TV Week in Review: Quick Thoughts
Quick thoughts on this past weeks various television series. They'll be two sets of quick thoughts from myself (Phil) and NFD writer Chris who's work will be quoted in gray.
Phil's quick thoughts:
- Flash Forward
- Fringe
- Dollhouse
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Chris' quick thoughts:
- Heroes
- Flash Forward
- Fringe
- Supernatural
- Dollhouse
- Smallville
- Stargate Universe
HEROES
Ink
Chris B:
Heroes this week was fairly good but nothing to write home about. We got a few more insights into Clare's upcoming college career, and some more Samuel. To be honest, there's only two things that interest me about this show right now - the new deaf girl, Emma, and the Parkman/Sylar visions thing.
This week we got to see Sylar use Parkman's powers against him, and it was great. I love Sylar's style, just manipulating Matt into seeing whatever he wants him to see. It's freaking brilliant. And I love the visual-sound thing that Emma's seeing. Claire's back to whining and Samuel is ... not very interesting yet. But I freely admit, I'm not giving Heroes too much of a chance because I've seen consistently let down since Season 1's atrocious finale.
FLASH FORWARD
White to Play
Chris B:
FlashForward is getting more and more interesting every week - this week we found out a little more about the man who was awake, we met a psycho cupcake lady, and we faced the fact that Dimitri may die!
What I really like is the children all shared what they saw except his little girl. There's a lot going on here, and every week seems to add more layers. I don't really care for the Sonya Walger's-going-to-cheat-on-the-alcoholic plotline, it's boring dull and just rote, but the rest of it is awesome and I can't wiat to learn more about what's going on here. Honestly, each episode is a little hard to get through because of the Slloooow Personnnalll Traummasss, but it's still very interesting and holding my attention.
Phil:
For some reason, I almost balked at seeing the second episode of Flash Forward. Maybe it's the concept based on 2 minutes of an event or my brain is so tired of being worked by television shows shrouded in mystery. Then I said to myself, "what they hell are you saying, this show is awesome!" Yes, this weeks episode continued to prove that as this mystery continues to reveal itself slowly.
For a moment, I want to quickly discuss the predictability of Flash Forward. As I mentioned last week, this series is very predictable in some ways and it continues to prove that in this episode. For example; The moment we met that sexy sheriff and she mentioned how she didn't see anything when she passed out during the event - I knew she was gonna get killed in the episode. I saw that coming from a mile away, however, that might be what they're trying to do to us viewers. I'll make an early prediction that John Cho's character does not die even if actress Shohreh Aghdashloo character told him he'll be murdered in the future (I actually forgot the date but its in March). On a side note, Aghdashloo just won an Emmy Award for her role as Saddam Hussein's wife in the HBO mini series House of Saddam - a great mini series and the award is well deserved.
In my opinion, the best part of the episode isn't the actual finale where Jack Sheppard, ... excuse me, Mark Benford's daughter reveals that the flash forward she had was that of D Gibbions. No, it's when Stan Wedeck revealed to Benford that his flash forward took place while he was in the bathroom and his vision of the future was while he was going to the bathroom, ... HYSTERICAL! Bathroom humor always wins, haha.
The big mystery for me is trying to think if the future is or isn't set. Can these group of characters change their visions or is everything happening leading up to those visions?? We'll find out in several months but whatever happens, I hope John Cho's character makes it. Some even believe that Cho should have been the lead of the series and not Joseph Fiennes. At this point, I really can't speak to that but I can see where they're coming from - his performance is very good.
Next week looks to be an exciting episode which may reveal more about the flash forwards. Take a look at the preview:
FRINGE
Fracture
Chris B:
Well... Fringe has been disappointing since its return until this episode. Somehow they seemed to get some of the old magic back as Walter investigates some folks that asploded!
This episode was great for the bowling guru though - he made the episode, and when Olivia finally realized what he was doing it was *priceless*. All in all, it was good to see Olivia get a bit of her mojo back. Let's hope the show continues to improve instead of sliding downhill.
Phil:
This weeks episode of Fringe is the kind of episode that reminds me how much I enjoy this series. Fracture is a great episode - it's great as a case by case episode and it's great as more added information to the mythology of the series.
We've heard throughout the series talk of a "coming war" type of thing - our universe vs their universe as far as I can gather. The Observer, as we all know, is some how connected to that but we don't know how. Further, it's revealed in those brief cases that Walter Bishop is being followed and tracked by The Observer. That's what this episode describes, however, the action of the ep doesn't make clear who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. Playing Colonel Gordon is Stephen McHattie who you'll recognize as a character actor from over the years. Star Trek fans will recognize him as the Romulan Senator "It's a Fake!!!" Vreenak. Although portrayed as evil and crazy, he thinks he's protecting us from this coming invasion of Observers and whatever else. Is he or is he full of crap? Only JJ Abrams, Rob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman know for sure.
It's fun, exciting, and of course extremely interesting. Although short, I loved that we took a little trip to Iraq - I wish the budget of TV was a little bigger, that way we could have seen more except a bar and Olivia in Arabic clothing. I really enjoyed the climax and ending of the episode; watching the Fringe team prevent an unsuspecting woman from being a suicide bomber which Gordon sets up. I half expected Olivia to use her, for lack of a better term, "powers" to disarm the control that would have made the woman turn into crystal and explode. I think it would have been a great opportunity but it didn't happen. Oh well.
Olivia is getting so close to remember what happened in the alternate universe. Soon, hopefully, we'll see Leonard Nimoy return as Spoc.... I mean Dr. William Bell. As like everyone else, I'm very curious to know what they talked about while in the World Trade Center. It sure looks like we'll get to see some of that next week - take a look at the promo:
SUPERNATURAL
The End
Chris B:
This was a brilliant episode. This is how you scare the crap out of somebody - you show them a future where everything goes wrong. In this one, Dean gets thrown five years into the future and sees the Croatoan outbreak (from Season 2) pop up all over the earth. He also gets to meet himself and doesn't like what he finds. I won't spoil the twist at the end, but it was the best twist I've ever seen, and just inspired me.
This episode was solid gold, unlike a lot of what's coming on elsewhere - if you don't watch this show, I suggest you rent or buy the discs and catch up.
DOLLHOUSE
Instinct
Chris B:
This episode was atrociously boring. I'm sorry to be the one to say it. And it also made no sense whatsoever - how exactly did Echo get out of the Dollhouse with all the surveillance they have in there? How did she learn to drive a car - not the operation of it, but the laws? How did she get to the house, NOT knowing the driving laws, faster than Paul did? And how on earth did a girl who had to figure out how to drive a car cut off the power to this man's house?
There were too many inconsistencies in the end, and to be perfectly honest, every iota of this episode was predictable by-the-numbers tripe. I really hope this isn't how the rest of the season's going to be.
Phil:
Let me get this right out of the way. Anything in television or films that has to do with babies or little kids I find disturbing. No, I like kids just fine - in fact, I have a nephew and niece who I love playing with but in television, if the child is messed with in any way, I'm freaked out. I don't like seeing little ones put in any kind of harm - leave that stuff to adults. Remember the Battlestar Galactica mini series - yeah, I almost stopped watching after THAT part. You'll understand if you've seen the mini series.
With that out of the way, the first half of Dollhouse, in my opinion, sucked. Even so, the second half when we started seeing the story unfold, payed off what happened in the first half hour. Like I said; Babies + TV = not my thing. The only thing that I found good in the first half was the actual beginning of the show, watching Topher and Ballard talking about Actives and what have you.
The episode for me got awesome when Paul went to the police station to find Echo - they take the baby, she loses it, they bring her back to the Dollhouse and etc. Again, this lead back to my thing - when they took the baby away from Echo, who in a sense is the baby's mom, and she goes nuts, I was disturbed. Granted, I know why they took the child away but the reaction, attributed to Dushku's convincing screams and so forth, was enough for me to feel uncomfortable. In short, all those stories we hear about kids being kidnapped really gets me sick - It's a crime that may be worse than murder. YES, I know, that's arguable but that's less than an opinion - that's just me not wanting to interpret certain things. I'm going way off topic, lets continue shall we.
I suppose the most important thing to come out of this episode is two things; November is rich and the Dollhouse kept their word. She served them for a time and has been released. That's just on the surface for now as I'm sure that's not the last we'll see of November. The other thing is Echo remembers feelings more than experiences, I think. I'm going to need to see the finale scene again but that's what I think she explained.
Sadly, however, I must inform you that this episode of Dollhouse bombed in the ratings only scoring a 0.8. That's awful and I think we can expect Dollhouse to be cancelled after its first 13 episodes if it even makes it that far.
Next week looks to be a great episode as we get to see Enver Gjokaj's Victor go nuts. We need to see more from him and Dichen Lachman who are proving to be great television actors.
SMALLVILLE
Metallo
Chris B:
I was expecting this episode to be terrible, but it turned out to be very interesting. It was awesome to see Brian Austin Green act some more, and Lois is turning out more awesome every episode this season. Tess Mercer's ability to follow Zod wherever he goes is also entertaining, though not so much that she's always one step behind. I keep hoping that Zod and his powerlessness will be explained soon.
Also, Clark started to figure out that he's got to protect Lois, and it was good to see a little bit of that Lois/Clark stuff form up. All in all, I had fun, and this season is much more enjoyable than last.
STARGATE UNIVERSE
Air Part 1 and 2
Chris B:
Well, that was an interesting premiere. I haven't made any decisions about it yet though, it's interesting and different. All in all, I'm not sure how much life this show has in it. How can they have recurring villians? How can they make each galaxy interesting?
Anyway, as for the actual episode, it was engaging, it kept me enthralled, and it had a few interesting twists. I enjoyed Dr. Rush and Eli, and how they kept the formula for ancient stuff in an online game - that was brilliant!
I'm 50/50 on this one. What'd you guys think?
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS
Holocron Heist & Cargo of Doom
Phil:
The biggest surprise series for me last year was Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I didn't realize how much I'd enjoy it! When the theatrical release came out, which also served as a sort of pilot, most general fans disliked it yet even with its non-traditional style, I still found it very fun and entertaining. It gave me the feeling of an after school or Saturday morning cartoon, a feeling that I haven't had in a very long time - I can still remember those days, however. I for one wish each episode was an hour long and not a half hour, less of course without commercials, because it's that damn fun - I need more.
After a few month hiatus with the summer break, Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns and as usual, it's action packed! The hour long special shows two episodes in a row; Holocron Heist and Cargo of Doom where bounty hunter Cad Bane steals a Jedi Holocron from the Jedi Temple and is later chased by Anakin Skywalker an Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka, by the way seems older this season. I might be just seeing things, I'd have to go back to last season; Is it me or did they make her a little taller?
Star Wars: TCW can't really be reviewed because, honestly, there isn't a lot of content. This isn't a show where we have to think hard or figure out a mystery. All we need is to enjoy the Star Wars action and the amazing CG, amazing especially in HD. TCW's does just that - it's back, it's action packed, and it's a whole lotta fun. I'm looking forward to seeing more week after week.
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I’m on the bubble with Flash Forward. I’ve already decided to FF through any scene where the agent and wife are alone in.
Dollhouse, WTF! Just the idea of the baby story was flawed on so many levels. Some good concepts wasted.
Fringe has maintained my interest.
I watched SGU part 1 and 2, and liked it. The humor at the start of the show made me giggle. I think the senator’s daughter needs an extended shower scene after what she’s been through.
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