Category: External TV (Page 361 of 419)

Civil War

April 24, 2007 /

If there’s one battle that’s bigger than the one between Vic Mackey and Aceveda, it’s the ongoing gang war between the Byz-Lats and the One-Niners. A regular bloodbath that has caused its share of problems (and business opportunities) for the Strike Team in the past, it also hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Another week, another hit out on one of the gang’s high ranking soldiers, but this time around, Vic is joined by his new replacement, Kevin Hiatt. Played by Australian actor Alex O’Loughlin, the guy’s only been around for one episode and I already like him. Heck, Vic could be taken away at the end of the year and this guy could easily pick up the reigns for the final season.

As one would expect, Vic doesn’t exactly warm up to Hiatt upon their introduction, but when Claudette tells him that she’s set up an appeals panel to review his “retirement” plan (apparently because she wants two teams: one under Vic, and the other under Hiatt), Vic quickly reverts to his best behavior. Unfortunately, Claudette was just lying so he wouldn’t cause any more friction during his final weeks on the force. Even the new guy is impressed by his methods, despite Claudette’s advice not to buy into his “good side.” Still, there’s no way Vic is leaving the show with only one more season to go, and I have a feeling Hiatt is going to eventually warm up to his coach to the point that he takes his side over Claudette’s. Plus, with Shan potentially getting a bullet to the head in the coming weeks, there will definitely be another spot open.

And speaking of open Strike Team positions, what’s this about Julian joining the team? Did the writers really feel the need to throw Michael Jace a bone after completely ignoring his character for the better part of the last two seasons? It’s a miserable prospect, considering Julian doesn’t really belong in that kind of environment, but who knows, maybe it will all be for the better. They sure as hell don’t have plans to bring back Tavon or Army any time soon, and with Tina transferred out of Farmington, and Danny promoted to sergeant, well, there’s really nothing else for the guy to do.

While the Strike Team work the Byz-Lat case, Dutch and Billings investigate a rapist/murderer who carves the words “Go Home” on his victims. Another classic villain for old Dutch Boy to track down, and one that is sure to continue through the coming weeks. Of course, it may take longer with Billings as his partner, who says things like “I love the smell of underage sexual assault in the morning” and is worried that people will take it the wrong way. Um, how could you possibly take it any other way?

External TV, The Shield, TV

Devlin

April 24, 2007 /

Some ’70s Saturday morning TV shows were really cool and classic. Others, however, were way beyond the pale. Take for instance “Devlin,” another one of thsoe crappy H-B toons that features a premise no one could care about: stunt motorcyclist with little sister and dorky friend in tow work for a traveling circus or fair or freak show of some sort and make enough money to keep up the charade that this is indeed entertainment. What drove me nuts most about Devlin was how the artists who drew the cartoon always had him landing on the front wheel of his motorcycle after a big jump, and not the back, which is the correct way. Fuck you, Devlin. You and the Clue Club can forever be damned to the uncool circle of Hell.

External TV

24, Hour 19: CTU’s terrible, horrible, no good very bad hour

April 24, 2007 /

So let’s take a look at what has happened to CTU in the last 60 minutes:

– Director Bill Buchanan, the lone sane man in a sea of crazy, was fired by Karen Hayes, his wife, for releasing Fayed two years ago for lack of evidence. That’s right, he was fired for following procedure and not obtaining a then-innocent man. Holy “Minority Report,” Batman.
– Morris O’Brien, fed up with the flippant cruelty of his ex-wife and current girlfriend (that comment about arming the nukes was a low blow), has requested a transfer out of coms.
– Acting director Nadia (!) has ordered the arrest of Jack Bauer. I’m actually on her side on this one. She had to do it: he went rogue and left them no choice but to take him down. However…
– Because of the Ricker’s impulsiveness, Cheng got away with the chip despite Jack’s plans to blow Cheng, the chip, and himself sky high. In the meantime, Cheng’s men blew a CTU helicopter out of the sky.

That’s some bad hat, Harry.

As much as I didn’t like seeing Cheng get away with the chip – if you were shocked by the outcome, congratulations, you haven’t watched as much TV as the rest of us – I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Cheng’s men launch a bazooka at that CTU helicopter. The gloves are off again, or as they said in one memorable “South Park” episode, it’s on. China just attacked the United States’ Counter-Intelligence Unit. Is there any way that China can spin this in such a way that they’re the victim? Don’t think so. Hit ‘em with everything you’ve got. Nice to see the show sport some onions.

And for the second week, I saw Senator Roark’s assistant/concubine wince at the thought of getting physical with him. Sure, she kissed him and said she’d get a change of clothes, but that woman’s body language is saying something compleeeeeeeetely different. She’s saying, “Damn it, I was kissing William Fichtner on the set of ‘Invasion’ a few months ago! Now I’m kissing…this? He damn well better make me the new First Lady.” And the funny thing is, she’d still be a distant second in the list of blindly ambitious First Ladies, but that’s a topic for another blog altogether. And speaking of First Ladies, I just realized: Wheelbarrow Wayne doesn’t have one, either. Or if he did, where is she? Is that even allowed? Was there speculation about his preferences during his campaign due to the Seinfeldian trifecta of Palmer being thin, neat and single?

And lastly, there’s Audrey, or what’s left of her, anyway. Her babbling towards the end of the episode sounded like Tara after the demigod Glory scrambled her brain in Season Five of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I have to say, I didn’t see that coming. When I saw her walk in with the bulky coat, I immediately thought, “She’s strapped with C-4, too,” and that Cheng was going to blow Jack sky high after he was safely out of range. Since that didn’t happen, well, I’m at a loss for how they resolve that plot thread in a way that ends with me giving a damn. Could we get JJ Abrams to take over as show runner for a season? Screw the final frontier, JJ: we need you here and now!

24, External TV, TV, TV Action

Heroes, Week 19: The (Point-Oh-)Seven Percent Solution

April 23, 2007 /

I’d love to say that time has flown since the last new “Heroes” episode, but who am I trying to kid? I’ve been waiting for this with bated breath. Basically, what I’m saying is that every Monday night since March 4th has been a waste of time. Finally, however, Mondays are worth living for again…well, for the next five weeks, anyway. And although the episode-beginning conversation between HRG and Eric Roberts was a little too melodramatic for my tastes, just about everything else within this week’s “Heroes” was spot-on.

The deceptively casual nature of the chat between Nathan and Mr. Linderman belied just how serious the discussion was. Mr. Linderman’s power to create life from lifelessness seems to arguably be one of the most powerful of all; how ironic, then, that it should be in the hands of the man who seems to be the most ethically…or, at least, morally…challenged. (It’s amazing how chilling the phrase “acceptable losses” can be when uttered in a certain context.) Linderman’s interest in Micah can’t be a good thing…and it’s clear that Nikica agrees. I wouldn’t want to be in that shapeshifter’s shoes when Miss Split Personality gets a hold of her.

The escape orchestrated by HRG with Matt and Ted was inspired, with HRG relaying instructions to Matt, who was clearly wayyyyyy out of his intellectual depth. And I wasn’t paying close enough attention, I admit it, but…was the diner where they were grabbing a meal the same one where Charlie used to work?

The battle between Peter vs. Sylar was short but sufficiently harsh. Gosh, it sure was nice of Mohinder to deliver Peter’s dead body to his mother, wasn’t it? There wasn’t much in the way of real suspense with the whole Peter-is-dead bit, of course, but when Nathan started crying, all I could think was, “If his tears are real, they ain’t for his brother; they’re because he just lost the Presidency.” Am I cynical? I don’t think so. But back to Peter. Didn’t you love the graphic sound effect when Claire pulled the piece of glass out of his skull.? Nice. And speaking of Claire, her newly discovered grandma sure turned into a hard-ass out of nowhere, didn’t she? I mean, Jesus, in the first episode, she seemed like a woman lost, and now look at her! The conversation between Claire and Nathan, meanwhile, was about as depressing as they come. Thanks, Dad! Good to meet you, too!

Isaac vs. Sylar was kind of a one-sided fight, but it must be said that Sylar’s nailing Isaac to the floor with paintbrushes was grotesquely inspired. The realization that Sylar’s now able to fortell the future, unfortunately, means that the grand finale is going to be particularly nasty.

And as long as we’re talking about finales, Future Hiro showing up only in the last seconds of this episode was just cruel…but at least next week looks like it’s all about the future.

The three best lines of the night:

1) “I know this man.” “Good! If you see him, tell him I want my sword back!” – Nathan and Mr. Linderman, respectively
2) “Oh, my God! You’re middle management!” – Matt Parkman
3) “He’s no longer with the company.” – Thompson

In closing, can I just ask, “NBC, are you effing kidding me? You pulled ‘Studio 60’ for ‘The Real Wedding Crashers’? You can’t find ANYTHING better than this piece of crap to follow ‘Heroes’ with?!?”

External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Dont worry, be happy

April 23, 2007 /

…or in Ari’s case, an emotionless prick. Seriously, though. What was with Ari this week? Apparently feeling the weight of Vince’s “break-up,” the dude just isn’t the same. First he saved his assistant Lloyd from certain rape (conceding a multi-million dollar signing), and then he couldn’t even fire an inept employee (apparently his favorite thing to do) because the guy mentioned something about his recent break-up with his girlfriend.

Mrs. Ari definitely knows the score, as she tells their marriage counselor that she thinks her husband is depressed (he hasn’t eaten a full meal in a week), but Ari just uses the moment as a chance to unleash yet another great Ari Gold rant. Of course, his wife is right, and when he suddenly breaks in the middle of his office (crying, even), Ari calls an emergency with his counselor to get some immediate help. She seems to think that his more recent experience with emotions (like guilt and compassion) are good for the usually emotionless agent, but Ari doesn’t like the new transformation – “I don’t want to evolve. I want me. I like me.” And like that, he’s back. Here’s hoping Ari either gets back with Vince real soon or learns how to cope with his emotional outbreaks, because it was pretty emasculating to see Ari in that situation.

Moving on, Vince and Eric are officially in hot water with Amanda. And before I continue, can I just say one thing? Carla Gugino is smoking hot! Okay, that’s better. Back to Amanda, it seems she’s a lot tougher than we originally thought, refusing to back down from Vince’s runaround about the Sam Mendes film. She wants a decision by the end of the day, and Vince and Eric agree as long as they can read the script one last time. Problem is, no one likes the script the second time around, and it seems Vince only agreed to the project because Amanda was so convincing in her sales pitch.

When Vince tells her this, she doesn’t believe him, but he urges that it’s hard to say no to someone so “cute.” Wait, did he just say the c-word? I didn’t think guys were allowed to say that. No, she’s HOT in my book (and Vince’s too). Heck, even Amanda finds the wording more than a little interesting, and when she calls Vince back later in the night for some clarification, she mentions that there’s definitely some sexual tension between the two. Amanda doesn’t like sexual tension (who does?) and so she makes Vince an offer he can’t refuse: have sex with your hot new agent. It would be silly to think that Vince would decline, and by the looks of next week’s episode, he doesn’t, but we all know what happens when Vince gets involved with a girl he likes, and that only means one thing: the return of Ari Gold.

Entourage, External TV, TV

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