Fringe is back

While all of season 1 kept me at the edge of my seat, season 2 is off to a bad start.

I'm going to start by complaining about the decision to replace Charlie Frances (Kirk Acevedo) with Amy Jessup (Meghan Markle). What on earth do we need another female agent on Fringe Division? We already have Olivia and Astrid, and now Amy too? So Broyles is the only male left.

The entire episode felt like a changing of the guard, introducing Jessup, making you feel like she could be a dedicated member of Fringe, and sure, she seems interesting enough, but Charlie Frances was so great.

He and Olivia had such a great relationship; you trusted him and liked him. The worst part was how they got rid of him. Did we get to see a glorious fight? Did he go out saving someone? Nope, we didn't even know he was dead until the end of the episode when the shape shifter who took his face threw him into an incinerator. I guess that's not the end we'll see of Kirk Acevedo just yet, but what a crappy way for Charlie to go.

We'll have to see how next week goes, if they can get into the groove they had last season. The episode ended with the promise that the team would no longer be reacting to the Pattern, but instead being proactive. The promise of excitement is there.

And Walter, played by John Noble who never disappoints, did make me laugh. I was quite happy with his determination to make custard, despite Peter's claims that he hates the stuff. When he got Astrid to mix the ingredients while he performed an autopsy, and then wanted to taste the batter while still wearing gloves covered in blood, I could not stop giggling. More poignant was the moment a doctor informed he and Peter that Olivia was dead (she recovered anyways), and he had to check her himself before he would believe it. Seeing the love and respect that Peter and Walter both have for Olivia when they were told she died just shows how close the group is. How devastated will they all be when they discover that Charlie is gone?

Good bye to Guiding Lights

I have never watched the soap opera that finished its Guinness Book of World Record holding run. I suppose now I never will. But I have watched other soap operas, and I do know how wonderful and addictive they can be. Many people will say they are ridiculous and have no possible resemblance to real life, but that's not true. Soap operas (other than the occasional step towards science fiction or fantasy - which is a step Guiding Lights may never have taken. I don't know), soap operas are just the most extreme situations. It is possible in a lifetime to be in a hotel fire, or a train or plane crash, to need brain surgery or to fall in and out of love with the same person over and over again and still believe that he or she is your one true love. It is also possible, although extremely unlikely, for all those things to happen to the same person. That is what a soap opera is about.

So it is with sadness that we say good bye to Guiding Lights, which is probably a victim of the recession, but more to the changing world of television. This may be the beginning of the end of soap operas, and I, for one, shall regret that end.

Bones and Booth begin season 5

Bones is back, baby, and for those of you who feared Booth would come back with really bad amnesia, never fear, he's fine. At least, he's mostly fine. He remembers who he is and who Bones is, he just had a bit of confusion between the world he knew in his coma, where he and Brennan were married, and this world.

The premiere followed the pattern that became the norm in the second half of the 4th season. The murder is almost incidental. It happens, and it must be solved, because that is what Booth and Brennan do, but if that's why you watch the show, you're going to be disappointed. The most interesting part of the case is that, unable to prove the murderer actually committed the murders, they get him on charges of Fraud. Nice to know we learned something from Elliot Ness and Al Capone.

While this murder was getting solved, our real plot developed. Booth admits to Cam that he is in love with Bones; he discovered this when he awoke from his coma. She warns him to make sure he's certain before he tells her, or else she'll never recover from the pain. He fails to take several opportunities to tell her, but when the psychic (who told them where the bodies were) informs him that Brennan is in trouble, he runs to her in a panic. Luckily, he arrived in time to save her, and she only suffered minor injuries.

Sweets, perceiving Booth's feelings, confronts him with a brain scan. Before the operation, he was not in love, but now he is. Booth dismisses this charts; he's never doubted himself and he knows how he feels. He's convinced he's fine and there are no strange remainders from the coma. And we know, of course, that he does love Brennan, that he always has, that they are perfect for each other. It's not Pandora's box, though it can never be closed, but it's door #3 when that's the door with the top prize behind it. OPEN IT!!

By the end of the episode, Booth has finally made up his mind to tell Brennan. We see a clown unloading his car as they walk down the street. Oh no, we think, Booth is going to go crazy and kill this clown. It's a given, since he hates them so much and the shot of the clown at the start sets it up so nicely. Inevitable, before Booth can declare his affection, the clown squirts him in the face with a waterflower. Brennan has our immediate reaction. Don't do that clown! Oh, don't kill him Seeley. But what happens? Seeley Booth laughs! Suddenly, it's obvious he is not fully recovered. Sure, he could forget about his goofy socks and ties, but hating clowns? He shot one three times not so long ago (don't worry, it was a statue, not a person).

So Booth is not recovered, but feeling love from Brennan, and he just has to wait to see if that changes. Please, now that he's realized that's a possible feeling to have, he's never going to give it up.

Bones is setting us up for another season of drama and heartache, but I can't help but hope that there's a little more focus on the murders they are trying to solve. The love story should be the subplot and through line of the series, the crime fighting important and not simply a vehicle for storytelling. Still, overall, you just can't stop watching...it's far too good.

Warehouse 13's penultimate episode of season 1

So Syfy is out of the dog house, with this week's episode entertaining and hitting the right intellectual buttons. Called Nevermore, there is no surprise we had an artifact belonging to Edgar Allen Poe take over the minds of two people and wreak havoc.

Mika's father, played by BSG star Michael Hogan*, reads a notebook delivered to his book shop and soon has the text crawling through his skin. This awakens a raven-feathered pen in a high school, and an over-looked intelligent boy is drawn to it. He then attacks his bullying classmates with words written on paper, such as WALL (the cask of amontillado) and PENDULUM (do I need to explain this one?). Indeed, Pete was led to the man trapped in the wall by a sound strongly resembling a beating heart.

An artifact belonging to Poe and creating scenarios resembling his stories is exactly the kind of thing we want to find in Warehouse 13.

Other highlights include Mika and her father learning to understand one another a little better, a guest appearance by Philip Akin*, and the continued hunt for MacPherson (Roger Rees*).

Speaking of Philip Akin, I had the pleasure of having coffee with him (or rather tea and a chai latte) this week. As the Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre Company in Toronto, he is busy making important theatre happen here in Canada, while still finding time to act and, even more impressive, to talk to young theatre people like me.

Glee, Showmance

Yes, I realize Showmance was the second episode of Glee and aired last week, but I only just saw it, so I'm going to talk about it this week.

It was a vast improvement over the premiere in terms of the WTF moments. There was structure, there was slower plot development, there was even a very important message about sexuality with which I absolutely agree.

Sue Sylvester, the cheerleading coach, tells Will that Glee club can't compete in Regionals without 12 people in the club, which means Glee will disappear. She delights in telling him this, but it's entertaining to realize that she has already assessed that Glee is a threat to the dominance of her Cheerios, and so much be crushed without mercy.

To recruit more members, Will rehearses Glee to perform at an assembly, and he wants to use the disco music used to win Finales in 1993. The club doesn't want the music, but he doesn't listen. They end up rehearsing something else, something bizarrely sexual (bizarre is a word I suspect I will be using a lot while talking about Glee). The school ends up loving it, so hopefully they will pull in some new recruits that way.

Glee is then limited as to the nature of the songs they are allowed to perform, and while Rachel is in trouble over the stunt, Will acknowledges that he has to listen to the group about what they want as well as what he thinks is best.

On the home front, Terri wants Will to buy them a new house. She is so selfish, but has no idea; she thinks she deserves everything she demands...it's really quite cute. Will takes on shifts as the nighttime school janitor to help pay for it, where he and Emma spend some good quality time together. Ken, the coach who's in love with Emma, asks her out. He knows he's not the greatest catch, but he's better for her than Will, who is married. He very clearly tells her the pros and cons of dating him; it was amazing!

Emma, in the end, takes Ken up on his offer, and admonishes Will for the amount of time he's been spending with her. He's got a kid on the way, after all...at least, that's what he thinks. Terri, at her ultrasound, discovers her body only thinks it is pregnant...but it's not. She tries to tell Will, but sensing how disappointed he'd be, she instead says that the baby is a boy. I'm quite glad that she legitimately thought she was pregnant. She would have been quite the awful B$#@* if she's lied, instead of being wrong.

Rachel and Finn also had some fair progress on their relationship. The best part of the episode is when Rachel goes to celibacy club, and then points out that teenagers should really just be prepared since they all, girls and guys, want sex equally. I have always believe that if you are going to be abstinent, that's great, but sexual education should teach what to do if you decide not to abstain. Plus, if kids refuse to plan for possible sexual experiences, it's all the more likely it will happen without protection when hormones kick sense out the window.

After this rant, Finn and Rachel were rehearsing together. On a break, Rachel told Finn he could kiss her and he did. There was definitely some serious sexual chemistry, and Finn had to run out of the auditorium or reveal that he made a mess...something he had always prevented himself from doing with Quinn. Rachel finished the episode with a wonderful performance of Very Entertaining, as Finn and Quinn continued their relationship - Quinn joined Glee club to "support" him, though really to keep him and spy for the Cheerios. The saddest part was when Will gave Rachel's solo in Don't Stop Believing to Quinn.

So I'm actually quite excited about episode 3, which I am about to watch. Showmance had a much smoother storytelling technique than the premiere, and I really want to know where all the characters are going and how the romances are going to work out.

Warehouse 13...did Syfy have a bad week

Last week's Eureka was not up to par, but Warehouse 13? Even worse.

Mika and Pete finally get a day off, and what do they do? They go to visit Claudia in the Warehouse. Now I'm not saying this wasn't a good thing for Claudia, who nearly managed to make the entire place explode (or whatever would have happened with all those artifacts getting released), but really? Didn't Mika get warned about getting sucked into the warehouse and having it become her life? Well I guess that already happened.

Not that it isn't always entertaining to see what sorts of things are in the warehouse, even though they are often a little on the wrong side of ridiculous. Killer dodge balls and entire houses that you can't leave, as well as Sylvia Plath's typewriter threatened our heroes. But never fear, they got to the machine that was breaking, and thus creating the impending doom on time.

Though, really, Claudia took off her purple protection glove because it was too hard to use them and then got stuck pulling the sticky string out of the machine. It was not at all believable; the lines were terrible and the acting poorly delivered.

Of course Artie's adventure was even less interesting. It's like the writers didn't feel like writing a good episode, so they just through in a few things to make it interesting while revealing some important infor, and that was it.

Come on Syfy! You're lucky the show is almost done for the season, cause it does not compare to the competition.

Melrose Place, Second look

Well, if there's one thing about Melrose Place, it's that it gives me a lot to write about. Was it better than last week? I think it hit about the same level of mediocrity, with some especially fun segments, and some really really bad fashion.

The segment before the first commercial was utterly uninteresting. Nothing happened. I might have turned it off then without having a clue of the difficulties and drama any of the characters would face during the episode.

As always, Katie Cassidy as Ella delivered a performance worthy of my tuning in. Her complication? Her office is downsizing and she's being let go. Or at least, that's what her new boss (played by the ever-so-handsome Victor Webster*) has planned, but she convinces him to give her the weekend to land a big client and save her job. She delivers this with perfect confidence, but as she leaves her office, that shadow of doubt crosses her face. From the start, Ella personality has levels, and we get to see that. I will be moved when something happens to make her cry, because it is so unlike her, but I will believe it.

David, the art thief who hands over priceless stolen paintings in restaurants (really believable, guys), is going to a party to steal a watch, and Ella coerces him to take her with him. He steals a one-of-a-kind watch, while she, dressed in the most awful white bag dress imaginable, convinces her target star he's over exposed (by getting a picture of him with his pants down). The highlight of the party? When they run into Dr. Lauren out with her latest John, Toby's friend Rick (Niall Matter*). Yup, Lauren, convinced by Ella to do whatever she has to to become a doctor (a lovely scene showing the depth of friendship between the two flatmates), is selling herself for $5000 a pop.

At the end of the episode, Rick asks if he can take Lauren out on a real date, but she just wants her money. She still needs $20 000 by the end of the semester or she's out on her ear. Though really, Rick was hot and rich...she could have at least made him a deal for the rest of the money and seen how it went.

At the end of the episode, ballsy Ella's kept her job.

Ashley Simpson-Wentz got to show us her crazy side this week. If it wasn't obvious last week from the fact she stole Sidney's photo of the memorial shrine, Violet's Sydney's daughter. And she's slightly insane...which she clearly got from her mom. Her wild eyes and intensity worked for those moments, but the rest was blah! She has no fashion sense, and when Ella dressed her up so she could get a job as the hostess at Augie's work, well I think with that outfit, she could make a lot of money working on the corner. After all, she approves of the way Lauren's making her dough. It's quite bizarre how the rest of the people living at Melrose Place have befriended her so quickly. I'd love to live in a complex where everyone is my friend - do those really exits? And how did Violet get such a nice place without a background check?

The worst part of the show is those flashback scenes. Not only are they the most cheesy slightly grainy and colour saturated segments, but no one can act in them. Is that what Laura Leighton brings out in other actors? And worse, the reveals are obvious and forced. Have they ever heard of subtlety. Sure, smack us over the head with all the problems, tell us what they are and how everything went down, don't let us discover over time and speculate about anything. Heck, might as well tell us who killed Sydney right now.

Finally, I suppose I should mention Jonah and Riley, our engaged couple. Well they are doomed. No trust and lots of anger. Riley, of course, has issues with Ella, and by being upset with Jonah over it when he is trustworthy is just going to put a wedge between them. Then Jonah gets upset because Riley and Augie talked for 37minutes and 23 seconds (according to the security camera he just installed). Instead of realizing how cute his jealousy was, when he clearly watched the tape and saw that nothing inappropriate happened, Riley gets pissed off. Sure by the end of the episode they resolve everything, but those two have issues I'm not even sure the writers know about.

Oh, and Augie can't act.

So that was this week's Melrose Place...we'll see what I'm doing next Tuesday night.

Eureka hit an ice patch

Eureka missed the mark a little this week. It's possible this occurred because half our regular cast was missing (Henry was at a conference, Alison was on Mat leave, and Fargo only had some brief appearances but mostly wasn't featured), but I would actually say that it was the writing.

The basic plot - they brought back an ice piece from the arctic and it caused ice to spread everywhere. It was caused by a fungus, and in the end it was fixed in the deus ex machina way that Eureka is known for.

The problem was with Zane. He comes back from the expedition, and he's behaving strangely. Jo keeps commenting on how cold he is. The word is used over and over again, but it takes Jo forever to decide that he's not mad at her or something, but that something is wrong with him. How bad is Jo and Zane's relationship and communication when it takes her so long to realize that he too is encrusted with the ice, though we figured it out the moment he acted strangely and she called him cold.

Also, Zoe has already decided she wants to be a doctor, but when a test tells her to be a robot engineer, Lucas basically coerces her into looking into it. It takes the entire episode for him to decide that maybe what she wants to do is a better path to follow than the one dictated by some stupid test. Geniuses can be so stupid.

The best part of the episode was that Taggart came back. Not only did we learn where he went (he was trekking throughout the world, not just hidden in some lab and ignored for 2 years), but we got to see him and Jo finally resolve that their relationship had been good, but they had both moved on. I love Taggart, and I hope this wasn't just a one episode thing.

Next week is the season finale. I hope things heat up in Eureka, and the plot is explosive, not iced over.

Oh, and I apologize for all the puns.

True Blood Season 2 Finale

I love True Blood. I love how sexy and violent it is...I hope next season is more sexy and violent than this one; more like season 1, but that does not mean that season 2 wasn't amazing.

It was amazing.

The dual plot line, Dallas and Maryann, kept you entertained and allowed escalation without tedium. All of Bon Temps going crazy like that would have been tedious if nothing else had been going on - especially since we're talking about a Maenad here, and not vampires.

Let's focus on the episode. My first remark is that Gran's wedding dress was very pretty, and she had one hell of a rack (if Maryann's bosom is any indication). Prepared for her wedding, with all the ritual put together, she was far more ready for this one to work than any previous attempt. And we finally found out why. Sam! I know, I didn't really get why he was the one she wanted. I would have thought she'd have gone after Sookie, whose powers she didn't understand. But when Sam showed up at her place all those years before, she became convinced he was it. And she sure was right.

I knew how it was going to play out from ep 11, when the Queen told Bill all that lore. Of course Sam was going to take on the appearance of the God, for him alone would she die. And she did, beautifully gored on a horn.

I loved how Sookie asked about that stupid egg at the same time that I was thinking "What is up with that!?" The show really knows what its audience wants and is interested in. Oh Sookie...there was also some beautiful parallelism when Maryann again asks her what she is, and Sookie says "I'm a waitress. What the F$@# are you?"

That this whole conflict was resolved when the episode was only half over is even more of an indication of the talent of the writers and planners. Good stories need an epilogue. We need to know that everything worked out okay once Maryann was gone (or didn't in some cases).

Andy got his job back, with the Sheriff telling him "You might have your faults, Andy, but at least you've got pants on." The Sheriff lost his pants several episodes back.

Eggs could not live with what he had done all those years for Maryann, and, trying to turn himself in, threatened Andy. Jason, Andy's new best friend, blew the back of his brains out. Poor Terra. That girl can't seem to get a break. Apparently she and Jason might be getting another chance, though I preferred her with Sam.

There was a whole lot of set up for next season in those last few minutes. Sam's going to find his parents; Jessica and Hoyt did not resolve their fight, but they will soon I hope; Bill proposed to Sookie, and then was kidnapped before she had the chance to say yes. I loved how she was so confused at first, but once she had a second to think about it, she knew what she wanted.

And now we have to wait until June!! June before we see anymore.

That just means I'll be reading Dead in Dallas and trying to decide just how much better the show is. Amazing that a TV show can so surpass the quality of the book it is based on...even more amazing is the success of those books given the quality of the writing. Great ideas...not expressed the best way.

Why Watch North and South

As you all know by now, at the very least from my memorial post on Tuesday morning, Patrick Swayze passed away. To honour his memory, this is my first "Why Watch" post, and it is about the miniseries which launched his career.

North and South is about the American Civil War. It follows two families; that of George Hazard (played by James Read) in the North, and Orry Main (Swayze) in the South. About 20 years before the Civil War breaks out, George and Orry become friends while training together at West Point. There families are close, despite George's crazy abolitionist sister and Orry's father owning of slaves.

Yes, the characters are cliches. All of the characters. Every single character is a representative of every single stereotype you could create for the era. It's why the series works so well together.

Besides, stereotypes are great teaching tools. You get all the extremes of the times, but you also see how well or badly they played off of each other.

Of course, George and Orry are the good guys. Ashton and Brett, Orry's sisters, are polar opposites - one manipulative, the other sweet and genuine. His neighbour Justin is a Simon Legris. Madeleine (Orry's love interest) is a sweet and educated woman who speaks her mind. The badguy is aptly named Bent. George's family is rife with it as well. Virgilia, the abolitionist; Stanley, his incompetent older brother; Isabel, Stanley's power-hungry wife; Constance, his beautiful Irish bride. These are characters you grow to love despite their faults, or love to hate because of them.

Watching this series taught me to understand the perspective of the South. Yes, they were wrong to have slaves, but they didn't know that. They didn't see that so clearly as we can now, and even if they did, they had no idea what to do about it. They also point out that the way the North treated their immigrants was not much better. Sure, technically they were free to go where they wanted, but they were so poor they had no choice but to stay where they were and live in conditions that were no better (if not worse) than slave quarters.

Also, this cast is more star-studded than Ocean's 11.

Kristie Alley, David Carradine, Genie Frances, Jonathan Frakes, Forrest Whitaker, Jean Simmons, and David Ogden Stiers are the now famous regulars (well Jean Simmons was famous then too).

The guest stars are even more impressive, with Hal Holbrook, Gene Kelly, Robert Mitchum, Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Cash, Lloyd Bridges, Olivia de Havilland, and James Stewart.

So go and get a hold of North and South, Books I and II (There is a Book III, but it's terrible. You do not need to see it. Book II's ending is perfect. You do not want to see it; it ruins everything)

RIP Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze died yesterday. He'd been battling cancer for almost 2 years, and was 57 years old. It's so strange to think that he's dead.

He is best known, of course, for his role in Dirty Dancing. Other famous roles are Ghost, Road House and a recent stint on The Beast...but that is not how I remember him.

To me, he will always be Orry Main, the dashing Southern gentlemen from North and South. It was the series that launched his career and utterly delights me whenever I watch it.

Good bye, Patrick Swayze, and best of luck wherever you've gone.

Mad Men and a baby

I was surprised that last week's episode did not end with a trip to the hospital, but, after watching this week's episode, it makes sense. A nice framing device to have Betty with Don at Sally's school dealing with her oldest child's difficulties over losing Grampa Gene and finish with her new responsibilities for her baby boy.

Betty's labour was a nightmare of loneliness, drug-induced over-bright fairylands and horrible 60s medical practices. She managed it just fine, this being her third child, suffering under the hands of disinterested nurses, without her husband or her doctor (who was out a dinner instead). If labour was like that still today, I'd never want kids.

Don, meanwhile, got to sit in the waiting room and wonder at the concern of another father. Dennis's wife was clearly having their first child. Will his wife be alright? Will he love the child if she is not? And Don didn't really seem to register that it was a big deal.

Once the baby was in the world, in the arms of his mother, Don did the right thing, telling Betty she was beautiful despite her desires to put on her face. Then he ignored her wishes to name the child after her father.

Also, there are more indications that Don and Sally's teacher may end up having some sort of something. What that is and where that is going, I do not want to know...but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.

Peggy and Pete finally had a scene together this season, brought together by Duck who has found himself and a different company and hopes to woo the two away. Pete was furious and left quickly, but Peggy enjoyed herself. She even requested a raise from Don, saying it was to be the law that women receive equal pay for equal work. He said it wasn't going to happen.

The scene was even more painful since Don's office was filled with gifts for the baby. As Peggy fingered a pair of booties and told him "I look at you and think I want what he has. You have everything and so much of it." She wishes she could have kept her baby. She wishes she had a devoted house husband and the pay her work deserves.

The most entertaining part of the episode was Pete's attempt to get old white men to focus their advertising campaigns towards the black population. It did not go well, and neither did his brief chat with an elevator operator, from whom he was trying to get the black perspective on purchasing. Oh Pete...what have you got going for you again? Right...your mother's family...

The whole episode makes me so glad that, despite the lack of convention today, and the lack of such beautiful clothes, I live now. Now is better. Discrimination is not nearly as bad.

Defying Gravity series finale?

Defying Gravity got cancelled...which is not really surprising. The ratings sucked from the beginning, and that during the summer when it doesn't really have much competition. And this last episode was pretty bad.

I enjoyed the show enough, after all I did watch it and I will watch the last few unaired episodes whenever ABC throws them out on the airwaves, mostly because I'm curious to find out what Beta is.

That's right; the show got canned before we knew what the thing was "really" about. So, for now, it ends with the entire crew staring into this yellow light, some smiling and some just looking confused.

Let's just hope that the actors move on to better things. The cast was actually pretty decent, likable, attractive enough. They can continue to be in show business as long as someone gives them better scripts to work with.

Vampire Diaries Pilot

I have neither seen nor read twilight, so I cannot compare the two stories in any depth.

I can say that I find this mythology more interesting and suited to my personal opinions on Vampires than what I've heard of twilight.

These Vamps have the powers of mind control; they can control the elements (fog, a crow); they cannot walk in sunlight without the aid of a family ring; they drink blood, human or animal, though human makes them stronger; they can't enter a house without explicit permission; they either move without making a sound or can teleport in some way or another; they may be able to fly or levatate, but that is not yet clear.

Also, Stefan, our hero Vamp, is interested in Elena, our human leading lady, because she is the exact double of Catharine, his love from 1864.That's why someone so old is obsessed with a high school student. Hopefully that interest will get as sexual as is possible on cable, but that remains to be seen...and I'm not sure I'm going to be sticking around.

It's called the Vampire Diaries because both Elena and Stefan keep diaries. They've both discovered that memories are precious and should be recorded for review later. Elena, having recently lost her parents, had to grow up fast over the summer. She's quite mature and sophistocated for a high school student, which could be good for a no-longer-in-highschool viewer such as myself. Still, the narration is a little cheezy.

A lot of it is cheezy, and not in that "we're having fun and making fun of ourselves" kind of way. The impression is an attempt at seriousness that misses its mark. This is the case from the very beginning. We have a sexy and mysterious voice over that is cliche and predictable, and then two people get killed by a vamp. One is trying to help them vamp, whom he just hit with his car, but the other, the girl, when she sees her man's body fall across the car as she gets out, instead of getting back in the vehicle to drive to safety, decides to run for it in heels. Are we back in the horror flicks of the 70s and 80s?

The cheeziness was the worse factor. If it learned to laugh at itself, to abandon the silly hightened seriousness, it would be a better show.

The acting wasn't bad. Elena and Stefan I liked. The friends were alright. Damon, our evil vamp, was not on screen long enough for me to assess, though I did not find him nearly attractive enough...so he better be able to act.

I guess I'll decide next week whether or not to bother to watch it again.

Supernatural Season 5 premiere

I'm going to start by saying that it is not entirely Sam's fault that he released Lucifer from Hell when he killed Lilith. I mean, sure, Dean and Bobby tried to stop him cause they thought the blood-drinking thing was bad, and Ruby was a demon and he should have known better than to trust her, and really he got addicted to the blood and became an angry vengeful moron, determined to kill Lilith and damn the consequences, but if Cas or any other angel had told him that Lilith was the 66th seal and killing her would have caused the apocalypse, well that would have stopped him.

He did not know the consequence of his action, and others did and did not tell him, so, yes, be mad at him for making a decision without knowing the details, but he did what he did because he thought it would result in the exact opposite of what did happen.

Now that we've cleared that up, let's cheer cause it appears God is back in the house, what with Cas's miraculous reappearance (YAY! Cas is hot). And it's good that there's someone on the Supernatural side of things who isn't evil or selfish or really really really flawed in some way or other. It was really awesome to see Cas taking out those a$$hole angels. Balance is important. Now that Lucifer is back, we need to have someone strong enough on our side so that the world does not end tomorrow. Please save the world from the apocalypse so we can have a season 6.

Other highlights of the episode were that Bobby got possessed, but overpowered the demon and stabbed himself to save Dean (did Bobby not get the "I can't get possessed" tattoo, or are the demons getting stronger?), Meg has returned - Dean took a while to figure out who she was, but Sam knew right away, after all, they were closer, Dean is Michael's sword, or, in other words, his meat suit, and Dean and Sam are not good with each other and have trust issues (how surprising).

The Mythology is getting more and more interesting. How much of apocalypse lore is going to play into the season, and are we going to get any non-over-arching-plot-line episodes? Can Sam and Dean fight any entertaining but small battles in little towns in the middle of nowhere with the devil on the loose? My favourite episodes tend to be the ones that resemble the episodic starting point of the series.

I have to give really really high points that there was some Wincest on the show. That's right; Becky, Sam's #1 FAN, was writing her Wincestuous fan-fiction. Of course, I think Wincest is gross. I mean, Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles making out, YES, PLEASE!!!! but not while they are portraying brothers. Thanks.

And now we have to wait until Thursday to see the next episode. CRY! It's going to be a fantastic season!

I forgot to mention that Lucifer got his meat suit by the end of the episode, and man named Nick! You have to love how they pay attention to these little details.