Monday, March 14, 2011

The Event: Season 1 Episode 13 - Turnabout


Hello Eventers!  Much much more like it!  I love joking about this show as much as the next person, but they put together a really solid hour of television tonight.  And, as I suspected, much of it had to do with moving the pieces around in the last 2 episodes to give us some fresh perspective.  The chess match between Sophia and Thomas has reached violent new heights.  President Martinez is taking an "over the top" bold new approach to his Presidency.   Sean is off on his own and faced with a decision on how much he wants to be involved.  And of course, the weak link still remains in Michael Buchanan's daughter, Leila.  But, the reduced screen time helped the episode keep the momentum going. There were actually a couple "ANSWERS" hidden in the episode for anyone that still looks for those on shows like this!  So, no sense in delaying, let's dive into the recap.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 16 - Os


Hello Fringe Fanatics!  It's great to have this show back after a 1 week hiatus isn't it?  This episode got back to its good ol' formula of investigating one crazy case of another crazy scientist.  But, behind the scenes, the story kept advancing forward.  Fringe truly has mastered their self-dubbed "Mythalone" style episodes!  And did I mention the awesome guest stars?  Just having Jorge Garcia for the cold open would have been plenty but they brought in Ferris Bueller's best friend as our villain of the week!  Alan Ruck ladies and gentlemen!  Awesome stuff (and yes yes, I know Alan has been in plenty since then but he'll always be Cameron to me). Do we wait until the end of the recap to talk about the crazy ending?  I mean how crazy was that?!  Some people are ready to hand Anna Torv the Emmy already.  I thought she was great, but I thought it was more comical than anything!  Yes, very important to the story and I'm totally buying it.  But, that voice was hysterical!  You just never know what's going to happen when you strike William's Bell! (ba dum ching!)  Well, let's just hope we can live long through this recap and then propser in the discussion of it all down there.  (Feels like it's going to be a "Bad Pun" kind of day)   Let's dive into the recap folks!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Event: Season 1 Episode 11- And Then There Were More / Episode 12 - Inostranka

Hello Eventers!  It's been a long long long long wait for this show to come back.  Some probably had given up and just assumed that NBC did too.  And based on not too much promotion for its return (besides the same 30 second promos that show some cataclysmic "event" over and over again which I'll refrain from spoiling in case somehow you missed it), I don't think NBC has much faith in its potential to live on beyond season 1.  There is always hope for the show, though.  It does happen to live on the least successful of the 4 major networks.  NBC might be more willing to give The Event a long leash.  And let's not forget that Charlie Sheen has made certain that no one will be tuning in to CBS at 9:00 unless they want to see reruns of the crazed "winner!"  One thing you can rely on though is that I shall continue to recap for the remainder of the season!  I hate to not see things through when I start them.   And personally, I have to say I enjoyed its return.  Everything that I seemingly complained about in the first 10 episodes, were quickly adjusted in these 2 hours.  I'll go through the list as we go through the recap.  Yes, I have already tweeted that some of the acting was down right laughable.  And I will not take that back.  Hal Holbrook's assistant?  OUCH!  The Inostrankans?  "YEAAAH!!!.....YEEAAAH!!!   YEAAAH!!!!"  But that didn't deter from enjoying the episode on a whole.  Anyway, enough of my blabbing.  Let's talk about the episode.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 15 - Subject 13


Welcome Fringe Friends!  What a fantastic episode last night, wouldn't you agree?  The beauty of this show is that they have created 3 different worlds that would be great stories all by themselves.  There is the Fringe story we've been following since season 1 with Peter, Walter, Olivia in our present world.  There is the alternate universe story where we have gotten to know Fauxlivia, Walternate, Alt-Charlie, Lincoln and a slightly (sometimes dramatically) altered universe from our own.  But now, we have spent 2 episodes in the PAST watching how some key events transpired to set up our current conflicts.  But, I have to say, I could spend an entire series following Walter, his wife and young Peter and Olivia.  Great stuff.  Of course we can't discount that we spent some time "OVER THERE" in 1985 as well.   The fact that this show has gone so far as to change the opening credits for each of these 3 different worlds just adds to that feeling that these shows could exist on their own.  Anyway, episodes like this make me want to break out that "W" word that I always used with LOST when reviewing.  But, I'm sorry, I still have been able to LET GO and MOVE ON!   So, we'll just have to some up this show with something different.  Eh, since we were in 1985 we'll go with an oldie but a goody:  GREAT SCOTT!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 14 - 6B


Hello fellow Fringe freaks!  I apologize for the delay on this recap.  Had some company over the weekend and it was difficult to find time to sit down and type something up.  I enjoyed Friday night's episode, but not without some minor complaints.  With the 2nd half of season 2 going into season 3, Fringe has done an excellent job of tying the Case of the Week into the ongoing mythology of the show.  This could be directly related to character drama or just advancing the overarching plot of the show in general.  I think in this episode, they may have taken some liberties with the case of the week in trying to find a way to make it all tie together.  Don't get me wrong, it made for great drama but it was pretty heavily handed.  But the episode was still an enjoyable ride.  The Peter/Olivia drama, the Walter identifying with Walternate's dilemmas and faced with the same decisions, bringing season 1 cases back to the forefront, etc...  And the ratings were back up a bit!  No complaints here if we can keep getting our FRINGE on for every foreseeable weekend from September to May!  (with a couple hiatuses here and there of course)   So, without further adieu, here comes my abbreviated recap!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 13 - Immortality


Greetings Fringe Freaks!  We're back for another round of Fringe-capping and I know what's on everyone's mind.  Many are up in arms about last night's game-changing twist.  Many didn't see it coming and they just don't understand it.  Yes, Walternate has a lady friend from the orient AND a tiny robe.

...

WHAAAAAT!?!??!?!!  

...

In all seriousness, I did look at my wife and say "I really hope this isn't the game changing twist everyone is talking about!"  Ahh good times, but we'll get into that bizarre scene in a bit.  Te twist that actually DID happen is definitely causing much polarization (ahh I miss that word, makes me think of certain LOST episodes) amongst the Fringe fandom.  But, let's be honest.  Ever since Fauxlivia sunk her paws into Peter we had suspicions that this might happen.  AND...September, our favorite observer, made it pretty clear recently too.   I know that some people may fear it's too SOAPY but I am standing my ground that I think this is okay.  And I know, how is this NOT too soapy for me but Peter having to choose between 2 Olivias to save a universe way too soapy for me?  Well, I can't really explain how my mind processes things!  It just knows what it likes!  And, you all get to read its thoughts on a weekly basis for good, bad or worse!   So, on that note let's get into the recap of what I thought was another fantastic episode of Fringe.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 12 - Concentrate and Ask Again


Hello Fringe fanatics and welcome back to another weekend recap of our Friday feature!  Last night's episode was great.  It had everything any Fringe fan would want from an episode.  We continued exploring major themes of the show, there was a freaky Fringe case that needed to be resolved, Walter's element of humor was at an all-time high and there was the continuing season 3 saga of Peter and Olivia.   We even got Olivia all dressed up at a black tie event!  No complaints here!  So, then what was my problem with the episode?  My problem was that I was laughing at the end of the episode and I don't think I was supposed to be.  Now not the very last scene, that I knew was coming and quite frankly thought it needed to happen to take the will they/won't they storyline we've seen far too many times to new and exciting places in the Fringe-verse.  (Come on people, we all know Olivia and Peter weren't going to get together THAT easily!)  My problem was with the scene that happened directly before that to add a little twist of drama to what was on that piece of paper.  Does the mythology of this show boil down to something THAT simple?  Does the fate of 2 universes hang in the balance of one Man's libido?  Say it ain't so FRINGE WRITERS!  Anyway, I may be more on board with this than I think, but it may have just been the way they decided to unveil this information to us that made me laugh.   But I'm way too detailed for my intro paragraph.  Let's get into the recap, but be warned, I don't have much to say on this one!   Here we go: