17 February 2011

The Watcher: 02/11/11 - 02/17/11









S01E05 - "The End of the World As We Knew It" (14 February 2011) - Aidan going badass. I like that. Josh finally getting rid of his obnoxious sounding Wolfie maker. I really like that. Sally getting some dimensional and invoking some ghostly payback. I love that. Episode Five was really good, if only for the scene where Sally dumps her ex-fiance's apartment. Nice. If I were a ghost and I just learned said truth, you better believe I'm going to make that persons life bloody miserable. Where her character goes from here on out is definitely gonna be interesting. As for Aidan, he perplexes me still. He's off/on with the whole 'no human blood' thing, yet dabbles and gets close and then pulls back last minute. He's giving into his desires and animalistic nature far more than I expected, making him a unpredictable yet rather exciting character. His smashing the priest vamp's teeth in, much to the apparent delight of Bishop, that was some cool stuff. Now if we can just get some clear direction with Aidan, I'd like that. He seems to be the most up in the air, as far as his arc is concerned. Ray will hopefully never come back, or if he does, I really hope Josh kills the bastard. Tapping into the dark side of Josh could be quite interesting. After all, Josh is the one trying to be the more human compared to Aidan, trying to live his life normally. And with a romance around the corner, he just might. Overall, nice character progression. Score: 8.9/10










S04E15 - "Chuck Versus the Cat Squad" (14 February 2011) - Skimpy outfits for Sarah and her friends equals a dashing good time. Although "Cat Squad" wasn't great, it did nonetheless remind me of the fun and excitement and occasional brilliance of the show, and it was quite welcoming. Chuck being Chuck, he tries to make things right by calling in some friends from Sarah's past, which she immediately isn't too fond of. But of course, in the end, all is right in the world, and Chuck gets smoochies and thank yous from the girlfriend. A funny script and funny actors can go a long way. The overall plot isn't moved, although I don't think there really is one right now except for the wedding, but it was enjoyable, so it gets points for that. Score: 9.0/10














S03E13 - "Immortality" (11 February 2011) - So, the Other Olivia is knocked up. Can I just say this: OH. MY. GOD!!! Perhaps I just don't think outside the box, or I didn't want to spoil myself by thinking too far into things, but I so didn't expect that! That makes the whole predicament given to the redhead at the end of the last weeks episodes even more ginormous and full of possibilities and uncertainties. Frankly, I wasn't all that yippie skippie about the freak of the week. I was more glued to the screen with Olivia and what the hell is going on with her. Ooooh I can't wait to see this spiral out of control! In other news, more on the depressing front, the numbers for FRINGE is dropping rapidly. So that's not exactly good news. Score: 9.1/10











S02E02 - "The Life Inside" (16 February 2011) - Wha? What is Boyd doing living with Ava? How did that friendship come about? That's an interesting question and storypoint I'd love to see explored. And it also may just be me, being a sucker for relationships and all, but I'm truly lovin' seeing Raylan and Winona back together. I love how Winona pretty much summarized her feelings for Raylan, how she sometimes wants to punch his face, and sometimes wants to run away with him and never look back. Fantastic, great writing. But then again, JUSTIFIED is well known for it's witty and clever writing, which is also in great display for the Case of the Week. A pregnant inmate put into Raylan's care, the overall subplot wasn't the best the series has produced, but the dialogue and performances nonetheless achieved making it something entertaining. Like the final scene where Raylan and the other cop (sorry, the name escapes me right now) have the Bad Guy pinned down and brings up his bud's sniper skills and then BAM! Great stuff. Speaking of pregnancies, and the title itself, will Winona and Raylan choose to get pregnant this season? Now that would be interesting. Now as for Mags and the overall movement of that plot, that doesn't get a lot of forward momentum other than Mags taking care of Loretta. So happy the shows back. Score: 9.5/10







S01E14 - "The Next Seduction" (10 February 2011) - Relationships. It's unfortunate that NIKITA feels like it needs to introduce men in the lives of its two female leads, but I'm assuming these plotpoints are here to stay, so I might as well bite my lip and see how it all plays out. I can understand the whole Alex/guy-next-door fling, and that whole dinner conversation with Michael was positively brutal, so I'll let her euphoria and hardly-knowing-the-guy thing slide. But Nikita getting smoochied by her bud Ryan, and her okay with that? I'm confused. Frankly, I never saw any sort of romantic spark with the two, just a common need to bring down Division and make the world a safer plays. Allies, sure, but frak buddies or lovers? Nah, not my cup of tea, nor do I think this is the right route for Nikita at the moment. That being said, the spy plot of the week was still enjoyable, and I liked Division having an upper hand for a minute - until Nikita beat that, as well. Score: 7.8/10











S01E05 - "Stanley" (14 February 2011) - Poor, poor Stanley. He's a nice, decent guy, he just has that sort of bewildered, stoned look at the time and just doesn't know the right thing to say. Although, can't blame him too much. After all, he has a really weird family. His dad is all yelling and off his kilter in making-sense land, and his mom just stays silently in the corner not really making her voice heard. Stanley coming to the rescue for Tony: gee, I can't wait to see Tony's life crumble. The highlight was, of course, seeing Stanley and Michelle interact. There was that one brief moment of intimacy between them - when he held her at the beach - but of course Tony comes along and ruins it. Poor, poor Stanley. And then the car gets on fire, and Stanley gets to go to court, all thanks to Tony. Man, Stanley just needs to grow some balls, talk up a bit, something to make him not just a push over. Score: 8.5/10










S10E13 - "Beacon" (11 February 2011) - Clark is a beacon of hope, in case that part wasn't very clear. Martha Kent returns to provide Clark with more inspirational speeches and get the VRA bill overturned (which in turn inspires Clark more). Y'know, it was a good episode and all, and I do like how everyone is rallying with Clark and the heroes, but at the same time, I sorta wish Clark made these choices and took the journey on his own. But then again, SMALLVILLE is so full of 'it's my destiny!' that it couldn't take that route, anyway. The most intriguing element of the episode was the final moments with Tess poking Alexander with the needle, intent on killing him, but his skin is superman like steel! Unfortunately the spoiler about Alexander was already out of the bag, so what he becomes is now known, but it would have been very interesting to see Alexander grow to becoming a physically indestructible Lex Luthor. Speaking about the Luthors, how magnificent was it having John Glover back? He is just as menacing and brilliant as last we say him. Oh, how I love the manipulative, cold hearted bastard. Hell, Lucas Gabreel of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL fame was friggin' awesome as Alexander, full of menace and even similarities to Michael Rosenbaum's performance. Very good, indeed, Mr. Gabreel. All in all, another good episode of an pretty amazing tenth season. Score: 9.4/10








S06E12 - "Unforgiven" (11 February 2011) - Good title, 'meh' delivery. "Unforgiven" is a flashback heavy episode that delves into the year that Soulless Sam and Grandpa Campbell went hunting, specifically a small town where Sam did some bad things and in present time, is paying for them. Ultimately, the flashbacks didn't deliver as much as I hoped. Sure, the opening flashback with Sam shooting people and Grandpa Campbell watching in disbelief was pretty cool, pretty powerful and heavy material. But all the other flashback sequences weren't really necessary, or at least didn't convey any new information or pack any weight with this soulless individual. The end though...blimey. That happened faster than expected. So, what the frak is going to happen? He scratched the wall, and shit has to go down. How will he be saved? And yes, give us more Sam episodes. I'm done with Dean for a bit. Score: 8.2/10













S02E06 - "Siege" (15 February 2011) - YES! Now that's the type of V episode I've been looking forward to! One full action-packed, adrenaline, emotional episode that has stakes and consequences and character bits and can all around be called awesome. The first genuinely really good episode since the series premiere, "Siege" still has its problems, but I can deal with it, because the episode itself is so damn strong. Eli, Ryan, Tyler's dad - casualties of war. All hell broke loose. Hobbes did something against character (he would have been far more suspicious and untrusting of the V, especially for just one audio recording), but adds some dimension to the crime fighting team now. Bullets. Blood. Debris. Betrayals. Yeah, "Siege" was my kind of episode. The investigation into Erica is closed now (hope this isn't the end of Jay Karnes), although I'm not entirely sold on them seeing this as definitive proof (I'm still curious how she can come up with a good reason why she was at the building). Score: 8.9/10

Also, new and final episodes of STARGATE: UNIVERSE start 7 March. w00t!

2 comments:

Fletch said...

RE V - yeah, that bit with Hobbes and the audio (recording!) was weak. She said nothing in response to him - no way he'd be dumb enough not to need to hear more.

Nice that Jack is no longer a priest already.

And no way is Ryan dead. He'll be back.

Not terrible, but as the episode ended, I still said to myself, "god, this show is bad..."

Andrew Simon said...

Yep, just read an interview. Ryan's still alive. Damnit.

Now that Jack's no priesty man, let's hope he stops being passive and grows some balls, and the final minutes seemed to indicate as much.

Hobbes...yea, that was just..weak. Out of all the errors this show made, I think that has to be the top "WTF?" moment.

So if V gets picked up for a season 3, would you still watch it?