Billie Doux

Chuck: Chuck versus the Series Finale

2012-01-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

[This dual review by Josie and Mark covers the last two episodes of Chuck, “Chuck versus Sarah” and “Chuck versus the Goodbye.” If you don’t want to be spoiled on how it all ends, click no further! If you do want to know the ending--as well as the meaning of life--click on.]Josie’s TakeLast February, I gave up on Chuck. The plot holes and problems-of-the-week were starting to drain me, and I’d

Merlin: The Dragon's Call

2012-01-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

“None of us can choose our destiny, Merlin. And none of us can escape it.” You know, Doctor Who has a lot to answer for. Before its return in 2005, science fiction and fantasy shows were practically an endangered species on British television. In fact, had it not been for the triumphant comeback of the mad man with a box, they would have become extinct altogether. Once the revived Doctor Who

Once Upon a Time: Desperate Souls

2012-01-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

"Looks like you made a deal you didn't understand. I don't think you're gonna do that again.”I‘d never say we’d see Rumpie’s origin so soon. I expected to see a tale of greed gone too far, not of a loving father. The character that began the story and the one we know and love are so different that they seem to be unconnected, yet every step of the process felt true. That’s truly good writing.But

Justified: Cut Ties

2012-01-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

"You have the right to remain silent. As long as you can stand the pain."Everyone was so competent. Which makes it sound like a boring episode. This was not a boring episode.Art Mullen is a terrific character and I'm fond of him, and this may have been his best episode so far. It certainly showed that he was ready to throw away the book if he had to, which surprised me. I certainly understood

The Fades: Episode 2 (Put on Your Red Shoes and Dance the Blues)

2012-01-25T08:38:00.000-08:00

“Don't worry. I get it. You're afraid of my sister. A lot of people are. Apparently my first response when I came out of the womb was to cower.” I found it difficult to re-watch this one and even more difficult to review it. This has to be the worst episode of the entire first season. The biggest problem I had with this episode is that there was just no plot. If someone came up to me and asked

Breaking Bad: Seven Thirty-Seven

2012-01-24T17:27:00.001-08:00

"Seven hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars. That's what I need."Walt and Skyler White are both going through a terribly difficult time in their lives, but there, the resemblance ends. The contrast is extreme. It's like they're on different planets.They're not communicating at all, which was made obvious by the scene where Walt (in his evil Heisenberg black hat) and Skyler (in the greenest

Glee: Yes/No

2012-01-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

So it seems Bieste has conveniently married Cooter in order to avoid having any actual fun with the plot about her and Sue fighting over a man. It’s also convenient because Emma’s thinking about being a 21st Century Girl and asking Will to marry her. Meanwhile, Becky and Artie date, and Finn thinks about joining the army.Summer Lovin’, Happened So FastFirst off, let me apologise for the lateness

Alcatraz: Kit Nelson

2012-01-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

We're not officially covering Alcatraz here at billiedoux.com. We've got lots of shows to watch and to write about, and we're not fully convinced that Alcatraz has the staying power of some of our current faves. But we are watching it, and we suspect at least some of you are, too.So now's your chance to chime in on the third episode of this popular newbie. Here are some talking points to get you

Fringe: Enemy of My Enemy

2012-01-23T03:26:00.000-08:00

“You don’t know me, or what I’m capable of.”Peter has finally succeeded at what he intended to do: bridging the gap between Over Here and Over There. At the end of Season Three, Peter put everything on the line to broker a peace between the two universes—and we all know how that turned out. Now, Peter’s wildcard status has brought both sides together to fight a common foe. As the saying goes, the

Vampire Diaries: The Ties That Bind

2012-01-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

“You’re not the only one that changed. We all had to.”After a long, long streak of perfect or near-perfect episodes, VD finally managed to underwhelm me this week. That’s not to say this is a bad episode: it had many great moments and put some interesting pieces into play. But the spotlight is on Bonnie and Tyler this week, and they’re my two least favorite heroes.The writers often put Bonnie in

Underworld: Awakening

2012-01-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to a sequel to a movie franchise you like and think; this was a good installment, I enjoyed it, but I want a little more? Well, that's kind of the way I feel right now. Don't get me wrong, I definitely liked this one, but as I'm trying to conjure up a stronger feeling to make writing this review easier, I find I can't really summon anything.So what can I say about it?(Mild

Book review: Dead as a Doornail

2012-01-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

[Although I don't reveal whodunit, this review contains spoilers.]"The next time someone told me I had to watch a supernatural rite, I was going to tell him I had to wash my hair."SynopsisA sniper is shooting shifters, but since most of the world is unaware that shifters exist, only the local supes make the connection. A werefox named Heather Kinman is killed, werepanther Calvin Norris from

Justified: The Gunfighter

2012-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

"Sorry about your tablecloth."I've been thinking for awhile that it's going to be pretty much impossible for them to top season two. So you know what? I'm not expecting it. I just want to be intrigued and entertained.And I was. Dry humor, check. Creepy bad guys, check. Raylan and Boyd Crowder in spectacular frenemy form, check. Gunfights over a table, check. That gunfight with the

Lost Girl: It's a Fae, Fae, Fae, Fae World

2012-01-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

“You're pretty. I saw you eat some dude's face, it was amazing.” Lost Girl is a Canadian fantasy series that aired way back in 2010 and is now airing in the US for the very first time on Syfy. It's all about Bo, a succubus who grew up with an adopted human family, unaware of her non-human nature or the Fae world. After she saves a human girl, Kenzi, from being date raped, Bo is confronted by

Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall

2012-01-19T01:42:00.000-08:00

Moriarty: “Every fairytale needs a good old fashioned villain.”After “The Blind Banker” and “The Curse of the Black Spot”, I was less than optimistic about Steve Thompson's chances of scripting a gripping finale. Yet, as soon as I saw Watson struggling to cope with his grief in that psychiatrist's chair, I knew I was going to love this episode. Not only did Thompson create an intriguing and

Alcatraz: Pilot/Ernest Cobb

2012-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

“That’s not what happened.”The latest offering from J.J. Abram’s production company, Bad Robot, Alcatraz tells the tale of federal agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill), SFPD detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), and Dr. Diego Soto (Hurley!) as they attempt to piece together what happened nearly 40 years ago, when all the residents and guards at Alcatraz disappeared—and why they’re coming back.J.D.

The Fades: Episode 1 (Ashes to Ashes, Funk to Funky)

2012-01-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

“Are we about to get assassinated? Because I'm not ready to die. I haven't decided what my last words will be yet.” It took me a while to really get into The Fades. I wasn't really impressed with this first episode when I initially watched it and decided not to bother with the next one. There just wasn't anything that excited or interested me. It wasn't until after season one had finished

Fringe: Back to Where You’ve Never Been

2012-01-16T14:22:00.002-08:00

“If you want to get rid of me, just help me.”This episode began (dream excluded) with Peter asking Walter for help and hearing the story of Walter’s wife’s death and the tragedy that some Peter’s death caused. That tragedy is the moment in which Walter went crazy: not the death of his son (although obviously that was a factor), but the death of his beloved wife. The episode ended (dream-like

Justified: Reckoning

2012-01-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

"This is who we are, Dickie. This is who we've always been."What a complicated, emotional, heavy duty episode. At the center of it was Raylan, so deeply upset by Helen's murder that he beat his own father, provoked Boyd, put his hand on Mags, and came within a hair's breadth of killing a handcuffed Dickie in cold blood. In the end, only his own sense of honor kept him from going through with it.

Justified: Full Commitment

2012-01-15T10:45:00.001-08:00

"Are we done with play time now?"This was like a chess game with guns.Art put Raylan and Winona under protection, but Raylan just wouldn't stay down. He had to find out who put the hit on him, and in his own occasionally amusing way. (I really enjoyed the constant sparring banter with Tim, who must have been deeply frustrated with the situation but still tried to follow orders and be a friend to

Supernatural: Time After Time

2012-01-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

"Sometimes you just want to punch through the red tape with a silver bullet."Supernatural does time travel good. How cool that they found a way to do it without angels. (Although I still want Castiel back.)What a nice gift to The X-Files fans to cast Nicholas Lea as Eliot Ness, and of course Eliot Ness would have been a hunter. I liked that he didn't have a monster-related tragedy and angst in

Farscape: Home on the Remains

2012-01-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

In a desperate move to stave off starvation, Chiana leads Moya to the remains of a gigantic space creature, where she hopes a colony of miners she and her brother briefly lived with (then robbed) will provide food and supplies. Meanwhile, starvation causes Zhaan to begin transforming.‘Home on the Remains’ had a number of really fascinating world-building tidbits and provided a new glimpse into

Doctor Who: The Green Death

2012-01-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

"So, the fledgling flies the coop." The BBC’s alleged left-wing bias has never been more evident than in 'The Green Death'. If you're a conservative, hippie hating capitalist, then chances are you're not going to like this one. Ecological issue have been a recurring theme throughout the Third Doctor era. ‘The Green Death’ tackles the issues of pollution and how bad it is in the least subtle

Justified: Debts and Accounts

2012-01-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

"You are who you are. Nothing I say has never made any difference. No punishment I can dream of will ever change you."This isn't what I expected from an aftermath episode. We had Mags determined to keep the peace and not kill Raylan. We had Boyd attempting to start a kinder and gentler Crowder criminal organization. We had Art writing Raylan off in a particularly painful way. And, oddly,

Vampire Diaries: Our Town

2012-01-13T20:08:00.000-08:00

“Rest in peace, so that you can move forward.”Our Theme of the Week is birthdays. Or, more specifically, those moments in which we suddenly realize that we are not-so-suddenly different, and come to terms with our new, older selves. Both Elena and Caroline said goodbye to their previous incarnations, and both of them seem ready to live with the new normal.Watching Elena and Bonnie wrap Caroline’s