Category: TV Dramas (Page 126 of 235)

Old Show, New Season: “Pushing Daisies”

If the pilot for “Pushing Daisies” wasn’t the single best hour of television to emerge in the 2007 – 2008 fall TV season (and it wasn’t, because I still say that honor belongs to the pilot for “Reaper”), then it can at least be said with some confidence that it was the one which made the greatest visual impact, courtesy of its gorgeous colors. It also had a pretty damned unique premise, involving Ned (Lee Pace), a guy with the ability to bring dead people back to life – but only for a minute at a time, lest their return to life result in the death of someone else – who splits his time between making pies, solving crimes, and pining for Chuck (Anna Friel), a girl he can never touch. Oh, right: it also had a script that was sweet, sentimental, unexpectedly dramatic, and very, very funny.

Hmmm. Suddenly, I’m beginning to wonder if I need to go back and re-watch the “Reaper” pilot. Maybe I got this one wrong.

Nah, just kidding…but “Pushing Daisies” is a great show, and after having re-watched the entire first season on DVD, I found myself geared up to see where things were going to go with the series, especially after that bombshell they dropped in the season finale: that Aunt Lily (Swoosie Kurtz) is actually Chuck’s mother.

Season 2 kicks off with a considerable amount of catch-up, which only makes sense, given not only how complicated the series is but also how long it’s been since the show was last on the air. This is a good thing if you’ve heard lots of great stuff about the show but were concerned that you couldn’t possibly get into it at this late date. Believe me, this is about as good a summation as you could hope to receive…and while it’s stuff that the regular viewers will already know, they’ve managed to slide in a few new scenes here and there to keep it interesting for everyone.

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A Chat with Mitch Pileggi

You may know him as FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner on “The X-Files” or, more recently, you may have thrilled to his recurring role on “Stargate: Atlantis” as Col. Steven Caldwell, but either way, if you’re a sci-fi fan, you probably recognize the face of Mitch Pileggi. Pileggi’s resume is wide and varied – he’s recently popped up FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” has turned up on CBS’s “CSI” and “Cold Case,” and was a regular on ABC’s short-lived (but thoroughly brilliant) “Daybreak” – but now it’s The CW’s turn. After a one-off turn on “Reaper,” Pileggi has found his way onto a flashback episode of “Supernatural,” playing Sam and Dean’s grandfather. We spoke to Pileggi in conjunction with the episode, which airs on Oct. 2nd, which gave him the opportunity to praise the cast of that show, speak to the variety of work he’s done, and stand bemused at people’s fondness for his 1989 cinematic collaboration with Wes Craven.

Stay tuned for…

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The Shield 7.5 – Game Face

It doesn’t happen very often, but tonight’s episode was a complete bore. The whole subplot involving Claudette’s run-in with Kleevon Gardner didn’t accomplish a single thing, other than to reemphasize the fact that her duties as captain are being affected by her systemic lupus. It was a clever twist to have Kleevon not only act as his own lawyer, but to be smart enough to secure an empty pill bottle from Claudette’s trash for evidence, but when all was said and done (including a plea bargain that wiped the proposed death penalty off the table for Kleevon’s impending trial), it seemed like an utter waste of time. Sure, Claudette’s bosses now know about her illness, but with Danny double-checking everything she does anyway, I can’t imagine it being a problem further down the road.

As for the Strike Team, they’re part in the Mexican/Armenian gang war took a back seat this week as they helped Agent Murray sort out a federal matter involving a dirty businessman whose case could be blown if they don’t recover his recently kidnapped daughter. It all happened as part of a routine carjacking by a group of Caribbean thugs, and after making the rounds (including getting into a car chase with a suped-up ricer that they never would have caught in real life), the Strike Team tracks down the warehouse where they’re hiding out with the stolen car and girl.

Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins in The Shield

Because it would alert the businessman to his investigation if a bunch of cops just raided the place, Vic comes up with an ingenious plan that, while Claudette approves, she doesn’t particularly like. It involves recruiting a couple of gang members to go in with Julian and pretend like they’re robbing the place – only to let the kidnapped girl escape amidst all the chaos – and it goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately, the whole takedown was about one-fifth as exciting as last week’s preview made it out to be. In fact, the only thing really worth mentioning about the whole encounter is when one of the gang members asked Vic if they could be deputized beforehand. Vic tells them to raise their right hand, and when the thugs all do so in excitement, he has them pat their head and rub their stomach at the same time.

They didn’t seem to think it was very humorous, but I thought it was the funniest thing I’ve seen Vic do in a long time – especially when he’s had to deal with his idiotic daughter for the last few weeks. This time, he discovers that she not only took part in a Pimps and Hos party that included drug use and the girls only wearing lingerie, but that she was the one who planned it. Hopefully, this gives Vic enough reason to punish her properly, because the last time he tried to scold her about her idiotic ways, she made it look like he was attacking her. Vic should just send her to Africa so we never have to see her again. Maybe then she’ll learn some freaking manners.

Of course, the big revelation of the night was that Agent Murray is, in fact, in Pezuela’s pocket, but I can’t imagine she won’t accept Vic’s help to get out. As it happens, the reason she became indebted to him in the first place was as a result of “losing” some documents in a racketeering case that her brother happened to be tied up in. Now, she’s looking for help, and she knows Vic is the only man that can give it to her. Unfortunately, he’s still not in possession of the blackmail box, and until that happens, everyone involved (Vic, Murray, Aceveda, Shane and Ronnie) will be sleeping with one eye open. It’s only a matter of time before the backstabbing begins, and I bet it happens sooner than we expect.

Prison Break 4.6: “Blow Out”

The whole bit at the racetrack was kind of fun, but it was a house of cards stacked on a house of cards. So many things had to go right for them to successfully copy the data from Cardholder #4. What if Bellick’s teller had agreed immediately to change his bet? What if the Operations Manager sent someone else (like security) to deal with him? What if the Cardholder had insisted that the manager come out to the track to deal with the sticky gate problem? It wasn’t like the Cardholder had a ton of personal security. The gang should have just saddled up nearby and copied the card that way. Oh well, the house of cards plan was a lot more fun.

“Michael, why are all of your plans so unnecessarily difficult?”

Morpheus continues to dig deeper into the gang’s plan and the scene with Don in the parking garage was pretty intense. Self knew that Morpheus was a killer, and Morpheus knew that he knew, so while nothing overtly menacing was actually said, there was a feeling of menace between them. I’ve liked Michael Rapaport since he played Paul Kirkwood in “Beautiful Girls,” the guy who brought a brown diamond engagement ring for a girl he wasn’t even dating. Rapaport always seems to play characters that are equal parts smartass and lovable loser, and Don Self is no exception. I’m giving 2 to 1 to any brave bettors that his wife is dead and that he listens to that voicemail every so often to remember her.

This week’s You Must Suspend Belief Moment goes not to the house of cards plan at the racetrack, but to the fact that Mahone had a court date so quickly in the city of Los Angeles. That whole scene was pretty hard to swallow. Both Sara and Mahone were able to leave the courtroom without Morpheus seeing them and Sara acquired the file that (apparently) had the only copy of Mahone’s fingerprints. Yeah, right. However, I have to admit that the moment between Mahone and Morpheus outside the courthouse was pretty cool. Mahone’s desire for revenge is one of the most compelling parts of this season’s storyline.

Meanwhile, the jig is up for T-Bag and watching him scramble to escape his new life was pretty funny. I thought last week that Trish Ann and her ample bosom were this season’s eye candy, but with the way T-Bag left the Gate Corporation offices, I’m not so sure we’ll be seeing her again. Who knows, maybe she’ll try to track him down at his apartment.

Speaking of his apartment – Gretchen is back in the fold! She’s cleaned herself up, has herself a new identity and some cash, and when last we saw her, she was standing on Theodore’s neck. Oh yeah, and she’s a mother, only she gave her kid away because she couldn’t take care of her. Anyone want to bet that that comes back around by the end of the season?

I’m still predicting that the gang will have to place their trust in her at some point this season.

Card #5 is next on the docket. See you next week.

Heroes 3.3 – You Can Dress Him Up, But You Can’t Take Him Out

I know I made this comment at the tail end of last week’s blog, but after watching the “previously on” segment at the beginning of this week’s episode, I found myself saying to myself yet again, “Thank God we’re back to just one hour of ‘Heroes’ this week.” After this week, though, it seems that the producers are trying to pack that much storytelling into every episode this season. This is going to be a very exhausting year…

The evilest Petrelli – I’m referring to Sylar, of course – is on the slab and still trying to reconcile himself with this new information about his parentage. Enter Bridget, with her awesome ability to see the history of anything she touches, and…whoops! Bye-bye, Bridget! The relationship between Mama Petrelli and her little Gabriel is a little creepy, but whether it’s true that she’s Sylar’s mother or not, he clearly believes in the possibility enough to be off-balance. Advantage: Mama.

I’m really enjoying the way HRG is playing both sides of the fence, serving as Mama Petrelli’s right-hand man even though he’s clearly got his own agenda. Granted, you know she knows he’s got his own agenda…just as surely as she knows how he’s going to react when she tells him who his new partner is. But she knows she’s got HRG over a barrel, and when he’s presented with the choice to team up with Sylar or let the psychotic run amuck without supervision, his options are limited. And, thus, Sylar puts on a spiffy new suit and enters society. Nice line from Sylar about whether or not Mama is playing them: “Maybe…but aren’t you curious to see how it all plays out?” It looks promising for a few minutes or so, with Sylar taking on the role of authority figure with ease, but despite his success at getting free coffee, things ultimately played out about like I expected they would, with Sylar succumbing to his dark urges, with the only surprise being that HRG seemed legitimately horrified about it. (I figured he’d just shrug and say, “I knew this was gonna happen.”)

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