Smallville:
Crusade
The first episode of season four picks up three months after the events of the last episode and we see not much has changed. Lana is off in Paris, Clark is off somewhere with Jor-El, Jonathan's in a coma, Lionel is in prison, Chloe is presumed dead and Lex is close to death. And into all this comes a new catalyst--Lois Lane. Interesting choice by the producers to throw established Superman continuity to the wind and give us the first meeting of Lois and Clark at this point in his life. It also shoots a giant hole in my theory that Chloe dyes her hair and becomes Lois later in life. This one episode had a lot to clean-up from last season. And it does a pretty good job, even if it does try too hard to re-set things to status quo by episode's end. Martha is given some black Kryptonite by Dr. Swann's lacky, played by Margot Kidder and suddenly Clark is back, Jonathan is healed and things are all good on the Kent farm again. Yes, we still have some things up in the air--such as the fate of Chloe and why Lana has symbols tatooed to her now. About the only one who seems to be suffering long-term consequences of the season finale is Lex. No wonder he turns evil....
Lost:
Pilot (Part 1)
J.J. Abrams is becoming the next Joss Whedon--everything he touches on TV just turns out to be golden. Lost turns out to be yet another strong start to what promises to be an intriuging show. It's hard to comment too much on the overall episode, since we've only seen half of the pilot. But I will say this--so far, I'm hooked. I've enjoyed Matthew Fox's work back from his
Party of Five days. I'll comment more next week once we've seen the whole pilot...
Veronica Mars: Pilot
I'm amazed at how much I enjoyed this one. It reminds me a lot of
Buffy in that it looks like harmless, teen fluff, but instead turns out to have a lot more depth. Make no mistake, this show isn't lightweight by any stretch. And it's set up the central mystery of Vernoica's friend murder, how that relates to why her mom left and what happened to her the night of the big party where she got date-raped. The one drawback I see if how long can we keep up the central mystery before fans start demanding some answers. And if we get answers, how will that open new doors. But, for now, this one was diverting, entertaining and interesting.
Survivor: Vanutau
Interesting to see how Dolly thinks she's the power player on the island, only to be the first of the women to have her torch extinguished. Honestly, if you're the swing vote, it's best to not go around bragging about it. Part of the game is winning friends while not letting them get too close.
Of course, I really think Scout deserved the boot. She really messed up the immunity challenge--her not seeing the last set of pieces in the ocean may have cost the women their chance for immunity. Also, I loved seeing Sarge barking out orders--he was a natural.
The reward challenge kind of favored the women. Most guys I know don't like being that up close and personal with other guys.
The Apprentice
Watching this week's episode, I had to wonder something--if Trump had wanted "proof" of Stacie J's breakdown or change, he could've asked the producers to see footage of it. It's not like it's not on tape. Or does that violate some unwritten rule of the show? And do we really think the Donald didn't know about this before he went into the room? I think the Donald realizes that NBC is counting on him to deliver the ratings and buzz he did last year and has gone more maverick this season. Let's face it--Maria deserved firing for her portion of the project going way over budget. But instead, Trump goes crazy and calls everyone back to the Board Room. Yep, that'll get those people talkin' by the watercooler.
That said, I have to admit I think the guys got a better value for the money creating buzz. They were able to reach more people over a longer period of time. And in the buzz world, it's about getting the word out to as many people as possible.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 9/25/2004 08:55:00 PM |
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