Tag Archives: Television Reviews

On Thursday: Smallville, Survivor, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy & Millionaire Matchmaker

SmallvilleEp. “Infamous”

So after a few week hiatus, Smallville has returned during sweeps to give us…Linda Lake? Of all plot lines, of all possible villains, they decide to reprise Tori Spelling’s character during sweeps? Come on!

Now in the episode, washed-up reporter (pardon the pun) Linda Lake returns to try and become the press box for “the red-blue blur.” In conjunction with her desire to write about Clark’s heroic efforts, she also has decided to publish the exposé on Clark’s extra-terrestrial past. As a result, Clark decides to release his story on his own terms and asks Lois to be the author.

It turns out that the episode really wasn’t about Linda Lake or the fact that Clark reveals his powers to Lois; it was actually about teaching Clark another valuable lesson on the importance of hiding his identity. When he revealed himself to the public, paparazzi and reports were all around him, and eventually, with the help of Linda, became public enemy number one. To correct this obviously poor decision, Clark uses the time-traveling ring from the Legion. The sucky part is that in “this future,” Chloe learns that Davis is Doomsday and Clark returns to past mere seconds before Lois revealed his secret.

The episode wasn’t the most riveting, but they have set themselves up for some seriously good episodes in the future. Doomsday will return!

SurivivorEp. “You’re Gonna Want That Tooth”

So this week on Survivor: Tocantins, Jalopao and Timbira continue to battle the elements of Brazil as their tribes return to an equal number, 5 on 5. In tribe news: Taj and Stephen have secured the hidden immunity idol that was in the Jalapao treemail; Jalapao wins the reward challenge and receives letters from home, food and a real bathroom; Timbira continues to deal with the “all-knowing” Coach; Timbira wins immunity by a hair;  Taj “gets hot” after the immunity challenge and puts herself in jeopardy just before Tribal Council; Spencer is eliminated at Tribal Council.

Now that the little things are out of the way, here is the notable news. Brendan, Sierra, Stephen and Taj strengthen their “Exile Island” Alliance when Sierra talks to Brendan before the reward challenge and when Stephen and Brendan go to exile island. JT is f-ing hardcore! I mean the man had a chunk of his front tooth forcibly removed from his body when someone from Timbira accidentally hit him with their net, and he just spit the tooth out and threw it into the dirt. The guy obviously is determined. Also, Spencer came out to the audience but not to his tribe for fear that his gayness would put a target on his back and disrupt relationships with other tribemates. Well now that Spencer is eliminated, I guess the tribe will learn of that little secret when they watch the tapes after the show is over.

Next week it looks like people get a little stir crazy and I cannot wait to see it.

Ugly BettyEp. “A Mother of a Problem”

So this weeks Ugly Betty was primarily about Betty meeting Matt’s mother. Of course, the rich, white woman accidentally thinks Betty is one of her maids and their relationship just goes downhill from there. Betty is invited to a dinner party at her home and is able to somewhat hold her own, but Momma Matt still finds Betty to be unsuited for her son. Their confrontation in the parlor is one that many other girlfriends of momma’s boys have dealt with through the ages. “You are not good enough for my son,” blah, blah, blah. The cool part was that Matt was there to stand up for Betty and tell his mother that she wasn’t going anywhere (something many man won’t do, might I add).

The other aspect of the episode dealt with the Suarez family trying to hook Hilda up with the Queens councilman and with Wilhelmina attempting to adjust her lifestyle to suite her new financial situation.

Grey's AnatomyEp. “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”

Grey’s Anatomy is finally back after God knows how long of a break. In the episode, Izzie had the interns help her identify “Patient X”‘s dilemma and Shepherd dealt with his impending law suit while also trying to come to grips with killing one of his patients.

I was very glad that we finally discover what ailment Izzie is dealing with. The apparent diagnosis is “metastatic melanoma with mets (metastases) to liver, skin and brain”—and her prognosis, even with chemo and radiation, is supposed to be no more than a few months. Izzie lets Christina know but still keeps her condition a secret from Alex and George.

Also, what is going to happen to Shepherd and Meridith? They have a big fight and Derek takes a driver to the engagement ring. Things are not boding well for their future.

Millionaire MatchmakerEp. “Daniel & Chris”

To start the episode, Patty is visited by none other than season 1 millionaire, Robby Love. If you don’t remember, he is the short, sex toy giant with a stripper pole in his living room. Patty tells him that she cannot help him until he changes and then moves on to the new guys for the episode, Daniel and Chris.

Daniel MDaniel Maltzman, age 46, is a name-dropping celebrity artist. In the beginning, when I saw his tape, I thought the exact same things as Patty. He’s a man obsessed with celebrity and incapable of humility. Patty gives him some constrictive criticism that he takes to heart and he definitely changed my opinion of him by the end of the episode. He took Lauren on a date to Dolce, (which I thought was funny since the last date that was there in season 1 was a disaster) but the date seemed to go well and Lauren and Daniel had obvious chemistry. Daniel also gave Lauren a painting of herself that was quite good. His art is pretty amazing; in fact, if you want to see any of it go to his website, www.danielmaltzman.com. Lauren and Daniel are apparently still dating to date.

Daniel PChris Palzis is a 39-year-old children’s book author who has a little bit of an ageist issue. He apparently will only date petite, brunette women between 21 and 28. The thing about Chris that I did like was that he didn’t let his success go to his head. He is basically a bohemian millionaire. A mellow surfer who doesn’t care about money or status as long as the waves are breaking. The ageist issue was a major portion of the show; Patty sends him to a therapist to try and “cure” him as well as stock the mixer with women over 30 to prove her point. He ends up dating a laidback yoga instructor, Yvonne, and they have an unorthodox (millionaire) date at the beach surfing. I personally think dates like that are the best. They’re unpretentious and fun. In the end, Chris somewhat figured out Yvonne’s age and stuck her in the “friendzone.”

Of course, Robby Love is coming back next week as one of the millionaires. That should be entertaining.

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On Wednesday: Top Model, Idol Results & Make Me a Supermodel

So with Lost skipping a week my Wednesday night suddenly became filled with reality TV to watch. I mean tonight there are two model shows, a singing competition and a new restaurateur race. But at least there was still a new Damages on tonight to make me feel a little better about myself.

America's Next Top ModelEp. “Do You Light the Way I Look?”

YAY the makeover show! This is always a ANTM milestone and one of the best shows of the season. The producers have continuously moved this episode up so that more girls are there. They didn’t disappoint this year, there were tears and screams, but by Cycle 12, a lot of the girls have realized that its inevitable and they just got to take it (Well, most of them). Natalie decided she didn’t want her hair cut so she got nothing. Fo was really upset by her makeover. She is the one who got the “short” cut and she thought she looked butch. I, however, thought she looked really cute and edgy, especially with all those freckles.

The photo shoot was with photographer/judge Nigel Barker and the girls were tasked with “finding their light” by holding flash rods. Some of the girls did really well but others were somewhat drab. Now for the judging, Nole Maron (panel judge from Cycle 1-3) came back after doing True Beauty as a guest judge and he did not disappoint. He was brutally honest with those ladies and it was AWESOME to watch. “Ugh, you look like a hushpuppy”…classic!

In the end, Teyona was the winner for the week and Jessica from Puerto Rico was eliminated.

American IdolEp. “1 of 13 Eliminated”

First, the title of this episode was flawed. At last nights performances, Simon Cowell told everyone that 2 would be eliminated from this first week to bring the number down to 11. Second, I was for once somewhat exciting about other parts of the Results show that were beyond the results themselves. I mean Kelly Clarkson and Kanye performing, announcement of new “judges save” rule; how couldn’t that be exciting? That said, I was not excited about everything. I still cannot stand the awkward group song and had to fast-forward through it as always.

Now here are the two contestants who were eliminated:

Jasmine Murray

Jasmine Murray

Jorge Nunez

Jorge Nunez

No surprise on those who were eliminated. I am glad that Anoop get’s another chance.

Now with regards to the other parts of the show. Kanye performed “Heartless.” I love that song and his last album was the one that finally converted me. I have had a major issue with his sampling practices in the past but songs like “Heartless” are just cool! Also, I didn’t know that a late-80’s inspired, all-denim getup was acceptable and I would like Kanye to put that outfit back in the closet. Kelly performed “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Having heard the rest of her album already, I don’t think this is the best song on it, but it is her wildly successful single from the album and I understand why she performed it. She definitely has grown as a performer and I look forward to eventually seeing her in concert. BUY HER NEW ALBUM!!

Make Me a SupermodelEp. “Eye Candy”

So oddly enough, it was makeover day on Make Me A Supermodel today as well. The contestants first had an extreme artsy photoshoot where they were tasked to portray candy. Just like ANTM, some of the models fell flat and others really shined, creating compelling and artistic photographs.

Following the shoot, the contestants were visited by Tabatha who consultated each of the contestants on a potential new look. CJ was the most averse to the idea, not wanting to change her thin blonde hair. Tabatha didn’t take “no” for an answer and made her an edgy, short-haired brunette.

The catwalk was done in pairs and the contestants did a pretty good job. Candy seemed to be a recurring theme because the models had to carry over-sized lollipops and red vines down the runway with them.

In the end, Branden was the winner of immunity and overly-feminine Chris was eliminated.

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On Monday: Chuck, Heroes & Castle

So first I apologize again for delaying my commentary on these shows. The Finance final went pretty well today so taking the time away from television for a night was probably worth it, but I hope to not do that again.

ChuckEp. “Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon”

So this week Chuck had to deal with the aftermath of the MI-6 Agent Cole Barker getting abducted in last week’s episode. Well, there is one perk to it for Chuck; he gets to live with Sarah until the threat is removed. Lucky bastard!

The one issue I have with this episode is that they brought Agent Barker back so quickly. I mean let the pot stew for a minute or two.  Also, there is something off with the guy; he is just too calm and too spy.” Something’s going to happen where he ends up not being who he says.

In general, the episode is about securing the safety of Chuck with Agent Barker’s knowledge of him being the Intersect as well as finding a FULCRUM scientist codenamed Perseus, the mastermind behind their attempts to rebuild the new Intersect. In the end, Perseus is killed, Chuck and Sarah don’t move in together, Agent Barker leaves, Morgan and Anna are moving in together, and we find out that Chuck is trying to find a way to remove the Intersect from his head. He has a new lead…ORION

Last thing, did anyone realize the great Karate Kid quote they used throughout the epsidoe?…”Sweep the leg!”

Heroes

Ep. “Chapter Six: Shades of Gray”

So here’s the lowdown. Clair takes on a cover job at a comic book store so that they can then help the “rebel.” But by the end of the episode, her “free pass” expires and the forces of the government go to take her; however, in a surprising twist, Nathan flies to California and saves her.

The majority of the episode revolved around Nathan and Sylar.

Nathan’s plot dealt with him trying to oust Danko, who straps explosives to Matt Parkman’s body and puts him outside of the US Capital Building. Nathan comes to help Matt disarm the bomb and the “fallout” is what instigate the rest of the episode. It was basically the straw that broke the camel’s back in the Nathan-Danko conflict.

So the strange part about the bomb scene was this. It was obvioulsy supposed to be a high tension situation (drugged Matt Parkman, explosives, Washington D.C., Nathan, impending death of two “heroes”); however, for some reason I really didn’t care. I was watching it and usually a scene like that would have my heart racing to see how it ends, but in this case, I was just like “whatev.” It is an issue that after 3 seasons of a show, I feel completely indifferent to the possible death of two of its main characters.

Sylar now finds his father, Samson Gray (played by John Glover). Now I don’t know if you are a Smallville fan, but in the episode, Samson makes a reference an epic battle between a father and a son ending in the death of the father and how it never happens that way. I am not sure if the writers realized this when they wrote it, but the funny thing about the comment is that John Glover’s last role was as Lionel Luthor in Smallville and he WAS murdered by Lex Luthor (his son) as a conclusion to an epic battle between father and son. Oh, the irony! I don’t know I thought it was hilariously ironic. The rest of their plot dealt with Sylar learning a bit more about his power and the futility of it. Also, Samson and Sylar have a fight in the house resulting in Sylar leaving his dying “father.”

That’s it for Heroes.

CastleEp. “Flowers for Your Grave”

Alright so this is the first episode of the new ABC series, Castle, and I have been eagerly anticipating this one. I am a big fan of Nathan Fillion from Firefly and the concept of this show looked awesome.

Here’s the rundown. There is a best-selling mystery novelist, Richard Castle, who is not the most law-abiding of citizens and somewhat of a chauvinist. He is dealing with writer’s block after he decided to kill off the main character of his widely successful book series. Enter Kate Beckett, a hardened, control-freak NYPD detective dedicated to her work. She is working on a case dealing with a copy-cat killer who’s reenacting the murders in Castle’s books. Castle then goes on as a consultant for the investigation while he searches for inspiration for his next book. The case is closed by the end of the episode and Castle found his inspiration…it’s Kate. Now he needs to do research.

As a private note, I thought the show, even though it is supposed to be a drama, was hilarious. The scene where Castle is playing pocker with other mystery novelists, like James Patterson, was hysterical. Also, the romantic chemistry between Castle and Beckett is going to be very interesting as the show progresses.

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On Sunday: The Amazing Race, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives & Rock of Love Bus

The Amazing RaceEp. “It Was Like a Caravan of Idiots”

This week the contestants traveled to uncharted land for The Amazing Race…Siberia. On top of it, a new twist was added to the game; the U-Turn is now “blind.” First, I found it interesting that they decided to name this new U-Turn the “Blind U-Turn” after there is already a handicapped contestant…so now there is the deaf and the blind. Second, it turned out that it was the deaf contestant who decide to Blind U-Turn Amanda and Kris. Third, due to the U-Turn, they were not able to come back from having to do both of the roadblocks and were eliminated.

I must say though, that the luge/rollercoaster thing they did this week looked like so much fun. I mean I would have signed up for that challenge instantly. Also, that challenge would finally allow me to showcase the skills I have developed after hours and hours of Scrabble and Twirl (Facebook app). “Chekhov” it would have been staring at me like a fat kind on a diet stares at the dessert cart.

Eliminated Team: Amanda & Kris

Eliminated Team: Amanda & Kris

It was definitely a good strategy on Margie & Luke’s part to roadblock probably the most physically threatening team. They have showed their ability to power through the challenges quite a few times in the earlier legs, but they just weren’t able to power through this one.

Desperate Housewives

Ep. “Crime Doesn’t Pay”

So what is with Orson’s kleptomania! Like really, he is stealing all this little stuff and it makes so sense. Dude’s weird…that’s all I’m saying. Because this show has so many characters and so many plot lines, I am just going to comment per housewife.

Edie Britt: The one noteworthy thing surrounding Edie this week was that while at a liquor store with David, they run into a priest who is apparently from David’s past. David shoves him off but Edie later confronts the priest at church and inadvertently learns of David’s former last name, Dash. Now, she is really beginning the investigation into her husband’s past.

Gabrielle Solis: Gabrielle dealt with the infidelity of Carlos’ boss and with keeping the secret from his wife. In the end, she gives him an ultimatum that he will either tell his wife or she will. As a result, Carlos is to lose his job. Tables are turned, however, when the wife ends up stabbing her husband after he tells her about the affair. Now we will have to wait until next week to find out what is going to happen next.

Susan Mayer & Katherine Mayfair: Their story lines this week were basically interwoven. Katherine is moving in with Mike and planning a homecoming party. The drama starts when Katherine finds out that the painting she liked on the mantel was painted by Susan. They get in a fight about competing for the same man, past love, all that, and in the end Susan goes and takes the painting out of Mike’s house to appease Katherine.

Lynette Scavo: Lynette spent this week’s episode dealing with her grieving husband as he sells off the family restuarant and coming to the realization that the wants to pursue her career again. The best scene related to her portion of the show was when her and Tom bicker over a job opportunity while at Bree’s house for dinner. Boy did it get ugly!

Bree Van de Camp: Bree wasn’t in a very prominent role this week. Basically, she was just there to instigate the other characters plots. She deals with Orson’s theivery as well as organize the dinner at Katherine’s homecoming party and Tom/Lynette’s  job opportunity. Apart from that she was basically not in the episode.

It was a very good episode and it seems like next week’s will be pretty interesting.

Brothers and Sisters

Ep. “Taking Sides”

This show is AMAZING. I mean to have an episode with so much tension and drama to occur directly following the “movie special” last week was awesome. I mean not only was Tommy being arraigned and Robert dealing with his invalid status, but the entire family was trying to prepare for Ryan Lafferty’s dinner without telling Norah about Tommy’s situation (talk about an elephant in the room!).

In the beginning of the episode, when I found out that they were going to have another “half-sibling” dinner, I got really excited. For some reason, the blowup dinners are my favorite part of this show and to have one at such a trying time in the family just created so much anticipation. Oh they did not disappoint! The torrent that blew through the dining room after Ryan accidentally told Norah about the embezzlement was something to be remembered.

Unfortunately, Rebecca and Justin break up over the difficulties between their two families in relation to Ojai Foods. It is really sad because I really liked them as a couple but who knows what the future holds. There is a chance they will be able to get back together after the drama is over, but not if Ryan gets to her first.

Rock of Love BusEp. “Panama City”

So this week the ladies went to the “Redneck Riviera” that is Panama City Beach, FL. Before I get into the commentary, I must say YAY FLORIDA and let you know that Ithink I have actually been to that resort. To start the episode,  the girls are made to watch a group of children while at the pool. I must say I was really impressed by Ashley’s maternal skills. She might not be the whore I thought she was. Afterwards, the girls go to Coyote Ugly Saloon with Bret and OMG did you see it when Beverly crotch-crunched Bret’s face into the bar?! HILARITY!

Also, the girls are really starting to hate each other. Beverly can’t stand to watch the other girls with Bret. Mindy and Taya get in an altercation with Farrah and Ashley. The dates weren’t that exciting. In the end, Farrah gets eliminated. Apparently she fell into the FriendZone.

I also watched Celebrity Apprentice but have so much to do this week I just can’t take the time to comment on it tonight.

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On Friday: Dollhouse

DollhouseEp. “Grey Hour”

There is an aspect about this show that I really find fascinating. Basically, just like real life experiments, the Dollhouse organization truly doesn’t know the long term effects of their process on their “actives” and that they are learning about their patterns and behaviors while we, the audience, are.

This episode was a pretty good one. In it Echo is turned into a master burglar in charge of an antiquities heist. The part that made the episode interesting, however, was when Echo is remotely wiped and enters her “tabula raza” state while locked inside the vault. I have to give Eliza Dusku props because she did a great job at shifting acting personas so easily. In the end, she obviously gets out of the vault (thanks to a smoke bomb) and returned to the Dollhouse wiped clean of her robbery exploits.

It turns out that Echo’s wipe is traced back to the rogue “active,” Alpha. The upper management of the Dollhouse told the other workers that Alpha was taken care of after he massacred a number of people and then broke out of the complex, but as an audience, we have know that it was a lie for a while. Topher realizes Alpha’s involvement in the incident and, as such, receives a higher security clearance. Only time will tell if we get to learn more.

I think as the show progresses, there is going to be one big problem. As of now, the only characters the audience care about are Echo and her handler, Boyd. Characters like Topher, Victor, Peter and Sierra are not seen enough to really make anyone care if something happened to them. Although after this week, I think they may start working on this.

Great episode. Great show. Great end to the long week.

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On Friday: Dollhouse

So Friday is kind of my break from TV. If you have been following me through the week, you would understand it’s a break that’s truly warranted. But even with it being my break night, I still have to watch something…

DollhouseEp. “Stage Fright”

So I like this show. I don’t love it, but I like it. I think the concept is pretty intriguing and I have historically been a Whedon fan. Buffy. Firefly. Stardust. He just seems to have a knack to write the fantastical story with a strange twist on normalcy. Dollhouse is no exception: a mysterious private company who’s contracted to provide a person to meet the clients every need; the imprinting of memories into “actives” to create the perfect product; a police investigator, Ballard, attempting to uncover the ethically-questionable organization; and an active, Echo, who might be malfunctioning slightly (which Dollhouse doesn’t like to see). It’s just strange enough.

This week, within the music industry introspective we witnessed, we were made aware that Lubov (Ballard’s informant) is actually an “active” being used by the company to throw his investigation off track. Apart from that insane plot twist, not much else happened. The “mission” of the episode, where Echo worked as a back-up singer with a bodyguard twist, was all a bit contrived and emotionally lackluster. The overarching story got a bit more complex (which I like), but apart from that, episode 3 was not the best.

The other thing I like about this show is that it is the second experimental subject of FOX’s revolutionary, “Remote-Free TV.” Its a commercial media strategy where FOX can charge companies premium prices for commercials during their more popular programming. FOX can do this because have reduced the number of spaces significantly (which also give us about 6 extra minutes of our show), but it’s just supply-and-demand bitches. Now the break is short enough that it isn’t worth the effort to reach for the remote and fast-forward through to the commercials. Genious.

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