Monsters of Television

“Our destiny was set the day we triggered the machine.”

Oh Bad Robot and their time paradoxes.

The grim depiction of our future in the wake of Peter activating the machine is enough to get anyone to seriously consider all possible consequences of making a decision. “If I get this kind cheese WILL THE UNIVERSE EXPLODE?” That may be a bit less dire than deciding the fate of two universes, but still. What “The Day We Died” was able to accomplish was giving us a different look at the world of Fringe. We saw where our characters would be in the future, what their lives would be like, what the world itself would be like. Most importantly: it defined the stakes. Peter had been battling with this decision for a large portion of this season. Well he made his bed and everyone in two universes had to sleep in it.

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“With their lives at stake…”

Really, Slater? Are you killing kicked off crews now?

I had been mentally preparing myself for the auditory assault I would have to endure while watching this episode. As was the case last week as well, I do not like the featured superstar from this week. Rihanna is obnoxious. Her songs are more repetitive melodic talking with way too many “Yeah”‘s and “Uh”‘s and “Na na”‘s. Sorry honey, that market was cornered by Will Smith a looooong time ago. Luckily the visual stimulation overrode the auditory.

This week’s challenge included incorporating some of Rihanna’s toughest moves into their routines. Dance Hall (Dancehall?) is her style, and they had Rihanna’s choreographer to help them blend it with their own unique techniques.

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Bet this is a show you never thought you’d see on this site. It’s kind of hard to “review” a dance competition like this because it is so heavily reliant on being able to actually see the dances. And I know close to zero terminology for dance moves and such. So this is going to be more of a rant, but a rant containing events that occurred in the episode. So it counts. It’s a rant and a recap of sorts. A rantcap, Patent pending.

This episode was specifically constructed by MTV to make me Matt-rage. And Matt-rage I did. Oh how I Matt-raged. (Matt-rage is also patent pending.)

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“I’m Booster Gold. The greatest hero you’ve never heard of. TIL NOW!”

Finally! I had been waiting for this episode for months. Months I tell you. Smallville has introduced a lot of DC heroes into its mythology, some more successfully than others, and the additions of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were highly anticipated.

“But Matt, this final season is about Clark realizing his potential and becoming that great iconic hero. Introducing other heroes this late in the game is taking away from that focus.” I have a few things to say to that, concerned viewer. The first is: shut up. The second is: yes this is the final season so the show is going to go all out and do as much cool stuff as they can before the final bow. And finally: Booster and Blue Beetle have SO MUCH TO DO WITH CLARK’S PERSONAL GROWTH AS A HERO.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

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“There is an entire world out there with no rhyme or reason. Where would you like to start?”

Knowing Walter’s love of LSD, the title of the episode alone should make you giddy.

William Bell is still inhabiting Olivia’s body due to his Soul Magnets (new band name, called it!) and efforts to remove his consciousness have proven less than successful.  Now complications are growing and they have less than a day to get her back. The idea: INCEPTION! Cause really, what isn’t referencing Inception nowadays?

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“It’s not the place that makes the home.”

Smallville has been quite nostalgic lately. Last week they re-aired the 2001 pilot episode. This week both Clark and the audience were treated to reminders of the past. “Kent” was an episode about moving forward, remembering the past to influence the future. This final season has done a lot of looking back. Brainiac 5 gave us some looks back (and forward) and things that are going to help shape Clark as he continues his transformation into the iconic superhero we already know he will become. The past is important. You don’t have to be defined by it, it can be a weapon when wielded correctly. Now that Clark knows he doesn’t have to let go of it, that it keeps living on inside of him, he can use that power. And boy is it going to come in handy.

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“Larry King’s so old he had to retire from sitting in a chair.”

A friend of mine tried to defend Mr. Sunshine to me last night by saying it’s good because it’s “vintage Matthew Perry.” That’s true. That’s also the problem.

Just because a former Friends friend is playing themselves doesn’t mean the show is going to be good. Do you not remember Joey? As much as I love Matthew Perry, now matter how vintage he may be, I am still not loving this show. All it is is Matthew Perry surrounded by unfunny people and hating his life. I feel ya, MP.

That’s what it’s like watching your show.

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“Make sure they spell my name right.”

One of the great things about Fringe is that even in a show dealing with parallel universes and other hard sci-fi plots, it’s still a believable show. Hear me out. At its core, Fringe is about taking science too far. Sure, sometimes people on the show use science for bank robberies or bringing back lost loved ones, but a lot of times it’s about people trying to do right and having it go horribly wrong. That’s the essence of Walters character and “Immortality’ gives us a look at another man who has taken his research to an extreme point for the “greater good.”

Or is it?

Dr. Silva is attempting to bring the skelter beetle back from extinction because they contain an enzyme he was working worth to produce a cure for the avian flu. Since the beetle died out with sheep (love the little details that distinguish the “over there” universe from our own) he’s engineering the beetles to live in other hosts: humans. Can you see why Fringe Division would have a problem with this?

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“Just melt the ice, Bobert!”

I love Matthew Perry. Let me just affirm that first. Chandler was my favorite character on Friends and I have loved the majority of his film career (that includes “17 Again”). That makes the following very hard for me to say.

Mr. Sunshine is really not that good.

Could I be any more disappointed? I was very excited for Matthew Perry to be back on TV and producing and writing and starring in his own new show. I was sure it would be great. And he is. The show itself? Not so much.
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Parenthood made me cry today.

The show is fantastic. It’s superbly acted, well cast and it hits on a lot of problems that families go through. I’m sure that once I am a parent, many many moons from now, I’ll think back to “What did Adam Braverman do in situations like this”? And for better or for worse, I’ll know what to do. Or what not to do.

But that’s not the point of what I want to talk about. There’s another aspect of the show that hits very close to home for me. It’s not about familial ties or issues with siblings or growing up.

It’s about the complexities of interracial relationships.

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