Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
06:00 The Big Bang Theory
06:30 Damages
07:30 My Boys
08:00 The Closer
09:00 House
10:00 Journeyman
11:00 Cupid
12:00 Cavemen
12:30 Tell Me You Love Me
The Big Bang Theory. Episode 2. Watched it again. Very funny.
Damages. Episode 4. I've been watching this, recognising it as 'quality TV' but not really getting 'excited' about it. Until now. This outing had a lot of bluff and double-bluff. It had treachery, lies and double-lies. It had a nasty twist. It unspooled stories in three different timelines. And it turned my two least favourite characters into my favourites. Finally, for the first time since the show started, giving me two characters to care about. Not bad for one episode.
Anastasia Griffith (sister of Jamie Bamber) didn't impress me much in the pilot. Neither did Katie, her character. Until this episode. She was the complete focus of this story. Lying about what she saw, because her lover told her what he saw. And she trusted him. He was lying, setting her up. And - as a consequence - Katie had a pretty rough ride. It was rivetting to watch.
Noah Bean has impressed me even less, as her brother. Now, suddenly he has a storyline. Will he cheat on his girlfriend? And is this connected to the case? Everything else is. The idea that this poor guy is going to be murdered has been revealed to us, but now - maybe, because we start to see it play out - it starts to have poingnancy. I felt for the guy, like his trusting sister: a fly in a big mean web. And Bean played his temptation scenes brilliantly.
Or maybe I'm just excited because Damages is sharp contrast to fluff like Private Practice, Big Shots & Dirty Sexy Money. And watching all three over one week-end left me a tiny bit depressed about the quality of the new TV season. of course, Damages is dying in the ratings. Sigh.
My Boys. Episode 18. Two plots, both funny. PJ is contacted by an ex from a summer seven years, and she goes all 'girlie' at the mention of his name. Lots of laughs in that. Meanwhile, two of the Boys go into business together. Flawless.
The Closer. Season 3, Episode 12. Flashbacks/Flashforwards dominate this story as Brenda and the best dressed cops on TV try to track a murderer, while we also watch the court case that arises weeks/months later from the arrest. The show always has great plots, but we watch for the character stuff. Subtle looks and gestures, seating arrangements, sly digs, etc. make fans like myself squeal with glee and when Brenda finds out a secret from her own fiancé's past it is as painful to us as it is to her.
House. Season 4, Episode 2. Words fail me. How could House get any better? When it's already perfect, why would they tinker with it? Yet, tinker they did and... better it has gotten. House spends this episode with approximately 20 new team members. The sequence where they follow him through the hospital halls (a parody of the shot in the opening titles?) is simply hilarious. All of the new characters are insantly likable, and several of the new cast (Olivia Wilde, Carmen Argenziano, Anne Dudek, Heather Fox, Edi Gathegi, Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson) are worthy of being added to the regular cast. The case is as interesting as ever, and the only twist at the end is that House shows a softer side. That is a twist. Season 3 opened with some of the darkest stories ever. The ending to many episodes was bleak, and the main arc from early last season highlighted the worst possible side of House's nature. This year presents a different side to the character, and the show. What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a creative team who are very very confident about their creation. And, based on episodes like this, they have every right to be. I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens next week.
Journeyman. Episode 2. With Pushing Daisies and Terminator still ahead of us, my next favourite of the 2007 pilots has turned into The Best New Show On TV. Hands down. There is no competition. Journeyman presents a new twist on the idea of time travel, it (so far) has presented us with stories that have a nice little twist at the end, and (so far) it has done the novel thing of giving the hero a wife who supports him, even though she does not understand him. That's a twist for TV shows. The opening scenes where he disapeared while on a plane, leaving her to deal with the security people, was a high-point for me in the cementing of what this show will be about. Really about. The marrige.
Cupid. Episode 5. This has always been my least favourite episode of Cupid. I'm not even sure I have watched it since I taped it. I remember it as the episode where Trevor and Claire fight. Really fight. The one where he thinks she has betrayed him and set him up for commitment, due to his delusion that he is Cupid, The God Of Love. And, since I didn't enjoy such an artifical conflict, I've harboured ill feelings for the episode for the past decade.
Upon rewatching the darn thing, I'm prepared to amend my review somewhat. I still think Trevor overhearing Claire on her dictaphone is clumsy and 'TV' not 'real life'. But, the actual story of the episode (a girl - Lisa Loeb - goes back to see the boy she loved when she was 13) is sweet and honest, peppered with flashbacks for all the characters of their first loves. I'd forgotten that part of the episode. And how genuine all of the little stories were. Plus, I'd forgotten the excellent (and obvious) twist at the end of the main story.
Finally, it's great to see a young Paul Adelstein as comic relief.
Cavemen. Episode 1. The most-hated show on TV finally makes it to air. The pilot I watched during the summer has been re-cast and re-thought, but it is essentially the exact same show. Which means? Everyone alive hates it. Except me, I really like it.
While the show is lacking in the laughs-department, it is still clever and likable. Using Cavemen as a metaphor for racism is a good idea. The two leads are, I think, very good. And their characters are very well crafted and interesting. The brother (now recast) is still just The Joey: dumb and funny.
Tell Me You Love Me. Episode 4. It moves slower than any other show on TV. It is also more heartbreaking than any other show on TV. While Ally Walker still steals all the honours for me, I have to say the storyline where recently broken-up Jamie obsesses over her ex was the one that hit home most this time. Michelle Borth got her first chance to show Jamie's sympathetic side, and I loved it.
Highlight? House.
Cavemen, Cupid, Damages, House, Journeyman, My Boys, Tell Me You Love Me, The Big Bang Theory, The Closer
