TV Reviews

Lost – Ab Aeterno

Some may accuse me of being biased, of not being objective in reviewing episodes of shows I happen to like a lot. And I say to those people.. you’re probably right. However, I like to give shows benefits of the doubt and not be too harsh on them, especially when their worst episodes are better than a lot of the drivel on TV right now. Long story short: tonight’s episode of Lost was incredible, an hour or so of great acting, writing and (dare I say it) explaining. Well, maybe not full-blown explanations, but anybody who’s not happy by the scenes between Jacob and Richard, or Jacob and the Man in Black at the end, are crazy, and you probably won’t be happy with anything Lost has to offer from here on out. I was very happy with the way tonight’s episode played out, and while I think an episode this dense deserves more than a few hours of thought and consideration, I feel I should write it while it’s fresh in my mind.

The Office – “St. Patrick’s Day”

I am definitely one of the fans of The Office who have found Season 6 to be less than stellar. The show seems to have hit its creative peak in Seasons 2 and 3 and ever since, it’s been more focused on showing the characters delving into ridiculous situations that are far from realistic, yet funny at the same time. However, just because a show is funny doesn’t mean it’s as entertaining as it used to be. I don’t think The Office has reached the point yet where it can be considered bad by any stretch of the imagination. And from what I can see, people are just not feeling the new episodes. However, I thought this episode had some great work by the supporting characters and some increasingly irritating work by Michael Scott, who has turned into a needy little child over the six years on television.  It’s one thing when you have a main character who is notorious for being strange, but when you let the oddities of his personality smother the tolerable parts, it becomes a bit difficult to handle.

24 – “Day 8: 2:00 A.M. – 3:00 A.M. “

Last week was a breath of fresh air for 24 after losing its way for a little while. We were given plenty of typical 24 moments: action, twists, cliffhangers, political drama and great acting. This week’s episode picks up almost exactly where last week left off. Wait, on second thought, isn’t that every episode of 24? Jack is preparing to bring Marco’s mother into the mix in order to convince Marco to back down, Hassan is still paranoid as hell, although he has calmed down a bit, Dana and Cole are still bickering and the terrorists are in the same place that they’ve been for what feels like hours and hours.

Boardwalk Empire – Family Limitations

In the Boardwalk Empire universe, the time has come for the characters to all take a good long look in the mirror.  From Nucky, trying to balance seeing himself as a good man and the debaucherous life he leads, to Margaret imagining herself as Cinderella transforming from commoner to princess; to more minor characters such as Agent Van Alden with his strange obsession with Margaret and Lucky Luciano, who finally realizes it’s not Jimmy’s wife who he’s been sleeping with, but his mother.  All around the show, everyone seems to be being forced to confront the lies they’ve been telling themselves so they can sleep at night.

Burn Notice: Devil You Know

An episode heavy on story arc action, with a cliffhanger leaving you ready to tear your hair out. *spoilers*

As Michael and his team rushes to recapture mysterious criminal “Simon” from last episode, things heat up both on the front line and at home.

While Michael runs from cops and federal agents, his mother is being interrogated by the same in her own home.

Usually, Madeline is mostly annoying, aggravating and occasionally pathetic – but here she stepped up to the plate as a Momma Bear, not allowing threats or manipulation to sway here from protecting her son as best she knows how. From the code for “stay away” used during Michael’s father’s drinking binges, to telling the surprisingly engaging and likeable federal agent that if Michael wanted him dead, he’d be DEAD, Madeline Westen stands by her son, no matter whether she doubts him or not.

It’s Always Sunny-Dennis Gets Divorced

After last week episode I was hoping we would get a classic Sunny episode but it quickly became apparent that it was not the case. I stated last week that these two episodes, Mac Fights Gay Marriage and Dennis Gets Divorced, are meant to be shown together and the two episodes on their own are just not up to typical Sunny quality. While it is possible that upon watching the two episodes together they could be great, as it stands this weeks episode is just as flawed and, at times, not funny.

Chuck: Chuck vs. the Nacho Sampler

I think this is one of the most painful episodes I’ve seen of this great show. Forget unhappy love, forget Buy More indignities, forget Dad coming and going: The sight of Chuck doing what must be done, turning into a “real” spy, is truly painful.

Burn Notice: Friendly Fire

Crowning moments of awesome, putting a face to our new übervillain, and a few moments of heartwarming as well – pretty much one of the best “basic” episodes of Burn Notice I’ve seen.

I tend to separate Burn Notice into two parts, I’ve realized. The “basic”, which is the plot of the week, with its victims and villains, witty dialogue and things that go boom. And then there’s the emotional/storyarc bit, which focuses more on Micael’s relationships with the people closest to him, and the overall direction of the plot – sometimes background noise, sometimes a red thread, and sometimes real and immediate.

Although this episode had a bit of the latter – a nice ending with Michael and Fiona, and finally putting a face to what appears to be this seasons main villain – it was above all a wonderfully over-the-top “basic” version.

In some episodes Michael goes up against real pros, facing difficult odds and pulling on all his training and experience.
And then there’s cases like this one, where the opposition is just weak enough to let him pull off really cool feats of Awesomeness. 😀
The ultracool persona he portrayed made a bit of preplanning look like magic, and reminded me of a Mission:Impossible episode where the villain is convinced he’s dealing with the devil himself.

The not-so-subtle “hints” pointing in the same direction here are entertaining and impressive, and at the end of the episode I had to resist the urge to snap my fingers… 😀

Chuck: Chuck vs. the Angel de la Muerte

Totally awesome, and a welcome return of the fun, drama and action of the previous seasons!

After a so-so season opening, I am very relieved to see the team back on track with a truly awesome episode. To me, at least, it was also a bit of a relief to be spared more Buy More-time – I didn’t miss it at all. This episode had it all – Awesome and Ellie being cute and wonderful, Chuck and Sarah growing closer again (I loved those agonizing gazes across the dancefloor) and Casey being badass as usual. 😀

It was refreshing to see Chuck being quietly competent rather than a walking disaster area, and I really liked the conversations he had with his brother-in-law – allowing him to sound professional and competent, as well as bringing out the contrast between his in essence unsatisfying life and the down-to-earth happiness of Awesome and Ellie.
While Chuck should never lose his charming goofball personality, he has been putting his life on the line for three years (and has finally had six months of training) and I’m happy that it’s allowed to show. A goal-oriented Chuck who – while still getting nervous – doesn’t squeak or flap his hands is a much more attractive and believable character to me at this point in the series. His relaxed and utter trust in Sarah is also a point in his favour – here is a man who is not threatened by a strong woman, but is secure enough to lean back and enjoy the show, with an almost Modesty Blaise/Willie Garvin-ish feel to it. The whole episode was chock full of goodness, allowing all the characters to shine in their own special way, and the ending blindsided me completely. I can’t wait for the next episode, and I sincerely hope they manage to keep up this level of excellence!

Lost – “The Package”

Some television shows suffer from “Epic Episode Syndrome.”  It’s fairly common on the silver screen right now, but there are certainly shows that suffer from it more than others.  “Epic Episode Syndrome” is when a TV show follows up an incredible episode that contains all the hallmarks of an instant classic, or “epic” episode if you will, with a rather weak episode, one that seems to be suffering from too many comparisons to the aforementioned “epic” episode.  I only bring this up because Lost has suffered from this problem since the day it aired.  Last week, people began complaining once again that Lost had relapsed and was suffering from “Epic Episode Syndrome.”  They claimed that “The Package” was a pointless episode, a meaningless foray into two characters who are not nearly as important as others in the big picture of things.  They claimed it was boring, contained no forward momentum and had a cheap ending.