Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Legends, S01E03

This episode of Spartacus was aptly named. The primary focus was the telling of stories of how Spartacus (Andy Whitfield)'s fellow gladiators earned their fearsome reputations.

In this, I found the graphics in the ring perfectly fitting. Though I have complained about the ease in which the gladiators removed limbs in combat, the difference between the fight sequences taking place in reality and the ones taking place in the imaginations of our heroes while they describe the legendary battles were distinct. The fogginess and exaggeration was there, but it was superseded by fear.

The idea of Barca (Antonio Te Maioho) fighting his people to the death, and finishing with one-on-one combat with his father, is not only gruesome, but also explains why he's as cruel as he is. To do that, even for your own survival, your mind can hardly stay properly grounded in reality, and no idea of compassion can remain in you.

Crixus (Manu Bennett)'s battle gave me far more terror. The images of the two insane men he fought, dressed in animals skins and more beast than man, struck fear even before they attacked. I felt his reputation earned by those images alone, and though Spartacus was not able to see them, his arrogance in disregarding them was hard to stomach.

The humility that he felt, not only in his fight against Crixus in which he should have died, but afterwards when he realized that it was too late for humility, was well earned. One can only hope that now he will make wise choices, and realize that brash bravery based on nothing will not win him his wife.

I am glad that he lost, and that he learned humility. I thought for certain that he would win, and kill Crixus in the ring, and that just after I had started to like him. Unlike Barca, we have seen a human side of Crixus. His feelings for Naevia (Lesley-Ann Brandt) might originate out of a sense of lust and of power, but what he wants is what Spartacus wants. A woman he can love who loves him. Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) does unman him; she has the power in their relationship, and he is obliged only to please her and to act please himself, even if he is not. The appeal of a relationship where both are there from mutual affection, now that is a goal he cannot easily obtain.

I am glad that Crixus did not die, and that Spartacus will hopefully get his head on straight from now on. But only time will tell how well everything will work out (with the expectation, of course, of how the entire series must end). What are your thoughts?

Castle - Suicide Squeeze, S02E15

Unlike most shows, Castle's popularity is on the rise. Every week, more people discover this gem and get hooked. Not that any of us are surprised, since I have had nothing but praise for this show from the get-go.

Still, the increase must also be attributed to the episodic nature of the show. It is relatively easy to start watching Castle, knowing nothing about it before hand. Sure, you might wonder about the details of Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic)'s relationship, or who Alexis (Molly Quinn)'s mother is, but the main relationship structures are immediately apparent. And while the banter does not exclude information we have learned previously, it does not rely on it.

This latest episode, Suicide Squeeze, demonstrates perfectly the solidity of the writing, with a wonderful family theme tying together an exploration of Castle's feelings over being fatherless, Beckett's relationship with her own father, and the death of a baseball player.

The plot was fairly political. The victim was a famous baseball player who escaped from Cuba about 18 years before. Recently, he had renewed relations with his homeland, which naturally created some controversy. Throw in the possibility that he had a Cuban mistress whom he was trying to sneak off the island, and there are a whole lot of reasons that he might have ended up dead.

The theme, of course, was the answer. The girl was not his mistress, but the daughter his fiancee who did not make it out of Cuba gave him before she died. Not that he knew of her existence until he returned to Cuba. Then, the father ended up dead in a confrontation with his manager, the man who had not rescued the mother and daughter from Cuba, nor told him the truth about them staying behind (or the daughter having been born).

The regret the baseball player felt that his daughter grew up not knowing him, and thinking that he had abandoned her, was a lovely symmetry to how Castle's father may or may not feel about him. Castle, being the writer that he is, feels no pain over not knowing. He has imagined himself the perfect father, who is both an astronaut and a classical musician. And while he is content with this memory, and Alexis is not too upset over not knowing her ancestry on one side, his daughter regrets the most that her father did not have the chance to have a relationship with his dad the way she does with hers.

How could Alexis give up those moments where she tells her dad that, by eating lots of whipping cream out of a can, he'll spoil his dinner, only to be told "This is my dinner." "No," is Alexis unwavering response.

This was an episode that should be watched again, probably on Father's day.

Past Life - Pilot, S01E01

I don't understand why anyone would decide that premiering a show on a Tuesday, then airing the rest of the episodes on Thursdays, starting to do so that same week, and having the second and third weeks coincide with the Olympics is a good idea.

Even if this was the best show on television, this would still be a ridiculously bad plan. And Past Life is far from being the best. It's no surprise that the network airing it is Fox.

The premiere didn't do a bad job introducing the characters, but they simply were not that interesting. Dr. Kate McGinn (Kelli Giddish) is the past life specialist and Price Whatley -which, by the way is a ridiculous name - (Nicolas Bishop) is a former cop, now PI who works with her. The only thing of note about Kate's personality is that she and her mother both don't like clingy men, and that there might possibly be a past life experience of her own that got her where she is, maybe, but that was not really touched on at all.

Price, on the other hand, has the typical former cop story. His wife died, he began to drink and got fired. Now he's trying to get his life back together with this job. I suppose that points for creativity should be given because, instead of killing her in a car accident, which is usually the case, he convinced her to jump off a cliff, and when she did, she broke her neck.

Okay, so there was water at the bottom of the cliff, and she dove in, but still.

So the main characters aren't enough to get me to watch the show again, but is the science? Well, they spent the episode trying to get clues about who killed the kid in his past life by putting him in situations that might be traumatic enough to get him to bring back his memories. Oh, dogs were barking? Let's get a bunch of dogs to bark while we film you and see if anything interesting happens?

Then, you have the questions of the soul, which they did not at all address. This boy was born one month after the disappearance of the girl he was before. We don't even know in that month when she died. But we do know that less than a month before he was born, her soul entered into his body. Are we talking a soul merger here? Or are we establishing that the soul enters the body only moments before birth, so all you people who don't like abortion, what are you worried about?

If you are going to deal with a question of that nature, you have to be careful. Frankly, I don't think the writers even considered the controversialness of what they were writing. Sigh, grumble, grumble.

So that's what I think of Past Life. Do you think I judged it fairly?

*Addition to Post*

Since I typed this post, Fox has pulled Past Life off the air. It might air the remaining episodes in the summer, but the crappy ratings aren't worth keeping it on. Why they thought this show deserved a Thursday spot, and why they chose to have it compete with the Olympics (to which American Idol's episode determining the top 24 also lost) is beyond me.

When TV resumes after the Olympics

Though there are some shows that I have not blogged about which aired before the Olympics and which I am hoping I will be able to watch and blog about before the Olympics are over, there are few shows on right now which I am missing because of the Olympic priority.

The 3 culprits are White Collar (which you may have noticed I am already significantly behind on), Spartacus: Blood and Sand (which I am missing and will endeavor to watch sometime in the next week in the morning, before any events begin), and Caprica.

Why Caprica, which has failed to capture my heart so far, thinks that it should continue to play through the Olympics can only be explained by the fact that if the momentum stopped for two weeks, it might lose all the viewers it currently has. Caprica has a tenuous hold on me, based only on my love for its predecessor.

But other than these three shows, all my favourites have stopped for at least two weeks. And other shows will be coming back on the air in the beginning of March as well.

Here are the dates to watch for:

Chuck - March 1

The Good Wife - March 2

Republic of Doyle - March 3

The Mentalist - March 4

Flash Forward - March 4

Castle - March 8

Supernatural - March 25

Vampire Diaries - March 25

V - March 30

Bones - April 1

Glee - April 13

Happy Town - April 28

But for now, you have the Olympics to entertain you, what more do you need?

Olympics make for the best reality television

I love watching the Olympics. Maybe it's because, growing up, my family was really into it. Maybe it's because, between the commentary and the years of watching, I understand the rules of the competitions, and can recognize for myself who should win. Or maybe because they only take place every 2 years, so I can be obsessed those two weeks and otherwise not have it affect my life (like following any other sporting event would).

As a Canadian, I was thrilled beyond the understanding of any non-Canadian when we won our first gold medal on Canadian soil the second day of competition. The pride I felt the next day of singing O Canada as our flag went up, knowing that so many Canadians across this country and overseas were joining me. Alexandre Bilodeau, you are amazing, and when this does become a trivial pursuit question, I will know the answer.

Two days later, Maelle Ricker got herself a gold as well, giving us a gold on Canadian soil in both a women's and a men's event. So we are rocking it!

Yes, there are people from Canada who we were hoping would medal and didn't, but there were also some we did not expect to bring us home anything who did (I'm looking at you, Mike Robertson - my, that's a lovely silver).

So far, my only complaint is about our announcers. Watching the men's figure skating short program on Tuesday, where Patrick Chan did well, but not his best, the announcers proceeded to explain his chances of medaling over and over again. He got an 81.12, and the top 3 got over 90. That's bad, we get it. So leave him alone! He's 19, and when he comes to the Olympics again at 23, with 4 more years of training under his belt, then he will be a force to be reckoned with.

And despite the utter unlikelihood of him getting a medal tonight, I am still really excited to see his long program, and to see if the 3 with the 90s are the ones on the podium, and to know (if they are) who will get the gold - Russian, American, or Japanese? Who do you want to win?

Chuck - Chuck vs the Mask, S03E07

Interesting that after two seasons of will they/won't they resulting in a "they did, but it did not last long," I am not particularly upset about Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) being in relationships with other people.

Sarah attraction to Shaw (Brandon Routh) fits perfectly with her type. Both Bryce and the hot MI-6 Brit from last season were amazing spies with fantastic good looks too. Funny how now that Chuck has joined their ranks as an amazing spy, Sarah's interest in him has wained.

Meanwhile, Hannah (Kristin Kreuk) is the perfect girl for Chuck, the type he would have been dating over the last two years if his spy life had not got in the way. Yet, his spy life is already in the way because he had no idea and had not at all noticed Morgan (Joshua Gomez)'s interest in the girl. Now that is bad! When you aren't even aware that your actions are breaking your best friend's heart, and you are too selfish to think about how your personal choices are affecting those around you when you already know that your professional choices put them at risk.

Still, Chuck and Sarah's relationship has greatly evolved. Both still realize the depth of feelings they have for one another, but both are prepared to watch the other with someone else because that is what is best for everyone. Granted, Shaw will likely be brutally killed soon, and Hannah's just as likely to be an agent for the Ring, but for the moment, I'm actually quite happy that the plot is moving forward in other ways.

I am not happy about the lack of Casey (Adam Baldwin). Yes, he had a few good lines, but his screen times was unacceptably low. I WANT MORE CASEY!!!

What about you? Do you want more Casey?

The Good Wife - Bad, S01E13

Though Peter(Chris Noth)'s trial was an important part of this episode, I was far more drawn by the confusion over Alicia (Julianna Margulies)'s case.

Colin Sweeney (Dylan Baker), which is a name that makes me think serial killer the moment I hear it, was found not guilty of killing his wife, but everyone believes he did do it. Now, his step-daughter is suing him in civil court - he should not inherit any money from a death that he caused.

Alicia believes that Sweeney killed his wife, yet she still does her best to defend him. Even at the end of the episode, when it looks like the daughter was the one who committed the murder when the body was finally found on her farm, Alicia is still convinced that he is the murderer.

And I can't decide whether or not she is right. Dylan Baker knows how to maximize his creep-factor, and his portrayal of Sweeney was not meant to be sympathetic - the S+M, the other women, the violent paintings on his wall. Many people are very uncomfortable with what he considers normal sexual behaviour, and he makes no effort to hide who he is or make himself more socially acceptable.

And thus my confusions. Is this man, though in many ways a social deviant, a murderer? Do his different social norms go so far as guiltless murder? Or is the sweet and pathetic step-daughter the actual killer, insinuating herself so carefully into society that no one would suspect her first? The best defense is not to be noticed or suspected, which Sweeney clearly did not do, but perhaps he could not, or it was too late anyway.

Though at the end of the episode, Alicia still believed Sweeney to have murdered his wife, framing the step-daughter, I still cannot be sure. Often, the most obvious suspect - the cheating, bondage-loving husband - is the murderer, but sometimes, he is not.

Who do you think killed Sweeney's wife?