Category: TV Dramas (Page 212 of 235)

Jericho, Episode 3: Love is the Fifth Horseman

October 7, 2006 /

First, let me apologize for the lateness of this blog; I was in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday, arrived home on Friday morning after haven taken a redeye, and was basically useless all day yesterday as a result. And second, let me apologize for the title of this post, which is referencing a Prefab Sprout lyric that most of you have probably never heard. (It’s from a song on Andromeda Heights, if that helps.)

So on with the show…

Finally, things begin with a feeling as dark as this series really should be, with people either trapped in a mine, waiting in a basement, or out in a thunderstorm. We also get an idea of exactly how much time has passed since the bomb (18 hours), which is something that we never got a feel for last episode. When Stanley Richmond finally makes it back to his house – it’s his basement that Jake, Ashley, and Bonnie are in (actually, it’s Bonnie’s, too; she’s his sister) – there’s considerable concern that his exposure to the possibly radioactive rain has begun to poison him. He seems okay, though, but he takes a dose of iodine for good measure and makes it to the medical clinic without showing any symptoms; they still want to give him a once-over, though, resulting in the funniest line of the episode: “I’m getting tired of being stuck with needles. They’ll be sorry when my spider-powers kick in!” (He also has a post-bomb meet-cute with the accountant who was trying to take his farm away; his flirting results in Madame Accountant getting the second funniest line: “Okay, but you still owe the IRS $130,000.”) It’s somehow apropos that the guy in the mine who starts having a loud and violent attack of claustrophobia is the one who ends up having a heart attack and dying, but you can see that the loss of someone like that would be disconcerting. As a result of his death, Mayor Green and his political rival, Gray Anderson, have a brief and well-warranted angry confrontation; Anderson makes a valid point that the clinic’s shelter should’ve been better maintained, but the mayor’s follow-up – that he’s causing more harm than good by attacking the man who’s trying to keep the town inspired and that he deserves to have his ass kicked for it – wins the argument hands down.

The combination of half a dozen tanks heading toward Denver and the tuning in of an Asian television broadcast that shows how many bombs have been dropped around the US (that’s right, Robert is now no longer the only one who knows) freaks the town out enough that they send people in four different directions, in an attempt to find out how far the damage extends. Jake’s discovery of downed planes and a blocked bridge on the way to Wichita sends him back to Jericho…but with a flight data recorder in tow. It’s as disconcerting as you’d expect to hear what’s contained on the recorder, but the news that Emily’s fiancee is still alive is the kind of news that sounds too good to be true. Eric’s continued affair with the bartender, even in the midst of everything that’s going on, seems downright cruel to his wife…but, then, she’s been nothing but cruel to him, so perhaps it’s warranted. Meanwhile, Robert’s coming off as really paranoid, and I’m looking forward to finding out just how much he knows…and why he feels like he can’t tell the rest of the town.

The ending is uplifting without being schmaltzy, and I’m back to believing that this show has major potential, but I’ll still close with two complaints:

1) I’m already over the teenage characters of the series; anyone who’s still concerned about social status and maintaining their cliques after the bomb drops deserves to die of radiation poisoning.

2) The choice of pop songs for the soundtrack sucks ASS.

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

“Kidnapped” no longer a problem

October 5, 2006 /

Well, it’s official. NBC’s “Kidnapped” has met its demise. Don’t believe me? Then just check out the page you get when trying to visit the show’s official website. I didn’t place bets on this one over at Brilliant but Cancelled’s deathwatch game. I keep betting on “Men In Trees” or whatever the heck it’s called. Now, my hindsight is 20/20 and I realize that when I saw the trailers for “Kidnapped” before it debuted, my first thought was, “How are they going to make a series out of that?” Well, there’s your answer.

Update: Brilliant But Cancelled just issued this statement regarding the show via email:

Although multiple sources have announced that production will be shut down after the completion of the initial 13 episode order, NBC has not officially cancelled Kidnapped.

Until further news, we have placed the show on life support.

External TV, TV, TV Dramas

“Get ready for it!” “For what?” “The big surprise.” “Oh, that isn’t till next week.”

October 4, 2006 /

You guys ready for the big reveal? The con artist formerly known as Henry Gale has a real name… and it’s Ben. Seriously? That’s the big secret? Oh boy, it looks like we’re in for yet another frustrating season of “Lost,” especially since tonight’s highly-publicized premiere was such a complete washout. Sure, the writers blew everyone away with an amazing opening sequence – which revealed that some kind of private community exists just on the outskirts of the island, where all of the Others lived before the plane crash – but aside from that, it was pretty much slow goings for the rest of the episode. Not only was most of the episode relatively uneventful, but the hour was plagued with so many commercial breaks that I didn’t even feel encouraged to pay attention.

Jack was chosen for the first flashback of the season (big surprise), and I can comfortably say that it was one of the worst in the show’s history. We learned a little more about his divorce from wife Sara and her assumed secret relationship with Jack’s father, but it turned out to only be a silly misdirection on the part of the writers.

A majority of the episode dealt more with what happened to Jack, Kate and Sawyer after they were captured at the end of season two. They’ve all been split up and placed in to different rooms. For Jack, it’s a dungeon-like hatch, but at least he gets a pretty girl (new character, Juliet) to talk to. She’s obviously been assigned specifically to Jack – maybe because she resembles his ex-wife, or maybe because they’re going to hook up later down the road. Whatever it is, Jack sure isn’t making it easy for the Others, and after taking her hostage, opens a door that he’s specially told not to open. The result? A giant wall of water that begins to flood the room. Nice going, doctor. His control of the situation doesn’t last long, however, and before you know it, he’s back in the room he started out in. Only this time, Juliet seems a little more willing to cooperate. First off, she doesn’t seem to mind telling him that they’re inside one of the many other hatches the island. This one is called Hydra because, well, it’s underwater. She also discloses the secret behind how she knows so much: they have a folder on him. What? That’s almost too ridiculous to discuss, so I’ll simply move on.

Kate’s incarceration isn’t quite so bad. She gets a shower, new clothes, and even a fancy breakfast with the head honcho. When asked why she was being treated as so, however, Ben simply replied: “The next two weeks are going to be very unpleasant.” Let the controversy begin, but I personally think that it has something to with grooming her to become a model citizen of the community – i.e. official baby maker.

Sawyer, on the other hand, definitely gets the worst of the bunch. He’s subjected to living in a zoo cage (at least we know where all those polar bears came from), and while it doesn’t take him very long to figure out the puzzle required to get food/water, well, it’s not exactly what you’d call quality. It’s a fish biscuit, or the zoo equivalent of a big ‘ol Milkbone. Yummy! At least he gets to dream of Kate while he rots in monkey hell…

External Entertainment, External TV, Lost, TV, TV Dramas

“If you with us, you with us.”

October 4, 2006 /

(Note: This is an early review of next week’s episode. If you have HBO On Demand, watch it now. Otherwise, wait until Sunday to avoid spoilers.)

Well said, Chris. Ya know, for being introduced simply as Marlo’s go-to muscle, Chris has really earned my respect as one of the smartest characters on the show. If you must, you could even compare him to the late Stringer Bell (and probably a younger version, at that), but I have a feeling that he’s going to come into his own as a much stronger force before long. His schooling of Marlo on how to deal with Omar was impeccable, and the execution was even better (setting him up to take all the heat from a robbery homicide). Meanwhile, Marlo’s got a few new problems of his own – namely that of the Baltimore police, who have just installed a surveillance camera in a corner of the park where he hangs – but now that he knows about it, why hasn’t he just gotten rid of it?

Dealing with trivial things like this really isn’t his cup of tea, however. He’s more concerned with recruiting street smart recruits like Michael onto his crew, and though he’s tried several times, he’s yet to win him over. If he really wanted the kid on his team, all he’d need to do is get rid of that little brother of his, but I’m still not sure Marlo is as callous as that. He certainly knows the repercussions of such an act, and if it did happen down the road, you can be damn sure that he’ll be well removed.

Michael isn’t the only kid with a spotlight on him this week, either. Namond’s feeling the heat from Prez’s new in-class regime (and is a top candidate for Colvin’s new program), Randy is being haunted by Lex’s death, and DuQuan discloses that he knows exactly where Chris and Snoop have been sticking all of those dead bodies. It’s too bad he’s not working as a detective on the case, though I have a pretty good feeling that if he tells anyone else about it, it will probably be Prez, who’s recently shown an interest in the impoverished eighth grader by bringing him “extra” lunches and shuffling off pocket change for a drink. It looks like old Pryzbylewski is finally getting a hand of his new profession, though his newly earned respect may quickly diminish when he goes running to his old friend Lestor with the information.

Finally, it looks like Carcetti just might pull through with a victory over Royce in the upcoming elections. Gray is clearly no longer an option, but he continues to steal votes from the black population every week. And with only a few more days to go in the campaign, Carcetti’s now only trailing the incumbent by four points, and may have just earned a few new supporters in Delegate Watkins and Deputy Commissioner Rawls. Of course, the latter is purely professional (Rawls has been sniffing out that top post ever since Burrell was appointed as the temporary replacement), but he’ll still probably get it, if only to play up the possible homosexual subplot that was hinted at towards the end of season three. With the election just around the corner (quite possibly as soon as next episode), things are going to start heating up in the city of Baltimore, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

External TV, The Wire, TV, TV Dramas

Heroes, Week 2: Hiro Goodbye

October 3, 2006 /

Better to get the awful Hiro pun out of the way now, don’t you think?

So things start off not long after where Episode 1 ended, with Peter in the hospital as a result of having jumped off that building…but while Peter’s convinced he remembers seeing his brother Nathan flying up to save him, Nathan assures him that, no, he actually tried to kill himself. Nice work, bro. Cheerleader Claire wants to find out who her real parents are, but her dad – who clearly has some connection to these people developing superhuman abilities – tells her not to grow up so fast, that he doesn’t want her to get hurt. Moninder continues to be unable to go five minutes without someone breaking into his father’s apartment, but he does develop a friendship with his dad’s very cute next-door neighbor. I dunno, I just get this feeling she’s hiding something…and might well be in on all the secret goings-on. And when Hiro gleefully walks through the streets of New York, he’s shocked to find a comic book that reproduces the events that have led up to his arrival in the Big Apple…though we’re not entirely surprised to find out that it was written and drawn by Isaac Mendez, the artist who sees the future.

Dammit, I’m doing it again. Sorry, I’m trying to get more into the flow of doing these blog entries, so I hope you’ll forgive me as I get the hang of chatting as though you’ve already seen the episode; I’m still tempted to just recap what’s happened.

Okay, I grinned when it turned out that Nathan wasn’t just lying about having flown himself but, in fact, was completely leaving out the fact that they both flew; you could tell from the way the camera was moving that Peter was going to turn out to be standing in mid-air, but it was still a cool reveal. Niki’s story continues to be the least light-hearted of the bunch – hers is unfolding more like a horror movie – but at least she’s getting a new car out of the deal. Just don’t look in the trunk, for God’s sake. Claire’s clearly gonna break sooner than later and tell everyone about her powers, if only because she’s so pissed off over her bitchy cheerleader buddy lying and pretending that she saved that fireman last episode (that was an awesome shot, by the way, of Claire getting her neck twisted completely around after getting hit by a out-of-bounds football player)…but God only knows how Daddy’s gonna react to that, especially now that he’s swiped the videotape that documents his daughter’s abilities. He might be a loving father, but he comes across as so evil that you just know he could turn on Claire at the drop of a hat. Isaac continues to be a whiny junkie asshole, just as Hiro continues to be the guy you want to cheer for…which would explain why I actually said out loud “oh, shit, what are you doing?” when he happened upon Isaac’s lifeless body and promptly picked up the gun lying beside it. His powers continue to be the most powerful of the bunch; he’d better figure out how to use them quick.

There were quite a few more superhero touches to the show this week, including the frozen bodies with their tops of their skulls removed. It’s also cool to see Greg Grunberg (“Alias”) on TV again; he’s playing policeman Matt Parkman, a cop who’s developed the ability to read minds…and the inability to explain them to others, hence his getting arrested for knowing something he shouldn’t. “You told me!” No, dude, she only thought it.

So here’s a topic of conversation to along with any comments you might have: what other super powers would you like to see pop up on the show?

External TV, Heroes, TV, TV Dramas

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