Sunday, September 13th, 2009
06.30 Doctor Who
07.30 Legend Of The Seeker
08.30 Supernatural
01.30 Good Morning Miami
Doctor Who. Season 29, Episode 1. "Smith and Jones" Hospital. Moon.
What a cool story. Only on Doctor Who. There's a hospital, you see, and it vanishes. Only to reappear on the moon. Where the staff and patients must contend with alien marauders.
Great fun.
And Freema Agyeman makes a great first impression as the new companion.
Legend Of The Seeker. Episode 12. "Home" Clip-show.
A clip-show! Aw, crap.
To be fair, the tried to create a story around the clips but... it's just boring seeing all the same scenes again that we saw already this season.
Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 19. "Jump The Shark" The third brother.
Once again, the story-of-the-week is mostly about how the brothers react to things (even when the story is as game-changing as this one).
Jake Abel is well cast and - over the hour - the viewer comes to like him (much as Sam and Dean to).
The twists and turns in the final minutes were... great. I saw none of them coming. Great episode.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 22. "One Flu Over The Cuckold's Nest"
A solid season finale, that makes great use of the backstory on the four main characters. It's a little convoluted, sure, but it works. Jake loves Dylan, but Penny loves Jake and he takes advantage of that. But, things come to a head in a few surprising ways...
Highlight? Doctor Who (only on Doctor Who)
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Doctor Who, Legend Of The Seeker, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami
The Big Bang Theory, Torchwood, Legend Of The Seeker, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Flying Blind
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
06.00 The Big Bang Theory
06.30 Torchwood
07.30 Legend Of The Seeker
08.30 Supernatural
12.00 Good Morning Miami
12.30 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
01.00 Flying Blind
The Big Bang Theory. Season 2, Episode 22. "The Classified Materials Turbulence" Stuart and Penny go on a second date, while Leonard tries to sabotage it. And then feels guilty.
A great episode, but not a particularly funny one. The sub-plot (a malfunctioning toilet in space) gets more laughs than the main plot, but that's fine. This is a story-driven outing. It's more about watching what will happen between Leonard and Penny. I'm fine with that.
Torchwood. Episode 3. "Ghost Machine" Alien machine allows holder to see 'ghosts' (trapped emotions).
While there are good elements in this episode, it's a bit of a mess structure-wise and is easily the weakest of the three aired so far.
The idea of Gwen, and later Owen, being able to see moments from history is pretty cool. But I have the feeling that Helen Raynor isn't quite sure what to do with the idea. Gwen sees a boy from wartime, and meets him as an old man, and nothing much comes from it. Gwen uses the machine to see her own past. And it's cute. But dis joined. Likewise the super-sexy scene where Jack teaches Gwen how to use lots and lots of guns doesn't seem to fit with anything else in the episode. Bizarre.
Owen sees a murder from 1963 and tracks the killer (Gareth Thomas) in a very un-professional manner. While this does serve to make the view like Owen a bit more, it's also serves to highlight Torchwood as an undisciplined bunch, always running off half-cocked.
The death of the guy at the end is truly awful. Badly staged and nonsensical. By that stage I had lost interest in what the writer was trying to say with this tale.
Legend Of The Seeker. Episode 9. Zed goes undercover as a "Puppeteer".
Great fun. More continuity, which I love to see, and a departure from the over-used-formula of having one of the trio captured, only to be rescued from the other two.
To stop Darken Rahl from getting the third part of the object he seeks (which will give him absolute power, or some such) Zed goes undercover inside the castle of a rival queen. And spends most of his time with two children: one evil, one nice.
It's difficult to find one child that can act and be likable, but this episode finds two: Maisy McLeod-Riera as the nasty princess, and Jordana Beatty as her slave. Both are adorable, likeable and super talented. Maisy McLeod-Riera appears to be having a ton of fun as the spoiled birthday girl and it's a blast to watch her tormenting everyone around her. Bruce Spence does a terrific job at showing us the bond between Zed and Rachel (Jordana Beatty) and it's easy to believe he sees his own daughter when he sees her.
The final third of the episode has some unbelievable tension, with Zed and Rahl face-to-face and the fate of the magical object very much up in the air. It spends quite a while hidden in the birthday cake, while Zed does his best to distract everyone. Superb stuff. Probably the highlight of the series so far.
Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 16. "On The Head Of A Pin" Dean tortures. Sam kills. Castiel realises.
It's rare to find a SN episode that doesn't work as a stand-alone tale. This is very much a chapter in an ongoing saga. And lots happens to advance to story arc. Misha Collins gets lots of screen time and displays some serious acting chops. The guy is awesome, and his scenes with (equally awesome) Jensen Ackles are the highlight of the episode.
Sam, meanwhile, shows up to show that he has gone even more badass than last week. And it's cool. And terrible. In equal measure. Sam has really gone over to the darkside now. Scary.
And there's a revelation, too. And someone's motives are highlighted for the first time. I didn't see it coming. But I wasn't particularly shocked. I just didn't care very much. And that sums up my feelings on the episode. It was fine. The acting was superb. The twists were interesting, and there was a real sense of a big story moving forward. But, all told, nothing very much here to get overly-excited about, or invested in. Grade: B+
Good Morning Miami. Episode 21. "The Slow And The Furious" The TV show runs a "Win A Date With Gavin" segment.
The subplot is awful (it contains exactly one gag) but the main story is very, very funny and contains some great character writing.
Frank is driving Claire to work (for reasons that are not fully explained) and finds out that her friend, that she hasn't spoken to for years, is dying. So her takes her to the hospital. And they have one final argument. And the woman dies. Yuck. There's one good gag in this mess about Frank being a slow driver ("It's five miles away. We can be there in 90 minutes.")
Those laugh-free three scenes aside, this is a very, very funny episode. Jake wants Gavin to move on, and date someone new, so he can take his shot at Dylan. So, with Penny's help, he concocts a dating segment for their TV show. And when the luckly lady shows up, they realise that she's a bimbo who'll never hold Gavin's attention so they put a tiny speaker in her ear and tell her what to say.
Yes, it's an old story. Who cares? GMM makes it very, very funny again. Carrie Preston (who is married to Michael Emerson of Lost) displays truly great comic timing as the very nice, but very confused, Kiera. Preston's ability to say everything that Kiera hears, and make us believe that Kiera is too dumb to question any of it, is what makes the episode 100% successful. There's huge amounts of comic fodder in a character like this: sweet and well meaning, but perpetually bewildered by much of what is happening around her.
Aside from being very, very funny the episode pauses to deliver some quality drama/character scenes between Gavin and Jake where Jake finally comes clean about his moving to Miami to try to be with Dylan.
Great stuff.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Episode 21. "The Boss Isn't Coming To Dinner" Lou Grant and his wife seperate.
Light on comedy, but heavy on good storytelling. It's also got some interesting stuff to say about men and women and what they (might) want from one another.
With their three daughters finally raised and away to marriages/lives of their own, Lou figures that it's time to get some quality alone-time with his wife. She, however, wants to make something of herself and go to college. He wants her to be at home waiting for him (washing his shirts, etc.) so he makes a stand. By leaving.
The early part of the tale doesn't tell us this, but shows us Mary's attempts to get the Grants round to her place for dinner. She doesn't understand why Lou is avoiding the invitation, which leads to a very sweet, very human, tale of Mary thinking she's a bad host.
By the second half of the episode, Lou's real reasons are revealed and all the regular characters head to a nearby bar to discuss the issues involved. As portrayed here, all of the men are wrong and Mary is the only one with 'common sense'. Sometimes the story gets things right (as in when the men don't listen to Mary) but in general it oversimplifies men's needs. Or pays no attention to them. In the end, Lou gives in and goes back to his wife, who (we are led to believe) won't have much time for him any more, because she'll be caught up with study and so on. Still, the episode ends with a big smile on his face.
It's one-sided feminist propaganda. In this tale the men are all wrong, and a woman who has raised three children hasn't really made something of herself until she goes to college.
I disagree with it. But it's a good, interesting, entertaining episode.
Flying Blind. Episode 12. Alicia's "Dad" shows up, to torture Neil.
Another episode where a guest character causes problems for Neil. Never mind. This is a strong, funny episode. Peter Boyle is a hoot as Alicia's dad who, we presume, works for the CIA or something similar. He's certainly a dangerous man. And poor Neil is terrified.
Highlight? Legend Of The Seeker (Great fun.)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Legend Of The Seeker, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami, Flying Blind
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
07.30 Legend Of The Seeker
08.30 Supernatural
12.00 Good Morning Miami
01.00 Flying Blind
Legend Of The Seeker. Episode 8. "Denna" The BDSM episode.
Despite using the same engine to drive the story as many other episodes this tale is the strongest episode so far, with strong elements of continuity and character development.
Too many episodes of LOTS involve the capture (and eventual rescue) of one of the three main characters. The show needs to stop doing this to completely win me over.
However...
This was still a superb episode. Sure, it was just another episode where Richard was captured but, this time, his captors were very interesting and so was everything that happened to Richard.
Jessica Marais plays Denna, a member of the Mord'Sith, who not only captures our hero but sets out to torture him, dominate him and break his will. (And, yes, she dresses in very sexy red leather gear!). Marais and Craig Horner are fantastic in their roles, playing everything as real and bringing all the pain and sexuality that they can to their roles. By the mid-point of the episode, it's all become rather mesmerising.
Kahlan, meanwhile, gets a superb subplot in which she finds another Confessor who has used her powers to enslave an entire community of people. Her motives are pure, but... her methods upset our heroine and leads to a great dilemma at the end of the episode, as Kahlan is tempted to use the enslaved people to go into battle to rescue Richard.
Continuity has started to make it's presence felt on LOTS. Recent episodes have mentioned a city, followed our heroes to that location in a later episode and - in this story - we watch as they react to something that was said to them in that place. This continuity has most of it's focus on the relationship between Kahlan and Richard, and by the end of this tale both of them have fully declared their feelings and - more importantly - the reasons why they can not (must not) act on those feelings.
The fact that this episode is directed by Michael Hurst reminds me to compare/contrast this series with Hercules and Xena, two very similar shows from the same producers/writers. LOTS differs from it's 'parents' by avoiding the use of tongue-in-cheek comedy. They take everything seriously. They never wink at the camera say: Isn't this funny? And, while I am a huge fan of Xena and Hercules, I feel that LOTS is all the better for keeping things serious.
Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 15. "Death Takes a Holiday" A town where nobody can die.
A great case-of-the-week, thrilling action, familiar faces, compelling character development and an over-abundance of 'cool' make this one of the all-time greatest episodes of Supernatural.
Again.
A town where nobody can die, huh? What a great story idea. It turns out that Bad Guys of this season's story arc, as part of their Master Plan, have abducted a reaper and (as a consequence) there's a town where nobody can die. No matter what happens to them. Sam and Dean arrive to fix things, and engage in some compelling discussions about the rights and wrongs of what they are doing. Here. And in general.
Their first confrontation with Alastair (now being played, and superbly so, by Christopher Heyerdahl) takes places in a graveyard in the middle of the night. Sam kicks his ass. In style. And it's simply awesome to watch it happen. This is as bad ass as it gets, folks. Later on in the episode, when Sam and Dean become ghosts (their astral projections) we get some more action that will make you cheer at the screen. As cool as Sam and Dean are, they are even cooler when they have superpowers (as it were).
Christopher Heyerdahl is the best thing about this episode (his performance will chill you) but Alastair is not the only familiar face. Tessa (Lindsey McKeon), the reaper from Season Two, is back and - this time - being portrayed in a much better light. Pamela (Traci Dinwiddie) returns to sexually harass Sam (always fun) and Misha Collins pretty almost steals the episode out from everybody with his cameo as Castiel.
But not quite...
This episode belongs to the brothers. While their characters are deeper and more layered than ever before, it's obvious that they have swapped places from their roles in the pilot. Sam is now the dark, agressive one while Dean wants nothing more than to live the life of a normal person. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are doing their best ever work as we watch the boys talk about these issues and in any of the scenes where we see Sam's gradual seduction over to the dark side, and it's impact on their relationship.
Jeremy Carver's script highlight's all that is truly great about Supernatural. And makes for a fitting tribute to Kim Manners (who's untimely passing is referred to at the close of the episode). Here is a show with great weekly stories, that are profound and moving, heart-stopping action, that will make you cheer at the television screen, a rich collection of recurring characters, who you come to care about, and an overall attitude and disposition that makes it, quite simply, the coolest show on TV.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 20. "Someone To Watch Over Gavin" Gavin wants Jake to help him get over his break-up with Dylan (the woman that Jake secretly loves).
A perfect example of how the show's backstory makes for enjoyable stories.
Jake is in love with Dylan, but he's willing to risk a future with her because he's decent enough to want help Gavin cope with his pain (even though Gavin can be a jerk). Even better, Jake asks Penny to help. Penny, who he previously dated...
Complex stuff. The stuff of soap operas, really, but stuff like that does happen in real life, too, and the cast maks it work. Even better, they make it funny. Particularly Constance Zimmer (my favourite cast member).
The subplot is forgettable, but Jere Burns gets some great laughs. Story-wise, it's driven by the fact that Suzanne Pleshette's character doesn't like getting old. Again. Sigh. They obviously haven't a clue how to write Claire.
Luckily, the b-plot only appears in two/three scenes and the rest of this (very good) episode is devoted to the advancing love story.
Flying Blind. Episode 11. "A Woman Under the Influence" Alicia gets jealous when another woman shows an interest in Neil.
Once again the writers have concocted an external element/character to create conflict in the romance between Neil and Alicia, but - this time out - they really have something worthwhile to say and the resulting episode is more than just hilariously funny.
Melissa Christopher plays a hot girl who flirts with Neil at a party. He flirts back. Innocently. Alicia doesn't like it very much, despite the fact that (as Neil points) she is always surrounded by flirting men. It's not a matter of who is right, it's just very interesting to watch them debate it, and deal with it.
Neil flirtatious new friend continues to makes moves on him and the competition between her and Alicia heats up until they end up arguing over him, one night at his parent's house. Neil is so enraptured by this that he grabs a dictaphone to record them. This is truly hilarious, and is easily my favourite scene of the entire series.
From start to finish it's funny stuff and - without doubt - this is a mature take on a very complex issue.
If only all sitcoms were as good...
Highlight? Supernatural (the coolest show on TV)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Sons Of Tucson, Torchwood, Legend Of The Seeker, Supernatural, Flying Blind, Good Morning Miami
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
06.00 Sons Of Tucson
06.30 Torchwood
07.30 Legend Of The Seeker
08.30 Supernatural
12.00 Flying Blind
12.30 Good Morning Miama
Sons Of Tucson. Episode 1. "Pilot" Three kids hire a fake dad.
Four strong characters and several good laughs make for a strong, and likable pilot. Tyler Labine is typically funny, but his three co-stars raise laughs, too. This is one I want to see more of.
Torchwood. Episode 2. "Day One" An alien arrives on Earth looking for sex.
It sounds cheesy, but Torchwood makes it work. The story is played straight, and the comedy (of which there is lots) doesn't harm the credibility of the story. The sad plight of the girl who has been taken over is played particularly straight, while the laughs come mostly from the interactions of the team that forms Torchwood.
John Barrowman gets more screentime in this second episode and he completely dominates the screen. He steals the episode. The guy is a star and appears to having the time of his life with this fantastic character. The dynamic between Captain Jack and Gwen is very much the model of The Doctor and Rose (wise, mysterious older man and young innocent running along in his shadow), and - as is the case with the parent series - the sidekick character is interesting and dynamic in her own right.
Legend Of The Seeker. Episode 7. "Identity" Richard is replaced!
A nice, and much-needed, break from formula. LOTS does Quantum Leap as Richard is made to look like someone else and vice versa. It's funny when Richard has to get married, but the show pulls back from making it absolutely hilarious. In fact, most of the humour comes from Craig Horner reacting to stuff.
Kahlan reveals the reason she and Richard can never be lovers. Richard doesn't hear it, but at least the audience at home has a better idea of what's going on with her.
I enjoy this show. Particularly when it breaks from formula, such as here, and I'm getting sucked into the whole Richard/Kahlan love story.
Supernatural. Season 4, Episode 14. "Sex and Violence" A siren arrives in town looking for sex. And murder.
It sounds cheesy, but Supernatural makes it work. You really only need two suspects to make a great whodunnit, and here's more proof of that. The story features two strong and interesting guest characters. And from start to finish you were kept wondering if one of them was the bad guy, and which one...
Bobby is great in this episode, also. Coming to the rescue just when the boys needed him.
Flying Blind. Episode 10. "The Secret of My Great Dress" Fashion Designer.
This time it's not an ex-boyfriend who causes the conflict between Alicia and Neil, it's her sudden new job as a fashion designer.
It's a so-so episode. Neil has wonderful one-liners, but they seem fewer in number and - while we certainly need some sort of conflict to bring comedy into the show - the Felicia-designs-dresses is far from being my favourite storyline.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 18. "About A Ploy" Moving to New York?
The middle episode of the Fran Drescher trilogy. Gavin is renegotiating his contract. Partly due to a job offer in New York. So Dylan, his girlfriend, is upset. Which pleases our hero (Jake) because he's been (secretly) in love with Dylan from the start.
It's a good, solid story. Gavin, of course, is lying about the job offer in NY and it's pretty much the worst thing he's done: lie to Dylan. He makes her suffer and it's needless. So, in the end, when she breaks up with him... it make sense and we agree with her reasoning.
There's a dumb sub-plot to keep the other regulars busy, but this is an episode that would have worked better with just one storyline.
Highlight? Supernatural (whodunnit)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Sun, Feb 22, 09 - Flying Blind, Good Morning Miami, Battlestar Galactica
10.00 Flying Blind
11.00 Good Morning Miami
12.00 Battlestar Galactica
Flying Blind. Episode 8. "Lovers and Other Strangers" Jonathan, Alicia's ex-boyfriend, returns and declares that he is getting married.
Once again Neil has to deal with an ex-lover of Alicia's but this episode, at least, puts two new spins on the idea. First, the ex-lover has been on the show before (Thomas Haden Church from the show's pilot). Second, Neil has no real problem with Jonathan returning to get married, rather it is the normally unflappable Alicia who gets upset as her ex prepares to move on.
There are still as many laughs as normal (with Megan/Clea Lewis getting some wonderful lines/moments) and the twist on the oft-used plot keeps things fresh and interesting.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 19. "Three Weeks Notice" Gavin and Dylan are finished and Roberta gets him into a celebrity AA group to help his career.
Matt Letscher is great in this episode and Fran Drescher (in her third and final episode) is a hoot as his mean agent, Roberta. Gavin seems to move on from the break-up with Dylan very fast and - before long - Roberta has his signed up with a new AA group that will help his career. However, the meeting allows his feelings about Dylan to come pouring out and - by the end of the episode - Gavin finds himself staring into a bottle of booze, on the verge of throwing it all away. The climax (where Jake comes to his rescue with some surprising words of encouragement) is one of the best scenes that the show ever had.
Frank, meanwhile, gets a great subplot. I love Frank. He's a real oddball and the writers have a lot of fun coming up with oddball stories for him. This time out... we discover that Frank has an eating disorder and Penny has to come to his rescue. Jere Burns is very funny, milking humour from pretty much every line of dialogue.
The Jake/Dylan romance takes a slight step forward. Obviously, with Dylan being newly single and all. She asks to come over and hang out, but Jake's grandmother comes to his rescue and orders him to stay away for three weeks.
Battlestar Galactica. Season 4, Episode 16. "Deadlock" Ellen Tigh returns to the fleet, Baltar's people get miliant and the Final Five Cylons vote to leave the fleet.
Better than last week, but that would not be hard. Pretty much all the scenes with Ellen were awful. I can certainly recognise the wisdom (now) of making her the final cylon. It creates a lot of great conflict. She's a naturally abrasive character and putting her into this position of power is a stroke of genius. Something I didn't appreciate when she was first revealed. Also, the fact that her husband/lover has moved on after her 'death' and fathered a child is guaranteeing the show more natural conflict.
Seems wonderful.
So what's my frakkin' problem?
Well, to be honest, much of what transpired looked like bad soap opera. The squabbling around Ander's bed was so bad it made me want to laugh. Much of what happened with Caprica Six and the baby tried so desperately hard to tug on my heart strings that I found myself totally unaffected and disinterested.
Except...
...when Michael Hogan came into play. His performance, and some of the lines given to him, were truly wonderful.
But, in general, I was disappointed by the Ellen Tigh storyline. Even as I sat there, realising the considerable potential in making her so pivotal... I was disappointed.
Baltar's battle of wits with his own lieutenant was much more interesting, and so was the who idea of the Cylons wanting to leave. Tigh voted to stay. No surprise. Tyrol voted to leave! Huh? I figured he was going to the dark side since mid-season but he went out on a limb to save Adama and the ship during the mutiny, and he's currently working hard on ship repairs. All of this would seem to indicate that he's still a Battlestar man at heart. Also... Boomer is back! Isn't that a compelling reason for him to want to stick around?
His vote, in my opinion, was an attempt by the writers/producers to create more tension, more pressure for Tigh and make him the one Cylon who wanted to stay. And - because I saw through their ploy - I was unaffected by it.
All told? Better than last week, but disappointing.
Highlight? Battlestar Galactica (disappointing or not, it's still frakkin' Battlestar Galactica and I'll be thinking about this episode all week)
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Sun, Feb 15, 09 - Dollhouse, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Good Morning Miami, Flying Blind
06.00 Dollhouse
07.00 Supernatural
08.00 Kyle XY
09.00 Battlestar Galactica
10.00 Lost
11.00 Good Morning Miami
11.30 Flying Blind
Dollhouse. Episode 1. "Ghost" A very hot young woman is programmed to be a hostage negotiator.
Utter nonsense. I'm not buying any of this. Seriously, why would a covert group go to all this trouble? Who would want this kind of service? The job of the pilot is to sell the series idea to me and this one failed badly.
Joss Whedon has a funny old track record. Angel and Buffy rate as two of the greatest TV series every made, and Firefly is utter crap and a rip off of the much superior Starhunter. Yes, I know that Angel was itself a rip-off of Forever Knight but, in the case of Angel, they brought a lot of great stuff to the table that Forever Knight didn't have. Firefly stole a lot from Starhunter, but added nothing. Dollhouse is just dumb.
Well, to be accurate, it's also a rip-off. This time the original source material isn't Canadian. It's a British show called Joe 90, but it's still the same idea.
Lot of stuff has been added to the mix. A conspiracy, for instance. And the cast are fantastic. But the problem remains... why would anybody go to this amount of trouble?
More than anything else, this show reminded me of My Own Worse Enemy because I was asking the same questions then, too.
Supernatural. Episode 14. "Long-Distance Call" Everyone on town is getting a phone call from a loved one who died...
Much better than last week. This looks and feels like Supernatural. And as case-of-the-week episodes go, it's a pretty good one. Nothing spectacular, but it's a solid bad guy and the brothers have some conflict, too.
Kyle XY. Season 3, Episode 3. "Electric Kiss" Kyle and Jessi work together to help Amanda.
Mixed bag. Jessi's one-liners are fantastic. She's hilarious and she's easily the best character on the show. But the contrived way she (and the writers) found for her and Kyle to kiss was totally stupid.
And what's up with all this Kyle/Jessi action anyway? Isn't she more his sister than anything else? Isn't Amanda his soul mate? That's certainly how I want it to be. However, the ending of this episode gives the impression that Kyle and Amanda are finished for good. And she may even be gone from the show.
If that is the case, then that would suck. I love Jessi, yes, but not as a love interest for Kyle. She's best as the snarky side-kick.
Battlestar Galactica. Season 4, Episode 15. "No Exit" Anders is in hospital, Ellen is with the Cylons and Adama must deal with a badly damaged ship.
Awful. The worst episode of Battlestar Galactica and - to be honest - one of the worst episodes of anything.
First off, this chapter totally violates the "Show, don't tell" rule of fiction writing. No matter how you look at it, that is very, very bad television. In the a-plot Anders lies in his hospital bed and tells the gathered cylons all the stuff that happened to them several thousand years previously. Meanwhile, in the recent past, Ellen and Cavil are having a conversation and - from their talk - we learn even more of what happened long ago.
And it's very boring old twaddle.
Why the writers/producers choose to do things this way is beyond me. Surely, with Anders remembering this stuff, it would have been very easy to dramatize the events and, you know, show us! I mean, it would have used the same actors and essentially the same sets, so why not do it that way?
Instead we get a huge data dump, through endless talking heads.
And, it must be said, some of the data, is kinda rubbish. Suddenly we are told - for the first time - about this whole other Cylon model called Daniel that was never mentioned before. Isn't it a bit late to be introducing major new elements?
Then there's the c-plot, which features Adama and Tyrol. Predictable old claptrap. There are some beats that recur from time to time when it comes to Adama: he makes a gut reaction of some kind, something racist or backward thinking, and - by the end of the story - he has evolved and is able to make the correct decision and understand why it is the right thing. They have done this one more than one occasion and, in my opinion, it is way past time to give it a rest. In this episode, he wants Tyrol to fix his ship but issues the order that no Cylons are to be allowed to work on her. His words are offensive and visibly offend Tyrol. It's obvious that the writers are bending over backwards to create a story arc here. They push Adama to an extreme position and let him 'evolve' back to an acceptable one. Predictable old claptrap.
Lost. Season 5, Episode 5. "This Place is Death" Jin and the French Group have some adventures, before he reunites with Sawyer and the gang. Locke meets Christian and leaves the island. Ben and a small number of others meet Mrs. Hawking. Charlotte dies.
I can't believe they killed Charlotte. Yes, it was foreshadowed and all, but still... I hope she'd be around for a while longer. Her final scene with Daniel was suitable tear-jerking.
Locke setting off to rescue everyone (and put an end to these annoying time-jumps is very cool) and it was fun to see Ben unsettled for once, by the arrival of Desmond. Desmond is somehow 'off-book' and that makes him very, very cool.
Best bit? Sawyer's joy at finding Jin alive.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 17. "Fear and Loathing in Miami" Penny starts working for Frank, to get away from the advances of Jake.
Everybody gets something to do in this episode, with some plots being better than others. Gavin gets a new agent (Fran Drescher joining the show for three-episode arc) and Frank reveals to Penny that his job entails doing... absolutely nothing. Very funny. Less successful is the nonsense surrounding Claire and her paranoia over her publicity photo showing up her age lines. Nobody is going to believe that Suzanne Pleshette has worries like this.
Flying Blind. Episode 7. "Desperately Seeking Alicia" Neil's cousin Leslie visits and wants to be just like Alicia.
Good story that has nothing to do with ex-lovers of Alicia and still manages to have Neil out of his depth and in a panic. Meredith Scott Lynn is a very strong guest star (playing the same character she played on The Marshall Chronicles) and as well as being funny she's got good chemistry with Téa Leoni. This episode pushes another side of Alicia. Many stories dwell on the characters considerable sex appeal, but here is a story about the magical spell she casts over people that has nothing to do with sex or romance. When we see the wonderful way she connects with Neil's repressed cousin we are reminded that Alicia is very, very special. A wonderful person, with many layers and much depth.
Highlight? Lost (Charlotte dies)
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Sun, Feb 8, 09 - Blood Ties, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Six Million Dollar Man, Good Morning Miami, Flying Blind
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)
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Sun, Jan 25, 09 - Blood Ties, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Good Morning Miami
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)
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Sun, Jan 18, 09 - Blood Ties, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Good Morning Miami
05.30 Blood Ties
06.30 Supernatural
07.30 Kyle XY
04.00 Good Morning Miami
Blood Ties. Episode 13. "D.O.A." The ghost of a cop shows up asking Vicki to find his dead body.
Another strong episode marred by a rushed ending. And silly special FX.
The story is very strong in this one, and holds the interest from the get-go. A ghost showing up to ask for help is a good hook, and (being an undercover cop with a shady background) he turns out to be a very interesting guest character. And things get even more entertaining at the mid-point when the story throws out a nifty little surprise. Gina Holden gets some quality screen-time and, all told, it looks as if we are in for a solid episode.
However, everything kinda falls apart at the end. The events come to a head much too fast and the Bad Guy is rendered onscreen as some kind of worm, which Vicki has to attack it and kill. Which looks stupid and takes the viewer right out of the episode.
A better ending would have made this a Grade: A episode. Easily.
Supernatural. Season 3, Episode 10. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" The boys face a bad guy who can enter/control dreams.
Placing Bobby Singer in danger is clever. He's a minor, but very important/likable, supporting character. Is the show going to kill him off? You never know...
It's also cool to see a foe who can manipulate dreams. It gives the episode a 'special' feel and it gives the writers a nice way to reveal character stuff. Cindy Sampson makes a brief/wonderful cameo and when it is all over Dean finally confesses/realises that he doesn't want to die. A major moment for the character and the season-long story arc. Good stuff.
Kyle XY. Season 2, Episode 22. "Hello…" The prom gets closer and Sarah and Jessi prepare to meet.
"She Could Be You" by Shawn Hlookoff is used in almost every episode and I never tire of it. It's a wonderful, fitting piece of music and it pretty much always brings a tear to my eye.
Ally Sheedy seems like an odd choice to play Jessi's mother but - it must be said - she brings a great... snarkiness to the role. She comes off as cold and lacking in emotion. So... the perfect mother for the dysfunctional Jessi!
Good Morning Miami. Episode 14. "Take a Penny, Leave a Penny" As the show starts into it's second production block the stories/characters are obsessed with the love quadrangle that drives the show. Jake and Penny must decide what to do after their big kiss, Jake must decide whether to close the door on the hope of a relationship with Dylan, etc. Lucia and Sister Brenda have been written out and Frank, who plays no part in the quadrangle, is paired with Gavin in this episode in a storyline that tries to bond them as friends.
All the best scenes are the Penny/Jake scenes. Because Penny is funny and Constance Zimmer is hot. She seriously has the best/biggest smile ever to appear on TV. The opening credits (where Jake and Dylan are wrapped in each other's arms) make it clear what the show is supposed to be about, but - on first viewing - I was more interested in the Jake/Penny romance and that was the couple that I wanted to make it. An example, I suppose, of cast chemistry allowing the characters to take on lives of their own.
By the end of this 14th episode I was a happy viewer: Jake convinces Penny to give him a chance and they are a couple...
Highlight? Kyle XY (Jessi waits to meet Sarah...)
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Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Blood Ties, Kyle XY, Good Morning Miami
Sunday, January 4, 2009
04.30 Mystery Science Theatre 3000
06.30 Blood Ties
07.30 Kyle XY
01.00 Good Morning Miami
Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Season 7, Episode 7. "Bloodlust" Teens land on a plush island and find themselves chased by an evil hunter.
This weak (but not very bad) movie makes for a below average episode of MST3K. None of what happens on screen is very bad so, I guess, the gang were stuck for stuff to make fun off. Yes, it's a dull movie, and the bad guy isn't very threatening, and the hero makes a lot of bad choices, and so on. But it's well made and (mostly) well cast. So none of the insults the guys hurl at the screen are all that special.
The Host Segements (which I usually regard as nothing more than filler) are actually very funny in this episode. Easily the highlight. Especially the therapy bit that opens the show.
Blood Ties. Episode 11. "Post Partum" The ending is too rushed, bu Gina Holden gets lots of good screen time and the story is strong.
Vicki goes undercover at a fertility clinic, while Coreen and Henry investigate some former clients. Turns out that a Black Elf has been using the place to impregnate humans and sent out loads of 'evil' children.
The episode's best scene comes when Mike helps Vicki go undercover. Posting as her husband, he kisses her goodbye. She responds with passion and the two of them are clearly shook by the kiss that ensues. I love these characters and their tangled love-lives.
Outside the clinic, Henry and Coreen meet an evil kid and all the scenes in this sub-plot are great. The kid is creepy and the father (raising him alone and clueless about what is in store for him) is genuinely likable.
The actual showdown with the Elf is not satisfying. The editing is abrupt and clumsy. Everything happens way too fast. I'm not sure if they were trying to hide the make-up or what? It looked quite good to me, the little of this that I saw.
However, a rushed ending can't ruin what is still a pretty strong episode.
Kyle XY. Season 2, Episode 20. "Primary Colors" Another superb episode finds Kyle's powers going out of whack, at a time when everyone needs him.
The show cleverly finds ways for everyone to need Kyle at the same time and gets mileage from his guilt when he lets them down. It's a real mystery, too, trying to figure out what is causing the problem. I suspected that it might be the record he was playing, but I was also wondering whether it could be the cancer-curing hug from last week. Just like the script wanted me to.
It's a clever show, and it has more heart than anything else on TV.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 13. "Mee So Torny" Some of the comedic elements don't work, but the developments in the character's relationships make this one of the best episodes of the run.
Jake is waiting on a phone call from Dylan, because he (for some strange reason) assumes that Gavin will tell her what he discovered in the previous episode (that Jake is in love with her). Gavin, of course, doesn't tell her the truth. He lies about Jake being ill. With leads to a long, un-funny conversation between Jake and Dylan (where each one thinks they know what the other is talking about it). Painful. But, thankfully, it's over before too long.
Penny finally pours her heart out to Jake and the last half of the episode deals with that fallout. There are a few good laughs (mostly generated by Frank, in the background) but the real enjoyment comes from watching the characters decide what to do next.
Dylan decides to find out if Jake likes her, and she runs to his office: to find him kissing Penny.
And, on that excellent cliffhanger, they brought the first production batch to an end.
Highlight? Kyle XY (powerless)
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Sun, Dec 21, 08 - Pushing Daisies, Kyle XY, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami, Newhart, Family Ties
05.30 Pushing Daisies
06.30 Kyle XY
07.30 Supernatural
12.00 Good Morning Miami
12.30 Newhart
01.00 Family Ties
Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 10. "The Norwegians" Even more than usual, this episode hits the ground running at frantic pace. The first twenty minutes are mesmerising: the dialogue and cast are on fire. Seriously, this is some of the best PD stuff ever screened and some of the best TV screened all year.
Things slow a bit when The Norwegians show up, but this does not spoil enjoyment one little bit. As all the running plots converge upon one another it makes for one of the best episodes. You feel that it's all been building to stuff like this.
Orlando Jones, Michael Weaver and Ivana Milicevic are three of my favourite performers (particularly Ivana Milicevic, from her Mind Of The Married Man days) but they are swamped by the material and the excellence of the regular cast. This was an episode that needed no guests.
And that's about my only complaint about this episode of PD. There was too much goodness!!
Kyle XY. Season 2, Episode 18. "Between the Rack and a Hard Place" Another bottle show. The series does a lot of these: stories confined to one location (one standing set) and it always does them well.
It's Sunday at the place where Josh works, and Amanda has just gotten a job there. Naturally, Kyle stops by to see Amanda and so does everyone else. Good solid character work drives the episode. Jessi, in particular, is being really well handled by the writers. Everyone is pushing her away. We can understand why, but Jessi can't.
Where is it all leading?
Supernatural. Season 3, Episode 8. "A Very Supernatural Christmas" Another goofy story, but good character writing makes for a very good episode.
Dean and Sam go up against what appears to be a killer Santa, and it prompts Sam to think back to Christmas Eve, 1991, when the two boys were alone and he first found out that monsters were real.
The flashback scenes, and all the non-plot related scenes, between the brothers are wonderful. Ridge Canipe and Colin Ford are superb as the young Winchesters, all along in a bare location. It's a bleak image, yet - thanks to the way the brothers interact - it's a very heartwarming one.
The final scene, Dead and Sam celebrate Christmas in 2007 (in another bare motel room), is one of the most Christmassy things I've ever seen on TV. There's not false or silly about any of it. There's an abundance of love and family goodwill in that small room, as we watch these two young men swap small gifts, make chit-chat and watch football.
It feels real because lots of Christmases are just like that: small affairs shared by people who love each other very much.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 12. "Jake's Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire" One of the very best episodes. Light on comedy, but heavy on drama and heartbreak.
Jake gives Dylan a gift of a book, with his feelings written inside. But Gavin gets to the book first, and learns all about Jake's secret crush on his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Penny watches from the sidelines, and pines for Jake...
All four main characters are served well by the script. Gavin takes the revelation very well. He's not particularly nice to Jake in the closing moments, but it is understandable. Jake, of course, is crushed.
Poor guy.
Newhart. Episode 1. "In the Beginning..." Watching Bob Newhart and Tom Poston is bliss. Between them, they rack up 90% of the laughs in this opening episode. Newhart, of course, gets most of them. His comic timing is honed to perfection and it shows. Best bits? His phone conversation with the guest who has no window, his reading out of the letter to his wife and his speech at the very end. Every pause is perfection.
Family Ties. Episode 1. "Pilot" The first story about the Keatons is driven by the teenage son, Alex, and his relationship with a very right girl. Steven disapproves of a club her family goes to, and goes overboard in trying to rein Alex in.
And that's it. It's very simple. And very good. The family reads as real from the first time we see them, and the show scores major points by put a solid character spin on what could have been a naff story. You watch this and you have a clear idea exactly who Steven and Alex are and why they feel they do. The final scene is well written and well played.
It's not heavy on laughs, but the cast and story carry the episode and make it very entertaining.
Highlight? Pushing Daisies (the pacing of the first half was fantastic)
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Sun, Dec 14, 08 - Pushing Daisies, Kyle XY, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami
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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Sun, Nov 30, 08 - Pushing Daisies, Kyle XY, Supernatural, Good Morning Miami
05.30 Pushing Daisies
06.30 Kyle ZY
07.30 Supernatural
03.30 Good Morning Miami
Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 7. "Robbing Hood" Another delightful visit to the fairy tale world of Pushing Daisies. For the second week in a row, there is a balance between the case-of-the-week and the backstory of all the characters. And the result is fantastic.
Why, oh why, did they have to waste time sending Olive away to that convent? They should have come back swinging (with Stephen Root and this storyline) and maybe they would not have been cancelled. Seriously. These last two episodes have been two of the very best. Ever.
That intro alone (Ned and his friends two pets) was one of the very best. I was laughing out loud within a minute of sitting down to watch. That can't be bad. And the show delivered another great laugh later on (when we heard the bear come back to life).
But humour was not the big hook this week. Neither was the case-of-the-week. No, this was was all about the regular characters and their stories. I'm so hooked.
Kyle XY. Season 2, Episode 15. "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" A total winner. Recent episodes may have changed the status quo of the series, and brought some ongoing storylines to an ending, but this is a much better episode. In fact, this is one of the very best episodes the show has thus far delivered.
The a-plot is a tale you can't tell on any other show: Jessi is using her super-powers to gain attention, and it is putting Kyle's secret in jeopardy. And it's not just a great story, the writers manage to infuse it with depth and meaning. Jessi and Kyle have this great conversation about human nature and the lure of celebrity. It's wonderful. Well written. And superbly performed (especially by Matt Dallas. Someone give that man an Emmy!).
Now that the whole family knows about Kyle we get lots of cool scenes of them trying to figure out ways to protect him and keep his secret. I love that stuff. It's an example of the show avoiding false conflict and writing the characters really well. They do this, too, with Amanda and her relationship with Kyle. There have been several moments where it could have gone wrong and the could have written Amanda as having a fight with Kyle over something that had happened, that she didn't understand. Instead, they write Amanda really well. And now they are doing it with the family. Where each one is shown to be on Kyle's side and willing/wanting to protect him at all costs.
Hillary and Andy (two character that normally irritate me and lead to embarrassing scenes) are good in this episode, too. For once, Hillary's excesses are toned down somewhat and she seems like she could (almost) be a real person. Josh opting to become a doctor, so he could cure Andy's cancer, was well handled.
It's a great show. But it's about time the writers/producers figured out how to use the character of Tom Foss. Nicholas Lea is underused. The character vanishes when the story has no need of him. It would be more interesting to keep him around. He's so at-odds with the world that Kyle lives in, it would be a weekly joy to watch him try to adjust.
Supernatural. Season 3, Episode 2. "The Kids Are Alright" Wow. Where do I begin? What do I write about first? I loved everything in this episode.
The guest stars. Cindy Sampson is the most beautiful guest star the show has ever had (together with Taylor Cole). I was smitten with her when she appeared in Reaper last season (and I hope she returns). Kathleen Munroe carries most of the episode alone and she is terrific. Her best scene is the one where she drowns her child. Haunting stuff.
The story. This was almost like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Hitchhiker". Most of it was devoted to Katie and her mum alone in their house. And the brothers, when they did appear, were split up. So, in all respects, it didn't feel like an episode of Supernatural. And, again, let me say: that stuff with the mother driving her child into the water... haunting stuff.
Mini-Dean. How great was all that stuff? The kid was terrific and the idea that Dean would have a son that was exactly like him is totally inspired. I wish the child had turned out to be his. It would be great for the character to have to learn to adapt to being a father. The child could appear every few episodes and it would give Dean insight into his father's point of view and - even better - it would give the series a nice end-point for the future. Dean would have some place to go, somewhere to call home if he ever stopped hunting. I found myself wishing at the very end of the episode that Lisa was lying to Dean to protect all of them. I kept watching closely to see if their was any hint of this, but I saw none. Darn. I want to see her and the kid again. Particularly her.
It was scary. Right from the opening death (the guy with the motorised saw) this was a scary episode. Creepy kids are... creepy. And these creepy kids were extremely well cast. Margot Berner was superb. If she popped up beside me, and spoke in that monotone, I'd scream too.
The blonde chick is a demon! Wow. I never saw that coming. And it really opens up the show's backstory and storylines once again. Clever, clever stuff. Just when I thought they had moved on from Sam's background they drag me back in. I love it. Katie Cassidy doesn't strike me as very tough, though. More like a girl who is pretending to be tough. Not sure that that is what the producers were going for with the character.
Cindy Sampson, the story, mini-Dean, the scare-factor and the shocks and twists. I loved everything in this episode.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 10. "If It's Not One Thing, It's a Mother" One of the most imporant episodes of GMM. It is well written/performed, it's does a great job with all of the characters and it is funny.
Unlike early episodes, which wrote Jake as selfish and Gavin as nice, this one makes Jake seem like a very decent guy - who happens to be falling in love with a co-worker - and Gavin as an arrogant jerk who doesn't know when to shut up and doesn't really appreciate what he has in Dylan. Matt Letscher is playing against type, but he pulls it off.
Frank gets a great storyline. He gets his tie caught in the photocopier and won't cut it (to cut himself free) because it was given to him by his ex-wife. His dilemma is funny, and heartfelt. Lucia is nice to him, and tries to help. A bold advancement for a character that is usually used for one-note jokes.
Sister Brenda doesn't appear, and Penny is under-used. Which, I suppose, goes a ways towards explaining how two of the regular characters were cut after 13 episodes. The show didn't need them. Penny could easily have substituted for Lucia in this episode and it would have worked just as well. Better, actually.
But, even as it stands (Penny-lite and all) this is still a very good episode.
Highlight? Supernatural (mini-Dean)
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