Thurs, Mar 13th, 2008
08:00 Flight Of The Conchords
09:00 Lost
10:30 NCIS
12:00 CSI
03:00 Lost
Flight Of The Conchords. Episode 2. Not quite as funny as the first one, but this is still a very enjoyable episode. The fantasy musical numbers are superb and the idea that one of the guys might be forced out of the band and replaced by a casette tape is inspired, but a bit slight when used to sustain an entire episode.
Lost. Season 4, Episode 5. Jeff Fahey brings something fantastic to the role of Frank. He doesn't get a lot to do, just a few key scenes here and there, but he really makes the character work. His easy chemistry with Jack came to light in an earlier episode. In this one, we get a great scene between Sayid and Frank which shows how he has managed to gain Sayid's trust as well (Sayid hands over his gun willingly). Fahey is great. And I hope the show gives him a chance to dominate an episode soon.
NCIS. Season 4, Episode 13. NCIS has a rhythm all it's own. The dialogue, delivery, pace and camera angles are unique to this show. It grabs you by the lapels and whisks you along. And it's always a fun ride. Susanna Thompson returns to the show in this story and there is considerable romantic tension between her character and Gibbs. The team watches all of this gleefully, and so do we (the viewers at home). It's nice to see continuity with Episode 7, but frustrating to find no continuity with Episode 12. Namely, I want to know who was spying on Tony, but the show - of course - is going to drag that out a bit.
CSI. Season 5, Episode 21. Unusual. Usually when one case dominates an episode all of the regular cast work on it. Not so here. Grissom and Sara do most of the work alone this week. Also, this is an unusually dark episode. It reminded me of the tone of Profiler. Lots of unpleasant characters on display when murder takes place in a mental hospital for criminals. Not the usual thing for CSI. Finally, you don't often find an episode where one of the regulars is in danger. CSI is as action-packed as doing a crossword puzzle. Normally. But this time out Sara is threatened. And it's quite a shock to the sytem to see her life at risk. It's a great episode. One of the best ever. But it's not the usual, cosy safe world of CSI this week.
Lost. Season 4, Episode 7. For once I feel cheated by Lost. The dexterous storytelling of this show is never without solid reason. Yes, they have deceived us in the past (witness the season 3 finale) but there is always a sound reason for the manner in which they tell their story. I'm not so sure this time. It seems like this newest episode has combined flashbacks and flashforwards for no reason other than to deceive us. Previous storytelling deceptions were deceptions, yes, but they always yielded something important in the revelation. Not this time. This time, it appears to be a case of Lost going "Look, fooled you!" with nothing else to offer. And I'm disappointed. Why deceive us, if there's no reason to do it other than deceive us?
I'm also disappointed with the return of Michael. We knew he was coming back. We guessed that he would be working on the freighter. So, it was very anti-climactic. Of course we still don't know if he's Ben's spy or not. So that's something.
Highlight? CSI
Flight Of The Conchords, Lost, NCIS, CSI
