Dollhouse: Epitaph Two, Return

Adelle: "You're not coming back."
Topher: "Small price to pay. I didn't want to cause any more pain."

Talk about going out with a bang, huh? I'd like to thank Joss Whedon for giving us such a positive ending. I honestly wasn't expecting it.

I almost can't believe how much I disliked Topher in season one; his death was so tragic. He literally couldn't live with what he'd done, so he took himself out as he fixed it. (I also thought it was lovely that the last thing he saw was the Battlestar remembrance wall.) Solid gold acting stars for Fran Kranz, not only for this episode but for the entire second season. Ditto for Olivia Williams. The tender way Adelle treated him, the things they said when they said goodbye, so moving. She loved him, and I don't mean in a romantic way.

Speaking of romantic, Paul's death got to me. Echo sobbing out her grief to Priya got to me, too -- and when she took his imprint inside of herself, I cried. Paul pointed out that Echo was a hundred people, but she was always alone. Now she has Paul inside of her, forever. That was actually more romantic (in a cool, sad way) than Tony and Priya living happily ever after.

I was proud of Tony for choosing to fight and to make a literal tech head of himself, even though it cost him years with Priya and their son. That happy ending was well-deserved. That Mad Max look with the tatts, ripped fatigues, and flash drives was a good one for him. Could someone please cast Enver Gjokaj in something cool right the hell now?

When they first started talking about what "the pulse" would do, I thought it would mean that all of our imprinted characters would lose everything they had become in order to save the world. Since there was nothing left of Paul but an imprint, I thought he would lose even more, and end up a vegetable. I'm glad the story didn't go that way, even though it would have been dramatically sound. A dramatically sound bummer.

The casting was a Whedonfest, and we even got a virtual mini-Firefly reunion. I loved that it was Alpha who left Paul's wedge on the Chair for Echo. I was a bit confused about how Alpha became a freedom fighter, even though it was referred to in "Epitaph One." What did I miss? Did he just evolve because of the multiple imprints? Or maybe because of Paul's?

Lots of symbolism, of course. The strawberries in their garden were a symbol of life and rebirth. I think my favorite was Tony and little Tony burning tech in a campfire together. I loved that the Dollhouse replaced their farm house and became their safe haven, the only way to retain their real selves and important memories. And the ending, with Echo going to sleep in an open, uncovered pod, was lovely. Pretty much said it all.

I'm so glad we got a second season. Yes, a lot happened in these past few episodes and it was rushed; it would have been better if there had been more time for the story to play out. But how could anyone complain about this finale? It was beautifully written and acted, satisfying and meaningful. I loved it.

Bits:

-- One good thing about Dollhouse was that they could literally get anyone to play Harding if Keith Carradine wasn't available. Or even if he was.

-- I'm glad that Mag and Zone made it. And Adair Tishler did a lovely job again, this time as mini-Caroline. I particularly liked her telling Paul that Caroline loved it when he was corny.

-- I'm sort of sorry that we didn't get to see Amy Acker one last time, although this episode was full enough. Ditto Reed Diamond. At least we saw Summer Glau one more time, and Bennett was the one who gave Topher the final answer he needed.

-- Loved the firefight with the freeze frames and the flashing light. There was music evocative of Battlestar Galactica when Paul was killed. I don't know if it was deliberate, but it was a nice detail.

-- If you didn't see it, "Epitaph One" is on the final disc of the season one DVD set. Here's my review.

Quotes:

Iris/Caroline: "Last time I was up here, it wasn't this bad. And I could see over the dash."

Zone: "And you didn't think to mention that Safe Haven was parked right next door to the freaking Death Star?"

Topher: "Reflection. Like an echo. Put things back the way they were, minds back the way they were. I can bring back the world." Nice symmetry, calling it an echo.

Echo: "Thanks for the insight, mini-me."

Paul: "This is where it gets interesting."
Mag: "It was dull?"

Paul: "I've been knocking ten years. You still won't let me in."
Echo: "I let you in a few times."
Paul: "When you were sure we were going to die. What happens if you're sure we're going to live?"

Adelle: "I'm very glad you didn't clean up."
Alpha: "No, it spoke to the schizophrenic in me. Both of them, actually."

Fabulous series finale. I only wish it had been longer. Four out of four stars,

Billie

All of my Dollhouse reviews are archived here.
(Season 2, episode 13)

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Supernatural: Swap Meat

Dean: "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sam?"

Supernatural Lite. I thought it would get darker than it did, possibly with a teen massacre at the end. Instead, Gary and Nora Learned a Valuable Lesson and just might live happily ever after; only their nasty friend got smushed.

Lovely performance by Jared Padalecki as Sam *and* as Gary. He was just terrific in the opening scene with the booze and the pick-up. And I particularly liked how Sam just accepted the situation and asked everyone about himself, no matter how weird it sounded. (Like "Where's my locker?" "Have I been carrying around a big weird book?") It took longer for Dean to catch on than I expected, but that was probably because Gary was acting the way Dean has always wanted Sam to act. Definitely a theme that has been explored several times before, and rather sad.

Sam's admission that he no longer wants a life like Gary's was also sad, since Gary was a lot like Sam used to be. (A bit nerdier, and Sam would never have played around with demonology, but still.) And don't you think Gary would have made an excellent hunter? Very smart, great with the research, and he caught on and burned the bones fast enough to save Dean. Not to mention Dean and Gary tag-teaming the Latin as they exorcised the demon out of Nora.

So there's a demon bounty on Dean. Nice touch. It certainly made more sense than three teenagers dabbling in the dark arts stumbling on Dean and Sam by accident. And when the demon told Gary that she wanted him to meet Lucifer and say yes to his question, I wondered if this episode might be set-up for how Lucifer acquires Sam's body in Detroit. Does someone else say yes? The Trojan horse idea was supposedly Gary's, but was it really? Are demons recruiting bodynappers all over the country?

Bits and pieces:

-- Speaking of good performances, Colton James (Gary) did a great job channeling Tom Hanks in Big. And Sarah Drew (Nora) was terrific as the demon. Which demon was it? Was it one we know? They never said.

-- No Castiel this week. He probably would have known Sam wasn't Sam immediately, so that was convenient for the plot.

-- How did the Impala survive that collision with the dumpster without a scratch? A stop for body work would have put a crimp in the action, though.

-- This week: Housatonic, Massachusetts. The motels were the Lucky Star Motor Inn and the Cloverleaf on Route Six. Was that intentional, maybe in a "they were lucky this time" sense?

-- I also liked that they were helping out one of their old babysitters instead of a stranger. Sam was in sixth grade when they stayed with her. But wasn't John leaving them alone when they were that age?

Quotes:

Gary: "A banana daiquiri, my good man."

Crystal: "Gary, I don't want to embarrass you, but you are just... you are just a stunning looking man."
Gary: "I know."

Sam: "Wait. Guys, plural?"
Desk clerk: "Yeah. One leather jacket, one Sasquatch."

Sam: (picks up Advanced Placement Physics) "Smart kid." (picks up Star Wars tee shirt) "Virgin." (picks up Busty Asian Beauties) "Frustrated virgin."

Gary: "Why shouldn't I be happy? I got a gun, I'm getting drunk, and I look like this."

Nora/Demon: "Yum. Tastes like moron."

Sam: "It's your life. You don't like their plan for you, tell them to cram it. Rebel a little bit. In a healthy, non-satanic way, of course."

Three out of four banana daiquiris,

Billie

All of my Supernatural reviews are archived here.
(Season 5, episode 12)

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Smallville: Disciple

Chloe: "Think like the CIA, with arrows and plaid skirts."

So we had an episode theme and everything -- heroes and their dark sides.

With Oliver, we got a bit of cool bad guy stuff from his past, with a scarred up dark archer and a secret society and a great big (and unsurprising) revelation that Oliver isn't going to go dark side, after all. Even though I never believed they'd die, I was creeped out by Lois *and* Chloe getting shot with arrows. I thought for a moment that Mia had been introduced in "Crossfire" just so that she could become toast in this episode, but no. I'm not sure how I feel about Mia yet, but I'm fine with her sticking around for awhile.

Zod is, of course, the extreme dark side of Clark's Kryptonian heritage. Just like the dark archer, Zod was moving in on Clark's loved one; Zod flirting with Lois in the hospital rather creeped me out, too.

And then there's Chloe. I've always liked Chloe; she's sort of the Willow of Smallville. She has become so dark this season; even her voice has gotten lower, signifying a possible descent into evil. Clark helpfully pointed out to the audience how removed from real life Chloe has gotten in her Watchtower, and she's definitely crossed the line lately manipulating her friends via remote control. Is Chloe turning into Smallville's version of Dark Willow? I never thought they'd go there, but it sure feels that way.

Loved the very tall, cool-looking Celtic maze. (For a moment, I thought Oliver and his "master" were going to have a bow and arrow duel at twenty paces or something.) Loved seeing Lois and Clark actually dating, and Clark counting PDA.

Plus -- no Tess!

Not a keeper, but not a bad episode at all.

All of my Smallville reviews are archived here.
Photo credit: Kryptonsite.
(Season 9, episode 10)

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Chuck: Chuck versus First Class

“I think we can all agree this team has been dysfunctional for the past two years.”

Shaw feels like a real spy. None of that namby-pamby feel-good silliness: he’s cold, he’s forthright, and he’s concerned with information—knowing who knows what, and how to get more. Shaw makes this show feel like it has stakes: not just dead-wife stakes, but actual spy-stakes.


Chuck is starting to feel like more of a real spy, too. On his first solo mission he was confronted with his first non-Sarah spy-problem: he had to sacrifice a romantic night in Paris with a beautiful woman because the job demanded that he return to Burbank. Sure, it’s the same ol’ problem of spy life vs. real life, but this felt different. Unless, of course, Hannah turns out to be a secret evil operative like Jill.

Steve Austin didn’t feel much like a real spy. He felt like stone-cold stunt casting. But it was funny. The plane-plot was a nice change of scenery, too: tiny, but not so tiny, and a good excuse to force Chuck to complete his mission without on-site assistance. And it was cute to see Chuck excited about the Eiffel Tower, and first class, and meeting a pretty girl.

Back at the BuyMore, Morgan does still need on-site assistance, and Casey went all Angel of Death on the Fight Club gang. Hence the development of the promised “Yikes” section. It’s odd that the BuyMore scenes felt scarier than the plane scenes—as I’ve said before, the spy-stakes never feel too high (although Brandon Routh is helping with that), perhaps because nothing bad ever happens: no civilians get killed, only empty buildings in Barstow are ever destroyed, etc. It’s just pretty spies versus pretty spies, in a quest for better technology. But in the BuyMore, spy tactics are applied to minimum-wage schmucks who are trying desperately to give meaning to their lives, and it feels a bit like petty tyranny. Funny petty tyranny, but still.

Is it just me, or is Chuck darker this season?

Bytes:

• Chuck: “I’m never going to be able to escape this ridiculous cover…” Is that his goal? But he keeps choosing to be the Intersect. I remain confused about his motivations.

• Casey: “You give me five minutes running this place and we’d be ready.”
Morgan: “Ready for what?”
Chuck: “The Russians.”

• Chuck: “I’m in retail. Of very high-end merchandise. At a very prestigious store.” [Cut to Morgan in the stuffed-animal claw machine.]

• Casey: “Insurgents. I hate insurgents.”

• Chuck: “I’m alive, and I have the key. But unfortunately I did not get to use my nunchucks.”

• Casey: “Bored now.” Great Buffy shout-out.

…And Pieces:

• Chuck ordered his martini shaken instead of stirred.

• Hugo Panzer is a master at close-quarters combat? Do you get some sort of merit badge for that in spy scouts?

• The volleyball incident at the last employee picnic? I want to see that.

• Shaw’s mission control was called “Crystal Palace,” which might be an allusion to the building of the same name that is prominently featured in Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s What Is To Be Done?, a political allegory of nineteenth-century utopias.

• No Ellie or Awesome this week, which I’m pretty sure is a cost-cutting measure.

Yikes:

• I know Jeff is a pathetic loser, but as a former customer-service serf, I’m against assistant managers stealing cups of coffee. Oh, well. Claw-machine karma.

• Chloroform? Abduction? Brainwashing? Plausible deniability? To keep things in line at the BuyMore?



Three out of four roomy reclining seats with complimentary champagne and lobster.

(Season Three, Episode Five)

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NewsFlash: A new La Femme Nikita on the CW?

According to my favorite news source, McG may be rebooting La Femme Nikita for the CW. Of course, if it doesn't star Roy Dupuis (and I'm sure it won't, since he's busy making movies), I'm not sure it's worth the trouble. It's always been my impression that the fans want more LFN, but only if it's a movie with Roy and Peta.


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NewsFlash: Supernatural web spinoff

According to Variety, McG and Warner Bros. are planning to do three webisodes featuring the satirical ghost-hunting reality show characters, the Ghostfacers, who have been in three episodes of Supernatural. I'm not a fan of the webisode format, but this might be fun.

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Buffy season eight: Turbulence

(Hey, are you impressed with how fast I did it for a change?)

Xander: "Cat's out, Dawnie."
Buffy: "And I approve. I'm Buffy, and I approve this kissage."

Synopsis:

On her way back to the temple, Buffy decides to keep her brand new superpowers a secret. The powers -- flying and super strength -- feel right to her, somehow.

Back at the temple, while apologizing to Oz for bringing war to his home, Willow asks him if he has any thoughts about how to get her magic back really fast -- and she gets her magic back really fast as she's slammed with some sort of green sparkly thing. (Green? Is that a hint that it's the snake-woman-thing?) Six of the Wiccans keel over and two of them barf. Willow says she thinks her power surge is fallout from some cataclysmic event that hasn't happened yet.

Willow flies off to see if she can re-bury the goddesses and get everyone's powers back. She doesn't have much success; they bat her around.

Brief check in with Twilight. He has managed to kidnap Giles, Faith and Andrew, who are all unconscious. Twilight knows how important Giles and Faith are to Buffy, but he can't quite remember who Andrew is.

Buffy talks with one of the injured enemy soldiers. He was told if he was captured, the magical enemy would do things to him. Buffy tells him that if they had powers, they would have healed him. She closes the soldier's dead eyes and goes outside with Xander.

Xander is still team Riley; he never wanted Buffy to be with a demon. Buffy tells Xander she's realized it's too late for a relationship with him and she knows he's with Dawn. Xander, in a surprising bout of maturity, makes Buffy acknowledge that she never went for him when he was available and that it wasn't a coincidence that she brought this up right after seeing him with Dawn. Buffy and Xander make up and decide to be cool about it, just as Dawn shows up, and Buffy gives the two of them her blessing.

Willow checks in (via astral smoky glowing face) to say she can't handle the goddesses, her magic bounces off them. Buffy tells her not to worry about it, to just go dig a great big hole. Xander, Dawn and Kennedy follow Buffy outside the temple, wondering out loud what Buffy can possibly do about the goddesses.

Buffy takes off up into the sky (hey, her powers weren't secret for long) and flies to where Willow has dug a huge hole, as instructed. Buffy grabs each giant goddess and whacks her down into the hole, and Willow uses her magic to bury them. The goddesses are now back where they came from.

The last few panels are Willow saying that she can feel Buffy's new powers didn't come from the same place that Willow's did. Buffy tells Willow about Xander and Dawn, and Willow says, "Gah. I thought they'd never figure that out."

Review:

Sad to say, this eensy standalone was much better than all four parts of "Retreat." And that was because the characters were all talking and acting like Buffy characters (yes, Joss Whedon wrote it). I sort of reconnected again, in spite of myself. It helps a bit that I just finished reviewing the last four issues; I didn't have time to completely forget everything between issues, which is what I usually do. Have I mentioned how much I'm sooo not into the comic book medium? I have? Several times? Ah, yes.

Buffy has superpowers now, and the other slayers have nothing. This is interesting. It's sort of a season one reset where there's only one powerful slayer in the world. And Willow got her powers back, too (sounds like they might have gotten sucked out of the other Wiccans), so she's still on the road to self-destruction. Interesting that Willow was unable to defeat the goddesses, but Buffy could. Is Buffy now more powerful than Willow?

Part of me is really bothered by the fact that Willow and Buffy can both fly now. It's taking the story even further away from the television series, where everyone was a lot more human and easier to relate to.

I sort of don't know what to say about Xander and Dawn as a couple that doesn't involve a lot of involuntary gagging. I did like that they addressed the many, many hints that Buffy was starting to see Xander as a love interest, though (and to be fair, that happened before she saw him with Dawn). I guess the only good part of this is that every woman Xander has fallen for has died horribly. There were hints that Buffy might go back to injured, faithful, gave-everything-for-the-cause Riley. And no. I'm still waiting for Spike, of course.

Twilight has Giles, Faith and Andrew, and Buffy hasn't even noticed. Sure, she's been busy leading a battle and burying giant goddesses and acquiring superpowers, but still.

Bits and pieces:

-- Bay will recover. That's nice for Oz. Now if only everyone would just get the hell out of Tibet and leave them alone, huh?

-- When Buffy gave Xander and Dawn her blessing, so to speak, Dawn said she didn't ask for it. Good for Dawn.

-- Dawn was wearing a shirt with the number 18 on it, reminding me of season six when we were all trying to figure out why people were wearing numbers on their outfits.

-- This issue's Most Obvious Symbolism was probably the fact that Buffy and Willow just buried goddesses.

Quotes:

Willow: "We brought war to a place of peace."
Oz: "It's Tibet, Will. You're not the first."

Buffy: "I'm like General Custer with long blond hair."
Riley: "General Custer *had* long blond hair."
Buffy: "So we *are* dumber."

Buffy: "That's what Riley said."
Xander: "Well, he's a brainy guy. Plus he's dangling steel working inside Twilight's camp."
Buffy: "Since when are you such a fanboy?"
Xander: "Your one boyfriend who wasn't a psychotic demon? I was always team Riley."

Buffy: "I'm too late again, aren't I?"
Xander: "For what?"
Buffy: "For you."
Xander: "Whotothe howtothe hammina?"
Buffy: "You and Dawn."
Xander: "Oh, is that a conversation that's happening?"
Buffy: "No, it's fine. Dawn's a grown woman, and you're a disgusting pedophile."
Xander: "Whoa!"
Buffy: "Cradle robber? Come on! I at *least* get cradle robber..."

Xander: "Hey, that's a big deal! I'm a potential romantic interest! I'm on the list -- right after being gay. I rate almost as good as trying to change your sexual orientation. You went -- through gay -- to me."
Buffy: "I was having a phase! I'm *supposed* to have that phase!"
So that must be Joss Whedon's answer to everyone wondering how come previously totally straight Buffy suddenly jumped in bed with a woman.

Dawn: "Uh, cough. Noise of cough."
Xander: "Hey Dawnie, we--"
Buffy: "Nothing! Friend hug! Because of sad. No subtle bosom-pressing in hug."
Dawn: "Buffy, I'm your sister. I know you could never do anything subtle."

Buffy: "Cool giant astral head."
Willow: "Are my nostrils, like, huge?"

Xander: "It's a nuke."
Kennedy: "You're a dyke."
Dawn: "You sacrifice a 'key'."

Three out of four flying slayers,

Billie

All of my Buffy reviews are archived here.
(Season eight comics, issue 31)

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Fringe: What Lies Below

“Some things are meant to be left alone, Agent Farnsworth.”

A Dutchman and a bike courier walk into an office. “Nice day,” says the courier. The Dutchman responds by dying, spraying blood on kindly and comely office workers. Turns out, it’s a 75,000 year old virus that is, quite possible, responsible for the extinction not just of one Dutchman, but all of the Ice Age animals, too. No joke, that.

Lately, Fringe has upped the ante by putting Peter, then Walter, then Peter (rinse and repeat) in peril. This week, imperiled Peter was overcome with a virus that made us of his in-born trickery to attempt to sneak out of the building to finish the job it failed to do back in the woolly mammoth days.

Walter saved the day with some horseradish and a handy Astrid. Props to Astrid for choosing to stick with Walter: I suspect that the Fringe Division (especially Walter himself) might be her family—the people we turn to when we need someone to turn to. Family is our Theme of the Week, too: Olivia didn’t want to further traumatize her sister with more Fringe-drama, but she was willing to risk her life to save those of Walter, Astrid, and Peter. I was surprised that Peter didn’t “overcome” the virus when he faced down Olivia, but it did make for a nice family gathering at the episode’s end.

The suspense worked for me this week, even though I knew that our major players wouldn’t die. I think it was Giacchino’s score, again: moody, plaintive, but just fast-paced enough that it got my heart racing. That man deserves his Emmy, and many more.

Zero mythology this week, unless you count the revelation that Astrid is willing to die to protect Walter and his often-risky love for his son. Astrid seems to be asking the right questions, but she really got shot down by Walter: he even called her “Agent Farnsworth” instead of some variation of Asterix to tell her not to ask the tough questions about Peter. She may consider him family (and refused to leave him alone), but his first duty is always to Peter. It’s an interesting emotional plot, but I wonder if there’s anyway to incorporate it into the larger narrative. Will she betray him for not loving her? Will he sacrifice her like his lab assistant in days of yore?


The Good:

• Walter: “Now imagine that tonight you look under your bed and lo-and-behold, you find a monster, and you are immediately eaten. Now, if you hadn’t looked for the monster, you wouldn’t have found it, and you would still be happy in your bed instead of being slowly digested in the stomach sac of the creature. But, with any luck, your sisters and your brothers might have heard you scream, and your endeavor would be a lesson for them.” [Note the family thing even here!]

• Walter: “Take me to your centrifuge.”

The Bad:

• Peter looked awful even before he got infected. Is Joshua Jackson not getting enough sleep?

This is Something Else Entirely:

• Dude, that bike messenger was really on the ball.

• The dead Dutchman sprayed blood over a bunch of people, and it took another death for them to start taking contagion precautions?

• Shouldn’t Walter, Astrid, and FBI Guy #3 have been wearing “Level Six” containment suits in the lab? (There is no “Level Six,” that I’m aware of.) And shouldn’t Peter have been quarantined within the quarantine?

• “The virus compelled her to leave the building.”

• No one can reverse-engineer a cure to anything that crazy so quickly, nor can they figure out the ideal delivery method without a single error. Oh, well. Suspension of disbelief is the name of the game.

Yet another strong standalone.

Three out of four jars of horseradish.

All of my Fringe reviews are archived here.
(Season Two, Episode Thirteen)

(Thanks to fringebloggers for the screencap.)

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Supernatural: Sam, Interrupted

Dean: "You're my shrink? Lucky me."
Dr. Cartwright: "And you're my paranoid schizophrenic with narcissistic personality disorder and religious psychosis. Lucky me."

So if they don't die young, or bring about the end of the world, they'll wind up institutionalized. There's not only no happy ending for the Winchesters; there's *really* no happy ending for the Winchesters.

This was a fairly standard stand-alone episode. The boys got themselves into a deadly situation while trying to take down a monster that wasn't what it first appeared to be. In the course of defeating it, we learned more about how completely screwed the Winchesters are. Which makes it sound like I didn't like this episode. Actually, I did. Although the beginning was better than the end.

I loved the way Dean and Sam got themselves committed by telling the absolute truth about their lives. (My second favorite thing was Sam stoned out of his mind.) They needed to show that the boys have suffered because of the loss of Ellen and Jo, so check that off, they did. A brain-sucking monster was a fitting choice for an asylum. And yes, Sam is a very angry young man; duh, we knew that. We certainly can't have him all normal and coping with his weird life when Lucifer is lurking in the wings literally lusting for Sam's body, now can we?

I'll admit this episode was a bit gloomy for my taste. And it seemed to end too abruptly, with the boys jumping into the Impala while still in their bathrobes. Did they leave their clothes behind along with perfectly good fake IDs? Good thing Dean wasn't wearing his amulet, huh? And what happened to poor Martin? I almost (but not quite) expected that last scene to turn out to be an hallucination, that they killed an innocent nurse thinking she was a monster. But that would have been just too depressing.

The boys really do need therapy. But the thing is, there really are monsters out to get them. They'd have to get a psychotherapist who was a hunter, too. Hunter slash psychotherapist. Now that'd be an interesting human being.

Bits and pieces:

-- Fifty drinks a week just to sleep? Is Dean really drinking that much?

-- Probe through the brain. Eww. Sawing up brains in the Morgue, eww as well. Doesn't anyone do real autopsies in that morgue? Wouldn't they notice the back of that poor guy's head falling off? Of course, the boys would be gone by then.

-- Bits of this made me think they were going to do something like the Buffy episode "Normal Again." As in maybe Dean and Sam really are locked up in an institution somewhere hallucinating the entire series. But no. And I'm sort of relieved.

-- Martin was played by Jon Gries, who (with a lot more hair) played Ben's father on Lost.

-- This week: the Greenwood Springs Psychiatric Hospital in Ketchum, Oklahoma. The paperwork said that "Edward Van Halen" was being committed and his next of kin was his brother Alex... but wasn't Sam the one they were originally committing? Later, everyone was calling Dean "Eddie."

Quotes: (this may not have been the best episode, but it had some great lines)

Doctor: "You were referred to me by a Dr. Babar in Chicago."
Dean: "That's right."
Doctor: "Isn't there a children's book about an elephant named Babar?"
Dean: "I don't know. I don't have any elephant books."

Dean: "How was your Silkwood shower?"

Doctor: "To be frank, the relationship you have with your brother seems dangerously co-dependent. I think a little time apart would do you both good."

Dean: "Quid pro quo, Clarice." Jensen did a great Hannibal Lector fava beans sucky noise.

Sam: "You okay?"
Dean: "I just got thraped. So no, I'm not okay."

Dean: "Crazy works." What was the pudding thing? Did I miss a movie reference?

Dean: "Are those original Gacys?" Ah, yes. Clowns kill.

Dr. Cartwright: "To feel like six billion lives depend on you? How do you get up in the morning?"
Dean: "Good question."

Wendy: "I want him now. He's larger."
I was just thinking that a real fan of the show would have paid a lot to play Wendy.

Dean: "You okay?"
Sam: "No, no. I'm not okay. I. I am *awesome*."
Dean: "They give you something?
Sam: "Oh yeah. They gave me everything. It's spectacu... lacular."
Dean: "You always were a happy drunk."
And yet he's so very angry.

Sam: "It's okay. Because you're my brother, and I still love you. Boop."

Wraith: "You build your own Hell, but I give you the Legos."

Two out of four stars,

Billie

All of my Supernatural reviews are archived here.

(Season 5, episode 11)

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Chuck versus Operation Awesome

“What’s it like being a world-class spy?”

Chuck doesn’t usually have a Theme of the Week. But—wow!—this week’s episode was all about duality and foils: the people who bring out own skills and foibles into sharp relief just by being so very different from us. Usually, Awesome is Chuck’s foil because Awesome is suave, financially solvent, together, and the kind of guy you want to bring home to mom. But this week…



Turns out, Awesome is a terrible liar, uncomfortable with violence, overwhelmed by husbandly duty, and not so great under non-cardiac-surgeon pressure. He’s also incredibly trusting: the only reason I would put my life in Chuck’s hands is the knowledge that this show rarely kills bloggers. Basically, Awesome is Chuck, back when he was “scared and new to this.”

Chuck was unwilling, to say the least, to let his brother-in-law in on the spy games: his protectiveness might be the biggest clue we get this week to what’s really going on in Chuck’s head, which is something I’ve been rather shaky on since this season began. He seems to know the risks of spying, and he doesn’t want Devon to lose what really matters in life: family, truthfulness, Ellie.

On the other end of the spectrum, Shaw is no-nonsense, hardcore, and hates vulnerability. He’s willing to shoot himself in the chest to get the job done, and he’s definitely a fan of both tough love and the sink-or-swim pedagogical method. But he knows what he’s missing, too: he was sad about something related to the wedding/engagement ring when he watched Chuck’s family on the cctv. I kept expecting a reveal that he was in love with Angie Harmon, but that didn’t happen.

Meanwhile, the first rule of the BuyMore is that you don’t talk about Fight Club. Instead, you hit people, electrify fences, and wear dated sunglasses. Fight Club (the movie: I haven’t read the book because I don’t want to financially support the brand of angry young manhood that Chuck Palahniuk peddles, although I think the movie is darn cool) is all about the duality within us all that must resolve, violently, into a happy synthesis for us to become actualized revolutionaries. Or something. Anyway: at the BuyMore the staff feels alive for the first time since their bar mitzvahs, and they get their jollies calling Morgan Ass-Man.

Through all of this, Morgan is forced to resolve the complex Hegelian dialectic interplay between his former self and his future, assistant manager self. In other words, he must go from just being a guy to becoming The Man. In a vest.

The score this week was really strange. Parts of it sounded like the great Muse song “Knights of Cydonia,” other parts (especially with Angie Harmon in the BuyMore) sounded like the Terminator theme, and the scene in the CIA penthouse office sounded a bit like the Usual Suspects score, which might have been a Bryan Singer homage.

Bytes:

• The exploding earpiece was hilarious. Well, how it got into Awesome's ear was hilarious.

• So were the labeled watches.

• Chuck uses tranq guns, just like Alias did for the first couple of seasons.

• Brandon Routh was Superman in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns.

• The BuyMore cagefight scene made me miss Anna for the first time this season. She could have mopped the floor with those mooks.

• I enjoy girl-on-girl fights. Is that a strange thing for a straight woman to say?

• We’re supposed to cheer for Morgan becoming a manager who toys with his employees’ futures to get them to conform. I’m on his side in this one, because the electrified fence thing must have really scared that teenager, but it’s our politically-objectionable, let’s-maintain-the-status-quo moment of the week. After Gustavo’s comment last week, and an in-depth conversation with my little brother about how television determines what is considered 'normal' and what isn't, to the detriment of those of us who fly our freak flags with pride, I’m considering adding a “Yikes!” section to the rest of my Chuck review. We’ll see how next week goes.


…and Pieces:

• Julius: “Okay, pal. Take it easy. I’m building security; my name’s Julius. What’s the problem?”
Awesome: “I’m involved in something really messed up. I’ve been lying to my wife, lying to everybody. I can’t take it anymore.”
Julius: “Because of this Chuck guy?”
Awesome: “Yes, Chuck.”
Julius: “I think I understand. Look, pal, if you really love this Chuck, you have to tell your wife. You can’t live a lie. Trust me, I’ve been there.”

• Awesome: “Chuck, you killed Julius!”

• Chuck: “Bad guys don’t count carbs, buddy.”

• Casey: “This guy? I’ve got back issues of Guns and Ammo older than he is.”

• Chuck: “You know, sometimes what I like to do is open up a problem, really examine it, find its weak points, and then not be afraid to just attack it head on.” This line scores a zero on the sense-o-meter. I love it.

• Angie Harmon: “Spies don’t say please.” I like Angie Harmon.


A lot of character development and symbolism in this episode. It felt a little rushed, but was enjoyable. I’m glad Awesome isn’t dead.

Three out of four labeled watches.

(Season Three, Episode Four)

(Thanks to Chuck-Media.org for the photo.)


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Lost: the Crash of Oceanic 815

This might be the best Lost fan video I've ever seen. It's the crash of 815, taken from a number of episodes and webisodes. It's awesome.






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Human Target: Pilot (premiere)

Tricia Helfer: "You wore a vest? Where's my vest?"
Chance: "I'm your vest."

Except for the fact that I hate heroes with names like "Chance," I really enjoyed the pilot episode of Human Target. It moved like a high-speed train (in more ways than one) and it made me laugh out loud, over and over.

Human Target is an action show with a twist, the twist being that our hero Chance (Mark Valley) takes on clients who are in serious danger of being killed, and puts them in even more danger so that he can catch whomever's doing it. Another of Chance's quirks is that he enjoys unusual forms of payment for his services.

There are explosions and action sequences. There's Chi McBride as his partner (or possibly his boss, it was hard to tell). There's Jackie Earle Haley, whose character Guerrero was remarkably funny and fun to watch. The wonderful Tricia Helfer (Six from Battlestar Galactica) guest starred in the pilot as Chance's latest client, pretty much ensuring that sci-fi geeks would at least give the series a try. (Worked for me.)

Chance got pretty well banged up in the opener as well as the last few minutes, and the subtext seems to be that he's not only reckless, but possibly suicidal. Maybe he's just driven to save people, though. Or he's challenged by nearly impossible, unusually dangerous tasks. Whatever. I understand this one is based on a comic book (what isn't, these days) and I sort of expected Chance to have a superpower. Guess not. Unless they're keeping it a secret for the first season finale.

I certainly liked the pilot enough to tune in next week. This one might just make it. Although I can tell that Chance's chances of surviving mission after mission will eventually seem *really* improbable.

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NewsFlash: Torchwood jumping the pond?

I love Torchwood. I love it a lot. Their miniseries Children of Earth was the best thing I saw last summer, and John Barrowman is nearly my favorite hot guy on the tube (after Jensen Ackles, of course). Being a Torchwood fan in the states can be difficult, though; we have to wait for it to air on BBC America. The Sci-Fi Channel carries Doctor Who (but late, late, late) but hasn't chosen to run its spinoff series (some say for a reason that rhymes with shmomophobia).

Well, according to LiveFeed, we might be getting Torchwood in the U.S., on Fox -- with the original production team *and*, most critically, John Barrowman as Captain Jack. Frankly, if Barrowman isn't on board, forget it.

I'm feeling apprehensive about this whole thing. It's Fox, and I hate Fox. I hate the possibility of Torchwood without John Barrowman, too. And what about Eve Myles?

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Fringe: Johari Window

“I guess that folks with that kind of deformity don’t tend to leave home.”

This episode was supposed to have been about freaks pulling together. Walter, Peter, Olivia, and Astrid forming a tight little bond of society’s outcasts, and the people of Edina doing the same. But, instead, it was a disastrous, offensive, and clumsy example of how cruelly the world treats people who are different, and it seems completely unaware of exactly how offensive it is.


I waited a few days to post my review, hoping that I would change my mind and realize that this episode wasn’t quite as bad as I’d originally thought. It didn’t work. To sum up:

Secret government experiments on how to hide a solider in plain sight morphed into an Agent-Orange-level disaster. The electro-magnetism that could be used to alter perception wound up having an effect on what was being perceived. The test subjects became deformed, and passed those deformities onto their children. These deformities are not life-threatening, but cosmetic: the people wind up with bumpy faces, similar to some of the effects of Proteus syndrome.

The people of Edina, once they realize what’s going on, decide to keep the electro-magnetism machine running (thereby insuring that the next generation, and the next, will also be disfigured) so that they can “appear as they truly are,” even to each other. None of the residents of Edina ever leave town, because out in the real world people can see how awful they look.

There have been rumors in the surrounding county of a group of “beasts” or “monsters,” but no one ever manages to take a picture of them until one lost boy is picked up by the State Police and unmasked as The Ugliest Boy in the Universe. Fellow Edina residents break into the police station, kill everyone who looks normal, and grab the boy.

Enter the Fringe Division. Even though they figure out right away that these “beasts” are humans with some sort of crazy capability, they continue to refer to them as beasts, monsters, and its. Their point of view is adequately summed up by Astrid, who is horrified when Walter brings her a moth with—gasp!—a deformed wing. She looks both angry and nauseous: how could Walter play this cruel joke on her? Doesn’t he know she hates moths? And a deformed one, to boot?!

Peter, meanwhile, comes under fire and shoots at the beasts, but doesn’t feel bad about it until he discovers that the beast isn’t ugly after all (they’re still in range of the electro-magnetic thingamabob).

Throughout the episode, different people referenced animals: Walter felt an affinity for the cowardly lion, for example. But Fringe Division never felt an affinity for the people of Edina, although they do come to feel pity for them by the end. They also support the Edina-residents’ decision to stay hidden from the world, because, after all, they are so hideous that they could never have happy, fulfilling lives outside of their little bubble. In which, let me remind you, they don’t even appear as they really are to each other. The Edina residents would rather kill people than show the world how they look, which makes them—in my book—moral monsters, but Fringe Division is okay with this. Perhaps they have lower standards for the truly ugly.

Astrid’s prissy, tight-lipped disgust at the moth with the little wing was really what got me, especially as it reminded me of a great story about a fish with a little fin, Finding Nemo. Nemo’s little fin is a point of some concern for him, but he quickly realizes that it doesn’t matter and he’s just as good as all of the other fish. And he’s a kindergarten-age fish. To feel such disgust at a harmless animal that isn’t beautiful by her standards…well, Astrid is really going to have to do some work to make me like her again.

But Peter and Olivia weren’t much better—see above re: beasts and its, instead of, y’know, people. The treatment of Walter was interesting: he had participated in the experiment early on, but had left before it reached any sort of conclusion. Considering the crimes he has committed that we are expected to forgive him for, it’s extremely telling that the writers weren’t willing to make this part of Walter’s backstory. Killing a lab assistant is evidently a forgivable sin; making people into ugly animals is not.

We were supposed to feel like Fringe Division and the people of Edina were all different, and that was a point of commonality among them. Peter and Olivia discussed how she felt like her job made her “less and less normal,” (remnants of a scene that was cut in the final version) in their heart-to-heart du jour. And Walter, of course, is always off the reservation. But the comparisons don’t line up. The Fringe Division doesn’t pity itself, and they don’t hide what they do because they would become too hideous for mass consumption: they hide what they do because people would be freaked out by shape-shifting supersoliders and a war of alternate dimensions. That’s not who they are. It’s what they do for a living.

I think—although it was such a spectacular failure that I’m not sure—that we were supposed to say to ourselves “How sad that the world cannot accept these people as they are, and that they cannot even accept each other.” But the conclusion of that trite observation is that people who are different should hide their differences, that beauty is an absolute standard and not one based on popular discourse that could easily be reframed, and that we should segregate all non-normative people to keep the world from being horrified, even though non-normative people are just as much a part of the world as the normals.

This episode drew a clear line in the sand between normals and freaks, pretty and nausea-inducing, heroic and piteous. Those lines aren’t clear, and they are completely arbitrary. Normal is only what you make it. Freakish just means “not like me,” which is an immature and stupid way of looking at the world. This show tries to push the boundaries of science and plausibility every week, and they could have done something interesting here in terms of actually discussing these issues. Instead, they established clear us-and-them boundaries and patted themselves on the back for doing so.

The Good:

• Walter: “I’m learning to appreciate cowardice.”

• Walter: “Just because no one has documented flying monkeys or talking lions yet doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

• Peter: “Just follow the mooing.”

• Walter: “Well done, Asterix.”

• The secret government project was called “Project Elephant.” It’s an obvious allusion to the Elephant Man, although they couldn’t have known that when they named it; it also refers to the ‘elephant in the room’: the thing that’s looming in the corner even though no one sees it.


The Bad:

• The entire episode.

This is Something Else Entirely:

• The Edina hum? That’s just awesome. As is this odd fact: the famous melody (from Carmen) that Walter sang the wrong words to—when I was in grade school, our teacher had us make up our own words to the song. I still remember them. Trust Walter to find a melody in a sea of white noise.

• Why do airbags never deploy in on-screen car accidents?

• Electro-magnetic perception-altering.

• A Johari Window is a psychological personality tool/test that deals with self-perception and the perceptions of others.

Zero out of four flying monkeys.

I would love to hear what y’all think of this episode. The other reviews that I’ve read don’t seem angry at all, although consensus seems to be that this is a rather dull standalone.

(Season Two, Episode Twelve)
All of my Fringe reviews are archived here.

(Thanks again to the kind folks at fringefiles.com for the screencap.)

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Dollhouse: The Hollow Man

Boyd: "Topher. Think."
Topher: "That's what got us here in the first place. I'm going for mindless destruction now."

[Don't click on the full review if you haven't seen it yet!]

Nearly all of this episode was a series finale worthy of a Joss Whedon show. Rossum was defeated, Caroline's role was finally defined, all of our questions were answered. The bad guy was caught and wow, was he punished; Boyd's end was poetic. ("Did I fall asleep?") Boyd's death upset me nearly as much as Mellie's suicide. I just knew Mellie's sleeper assassin was going to get activated again; you could feel it coming. Poor thing.

I even believed that Boyd believed he loved his compatriots at Adelle's Dollhouse and wanted to keep them all alive, although the way he treated Caroline made it clear that he was incapable of love. He sure faked it really well for a long time. (That thing about Paul being the one relative you put up with but don't really like was pretty funny.)

I didn't like seeing Claire/Whiskey as Clyde 2.0. I kept thinking of what she was doing in "Epitaph One." Sad. It's been awhile since I saw "Epitaph One," but I remember that Boyd was in it in flashback. It doesn't conflict, doesn't it?

Tony was Topher again. Thank you, thank you, thank you. He and Priya rescuing Caroline was karmic: she freed them, they freed her. I loved Adelle with a machine gun, Topher taking down Boyd with the end-of-the-world tech, and Paul missing the entire revelation about Boyd ("What'd I miss?").

Emotionally, this is where I want to stay, how I want to remember this 'verse and these characters. Boyd was right, though, that you can't put the genie back in the bottle; the tech will out. I'm just hoping the actual series finale won't leave a bad taste in my mouth, the way the finale of Angel did.

Bits and pieces:

-- "Press Enter" reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. I was afraid of what would happen to Tony. Fortunately, a little enhancement went a long way.

-- Paul had an epiphany. He feels like himself, therefore he is himself. A difference that makes no difference quacks like a duck.

-- That many needles in the back? Normally, you'd die.

-- The series finale has been bumped for a week. It will air January 29.

Quotes:

Tony: "Just, you know, try to stay away from the junk."

Priya: "We have to fight."
Topher/Tony: "That is so Ripley of you."

Topher: "Maybe they don't have the cojones to finish the job."
Did Boyd looked down at himself? I thought that was funny.

Topher: "Wow. Boyd. You're right. I'm the tin man, she's the lion, and you're the head of the lollipop guild... who's a traitor."

Adelle: "Is such a thing possible?"
Topher: "The mad scientist in me says yes."

Topher: "I did all of this. I brought about the thought-pocalypse."

Paul: "So. Did we save the world?"
Caroline: "I guess we did."

If it weren't for that last minute (well, and "Epitaph One" and the finale), we could walk away fairly happy. Four stars,

Billie

All of my Dollhouse reviews are archived here.
(Season 2, episode 12)

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NewsFlash: John Carter of Mars starts shooting

I sort of have to put this one in context.

When I was eleven, my parents were in the middle of an extremely messy divorce, and I saw my father infrequently (before he took off for another state with his next future wife, after which I barely saw him at all). One day when I was at his new apartment, I was fascinated by a stack of lurid-looking paperbacks sitting on his coffee table. The covers featured a guy with a sword, a scantily-clad woman, and exotic, alien creatures. My father said he was done with them and handed them to me. They were six of the ten books in the Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of which was originally published in 1912.

I took them home, started the first one, and could not put it down. I was so enthralled that when I finished it (that same evening -- I've always been a fast reader, even as a child) I turned back to the first page and read it again. I acquired the rest of the series, and read it several times when I was a teenager.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was the author of eighty novels, many of which I've read at some time or another. (Except for the ones that were his true claim to fame, the Tarzan series. Tarzan never did much for me. I liked his novels set on other planets and at the earth's core: Mars, Venus, the moon, Pellucidar.) I don't read Burroughs any more; I outgrew him long ago. But his imaginative vision of Mars was the beginning of my life-long love affair with science fiction. Edgar Rice Burroughs got me in the bookstore and the library perusing the sci-fi shelves. When I was a teenager, science fiction was nearly all I read. It wasn't long afterward when I discovered Star Trek, another hugely important thing in my life.

Anyway. Over the years, there have been rumors about movies, none of which have ever gotten off the ground. Creating fifteen-foot-tall green people with four arms riding immense creatures with eight legs was just too massive an undertaking. An animated movie? Forget it. This is a live-action story; it just is.

Technology has finally caught up with imagination. Today they finally started shooting John Carter of Mars. Here's a piece of the press release that was posted on the Sci-Fi Wire:

Principal photography is underway in London for Walt Disney Pictures' "JOHN CARTER OF MARS." Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings. Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom Series," the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter, who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants.

Produced for Walt Disney Pictures by Jim Morris ("WALL•E," "Ratatouille") and Colin Wilson ("Avatar," "War of the Worlds"), the live action/animation film marks Academy Award-winning director/writer Andrew Stanton's ("Finding Nemo," "WALL•E") first foray into live action. Stanton directed and co-wrote the screenplay for Disney-Pixar's "WALL•E," which earned the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature (2008); Stanton was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay. He made his directorial debut with Disney•Pixar's "Finding Nemo," garnering an Academy Award-nomination for Best Original Screenplay and winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature (2003). He has worked as a screenwriter and/or executive producer on Disney•Pixar's "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life" (which he also co-directed), "Toy Story 2," "Monsters, Inc.," "Ratatouille" and "Up."

"I have been waiting my whole life to see the characters and worlds of 'John Carter of Mars' realized on the big screen," says Stanton. "It is just a wonderful bonus that I have anything to do with it."

The stellar ensemble cast is led by Taylor Kitsch (NBC'S "Friday Night Lights", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") in the title role, Lynn Collins ("50 First Dates," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") as the warrior princess Dejah Thoris and Oscar® nominee Willem Dafoe ("Spider-Man 3," "Shadow of a Vampire") as Martian inhabitant Tars Tarkas. The cast also includes Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways," Spider-Man 3), Polly Walker (upcoming "Clash of the Titans," "Patriot Games"), Samantha Morton ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "In America"), Mark Strong ("Sherlock Holmes," "Body of Lies"), Ciaran Hinds ("Munich," "There Will Be Blood"), British actor Dominic West ("300," "Chicago"), James Purefoy ("Vanity Fair," "Resident Evil") and Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"). Daryl Sabara ("Disney's A Christmas Carol," "Spy Kids") takes the role of John Carter's teenaged nephew, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I'm sort of excited, but I feel a bit sick, too. I'm not trying to compare Burroughs to Tolkien, but Burroughs' Mars series was an important part of my childhood. I feel about this movie the way my cousin must have felt when she heard about Peter Jackson taking on LoTR.

If they screw this up and make a mediocre mess, it'll be tremendously disappointing. But if they don't -- I may finally see one of my first favorite fictional worlds on screen. I'm crossing my fingers.

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Chuck: Chuck versus the Angel of Death

“I think I scratched my espionage itch.”

Awesome is awesome. (Although whenever he speaks, I think of the dog with the talking collar from the movie Up.) Despite his massive screw-up, Awesome found a solution to the problem of his own creation and re-found his marital satisfaction while doing so.


This week was all about the great switcheroo. Costa Gravas was switching to capitalism and democracy, Casey switched from the Angel of Death to the Angel of Life, and Chuck played a doctor while Awesome played a spy. Thanks to the Intersect, Chuck is better at doctoring than Awesome is at the spy games.

Awesome’s realization that the spy life wasn’t for him seemed to hit Chuck pretty hard. It also shows some essential differences between their two characters: Awesome likes action, but he values Ellie over thrills. Chuck, on the other hand, definitely enjoys action—and says he wants to save people—and keeps choosing the life of espionage over the life of love.

I liked the girl talk between Ellie and Sarah. It’s easy to see how they would be friends once Sarah and Chuck get married. The connections between Ellie and Sarah, and Chuck and Awesome, made the last few minutes seem pretty serious. Even though the previews for next week answered the question of whether or not Awesome is dead, I’m still interested to see how it all plays out next week. (Let's try to keep that spoiler out of the comments.)

In the middle of it all, we got a fairly interesting spy story. The dancing scene was hilarious (the Generalissimo is an ass-man, I guess), the decoys were funny, and everyone looked super-pretty. Armand Assante was a great dictator. This was a stellar episode.


Bytes:

• Awesome: “We’re not strangers, remember? I’m Devon.”

• Awesome: “I have nine years of post-graduate education. I’m sure I can figure out a TV set…that’s a job for a professional.”

• Chuck: “You’re an adventure sports cardiologist.”
Awesome: “Whatever, man. I can do that in my sleep.”

• The Generalissimo: “Such delicate features. Much more suitable on a woman.”

• Awesome: “That must be hard. Not just the not-having-sex part—that must be excruciating.”

• Awesome: “You and what army?”
Chuck: “That would be Sarah and her fists.”



And Pieces:

• Wait, they live in Echo Park? That’s not the same thing as Los Feliz!

• I more-or-less speak Spanish, but the generalissimo’s right-hand man spoke way, way to fast for me. Something about “obviously he is alive…life…of the country.” I think the close-captioner had the same problem, as he managed to close-caption Awesome’s Spanish (and the reporter’s) but not the right-hand man’s.

• My DVR is calling this episode Chuck vs. the Angel of Death, but nbc.com is calling is Chuck vs. the Angel de la Muerte.


Four out of four cigars hand-rolled on virgin thighs.

(Season Three, Episode Three)

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Fringe: Unearthed

“Unless you believe, you will not understand.”

The rumors about this episode were flying all over the internet. It’s from last season but never aired! It’s from an alternate universe! It’s a ploy to steal ratings from Heroes! Well, as Peter says, “People are free to believe whatever they want.” My thoughts? It’s just an episode and there is no master plan.


I kept my eyes peeled for evidence that we were in the alternaverse, but didn’t see any telltale clues. Peter made a joke about it being Tuesday that seemed more fitting for last season’s airing schedule, but that could all be part of the master plan. Along with Astrid’s hair.

The Theme of the Week seems to be belief, but I don’t really understand how (it’s just that all of the juicy quotes are pointing me in that direction). This felt like a great standalone—I really enjoyed it, mostly because the actress playing Lisa really held it together—but not like a profound philosophical meditation on the nature of faith and trust in the Powers that Be.

But the question of trust that comes from belief is really the question of Fringe, right? Do we trust Orci, Kurtzman, and Abrams to take us where we want to go and not to string us along? I’m leaning towards no. Do we trust them to remain faithful to the universe(s) they’ve created? I’m getting nervous: the hullabaloo surrounding this episode screamed “ploy” more than “easter egg” or “great addition to the complex mythological system which is only being subtly revealed.”

I keep thinking of the Simpsons plug in “Of Human Action.” Setting a scene in Springfield really took me out of the story, and I felt like the producers were playing me—not like I was watching a great game being played, but like I was a rapidly-deflating football being tossed around for ad revenue. Shouldn’t a great show make me forget that I’m nothing more than a statistic to the bean counters? Shouldn’t a great show make me believe?

The Good:

• Walter: “He’s my son, and despite his narrow-mindedness, I’m quite proud.”

• Peter: “What happened to subjects one through five?”
Walter: “I believe they settled with the university out of court.”

• Peter: ““We’re kinda partial to freaks in this lab.”

• Lisa has the hots for Peter, and she sensed that Olivia and Peter were, like, interested in each other.



The Bad:

• Lisa and her mother got into a fight about driving—and the young girl only had a learner’s permit. Advice of the week: if all you’ve got is a permit, you’re just not going to win that fight, kids.

It’s a Theory. It Certainly Is:

• Priest: “Are you suggesting that Lisa is possessed?”
Walter: “I wasn’t, but…[insert rant here]”

• I think the underpass where Charlie beat up the guy was the same underpass where John Scott got shot in the pilot. Yes?

• Peter was always sick in school. Even by the time he was seventeen?

Oh, well. It was a fun episode with neat consciousness-shifting. A good standalone with lots of funny lines. I even spotted the Observer coming out of church (weird).

Two out of four Isaiahs.

All of my Fringe reviews are archived here.
(Season Two, Episode Eleven. I think.)

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NewsFlash: Glee picked up for a second season!

Glee has been picked up for a second season, according to Fox Flash and The Live Feed. The show will return on April 13th, 2010, with all-new episodes. Earlier today Lea Michele tweeted... "We got picked up for season 2!!!! I couldn't be more thrilled. Thank you so much to all of our amazing fans for making all this possible."

Amazing fans? That's us! Well done us. We were truly awesome!

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Chuck: Chuck versus the Three Words

“I know it felt like I chose being a spy over you, but that’s not what happened.”

Aha! I’d forgotten something very, very important as I watched the previous episode—and I don’t think you’ll blame me. Chuck enjoys the spy life, but his real motivation for being the Intesect, not running away with Sarah, and trying to be the best spy he can be is…goodwill towards mankind? While fun, the spy vs. spy stuff on Chuck feels divorced from reality, at least for me. But for Chuck, the stakes are high, and that motivated his decision to choose intrigue over intimacy.


This time around, we got more of Sarah’s perspective. She’s broken the “cardinal rule of spying” and fallen in love, but she—like me—didn’t know that Chuck chose saving the world over her. She just thought he didn’t love her. Props to Carina for being a friend and showing Sarah Chuck’s speech.

That speech in the vault was both amusing (the henchmen’s reactions were great) and touching. The three words that he struggled to say were, on the face of it, ‘I love you,’ but those words are one big ‘yes,’ aren’t they? A more important ‘yes’ than the 730 Japanese words that lead to BuyMore sales records.

This episode, despite charm of Chuck’s speech, felt like a gigantic in-joke. Josh Schwartz’s other hit show, Gossip Girl, featured a plot last year about a different Chuck unable to say the same three words. The girls-in-lingerie scene was such a blatant ratings ploy that for a second I thought I was watching Fox, which made it funny. The laser-acrobatics felt like Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment, as well as something else I’m not putting my finger on. And the restoration of Big Mike, Chuck and Morgan to the BuyMore (sans Anna), as well as the non-effects of Casey’s promotion to colonel, felt like a gigantic re-set to take us back to the same conflicts of the previous two seasons.

I really like this show, but I think it might be time to set an end-date. Will they or won’t they? What will get in the way now? Can anything change? These questions were approaching resolution at the end of last season, but the CIA has effectively turned back the clock so we can re-tread the same emotional ground that we know so well. (Wow: that is an impressively mixed metaphor.)

Then again, Chuck is still a pleasure to watch. Adam Baldwin knocks it out of the park every time, the dialogue is great, and the new sight-gags that center on Chuck’s powers are hilarious. The writers still need to find their footing for some of the more emotional stuff (the pole fight between Sarah and Chuck was awkward), but overall this was fun to watch, even if it did feel really, really long.

Bytes:

• Adam Baldwin’s obsession with being young.

• Adam Baldwin’s gleeful hosing of the nerdy party-goers, and the sign describing him. He’s the button, for sure.

• Those poor henchmen: all the spies around them were gaga for beautiful ladies.

• Big Mike is a good step-father.

• Chuck and Morgan (and the absent Ellie and Awesome) live in Los Feliz. Did we know this?

• Morgan and Carina. Way to go, buddy!


And Pieces:

• Carina: “Los Angeles has all the cultural panache of a port-a-potty.”

• Morgan: “There’s gotta be—what—two million ladies in Los Angeles? They can’t all say no to us.”

• Carina: “He keeps the access key in a secured area of his pants.”

• Evil Brit: “May our first child be a masculine child.”


Two and a half out of four highly flammable cups of jail juice.

(Season Three, Episode Two).

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NewsFlash: J.J. Abrams's New Spy Pilot

J.J. Abrams is developing a new spy-drama called Undercovers. According to SciFi Wire, the New York Times of us genre folks, it won't just be an Alias-redux. Instead, we can expect mostly stand-alones and charmingly cute drama. NBC's desperation to fill up space hopefully means that the network can handle two cute spy shows. Right, Chuck fans?

And here is the rest of it.
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Chuck: Chuck versus the Pink Slip

“The problem is not with the computer. It’s with you.”

Chuck is right: his emotions screw everything up. He thought he’d hit rock bottom (which, it turns out, is liberally sprinkled with cheese balls) in LA, but reached a truly abysmal low in Mexico. They key flash wasn’t an Intersect-flash, but a flashback to his disastrous decision to choose the life of the spy over a real life being Sarah’s boyfriend.


I was extremely curious to see how Josh Schwartz would solve the “I know kung-fu” problem: how could this show be as charming and dopey-sweet if the hero was a superhero? Luckily, Chuck’s still a doofus. He chose spy school over Sarah, and didn’t just come to regret his choice, but actually flunked out of a spy school designed specifically for him. Yikes.

The first 50 minutes of this episode were depressing. I almost cried when Chuck turned Sarah down at the train station until I realized that he needed to want to be separate from her—he’s been in puppy-love for so long that the tables needed to be turned, however briefly.

All the bells and whistles of the new Intersect gave Chuck the delusion of power, but in learning to harness it—and to use his power for the force of good—he began to really come into his own. We’ve seen Chuck choose spy-life over real-life before, and as long as he has Sarah at his side he seems more or less okay with that choice. Am I? I’m still not sure.

The General’s warning note set an interesting tone for the rest of the season: is Chuck really a danger to the world? Is Sarah really the right person to keep his emotions in check?


Bytes:

• Olympics product placement? Oh, no…that was a Honda commercial about the Olympics featuring Chuck cast members in character. I am officially confused.

• It’s so great that Adam Baldwin gets so many roles that require he refer to guns with female pronouns.

• Slo-mo sparring scenes are awesome.

• Let’s all have a moment of silence for the passing of Emmett. And a moment of silent thanks to Subway, whose sponsorship made Chuck un-canceled.


And Pieces:

• Jeff: “Hello, sir. How may I service you?” Some of my co-workers constantly say “service” when they mean “serve.” It always makes me think of dirty, dirty things.

• Emmett: “Sneaking back into the BuyMore like some vagrant Serpico…goodness, you’re a hot mess.”

• Awesome: “Oh, wait. This is really you?”

• Chuck: “I think I have documentation somewhere that proves I am an official nobody.”

This wasn’t a traditional Chuck episode, but it covered a lot of emotional ground that needed to be covered. In cheese balls.

Three out of four lemons.

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About Heroes...

I've had the two episodes that aired last Monday sitting in my DVR, glaring at me, but I just can't make myself watch them. And I don't want to watch tonight's, either.

It's no secret that I've been disenchanted with Heroes for awhile. I thought that I could keep writing reviews if this season were the last. But rumors have started to circulate that Heroes is going to get another season. And that's great for fans of the show, don't get me wrong. This season has been an improvement, and they may have another one to get it right. Or righter.

But I'm afraid it's going to be without me. I've written my last Heroes review for awhile, and it's officially on hiatus for me. There's a possibility that at some point I might pick it up again. I tend to feel strongly about the completion thing, and even after I've become disenchanted with a show that originally enchanted me, I tend to stick with it, or go back to it. (The Dead Zone being a prime example.) But I can't make any promises.

I do apologize for leaving you hanging. Please don't hate me.


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Dollhouse: Getting Closer

Topher: "I always had a crush on you even when I thought you were a dude. (pause) This is better."

This episode was like plotty-paloosa. All those terrific returning characters. Huge happenings. A shocking reveal that I found confusing.

So Boyd, of all people, is Clyde's partner and betrayer, co-founder of Rossum. The Big Bad with the evil plan and everything. And how freaking devious was he to spend all this time with the good guys, making us like him (and I really liked him), keeping an eye on Caroline, getting himself promoted to head of security (was that on purpose? Probably not).

But I could swear that Boyd really cares about Echo/Caroline. And that flashback at the end only confirmed it. Boyd told Caroline stuff that made me think he *wanted* her to bring down his organization, and that she was uniquely qualified to do so. And what kind of sense does that make? Like killing Bennett, using Claire as a sleeper assassin. Yes, I get that he was trying to keep Bennett from finishing the reconstruction of Caroline's wedge, but wouldn't an evil genius like Bennett be almost irreplaceable to the evil overlords at Rossum?

This is the episode where we finally met Caroline and got to know her. Except we already know her, because she's remarkably like Echo. Passionate about her beliefs, cares deeply about her friends, ready to blow up buildings for the cause. And that thing about not declaring a major because she wanted to be everything? That was rather fun tongue-in-cheek by the writers. Echo *is* Caroline.

I actually felt a bit bad for Bennett. She was ready to throw away her career in order to please her only friend. (It's a good thing she's dead, though. She and Topher really shouldn't reproduce.) And poor Topher, marching briskly toward his inevitable insanity; I can't believe how much I've grown to like him. I particularly liked the way he pushed Ivy out of the door, and warned her not to become like him. It was a remarkably kind thing to do.

It seems to be the week for star-crossed, since Paul also lost his love for Echo. Is an imprint of Paul on top of the real Paul -- still Paul? Poor Paul. And poor Echo. And I was thrilled about Boyd and Claire meeting clandestinely in a hotel room, until we got to the reveal at the end; that kinda ruined it.

I loved everyone in this episode, but Adelle was, as always, spectacular. So calm and matter of fact as everything was falling apart. I loved that Topher called her their general. And hey. At the very least, all of the dolls did finally go free. And so did Tony and Priya. If that's the only happy moment we get out of this series... there's only two episodes to go. Please don't kill them. Or even worse -- kill one of them. Couldn't they get away and live happily ever after, magically avoiding the apocalypse?

Bits and pieces:

-- Tuscon Institute of Technology? TIT?

-- The code word is: gingersnap. I actually call one of my cats that.

-- I thought it was particularly funny that Caroline called Bennett nicknames, like Benny and Benster.

-- This episode was written by Tim Minear. He's so good.

-- When I saw Eliza Dushku and Summer Glau walking together down a hallway, all I could think of was that Joss Whedon definitely has a type.

-- In this week's hair report, Adelle looked so much better with long hair. I never liked that shorter, more Nazi-like do.

Quotes:

Caroline: "Relax. I'm not a thief. I'm a terrorist."

Priya: "Echo's real."
Tony: "You're damned right she is."

Echo: "We haven't really talked since you... died."
Paul: "I guess we've both died since then."
Echo: "Yeah. Weird week."

Echo: "Are you saying she's evil?"
Adelle: "Worse. She's an idealist."

Bennett: "You used the company jet to kidnap the programmer of a rival house."
Adelle: "I'm certain I'll be kicking myself come holiday bonus time."
Bennett: "I'm sure you'll be dead by then."
I hope not.

Bennett: "It's a very open space. Quite a lot of beige. You let them roam. They roam like free range chicken. We keep our more like veal."

Adelle: "That troublesome one-armed creature, where is she?"
Topher: "I had to lock her up. I couldn't leave her in the lab unattended."
Adelle: "And your charm offensive?"
Topher: "Mostly just offensive."

Boyd: "Mother always wanted me to date a doctor."
Echo: "I wonder what mine wanted."

Adelle: "I guess we can agree this carpet's done for."

Topher: "Okay. Am I the only one thinking we're getting maybe a little too much of our intel from The Matrix? Or possibly Tron, given the outfits?"

(This is one of the things I love about Joss Whedon. He rips stuff off, and then acknowledges that he ripped stuff off. And somehow that makes it work.)

I was only going to watch this episode once. But it was so good and so complicated (not that that's bad) that I watched it a second time *after* re-watching "The Attic." Four out of four stars,

Billie

All of my Dollhouse reviews are archived here.
(Season 2, episode 11)

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Buffy season eight: Retreat, Part V

Dawn: "Were my pores that big when I was--?"
Xander: "No. No no no no. Not at all."

Synopsis:

As expected, the giant Tibetan goddesses wreak havoc on Twilight's army. Xander and Dawn are still in charge; they tell everyone to beware of the rampaging goddesses and not to leave their home base undefended as the rout continues. Oz talks with the wounded Bayarmaa, who is worried about the goddesses. She says that the goddesses don't recognize the ones who feed them.

Buffy takes a jeep into the fray. She notices that the goddesses aren't being all that careful about their allies; it's pretty much destructo-rama, they're killing everyone, and the slayers and Wiccans still don't have their powers. Buffy grabs an injured Riley off the battlefield and takes him back to the Temple. As he lies there, wounded, everyone asks if Riley is a prisoner. Buffy reveals that no, Riley has always been on their side and will be able to tell them what Twilight has planned. If Riley recovers.

Back to Twilight, Amy and Warren. Twilight knows immediately that Riley was working for Buffy, but it isn't clear if he always knew or just realized it. In an obvious contrast between Twilight (evil) and Buffy (good), Twilight is fine with the goddesses killing all of his people, because mortals die, anyway. Buffy, on the other hand, instructs her slayers to retrieve their wounded from the battlefield as well as Twilight's wounded. She knows they can't win. She knows they can't get their powers back. They'll stay in the Temple, protect the wounded, and be as quiet as possible.

Buffy leads the slayers out onto the battlefield, where she is picked up by a big blue goddess, closely examined, and dropped to the ground. Five hours later, she awakens in the snow (conveniently not frozen to death). Twilight's soldiers have taken slayers captive; she sees their camp below. Buffy stands up and realizes that she is flying.

Review:

I liked part I; I thought it had promise. The rest of "Retreat," not so much. This didn't end the way I expected. In fact, it didn't end; nothing was resolved, and if it hadn't said "the end" on the last page, I would have thought part six was a'coming. The slayers are still persecuted, and now they have no powers. Willow is still headed for a horrible end in the future. Why go through all of that misdirection with Riley if he doesn't have any critical information on Twilight? And please tell me they're not about to rekindle the Buffy/Riley romance. Please. *Please!*

(At least I can't complain about everyone too conveniently getting their powers back at the end of the story, since they didn't.)

How come Buffy is flying? She must have gotten some sort of power from the goddess. Actually, flying could be fun. Although some of the best jokes in these comics have been about Buffy helpless in the air, come to think of it.

Are we *ever* going to find out who Twilight is? At this point, I almost don't care. We did learn in the episode (okay, it was hinted) that Twilight isn't mortal. He flies, and of course, the lettering for his dialogue implies that he's not human. I just realized that this means Buffy and Twilight can both fly. Does that mean we're going to get a huge aerial battle?

Bits and pieces:

-- Warren whined that they should have let him continue trying to subvert Andrew. That wouldn't have worked, anyway; I have confidence that Andrew is firmly on the Slayer side now.

-- Warren was still constantly arguing with Amy. Couldn't they at least have ended that plotline? I'd feel better if Warren and Amy got theirs, already.

Quotes:

Warren: "You're the least supportive girlfriend ever!"
Amy: "I'm your skin!"
Warren: "Oh, you always have to go there!"

Riley: "She knows she'll lose?"
Oz: "She knows."
Riley: "Amazing woman."
Oz: "They all are."

I heard somewhere that there are only ten more issues in season eight. I think I can do ten more issues. I think.

Billie

P.S. After finishing this review, I just saw an article that spoils Twilight's identity. I don't usually post anything spoiler-related, but I looked; I couldn't help it. Here's the link. You have been warned; don't go there if you don't want to know. Feel free to post a comment about how you feel about it -- but be oblique and don't say who it is! I don't want someone blaming me for spoilers!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=24354

All of my Buffy reviews are archived here.
(Season eight comics, issue 30)

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Buffy season eight: Retreat, Part IV

Willow: "Buffy, look. We're not even slowing them down."
Buffy: "Yeah. I'm starting to think there's a reason no one's written a suspense novel where the conflict is wolves vs. tanks."

Synopsis:

The Scoobies, slayers and Wiccans try to prepare for war without powers and magic.

Apparently, it didn't take months to lose the magic; it's gone already. And as expected, Willow's baby-phoria is gone and she's furious, angry and frustrated with herself for thinking things could be different. She now believes she's destined to be killed by Buffy in the future, after all, and normal life will never be for her.

Xander, still able to channel his Halloween soldier persona, gives the slayers training with assault rifles, mortars and grenades. He and Dawn, acting couple-y, consider themselves in charge now, since they know what it's like to cope with being the only two humans among a bunch of superpeople.

Buffy consults Andrew about trying to make it look like they still have magicks, in order to throw the enemy off. Andrew asks Buffy if she's okay about seeing Xander and Dawn kissing. Buffy says she's fine with it.

Finally, everyone is in camo, suited up and armed, waiting, when radar spots incoming planes and tanks. Monroe shows up with his werewolves, ready to help. (I thought Bayarmaa had killed Monroe. Guess not.) Much fighting. Twilight's army just keeps coming. Buffy asks Xander to launch his secret weapon, which turns out to be a torpedo that they kind of push downhill toward the enemy. Boom. Torpedoes work on land. Who knew.

The slayers and Wiccans regroup, and Buffy, Giles and Willow talk tactics. Buffy realizes that the magic has been "redirected," and runs off to find Oz holding Bayarmaa, who is injured. Buffy says that the chants are invocations, and who are they invoking? Bay says, "Wrathful goddesses." Uh oh. Bay says it was in return for protection, which the slayers weren't getting.

The fight outside continues as Buffy and Willow do some angry invoking with scrolls. Three immense three-eyed goddesses decorated with skulls suddenly appear on the battlefield. To be continued.

Review:

More giants? Really? I know this is comic book world, not television world, but more giants? Really? And can I say that seeing everyone wearing uniforms and fighting with guns isn't my thing at all, and that it seems very unBuffyverse-like?

"Retreat" has been about not being able to put the genie back in the bottle, you can't go home again, pick your metaphor. There is no retreat from magic and the supernatural. Oz tried, and look what just happened to his honey; it came back and bit him in the end. As was obvious to everyone before this story even began, giving up their power isn't feasible. It wasn't even kosher, since they were unconsciously invoking power goddesses of sorts.

And why, oh why, make Xander and Dawn a couple? If it's permanent, though, at least it'll make Xander officially part of the family. And I'm assuming that this time his love object won't die horribly, seeing as it's Buffy's sister... or not? Maybe there's a good side to this romance, after all.

Quotes:

Buffy: "We have to be ready to fight with every weapon, everything we can throw at them."
Willow: "But it seems to me that we don't have the one thing that matters. A chance in Hell."

Andrew: "Colored steam! Magickal glints! The heavy odor of dangerous potions!"
Wiccan: "More yak hair!"
Buffy: (holding her nose) "Lose the heavy odor of dangerous potions."

Bay: "But those are just the ancient names for the forces of the earth."
Buffy: "Or the earth is just the modern name for the local crazy wrath goddesses."

Giles: "Will that work? Going from pulling back to... full-throttle forward?"
Buffy: "It does when I punch someone."

Eh. On to part five,

Billie

All of my Buffy reviews are archived here.
(Season eight comics, issue 29)

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