Monday, September 24th, 2007
12:00 Superman
12:25 Acapulco HEAT
01:15 The Hardy Boys Mysteries
Superman. Season 2, Episode 14. A meteor is falling towards Metropolis (why does it always have to be Metropolis, as opposed to anywhere else on the planet?) and when Superman, Professor Hamilton and a team head up to destroy the thing, they discover a giant man strapped to the back of it! Deflecting the meteor - instead of destroying it - dislodges the man, wakes him and sends him plummeting towards Metropolis (why does it always have to be Metropolis, as opposed to anywhere else on the planet?). Once there, he goes on a violent rampage.
The opening scenes have some very cool imagery, what with the giant man dwarfing the space shuttle and all, and the middle section is just a big Wham! Bam! spectacular with loads of scenes of Supes alternatively fighting the giant man, or saving people from his wrath. The last section, the defeat of the guy, is suspenseful and highlights Superman as a clever hero, as well as being a strong one. All appears lost, but Superman comes up with something cool.
It's a good episode, and it emphasises Superman's strengths and weaknesses as a character. He's a all-round can-do superhero, but he never ever doubts himself. He just puts his mind to it, and gets the job done. I much prefer Spider-Man, who is plagued with doubts all the time and is - therefore - much more interesting. Having said that, I'm enjoying the Superman series and this is a good episode.
Acapulco HEAT. Episode 2. After a weak opening hour, Acapulco HEAT puts it's best foot forward with this second episode (the conclusion of a two-part story).
The opening third has a long, and cool, chase sequence. The middle section has a very fresh, original bomb defusing scene, and the final third has a really cool twist in the story that I just did not see coming.
When I first saw this show, syndicated in Canada in 1994, I was impressed by the characters and their interaction. Although the setting is fantastical (spies posing as models in Acapulco) the telling of the stories is extremely down to earth. The regulars piece everything together with rapid common sense and the viewer is rarely ahead of them. It's frustrating to watch action-adventure shows where the hero is twenty minutes behind the viewer in figuring out the "surprise twists" and Acapulco HEAT is an example of the genre done right. After a weak opener, I was a tad worried that I had purchased a DVD box set on the strength of false memories, but I'm resassured after this outing that I'm in for a good ride.
The Hardy Boys Mysteries. Season 2, Episode 20. After a girl dies in Hawaii, her father hires Frank and Joe to find out who she had become in the years since leaving home. Frank becomes smitten with her memory. It's a plotlist I've seen on shows like Lou Grant and Quantum Leap and I must admit to being a sucker for it. The idea of man falling in love with a woman based solely on her impact on the world around her is wonderfully romantic, I think. And the Hardy Boys version of the story is pitch-perfect.
Parker Stevenson is wonderful as the lonely Frank, haunted by his inability to save the girl (he was near her on the beach the day she drowned), and Shaun Cassidy is likewise great as the younger brother, very worried about his sibling and getting pushing aside when he tries to rein him in. Their fight scene, one of the only times (maybe the only time?) we see the brothers shouting at one another, is powerfully acted. But, across the board it's a strong cast. Jack Jones, Jack Hogan & Maren Jensen (from Battlestar Galactica) are especially good. Jensen appears in several scenes, shown on a large TV screen, as the dead girl performing a song in a local bar. The song is wonderful, and there's no credit given for the real singer (Jensen is miming to what is probably not her own voice).
Being the Hardy Boys, it all turns into light-mystery fare, and before too long their hotel room is ransacked by a bad guy (John Mark Robinson). This always happens in The Hardy Boys. Their room is forever being broken into and searched. In happened last week in the train episode, and the week before in the voodoo episode. In fact, Frank appears totally non-plussed when he walks into the torn-apart hotel room, as if he was just expecting it to happen. Again.
My favourite part? Joe (who as played, and I understand scripted, by Shaun Cassidy is quite adept at witty one-liners in every episode) has been cornered by a very attractive, and forceful waitress in the local bar (a funny turn by Tara Buckman who I recognise, but can't place. Maybe it was her Buck Rogers episode). "What's your sign?" she asks leaning in on him. "Yield!" quips Joe, fleeing the scene.
Best show of the night? A great nights' TV, but all those shots of Frank staring off into the surf cinched it for me. Hardy Boys is the one that I loved most from start to finish.
Superman, Acapulco HEAT, The Hardy Boys Mysteries
