Monsters of Television

As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

The Event is the newest super-mystery show aiming to take over LOST‘s role as the hot mythology show on broadcast network TV. Interlocking characters, ambiguous questions and motivations, time out of joint (narratively speaking anyway). Oh, and Luke Danes without a baseball cap. Yeah, we dare you to recognize him without it, too.

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“Desolation. Frostbite. Must be Russia.”

The gang’s all here.

Previously on Chuck: Chuck whined a lot about his feelings, was challenged by Superman-gone-rogue, finally got the girl, committed the cheesiest episode of the series, went a little batty, had his dad come up with a fix with a ridiculous name (the Governor) to combat his battiness (the calming effect of which is reminiscent of when Harry pushes off in Requiem for a Dream), implicated everyone he knows into his dangerous profession, watched a horrific family event, wrecked the Buy More, let his friends take the rap for it, and was bestowed with a posthumous mission to find his mother. Oh, and he quit the gym. I mean the CIA.

Hope that wasn’t too spoilery.

I shouldn’t have come in with expectations. But here’s the thing about Chuck: any audience member that pays any attention to the massive clues they drop knows exactly what’s going on. You knew who Orion was by mid-second season when Sarah and Chuck were discussing their daddy issues. You know where Shaw was going to land when they kept dropping evil audio tags to his scenes. While the show on an episode-to-episode basis isn’t necessarily predictable, the seasonal arcs are.

With that in mind, I was a little excited about how this season might go. They set Chuck up to have his own secret-secrets outside of the CIA/NSA, the Buy More was gone, Morgan was under the tutelage of our favorite hatchet man Casey, and they could start building on the Chuck and Sarah dynamic (only to challenge it with a possible rogue status). Lots of intrigue cooking, simmering, becoming a nice broth. But sadly, it was not to be.

When did Chuck become the Psych of broadcast?

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“There is no more Chuck Bass.”

Good thing this isn’t entirely true or I would have to throw myself off the Eiffel Tower.

Chuck pulled a Serena and attempted to reinvent himself by running away from his issues. Ok, so he got shot, was rescued by a beautiful girl and attempted to start a new life with her under a fake identity. Not exactly the same as just running away but it’s close enough. After losing the only thing (person actually) he ever really loved, he turned his back on everything and everyone else. But it’s a small world after all and even after fleeing to Paris he was forced to face his problems.

Literally.

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“There are 2 big days in any love story.”

I’m understandably weary of How I Met Your Mother after being bloodied and bruised last season. I put it on warning that it needed to step up its game if even wanted me to be writing about it every week, let alone watching it. And while I know my warnings mean a whole lot to the show (I have a ton of clout, after all), I figured them too arrogant to take my word on thing.

I’m pretty happy to report that the sixth season premiere helped erase doubts with, essentially, a bottle episode (a rare thing for a premiere, yes?) (also, I use the term bottle episode as would be best applied for HIMYM, not another, less cut-away jokey show). I’m still a little cautious (they burned me so hard last season), but the episodes provides an umbrella to the pessimism storm.

And umbrellas are important. Read more »

“It’s a business of sadists and masochists. And you know which on you are.”

Christina Hendricks in thick-frame glasses and pajamas? It’s like they know what I think about before I go to sleep at night.

I feel like I’m biologically and socially unprepared to fully address the issues brought up in this week’s Mad Men but I’m going to try my hand at it anyway. Feel free to correct my misguided views in the comments.

The title of the episode would lead you to believe that it’s just another day at the office for SCDP which is filled with the extraordinarily beautiful every day (except for Ms Blankenship, who was chosen specifically for who she is). It is, instead, much like the movie Beautiful Girls, an inspection of women in their position but, unlike that movie, this episode focuses more on the position of our leading ladies in the light of their time, particularly during the civil rights movement that continued without them.

So we look deeper into the lives of Joan, Peggy, and Faye as well as, and maybe most importantly, Sally Draper as well as Ms Blankenship (in a way). It is their success and the assumptions made about their success that this episode wants us to scrutinize and, even if some of their actions are irrational or seem unmotivated and inorganic (namely the scene with Joan and Roger in the bad neighborhood), it all has direction, precedent, and, at the very least, a little bit of simple symbolism.

And it all starts with another clash between Peggy and the anti-establishment.

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“You’re lucky you weren’t on duty when he had his conjugal visit with a freaking shoe.”

This review will have to be quick and dirty, which is fitting since this episode was more or less the same way. While last week’s episode was a glorious romp, “Pomp & Circuitry” feels like a great deal of piece moving to (hopefully) gets things in place for the tail end of the season that leads to a big splashy event like Season 2’s “Showdown at Cremation Creek” 2-parter.

The continues to conspire against anyone being happy, as Dean doesn’t seem on going to State University (and why would he? Look at all the nuts that went there before him!) and Hank wants to head over to the army (when he really means S.P.H.I.N.X (Sphinx!)) instead of going to college, and Rusty learns that his name is essentially meaningless (again). The only one seems to have anything going for him is Phantom Limb, and he’s still in love with a high heel he stole from Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. Read more »

Your weekly dose of sexy. Careful, he'll glamor you.

Can’t say it was world’s most eventful episode, but it had many pleasures to offer. Here are some great lines to tempt you:

“What is that smell?”
“I can’t explain it. It’s creepy.  That’s all I’ve got.”
“Your silence is deafening, Stefan.”
“Whatever happens, it’s on you”

Oh, and Damon threatened to shove Jeremy’s ring up his you know what.  Picking on Jeremy is so much fun.

The spoilers, btw, begin….right now!

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“She’s a tech nerd, she’s one hundred and fifty and you’re…Myka. Not exactly relationship success stories.”

This penultimate (not including the standalone Christmas) episode had quite a bit of foreshadowing. And some less subtle hints at things to come in the finale and beyond. It also featured some universe building, character development and witty dialogue. Anyone who thinks Syfy can’t become a top notch original programming channel without the aid of Battlestar Galactica is sadly mistaken.

Was anyone else’s heart racing when Claudia was named caretaker of Warehouse 13? If not you may wanna check your pulse.

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“Why is nobody wearing shoes?”

After watching LUX all day, capping off the evening with an episode of Parenthood threatened to send me into a family-drama sugar coma, leaving me to ponder how affected I am from my childhood and why I have no paternal desire. But, instead, the season premiere left me less sentimental and more glad to see these characters again.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this episode since it was mostly lighter fare and set-up for drama later on down the road but there were some interesting additions and wrinkles to this season that make me look forward to future episodes.

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