Being Human - S02E03

Oh my God! What an episode. The perfect mix of WTF moments and sweet calmness. George (Russell Tovey) and Annie (Lenora Crichlow) got to bring on the touching, human moments that gave us a laugh which Mitchell (Aidan Turner) has got himself in a world of trouble while trying to prevent total chaos. But none of that could compare to the surprise reveal in the last moments.

Thank you, writers, for the sweet subplot of Hugh (Nathan Wright) and his ex-girlfriend whom he obviously still loved. Annie and George tried to get their minds off their own troubles - that the other side will likely eventually drag Annie to her full death and that Nina (Sinead Keenan) took off - by helping to reunite the two former lovers. Naturally, the best plan ever was for George to try to take the girl on the worst date ever and send her running back to Hugh. I laughed a lot as their plans were foiled because everything horrible was something she liked, and then my heart swelled as George confessed his feelings for Nina to her, actually accomplishing their goal.

But as sweet and charming as all of that was, Mitchell's business is awful. Covering up murders, and using murder to do it, threatening children, and bashing out the teeth of disobeying vampires. Now that is cruelty and violence. But when he was proclaimed King of the Vampires, a role I can't imagine he truly wants, and he had to take it because the alternative to all that violence and cruelty was utter chaos. Poor, poor Mitchell.

At least we got that lovely moment when Mitchell and George let out all their emotions, angry because the television program they wanted to watch had switched its schedule. That was brilliant.

But if all the above wasn't bad enough, Nina is with those horrible people who are going to experiment on her. And Lucy (Lyndsey Marshal), Mitchell's new friend from work, is the doctor mastermind behind the entire operation. Last season, things were difficult, but the danger wasn't nearly so interminable.

Which option do you think is worse? The control over the chaos, as Mitchell sees it, the chaos which might ensue otherwise, or Lucy's vision of a world without monsters, even if they must all be killed through experimentation to "cure" them?

Merlin - Excalibur, S01E09

In the Arthurian Legends, no object is as important as the sword Excalibur. Not the Holy Grail, not any sacred lance, Arthur's sword shines above them all. And the origin stories of this sword are so varied - some say he pulled it from a stone, others that the Lady of the Lake gave it to him. It is only fitting that Merlin would take those stories and put its own unique twist on things.

Speaking of origin stories, we were finally told the origins of Uther (Anthony Head)'s hatred for magic. His wife, whom he adored more than anything in the world, died in child birth, bring Arthur (Bradley James) into the world. This we already knew. But that she had been barren and brought to fertility through the magic of Nimueh (Michelle Ryan) at Uther's request, we did not know. Her death, caused by magic evening the balance - a life for a life - launched Uther's vendetta against those who had been his friends. He rid Camelot of their supposed evil, and those he hurt, such as Nimueh, turned to evil out of vengeance. Really a sad story.

Nimueh, of course, was the source of trouble in this episode, bring back to life Uther's brother-in-law who blamed the King for the death of Arthur's mother. He challenged two knights, killing them easily and without feeling their blows upon him. Arthur could not stand to see such a thing happen, and, partially for honour partially out of arrogance, challenged the knight himself. Uther and Gaius (Richard Wilson) knew that the knight could not be killed, as did Merlin (Colin Morgan), and both set out to assure that Arthur would live.

Although Uther refused to tell his son anything, he did conspire with Gaius to drug the Prince and take his place in the fight. The knight would have his vengeance and Camelot would still have Arthur. Merlin, meanwhile, created a weapon for Arthur which would be able to kill the knight, despite the problem that he was already dead. Merlin created Excalibur.

He got the best sword Gwen (Angel Coulby)'s father had ever forged and asked the Dragon to bless it with its fire. The Dragon agreed to this, on the condition that only Arthur wield the weapon, which Merlin promised. When, the next day, Uther showed up to be armoured and Arthur was no where to be seen. Uther took up the weapon and defeated the knight, saving Camelot and his son in the process.

And Merlin, reminded of his promise, then took the sword and threw it into the lake where we previously had seen two beings try to cross to Avalon. And so Arthur, who currently has no knowledge of the sword at all, will later somehow be able to retrieve it from the lake.

The most touching moment of the episode was when Uther told Arthur how precious he was to him. In most versions of the legends, Uther and Arthur never know each other, and it is sweet to see the father-son bond between them.

But, the real lesson is that Gaius and Merlin should communicate with each other about what they are planning to do to save those they love from danger so that no conflict between them ever occurs again.

True Blood - Hitting the Ground, S03E07

Although True Blood seemed to have become more of a blood-thirsty adventure rather than a mystery show (which it was in the first season), Season 3 has reminded us that we watch not just to see the passionate love affairs and gruesome violence, but also to discover the mysteries of the mythologies of our favourite characters. And Sookie (Anna Paquin) clearly has one that is greatly of interest to us.

We've always known that Sookie was a mind reader, a telepath, but we never really assumed that she was anything other than human until she used that light to protect herself from Maryann. Suddenly, everything changed and she was more that just a human with a gift - and apparently the vampires in her life have known this from the beginning. Well, at least Bill (Stephen Moyer) did, though Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) apparently did not.

In this episode, watching Sookie while she was in that coma, and learning that she had no known blood-type was a little disturbing, but nothing was more so that the notion that Bill, for the simple reason that he is a vampire (or at least that was how it appeared) might take away her light. A light which so obviously makes Sookie special.

But if you didn't really care about that side of the plot, there was so much more amazing stuff going on. First of all, Lorena (Mariana Klaveno) was finally staked by Sookie with Bill's help. Much as I did love to hate her, I am so glad that she and her insanity are gone from the world. Of course, that was soon followed by Sookie trying to save Bill and him nearly drinking all of her blood in a mad blood crazy. The fact that he was thrown out of the van and left in the sun, but did not immediately crispify, well, perhaps that is what would happen if Bill did end up taking Sookie's light?

Poor Tara (Rutina Wesley). Her vampire issues, exploded to the point of ridiculous callousness by the week she spent with Franklin, had a great focus in Bill, particularly when he nearly killed Sookie. Her tough attitude, mixed with grief and fear, was plainly on her face as she kicked Bill out of the truck, and, despite the danger he was in, a little part of me cheered.

Meanwhile, Sam (Sam Trammell) was finally able to save his little brother from the crazy parents who used to young shifter to win dog fights. It was so disturbing to see the men put down the dogs who had lost, who were too wounded to be saved, and it didn't matter that Tommy (Marshall Allman) is probably smarter and therefore more likely to win, it was still horrible. Some people may be your parents, may have given birth to you, but that doesn't mean that you should always respect your ties to them.

But the best part of the episode for me was that Eric was finally able to save Pam (Kristin Bauer). I loved seeing her again, tortured in silver, still being her sassy self and taking the pain with no complaint. But the moment Eric showed up and his name escaped her lips, full of pain and desperate hope that he would save her...Those two have such a beautiful bond I almost couldn't care that the vampire monarchy has apparently overthrown the authority which was above them.

With more than half the season gone, I can only imagine that the chaos will increase, as will the death toll (we lost 3 people this week), and I hope there will be more passionate love scenes as well. What are you hoping for?