Stargate Universe - Lost, S01E15

Stargate Universe has hit its stride. It is going where it ought to be going, doing what it ought to be doing. It is now a show worthy of the title Stargate and I fully hope that this will continue and that my excitement and love of the Stargate franchise has found another home.

Yes, there were some goofy moments. I might have enjoyed the humour of Eli (David Blue)'s desire for the caverns to have a map with a You Are Here sign (like it says on his T-shirt), which was followed by Chloe (Elyse Levesque) finding such a map, if my instincts weren't screaming "Pick one direction, left or right, always take it and you should be able to find an exit." What do they teach them in the army. Randomly picking left or right at every intersection is not going to work without a whole lot of luck.

At least they've figured out the serious stuff. I was so glad to finally find out what Greer (Jamil Walker Smith)'s deal was. Growing up with an abusive father, then joining the army in the memory of the man that father had been before he got all screwed up is guaranteed to make anyone as messed in the head as Greer is. I also much prefer the use of flashbacks to give us scenes taking place on Earth, rather than those stupid communication crystals.

Plus, the desperate attempt of Scott (Brian J. Smith), Chloe, and Eli to get back towards the Destiny while Greer was abandoned to his fate on the first planet gave us a delightful balance of what chance can do. Had Greer not been knocked out and presumed dead, he would have gone with the others and have been left behind as well, but originally it seemed as though he was the one who had been left behind.

And now, we have several goals and storylines moving forward.

Three people have been left behind as Destiny crosses into another galaxy. What will become of them?

How does the Destiny work?

What will they do about the baby?

And when will those aliens attack again?

I can't wait to find out the answers.

Miami Medical - Golden Hour, S01E05

I liked Miami Medical from the beginning, but this episode was the one that really demonstrated the potential of the show. Between the laughs and the heartache, we focused on the seriousness of funding and got a lighthearted look at Eva (Lana Parrilla) simply having a bad day. It's what a medical drama ought to be.

The episode started with Proctor (Jeremy Northam) describing the victims he and his team had helped the day before to a room full of potential financial donors. He set the stage for the medicine, outlining the conditions of the three primary casualties, and promising us that by the end of the episode someone would be dead. I particularly liked that one of the guests guessed that the homeless man with a nail through the foot would be the one to die because he seemed the least likely, and on these shows, that's usually how things work out.

As the show progressed, for once we had to learn to love the casualties as we went. We hadn't had a chance to learn much about them before the accident occurred, but as they were operated on, as their situations became more serious, or less serious, we still became invested in their survival. Particularly as the weight of knowing one would die followed us throughout.

The most memorable and hilarious moment was when Proctor used the chicken dinner at the fundraiser to demonstrate surgery techniques, which was followed by a flashback to the day before in which Proctor had tried to decline giving the speech, threatening the likelihood of him doing such a thing.

As we neared the end of the episode, our 3 primary victims seems like to survive, and the confusion of we the viewers was matched by the donors. Only then were we reminded of a 4th casualty, the mother of a 2-month-old, who had been involved in the accident, but mistakenly taken to a different hospital. She arrived at the hospital too long after the accident, and she could not be saved. And although we hardly knew who she was, we were devastated all the same.

Quality writing, interesting cases, just enough amusement to get us by - those are the qualities needed in this kind of show, and Miami Medical proved yet again that it has them.

Supernatural - The Devil You Know, S01E20

When did Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) trade places? I remember watching the first 2 seasons and not being particularly attracted to Sam because, despite being attractive and intelligent, he just didn't have much of an edge. The first time that any sort of interest flickered was when he was possessed by a demon and was getting handsy with Jo.

Not that I'm particularly into men possessed with demons, but until then he really had gone soft. I suppose the demons really did do us all a favour when they killed Jess and brought him back to the realm of fighting supernatural beings. And it makes sense that it would take a while for all that sweetness to leave him with only anger.

It must have been when Dean went to Hell, when Sam started his affair with Ruby that he became the darker, more dangerous of the brothers. Really, though, Dean hasn't changed much. He still has the same awesome attitude he did in the beginning. I think Sam just went from being so much tamer to being so much angrier. I suppose if I ever rewatch the entire series I'll have to keep an eye out for that transition.

Meanwhile, the end of the world is still on track, Sam finally got to absolutely avenge Jess's death, and the Lovers in League against Satan may have had a win. Also, there was a battle between Hell Hounds. All in all, this episode was awesome, and I am even more excited about the penultimate episode of the season next week and the finale the week after. And then I will have to suffer 4 months without Sam and Dean to comfort me...maybe I will rewatch the entire series.

Happy Town - In This Home on Ice, Pilot, S01E01

Although Happy Town started innocently with a stolen kiss in a car, soon a gruesome murder took place, quickly letting audience know whether or not they were interested in where this new show will lead.

It didn't take long for a creepy feeling of fear that went deeper than one murder, no matter how gross, to take hold. Even the idea of the bread factory filling Haplin (called Happy Town) with the pleasant aroma of fresh baking somehow seemed ominous. And most of the characters obviously had secrets - whether they are benign or threatening remains to be determined.

The sensation of a small town was strange considering how big Haplin appears to be. My only guess is that it is somehow cut off from any other major communities, or at least a fair distance away, otherwise it doesn't make sense to me that such a large population would be so close without ties elsewhere.

Still, the small town feel of everyone knowing each other was well put on, and I did love the quick explanation of how peaceful and happy Haplin had been for the last little while, delivered by Tommy Conroy (Geoff Stults), the Sheriff's son. His wife had hopes of moving away, but Tommy, in quick commentary to their daughter, enumerated all the reasons they had to stay in Haplin, giving us the perfect picture.

Also showing us the small community was the incompetence of the act of informing next of kin. Not only did the men tell the wife of the murder victim in the middle of the bread factory, but they then dragged her down to the station for questioning. Certainly there are guys who are not used to this sort of thing.

Still, it was only 5 years ago that people were disappearing from the small town. Once a year for 7 years, the magic man kidnapped someone. No one has forgotten, but there seems no hope in finding out what went down.

And yet, the recent violence has started some sort of ripple effect which we will have to pay close attention to. The Sheriff, Griffin Conroy (M.C. Gainey), started talking about a Chloe whenever things got stressful. I'm not sure what her link to the Magic Man is, or if there is one, but I want to know. I also want to know what made him go crazy at the end of the episode and cut his own hand off with an ax.

So, questions:

1. Who is Chloe/Henley (Lauren German)? What is her connection to the Sheriff and why did she really come to Haplin?

2. What's the deal with Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill)? We all know (or at least, those of us who have seen Event Horizon know) that Sam Neill can play a pretty creepy/scary character, and Grieves has definitely given us cause for worry, but is the fact that he comes across as the villain too obvious?

3. What is on the third floor of the boarding house?

4. Is the baking flour evil?

5. What does this most recent murder have to do with the Magic Man? Or does it?

6. Why did Rachel Conroy (Amy Acker) want to move away from Haplin?

What are your questions?

Bones - The Rocker in the Rinse Cycle, S05E19

I declare an EPISODE FAIL!!! Despite having started very well, this week's episode of Bones reverted back to pre-100th episode quality, and was really one of the worst of those.

As I said, the beginning was good. A body was found in an industrial washer, destroying a whole lot of evidence in the process. It could have lead somewhere cool - we did get some interesting forensic development as fracture lines were used to determine the post-mortem injuries, and the discussion about testicles following finding one of them whole and discovering that the other had been a silicon replacement was entertaining - but the case was mostly neglected.

There was really no focus to the episode.

1. Cam (Tamara Taylor) found a gynecologist for her daughter, but ended up dating him. I'm kind of happy that we looked at Cam's life for once, and I wish this had been the only track going other than the murder.

2. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) tried to be positive about Booth (David Boreanaz)'s new relationship, but her persistence bordered on the annoying.

3. Vaziri (Pej Vahdat) used baseball metaphors for every discovery he made, which also got annoying.

4. Everyone was so completely obsessed with rock'n'roll music that the focus of the episode seemed more to be about that than anything else.

5. The murder was finally solved. No one cared that the victim was dead because a) he seemed like a real jerk, and b) he didn't properly appreciate rock'n'roll so he deserved to die. Plus, the arrest took place really quickly because the writers had wasted so much time focusing on other things that the murderer only had time to say "It was worth it." He got to play on stage for 5 minutes with a talented guitarist rather than the man he killed.

I was completely unimpressed with this episode. There was just WAY TOO MUCH going on, but none of it was substantial. If Bones continues like this, I will not watch season 6, regardless of whether or not Booth and Brennan get together in it.

Glee - Home, S01E16

Glee is mostly fluff, but, again, this week, it delivered a powerful message to young people across the continent: Feel good about yourself, who you are, and what you look like. Despite Sue (Jane Lynch)'s attempts to make her Cheerios conform into what all teenage girls are - desperate to be popular, overly self-conscious about their weight and appearance - Mercedes (Amber Riley) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) came together to prove that being healthy and happy is more important than all of that.

I simply loved watching Mercedes go on a crazy starve-yourself-to-get-skinny diet, and end up picturing all her friends as food. When she told Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) "Stop trying to make me eat you," I was nearly in hysterics. I have to say, she looked really good dressed as an ice cream cone, and Rachel (Lea Michele) was an absolutely adorable cupcake.

Then, to have Quinn tell her to stop hurting herself was so moving. And she, unlike any of the other girls in high school, understood that better than anyone else. Not only had she been equally crazy when she was a Cheerio, but the fact that she was now pregnant gave her the exact right amount of motivation to ignore any other concerns about her eating other than was she eating healthy for her child.

I also liked seeing Rachel in the background for once. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Rachel, and I certainly wouldn't stand for too many episodes where she barely got any screen time, but it was nice to have focus on some other characters for once. A shame that that free time was mostly wasted on April (Kristin Chenoweth). Sure, the actress can sing, but April is such a useless character. I suppose she did contribute to advancing Will (Matthew Morrison)'s plot line, but mostly it was an occasion to spotlight their guest star's voice. Guess what, Glee, you already have SO MUCH talent in your cast that you don't make enough use of, so stop stealing even more time from them or they will join your rival's Cheering Squad.

The Good Wife - Boom, S01E19

The drama in the court room and the drama at home are both heating up, and it's hard to say which is going to go up in flames first.

Stern (Kevin Conway) returned not only to screw with Lockhart & Gardner by taking them on in court, but also tried to poach some of their lawyers. Cary (Matt Czuchry) used the attempt to get him to transfer to prove his loyalty to Will (Josh Charles) and Diane (Christine Baranski), while Alicia (Julianna Marguelies) defeated Stern in court because of her inside information about his mental deterioration. Both Cary and Alicia are continuing to prove their worth, and it will not be an easy decision for Will and Diane to make.

At home, Peter (Chris Noth) continues to pursue finding God, but when he finally was able to take his family to church, he used to opportunity to meet in secret with someone who was trying to hurt him politically. Alicia caught him, and, absolutely sick of being used by Peter for his political agenda, finally arranged to have that dinner with Will we've all been so excited about.

Peter, realizing that he was in dangerous water, followed her out of the apartment, despite the fact that this set off his ankle monitor. My question, does this constitute a win for Team Florrick or for Team Gardner?

Chuck - Chuck vs the Honeymooners, S03E14

In the last episode, not only did Chuck (Zachary Levi) finally accomplish everything he needed to do to be considered a real spy, he and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) signed up to be a WILL couple. That's right, what we've been waiting for finally happened - Chuck and Sarah are official.

But just because they are together doesn't mean that the story no longer has anywhere to go. Despite the fear of most shows - that if you choose WILL for your will they?/won't they? couple, the audience will lose all interest - Chuck has gone ahead and given us one of the things we've always wanted. And I stress the word "one."

In Chuck vs the Honeymooners, Chuck and Sarah decide to quit the spy life and be together, always on the run but together. It quickly became apparent that this was something neither of them really wanted, but both were convinced it was the greatest desire of the other and, after all the drama in Prague and with Daniel and Hannah, the most important thing for Sarah and Chuck is to be together.

The moment that amused me the most was how so much of the sexual chemistry between Sarah and Chuck disappeared when they decided to quit being spies and become boring, normal people. Even better was that this moment was so quickly followed by a doubled attraction the moment they decided to take on one mission. Sure, you could argue that their relationship is built on thrill-seeking, but I reply that doing what makes you happy in life makes you more interesting in the bedroom.

Also, the handcuff fight segment at the end of the episode not only demonstrated how well Chuck and Sarah work together as a team, but was also some of the greatest combat we've seen on the show.

I am really excited about where Chuck is going right now. I know that Chuck and Sarah make a great team, and I want to see them face their challenges together. I have absolutely no fear that I will lose interest now that they have gotten together, and I also hope that 1. Chuck will be renewed for a 4th season, and that 2. Chuck will show other shows that you can get your couple together without becoming boring.

What do you hope?

V - Heretic's Fork, S01E09

Despite last week's fantastic episode, the audiences did not come out in force for this episode. Not that I can blame them, as the quality and interest level dipped again. It's a shame that in all likelihood this show will get cancelled, but, since they keep missing the mark, it's hardly surprising.

Val (Lourdes Benedicto) went with Ryan (Morris Chestnut), but that did not mean she trusted him. She just couldn't seem to get her head wrapped around the danger. Then, Anna (Morena Baccarin) sent a Soldier after them, and Val figured out pretty quickly that she was in real danger. But, despite all that, she remained angry at Ryan and so his entire reason for wanting emotions and joining team "Let's not destroy all the humans" walked away from him without any warm words. Not that this is going to make Ryan revert to his original V ways, which would actually add something to the show.

I was also not at all impressed that, although Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) didn't want their prisoner to come to any harm, he answered the incoming call from Joshua (Mark Hildreth) in front of the man and named his ally on the V ship. What a brilliant plan! They couldn't have let him go at that point even if he had proved not to be a particularly bad guy. Well, I suppose he had to die from the moment he saw their faces, but really...anyone remember why it's a bad idea to monologue? Sometimes your prisoner escapes. They were just lucky that didn't happen this time.

And I am in no mood to address the Lisa (Laura Vandervoort)/Tyler (Logan Huffman) story.

The Pacific - Part 7: Peleliu Hills

You can't dwell on it; you can't dwell on any of it.

That seems to be the motto for surviving the emotional and mental Hell that the marines went through throughout the war in the Pacific. They had to focus on the next day, the next moment, not the one that had just passed. Otherwise, they would be stuck, frozen in that awful second, and be of no use to anyone, including themselves.

Yet, how can you go on as your heroes die around you? Until now, men have died, but it just didn't seem as horrible. I guess we hadn't got to know them, hadn't really grown to appreciate and value their worth. They were just characters in a TV series about war - necessary because men died, but not evoking the pain felt if those men were real.

In Part 7, that changed. First Eddie (Leon Ford), who was quite a hero in Part 6, gets shot. Sledge (Joe Mazzello) is sent with a stretcher to get him, but even as they load him up, he's not looking well. Then all of them were peppered with bullets, and Eddie's chances disappeared. And as if the horror of that death, and the almost ridiculousness of running a stretcher in to try to save men - more likely the two stretcher bearers were going to join the list of casualties than save anyone - wasn't enough, another painful death soon followed.

Known as Ack Ack or the Skipper by his men, Captain Andrew Haldane (Scott Gibson) not only proved himself a great leader by winning the respect of his men, but he was also a good man. His conversation early in the episode with Sledge about his father only made a man we already valued into one we truly liked. And for him, so brave, so clever, so wonderful, to die off screen, taken out by a sniper, was fittingly awful. Normally, I would complain that so important a character was killed off screen, but the scene worked so much better this way. One moment, he was alive and leading his men, the next, we were told he was dead.

It was impossible to believe. How could he have been killed so easily, so quickly, so pointlessly? A man like Haldane should have gone down in a blaze of glory, taking out a hundred of the enemy. Instead, his body was simply removed, wrapped in a blanket his father might have made, and his men had to summon the courage to go on without him.

The deaths were hard on the men's moral, but even worse is the dehumanization. The Japanese soldiers weren't men, could not be viewed as men. They were a vile enemy, one which had to be stopped at any cost. And considering the cost of stopping them, how could any other view be taken?

Today, our culture has such a fascination with Japan. We have sushi places all over the place, Manga takes up more room on the shelves than Marvel and DC comics, and Anime are considered better kids shows than most of what North America produces. It's so hard to reconcile that love with the hatred that these soldiers, now grandparents, held for the same people.

I am horrified by the truths presented to me every time I watch an episode of this series, and yet I am grateful to be shown these horrors, to have the opportunity of appreciating what this war was like.

Murdoch Mysteries - Blood and Circuses, S03E07

Although I have really been enjoying this season of Murdoch Mysteries, this episode recovered some of the humour of previous seasons which had been lacking. It was nice to have a bemused smile on my face the entire time, not simply because I was excited and confused, but because there was something genuinely funny going on.

It started with a tiger attack, a beast killing its trainer and then going wild, but Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) is not the kind of man to simply allow the most obvious solution to pass by unexamined. No surprise that he found that the woman had been murdered, not by her tiger, but by a human. And so he had George (Jonny Harris) arrest the entire circus.

How could they not take advantage of the amusement of having an entire circus invading the constabulary? George and Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch) were equally intrigued by a pair of Siamese twins, and even Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) became attached to a monkey. Murdoch was the least amused of the lot, convinced that the fortune teller knew more than she was saying since her predictions were quite accurate.

By the end, 3 people were dead - two murdered (the tiger tamer and her fur-covered fiancé, Lionel) and one accidentally offed as a result of his involvement in those murders. Could those three deaths have been avoided? The cause was that Lionel had rejected the beautiful Knife Thrower at another circus he had worked at. He told her that, since he was a Freak and she was a Normal, their love could never be. When she found him at the new circus, he was pursuing a relationship with a Normal. Worse, she had sacrificed her beauty to be carved into a Freak herself, so that nothing would stand in their way.

Her obsession and insanity was undeniable, to do so much out of love for a man and to kill him when it was still not enough, but how much more twisted her mind must have become after she went through the pain of scarring her entire body so that his reason for denying her could no longer hold? And that betrayal could only be made worse by the fact that he now loved a Normal and his reason never had truth in the first place.

I pity her, for uncontrollably loving and for being rejected without proper cause. I could pity him, but his arrogance only made him seem like likely prey. Had he not died by her hand, he would have died by another's for a similar offence. Most of all, I pity the tiger tamer, who never knew that the love she felt was painful to a friend she cherished and died for it.