Saturday, May 23, 2009

Private Practice 'Yours, Mine and Ours' Review


Now the final scene with Violet was cold and far out creepy, literally gave the chills...

When the crazy patients turn on their very own psychiatrists.

Katie Kent played by Amanda Foreman,
made her first appearance in What Women Want.
Katie was already regarded as mentally unstable ever since she lost her baby and couldn't come to terms with the loss by still regarding her baby alive and well. She eventually came to terms, with Violet's help.

Or so we thought.
Katie did present a sense of jealousy towards Violet, because after all she did lose her baby and Violet was there having hers all well and healthy. It was as though looking at Violet bore a constant reminder of what she lost.

I was surprised to see Katie reprise her role in the finale installment. Her case was dismissed in What Women Want and her reprisal came as a big shocker.
From the moment she became literally obsessed with Violet's grown baby and began touching her belly, I knew she crossed a professional line along with a sane line there.
She was just too happy. (Is there such a thing) Telling Pete everything was okay, she's accepted that it was her baby's time and the real factor was that she created life.
Things were far from perfect with her, because if she was so fine why did she keep going back for therapy?
Violet's instincts about the highly spirited Katie was correct, but Pete couldn't agree to administrating Katie to a hospital. Sadly, that was to Violet's demise. When Katie showed up at her home claiming her true motives, stating that Violet had her child, that she stole her baby from her and taking out utensils she claimed to have bought online, Violet knew her fate.

Katie wasn't a doctor, so how did she know she wasn't going to kill the baby with that stunt? Did she even care? She was sure sane enough to realize the audacity of the situation even when she rendered Violet paralyzed from the neck down. Couldn't she have waited until the baby was born? At least she wouldn't have blood on her hands that way.

Tensions built up when Cooper was at the door, ready to catch the crazy rebel in action. Only to have Cooper pull out at the last minute unaware of the real crisis on his hands.
Charlotte pulled Cooper from a devastating situation unknown at the time, but she seemed like she needed to grow up. Crying because she lost her job-Charlotte!

I kept wondering, who else could get to Violet in time or even whether or not the drug would ware off. Then I watched the clock and it was nearing the last few minutes of the show and I knew they would keep us in agony awaiting the next season. Typical.

On another take...
Another main storyline: Addison and Noah.
Remember their storyline, Addison falls for a patient's husband. Well apparently Addison still had her eyes on Noah and this time Morgan (a.k.a the wife) caught on!
Morgan said she saw the way they looked at each other and hysterically rambled on about them sleeping together. I didn't really blame her she was the wife, a wife just knows when their husband is sleeping with another woman physically or in thought.
It also caused Addison and Noah to face their relationship head on.
First they had 'the talk'. They were going to be together no matter what... wait hold up-

To Addison:
His wife is having complications with her child and you are trying to get with your patient's husband!

To Noah:
Your wife is pregnant with your child and is having complications and you are trying to get with her doctor!

Two sentences said completely differently relating to each character. Mainly pointed out because I do not know Noah that well, but Addison flat out disappointed me with that almost-sex scene. I figured most, that entire scene was rushed for the finale. That entire relationship between Addison and Noah was rushed in the end and it disgusted to a point where I can't stomach them anymore.

On a calmer note...
Dell got Betsy back, but not with a so much clean Heather who was like junkie needing her next fix.
What happened with her job? Was there even a job for her?
She was sure willing to trade her daughter in for money, so she was clearly out-of-it.
This was an interesting turn in Dell's storyline as I've mentioned on previous occasions, Dell's story lines were very dull.

Also...
Naomi was offered Charlotte's job, by Bill Buchanan :) Just kidding. William White.
That explains why Charlotte was crying and pulled Cooper away for boyfriend time.

Well it was a good thing for that Katie storyline, for that cliffhanger huh...
Okay they pulled it off, I'm interested. So does Violet live to see the next season?

Lexa

____________________

Four out of Five Stars

Grade B+
____________________

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Gossip Girl 'The Goodbye Gossip Girl' Review

I absolutely loved this scene where Blair posed before the camera's after Serena gained publicity from being arrested :)


Like the title, it is time to say Goodbye to our most loved series. Okay I'm kidding, most of our series are meeting their finale stage and don't seem to be coming back. Gossip Girl is not falling into this category as it was picked up for another season.

Confirmed by Gossip Girl Insider


In fact Gossip Girl did say Goodbye ...to high school.

'The Goodbye Gossip Girl' marked the end of high school and the beginning of college, for Gossip Girl as well. Which could also mean that Gossip Girl is a part of the Serena, Blair, Dan...etc year group.


As for College:
Serena is off to Brown
Dan...NYU
Vanessa...NYU
Blair... NYU
Nate...Columbia

and Chuck, well he's all going to be all independent and take over his father's business.

This episode dealt with Gossip Girl and an attempt to discover her true identity, something I felt should have been dealt with throughout this season and not in the final episode.

The Whole Bit:

Gossip Girl labels all the main characters socially embarrassing themes;
Chuck - coward (Afraid to commit... so the bond between Blair and Chuck is obvious)
Blair - weakling (Blair did lose her edge)
Dan - the ultimate insider (According to Blair, pretends that he doesn't want to be a socialite but plays one anyway)
Nate - class whore (Do you blame Gossip Girl, first Serena while he was with Blair, then Blair, then Vanessa, then Blair...)
Serena - officially irrelevant once high school's over!

Well Serena's label was what Gossip Girl crossed the line with officially irrelevant, who does Gossip Girl think she is! At least that was what went through Serena's mind and encouraged her to pull the plug on Gossip Girl.
She began pooling her resources together; working with Blair, Chuck and Nate. (The master rebels, because Dan and Vanessa wanted nothing to do with the scheme). She also got her brother (Eric) and his boyfriend (Still getting used to that) who surprisingly hacked into Gossip Girl's server himself, some kind of computer whiz.
So he was able to dish about Gossip Girl's most incriminating information which also gave the motivation for Serena to threaten Gossip Girl herself, but that was a big mistake.
It also gave Jenny the material needed for the ideal gossip the mean girls requested for one to be queen.

At Nate's graduation party...
Nelly revealed her potential feelings towards Dan, but chickened out when she saw Serena standing at bay...
Gossip Girl revealed her biggest downfall, like Blair who slept with Jack Bass (almost forgot that one) and Chuck sleeping with Vanessa... I wonder where she got her tips from?
It was sad really she blamed everything on Serena!
So Chuck went on Blair's case about her 'affair', surprisingly he wasn't the most understanding of all. Blair busted Chuck's chops about sleeping with Vanessa and then attacked Serena, putting all the blame on her for not leaving well enough alone.
I was surprised though, Nate was exceptionally cool towards Vanessa about the sleeping with Chuck thing, it was like he completely ignored it!

So Serena sought revenged asking Gossip Girl to meet her at 1 Oak otherwise she would reveal her true identity. (How foolish did she think Gossip Girl was!)
Soon enough Dan showed up, followed by well everyone... and Gossip Girl goes to college.

Aside... Blair spills her heart to Chuck, again and Chuck well bailed leaving a crushed Blair to cry and even spill her beans to Jenny in the Ladies. In that moment Blair realized Jenny's destiny to be the new Queen B. Not to the likings of the meanies and a recurring role from Stella Maeve as Emma Boardman, the newbie wannabee introduced in Season 2 Episode 9 of 'There Might be Blood'. Emma wants to be the new queen and plays the bitch at that.

Final pieces...
Gossip Girl crosses over to college.
Lily accepts Rufus' proposal after they made up.
Jenny becomes queen.
Nate agrees to go backpacking with Vanessa.
Georgina pulls in on the final scene claiming she got the money back from Poppy (How?) ...and she requests to be Blair's roommate at NYU. (How long would that last?)
Dan's brother a.k.a Lily and Rufus' lovechild tracks Dan down. (okay)
Chuck tells Blair he loves her... finally.
Carter Bazien finds Serena's father (...didn't really know she was looking.)
The End

This episode was fairly okay, although there were some questionable cliffhangers which felt like it was just poked into the ending.

I might be in the few, but I didn't really follow the Blair-Chuck storyline, I liked them much more before they became all lovie-dovie towards each other. I have to admit though, that final scene between them was beautifully done.

I felt that Nate was a little soft by not acknowledging the fact that Vanessa slept with Chuck. Especially seeing that Chuck slept with Blair and Vanessa (both his girlfriends). I expected him to show a little emotion towards it. Everything was just dismissed there.
Even him agreeing to go backpacking with her, a little acknowledgment would have been appreciated. Maybe it might be picked up next season.

I used to follow Lily and Rufus in the beginning, but now something has changed between them, ever since they got together.
It was more interesting when Lily and Rufus had that distance from each other.

I still look forward for next season, I might not have been impressed with this installment much, but it was far better than last season's 'Much 'I Do' About Nothing' finale.

Lexa

_________________________

Three and a Half out of Five Stars

Grade C+
_________________________



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Friday, May 22, 2009

CANCELLATION DISCUSSION


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC) met it's official demise on May 18th, 2009.

Source


Now TSCC, was one of my favorite television series, if not in my top five and I am very strict about that Top Five' list such that only few make the cut.
Lena Headey, Summer Glau, Thomas Dekker... to name a few presented a brilliant cast which grew on me throughout each season.

Season two ended with John facing his father Kyle Reese and what seemed to be Cameron in human form. The rest was left for speculation.

I was deeply saddened when I heard the announcement of the final cut, that I still even now hold out hope for this series.

It wasn't bad, it made sense, they have a talented cast, so why was this series cut?
Sure many complained of few viewers on a weekly basis, but if this series was able to captivate my interest, I am sure it did the same to millions.

What I was mostly surprised of was the renewal of Dollhouse for another season. Dollhouse struggled with viewer ratings as well, but it still managed to somehow pull off a complete turn around. I have to admit, I am more upset with Dollhouse making the cut and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles flunking.
Season one TSCC was far better than Dollhouse's.

What went wrong? Why was TSCC pulled?

Many of us would ask these questions. I always wondered why TSCC wasn't able to pull the viewer poll, but I do know the internet is filled with avid fans that know the series inside out, some probably even make it into their lives.

It's sad really, but I must commend Josh Friedman, the creator of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for giving us a brilliant series. I certainly enjoyed it and I don't think I could find a way to part with it... just yet.

TSCC still deserves a better ending, I am sure they had a Season 3 planned there somewhere, to answer all our questions about skynet, what happens to Sarah and much more.

Many series seem to be ending too early lately. What ever happened to keeping a series for the least 3 seasons. Leave it to Fox to have a show grow into family only to have it ripped from our lives.

Maybe we could subscribe to our very own fanfiction, create our own ending, anything that would help us to cope with these gripping loose ends.


Lexa

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Dollhouse Renewed !!


It Looks like there is hope for our Dollhouse fans out there because according to Hollywood Reporter and Variety, 'Dollhouse' has been Renewed for another thirteen (13) episodes.

Sources claim that Fox has renewed Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse' for next fall.




There were many speculations of the series' continuation since the Season one Finale of 'Omega' on May 8th. Dollhouse marked low ratings on several occasions and many wondered whether or not Dollhouse would see another successful season.

It looks like we would be able to get more insight into Echo's character as well as Alpha's Psychotic mental.

I hope that Season two would be able to answer the many questions left hanging in the balance.

Finally for those Dollhouse fans, this is not a hoax, it was confirmed by Joss Whedon himself.

Source



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Sunday, May 17, 2009

Prison Break 'Killing Your Number' Review

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPO

Fox has announced that Prison Break is ending after a full Four season run. This series ended with 'Killing Your Number' which aired on May 15th on Fox.

Source

SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOIL

This final installment ended with many twists.

We welcome back Paul Adelstein reclaiming his role as Paul Kellerman . We remember him from 'Sona' the Season 2 finale of Prison Break, where he was believed to be dead even though we didn't really see the actual murder ...so I held out for him. Halfway through Season 3 I lost hope that Kellerman would resurface and imagined that the writers would continue to leave us hanging in the balance. His revelation was probably the only one that surprised me the most.



Another character we didn't see since Season 2 was Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin. Last time we saw him, he was being sent off to witness protection to testify against Mahone.
I knew it was him following Sucre from the moment he stepped out of his car and his revelation was poorly executed. His testimony fell through, because Mahone wasn't around to be convicted and he somehow formed an alliance with Kellerman.

Sucre also came back for the Finale and Maricruz played by Camille Guaty, was nowhere around. It would have been nice to see her here.
Sucre and C-Note teamed up together to take down the company, find Scylla and Micheal and get off on a clean slate. Whew... that was a lot to sink in.

Even after we lost Michael's mother, I felt as though they cheated Lincoln by saying he was a foster child. It sure explained why his 'mother' would leave him to rut in jail, but couldn't they come up with something else!

Scylla is in the right hands and everyone's slate is clean...

Four Years Later...

Mahone is dating dating Agent Lang. I know they had some kind of loyalty towards each other, but I really didn't feel the connection between them.

Lincoln and Sofia are together while LJ goes off to college. LJ was another character missed here, he wasn't shown at all. I used to love the father-son connection between Lincoln and LJ.

Sucre got his family back, but it was still odd watching that scene with his daughter. I kept wondering, where is Maricruz?

C-Note had his clean slate with his job as a UPS delivery man.

Krantz got the chair. The very same situation that Lincoln was in about eight (8) years ago Prison Break time. It's sad that he didn't have a brother to break him out.

T-bag was back to square one, in jail and back to his no-good ways. It also looked like they sent him straight back to Fox River, maybe he should have just stayed... what was the point of him breaking out.

Self was like a vegetable in what seemed like an institute of some kind, I actually felt sorry for him!

Kellerman was one whose slate wasn't completely cleaned as he received a visit from Allison, the widow of Daniel Hale (Danny). Kellerman killed Danny in 'Brother's Keeper', Season 1 Episode 16 of Prison Break. It showed that not everyone can run away from their past mistakes.

They began showing everyone before Micheal and I kept wondering... maybe... Michael's nose started to bleed again so it also meant that the surgery didn'twork.
Lincoln, Sucre, Mahone, Sarah and Michael Jr. were all going somewhere, excluding C-Note from the reunion. From the moment they showed everyone other than Michael I knew it, he had to have passed on. Which left me wondering, how long did Michael have with his son?
It was only when they all gathered around his grave sight that I realized the series end.

The writers rushed so many story lines in the ending that everything felt jumbled and at some points it was hard to keep up. Micheal's mother was mellow in the beginning, but she eventually spiraled out of control that there was a bit of relief there when Sarah pulled the trigger. I found it strange how at one point she couldn't order a hit on Lincoln's life, then it was so easy for her to shoot him and plunge her heel through his wound (very cold-even if he wasn't your son lady!).

I still didn't find it believable that everyone's slate was clean in the end. What about the entire country's memory of the 'Ten Most Wanted Men' who eventually declined. How did they manage to sweep everyone's slate clean, without repercussion and just by signing a contract?
There were still some funny bits to this finale which I thought that could have been executed much better.

Season Four wasn't my favorite season for Prison Break. It began with a big 'Bang' of a Season 1 and slowly diminished throughout each season, even though I could say that I loved Season 2 and 3 far more than Season 4. Everything in Season 4 was a big run around. Characters popped in and out of nowhere and then there was the unnecessary bloodshed and wild cards pulled at every stop. T-bag became less ruthless and more ridiculous and Sara's pregnancy came out of nowhere!

Needless to say, Prison Break was my favorite series and still is. They had a brilliant cast and guest star performances. Even though there were some questionable moments, Prison Break would always be remembered and would truly be missed.

I would prefer not to give this one a specific rating towards the episode alone...


Lexa


Given that this is the finale bearing a score is without difficulty. Prison Break has taken us on a journey and there were many bumps and mistrials along the way. I am sure this is a sad time for most Prison Break fans, although I still would have preferred a different end to this series.

__________________________

Three out of Five Stars

Grade C-
__________________________




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Private Practice 'What you do for Love' Review

After such a long break from the
Private Practice 'Do the Right Thing'
hanger dangling between Noah and Addison, we were left wondering which way the writers would spin the on-off love 'affair' between this heated pair.
Only to have a reminder of the couple's steamy, passionate, extravagant... kiss. What would you call Noah's fascination towards Addison that literally had him panting over her by her door step.


They gave us a brief introduction in 'What You Do for Love', but left us with unanswered questions as they switched over to Cooper and a pregnant Violet... which was kind of a disappointment. I haven't really been a fan of the Cooper-Violet-Charlotte triangle, but this scene was oddly amusing. Cooper is really fortunate to have a girlfriend like Charlotte, because I really do not understand how Charlotte copes with the Cooper-Violet situation and seeing that the only thing that pulls Cooper away from Violet is sex.


Maybe Charlotte doesn't worry because of Violet's other men; Pete, Sheldon. Violet seemed to be showing a hint of jealousy towards Pete's new girlfriend, by the way - are doctors allowed to date their patient's moms? Pete clearly crossed a professional line there.
Violet was also preoccupied with a proposal from Sheldon. Who else thinks that Sheldon occasionally pops in and out of scenes he is not necessarily needed in?
Sheldon is taking a huge risk there, proposing. What if the baby turned out to be Pete's, wouldn't that be a bit awkward?
On the other hand, I really cannot picture Violet married, let alone to Sheldon!

Heads up 24 fans, it looks like this was another crossover episode and this time between 24 and Private Practice. It is revealed that Bill Buchanan isn't dead after all. :)
If you are a 24 fan, you would recognize James Morrison as William White playing a guest star role in Private Practice and not as Bill Buchanan.
His role was left up to a bit of suspense, but we do know he tried to Woo Naomi. I know there is an age difference so when I say Woo, I really mean 'tried to offer Naomi a business preposition'.
James Morrison presented a strong presence and being a 24 fan myself, there was no Bill in sight. He still had the same look though you know that white chalky hair. Anyway speaking of looks, his own was up to no good, like he had something else up his sleeve.
Why this sudden interest in Naomi, because she's the best. I' kind of tired hearing that phrase 'I'm the best, You're the best...'
His visit to Charlotte's office confirmed my suspicions towards him, which made me wonder what his true agenda was, because Charlotte seemed to look up to him.
How does Charlotte know him and what was his true motives?
Would Charlotte be getting a storyline outside of the Cooper-Violet theme?

As we now turn our attentions back to Addison and Noah, let's give a little history to their plot.

Noah's character was introduced in the Finishing installment and was stretched between Four(4) episodes. You see Noah is a married doctor who's wife is Addison's patient. :O
His wife Morgan, has been having complications with her pregnancy, yet Noah still finds the time to drool over Addison. =O
Morgan knows nor senses nothing of Addison and Noah's kiss, but she does know that her husband is slipping away from her and the only thing that could save their marriage is the baby.

The Irony Of It All.

That kiss isn't going away and Addison cannot avoid Noah for long as they stumble upon a case together (just a coincidence).
Addison's pregnant patient (Janine) is in need of a heart transplant. Janine is accompanied by her husband's brother Malcolm, who I initially pegged to be her husband. Malcolm seemed to be head over heels for Janine, more than her husband Phillip was that is. Janine was faced with two problems; either she got a heart transplant or terminate her pregnancy to save her own life.
It just so happened that Phillip was her blood type obviously being a plausible heart donor, sadly he turned up dead soon after with no sign of a murder. Would Phillip take his own life to save his wife, or would Malcolm have the guts to kill his own brother to save Janine.
Non-the-less, the thought of murder didn't cross Addison and Noah's minds as they rushed over for Phillips heart. Addison only picks up the pieces later in the plot, while she had occasional moments with Noah again trying to ignore their kiss.
Noah confronted Addison about their relationship by saying that Addison was more angry with herself for kissing Noah back, than with Noah for kissing her.

Addison already has a history of affair in her life, why would she let down her ambitions for a married man?
Why would Noah pursue Addison, while his wife is in agony and needs him the most. I am a bit disappointed in the both of them.

The episode reflected really what anyone would do for love, but what kind of man would supposedly kill his own brother for love? Which conveniently made him the suitable candidate to be with the wife in the end. Even though it seemed like the feeling was mutual and she may have loved her husband's brother more than her actual husband, you don't just kill someone and live happily ever after! The guilt of murder would kill the relationship in the future, if it ever happens at all.

This storyline mirrored Addison's obsession with Noah, but is it that easy for Addison to stab someone in the back . Would she ever go all the way with Noah?

When Naomi and Sam had their argument nearing the end, it seemed to convenient. Obviously they wanted to give Naomi a reason to leave the Practice. Sam was Naomi's reason for staying so by him saying he needs some distance away from her, Naomi had no other excuse to stay - perfect!
I only seem to just tolerate Dell now. He is way underused character and now that Betsy is out of the way, he is just falling out of place.

I really liked this one though...

Lexa

_________________

Four out of Five Stars

Grade B-
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Saturday, May 16, 2009

Thanking all!






















I Just wanted to take this time to Thank all

those who participate in my blog.

Be it that you:

-> Browse through for entertainment.

-> Comment on my posts.

-> Participate in the polls.

-> Subscribe to my blog.

There are fine shows which have captivated our interest and it is good for us as fans to have a means to portray our thoughts about them.

Each contribution is significantly appreciated!


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Friday, May 15, 2009

Smallville 'Doomsday' Review

So this was the big Finale we've
all been waiting for!

This was the big fight between Doomsday and Clark Kent the ...according to Jimmy, SuperGuy!

Smallville used a fine twenty-one (21) installments to build up a dynamic relationship between Doomsday and Clark's unfulfilled destiny.
Smallville also used these installments at best to develop Clark into a 'Superhero' image and to set Davis into his doomed path.
Every minute spent on Smallville this season was well proficient, even though there were a few tweaks and minor adjustments needed, Smallville pulled it off, one of the reasons why this finale - didn't cut it!



The Whole Bit:

Chloe and Davis are still on the run together even though it was obvious that Chloe couldn't keep the beast within Davis as well as she did before; clearly because her feelings towards Davis had strictly turned into some mission for her to protect Clark and not Davis.
Still Tess' mission is to take down Doomsday and that meant tracking them down, but she is at a set back when the Orb from her vault goes missing, revealed to be by Clark himself.

In the opening scene, Clark is visited by one of the Legion members, Rokk who travels back in time to warn Clark that in the future Clark is dead. Revealing that by Clark saving Chloe instead of killing her when she was infected by Brainiac, it caused the future to change massively signing Clark's death warrant. When Clark saved Chloe, he also saved her connection to Doomsday which prevented Clark from killing Davis.

Clark created a plan to bury Doomsday deep under the earth only after Doomsday is separated using the Black kryptonite. Oliver shows his resentment towards' the plan and accuses Clark of being afraid to kill for the better of mankind and takes over Clark's leader role by injecting him with Krptonite. He detains Chloe and Davis, but not long enough before Doomsday surfaces and Chloe is forced to use the Black kryptonite to split 'The Beast' from Davis.

Doomsday reeks havoc on the community and with a helping hand from Jimmy, Clark is released from the Krptonite grip and is able to carry out his initial plan.

Lois and "The Red-Blue-Blur" have another conversation where Lois tries to arrange a meet between them.
Tess and Lois have a fallout inadvertently causing Lois to grab Tess' legion ring and transport herself away.
Chloe and Jimmy make up only to have Davis kill Jimmy when he realized that Chloe didn't have real feelings for him.

Clark blames himself for Jimmy's death and removes himself from any emotional connection by deeming 'Clark Kent' dead!

A creature emerges from Tess' bedroom presenting echoes of the word 'Zod', burning the House of Zod symbol on the floor.

The End


Problems I found with this Finale:


Tess, for believing that Lois had the capacity to break into her vault and escape without
being detected.

The conversation between Lois and Clark on the phone was too long when compared to the fight between Clark and Doomsday and was probably even unnecessary.

The fight between Doomsday and Clark was a major let down! Everything happened in the blink of an eye, literally.

Doomsday took so many episodes to emerge and when he eventually did, his defeat only took
a few seconds and was poorly executed.

Everything about Doomsday in this episode well ...really didn't cut it!

The scene between Chloe and Jimmy was too happily ever after and it was known before
that it wasn't going to be all good.

The Chloe-Jimmy-Davis triangle was predictable.




Things I liked in this Finale:


Allison Mack's acting was flawless. She has the ability to draw an audience in, even through a silly plot.

The conversation between Clark and Rokk, where they incorporated a change in future because Clark saved Chloe's live. It was mentioned in 'Legion' that Chloe wasn't in Rokk's time. It's good to know find that each action had its consequence.

The presence of a possible villain, Zod. His presence showed that Doomsday was used to divert our attention away from the real villain.

Learning about Jimmy's little brother.

Clark realizing his emotional connections are what keeps him from doing his job effectively and relinquishing all ties from everyone he knows.


Final Cut:

If this wasn't the Finale all would have been fine, but it was and it didn't give the explosion needed. I keep mentioning throughout this review, the Doomsday battle was a huge letdown, I even wondered whether or not I missed out on a few minutes of the show. One minute Doomsday is punching Clark in slow motion and the next second Clark zooms Doomsday up into an explosion. The explosion wasn't even screened!

The writers rushed this finale and the also rushed the relationship between Lois and The Red-Blue-Blur so much that I didn't even feel the connection between them. Erica Durance was way underused this season and her portrayal of Lois is beginning to lose its edge.

This doesn't mean that the next season is out for me. I just hope that Season 9 ties up Season 8's loose ends...

Lexa

I'll give it a...

________________________

Two and a Half out of Five Stars

Grade D
________________________















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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Gossip Girl 'Valley Girls' Review






























Valley Girls, known for a backdoor pilot, is non other than a prequel focusing on Lily van der Woodsen a.k.a (Lily Rhodes).

Want to know Brittany Snow's take on Valley Girls...



So did you like this Valley Girls prequel? I am sure interested in what Lily's life was, it somewhat mirrors Serena's life now. How was Brittany Snow as Lily Rhodes? Did you think she looked like Lily. The transitions between Lily Rhodes and Lily van der Woodsen were well done, as I found myself comparing both individuals and they were somewhat the same. I know they are the same person, but think about it, has Lily van der Woodsen ever really grown up? There is still a hint of Lily Rhodes in there, mixed with a bit of her mother's (Cece) cliche moments.

Like:
Telling Serena 'Mother Knows Best' ...and
Getting Serena arrested for punishment, most moms take away allowances, sentence their children to one month without television or a cellphone, but Lily gets Serena arrested...

Serena getting arrested was done very sloppy in 'The Wrath of Con'. I believed the show had met it's final moments and decided to just pull the final Wild Card.
Surprisingly, Valley Girls, picked up much better than I'd anticipated.

Still for some strange reason I thought I would be seeing Georgina in this installment, since they just dropped the Poppy and Gabriel theme like a hot potato! What happened to Georgina's words to Blair?

Blair - "I don't think Jesus would approve of that."
Georgina - "Well, you can tell Jesus that the bitch is back!"

Where is the bitch now!

Anyway I guess that would be picked up in 'The Goodbye Gossip Girl'.
Even though they needed to use this entire episode to promote Valley Girls, it's not right leaving us hanging in the balance there. I am sure Poppy would not hang around until prom was finished.

Another main theme in the Valley Girls theme was Prom.
Prom signified the end of senior year and it seemed to have brought an end to many things as well;
Blair and Nate
Lily and Rufus

...and a begining for Serena and Dan
Lily and her Mom


It also looked like Nelly, Hazel, Penelope and Isabel were up to no good ...again. It only took Chuck to clean up the mess they created for Blair.
There latest scheme; giving Blair false hope of becoming Prom Queen at the same time crowning Nelly. Those girls really need to grow up! According to Nelly;

"If we do this stuff in college, people would think we're Pathological!"
-> What about Now ladies! What would people think of you when you do those things Now!

Blair got the crown non-the-less, with Chuck's help, by helping Blair be happy on the day. Chuck is always more sappy around Blair, but don't you think it's funny that even though Chuck gave Blair everything she wanted, she still ended up splitting with Nate!


This episode had so many fond moments, that I had to capture it in dialogue!

Blair
- "Serena's been in jail for over four hours, she's already served more time than Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan combined"
Chuck - "She's a socialite mistakenly accused of stealing a bracelet, I doubt they're working her over with the phone book"

Nate - "I just can't believe she would actually have her own daughter arrested I mean who does that!"
Chuck - "Someone who's never been arrested!"
-> With reference to Lily of course, does this mean that Chuck doesn't really know the real Lily, because she has been arrested before!

Vanessa - "So was Lily blown away?"
Dan - "Well not really"
Jenny - "Yeah he never actually ah..."
Dan - "...proposed! Minor detail, made a proposal"
Jenny - "Kind of the key ingredient to the recipe"
Dan - "So he came, he went into his room and we haven't seen him since"
Jenny - "Ehemm Hey Dad!"
Dan - "Oh so Prom tomorrow night! What do you say we're staying in, watch some scary movies"
Vanessa - "The scarier the better!"
Jenny - "Absolutely!"
Rufus - "You guys are the Gossip Girl generation, don't expect me to believe you're not into the gossip!"
Dan - "Ah! Nope! I'm only interested in my Nime chow!"
-> This was another scene with Vanessa. We hardly see Jessica Szohr anymore she has had pretty little scenes since the 'Chuck' incident. Now that Nate's free again do you think they'll be hooking them up again?

Rufus - "She had Serena arrested!"
Dan - "What!"
Jenny - "What! Why!"
Rufus - "I suggest you kids stay out of it, let these Van der Woodsen women fight it out themselves!"
-> Sheesh, looks like somebody's holding a grudge. Yet another Rufus and Lily squabble, is it for good this time. Maybe they might bond over their child, seeing that we as viewers know he's still alive!

Gossip Girl - "For those who complain about the youth of today if you think we're bad, you should have seen our parents!"
-> Some how Lily Rhodes reflected the real Serena van der Woodsen.

Young Lily - "I'm not a head shrink or anything, but I do think the sudden uproot of my family from New York, coupled with my parents tumultuous divorce, may have contributed to some recent difficulties that I might be having!"
Richard - "You got kicked out of boarding school!"
Young Lily - "What! Wait wait, how did you know that!"
Richard - "She told me"
Young Lily - "Mom"
Cece - "Hello Lily"
Young Lily - "What are you doing here"
Cece - "If it was up to your father they'd stop me at the county line, but Santa Barbara is really only a prison in my mind!"
Richard - "Good to see you Ce Ce"
Cece - "Wish I could say the same Richard"
-> We now know where Lily get her character from, look at the kind of parents she had!

Young Lily - "You hung up the phone with me and you called her! You didn't even give me a chance to explain!"
Cece - "That's because he would have to parent, and we know he always leaves bad cop to me."
Richard - "Punishing loved ones just comes so much more naturally to some people!"

Blair - "Why are you still in jail!"
Serena - "It's by choice!"
Blair - "Oh God! You're not going to come out of there with a mullet and a girlfriend are you?"
Serena - "My mother didn't think that I was old enough to make my own decisions, so I decided to stay in jail and I'm not leaving until she decides to let me live my own life!"
Blair - "So it's a War of attrition!"
Serena - "So to speak"
Blair - "Except she gets to wage the war from the comfort of her penthouse while you remain behind bars!"

Serena - "...enjoy prom with Nate, like you always planned in that scrapbook that you kept under your bed"
Blair - "Uh! Please, I don't remember that. (Switching through the scrap book) I was a child then"
Serena - "I should go, I don't want to abuse my phone privileges"
Blair - "The fact that you're on an actually payphone has me beyond nauseous. Stay strong S"

(Dorota hands Blair her morning coffee)
Blair - "What's this for?"
Dorota - "Strength! You would need! I have good news and bad news! Which do you want?"
Blair - "Good news first always."
Dorota - "There's replacement!"
Blair - "What are you talking about?"
Dorota - "Makes more sense if you pick bad news first. Your dress for prom the dry cleaners, thy ruined it! (Blair reaches for the dress) "Dis' body bag, corpse not pretty!" :D

Blair - "...but there's a replacement?"
Dorota - "...the good news. Dis morning it arrived from Paris. Jus like in scrapbook!"
-> Dorota is the actual mother figure for Blair.

Blair - "Just like my scrapbook, I don't remember keeping and haven't looked at since I was an early adolescent!"
-> Blair's inner child. All the more Blair wants to grow up, she still has that child within.

Gossip Girl - "Who knew the mother Chucker could also play fairy-godmother? ...but if C just made B's dreams come true why does it feel like our queen is standing with the wrong King?"
-> There goes that 'mother Chucker' reference again. Chuck seems to be getting bad interpretation, what did he eve do to deserve such?

Young Lily - "Do I look like I'm wearing a Halloween costume"
Owen - "No you look good"
Young Lily - "Is this the moment where you fall in love with me? Oh it is isn't it? You're totally falling in love with me right now!"
-> Sounded better when she said it!


Prison Picture Moments (Flashback);

Owen - "You can't use the one you already have on file?"

Young Lily - "Wait! Let me just fix my make-up!"
-----------------------------------------------------------

(Cece and Lily On the phone)
Cece - "Jail ...If I was a better mother I'd leave you in there, teach you a lesson"
So does it make Lily a better mother seeing as she left Serena in jail, even though she's the one that put her there?

Cece - "Lily, the hopes and dreams I have for you, an Ivy League education, life on the Upper East side, married to the richest man in Manhattan"
-> It looks as though Lily did get those things eventually, so why is her life still in array?

Carol - "Hey mom, got a sec...?"
Cece - "Carol! This is your chance to be a big sister and finally offer some actual guidance to Lily. Her future's at stake"
Carol - "Which is why she needs to be far away from you! This is how it's going to be mom, Lily's staying with me for a while"
Cece - "Carol let's be reasonable, we both the first time that she breaks a nail rides a city bus or God forbid actually steps foot in a public school, she'll come running home!"
Carol - "Well, that's really up to Lily now isn't it!"
Cece - "Just tell her to sit tight, I'm coming for her"
Carol - "No mom, you sit tight, she'll call you later!"
-> Carol and Lily did learn to travel in style when Carol sold her car to get out of prison.


Blair - "I really wanted to go to prom with my High school boyfriend... and now that I have."
Serena - "He feels like your high school boyfriend"

Gossip Girl - "Shoulder pads may come and go, but a bff is forever, because even when you're not sure where you're headed, it helps to know you're not going there alone."


So Cece may have caused a split between Owen and Lily, that may be why he's not present in Lily's life!

Brittany Snow does look like Kelly Rutherford, except the difference in eye color. Brittany's eyes are blue and Kelly's are grayish-brownish. Although I read in an Article that your eye-color does change as you grow older...

This was my favorite episode of Gossip Girl this season. Some may disagree with me, but the acting was solid, the flashback scenes were well placed and everything just fell into place. I am actually interested in the Valley Girls prequel!

Gossip Girl may not have the same spunk like Season one, and this episode might not make up for some past episodes they just passed us of with, but by the length of this review I'm sure you must already know that I liked this one. Definitely a different take on the overall series.

I just hope that they would conclude the Georgina mode quickly and I hope it would end better than her last encounter in Season one.

So, are you excited for The Goodbye Gossip Girl?
...and how much did you enjoy that performance from No Doubt!


Special Credit goes to:

No Doubt

Krysten Ritter as Carol Rhodes

Brittany Snow as Lily Rhodes


Lexa

__________________________

Four and a half out of Five Stars

Grade B+
__________________________

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

24 'Day 7: 5:00 AM - 6:00 AM' Review


Who else thought it was fun watching Chloe and Janis battle it out over who was smarter?
It was even more painful watching Jack use Tony's face as a punching bag.

Jack - "Why did you betray me"

It was sad though, I keep hoping for them to say something like 'Tony's been undercover this entire time, he's really not the bad guy, killing Larry was for his cover, or even this League of his is really good', but that would be naive don't you think?

Speaking of the League, they mentioned something about their 'Operatives watching Kim'. How big is this organization that they could recruit operatives to train? What does this League stand for?

Obviously they wouldn't be showing us
Kim Bauer going home safely to her husband and child, that would be crazy! ...and boring. Her life must be threatened.

Another 24 cliche, to use the ones you love against you. It happened to Jack, with Kim and Terri already, to Tony with Michelle wait and to Michelle with Tony!
Don't you think Kim has had enough you guys, the cliche feels too overdone now, come on!

It was a big hint that something would have happened to Kim when she saw the mysterious guy looking at her. Of course she wouldn't know her dad sent him, but that guy was so obvious, I mean come on you're the professional Jack hired! No wonder the real perpetrators fingered you out, if Kim could have done it. You're supposed to be like a ghost, and you're not allowed to take bathroom breaks either! You are only going to find a guy with long hair waiting to kill you!

Another thing, did Kim trust this woman enough to ask her to watch her bag for her, maybe she shouldn't judge on first impressions, being Jack Bauer's daughter and all, you can't be trusting of anyone!

That husband and wife was a bit in the forefront as well. From the time Jack revealed the guy to be just the protector of Kim; the husband and wife's true motives became obvious. It's not that creepy guy then it had to be the strangely happy couple! They were just to happy and friendly.

Renee(To Tony) - "You're going to pay for what you did to Larry!"

I actually expected that from Renee, Larry's death was completely unresolved and Renee needed to seek vengeance. Still I was saddened to know that her vengeance would be cut short, since the 'operatives' had Kim, Jack might do anything to keep her safe. Do you think Jack would find a way to warn Renee, I hope he does, anyone that came between Renee and her seeking revenge was sure going to end up in deep water. I'm sure Jack couldn't kill Renee either, not after the moment they shared before.

Did you guys see that smirk on Tony's face when Jack entered the van, it was like he knew he was going to wash his hands of the blood he had stained. Like he was telling Renee, maybe you could find some other guy to hate for Larry's death, did he even care.

I found it strange that they would use Jack at all in his condition. What if he began to seize during the time he's helping Tony escape? Even Renee let him take control of things.

For now 24 feels like they've been trying to pull out wild cards at every stop. i think things should have just ended with Hodges, only because the have to stretch it out 24 episodes, but still, sometimes it's hard to maintain the idea that all these events transpire within a day.

I really couldn't care for the scenes with Olivia and Hodges. What a nice way to bring back Ethan Kanin. I actually liked him though, he and the President shared some nice scenes together as well as he and Olivia.

I disliked Olivia better then, she's lost touch with her bad bone now.

Non-the-less, right now, I just want 24 to wrap everything up, I get the point. The only thing I'm hoping for is a question of hope for Jack and probably for Renee to get the vengeance she needs. Other than that the other things should come to an end. Two more hours left; a lot could happen in two hours.

Lexa

___________________________________

Three and a half out of Five Stars

Grade C+
___________________________________


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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Robin Hood



What can I say about this show, how about It's my new favourite series...


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In Plain Sight 'In My Humboldt Opinion' Review



Consistency,

this is exactly the type of material I appreciate in a series and it is most often rarely seen.

In Plain Sight manages to pull off a consistent 'Wow' of a Season 2! Giving us as viewers two consecutive installments, In My Humboldt Opinion, included.

Mary is now finding her way around her old job and she has 'The Newbie' Eleanor to deal with. As Mary tried to adapt to her surroundings and deal with her past struggles, Eleanor's new furniture arrangement wasn't cutting it. Good Mary was gone and Bitchy Mary was back, giving Eleanor competition for the 'bossy' title she wanted to claim. I smiled when Eleanor confronted Mary about her bossiness, saying that Mary cannot intimidate her, which is funny because by her saying that, Mary probably does intimidate her... as she did everyone. Everyone loves Mary, despite her ways and Eleanor had to earn her stripes, being the 'Newbie' and all!

In this week's case, Mary had to deal with a typical hypochondriac (Jerry); an owner of a marijuana plant testifying against his buyers. I found it surprising that he had a family; a wife and two children.
I didn't really understand how his family put up with his drug-use; taking marijuana to stay sane, especially around the children. Was he always high on marijuana when he met his wife, how far did his condition date back? Was it his personality on or off marijuana she fell in love with?

None-the-less, Jerry is afraid to speak on the witness stand... off the marijuana , and decides to take his life to prevent himself from testifying. So how much did he love his family if he was willing to take his own life and fake Amnesia?

Mary, Mary, Mary, she sure brought out the real Jerry. Giving him petty threats and then babying him in the end; attaching what appeared to be a smiley face on his microphone in court. At least she got him in court.

While he was on the stand, Jerry took a little while to give his name on introduction, he also looked like a child.
On a real note, given "Boston Legal" Knowledge of a typical case in court, wouldn't the opposing party be aware of his marijuana usage. Prosecution could prosecute Jerry, someone with his mental state would say anything anyone told him to say... like Mary perhaps.
"Psst Jerry make sure and point out the guys that look the most guilty *wink*"

Anyway, we didn't really get to see the prosecuting side and it was cool watching a frailly Jerry in court. I give credit to the scene where Mary placed the smiley sticker on his microphone and the point where he didn't need the smiley anymore.

The scenes with Mary and her analyst were well played; another intrusion into Mary's lifestyle which Mary took on surprisingly better than Eleanor.
It was fun watching her analyst always writing in her note pad.

Mary - "What could you possibly be writing"

They actually formed a brief friendship-I guess; in the end. Then again if you look at the other side of the coin, Mary had to be nice to her, she held Mary's continuation at work in the palm of her hands, which encouraged Mary to behave a bit better to everyone. I loved how Mary fancied up her words when she was talking to Jerry.

Mary - "Just giving you something to write" :D

As for Mary's family, Jinx was back to her old crazy self- well alcoholic that is and Brandi was well changing her life, trying to go to school again, trying to become more civilised like Mary - a bit.

Eleanor sort of earned her stripes as well, breaking up the argument in the office, McQueen actually acted like a boss and who saw that Eleanor and McQueen thing coming?

Finally we get to see Ralph and their relationship has picked up heat again. Hmm, asking Mary to pass him a towel!

Lexa

_________________________

Four and a Half out of Five Stars

Grade A
_________________________



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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Dollhouse Featured Discussion


Echo is implanted with several personalities, Alpha is still on the run without Echo. Dr.Saunders has joined the lengthy Doll list...

Some believe that we're right back where we've started, but we've learnt more than the pilot had to offer.


**We could finally put a face to Alpha.

**Mellie a.k.a November, Victor, Dr. Saunders were revealed to be dolls.

**We now understand Alpha's obsession with Echo and why she survived the slaying.

**Victor and Adelle have a little thing going on, so there is a soft side to her
tough shell.

**...and well, anyone could be a doll.


What about you?

Did this feel like a finale episode for you?

Do you want Dollhouse to end?

How much do you like Alpha now?


Lexa





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Dollhouse 'Omega' Review


Dollhouse has faced many challenges when it came to delivery. Not many series carry this type of burden when it comes to telling a story. This episode was much better than I'd anticipated. Last week when Echo went running off with Alpha, I believed maybe Echo and Alpha formed some kind of pact together and they had some kind of heated romance thing going on. The fact that Alpha planted Echo with a personality he favored for her was a different twist.

Alpha, played by Alan Tudyk, caught me off guard last week, I wouldn't have guessed that such a dull-witted person would be Alpha, but he proved to be more than crazy could handle...

It's funny when you think about it, even though he killed Caroline, he really didn't, she could easily be implanted into someone else.

Madeline seemed more like Millie there. Do you think she remembered a fragment of Paul, or was it just natural attraction.
Paul also had guts, asking Madeline, for her real name. What was he trying to accomplish? To see if she still remembered him maybe?

Paul Ballard fit in pretty well in the Dollhouse. He fought so hard to get the Dollhouse only to stay...?
Maybe he liked the scenery. Did he buy Echo eh em... Caroline's freedom. What about the rest of the dolls? Maybe he may use Mellie's leaving the dollhouse as a means of sanctuary.... all the dolls must leave their houses some day. :)

The Echo/Alpha twist was interesting, compliments to Alan Tudyk for his portrayal of Alpha as he seemed to have misunderstood Echo deeply. For someone who was smart enough to get to Paul Ballard, imprint dolls to give Paul a message, infiltrate the Dollhouse and leave without a chase, he seemed very dull when it came to the endgame, maybe that's love for you plays with your head.
I had to point this out, what did think about Echo and Alpha having multiple brains, wouldn't your head explode if it's anything like a computer? And to only graze Echo with a shoulder bullet on his getaway? Maybe in his twisted mental, he still couldn't hurt her, much...

Finally a new revelation Dr. Claire Saunders played by
Amy Acker is a doll! That was unexpected.


It leaves you wondering, who else could be a doll. Topher you think, Adelle? Maybe the entire place is run by dolls? That is something to leave you guessing.

I admired the flashback scenes among Alpha/Echo and Dr. Saunders (Whiskey).
Couldn't they have wiped Whiskey's memories of Alpha, maybe they needed her in a office position more than in the field.

I laughed when Alpha immediately sprung one on Echo, Love at first sight. At least we all found out how Alpha scared the Dr.'s face.

Speaking of scared faces, wasn't it unprofessional of Dr. Saunders to call Victor ugly. Maybe that was just a glitch, she got annoyed at his 'How can i be my best'. Probably she was reacting to the fact that Alpha was still alive and watching Victor reminded her about her experience with Alpha. Whatever it was, Victor stood clueless, like an innocent child wondering why his mother suddenly threw a tantrum. What are they going to do with Victor, maybe they might need a male nurse.

Who else liked Caroline as a blonde, I really didn't take to her enough to mourn her death... so long as Echo was still standing I knew Caroline was still alive. I also knew that Echo wouldn't kill herself, Alpha wasn't going to have Caroline's heart.

Don't you love how Sierra is always imprinted with a 'smart-ass' personality. She always gives some smarty come on. Especially when it came to flirting with Paul.
As for Paul, if you can't beat your enemies, join them... don't agree, well Dollhouse has certainly grown on him, I pegged him for a Ken... (cheap shot, I Know) :)


Fun Quotes:


Alpha - "Whiskey, let Alpha be number one..."

Alpha - "I don't understand was I not my best! I was making Art!"
Handler - "Alpha you need to settle... you need a treatment"

Alpha - "I enjoy my treatments"
Topher - "Well you're gonna enjoy this one"
Treatment is some sort of comfort code word, which calms the dolls...
So someone's fantasy was to have a sadistic killer on the loose, doesn't dollhouse implement rules of some sort.

Alpha - "Alpha meet Omega"
They incorporated the show title...

Dr. Saunders/Whiskey - "You can't Victor, you can't be your best, your best is past, your past you can't even remember. You are ugly now! You are disgusting! All you can hope for now is pity and for that you are going to have to look somewhere else."

I mentioned whiskey above because
Dr. Saunders is Whiskey, and that would be something Whiskey would want to say. She is still scared from her Alpha encounter and is unable to deal with Victor's situation appropriately. Maybe they should have given Victor to some else. They say that the dolls are like children, imagine 'mummy' telling her son that! There was no way she could rationalize that, knowing that Victor is going through the same situation she once went through and they just imprinted her differently. Would they do the same to Victor?


Dollhouse shows true promise on each weekly installment. Past episodes have left me wondering 'Where are they taking this show'? and others including this installment reminds me why I like to watch Dollhouse. With more episodes like this maybe the rumors of the shows' cancellation might be just a memory. I am looking forward for more answers to this shows problematic equations.


Dollhouse Surprising Doll Revelation -
Dr. Claire Saunders played by Amy Acker !!!

Hacking her doll file, only to not open it.

She found out she was a doll and dealt with it, few of the lucky ones or maybe not so much...

On the other Hand, this didn't feel like the Finale.

Lexa

___________________

Four out of Five Stars

Grade B+
___________________

Missed The Finale?

What the Full Episode Here:

Omega
Part 1

Omega Part 2


So What do the promising Actors of Dollhouse have to say about portraying dolls...




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Sunday, May 3, 2009

In Plain Sight 'Gilted Lily' Review




Mary Is Back, and she's happy?





The pilot was what caught my attention for this stunning series. though I felt the latter of season one didn't quite quench my thirst for suspense or live up to my expectations.


The excitement for this season was an eye opener, as Mary tried to cope with the trama she endured last seasons. Mary's sarcastic outbursts weren't as prevalent, but all the other events made up for her character glitches, which proved hilarious on many levels.

Mary was still traumatized over her kidnapping; it makes sense, Mary is one to be in control of her life, her kidnappers took that power away away from from her and left her vulnerable and drained. Ironically, the only thing able to give Mary the power she needs to survive, is the same job which places her life in jeopardy.

We welcome a new character Eleanor Prince, played by Holly Maples. It appears that her role is to put disorder into Mary's lifestyle. Everyone else praises Mary, there must be one person placed to play the opposing role. Mary doesn't really budge, even when Eleanor rearranges the desks- sort of like having someone come into your home and telling where your furniture should go. Still, Mary stood her ground, and Eleanor became the temp. boss. Hopefully not for long.

Mary on the other hand tried to be nice to everyone. She still struggles with her emotions and goes into what I call 'Default Mode' Nice. :)
Even her 'Nice' approach felt forced. She was still trying to find her Niche which was even more complicated for her to handle. She stood back and let Marshall take the lead, well sort off.

'Gifted Lily' dealt with a past clientele of Mary's who turns up suspiciously dead. The opening scene gave a brief history of the family sometime before they went into the 'Witness Protection program'. We are introduced to the two girls and one boy at a young age ready for adventure and action, anything that spelt trouble-at least for the girls anyway, tey were the ones to find the poisoned coins where the 'gang' hid it.

Of course when the coins turned up suspiciously missing, a fight sprawled out among the member causing the family to witness the murder. Surprisingly the show didn't pick up until a few years after the mother was shot and the guy pinned for her assault released from prison. This episode mainly focused on the missing coins and the now grown children which included Gilmore Girls' Liza Weil.

All the other members of the gang weren't captured, some were said to have been killed and the coins were made to be responsible. Though it's been years and one of the members has been out of jail, but claimed to be changed because he was forgiven. Seemed funny at the time, but it was kind of cool that he sought redemption at least someone did.

Mary and Marshall worked well together (Let's call them M&M shall we) :)
When Stan finally took a stand (pun intended), like a boss should and stood up to Mary, I was actually liking him there for a moment, actually living up to his title. His stance flipped a switch in Mary, as she lost it! Tossing her desk aside.
"I've had it, first you tell me Marshall's in charge, this Bi*** comes into to rearrange my desk and now you're the boss...That's It!"

It was sweet how Marshall followed her, he's sort of like a brother, a close friend, a shoulder for Mary to cry on. Though he shouldn't have corrected McQueen for playing boss or even hurting Mary's feelings, that's is a boss' job. on the other hand, as a boss he should be sensitive to the trauma Mary went through.

Non-the-less, the coins were discovered to be the guilty culprits which took Mary's client's life, which even take the children's life as well. It's funny how siblings protect each other, hiding the truth from the Mary and only when there lives were in danger were they willing to give the other up.

Everyone found their silver lining; Mary with a partiality. Raphael was shown here, and I did miss him. The Mary-Brandi-Raphael triangle wasn't really resolved.

What's up with Jinx, getting drunk after she got a role, shouldn't she have drank after she played the role.

Anyway, I loved this one. This season gave a powerful opener. Thumbs up to Mary McCormack and to Liza Weil for a brilliant performance.

Lexa
_________________________

Four and a half out out Five Stars

Grade A-
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Smallville 'Stiletto' Review



This was not
Erica Durance's Finest Episode!



'Stiletto' focused on Lois and her depreciating name, where she would do anything... for her biggest story yet! It came to the point where someone would mention 'Lois Lane' and the only response would be 'WHO!'. Basically Lois wanted that prospect to change and creating Stiletto, a made up superhero, provided her with the ammunition to do just that. I say ammunition carefully, because it could easily blow up in her face.

All Lois had to do was kick some bad guy a**, save Chloe from a bad robber and make her name in the superhero stars of victory!
Although that scene with the robber seemed to be too easy, I wondered why Chloe looked like the 'damsel in distress' when she could easily kick some robber a** just as much as Lois.

"Are you some kind of superhero"
"Call me Stiletto"...
Lois embanked like a hero as her foot of armor paralyzed the bad robber on the floor and her hair blew in the wind claiming her victory as the superhero she was born to be.

It felt as though the writers were giving us a comic fairytale there. At one point I imagined that an actual superhero possessed Lois' body. Lois had to be desperate, because not even Lois Lane would stoop to that level.

Stiletto's name rose through the internet waves like a plague, already fans were teaming up 'The Red Blue Blur' and 'Stiletto' as Bluretto. (I wonder if I spelt it correctly?)
It's about time they shorten that Red Blue Blur title, how's about Blur man, or wait Super Blur, come on guys help me out here, wait I think I've got it Superm... okay let's slow things down a bit.

This entire episode came across as Comical.
The only bit of the show I really admired was the Chloe and Doomsday scenes.
Allison Mack did a wonderful portrayal of a 'Chloe in need of some serious psychological assistance', bearing the blood on her hands, cleaning up Davis, eh em Doomsday's mess. She was keeping a secret to protect Clark (Chloe deserves a Friend of the year award). After having agreed to staying with Davis under the circumstances, she had to be home before certain time to prevent Doomsday from emerging. I thought Chloe carried more than a load and a burden here, that she practically broke down by the dumpster throwing the remains of the man which accosted her in her home.

I still didn't find out what Chloe and Davis did after Chloe latched the basement door in 'Eternal', hold hands maybe?

It does present a creepy image; harvesting Doomsday in your basement, nothing about that is good and there is only so much Chloe could handle and a human being.
She even almost blurted it out to Lois...

Chloe "Can I tell you something..."
Chloe if you want to tell someone something, you don't ask you just tell them!
Then again how would, 'I'm living with a creature that kills people only when I'm not around him' sound to anyone.

Chloe and Lois did share a personal moment, when Lois came by to ask about Jimmy's whereabouts. (Since when were Lois and Jimmy buddies). Anyway, talk of 'Facebook' surfaced when Chloe mentioned removing Jimmy from her page. I would surprised given the amount of difficulty and excitement in their lives, that they even had the chance to put up an account... i wonder if Clark has one?

Speaking of Jimmy, it's been a while since we've seen him really, especially after he walked out on Chloe. He's working in a bar nonetheless, trying to make a living, be it the legal or illegal way. His boss seemed to be doing a lot of illegal work on the side, creating counterfeit money out of Kryptonite...why Kyrptonite?
Jimmy knew who he was working for, enough to get an upfront in 'pay' if it had a double meaning, because it was suggested that Jimmy was hooked silly on his prescription drugs, waiting for his next fix.
Boss "...but this is the last time"

Jimmy came to Lois' rescue, being the only person who could take a picture and the only person Lois could trust with her secret. He was foolish enough to get the same camera confiscated from his Boss who was on an apparent high over Stiletto, the new superhero in town. Why would Jimmy keep pictures of Chloe around on that camera in specific, does that mean he's not over her (Of course he's not!), or was that a convenient twist on the writers end, getting the new mob boss to take the camera only the get leverage over Jimmy. Why bother to search through his camera at all if they just wanted to rough him up? It would have gotten Jimmy more upset if they smashed it right there, takes up less time as well!

Even if Jimmy did get 'Stiletto' on camera, do superhero often leave their contact numbers attached with a personal address stating 'you could reach me here anytime'. Obviously it would have been a waste of time asking Jimmy about Stiletto's whereabouts.

Did Lois really think a mask would cover her identity, especially towards the people that knew her. Didn't Oliver teach her anything there?
Stiletto's identity was revealed in no time, and Clark's own was almost revealed as well, when he presented himself to Stiletto eh em Lois. Clark had to think on his feet, it was easier on his part being in plain clothes. Maybe all Lois needed to do was wear her plain clothes and no one would have found out her identity. Maybe Superm... eh Clark um Red Blur Blur could learn from that experience.


Extra Treats

**Clark gave Lois the 'big potential story' she wanted in the end.

**Chloe threw that scarf around her neck hastily before Lois arrived, where did it come from?

**Even though Davis' or Doomsday's presence was not screened, his implied viscious capabilities were well captured.

Lexa

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Three and a half out of Five Stars

Grade C+
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Saturday, May 2, 2009

24 'Day 7: 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM' Review


In eager anticipation from last week's betrayal, I awaited the Jack and Tony cliffhanger; how was Tony going to 'handle' Jack now that Jack knew of his deception?
It was either Jack's life would be in danger (however short), or Tony would have to head for high ground, because his cover was blown and it wouldn't be too long till Jack revealed Tony's treachery.

I found it amusing; watching Jack struggle to get the words out:
"T-Tony's T-Turned"...

It reflected his disbelief towards his old friend actually turning. Tony was actually going to pull that trigger, he was really going to kill Jack! Kind of hard to absorb in all at once.

When Jack broke the news to Chloe, she bore a sense of denial. I don't blame her, how do explain the undercover gig he did with Bill, the friendships he took years to build, just *poof* gone!
...but Jack was convincing enough right?
"He tried to kill me Chloe, he's Bad!" That meant 'don't argue with me I know what I am talking about!'
I have to agree with Chloe on this one, I know he tried to kill Jack, but Jack isn't dead and he hasn't really done anything ruthless (for us to see anyway). You must admit, Tony hasn't really proven he wasn't ever good at all or that he is one hundred percent bad!
Think back to when everyone believed Tony was a ruthless savage, when he was working for Colonel Iké Dubaku. He showed relief towards the people in the planes when he gave the order to "pull up". Maybe that was a front for Bill and Chloe and I am still absorbing these changes in events.

So Tony may have been working with Hodges, Tony was the 'other people' President Allison Taylor should pay heed to.
Hodges tried to do all the wrong things for the right reasons, inhis own twisted perspective. He believed that he was actually doing something good, so do these new group of people, including Tony's new girlfriend, represent Hodges' interest in a less perverse way. (I suspected it, but it was still out of sort to see Tony kiss her)
Hodges made it through the another hour after the prescription pill of induced death didn't work. As he continued his rantings I found myself wondering 'why didn't that pill work!', while he continued to rant about them.

Hodges "You don't know what you've done, now they are going to kill them!

Hodges' family obviously meant something to him, enough to take his own life to protect them. It was still sloppy of him saying what he said 'now they are going to kill them';
Hodges you just admitted that there were people powerful enough to warranty your fate and that power was using your family to ensure your mouth was permanently shut!

I imagined Jack would have used his family to get Hodges to talk.
'You wouldn't have to worry about them taking your family's life, but about what we'll do to them if you don't talk!'
...but they played a different card, instead guarantying that his death was successful, less messy I guess!
It even gave Olivia motive to warranty Hodges' death herself. It seems as though everyone wants Hodges dead, definitely not good being in his shoes. As for Olivia, no one messes with her family and gets a condo in California! At least that what was I thought she mentioned (correct me if I'm wrong).
That moment between President Allison Taylor and Olivia was heart felt, but I really couldn't grieve with them. We hardly got to know Roger Taylor played by Eric Lively in 24: Redemption. He was marked as killed before we even got a chance to know him really so sadly I couldn't appreciate Olivia's vendetta towards Hodges.

Funny to mention, I disliked Olivia much more when she was at war with Ethan Kanin.

This wasn't one of Hodges' best performances either. Maybe after his true vendetta was revealed there wasn't any need to make his character more appealing and show a bit more difficulty in revealing 'the group' involved out of mistrust from the government.

Couldn't Renee interrogate Hodges instead, was Jack really the best candidate in his state. Although on the other hand, Renee did mention to Janis that Jack's job was what kept him going, so in a way Renee was giving Jack his medicine of adrenaline.


Extra Treats

**Did Olivia order a hit for Hodges? That's what I got out of the 'code' language on the phone.

**So Tony killed Larry. Would Renee be seeking blood, she did feel a bit of hate towards him as she figured that Tony was the one she should gear her anger at.

**Janis Gold is one character which has been underused much in the last few hours, I really enjoy her contributions.

**I felt sorry for Janis when Jack began yelling at her. Jack control yourself, she isn't the enemy! You really want to take out that rage on Tony.

**I enjoyed that brief scene between Chloe and her child, Prescott O'Brian, hugging her son like she somehow wasn't going to see him again. Chloe has a lot to lose now.

**The FBI would've seen what it was like to work like CTU operatives, it was just a matter of time!

**What does Tony, his new girlfriend and the group want with that bio-weapon, should we be worried!

**I did mention Tony's girlfriend, seems like her natural color isn't blonde after all.

Finally, 24 seems to be taking us around a few circles and I am getting a bit dizz picking up the pieces of the puzzles they lay down.
Still not one of my favourite hours to count through.

Lexa

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Three and a Half out of Five Stars

Grade C-
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