Alphas Series Premiere Review

Episode: 1x01 Pilot
Overall Season Rating: A-
Episode Rating: A-

Alphas is a nice new take on a very old theme. Regular people with amazing abilities. What's the difference between this and Heroes, or X-Men, or No Ordinary Family? Well that's simple, there's no "Origin Story". As the show begins they have their powers, are familiar with them, and even are on a team. Because of this, we don't have one a cliche'd "looks what I can do!!!!" scenes. There's no "I can't tell anyone, I'm a freak!" scenes either. This is refreshing, and allows the pilot episode to focus, not on them getting their powers, but on what they do with them.

I'll talk about the powers and the characters more in the spoiler section, but know that I like them a lot. There are some aspects of a couple of the characters that bother me, but I'm thinking those will be fleeting. What I mean by that is, certain characters may have said for behaved a certain way so we learn more about them a little faster. Again, more in the spoiler section. The plot of the episode perfectly sets up the rest of the series. It appears this show will be somewhat serialized, but also be a procedural crime show in the way Fringe is. Each week there will be a new case for them, and it probably will all connect to the central baddie of the series. Another fascinating thing about the show is that their powers don't always work. Sometimes they need a trigger; either emotional, or physical.  

Like I do for all premieres, I will simply list what I liked, and what I didn't like rather than a full on episode recap. For those wondering why I do the recaps, this is The Flashbacks Podcast Blog after all and recaps were our trademark. It's actually pretty non-spoilery below the fold this time.

Eureka Season 4.5 Premiere Review

Episode: 4x11 Liftoff
Overall Season Rating: A-
Episode Rating: A-

Since I didn't do reviews for the first half of the season, the Overall Rating will refer only to the 2nd half.

Eureka has been a favorite of mine since it started several years ago. I think it perfectly blends real science, and pure fun better than any show of its kind. Tonight's episode dealt mainly with space travel, and since I'm a space nerd I friggin loved it. It's hard to deny that they timed this episode to coincide with the final launch of the Space Shuttle program, but it might just be a huge coincidence. This episode also shows why I love the characters, and relationships on the show. Both always have been portrayed very realistically, even if their surroundings are anything but.

If I had to choose, I would say that Fargo is my favorite character, and I'm sure I'm not alone on that. He's brilliant, hilarious, and clearly is as much of a geek as all the fans. I originally didn't like that he became Head of G.D. last season because I thought it would take away from his antics. I was sooo wrong. The position has not only improved the character, but he gets much more important roles in the show. Plus, since he's their boss they don't yell at him for the silly things he does. The relationships were on full display in this episode, and included a brilliant fake out.

There were things I didn't like, but since it's a TV show I will only mention them in passing a little later. Read more in the spoiler section.

Falling Skies Episode 1x05 Review

Episode 1x05: Silent Kill
Overall Season Rating: B
Episode Rating: B

This episode had its ups and downs, but I think it achieved what it set out to do. Certain characters were fleshed out a little more, and I hope this will make me feel for them a little more. We also get more information about the Skitters, and it's very strange. I really have no idea what to think about the new info, and I like that. What made shows like Lost and BSG so much fun was they would show you something, but not explain it at all. This forces fans to speculate, and theorize. I want to be told a story yes, but with a show like this I also want to be challenged. I'll get to this more in the spoiler section, but I think it's a good move for the show.

While characters are fleshed out, some behaved outright bizarrely. It's not so much the characters themselves per say, but more their actions didn't make sense in context. This was really my only gripe with the episode, and sadly there were several of these events. I'm not sure if Anne is a favorite of anyone, but she just pisses me off in almost every episode. Her actions make almost no sense. I asked last week why they put a pediatrician in charge of learning the Skitter language, and why the show decided surgeons are heartless psychopaths.

Overall an improvement from last week, and it is starting to embrace my large hopes for the series.

Spoilers below the fold.

Torchwood: Miracle Day Premiere Review

Overall Season Rating: A
Episode Rating: A

Okay, before you say that rating is too high, and that I'm biased you should know one thing. I am biased. I LOVE Doctor Who more than I can explain, and Torchwood is a Doctor Who spin-off. I've loved John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness since we first met him way back in Series 1 of DW. Don't worry, there will be close to no Doctor Who spoilers in these reviews, but to discuss some aspects of the Torchwood I will need to bring up some Who mentions, so be cautious if you really don't want to know anything.

Why did I love this show so much? Well, I simply think it's a brilliant introduction to a show that already has a few seasons on the books. I have seen a couple Torchwood episodes, but really have no idea what happens in the series prior to Miracle Day. The best part is, you don't need to know anything about that to enjoy the new series. I'm sure it helps to know the relationship between Jack and Gwen, and the reason Torchwood was shut down, but you don't need to know. I read that Torchwood originally was going to be a combination of The X-Files, and Doctor Who, and I think that's so great. Miracle Day shows that that partnership works perfectly, and opens the door to such incredible possibilities. Finally, questions asked about what would happen if no one could die are truly mind-opening. If you're a fan of science fiction shows that are about more than pretty special effects, watch this series. You will love it.

Spoilers below the fold

Episode 4: The X-Files: Dark of the Moon

In this show I talk about Transformers 3 for a little bit, and try to explain that it's a fun time, and definitely worth your time. Mainly the episode is about one of my favorite shows of all time, The X-Files. Hope you enjoy it.

Weeds Episode 7x02 Review

Overall Season Rating: B-
Episode Rating: B-
Episode Title: 7x02 From Trauma Cometh Something

Weeds answered a lot of the questions from last week, and while I wasn't expecting some of the events, I'm not really that impressed with them either. A friend mentioned to me that he didn't think last week's episode was very funny at all. While I don't totally agree, I would say that the show has been lacking in jokes quite a bit this season so far. There's been very a serious air about the show, and when it looks like they are trying to tell a joke it falls flat. This might be caused by the subject matter, or maybe we are so familiar with these characters that no matter what they do or say we just take it at face value.

I'll get into more detail in the spoilers section about what I liked and didn't like, but I am starting to worry about the show. As I said last week, I haven't been pleased with it since they left Agrestic, and I think those feelings will continue. New York City does offer some new opportunities but so far they have not explored that at all. In this episode for example none of the characters did anything that they could not do anywhere else. Aside from a modeling agency rep saying New York is the land of hard chizzled gods. Which is certainly is.

Spoilers below the fold.

Falling Skies Episode 1x04 Review

Overall Season Rating: B
Episode Rating: B-

Tonight's episode was titled "Grace", and the moral was  "prayer makes everything okay".  Yes, that's right, religion has shoved it's way into an otherwise very well done science fiction survival story. More on this later in the spoiler section. Other than religion, this episode gives us more information about the Skidders. I'm liking the way they're revealing things about them. Instead of some cliche'd exposition we are learning who they are through experience. To put it another way, we are learning about them just as our characters learn. This keeps the tension and the mystery exciting. The dark nature of the show continued as well, and like I've said this will be the strength of the show.

I also continue to be impressed with the special effects. We get a very close up view of a Skidder throughout this episode, and for a cable TV show it looked excellent. There are some negative aspects though. For one, the show seems to be falling into old troupes and devices used in these types of stories. The battle over how you learn more about the Skidders would be much more interesting I think if the characters involved were more developed. Since it's only the fourth hour we know very little about them, making their arguments seem completely one-dimensional. For the most part I think the acting has been good, but we can't have a deep argument about morality when we don't have enough information to know the motivations for these people.

Another good episode, but certain events lead me to believe they may not have the guts I hoped they did.

Spoilers below the fold