Enterprise: Storm Front, Part 2
Looking at the fourth season starter for Enterprise, I found it hard to muster up much concern for the dilemma that Archer and company were facing. After spending all of last season stopping the Xindi threat, somehow alien Nazis who are from the future and want to return there just didn't muster up the same kind of edge-of-your-seat, compelling viewing that the final few chapters of the Xindi arc did. Again, the Xindi arc had all season to build up a sense of urgency and also give us some recurring characters that we could root for and against whereas here we only had two episodes that were largely plot-driven so the chance to actually care about the characters on any level other than a superficial one never really gelled. Not that Manny Coto doesn't valiantly try his best--I liked the idea of Vosk planting seeds of doubt in Archer's mind about Daniel's motives and intentions. I'll also give Coto credit for taking a huge number of plotthreads and finding a way to tell a story that moves along without being too muddled or incoherent a mess in the end. That said, the ending just wasn't that compelling. Archer and company blow up some stuff and save the future, though I'm still quite sure why stopping Vosk at that point meant the timeline was restored. And while the special effects sequences were breathtaking and nicely done, I found myself wishing for something more than just a, well, we blew up the bad guys and won the day ending.
I'm hoping now that we've dealt with the resolving the Temporal Cold War plotlines and the evil Nazi aliens plotline, that we might see Enterprise get back to Earth and deal with some of the fallout from the Xindi storyline last year. I'm hoping we get an episode like what
TNG did with "Home" in season four that dealt with the fallout of Picard's capture by the Borg and not just a relentless pushing forward into exploring the unknown and meeting cool aliens wekk after week.
Scrubs: My Cake
If there's any doubt that this is one of, if not the best shows on TV, then "My Cake" firmly erases all of that. There are so few shows that you can go from laugh out loud funny to genuinely moved in just a few seconds. But, Scrubs does it week in and week out with grace, ease and depth. J.D.'s brother shows up with bad news--his father has passes away. (J.D.'s dad was played by the late John Ritter). The episode really focuses on the aftershocks of how men deal with bad news. Turk finds out he has type 2 diabetes, J.D. loses his father and the janitor tries to make Kelso think he's losing his mind. Every week, I find more to respect and love about Dr. Cox, who comes through for J.D., trying to help him in the only ways he can. The final scene with J.D., his brother and Cox sitting around, watching sports and talking about his dad was perfect. Man, this show is good....
Veronica Mars: Meet John Smith
The best mysteries are those that put the answer right there in plain sight, but distract you with misdirections and red herrings until the big reveal. And, man, this episode got me hook, line and sinker. At first, I thought Justin's wanting to find his father was just a way to try and hook up with Veronica. Instead, we find out that his father isn't really deal but has, instead, undergone a sex change operation. Turns out she's the woman who keeps coming into the video store asking for his recommendations on movies. I did not see the twist coming until his dad pulled up in the driveway to end act three...and then, you just do a Homer Simpon, "D'oh!" because it's so obvious about the solution. As if that weren't enough, we get some teasing about the on-going Erica Kane plotline and its affects on her family. Please, please, please don't let this show get cancelled before we resolve all of this. It's just far too interesting.
Boston Legal
They expect us to believe that Freddie Prinze Jr is the son of Shatner?!? You must be joking right! Thankfully, we find out that Prinze's character is not the offspring of Shatner. That just can't happen. Shatner=cool. Freddie Prinze, Jr=guy whose wife has all the acting talent in the family and won't be remembered ten years from now. (BTW--Prinze is married to Sarah Michelle Gellar).
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/18/2004 11:53:00 AM |
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