Once Upon a Time: That Still Small Voice

“I wish, I wish, but nothing changes. I wish I was better at wishing!”

Back in my review of the pilot, Patricia commented how these fairy tales were based not on the traditional tales, but on Disney versions. It made perfect sense then, especially considering ABC belongs to the House of Mouse, and it makes more sense now. If you don’t consider the song Jiminy Cricket sings in the animation, “When You Wish upon a Star”, the scene when Archie does it looks like a Deus ex Machina. Besides many, many references, we didn’t get much this week, though.

Eureka: The Story of O2

...in which the town celebrates “Space Week” with a rocket race around the moon, and Jo investigates the cause of Zane’s “sky cruiser” crash. Meanwhile, Carter visits Zoe at Harvard.

Glee: I Kissed a Girl

Back at the end of Season Two, I was rather frustrated that Santana hadn’t come out. In terms of plot build-up, there was a lot of baking, but no cookies. Now I’ve eaten them, I’m missing the cookie dough...

The Walking Dead: Pretty Much Dead Already

Dale: “I may not have what it takes to last for long, but that’s okay. At least I can say that when the world goes to shit, I didn’t let it take me down with it.”

Merlin: Lancelot du Lac

“My name is Lancelot, my lady. I am yours to command.”

Wow! If ever proof was needed that this isn't the same silly little show it was four years ago then I think this episode was it. This was an absolutely fantastic episode, the best of season. And considering how strong season four has been so far, that is really saying something.

Ringer: That's What You Get for Trying to Kill Me

"Big sister's watching you."

Regular readers will probably be aware that I've had a complicated relationship with Ringer. There were times when I've thought it was genuinely absorbing and fun, then there were other times when I got entirely bored by the damn show. But as Ringer wraps up the first half of its season, I'm left with that general feeling that it's not exactly terrible. I don't think Ringer will ever be high art, and I don't even think the show is going to hit that stride of soapy awesomeness I really wish it would pursue but, for what it is, the show is fine. There were parts of this episode that really frustrated me, but it had a drive to it that I found weirdly entertaining.

Justified: Riverbrook

"Did you miss my heart on purpose?"

Not as strong as the pilot, but it was definitely quirky and fun to watch.

Star Trek: Spectre of the Gun

"It's just bits and pieces. It's incomplete."

Definitely an entry in the bizarre category. You gotta give them credit for a creative leap, dropping the officers of a starship into a minimalist theater recreation of the old West.

Doctor Who: Carnival of Monsters

“The generators were built by the old Eternity Perpetual company. They were designed to last forever; that's why the company went bankrupt.”

Ahhhh, Robert Holmes. You magnificent bastard, how I have missed you. You've been gone far too long. Don't make a habit of it.

Dexter: Get Gellar

Dexter: "Travis is proving to be my penance."

Only Dexter would go alone into a dark hole after a serial killer.

Fringe: Wallflower

“You understand right now how important it is to be seen.”

In one of the most famous passages of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, geist encounters another, and the interchange between the two results in geist evolving into a more mature being through the encounter and the struggle for dominance it creates.* No man, as Donne says, is an island. We must be recognized to recognize ourselves. We must recognize others in order to understand our relation to them and to the world we inhabit.

The Walking Dead: Secrets

I’m sorry this review is late, but I’ve been suffering with a nasty flu that I hope is not the precursor to zombisism. If I don’t post next week you might want to get out your survival gear. The fever was pretty high.

Carl: “Everything’s food for something else.”

Breaking Bad: Pilot

"It's easy money. 'Til we catch you."

Chemistry, Walter White tells his students, is the study of change, of growth, decay and transformation. Walt's life indeed changes drastically in the course of this pilot.

Justified: Fire in the Hole

"Guess I just never thought of myself as an angry man."

Apparently, you can go home again. It just tends to be problematic.

American Horror Story: Rubber Man

"I'm not crazy, I'm just pregnant."

Happy Thanksgiving! And what better way to celebrate than with a bunch of graphic sexual violence! Ugh.

Community: Documentary Filmmaking: Redux

“Some flies are too awesome for the wall.”

Usually it is not a good sign when a show starts repeating itself. Community already had fun parodying documentaries last season with 'Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking'. But that episode was specifically about poking fun at sitcoms that use documentary style, such as The Office, Parks and Recreation and Modern Family. This episode, however, was a clever deconstruction of behind the scenes making of documentaries, resulting in one of the best episodes Community has ever done. In your face, NBC!

Farscape: The Way We Weren't

When Chiana discovers a video revealing that Aeryn was involved in the slaughter of Moya’s original pilot, Pilot and Aeryn are forced to confront some ugly and painful truths from their pasts.

Dexter: Sin of Omission

Dexter: "I took advantage of you."
Deb: "Yeah! You did!"

Dexter's religious quest continued on its demented path with a blood-soaked, heavily annotated Bible, confession of his murders to a priest with Alzheimer's, and absolution. Just telling the truth to a priest and being absolved seemed to mean something to Dexter. I'm not sure what. I'd think that Brother Sam actually was good for Dexter. Except for his sin of omission.

Supernatural: How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters

Dean: "I think you pissed off my sandwich."

Was this a Thanksgiving episode? It featured an emphasis on family with the three of them on an actual hunting trip, childhood reminiscences, heart-to-heart talks, and an evil turducken, which is certainly the Frankenstein monster version of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Let Us Give Thanks…

Lots of great news in TV Land this week! It’s almost enough to make us feel better about Community’s mid-season hiatus. (Well, not really.) Click your way through to find a list of the Top Five things we here at billiedoux.com are thankful for. Minor casting spoilers ahoy!

5. Jason Dohring will guest star on Supernatural in mid-January. (The link reveals his role.)

4. Amy Acker will guest star on Grimm in early 2012. (Same deal with the link.)

3. Sherlock is coming back! Stateside, May 6th.

2. Downton Abbey is coming back! Stateside, January 8th.

1. Arrested Development is coming back on Netflix!

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part One

"No measure of time with you will be long enough. But we'll start with forever."

Romantic, creepy, occasionally funny (intentionally and unintentionally), and ultimately enjoyable, Breaking Dawn Part 1 was an interesting exercise in how sometimes the source material shouldn't always be followed. I don't really know how to review this movie without bring up some of the major plot points. So if you don't want to be spoiled, I'll say that it was a faithful adaption, for good or bad. It didn't add anything new to the franchise, and won't sway anyone from their opinion of the series. If you like the books and movies, you'll probably like this one. If you don't... then you won't.

Major Spoilers Below!

The Walking Dead: Chupacabra

Maggie: “You weren’t supposed to see this.”

Well, it’s nice to be right... or is it? I haven’t read the comic books, so my conjecture that Hershel and family had some hidden zombies was just that. I can see that the secret in the barn is not going to be popular with our little gang of survivors and the pet zombies explain a lot -- why Hershel just wants them to leave, why Maggie was upset when T-dog killed the well zombie, and the rule against guns on the property.

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

“So, you’re my replacements, a dandy and a clown.”

I've always had a hard time loving these multi-Doctor stories. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the Doctors bicker and argue with himself as much as the next guy. But the circumstances that bring the various Doctors together always seem contrived and the stories themselves just never live up to expectations.

American Horror Story: Open House

"Every pregnant woman worries there's a little devil in them."

I sometimes wonder what Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy and Denis O'Hare all think about this show, in light of the scene where two of them stood around while Conroy's sexy doppelganger chewed a guy's penis off.

Glee: Mash Off

Smear campaigns and insults cause karmic retribution for teachers and students alike this week on Glee.

Once Upon a Time: The Price of Gold

Snow: "Do you realize what an inspiration you are to everyone?"
Cinderella: "All I did was get married."
Snow: "All you did was show that anyone can change her life."

This is the first time Once Upon a Time outright contradicts fairy tale canon. I was a little bothered at first, mostly because the Fairy Godmother could very well be wearing a red shirt; but later I was bothered because the show implied we should be rooting for the wrong character.

Ringer: Shut Up and Eat Your Bologna

"You've completely transformed your entire life."

Unfortunately, I feel like I'm at that point where Ringer has lost me. I still watch the show, and I'll tune in and review for the rest of the season, but my general interest in the characters and the storylines has drifted, and I don't think I'm ever gonna be completely drawn in again. I bring this up because "Shut Up and Eat Your Bologna" featured a ton of movement in several story arcs, but I was never particularly moved myself. When that sort of thing occurs, you can't help but feel that the show's general tone just doesn't work for you.

Eureka: All the Rage

...in which GD becomes an increasingly hostile work environment. Meanwhile, Grant and Henry attempt to modify the bridge device.

Community: Studies in Modern Movement

“He tweeted it!!!!!”

Hands up who still has Seal's 'Kiss From a Rose' stuck in their head?

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

[This is a review of the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, on which the television series True Blood is based. Although I don't reveal whodunit, this review contains a ton of spoilers. You have been warned!]

"I raised my head from his neck, and a wave of dark delight carried me out to sea. This was pretty exotic stuff for a telepathic barmaid from northern Louisiana."

Dexter: Nebraska

Brian: "How do you feel?"
Dexter: "Like anything is possible."

On the surface, this episode was about a road trip to Nebraska. But it was actually more of a side trip inside Dexter's mind. And it was just fascinating.

Farscape: Crackers Don't Matter

To avoid detection by Scorpius and those who’ve seen his “wanted” beacons, the crew hires a creature named T’raltixx to outfit Moya with a cloaking technology. During the journey to the transformation yards on his home planet, the crew is exposed to pulsar light that induces paranoia and distrust, causing them to turn on one another.

Fringe: And Those We’ve Left Behind

“He is a fringe event.”

The Golden Ratio, or phi, finds mathematical symmetry in nature and likely-unplanned symmetry in art. From the shells of the nautilus to Dalí paintings and rabbit reproduction, phi describes the relationship of spatial objects, mathematical figures—not quite life, the universe, and everything, but quite nearly.

Supernatural: Season 7, Time for a Wedding!

Dean: "Shouldn't she have asked for my permission or something?"
Sam: "You mean you want her to ask for my hand?"

Obsessed fans pay big bucks to go to conventions, where they are herded about like goats and wait in lines for many, many hours just to talk to their favorite actors for ten seconds. It isn't much of a surprise that Becky would go a lot further, since she's the one and only rabid Supernatural fan who knows the boys are real.

Immortals

What happens when you combine 300 with Clash of the Titans?

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

"Remember – the enemy's gate is down."

Ender's Game is about a future where humankind was attacked and nearly destroyed by an insectoid alien race. The most important task on Earth is to find and develop a great military leader to win the next, inevitable encounter with them.

Breaking Bad

Season 1 | Season 2 |
Season 3 | Season 4 |
Season 5 |
Related Links | Cast |

Breaking Bad (2008-2013) is about Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a brilliant high school chemistry teacher with a pregnant wife, a disabled son, and incurable cancer. With no money and no legal way to get it, he reaches a breaking point in his life and turns to the manufacture of meth. At its core, Breaking Bad is about good and evil and all of the shades of gray in between, a weird, tragic and often darkly comic character study of a good person who has nowhere to turn but the dark side.

Every episode of Breaking Bad was reviewed by Billie Doux.

Season One

1.1 Pilot
1.2 Cat's in the Bag...
1.3 ...And the Bag's in the River
1.4 Cancer Man
1.5 Gray Matter
1.6 Crazy Handful of Nothin'
1.7 A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal

Season Two

2.1 Seven Thirty-Seven
2.2 Grilled
2.3 Bit by a Dead Bee
2.4 Down
2.5 Breakage
2.6 Peekaboo
2.7 Negro y Azul
2.8 Better Call Saul
2.9 4 Days Out
2.10 Over
2.11 Mandala
2.12 Phoenix
2.13 ABQ

Season Three

3.1 No Mas
3.2 Caballo Sin Nombre
3.3 I.F.T.
3.4 Green Light
3.5 Mas
3.6 Sunset
3.7 One Minute
3.8 I See You
3.9 Kafkaesque
3.10 Fly
3.11 Abiquiu
3.12 Half Measures
3.13 Full Measure

Season Four

4.1 Box Cutter
4.2 Thirty-Eight Snub
4.3 Open House
4.4 Bullet Points
4.5 Shotgun
4.6 Cornered
4.7 Problem Dog
4.8 Hermanos
4.9 Bug
4.10 Salud
4.11 Crawl Space
4.12 End Times
4.13 Face Off

Season Five

5.1 Live Free or Die
5.2 Madrigal
5.3 Hazard Pay
5.4 Fifty-One
5.5 Dead Freight
5.6 Buyout
5.7 Say My Name
5.8 Gliding Over All
5.9 Blood Money
5.10 Buried
5.11 Confessions
5.12 Rabid Dog
5.13 To'hajiilee
5.14 Ozymandias
5.15 Granite State
5.16 Felina

Related Links

Breaking Bad is Number 13 of the Doux Top Twenty
El Camino, a Breaking Bad Movie review by Logan Cox
Five Shows that Were a Bear to Review by Billie Doux
Review of Better Call Saul pilot episode, 'Uno' by Laure Mack
Review of the first season of Better Call Saul by Jess Lynde

Cast

Bryan Cranston (Walter White)
Anna Gunn (Skyler White)
Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman)
Dean Norris (Hank Schrader)
Betsy Brandt (Marie Schrader)
RJ Mitte (Walter White, Jr.)
Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman)
Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring)

Vampire Diaries: Homecoming

“Vampires are usually so reliable.”

No. No, no, no, no, no. That is not what was supposed to happen. No, I say! And no, again, and thirdly: no.

Except for that one scene, which was almost... almost... almost a yes.

Glee: The First Time

It's an essential theme for a high school show. That first time. Will it be your soulmate? Or will it be an alien invasion in your tent? We found out this week on Glee!

American Horror Story: Piggy Piggy

"Do you think I wanted a bloody Mexican ghost in my bathroom?"

In an episode that saw Connie Britton eating brains and Cam from Modern Family being terrified by the piggy man in the mirror, it was the kids that actually brought some levity to the proceedings.

Once Upon a Time: Snow Falls

Charming: “You're a... girl.”
Snow White: “Woman.”

Whew! I was worried all the flashbacks in this show would concern the time between the wedding and the curse, as was the case of the first two episodes. That would get old fast. Thankfully, they got out of that rut before being stuck in it, and delivered a somewhat unconventional meet-cute.

The Walking Dead: Cherokee Rose

Dale: “For the first time in my life I’m bettin' on the snowball.”

Is there anyone else out there wondering when this lovely idyllic existence is going to blow to pieces?

Star Trek: Is There in Truth No Beauty?

Miranda: "I suppose it has thorns."
Kirk: "I never met a rose that didn't."

Simplistic symbolism, anyone?

Ringer: Maybe We Can Get a Dog Instead?

"So you're Bridget now. Because I can't tell anymore, can you?"

This was a far more character-driven episode than any of the ones preceding it, but lacking in anything particularly juicy. All the show needs to do now is find some kind of balance between the two. While I enjoyed a lot of the character beats on offer here, it was an hour that was practically crying out for something additionally soapy and ridiculous. And on that front the episode came up short. Up until the FBI wire scene, this was a major snooze-fest.

Eureka: A New World

… in which our favorite time-traveling Eurekans continue to discover and adapt to the changes in the altered timeline.

Fringe: Novation

“Why am I here? How am I back?”

Having been woefully sick for a woeful amount of time, I find myself in an odd situation as I review this episode: I am asking myself what I remember, five days after having watched it. (And having watched it in a Theraflu-induced haze.) What sticks with me most is the sensation of the enormous risk the creative minds behind Fringe took by “renovating” their show in the manner they have.

Dexter: Just Let Go

Dexter: "Here I am. The fork in the road."

I was surprised by how much this episode upset me.

Farscape: Taking the Stone

After Chiana learns of her brother’s death, she leaves Moya and joins a cult of ‘shroom and adrenaline junkies, prompting Crichton to try to save her from herself.

Vampire Diaries: Ordinary People

“Vikings?”

This was a heartbreaking and complicated episode about different types of love: father for child, husband for wife, siblings for one another, and Elena for the Salvatores. It was also a portrait-in-miniature of exactly how a close group of people can be broken apart by different member’s desire to keep everyone safe.