07.30 NCIS
08.30 Damages
09.30 24
10.30 Flight Of The Conchords
NCIS. Season 5, Episode 11. "Tribes" Mediocre case-of-the-week about a Muslim Marine being murdered.
Except for the revelation that Ziva has been taking Film Studies (as a way to get closer to Tony, maybe?) there is nothing much to enjoy in this episode. For the second time in a row the show gets overly political. And it doesn't work. The show works best when it skirts the periphery of real world concerns and paints a fairy-tale, fantasy version. This episode seems to be crossing over into 24 territory and failing.
Jonathan LaPaglia appears in a couple of awful scenes where he totally fails to have any chemistry with Mark Harmon and everything between them looks fake and false. And awful.
Damages. Season 2, Episode 4. "Hey! Mr. Pibb" The killer is caught. And killed. But nothing is quite what is seems...
William Hurt is the best actor on television right now. I am mesmerised by him. Not being much of a movie watcher, I have never seen this man's work before. Now that I have, I am a huge fan.
The script for this episode is superb. There are revelations, twists and shocks that kick you in the gut. Yet, in hindsight, make sense. Still, though, that final revelation (about the events of the night of the murder) totally blew me away. Is Damages the best show on TV? Maybe, but Hurt's definitely the best actor on TV. Watch him. He brings so much to the table: pain, guilt, despair, stuborness, regret, dignity, and more. And it's all in his eyes.
24. Season 7, Episode 6. "1PM - 2PM" Jack and Tony hand over their kidnap victims, and Henry kills his attacker.
The talking bits at the start were a bit boring (even though it is nice to hear Michelle being talked about) but once this episode got up and running there was no stopping it. The FBI crew were sidelined (horaay!), Bill and Chloe (looking very hot) are back in the thick of the action and The President gives a fantastic speech and gets closer to being a character one can root for and care about.
I've completely lost interest in any of the FBI characters. Let's face it: it's just CTU again. The show does not need to slow down every ten minutes to show us some boring people bikering in an office. I presume Bill and Chloe will eventually end up working from/at FBI HQ, once the mole has been discovered. This will make the FBI building interesting, and it will give Bill and Chloe something to do, someone to talk to. Right now, at this stage in the story, they have nothing to do when they are not in contact with Jack and Tony. That's why they were left out of the last episode: four three-minute scenes of Bill and Chloe chit-chatting is not going to cut it in the high intensity world of 24!
This is the first episode where the President stood out as an interesting character. After the two planes collided in mid-air over Washington, she made her way towards the members of her team and prepared to make a speech. I was terrified that she would back down and change her mind about the attack on the African country. If she did, then I would lose interest in her as a character. A heroic character in 24 needs to stick to their guns. That's what the show demands of it's heroes: being stubborn in the face of adversity.
Not only did she dig in her heels, she gave a great speech, too.
The shoot-out at the end is classic 24: clever and cool. Tony meets the bad guys and they are about to double-cross him, but Jack is playing sniper and starts to take them out. Awesome stuff. The sort of stuff you rewind and watch again. 24 offers up something like that in almost every episode: a rewind and rewatch moment.
The death of Samantha is bloody and shocking. I had expected that she would be Henry's salvation. Not the case, it seems. Instead, Henry's manages to wrestle free of the effect's of the drug and send his attacker (and his son's killer) falling to his death.
Flight Of The Conchords. Season 2, Episode 2. "New Cup" Bret buys a new cup, which sends the band's budget spiralling out of control and ends up with Jemaine turning to prostitution.
And it's clever beyond belief all the way. It's also hysterically funny. And the boys unveil two great new songs.
Most FOTC stories revolve around a change in the status quo, which can be a tad repetitive. This time out poverty is the focus of the story. And it works. There's nothing especially dark about anything that happens, the show retains it's gentle style (despite the somewhat depressing story elements) and every scene has laugh-out loud potential. This is a huge step up from the season opener because it doesn't rely on any outlandish events. It's a small, intimate little tale driven exclusively by the characters and the situation that they are in.
Highlight? Damages (that final twist blew me away)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Thu, Jan 29, 09 - NCIS, Damages, 24, Flight Of The Conchords
