Television

Supernatural – The Devil You Know

We’re coming down to the final stretch with Dean and Sam putting Gabriel’s plan to the test. They have War and Famine’s rings, so the boys are looking for Pestilence and Death.  Once again for the second week in a row help comes in a very strange way.

Remember Crowley?  That really pain in the you know what Demon that the boys have had really nasty run-ins with from time to time.  Well, Mark Sheppard is back and he’s a little more reasonable this time.  It seems that he is on the Devil’s hit list with a bullet.  The only problem is he’s in store for a long eternity of suffering.  So he shows up just in time to help Sam and Dean find Pestilence.

Supernatural – Hammer of the Gods

A spate of bad weather drives the Winchesters to what seems to be a four star hotel in the middle of nowhere.  Of course, we as the viewer knows that something is up.  A group of various religious and pagan gods are gathering to decide what to do about the Apocalypse. Of course the Winchesters may be the key to their plans.

Regrettable renewals and limbo

It’s that time of the year again, and we’re all waiting with baited breath to see which of our favourites survive the networks’ pruning process without getting the cut this year. So far, a number of my shows are safe or shoe-ins, practically guaranteed another season.
Unfortunately, some shows return that I would rather see take a graceful retirement…

Justified – The Collection

Raylan’s relationship with Ava is continuing when Art shows up to take a little trip to Cincinnati.  An art collector and rancher who is about to be indicted by the FBI is trying to sell assets and as they belong to the US Marshalls Service Art and Raylan will be present to take control of any proceeds received from the sale.

The cast was outstanding for this week’s episode.  Besides the collector a Mr. Owen Carnes played by character actor Peter Jason, you had his wife Caryn played by Katherine LaNasa, the Stable Manager played by Greg Davis, the art collector played by Robert Picardo of Voyager fame, and finally the art expert played by Tony Hale.  This is quite a collection of fine actors.  Also I noticed for the first time that Gary Hawkins who is Raylan’s former wife’s husband is played by William Ragsdale who among other things played Herman on Herman’s Head back in the early nineties.

South Park – Crippled Summer

So how do you review an episode where a disabled little boy is repeatedly raped by a shark with a 9 inch penis? Carefully…

Crippled Summer, as the title suggests, is not one for the easily offended. The episode manages to teeter on the brink of decency by parodying a selection of sources, in an attempt to neutralise any offensive content with an equally ludicrous scenario. Much of the humour stems from these shock tactics and even I winced a few times in places. But due to a lack of depth, the jokes quickly wear thin.

Stargate Universe – Human

Rush has hooked himself into the Destiny’s systems and seems to be reliving a critical time in his life as he tries to decipher the hidden information within the information he is seeing.  We learn a whole new side to Rush and you might even say his character may be misunderstood.

Two major storylines dominate the episode.  The first is Rush’s living through a painful point in his life while trying to learn what he needs in the now.  The second is the situation where Destiny drops out of FTL and four crewmen go to a planet they must deal with some dire consequences.

Happy Town – In This Home on Ice

Let’s get one thing straight before talking about “Happy Town”:  it’s far from a happy place.  Of course, the dozens of commercials that air before and after every show on ABC have made that abundantly clear, but for a show labeled “Happy Town,” the show starts off on a dark and macabre note and doesn’t let up for the next hour.  Comparisons between this show, David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” and Lynch’s feature film “Blue Velvet” will likely arise as the show goes on, mostly because they all revolve around the idea of a quaint, innocent town with a gritty underworld filled with secrets that nobody knows about.  However, “Happy Town” struggles a little bit out of the gate, and with only eight episodes to attract an audience, the show will have to work double time to make up for its errors.