Monday, April 5th, 2010
05.00 Castle
06.00 White Collar
09.00 Columbo
Castle. Season 2, Episode 14. "The Third Man"
An episode highlighting the two best things about the show.
1. The chemistry between the two lead characters is fun. In this episode there's a blurb in a newspaper that suggests they are romantically linked so he spends many of the early scene trying to stop her from seeing the story. And... it's very funny. A big part of the charm. Yes, we know they like one another and we have seen this kind of thing many times before but that doesn't take away from the fact that when it's well done, it's very, very entertaining.
2. A good story. A good mystery. This episode is positively brimming over with good story/mystery. The first half of the hour is devoted to a man who sneaks into people's empty homes and lives there while they are on holiday. Nicely mystifying. The second half of the hour switches over to an equally compelling mystery: the secret of what he accidentally saw on one of his sleep overs and why it nearly got him killed.
Sometimes the endings on these shows are a little too clever, when there is no real need. Often on NCIS they return in the closing minutes to a minor character seen earlier and reveal that they are the Big Bad behind everything. You can almost predict it, really. In fact, you could use this pattern to impress somebody watching with you. In the closing ten minutes think back to a minor character from the first ten minutes and boldly declare that they are the culprit. If it's NCIS, then three times out of five you will be proven right. This Castle episode does that, by returning to the brother-in-law of the first victim. And it's a nice twist. But hardly necessary in an already superior hour of TV.
White Collar. Episode 11. "Home Invasion" Five Elephants
In order to enjoy White Collar you have to buy into a couple of things.
First, it's seems like everybody in this world (especially crooks) are forever communicating in elaborate codes. A couple of episodes back Erik Palladino played a cop who left a clue for our heroes in the amount of spare change he deposited as a tip (!!), in this episode Sarah Carter creates a complex code to record five names for herself. This list, of course, falls into the hands of our heroes and they are able to spend hours toiling over it until they track her down. And it's all a lot of fun to watch. But, at the back of your mind, you do have to wonder why she bothered to create the list in the first place.
Second, it seems like Peter and Neal are always going to be doing this same dance of trust over and back, no matter what has happened between them in previous episodes. You would think, by now, they would have a pretty strong bond. But, no... they do seem ready to lose (and regain) their mutual trust on a semi-weekly basis.
These two elements detract slightly from my enjoyment and serve to keep White Collar on a lower tier (quality wise) than the other USA shows that I watch and enjoy.
Columbo. Episode 15. "A Stitch in Crime" Leonard Nimoy
Sometimes the ending to a Columbo episode is so good, so vivid, that you just can't forget it.
I like to leave years between my Columbo re-watches (and it's been over a decade since I last saw this story) and one of the benefits of the time lag is a tendency to forget various details of what happens. Sometimes I'll forget the chronology of events, sometimes I'll forget major scenes and story beats, sometimes I'll even forget the mechanics of how our hero traps the killer at the end. That's always wonderful. It's like seeing it for the first time. Precious, like gold.
But some endings are too strong, make too much of an impact to ever forget, and this is one of those.
Leonard Nimoy is one of my favourite actors and this is one of his best roles. His character is calculating and truly cold-blooded, and his arrogance towards Columbo makes it easy to resent him, and cheer his downfall.
There are two parts to that downfall. First there is the piece of evidence, displayed with a wonderful flourish by the good Lieutenant in the movie's final seconds and freeze-frame, something that lingers long after viewing. In my case, it has lingered - literally - for years.
Second, there is 'the mistake'. Columbo killers always make a mistake somewhere along the way. Sometimes it is at the very beginning of the tale (and it's fun to try and spot it), and sometimes it happens later on in the story, while they are being harassed by the persistent cop. The sweetest, however, can often be in the closing seconds when they do something stupid right there in front of Columbo and he immediately pounces. This type of mistake can fall into two further sub-categories: the mistake of detail, and the mistake of character. And whole both are sweet and rewarding, the second one is the sweeter and more satisfying.
And that's what happens here. Mayfield (Nimoy) does something completely out of character. Something subtle, guaranteed to go unnoticed by the first-time viewer. So subtle that Columbo almost lets it slip by.
But then he remembers. And that final five seconds are amazing.
Unforgettable.
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Castle, White Collar, Columbo
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, NCIS, Human Target, White Collar
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
05.00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
05.30 NCIS
06.30 Human Target
07.30 White Collar
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 4, Episode 13. "The Nightman Cometh"
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 15. "Deliverance"
Human Target. Episode 1. "Human Target"
White Collar. Episode 7. "Free Fall"
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
NCIS, Royal Pains, White Collar
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
05.30 NCIS
06.30 Royal Pains
07.30 White Collar
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 14. "Love & War"
Royal Pains. Episode 12. "Wonderland"
White Collar. Episode 6. "All In"
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, NCIS, Royal Pains, White Collar
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
05.00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
05.30 NCIS
06.30 Royal Pains
07.30 White Collar
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 4, Episode 12. "The Gang Gets Extreme: Home Makeover Edition"
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 13. "Broken Bird"
Royal Pains. Episode 11. "Nobody's Perfect"
White Collar. Episode 5. "The Portrait"
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
NCIS, White Collar
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
05.30 NCIS
06.30 NCIS
07.30 White Collar
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 8. "Cloak" A fake war game exercise to expose the spy.
A superb change-of-pace episode that opens in the middle of the story, builds to a cliffhanger then doubles back a few days to set up the story in more detail. It's like a Hitchcock movie, with nobody telling anyone the full story and everybody (except Gibbs) in the dark about what is going on. Even the viewer doesn't know the full truth. Quite an impressive achievement.
And what's with Tony and Ziva???
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 9. "Dagger" The story of Agent Lee finally comes to a close.
Less complex than the previous episode, but even more tense. Instead of ten really good questions, the writers only give us one superb one: Is Lee telling the truth? And strings us out for the full hour as we, the viewers at home, are never sure what is coming next.
These two episodes are nothing like typical episodes of NCIS, but they maintain everything that is great about the show and may well be the two best episodes ever made.
White Collar. Episode 4. "Flip of the Coin" Friend framed for coin theft.
Great guest cast, but basic episode. Sarah Wynter and Garret Dillahunt are great, Susan Misner is underused, we get to see Peter and Mozzie on-screen together in a cool first meeting, but the overall story is a bit bland.
And some of it makes no sense. A guy walks in off the street and straight into an on-camera interview? Dumbest thing I've seen in a long while.
Highlight? NCIS (tense)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Royal Pains, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, NCIS, White Collar
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
05.00 Royal Pains
06.00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
06.30 NCIS
07.30 White Collar
Royal Pains. Episode 7. "Crazy Love" Is Boris sick? Is Divya going to marry Raj?
The show still has a case-of-the-week, but most of the time this week is taken up with advancing the ongoing storylines. A sign of a show that's in good health. The case of the week is quirky enough to keep us interested, but the show - in a very short time - has created such complex lives for it's main characters that we are just as engaged by what happens to them.
I warmed to Divya very slowly at the start, but I like her now and I care about what happens to her.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 4, Episode 10. "Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack" which scares her and Dennis into trying to get fit, while Charlie and Mac enter the corporate world.
Typical Always Sunny insanity. The stuff with Dee and Dennis shows us, once again, how completely selfish and self-centered these characters can be. Priceless.
Some of the stuff with Charlie and Mac went on too long, but it was still solid comedy.
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 4. "Heartland" Gibbs returns to his hometown: Stillwater.
Great episode. Solid case-of-the-week story. Couple of twists at the end that really worked and made the story satisfying. An example of the sort of thing NCIS does really well.
But, what really made this one special was the casting of Ralph Waite as Gibbs' father and the final minutes of the episode and what it meant for Gibbs' character.
All through the episode we had flashbacks, as our hero remembered the various things that had happened to him in town in the Summer of 1976 (the Summer he left for good). We got to see him getting in a couple of brawls and we got to see him noticing, but never speaking to, a beautiful young redhead.
In the final 30 seconds, as he driving out of town, he stops at a red light. And we see a final flashback and... learn so much about the character. We learn where "The Rules" come from, we learn why he is called "Gibbs", and not "Leroy", and we finally see his first meeting with Shannon and understand - fully - why this woman came to have such a big impact upon him and why he misses her so much and never got over the loss of her.
I love it because it is such a romantic story, and I love it because it is a prime example of the clever, subtle, storytelling the show can employ. A 30 second datadump of information that leaves you with a better understanding of the lead character is remarkable in a show that has clocked up 117 hours.
White Collar. Episode 3. "Book of Hours" Neal dates Callie Thorne to get a valuable book back.
Solid fun. Predictable, but enjoyable. The show seems to enjoy teasing viewers by trying to make us wonder if Neal is gonna turn rogue. It's a bit lame, to be honest, but it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the episodes.
Highlight? NCIS (final 30 seconds)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, NCIS, Royal Pains, White Collar
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
05.00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
05.25 NCIS
06.10 Royal Pains
06.55 White Collar
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 4, Episode 9. "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life" Dennis is locked up.
Rob Thomas plays himself in a very strange, but wonderful, episode of Always Sunny. As usual, there central idea is odd but the gang and very excited by it, and 100% committed to making it happen. So they frame Dennis for substance abuse and get him locked away (feeling, of course, that it will authenticity and sales and stuff. Of course.)
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 3. "Capitol Offense" Gibb's friend is a suspect.
Tim DeKay is a great guest star, and it's a great change of pace episode (where Gibbs is trying to help out a friend and avoid a scandal) but the story is ruined by very simplistic elements. Whenever a show ends with a "How did you know she was shot in the back? That fact was never released." type of ending I always roll my eyes with disappointment. More so, when it's NCIS because I expect better.
Royal Pains. Episode 6. "If I Were a Sick Man" Quarantine.
Another cool episode. There's a party for a dog, and everyone gets sick so Hank enforces a quarantine. Which leads to lots of drama. This is a great, fun, show.
And the ending, where Hank gave his brother the sports car, was both funny and sweet in equal measure. I love the playful relationship between the brothers.
White Collar. Episode 2. "Threads" Fashion Week.
Good fun. Not quite as crisp as the opener, but still a fine way to spend an hour in front of the TV.
Natalie Morales joins the cast.
Highlight? Royal Pains (another cool episode)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
NCIS, White Collar
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
10.00 NCIS
12.00 White Collar
NCIS. Season 6, Episode 2. "Agent Afloat" Tony at sea.
A nice change-of-pace episode finds the regulars still (officially) apart, but working together on a case far from home. It's a solid case (with a pretty cool climax) and there's some nice Tony/Ziva stuff, too.
White Collar. Episode 1. "Pilot" FBI Agent teams with con man to track/trap a bad guy.
A perfect pilot. Delivers everything that the concept and casting promises. And that's saying quite a lot.
Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay seem born to play these parts and it's a hoot watching them in a lightweight show that's smart as well as fun.
Highlight? White Collar (smart as well as fun)
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