this is and could be, and snapped it up when NBC stupidly canceled it. I'm never going to get tired of saying it, but seriously NBC? Forsaking the mighty 10 PM drama for a talk show with Leno? Lameness to the tenth power.
This last one is way past its write up date (I'm also missing a couple of shows from the weekend, but that's for later), but I have to gush about it. I never got into BSG (Battlestar Galactica), although I should have, because apparently Xena was in it?! OMFG. However, I happened to flip through to SYFY (the spelling is still horrible, by the way) and catch an episode of Caprica a few weeks ago, and now, I'm hooked. It's ridiculous; Frak has snuck into my vocabulary and is threatening to overtake my pirate's like swearing! It's so good, SO SO SO SO GOOD. I'm reduced to babbling. I'll admit, I only half know what's going...okay, my understanding of the plot is probably about 35%-40% in terms of where things are. However, Daniel Graystone's machinations are twisted, and his treatment of cylon-daughter, Zoe was wicked this past week. I'm starting to wonder how he would treat her if he ever finds out Zoe is in the cylon. Anyway, I don't know quite enough about it to comment on how it is relative to BSG (gotta watch that!), but I'm keeping my eye on this one. Looks like SYFY is starting to churn out some good shows; I'm a sucker for Warehouse 13, when is that one coming back?
Can't wait for next week: In Plain Sight and L&O: CI are back, whoo! It's April I'm really gunning for, I NEED FRINGE. What will Peter do once he finds out that Walter stole him from the alternate universe? Will we see Walter Bishop and his old frenemy,
Oh yeah, and did I mention that The United States of Tara is on Monday too? What the frak.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Southland / White Collar
Tuesdays are a tango of time management. Thank goodness the two shows I slavishly follow are on cable channels so they get played multiple times in the span of one night.
This week's White Collar was a vast improvement over last week's snorefest. I adore Mozzie, but even his quips couldn't save last week's dredge. It's getting close to the end of the season, only two more episodes left, or one, but it doesn't seem like we're getting any closer to finding out what Kate's deal is with Fowler, or if Neal is ever going to get that music box. Personally, I think he should just listen to Peter, Mozzie, and everyone else and just give up on Kate. I always do a double take because she looks too much like Peter's wife, Elizabeth. Anyway, Neal went toe to toe with an old rival in some race against the clock to save the kidnapped daughter of one of the tycoons he victimized in his old con artist days. I wonder if the "scary" handler will make a reappearance, he didn't seem all that intimidating when Mozzie and Neal conned him out of suitcase he was supposed to deliver.
Neal's aversion to guns is adorable, and I love the secret "codes" he and Mozzie have, especially when they explain them to Peter. Oh! It was great to see Diane Neal as a guest star, it's fun to see female characters interact with Neal and be completely unaffected by his charm. I hope her character returns.
Southland is one of those shows I wish I had gotten sucked into the first time it was aired on TV, even though it had a short run on NBC. It's such a fast paced, smartly written show, that handles its ensemble of characters so well that I don't mind it when one story jumps to the next. Plus, it's based in my hometown, and I get such a kick out of playing "spot the location." NBC really tripped themselves up by failing to keep this show (in favor of Jay Leno at Primetime?! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) but at least TNT stepped in to save it and give it a new home.
After replaying the truncated first season, TNT debuted season two of Southland and it was UH MAY ZING. AMAZING. Where do I even start to express my love for this show? I love that there are strong female characters, like Detective Lydia Adams, who is excellent at her job, loyal to her partner, and doesn't take guff from anyone. She had so many great moments in the first season, from chewing out a superior in her boss's office over homicide priorities to sticking up for a single mother, and finally in the season finale, sniping gang members who had invaded her home while she was harboring a witness in a gang related case. She's just made of so much win.
I love all of the characters, really, from the detectives to the cops, and I love that their flaws as well as their better points are presented. Southland gives us the mundane calls, and general idiocy that cops have to deal with which offsets the darker, grim cases that usually deal with homicide. I am so excited for this season, I hope it gets a greater audience now that it's on TNT and seems to be getting the attention it so rightly deserves.
This week's White Collar was a vast improvement over last week's snorefest. I adore Mozzie, but even his quips couldn't save last week's dredge. It's getting close to the end of the season, only two more episodes left, or one, but it doesn't seem like we're getting any closer to finding out what Kate's deal is with Fowler, or if Neal is ever going to get that music box. Personally, I think he should just listen to Peter, Mozzie, and everyone else and just give up on Kate. I always do a double take because she looks too much like Peter's wife, Elizabeth. Anyway, Neal went toe to toe with an old rival in some race against the clock to save the kidnapped daughter of one of the tycoons he victimized in his old con artist days. I wonder if the "scary" handler will make a reappearance, he didn't seem all that intimidating when Mozzie and Neal conned him out of suitcase he was supposed to deliver.
Neal's aversion to guns is adorable, and I love the secret "codes" he and Mozzie have, especially when they explain them to Peter. Oh! It was great to see Diane Neal as a guest star, it's fun to see female characters interact with Neal and be completely unaffected by his charm. I hope her character returns.
Southland is one of those shows I wish I had gotten sucked into the first time it was aired on TV, even though it had a short run on NBC. It's such a fast paced, smartly written show, that handles its ensemble of characters so well that I don't mind it when one story jumps to the next. Plus, it's based in my hometown, and I get such a kick out of playing "spot the location." NBC really tripped themselves up by failing to keep this show (in favor of Jay Leno at Primetime?! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) but at least TNT stepped in to save it and give it a new home.
After replaying the truncated first season, TNT debuted season two of Southland and it was UH MAY ZING. AMAZING. Where do I even start to express my love for this show? I love that there are strong female characters, like Detective Lydia Adams, who is excellent at her job, loyal to her partner, and doesn't take guff from anyone. She had so many great moments in the first season, from chewing out a superior in her boss's office over homicide priorities to sticking up for a single mother, and finally in the season finale, sniping gang members who had invaded her home while she was harboring a witness in a gang related case. She's just made of so much win.
I love all of the characters, really, from the detectives to the cops, and I love that their flaws as well as their better points are presented. Southland gives us the mundane calls, and general idiocy that cops have to deal with which offsets the darker, grim cases that usually deal with homicide. I am so excited for this season, I hope it gets a greater audience now that it's on TNT and seems to be getting the attention it so rightly deserves.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday Night Madness
I'll just come out and say it, I'm terrible at this blog thing. After a hectic February, the Winter Olympics (and my futile attempts to catch most of the figure skating, thanks NBC :P), and half of primetime TV going on hiatus I'm going to try and reboot this. Starting off with this crazy weekend and leading up to the most busy night of the week...Monday.
Sunday:
Every Saturday, or Sunday, depending, I try to watch Legend of the Seeker. It's delightfully campy in the vein that Xena: Warrior Princess was, and beautifully shot. Of course, it's filmed in New Zealand so that gives it ten zillion bonus points and my automatic vote. Sunday's episode centered around Richard and the gang saving Kahlan from the nefarious Sisters of the Dark and this evil king whom they'd made a deal with. Basically, it was Richard, Cara, and Zedd going undercover as a princess, her brother the prince, and their aunt (the scariest looking man-woman in drag ever O_O). Highlights of the episode included Cara's attempts at rhyming prose, trying and failing to act in a overtly feminine manner, and of course, the requisite fight scenes. Those always rock.
I've only become addicted to Big Love in the past year or so, but I've fallen hard. This show has too many things to focus on, and this season is making my head spin with all of the varying plot lines. It's still good, and even though the eps seem to be hit or miss, this week was a solid one. Some thoughts:
I go back and forth on who my favorite characters are, but I have a solid admiration for Nicky and I love that this season she seems to be discovering herself and building a life separate from the compound and her polygamist upbringing. Her ex, JJ is super creepy, and I'm seriously suspecting that he uses his sister, Wanda for disturbing egg harvesting practices or something. He's getting close to Roman Grant 2.o. Nicky's brother, Alby, has always had that aura of "creeper," and even when he was courting his illicit paramour, Dale, he did it in a decidedly cringe-worthy fashion. Still, it's so heartbreaking to see what he's being put through this season! I thought I'd lose it when he found Dale's body hanging in the apartment they'd rented for their meet ups, and this week, when he got so close to reaching to his sister and finally, shut down after hearing the disapproval from his deceased father (Papa Grant) it was shattering to see him retreat from Nicky, essentially shutting down and closing off all emotion. I'm surprised he didn't catch on to Laura's admission of guilt in outing him and Dale to Bill Hendrickson.
Speaking of which, I wanted so badly to throw something at the TV every time Bill blabbed about his beliefs and polygamy in Sunday's episode. It was so good to hear Marilyn call him a hypocrite to his face, and watch Ana not buy into his bullshit. That scene highlighted how blind Bill is about the hypocrisy of his beliefs. How interesting that Margie's gone and snagged a second husband, even if he's only her hubby on paper. I doubt that's going to last for very long, since Goren seems to have a developing interest in her.
Sarah's up and leaving to Portland with her husband, and although I wish Amanda Seyfried wouldn't leave the show, at least her character is getting away from the mounting snowball of drama that's brewing back at the Hendrickson household.
Good for Barb in sticking to her convictions regarding her fellow housewives and their RX addictions. It might throw a stick in the road for Bill's campaign, but I'm glad she stood up to him, and the naysayers and kept with it. Thank goodness she stopped trying to be the unintentional condescending big boss to the casino workers.
New Teenie: do not want :|
Monday:
Monday nights are making me wish I had a DV-R. At least with satellite we get multiple replays in the same evening, so I can stagger my viewings. Yes, I do watch far too much TV and yes, I do analyze how I'm going to get my fix and yes, I do realize that episodes are on Hulu, however I like my shows on my telly. Anyway, I tried to squeeze in Damages, How I Met Your Mother, Law and Order (original flavor), The Big Bang Theory, and a bit of Life Unexpected. Whew.
Like Big Love, I've only gotten into Damages in the second season or so. I staggered the show then, and was a little fuzzy on the conclusion of the season. This season is great. Where to start? Well, for one thing, I'm devastated that Tom Shayes is getting killed off. By now I'm pretty sure it's got to do with his attempting to retrieve money from the Tobin ponzi scheme for his own family. Whatever thing he was involved with Ellen in seems to have been forgotten. I vacillate between rooting for and hoping Joe Tobin fails spectacularly during any given episode. He's a little like Bill Hendrickson in that, just when you're ready to write them off as completely self absorbed idiots, they do something that surprises you and brings you back to just this side of hoping they pull through okay. For the former it usually kicks in when he actually practices what he preaches with his family, and I guess the same applies for the latter.
I always wonder what Patti has up her sleeve, what she means by making her newest hire meet up with Ellen, and what role the architect dude is going to play in her life. I'm starting to wonder if she did have a part in Tom's death...
I missed most of HIMYM, but the bits I did catch didn't really bring the laughs. What gives?
Law and Order OG has moved to Mondays?! AUGH. That's both a boon and a blessing. The old dinosaur came roaring back to life with back to back episodes and I gotta say, I think Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson's detectives are growing on me. I was so used to the young old dichotomy of Orbach and whatever hot young cop he got paired up with for the longest time that I gave up on the show after he left (okay, I stuck around for a while because Jesse L. Martin was fab as Det. Green). Anyway, it fell into this schlump of ripping stories from the headlines without putting enough of a fictional spin on them that made them seem like serialized hour long news spots. It feels like SVU is starting to hit a snag with their plots, but they've gone the over the top crazy route instead.
I thought the two storylines were going to be related, or connected somehow, but they turned out to be completely different. The first had to do with the murder of an entire family due to some type of metal music influencing a highly disturbed teen. The second had to do with the brutal death of a charter school student at the hands an inner city boy jealous over the impact the kid had on his little brother as a role model, and his friends who had some issues of their own to work out. Both plots were a lot better than I'm making them out to be, but by golly, they really got the feel of old school Law and Order episodes down. This show is practically as old as I am, which is ancient by Hollywood standards, and it's still ticking!
When the Big Bang Theory gets it right, they really get it right. I loved Raj's speaker shirt (how cute is Kunal Nayar? So cute), the whole plot about the boys seeing Stan Lee at their usual haunt, the comic book store, and repurcussions! Yay! for Sheldon's driving Penny to the hospital a few episodes back. I love it when things that have happened in a TV show's universe are referenced in later episodes. Continuity for the win. I'm also glad the judge didn't kowtow to Sheldon's smarminess over his presiding over traffic court instead of some major case. The little script he wrote up for Penny was funny, and Leonard wasn't a huge prat in this one. Sheldon's glee over his restraining orders is weird, and giggle worthy.
That's it! For now anyway.
Sunday:
Every Saturday, or Sunday, depending, I try to watch Legend of the Seeker. It's delightfully campy in the vein that Xena: Warrior Princess was, and beautifully shot. Of course, it's filmed in New Zealand so that gives it ten zillion bonus points and my automatic vote. Sunday's episode centered around Richard and the gang saving Kahlan from the nefarious Sisters of the Dark and this evil king whom they'd made a deal with. Basically, it was Richard, Cara, and Zedd going undercover as a princess, her brother the prince, and their aunt (the scariest looking man-woman in drag ever O_O). Highlights of the episode included Cara's attempts at rhyming prose, trying and failing to act in a overtly feminine manner, and of course, the requisite fight scenes. Those always rock.
I've only become addicted to Big Love in the past year or so, but I've fallen hard. This show has too many things to focus on, and this season is making my head spin with all of the varying plot lines. It's still good, and even though the eps seem to be hit or miss, this week was a solid one. Some thoughts:
I go back and forth on who my favorite characters are, but I have a solid admiration for Nicky and I love that this season she seems to be discovering herself and building a life separate from the compound and her polygamist upbringing. Her ex, JJ is super creepy, and I'm seriously suspecting that he uses his sister, Wanda for disturbing egg harvesting practices or something. He's getting close to Roman Grant 2.o. Nicky's brother, Alby, has always had that aura of "creeper," and even when he was courting his illicit paramour, Dale, he did it in a decidedly cringe-worthy fashion. Still, it's so heartbreaking to see what he's being put through this season! I thought I'd lose it when he found Dale's body hanging in the apartment they'd rented for their meet ups, and this week, when he got so close to reaching to his sister and finally, shut down after hearing the disapproval from his deceased father (Papa Grant) it was shattering to see him retreat from Nicky, essentially shutting down and closing off all emotion. I'm surprised he didn't catch on to Laura's admission of guilt in outing him and Dale to Bill Hendrickson.
Speaking of which, I wanted so badly to throw something at the TV every time Bill blabbed about his beliefs and polygamy in Sunday's episode. It was so good to hear Marilyn call him a hypocrite to his face, and watch Ana not buy into his bullshit. That scene highlighted how blind Bill is about the hypocrisy of his beliefs. How interesting that Margie's gone and snagged a second husband, even if he's only her hubby on paper. I doubt that's going to last for very long, since Goren seems to have a developing interest in her.
Sarah's up and leaving to Portland with her husband, and although I wish Amanda Seyfried wouldn't leave the show, at least her character is getting away from the mounting snowball of drama that's brewing back at the Hendrickson household.
Good for Barb in sticking to her convictions regarding her fellow housewives and their RX addictions. It might throw a stick in the road for Bill's campaign, but I'm glad she stood up to him, and the naysayers and kept with it. Thank goodness she stopped trying to be the unintentional condescending big boss to the casino workers.
New Teenie: do not want :|
Monday:
Monday nights are making me wish I had a DV-R. At least with satellite we get multiple replays in the same evening, so I can stagger my viewings. Yes, I do watch far too much TV and yes, I do analyze how I'm going to get my fix and yes, I do realize that episodes are on Hulu, however I like my shows on my telly. Anyway, I tried to squeeze in Damages, How I Met Your Mother, Law and Order (original flavor), The Big Bang Theory, and a bit of Life Unexpected. Whew.
Like Big Love, I've only gotten into Damages in the second season or so. I staggered the show then, and was a little fuzzy on the conclusion of the season. This season is great. Where to start? Well, for one thing, I'm devastated that Tom Shayes is getting killed off. By now I'm pretty sure it's got to do with his attempting to retrieve money from the Tobin ponzi scheme for his own family. Whatever thing he was involved with Ellen in seems to have been forgotten. I vacillate between rooting for and hoping Joe Tobin fails spectacularly during any given episode. He's a little like Bill Hendrickson in that, just when you're ready to write them off as completely self absorbed idiots, they do something that surprises you and brings you back to just this side of hoping they pull through okay. For the former it usually kicks in when he actually practices what he preaches with his family, and I guess the same applies for the latter.
I always wonder what Patti has up her sleeve, what she means by making her newest hire meet up with Ellen, and what role the architect dude is going to play in her life. I'm starting to wonder if she did have a part in Tom's death...
I missed most of HIMYM, but the bits I did catch didn't really bring the laughs. What gives?
Law and Order OG has moved to Mondays?! AUGH. That's both a boon and a blessing. The old dinosaur came roaring back to life with back to back episodes and I gotta say, I think Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson's detectives are growing on me. I was so used to the young old dichotomy of Orbach and whatever hot young cop he got paired up with for the longest time that I gave up on the show after he left (okay, I stuck around for a while because Jesse L. Martin was fab as Det. Green). Anyway, it fell into this schlump of ripping stories from the headlines without putting enough of a fictional spin on them that made them seem like serialized hour long news spots. It feels like SVU is starting to hit a snag with their plots, but they've gone the over the top crazy route instead.
I thought the two storylines were going to be related, or connected somehow, but they turned out to be completely different. The first had to do with the murder of an entire family due to some type of metal music influencing a highly disturbed teen. The second had to do with the brutal death of a charter school student at the hands an inner city boy jealous over the impact the kid had on his little brother as a role model, and his friends who had some issues of their own to work out. Both plots were a lot better than I'm making them out to be, but by golly, they really got the feel of old school Law and Order episodes down. This show is practically as old as I am, which is ancient by Hollywood standards, and it's still ticking!
When the Big Bang Theory gets it right, they really get it right. I loved Raj's speaker shirt (how cute is Kunal Nayar? So cute), the whole plot about the boys seeing Stan Lee at their usual haunt, the comic book store, and repurcussions! Yay! for Sheldon's driving Penny to the hospital a few episodes back. I love it when things that have happened in a TV show's universe are referenced in later episodes. Continuity for the win. I'm also glad the judge didn't kowtow to Sheldon's smarminess over his presiding over traffic court instead of some major case. The little script he wrote up for Penny was funny, and Leonard wasn't a huge prat in this one. Sheldon's glee over his restraining orders is weird, and giggle worthy.
That's it! For now anyway.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Testing, Testing, One, Two
Hello Blog!
I've put my travel blog on hiatus for the forseeable future. Actually, it's been defunct since Writing 340 finished...and I stopped traveling. Whoops. In the meantime, I've been watching the television. My TV and I are joined remote and hand, and I need an outlet. I should probably be worried that I discuss the merits and actions of primetime TV cops and fictional physicists with my dog because I get so worked up. So, I'm writing this, and hopefully someone out there watches a few of the shows I do.
Alrighty, here's an average rundown of weekly schedule of things on my telly.
Monday (the real doozy of the week):
The Closer - TNT
Top Gear - BBC America
How I Met Your Mother - CBS
Heroes (in theory, in actuality I just read the synopses on the Heroes Wiki :X ) - NBC
Life Unexpected - The CW
The Big Bang Theory - CBS
Damages - FX
Hoarders - A&E
Tuesday:
White Collar - USA
NCIS - CBS
Southland - TNT
Wednesday:
Life Unexpected - The CW
Glee - Fox
Law and Order: SVU - NBC
Thursday:
Project Runway - Lifetime
Bones - Fox
Fringe - Fox
Friday:
The Ricky Gervais Show (this is a premature add, but c'mon, there's no way I'm NOT watching it) - HBO
Saturday:
...
Sunday:
Legend of the Seeker - The CW, or WGN
Big Love - HBO
Gosh, after looking at that list, which doesn't include a couple of shows currently off season on USA, I feel like I need to sign up for a couch potato diet. Whatever. I should mention that in between all of these shows, I watch reruns of Buffy on Logo, Star Trek (circa the Shatner) on KDOC, House Hunters and its variants on HGTV, and last but not least Good Eats and practically the entire Food Network lineup.
Oh and about me? Other than the fact that I need to pick up a book soon....
Marshall and Lily on HIMYM are my favorite couple on TV, Leonard and Penny needed to end three months ago, Top Gear makes me want to be well informed about cars even if I only care about how pretty they are, Southland makes me love my hometown, and Fringe makes me want to be related to Walter Bishop. Welcome to the couch! Grab a seat and some munchies and let's watch some TV :D
I've put my travel blog on hiatus for the forseeable future. Actually, it's been defunct since Writing 340 finished...and I stopped traveling. Whoops. In the meantime, I've been watching the television. My TV and I are joined remote and hand, and I need an outlet. I should probably be worried that I discuss the merits and actions of primetime TV cops and fictional physicists with my dog because I get so worked up. So, I'm writing this, and hopefully someone out there watches a few of the shows I do.
Alrighty, here's an average rundown of weekly schedule of things on my telly.
Monday (the real doozy of the week):
The Closer - TNT
Top Gear - BBC America
How I Met Your Mother - CBS
Heroes (in theory, in actuality I just read the synopses on the Heroes Wiki :X ) - NBC
Life Unexpected - The CW
The Big Bang Theory - CBS
Damages - FX
Hoarders - A&E
Tuesday:
White Collar - USA
NCIS - CBS
Southland - TNT
Wednesday:
Life Unexpected - The CW
Glee - Fox
Law and Order: SVU - NBC
Thursday:
Project Runway - Lifetime
Bones - Fox
Fringe - Fox
Friday:
The Ricky Gervais Show (this is a premature add, but c'mon, there's no way I'm NOT watching it) - HBO
Saturday:
...
Sunday:
Legend of the Seeker - The CW, or WGN
Big Love - HBO
Gosh, after looking at that list, which doesn't include a couple of shows currently off season on USA, I feel like I need to sign up for a couch potato diet. Whatever. I should mention that in between all of these shows, I watch reruns of Buffy on Logo, Star Trek (circa the Shatner) on KDOC, House Hunters and its variants on HGTV, and last but not least Good Eats and practically the entire Food Network lineup.
Oh and about me? Other than the fact that I need to pick up a book soon....
Marshall and Lily on HIMYM are my favorite couple on TV, Leonard and Penny needed to end three months ago, Top Gear makes me want to be well informed about cars even if I only care about how pretty they are, Southland makes me love my hometown, and Fringe makes me want to be related to Walter Bishop. Welcome to the couch! Grab a seat and some munchies and let's watch some TV :D
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