Stargate Universe: Hope

... in which Chloe makes an unexpected connection through the communication stones.

Star Trek: The Gamesters of Triskelion

Kirk: "I must say I've never seen a top sergeant that looked like you."

Harnesses, whips, nudity, disembodied brains. How can I possibly complain? (Well, I can. I'm a critic. It's my job. Or it would be if I were getting paid for this.)

Eureka: Blink

... in which Carter investigates a hit-and-run accident that Taggart believes to be the work of Gigantopithicus Americinas (Big Foot), but turns out to be the result of excessive speed.

Fringe: Bloodline

“Nothing is set in stone.”

It would be easy to dismiss this episode as nothing more than “advancing the plot,” whatever that utterly meaningless phrase means. To do so, however, would be to ignore the lovely character moments, structural risks, and tantalizing hints of “Bloodline.”

Stargate Universe: Alliances

... in which Wray and Greer trade places with a senator and scientist from Earth just as the Lucian Alliance attacks Homeworld Command.

What Are You Doing During the Hiatus?

When April, with its showers sweet with fruit,
Hath pierced the drought of March to the root,
And bathed every vein in such liquor,
That we must scramble to find the clicker—

NewsFlash: Fringe Renewed for Fourth Season

Great news, Fringe Fans: Fox has renewed Fringe for a fourth season of 22 episodes.

Maybe this means my greatest wish will be granted, and Walter will discover the most important dimension of all: the world of nothing but shrimp.

Fringe: Stowaway

“Destiny, fate. Jung called it synchronicity. The interconnectedness of apparently unrelated events. Don’t you think it’s curious we meet a woman unable to die at the exact moment my consciousness returns from the grave?”

The Theme of the Week is fate. The question of the week is trickier—how much fate happens despite (or because of) our heroes’ actions, and how much does William Bell make happen? Is he really the focus of all this synchronicity?

Doctor Who: Space and Time (Comic Relief Special)

Amy: “Okay kids, this is where it gets complicated.”

Sound familiar? It should do. It was the same line Amy used in last year's season finale. This year, instead of a Children in Need special, we got a Comic Relief special. Same idea, same station, roughly the same length, just a different charity. Same wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey goodness, though. And two Amy Ponds! Be still my beating heart.

Star Trek: The Trouble with Tribbles

Kirk: "You should sell an instruction manual with this."
Jones: "If I did, what would happen to man's search for knowledge?"

Other episodes are probably considered to be the "best" of classic Trek, but "The Trouble with Tribbles" is probably the most beloved. It is by far the funniest, with an exceptionally witty script and clever plot. And it even manages to give us valid science fiction in the form of an encapsulated ecological disaster, the consequences of interfering with the balance of nature, rabbits in Australia, and so on.

Being Human: I Want You Back (From the Dead)

Nora: "If you're not letting me in, then what's the point?"

I've been trying to resist getting sucked into this show. Too bad, though. It's happened.

NewsFlash: Being Human (US) renewed

The new American SyFy reboot/take-off/whatever of the UK hit Being Human has already gotten renewed for a second season.

Glee: Original Song

The Regionals competition provides the backdrop for Kurt and Blaine’s budding romance. Quinn’s cruelty allows Rachel to channel her pain into songwriting, and the rest of New Directions also try their hands at it.

Stargate Universe: Twin Destinies

... in which an attempt to gate back to Earth by dialing while Destiny recharges inside a star doesn’t go according to plan.

Being Human: The Wolf-Shaped Bullet

Mitchell: "Thank you, all of you. You made me human."

What an exceptional season finale. I watched with five friends, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. (Apart from Sue, but she's menopausal.) As far as emotional punches go, tonight's episode was brutal. At one point, it looked as though Whithouse would press the reset button. He didn't, and I applaud him for that. Unfortunately, we're now a cast member down -- unless, as well as entering houses unbidden, the Old Ones know how to bring people back from the dead. I'm clutching at straws, I know.

Farscape: Vitas Mortis

D’Argo attends a dying holy woman during her last rites, but when she uses the ritual to make herself young again, Moya and Pilot begin experiencing the effects of advanced aging, posing a threat to their lives and those of everyone on board.

Fringe: Os

“It’s about trust. So it’s a great game, if two people are playing.”

For the past five episodes or so, I’ve had the same thought after each airing: How many viewers will call this the last straw, the final push, the reason to rant and rave and, ultimately, walk away? Fringe continues to push us past our comfort zone, not just in terms of scientific possibilities but also in the intersection between the personal and the scientific, with interesting results.

Glee: Sexy

“Sex. It’s just like hugging. Only wetter.”

…and this week’s Glee was just like shagging. Only better. Well, maybe that’s a small exaggeration, but Kurt’s sex education and Santana’s romantic realization provided strong emotional scenes that meshed well with the return of Holly Holiday and her own brand of kerazy sex and kerazy information.

Eureka: Dr. Nobel

... in which Fargo and Spencer accidentally activate the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

Being Human: Though the Heavens Fall

Herrick: “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

With Herrick back from his sojourn in la-la land, the body count tonight was freakishly high. Standard penultimate episode etiquette dictates that, come the closing credits, at least one main character must be either dead, seemingly dead or dying. Tonight, Toby Whithouse chose Nina as his sacrificial lamb. I was so shocked by what happened to her that I actually tweeted Sinead Keenan to express my concern. In case anyone's wondering, Sinead's fine. Nina... less so.

Stargate Universe: Deliverance

... in which Destiny’s crew must find a way to escape the automated drone attack.

Smallville: Scion

Tess: "I'm saving him from an encore performance of Daddy Dearest."

I had a hard time making myself write about this one, probably because there were a lot of comic book references I wasn't getting. (Teen Titans? Teenage Superman clones?)

Star Trek: Wolf in the Fold

Jaris: "How could any man do such monstrous things?"

Why are there so many science fiction stories about Jack the Ripper? The obvious answer is that he was never caught, and that he was so incredibly evil and vicious that he seemed inhuman. Actually, I think most of us find serial killers so alien that we'd prefer that they weren't human. With the possible exception of Dexter.

Farscape: Mind the Baby

While Moya attempts to find Talyn in the asteroid field, her scattered crew members cope with the aftermath of the attempted escape from Scorpius’s command carrier.

Supernatural: ...And Then There Were None

Rufus: "If anything crawls out of anybody, somebody step on it."

Just a bit heavier than the last episode, huh?

Eureka: Invincible

... in which Carl Carlson --- pioneer in the field of cellular regeneration and extreme germophobe --- accidentally blows up his lab, then discovers he has become indestructible.

Being Human: Daddy Ghoul

George Senior: “I came back from the dead for you, Ruth. How many men can manage that?"

Tonight's episode saw George and Nina take a break from the increasingly bizarre goings on at Honolulu Heights, and take a road trip back home. This was essentially George's "coming out" episode. Not that anyone noticed. After meeting George's parents, it's easy to see why he is the way he is. Yet, his family's prosaism is what makes them so special. It also probably explains why he left.

Smallville: Fortune

Clark: "Are those Emil's pants?"

In last week's review, I mentioned that I wouldn't mind if they deep-sixed the Darkseid and just gave us some old, fun Smallville with no big bad. And voila.

Newsflash: Hulu's Best in Show

Hulu has put together a March Madness-style bracket at their site to determine the Best Show for this past year.

Hulu - Best in Show

Several Billie Doux community favorites are in competition, including Fringe, Supernatural, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, Dexter, Glee, and Chuck (many in direct first-round competition, alas). The brackets are fairly diverse and laid out in a way that should lead to some interesting final match ups. So head on over and vote for your favorites!

Fringe: Subject 13

“Your imagination can take you anywhere you want to go.”

Episodes like “Subject 13” have a particular fragile beauty, like an original poem inserted into a novel. They create a sense of pause—which always makes us wonder what is coming, and how bad it is that we have to catch our breath first—and add emotional resonance even though they might not contribute too much to the overall plot or mythology.