Gossip Girl and 90210 are back! On this Blog! This week!

I swear it! Back and better than ever. Also, just heard a rumor that our good friend, Ethan, is about to be semi-retired, and off the show, possibly to come back as a recurring character. Rebecca Rand Kirshner, formerly of Gilmore Girls is taking over show-running duties, so we'll see how that changes the show. I've heard tonight's is going to be TRASHTASTIC! I can't wait.

Finally, I'm posting about last week's Chuck!

Sorry! I am slow! I'm a busy gal, what can I say? I will be illustrating this post with adorable photos of the cast, because I couldn't find any screencaps. Finding adorable photos of the cast is infinitely easier.

So over the week I've heard some mixed reviews about last week's Chuck vs. the Predator. They pretty much boiled down to this: loved the spy stuff, not so much with the Buy More stuff. I'm actually not inclined to agree, for a couple of reasons. One is because I actually really like it when the Buy More stuff actually literally relates to the A-story, instead of just having it relate in more metaphorical terms. Two, is that despite myself, I kind of like our Buy More friends, even Jeff and Lester! I really liked the little character touches we got in this one, especially seeing Morgan step up to the role Chuck has vacated by being the voice of reason and trying to make sure Big Mike didn't do anything illegal. Also, I loved the Beverly Hills Buy More slogan. Buy More.....Because You Can! Pretty funny.

But as usual the spy stuff is the meat of the episode, as it should be. I read a review complaining about the fact that Chuck came clean about his secret search so quickly to Casey and Sarah, but though I can see how it drains the show of that particular kind of drama, I think that it stays true to the character, because Chuck is a nice guy who really appreciates truth. He doesn't want to lie to his friends, because that is how he sees Sarah and Casey first and foremost, as his friends. This is why I love Chuck, and I actually really like that the show takes a different tact to create and maintain drama.

So Chuck found Orion, (who looks like he's from the eighties in every way, but maybe it's just because he's made of binary code.) thereby proving his worth to the government and making sure that the General does not want to get that Intersect out of his head. Speaking of manufactered drama/secrets, I really want someone to find out that Casey has to kill Chuck as soon as he is Intersect-free! Maybe as he gets closer to his goal, he'll find out and that will lead to another crisis.

But, in getting one step closer to getting the Intersect out of his head, he gets one step further away from the woman he loves. I love that Sarah wants for Chuck to be free of the Intersect because she knows that is what he wants, even though she knows that she can't really be with him in any way once he is freed. I think she would much rather this limited/weird work way then nothing, and it kind of kills her that Chuck is so hell-bent on getting the thing out of his head!

Just in case you are not totally excited about the back half of the season, here's what I've heard we have to look forward to! Weddings (plural!) and Chuck's dad! (Who is obviously not Orion, I admit it, I was wrong, but still that was a pretty good guess, right?) I'll write up this week's Chuck before another one airs, I swear it!

No need to fly me to the moon---Heroes!

Things I liked about last night's Heroes---

Bryan Fuller is back as a story consultant! Trust me, this is good. We'll get more moments like the nice one between Ando and Hiro talking about the death of Hiro's mom. The guy will help them pay attention to little stuff which will go a long way to making the show better.

Rebel= Micah!!! I knew it, and I really love that kid. I hope he is in more episodes to come, I think that the actor is great, the character is great, and this storyline is awesome for him. I loved him chewing out his aunt for ratting him out! Micah rules!

Peter, being so kickass and saving his mom like that! I love it when Petrelli's work together, and with their forces combined, these two have the potential to be awesome. Also, Peter looked really hot.

Tracy's sacrifice and death! It looked cool, it was dramatic, she atoned for selling out her own nephew by saving him, it was smart thinking, it gave us a crazy shattering body AND it had more emotional weight than Daphne's death by a mile! I don't for a second believe that Ali Larter is off this show, and I am sure there will be another clone, but if she was going out, this was a pretty great way to do so.

SOMEONE, even if it was dying Daphne in her own head, saying out loud that Matt's obsession with her is weird and strange considering they barely know each other at all and he just experienced a vision in which they were married. THANK YOU. It is creepy. I can't even believe that when they woke him up from his coma thing, the first thing he said was "Daphne! Where's Daphne!!?" Really?

Daphne died with far better hair than with which she lived.

No douchebag Nathan.

Even though I love him, I will admit that a break from Sylar was needed after last week. (Though, I REALLY would have liked him to kill the hell out of Danko, AKA Creepy Hunter Guy)

No Claire! Another person we could all use a break from.

The aforementioned nice moment between Hiro and Ando. Time to stop with the buffoonery and give these characters some more depth. The actors can obviously handle it.

Hiro has some power back!

Ando's powers have some offensive use!

Things that I could have lived without---

Daphne's entire death scene, from the Gwen Stefani thing to the "Fly me to the moon" bullshit. It was really cheesy, and I kind of hated that character, and was pretty happy when I thought she was dead before. I am not looking forward to Parkman mooning (ha! no pun intended) over her death, so hopefully getting Janice and his baby back in the picture will help him get over it.

HRG, Danko. I don't care if they trust each other, don't trust each other, are bad, are good, are bad but think they are good, are good but think they are bad. HRG has chemistry with most of the cast, but he and this guy bore me out of every scene for some reason! I just really want someone to take out Danko, but obviously that isn't going to happen as he is the villain. I do like that all of our main characters are uniting for the same purpose, and I totally get that having HRG on the inside will eventually serve that purpose, but his scenes trying to get Danko to trust him are just falling flat to me, and Danko's "Imprisoning and killing people is so awesome!" attitude is wearing a bit thin. I will admit though, they do a really good job making this guy totally creepy in every way. Even his diminutive stature somehow works to make him seem even more evil instead of less intimidating. The actor played a lawyer on Homicide years ago and I remember thinking that he seemed really clean cut and sweet. So he's doing a great job with the character, I just really hate the character. His motivation needs to be fleshed out a bit at the very least.



Next week: Sylar is trying to work with Danko! If our Heroes didn't seem so hopelessly outmatched already (The entire government is against them for god's sake!) I might be interested in this development, but I think I would just like to see them get one step ahead of one villain before we pair him with another. He is my favorite psycho killer though, so America and I are in agreement on that.

"You're on Taffy time now!" Dollhouse.

Dollhouse, I am liking you.  I'm not loving you, but I'm liking you.  Make me love you show!  You know you want to.  

Things I liked:  

Echo and Sierra getting the same personality imprint.  It was cool to see each of the actresses take on "Taffy", and I felt like they mirrored each other ably.

Echo as midwife- not just a badass chick.  Now let's see a full engagement where she can do that convincingly. (Why hire an active and not a real midwife?  I don't know, the same reason you hire an active instead if  real safecracker I guess.  You want her to be hot.)

Victor= Adele's active, not Laurence's.  So she's apparently not as averse to killing him as we thought, because it didn't seem like those Russian mobsters were just trying to wound him.  

Whedon trademark- guy who seems like douche, actually awesome, guy 

who seems kind of nice, actually an ass.  Look for this to happen again. 

Seeing the Mutant Enemy logo at the end of the show.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

"We are not omnipotent"- I liked this line because in some ways, the Dollhouse seems impenetrable, which they are, to normal people.  Not to Alpha though.  

The engagement was pretty fun and then pretty poignant, but it didn't have the same disturbing darkness as the others, which I think is good.  

Sierra.  I really love Sierra.  The actress is great, really engaging.  

Topher's assistant was cute. 

Adele seemed really down when she thought Echo was dead. It seemed in the beginning that she might have known Echo when she was Caroline, and now I'm pretty sure of it.  

Things I didn't like:

Seriously though, why do people even use the Dollhouse?  

Topher.  Urgh, I don't like him yet.  Have him grow a conscience or something, ASAP. (Though I did laugh when he told Boyd "They are a little bit bison, actually...")

I don't really get what Adele's plan is with Victor/Ballard.  Right now it doesn't feel mysterious, just kind of nonsensical.

When Echo is Echo, she is really annoying.  "Did I fall asleep?" is the worst catchphrase ever.  

I still want more from/about Ballard.  He is one of the protagonists of this show, but he seems to be almost as much of a cypher as the actives at this point.  

Discussions of art and how it relates to life.  No one likes that.  

Next week: Damn it, I don't know.  I'll bet Echo's in danger though.  That is what I'll bet.  

Heroes- Kind of rocking it, am I right?

So no Peter in this episode, and I didn't even miss him, which I think is a good sign.  Nathan is still a dumbass, but he seems to be wising up a bit.  In some ways I am glad about that, because his plan is just so terrible, but in other ways I am a little disappointed that they backed away from Nathan being the The Big Bad of this season.  He's all conflicted and shit (which I suppose he would have to be, since he has an "ability" too) but I think if we can understand anyone becoming a conscienceless evildoer, it's one of the Petrelli's boys, considering their parentage.  I just wish his plan wasn't so so dumb that he eventually had to pull back on it to prove that he wasn't, in fact, intellectually disabled.  

The scenes with Sylar and his dad were a little drawn out until the very end, but I kind felt like there was a double payoff there so I was okay with it.  We got to see Sylar punish his horrible dad, find a purpose and THEN (cheer with me people!)  he showed up at Creepy Hunter guy's apartment to TAKE HIM OUT!  I cannot even wait.  Even though it probably won't be easy (that dude must also have an ability, I think that is what Angela was implying during her oyster lunch/smackdown of him) but I cannot even wait to see Sylar kick that guy's ass.  I love that they keep giving us characters way more awful than                                            

Sylar, (a serial killer, let's not forget) so that we can keep rooting for him.  Because I have to be honest, I want to keep rooting for him.  I can't help it.  Maybe it's because I am sick.  Maybe it's because he is cute.  I don't know, but what I do know is that it's working for me.  

I liked Claire helping that horrible puppet man, and even though he hadn't really changed, I still think it was the right thing to do at this point.  They are in a war, and they are both on the same side at this point.  That's kind of all there is to it.  REBEL agree with me, and he is a boy genius, so I hope Claire doesn't feel too bad about unleashing that creep back onto the world.  The Heroes need pretty much all the help they can get at this point.

Hiro and Ando are now stuck with a baby.  Cool that Parkman's wife and kid are coming back into it, but must we continue to make these two look like complete buffoons?  I understand that Hiro's power has to be limited sometime or it takes away ALL if the urgency of the every situation, but where is the badass Hiro we saw in season one? I know this Hiro has gone through a completely different set of experiences, but we know he has it in him.  So let's move towards that a little bit.  I do not want to see these two changing diapers next week.  

Next week:  SYLAR KILLS THAT DUDE!!  Right?  Right?  This better happen Heroes producers, because I really hate that guy.

Chuck- Two Episodes, One Theme.

Hey did you guys know that Chuck and Sarah love each other?  But they can't be together because of the Intersect, the fact that she's a spy and he doesn't even know her real name and because it would probably be illegal? Well, if you didn't have any idea about that, good for you, because that is what both these episodes were about.  I am not trying to say that I didn't enjoy these two episodes, because I really did, and I know I always say that I appreciate how the show accepts the reality of the Chuck/Sarah situation, but I just feel like I need them to move forward somehow. If Sarah just told Chuck that she loved him and that they would somehow find a way to make that work it would have been such a shock that I feel like the unreality of it all would have worked for me.  Instead they had the same conversation where he tells her he's crazy about her, she says nothing and then looks sad that she can't reciprocate.  I get it people, they are star-crossed!  Star-crossed I tell you!  

Chuck Vs. The Beefcake and Chuck Vs.

The Lethal Weapon both featured the very hot and too awesome to be true Agent Cole, hanging around, taking bullets for people, lusting after Sarah and just generally making Chuck feel completely inadequate.  I really like this character for a few reasons, only one

 of them being hot Britishness. He was actually the awesome guy that he seemed to be, which is pretty much almost a twist on this show.  He seemed to really care not just about Sarah, but also about Chuck and Casey.  He was good at his job yet seemed to understand that sometimes, you have throw away duty for your own happiness.  He was a pretty cool dude.  Even Chuck had to admit it, and he was totally jealous of him.  I thought Sarah's attraction to him was pretty understandable, and liked that she seemed just a little bit tempted when he tried to convince her to run away with him, despite her love for Chuck.  Even Casey liked this guy!

The thing that I am really excited about is the forward movement on the Intersect story!  Who is Orion?  Crazy theory time:  Orion is Chuck's Dad!!!!  Here's why.  Obviously one reason is because he was mentioned in the same episode as this mysterious creator of the Intersect. Another is that he has been suspiciously absent from Chuck and Ellie's lives for years.  He had two incredibly smart children, so logic goes that he must be pretty smart as well.  He is hard to find, the way a spy might be.  EVERYONE in Chuck's life turns out to be a spy, which sometimes seems lame, but maybe not so much if his Dad created the Intersect to be placed in his head.  He could have been working with Bryce, Jill, and others at Stanford to ready Chuck for the implantation when Bryce felt guilty and got him kicked out.  Also, all of Chuck's info about the Intersect etc. is written on the back of his Tron poster GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS DAD.  So that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.  

I love that Chuck is doing his own gathering of info to try and help himself by the way.  Way to be proactive, Chuck!  I also thought that Adam Baldwin did a great job of looking sad and uncomfortable just for a moment when Chuck mentioned getting the Intersect out of his head.  

Lest we forget that Casey is supposed to kill Chuck as soon as he is Intersect-free.  I kind of wish Sarah would figure that out, because I'm not sure I can ever imagine John Casey spilling, no matter what.  All of the spy plot stuff was pretty great in these past two episodes, really ramping up the tension in the show.  

I just wish we could find some way to change the Chuck/Sarah story up for good instead of just temporarily.  Moving in together actually seemed liked a great idea to me because it would do that, but we would probably lose Awesome and Ellie to that, which would be sad.  Sarah having real feelings for Cole doesn't matter when she has more for Chuck, just like when Chuck was with Jill.  I mean poor Sarah didn't even get to sleep with him or anything.  I think the actors have great chemistry and the dynamic is great, we just need a away to freshen it up a bit.  Maybe the way is to ignore it a little and not build TWO episodes around it.  Maybe.  

Next week:

It is actually like I have some sort of block when it comes to previews....Oooh the general doesn't want the Intersect out of Chuck's head (neither do I, by the way) so Chuck is going rogue!  Holy crap, how unChucklike!!!

Dollhouse. Getting into some crazy psychological shit.

Whoa. I have to say that the first half of this episode kind of bored me. Echo auditioning, meeting people, having to take her top off backstage, Boyd worrying about her performance, etc. I started wondering if I was watching Fame or something. BUT, then, it veers into some pretty dark territory, with Rayna contacting her stalker and pretty much agreeing to let him kill her. I had to agree with Echo (or whatever her name was during the engagement) when she was like "You are seriously unwell!" For real lady.

But of course, in some ways, Rayna is Echo, someone who cannot have her own wants and needs because it is her responsibility to fulfill those things for others.  Would Rayna be happier if she was wiped of her own desires?  They hammered the idea home a little too pointedly ("You weren't grown in a lab, but I was!"), but still made some interesting points about identity and ownership of one's own self.  Rayna and Echo are stripped of ownership of their own bodies and minds, but only one of them knows it.  So far. 

By the way, my DVR is broken again (Damn you Charter Communications!!) so everything looked all pixilated and weird. Even with that, I felt like Dichen Lachman was great as Sierra/Superfan. I just felt like those two characters were so different and she really inhabited them both. Now maybe there's something to the fact that Echo still seems to retain her general Eliza Dushkuness (I mean they made the backup singer from Southie for god sake's!), because she is special, and seems to retain parts of all of her engagements. She is a composite, like Alpha, and someone wants her dead because of it. But, maybe they all are, since Sierra seemed to like Echo and to get it when she nodded at her when Laurence was there. Hmmm. Brains are crazy. That could be this show's subtitle.

So questions: 

Is Laurence totally evil?  

Could he be the one trying to have Echo killed?

Did he send Victor to set up Ballard so that Ballard would be killed?

Is Ballard kind of dumb for going to that abandoned warehouse alone? (Yes.)

Is Ballard's neighbor who REALLY likes him actually an active sent out by Adele?  

Do she and Laurence have dueling actives at this point?

What is up with Topher?  Evil, ambiguous, just following orders, just kind of a dick?

WHY is Echo special?  Just a "Brains are crazy" type thing, or is it something else?

Who and where is Alpha?

This show has been pretty dark so far, I mean we have men hunting women, suicidal singers and mass murder going on here, so I wouldn't mind a little of that trademark Whedon levity.  Topher is just not doing it for me, so someone else needs to grow a sense of humor, ASAP.  

I won't say I'm intrigued though, because I am.  In countless interviews Dushku has really been talking up the back six episodes, and I am most definitely on board through those.  Things are ramping up pretty quickly in this Alpha story, so it should be interesting to see where it goes.  

Next week: OMG I missed the preview again.  Damn it.  

Heroes. Not so bad this time!

Alright, I was pretty happy with the episode of Heroes, especially considering how awful the last one was. Maybe it is lowered expectations, but let's be real here, things happened, secrets were revealed and we got double weird face making from Matt and Peter trying to control people's minds! It was pretty alright, I thought!

Also, the idea of a Peter Vs. Nathan smackdown is actually a totally great one! The Petrelli's were what really drew me into the show in the first place, and I like them as rivals. I would like to see Peter with a little more in his corner at this point (I mean Matt, really? That's all he's got?) But twisting their weird brotherly love into something sick is a good way to keep both of these characters interesting, and at the forefront of the show, where they should be. And not just because they are hot. Though that doesn't hurt.

I have to say I also thought that the way Matt's prophecy played out was pretty good as well. Again, it kind of turned things from the first season (and our expectations) on their head. Instead of some crazy super power being 'bout to 'splode DC, Matt gets a bomb strapped to him by Creepy Hunter Dude and it is on! Fly that mofo away Nathan! I can't wait to see Nathan expose himself to the world (or at least to Creepy Hunter Guy) as a 'person with abilities'. Mrs. Petrelli was right on the nose when she told him "The game has changed."

So Rebel has to be Micah, right? I mean who else could do what he is doing? I am excited about this because I really liked Micah and was kind of bummed when his story seemingly got dropped. Then at least Peter has a genius kid who can talk to machines on his side! That's something. (Aside...why is Nathan giving his mother ALL of the information about his stupid program? That seems dumb, because she is not very trustworthy. He is clearly a moron though.)

I also really liked the Claire/Sandra saving Alex plot. Sandra Bennett clearly rules, and now Claire knows it! (Lyle is a total dumbass on the other hand. Now we know why Sandra prefers Claire so much!) Also, she still totally LURVES HRG, and will be so proud of him when she finds out that he is actually a mole sent by Angela to stop Creepy Hunter Guy and his Hero-killing government program. (It made me so happy that the News got a hold of those files. IN YOUR FACE Creepy Hunter Guy!) Claire and Alex were pretty cute, and did not make me want to puke the way Claire and Wes did last season. I like that Alex is the epitome of a completely non-dangerous person with abilities. He cannot even accidentally hurt someone by breathing underwater. He's actually more likely to SAVE someone, with his healing kiss of breath. It was refreshing to see Claire working on something instead of brooding about her horrible dads, and it was totally creepy when that horrid puppet man came to her for help! She might have to help people she is repulsed by too! (Maybe Sylar in the future?) Will she do it?

And what of Sylar and his most annoying road trip companion? (You are very welcome for this adorable picture of Zachary Quinto.) Well I enjoyed his "Fleetwood Mac themed memories"(Mike O'Neil) and even though he didn't kill that kid, he slammed him up against the wall real good, so I'll take it. He is saving up all of his killing for his evil dad, who killed his (maybe) non-evil mom telekinetic style! Now we know where he gets it from! Just a chip off of the old block, that Sylar. Also, he was a very cute little kid, and it was apparent from moment one that his new parents (nee aunt and uncle) were not up to the job, since just after buying him, they let him wander outside into the parking lot to witness a murder. This kid's fate was pretty much sealed.

Another thing I liked was the direction of this episode, I thought the wipes and the split screens made it feel very comic book-esque, which is what this show should have been going for all along. Nicely done, Heroes!

Next week:
Aww shizznit! Matt's got a bomb strapped to him and he doesn't know whether Nathan should cut the black wire or the red wire! I have an idea, how about both! (Would that work? I always wonder that in these types of bomb-diffusing scenarios. Like, cut'em both at the same time!)