Fringe 4x14 Review

The End of All Things

Well that was certainly a crazy episode of Fringe. First though, I want to apologize for there being no review last week. I was very busy last weekend and by the time I was going to sit down and write it it was already a couple days past. It's not so bad because all I was really going to talk about was how blown away I was by that ending. Since all of it was explained there's no point to getting to it now. Suffice to say though, I was beyond thrilled with the shock that ending delivered. 

On to this episode! While I thought many aspects were brilliant, and quite epic I found other parts to be more iffy. We got a lot of information about the Observers this week, and as expected those answers only lead to more questions. Because of the hiatus we will now have to wait a month to get more episodes, and I was actually hoping for more of a cliffhanger. The episode ended with questions to be sure, but none that I'm climbing the walls waiting to hear. I certainly wish Fringe was on next week, but the ending didn't leave me demanding more right now as they've done in the past. 

Alcatraz 1x07 Review

Johnny McKee

Johnny McKee is one of the more terrible killers we've seen on the show so far. He's also one of the best explored characters. He poisons with nightshade, and another really complicated concoction that I won't even attempt to remember.  His targets are people he views as bullies, but his victims are pretty much everyone who has the bad luck of coming into contact with the poison. He has a pretty interesting back story, and I like that his reason for killing him getting revenge for what was done to him and not just him being a crazy guy. 

Like I've been saying for a few weeks I'm not totally cool with them giving every single bad guy a reason to kill and be a baddie but I think it worked here. I was legitimately scared of McKee throughout the episode because he didn't seem crazy and I was happy that they confirmed that. I mean, he was crazy in that he's a homicidal maniac, but he is in full control of his facilities and knows exactly what he's doing. They did remark at one point that he didn't see it as murder because the people he killed were not good people, and that is crazy. But again, killing for revenge is a reason and most of the killers we've seen on the show haven't had a reason at all for killing innocents. 

Alcatraz 1x06 Review

Paxton Petty

This week we're back to tracking down criminals, and we've got a real bad guy this time. He plants land mines in public areas and hopes to kill as many as possible. While the crime is rough an scary I wasn't that blown away by the episode. We got more information about Lucy, but she still is cloaked in mystery, and we got a slightly better understanding of what the people being brought to the future know. In Petty's case, nothing. 

I was happy that Diego got some nice moments with the cute medical examiner. It's always nice when comic books bring people together. I wonder if part of the flirting he did was to show Rebecca that he too can be friendly with the opposite sex. He certainly didn't seem pleased when she was all chummy with her cop friend. Speaking of the cop friend, since we had never heard of him before, and she treated him like her best bud I immediately imagined him in a red shirt. In other words, I was almost certain he wouldn't make it through the entire episode. Turned out I was right. Not sure why they didn't have a robot jump in once all he had to do was cut something, but that's okay.  I mean once Hauser was off the mine, why not just get everyone out of there send in a robot and BOOM. No one hurt. I guess that's not dramatic though. 

Fringe 4x12 Review

Welcome to Westfield

Another very interesting and creepy episode of Fringe tonight. While watching I had flashbacks to great X-Files episodes, and even The Twilight Zone. Some of my favorite Fringe episodes are those that remind me of The X-Files so it's no surprise that I really liked this one a lot. The best part about this episode for me was that they blended the "Case of the Week" and the main story arc of the season. In the past Fringe has struggled with that in my opinion. Usually what they do is they have a very good COTW episode, and then reveal how it connects to the main plot in the very end with a bit of expository dialogue. Many episodes in season three did that. This episode though succeeded that combining them very well. 

The episode starts with a generally Fringe-tasticly creepy opening. I love beyond belief how they make us think for a moment that the crashing plane is a UFO because they know many Fringe fans were also X-Files fans. Electronics shutting down, and metal things floating are so UFO encounter. Speaking of the airplane, how many airplane disasters have there been on Fringe? 5? Interesting. 

Alcatraz 1x05 Review

Guy Hastings

Ever since this show started there have been many questions. Some are so mysterious and interesting that it's near impossible to imagine a plausible explanation for them. Others though have some very interesting theories that make me very excited for upcoming episodes. In this episode, we got some answers to some big questions. Not full answers, but the events leading up to the 63s coming to the future got a little more light shed on it, and I think I will need to watch that episode again. 

There's also a minor reveal in the episode about Rebecca and Ray's relationship. It's not huge, and doesn't really change things for us I don't think. But it certainly does change things for them. We learn that Ray is not a friend of her grandfather, he's her uncle! That's right, Ray and Tommy are brothers. I guess it was a lot easier to change your name and hide your past back in 1960 than it is today because you would think Alcatraz would check the history of their guards. It's a small quibble, but they went out of their way to mention how that would have been an issue so I think it's warranted. 

Fringe 4x11 Review

Making Angels

After last week's "Case of the Week" episode we kind of got another one. The different though is that this particular case played into the larger mythos of the show far more than future seeing girl did. Future seeing guy was much more creepy too. There was a lot going on in this episode, and in classic Fringe form it all comes down to the families, and issues we have with our parents. 

As advertised this episode also featured Astrid more than entire seasons seemed to in the past, and I LOVED IT. I've always been a fan of Astrid, and Jasika Nicole doesn't get near enough praise. Lets for a moment recap Astrid's character for the first four seasons. Here's a smart, talented, and committed FBI agent who went through all the training and preparation it takes to get to that position.  What is her assignment? To babysit a crazy man who likes to do wacky experiments, and never quite gets her name right. One could wonder, "Why does she stick around?" I think we all knew the answer to that, and this episode confirmed it if you had not figured it out in Season 2's Snakehead. Astrid cares a great deal about Walter, and he cares about her all the same. Walter as much as admitted that getting her name wrong is a sign of affection, and just a little playful humor. More on her later. 

30 Day Sci-Fi Challenge -- Day 2

Favorite Sci-Fi TV Series -- LOST

If you look to the left side of this blog, and scroll down a bit you'll see my Top TV Series of All-Time. Lost is #3, but it's the highest of the sci-fi shows. That pretty much made this decision the easiest of recent memory. It's not so cut an dry though because I have a hard time making decisions. I thought about the various Star Trek series, but I've long decided that while I love the franchise, and the universe more than any other, I don't love the individual series enough to put them high on a list. I'm sure many people would be able to, but I can't.

Alcatraz 1x04 Review

Cal Sweeney

Cal Sweeney is a bank robber who only steals from safety deposit boxes, and he doesn't kill people unless it's necessary. Or at least that's the profile we get from Diego about him. The episode and his actions are a little different than that. This episode is my least favorite so far. I was not very interested in Cal Sweeney, and I'm starting to worry that each bad guy will have something dark and sad in their past that will try and make us understand why they turned to crime. Last week I said that they weren't trying to make us feel terribly sympathetic towards them, and I think that's still true, but I'm not sure of the message when Tiller acts like such an ass to all of them. Are we supposed to despise Tiller? Are we supposed to view the prisoners are victims? Sure it's not right to treat them badly, but come on, these are very bad guys and just because Tiller teases them is not enough for me to hate him, and like them. 

Fringe 4x10 Review

Forced Perspective

This week on Fringe we get a break from the epic season arc and go back to a procedural episode about a Fringe event. It was very season one, and I for one enjoyed it. We meet Emily, a girl who can see how people are going to die. I liked a lot that it was done differently from the X-Files episode called "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". In that episode, Clyde Bruckman is a psychic you sees how people will die, but really does nothing to stop it. In this episode, Emily believes she can't stop it anyway, but still wants to let them know in the hopes that these people will use their final moments to say goodbye to their loved ones. It's a nice idea, but handing someone a picture, and then running away is still a little cryptic. She gets an A for effort.

Alcatraz 1x03 Review

Kit Nelson


The third episode of Alcatraz picks right up with the action without skipping a beat. We have a new prisoner to track down, and equally scary to last week's sniper, Kit Nelson.

In this episode we also learn a good amount about Diego. I again loved the way his character is portrayed. He's the regular guy of the group, but he's also a genius when it comes to Alcatraz and his presence is sorely needed. Both Rebecca and Hauser agree that he is needed on this team. The scene where Hauser reveals he called off the Amber Alert was hard to watch. Here's a man who would sacrifice a child in order to keep this secret. There are people who are wondering if Hauser is a good guy or a bad guy, but I don't think that's the right question.

Fringe 4x09 Review

The Enemy of My Enemy


Sorry for the delay in this review, but I haven't been home in a couple days so I haven't been able to update the blog.

This episode is now my favorite of season 4. I think it had everything we love about Fringe and some of the most moving scenes of the entire series. We get a lot of Jones, and I loved every moment of his screen time. The interrogation scene was simply incredible. First he's speaking with Alter-Broyles and since we know they are working together there was a whole other level to their discussion. I'm still not sure if Alter-Broyles is a shapeshifter, or just a traitor to Fringe Division.

Alcatraz 1x01/02 Review

Pilot/Ernest Cobb


This review will cover both the episodes even though they are two separate stories. There will be spoilers.

Alcatraz has been the much hyped new FOX show from J.J. Abrams staring LOST Alum Jorge Garcia, and a favorite of mine Sam Neil. The other lead is Sarah Jones, people may know her from Sons of Anarchy. Since I've never seen that show I have no idea if her role was big, or memorable. Jones plays SF Detective Rebecca Madsen, and she quickly gets pulled into the craziness of the premise.

Basically, in case you weren't paying attention, or want to know and don't care about being spoiled here's the main idea. Back in 1963 all prisoners and guards mysteriously vanished and were never seen nor heard of again...until NOW. They are appearing one by one, and causing havoc. There seems to be something behind not only their disappearance, but also their reappearance. Both Cobb, and Sylvane seemed to know exactly where to go, and what to do once they arrived and neither one seemed freaked out about being thrown almost 50 years into the future. It's almost as if they have been prepared for this. Obviously more is going on, and I'm very interested to see where it goes.

Super 8 Review

Overall Rating: A-

Just got back from J.J. Abrams' new movie, Super 8! I loved parts of it, and only liked other parts. There were things I didn't like, but I'm not sure about them yet. We'll see if I'm able to explain it by the time I get to it in the review.

Firstly, I want to say that the strength, heart, and center of this movie is the kids. I don't think I've seen acting like this from a group of kids in a very long time. Joel Courtney who plays Joe is very reminiscent of people like Elliot from E.T. You understand him, and root for him from the very first moment you see him and every action he takes makes perfect sense to who he is. He acts like a kid, but also acts grown up at times. Something that is often tried in movies or shows these days is the need to have kids act even more adult, like Dakota Fanning in every role. It's not realistic, and makes you care less about the kid because there's a loss of innocence when you make them behave in ways they would not normally.

I loved the way they played on his crush on Alice(Elle Fanning). They didn't need to tell us anything, they didn't need to have him say it to anyone. We knew it because we are not idiots. Later he and Charles(Riley Griffiths) are discussing her, and they tell us then, but that was them telling each other. Once again, done the way kids talk. I've had conversations like that, exactly like that. Usually, I'm Charles in that situation, but it's all good. Elle Fanning was amazing as well, she was beautiful, and even her character was a great actress. When we meet her father(Rod Eldard) for the first time I was worried he would be a cliche'd drunk who threatens to hit her all the time. I was pleasantly relieved to see that he was not like that at all. He was exactly what Joe's mom said he was; "sad". Turned out he was a pretty good guy.

What's new for June?

It's almost June and that means 2 things. It gets very hot here in New Jersey, and there's new content for us to geek out about.

Here are some of the things we will be covering during the month of June. We will try to post reviews of these TV shows, and movies so check those out.

TV Shows:
Falling Skies on TNT starts June 19. For those who don't know, this is a pretty big new show from the folks who know drama. Falling Skies takes place after an alien invasion apocalypse. Looks like it'll be pretty dark, and the cast looks good too. This will be one of the few American sci-fi shows on TV so I hope it does well.
Falling Skies website

Futurama on Comedy Central on June 23. This epic series returns for the 2nd half of its 6th season. Since this is not a serialized show I'm not sure if we'll do reviews for them. I personally love the series, so I promise I will try.

Weeds on Showtime on June 27. Everyone's favorite show about a pot selling mom returns for its 7th season. While I have not been totally happy with the direction the show has taken the past couple seasons, I still love it for being one of the strangest series on TV. I'm hearing that a lot has changed since the end of season 6, so I'm looking forward to this one very much. Since it's on Showtime it does include nudity and profanity, and of course drug use.

Movies:
X-Men: First Class opens June 3. I was a bit concerned for this one, but the trailers look AMAZING. It really could be the best comic book movie of the year. I'm a big X-Men fan, and I'm putting a lot of my continuity and canon issues aside. I plan to see this with a big group on Friday, so expect a review either that night, or Saturday morning.

Super 8 opens June 10. This is my pick for the movie of the summer. J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg! I cannot wait for this movie, and love how mysterious the plot still is. I hope it's more than a monster movie because that seems to easy. I know that will be an aspect of it, but I just hope there's a lot more.

Green Lantern opens June 17. This is DC's shot at some of the comic book movie love this summer. Picking Ryan Reynolds was a smart move, but lets see how the movie turns out. Green Lantern is not a funny, happy go-lucky story like Spiderman can be. It's dark, and a bit scary. I hope they got that right. The trailers do look excellent though, so I'm hopeful.

The Flashbacks Podcast:
Episode 2 on June 6: This is our 4th anniversary and we'll be discussing a lot of things. Check out our talkshoe page for more info.

Episode 3 on June 20: Most likely this show will cover the various movies that opened during the off week. We also will begin our our single show flashback discussions. Don't know the show yet, but tune in for more info.