Mon, Feb 26th, 2008
08:30 Doctor Who
09:15 Law & Order
10:00 Andy Barker, PI
10:25 Black Scorpion
11:10 Son Of The Beach
11:35 Blade
Doctor Who. Season 28, Episode 6. Although we now have the Cybermen in action, there still seems to be a lot of padding in this second part of a two-parter. The good guys split up into three teams and it takes for ages for them to do their thing (and - in most cases - get killed). The episode gets points for the shock death of Jackie, the sudden departure of Mickey and the general poignancy afforded to the dying Cybermen, but I feel the whole thing would have worked much better as one episode.
Law & Order. Season 18, Episode 2. Lupo's second case is much better than his first. A murder and kidnapping occurs during a city-wide black-out. Consequently it feels like no episode of Law & Order I ever saw back in the 90s. It's also got a few good action scenes, where Lupo comes off as a very determined cop indeed. He and Green work well together.
Andy Barker, PI. Episode 5. Green from Law & Order appears briefly in this odd, somewhat disappointing, episode of Andy Barker. Andy spends most of the episode looking for a toy belonging to his baby. And while he does get mixed up with drug dealers by accident, laughs are thin on the ground.
Black Scorpion. Episode 1. Cheap nonsense about a policewoman who does double time as a super-powered crime-fighter. There are occasional sparks of wit in the script, but most of the cast are weak and continual insertion of explosions from other (higher budget) productions is jarring. This opening episode concerns two warring bad guys, with Black Scorpion caught in the middle. Yawn.
Son Of The Beach. Episode 1. Not as good as Timothy Stack's superb Night Stand, but Son Of The Beach (a very exact Baywatch parody) has a lot to recommend it. It sometimes veers uncomfortably close to soft-core porn but the relentless barage of gags cannot fail to raise a smile. It's a pity all the cast can't deliver lines the way Stack can. This opening episode sees Notch Johnson helping sick kids, rescuing kidnapped asian girls, chasing the bad guys and giving advice direct-to-camera on dealing with sundry venereal diseases. What a guy!
Blade. Episode 2. This is an exciting television series. In terms of it's writing. The sleazy cop from episode 1 (the one killed by Krista) is the last character you'd ever expect to see again. Yet, here he is. At the start and the end of this episode. Making his way back to Detroit. Clever. Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Blade and Marcus are both after the same person (while Krista come to terms with being a vampire). The character dynamics between Marcus and the others in his camp are simply superb. Blade gets more screen-time than in Episode 1 and we get a chance to observe his (brutal) work methods. Even cooler is the character of Fritz who makes quite an impression, only to get killed off in very surprising fashion. Brilliant!
Highlight? Blade
Doctor Who, Law & Order, Andy Barker PI, Black Scorpion, Son Of The Beach, Blade
