05:00 House
07:00 Blade
House. Season 4, Episode 13. No More Mr. Nice Guy. I enjoyed this episode, but it does make me worry. How much of a cartoon can House become before it starts to suffer as a serious medical drama. This episode is driven by a story about a man that is... too nice. And, yes, it does make for some interesting character drama on everyone (especially House) and it gives the show a wonderful downbeat ending, but the sub-plot is also very silly (House and Amber fighting for custody of Wilson). So, all in all, there's lots of silliness in this episode. Too much?
Blade. Episode 5. The Evil Within. Another superb episode. A packed episode, too. It feels like every scene is from a different plot. It's wonderful, but it's also crazy. Is this what kept viewers away? Kirk Jones has completely grown into the role of Blade at this stage, but the show belongs to Jill Wagner. But, no matter which of the plots is onscreen, the episode is engrossing and exciting. The action finale is superb, and Marcus's revelation/offer to Krista in the final seconds is even better. Just when I thought I knew what the show was about....
Fri, May 2nd, 2008 - House, Blade
Lost, Blade
Fri, Mar 7th, 2008
06:30 Lost
07:30 Blade
Lost. Season 4, Episode 6. Elizabeth Mitchell rocks the planet. Again. She's amazing. I would watch this woman perform selected pages from the telephone directory. Or possibly the whole thing, if I felt I could stay awake that long. Story-wise this is a nice high concept idea. Juliet gets a specific mission, there's a mad chase across the island (with Jack and Kate in tow) and there's an action-packed climax where she has to decide what to do. The Juliet flashback episodes are always my favourites because they tend to offer up a wealth of information about things that went on on the island, that we didn't see at the time. This one is no exception. Lots of little blanks are filled in. Delightfully so. And, on the topic of filling in some blanks, Ben gives Locke (and us) a big definiton of what exactly is going on. And who the bad guy of the piece really is. Red herring or not, it now seems that we have a clear view of the big picture. Well, one of the big pictures. On a less satisfying note, I didn't really buy the kiss between Juliet and Jack. They didn't seem to have the passion that Jack and Kate have/had. Somehow I don't think this is a threat to the Jack-Kate relationship. Which makes me fret all the more for Juliet...
Blade. Episode 4. Simple idea. Clever idea. Before he was a vampire hunter, Blade was a vampire. And, obviously, he turned some vampires. Makes sense. But it never occured to me before. It also makes sense that these 'offspring' of Blade would be shunned by the larger vampire community because of Blade's actions. So, in this story, we see what happens when some of these guys come to put things right, put themselves back in the game. Their plan involves catching Blade and offering him up to Marcus. Good episode, with enjoyable action-packed climax.
Highlight? Elizabeth Mitchell.
Blade
Fri, Feb 29th, 2008
07:00 Blade
Blade. Episode 3 is a tad weaker than the earlier outings, but it's still a solid episode. It opens with a pointless sex scene and moves on to Krista (still) adjusting to life as a vampire and going to visit her mother for a (boring) conversation. Things pick up when we switch to Blade on his quest to track down the scientist who has been working for Marcus on his serum. He teams with a butchered vampire and their partnership (of sorts) makes this into a memorable episode. There's also a great scene between Krista and Blade which starts out with them at odds, but concludes on a different note entirely when both characters actually listen to what the other is saying and agree that they are on the same page. You get the feeling from this exchange that they really do trust one another and that partnership makes perfect sense. Great stuff. Apart from this key scene Krista does very little in this episode. She spends half her time skulking around looking for the serum and the rest looking very fetching in skimpy underwear. Nice and all as that certainly is, it's bit worrying to find the show's best character reduced to eye-candy after a mere three episodes. I hope she's back to kicking ass in the next episode.
Doctor Who, Law & Order, Andy Barker PI, Black Scorpion, Son Of The Beach, Blade
Mon, Feb 26th, 2008
08:30 Doctor Who
09:15 Law & Order
10:00 Andy Barker, PI
10:25 Black Scorpion
11:10 Son Of The Beach
11:35 Blade
Doctor Who. Season 28, Episode 6. Although we now have the Cybermen in action, there still seems to be a lot of padding in this second part of a two-parter. The good guys split up into three teams and it takes for ages for them to do their thing (and - in most cases - get killed). The episode gets points for the shock death of Jackie, the sudden departure of Mickey and the general poignancy afforded to the dying Cybermen, but I feel the whole thing would have worked much better as one episode.
Law & Order. Season 18, Episode 2. Lupo's second case is much better than his first. A murder and kidnapping occurs during a city-wide black-out. Consequently it feels like no episode of Law & Order I ever saw back in the 90s. It's also got a few good action scenes, where Lupo comes off as a very determined cop indeed. He and Green work well together.
Andy Barker, PI. Episode 5. Green from Law & Order appears briefly in this odd, somewhat disappointing, episode of Andy Barker. Andy spends most of the episode looking for a toy belonging to his baby. And while he does get mixed up with drug dealers by accident, laughs are thin on the ground.
Black Scorpion. Episode 1. Cheap nonsense about a policewoman who does double time as a super-powered crime-fighter. There are occasional sparks of wit in the script, but most of the cast are weak and continual insertion of explosions from other (higher budget) productions is jarring. This opening episode concerns two warring bad guys, with Black Scorpion caught in the middle. Yawn.
Son Of The Beach. Episode 1. Not as good as Timothy Stack's superb Night Stand, but Son Of The Beach (a very exact Baywatch parody) has a lot to recommend it. It sometimes veers uncomfortably close to soft-core porn but the relentless barage of gags cannot fail to raise a smile. It's a pity all the cast can't deliver lines the way Stack can. This opening episode sees Notch Johnson helping sick kids, rescuing kidnapped asian girls, chasing the bad guys and giving advice direct-to-camera on dealing with sundry venereal diseases. What a guy!
Blade. Episode 2. This is an exciting television series. In terms of it's writing. The sleazy cop from episode 1 (the one killed by Krista) is the last character you'd ever expect to see again. Yet, here he is. At the start and the end of this episode. Making his way back to Detroit. Clever. Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Blade and Marcus are both after the same person (while Krista come to terms with being a vampire). The character dynamics between Marcus and the others in his camp are simply superb. Blade gets more screen-time than in Episode 1 and we get a chance to observe his (brutal) work methods. Even cooler is the character of Fritz who makes quite an impression, only to get killed off in very surprising fashion. Brilliant!
Highlight? Blade
Blade, The Border, Scrubs, Death Note
Fri, Feb 22nd, 2008
07:00 Blade
09:00 The Border
11:00 Scrubs
11:30 Death Note
Blade. Episode 1. A stunning start to the series. Mainly because of Jill Wagner as Krista Starr. Not only is Wagner the sexiest female action-hero to hit the screen in a long time, Krista is a fascinating and likable central character. Blade, The Vampire Slayer, is relegated to supporting player status as this two-hour movie details the origin of Krista and sets up the storyline for the series. The first hour is reasonably good action fare, as Blade kicks ass and Krista investigates her brother's murder. Learning along the way that there are real vampires lurking in the shadows. At the mid-way point of the pilot, Marcus (the head vampire) grabs Krista's arm and reveals that he knows who she really is. At that moment, the show takes a huge step up in quality and - suddenly - the viewer at home has no idea what will happen next. The moment, and the white dress being worn by Miss Wagner(!), will stay with me for a long, long time. Indeed, most outfits worn by Miss Wagner after she becomes a vampire are off-the-chart hot! Even better, her story gets more and more involving as Marcus shows a vulnerable side, her brother comes to her in her dreams and Blade makes a graveside confession and offers her a partnership of sorts. There are some more great action scenes and the joy of watching an elaborate storyline being unveiled for our pleasure.
The Border. Episode 1. Amid sundry cliches of the genre is a really strong, engaging story. A tense opening sequence shows us what happens when Immigration and Customs Security detain two suspects at an airport. Forced to hand over both suspects to another (more draconian) government body the team - under Mike Kessler - continue to investigate, and realise that one of the men is probably completely innocent but - caught up in political games - has very little chance to getting free. The show has a sophisticed world-view and Mike makes a likeable hero. He's cold and silent most of the time, but - this opening episode shows us - he will try hard to see that justice is served.
Scrubs. Season 6, Episode 16. Elliot nearly breaks up with Keith in this one, because she's afraid to open up and admit her feelings. It's a storyline we've seen a hundred times on TV before, but Scrubs makes it seems fresh and real.
Death Note. Episode 6. A change of pace episode, as L dominates the first half of the story completely - meeting with the small police team who will help him track Kira. It's slow-moving and engrossing. Almost nothing happens. Several men sit in a hotel room and make deductions, but it's very entertaining. The second half of the episode shifts to Kira, who meets the girlfriend of the FBI agent he murdered in the previous episode. Once again, nothing happens. They just walk and talk, but as she shares her deductions about Kira (not realising she is talking to Kira) the tension grows and grows as we realise she is setting herself up to be his next victim. Then, just to make us suffer more, the words "To Be Continued..." appear on screen.
Highlight? Blade.
