S04E08 - "Chuck Vs. the Fear of Death" (15 November 2010) - Sarah in lingerie, the episode was a success. Voila, done with this review. What? You want a little more? Well, fine! Overall, the episode was good, and the "specialist" flown in from D.C. to help reignite the Intersect was often hilarious, as was his (Spoiler) death scene. It's unfortunate to see him go, but he delivered the goods in such a short amount of time. As for Sarah - lingerie excluded - I'm still unsure if I appreciate her determination to save Chuck, or condemn her for not having faith in her boyfriend and assurances that he can get out of danger himself. Sure, the odds were stacked against him, but nonetheless. And let's talk about the guest star of the hour, shall we? Summer Glau played yet another iteration of Greta, and became a nemesis to Jeffster and Lester to hilarious and threatening effect. I'm also very, very happy that Ms. Glau and Adam Baldwin, her co-star on FIREFLY, shared a scene together, and even had a "grrrr" match! Terrific! There are, of course, some nitpicky aspects of the show, ranging from the poorly choreographed fight scene to the sheer lack of realism in the digital effects, but it's best not to linger on the negatives. Overall, a solid episode that effectively makes me giddy to see Sarah go all, ahem, Sarah Connor on anyone who stands in her way of finding Chuck next week. Boo-yah!
S05E08 - "Take It" (14 November 2010) - Dexter and Lumen. Good combination. I really hope that she doesn't do something stupid and gets killed or forces Dexter to kill her. Or, with RoboCop now getting a inkling of what's going on, perhaps Lumen gets thrown in jail and she spills all of Dexter's secrets and season 6 is Dex on the run from everyone, with only Deb as his possible ally. Nah, scratch off the Deb stuff. But anyway, "Take It" was a pretty good episode, and the final 10 minutes were great with Dexter and Lumen getting rid of Cole. I spend too much time bitching about the married couple and Quinn, I ain't gonna bother doing that much. Though I really hope LeGuertia gets a leg chopped off or something severe. Great performances, though, from both Julia Stiles and Michael Hall, especially when he was brought up onstage to discuss Rita's death. With only a few episodes left, shit is really gonna hit the fan, and from a overall 'meh' season, DEXTER really needs it.
S01E09 -"One Way" (11 November 2010) - Nikita and Michael teaming up once again, and with one killer but overdramatic conclusion full of awesomeness from Shawn Roberts. The look of hatred and lust to beat the life out of Nikita was astonishing and quite amazing to behold. Just when Nikita thinks things just might get easier for her... Now it appears that Michael is a full blown enemy of Nikita's (hence the overdramatic part), but wouldn't have to be if he just took a few seconds to think about why she did it and not let his anger cloud his judgment. Besides, I have no doubt Michael will have the chance to put the bullet in the guys head by seasons end. We also get some backstory for Michael in quick sixty-second scenes (at least it feels that way) which shows the murder of his wife and child and Micheal's subsequent recruitment by Percy into Division. Perhaps I got too spoiled by the stellar flashbacks in LOST, but none of the flashbacks in NIKITA carry any emotional weight whatsoever. I just wish they were done better. Overall a decent episode that has a stellar conclusion. Now it seems NIKITA is on hold for a few weeks, early December, so it's gonna be slim pickings at The Watcher for a while.
S10E09 - "Abandoned" (12 November 2010) - The episode signaling Teri Hatcher's return to the Superman television universe (!). As expected, Hatcher's performance was rock solid, and created one hell of a emotional tear jerker as Lois watched the video of her long laid to rest mother. This video sparked the desire in Lois to reconcile Clark with Jor-El, leading to yet another emotional scene between Clark and his birth parents in the Fortress (pre-Krypton exploding, so we get the Julian actor from season 9 playing Jor-El and not the voice of Terrance Stamp), which basically goes on and on about how proud they are of their little Kal-El and have a grand destiny for him on earth. Now, I've never been a great fan of this whole 'destiny' thing in relation to Clark's life, because I always felt that in the SMALLVILLE mythology, he didn't so much as grow into becoming a hero, but was guided that direction by his birth parents' grand scheme. Could be alone in these thoughts, but I do wish the whole concept of 'destiny' in relation to Clark was never brought up. Clark and Lois aside, the other part of the episode was all Granny Goodness and Tess Mercer, revealing that Tess is, in fact, a Luthor! Interesting angle, and I'm stoked to see the emotional and mental repercussions of this discovery on Tess, and how this will effect her relationship with Alexander. Curiouser and curiouser. And this whole stuff with Granny Goodness...not sure what I think about it yet, but I'm not expressively impressed. Until next week!
S02E08 -"Malice" (16 November 2010) - Damn good episode. I mean, really sucky that the gorgeous red head had to leave the cast, but it provided us with one hell of a Dr. Rush episode. Gun in hand, Rush enters the Stargate to a rocky planet to locate Simeon, and he has no intent on letting him go alive. Haven't been too much of a Rush fan, or a Carlyle fan, but this episode allows him to frakkin' shine. Eli, who should be equally as shattered, isn't given the full amount of awesomeness and drama that could have been allotted to him, instead regulated to yelling at Colonial Young and being obnoxious more than angry at the world. Chloe comes in at the last minute to save the day, or at least stop the ship from entering FTL, but then is quickly thrown back into her little dungeon room. Really hoping her story gets spiced up soon, or at least Chloe is given more to do than be used and shag Scott. But back to the awesomeness of this episode: Rush. Vengeance. Beauty. These last three episodes will most definitely be ones I rewatch a lot.
S06E08 - "All Dogs Go to Heaven" (12 November 2010) - Well, we had a good string of episodes, so I gather it was only a given a poorly executed one would be hitting the airwaves imminently. A overall uninteresting plot involving werewolves/shapeshifters/what have you that ultimately climaxes in a just-as-uninteresting blowout (with the exception of the sheer awesomeness seeing Sam flying bullets all over the place). The only saving grace of this episode, frankly, is the final scene between Sam and Dean, as he finally relents and tells the honest truth. For the entire episode he was adamant he was Sam, still the same brother Dean always knew and still thinks the same things he did before, but by the final scene, he realizes he's not. He doesn't care about Ben or Lisa, and he doesn't even really care about Dean, he's just a useful tool to him. I'll admit that I find this whole new personality mega-loads interesting, and I would have no problem with Sam taking over the show and Dean being the sidekick given limited screentime. Sam is on fire this season, and this new and 'improved' version is invigorating and always engaging. Yes, it'll be nice to see him get his soul back, but I hope it takes a long while.
Also, one final interesting note, but when he does get his soul back, what will be the ramifications of that? Will he cower or go mad, in a way, by the gravity of all the bad things he's done the last 14 months comes running into his consciousness? Will he become a season seven Spike from BUFFY? Reinsouling Sam will have some serious consequences, and there will be a load of fallout, and he just might become more lost than he already is. Here's hoping the show tackles the matter confidently and delivers the goods. Until then, skippable episode, and most assuredly not one I plan on watching again.
S01E03 - "Tell it to the Frogs" (14 November 2010) - Damn, the racist guy is going to be a bigger part of the storyline than I expected. And did I miss something, but how did a handless guy escape when the lock thingy was still there? I was multitasking, so perhaps I didn't catch a quick shot that explained that away. Anyway, not as enjoyable as last week's episode, but I won't lie and say that the reunion with Rick and his family didn't elicit a smile. It sucks that Rick, being Mr. Moral Code and all, decides to go back into town, leaving his family less than 24 hrs. after arriving post-being thought dead and all. But aside from the racist guy, he's also concerned about the walkie talkie in the bag of guns that will be of great use. Two episodes left of its freshman season, and it looks like we're going to get a short, self-contained storyline dealing entirely with Atlanta and this group of folks. At least the 13-episode season two will allow for more story development and zombie action (speaking of the zombies, even in the daylight, they're pretty creepy, so kudos to the makeup wizards). All in all, not much to say. It was fantastic seeing Rick with his wife and son, and it was nice seeing the BOONDOCK SAINTS actors doing work (one in WALKING DEAD, the other in SAW VII) until the second sequel. I'm quite anxious to rewatch these episodes in one session on Blu-Ray, it will undoubtedly add more layers to the 'Book One' vibe of these episodes. C'mon, Sunday!
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