The Event: Season 1 Episode 10 - Everything Will Change

Everything will change, eh?  Well, thank goodness for that!  I will not be the first one to say that the show has seemed to be running in circles for the past couple of episodes.  I know I tended to reflect that in my recaps!  Joking my way through the Sean/Leila story, joking about logistics of travel, and latching on to some hope with the EBE story lines.  Well, I also said that everything is a building block to get to payoff episodes.  This final installment of the fall is partially a payoff episode that rewarded the viewers that have stuck with it.  There was a nice twist in the EBE story, there was a twist that MAYBE we kind of saw coming with the Sean/Leila story and there was a promise of a whole lot more good stuff to come.   So my verdict on our fall finale?  Much better than last week's episode!  I'm excited about the cliffhanger, I just hope NBC has a plan to lure the viewers back at the end of February.  3 months is a long break for a show with dwindling ratings.  Maybe with Monday Night Football off of the air they'll be able to get some of their DVR audience to tune in LIVE.  We'll see!  But until then, we have this recap to tide us over.  So, let's dive in and see if we can get some good discussion out of this one!

The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode 5 - Wildfire (Quick Thoughts)

Welcome Walkers! I couldn't let an episode slip by without sharing my thoughts on this fantastic show. It's crazy to think we have only seen 5 episodes and that this 5th episode is the penultimate episode of the season. There was a great cover story in the latest Entertainment Weekly about the story behind the success of The Walking Dead and how they didn't think it was likely they would get renewed. They discuss how 6 episodes was tough to design a season around. I, personally, think it's working really well for them. Every episode resonates and is as important as the one preceding and following it. It almost has a mini-series/movie feel to it. I am actually hoping that the intensity doesn't slow down when they branch out to a full 13 episode order in season 2. But, considering there is plenty of source material to draw from, I don't see that being a problem. I was happy to hear that they are already veering from the Comics in certain areas so the fans of the comic books will not be able to spoil everything for us newbies!

 

Anyway, all of it is making for some engaging television and it now has taken its place atop my list of APPOINTMENT television right along with Fringe. There is life after LOST folks. Still depressing, but at least there are little threads of optimism to hang on to! As always, here are my quick thoughts for the latest episode of The Walking Dead.

The Event: Season 1 Episode 9 - Your World to Take

Hello Eventers!  Welcome the the penultimate FALL FINALE recap!  That's right, only one more episode this year before we go on a FlashForward (err whoops) EVENT hiatus!  What's done is done and no sense complaining about no episodes in January and most of February.   I will make a plea for FRINGE though before this posting has come to a close!  That show needs our help, pronto!  But before we get there let's talk about THE EVENT!  This episode was one where it seemed like a lot was going on and not a whole lot happened!  I was seeing a lot of potential in the opening minutes and then the episode kind of ended with a shoulder shrug from me.  But there were plenty of interesting moments to discuss and much more things to laugh at from the Sean/Leila saga (seriously...didn't they have a gun last episode and wasn't Sean badly injured and close to death?)   Anyway, we'll get to it all in the recap.  So, let's dive in now!

The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode 4 - Vatos (Quick Thoughts)

Welcome Walkers! 4 episodes in and I am still compeltely enamored by this show! I tell you what. Let's make a deal. The final 2 episodes could be the best thing ever to grace the screen, but I will wait until the season 2 premiere to see if the quality remains before I unveil a Mike V. staple "W" word seal of approval! We at least owe that to LOST, right?! But, dang!!! This show is on fire! Great character moments in this episode setting up more intense standoffs with humans and zombies alike. And, 4 episodes in and we finally start seeing some main characters (or at least who we thought were going to be main characters) taking a turn for the "CURSE" (like my play on words there?). We knew it had to happen eventually on a Zombie Apocalypse show, right? But even when it did, I was still shocked!

No sense in delaying. As always in this new tradition, I will share my quick thoughts on the episode and look forward to everyone chiming in with theirs! Here we go.

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 7 - The Abducted

Hello Fringe fanatics!  I'm finally getting to this recap.  As, I mentioned last week, I planned to be delayed.  I have attended several midnight showings of movies in the past and they were a good time.  But, I was also in my 20's!  I watched Fringe last night and bolted to the theater to get a good seat for the show.  Yeah...I forgot we'd have to sit there for 2 hours before the movie even started!  I almost fell asleep!  And then there were all these teenagers and 20-somethings dressed up as wizards, witches, scarecrows (I know...what???) and they were dueling in the aisles.  The worst thing about the dueling?  The crowd was actually enjoying it and not covering their head in their hands and shaking their heads in shame!   Bottom line?  I think I'm getting old! So...yes Deathly Hallows Part II?  I'm hitting up a matinee!  Awesome movie though!

Sidebar over.  Speaking of awesome... HOW AWESOME WAS FRINGE LAST NIGHT!?!?!?!   No, what we were hoping to happen didn't quite happen, but we can't say that the plot did not advance in a majorly exciting way!  We still got our case of the week (spoiler alert, if you haven't seen this week's THE EVENT and actually care to remain spoiler free about the show - I'm going to be kinda referring to it!), we had Olivia making some allies in the Alternaverse, and we got our hope that she is going to find a way out of it one day!  Perhaps with some help from our favorite Bishop Boys!  Let's do some recapping!

The Event: Season 1 Episode 8 - For the Good of Our Country

Hello Eventers!  Welcome back to another round of THE EVENT recapping.  Another exciting, informative and suspenseful episode this week.  And if all past week's are any indication, I'm sure less people will have seen this week's episode than last week.  NBC believes they have a plan to reboot the show in 2011, but it sure is sounding a bit like a FlashForward strategy.  So, last episode of this year will be 11/29.  And then we will return on 2/28 with a 2 hour episode including a 1 hour retrospective.   Let's be honest, no one watches TV in December anyway.  But waiting 2 months into the new year to relaunch your high concept show that everyone will have forgotten in 3 months?  RISKY, very risky.  Anyway, enough of my sidebar, we have a new episode to recap.  We're finding ourselves into the meat of this first season.  The story is moving forward and we have a few things to discuss.  Let's get going!

The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode 3 - Tell it to the Frogs (Quick Thoughts)

Welcome Dead Heads! We are only 3 episodes into this show, but the writers and actors have done so well at building this world and characters that it feels like we have known them forever. We feel for them and the situation(s) that are placed before them. This is just an awesome show and has come to us in a time where television needed it the most. An era of AWESOME television ended last season leaving only a couple solid existing shows in its wake. We have had a relatively weak crop of new shows in the fall (The Event is still promising but ratings are dwindling). Enter THE WALKING DEAD a month later. If the buzz keeps up for this show, we may have found our new APPOINTMENT TELEVISION! On a CABLE network, no less! Great stuff. Now, I still refuse to call my write ups on this show "RECAPS" because I don't want to commit to the length and screenshots and the whole 9 yards that I do for THE EVENT and FRINGE. Just very time consuming. Of course, today is your lucky day because I was able to snag a few screen shots! Anyway, I think we'll still stick with "QUICK THOUGHTS" for the Walking Dead this season. So here goes nothing!

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 6 - 6955 kHz

Hello Fringe Dwellers!  Welcome back to our world where we had the chance to get reacquainted with Walter, Peter and Fauxlivia after the baseball hiatus.  This show hasn't missed a beat.  Viewers?  Well it may be missing some of those, but we have to hope that FOX continues to support this awesome show into next season.  It really is a sad state of affairs that when a show is taking risks and rewarding viewers with its best work yet, the viewers aren't there to see it!  But enough complaining, we have a show to get into.   And what a show it was!  Lots of science mumbo jumbo in this episode with magnetism and numbers and plane crashes.  Wait a sec....(did I catch an 8, 15 and a 42 in there too?  good times)  But, the best part of the episodes this season is that just when we think that we are watching a random FRINGE case investigation, it turns out to be a key piece of the puzzle in the overall mythology of the show.  Just awesome.   Let's roll into the recap!

The Event: Season 1 Episode 7 - I Know Who You Are

Hello Eventers!  Welcome back after a 2 week hiatus for a new episode.  Okay, now THIS is what I'm talking about!  I really liked this episode.  I may have unfairly reviewed the Simon centric episode from a couple weeks ago.  While I enjoyed the episode, I just felt like something was missing.  Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't but it certainly was a stepping stone to get to the excitement of this episode.  I felt the drama, I thrived on the suspense, I went into my "thinking man" pose a few times when a new mystery or twist was upon us and of course there were a couple "we totally called that one!" moments to be proud of as well.   So what else can I say but something that I say all the time?   GOOD TIMES!   (you LOSTIES were thinking I might bring out the big guns with the "W" word, weren't you?  Sorry, just can't do it!)    Anyway, any episode that can bring a more human side to Blake Sterling has done its job very well.  Let's get into the recap!

The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode 2 - Guts (Quick Thoughts)

Hello fans of the gore-tastic! Couldn't resist sharing my quick thoughts on the 2nd installment of The Walking Dead. It was another great suspensful, dramatic and "gutsy" outing for this brand new show. And this episode sealed it for me: I am glad that we aren't able to SMELL TV shows! At least not shows dealing with Undead walkers, guts-splattered clothing, sewers, rats and what not! Lots of new characters met in this episode. Ones that I'm guessing will be sticking around for a bit as this unlikely group of strangers unite together to fight for survival. (hmmm, that sure sounds like another show that some of us dedicated 6 years of our lives to) There isn't much to recap in this show for the time being, but there is plenty to discuss, so I'm just going to share some of my quick thoughts once again. I look forward to hearing any of yours too!  Let's dive in.

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 5 - Amber 31422

Welcome Fringe Dwellers!  Well, what can I say?  Fringe is working really hard this season on getting my "W-word" seal of approval!  But, out of respect for LOST, I'm still looking for another word to exclaim my excitement for how awesome this show is!  The best compliment I can give it is that it has achieved my "most anticipated weekly show" status, and that is a pretty big deal if I must say so myself.  They just keep finding new ways to keep this weekly universe swapping story telling fresh and interesting.  I am just loving it!  But, enough with me dispensing the pleasantries.  We have a recap to get to.  So, let's get to it!

The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode 1 - Days Gone Bye (Quick Thoughts)

Has an hour and a half of a brand new TV show ever flown by so quickly and at the same time couldn't come soon enough? That may sound like a dig at the new comic-book horror adaptation, The Walking Dead but for this genre, has to be the ultimate compliment! I'm no horror movie buff or Zombie aficionado (though I did love Zombieland and still am waiting for LOST's "Zombie Season 7!"). Horror films, for me, are either unintentionally comical or they totally freak me out!  But, The Walking Dead seems to be a dark character drama in disguise as a horror series. Yes, I am borrowing some words from EW's Doc Jensen and Dan Snierson and their glowing back and forth review, but they're absolutely right. Don't get me wrong, this show definitely scared the crap out of me! (had to find a comedy on the TiVo before bed or else I'd be having some wacky dreams)  The THRILLER aspect of the show is a given, but we already have some very intriguing character dynamics at play that have only begun to unfold. I'm already sold and want to see the next chapter in this 6 episode season!

Anyway, back to my initial comment.  This past Sunday was full of "TV so good and suspenseful you could barely watch because it made you so nervous!"   That was how I felt about the 1-2 punch of Dexter and The Walking Dead last night.  Just a fantastic 2.5 hours of television.  But, we're not here to discuss Dexter (unless you want to in the comments. I'm game!).   Our purpose here is to welcome a new show to our lives.  And quite possibly, in doing so, we are welcoming a new LEGEN-wait for it-........DARY show!   So, what better way than to share yet another QUICK THOUGHTS column?  Here we go!