SEPARATED AT BIRTH

Is it just me, or does Blackbeard - from the 'Doctor Who' episode of "The Mind Robber" - look like Clint Howard?

BCnU!




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"Dollhouse" finale recap: "We're not Gods"

Just got done watching the first season finale of "Dollhouse," titled "Omega," and I've gotta say that I'll be pretty upset if Fox doesn't end up ordering a second season.
Though the show was a bit underwhelming in its early episodes, it's shaped up into a mighty promising series. Not only does it raise thought provoking questions about the nature of identity, the role of technology in our lives and the horrors of exploitation, it's also incredibly entertaining.
This last episode in particular was a fast-paced, action-packed hour, as Alpha (Alan Tudyk) fled the Dollhouse with a newly altered Echo (Eliza Dushku). The attempt to retrieve Echo made for strange bedfellows, as Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) joined forces with the Dollhouse staff. Meanwhile, we got a lot of Alpha background, a brief reunion between Echo and Caroline and the answer to a major question raised last week.
In fact, in recapping this episode, I'd like to start with that answer to that big question, raised in many "Dollhouse" fans' heads after last week's episode: Is Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker) really a doll? The answer was yes. She was a doll named Whiskey, and was the house's No. 1 active, until Alpha took a shine to Echo. The flashback scene in which we learned why and how Alpha slashed up poor Whiskey was absolutely heartbreaking, as was the scene where we met the original Dr. Saunders -- a man! In an interesting twist, Dollhouse tech Topher (Fran Kranz) made the Whiskey version of Saunders a little too smart. After her encounter with Alpha, Saunders slowly starts to realize that she's really a doll. Eventually, she hacks Topher's system and finds proof of her past as Whiskey. She confronts Topher, and he, surprisingly, doesn't have some snarky comeback. He's quiet. Until she asks him an important question: If he's responsible for building her personality, why did he make her hate him so much? Topher responds by asking her why she didn't read her original history. "Don't you want to know who you are?" he asks. "I know who I am," she responds.
But who is she, really? Why did Topher make her hate him so much? And, more important, why did he imprint her with excellent computer skills -- skills, as Saunders pointed out, beyond those that a doctor would typically have? Do Topher and Whiskey/Saunders have a past? Were they related? Was he in love with her? Did her want her to eventually learn her real identity? Is that why he made her so tech savvy?
In the final scene with Echo, Topher is noticeably shaken from his encounter with Whiskey. Why? I don't know, but it does help lend a little depth to Topher -- a character I'd previously found pretty unlikable.
Incidentally, the episode was a real showcase for Acker, who nailed every second of Saunders' awakening to the realization that her whole life was a lie. Perhaps the saddest moment was her vicious verbal attack on poor Victor (Enver Gjokaj), Alpha's most recent victim. When she berated him, saying that he'd never again be his best, that all he could hope for was to inspire pity, it was devastating. And, once again, great work by Gjokaj, a real find who continues to lend soul to this blank slate of a character. His wide-eyed, wounded puppy expression in this scene broke my heart.
But, while the "Whiskey" reveal was a great twist, the heart of this episode was the Alpha/Echo confrontation. Through flashbacks, we learn that Alpha, even in his doll state, was obsessed with Echo. The obsession leads him to kiss her in the hallway, risking the wrath of DeWitt (Olivia Williams). It leads to the assault on Whiskey, and, of course, to Alpha's eventually psychotic break. After Alpha slashes Whiskey, Topher tries to "fix" him by downloading all his past imprints into his brain simultaneously. Quick question: how exactly was overloading Alpha's brain with information supposed to make him less psychotic? Didn't they realize it would probably just make him worse? I'm not a scientist, but even I could have figured that out. At any rate, we saw the start of Alpha's killing spree, which included destroying his original identity, Carl William Craft, an attempted murderer.
OK again, I have a question: If your doll is an attempted murderer and just displayed traces of his old murderous personality WHY WOULD POUNDING HIS BRAIN WITH INPUT BE A VIABLE SOLUTION? Why???? Can anyone answer this??? It just seems nuts! Sigh. OK. Moving on.
We learned which personality Alpha downloaded into Echo. It was a previous Whiskey imprint, that of a trashy criminal. He chose the imprint because she was familiar with San Pedro, where Alpha's original persona, Carl William Craft, had a hideout. After their escape, Alpha and Echo kidnap a girl named Wendy (yes, that was Ashley Johnson, who played young Chrissie on "Growing Pains), and Alpha imprints her with Caroline. He then downloads all of Echo's imprints into her brain. Surprisingly, she doesn't snap. And she doesn't kill "Carolyn," as Alpha instructs her to. She turns on Alpha, and chastises him for his arrogance. "We're not Gods," she tells him.
She attempts to reunite her body with Caroline's personality, but Alpha shoots Wendy before that can happen. Alpha then decides that he's going to download Caroline into Echo, then shoot her. Then he's going to do it again and again, using different girls all over the country.
See, Topher? This is why you don't download 48 personalities into someone's brain! (Sorry -- I can't get past that).
Anyway, Echo escapes and Alpha chases her outside, holding the Caroline imprint. Eventually, he tosses it onto a beam. Echo tries to retrieve it, but it falls...into Ballard's waiting hands below. Huh. Cool.
Anyway, here are a few more thoughts on "Omega."
* Loved the scene where Echo is trying to convince Caroline to "come home" to her body. Caroline says she signed a contract with the Dollhouse. Echo poo poos that reasoning, saying that not one of the many personalities in her brain believes that someone can sign a contract to be a slave "especially now that we have a black president." Tee hee.
* Once again, great work by Tudyk as Alpha. He's great at balancing Alpha's scary, violent moments with comical, goofy crazy-guy moments, as when Alpha's handler tells him to watch his step. Alpha immediately looks down at his feet. Hilarious, yet unsettling given what we know about this guy and who he's going to become.
* Fascinating twist at the end, when Ballard agrees to work with the Dollhouse if they agree to free one of the actives...November. Why? Why her and not Caroline/Echo? Did Ballard feel so guilty about sleeping with her when she was Mellie that he decided he had to do something to make it right? And what about Caroline? Why did he return her? Was he using her as leverage so he could get inside the Dollhouse, bring it down and free Caroline at a later date?
Well, at any rate, we learned November's real name. It's Madeleine. I can only assume that her "real" home is an old house in Paris covered in vines.
* By the way, can I say how much I loved the crime-fighting team of Ballard and Langton (Harry Lennix)? I loved how their cynical yet decent personalities fit together like a lock and key. More of them together, please!
* OK, one last time -- PLEAAAAASE bring back "Dollhouse," Fox! Please!

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Helen Flanagan gets a make-over

Helen Flanagan, who plays Rosie Webster in Coronation Street, gets a new look and face full of[...]

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Jane After Dark: Is Angel as good as Buffy

Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Reality-Free

Well, I've covered Buffy the Vampire Slayer here on Jane After Dark, and my nephew, who loaned me his Buffy DVDs, also got me into Angel. Nearly everyone I talked to about Angel said they just couldn't get into it. After Buffy, maybe everything else pales in comparison.

I have to say, I really only started watching Angel out of respect for Buffy and Joss Whedon, and because I really loved the character of Angel (and David Boreanaz is not hard to look at). I was alternately watching Buffy and Angel at the same time (one disc of Buffy, one of Angel, and so on); it was a good way to do it, because there were a few crossover episodes that made a lot more sense watching them that way.

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Wed, May 6, 09 - Better Off Ted

07.30 Better Off Ted

Better Off Ted. Episode 7. "Get Happy" Veronica comes up with ways to make the staff 'happier' and make them like her more, while Ted tries to be liked by a demographic group that don't like him.

Another winner. While Portia de Rossi dominates the episode/series and gets all the big laughs here, there are wonderful plots/jokes for Andrea Anders and Jay Harrington.

I honestly thought I would never see a show as good as Andy Richter Controls The Universe, or a show with as good a cast, but this show is a close second.

Now, are we going to get a second season?

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Tue, May 5, 09 - Rules Of Engagement, Castle,
Listener, Forever Knight

06.00 Rules Of Engagement
06.30 Castle
02.00 The Listener
03.00 Forever Knight

Rules Of Engagement. Season 3, Episode 9. "The Challenge" The guys compete to see who can get sex first.

Hilarious. Great to see an episode which ties all the regulars into one storyline, and one which is very much driven by the premise of the series (single vs. married vs. engaged). Keeping true to it's concept keeps RoE different from all the similar sitcoms that have gone before. The show is funny, it has a vision of what it is (three seasons in) and it's not afraid (like Seinfeld) to write the characters as less-than-nice.

Castle. Episode 9. "Little Girl Lost" Kidnapped little girl.

It's a rule of these romantic dramas. You have to build episodes around your lead's ex-partners. It heightens the conflict, you see. Indeed, I'm sure that if Castle gets a second season (Please!) then one of them will have a story arc where they are dating someone else entirely. Why? Cos show's like to frak with us in this way. And we love it.

This episode introduces us to Beckett's ex-boyfriend, and it's a much more successful effort than the one which introduced Castle's ex-wife. Mainly because he's tied in to the case-of-the-week and there was plenty of opportunity for Castle and the ex to square off. Castle's ex-wife, when she appeared, was kept in the b-plot and away from Beckett. Which, let's face it, is less interesting.

One of the great things about Castle is that, for a show that is mainly about the leads and their romantic tension, it also manages to deliver really good stories ever couple of weeks. This one is a cracker. Nothing very fancy, or complicated, or flashy. Quite a simple story, really. A really good story. Guest star Judy Reyes is superb in her role. And, at the story's climax, they completely leave her to it. The script gives her pages of great material, leaves everyone else standing back in silence, and - boy - did Reyes ever run with the ball. Her performance, and that final scene, make this a serious contender for best ever episode of Castle.

Given the chance, this romantic drama (that I originally assumed was just going to be a vehicle for the fantastic Nathan Fillion) could turn into a superb detective series.

Maybe it already has...



The Listener. Episode 10. "Missing" Toby and Oz try to help a man imprisoned for killing his wife.

Mid-way through the season, The Listener completely hit it's stride and started to deliver superb episodes. This is yet another superb episode. It doesn't feature Lisa Marcos very much but I love this show so much at this stage that I don't even mind. Much.

There are many reason to love this episode.

1 Toby's powers. The show has totally figured out how to use Toby's powers in a way that is totally cool, and totally serves the stories and makes them far more interesting. The guest actors in this episode play their parts with conviction, so we get that rarity in shows of this ilk: bad guys who can tell lies really well. Most liars on TV shows are really crap at telling lies, so much so that the hero doesn't need super powers to tell they are lying. Most of the suspects in this tale were telling lies and none of the actors played their part as if they were lying. This made Toby's powers all the more cool and interesting.

I also love the way the show has decided to manifest his powers: visions that might be memory or fantasy or intent or random nonsense. And it's up to Toby to interpret. Wonderful. Early episodes didn't make this clear. But it's the way it works now, and I love it.

2 Oz. Without making it a stated aim of the script, the show has found a way to show us how Toby's friends 'use' him and his power. He wanted to help Marks last week, so it was okay. But Oz was totally forcing him into using his power this week, and it was great to see how their friendship rides the rough waters of these moments without any self-conscious moments of discussion. Kinda like a real friendship. The Toby-Oz friendship has always been one of my favourite elements of the series, and it continues to be.

3 The story. It's a cracker of a tale from start to finish. Oz's parents are suffering the effects of the current financial crisis and Oz wants to use Toby to make some money fast. Their attempts to win money from cheating at poker were both funny and interesting and made perfect sense. A great answer to the question of why he doesn't use his power to make himself rich.

4 The twist. I love stories with a twist, and I love shows that opt to end their episodes on a downbeat note. The resolution of this episode was superb. Stephen McHattie is one of my favourite performers and he was a perfect choice for this role. All his scenes were great, but that last one was chilling. Craig Olejnik really sold the shock, too. Great work all round. Maybe the best 'moment' so far in the whole series.

5 Mylene Robic/Olivia. She didn't have as much screentime in this episode, as in the previous two, but I really love her and Toby as a couple. It's about time they brought her into the loop, to, with regard to his powers. Bringing Oz and Marks in on the secret opened the stories up in a major way and it would be cool if they tried to write a TV relationship where one of the characters was a mind reader. (I bet he still gets everything wrong!)



Forever Knight. Episode 11. "Hunters" Schanke goes into hiding when someone targets him for death.

Why is Forever Knight such a cool show? This episode provides many of the answers.

1 John Kapelos as Schanke. This man rules!! Kapelos was sometimes asked to play his role as broad comedy (which he did with consummate ease) but, left to his own devices, he plays Schanke as if this was an episode of Homicide: Life On The Street. In other words, he played it totally real. Yet, Schanke is very cool. Obnoxious and rude and a little bit stupid, but - let's face it - the guy is cool. And this is a Schanke-centric episode. Placing him in The Raven is a stroke of genius. The comedy is perfect and the conversation with Janette (about Nick's past) is gripping.

2 The Night Shooting. Since Nick is a vampire, he works the night shift and the show is filmed/set at night. Toronto looks awesome at night (I've been there and it looks awesome at any time, to be honest) and it has never looked better than in Forever Knight. If I could work the nightshift anywhere (as a cop) I would ride along with Nick and Schanke in Toronto. This episode looks great. I love the pre-credits scene (as the guys walk the night streets) and anything and everything that happens outdoors at night. Which is a lot of stuff on this show. Superboy was cool in a similar way. The last two seasons were filmed at night (in Florida) and it added something to the show.

3 Nick at the piano. Many episodes were 'padded out' with wonderful character moments for Nick, as he sat as his piano and pondered his lot in life. I say 'padded out' because I think these scenes were filmed so they could be edited out in certain markets (to allow for more ads, sigh) without harming the actual plot of the episode (as if they cared about that kind of thing). However these scenes are not padding in the classic sense. They are genuine character moments. This episode has one. Nick sits at the piano, plays with the flame of a candle and - later - drives around the city at night with some cool music playing on the soundtrack. Forever Knight has awesome music. Many songs were specially written for the series, and the actual score of the show is distinctive and wonderful, too.

4 The Flashbacks. Forever Knight was one of three shows to hit the air at the same time, which had heroes who were special in some way, and whose adventures were punctuated by flashbacks to their earlier lives. Highlander and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues were the other two. The Highlander flashbacks were lavish affairs which underscored the main plot or, in some cases, told a different story. On Kung Fu: The Legend Continues we were treated to little moments that added depth and meaning to the life of Caine. And on Forever Knight we tended to get bleak, sad views of past deeds which were used to explain the sadness that followed Nick Knight wherever he went. This one is a doozy. It shows Nick being hunted and - in a moment of frenzy - turning on, and taking the lives of his hunters. In a clever touch, we see Janette telling Schanke a toned-down version of the same event and the script clever uses the incident to provoke a discussion between the characters and, indeed, provoke Schanke into action.

It's also very cool. Geraint Wyn Davies knows exactly how to sell the pain that Nick feels without every making it self-conscious or false. Something it would have become on a lesser show.

The Nick/Natalie relationship is another example of why FK is cooler than Angel, Blood Ties or Moonlight, but since it's not featured heavily here, I'll leave my views on it until another time.

Bottom line: Forever Knight rocks!

Highlight? The Listener (the twist at the very end is a killer)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

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-castle.html

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http://www.fancast.com[...]

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Star Trek's Journey to Babel: Standout Episode
for Mother's Day

Filed under: Standout Episodes, Reality-Free, Star Trek: Original Series

Today is Mother's Day, and while J.J. Abrams' new big screen version of Star Trek re-imagines the mythology of the Enterprise crew and vanquishes Spock's mother Amanda in an alternate time line, I prefer to remember Spock's mother the way she was on television. On the original Star Trek episode that aired on November 17, 1967, "Journey to Babel," introduced Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan and his lovely human wife Amanda, when they boarded the Enterprise on a diplomatic mission. It was a shock to Captain Kirk to discover that the elegant older couple were not merely envoys, they were in fact, Spock's parents.

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Don't Forget to Tivo - Sunday 5/10

Basic:

• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at 8, Desperate Housewives at 9 and Brothers & Sisters at 10
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, Amazing Race (finale) at 8, Cold Case at 9 and The Unit at 10
  
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, The Celebrity Apprentice (finale) at 8
• Fox has a new Sit Down, Shut Up at 7, The Simpsons at 8, King of the Hill at 8:30, Family Guy at 9 and American Dad at 9:30
• CW has The Spy Who Loved Me at 8

Cable:

• AMC has a new Breaking Bad at 10
• E! has a new Keeping Up With the Kardashians at 10 and the premiere of Jersey Shore Unleashed at 10:30
• HBO has a new The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency at 8 and the premiere of The Alzheimer's Project at 9
• HGTV has a new House Hunters at 9
• HIST has a special Angels & Demons Decoded at 8
• NatGeo has a new In the Womb: Extreme Animals at 9
• SCI has a new Meteorite Men at 9
• SHO has a new The Tudors at 9 and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union at 10
• TWC has a new Storm Stories at 8
• USA has a new Law & Order: Criminal Intent at 9 and In Plain Sight at 10
• WE has a new Platinum Weddings at 10
  

     - Season Premiere       - First Run     - Series/Special Premiere
All times are Eastern

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This Week on Jimmy Fallon: Beat Freaks, Randy
Jackson

[...]

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