tvthatdoesntsuck

REVIEW FOR

Pushing Daisies
Season Two
Episode Nine
“The Legend of Merle McQuoddy”
Written by Dara Resnik Creasey & Chad Gomez Creasey
Directed by Lawrence Twilling

Again, at the last moment, Pushing Daisies is finally showing its chops.  I thought it might have just been my realization that there are only a few episodes left, but it turns out that everyone I’ve been talking to agrees… the last two episodes have been the best of the series.  There is an urgency to the writing that just wasn’t there before, and that was the only avenue that was really lacking.

This episode follows the same structure as last week’s “Comfort Food.”  Two of the characters take on the mystery of the week while the other two deal with the major plot of the season.  Hilarity–of course–ensues.

Emerson and Olive team up, and man do they have chemistry.  Olive gets Emerson to open up in a way that he has never opened up before which in turns leads Olive to letting it slip to Emerson that she still loves Ned.  Watching the two slowly bond in the eccentric Pushing Daisieswas is great, and really warms your heart like a good slice of pie.  The mystery is interesting, if a bit simple, but the true enjoyment comes from the character interaction and dialogue that the mystery inspires.  “Shut the a capella up” comes to mind.

The arc of the season continues to get a hell of a lot more interesting, as Charles Charles’s resurrection gives Ned a lot more trouble than expected.  The tone of it goes from “protective father” to “kung fu zombie fight” to “possible villain?” as the two clash over Charlotte’s future.  The pie/cake comparison was such a nice touch, too.

Oh, also, the little kid from Weedsis in this episode.  I’ve yet to see anything past season two, so it was pretty hilarious to see little Shane all gawky and voice cracky.

8/10

The Guild
Season Two
Episode Three
“Quest Accepted”
Written by Felicia Day
Directed by Sean Becker

As promised earlier by Felicia Day, the guildies venture into new territory this season.  This episode features Codex helping Zaboo move into Vork’s house, but to do so, they must first brave the dangerous path that leads there.  Yup, they walk through the ghetto.  Most of the comedy here revolves around Vork’s eccentricity, and it’s more than enough to keep this episode entertaining.  I can’t wait to see how Vork and Zaboo play off of each other, because really… Vork’s obsession with his grandfather and Zaboo talking about drinking “cog nack” is hilarious.

Also, Felicia Day is especially terrific in this episode.  I was unsure about this season before, but now it seems like things are coming together.  Felicia gives a strong opening monologue, and shows some great facial expressions in the final scene when… well, you’ll see.  It’s nothing you can guess.

While this all still seems to be setting up the plot, it’s funny and quirky like old school The Guild.  Can’t wait for next week!

8/10

REVIEW FOR

Heroes
Season Three
Episode Twelve
“Our Father”
Written by Adam Armus & Kay Foster
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc

It’s nearing that time.  This season of Heroes is divided into two volumes.  Episodes 1-13 make up the “Villains” arc, with 14-25 making up “Fugitives.”  So, with this, the penultimate episode of the “Villains” arc, there was of course a lot of build-up and and even more pay off.  Plots that I thought would never work are paid off in crazy insane ways.  I might get looked down upon this, because pretty much all other TV fans seem to be thinking Heroes as a whole sucked… and, admittedly, this season has been quite off… but this episode was f**king fantastic.  I’ll take this episode plot by plot.

+ SYLAR’S REDEMPTION… OR NOT SO MUCH:  So, Sylar killed Elle last week.  His arc this season has seemed so weird, and such odd choices were made… but the writers tie it all together nicely in this episode.  Sylar becomes a man with a mission, and he’s not afraid to use his old villainous ways to get it.  He’s embraced who he is, but is no longer the black-and-white cardboard cut-out villain of Season One.  He’s got history, and depth now, and his participation in the final conflict with the BIG BAD of this arc, Arthur Petrelli, really makes all the strangeness of his character arc worth it.

+ HIRO IS TEN:  I didn’t like this idea at all.  I thought there was no way it could ever tie into the arc… but then, it did.  And they also made it significant for Hiro’s entire history.  When he takes Claire back into the past to stop the catalyst from being put into her body, he runs into his mother, who is on her death bed but still able to talk.  They have an emotional scene, which is easily one of the most touching moments in the history of the series.  I don’t know how quickly Hiro was disposed of by Arthur after his exchange with his mother, which sort of negated what he proved to her about how far he’d come as a man, but I understand the decision…  This plot would have been perfect if not for the way it ended, but I’ll reserve judgement when I see how it’s resolved.

+ Matt, Daphne, and Ando:  They discover the new Isaac Mendez sketchbook (in a really badass way), which is a bit cringe worthy, as they’ve used Mendez as a plot device over and over.  But the exhanges between the characters have improved incredibly.  You can see the writers trying to impress here, trying to prove that they’re as good as they used to be.  And, this week, they did a great job.

Those were the major plots that were saved this week.  There was also some cool military stuff and an awesome showdown.  Definitely the best episode of the season.

9/10

Kinda being an understatement.  Without True Blood, not only is Sunday about ten times less interesting… but there is also nothing to blog about.  So I figure I’ll put together a list of movies I’ve seen this year.  In order of GREAT to SUCK.  And this is only theater-seen movies, because I don’t even know how many of the f***ing things I’ve seen on DVD this year.

Alright.  Let’s get cracking.

Some, I’ll explain.  Some, I won’t.

1. The Dark Knight - Self explanatory.

2. Wall-E - For my full review, click here.

3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - A rom-com for guys, written by the ever creative Jason Segel, who is a God among men.  For my full review, click here.

4. Pineapple Express - Not as much heart as FSM, but as far as humor, it’s the funniest comedy since Superbad.  Also, freakin’ Seth Rogen and James Franco.  C’mon.  Made of win.

5. Ghost Town - Highly entertaining.

6. Role Models - Trailer sucked, but surprisingly, this was a damn, damn good movie.  Plus, the song in the end?  Yup.  Go watch it.

7. Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist - The rare film that’s better than the book.  I wish the beginning hadn’t tried to be Juno 2, which was too high a goal for this movie to shoot for, but it was still good.  Not fantastic, but a very entertaining “night out” film.  Plus, Michael Cera.  And bonus points for Kat Dennings, seeing as I worship at the Altar O’ Dennings.

8. Twilight - Stop the Buffy comparisons.  Yes, Buffy is better.  Obviously.  But see, Buffy is better than everything, so it’s not really a fair comparison.  Bella isn’t the passive girl from the books, and Kristen Stewart really injects life into the character.  Very worth your movie ticket, if you can drown out the fan girl screams.

9. The Happening - Dedicated a whole post to the movie early in this blog’s life.  If I had to give it an award, perhaps I’d call it the most… misunderstood movie of the year.  Eh.  Everyone but me, Chris (star of Whatz Good Studios), Antwon (co-star of WGS), and Roger Ebert seemed to hate it.  At least we’ve got the Thumber on our side.

10. Hancock - Solid superhero flick.  Like Iron Man, it went a bit sour in the middle, but unlike Iron Man, the final scenes were good enough for the film to bounce back.  Plus, Will Smith is a force of nature.  It’s not I Am Legend, but it is a good action movie.

11. Cloverfield - Bring a barf bag if you get motion sickness… but don’t worry.  It’s worth the puke.

12. Zach and Miri Make a Porno - It’s not Kevin Smith’s best, and it’s obviously not Rogen’s best choice, but it’s entertaining.  It had potential to be great, because… I mean… Seth Rogen and Kevin Smith!  But in the end, it was just… pretty good.  The humor was fine, but the emotion wasn’t handled well at al.

13. The Spiderwick Chronicles - Nice take on the books.  Good family flick.

14. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - Horrible first half, solid second half.  If you like the first film and can stomach about an hour of bad, maybe you will like this.

15. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - The racial politics are a bit heavy handed, but the humor is still there, and the relationship stuff is way better than the first film.  Overall, it’s about a tie, but certain aspects of this do outshine “White Castle.”  What brings this down, though, is lack of “White Castle.”

16. The Ruins - Not a bad horror film.  Not truly scary, but the concept was interesting, and it did have Jena Malone.

17. Drillbit Taylor - Rogen was hired to write this off an outline, and you can tell it isn’t his idea.  It’s very Superbad Lite, but Superbad Lite still manages to get some solid chuckles.  This will probably end up in the bargain bin… but hell, I’d buy the sucker for five dollars.  Six, though?  That’s pushing it.

18. Prince Caspian - And the list takes a turn for the worse.  If you liked the first film… nah, sorry, can’t even.  Bad movie.  Drawn out plot, horrible writing, acting is the same stuff, themes are the same stuff.  They pretty much take an epically long time to do absolutely nothing new.

19. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan! - Like The Dark Knight, the ranking of this movie is self-explanatory.  If you want, you can find the review on my Amazon page… but do you really need to?

20. Indian Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull - Can’t believe I saw 21 films in theatres this year.  This was the only one I fell asleep on, but that was admittedly not for so long.  Only about fifteen minutes.  I can safely say that not only is this movie boring, it’s also cheesy.  And drivel.  That’s an appropriate word.  It’s drivel.

21. Wanted - Worst film of the year.  Plot holes the size of Christina Hendrick’s bust, horrible dialogue, and overall badness.  It’s one of the worst there is.  Laughably (literally, ask the audience I sat with, they were rolling) bad.  What the f*** have I done lately?  Seen a damn bad movie.  Thanks Wanted.

No review today, and posts from now until mid-January will probably be a bit more news or movie centric than anything else, due to the mid-season break.  What I do have for you is some news on the DVD release of a show I’ve followed since it’s premiere, The Ex-List.

Elizabeth Reaser, who starred as Bella, spoke to Ausiello recently, and revealed that thirteen episodes of the series have been filmed.  In fact, a number of those episodes were filmed post cancellation, which allowed the creative team to change the scripts and come up with a way to give the series a satisfactory end.  According to Reaser, who recently appeared in the worth-a-trip-to-the-theater-fo’-sho movie Twilight, the show ends with Bella “figur[ing] out which ex is the one… [It’s] someone we met in an earlier episode.”

It’s a series I’ll definitely be copping on DVD when it comes out.  I’m thrilled to hear that The Ex-List was in the unusual situation where they hadn’t completed their order before cancellation.  I’m now considering that the silver lining to the cancellation of the show, because if you look at a show like Wonderfalls, something very similar happened there.  Due to early cancellation, Bryan Fuller (poor guys always does tend to get cancelled) was able to tie all of the plotlines together in time for an awesome end for DVD sales.  Now that show is one of the best cult series you can find.  Maybe something similar will happen to The Ex-List, though admittedly, it isn’t really Wonderfalls status.  What it is, though, is television that definitely doesn’t suck.

REVIEW FOR

Pushing Daisies
Season Two
Episode Eight
“Comfort Food”
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by Peter Lauer

This really would happen, wouldn’t it?

The week after Pushing Daisiesgets the official axe, the week after I decided that the cancellation didn’t sadden me, the week after the show seemed to prove that it was in a permanent rut… Douglas Petrie hops on writing duties and helms the best episode of Pushing Daisies… ever.

The mystery of the week is funny, and ties into the character arcs better than ever before.  While investigating the death-via-deep-frying of a man at a baking competition, Ned teams up with Olive, who comes to a realization about her feelings for him.  The story is sweet, sad, hilarious, and just really, really well written.  Also, as a treat for long time Fuller fans, Marianne Marie Beetle, a supporting character from Bryan Fuller’s best work, Wonderfalls, guest stars in this episode.  If that wasn’t enough, the episode gets a bit of a musical twist when Olive belts out “Eternal Flame.”  And damn Olive looks good in this episode.

The b-plot of the episode is as strong as the mystery-of-the-week.  The seasonal story arc advances dramatically in this episode.  Ned’s reawakening of Chuck’s father yields unpredictable and disturbing results.  In nice dichotomy to the Olive and Ned team, Chuck and Emerson make an incredibly unlikely but oh-so-interesting duo.  People die, people undie, and plot twists unfold in this incredibly risky, bittersweet episode.

9/10

—————–

The Office
Season Five
Episode Nine
“The Surpluss”
Written by Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg
Directed by Paul Feig

Another pretty good episode.  This one features Michael dealing with a surplus (that is, of course, after he asks Oscar to explain what a surplus is as if he were a five year old) in the office.  At the same time, Dwight takes Andy and Angela on a tour of Schrute Farms… and tricks Angela into marrying him on the spot.  I thought that scene was a bit predictable, but it still worked well for the episode.  Dwight is a lot like Michael in that he always does the wrong thing, messing up situations where it seems like he will, indeed, get the girl.

There was a lot of good stuff at work in this episode, especially when Hank comes up to help them with the surplus situation.  What I also liked about this episode was that it actually felt like something that could happen in a office, which is increasingly rare in this show.

So far, while the season has been good enough, it hasn’t really lived up to the bar that the premiere set up for them.

7/10

Fringe
Season One
Episode Ten
“Safe”
Written by Jason Cahill & David H. Goodman
Directed by Michael Zinberg

Sorry for not posting last night guys.  I was in the home stretch of writing my play, Inpregnito, and I just couldn’t stop.  Also, it was the birthday of Chris Halton, who is the star of my webseries Whatz Good Studios, so it was a doubly busy day.  I did get the chance to catch Fringe on my DVR, and the show is continuing to impress me a lot.  The last few episodes have all been very good.  The show went from promising pilot to uh-oh, this might suck to this is pretty good to something I genuinely look forward to every week.  The strongest aspects of the show just keep getting stronger (I mean, Walter calling the little toy “This gentleman” was such a hilarious, subtle moment that I found delightful), and the things that used to irk me are now grating a lot less on my nerves.  Anna Torv, who plays Olivia Dunham, started out the series by giving pretty consistently awful performances.  But, this week, for the first time, I felt that she connected with her character.  She convinced me, which gives me hope that she might be lead-material.

The mystery of this week was also particularly good.  A gang of robbers who use Walter-esque technology that allows them to phase through matter leads the gang to discover some long forgotten aspects of Walter’s past.  The continuity in this episode is the tightest it has ever been, tying together the Massive Dynamics plot with Olivia’s mind-bond with John.  They also bring back the dude from the foreign prison, who plays a major role in the episode, and–it seems like–the larger arc of the season.  Also, we get a few more hints about Peter’s mysterious relationship with Walter’s experiments as a child, which has been teased since the second episode.

Overall, another impressive installment.

8/10

FEW BITS OF NEWS

+ TOMORROW, I’ll be doing a double shot review of THE OFFICE and PUSHING DAISIES.

+ Sorry to you SANCTUARY fans (if there are any of you), but I have to drop the show.  I DVRed a bunch of the episodes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to watch them.  The last episode I saw was impressive, but the ones that led up to it were exceptionally bad.  So bad that the stench was literally palpable.  Like sulfur.  Like egg-fart.  But yeah, I hate to say “I’ll stick with the show” and then not do it, but the lack of interest was just so overwhelming that I have to say… the verdict is in.  For the first time in tvthatdoesntsuck history, we’re putting the smack down on a show:

SANCTUARY SUCKS.

The Guild
Season Two
Episode Two
“Block’d”
Written by Felicia Day
Directed by Sean Becker

This episode is almost the opposite of the premiere.  2×01, Link the Loot, had a bunch of really great moments that saved an otherwise inconsistent episode.  This time, there are no defining moments or jaw dropping twists, but the episode is consistently funny.  The plot moves forward in unexpected ways, and the Codex and Zaboo banter is as best as it’s ever been.  After the almost-kiss gets blocked, Zaboo begins to let his sexual frustration send him a bit over the edge, which leads to his hilarious plan to seduce Codex by “dropping” eight gigs of ram down his pants.  Felicia Day’s knowledge of the gaming world is put to great use here, as she writes dialogue filled with gaming references that, in context, even non-gamers could understand.  That’s some good writin’.

A few things I’m still not liking, though… Bladez and Tink have always been the weakest of the cast, butthe characters usually survived because they got some awesome lines.  But when Codex, Zaboo, Vork, and Clara all get the best dialogue, the skill lackage of the actors who play Bladez and Tink becomes all too apparent.  Also, as happy as I am for the lovely Felicia Day that her show has sponsorship… they’re bleeping the show now?  C’mon.  While I’m quite happy about the show being filmed with professional, high quality cameras this time around, I can’t help but miss the old format.

To end this review on a positive note, I hear that THE GUILD will be airing weekly now, which is totally awesome.  If you want to see tonight’s episode, and I think you do because it’s pretty entertaining, follow the linkage.

7/10

REVIEW FOR

Heroes
Season Three
Episode Eleven
“The Eclipse Part II”
Written by Aron Eli Coleite & Joe Pokaski
Directed by Holly Dale

THE GOOD
 + It seemed as if Heroes was going to do the whole Everyone dies, but wait, no one did!thing they’ve become infamous and loathed for.  However, this episode, which teases the death of two main characters, actually ends with the death of a fan favorite.  I sort of knew it was coming, as the show couldn’t keep the actress for much longer, as she’s quickly becoming an A-lister, but it still hurt a bit to see it happen.  And that’s good.  Finally, the show seems to be taking some risks.
+ The dichotomy between the hospital scene with Claire and Noah’s fight with Sylar was fantastic, and probably one of the best scenes this season.
+ Hiro’s I’m ten plot is actually… oddly enough, paying off nicely.
+ Badass Mohinder snaps into action once he is cured.  Also, a tragic but predictable twist made it easier to connect with the character again.
+ Seth Green.  C’mon, dude.

THE BAD
+ The plot with the Haitian and his brother… why?
+ Why was the scene with Matt and Daphne and the scarecrow so… flat?  I mean, not an ounce of emotion in the writing or performances.  Absolutely no resonance.
+ How long are we expected to believe an eclipse lasts?

THE (REALLY) UGLY
+ Other than Sylar’s realization in the end and the revelation of Daphne’s condition, the eclipse and loss of powers didn’t really do anything.  Either of these events could have been done otherwise, without giving us a three episode (It’s Comingcounts) sidebar in what is already the most unfocused volume of the series.  The last two episodes could have been an epic, series changing two-parter in the vein of Buffy’s Surprise and Innocence, but instead, it was kind of a waste.  There is so much they could have done, but the two parter consisted of mostly shock tactics, odd plot twists, and character development that could have been done without the weird plot twist of loss of powers.
+ Not technically something bad about the episode, but I can’t believe she’s gone!

5/10

REVIEW FOR

Pushing Daisies
Season Two
Episode Seven
“Robbing Hood”
Written by Jim Danger Gray
Directed by Paul Shapiro

The facts were these: Pushing Daisies was cancelled last week.  ABC will probably air the rest of this thirteen episode season, which ends on a cliffhanger, but after that, our Wednesday nights with the Pie Maker will be a thing of the past.  A lot of people are enraged at this cancellation, but I’m actually okay with it.  Pushing Daisies was good, but it was also the least impressive piece of Bryan Fuller’s body of work.  With the second season, the show has become sort of monotonous, and I can’t help but think I’d prefer to see Fuller putting his nose to an entirely different grindstone, as much as I’ll miss the show when its gone.

Ironically, this week’s episode was quite good.  The mystery, involving an old rich man and his Anna Nicole Smith type wife, was probably the best one this season, and the emotional B plot going on was also interesting.  Dwight, friend of both Chuck and Ned’s father, continues to scheme after coming to the realization that the thought-to-be-deceased-by-her-aunts Chuck is actually alive and kicking… well, not so much kicking as working at a pie joint, but you get the picture.  Ned and Chuck go back and forth on the idea of bringing Chuck’s father back to life for one minute to get information about Dwight, which makes for a nice cliff hanger in the end.

Some funny one-liners and the most interesting mystery of the week this season made this an episode that I mostly enjoyed, but still… I’m more excited to see what Fuller comes up with next.

7/10