Wed, Mar 19th, 2008
08:30 The Big Bang Theory
09:00 Miss/Guided
11:30 The Shield
The Big Bang Theory. Episode 9. Back in front of the cameras for a winner. Although the episode is dominated by a fight between Sheldon and Leonard, the highlight (for me) was the scene where Penny went through Leonard's wardrobe. Throwing out half of it in the process.
Miss/Guided. Episode 1. Judy Greer carries this show with style. She's adorable and very, very funny. So is the show. She's the guidance counselor at her old high school, but she's still the same geeky kid she always was. Think Ally McBeal crossed with Liz Lemon and you've got the idea. She's sweet and clumsy and gives everything her all. It's got a great cast and a strong central idea. And Greer. Greer makes it.
The Shield. Season 4, Episode 4. Vic goes after a brutal rapist, but the real tension comes from the way the show plays the characters off one another. There are many, many scenes of hardcore character conflict that give the viewer even more of an adrenaline boost than the grizly end of the rapist. Vic and Captain Rawling continue to do their dance of trust. She seems to be leaning on him and seems to be very wary of where it could lead her. Is she right to have her doubts? Hard to know. Vic seems to want to do right by her. Acevada doesn't. He is trying hard to derail Rawling's plans. Dutch and Claudette, meanwhile, are roped into doing the D.A.'s dirty work and Shane is getting cosy with Antwon Mitchell. The scene where he attacks Antwon's right hand man - Halpern - is brutal. On one hand you root for Shane, but he is out of control now and headed for a bad end. By episode's end, he is trying to act as a spy on his old team-mates. But Vic, Lem and Ronnie are on to him. They know what he is doing. It's exciting but it's also very sad. A bit like the continual fall of David Acevada. This is the episode where he contacts the prostitute Sara Frazier for the first time. Their big scene, at the end of the episode, is electric. As she (and we) come to terms with what exactly Acevade needs. It's ugly. And it's impossible to look away. All in all, one of the finest episodes ever from The Shield.
Highlight? The Shield.
The Big Bang Theory, Miss/Guided, The Shield
