COMMENTARY: Various Updates

I've decided to just make ad-hoc posts to this blog from now on. It is quite nice for me personally to look back at all the posts I've made in the past, so I do want to record at least some things here for my own "amusement", but I don't expect really anyone else to read the stuff I post from now on!

Season finale day 10 was held on 5th June, absolutely ages ago now but I never wrote a blog on that. It concluded the following seasons:

• Dark Angel Season 2. I knew that this season finale wouldn't be a narrative conclusion, but the exact place it ended was unexpected and very surprising. It was a good episode though, even featuring a prominent actor from Murder One's second season.
• 24 Season 8. Wasn't the best season finale ever, but neither was the whole season.
• Lost Season 3. This was great, although the multi-threaded aspect made it feel a bit disjointed sometimes and there wasn't quite the same on-island cliffhanger as there had been in season 2.
• Smallville Season 5. A great closing episode, almost too much to take in (though not quite as good as season 4's finale) and a great closing image of Lex/Zod and Lana on the roof looking out over city fires.
  

Recently I've also watched a few more season premieres, namely:

• Babylon 5 Season 1. Watched on 8th May (brand new programme).
  
• Twin Peaks Season 2. Watched on 16th May, after an absence of 1 year, 10 months and 16 days.
• The Prisoner Season 1. Watched on 22nd May (brand new programme).
  
• Gavin & Stacey Season 3. Watched on 31st July, after an absence of 7 months and 6 days.
• Superboy Season 2. Watched on 14th August, after an absence of 2 years, 4 months and 20 days.
• Monkey Season 1. Watched on 26th October (brand new programme).

One new programme was added to the watching matrix; namely "Misfits". This Channel 4 UK series is about young offenders who gain superpowers. It is currently in its second season.

I have decided to change my slot strategy again to better fit in with my current lifestyle. The changes are roughly described as:

• No more finale days
• Pokémon is still classed as out of scope, but tracked just like everything else
• Broadcasting programmes are now allowed even if they breach ATST rules
• Space Sci-Fi is now back on the ATST ruleset
• A minimum of two and a maximum of four non-broadcasting programmes may be "active" at any one time. Programmes are equally divided between "new" and "current".
  
• Programmes on mid-season hiatus are not classed as "active". When a programme goes on mid-season break, a new premiere can be watched or an existing programme can be taken off mid-season break.
  
• Any programme which is seen to be stalling the process (The Prisoner, Mad Men etc) can have a programme to run simultaneously with it from the new "safe list" of programmes (which excludes HST and certain episodic programmes - and includes things like Smallville, Prison Break etc). Such "stallers" must be watched at least once every 2 months. Other programmes must be watched at least once every month. If these deadlines are consistently breached then I need to review the strategy again.
  

It's more complicated than that but there's the basics. Yesterday I also moved all my physical DVDs from underneath my television into the main racks, as eventually there will not be that many to put there.

Currently I am still watching a total of 11 seasons, but am trying to close this down to the pattern described above. These are:

• One Tree Hill season 4: Only 2 episodes left. It's hotting up. Lucas has just shot Dan. This is turning out to be a really great season - Dan is really central to it.
• Twin Peaks season 2: This show is just as great as ever. It's moving gradually further into the paranormal space. I am savouring every episode and can't believe that there is not much left.
• Babylon 5 season 1: One of the best "new to me" programmes I've seen probably since Damages. The structure and symmetry of the cast, the interesting races, the diplomacy, the gradually evolving story: this show is shaping up to be a masterpiece, and by all accounts, it is.
• Monkey Season 1: Only watched one episode so far but it looks good: fun, continuous and interesting!
• The Apprentice (UK) Season 6: Each year is slightly worse than the last...no really interesting characters, "Baggs The Brand" is the only one who comes close, but is still edge-of-your-seat stuff from time to time.
  
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2: Still good, relaxing standalone episodes; it's good to watch to pass the time.
• Superboy Season 2: Still the same low-budget B-movie style stuff of the first season, but fairly interesting and mostly relaxing to watch.
• Pokémon Season 1: The group just got their first Generation II Pokémon. It's always relaxing to watch and makes me happy. Soon I will be watching the first film, which I'm really looking forward to.
  
• Mad Men Season 2: Very disappointing. It still hasn't picked up yet and there isn't the same compelling story as there was in the first season.
• The Prisoner Season 1: Entirely episodic; some great ideas in there, but I don't have anything to compel me to watch the next episode at the moment.
• The X Factor (UK) Season 7: Watching this at the moment; totally out-of-scope but some good acts this year.
  

NOTIFICATION: New programmes added to matrix

As of today there have been a total of 11 new programmes added to the watching matrix. This is to add programmes which I have definitely decided to get into at some point in the future, to help track them, and also to add Pokémon to the symbol list, which I started quite some time ago. The total matrix size has been increased to 63, including 2 free spaces to be populated as and when I find programmes to put there. These may include programmes new this year which have not yet really got off the ground yet, such as Game Of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Human Target and V.

Here is a full list of the programmes added, in the order they were added to my queue (and therefore will roughly correspond to the order they will be started, after the previous last WTS programme, namely Veronica Mars).

• Pokémon: Already started in the second half of 2009 (I do not know the exact date). Cartoon series which is based on the popular video games. Classed as out of scope of my usual TV rules. Currently ranked as 31. Episodes are 30 minutes in length and seasons are usually quite long; most seasons have 52 episodes; although arcs are usually restricted to "sagas" rather than seasons. Currently in its 13th season and a 14th has been confirmed. First saga corresponds to season 1, second saga is season 2, third is seasons 3-5, fourth is seasons 6-8, fifth is season 9, sixth is seasons 10-13 and a seventh saga will start with season 14.
• FlashForward: One of the most talked about shows of 2009-10 television season and termed the "next Lost". Lots of mysteries and story arcs and a show I can't wait to get into. At the time of writing it has not been renewed for a second season but is widely expected to be.
  
• The Wire: Single-handedly this is the show that most people tell me to get into when I talk to them about my passion for TV. One of my close friends, who got me into such shows as Farscape and Rome, says it is head and shoulders above all other TV shows. Things I have noted from my investigation are that it is gritty, has tough sociopolitical undertones, lots of plot twists, an engaging story which is hard to follow but satisfying when you do, realistic on a level beyond any other show, has a different theme to each season, and has an opening sequence that reveals the entire first season arc if you look carefully. There were 5 seasons of this show in total and it will be assigned to the Saturday morning (HST) slot within my schedule.
• The Shield: A show that is often compared to The Wire, has season-long arcs, shows some very corrupt characters, and a total of 7 seasons. It will also be assigned to the Saturday morning slot.
  
• ReGenesis: A Canadian show that I've been wanting to get into for years but never really investigated fully. Now I have done some digging and found it has a certain humour, good characters, good setting and a lot of good story arcs. This show has 4 seasons in total.
• Sons Of Anarchy: This one has 2 seasons but was confirmed for a third. It is being advertised on the London Underground at the moment as the "next Sopranos". Investigation reveals complex story arcs across multiple factions in a gang-warfare type situation.
• Nowhere Man: A show I've been interested in for a while but put off by the fact that there's only one season. Well it's a longer season than Invasion was, and does have a good continuity, with a proper resolution at the end and an interesting premise, so I'm going to start this one.
• Brotherhood: An interesting story which revolves around two brothers but sort of linked to the battle between good and evil in their personalities. After watching the season 2 trailer on YouTube I was hungry for this show. There were 3 seasons total, and this is another one for the Saturday morning slot.
  
• Stargate Universe: A recent entry to the Stargate franchise. Despite the longevity of the franchise (15 seasons over 2 shows) and all the story arcs it carried, I just couldn't get used to the whole idea. But this show has a much more interesting premise, promises many more story/character arcs, and will probably be a much better hook for me into the whole universe of the franchise (no pun intended). This is in its first season but has been confirmed for a second, and unsurprisingly will be in my space sci-fi slot.
  
• In Treatment: In its second season, this is one of the most unique and interesting format shows I've seen. It really picks up on the psychotherapy aspect which has been a part of many of the shows I've watched including The Sopranos and Mad Men.
• Desperate Housewives: This show needs no introduction and is really a bit of fun. It is currently in its sixth season and will have at least one more. Each season has a specific mystery attached to it, which is solved throughout the season, and that's the main thing which attracts me.
  

DATA: April 2010

Seasons finished in April 2010:

• Damages Season 3 (watched 4 episodes in April 2010)
• Jericho Season 1 (watched 3 episodes in April 2010)
• Pushing Daisies Season 2 (watched 3 episodes in April 2010)

Seasons started in April 2010:

• Mad Men Season 2 (watched 1 episode in April 2010)
  
• Was on Waiting To Start list since October 2009
• Time since last season: 1 year, 9 months, 15 days.

Seasons watched through April 2010:

• 24 Season 8 (watched 6 episodes in April 2010)
• Dark Angel Season 2 (watched 3 episodes in April 2010)
• Lost Season 3 (watched 3 episodes in April 2010)
  
• Pokémon Season 1 (watched 3 episodes in April 2010)
• Smallville Season 3 (watched 3 episodes in April 2010)
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 (watched 1 episode in April 2010)
  
• One Tree Hill Season 4 (watched 1 episode in April 2010)
  

Seasons added to the "waiting to start" list in April 2010 (but have not yet started):

• Babylon 5 Season 1
• Twin Peaks Season 2
• The Prisoner Season 1
  

Raw Data:

DMG 03 10 03/04/2010
24H 08 14 03/04/2010
JER 01 20 03/04/2010
DRK 02 11 05/04/2010
JER 01 21 05/04/2010
24H 08 15 06/04/2010
24H 08 16 06/04/2010
DMG 03 11 06/04/2010
24H 08 17 13/04/2010
PKM 01 36 13/04/2010
DRK 02 12 16/04/2010
DMG 03 12 17/04/2010
OTH 04 06 17/04/2010
PKM 01 37 17/04/2010
PKM 01 38 17/04/2010
DRK 02 13 17/04/2010
MMN 02 01 17/04/2010
PDS 02 11 17/04/2010
LST 03 14 19/04/2010
SMV 05 07 19/04/2010
24H 08 18 20/04/2010
PDS 02 12 21/04/2010
LST 03 15 22/04/2010
SMV 05 08 23/04/2010
SMV 05 09 23/04/2010
PDS 02 13 24/04/2010
DMG 03 13 24/04/2010
JER 01 22 24/04/2010
ENT 02 07 25/04/2010
LST 03 16 27/04/2010
24H 08 19 27/04/2010

NOTIFICATION: Finale Day 9

Finale Day 9 will be held on 24/04/2010. The episodes comprising this session will be:

Pushing Daisies: "Kerplunk"
Damages: "The Next One's Gonna Go In Your Throat"
Jericho: "Why We Fight"

The replacement seasons will be:

[PDS] Pushing Daisies -> [BB5] Babylon 5 Season 1 (slot replacement; see earlier post)
[DMG] Damages -> [TWP] Twin Peaks Season 2
[JER] Jericho -> [PRS] The Prisoner

NOTIFICATION: Changes to slot makeup

There will be two changes to the slot makeup.

From Finale Day 9, a second space sci-fi slot will be added to cope with the backlog of sci-fi shows, caused by the delays in watching Futurama and now Enterprise. This slot will be initially just for new programmes and will replace an existing main slot. Despite this, the risk is still mitigated by disallowing different space sci-fi shows on the same or subsequent progressions.

From Finale Day 10, a second "main new" slot will be added to cope with the backlog of new main slot shows, and also to avoid a situation where there are not enough main slot shows to fill the schedule.

This means that after Finale Day 10, the slot makeup will be:

• 4x main slots
• 2x main new slots
• 1x space sci-fi slot
• 1x space sci-fi new slot
• 1x Superman mythos slot
• 1x horror, suspense and psychological thriller slot
  

COMMENTARY: Mad Men Season 2 Pre-Season

I'm going to start Mad Men Season 2 soon, probably today. I wanted to write a quick post about this, which seems to take place about 1 year after last season's finale.

It's been 18 months or so since I watched the season finale, and it wasn't my favourite finale ever. In fact the penultimate episode was leagues better, and should have been the finale in my opinion. "The Wheel" just felt a bit like an epilogue.

But, to recap what happened in it:

• Pete brings in a new account through his father-in-law. This gets him recognition from Bert Cooper. However it also puts him under pressure to have a child with Trudy.
  
• Peggy gets a job as a copywriter. Pete Campbell is not impressed. Hours later, she gives birth to his baby.
• Don finds out Adam is dead. He is overwhelmed by past memories of him and Betty, and collapses in sadness. Betty reveals that she knows about Don's affairs. Carlton/Francine and Harry are also having marriage problems.
  

In the penultimate episode, well that was the one where Duck was hired, we found out the truth about Don's military past, Don and Rachel break up, and Harry cheats on his wife with Hildy. Slightly more eventful I think! Well anyway plenty of steam for season 2, which apparently is set 1 year after these events.

DATA: March 2010

Seasons started in March 2010:

• One Tree Hill Season 4 (watched 5 episodes in March 2010)
• Was on Waiting To Start list since October 2009
• Time since last season: 1 year, 8 months, 25 days.
  

Seasons watched through March 2010:

• 24 Season 8 (watched 4 episodes in March 2010)
  
• Damages Season 3 (watched 4 episodes in March 2010)
• Jericho Season 1 (watched 2 episodes in March 2010)
• Pokémon Season 1 (watched 2 episodes in March 2010)
• Pushing Daisies Season 2 (watched 2 episodes in March 2010)
• Smallville Season 5 (watched 2 episodes in March 2010)
• Dark Angel Season 2 (watched 1 episode in March 2010)
• Lost Season 3 (watched 1 episode in March 2010)
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 (watched 1 episode in March 2010)

Seasons on the "waiting to start" list through March 2010:

• Mad Men Season 3 (on WTS list since October 2009)

Raw Data:

24H 08 10 02/03/2010
DMG 03 06 14/03/2010
DMG 03 07 14/03/2010
24H 08 11 14/03/2010
PKM 01 34 14/03/2010
24H 08 12 16/03/2010
PKM 01 35 17/03/2010
DMG 03 08 18/03/2010
24H 08 13 24/03/2010
SMV 05 05 25/03/2010
ENT 02 06 25/03/2010
PDS 02 09 27/03/2010
DMG 03 09 27/03/2010
LST 03 13 27/03/2010
SMV 05 06 27/03/2010
PDS 02 10 27/03/2010
OTH 04 01 27/03/2010
OTH 04 02 28/03/2010
JER 01 18 28/03/2010
OTH 04 03 28/03/2010
OTH 04 04 28/03/2010
JER 01 19 28/03/2010
OTH 04 05 28/03/2010
DRK 02 10 31/03/2010

COMMENTARY: Updates from recent episodes

Here is an update from recent programmes I've watched:

• One Tree Hill - just watched the season premiere today. It was a really great episode, and captured me into that whole broody teenager mood a lot more than Smallville has. Already big things are happening this season. We didn't get all of the answers - we don't know if it's Brooke or Haley that's pregnant (though I'm quite sure it's Haley), and we don't know who knows Dan's secret, but these mysteries will continue to unravel throughout the season. The guessing game of "who's pregnant" that kept up through this episode was very well-written. Lucas's commentary was perhaps a bit strange but seemed to be trying to introduce new viewers to the show. It's a promising season, which is a strange thing to say as it took me a long time to get back into season 3 when I began to watch that one.
• 24 - season 8 has been mostly rubbish so far, but we've had some good episodes recently. In the last one I watched, it was revealed that Dana was a mole inside CTU - kind of cliche. Actually the episode focussed mostly on Chloe and her crazy antics. But the previous episode had some great misdirection that I really didn't see coming and I don't think a lot of people did.
• Damages - this season has been much better than the last. It seems as if it might be the last one, which means there might only be 4 episodes to go! I hope not! Well the last episode (which I watched today) was weak to be honest. But the season in general has some compelling characters (on both sides), quite enough of the "what the hell is going on" factor (and I still don't know), and some great story, such as Ellen's confused loyalties.
• Smallville - the season has started off well, though hasn't gripped me in quite the same way season 4 did. Storylines are slowly emerging, such as those around the new character of Milton Fine. The last episode I watched "Exposed" was a fairly standalone episode and the one before that "Thirst" was regarded by the writers as one of the weakest episodes of the entire programme; I didn't think it was as bad as season 4's "Krypto", but at the same time I didn't enjoy it all that much. However I still have a lot of hope and I think the season has been slow to get started. We haven't seen Lionel Luthor for a couple of episodes now either...I wonder what he is up to. Lana and Clark are also finally getting together and it feels a lot more right than the teenage angst that plagued season 3.
  
• Lost - it's still great. Currently the story is focussed on The Barracks where Jack, Kate, Sayid and Locke are. I expect a re-union between Alex and Danielle in the near future. It's just been revealed that Anthony Cooper is on the Island!! The submarine has been destroyed so The Others have no way of getting back to the real world. Back at camp, the stories are a bit more boring - trying to fire up a van, or Claire learning about Charlie's destiny.
  
• Pushing Daisies - recent episodes have featured Chuck's dad coming back to life, Olive getting closer to Ned's secret, and Ned's father coming back on the scene. With only 3 episodes to go there's not a whole lot they can do. The overall storyline of this season has been good, but none of the individual episodes have been particularly well-executed or had a strong central story.
• Star Trek: Enterprise - there have been a couple of good episodes. In particular the fourth episode "Dead Stop" was kinda cool and futuristic. The season premiere was good. But "A Night In Sickbay" was bad even on paper and worse on the screen. The last episode I watched, "Marauders", was mediocre. All in all I'll struggle through this season because I know the next two will be a lot better.
• Pokémon - Ash has just been in the Safari Zone, which he's been trying to find for a while. There hasn't been much mention of a badge recently. Near-future episodes are going to include the Kanto Cycling Road, and the first Christmas episode of the anime.
  

COMMENTARY: One Tree Hill Season 4 Pre-Season

Recently I've been watching a lot of Smallville, Lost and other shows, but the time has come for me to start another programme in my "waiting to start" list: namely One Tree Hill. I'm probably watching the season premiere later today and it will have been more than 18 months since I watched the previous season's finale "The Show Must Go On".

And what a finale that was: ranking as one of my favourite episodes of all time, with the whole thing: the music, the drama, the mystery. The main events which happened in that episode were:

• Rachel and Cooper are trapped underwater in a car after Rachel drove them off a bridge. Nathan has dived in to save them while Haley stands on a bridge screaming for help.
• Karen is pregnant, and at least one other person is too. The episode implies that Rachel is pregnant (she has "something to tell" Cooper), that Haley is pregnant (she has "something to tell" Nathan, saying he is good in a crisis), and that Brooke is pregnant (Lucas thinks so, after he finds a pregnancy test in what he thinks is Brooke's purse - Brooke made everyone identical purses as wedding gifts).
• Someone knows that Dan killed Keith and has written "Murderer" on his wall.
• Brooke told Peyton that their friendship is over....again.
• Oh and in case that wasn't enough, Nathan and Haley got married again.

I'm guessing that we'll find out the answers to many of these in the season 4 premiere....so a very exciting episode! It's called "The Same Deep Water As You" - presumably a reference to the underwater Nathan, Cooper and Rachel.

DATA: February 2010

Seasons started in February 2010:

• 24 Season 8 (watched 9 episodes in February 2010)
• Was on Waiting To Start list since January 2010
  
• Time since last season: 8 months.
  
• Damages Season 3 (watched 5 episodes in February 2010)
• Was on Waiting To Start list since January 2010
  
• Time since last season: 8 months, 6 days.
  
• Smallville Season 5 (watched 4 episodes in February 2010)
• Was on Waiting To Start list since October 2009
  
• Time since last season: 2 years, 14 days.
  

Seasons watched through February 2010:

• Pokémon Season 1 (watched 5 episodes in February 2010)
• Jericho Season 1 (watched 4 episodes in February 2010)
• Pushing Daisies Season 2 (watched 3 episodes in February 2010)
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 (watched 3 episodes in February 2010)
  
• Lost Season 3 (watched 2 episodes in February 2010)

Seasons not watched at all during February 2010 (but which were on the schedule):

• Dark Angel Season 2
  

Seasons on the "waiting to start" list through February 2010:

• One Tree Hill Season 3 (on WTS list since October 2009)
• Mad Men Season 2 (on WTS list since October 2009)

Raw Data:

PDS 02 06 03/02/2010
24H 08 01 07/02/2010
24H 08 02 07/02/2010
24H 08 03 07/02/2010
24H 08 04 07/02/2010
ENT 02 03 07/02/2010
ENT 02 04 07/02/2010
24H 08 05 08/02/2010
24H 08 06 08/02/2010
PKM 01 28 08/02/2010
24H 08 07 09/02/2010
DMG 03 01 13/02/2010
JER 01 14 13/02/2010
JER 01 15 13/02/2010
DMG 03 02 14/02/2010
DMG 03 03 14/02/2010
ENT 02 05 14/02/2010
PDS 02 07 14/02/2010
PKM 01 29 14/02/2010
24H 08 08 16/02/2010
DMG 03 04 17/02/2010
PKM 01 30 19/02/2010
PKM 01 31 19/02/2010
LST 03 11 21/02/2010
JER 01 16 21/02/2010
PKM 01 32 21/02/2010
24H 08 09 23/02/2010
PKM 01 33 24/02/2010
DMG 03 05 27/02/2010
JER 01 17 27/02/2010
SMV 05 01 27/02/2010
SMV 05 02 27/02/2010
LST 03 12 27/02/2010
SMV 05 03 27/02/2010
PDS 02 08 27/02/2010
SMV 05 04 28/02/2010

[SMV] "Arrival"

TV Programme: Smallville
Season: 5
Episode: 1
Date I watched this episode: 27/02/2010
Time since I last watched this programme: 2 years, 14 days.

Just wanted to write a quick post about this awesome premiere I just watched. It's been too long since I watched this awesome show, and it's taking me a while to get back into it, much like with One Tree Hill Season 3. The episode was satisfying though. As ever I'm thrilled by the colour and lighting in this show, but also the epicness and mystery. Here, many things happened: Clark became mortal, Clark found out Chloe knows his secret, two Kryptonians arrived on Earth but were banished to the Phantom Zone, Lex seized the Black Ship and a man who is probably Brainiac arrived. Clark and Lana's relationship finally may be nearing closure.

COMMENTARY: Smallville Season 5 Pre-Season

Going to start Smallville Season 5 very soon, perhaps even today. Really excited! This is my top programme for which I have more seasons to watch (only Farscape, The West Wing and Alias are ranked higher, for which I've watched all the seasons).

The season 4 finale "Commencement" was watched as part of Finale Day 2 more than 2 years ago. This was still my favourite finale day so far, and I'm constantly wanting to top it. Smallville was the show which rounded off the day, and I thought Christmas had come early because of the slightly longer running time of "Commencement". There was such a lot of action and mystery; this was my second favourite season finale of all time, second only to [TWW] "Two Cathedrals". Such a lot happened:

• Lana gave one of the Stones of Power to Clark, knowing it was destined for him. Lex, wanting to retrieve the stone, took care of her, but her transport helicopter crashed and she found a black Kryptonian ship instead.
• Clark, Chloe and Lex visited the Kawatche caves; Clark was transported to the Arctic where he began the construction of the Fortress Of Solitude while Chloe and Lex have unknown status.
• A second meteor shower left Smallville in ruins. Jason came to attack Jonathan and Martha but then a meteor tore through the Kent Farmhouse.
• Lionel was left in a catatonic state after being exposed to massive Kryptonian energy.

They certainly did pull out all the stops. This leaves at least four separate stories which they have to wrap up in what I'm sure will be an amazing season 5 premiere "Arrival".

COMMENTARY: Finale Day 8

Finale Day 8 was a while ago now and it was quite awesome! First of all there was Sports Night; not quite the ending I was expecting! Well Jeremy and Natalie got back together which was quite cool, but the whole Dan/Rebecca thing was left a bit open. I hope that Dan and Rebecca got back together but I guess it's left up to the imagination. Felicity's acting was great and the scene in the bar with Dana and Calvin was quite memorable.

Then we had Rome season finale; seeing the actual assassination of Julius Caesar was not what I expected, though I'm not sure what I did expect. It was just so brutal and bloody. It showed how the city was thrown into chaos in a very real way. Niobe's death was heartbreaking, and in all it was truly the epic finale that I've come to expect.

NOTIFICATION: Scope Changes (Part 3)

Sorry for the quantity of these boring posts but I need to keep track of my thinking on this. I think I'll not set any further rules for posting. I'll just post here when I feel like it! Probably won't be reporting against specific episodes but just more general "commentary" on a season I'm watching...and the "data" posts.

DATA: January 2010

Seasons finished in January 2010:

• Sports Night Season 2 (watched 14 episodes in January 2010)
• Rome Season 1 (watched 10 episodes in January 2010)

Seasons started in January 2010:

• Enterprise Season 2 (watched 2 episodes in January 2010)
• Was on Waiting To Start list since October 2009
• Time since last season: 2 years, 5 months, 22 days
  

Seasons watched through January 2010:

• Pokémon Season 1 (watched 6 episodes in January 2010)
• Lost Season 3 (watched 2 episodes in January 2010)
• Jericho Season 1 (watched 1 episode in January 2010)
• Dark Angel Season 2 (watched 1 episode in January 2010)

Seasons not watched at all during January 2010 (but which were on the schedule):

• Pushing Daisies Season 2
  

Seasons on the "waiting to start" list through January 2010:

• Smallville Season 5 (on WTS list since October 2009)
  
• One Tree Hill Season 3 (on WTS list since October 2009)
• Mad Men Season 2 (on WTS list since October 2009)

Seasons added to the "waiting to start" list in January 2010 (but have not yet started):

• 24 Season 8
• Damages Season 3
  

Raw Data:

ROM 01 03 01/01/2010
LST 03 09 01/01/2010
ENT 02 01 02/01/2010
ROM 01 04 02/01/2010
PKM 01 22 09/01/2010
PKM 01 23 09/01/2010
SPN 02 07 09/01/2010
PKM 01 24 10/01/2010
ROM 01 05 10/01/2010
ROM 01 06 11/01/2010
PKM 01 25 17/01/2010
ROM 01 07 17/01/2010
ROM 01 08 17/01/2010
SPN 02 08 17/01/2010
SPN 02 09 17/01/2010
PKM 01 26 23/01/2010
ROM 01 09 23/01/2010
ROM 01 10 23/01/2010
SPN 02 10 23/01/2010
SPN 02 11 23/01/2010
SPN 02 12 23/01/2010
SPN 02 13 23/01/2010
SPN 02 14 23/01/2010
SPN 02 15 23/01/2010
ROM 01 11 24/01/2010
SPN 02 16 25/01/2010
SPN 02 17 26/01/2010
SPN 02 18 26/01/2010
SPN 02 19 26/01/2010
SPN 02 20 26/01/2010
ENT 02 02 27/01/2010
PKM 01 27 27/01/2010
JER 01 13 27/01/2010
DRK 01 09 28/01/2010
SPN 02 21 28/01/2010
SPN 02 22 30/01/2010
ROM 01 12 30/01/2010
LST 03 10 31/01/2010

NOTIFICATION: Scope Changes (Part 2)

After having some time to think about what would be a good medium between no reviews at all and the endless problems I got into under the old policy, here's my current thinking as to when I'll be posting on this blog in future.

• Notifications: All prior notification categories remain in scope. Any exclusions from before still stand: e.g. there will be no pre-season notifications for broadcasting seasons, because these are hyped enough already!
  
• Season premieres: All season premieres will remain in scope, except for for broadcasting seasons. This was a tough decision but it'll give me some time for the premiere to sink in for those shows that I haven't watched for a long time.
• Season finales: All season finales will remain in scope, but will not be required as part of the "finale day aftermath" process anymore. This means I can effectively write the season finale review anytime. These reviews will now serve as a review of the whole season.
• Midseason premieres: Contrary to what I said earlier, these will not be in scope anymore.
• Midseason finales: These will be treated on a case-by-case basis. Generally midseason finale reviews will be written for good shows where the midseason finale was a big event in the life of the show, however there may be other considerations. For example, I didn't write a review of [SPN] "Bells And A Siren" because although it was technically a midseason finale, there were only two more episodes produced of this show ever.
• Commentaries: These will become more frequent but on a completely ad-hoc basis. Currently at the time of writing, there is only one post tagged "Commentary", but I intend to use the "Commentary" tag to enable me to write reviews of seasons during the actual season.

In addition to the above, a new label called "Data" will be created to allow raw data dumps of the episodes I've watched each month. There will be no deadlines on these. Some of the raw data will contain compiled statistics, I'm not sure what the details would be yet.

NOTIFICATION: Finale Day 8

Finale Day 8 will be held on 30/01/2010. The episodes comprising this session will be:

Sports Night: "Quo Vadimus"
Rome: "Kalends Of February"

The replacement seasons will be:

[SPN] Sports Night -> [24H] 24 Season 8
[ROM] Rome -> [DMG] Damages Season 3

NOTIFICATION: Scope Changes

At this time I have made the difficult decision to mostly not continue with this TV review blog. I have done a lot here, reviewing episodes throughout 2009, but I have found that it is just not working. After a hard day at work, I am often too tired to write an episode review, but feel I can't watch a new episode until I have reviewed the previous one. I have found that this year I have watched far too few episodes, and it's not realistic to expect to spend huge amounts of time writing reviews when I have so much other work to do.

I am still planning to write entries in this blog covering the following events:

• Notifications (such as changes to the list of programmes, pre-season notifications, and other miscellaneous commentary)
• Reviews of season premieres (mostly)
• Some reviews of season finales
• A few reviews of midseason premieres and midseason finales where applicable.
  

[ENT] Shockwave, Part II

TV Programme: Star Trek: Enterprise
Season: 2
Episode: 1
Date I watched this episode: 02/01/2010
Time since I last watched this programme: 2 years, 5 months, 22 days.

So this is the first review I've written of an episode in the Star Trek franchise, and of all the seasons of Star Trek that I am going to be watching over the next months and years, this was the one I was looking forward to least. I know roughly what is going to happen with this show, and it's fairly well-known across the Star Trek community - 1st season sets the scene, 3rd season is one continuous arc and 4th season is several small arcs building up to the founding of the Federation, but the 2nd season is something of an anomaly. Many standalone episodes with little relevance to the stories past or those to come.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by this episode, which had a very action-packed, sleek and unpredictable plotline. It almost felt like some of the old plans in Farscape, where John and D'Argo went off and did their own thing a bit. That normally doesn't get to happen in Star Trek, but they had the perfect setting here - a ship which had been overrun by an enemy faction, and the crew HAD to go to desperate measures to retake it.

Also similarly to Farscape, the plan was only revealed fairly slowly; we didn't know until the end what they were really planning to do. This made it all the more shocking when Reed got captured (although watching the episode again it's clear this was meant to happen) or when the warp core breach sounded (although at the time it seemed plausible that this could be real, as the timeline was going to be altered anyway). The backing music almost merged into one track which smoothly ran through the episode, bulging and dipping as the plan moved through its various phases.

The episode's stark focus on teamwork (which overall made for an uplifting feeling, especially when they were stranded in their quarters and making a plan) meant that it spent a little time with each character (as would be expected for a season premiere) but some characters were more neglected than others. In particular, Phlox and Travis hardly appeared at all, while Archer and T'Pol really led the episode.

The episode started with a sequence very much led by T'Pol. Here, she showed her brilliant leadership skills, bourne out of her logical method. She really showed her worth and was praised by Archer. However her role as leader did lead to her torture (under which she held up extraordinarily well) and we saw a different side of her from before, a damaged, broken side. She was barely up to dealing with Archer's orders, especially as she didn't even believe it was possible.

Archer was just getting very frustrated in this ep, as he wanted to help, but couldn't really do so because he wasn't allowed to know much of what was really going on. It was good to see him finding out about the Federation for the first time, and that he would have a large part to play in its founding. Archer also showed tremendous confidence in his actions at the end (not that I expected anything less), and somehow managed to get past legions of armed Suliban on enemy territory. A feat worthy of Roj Blake, surely!

Those who do know what is really going on are Daniels and Silik. Silik shows his inner weakness here - unable to lead without constant hand-holding by this figure from the future. He is weak on his own. Daniels must have known this and seemingly also that Silik wouldn't be able to contact this future figure. Perhaps the Future Guy is from Earth and so would have been destroyed in this alternate future?

The other characters made pretty average appearances, conforming to fairly well-established character patterns. Hoshi was moaning as usual, which is frankly getting boring. Tucker fitted well into the gunslinging, cowboy attitude he had to take on in this episode. And Reed retained that uncomfortable look which he exhibits throughout the programme, while carrying out his orders without question. In general I don't really rate Hoshi, Reed or Travis as characters.

The show also showed its bravery and willingness to set itself apart from other shows, even other Star Trek shows, by admitting that humanity has made some mistakes but is prepared to deal with them as part of the learning experience. And in that sense, it is a very mature show which shows humanity in a very realistic light. It also didn't try to answer every question about time travel - even Daniels admitted that he didn't have all the answers.

While "Shockwave" (i.e. last season's finale) was filled with doom and gloom, this episode was uplifting, cool, captivating, well-planned and generally enjoyable. While it doesn't make me any less sure that this season as a whole will be a disappointment, I do think this was one of the best episodes so far in the entire programme.

[LST] Stranger In A Strange Land

TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 9
Date I watched this episode: 01/01/2010
Time since I last watched this programme: 4 months, 1 day.
Centric for: Jack

This is the second Jack-centric episode this season, and quite forcibly so as the "present-day" portions of the episode focussed mainly around Jack and his time with The Others. As with other episodes like this during season 3 ("A Tale Of Two Cities", "Every Man For Himself", "Not In Portland" etc), we see Jack and Ben pitted against each other. And here even more so than ever we see that Jack and Ben are alike in a lot of ways: specifically Jack is a man of his word, just like Ben. And that makes for a very dignified battle of the minds between these two otherwise opposite characters.

We get to see a glimpse into The Others' sense of justice, which is not at all like I expected. Well Ben seems to be very much on Juliet's side in this fight, saying she is "one of them", but surely he must know this is no longer true or he wouldn't have offered her the incentive to get her to help him. Maybe he is just delusional, wrapped up in his own archaic loyalties. Or maybe Juliet's trial was just a setup to get Jack to help...because otherwise how would Isabel know for sure that Jack was lying? Maybe the whole thing was a setup! In any case, Jack is suitably wary of Juliet, and only wants to help her because on the surface she saved his friends lives to get into this mess.

In general The Others are not definitely bad or definitely good, but a very mysterious group. They certainly seem to have brought happiness into some peoples lives, like Cindy Chandler (I think it was just a coincidence that her daughter asked about Ana-Lucia). However it does seem at times like they are just trying to create mystery, such as all the talk in this episode over which island The Others live on, even though we already found this out in "A Tale Of Two Citites".

Kate and Sawyer were going through a very complex period in their relationship in their little side-story this episode. Sawyer thinks that Kate only slept with him because she likes him a bit and prefers Jack, but Kate doesn't really know what she thinks, and so it's hard for them to have a meaningful conversation about practically anything. Sawyer and Karl have a great chat here in probably the best character scene of the episode - where he inspires Karl to go after Alex because she really is "worth the trouble". Now no matter what happens - if Karl lives or dies - it will be in some sense a happy ending.

I really didn't get the flashback story of this episode, for pretty much the first time ever. Sure, it was a cute little story but I didn't see the relevance it had. I can concede that maybe "He walks among us, but is not one of us" has meaning in both situations, but this doesn't really fit with the original fortune told by Achara. This wasn't the only bad part of the episode - I really didn't like the final sequence, and thought the camerawork didn't fit very well with the music played over it.

This episode marked in a sense the end of one chapter of the programme and the beginning of a new one. No doubt next time we see Jack he will be on the main island again, looking after Ben while the other survivors regroup and try to launch an attack. We're not too far from the half-way point, and surely it won't be too long until they are all re-united again.

[ROM] An Owl In A Thornbush

TV Programme: Rome
Season: 1
Episode: 3
Date I watched this episode: 01/01/2010
Time since I last watched this programme: 2 months, 14 days.

This episode showed the natural progression of the events of the last episode. Carefully and quietly, we see Caesar take Rome from Pompey. Both men remain completely calm and collected throughout, great leaders seen at their peak while Atia is going insane with stress. In general, this is such a quiet episode. We see Caesar's men galloping over barren, deserted landscapes, we see Rome standing completely deserted. This is such a contrast to earlier episodes and shows how flexible this show is.

It's a beautifully woven story though. Caesar's plan is really quite well thought-out: he is expecting Pompey to slip up in forcing him to leave Rome, and in the end that is exactly what happens. If it hadn't been for the money, probably things would have played out in Pompey's favour. I wonder how similar this episode has been to real historical events.

Titus's influence is quite wide-reaching, as he doesn't care about rules and doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. Now he has all that money, what will he do with it? It seems sensible that he would defect to Pompey at this stage, as his friend Vorenus has left Caesar. But I don't think he is clever enough for that, and will probably try to start a new life with that slave girl.

Atia on the other hand, after realising that she has the upper hand, is coming to terms with her new sense of power. She is now the one who can provide protection to those who want to stay in Rome. She orders a hit on Glabius, which surely must be linked to her power complex, and then somehow manages to convince a very naive Octavia that she had nothing to do with it. She and Octavia just have such different views on men, as starkly seen in this episode. Atia wants to just use men for sex, whereas Octavia feels a deeper connection than Atia has ever felt with a man. It will be interesting to see what happens with Caesar returns to Rome and favours the less-voluptuous Servilia.

Gaius Octavian really came into his own in this episode. He seems to be the one who really knows what's going on, with the Pompey/Caesar mindgames and with Glabius's death. He shows tremendous leadership skills for a boy of his age, and it is done in a really beautiful way that doesn't seem forced at all.

Niobe is completely mixed up emotionally in this episode as she struggles to deal with her repressed emotions for Evander and her renewed emotions for Lucius. I do feel sorry for Lucius as he is trying so hard, even deserting Caesar's regiment, and I want things to work out for him. He claims the past is forgotten, but if he really knew what had happened in the past then perhaps he would not be so cavalier.

Well this was another great episode and I am really looking forward to more. I will have to accelerate my watching of this programme to some extent as I really want to finish it before the Damages season premiere later this month.

[JER] The Day Before

TV Programme: Jericho
Season: 2
Episode: 12
Date I watched this episode: 28/12/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 4 months, 19 days.

Well finally back to this programme, and it never ceases to blow me away. This episode didn't really touch on a lot of the points in the midseason finale (the Mimi/Stanley/Bonnie/Shaun situation, Dale's murder, the election result) but I'm sure we'll get to that. Instead, most of the episode was devoted to getting some real answers about Jake and Rob. This is about the only place they could really do this kind of episode, right at the beginning of the second half of the season, where it doesn't ruin the pace.

The episode intercut between three areas: one focussing on Jake, one focussing on Rob, and one focussing on everyone else (events in Jericho on that day). However, this was seemingly just to keep the show interesting, rather than for any dramatic/storytelling purpose. So I'll try to deal with each of those in turn.

First up with Jake, the character of Freddie was introduced, and a lot of time was spent developing this character as Jake's closest friend. This just served to heighten the emotion when he was killed, even though he was only a one-episode guest star. This entire piece showed just how brutal and powerful Ravenwood are, or were at the time of the bombs.

I've been asking for ages what Jake was doing prior to the events of this programme and now we have at least a partial answer - he was working for Ravenwood. Again I see that I was right to give the show some leeway on this - if someone had told me this at the start then it wouldn't have had so much suspense during episodes like "Rogue River" and "Crossroads" when we were just getting to know Ravenwood.

There is still the issue of the incident in Afghanistan though. The show doesn't reveal what actually happened, but I suppose I wonder, does it even matter? We know that Jake and Freddie just tried to survive, and that innocent people died, and maybe that's all we need to know. We have a sensational view now of Ravenwood as this evil entity.

When Jake called home, the expression on Gail's face really acutely reminded me of when Clark Kent called home in [SMV] "Exile". She must know to some extent what Jake has been up to, though she clearly doesn't know now that Jake was involved with Ravenwood. The ep also answers the question of what compelled Jake to return to Jericho after 5 years. We know why he left - because of Jonah - but he returned because he was desperate. Him and Freddie had tried to play both Ravenwood and the government, and that could never end well.

The other facet that this touched on was Jake and Emily. It was only a small comment, but Freddie confirmed that Jake did still have feelings for Emily, even before he returned to Jericho and met Heather. This puts the current state of affairs into a new perspective.

Turning to Rob, well on the face of it he seems to just be a terrorist. But the question is - what kind of terrorist organisation could run such a massive operation as this? All the people we see in it have American accents and different ethnic backgrounds, so in that sense it almost feels like they are an organisation similar to "The Company" of Prison Break or "The Alliance" of Alias.

The exit strategy for the bombings also seems a bit ambiguous. Are we to believe that these were supposed to be suicide missions? Surely not, as Rob has had extensive training on the aftermath of the attacks, including the rally point talk. He seems too clever to be wasted like that. However, the "men who will change the world"? The timing doesn't seem to add up, how could they possibly get away so fast?

Rob's sheer determination for his family is shown here. When we see him approach Darcy that first time, he is completely determined and he goes to great lengths to get them to safety, even assaulting police officers. We see toward the end of the episode how far along things have come, and how Darcy admits she does trust him - perhaps not knowing how close he was to the people behind the attacks.

Sarah's return at the end of the episode was shocking and unexpected. It's unclear how she escaped from the men holding her at gunpoint, but maybe she has been sent from Rob's organisation, maybe she was the one typing "See you soon." Rob does say earlier in the episode that the entire bombings plan was her idea, so she must be quite senior within the organisation. Clearly there is something extra we haven't seen - as we don't even know where the bomb is at this point. Perhaps Rob did go to Columbus to rescue Sarah, who knows. I'm sure we will find some answers soon enough.

In the Jericho area, there are a few little things going on. We get to see Stanley meeting Mimi for the first time, and it's believable in the context of what has happened since. Johnston's offer to Eric is completely unexpected and I'm sure there will be some fallout from that in the near future. And we get to see what's really the first ever character development of Roger: showing that while he is ambitious, he does have a good heart and he does really love Emily.

The last part of the episode, after replaying some footage from the pilot, played out some "present day" footage for 5 minutes. Roger is seen to be in heavy shock and a changed man, while Jake tells Emily to go to him and forget about the two of them. That's not going to happen easily now that Emily has experienced it again and her father has implored her to have another go. But will Jake manage to go back to Heather? Who knows, they haven't spoken in days/weeks.

In general, the episode does ask more questions than it answers, but in a much more elegant way than some other shows like Lost. A lot is coming up though - not only those situations from the midseason finale but also the introduction of Sarah into the equation, will keep me coming back for more. Once again a brilliant episode from a brilliant show.

[SPN] Shane

TV Programme: Sports Night
Season: 2
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 28/12/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 4 months, 19 days.

This day was kind of unofficially my "midseason premiere day". This was pretty much entirely by coincidence, as I'd intended to watch Rome instead of Jericho but my laptop didn't have enough battery to play what I thought would be a 50+ minute episode. But it's kind of cool as I watched the midseason finales of this programme and also Jericho on the same day, and I had then watched the midseason premieres on the same day too.

This episode should have been called "Kafelnikov". (See my previous review for more details). In fact, the whole "Shane" storyline to this ep was a bit pointless, without really any moral to the story, except to give Casey something to do and an excuse not to help Dan out. It also led to the silliest, most cheesy scene in this PROGRAMME so far, with Dana dancing to "Walking On Sunshine" - I didn't appreciate this.

Dan's initial chat with Abby at the bar was kind of a mix of "business" and "personal" and was quite funny to see the way Danny handled that. However, it really brought his problems bubbling to the surface and hit a bit of a turning point in Dan's arc in general. I don't think Dan had ever thought before about how therapy would work - it is going to be a long process, rather than a "quick fix" which is what he was expecting from Abby.

He's just trying to get his head around the fact that his problems run deeper than not being able to pronounce Kafelnikov's first name. That's not just the least of his problems, it's not one of his problems at all. "It's a hard name to pronounce" to quote Abby. Dan kind of thought this is how it would manifest itself, but by the end of the episode he's just beginning to realise how this is going to play out.

Dan's relationship with Abby has also taken a big hit in this episode, I think. He can't really carry on dating her when he is seeing her in a professional capacity. Also, he has kind of ruined things by bursting into her office like that - which even I could see was wholly unprofessional.

The third story in this episode was with Natalie and "Hell", and even this was much more well-executed than Casey's story. The Hell story did have kind of a moral to it - that people don't do bad things because they know they're wrong, not because of any fire and brimstone, or certainly this is true in Natalie's case. I think I could see that already but it's a good piece of direct character development.

In general this was an episode with a pretty key main storyline, and a few extra bits tagged on for good measure. But Josh's and Jayne's acting kind of redeemed it, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this can go in the next episode.

DATA: 2009 in review

Seasons watched through 2009:

• Jericho Season 1 (watched 8 episodes in 2009)
  
• Dark Angel Season 1 (watched 4 episodes in 2009)

Seasons finished in 2009 (which were started before 2009):

• Prison Break Season 2 (watched 17 episodes in 2009)
• The New Adventures Of Superman Season 2 (watched 13 episodes in 2009)
  
• The Sopranos Season 1 (watched 8 episodes in 2009)
  
• Ultimate Force Season 3 (watched 1 episode in 2009)

Seasons watched completely in 2009:

• 24 Season 7 (watched 26 episodes in 2009)
• Futurama Season 5 (watched 16 episodes in 2009)
  
• Damages Season 2 (watched 13 episodes in 2009)
• The Apprentice (UK) Season 5 (watched 12 episodes in 2009)
• Spooks Season 2 (watched 10 episodes in 2009)
• Peep Show Season 6 (watched 6 episodes in 2009)

Seasons started (but not finished) in 2009:

• Lost Season 3 (watched 8 episodes in 2009)
  
• Sports Night Season 2 (watched 6 episodes in 2009)
• Pushing Daisies Season 2 (watched 5 episodes in 2009)
  
• Rome Season 1 (watched 2 episodes in 2009)
• (Pokémon Season 1 (outside scope of this site) (watched 21 episodes in 2009))
  

Seasons given up on in 2009:

• La Femme Nikita Season 1 (watched 2 episodes in 2009)

Programmes watched with others (new episodes) in 2009:

• Gavin & Stacey (unknown number of episodes so not included in total: somewhere between 0 and 14) (outside the scope of this site)
  

Programmes not watched at all in 2009 (but which I am not up-to-date with):

• Blake's 7
• Mad Men
• One Tree Hill
• Smallville
  
• Superboy
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Star Trek: Enterprise
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Twin Peaks
  

TOTAL EPISODES WATCHED IN 2009 (scaled to standard lengths): 169

[DRK] Gill Girl

TV Programme: Dark Angel
Season: 2
Episode: 8
Date I watched this episode: 26/12/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 3 months, 26 days.

Moving on with my programme catch-up, I thought Dark Angel would be next as I wanted to save the "good stuff" for the end. However I was pleasantly surprised as this was an absolutely stunning episode and quite possibly the best episode of the season so far. Once again I'm glad to not see Joshua, who can pretty much ruin an episode. But that's not all - there were plenty of great things about this one.

It actually started off quite badly though. The "misdirection" with Logan being ransacked by his niece, was all a bit silly, and when I first saw the gill girl, I thought it looked like a very tacky special effect reminiscent of some of the other weird creatures we've seen this season. But after that, things did pick up.

Ames White is finally back in his first appearance since "Radar Love", an episode I watched back in 2008. His character is great in just the way he speaks about the Manticore escapees...using the neutral tense and so on, as if they were just machines. I suppose this is how he compartmentalises his emotions about the whole thing. We see him in one scene in the episode chatting cheerfully to his wife and son on the phone while the gill girl is in agony in the cage. He is quite a complex and interesting character.

The twist that the guy in the club was actually a "gill boy" and not one of White's men was a really unexpected one. I didn't see that one coming and was genuinely taken aback - which is a rarity for me these days as I tend to read so many spoilers. It also helped me to really feel for Max that she had just assaulted an innocent man.

The best sequence of the episode, unsurprisingly, was at White's base, which was cool in itself. Seeing Max and Alec working together for a change, scampering around the outside, and gill boy swimming through the vents, was just really smooth. Then when the alarms went off and things got chaotic, the quick reactions of these trained soldiers and what they chose to do was also cool - and they were always one step ahead of both me and Ames White.

Alec seemed a bit out-of-character in this episode. Previously he's only done things when there has been financial gain in sight. Here he proceeded on even though it was pretty clear that he had no chance of sleeping with the gill girl. Maybe he's just doing it for the thrill - this would seem to make sense but still it feels a bit strange.

The whole virus side-story seemed a bit pointless, but maybe it will be developed upon? All the stuff with the chapel and Max and her emotions was just irrelevant, but maybe I'm just not giving the show enough slack. Also the whole "eggs" scene was pretty pointless and we could have got that information in other ways.

In general though it was just a cool concept, well-written and well-executed. Seeing Max and Alec doing different things at the start of the episode and then teaming up was quite natural and the story flowed well, seeming generally natural without being predictable. Like I said, one of my favourite episodes of this season.

NOTIFICATION: Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2

Next season to start will be:

Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 2
Initial run: 18/09/2002 - 21/05/2003

Starring:

Scott Bakula	as	Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley	as	Phlox
Jolene Blalock	as	T'Pol
Dominic Keating	as	Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery	as	Travis Mayweather
Linda Park	as	Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer	as	Charles Tucker

Pre-season buzz (quotes):

• "A couple of the episodes this year were somewhat spawned out of some thoughts that I had at the end of the first season. I've said to them, 'you know there's a relationship that I think we could explore more and this is why' and then that spawned an episode. I said to them we have something on our ship that we haven't utilized since the pilot and that just became a big story." - Scott Bakula, quoted by TrekWeb.
• "The first season was to an extent about really focusing on the relationship between the Captain, Trip and T'Pol. The rest of us may not have had as much to do. I kind of get the impression in in the first five or so episodes [of the second season] that there may be more of an ensemble feel. It does seem as if everybody's being used more extensively." - John Billingsley, quoted by TrekWeb.
• "I really identify with this notion of exploring and I like this idea of exploring in a world where there are no rules. We're being told some of what the rules are sometimes by the Vulcans but they're really the only ones holding any kind of standards or bar that we're supposed to perform to out there. So I like that I continue to be somewhat of a maverick in that sense, feeling out each situation and talking amongst ourselves about what to do." - Scott Bakula, quoted by TrekWeb.

Pre-season buzz (from last season's finale):

• Obviously the biggest cliffhanger is that Archer is now stranded in an alternate 31st Century, with no clear way of getting back. I imagine they'll have to do a bit of trickery to get him out of that one.
• Back in the "present", Enterprise is just about to be destroyed by Silik and his men: again, this situation will be resolved by the end of the premiere episode, or else we would no longer have a show.
• The temporal cold war really reared its ugly head here in a fiercer way than in previous episodes. Perhaps this means the war will have more of an involvement in this season's episodes, though from what I've heard this is unlikely.

Pre-season buzz (statistical):

• The season premiere is simply titled "Shockwave, Part II" (or in some lists, just "Shockwave II"). It is the only episode of this programme to follow this naming format (in TNG, this kind of thing was done all the time across season finales/premieres, but I think it shows a bit of a lack of imagination). It begins immediately after the end of last season's finale.
  
• The season finale is titled "The Expanse". It is one of the episodes I'm most looking forward to, as I know it sets things up for the more continuous third season. There are 26 episodes in this season.
• The main cast does not change in this season, nor in any Enterprise season. However most of the recurring guests are brought back this season, such as Forrest, Soval, Shran, Silik and Daniels.
• This is currently the programme with the longest period since I last watched it (apart from programmes which I have completely finished such as The West Wing or Alias). This is mainly due to wanting to get other sci-fi shows out of the way first such as Farscape's special features and Futurama.
• I bought the DVD almost immediately after finale day 7, along with the other seasons to premiere around this time, and this is the first of these.
  
• At the time of writing, I've watched all my additional catch-up episodes ("Gill Girl", "Shane", "The Day Before", "An Owl In A Thornbush" and "Stranger In A Strange Land") but haven't reviewed them just yet. However once I have done, I'll be starting this season.