Day Three Hundred and Twenty-five - Dr.Who: Series 2, Episode 6, "DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!"

If there's one thing that I hate about Dr.Who, and I've probably mentioned this before, it's the constant refresh of old fan-favorite villains. I know that I'm the minority, but I despise the Daleks and Cybermen, and guess who shows up in this alternate reality of Earth that The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey manage to MacGuffin their way into?

The Cybermen.

Toasters on their heads and everything, the Cybermen have returned to the Whovian universe... well, a version of it anyway, where Britain is a society under siege with curfews for the poor and zeppelins for the rich. This is also a Britain where Rose's father, Pete, is still alive and married to Jackie. Also, they're in the money... and there's no Rose. Well, there is a Rose, but not the one played by Billy Piper. No, the Rose in this universe is a lapdog. Literally.

Anyways, the meat of the episode is the coup that a Howard Hughes type attempts against the President of the UK (Get it? President instead of Prime Minister? It really IS a parallel universe! XP) in the form of the Human 2.0 Upgrade, which turns out to be a forced conversion into Cybermen.

Aside from the return of the Cybermen, I'm also annoyed by the instant stupidity that both Mickey and Rose seem to catch when they find out that they're in an alternate reality. Despite Mickey knowing just what can happen in A-U stories thanks to movies and television, he still runs off to visit his not-dead A-U grandma... and Rose does the same in looking for Pete, her father. I mean, really? Have they learned absolutely nothing thanks to their time traveling antics? Especially Rose after she nearly destroyed all reality by trying to save her father from the car accident that killed him in her own universe?

It's also annoying how spoonfed the clues are concerning the "eventual" reveal of the Cybermen. Whether it's the earbud antennae that form the familiar head box or the out of focus Cyber at the beginning and the near constant shots of their stomping feet during the rank and file attack on Jackie's birthday party... it's all just one big already spoiled tease.

More ham-fisted writing on behalf of the crew, I suppose. Only so much you can do to get the primary conflicts of an episode this ridiculous started.

But, it's all to be expected, I guess. Dr.Who is only okay on its best of days, so there are bound to be some pandering crapfests here and there, even if it had been improving lately. Sad thing for me is that this is a two part episode (which I will get to, probably in the next few days). Such is life.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-four - Fringe: Season 4, Episode 12, "Timecop Physics, Minimal Effects Necessary"

The last episode of Fringe that I did for the blog was the pilot. Here, we skip a bit, settling in on the middle of the fourth season and a LOT of stuff has gone down between the two. Suffice it to say, you'd be doing yourself a great disservice not watching the series from beginning to end.

That said, the reason I'm doing it is because this episode is where I left off before completely shunning broadcast/satellite television in favor of internet streaming and DVDs. And boy is it a doozy of one, despite the fact that there's not a lot of progress concerning the major season and series arcs that Fringe has become known for.

That's not to say there aren't connections to said arcs, though, as the majority of the episode happens in a small town that has been cut off from the rest of the universe. Attempting to leave only results in a mobius strip-like occurrence where you wind up back at the other side of town, a la Pleasantville. Instead of quaint, 50's era Americana, though, this town is populated with residents gone insane and precious few survivors who are constantly in fear for their lives.

Enter Olivia, Peter, and Walter, who show up to town quite accidentally to investigate a suspicious fringe event just up the highway only to become trapped themselves. Of course, being who they are, they manage to survive the rampaging psychopaths and deduce the nature of the cross-dimensional event that is plaguing the town, finding a safe zone before the entire area is destroyed.

While not quite a bottle episode, I do like how close it comes, with the Fringe team caught and unable to escape, doing their best to help the trapped townsfolk while dealing with their own issues, particularly THIS universe's Olivia starting to manifest the memories of Peter's Olivia (say, Olivia-Prime?)... which causes a bit of confusion for Peter at the end of the episode when Newlivia fully slides into the persona and memories of Olivia-Prime.

It's all very sad and can be a little confusing (especially if you're skipping straight to this from the pilot some 90 episodes ago)... a lot of water under the bridge that the writers are trying to rectify, but they're doing a very interesting job of it, especially considering how brave and bold the concepts are that they're trying to explore as the series wears on. The Observers, multiple versions of the same person from different realities with startlingly different motivations, fantastic science fiction that is just too preposterous to believe outside of television, but also vaguely fun and convincing.

Definitely the spiritual successor of the X-Files, but much more liberal with the lengths it is willing to go to stretch the bounds of reality. People tend to give it a lot of crap because of how weird and obfuscating the previous JJ Abrams show, LOST, became downright silly, but I think Fringe is much more grounded... and yes, I realize that I'm typing this concerning a show about alternate universes and surviving huge cross-dimensional events.

I highly recommend Fringe, as mentioned above, from start to finish. It's compelling, dramatic, fantastic, romantic, and just plain fun. Check it. NOW!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-three - Scrubs: Season 1, Episode 2, "Rowdy? No!"

I love Scrubs... well, mostly.

There was that time where it changed networks and lost (then regained) most of its cast while never truly bouncing back from the transition. Then there was all of the on-again/off-again romantic hijinks between JD and Elliot that was almost as melodramatic as its prime time drama counterparts like ER and Gray's Anatomy.

Q.E.D., early Scrubs is best Scrubs... even if I do love how JD and Elliot eventually take their forever waffling relationship... and this episode is, most assuredly, early Scrubs.

JD and Elliot are playing it cool, not together and officially trying the "just friends" thing, Turk and Carla are busy doing their pre-dating dance, and Dr.Cox? Well, Dr.Cox hasn't yet acquired his perfect foil in the form of Drew Carey alum, Christa Miller. While JD is trying connect with a good patient (with a bad habit) and looking for help from his mentor (Dr.Cox), Elliot pisses off the nurses and has to rely on Turk to help pull her foot from her mouth.

While, thematically, this episode definitely falls into the series' shakedown period, folks still growing comfortable in their roles and relationships starting to develop, a lot of the small asides and circumstantial jokes are started to crop up... like JD's fourth wall breaking and his daydream sequences.

   



I'm especially fond of Dr.Kelso's blatantly obvious two-faced nature and JD and Turk's constant repositioning of their stuffed dog, Rowdy, so as to cause Elliot discomfort. Well, that might not be their reasoning, now that I think about it. It's almost as if, by moving him around, they're allowing Rowdy to live life (or his taxidermied unlife) to the fullest.

It's also nice to see Carla and Turk before they got together. Their relationship, marriage, and family life were the social bedrock that allowed main character JD the flexibility and stability to have a consistently foiled lovelife to keep the comedy and drama going for the duration of many of its seasons. It was a great contrast... for the series... but it's good to see their beginnings, again.

I'm a little bummed how little early characterization there is for The Janitor, but I know there's plenty of good to come from our favorite JD hater, so no real worries there. I guess I don't have any real substantial complaints other than that it's just an alright series at this point. Plenty of potential, but not exactly a shining effort from the get-go. It gets better, though, so there's that.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-two - Rowan Atkinson Live! "Oh, well... I'm sorry... I didn't, um... right."

I know it's sacrilege, but I'm really not all that much of a fan of Mr.Bean... and Blackadder could be hit or miss, depending on the episode... and don't even get me started on Johnny English (poor Gillian Anderson). Still, it's not that I don't think Rowan Atkinson is a good comedy writer/performer, it's just that his schtick generally isn't my thing.

To be honest, I could really see the wit and humor that went into the majority of the sketches in LIVE, but I just never really felt like laughing. In fact, for the entirety of the performance, I'm pretty sure that I only chuckled a few times... and never outright laughed out loud. There were many jokes that brought a smile to my face, but that's about it.

Standout performances for the set I think were the dating sketch, the three-part wedding sequence, and the acting class bit that rounds out the show. I was especially fond of that last one due to all of the hammy, melodramatic pantomiming. Good stuff, but as I mentioned before, just amusing.

On the flip side, I really had a problem with his Indian Restaurant bit where he playacts being a server, complete with wardrobe and accent, to a bunch of drunk of their ass football fans. Sure, it's comedy, but I found it blatantly offensive. I mean, at least he didn't cork his face, but it was still pretty bad.

I think, if you're a big fan of his physical comedy, this show will be up your alley, but it didn't do anything for me. Maybe I'm just too much of a comedy snob of late, as it seems like most of the routines that I watch just aren't up to my standards.

Hmm... a little light in the bytes, today. Just not much to say about this show, unfortunately. Oh well.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-one - Leverage: Season 1, Episode 4, "Preachy Miracle Blues"

You know, I want to love Leverage... the problem is, several episodes in, I think I'm only ever going to be in "like mode" with the series.

It has a hippish jazz soundtrack that heavily features the bass line, is very much in tune with the "punish the corporate overloads" zeitgeist of income disparity America, and manages to pull off most of its capers (at least the ones we've seen for far) in forty minutes of "To Catch A Thief" theatrics. There's just the right amount of intra-team rivalries and friendships, none of the bad guys are ever all that sympathetic, and there's a soft wit that pervades but doesn't overpower... but therein lie some of Leverage's weaknesses.

Take this episode, for example. Billed as a personal job for an old friend of Nate's, The Miracle Job is about trying to scam a manic real estate developer into giving up his plans to first tear down a church... and then stop him from turning the "miracle" they used to scare him off into a religious themed amusement park which is just so off the scales ridiculous, that the episode loses me right there.

I mean, seriously, it felt like I was watching an updated version of The A-Team what with all of its melodramatic villains and corny solutions... and, in a way, Leverage is just that, only transplanted into the modern day and without the US Army making a bumbling chase in the background.

Not that I don't mind seeing DB Sweeney make a guest appearance as the priest, but I've seen him in too many roguish roles to take him seriously as a man of the cloth (rather like how Ray Wise can never do the same in Psyche, as hard as he tries).

There are a few good points to the episode, though... early on, when Nate visits his preacher friend in the hospital, there's an intercom announcement in the background that is a nice, subdued reference to his son dying previous to the series. Also, there's finally a direct mention of the tension between Nate and Sophie, which anyone can see in just about every episode, considering how much they try and emphasize the chemistry.

Still, despite its occasional strengths, Leverage is just an "alright" series, never burgeoning on genius or compelling. It's the kind of show that you can easily have on in the background and never really care about. Sure, it's fun... but ultimately, it's just generic and sterile and, well, empty. It's not bad, but it will never be great, I think.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty - Chuck: Season 1, Episode 10, "Black Friday Blues"

Perhaps I should've saved this episode for next week, but I can't help but stumble onto holiday episodes when I binge watch, and this one was seen fortuitously close to the holiday it's supposed to cover, so... what the heck.

It's a CHUCK Family Thanksgiving!

To catch folks up since the last episode I blogged about was the pilot, Chuck Bartowski was entrusted with a super-MacGuffiny bit of fake technology, a computer program that downloads itself into his head thanks to his old rival, a CIA Agent named Bryce Larkin, who was thought to be dead for the past nine episodes or so, but shows up completely recovered and ready to screw things up. This is especially true since Sarah used to be together with Bryce, but was kissing Chuck (finally!) during the last few ticks of a supposed bomb they were unable to defuse and were thusly doomed, making it okay to bring out the tongue.

Draaaamaaaaaaa~

Anyways, THIS episode features Bryce trying to reinsert himself both in Sarah's love life and Chuck's spy life as he is hunted by a secret evil CIA faction called Fulcrum. Meanwhile, Morgan and Anna are dealing with her jealousy issues at Thanksgiving dinner concerning Ellie. Oh, and Chuck catches Bryce and Sarah snogging at dinner the day before a giant Black Friday shootout at the Buy More, which leaves the episode on a cliffhanger of whether she will chase after her old flame or stick with the new.

Ouch.

CHUCK is and always shall be cheese, but it's fun cheese, scratching my lonely gamer geek wish-fulfillment urges. Even the perpetual, back-stabbing losers of the cast, Lester and Jeff, manage to live full and happy lives at their dead end retail jobs!

It's weird that it just openly acknowledges that we live as sheep in a wide, conspiracy driven world where we are saved from disaster only through luck and perseverance from dedicated hotties (Yvonne Strahovski) and gruff John Wayne types (Adam Baldwin) and there are always bigger, more secretive nefarious organizations to thwart. Maybe that fact makes it easier for real life New World Order conspiracies to keep us as content consumers, but you can't prove it... and maybe that's the point. Scary thought.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Nineteen - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Episode 1, "Charming, Clever, Independent, Sexy Women... Uh, yes please?"

Period murder mysteries generally flip my switch to begin with, there's something about detective work before the age of CSI-style Enhance-O-MacGuffins, where forensics were as primitive as it gets and true investigation comes from the minds of frank deduction and legwork that infinitely pleases me. Add to that the style and panache of yesteryear and you've sold me.

Throw a compelling lead in the pot and I'm pretty much yours to do with as thou wilt.

Really, only the worst of writing and direction could tear me away from the like of Poirot, Foyle, Sherlock... and, now, Miss Fisher. From the looks of this first episode, I'll be very happy for quite some time.

Set in the age of the flapper, but in Australia instead of America or Europe, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries takes the eponymous character from inciting incident through perilous twists and turns and on to a quite satisfying denouement with a twist that, while a little cliche, is still satisfying that's due to both the journey that got us there and the side characters that populate the background.

Phryne Fisher (Essie Davies), a titled heiress with plenty of time and money on her hands, returns to Melbourne after a lengthy absence to make sure her relative's murderer gets his just desserts, but that's the season subplot running in small scenes around the main episode plot, the murder of a shipping magnate whose wife is an old friend of Phryne... and the series of events that endanger several persons, including herself, as well as illegal abortion, the cocaine trade, and murder most foul.

While all that is well and good, what really strikes me about the series is how it is utterly dominated by strong women of every sort. There's Phryne, of course, but also her doctor best friend, several different black hats (don't want to spoil), and Phryne's maid and prim aunt, each wonderfully fleshed out in their own way and decidedly complex.

That's not to say that there aren't interesting male characters, but they most certainly take a back seat to their opposite gender here and I love it.

Additionally, it's nice to see a female lead who is decidedly sexual and confident about it (this is the 20's after all, full of women asserting themselves), but not just a piece of meat to be objectified. Sure, her name is a little on the nose in origins (honestly, what parent would do that). In spite of that, though, the presentation teeters on the edge of racy for the era, but never showing more than a tasteful tease. From tangos to Turkish baths, sex is present, but not titillating. A rather classy feat in an age of television where most prosaic procedurals and mysteries are more concerned with having their female leads parading about with their top 3-4 buttons undone for no reason other than ratings.

On the whole, I really dig the style and wit of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, even if the mysteries themselves are a bit lacking. Despite that one flaw, there are just too many other, very compelling reasons to watch the show to give it up.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~