Jaynestown

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Wed, 03/10/2010

Firefly Episode Review

In which Jayne has a theme song.

What Happened

The ship lands on a planet to pick up a shipment of mud from a workers' settlement, where they are surprised to see a statue of Jayne in the town square. Turns out, Jayne and his partner once stole money from the mine's magistrate, but when the ship was damaged, Jayne dumped both the partner and the money out in order to get away. Finding the money, the miners proclaimed Jayne a folk hero, much to the annoyance of the man who owns the settlement.

Wait 'til you hear his theme song...

The Good

  • "Have good sex"? Did Kaylee actually say that out loud?
  • The little whimper as Jayne removes the surgical tape holding the gun taped to his chest.
  • Oh, god. There's a song. I knew there'd be a song.
  • "My very own riot?" That is so Jayne.
  • Simon says that he wouldn't sleep with Kaylee. She gets offended and tells him off (she's not the Willow here). And Mal's reaction to all this? "Yeah. Uh-huh."

The Bad

  • Inara's storyline kind of bugged, but only mildly.

The Cliche

  • If Jayne was that worried, why didn't he just stay on the ship to start with?
  • Sure. Send the man who was living in a box for four years out as an assassin. He shouldn't even be able to walk.
  • Inara thinking he's talking about Mal and gushing. Sorry. Not buying the space hooker.

Best Lines

Simon: "I reattached a girl's leg once. Her whole leg. She named her hamster after me."

Zoe: "He's putting the hair away now, River."
River: "Doesn't matter. It'll still be there, waiting to get out." Book did have some scary hair.

What Did I Think?

"Eerie ass day."

Epitaph Two

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Tue, 03/09/2010

Dollhouse Episode Review

In which everything is over.

What Happened

With little Caroline in tow, Mags and Zone try to reach Safe Haven, away from the imprinted hordes in the city.

Captured in route, they are taken to the Rossum headquarters. Fortunately, Echo and Ballard have arrived to rescue a kidnapped Topher and they free all of Harding's prisoners.

Topher announces that he has a way to reverse all the imprints all over the world. The catch is that anyone with Active architecture will also revert to who they were to start - forgetting all that has happened in between.

This is a problem for Priya, who doesn't want to forget her son by Anthony. The family is estranged, however, as Anthony has invested heavily in imprint Tech that gives him the skills to battle Rossum's forces. Priya is upset when Anthony returns to Safe Haven to help Echo and reminds him that he is not to tell their son about his parentage unless he intends to give up the Tech and stay for good.

Echo and Ballard decide that a small group will hole up in the Dollhouse for a year, safe from the EMP. Anthony and his warriors battle them a path into the city, but Ballard is shot and killed along the way.

Inside the LA Dollhouse, they find a reformed Alpha. Topher reviews tapes of Bennett, finding the clues he needs to finish the EMP. He tells Adelle that the explosion will have to be manually triggered and takes the device up to her office to do so.

Seeing Anthony burning his Tech, Priya introduces her son to his father. Leaving a wounded Mags behind, Adelle and Zone lead Alpha's dolls to the street. Zone has agreed to take care of little Caroline after she becomes a ten-year-old again, while Adelle will have to take on the task of putting some semblance of a society back together again.

Locked away inside the Dollhouse as Topher sets off the EMP, Echo finds a parting gift from Alpha: a wedge containing what is left of Paul Ballard. Echo downloads Paul into her mind and sets about the rest of her life.

The Good

  • Zone and Mags. Amazing how cool they are after just two episodes.
  • They tie up the pieces for all the main characters as well as the big idea stories, taking things to a logical conclusion.
  • Echo's breakdown over Paul. Beautiful performance from Eliza Dushku in a moment that could have gone horribly over the top.

The Bad

  • Same as last week - there's just not enough time. Alpha, for example, just whizzed by. Alpha should not whiz.

The Cliche

  • Paul. Paul. Paul. What is up with Joss Whedon and the brain splatz? This is the third episode in a row, dammit.

What Did I Think?

Finds a nice ending for each character (except Paul) but more time would have given things even more weight.

Detained

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Tue, 03/09/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which there is Dean Stockwell.

What Happened

Venturing into the territory of a system at war with the Cabal, Archer and Mayweather are captured and held in a detention camp. After getting to know their fellow prisoners, however, Archer decides to help free these Suliban.

The Good

  • Archer makes a good apology to the Suliban. He figures out on his own that Colonel Grat is not being straight with them.
  • Trip and T'Pol talked to each other like adults and professionals and skipped the "cold-blooded Vulcan" and "illogical human" speeches.
  • Mayweather gets a nice speech, that's only a little over the top. It's about time that he got some kind of airtime.
  • "Your case is about to be dismissed." How can Malcolm be so cute and yet so lame?
  • Nice ambiguity in the ending. They'll get away from the prison, but who knows what may happen after that.

The Bad

  • "Why are you writing it down?" Dumb question, Mayweather. There could be any number of reasons that Sagan's keeping a journal - none of which are really your business. Except for the one where the whole conversation is just a set-up for Sagen's change of heart and dramatic sacrifice.
  • "You'll all be spending time in isolation." Am I the only one who sees the logic flaw here? Unless they have an isolation chamber for each and every prisoner.

The Cliche

  • Just once, they'll skip the scene where everyone complains about the prison food, and the galaxy will stop rotating.
  • If your shuttlepods are going to get captured that often, I wouldn't put all that information in the computer, if I were you.

Best Lines

Sagen: "Why did you bring them here?"
Suliban: "Maybe I'm tired of talking to you."

So What?

Some shows get the guest star and then try to come up with the story. Enterprise created an actual character for Dean Stockwell to play, one that makes use of his talents. It becomes more than just an excuse to stick him and Scott Bakula in the ad together.

Fortunate Son

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Mon, 03/08/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which Mayweather gets some attention.

What Happened

Assisting a cargo vessel attacked by Nausicaans, Archer insists that the cargo crew hand over a prisoner rather than try to gain revenge on the pirates who injured their captain.

The Good

  • Trip: "Things are changing. Ryan's going to have to figure that out."
    Mayweather: "Maybe he already has. He just doesn't like it." Smartest thing said all episode.

The Bad

  • Mayweather offers too much information when he comments that T'Pol's estimation of the crew on the cargo hold wouldn't include newborn babies. 'Cuz we really need the exact number, why?
  • The non-human bio-sign was someone's pet Teneebian skunk? Look, Archer isn't that stupid.
  • "What gives you the right to take prisoners?" I can understand him questioning the right to beat up on the prisoners, but taking them? Never mind. He is that stupid.
  • Most boring gunfight ever.
  • So, Mayweather's argument basically boils down to "do the math and put down your guns"?

The Cliche

  • Of course Ryan was hiding something. Just once I'd like to see a scene where the hero offers help, the sneaky bad guy refuses and the hero just leaves.
  • Cute scene between T'Pol and the children on the ship without forcing her to get in touch with her maternal instincts.
  • Isn't it lucky how the crew of a cargo vessel - that had never set eyes on Enterprise before - knew just what to aim for to knock out the long range sensors? Maybe they should rethink their policy of giving tours to everyone who comes aboard.
  • Now they can read the bio-signs on the ship and know there are four Nausicaans onboard, but before they had to wait until T'Pol was onboard and took tricorder readings. Wouldn't one of the first things they did on this rescue mission be to scan the ship to see if there were any life-signs that indicated survivors?

What Did We Learned?

Back-story on Mayweather, who had a couple of not-so-bad scenes. At least they didn't saddle us with the Parents Suck story (though I can see it coming). Porthos' IQ, however, continues to exceed Archer's. Optimistic and trusting is one thing, and I know poking your nose in where it doesn't belong is part of the job description for a Starfleet captain, but some of his dialogue...

Acquisition

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Sun, 03/07/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which there are Ferengi.

What Happened

Intergalactic pirates overpower the crew, forcing Archer, Trip and T'Pol to outwit them before they walk off with everything -and everyone- on board.

The Good

  • Any excuse to put Trip in his underwear.
  • T'Pol: "I assume you have an explanation."

The Bad

  • There has to be a more efficient way than big canvas bags to move their loot.

The Cliche

  • Typical Lack-Of-Honor-Among-Thieves, exploited by the crew.
  • Fun fight between Trip and Archer as they snow the Ferengi.
  • Poor Crem. Even Archer orders him around, and he's the prisoner.
  • Nice climax. Good use of the Vulcan nerve pinch and Trip Briar-Rabbiting them into the trap.
  • Awww. Crem gets his ship.

Best Lines

Ferengi, looking at Porthos: "It's a lower life form, stupid."
Other Ferengi: "Not necessarily. Look at his ears..."

T'Pol: "Not that interesting? No sense of humor? Always complaining?"
Archer: "I'll make it up to you."
T'Pol: "How?"
Archer: "Five bars of latinum?"

What Did I Think?

A little slow to start, but fun once it gets going.

Sleeping Dogs

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Sat, 03/06/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which Reed is rather useless.

What Happened

Hoshi, Reed and T'Pol are trapped on a Klingon ship, finding the crew unconscious and the vessel sinking into the crushing atmosphere of a gas giant.

The Good

  • Snarking with T'Pol? Hoshi did grow a spine.

The Bad

  • T'Pol: "Other than keeping Ensign Mayweather up at night, I don't know what we expect to accomplish here." You and me both.
  • They're near death and Reed pulls out his lame Trip imitation?

The Cliche

  • Why is it the first thing they always do is take off their helmets? I can understand after they've been stuck there awhile, but this is like fifteen seconds after they climb onboard.
  • Reed is pretty lame for a security officer. Everyone beats him up.
  • Because she's read the script, pt. 1: How did the Klingon woman know that the name of the ship was Enterprise? She had no translator and I doubt she reads English.
  • Because she's read the script, pt. 2: Hoshi doesn't know the difference between "hull" and "wall," but "photon torpedo" and "fusion manifold" she knows?
  • "The one time we need the engineer..." Well, duh.
  • Hoshi can't run around the ship alone, but it's okay for them to leave Malcolm by himself? Statistically speaking, he's much more likely to get beat up.
  • Because she's read the script, pt. 3: I know they're on this Hoshi having a spine kick, but why was she the one coming up with all the answers? Reed is the weapons geek.

What Did I Think?

Nice as it is to see Hoshi continue her journey from 'fraidy cat to competent officer, it really shouldn't come at Reed's expense. They couldn't have knocked him unconscious or something?

Watching: Coupling

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 03/04/2010

Finished up the final season off of Netflix Instant Streaming.

I really liked this series. It's essentially Friends, but without the overhead of having to fill twenty-two episode a season so things move a bit faster. The writers are also more interested with the actual "being together" part of the story than the "will they won't they" part. That made a big difference as they could cut out all the back and forth episodes that spend time pretending a viewer can't tell from the start where all this is headed.

I've always been skeptical of that argument that getting characters together is the most interesting part and that they get "boring" afterwards. If the writers have any talent at all, they should be able to make any situation interesting. Coupling pretty much proves me right.

Dear Doctor

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 03/04/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which Phlox makes everything better.

What Happened

Enterprise is asked to find a cure for an epidemic, but when Phlox discovers that the "sickness" is really natural evolution clearing the way for another species to become dominant on the planet, he questions whether they should interfere.

The Good

  • Anything involving Porthos is a plus.
  • Phlox: "Movies lost their appeal when people discovered that their real lives were more interesting."
  • Nice scene with Hoshi and Phlox. It's good to see that the writers haven't forgotten that their little friendship.
  • Good scene with Phlox and T'Pol. Note to self: Never discuss my love life with a Vulcan.
  • Good scene with Archer and T'Pol discussing the aliens' request for
    warp drive technology. It touched on his recurring issues with the
    Vulcans and made sense in the story.

The Bad

  • "We'll just see where it goes." So it doesn't bother Phlox's little friend that he's married? (Actually, we find out later that there's no reason why it should, so maybe this counts as foreshadowing?)
  • The man is dying and all Archer can summon up is a manly pat on the shoulder?

The Cliche

  • Why is it we never see any other species besides humans accused of"interference." At least Phlox takes the amused tolerance route, as opposed to T'Pol's constant sighing over how Archer sticks his nose into everything.
  • Phlox trusting Archer and Archer living up to that trust is more interesting than Phlox trying hide things from Archer for his own good. Neither character winds up looking like an idiot.
  • "Until they draft that directive..." Yes, we understand they're building a case for the Prime Directive in the future shows. Did they really need to reference the vocabulary?

So What?

Good, solid show.

The Communicator

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Wed, 03/03/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which we learn that Reed really shouldn't be left in charge of things.

What Happened

On his first away mission, Reed leaves his communicator on the planet. It is found by the military, who arrest Reed and Archer when they return to pick it up. Accused of being spies, then exposed as aliens, the crewmen are about to be executed, but T'Pol, Trip and Mayweather rescue them.

The Good

  • Reed is volunteering to write the report? Geek. (I mean that in a good way.)
  • And the beating doesn't muss their make-up? Oh. It did. Okay.
  • Archer tells them that the shuttle-craft was an experimental suborbital craft and Reed says that they are genetically enhanced soldiers. That's not such a bad cover story.

The Bad

  • Trip asks if he can come down to the planet with them to retrieve the communicator. You know, I really think that Reed is going to be enough trouble.
  • The "Alliance"? Did I miss something? Is this Firefly, now? Where's Nathan Fillion?
  • And perhaps they have the room bugged as you are talking about being from another planet and that your shuttle-craft is parked nearby?
  • Oh, hell. Reed is on his death kick again. What a downer.

The Cliche

  • Getting captured in the first place. Their captors keep asking if they've made contact with the Alliance. I wanted Archer to say, "NO. But considering the way you've been treating us, we'll look them up the first chance we get."
  • Poor General. That's the sort of event that paranoid conspiracy theories are made of.

Best Lines

Phlox: "I suspect your appendage will eventually rematerialize on its own."
Trip: "Eventually?"

What Did I Think?

I suppose that something would get left behind sometime. They are such klutzes.

The Seventh

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Tue, 03/02/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which T'Pol needs new friends - ones that don't rearrange her mind.

What Happened

T'Pol is sent to retrieve a Vulcan fugitive, a man who claims that he is innocent of the charges against him.

The Good

  • The pushy alien threatens Archer, who simply says, "I couldn't agree more," and walks off. Cute.
  • T'Pol's discussion with Archer, telling him how she asked them to do the ritual to remove her memories of Joscen's death. They skip the evil government conspiracy crap.
  • "Your mission is to return him to Vulcan, not determine whether he's guilty or innocent." Only useful thing Archer said all episode.
  • To give Archer credit, he did get out of Menos' trap pretty handily.

The Bad

  • If she's on a highly classified mission, why is Archer making it sound like it's just so ridiculous that's she being secretive? The others are taking their cues from you, pinhead.
  • "Does this look like a prison to you?" They have a bar full of people drinking and gambling; you'd think they'd have a drunk tank or something.
  • "We're here to take you Vulcan." I have a tough time believing in the "evil awful Vulcan" routine we get so often on this series.
  • Trip pretending to be Archer. First, how would the Vulcan know Trip looks "young," and second, the Admiral's message (water polo scores) was stupid.

The Cliche
  • Menos appeals to their emotions and weaves a sad sad story. His line, "It's a hologram of my family. It won't hurt you," has a nice double meaning.
  • Just shoot Menos, already - it's set on stun; you can always let him go later.

What Did I Think?

Jolene Blalock gives another fine performance, but can someone shut Archer up, please? Why couldn't she just go off with Mayweather? It isn't like he's got anything better to do.

Marauders

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Mon, 03/01/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which Archer mistakes himself for Yul Brynner.

What Happened

Trying to bargain for some deuridium from some miners, Archer offers to help them fight off a group of Klingons who are extorting their own supply from the colony.

The Good

  • Phlox shows off his pets and his toys.
  • "What's the hurry?" They don't like you, Archer. It's obvious. Get over it.
  • "What will keep [the Klingons] from coming back?" Ah. Logic. Thank you, T'Pol.

The Bad

    Nothing horribly bad, just a few colonists that I wouldn't have missed if they'd gotten smushed.

The Cliche

  • The guys get khakis; T'Pol gets a skintight jumpsuit?
  • Cue the cute kid. The cute orphaned kid.
  • "Sometimes I have the bad habit of overstaying my welcome." Understatement of the Year, Captain.
  • Check out Reed checking out Hoshi while they train the colonists.
  • The orphaned kid wants to fight. He does do as he's told, however, and stays hidden. And Trip gets to tell him, "Malcolm's got a rule: gotta be taller than the gun to use it."
  • Chased off by these sad little miners? Yeah, that's a Klingon who's not going to be in charge for much longer.

Best Lines

T'Pol: "Try to strike me ... You won't hurt me."
Mayweather: "It's not you I'm worried about." He's smarter than he looks.

What Did I Think?

Not as preachy as it could have been, what with Archer rearranging everyone's lives.

Dead Stop

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 02/25/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which there is a sinister space station full of secrets.

What Happened

Wanting to do something about the giant hole in the side of the ship (gained in "Minefield"), Enterprise stops at a mechanized space station, where the onboard computer proceeds to cut a deal to make the repairs.

As the crew relaxes, Mayweather is lured down to a cargo bay and electrocuted. During the autopsy, however, Phlox realizes that the corpse is really a clone. Archer and T'Pol make their way into the station's computer core, where they find Mayweather and several others hooked up to the computer array.

Freeing his crewman, Archer orders the ship to break away from the station, destroying it in the process.

The Good

  • Yeah. I guess that Archer would have to think twice about adding "dead in the water" to the distress call.

The Bad

  • Suspicion is one thing, but Archer was getting downright pissy. What happened to gung ho explorer guy?

The Cliche

  • Teasing all the tricks from Star Trek universe in the show is getting to be horribly predictable. This time it's the replicators.
  • When is a bargain a bargain? When all it costs you is a useless Ensign.
  • Mayweather switch. Okay, I thought it was clever, mostly because I had decided that he'd had his brain sucked. And I suppose Hoshi did a good enough job with the sniffle story about being friends with Mayweather, even though I don't exactly remember them being that close.
  • Trip delaying the computer with complaints about the service.
  • The living computer idea was a clever take on Evil Computers! - but how convenient that all the other victims had been there long enough to be brain dead so we don't feel bad for blowing them up.
  • They were pretty casual about blowing the station up. If they hadn't wasted all that time at the start wandering the halls, we might have heard from someone else that was snatched.

Best Lines

Phlox: "It might heal faster if you let me apply a few more Regulan blood worms."
Reed: "You are not putting any more of those things in my leg. You still haven't found the last one." 
Phlox: "It will come out on its own. Eventually."

Trip: "It was my idea, sir."
Archer: "I think Lt. Reed is old enough to make his own decisions." I think so, too. Stupid twits.

What Did I Think?

Good. Solid, but not particularly exciting.

Gravedancing

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 02/25/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which Amanda and Daniel are on TV.

What Happened

Sam watches for an opportunity to kill Amanda Greystone, but has to hold back when Duram shows up to search the mansion looking for information on Zoe. That comes up blank, so the cops turn their attention to her school.

Warned by Clarice, Keon clears his locker out just before the place is locked down. Spotting him slinking through the crowd, Lacy again tries to get him to help her get Zoe-A off of Caprica. Keon finally agrees to introduce her to "Barnabas."

Daniel goes on Sarno's talk show, hoping to repair the public relations damage to Greystone Industries. Amanda impulsively joins him and denies that Zoe was "corrupted" by the holo-bands. After admitting that he created an avatar of Zoe, Daniel says that Zoe hated the virtual worlds and felt a lack of a moral anchor - that's what made the STO appealing to her.

Greystone announces that his company will no longer profit from the holobands, winning Sarno's support. After the broadcast, Sam pretends to be a driver and gives Amanda a ride home. Ignoring Joseph's frantic text messages calling off the hit, Sam makes it very clear to Amanda that he's a killer who lost family in the bombing.

Back at Adama's, Sam strings Joe along for a bit, then admits that he let Amanda go.

The Good

  • Sam scaring the crap out of Amanda. That was a tense scene.
  • Grandma Ruth corrupting William. She's kind of scary.

The OMG Cute

  • Zoe and her little geek getting down.

The Bad

  • They are going to give Clarice something to do besides glare at people, right?
  • Daniel Greystone's little fuzz beneath the lip. Shave!

The Cliche

  • Coming to terms over motorcycle repair - Lacy and Keon. Yes, they are cute, but is fixing mechanical objects that much of a bonding experience? Really? Am I just missing out in life?

What Did I Think?

Naturally, Joe chickened out. We knew that was coming. He's not a bad guy. He's not necessarily a good guy, but he's not a bad guy.

Which brings up an interesting point: story-wise, there aren't any bad guys here. We are being invited to see Sam (the assassin) as kind of cool with his cute husband and fatherly way with William. And for all the talk, the only actual terrorist we've seen so far - one who has done anything - was a messed up kid.

There are plenty of realistically flawed characters who are making mistakes. There are characters who have been placed in opposition to each other. There are obvious potential villains, but that's not the same thing.

Minefield

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Wed, 02/24/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which Reed is nervous.

What Happened

Wandering around near a Class M planet, the ship runs into a couple of space mines, one of which attaches itself to the ship's hull and threatens to explode in the last few minutes of the show. Anxious to escape Archer's attempts at bonding with his senior staff, Reed volunteers to go outside and defuse the mine.

Reed immediately runs into trouble, however, when the mine spikes him to the hull plating. He can't cut his leg free without setting off the mine, and his pain is increased when Archer comes out to help him. His captain has decided that this is the perfect time to continue the conversation they were having at breakfast.

Realizing the lack of tension inherent in watching Archer torture one of his officers, the script has thoughtfully supplied another threat in the form of a Romulan ship. Ordered to leave immediately, Enterprise slowly makes its way out of the minefield, trying not to blow anything else up.

Archer attempts to defuse the mine, as he listens to Reed tell him a morbid story about his uncle's heroic demise. Their efforts fail, just as the Romulans issue a final ultimatum: go to warp, even if it means Reed's death, or they will open fire.

Refusing to sacrifice his crew-member, Archer works up a Plan B. They detach the hull plating and drift away from the ship, then Archer cuts the spike from Reed's leg and they huddle behind a shield as it explodes. Finally, Enterprise retrieves them and they warp away from the Romulans.

What We Learned

  • Reed slept well enough. He does not intend to eat standing up. He does not follow sports.
  • The Romulans have already developed a cloaking device.
  • Archer will let Reed know if he plans to go to warp.
  • Reed hasn't started following a sport since breakfast.
  • Reed came from a long line of Royal Navy men, but he's afraid of drowning, which put a slight damper on his career on the sea.
  • The Romulans will not tolerate espionage.
  • Reed prefers a burial at sea, if he's not completely vaporized.
  • There is no point in T'Pol questioning Archer's plan.
  • Archer's style of command does have its advantages.

What Did I Think?

A little slow, but with a nice monologue from Reed towards the end. His bizarre fascination with death and dying, however, is not the most attractive character trait.

Beneath You

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Tue, 02/23/2010

Buffy Episode Review

In which Spike has Issues.

What Happened

Spike wants to help Buffy figure out the appearance of a subterranean worm monster, but that whole not-being-sane thing gets in the way.

The Good

  • Xander has totally got the whole Father taking the Kids to School vibe going as he drives Buffy and Dawn to school.
  • Okay, I want to know what the Principal's up to. These corporal punishment jokes are getting a bit weird.
  • "We're not best friends anymore, so I'm not sharing." Buffy and Spike both trying to keep it together as they investigate the worm-thing. The insanity is complicating things, naturally, but I'd like to see them define the Spike/William split eventually.
  • "Bite me, Harris." Anya facing down the gang at the Bronze. She was really happy for Spike getting his soul... until he hit her, of course.
  • Spike's freak. He was trying to shut Anya up and snapped, then went ahead and started lashing out at whoever was around. The first sign that this season may not be any easier than the last.
  • "And sooner or later, Anya, that excuse stops working." A little unfair of Xander, but it's also a little unfair to Xander that Anya puts all her troubles on him.
  • The last scene with Spike revealing to Buffy that he has a soul now. The way the show ends is something you can only get away with when you've invested six or seven years in a character.

The Bad

  • The fact that all the potential never paid off?

The Cliche

  • "From beneath you, it devours." Buffy waking up from her dream. And why do they always look out the window when they make the dramatic announcement that Something's Coming?
  • Again, with Buffy hiding her demon boyfriend's return to town. Xander and Dawn manage not to freak too badly. Dawn's warning to Spike was too drawn out, but I could tell she meant it.

Best Lines

Giles: "The taxi's here. And in keeping with quaint old British custom, you are now expected to get into it." I'm going to miss Giles.

What Did I Think?

I hope that next week will include some scenes with Buffy explaining how she feels about what has happened to Spike. Sarah Michelle Gellar does a good job with standing there emoting as he talks, but the character of Buffy never seems to articulate her own feelings as often as she needs to make her sympathetic.

Watching: Caprica

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Mon, 02/22/2010

Gravedancing

I still don't have much use for Sarno the Talk Show Host, but watching Amanda and Daniel team up was so cute. Married couples on TV so often just exist in order to break up for one reason or another. I love the way they are writing their marriage as strong in spite of the tragedy.

And I'm not the only one scared by Grandma Adama, right?

Bushwhacked

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Mon, 02/22/2010

Firefly Episode Review

In which there is a spooky ship.

What Happened

The crew is involved in a hit and run in space, complete with a body flying off their windshield. They investigate the derelict ship the body belonged to, and find everyone onboard, except for one kid, brutally murdered by a group called the Reavers and strung up in a cargo bay. Mal displays some intelligence by ordering the obviously deranged kid drugged insensible and locked up, but still wants to clean the other ship's supplies out.

The delay gives an Alliance cruiser enough time to show up and take everyone prisoner. While Simon and River (wearing space-suits) hide out on the outer hull of the Serenity, the Alliance commander refuses to listen to Mal's warnings about the kid until said kid begins slaughtering people left and right.

The kid, now decked out as a Reaver, escapes to Serenity, just as River and Simon make it back inside. Mal convinces the commander to let him back onboard, just in time to stop the Reaver (but still keep the Alliance from spotting River and Simon). Seeing what the kid has become, the commander believes Mal's story about the Reavers and lets the crew go, unaware that Simon and River were ever there.

They Always...

  • ...find dead bodies and investigate to find out what happened. (The crew spots the ship.)
  • ...have one crewmember who speaks in sinister riddles. (River's "It's a ghost.")
  • ...have bad dreams and wake up screaming. (River.)
  • ...pick on the new guy. (Jayne tells Simon he has to put on a space-suit to go over to the other ship. Great look on his face when Kaylee tells him, "You had this on wrong.")
  • ...go wandering over to the ship alone. (River.)
  • ...open locked doors with bad things behind them. (Mal and Zoe go into the cargo hold.)
  • ...find some little girl's toy. (Zoe spots a doll in one of the boxes.)
  • ...hang people from the ceiling. (I guess it keeps them out of the way.)
  • ...attack in the middle of a call to retreat. (Jayne gets smacked down in the galley as he's talking to Mal.)
  • ...find someone quivering in the air ducts and take him with them. (Mal finds the kid in the air ducts.)
  • ...stay for the money. (Mal wants the other ship's supplies.)
  • ...say they can defuse the big bad bomb, then add, "I think." (Kaylee tells Mal, "At least if I mess up, it's not like you'll be able to yell at me.")
  • ...have a bigger ship. (The Alliance cruiser.)
  • ...have an engineer who protests when someone insults her ship. (Kaylee yells as they're being arrested.)
  • ...interrogate the crew. (Jayne's interrogation consists of him glaring mutely at the speechless commander.)
  • ...make a big deal about how scared they are about something, then have to go through it. (Simon's afraid of being out in space in nothing but a spacesuit, then has to hang on to the outside of the ship in a spacesuit.)
  • ...refuse to believe the warning. (The commander thinks Mal killed those passengers, then made up the story about the Reavers.)
  • ...refuse to believe the warning. (Simon doesn't realize River is sensing the Reaver.)
  • ...walk slowly through dark places, waiting for someone to jump out at them. (Mal leads the commander through the ship.)
  • ...let them go after they save the commander's life. (Mal snaps the Reaver's neck and the commander gives him his ship back.)

What Did I Think?

Well done, but not exactly surprising.

Carbon Creek

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Fri, 02/19/2010

Enterprise Episode Review

In which T'Pol tells a story and the origin of Velcro is revealed.

What Happened

Celebrating T'Pol's one-year anniversary, Archer and Trip listen as she tells him the story of how a Vulcan ship crash-landed on Earth in the 1950's.

The Good

  • "Vulcans don't take vacations." Only because Trip's little smile as she says that, like he knew what she would say.
  • Snazzy uniforms on the Vulcans.
  • "It might be tolerable if her son didn't insist on calling me 'Moe.'"
  • They're going for the Vulcans as emotionally controlled, instead of Vulcans have no emotions. I always liked that take on them much better.

The Bad

  • Why are there never any of the other senior officers at these dinners?

The Cliche

  • Why do they always put the female up as stakes in the pool game?
  • "Wasn't it an appropriate response?" After Nistral tells his girlfriend that their kiss was "pleasant."
  • Yeah, they got the kid the money he needed to go to college. I knew she'd do it, but they handled it in a low-key way, and I think he's cute for reading his way through the library.
  • Nistral wants to stay on Earth. Who didn't see that coming?

Best Lines

Trip: "This is like finding out Neil Armstrong wasn't the first man to walk on the moon."
T'Pol: "Maybe he wasn't." Now she's just messing with him.

What Did I Think?

Just once, however, I'd like to go sometime besides the 1950s or 60s. It's always either Donna Reed or Woodstock. On the other hand, Vulcans at Woodstock? Now might be fun, too.

Lessons

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Wed, 02/17/2010

Buffy Episode Review

In which we go back to the beginning.

What Did I Think?

It's so nice to be able to enjoy an episode of Buffy again.

That's not to say season six was bad. I appreciated on an intellectual level what the story was trying to say, and was pleasantly surprised that they didn't go the route of glamorizing Buffy and Spike's abusive relationship. Those episodes were hard to watch, however. The story was well-told and I cared what happened to the characters, so it was painful to watch them making bad decisions. And the season was relentless. It went on and on and no one was happy. I avoided almost every rerun all summer.

So "Lessons" was fun. Buffy was happy, and she and Dawn seemed to be getting along better. The scene at the start of Buffy and Dawn fighting the vamp gave me the fidgets. The vampire getting his foot stuck on a root and asking for help getting out of his grave, however? That is the kind of twisted humor I remember from the first season.

I argue that Buffy was giving Dawn a last minute reminder of how dangerous going to school on the Hellmouth can be, in preparation for her first day. Not that she was teaching Dawn how to be a Slayer.

Xander is also doing well, and he got a great line at the end, surveying the hole in the girl's room floor and commenting, "Hello contractor-y goodness." Anya, on the other hand, seems to be doing horribly. I am referring, of course, to that hideous blouse she was wearing. This after the round-collar shirt and checked capris of the season finale. What is up with the pilgrim chic? Tearing my eyes away from her outfit, it was kind of sad that, after growing distant from Xander and the others, Anya is also losing her demon friends.

Willow's first scene with Giles fell flat. While it's good that she has obviously been working over the summer to a) control her magic and b) deal with what she did, the dialogue was a bit vague. The couple of lines about how she expected Giles and the others to punish her were good; not so much the speeches about the connectedness of the world.

One of the things I always liked about the character was her enthusiasm, particularly about subjects that weren't necessarily interesting. Instead, Willow sounded dazed and resigned, as if she's being forced to learn about these things, not genuinely eager to learn. Not even the flower from Paraguay was exciting her much, though I suppose that the lame CGI effects may have sucked some of the fun out of it. The second scene, where she described feeling the Hellmouth open, was far more dynamic, visually and emotionally, with real tension in her voice and a final second zoom through the house, with Giles and Willow framed in the doorway.

Dawn did not annoy me, because she didn't whine. She even came up with a pretty good cover when the zombie faked a pencil at her eye. (Better than Buffy's, certainly.) The fact that she's made friends doesn't bother me, either, as long as they don't take too much attention away from established characters. The cast is getting pretty large, with a lot of juggling going on.

And Spike? Cool entrance, man. I was still going "nice" from Buffy's dive up and over and tuck and roll past the zombies, when she opened that door and there was Spike. I can see where he might have gone crazy. Buffy's reaction was balanced between holding back, remembering what happened between them, and sympathy due to the fact that he had obviously misplaced his mind. It was interesting that he didn't (or couldn't) tell her that he has his soul back. Guess they're saving that for another episode.

Which brings us to the Big Bad. I'm falling into the camp that thinks it's the First Evil introduced back in "Amends." She/He/It already took credit for bringing Angel back from Hell to torment him, and demonstrated It's shape-shifting abilities while It did. So, my question is, are we going to see more of It taking on the faces of all these villains, or will It finally choose a form we haven't met before? And does the fact that Buffy was the last face It took hint that we may finally find out more about the history of the Slayer?

All in all, this was a promising start to the season. After a year of misery, I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Reins of a Waterfall

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Fri, 02/12/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which Clarice gets yanked around by a sixteen year old and Adama discovers that having a killer in the family can be convinient.

What Happened

Clarice tries to get Lacy to open up about Zoe's avatar, but Lacy is suspicious of Clarice and refuses to spill. Later, she and Zoe-A meet in cyberspace and try to figure out how to get Zoe-A and her giant killer robot body to Gemanon. While they do that, the pair stumbles over Tamara's avatar and let her out of Daniel's big black box.

Amanda's very public confession of Zoe's guilt has sent Greystone's stock plummeting. He is harassed to go on a talk show and plead for forgiveness, but resists dragging what is left of Zoe's memory through the mud.

Joseph insists that Daniel show him Tamara's avatar again, but when they go into cyberspace, she is gone. Returning home, Joseph talk to his brother Sam, pointing out that Adama lost a wife and daughter in the blast, but Greystone only lost a daughter.

Even the score, he demands.

The Good

Lacy can so tell Clarice is up to no good. I loved her routine of "Can I have...?" as Clarice is desperately trying to bond and gush and share. Lacy is going to turn out to be an interesting character, I think.

And it's always nice to see Peter Wingfield, who was Methos on Highlander, even if he is playing a standard issue Police boss. (I have this theory about actors on Highlander being automatically cool, but I'm pretty sure that's just me.)

The Bad

As much as I do like Lacy, she doesn't really think that she's going to steal a giant killer robot and mail it to another planet? Right?

The Cliche

Ugh. TV Show Host and PR Flack. They had better come up with something more interesting for Daniel's little on-air visit than him breaking down on live television and winning everyone's hearts with how "real" he is.

What Did I Think?

Joseph targeting Amanda is an interesting twist. He doesn't do things by half measures, does he? What I find unique about his character is that they aren't going for the lone voice of goodness in a family of criminals routine with him. Adama is outwardly respectable, but he just as deep as his brother when you get down to it. What he really complains about isn't the immorality of their life - it's that he's not respected enough by their criminal overlords. Guys like that Judge have no qualms about putting him in his poor little peon place and that really burns.

We'll have to see if he's willing to really take out Amanda, or if he's going to get a sudden case of the morals, fuss about for most of the episode, then change his mind at the last second and let her go with a lecture about how that makes him a better person. Either way, I hope it comes down to a real decision, not some convenient plot shrug simply because it's the end of the episode.

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