Monsters of Television

“Spent the rest of his long life making sure his ring was charged.”

I’m not a big Green Lantern fan. All-powerful rings, like all-powerful aliens from Krypton, mean big cosmic villains that steadily have to be one-upped to maintain stakes and threats to the heroes. On the upside for Green Lanterns, their rings run out of energy, meaning they have complete the mission in a set time frame.

But I’m not so much a non-fan that Green Lantern: The Animated Series is a non-starter for me. In fact, the episode is pretty solid, apart from the animation, which is more a matter of personal taste. The story has a nice balance of exposition, humor, adventure, and the action sequences are well-choreographed. Read more »

This week The Vampire Diaries presented one of their big showdown eps–a big huge buildup that lead to very little change of our current stasis. Dang.

Let’s review: Elena? Still torn between brothers. Stefan? Still fighting life without a soul (though there was one reveal—more about that below). Damon? Pretty much where he has been for years—was his choice a step forward or a big ol’ step back to normal? Klaus is a hybrid, Rebekah is a bitter annoying girl, Kol seems psychotic (I could get behind his version of vampire crazy), Ric has been shot, killed, maimed, beaten, or some other awful physical punishment…AGAIN.

In fact, the main character that changed (a literal change) is so minor I can’t figure out why I should care. Oh, and another minor character disappeared. So she is apparently back where she was, um, two episodes ago.

Way to move the plot forward, team TVD. (Keep reading, my review gets better, I promise)

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I didn’t get to watch this week’s episode until Saturday, which means my usual writing schedule was delayed and now I’m afraid I won’t have time to do a full review cap. So in lieu of my usual routine, here are a few thoughts about “Dangerous Liaisons.”

This episode features many a longing look at someone wearing fancy clothes. There was the intent for action (kill Matt), then there was the removal of that intention (aw, he’s so sweet and he gave me his coat and I’m a stupid Original teenager).

There was also a scene that tried to destroy Awesome Vampire Caroline’s awesomeness (She loves horses? What is she, 12?). Luckily, AVC is so awesome, she rises above even the most ridiculous and cliched plotting. To wit, she wears the dress cause she likes it, she rejects Klaus repeatedly, and she uses Klaus’ interest in her to demand he free Tyler.

Now, this whole, “Klaus fancies Caroline” thing has done nothing to make me like Klaus more.  A moony, dreamy Klaus is just as boring as the ineffective Klaus we’ve long known and wished would go away.  Just stop it, writers.  If Klaus is so evil, let’s see him be evil.  Have him manipulate Caroline into sleeping with him in exchange for Tyler’s freedom–now that would be evil.  Or have him stalk her more openly–let her use her wits and strength to defeat him.  Just make the guy evil–making him an artist does nothing to improve his rep.

Seriously.

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After the high of last week, an episode that climaxed with the return of the only interesting Original, Elijah, this week’s rather convoluted episode brings us a whole bunch more Originals. Thing is, what are these Originals going to add? They haven’t done enough to develop the personalities of those we already know, so how the heck are they going to find time to make us care about the new ones?

As usual, Klaus is all bark, no bite. In one of his fits of temper, he threatened to stick his hand down Damon’s throat and rip out his innerds, yet have we ever seen Klaus actualy act on his hyperbole? Damon rips out a heart every three episodes. Heck, Elijah pulled one out last week, and he was only on screen for thirty seconds. But Klaus? Mr. Bluster keeps insisting that he’s so evil, yet I think the vampire doth protest too much. Your nudity is showing, Mr. Emperor.

There was one bit with Elijah that upped the stakes in a way that will give the rest of the season genuine tension and drive—Klaus refuses to give up Elena…ever. In fact, his plan extends to his exploitation of her children. This line in the sand—there will be no deal with Klaus that will free Elena—assures that Klaus has to die. Not that there was much fear the Salvatores would want to keep Klaus alive, but to hear him state so baldly that Elena is his must have riled the hell out of our beloved Salvatores. There were other treats in the dinner scene, as when Damon had to remind Stefan that he, like Klaus, is guilty of killing a parent, but I imagine next week’s dinner party will put this one to shame.

I also really, really, really loved the scenes with Awesome Daddy. His reminder to Caroline of what it means to be human—to experience death—underscored Elena’s own terror over Ric’s life. While Elena was crying that she couldn’t handle losing another family member, Awesome Vampire Caroline was learning that only by losing a family member can you really understand the significance of life.

And once again, Elena shows us that she’s a pretty great fantasy heroine, willing to do extraordinary things and refusing to let others dictate her limitations. Somehow Elena remains fully human without becoming a pathetic victim. And she saves the life of one of my favorite characters this week, so there’s that.

In general, this episode felt rather exposition-y.  The Salvatores were basically wasting time at the dinner party so they could buy time for the Bennett witches.  But that means the audience got stuck wasting time, too.  Interestingly, that made the human parts of the story–Elena and Awesome Vampire Caroline contemplating loss–the most interesting moments of the night.  Honestly, that’s a nice  change.  I mean, Damon–with his wit, charm, and all-around sexy appeal–can’t be allowed to steal our attention in every single episode, right?

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“The only problem is that he never fought the Jews. We’re Mossad, baby.”

Rather thankfully, this ham sandwich is better than last season’s. And while I have little quibbles, mainly with Wendy, the episode as a whole is a great success, paying off the season’s overreaching plot of the investigation into Will’s judicial conduct. I mean, any episode that ends with Will and Diane dancing together because they appear to be goddamn bullet-proof is pretty impressive, yeah?

So while I’m going to talk about the episode a bit, I’m also going to address other reviews of the episode, as “Another Ham Sandwich” has prompted a slight resurgence in the “The Good Wife is doing cable drama on broadcast!” idea that gets circulated every now and then, and annoys the hell out of me. Read more »

“Tell me our story.”

I’m not sure I prepared enough. I knew that I was going to watch the final episode of Chuck live (because, basically, the windows deal for the final season, which left episodes off Hulu, NBC.com, and the WB site) made me. But I didn’t get enough of the essentials to celebrate the end of this series. Sizzling Shrimp and (even if it wasn’t for drinking) Rombauer Chardonnay made their absence felt. I didn’t even get a fast-food sausage or a PinkBerry knock-off.

Snacking through a wake aside, the one thing I did make sure of was to watch this finale alone. Watching it live meant that I wouldn’t be able to rewind, to pause, to walk away (no DVR). I was going to have to stare at this series finale until it was over, commercial breaks being my only respite. I was subject to the whims of this show’s authors, ones that have notoriously (if inconsistently) taken advantage of me emotionally. But I was of two minds approaching the final episode of Chuck.

One was recollecting all the times this show has manipulated my inside feelings with neo-folk soundtracks, a guy debating the same things I debate since we’re of the same age, and a hopelessly romantic (if far-fetched) storyline. The other part of me couldn’t trust this show, not just because of the manipulation but also I didn’t know what to expect because the last three seasons have been so inconsistent (at times, straight up betraying). Even in the episodes leading up to the two-hour finale, I really liked the third-to-last episode but rolled my eyes at the penultimate one. It’s not like I was worried about them tying up loose ends but I was worried that the ending would be so sickly sweet that my inherent cynicism would pile up in my throat and choke any sentimentality I could feel for the show.

So I sat down to watch it, gastronomically unprepared but maybe emotionally over-prepared. After knowing this would be the last season NBC/WB could, in good conscience, support, would this series come up big in the end or did they muster up just enough disappointment to say “screw you” to me one last time? Read more »

So, if you read these reviewcaps regularly and  you’ve already watched this week’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, you will not be surprised to hear that I am a super happy viewer right now.  Finally!  I’ve been very, very patient, enduring countless inferior Originals, and now, at long last, a genuinely awesome character has returned.  Oh, TVD, sometimes I just love you SO much!

As far as theme this week, I guess I’d say that this episode was about characters in search of their humanity and their power [note: those two things may likely be related.]  The title is actually quite evocative—we have family ties, love ties, gratitude ties, debt ties, revenge ties—all sorts.  And many characters are desperately trying to break these ties.

The show’s handling of Tyler’s storyline has always walked a fine line between his arrogance and his vulnerability.  Tyler can be a dick, and he sometimes does terrible things, but his curse is just SO AWFUL (every bone in his body breaks every single time he turns?  No thank you) that you forgive him no matter what.  They’ve given this character depth through pain, and I am not sure I want him ever to lose the pain since it makes him more human.  Then again, Tyler is out of control, and he knows it.  Watching him try to regain his power could make him an ever better man.

Bonnie’s search this week is pretty simple—she is looking not only for her mother but also for an answer to why her mother not only left her but also NEVER CONTACTED HER. Not even a Christmas card, Abby?  I hope they let these characters work through their enormous issues [redoubled by this week’s events, I imagine.] Anyone who watches Secret Circle may admire one thing about Abby—she’s (seemingly) not a psycho  bent on getting back her magic no matter what the cost. She sure was willing to sacrifice her daughter for someone else, though, so jury is still out.  Instead of the cartoons over on Secret Circle, this show seems to want to explore a character who had a choice, and whose choice was to live her life without all this supernatural craziness.  Echoes of Jeremy here, though choice wasn’t part of his story. But the show is dancing around inevitable and painful questions–how long can one sustain a life with supernatural partners and friends?  Are the costs too much?

This could connect to Elena and Stefan, since TVD seems to be building a case that Stefan wants Elena to live her life away from all supernaturals, including himself [this isn’t a spoiler–it is my assessment of the situation based on current, albeit vague, evidence.  There aren’t a whole lot of options for the ending of the show—Elena becomes supernatural or she walks away/dies.  She can’t live like this forever (for many, many reasons).] But of more immediate interest, the show is having  a lot of fun with Stefan’s ambiguity this season.  Has he tapped back into his humanity since Klaus released him?  Is this all an elaborate ruse?  And as Damon keeps asking, how far is Stefan willing to take it?  His conversation with Elena at the end of this episode was a model of controlled, careful acting.  What did he reveal?  How should we read it?  I imagine this scene will play differently when we find out the truth of Stefan’s situation, but even without greater context, evil Stefan continues to be WAY more interesting that noble, lover-boy Stefan.

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“Have you had any sneak peeks of your childhood crush’s boobies?”

Once you’ve come to terms with the fact that Chuck will never be the show of intrigue or subtlety that you predicted, you can learn to laugh at well-constructed episodes like this one. You let go and you can enjoy yourself.

This episode is the first of this season, now that we’re down to two weeks and three episodes of this show left, to really have fun with its characters. Sure, we’ve exhausted some outfits for Sarah (including full-on nudity) given the Intersect to Morgan and a love interest for Casey as we scrape out all the half-incubated ideas the series had left. But this episode really felt like it was having fun with being a lame-duck series. You don’t have to hold back anymore. Be as crazy as you want to be. Let your (broadcast-approved) freak flag fly!

Everything from the language being used to the major arcs of the episode (and particularly the turning point for the season at the end of this episode) was inspired. If only they could’ve done this kind of thing consistently.

Let’s talk about what happened. Read more »

I know I’ve been a bit of a curmudgeon this season.  There have been a number of aspects of the season that have disappointed me–chief among them the sorry state of evil in Mystic Falls with super lame Klaus as our Big Bad.  Klaus is still lame, but we have a new baddie, and he’s kind of awesome.  So awesome I never want him to be good again–is that sacrilege?

I sometimes rate #TVD episodes based on how they redeem sorry characters, and certainly this ep can score well for that–namely through Bonnie being a really reasonable, honest, and moral person.  Other times, I rate the episodes based on thrills and surprises–we get those here, too.  Surprises abound, including Klaus’ secret crush, Stefan’s dastardly plan, and Tyler’s ugly allegiance to his sire. We even get some great conversations between Damon and a whole host of characters [great conversations on this show tend to be centered around Damon–what can I say?  The guy can talk].  So all things considered, this episode sort of rocked.

Now, I suppose another question I can ask is whether this episodes advanced the central plot in any significant manner, and on that score, the episode is weaker.  The casket is still closed, Klaus is still ineffectual, and Damon/Elena are in a holding pattern.  Nevertheless,  if the show’s writers keep going where they are, the storyline with Tyler is looming as one of the major ones of the season.  How much can Tyler control his own actions?  I’m envisioning a moment like in Return of the Jedi, when you see Vader pondering–loyalty to my master or save my son’s life?  Bit worried Tyler isn’t going to come out of this season alive (and that would be super sad since I love him with Caroline), but if he goes down in glory, maybe we’ll see his full redemption.

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“Did we just break in to a military base to investigate a rabbit?“

The Hound of Baskerville is probably the most well known Sherlock Holmes story. Even if they’ve never read it, people have heard of the title, maybe even seen one of the over twenty different adaptations of it in both film and television. I first read The Hound of Baskerville when I was kid in what was a (probably) heavily abridged version in the Great Illustrated Classics line, with an illustration opposite each page of text. It was among my favorites of those (I had a large chunk of the collection at the time), and Hound was for me, quintessential Holmes (never mind that I would never get around to another Holmes story for decades).

With the second season of Sherlock, there was a conscious effort to do the big, famous Holmes stories on the part of Moffat and Gatiss. As we saw last week, tackling those big stories is a daunting task, one rife with pitfalls of interpretation and faithfulness. And after the muddled result of “A Scandal in Belgravia”, I was a little worried about how Hound would survive the transition, not only because this is a story I have nostalgic attachment to (always a complicated issue to navigate) but because of the previous week’s efforts. Read more »