Monday, May 2, 2011

The Event: Season 1 Episode 19 - Us or Them


Hello Eventers!  Welcome back to another recap of The Event.  I had indicated last week that the show was finally begging me to take it seriously, and I was on board once again this week!  Sure, there will be plenty of things to laugh at along the way but they did a good job keeping the suspense going.  This really wasn't an episode where there is much to analyze at length as it was just one thrill ride from start to finish.  It was almost an episode of 24 minus the ticking clock and Jack Bauer (who was off taking care of Mr. Bin Laden over the weekend according to Twitter.  If that doesn't get you people to sign up, what will!?).  Let's just jump right into things, shall we?

The Government Stuff
At the end of last week's episode, President Martinez was going into convulsions and things were looking grim.  The Vice President was voted unanimously to summon the role of Acting President.  And Sterling had found that coffee stain on his sleeve with possible evidence of foul play!
  • Long story short, the President was very near death, they lost a pulse but then used the crash cart to resuscitate him.   He ended up in a coma, but according to Sofia's doc that brewed the drug, it is working as planned and depending on the dosage, the President doesn't have long left. 

  • Jarvis was sworn in to office and his first duty as Acting President is wanting to open the channels to Sofia to negotiate peace.  This caused many questions around the table on what this dude was smoking.  No more than Sterling. 


  • Sterling informed Peel that he found the coffee stain on his shirt and sent it in for analysis.  If they found anything they could begin to build their case against Sterling.  At first, I thought this was a bad idea in case Peel might be the "other leak".  And, I guess he still could be, but nothing to talk about just yet. 

  • Of course Sterling also went to visit the President and almost spilled the beans to the First Lady that Martinez was poisoned.  But then, he backed down.

  • The evidence finally came in and there was some trace of synthetic drug "never seen before" that was found in the coffee stain.  This tipped off Sterling that Jarvis wasn't acting alone.  Once I saw Sterling walk into the Oval office I knew that he'd be fired within minutes.  What happened to building a case?  What happened to informing someone else?   I guess Sterling figured he could reason with Jarvis even though everything up to this point proved that wasn't possible. 

  • He tried to tell Jarvis he was in over his head.  He has to stop whatever he is doing to aid Sophia.  Jarvis, pretended to be SHOCKED by the allegations and informed Sterling that his services were no longer needed. 

  • Jarvis then brought in Peel and told him that Sterling made some serious allegations and needed to be removed.  One can only hope that this tips off Peel to finish what Sterling started, unless he's the leak of course. 


The Alien Stuff
So, Leila got her and her dad into some heat during last week's episode and they were still trying to work that out when this episode started.  And Simon is still being held captive and starts causing a ruckus.  Meanwhile, Sophia is trying to cope with turning into her son in order to save her people. 
  • Andrea Zuckerman's husband brought Simon some food and Simon took this opportunity to start an argument about Sophia going loco.  She has totally changed.  This is not right to fight the humans.  Zuckerboy said how it's already a done deal and these humans don't stand a chance.  It's us or them!  Then he moves in closer to Simon and he starts getting violent!  Bloody nose and all! But he ended up being still stuck with one arm tied up and a gun to his head. 




  • Sophia had a chat with Michael about how turning into her son is harder than she thought it would be.  But, in the end, she still knew it's what had to be done.  She also thought Simon would come around to the idea of saving their people at any cost necessary but after messing with a 90210 alum's alien husband, she knew he was too late for saving.  She ends up asking Michael to "take care" of him.  Poor Simon!   Enter the "Michael redemption arc".  


  • Leila hid the body of that dude Michael killed last week somewhere in the woods.  And then she decides it's time to have a heart to heart with Dad.  "Remember when I was playing with those kids across the street and we injured a bird and stuff?  Well you said we are supreme beings and we should watch out for the inferior creatures!  We need to watch over them.  That's right, Dad!  You said it!!!  I remember it, maybe you don't!  HMPH!"   Well, I don't know about you but that would be the clincher for me to go against my people!  Wouldn't have been any better if Meryl Streep was reading the lines instead of this girl!  (anyone noting the sarcasm yet or did we need this parenthetical note just in case?)  


  • Michael heads towards his mission of killing Simon and sends Zuckerdude downstairs.  Simon gives one last ditch effort to save his skin.  He may have known at this point that they had to save President Martinez too.  But, the details are all a bit hazy and in the end it doesn't matter!  Michael shoots a hole in the wall instead of at Simon.  Then he frees Simon and they head down to trick the Zuckster one more time.  They did the ol' "Help me with this body" trick.  He walks in, Simon knocks him out, then they tie him up and duct tape him.  


  • Michael said he'd go to the doctor and get the antitote to Martinez's poison while Simon gets Leila and they all make a run for it.  
  • My favorite part of this whole encounter was when the other alien dude came into check on Simon/Michael whatever, he finds Zucks tied up downstairs with the duct tape over his mouth.   He rips the tape off and Zuck says "'I'm fine go go go!"   Doesn't anyone think he may have said, "Michael freed Simon, leave the house and find him!"???  No, the guy goes upstairs, checks things out and THEN calls in the calvary confirming that they're gone.  What on earth was the point of that?  Surely they could have given that extra 30 seconds to Leila's soliloquy! 


  • Anyway, Leila is all happy that Michael did the right thing.  And then the guns start blazing and they start running.  I think we all knew what was going to happen here.  Michael gets shot while trying to fend off the forces.  They get to a fence and it's too late for him.  The alien goons were right on their tail but no fear, they still had like 2 minutes for a lot of dialogue exchange and a tearful goodbye for Leila and Michael! 


  • Michael passes over the antidote and tells Simon and Leila to make a run for it and save the President.  Leila would not go.  Um Leila, look at his chest!  He's a goner!  You're gonna be one if you stick around!  I guess I can understand it would be hard, but she's been on the run long enough to know that you gotta run for it when you can.  So, Simon made a break for it without her.

  • And Michael and Leila got that tearful goodbye.  Michael apologized to Leila for his actions and then it was all over.  RIP Michael.  You had potential to be a good character but alas, they kept Leila on instead!  And now she's a prisoner again.  


  • But on a positive side, it looks like they may just be able to save Martinez after all!  I told you they were shooting for a season 2!  (I'm not saying it will happen though!) 

Sean and Vicky taking on a WMD Stuff
So, Sean and Vicky were tracking this "Alex" person with the Spanish Flu infected lung to the airport in Russia.  They wanted to stop him/her before they got on the plane but weren't able to do so.  But do you know what this means?  A whole episode of them TRAVELING from point A to point B!!!!  Guess who that made happy?  
  • Once again, Sean and Vicky were at an impasse.  Sean is willing to buy a ticket and follow this Alex to New York while Vicky doesn't want to get on a plane with a WMD.  Solid argument.  But, Sean attempted to buy 1 ticket and Vicky decided to go along yet again.  And once again Sean is shocked by the gesture.



  • We may as well get the bait and switch out of the way.  For half the episode were led to think that Alex was this nervous dude with a silver briefcase.  Sean spotted him and they worked out some crazy plan to get him in the back of the plane and take him down.  But he was just smuggling cocaine to the US.  Bummer!   Ironically, 10 seconds before they got him I said "how funny would it be if it wasn't even the right guy?"   Go me! 


  • So on went the investigation.  Vicky had already snagged the passenger manifest and there was no Alex or anything like it on there.  So, then I guess the flight was one of the ones that had wifi on it so Sean got out the laptop and knew they had to warn someone.   Vicky said she knew someone in Homeland Security. 


  • Enter the character development scene.  Sean said that he was starting to understand that she keeps going on these missions because of him which he finds crazy.  Vicky doesn't understand why it would be crazy.  Then Sean says she is acting totally different than she did in the beginning of the season.  (well he may as well have said that!)   He was her target and she killed lots of people.  She said that Sean killed people too.  And he suggested it was different.  Well smooth move ACE!  You just upset the pretty girl that likes you!  Of course, now she said she really doesn't like him and she's doing it for her family.  But, I think we know a little better than that.  

  • Anyway, they contact the homeland rep and all of a sudden they have F16 fighter jets accompanying them to Maryland instead of New York.  The "Alex" on board made a call to his/her contact and that contact informed Sophia of the hiccup.  Enter Sophia taking advantage of Jarvis.  She threatened him with destroying more human lives if he didn't order the removal of the escort.  She also threatened to expose what he did to Martinez.  He had no choice to comply and probably now realizes what he has gotten himself into.  Not that that means anything.  He'll still play the role of puppet. 





  • The F-16 escort does leave putting Sean and Vicky in panic mode.  Of course, when the plane does land they overhear someone call the Flight Attendant Alexandra.  Ahhh it's a WOMAN!!!!  As if we didn't learn our lesson on LOST already with that crazy name!  


  • Once they get their bags checked for suspicious activity, they somehow still caught up with Alex in a parking garage.  But a car was there to pick her up and cut them off in the process.  I love how Sean just slammed the door shut on the guy.  Sean's got some pretty hysterical and cool moves in his video game programming action hero arsenal.  


  • Anyway, as you can imagine, our heroes are put into an impossible situation eventually where Sean is held at gunpoint and Vicky has a chance to take the guy out.  Sean told her to take the shot and not worry about him.  But it was all over her face.  The ice cold killer didn't want to risk hurting Sean.  She put the gun down, and for some reason the bad guys just left Sean and Vicky there with guns.  Yes they got away, but Sean/Vicky have seen their faces and obviously are going to go after them. 


  • Sean asked Vicky why she didn't take the shot and all she could do was stare with a shocked look on her face like she couldn't believe it either.  I almost thought she thought she was in a silent movie because she didn't say a word the rest of the episode.  But she did break a car window and hot-wire it for them to follow in pursuit of the deadly virus.  






And that's the episode!  Short sweet and to the point recap, right?  Maybe I missed something but I couldn't find much to dissect.   But, definitely an enjoyable episode with the usual handful of ridiculous things to have a little fun joking about.  There are 3 more episodes this season.  It looks like we're heading towards SOME type of season closure, but I still think they're going to end it with a cliffhanger with the fate still  not decided.  I think I read on Twitter that they already finished the finale so there's no time to really change it now!  I don't have much else to discuss.   

Be sure to check out the season finale of Fringe this Friday.  It has been an amazing season and the season ender looks to be fitting of that definition and more.  If you don't want to spoil yourself, catch up this summer on what you've been missing.  The show is awesome and you won't regret it! 

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

END CREDITS
  • Follow me on Twitter for any future blog postings and any interesting news I find. @TVAddictsBlog
  • Fringe may just be the best show you're not watching!  And if you do watch, you should be checking out my recaps!  This summer would be a perfect opportunity to catch up for anyone who hasn't watched. Season 4 is definitely coming!   
  • I'll definitely be there when The Walking Dead returns, but that's most likely in the fall! AMC has been reairing the show though so if you ever catch it, you can find my recaps at the link. DVD/Blu-Ray of the 6 episode 1st season is now available.  Check it out. You won't be disappointed! 
  • Shows I'm watching right now (and might comment on time permitting): Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Big Bang Theory, The Office, Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Smallville and others that I won't mention out of embarrassment!
  • I also have taken up watching THE KILLING on AMC.  Fabulous murder mystery being played out over a 13 episode season.  I highly recommend tuning in! 
  • Game of Thrones has started and it's a phenomenal interpretation of the book.   I'm almost done reading it and there are quite a dramatic turns that will be awesome to see played out on television.  Check it out on HBO Sundays at 9!  
  • Upcoming shows I'm looking forward to:
    Alcatraz - with Jorge Garcia in lead role
    Terra Nova  (FOX) - Pilot moved to air in Fall 2011 with rest of season 1
    Breaking Bad (AMC)
    Rescue Me (FX)
  • I know it's sometimes looked at as a blemish based on my other recapping habits, but I am still watching American Idol.  I have recently come out of retirement to do some quick recaps on the LIVE shows.  Just can't resist.  Come check it out if you dare!
  

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good recap as always! I must be losing interest, because I was playing games on my Droid for parts of the show. Once again, Leila is JUST SO BAD -- I mean, come on, no real tears for her dead dad, and that look she gave Sophia when she said Sophia killed her dad -- I look more threatening than that when I tell my husband he screwed up the laundry!

And I would hope that if I was secretly in love with Sean (like Vicky is) that he would have figured that out by now! What does she have to do, rip her shirt off? I kept waiting for her to kiss him after the fight in the parking garage, but I guess that would have been just a bit too cheesy!

I doubt we've seen the last of Blake even though he lost his job. I am glad to see that Simon continues to be the good guy! I think something will develop between Leila and Simon, and Sean and Vicky, all at the same time. And I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the Pres -- he's the best looking thing on the show, even with tubes coming out of him!

Cajun

Mike V. said...

@Cajun - cheesy or not, I half expected Vicky to run over to Sean and kiss him too lol Totally agree that Leila is bad. I gave her the benefit of the doubt for awhile but this episode she was given some meaty stuff to work with and .....nothin!

Agree that Sterling isn't going anywhere. And definitely the Pres will be fine...so obviously he'd reinstitute Sterling then if it came to it. But I have a feeling Sterling wants to take down Jarvis himself. It was his assignment from Elias afterall.

Thanks for the props on the recap!

Mike V. said...

clarification on leila. ACTING = Bad, not Character = Evil lol

AUStarwars said...

I thought the twist with the courier was well done for the TV show

Overall i thought it was a very solid episode, with nothing really "mysterious" to the viewer, but solid

Mike V. said...

Oh yeah...I enjoyed the twist with the courier too (just doesn't add much to a recap to dissect it too much lol). And agree that it was a solid ep!

Anonymous said...

Thanks again Mike.

1. When I saw the Sean/Vicky back and forth on the airplane--I thought, these two need to quit acting like middle schoolers trying to figure out how to date--LOL.

2. The writers definitely let us down AGAIN. As you pointed out with the Zuckerdude. I would add Vickey as well during the back and forth on the airplane and the aftermath of not shooting the bad guy. Also, how lame was it that the bad guy DROPPED/THREW his gun and than ran. Are they not the same people getting ready to kill a few billion humans!? He would have shot them both to avoid future confrontation/identification.

3. Those things said, it was an OK ep to me.

4.You're probably right about keeping the Prez alive hoping for another season or something.

5.Your point on losing Michael is right on--he was a decent actor.

6.Thomas, Michael and Dempsey have bit the dust--among some other tertiary characters. When are some important humans going to die?

7.Can we find a way to get Taylor Cole on Fringe?? Maybe a Nina long lost daughter with special powers.

Richard

Kelly said...

wasn't the biggest fan of this episode. leila is terrible. enough said on that front, since we all seem to agree on that! other points:
- the guy smuggling the cocaine.. i guess airport security in russia is absolutely terrible? wouldn't that briefcase be x-rayed in the ol' TSA-type line?? i mean, if it were that easy, then why isn't everyone smuggling something on board planes these days?? whatever happened to the old standby of swallowing balloons of drugs in order to transport it on planes? lol
-all these times that sean is apparently "surprised" that vicky is going along with his plans must be going over my head. doesn't seem like the sean is acting surprised at all. i guess it's just jason ritter not emoting enough for me..
-is it just me or does the president seem to have A LOT more power than he should? i mean, how could he just call off a military operation like that? what explanation did he use? "hey, i know there are no WMD's on that plane. cross my heart and hope to die.. boy scout's honor!"
-i was hoping that leila would join simon so we could have a nice little romance going on there. but she got herself captured again, for no reason. because she's stupid.
-i love your various names for that guy! zucks, zuckerboy, etc. hilarious!
-it's seeming more and more like the first lady ISN'T a sleeper after all. or, if she is, she's really out of the loop with sofia because it would seem that she wouldn't be so surprised that all of this is happening.. or they at least could've been having her do all these sleeper-tyoe things. like poisoning the pres and all that. who knows though..
-so how did michael get this antidote again? did he just ask the doc? if so, is the doc against sofia too? or is she that stupid that she just gave the antidote to the president's illness not thinking that it'll be used to cure him?
-can't wait for sterling and simon to join forces, as it looks like that'll be the case next week (after sterling tries to kick some simon butt first, of course)

Kelly said...

oh yeah, and doesn't elias have a kid or two? where have THEY been?

Mike V. said...

@Ricard - No problem! Thanks for reading!

1.) For real!! I'm sure Sean still feels a certain tie to the bad actress hanging out with the aliens so maybe he has reservations. But come ON already! With all the traveling they've done, I can't believe there hasn't been a scene with these 2 in a hotel room pondering sleeping arrangements lol
2.) Exactly...I brought up the guy leaving them there alive too. That was kind of ridiculous. It was like "oh boy...they're main characters on this show...better just rough 'em up a little bit but leave them alive for another episode to come and chase us!" Definitely pretty rough.
3.) For The Event, I thought it was better than OK but I get where you're coming from. We're not dealing with an Emmy Caliber show here or anything! lol
4.) When you have someone like Blair Underwood on a show, I just don't think you kill him off unless you have to! lol
5.) yeah...that kinda sucked. But it's all good...Leila's still there! lol
6.) Good question...and I was just pondering it on #4. I don't know if THE EVENT has the guts to do it or not. My wife thinks that Leila may be put in a position where Sean may have to kill her. But that's based on previews for next week and the situation Leila finds her in. But if there is someone primed to be killed off.....DING DING DING! lol
7.) I think you've brought this up every week recently! lol Even if she wasn't a regular on Fringe...she could definitely provide an entertaining "case of the week"! lol

@Kelly - we all can agree on Leila!

- X-Rays at airport -> Good point! lol Didn't even think of that.
- The only reason I say he's surprised is because he keeps asking her WHY lol He may have not asked this time but the fact that he made a face and brought it up on the plane made me think that he was surprised lol
- Are you saying the President has too much power in general or just on this show? The President is the Commander-in-chief of all of our Military forces. What he says goes! lol Yes, you'd think he'd be questioned before that. But if you get a call from the President, I think you gotta listen lol
- Yeah Leila sticking behind was really dumb. And again...it could be contributed to lousy writing...they need her for next week's story arc so they had to make her stick around lol
- I love that THAT GUY never got a name which allowed me to keep referring to him as Andrea Zuckerman's husband! LOL Who am I kidding? He'd still be that even if he does have a name :-) So thanks!
- Yeah, I have no idea where they're going (if anywhere) with the First Lady's role. They're probably leaving it open IN CASE they decide to go that route, but if they never do...it was just a lingering gaze from her and nothing more!
- Oh yeah...I didn't even get into how ridiculous it was that Michael just showed up with a vile. He did say he could get it from the doctor...but I'm not sure HOW he got it. Maybe when we all run out to buy the DVD we can find a deleted scene where he pried it from her evil fingers! Because we all will be getting the DVD right? (who let the crickets in here!?!?!?)
- Simon and Sterling on a united front will be a good time. Just having Simon as an alien out in the open fighting for good will be a nice change of pace for the show!

Thanks all for the comments!

Mike V. said...

As for Martinez's kids? 2 words -> Budget cuts lol

Yeah I have no idea on the kids. You'd think they would have said something over the past 19 episodes since their last appearance! (i'm sure they have...but I don't remember either!)

Kelly said...

-that's the only reason anyone seems to think sean is surprised- because the show is telling us that he's surprised! haha! i guess we have to add that to the list of things we take with a grain of salt on the show.
-yeah, i know he's the head of the military and all that.. i guess one would think that a move like that would be really suspicious though. he's a bit brazen to completely flip on the sofia subject ("ooh, let's TALK to her and make peace"), fire sterling (obviously to take away any power he has and thereby quell the accusations that he was involved in the prez's condition), and then interrupt a military operation having to do with WMD's (that sofia informed him of, not even his own cabinet). hopefully they start to smell something foul in the oval office soon.
-i hope zucks is on the show every episode for the rest of the season.. because i want to keep naming him! how about zucky zuckerton? lol

Anonymous said...

1. The Prez in this case would have to go through channels which would at minimum take hours with various questions, etc. DHS, DOD and the Admin at minimum would be involved. So, I agree the quick call off was a bit hokey--but honestly when it comes to anything Jarvis has or will do, I have to take it with a grain of salt. I mean come on, the guy has already tried to kill the Prez and he's still there for a second attempt.

2. OK, you got me, I'm guilty about Taylor Cole. But you have to admit I'm getting more specific this time by suggesting a specific role.

3. And since no one else has said it this time--she's soo HOT. lol....

4. Your point about an awkward bedroom scene has crossed my mind too. But Mike, don't you know--they don't sleep. LOL

Richard

Mike V. said...

@Kelly
- Well, yeah...I think he could sell the "surprise" a little more than he does but I'm pretty sure that's what the show is going for lol
- I think Peel, pending on if he's a leak, already smells something fishy too but he'll probably be a little more stealthy about it than Sterling was. We'll see!
- If only Aaron Spelling could have seen this coming back when he named Andrea Zuckerman way back in the 90s! lol Zucky Zuckerton works great! Maybe I'll try to throw in "That Mother Zucker!!" into the next recap :-)


@Richard -
1.) Agreed with both you and Kelly....the fact that Jarvis is even there is kind of ridiculous. I'm sure Martinez would have found a way to expose him in the real world!
2.) Touche'! lol
3.) Your words echo the sentiments of many!
4.) Well, Jack Bauer never slept either or ate or relieved himself either and he was on the clock for 24 hours at a time! Could you image the day after for each one of those seasons? lol It couldn't have been a pretty scene! But yes, touche' on the fact that they don't sleep! Of course, they did have a hotel room reunion scene for Sean and Leila back in the first half of the season. So we have seen them stopping for sleep before lol Oh well!

David S said...

Thanks for the recap - fun reading, as usual.

Another one of the 'grain of salt' comments that made me roll my eyes in disbelief was when Sophia was telling Michael she is choosing him to care of the Simon problem because Michael "has always shown that he is loyal and would never put his family ahead of the group". Obviously the writers had her say that in order to give Michael some motivation for his redemption, but it was really silly - doesn't Sophia remember that it was Michael that almost killed her with an airplane because his family was being held hostage?

Mike V. said...

David - No problem. Thank YOU too!
LOL very good point on Michael. I guess she was probably referring to more recent "events" (pun maybe intended) where he has seemingly put ALIENS over family first. But yeah..the fact that he was flying that plane is hysterical. It just goes to show how much they tried to change path of this show since the first 10 episodes. Pretty crazy!

Mike V. said...

For the future of this blog, I thought I'd pass along this article talking about anticipated fall shows.

I'm a little worried that Alcatraz may not get a spot in the fall because of other high concept shows being lined up. I am interested in Terra Nova, but I have a feeling it's going to flop. Maybe they'll position Alcatraz for a mid-season premiere. We'll see! The Kiefer/Kring series "TOUCH" sounds interesting...but after Heroes I don't know if I can trust a Tim Kring series.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/05/pilot-buzz/

I'll post this on the latest Fringe recap too.

Mike V. said...

Whoops..forgot about the NBC shows...Grimm is created by andexecutive produced by LOST writers Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz which makes me very interested. Ron Moore (BSG) is behind 17th Precinct which is a "Grown up Harry Potter" themed show.

And we can't forget Cartlon Cuse has a Civil War drama in the works for ABC!

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