Category: TV Dramas (Page 164 of 235)

Heroes 2.5 – Enter Kristen Bell!

October 22, 2007 / Will Harris

My Two Dads go their separate ways as Matt teams up with a new partner: Nathan. Still, Suresh made sure to give Matt what for before he hit the road. Matt’s dad seemed like he was gonna be a bit of a wuss, based on how he was acting once his son got the shotgun away from him, but he certainly proved to be a Nightmare Man before long, picking the worst fears out of the minds of both Matt and Nathan and forcing them to believe that they were living it. It took me a second to realize that, in addition, he was also forcing them to battle each other; that was pretty damned cool…and very comic-book-y. (I love it when they do stuff like that.)

Peter’s being stalked by Kristen Bell? Wowzers! And she’s clearly a bad-ass, what with her indifference to killing. Loved the shrug-off, “What’s the big deal?” So do you think her “sorry, Daddy” comment was being sarcastic, or will we really discover that she’s the daughter of another character…and, if so, who will it be?!? Dunno when she’ll finally find her target but…oh, geez, I guess I’ll restrain myself from making a joke about how there’s sure to be real electricity between them. I was glad to see that the opening of Peter’s so-called “memory box” didn’t result in a sudden influx of recollection, but I loved the way he channeled Isaac’s power. We just haven’t seen nearly enough eye-whites this season, dammit.

Monica’s dialogue with her co-worker couldn’t have been much more clichéd, but the horror on her face when she found that she couldn’t stop herself from playing piano, watching her fingers move faster and faster across the keys, was palpable, as was the excitement once she got the hang of her powers and did up the Double Dutch. I didn’t expect to see Mohinder pop up on her doorstep, though. I’m still disappointed that Nichelle Nichols is getting such a light load as Nana, though…but I’m led to understand – from Tim Kring himself, no less – that her character will come into her own eventually. Sooner than later would be preferable, however. (The fact that Nichols is scheduled to do a conference call on Thursday bodes well for the immediate future, methinks.)

The whole Hiro-in-feudal-Japan story has descended into boredom for me, and I don’t think it’s just because I didn’t find the whole leaving-scrolls-in-the-sword-for-Ando thing plausible. They really need to hurry up and bring him back to the present.

Says Stephen Tobolowsky, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.” Boy, if that’s not the official slogan for The Company, it damned well should be. Nikki sure as hell made a dramatic entrance, didn’t she? I’m understandably skeptical that they can really sure her of her Jessica side, but time will tell, I reckon.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Journeyman 1.4: “The Year of the Rabbit”

October 16, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

Did you notice the nice nod to “Quantum Leap” at the start of this week’s episode? When Dan appeared in the church, marking his first trip of the week, the priest said, “Oh boy”. That’s what Scott Bakula used to say every week when he leapt into a new body.

I was wanting to mark this as the first weak episode of “Journeyman”, but as the episode rolled along I still couldn’t help but get sucked in. Not that there was anything “weak” about the story itself, just that it suffered from major shades of the “been here, seen thats”. The personal stuff between the four main characters was bumped up a minor notch without really going anywhere substantial; the drama was high, but the plotting was low. Last week Katie was a rock; this week she was mostly frustrated and pissed – and who can blame her at this point? Aside from its twist ending, this week’s mission didn’t do a whole lot for me and the show’s going to need to shortly come up with far more engaging missions if this thing’s going to last over the long haul.

The episode took a nice left turn with Dan’s attempts to reach a professor – a professor who knew his father – to discuss tachyons. Later on, the professor called him on his ‘80s phone when he was in another timeline! This guy, I suspect, is going to be a major player and end up giving Dan (as well as the viewer) the skinny on what’s going down here.

I was recently rewatching the “Journeyman” pilot. Dan’s very first trip, centered around a cab, was a little different than the many that came after. I wonder if there was a clue there? If you’ve still got access to the episode, go check that out and then check back in with me. Also, what’s the deal with SoLuna, the restaurant? (Did I get the name right?) It’s playing far too big a role in this series to just be Dan’s Regal Beagle.

Lastly, this was an interesting episode for me to use as an experiment. I’m visiting my mother, who’d never seen the show. She watched it with me, and once I gave her the basic scoop on the show, she had no problem following its intricacies and in fact said she’d be tuning in from here on out. So, well, there you go…

Journeyman, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Heroes 2.4 – If You See It, You Can BE It!

October 15, 2007 / Will Harris

The opening of this episode had the same general feel as the season premiere, where we got to see the Bennets as a semi-normal family unit…um, except for Claire’s little brother. Funny that he showed up later in the episode. I’d already written this in my blog entry before he showed up: “What’s the story on him? Did I miss when he was essentially written out of the show…? I’ve already forgotten if we’ve seen him at all this season, but if we did, it certainly wasn’t for more than about two seconds, given the lack of impact it made on me.” Of course, he still didn’t make any impact on me, but at least I can confirm that he’s definitely been on.

When Claire accepted the application for the cheerleading squad, I instantly thought, “Oh, geez, she’s just stupid enough to do that, isn’t she?” I have to admit, though, that there were moments in the scenes with Claire and FlyBoy that actually felt less fake than their previous one-on-one conversations…well, except for Claire’s lame lie that her dad’s just super protective. (Actually, Claire’s a pretty consistently crappy liar, based on the way she came up with that lame-ass going-to-the-library ruse…but at least she admitted it herself later in the episode.) Overall, though, the romance angle is way too schmaltzy for my liking; I know I’m always blaming network suits and their demographic studies, but, honest to God, I just sense that, over the summer, someone at NBC said, “You know, everyone already knows the whole ‘save the cheerleader, save the world’ line, so let’s make sure she’s front and center this season, too!” Thing is, I’m just not entirely sure that Hayden Pantierre is all that great an actress to warrant that much of the spotlight…but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, I think it’s safe to say that Claire’s totally gonna screw up across the board by being a cheerleader and dating FlyBoy…and almost certainly sooner than later.

Maya and Miguel meet Sylar, eh? I know Sylar’s powers are MIA, but my first thought when they came across him was, “Okay, what would be totally awesome is if Sylar killed Miguel, and then we had to deal with the repercussions of Maya without having her brother to help reign in her powers.” I laughed out loud when Sylar told them his name was Gabriel, but I wasn’t laughing at that look he shot at the camera as he drove away with his two new pals…or, for that matter, when it cut over to dead ol’ Derek, lying in a pool of blood.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Friday Night Lights: “Bad Ideas”

October 13, 2007 / John Paulsen

This episode is named after Tami’s decision to stay in Dillon and have her baby while Eric left for Austin to coach for TMU. I thought it was odd at the time that Tami would insist on staying in Dillon, but if the Taylors had all left for Austin, there wouldn’t be much of a show to watch.

Tami is hanging on by a thread. It was pretty ironic that she told Glen that he had to connect with the kids and then Julie came into the kitchen and yelled at her. Her rant in Glen’s office was terrific, but not in the usual witty way. Based on the scenes for next week, she may be getting some much needed help soon.

Eric is struggling in Austin, but his interaction with Antwone in the car led to a hilarious line. When the two were talking about Antwone taking gifts from boosters, he said, “This started for me in pee wee. I got ice cream.”

Anyway, the split is just one of the many conflicts within the series, which have given the show a much darker feel than season one, and it seems like the series has lost some of the lightheartedness that made it so great. This has a lot to do with Landry’s situation, which just got a little worse now that he realized that he lost his watch while getting rid of the stalker’s body. Methinks that will come back to bite him at some point. He did have a great line when he met his new rally girl – “Do you think all humans are capable of evil?”

For the moment, the incident has brought Landry and Tyra closer together, and at the end of the episode, it appeared that the unrequited love finally became…um…requited.

There is also less humor surrounding Matt since he’s becoming more and more jealous of Smash and the depression/anger that will no doubt stem from being dumped. (By the way, what is with Smash rapping all the time? That just seems really odd to me.) There is some potential, however, with the introduction of the new in-home nurse. She’s sassy, pretty and is moving in, so I wouldn’t be surprised if something romantic develops between the two now that Julie is out of the picture (for the time being).

Buddy also provided a lot of the humor in season one, and he’s going through his own depression over the loss of his family and over his reduced role as a Panthers booster. His meltdown at the party was painful to watch, but it did lead to a funny interaction between Lyla and Riggins when the former asked the latter about what was wrong with her dad. Riggins responded, “I don’t know, Lyla. Maybe he’s had one too many. What do you think?”

It’s clear that the Riggins/Lyla relationship is going somewhere, but I’m not sure if Lyla is going to drag Tim over to the light side or if he’ll convince her to give up clean living to spend some naughty time with him. It could turn into a battle between Jesus and Riggins, which is especially funny considering Landry’s “WWRD” bit in the first episode.

Finally, I sure hope Jason doesn’t go to Mexico to have experimental spine surgery. That just sounds like a bad idea from the start.

Hey, maybe that was the inspiration for the episode’s title.

External Entertainment, External TV, Friday Night Lights, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Journeyman 1.3: “Game Three”

October 9, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

Whereas 1.2 was a series of safe, almost pleasant excursions for Dan, 1.3 is just the opposite.

He’s transported to 1989 – on the day of San Fran’s big quake. He meets a gambling lawyer who might be his mission, but before he knows for sure he’s back in his own timeline. Katie, his wife, is at this point proving to be quite the trooper, as she’s handling the fallout from Dan’s “trips” with as much efficiency as is necessary to keep them both afloat.

For the first time Dan finds himself constantly returning to the same day, and since he knows it’s the day of the quake, he’s also in constant danger. Instead of fixating on lawyer Alan Pratt (Peter Billingsley), he realizes his boss Hugh’s (Brian Howe) sister was killed in the quake and he makes it his mission to save her…which doesn’t work out.

This is also an eye-opening installment for both Livia and Katie – each finds out about the other’s place in Dan’s life; it’s like the ultimate time-travel cock block.

“Game Three” is another great episode for this series and much of what happens is very personal as the thrust of the goings-on is mostly around the series regulars (the mission almost feels like an afterthought). If the show keeps this up, it’s going to quickly turn into a “for fans only” type of thing and it’s going to find it difficult to build a following. Indeed, if the series intends to keep up this sort of momentum it will either be a classic or canceled. Man, I hope it’s the former.