The Mentalist - His Red Right Hand, S02E08

After two weeks of speculation and concern, we finally got to watch His Red Right Hand and discover which character (or characters) on The Mentalist would die.

I was fearful - who could they possibly kill of our leads? The only possibilities that made any sense were Sam Bosco (Terry Kinney) and Vincent Minelli (Gregory Itzin), but with all the hype about the deaths, it seemed too easy. If they really wanted to shock and surprise, killing Cho (Tim Kang) or Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) would have been far more effective.

But Bosco died, not Rigsby or Cho, and while that seems to obvious answer, I was happy with it. I can live with Bosco's death even though he'd stopped being such a pickle, and I can live with the death of the rest of his team too. But just because I can live with these things, and just because I am gleeful that my favourite CBI team has escaped unharmed (physically at any rate), it does not mean that this episode wasn't both heart-rending and forward-moving.

Bosco's death, shortly after he confessed his love to Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and made Jane (Simon Baker) promise to kill Red John, was a blow to everyone. He was made of the right stuff, and once he stopped being so difficult toward Jane, things would really have started to move forward. Plus, you have to love that he was not forgiving of Jane's ridiculous and illegal behaviour. Sure, it's nice to always solve a case, but sometimes it's nice for the conviction to hold.

He will be missed.

There has been some speculation as to how this will affect the team. Well, Minelli retiring certainly will be an issue. Someone new is going to have to get used to Jane's eccentricities. We'll have to see just how forgiving he or she is. Lisbon will certainly not be able to move on easily. She loved Sam, too. Even Rigsby is suffering over the death of Hicks, whose life he had saved only a week ago.

Jane, on the other hand, will not be affected any more than usual. There was a moment, when the murderer told Jane that Red John had killed Bosco and his team so that Jane could be back on the case, that Jane believed these new murders might truly be his fault. It didn't even cross his mind at that point that Bosco was just reopening the case to him and he would have been back on the trail soon enough. But when she said those words, believing all the while that Red John was a good man, well it took something out of Jane. That was all undone only moments later when Red John killed his own right hand. She may have been willing to do anything for him, but she meant nothing to him. And when Jane was proven correct on that front, he got his strength back.

Red John killed Bosco and had her tell Jane it was for him to hurt Jane. Nothing more. It's a crappy reason to die, but Jane will honour their memories by not being distracted. Before the mourning of his fellows was over, he was back at the files, desperate to find a trace of Red John's mistakes.

He had made them before, he would make one again, and eventually, he will be caught.

I just hope not too soon. Either the series will end, or some other super serial killer that cannot be caught will have to appear to save the day.

Where do you think we will go from here?

V - A Bright New Day, S01E03

V continues to mount tensions, with surprising discoveries and delightful questions confusing audiences. Is it even possible that the Vs, with Anna (Morena Baccarin) at their head, could truly be of peace, always?

To that, I have no answer. It would be a really great trick if they were. Or maybe it is simply that they honestly believe that. Sure, Anna is going around carefully manipulating public opinion to win the affections of the humans of the world, but regardless of her true intent, good or ill, she would want to do this so that interaction can continue. Just because she knows just how to get what she wants does not mean that she wants to annihilate all humans.

We learned from Ryan (Morris Chestnut)'s former ally that the Vs are hooked up to something directly from Anna which gives them bliss. Maybe Anna wishes to use the same thing on humans to take away all their tension and anger - it may well be to then use them as slaves, but drugging them into unaware happiness is not such a terrible plan for that.

I also wonder what they know about Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell). Though Dale (Alan Tudyk) did remember that she was his partner and that she had seen his face, Joshua (Mark Hildreth*) prevented his superiors from finding this out. Joshua, like Ryan, is a member of the 5th column, the V resistance. So Joshua knows Erica's predisposition towards the V, but does Anna?

Her daughter, Lisa (Laura Vandervoort), is romancing Tyler (Logan Huffman) for some nefarious part of Anna's plan. But was that look at the end of the episode an indication that Lisa has feelings for Tyler that might thwart those plans?

Who can we trust? Who is a V, and what does it mean to be a V? Clearly some of them have a great hate for humanity, while others like us, and still others, Anna in particular, have some sort of plan or use for us. Where is all this going to take our heroes, and when will we discover that their intentions are no more pure than anyone elses?

What are your thoughts?

Vampire Diaries - History Repeating, S01E09

I absolutely LOVED this episode of Vampire Diaries. The quality of story telling and acting, the chemistry between the characters, oh boy has this show come together to make something great.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) must have had a blast. They mimicked each other, Stefan all attitude and plotting, Damon feigning wimpyness, yet neither managed perfectly. Exactly what you would expect from two brothers.

The girls, Elena (Nina Dobrev), Bonnie (Katerina Graham), and Caroline (Candice Accola), also got some bonding time. Bonnie finally told Caroline about being a witch, and the reason she was keeping the necklace. It ended up being very high school...but these girls are in high school, so I guess that's actually alright. Most girls, I've had the impression, end up with friendships like this. Wow, reality in a show about vampires - how strange.

These bonding moments were awesome, but the strength of the episode rested in Damon's big reveal - he had known everything that went on with Katherine. Unlike Stefan, he had known. And he had planned to bring Katherine back ever since because his love for her had been real and he could never get over it. For all that Damon is evil, he suffers so much, making him such an interesting, multidimensional villain.

I also have to give the show points for surprises. Jenna (Sara Canning) was obviously going to hit it off with Alaric (Matt Davis), Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) and Elena's new history teacher. And it is strongly hinted at that he is possibly a vampire, what with his father's bizarre ring and his refusal to enter Jenna's house uninvited. So that story line, while a little obvious, is intriguing, and a good way for Jenna to get over Logan (Chris J Johnson). I was not, however, expecting Logan to show up at her door later that night, also being asked to be invited it.

How is he still alive? Is he a vampire? What is going on!!!

Are you as into this show as I am?

Bones - The Dwarf in the Dirt, S05E07

Bones is back, baby, with an episode that reminded me exactly why I love this show.

It started with a body, as is typically the case. This body had green bones, was smallish, and was at the end of a rainbow. Yes, it was the body of a leprechaun. Did I mention the gold coins in close proximity to the remains?

Now, I'm sure you will say, well it wasn't actually a leprechaun, but you would be wrong. It was a leprechaun - the Iron Leprechaun, a popular midget wrestler.

While the case was followed carefully, which I am also adamant should occur, we had some great Bones(Emily Deschanel)/Booth (David Boreanaz) chemistry and development. And we had my favourite guest star - Stephen Fry as Gordon, Gordon Wyatt.

Booth is beginning to recognize that his feelings from Brennan are real and genuine, not caused by his brain tumor. He simply can't tell her for fear of scaring and hurting her. So we have now entered the phase where our hero knows he wants the girl, knows the chemistry is there, but has to proceed carefully so that he does not end up destroying her instead of claiming her.

It's a nice change from the will they/won't they. And it puts a little bit more of a timeline on the entire thing.

So Bones is rocking, particularly with the line of one of the wrestlers who was afraid that Booth would send him back to Canada, to Sudbury of all godforsaken places. What did you think?

The Mentalist - Red Bulls, S01E07

For once, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) did not dominate the episode. This was truly a team effort, allowing each character the shine.

Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and one of Bosco (Terry Kinney)'s underlings were not getting along. They continued to bicker throughout the episode, with tension running high. Rigsby even refused to put on a Kevlar vest despite Grace (Amanda Righetti)'s persistence because the other guy wasn't wearing one. It turned out to be a mistake, but he was lucky, for it was Grace who was shot 4 times in her vest. When will bad guys learn to aim for the head?

Rigsby ended up killing the assailant, saving the other guy, which made them suddenly friends, but the only thing that made the accident worth it was when Grace punched Rigsby hard for not having followed her advice. Next time, he will wear the vest.

Jane and Bosco got to have it out too. Lisbon (Robin Tunney) was getting very frustrated with Bosco's refusal to listen to Jane or appreciate him as part of the team. She blamed the tension he and she were displaying for the arguments between the members of their teams.

I was surprised to see Bosco turn around by the end of the episode. He handed the Red John file over to Jane...not the complete one, but still. Considering the stunt that Jane pulled last week, I'm surprised that Bosco changed him mind so swiftly. It must be for sweeps.

So stay tuned and watch next week's episode, where rumor has it a lot of people are going to die. Our heroes? Well, let's just say I'd rather Jane die that Cho (Tim Kang), Grace or Rigsby, so if they are going to kill someone important...well, I just don't know who it should be.

Any thoughts?

Glee - Wheels, S01E09

Though this episode was designed to bring attention to the difficulties students who are different have to suffer through, and it was successful in that manner, it was the worst episode of Glee.

I appreciate that Artie (Kevin McHale) finally got to be front and centre, and that we now know that he still has the full use of his penis. That's right. I also loved seeing the other side of Sue (Jane Lynch), and watching her treat one of the disabled girls just like anyone else, being just as hard on her for failing as any other cheerio, as well as meeting her sister. And I also think it might be a good idea for everyone to wheel around in a wheelchair for a week just to see how hard it is.

Those things may have been interesting life lessons, or important character development, but the rest was severely lacking. I don't recall a single song from the episode, but I am certain that there simply was not enough music. And I am also greatly confused by the fact that Quinn (Dianna Agron) called Puck (Mark Salling) an egghead. Yes, it was just before she crushed a yokey egg on his head, but otherwise he is the farthest thing from an egghead I can imagine...unless it has come to mean something completely different in the many years since I was in high school.

Also, Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz)'s fake stutter was the worst discovery ever. I mean, we all suspected from the first that Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) was not in fact pregnant, but a fake pregnancy is far more interesting that a fake stutter.

That's how Danielle Cs it, how did you?

Stargate Universe - Time, S01E08

Finally a Stargate Universe episode that I not only believe takes place in the same world as Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, but that rocked my world.

It started out in Kinovision (the world viewed from a Kino), with our heroes checking out a new planet, rife with foliage. Before long, some of the crew began to fall sick, including Chloe (Elyse Levesque), so the team stayed on the planet to try to determine whether it was something there that was making them sick - they did not want to bring a contagion back. It turns out that this was a bad idea because by nightfall the stargate was malfunctioning and squid creatures attacked. They started biting, and one ate through Chloe. That's right, Chloe died!!

Naturally, I knew at that point that something wasn't quite right. As delighted as I would be by Chloe's death, Elyse Levesque is scheduled to appear for the rest of the season.

As it turns out, the folks watching the Kino video also realized at that point that something wasn't right, particularly Chloe who had to run out of the room to puke.

And so we have all our friends watching themselves on the planet, where they have now never been since they found the Kino full of information. Is it an alternate timeline, dimension or what?

It's not a time loop - too early for a time loop episode - instead, the stargate is passing through a solar flare, which past stargate experience has taught us will throw the traveller back through the same gate but at a different time - past or future. In this case, the Kino went to the past.

Yes, we got some cool scientific stuff going on, and, for once, we had some great connections happening between the characters. Alaina Huffman's TJ finally showed herself as a smart, competent and tough woman. She did everything she could to save her sick patients, in both timelines, and was equally crushed by her failure. Eli (David Blue) connected with TJ and Rush (Robert Carlyle) since Chloe ended up dying in both timelines. I already loved Eli for his goofiness and the truth of his supergeekdom, but seeing him befriend characters who I respect, well that was a thing of beauty. And Rush, confronted with death again, was brave and true and tried his best. All the actors brought their A games to this episode, and so did the writers.

What do you think? Can they keep it up in next week's episode, entitled Life, where our heroes will have little time to capture a squid and extract its venom to cure the disease they carry?

Also, what do you think of the linking of episodes, no longer whole independent, but one leading carefully into the problem of the next?

Apologies for the Absence

Hello All,

I apologize for the delay. I know it may seem like I dropped off the planet, but in reality, life just took for. I've been looking for a new apartment, and I've finally found one, so I'm not longer constantly going to be looking at places. That gives me back some of my life.

I also read a book. Game of Thrones by George RR Martin. Perhaps you've heard of it? Well, it was awesome, and I spent 5 days reading it in my spare time rather than blogging. Though I still watched some TV. Never fear, last week's episodes will still find my commentaries gracing your computer screens, as will a review of Game of Thrones. And it is totally TV related too, since HBO is planning on turning it into a series. ROCK ON I say.

So welcome me back, and continue to read.

Love Danielle