Category: TV Dramas (Page 168 of 235)

After two seasons on the air, developing its characters to the point where it’s clearly not just the Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz show, “Bones” will be returning on September 25th with Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan’s (Deschanel) team getting at least as much play as the show’s two leads.

Season 2 ended with Angela Montenegro (portrayed by Michaela Conlin) and Dr. Jack Hodgins (portrayed by T. J. Thyne) forced to abandon their wedding because of a last-second revelation that Angela was actually still married, and the credits rolled with Bones and Booth (Boreanaz) standing together at the altar. Anyone who spent the summer rooting for hope that the ceremony continued with those two basically spent the summer kidding themselves, but the matter is brought up in a discussion that the pair have in the Season 3 premiere. Speaking of discussions, there’s also much talk about Angela’s husband, who turns out to be this guy she married while on vacation several years ago; they were both very drunk, she never saw him again, and she can’t really even remember what he looked like, let alone his name, which makes it a little hard to find him and get a divorce. You may also recall that, at season’s end, Dr. Zach Addy (Eric Millegan), was off to Iraq. Does he come back? Well, given that he’s still in the opening credits, it’s a safe bet that, at the very least, he’s not gone for good; in the meantime, however, Bones needs to find a replacement for him.. Despite the fact that he left a few months ago, she still can’t bring herself to put someone else in his place, and she’s using that as a crutch to avoid going into the field with Booth, which is really starting to annoy him.

So that’s where we stand. But without offering up too many spoilers, it’s worth mentioning that the season premiere sets up a plot line connected to the case the team investigates during the episode which has the potential to continue for several episodes, if not the entire season. I think it’s a good thing, although I can’t help but be reminded of other procedural dramas which have gone with similar plot lines; “Bones” is one of those shows that maintains a solid viewership without necessarily being one of Fox’s matinee series, and I don’t know that they need to shake up the dynamic but so much…but, y’know, even with that having been said, clearly, it’s about time Bones and Booth got together already! (After all, the show’s creator, Hart Hanson, said it himself: “It’s season three; I think we’d better see something!”)

Here’s a teaser for what to expect in the upcoming weeks:

Well played, NBC-Universal. Well played, indeed.

You no doubt sensed I’d never seen an episode of “Las Vegas” before, since I’d never written about it before, but you knew that, as a full-fledged TV geek, I would’ve been nonetheless aware that the show was losing longtime major players like James Caan and Nikki Cox this season. You also would’ve known that, as a recipient of your daily updates, I would’ve been aware that the show was adding to its cast an actor who I’ve always found imminently watchable: Tom Selleck.

So what do you do?

You send me the previous season of “Las Vegas” – that’d be Season 4 – on DVD, then, a few days later, you send me an advance of the 5th season premiere, which features Selleck’s debut on the show. You knew I was curious enough about Selleck’s role that I’d at least want to check out the season premiere, and since any TV critic worth his salt knows that he should watch the previous season’s finale first, you knew you had me right where you wanted me.

So, yes, I admit it: last night, I watched the 4th season finale of “Las Vegas,” then followed up with the 5th season premiere, and I was hooked. Maybe it’s just that I was tantalized by all the flashing lights in The Montecito’s casino (though it’s more likely that I was tantalized by Nikki Cox, Vanessa Marcil, and Molly Sims), but whatever the case, that 4th season finale was really well constructed, moving back and forth from storyline to storyline at a frantic pace, always keeping you on your toes. The three stars of the episode were the plotlines involving Sam (Marcil) being locked in a steamer trunk by a psychopathic millionaire, Mary (Cox) wanting to go kill her abusive father who’d just been released from prison, and a Marine who’s losing his shit and is swearing to go AWOL if Danny (Josh Duhamel) doesn’t find a way to keep him from having to go on his 3rd tour of duty, and all ended in cliffhangers that, had I been watching the finale when it originally aired, would’ve made me want to throttle someone. Now that’s the sign of a good cliffhanger…and, now that I think about it, possibly the sign of a slightly unhinged mind as well. Whoops.

So how does the season premiere hold up?

Well, not to offer too much in the way of spoilers, but since it’s common knowledge that both Marcil and Sims are returning to the show for another season, we’re probably not giving away too much to say that Delinda (Sims) wasn’t killed by a bomb, and that Sam managed to get out of her predicament…and in an impressively shocking manner. In fact, the 2-hour 5th season premiere uses the framing device of having Sam talk to a therapist about recent events in both her life and the lives of her co-workers; it’s pretty clear, though, that the reason it’s two hours long is that the first hour is intended to wrap up loose ends from Season 4 and the second is to set the stage for what’s to follow in Season 5. Selleck plays A.J. Cooper, a cattle magnate who swoops in, pays off The Montecito’s 241 million in back taxes, and takes over ownership of the casino and resort; he’s an unknown commodity, so none of the employees know what to make of him…or, more importantly, if they’re going to be allowed to keep their jobs. (There’s not really much tension over that, though, since you know everyone who’s left standing by the second hour is still going to be a regular on the series.) Selleck gets the chance to use his skill at offering completely inscrutable facial expressions, which is always fun to watch, since you never know when he’s finally going to break into a smile.

So, okay, fine, I’ll keep checking in on “Las Vegas.” It’s mostly because of Selleck, admittedly, but even so, there still seem to be enough interesting events going on around The Montecito to make it worth occasionally programming it into my new TiVo.

In the meantime, enjoy this lovely montage, courtesy of NBC: