Lost: There's No Place Like HomeWhile not nearly as series-changing as last year's season finale, there was a lot to like about this year's season finale.
I will say one thing though--Damon Lindelof and Carelton Cuse are right about one thing. The scenarios to explain things that we, the fans, dream up in our own heads are generally better than the ones the series gives us. I say this in reference to the whole "reason we all have to lie about the island" that has been building up as an undercurrent to every flash-forward this year. Frankly, I was expecting something a lot more than what we got. Yes, I understand that Jack, as the flawed leader of this group, makes a decision to protect everyone that was left behind. But somehow I expected the rift that grew between he and Kate over leaving Sawyer behind to be something a bit more significant. Sawyer makes a noble sacrifice by jumping out of the helicopter and swimming back to the island. Noble, yes. In character with Sawyer, yes. But such a huge decision that it will be a constant source of conflict between Jack and Kate? Not so much. Now, if Sawyer had died in order to get Kate off the island or Jack had somehow managed to do something wherein he got to leave with Kate and Sawyer got the shaft, I could see it. But what we got here seemed like the easiest way to go. Almost as if they went--well, we have to leave Sawyer behind and we've got to come up with something that doesn't kill him. Because you know if they killed off Sawyer there would be female fans of the show rioting in the streets.
Then, we get to the revelation of who's in the coffin. About halfway through I said it would either be Sawyer or Locke. And in the end, it turns out to be Locke. I will give
Lost credit that it was one of those--huh, well now what? cliffhangers they excel at, for the most part. Well, unless they're doing a mid-season cliffhanger and then the producers don't seem to have a clue. ("Run, Kate!" and this year's anyone?)
Finally, has the show really done the ultimate
X-Files crossover not only have an island that makes time go wonky but also has super soldiers. Seriously, did no one thing to check and see if the head of the Whitmore group of soldiers was dead? They couldn't spare a second to check for a pulse and maybe tie the guy up. And don't get me started on the whole--I've got the trigger tied to my heartbeat thing. I have to admit even my eyes rolled a bit at that one.
OK, so enough of what I didn't care for. Let's get to the bigger things that I did like.
First of all, it could still be possible for Jin to be alive. I'd love to see that. Mayhaps we'll see Whidmore find the island again and use that as some kind of leverage against Sun. That'd be one heck of a moment.
As with all good season finales, we got a few answers and many more questions. The biggest is--just where did the island move? And can it be found again? If so, how? Will Ben have to have Charles Whidmore's help to find the island? Or will they have Penny help them out? Of course, the fact that Ben has set out to kill Penny could throw a monkey wrench into that. And does going back mean they have to find and take Desmond with them? If so, I can imagine that conservation won't go well since we've seen Desmond spend three years to get off the island and back to Penny.
It was nice to see Walt in a flash-forward, coming to talk to Hurley. I do wonder if Locke came to see everyone after he left the island. Or did he only visit Jack since the two have the longest history of conflict. Or that Jack was the perceived leader now.
Speaking of Locke, I am fascinated to see what he does now as the leader of the Others. I do wonder just how Ben set him up to be the leader now. Does no one else want the job? It does seem rather thankless. And will the whole "things go bad" storyline come out of Locke's attempts to be Ben and not succeeding?
Wow, that's a whole lot of questions and not a lot of answers. But it did leave me ready for more. And that's what a good season finale can and should do.
House: House's Mind, Wilson's HeartI usually don't write much about
House on my blog. Why you ask?
Well, because it's not a show that really lends itself to much in the way of discussion. It's a good show, though fairly predictable and saved by fantastic work by Hugh Laurie. This season has been, overall, pretty good. Watching
House try to find a new team was a fun reason to watch in the first half of the season and then watching the weird triangle of House, Wilson and Amber drove the last half of the season.
And so, we come to these two episodes that try to wrap-up or resolve the House, Wilson, Amber triangle. I've heard a lot of people raving about how these are the best episodes of House ever and I have to say, they're good but best ever. I just don't see it. Maybe it's because the whole mystery of who was the person House was trying to recall was pretty obvious from the first few hints we got. Or maybe I've just watched Jurassic Park recently on cable and seeing the amber there was too big a clue.
But I think my biggest beef is this--I've been burned too many times by this show in the past at the promise of series-changing, character-changing events only to see it all come to nothing or be forgotten within a few episodes. Clearly, what's happened here can and should change the friendship between House and Wilson. But will it? I'm not so sure. If you'll recall, there were series-altering events in season three with House's leg pain being healed and the Tritter arc. But then the producers found a way to magically press the reset button to keep House an addict, lonely and in pain and a huge liability to his employers and friends. I will admit that season four did a good job of at least not resetting the firing of the original team in last year's season finale, so there is some hope. But until the show actually steps up and dares to have consquences to this that go beyond two episodes, I'm not going to go all ga-ga over the show.
Also, this was a pretty blatant rip-off of season one's "Three Cases."
And you can also tell the producers are trying to get Hugh Laurie his much overdue Emmy with this one. And make no mistake--the man deserves one. His work on the show is nothing short of incredible. And how James Spader keeps winning is beyond me.
Smallville: ArticIf
Lost was the most satisfying of the season finales, then
Smallville is in the running for the least satisfying.
You could almost see the writing staff trying to wipe the slate clean and hope to start fresh next year. I hope you guys have a good time because, quite frankly, you've lost me.
After two years of Brainiac running around, being a legitimate threat, the character is dispatched in one scene. Clark finally decides he's had enough and uses high voltage to destroy Brainiac. Honestly, I'd rather they left this bit dangling and resolved it next year in more than, oh, five minutes of screen time. But maybe the availability of James Marsters was in question. I'm not quite sure, but the resolution here felt wholly unsatisfying.
But it was more satisfying than the resolution of the Lex storyline. So, this year Lex finally goes evil and then we have a couple of filler episodes? Surely in a strike-shortened season, we could have found a moment or two to show Lex being evil, couldn't we? No, instead let's do the umpeenth adaptation of It's A Wonderful Life for our show. Can you hear my eyes rolling?
So, Lex finally founds out Clark's big secret. And instead of being a dramatic, series-changing, incredible scene, it feels anti-climatic. Maybe that's because we had to mark time to get to that point and the plots marking that time--just terrible. Now, at last, the conflict between Lex and Clark can finally kick it into high gear and...well, Lex is gone. See, Michael Rosenbaum is gone from the show (he must have seen the writing on the wall), so Lex is gone. So this whole build-up...for nothing. Any fall-out...there won't be any. Any great potential drama from this...gone.
As the Fortress fell apart and sank into the Artic, so did my hopes for this show.
But, at least it wasn't a "world in peril" cliffhanger that
Smallville usually does. Those at least intrigue me enough to come back and see how they get out of it this time. And I get sucked back into the show, wanting it to be good. This time, I'm left with a cliffhanger that honestly I could care less about how it comes out since I know Lex won't be back next year. And with that, I believe I'm officially done with
Smallville.Labels: House, Lost, smallville, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 6/04/2008 02:00:00 PM |
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Battlestar Galactica: "The Tie That Binds"
So, here's my latest theory on how Galactica might end. In Razor, we saw the old-school Cylons. I've heard that the old-school Cylons will show up somehow this season. We also have a civil war of sorts brewing with the fleet. With the Raiders and Centurians now having their freedom and free-will back, could this be the trigger that will allow them to not only turn on the lines they've already turned on the other lines as well. They wipe out all the skin job Cylons and take over and somehow it leads to the start of the original BSG and the famous line "All this has happened before and will happen again."
OK, so maybe it only makes sense to me. But if I were to sit around thinking about how we've only got sixteen new episodes of this show left after how good this week's episode was, I'd be a lot more depressed.
Watching the streaming episodes on Friday mornings helps me to avoid the SPOILER-ific previews. I've heard from some that the ending of this one was given away by the previews. That's a shame really because I think it could have ruined some of the impact of Cally's death had I known it was coming leading into the episode. Not that the poor woman wasn't doomed from the second she found out her husband had a secret and then finding out what it was. Now, I will admit the whole "Oh I'm leaving a note of our secret meeting" rang a bit too false and inconvenient as a way to get Cally to the meeting and set off the final series of events. But I did like where it took the story and the dark places Galactica is going looking at the implications of these four being revealed as four of the final five.
It's also interesting to watch how they're reacting. Tigh seems to not want to deal with the reality any more (wonder if he'll hit the bottle harder) while Tyrol and Tori are trying to come to grips with what it really means and the impact it is having on their lives.
Meanwhile, the difference between the Cylon fleet and the Colonial fleet are becoming less and less distinct. In-fighting and politics are dividing the various players--whether it be in the Cylon fleet deciding whether or not to un-box the Deanna line or in the fleet with Roslin's apparent consolidation of power. It's also interesting to see who is on the sidelines making maneuvers. In the Colonials, we have Tom Zarak who is pulling the strings of Lee Adama. I'm not sure what yet what Zarak's overall agenda could be, but watching Lee Adama call Roslin on the way in which she's enacting things and couching herself inside the cloak of "military secrets" to side step some issues is fascinating. Of course, it's not like Admiral Adama has done her any favors by allowing Starbuck to chase her connection to Earth with a ship of her own.
Meanwhile, the Cylon fleet is dividing but wants to come together in unity. Or at least they say they do. If by unity you mean wiping each other and having political alliances. Interesting to see that one Sharon model is apparently romantically linked to one Cavil model and that's where the separate vote arose.
Of course, I do have one other question--and that's how much time is passing. We're told the ship Starbuck commands has been gone 22 days. But when we cut to the Cylon ships, the Centurians are still cleaning up the mess from last week. Would they really do that for 20 or so days? Or was it a symbolic gesture to disconcert the Cavils?
Just a thought....
Smallville: Descent
So, after seven seasons it's finally here. Lex Luthor has embraced his dark side and gone from friend to enemy. The friendship between Lex and Clark is (finally) shattered forever and now all that's really left is for Clark to become the Man of Steel.
Watching Lex's final steps into darkness were fascinating and compelling. Let's face it--when it comes to Smallville, Lex has been the more interesting character since day one. A lot of that goes to the acting efforts of Michael Rosenbaum. But I think a lot of it goes to the fact that it's just more interesting to watch the bad guy become the bad guy. And while I may not always have been happy with the direction and the reasons Smallville gave for the rift between Lex and Clark and how it grew, I liked the payoff here.
And thankfully unlike the 100th episode, it appears the series-changing events of this one will stick. I imagine Lionel is dead and gone, that Lex has truly descended into darkness and that Clark is now in danger of becoming Lex's pawn. That said, I bet the whole Lex has something that can control Clark won't become a huge plot-point until the season finale in which the world will somehow be ending yet again.
"Descent" did have some interesting visual choices. Having the young, innocent version of Lex that has been struggling to get out appear visually was a nice touch. And it at least justifies that "Clark wanders around in Lex's mind" episode earlier this year. And the ways in which we saw Clark and Lex mirror each other during the story was a nice touch visually.
I may even go so far as to say that this is the most satisfying and complete episode of Smallville we've had all season and in a while. Which only means they'll somehow find a way to completely disappoint me next week.Labels: battlestar galactica, smallville, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 4/20/2008 07:28:00 PM |
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Bionic Woman: Pilot
Based on the strength of the creative staff behind the show, I was really, really looking forward to seeing Bionic Woman.
That said, I was kind of worried that NBC might be hyping it too much--ratcheting up my expectations to such a height that virtually no show could live up to them.
After one episode, all I have to say is, "So far, so good."
I don't recall much about the 70s version of the show. I do know it was a spin-off of Six Million Dollar Man and that it had Lindsay Wagner...but that's about it. Oh and that it was kind of campy. So, I guess you could say I'm coming into this one fresh.
Now, I'll admit--the first chance I had to download and watch the pilot, I took it. And when I saw it, I have to admit I liked...especially the second-half when it gave off the Buffy-vibe (I was having flashbacks of Buffy and Faith battling as we watched Jamie battle the evil Bionic Woman played by Katie Sackoff...and in a good way). It's interesting that the show would remind me of Buffy. It's certainly playing off some of the same themes--woman leading an ordinary life one day is suddenly given powers and has to learn how to use them in order to "save the world." On Buffy, we battled the supernatural forces and here...well, I guess we'll wait and see. The interesting part is that we have the dark Bionic Woman introduced early and it should be interesting to see how that give and take develops. I'm glad they signed Katie Sackoff to a recurring role status--the scenes with her character just had a lot more pop and tension.
I will admit, some of the elements of the show were a bit forced...the whole sister angle, not sure where that's going. But I'm willing to give the show a chance based on what I've seen here. The first episode is good and I can't wait for the second.
Smallville: Bizarro
The good thing about the season premiere is that, for once, Smallville doesn't feel the need to wrap up everything with a nice, neat bow. It does deal with Bizarro Clark, though I fully expect he'll be back later this year (though I'm still waiting for Brainiac to return as well....so take my prediction with a grain of salt) and Chloe comes back to life. Of course, the show has to go to great lengths to make Lois dumber than a box of rocks and just accept that weird stuff happens and not question it any more. But I keep recalling my pledge to turn off my brain and just go with it, and that seems to be helping a lot.
Meanwhile, Lana is alive...though how she escaped and/or knew her car was wired to blow up, I'm not sure. Unless she did it to frame Lex, but that's giving the girl a lot more credit that I think she should be given.
Family Guy: The Star Wars parody
Robot Chicken's was better.
And while I liked the one joke about hyper-space looking like the opening credits of Tom Baker Dr Who, the rest of the show was too scattershot. And, typical Family Guy, jokes are allowed to run too long, until all the funny is sucked out of the gag.
The Office: Fun Run
I read an interview where the production team behind The Office said they were looking at the hour-long episodes to open the season as a feature film and not just two episodes jammed together. And having seen this week's episode, I think they took that thought too far. Like most comedies these days, they had some good jokes that were stretched too thin over the running time of the episode.
Don't get me wrong--there were times in this episode I was on the floor laughing. But it also felt like, at times, we were stretchings things a bit. That said, it was still funnier than Caveman will ever be on its best day.Labels: Bionic Woman, Family Guy, smallville, The Office, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 9/29/2007 04:30:00 PM |
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The Dresden Files: Birds of a Feather
Couple of reasons for my interest in this one. I've read the first few novels in this series and found them enjoyable and fun. Then, you add in the guy adapting the novels for TV is Robert Hewitt Wolfe who oversaw some of the best seasons of DS9 and you've got a pretty good combination.
So, the first episode--so far, so good. I'm not devoted enough to the original texts to point out everything that's been changed, but some things obviously have to be in order to make it work for television. I will admit that I do miss the first-person perspective we get in the novels, but I'm not sure having a Harry Dresden voice over would work as well here. The first episode of the show nicely establishes the situation, the tone and the on-going plotlines for the show, all while delivering a creepy, entertaining main mystery plot for Harry to solve. It has my interest and it's one of those shows I think could really grow into something, should SciFi give it a chance. I don't think SciFi did it any favors by having the first episode airing during the AFC Championship game. I hope that the potential audience won't tune it out, fearing they're lost and won't catch up. This one has potential.
Smallville: Labrynth
Seems that every sci-fi show worth its salt has one of those episodes were the hero or one of the heroes questions what is and isn't real. Is the reality Clark experience in the show just a fantasy he's made up to not deal with the fact that he's kind of crazy and in a mental hosptial. The success of episodes like this hinge on how the two realties feed each other and where the differences emerge. Seeing Lex in a wheelchair with no legs is a nice homage to the pilot. Thinking that Lana would wait around while Clark is the looney bin screams of adolescent fantasy to the n-th degree and, unfortuantely, revives the Clark loves Lana plotline that, dear heavens, I thought this show was done with. Plus notes go to the show for the introduction of Martian Manhunter, moving the Phantom Zone fugitives plotline forward and actually being better than I thought it'd be based on the preview. Show loses points for Clark being able to walk out of mental hospital just by putting on a baseball cap.
But just so you know--Buffy did it better.
Friday Night Lights: Little Girl, I Wanna Marry You
Curse the NBC promo department for giving us the last scene in the previews all week! Someone needs to be taken out and flogged--either that or made to watch endless repeats of My Mother the Car until they see the error of their ways.
That said, this show continues to get better. If you're not watching, make this appointment television immediately. Trust me, it's that good.
This week's episode comes from the pen of Jason Katsims who wrote for Roswell back in the day. I think he created it as well. He knows how to write for teens and not make it sound, well, like Dawson's Creek. (I actually watched Roswell for a season and a half or so..it was entertaining and it was on after Buffy, so there you go. Plus any show with Sheri Appleby and Katerine Heigel....how can you go wrong?) Katsims also wrote the second episode where Friday went from good to great and hasn't looked back.
There were so many good scenes that this post could just be listing them all. But I won't. I've narrowed it down to three.
- Jason goes to confront Buddy Garrity. Buddy sets Lilah up on a date to show her there are other guys and to maybe push her away from Jason. Jason shows up, demands to the truth and gets it. Buddy wants more for his daughter than the life of caretake of the crippled quarterback. Powerful, raw, real and intense.
- Coach Taylor and his wife, Tami, disagree on whether she should work on the mayor's re-election campaign. The mayor, in case you missed it, is a gay woman and this makes Taylor a bit uncomfortable. The show could have gone PC, but it doesn't, making us disike Taylor in this plotline, but respecting him in the other one we see this week. His assertation that the mayor wants Tami's help because she wants the help of the coach's wife is the highlight of this.
- Smash's use of steroids is found out. This leads to Taylor having to make a hard choice--keep quiet and risk forfeiting all the games that year, thus losing his job or report Smash, effectively ending Smash's hopes of escaping Dylan and providing any kind of good life for his family. The scenes between Smash and his mother about the steroid use are great and while they could be cliched, they ring true.
Labels: dresden files, friday night lights, smallville, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 1/27/2007 01:06:00 PM |
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