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.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
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!
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