In my review of “Making Angels” last week, I found that the minds behind Fringe had shown clear signs of their intention to distance the story from the notion of multiple timelines. “Welcome to Westfield” confirmed that and went even further by apparently bringing more elements of the other timeline (beyond Peter) to this one.
There isn’t a show on the planet that flows the way Justified does. “The Devil You Know” was another one of those episodes that blurred the line between its case-of-the-week and season long arc as all the major characters decided to pitch in and give us another brilliant night of television.
At PlayerAffinity TV, we cover a variety of shows, but it is fair to say we have a soft spot for a specific category. As I write, TV dramas we review on a weekly basis from that category include Alcatraz, Fringe, Person of Interest, and Supernatural. Science fiction shows (and those trying to pass themselves off as such) dominate the list, but if you thought it were a sign of brighter times for sci-fi series, you would be wrong. For many years now, among this broad category of “non-realistic” series, fantasy shows have been much more successful, and 2012 is likely to reinforce that.
A show like Spartacus: Vengeance is very difficult to gauge by normal standards. Ever since it carved a niche for itself on STARZ, the show has provided an abundance of entertainment, and not necessarily for all the right reasons. Although it has been widely publicized as a biographical action/adventure series, I prefer to think of it as a fantasy/drama coupled with blood & guts. Spartacus: Blood and Sand was a romping success because of this distinction and unfortunately “A Place In this World” fell short of what we usually take for granted on this show.
This episode went out of its way to try and create some distance between Spartacus & Glaber. After last week’s confrontation, I expected things to heat up quite a bit between the two. But after Aurelia’s death, Spartacus and his merry men decided to head south to aid Crixus in his search for Naevia, and to build an army while they’re at it. The bread crumbs for Naevia’s search led them to yet another sleazeball, an unsuspecting Dominus who was caught with his pants (or robes) down when Spartacus & company decided to pay him a visit. With all the blood soaked fun that was going on, it actually hit me for the first time that Spartacus & Crixus are really working together as true allies, and not just as an arrangement. But unfortunately, this moment was also where Andy Whitfield’s absence was greatly felt. The first season spent a significant amount of time building the complicated relationship between Spartacus & Crixus. Andy Whitfield & Manu Bennett worked brilliantly together, but Friday’s episode made it feel like the relationship had started from scratch, between two completely different people. Although it sounds terribly unreasonable to make that statement (it’s only the second episode), and we know that Liam McIntyre is a completely different actor, but it was clearly evident (based on his speech for the freed slaves) that for the time being, he lacks the commanding presence that Andy Whitfield would have undoubtedly brought to the character. McIntyre was good in this episode, but not great. And definitely not as great as he was last week.
In the northern hemisphere, our winter might soon be drawing to a close, but in the world of Westeros, the long winter is coming. The latest teaser of Game of Thrones’s second season reminded us of that highly anticipated fact with a peek at what will befall our heroes at the hands of “our” favorite (and less favorite) villains.
In just a week, the clip has now been watched by 4.8 million viewers, making it the most popular teaser of any HBO series on YouTube (if we exclude motion picture adaptations). Narrated by Lord Varys, it features Tyrion Lannister, portrayed by Golden Glodes and Emmy Awards winner Peter Dinklage, as well as fan-favorites Jon Snow and Arya Stark.
Fringe has been many things over the past four years, but one thing it has never been is predictable, both in its stories and in its characters. The minds behind the show have managed to (mostly) turn that into a quality, using their particular brand of creativity to churn out so many compelling stories that some storylines and some characters were bound to be neglected. In “Making Angels,” the show has picked up one such storyline and has finally devoted some time to one of its most underrated characters, bringing us a unique episode that used the bridge between the universes like no other before.
With “Cal Sweeney,” Alcatraz timidly pushed its main story forward, leaving some breadcrumbs leading back to the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the 1963 inmates, and showing more of what is being done today to deal with their return. Unfortunately, the episode was so steeped into the format adopted by the series so far that the restrained strides forward didn’t have much effect on its overall impact.
