Vampire Diaries - Haunted, S01E07

If you haven't yet watched Vampire Diaries, don't read this post. If you haven't figured out that you should not read any of my posts before having watched the episode, you aren't reading my posts frequently enough, or you did not check out the Read This First entry.

We all knew that it was getting to be time for someone to die on Vampire Diaries. Zach had been killed, but that death was quick, and no one really cared about Logan. I have always given Kevin Williamson credit for understanding the need to kill off characters, regardless of how well liked. Sometimes killed off exactly because they are well liked. Unfortunately for me, I found out before I watched the episode. I hate when people put spoilers in the titles of their articles. It's sort of hard to miss the words "Vicki dies" next to Vampire Diaries when all I was looking for was news of whether Eastwick has been officially not picked up yet. So while I was not surprised or shocked by the death, I was still glad of it.

When the episode started, Tyler (Michael Trevino) was walking through an empty parking lot late at night, by himself. Vicki (Kayla Ewell) is in his car, and she is freaking out, and hungry. It doesn't take long before she tries to tear out his throat with her teeth, but lucky for him Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) show up to stop her. Stefan holds on to Vicki, while Damon takes care of Tyler...in the way Stefan wants. But who didn't agree with Damon when he asked who would possibly miss Tyler. The guy's a jerk and deserved death far more than Vicki did. Still Damon listens to Stefan and uses his power of suggestion to eliminate the entire memory.

Yes, Damon and Stefan are working together, probably because they have figured out that the town is onto them and if they both want to survive, the town better not figure out that they are the vampires. Still, while Stefan tries to help Vicki and prevent her from taking risks for her own sake, Damon is not as cautious, which is how she escapes their custody to end up at the school Hallowe'en party.

Stefan goes to search for Vicki, but Damon has more pressing matters. He heads to the Mystic Grill where he overhears Mayor Lockwood and his wife discuss the vampire issue. He goes to talk to her, once her husband is gone, and begins to flirt. When he tries to control her mind, it does not work, and so he asks her about the vervain and how much his uncle Zach is supposed to supply - trying to figure out how many people know that Vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. He doesn't get an exact number, but he knows there is a council. He also knows that this council is unaware that he and Stefan have the ability to move about in the light.

Back at the Hallowe'en party, Elena (Nina Dobrev) is desperately trying to find her brother Jeremy (Stephen R. McQueen) before Vicki does. She knows that Vicki will be confused and unable to control her lust together with her hunger, which will put Jeremy in a lot of danger. She is too late; by the time she comes across Vicki and Jeremy in the school parking lot, the beast has taken over. The fight is on, and when Vicki gets her teeth into Elena's shoulder, Stefan runs her through with a wooden stake. She does not turn to dust, but does fall over looking far more dead than before.

Damon, who was busy trying to get his yellow gem back from Bonnie (Katerina Graham) - which did not work because it scalded him on account of her being a witch or something, took care of the body, while Stefan got Elena and Jeremy home. In the end, Damon helped Jeremy forget all that had happened, only to remember that Vicki left town and that he'd miss her but he'd be okay. Elena wished she could have the same treatment, but she refused to lose the memory of her feelings for Stefan. Looks like they've rekindled.

The big thing I'd like to discuss this week is Vicki's death. Originally, the plan had been for Jeremy to kill Vicki to save his sister. The scene had been shot and everything. Instead, they opted for Stefan to do it, for two reasons. 1. It made him a hero to save Elena. 2. Would Jeremy have known to use a wooden stake?

Frankly, I think Jeremy should have killed her. What idiot does not know to use a wooden stake? I mean, if the Vampire Diaries used different mythology and a different way to kill vamps - like only beheading works or something, well how would Jeremy know that...but any individual out there, when confronted with a vampire, is probably going to try a wooden stake first. Besides that, those were the handiest weapons.

As for making Stefan a hero? He is an older, stronger vampire, but all he can do is stab the woman he said he'd protect and prevent from hurting anyone? Really? Doesn't that make him a little pathetic. Actually, I read the situation that he panicked. Elena was in danger, and he did the first thing that came to mind to save her. Which I understand, and respect him for, but it still doesn't make him much of a hero.

What did you think?

Eastwick - Bonfire and Betrayal, S01E06

I have to say that I was quite disappointed with this episode. It lacked the irreverent joie de vivre that all its presidents exuded and the dark moments, rather than being frightening, mostly just made me unhappy. And I do NOT watch Eastwick to make myself feel unhappy.

Joanna (Lindsay Price) has been depressed since she lost Will (Johann Urb) and her job, remaining permanently on her couch eating ice cream. Kat (Jaime Ray Newman) and Roxie (Rebecca Romijn) convince her to get up and get out, and go ask Will for another chance. Kat is especially invested in the notion. So Joanna goes through with it, and apologizes to Will, who says he forgives her. But he is not interested in trying to see her again, he's moved on. Joanna uses her powers to force Will to tell her to whom he has moved on, and he tells her he likes Kat.

Of course, Joanna is not only devastated, she also feels betrayed. She meets Kat at the hospital and tells her off. Kat feels guilty, and is annoyed with Will when he shows up to ask her out. She tells him she's not interested and that Joanna comes first. Will tries to convince her that she's wrong and that she should give it a chance.

And this is where I have a major problem. Does this mean that Will was never interested in Joanna in the first place? That she made him think he was, but he wasn't. Regardless of the spark with Kat, he moved on fairly quickly and now has no regard for Joanna's feelings in all of this. I had not previously had the impression that Will was that kind of jerk. Apparently, he wants what he wants - Kat - but he doesn't care about who he might be hurting or that he's putting her in such an awkward position.

Meanwhile, Roxie is running around trying to prevent the funeral she saw from taking place. She still has no idea who is in the coffin, but she does discover that Bun (Veronica Cartwright) knows what she is seeing. That Bun has her own magical powers and can share her visions. Bun tells her that she knows that someone will die because of a statue, and Roxie runs to Darryl (Paul Gross) just in time to save him from being crushed by the statue of himself. Darryl is furious that the statue fell, and blames Chad (Matt Dallas) for not securing it properly. Chad gets fired and Darryl moves the statue downtown.

Chad is so angry that he got fired and Roxie stood there and did nothing. What did he expect her to do? Please don't fire my boyfriend even though he sucks at his job and it nearly killed you? Talk about a temperamental boy-child. He leaves her shop in a fury, probably to go get drunk.

If things weren't bad enough, Pastor Dunn shows up and kidnaps Joanna, blaming her for his disgrace. He plans to kill her because he knows that she is a witch. And though she uses a new power, the ability to move objects with her eyes, she is still not able to evade him.

Kat goes to Penny (Sarah Rue) to get help with Joanna. Penny is quite angry with Kat, pointing out that she is a far better friend to Joanna. Now, past episodes that revealed Penny's relationship with Jamie (Jack Huston) made me doubt her friendship, but she was furious with him, blaming him for ruining Joanna's life. So she is a good friend. And when she can't get a hold of Joanna, the two go to search for her.

Penny takes her photo to the streets, while Kat asks Roxie to have a vision. While Joana and Roxie have both accepted the reality of their powers, Kat does not really believe in the magic. She doesn't seem to realize that she is capable of anything either. Bun is the one who helps them out, when she says that Joanna's keys are on fire. They realize that Joanna is likely in one of the symbolic coffins which will burn to symbolize getting rid of past bad memories.

Again, this is where it gets really sketchy. You want me to believe that no one is checking what is inside of these coffins being piled up to burn? That no one might have used the annual tradition to get rid of something they ought not...or to make sure that there are no chemicals in the coffins that would be dangerous? Apparently Pastor Dunn was able to drop a coffin on the top of the pile without anyone noticing. Yeah, right.

Then, when Roxie and Kat try to get the firemen's help, well let's just say that I would find better firemen . They don't listen to Roxie, and when Kat tries to climb the pile of coffins to get to Joanna, Will pulls her away and doesn't let go despite her screaming that Joanna is in one of them. Will was in full fireman gear, and they could have and should have been able to extinguish that fire quickly if it was properly supervised.

Luckily for Joanna, Kat brings rain when she begins to cry. She still hasn't figured out exactly that she has power, let alone how to wield it, but I think she is beginning to believe. She and Joanna apologize and forgive each other, but it is unclear where things will go in regards to Will. Frankly, he can just exit and not come back for all I care. He causes complications I don't like and don't want to put up with.

Roxie is glad Joanna is safe. She thinks that she has stopped her vision from happening. Bun tells her otherwise. It's not possible to stop fate. And so we see Chad, drunk and angry, beating on the statue of Darryl near the town centre. He just happened to find a crowbar lying about nearby (Sure, that could happen.) After a couple hits to the knees, Chad goes to walk about and the Statue lands on his head, killing him.

And that was the conclusion to this oh so happy episode.

The best parts were when Penny compared Jamie to a crumpet and he compared her to a blueberry scone. They are definitely adorable, and I'm glad that Penny is not involved in whatever evil Jamie has going on that will eventually find him burying Roxie alive.

What did you think?

Castle - Vampire Weekend, S02E06

This was not only the best episode of Castle ever, but possibly also the best episode of television in my life. And if my blog is any indication, I watch a lot of television.

It started with Castle (Nathan Fillion) trying on a space cowboy costume for his upcoming Hallowe'en party. That's right, he was Captain Mal Reynolds, back on the small screen. He bursts into his living room, and Alexis (Molly C. Quinn) commented that he had worn that costume 5 years ago, and wasn't it about time he got over it. Brilliant!

Then Beckett (Stana Katic) calls and he meets her at a graveyard to inspect a crime scene. Not only did she comment on his suspenders (teehee), but he got to make a Buffy reference when we discovered the body was that of a staked vampire.

The murder mystery itself was serious and sad - a woman killed a man's wife so she could marry him, and 18 years later killed the son who had witnessed the event and his friend who also had evidence. It was a touching reminder that amidst all the irreverence that Caster (the show not the character) is known for, murder and death is still...well...murder and death.

But aside from that, there was SO much to delight in.

Our murdered Vampire was not actually a vampire. Calling himself Crow, he was part of a coven and enjoyed the lifestyle. His lover, Vixen, also enjoyed the lifestyle, but when Castle and Beckett spoke with her, she was quite adamant that she understood the difference between reality and fantasy. She disparaged Morlock, a former member of the coven, because he had begun to truly believe that he was a vampire.

And when Castle and Beckett were searching Crow's apartment, his landlord commented that there really wasn't much of a difference between Civil War reenactors and members of a vampire coven. Awesome. Also, they found out Crow was writing a graphic novel and Morlock was the main character.

Using the drawings in the graphic novel, Beckett and Castle uncovered Morlock's lair. They found a coffin, and being daytime, they opened it, expecting to find Morlock inside. Castle jumped like a scared kitten when it opened, but Morlock was not there. Instead, he fell from the ceiling onto Castle's shoulders, biting him on the neck and then smoking and sizzling the moment sunlight poured through a broken window and caressed him skin. Commercial break.

Well, it turned out Morlock was not a vampire, so Castle will not turn into Moonlight any time soon. Instead, he had porphyria (aka he's allergic to sunlight). He was also completely batty (hehehe), and was rambling about who knows what...Well, Castle figured out what and used Morlock to identify the nanny as Crow's murderer.

The other murder victim, Crow's friend, was dressed as a werewolf for a Hallowe'en party when he was shot..but not by a silver bullet.

There were many other awesome moments, such as Castle allowing Alexis to go to a high school seniors party and not asking questions or getting her into trouble when she called because her friend had had too much to drink. Castle's parenting is spot on most of the time. No wonder Alexis is so well adjusted and normal.

It ended with the fabulous Hallowe'en party with Castle dressed as Edgar Allen Poe, and Beckett showing up in a trench coat. Frankly, I thought she ought to be Nikki Heat when Castle complained that she ought to have been in costume. Instead, she surprised him with a pop-out frog. Ookaaaay...

What was your favourite moment?

Mad Men - The Gypsy and the Hobo, S03E11

This was the episode that we have all been waiting for since we first watched the series premiere of Mad Men.

Sterling Cooper had business as usual, with an old friend of Roger (John Slattery)'s shopping for a new advertising firm. Or should I say old flame. Still Roger resisted letting the spark catch fire after so many years, for Jane. Or at least, that was the implication. He then spent the rest of the episode thinking about Joan (Christina Hendricks) who requested his aide in finding employment again.

Joan and Greg (Sam Page) also had their issues. Greg continued to be unable to find a job as a psychiatrist. Likely because he really didn't want to become one - he wanted to be a surgeon. When he came home, complaining of how Joan had no idea what it was like to have wanted something all your life and to have done everything right and then still not have it. She whacked him over the head with a vase. Should have done that a long time ago. Still, when he came home the next day, all apologetic, bringing her a bouquet of roses for which he promise a new vase, I could not help but be reminded that the last time he'd brought her roses was when he raped her. And yet, when he made his announcement that he'd figured it out, that he had joined the army, and that they were taken care of, I still cringed. When he said it was unlikely he'd have to go anywhere - "maybe Vietnam, if that's still going on" - I just felt to horrified for Joan. I guess that's something we'll have to look forward to.

But we had not awaited either of those things since day one. What we wanted to see was what would happen when Betty (January Jones) and Don (Jon Hamm) had the Dick Whitman conversation. Let me just say that Jon Hamm portrayed his part with such believability. His shaking hands, dropping his cigarette, the panic and tension coursing through his body. WOW.

Betty was angry, furious, particularly about Anna Draper, but as she watched him, as she realized he meant it when he told her that he had seen Anna last year and she had reminded him that he loved Betty, she began to lose the edge. Then baby Gene interrupted. She left the room, and Don, instead of going out to his car and leaving with Miss Farrell, who was waiting in the passenger seat to go on a getaway, he took the box of photos to the bedroom. Betty returned and he told her about his father, his wife, his mother the prostitute, and his uncle. When Betty prompted him about Adam, he dissolved into tears about the brother he had rejected and who had killed himself.

Though shaken, Betty and Don have found themselves back on equal footing. The bond, the love, the desire to be together that each has will not easily be dissolved, and I don't want it to be.

With only 2 episodes left in the season, what other disasters will occur before season 4 begins?

Dexter - Dirty Harry, S04E05

Frank Lundy is dead.

Debra blames herself entirely for his death.

She broke up with Anton as well.

Angel told reporter Christine to publish that the Vacation Murderer had syphilis.

The Vacation Murderer's girlfriend killed him.

Quinn reconciled with Christine.

The Chief ordered Maria to transfer Angel so their relationship could not be used against them.

Rita discovered that Dexter kept his old apartment.

Dexter and Rita's marriage is on the rocks.

The Trinity Killer completed his ritual.

Dexter discovered that the Trinity killer is a family man, just like him.

And that is the episode in a nut shell. Can't wait until next week, can you?

Dollhouse - Belonging, S02E04

Friday's episode of Dollhouse apparently received abysmal ratings despite being one of the best episodes of the show yet. And I think I make that remark almost every week as the fan base does not seem to grow.

In fact, Fox has postponed the next 4 episodes. None will show in November, which is sweeps, but will instead continue in double-headers in December. I hope that means they will advertise the show and get viewers for those episodes, but I may have to content myself with being happy that Fox kept its promise to show the rest of season 2.

Now, let's focus on Belonging. The episode did not focus on Echo (Eliza Dushku) - for once she was a secondary character, though she continued to try to help the other dolls, namely Victor (Enver Gjokaj) and Sierra (Dichen Lachman). Her plot did still advance, as Boyd (Harry Lennox) caught on that she was far more aware than she ought to have been, and he brought her a key card, presumably to exit the building, to help when the storm hit. Echo has such a way of securing the loyalty of her escorts.

What we saw was Sierra's life before she ended up in the Dollhouse...or should I call her Pria. She was an artist, Australian, and a Dollhouse contributer, Nolan (Vincent Ventresca), was madly in love with her. She, however, felt nothing for him. He was persistent, and so she painted him a mural, which he showed off, hiring both Echo and Victor to help persuade her that he was a catch. The plan backfired; Pria felt an immediate attraction to Victor, and continued to refuse Nolan's advances.

In the present, Echo brings Topher (Fran Kranz) a painting Sierra made, telling him that Sierra does not like the bad man. Topher looks into things, and discovers that Sierra has had a repeat engagement with Nolan, a neurosurgeon, for quite some time. He digs deeper, and realizes that when Sierra first arrived at the Dollhouse, he had been convinced she was a paranoid schizophrenic, but her disconnect with reality had actually been the result of drugs. She was not supposed to be in the Dollhouse.

Topher brought the information to Adelle (Olivia Williams), who confronted Nolan. She told him he would no longer be a client, but he disagreed. He insisted that she imprint Pria with love for him and deliver her permanently. And Adelle's boss, played by non-other than Keith Carradine* (aka Frank Lundy from Dexter), insisted that she follow his instructions.

Topher could not bring himself to do it. He sent Sierra as Pria to Nolan, and she ended up killing the man who put her through hell, the man whom she had tried to confront last year when the dolls had been given the chance to resolve their issues. This was not exactly what Topher had expected, but he showed up to help her anyway. Boyd also appeared, and we learnt that while he may have been a cop before joining up with the Dollhouse, he was very good at making a person and a body disappear without raising and flags.

And so Pria returned to the Dollhouse, having committed an act that earned her a place among the dolls.

That description sounds almost hopeless, but it is not, because we learned something else. When Pria awoke, she knew she was in love. She did not remember Victor, but her feelings for him persisted. So while the dolls may be devoid of many things, they can still form real attachments. I wonder what that says about the soul. What do you think?

Stargate Universe - Light, S01E05

And the train begins to pull out of the station.

This week, Stargate Universe started to gain both momentum and consistency.

When the episode began, our heroes found themselves about to have a head on collision with a star. Let me tell you, if you don't already know, spaceship to star collisions usually don't end up so good for the space ship.

Suddenly, the crew was faced with death. Not the uncertainty of being lost in the stars for eternity far from planet Earth, but imminent death. It brought out some very interesting reactions. Colonel Young (Justin Louis) announced that the shuttle, manned with 17 people, 2 of his choosing, would try to make it to one of the planets in the system they hoped was habitable. The choice of 15 of those would be made by lottery. Young withdrew his name from that lottery, and Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) did the same soon after. Camile Wray (Ming-Na), our representative from the IOA, told Young off for using the lottery. She thought he ought to pick the most capable to survive. She also wanted him to pick her, and so dropped the subject when he threatened to remove her name from the box.

Chloe (Elyse Levesque) - who did not annoy me particularly this week - and Scott (Brian J Smth) slept together. It was a little cheesy, with Chloe telling Scott she felt closer to him over the last few days than anyone else in her life ever, but it reinforced the notion that SGU is charactercentric. Our couples have and will continue to have sex with each other, which does create a less retractable link between them.

I'm not sure how I feel about Scott having sex with Chloe when not so long before they all ended up on the Destiny, he was sleeping with Vanessa James (Julia Anderson), a fellow soldier. Imagine if Sam had had sex with every man she had a connection with over the course of SG1. Or watching Sheppard take so many women to bed on Atlantis. We are so clearly dealing with something different here.

As I said, Chloe and Scott slept together; Eli (David Blue) was fully aware of this.

And so the draw took place, and we got more interesting reactions. When Camile was picked, she burst into tears. She was so grateful that she might live, so terrified of the idea of death. When all were picked, Young, Greer (Jamil Walker Smith), Eli and Chloe were among those who stayed behind. As the shuttle loaded, one man, a soldier, attempted to rouse the group to protest, to have their chance to live, but one swift blow from Greer left him unconscious until it was far too late.

The soldiers, now having orders and understanding the situation - they must allow those 17 to leave - behaved like soldiers, following orders and being useful.

So the shuttle left, but we still have the Destiny flying straight into the star with half our leads on board. What miracle was Rush going to pull? Nothing. He did nothing, and the Destiny flew straight into the star.

I should say straight through the star. It's shields still had enough energy to protect it as it plunged through the core of the star, recharging by solar power as it went. The Destiny emerged sans any energy problem, with the crew alive and safe.

Then they had to retrieve the shuttle, which was a bit of a trick. But Rush and Eli solved the problem and got our folks back on board. And boy was it great that they all went through a real disaster. Everyone was so happy to be back on board the Destiny together, heading off who knows where. They admitted it was the exact situation they were in before, but they were much happier to find themselves in it.

As we look forward to next week, with the distrust between Rush and Young still ongoing, I hope we will end up off ship and on planet again. It might be nice to have some other creatures to encounter, but I think we all have to understand (past Stargate fans and new SGU viewers alike), the story is about the characters and how they are dealing with this situation and growing, as well as the mythology that specifically involves the Destiny. If voices make the powers that be decide that an alien presence or enemy is needed, that won't come until next season. Frankly, I'm interested to see what this new show is!

What about you?

White Collar - Pilot, S01E01

If you did not see the series premiere of White Collar, boy did you miss a treat. This is a show that you'll want to be watching every week if the pilot reflects what the season will bring.

This show caught my attention because Matthew Bomer stars in it. Who is Matthew Bomes? I should be aghast. He played the awesome and sexy unstoppable superspy Brice Larkin on Chuck...Chuck? Go catch up on season 1 & 2 of this hilarious action/comedy about a secret service consultant who works in a Buy More as his cover.

The idea of Matthew Bomer starting in his own show was not something I was prepared to miss, and I was right.

The premise of White Collar:

Neal Caffrey (Bomer) is a con-man, art thief, counterfeiter, etc. Almost 4 years ago, he was caught by FBI agent Peter Stokes (Tim DeKay), and had to serve a 4 year sentence, but 3 months before he became a free man, he broke out of his maximum security prison. Why? To try to find Kate, his girlfriend who had just left him. He arrived 2 days too late, and waited in her abandoned apartment for Stokes to retrieve him.

Now, he wants to help Stokes arrest other con-men like himself so that 1. he does not have to remain in jail another 4 years, and 2. he can look for Kate who has disappeared.

What we are really dealing with is an awesome con-man, who can play the game, but is not in fact arrogant. He is very good at what he does, but he is not a bad person and is almost naive in some of his own personal innocences. I'll be very interested to see where it develops.

Bomer and DeKay have this fantastic spark between them. As they spare, each coming from a very carefully and fully developed character, you can't help but laugh at the differences between them and at the witty lines they deliver, which may be clever but are not over the top.

Stokes' personal life is not neglected either, he has a beautiful wife, Elle (Tiffani Thiessen) with whom he has the perfect relationship. Sure, they probably fight occasionally, and it isn't easy on her when he gets distracted at work and forgets to come home for dinner, but she understands him and he loves her and while there may be difficulties along the line, I know they will work through it.

So go watch this fantastic and terrifically amusing new show, and tell me that you think it's awesome too.

FlashForward - Gimme Some Truth, S01E05

FlashForward continues to generate questions, though this episode did not really answer any. And that's okay, because heaven forbid that we run out of questions.

We got a big reveal though, Agent Janis Hawk (Christine Woods), who saw herself pregnant in her flashforward, is gay. That's right, she likes to date women. So, how she got herself knocked up is a bit of a mystery and explains why she is so surprised by the idea. Her colleagues are also unaware of her sexual orientation because apparently the FBI does not trust homosexuals with guns...okay...

We don't really need to get political right now.

But the episode itself got very political. Agent Standford Wedeck (Courtney B. Vance), the head of our branch of the FBI, Agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) and Agent Demetri Noh (John Cho) went to Washington DC to gain permission and funding to head up the mosaic investigation. Things look a little hairy at first. Wedeck has some old connections there - apparently he helped get the President into office - but he also has some old enemies. In the end, he bribes his friend, the President, into letting his team have the funding.

Only afterwards does he take the questions to Mark which prevented them from getting the funding through clean channels. And Mark finally admits that in his flashforward, he was loaded. He was drunk off his ass.

Olivia (Sonya Walger) also finds out that Mark was drinking from a mysterious text message. Who sent it? Will we ever find out? She is worried about his return to the habit, and it would certainly explain why she saw herself with another man 6 months in the future. This is likely the beginning of the rockiness of Olivia and Mark's marriage.

Finally, as the episode ended, Mark & co were attacked by some Asians. They fought off their assailants and were unharmed. Janis, who was back in LA, was also attacked. The episode ended with her shot in the stomach, bleeding on the ground and thinking of her flashforward when she was told her baby was a girl. Will she survive? Or will she die, proving the future can be changed? Or will this event convince her to get inseminated?

Also, the FBI co-worker, Al, was at the office when Mark was in the flashforward and saw himself going out a side door, though he claimed he did not know why. Might he be involved with the conspiracy and have left through that door to let the gun men in?

What more will we find out next week?