08:00 Moonlight
09:00 Reaper
12:30 Flight Of The Conchords
Moonlight. Episode 15. "What's Left Behind" is a bit of mixed bag. It has a great story, the promise of great developments for the show's future (ha!) and a major advancement for the character of Beth. It's great. But it also has a really lame bad-guy (lots of false tension at the climax: why would he bother to go after Beth? That makes no sense.) and it totally backs away from the idea of giving Mick a family. Shame. One of the strengths of (the very similar) New Amsterdam is that he has offspring. In fact, they did a very similar episode on NA. And they handled this aspect much better, it must be said.
The story here, however, is great. Mick investigates the kidnapping of a child, a child that may - in fact - be his grandson. We get some great flashbacks to his pre-vampire life and it fits in wonderfully with what we know about him. It's also interesting to see him falling in love with a woman who so closely resembles the woman he would eventually marry. By doing this, the writers show us that Mick has a specific type and show us how much of a departure Beth is for him. It's great.
He's always gone for femme fatales (bad girls). Beth is so the opposite of them. She's consequently perfect for him. Her self-sacrifice is astonishing. Giving up her job so that she can stay close to him? Wow. But, it's so frustrating that they are taking it so slow in this relationship. The scenes between Mick and Beth are electric. He pours his heart out, and she gazes at him her eyes full of tears of understanding and empathy. Why couldn't we get one kiss in the middle of all this? Just one kiss?
With regard to Beth on her own, this episode does wonders for her. Without the crutch of Buzz Wire to get her involved in stories, the writers use her own abilities. She comes across as a clever and resourceful detective in this one, and it make sense that she would be offered a job at the end. Great stuff. Can't wait to see how this plays out in the second season (ha!).
One lame villain aside, this is still a fun episode of Moonlight.
Reaper. Episode 16. "Greg, Schmeg" I've been looking forward to this episode so much. Looking forward to seeing Andi function as part of the team. And, to my surprise and delight, the show does something it never did before: Sam has no case-of-the-week to solve and the show tells a completely original story. Wow. And a great one it is, too. Something is coming after the team. And - whatever it is - it definitely didn't come from Hell. What the frak is going on? Clever, funny and exciting. Typical of Reaper.
Now that they are giving Missy Peregrym something to do, she is great. Her performance as the mildly brainwashed Andi was delightful. Delightful is also the word to use to describe Ben's storyline. Married to Lucy Davis? How awesome is that? And how awesome is she? The episode's funniest scene came at the very end when Ben, his wife and his girlfriend explained their "lifestyle choice" to Ted. Hilarious. Donavon Stinson needs to be given more to do on this show.
Flight Of The Conchords. Episode 8. "Girlfriends" Once again, the show delivers it's best-ever episode. Bret and Jemaine enter the dating scene at the same time, with predicably un-predicable results (and two great new songs). It's hard to pick out a comedy highlight. Eliza Coupe (soon to star on Scrubs) is hilarious as Bret's sex-mad girlfriend. Bret, like most men, is reticent to enter into sexual relations. Understandable. But there's just no stopping her. She uses him, abuses him and then lies to him to ditch him (she says she's shipping out to the war as a sniper!!). June Raphael is just as awesome as Jemaine's lady. Jemaine envies the active sex life that Bret is leading but is somewhat inept when it comes to starting one for himself and his girlfriend. His best attempt is surely his "I don't want to have sex with you" line. Raphael is priceless in this scene. Bewildered and annoyed and impatient in equal measure.
Murray, meanwhile, meets the brother of Quincy Jones and does some major band business: He buys a stereo system.
Every scene is superb. Worthy of instant rewatching. And the songs are fantastic, too. One is entirely made up of random, but popular, French phrases. Genius.
Highlight? Flight Of The Conchords.
Wed, May 14th, 2008 - Moonlight, Reaper, Flight Of The Conchords
