Murdoch Mysteries - The Great Wall, S03E02

This terrific episode has increased my faith that season 3 of Murdoch Mysteries will be the greatest season of the show by tenfold. Finally, some racism! I'm delighted.

At the turn of the last century, people lacked the enlightened perspective which William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) has. The white folk who dominated society thought themselves immanently superior to all other races, regardless of their rank or cast. Murdoch, as has always been established, has a very modern view of such things, but in past seasons I have been frequently annoyed by the lack of proper historically accurate feelings about the matter.

In the Great Wall, we see that, although Murdoch's views have transferred to his colleagues at his precinct, the other precincts in Toronto do not share this enlightenment. When a cop is murdered in Chinatown, Murdoch is asked to find the killer since he has such an excellent record for catching culprits. Had that inspector realized that Murdoch would strive to get the truth, regardless of where it led, rather than quickly arresting the first suspicious Chinese man, he likely would have gotten his own men to take care of the problem.

What I liked best about this episode was how well it showed the bond between Murdoch and Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig). Although Brackenreid still gets frustrated with Murdoch's crazy methods, he definitely respects the man and understands that those methods do get results. In some ways, he is very old school - not afraid of getting his own hands dirty or of using force to get the answers he needs, but Murdoch has helped him see that results are only useful if they are the right ones. Meanwhile, one can only hope that Brackenreid's understanding of politics will rub off on Murdoch before he gets himself into too much trouble.

Have you been loving this season?

Caprica - End of Line, S01E09

The mid-season finale of Caprica gave a really good go of giving me storyline and character development to get interested in and care about, but I'm still not sure if it is too late. I think it will have to wait until I hear that the season is resuming from hiatus, and if I want to find out what happens next at that point, or if I don't, well, I will have my answer.

What was good is that things started to go somewhere. We had goals and we had end-dates and we had consequences of those goals were not met by those end-dates. Up until now, anything being planned or hoped for by our leads did not seem remotely time sensitive, or particularly important. However, I still didn't feel a strong enough connection with all of the characters to care about their pain.

As the episode ended, setting up cliff-hangers for almost all the characters, classical music which was religious and hopeful in nature played in contrast to mass chaos. Cylon-Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) had killed Philomon (Alex Arsenault) and escaped from the lab; experiencing mass visions of the most traumatic events that happened to her this season, she drove a van into a military barricade. Dramatic, although we know the character will survive, but this is the first incident in which a Cylon killed a man, and it is quite fitting that it was the man she loved and who loved her, but betrayed her.

Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) realized that she had trusted the wrong soldier of the one as she blew up Clarice (Polly Walker)'s car. I was a little disappointed that we already have seen that Clarice was not in the car, as it might have been nice to have some doubts there, but I am glad that Polly Walker is still on the show as I enjoy her performance very much. It would not be the same, however, if Amanda (Paula Malcomson) died, since their dynamic is so terrific. We do not know whether her swan dive off the bridge cost her her life, or simply drove her completely insane. But maybe that's what Daniel (Eric Stoltz) will do in the second half of the season - create an Avatar of his wife.

I am only going to mention the plot of Joseph (Esai Morales) and Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) to say "Are you kidding me?" Joseph spent the entire damn season in V-world looking for his daughter to have her fake-commit-suicide and than kill his avatar so he could never go back. What was the point of that? What a waste of time.

So I wonder what will happen next, but I'm still not sure I know what I want to have happen. And if I don't have a clue what I want from the show, why should I care about it? Despite wanting answers, I'm not sure I need to watch the show anymore to find them out - a quick check on wikipedia will give me the answers and take up far less of my time. But, what about you? Are you desperate for the return?

Caprica - The Ghost in the Machine, S01E08

I continue not to be particularly impressed with Caprica. I just can't seem to be brought to care what happens to any of the characters. It's not that it's badly done, it's just that there is almost no reason. If it weren't for the fact that next week will be a mid-season finale, I might just stop watching altogether.

It's not that it is poorly acted. I really liked the scenes between Daniel (Eric Stoltz) and Zoe (Alessandra Torresani). Daniel monologuing while forcing robot Zoe to repeat the same action over and over and over again in the hopes of having her falter, having her give him some proof, some indication that she is within the robot. But she did not give in. And that was fine, but it just meant that nothing interesting happened.

In their final scene together, he gave her a gun and told her to shoot the family dog. She did, but it turned out the gun was filled with blanks. Of course, she would have known that, and it's hard to imagine that the man who designed the robot would note have been aware of it either. But it took all the tension out of the scene and the choice when it was discovered.

Otherwise, Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) keeps putzing around in V-world searching for his daughter. If not for the scene with Sam (Sasha Roiz) the entire thing would have been a wash, and even that was annoying because when Sam heart-feltedly told Joseph how he kills people, by considering them targets, not men, by pretending it's a game, not life, he was helping Joseph figure out how to pull the trigger in a world which is a game. I mean, honestly, what a loser that he can't shoot a fake guy with a fake gun to save his own skin so that he can save his daughter.

I just really want something to happen next week, to make my commitment to this show have some value. Do you think it has value, or did you give up watching long ago?

Castle - Tick, Tick, Tick, S02E17

If you have not yet seen an episode of Castle, stop reading this and go do that instead. If you have not seen this episode of Castle, stop reading this and go do that instead. Oh My God!

This episode started off as hilarious. Yes, a serial killer targeting Beckett (Stana Katic) in relation to the Nikki Heat novels was the premise, so some seriousness was required, but for the most part, I was in stitches. An FBI profiler showed up to help catch this guy, and Castle (Nathan Fillion) was totally enamored with her and with all her cool gadgets. At first, she only considered Castle as an odd attachment to the team, but he quickly proved his usefulness - he tasered an escaping suspect, he figured out some of the clues very quickly, and he was Castle, charming as ever.

Even more to my taste were the comments about the potential sexual relationship not actually going on between Beckett and Castle. He spent the night at her house, on her couch, because he wanted to protect her from the killer. He felt responsible because the killer's obsession with the character he created, Nikki Heat, put Beckett in danger. And it didn't matter that she told him that artists cannot be responsible for the crazy people taking their work and using it as an excuse to do evil.

The next morning, when a body was found on her doorstep, questions were asked. Castle was, after all, making her pancakes. What was going on between them? And naturally, Castle, with Fillion's brilliance to make him so charismatic, had the perfect facial expressions to contradict them, but to indicate he might wish it was all true.

But despite all that wonderfulness, the only thing I have left in my head at the end of the episode is the explosion that took out Kate's apartment while, in all appearances, she was in it. I had expected the FBI profiler to get caught in an explosion when she and her team went into an apartment to arrest the suspect, having ordered Beckett and Castle to remain by the cars. Instead, it looks as though Beckett has exploded.

Now, of course, they can't have killed Beckett. That would just be ridiculous, considering the nature of the show. But I can't see how she escaped. I can't wait until next week to see what has happened to her, if she is severely injured or what is going on! How can they leave us with such a cliff hanger!!! Argh!

Parenthood - Man versus Possum, S01E02

Parenthood continues to develop the relationships between the relatives with accurate and painful truths. The themes of selfishness and prioritizing continue, with the knowledge that some of these things simply cannot be changed, though some of course can.

The case of Max having aspergers is the perfect metaphor for these choices. Although Max is very high functioning, he still cannot process the idea of anything else having more importance than he choices. Sometimes he will give into the desires of his parents, but only when bribed. The idea of giving of himself, so hard to understand of a normal child of that age, is quite beyond him. And his poor parents, despite all the efforts they will ever make for him will have to continue to make those efforts for him always, and he will never be able to return the favour.

But despite the pain of all this, watching him and his father running around their backyard, both dressed as pirates, brought me such joy and sadness, I could not tell which was the emotion overcoming me.

At least there is a little bit of normal relationship drama. Crosby (Dax Shepard) could not tell his girlfriend about his son, and so when he needed to cancel plans with her to go away for the weekend, he said it was because of Max. Typical idiot male, who on the one hand is trying his best and manning up for the son he never knew he had, but on the other hand is failing the woman whom he seemed to think was going to be a fixture in his life. I can't say that choosing your child over your woman is wrong, but she deserves to be considered a priority as well.

But don't worry, most of the drama involved a lack of seeing beyond oneself. Sarah (Lauren Graham) was having such a bad day because she was hurt over not getting a job she had really wanted that she took far longer than she ought to have to find out that her daughter was being held back in school. I suppose that might be a sign of why parenting alone is so difficult. Perhaps if she had a reliable partner to take care of her through her current difficulties, she would not be at such a loss to take care of her kids.

I do love how, despite all the difficulties and pain, the episode ended with a sense of hope. As long as we love each other, we can get through the hard times.

This Week on Television - March 17-23

http://www.couchcampus.com/television/tv-talk/this-week-on-television-march-17-23/

Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Whore, S01E09

We move from the overtly violent world that Spartacus: Blood and Sand takes place in, and focus on its sexual side. But, have no fear, that sexual side still had a very violent aspect to it.

Licinia (Brooke Harmon), the cousin of the very wealthy Marcus Crassius, wishes to sleep with one of the gladiators of the house of Batiatus. Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) is only too pleased to help her to such a venture, providing her with a mask so that her lover may no see her face while he gives her great pleasure. Ilithyia (Viva Bianca) decides that she too now wants this pleasure, and, likely out of a sense of revenge for Lucretia's new friendship with Licinia, she picks Crixus (Manu Bennett) as her lover to be despite her knowledge of Lucretia's preference.

The result was the greatest temper tantrum a woman has ever thrown. If I had any doubt about the depth of Lucretia's feelings for Crixus, they were certainly banished from my mind.

And Lucretia is not one to be slighted. She arranges Ilithyia's night of pleasure, but gives her Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) instead. Their mutual disgust upon discovering whom they have been bedding was so clearly apparent on their faces, and Spartacus' lack of control as he wrapped his hands around her neck reminded us that despite his subjection, the memory of his wife still holds some sway.

What I was not expecting was what happened next. Licinia began to laugh at Ilithyia. The embarrassment of the entire situation, completely apart from Licinia's own plan to bed the gladiator, was too great a burden for Ilithyia to bear upon the emotional pain of discovering she had been pleasured by Spartacus. Something inside her broke, and she attacked with such violence as may be expected from women in that world. I think all woman should take it as a great warning - when a woman feels cornered, she is as dangerous as any man.

I can't say what will happen next; I did not see this coming. But I did love that Batiatus (John Hannah) apologized to Spartacus, his champion but also his slave, for having had him bed Ilithyia. And Spartacus, with the perfect composure of the champion he is trying to be, responded in such a way as to almost make one think that, had only he known who he was to bed beforehand, he would have done the same thing, only he would not have tried to kill her afterwards.

Whether this murder, which ought to be so easily hidden, will be the undoing of the house of Batiatus, I cannot say. But I am very interested in seeing where the rest of the season goes.

FlashForward - Revelation Zero (part 1 and 2), S01E11-12

Well, it turns out that Lloyd (Jack Davenport) and Simon (Dominic Monaghan) did not cause the blackout - they merely amplified it. Oops. It looks like FlashForward is going to continue to advance with the same principles as before, giving us new questions at every turn, but giving us answers along the way as well.

I was disappointed in the late return of the show, particularly in the fact that we now have absolutely no clue what the date is, and therefore how far away from March 15th (when Demetri (John Cho) is supposed to die) and from April 29th (the date the flashforwards told of) we are. Demetri should be dead by now, according to my calendar, but within the world of the show, the date has yet to be passed. Will his potential death come next week? The week after? What will happen in the episode that airs at the end of April - will it have anything to do with the flashforwards?

But, regardless of that lack of knowledge, I was very pleased with all the discoveries we made about Simon. Sure, I suspected that he was in with the baddies (Flosso the villain did not really come across with any intention to seriously hurt Simon, despite the lack of a finger. And, just so you know, Richard III and Iago can get away with declaring themselves villain, but a fat old man blowing cigar cinders in Simon's eye cannot. Especially when by the end of the episode, he's been killed so easily and so pathetically). Simon never came across as particularly innocent, and although he ought to have been 6' to be Suspect Zero, and he is not that tall, his involvement only brings out more questions. Who are the people trying to use him, but making such stupid decisions as to incite his wrath by killing his father, his mentor, and taking his sister hostage? I hope that he gives them what is coming to them, despite anything else.

The scene that began the episode was beautiful and peaceful, which was lovely in conjunction with the rest of what went on. Not that they haven't made events that took place during the blackout peaceful before, such as when the bus drove into the lake, but watching the window washer fall and fall, as every hope of his rope catching failed, until the very last chance caught and saved him, had the exact right effect on my heart. Of hope, despite the horror of everything else going on around him.

So, hopefully, next week they will let us know where we are in the time line, and soon we will find out whether or not the show has been renewed for a second season. Are you anxious for more episodes?

The Good Wife - Heart, S01E17

What an amazing episode - this show continues to improve week after week. And the sensitive topics brought up, bringing out the vulnerability of our least vulnerable characters...now that is good television.

The moment we discover that Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and Will (Josh Charles) are working on a case that involves a pro-life/pro-choice debate, the tension is up. Invariably, this subject must be approached with caution, or else a show is likely to alienate about half its viewers.

And as always, The Good Wife approaches the case, and there fore the subject, from the point of view of the law. Feelings will not sway the course of judgement - only law can do that.

For the first half of the episode, Will is, as always, certain that the case will be won. He, therefore, refuses to make a deal, which would involve dropping a civil suit involving over 60 couples who were denied the insurance for life-saving surgeries performed on their babies while the baby was still considered a fetus.

And when the judge is forced to rule against the couple, Will cannot be indifferent.

Our big tough lawyer, who is willing to make a deal with drug dealers to keep his firm from going under, is reduced to tears because he did not choose to drop the civil suit. He could have, and the insurance company would have paid, but he did what he had to do for the many. And he hates himself that it hurt that one family. To see him at such a moment of weakness and vulnerability, his strength not fully and always for show, just gave another layer to the character.

It was also a perfect moment for that first kiss between him and Alicia. Had it happened in any other way, I doubt I would have believed it. Despite everything, Will has a real sense of honour, and he never would have done anything to hurt Alicia in regards to her husband or her job if he had not been in such pain, in such need of the love and reassurance of another human being.

And when she fled, and came back, and left again, she went to Peter (Chris Noth). She too needed the reassurance of another human being, preferably her husband whom she still wants to love.

The scene where Alicia begs Will not to hate her, and he admits that they've never had good timing, was also expertly performed. Such honest moments are rarely shown on television, and my heart went out to both characters, both who are subject to the whims of fate and timing.

The Good Wife continues to be amazing; I can't wait to see how the rest of the season develops and how they will top the whole thing next season.

Republic of Doyle - The Tell-Tale Safe, S01E08

As you are probably aware, I've been discussing the appeal of procedural dramas a fair amount over the course of this television season. Bones, The Mentalist, and Castle all started off with an over-arching plot line that make us want to watch every episode not only for the character development, but on the off chance that that episode might reveal something new about an unsolved case.

Republic of Doyle is not at all of the same structure.

So far, every case has lasted one episode, and everything has been resolved by the end. This is hardly different from the previously mentioned 3, save for one or two cases that lasted longer. But RofD is not setting out to have those continuing cases, instead it has set out to create an on-going story firmly rooted in the characters.

Regardless of your feelings about the girl Jake (Allan Hawco) should end up with, whether it be his wife, the constable, or one of the many other women he meets, there is a certain amount of the show's appeal tied up in his continual search for a woman. But it is not in the will-they/won't-they sense. It is more about wanting to watch Jake struggle, and perhaps eventually grow up, with his chasing after women a vehicle for his character development.

Meanwhile, Rose (Lynda Boyd) and Malachy (Sean McGinley) are also a reason to keep watching. Not because of any tension between them, but because they make such a great couple. Sure, there's been a little bit of difficulty now that we find out Rose is married and her husband is a criminal who's a real jerk, but the anger there was based in the strength of their love for one another. And now they are even stronger as a couple.

And if those things aren't enough to keep you watching, the family dynamic between Jake and Malachy, and even Tinny (Marthe Bernard) is pure entertainment. Add to that Jake's ability to take a hit - which is important considering how often he's in a fist fight, and his talent at racing, since he's in a chase scene at least every other episode, and you have a show destined for success. Particularly when you are talking about a Canadian show which can get away with a lower standard than in most other countries.

The Pacific - Pilot, Part 1: Guadalcanal/Leckie

The World Wars were such a long time ago that the first is hardly in living memory anymore, and the second won't be for much longer. Yet, through the multitude of movies and televisions shows made about those historic periods, we do still manage to remember a little longer.

HBO's The Pacific focuses on the war between the Japanese and the Americans during World War II. We will follow the course of a few men as they find themselves on jungle islands, fighting against an enemy. Almost immediately, we can tell that Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale) is a little different. He's educated, and he's a writer; his perspective will be different from his fellow soldiers.

Those differences were made apparent through the presentation of Leckie's inability to dehumanize his enemy, which was two-fold, the first part brilliant, the second standard. After a horrid night battle, where the Americans shot at an oncoming enemy, one for all I could tell who could have been Japanese or American, several more Japanese soldiers appeared. Most were shot down immediately, but one was not. The Americans started playing with him, like a cat with a mouse, shooting to either side of him, forcing him to run back and forth, than hitting him in the shoulder and leg. Leckie, ignoring all his comrades in arms, took careful aim and killed the man, to the complaints of his friends.

This demonstration of his compassion, his refusal to give into the mob mentality that allows his comrades to face the horrors before them, was subtle and beautiful (I mean beautiful in a purely artistic sense, of course). When this scene was followed by Leckie opening up an enemy soldier's backpack to find a photo of the man and his wife, as well as a cloth doll likely belonging to his daughter, I could not help but roll my eyes. We had already got the picture that Leckie had not forgotten that the people he was killing were men too.

As for the battles, I have never felt such fear while watching a war movie or show before. The idea of tromping through forest, never knowing if or when an enemy might appear, is terrifying. Worse were the night scenes. It is no wonder that friendly fire took down a man who had left the group to take a piss; the soldiers were on edge, shooting before anyone else had the opportunity.

The above mentioned night battle was equally disturbing, though it made the carnage more easy to understand. It is easy to cut down men when it is too dark to tell what they are.

The Pacific promises to be a powerful and emotional depiction of the theatre of war in the Pacific in World War II, and while, like any war film, it may be hard to stomach the carnage and violence based in reality, it certainly will be worth it.

Republic of Doyle - The Woman Who Knew Too Little, S01E07

Ah, the classic con-woman who fell in love with her mark, but then got amnesia and so could not remember breaking off with her partner, and so is pursued by multiple people and doesn't remember what's real plot. It's one of my favourites.

And, no, I'm not even kidding that I consider that plot fairly standard and expected from Republic of Doyle. It's sure to please every time, particularly when the woman is as charming as a con artist ought to be.

Regardless of the super fun plot, which I'm sure you enjoyed watching, the best moments were between Nikki (Rachel Wilson) and her doctor boyfriend. He is so normal, so well adjusted, completely lacking in neuroses and completely comfortable with her going out and having a wild time with her friends when she had had plans with him. He's what every woman says she wants - the nice guy. But by God is he boring!

Nikki's already being driven to distraction by his inability to be abnormal, just like everybody else. Plus, she wants the passion of a man who will yell, throw things across the room, get jealous at the slightest reason, and then take her passionately...as long as they are at home, and she is not at work trying to care for a patient. I sense it won't be long before she's single again, but will that mean that she and Jake (Allan Hawco) will try to make another go of it?

Also, how about Rose (Lynda Boyd) forgetting that Tinny (Marthe Bernard) was allergic to nuts?