S04E10 - "Chuck Vs. the Leftovers" (29 November 2010) - The strength of "Leftovers" was completely Timothy Dalton. His previous outing on the show was a hilarious odd character, and now we have a threatening evil mobs dealer who has a few eccentric characteristics which provide most of the chuckles and laughs. It's revealed Volkoff has a crush on Frost, and that he has a bipolar, kiddish mentality. One moment, he's full-on villain threatening to kill Chuck and everyone he loves, and in a split second, he's a kind soul completely engaged in conversation with Ellie. Odd, but entirely captivating and interesting character Alexi Volkoff is. As for Linda Hamilton, I was very pleased to hear the iconic TERMINATOR line spoken by her, and her threat to Alexi near the end was full on Sarah Connor. Good on you, mate. I did enjoy Morgan's little anti-John McClane moment, which provided the only verbal laugh-out-loud moment. Now that the computer Chuck's dad left Ellie has been opened and assessed by Chuck and he has been resorted to full Intersect Man, the whole 'meant-for-Ellie' and planting the newspaper ad specifically for her doesn't make a lot of sense. And I'd say Papa Bartowski has as good as foresight as John Kramer aka Jigsaw, anticipating Chuck being Intersectless in the near future and hoping Ellie would become inspired at just the right time to seek out that car. Eh, logic and plot don't go well with CHUCK, so I'll just let it slide, even though it bugs me a bit. Apparently there's not another episode until past the halfway mark in January, which makes me very unhappy. I need my CHUCK. But let's take this moment to reflect in the previous ten episodes: overall, I can't say I'm particularly enthralled by the episodes we got, but they weren't ungodly horrible. There has been a noticeable lack of quality this season, but we still have nine left so this fourth season could still be saved. Nonetheless, I'm a follower.
S05E10 - "In the Beginning" (28 November 2010) - I'm confused about the title of the episode. Anyone else? "In the Beginning" has more forward momentum than most of the episodes before it (understandable, being only two episodes away from the season finale - sadness), and there certainly isn't a flashback to Dexter's younger years of his 'first kill', so why the title? It is, however, the true beginning of Dexter's problems, because now Liddy has some serious dirt on him, and Deb is getting closer to Lumen, and by extension, Dex. Anyway, "In the Beginning" was quite the good episode. The relationship between Lumen and Dexter developed, as Lumen took her first life. From a acting standpoint, I question Julia Stiles' choice to close her eyes when she thrust down - I thought she would want to see her tormentor exit this world - but I guess it makes sense that she is overcome with such emotion at that moment. And that leads us to the ending. Yknow, it was bound to happen, and I was ecstatic when it finally did. Two psychologically and socially messed up people in two different but similarly chaotic emotional states, and after what Lumen just did, it makes sense that these feelings explode into sex. I'm happy it's out of the way, the sexual tension's been around for weeks. It feels like only a few episodes ago when Dexter was trying to convince her he wasn't the bad guy, but I need to remind myself that was a good two or so months ago in the shows timeline. Past that topic, we have Shaw vs. Dexter, and that singular scene between the two was exhilarating. I don't know how this will be resolved, but I'm glued. But concerning Liddy, I'm not sure if Peter Weller is acting the way he is under the notion it will be considered down-to-earth and honest and eventually result in award nomination, I just find him vile and obnoxious. Weller impressed with years ago with his work on 24 as Christopher Henderson, but that positive imprint is quickly depleting. Two episodes left, full of anticipation. On the other hand, it means another year waiting, which mostly blows.
S01E18 - "Mister Purr-Fect" (12 May 2008) - A entertaining episode that is overall unspectacular, although the whole "Guy Code" thing was pretty humorous. I still find myself liking Rebecca a lot more after she started going out with Cappie - not only does she come off as a little bit nicer (just a little bit; I mean, c'mon, she buys pizzas for everyone! I want one!), but her character becomes a little bit more on the interesting side. Sadly, there's not much else to enjoy from this episode. Not saying I disliked it, it was just sorta 'meh'.
S01E19 - "No Campus for Old Rules" (19 May 2008) - All the roughhousing and Jen K stuff from episodes and episodes ago come back to bite the Greeks in the arse, but they won't take it sitting still. Cappie and Evan do their best to convince the school board to end all the suffocating restrictions, that they're young and out of anytime to be immature and make mistakes, it's now. In the end, they win, and all is good in the world. Rusty ends up sleeping with Dale's friend Tina, although I haven't a clue why she would. But for the first time, it was mildly amusing listening and watching Rusty's reactions when venomously talking about her, and Rebecca's line about just having sex with Tina already was quite in the realm of funny.
S01E20 - "A Tale of Two Parties" (26 May 2008) - Oh poor Rusty. Frankly, and I realize I'm not the correct sex to be evaluating as so, Rusty isn't very attractive nor does he have the type of personality that gets two attractive girls in, what, three months in the GREEK timeline? So by all means, he shouldn't be complaining about being a Frak Buddy and enjoy it while it lasts! Bloody hell. Alright, in non-Rusty world, I find myself liking Evan and disliking Evan: his antics to stop Casey from seeing guys is tiresome, but yet strangely amusing. Not amusing is Calvin's ordeal with his older gay date; the interactions are awkward and the story simply not in the realm of interesting. But I like Calvin, and I hope the best for his character, so watch with affection I shall!
S01E21 - "Barely Legal" (2 June 2008) - Oh Rusty, how'd you get yourself in this pickle? It was funny and quasi-original though, so that was quite enjoyable. Rusty gets mistaken for a singer/musician dude, and under false pretense is invited to sing at a woman's wedding. The horrors of fake IDs. On the opposite side of things, there's Casey and Evan, with Evan being his little manipulative self, trying to get back with Casey who seems to be quite happy with their newfound and supposedly stable friendship. But of course, Evan ruins that, completely without Cappie's help, surprisingly enough. I have no doubt Evan is going to end up with Frannie in the next episode or season, I just wish they got it out of the way already instead of procrastinating. It's fantastic to see Casey realize that her plans for law school originated with Evan, and that she truly doesn't want to pursue that as a career. I love it when characters have epiphanies and decide to forge their own path. Here's hoping Casey becomes quite successful in the following season and not get brought down.
S01E22 - "Spring Break" (9 June 2008) - The "Hotness Monster". Horribley lame, but I dig it at the same time. Anyway, the transition to season two episode. Cappie and Rebecca have a little spat, stemmed from Rebecca's jealousy of the Casey/Cappie duo and because her father had a affair that just got hugely publicized. It's good to see Cappie comfort her at the end, but it was equally satisfying having Casey and Cappie kiss at the beach. There's no couple I get more giddy about on the tele these days. Blimey, it's like I'm a little schoolgirl.
Alright, I have now finished season one of GREEK. Simple diagnosis: I love it, one of my new addictions. Oddly, the latter half of the season didn't seem to have the same pizazz or sheer awesomeness of the earlier batch. Not saying I didn't love 'em - I did, it just seemed there were more original or at least marginally interesting stories from the first half. However, I consider it a success no matter. All the characters have grown through the course of this season, breakups and hookups, revelations and new goals - should be quite the exciting second season. I hope to watch as many as I can next week before I leave High Speed heaven on Friday the 10th. A special thanks to the many endearing comments by Rachel and Nick about GREEK.
S02E10 - "Resurgence" (30 November 2010) - Not the strongest episode, and not the strongest cliffhanging event to keep us anticipating the shows return in March (I guess, there hasn't been a official announcement yet), but it was still pretty good. For one thing, the visual effects were amazing, and very reminiscent to the quality and splendid craftsmanship of the revitalized BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. So major, major kudos in that regard. Frankly, the first two acts were a little dodgy, slow-paced and whatnot, but the final act really pushes the momentum. However, still a little disappointed by the lackluster concluding moments. The Destiny crew are in trouble once again, although there's virtually no drama in this scenario except to see how it resolves, but I am quite interested to see what Chloe did. I wish there was a inkling, a tiny little hint, as to what she did to that machine. Perhaps the ship starts malfunctioning even more than it already is, or on the bridge Rush and Eli find that there's a massive power surge. SOMETHING to make it more cliffhangery. All that being said, I am thankful that there were just 'moments' in the episode, where two characters just sit down and have a frank conversation. Last week they had the awesome scene with Greer, and this week they had a pretty good scene between Eli and Rush, something that isn't very common with the two of them since the pilot "Air." Overall, "Resurgence" is a success, but there is also some lost potential. The dramatic moment that sort of got glossed over with Telford's, um, resurgence, as well as the stuff about the aliens. They left him and that plotline in such a wonderful way, it's a cop out how easily the resolution is presented.
Now that the wait is on for the back ten episodes, as well as news on whether or not the show will be renewed for a third season (I hope it does) or these following ten will be its last, it's time for a quick retrospect of these 10 episodes. Overall, STARGATE UNIVERSE far surpassed the clumsy written and directed season one episodes, and with the exception of the extremely dodgy season premiere, I dug pretty much every episode this season thus far. So, quite the accomplishment on their part. Characters are evolving, really bad situations are happening, and the Destiny's awesome mission has been revealed. The show is gaining momentum, let's just hope they keep it that way.
Sorry, once again I got held up by other programs. But I PROMISE that I will review episodes 4-6 - well, basically the entire rest of the series - in time for the next The Watcher. In addition, I'll have some surprise reviews of films and shows next week. I'm giddy 'bout watching 'em and reviewin' 'em! Cheers!
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