Tv Nibble: Old Hat

Supernatural is back this week, although no Dollhouse, Fringe, Bones or even Clone Wars (what’s going on!!!). The episode focused on a 900 year old witch who uses his powers to gamble for “years”.

The episode seemed to be written mainly to play with the idea of Dean suddenly aging 50 years. Unfortunately I really didn’t believe that old Dean and young Dean were one in the same person, they just seemed too different. The script was nice though and the gags were funny, the girl was pretty and Jim Beaver got to examine Bobby’s state of mind since he was paralysed.

Bobby confesses that he feels useless and that if he wasn’t such a coward he would have ended himself the day he got back from the hospital. Of course, since Bobby joined the team, way back in season 2, Sam and Dean have only ever really made use of his knowledge, which of course is still intact. To me Bobby has always felt semi-retired and that never made him useless, but I can see why his character might feel that way.

Anyway, not the best episode ever, but certainly good enough for an hours distraction. Glad to see that the writers are sticking with the lighter episodes for now, before the build up to the dark series finale next year.

Tv Nibble: If I Had To…

Ok, before I get started I just wanted to point out the new gadget. The Blast from the Past generates 6 random posts from the yesteryear of this blog so make sure to check it out. At some point I’m hoping to change it so it displays a teaser for the articles. If anyone knows of a good gadget for this please comment on this post.

So, a couple of days ago I started watching the new Syfy series Stargate: Universe and if you read the post you’d know I was pretty much on the fence about it. Well, I think I’ve made my choice.

I’ve now watched “Air – Part 3” and “Darkness” and I have to be honest I’m enjoying it. It certainly has that SyFy channel feel to it, with its meta-storytelling style. Like Battlestar Galactica and Farscape before it, Stargate: Universe doesn’t bother closing its episodes with nice neat endings that wrap everything up, in fact their cliffhangers are pretty much just a cold open for the next episode. And I like that.

Still not keen on Robert Carlisle, he’s irritating, but that is certainly how he is supposed to come across and to be honest, if I know Syfy, how annoying he is now is really just a measure of how much we’ll like him later on.

I still have some issues to resolve with this show. For example I liked the idea that the stargate could only remain open for 12 hours, giving the exploration a really tense feel. However, the very episode that they set up this concept, they ruined it by holding the gate open over 12 hours. Now they have a solution for every time they need just a little longer and the tension is spoiled…

All that said I am really quite enjoying it. I really like the way consequences play out in the show. The way that one thing almost directly affects several others, generally in an adverse way. The cast is beginning to grow on me in general and although you can feel the presence of its predecessors, this show rarely asks you to have any specific knowledge drawn from the other Stargate franchises. This good because it means I don’t have to sit through them but the show feels like it is part of a greater mythology, rather than existing in isolation.

Anyway, as far as Sci Fi’s go, if I had to choose between this and Fringe I know which way my vote would swing. I’ll eventually get caught up to date and bring you an actual episode analysis. Until then, this has been My Two Cents.

Tv Nibble: Epitaph One Flashbacks – Part 6

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

It seems like forever ago since I last did one of these. I hope you are enjoying this series, I know I certainly am. So, without further ado, lets look at flashback six.

The flashback begins with Adelle, being confronted by Mr. Dominic, the ex-head of the security that Adelle sent to the “Attic” in season 1, after he betrayed the Dollhouse, by leaking information to Paul Ballard.

I find it intriguing that Mr. Dominic is part of the greater mythology of the show. After his early exit I assumed that Reed Diamond had opted to leave the show, but Epitaph One really brings that assumption into question.

The flashback opens with the line “I regret to inform you ma’am but we’ve had a security breech” Laurence draws a gun on Adelle, he is righteously pissed off. Adelle calmly explains she sent for him. Mr. Dominic is not so calm. “You think I’m still your faithful lapdog? After the Attic? After what you did to my body.” What she has done to his body is not entirely clear, as it seems to be in good working order to me.

Why did Adelle send for him? When is this flashback set? Immediately after Ballard escapes with Echo and possibly others? Has DeWitt called Mr. Dominic back into service to hunt down those he sought to help? It seems unlikely? What then? Has she had a change of heart, hoping to ally herself with Mr. Dominic now that she has lost Boyd?

Dominic goes on to describe the world outside, a world he saw coming, he adds. This tells us that at the very least the imprinting has gone wireless, something I swear will happen by the end of season 2, but wont be wide spread enough until at the earliest late season 3 for this flashback to take place.

He also mentions seeing Topher’s face was almost worth the trip. I wonder what he meant by this. Is he referring to the mad with grief Topher we see later? Or maybe something more sinister, perhaps Topher got a visit from Alpha…?

DeWitt is drinking more heavily than ever in this flashback, but she offers Laurence a ray of hope. There is a cure, a way to block yourself from being imprinted, she explains. “Topher found a cure?” Mr. Dominic asks. DeWitt pulls a face and then with contempt she utters. “Caroline has it”

This then was the reason she sent for Laurence Dominic, she hopes that he can get close enough to Caroline to procure the cure. What I don't understand is, why, if Caroline has the cure, would she withhold it. Certainly the Caroline we know is all about saving people. If she could save the world, surely she would… unless she had a very good reason not to!

Tv Nibble: Heroic Return

So I finally managed to find the time to watch Heroes last night and I’m glad I did. I’ve been a little down on Heroes for its ambling approach to story telling this season but “Strange Attractors” for me, was a great episode.

Still Heroes suffers from the “too many characters for one show” syndrome. For example, last weeks cliff-hanger with Peter and Hiro got no screen time at all this week. Instead though we saw a return for Greg Grunberg’s Matt Parkman and the sadistic Sylar in his head. This is certainly the best side of Sylar we have seen in the show so far. His whingey-whiny alter ego that is currently all pally with Samuel Sullivan is distinctly less fun.

The pay off for the Matt/Sylar thing this week was that Sylar tricked Matt into letting him take over. Now Sylar is in the driving seat and in control of Parkman’s body, which already poses an interesting question as to where that might go.   

Also this week Noah’s first attempts to help someone ends in tragedy, a tragedy that will eventually drive Tracy Strauss into the welcoming arms of Samuel Sullivan.

Talking of Samuel, I suspect that he may be an empath, like Peter. His abilities don't seem to be entirely connected, although he seems to have some form of control over nature. Even in this episode he managed to transport Tracy instantaneously to his circus, an ability that bears no resemblance to the one he uses to destroy a building in the closing sequence. If he is an empath, that would explain why he gathers other Heroes to himself and perhaps why he seeks to remind Sylar of his true nature.  

Tv Nibble: Ok, so not Heroes then…

Due to an insane shift yesterday I haven't had time to watch Heroes. However I did recently find the time to watch the pilot to Syfy’s new series Stargate: Universe.

Right now the show is five or six episodes in but it didn't really intrigue me so I’ve been ignoring its existence. I never really watched SG1, only one episode here and there and by the time I was told “It’s gotten good” it was really too late to be bothered watching all the “not good” episodes to get to the good stuff. Then Atlantis started and I really didn’t get into that either. But with Universe I thought, here is a new Stargate franchise, lets give the pilot a go…

In short, it was ok. I think when I was told about it people used the phrase “It’s like Battlestar” hoping to draw my interest. It’s like Battlestar in as much as its gritty and the people on the show are trying to find their way back to earth.

The cast is headed up by Robert Carlisle and last time I saw him he was running about bleeding on people and turning them into Zombies in the not very good sequel to 28 Days Later. That said, there are still some interesting cast members. Eli (David Blue) is a somewhat stereotypical computer geek. A little overweight, still living with his mum, but he works well in his smartass, scared out of his wits role on the show.

Throw in a couple of pretty girls, some action sequences and a ship that is trying to kill its occupants and you have a watchable sci-fi (or should that be syfy) with the potential to go places. Certainly the pilots end leaves you wanting to know more as the away team prepares to go onto the surface of a new planet, but right now, it just seems like another Stargate.

Check back with me in a couple of weeks when I have really made my mind up about the show, but right now, I think my feelings towards it could go either way.    

Two Cents Maintenance

Today I just want to make a small apology. I’ve been having some blog related issues lately, including the blog roll for this and my other three blogs. It has frozen three weeks in the past, so apologies if you were relying on the blog roll to keep you update with all the goings on across my blogs. Hopefully the Follow feature and the RSS feeds are still working and hopefully the blog roll will be fixed again soon. If in doubt remember My Two Cents updates daily from now until Tv season ends.
Check back tomorrow for a Heroes style Tv Nibble.

*Edit* Sorry again, Blog Roll is now fixed and up to date on all blogs and RSS has been tested and is definitely working.

Longing to Belong

We may have had to wait two weeks for this weeks episode of Dollhouse, but boy, was it worth the wait. “Belonging” is definitely the best episode of season 2 thus far and definitely in the top three episodes of all time.

After three weeks of episodes that failed to really ignite the fuse laid down by Epitaph One, “Belonging” really sets this season ablaze, I only hope it didn’t come too late to save the show. Written by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon and directed by none other than Jonathon Frakes this episode will go down in Dollhouse history as one of the greats.

For the first time since the show began we have an episode which focuses mainly on Sierra (or Priya as she was called before becoming a Doll. Interesting side note, Priya means dear or beloved in Sanskrit) with heavy involvement from Topher and Boyd. The episode focuses on Nolan Kinnard, a biologist for the Rossum Corporation. He continually ‘engages’ Sierra for ‘Romantic  Engagements’.
The, now, self aware Echo realises Sierra is unhappy and raises her concerns with Topher. “Sierra doesn’t like the bad man” Topher has always had a soft spot for Sierra and something inside of him screams at him to help her, any way he can. Topher begins to pour through Dr. Saunders notes. It seems the doc had noticed that “Sierra had a sense of extreme anxiety and rage associated with Topher Brink.” Topher is unable to process this, simply managing to utter the words “I’m not the bad man.” 

Fearing that he is the one causing Sierra so much distress Topher takes Priya’s original profile out of the vault and begins to examine it more thoroughly. It seems that when Priya was brought in Topher believed he was saving her, she was a paranoid schizophrenic, however, it turns out that she was in fact being poisoned. Poisoned by non-other than Nolan Kinnard, the man who now chooses her over any other Doll in the house.

This raises an interesting question in my mind, all the Dolls sign up for 5 years, how did Priya sign up? It’s certainly a morally grey area. Even if it was her choice, she was not of sound mind, however to me, it sounds more like she was shanghaied. Topher had the power to cure her (even though she didn’t need to be cured) but instead he chose to enslave her. Interesting, no?

Upon discovering this information DeWitt calls Nolan into her  office and in a beautifully crafted scene calls him a rapist and a murderer. However it seems that Nolan is better connected than DeWitt and her superiors order her to comply with Nolan’s demands, to hand over Sierra on a permanent basis.

A, possibly drunk, DeWitt calls Topher to her office. He is outraged. “You can’t let them do this!” DeWitt replies “They’re not going to, we are.” Unable to understand Topher simply asks “How can you expect me to do this?”

This scene is so brilliantly executed. Topher gets a full dose of reality and it is just too much for him. He may be a genius, but he has forgotten what it means to be human. DeWitt lays out for him, his greatest failings and displays them as an asset that he can use to get through his new found morals. Even if I quote this scene word for word it would not have a tenth of the impact that it does when Fran Kranz and Olivia Williams deliver it. Powerful stuff, beautiful and so full of sorrow and grief. Go watch it, if you haven't already, i defy you not to be moved. 

“Everyone here has been chosen because their morals have been compromised in someway.” DeWitt tells Topher. “You were chosen because you had no morals.” She explains, “You have always thought of people as play things, this is not a judgement, you always take very good care of your toys. But you’re simply going to have to let this one go.”

So Topher does as he is asked. He take Sierra away from Victor, who promises to wait for her, sitting himself down and watching her walk away. Topher does his thing and sends her on her way. Then in a beautiful montage sequence we see the devastation she leaves in her wake. We see Topher being almost sentimental as he sifts through her drawings, We see DeWitt drinking her way through the pain and we see Victor, still waiting for her to return.

Right at this moment there was a part me of me just hoping that Topher had imprinted her with the desire to kill Nolan. But he hadn’t. In truth he’d done something far worse. He had imprinted her with her original personality. He had sent a torture victim back to her unsuspecting torturer.

DeWitt comes to Topher, she too looks like she may have shed a tear or two. She asks Topher if the job is done. He says it is and she lays a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “If you have actually managed to develop some pangs of conscience, you may rest in the  knowledge that in this matter, you had no choice.” Topher looks down so that we can see he is holding Priya’s original personality. “No I didn't.”  In this sequence we can see the beginnings of the physical relationship that will eventually develop between Topher and DeWitt, both of whom will grow closer as the series progresses as they both learn what is it to be human.

Priya reveals herself to Nolan and a after a brief scuffle, promptly stabs him to death. Topher shows up and tells her to run but before either of them get a chance to do so, Boyd comes to the door. Now this is a man who knows how to throw a party. He  brought a tarp, a vat of acid and a bone saw…

The episode upto this point was great, but when Boyd comes into the picture it turns from great to legendary as he forces Topher to face up to his actions. He forced Topher to cut up Nolan’s body and dissolve in acid. “I was just trying to help her” Topher says, trying to justify his actions. “Now she’s ruined” Boyd looks at Topher with patience and understanding.

“You had a moral dilemma, your first and it didn’t go well.”
Topher simply responds “Priya does not belong in the Dollhouse” but Boyd reminds him of the inescapable truth. “She does now” Calling in his favours Boyd ensures that Topher and Sierra are protected. He calls DeWitt and feeds her the lies. She responds “How convenient. Are you going to look into it further?”  Boyd replies “I don't think any good will come of it.”

Priya goes back in the chair and she begs Topher to erase what she did to Nolan, she doesn’t want to remember it. She asks Topher if he can keep the secret of what they did. He replies “I can keep it, but I don't know if I can live with it.”

I can’t stress enough how good this episode was. It was filled with so many beautiful moments, or sad moments, it was just perfect. Several other things occurred that were pretty import too. Firstly Priya remembered that she was in love Victor, which implies, no matter what Topher does his imprints cannot wipe clean everything from a person’s mind. It could, if we’re being really soppy, suggest that nothing can stand in the way of true love…

Also Boyd realises that Echo can remember. A couple of weeks ago I theorised that Boyd would eventually come down on the side of Echo and Ballard and help them liberate the Dollhouse, in this episode he showed his true colours, giving Echo an all access pass, with a note that read “For the Storm.” However Boyd also cautioned her against her plan to take everyone with her. He tells her that not everyone is ready to wake up. Echo however implies  she is not willing to leave anyone behind.

I think I could rattle on for another couple of hours about how good this episode was, but if I do that you wont have time to watch it and if you have already seen it, go watch it again. Until next time this has been about an eighth of  My Two Cents.

Tv Nibble: Swan Song for Janis?

I’ll be honest, it was six in the morning when I watched this weeks episode of Flash Forward and my head was hurting from spending the previous three hours working on networking issues, so I may not have had the clearest view of this episode.

That said, I was confused as to what exactly was happening for quite some time. The characters seemed to be communicating entirely in subtext. The general gist of the episode seemed to be that the mosaic project was about to lose its funding due to over spending and lack of results. As far as I can tell all they have spent money on was a website and a flight to Germany, surely some affiliates and a couple of frequent flyer miles would sort this out?

Apparently not. It also seems that the mosaic project was not authorised by FBI HQ, it seems odd that this would be the case. The whole episode revolves around this point but the inevitable conclusion in Mosaic gets the greenlight after bossman Agent Wedeck pulls some strings with the president himself.

However, last week’s cliff hanger remains unresolved. We still don’t know anything about Simon or his relationship to Lloyd. We don’t know how much Lloyd knows about the blackouts or if he knows that Olivia is the woman in his Flash Forward.

The real kick in the tail of this episode though is the idea that the Chinese are somehow behind the blackout. The CIA posits that because the Chinese were mostly asleep during the blackout, they had the fewest losses and that it cannot be coincidence. No, it’s not coincidence, its basic science… Anyway, the concept is then backed up when a group of Asian men (I guess we’re supposed to suspect they are Chinese) attack all the members of the Mosaic project.

Everyone survives, except the Asian gunmen but when it’s all over and the smoke clears poor Janis Hawk is left bleeding to death, alone in alleyway.

Now there are really only two ways this can play out. Either Janis is off the show and the first real departure from the predicted future occurs. Possibly but doubtful. The second is that this near death experience leads Janis to her life changing decision to have a child. This is more likely, I would think. I also suspect that Janis will use a special clinic to conceive, rather than leave the conception to chance.

All in all this episode was interesting and certainly a good departure from the “tell all” approach used in the pilot. But now we are left with so many questions… What is going to happen to the President in the next six months? Who were the Asian gunmen who attack the Mosaic team and Janis? And why did they attack? Who are Simon and Lloyd really? What relation are they to D Gibbons? Who text Olivia to tell her that Mark was drinking in his Flash Forward? Is China behind the blackout? What do the towers in Somalia have to do with the blackout in ‘91? Was it a test site for the global blackout?

I could go on… We need at least some answers to these questions next week or we’re going to run out of space in our brains to store them all. So until next time, this has been My Two Cents.    

Tv Nibble: Dare to Dream

Because there was no Dollhouse, no Clone Wars and no Merlin this week I found myself with nothing to watch last night, so I watched Fringe. I wasn’t very complimentary about the show last week, in fact I’ve never really been very complimentary about the show. I’m not going to rave about this week’s episode either… but I didn’t turn it off.

I promised last week I’d just give it one last go, something I’ve been doing since episode one, and once again I could feel the characters tugging at my heart strings. There is something indefinably intriguing about Walter Bishop. If this show was about the relationships a crazy man formed with his son and his lab assistant I doubt I would tune in every week. The same could be said about the Olivia’s story too, having seen every episode of the X-files I find her approach to the supernatural lacking in spectacle and originality. However, somehow, when you combine the two elements I find myself intrigued.

This weeks episode had very little to do with the mythology of the show, which is a blessing for me. Although there were references to Peter’s origins, which is one of the most fascinating stories in Fringe. (Walter’s son Peter died, so Walter crossed over into another universe and abducted the current Peter.) The story was interesting enough to keep me entertained, but not nearly as interesting as the interplay between Walter, Astrid and Fringe new comer Agent Kashner (who you might recognise as Keith Dudemeister, from Scrubs).

So Fringe survived the cut, again, but for how much longer?    

Oz to the Rescue

What… this isn’t a Tv Nibble but an actual post… gasp! Ok I just thought, while there is a mini tv break, that I’d talk about a new show I recently discovered from Australia. It has had a 12 week run so far with the thirteenth episode (season finale?) to air on the 25th and it’s called Rescue: Special Ops.

Ok, I’m going to be honest and up front, I discovered this show because of my love for one thing… Gigi Edgley.

Ok, so what is the show about? Essentially a Search and Rescue team operating in Australia. I know, this isn’t my usual fare. There are no monsters, aliens or exploding island hatches in this show. The closest thing I can attribute it to that I watch is Bones.

When I first watched Bones I did so to see what had become of David Boreanaz, but I fell in love with the show because of the dynamics between the characters and the witty and intelligent writing. The pilot for Rescue Special Ops wasn’t witty or that intelligent and the characters didn’t seem that lovable.

There were some very nice interaction moments and the cast all seem very comfortable with each other, portraying the fact that they have depended on each other for years very well, despite this being our, as an audiences, first encounter with them. The show didn’t feel dumbed down so that we would “get it” and the use of language and lingo seemed realistic and well researched without being confusing.

The show itself is presented as reasonably formulaic. There are two brothers on the team, both vying for dominance, opening up the door to those moments that can only occur with family. There is the “lead guy and lead girl like each other but pretend not to” dynamic to give the romantic in all of us something to hope for. We have the “down with the kids” incredibly upbeat girl, the boss who is more like a mate than a leader and the other boss who constantly has to worry about public relations. It’s all there, everything that is usually there, but nothing that isn’t.

But wait… There’s a twist, look away now if you don’t wish to know the result. Unlike your typical rescue/catch the baddie drama, Rescue Special Ops seems to have no qualms with letting the heroes fail. Where a drama cut from the standard mould might have waited two or three episodes, maybe even a whole series, before the heroes failed to save someone Rescue just gets right in there with the pilot.

Even more than that, they take the main plot for the episode and throw in a student teacher relationship, very brave material for a pilot.

So, it’s brave, it feels well researched, it’s filmed in one of the most beautiful locations on the planet. It certainly has the potential to go places, just within the pilot it laid down the ground work for future stories but will I tune in for them? 

Well… I’m not hooked, but I’m willing to keep watching because I think I this show has the potential to be very rewarding indeed.     

And what of Gigi…? Well… she’s just not grey…    

Tv Nibble: Hiro is Missing in Action

A couple of things came up in Heroes this week that referenced back to earlier seasons.

After Hiro teleports into Peter’s living room and is revealed to be dying from a brain tumour, Peter promptly takes Hiro’s power and teleports to Noah Bennett, whose daughter Claire just happens to be visiting at the time. I naturally assumed that Peter intended to use Claire’s blood to treat Hiro, but apparently not. It had always seemed strange to me that Claire’s blood never came up after it was used to restore Noah Bennett to life after he was shot in the eye at the end of season 2. Certainly it could have been used to help heal Daphne when she was shot at the start of Fugitives.

The second backwards reference was to Sylar murdering his own mother. Samuel Sullivan tries to trigger the “old” Sylar by bombarding him with his true memories. Why he does this is unclear. Samuel’s merry band may be slightly nefarious but they don't appear to be a group of assassins, so why would he want Sylar to go back to the darkside.

The last reference occurs moments before the episode’s close, when Hiro accidentally teleports back in time to the Burnt Toast Diner where he first met Charlie, the love of his life. Hiro is determined to right all the wrongs in his life, a path he was set upon by Samuel Sullivan and it seems that the path has led him to his final destination, saving Charlie.

Back in season 1 Hiro attempted to save Charlie’s life and failed, the possibility that he could succeed this time around seems unlikely. By the end of the episode Peter has an ability capable of healing Hiro, but I just wonder if he’ll get the chance. It is perfectly possible that Hiro has travelled through time for the last time, setting right this final wrong and ultimately achieving his “Redemption”

Can they kill Hiro? More importantly will they? Will Mohinder ever reappear? Or Matt? Is Nathan Petrelli really off the show for good? All these questions and more to come next week.   

Tv Nibble: Simon Says

The writers on Flash Forward are quickly becoming the masters of remaining completely irrelevant until the last possible second.

This week’s episode wasn’t bad, but neither was it thrilling or even particularly interesting or informative. I have literally just finished watching it and I couldn’t really make a list of five things I think might become important in the long run.

The episode really only seemed to set out the almost paradoxical idea that people now have a future based on past events which required a vision of said future in order to transpire. If this is the case then time is a straight line and what has happened and will happen is already written in stone and if that is the case then somebody is telling lies…

Demetri Noh saw nothing in his Flash Forward and he has subsequently been told he will be murdered long before the date of the Flash Forwards. His wife-to-be however saw them getting married in her Flash Forward. If the timeline is set in stone as this episode suggests then the two events cannot possibly happen.

Of course the real moment of interest in this episode is the last five seconds when Lloyd (Jack Davenport) receives a call from Simon (Dominic Monaghan) claiming the two of them are responsible for the single greatest disaster in human history. Of course, this being Flash Forward, we have no idea if Simon is referring to the Blackout or to what he sees in his Flash Forward. Of all the characters, I never thought that Lloyd would be connected to the mysterious Simon, maybe it’s a British thing, after all, we do make the best bad guys! 

Tv Nibble: A Game of Two Halves

Hurrah! Supernatural is back. After weeks and weeks of me moaning about Supernatural’s story heavy approach we’re finally back to just Sam and Dean, messing about and solving a case.

However, as has become the norm for this show, this episode feels like it was written in two parts. The first half of the show being a great idea for the mystery of the week, the second half being “How can we tie this to the main mythology story arc?” But I didn’t mind that too much.

There were laughs aplenty and Dean was back to his old self around Sam (who unfortunately still looks like he’s been smacked in the mouth most of the time) with an appearance from Misha Collins, whose comic timing is becoming legendary.

The story itself, beyond the jokey first half of the show was compelling too. Jesse, a boy who unwittingly visits his own fears upon the world, was born of a woman possessed by a Demon and is, it seems, destined to become the Anti-Christ. Castiel demands the child's immediate execution and of course the brothers refuse. Jesse, is apparently destined to destroy heaven’s host, the Angels, and somehow I don’t think Sam and Dean see that as a bad thing.

Also, if Jesse can kill Angels, that makes him one of the few people on the planet capable of killing Satan himself. Sam and Dean confess the truth of his birth to Jesse. Sam tells Jesse he is telling him this because he has to hope that Jesse can make the right decision, even if Sam, himself, could not. Later the brothers lament over telling the boy and potentially ruining his life, wishing that their own father had not told them them truth…

It was a good episode and one that harked back to the good old days of supernatural, whilst remaining true and relevant to the current season’s mythology. I hope that we can look forward to a growing sense of kinship between the brothers as the series progresses and a whole lot less moping.  

Tv Nibble: Epitaph One Flashbacks - Part 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Welcome to Part 5, now things are really beginning to heat up. This flashback concerns a conversation between a Mr Ambrose, Adelle DeWitt and Topher Brink.

Mr Ambrose, it seems, was delivered to the Dollhouse on a hard drive and uploaded into Victor. He comes to deliver a message to Adelle, to inform her that as of “now” the Rossum Corporation will be offering complete anatomy upgrades for a nine figure sum.
Adelle is outraged.

Already during season one of the show we have seen her become decidedly uncomfortable with some of the Dollhouse’s practises. Something that leads me to believe that she is now leaking information to the U.S senator Daniel Perrin, as her own way of rebelling against the evil Rossum Corporation.

Topher remains stonily silent throughout, although his objection is clearly evident on his face, especially after Mr. Ambrose offers him and Adelle the opportunity to part-take in a body swap, using the phrase “You’ve both earned a place on the arc, Mr Brink, you practically built it.”

Adelle questions the legality and the morality of what is being offered. Mr. Ambrose replies, “We have always been above the law, although now, we’re also writing it.” I wonder if this has any relation to Daniel Perrin’s appearance in season 2. If he, like Ballard, switches sides, using the Dollhouse and the Rossum Company to achieve his own ends. A man who could live for ever, in a million different bodies could never be deposed and that is the kind of power most politicians would not turn away from.

Ambrose suggests that the legal issues will be resolved within the year. This makes me wonder where exactly to place this flashback. Part of me wants to place it mid season 3, however I suspect that maybe we will see this flashback sooner rather than later.

Mr Ambrose tells Adelle that he is currently in ten other bodies, making this offer in ten other houses. He offers her a choice, accept their terms, or go up against the might of the Rossum Corporation alone. “If you do reclaim this body, we’ll know and you’ll have made a choice, a defining choice.”

Of course we know that they do reclaim Victor, or at least someone does. But that is what makes me think that the part four flashback and this one are related. Boyd was injured and has to flee because of something he will do in the future. What if Adelle and Topher are the ones leading the revolution? That would explain why Boyd was free to move around the Dollhouse in the fourth flashback. What if Adelle and Topher reclaim Victor and set the Dolls free?

This flashback certainly seems to be a defining moment in the lives of Adelle and Topher and certainly something that unites them and possibly sets them on the path of public opposition to the Rossum Corporation… maybe…

Tv Nibble: It’s a Comedy, but not as we know it…

Ok, so this week I managed to catch the season 3 finale of Eureka. I only really discovered Eureka a couple of months ago but I really enjoy the show, and I promise there is a 10 reason to watch forth coming for it, once I get a free moment.

Eureka has often been referred to as a Sci-Fi sitcom, but I wouldn’t say that was true. For a start it’s not true science fiction and calling it so only serves to turn people off it. And while it is comical it fails to follow the traditional sitcom format. Really, it falls into that indefinable category with other 45 minute comedies like Chuck and Reaper and just like those shows I have one major belly ache with it… It’s too self contained!

Unlike other Sci Fi (Sy Fy) Channel shows like BSG and Farscape, where you really need to watch them from the start to know what’s going on, Eureka is pretty much a series of one offs and the problem with that is that you already know by the end of the episode, everything is going to be ok. Sure there are some of those “to be continued” moments but they really don’t come often enough.

However like with Chuck this is really only a minor niggle, because the show is really about the people and how they interact and the season finale was brilliant for that. However it left me wondering where season 4 (which is greenlit) will be going.

Zoe is going to college, as is Lucas. Alison has a new baby and Tess has a new job is Australia. Meaning that, potentially, we could be losing up to four characters and if “Alice” gets picked up as a series Taggart (Matt Frewer) probably wont be returning to the show either, which is a shame.

Whatever the case though the first three seasons are a really good laugh. Check them out. Eureka returns to Sci Fi next year.    

Tv Nibble: Fallen Out With Fringe

Ok, so it took me a week to watch it and I only did so to avoid having to watch two at some point. I’ll be honest the teaser had be intrigued.

However, after that, the show devolved to it’s usual self. Olivia was dull and whiney, even Charlie, who has arguably the most interesting role on the show at the moment was decidedly dull.

The dynamic between Walter, Peter and Astrid is certainly much more interesting to me than the actual story. Sure we got plenty of answers this week about what happened to Olivia when William Bell whisked her off to another dimension. We learnt a little of the goals of the shape shifting soldiers but really not enough to keep me interested.

Even the final demise of Charlie Francis was ultimately dull, we knew from the outset of the episode that Charlie, or the shape shifter that had become Charlie would be dead within the next few episodes and once the writers pitted him against Olivia there could only be one out come. A poor exit for one of the better characters in the show.

All that said, I think I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt, just one more time… If only for Walter’s sake.

Tv Nibble: Epitaph One Flashbacks - Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Welcome to Part 4 of the Epitaph One Flashbacks, click on the above links if you missed the last three parts.

This flashback wasn’t very long at all and feature Boyd and Whiskey. Two characters that have had very little to do in the new season.

Boyd is leaving the Dollhouse, it looks like he might have been wounded some time previously, but reasonably recently for Dr. Saunders (Whiskey) to be worried about him. He is in a hurry, he is leaving for somewhere “they” can’t pin point him. He points out that Echo is already in danger. “They”, presumably are the Rossum Corporation as he is inside the Dollhouse during this flashback so it couldn’t specifically be DeWitt, could it?

It is clear that Boyd and “Claire” (Whiskey) are in some kind of relationship. It also clear that Whiskey has returned to the Dollhouse after leaving at the start of season 2. In order to protect her Boyd leaves Whiskey behind, without telling her how to find him.

I would guess that this flashback is part of the season premiere of season 3, after Boyd helps Echo and Ballard achieve at least part of their goal in liberating the Dollhouse. Of course I’m only guessing, but I’d guess that’s why Echo is already in danger and that it was how Boyd got injured.

Boyd leaves the Dollhouse, with Whiskey weeping uncontrollably, his words “I will come back for you” echoing in her mind. This is typical Joss. We have already in season 2 seen suggestions that Boyd is in love with Dr. Saunders, which somehow contributed to her leaving. We can probably assume from Joss’ track record for unhappy relationships (Buffy, Angel, Cordy, Xander, Willow, you name it, he broke their hearts) that Claire Saunders will return and fall in love with Boyd, maybe a mere episode or two before they have to say goodbye, for, what we later know to be, forever.

Tv Nibble: The Sound of Sylar

So far this season Heroes has been a little aimless. Each episode has followed a different hero, with little to connect them together other than the appearances of the travelling circus troop, led by Samuel Sullivan.

However, episode 5, Hysterical Blindness sets out to change all that. The circus finally recruits a new member, Gabriel Sylar, the Nathan/Sylar story seems to have been put to rest too. Peter is reunited with a dying Hiro and the storylines all seem to be pulling in the same direction.

Other than the major plot points, the episode is rather bland. Certainly there is a nice visual spectacle when Peter takes the ability of Emma (the Deaf Girl) who can see sound. Then there was the oh-too-obvious lesbian kiss and a dreary return to “I’m a misunderstood innocent that wouldn’t hurt a fly” Sylar. He’s just so whiney when he’s like this. He’s much better as a ghost in Matt’s head.

Talking of Matt he hasn’t been seen much this series, which is nothing compared to other regulars like Mohinder who hasn’t been seen at all. And what about Adrian Pasdar, has he left the show now that Nathan is officially dead and Sylar has returned to his original appearance?

All in all this week’s episode didn’t suck, there were nice moments to it, but it doesn’t have that rollercoaster feel we got with Fugitives. By the end of episode 2 we’d witnessed a major plane crash and the apparent death of a season regular. I’m hoping now that the heroes have been reunited (sort of) that the real meat of the season can begin to unravel.