Journeyman, Reaper, Seinfeld, Taxi

Sunday, December 23rd, 2007

06:00 Journeyman
07:00 Reaper
11:30 Seinfeld
12:00 Taxi

Journeyman. Episode 12 had some clumsy elements (the leaving behind of the camera, for one, and the initial attempt to get it back - where Livia just handed it over!) but - on the whole - it was still a superb episode of a superb series. Dan returns to 2007 (2008?) to discover that he has changed history in several major ways. And one of those major ways had a big impact on him: his son is gone, replaced by a daughter he has never seen before. As always with this wonderful show the impact this has on his wife is well written and well played. She, of course, has only ever known them to have a daughter and is horrified by his talk of "changing things back". Wonderful stuff. Great revelations, too, about why Dan can travel in time and a nice cliffhanger.

Reaper. Episode 10. This is becoming one of the shows I love most, and look forward to most. Even more so now that they have made The Devil's Daugher a regular character and, even better, a love interest for Sam. Erratic, crazy Andi only appears for two short scenes and Tyler Labine is hilarious from start to finish.

Seinfeld. Season 8, Episode 9. George stops having sex, stops thinking about sex all the time, and - as a consequence - becomes super-smart, finally achieving his potential. Elaine tries the same thing, to aid her almost-a-doctor boyfriend, but - as consequence - becomes super-dumb. Yes, one episode after Jerry and Kramer swapped traits, it's time for George and Elaine to do the same thing. It's obvious that, in this 8th season, the writers are playing around and having fun with the show they inherited from Larry David and the results are delicious to observe.

Taxi. Episode 30. The (wonderful) theme from taxi is called, of course, "Angela". Named for a character called Angela Matusa who appeared in the show's third episode as overweight and shy blind date for Alex. This episode sees the return of Angela, now slimmed down and professing strong feelings for Alex. Feelings that he does not reciprocate. It's an episode with a lot of heart, but not a lot of laughs. Alex has no interest in her, and it's clear that he doesn't and that it has nothing to do with her looks (slim or otherwise) and they conveyed that very well. The ending is very clever, too. Surprising. Not very rose-tinted glasses, either.

Highlight? Journeyman