05.30 Blood Ties
06.30 Supernatural
07.30 Kyle XY
11.00 The Six Million Dollar Man
12.30 Good Morning Miami
01.00 Flying Blind
Blood Ties. Episode 16. "Bugged" The one where Mike and Henry work a case together and try to keep Vicki out of the loop...
It was always going to be impossible to top the previous episode, but the show comes pretty darn close with "Bugged". The formula on this show is well establish by now: something odd happens and a client comes running to Vicky, she enlists Henry's aid and - before long - Mike is caught up in the case, too. Coreen provides intel along the way.
The previous four episodes have not followed this formula. First it was the return of a previous bad guy, then it was a ghost client, then it was Mike leading the investigation and asking Vicki for help, then it was the (awesome) time loop episode and now we have a tale which partners Vicki with Coreen, and Henry with Mike.
And it's a blast. The ladies work really well as a team (lots of mild comedy from their strong personality clash) and the guys are really fantastic as a team (lots of strong character drama from their opposing views of things). To my surprise it turned out that the two cases were connected and the story ends with a nice hint of things to come...
Supernatural. Season 3, Episode 13. "Ghostfacers" An episode made to look like an episode of a reality show about ghosts.
Awful.
Where do I begin? First off, I was shocked and disappointed that the producers had opted to bring back Ed and Harry from "Hell House" a weak season one story. I felt then, and feel now, that these characters do not belong in the world of Supernatural. They are silly and inept. They shouldn't be part of the SN mythology. Bringing them back (and giving them a team to back them up) is seriously wrong.
Secondly, the idea that we were watching a pilot for a new TV show was ridiculous. It made no sense that these guys would have 14,000 cameras set up everywhere in the house. So, every time we moved to a new shot I was taken completely out of the story. I was constantly trying to figure why there was a camera able to capture what I was seeing. So, it was a novel way of telling the story, yes, but it was intrusive and it ruined the story for me.
Third, I was unhappy with the death of a main character and the fact that this was supposedly something I was watching as part of a TV show (or, to be more correct, a pilot for a TV show). That just left a bad taste in my mouth. The montage/tribute at the end was also ill-conceived. It made me hate the Ed and Harry characters even more than I already did.
Fourth, I hated the episodes attempts at humour. All of them were guff. Back in Season One, SN was a very serious show and I found the antics of these idiot characters to be jarring with the tone of the show. Since then, SN has evolved a lot. There is a lot of comedy in the show now. And all of it is character comedy. And it - mostly - makes you laugh out loud. That is not the case here. This is not character comedy. This is all aren't-these-guys-annoying comedy. And it sucks.
Finally, I feel cheated. I feel as if I have missed an episode of Supernatural. The narrative device (of making me think I was watching a TV show) created a distance between myself and Sam and Dean that I wasn't happy with. I feel like I wasn't 'with them' on this one. In fact, they were more like 'guest stars' in this one than main stars. And I hated it. I tune in to be with Sam and Dean on their adventures. I don't tune in to see this kind of crap.
Kyle XY. Season 3, Episode 2. "Psychic Friend" Kyle is frantic following a psychics prediction.
Kyle is frantic following a psychics prediction?! Huh? Since when is Kyle going to accept this kind of stuff? He's pure science this guy, he should scoff at all this stuff of vague predictions. It doesn't fit well with him, and it doesn't fit very well with the tone of the show.
I had other problems with the prediction, too. It was obvious that the psychic was lying, and it was obvious that she was working for the new Bad Guys on the show. Also, it was obvious that the 'twist' at the end would turn out to be that Jessi was the one in danger, not Amanda. Fine, that's okay. I don't want Kyle and Jessi to be together or anything but I like the idea of introducing that concept to Kyle and Jessi and making them deal with it. And - hopefully - reject it.
However, I have to ask: how on earth did the bad guys manipulate events so that Jessi was in danger at the very end? How did they drive her to the White Rabbit? It was all down to a lot of random coincidences, wasn't it? And most of it was down to Kyle pushing events forward.
How could they have known?
It makes no sense to me. A weak episode in an - otherwise - very good show.
The Six Million Dollar Man. "Wine, Women and War" The second movie about Steve Austin is a huge departure from the pilot movie. In fact it has more in common with the James Bond franchise: a womanizing super-spy goes after an arms-dealing bad guy with a quip for every occasion. The content is nothing like the movie that started off the series and the tone is nothing like the one-hour episodes that followed.
The movie opens with lots and lots of recycled footage of a submarine. Steve is on a mission and a sub has been sent to pick him up. None of this makes very much sense, but it sure gives the viewer plenty of time to admire the submarine. But the time the first act is over, Steve is back in America (damaged from an explosion) and learning that his mission has been a total failure. Worse than that: the girl he fell for has been killed by the bad guy, so Steve... walks away from the spy business and goes on a vacation!!
I hate this kind of crazy thinking. It's something that always bugged me about Glen Larson heroes: they never want to work and they always want to go on vacation. Even as a kid, it really turned me off when Michael Knight wanted to go on a long holiday about two weeks into the Knight Rider series. Jerk!
Anyway, Steve goes to lie on a beach somewhere and forget about the dead girl. However, it turns out that he has been lied to by his buddy (Earl Holliman) and is, in fact, staying in a guest house next door to the bad guy (Eric Braeden) from his previous mission. Even more shocks are on the way: another friend (David McCallum) is mixed up in the case and he assumes that Steve must be there to get involved. Pretty soon, Steve has been kidnapped to keep him out of the way. He escapes - after a romantic interlude with Britt Ekland - and teams up with the very, very sexy Michele Carey to get the nuclear missiles and save the world.
Yawn.
Very little of what he does seems like the real Steve Austin, Oscar Goldman has been added to the cast but he and Steve aren't friends yet, and the nuclear explosion at the end seems way over the top and silly.
In the movie's defence, the pace is fast, the music is good and the cast is great. Particularly Michele Carey, who has a very sexy body and a very sexy voice. I wish she had worked with Steve on a few more missions.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 16. "The Big Leap" Jake is jealous of Penny's new guy, Frank and Gavin prepare to jump out of a plane and Claire takes Dylan out for lunch.
With this episode, the show make a firm effort to give all the characters something to do. Jake's love-life still drives the show, but everyone else has something to do, too. The success of this effort is varied, with some parts being funnier/better than others. Frank and Gavin having a fight over a piece of fruit is goofy, but amusing, and it gets better when they take their squabble up in the air. The Dylan/Claire storyline is fairly laugh-free. Claire is meeting a blind date and she's used Dylan's picture. There are opportunities for comedy, but the script fails to find any.
Meanwhile, in the a-plot, Jake doesn't believe that Penny has a new guy. Dumb. But it leads to a very funny and solid character conversation between the two of them. It's funny ('Jake, are you stupid?") and it's a really good summation of the Jake/Penny relationship.
Unfortunately. Since I would have liked to see them together for a while longer.
Flying Blind. Episode 4. "Single White Eurotrash" The twin of Alicia's dead lover moves in.
There are laughs to be had but, once again, the story revolves around Neil having to compete with an ex-lover of Alicia's. Sure, this time out the ex-lover happens to be dead, but nonetheless...
Highlight? Blood Ties (new pairings keeps things fresh)
Yet Another TV Review Podcast
Yet Another TV Review Book
Yet Another Film Review Blog
A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Sun, Feb 8, 09 - Blood Ties, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Six Million Dollar Man, Good Morning Miami, Flying Blind
