Once Upon a Time 1x15 Review

Red-Handed

Once Upon a Time has shown that it is capable of telling very endearing and sometimes campy love stories as we saw last week with Dreamy. They also have shown a capability for very dark and even scary episodes as we saw with The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. This week was clearly the latter. After more than half the season we finally get the back story for Ruby and Granny. It's been known since the pilot that Ruby was Little Red Riding Hood, and we've seen her appear in multiple Snow White stories, but this was the first chance we've had to see her story. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and that's not a shock. It was written by the great Jane Espenson. If you don't know the name look it up on IMDb, I guarantee you'll see more than one show that you really like. 

Awake 1x02 Review

The Little Guy

After watching the second episode of this show I've decided two things. First, it's that this show certainly has legs and has grabbed me. This isn't only due to the fine acting, and impressive characterizations we're getting but also because even after only two episodes I care about these people much more than I do about characters I've seen in shows for years. The other thing I've decided is that this is a brilliant move by NBC. They look at TV and see that shows like CSI and Law and Order do amazing. What did they do? They put on a show that is two episodes of CSI in one, and also has a mysterious quality to it for the geeks. It's CSI + Lost!!  Brilliant NBC, brilliant. 

Once Upon a Time 1x14 Review

Dreamy

In this episode of Once Upon a Time we finally learn about the other aspect of the show's favorite fairy tale, the Dwarfs. I personally really enjoyed this episode. I know there are people who don't like when the episodes appear to just be 45 min long commercials for Disney movies but hey, Disney is paying a lot of money for this show and I also love the shout outs. So deal with it. This week I thought both the Fairy Tale Land, and Storybrooke plots were strong. It was a smart move to tie Leroy's story in with Mary Margaret. That way you could continue telling her story of woe, but also still focus on Leroy and Astrid. 

The Walking Dead 2x11 Review

Judge, Jury, Executioner

So wow! Talk about an episode that lulls you into a sense of calm.  As always, spoilers throughout! 

This episode is about two things, and those two things seem to connect late in the episode in what I saw as a very predictable and average(compared to where you know this story can go). We find out of course just a few minutes later that these two stories will connect again. What I'm talking about is the story about the Randal question, and also the story about Carl. To me the Carl story was the far more interesting, and riveting one. Dale's quest to get everyone to see the humanitarian side of things seemed very ignorant, and preachy. My personal politics aside, you can't look at this situation like it's happening in a pre-walker world. Dale had many points, and was very moving at times but the pros and cons just don't add up to keeping Randal alive. The odds of Randal being even a little bit useful are slim. He was with that other group for awhile, and they sent him to attack Rick, and he managed to fall and hurt himself. Not exactly a powerful warrior. 

Awake Pilot Review

I've just seen NBC's bold new drama "Awake" and in a word, I found it fascinating. Stripped down to the nuts and bolts, Awake is a police procedural drama. Similar in that respect to the show it replaces in NBC Thursday night line-up; Prime Suspect. What holds Awake apart from that show, and every other cop show is that it has one of the boldest, and most innovative premises I've ever seen on network television. Awake is about a police detective named Michael Britten(Jason Issacs) who was in a very bad car accident. The twist is that he's now living what appears to be parallel lives. In one reality his wife Hannah(Laura Allen) died in the accident, and in the other his son Rex(Dylan Minnette) died. Michael doesn't know which one is real, and while he's in one of the realities the other one appears to have been a dream. 

The Walking Dead 2x10 Review

18 Miles Out

This episode is my favorite since the show returned from the hiatus. There have only been three so that's not really saying all that much, but it's the truth. We had some really amazing scenes between Shane and Rick. Those two put everything on the table and I really loved how Shane couldn't even look Rick in the eyes. I know the show is trying to make Shane more of a bad guy and make Rick the hero, but I think that exchange alone shows that he's not a bad guy. He's clearly a little messed up and honestly feels he can protect Lori, Carl and the baby better than Rick can, but there is still a hint of shame in what he did. 

Once again Shane tells Rick about what it was like when he came for him. We've seen that in flashbacks and know that he's telling the truth. Obviously that's a luxury Rick doesn't have but I think we would have much more negative feelings toward Shane if we never got to see that scene. We don't know of course if he ever had his eyes on Lori beforehand, but even if he did I don't think that matters at all. I mean it's not like he planned any of this. 

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. 

Walking Dead 2x09 Review

Triggerfinger

Like last week I'm not going to go all in depth with this review. There are so many Walking Dead reviews out there. I mean there's even a Walking Dead review show on at midnight on the East Coast. I'll just talk about things I noticed, and feel important. Once again, I will really try to refrain from talking about the comic book since they are clearly going a different direction in several ways, and if they are not then I don't want to spoil people. 

The biggest thing I took away from this episode was the two clearly defined groups we saw form at the end of the episode. Shane and Andrea are acting all rouge and outsider again, and Lori is really trying to convince Rick that it's time to kill Shane. With those two groups we have to see where the others would align. I think Glen clearly would be with Rick. Darryl and Carol would be on the sidelines since they clearly wouldn't give a rats ass who was in control since they've both lost everything that they could possibly care about. Dale is the tricky one. He would support Rick over Shane in a heartbeat, but he loves Andrea. I think if it came down to it, and he had to choose between protecting her, or helping to harm her he would turn his gun on Rick before anyone could say a word. 

Once Upon a Time 1x13 Review

What Happened to Frederick? 

After last week's powerful ending I really wondered if they would pick up on that story, or move it to the back burner. It seems the latter was the case, and while I enjoyed this episode I missed Mr. Gold and Regina having a nice chat. 

This episode focuses yet again on Mary Margaret and David's relationship. Everything comes to a climax and once again the two different universes experience almost opposing directions for these two love birds. For me though, this was not the most interesting aspect of this episode. The Stranger revealed his name(information that looms large for several characters in this show). I'll get to the name in a little bit, and I am going to refute one of my own theories on who is is. Not based on any information or clues we got, but more so from his behavior. 

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. 

The Walking Dead 2x08 Review

Nebraska

Since everyone and their zombifyed mother is doing reviews for The Walking Dead I thought I would just talk about something I noticed, or particularly thought were important to talk about. Since I don't have a DVR and also review Once Upon a Time I plan on watching The Walking Dead at 11 every week, and then watching Talking Dead with Chris Hardwick. I think this will help me figure out my thoughts and see what everyone is talking about. If everyone is talking about something, I probably will discuss it a little less since I won't waste people's time with stuff they can find anywhere. 

Another things I'll try to avoid doing is talking about the comic book. I've read a good portion of them, and while knowing what happens in the book doesn't spoil things I think if I was constantly comparing them I would be disappointed with the show. Worse still, I could spoil the comic book for people, and that would be a true crime. Discussing the events of the show without talking about the comic book will be very difficult, so we'll see how long I last with that.

Once Upon a Time 1x12 Review

Skin Deep

It was Valentines Day in Storybrooke and love is in the air. Well, for some people anyway. This episode deals with a new classic fairy tales and Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. I really loved this episode and how they brought it into the main story arcs we've been seeing. Both the Fairy Tale Land, and Storybrooke plotlines this week are deep and further our understanding of several characters, and introduce us to a couple new ones. 

In Fairy Tale Land we meet Belle, one of the most loved Disney princesses of all time and she's played by Lost alum Emile de Ravin.  I was never a fan Claire, but I think she didn't a great job in this episode. This is a side note, but I like that they didn't have her do a French accent. Maybe Eddie and Adam remember everyone making fun of her Australian accent, and decided to go with the classic idea that a British accent simply means "not American" to us here in the States. Good call! I also loved that both Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen played a large role in the story. We usually get one of them, but rarely both being so vital to the episodes. I love their dynamic and chemistry so I hope we get more scenes of them together. 

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. 

VIVA BUY MOREIA (A Sendoff to Chuck)

By Guest Poster, Jimmy

So this is how it ends, with a bang and then a whimper. NBC’s fan favorite show with a cult following Chuck signed off the airwaves for the final time on January 27th. The end was always lurking around the corner for the nerdy-Buy-More-employee-turned-Super-Spy, but until now, it’s always just been a looming fear of cancelation. Now it’s real, and when the final scene played with “Rivers and Roads” by The Head and The Heart playing in the background (which I’ve had playing on repeat for several days now), the screen faded to black and I felt an immediate nostalgic sentimentality, over the loss of one of my favorite shows.

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. 

Once Upon a Time 1x11 Review

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

This week on Once Upon a Time we learn more about the Evil Queen and the events leading up to the death of Snow White's father(played brilliantly by Richard Schiff). The episode though is the back story and origin of the Magic Mirror. In a pretty surprising revelation it turns out that the Mirror was originally the Genie of the Lamp, and fell in love with the Queen. Like every episode featuring part of the Queen's back story I was wondering if we would learn what Snow did to her to make her hate her so much. We did not learn that, and I am happy about that. This is a mystery that they are dragging out, and in a brilliant way it makes the actual reveals in the episodes more enjoyable.  

Like most episodes the events of Storybrooke and those in Fairy Tale land are about the same characters, but appear to be in opposition to each other. Last week Mary and David found each other and decided to begin a relationship whereas Snow and Charming split up, and Snow wiped him from her memory. That trend continues, or at least appears to in this episode. 

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.