Weekly Round-Up: 26/03/07

I certainly wish I’d written this week’s post as I watched the  shows… there have been rather a lot of them!

So without further ado, let’s get down to it. Beware the following post does contain spoilers including what THE ISLAND is!!!

Chuck – vs. The Final Exam

Chuck really is going from strength to strength and unlike I announced last week Chuck is now running to at least 18 episodes not the 13 I was aware of.

Picking up where last week left off, Chuck is about to face his final test and become a real spy, while Sarah prepares to leave for D.C with Shaw. Casey however now has only one goal in life and that is to be the best Buy Morian he can be.

All of this, Chuck trying to deal with life as a spy and Casey trying to be a civilian, it just works. By the end of the episode Chuck has passed his final test, the “Red Test” and is on his way to start his new spy life in Rome.

But with Sarah in D.C, Chuck in Rome and Casey in Burbank how will the show go on? I doubt that the writers will allow the team to be split up and they will find some convoluted way to bring them all back together but still, its definitely looking exciting.

However the most important thing to happen is that Sarah is no longer in love with Chuck because she believes, falsely, that he killed a defecting agent.

I can’t wait for more Chuck!

How I Met Your Mother – Say Cheese

This week’s episode was ok. Lilly challenges Ted to “Name that Skank” as the show finally admits that Ted is a bit of a manwhore. While Robin makes it her mission to take a bad photo of Barney, in a series of slapstick moments with the same punchline, but that are somehow still funny.

With only a few episodes to go before the season finale I wonder if we are still to be treated to a few more how I “almost” met your moments???

Lost – Ab Aeterno

Ah… that “pivotal” moment we’ve spent six seasons waiting for apparently happened this week. We finally know what the Island is…

IT’S A PRISON… for Smokey… ok and?

This week’s episode focused on Richard “The Ageless” Alpert. With some continuity errors and a lot of faux religious nonsense we arrived at the final conclusion about what the island really is.

It was explained to us (in story telling flashback fashion no less) that Jacob is the keeper of the island, the gaoler for the black smoke and that the two of them are incapable of killing one another. However, as we know, Jacob can be killed by someone else. Knowing this Jacob intentionally brings other people to the island to allow them to be tempted by Smokey. Those that fail to redeem themselves are presumably at some point tested and killed, those that pass through the temptation… well… who knows?

Anyway, it was all vaguely nonsensical and a rather disappointing “conclusion” to some of the LOST mysteries. Certainly the way that Richard perceives the island “This is hell” and “You’re all dead” is not a million miles off what everyone was saying around the midpoint of season 1. The idea of the island as Hell is an interesting one though as Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) is in fact Satan on CW’s Supernatural. Could it be that he is in fact the devil on two different shows simultaneously?

FlashForward - Blowback

After last week’s action packed episode this week’s FlashForward was a return to the talky-talky style episodes prior to the hiatus. Possibly the most interesting story was Aaron and Tracey. Tracey was recaptured by Jericho, a mercenary organisation headed up by James Remar. A news clipping in the hallway of his house proclaims Remar’s character as Jericho’s General, it cannot be coincidence that Remar once played Jonah Prowse, leader of a band of mercenaries on the CBS show Jericho?

Aaron learns that Jericho has Tracey and so he sets out on his journey to fulfil his flash forward by travelling to Iraq.

Other than that Mark finally discovers that Lloyd knows D. Gibbons and Demetri discovers that the gun that will be used to kill him has been stolen from the evidence room.

Supernatural – Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Another good fun episode of my favourite show of the moment. This week’s episode manages to be funny, scary, sweet and gross all at the same time and let’s face it, that’s why we all love this show.

So this week the Fourth Horseman sends Bobby Singer a message in the form of his dead wife returned to life. In fact the whole town see Zombies rise and rejoin their families… only… there is a catch… It seems that the Zombies, while appearing sweet and innocent still really want to EAT YOUR BRAINS!!!

In a rather Dawn of the Dead style tribute Sam and Dean set about decapitating the living dead as they try to save their wheelchair bound mentor.

Although I did enjoy the episode for what it was I was rather disappointed that there wasn’t a zombie attack on the police precinct, that would have been cool. Another really fun episode in the countdown to the season finale.

Caprica – End of the Line

So, the last episode before the hiatus… that deserves spotlighting dontcha think? Tune in again soon for my thoughts on this jam packed episode.

Clone Wars – Cat and Mouse

Best episode of Clone Wars in a while! In a very space action orientated episode Anakin gets to fly a new stealth vessel prototype against a dead adversary, Trench (voice by non-other than Agent Smith!).

Of course I don’t ever recall seeing “Cloaking” ships in Star Wars but that is beside the point. The episode is still pretty good and the character of Trench is a lot of fun. Also Admiral Yularen finally got some proper screen time this week, which was nice for him.

All in all a good fun episode. Hopefully the show will continue to pick up as it rolls on towards the season finale.

Legend of the Seeker – Creator

In a time when I thought “Clip Shows” were a thing of the past Legend brings us this. The worst thing about this week’s episode (and it wasn’t the 60% recycled materials) was that it had the possibility to be a real mythology challenging episode, but instead it whimped out at the last second and became just another one off.

This week’s episode revolved around the return of the Creator in human form. The Sisters of the Light all gave their power to one girl that they believed (possibly brainwashed into thinking) was the Creator. Then they sent her on a mission to kill Richard.

Notably this means that there are no more Sisters of the Light and only one remaining Sister of the Dark…

Using flashbacks the Creator tries to prove that Richard is working for the Keeper, while Kahlan tries to prove the opposite.

The episode ends with Darken Rahl trying to open a rift to drag the Creator into the underworld. Richard saves her and she closes the rift. Doing so drains her of her powers, thus removing “The Creator made Human” as a possible element in the endgame. Also the fact that Richard saved her made her instantly change her mind about him being an agent of the Keeper.

Things could have been so different… Clip shows and a one off episodes that don’t really add to the story are really the detriment of this show. It’s a fantasy show, it should have a grand plot interweaved with many many subplots that are just as grand or fun or dark. It’s such a shame, this show could be so much more than it is. Oh well…

Coming Soon

Ok… I absolutely promise that V is coming back this week, not that I’m that bothered, but I’d like to see how it ends. Also returning this week is Stargate Universe, plus more from everything else except Caprica which will return in the autumn.  

Spotlight: FlashForward - Revelation Zero

And so FlashForward finally returns to our screens. I don’t have  time this week to do a blow by blow account of the episode so I’m just going to try and hit all the major speedbumps along the way.

What I Didn’t Like?

Conversely, this is a much shorter list than what I did like, which is unusual for FlashForward.

I’ve never much cared for the fact that the entire Mosaic project was based on what Mark saw in his flash forward. Not only does this horrible trend continue in this episode, but Mark undergoes a kind of hypnotherapy to enable him to remember even more details of what was on the “Big Board”… So Lame!

I didn’t like how quickly Lloyd’s kidnapping was resolved. After it being a rather huge deal prior to the hiatus the whole thing was resolved within half an episode… by using the stupid drug induced hypnotherapy.

My final niggle with the episode was that I don’t believe that the show originally intended to have Simon be Suspect Zero (the man who was awake on the stadium CCTV camera). To me the body shape looks all wrong. Also, why would the “Three Star” group send Simon to a public location where he was likely to be caught on camera the day they were planning to test the blackout? Surely that would cause suspicion? Why would they want that?

What Caused the Flash Forward?

We discover this episode that Lloyd was not responsible for the event. That the experiment NLAP was carrying out simply amplified the effects of the blackout. It seems that NLAP was trying to find dark matter and somehow that interfered with the 3 Star’s test.

But while Lloyd might not have been the cause, it seems that Simon was definitely involved. It turns out that Uncle Teddy, AKA Flosso a high-up in the Three Star group had been funding Simon’s education since he was small. In return Simon was asked to spy on the NLAP project and report the date of their experimental attempt to find Dark Matter.

We also discover that the Three Star group intends to use the blackouts to control the future. Hence the new tagline “There is going to be another Blackout.”

Simon

So, most of this week’s episode resolves around Dominic’s character Simon. We discover that the Three Star group killed his father in order to give Simon a convincing excuse to not be present during the NLAP experiment. Although why kill his father? Why not just kidnap Simon? We also discover that his little sister Annabelle is being held by the Three Star group to force Simon to continue helping them.

Simon however, bitter that his “uncle” killed his father, chopped off his finger and kidnapped his sister is fed up of being pushed around and isn’t about to play ball. To that end he murders “Flosso” muttering “I never get pushed around and I always get even”

Mark

So then, the main character… Well, it seems that Mark wants to be reinstated? I thought the reason for all the gun toting in Hong Kong was so that he wouldn’t be an agent anymore and therefore wouldn’t shoot Demetri.

Anyway, he continues to investigate the Blackout on his own, using a drug induced vision to remember details of his flashforward. These details lead him to Lloyd and Simon, but they also indicate that “There will be another blackout” and that Lloyd Simco knows about it!

To be fair, since the show started there has been a lot of talk about what the world would do if there was another blackout and how such a thing could be guarded against. Now it appears that the Three Star group want to use the blackouts in a controlled manner to gain access to the future and use that knowledge to consolidate it’s power.

And that is about it (I think) definitely a better episode than most of those that have proceeded it. Not perfect by any stretch and if the show continues to be propelled by blackouts it could grow tedious quickly, but I’m looking forward to tonight's episode and what exactly is going to happen in the season finale!

This has been My Two Cents… join me on Sunday for a round-up of the week’s Tv. 

Weekly Round-Up: 21/03/10

Well… I’ve certainly been busy this week. Several new features  have been added to the blog to make finding your favourite Tv Shows even easier. Firstly I’ve added a new flash button that allows you to navigate the site by show and by season, as well as being able to see if the show has a 10 Reasons or First Impressions post. Currently the list only has the shows from the old Navigate This Blog list, however other shows will be added to the list.

Secondly I’ve added a google search bar which not only searches the posts on the blog but it also searches posts in the other blogs I read, which gives me a good excuse to start reading more.

Finally I’ve added a Reactions link at the bottom of the posts so you can give the thumbs up to the posts you like.

So then, lets take a look at this week’s Tv…

Chuck – Vs. The Tic Tac

An excellent episode of the comedy spy drama again this week. Want to know more check out the Spotlight directly below this post.

Lost – Recon

Possibly the best episode of Lost so far this season, although that’s not saying much. Quite a lot of stuff going on this week. We find out that the rest of flight 316 are dead, presumably killed by Smokey. We learn Smokey plans to use the plane to escape the island, but that would mean he needs Frank?! Charles Widmore finally arrives at the island with the intension of killing Smokey… So Charles is a good guy? What about the boat load of people he sent to the island to kill everyone?

Clare tries to kill Kate and Sayid is depressed. Sawyer is playing both sides promising to help Smokey kill Widmore and visa versa, while all the time he plans to escape with Kate in Widmore’s sub.

Meanwhile in Sawyer’s flash sideways we learn that he is still searching for Anthony Cooper (Not Sawyer) but that he is now a cop. As has become typical in the Flash Sideways, his partner is non-other than Mile Straum. But if Sawyer is a cop then why did he help Kate escape in the season premiere? Well I guess we’ll find out soon enough because the two of them run into each other again right at the end of the episode.

Next week will see Richard Alperts backstory along with further revelations about what the Island actually is. 

Flash Forward – Revelation Zero

Finally an episode that is actually relevant. This episode led by Simon (Dominic Monaghan) is actually a lot better and a really good start to the second half of the season. As such it will be getting the Spotlight treatment later this week.

Clone Wars – Senate Murders

As may have become clear of late I’m a little disillusioned with the second season of Clone Wars. Season one was so jam packed with action and interesting episode, while season 2 has continued to fall flat.

This week’s episode is no different as we are faced with a Padme led episode about a murdered Senator. Padme is trying to pass a motion to stop the production of more Clones, which seems ridiculous to me, but even after one of the forerunners of the campaign is murdered the motion is still passed and the production of Clones will continue.

Who would have thought? 

Caprica – Ghosts in the Machine

Well… This week was certainly quite a dark episode, no? Having discovered that the AI in the robot is in fact his daughter Zoe, Daniel Greystone sets out to force her to reveal herself. Daniel puts the robot through a series of trials (including forcing her to shoot her own dog) hoping to force it to show him a sign that it is his daughter.

Meanwhile, Joseph takes on New Cap City looking for his daughter, but all his can find is her signature on every wall.

All in all this week was a pretty good episode, I’m really enjoying the series as a futuristic look at modern society, but I’m still eager to see where it is all leading to.

Legend of the Seeker – Bound

So, this week’s episode was another one-shot “Star Trek” style story where nothing really that important happened. The freshly resurrected Sister Nicci casts a spell to bond herself to Kahlen in order to force Richard to lead her to the Stone of Tears.

By the end of the episode Nicci has failed, but she has also eliminated the remaining Sisters of the Dark and taken their power. Legend really could be more than just a collection of one off stories, it’s such a shame that it still hasn’t evolved into something deeper. It’s still fun and visually wonderful, it just feels like it could be something more.

Coming Soon

Next week sees Supernatural and V return, along with what promises to be a pivotal episode in the LOST canon. Also I’ll be breaking down that mammoth FlashForward episode in my weekly Spotlight… but until then, this has been My Weekly Scheduled Two Cents.

Spotlight: Chuck vs. The Tic Tac

I knew I was going to love this episode the moment I saw Robert Patrick’s smiling face. What I didn’t realise was that this week’s episode would turn out to be even better than last weeks!

If you told me that this weeks writers Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc were not fans of the CBS show “The Unit” I would call you a liar because despite turning out to be an evil Ring operative, Robert Patrick is Col. Tom Ryan right down to the speech he gives John Casey about becoming part of an elite unit of black ops specialists.

It’s a shame actually that Col. Keller (Robert Patrick) turns out to be a baddie in this episode. I would have loved to think that possibly “The Unit” still existed, even if it was only in the world of Chuck. (I miss The Unit).

Right then, let’s get down to what exactly it was that made this episode so special. This was definitely one of the funniest episodes to date but it also took huge steps towards making Team Bartowski feel like a team again. Plus there was added tension and intrigue as it looked like Casey had turned rogue and joined up with the Ring.

The episode begins with Alex Coburn a.k.a John Casey being recruited by Col. Keller, back when John was in his early twenties. Then we flash forward to the present day and Keller tasks John with a secret mission to steal an experimental drug from the CIA. John gets his chance to do so during the next mission which is to test out the CIA buildings security system.

Casey however is growing sloppy. Last week he was nearly killed, this week he lets Chuck catch him stealing the drug. Casey warns Chuck not to say nothing. Unfortunately when General Beckman reveals that the drug was stolen Chuck assumes he is being tested as to whether his loyalties lie with his friend or with his country, so he turns John in. Hilarious scene!

Casey is arrested and moved to CIA HQ (the same building the team just broke into for the test). However Sarah and Chuck discover that Keller is working for the Ring and that John is being set up. So they bust him out, unfortunately so does Keller and shock horror Casey leaves with Keller and Sarah and Chuck are forced to accept that John is a double agent working for the Ring!

Casey however stashed the drug (which eradicates fear in those that take it) in the Buy More, so he tasks Morgan with retrieving it. Luckily Chuck catches up with Morgan first and takes the package. Then together Chuck and Sarah confront Casey and force him to reveal the truth. The Ring is forcing Casey to work for them by threatening the life of his childhood sweetheart (and mother of his daughter).

Casey explains how he had been offered the opportunity to serve his country and how he had had to choose between his real life and his spy life… Exactly as Chuck did at the start of the season. He had given up everything to serve.

So with everything straightened out Casey and Sarah go after Keller while Chuck goes to protect Kathleen (Casey’s ex-fiancé, played by Clare Carey from Jericho and Point Pleasant). Chuck poses as the gas man, as do the bad guys, which leads to a fantastic line from Zach “I’m the gas company!”, his facial expression is superb.

Back in Keller’s shack Casey beats the Colonel black and blue before snapping his neck while Sarah looks on horrified. Back at Kathleen’s Chuck finds himself unable to flash and with his life hanging in the balance he takes the pill. With his fear and all other feelings pushed aside Chuck kicks some ass, finally pinned one of the guards to the wall in a sequence taken directly from the one Sarah just witnessed with Casey. Chuck is about to kill the guard when Sarah bursts in and stops him.

And so we learn that Chuck and Casey are more alike than we thought and it is Chuck’s connections to his family and friends that make the difference, that make him the better man. Certainly since the end of season 2 we have seen Casey soften towards Chuck and now we know why, because the two of them have faced the same situations, the same choices.

Back at Castle General Beckman chooses not to arrest John for Treason, but she strips him of his rank and kicks him out of the service. Chuck and Sarah point out what John has given up for his country but it’s no good, the General’s mind is made up.

Well, with only three episodes left we certainly are building towards the finale. Casey is no longer a spy, The Ring is getting bolder and Chuck is becoming more and more capable as an agent. I don't know where the show is going to go for the finale but I would suspect Casey will play a big enough role to get reinstated or possibly that he will heroically sacrifice himself.

This week’s episode was filled with so many good moments, like Morgan and Awesome’s “Do you know” moment and the softer side to Casey moments. Even Chuck’s fight scenes were really good this week (as they have a tendency to look silly). All this coupled with Casey’s dismissal and Ellie and Awesome’s decision to stay just makes this a brilliant, brilliant episode.

Keep it like this and a fourth season is a sure fire thing!

This has been My Very Impressed Two Cents…

Until Next Time…

BRING BACK THE UNIT!!!         

Spotlight: Chuck Vs. The Beard

This week’s Chuck turned out to be a contender for the best episode to date. In a laugh filled, action packed story, Morgan finally learns the truth, Big Mike leads a rebellion and Casey nearly dies…

So the episode opens with Shaw relieving Chuck of spy duty until he can learn to flash again. Chuck tries to point out that he is a spy, regardless of whether or not he can flash and that he gave up everything (looking at Sarah) to be useful. However, it seems that the U.S government only see his ability to flash as being useful and so he is cast aside.

When he gets to work, Chuck is first reminded that he has not only lost his job, but Hannah too and that blow is quickly followed by an even more crippling one as Morgan fires him as his best friend. Things are not going well for our poor Chuck.

On top of this some suits arrive with the prospect of buying the Buy More, possibly putting everyone, including Chuck out of work. Except… they are actually Ring operatives searching for Shaw’s secret base (i.e. Castle) underneath the Buy More.

The Ring floats a story about a defecting CIA operative to draw Sarah, Casey and Shaw out of Castle while they try to find their way in. The fake story, leads the gang to Devon and Ellie, which really upsets Captain Awesome as he had had assurances from Chuck that he and Ellie would be safe from Chuck’s spy life. Clearly they are not.

Back in the Buy More a nosy Lester discovers (wrongly) that the new buyers intend to sack everyone and just keep Chuck and Morgan. Armed with this news Big Mike leads a revolution, barricading the store and refusing to back down.

However, the Ring operatives have already discovered the secret entrance to Castle behind the lockers, but what they don’t know is that Morgan is watching them. Everyone’s favourite bearded BuyMorian follows the Crooks until he too discovers Castle. Realising that the Ring intend to destroy the secret CIA base below the store Morgan returns to the Buy More to seek out help from the one person he knows he can rely on… Chuck.

Our hero quickly realises that Morgan knows too much now for it to be worth keeping the truth a secret and together they enter Castle but with Chuck still unable to flash, they captured.

Meanwhile Casey, Sarah and Shaw have arrived back at Orange Orange only to discover that they have been locked out of Castle. Casey returns to the Buy More to try the back door, while Shaw prepares to phone Langley to have Castle’s self destruct sequence activated.

Casey is spotted trying to hack the back door and two Ring operatives appear. Had they shot on sight Casey would never have made it out of this episode alive. Even though they didn’t kill him, Casey seemed unable to best his attackers until Jeff inadvertently saved him.

So, Chuck and Morgan finally have a heart to heart and air out everything that has come between them over the last three years. It really is a touching sequence. Watching Chuck and Morgan drift apart has been quite saddening and something we can all relate to in our own lives I think… Finally the talk turns to Sarah and Morgan tells Chuck exactly what he needs to hear. He reminds Chuck that no matter how hard he tries to deny it, he loves Sarah. When Chuck finally admits this to himself a weigh is lifted from his chest and he is able to flash again.

Quickly the terrible twosome dispatch the Ring operatives and save Castle. Afterwards Shaw decides that Morgan needs to be placed in witness protection but both Chuck and Sarah fight his corner and the bearded wonder is allowed to stay.

Finally the episode closes out with Devon freaking out about the Ring and his life constantly being in danger and having to lie to Ellie and all gets too much so he asks Ellie if they can go away… TO AFRICA!

Huge implications from this episode. Firstly what happens with Morgan now that he knows the truth? Will he get involved with missions like Devon did? Will he become part of the team or will this revelation be ignored with only the occasional nod? Are Ellie and Awesome leaving the show? Surely not? And is Col. Casey past his prime?

This episode really has been one of the best so far, there were moments where I thought the show might chicken-out and not have Morgan learn the truth, but it didn’t, it stuck with it and the show was allowed to change, hopefully for the better. The opening segments which made Chuck out to be useless without the Intersect were interesting too considering how hard the show has been pushing for Chuck to start working alone.

All in all a very good episode that made great use of the entire ensemble cast and one that I am eager to discover the ramifications of… something I will be doing the moment I post My Delayed Two Cents…

Until next time…          

Weekly Round-Up: 14/03/10

So… I’ve had a week off work and not managed to do a spotlight post… sorry about that. I’ve also not managed to watch Caprica…  sorry about that also. I did manage to watch all of Warehouse 13 though… t’was good! Cruel, cruel cliffhanger though…

Right then, lets round up the Tv I did manage to watch.

Chuck – Vs the Beard

Dual meaning title and everything this week. I still intend to spotlight this episode but I will say that this is the best episode of season 3 by far… a mythology changing episode. Superb!

How I Met Your Mother – Of Course

A very good episode that focused, for the first time, on the aftermath of Robin and Barney’s break up. HIMYM is really clever with how they set these episodes up. Very clever.

Anyway the episode deals with how Robin tries to get revenge on Barney because of all the girls he has slept with since her. It also examines the way Marshal and Ted have dealt with this in a very amusing and clever (did I mention they are clever?) sequence that continues to build throughout the episode.

Very very good and a lot of laughs to boot. Oddly it ends with Robin finally going on a date with Don, who really doesn’t seem that suited to her. I guess I’m just hoping that her and Barney finally work things out as they are the only two character we haven’t seen “in the future” glimpses of and therefore could end up together.

Lost – Dr. Linus

Hmmm… There is possibly a lot to talk about this week as more characters return from the dead in a Ben-centric episode. Interesting Dr. Artz seems to be getting a lot of screentime this season considering he was only in season one what… two episodes?

Anyway the episode focuses on Ben’s choices in life. In the island reality he chose power over Alex, while in his flashsideways his decision was reversed.

A very interesting piece of information that was revealed this week was the Candidate’s inability to kill themselves. This explains Jack and Locke’s failed suicides. Interestingly however Richard too is unable to die (explaining his youthful appearance) but he is not a candidate. Does this mean that anyone touched by Jacob is unable to die? Also, I’m fairly sure that someone revealed that there are only six candidates left. So does that mean that Frank is not one?

Also… did Ben believe that Alex was a candidate (maybe she was) is that why he thought she couldn’t be killed? Or are there further rules that we haven’t learnt about yet?

Miles reveals this week Jacob’s final thoughts, which were, predictably, that he hoped Ben would stop himself and be redeemed. How very Judas…

Finally, the most important piece of information was that Charles Widmore is enroute to the island. Presumably to take his place in the war (as the new leader of the Others?). Will Penny and Des be returning with him? Is Desmond important to the end game? Is there really an end game?

All these questions and more to answered on next weeks LOST!

Caprica – The Imperfections of Memory

So, the major plot points this week? Joseph goes in search of Tamara in New Cap City. Philomon goes on his second date with the Zoe Avatar where she gives him the idea that reason the chip that Daniel stole works is because it is based on an analogue program that cannot be copied.

However, this leads Daniel Greystone to (possibly) finally understand “who” is inside his robot.

Meanwhile Clarisse gets friendly with Amanda (who is now hallucinating visions of her dead brother) and Lacy kisses Keno, immediately after she reveals her intention to become a member of the STO in order to move the Zoe Avatar off world…

Things are certainly heating up in Caprica but has it done enough to keep it’s audience? I hope so.

Next Week

Now, if IMDB is to be believed Tv is returning in force next week. Legend of the Seeker, Flash Forward and Clone Wars, all alongside our regularly scheduled programming. Leaving us looking forward to Supernatural’s return the week after along with *yawn* V.

See you next week for another Round-Up…

First Impressions: Warehouse 13

Jane Espenson has been involved in a list of shows longer than my arm. As a writer and producer she has worked on Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Gilmore Girls, Tru Calling, Jake in Progress, The Inside, Battlestar Galactica and Caprica to name just a few… but now she comes to us with a show that she created… Warehouse 13.

In the interest of fairness I should probably mention that Jane is only Co-Creator with D. Brent Mote. 

Warehouse 13 is a fusion of the X-Files, Bones, Chuck, Supernatural and Eureka with a dash of Indiana Jones and some Whedonesque quick quips. I could stop right there because no doubt I’ve already got you hooked… but for the sake of completeness I’ll go on and waffle about the pilot… but if you want to skip ahead to the conclusion I’ll tell you right now it says “Go watch it…!”

So, the story… Two FBI agents get recruited by a mysterious woman called Frederic who runs the Warehouse 13 project. Pete Lattimer played by Eddie McClintock who I know as Sully from Bones is recruited for his finely tuned intuition and his open minded nature. While Myka Bering played by Joanne Kelly is recruited for her astute attention to detail and her brilliantly deductive mind.

Warehouse 13 is “America’s Attic” run by Artie Nielson played by Saul Rubinek and it is essentially a depository for every dangerous artefact known to man, including the legendary Pandora’s Box…! Lattimer and Bering are to work for the Warehouse by collecting these dangerous artefacts from around the world and bringing them back.

The show is not in the least bit serious about this last part, much in the same way that Chuck is not a serious Spy drama. Everything from the music to the comedy segments let us know that this is, at heart, a comedy drama, like Eureka and if you try and take it too seriously you will be disappointed. But by the same merit if the writers try and take the show too serious, without doing the appropriate ground work, the show will fail to deliver it’s impact. Keep it light, keep it fun, but build in the drama too.

The pilot itself is very good. Although it’s not rolling in the aisles funny (which is a good thing) it’s charming, it’s intelligent, it’s everything we’d expect from someone with a credit on every Joss Whedon series to date. The characters are well set up, we learn that both of them are flawed in one way or another, as all good heroes are. Pete lost his father and suffers from a drinking problem, while Myka believes her drive and ambition led directly to the death of her partner. Artie, who we discover has been the caretaker of Warehouse 13 for quite some time, is simply delightful. He reminds me of a cuddly version of Q or Marshall Flinkman (from Alias).

As the pilot progresses and the two agents are recruited to work for Warehouse 13, they remain sceptical about the magical artefacts they have been recruited to collect. A scepticism that will pass (mostly) before the first episode closes out. Unlike Scully in the X-Files who spent an unbelievably long time disbelieving. But, like Scully, Myka rails against the assignment, believing it to be a demotion, although by the time she is offered an out at the end of the pilot she obviously chooses to stay.

The second half of the double length pilot episode focuses on the retrieval of an artefact in the shape of a hair comb. The comb has the power to possess a person, driving them to extraordinary lengths to protect their loved ones. Both Myka and Pete flounder about, completely out of their depths with unhelpful clues and tales of death from Artie in a light hearted and fun exploration of the world of the show.

This will be the format that the series will take as it continues forward, but with each passing episode the characters will slowly learn to depend less on Artie and begin to actually understand what is going on. Of course, as soon as they do, everything will change. It isn’t a new format but it is fresh and fun and it has a lot of potential, especially going down the light hearted “mild peril” route.

If the episode had one flaw it would be the final set piece, which came across as a bit silly and stage-y But this is a flaw that many shows with a supernatural element face, just look at Reaper. I hope that as the show progresses that it will change from an “Artefact of the Week” show into something more, without losing the fun stuff, but uping the drama and the tension, maybe raising “Mild Peril” to “Intermediate Peril”

But all in all I loved the pilot and I’m really glad I decided to check it out. Warehouse 13 has already been renewed for a second season and the first series is currently being repeated after Caprica on Friday nights on SyFy. My advice, go watch it and enjoy the fun.

This has been My Two Cents… Coming Soon a Spotlight on Chuck vs. The Beard… 

Weekly Round-up: 07/03/10

Even with the Olympics out of the way it’s still been a slow week for Tv. This week enjoyed another episode of Chuck, HIMYM, Lost, Caprica and Legend of the Seeker… That’s right folks, I’m all caught up!

So without further ado, lets get right into it… beware episode spoilers may feature below…

Chuck -  Vs. The Fake Name

Another pretty good episode of Chuck in which Chuck assumes the identity of an assassin paid to take out Agent Shaw. In the process Chuck discovers the relationship between Sarah and Shaw and realises he still has feelings for her, which drives him to break up with Hannah (Gasp!).

However the fact that Chuck is really beginning to out grow his handlers seems to be changing the feel of the show. There is less camaraderie between Casey, Chuck and Sarah and that is a shame. I’m interested to see where Chris and Josh will take the show, I just hope it doesn’t lose it’s charm in the process. 

How I Met Your Mother – Hooked

This week’s episode examines that part of the human psyche that we all use from time to time. The part that preys on other peoples affection for us to our own benefit. Of course, HIMYM refers to it as “being on the hook” and they don’t make it sound as dark and depressing as I just did.

It’s not a bad episode, quite a few laughs but nothing ground-breakingly funny.

Lost – Sundown

I’ve already talked about this earlier this week, but I will say that the show is certainly building towards the War we were promised and Smokey-Locke looks like he’s winning.

Caprica – Know Thy Enemy

Finally James Marsters in Caprica… well… a little bit anyway. Caprica, so far, has been one of those shows that builds up really slowly and we’ve never really known exactly where it is going, but now I think we are beginning to get an idea.

Firstly Graystone Industries is pushing forward the idea of Cylons as labourers because of Amanda Graystone’s revelation that her daughter my have been a Solider of the One. This will fulfil that opening segment of the BSG pilot that reads “The Cylons were created to make life easier on the twelve colonies.”

Secondly Lacy is trying to get Zoey’s avatar to Geminon and she hopes to use Barnabus Greeley (Marsters) to do. This means, of course, stealing the Cylon prototype, which will presumably fall into the wrong hands.

Finally Clarice, one of the Soldiers of the One, hopes to discover the truth about the Zoe avatar to offer all STO members eternal life. Will this plan work? Will all the Cylons have distinct personalities?

Who knows…?

Legend of the Seeker – Princess

Ok… so this didn’t air this week… but I watched it this week… that has to count right?  

This was an episode showcasing just how beautiful Tabrett Bethell is. However it was also one of the funniest and least serious episodes of the show to date. Tabrett certainly brings a fantastic new energy to the show that it sorely lacked in the first season and it is great to see her get two episodes about her character in a row.

Sister Nicci, leader of the Sisters of the Dark, returns to life this week as she tries to capture and kill Kahlen, the mother confessor. She uses a local Lord to have him kidnap Kahlen in exchange for immunity from the Keeper. However, of course, Richard, Cara and Zedd go after her. Unable to use magic they portray a family of royal suitors to gain access to the palace and hilarity ensues.

I’m still not a big fan of the one-shot nature of the story telling in Legend but I’m still spell bound by the production quality.  

Coming Soon…

Nothing new to talk about next week. Supernatural, Legend of the Seeker and V will all return the week after next, with FlashForward back in April.

Until next week…

Spotlight: Lost – Sundown

Although in this weeks Spotlight I will be talking about the events in episode 5 Sundown I will also touch on various points from the last two weeks.

Well… We certainly need more than a Spotlight to find our way through Lost these days, we could have used the Lighthouse, if Jack hadn’t smashed it up last week. Despite the series tagline “Answers are Coming” the creators still insist on bombarding us with increasingly silly questions and offering answers that make no sense.

I know some people love the “mystery” aspect of Lost, but for me, it stopped being a mystery at some point during season 3 because, truth be told, there are no logical answers to be had. A mystery can be solved by the application of logical deduction, the end game of Lost, however, is about giving the audience an answer they haven’t thought of. For example:

The Numbers

Despite the fact that 4,8,15,16,23,42 and 108 have all been around from series one, they have remained central to the mystery of Lost. Unfortunately the question “What do the numbers mean?” has been answer too many times! Now we find out that the numbers also correspond to names written on the wall of cave by a mystical figure, possibly centuries before the people therein named were born. We also discover that Jacob contrived events to bring these people to the island where, presumably due to the fact that most of them are crossed out, they all died.

However those people with names that match the mystically empowered numbers are not dead. Soooooo if the numbers 4,8,15,16,23 and 42 are so important then why all the other numbers in the cave? And how come all the people with corresponding names to the magical numbers all arrived on the same plane… Come on, that’s just a little too much coincidence.

In short, in trying to make the numbers significant, Lost has made them meaningless.

Sayid

Much of this week’s episode focused on Sayid. Despite being a member of the Oceanic Six, Sayid is one of the dullest characters on the show, in fact, when he was shot at the end of last season I assumed he was done and out. Not so. Now Sayid has died and been brought back by some malign spirit and this week he brings about the death of the rest of the Others by killing Drogen and Lennon and letting Smokey-Locke into the Temple.

Interestingly it now looks as if Sayid and Claire will join forces with Smokey-Locke to presumably fight the “War” we were told is coming. However, what makes that more interesting is that Kate seems to be with them. Is that why her name isn’t written on the wall? Or is she the other number we didn’t see… 108? And do we really care about the numbers at all any more anyway?

Is Kate joining forces with Smokey-Locke or is it simply a self preservation thing? My vote is for the latter, all though a final climatic battle between Sawyer and Kate could be fun.

Non-Crashed Sayid however is still in love with Nadia, although she is married to his brother. In fact it is his love of Nadia that convinces Island Sayid to join with Smokey-Locke. Anyway, his brother is in a lot of debt and so Sayid kills his debtor, none other than Martin Keamy and also rescues none other than Jin. Is it just me or is this “Course Correction” thing just a little far fetched?

Ilana and the Others

Ilana seems to have taken over as leader of the Others and Ben seems to have reformed and agreed to follow her orders. Frank, it appears is her right hand man. Together they bust into the temple and successfully save the main cast from Smokey, i.e. Miles Straume as only he hasn’t gone walk about after being “captured” by the Temple-Others

Drogen

In this episode Drogen reveals his back story as to how he was chosen to lead the Others and then he is promptly killed by Sayid. Clearly there is no more room in Lost for more mystery and killing Drogen off is easier than trying to explain anything about the Temple or the Others that reside within.

Jack and Hurley

Still seeing visions of Jacob, Hurley leads Jack to the Lighthouse, which seems to be a tool Jacob used to spy on all the people who’s names are scrawled on the walls of his cave. Jack however smashes the Lighthouse. It would seem the 815 survivors have a rather detrimental effect on the islands architecture…

Sawyer

Smokey-Locke led Sawyer to Jacob’s cave and showed him the names, explaining that they were the names of the Candidates to take over from Jacob. Sawyer was offered three choices, take the job, ignore the job or leave the island… He chose the latter. However, as we all know, Sawyer is a force for good and he will eventually accept the job and lead Jacob’s people into the war against Smokey-Locke. 

I think that pretty much sums things up… Ok, not in an in-depth way, but at this point reading too much into the Lost mythos is like trying to divine the future from the cooking instructions on a pack of oven chips. Pointless…

Until Sunday… This has been My Confused Two Cents…