Due to a lack of good Tv this week and an insane 80+ hours of real world work, this space has been a little quiet. However, tomorrow is December, which means we’re that little bit closer to Christmas and the deadly silent period where nothing appears to be on at all.
However, it also means we’re less than a week away from Dollhouse Doubles! A series of articles I’m really looking forward too. And… As is that wasn’t enough, tomorrow sees the start of new Scrubs!
I have criticised V no end since it began, but this weeks episode certainly trumps the others, but it wasn’t that hard to do. This week’s episode “It’s Only the Beginning” concludes the first four episode “Pod” and leaves us “wanting more” (more descent Tv!)
It seems then that the first four episodes, which I guess were supposed to tell a story, ended up telling us that the V’s are bad and more are on the way and that if the Human’s are to survive they must stop being predictable and beat the V’s at their own game.
Ok… Did we need 4 episodes to tell us that? Even from the trailer we knew more V’s were coming and lets be honest, we know the formula for an alien invasion show, this weeks ending was no big surprise.
Certainly the Joshua, the Fifth Column and John May are all more interesting to me than a, admittedly nice, CG camera pull out across the milky way. Also, what are Anna’s plans for Tyler and what does “He is the One” really mean? I know V is not scheduled to run for very long, but they could at least put a little more mystery in to keep us interested, to make us speculate on plot twists.
Oh well, I hope the next “pod” delivers at least more action, if not better scripts, acting and intrigue. Until 2010, this is goodbye for V.
Top Gear returned to our screen a couple of weeks ago and this week will see episode 3.
So far the boys have driven across Romania in search of a legendary road built up in the mountains, in a visually beautiful Grand Tour, filled with laughs and fast cars.
Last week they set out to design and build a better electric car for less than you can buy a G-Whizz and as always with Top Gear, they were ambitious but rubbish… but maybe not as rubbish as the G-Whizz.
This week however sees the return of that staple of Top Gear comedy, the caravan. Is there really enough laughs left in caravanning to supply yet another episode of the best comedy to come out of the BBC in years? The answer, probably!
So make sure you tune in this week for the best of British humour!
…Posts Old!
Even in the short time that Two Cents has been alive we’ve seen some miraculous events.
We’ve witnessed the birth of Dollhouse, Fringe, Rescue Special Ops, Stargate: Universe, Caprica and Flash Forward. Together we witnessed the miracle renewal of both Dollhouse and Chuck and we were there to witness that spectacle-of-Tv-that-never-was Epitaph One.
But we’ve also had some hard times too. Since Two Cents has arrived on the internet The Unit, Reaper and Dollhouse have all come to an unfortunate end. I’m pretty sure that it’s not my fault though…
As we head into the next 100 posts we have even more excitement to look forward too. The last ever series of Lost, the return of everyone’s favourite spy Chuck, the finale of Supernatural, Bill Adama’s return in Caprica and lots more.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a time and I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading this space just as much as I have enjoyed filling it.
This has been My Two Dollars… Until next time…
This weeks episode of Heroes “Thanksgiving” had some good moments and some corny-as-hell moments too. The focus was very family orientated. Noah and Claire, Samuel and the Circus and Peter and Nathan all had equal air time.
Claire and Noah did little more than fill time. While entertaining enough there was little that was ground breaking. The fact that Noah and Sandra seem to take Claire’s newfound bisexuality in stride speaks volumes about how accepting they have become.
Peter and Nathan confront Angela about the dead body in her lockup. Over dinner she confesses all. We have never seen Angela in such a weak moment before, but the way she tries to justify her actions says so much about how she looks at the world. She tells Nathan (Sylar) that he has his own memories and he looks like he always did and that is what matters. However, it seems that that is not true as Sylar takes over and holds Peter and Angela hostage.
Sylar’s “take over” moment is very pantomime. I’m really enjoying Nathan’s troubled “who am I” personality, but I hate Sylar (I always have) and I don’t doubt that I am in the majority in saying we’d rather have Adrian Pasdar than Zachary Quinto and if someone has to go it has to be Sylar.
However what was really interesting this week was the discovery that we have a new supervillain in Samuel Sullivan. Before this point he has always been ambiguously good in a self serving way. Now, however, we know that he killed his own brother in his pursuit for power and having gone that far, it seems unlikely that he will turn back. However Samuel is not truly evil, he’s inquisitive, he wants to explore his power to it’s fullest extent, unfortunately he doesn’t really care who he might hurt in his pursuit of this goal… And of course that means somebody is going to have to stop him!
I still have high hopes for this season but it has had some terrible moments. I know its not nice to show favouritism but please, get rid of Quinto and give us some new villains. Hopefully next week Heroes will really step up its game and start to bring all the storylines together and deliver some really fantastic action in the run up to the close of season 4.
Well, after having too much to say last week for a Nibble, this weeks Flash Forward seems a little on the empty side. Sure there is plenty of story, that is, if you are tuning in to see if Bryce 
manages to find the love of his life.
But if what you are really interested in is, in fact, the blackout and those responsible then you will find this week’s episode severely lacking. Demetri and Mark decide to disobey orders and head off to Hong Kong (something we’ll pick up next week). Under the stress of having his daughter back in his life Aaron falls out with Mark. No sign of Simon or Lloyd or the Three Star gang.
Really very little happens at all. We learn that Bryce has cancer, but the blackout changed his life and made him feel he had something to live for. That something is a girl in Japan. He learns Japanese and heads off for orient but when he is unable to find the girl he returns home, downtrodden. However, as it turns out he 
has misread his flash forward and they are destined to meet in a Japanese restaurant in LA.
Hopefully next week will reveal a more interesting plot thread as Mark and Demetri set out in search for the woman that told Demetri when he would die!
A couple of weeks ago I talked about The Clone Wars and what a fantastic set piece they delivered us. Unfortunately the follow up 
episode was lacking something.
This weeks episode “Brain Invaders” was set after the destruction of the weapons factory on Geonosis. The bugs have been driven into submission but still Poggle the Lesser evades capture. Jedi Master Luminara tracks Poggle to the temple, below which dwells the Geonosian Queen.
Her great bloated body is spitting out eggs to bolster the failing ranks of the bugs, while a strange worm keeps the dead enslaved to the hive mind, creating a series of zombie warriors.
This episode felt a little odd within the mythology of the show, I’ve certainly never heard of anything similar to Zombies in the Star Wars mythology but that didn’t really detract from the episode. It certainly wasn’t the best episode but it was fun and by the end Obi-Wan and Anakin had rescued Luminara and Poggle the Lesser was in handcuffs.
Although, how long he’ll remain that way…?
I wonder about the future of the show… I know it’s the Clone Wars, I just wonder if they could take it up to Episode III and then 
beyond into the Rebellion years, after the formation of the Empire. I would really love to see a Clone Wars take on Revenge of the Sith, they could easily spread it over half a season or so and really explore it in depth… Oh and obviously, make it ten times better!
Ok, so I just finished watching this week’s episode of SGU “Life” and I’m pretty confused as to the point of it.
Firstly it did nothing to address last week’s episode. Are we to assume that everything worked out ok and that the water is no loner contaminated? Or has the Destiny not yet arrived at the 
planet of the chest-burrowing aliens?
The core part of this episode focused on Dr. Rush finding a chair the Ancients used to transfer data from one mind to another. Rush believes that he can use the chair to find the master override code and take control of the ship. However Col. Young refuses to let Rush experiment on any of the crew after a similar device discovered by SG-1 nearly killed the, then, Col. O’Neill.
Rush then invents some data that leads the crew to believe they would be able to go home, if Rush could use the chair. Young 
doesn’t believe him and Eli discovers the lie. Which all seems rather pointless.
Also Lt. Scott discovers he has a son. Col. Young thinks Col. Telford is sleeping with his wife and the ship’s bicycle Chloe sleeps with the ship’s nutjob Greer.
All in all this episode felt pointless, it resolved nothing from the week before and gave us very little in the way of a story either. A very disappointing episode.
I hate to say I told you so… but… This week’s episode of Supernatural “Abandon All Hope” ended exactly how I predicted 
last week, well… pretty much.
Like the last two episodes, this too was awesome, really old school feel to it. I was ecstatic to see Alona Tal was back (possibly the most beautiful girl on the planet?) along with Samantha Ferris as Ellen and Supernatural newcomer Mark Sheppard (Firefly, BSG and Dollhouse). However I did spend the last twenty minutes of the episode regretting Alona’s appearance, rocking back and forward in my chair and muttering “You can’t kill Jo…”
And of course, as we already knew, it was all in vain! The colt cannot kill Lucifer. This wasn’t a surprise considering that this was only episode 10. However, it did annoy me slightly that Sam and Dean didn’t realise the colt would do no good. Firstly it was rebuilt by Ruby, using whatever process she used to create her knife. At the start of season 4 Dean rammed Ruby’s knife, up to the hilt, into Castiel and he didn’t even flinch, so the brothers should have known what would happen…
I know they “had to try” but why did they have to drag Jo and Ellen into their fools errand. Come to that, why did Jo have to save Dean… She could have just let the hellhounds eat him! I honestly don’t know if I can cope with the loss of Dollhouse and 
Alona Tal all in the same month, it’s all just too cruel!
So where do we go from here? The only viable option seems to be that Sam and Dean accept their roles as vessels for Michael and Lucifer and fight to the death… Answers will be coming soon, only on the CW!
So, it’s officially the most boring show on the planet. Absolutely nothing happened last week and even less happened this week. I’ll give it one last try but I’m really not hoping for much. So, instead of talking about V, I’m going to talk about a middle aged man 
Bored from the lack of interesting things happening on ABC, I turned on the BBC instead and watched James May’s Toy Stories. I’ve always known that James May makes possibly the most interesting documentaries on the BBC, but despite that I never intentionally watch them, I just sort of turn the TV on and get hooked.
So, James has made it his own personal mission to prove that old fashioned toys are just as exciting as new fangled video games. This week, scalextrics. Now I had my own set as a child but it was a never-ending headache. When the car wasn’t coming off the track, the engine was exploding! My car spent more time in the shop being fixed than it did on the track being raced. So I wasn’t 
He combined his love of scalextrics with his love of motorsport, rebuilding the historic Brooklands race course. Of course, now it is a housing estate, a river and a business park! Watching as James and his team worked out amazing solutions to cross a multitude of weird obstacles, including a 14ft high fence, a staircase, a storm drain, a dual carriage way and of course a river was almost as interesting as doing it yourself and, of course, a hell of a lot less expensive!
Check it out now on BBC iPlayer…
Heroes just keeps on getting better and better and this week’s episode is no exception. Knowing that Kring intends to kill one of 
our beloved Heroes leaves us speculating as to who.
This week focuses mainly on Mohinder, who finally rejoins the cast, and on the events that led to his death 8 weeks before. It seems that Samuel was one of the original test subjects in Coyote Sands, along with Angela Petrelli and a few others. Mohinder has discovered a film explaining how dangerous Samuel can become, should he gather enough “specials” to him. It was Hiro’s mission to retrieve this film from the past and deliver it to Samuel so that he could learn the truth about his power.
Of course Hiro being Hiro, he had to save Mohinder too. Also, as I predicted last week, Peter saved Matt. This takes Matt and Mohinder off the endangered list, but we can now add Tracy Strauss to the list as she begins to lose control of her ability. Sylar too is a distinct candidate for the chop, after Matt was healed Sylar managed to jump back into his own body, although it seems that Nathan remained in control.
With a little help from the Haitian Nathan and Peter learnt the truth about Nathan’s death and Sylar’s banishment and now Nathan has to face the truth. This new Nathan is somewhat better than the previous incarnations we seen, it’ll be a shame to see him 
go if Kring decides that it is Nathan who is to be axed.
This really was a very good episode and considering it was about Samuel Sullivan, the writers managed to do a good job of still telling us very little about him at all… I only hope the wait will be worth it. Can’t wait for the next episode to find out more!
I don’t think I would be tempted to say that this week’s episode of Flash Forward was the best episode yet, but it is the one I have the most to say about. This is a no holds barred, spoiler filled 
post, so make sure you’re up to date before continuing on, you have been warned…
The episode opens with a music driven montage that focuses on the after effects of Al Gough’s suicide at the end of last week’s episode. I find it difficult to believe that Al is the only person to have had a Flash Forward and not lived to see it come true, but I guess, for storytelling purposes it was a convenient coincidence.
The musical montage finishes with Lloyd deliberating over whether or not to send an email. The message simply reads:
We have to take responsibility
///ssw-fileserver1/datassw/documents83479.pdf
Don’t bother clicking that link though, it doesn’t lead anywhere, which is a shame. Other shows have used this idea to provide spoilers for innovative fans, for example WB used bustyasianbeauties.com as the homepage for Supernatural.
I also noted down the list of recipients of Lloyd’s email.
Four people, I think I recall Simon mentioning that there were six people involved, so Lloyd, Simon, Gordon, Elizabeth, Gabe and Phillipe. Also a quick google result on NLAP throws up the National Laboratory Audit Program. (relevant?) What I do find interesting is that all the email addresses end in US, while the two 
members of the team (who are responsible for the blackout) that we’ve met are both British.
Within a couple of hours Simon turns up at the hospital to reprimand Lloyd for his stupidity in suggesting that the group confess. I also think Simon is possibly hurt that Lloyd didn’t bother to CC him in. Simon calls the email a suicide note and suggests that the cause of the blackout is not yet clear.
Lloyd persists. “Our experiment killed 20 million people”, don’t get me wrong here, that’s a lot of people, but it seems like a low, world-wide figure, that’s not even a third of the population of Britain. A website, FlightAware.com claims the number of planes right now (around midday US time) just over the US to be nearly 5000! With over 400 people able to be seated in a 747 that’s a potential 2 million casualties, just from aircraft over the US. So a figure of 20 million dead seems like the world was 
saved by a miracle rather than effected by a disaster.
Lloyd demands that they go public and tell the world they caused the blackout, Simon, however, is much less than receptive that idea. “I’m going public, with or without Myhill’s co-operation, or yours.” Is Gordon Myhill the leader of the project? “Good luck getting anyone to believe you without.” Simon replies.
Sorry to burst your bubble Simon, but in these instances people are looking for someone to blame, if someone is kind enough to stick their head on the chopping block, the populous at large is generally more than willing to wield the axe. So, Simon presents a counter proposal, that he and Lloyd play Texas Hold ‘Em, if Simon wins Lloyd has to be a good little dog and lie down, if Lloyd 
wins, they go public and hang themselves with the truth.
In a series of vaguely tense hands Lloyd reduces his chip pile to $15,000. Simon offers him the chance of a “winner takes all” hand, a dumb-ass move and Lloyd uses the slight of hand tricks he’s been practising with his son Dylan to beat the cocky Mancunian.
“How did you beat me?” Simon whines. “There are some things even I wont leave to chance.” Lloyd replies, walking away smugly. Hmmmmm… So that’s it then, everyone will just come clean? I don't think so! I do however think Lloyd should watch his back.
Meanwhile, else where in Flash Forward…
Janis returns to work. Olivia destroys the underwear she is wearing in her Flash Forward and Demetri and Mark “accidentally” kill the man with the three star tattoo on his arm. Except, as was pretty much predictable, the three stars is a 
gang/military tattoo and Mark and Dem have not, as they believe, altered their future.
The closing moments of the episode take us inside the 3 star camp, where we meet Ricky Jay’s character, a, so far, unnamed villain, who takes delivery of 6 silver rings set with a black stone. He comments, “There are supposed to be seven” before, inexplicably, shooting the man delivering them. The seventh ring, we can assume, is on the finger of the man in the stadium who was awake during the blackout, who Janis is trying to ID through the ring he is wearing. What significance these rings have I’m unsure. However the addition of the 3 star gang and Ricky’s character, makes me think we’re dealing with an conspiracy of X-files proportions!
Al Gough’s death has had a profound impact on the direction of the show this week. Before, although characters wanted to believe they could change their future, they were finding themselves powerless to do so. Now, however they seem to be going out of their way to make changes and yet the impact of their actions 
seems to be of little consequence.
As it stands, I’m not sure if I like this or not. Before the show had a clear direction, nothing can change but the story was about how we get from A to B, now however B could no loner exist and that seems to break down the point of the show…
… Well, that’s My Two Cents anyway. Until next time…
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
Ok, so Part 8 of the Epitaph One Flashbacks series is a biggie! This one is clearly set in the Dollhouse, post wireless, possibly years in the future. Both Topher and DeWitt have joined up with the 
Actuals by this point. There are no signs of Boyd, Echo or Ballard.
Whiskey is there, still imprinted with the personality of Dr. Saunders, however now her face is no longer scarred, which seems odd… when did she find the time in the middle of an apocalypse to get some cosmetic surgery done?
Anyway, she is now the primary carer for Topher, who has gone insane with guilt. He is currently living in one of the Doll Pods and scribbling on the walls in chalk.
Topher proposes a theory, a somewhat rambling, slightly deranged theory, but a sound theory in the mythology of the Dollhouse. He suggests that a government could use the wireless technology to imprint an entire city using the phone network. Those that answer the phone would be imprinted with a single 
order, kill anyone who isn’t imprinted to do so.
“Then the war has two sides.” Topher explains, “Those that answered the phone and those that didn’t” then he immediately demands that Adelle not answer the phone. However I wonder if he is fixating on something that has already happened. I wonder if somebody already used his idea to start a war. Also Topher’s words suggest that the war only has one side.
“That’s all it would take, then we win, then we win boom!” he rambles, suggesting that he and Adelle have finally allied themselves with “The Good Guys”. “So which is worse, pick up the phone or don’t pick up the phone, I can’t tell.” Topher has clearly lost it. “An entire army in a single instant, that’s all it takes, that’s brilliant, that’s so brilliant!” Then he pauses for a second, his look 
changing to one of confusion. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Of course the answer is that he did. However Topher’s mind cannot hope to comprehend the massive responsibility on his shoulders, so instead he tries to convince himself that he isn’t to blame. “Did I think of that?” He asks, Adelle says nothing but looks upon him with the kind eyes of a lover. “Oh my God,” he cries over and over as the rush of guilt pours over him like a waterfall.
“If I think I can figure things out is that curiosity or arrogance?” Adelle cannot bare to watch and she cradles Topher to her as he repeats over and over “I know what I know”. Nothing we have seen so far in Dollhouse comes even close to being as touching 
and as distressing and disturbing as this single moment is. It is pure poetry, a defining moment for the series as a whole.
Outside in the main body of the house a banging starts as someone tries to break down the cinderblock wall that is barricading in the entrance. Victor (with no Sierra) takes up arms with a few other Actuals, then the wall comes down and standing there is none other than Echo and Ballard. “Home sweet home.”
There is little point now speculating on when and where and in which season this flashback takes place, but I would suggest that 
it would be at least season 3 or 4 had FOX had the balls to keep this show on the air.
Although, in terms or story events, the flashback tells only a little and hints at a little more, what it does excellently is express the emotions involved. Fran and Olivia are absolutely superb in this, as they are in all episode of the show, I simply cannot get enough of them. While that single line from Eliza expresses how Caroline/Echo feels about the Dollhouse and those she left behind.
Join me next time for the final part of the Epitaph One Series and look out in December for the My Two Cents new feature “Dollhouse Doubles” Tomorrow we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming with a full length post on this week’s Flash Forward “Playing Cards with Coyote”
This week’s episode of Stargate: Universe, “Time”, is an interesting episode for a couple of reasons. At first it would seem to be a corny time travel/parallel universe episode that might 
occur in an episode of Star Trek.
And maybe it is a little like that, but it is handled in such a way that makes it fun and believable. Last week I moaned that SGU needs to stop putting the entire crew in danger, but this episode is no different. The crew are getting ill, with a fatal disease that will eventually kill them all. We know that can’t happen, so we also know that they will find a cure. The important part is of course, who will they lose before they find a cure?
The episode has clearly been influenced by some major hollywood productions, stylistically it is similar to Alien, while cinemagraphically it is more akin to Cloverfield. This style of shooting is clever and when mixed with the time travel aspect of the episode, it makes for a fun 45 minutes.
The writers used a clever device to further the plot. Essentially the crew find an earlier recording of themselves being brutally slaughtered on the planet. They use the recording to discover the cure for the disease. But not in time to save Chloe. Because of the additional information they have been able to gather due to the glimpse of the future, TJ was able to figure out how the disease 
was spreading. It was in the water… The water gathered from a planet two episodes previously.
Armed with this information Col. Young and Lt. Scott and a couple of other commandos go through to the planet to collect the cure. At this point I wondered if Chloe was scheduled to be axed or if they planned to use time travel to save her… Then Col. Young had his chest burrowed out and I knew that time travel was now the inevitable conclusion… What I didn't realise was that they intended to leave it for the next episode!
What I really like about this show is just how interconnected it is. There are no “one-offs” even episodes that seem to just be “monster of the week” style episodes can later turn out to have a relevance. It is this element that keeps us on our toes, keeps us watching to see how the things that are happening might be related to something else. It also helps to keep the show feeling 
like a single cohesive story, rather than a collection of experiences.
Again this week David Blue, who plays Eli, was very impressive and even Carlyle and Louis managed to give us some laughs. All in all a fun, slightly pointless, but ultimately interesting episode.
With a title like “The Real Ghostbusters” this weeks episode of Supernatural couldn’t help but be light hearted. This week saw a return for Supernatural’s own prophet Chuck Shurley, who is 
hosting the first convention for his novel series Supernatural!
The episode is great from a comic view point, although I wonder how close it comes to crossing the line between laughing with the fans and laughing at the fans. After all the episode is representing a scaled down version of, say, Comic-Con and mocking the dedicated fans of your show could have a detrimental effect. Hopefully though it will all be taken in good humour!
What I like most about this episode and last week’s episode “Changing Channels” is the way that the writers have managed to return us to the fun loving feel of the first couple of series, while incorporating mythology furthering devices. In this 
case, revealing the location of the Colt!
Obviously next week’s episode “Abandon All Hope…” will feature the brothers searching for the mythic weapon that Bella stole from them back in season 3, just before her grizzly demise. However as the original bullets are all used up and only Ruby could provide a substitute so I’m at a loss as to what use they might put the Colt to. Also I honestly can’t see that the gun could be used to kill Lucifer, it’s powerful, but Ruby’s knife had no effect on Castiel, why would the brothers think the Colt would be any different?
However the title of the episode really points to the endeavour being a waste of time, leaving Sam and Dean 
with no other choice than to accept their roles as the vessels for the generals on either side of the war between heaven and hell.
Well, that’s about it for this week, can’t wait to see what Eric and the others have in store for us next week!
While I’ve spent the last week or so lamenting the loss of Dollhouse, I’m still finding myself bored with V. I’m not sure what it is I want from the show, but something is lacking. In fact, so little happened this week that I can barely find enough to write 
about to fill this column.
Essentially the episode boiled down to little more than a search for Dale, Alan Tudyk, who had been “killed” by Erika and his body recovered by the Visitors. In my opinion this episode did little to nothing to further the plot. Ryan, Morris Chestnut, spent the whole episode running round, explaining to us that the Visitors are bad… Big shock! While Chad Decker, Scott Wolf, tried to manipulate the Visitors to further his own career, a move that can only end up with him either in league with them, or dead and I’m voting for the latter.
While the only plot furthering action from Olivia and Jack was Erika stealing the list of people who have reported alien encounters. Even this really only seems point the way to further tedium with pointless interviews with various nutjobs before they find someone who knows “the truth”.
And of course, this weeks, not really a shock, ending was that Alan Tudyk’s character is still alive! While I’m all in favour of Alan and Morena having work, I’d rather have Alan back on Dollhouse 
and Morena flying round the galaxy with Nathan Fillion at her side!
Hopefully “A Bright New Day” will bring with it a bright new side to this show, but at the moment this really isn't enough to drag me out of my Dollhouse depression and with what appears to be a two month break looming, I don't see how this show will build enough pace to generate a large enough following to keep it on our airwaves! But that’s just My Two Cents…
***Warning Contains Major Spoilers for Season 1***
Lets get one thing straight right here and now. FOX cancelling Dollhouse right after the best freaking episode in the series is the second biggest mistake they ever made! Not only is Dollhouse 
awesome in its own right, but it may just be the best damn thing in Joss Whedon’s canon!
What is that I hear you cry? Firefly? Yeah, I used to think so too, now I’m not so sure. Epitaph One changed everything about this show, it has so much unrealised potential and on a different network it may have even flourished. If I could have Firefly back in one piece or Dollhouse the decision would be more painful than ripping off my own arm but I think it would come down simply to timing. Right now the Dollhouse crew are fresh, they are ready to pick up where they left off, while Firefly’s crew is scattered across a dozen networks. Dollhouse too has a lot of story to tell, while, with Firefly, you have already concluded much with the film Serenity. If you had asked me last year, right after Dollhouse finished, I would have bitten your hand off if it meant I could have Firefly back, now is a different story…
But that is not what this post is about. This is 10 reasons why FOX might have been right to scrap “Echo” for “Ghost”. For those of you who don’t know, “Echo” was the title of the unaired pilot for Dollhouse. FOX declined the pilot and requested Joss write something they wanted to air and for once, they may have been right…
All that said, “Echo” is an excellent episode, one that probably deserves its own post on here one day. Some brilliant lines have been lost to the extras section of a DVD release but at least we can have them now and treasure them. I hope that with the back to back airings of Dollhouse in December we can make our presence known and convince FOX to change their minds. But if not, then I hope Joss can at least get the rights to produce a couple of TV movies to really finish this awesome show, the way it was meant to be finished!
By the way you can find my original thoughts on Dollhouse here.
This has been My Very Sad and F***ed Off Two Cents… Long Live the House!
Pretty damn good episode this week, I’ve gotta say! The episode focused for the most part on Matt and Sylar, with their roles now reversed, Matt the voice in the head, with Sylar in control of the meat suit. Although there was a significant amount of Claire/Noah/Samuel stuff going on too.
NBC leaked the fact that one of the Heroes was on their way out and did they leak that information at the right time. With Hiro, Nathan and Mohinder all either dead or dying and now with Matt 
and Peter showing signs of potentially leaving the show before the season ends, it really is anybody’s guess.
Firstly Peter’s new found ability to heal is draining his strength significantly. Unfortunately Peter is too stubborn (or focused on helping people) to give it up, even if it kills him.
Secondly Matt, who Sylar took control of a couple of weeks ago, was playing the Villain at his own game, this week. A very entertaining series of events that ended with Matt sacrificing himself for the greater good. Matt managed to take control of Sylar long enough to write “I have a gun and I’m going to shoot everyone in here” on a napkin. When the police came to arrest 
him he forced Sylar to appear as if he was drawing a gun and the officers promptly gunned him down.
Of course, it would be too simple to just kill him then and there, surely better to leave us wondering. Before the episode closes we see him under the care of a group of EMTs, no doubt winging his way to Peter’s hospital! And lets not forget, this is not the first time Parkman has been shot. At the end of season 1 he was shot five times in the chest.
So who’s number is up? Nathan’s reappearance at the end of this episode not only throws his name back in the hat but Sylar’s too. Peter could die attempting to save Hiro or Matt and of course if Hiro doesn’t help Samuel, Mohinder has had it. And right now… I couldn’t tell you who is the most likely candidate!
Well, this week’s Flash Forward certainly answered a lot of questions, while managing to open a whole Pandora’s box filled with different ones. If you haven’t seen this week’s episode, I 
suggest you stop reading now.
A couple of weeks ago I posed a question about ABC’s filming schedule and how Lee Thompson Young could manage a main role in Flash Forward and Scrubs: Interns, well now we know. One of the long standing questions about this show has been “Can you change the future?” and up to now, without any definitive answer, all signs have pointed to no. The exception to that rule being that Zoey saw a different future to Demetri.
Of course, Al Gough’s death changes everything. At the very least we know that the future is still malleable. It is either still in flux or the Flash Forwards were only one possible future or alternate reality. However, his death (which seemed a little too hurried from an audience perspective. It would have been nice to have some foreshadowing a couple of episodes previous to it) could essentially mean that the Flash Forwards were not visions of the future at all. After all, the butterfly effect is now active, Gough’s death will have a direct impact on how people live their lives and 
should cause a profound change in future events.
Of course an alternate theory (one presented in my favourite TV show of all time, Farscape) is that time runs to a set path, small changes in the timeline can essentially be erased as long as major events remain similar, time will course correct itself. That sounded confusing in my head. If you think as time as water, water takes the path of least resistance, if you divert the water, it will still take the path of least resistance and as long as it hasn’t deviated too far, it will eventually return to the original path.
Flash Forward is far more likely to follow the second theory, that although changes in the timeline are possible, the eventual outcomes will remain essentially the same, give or take a small percentage. In some ways this was a necessary step for the show to take. Without the characters being under threat it is difficult to produce tension and knowing all but one of the major characters live happy, healthy lives for the next six months significantly reduces the level of threat and therefore the level of tension. Now however the tension is restored, not only have characters become effectively mortal again, they have been making decisions based on a possibly invalid future which, if there is an 
ounce of sense in the writers room, should have major repercussions.
Quickly to finish off, before this nibble turns into a three course dinner, we also learnt this week that Aaron’s daughter Tracy is still alive and well. We learnt that Bryce is in love with a woman he has never met, possibly in Japan. And we don’t know what significance the name Annabelle has to Simon, so we can just add that to the list of questions.
This week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was a truly stunning set piece. The action was non stop and beautifully rendered. After last week’s episode, which was more than a little disappointing, this was a welcome change of pace and clearly a set 
up for at least a two part episode, if not a three or four parter.
This week the Jedi hatch a plot to remove Poggle the Lesser from power and squash the planet of Geonosis under the boot of the clones, one last time!
This is the first time we see Ki-Adi Mundi as main character I believe, although he looked a little odd compared to his film counterpart. Ki-Adi, Obi-Wan and Anakin intend to storm Poggle’s base and capture him, however someone (Senator 
Palpatine possibly :P) betrays the Jedi and gives away their position.
The Geonosian’s are waiting for their arrival, blasting the Clone Dropships out of the air long before they reach the drop point, leaving the three Jedi generals no option other than to battle their way to the frontline, in a visually awesome spectacle.
When its not so good this show is watchable, when it’s good it’s freakin’ awesome! Long may it live! This has been My Half A Cent, until next time… may the force be with you!
“We are going to survive, we are going to make it home!” The 
immortal words of Col. Young in the closing moments of this week’s Stargate: Universe.
I know I’ve been pretty happy with the series so far, with the odd complaint here and there but this week I wasn’t so ecstatic. Maybe it’s the anticipation, maybe its the having to sleep at work on MY BIRTHDAY thing or maybe it was that the episode just wasn’t that good.
Essentially the crew of Destiny was ordered to attempt to return to Earth, however there was a possibility that the ship would explode. Col. Young therefore refused, but then, dumbass that he is, he used the ancient communications stones and was unintentionally marooned on earth while Col. Telford carried out the necessary tests.
What I didn’t like about the episode was the lack of tension. It’s episode 7, there is no chance that the Destiny would destroyed and no chance that the crew would return to earth, which left only the possibility of a mediocre outcome at best. Certainly, the cast did the best with what they had, but it just wasn’t a threatening enough.
I think that SGU needs to pull away from threatening the lives of everyone, because we know that it isn’t really a threat, certainly not this early on. Threatening the lives of other characters, 
especially more minor characters is a better way forward when trying to generate tension.
A special mention goes out to Chloe and Eli who really shone in this episode, despite the lacklustre concept for the episode.
This has been My Two Cents… Pretty Pictures to follow…
This week’s episode of Supernatural “Changing Channels” has to be the best episode of season 5 so far. When the “previously on Supernatural” section began to roll and I saw we were in for a mythology driven episode, my heart sank, but then I saw the light 
at the end of the tunnel as Richard Speight Jr.’s face flashed up, the Trickster was back!
I’ve always enjoyed the Trickster episodes, they are a welcome break from the scarier or heavier episodes, but what was special about this one was the way Carver and Weiner worked the Trickster into the mythology of the show. I am about to reveal the twist at the end of this episode, it’s a big one, so you might want to look away now.
Honestly, if I had more time, I could write a full length post about how clever this episode was, but I don't have the time today. After Castiel warns the brothers that the Trickster is more than he seems the audience quickly puts two and two together and works out that he is in fact an angel. He is in fact, the Angel, the Archangel Gabriel!
I had thought that the writers were planning to use this rather fun-loving episode to force Sam and Dean to accept Michael and Lucifer, which would have worked for me, something so dark coming out of something so light-hearted, but instead they chose to introduce Gabriel. To have him air his feelings about the war between his brothers, about his missing father. “I just want it to be over!” He screams.
It’s so nice that Eric and the other writers/producers, decided to give us such a spread of characters amongst the Angels. Castiel the Rebel, Michael the Warrior, Zachariah the Deceiver and now Gabriel the Coward. I love the way that Dean throws down the challenge to Gabriel, calling him a coward, daring him to join their side of the fight… and I hope that he does. I’ve always really liked the Trickster and Richard too (loved him in Jericho, 
awesome show!) and I think it would be great, during this final season if he got to play a bigger part.
That’s about it, due to excessive amounts of work I might miss a post or two this week, but don’t despair, normal service will resume next week. This has been My Angelic Two Cents, until next time…
I can’t be the only one wh0 was underwhelmed with ABC’s new series V. Yesterday I wrote 10 reasons why we needed a new alien invasion show on the airwaves, but after watching V I’m not so sure.
When I first heard about the show, way back in the spring, I was really excited for two reasons. The first was Morena Bacarin, for too long has this beauty been absent from our screens, but V hacked off her hair and turned her intellect and wit into a dull drone. The second was Alan Tudyk, who played the excellent Wash in Firefly and the even better Alpha in Dollhouse. And Alan did manage to get off a few good lines before his character was axed, without so much as a good death scene.
Ok, so the two main reasons I tuned in were a bust but I didn’t hate the show, I will certainly keep watching, but considering this was a pilot for an alien invasion show, very little happened. A minor skirmish and a news interview are hardly the most exciting ways to open a series and certainly not a patch on what we were shown in the trailers.
Hopefully next week will be a little more action orientated and please, whatever you do, ABC, please let Anna grow her hair!
For 9 seasons the X-Files told us that Aliens were coming to invade Earth and in the dying seconds of the final episode we discovered the horrifying truth that they were coming in 2012. 
So I here by give Mr. Carter one year’s notice to bring us 2012 (the series) to start January 2011. Why would I want this show? It’s certainly not because I was an X-files fanboy, sure I’ve seen them all maybe 3 or 4 times each but I wasn’t a “fan”. So why then? Let me give you 10 reasons…
Ok, so I know it’s not a real 10 Reasons post, but seriously, don’t you think this would be kinda cool? Plus, who knows, in 2012 someone might work out how to resurrect the Lone Gunmen?! *please*
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Ok, Flashback Seven focuses on the rebellion, primarily Victor and Sierra. They are clearly in the Dollhouse, even if the surrounding doesn’t tell us this, Sierra (or as she is now, Priya) 
talks about going “Above ground.”
I think it is interesting that the, by now, ex-dolls, would use the Dollhouse as their base of operations. Because of this we can assume by this point DeWitt and Topher have changed sides and rebelled against the Rossum Corporation, either freeing the Dolls and abandoning the House or possibly staying and fighting along side them.
Whatever the case Caroline seems to be absent, possibly she has founded “safe haven” by this point (using the “cure” DeWitt talked about last time), but maybe not. This flashback is clearly a long way off from where we are at the moment (and judging by Fox’s airing schedule, too far off to be 
worth guessing which season it might be in). The “Tech” has gone wireless and the Dolls have been set free.
Sierra is in pain and Victor asks her to take her meds. Is this in someway related to episode 4 “Belonging” and Sierra’s mental illness? Or is it a side effect of having once been a doll? Sierra declines her meds, saying “If this is what it means to be me, I’d rather deal with the damn pain.” For some reason this makes me think Sierra’s transformation back to Priya is a recent thing.
Sierra confesses that she is unhappy, she says the others (presumably other Dolls) make her crazy, then she suggests 
leaving. Victor admonishes her. “You don’t want to end up like November” Sierra replies
“Which one?”
Well that was sneaky wasn’t it. Clearly something happens to November but is that the November from season 1 that Ballard helped to free or is it the new November who will replace her in season 2? Or can we take Sierra’s reply to mean that something bad happened to both of them?
After this Sierra reveals that she has been Birth Marked (a tattoo of their real name across their back), a process now used by the Actuals so that they will remember who they are, and Victor reveals that he has a hidden stash of Topher’s back ups, just in case they should ever need to re-imprint themselves. “So now you can always be yourself again.” Victor says with a half 
smile. “As long as there is someone to lead us back.” Sierra replies pessimistically.
Little clues permeate this flashback, giving us hints but very few answers as to what has happened and what is happening. The fact that Victor has the backups (and the fact that they are still there up to ten years later) suggests that either the Dolls had no need for them or, as Sierra suggest, there was no one left to lead them back. It also suggests that maybe Topher has gone, because otherwise why would he let Victor take the original copies of the Dolls personalities?
Whatever the case, this period in the Dollhouse universe seems to be an extremely interesting one, one I hope FOX will allow us to explore.
I’ve just finished watching this weeks, rather excellent, Heroes. In a throw back to season one style storytelling the episode offers us 
answers that we were not expecting.
“Once Upon A Time In Texas” focuses on 3 people, Hiro, Noah and Samuel. While Noah’s story is interesting (Angel fans might recognise Elizabeth Rolm as Noah’s love interest) it seems ultimately pointless, although, as is the way with Heroes, those things that seem trivial can end up having far reaching consequences.
The episode focuses mainly on Hiro’s second attempt to save Charlie from Sylar, without altering the future. To have Hiro fail in this attempt would be fruitless and a waste of our time, thus he either has to succeed or the consequences for failing a second time must severely outweigh the consequences of failing first time round.
This week NBC announced the death of a major character in Heroes and the assumption was that it was Nathan Petrelli, the only problem with that theory is that he is already dead. Last week I suggested that in saving Charlie, Hiro would meet his 
demise, his wrongs set right, going out in a blaze of glory.
Forewarned that a major death was coming I felt our Japanese Heroes time had run out as he faced off with Sylar. However Hiro did not die and we finally found out the answer to a question I’ve been asking for weeks.
Hiro forced Sylar to help Charlie and save her life, which he did, only for Samuel to steal her away and stash her someplace in time where Hiro cannot find her. All of Samuel’s appearances point to him being an empath, travelling through time, destroying buildings with his mind but still we don't know. What we do know now though, is what he needs Hiro for… Eight weeks before Samuel Sullivan shot and killed Mohinder Suresh!
Dum Dum Dum… Well, I know I didn’t see that coming. What I don’t understand is why Samuel needs Hiro. He can clearly travel in time himself, what is that Hiro can do to help save Mohinder? More to the point, are we getting two chapters this year or one? Eight episodes down, we’re either drawing to a close or building 
to a cliff hanger. Is Mohinder the surprise death we have been warned about? Or is it just a simple red herring?
Answer to this and more in next week’s Heroes, this has been My Two Cents, until next time…
