TV Programme: The New Adventures Of Superman
Season: 2
Episode: 13
Date I watched this episode: 25/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 13 days.
Well after a fair few dull episodes, what a LOT happened in this episode!! Not only did we have the return of Lex Luthor - which gave the episode its title - but we had Nigel St John back, Lex's hair loss (finally) and the first date (if only an "almost first date") between Lois and Clark. All these things happened pretty much completely out of the blue, with no real prompting in prior episodes.
The danger was that in packing quite so much into one episode, the episodes following on from it will seem a bit bare. I mean, a lot of the storylines in this episode could have been spread over several episodes, and indeed if they had fed into the previous episodes, those episodes could have been made a bit more exciting. In fact there did seem to be far too much in general in here - that scene with the bomb under Perry's chair served no real purpose and was just a timefiller.
Clark and Lois's reactions to their new situation (after Clark having asked the question) were typically in-character, whilst also being in a sense character-building, because we haven't really seen these two have to cope with that before. Clark keeps it light by making witty comments (like "the guy's only got two tickets" when Lois asks him what about Mayson, or "what did they put in your coffee this morning?" when Lois gets paranoid about the whole situation). Lois on the other hand just seemed to turn into a giggling little girl but this is understandable since she doesn't really go on many dates and she doesn't have much experience of how to react.
The resulting chemistry was seen in droves, both subtly and...not so much (I doubt many adults will have missed the sexual innuendo shown with the champagne bottle). Clark and Lois go so well together because Clark respects her for who she is - doesn't try to demean her by making her feel like she's any less of a person because she's a woman (for example, he doesn't try to make her wait while he goes down into the sewers to investigate, instead he actually waves her on to go first. She would greatly admire this attitude). However, everyone else can't stop talking about the affair, including Jimmy and Perry, and even some random people we haven't seen before, so this makes it all the more difficult for the two of them.
So anyway that's one story, and the other equally important one was Lex's return from the dead - he IS The Phoenix. John Shea was brilliant as ever in this episode, playing a Lex who has now lost everything - including his hair... We had the sequences with Lois which essentially provided closure to a story thread which was left dangling at the end of the season one finale, and the eventual death of Gretchen, who kind of brought it on herself by underestimating Lex's love for Lois.
I wonder if we have seen the last of Nigel St John - now he has the Kryptonite which, in this version of the mythology where it is not so abundant - makes him pretty powerful. So there might be a followup there. However in general terms Lex Luthor and Nigel St John were guest appearances, and so it'd be hard for many of the storylines of this episode to continue beyond.
This episode was fun, exciting and interesting to watch, and has been the best of the season so far by a long way. I enjoyed most of the threads here and the way they were tackled by the writing staff, who have a tough job keeping the story relevant whilst conforming to old traditions. However, unfortunately the wealth of stuff which happened in this ep doesn't bode well for the rest of the season.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
[JER] Long Live The Mayor
TV Programme: Jericho
Season: 2
Episode: 7
Date I watched this episode: 25/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 15 days.
After the show practically re-inventing itself in the last episode, I was very impressed with this episode, which kept up the story threads from the last episode whilst also progressing the main story to some extent. Some compelling characters were introduced, some were developed, some pretty big stuff happened (like Jake and Heather's amazing kiss) and it left the door open for some staggering revelations in the next episode which will be the first time we've ever seen the outside of Jericho.
The opening sequence showed us the survivalists' camp (that's what I'm calling the group led by Jonah) from the word Go. Various shots of it in different parts of the episode shows it to be a fair amount bigger than shown in this opening sequence, but that's really understandable since the group apparently live there. They seem to be a fairly self-sufficient community, but they don't look like they get out much. I didn't expect them to be so hard-working: you'd imagine from their thuggish nature as depicted in the previous episode that they spent most of the time lazing around.
I should have known the "I'm taking you to Jonah" reference of the previous episode referred to the leader of the group Mitch belonged to, but for some reason I thought it must be some obscure Biblical reference. This first scene showed a very calm but brutal side to Jonah, which wasn't really seen in the rest of the episode. In most of his other negotiations he seemed incredibly reasonable, and almost seemed like a father to Jake, to the extent that I forgot that he'd burnt somebody's face with a blowtorch in the first scene, and forgot how he'd corrupted Jake in the past beyond recognition. He almost seemed like a nice guy, and his camp seemed like a nice place to live.
The revelation that Jonah is Emily's father was somewhat shocking even if Jonah had only been introduced in this episode. It suddenly escalates Emily from someone who was basically a background character (I mean, what did we know about her apart from that she was an old flame of Jake's?) to someone who could be pivotal in the hanging together of this community. Jonah seems to really care about her - but as above I'm skeptical given his continuing brutal nature. Details of her character were revealed; she is headstrong and brave; in her own words "nobody dragged" her into all this. I'm not sure whether Jake has really confessed everything to her as he told Jonah he had, but since we the audience don't even know the truth of what really happened that night, or indeed many, many things about Jake's past, it doesn't really matter. The backstory is still being slowly revealed - for example the car apparently used to belong to Jonah, but we don't know the story behind that quite yet.
With Johnston incapacitated, the decisions about Jonah seemed, at the end of the day, to fall to Gray. This is wrong and really Eric and Jake should have put a stop to the power he appears to be able to wield. This seems to go to his head when he tries to take matters into his own hands at the end (during Mitch's escape - which Mitch himself predicted) and doesn't really show strength of character here. It does keep to Gray's original mantra of not forming alliances with the survivalists' or allowing them to get away with things, but I don't think many voters would look favourably upon someone who had thrown justice to the winds and shot another human being. Jake was the voice of reason through all this, and was right most of the time, though admittedly he is without doubt emotionally involved. Gray on the other hand is right about one thing - Rob Hawkins - and I think some good will come of that, though Johnston won't be too happy about it.
A number of side-stories were present in this episode. One such was the Gracie-Dale-Skylar thing. Gracie once again proved her cold-hearted nature, and seems to be becoming a bit of a two-dimensional character. In the absence of any kind of backstory or context at all, and in particular contrasted with the behaviour in the previous episode, she is not very believable right about now. Dale and Skylar on the other hand have a beautiful relationship - the untypical pairing of a popular schoolgirl with a very unpopular schoolboy, thrown together under desperate circumstances.
We see a bit more of the Hawkins family saga. Rob reveals that he went back for Darcy "because she is his wife" and this obviously still means something to him. I think he is struggling inside, trying to stay together and fulfil the role set out for him. I wonder though how much Darcy knows about Rob's true motives for being in Jericho. I figure she knows a lot more than most other people in the town, but doubt she knows everything Rob knows. If she doesn't know what's truly going on, then I'm not sure how Rob persuaded her to come with her.
The Stanley and Mimi story is quite a cute one and there were some quite funny moments with that in this episode, as well as heartbreaking ones. The cinematography here was excellent - that wide shot of Mimi surrounded by her now useless farm audits, breaking down in tears while Stanley looks on (shortly after she learns of the destruction of Washington DC) was beautiful.
As mentioned above, one of the biggest things in this episode was that Jake and Heather FINALLY got it together. What a kiss that was - I think even Jake was a bit taken aback. And the whole awkwardness afterwards because Heather thought he was just about to drive off into the sunset - was a brave thing to do from a writing point of view and looked very believable. The question is whether Jake can really start again with Heather, and how she will react when she learns some of the secrets of his past.
Obviously however, the actual biggest thing from this episode was Jake and Eric's departure from Jericho. It almost seems a bit odd that we've now spent 7 whole episodes (that's over 4 hours) with no scenes whatsoever shot outside of this tiny little town. But now the world is our oyster and we can finally get some answers as to what the hell is going on.
Jake and Eric have quite an odd relationship. They are two such different characters: Jake the rebel and Eric the "Dudley Do-Good" (as Mimi called him in a recent episode). This is fairly typical for two brothers. However at the end of their respective days, they have the same emotions, albeit about totally different things, and are able to meet at some level, e.g. at the scene at the bar. I think the fact that the two of them are on this road trip together will result in a very even decision-making process.
The actual scene where Jake and Eric decide to go to Rogue River was quite tense. We saw a side of Gail there that we hadn't seen before. She kept a completely straight, focussed face on when she said "Go. Go Now." and didn't hesitate to put her two sons into mortal danger to help save her dying husband. In fact, from her point of view there's only a small chance of them coming back alive, given what Gray had had to go through.
So I look forward to the next episode with bated breath, and find it very enjoyable to speculate on where this show is headed. Only seven episodes in and I'm already starting to see this as one of my favourite shows ever; I'm very hopeful for continued brilliance from the cast and crew in episodes to come.
Season: 2
Episode: 7
Date I watched this episode: 25/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 15 days.
After the show practically re-inventing itself in the last episode, I was very impressed with this episode, which kept up the story threads from the last episode whilst also progressing the main story to some extent. Some compelling characters were introduced, some were developed, some pretty big stuff happened (like Jake and Heather's amazing kiss) and it left the door open for some staggering revelations in the next episode which will be the first time we've ever seen the outside of Jericho.
The opening sequence showed us the survivalists' camp (that's what I'm calling the group led by Jonah) from the word Go. Various shots of it in different parts of the episode shows it to be a fair amount bigger than shown in this opening sequence, but that's really understandable since the group apparently live there. They seem to be a fairly self-sufficient community, but they don't look like they get out much. I didn't expect them to be so hard-working: you'd imagine from their thuggish nature as depicted in the previous episode that they spent most of the time lazing around.
I should have known the "I'm taking you to Jonah" reference of the previous episode referred to the leader of the group Mitch belonged to, but for some reason I thought it must be some obscure Biblical reference. This first scene showed a very calm but brutal side to Jonah, which wasn't really seen in the rest of the episode. In most of his other negotiations he seemed incredibly reasonable, and almost seemed like a father to Jake, to the extent that I forgot that he'd burnt somebody's face with a blowtorch in the first scene, and forgot how he'd corrupted Jake in the past beyond recognition. He almost seemed like a nice guy, and his camp seemed like a nice place to live.
The revelation that Jonah is Emily's father was somewhat shocking even if Jonah had only been introduced in this episode. It suddenly escalates Emily from someone who was basically a background character (I mean, what did we know about her apart from that she was an old flame of Jake's?) to someone who could be pivotal in the hanging together of this community. Jonah seems to really care about her - but as above I'm skeptical given his continuing brutal nature. Details of her character were revealed; she is headstrong and brave; in her own words "nobody dragged" her into all this. I'm not sure whether Jake has really confessed everything to her as he told Jonah he had, but since we the audience don't even know the truth of what really happened that night, or indeed many, many things about Jake's past, it doesn't really matter. The backstory is still being slowly revealed - for example the car apparently used to belong to Jonah, but we don't know the story behind that quite yet.
With Johnston incapacitated, the decisions about Jonah seemed, at the end of the day, to fall to Gray. This is wrong and really Eric and Jake should have put a stop to the power he appears to be able to wield. This seems to go to his head when he tries to take matters into his own hands at the end (during Mitch's escape - which Mitch himself predicted) and doesn't really show strength of character here. It does keep to Gray's original mantra of not forming alliances with the survivalists' or allowing them to get away with things, but I don't think many voters would look favourably upon someone who had thrown justice to the winds and shot another human being. Jake was the voice of reason through all this, and was right most of the time, though admittedly he is without doubt emotionally involved. Gray on the other hand is right about one thing - Rob Hawkins - and I think some good will come of that, though Johnston won't be too happy about it.
A number of side-stories were present in this episode. One such was the Gracie-Dale-Skylar thing. Gracie once again proved her cold-hearted nature, and seems to be becoming a bit of a two-dimensional character. In the absence of any kind of backstory or context at all, and in particular contrasted with the behaviour in the previous episode, she is not very believable right about now. Dale and Skylar on the other hand have a beautiful relationship - the untypical pairing of a popular schoolgirl with a very unpopular schoolboy, thrown together under desperate circumstances.
We see a bit more of the Hawkins family saga. Rob reveals that he went back for Darcy "because she is his wife" and this obviously still means something to him. I think he is struggling inside, trying to stay together and fulfil the role set out for him. I wonder though how much Darcy knows about Rob's true motives for being in Jericho. I figure she knows a lot more than most other people in the town, but doubt she knows everything Rob knows. If she doesn't know what's truly going on, then I'm not sure how Rob persuaded her to come with her.
The Stanley and Mimi story is quite a cute one and there were some quite funny moments with that in this episode, as well as heartbreaking ones. The cinematography here was excellent - that wide shot of Mimi surrounded by her now useless farm audits, breaking down in tears while Stanley looks on (shortly after she learns of the destruction of Washington DC) was beautiful.
As mentioned above, one of the biggest things in this episode was that Jake and Heather FINALLY got it together. What a kiss that was - I think even Jake was a bit taken aback. And the whole awkwardness afterwards because Heather thought he was just about to drive off into the sunset - was a brave thing to do from a writing point of view and looked very believable. The question is whether Jake can really start again with Heather, and how she will react when she learns some of the secrets of his past.
Obviously however, the actual biggest thing from this episode was Jake and Eric's departure from Jericho. It almost seems a bit odd that we've now spent 7 whole episodes (that's over 4 hours) with no scenes whatsoever shot outside of this tiny little town. But now the world is our oyster and we can finally get some answers as to what the hell is going on.
Jake and Eric have quite an odd relationship. They are two such different characters: Jake the rebel and Eric the "Dudley Do-Good" (as Mimi called him in a recent episode). This is fairly typical for two brothers. However at the end of their respective days, they have the same emotions, albeit about totally different things, and are able to meet at some level, e.g. at the scene at the bar. I think the fact that the two of them are on this road trip together will result in a very even decision-making process.
The actual scene where Jake and Eric decide to go to Rogue River was quite tense. We saw a side of Gail there that we hadn't seen before. She kept a completely straight, focussed face on when she said "Go. Go Now." and didn't hesitate to put her two sons into mortal danger to help save her dying husband. In fact, from her point of view there's only a small chance of them coming back alive, given what Gray had had to go through.
So I look forward to the next episode with bated breath, and find it very enjoyable to speculate on where this show is headed. Only seven episodes in and I'm already starting to see this as one of my favourite shows ever; I'm very hopeful for continued brilliance from the cast and crew in episodes to come.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
[DRK] Two
TV Programme: Dark Angel
Season: 2
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 25/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 21 days.
I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. Having read the synopsis, it sounded like a very Joshua-heavy episode, which is normally a bad sign. However, the Joshua bits were kept down to a minimum of cringey canine nonsense and complete idiocy, and Joshua almost seemed like just another character for the duration of this epiosde.
It started off well, I must admit. The opening sequence to this episode was reminiscent of the early days of Alias; a tense and supremely cool infiltration into a highly secure building. Then came the humour with it going back and forth between Alec and Max and eventually neither of them got it. It's certainly good to see Alec again, and he actually had a fairly major role in this episode (in some of the previous ones he's been a bit more peripheral).
Alec is giving us a glimpse into what Max must have been like when she first moved to Seattle. He's reckless (like his boxing name being a play on "Manticore" when Ames is presumably still trying to hunt him down) and doesn't even entertain the possibility he might get caught. Jensen Ackles plays his cocky attitude quite well - certainly Alec is a lot more arrogant than Jason Teague (Jensen's character in Smallville) was. The final turn for this storyline has really hit home to him the consequences of what he's done, and he may very well cause problems for the other Manticore escapees.
Max and Logan seem to be back to their typical banter as evidenced early on in this episode. Asha was nowhere to be seen which gave the two of them a nice break. Not that they had a huge amount of screentime, or not like it hasn't all been done before, but I suppose it's been a while since we've seen the two of them seem comfortable together.
The main story of this episode was compelling, varied and completely ruined by the synopsis (!) Joshua had to make a tough decision which would have been tough for any human to make anyway, and meant that the storyline didn't necessarily rely on the canine DNA stuff. It really made you feel sorry for Joshua with the restrictions that are being placed on him, and I guess showed you a braver side to his personality, rather than the moaning side we quite often dwell on. On the other hand it gave Max a real sense of threat because her entire species were being threatened.
While this was an above-average episode for this season, it still only hinted at having a purpose rather than fully demonstrating one. For this reason, my hopes aren't hugely raised about this show, but at least I enjoyed myself watching the episode.
Season: 2
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 25/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 21 days.
I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. Having read the synopsis, it sounded like a very Joshua-heavy episode, which is normally a bad sign. However, the Joshua bits were kept down to a minimum of cringey canine nonsense and complete idiocy, and Joshua almost seemed like just another character for the duration of this epiosde.
It started off well, I must admit. The opening sequence to this episode was reminiscent of the early days of Alias; a tense and supremely cool infiltration into a highly secure building. Then came the humour with it going back and forth between Alec and Max and eventually neither of them got it. It's certainly good to see Alec again, and he actually had a fairly major role in this episode (in some of the previous ones he's been a bit more peripheral).
Alec is giving us a glimpse into what Max must have been like when she first moved to Seattle. He's reckless (like his boxing name being a play on "Manticore" when Ames is presumably still trying to hunt him down) and doesn't even entertain the possibility he might get caught. Jensen Ackles plays his cocky attitude quite well - certainly Alec is a lot more arrogant than Jason Teague (Jensen's character in Smallville) was. The final turn for this storyline has really hit home to him the consequences of what he's done, and he may very well cause problems for the other Manticore escapees.
Max and Logan seem to be back to their typical banter as evidenced early on in this episode. Asha was nowhere to be seen which gave the two of them a nice break. Not that they had a huge amount of screentime, or not like it hasn't all been done before, but I suppose it's been a while since we've seen the two of them seem comfortable together.
The main story of this episode was compelling, varied and completely ruined by the synopsis (!) Joshua had to make a tough decision which would have been tough for any human to make anyway, and meant that the storyline didn't necessarily rely on the canine DNA stuff. It really made you feel sorry for Joshua with the restrictions that are being placed on him, and I guess showed you a braver side to his personality, rather than the moaning side we quite often dwell on. On the other hand it gave Max a real sense of threat because her entire species were being threatened.
While this was an above-average episode for this season, it still only hinted at having a purpose rather than fully demonstrating one. For this reason, my hopes aren't hugely raised about this show, but at least I enjoyed myself watching the episode.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
NOTIFICATION: Sports Night Season 2
Next season to start will be:
Sports Night
Season 2
Initial run: 05/10/1999 - 16/05/2000
Starring:
Pre-season buzz (quotes):
Pre-season buzz (from last season's finale):
Pre-season buzz (statistical):
Sports Night
Season 2
Initial run: 05/10/1999 - 16/05/2000
Starring:
| Josh Charles | as | Dan Rydell |
| Peter Krause | as | Casey McCall |
| Felicity Huffman | as | Dana Whitaker |
| Joshua Malina | as | Jeremy Goodwin |
| Sabrina Lloyd | as | Natalie Hurley |
| Robert Guillaume | as | Isaac Jaffe |
Pre-season buzz (quotes):
- "As the second season begins, writer/creator Aaron Sorkin ditches the repetitive banter and almost all attempts at goose-the-laugh-track humour; making the show the half-hour drama it struggled to be from the start." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- "Tonight's season premiere, set three months after last season's finale, continues two principal story lines: the whiff of romance between co-anchor Casey McCall and producer Dana Whitaker, and the inconsistent recovery of executive producer Isaac Jaffee from a stroke earlier in the year. It also adds a third plot line: conflict between lovers Natalie Hurley and research analyst Jeremy Goodwin. The episode, written by Sorkin, makes it clear that "Sports Night" remains committed to its unique narrative approach: Drop viewers in the middle of a fast-paced, hyper-verbal, yet believable universe and demand that they pay attention." (New York Daily News)
- "Sorkin acknowledges the series' real-life ratings plight when he brings in a ratings expert played by Huffman's real-life husband, William H. Macy ('Fargo'). [...] But who knows if the show will last? It ranked 62nd in its first season." (San Francisco Chronicle)
- "[Casey]'s reeling from the collapse of his marriage, and his fear of dating is making him maddeningly clumsy in reaching out to Dana. For her part, Dana is as quick and clever as anyone in the building, skilled at her job and unconventionally pretty. Yet she, too, seems to be making a mess of her personal relationships, including the budding one with Casey." (New York Daily News)
- "This season [Jeremy]'s been promoted to associate producer and stud. His character will have two women in his life. [Joshua Malina] says he's shocked. 'I'm in touch with my inner stud, and I'm realistic about my outer stud,' he says. According to ABC, [Jeremy] will be 'hotly pursued' by a former girlfriend. 'He will?' asks Malina, who has already shot five episodes of the new season. 'If anyone's in hot pursuit of me, I've yet to notice it.'" (San Francisco Chronicle)
Pre-season buzz (from last season's finale):
- Last season's finale was a surprisingly normal episode, including storylines about Casey putting pressure on his son, and Dana buying a new camera. It's unlikely these will continue into season 2.
- Isaac made a surprise return to the show after being off for an extended period (this was in part due to the actor's real illness). It will be interesting to see how he handles being back, and to what extnet he regains control. Not the biggest storyline of the finale, but the most emotional.
- The actual biggest storyline of the finale was that Gordon and Dana broke up, which was the culmination of a series of events involving a "love square" between Gordon, Dana, Casey and Sally. Gordon cited Dana's love for Casey as his reason for breaking off the engagement. I doubt he'll be around much from now on, but it certainly leaves the door open for Dana and Casey to (maybe) live happily ever after.
- Okay also a load of big stuff happened in the third-to-last episode "Ten Wickets". Natalie and Jeremy got back together, and appear to be pretty happy, while Dan and Rebecca split up because she decided to go back to her violent ex-husband. These are storyline which will likely continue into season 2.
Pre-season buzz (statistical):
- This season's premiere is titled "Special Powers". It has been confirmed that it starts 23 days after last season's finale "What Kind Of Day Has It Been?"
- This season's finale, "Quo Vadimus", is also the last ever episode of Sports Night. There are 22 episodes in total in this season. "Quo Vadimus" is Latin for "Where are we going?"
- There are no new credited cast members in season 2. There are some new recurring cast members, but only fairly minor ones. William H Macy appears as Sam Donovan, Jayne Brook as Abby Jacobs, Paula Marshall as Jenny, Megan Ward as Pixley, and Clark Gregg as a mysterious character called "The Stranger".
- Previous recurring characters appear for one episode apiece: Teri Polo as Rebecca Wells, Brenda Strong as Sally Sasser and Robert Mailhouse as JJ.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
[FUT] Bender's Big Score
TV Programme: Futurama
Season: 5
Episode: 1-4
Date I watched this episode: 17/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: About 4 years.
Well well, finally back to the old Planet Express crew and their crazy antics. I've had something of a love-hate relationship with this show to say the least. In the beginning I loved this show. It was, and still is, a far superior cousin to Matt Groening's other show, The Simpsons. One of the first DVD purchases I ever made was the first (and at the time, only) four seasons of the show. (I should add at this point that this was my "start off my DVD collection" purchase, and also included the first nine seasons of Friends, first two seasons of 24, and all five seasons of Cold Feet).
As soon as my DVDs arrived, I started watching the show in earnest. However, I gradually tired of it, and despite the fact that I didn't have anything else much to watch (this was before I discovered most of my now-favourite shows) and loads of free time on my hands, it took me in the end more than 2 years to watch all four seasons. Completely fed up, I actually sold my Futurama DVD collection for a reasonable price, and spent the money on programmes I thought were more worthy. However, then the fifth season was announced, and I felt like I really did miss the old gang. So I decided I would re-buy all four seasons of Futurama and the fifth one, and get back into this show. I'm still ranking it 36th out of 37 of all time, but I feel it's worth watching.
Anyway, enough of that - on to the matter at hand. I must admit I rather enjoyed this episode/film/whatever you want to call it. Most of the laughs came from the paradoxes of time travel, but that is admittedly quite funny, and Futurama's already proved that they can do paradoxes in last season's "The Farnsworth Parabox", my personal favourite episode of this programme. Another great thing was that uncharacteristically for this programme - but in keeping with the traditions of time travel - pretty much everything was explained, including seemingly unanswerable questions like how Fry's tattoo got there in the first place. Also nothing seemed too ridiculous, at least in the Futurama universe - and even the way the scammers managed to take over Earth seemed plausible.
I think the really funny part, the classic part of the episode was the explanation of how Fry, who had been seemingly murdered centuries earlier, managed to return for his own funeral. This turned out to be all a plan to get free pizza - which is hardly surprising for Fry. Well, all of this timetravel stuff was pretty funny, starting from around where Bender said "it's about to get a lot more confusing". And it was confusing - trying to keep track of who was who and where all the various "doomed clones" (especially those of Fry and Bender) were at any particular time.
One thing I did wonder was - shouldn't there be three Fry clones? And my head hurts just thinking about this - but usually any time someone goes back in time, there is a clone created. And Fry travelled back twice - once to escape the aliens and once to get the free pizza - so there should be two clones. Well, I resolved this in the end by the fact that the "second Fry" in the current chain of events actually didn't go and get back in time, but the original Fry (frozen in the cryogenic container through all this) actually did still go back, meaning he is actually the same Fry as the one who wanted to go back to get some pizza. I think. Well, that was confusing.
The whole twist about Lars and Fry being the same person was a stroke of brilliance. The show made you really hate Lars at first, due to Fry's jealousy that Leela was so happy with him, but you realise that actually it all turned out for the best. It was just completely unexpected, the thing was almost over and then it happened. Which brings me on to my main criticism of the episode - it didn't keep you interested, mainly due to the structure of the story.
Let me go into a bit more detail on that. About 50 minutes into the episode, we'd resolved all the "free pizza clone" stuff above, and it felt like it should be the end. However we still had another half-an-hour to go and it didn't seem to be moving in a clear direction. First, we saw a bit of backstory on what had happened to the old Fry who had seemingly died in 2012, and the story of Leelu. This backstory came and went, and was interwoven with stories of trying to sprunge the timecode, robot Santa (the song thrown in there was pretty good though), Barbados Slim, and the wedding of Lars and Leela. But all this seemed boring and incidental. In my opinion, in something like this the laughs and the action should just build up - but instead it seemed to have come crashing down, with a load of pointless stuff thrown in there.
But then, we had a fairly exciting story again, with the evacuation of Earth, the fleet returning back to Earth and that colossal battle, with the final use of the doomsday device. Pretty good. But the feature still had another 10 minutes to run - and it wasn't clear how they were going to make that up. And then, of course, we had the final twist that Lars and Fry were the same, and everything fell into place. The backstory had all been relevant, and I started to see the whole picture as one whole piece in a different light. So this is only a fairly minor criticism, but at the time I was watching, I did feel a bit bored for 10 or 15 minutes there.
This is kind of backwards but it'd be cool to talk about the start now. This was a really brave move by Groening and co to jive at the network executives who cancelled and revived the show. Really funny though and I'm glad to see they've been given some artistic licence - even calling the delivery network "morons". One joke I didn't get the first time round was Leela talking about "our many fans", surrounded by actual desktop fans. They just had to make the language fit in with the universe of the show. This whole sequence was followed by intertitles in which for the first time we have the characters introduced by name - pretty well done I think.
There were a lot of references in this episode, both to past episodes and pop culture. To give a couple of examples: the Nibblonians come in and finally everyone finds out about them (last season they appeared but were secretive) and it's revealed that Bender was ultimately responsible for destroying New York (the scene seen in the very first episode "Space Pilot 3000"). As for pop-culture, there were references galore to The Terminator saga with Bender taking on that role against Fry (complete with the dark glasses) and also Star Wars during the battle sequence with the different methods of destroying a Death Star.
As is fairly normal for this show, there wasn't much character development. We pretty much know these characters by now, and they fall into their established stereotypes. Which isn't such a bad thing, as we can just relax and enjoy the laughter. One story that did fall a bit flat though was the whole Hermes-LaBarbara-Barbados love triangle. Just wasn't really that funny and felt like a time-filler.
I'd struggle to list my funniest moments from this episode but here's a few: Fry throwing the flowers in his bubble only to make it burst, Bender's comment "I hate auto-destruct sequence" on engaging his own, Fry and Bender's constant cloning during the middle part of the feature, and Nibbler's comment "everyone out of The Universe, quick!"
The last of these came in the final scene of the episode and set up a cliffhanger, which I'm reliably informed will be resolved or at least continued in the next episode, "The Beast With A Billion Backs". The universe is tearing apart, and Nibbler is nowhere to be seen. This episode showed a lot of promise and I'm glad I'm finally enjoying this show again.
Season: 5
Episode: 1-4
Date I watched this episode: 17/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: About 4 years.
Well well, finally back to the old Planet Express crew and their crazy antics. I've had something of a love-hate relationship with this show to say the least. In the beginning I loved this show. It was, and still is, a far superior cousin to Matt Groening's other show, The Simpsons. One of the first DVD purchases I ever made was the first (and at the time, only) four seasons of the show. (I should add at this point that this was my "start off my DVD collection" purchase, and also included the first nine seasons of Friends, first two seasons of 24, and all five seasons of Cold Feet).
As soon as my DVDs arrived, I started watching the show in earnest. However, I gradually tired of it, and despite the fact that I didn't have anything else much to watch (this was before I discovered most of my now-favourite shows) and loads of free time on my hands, it took me in the end more than 2 years to watch all four seasons. Completely fed up, I actually sold my Futurama DVD collection for a reasonable price, and spent the money on programmes I thought were more worthy. However, then the fifth season was announced, and I felt like I really did miss the old gang. So I decided I would re-buy all four seasons of Futurama and the fifth one, and get back into this show. I'm still ranking it 36th out of 37 of all time, but I feel it's worth watching.
Anyway, enough of that - on to the matter at hand. I must admit I rather enjoyed this episode/film/whatever you want to call it. Most of the laughs came from the paradoxes of time travel, but that is admittedly quite funny, and Futurama's already proved that they can do paradoxes in last season's "The Farnsworth Parabox", my personal favourite episode of this programme. Another great thing was that uncharacteristically for this programme - but in keeping with the traditions of time travel - pretty much everything was explained, including seemingly unanswerable questions like how Fry's tattoo got there in the first place. Also nothing seemed too ridiculous, at least in the Futurama universe - and even the way the scammers managed to take over Earth seemed plausible.
I think the really funny part, the classic part of the episode was the explanation of how Fry, who had been seemingly murdered centuries earlier, managed to return for his own funeral. This turned out to be all a plan to get free pizza - which is hardly surprising for Fry. Well, all of this timetravel stuff was pretty funny, starting from around where Bender said "it's about to get a lot more confusing". And it was confusing - trying to keep track of who was who and where all the various "doomed clones" (especially those of Fry and Bender) were at any particular time.
One thing I did wonder was - shouldn't there be three Fry clones? And my head hurts just thinking about this - but usually any time someone goes back in time, there is a clone created. And Fry travelled back twice - once to escape the aliens and once to get the free pizza - so there should be two clones. Well, I resolved this in the end by the fact that the "second Fry" in the current chain of events actually didn't go and get back in time, but the original Fry (frozen in the cryogenic container through all this) actually did still go back, meaning he is actually the same Fry as the one who wanted to go back to get some pizza. I think. Well, that was confusing.
The whole twist about Lars and Fry being the same person was a stroke of brilliance. The show made you really hate Lars at first, due to Fry's jealousy that Leela was so happy with him, but you realise that actually it all turned out for the best. It was just completely unexpected, the thing was almost over and then it happened. Which brings me on to my main criticism of the episode - it didn't keep you interested, mainly due to the structure of the story.
Let me go into a bit more detail on that. About 50 minutes into the episode, we'd resolved all the "free pizza clone" stuff above, and it felt like it should be the end. However we still had another half-an-hour to go and it didn't seem to be moving in a clear direction. First, we saw a bit of backstory on what had happened to the old Fry who had seemingly died in 2012, and the story of Leelu. This backstory came and went, and was interwoven with stories of trying to sprunge the timecode, robot Santa (the song thrown in there was pretty good though), Barbados Slim, and the wedding of Lars and Leela. But all this seemed boring and incidental. In my opinion, in something like this the laughs and the action should just build up - but instead it seemed to have come crashing down, with a load of pointless stuff thrown in there.
But then, we had a fairly exciting story again, with the evacuation of Earth, the fleet returning back to Earth and that colossal battle, with the final use of the doomsday device. Pretty good. But the feature still had another 10 minutes to run - and it wasn't clear how they were going to make that up. And then, of course, we had the final twist that Lars and Fry were the same, and everything fell into place. The backstory had all been relevant, and I started to see the whole picture as one whole piece in a different light. So this is only a fairly minor criticism, but at the time I was watching, I did feel a bit bored for 10 or 15 minutes there.
This is kind of backwards but it'd be cool to talk about the start now. This was a really brave move by Groening and co to jive at the network executives who cancelled and revived the show. Really funny though and I'm glad to see they've been given some artistic licence - even calling the delivery network "morons". One joke I didn't get the first time round was Leela talking about "our many fans", surrounded by actual desktop fans. They just had to make the language fit in with the universe of the show. This whole sequence was followed by intertitles in which for the first time we have the characters introduced by name - pretty well done I think.
There were a lot of references in this episode, both to past episodes and pop culture. To give a couple of examples: the Nibblonians come in and finally everyone finds out about them (last season they appeared but were secretive) and it's revealed that Bender was ultimately responsible for destroying New York (the scene seen in the very first episode "Space Pilot 3000"). As for pop-culture, there were references galore to The Terminator saga with Bender taking on that role against Fry (complete with the dark glasses) and also Star Wars during the battle sequence with the different methods of destroying a Death Star.
As is fairly normal for this show, there wasn't much character development. We pretty much know these characters by now, and they fall into their established stereotypes. Which isn't such a bad thing, as we can just relax and enjoy the laughter. One story that did fall a bit flat though was the whole Hermes-LaBarbara-Barbados love triangle. Just wasn't really that funny and felt like a time-filler.
I'd struggle to list my funniest moments from this episode but here's a few: Fry throwing the flowers in his bubble only to make it burst, Bender's comment "I hate auto-destruct sequence" on engaging his own, Fry and Bender's constant cloning during the middle part of the feature, and Nibbler's comment "everyone out of The Universe, quick!"
The last of these came in the final scene of the episode and set up a cliffhanger, which I'm reliably informed will be resolved or at least continued in the next episode, "The Beast With A Billion Backs". The universe is tearing apart, and Nibbler is nowhere to be seen. This episode showed a lot of promise and I'm glad I'm finally enjoying this show again.
Friday, 17 July 2009
[LST] I Do
TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: Less than 1 day.
Centric for: Kate
This was the midseason finale for this season. We were promised by the producers (see my pre-season notification) a "high octane" miniseries for the first six episodes, and while it hasn't consistently been that, this episode certainly was. The episode ended at a point where I felt this season has really STARTED for good. But first things first.
We had yet another character-building flashback sequence, but this one wasn't actually too bad. Kate's reluctance to settle, as first seen during "Born To Run", causes her to throw away her chances of happiness. It really was that pregnancy test that brought it home, and showed more clearly than before that her desire to run is really borne out of an insecurity that runs through her. She doesn't believe she has what it takes to be a mother, and so she doesn't. Her call with Edward Mars was also excellent - and reminds me in some ways of a similar call between Michael Scofield and Alexander Mahone (in [PRB] "Unearthed").
However now Kate is thrown into the arms of another man, Sawyer, and in this episode, finally, they consummate their relationship. Well that's been a long time coming, and only brought to the surface by the fact that they think Sawyer is going to die the next day. Sawyer also showed how much he really cared for Kate by not wanting to tell her that they were on a separate island.
I do think though that Sawyer has really got himself into this mess with Pickett. He's constantly looking for trouble, and doesn't seem to recognise that he doesn't have the upper hand anymore. It shows that Kate's discussion with Jack, while great cinematically, counted for nothing, as Pickett was ready to just kill Sawyer anyway. In the end, Sawyer really did narrowly escape death; I don't think Ben would have been too bothered if he had woken up to find Sawyer had been killed (Pickett may have got a slap on the wrist) but it would have damaged the dynamics of the group forever).
Jack really is motivated to get off the island by the sight of Kate and Sawyer together; he is pretty jealous of Sawyer, who also had a sexual encounter with Ana-Lucia last season, whom Jack clearly had a bit of a crush on. Jack and Ben are pretty frank with each other in all their conversations and they both knew they'd come to an arrangement eventually (Ben seems to see Jack as his diplomatic equal). However the way in which this happened was very interesting. Juliet told Jack that his door was slightly open - but surely this must have been part of a plan by Ben, although it seemed to Jack that it was part of Juliet's plan to kill Ben. So it's really very confusing where Juliet's loyalties lie at the moment and exactly who she's deceiving.
On the "other island", the only thing really going on was Eko's funeral and since I wasn't that bothered with his death, it just didn't feel emotional. This whole part of the episode was just a bit pointless, including the red herring of Locke going off to fetch Eko's stick. Luckily it didn't go on too long.
So the climax of this midseason was essentially Jack breaking his Hippocratic Oath by intentionally harming Ben and taking control of the situation. He's telling Kate to do what she does best and "Kate Dammit Run!" While Tom is seen to want to protect Ben, and giving orders directly to Danny Pickett to comply with Jack's demands (so The Others is more hierarchical than we first thought) I can't really see how they are going to be able to survive; there's not many places to hide on an island "twice the size of Alcatraz", and I can't see how they could get off the island where they are now...
This was a very exciting end to the episode and the "six episode miniseries" and leaves me almost salivating for the continuation of this third season.
Season: 3
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: Less than 1 day.
Centric for: Kate
This was the midseason finale for this season. We were promised by the producers (see my pre-season notification) a "high octane" miniseries for the first six episodes, and while it hasn't consistently been that, this episode certainly was. The episode ended at a point where I felt this season has really STARTED for good. But first things first.
We had yet another character-building flashback sequence, but this one wasn't actually too bad. Kate's reluctance to settle, as first seen during "Born To Run", causes her to throw away her chances of happiness. It really was that pregnancy test that brought it home, and showed more clearly than before that her desire to run is really borne out of an insecurity that runs through her. She doesn't believe she has what it takes to be a mother, and so she doesn't. Her call with Edward Mars was also excellent - and reminds me in some ways of a similar call between Michael Scofield and Alexander Mahone (in [PRB] "Unearthed").
However now Kate is thrown into the arms of another man, Sawyer, and in this episode, finally, they consummate their relationship. Well that's been a long time coming, and only brought to the surface by the fact that they think Sawyer is going to die the next day. Sawyer also showed how much he really cared for Kate by not wanting to tell her that they were on a separate island.
I do think though that Sawyer has really got himself into this mess with Pickett. He's constantly looking for trouble, and doesn't seem to recognise that he doesn't have the upper hand anymore. It shows that Kate's discussion with Jack, while great cinematically, counted for nothing, as Pickett was ready to just kill Sawyer anyway. In the end, Sawyer really did narrowly escape death; I don't think Ben would have been too bothered if he had woken up to find Sawyer had been killed (Pickett may have got a slap on the wrist) but it would have damaged the dynamics of the group forever).
Jack really is motivated to get off the island by the sight of Kate and Sawyer together; he is pretty jealous of Sawyer, who also had a sexual encounter with Ana-Lucia last season, whom Jack clearly had a bit of a crush on. Jack and Ben are pretty frank with each other in all their conversations and they both knew they'd come to an arrangement eventually (Ben seems to see Jack as his diplomatic equal). However the way in which this happened was very interesting. Juliet told Jack that his door was slightly open - but surely this must have been part of a plan by Ben, although it seemed to Jack that it was part of Juliet's plan to kill Ben. So it's really very confusing where Juliet's loyalties lie at the moment and exactly who she's deceiving.
On the "other island", the only thing really going on was Eko's funeral and since I wasn't that bothered with his death, it just didn't feel emotional. This whole part of the episode was just a bit pointless, including the red herring of Locke going off to fetch Eko's stick. Luckily it didn't go on too long.
So the climax of this midseason was essentially Jack breaking his Hippocratic Oath by intentionally harming Ben and taking control of the situation. He's telling Kate to do what she does best and "Kate Dammit Run!" While Tom is seen to want to protect Ben, and giving orders directly to Danny Pickett to comply with Jack's demands (so The Others is more hierarchical than we first thought) I can't really see how they are going to be able to survive; there's not many places to hide on an island "twice the size of Alcatraz", and I can't see how they could get off the island where they are now...
This was a very exciting end to the episode and the "six episode miniseries" and leaves me almost salivating for the continuation of this third season.
[LST] The Cost Of Living
TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: Less than 1 day.
Centric for: Eko
Eko's death (the focus of this episode), while rather unexpected at this time, was not altogether unwelcome. Eko has never been one of my favourite characters, although he did have his moments of brilliance towards the end of the last season. However, so far this season he's hardly been seen at all, and so to have an entire episode of basically just him was serious overkill, making me really not that bothered when he was killed off.
The best word I could use for Eko's demeanour at the start of the episode is "blundering". He really was just wandering around the jungle with no real direction, certainly not in a fit state of health to be walking around like that, and with little regard for the fact that he was on the brink of death. And it is in some ways this arrogance - against God and against death itself - that got him killed.
Yes, this was very in-keeping with Eko's character as a whole. He is very arrogant and thinks he knows best, even to the point of defying the laws of God he knew and justifying things like theft and murder by his own laws. I don't think The Island looked down favourably on that, especially speaking through the persona of Yemi. So - the entity known as "The Monster" finally killed Eko the way it killed the pilot. However this time we really got to see what happened, complete with the odd sound-effects - so that was pretty cool, in a way.
As was mentioned several times in the episode - the trip to find Eko served a dual purpose - to revisit The Pearl station. Apart from The Hydra (where Sawyer, Kate and Jack are being held) this is the first DHARMA station to be visited this season. It's actually smaller than I remember it from when we first visited it last season. Anyway, finally they got a connection to another DHARMA station (now the sixth to be introduced, I think: existing 5 include The Staff, The Arrow, The Pearl, The Swan and The Hydra). (Surprisingly, Nikki was actually quite useful here. But I still think it added pretty much nothing to the story to bring the two of them along.) In this new station, a man wearing an eyepatch closes communication, but I don't see how this helps. They know what it looks like on the inside but not the outside, and while they feel like they are a bit further forward, I don't think they really are.
Locke led this mission (together in part with Sayid, who it's good to see back for the first time since "The Glass Ballerina" - presumably Jin/Sun are back too) and is really establishing his new authority with the group, following his prior speech during "Further Instructions". He seeks to distance himself from Jack, re-inforcing his philosophy of an all-inclusive society, in stark contrast to Sawyer's world as seen in the previous episode.
Over on "Hydra Island" (as it has become known in the fan community), we first see Ben inviting Jack to Colleen's funeral. I don't feel that this was particularly fake, and a really beautiful description of how funerals are seen in The Others' culture, having had to make do with what they have since being on The Island. It's certainly a lot more classy than the funerals that the survivors have been able to manage. I think Ben wanted to show this to Jack for a reason - to show the softer side to The Others' lifestyle, but also maybe to increase his level of guilt.
As for that "wonderful plan" that Ben had, we now at least have some of Ben's cards laid on the table when he frankly admits that the plan has been "shot to sunshine". Ben "wants [Jack] to want to save [his] life" and this was why he has been playing such mindgames. Now, however, things are different and they can move into a new phase of more open negotiation. I don't think Jack will ever be amenable to his demands though, as he has been so deceitful in the past.
Again we see the rather strange relationship between Jack and Juliet. Here she goes farther than she's ever gone before and actually asks Jack to help her kill Ben. She's asking a lot of him, and the fact that she is even prepared to take the risk in asking him shows her level of desperation, but also the extent to which she trusts him. However, we can't ignore the fact that she's done some pretty terrible things in the past on behalf of Ben. Her plan may very well be another deception from The Others.
Eko's final words of "you're next" are vague and could have a wide range of meanings. But certainly I think we haven't seen the last of The Monster, and more generally what The Island is capable of. While most of this episode wasn't very enjoyable, there is still a tremendous amount of promise for this season.
Season: 3
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: Less than 1 day.
Centric for: Eko
Eko's death (the focus of this episode), while rather unexpected at this time, was not altogether unwelcome. Eko has never been one of my favourite characters, although he did have his moments of brilliance towards the end of the last season. However, so far this season he's hardly been seen at all, and so to have an entire episode of basically just him was serious overkill, making me really not that bothered when he was killed off.
The best word I could use for Eko's demeanour at the start of the episode is "blundering". He really was just wandering around the jungle with no real direction, certainly not in a fit state of health to be walking around like that, and with little regard for the fact that he was on the brink of death. And it is in some ways this arrogance - against God and against death itself - that got him killed.
Yes, this was very in-keeping with Eko's character as a whole. He is very arrogant and thinks he knows best, even to the point of defying the laws of God he knew and justifying things like theft and murder by his own laws. I don't think The Island looked down favourably on that, especially speaking through the persona of Yemi. So - the entity known as "The Monster" finally killed Eko the way it killed the pilot. However this time we really got to see what happened, complete with the odd sound-effects - so that was pretty cool, in a way.
As was mentioned several times in the episode - the trip to find Eko served a dual purpose - to revisit The Pearl station. Apart from The Hydra (where Sawyer, Kate and Jack are being held) this is the first DHARMA station to be visited this season. It's actually smaller than I remember it from when we first visited it last season. Anyway, finally they got a connection to another DHARMA station (now the sixth to be introduced, I think: existing 5 include The Staff, The Arrow, The Pearl, The Swan and The Hydra). (Surprisingly, Nikki was actually quite useful here. But I still think it added pretty much nothing to the story to bring the two of them along.) In this new station, a man wearing an eyepatch closes communication, but I don't see how this helps. They know what it looks like on the inside but not the outside, and while they feel like they are a bit further forward, I don't think they really are.
Locke led this mission (together in part with Sayid, who it's good to see back for the first time since "The Glass Ballerina" - presumably Jin/Sun are back too) and is really establishing his new authority with the group, following his prior speech during "Further Instructions". He seeks to distance himself from Jack, re-inforcing his philosophy of an all-inclusive society, in stark contrast to Sawyer's world as seen in the previous episode.
Over on "Hydra Island" (as it has become known in the fan community), we first see Ben inviting Jack to Colleen's funeral. I don't feel that this was particularly fake, and a really beautiful description of how funerals are seen in The Others' culture, having had to make do with what they have since being on The Island. It's certainly a lot more classy than the funerals that the survivors have been able to manage. I think Ben wanted to show this to Jack for a reason - to show the softer side to The Others' lifestyle, but also maybe to increase his level of guilt.
As for that "wonderful plan" that Ben had, we now at least have some of Ben's cards laid on the table when he frankly admits that the plan has been "shot to sunshine". Ben "wants [Jack] to want to save [his] life" and this was why he has been playing such mindgames. Now, however, things are different and they can move into a new phase of more open negotiation. I don't think Jack will ever be amenable to his demands though, as he has been so deceitful in the past.
Again we see the rather strange relationship between Jack and Juliet. Here she goes farther than she's ever gone before and actually asks Jack to help her kill Ben. She's asking a lot of him, and the fact that she is even prepared to take the risk in asking him shows her level of desperation, but also the extent to which she trusts him. However, we can't ignore the fact that she's done some pretty terrible things in the past on behalf of Ben. Her plan may very well be another deception from The Others.
Eko's final words of "you're next" are vague and could have a wide range of meanings. But certainly I think we haven't seen the last of The Monster, and more generally what The Island is capable of. While most of this episode wasn't very enjoyable, there is still a tremendous amount of promise for this season.
[LST] Every Man For Himself
TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 4
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 3 days.
Centric for: Sawyer
The title of this episode immediately alluded to the fact that it was likely to be Sawyer-centric. Every person on the island (and especially between Jack, Locke and Sawyer) has their own philosophy, and Sawyer's couldn't be more succintly summed up than as "Every Man For Himself". So in this sense, the episode didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know. But what was interesting was the contrast between this attitude and Kate's (inherited from Jack) "live together, die alone" attitude. Kate, finally forced to admit her love for Sawyer in this episode, has such a hold over Sawyer that she can turn off this raw free-for-all desire in him just by her presence. While he was quite prepared to leave Jack and run off with Kate, he certainly wasn't prepared to leave Kate if he had his own opportunity to escape.
The other main storyline Sawyer had in this ep was regarding the supposed "pacemaker" that Ben had implanted in him. Regarding the issue of conning, Ben says "we're a lot better". It's true - pretty much everything about The Others is a con. It's pretty unclear what their endgame is and that's exactly the way they want it. It's just their culture. At least now we have some answers as to why they have been behaving the way they have been doing of late. As Ben confirmed, they were trying to gain Sawyer's respect through the con, and seemingly it worked.
Jack's failure to resuscitate Colleeen, while not entirely his fault, didn't exactly do him any favours. If he had have saved her life, he could have really increased his standing with The Others: who knows what would have happened then? But alas; it isn't to be. Colleen dies, and the group's view of the survivors, especially in the case of Pickett, is much worsened.
The relationship between Jack and Juliet is a very odd one. Jack quite clearly states in this episode that he doesn't care about making Juliet feel better. But clearly he does, and in her case, despite her actions in the past, she doesn't really act like one of the "other" Others. Additionally, right at the start of "A Tale Of Two Cities", we clearly see that she isn't very happy. So perhaps she is going to be instrumental to Jack's inevitable escape.
The flashback in this episode was actually not that great. I mean come on, we know Sawyer is a con-man, we get it, all of Sawyer's flashbacks are about cons and it's getting kinda boring. It's almost like the writers think it's going to be a big twist when they reveal that Sawyer has been playing everyone along, but it's not anymore. The only useful part in all this was that we got to find out that Sawyer actually has a daughter, which is slightly surprising.
At the beach camp, the main story here was about Desmond, whose time-travelling capabilities (!) were revealed in the last episode. Well he is struggling to come to terms with all this, which is hardly surprising given the magnitude of what he is experiencing. Unfortunately for him, this means he's coming across as a bit creepy, especially to Claire. I think it's only Hurley who's really got a handle on what's going on, although the collapse of the lightning conductor will have raised a few eyebrows.
Paulo was also in this one, appearing mainly in a fairly incidental scene where he lends a golf club to Desmond. Most "new" characters (Desmond, Ana-Lucia/Libby/Eko, Ben, etc) have fairly dramatic introductions, so I'm always a bit uncomfortable when Paulo is on-screen, because everyone feels like they know him although they've never really experienced anything together.
So now we know that these two story threads are occurring on two separate islands - admittedly that was a bit of a twist. It adds a whole different dimension to the thing - and raises the question of how are they ever going to get back together as one group? They no longer have a boat and that's an awful long way to swim (not to mention the sharks first seen in last season's "Adrift").
Still the most compelling story of this season is Ben, how he manages The Others, and how Jack/Kate/Sawyer are coping with the whole scenario. So I'll wait with bated breath to see how that develops. As for the on-island stuff, it's not going anywhere yet, but I'll give it some time as I know this show doesn't often let me down.
Season: 3
Episode: 4
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 3 days.
Centric for: Sawyer
The title of this episode immediately alluded to the fact that it was likely to be Sawyer-centric. Every person on the island (and especially between Jack, Locke and Sawyer) has their own philosophy, and Sawyer's couldn't be more succintly summed up than as "Every Man For Himself". So in this sense, the episode didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know. But what was interesting was the contrast between this attitude and Kate's (inherited from Jack) "live together, die alone" attitude. Kate, finally forced to admit her love for Sawyer in this episode, has such a hold over Sawyer that she can turn off this raw free-for-all desire in him just by her presence. While he was quite prepared to leave Jack and run off with Kate, he certainly wasn't prepared to leave Kate if he had his own opportunity to escape.
The other main storyline Sawyer had in this ep was regarding the supposed "pacemaker" that Ben had implanted in him. Regarding the issue of conning, Ben says "we're a lot better". It's true - pretty much everything about The Others is a con. It's pretty unclear what their endgame is and that's exactly the way they want it. It's just their culture. At least now we have some answers as to why they have been behaving the way they have been doing of late. As Ben confirmed, they were trying to gain Sawyer's respect through the con, and seemingly it worked.
Jack's failure to resuscitate Colleeen, while not entirely his fault, didn't exactly do him any favours. If he had have saved her life, he could have really increased his standing with The Others: who knows what would have happened then? But alas; it isn't to be. Colleen dies, and the group's view of the survivors, especially in the case of Pickett, is much worsened.
The relationship between Jack and Juliet is a very odd one. Jack quite clearly states in this episode that he doesn't care about making Juliet feel better. But clearly he does, and in her case, despite her actions in the past, she doesn't really act like one of the "other" Others. Additionally, right at the start of "A Tale Of Two Cities", we clearly see that she isn't very happy. So perhaps she is going to be instrumental to Jack's inevitable escape.
The flashback in this episode was actually not that great. I mean come on, we know Sawyer is a con-man, we get it, all of Sawyer's flashbacks are about cons and it's getting kinda boring. It's almost like the writers think it's going to be a big twist when they reveal that Sawyer has been playing everyone along, but it's not anymore. The only useful part in all this was that we got to find out that Sawyer actually has a daughter, which is slightly surprising.
At the beach camp, the main story here was about Desmond, whose time-travelling capabilities (!) were revealed in the last episode. Well he is struggling to come to terms with all this, which is hardly surprising given the magnitude of what he is experiencing. Unfortunately for him, this means he's coming across as a bit creepy, especially to Claire. I think it's only Hurley who's really got a handle on what's going on, although the collapse of the lightning conductor will have raised a few eyebrows.
Paulo was also in this one, appearing mainly in a fairly incidental scene where he lends a golf club to Desmond. Most "new" characters (Desmond, Ana-Lucia/Libby/Eko, Ben, etc) have fairly dramatic introductions, so I'm always a bit uncomfortable when Paulo is on-screen, because everyone feels like they know him although they've never really experienced anything together.
So now we know that these two story threads are occurring on two separate islands - admittedly that was a bit of a twist. It adds a whole different dimension to the thing - and raises the question of how are they ever going to get back together as one group? They no longer have a boat and that's an awful long way to swim (not to mention the sharks first seen in last season's "Adrift").
Still the most compelling story of this season is Ben, how he manages The Others, and how Jack/Kate/Sawyer are coping with the whole scenario. So I'll wait with bated breath to see how that develops. As for the on-island stuff, it's not going anywhere yet, but I'll give it some time as I know this show doesn't often let me down.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
NOTIFICATION: Futurama Season 5
Next season to start will be:
Futurama
Season 5
Initial run: 27/11/2007 - 23/02/2009
Starring:
Pre-season buzz (quotes):
Futurama
Season 5
Initial run: 27/11/2007 - 23/02/2009
Starring:
| Billy West | as | Phillip Fry |
| Katey Sagal | as | Turanga Leela |
| John DiMaggio | as | Bender Rodríguez |
| Billy West | as | Hubert Farnsworth |
| Billy West | as | John Zoidberg |
| Phil LaMarr | as | Hermes Conrad |
| Lauren Tom | as | Amy Wong |
| Frank Welker | as | Nibbler |
| Billy West | as | Zapp Brannigan |
| Maurice LaMarch | as | Kif Kroker |
Pre-season buzz (quotes):
- "Futurama came to an end in such a non-definitive way that there was a lot more standing around scratching heads than there was taking of one's own life. It was more like the ending to our Halloween parties. You don't want it to end and a lot of people hang around talking and laughing." - Dwayne Carey-Hill (director of "Bender's Big Score" and "Bender's Game"), speaking in an interview for Cinematical, talks about the prior cancellation of Futurama.
- "It was like coming home. It was because it's all the same people, same voice people, same writers, same crew basically. It was just like we fell right back into everything again and it was a delight. It was a joy to come back and I have the fans to thank for bringing it back. They kept the resonance going." - Billy West, speaking in an interview for Canmag, talks about the feeling of coming back.
- "There's love and romance, a bit of sex and murder and mayhem." - Billy West, in the same interview, gives his insight into the new season.
- The season 4 finale saw Leela (finally) fall in love with Fry, despite the fact that he had to make a deal with the devil to do it. In the style of Futurama, it's unlikely there'll be much continuity between seasons.
- I finished watching season 4 around 2005; I don't have the exact date because it was before I started keeping any records on that. In total, it was 4 years, 3 months and 17 days between the season 4 finale broadcast and the release of the season 5 premiere. This was due to the show being cancelled and then re-born. However, since I didn't watch the show with broadcast, and it's taken me a while to get around to watching season 5, then it's been almost as long for me.
- Technically this is the sixth broadcast season, as when the episodes were originally released, Fox decided to split down the episodes into 5 broadcast seasons. However this wasn't what the creators intended, and all the DVD sets have been released as 4 separate seasons. Also, this season has been branded as season 5; no one is calling it season 6.
- Season 5 contains a total of 16 episodes but they have been edited into 4 films, comprising 4 episodes each. The DVDs for these films were released before broadcast, but were shown in individual parts for broadcast; these individual parts have not been released on DVD, and may not ever be. (The only difference is that we have different beginning titles for each episode, as is the style of Futurama).
- In addition to the main cast, other special guest appearances include Al Gore, Mark Hammill, Coolio, Brittany Murphy, Stephen Hawking, Snoop Dogg and Penn & Teller.
- Other characters who make guest re-appearances for this season include Cubert Farnsworth, Robot Santa, Robot Devil and Ogden Wernstrom.
- Another season has been confirmed, this will be season 6 (or season 7 if you follow the note above) but no one quite knows when it will be out.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
[LST] Further Instructions
TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 3
Date I watched this episode: 12/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 7 days.
Centric for: Locke
This was the first episode to deal with the situation back at the survivors' base camp, and did not touch on the events going on with The Others, or the events going on at Pala Ferry. Instead, it focussed mainly on Locke, Charlie, Hurley and Desmond, with Claire, Eko, Paolo and Nikki also appearing.
Like I said in my last review, the fact that this isn't a season premiere means they are not forced to have such a dramatic introduction. However, it's almost like a premiere, as none of these characters have been seen before this season. So I was a bit disappointed with the way the episode opened. There was no real lead-in, no "you haven't seen these characters for (in the case of broadcast) a few months so let's spend some time with them." It was straight into the action, which is fine if done well. I think my main concern actually was with the music. It was just a bit too eerie and dominated the whole teaser, particularly the first scene between John and Charlie, where the music really seemed out of place for a "first scene together of the season", or even of an episode. Even the first scene where Charlie and Claire were seen together - the setting was not established, we just plunged back in as if nothing had happened. And the final part before the second commercial break, when Locke speaks for the first time to declare his intention to save Eko, sounded like it was meant to sound inspiring but didn't.
I'm being critical but things did settle down in general after the intertitle. The first scene after that is more along the lines I was expecting. Charlie was completely in-character, but Locke is a changed man, and truly was the centre of this episode. This one was about how the Discharge affected Locke, and how he is willing to do anything he can to get back on track after losing his faith. This worked rather well, and his faith is rewarded with proof that the vision he saw was really from the Island. This was a good storyline, and it was certainly nice to see Ian Somerhalder around again; I'm sure he enjoyed that gig too.
Locke's flashback sequence this time around was fairly incidental. No Helen, no Anthony; this was seemingly forgotten about. Truly the fact that Eddie was a cop was a bit of a twist, and I thought that seeing Locke in that situation was interesting, but it didn't have overall significance, and only served to introduce this "hunter vs farmer" thing. I think that really shows the struggle in Locke's character, and he exhibits elements of both at times. His "hunter" aspects have been supressed recently, but now it seems he is going to be able to go back on that journey.
Something very strange has happened to Desmond and it now seems he can see into the future. In fact, in general all of the three inhabitants of The Swan when it imploded had different fates. For some reason, Desmond's clothes were shredded, and he has now been given this gift. This show is getting more and more supernatural from week to week.
The other two new main characters, Paulo and Nikki, appeared briefly in this episode. No effort was made to introduce them and they merely appeared as if we the audience had known about them forever. They don't seem to be anything special, and their inclusion in the main cast seems completely random. (Apparently, a now-deleted scene was supposed to introduce the two in a better way).
Now Locke is charged with "bringing the family back together" and appears to be the new leader of the survivors. The Island has already told him (through Eko) that he "will find them", so we don't have any doubts there. So I'm guessing we're going to see a showdown between the survivors and The Others at some point.
All in all this was quite a variable episode, but was a great character-development episode for Locke, and set the foundation for an inevitably monumental rescue attempt.
Season: 3
Episode: 3
Date I watched this episode: 12/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 7 days.
Centric for: Locke
This was the first episode to deal with the situation back at the survivors' base camp, and did not touch on the events going on with The Others, or the events going on at Pala Ferry. Instead, it focussed mainly on Locke, Charlie, Hurley and Desmond, with Claire, Eko, Paolo and Nikki also appearing.
Like I said in my last review, the fact that this isn't a season premiere means they are not forced to have such a dramatic introduction. However, it's almost like a premiere, as none of these characters have been seen before this season. So I was a bit disappointed with the way the episode opened. There was no real lead-in, no "you haven't seen these characters for (in the case of broadcast) a few months so let's spend some time with them." It was straight into the action, which is fine if done well. I think my main concern actually was with the music. It was just a bit too eerie and dominated the whole teaser, particularly the first scene between John and Charlie, where the music really seemed out of place for a "first scene together of the season", or even of an episode. Even the first scene where Charlie and Claire were seen together - the setting was not established, we just plunged back in as if nothing had happened. And the final part before the second commercial break, when Locke speaks for the first time to declare his intention to save Eko, sounded like it was meant to sound inspiring but didn't.
I'm being critical but things did settle down in general after the intertitle. The first scene after that is more along the lines I was expecting. Charlie was completely in-character, but Locke is a changed man, and truly was the centre of this episode. This one was about how the Discharge affected Locke, and how he is willing to do anything he can to get back on track after losing his faith. This worked rather well, and his faith is rewarded with proof that the vision he saw was really from the Island. This was a good storyline, and it was certainly nice to see Ian Somerhalder around again; I'm sure he enjoyed that gig too.
Locke's flashback sequence this time around was fairly incidental. No Helen, no Anthony; this was seemingly forgotten about. Truly the fact that Eddie was a cop was a bit of a twist, and I thought that seeing Locke in that situation was interesting, but it didn't have overall significance, and only served to introduce this "hunter vs farmer" thing. I think that really shows the struggle in Locke's character, and he exhibits elements of both at times. His "hunter" aspects have been supressed recently, but now it seems he is going to be able to go back on that journey.
Something very strange has happened to Desmond and it now seems he can see into the future. In fact, in general all of the three inhabitants of The Swan when it imploded had different fates. For some reason, Desmond's clothes were shredded, and he has now been given this gift. This show is getting more and more supernatural from week to week.
The other two new main characters, Paulo and Nikki, appeared briefly in this episode. No effort was made to introduce them and they merely appeared as if we the audience had known about them forever. They don't seem to be anything special, and their inclusion in the main cast seems completely random. (Apparently, a now-deleted scene was supposed to introduce the two in a better way).
Now Locke is charged with "bringing the family back together" and appears to be the new leader of the survivors. The Island has already told him (through Eko) that he "will find them", so we don't have any doubts there. So I'm guessing we're going to see a showdown between the survivors and The Others at some point.
All in all this was quite a variable episode, but was a great character-development episode for Locke, and set the foundation for an inevitably monumental rescue attempt.
Monday, 13 July 2009
[NAS] The Eyes Have It
TV Programme: The New Adventures Of Superman
Season: 2
Episode: 12
Date I watched this episode: 12/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 7 days.
After complaining in my last review that the storylines were not very imaginative, actually this idea wasn't too bad. Seeing how Clark would react to blindness is not something I've thought about or seen done before. It's the little things that made this so great; Lois having to guide Superman home, Clark trying to cook but ending up breaking all the china, Clark trying to help the blind man when he can't even see himself.
Also the fact that Clark had to stay at Lois's house "as Superman" made it all the more compelling. Jonathan and Martha struggling to cope with having to pretend Superman wasn't their son, Lois being amazed by the fact that Superman actually sleeps, and so on. Lois was her typical swooning self around Superman, which I guess did get a bit tiring, but we don't often get to see these two together for as much screentime as we did in this ep.
The actual conflict in this episode centred around the "knowledge-transferring pen". There were a couple of things here which seemed just a bit off-balance at first but gradually became important. For example the "pen" itself which seemed a pointless red-herring but then grew into the main event. Also this whole "leaking of information": when Lois first said something about the gold standard to Mayson Drake, it seemed like a casual part of conversation, and I didn't think out of the ordinary, I just thought I didn't really get it.
Of course this episode still suffers from problems which plague this series. First of all the villains themselves - they were just the same as every other "evil genius" villain we've had. That's why it was so much better when we had Lex to tie them together. The villains nowadays are always comical, clumsy fools who stumble into accuracy sometimes. Another character thing which I always bring up is Jimmy - who once again was only involved in fairly incidental storylines, this time around women.
The sound editing in the ep was pretty odd to say the least. A weird sound effect played every time the pen got moved to a different location or Lois had an information leak. But this just sounded cheesy and out-of-place. Sometimes this show doesn't take itself seriously enough.
I'm feeling like this one was above average for the season so far, but still disappointing. Only when they see their failings and move with the times, re-invent the show for the environment we are now in (and by that I mean no Lex, a completely different Jimmy, Superman more comfortable in his surroundings) then they can actually move back to where this show was.
Season: 2
Episode: 12
Date I watched this episode: 12/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 7 days.
After complaining in my last review that the storylines were not very imaginative, actually this idea wasn't too bad. Seeing how Clark would react to blindness is not something I've thought about or seen done before. It's the little things that made this so great; Lois having to guide Superman home, Clark trying to cook but ending up breaking all the china, Clark trying to help the blind man when he can't even see himself.
Also the fact that Clark had to stay at Lois's house "as Superman" made it all the more compelling. Jonathan and Martha struggling to cope with having to pretend Superman wasn't their son, Lois being amazed by the fact that Superman actually sleeps, and so on. Lois was her typical swooning self around Superman, which I guess did get a bit tiring, but we don't often get to see these two together for as much screentime as we did in this ep.
The actual conflict in this episode centred around the "knowledge-transferring pen". There were a couple of things here which seemed just a bit off-balance at first but gradually became important. For example the "pen" itself which seemed a pointless red-herring but then grew into the main event. Also this whole "leaking of information": when Lois first said something about the gold standard to Mayson Drake, it seemed like a casual part of conversation, and I didn't think out of the ordinary, I just thought I didn't really get it.
Of course this episode still suffers from problems which plague this series. First of all the villains themselves - they were just the same as every other "evil genius" villain we've had. That's why it was so much better when we had Lex to tie them together. The villains nowadays are always comical, clumsy fools who stumble into accuracy sometimes. Another character thing which I always bring up is Jimmy - who once again was only involved in fairly incidental storylines, this time around women.
The sound editing in the ep was pretty odd to say the least. A weird sound effect played every time the pen got moved to a different location or Lois had an information leak. But this just sounded cheesy and out-of-place. Sometimes this show doesn't take itself seriously enough.
I'm feeling like this one was above average for the season so far, but still disappointing. Only when they see their failings and move with the times, re-invent the show for the environment we are now in (and by that I mean no Lex, a completely different Jimmy, Superman more comfortable in his surroundings) then they can actually move back to where this show was.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
[JER] 9:02
TV Programme: Jericho
Season: 2
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 10/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 6 days.
Every fast-paced show needs a slower, character-focussed episode once in a while, and this was Jericho's first. Still, given the thrilling climax to the last episode, I had quite high expectations here. I expected that we'd see the broadcast from Washington DC, maybe even find out a little about what those missiles were doing. Instead this was blown all to hell by the EMP device, but this event was almost incidental and did not seriously create a sense of threat and danger, due to the fact that we casually time-jumped to "2 weeks later". (I thought they would use a flashback device to re-tell the earlier story, but no such luck).
This episode served to shed light on Jake's past. Jake didn't intend to stay in Jericho for this long, and the fact that he has done so has led to fairly dire consequences. We saw Jake's past both in dialogue, especially with Mitch, and also reflected in the current plight of Dale. Dale is taking unjust means to just ends, and is clearly not an intrinsically evil person, but shows how easily Mitch's gang corrupt. Dale "made a deal with the devil" so to speak, to try to help Gracie.
As for Mitch himself, he is your stereotypical cocky thug, showing exactly what Jake must have been like before his extended absence from Jericho. However there are still elements of that old person in Jake, particularly seen in his willingness to take matters into his own hands in order to protect his family. He even threatens to kill Mitch, but he must know that going down that road would lead him back to where he started. That said, the justice system in Jericho now is a bit ad-hoc; there is no real oversight, no courts or trials, and they just need to learn to make their own rules to fit the situations.
The other main story of the episode was less exciting: namely the story about Stanley's corn. While Stanley and Mimi have been growing ever closer, she clearly doesn't understand him with her action to steal the pesticide for him; and she must be crazy if she thinks she is going to get anywhere by doing this. Stanley, on the other hand, was kind of victimised in this episode, both by Gracie (who again and again shows her heartless, cold nature) and Johnston/Gail (whom I was more shocked about). However, it was a strange situation because Stanley is clearly looking out for his own survival and livelihood, but also has to take into account everyone else's. This story led to a cheesy, cringe-worthy scene near the end where everyone helped with the harvest set to happy-clappy music.
I guess we are supposed to assume that Rob Hawkins was the one who set off the EMP. He sent out a message saying "I'm compromised", perhaps referring to Jake's inquisitive nature, but Jake doesn't really know anything yet. We really don't know much about Rob's endgame at this point, but an earlier episode showed him sending the message "The rally point is no longer secure", making me think that Jericho is some sort of rally point for a future plan during the conflict.
Perhaps more intriguing (though not particularly compelling) is Rob's family situation. Rob has clearly only recently come back to his wife and kids, and under very ominous circumstances. His kids in particular don't seem to know very much about him. I would guess that he has been forced to go back with them to maintain his cover. The new partnership between him and his daughter is an interesting development, although I find that Darcy and the children are not particularly good characters anyway.
It remains to be seen whether episodes in the near future will focus more on the stories of this episode or those of the previous five. The town still hasn't found the food, which will cause problems for Gracie's store. And Mitch darkly alluded to a leader of the gang in the final scene, whom Mitch said would be coming after Jake, so that whole thing definitely isn't over. There is still much to come and much potential for this show.
Season: 2
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 10/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 6 days.
Every fast-paced show needs a slower, character-focussed episode once in a while, and this was Jericho's first. Still, given the thrilling climax to the last episode, I had quite high expectations here. I expected that we'd see the broadcast from Washington DC, maybe even find out a little about what those missiles were doing. Instead this was blown all to hell by the EMP device, but this event was almost incidental and did not seriously create a sense of threat and danger, due to the fact that we casually time-jumped to "2 weeks later". (I thought they would use a flashback device to re-tell the earlier story, but no such luck).
This episode served to shed light on Jake's past. Jake didn't intend to stay in Jericho for this long, and the fact that he has done so has led to fairly dire consequences. We saw Jake's past both in dialogue, especially with Mitch, and also reflected in the current plight of Dale. Dale is taking unjust means to just ends, and is clearly not an intrinsically evil person, but shows how easily Mitch's gang corrupt. Dale "made a deal with the devil" so to speak, to try to help Gracie.
As for Mitch himself, he is your stereotypical cocky thug, showing exactly what Jake must have been like before his extended absence from Jericho. However there are still elements of that old person in Jake, particularly seen in his willingness to take matters into his own hands in order to protect his family. He even threatens to kill Mitch, but he must know that going down that road would lead him back to where he started. That said, the justice system in Jericho now is a bit ad-hoc; there is no real oversight, no courts or trials, and they just need to learn to make their own rules to fit the situations.
The other main story of the episode was less exciting: namely the story about Stanley's corn. While Stanley and Mimi have been growing ever closer, she clearly doesn't understand him with her action to steal the pesticide for him; and she must be crazy if she thinks she is going to get anywhere by doing this. Stanley, on the other hand, was kind of victimised in this episode, both by Gracie (who again and again shows her heartless, cold nature) and Johnston/Gail (whom I was more shocked about). However, it was a strange situation because Stanley is clearly looking out for his own survival and livelihood, but also has to take into account everyone else's. This story led to a cheesy, cringe-worthy scene near the end where everyone helped with the harvest set to happy-clappy music.
I guess we are supposed to assume that Rob Hawkins was the one who set off the EMP. He sent out a message saying "I'm compromised", perhaps referring to Jake's inquisitive nature, but Jake doesn't really know anything yet. We really don't know much about Rob's endgame at this point, but an earlier episode showed him sending the message "The rally point is no longer secure", making me think that Jericho is some sort of rally point for a future plan during the conflict.
Perhaps more intriguing (though not particularly compelling) is Rob's family situation. Rob has clearly only recently come back to his wife and kids, and under very ominous circumstances. His kids in particular don't seem to know very much about him. I would guess that he has been forced to go back with them to maintain his cover. The new partnership between him and his daughter is an interesting development, although I find that Darcy and the children are not particularly good characters anyway.
It remains to be seen whether episodes in the near future will focus more on the stories of this episode or those of the previous five. The town still hasn't found the food, which will cause problems for Gracie's store. And Mitch darkly alluded to a leader of the gang in the final scene, whom Mitch said would be coming after Jake, so that whole thing definitely isn't over. There is still much to come and much potential for this show.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
[LST] The Glass Ballerina
TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 2
Date I watched this episode: 05/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 day.
Centric for: Sun, Jin
Once again, this episode just introduced one more group of people. Despite the last episode, I was actually surprised yet again that they'd taken this approach. Many of the characters we know and love, such as Locke, Desmond, Hurley, Charlie, Claire and Eko, haven't been seen yet this season. However, for the three who were introduced this episode (Sayid, Jin and Sun) they didn't have to have particularly dramatic entrances; this isn't a season premiere anymore and these characters appear incidentally. However, it must have been hard for such avid Locke fans as myself who were watching it during its initial run, to tune in expecting to see Locke in the premiere, then again in episode 2... we don't even know if he's alive or dead. I'm certain he'll be in the next episode, "Further Instructions", though; it's actually a centric episode for him.
Unlike last season, where episodes 1 and 2 were set at exactly the same time but viewed through the eyes of different people (yet another bold move), this season occurs more linearly; the Jack/Kate/Sawyer story is progressing still while the events near Pala Ferry are going on, and Sun establishes that it has been more than a day since they set the smoke off. This does beg the question though - what has been happening at camp during the time we've missed here? How are Claire, Charlie and co coping? What's going on inside the hatch? By the time "Further Instructions" is set, it'll have been 2 full days at least since the Discharge.
Although Jack, Kate and Sawyer are clearly in the same facility, their stories are really split up. So in this episode we have three largely separate threads: Jack, Kate/Sawyer and Sayid/Jin/Sun. Jack's piece is still composed of several short scenes where nothing happens, interspliced into the rest of the episode. This filming style is unique among anything I've ever watched, and fuels my incredibly high hopes for this season. Jack really shows his resolve in this one by not shaking Ben's hand, the person who's caused the death and suffering of so many of his friends (and incidentally, Michael Emerson's acting in these sequences is outstanding). However, Jack's resolve may very well have been broken with the shocking revelation that The Others have contact with the outside world! This is insane - why on earth do they remain on The Island?
On the Kate/Sawyer side, I'm really unclear on what's going on here. Why would The Others need so many broken rocks? Well I'm guessing it's for something but Sawyer has it figured out that most of this is an act. And I mean an act like Tom's beard from season 2. Most of these guys have never seen any real action. But quite why they need to be so cruel to achieve their mysterious ends, I don't know. Even Alex (good to see her back) mysteriously says "you're not even supposed to be in there". Sawyer is determined to stand strong though and it's the only thing that keeps Kate going, and probably the reason why she kisses him - romance in the face of adversity.
Juliet is a very odd character to work out. Sawyer reckons she really would have killed Kate - and he would know - but she has been kind and sympathetic towards Jack. The Others obviously want them for different reasons, but I can't believe that Juliet's personality with Jack is just an act.
Now onto the separate thread of the episode - Jin and Sun. Once again we saw the next chapter in the Jae Lee story - and he's dead now. This episode reveals a lot about Sun's character and a little about Jin's. We have seen Jin's integrity before and we see it again now with the refusal to murder Jae. When he says he knows Sun betrayed him, it's unclear whether he includes Jae Lee in that, or if he even knows.
Jin has a lot of respect for Sun, despite the fact that she's not allowed to be herself. He doesn't stay angry with her for long, and respects her wishes. He is really just looking out for her and her child. He is almost fulfilling the father role that she never had: Mr Kwon is full of disgust in this episode (and well acted). However, Sun does like to take matters into her own hands, which I think is the meaning of the title. Sun ruthlessly pursued that path of rejecting responsibilty, leading to an innocent maid being fired. She takes matters into her own hands with the sailing too.
When the boat finally does get underway towards Pala Ferry, Sayid's lies really are very convincing, which is necessary for Jin and Sun to go along with it. Sayid does seem over optimistic about the impact he can make, but (un)luckily he doesn't have to find out!
I really enjoyed the episode and am finding the show has reached a new place within this season. If it carries on like this, it will be one of the best seasons of any show that I have ever seen.
Season: 3
Episode: 2
Date I watched this episode: 05/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 day.
Centric for: Sun, Jin
Once again, this episode just introduced one more group of people. Despite the last episode, I was actually surprised yet again that they'd taken this approach. Many of the characters we know and love, such as Locke, Desmond, Hurley, Charlie, Claire and Eko, haven't been seen yet this season. However, for the three who were introduced this episode (Sayid, Jin and Sun) they didn't have to have particularly dramatic entrances; this isn't a season premiere anymore and these characters appear incidentally. However, it must have been hard for such avid Locke fans as myself who were watching it during its initial run, to tune in expecting to see Locke in the premiere, then again in episode 2... we don't even know if he's alive or dead. I'm certain he'll be in the next episode, "Further Instructions", though; it's actually a centric episode for him.
Unlike last season, where episodes 1 and 2 were set at exactly the same time but viewed through the eyes of different people (yet another bold move), this season occurs more linearly; the Jack/Kate/Sawyer story is progressing still while the events near Pala Ferry are going on, and Sun establishes that it has been more than a day since they set the smoke off. This does beg the question though - what has been happening at camp during the time we've missed here? How are Claire, Charlie and co coping? What's going on inside the hatch? By the time "Further Instructions" is set, it'll have been 2 full days at least since the Discharge.
Although Jack, Kate and Sawyer are clearly in the same facility, their stories are really split up. So in this episode we have three largely separate threads: Jack, Kate/Sawyer and Sayid/Jin/Sun. Jack's piece is still composed of several short scenes where nothing happens, interspliced into the rest of the episode. This filming style is unique among anything I've ever watched, and fuels my incredibly high hopes for this season. Jack really shows his resolve in this one by not shaking Ben's hand, the person who's caused the death and suffering of so many of his friends (and incidentally, Michael Emerson's acting in these sequences is outstanding). However, Jack's resolve may very well have been broken with the shocking revelation that The Others have contact with the outside world! This is insane - why on earth do they remain on The Island?
On the Kate/Sawyer side, I'm really unclear on what's going on here. Why would The Others need so many broken rocks? Well I'm guessing it's for something but Sawyer has it figured out that most of this is an act. And I mean an act like Tom's beard from season 2. Most of these guys have never seen any real action. But quite why they need to be so cruel to achieve their mysterious ends, I don't know. Even Alex (good to see her back) mysteriously says "you're not even supposed to be in there". Sawyer is determined to stand strong though and it's the only thing that keeps Kate going, and probably the reason why she kisses him - romance in the face of adversity.
Juliet is a very odd character to work out. Sawyer reckons she really would have killed Kate - and he would know - but she has been kind and sympathetic towards Jack. The Others obviously want them for different reasons, but I can't believe that Juliet's personality with Jack is just an act.
Now onto the separate thread of the episode - Jin and Sun. Once again we saw the next chapter in the Jae Lee story - and he's dead now. This episode reveals a lot about Sun's character and a little about Jin's. We have seen Jin's integrity before and we see it again now with the refusal to murder Jae. When he says he knows Sun betrayed him, it's unclear whether he includes Jae Lee in that, or if he even knows.
Jin has a lot of respect for Sun, despite the fact that she's not allowed to be herself. He doesn't stay angry with her for long, and respects her wishes. He is really just looking out for her and her child. He is almost fulfilling the father role that she never had: Mr Kwon is full of disgust in this episode (and well acted). However, Sun does like to take matters into her own hands, which I think is the meaning of the title. Sun ruthlessly pursued that path of rejecting responsibilty, leading to an innocent maid being fired. She takes matters into her own hands with the sailing too.
When the boat finally does get underway towards Pala Ferry, Sayid's lies really are very convincing, which is necessary for Jin and Sun to go along with it. Sayid does seem over optimistic about the impact he can make, but (un)luckily he doesn't have to find out!
I really enjoyed the episode and am finding the show has reached a new place within this season. If it carries on like this, it will be one of the best seasons of any show that I have ever seen.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
[NAS] Chi Of Steel
TV Programme: The New Adventures Of Superman
Season: 2
Episode: 11
Date I watched this episode: 05/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 month, 6 days.
I'm starting to realise that this season is nowhere near as good as the last. It's not that the episodes themselves are inherently bad. It's just that the environment is fundamentally changed, and the writing hasn't really caught up to that change. There are several key factors which, while watching this episode, really became apparent to me as the reasons behind the failings of this season so far.
First and foremost, I feel like I don't know what the stakes are anymore. First season, Clark had just moved to Metropolis, he was just getting used to the whole idea, always calling his parents and asking for some help. But now, he is pretty confident; pretty much inside his comfort zone. And unlike season 1, they don't really do much to throw him outside of that zone, for example giving him the key to the city and making him appear on a big stage, or putting him behind bars because he is thought to be causing more harm than good. So I don't really know that this thing has a direction.
These insane schemes like the one above (from last season's "The Man Of Steel Bars") were generally orchestrated by Lex Luthor, a great villain from this show who is noticeably absent from this season. Also noticeably absent is Cat, who always stirred things up in the office, and the original Jimmy Olsen, who was much better than this one. So that's the second thing - the characters.
Thirdly, it's the fact that after last season's dramatic finale, things should have changed significantly. I mean, Lex is gone, Lois was caught up in all that, her and Clark were brought closer together, and the entire thing has almost been forgotten, left on the sidelines in favour of some pretty mainstream stories.
As for this episode - well it was actually one of the best so far this season. Like I said - the episodes aren't bad (and I particularly like the ones with DC comics characters) but it's more just the whole setting. In particular this episode had a pretty complex storyline which kept you guessing right up until the last minute. It took so many twists and turns that you could hardly keep up with it. Once what was really going on had been made clear, there was a final fight sequence that was, I think, appropriate for the episode. Sure, it was a bit silly, but then Superman using ancient martial arts is always going to be a bit silly.
There were quite a few side-stories in this episode. Lois's battle against sexism was interesting but not necessarily enjoyable. It's bringing out a character trait of that particular character that's just so well-known that it didn't really add anything. Then there was the thing about Perry's investments, which also didn't add anything whatsoever; it seemed very pointless and really just a way to get Justin Whalin into the episode. Finally there was this whole comparison between the son and Clark, who looked very much alike. This turned out to be a red herring anyway because this guy wasn't the hero, so again, pointless.
All in all this was quite an exciting episode to watch, but for the aforementioned reasons, I'm still rather disappointed with this season as a whole. Nevertheless, I still want to persevere and get it finished, then start on Smallville Season 5, as I'm determined to not be watching two Superman mythology-based shows at the same time.
Season: 2
Episode: 11
Date I watched this episode: 05/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 month, 6 days.
I'm starting to realise that this season is nowhere near as good as the last. It's not that the episodes themselves are inherently bad. It's just that the environment is fundamentally changed, and the writing hasn't really caught up to that change. There are several key factors which, while watching this episode, really became apparent to me as the reasons behind the failings of this season so far.
First and foremost, I feel like I don't know what the stakes are anymore. First season, Clark had just moved to Metropolis, he was just getting used to the whole idea, always calling his parents and asking for some help. But now, he is pretty confident; pretty much inside his comfort zone. And unlike season 1, they don't really do much to throw him outside of that zone, for example giving him the key to the city and making him appear on a big stage, or putting him behind bars because he is thought to be causing more harm than good. So I don't really know that this thing has a direction.
These insane schemes like the one above (from last season's "The Man Of Steel Bars") were generally orchestrated by Lex Luthor, a great villain from this show who is noticeably absent from this season. Also noticeably absent is Cat, who always stirred things up in the office, and the original Jimmy Olsen, who was much better than this one. So that's the second thing - the characters.
Thirdly, it's the fact that after last season's dramatic finale, things should have changed significantly. I mean, Lex is gone, Lois was caught up in all that, her and Clark were brought closer together, and the entire thing has almost been forgotten, left on the sidelines in favour of some pretty mainstream stories.
As for this episode - well it was actually one of the best so far this season. Like I said - the episodes aren't bad (and I particularly like the ones with DC comics characters) but it's more just the whole setting. In particular this episode had a pretty complex storyline which kept you guessing right up until the last minute. It took so many twists and turns that you could hardly keep up with it. Once what was really going on had been made clear, there was a final fight sequence that was, I think, appropriate for the episode. Sure, it was a bit silly, but then Superman using ancient martial arts is always going to be a bit silly.
There were quite a few side-stories in this episode. Lois's battle against sexism was interesting but not necessarily enjoyable. It's bringing out a character trait of that particular character that's just so well-known that it didn't really add anything. Then there was the thing about Perry's investments, which also didn't add anything whatsoever; it seemed very pointless and really just a way to get Justin Whalin into the episode. Finally there was this whole comparison between the son and Clark, who looked very much alike. This turned out to be a red herring anyway because this guy wasn't the hero, so again, pointless.
All in all this was quite an exciting episode to watch, but for the aforementioned reasons, I'm still rather disappointed with this season as a whole. Nevertheless, I still want to persevere and get it finished, then start on Smallville Season 5, as I'm determined to not be watching two Superman mythology-based shows at the same time.
[LST] A Tale Of Two Cities
TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 1
Date I watched this episode: 04/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 year, 7 months, 13 days.
Centric for: Jack, Juliet
I currently rank "Lost" as my fifth favourite programme of all time (after only Farscape, The West Wing, Alias and Smallville) and is the second favourite which has new episodes for me to watch (the first being Smallville, which I'll be watching again once I've finished The New Adventures Of Superman). Needless to say, after such a long drought period, my level of excitement for this episode was just unbelievably high. Like I said in the pre-season notification, I bought this season way back last summer. In fact, I placed the original order exactly 1 year and 1 day before watching this episode. It's just been sitting staring at me on my shelf, while for one reason or another I haven't been able to actually start watching it.
My reaction to this episode? Wow. WOW! This show really hasn't lost any steam (excuse the pun) by being in its third year. This premiere episode was one of the best premieres I have ever seen, but then the season 2 premiere was also absolutely amazing, so I shouldn't have been too surprised.
Imagine my excitement. I sat down and put that DVD into my player, my hands almost trembling. I'd been waiting for this moment for so long and now it was finally here. Following the typical language-selection screen (which I'd forgotten about, with those arty background images), and the Buena-Vista International logo (which always reminds me more of Alias than Lost), there followed a series of trailers for DVD shows. These trailers went on longer than those on any other DVD I own, about 10 or 15 minutes, but it really made me feel like I was at the movies.
Finally, it was time to start the episode. Admittedly, that opening sequence is something I've seen before, but it is one of the only bits I've seen from season 3, and it was a long time ago. Still, I was able to sit back and enjoy this flashback, which introduced the new character of Juliet, and the village that The Others lived in at that time. The scenery is just so great, a new departure for the series, and I hope we get to see more of this, which vaguely reminds me of "Liberty Village" (from [ALS] "Welcome To Liberty Village"). (Incidentally, this was the only episode partly written by JJ Abrams since the pilot itself).
Ben's (the character's real name is suggested in this sequence and revealed at the end of the episode) sense of leadership and quick thinking is shown off here, and in fact it's the only time we've really seen him in action so far. As for Juliet herself, well I think she is a really interesting character. She doesn't feel like a villain, and I wonder if she has been forced into this. She has a mysterious, almost uncomfortable look on her face most of the time, and admits that she used to work for DHARMA "a long time ago".
Next scene we see is a flashback, and at this point I was really on-edge, dying to see the fate of the characters on the island. The show was teasing me with a few minutes of fairly incidental footage before getting to that moment. And then we get it: the first appearance of Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard in the episode. Regardless of what people say, he really is the main character of this show, and the first to appear in season 3. The dark, gloomy atmosphere of his cell, together with his frustration of being stuck, just added to the mood of the episode at the time. His escape attempts and stubbornness (even to the point of putting his own health at risk) throughout the episode were so in-character and had an almost animal feel to them, although Juliet was not in the least phased by all this.
And from there, the "episode proper" started. I thought it was a very bold move to have an episode carried by only a few characters, but with such a large cast they really are able to do that. When I wrote in my pre-season notification about the locations of various characters, it didn't even cross my mind that we wouldn't see most of those groups in the first episode. However it's only Jack, Kate and Sawyer that we see, together with Ben and Juliet. They are all within some sort of DHARMA facility, but in three very different locations: Jack is in an underwater section (incidentally, how cool is that?) called "The Hydra" while Kate/Sawyer are in an above-ground section somewhere else. Since Ben and Juliet are seen in both sections, it's reasonable to assume that they are close together. The new actors Rodrigo Santoro and Kiele Sanchez were also credited for this ep, but did not appear.
The producers really showed their confidence in the show by taking this first episode very slowly. In fact, not a lot happened worth discussing, but this didn't ruin the episode, it just made it a very pure establishing episode. Instead of lots of action, we just see Juliet slowly probing Jack until he gives into her demands, Kate enjoying a nice relaxing breakfast with Ben (again a beautifully decorated on-location shoot), and Sawyer trying to figure out how to use those bear contraptions (with typical Sawyer sarcasm, especially towards the mysterious Karl).
The flashback sequences for Jack were very well in-keeping with the theme of the episode. Nevertheless, Jack's flashback episodes are usually some of my least favourite ones, and I didn't really enjoy this story, though it seemed necessary for telling the main story. Jack and Christian have a very complicated relationship though which was interesting right from the start of these sequences. Jack's realisation that he just wants to see Sarah happy, is something of a turning point for the way he approaches the situation he is currently in.
This season premiere differs greatly from the last in that it doesn't really answer any questions. Last year we got to find out what was in the hatch, but here we are just posed with more questions. We still don't know why the three of them have been brought here, though Ben did say to Kate that it was going to be very unpleasant. I'd harbour a guess that those weird injections have something to do with it though.
This was an awesome episode and a testament to how great the writing still is on this show. Obviously I'm still looking forward to seeing the other characters in episode 2, but this was a worthy and hype-building start to the season.
Season: 3
Episode: 1
Date I watched this episode: 04/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 year, 7 months, 13 days.
Centric for: Jack, Juliet
I currently rank "Lost" as my fifth favourite programme of all time (after only Farscape, The West Wing, Alias and Smallville) and is the second favourite which has new episodes for me to watch (the first being Smallville, which I'll be watching again once I've finished The New Adventures Of Superman). Needless to say, after such a long drought period, my level of excitement for this episode was just unbelievably high. Like I said in the pre-season notification, I bought this season way back last summer. In fact, I placed the original order exactly 1 year and 1 day before watching this episode. It's just been sitting staring at me on my shelf, while for one reason or another I haven't been able to actually start watching it.
My reaction to this episode? Wow. WOW! This show really hasn't lost any steam (excuse the pun) by being in its third year. This premiere episode was one of the best premieres I have ever seen, but then the season 2 premiere was also absolutely amazing, so I shouldn't have been too surprised.
Imagine my excitement. I sat down and put that DVD into my player, my hands almost trembling. I'd been waiting for this moment for so long and now it was finally here. Following the typical language-selection screen (which I'd forgotten about, with those arty background images), and the Buena-Vista International logo (which always reminds me more of Alias than Lost), there followed a series of trailers for DVD shows. These trailers went on longer than those on any other DVD I own, about 10 or 15 minutes, but it really made me feel like I was at the movies.
Finally, it was time to start the episode. Admittedly, that opening sequence is something I've seen before, but it is one of the only bits I've seen from season 3, and it was a long time ago. Still, I was able to sit back and enjoy this flashback, which introduced the new character of Juliet, and the village that The Others lived in at that time. The scenery is just so great, a new departure for the series, and I hope we get to see more of this, which vaguely reminds me of "Liberty Village" (from [ALS] "Welcome To Liberty Village"). (Incidentally, this was the only episode partly written by JJ Abrams since the pilot itself).
Ben's (the character's real name is suggested in this sequence and revealed at the end of the episode) sense of leadership and quick thinking is shown off here, and in fact it's the only time we've really seen him in action so far. As for Juliet herself, well I think she is a really interesting character. She doesn't feel like a villain, and I wonder if she has been forced into this. She has a mysterious, almost uncomfortable look on her face most of the time, and admits that she used to work for DHARMA "a long time ago".
Next scene we see is a flashback, and at this point I was really on-edge, dying to see the fate of the characters on the island. The show was teasing me with a few minutes of fairly incidental footage before getting to that moment. And then we get it: the first appearance of Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard in the episode. Regardless of what people say, he really is the main character of this show, and the first to appear in season 3. The dark, gloomy atmosphere of his cell, together with his frustration of being stuck, just added to the mood of the episode at the time. His escape attempts and stubbornness (even to the point of putting his own health at risk) throughout the episode were so in-character and had an almost animal feel to them, although Juliet was not in the least phased by all this.
And from there, the "episode proper" started. I thought it was a very bold move to have an episode carried by only a few characters, but with such a large cast they really are able to do that. When I wrote in my pre-season notification about the locations of various characters, it didn't even cross my mind that we wouldn't see most of those groups in the first episode. However it's only Jack, Kate and Sawyer that we see, together with Ben and Juliet. They are all within some sort of DHARMA facility, but in three very different locations: Jack is in an underwater section (incidentally, how cool is that?) called "The Hydra" while Kate/Sawyer are in an above-ground section somewhere else. Since Ben and Juliet are seen in both sections, it's reasonable to assume that they are close together. The new actors Rodrigo Santoro and Kiele Sanchez were also credited for this ep, but did not appear.
The producers really showed their confidence in the show by taking this first episode very slowly. In fact, not a lot happened worth discussing, but this didn't ruin the episode, it just made it a very pure establishing episode. Instead of lots of action, we just see Juliet slowly probing Jack until he gives into her demands, Kate enjoying a nice relaxing breakfast with Ben (again a beautifully decorated on-location shoot), and Sawyer trying to figure out how to use those bear contraptions (with typical Sawyer sarcasm, especially towards the mysterious Karl).
The flashback sequences for Jack were very well in-keeping with the theme of the episode. Nevertheless, Jack's flashback episodes are usually some of my least favourite ones, and I didn't really enjoy this story, though it seemed necessary for telling the main story. Jack and Christian have a very complicated relationship though which was interesting right from the start of these sequences. Jack's realisation that he just wants to see Sarah happy, is something of a turning point for the way he approaches the situation he is currently in.
This season premiere differs greatly from the last in that it doesn't really answer any questions. Last year we got to find out what was in the hatch, but here we are just posed with more questions. We still don't know why the three of them have been brought here, though Ben did say to Kate that it was going to be very unpleasant. I'd harbour a guess that those weird injections have something to do with it though.
This was an awesome episode and a testament to how great the writing still is on this show. Obviously I'm still looking forward to seeing the other characters in episode 2, but this was a worthy and hype-building start to the season.
Saturday, 4 July 2009
[JER] Federal Response
TV Programme: Jericho
Season: 2
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 04/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 11 months, 28 days.
It's been almost a year since I last watched this show, actually only 2 days less than a year. Oddly enough, this isn't because of anything to do with this show. It's just that I didn't watch any TV for a while, and then when I did it was mainly shows that I watched "with broadcast", Prison Break Season 2 (which I was enjoying a lot at the time) and a couple of episodes of NAS (which was just when I was in the mood for something quite light).
Yep, I love this show. It's been so great so far, and this episode was no exception. There are many unanswered questions, but the story is fitting together quite nicely, with some great characters, sets, twists and the look of the show in general is just great. It also has a strange gimmick that the morse code overlaying the show's intertitle spells out words. "Jericho" was cancelled after season 1, then brought back, then cancelled again, and now they are talking about making a feature film. So it just won't go away!
The way the story is woven is quite exquisite. Jericho's last few episodes have introduced elements which don't appear in every episode but are buidling up to something. For example, the "four horsemen", including Gray, are still out there and will probably find something eventually. Also there was no real mention of the hospitalised victim "Vic" from last episode.
This episode mainly focussed on the now ubiquituous "Emergency Alert System". The sequence at the start of the episode where everyones phones start ringing to signal the startup of this system, was just brilliant. It also reminded me how much I love the music of this show - and how that moment just builds up with the background music; it's a beautifully constructed sequence. Johnston remarks in this episode that the reason people can't dial out is that everyone is trying to use the phones at once - so surely the obvious thing is to band together and stop using the phones so the mayor's office can place a call? Well, that wouldn't have been anywhere near as exciting.
Another major thread in this episode, and indeed the season so far, was Jake's past. He handled the questions well whilst in the bar; and the family seem to have got over his past mistakes. The scene at the end where he speaks to Johnston was really touching, well-written and acted, and probably the best scene of the episode. We still don't get to find out what Jake was really doing - but I don't feel like it is dragging on too long, I just feel like this story is just getting started.
The other mysterious character in this thing is Robert Hawkins - again, a great actor. He is really feeling the pressure, and his family are feeling the brunt of that. His mystery and Jake's are intertwined in this episode where they are collaborating to put out the fire at Eric's house and they both claim to have been a "pool guy". Perhaps we'll find they both worked in similar organisations in the past. Anyway Jake now knows that Hawkins is acting very suspiciously, and is perhaps the only one who suspects him, so this'll be an avenue for learning more about the guy.
Aside from showing tremendous bravery and strength of character in this episode, Eric really has got himself caught up in a very complex and dramatic love triangle. This episode had many twists and turns for that, and I feel sorry for both him and Mary. Especially the fact that April had filed for divorce was definitely not something I'd seen coming. But Eric and April are now forced to live together to rebuild their broken home. The complexity reminds me of the brilliant Twin Peaks.
I've mentioned a few of the characters but Jericho has a large ensemble cast so let's just quickly whistle through a few more. Mimi and Stanley seem to be hitting it off well, which is ironic since she was investigating his farm. Stanley on the other hand has his hands full a bit with Bonnie (who incidentally didn't appear in this episode). Gail's a great rock for the family and really holds the family together, keeping the peace between Jake, Eric and Johnston. Johnston himself is a flawed but ultimately loving father, who in my opinion makes his main rival Gray (also not appearing in this episode) pale into insignificance. Emily, who spent most of this episode in a coma, is a bit of a dark horse at this stage and the fate of her fiancee Roger is yet to be revealed. Heather is a brilliant addition to the town and seemingly a love interest for Jake. She is on his wavelength, and exhibits the same bravery, problem-solving and solidarity that brings them together. Gracie is hard on the outside but kind on the inside. And Skylar/Dale are just broken kids who are thrown together and have come to respect each other.
Now we come to the climax of this episode - the missiles seen at the end. It'd be pretty foolish not to assume these had something to do with the passport Hawkins was looking at, Johnston's passport, who may well be a target. There are so many unanswered questions, and the town had just better hope they can answer at least some of them before they get obliterated.
Overall Jericho has been a really great programme so far and shows enormous potential. If it stays up, my incredulousness at this show being cancelled twice will just be ever more on the rise.
Season: 2
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 04/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 11 months, 28 days.
It's been almost a year since I last watched this show, actually only 2 days less than a year. Oddly enough, this isn't because of anything to do with this show. It's just that I didn't watch any TV for a while, and then when I did it was mainly shows that I watched "with broadcast", Prison Break Season 2 (which I was enjoying a lot at the time) and a couple of episodes of NAS (which was just when I was in the mood for something quite light).
Yep, I love this show. It's been so great so far, and this episode was no exception. There are many unanswered questions, but the story is fitting together quite nicely, with some great characters, sets, twists and the look of the show in general is just great. It also has a strange gimmick that the morse code overlaying the show's intertitle spells out words. "Jericho" was cancelled after season 1, then brought back, then cancelled again, and now they are talking about making a feature film. So it just won't go away!
The way the story is woven is quite exquisite. Jericho's last few episodes have introduced elements which don't appear in every episode but are buidling up to something. For example, the "four horsemen", including Gray, are still out there and will probably find something eventually. Also there was no real mention of the hospitalised victim "Vic" from last episode.
This episode mainly focussed on the now ubiquituous "Emergency Alert System". The sequence at the start of the episode where everyones phones start ringing to signal the startup of this system, was just brilliant. It also reminded me how much I love the music of this show - and how that moment just builds up with the background music; it's a beautifully constructed sequence. Johnston remarks in this episode that the reason people can't dial out is that everyone is trying to use the phones at once - so surely the obvious thing is to band together and stop using the phones so the mayor's office can place a call? Well, that wouldn't have been anywhere near as exciting.
Another major thread in this episode, and indeed the season so far, was Jake's past. He handled the questions well whilst in the bar; and the family seem to have got over his past mistakes. The scene at the end where he speaks to Johnston was really touching, well-written and acted, and probably the best scene of the episode. We still don't get to find out what Jake was really doing - but I don't feel like it is dragging on too long, I just feel like this story is just getting started.
The other mysterious character in this thing is Robert Hawkins - again, a great actor. He is really feeling the pressure, and his family are feeling the brunt of that. His mystery and Jake's are intertwined in this episode where they are collaborating to put out the fire at Eric's house and they both claim to have been a "pool guy". Perhaps we'll find they both worked in similar organisations in the past. Anyway Jake now knows that Hawkins is acting very suspiciously, and is perhaps the only one who suspects him, so this'll be an avenue for learning more about the guy.
Aside from showing tremendous bravery and strength of character in this episode, Eric really has got himself caught up in a very complex and dramatic love triangle. This episode had many twists and turns for that, and I feel sorry for both him and Mary. Especially the fact that April had filed for divorce was definitely not something I'd seen coming. But Eric and April are now forced to live together to rebuild their broken home. The complexity reminds me of the brilliant Twin Peaks.
I've mentioned a few of the characters but Jericho has a large ensemble cast so let's just quickly whistle through a few more. Mimi and Stanley seem to be hitting it off well, which is ironic since she was investigating his farm. Stanley on the other hand has his hands full a bit with Bonnie (who incidentally didn't appear in this episode). Gail's a great rock for the family and really holds the family together, keeping the peace between Jake, Eric and Johnston. Johnston himself is a flawed but ultimately loving father, who in my opinion makes his main rival Gray (also not appearing in this episode) pale into insignificance. Emily, who spent most of this episode in a coma, is a bit of a dark horse at this stage and the fate of her fiancee Roger is yet to be revealed. Heather is a brilliant addition to the town and seemingly a love interest for Jake. She is on his wavelength, and exhibits the same bravery, problem-solving and solidarity that brings them together. Gracie is hard on the outside but kind on the inside. And Skylar/Dale are just broken kids who are thrown together and have come to respect each other.
Now we come to the climax of this episode - the missiles seen at the end. It'd be pretty foolish not to assume these had something to do with the passport Hawkins was looking at, Johnston's passport, who may well be a target. There are so many unanswered questions, and the town had just better hope they can answer at least some of them before they get obliterated.
Overall Jericho has been a really great programme so far and shows enormous potential. If it stays up, my incredulousness at this show being cancelled twice will just be ever more on the rise.
[DRK] Boo
TV Programme: Dark Angel
Season: 2
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 04/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 year, 18 days.
Before I start watching any new seasons, I really have to get back on track with older seasons that I'm supposedly watching at the moment. In the case of this particular one, I haven't watched it in over a year, and it really doesn't seem that long. One of the main reasons for this was the incredibly "bad press" this episode has got. "Boo" was panned by my friends as being one of the worst episodes of any TV series, and so my expectations were not high. In fact, they're not high in general at the moment; while Dark Angel Season 1 was great, it's well-known that in the aftermath of 9/11, the producers decided to make it less post-apocalyptic (due to the general mood of the nation at that time) and more focussed on mutants (for example Joshua), leading ultimately to the shows cancellation. (This season aired starting September 28, 2001, so the first few episodes were still quite good, as they had been produced before 9/11). One example was in this episode when Max said "just another day in this broken world" in a nice happy voice as if she was talking about a music concert.
Critically, this episode was admittedly quite bad. However, it really just fell in the eyes of this show, and wasn't quite as bad across all time, not like the really bad episodes I've mentioned before ([FAR] "Taking The Stone", [SMV] "Krypto" and [SOP] "A Hit Is A Hit"). However there were no real battles (except for Max against a headless body, where you just got so stuck on the awfulness of the costume/props to enjoy it), no cool Manticore people pursuing (Ames White didn't appear in this episode), Sketchy pretty much unrecognisable, and the fact that this episode was all just a dream didn't help. The "where are your clothes?" moment was just awful.
This episode revolved mainly around the mutants. Kat, played by the same actress who plays Alicia Baker in Smallville (but looks totally different) was an interesting and compelling character. But the other two - a headless body and a lizard (who seemed to make lizard noises at weird times, a bit cringe-worthy) just didn't really work as characters. That's in addition to the fact that they really only existed within the dream.
It became more and more obvious that this was a dream as the episode wore on. The weird charades game was fairly unlikely and another cringe moment. The fact that Logan was playing bingo was so out-of-character. And finally, when Logan revealed he was eyes-only, wanted to marry Asha and everyone got arrested, it was pretty clear something wasn't right. But they still spun it on, as if they'd underestimated the audience's intelligence.
As for Max's jealousy of Asha, this likely exists outside of the dream universe. Asha is a cool new character who's come onto the show just as things are going wrong between Max and Logan. This storyline is likely to be progressed later this season.
Other new characters introduced this season have been Ames White (it's not clear what his role is yet, and he didn't appear in this episode), Alec (played by the same actor who played Jason Teague in Smallville, and again not in this episode) and Joshua. Joshua is not a great character, and one who just gets annoying. His search for "Father" is verging on the ridiculous, and he just has a fairly boring personality. This is likely due to the fact that he's a dog.
I do concede that it was a good idea to set this episode at Halloween. Doing this meant that they could feasibly get all these mutants out, in a manner like no other. Some of the stuff tied up with that, within the dream environment, meant that we had the twist about the fortune teller being able to see Max's true being, and another twist that the Manticore agents didn't know Manticore had failed also made a lot more sense within the dream.
The final part of the episode, whilst not great, was at least trying to be moving. Max realises that she should never deny who she really is, so this episode has a "moral" in some sense. I doubt this will continue into future episodes, but it did at least mean the episode had some point to it.
I'm going to persevere with this season to the last, since the last was so good, and I'll always hold out hope that it'll improve. But I have to admit that if all the episodes are like this one, it's not going to be a particularly fun ride.
Season: 2
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 04/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 year, 18 days.
Before I start watching any new seasons, I really have to get back on track with older seasons that I'm supposedly watching at the moment. In the case of this particular one, I haven't watched it in over a year, and it really doesn't seem that long. One of the main reasons for this was the incredibly "bad press" this episode has got. "Boo" was panned by my friends as being one of the worst episodes of any TV series, and so my expectations were not high. In fact, they're not high in general at the moment; while Dark Angel Season 1 was great, it's well-known that in the aftermath of 9/11, the producers decided to make it less post-apocalyptic (due to the general mood of the nation at that time) and more focussed on mutants (for example Joshua), leading ultimately to the shows cancellation. (This season aired starting September 28, 2001, so the first few episodes were still quite good, as they had been produced before 9/11). One example was in this episode when Max said "just another day in this broken world" in a nice happy voice as if she was talking about a music concert.
Critically, this episode was admittedly quite bad. However, it really just fell in the eyes of this show, and wasn't quite as bad across all time, not like the really bad episodes I've mentioned before ([FAR] "Taking The Stone", [SMV] "Krypto" and [SOP] "A Hit Is A Hit"). However there were no real battles (except for Max against a headless body, where you just got so stuck on the awfulness of the costume/props to enjoy it), no cool Manticore people pursuing (Ames White didn't appear in this episode), Sketchy pretty much unrecognisable, and the fact that this episode was all just a dream didn't help. The "where are your clothes?" moment was just awful.
This episode revolved mainly around the mutants. Kat, played by the same actress who plays Alicia Baker in Smallville (but looks totally different) was an interesting and compelling character. But the other two - a headless body and a lizard (who seemed to make lizard noises at weird times, a bit cringe-worthy) just didn't really work as characters. That's in addition to the fact that they really only existed within the dream.
It became more and more obvious that this was a dream as the episode wore on. The weird charades game was fairly unlikely and another cringe moment. The fact that Logan was playing bingo was so out-of-character. And finally, when Logan revealed he was eyes-only, wanted to marry Asha and everyone got arrested, it was pretty clear something wasn't right. But they still spun it on, as if they'd underestimated the audience's intelligence.
As for Max's jealousy of Asha, this likely exists outside of the dream universe. Asha is a cool new character who's come onto the show just as things are going wrong between Max and Logan. This storyline is likely to be progressed later this season.
Other new characters introduced this season have been Ames White (it's not clear what his role is yet, and he didn't appear in this episode), Alec (played by the same actor who played Jason Teague in Smallville, and again not in this episode) and Joshua. Joshua is not a great character, and one who just gets annoying. His search for "Father" is verging on the ridiculous, and he just has a fairly boring personality. This is likely due to the fact that he's a dog.
I do concede that it was a good idea to set this episode at Halloween. Doing this meant that they could feasibly get all these mutants out, in a manner like no other. Some of the stuff tied up with that, within the dream environment, meant that we had the twist about the fortune teller being able to see Max's true being, and another twist that the Manticore agents didn't know Manticore had failed also made a lot more sense within the dream.
The final part of the episode, whilst not great, was at least trying to be moving. Max realises that she should never deny who she really is, so this episode has a "moral" in some sense. I doubt this will continue into future episodes, but it did at least mean the episode had some point to it.
I'm going to persevere with this season to the last, since the last was so good, and I'll always hold out hope that it'll improve. But I have to admit that if all the episodes are like this one, it's not going to be a particularly fun ride.
NOTIFICATION: Lost Season 3
Next season to start will be:
Lost
Season 3
Initial run: 04/10/2006 - 23/05/2007
Starring:
Pre-season buzz (quotes):
Pre-season buzz (from last season's finale):
Obviously last season's finale is the best source of clues about this season. Let's summarise what happened and what might happen next.
Pre-season buzz (statistical):
Lost
Season 3
Initial run: 04/10/2006 - 23/05/2007
Starring:
| Matthew Fox | as | Jack Shephard |
| Evangeline Lilly | as | Kate Austen |
| Terry O'Quinn | as | John Locke |
| Josh Holloway | as | James "Sawyer" Ford |
| Naveen Andrews | as | Sayid Jarrah |
| Dominic Monaghan | as | Charlie Pace |
| Emilie de Ravin | as | Claire Littleton |
| Jorge Garcia | as | Hugo "Hurley" Reyes |
| Daniel Dae-Kim | as | Jin-Soo Kwon |
| Yunjin Kim | as | Sun-Hwa Kwon |
| Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | as | Eko Tunde |
| Henry Ian Cusick | as | Desmond Hume |
| Elizabeth Mitchell | as | Juliet Burke |
| Michael Emerson | as | Benjamin Linus |
| Rodrigo Santoro | as | Paulo |
| Kiele Sanchez | as | Nikki Fernandez |
Pre-season buzz (quotes):
- "This year we're looking to make the show brighter, more vibrant. There's more emphasis on action, adventure and romance. The show won't be as dark, as internal. There will be more emphasis on character access, less on mythological access." - Carlton Cuse (speaking at an ABC party)
- "The first six episodes are going to be very high octane. The notion that we are ending a mini-season in six hours has ramped up our storytelling. [...] We will begin to learn more about the 'others' and who they are and what their society is like." - Carlton Cuse (from an interview with the Boston Globe)
- "In Season 3, the show moves geographically and spiritually to another place. We will be with The Others more. They will become more three-dimensional." - Michael Emerson (from an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Pre-season buzz (from last season's finale):
Obviously last season's finale is the best source of clues about this season. Let's summarise what happened and what might happen next.
- We found out that the Others have a list of survivors they need, including Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. Why do they need exactly these four? At the end of the season, they let Hurley go, meaning he will be forced to return to the camp with his tail between his legs. I think this will not be a nice situation for him.
- Meanwhile, Jack, Kate and Sawyer have been taken hostage by The Others. They promised Michael they wouldn't hurt them, but they haven't exactly proven themselves to be trustworthy in the past. Michael Emerson's character appears to be in charge of this group, and we see from the released cast list that this character's name is "Ben".
- John Locke's crisis of faith caused him to let the timer count down to zero. At this point he realised that it was real all along, causing him to admit "I was wrong" in a beautiful moment. This experience is likely to have a profound effect on John Locke. Additionally, it's not clear how the failsafe will have affected people who were in the hatch at the time.
- Penny appears to have found the island, and Desmond's promotion to a regular cast member means we will probably see more of Penny this season.
- Charlie and Claire are back together - but for how long...?
- Sayid arrived at the decoy village, and is somewhat stranded from the others, close to the statue, with Sun and Jin. How will they react when they find out what has occurred? How will everyone react?
- Michael has left the island with Walt, so I doubt we'll see him around much. People are probably going to be talking about his deception though!
- Jack, Kate and Sawyer are in The Others' captivity, together with Ben.
- Hurley is on his way back to the beach to inform the others of what is going on.
- Sayid, Jin and Sun are at the decoy village.
- Desmond, Locke and Eko are in the hatch.
- Charlie and Claire are safe on the beach.
- Juliet, Nikki and Paolo have not been introduced yet, and so have an unknown location.
Pre-season buzz (statistical):
- I bought this season's DVD set last summer, almost a year ago now. I had intended to start watching it, but my drought period from TV (mainly due to not having a widescreen TV!) followed by lots of more important "watch-with-broadcast" shows such as 24, Damages and The Apprentice, meant that it got pushed all the way back to now.
- This season's premiere is titled "A Tale Of Two Cities". It is Jack-centric, just like the season 2 premiere "Man Of Science, Man Of Faith". It is confirmed that this episode takes place just one day after the season 2 finale "Live Together, Die Alone".
- This season contains 23 episodes, one less than season 2, which in turn had one less than season 1. The season finale is titled "Through The Looking Glass". This season takes place over the course of 23 days, so one episode equals one day on average (season 2 had a similar average of 0.96 days per episode, whereas season 1 was a massive 1.76 days per episode).
- This season introduces new regular cast members. Michael Emerson appeared toward the end of last season and was a great actor; I'm glad to see him back as a regular. Desmond Hume was also key last season and also a great actor. New to the cast are the mysterious names Juliet, Paulo and Nikki, all played by actors I've never heard of.
- Other characters from previous seasons who have been confirmed to return are "Mr Friendly", Danielle Rosseau and her daughter Alex, Rose and Bernard, "Mr Pickett" from last season's "Three Minutes", Ethan Rom (presumably only in flashbacks), Shannon & Boone (presumably only in flashbacks), Walt, and a variety of other flashback and non-flashback characters.
- This season features 3 Jack-centric episodes, 2 Kate-centric, 2 Sun-centric, 2 Locke-centric and 2 Desmond-centric. The new character Juliet also has 2 centric episodes, indicating she might be quite key. All the other main characters get 1 centric episode, including Nikki and Paulo, who feature together, indicating they might be connected in some way.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
NOTIFICATION: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" added to list
The television series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (including the pilot of the same name) has been added to the list, replacing "La Femme Nikita" (which I have discontinued watching, my final episode being "Mother"; see my review of that episode for full details).
In general I don't review films on here (unless they are part of an ongoing television series, e.g. "24: Redemption") and all Star Wars productions so far have been classed as films by me. This includes the television movies Caravan of Courage and The Battle For Endor, and the edited films The Pirates And The Prince, et al, and Clone Wars Volume I and II. The last of these I've just watched this last Sunday (28/06/2009) and so the next logical move would be the film titled "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", a prequel to the television series also titled "Star Wars: The Clone Wars".
Confusingly, this film is unrelated to the prior edited films "Clone Wars Volume I" and "Clone Wars Volume II", although it does take place after the events of Volume I, and involves some characters introduced in that film. To add even more confusion, 20th Century Fox released a largely unedited DVD comprising the first four episodes of the television series "The Clone Wars" titled "Star Wars: A Galaxy Divided". The film "The Clone Wars", on the other hand, effectively comprises four episodes not included in the television series edited together (called "Castle of Deception", "Castle of Doom", "Castle of Salvation" and "The New Padawan"). And let's not forget that the original "Volume I" and "Volume II" are just edited versions of an original TV/web series. Therefore it seemed reasonable to assume that 20th Century Fox would continue to release these four-episode DVDs. However, the second DVD announced is titled "Star Wars: Clone Commandos" and while it does contain the fifth episode of the show, it doesn't have the sixth (they moved straight to episode 19 instead). Therefore, I'm forced to get the season box set and watch it like a TV series to get the full experience. (This is not unprecedented: prior releases such as "Star Wars: The Haunted Village" were out-of-sequence edits from their respective original television series. However, in that case ("Droids" and "Ewoks" television series edited films) the original episodes not included in the edited films are not even available on DVD).
It's coincidental and fortuitous that I have only just discontinued a series, and "The Clone Wars" neatly takes its place. I'll have to wait til November (when the season box set is released) to start watching it though. Still, plenty of science-fiction to keep me occupied until then.
In general I don't review films on here (unless they are part of an ongoing television series, e.g. "24: Redemption") and all Star Wars productions so far have been classed as films by me. This includes the television movies Caravan of Courage and The Battle For Endor, and the edited films The Pirates And The Prince, et al, and Clone Wars Volume I and II. The last of these I've just watched this last Sunday (28/06/2009) and so the next logical move would be the film titled "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", a prequel to the television series also titled "Star Wars: The Clone Wars".
Confusingly, this film is unrelated to the prior edited films "Clone Wars Volume I" and "Clone Wars Volume II", although it does take place after the events of Volume I, and involves some characters introduced in that film. To add even more confusion, 20th Century Fox released a largely unedited DVD comprising the first four episodes of the television series "The Clone Wars" titled "Star Wars: A Galaxy Divided". The film "The Clone Wars", on the other hand, effectively comprises four episodes not included in the television series edited together (called "Castle of Deception", "Castle of Doom", "Castle of Salvation" and "The New Padawan"). And let's not forget that the original "Volume I" and "Volume II" are just edited versions of an original TV/web series. Therefore it seemed reasonable to assume that 20th Century Fox would continue to release these four-episode DVDs. However, the second DVD announced is titled "Star Wars: Clone Commandos" and while it does contain the fifth episode of the show, it doesn't have the sixth (they moved straight to episode 19 instead). Therefore, I'm forced to get the season box set and watch it like a TV series to get the full experience. (This is not unprecedented: prior releases such as "Star Wars: The Haunted Village" were out-of-sequence edits from their respective original television series. However, in that case ("Droids" and "Ewoks" television series edited films) the original episodes not included in the edited films are not even available on DVD).
It's coincidental and fortuitous that I have only just discontinued a series, and "The Clone Wars" neatly takes its place. I'll have to wait til November (when the season box set is released) to start watching it though. Still, plenty of science-fiction to keep me occupied until then.
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