Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 77 of 81)

Heroes 2.5 – Enter Kristen Bell!

October 22, 2007 /

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 /

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 /

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.

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

Journeyman 1.3: “Game Three”

October 9, 2007 /

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.

Journeyman, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Heroes 2.3 – The Prodigal Villain Returns

October 8, 2007 /

In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I had a couple of things working against me tonight when watching “Heroes,” namely the pair of ear infections my 2-year-old daughter is presently battling. My wife’s taking a class on Monday nights this semester, so Daddy ended up watching this week’s episode while snuggling next to his daughter, unable to take any notes; I also had to rely on subtitles as often as not, due to the poor, mournful cries of “Dadddddyyyyy” coming from next to me.

Yes, it was pitiful. But, really, what were my options? My TiVo’s in the shop, and by the time I realized that I was going to be playing the dutiful Dad during the 9 – 10 PM viewing hour, I didn’t have time to get the old, faithful VCR hooked back up. So we’re dealing solely with my recollections, and…well, let’s hope they’re pretty decent, shall we?

Sorry, but that’s the way it goes when you’re SuperDad.

So, first and foremost, Sylar’s back! And…well, I think that was supposed to be Candice Wilmer who saved him. Wasn’t it? I mean, apparently, “Reaper” couldn’t spare Missy Peregrym long enough to film a couple of scenes, but the powers seemed the same, and with those kind of powers, she can make herself look like anyone else…well, anyone but Missy Peregrym, apparently. Anyway, I wasn’t surprised to see Sylar made the mad dash to eat her brain, but I was surprised when he found that her powers hadn’t been transferred to him after all. Guess he should’ve finished listening to what she had to say, eh? Niki and Micah are also back, though the extent of their story was for Niki to drop Micah off in New Orleans before heading up to NYC for a meet-and-greet with Stephen Tobolowsky about being cured of her power / multiple personality disorder. By the way, I said this when they first brought George Takei onto the show, and I’ll say it now as well: the reveal of Nichelle Nichols would’ve been a hell of a lot more effective if they hadn’t boldly gone ahead and put her name right in the opening credits.

Hiro discovered that Kensei had the power to heal himself, not entirely unlike a certain cheerleader we’ve met. By the way, was I the only one who didn’t realize that’s what had had happened last week? For some reason, I thought Hiro had manipulated time and healed the wounds in the process. It didn’t occur to me that Kensei had healed his own wounds. Anyway, I thought it was pretty funny when Hiro basically just dumped Kensei’s ass in the middle of harm’s way (times 90!) and said, “Okay, now go make history,” but I didn’t love the end of the storyline, with Hiro deciding to stick around mostly because he’s got a crush on a girl. Dude, you finally just fixed history; why do you wanna go and screw with it all over again? I also found it pretty unlikely that the notes Hiro left for Ando in the base of the sword wouldn’t have been found by archeologists at some point, but, okay, I’ll suspend my disbelief for that one, at least…

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External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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