Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the summer series, and between those and Season two of Dexter, I've been enjoying my summer watching. I haven't even thought about what the new fall season will bring yet. On the other hand, the air conditioning sucks at work, and the last thing I want to do is slave over a hot keyboard while in a muggy office. So, still trying to update, but my brain is...soggy?
Leverage is a good place to start this week, as it was a little of a letdown after last week's amazing amazing episode, but it still holds its own overall. Also, we get back into the Damien Moreau plot, as Team Leverage goes after one of his subordinates, a gentleman who smuggles antiquities as a money laundering/fundraising scheme; the money then going to fund drugs and wars and such. In the process of trying to nail him at the airport, a little girl gets caught as an art mule, and the team has to shift gears and try to nail him in England. Hey, that's where Sophie's from!
So the gang sets up at an art auction and Nate goes in to try to make contact with the mark while Sophie uses her grifter powers to try and find the guy's heart's desire. Nate takes half a beating before Sophie connects the dots and realizes that the guy has a royalty fetish. Sophie comes in as a Duchess and sets the hook on the new con, tempting him with a lost barony in exchange for his smuggling prowess.
I can't decide what my favorite part of the episode is: It's a three way race between Hardison fabricating a convincing fake diary out of authentic ingredients, Sophie's acting throughout the episode, or Parker actually using the "Does this rag smell like chloroform?" gag. Next week is the "summer finale", as the gang will be back around Christmas to wrap up this storyline (probably).
Eureka has embraced the changes stemming from the time travel stuff, so it's almost jarring to see that the mysterious group from last week has rebuilt the bridge device. Looks like Dr. Grant is supposed to go back and use his future knowledge to make the world a better place...but that doesn't sound sinister enough, so I'm sure something else is in the works. The hallucinations that the time travel pals were seeing made for an interesting episode, especially since we got the return of Tess AND Trevor Blake. Man, I missed him more than I thought, and he made the most of it in the time he had back. Poor poor Carter. Fargo being tormented by a ten-year girl was good times all the way through. And now, we see what the mystery group wants...and when do we get Felicia Day?
Warehouse 13 dialed up the darkness this week, as Artie's NSA past catches up with him. Torquemada's chain is a bitch of an artifact too, seriously. The board from the Titanic wasn't much gentler either, though. In the end, though, we get H.G. Wells reinstated as a Warehouse agent, which Artie is none too pleased about. I'm not quite sure where this is going, but I'm sure Wells has an ulterior motive. There's stil the other objects she stole from the Escher vault, plus she seems just a little too helpful.
Oh, and Claudia got some resolution in her storyline. Turns out, Todd isn't a bad guy, just in the witness protection program, and so not allowed to fall in love. Oh, teen love! Todd and Claudia get to do some major league snogging before he has to get relocated, but don't be surprised to see that storyline pop up again before the end of the season. Until then, we have Artie and H.G. to have fun with.
Hmm, that's actually it. Psych is coming up, and an Amanda-less Top Chef. Masterchef hasn't been terrible, but it's so intolerably slow, I can't imagine watching it live, without the opportunity to skip past the boring or redundant bits. Dexter remains excellent though, especially with Jaime Murray (aka, H.G. Wells, aka that hot girl from Hustle). I'll have to start looking at the fall schedule soon too.
Showing posts with label leverage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leverage. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
And I'm back
Maybe I'm OCD and I just liked the idea of having an even 100 posts...or I got busy and lazy when going back to nights. Either way, I'm back, and hopefully will be back to normal output now.
As it is, I've finally gotten around to watching Dexter, hooray for me! I'm halfway through season 1, and it is amazing so far. I know I'm behind the curve, but I'm going to shoot for a season summary, as far as my opinions go.
Meanwhile, this has been a great week for TV. Leverage on Sunday was an epic episode with lofty aspiration that it completely achieved. The Rashomon Job was a clever story about how the team all crossed paths while trying to steal the same item...well, all except Nate, who was trying to keep it right where it was. Everybody's recollection of the events built so well on each others, using similar looking actors to fill in for each of the Leverage crew for each telling of the story. The completely different takes on Sophie's accent had me rolling with laughter, and John Billingsley was a great guest star as the museum security director who wasn't as ruthless as the rest of the team remembered. It's been a great season for the show, and the metaplot episodes are coming up in the next few weeks.
Top Chef was a little bit of a downer tonight, as Amanda's turn finally came up. Alex leaving last week was pretty much ordained, but I really thought that Amanda might have been able to dodge the bullet tonight. This is one of the more frustrating things about Top Chef judging: sometimes it seems like the worst dish of the night goes home, and sometimes it seems like more of a "worst chef overall" goes home. Kenny left for "worst dish", but Amanda left as "worst chef". Granted, her tartare wasn't perfect, but at least two of the other three bottom dishes sounded worse. On the other hand, the other chefs are more experienced and have better finishes, so she was the safe choice to go. Oh Amanda, I'll miss you and your massive levels of cuteness.
Psych was just okay this week, but Chi McBride is awesomesauce, so it gets a good grade. Last week's episode was better, with Shawn and Gus competing with an older version of themselves to solve the murder of the former chief of police. This is still a show that manages to make product placement funny, too.
Warehouse 13 has also been improving by leaps and bounds, putting up three really good episodes in a row. Pete had a bit of a freakout, but that led to Claudia getting to hit the field as an apprentice agent with Myka to explore a wrestling team that bursts into flame. However, last week's episode was the pinnacle of the series so far. Pete and Myka switch bodies thanks to a griffin statue, and while the usual hijinks occur (involving Pete's cute girlfriend, and guest star Cody Rhodes), the incredible part was how the two actors managed to take on their counterparts speech patterns and mannerisms so well. Also, Artie and Claudia hit the road to track down another artifact, and Claudia has to deal with a lovestruck Artie (great acting by Saul Rubinek on that one too), and Artie eventually gets even with Claudia for the "Knock Knock" handcuff incident from way back in last season. It was telegraphed by the "previously on" at the beginning of the episode, but still a cute moment. This show has really come into its own, and if you're not watching, you're missing out.
More to come soon, including a few episodes of Burn Notice to catch up on, and some other stuff. Good to be back.
As it is, I've finally gotten around to watching Dexter, hooray for me! I'm halfway through season 1, and it is amazing so far. I know I'm behind the curve, but I'm going to shoot for a season summary, as far as my opinions go.
Meanwhile, this has been a great week for TV. Leverage on Sunday was an epic episode with lofty aspiration that it completely achieved. The Rashomon Job was a clever story about how the team all crossed paths while trying to steal the same item...well, all except Nate, who was trying to keep it right where it was. Everybody's recollection of the events built so well on each others, using similar looking actors to fill in for each of the Leverage crew for each telling of the story. The completely different takes on Sophie's accent had me rolling with laughter, and John Billingsley was a great guest star as the museum security director who wasn't as ruthless as the rest of the team remembered. It's been a great season for the show, and the metaplot episodes are coming up in the next few weeks.
Top Chef was a little bit of a downer tonight, as Amanda's turn finally came up. Alex leaving last week was pretty much ordained, but I really thought that Amanda might have been able to dodge the bullet tonight. This is one of the more frustrating things about Top Chef judging: sometimes it seems like the worst dish of the night goes home, and sometimes it seems like more of a "worst chef overall" goes home. Kenny left for "worst dish", but Amanda left as "worst chef". Granted, her tartare wasn't perfect, but at least two of the other three bottom dishes sounded worse. On the other hand, the other chefs are more experienced and have better finishes, so she was the safe choice to go. Oh Amanda, I'll miss you and your massive levels of cuteness.
Psych was just okay this week, but Chi McBride is awesomesauce, so it gets a good grade. Last week's episode was better, with Shawn and Gus competing with an older version of themselves to solve the murder of the former chief of police. This is still a show that manages to make product placement funny, too.
Warehouse 13 has also been improving by leaps and bounds, putting up three really good episodes in a row. Pete had a bit of a freakout, but that led to Claudia getting to hit the field as an apprentice agent with Myka to explore a wrestling team that bursts into flame. However, last week's episode was the pinnacle of the series so far. Pete and Myka switch bodies thanks to a griffin statue, and while the usual hijinks occur (involving Pete's cute girlfriend, and guest star Cody Rhodes), the incredible part was how the two actors managed to take on their counterparts speech patterns and mannerisms so well. Also, Artie and Claudia hit the road to track down another artifact, and Claudia has to deal with a lovestruck Artie (great acting by Saul Rubinek on that one too), and Artie eventually gets even with Claudia for the "Knock Knock" handcuff incident from way back in last season. It was telegraphed by the "previously on" at the beginning of the episode, but still a cute moment. This show has really come into its own, and if you're not watching, you're missing out.
More to come soon, including a few episodes of Burn Notice to catch up on, and some other stuff. Good to be back.
Monday, August 2, 2010
I got 99 posts, and a bitch ain't one...
Almost at post #100, and the excitement is palpable! Also, Eureka heats up, Leverage hits the fast lane, and on Top Shot, you can cut the tension with a knife.
Top Shot switched things up a little...not in eliminations (although apparently, that's next week), but in the weapon. It was throwing knives today, and while JJ had a lot of problems in practice, he nailed it in the team challenge and Blue beat Red by a five second margin. Kelly got to sit out an elimination (plus he is the Silent Assassin when it comes to winning those), so it was Denny getting out-slingshot by Peter. In sadder news, Tara's dad was having complications from cancer, so she left the competition in order to be with him.
Two episodes left to go, and next week we'll be losing a goodly number of the remaining marksmen. I'd like to see Kelly advance to the finals, but we'll just have to see. Of the people remaining, he's got to have the most challenge experience, which gives him an edge.
Eureka went a little different direction, as Carter left town to go visit Zoey at Harvard, and still managed to get into a little Eureka-style trouble with an invisible cat. Pretty light for a B story, but it did get us a little...not so much closure, but at least we got some Zoey this year. Nice haircut, by the way.
With Carter out of town, it's up to Lupo to keep track of a rocket race, a joyriding Zane, and a buildup of self-propegating oxygen that is threatening to set the town on fire. Jamie Kennedy was oddly cast, but not necessarily bad. Lupo tries (and succeeds) to get through to the "good Zane" that is inside of alternate-Zane. In a surprising turn, Allison cheats to help Kevin win, which is what winds up helping cause the impending firestorm. Kevin has the answer though, and he, Allison, and Grant save the town. Interesting how two episodes have gone by with no mention of "can we fix the time business?", which makes me wonder if they're just saving that for later, or if they just really wanted a shakeup.
And finally, Leverage brought the goodness this week with their version of Gone in 60 Seconds (but, you know, good). Bill Engvall was a surprisingly effective bad guy, so between him and John Schneider, this has been a good season for guest villains. Unfortunately, this is another week where Parker is the one to make the con go all tits-up on the crew. Granted, it was explained in the story, and the flashback to pre-teen getaway driver Parker was great, but it just seems odd for that to happen twice in a row like that. Sophie's use of neural-linguistic programming as a car salesman was a great callback to earlier in the season, as was how the team got together to steal the auto race. Another thing that bothered me, though, was all the "we can outrun bullets" stuff that Eliot, Parker, and Hardison wound up having to do. Just a little unrealistic for this show...just didn't feel natural. Another week without The Italian or anything close to the meta plot, which makes me wonder if we're getting a big run of those episodes coming up soon.
Catching up on Burn Notice and Top Chef, but I'm thinking of making the 100th post my long-postponed Doctor Who post. We will all be surprised together!
Top Shot switched things up a little...not in eliminations (although apparently, that's next week), but in the weapon. It was throwing knives today, and while JJ had a lot of problems in practice, he nailed it in the team challenge and Blue beat Red by a five second margin. Kelly got to sit out an elimination (plus he is the Silent Assassin when it comes to winning those), so it was Denny getting out-slingshot by Peter. In sadder news, Tara's dad was having complications from cancer, so she left the competition in order to be with him.
Two episodes left to go, and next week we'll be losing a goodly number of the remaining marksmen. I'd like to see Kelly advance to the finals, but we'll just have to see. Of the people remaining, he's got to have the most challenge experience, which gives him an edge.
Eureka went a little different direction, as Carter left town to go visit Zoey at Harvard, and still managed to get into a little Eureka-style trouble with an invisible cat. Pretty light for a B story, but it did get us a little...not so much closure, but at least we got some Zoey this year. Nice haircut, by the way.
With Carter out of town, it's up to Lupo to keep track of a rocket race, a joyriding Zane, and a buildup of self-propegating oxygen that is threatening to set the town on fire. Jamie Kennedy was oddly cast, but not necessarily bad. Lupo tries (and succeeds) to get through to the "good Zane" that is inside of alternate-Zane. In a surprising turn, Allison cheats to help Kevin win, which is what winds up helping cause the impending firestorm. Kevin has the answer though, and he, Allison, and Grant save the town. Interesting how two episodes have gone by with no mention of "can we fix the time business?", which makes me wonder if they're just saving that for later, or if they just really wanted a shakeup.
And finally, Leverage brought the goodness this week with their version of Gone in 60 Seconds (but, you know, good). Bill Engvall was a surprisingly effective bad guy, so between him and John Schneider, this has been a good season for guest villains. Unfortunately, this is another week where Parker is the one to make the con go all tits-up on the crew. Granted, it was explained in the story, and the flashback to pre-teen getaway driver Parker was great, but it just seems odd for that to happen twice in a row like that. Sophie's use of neural-linguistic programming as a car salesman was a great callback to earlier in the season, as was how the team got together to steal the auto race. Another thing that bothered me, though, was all the "we can outrun bullets" stuff that Eliot, Parker, and Hardison wound up having to do. Just a little unrealistic for this show...just didn't feel natural. Another week without The Italian or anything close to the meta plot, which makes me wonder if we're getting a big run of those episodes coming up soon.
Catching up on Burn Notice and Top Chef, but I'm thinking of making the 100th post my long-postponed Doctor Who post. We will all be surprised together!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Top Leverage 13!
First off, we are counting down to the 100th post on here! It is a milestone, both in the roundness of the number (BASK IN THE ROUNDNESS!!!), but that I've managed to keep up with this for nearly a year. I'm considering this a win. Now, maybe leave a comment once in a while, so I know I'm doing something right? :) I'd like this to become more of a place for discussion in the coming year, whether it be on here, or even in the Facebook links that I leave on my page every time I update.
Also, this season of Doctor Who is almost done in America, so I'll be doing the Doctor Who omnibus post once that airs. I'm pretty sure most of you have seen it online by now (as have I), but as a rabid spoiler-hater, I'm going to be kind and wait one more week. One more damn week...
So, Warehouse 13 is getting back to business, but still dealing with the aftershocks of the season finale/season premiere. Artie is haunted (literally) by the ghost of MacPhereson, Claudia and Leena are as tense as two cats in a wet sack, and Myka...has her books? Yep, the "stuff delivery" is here, and Myka's room now feels like home, but Pete has naught to enjoy. Lucky for him, he gets to immerse himself into a superhero situation in Detroit, as it seems that the Iron Shadow (like Batman if he borrowed The Phantom's outfit) is busting up criminals and tossing them through walls. And who do we run into? Let the SQUEEEEEEing begin, because it's Jewel Staite and Sean Maher from Firefly (aka Kaylee and Simon, aka those two that didn't hook up until the end of Serenity). Kudos to the show for not making the comic store a hotbed of nerdery, and for making Pete the nerdiest of the comic nerds instead. The Iron Shadow can do all kinds of neat flashy light things, but it's going out of control. Claudia takes time out from being catty to Leena in order to bring some gadgets to Pete and Myka: some material that will absorb energy (and make you impotent, apparently), and some kickass steampunk gauntlets that will fire the energy back out. So, it's like a Bishop suit. Nice.
Myka gets all Catwoman'd out (so, it's a good thing that Pete didn't wear the suit after all, huh?), complete with some swank hooker boots (that probably belonged to Louisa May Alcott or Ella Fitzgerald or something), and takes on the Iron Browncoat. They thought it was Jack Kirby's belt (nice touch), but it turns out to be the underwear that all good superheroes wear on the outside of their tights (Charles Atlas' trunks, even nicer touch). Our happy couple gets to stay together, and Leena and Claudia look to have patched things up a little. Artie has a few decent scenes with the ghost of MacPherson, and scores a pocket watch from MacPherson's archived room (which may or may not factor into later episodes). And Pete, while he doesn't have his stuff yet, does get surprised with a big tv and an XBOX 360 (probably Monet's XBOX 360) to pass the time.
Leverage was twangtastic, with special guest villain John Schneider (aka Pa Kent...yeah, and one of the Dukes of Hazzard). The girl from Coyote Ugly got her songs stolen by the evil country singer (wasn't that a wrestling gimmick for a while too?), and the Leverage team is going to get them back. Turns out, Elliot is good at singing (and you can download his country stylings on iTunes RIGHT THIS MINUTE), and the rest of the team still manages to almost drop the ball. Parker gets to do her Bjork by way of Lady Gaga routine, and Hardison goes from country to rap in the course of an episode. This definitely was the episode with the highest level of hijinks to date, but it was a nice light fluffy hour with something for everybody. Nate surprises us all by taking out two thugs (with no explanation given), and Sophie can't understand Memphis and their fascination with ribs (for breakfast? really?). Not much else needs to be said, no meta-plot, just a well run hour of tv with Elliot refusing to quit when the job goes tits-up.
Top Chef was some good times, forcing the chefs to serve one family-style dinner while cooking outside with crap equipment. Some good dishes manage to make it out, and Kenny goes from the outhouse to the penthouse with a winning eggplant curry. I was worried about losing Amanda this week (since she's hot...and can cook too, fine), but Tim gets the boot for his crap dish instead. Line of the episode: Padma's "You've got crabs" when introducing the ingredient for the Quickfire.
Top Shot was good times too, as they did a Wild West shootout. Surpringly, the guy with the cowboy hat managed to both suck at shooting, and not get nominated to go to the elimination challenge. Kelly and Andre get that honor, and manage to nearly ruin a really good challenge (shooting poker cards to make a hand) by sucking at poker. They both make royal flushes in the first round, so they go to sudden death where Kelly blocks Andre's low straight flush attempt, and Andre has a massive brainfart and fails to make any kind of hand.
Eureka is coming up, as soon as Hulu releases it, and I am really looking forward to it. Psych is also back, and I will be getting to that ASAP as well. I love you, summer TV.
Also, this season of Doctor Who is almost done in America, so I'll be doing the Doctor Who omnibus post once that airs. I'm pretty sure most of you have seen it online by now (as have I), but as a rabid spoiler-hater, I'm going to be kind and wait one more week. One more damn week...
So, Warehouse 13 is getting back to business, but still dealing with the aftershocks of the season finale/season premiere. Artie is haunted (literally) by the ghost of MacPhereson, Claudia and Leena are as tense as two cats in a wet sack, and Myka...has her books? Yep, the "stuff delivery" is here, and Myka's room now feels like home, but Pete has naught to enjoy. Lucky for him, he gets to immerse himself into a superhero situation in Detroit, as it seems that the Iron Shadow (like Batman if he borrowed The Phantom's outfit) is busting up criminals and tossing them through walls. And who do we run into? Let the SQUEEEEEEing begin, because it's Jewel Staite and Sean Maher from Firefly (aka Kaylee and Simon, aka those two that didn't hook up until the end of Serenity). Kudos to the show for not making the comic store a hotbed of nerdery, and for making Pete the nerdiest of the comic nerds instead. The Iron Shadow can do all kinds of neat flashy light things, but it's going out of control. Claudia takes time out from being catty to Leena in order to bring some gadgets to Pete and Myka: some material that will absorb energy (and make you impotent, apparently), and some kickass steampunk gauntlets that will fire the energy back out. So, it's like a Bishop suit. Nice.
Myka gets all Catwoman'd out (so, it's a good thing that Pete didn't wear the suit after all, huh?), complete with some swank hooker boots (that probably belonged to Louisa May Alcott or Ella Fitzgerald or something), and takes on the Iron Browncoat. They thought it was Jack Kirby's belt (nice touch), but it turns out to be the underwear that all good superheroes wear on the outside of their tights (Charles Atlas' trunks, even nicer touch). Our happy couple gets to stay together, and Leena and Claudia look to have patched things up a little. Artie has a few decent scenes with the ghost of MacPherson, and scores a pocket watch from MacPherson's archived room (which may or may not factor into later episodes). And Pete, while he doesn't have his stuff yet, does get surprised with a big tv and an XBOX 360 (probably Monet's XBOX 360) to pass the time.
Leverage was twangtastic, with special guest villain John Schneider (aka Pa Kent...yeah, and one of the Dukes of Hazzard). The girl from Coyote Ugly got her songs stolen by the evil country singer (wasn't that a wrestling gimmick for a while too?), and the Leverage team is going to get them back. Turns out, Elliot is good at singing (and you can download his country stylings on iTunes RIGHT THIS MINUTE), and the rest of the team still manages to almost drop the ball. Parker gets to do her Bjork by way of Lady Gaga routine, and Hardison goes from country to rap in the course of an episode. This definitely was the episode with the highest level of hijinks to date, but it was a nice light fluffy hour with something for everybody. Nate surprises us all by taking out two thugs (with no explanation given), and Sophie can't understand Memphis and their fascination with ribs (for breakfast? really?). Not much else needs to be said, no meta-plot, just a well run hour of tv with Elliot refusing to quit when the job goes tits-up.
Top Chef was some good times, forcing the chefs to serve one family-style dinner while cooking outside with crap equipment. Some good dishes manage to make it out, and Kenny goes from the outhouse to the penthouse with a winning eggplant curry. I was worried about losing Amanda this week (since she's hot...and can cook too, fine), but Tim gets the boot for his crap dish instead. Line of the episode: Padma's "You've got crabs" when introducing the ingredient for the Quickfire.
Top Shot was good times too, as they did a Wild West shootout. Surpringly, the guy with the cowboy hat managed to both suck at shooting, and not get nominated to go to the elimination challenge. Kelly and Andre get that honor, and manage to nearly ruin a really good challenge (shooting poker cards to make a hand) by sucking at poker. They both make royal flushes in the first round, so they go to sudden death where Kelly blocks Andre's low straight flush attempt, and Andre has a massive brainfart and fails to make any kind of hand.
Eureka is coming up, as soon as Hulu releases it, and I am really looking forward to it. Psych is also back, and I will be getting to that ASAP as well. I love you, summer TV.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
While I wait for Warehouse 13 to go up on Hulu...
Yeah, totally got sucked into Jade Empire (yes, I am 6 years behind on video games) and forgot it was Tuesday. W13 isn't up yet, but I do have some catching up to do, so let's dive right in.
Eureka came back Friday, and it was a total game-changer. It's Founder's Day in town, Tess has moved to Australia and dumped Carter, Allison has her baby, Zane asked Lupo to marry him, and Allison's autistic son Kevin is messing around with some mystery device leftover from the Einstein days...and now Jack is in 1947.
Yep, no beating around the bush here. Jack is picked up by a strange guy in a nice car and brought back to Camp Eureka, the military base that eventually became the town of Eureka. Allison, Lupo, Henry, and Naked Fargo are also back in time, and all must get back...to the future! They've got an overzealous Major trying to capture them as enemy spies, but Dr. Grant (James Callis of BSG) eventually realizes that they're all from the future, and helps them get the machine working (mostly by attaching old school transistors to their tiny Eureka phones), and get them back home. Carter left his phone in his other jacket though, so he makes out with Allison for like five minutes, and her phone takes them both back home.
However, like all good time travel stories, not all is as it was when they left. Lupo discovers that Zane is still a criminal and not in love with her, Carter finds Tess back at home waiting for him, Kevin is no longer autistic, Henry is married to the hot lady who showed up for 30 seconds at the beginning of the episode, and Fargo is...well, the preview for next week has him as the director of GD. Or, and kindly Dr. Grant (who had Jack's jacket) is in 2010 now too. Space-time continuum is cracking, and the stakes are raised.
This season's arc (if it is for all season) is looking pretty promising, as the time-travelers all seem to have gained something through the changes, but will have to give all that up to get things back to normal. Also, Callis is good people, and will hopefully draw some new viewers to the show.
Leverage was its usual good self, this time addressing the Parker/Hardison budding relationship, as well as peering into the murky underbelly of the pharmacutical industry. The client literally runs into Hardison...and unfortunately for her pursuers, Eliot (and his coffee), and they take on her case of drug trial malfeasance and untimely deaths. Parker-the-Grifter continues to be adorable, sending her in as a pharma-girl in training and having her bust into the CEO's office for incriminating files. With security on her tail, Nate decides to have her finish the job, getting her out of there but cutting it too close for Sophie's sake. Sophie reminds Nate that he's not the moral compass anymore, and his usual shenanigans aren't going to fly anymore. And that's about it for that this week.
The rest of the episode is the usual con. Parker almost gets nabbed by security (but not really), Hardison gets closer to the client (but not really), Eliot is forced to flirt with an FDA rep (but not really...and he gets dumped). Sweet bit at the end as Parker confides in Sophie about her feelings for Hardison, and Hardison finds a way to tell her that he's ready for her when she is. Good little bit of character development.
Top Shot had some Kentucky Longrifle fun, but this is more notable for the day where we went into full-on reality show scheming. A few guys decide that if they have to go to elimination, that they should get manuever to get the two best shooters to go against each other, making one go home and making it easier for the rest of them to make it to the finals. Good plan, but they told the wrong person, who then ran and ratted out the plan. Oh reality tv, never disappointing. The red team smokes the challenge, and the rat and one of the main plotters (I seriously don't care about their names, sorry) shoot it out. Cool challenge, as they have to shoot a rope until it frays enough to drop a guillotine. More stuff like that, please. The rat goes home, and next week is an old west shootout, complete with shooting gallery full of crap that shatters and asplodes. Good times, Top Shot, good times.
Warehouse 13 ASAP, and Top Chef tonight.
Eureka came back Friday, and it was a total game-changer. It's Founder's Day in town, Tess has moved to Australia and dumped Carter, Allison has her baby, Zane asked Lupo to marry him, and Allison's autistic son Kevin is messing around with some mystery device leftover from the Einstein days...and now Jack is in 1947.
Yep, no beating around the bush here. Jack is picked up by a strange guy in a nice car and brought back to Camp Eureka, the military base that eventually became the town of Eureka. Allison, Lupo, Henry, and Naked Fargo are also back in time, and all must get back...to the future! They've got an overzealous Major trying to capture them as enemy spies, but Dr. Grant (James Callis of BSG) eventually realizes that they're all from the future, and helps them get the machine working (mostly by attaching old school transistors to their tiny Eureka phones), and get them back home. Carter left his phone in his other jacket though, so he makes out with Allison for like five minutes, and her phone takes them both back home.
However, like all good time travel stories, not all is as it was when they left. Lupo discovers that Zane is still a criminal and not in love with her, Carter finds Tess back at home waiting for him, Kevin is no longer autistic, Henry is married to the hot lady who showed up for 30 seconds at the beginning of the episode, and Fargo is...well, the preview for next week has him as the director of GD. Or, and kindly Dr. Grant (who had Jack's jacket) is in 2010 now too. Space-time continuum is cracking, and the stakes are raised.
This season's arc (if it is for all season) is looking pretty promising, as the time-travelers all seem to have gained something through the changes, but will have to give all that up to get things back to normal. Also, Callis is good people, and will hopefully draw some new viewers to the show.
Leverage was its usual good self, this time addressing the Parker/Hardison budding relationship, as well as peering into the murky underbelly of the pharmacutical industry. The client literally runs into Hardison...and unfortunately for her pursuers, Eliot (and his coffee), and they take on her case of drug trial malfeasance and untimely deaths. Parker-the-Grifter continues to be adorable, sending her in as a pharma-girl in training and having her bust into the CEO's office for incriminating files. With security on her tail, Nate decides to have her finish the job, getting her out of there but cutting it too close for Sophie's sake. Sophie reminds Nate that he's not the moral compass anymore, and his usual shenanigans aren't going to fly anymore. And that's about it for that this week.
The rest of the episode is the usual con. Parker almost gets nabbed by security (but not really), Hardison gets closer to the client (but not really), Eliot is forced to flirt with an FDA rep (but not really...and he gets dumped). Sweet bit at the end as Parker confides in Sophie about her feelings for Hardison, and Hardison finds a way to tell her that he's ready for her when she is. Good little bit of character development.
Top Shot had some Kentucky Longrifle fun, but this is more notable for the day where we went into full-on reality show scheming. A few guys decide that if they have to go to elimination, that they should get manuever to get the two best shooters to go against each other, making one go home and making it easier for the rest of them to make it to the finals. Good plan, but they told the wrong person, who then ran and ratted out the plan. Oh reality tv, never disappointing. The red team smokes the challenge, and the rat and one of the main plotters (I seriously don't care about their names, sorry) shoot it out. Cool challenge, as they have to shoot a rope until it frays enough to drop a guillotine. More stuff like that, please. The rat goes home, and next week is an old west shootout, complete with shooting gallery full of crap that shatters and asplodes. Good times, Top Shot, good times.
Warehouse 13 ASAP, and Top Chef tonight.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Quick reviews while I'm still awake
Fortunately, the summer schedule is about as laconic as I am, so I'm going to bust out some quick thoughts. Leverage gets short-sheeted, sadly, but I'll make it up to you later. Mmm...Leverage...
So yes, another two-episode Sunday night, before they take the 4th of July off and then come back with regular weekly episodes for the rest of the run (including the return of Wil Wheaton). First episode was an interesting look at the concept of family, as Parker's "dad" (the guy who taught her to be a thief), meets her new family and gets a lesson on what actual family is. Parker on the run had a lot of excitement, Hardison and Sophie's "Steed and Peel" cover identities made me giggle, and the wheat subplot...was a thing. The super security system was a good villain though, and the final gotcha moment was well done. Hardison as a violin prodigy was interesting, moreso because I read John Rogers' blog (kfmonkey.blogspot.com, of course), and his answers to Leverage questions. Specifically of note was the upcoming relationship between Nate and Hardison as mentor and protege. Look for this to recur. We also touch base with the meta-plot as The Italian comes back to point the team in Damien's direction. This episode has one great moment above all others though, the single tear running down Parker's cheek during Hardison's violin solo. I was definitely waiting for the reveal on that, and it didn't disappoint. It'll be a long week and a half until the next new episode.
Summer means summer shows, and so I delve more into reality/game show type stuff:
Top Shot remains interesting from a technical standpoint, and bless the poor editors who have to wring some drama out of the otherwise bland contestants. They seem like good people, but this would probably be better served as a faster-paced skills competition, rather than regularly paced reality fare. I'd rather see more marksmanship competitions than have to overhear minor squabbles in the house to pad out the hour.
Top Chef is rolling right along, and they have a good mix of drama and skills on display. Angelo is the new perfect villain for the season, and how did he not get cast by now? This guy is arrogant with a capital A, and his simmering feud with Kenny is going to get good. Amanda and Kelly both have potential for drama down the line too, and the challenges have been decent to this point. The pie challenge though...man, that got ugly there. Good thing Top Chef: Just Desserts is around the corner, eh?
Downfall isn't bad either, as it's an interestingly done quiz show, Chris Jericho is a great host, and the visual appeal of stuff falling off a building is always a good time. I just wish the damn show would go faster. Then again, that's my problem with most game shows. Except Jeopardy. All hail Jeopardy.
The Good Guys is just barely hanging on for dear life. The show has promise, and no episode (of the three I've seen) has been a total waste of my time, but bits of the formula are starting to wear on me. The flashbacks aren't altogether terrible, although most of them are bits we could have figured out on our own. Also, the "chamber spinning/gunshot" sound effect that accompanies them is getting on my nerves. Bradley Whitford is trying so hard, and if the show makes it to season 2, it will be all him. However, there aren't any compelling supporting characters, and neither of the two leads is making up for it. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, and with Psych, Warehouse 13, and Eureka knocking on the door, the sands are running out of that hourglass.
So yes, another two-episode Sunday night, before they take the 4th of July off and then come back with regular weekly episodes for the rest of the run (including the return of Wil Wheaton). First episode was an interesting look at the concept of family, as Parker's "dad" (the guy who taught her to be a thief), meets her new family and gets a lesson on what actual family is. Parker on the run had a lot of excitement, Hardison and Sophie's "Steed and Peel" cover identities made me giggle, and the wheat subplot...was a thing. The super security system was a good villain though, and the final gotcha moment was well done. Hardison as a violin prodigy was interesting, moreso because I read John Rogers' blog (kfmonkey.blogspot.com, of course), and his answers to Leverage questions. Specifically of note was the upcoming relationship between Nate and Hardison as mentor and protege. Look for this to recur. We also touch base with the meta-plot as The Italian comes back to point the team in Damien's direction. This episode has one great moment above all others though, the single tear running down Parker's cheek during Hardison's violin solo. I was definitely waiting for the reveal on that, and it didn't disappoint. It'll be a long week and a half until the next new episode.
Summer means summer shows, and so I delve more into reality/game show type stuff:
Top Shot remains interesting from a technical standpoint, and bless the poor editors who have to wring some drama out of the otherwise bland contestants. They seem like good people, but this would probably be better served as a faster-paced skills competition, rather than regularly paced reality fare. I'd rather see more marksmanship competitions than have to overhear minor squabbles in the house to pad out the hour.
Top Chef is rolling right along, and they have a good mix of drama and skills on display. Angelo is the new perfect villain for the season, and how did he not get cast by now? This guy is arrogant with a capital A, and his simmering feud with Kenny is going to get good. Amanda and Kelly both have potential for drama down the line too, and the challenges have been decent to this point. The pie challenge though...man, that got ugly there. Good thing Top Chef: Just Desserts is around the corner, eh?
Downfall isn't bad either, as it's an interestingly done quiz show, Chris Jericho is a great host, and the visual appeal of stuff falling off a building is always a good time. I just wish the damn show would go faster. Then again, that's my problem with most game shows. Except Jeopardy. All hail Jeopardy.
The Good Guys is just barely hanging on for dear life. The show has promise, and no episode (of the three I've seen) has been a total waste of my time, but bits of the formula are starting to wear on me. The flashbacks aren't altogether terrible, although most of them are bits we could have figured out on our own. Also, the "chamber spinning/gunshot" sound effect that accompanies them is getting on my nerves. Bradley Whitford is trying so hard, and if the show makes it to season 2, it will be all him. However, there aren't any compelling supporting characters, and neither of the two leads is making up for it. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, and with Psych, Warehouse 13, and Eureka knocking on the door, the sands are running out of that hourglass.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Oh Holy Crap, Leverage!
Wow, just wow. As far as season finales go, that was right up there with the greats. Last week, we had the team narrowly escaping from an FBI trap, then the big reveal that Sterling was now on the case. We also had a corrupt mayor and a gunned down cop to deal with.
We start things off with Team Leverage as the focus of a manhunt. Nate figures that the best place to hide is the last place anyone would be looking for them; the hotel where the mayor (aka, FBI snitch) is being kept. The team makes their way into an empty room (thanks to a naked Tara...well played) and Hardison turns the computer checkout system into his own personal hacking station. A couple of nifty cons later, and the team is set up, then makes their move..Let's Steal A Mayor.
Parker in a maid outfit: excellent. Hardison getting tangled up in the rappeling rope: even better. They con the mayor into giving up his arms connection (Paul Blackthorne, who also played Harry Dresden in the way-too-short adaptation of The Dresden Files), thanks to Hardison as a suited thug with a HORRENDOUS Irish accent. Just dreadful. Hilariously so, though.
The team is ready to just turn things over to the pros, but Nate thinks he can still beat the guys involved, so he sends the team off to work while he heads back to the apartment, where Sterling is waiting. Nate left an old drawing of his son's behind, and that's how Sterling knew that he'd come back there. Very sneaky. Sterling offers Nate a deal: help him catch the arms dealer, and Nate walks while the rest of his team gets sent to jail. Not a great deal, but as Sterling points out, he's the only one of them that isn't a thief. Nate appears to mull it over. Meanwhile, Tara makes an ominous phone call. OMINOUS.
Oh yes, and Nate calls Sophie, spilling his guts out to her, only she can't hear him because she's on a helicopter. Great scene, great acting by Mr. Hutton.
Once they start the final con, there are some great moments. Tara, Parker, and Hardison break into the FBI to destroy the evidence that they have on the team. Hardison finds a photo of Tara meeting with the arms dealer, which causes Parker (who already has trust issues) to grab her by the throat and hold her off of a building. That's hardcore Parker right there. Nate and Elliot go on the boat to continue the con of Nate as Mr. Git, only the whole thing almost falls apart when the mayor gets loose and calls the arms dealer. Luckily for Nate, Sophie chooses that time to make her reappearance into the show. Go Sophie! It's about damn time too. Elliot proceeds to take out a whopping thirteen henchmen, then the look that he and Hardison give each other is just priceless as they realize Sophie is on the boat. Everything ends up with the mayor and the arms dealer locked into the boat's cabin together with a cargo hold full of evidence and the FBI on the way. Time enough for a happy reunion with Sophie, who actually gets a hug from Parker (great line from Sophie: "Parker's touching people?"). Tara bails, and the team is about to helicopter away when...Sterling shows up. Nate (who is, by this point, bleeding) cuffs himself to the rail, then tells Sterling all about how he's reversed the deal on him. By destroying all of his evidence against the arms dealer, Nate is the only witness who can help put him away, but only if the rest of the team goes free. They reluctantly go, and as Nate slumps to the deck from his gunshot wound, the FBI agent asks who he is. Sterling tries to play him off as no one, but Nate insists "My name is Nate Ford. And I'm a thief". Pow! There's your season 2 ladies and gentlemen. Sophie is back, Nate has finally come to terms with who he has become, and he appears to like it. Where do we go from here? That is a question for season 3, which had better occur pretty damn quick. I need my Leverage fix, yo.
Thursday coming soon, depending on how the Olympics mess with the schedule.
We start things off with Team Leverage as the focus of a manhunt. Nate figures that the best place to hide is the last place anyone would be looking for them; the hotel where the mayor (aka, FBI snitch) is being kept. The team makes their way into an empty room (thanks to a naked Tara...well played) and Hardison turns the computer checkout system into his own personal hacking station. A couple of nifty cons later, and the team is set up, then makes their move..Let's Steal A Mayor.
Parker in a maid outfit: excellent. Hardison getting tangled up in the rappeling rope: even better. They con the mayor into giving up his arms connection (Paul Blackthorne, who also played Harry Dresden in the way-too-short adaptation of The Dresden Files), thanks to Hardison as a suited thug with a HORRENDOUS Irish accent. Just dreadful. Hilariously so, though.
The team is ready to just turn things over to the pros, but Nate thinks he can still beat the guys involved, so he sends the team off to work while he heads back to the apartment, where Sterling is waiting. Nate left an old drawing of his son's behind, and that's how Sterling knew that he'd come back there. Very sneaky. Sterling offers Nate a deal: help him catch the arms dealer, and Nate walks while the rest of his team gets sent to jail. Not a great deal, but as Sterling points out, he's the only one of them that isn't a thief. Nate appears to mull it over. Meanwhile, Tara makes an ominous phone call. OMINOUS.
Oh yes, and Nate calls Sophie, spilling his guts out to her, only she can't hear him because she's on a helicopter. Great scene, great acting by Mr. Hutton.
Once they start the final con, there are some great moments. Tara, Parker, and Hardison break into the FBI to destroy the evidence that they have on the team. Hardison finds a photo of Tara meeting with the arms dealer, which causes Parker (who already has trust issues) to grab her by the throat and hold her off of a building. That's hardcore Parker right there. Nate and Elliot go on the boat to continue the con of Nate as Mr. Git, only the whole thing almost falls apart when the mayor gets loose and calls the arms dealer. Luckily for Nate, Sophie chooses that time to make her reappearance into the show. Go Sophie! It's about damn time too. Elliot proceeds to take out a whopping thirteen henchmen, then the look that he and Hardison give each other is just priceless as they realize Sophie is on the boat. Everything ends up with the mayor and the arms dealer locked into the boat's cabin together with a cargo hold full of evidence and the FBI on the way. Time enough for a happy reunion with Sophie, who actually gets a hug from Parker (great line from Sophie: "Parker's touching people?"). Tara bails, and the team is about to helicopter away when...Sterling shows up. Nate (who is, by this point, bleeding) cuffs himself to the rail, then tells Sterling all about how he's reversed the deal on him. By destroying all of his evidence against the arms dealer, Nate is the only witness who can help put him away, but only if the rest of the team goes free. They reluctantly go, and as Nate slumps to the deck from his gunshot wound, the FBI agent asks who he is. Sterling tries to play him off as no one, but Nate insists "My name is Nate Ford. And I'm a thief". Pow! There's your season 2 ladies and gentlemen. Sophie is back, Nate has finally come to terms with who he has become, and he appears to like it. Where do we go from here? That is a question for season 3, which had better occur pretty damn quick. I need my Leverage fix, yo.
Thursday coming soon, depending on how the Olympics mess with the schedule.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The beans are made out of guns
Mmmmm...what a delicious Leverage tonight. I knew I was in for a treat when I saw that series creator John Rogers wrote tonight's episode. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present...Part 1 of the season finale.
The client this week is Team Leverage's favorite cop, a lieutenant who is the go-to guy when a job needs to end with the mark in cuffs. He's been shot up by FBI agents (or "agents") after he shows them a thick file regarding the corrupion of the mayor, played by "Spin City"'s Richard Kind. No one plays weaselly better than him. Nate goes to visit the cop's wife in the hospital, sees his son, and has flashbacks to his own son (i.e., the reason Nate is currently Nate). We cut to Nate leaving (likely drunken) phone messages for Sophie, rambling on and on until Tara shows up to take him upstairs to plan the job. The gig seems simple enough; trick the mayor into giving them a bribe (in this case, to build a baseball stadium on land he secretly owns), then use that to set him up and get him caught by the good guys. Lot of funny bits in this episode: Parker complaining about never getting to do anything fun (right before jumping off a bridge), Tara taking over Sophie's mentor role while walking Parker through a con, Elliot going from baseball hater to power hitting local hero, Hardison and Parker hitting all the local sports talk shows in order to spread rumors about the local team moving, and probably a couple more I missed. The con turns sour at the end, as it turns out that the mayor is an FBI snitch. Some quick thinking (and the sacrifice of Hardison's beloved van) gets the team out of the trap, but their troubles aren't over yet...because here comes Sterling. James Sterling, Interpol.
And "To Be Continued". Awesome cliffhanger, as the team has to recover from a loss, and now they're being pursued by Sterling backed by the FBI (and his own considerable authority at this point). I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that this is the perfect situation for Sophie to make her return in, so next week's episode should be extra sweet.
Thursday comedies/Burn Notice may be a little late, I've got tickets to see Michael Ian Black (of the very underrated "Stella") and then I'm going to Austin to see "Web Soup"'s Chris Hardwick do standup. I'll likely have reviews of those up here once I get back.
The client this week is Team Leverage's favorite cop, a lieutenant who is the go-to guy when a job needs to end with the mark in cuffs. He's been shot up by FBI agents (or "agents") after he shows them a thick file regarding the corrupion of the mayor, played by "Spin City"'s Richard Kind. No one plays weaselly better than him. Nate goes to visit the cop's wife in the hospital, sees his son, and has flashbacks to his own son (i.e., the reason Nate is currently Nate). We cut to Nate leaving (likely drunken) phone messages for Sophie, rambling on and on until Tara shows up to take him upstairs to plan the job. The gig seems simple enough; trick the mayor into giving them a bribe (in this case, to build a baseball stadium on land he secretly owns), then use that to set him up and get him caught by the good guys. Lot of funny bits in this episode: Parker complaining about never getting to do anything fun (right before jumping off a bridge), Tara taking over Sophie's mentor role while walking Parker through a con, Elliot going from baseball hater to power hitting local hero, Hardison and Parker hitting all the local sports talk shows in order to spread rumors about the local team moving, and probably a couple more I missed. The con turns sour at the end, as it turns out that the mayor is an FBI snitch. Some quick thinking (and the sacrifice of Hardison's beloved van) gets the team out of the trap, but their troubles aren't over yet...because here comes Sterling. James Sterling, Interpol.
And "To Be Continued". Awesome cliffhanger, as the team has to recover from a loss, and now they're being pursued by Sterling backed by the FBI (and his own considerable authority at this point). I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that this is the perfect situation for Sophie to make her return in, so next week's episode should be extra sweet.
Thursday comedies/Burn Notice may be a little late, I've got tickets to see Michael Ian Black (of the very underrated "Stella") and then I'm going to Austin to see "Web Soup"'s Chris Hardwick do standup. I'll likely have reviews of those up here once I get back.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Leverage Hills, 90210 (Because I'm too lazy to look up Boston's area code)
Well well well, is that Luke Perry on Leverage? Why yes it is, and he plays a TV psychic/con artist who is bilking people out of their hard earned monies. Time to call in: The L*Team.
Nah, that name isn't going to work. But it is Luke Perry, and just a day after Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the movie) was on. Synchronicity: it is real. So the gang goes to the studio to stake out Mr. Psychic (and ironically, I was watching Psych right before this. Two fake psychics in one night!) and he does a cold read on Parker that freaks her right the hell out. Great acting by Beth Reisgraf and a great way to toss in some exposition about how cold reading works. The team sends in a hippie'd out Tara as a rival psychic, one who "has the Gift" for reals. She gives Luke Perry a psychic reading, which the Leverage Gang proceeds to make come true (complete with Hardison stuffing fortune cookies and a cackling Elliot towing Luke's car away). Not entirely convinced of Tara's powers, LP still decides to take her on as a partner, needing a bigger impact in order to get a network TV deal. Hardison (fueled by gummi frogs and his omnipresent orange soda) does a virtuoso hacking job to feed information to Tara, who "spiritually conveys" it to LP. He does a little too good of a job though, and all of a sudden, LP is in a van. Parker's content to let him get killed, but the team needs to free him...so they can destroy him.
They track him down and find that a criminal wants him to use his psychic powers to track down the money from a bank robbery in which his partner died before revealing the money's hiding place. The team sets up a nice little psychic treasure hunt in order to stall them, then manages to get the two of them into a storage unit for LP to confess that he's a sham, a fraud, a phony, a humbug, etc. Then the wall blows, and he tumbles into his own studio, packed with audience members, who just heard his full confession. Great way to tie it all together, although I'd have to go back and watch again to see if the proximity of the storage unit to the studio came out of nowhere, or was actually setup earlier.
In a nice scene at the end, Nate gives some comforting words to the victim, leading Tara to finally see why the team does what they do. Parker returns the money that the victim had given to Luke Perry, and just when I think that she took it out of her personal stash, she reveals that her and Hardison tracked down the lost bank loot. Ahh Parker, always a thief in the end.
Excellent episode, and with only a few more to go, I do wonder how Sophie will come back into the picture. Meanwhile, Leverage is putting out some great hours of television. Seriously, if you're not watching, go get Season 1 and start catching up. DO IT!!!!
Thursday comedies tonight, and I may have to keep up with new Survivor coming up next week.
Nah, that name isn't going to work. But it is Luke Perry, and just a day after Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the movie) was on. Synchronicity: it is real. So the gang goes to the studio to stake out Mr. Psychic (and ironically, I was watching Psych right before this. Two fake psychics in one night!) and he does a cold read on Parker that freaks her right the hell out. Great acting by Beth Reisgraf and a great way to toss in some exposition about how cold reading works. The team sends in a hippie'd out Tara as a rival psychic, one who "has the Gift" for reals. She gives Luke Perry a psychic reading, which the Leverage Gang proceeds to make come true (complete with Hardison stuffing fortune cookies and a cackling Elliot towing Luke's car away). Not entirely convinced of Tara's powers, LP still decides to take her on as a partner, needing a bigger impact in order to get a network TV deal. Hardison (fueled by gummi frogs and his omnipresent orange soda) does a virtuoso hacking job to feed information to Tara, who "spiritually conveys" it to LP. He does a little too good of a job though, and all of a sudden, LP is in a van. Parker's content to let him get killed, but the team needs to free him...so they can destroy him.
They track him down and find that a criminal wants him to use his psychic powers to track down the money from a bank robbery in which his partner died before revealing the money's hiding place. The team sets up a nice little psychic treasure hunt in order to stall them, then manages to get the two of them into a storage unit for LP to confess that he's a sham, a fraud, a phony, a humbug, etc. Then the wall blows, and he tumbles into his own studio, packed with audience members, who just heard his full confession. Great way to tie it all together, although I'd have to go back and watch again to see if the proximity of the storage unit to the studio came out of nowhere, or was actually setup earlier.
In a nice scene at the end, Nate gives some comforting words to the victim, leading Tara to finally see why the team does what they do. Parker returns the money that the victim had given to Luke Perry, and just when I think that she took it out of her personal stash, she reveals that her and Hardison tracked down the lost bank loot. Ahh Parker, always a thief in the end.
Excellent episode, and with only a few more to go, I do wonder how Sophie will come back into the picture. Meanwhile, Leverage is putting out some great hours of television. Seriously, if you're not watching, go get Season 1 and start catching up. DO IT!!!!
Thursday comedies tonight, and I may have to keep up with new Survivor coming up next week.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Castleverage!!!
Why yes, I am enamored with that collision of words, thank you for noticing!
Castle: Started out amusing, with Castle as the #9 most eligible bachelor in New York, and going to great lengths to hide rumors of a romantic link between he and Beckett, from Beckett. Once that ended though, the story got a little slow, and culminated in a fairly predictable pas de deux on a "oh so coincidental" set of dates (Castle with Ms. #3 and Beckett with Mr. June). The editing was sharp, cutting between Castle and Beckett trying to puzzle out the case to their respective uninterested dates, unfortunately the writing wasn't up to par, and so my interest was waning. The wrapup wasn't even that entertaining, since they apparently couldn't spring for a big black snake to at least give us that much of a sight gag. Castle jumping/shrieking when shot at was funny though, but not enough to make up for the episode. Only average tonight...you can do better!!!
Leverage: Great episode tonight, as they swing for the fences by bringing back Nate's nemesis (Sterling) and ex-wife (Maggie). Loved the tensions between Sterling and the Leverage team; starting with Elliot beating the crap out of him, then Hardison's frequent references to almost blowing him up, and finally with even Tara becoming fed up with him. The "I really hate that guy"/"Now you're part of the team" exchange between her and Elliot was such a well-written moment. Elliott really shone in the episode too, taking over once Nate and Maggie were taken hostage. Sterling managing to get yet another promotion off of the hard work of Team Leverage was nice bit, although he may have earned it with his performance when Parker needed a distraction. Another great episode, and I can't wait to see what comes next week.
Thursday comedies were reruns, so enjoy the final Dollhouse tonight (if you're into such things), and I'll be working on doing a season's worth of catching up on it and some final thoughts about yet another entry in "Joss Whedon's Case Against Fox".
Castle: Started out amusing, with Castle as the #9 most eligible bachelor in New York, and going to great lengths to hide rumors of a romantic link between he and Beckett, from Beckett. Once that ended though, the story got a little slow, and culminated in a fairly predictable pas de deux on a "oh so coincidental" set of dates (Castle with Ms. #3 and Beckett with Mr. June). The editing was sharp, cutting between Castle and Beckett trying to puzzle out the case to their respective uninterested dates, unfortunately the writing wasn't up to par, and so my interest was waning. The wrapup wasn't even that entertaining, since they apparently couldn't spring for a big black snake to at least give us that much of a sight gag. Castle jumping/shrieking when shot at was funny though, but not enough to make up for the episode. Only average tonight...you can do better!!!
Leverage: Great episode tonight, as they swing for the fences by bringing back Nate's nemesis (Sterling) and ex-wife (Maggie). Loved the tensions between Sterling and the Leverage team; starting with Elliot beating the crap out of him, then Hardison's frequent references to almost blowing him up, and finally with even Tara becoming fed up with him. The "I really hate that guy"/"Now you're part of the team" exchange between her and Elliot was such a well-written moment. Elliott really shone in the episode too, taking over once Nate and Maggie were taken hostage. Sterling managing to get yet another promotion off of the hard work of Team Leverage was nice bit, although he may have earned it with his performance when Parker needed a distraction. Another great episode, and I can't wait to see what comes next week.
Thursday comedies were reruns, so enjoy the final Dollhouse tonight (if you're into such things), and I'll be working on doing a season's worth of catching up on it and some final thoughts about yet another entry in "Joss Whedon's Case Against Fox".
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Castleverage!
Yes, they are so good, I've combined them into one delicious block of awesomeness.
Castle: What an episode! Tying the murder to Beckett's mom's killer came pretty much out of nowhere (well, except for last week's preview), and it made an average case much better. Not a lot of detection going on, although the Johnny Vong running gag was funny. It was the last few minutes of the episode that really sold it. The realization of the real killer, Castle putting his own money up to help catch the killer, Castle taken hostage, Castle's headbutt-fu, Beckett performing CPR on the killer at the end...great moments all, and the little coda with Castle and Beckett added a little more to their relationship without it going into "I love you, smoochy time!" territory. Plus, now we have the "who got Beckett's mom whacked?" question to carry us through the rest of the season.
Leverage: Awesome awesome awesome episode. Backstory on Nate, two cons in an hour and a half's time, hot redhead client...all the bases covered, and then some. Plus, instead of a shoehorned in Sophie appearance (seriously, I love Gina Bellman, but I'm ready for her to be back full time), we get Nate drinking again. Lot of stuff to take in, and only a few more episodes of Season 2.5 to do it in. Loved the reveal at the end, loved the loan shark's bastardization of the Leverage motto, loved the hiding places for the "emergency fund", loved the fat guard who ran away from Elliot. This is the episode to show people when they ask "is this show any good?". Because, yes it is good.
Scrubs and Better Off Ted: Both pretty darn good this week, with Scrubs finding a good groove with its med students, and Turk and Cox becoming a great duo. BOT, meanwhile, had a bagel tossing game and the very unsettling scenes of two people having sex via a translator programmed with Phil's voice. Really funny scene though, and worth watching for that alone. Actually, that was about the bulk of the episode, but it doesn't matter, it paid off and thus was worth it. Thursday comedies up next, and that'll be the week.
Castle: What an episode! Tying the murder to Beckett's mom's killer came pretty much out of nowhere (well, except for last week's preview), and it made an average case much better. Not a lot of detection going on, although the Johnny Vong running gag was funny. It was the last few minutes of the episode that really sold it. The realization of the real killer, Castle putting his own money up to help catch the killer, Castle taken hostage, Castle's headbutt-fu, Beckett performing CPR on the killer at the end...great moments all, and the little coda with Castle and Beckett added a little more to their relationship without it going into "I love you, smoochy time!" territory. Plus, now we have the "who got Beckett's mom whacked?" question to carry us through the rest of the season.
Leverage: Awesome awesome awesome episode. Backstory on Nate, two cons in an hour and a half's time, hot redhead client...all the bases covered, and then some. Plus, instead of a shoehorned in Sophie appearance (seriously, I love Gina Bellman, but I'm ready for her to be back full time), we get Nate drinking again. Lot of stuff to take in, and only a few more episodes of Season 2.5 to do it in. Loved the reveal at the end, loved the loan shark's bastardization of the Leverage motto, loved the hiding places for the "emergency fund", loved the fat guard who ran away from Elliot. This is the episode to show people when they ask "is this show any good?". Because, yes it is good.
Scrubs and Better Off Ted: Both pretty darn good this week, with Scrubs finding a good groove with its med students, and Turk and Cox becoming a great duo. BOT, meanwhile, had a bagel tossing game and the very unsettling scenes of two people having sex via a translator programmed with Phil's voice. Really funny scene though, and worth watching for that alone. Actually, that was about the bulk of the episode, but it doesn't matter, it paid off and thus was worth it. Thursday comedies up next, and that'll be the week.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesdays Are Of Moderate Importance!
Okay, not as exciting as "Mondays Are Huge", but Wednesdays just got better starting this week with the returns of Leverage and Tosh.0. Tosh.0 isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, and I prefer Web Soup, but Daniel Tosh is funny and engaging plus the show delves a little deeper into the clips they show, and thus it's worth your thirty minutes.
Leverage, on the other hand, has grown into one of my favorite shows, and it's great to see it back on. This is the second half of Season 2, so we're only getting 6 episodes before the wait for Season 3. Still, six episodes of Leverage is six hours of love and warmth, so I'll take it.
The basic premise of the show: Timothy Hutton plays Nathan Ford, a former insurance fraud investigator whose job it was to track down thieves, con artists, etc. He put together a team of expert thieves to play Robin Hood and go after bad guys and help good people. It's a basic premise, and the BBC series "Hu$tle" did the same thing very well (worth tracking down, by the way). With the longer American seasons, we get a lot more character development, and the characters and the humor are where Leverage departs from the shadow of Hu$tle and becomes its own show.
The characters: Nate Ford is the Mastermind, the guy who runs the cons and changes plans on the fly when things go badly. Season one was about him being full of anger at his former employers, who refused to pay for an experimental treatment for his dying son. This sent him spiraling into alcoholism, something he has (seemingly) kicked for season two. He has a former relationship with...
The Grifter: Sophie (aka, many other identities), played by Gina Bellman of "Coupling" (and other things which I haven't seen). She's the heart/mom of the team, currently semi-written out because she got all impregnated and stuff. Then there's
The Hacker: Aldis Hodge as Harrison, the tech nerd of the group. He's the guy who creates the cover identities for the cons, and one of the great Easter Eggs for fans is for them to try and figure out where the names come from, and how they're linked to the episode.
The Hitter: Christian Kane as Elliot, the "heavy" of the group. Has gotten a lot more backstory than some of the others, but he's a great character. The fight scenes on this show have been well crafted, and he executes them well.
The Thief: Beth Riesgraf as Parker, the world's best (and most dysfunctional) cat burglar. Socially retarded and unbearably adorable.
Also in these episodes is Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) as Sophie's temporary replacement. She's not only hot, but also helps newcomers get acquainted with the dynamics of the regular team.
I really don't want to get too into the show here, as seeing the relationships and characters evolve over the course of the season is part of the charm of the series. The extra bonus is that writer/co-creator John Rogers breaks down every episode on his excellent blog, Kung Fu Monkey (kfmonkey.blogspot.com), as well as answer questions from fans. As a future television writer, being able to look inside the process is incredibly interesting, plus Rogers is a great storyteller. Anyway, I'll give you all a week to watch, catch up with some previous episodes, and then I'll be reviewing episodes on a regular basis starting next week.
Scrubs and Better Off Ted have been on ABC a LOT over the holidays; I assume ABC is trying to get all the episodes aired before LOST comes back next month. I like that I'm getting to watch these episodes, I just worry about either show being able to find an audience with such a truncated airing schedule. Both shows have potential, and work well paired with each other. It'd be a shame for either one of them to be canceled at this point.
Scrubs has been making a difficult transition from "Classic Scrubs" to "Scrubs: Med School", partially because some of the older characters have been eating up a little too much screen time. Don't get me wrong, I like the older characters, but it makes it hard to find a way to resonate with these new characters if JD keeps popping in. They've done a good job of finding new stories to tell with the new med students, and Turk and Cox have been great in their new role as teachers/mentors at Sacred Heart. JD was the heart of the show for eight years, but that role has to pass to Lucy for the viewers to be able to make the connection with her that they'll need to in order to build the audience. The jokes are still solid though, and the stories are still as strong as they ever were. There's definitely enough there to warrant another season.
Better Off Ted, meanwhile, really has their game plan in place, and executes it strongly every episode (I can't say"every week", because it's been on four times this week). It's a very well done workplace comedy that's been infused with a major dose of the quirky, and it balances out well. It's another show that would benefit from a steady time slot, as it's the kind of show that grows on you the more you watch it. The only concern is that there's not much room to grow with the concept, so if they ever run out of stories to tell, it'll go downhill fast. As of now though, I can see it easily going another two seasons so long as the ratings are there.
Finally, I need to roll back to Sunday and the Simpsons 20th Anniversary special. In 3-D. On Ice! The episode wasn't that great, unfortunately, although Anne Hathaway is a good guest star for them, and I wouldn't mind her as a semi-regular on the cast. Still, not the strongest thing to roll out there before a 60 minute documentary about how great you are.
So this documentary. First off, I'm not a fan of Morgan Spurlock, and so the more he was in it, the more annoyed I got. I don't know how much money they paid him, but they got robbed. They sat down with Simpons voice actors, future and current writers and producers, Matt Groening, even Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mike Judge, and Seth Macfarlane, yet only gave us brief snippets from them. Instead, we waste time by having Spurlock go globetrotting to give us fairly uninteresting pieces on Simpsons merchandise collectors, a trip to the "real Springfield" in Oregon, and a minor squabble about Groundskeeper Willie's hometown. Give me 30 minutes of Groening in a room with Parker, Stone, Judge, and Macfarlane, and I'm sold. It was a documentary that tried to everything and accomplished nothing (except reminding us that Morgan Spurlock is still alive and collecting air miles). The best bits would barely have filled a half hour slot, so they'd better not be holding a lot of good deleted footage for a DVD release.
The return of Thursday Comedy Night is tonight, so set those DVR's, or whatever it is you people use to watch television on.
Leverage, on the other hand, has grown into one of my favorite shows, and it's great to see it back on. This is the second half of Season 2, so we're only getting 6 episodes before the wait for Season 3. Still, six episodes of Leverage is six hours of love and warmth, so I'll take it.
The basic premise of the show: Timothy Hutton plays Nathan Ford, a former insurance fraud investigator whose job it was to track down thieves, con artists, etc. He put together a team of expert thieves to play Robin Hood and go after bad guys and help good people. It's a basic premise, and the BBC series "Hu$tle" did the same thing very well (worth tracking down, by the way). With the longer American seasons, we get a lot more character development, and the characters and the humor are where Leverage departs from the shadow of Hu$tle and becomes its own show.
The characters: Nate Ford is the Mastermind, the guy who runs the cons and changes plans on the fly when things go badly. Season one was about him being full of anger at his former employers, who refused to pay for an experimental treatment for his dying son. This sent him spiraling into alcoholism, something he has (seemingly) kicked for season two. He has a former relationship with...
The Grifter: Sophie (aka, many other identities), played by Gina Bellman of "Coupling" (and other things which I haven't seen). She's the heart/mom of the team, currently semi-written out because she got all impregnated and stuff. Then there's
The Hacker: Aldis Hodge as Harrison, the tech nerd of the group. He's the guy who creates the cover identities for the cons, and one of the great Easter Eggs for fans is for them to try and figure out where the names come from, and how they're linked to the episode.
The Hitter: Christian Kane as Elliot, the "heavy" of the group. Has gotten a lot more backstory than some of the others, but he's a great character. The fight scenes on this show have been well crafted, and he executes them well.
The Thief: Beth Riesgraf as Parker, the world's best (and most dysfunctional) cat burglar. Socially retarded and unbearably adorable.
Also in these episodes is Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) as Sophie's temporary replacement. She's not only hot, but also helps newcomers get acquainted with the dynamics of the regular team.
I really don't want to get too into the show here, as seeing the relationships and characters evolve over the course of the season is part of the charm of the series. The extra bonus is that writer/co-creator John Rogers breaks down every episode on his excellent blog, Kung Fu Monkey (kfmonkey.blogspot.com), as well as answer questions from fans. As a future television writer, being able to look inside the process is incredibly interesting, plus Rogers is a great storyteller. Anyway, I'll give you all a week to watch, catch up with some previous episodes, and then I'll be reviewing episodes on a regular basis starting next week.
Scrubs and Better Off Ted have been on ABC a LOT over the holidays; I assume ABC is trying to get all the episodes aired before LOST comes back next month. I like that I'm getting to watch these episodes, I just worry about either show being able to find an audience with such a truncated airing schedule. Both shows have potential, and work well paired with each other. It'd be a shame for either one of them to be canceled at this point.
Scrubs has been making a difficult transition from "Classic Scrubs" to "Scrubs: Med School", partially because some of the older characters have been eating up a little too much screen time. Don't get me wrong, I like the older characters, but it makes it hard to find a way to resonate with these new characters if JD keeps popping in. They've done a good job of finding new stories to tell with the new med students, and Turk and Cox have been great in their new role as teachers/mentors at Sacred Heart. JD was the heart of the show for eight years, but that role has to pass to Lucy for the viewers to be able to make the connection with her that they'll need to in order to build the audience. The jokes are still solid though, and the stories are still as strong as they ever were. There's definitely enough there to warrant another season.
Better Off Ted, meanwhile, really has their game plan in place, and executes it strongly every episode (I can't say"every week", because it's been on four times this week). It's a very well done workplace comedy that's been infused with a major dose of the quirky, and it balances out well. It's another show that would benefit from a steady time slot, as it's the kind of show that grows on you the more you watch it. The only concern is that there's not much room to grow with the concept, so if they ever run out of stories to tell, it'll go downhill fast. As of now though, I can see it easily going another two seasons so long as the ratings are there.
Finally, I need to roll back to Sunday and the Simpsons 20th Anniversary special. In 3-D. On Ice! The episode wasn't that great, unfortunately, although Anne Hathaway is a good guest star for them, and I wouldn't mind her as a semi-regular on the cast. Still, not the strongest thing to roll out there before a 60 minute documentary about how great you are.
So this documentary. First off, I'm not a fan of Morgan Spurlock, and so the more he was in it, the more annoyed I got. I don't know how much money they paid him, but they got robbed. They sat down with Simpons voice actors, future and current writers and producers, Matt Groening, even Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mike Judge, and Seth Macfarlane, yet only gave us brief snippets from them. Instead, we waste time by having Spurlock go globetrotting to give us fairly uninteresting pieces on Simpsons merchandise collectors, a trip to the "real Springfield" in Oregon, and a minor squabble about Groundskeeper Willie's hometown. Give me 30 minutes of Groening in a room with Parker, Stone, Judge, and Macfarlane, and I'm sold. It was a documentary that tried to everything and accomplished nothing (except reminding us that Morgan Spurlock is still alive and collecting air miles). The best bits would barely have filled a half hour slot, so they'd better not be holding a lot of good deleted footage for a DVD release.
The return of Thursday Comedy Night is tonight, so set those DVR's, or whatever it is you people use to watch television on.
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