What A Random And Not Helpful Fact

No new episodes on Thursday night, so this is it for the reviews this week. I’ve got a very special song of the week coming up tomorrow though so stay tuned. In the meantime here are some long awaited reviews of Modern Family, Castle, Off the Map, The Cape, and V. Enjoy!

Spoilers ahead.

Modern Family – “Two Monkeys and a Panda” (B+)

Oh Ty Burrell, you just get me.

Phil at the spa – hilarious. I really enjoyed that entire sequence. Ty Burrell just played it so perfectly. His conversation with the women at the spa was really funny, and then when he came home and used what he’d learned on Claire, it just flawlessly capped off the entire story arc for me. Phil’s passive aggressive storm off was priceless.

Jay and Gloria also had a pretty good week. When two of them start making decisions about where they’re going to be buried when they die, it gets Jay thinking about the prospect of Gloria remarrying. It was an interesting idea for a story and the writers executed it quite well. My favourite part of this storyline was Manny’s attempts to cheer Jay up. It was both funny and charming, exactly the ingredients that makes this show better than your average sitcom. Of course the reassuring nature of their conversation didn’t mean Manny couldn’t get in one little dig before he left.

JAY: I thought you liked me when I first showed up.
MANNY: Please, for the first month I didn’t even bother to learn your name.

My favourite storyline of the episode however was Cam and Mitchell’s. It produced a few great one liners (my favourite being Mitchell’s subtle barb at the size of Cam’s head) and I really liked Cam’s freak outs (both prior to getting Lily and in response to Mitchell not hyphening Lily’s last name), but what really set this story apart was its ending. Mitchell’s children’s story (and the episodes namesake) was a wonderfully touching way to finish off the episode. Props to the writers for two great weeks in a row.

Castle – “Setup” (A-) and “Countdown” (B+)

This week I’ll be reviewing the past 2 episodes of Castle which combine to make one complete story.  Last week's episode called "Setup" ended with a "To be continued" and this week's "Countdown" finished off the story in a fairly decent way.  I found Setup to be an excellent episode, full of intrigue, wit and centered around a great plot idea.  Countdown however left something to be desired in the way it concluded.

These episodes tell the story of a terrorist plot against New York. A plot which Castle and Beckett get caught in the middle of when they investigate the murder that sets it off.  I don't really like giving recaps of the story point by point – there are enough of those out there – so I'll give you the basics and tell you what I enjoyed and what left me wanting more.

Basically Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a Syrian cab driver. Their investigation leads them to a storage facility where nuclear material was being stored. It turns out someone built a dirty bomb in New York and was going to set it off.  The feds send in agent Fallon (Adrian Pasdar of Heroes fame) to liaison with the NYPD due to the nature of the case.  Castle believes that the Muslim cab driver and his brother are being set up by someone to make it look like they’re planning a terrorist attack.  He goes rogue, talks to a Syrian ambassador and gets himself and Beckett kicked off the case.  But in typical Castle style, they continue to work the case on their own and get trapped in a large freezer/refrigerated shipping container after they find a bomb in a warehouse and the bad guys open up on them.  That’s where "Setup" ends.  

In countdown, they get rescued and save the day.  It turns out that ex US marines are trying to frame a dirty bomb on the cab driver and his brother so people don't forget about the Afghanistan war.  These are your typical disillusioned patriots.  There are a lot of Timothy McVeigh references etc. etc. Their plan is to blow everyone up, but to have a Muslim drive the van that holds the bomb so that it is all blamed on her.  They kidnap her daughter to make her do it.  Castle and Beckett catch the van on its way to the location and Castle disarms the bomb by ripping out all the wires at the same time when the timer is almost at zero.

So I liked the plot, but I didn't like the ending.  If you could stop a bomb by pulling out all the wires diffusing a bomb would be really easy.  That being said, Nathan Fillion's acting when he succeeds is priceless.  He does a fantastic job of selling the fact that he just magically saved the city.  

Overall it was a good two episodes. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is a more realistic ending.  We also get the typical Castle is about to ask Beckett out at the end of the episode but he is interrupted by the arrival of her boyfriend.  They obviously love each other.  Can one of them go into a coma soon so they can wake up to find the other waiting by their bedside? It’s getting silly.

Off the Map – “It’s a Leaf” (B)

Not a whole lot of sweeping new developments in this one but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I’ll start with Clark’s story this week as she didn’t get a whole lot of screen time. I can’t really peg what they’re going to do with her heart failure storyline, whether it’ll be a recurring problem for her character throughout the series or whether they’re going to go for a quick fix. Keeton wanted her to return to New York in this episode, and Clark did eventually agree to do so, but I don’t see how they can send her away and still keep her a regular part of the series. Something’s gotta give. I feel like they can get away with her taking the pills for a while. Maybe that’s how they’ll write it.

I thought Mina’s storyline was absolutely hilarious this week. After absent mindedly cutting the umbilical cord of a local woman’s baby, she’s forced into becoming the god mother of the child. This produced numerous hilarious one liners, none funnier than this little exchange:

MINA: There’s gotta be some way out of this.
ZEE: Not without insulting their culture.
MINA: I can live with that.

I also loved her get up when she went to what she thought was a very formal baby naming ceremony, which turned out to be quite casual. I think this may have been the funniest episode from this show so far, and Mina’s story had a lot to do with that.

I wasn’t as keen on the Tommy/Mina kiss at the end of the episode however. I like both characters a lot, and I like the pairing too. It just seemed like too much of a step back for Tommy’s character. I’ve become invested in his relationship with Alma and his attempts to grow as a person, and the writers through a wedge in that relationship a little too quickly for my tastes. I mean after chasing Alma for that long, NOW he decides that the language barrier is too much?

Still, I can’t be too unhappy. They are two of my favourite characters. And it should be fun watching them awkwardly figure out what their little hook up means. If I recall back at the start of the show Mina was telling Tommy there was no way she would ever sleep with him, so I can only imagine how she’s going to feel after this. Could be fun to watch.

We also saw the end of Brenner and Mateo’s relationship this week. I was a little surprised at how quickly they breezed over this storyline. They really only had 2 or 3 scenes involving these two, and considering it was the cliff hanger to last week’s episode I really thought there was going to be a bit more fallout to this one. But alas I was wrong, and Brenner ended the relationship on a whimper... for now anyways.

And of course last but not least, Zee and Cole finally got back together. No real surprises here. I think we all knew they would eventually work things out. I wasn’t a huge fan of this couple before they broke up, but I did like their scenes together in this episode. I thought the final sequence where Zee was giving him the eye test was a sweet moment. I only hope that the second time around for this couple will be a little less nauseating than the first.

The Cape – “Razor” (B+)

Summer Glau is losing her MIND!!!!

A couple things before I start this review, I had the pleasure of having a beer, in person, with Brian last weekend (well I had a beer, he had a coke).  It was quite nice to actually see the boss himself instead of just talking over email.  He informed me that the Cape's episodes were cut.  That is never a good sign folks.  Looks like this one could be leaving us after this season.  If that happens I am going to try to write an ending to The Cape in a comic book form.  Since it takes me a week to write a review, expect a comic version in 2015.  Seriously, this show has a good premise, some really interesting characters that I would like to see explored in more depth and therefore great potential.  But alas, not everyone in the world is a comic geek like me, so the Cape remains an untapped pool of potential.

The other thing I learnt from my conversation with Brian is that whenever I drop Summer Glau's name in a post our page hits increase dramatically.  That tells me that people love Summer Glau.  I love Summer Glau.  Does anyone else find it weird that Summer's best role was playing a character named River?  But I digress... Razor...

Razor is a good episode.  It centers around Scales being given the keys to the outskirts of the city by Ark corporation.  Essentially, he is the godfather of crime now. He wants all the other criminals to pay him dues on all their scores, and in turn he pays Ark to keep off their backs.  But Max Malini won't sit in line, so Scales makes a move against him and tries to get a man named Razor to blow him up.  But Vince moves in and takes Razor's place to spy on Scales and avoid Max getting killed.  Eventually he’s found out though when Razor escapes from the cage the Circus people have him in and Vince is almost killed.  Max dresses up as the Cape and saves the day.  

As usual the most interesting parts of the episode come in the little pieces we are given that help to build the universe they live in. (As a side note, the ideas of comic book universe construction are explored here in a really neat way.)  First, Chess, the alter-ego supervillain of Peter Flemming and head of Ark corporation is starting to pop up again in Peter's mind.  He really draws more and more parallels to Norman Osborn. Both are inherently bad people (Norman was really awful when he ran the world in Dark Reign and Peter is a criminal at heart who wants to use paramilitary forces to run Palm City), but have even worse alter egos.  The Green Goblin and Chess are both evil in the strongest sense of the word.  So when Chess starts to make unannounced appearances in Peter's conscious his doctor steps in and decides he wants to speak to Chess.  Peter lets Chess take over his mind and have a conversation with the Doc.  A conversation we don't get to hear, but which I think went a little something like this:

DOC: Listen I know you are awesome Chess, and you want to run the world, but guess what I need Peter.
CHESS: What are you talking about, you are a weak doctor.
DOC: No actually I'm a supervillain too (or I work for one). In fact I'm the head of Tarot and we need Peter to go a little further in this world before we let you loose to destroy it.
CHESS: Oh in that case I'll be quiet and wait for your orders.
DOC: Thanks.

I'm convinced that’s exactly how it went.  So... we find out that the doc is evil.

Also, Max has a hidden agenda for Vince.  He needs him.  Probably for a big score.  Sneaky Max.

Also... SUMER GLAU IS GOING CRAZY... after marrying the Litch last episode, Summer has gone a little nuts.  Which is genetically accurate since her father (Chess) has mental health issues of his own.

So the Palm City universe is a little richer after this week's episode.  I hope it doesn't get cancelled because there are some cool places this show could go.  It’s nice to have a new superhero universe to tune into every week. 

V – “Uneasy Lies the Head”(B-)

I’m really tired complaining about this series, and I’m sure for the few of you still left watching, you’re tired of reading those complaints, so I’m going to keep this short. This episode had all the normal problems plaguing V – an overreliance on clunky dialogue, snail like pacing, and a lack of any true direction. I’m not going to go into a long rant about it this time. Just remember that it’s all still there and we can get on with our lives (more specifically I can get on with my life).

With that said they have finally started doing some of the things they should have been doing a long time ago. I like the new Erica. Not because I agree with her all the time, but because she’s finally acknowledged that she’s in a war and that it may require her to make some difficult decision. It’s pretty much a full 180 from where she was only 2 episodes ago, but I guess losing Tyler to Anna has made her a little more cut throat.

And I like that her newfound leadership position has begun to wear on her. Hobbes made a good point when he said that being the decision maker is a lonely position, and to be honest it’s far more interesting to watch Erica struggle with the trials of leadership than it is to watch her worry about her son. I’m not a huge fan of her and Hobbes getting together though, considering she just lost her ex-husband and not two episodes ago Hobbes was blowing up a building for the wife he apparently believed was alive. I guess I’ll just take what I can get.

Get On Board Or The Sexting Stops!

Here’s what we watched from Friday to Monday... we really need to get lives.

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Oh Honey” (B+)

I was really worried at the start of this episode that the recent upswing this show has been on would be over, that maybe the great writing present throughout the death of Marshall’s father would be an isolated event, a mere blip in a show otherwise on the decline. Well I’m happy to say that my first impression of this episode was wrong. “Oh Honey” was a delightful episode (yes delightful), making great use of How I Met Your Mother’s inventive use of alternative narratives.

I swear, if How I Met Your Mother developed a spin off series of Marshall during his high school years, I would watch that show. I loved all the interruptions from his mother and brother, I loved watching his brother break down the relationship between Ted and Zoey, and I loved the final strategy session where Marshall explained the situation to the two of them. It was just an awesome way to frame an episode.

And it was the great use of that framing device that led to this episode’s phenomenal conclusion. The phone call ending could have been really corny, but the way the show set it up was perfect. Watching Zoey’s face as she listened to Ted go on about why he “hates” her between the two phone calls was extremely satisfying, as was watching Ted light up as he got his own phone call. I know Zoey (played by Jennifer Morrison) isn’t everybody’s favourite character (nor is she likely the mother), but you had to enjoy watching them discover their feelings for each other were mutual.

I also have to quickly mention Katy Perry’s cameo. She wasn’t bad. Her acting was good enough that it didn’t distract from the story. Of the two main sequences she was in I found her second one – where Barney breaks down because she asks him “who’s your daddy” – to be the better scene. I don’t know if there’s anyone better than Neil Patrick Harris at playing over the top hysterical, but if he’s not the best he’s certainly up there (although now that I think about it Busy Philipps is also a worthy contender for last week’s Cougar Town).

Californication – “Freeze Frame” (A-)

This show makes me angry.  Not because it sucks.  In fact the show is awesome.  It makes me mad because of how Hank cannot catch a break.  I think I've said this before, but I have always been rooting for Hank.  But bad shit follows this guy around like horrible retweets from Judd Apatow.  It just keeps coming and coming.

Carla Gugino's character said it really well when describing Hank in Freeze Frame.  He has all this really dark shit inside him, but he wants the white picket fence.  I guess if I really had to analyze the character, I would say that this is probably very true.  However, it’s the manipulative women in his life that put the "dark shit" there.

The only thing you really need to know plot-wise for this episode is that:

1. Runkle is most likely the father of Marcy's fetus (I say fetus because that’s what it is at this point)

2. At the beginning of the episode it looks like Hank will get off of the rape charge.

3. By episodes end it looks like he is going to jail for a long time.

Basically, Hank tries to be a nice guy when Mia is being all dark and moody.  He literally talks her off a ledge. But then Mia and Sasha conspire to treat Hank like a piece of meat.  They put him in a compromising situation, try to stick their hands down his pants, and some teenage hipster takes a picture of it.  What is up with girls screwing with Hank?  Why can't they be nice to him?  He’s nice to them.  He gives them orgasms.  What is it about him that makes them need to ruin his life?

I really feel for Hank.  I want his life to be OK., but I really don't think it ever will be, unless he stops all contact with women. But this is Hank Moody we’re talking about.  That’ll never happen.

Fringe – “Concentrate and Ask Again” (A-)

Fringe brings mind readers into their lore this week with the case of a disgruntled militia who were inoculated against a biological weapon during the testing for it.  Only thing is, now they can't have children.  So logically, they have to kill everyone involved in the project with the same biological weapon.  Just so we are clear, this weapon is a blue powder that disintegrates your bones.

So the Fringe team stops the men from killing 1/3 of their targets.  The other 2 die.  I don't know if I'd call that a win but it was a cool plot.  They have to use an off the record Cortexiphan trial participant who developed the ability to read minds.  But he can't control it, so he lives alone to avoid human contact.  They ask him to help them and he risks the sickness he gets from being bombarded with everyone's thoughts to come to an event where the men are targeting a US senator who oversaw the weapons testing.  He comes through and it’s a big win.

However... he throws a spike in the Peter/Olivia relationship.  He reads Peter's mind and finds that he still has feelings for the other Olivia.

They also revealed what we already know, that Seamus WIles, is Sam from the bowling alley.  He wrote The First Peoples.  

Sam tells Nina Sharp that the machine has the ability to create and destroy, and that Peter is uniquely tuned to work the machine.  AND... duh duh duh... that whichever Olivia he chooses will be the one whose universe survives.  So, if Peter has feelings for the other Universe, that means that the one we know and love may be destroyed.

So this brings me to new theories.  Only one this week.

The observers talked about how they now know that Walter will be willing to let Peter die when the time comes, so I think the observers are following the path of the Universe to see if both worlds can survive.  Their plan is at odds with what the prophecies (or whatever you want to call them) say about the machine.  The machine is made to destroy one universe, but, the observer wants to see both survive.  That may mean that Peter has to die.

Shameless – “Three Boys” (B)

From proposal, to I’m married to someone else, to wedding in one episode. This show works fast.

I have to say I was a little surprised at the way this episode developed. The way they started with Fiona sort of covering for Kev I thought the episode would be about them keeping the secret from Veronica, but then Kev told her, and I thought the episode would be about the fallout from that. Well that was only a passing thought because Veronica took the news incredibly well. I guess it’s my fault for thinking a cable show would play out like a network show, but the randomness of this storyline gave the episode a sporadic feel, which made it less enjoyable than the previous few episodes from the series.

I also didn’t like the little detour they took with Vee’s brother. Anthony Anderson played the part fine, but it didn’t really add much drama to the wedding storyline (it was a fake wedding anyways), nor was it particularly funny. It just seemed like a bit of a ploy to kill time.

Steve was relatively absent in this episode, but despite this they covered a lot of ground with Fiona and him. I really like the way they’re developing this relationship. “That’s the problem with the exciting ones, their unpredictability” notes Veronica, probably the perfect summation of the dilemma facing Fiona. I’m glad they’re keeping Tony around as a viable love interest for Fiona – he’s a good character. Although I thought it was a little ridiculous that he was the one who pulled them over. What is there like one cop in Chicago?

Frank had a lot of the good comedic moments in this episode. I love how he assumes everybody at the doctor’s office is trying to scam their way into a disability cheque, and that he’s got the perfect system. I also thought it was hilarious that both he and Sheila immediately assumed he was dying (she even offered him a plot of land to be buried in) despite the fact he hadn’t even done the biopsy yet. But the highlight of the episode for me had to be watching Frank take part in a breast cancer support group. His attempts at “support” were so terrible you just had to laugh.

Speaking of Sheila (Joan Cusack), she’s actually turning into quite the heartbreaking character. It’s hard to watch her get herself all pumped up to go out only to get to the door and have a panic attack. I mean she literally made a dress for the wedding. She even made Frank a matching vest. Judging by the way they’ve set up her character I don’t foresee her leaving the house any time soon. I think the agoraphobia is just of a way of explaining why she would put up with Frank. Who knows though – this show seems to surprise me with something new every week.

House – “Family Practice” (B+)

This was a dark episode for the series, and I mean that in a good way. The majority of this season of House has been a light hearted affair, but in this episode the characters were pushed to their limits, and the drama was palpable.

It’s hard to find a scene that encapsulates just that better than House’s scene with Cuddy near the end of the episode. House was downright cruel in his approach, but you could still tell that he was acting out of concern for his relationship. “One day, maybe a week from now, maybe a year from, you’re going to decide that the man sleeping next to you killed your mother” laments House, in one of the better dramatic scenes I’ve seen from the show in a while.

But the drama didn’t stop there, with House also becoming locked into an ethical debate with Masters over the treatment of Cuddy’s mother. What House did to Masters was ruthless, but her response to it gave us her character’s first real payoff. I loved all of the story beats as Masters found out that House had set her up, processed that information, and ultimately risked her career as a doctor to do what she thought was right. It simultaneously portrayed her as a character with uncompromising morals (and guts), and a med student in way over her head, a complexity played perfectly by Amber Tamblyn. My only question is, why would she ever go back to work with him?

Taub also had a great storyline this week. Much like Masters, he risked his career because he couldn’t sit on the information that a young boy may be dying. He’s never been the most likable character, which makes feeling sympathy towards him over his divorce a difficult sell. But “Family Practice” showed us, that despite Taub being a terrible husband, deep down he’s still a good person. I really hope the writers don’t forget this aspect of Taub’s personality in future episodes. It makes his character wildly more interesting.

The Cape – “Goggles and Hicks” (B)

This episode brought another twist into the world of the Cape – the revealing of his secret identity.  Not to everyone mind you, just a comedically dark duo of assassins who are hired by Peter Flemming (aka Chess, aka Orwell's father) to kill the Cape.

Reviewing The Cape gives me a chance to rack my brain for interesting examples of how the show parallels comic books.  My brain is somewhat dead this morning since I watched The Cape instead of sleeping an extra hour last night.  But you readers demand excellence, and part of excellence is timeliness, and if one is not on time, what is one?  And if one doesn't know who one issssssssss........... *falls asleep at desk*

OK I'm awake again, I think my point there was that I’m sure I will miss some glaring examples of real comic book parallels in this week's episode but here goes my best shot.

From what I can make of it, the Cape's world grew with the addition of another villain in Palm City this week.  I guess I should say set of villains, because this is Goggles and Hicks.  Some serious names that’s for sure.  They strike fear in my heart every time I hear them.  Goggles and Hicks are an assassin team who hunt down Vince.  In doing so they discover who he is and put all that information on a jump stick (why they don't make extra copies is beyond me).  The Cape and Orwell go on the run from these assassins and end up putting the fat, wheel-chair bound one in jail at the end of the episode, only to have his brother trade the jump stick with Vince's identity for his brother's location.  And that is it.  The Cape lives to fight another day.

Oh and Goggles and Hicks are another part of Tarot, who is lead by someone Chess refers to as "The Master."  Their card is "The Chariot."

Anyway, Vince's identity coming out reminds me of Spiderman.  When the Superhuman Registration Act comes into play, as the fuel for Civil War, Tony Stark convinces Peter Parker to unmask and reveal his identity.  This has some serious issues for Peter because all of his foes come out to get him and that puts his family in danger.  I worry for Vince's family if word gets out that he is alive and is the Cape.  Bruce Wayne is also known by Ras al Guul to be Batman I believe.  It was this way in the movie, and in Hush (a great graphic novel for anyone interested in a fantastic detective story) Ras gets into the bat cave to leave Batman a message.  Dangerous.

That’s all for today in Cape world. Still a really fun show.

Castle – “Lucky Stiff” (B+)

Lucky Stiff is a pretty good episode all around.  The Castle Beckett love story takes a back seat to the crime in this episode and it sure is an intriguing one.

This is the story of a murdered lottery winner.  Murdered for his money?  Sort of, there is $100,000 missing.  But what of his hundreds of millions?  Still there, and the cops never play the "inheritance" card.  Castle suggests it’s the butler (yes this man has a classic English butler).  They track down what the guy has been doing and it turns out he has been giving most of his money away.  Long story short, he bought the lottery ticket for his old neighbour, who died the day they announced the winning numbers.  So the dude kept the ticket and the millions.  Who killed him?  The old dude's non-biological son (their relationship is sketchy at best, but the show makes it out that they were close).

An interesting sub-plot is what would you do with a lottery winning?  Beckett has no answer the whole episode.  Ryan would buy a winery, Espisito would also do something frivolous that I can't remember, the captain would buy a giant fishing boat, but Beckett has no answer.  In the end Castle realizes that she would want to honour her mother's legacy, so Castle arranges to set up a scholarship in her name.  Wow.  Cute.  They should get married.

Martha inherits a million bucks from her dead fiancé who she was going to break it off with.  She keeps the money.  Sleazy.  She wants to honour him, so of course she sets up an acting school in his honour.  The Martha Rodgers School of Acting.  But don't worry, a portrait of him will hang in the foyer.  Now that’s an honour.

Not A Great Week For Shapeshifters

What’s this? A somewhat timely post? Holy crap it is! Don’t worry – none of us have gotten any more productive. There are just a lot of reruns this week.

Spoilers ahead!

Shameless – “Casey Casden” (A)

Man – this show is fun-nyyyy. The Gallaghers followed up last week’s great episode with another terrific outing. This week we follow Fiona and the gang as they deal with the fallout from Deb (who also happened to be the standout from last week’s episode) kidnapping a child because she was mad they took Aunt Ginger away.

I loved the way they set up this episode. It really felt like a homage to that old movie The Sting (starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford), with title screens setting up each stage of the plan to get the child back to his parents without anyone going to jail (or the family splitting up – the montage of the last time that happened was hilarious). I was a huge fan of watching Fiona and Steve try and coax Deb through the lie, especially after she told them the original story about how she coaxed the kid to come with her in the first place.

DEB: I waved a snickers bar at him.

I also loved Fiona reaction to how good of a liar Deb turned out to be with the cops (I thought it was hilarious she got an award for bringing the kid back). It’s kind of sad, and I could be misinterpreting it, but it seems to me like Deb is just so desperate for any kind of adult attention that when she got in front of the police she just went wild with the story. It seems to be same the reason she took the kid in the first place.

But it’s the way this show can mix the humour with the really sweet moments that makes it so fun to watch. After the whole ordeal was over Fiona admits to Steve “I hope I’m not fucking up the kids”. It was a really nice moment on its own, but they go from that to the wonderful sequence after the credits where Deb informs her she can’t go to school because the doll Steve bought her has Diarrhoea and kept her up all night (she does all this as she smears peanut butter on a diaper), and it’s because of that previous moment that we know exactly what the look on Fiona’s face means.

The Gallaghers weren’t the only great part of this episode though. I really liked watching Tony and his partner together, particularly the scene where they fought over whether they’d be asking questions or not (“why the fuck wouldn’t we ask questions?”). I was worried maybe Tony would be brushed aside now that his relationship with Fiona seems to be stagnant, so I was glad to see him get ample screen time in this episode.

And finally I have to mention my favourite recurring joke in this series, which is watching Kev (Steve Howey of Reba fame) react to the Gallaghers using all his stuff. I literally laughed out loud when he got out of his cold shower, saw the mess his bathroom was in, and just yelled out “fucking Gallaghers”. He had the big twist ending this week, so I’m looking forward to seeing more Steve Howey in the next episode.

Fringe – “Reciprocity” (A-)

This week’s episode was not quite as good as last weeks for 2 reasons.

First, the trailers at the end of "Firefly" made it seem like the doomsday device was going to be the predominant focus of the show.  It was not, and that was disappointing.

Second, it was predictable in a way that Fringe has not been recently.  When Peter lies to Walter about being out and they find a dead shapeshifter the next day, my first thought was "Peter did it."  The team assumes it was Walternate and so Peter isn’t found out, but to me as a viewer it was fairly obvious when it happened.

Still, to call "Reciprocity" bad would be insanity.  This is the best show on the air right now, and it didn’t disappoint this week in excitement or mythology.  

“Reciprocity” focused heavily on the few remaining sleeper agents from the alternate universe being hunted down (by Peter), having been identified from the notes uncovered from Fauxlivia's computer.  By the way, the name Fauxlivia is brilliant and I give kudos to the writers for using it since I’m fairly certain that people commenting about the show on the web have been using it for months.  Anyways, the episode looked heavily into the notes taken by Fauxlivia and discussed some of the fallout from them in terms of Peter and Olivia's relationship.  They seem to be on the mend – hopefully the fact that Peter is now a psycho-killer doesn’t hinder their relationship.  

The episode also brought back the idea of "The First Peoples", a book introduced earlier in the series written by Seamus Wiles.  There are a few things I would like to say about this.  To start with, the name Seamus Wiles, as pointed out on a number of online forums, is an anagram for Samuel Weiss.  Samuel is the man from the bowling alley that helps Olivia.  Creepy... no?  I can't wait for someone to make a page like this for the connections in Fringe.  It would have to be a Venn diagram though with the two universes and Peter in the middle.  That would be awesome.  Internet world... get on that.

Back to the “The First Peoples”.  If you go on the forums you can find out a lot about what people's theories are.  I’ve read reference to a number of real books (“The First Peoples” is fictitious) as well as the anagram thing.  At the end of the episode we find out that Massive Dynamic has been acquiring copies of the book from museums and collectors.  It turns out that William Bell was also looking for copies of the book back in the day.  Interesting little cliffhanger.

Finally the episode drops a real bomb on us.  Peter is a weapon.  Walter hypothesizes that by touching the weapon on the other side Peter has picked up some of its "ideas" and has become weaponized.  Hence the name, "Reciprocity."

So where does this leave my theories?

Well it only really helps one of them.  Peter could very well become evil by next season.  I predict him trying to get back to the other universe to retrieve the stolen parts and use the machine, forcing both Olivias to try to get him back to normal/kill him if need be.

That’s all for this week.  Listen if you liked Lost, or Battlestar, or TV in general, watch Fringe.  It’s amazing.  I can't say enough good things about where the show is right now.  It takes 6 episodes out of Season 1 to establish the Fringe Universe... but after that... WOW.

Californication – “Monkey Business” (B+)

This episode was full of so many great lines, I can't even think of one to quote as my favourite.  If you watched it than you know that Marcy talking about a baby and Runkle and Hank discussing auto-erotic asphyxiation makes for some pretty funny TV.  Even if you don't watch this show, just spend half an hour watching this episode for the one-liners.  

Highlight of the week: Runkle attains #17 on his quest for 100... even though it was just the tip.

This week Runkle, Hank, Stu and the director whose name I can’t remember meet with a billionaire financier named Zig.  After some insane rambling on Zig's part and him pulling a Billy Walsh and referring to Runkle only as "agent," they decide to take the party to Zig's mansion for a script read through.  Hank reads the part of the male protagonist (based off the character based off of him in the novel) and Zig's sexually liberal sister wives play the female roles of Karen and Mia.  This performance has miraculous consequences and Zig gets his first "hard on since the Clinton administration."  He decides that this miracle boner is too precious to waste on mediocre head from his wife so he retires upstairs to get to know himself a bit better.  Runkle retires to a room with one of Zig's wives where he conquers #17 by playing "just the tip", but then kills Zig's pet monkey while trying to get it to leave the room.  Obviously everyone freaks out a bit, and Runkle has to tell Zig what he has done.  The only problem is that everyone is high and Zig has killed himself through auto-erotic asphyxiation.  OK... I have decided on my favourite line.

HANK: I am not adverse to the occasional choke and stroke but this is a prime example of why one must always use the buddy system.

And that really sums up the episode except for one part – how are they getting themselves out of trouble?  Well... Hank decides to call his lovely lady lawyer, who commends him for the small amount of maturity he showed in calling her to help deal with the problem of a dead billionaire.

I'm proud of you too Hank Moody.  Mazel Tov.

The Cape – “Dice” (B)

I am worried about The Cape.  I still really enjoy the show, but I worry that other people do not.  It’s still the same show, exciting and whatnot, but it lacks the sophistication and wide spread appeal that makes modern shows gain a following.

The Cape is still very much a comic book in TV format and they’re doing a very good job of writing it as so.  We learn more every week about the back story of the characters and it continues to build the myth of the cape itself.  This week they gave us information in the form of flashbacks, which is a technique quite commonly used in actual comics to give insight into how past events transpired.  This time we saw a bit more about the day that Vince was framed and how Max Malini knew that he would be the one to wear the cape from some sort of prophecy (or something that he read off of a piece of parchment).

This episode also featured Dice, a character with her own powers – she could see the universe in terms of its quantum pieces and therefore possessed the ability to see the future.  Chess killed her father and now she’s out for revenge.  This puts our hero in a tight spot – if he lets Chess die at Dice’s hands he may never be able to clear his name.  This forces him to save Chess' life twice over the course of the episode.

While the episode was good it continued to remind me that the characters in The Cape are really just versions of comic book characters already in existence.

The Cape = Batman

Peter Fleming aka Chess = Norman Osbourne/The Green Goblin

Orwell = The Oracle (Jim Gordon's daughter in the Batman series... she does exactly the same thing, that is, use technology to help the hero)

I still think The Cape has potential and I hope people can find a way to get interested in the show as a real interpretation of a comic book.  It’s very much the campy sort of stuff that golden age comics were made of.  Again I will be tuning in next week, same cape time, same cape channel (That channel is NBC in case there was any confusion).

Spoon Full Of Sugar... Grow Up

Another week, another gigantic post. Enjoy!

Spoilers follow.

How I Met Your Mother – “Last Words” (A-)

What a great follow up to last episodes emotional ending. I was really wondering what they were going to do with this episode considering the tone of its subject matter, and I think they struck the perfect balance between comedy and addressing the obvious elephant in the room (Marshall’s dad died).

Robin’s role as “vice girl” was definitely the comedic highlight of the episode for me. Watching her slowly turn into a dealer was hilarious, especially how excited she was about it.

ROBIN: I’m gaining a reputation!

So perfect.

I also really liked Marshall’s somber lawyereds as each character went through the last words their fathers said to them. Robin’s excitement that her dad remembered her birthday was a great follow-up to her story (Cobie Smulders was really on her game this week).

And it all led to what was a very satisfying ending. While I think it was obvious that Marshall’s dad would eventually say something after the pocket dial, it didn’t make it any less enjoyable for me. I particularly liked that he saved his father’s last words for himself and made his eulogy funny instead. I’m a fan of a little levity at funerals. Marshall’s dad was right too – Crocodile Dundee 3 totally still holds up.

 Californication – “Suicide Solution” (A-)

What a great episode.  Hank's continued troubles with the law drive him further down a self destructive path than we‘ve seen in quite some time.  After finally getting his reunion with Becca, he comes to the realization that she loathes him for what he’s done and that redemption can’t come in the form of a brand new Les Paul.  Hank continues work on the film adaptation of Fucking & Punching and meets with actor Eddie Nero (Rob Lowe) to play the role of "Hank" in the film.  The addition of Rob Lowe to the cast this season is an impressive casting call and the role that Lowe plays truly speaks to his versatility as an actor.  The normally clean cut Lowe is decked out in the Brad Pitt style beard and "rock star" style clothing, a serious variation from his normal on-screen suit and tie.  I have been a Lowe fan since the West Wing days and thoroughly enjoyed his cameo in Thank You For Smoking, so I have high hopes for him this season.

As Hank's serious legal troubles continue, so does the sexual tension with his lawyer Abby Rhoads (Carla Gugino).  With Hank formally being charged with statutory rape, Rhoads' role in the series becomes a lot more interesting. Carla Gugino has done a fabulous job on Entourage for the last few seasons (a show I will be covering for Stuck on a Channel once it returns this summer... look forward to that sports fans.)  Her feud with Ari Gold as Amanda Daniels, Vince's one time lover and former agent, is one of the great on screen rivalries.  She plays the power suit better than any woman I can think of (our friend @Maxmillien, writer for SportsHaze and fantasybasketball.com, is all over that – man loves the ladies in power suits),  so who better to play the female 'suit' in Hank's life than the sexiest business woman in showbiz?

The legal troubles plaguing Hank this season also provide a nice opportunity for the writers to discuss an ongoing theme throughout modern day Hollywood.  Athletes seem to consistently find themselves in sexual scandals and while I cannot think of a Hollywood star who has committed statutory rape, I can think of countless stars in some kind of trouble with the law.  Whether the writers will take that route and create some kind of social commentary remains to be seen.  The show in itself is often a commentary on the plagues of success.

This episode ends on a seriously dark note as Hank steals pills from Sasha (playing Mia in the movie and his current tryst) and takes way too many while writing his apology note to Becca.  The note itself is a fabulous piece of writing, ending with the line "its getting dark, too dark to see" from 'Knocking on Heavens Door'. The narration done by Duchovny while his character is literally spiralling downwards towards the floor is fabulous.  Since there is still a whole season to go, I have no fear that Hank is dead.  However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the show end with a dead Hank one day.  Duchovny said on the BS Report that they are never sure whether they’ll get another season, so the writers try to wrap each season up as if it were a series finale rather than just a season finale.  Since last season they were willing to let him go to jail as an ending, I worry that a happy ending is not in store for Hank.  Personally I want to see him back with Karen and Becca but that seems entirely unlikely.  Maybe Carla Gugino's character offers Hank his best shot at redemption.

Shameless – “Frank the Plank” (B)

I think I’m finally starting to get an understanding of what this show’s all about. I was a little confused about where last week’s episode was taking the series, but clearly it’s not meant to be as serialized as I thought it was. That’s okay though, as what they’ve brought to the table is still interesting and more importantly, quite funny.

In this week’s episode we got a better look at Frank (William H. Macy) as we watched him wake up on a park bench in Toronto (woo Canada). I thought it was a pretty funny bit, and I laughed pretty hard when they revealed the CN Tower in the background. For the record though, Canada doesn’t have Mounties roaming around the streets on horseback. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.

The one sequence I particularly enjoyed was watching Frank rant about all the things he pays for only to have Lip calmly refute everything he says. On top of being pretty hilarious it’s a perfect character moment for Frank (of course he feels like he’s the victim), and also demonstrated just how self-sufficient these kids are.

Also funny was the fact that this family only seems to watch the Discovery Channel – I love how into Deadliest Catch they are – and when they cheered as they discovered the dead body wasn’t Franks.

The last thing I want to briefly mention is how good the music on this show has been. Apparently their music supervisor and I have really similar tastes because I’m pretty sure so far somewhere around 90% of the music that’s been played on this show is already on my iTunes.  Keep up the good work.

Episodes – “Episode 2” (B-)

Episodes is not doing that much for me.  There are more funny moments in the second episode than in the first, but none of them are laugh out loud funny.  Matt Leblanc seems good in his role.  They gave me the Joey joke I was looking for which made me chuckle and his character seems to have potential to save the show from the mostly dull humour of its British leads.  Their shock at Hollywood culture got old very fast.  The recurring joke about their gatekeeper not knowing who they are is the funniest dialogue they seem to engage in. All the rest seems to drive the plot of them getting screwed over and has very little comedic relief.  Again I will tune in once more next week to see where the show is going.  I was listening to an AV club podcast and one of the contributors had seen the whole season and claims that the show gets much better after the pilot.  So for that reason I am willing to hang on for at least one more week.

House – “Larger Than Life” (B)

I know a lot of you would write House off as your typical patient of the week show, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong either (it has an obvious formula), but for my money House is still one of the most interesting characters on television. Now sure, he’s maintained his familiar gruff exterior, but don’t mistake that for a lack of character development. His characterization may have remained the same, but over the past couple of seasons (starting with a phenomenal episode in a mental institution) House has slowly started turning his life around. This was capped off in last season’s finale, in which House and Cuddy finally started a relationship.

Which leads me into this week’s episode, where House got the unfortunate experience of meeting Cuddy’s mother (Candice Bergen) for the first time. This show has gotten really funny in recent years (I watch it for the comedy almost as much as I do for the medical drama), and I can’t think of a better example of how hilarious this show can be than watching House drug both Cuddy’s mom and Wilson at Cuddy’s birthday dinner. I especially liked how Wilson started defending the drugging right before he realized he was drugged himself.

I also have to say I’m enjoying the new med student Masters (played by Amber Tamblyn). I like the dynamic she has with the other characters. She can compete with House on an intellectual level, but at the same time she’s also a med student, and needs one of the other doctors to be with her whenever she’s performing a procedure. It led to a great moment in this episode where Forman and Chase realized that even though they didn’t support her theory (and she was annoying the crap out of them) one of them had to go with her to test it.

Now I want to talk about one last thing that’s a little off topic (they let you do that on blogs) – I had read before that House was based in part on Sherlock Holmes, but it never really hit me how much they were alike until I watched the Sherlock Holmes movie the other day. There were times where it felt like Robert Downy Jr. and Jude Law were almost channelling House and Wilson in their performances (obviously Sherlock Holmes the character came first, but House came before that movie). I just thought it was cool – if you get a chance check it out and let me know if it’s just me who sees it.

The Cape – “Kozmo” (B+)

This week we saw the writers of The Cape plant some potentially massive plot points.  Orwell (Summer Glau) appears as if she could be Chess' daughter and Vince's wife is starting to find the trail of his framing (obviously with a little help from The Cape himself).  We received some more information on the origin of the cape and a second villain (distinct from the Ark crime contingent) has been introduced. 

This week in Palm City we found ourselves confronted with the former owner of the cape, Gregor the Great, an escape artist trained by Max.  But the cape brought out the evil in him and he went to prison.  Being an escape artist that obviously did not last very long, so Gregor returns to Palm City to find Max and retrieve his cape.  Obviously, he can't have it back as it has a new owner and who’s using it for more noble purposes.  The Cape wins out in the end, but it is understood that Gregor will be back for his cape.

With this type of storyline, The Cape is further defining its role on television.  On the same podcast I mentioned in my Episodes review, they also discussed The Cape.  They hated it much like every other critic I have read but one of the contributors did mention an article that discussed why television super heroes rarely succeed and if I understood it correctly it’s because the shows try to appeal to too wide an audience.  The Cape is succeeding in my opinion because it is not trying to take it too far.  It knows what it is – a fun, action packed superhero show.  It sticks to the superhero formula and introduces new characters and plot points at appropriate intervals.  This is not the Oscar winning Dark Knight, but it’s also not the old school Adam West Batman either.  The show has enough of a dark side to appeal to modern audiences but still has enough of the old school comic mentality to appeal to that niche audience.  The Cape is truly bringing the comic book format to the screen.

For those of you who do not understand how comics work I will give you a little rundown.  Comics are published monthly or sometimes twice a month (The Amazing Spiderman is one of the only titles I can think of that’s published twice a month).  The story arcs go for about 3-6 issues, but sometimes if it’s a major "event" they’ll go a bit longer.  An "event" is something that shakes up the comic book world, like Marvel's superhero civil war, or DCs Blackest Night.  The storylines are self contained but follow within the timeline of a given character.  For example, a recent Spiderman storyline had him fight against the Kraven family (Kraven the Hunter's wife and children) as they hunted all of the "Spiders" (Spiderman, Spidergirl, etc etc.) in an effort to prevent Kraven from coming back to life.  Some heroes die, Kraven comes back, and Spiderman fights him off in the end – all in all a typical story arc.  I know how cheesy that sounds, but it was a good fun read.   It’s not about the dialogue – it’s about interesting plots and great imagery.  

The Cape does the same thing for TV.  Each episode is a mini story-arc that follows within the overall timeline of The Cape.  There are the main arch villains (Chess) and the mini villains (Scales, Gregor and likely more to come).  In each episode there are on-screen titles which dictate the chapters of the story arc or the individual issues.  Each one provides us with a little insight on Cape and pushes the plot forward toward a culminating event, probably a fight scene with the villain of the day.  If the Cape fails to get rid of a villain for good, we know they will be back some day.  We know what his overall goal is and this is how each episode fits into the timeline of The Cape.  Like Spiderman wants to live a normal life and Batman wants to rid Gotham city of evil, the Cape wants his family back.  Each episode will bring us closer to that point, but the path is not a straight line.  We will get more cape lore, more understanding of the background and depth of the characters, and we will continue to be immersed in the Palm City world.

My hope is that Chess will be defeated by the end of the year, but that Tarot (some crime contingent they mentioned in episode 2) will emerge as the overall target for The Cape.  The nice part about a superhero story is that it can evolve in any number of directions. By season’s end Vince could be back with his family and acting as Palm City's guardian angel.  More likely is that his wife falls in love with her boss, but that is another story all together.  By season 4 we could jump ahead 20 years to where Vince is training Trip to be the new cape, just like how Robin is now Batman, and Bruce Wayne is now creating a global Batman army (yes this is the real, current, Batman storyline).  This is what’s wonderful about creating a superhero.  The lore of the cape is what can drive the show.  That is what makes people fall in love with certain heroes.  

Wolverine is my favourite because of where he comes from and what he stands for (and also because he is the best there is at what he does, bub).  Spiderman is still one of the most popular comics out there because of his back story, what he stands for, and because twice a month people know they can pick up a book and simply be entertained.  I know that barring any serious plot writing catastrophes or plummeting ratings, I can tune in every week and simply be entertained by The Cape, and that’s exactly why I will continue to watch.  The Cape is a good comic book show and I'm kind of tired of hearing otherwise.  So I'll see you next week, same cape time, stuck on the same channel. 

V – “Laid Bare” (B-)

This show gained points this week for doing all the things I hoped it would do in my last review. First off, the writers had our local chapter of the Fifth Column finally start making some more difficult decisions. I really liked that the show brought our characters into a more morally gray area, specifically in Erica and companies decision to torture an undercover V agent for information. You may remember this is exactly what Anna did last season to an undercover Fifth Column member. I like that this show is comparing the methods of its heroes with its villains – it keeps both sides accountable and makes for a far more thought provoking hour of television.

Lisa’s story this week was along these same lines. She had to essentially torture a human to death or risk exposing her secret Fifth Column leanings to her mother. This led to what I thought was a very well done ending, where each of Erica and Anna’s respective children went to the other for comfort. The juxtaposition of these two relationships was a great stylistic choice, while simultaneously setting up a chilling image of what’s to come. Major props to whoever came up with it.

The other development I liked in this episode was the addition of Chad to the Fifth Column. Not just because this finally gives his character something interesting to do, but because this group desperately needed to increase its membership. His eventual introduction to the rest of our main characters was a promising scene, and Chad’s increased proximity to the main storyline will hopefully help make his character a little more noteworthy.

The only reason this episode didn’t score even higher for me is because V continues to spend a huge amount of its time covering up for its various plot holes. V DNA starts to disintegrate, so you can either find out her mission or help your son. She’s been drugged, so she will conveniently never remember any of this. Please start using more natural plot progressions so you don’t have to spend half the episode covering up your holes in logic.

Bob's Burgers – “Human Flesh & Crawl Space” (B+)

This review will be short and sweet.

Watch Bob's Burgers.  Seth McFarlane doesn't need another TV show (Family Guy is great but the other 2 take the formula and beat it to death), the Simpsons are almost out of ideas and South Park cannot carry us forward forever.  We need another comedy, so watch this show.  It’s fresh and I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes.  It has some really great subtle moments like the sign in “Human Flesh” that says "Don't taste me bro" or the Child Molester Burger that comes with candy on the side.  The most you can say for any pilot is that it has great potential.  This show has great potential so give it a watch.  

Pilot Season, Part II

We watched a lot of pilots this week, which along with all our beloved regulars have combined to make this post gigantic. I guess this was probably a bad time to try out our first joint review. I refuse to apologise. Enjoy!

Many, many spoilers below...

Californication – “Exile on Mainstreet” (A)

Hank Moody is back baby and so are the tits.  With Californication returning for a 4th season it brings about many changes in the world of Hank Moody and his ever impossible shot at redemption.

Californication has been one of my favourite shows for the past couple years.  I watched season 1 and 2 on DVD and struggled waiting week to week for last year's fantastic season.  Now Californication is back and if the first episode is any indication, it’s as good as ever.

For those of you familiar with the world of Californication, this season brings back many of the same elements, starting with a Mia look alike and Hank’s continued indulgence in ill-advised sex (Addison Timlin in this episode).  And as always we are presented with Hank's shot at redemption, this time in the form of his career.  

With credit for his previously stolen novel, Hank is commissioned to write the screenplay for the movie (a job we know he loathes based on his past cinematic experiences).  However, the public knowledge that Fucking and Punching was actually written by Hank and is a fictionalization of his actual affair with a 16 year old girl obviously causes other more pressing legal issues.  While we as viewers know Mia for the manipulative bitch she is, I can’t help wondering how Hank is going to get himself out of this one.

I must say that the ending of season 3 was a real tough one for me.  I was physically distraught during the finale when it became evident that Hank would never be able to escape the sins of his past.  I was always rooting for him, hoping he could turn it around, make good with his wife and daughter and get his life back on track.  With last season ending with Hank being taken away by the cops, it really seemed like there was little hope of this ever happening, and the start of this season all but confirms it.  We pick up where we left off, with Hank getting out of jail after 72 hours and not being able to go home to his wife and daughter.  And rightfully so.  From their point of view his actions are inexcusable.  However, what happened was most certainly not his fault, and that’s the plight of Hank – he is forever trying to do right by people while at the same time being crippled by alcohol, drugs and sex (mostly with incredibly beautiful and equally manipulative women).

This show is undeniably one of the best 30 min of TV you can engage in these days. It’s not the smartest show on TV but it’s easy to watch, and by the end it has you thinking "holy fuck what a fun ride." I encourage all to go out and watch it.

Also for those of you who have already been enthralled by the Californication Universe check out Bill Simmons recent podcast (The BS Report) with David Duchoveny on January 7th. They discuss Californication and a little bit of basketball, then Bill discusses HBO’s 24/7 Penguins-Capitals (a must see for any hockey fan) with Joe House.  It’s a great podcast.  It can be found on iTunes or by clicking through at ESPN.com.

Shameless – “Pilot” (B+)

On first viewing I’m not quite sure what to make of this show. It’s got all the makings of a good cable show. It’s gritty, morally ambiguous, and judging from the pilot isn’t afraid of a little nudity. But from the pilot it’s hard to tell where the show is going. At the moment the father character Frank (played by William H. Macy) has done little more than lie passed out on the floor. Emmy Rossum’s character Fiona seems to be the main protagonist of the story, but while the family already seems to be living on the edge, there hasn’t been much yet to push them over it.

It’s an adaptation of a British show of the same name (which I have not seen) so judging from the success of its predecessor there has to be something more to it. Now that’s not to say there haven’t been any interesting character moments – Fiona has a great scene where she breaks down after a discussion with her brother about what she wants in life – but their hasn’t been much external pressure on the family yet outside of their impoverished living situation, which is more of a backdrop for these characters than it is an actual plot.

It’s only the pilot, and all the right elements seem to be in place. Hopefully as the season moves along we’ll get a clearer picture of what Shameless is really all about.

Episodes – “Episode 1” (B) (Ryan’s Review)

This show will not make it.  TV.com called it something like the ultimate Meta narrative.  And it is.  But my distaste for postmodern analysis aside, this show's ability to break through the 4th wall will not help its ratings.

Episodes is about British TV creators who bring their show to the US.  It’s essentially a story of a network ruining good TV.  Like what happened to the Office (Sorry Steve Carell, I actually do like your version, but let’s be realistic, it’s a cheap fast-food version of the original).  It stars Matt Leblanc of Friends fame, but the first episode did not include him much at all.  Instead we see the creators getting wooed into coming to America, figuring out the network head who signed them has never even watched their show, and processing the fact that their lead actor has to audition for the role he has played for 4 years (later being told he is too British).

 Maybe my initial impression was too harsh.  This show has potential.  I like that Matt Leblanc is playing himself.  I’m hoping for some self referential Joey jokes.  He has greyed now and looks older, more distinguished, and so I feel like the potential is there for him to take on a new role.

I didn’t like episode 1 but I will wait for episode 2 before throwing this show the way of my dog's poop bags.

Episodes – “Episode 1” (B) (Brian’s Review)

I agree with Ryan for the most part. The first episode was just alright – not terrible, but you could tell it was just there to set the ground work (like most pilots I guess). I do think the show has a lot of potential though once Matt Leblanc actually gets a little screen time.

Episodes is kind of an interesting blend of dry British humour and more straightforward American humour, and it’s I think it’s pretty clear which side Leblanc will represent. Until then I don’t think you can properly assess this show. I’m certainly intrigued to see where they’ll take Leblanc’s fictionalized version of himself – hopefully a mixture of vanity and stupidity, but I’ll let them show me what they’ve come up with.

Castle – “Poof! You're Dead” (B+)

This week was a good one for Castle.  He finally dumped the annoying girlfriend (who we never see but prevents him from hooking up with Beckett) and as usual they solved a murder.

I enjoyed the acting again, enjoyed the extra depth given to Espisito and Lanie as we see them involved in a love affair, and I enjoyed the plot.  HOWEVER... I don't normally pick holes in storylines like this, especially inconsequential ones like the background of the person who was murdered, but this one stuck out to me for some reason.  The episode was about the murder of a Magic Shop owner.  As is often the case, someone tried to make it look like suicide.  At first this seemed plausible, since his shop is in trouble and he could lose it.  But then we find out a) he works for the biggest magician in town designing tricks and b) he has a giant hidden warehouse where he makes magic stuffs.

If I were going to lose the business that was in my family for generations etc etc. and I didn't want to, I would probably get rid of my massive warehouse first to try to make some more money.  But also, if I designed tricks for a famous magician, then I would hope to make enough to not have to file for bankruptcy to begin with.  I know it’s small and inconsequential but I had to say it.

At the end of the episode Castle and Beckett head off for some food, which is always a good sign in a budding romance.  Now all we need is Beckett's doctor boyfriend to actually be a Dr. Kevorkian type, and then she’d have to put him behind bars making her realize she loved Castle all along.  I should write a rom-com.

V – “Serpent's Tooth” (C)

Oh V. I don’t really know where to start here. Every time you give me a promising storyline it always ends up being mismanaged and a little boring.

This week’s introduction of Anna’s mother (Diana) is no exception. She had the potential to be a really cool character (and still does), but this week all we got was an information dump, and a horribly cheesy discussion about what a soul is. Now a casual mention of the soul would have been fine here, but instead we got almost an entire sequence of both Diana and Father Jack pointing to their hearts and talking about how the soul can never be destroyed. It’s not that the V’s confusion with human emotion isn’t a good story angle – it’s that it’s so poorly executed.

And that’s what’s at the heart of the problems plaguing this show. The dialogue in V just doesn’t feel natural, and many of the expository scenes are just terribly done. A great example from this episode was where Erica and her boss interviewed the second bomber. Erica flashing her Fifth Column mark was cool, but the way her boss was interrogating the bomber before that was as clichéd as you could possibly get.

The same goes for listening to Chad’s newscasts. It’s a really uninspired way for the show to dump whatever information they want us to know for this week’s episode. Last week people were mad at the Vs, this week they like them again – I’m getting annoyed at hearing how flighty we are as a species.

Yes, this episode had some better parts I didn’t mention. I liked that it looks like our characters are going to have to start making some more difficult choices, and I hope that finding this Israeli Fifth Column member continues that narrative. I also liked that they are finally expanding the Fifth Column past the four characters we know currently in its membership. The problem is this – if they don’t do a better job with the little things I mentioned above it doesn’t matter what they do with the storyline, this show will only continue to disappoint.

The Cape – “Pilot” and “Tarot” (B+)

I really thought I would hate this show.  I skimmed tv.com's review of the show and saw this comment – “The Cape manages to fundamentally misunderstand both television and comic books.” This for me was a problem.  Those are two things that I a) make it my business to know something about and b) thoroughly enjoy.  I am intensely critical when the two mediums meet each other.  

Wolverine is my favourite superhero (with Deadpool landing in the top 5) and I was ready to go jihad on Hollywood after the Wolverine movie. (I formally apologize for the insensitivity and inaccuracy of the word jihad in this context.  I recognize the true meaning of jihad and yet there are few terms more appropriate than 'jihad' to express my sentiments of wanting to wage a war against those responsible for that movie.)  Wolverine was terrible (the plot was awful and they got Deadpool so wrong it made my skin crawl), Toby Maguire was the world's worst Peter Parker, and let’s not even talk about how Marvel's first family was disgraced by the cinematic failure of The Fantastic 4.  Watchmen was a brilliant film but needed to be split into 2 movies to allow for the complexities of its plot to be properly explored.  Those are just the first few combinations that stick out in my mind. If I thought about it more I'm sure I’d have hundreds more criticisms of comic-to-screen attempts.  

But I also get very excited when projects succeed in this genre.  The newest Batman movies are incredibly entertaining. The Amazing Spiderman cartoons from the 90s are 5 seasons of heaven -- just a fantastic Spiderman narrative that stays true to Peter Parker's roots.  I like Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man and Joss Wheadon taking over the Avenger's franchise holds incredible promise.

Ok enough on my infatuation with comic book adaptations and on to The Cape.  It is actually a good show.  Tv.com is wrong.

The Cape isn’t the best made show on TV.  It will never compete with The Wire for the best plot ever, its acting will never match that of the Tudors, and its comedic value probably won't even beat out those corny one liners before the credits run on CSI. But the show is entertaining, and it has a shot at succeeding.  

It tells your regular superhero story.  Man done wrong seeks vengeance in the vigilante form, fights for his city and his family.  This is Batman meets the Punisher with a comedic edge.  Palm city is Gotham City (but in Florida), The Cape is Batman (but without the fortune), Max is Alfred (but black) and Orwell is that guy who sits in the van and waits for the Punisher (but hot).  The show uses comic themes such as titles and colouring that gives the show a truly comic feel and its action packed 45 minutes have you asking for more.  Plus it has Summer Glau, every nerd's dream.

The Cape has potential.  It has chosen a familiar superhero genesis story to run with in a new setting. Essentially we’re seeing a new spin on a comfortable story.  Much like Chuck this show could be an NBC staple for a few years – so long as the plot keeps moving and they don't keep reiterating the same Chess vs. Cape storyline. I suggest everyone tune in next week, same cape time, same cape channel to see how it goes from here.