FlashForward: Scary Monsters and Super Creeps

Lloyd: "You're her."
Mark: "Not yet."

Much of this episode was a great big tease. The opener hinted that we were going to find out Stuff about Simon, but all we got was a couple of brief scenes. And I kept thinking that Janis getting shot was going to prove or disprove that the flashforwards could be changed by making her incapable of getting pregnant, but all we got was an improbable. I don't have any ill will toward Janis as a character, but couldn't they have given us an hysterectomy?

Supernatural: The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

Sam: "I hope I get that kind of kick when I'm his age. Like either of us will live that long."

I laughed, and it kept me going until the end; it was even complex and a bit poignant. But something about this episode didn't work for me.

Smallville: Crossfire

Are you ready for a shock? I liked this episode.

I had thought they were setting up love triangle vibes with Oliver again, and voila. And Lois turned him down! I really liked that they didn't go there again. And they finally went there; Clark kissed Lois. Yes, it should have happened, like, three years ago, but at least it finally did. So yay.

A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

I just finished A Touch of Dead: Sookie Stackhouse, the Complete Stories by Charlaine Harris. The book contains five previously published short stories set the Southern Vampire universe. My brief description and review below has minimal spoilers.

"Fairy Dust." Claudine and Claude ask Sookie to read minds in order to solve the murder of their triplet sister, Claudette. Takes place after Dead to the World.

"Dracula Night." It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown but with Eric, who goes nuts trying to lure the real Dracula to Fangtasia on Dracula Night -- one of the two holidays that vampires celebrate. Takes place before Dead as a Doornail.

"One Word Answer." About cousin Hadley. Takes place after Dead as a Doornail.

"Lucky." Sookie and Amelia do their too lucky insurance agent Greg Aubert a favor. Takes place after All Together Dead.

"Gift Wrap." Sookie is alone and lonely on Christmas Eve, when something interesting and unexpected happens to her. Takes place before Dead and Gone.

All of the stories are fun to read, which I expected. I definitely liked "Dracula Night" the best because of my love for Eric and Pam. "Gift Wrap" is probably my second favorite. It's also worth noting that Sookie meets three continuing characters in the books for the first time, not in the books but in these stories: Claude, Mr. Cataliades, and the Queen of Louisiana. And "One Word Answer" in particular fills in a noticeable plot hole in one of the books: I always thought the existence of Hadley sort of came in out of nowhere, and I wouldn't have thought so if I'd read the short story first.

I'm planning to re-read the series before the next book comes out in the spring (and before the third season begins), and I'm definitely going to re-read these stories when I do, in their intended order.

Billie

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"The Waters of Mars" and a Doctor Who movie?

A couple of snippets of news on Doctor Who. Firstly, "The Waters of Mars" is to air on November 15th, 2009 (in the UK). I'm not sure why it's taken them so long to tell us, but there we go.

Secondly -- and this is a little older news but I thought I'd mention it anyway -- there's a script in development for a Doctor Who movie. That's not to say a movie is confirmed. But they seem to be pushing for one. Let's hope it's an improvement on the last one.

NewsFlash:Chuck Gets 6 more Episodes!

From The Hollywood Reporter comes the news that Chuck gets an order for 6 more episodes, for a total of 19. This comes at the price of no further episodes for the other NBC show, Trauma. They also report that Chuck will likely be back in January.

Heroes: Strange Attractors

I thought there were a couple of genuinely cool moments in this week's episode. Possibly three.

Firstly, even though it was blindingly obvious to everyone but Matt Parkman that Sylar was tricking him from the very first sip of beer, it was still fun to see Sylar outwit Matt and take over his body. The idea of Sylar with Janice even evoked a tiny shudder. And how funny is it (as well as humiliating for Matt) that Janice thought Sylar was amazing in bed?

Smallville: Roulette

It was really hard for me to get involved with this one because (1) they have done this Saw-like sort of plot too many times, and (2) I never quite believed that Oliver could be suicidal, because he's just not the type of guy who falls apart like that.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

"We didn’t want to be loved. We wanted to be treated fairly.”

Greatness is subjective and as much as I feel Battlestar Galactica: The Plan was great, I am finding it hard to find the right way to praise it. So I’ll start with everything I disliked. First off, a few words of caution: if you haven’t seen the series through the finale I wouldn’t watch this, yet. You will be lost from the first minute. Second, this wasn’t an entirely an original movie: in a way this was a very long flashback, including scenes lifted directly from season one. Additionally there wasn’t a really tight narrative since it jumped forwards in time fairly frequently. Yet it was powerful, compelling, and answered a lot of questions.

Dexter: Dirty Harry

Dexter: "I may not know who shot my sister or why her life was spared, but I do know I won't be returning the favor."

This season has been about Dexter dealing with his new and unexpected role of husband and father -- so it shouldn't have surprised me that Trinity is a family man, too. Will it make a difference to Dexter? Probably not. But it might make Trinity a bit harder to take out.

Stargate Universe: Light

I liked this one. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it. I’m guessing it may spur comments that the show is too slow-paced and that nothing happens. Honestly, very little did happen in this episode. They realized they couldn’t fix the problem, so they tried to save as many people as they could and the others resigned themselves to their fate. In the other Stargates, the entire hour would have been spent desperately trying to find a way to solve the problem, probably failing several times, and then Carter or McKay would pull a miracle out of their bums at the last minute (the typical House formula). For this series, they decided instead to focus on how the various characters faced and coped with the desperate situation, and I really liked the change of pace.

FlashForward: Gimme Some Truth

“It sounds like we consulted the Psychic Network for clues.”

Episode Five seems like a good time to sit back and take stock. Compelling pseudo-scientific puzzle? Check. Attractive international cast? Check. Willingness to play with standard narrative flow? Check. Dominic Monaghan? Check back next week.

Dollhouse: Belonging

Priya: "You disgust me. Nothing in this world could ever make me love you."

Best episode of the series. So far, anyway.

Glee: Mash Up

Puck: "It was a message from God - Rachel was a hot Jew and the good lord wanted me to get into her pants."

Welcome back, Fun. I missed you last week.

True Blood poll results: Yes, it's all about Eric

True Blood was the talk of the summer. It certainly kept me talking. Mostly about Alexander Skarsgard's character, Eric. How popular is Eric with the fans? Inquiring minds wanted to know. Okay, I wanted to know.

So I posted a "discussion poll" on my True Blood Yahoo list during the month of October. I asked ten questions, and specified that people confine their responses to the series only. Twenty-five people posted responses. Some were a surprise; some weren't. And there were lots of great comments; I included a few below.

NewsFlash: Dollhouse completely screwed

According to Ausiello, Dollhouse is going to sit out November sweeps. The rest of the thirteen will air back to back in December, instead. So that's it, then. (Thanks for the tip, Patryk.) And in the same news cycle, I just learned that Vampire Diaries has gotten a full season. That makes sense.

Heroes: Tabula Rasa

Funhouse mirrors. Let's go for the really obvious symbolism, shall we?

I actually didn't hate the magic disappearing carnival this week. Sylar confronting his past in high def and pissing off Edgar the knife lunatic was rather fun. Robert Knepper (whose character name I keep forgetting -- okay, I looked it up, it's Sullivan) thinks he's going to make Sylar his very own super enforcer, but I'm betting Sylar will eventually start seeing the carnival as an all you can eat buffet.

Dexter: Dex Takes a Holiday

Kruger: "Look at you. What kind of father does this? What kind of husband?"
Dexter: "Not the kind that kills his family."

What a terrific episode. And it even had a shocker of an ending.

Smallville: Echo

Didn't Smallville already do Saw?

Okay, I'm going to try to rein in my unhappiness with Smallville and talk about what they did good. Toyman, for one. The guy can act, and he's a very convincing villain, so bringing him back was smart. Metallo, for two; they're clearly planning to bring back Brian Austin Green and his glowing green breastplate, and that's fine with me.

NewsFlash: Joss Whedon to direct Glee

According to Ausiello over at ew.com, Joss Whedon has agreed to direct an episode of Glee. The episode will come in the later half of the season, and so will not conflict with Dollhouse filming. In the words of Xander: "I will see your woo, and raise you a hoo."

Stargate: Universe: Darkness

This was a fairly interesting episode, but I’m still not sure how I feel about the show overall. I sort of want to get to know the characters better, but I’m beginning to feel like the crisis-of-the-week may start to wear thin after a while. Last week it was no air. This week it is no power. Next week looks like no power plus collision course with a star (which we know won’t happen, so it is just a question of how they get out of it). I think the week after that is titled ‘Water,’ so you can guess what the crisis is going to be. Maybe I’m just having a hard time adjusting from “adventure show” to “survival show.” In general, I’m completely fine with the survival theme, I’m just not sure it is working for me in the Stargate ‘verse. Yet. I probably just need more time for the characters to grow on me. I’m certainly not ready to stop watching.

Glee: Throwdown

Will: "I will destroy you."
Sue: "I'm about to vomit down your back."

I had a hard time reviewing this episode, because I had such mixed reactions to it. It was chockful of music, including both a powerful Finn/Rachel pairing on "No Air" (one of my favorite songs), and a ridiculous and over-produced version of "Hate On Me." I found the closing rendition of "Keep Holding On" to be touching, supportive, sweet, and timely... and really, really annoying, thanks to the more-egregious-than-ever Reach to Nowhere choreography.

Fringe: Dream Logic

“You’re gonna be fine.”

If I’ve learned nothing else from this show, I’ve learned one thing: never trust a research scientist. Walter, William Bell, a few of the baddies from last season, and now our Dr.Jekyll/Mr. Hyde of sleep studies—all evil. In this case, it turns out that mind control isn’t just about getting the controlled to do what you want. It provides a huge rush for the controller, something like LSD or mescaline or…well, you name it.

Supernatural: I Believe the Children are our Future

Dean: "I wish Dad had lied to us."
Sam: "Me, too."

They went from rubber chickens and whoopee cushions to killing children and the advent of the Antichrist in the space of one episode. That's what Supernatural does best, though, which is one of the reasons why I love it.

FlashForward: Black Swan

Ned: "I was rocking leather pants. I've never rocked leather pants. It's always been one of my top three fears, along with clowns and escalators."

It was inevitable that the possibility of divine intervention would be explored, and they did it quite nicely. Was the blackout caused by God? How could that possibly be? No, it was Lloyd Simcoe and Dominic Monaghan, and Josie's crush just arrived! So what if he sounded distressingly diabolical? He's finally here!

Heroes: Hysterical Blindness

The carnival family of misfit superheroes has failed to capture my interest up to this point, and now it's never going to happen. Brigadoon? Really? They just lost me. Seriously. And I'm not just making a cute pun there.

Dexter: Blinded by the Light

Dexter: "This neighborhood's gonna kill me."

Our alienated antihero isn't fitting in out there in the 'burbs. Is anyone surprised?

NewsFlashFoward: ABC Orders Entire Season

Great news for all us nascent FlashForward fans. ABC has just announced that they have picked up FlashForward for an entire season. It even OutPerformed Survivor.

Good news? Boring news? Do you like the show? Do you think that we, too, can call ourselves Flans? (Or is that treading on sacred ground?)

Dollhouse: Belle Chose

Ivy: "Paul is going to take you on a little spree."
Echo: "Shopping or killing? Joke!"

We've come a long way from "Eleanor Penn," haven't we?

Smallville: Rabid

It's all about the zombies these days, isn't it? But it's not easy pulling off a convincing zombie attack. Supernatural did zombies last week, and a whole lot better. What if Smallville and Supernatural were still airing together? That could have been embarrassing.

Stargate: Universe: Air, Part 3

I’m not sure if we’ll continue with regular reviews for this show yet, but here are a few thoughts on Part 3 of the series opener.

Glee: Vitamin D

"Glee is about what's in your heart, not what's coursing through your veins."

Wow. I freaking loved "Vitamin D". First of all, they did an awesome Bon Jovi cover - and as a Jersey girl, I am programmed from elementary school to worship them. Both mashups were pure genius, and the episode was a riot, from Finn's drool to Sue's journal. And can I just say, Terri totally owned this episode. I know we're not supposed to like her, but damn if I don't sympathize with her.

Fringe: Momentum Deferred

“In any search for knowledge, there are unintended consequences. Victims, you might say.”

William Bell says that “a storm is coming.” A Katrina-scale metaphor-storm of interdimensional proportions. On one side we have the super-soldiers or shape-changers, part human, part machine, all evil. On the other side, we have Olivia, Peter and Walter. On a third side, we have William Bell and Massive Dynamics. Mr. Bell, et. al., wants to recruit Olivia to fight on their side, but Olivia has some reasonable reservations about joining up with such morally gray dimension-hoppers with a history of atrocious acts and a general disregard for human life.

Supernatural: Fallen Idols

Sam: "This was supposed to be a fresh start, Dean."
Dean: "Well, this is about as fresh as it gets."

Poor Sam researched his ass off, cut up dead bodies, wrestled with Gandhi, and beheaded Paris Hilton. And this was a light week.

FlashForward: 137 Sekunden

“The future’s what all of us are living for now. It’s what we’re living by.”

Wow! 59 minutes into this episode, I was debating giving it a meager two Boogie Shoes. The last minute actually made me yelp. What just happened?

The X-Files: Lazarus

Case: The disappearance and erratic behavior of Special Agent Jack Willis following a near death experience.
Destination: Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland areas

After being shot during an attempted bank robbery takedown, Scully’s former flame, Special Agent Jack Willis, comes back from the brink of death a changed man. Mulder believes he’s the victim of psychic transference and is now inhabited by the consciousness of the deceased robber, Warren Dupre. Scully prefers to rationalize Jack’s strange behavior in psychological rather than supernatural terms, believing her friend was so obsessed with the case that he’s experiencing a post-trauma psychosis.

Heroes: Acceptance

Hiro: "You mean you copied your butt, anyway? Why would you do that?"

Wow, was this one good.

Dexter: Remains to Be Seen

Harry: "You've got a family to support and people to dismember. You're spinning too many plates, Dexter."

Why doesn't Dexter just call in sick, go to his apartment, and pass out?

Stargate: Universe: Air, Parts 1 and 2

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Stargate: Universe when it was first announced. The timing of the announcement certainly made it seem like Stargate: Atlantis --- a beloved favorite --- was getting bumped off in favor of something edgier and younger skewing, which didn’t engender automatic support. Quite frankly, I’m not sure how edgy I really want my Stargate adventures to be. Sure, it would be nice to occasionally have long-term character development and consequences for choices and actions, but I’m mostly in it for likable characters, a fun team dynamic, and interesting action-adventure stories --- not a dark, introspective character piece about the human condition in extreme circumstances, a la Battlestar Galactica. So, I was initially wary of this new show and wasn’t sure I would even watch it.

Fringe: Fracture

“We go through our lives unaware. The enemy is among us.”

Bodies turned into bombs. A government divided into warring factions. Olivia’s continued injuries, and Peter’s continued transformation. Even the watermelon didn’t make it. This week’s Fringe is titled ‘Fracture,’ and it’s all about things that should be whole that are broken in to pieces. The real question is, can they be put back together again?

Dollhouse: Instinct

Topher: "Perhaps triggering lactation was a bridge too far. Live and learn."

Joss Whedon managed to find a whole new way to creep me out.

Smallville: Metallo

[This "brief comment" thing is working for me. Hope it's working for you guys.]

"Since when did you become a living light bright?"

How incredibly convenient that Emil works in the emergency room. But he has a terrible bedside manner. Yeah, just tell the guy outright, "They removed your heart." Couldn't he have softened it, perhaps, or worked up to it? "Hey, I noticed that someone performed surgery on your chest. You may need to brace yourself for some bad news, sir."

Supernatural: The End

Dean: "So you're his vessel? Lucifer's wearing you to the prom?"

Is this the future as it absolutely will be, or the future that Zachariah wanted Dean to see?

FlashForward: White to Play

"What's worse than causing worldwide devastation?"
"Causing it twice."

Do you think there were enough toy and game references in this episode? A chess reference for a title, kids playing Blackout in the schoolyard -- even the cupcakes. Appropriate for an episode centered around Mark and Olivia's daughter Charlie, and the mystery of her blackout. And of course, the hanging, burned and dismembered dolls were one great big honking metaphor for what someone just did to nearly everyone on earth.

Glee: The Rhodes Not Taken

Will: "Do you think we can win Regionals without Rachel?"
Emma: "Remember the Jamaican bobsled team?"

In this week's episode, "The Rhodes Not Taken", newly minted Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth guest starred as April, a former Glee Club superstar who's become a drunk has-been squatting in foreclosed homes. And let me tell you - that lady won an Emmy for a reason. Not only can she sing, she completely stole the show - a show that was probably the best episode of Glee I've seen yet.

Heroes: Ink

[I refuse to do full reviews of Heroes until it starts blowing me away again. Until then... here is my episode stream of consciousness.]

Claire's dorm room looks a lot like Buffy and Willow's. Gretchen must have ulterior motives; you can just feel it. Unfortunately, Claire and Gretchen are no Buffy and Willow, and I'm pre-bored with this upcoming plot line.

(I was in a restaurant just like that this past weekend. I got the brown stuff, and my cousin got the yellow stuff.)