tvthatdoesntsuck

REVIEW FOR

True Blood

Episode Four

“Escape from Dragon House”

Written by Brian Buckner

I may have spoken too soon about True Blood.  I’ve maintained that, while I enjoy the show, I didn’t think it was possible of greatness.  I’m not ready to shout out that I’ve seen the light, but I’m starting to question that sweeping statement… because the fourth episode was very, very good.

Oddly enough, it’s also the first episode Alan Ball didn’t write.  I don’t know what’s going on here, but maybe Alan just needed some space for other writers to help him develop the mood of the show.  Brian Buckner handles his episode way better than Alan handled the first three, packing the hour with dramatic twists and laughs aplenty.  The best part is Jason Stackhouse’s subplot, which deals with the… humongous consequences of him overdosing on V (vampire blood).  The rest of the episode continues the “Vampire murderer” arc that started in the pilot, and things are really heating up.  There are so many suspects, and the show really handles that tension nicely.  From Jason’s arrest in the beginning to the mind****ingly strange and revealing end, I was kept guessing.

Up until this point, I’ve been enjoying the show.  Now, I’m starting to wonder if I might start to love it.  Time will tell!

8/10

REVIEW FOR

FRINGE
Episode Three
“Ghost Network”
Written by J.R. Orci and David H. Goodman 

 I’m overwhelmed with meh.  This show is not going in a good direction at all.  The first episode was impressive, the second one was a mixed bag but had a really cool end… but this?  This episode wasn’t entertaining in any way.  Fringe seems to be on a steady downward slope, and it’s wearing my patience pretty thin.  There is a lot of great TV out there for me to be wasting time on a show that’s already staring to suck.  But I’ll be sticking it out, at least for the season, to see if JJ and co. can bounce back.

So why did this episode suck?  Pretty much the same reasons as the bad parts of the second one.  Only thing is, there was no saving grace ending.  The entire episode was just so dull.  The dialogue feel flat instead of popping, the characters seemed to be wooden exposition machines, other than the diner scene which was admittedly intriguing… but it went no where.  They seem to be aiming the larger arc of the series at the “bad corporation” angle, but Angel did that better in the first episode than they’ve managed to do in three.

The monster-of-the-week story was also fairly dull.  The script was dealing with interesting material–a man whose mind is connected to a sort of ghost network, enabling him to see horrific events before they happen–but the writers plodded through it, going through the motions instead of actually exploring what really makes such an idea interesting.

It really, really better be good this week.

2/10

REVIEW FOR

TRUE BLOOD
Episode Three
“Mine”
Written by Alan Ball 

Wow.  Alan Ball is really putting that work in.  He wrote and directed the pilot, and wrote the next two as well.  That is a lot of writing.  While the quality hasn’t been as high as the stuff the man has cranked out in the past, these episodes were certainly not bad.  The only thing is that there isn’t much different about them either.

This episode–and I’m sorry for being a week late–is very much the same as the other two.  It furthers the story, has interesting developments for the characters, and sets up some minorly interesting ideas about vampires and how they can function in human society.  However, it still isn’t going anywhere further than it’s already been.  This past episode confirmed the theory I came up with after watching the first two episodes.  This is a good show, with the potential to remain quite good for a long time–but now I’m pretty convinced that it just doesn’t have the right stuff to ever be great.  And that’s okay.  It’s still a lot better than anything else you’ll see throughout the week… but I did expect slightly more from Alan Ball.

 Even if it’s not great television, it certainly doesn’t suck.  It’s quite entertaining.  Anna Paquin continues to rock, Stephen Moyer (Bill) continues to be unimpressive, but Paquin is good enough to sell their love story.  The vampires as a whole range from frightening to frighteningly cheesy, but those kinks could/should be worked out down the line.  To balance out some of the awkward vampire nest scenes in this episode is Rutina Wesley (Tara) who really pulled a rabbit out of a hat in this episode.  She was sort of annoying in the previous two, but I thought she gave a very effective performance here.  Very layered.  Everyone else, other than the previously mentioned Moyer, was competent.

If I had one major complaint about the show so far–particularly this episode–would be that there is way too much sex.  I get it.  It’s a sexy show.  But in television, especially television with supernatural elements, they should try to maintain a level of believability, and some of this stuff is a supreme stretch.  Sex happens.  But it happened to nearly ever member of the cast within this hour, and I’m afraid they’re using that as a device to a) draw in the vampire-luster-afters who made the travesty of Moonlight seem like a masterpiece because of the wooden Alex Loughlin’s abs and b) use it as the device to forward the plot.  A plot device is fine, but don’t hinge your show on sex with you have strong enough characters to hinge it on them.

7/10

REVIEW FOR

THE OFFICE
Season Five
“Weight Loss”
Written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky

So far, what we’ve seen of this season of television has been pretty solid.  I haven’t seen a premiere that could be rated less than 7/10, and the majority ranked even higher.  But the cream of the crop so far was the show that, to me, is the real Best Comedy of the past few years.

The Office.

After a somewhat uneven–but still great–fourth season, The Office returns with the best premiere they’ve had thus far.  Note my serious-face when I say that this episode easily ranks up to previous classics such as “Casino Night” and “The Disposition.”  The over-the-topness is definitely put in check, in exchange for the classic office humor that made Season Two and Three so utterly fantastic.  It’s definitely the funniest episode we’ve seen in a while, but you know the thing that really sells The Office to me?  How, when you’re least expecting it, they catch you with an effortlessly done emotional scene.  And this episode certainly has a whopper in it.

I’d definitely recommend re-watching last season’s finale “Goodbye Toby” before checking this out.  A lot of the jokes and plot threads from that episode–such as Holly thinking Kevin is retarted, the Dwight/Angela/Andy triangle, and the Michael/Holly awkwardness–is continued in this one, and each of them has extreme comedic payoff.  If you’re looking to laugh until you cry in more ways than one, this is definitely an episode you’ll enjoy.

10/10 Classic.

REVIEW FOR

SUPERNATURAL
Season Four
“Are You There, God?  It’s Me Dean Winchester”
Written by Sera Gamble

To make up for being nearly a week late on the review for the Supernatural premiere, I’ve got the review for the second episode here and now, not 24 hours after it aired.  And don’t think I forgot Fringe and True Blood… or The Office for that matter.  Those reviews will be up by Monday, latest.  But let’s get down to business.

This episode had to walk a thin line.  In the premiere, it was revealed that Castiel, “an angel of the Lord” was the one who dragged Dean out of Hell.  Because God has a plan for him.  In a series that never before touched on religion, I was very interested to see how they could handle it.  Either they’d support religion and lose viewers or they’d condemn religion and lose viewers… or they could go a third route.  A nearly impossible route.  And that would be to include the idea of Christianity and religious figures without making a moral statement about it either way.  And this episode successfully walks that line.  While Dean is definitely skeptical of God, Sam’s faith balances that out nicely–and, thankfully, the religious aspect seems to be function as an element of plot, not a tool the writers are using to forward any agenda.  I think that aspect of it was handled very nicely, and adds a bit of a foreboding sense about this series… because it is going down an apocalyptic path, where angels and demons, and perhaps God and Lucifer (if things go sour) duke it out on Earth.  It’s the most epic story we’ve seen from Supernatural so far, and really makes things interesting.

There is also a standalone plot here.  In her effort to bring about the apocalypse, there are sixty six seals Lillith needs to open.  And one of them has to do with the her releasing the spirits of people that hunters have failed to save.  These spirits haunt and, you know, kill hunters for the length of this episode, and naturally chase after Dean, Sam, and Bobby, none of whom have a perfect track record.  I won’t reveal who we see in this episode, but there are at least three familiarly ghosty figures that show up.  This show has always been great with continuity, and this is no different.  They constantly bring back characters from the past that make you go, “Oh I remember him!”  The show demonstrates such tight writing with immense knowledge of the history of the Winchester’s long journey that I can’t help but think it’s one of the best written shows currently airing.

It’s not as great an episode as “Lazarus Rising,” but it’s still really good.  I would have liked to see a bit more of their reactions to the ghosts and a little less of a bullet-fest in the end.  But those are all small quibbles.  To sum it up quickly, it’s simply another good installment that forwards the story in ways I never could have seen coming.

8/10

Soooo yeah I suck.  Sorry for the delay.  I know I promised this yesterday, but due to my own creative endeavors and this Shakespearean thing called school, I couldn’t deliver the goods.  But here it is!

REVIEW FOR

SUPERNATURAL
Season Four
“Lazarus Rising”
Written by Eric Kripke

After the crazy, emotional, bloody, houndy, hellish finale last season, Supernatural returns with a big duh.  The resurrection of Dean.  It kind of had to happen.  Just to cover my naked ers, that is not a spoiler.  Not only is the episode called Lazarus rising, not only was it revealled that Dean would be resurrected in the description of the episode… but it’s a friggin episode of Supernatural.  You can’t have Buffy without Buffy, you can’t have 24 without Jack, and you can’t have Supernatural without BOTH Dean and Sam.  So yeah, Dean’s back.  We all knew it.  It’s how we get there and what happens after that counts, right?

And oh is it going to be a crazy ride.  The episode is emotional, dark, and hilarious–true to everything Supernatural has become over the past three years.  Each season premiere has been so different.  From the terrifying pilot, to the somber and downplayed second season premiere, to the flashy third season premiere, Kripke and co. have always mixed it up for us, and this is no different.  It’s brimming with emotion and, more than any premiere before it, it sets up a lot of stuff that will surely make up the larger arc of the season.  Sam has been up to some stuff Dean would not like while he was gone, and both of them are going to have to deal with that.  Ruby is back in new duds, which I’ll get to.  And the most intriguing bit behind all of this is Dean’s resurrection… and it’s certainly an unexpected twist.  I can safely say I have no idea how it is going to play out, and I’m thrilled.

On the acting side of things, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) are fantastic as always.  On the not so fantastic side of things, we’ve got our old demon friend Ruby.  Her body was taken over by Lilith last season, so she is no longer being played by the wonderful, quick-tongued Katie Cassidy.  Nope, she’s been replaced by Genevieve Cortese who gives an overwhelmingly dull, tired, blegh performance.  I was very much looking forward to see a different actress’s take on Ruby, and I couldn’t have been more disappointed in that aspect.  It’s not really as important as the rest of the show, which is nearly perfect, from the effects, to the writing, to the direction, to the acting, but it is sort of a letdown to know that Ruby won’t have that stage-stealing force-of-nature quality any more.

 Overall, great episode.  Probably the best Supernatural premiere yet.  It’s tied with the Heroes episode for best premiere of the year so far.

9/10

REVIEW FOR

HEROES
Season Three: Episode One & Two
“The Second Coming” & “The Butterfly Effect”
Written by Tim Kring

I should be reviewing the season premiere of Supernatural in this entry, and I swear I will tomorrow.  Only thing is, so much happened in the two hour Heroes premiere that I’m sort of worried I’d give a sucky review if I didn’t do it while the thing was fresh.

The first hour, which I’m not counting toward the overall grade, was a sort of recap hour.  Well, half recap, half red carpet.  After the Emmy travesty, no one really needed to see more red carpet, and the hour wouldn’t have hurt from a bit more recap.  Thing is, so much happened in the two hour chuck that followed, that recapping it all was essential.  If I wasn’t fresh off a Season Two recap, I might be WTFing instead of praising.  But oh, praise I’ma gonna.

The two hour “The Butterfly Effect” episode was completely awesome.  It was as strong as any episode from Season One, and furthers the story in ways I couldn’t have expected in a second.  I have my doubts about some things and my gasms about others, but that all evened out in the end to a really, really enjoyable watch.  Hiro and Ando are back together in another buddy flick kinda arc, only to have their dynamic ripped apart again when Hiro, after a trip to the future, discovers that Ando will acquire powers and betray him.  Not only that, but also a new villain with the power of super speed is in town, and it seems she can go toe-to-toe with Hiro’s power.

And speaking of villains, this volume of the series is appropriately named… erm, Villains.  The captives of Level 5 escape, all thanks to Sylar trying to kill everyone’s favorite character from Season Two, and things are looking miiiiighty bad.  There are a lot of good actors in the mix, including Francis Capra (Weevil from Veronica Mars).  It’s amazing to see Capra and Kristen Bell act together again, and I can’t wait until we see more of both of them.

Claire’s plot is considerably better than her storyline in Season Two, and she has an amazing scene that really ties into the first time we saw her.  Everything definitely seems to be coming together for this show.  While I liked the second season, a lot of people didn’t and the people behind Heroesclearly recognized it because they are going all outwith this season.  Peter’s storyline is really interesting–I had a job explaining it to a couple of friends who watched with me–and probably the most intriguing piece of the puzzle, and I can’t wait to see where that is going.  Mohinder and Maya have some interesting stuff, namely sideboob, which almost makes Maya not an annoying character.  Almost.

A lot of risks were taken in these episodes, because the mythology is tampered with, and we see old characters lose vital things, gain abilities…. and we’re definitely teased with some of What is really real? kinda stuff, especially the scenes with Nathan and, less so, Nikki.

But my only major complaint about Heroes this year (so far)?  Why can’t anyonedie?  Why does everyone come back?  Should I be expecting Charlie, Isaac, and Simone to pop up and start dancing around? Buuuuut overall, great start.  The only premiere I’ve seen this year that can measure up is Supernatural’s “Lazarus Rising,” which you’ll read about tomorrow.

9/10

Three hours of my life.  Gone.  Forever.

 30 Rock–or, as I call it, Scripted SNL–took home a lot of awards, most of them which belonged to other shows.  Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Tina Fey, but over The Office?  Over Pushing Daisies?  I don’t care what the category.  Be it acting, writing, or direction, you just don’t do that.

Also, I love how they dragged out the Worst Emmy Hosts of All Time (otherwise known as Outstanding Host for a Reality Show or Reality Competition), taking time away from pretty much everything.  Keifer Sutherland was extremely classy in his efforts to give time to the actual award winners, though even Jack Bauer’s best try couldn’t make the Emmys actually devote time to the award the viewers at home actually cared about.  Thousands of people voted in the Most Dramatic TV Moment of All Time, and the award–due to time–wasn’t even shown.  They didn’t even give one of those “Ooooh, look, they won!” blip.  Instead, a bunch of Waitwhothef–kisthats can have crazy long monologues that take away from the actual meat of the show.

I was glad to see Recount get a lot of love, but the thing that actually made me realize that 10% of the people behind the Emmys aren’t Satan was the fact that Mad Men really cleaned up as well.  Matthew Weiner, Mad Men’s showrunner, was extremely gracious…. and it never hurts to see Christina Hendricks all dolled up.  Pushing Daisies also got some nice attention.  And really, who can hate on the homages to TV history?

But other than a few sprinklings of good here and there, it was a waste of an evening.  I hope that, next year, they can actually put their heads together and give us a ceremony that lives up to the name Emmy Awards.

NEXT TIME:
Review of the season premiere of SUPERNATURAL

TO COME:
Review of EPISODE THREE of TRUE BLOOD
Review of the season premiere of HEROES (tomorrow night, don’t miss it!)
Review of SEASON THREE of Supernatural (DVD)

REVIEW FOR

FRINGE
Episode Two
“The Same Old Story”
Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, J.J. Abrams

 As far as consistency, this is definitely a step down from the premiere.   The second half was considerably better, but there a bunch of major flaws throughout.  There were a few scattered good scenes and even one surprisingly great scene, but a lot of the episode ranges from average to bad.  I’ll list it up for ya.

 THE BAD
+ I’m shocked by how much this episode talked down to the audience.  Without fail, this happens in every expository scene.  One of the characters states something they’re going to do or a piece of history that anyone with ears and something between said ears can grasp.  Someone in the room says something along the lines of “So let me get this straight, we’re (insert dumbed down version of what was just said)” or “I don’t understand” which leads to the original character reciting the dumbed down version.  This surprised me, coming from Abrams, because the dude works on Lost.  C’mon.  If we can remember four years of crazy Lost continuity, give the viewers the benefit of the doubt and assume we’re not blithering idiots.
2. The first five minutes of the show was a rehashing, through contrived dialogue, of all the events that went down in the first episode.  Why?  Why not just do a quick Previously on… like everyone else.  I felt like this episode was tailored specifically for those that missed out on the pilot.  But again… Previously ons take care of that.
3. The first half of the show was a straight police procedural.  Things got interesting once they made with the retina scanning, but everything before that felt like I was watching the Law half of a Law and Order episode, which is nooooo good.

THE MEDIOCRE
1. Still not convinced by Anna Torv’s performance as Olivia Dunham.  She gives a particularly weak performance for her dramatic sequences, and unfortunately for her, this show is quite dramatic.  She’s passable, because she’s pretty much got generally angry, generally sad, and neutral.  But, for a lead actress, her performance is still oddly dry and one-dimensional.
2. The overall writing in this episode seemed to be lacking.  Not nearly as many jokes or well-thought-out scenes as the first episode, which makes me worried that they went all out on the pilot to hook viewers and then half-assed it for this one.

THE GOOD/GREAT
1. The final scene is fantastic.  And I’m not talking about the inexplicable, almost impossible-to-catch glimpse we get in the end, but the scene between Peter and Walter Bishop.  It was touching, odd, and really gave me hope that this episode was just a fluke, and that the meat of the series would be closer to the character driven nature of the first episode.  Wonderful, wonderful scene.
2. Speaking of the Bishops, Walter (played by John Noble) remains the most interesting character.  Noble’s performance is so textured, going from funny, to heartbreaking, to despicable in a moment’s time.  Even in the most meh scenes of this episode, he was interesting to watch.

Let’s hope it’s better next time.

5/10

REVIEW FOR

TRUE BLOOD
Episode Two
“The First Taste”
Written by Alan Ball  

I saw the pilot episode of Dead Like Me for the first time this weekend, thanks to TV on DVD, so excuse me if I seem a bit underwhelmed by the rest of the television I review this week.  That sometimes happens to a dude when he sees the best first episode of any show he’s ever seen.

But on we go with the topic of the night.  True Blood, episode two.

 Definitely a step up from the premiere.  Not a full number rating step up, but things are definitely starting to fall into place.  All of the characters were immediately recognizable, and the interactions between them set up some nice conflicts that I know–knowing Ball’s writing–are going to have some nice, emotional, bittersweet (or maybe just bitter) climaxes.

Anna Paquin’s portrayal of Sookie Stackhouse is still definitely the reason most viewers will return.  She’s sexy, she’s quirky, and she really gives a nice pep to the character that I didn’t expect.  On the otherhand, Bill the vampire is mucho drama, almost to the melo, and I’m not really convinced that the dude is a good actor.  Nothing about him jumps out at me as bad, except for the way he says “Sookie.”  “Suhkeh.”  Sounds like a Dewey Cox accent at times.  Also, why end two episode in a row with Sookie in a dire situation out of the blue?  Everyone knows the car is going to survive its trip over the cliff.  Other than a few nits I’m picking with old Billy Boy, the cast seems to be pretty solid.

I like the show.  It has the potential to be really good, but I’m not sure this one has greatness in it.  I’ve seen everything Alan Ball has touched, and while this is entertaining, it doesn’t quite measure up.  I’ll definitely keep watching, because it’s entertaining, but those expecting the brilliance of Six Feet Under might walk away scratching their chins. 

 7/10