Saturday, April 26th, 2008
08:00 Dexter
10:00 Battlestar Galactica
12:00 Lost
01:00 The Office
02:00 Corner Gas
Dexter. Season 2, Episode 1. Twenty Five years ago, my Saturday Night TV always started out with MacGyver. Now, all these years later, I sit down to watch yet another TV hero who is good with his hands. But not in the same way. Nope, cos Dexter is a serial killer. So if you gave him a stick of gum he'd probably find a way to kill you with it!
Season 2 opens with Dexter in a state of turmoil, after the events of the Season 1 finale. So much so, that this episodes highlights two failed attempts to kill someone. Worse, his girlfriend knows that there is more to him than meets the eye, the cop on his tail is utterly relentless and - in the stunning final moments - his dumping ground for all the bodies is discovered and becomes a huge news story.
It's a great episode. But, I'm not sure I want the show to take this direction. Is Dexter himself going to be the subject of a massive police investigation? One of the things that I liked about Season One was the fact that nobody knew that Dexter's victims were the result of a serial killer. It meant, in effect, that all of Dexter's problems were in his head. If the show makes his killings the central story engine, it might limit the stuff they can do with the character. But, it will certainly make things more tense in the short run.
On a side note, Julie Benz has never looked more beautiful than in this episode. Before her nude scene, at the very start, she looked positively radiant. Beaming up at Dexter as he fed donuts to her kids. Rita usually looks tired and stressed, but there is a definite change in this episode. Up until the dramatic ending (and I certainly did not see that twist coming) and poor Rita is in tears. Benz has for a long time been one of my favourite actresses, and she is almost doing her best ever work on this show. Almost.
Battlestar Galactica. Season 4, Episode 4. There is a scene at the end of this episode, where Baltar is preaching to his people (and others, too) and it's one of the most remarkable scenes I have ever watched. Not only in terms of writing, but also in terms of acting. James Callis has always been a scene-stealer on BSG, but now that the character has evolved in a completely new direction Callis is doing - what must be - his finest work on the show. Wow.
It's another amazing episode. Baltar, Tyrol and Tigh take center stage, with only the Tyrol storyline being a bit disappointing. Basically, Tyrol goes through the exact sort of meltdown that you would expect him to (following what happened in the previous episode). The acting is great, but the few scenes devoted to this storyline are the least interesting in the entire episode.
Tigh's storyline blew me away. As he suffered a meltdown of his own, sought out the help of a Number Six and was haunted by 'ghost' of his murdered/executed wife. Watching Tigh was fascinating. In many ways, this is the man we have always watched and admired. In many ways, he is now a new person. This is an amazing concept to pull off (for writer and actor) but they make it work. And it is flawlessly done. I never imagined I would see Tigh and a Six in conversations such as these. Never imagined I would see Tigh in such pain. Ironic that he had to become a 'machine' to discover his 'humanity'.
Baltar's transformation is arguably the most exciting thing about the new season of BSG. From scum to hero? In - basically - one episode. How could they be arrogant enough to think they could make it work? And how could they be talented enough so that it works so perfectly? It defies belief. But it is working. And I freely admit that I had a tear in my own eye as I watched Baltar weeping his heart out in the closing seconds of the newest episode.
Lost. Season 4, Episode 9. One of the most intense and action-packed episodes we have thus-far seen on Lost. Ben's transformation from scum to anti-hero is almost complete, when the writers throw a major spanner in the works. I was just at the stage where I would freely cheer for Ben and then he has to go and announce who he wants to kill. Bastard! Sure, I can understand. But still...
Michael Emerson does some of his best ever work in this episode. The scene at the window, in particular, is wonderful but so are most of the off-island scenes where we get to see him acting alone and tracking down the bad guys. Since he is alone, we can assume that this is - finally - the true face of Ben Linus. He is not pretending anything to anyone. And the final scene (the final conversation) is as good a clue as we have ever had about who is who in the big picture of the fight for control of The Island.
But, in general terms, it was just a cool episode. A fantastic gun battle at the very start, a cold-blooded murder, return of The Smoke Monster, and - in the sub-plot - a major development on the beach (with regard to the ship, the ship's doctor and the whole time-travel aspects of the show). And, finally, how awesome is it to see Sawyer defending Hugo? How cool to think that they are friends now and he doesn't want to leave his buddy behind? Nicely written, nicely played.
The Office. Season 4, Episode 11. Very inventive outing. Michael and Dwight join Ryan for a night out in New York (and, in a hilarious development, Ryan is delighted to see them). Meanwhile, Jim accidentally gets the whole office staff locked in the building on a Friday Night.
Highlight? Well, it could be the fact that Ryan is happy to see Michael and Dwight. So happy that Michael feels the need to state clearly who they are. It could be Dwight's considerable success with the ladies. It could be Jim's repeated phone calls to the security guard. It could be Dwight's conversatons with Ryan's friend, or all the stuff at the very start with the gum/peanut butter in Michael's hair.
But, no, the highlight of this episode was: Toby's exit. Even now, as I type these words, I find myself laughing out loud at the thought of it.
Corner Gas. Season 4, Episode 15. CG's run of classic episodes continues. Every plot line is comedy gold in this outing. And the show plays with it's own conventions very well. Hank doesn't carry a wallet. Consequently he is always searching for money and things. Davis suggests that he carry one. Flash forward to Hank accepting the idea, and the closing theme music starting. Episode over? After only 5 minutes? Nope. It was all a fantasy. And, in typical Hank fashion, he comes up with a hair-brained scheme which only leads to more and more problems.
The use of the closing theme for that gag was clever enough. But the very fact that this scene is played out again, for the actual ending, is too clever for words. Because, at the very end, when everything has gone wrong for him, Hank concedes that a wallet is - in fact - the way to go. Hilarious. And clever.
In other plots, Brett is forced to watch a horror film for the first time and Lacey & Karen get into a borrowing war. These plots intermingle and it's all very clever and a lot of fun. If you have ever wondered how cool it would be to - in real life - sit down and watch a video with the Dog River gang then this is the episode for you. I haven't, I must admit. But now that I've seen what it would be like, I think it would be fun. A nightmare. But fun.
Highlight? Battlestar Galactica
Dexter, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Office, Corner Gas
