The Watcher: 04/01/11 - 04/14/11

BEING HUMAN S01E12 - "You're The One That I Haunt" (4 April 2011) - Payback's a bitch, something that both Danny and Aidan find out hard this week. A GRUDGE-like Sally exacts her revenge in sweet fashion, although I would much rather have seen Danny being pulverized or something harsh over and over and over again. And Aidan receives the bitter sting of Bishop's stake, although I am admittedly puzzled why Aidan didn't die right then and there. Was it a deliberate choice on Bishop's part not to kill Aidan, but simply wound him? Otherwise, our poor Aidan should be nothing but dust. Josh is still freaking out about his were-baby, and rightfully so, but it's fantastic to see that he's going to stick it out with Nora ('cmon, she's gorgeous!) and see this through. "You're The One That I Haunt" was another great episode, concentrating more on evolving our characters and providing resolution to some storylines so we can move onto a full-on battle between Aidan and Bishop, or so I would expect. Of course Sally won't go through her door, but I must give props to both the U.K. team and the U.S. team for bringing this twist into the fold. It lends itself to a magnificent character moment for Sally, and suffice to say, the event in the final seconds will have repercussions for all the characters. Fun, fun, fun! Score: 9.1/10

BEING HUMAN S01E13 - "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Me Killing You" (11 April 2011) - An effective and actually surprising finale that tied up enough plot points and opened up new ones. Firstly, I wish to address my thanks to the writers of the North American version of BEING HUMAN for not simply regurgitating the British finale scene by scene - there's a good amount of new material in this episode (and a good amount of adapted, indeed), which made the last ten minutes rather surprising and blank slate-y. Anything could happen. Secondly, I absolutely love any Josh and Nora scenes because I'm a sappy romantic like that, so for Nora to finally see with her own eyes what is up with Josh - well, that made a very happy camper out of me. I am interested to know if Nora suffered a miscarriage, although I wouldn't write off that plotline just yet. Why would the writers introduce it and keep it boiling for a good five or six episodes to have it end rather anticlimactically in the finale? Still, seeing Josh in his Wolf state still recognize Nora and show compassion, that was pretty startling and very intriguing. Similarly, Sally is gaining a new ability of her own - being able to physically touch things with concentration - so I hope these new peaks at Josh and Sally's 'monster states' will be further explored. And finally we have the Aidan and Bishop battle. I was actually a bit surprised to see that go down, thinking perhaps it would extend through the following season, but alas, that was not to happen. The fight was brutal, and nearly everything I wanted it to be. A few more punches would have been nice. The final moment when Aidan dusts Bishop was sweet, harsh, and tragic at the same time. I only have one beef, really: Aidan's old flame offers her life for him to fight Bishop, but after the fact, I would have liked a scene of Aidan next to her body, or at her grave, something to hit home the loss Aidan suffered when doing that. Mixing in flashbacks of when Aidan and Josh first met was a nice touch, however, they did have the vibe of being tacked on, as it didn't hit me on the emotional level I was hoping for. Perhaps they should have saved this material for a later episode dedicated to the past? Still, with the future of the show undecided by the time of this finale, it makes sense, I just wish it was handled better. Overall, the adaptation of BEING HUMAN was handled quite faithfully while at the same time becoming its own sort of beast, and I applaud the producers and writers (and especially the lead actors) for making this program pretty damn good and entertaining. And moving onward to season 2, please, keeps these awesome titles! Score: 9.7/10

CHUCK S04E20 - "Chuck Vs. the Family Volkoff" (11 April 2011) - One name: Timothy Dalton. Once again, that man has made an episode of CHUCK absolutely hilarious and spectacular. For those who read this part of The Watcher, recognize that I haven't been a huge fan of this season - either the writing has been a little off, or the actors are just hamming it, I'm not entirely sure, but I just haven't been in love. Well, when Timothy Dalton is onscreen as Alexi Volkoff, it's pure love. And Lauren Cohan as Vivian Volkoff is equally as diabolically delicious, and the two Volkoff's in the mountain lair was priceless as Alexi gets doubled crossed by his own daughter! The rest of the episode, including the prenup and Ellie lying to Chuck, didn't much care for. Again, the Volkoffs - sheer awesomeness, and I sincerely hope this isn't the end of Dalton's stint on CHUCK, although it feels like it is. If so, Dalton, you have been amazing. The final batch of episodes seem to concentrate on this Agent X and the race to find whoever this is (better not end up being a superpowered Ellie, or that would suck majorly), so here's hoping this season heates up. Score: 7.5/10

JUSTIFIED S02E09 -"Brother's Keeper" (6 April 2011) - After a string of so-so episodes in the first bit of the season, JUSTIFIED started heating up about three episodes ago. Well, "Brother's Keeper" will propel the season to its undoubtedly chaotic season finale. The more interesting thing to me is what the hell is Boyd Crowder up to? Sure, everything involving Mags was captivating as per usual - and her voice and expression when she tries to see Coover's body and talks to Raylan, wowzers - but I've spent the last eight episodes wondering what Boyd is up to, and his in-commandish-manipulative vibe has me friggin' intrigued. In addition, Loretta finds out the truth about her father thanks to the clumsiness of Coover which eventually results in his being shot. The actress who plays Loretta is phenomenal, and has quickly become one of my favorite characters this year. If her storyline concludes around this point, I'll be a bit sad. Maybe Mags will make a play to grab her from Raylan's grasp? Something! All in all, a great episode with one hell of a tense pace, raises questions about character motives and where the season will head from here. The episode where I wager the second act ends, and the third act begins. Score: 9.2/10

S02E10 - "Debts and Accounts" (13 April 2011) - WHAT IS BOYD UP TO?! Boyd is a thinker, and his plot cannot possibly just to restart his daddy's business, there needs to be more to it than that. Or the writers are deliberately making me think that, and truthfully, he really does just want to restart his daddy's business. Ugh! And although the Ava/Boyd kiss in the end wasn't entirely unexpected, I'm still a little iffy that they're even going that route. If they must, fine, but I hope Ava gets to become more integral to the plot pretty darn soon. Also, got one of my favorite scenes of the season here: Raylan getting out of his car to talk to the people he (rightfully) believe are following him, telling them to turn left cos he's turning right, and if they turn right... Don't know about y'all, but I found that quite humorous. Later on, the shoot-out at the building was pretty awesome to watch. Raylan seems to be racking up quite a body count now; kudos, mate. Surprisingly, Mags doesn't issue a death sentence on Raylan. Now that interests me, and to have Dicky take matters into his own hands concerning Boyd is also quite interesting. I honestly don't know how this sophomore year will end up, but they have me hooked. Downside is: this season has gone by too fast. Before we know it, we're gonna have to wait a whole 'nother bloody year for the third. Blimey. Still great television. Thanks Graham Yost and thanks FX. Score: 9.8/10

NIKITA S01E17 - "Covenant" (7 April 2011) - Michael wants himself some revenge, and damnit, he's gonna force Nikita to help him realize that revenge. Truthfully, with the exception of Michael holding the gun at Nikita and now knowing Alex is the Division mole, I didn't quite remember where we left our rogue assassin at. Luckily, "Covenant" picks up the reigns from the opening second and doesn't let go until the finale that will most likely make many Michael/Nikita shipper fans happy. Basically, everything with Michael and Nikita I'm a fan of, and although finding out Percy is the true man behind the death of Percy's wife and child is a bit of a '...really? Fine...' beat, it brings Michael to Nikita's side and them undoubtedly working together to bring Division down. So, coolio overall. And then you got Gogol who really wants Nikita either to join them or just get out of the way. Hope to see that plotpoint go haywire. And finally Alex and Nate...I think it would be cool if Division takes Nate out like they did with Nikita's Daniel, and Alex becomes another woman who wants revenge. Adds tragedy and a bit more edge to Alex, which I'm all for. Overall, good episode with loads of action scenes and funness! Score: 8.9/10

STARGATE UNIVERSE S02E15 - "Seizure" (4 April 2011) - One of the most looking forward to episodes of SG-U, and it actually wasn't half bad. Yes, I'm disappointed that we didn't get any news of Atlantis, but I understand the reasoning behind the decision to not disclose any info about it (for sake of potential DVD movies). It's actually rather surprising how well Wooolsey and McKay fit into the world of SG-U, and it was even more surprising to have Telford propose McKay join Destiny permanently. Now that would be uber-awesome, although if McKay joined the team, I feel there would be far too many scientists onboard the ship. Although, that might work in their favor, and possibly boot Rush into second-in-command or something. I digress. Seeing Colonial Young in that outfit was hilarious and quite, ever-so-much ugly. Sorry, dude. Production design was gorgeous. The 'twist' that the organization has no dealings with the Lucian Alliance in fear it would breach their deal with Stargate Command was humorous, ironic, and sucks at the same time (for the characters). Overall, a good episode that didn't entirely meet my expectations, but I think it was worth it just to have that one scene of Eli and McKay in the hallway of Destiny doing their scientificy jargon babble. Score: 8.5/10

STARGATE UNIVERSE S02E16 - "The Hunt" (11 April 2011) - A good blend of story and character development. On the downside, most of the character work seems regulated to love triangles and crushes (and subsequently the only real usage of Chloe since she was 'cured' of her turning-into-Alien Girl), some of them nice and sweet (T.J. and Varro), one of them huh? (Park and Messy Haired Guy and Greer) But on the bright side, it's something, and it's fun. Speaking of fun, there was a good amount of that, specifically Eli and Brody in the stasis pods playing around. The last few scripts have actually boasted quite a bit of comedy. Hell, the last few scripts, "Alliances" aside, have shown promise of the great show UNIVERSE could have been. Oh well. Also worth noting is Greer, who gets the first chance in eons to be a dimensional, round character that's actually pretty interesting, and NOT having to do with his poor, crappy childhood. Kudos to the writers and actor for making Greer likable for the second time. Quite the accomplishment. One little nitpicky thing: most, if not all, the Lucian Alliance members who decided to make a, er, alliance with Destiny are now dead, and no one is making any sort of noise about that. Varro, the only other one we know about other than Ginn, is just happy to get his pooty tang, I guess. Overall, "The Hunt" was an enjoyable episode with comedy, love triangles, character development, and creature fun! Score: 8.9/10