Spotlight: FlashForward – The Garden of Forking Paths

Despite our rather dubious feelings towards ABC’s new hit show, every Tuesday my friend Mike (Author of the Slate Scrawl blog) get together to talk about this show and we were both forced to agree that if there was an episode worth talking about, it was this one.

The episode opens with Mark asking Charlie what Dyson Frost said to her last week and in typical FlashForward style his daughter closes her eyes and recalls every detail as if it was happening to her right then and there.

Specifically she gives them the following Dr. Seuss quotation. “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” As Dyson points out, Dr. Seuss has all the answers. Then Dyson hands over a picture of Oedipus and the Sphinx with a meeting place written on the back.

Meanwhile Zoe goes to see Alda to ask her to help Demetri. Alda demands that she has a hearing before she will help Demetri. However, Alda uses the hearing as a chance to escape, leaving Zoe with only the tiniest scrap of evidence to help find Demetri, “Building 7”

So Mark follows Dyson’s instructions, going to the Railway station where he gets handed a phone with further instructions, telling him to ditch the rest of the FBI and come alone to a lonely place high in the hills.

Meanwhile Demetri is sat in a chair, Mark’s gun pointed at his chest. Behind him, written in chalk on a huge blackboard, is Dyson’s “Garden of Forking Paths.” Dyson explains that over the years he has engineered hundreds of flash forwards, which generated many possible futures. Each time a significant event occurred in real time the result would be only one of these possible futures. “Take the day of the Blackout, had we failed, a different path would have opened up, so we move on to the next decision point. A new path, which brings us to today, March 15th. The most important fork of all.”

Dyson explains that once you have seen a possible future, that future actually becomes more likely, like the self fulfilling prophecy of Oedipus. If you actively seek it out, or actively avoid it the future is likely to happen exactly the way you saw it.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen Demetri.” Dyson remarks as he walks away. “But in all likelihood one of us is going to die today.”

So with an hour and thirty left on the clock before Demetri dies, Mark meets with Dyson on the hilltop.

“Why me?” Mark asks. “Because I don’t trust the FBI, and neither should you.” Dyson remarks. “We found the mole.” Mark reminds Frost. “And you think that makes you safe? You have no idea.” Dyson tosses Mark a pair of handcuffs, but before putting them on Mark requests that he be allowed a sip of water. This is a poor line and a terribly conceived plan. The water, which doesn’t even look like water, is gasoline and Mark spits it at Dyson, causing him to drop to the ground as the gas burns his eyes.

“This is not the way it was supposed to play out.” Frost whines. “Where is Demetri?” Mark demands. “You already know where he is. I gave Charlie all the answers.” Frost screams. “Walk, we’re running out of time.” Mark insists. “I know.” Dyson protests. “The whole world is.” (we’ll see what this means later.) “In the end you’re going to be saved by the lady you see everyday.” Who is this? Olivia? Charlie? Janis?

Moments later Dyson Frost is shot by the recently escaped Alda. Mark tries to get his answers but Frost is already dead. Mark takes Dyson’s brief case which contains 3 more pictures from the big board in Mark's flash forward. He also takes Dyson’s car, using the GPS to locate where Frost is holding Demetri. 423 Ingres Street.

Ingres was the name of the artist that painted the Oedipus picture, but where 423 came from I don’t know. Dyson claimed he gave Charlie all the answers, but I can’t see them.

Mark gets to the compound with minutes to spare. He phones the office and Wedeck gives him the only clue they have, building 7 (again not a clue from Charlie) Mark rushes in to save Dem. He disables the sensors by pulling the wires 1, 2, Red then Blue, but the trigger mechanism is still set to fire. With only seconds to spare Mark pulls the gun upwards so that it is now pointing at Demetri’s head (genius move btw). The gun goes off… but it misses and Demetri lives.

I had said from the start that they wouldn’t kill John Cho, but even I had my doubts. The last few moments were very tense indeed, well done FF. However, the firing mechanism was mechanical, all Mark had to do was block the trigger, so why didn’t he? He was in an industrial warehouse, a simple brick or piece of sheet metal would have done just fine. That was the main thing that annoyed me this episode, but on the whole it was very tense and enjoyable.

After surviving the death trap Demetri gets up from his seat, which triggers a secondary insurance measure as a series of sprinklers erase Dyson’s Garden of Forking Paths. In fact, the only entry that Mark can remember is the last one dated Dec 12th 2016 which simply reads THE END!

And that, my friends, just reignited my interest in the show. I’ve been wondering where a second and subsequent seasons could be heading and now we have an answer.

Also this episode Olivia and Vreede have been trying to connect the dots. The homeless man that was shot with Mark’s gun last episode was the same man who sent Olivia the text telling her that Mark was drinking in his flash forward. The episode ends by introducing the dead man’s friend, none other than James Callis better known as Battlestar’s Gaius Baltar.  

Gabriele (James’ character) tells Olivia he has stood behind her in line at the coffee stand on this day many many times and that he needs to talk to her about the Raven River experiments. If Gabriele is not an escaped mental patience then it would seem that Dyson isn't the only person experimenting with time travel and flash forwards.

And that’s about it for this week, hopefully I’ll find the time to bring you “The Hammer of the Gods.” at some point in the next couple of days. Until then, this has been My Two Cents…

Weekly Round-Up: 25/04/10

Was there a sale on ex-Battlestar actors this week? Last week  Michael Trucco took up the spotlight in V and his fellow shipmates followed suit this week with Rekha Sharma (who played Tory) appearing in this week’s supernatural, James Callis in FlashForward and Tahmoh Penikett and Alessandro Juliani both turning up in the SyFy original movie Riverworld.

Regardless of that, this week was reasonably good. Another great episode of How I Met Your Mother, a better episode of V, plus seminal episodes of Supernatural and Flash Forward…

How I Met Your Mother – Home Wreckers

This week saw the wedding of Heroes actress Cristine Rose, otherwise known as Ted’s Mom. Virginia and Clint’s wedding is a difficult time for Ted as he struggles with how much of a disappointment his life is, although Clint’s song about sleeping with his mother certainly doesn’t help things.

By the way, if you are wracking your brains trying to figure out where you know Clint from… He’s Mayor Wilkins in BtVS.

As a way to cope with his failure to complete “the plan”, wife, kids, house, Ted sets out to do the one part he can, he buys a house. His friends however are less impressed with his genius idea, because, as it turns out, the house is a death trap. Of course, this being HIMYM the house, in fact, turns out to be the very house that Ted’s future children will grow up in.

All in all this was a good episode, the Drunk or Kid gameshow-style flashbacks felt a little too hammy, but otherwise a very enjoyable episode.

Lost – The Last Recruit

Ah Lost, I’ve already talked about this already this week, check out the Spotlight if you missed my musings.

V – We Can’t Win

This week’s V revolved around Anna using human’s to take out members of the fifth column. Specifically another ex-Battlestar actor, Ty Olsson who played Captain Kelly.

Also this week the V’s learn that Valerie is pregnant with a V-hybrid, but Ryan rescues her before she is abducted. Anna plans long term destruction by offering Earth a new energy source, which she intends to turn off once we are dependant on it… Really? We’ll become completely dependant in less than 4 episodes? Lisa fails Anna’s sympathy test and realises she is love with Tyler (then the two of them get freaky in a space shuttle.

All in all a lot of small things happened this week, but it was not as dull or exposition-y as normal. With only four episodes to go though things are still moving too slowly.

Supernatural – Hammer of the Gods

Although I’m not always a fan of these very heavy episodes, this week’s Supernatural needs some attention. So this week will see two Spotlight posts, this and Flash Forward.

FlashForward – The Garden of Forking Paths

As I mentioned I will be covering this episode in detail later in the week, so stay tuned.

Stargate Universe – Human

This week’s episode had many problems, but it also had some good stuff. This week’s episode featured a guest appearance by Michael Shanks, otherwise known as Daniel Jackson. Daniel appears in a dream sequence that is experienced by Rush as he sits in that alien chair built by the ancients. This sequence is used as a way to explain Rush’s backstory. He is approached by Daniel and offered the chance to become part of the Icarus project and we learn that he said yes, despite his wife being on her death bed.

Anyway the whole thing was a convoluted way of giving Rush a clue to unlocking Destiny’s systems. 46, apparently is the clue. This is explained as being the number of chromosomes in a human, and that it is double 23, which apparently has significance.  Anyway it will still be some time before they have full control of Destiny, meanwhile Eli, Chloe, Scott and Greer are trapped on a planet.

In a rather convoluted storyline the four explorers get caught in a cave in, after Greer discharges his weapon at a giant spider. Unfortunately the Giant Spider was a one off encounter used only to trigger the cave-in, which meant that the team missed the rendezvous and Destiny jumped into FTL and left them behind.

I like that they were left behind, it makes for an interesting ending to a less so episode. However, here is my problem… They have already shown that by sticking your arm through the open Stargate you can prevent Destiny jumping away… so why didn’t they. They could have held the ship there indefinitely. I hate the way this show lacks any kind of consistency.

That said, I think the next couple of episodes, which will revolve around the team being stuck on the planet and Rush trying to turn Destiny about, will make for some interesting viewing.

Clone Wars – Death Trap

Boba Fett and Aura Sing make their debuts in this Clone Trooper Cadet focused episode. Boba sneaks aboard an acclamator as part of a training squad of Cadets, with the sole purpose of killing Mace Windu, the Jedi that killed his father.

However, Boba fails, so he takes out the ship instead, before making his get away aboard Slave 1. The episode was ok. It was good to see Boba and Aura getting some screen time but the script was a bit weak. The destruction of the ship was cool though so that partly makes up for it.

Legend of the Seeker -

When I get round to watching this I’ll update this bit…

Coming Soon

Chuck returns next week, Lost reveals the Candidate, plus there is more from all our favourites. Plus, keep your eyes peeled for both of this week’s Spotlights.

Spotlight: Lost – The Last Recruit

Ok, so this is a little late in coming because I’ve been fighting the urge to simply write…

WTF!!!

And leave it at that. I’ve made no secret of my feelings towards this final (thankfully) season of Lost and this episode is not an exception. So far this season the cast has simply traipsed about the island, going from the beach to the caves to temple to hydra island and back again, all with very little purpose. Meanwhile people are switching sides more times a day than your average CTU agent. First Sayid’s good, then he’s bad, now he indifferent, seriously… what the frak is going on?

Right, rant over, lets look at the episode.

Over in Alternaverse 

The episode opens with Ben and Locke going to the Hospital after Desmond ran him down at the end of the last episode. Once there they run into Jin and Sun who are checking in after Sun was shot in the restaurant. Sun recognises Locke, which means she is now one of the many characters to pierce the veil.

Next we have some posturing from Sawyer as he chats up Kate. Miles breaks it up as a call comes in and they head out to arrest Sayid.

Then we see Claire and Desmond at the law firm where Ilana works. Claire is on her way to sign some papers to have Aaron adopted, but Des side tracks her and introduces her to Ilana who was coincidentally trying to find her regarding Christian’s will.

Sayid returns to say goodbye to Nadia, only to be arrested by Sawyer and Miles.

Jack and David (his son) turn up at the law firm to meet with Ilana and, for the second time this episode a rather big song and dance is made about Jack and Claire being siblings. However the meet and greet is cut short as Jack is called back to the hospital to work on Locke.

Back in the Hospital Sun comes round from the surgery and she and the baby are just fine. Meanwhile Jack realises that he knows the man he’s about to operate on… it is of course John Locke.

On the Island

So we open with Jack and Locke answering the question “Why John Locke?” Smokey admits that he can only look like dead people and it seems only ones who’s bodies are on the island. That explains Jack’s Dad, Locke, Alex and Yemi, it does not explain Walt. The only explanation therefore I can give for Walt is that he can psychically project himself (even across time). This is not a stretch as the producers already admitted Walt is psychic.

Also, why Smokey is now trapped in Locke’s body is not explained as he seems to have been able to shift from one form to another previously.

Locke tells Jack that he is on their side and he wants to get them all off the island but it will only work if all the Candidates leave together.

Once Locke leaves Claire and Jack manage a little chat, the writers are very insistent that we remember that Jack and Claire are brother and sister as the point is hammered home several time during the episode. Is this because Jack will eventually have to kill Claire or is it because the Sheppard children are effectively interchangeable in the big scheme of things?

Claire thanks Jack for deciding to come with her and Locke. Jack admits he hasn’t yet made up his mind. “Yeah you have.” Claire replies. “You decided the moment you let him talk to you, just like the rest of us” Well if that’s all it takes Locke has spoken every damn person on the island, so they’re all screwed. The point about “Don’t let him talk to you” seems pretty important, although I fail to see how they plan to tie it in to anything. Anyway, the point is Jack is now with Smokey.

So Sawyer hatches a plan to get himself, Kate, Jack, Sun, Hurley and Frank off the island. Claire, Sayid and all the other extras are not invited. Also, he never mentions his best buddy Miles.

Next Zoey (Widmore’s #2) shows up and demands the return of Desmond. When Locke refuses she shows him what they will do if he doesn’t give them what they want by just missing Locke with explosive ordinance.

In response Locke sends Sawyer to get a boat which will take everyone over to Hydra Island. However Sawyer sees this an opportunity to escape. Letting Jack, Sun, Frank and Hurley know that they are making a break for it, Sawyer and Kate head for the boat. While Locke sends Sayid on a mission to kill Des.

Sayid has been promised that he will be able to see Nadia again if he does what Locke says. However Des guilt trips the assassin into doubting his master’s words. We don’t know if Sayid killed Des, but we can safely assume he didn’t.

With Locke distracted Jack makes his break, but Claire follows behind. When they arrive at the dock Claire pulls her rifle, not wishing to be abandoned again. Kate explains that they are leaving and refuses to go unless Claire comes. And so it is that the seven of them head off to Hydra Island.

Once they are out to sea Sawyer and Jack have a final set to, partly over Juliet’s death, partly over Jack not wanting to leave the island. Of course this reaction of wanting to stay makes Jack the most likely person to become Jacob’s replacement, which of course, in Lost terms, makes him the most unlikely. Anyway, Sawyer doesn’t like what he hears so he orders Jack off the boat and Jack leaves, but not before warning Sawyer that “this is a mistake, the island isn’t done with us yet”

Jack swims to shore where he is met by Smokey and Sawyer lands on the other island to be met by Zoey and plenty of guns. Sun and Jin have a touching reunion before Zoey receives the order to kill everyone. The gang are ordered onto their knees and are prepared to be shot. Of course, this never ends well for the executioners… Remember what Sawyer did to Tom? I can only assume next week will open with Sawyer and the team executing the rest of Widemore’s men…

Meanwhile, with Locke exposed on the beach, Zoey opens fire with mortars/missiles. Of course, all this does is kill the extras because Smokey can only be killed by Jacobs sword. Locke comforts Jack as they flee reminding him. “It’s ok, you’re with me now.”

The Alternaverse stuff was really just an attempt to bring everyone together, for what purpose I don't know, but I’m assuming that Desmond is a big part of it… He is certainly orchestrating part of it.  

The on-island run around was rather pointless. We know Widemore can’t execute seven of the main cast, most of whom are Candidates. We also know Smokey can only be killed with that sword and only by someone he hasn’t spoken to. The major reveals for the episode, mythology wise were that Smokey was in fact most of the “dead people” on the island. This was already pretty well known by this point (we worked it out in season 5).

All this “You’re with me now” nonsense seems a little convoluted, I’m sure it’ll all “make sense” in the end, but it seems to me that the rules only exist for it to “make sense” at the end and not for any other logical reason.

As for the title, The Last Recruit, this seems to refer to Jack going over to Locke’s side, but I couldn’t be sure that’s what it means. The next episode is called the Candidate, does this mean that someone will finally become the new Jacob? With only four episodes to go I am excited (and relieved) that the end is nigh, but it had better be damned good!

This has been My Two Cents, come back Sunday for a round up of what else has been on this week. 

Weekly Round-Up: 18/04/10

This week was a passable week in the world of television. Previously disappointing shows like V, SGU and Legend of the Seeker raised their game and gave us something better to enjoy. While the big guns Chuck and Supernatural disappointed, the former by not actually airing and the latter for just being a touch too heavy…

Anyway that’s enough from me, I will warn you there are some spoilers ahead, including a BSG final five cylons one… Sorry!

How I Met Your Mother – Zoo or False

This week’s HIMYM is very clever… joyously so. The writers very cleverly set up a story where Marshal tells two stories of a mugging. The first, vaguely scary, the second simply hilarious. As the episode develops it becomes impossible to tell which of the two stories is the truth and that is why it is so clever. Plus the King Kong ending is just genius.

It’s great to have this show back on our screens, very very funny.

Lost – Everybody Loves Hugo

A better episode from a season that has been rather lacking in good episodes. In Everybody Loves Hugo more people begin to see through the veil to their alternate lives. Hurley and Libby finally get it together in the alternaverse, but Desmond has it in for substitute teacher John Locke and runs the wheelchair bound fellow down with his car.

Why? I don’t know. If I had to take a guess its more of that universe-self-correcting nonsense we’ve seen elsewhere. Or possibly that the two Des’s have switched places…

Back on the island all the islanders, are now all hanging out with Smokey. John Locke throws Desmond down a well. Ilana manages to blow herself to pieces, then Hugo blew up the Black Rock, both using the unstable dynamite. After this Richard suggested that maybe they should just use the nice stable grenades the Others had in their stores… Jackass! Anyway, Hugo, being instructed by Michael refuses to go and instead leads everyone else, barring Miles Strum and Ben Linus to Smokey.

The major reveal this week was the truth behind the Whispers. Apparently they are the voices of the lost, those who did terrible things on the island and are incapable of moving on because of their sins. This begs the question about the people who have been allowed to leave. Eko, Ana and Charlie have all been seen by Hugo off island, yet they all murdered people on the island. So why was Michael trapped there when they weren’t?

V – John May

I would honestly not be surprised if Patrick Stewart turned up in this show next week, certainly every other actor from cult Sci-Fi Tv is here as, non other than, Battlestar Galactica’s Michael Trucco guest starred this week as the elusive John May. In fact, it seems that Trucco is playing an alien in human skin… has he done that before?

This week’s episode of V was certainly better. John May, the leader of the resistance and the beacon of hope amongst the Fifth Column turns out to be dead despite the message that’s been appearing over and over “John May Lives”. That said his son “James May”… no not the one from Top Gear… is alive and he joins the resistance. How well that will work out we’re not yet sure, now that we know resistance leader Ryan was the one who killed his father.

It’s certainly possible that John May is not dead and this is just misdirection, but with only 5 episodes to go I’d rather not have that “twist”.

Also this week Tyler discovers that his father (X-files’ Nicholas Lea) may not be his father at all. Top Reporter Chad Decker blackmails Anna and Joshua euthanizes resistance member Georgie Sutton.

Supernatural - Point of No Return

This week’s Supernatural saw a return to season 4 style mythology heavy storytelling that is somehow just less enjoyable. Adam, the Winchester Boys half-brother is returned to life by the angels and told that he is a candidate for Michael. This is a lie, used to lure Dean to Zachariah so that the Archangel can force him to say yes (although Dean was pretty much going to say yes anyway.)

Dean however uses the opportunity to knife the evil Angel, killing the annoying mother frakker once and for all… Huzzah.

FlashForward - Let No Man Put Asunder

As March 15th approaches Demetri and Zoey decide to tie the knot and flee the country. However, Dyson Frost is not about to let Dem get away and so on the morning of his wedding day the evil villain kidnaps Demetri. We also know by this point that Dyson has the gun that will kill our hero…

Also this week, Janis reveals that she is pregnant… As if Demetri’s life wasn’t complicated enough. Olivia and Lloyd kiss. (Bad, naughty Olivia!!!) and Marcie, the mole, refuses to talk based on her own personal vision of the future.

Oh… And Wedeck finances Aaron’s jaunt into Iraq and supplies him with guns and ammo… and I’m not talking about the magazine.

All in all it wasn’t a bad episode, I like the way the date was subtly brought up. I’m fairly sure Demetri is going to live through to the end of the season, but there was some good tension build up. However, except for the “There’s going to be another blackout” story, I fail to see what exactly will drive season 2. We kinda already know what caused the blackout and we know (pretty much) who was behind it. I just don’t see exactly what is left to discover should FF be renewed by the powers that be.

Stargate Universe - Faith

This was a better episode than we have had of late. Maybe it’s just that I’m currently watching Season 3 of BSG but this episode reminded me of the settlement on New Caprica. The crew of Destiny discover a man-made planet and sun, perfect for their needs. A small group spend a month there gathering supplies but when it comes time to return to Destiny some people don’t want to go back.

The beautiful (and now pregnant) TJ is one of the 11 people who want to stay behind, along with Matt and Chloe. However, Col. Young orders the military personnel to return and Destiny jumps away without us ever learning anything about the aliens that built the solar system.

The problem I have with the “We want to stay behind” storyline is that 11 people is not enough to start a society, it’s not even an even number for goodness sakes. But other than that I enjoyed the episode, plus we learnt that Col. Young is the father of TJ’s baby. All in all a better episode, keep it up guys.  

Legend of the Seeker – Vengeance

Talking of better episodes, this week’s Legend was better than previous episodes, although it still suffers from many many flaws. These were not limited to this week’s quest for an instruction manual for the Stone of Tears. This kind of story element is so pedestrian its untrue.

John Rhys Davies’ appearance as none other than Richard’s father was rather enjoyable, although his death was rather predictable as none of Richard’s relatives live past the end of an episode (with the exception of his sister, but she got the Hot Girl Invincibility Pass.). Legend is stuck in a rut and until this Stone of Tears story is over it will be impossible for them to break out of it, hopefully if the show runs to a third season they will reassess the way they deal with story telling.

That said, I did enjoy it. I’m not sure how the Sisters of the Dark turned up at the end as I was under the impression that Nicci had killed them all. The fight sequences were mostly good, although slightly ridiculous. The fight with Zed in the monastery was particularly spectacular.

So, that’s about it for this week. Tune in around midweek for a spotlight or first impressions/10 reasons post. Until then, this has been My Two Cents.

First Impressions: Better Off Ted

It’s time another first-look at a Tv Pilot, this time for the ABC comedy Better Off Ted. I only decided to check this show out after seeing it pop up in a list of shows in danger of being cancelled this season over on Sci-Fi Wire.

The core of the show is about a company called Veridian Dynamics, although it could have easily been ACME, because this really is an American Company that Makes Everything. The show opens with an advert for the company.

“Veridian Dynamics, everyday, something we make makes your life better. Power, we make that. Technology, we make that. Cows, well no, we dont make cows, but have made a sheep. And medicines and airplane engines and whatever this is and allsorts of things. Veridian Dynamics, everyday, something we make makes your life better…” *slide of a missile blowing up a bunker* “Usually”

And I really couldn’t sum up what this show is about any better than that. VD is an evil corporation that makes bombs and other nasty implements of torture, like a chair that increases productivity by being incredibly uncomfortable or creating deadly pumpkins because an newly conquered enemy has lots of pumpkins and you want to find a use for them.

But that alone, while funny, would not be enough to justify this show’s existence, enter the cast. The characters in the show are all lovely, even the R&D boss, Ted, who is in charge of creating all these products, because he has a conscience… his daughter.

The only truly evil character in the show is Veronica Palmer, the big boss lady, played by Portia de Rossi, who is probably better known as Lindsay in Arrested Development. It would be a lie to say that the roles she has played are completely different, so I wont, but that is probably why she works so well as the Ice-Queen-Bitch-of-a-Boss.

The title role of Ted is taken by Jay Harrington, the actor who played Steve in the US version of Coupling (Jack Davenport was a much better choice :P). As I said, Ted is driven by two masters, “Them” referring to upper management and his daughter Rose. The first is the evil devil sitting on one shoulder, the second is the argumentative and judgemental angel that sits opposite. Ted must walk the line between keeping them happy, while staying true to what he knows to be right.

The rest of the cast includes another familiar face, Andrea Anders who played Alex in Joey. This time she plays Linda, a potential love interest for Ted. She is beautiful and intelligent and (at the moment) understated unlike her increasing shrill and over the top character in that Friends Spin-Off. (That might have been a bit harsh… sorry Andrea.)

Finally Jonathon Slavin and Malcolm Barrett round out the cast as the two main scientists. They are a brilliant pairing. Slavin, who plays Phil, is the test subject for a flash freezing experiment in the pilot and the way he handles being selected for this task is superb.

All in all this show is a series of outrageous jokes and ideas that pile on top of one another to become funnier and funnier as the episode plays out. It’s not deep but it is possibly moralistic (it’s hard to take the show seriously enough to absorb the moral lessons though) but it is funny and that is what matters in a comedy.

I enjoyed the creative decision to not include a laugh track, in a strange way it adds more integrity to the show because it feels like it is being played straight instead of for laughs and that has to be its charm. While Ted’s continual habit of talking straight to camera gives the show a documentary feel. If anything bad is to be said about the pilot, it would be how abruptly it ended. Also with the nature of the show, the laughs come from shock and surprise so I don’t know how well they would hold up to repeat views. 

All in all I think this is great idea for a show and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the next episode.

This has been My Two Cents… Come back on Sunday for another round up of the week’s Tv.

Weekly Round-Up: 11/04/10

I’m a bit behind this week as a visit from a childhood friend kept me from my Tv set. This means that I will update this post later in the week as I watch the missing shows.

Good week? Yes indeedy. Chuck takes on Superman in a duel to the death, Desmond returns to the island in Lost and the Winchester Boys go head to head with the Whore of Babylon in Supernatural!

Chuck - vs. The Other Guy

This week’s episode follows directly on from the end of last weeks as Chuck, with the help of John Casey attempts to rescue Sarah from Shaw. However, Shaw wasn’t planning to kill Sarah, in fact he was preparing her for a mission where they could take out the Ring and capture the Cypher (the brain of the Ring’s new intersect computer.)

At this point I sighed, another episode of Chuck where the cliffhanger from the previous episode is resolved without drastic consequences… Boy did I sigh too soon. It seems that Agent Shaw has switched sides, now working against the CIA who had Sarah murder his wife, he hands over the intersect data and is about to murder Sarah… And he would have gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for that pesky Chuck.

While Chuck and Shaw have their final showdown Casey mops up the rest of the Ring capturing the Ring Director (Mark Sheppard) and handing him over to Beckman in exchange for being reinstated, with a new Crown Victoria (lol) and in exchange for making Morgan an agent! (So cool)

In a very James Bond-esque ending Sarah and Chuck finally end up together and when Beckman (i.e. M) calls to give Chuck (i.e. Bond) a new mission he simply ignores her… Very nice reference guys. However as Chuck and Sarah get freaky we are reminded, as the camera pans down the bed, that Chuck is still Chuck, because despite being a superspy, with his super hot girl, he’s still wearing his ‘Chuck’ sneakers! Nice Touch!

Lost – Happily Ever After

This episode focused almost completely on alternate Desmond. Charles Widemore blasts island Desmond with lots of EM energy and then we are treated to a lot of Other Desmond stuff. In the flash sideways Des is Widemore’s right hand man. Also Charles is married to Eloise and not whoever Penny’s mother is. Eloise still seems to have some strange power to know the past, present and future and can possibly even see into the alternaverse.

Charlie Pace also feature’s prominently in the episode, revealing to Desmond how to ‘pierce the veil’ and see into the alternate universe (i.e. one where he is happy with Penny and his Son).  

After the experiment on the island Widemore releases Desmond, who has now changed from the angry Scotsman he was into a compliant young man, much like the Des in the flash sideways. Have the two switched, possibly even become a single entity? I honestly have no idea.

The episode was an interesting exploration of what Desmond could have been had things been different, but it also suffered, like much of this season, from being quite convoluted in order to retain the air of mystery that Lost prides itself on. Certainly Daniel Faraday’s theoretical conversation that he has with Desmond about the fact that he believes he set off a nuclear bomb seems, not only far fetched that he would be that specific, but ridiculous.

Anyway, not long to go now… it can’t get too much more bizarre can it?

V – Pound of Flesh

Another two cult favourites popped up in this week’s, slightly more interesting, episode of V in the form of Samantha Ferris (Supernatural’s Ellen) and Nicholas Lea (the X-Files’ Alex Krycek). The episode revolved around the Fifth Column, an organisation of Visitors, living on earth and ready to fight Anna. However, there is no way to simultaneously cause them all to rise up, so Ryan (eventually) volunteers to go aboard the V ship and broadcast a message to start the revolution.

Of course, while he’s there he steals a chemical compound to help his pregnant wife carry his child to term. Unfortunately, after sending his message Ryan is about to be captured by the V’s until Georgie sacrifices himself to let Ryan escape.

Halfway there and still no major action… but with Anna building an invasion force things have to start heating up for the last six episodes of this “long anticipated” miniseries.  

Supernatural – 99 Problems

And the bitch is one! This week’s episode introduced yet another character from the Christian myths, the Whore of Babylon. However, regardless of how much fun the core of the episode was, it was not the most important thing to happen… oh no…

After Dean finished off the foul creature (that could only be killed by a servant of heaven) he took off in the Impala and went to see Lisa, the hot girl with a son he thought might be his, to tell her that if he wasn’t a hunter he would have married her… And you know what (assuming I hadn’t met Jo first) I would marry her too! But the reason he drops this bombshell on Lisa? Because he is about to go and say yes to Michael, with the condition that Lisa and her son Ben are protected.

The title of next week’s episode “Point of No Return” certainly suggests that Dean will go through with his plan but we’ll have to wait and see…

FlashForward – Queen Sacrifice

This week FlashForward turns into 24 as moles are abound in the FBI office… That’s right I said “moles” plural. It seems that the Three Star gang are watching Mark Benford very closely and they are using one of his closest allies to do so. My problem here is that Janis has been FAR TOO HELPFUL to be a mole. She discovered the man in the stadium, the crow death in Somalia… if she is working against Benford she isn’t doing a very good job.

Of course, the intent might not be to burn the investigation, but to help it along for another insidious purpose. However with both Janis and Simon working against them the Mosaic task force seems pretty well screwed.

Also this week Bryce finally admits he has feelings for Nicole, while the love of his life, Keiko, lands herself a job in a chop shop, only to be arrested by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) the following day. This was an endearing segment of the FlashForward story that hints at the future being malleable.

All in all this episode was ok. In some aspects it was ridiculous (not as bad as Lost though) but it was also cute and interesting. I’m interested to see where Janis’ character will be taken now that she is revealed as a mole, in fact, that’s more interesting than the series tagline “There will be another Blackout” Anyway, I guess we’ll have to wait til next week for answers.

Clone Wars – The Zillo Beast & The Zillo Beast Strikes Back

In the first of these two episodes the Jedi are on the homeworld of the Dugs (the same race as Sebula the podracer from episode one) seeking a treaty to secure a fuel supply. To win the Dugs over the Jedi must destroy a massive droid army using a new EMP type bomb. The bomb however created a sink hole which releases the Zillo beast, a creature that looks not unlike Groudon (the big red pokemon from the Ruby edition of that game and yes I had to use wikipedia to find out the name!). The Dugs insist on killing the creature, while Mace Windu is intent on keeping it alive.

To that end the Jedi work together to bring it down, but alive, getting the Dugs to sign the treaty and transporting the beast off world… to Coruscant no less… Is it just me or can you say “Godzilla”?

So, predictably, the Zillo beast got loose and set about destroying downtown as it searched for the man that had sentenced it to death, Senator Palpatine. This second episode, due to it’s predictable nature, was a lot less satisfying. The end however was unexpected as Senator Palpatine ordered the doctor in charge of the project to attempt to clone the Zillo beast… presumably for an episode entitled “Return of the Zillo Beast” Although an unexpected twist I can’t say it’s a particularly thrilling one.

Stargate Universe – Divided

Well, this week saw the return of the nameless aliens that are plaguing Destiny. Apparently they want the ship for themselves (although they seem to plan on getting it by blowing it up… huh?) and to that end they implanted a tracking device in Rush so they can follow her through FTL.

To keep Col. Young from flushing him out the airlock Rush takes over the ship, or at least he tries to. However when his plan endangers Young and Scott he stops, surely it would have made more sense to sacrifice them but never mind.

This week was better than last, but not a whole lot, that’s why it took me so long to get round to watching it. Bring back Caprica… that’s what I say.

Legend of the Seeker –Desecrated

This week’s Legend of the Seeker was yet another one off story. There wasn’t even a mention of the Keeper or the Stone of Tears. This whole season-long story arc has been really rather disappointing. At least when Richard was after Darken Rahl in season one, it felt like he was getting somewhere, but this season the “compass” has just led Richard, Kahlan and Zed on a wild goose chase of unconnected and relatively unexciting errands.

Next week’s episode promises to be somewhat more interesting as John Rhys Davies, the professor from Sliders, or, as some know him, Gimli from The Lord of the Rings, joins the cast. In these final few episodes I’m hoping for some real story telling, some real action and some real consequences, although I’m not holding my breath.

Coming Soon

I’m pretty sure that a new episode of How I Met Your Mother will air on Monday with more from all of our favourites here at Two Cents. Also I’m not sure what this week’s spotlight might be on but we’ll see later. Until next week, this has been My Two Cents…

Spotlight: Supernatural – The Dark Side of the Moon

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Weekly Round-Up: 04/04/10

No How I Met Your Mother or Caprica this week, but other than  that we’ve got plenty to talk about. Sun and Jin finally get a flash sideways in this week’s Lost, Chuck goes solo to rescue superman from Badger’s sinister clutches and Sam and Dean Winchester die… again!

That’s all coming up and more in this week’s Round-Up, if you don’t want to know the score… look away now!

Chuck – vs. the American Hero

This episode certainly had the feel of a season finale, possibly even a two part finale, that’s how good it was. And Mark Sheppard managed to sneak his way into Chuck as the leader of the Ring. He certainly gets around that boy!

So Chuck gets the news that he is about to jet off to Rome and that he can pick his own Team (so Morgan and Casey are suddenly his best friends.) However Chuck wont go without Sarah and Sarah wont go with Chuck because she believes he’s now a killer. However Elle wont go to Africa with Devon unless Chuck goes to Rome so Morgan, Devon and Casey team up to help him get back together with Sarah.

And hilarity ensues.

However that’s not all. Shaw gets himself captured hoping to be able to take down the Ring (believing they murdered his wife) however once inside their compound a holographic image of Mark Sheppard (a.k.a Badger!) informs him that, in fact, the CIA is responsible, in particular one Agent Walker!

So Chuck busts into the compound rescues Shaw and after all that Shaw intends to kill the woman Chuck loves!

Will Shaw get his evil way? Will Mark Sheppard survive past the end of the season and become a regular or will he be needed to play some shadowy government type guy on Warehouse 13? Will Chuck, Morgan and Casey go to Rome? Will Devon and Elle go to Africa? Where the hell will this show end up? ARRRRRRGH!

Loving new Chuck! Aces!

Lost – The Package

This week’s episode was certainly better than last weeks as we explore the Flash Sideways version of Sun and Jin. We learn why Keamy had Jin tied up in the cupboard in “Sundown” apparently Jin was deflowering Mr. Paik’s daughter (in the Flash Sideways Sun and Jin are lovers but they are not married) and Keamy had been paid to kill Jin.

We also saw a return for the Russian Mikhail, who promptly had his eye shot out by Jin.

In island time Jin is captured by Widmore and shown “The Package”, when Jin asks “What is the package?” Widmore replies, “Not what, who.” and at that point we know that The Package will turn out to be everyone’s favourite Scotsman, Desmond.

Back on the main Island Smokey is making plans, he sends Sayid on a recon mission and he has a chat with Claire which leads to the revelation that Kate is “no longer” a candidate. Hmmmm… What did she do to get scrubbed off the wall? Did Kate die at some point and I didn’t notice? Certainly this is one of the more intriguing statements Smokey has ever made.

The episode closes out with Sayid surfacing by the pier as Desmond is dragged from the Sub, which I guess means Smokey now knows that Des is on the island, which I guess will probably be important… At this point… who knows?!

V

V is a smorgasbord of stars that I like. Morena Baccarin from Firefly, Scott Wolf and Lourdes Benedicto from The Nine, Erica Evens from Lost, Joel Gretsch from Taken and this week even managed to squeeze in the beautiful Lexa Doig from Andromeda and yet… and YET… I still don’t find the show interesting. Sure it’s building to something but man its doing it slowly. This week’s episode was yet another long list of reasons not to trust the Visitors… We get it already… Aliens bad… Can we please start blowing them up now?

FlashForward

Well, after knocking the show last week I’m back on board. This week’s episode revolves around Demetri and Janis as they team up with Agent Vogel (the new head of the Mosaic task force) and head into Somalia with Simon to investigate the last remaining tower.

While Vogel ends any chance of peace in Somali, Olivia cross examines her daughter to discover what she really saw in her flash forward, and the horrifying truth is she over heard Vogel saying “Mark Benford is dead!”

Also back home there are touching little scenes between Nicole and Bryce as she reveals her intention to become a doctor. The way their relationship is developing seems to be edging out the Japanese girl from Bryce’s flash forward but we’ll see.

However the real action is in Africa as a confused Warlord, Abdi,  captures the team and executes all the extras. After Janis uses the Mosaic website to convince Abdi, that he is not a Warlord but an angel of peace he leads them to the Tower where Vogel discovers a mass grave (the 1991 test subjects) and a video tape by D. Gibbons with a message for Demetri… of all people! Abdi gets upset at the sight of the skeletal remains of his mother and threatens to shoot Simon, so Vogel intervenes, killing Abdi in the process.

However, it is the message that is most intriguing. Clearly D. Gibbons must have the ability to see the future without the need for a complete Blackout. We know this from his trap at the warehouse that nearly killed Mark and Dem and this video message confirms that. I’m certainly interested to know what the hell is going on.

Oh and Demetri and Janis GET IT ON! Go on my son!

A neat little action packed episode… Keep it ABC!

Supernatural – Dark Side of the Moon

I really hope to find time to talk about this is in a spotlight later this week but I just knew that this was going to be a good episode, right from the recap. We hear Bobby Singer’s voice ask the question “how many times have you two died, anyway?” And then we are treated to an awesome montage on Sam and Dean dying, over and over!

This was a fun episode and in it’s own way a mythology episode, but mainly it was an exploration of Heaven! Now that’s kinda cool! Even better was the return of Ash… But no sign of Jo and Ellen. With them being dead I’d hoped we’d get one last glimpse of them, but…  Ash didn’t know that they had died… and Ash knows all so…. maybe they didn’t… Please!

Anyway I hope to talk about this more later this week, so let’s move on.

Clone Wars – Bounty Hunters

Another fun episode that introduced new characters, this time in the form of bounty hunters. I really quite liked this episode, certainly the plot was less than secondary to the action. The animation though was fantastic and with another six or so main characters and a whole new planet this show must cost a fortune to produce.

I’m looking forward now to a concluding couple of episode with actual plot, rather than one off inconsequential stories, but it’s definitely getting better.

Stargate Universe – Space

Other than being a convoluted way to “fix” the end of the last episode, Space was not much of an episode at all. The episode prior to the hiatus left us with questions about just how Dr. Rush would meet up with Destiny again.

Well… It seems that he will be basically handed over by a bunch of aliens which we discover nothing about and that disappear without a trace when it was convenient for them to do so. SGU started out so well, but the last series of episodes have been one let down after another and this episode was no different.

Sure we learn a that Rush is leading a group of mutinous scientists and intends to take over Destiny, but is that really a revelation? And can it really go anywhere? Ok Rush takes over, locks all the military types up, nasty aliens attack and Rush relents and decides col. Young should be in charge again.

I just think the format is tired and the stories aren’t as interesting as they should be. I’m usually a big SyFy channel Fanboy but this one is just falling apart on me.

Coming Soon…

I don’t think there is anything to report now, all the shows I’ve been looking forward to are either already here or wont be returning til the summer. Next week we can look forward to more of the same. Look out for a Supernatural Spotlight plus a Caprica one if I get the chance.

Until then, this has been My Two Cents.

First Impressions: The Nine

With the impending holidays I’ve not had chance this week to spotlight Caprica, however I do intend to do so early next week. Also this week’s Round Up may be a little later than usual (Monday probably) but it will go up. However until then, enjoy my ramblings on the pilot episode of the short lived ABC drama “The Nine”.

The Nine is a show I’ve been trying to watch for two years, ever since I discovered the Anthony Cooper comedy Kitchen Confidential. Why? Owain Yeoman. However, it’s early cancellation makes it particularly difficult to track down.

The Nine is one of those shows that works really well in a pitch to Tv Execs, but it doesn’t translate well to the screen. The core concept is that a Bank Robbery takes place, we see fifteen minutes prior to the robbery where each of the “Nine” characters are set up and then we flash to 52 hours later, as the robbery comes to a close and everything we thought we knew seems to have changed. Each subsequent episode, as I understand it, will show us 10-15 minutes of the Robbery before flashing forwards to the present and as the series progresses we will slowly understand what happened in the bank and how it has affected the lives of the Nine characters.

When it started I really liked the show. That first section setting up the characters is done really well. Everyone’s states of mind are very clearly depicted. Even if you knew nothing about the show going in, you would know within a minute or so that it was going to focus on a bank robbery. You would also know exactly what kinds of characters you were dealing with…

There is Eva Rios (played by Lourdes Benedicto, 24) she plays the girl next door, beautiful, intelligent, shy but in a sexy way and she is interested in the renegade cop Nick Cavanaugh (Tim Daly). Nick, although an excellent cop, has found himself being constantly overlooked simply because he doesn’t do what is expected of him. Eva also has a flirty (younger) sister Franny (Camille Guaty) who we expect will be a bit of a trouble causer.

On the other side of the bank we have the down to earth, family orientated Bank Manager Malcolm Jones (Chi McBride) and his daughter Naomi (Kim Staunton). We have the suicidal Egan Foote who comes across as your stereotypical trainspotter played by John Billingsley.

Lawyer Kathryn Hale (Kim Raver, 24) is a no-nonsense go getter, with an aging mother who is frankly getting to be a bit of handful. There is the young couple in love Lizzie and Jeremy (Jessica Collins & Scott Wolfe) and finally the two bad guys. The hardened criminal Randall Reese (Jeffery Pierce) and the cautious, unintentional burglar Lucas Dalton played by Owain Yeoman.

Now that information is delivered very quickly, faster even than it took me to write it all out for you. The relationships are built up and we feel we know these characters (or at least the character types) long before Randall knocks out the security guard.

However… What follows is a crazy mixed up mess. The problem with “The Nine” is that the Bank Robbery is the hook. We want to know why Lucas is no longer armed, how Eva got shot, what Jeremy did to cause Lizzie to break up with him. Therefore the Robbery is the most interesting part 0f the story. But it is also only a third of the episode. That means that the aftermath has to be as exciting, but the aftermath is based on what happened in the bank.

This leads to a lot of “You remember that thing that happened that we’re not talking about but was really important?”  “Yeah?” “Well now it has significant relevancy and I wish I could explain myself but to keep up the air of mystery I’ve been sworn to secrecy.” You get the picture. For the last half an hour of the pilot stuff was happening that made no sense, there were no prolonged scenes, everything was in bits. It was difficult to follow and I watch LOST.

The second major problem with the format is to do with just how relevant can the Bank Robbery be? After a while it will become secondary to the aftermath anyway… assuming that they didn’t find a hatch buried in the bank somewhere with a button you have to push every 108 minutes anyway.

Overall I really enjoyed the start and I’m interested to find out what happened in the bank but I can completely understand why the show failed to capture an audience. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the format is “that” clever, but from just watching the pilot I’m afraid I just don't see it.

This has been My Let Down Two Cents… until next time.