Billie Doux

Doux News: May 27, 2012

2012-05-27T02:06:00.000-07:00

This week: Cancellations and Upcoming Fun -- Billie Made Me Post This -- So Sad it Deserves its Own Section -- Obama vs. Aliens -- Around the Internet -- Peter Dinklage, Drag Queen -- Philip K. Dick, Philosopher -- Perpetuate This, NBC. [Billie’s cats have taken away her laptop privileges, and they tasked me with this week’s Doux News. Never fear: the cats have the attentions spans of

Community: Introduction to Finality

2012-05-27T01:54:00.003-07:00

“Cruel, cruel, cruel.” I'd like to start by apologising for taking so long with this review. It has been one hell of a turbulent week for Community fans and I've been having trouble articulating my thoughts and feelings about this episode, Dan Harmon's departure, and what the future holds for the show. I still am. Too bad I didn't have Sony to tell me what to say and think (way to Thought

Revenge: Reckoning

2012-05-25T11:28:00.001-07:00

"Just stay where you are and do not do anything revenge-y until I get there." It's the rare television show that knocks it out of the park in its first season. In fact, many don't really flourish until their second outings (Buffy being the perfect example of this). Others such as Lost and Alias had masterful debut seasons that were just brilliant on every level. For me, Revenge undoubtedly

Eureka: Worst Case Scenario

2012-05-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

… in which the Global employees participate in a disaster preparedness drill, because apparently they haven’t had enough practice averting catastrophes. So … another transitional episode. And a fairly slight one, at that. We finally got some resolution on the horrible quandrangle as Allison apologized to Jo for her behavior last week, and Jo seems willing to forgive and move on. (Please let

Castle: A Chill Goes Through Her Veins

2012-05-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

“A cop doesn’t get to decide how the story ends.” Until now, Castle has been focused on Castle himself. We have spent four hours getting to know his family and poker buddies, the way he is integrating himself into the precinct and, to a small degree, the way he thinks. Much of what we know about Beckett has come through either discussions with the people with whom she works or Castle’s

Mad Men: Christmas Waltz

2012-05-23T07:33:00.004-07:00

"My mother raised me to be admired."If you're involved in Mad Men's online fan community, then you're doubtlessly aware that there have recently been minor rumblings of dissatisfaction with this season. I certainly understand their reasoning, even if I don't particularly feel like season five has been any less strong than the preceding years. But, with all that in mind, there was definitely a

Castle: Hell Hath No Fury

2012-05-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

“Just yanking your chain, Detective. Just yanking your chain.” One of the things I most admire about the writers on Castle is that they did not force nor rush the initial stages of the Castle/Beckett partnership. Certainly the aspect of the show that kept me coming back through the initial episodes was being able to watch these two people forge a relationship. In this episode, as they solve

Game of Thrones: The Prince of Winterfell (Novices)

2012-05-22T03:25:00.001-07:00

[“The Prince of Winterfell” is a difficult episode to review without mentioning book spoilers and various hypotheses about what is coming next. For that reason, I have written two reviews: this one, which is spoiler-free for readers who have not read the book, and another for readers who have read up to the end of Storm of Swords. There’s some repetition between the two, because I am a bear of

Game of Thrones: The Prince of Winterfell (Bookreaders)

2012-05-22T03:22:00.001-07:00

[“The Prince of Winterfell” is a difficult episode to review without mentioning book spoilers and various hypotheses about what is coming next. For that reason, I have written two reviews: one that is spoiler-free for readers who have not read the book, and this review, for readers who have read up to the end of Storm of Swords. There’s some repetition between the two, because I am a bear of

Castle: Hedge Fund Homeboys

2012-05-21T04:20:00.001-07:00

“You know, actually having to prove things is really tedious.” This week, our team sets out to solve the murder of a teenaged boy found floating in a row boat in Central Park. While the case itself was good enough, what was really well done was the theme of the show -- the juxtaposition of wealth and street in Manhattan, a point very well made by the title of the show. On the one hand, we

Person of Interest: Firewall

2012-05-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not trying to kill you.” I like to think I’m too good for CBS shows, although I’ve only seen a few episodes of any of them. Despite (or perhaps because of) that fact, I think of CBS as a station for old people who enjoy watching Mark Harmon solve the same case every week. But over the past nine months I’ve gradually fallen into like (not love)

The Secret Circle: Family

2012-05-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

“The time has finally come for a cleansing.” This episode had to be amazing, didn’t it? Just to make it even more awful for me to say goodbye. Ugh. Family wasn’t altogether shocking; in fact everything that happened was kind of to be expected. Predictable doesn’t adequately describe it though, because it was all stuff that had to happen. The Secret Circle was headed in the right direction,

Doux News: May 20, 2012

2012-05-20T07:29:00.007-07:00

This week: New shows this fall (Revolution, 666 Park Avenue) -- Big changes on the CW -- Big change on Community -- Summer shows -- Haunted hospital -- Tweet of the week Usually, there's an article or three during the week that I want to talk about and pass on. This week, there were way too many. I'm going to pick and choose what interests me the most. If I miss anything you think is

Once Upon a Time: A Land Without Magic

2012-05-20T06:37:00.001-07:00

“Magic is coming.” Sword fights! Dragons! True loves kiss! Those were just a small fraction of the events of ‘A Land Without Magic’, an episode that proved itself to be the season finale we’d been waiting for. All of the season’s storylines were brought together seamlessly, and the episode was an emotionally charged spectacle from start to finish, never once letting the tension and excitement up

Castle: Nanny McDead

2012-05-20T02:47:00.000-07:00

“Richard Castle. Just NY.” The case of the week is about a nanny who has been found in one of the dryers in the building in which she worked. It is not one of the most interesting or fun the show has ever done, but what I loved about this episode was learning about Castle the man and watching the beginnings of his partnership with Beckett. So, who is Castle, really? Truly a member of the

Community: The First Chang Dynasty

2012-05-20T02:17:00.002-07:00

“Fire can’t go through doors, stupid! It’s not a ghost!” I'd like to start by thanking Josie for helping me out with the big Block o' Community this week. I''ve said it once and I'll say it again, you are a very beautiful star, Josie. These truly are dark times for Greendale Community College. The loveable Dean Pelton has been abducted and replaced by a Dean-o-Changer/Deanogänger/

Supernatural: Survival of the Fittest

2012-05-19T16:11:00.003-07:00

Castiel: "Please accept this sandwich as a gesture of solidarity.""Carry On, Wayward Son" gives me chills at the end of every season. Have they ever done a bad season finale?Dick Roman was a great villain, revolting and difficult to defeat. And of course, he gave us an entire season's worth of dick jokes. Is it really over, though? Millions of leviathans, all those plans -- will there be

Nikita: Homecoming

2012-05-19T00:54:00.001-07:00

"You're gonna call off the boys, or I take off your boys."Utterly spectacular. This must be the year of brilliant finales because much like The Vampire Diaries, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy, Nikita went out on top this year with one heck of an exhilarating (and might I add game-changing) hour.There was just so much to love about this finale (which book-ended a marvelous season) that I

Awake: Two Birds

2012-05-19T00:41:00.000-07:00

“Let’s make this right.” The first half of this episode was extremely disorienting. I started to doubt my faith in Britten’s mental clarity, and began to wonder if his therapists were correct: not only had he fabricated at least one of his universes, but he had begun to fabricate a complicated story of persecution that would allow him to wallow in a frustrated, dead-end investigation that

Community: Digital Estate Planning

2012-05-18T23:55:00.001-07:00

“I think we can choose how we want to play.” [Don’t worry, communitarians: Mark got hit with a Community triple play this week, so I’m pinch-hitting for just this one review. Mark will return with your regularly schedule reviewing for “The First Chang Dynasty” and “Introduction to Finality.”] “Digital Estate Planning” picks up where “Advanced Gay” left off, but it’s closest in theme and

Revenge: Grief

2012-05-17T22:54:00.001-07:00

"I will never accept and I will never forgive." Revenge's spectacular premiere season is almost over and this hour was a pretty effective setup for the hopefully explosive finale. I'm most intrigued by the fact that Emily's defenses (and yes I've resigned to not use the name Amanda as nobody else does) are starting to break down so close to the finale. Her moment of weakness as she

Glee: Nationals

2012-05-17T16:30:00.004-07:00

Rachel: "When I first met you, I was just an annoying Jewish girl with two gay dads and a very big dream. Today, I still have two dads, I'm still Jewish and probably just as annoying..."Glee hasn't been blowing me away this season. But this episode brought my love of Glee back to me, because (1) they finally, finally, FINALLY won the national championship, and at the best possible time; (2)

Eureka: Jack of All Trades

2012-05-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

… in which Warren Hughes arrives to evaluate the Astraeus crew’s fitness for duty just as Carter and various crew members begin switching bodies. Last week it took me a couple days to do my Eureka review, because I didn’t want to revisit that painful ending. This week it has taken me some time to sit down and write, because I just wasn’t sure what to say. ‘Jack of All Trades’ was an enjoyable

Glee: Props

2012-05-16T17:28:00.004-07:00

[Hey, Glee fans! I'm subbing for Harry, who is on vacation this week, and J.D. will be helping me out by writing the music section. We're doing last night's double episode separately. Our review of "Nationals" will be posted tomorrow.]Artie: "You can't un-see something like that."My eyes! My eyes!For me, the best part of the Freaky Friday body-swapping plot was Finn and Puck all couple-like as

Merlin: Excalibur

2012-05-16T12:28:00.001-07:00

“I have watched so many people I love die at your hands, Uther Pendragon. Now it is your turn.” Flamin' typical! You wait all season for a great episode of Merlin, and two come along at once. Since the start of the series, the writers have been gradually putting together the different pieces of the Arthurian legends. So far this series they've introduced Lancelot, Avalon and Mordred. Now we