Monday, October 15th, 2007
11:00 Life Is Wild
12:00 The Hardy Boys
01:00 Superman
Life Is Wild. Episode 2. My enthusiasm for this new series only grows larger and larger. This outing opens the tapestry of the show even wider by sending our heroine to school for the first time and introducting some really rather excellent new characters. Aside from that storyline, all the other plot lines are very good, too. Maybe giving every character a different plot is a bit much, but it pretty much works in this instance. The cast shine. The location is sumptuous. And, after only two weeks, I really really care about all of these characters.
The Hardy Boys. Season 3, Episode 1. When The Hardy Boys returned for it's third season, in October of 1978, it was as a very different show. During the first two seasons, the stories were lightweight and breezy. Joe was a wisecracking reluctant hero and nobody ever died. These detectives investigated 'mysteries' - not murders - and they tended to stumble into the middle of their cases, while doing more mundane work (like delivering important documents to/for their father, they were always doing that).
Season 3 changed the tone of the series in a major way. And it alienated fans. Ratings fell. And it was cancelled. I, myself, was fan of the show back then and I disliked the third season. Imagine my surprise tonight when I saw the premier for the first time in - maybe - 25 years and discovered that it is really rather superb.
We open with Joe and his girlfriend and... we stay with them. For ages and ages. These early scenes introduce us to Jaimie, his Summer fling and the first girl we've seen Joe get serious about. So serious, in fact, that he proposes. And on it goes, and it's all very sweet and romantic and unlike anything the show has ever done before. About a quarter of the way in, Jaimie is killed by a drunk driver. And it's quite a shocking moment. It's understated and - therefore - all the more shocking because of it. Also, unlike the death of you-know-who on Prison Break, it is a shocking death that takes places within the context of the story in progress.
Discovering that the drunken driver is under investigation for a much more 'important' crime, and will not be prosecuted for the hit and run killing, Joe goes completely off the deep end and into vigilante mode. He sets up an elaborate cover, against the wishes of his (barely seen) brother Frank, and rapidly becomes 'best friends' with the drunken driver in an effort to get him prosecuted for that much more 'important' crime.
And all of it is... superb. It's not like anything that happened in previous seasons, but Shaun Cassidy has absolutely no problem playing the dark side of Joe Hardy. In fact, Joe becomes seriously cool and dangerous for the first time in the series. And it's awesome. I can't wait for Part Two!
Superman. Season 2, Episode 17. One of the best episodes for this series. Bizarro, the not-quite-right clone of Superman, returns ten episodes after his first appearance. He didn't die after all (gasp!) but is, in fact, alive and wandering around in a confused and lonely state. If he's not "Superman" then who the heck am he? It's a wonderful story. Quite sad. The way Superman and Lois treat him (with honest empathy throuoghout) only serves to raise the episode up even higher. The score is noteworthy (particularly during the aerial sequences) and the resolution is very fitting. Gee, I guess that's the last we'll ever see of Bizarro...
Highlight? The Hardy Boys.
Life Is Wild, Superman, The Hardy Boys Mysteries
