Category: TV Dramas (Page 189 of 235)

Jericho, Episode 16: Goodbye, April lady, you’ve done a lot for the folks in this town…

March 29, 2007 /

After taking a week off, “Jericho” returns with an episode that actually packed a bit of emotional heft.

We begin with Hawkins spending his evening doing what any newly-single fella would: digging a grave. He’s interrupted from his task, however, by the appearance of Deputy Jim, who’s inching closer and closer to being immortalized in the Dopey Deputies of Television trifecta alongside Barney Fire and Enos Strate. I mean, you’d like to think the guy’s got some Marge Gundersen in him and that we’re just underestimating him, but any hint of that vibe is depleting at a rapid pace. Jim’s looking for Sarah, but Hawkins hems, haws, and finally claims that she’s headed to New Orleans to visit family; after another drop-by visit, he then admits that his own family has jumped ship…but to help cast away some of Jim’s rising suspicion, Hawkins takes the deputy over to the shelter where Darcy and the kids are staying. There’s a little suspense about whether Darcy might just narc on her husband and get him out of her hair for good…though the implication that Hawkins might pop a cap in Jim’s skull (he grabbed his gun before heading over to the shelter) is so stupid that surely no-one really believed it was going to happen…but she finally decides to stick to the story for the sake of her daughter, a.k.a. the person who actually killed Sarah. And, once again, things end with the presumption that Hawkins will never see his family again. Yeah, right.

Inevitably, the most interesting subplot of the week was the death of April. I didn’t see it coming, I was actually depressed about it (Lord knows there were far more worthy candidates within the town to have shuffle off this mortal coil), and her last scene – when she tells Eric that she likes the name Tracy, even though he knows that their baby has already died – is gripping. We also get to see Dr. Dhuwalia again…and although it gets a little too CBS-y when he’s struggling with his whole “I just want to live a simple life” thing but suddenly comes around thanks to Jake’s pep talk, Aasif Mandvi is a great actor who manages to rise above the schmaltz. Indeed, the only up-side to April’s death is that we’ll see more of Dhuwalia.

The only other notable events of the week were the arrival of the wind turbine in town, Dale protecting his interest in Gracie’s store and, as a result, finally getting some long-deserved action from Skylar (though you can just about count on her shitty friends popping up again so they can convince her that he’s not good enough for her), and more annoyed interaction between Mimi and Bonnie. Okay, those scenes weren’t bad…but, God help us, we also got yet another gag-reflex-inducing scene between Stanley and Mimi, where they finally admit that they love each other.

Seriously, I really can’t believe they killed off April instead of one of those two.

Anyway, the episode ends with ten of Jericho’s best and brightest – including Eric and Stanley – heading off to New Bern to help build more wind turbines. Not a real cliffhanger.

External Entertainment, External TV, Jericho, TV, TV Dramas

Prison Break: “Fin Del Camino”

March 27, 2007 /

The second-to-last episode of the year comes on the heels of the news that Fox has ordered another season of the show. This news is both good and bad. In many ways, two seasons feels like a natural conclusion to the story, but the show is still entertaining (at times) and is doing well in the ratings, so a third season is not unwarranted. But how do they stretch this concept out another year? Creator Paul Scheuring shed some light on the subject:

Details on the serialized drama’s storyline for next season are being kept under wraps, but it is understood that brothers Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell)–who recently escaped to Panama with the FBI hot on their trail–and many of their fellow fugitives would end up back behind bars, possibly in Panama.

“It essentially will be a new chapter,” creator/executive producer Paul Scheuring said. “It’s going to return to the fundamental conceit, to the roots of what the show was about.”

“They got scattered in the winds–their stories became separate and defused,” Scheuring said. “They will come back together again, [and] their conflicts and interactions will return.”

But while stars Miller and Purcell will return next season, don’t consider them safe, Scheuring said, hinting that one of them might not survive beyond the first couple of episodes.

This week’s episode was mostly about Michael’s desire to put T-Bag back behind bars. As in all things “Prison Break,” this goal only leads to more hurdles to overcome. He succeeds in his task (and in retrieving the money), but unbeknownst to him, Mahone has captured Linc. They wrapped up T-Bag’s storyline nicely – the knife in his one good hand was classic – but based on Scheuring’s hints, at least one of the brothers will run into Bagwell in a Panama jail. It’s also nice to see Mahone’s storyline shifting from a “I need to capture Michael at all costs” mentality to a “I want to retire” mentality. And with the lovely Callie Thorne playing his wife, it’s easy to understand why.

It looked for a moment that Sarah would be the focus of Season 3 – that maybe Michael and Linc would have to sneak back into the States to break her out of prison – but Agent Eisen’s sudden reversal could prevent that.

It’s understandable why Sucre isn’t exactly thinking straight. After all, his girlfriend is supposedly stashed away somewhere on the verge of death. But if you’re holding the ever-dangerous T-Bag hostage in the back seat of a car, you need to keep an eye on him. Otherwise he’ll retrieve a screwdriver with his foot and stab you in the chest. Seriously, Sucre, you don’t have to look at Michael in the front seat to talk to him. Humans are perfectly capable of communicating without eye contact.

Lastly, Bellick’s exclamation when he was captured – “Innocente!” – was hilarious. It’s looking more and more like he’ll end up in a Panamanian jail with the other convicts.

Next week is the season finale and it appears that the elusive Mr. Kim is going to show up in Panama. The episode is entitled “Sona,” so maybe we’ll finally find out what the word means. The last break featured a great twist (Agent Eisen agreeing to help the brothers), so expectations are high. Don’t let us down, fellas.

External TV, Prison Break, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Battlestar Galactica: “Crossroads, Part 2”

March 26, 2007 /

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**

In the week leading up to the season finale, Sci-Fi was promoting the fact that we’d learn the identities of the final five Cylons. Prior to hearing that, I thought the show would sprinkle in the reveals to add some punch throughout next season, but they did indeed reveal four of the Cylons, and four out of five ain’t bad.

So it’s Tigh, Tyrol, Sam (Starbuck’s husband) and Tori (Roslin’s assistant). Considering that Tigh, Sam and Tori were hearing the music during last week’s episode, it’s fairly unsurprising (but powerful) that they are indeed Cylons. I don’t remember Tyrol dealing with the music last week, so his reveal was a bit more surprising, though when he started humming the music this week, it became pretty clear that he was a skinjob as well.

Two observations about the music:

1) The music was from a contemporary song, Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” I didn’t recognize it until the second line: There must be some kind of way out of here / said the Joker to the Thief / there’s too much confusion here / I can’t get no relief. My first reaction – WTF? Why are these four singing a Dylan song? I hope that the writers have some sort of explanation prepared for this and that they don’t just forget about it. Could the song be part of the 13th colony’s map to Earth?

2) Initially, the music was unrecognizable because it had a Middle Eastern feel to it. Given the current state of the world, is this supposed to have some sort of hidden meaning? I think we Americans have been taught over the last several years to fear all things from that part of the world, so are the creators playing on this fear, this xenophobia?

When the four met in the room, and Tigh asked them to close the doors, I kept waiting for the fifth Cylon to knock. (That would have been a very interesting cliffhanger.) There are theories flying around that Starbuck or Roslin is the fifth. Starbuck supposedly died, but there she is in the nebula, flying a nice-looking Viper.

I’ve been to Earth. I know where it is and I’m going to take us there.

Big words. So is she a Cylon? Maybe, but it’s not as clear as some fans think it is. If she were a Cylon, it would explain how she “survived” the explosion. But it seems kind of obvious to me.

Roslin is another possibility. She reacted after the jump to the nebula, but before the power went out. Coincidence? Doubtful. She definitely has ties to the Cylons (opera house dreams) so that could be why she reacted. Supposedly, she is the dying leader that guides the humans to Earth, but even that’s not for certain.

With Tyrol being a Cylon, his baby is a hybrid. They didn’t address it at all in the episode, so I just wanted to throw that out there. Hopefully, that becomes a storyline next season. Also, Tyrol had a great line when his wife asked him where the hell he was.

I’ll tell you later.

Now that conversation is going to go over like a lead balloon.

One other random observation. They made a point of developing a budding relationship between Sam and Seelix (the short-haired brunette) by having them hugging on each other in the bar last week, and it’s no coincidence that it was Seelix who discovered Sam and Tori in the (locked) barracks this week. Expect this to play out somehow next season.

Regarding Baltar’s trial, my sister pointed out something that I missed. The segment with Lee’s diatribe about how Baltar was the one we all wanted to blame, to throw out of the airlock, coupled with the doctor’s long hair and beard – that segment had some Christian overtones. Throw in the Cylons’ insistence of One God (while the humans believe in gods – plural – just like the ancient Romans did), and the references grow even stronger. Is Baltar the Messiah? The way his new “followers” whisked him off the ship would indicate that at least a few people believe he is.

I have to mention Romo’s hilarious line after Baltar goes on and on about how he knew that he’d be found innocent:

Your boundless confidence provided us with great solace throughout the proceedings.

Did anyone else notice that Romo let Lee off the hook about Bill’s prejudice of Baltar’s trial? As soon as Lee finished his speech, Romo rested his defense. Also, Romo wore sunglasses for the entire first episode, save for a scene where he had to convince Number Six not to betray Baltar. He didn’t wear them for the entire trial, but then put them back on as he said goodbye to Lee. Plus, his limp was gone. When he’s wearing the shades, he’s himself, but when he’s not wearing them, he’s playing a role. Kudos on the great acting job, Mark A. Sheppard!

But back to Starbuck’s reappearance. I think it was fairly obvious that she’d return, though not necessarily in this manner. As Lee was flying through the nebula, did anyone else see a giant ship/structure just before Starbuck’s appearance? Did Starbuck bring help?

I liked the zoom out to see the Milky Way, and then the zoom back in to see Earth. Now we know approximately where the fleet is.

Starting with the reveal of the four Cylons, I thought the ending to the episode was fantastic. They did a terrific job of incorporating some very cool guitar (with an “All Along the Watchtower” feel) to ramp up the anticipation of the Starbuck reveal. The only downer is that we have to wait until 2008 for some answers.

2008?!? That’s practically a year away!

Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Weiss, Weiss, baby…

March 26, 2007 /

He may not particularly look it, but Greg Grunberg is cool. Let us count the ways:

1. He stars as telepathic cop Matt Parkman in this season’s hottest new show, “Heroes”
2. He got eaten by an unseen creature in the pilot for the 2004/2005 season’s hottest new show, “Lost”
3. He played the comic sidekick, yet still got the girl — or at least the girl’s equally hot half-sister — as Agent Eric Weiss on another hot J.J. Abrams show, “Alias”
4. Dude’s in a band. With Hugh Laurie. And James Denton from “Desperate Housewives.” And they donate all their proceeds to charity.

‘Nuff said.

Oh, and speaking of charity: NBC is auctioning off four original paintings from “Heroes” to benefit Grunberg’s charity of choice. Visit NBC.com for details if you want a shot at hanging “Hiro Battles T-Rex” in your living room.

Actors, Heroes, TV, TV Dramas

Rome: “About Your Father”

March 26, 2007 /

Rome

That’s it. That’s the last episode of “Rome.”

I’ve said before, with all the jumping ahead in time, that this season felt awfully rushed, but the final episode provided a fitting conclusion to most of the show’s storylines.

It starts with a great monologue by Mark Antony as the remainder of his navy rowed its way back to Alexandria.

All my life I’ve been fearful of defeat. But now that it has come it’s not near as terrible as I’d expected. The sun still shines, water still tastes good…glory is all well and good but life is enough, nay?

Then, in contrast, we get another monologue from Atia as she laments the news of Antony’s defeat:

[Octavian] wasn’t like that as a child. He was a good, honest boy. I don’t know what happened. I’m to blame, probably.

Probably?

Antony’s meltdown in the palace is a brilliant piece of acting by James Purefoy. When Cleopatra pleads with him to come up with some military trick to win the war, Antony quips, “I’m a soldier, not a fucking magician.”

Then, he has a “GoodFellas” moment when one of his guests laughs as he gets knocked down. Antony shouts, “I’m a fucking clown?” before killing the weakling in a swordfight. (I had visions of Joe Pesci.) That moment is Antony’s “lampshade” moment. You know, that moment when a partygoer partakes a little too much and their night spins out of control. I’d like to applaud the hazy cinematography of the scene. It really adds depth to Antony’s frame of mind at the time.

He has another great line when Cleo’s slave comes to tell him of her death and to urge him to commit suicide: “Anything to cure this fucking hangover.” The suicide scene with Lucius was intense, and it was a nice gesture that Antony did not force Vorenus to follow him into death.

Then there’s the matter of Caesarion. Though there isn’t any real-world evidence of this, the show’s position is that he is the son of Titus Pullo. When Lucius offers to take Caesarion to his father, Cleopatra asks, “Is he a good man?” Lucius answers, “Define good.”

The negotiation scene between Cleo and Octavian was terrific, and I can see now why they wanted Simon Woods instead of Max Pirkis for the latter half of this season. Octavian was actually 33 when he invaded Alexandria, so casting Woods was a logical choice. Of course, Caesarion was 17 at the time, and the creators didn’t have any problem shaving seven years off of his age.

It was good to see Atia get back to her old self. That was a terrific diatribe she laid on Octavian’s wife before the triumph. Now that the series is over, it’s comforting to know that the bitch is definitely back.

Finally, there’s Titus and Lucius. Even with all its politicking and betrayal, the show is really about the friendship between these two men. It was sad to see Lucius go, but I’m glad he got his wish to see his children and that his eldest daughter decided to forgive him. Titus got his wish – a son – and appears to have finally found some happiness in his life.

And, speaking of Titus, how’s this for the last line of the series?

Listen, about your father…

All in all, the finale did an excellent job of providing fitting conclusions to virtually every major character, but in reality, the only good thing about “Rome” ending is that we’ll finally get to see the last nine episodes of “The Sopranos.”

R.I.P. “Rome.” We’re sad to see you go.

External TV, Rome, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

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