Vampire Diaries - Family Ties, S01E04

I would say that Vampire Diaries is very predictable, only it keeps catching me by surprise.

Yes, this episode contained your typical teenage drama. Through Damon's manipulations, Elena (Nina Dobrev) questions whether or not she can trust Stefan (Paul Wesley) when he won't reveal anything about himself to her. And Bonnie (Katerina Graham) couldn't get a date to the town party, while Vicki (Kayla Ewell) picked Tyler (Michael Trevino) over Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) again. We even had these relationship issues affect the adults, like poor Jenna (Sara Canning) and her cheating ex, Logan (Chris Johnson), trying to win her back. But none of these were the true plot points.

Instead, we are concerned about poor Caroline (Candice Accola) and whether or not Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is going to kill her. When Elena discovers the bite marks, and realizes Damon hurts her (though she probably suspects it's about sadism, not snacking), she becomes genuinely concerned for her friend. Course, then she didn't stick by Caroline's side to make sure she stayed safe, but that was all for the good because when Damon started drinking, he got a mouthful of vervain, a plant that apparently weakens Vamps.

And Jenna's jerk may or may not have honest intentions when it comes to his former lady love, but at least his deception has to do with trying to protect the town from Vampires. That's right, he and Tyler's parents (the mayor and first lady), as well as Caroline's Sheriff mom didn't buy Damon's attempts to cover his murderous tracks with a mountain lion. They know Vamps are out there and they don't like them.

Also, Damon found a yellow stone antique, which Caroline now has. We have yet to discover its purpose, but it's likely important. And finally, Bonnie's witchiness may be developing quickly. She lit an entire roomful of candles with her mind.

So the story remains interesting, with some fun drama thrown in, but the most enjoyable aspect of this episode was Damon's conversation with Caroline near the beginning. There is something almost appealing about how he can always get his way with her, it makes their relationship seem so functional. It really isn't. But because he can make her forget everything, he is so honest with her. I'm a vampire. I wear a ring so I can go out in the sun. I am going to eat you, only not yet. Yes, that last line was particularly creepy.

I look forward to next week's episode, in particular to see how Damon overcomes his current predicament. Oh, yes, I kind of prefer him to boring, brooding Stefan.... How about you?

Fringe - Fracture, S02E03

Though the line that made me laugh the hardest was when Astrid (Jasika Nicole) said "No more fruit, Walter," I disagree. I think Walter (John Noble) should be given fruit to experiment with all the time. Who didn't love Mr. Papaya-head last season? Exploding a watermelon was not nearly as hilarious, even though it did end up all over Astrid.

And when Walter was annoyed that Peter (Joshua Jackson) was eating a cheeseburger in front of the cow...Oh thank you for making Walter amusing again. Here's a tip. Go over the top. It's not quite over the top enough this season.

This episode had the magic of last season. Not one of last season's strongest episodes, mind you, but it is on its way to being that solid and fantastic show I expect it to be again. The man turning into crystal and exploding into a shower of deadly pieces was pretty awesome. Though, like I said last post, Fringe still seems to be reacting rather than being proactive. Give them time?

And it appears that Olivia (Anna Torv) is almost back on her game, which may also be where some of that magic has gone. Injure your lead, kill off one of your supporting characters, cut 6 minutes from your episode time and you are quite likely to skid off course a little. But my hope is that those troubles are over and Fringe will soon be back to the awesome and bizarre show we've all come to love.

How did you like this episode?

Dollhouse - Instinct, S02E02

This episode was intense. Very, very intense. Just proves a very important point, do not f@#* with a mother.

Echo (Eliza Dushku) was on assignment as a breast-feeding mother to a baby whose mother died giving birth to him. And she loved that little boy, feeling it on a glandular level because Topher (Fran Kranz) is just that much of a genius. Of course, when the baby's father decided the arrangement was not working out the way he'd hoped, Echo (believing herself to be his wife, Emily) overheard his intention to get rid of her and the baby.

Well, let me tell you that there is no mother in the world, even if she's formed a poor attachment, who is going to let someone murder her and her child. And Echo had not formed a poor attachment with baby Jack.

So suddenly you've got a paranoid mother thinking that everyone is out to get her and her child, and then she sees her best friend, Sierra (Dichen Lachman), being escorted into a black van that she suspects has been following her. And she runs. She gets to the cops, but when they discover that she is not in fact the mother, she is separated from the child.

The kicking and screaming. The pain she felt. It did not matter that genetically she had no connection to that baby, she was his mother in all the ways a woman can be a mother, at least in her mind. She fought and fought.

Even when Topher wiped her mind, she fought. Not remembering a single thing about Emily or Jack, Echo went to get her baby back. Thank God the father finally manned up and wanted his child. Cared about his child enough for her to see that he told her the truth and that he would care for the boy and that he had more of a right to it than she did.

And Paul (Tahmoh Penikett) promised he could get Topher to make sure she did forget the pain, as he had done for Madeleine (Miracle Laurie). And for the first time, I stopped caring about Madeleine. Because I had loved Millie and November, but Madeleine chose not to feel the pain. And Echo insisted on the pain of all those feelings because otherwise she knew she was just empty.

If they keep delivering episodes like that, then there is no excuse for trying to cancel it. Dollhouse is amazing. Do you agree?

FlashForward - White to Play, S01E02

How badly might you be shaken by two minutes of your life 6 months from now? How many of us would be doing something that seems impossible to us now? Would we have ended a relationship? Started a new one? Lost a loved one? Changed jobs? Who knows! And how many of us would really see something so shockingly strange.

My bet on what I'd be doing in the future at 10pm for 2 minutes and 17 seconds? I'd be watching tv. Probably by myself. And how many of us would be doing something so ordinary?

But most of the stories we've heard so far have been upsetting and life altering. My marriage ended; I'm drinking again; I'm pregnant; I'm dead. Apparently on April 29th at 10pm, a lot of important stuff is going to be happening. And does that have anything to do with the flashforward? Is it important?

This show really has me hooked. Are all the things that we've seen or heard going to take place on April 29th? Are Mark (Joseph Fiennes) and Olivia (Sonya Walger), who are so romantic with their messages of love (I adore that they express affection with the opposite words), going to break up? Is their daughter, as was potentially revealed, going to be kidnapped? Will Demetri (John Cho) die on March 15th? And I will know whether or not he will when we get to March 15th!

Can they change things? Did Mark make a difference in the way things are supposed to play out when he burnt the friendship bracelet, or does it simply mean he must acquire another by April 29th? Who caused it, and how? And why did D. Gibbons just blow himself up?

There are so many questions and I want to know the answers. I want to find out what will happen and I love that they answer some of them (like that Demetri is supposed to die), but leave you hanging as to whether it is possible to change it. And if they can change things, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Are you as interested and as hooked as I am?

Stargate Universe - Air, part 1 & 2, S01E01-02

A lone soldier enters through the stargate into an unknown gateroom. His weapon is drawn, but there is no immediate danger. Then the evacuees begin pouring in after him, flying through the gate and landing hard, on top of each other. Panic is in the air as the new arrivals realize this is not Earth's gateroom, as they are struck by incoming equipment and people.

And thus begins Stargate Universe, the latest chapter in the Stargate series.

Already, the series is darker, more sinister and adult. Our characters are flawed, and not in the same amusing manner as the characters from SG1 and Atlantis, who required something to balance all the factors in their favour. Here, the flaws are already festering issues. For instance, Msgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) had been imprisoned, awaiting a Court Marshall, before the attack that landed them on an Ancient spaceship travelling to who-knows-what destination. He and Camile Wray (Ming-Na), a member of the IOA, already demonstrated animosity towards one another, though we do not yet know the nature of his crime.

Neither SG1 nor Atlantis delved into dramatic character issues. Certainly some segments focused on their relationships (or else people like me would not be still waiting and hoping after 13 years for Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter to finally get together), but from the moment I saw Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) having sex in a supply closet with a fellow (female) soldier, I knew the approach Universe would take would be different.

The entire premiere set a different tone. In both SG1 and Atlantis, the premiere's established who the enemy was - the Go'auld and the Wraith, who the team travelling regularly through the gate would be, and what they would be contending against. Both teams also had as members an alien (Jaffa and human) whom they had met while on another planet.

Universe has no enemy, except the tensions between the characters on Destiny and Destiny herself. Yes, they will be travelling to planets in whatever galaxy they have found themselves, but the focus seems more likely to be on the only possible throughline - the characters and the ship. They will have to contend with the failing life support systems, the lack of supplies, of food and water. They will struggle, rather than cooperate, for none of them is prepared for this mission. When they go through the stargate, they will have limited time to explore the planet they are on and get back to the ship before it leaves as it is commanded to do on auto-pilot. They will not be able to return to planets they have already visited.

If you are a fan of SG1 and Atlantis, you will not be disappointed with this new show. Yes, it is very different, but the elements you have grown to love (such as the humour) are still there.

But if you never got into either of those series, or even if you did not like them much, you should still check out SGU if you are remotely interested in science fiction.

Please let me know what you thought.

PS.

1. Robert Carlyle!!! plays Dr Rush and he is awesome.

2. Eli Wallace (David Blue) had ever nerd's dream come true - he solved a problem in a video game that allowed him to join missions in space. Just like The Last Starfighter.

3. Because Eli just joined the SG team, he doesn't know anything that viewers of SG1 or Atlantis know, so we learn as he learns.

4. Richard Dean Anderson has put on a little bit of weight.

5. I wonder if they will let this doctor actually survive and kill some other member of the team instead.

6. I love that things are already getting named!

7. I wonder if Destiny is powered by ZPMs and if power is going to become a major issue.

8. No replicators so far.

9. They named the ship the Hammond!

10. What did Dr Rush tell the SGC when he briefly took over Dr. Bill Lee's body?

Bones - The Plain in the Prodigy, S05E03

This week's murder case was well conceived and delivered, though I had little interest in the personal problems of the main characters this week.

Specifically, I really thought the whole mess with Cam's new adopted daughter, Michelle, and her boyfriend and the potential of them having sex was kind of ridiculous. I know Cam (Tamara Taylor) is new to motherhood, but wouldn't that make this conversation a little easier. What would you say to any 16 year old girl who might be thinking of having sex? But trust Cam to make it far more complicated than it needed to be.

The one good part of that plot line was when Booth (David Boreanaz) met Perry. Not only is Booth Michelle's favourite uncle, but also an FBI agent and former sniper. And he thinks women should be granted A LOT of respect. Got to love seeing a young man made to sweat over what might happen to him if he misbehaves.

The murder, however, had a whole lot of interesting stuff going around.

To begin with, Clark (Eugene Byrd) was back this week. He, of course, did not want to hear about Cam's personal issues either, but was even less pleased at the prospect of trudging along the railroad in a jump suit (looking for body parts). His comments about the task's resemblance to a chain gang, and his calling Bones "Boss" were hilarious, especially because Brennan (Emily Deschanel) herself did not notice them.

This choice of victim roamed into the realm of potentially impolitic. The lad, a young Amish boy in the city on his self-seeking journey to decide whether he would stay in his community or leave it, was found on the tracks. Suddenly his parents, his love interest, her brother, and friends he met in the city become suspects. And slowly a secret life is revealed - the young man had a talent for playing the piano and was considering joining the National Conservatory rather than returning home.

It is always dangerous when writing about people of a religious faith and what they are capable of. I was so pleased with the choice of murderer. He was not part of the Amish community, of which I was glad, but he was also not a friend of the victim. For the first time on Bones, the murderer was someone we had never met, the motive robbery, and the murder a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did not see that coming.

It struck the heart strings all the more when we learnt that the lad was planning on returning to his community. He broke his left hand in his piano so that he could not reconsider - he'd never be great with that injury. Whether for the girl or his religion, or likely both - to live his life in his community - he sacrificed his gift.

The only point I was confused about was when we met some of the lad's other Amish friends, also on their journeys in the city. Though partying and getting high, their dress still clearly indicated that they were Amish. Perhaps there is a difference in the practices between Amish, Menonite and all their divisions, but in the groups I know, they do not wear the clothes while on the journey. And it is very strange that they would still choose to wear the clothes while doing drugs and drinking.

What did you think of the episode?

Supernatural - The End, S05E04

What a phenomenally powerful episode. Supernatural has been delivering this season, and I'm loving every minute of it.

The premise of the End was that Dean (Jensen Ackles) was sent to the year 2014 by Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) to see what the world would become if he did not say yes to Michael. He arrived in a world plagued by Croatoan (something we first encountered in Season 1), and eventually managed to find himself. That's right, we had the pleasure of two Deans, one more surly than the other.

We still got our laughs. When Dean 2009 proved to Dean 2014 he was in fact himself, he spoke of trying on girl's panties when he was 19. He'd kind of liked it. And Cas, no longer an angel in this destroyed world, became an orgy-enjoying hippie. Plus, you had to love how well Dean actually knows himself and called himself out when he was spouting BS.

But the comedy was not what made this episode so brilliant. And yes, you gotta love how much Jensen Ackles we got. He had to work hard, after all, conversing with himself and creating a future Dean who had evolved from now Dean in a believable manner. I had no doubt that Dean could end up that way by 2014 given the circumstances. The real gem of the episode, however, was a stunning performance by Jared Padalecki.

We hardly saw Sam all episode, just a bit at the start and finish, but in 2014 we had one wonderful scene in which Dean 2009 faced Lucifer wearing Sam to the prom. What poise, what talent. Padalecki kept the same reservedness which all other actors playing Lucifer on Supernatural have displayed thus far. It's as if one person has continually played that part, simply wearing different costumes, which is a testament to the abilities of all of them.

Plus, seeing Sam not even present in Padalecki's eyes, completely dominated by the scorned lover, there is a praise-worthy performance. No, I never want to see Lucifer in Sam's body again, but boy did it show what Padalecki is capable of.

Which part of this episode moved you?