05.30 Blood Ties
06.30 Supernatural
07.30 Kyle XY
02.00 Good Morning Miami
Blood Ties. Episode 14. "Wild Blood" Change-of-pace episode finds Mike as the central character, questioning a woman with supernatural abilities.
Vicki and Henry get lots of screen time, but this is Mike's episode. In every other episode he has always been brought into the story after it starts (and brought into the world of the supernatural, kicking and screaming). This time out it is Mike who spots the supernatural elements and brings it to Vicki. And that highlights one of the strengths of this show: Vicki is not the only person who believes that all this stuff is going on.
Mike has other people to deal with however. His partner Kate has been playing more and more of a role in the series, questioning his involvement with odd cases and his secrecy. In this episode she has a full-on fight with Vicki over Mike. Pretty cool. I like this character and this development.
The story-of-the-week is okay: A woman who can turn into a panther taking revenge for the murder of her brother. The episode is half-over before the viewer figures out what is going one, which is pretty good. The climax is a bit rushed, but it's not a total mess (like the conclusion to some recent episodes) and it leaves one satisfied.
Supernatural. Season 3, Episode 11. "Mystery Spot" Sam is caught in a time loop, reliving the day of Dean's death over and over and over.
One of the show's great strengths is it's ability to tell the type of stories that you would expect it to be able to do. Case in point: the Groundhog Day story that crops up on every long-running genre show at some point. To their considerable credit the writers find a logical way to include this tale in the Supernatural canon.
So is it any good? Well, it does have several funny moments (especially the death-of-Dean montage in the middle) but it's tends to be more tiresome than cool after it goes on a while. The last third is interesting (Sam goes on living without Dean and becomes even more of a hard-nosed killer than he has become of late) but it's fails to really excite the viewer because we know that it's just another part of the fantasy, another illusion. And we just want it to be over, so Sam can solve this and reunite with his brother.
There are a few good laughs, and we get to see that Sam can survive without Dean, but there's little else to recommend this change-of-pace episode.
Kyle XY. Season 2, Episode 23. "I've Had the Time of My Life" Everyone is excited about the Prom for different reasons, and Jessi prepares to leave town.
Another wonderful episode. The ten episodes of Kyle XY shown in 2008 were just about perfect in every way. Each one had solid character development and drama, great dilemmas for Kyle to resolve and a truly wonderful character in Jessi. Her departure (if this is indeed her last episode) makes a show a lot less interesting in my eyes.
Lori finally makes her decision about Declan and, while I am sorry to see the story end this way, I am glad that the writers seem ready to move on from this story and give Declan more to do than mope over Lori (preferably something in Kyle's storylines).
Josh is the character who has changed most in the run of the series and it shows in all his exchanges in this episode. I've even grown to like his girlfriend. It took a while, but I got there.
Kyle and Nicole always have some of the best scenes on the show. The characters really seem to share a specal bond and her talk with him (before he heads out to the Prom) highlights all that is great about these characters on-screen talks. Marguerite MacIntyre always impresses me in these scenes.
The best scenes, however, are the Jessi scenes. Every one of them is a treat. This is where she prepares to leave. So we get to see in conversation with Amanda, then with Lori and - finally - Kyle. Jaimie Alexander is terrific in all these scenes, and the rooftop goodbye with Matt Dallas will bring a tear to the eye.
Then there is the Kyle-Amanda romance. Their final dance at the Prom is magical and romantic and - totally - didn't prepare me for the shock cliff-hanger...
Good Morning Miami. Episode 15. "Mutt and Jake" Dylan and Gavin are about to get a pet, but Dylan is thinking about Jake. Jake, meanwhile, is trying to get his relationship with Penny up and running, but he is thinking about Dylan...
A funny episode completely driven by the romance. No b-plot appears on-screen, although a plotline involving Frank and Claire was filmed and - I assume - edited out for time reasons. It's unusual to see a whole episode without Frank, but the storyline about the dogs more than carries the episode.
Dylan's feelings have changed a lot in these last few episodes. Slowly we have seen her falling out of love with Gavin and come to see Jake as a potential boyfriend. The scene where she almost tells him this is very funny, since she is - on the surface - talking about dogs (the 'sit' and 'roll over' lines are particularly priceless).
However, since Penny is my favourite character, my sympathies are with her...
Highlight? Kyle XY (goodbye Jessi)
Yet Another TV Review Podcast
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Sun, Jan 25, 09 - Blood Ties, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Good Morning Miami
