We might as well address the elephant in the room before getting wrapped up in the episode review. Announced officially last week, Flashforward has been cancelled. ABC has decided that the 80’s remake of alien/lizard people, invasion show V, is better value for money and so yet another perfectly good drama goes into the network graveyard.
I’m always willing to give a show the benefit of the doubt. I’ve been doing this for six years with Lost, even through the rough patches I assumed that the writers would provide us loyal fans with a somewhat clear direction in which the show was going to move. Lost has never been a show that’s been easy to predict, but it’s nice to know that there is a purpose to everything we’re watching. I’ve felt comfortable with everything Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have done with the show: the alternate universe, the smoke monster inhabiting Locke’s body, and any other ridiculous things that have pushed the show to the brink of science fiction. When it’s done right, it’s entertaining, albeit a bit confusing. However, last night’s episode of Lost, “Across The Sea,” took a story that should have been interesting to the nth degree and misused its many opportunities to answer some questions and give us an hour’s worth of great back-story on a couple of Lost’s most confusing characters. I was still glued to the screen, but I could feel my attention span slipping a little, something that rarely happens on Lost.
Last week we saw the weakest installment of the series and my review was appropriately scathing. Will tonight’s episode claw it’s way back from mediocrity, or has the damage already been done? In short, it’s better, much better…
Is Jack Bauer the good guy or the bad guy in Season 8? Some people find themselves asking that question and not getting any definitive answers in response. While Bauer has joined the upper echelon of crime-fighters, joining Jason Bourne and James Bond as one of America’s greatest additions to our government (notice the continuing trend: they all have J.B as their initials.. very curious), Jack has blurred the line between good guy and bad guy and taken all of the pain and suffering he must’ve suffered throughout eight seasons worth of episodes and begun to let it loose on the people who killed Renee. Tonight showed Jack at nearly rock bottom; his pain at losing Renee has caused him to make erratic decisions that not only goes against the law but has somehow thwarted every single one of Charles Logan’s plans.
While last week’s Glee was mainly “fun” focused, delivering an episode that was small on plot and high on excitement, this week’s episode was one where they tried to engross you with drama immediately and not let you go until the end. For the most part, they succeeded.
Mercedes and Puck’s relationship seems very interesting to me. I fount it to be a little odd at times, as I didn’t buy the fact that she would let a man use her just to say she had a man, but if they continue the storyline and turn Puck into more of a nice kid, that may be good. Then on the other hand, we need a bully in the Glee club and Santana and Brittany just aren’t enough.
The ongoing tension between Castle, Beckett and Demming escalates tonight, with playful rivalry becoming fierce competition as well as some heartbreaking moments as Castle senses that this may be one story for which he can’t write the end.
The episode begins with a cleaner discovering the word ‘Murdere’ (not my typo) written in rather gelatinous looking blood on a mirror and, on further exploration, the body of a man who has been bludgeoned to death. We soon find out that the blood is in fact fake. On a side note, I was actually a little concerned about how obvious that fact was to me (maybe it’s time to watch fewer Zombie flicks). In any case, the murder victim is the owner of a line of male cosmetics, and the fake blood points us towards the first of our mandatory series of suspects.
A very interesting new episode in the “post-finale” bonus run. The “new and improved” Intersect may not be quite as fantastic after all. Ellie is rapidly heading for real trouble and Morgan comes pretty close to a Crowning Moment of Awesome. While this episode deals with some rather worrisome subjects and has a fair number of truly uncomfortable moments, it still has several great moments that make you go “Awwwww” as well. First of all: The Intersect. The New and Improved Intersect. Safely stuck in Chuck’s head, finally making him the agent he’s dreamed of being. Only one problem – it may be driving him crazy. After a series of very vivid and disturbing dreams, which may be the Intersect interacting with his subconscious, we learn that the Intersect is so powerful and it may overwhelm Chuck’s mind and drive him insane. Fixated on the warning he derives from his dreams, our favourite geeky spy sets out to prove his theory… and that he’s not insane.
Oh, Michael Gary Scott. You try so hard to find a normal woman to date, yet even when you’re not self-sabotaging your relationships, it seems love is not in the cards. In the episode “The Cover-Up,” we witness not only one but two different things being covered up by people. Unlike last week’s episode, which featured Michael Scott acting so awkward that it was difficult to watch, this week showed Michael Scott’s neurotic side as he attempted to discover whether or not his girlfriend Donna (Amy Pietz) was cheating on him. There was plenty of quirky and hilarious lines, some that reminded me of the dry humor of the earlier seasons and others that were laugh-out-loud funny. Rainn Wilson also proved why he should be winning the Best Supporting Actor Emmy this year instead of Jon Cryer.
Raylan Givens is being investigated by the US District Attorney’s office in relation to his shooting of Boyd Crowder among other things. It seems that Raylan’s dalliances with Ava are causing a little problem as far as this case and the shooting are concerned. Also not to complicate things, a lifer convict takes hostages in the US Marshall’s office in Lexington and it falls upon Raylan to deal with the situation. This was an uneven episode with some interesting consequences for Raylan long term. Can he stay out of trouble long enough to get out from under this rock? Can he resist Ava for a while until things have blown over? (I doubt it!) Also, for some reason I found myself craving a little spicy fried chicken by the end of the episode.
With the Apocalypse within days and major catastrophes about to occur we find Sam, Dean, Bobby, Castiel, and Crowley trying to dispatch the last two horsemen and bring the four rings together. Bobby sold his soul to Crowley who of course is the top dog of the crossroads demons and so we get some unpleasant and pleasant results from that. Sam and Dean go after Pestilence and isn’t that a nasty thought! Finally there is a showdown between Dean and Death that is not to be missed. Oh, and Chicago is about to get wiped out…
