05.30 Pushing Daisies
06.30 Kyle XY
07.30 Supernatural
11.30 Good Morning Miami
Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 9. "The Legend of Merle McQuoddy" This time out the case-of-the-week is as strong and interesting as the ongoing storyline.
Emerson Cod and Olive Snook team up to investigate a murder in a lighthouse. They make a great team and provide one of the episode's highlights (at the end, when Emerson told Olive she could come work with him anytime). Olive is even more cute, and adorable, than usual as a tough-talking pi.
Meanwhile, Chuck's dad proves to be a real jerk. There's a great fight scene between him and Ned and lots of conflict for the young lovers: Ned and Chuck. They weather the storm very nicely and provide another one the episode's highlights (up on the roof, when Chuck grabs the plastic sheeting and kisses Ned passionately).
This current run of episodes has been the highlight of the series so far.
Kyle XY. Season 2, Episode 17. "Grounded" For the third week in a row, the show delivers a flawless and wonderful episode. At the end of episode 16 Amanda arrived at Kyle's window and asked to hide out and spend the night (while she figured out how to confront her mother). This episode picks up seconds later as Kyle and Amanda prepare the sleeping arrangements. It's a great opening: funny and sweet and romantic. With a strong undercurrent of teenage sexual tension. Next day, with Amanda still hiding in the house, a social worker descends on the Tragers to ascertain if Kyle is living in a suitable environment. And while Kyle is trying to hide Amanda from everyone, Lori is trying to hide a room full of beer! There's a lot of running around, all very funny, and some nice character work on all of the regulars. Josh, in particular, gets a great scene telling his older sister that it's about time she cut Declan a break. Hear, hear! Well said, Josh!
Kyle gives a great speech about what family means to him and there's a nice twist at the end.
Jessi has, in these last few episodes, taken huge leaps towards becoming one of my favourite characters on the show. She's like a lost puppy. Eager and needy... and likely to cause damage if left watched... She has evolved into the perfect baddie for this show. She can cause, trouble, yes but there is the potential for eventual redemption.
Supernatural. Season 3, Episode 6. "Red Sky at Morning" A very weak episode that finds the boys going up against the ghost of a vengeful sailor. It's another one of those goofy story ideas, in which future victims see a huge ghostly sailing ship hours before they die, but that is not why it fails to entertain. It's a dud because Bela sucks and none of the comedy works.
Bela is an unsympathetic and boring character. I liked her first episode, but this time out she adds nothing to the story. She has no chemistry with Dean (although the story is written as if she does) and she manages to outwit the boys, even though it is blatently obvious to the viewer that she will steal the cursed object (a hand) as soon as she can. The fact that she succeeds in doing this makes the heroes of the show look like idiots. How could they trust her? Seriously?
The episode tries to be funny on several occasions. The lack of chemistry between Dean and Bela ruins a few of these scenes (particularly the chewing-gum-in-a-tuxedo scene, which would have been very funny with Sam as Dean's partner instead) while pointless repetition ruins the rest of them. A older lady has a crush on Sam and keeps making advances on him, to his considerable discomfort. It is mildly amusing the first time, but after the show returns to play out the exact same scene several times the idea wears very thin. Oh look, it's that old lady again. And she's still putting the moves on Sammy! And he's still uncomfortable. Yawnsville.
On the plus side, the climac (ghost against ghost) is clever and looks good on screen. But I must confess that I don't really know what happened. Which ghost destroyed which ghost?
Good Morning Miami. Episode 11. "I'm With Stupid" One of the best episodes. Jake squabbles with Dylan because she's into crystals and all sorts of 'mumbo jumbo' that he thinks is stupid. He overreacts because, being in love with her, he wants her to match his idea of perfection. Nobody understands why he's taking it so hard, except Penny, because she knows his secret. Penny, however, has a secret of her own... she's in love with Jake.
This little love triangle yields many good scenes. Some are very funny and some are very poignant.
The final Dylan scene (where she tells Jake why she is into all this stuff) is a real standout. It fits nicely into her already-established background and helps make the character more real and interesting than ever before.
Seconds after this wonderful scene, the show delivers another superb moment. Penny has been waiting for Jake to take her out to dinner, but now that he's patched things up with Dylan he cancels on poor Penny, leaving her to fake disinterest, while we know how she really feels about all of this.
Great storytelling.
The main cast get some great material, but the supporting characters are royally screwed! Lucia doesn't appear. She's been written out, and will never return from vacation, while Sister Brenda decides to stop being a nun. We will never see her again after this. Frank, of course, remains with the show (and is probably the funniest one in the ensemble) but he's gets almost no screen-time in this outing.
Constance Zimmer (my favourite cast member) has a tough part in this episode. And she pulls it off with style. Penny has been established as a tough cookie. Cynical and snarky. Yet, we also know that she's fallen for Jake. This episode shows us both sides of her character. It's a tough sell. On one hand she's an iron lady, quick with the witty put-down, and on the other hand she's very girly girly: spraying herself with perfume and hoping, hoping, hoping, that Jake will notice her. I'm not sure many actresses could make it work, but Zimmer pulls it off in spades. Penny is the Olive Snook of GMM and I love her.
Highlight? Kyle XY (very funny)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Sun, Dec 14, 08 - Pushing Daisies, Kyle XY, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami
