Sun, Mar 9th, 2008
06:30 Moonlight
07:30 Supernatural
10:30 The X-Files
11:30 New Amsterdam
12:30 Lost
Moonlight. Episode 10 is a filler episode, at least as far as the ongoing Coraline storyline is concerned. She hasn't died (as a result of being stabbed by Beth last week) but she spends the episode in hospital, while Mick and Beth help Josef who has been targetted for assassination. Along the way the producers go the predictable route of revealing that Josef is... a big softie at heart. He's a romantic, really, and not a cynical playboy. It's a dreadful cliché, but - at least - Jason Dohring is superb in the role. The best thing about the episode are the parallels drawn between Josef's past and the burgeoning relationship between Mick and Beth. At the very end, Coraline vanishes from the hospital...
In other business, I've noticed that the characters at Beth's workplace are all crap. Her annoying boss, who shows up and plays the exact same scene week-after-week, is really starting to annoy me. And, this week, they introduce a new tech whiz character who is very annoying and totally unconvincing. Not what the show needs.
What does the show need? More Coraline!
Supernatural. Episode 13. As average as it gets. A standard case-of-the-week and a cute girl-of-the-week make for a mostly-boring episode. Nice performances from the leads, great visuals, and atmospheric weather do not a great episode make.
Usually the boys show up in a town, armed with lots of knowledge and it is they who tell the audience what is going on. Makes them seem cool and in charge. In this episode, they are written as mostly clueless about what they are facing and it is left to minor characters to tell the viewer what is happening. This makes the show seems like lots of other shows in the genre. Not good.
The X-Files. Season 8, Episode 11. The first solo Doggett episode is - sadly - the worst piece of rubbish I think I've ever seen on The X-Files. While Doggett himself is very good, and it is cool to see Skinner taking up a lot of screen-time as his partner, the rest of the episode is a mess. A silly, gruesome, story about a man who eats people, absorbs their diseases and regurgitates them later - fully healed - deep in his underground cavern (!!). The episode's early attempts to mislead us as to what is going on (and who the bad guy is) are clumsy and amateurish. The community of locals built-up around the man never convinces, much of the dialogue is false and unconvincing and the ending (where Doggett is shot dead!) is awful beyond belief. Someone should eat Frank Spotnitz.
New Amsterdam. Episode 2 takes the show in unexected directions. Namely, back to story of John's previous lover rather than onward towards the story of his next lover. However, it's a good story. The show captures lonliness very well. And the case-of-the-week is good, too. No complaints from me.
Lost. Missing Pieces 3. Jack and Ben play chess and the conversation is full of foreshadowing. Events such as the sub being blown up and Jack's eventual desire to return to the island are mentioned and both actors are on top form.
Highlight? Moonlight
Moonlight, Supernatural, The X-Files, New Amsterdam, Lost
