S04E09 - "Chuck Vs. the Phase Three" (22 November 2010) - Yvonne Strahovski kicking ass in Thailand, going batshit to find and rescue Chuck,, going so far as to lock Casey back up at Castle as not to intervene, is pretty much CHUCK at its best. A few episodes ago, I applauded the show in how it had Chuck and Sarah 'talk' over their feelings about one of their many fights whilst kicking ass in a...um, train station (?). Point is, awesome fight scene, and I love watching Sarah fight, so every moment of that was entirely enjoyable. However, there's just something about this season that's off. I recognize the major amount of financial cutbacks the show has been burdened with, but at the same time, CHUCK just feels fake and redundant, sorta. Despite the growth Chuck has undergone in seasons two and three, this season four counterpart seems like a major regression, back to his insecure ways and babbling like a idiot, a far cry from the mostly confidant man tracking his mother in the season four premiere. However, next Monday's Thanksgiving themed episode appears to be a cool game-changer, or at least back to the feeling of humor and drama brilliantly mixed. Here's hoping CHUCK gears up quickly, because unfortunately, I'm just not feeling it as much. That being said, it will be interesting to see how long Chuck goes without flashing, and see how he deals being a spy without his extra abilities...
S05E09 - "Teenage Wasteland" (21 November 2010) - Similar to many viewers, I'm not particularly a fan of Astrid, but damned if "Teenage Wasteland" didn't make me like her just a little bit more. And, plus, her presence allowed for the awesome scene where Dexter's gradual transformation into a full-blown emotion-feeling human being comes front and center and he unleashes hell on Astor's friends mothers boyfriend; pretty great scene, frankly. I also liked how Dexter's private life is now coming out in the open, as Lumen is now known to not only Astor, but Deb, who doesn't entirely buy the whole "new tenant" thing. And as for Lumen's storyline, it doesn't get advanced much this week, but with three episodes left, there's going to be a lot of shenanigans going on soon, I wager. But the really nifty part was when Shaw called Dexter's housing, knowing something was amiss with his bloody necklace thingy, and knew it was Lumen on the other end of the line. Nice! Last bit of note-worthy material: the Harry entity ponders that perhaps he should have raised Dexter in a different direction, that perhaps he isn't the killer Harry feared he would inevitably become. Even with all its ridiculous subplots and the general dislike of the Miguel Prado storyline, all five seasons of DEXTER have explored his psychology and motives to great extent, and I applaud the writers for that, 'cuz at the end of the day, that's what I want from 'em and this show.
S10E09 - "Patriot" (19 November 2010) - Arthur Curry is back, and has seemed to undergo a personality change. And one new thing about him, too: he has one hell of a smoking hot wife, presumably from the lost civilization of Atlantis, considering she's calling him "Orin" all the time. She's hot, like super hot; just feeling the need to establish this. Anyhow, Curry comes off as not remotely likable, and if this is his last venture into SMALLVILLE land, I'm not too pleased with it. Antagonistic to Clark and acting like a immature hothead, A.C. finds himself in trouble once again (this time with BSG veteran Michael Hogan!) and philosophizes here and there. Basically, I just didn't care. Speaking of philosophizing, nearly every character does this in "Patriot." From Hogan's character discussing patriotism and vigilantism, to A.C's wife talking all this grand stuff about Clark's destiny and Lois' role in it - all rather overdone, I'd say. Oh, and where did the whole Clark putting Lois off to the sidelines come in? Perhaps I missed something, but I was under the assumption since "Harvest" he's been more open and communicative to her than any person previous, man or woman. Regardless, it was awesome seeing Lois walk into Watchtower for the first time (plus the awkwardly worded scenes between her and Tess). And, 'course, Clark gets his Hero monologue moment. Oi. Overall, a decent but unspectacular episode, saved only be Lois' acceptance into the gang at the end and the hotness of A.C.'s wife.
S02E09 - "Visitation" (23 November 2010) - Season one had a episode dedicated entirely to God or some all-powerful being having its hand in creating this impossible plant ("Faith"), and in "Visitation", the same central theme comes again, this time with the sudden reappearance of the people Destiny left on that impossible planet. By the way, anyone else get a Starbuck/Viper vibe from the whole ordeal? Starbuck and her Viper coming back to the Galactica as perfect and new as when they left? Anyway, the heartbreaking revelation is that these folks already died on the planet, and some cosmic force (or aliens, as it's theorized) reanimated them and brought the group back to Destiny to say their goodbyes or whatnot. It was interesting, though, to have most of the deaths initiated when they tried to remember what happened back on the planet. I dig the idea of memories and their possible effects in the sci-fi world, so this coincidence (?) was pretty nifty. Although I was a little sad to hear that all these characters are, in actuality, dead, it was nice seeing them again, and allowed for more spectacular questions: where is TJ's baby, if her vision in the premiere is to be taken literally? What brought the group back? What was that flash of light from the Kino feed? What purpose did the force/aliens have in bringing them back to Destiny? All these questions and ideas are making SG-U get better and better with each week, and I'm excited for each new episode now. Hell, I'm even a bit sad the mid-season finale is next week. One last thing to note: I love the character of TJ, so whenever the writers have the opportunity to use her character in a greater capacity than a medical life saver, I'm bloody glad. One of the great underused gems of the show. In addition, there's a fantastic scene between Chloe and Greer (who gave off a genuinely great and out-of-character performance for the first time since ever) frankly discussing what will happen when Chloe turns. Ooooo! I'm excited!
S06E09 - "Clap Your Hands if you Believe..." (19 November 2010) - For a mostly dark beginning of the season, "Clap Your Hands..." appeared to be the funny ep on the block along the lines of "Changing Channels." As it stands, though, it was simply marginally OK. Truth is, the idea of Sam and Dean facing faeries had a lot of potential, not only for some brilliant gags, but also storyline. One interesting bit, though, did have a faerie claim they could retrieve Sam's soul, although I personally think he was just making it all up. It was also pretty cool seeing Sam's lack of interest or belief in his words, and just went back to kicking his ass. Frankly, I'm cool with soulless Sam for awhile longer, and I don't particularly look forward to him regaining it anytime soon, although I do enjoy the feeling that Dean just has to deal with it for awhile so we get more Soulless Sam episodes without "We need to find your soul pronto!"ness. Even for a less than stellar episode, there were some good parts: the X-FILES-esque opening theme which left me giggling, and the faerie attack on Dean at the hotel. As for Dean tackling a midnight...seemed a bit beneath the standards of comedy established by SUPERNATURAL. Until next time!
S01E04 - "Vatos" (21 November 2010) - Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, my apologies. So review of "Vatos" and the season finale next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment