08.00 Dexter
09.00 Burn Notice
10.00 Jackie Chan Adventures
10.30 The Office
11.00 Corner Gas
12.00 Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Dexter. Season 2, Episode 7. "That Night, A Forest Grew" Fantastic. When the episode started I was suddenly smitten with Lila and concerned for her safety (given her new status as Dexter's girlfriend). All that stuff with the light bulb and the mysterious landlord had me worried. What direction was all this taking, I wondered? Was Lila going to 'cure' Dexter and then fall prey to some horrible murderer, which would then send Dexter back to his murderous ways, as he sought revenge?
Then, as the episode unfolded, my perception of Lila changed and - by the end of it all - I positively hated her.
That's some skillful storytelling, there.
Aside from the Lila stuff there was lots of cool goodness in this episode. Dexter takes the lead - for once - and sends the police on a merry chase. He also takes the battle to Doakes in a major way. And gets the good Sgt. booted from the police force. Nice.
Watching this show can be rather conflicting. Doakes is the bad guy. We hate him. But, he's the smartest person on that police force. He's the one that knows that Dexter is... iffy. He's the real hero here. And we hate him. For no other reason than the fact that he's on to Dexter. He's a threat to Dexter so we hate him. Cos we love Dexter more than anyone.
Then there's Lundy, the FBI guy that Dexter's sister kissed. We like him a lot. He's nice. But he's smart and he's making advances towards catching our hero. Shouldn't we hate him to?
Know what? A show that can make me hate Lila in the space of one episode probably has a lot of tricks up it's sleeve. I bet they can make me hate Lundy any old time they want. Clever bastards.
Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 5. "Scatter Point" Another winner. Michael joins a gang of thieves planning a heist when one of them contacts him wanting to get out of the business. Michael comes to the rescue. Not for the man himself, but for his son. Michael's cool.
So is Sam and this is the episode where his long-time girlfriend (the gorgeous Audrey Landers) asks him to marry her. It's a delightful scene, and so is the aftermath. We get a lot of great Sam/Fiona scenes. The ones where she watches with glee while Sam is being beaten up is hilarious. Sam is trying to get seen by the police and get his attacker arrested. But they are looking the other way and Fiona takes forever to join in with a helpful scream. Very, very funny.
So... Michael being cool and the other two being funny? All's right with Burn Notice.
Jackie Chan Adventures. Episode 1. "The Dark Hand" A great opening episode. Fast-paced, full of great action sequences, lots of story and a great set-up for the series to follow. Jackie is an archaeologist. He finds an old shield and is soon at the centre of a lot of attention. Good guys and bad guys want the shield and the baddies are willing to threaten and kidnap to get what they want.
Jackie is instantly likable. He's dynamic and funny. He performs fantastic physical stunts with aplomb and still manages to be clumsy and goofy when the script calls for it. His uncle is gruff and is responsible for a couple of great laugh-out-loud moments. And Jade, Jackie's niece/cousin/whatever manages to be utterly adorable from the first moment she appears on screen. Adorable and resourceful: managing to track Jackie after his kidnapping and effect an almost successful escape.
This is good fantasy. Smartly scripted and lots of fun. Can't wait for episode two.
The Office. Season 5, Episode 4. "Crime Aid" Average outing. Lots of laughs here and there but - overall - nothing special. Michael's idea to raise funds is somewhat slim and the script (also somewhat slim) doesn't raise many laughs with the idea.
Much better is the b-plot which has Dwight confiding to Phyllis. That's just genius!! And it really works. Best bit? Dwight (being nice for a change) comes to Phyllis's rescue at Michael's auction and a bidding war ensues. Great.
Corner Gas. Season 5, Episode 2. "Spin Cycle" It's certainly funny but this is way too silly for Corner Gas. Oscar stealing Brent's phone and being chased all over town by Wanda? Lacey overcoming her modest ways and stripping completely nude in the diner? In broad daylight? With people coming and going? And - finally - the whole storyline with Hank teaching spin classes...
It's all just too far 'out there' for this show. It doesn't quite 'work'. Even when I was laughing at Oscar and the phone, I couldn't help but think that Oscar just do stuff like that.
Best bit? Lacey in the nude, of course. Sure, we see nothing but a fella can dream, can't he?
Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Episode 1. "The Ripper" Chicago, 1974, and - much like the killer in the story - Carl Kolchak hits the ground running for this first episode of the regular series. Yes there are flaws, and it's not the best Kolchak episode, but this is so far above it's contemporaries, and about 90% of everything that has come since in the genre, that you cannot help but be engrossed, thrilled and delighted by everything that happens on screen.
All flaws (and minor ones they be) are confined to the case-of-the-week, so let me begin by looking at the stuff that works: pretty much everything. The chemistry between the core characters is spot-on from the very start. Karl, Ron and Tony are just as wonderful to watch in this episode as in any other. Karl and Tony are fighting/bickering from the moment we first see them. So nothing has changed since the two movies that launched the series: Tony is still the stuffy editor and Karl is still the disobedient report/child who goes after every good story that crosses his desk. Their first fight is fantastic: it stops/pauses when the noise from passing train makes it difficult to hear and resumes as soon as the train has passed. Utter genius.
The series introduces the character of Ron Updyke and uses him in three distinct ways in this opening episode. First, as a source of comedy: Ron's attempts to cover the murders are funny and his childish bickering with Carl is very amusing. Secondly, Ron serves to highlight the realistic tone of the series. We may laugh at his reaction to the murder scenes, but the show takes time to show us that Ron is genuinely upset by these horrific crimes. He's the only on-screen character to react this way (certainly it is not in Carl's nature to... care) and it is true him that we - the audience - come to believe the horror that is unfolding. Finally, Ron's presence in the show brings out the characters of Tony and Carl in that we see more of their respective character's from the way they each react to Ron. Carl mostly makes fun of him and mocks him and doubts his ability as a real report. But he does look concerned -briefly - when he sees Ron arrive at the office in an upset state. It soon vanishes, but - in that moment - we see a little of the humanity of Carl Kolchak. Tony, meanwhile, is superbly branched out as a character by the addition of Ron. There is suddenly more to Tony than the constant exasperation and yelling that goes with being Carl's boss. Tony is kind of Ron and - while aware of his limitations - uses him to cover the big story. That says a lot about Tony the man, and it says a lot about the situation as INS where they all work. It's a cowboy operation: Ron on graphic murder, Carl as the agony aunt. And that fits in with all that we would expect of their fate, having met them before and seen them run out of the city.
So, the cast works... What else works? The visuals are wonderful. Each murder, each chase and the final climax are shot as if by a documentary crew. This adds to the realism, especially during the killers encounters with the police. The action takes place in the distance, there are no close-ups and no sound effects. It looks real. When the killer starts throwing people around, in his bid to escape, the camera tends to miss a quarter of the action. Again... it looks real.
Highlight? Dexter (Lila is not so nice, really)
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Sat, Oct 25, 08 - Dexter, Burn Notice, Jackie Chan, Office, Corner Gas, Kolchak
