Doctor Who, Life Is Wild, Superman, The Hardy Boys Mysteries

Monday, November 19th, 2007

06:00 Life Is Wild
07:00 Doctor Who
11:00 The Hardy Boys
12:00 Superman

Life Is Wild. Episode 4 uses the same basic story as Episode 3, which isn't a good sign. Once again, Katie has a choice to make. Will she do the right thing, and side with her famly? Or will she be selfish? And, just as with Episode 3, we spend three-quarters of the episode watching her prepare to do the wrong thing before, at the last minute, coming to her senses. But that's not the worst thing about this disappointing episode. The storyline given to 11-year-old Chase is the worst piece of nonsense I've seen in weeks. He's taken it into his head to make reparations for all the crimes against the black population of South Africa. This involved buying lunch for a random girl at school, and preventing the cleaner at the lodge from doing her job. This isn't just nonsense, it's embarrassing to watch.

Doctor Who. Season 27, Episode 12. The Doctor, Rose and (the absolutely brilliant) Captain Jack are beamed into various TV Quiz shows (Big Brother, Weakest Link, etc.) and have to make their way out. It's completely off the wall and great fun to watch. Particularly the scenes where Jack and the Doctor work together.

The Hardy Boys. Season 3, Episode 5. Another great script from the forgotten season of The Hardy Boys. The first ten minutes or so follows a girl called Ria who is being followed by a mysterious man with a tattoo on his hand. To escape him she hides in a boat yard and stumbles into something she shouldn't see: a group of modern day pirates who hijack yachts and sell them to South American buyers. Ria, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is kidnapped and held for sale to a white slavery ring. Enter Federal Agents Frank and Joe Hardy, on the trail of the missing girl. Some pretty good detective work leads the boys to the girl's last known contacts and they are soon on the trail of the pirates. However, all is not exactly as it seems. Even when the pirates are located and defeated, it turns out that some other players in the game have been lying and the case is far from over. All the twists in the story make for enjoyable viewing and, once again, Joe comes off better than Frank. He's a pretty clever detective, remembering a random but crucial piece of dialogue from earlier in the story, and he's very much the all-action hero again: chasing one of the bad guys up a cliff face and giving him a taste of justice, Joe Hardy style.

Superman. Season 2, Episode 19 is the best episode yet. It opens with the funeral of Clark Kent. Superman is among the mourners and, in flashback, he tells us the events that led to this particular day. Having Superman narrate the story is a big plus. Since he's normally such a stoic individual he's not always the most interesting presence on screen. Batman verbalises his detective work and when he faces the crooks, they usually do a lot of talking. Superman tends to stay silent all the time and, since he's basically just a strongman, the final battle of most episodes is often just a slugfest. Having him narrate the story is a great change of pace. We get more insight into him in this episode than in any other episode so far. And it's wonderful.

Aside from that, the story is pretty darn good, too. Clark interviews a man on death row, hours before execution. Curious about the case, Clark does some methodical (and enjoyable-to-watch) detective work and uncovers a vital clue to the man's innocence. However, at this point, his car is blown to bits by a bomb and "Clark Kent" has to appear to be dead for a while.

It's pretty much a flawless episode. The story is engrossing and very well told. The character work, on the regulars and semi-regulars, is impressive. The battle at the end is visually exciting. And the final scene is a jaw-dropper: it features the execution of the real killer. Who, just as the switch is flipped, realises why Clark survived the bomb blast...

Highlight? Superman.