Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Dollhouse scared me! (I think it was trying to.)

I have to say, I felt like this episode was a VAST improvement over the pilot, which is always a good sign. It also scared the bejesus out of me, which it meant to, so that was good too.



The structure of Echo's engagement was pretty much like a horror movie, except for icky part where she sleeps with her would-be murderer beforehand and he tells her he is going to hunt her. That dude was totally creepy. I don't know if the whole hunting women thing was just his fetish or something he was hired to do (by Alpha? That doesn't really make sense, but who knows.) I liked how her engagement tied into the overall arc of the show.




The flashback arc was pretty interesting as well. I was happy to see Amy Acker again, and interested to see that her character was hurt by the Alpha massacre, not during an engagement, which is what I had originally guessed (That she had been an active, and was imprinted with a doctor's personality after she got too messed up.) I also liked the introduction of Echo to her handler, and the way it was called back to in the woods. "Do you trust me?" "With my life." She is obviously retaining things from her original life as well as each of her engagements. I liked how startled he was when she was just like "No, everything is not going to be alright, a crazy man with a crossbow is hunting us!" Right on lady, there is nothing "alright" about that situation.


Overall it was a pretty brutal episode, from the beginning scenes to the crazy fight between Echo and the creepy human hunter dude. Dushku did a good job with her "Jenny" scenes here, but they are definitely playing to her strengths by making her a kick-ass outdoorsy chick.


I'd like to learn a little more about the FBI agent, like why he is so interested in the whole Dollhouse thing, despite the annoying ribbing he constantly gets from his co-workers. I mean now I know he is a lonely man married to his work that won't eat a pretty girl's lasagna (if you know what I mean), but why? Agent Ballard, what makes you tick?


I also am confused about Boyd's reasons for working at the Dollhouse. I was thinking that it was because he must have known Caroline and wanted to help her, but that does not seem to be the case. Maybe he just really needs money or something.


Topher definitely has the potential to be a quippy, Joss Whedony character, but they need to make him a bit more likeable. He just seems like a little jerk to me.


I think Reed Diamond could be a great villain type. I really like him and I hope they elevate his character beyond 'guest star' soon.


So, all in all good episode, that freaked me the hell out, I am definitely intrigued and ready to see this show get better and better!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Why is Chuck not a real person and my boyfriend? Chuck Vs. The Best Friend

Okay, if you weren't grinning like a loon during Jeffster's cover of "Africa" at the end, then, you my friend, have no soul. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever, and Lester was looking almost (almost!) attractive rocking out like that! Ellie and Awesome were adorable, and Chuck told Sarah that she did have someone who cares about her in her life, and it was awesome! Considering I am still in the hating-all-people-in-love and stupid-sappy-love-stories mode, it was pretty amazing that I only felt happiness while watching that scene. That's because it was a really good scene of a really good episode!





So what made it so good, you may ask? Well there are a few things actually!







Anna! Yay Anna! I had kind of forgotten that Morgan and Anna had broken up, and I am almost positive that during the Valentine's Day episode Morgan said something about how great it is that he and Chuck have hot girlfriends on V-day. But anyway, she wasn't cheating on him, she totally loves him and Sarah gave her some really good friend advice at the party, all while trying to manage her own spy agenda and Chuck's "make Anna get back with Morgan agenda." I bet we will be seeing more of Anna now that she and Morgan are back together.



Morgan realizing that he is a screw-up and Chuck always has to save him. I thought it was a really cute twist in the plot that Morgan wasn't really mad at Chuck for "betraying" him, he was mad at himself for getting into the situation in the first place. It was actually kind of a mature reaction to things, and I really liked it.



Chuck! I know that no men like Chuck actually exist on Earth, but damn he is cutest guy ever! His speech to Sarah about what Morgan means to him was so sweet, but not in an over the top way, so you really felt it and felt like if a guy like Chuck could be real, he would say those things about his best friend. Also that moment at the end with Sarah was really sweet and genuine, while still underscoring all of the problems there would be if Chuck and Sarah ever tried to be anything more than a cover.



Ellie and Awesome! I like it when we get to see them more, and I loved Awesome letting Jeffster have their moment. I really want to see more about Chuck's promise to Ellie about getting their dad to the wedding to walk her down the aisle. I know the only guy to do it is Chuck, but I would love to see him use the CIA's resources to track down that deadbeat dad of theirs!



The Buy More stuff was actually entertaining! Yay Jeffster!



And of course, the moment when Casey and Sarah thought Chuck had sacrificed himself to save Morgan. The look on both of their faces betrayed how much they really care for the guy. Yvonne Strahovski was amazing in that moment, just shock and pain, no CIA hardening there at all. I think she is one of the best actresses on TV right now, and really underrated.



The Triad plot didn't really grab me (Anna's boyf was cute though!), and the fight between the female leader and Sarah was just so predictable ("Shame to mess up a face like that." Yay hot lesbian girlfight!) and went on way too long for my tastes. Other than that, this was one of my favorite episodes this season. It really hit all the right character notes was totally entertaining and funny. I'll never hear Toto the same way again.










Next week: Um, I watched this pretty late last night and I am completely blanking on the preview. Was there a preview?

Ho Hum. Heroes.

Oh Heroes. Why have you forsaken me like this? You make me all these promises ("Everything will be different now! We totally get where we've gone wrong, we're going to fix it!), give me all this build up and then....nothing. More of the same. Okay, so here's one thing that is wrong with the show that you have not yet seen fit to fix...everyone is a moron! I mean Peter does some stupid things sometimes (not shooting that dude, believing anything Nathan says, teaming up with Matt and Mohinder, etc.) but he looks like a fricken rocket scientist next to almost everyone else on this show! I mean let's take a look at the people this man has to deal with.

Matt- Matt is dumb. He never uses his power offensively, even though we know he can. He can put thoughts in people's minds, yet he just surrenders when people come to arrest him and imprison him forever. Great. Good plan. Also, he is yelly, attacks a man with super-strength like he is going to somehow kick his ass, and yells at Peter to walk into trap after trap, with no actual plan of how any of this is going to help them at all.
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Mohinder- Mohinder is also dumb. Apparently he has known all about this stupid plan of Nathan's for at least a few weeks, and even after they are all arrested he doesn't see fit to mention it to anyone? Also, he doesn't think that maybe some of this will come out when Matt reads HRG's mind?! So maybe he should just come clean? Maybe? Nope, just let Matt see it in HRG's head instead. I am sure that will make him stop being such a yelly psycho.
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Nathan- Nathan is an idiot. I mean his plan is literally the worst plan ever. I still cannot fathom for even two seconds how this seemed like a good idea to anyone.
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Evil Hunter Dude- Really? Really? Your plan is to round up tons of super-powered people, put them all together, and then execute them. Right. There is just no way that could go wrong. It's almost as bad as Nathan's, but not quite, because at least he as an idea of what he wants to accomplish and I am sure he is up at all hours of the night thinking about ways to do it.
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HRG- Um, I love HRG, but hasn't he yet figured out that doing a bunch of evil shit is not exactly protecting Claire very well. Also he met with Angela literally 10 feet away from where he was talking to Evil Hunter Dude. Like, if that guy had turned around or dropped a glove or something, their entire plan to take down this government program would have been instantly exposed.
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Angela- If she went along with Nathan's plan for even five minutes, she cannot be as smart as she seems to be.
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Claire-Your dad's kind of evil but he loves you! These two things can exist in one person! Let's just wrap your head around it and move on now please! (She wasn't even in this episode, but whatever.)
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Ando and Hiro- They weren't in this episode either, so DO NOT EVEN get me started on them.
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See what I am saying? Poor Peter! It's not like he has a wealth of intelligence to rely on for himself here, and somehow he has to take down a government plot to murder thousands of people with only the help of morons! It is no good.
Next week: Matt is going to blow up Washington DC! If they had aired this before the inauguration, people would have been like "Good Riddance."

Friday, February 20, 2009

This is not my beautiful wife! Chuck vs. The Suburbs

I thought that even though it was a pretty well worn concept (oooh the suburbs are scary!) that this episode really succeeded. Even the scene using "Once in a Lifetime" got me, even though you couldn't come up with a more cliche song for a cliche situation. The direction was part of it, but as usual, I think the cast just really sold me.

Andy Richter and Jenny McCarthy were fun in their roles as FULCRUM agents living in the Valley, though I feel like McCarthy was a little bit too campy. What can you really expect? I do keep getting the feeling that FULCRUM is getting too close and wonder how long can Chuck's identity really be protected. Also, what are the implications going to be now that Chuck has the Intersect and FULCRUM's intersect thing in his head? How much can his brain really take?

Chuck and Sarah were adorable and sad as usual. One thing I like about their will they/won't they thing is that the show has a really good built in barrier for their relationship. I also really like that Chuck tries hard to be realistic about their chances of being together. He seems to know that no matter how much he wants it, the life he desires with her can never be a reality. It is a pretty interesting part of his character that he is not (yet) willing to change his dream of having a normal life to be with her. It changes the dynamic from the hot chick/nerd who wants her cliche into a pretty mature portrait of relationships and the fact that they cannot just overcome every obstacle because two people love each other. Just watching them playact a marriage and the regular life Chuck craves was heartbreaking! It was interesting to see that Sarah desires this kind of life as well, and maybe that will change something between them. It didn't seem so at the end though, when Chuck told Ellie that he and Sarah would never be anything more than they are, and he was okay with that.


-Loved Buster's (I mean Emmett's) toupee, and his line "Where do you find people you don't have to pay for sex?"

-Ahh Big Mike and Morgan's Mom. Poor Morgan.

-Where is Anna? Why do we talk about her but never see her? If we are going to be in the Buy More, I want more Anna!

-Also no Awesome = Sad Krista. I heart Captain Awesome.

-"I thought you were a Boat Captain!" "Umm Shipping Magnate, but it doesn't matter..."

Next week: Yay Anna! Boo cheating on Morgan. Also, everyone on this show is a spy! That must get so annoying for Chuck.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

New Show! Dollhouse.


Ok, I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, and I am still torn. Do I love Joss Whedon. Oh yes. Was I pretty damn excited to see both Amy Acker and Reed Diamond in this pilot? Yes. Do I feel like I really want this show to be good and to succeed? Yes. Do I generally love dorky sci-fi shows made for geeks by geeks? Yes. Does the concept of this show make me kind of uncomfortable? Um, well yes. Yes it does.

I mean throughout the pilot we are shown men working out, being naked and hot in the background of shots, and it is clear to me that we are supposed to know that there are also male "dolls" who can be hired out by whoever wants them to do whatever that person may want. There might even be a show or two or even ten that follows a male "doll". BUT the show is not about a man, it is about a young woman, who as we see in an early scene, can be made into some awesome girl that wants to engage in bike racing and light bondage with you! Hot! Or disturbing? Kind of disturbing, especially when you consider that said girl has pretty much been forced into this weird indentured servitude/whoredom because of something she has done. It's just kind of gross. And that's maybe what some people are tuning in for. The idea of a nubile young woman that you can make whoever you want her to be. Just like women should be. Eww. So there's that, in the back of my head, while I am watching the show and trying to see if I can like it despite the creepy concept. I've heard Eliza Dushku brought it to Whedon, so I know he didn't come up with it, but I am still kind of disappointed by it. He seems like a pretty forward thinking dude most of the time, and this concept is a little, backwards, I think.

Okay, so beyond that, how was it? Pretty good really, especially knowing that this pilot has been retooled about a hundred times. I think we got an idea of the structure of the show, (A plot, weekly mission, ahem, I mean engagement, B plot, overarching plot about people trying to take down the Dollhouse) and a pretty good sketch of the characters, except of course for Echo, the main character, because she has no personality. Which is creepy. Oh there's that again. Sorry! We did see a little of what she was like before her personality was wiped, and she seemed, well kind of like Eliza Dushku. Actually, one of the things I worry about for this show (and many others have said the same thing), is can Dushku really carry this part? She's good at hot tough girl, she's okay at blank lady with no personality, but as the hostage negotiator she just seemed kind of robotic and weird, which maybe they were going for, but I couldn't exactly tell, which is not a good sign. This is her baby and I hope she can do it, because I have always liked her, but I've never really though of her as an amazing actress. We'll see I guess, she was passable here, but there were some scenes where the emotions were kind of flat from her. When she carried that little girl to safety I wanted something more, but she couldn't give it to me. We'll see.

As for the rest of the cast, they seem pretty spot on. I am definitely intrigued by Tamoh Penikett as Paul Ballard, an FBI agent trying to prove the Dollhouse exists and take it down. Harry Lennix gives us the layers we need as Echo's handler Boyd Langdon, and made me wonder and speculate about the reasons he might work for the Dollhouse, because he seems to feel as repulsed by the concept as I do. Olivia Williams, Reed Diamond, Amy Acker, yes, yes yes. The lab tech guy is kind of annoying, but I think he's supposed to be, so he's doing a good job then.

I have to admit, I am totally intrigued by the ALPHA storyline, and also by the FBI agent's investigation. The thing I am least intrigued by right now is Echo, her awakening and her seeming "specialness". Hopefully that part will come together soon, and I will be able to get over the concept, because we all need more Joss Whedon in our lives, that is for damn sure.

Feeling Sylar's Pain. Heroes.

Now normally when watching television shows, I do not root for the serial killing characters to have more victims. Even if said character is totally charismatic and likeable, not to mention sexy, I still would like him or her to refrain from murder. Oftentimes I am disappointed, which comes when watching shows containing hot serial killers and rooting for them in a weird way. While watching Heroes on Monday, everything was different. All I wanted in each and every scene was for Sylar to saw that damn kid's head open and be done with it! He wanted to do it too, for most of that stupid car ride, I could tell. I could really really sympathize with him during this episode. That kid was an annoying little sociopath, and not in a hot or funny way like Sylar. I was so excited when Sylar ran off and left him for the Feds! Alas, their road trip of annoyingness will continue, because Sylar went back for him. I'd like to think that it is because Luke has vital info about where Sylar is headed, not because he has developed some sort of feeling for him and has decided not kill him horrifically. That would be disappointing.

You know what also must be disappointing? To be the ONLY person with 'abilities' that has been captured so far. Poor Tracy is stuck shackled to a chair, being tortured by her dicky ex-boyfriend while completely screwing up her only chance at freedom by freezing some poor 'analyst'. Tracy's power is actually pretty cool, and seems to be useful in a battle scenario, unlike say, breathing underwater or super-charging other people's powers, so it is kind of baffling that Nathan's goons got her and kept her. She has also been portrayed as pretty smart, and I would really like to see escape for real, not just escape long enough to show her former friend that she is a cold blooded killer who must be tortured and locked up forever. That was a bad move on her part. Good move on the part of that creepy hunter guy.

Speaking of that creepy hunter guy, I think he is about eleventy billion times smarter than Nathan, and clearly has no weird "moral code" to worry about. Sooo, Nathan is pretty much screwed then. I love how we are supposed to see that Nathan is still sort of a nice guy because he is slightly vexed by the death of that analyst guy and creepy hunter man is not. This is what's making him likeable these days? "Well, he is trying to put his own kind in a concentration camp/Gitmo type situation, but he still feels kind of bad when his plans lead to the death of innocent people. Not bad enough to reconsider or anything, just bad enough to yell about it for a minute." Urgh I really hated Nathan in this episode, and I thought the lady from One Tree Hill/The Cutting Edge might at least be an interesting thorn in his side, but instead she was won over to the side of torture and suspending the rights of American citizens pretty easily. I mean there are people who are against torturing and or killing people even if they are murderers and/or terrorists or horrible people, just on principle, but not this lady. You freeze one person to death in front of her and she is ready to intern anyone who might be genetically similar to you. She seems cool, like someone who can really keep her head together in a crisis and still uphold ideals and stuff. Oh, no wait, she does not. At all. She sucks.

What in the hell are Hiro and Ando doing anyway? Saving some lady from marrying a jerk, bickering like an old married couple, buying plane tickets and using phones even though Hiro, at least, is on the run from the U.S. government? Why are they doing any of this? To teach Hiro some dumbass thing he has already learned, like 2 seasons ago? "I don't need powers to be a hero!", really? Great. I don't want Hiro to learn any more lessons. Just become badass Hiro from the future, fix this shit and be done with it. Ando can continue being hot.

Um, what else happened in this episode? Claire vs. HRG, time # 46,518,742. She doesn't need his protection, he's doing all of this for her own good, blah blah blah, we've heard all before. I will say this though, Jack Coleman really sold me in the scene where he was moving out, and the quick scenes of his fight with his wife. "Did you ever think that I don't have a choice?!" was so desperate and real that actually made me kind of intrigued by the character again which is good because...
Team Goofball finally teamed up and did something! They roofied HRG and are taking him back to their hotel room for some fun! Then, they are going to find out about Nathan's asinine plan and HRG's part in it. Will he be a hero or a villain? My bet is just a guy who does unconscionable things to protect his wig-wearing, super-healing daughter.

Ooh, unsubstantiated theory time...who is this REBEL who texts Claire and faxes(?) Hiro and Ando? My guess is that it is Micah, because since he can talk to machines he could easily get the info about Nathan's plan from a computer and then disseminate it to the people he needs to know about it. Also, with a code name like REBEL, it has got to be a little kid, because that is a dumb one.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

90210. Love (and hatred) is in the air.

Ugh, Valentine's Day. You might think that the reason I pretty much hated this episode is because it was about Valentine's Day and I am all bitter and brokenhearted, but you would be wrong. The reason I pretty much hated it was because it was kind of dumb and boring as most television shows based on holidays are. I mean the entire Silver/Dixon story was just completely boring and stuck in autopilot (love melts heart of tough girl, tough girl goes all gooey, plans perfect V-day, gives boyfriend her v-card) and then it took a turn for the dumb when Silver got Dixon's name tattooed on her. Crazy much Silver? (Yes. Did I see her flip out about that cake? Both Dixon and I were scared.) I couldn't even tell if Dixon was supposed to be happy or freaked out about it. Maybe a little of both? Apparently Dixon is a tiger in the sack, because she couldn't keep her hands off of him and she got his name inked on her for life. Silver and Dixon are two of my favorite characters, but they needed something less lame going on. Though I suppose right up until the whole tattoo thing it was a pretty standard old style 90210 storyline, so I will give them that, but it was so boring that I kind of wanted it to be about Annie and Ethan, just so I could just fast forward through it.

I was all over the Ethan/Rhonda/Annie love triangle, mostly because I want to see Ethan dump Annie on her ass ASAP (Oh my god, she is such a terrible person. I don't understand how we are supposed to see her as remotely likeable at this point. Her life is so damn perfect that the only pain she can use in her stupid acting class is someone else's? Also, she didn't even sell it at all.) We got a lot of crazy face making (see photo!) when she was complaining about Rhonda, when she was trying to "act", when she heard Rhonda's sad story, when Ethan discovered her treachery and when she was crying. I think I am going to make a 90210 drinking game where every time Annie pulls a weird face, you have to drink. It could be dangerous though. Anyway, my original point was that I was kind of liking this story, until the ending where Ethan acted completely offended and taken aback that Rhonda like him and thought he liked her even though she had very recently admitted she had faked being hurt just to hang out with him. Girls just don't usually do that kind of thing for dudes that they just want to be friends with. I know that Ethan has a low IQ, but even he should have been able to see that coming. Also, he clearly hates Annie, so I don't really get why he doesn't get rid of her and be done with it.

Naomi and bartender dude? It is really weird that he was all pissed at her for sending him champagne. I guess he really loves making drinks for rich people and hates getting an education that could actually lead him somewhere that much. Because let's face it, Naomi is hot and rich, so she seems like a pretty good catch. I am sure he will reconsider and then take her into the world of illegal car racing or something like that very soon.

Okay, there were some things I liked:

-Silver and Naomi! I totally buy that they used to be BFF! They have way more friend-chemistry then Annie and Silver (because Annie sucks), and even a little more than Adrianna and Naomi (who are cute together too, I can't deny.) I hope they start hanging out more soon.
-Adrianna and Navid. Maybe it's just because I fantasise about finding a guy who loves me even though I am an emotional wreck and covered in chocolate, but that last scene totally got me. So cute. (On another note, does Navid wear the ugliest shirts in the world or what? I have never seen him in anything remotely non-retina burning.)
Those are pretty much the only things I liked. At all.
Next week:
OMG Naomi's new boyfriend is into illegal car racing and she loves it! HOT! Other than that the preview told me nothing.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Heroes, Ramping You Up For Awesomeness, Again, Some More.

Ok, maybe it's because I was so tired I could hardly open my eyes, but this episode felt a little pointless to me. The only real forward motion in the plot was with Sylar and his ?brother? or whatever that weird kid is and even that was minimal. I mean he met the kid, thinks they might be related, and now he's REALLY going to find his real dad, just like at the end of the last one. Though it did give us a few great Sylar lines, including "I let you live, that's kind of a big deal for me." Yes, I still love Sylar. However, most of the events of this episode just brought us back to where we were at the end of the last episode: pissed at Nathan, ready to fight, giving up normalcy, etc. I mean, yeah Daphne is dead, I think, and that is sad, I guess (which means that NONE of that alternative future Matt/Peter saw is going to pan out), but at least she won't inflict that weird piecey 1990's hairdo on the world any longer.

I like the teaming up of our main people, but why the hell is it only the men? Daphne's dead, Claire is stuck in Normaltown (for now, I am sure she will run away and get caught at least 5 more times in the next episode) Tracy/Niki/Jessica is captive and being tortured and Angela is just chillin' in her bed reading some files. I do think Angela is going to help the Heroes though, because she seemed pretty disenchanted with Nathan at the end there. Though I don't really understand at what point his plan could have seemed like a good idea at all. I don't really understand Nathan's motivations to be honest, they sort of came out of nowhere. One minute he wanted to create an army of super-soldiers and give people powers (were we supposed to forget about that?), and the next he wants to round them up to protect them from themselves or some such shit. I know Heroes generally plays pretty fast and loose with the characterizations, but I really need to know a little more on why Nathan wants to go forward with his terrible terrible plan.

Speaking of "why the hell are you even doing this anyway" type of questions, oh HRG. I am so sick of hearing your lame excuses. Your plans to "protect" Claire almost always suck and fail, so maybe you should think about a different tact here. I mean you didn't kill Peter, twice, which was cool, but other than you are really on the wrong side here bucko. Even against machine guns, I would side with the dudes with crazy super powers in a fight, just generally. Then you add in the fact that they are your daughter's friends and family, maybe you should help them instead of sending them to some kind of crazy prison to be tortured. Just a thought, you crazy morally ambiguous guy!

Ok, things I liked, a lot.

-Lots of action in the first half!

-Teaming up! So let's team up, already. And do stuff.

-Parkman going all anger-man and making those dudes shoot each other! I love when the Heroes use their abilities for something that is actually useful. Though maybe he should have used those drawings of the future to tell Daphne to duck! Does someone actually need to write "Duck!" on those things before he gets it?

-Peter= leader. We know he has the heart, does he have the toughness? Yes.

-Mystery text messager. I am into that. Don't give up and get a part time job Claire! (Why does her mother support that lame plan? Oh. Because she hates Lyle.)

-Sylar is so evilly hot. I know he is a torturing murderer, but he just does it so hotly.

-Speaking of hotness, oh my god Nathan looked good in this ep. He should take off his suit jacket ALL THE TIME. All the time.

-That hunter guy is appropriately creepy. I am sure Nathan will regret unleashing him onto the world very soon.

-Ali Larter really sold me in the scene where Tracy is captured and yelling at Nathan. "You're one of us!" It was intense.

-New power! Microwave boy.

-It made me laugh SO HARD when Peter came out from behind that tree with a gun saying "What is he telling you? That I'm unstable?!" In the most crazy, unstable way ever. I mean I know it was a tense situation, but he seemed like a total lunatic in that moment.


Next week: They are really seriously going to team up now, and do stuff. For real, now. It's actually happening, I swear.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Better Late than Never! 90210.

Ok, can I just say that I am so pissed that Rhonda turned out to be faking it! (It = a punctured lung? I don't really know how you fake that, but alright.) I have never wanted a TV character to cheat on his crazy faced girlfriend more than I wanted Ethan to cheat on Annie with that sweet, mousy car accident victim. Especially since it was Annie's lameness that caused her to get hit by Ethan in the first place. If she weren't such a baby about not getting the lead in the play and had just went to that incredibly fancy "You Got A Part!" party, the accident never would have happened. You also really can't blame Ethan for getting bored with Annie, because she is literally the most boring person on earth! Seriously, do the producers of 90210 really think that there was anyone NOT rooting for Ethan to dump Annie for Rhonda? Is that why they threw that random scene of Rhonda bouncing out of bed with ease? Or the scene where Ethan quits the play and Annie doesn't give a damn?! Because if this show had any desire to be true to her stupid-ass character, then she would have flipped out like an idiot, because that's what she does. Also, she pulls ridiculous faces, all the time. In case you haven't noticed.

Did anyone notice that a band named Carolina Liar played in this episode? They were pretty subtle about it so you might not have noticed.

Um, what was the deal with that random lesbian Black girl? It was as if we should have known her, but I didn't, and Navid didn't, and other than her, Navid seems to be Dixon's only friend, so it seems like he should have known her. I do like how they just randomly mentioned her lesbianess, so that she was no threat to Silver and Dixon (Even though she is Black like he is, so they are already almost a perfect couple! Just like Navid and his new Indian girlfriend!) But all of that aside, Silver and Dixon were cute, and maybe possibly even brought a tear to my eye, Just a little one though.

Now it is time to go to Prego-Town, population, Adrianna. Could Ty and his parents have telegraphed their awfulness any more obviously? Poor Adrianna is just constantly surrounded by even more obvious awfulness though, so she couldn't see it. At least Naomi talked some sense into her, again. I like how when Naomi is just a part of someone else's story, she is usually smart and non-annoying. They should never give her her own story. Then she would be the third best character on the show. (1st Brenda, 2nd Tabitha. I know they are both gone right now, but I can feel in my soul that they are coming back!!) But at least Adrianna got a free doctor's visit out of the whole experience.

And, she realized that even though up until now she has shown no redeeming qualities whatsoever, her mother loves her and isn't a totally horrible person all the time! (Is that actress pregnant herself or did they just think that the character should always wear weird shirts that are overly detailed in the stomach area?) So now her mother will stop driving her like donkey and actually be nice her I guess! Adrianna should have made a series of HUGE mistakes with her life sooner, if for nothing else than to make her mother be kind of nice to her. Even though her character is pretty dumb, you really can't help but feel for her, because her life is JUST SO TERRIBLE. I couldn't feel any sense of victory or of "Adrianna is so brave and badass" after her little video, because she is still pregnant with that jerkwad's baby, and the smartest and most stable person in her life is Naomi. That is not good. That poor child.


That drama teacher has a manjaw. That is all.

Next week: I only saw half the preview, and it did nothing to make me give a shit about the upcoming Valentine's Day Episode.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Heroes is back! I think it is for real back and better this time! Really!

Ok, admit it, that was good. I mean I know Heroes hasn't lived up to its Season 1 potential in a long time, but this episode was pretty damn awesome. It was stressful and and pretty sad too, but they are finally giving us what should have been the next logical step for this show after everyone discovered their 'abilities'--Heroes working together! I honestly do not understand why this idea took a season and a half to get to, but I'm glad they finally made it. I mean to me, If I were running a show with a chemistry laden cast and a powerful mythology, I probably wouldn't say, "Hey, why don't we spread these people out into like a million disparate stories, and only have them meet for say, five minutes at a time, or maybe talk on the phone." I would say "Let's bring these motherfu%*ers together and get some awesome hero sh#@ happening!!" (And yes, I would bleep myself like that, because I would be at work.) So finally Tim Kring and the rest of his ilk have come around to my (correct) way of thinking. (Do we have Bryan Fuller to thank for this? I knew there was a reason why I didn't even try to watch Pushing Daisies, besides of course the fact that it was clearly going to get cancelled and I just couldn't deal with falling in love with another doomed show...) The titular heroes are working together towards one end that actually makes sense. They don't want to be jailed in an internment camp by crazy Nathan and his evil political allies.

Urgh, Nathan. What a complete bastard. I guess it makes sense that the endlessly screwed up and corrupt Petrelli parents could only produce one truly nice child. Even if he is a little bratty sometimes. (Peter, you know I love you!)

The scenes between Peter and Nathan were so weird. Like I love how Peter never considered what his evil brother was talking about until having those conversations with his co-worker and Mohinder, and then he was like "Oh, I guess this dude has gone evil...I am going to go and yell at him about it!" How about some subterfuge there, Peter?! Like maybe don't just out and out tell Nathan that you will fight him with every last breath in your body?! Maybe say, "Yeah, I'm totally cool with this", and then work to undermine him in some way?" But we needed Peter on that plane, so I guess he had to be too honest for his own good, as usual.

HRG! HRG! Why are you working with Nathan?! I just don't think "To protect you, Claire" is going to cut it this time. No one thinks it is cool to put people in concentration camps just so your daughter can have a normal life and go to Smith. Take her and run, or fight, or whatever, just don't help Nathan!

Angela Petrelli. Man her loyalties have switched up more times than I can count. And no, it is not okay to send your child to be experimented on by the military, even if it means you can get out it.

Mohinder, you dumbass. As soon as you said you were cool with people with abilities being round up and jailed, I knew you were about to get caught. You totally deserved it, ass.

Oh, the magical African guy is back. And he is even more magical, because he's actually dead! He's making Parkman a prophet. Couldn't have happened to a more boring guy.

I do have to admit though, good portion of time in this episode was spent with Matt Parkman and Daphne, and I still didn't hate it. That's a good sign right there. Though it was so ridiculous that Parkman drew he and Claire getting caught, and yet these drawings did nothing to help them whatsoever. "Is that us?" Yup idiot, it's you getting hit in the neck with a tranq dart, maybe you should duck!

Ando looked hot on that motorcycle! I love how he was so pissed at Hiro wanting to live through him and his abilities, but when he ran off in a huff he did it on the motorcycle that Hiro bought him to crimefight with. Like "I'm pissed, but not pissed enough to NOT accept this motorcycle as a gift."

Also, as soon as Hiro said the password was the name of someone very important to him, I knew that it was "Ando". Those two are so cute, even when Hiro is acting like a 10 year old. (Which is all the time. Oh Hiro. When will you become badass?)

I am pretty excited to see how Ando's super charging power will end up helping our heroes.

So next week we get a fiery plane crash, and then the banding together that we have all been waiting for! I love Peter and Claire together, and hopefully she can pull it together after finding out that both of her fathers have betrayed her. Poor Claire. The teen years really have been rough on her.

90210 should be up by tomorrow night!



Chuck Vs. The Third Dimension!

Even the silliness of a 3-D episode cannot keep Chuck down!  I know I am gushing, but I really love this show, and I feel like it is one of the few shows that is funny and emotionally satisfying every single week.  There was a good deal of awesomeness on display in this episode (though not enough Captain Awesome), such as:

-Dominic Monaghan as Tyler Martin, Rock Star!  Fans of Lost can imagine this is the rock star that Charlie was before he got stuck on that damn (or super great?) island.  ("I feel like a daffodil...")

-Not one, but two Arrested Development shout-outs!  Buster Bluth yelling "No touching!" and an awesome use of "The Final Countdown"  (not as awesome as G.O.B.'s though, it was missing the wind machine.)

-Chuck's adorableness when those girls were taking his pants off.  He is so cute and sweet, he is totally my dream man!  

-Captain Awesome's description of Chuck screaming. ("It was so high, babe!")

-Casey's tranquilizer darts.  There are so many times those would come in handy.  I need to get some.

-Okkervil River's "Lost Coastlines" playing in the scene where Chuck and Sarah discuss Chuck's feelngs about her shooting that Fulcrum agent.   Josh Schwartz always has good music in his shows.  I think it's the law.

-Sarah standing by her shooting of the Fulcrum agent.  (I can understand Chuck being disturbed by seeing the woman he loves kill an unarmed man, but she really had no other choice if she wanted to protect Chuck.)

-Yvonne Strahovski is so great as Sarah.  She seems tough and professional while still betraying her feelings for Chuck at just the right moments.  

-Chuck realizing that as much as complains about it, he really loves the excitement of his new life.  And the people in it.  (That includes you, Casey!) Aww.


Things that I still have some issues with, despite the general greatness of this show.

-Buy More hi jinks.  I get that we need to see a contrast to Chuck's insane life, and I like all of the Buy More cast (Where's Anna, by the way?) but sometimes I wish we could spend more time with Awesome and Ellie and less with those nutty Buy More guys.  (Though Jeff eating that urinal cake was truly priceless.)   By the way, I never got the 3-D glasses, and I cannot even imagine the horror of watching Jeff devouring that huge sandwich in 3-D.  Someone owes America an apology for that one.  

-Sarah and Casey getting so annoyed with Chuck and actually telling him that it is his job to be a spy and protect people.  Because, as far as I have seen, it really isn't.  He doesn't get paid, he doesn't get very many benefits from the government (impressing Jill with that restaurant notwithstanding) and he is someone they are supposed to be protecting, not someone with a responsibility to protect others!  Get that man a government paycheck ASAP!

-The fact that this show is till struggling ratings-wise!  Why?!  Someone name me another network show that is this clever and touching and filled with nerdy cuteness and accessibility all at once so I can start recording it!  Oh, wait, there isn't one?  Then maybe people need to get on the Chuck train with me!  This is a fun train!  

Monday, February 2, 2009

Our Shows are Coming Back!

Okay people, I'm back and I promise never to leave you again, unless something REALLY important comes up. So from now on I will be covering the old faves:

Heroes
Gossip Girl
90210

A new show:
Chuck (! HURRAY!)

and I will try to keep up on Fringe, but I make no promises.

Also I'm thinking about watching of Lost from the beginning and covering that experience, but that will be a good project for the future, maybe starting in the summer or something. If anyone has any requests, comment away and let me know.

So since Saturday we had a picture of Chuck Bass, and I will leave you a pic of another awesome Chuck, Chuck Bartowski. He's adorbs. He's also with the awesome Casey and Sarah.


Do yourself a favor and watch Chuck tonight! Here's a quick primer just in case you've never seen it. In a moment of extreme danger Chuck's former best friend (Bryce Larkin), a CIA agent, sent him a message that contained The Intersect, which is basically all of the CIA's info and secrets. Because of the awesomeness of Chuck's brain, just seeing the message makes his brain become the Intersect. So, now, he is being guarded the by the awesome Sarah and Casey. He helps them solve many spy-type cases. He and Sarah are totally in love with each other, but the whole spy thing keeps getting in the way. He doesn't even know her real name! (He thinks he does though) Umm, what else. He works at the Buy More (like Best Buy) as a part of the Nerd Herd (like the Geek Squad), and many hijinks go on there. He has a nerdy BFFF, a pretty sister and a hot brother in law to be. (He is so good at everything Chuck calls him Captain Awesome.) That's all you need to know, so watch it tonight, and if you happen to go to the grocery store, pick up some 3D glasses for tonight's 3D episode. Just do it people, I am doing you a favor here!