07:30 Samantha Who?
08:00 House
09:00 Lost
Samantha Who. Episode 12. "The Butterflies" While this is a funny episode, it highlights some of the problems that the show is having. A good situation comedy series should find that the situation generates the stories. Yet, in this episode, the story is driven by the fact that Samantha's boss (Rick Hoffman) falls in love with Samantha's best friend (Samantha, of course, is tempted to use this for her own ends). And while the laughs are there, it is a bit hard to swallow the way in which the episode starts. It's not quite as bad as the loopy idea that had Samantha moving in with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend! That strained credulity to the limits! This wasn't so bad, and did lead to some laughs. The most laughter, however, was generated by Jennifer Esposito who can make me laugh by just turning around and mugging the camera. She's fantastic.
House. Season 4, Episode 15. "House's Head" A remarkable hour of television. The episode starts with a badly-shaken House, in the aftermath of a horrific bus crash, trying to remember the hours leading up the crash, convinced that he saw something vital to someone's survival. It's a clever concept for a story, and the show gets an A+ from me for that alone. But the execution of the story is beyond superb. Many sequences are filmed like a stage play. A bare stage, almost, with people appearing and disappearing randomly as we are privy to what goes on inside the mind of Gregory House.
It's not the first time the show has taken us inside House's head, but it's the first time we've seen things in such a jumbled mess in there. Plus there are the methods that House uses to get in contact with his lost memories: hypnosis at one stage, an drug overdose at another stage. Amazing television.
The episode has many highlights. The lapdance by Cuddy being one of them. It's a series highlight, never mind an episode highlight(!), and it's one of the sexiest things I've ever seen on TV. Truly, this is the stuff that fantasies are made of. Kudos to Greg House for having such a great fantasy life. I loved the scene for many, many reasons. Not only because Lisa Edelstein has such an amazing body (she has!) but because she knew exactly how to do the dance (those close ups on her mischevious stare being one of the best things about the whole scene). Why, oh why, aren't these two characters hooked up on the show?
Great to see Ivana Milicevic having such a substantial role. I've been a huge fan since her days on Mind of The Married Man. She was given nothing to do in the most recent James Bond film, so it was cool to see her here.
And then there were the final few minutes of the episode.
Gut-wrenching does not adequately describe the impact of finding out who was on the bus with House, or the horror of watching the bus crash for the first time and seeing his fruitless attempts to keep her safe. It was awful. Painful. I love this character so so much, not just the actress but also the amazing character she plays and what she can bring to the dynamic of this wonderful show. And I will be utterly heartbroken if they kill her off in the next episode...
Lost. Season 4, Episode 11. "Cabin Fever" Another thrilling episode in this best-ever season of Lost. A lot of vital information in this one, and a lot of super-cool moments. This show (and this episode in particular) excels at "Wow, how cool is that" moments. The journey of Locke, Ben and Hugo afforded lots of this moments. "What happened to them?" Hugo asks about the dead bodies. "Him" says Locke, indicating Ben. Later on, we get to see Hugo and Ben sharing a candy bar in a (wordless and) wonderful scene. And how about Locke in the cabin? "How do I save the Island?" he askes. Who wasn't cheering when he asked that?
Highlight? How do I choose between House and Lost? Impossible. Lost had a slight edge, I suppose, but only slight.
Tuesday, 13th May, 2008 - Samantha Who?, House, Lost
