Sunday, 24 January 2010

Weekly Round-Up: 24/01/10

Weekly RoundupSo, another week over and what have we learned? Well, why not read on and find out, but beware these posts contain spoilers from the start, if you don’t want to know what happens look away now…

 

Heroes – Pass/Fail

This weeks Heroes still felt like it was just putting off getting to the finale, although several important plotlines were fulfilled. First off the Claire/Sylar storyline played out to its conclusion, in which Sylar discovered that if he is ever to atone for his past he must learn what it is to be human, he must rid himself of all his powers. To that end he closes the episode by going to see Matt Parkman.

Does this mean that Sylar is getting the same treatment as Hiro and Peter did last series. All three characters have an insane amount of power which made the show difficult for the writers, now it looks like all three will be neutered. I’d rather see Sylar dead, than have him returned to a weak and whining human.

Also this week, Hiro’s brain tumour was cured by his mother in a dream sequence… Yup, makes sense…! Mohinder leaves to return to India… And Samuel finally brings Vanessa to the new home he built just for her… Only she doesn’t want it, or Samuel… so the good old carnie levels a whole damn town…!

Predictable but cool! The last two episodes will surely now be a superhero team-up to take Sullivan down and that means action packed adventure for all. 

How I Met Your Mother - Jenkins

Continuing the long list of guest stars this show has seen, Amanda Peet makes an appearance this week. However, the episode itself really does little new or exciting and after enjoying Amanda as the strong spirited Jordan McDeere in Studio 60, I found her role as “the other woman” rather lifeless.

As with most shows in this genre H.I.M.Y.M suffers from caricature-syndrome, where the principal characters stop being three-dimensional characters and can be boiled down to catchphrases and predictable jokes. That said, I don’t mind too much because H.I.M.Y.M is often very clever with its stories, but just not this week.

Chuck -  Vs. Operation Awesome

Devon isn’t dead…! Although I guess that was implied by the title of this week’s episode. Chuck undertakes a solo mission against the Ring to get his brother-in-law out of trouble. In the process we are introduced to the leader of the anti-Ring task force, Agent Shaw. I suspect Shaw might become a new love interest for Sarah. (He was also the mystery man with answers that appeared to General Beckman at the end of the second episode this season.)

Meanwhile Jeff and Lester perform a rather dark-comic homage to the David Fincher film Fight Club

Although the episode on the whole was enjoyable, the sitcom-esque, nothing-really-matters style storytelling still grates on me. It just feels too easy that Devon has gone from being in mortal peril back to marital bliss in a single episode. I guess I just long for a true metastory to evolve from the show but that’s probably not going to happen. I still enjoy it for what it is, I just can’t but wonder if it could be even more.

Supernatural – Sam, Interrupted

Ok, so I don't really get the title. I had assumed this episode would focus on Sam giving himself over to Lucifer. It didn’t. It was, however, old style, fun loving Supernatural without an Angel or Demon in sight. A evil wraith is stalking a mental institution and Sam and Dean check themselves in to investigate at the behest of an old, now nutty, hunter.

The best part of this story is the way the writers recapped the story so far. They had Sam and Dean reel it off to the doctor at the asylum and sure enough they were banged up and labelled crazy. A really funny episode, certainly not the best of the season, and it was a little bit of a filler episode with only 10 or so more to go, but it was really enjoyable.

The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Lost

This episode felt like a bad 80’s children’s tv show, back when cartoons had to deliver a moral message. The episode focused on Ahsoka, Anakin’s padawan, I don’t much care for her character at the best of times so this episode felt quite blah. Plus the criminals who stole Ahsoka’s lightsaber, which was the focus of the episode, looked like the fluffy, squishy things that used to advertise washing powder.

Although there were some nice Coruscant-based action sequences, this episode really just felt like filler. Hopefully the series will begin to climb towards a climax quite soon but so far it just seems a bit aimless. Unlike the first season which felt driven and focused.

Dollhouse – Epitaph Two

Wait a minute… where did my Dollhouse go?!

Next Week

So, next week then, Dollhouse’s final episode will air, and we will finally see James Masters return to our screens in the first episode of the Battlestar spin off Caprica. In the meantime I will be bringing you another 10 Reasons post, check back mid week to find out on what.

In preparation for Caprica starting back up, why not check out my thoughts on the pilot here.

Alternatively, if you want to know what I thought of last year’s Dollhouse Epitaph just scroll down and check out the recap below.

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