05:30 The Shield
06:30 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
02:00 Barney Miller
The Shield. Season 4, Episode 8. "Cut Throat" Great performance from Michael Chiklis in this one. Vic thinks the end is near, so his behaviour is a little off the norm. He gives a lot of money to Corrine for the kids (and says 'goodbye'), he sets it up so others will protect the Captain, he sleeps with Danny and - in the episode's tense climax- he goes face to face with Shane, fully expecting Shane to try and kill him.
Aceveda gets a lot of good screen-time in this one, too. Mostly showing his dark side as he bullies the prostitute that he has been seeing, and tries hard to bring Vic down. But the rest of the episode belongs to Shane and his dumb partner and their attempts to gain some leverage against Antwon Mitchell. Attempts that end in an accidental shooting.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 4. "Allison From Palmdale" A killer episode and the best one so far this season. Once again the subtext of resurrection is on hand, and this time Cameron is suffering from what can be best described as the arrival of a second personality. For most of the episode I assumed that this was a software glitch of some kind, and we were watching a constructed personality. But, in a nice twist, we learn at the mid-way point that this was a very real person, someone who meant a lot to John in the future, who was killed by Cameron and replaced by her. Handling two roles (three, really) Summer Glau has never been better. She blows me away. As does the show.
Brilliant!
Why is nobody watching?
Barney Miller. Episode 5. "The Courtesans" Something special. This is great script and a truly superb episode of Barney Miller. Wojo seems to be on a crusade against prostitutes, eventually his constant arrests cause one of the girls to be fired. It is then revealed that Wojo has more than a professional interest in her...
The wonderful Nancy Dussault is perfectly cast as the girl that Wojo likes but the episode belongs to Max Gail and Hal Linden who deliver two amazing performances. This is no situation comedy. This is an engrossing drama series and this is a particularly profound episode. Wojo's complex feelings run the full gamut and the story does justice to it's subject matter. The ending is sad and bitter and very, very human like everything else about this episode.
It's great to get up from the television set and feel privileged about having seen something really good. Something very special.
Highlight? Barney Miller (profound)
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Wed, Oct 1, 08 - The Shield, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Barney Miller
