Mini Reviews- January 31st

With lots of new TV shows starting I thought it was about time I start doing min-reviews of the shows I'm watching. Hopefully I'll get time to do all of them weekly but if not I'll try and do at least a few!

Desperate Housewives- 6x01 Nice is Different Than Good

A decent premiere episode from the sixth season of Housewives. The Mike/Susan storyline felt eternally silly to me, Susan is a real bitch for marrying Mike just two months after he dumps Katherine, though she does redeem herself at the wedding. Still I'm totally on Katherine's side and can't wait to see a little bit of crazy Katherine.
Bree's affair was so so, Gabby's wars with niece Ana were hilarious and quite sweet especially with the signing of the guardianship papers. Liked Lynette's storyline about not loving her twins, very interesting storyline and kept the silliness of this episode grounded. The new family led by former Soprano Drea Di Mateo were okay, but not enough was shown to really form an opinion of them. Liked the time jumping aspect as it kept the episode moving a long at a nice pace.

Brothers and Sisters- 4x01/02/03 The Road Ahead/ Breaking the News/ Almost Normal

The season started off fairly light with Justin and Rebecca's engagement party which was suitable ludarious for the Walkers. The second and third episodes were a lot more interesting and emotional with news of Kitty's cancer. The whole cast do a great job, especially in the third episode but Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe and Sally Field are really bringing their A-game. I'm really looking forward to this storyline playing out over the season Kevin and Scotty are moving towards having a child, which is a great storyline for them but I hope they keep moving at a slow pace as they have been. Rob and Kitty were able to adopt very quickly and it felt rushed last season.
I love Justin at medical school; it gives him real direction and decent storylines. Everything at Ojai feels a little bit over the top- is business really conducted with so many machinations and underhand dealings as they are at Ojai?!
The three episodes really felt sibling-lite with Tommy gone completely, Ryan gone from two and Sarah making only brief appearances. Glad the latter has returned to the fold.

Greek- 3x11 I Know What You Did Last Semester

A great return from the students of Cyprus Rhodes, the show was on good form. Whilst the girls involvement with last years fire was quite ridiculous (what was up with Casey telling Cappie?! not very sisterly of her, considering they'd made a pact) but the rest of the storylines were good. I liked Evan and Rebecca's growing relationship with out it being sickly sweet like most other relationships. Cappie dealing with the loss of his brothers was realistic- though are they really gone? If so I'm sad, I liked Wade and Jeremy, Kappa Tau will be a worse of place with out them. Rusty was good as pledge educator but I must admit I was sad that he won the science award over Dale. Poor Dale- I hope they don't forget about him this chapter like they did the last. Also poor Ashleigh, breaking up with Fisher, though I would have preferred it to happen on screen in a more organic way rather than him cheating in her. Maybe we'll see a darker Ashleigh as a result. Liked Calvin and Grant dancing at the ball, though Grant was very dark after a small prank played by their brothers- he seems a bit psychotic!

Scrubs- 9x11 Our Dear Leaders

Great episode, which sadly could be one of the last aired- they shouldn't have brought Zach Braff back at all this season, proved to be a big mistake.
Turk was funny with his jealously over the superstar surgeon but he showed real growth when he took Denise's advice and volunteered as his assistant. Speaking off Denise and Drew whilst avoiding each other for most of the episode seemed to work some stuff out and by the end of the episode they are a lot more solid. Lucy was hilarious in her role of power as was Drew trying to stay away from them. All the med school students work very well together in terms of cast. I also loved Dr Cox in his nice mentor role, its rare to see and shows a new side of him.

Skins- 4x01 Thomas

A terrific opening episode. Thomas is easily my favourite character from this cast making the others seem like stupid, spoilt children. Merveille Lukeba does a great job as emotionally confused Thomas who has to bear the burden of taking care of his family as well as fitting in with his new friends at school. I was rooting for him and Andrea and I'm sad that he decided he loved Pandora at the end as they don't really seem to fit together as a couple any more. The others were unduly harsh on Thomas, they seem to have forgotten that Pandora had an on-going affair with Cook just last year, but Thomas got very little sympathy from that.
The opening sequence was amazing and I'm sure the impacts from that girls drug-fuelled death will continue to be felt for the rest of the series. This episode set the tone for a much darker fourth series which should be good.

The Good, The Bad ,The Ugly, and The Riculous

The Good

How I Met Your Mother has been renewed. I don't watch the show personally but Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan are wonderful actors and fully deserve success with the show.

Dexter was a big winner at both the Golden Globes and SAG awards. Admittedly I haven't seen the 4th season for which the awards were won, but I'm sure they're very deserved!

The Bad

Rob Lowe is leaving and Calista Flockhart is reducing her role on Brothers and Sisters. Neither is great news for the show though I am more concerned about Calista Flockhart not being there as much. The show does need her, though hopefully she'll still be in it plenty.

The Ugly

Ugly Betty has been officially cancelled. Not a huge shock given its ratings but still a real shame. happily though the show has been given time to construct a series finale. Apparently it will include a wedding!

The Ridiculous

Steve Carrell wants to make a US version of Only Fools and Horses. I cannot think of anything worse. Also I'm not sure he really understands the core of the show if he thinks it can be remade.

Greg Gruberg thinks it was a timing change that affected Heroes' ratings. Yes of course Greg, it had nothing to due to the vast drop in creative quality that followed the first season!

Producers want to make a third Sex and The City film. This will be its last because they want to "go out on a high." Yes really. SATC finished on a high in May 2004 on HBO, everything since has felt cheap.

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 29

B5.03 The Replacement
I was dreading watching this episode, but I actually kinda liked it. As all Xander centric episodes are, this one is silly and lighthearted. However it did reveal a lot about Xander in that we got to see the more confident side of Xander that we see more of in later seasons and also got a hint that the old goofy Xander was still there. I also liked that Xander's story and life in general was pushed forward with the new flat and the job. Its nice to see successful Xander.
One of the more touching elements of the episode was the budding friendship between Xander and Riley. Xander has never liked Buffy's boyfriends mostly through jealousy, but his bond with Riley is endearing. The end scene with Riley admitting he knows Buffy doesn't love him is very sad; he wasn't the most interesting boyfriend for Buffy, but he's a sweet guy and deserves more. (7.5/10)

A2.03 First Impressions
This is a decent enough episode, but not hugely interesting. The Gunn storyline is a little bit re-hashed from last time, especially the part about him leading a reckless lifestyle which is something his sister brought up before she was sired. Watching the episode this time round it feels a little like the writers were lining Gunn up as Cordy's love interest as there were a few moments between the pair at the end which suggests this. The pairing obviously didn't work, but at least it helped Gunn bond with the other members of the team.
I enjoyed the Darla storyline; I might be alone in this but I liked seeing a happy Angel and Darla. They work well together and have a sizzling chemistry. The end reveal that Darla is really there also adds to the intrigue in this plot line. (7/10)





B5.04 Out Of My Mind
One of the few Riley centre episodes and a lot of it felt like a direct foreshadowing for him leaving later in the season. The Riley/ Buffy storyline was fairly tame and you can't help that feel that just maybe Riley is overacting a little bit when he says Buffy doesn't love him. Their touching scene in the cave showed that she does love him very much. One bit relating to this story I did like was Xander being protective of Riley in the Scooby meeting. It was a cute scene and continued their friendship from the previous episode.
The Spike/Harmony storyline was less interesting, apart from a few funny moments. Harmony is a little annoying and has the effect of making Spike more boring. The revelation of his crush on Buffy was funny though and I like his reaction to the dream.
Apart from the two storylines there were lots of other little bits including Joyces' collapse and some cute Willow/Tara scenes but nothing really to make this episode a lot more interesting. (6.5/10)

A2.04 Untouched
This is a somewhat difficult episode to watch due to the subject matter of child abuse, but it is a strong episode and showcases what the show can do. Bethany was a fairly interesting character and he story was a sad one. It was wrapped up a little too neatly at the end with her suddenly confident attitude and the not killing of her dad which meant that the story lacked a little bit of punch at the end. I think her violently killing him would've been a lot more shocking but perhaps more realistic, given her powers and the extent of his abuse. Lilah's involvement was intriguing and it showed what she herself was capable of. The episode also helped to solidify her vitriol towards Angel.
One thing I liked about the episode was having the other team members all in on a case for the first time and each of the others having their part to play instead of being mostly surplus. (8.5/10)

Terrific Twosomes: Keith and Veronica Mars

A new feature I’m trying :)

Terrific Twosomes

TV pairings from the world of TV who are just awesome together! (numbers in brackets are episodes which show the point being made; more detail about some of the episodes are at the end) (spoilers ahead, especially in the video clips)

First Up.....

Keith and Veronica Mars

This father and daughter superstar crime solving duo are always there for each other!

Can be seen in: Veronica Mars

The story so far: Keith and Veronica live in the small town of Neptune, a town very much divided by how much money you have. When Keith was scandalously ejected from the job of town Sheriff, Veronica stood by him and stood up to those who didn’t like him- even when her mother left town and their family. Keith and Veronica now form Mars Investigations, the best private detective agency in town. They’ve had a lot of tough times, but due to their nose for the truth, they’ve proved their naysayers wrong.

Why they are so awesome together: Veronica and Keith are the ultimate father and daughter team. The love and devotion they show for each other is abundantly clear throughout the show and they always have each others backs- even when it means risking their own happiness (1.05). Keith cares for his daughter as a father should vetting her boyfriend and rushing to her aid when she most needs it (1.22). It’s hard not to root for this pair; who didn’t cry along with Veronica after Abel Koontz suggested she might not be Keith’s biological daughter (1.08)? Who didn’t rejoice with tears when Keith revealed that in fact she was (1.22)?

There was horror when Veronica thought Keith had been murdered in a plane bomb, but unadulterated happiness, when we and Veronica found out he was alive (2.22). Keith showed the ultimate act of love at the end of show’s run when he tampered with evidence to make sure Veronica didn’t get arrested, a decision which surely cost him the election to his rightful place as Sheriff (3.20).

When solving crime, the pair always trusts each other and in the few times they don’t (1.14), they respect each others decisions and console each other when it all goes wrong. They are formidable pair when working together; you really don’t want to get on the bad side of them.

Best Episodes to Watch:

1.01 Pilot- Veronica vows to stand by her dad despite the controversy.

1.05 You Think You Know Somebody-Keith breaks up with his girlfriend, due to Veronica not liking her.

1.14 Mars vs Mars- a rare example of the pair working against each other

1.22 Leave It To Beaver- Keith tells Veronica he is in fact her biological father; Keith rushes to find Veronica when she discovers the identity of Lily’s killer and endangers her life doing so.

2.22 Not Pictured- Veronica believes Keith is blown up in a plane bomb but later finds out he wasn’t

3.07 Of Vice and Men-Despite Veronica and Keith being at odds over Keith’s choice of girlfriend, Veronica realises he will always have her back.

3.20 The Bitch Is Back- Keith tampers with evidence for Veronica probably losing the election.

Any great Veronica/Keith episode I missed out? Sure there are loads- remind me in the comments.

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 28 (BtVS Season 5/Angel Season 2)

On with season 5 and season 2. These seasons are largely regarded as two of the best seasons for the respective shows so I'm looking forward to watching them!

B5.01 Buffy vs Dracula
I distinctly remember not liking this episode originally but I liked it a lot more this time. This is a hugely sexually charged episode, but it isn't the best season premiere. However whilst Dracula is a little annoying, he serves his purpose as he helps lay the foundations for the season. Firstly Buffy starts to take her Slayer studies more seriously, something which is very important this year. He also shook the Buffy/Riley foundations a bit which obviously has an impact later on.
The most significant part of this episode is the excellent Dawn reveal/cliffhanger at the end of the episode which is always a great moment to watch. The two actresses nail the sisterly dynamic straight away. (7.5/10)







A2.01 Judgment
A decent season opener, that helps establish the show as well as set-up for the rest of the season. The story of the week was moistly enjoyable, I liked the girls storyline of the Tribunal and needing a champion rather than the girl herself who was a little annoying, which made it hard to sympathise with her.
There were a lot of plus points however, seeing Wes and Cordy's lives in and outside Angel Investigations, Lindsey and Lilah with Darla and that delightful final scene with Faith. We also got to see more of Gunn and the introduction of Caritas and Lorne (RIP Andy Hallet). Oh and we got the first glimpse of the Hyperion which was a brilliant and subtle way to introduce it. (8/10)



B5.02 Real Me
Watching this episode without having any clue who Dawn was or why she was there must have been really disconcerting, but watching knowing all the facts, makes this quite an interesting episode. There are numerous clues all over the place as to who Dawn is, and the fact that she hasn't been there all the time. The sisterly dynamic wasn't always there between Dawn and Buffy though there were glimpses of it. The diary writing idea was a novel one as it allowed us into Dawn's thoughts a little more and showed her relationships with the other Scoobies.
The vampire of the week was Harmony and although I liked her scene with Spike and the fact that she has history with the Slayers, she was pretty boring as storylines go. I did like Giles' mini mid life crisis culminating in him taking over the magic shop, I think its a good storyline for him. (7.5/10)

A2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?
This is a hugely compelling and gorgeously shot episode and served as a terrific introduction to the Hyperion. This story from Angel's past has to be one of my favourites of his and the moving between the 19050's and modern day was a brilliant way to tell the story. The demon in the episode is brilliantly scary and I adored the twist at the end with Judy still remaining and then poignantly dying in the Hotel as it served as nice closure to the episode.
Wesley provided some comic relief at the end with his paranoia about being paranoid, showing that even some of Angel's darker episodes can be funny. (9/10)

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 27

Angel Season 1

This is mostly an uneven season with some fantastic episodes and some not as good ones. Whilst it is definitely better than Buffy's first season it has the added advantage of not having to introduce its characters too much. However the season did have to substantially differentiate itself from parent show Buffy, which was a hard task considering the overlap of characters and the fact that they are very similar shows. I think mostly the show achieves this though it becomes more evident in later episodes and the differences in the way Faith was handled in both shows is real evidence of that. Another example is that Doyle, Wes and Cordy are all very accepting of Angel's past and makes the character of Angel very different in his own show as he is not constantly having to prove himself like he was with the Scoobies.

Angel's strength in later seasons really lies in overall arcs, but season 1 didn't really have this though there were a few subtle ones in there. For instance there is a fantastic build up of Wolfram and Hart throughout the season, but as the characters from the law firm vary (until the last few episodes) and they don't appear in every episode, it doesn't feel like an arc.

Character wise there were only a few regular characters in Angel and only two of them were new. The first Doyle, was such a great facet to the team. He can hold his own against demons (for the most part) and also understands Angel's dark history as he is not squeaky clean himself.It makes you wonder what the show would've been like with him in it for longer especially as Wes is such a different character and changes the dynamic of the show quite a lot (not necessarily in a bad way though). Kate the other new regular character was a less successful character. Her character always felt like a bit of experiment and its one that didn't really work as she was too skeptical and hating of Angel and his world to every really fit in it. She was slightly better when she liked Angel but the episodes with her father were boring and she she became increasingly annoying after he died.
The returning characters of Angel Cordy and Wes were all more interesting and developed on Angel. This may be because they went from being outsiders to being the core team and we got to see more about them and what makes them tick.
Overall, this was a successful first season and despite some lesser moments and episodes, it was highly entertaining and enjoyable. (8/10)

Buffy season 4

This is generally considered the worst Buffy season and following the stellar season 3 it sometimes looks like it. The fact that Joss Whedon and team were pulling double time at Angel probably contributed to the fact that Buffy season 4 wasn't as creatively coherent as past seasons have been, but on the whole I think this is still a pretty good season. There are many uninteresting and not very good episodes in season 4, but there are also some of the best the show has done. My own ranking for all the episodes has been very varied. However looking at the season as a whole and watching it in close succession makes for enjoyable viewing as certain arcs such as the first year of college and the Initiative, make more sense when the episodes are watched closely together. The overall character arcs are interesting as well. Whilst some of them don't always play out that well in episodes (Buffy and Parker for instance), generally speaking they are truthful and realistic and many are poignant to the first year after high school eg Xander/Giles struggling to find direction, and Buffy/Willow trying out new experiences in college and in the love department. I didn't like the lack of Giles and Xander storylines we got though. Whilst both had stuff to do throughout the year, there were some episodes were we barely saw them at all. Part of this was storyline related but it was still disappointing.

There were a lot of new characters this year in the show, Riley and the Initiative, Tara, and Spike and Anya joining the cast as regular. I don't think any of the characters fitted in perfectly with the Scoobies which is good as this would be unrealistic considering the Scoobies have been together for 3 years. Spike was a little overused IMO, he was very purposeless most of the time and his involvement sometimes had very little to do with the actual story.

In terms of Big Bads, the Initiative and Adam were interesting ones. The idea of the government fighting demons fits with the story and it isn't the first time the government has interfered with something they don't understand. It also shone a light onto Buffy as a Slayer itself which will of course be looked at more in later seasons. It was nice to see civilians facing demons and winning which we see more of in Angel, as on Buffy, civilian fighting never goes very well. I do wonder though if the idea of cyborgs being the ultimate goal was a after-thought and just something to bring about a big showdown for Buffy in the finale. The whole thing felt a little tacked on and not where the storyline was always going to go.

Overall this is a good and very entertaining season. I won't say it was the best since it clearly wasn't and some episodes were hard to sit and watch. The overall arcs and a few stellar episodes make this season still a great one. (8/10)


Buffy & Angel

Episode order:
The episode order mostly worked but it was harder to watch in exactly the right order as the seasons went on. For instance the list gives the Faith 4 parter separately with 6 episodes in between, whereas they would have been better watched closer together if not consecutively. It basically meant that Faith took a number of weeks to reach LA and whilst this may be likely, it probably would've worked better together. However since the Yoko Factor takes place directly after Sanctuary, the episode order I used was probably the best it could be.
I also had to alter the end order somewhat as the episode order I was using listed Primeval and Restless separately even though they take place on the same night. I changed the order slightly so I would watch them consecutively.
I must say it was a little weird watching them together as some of them momentum built up in the shows was lost a little when I switched to the other. It also meant I was watching both seasons for a quite a long time.

Episodes:
For me it felt like the writing team and Joss Whedon especially, was doing double time on the shows. More often than not if there was a good episode on one show the other would have a bad one. I must admit some episodes were really hard to actually sit down and make myself watch!! This meant that both shows had great and bad episodes. Interestingly enough however even though I probably enjoyed Angel a little more, Buffy's episodes had a higher episode average ranking than Angel's did (only slightly though). This probably means that Buffy had more higher ranked episodes.

Crossovers:
These two seasons had the highest number of crossovers between the shows. There were a few smaller ones where there would be mentions to the other show (Angel/Wes/Cordy's histories and actions in Buffy all came up at some point over the season). I'm a little disappointed there weren't more allusions to Angel in Buffy though. I understand why this was done (Buffy was the bigger show) but it would've been nice.
Personally I think the Faith crossover was the best, as it really helped the shows to define what they were, especially Angel. Faith causing havoc in both Sunnydale and LA was a joy to watch and she made the appearances memorable.

Overall:
Both were enjoyable seasons and the cross-overs helped maintain the links between the shows, but also allowed them to mature individually. Angel probably had a slightly better season, but season 4 of Buffy was definitely better than its reputation.

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 26

A1.21 Blind Date
Although as a story of the week this episode is mostly average, as a part of the Wolfram and Hart arc, this episode is really excellent. Watching the inner machinations of the evil law firm is highly enjoyable; the shamans, mind readers, terminating employees literally all prove to be very interesting. Holland Manners is great as the boss in this episode, he reminds me a little of the Mayor in his speech, mannerisms and father figure role to Lindsay. His talks about finding his place in the world as well as Lindsay and Angel's soul searching made the episode very poignant and I liked a lot of what he said.
The blind assassin was a bit of a creepy storyline though I liked the way in which Angel was able to defeat her. Its interesting that Angel doesn't think twice about killing her even though shes human- another distinction between Buffy and Angel (the shows). One thing I found a little odd with this episode was how angry Angel was with W&H at the start of the episode, even with the Faith thing, he just seemed overly angry with their interference even more than he does at some points on season 2. (8.5/10)

B4.21 Primeval
Such an excellent wrap up the the seasons arc and in many ways this would've made a brilliant finale episode. However since there wasn't the build up to it we have got from other finales, Restless works as a better way to end the season. The Initiative experiment both for the government and for the show gets wrapped up as we always knew it would- tragically with Buffy saving the day. I always find the final speech with the nameless government very creepy indeed and perfectly adds to the unsettling nature of the Initiative. The Initiative scenes were all very impressive, almost film worthy, the fighting and violence all top notch. The revelation of Adam's plan isn't that shocking once you've seen the episode before and perhaps that's why it was only revealed in this episode rather than any earlier, as its something that science fiction has toyed with before.
One of my favourite things about this episode is the spell in which the Scoobies perform. Its very cool, a terrific idea and brought the gang full circle and back together again. However I would've liked to have seen uber-Slayer Buffy fight Adam more. We did get to see a terrified Adam which was interesting to see as we've never seen that before as he's usually such an impassive character. (9.5/10)

B4.22 Restless
This episode is so intense and crazy that's its easy to forget so many things that happen in the episode; a lot of the dreams felt new to me even though I have seen the episode before. Generally this is regarded as on of the best Buffy episodes and its obvious why. Joss and co really went to town on this episode and it makes a brilliant capper to the season as a whole. Each dream sequence addresses the characters own fears that have been bubbling throughout the season. Willow's and Xander's were perhaps the most obvious to me; Willows new identity and Xander's lack of direction. Both issues are largely resolved for the characters during season 5 as Willow becomes more comfortable with who she is and Xander finds a calling in life. Giles' was a little more subtle maybe looking at what his life has been like for the last year and looking forward to accepting his calling as Watcher again. Buffy's dreams were definitely more forward thinking into who she will become next season and the impact the First Slayer will have on her life. Personally I think either Giles or Willow's is my favourite dream sequence; Buffy's is my least favourite because it is more like normal life than the random dreams the others were having especially at the end. The whole randomness and etheral-ness of the dreams is really excellent though and such an enjoyable aspect of the episode, since dreams are rarely the sequential images we see in other shows or dream sequences. It was also a real thrill to see many old characters back including Joyce, Harmony, Snyder and of course Oz.
In many ways this episode helps to set up for season 5 as much as it does to conclude season 4, (also I think it is best watched in the context of season 4 rather than a standalone episode due to the arcs addressed in the episode.) which makes it a brilliant finale episode. It is a very weird episode and hard to watch sometimes but one of the most creative episodes any show has ever done. (10/10)

A1.22 To Shanshu In LA
I think this is one of my favourite episodes of the whole show. The episode serves as a fantastic set-up for season 2, and also wraps up season 1 quite well. The episode is well plotted and includes all the key elements of Angel's life. The demon Vocah in this episode is suitably scary as he actually causes harm; the killing of the Oracles was the most tragic I think.
This episode marks a change for many of the characters which makes it such an important episode, including Cordy who becomes more compassionate, Lindsey who becomes more vengeful, Angel who now has something to live for and it amps up Wolfram & Hart's involvement in Angel's life. There is also the fact that Darla is now alive and kicking; shes not some scary demon but for Angel, she's far worse. It was a brilliant twist to end the season on.
One of my favourite things about this episode is the sense of family between the Angel Investigations. The bond between the three is at its highest here I think. Its taken a while to get there after Doyle's death and the bond will be broken by midway season 2, (and completely after midway season 3) but here the three are so close and its really heartwarming.
Overall this is a great finale for the show and one of the strongest for the show. It sets Angel the show and the character on a direct path which contributes to why its later seasons are so great. (10/10)

Generation Kill

Generation Kill comes from the highest pedigree written and produced by David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire). However I wasn't sure if I'd like a show about the Iraq War. However I've just finished and loved it. This may sound odd but it is one of the most poignant and yet funny dramas I've ever seen.

Its based on Evan Wright's book by the same name; he was the reporter based in the 1st Recon Marine Batallion in the first 40 days of the Iraq war in 2003.
This means that the events are true to life and brutally realistic. Whilst there is a lot of fighting and shooting in show, it isn't the only thing about the show. The heart of the show really lies in the commradarie of the Marines and the banter between the men. It is hugely crude and in any other circumstance it would not be okay but the middle of war, its kinda understandable. As is their attitude to war. The Marines vary between completely believing in what they are doing and between being completely disgusted in it. Both are completely understandable; for them to be able to fight they have to believe in what they are doing but when they are killing innocent women and children, its hard for many of them not be a bit disturbed by it. There are some shocking moments in the show, but in all honestly there's nothing that hasn't already been reported on the news before.

Like The Wire, the story flows from episode to episode and is really compelling. I ended up watching the 7 full hour episodes over just 5 days! It is a little hard to get into at first, there is little to no exposition, the only explanation is provided by the reporter, whose questions get a few answers for the audience. The military language, especially the abbreviations and use of the phonetic alphabet does make it a difficult to understand what is going on and I am definitely going to re-watch this show to get a better understanding of what exactly was going on!! However by the end of the seven episodes I did have a bit of an understanding of what some of the terms mean.

The show boasts a terrific cast including the gorgeous Alexander Skarsgard and James Ransome (Ziggy, The Wire) and includes real Marine Rudy Reyes playing himself which adds an air of authenticity. It is a little weird, and I didn't realise this until after I had finished watching the show even though its quite an obvious thing, that there are no proper female characters. Though there are some Iraqi women with speaking parts, the cast is entirely male, which makes it a unique show in that respect.


The military and war theme may be hard to get around for some, but overall this is well-written and brilliant show and well worth a watch.

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 25

A1.18 Five by Five
I never get bored watching this episode though strangely enough I always seem to forget that it includes flashbacks to just before and after Angelus was cursed by gypsies! There's a lots to like about this episode, Faith's first appearance on Angel, her going after Angel himself, torturing Angel and mixing with Wolfram and Hart; this is also W&H first solid appearance and the first time we see their offices plus multiple lawyers. Lindsay and Lilah are a delight to watch and its great to see them here as its their first substantial performance as we begin to learn a bit more about them personally. I was struck a little watching this episode in how Faith broke down during her fight with Angel. It seemed a little sudden though I guess overall in Faith's arc it makes sense that she had to have a breakdown at some point. (10/10)

A1.19 Sanctuary
I think this episode is slightly stronger than the first in the two parter. The inter-play between Angel and Faith is pitch perfect and we get a real sense of what Faith is going through. However the episode is kept light with Wolfram and Hart's attempts at revenge on Faith and Angel, which can be quite comical. We also get a visit from the Watcher's Council, which marks a defining moment for Wesley as he gets to choose between his old and new life and happily he shows where his true loyalty lies. Buffy's appearance in this episode is definitely one of my favourite cross-over moments as Buffy and Angel are just so much more entertaining when they hate each other than when they are love-sick. (10/10)

B4.20 The Yoko Factor
I quite like this episode; maybe its the Scoobies fighting or Angel's appearance but its mostly a decent episode. In regards to the second episode thread of Angel's return I must admit I squee every time I see him turn around to see Riley. Their fighting is both manly and completely girly, especially in the way they both run to Buffy. In a way its great to see Buffy's two loves throw down, it makes for very enjoyable viewing but also at the time it must've made Buffy/Angel shippers very happy indeed. I like the way in which Buffy and Angel leave things though; Sanctuary made it clear that the two shows are very separate now, but for the continuity between both shows it best if the two leads are on good terms.
As for the main storyline Spike tearing the Scoobies apart was actually quite fun to watch. I think this is mostly because the Scoobies have been so tight for so long that it was probably inevitable at some point they would fall out. Also Spike is pretty interesting in this role of frenemy to the gang. The Adam stuff itself was a little less interesting though killing off Forrest (one of the lead Initiatives) was a great move to make and added some real punch to the Big Bad storyline. (8.5/10)

A1.20 War Zone
Knowing Gunn becomes a main character makes this episode a little more than the average story of the week episode, but there are definite elements of that. Its a brilliant way of introducing Gunn and showing us who he really is; having to kill his sired sister shows that he is strong and willing to make the tough decisions. This makes him a perfect candidate for joining the Angel Investigations team.
I did enjoy seeing two important elements of LA homeless kids and brothels shown in the show with a supernatural twist. Its these aspects of LA that help to differentiate Angel as a show. Unfortunately these two elements felt a little bit too stuck together, there wasn't that much coherency between the two storylines, despite one leading to the other. (7.5/10)

Duh News and some other exciting stuff!

Duh News of the Week

Glee has been renewed for a second season! Great news but it was a dead cert given its huge popularity. It premieres tonight (properly) on E4 and is already getting some great buzz.


Exciting News!!!

Will Arnett says that the Arrested Development movie will shoot this year!! Now this may be a red herring and there have been a lot of rumours and since its only January, I could be waiting a long time for this to actually come true but its exciting news nonetheless. Its such a terrific show and unlike other TV shows (*cough* Sex and the City) it deserves a movie version. Plus I'm confident Mitch Hurwitz will produce a great script.

HBO have finally released a trailer and airdate (April 11th) for David Simon's (The Wire) hotly anticipated new show Treme, set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The trailer doesn't give much away, but after watching Generation Kill recently (blog to follow soon), I'm very excited to see this new show.

Some British Comedy

I don't blog a lot about British TV shows mostly because I don't really watch many!! However with most US shows going off on hiatus for Christmas and Christmas being the time in the UK when channels especially thw BBC bring out their big guns, I've had a chance to catch up on some British comedy.

The first is Outnumbered. I've heard a lot of good things about this show from audience and critics alike. This is a semi improvised comedy about two parents and their troublesome children. The children on the show are great actors as its mostly their parts that are improvised. The actors playing the parents are also good but its the children that are the stars. They can be a little annoying at times, you have to feel for their beleaguered parents, but its a great little show. Here are some funny clips from the show:

The other show is Gavin and Stacey. This show has been very successful, winning many awards and making the leap from BBC3 to BBC1 in between the shows first and second series. Its about a pair of young lovers, one from Essex and one from Wales and their eccentric family and friends. I;ve seen it before but didn't find it funny but after watching it on Boxing Day, I decided to catch up. For me its very like The Royale Family in that the characters are very exaggerated and mostly dimwitted, but the show manages to be sweet and filthy at the same time. James Corden and Ruth Jones are both excellent writers and actors though I did find it a little narcissistic having the ending based around their characters but overall its a good little series.
Here are some funny clips from the show:

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 24

B4.17 Superstar
I kinda like this episode. Sure its silly and a bit filler, but its fun to watch things get turned on its head in this alternate reality. Plus as it wasn't a completely different alt world, we got to see some arc stuff especially with Buffy and Riley working out their Faith issue. The idea for the episode was kind of neat; I mean who hasn't dreamt of being better at anything/everything? It was also plausible that something like this could happen in Sunnydale considering the history of alternate realities/ spells going awry. Also I do appreciate the effort they put into the episode with the changing of the credits. (7/10)

A1.17 Eternity
This is quite a good episode, though not stellar. I enjoyed the commentary of celebrity in LA, in the first half of the episode setting that against Cordy's own aspirations of being an actress. Cordy's reactions to Rebecca and celebrities in general was hilarious. The second half of the episode was quite different from the first and less interesting, with Angel kind of turning into Angelus and tormenting his friends and Rebecca. Whilst David Boreanaz is always good as Angelus, it didn't quite work here as it was just temporary. I liked Cordy's fake-out with the water though. (7.5/10)




B4.18 Where the Wild Things Are.
What a ridiculous episode. I'm guessing the lack of Buffy screen time was done to accommodate Buffy's time on Angel, but really couldn't they have though of a better plot?! I'm not convinced that the idea of around the clock sex is quite the right subject for Buffy, it just seems so out of place especially considering that out of all her boyfriends, Riley's the one Buffy has the least chemistry with. Plus are we really to believe that just these two having sex was enough to wake these spirits, I mean this is a frat house we're talking about, with the number of boys living in the house, it would be stupid to think it couldn't have happened before. However I did like the subtle safe sex message with the condoms being shown and the episode handled the creepiness element well with the hacking off of hair and Xander being drowned. This episode is slightly redeemed by Giles' performance which was a real highlight. (5/10)

B4.19 New Moon Rising
I must admit right off the bat, that I miss Oz as a character quite a lot so I'm thrilled to see him back in this episode. This is a very enjoyable episode and a good way to round of the Oz and Willow relationship, especially as they managed to part on amicable terms. I quite like this ending to their love story; they managed to finish it rather open-endedly, whilst still allowing Willow to move on.
Even though I prefer Willow and Oz as a pairing, Willow and Tara have a very sweet relationship. Its a little frustrating that even this episode, where willow tells Buffy, she doesn't explicitly say it, which I think may have been due to TV censorship.
This episode is a little let down by the start of the Adam/Spike partnership which wasn't really that interesting. I did like seeing the Initiative and their black and white mindset as it shows just how different they are to the Scoobies. (8.5/10)

Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 23

B4.15 This Year's Girl
Great episode. The return of Faith is always enjoyable to watch, as she's such a chaotic, yet likeable character. Most of the episode is focused on her; with the Riley storyline left over from the previous episode, being wrapped up very quickly. The sense of loneliness and anger Faith felt is well portrayed here and whilst its hard to feel the terror the Scoobies do about her waking up, its clear that she's going to cause trouble.
The idea of switching bodies with Buffy is just genius, it allows the character so much more scope to cause trouble and I love the way in which its revealed to the audience at the end of this episode. There were two other major returns in this episode; first Mayor Wilkins, who is was just a joy to see in the sweet father role to Faith in her dreams and in the video which I just adore. The second was Joyce and the Summers house in general neither of which has been seen since early season 4. It was startling to see the house in Faith's dreams at the beginning of the episode as it has been so long since we've seen it. The writers made good use of returning to the homestead by having the two Slayers tear it up as well. I liked seeing Joyce as well, who has been necessarily considering the transition but missed from the show. (10/10)

B4.16 Who Are You?
This episode is a terrific end to the Faith two parter on Buffy. It was a well plotted episode, with 'Faith' interacting with all the main characters (apart from maybe Xander that much) and causing maximum chaos, which was a whole lot of fun! What did strike me was that this episode really underused Eliza Dushku; with Sarah Michelle Gellar getting the best material to work with and the most air time on the show. Mostly this worked as a strategy, since she pulled off the character of Faith brilliantly, making it easy to believe that Faith was in Buffy's body. Dushku didn't so quite as well being Buffy, but she was still convincing in the few scenes she had.
The Adam storyline felt out of place in the episode though it did provide the church setting for the showdown between Buffy and Faith, so in a way in worked well. Overall though, this was an excellent two parter and a reminder of the show's quality. (10/10)

A1.15 The Prodigal
I enjoyed this episode more this time around but that isn't really saying much, since I'm not a fan of this episode. Daddy issues were on the agenda again this season, revealing that Kate's dad was into some shady business. This half of the storyline was mostly boring and definitely filler. There wasn't even much Angel Investigation stuff to enjoy. The flashbacks of just before and after Angel was sired were a lot more interesting; we've always were heard that Angel ate his family and now we get to see that. The actual siring was thankfully glossed over a little as it was just the scene lifted from Buffy's season 2 finale. It was good to see Julie Benz on the show as Darla but it was one of the few highlights of this episode. (5.5/10)

A1.16 The Ring
A fairly okay story of the week episode. I liked that Angel was tricked into going to the demon fighting place as it shows that he is not all knowing and does make mistakes. The general storyline in which Angel was trying not to kill the other demons and ended up setting them free, was an interesting one as it showed the blurred lines of Angel that sometimes he will fight for demons and not just humans. Whether they did the right thing or not was one thing, but in terms of the black and white morality lines it shows that this show is definitely different to Buffy.
Also there was a good introduction to Lilah; I like the encounters with Wolfram and Hart this season even if they are sporadic. (6.5/10)