tv reviewed

The Candidate

2010-05-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

LOST
Season 6, Episode 14: The Candidate
Review by Ian
TV-14

episode recap
We all knew it was coming. We all had that feeling inside that there would be one huge 'LOST' event that would change everything. And last night's episode entitled 'The Candidate' gave many characters the retribution they did not deserve. If you haven't seen tonight's episode yet, I would look away because this review gets extremely spoiler induced after these words.

In the on-Island timeline, we start off with the survivors being captured by Widmore's (Alan Dale) goons. They are brought to the cages again and kept there. Flocke (Terry O'Quinn), Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) attempt to save them and are successful, but Kate gets shot near the shoulder, but seems fine. The gang goes over to the Ajira plan, only for Locke to discover that Widmore planted a bomb there so when the plane turns on, the bomb goes off. Locke puts the bomb in his backpack, and tells the survivors about it, so they go all the way to the submarine. They all plan to go into the submarine, but Sawyer leaves Locke and Claire (Emilie de Ravin) stranded on the docks, when Claire tries to get in the submarine, Locke strangles her and says "Trust me, you don't want to be in there.", as the submarine starts to move away and go deeper into the water.

What? Yeah that's right. Locke switched Jack's backpack with his (which has the bomb in it), which is now under 3 minute countdown. The problem is that it would take the submarine 5 minutes to resurface. Now we've got a major problem. Sayid, Sawyer and Jack try to prevent the bomb from detonating, and Sawyer pulls out two plugs, only to make the countdown go faster. Sayid tells Jack "it's good to be you" and runs off with the bomb in the submarine, and it explodes as he's taking it to a room, killing Sayid. Jack comes to the conclusion that Locke needs to kill everyone at once so he can leave the island.

Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) gets knocked out, and Sun (Yunjin Kim) is trapped. Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) tries to save her but she pleads for him to go. Jin stays with Sun until the ship sinks, where they both die together, holding hands. What a sad kodak moment. Sawyer receives a concussion causing Jack to carry him up, and Hurley takes Kate up.

Death count: Sayid, Sun and Jin
IDK Factor: Lapidus (hopefully he stays alive), Desmond (wasn't on the submarine but from recent events he could be dead)
Alive: Jack, Hurley, Claire, Flocke, Ben, Richard, Miles
Alive and NOT well: Kate and Sawyer

Locke realizes that many of the survivors still aren't dead yet and he goes off, with Claire asking where he is going, he replies with "to Finish what I started".

Alternate Timeline: It's a Jack and Locke centric episode.
We meet the Alternate Anthony Cooper, who is paralyzed due to a plane accident where Locke was flying the plane (which is revealed how Locke got paralyzed in the alternate timeline).

Jack and Helen (Katey Sagal) talk about getting Locke to undergo the surgery to regain the use of his legs, but Helen and Locke both say that Locke is going to stay in the wheelchair.

Jack talks with Claire (Emilie de Ravin) and offers her to stay at his house, since they are "family" now.

episode review
The episode wasn't that shocking since I knew what was going to happen, but that big scene was done differently than I thought it would be. I sincerely hope that they don't kill off Lapidus, because I think 3 is enough for one episode.

Obviously the creators made this choice because they wanted the audience to know that they will kill off ANYONE since it's the end of the season. At least Sayid died because he sacrificed himself, and Jin and Sun died because of being heroes, even if their planned attempts failed. I think it's a little cruel that Jin and Sun were reunited just to kill them off, together.

Every week I'm hoping more and more that the survivors from the On Island timeline's souls transport to the Alternate Timeline world, so all the dead characters are not really dead.

OVERALL EPISODE GRADE: B

RETURNING CHARACTERS:
From what I understand and know, these are the only returning characters that have yet to make an appearance in this season.
Ana-Lucia Cortez (played by Michelle Rodriguez) - Will return in the Finale, or maybe the 16th episode.
Shannon Rutherford (played by Maggie Grace) - Will return in the Finale, or maybe the 16th episode.
Walt Dawson (played by Malcolm David Kelly) - Will return in the Finale.
Vincent the dog (played by Madison, the dog) - Will return in the finale, or maybe the 16th episode.
Danielle Rousseau (played by Mira Furlan) - Will return in the Finale.
Dr. Christian Shephard (played by John Terry) - Will return in the 16th episode and/or finale.

Look for Juliet, Boone, Libby, Alex Rousseau and other characters already shown this season to make at least one more appearance!

The Power of Madonna

2010-04-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

GLEE
Season 1, Episode 15: The Power of Madonna
TV-14
Review by Ian

Songs Covered:
Express Yourself - Madonna (covered by Glee club girls)
4 Minutes - Madonna, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake (covered by Kurt and Mercedes)
Vogue - Madonna (covered by Sue)
Like a Virgin - Madonna (covered by Santana, Finn, Emma, Will, Rachel and Jesse)
What it feels like for a girl - Madonna (covered by Finn, Puck, Arty, Will and Kurt)
Like a Prayer - Madonna (covered by whole club)
Borderline/Open your Heart - Madonna (covered by Finn and Rachel)

Episode Recap:
Will (Matthew Morrison) thinks the glee club's guys need a lesson in treating women with respect, so he has the club sing Madonna songs.
Sue (Jane Lynch) who is still blackmailing Figgins (Iqbal Theba), puts Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) on the cheerleading squad to annoy Will.
Will and Emma (Jayma Mays) break up after he finds out she's a virgin, they figure that they need to spend some time apart.
Santana (Naya Rivera) offers to have sex with Finn (Cory Monteith) to not make him a virgin anymore, and he reluctantly accepts, trying to annoy Rachel (Lea Michele).
Rachel and Jesse (Jonathan Groff) think about having sex but they cancel out at the last minute, unlike Finn.

Episode Review:
While I think this was one of the more overrated episodes of television this year (some people called it the best episode of the 2009-2010 television season), I thought it was awkward in some parts, cheesy in the others, great in the remaining parts.
I particularly liked the 4 minutes cover more than I thought I would, and the Like a Virgin cover was extremely awkward. Imagine if I was watching that performance with my family. I can't even begin to think of the faces I would make with my eyebrows towards the television.

Overall Episode Grade: B

(MORE) Dream Glee Songs!
Since this show is so popular and predictable, I'm posting more of my dream songs I would like to see Glee cover!
Head over Feet - Alanis Morissette (covered by Rachel)
Lady Marmalade - the p!nk, mya, lil kim and christina aguilera version (glee club girls)
Baby One More Time - Britney Spears (any of the girls could do it)
I Want You Back - Michael Jackson (whole Glee club, it could sound great)
Hey, Soul Sister - Train (glee club guys)
Bubbly - Colbie Caillat (covered by Rachel)
Fireflies - Owl City (covered by whole club)

Some of these sound stupid, but I thought 4 minutes would be stupid when I first heard Glee was doing it, but I was wrong, so give these ideas a chance.

AAAAAAND.... Glee themed episodes ideas(since Madonna was a theme)
Michael Jackson
Britney Spears (it's not my idea but it's been tossed around and I would consider it if I were Ryan Murphy)
DISNEY CLASSICS EPISODE (Part of your world - Rachel; Reflection - Rachel; A Whole New World - Finn and Tina or Rachel; Colors of the Wind - Mercedes; Circle of Life - whole club; I Won't Say I'm in Love - glee club girls; I'll Make a Man out of You - glee club guys)

BONES: the first season

2010-04-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

BONES
SEASON 1, EPISODES: ALL
review by: ian
episode ratings: TV-14

I can't really watch much of this show all in a day. It's one of those series in which you can only watch like 1-2 episodes at a time to fully appreciate it. Mostly because you could already predict the ending by the time you're half way through the episode (because most of the episodes are about murders, and the murderer usually is the person we only see for like 1 scene until they appear at the end).

I didn't have any favorite episodes, because if there would be an episode of Bones that you would watch, you'd either think it would be average-predictable, good, or just bad-creepy-unrealistic. Sometimes good-creepy.

Bad/Creepy/Unrealistic Episodes: Pilot, The Man in the Bear, A Boy in a Bush, Two Bodies in a Lab
Favorite Episodes: The Man in the Wall, The Woman at the Airport, The Man on the Fairway, The Woman in the Tunnel, The Skull in the Desert, The Soldier on the Grave

I know for a fact that Jonathan Adams' character Dr. Goodman never returns after the season finale because he's on sabbatical. Bitch, hes on sabbatical for 4 frickin years? It's time to bring his character back already.

I don't like how some episodes didn't really bring conclusion to some small storylines in the episode.

Overall I liked the season but usually each episode's format was the same, so it was frustrating at times to watch.

Favorite Character: Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin)
Least Favorite Character: Dr. Hodgins

I kind of like Dr. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) when she's being too literal (eg. "Males often bond when they exaggerate sexual activities" or something like that).

OVERALL GRADE: B

Goodbye Ugly Betty

2010-04-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

Ugly Betty

Season 4, Episode 20: Hello Goodbye

It's always extremely difficult to say goodbye to a show, any show, that you've stuck with from beginning to end for four years. Thinking back to a flashing America Ferrera on Times Square just remembers how popular this show once was. But it's the story with every break-out hit; people forget. Through four seasons, the core fans went through creative ups and downs, heartbreaks and goodbyes, loving moments and self-reflecting career moves. What makes Ugly Betty stand out from other shows is that it was eccentric. Bright colors, a lot of fashion talk, and always with a warm feeling and constant guidance of excellent music by Jeff Beal, the show was really not for anyone who prefers stone-cold action above loving reconciliation. But if you look past the female touch, you still find an amazing character-driven drama show, or telenovela. Past the story of a young woman trying to make it in the world, there was an outstanding supporting cast that made the world of Ugly Betty so much prettier. Much like the show, the finale was about Betty, but thank Horta there was still proper amounts of goodbyes to all the amazing characters that made you love them.

In the final act of the classic story of an ugly duckling in a beautiful world, Betty has to make a choice. Until the final moment, it is up in the air whether it is professional and personal, but whatever Betty choses, it's defining. From the very moment Betty walked in Mode with a poncho, red glasses, braces and a self-proclaimed confidence that still couldn't stop her from walking into a glass door, the show was telling the story of her working on herself. The finale reflects that more than anything. Betty made the people in her world accept and love her. She changed herself, probably more than she could've imagined, but she also changed others for the better. And in an episode that was really one big farewell, every single thing you loved about this show, gets a chance to shine while Betty makes the final career move on the show.

Because there are other things to get to. Just like the first, genius, season finale, the previous episode featured a gun shot, leaving the viewer wondering who survived. To nobody's surprise, the series finale opens with a funeral, and the show isn't pulling a second 'How Betty Got Her Grieve Back'. There are many Mode-politics to get to and Claire and Daniel will have to act or react to whatever happens with the company that has been the decor of a lot of drama on the show.

And let's not forget about Amanda and Marc, the two who even in the dullest moments still offered so much comedy that nobody can ever get bored, whether it's on a podcast or in interviews, they had the best humor. Luckily, they aren't done yet. Mandy still has daddy-issues to get through and Marc is faced with relationship issues. True, both story lines weren't dealt with in perfection, but considering the time there was left to deal with it, there aren't any complaints here.

As for the Suarez family, nobody expects a sad ending here, otherwise they haven't been paying attention. Because wherever Betty goes, Ignacio, Hilda and Justin have always had her back. And so did Daniel, who plays a key role in the final conclusion of the series.

For anyone who spend the last four years watching an modern fairytale develop, this finale is rewarding and intriguing. There are tears, there is laughter and there's the ultimate Betty feeling of having accomplished something. This was a goodbye, to an unique show that was entertaining, funny, loving and bright. But most of all, it was beautiful.

Overall Grade: B+

Everybody Loves Hugo

2010-04-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

LOST

SEASON 6, EPISODE 12: EVERYBODY LOVES HUGO

REVIEW BY: IAN

TV RATING: TV-14

EPISODE RECAP

ALTERNATE TIMELINE:

It's a Hurley (Jorge Garcia) centric episode.

Hurley talks with his mother briefly about him needing a woman in his life. His mother tells him she set him up on a blind date with a girl named Rosalina, so he shows up... but she never does. But at that restaurant, alternate Libby (Cynthia Watros) sees him and (she already had her flash of the island) said that she saw him somewhere, but he doesn't recognize her. She is traveling with the Santa Rosa institute, and her supervisor apologizes to Hurley and takes her away. At another restaurant, Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), now stalking the 815 passengers, talks to Hurley and tells him that he should go chase after Libby. Hurley goes to the mental institute (where he has never been before apparently, since it is the alternate universe) to talk to Libby. They agree to meet at a beach, where they have the picnic they never had (in reference to the picnic they would've had if she hadn't been murdered by Michael), and they kiss. Hurley sees the island timeline flashbacks of them kissing and Libby is happy because she realizes that she isn't crazy. Desmond looks on the scene, and then travels to the school where Locke works. He then hits Locke with his car, obviously in hopes of making him see his flashes.

ON-ISLAND TIMELINE:
Hurley visits Libby's grave and gets visits from Michael (Harold Perrineau) from the dead, saying that if Hurley doesn't take initiative, than everyone is going to be killed. Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) gets dynamite from the black rock and gets a bunch of survivors to go with her to the airplane, but Hurley starts arguing with her that blowing the plane up isn't the best idea, but Ilana disagrees and, while packing furiously, puts the bag down forcefully, causing the dynamite to explode, which kills her. It was a really stupid death scene but more on that later. The group is then split whether to go to blow the plane up to keep MIB from leaving the island or actually going to MIB. So Jack, Sun, Lapidus and Hurley to go MIB to talk, leaving Ben and Richard to go destroy the plane. While traveling to MIB, Hurley talks to Michael again, and Michael reveals that the whispers resemble the dead people that's spirit's cant go on. After Sayid (Naveen Andrews) gets Desmond, MIB finds out about the radioactive attack and takes Desmond to the well and pushes him in it. We don't know if hes dead yet because look what happened to Juliet.

EPISODE REVIEW
I thought some parts of the episode were a little stupid, for example, the Ilana scene. Shame on the writers for pulling an Arzt on us (season 1 death that ended the exact same way). I know it was shocking and made us all be convinced that characters would be dropping like flies this season, but still, really, writers? At least give our character a satisfying ending, and we better be seeing her in the alternate timeline, or someone's going to be pissed. Almost as pissed as when this certain person found out that Mr. Eko wouldn't be returning.

So you can get the idea of how stupid her death scene was, here you go:

I really wanted to see Libby appear to Hurley in the island timeline. A real reunion would've been great.
Believe it or not, Dr. Chang (Francois Chau) was the one announcing Hurley in the beginning of the episode, he just wasn't credited, but it was definitely him, I can say that. There was no sign of Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) in this episode seeming as it took place at the museum, but hopefully we'll get the polar bear question answered soon in the finale. And by we, I mean the audience, not myself and the imaginary frog in my pocket as my father thinks.

OVERALL EPISODE GRADE: B+

SPOILERS
NEXT WEEK: Look for Nadia (Andrea Gabriel), Cindy (Kimberley Joseph), Zoe (Sheila Kelly), Zach and Emma (Mickey Graue and Kersten Havelock) to appear.
Many characters will return this season. Here's a list of some that haven't been shown this season so fare but will be featured throughout this last season. The main characters or past main characters are in bold.
Maggie Grace who played Shannon
Vincent the Dog will also return
John Terry who played Christian Shephard
Kevin Tighe who played Anthony Cooper
Mira Furlan who played Danielle Rousseau (she was first confirmed to not return but then she changed her mind as is returning near the end of the season, probably in the series finale)
Michelle Rodriguez who played Ana-Lucia
Suzanne Krull who played the Psychic (from Tricia Tanaka is dead episode in Season 3)
Malcolm David Kelly who plays Walt
The producers have confirmed Matthew Abaddon (played by Lance Reddick) will not return and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is not returning also (WTF producers!). Sarah, Jack's ex-wife (played by Julie Bowen) won't be returning either apparently.

Hell-O

2010-04-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

glee
season 1, episode 14: Hell-O
review by: ian
episode rating: TV-14

episode recap:
It's after sectionals and Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) tells Will (Matthew Morrison) that they need to place at regionals to guarantee the Glee club staying in business (of course). Sue (Jane Lynch) is now blackmailing Figgins because she date-raped him and took a picture of them together so he had to let her back into the school, and she really has it out for the glee club now. Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) are now a couple, even though Finn still isn't sure how it happened, and Sue wants to break them up so Rachel will leave the Glee club, so she tries to get Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) to compete for the head cheerleader spot by seeing who can date Finn. They both end up trying to date him at the same time, which causes him to break up with Rachel. The Glee club has a "Hello" theme episode, where Will challenges each person to sing a song with the words "hello" repeated in it, but Rachel takes it a little too far after she sings "Gives you Hell" to mostly Finn after he breaks up with her.
Rachel starts dating the rival glee club (Vocal Adrenaline) star Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), and the Glee club starts to get a little paranoid that they want to swing her over to their school so they tell her to choose between the glee club and Jesse. Rachel chooses the glee club but feels bad about her decision. Will and Emma (Jayma Mays) are now dating, but after Emma says she's a virgin (and after Terri [Jessalyn Gilsig] tells her a few things about Will) she thinks they need to spend time apart. Will accidentally starts making out with Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel) the head of Vocal Adrenaline because apparently there was a "spark" there, and even though he was dating Emma during the time he felt bad about it and sent her away, but she still did tell him to "call her" when he's ready for her.

episode review:
The episode was a little more strong in inappropriateness than I thought. With the whole Shelby-Will make-out session and the Sue-Figgins date raping thing, it wasn't a great topic to be viewing with your family, if you know what I mean. I don't know how big the whole the writers dug themselves into, but it was a pretty big one. Because... "What are they going to do to end the Sue-Figgins story?" Surely they can't keep on having her pull blackmailing stints to Figgins to stay at the school, and when time runs out and gets to Sue Sylvester, she won't have any leverage over Figgins anymore! What happens after that? How will she stay on the show? The writers better know what they're doing here, because other wise, I see her date raping him as just another way to keep Sue Sylvester on the show.
I liked Terri in this episode, I always have. I'm sure the millions of fans out there hate Terri but I, like her. I liked her episode cameo, except I don't know exactly where "Operation: Redeem Terri" is starting (The writers are trying to explore her storyline in this part of the season).
I loved some of the one liners delivered by Sue, Puck and Brittany in the episode. "Did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?" - Brittany.
"I don't dig on fat chicks" - Puck, "I'm pregnant!" - Quinn
What happened to the supporting characters in this episode? They were only in the background and each had like, one line in the episode. What up with that?
I didn't like it how the supporting characters were singing "Gives you Hell" with Rachel, I thought it would be better just to have her sing it and have them just sit in their chairs and be the fake people that they are.

overall episode grade: B+

SNL w/ Tina Fey and Justin Bieber

2010-04-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE

SEASON 35, EPISODE 18: Tina Fey/Justin Bieber
REVIEW BY: Ian
RATING: TV-14

EPISODE REVIEW:
When Tina Fey is hosting Saturday Night Live, you know it's going to be good. You should always have hopes for when a former writer and a former cast member hosts the show and Tina Fey definitely lived up to those.
I might've given it a higher rating than others might but whatever. I'm only giving it an A- instead of a B+ because I gave J. Lo's episode a B+ and this was better.
Justin Bieber was the musical guest and he came with the right attitude. He wasn't afraid of making fun of himself and he had fun. Justin Bieber even helped Tina Fey sing I'm Every Woman in her opening monologue.
I'm choosing to do a pretty long review, reviewing every sketch and giving my full opinion on it. So I'm going to start now.
For some reason, Kristin Wiig was barely in any sketches. She must have some bad blood with Tina Fey or something.
I do think we'll be seeing at least a Guest emmy nomination for Tina Fey again, maybe even a win.

COLD OPEN:
Fred Armisen, in his only appearance, imitated President Obama, making a public announcement to the people about the new census they received in the mail. SNL parodied it by having him read the questions and having him ask way too personal irrevelant questions that the government doesn't need to know, for example: How Important is the role of Fantasy in your Sex Life? It seemed a little desperate, and for once I would like Fred Armisen to not be in the cold open as Obama, they usually are a little boring. Maybe they should've had a different sketch with Sarah Palin (not the one that aired tonight) to really draw viewers in.
The opening monologue isn't up yet on Hulu but I'll edit the review and post it when it is updated. But basically what you missed was Tina Fey singing I'm Every Woman while introducing people in her life (not real) that help her get organized (for example Steve Martin cameo'd as her tax lawyer).

TEACHER SKETCH:
In this sketch, Tina Fey played an overworked teacher who started to fall for her student, Justin (played by Justin Bieber). She begins to have fantasies of him singing to her and it gets a little out of hand. I thought it was a funny sketch, and Tina Fey portrayed Justin Bieber nicely without it getting a little too weird (although the baby stroller was a little weird).

BROWNIE HUSBAND:
In this sketch, Fey played a woman who rarely talked as it was supposed to be a commercial. A minute and a half long commercial (this isn't paid programming people!) but I don't care about the length. She played a woman who had a brownie husband, which is the product the commercial was advertising. I thought the sketch was clever and still appointed to the true SNL sketch, it was gross in the end.

THE MASTERS:
This by far was one of the best sketches of the night for me. I must've liked it more than others but it was hilarious. Especially Tina Fey as her portrayal of the not real slut Ashlyn St. Cloud which was the highlight of the sketch for me. In this sketch Ashlyn St. Cloud, and Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis who played golf announcers/commentators, commented on Tiger Woods, and golfing mainly. It was hilarious and pretty funny.

SARAH PALIN NETWORK:
It was Tina Fey's disappointing return to impersonate Sarah Palin. It was ratings and guest Emmy desperate, but it had a few good jokes in there, but it also had disappointing jokes. At least it was funny some parts and it was a creative idea. SNL always has the most interesting ideas.

And Now, We're heading along into the incredibly long WEEKEND UPDATE.
First off, Tina Fey had a segment called "Woman's News" which was hilarious. Hopefully she'll do it again when she returns for the Betty White episode next month. I love the Bombshell McGee jokes. They really murdered her with jokes there, just like how Chelsea Handler would do it.

Seth Meyers part of the weekend update was, pretty funny. It had some real jokes in there and wasn't disappointing.

Jason Sudeikis cameo'd as the devil in a part of Weekend Update. It was really funny when he was talking about some of the things that he did from hell (for example: the Jersey Shore season 2 is coming out soon!). It could've been offensive for some, but hey, everything's offensive now a days.

Kristin Wiig showed an appearance as Aunt Linda, a recurring character that reviewed movies that has been absent from the show for nearly 2 years. I think it's great that SNL keeps thinking about bringing back old recurring characters, its so we still have a semblance of SNL in its previous days instead of making new characters, therefore, making us forget about the past. I liked how Linda didn't like Avatar!

SCHOOL DANCE:
In this sketch, Nasim Pedrad played a nerdy girl at a school dance who idolized her mom and barely went away from her. Tina Fey played that mother, who wanted her to go out and talk to her friends and dance with boys. While both main girls were great at acting in the scene, I was kind of bored, although parts of it were amusing.

AL ROKER SKETCH:
In this sketch, Kenan Thompson took the head as impersonating Al Roker, partying while on the job. He would occasionally go to a green screen in the same room and share the weather for the Today show. I thought it was funny, although I could barely understand Thompson in some parts. But when Thompson first showed up in the scene, I thought he was actually Al Roker... until he started talking.

LOLENE:
In the final sketch, Fey played a 9 inch hooker who was trying to save up enough money to go to Paris, France. She was in a bar, standing on the top of the table, while she was talking to the bartender (Bobby Moynahan), and two other bar-goers (I forgot the name! Don't judge me!). Bill Hader as the head of the orphanage comes in and tells everyone that he needs 1300 dollars to save his orphanage or it's being shut down, and Lolene (Tina Fey) gives him the money, and with it, her dream of going to Paris. I thought it was like a regular ending SNL sketch for me, a few giggles, you had no idea what was going on for a small part of it, but it still summed up the night in a nice way.

Tina Fey was great at hosting.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

the truth hurts

2010-04-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

united states of

TARA

REVIEW BY IAN

UNITED STATES OF TARA

SEASON 2, EPISODE 3: THE TRUTH HURTS

EPISODE RECAP:
As Kate (Brie Larson) grows closer to Lynda P. Frasier, one of her clients at her new job, Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) experiments with his new girlfriend. Neil (Patton Oswalt) finds out Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt) is getting married after Max (John Corbett) kept the secret from him.

Tara (Toni Collette) tries to imitate Buck so she can end things with the girl that he's seeing right now, but instead, Tara tells her the truth, and after Pammy (the girl) follows her to her house, the family decides to go ice skating, where Pammy announces the truth over the intercom, in front of everyone. Max realizes that Tara's alters are out again, and he's extremely mad at Tara for keeping the secret from him.

EPISODE REVIEW:
All of the things that we've grown to love about this series have started changing. We have seen too much of Buck, and nothing of Alice, Gimme or T this season. The producers of this show have to realize that the entertaining part of the show is her alters, nobody likes it when its just a Tara centric episode. It's the United States of Tara, people, STATES is the plural form of STATE (aka the show revolves around her alters also).

I know for a fact the next episode a new alter comes out, but I have yet to find out if we will be seeing Gimme or T this season. It pains me to know that Showtime keeps on forgetting their past characters.

Also, this episode was way too inappropriate for my liking. With all the sex term slang and the sexual references, the first season's inappropriate-ness was nowhere NEAR this season's so far.

OVERALL EPISODE GRADE: C+

Happily Ever After

2010-04-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

LOST
Season 6, Episode 11: Happily Ever After
Review by Ian

EPISODE RECAP
Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) centric episode. In alternate timeline he has never met Penny (Sonya Walger) until Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) directs him to her.
Alternate Timeline: Desmond is put in charge by his employer, Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) to look after Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) so he can play alongside his son (later revealed to be Faraday) in his piano charity concert, to make his wife, Eloise (Fionnula Flanagan) happy. Charlie reveals what he saw while he was choking on the herion on the plane and as Desmond is driving Charlie to the concert, Charlie takes control of the wheel and drives them off a bridge into the water, and Desmond has a flashback of when he tried to save Charlie in the on island timeline. Desmond also saw Penny in his flashback, as Charlie saw Claire on the plane's flashback. Finally, the two timelines are merging into eachother. Minkowski (the weird guy on the Kahana) was Desmond's driver, and as Desmond goes back into the limo, all stitched up and fine, he asked for the plane manifest, which implies he's going to visit every person from the plane to tell them about their "hallucination" that they could have. Faraday helps Desmond come to this conclusion, which implies that Faraday also thinks that they can't be living the right life. Faraday then tells Desmond where to find Penny, and he finds her there and asks her for coffee, where she agrees. Eloise finds out about Desmond's plan and tells him to stop whatever he's doing (which also implies that she knows what Desmond's up to).
On-Island Timeline: Widmore puts Desmond in a radioactive room to see if he can survive a vast radioactive energy attack, and he does, which according to Widmore, means that they all are saved. After Desmond survives the room, Zoe takes him somewhere else, but Sayid intercepts and tells Zoe to run, and Sayid takes Desmond with him. Desmond has had an epiphany and realizes why he is at the island again. The episode is mainly centric around the alternate timeline.

EPISODE REVIEW
I thought it was a great episode. I didn't like the complete personality change for Charlie but whatever. I hated Charlie in this episode actually, which was pretty bad, because apparently he was always a fan favorite (I never really liked him that much anyways).
I loved Faraday in this episode, thank god he's back for more episodes this final season, as his scenes were completely enjoyable to watch.
But every alternate timeline, I can see a reason for an old character to be back. Mr Eko isn't returning this season, which irks me, because the producers chose to wait until the last minute to call the actor. MR EKO COULD'VE BEEN CHARLIE'S DRUG DEALER FOR GOD SAKE! IT COULD'VE BEEN A PERFECT SCENE/STORYLINE! But they chose to wait till the last minute again, and look what happened, their best character isn't returning.
I like how they chose to bring back Minkowski, but I don't fully understand his "connections" thing, and how he can get the plane manifest.

Here is a reason for which I hope some old characters returns this season.
Mr Eko: could've been Charlie's drug dealer, (since Charlie had heroin and Mr. Eko was dealing heroin before he went to the Island).
Libby: To explain why she was in the mental hospital before the crash, and so she can get some closure with Hurley. Probably next week Hurley gets a flash and realizes Libby was the one for him, so he chases after her.
Boone and Shannon: Since Shannon is returning in the finale, she is being fought over by a bunch of guys. Boone could be captured by the guys ringleader and Shannon has Sayid and Hurley save him. Idk really, it's a mystery what Boone is going to do for the remainder of the season.
Charlotte and Pierre Chang: If they work at the museum, for god sake THEY HAVE TO EXPLAIN HOW POLAR BEARS GOT TO THE ISLAND.
Sarah (Jack's ex-wife): She has to pop in to check in on her son sometime, right?
Ana-Lucia: She's an LA cop. She HAS to encounter some of the characters sometime, right? My guess? Jin, Sayid, Charlie, and Kate she could be encountering with. I saw an opportunity for a cameo appearance in this episode.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

SPOILERS
Many characters will return this season. Here's a list of some that haven't been shown this season so fare but will be featured throughout this last season. The main characters or past main characters are in bold.
Maggie Grace who played Shannon
Julie Bowen who plays Sarah, Jack's ex-wife (rumored)
Cynthia Watros who played Libby (NEXT WEEK)
Harrold Perrineau who played Michael (NEXT WEEK)
Vincent the Dog will also return
John Terry who played Christian Shephard
Said Taghmaoui who played Caesar (rumored)
Francois Chau who plays Pierre Chang (NEXT WEEK)
Kevin Tighe who played Anthony Cooper
Mira Furlan who played Danielle Rousseau (she was first confirmed to not return but then she changed her mind as is returning near the end of the season, probably in the series finale)
Michelle Rodriguez who played Ana-Lucia
Lillian Hurst who plays Carmen Reyes (NEXT WEEK)
Archie Ahuana who played Tito (Hurley's dead grandfather; NEXT WEEK)
Suzanne Krull who played the Psychic (from Tricia Tanaka is dead episode in Season 3)
The producers have confirmed Matthew Abaddon (played by Lance Reddick) will not return and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is not returning also (WTF producers!).

NEW POLLS

2010-04-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

MOST OVERRATED SHOWpolls

MOST OVERRATED SHOW:
There are many overrated shows out there and I feel that it's the voters duty to select the most overrated. You can add your own answer because there are way more overrated shows than that, but I just chose some current ones that seem pretty obvious.
Community - By far one of tv's most overrated new shows. It dominated on Hulu's bracket show voting despite it's continuous low ratings. Maybe all of its fans just watch it on hulu or something but seriously, not that great of a show.
Dexter - I asked Barbara to review Dexter and she reluctantly agreed. After hours of pestering her to actually watch it and then review it, she finally used the ninjavideo.net link I gave her to the pilot. 5 minutes into it she stopped and said it was incredibly boring and that he looked like a pedophile. Maybe she could share these thoughts with some other viewers out there.
The Big Bang Theory - From what I've seen the 13 million viewers every week must watch it to have something to make fun at. Not that great of a show, completely overrated, and boring, but still it entertains me sometimes when I have nothing to watch.
The Vampire Diaries - Can any of you tell me why people haven't rolled their eyes at this continuous contribution to the Vampire craze?
House M.D. - I watched the pilot, and it wasn't that impressive. It was kind of boring so I resorted to my computer while watching it. I have the DVD's downstairs even though they belong to my dad, I could watch them anytime. My friends love it, and one of my friends doesn't. Still there may be others like that out there.

FAVORITE TV FAMILYonline surveys

FAVORITE TV FAMILY:
Here are just a few of some of the families that have entertained you over the years. You can add a new answer because I didn't put some of the classics shows in there like the Brady Bunch or The Addams Family, not even the Sopranos.
The Pritchett's (Modern Family) - By far the best family on television right now, well, tied with the Simpsons, but they're in their creative slump right now so the Pritchett's win! You try watching "The Incident", "Pilot" or "Starry Night" episodes of this show and NOT be impressed!
The Gellar's (Friends) - If you watch the episode "The One Where Ross Got High" you'd know how awesome this family would be.
The Bluth's (Arrested Development) - The alcoholic mother (Jessica Walter), the convicted secretive father (Jeffrey Tambor), the son who just wants to be cool (Michael Cera), the niece who wants to get emancipated (Alia Shawkat), the sister who has a spending problem (Portia de Rossi), the brother in law who wants to become an actor (David Cross), the brother that still lives with his mother (Tony Hale), and last, the brother that is an aspiring magician (Will Arnett), and Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) has to deal with all of them to get his family company back on top.
The Simpsons (The Simpsons) - Like you don't know already.
The Gilmore's (Gilmore Girls) - I've never seen this show but I've heard great things (from girls though) about this family and how it set the stage for many other teen dramas.

POLL RESULTS

2010-04-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Favorite TV Wedding:
Monica and Chandler - Friends: 38%
Emily and Ross - Friends: 31%
Jim and Pam - The Office: 15%
Marshall and Lily - How I Met Your Mother: 8%
Ellie and Captain Awesome - Chuck: 8%

Favorite TV Womanizer:
Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) - Friends: 32%
Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) - How I Met Your Mother: 26%
Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) - Gossip Girl: 21%
James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) - LOST: 16%
Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) - Two and a Half Men: 5%
Mayor Quimby (Dan Castellaneta) - The Simpsons: 0%

Da Reprecussions

2010-04-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

10 Things I Hate About You
Season 1, Episode 11: Da Reprecussions
Review by: Ian

Episode Recap:
Following the series of events from the fall finale of last year, Kat (Lindsey Shaw) is still suspended, and Bianca (Meaghan Jette Martin) tries to keep the secret from Chastity (Dana Davis) that she is dating Joey (Chris Zylka). Kat and Patrick Verona (Ethan Peck) break into the school so she can take a test and not get a 0 on her suspension day. Bianca and Joey must make peace with Cameron (Nicholas Braun), (who is still a little mad at Bianca for saying that she doesn't feel the same way towards him) in order for him to not give the tape of Bianca and Joey kissing to Chastity. Mr. Stratford (Larry Miller) goes to the school after Principal Holland catches Kat and Ethan and stands up for Kat, who stood up for her rights when walking out on school after their uniform/security policy was introduced and he gets Kat cleared of the bad things on her permanent record.

Episode Review:
While this episode was a little too romantic for my taste, it was an excellent spring premiere. Obviously this show is the best thing ABC Family has ever done. It had some great comedic lines in the show and proved that it isn't a drama at all. I really like the character of Principal Holland (Suzy Nakamura) who's dead pan way of bringing her character to life is always hilarious
"She's in her more than the kid who keeps randomly biting everyone's necks!" - Principal Holland regarding Kat going to her Office.
At least the show doesn't make Joey seem that unconvincingly dumb, I mean, he had a few lines which were like "Really? You had to write that for comedic effect?" but there other lines like when he implied that he thought Bolivia was in Africa that were hilarious. As much as I want Joey and Bianca to stay together, it's pretty obvious that they're not going anywhere, and that Bianca is magically going to fall in love with Cameron since he is shunning her. I hate it when that happens. Here's hoping that for once, the love interests NEVER end up together.

Episode Grade: B+

It's Happy Hour at the Office

2010-03-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

THE OFFICE
SEASON 6, EPISODE 21: HAPPY HOUR
REVIEW BY IAN

EPISODE RECAP:
Michael (Steve Carell) gets yet ANOTHER love interest while on a "pop date" (like a pop quiz version of a date) given to him by Pam (Jenna Fischer) when the whole office goes out to happy hour, as suggested by Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) to get closer to Mark, the warehouse gay guy. The only twist is, it isn't Pam's friend that's the love interest, but it's the club's owner who looks an awful lot like Julianna Margulies, but is really played by Amy Pietz. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) sees Pam's friend Isabel, again, at the Happy Hour place and she gets Angela (Angela Kinsley) out of Dwight's mind as his potential baby's mother (remember their contract?).

EPISODE REVIEW:
While this episode was mainly centered around love (Michael-Susie, Jim-Pam, Andy-Erin, Oscar-Mark, Kelly-Ryan, Phyllis-Bob, Michael-manager, Dwight-Angela, Dwight-Isabel) it was better than the average episode.
This episode was obviously written for an Emmy submission for Steve Carell because the episode was mainly Michael centric and had him impersonating random personalities, like "Date Mike".
I didn't quite get how Michael didn't go back into "Date Mike" when he was flirting with the club manager unlike when he was flirting with Susie.

OVERALL EPISODE GRADE: B

90210: Sing Your Heart Away

2010-03-24T12:20:00.001-07:00

Review By: Manju

90210

Season 2, Episode 15: What's Past Is Prologue

When will people learn from their mistakes? 90210 isn't about to tell us, because Silver decides to spy on Teddy, Adriana gives singing a shot, Navid finds a new girl and Dixon is bonding with his birth mom. But we all know how this ends...

Because bringing in your birth mom, doesn't bode well for the family you already have. At least, not for the mom. Deb is feeling all sorts of things, and in one short scene, we're supposed to buy that she and Harry are having some troubles. Not that this isn't the first story line we actually feel for her. After doing some major mom-kickin' earlier this season, Deb proves she really cares about Dixon, but does the new/old mom feel the same way? I personally like that Dixon is getting some backstory, but I really don't know what to make of this gambling thing.
Silver is getting used to monogamy with Teddy, and in one of the most predictable story lines this season, she sends someone out to spy on him. How will this possibly end? O, wait, I don't care.
Much more interesting is Navid getting back in the game with One Tree Hill sweetie Amber Wallace. First because Navid deserves a girl who's actually worth fighting for, second because it drives Adrianna into the arms of Gia (awkward badly played by Rumer Willis). Oh, and Ade can sing too. And just like every teen girl who can sing, she joins a band. Raise your voice if you're bored.
Thank God there's still Jasper, who continues to freak out with doing absolutely nothing (is he related to Dr. Linus?). I'm really excited where this story is going, though I'm hardly impressed with the episode's ending. It could be scarier folks!

Overall Grade: C+

Gossip Girl: The Time Of Her Life

2010-03-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

Gossip Girl

Season 3, Episode 15: The Sixteen Year Old Virgin

Is it that time already? Gossip Girl's youngest subject is ready and willing to loose her V, but is everybody else going to let her? And why is Chuck's creepy uncle Jack back, just when he's sued for sexual harassment? Does Rufus know anything about parenting? Is history catching up on Serena and Nate? This is what the upper east side has been wondering, what the frak did you do with your week?

In an episode where everything came together perfectly and the otherwise loose characters who spend their days being all over the place come together for a united goal, nothing comes as a surprise. But the road itself is half the fun.
Rufus thinks he knows what he's doing when keeping Jenny away from Kevin Zegers. Has he learned nothing from the design-debacle? Jenny doesn't listen, and is ready to seal the deal with slick/old guy. Time for the "parent absentee" club to but in. Serena, in that way, is becoming more like GA's Meredith every week; boring on her own, but great when budding in interesting people's story lines. Nate and her try to stop Jenny before it's too late, but both have different opinions how to do it ("Blair and Chuck do this all the time!") and, as it turns out, different motives too. Surprised that a scene starts with the words "me and Nate are over"? Neither was I.
Meanwhile, Dan is slacking his brotherly duties to define his relationship with Vanessa, because really, what they are is a mystery, but it feels better then D&S ever did. In other relationship news, Lily and Rufus try to get passed their adult affairs, but there's no such thing as moving on without a confrontation.
Chuck on the other side, has a whole set of different problems. His uncle Jack is back, and that can't be a coincidence now that Chuck's being sued for sexual harassment. Though he and Blair are steady, how much rocking can a boat take?

The episode stayed clear of too much shocking revelations, but the ones that did occur, were interesting enough. It's also made clear that Vanessa as a girlfriend to Dan is better when they are the comic relief and not the main story, also I prefer Lily as a mother to Chuck more than any random woman who turns up at a grave, or any blonde haired kid who she may have given birth to. Brace yourself, there's a lot brewing on the upper east side, and if this episode is any indication, the gang is going to need each other more than ever to keep holding on.

Overall Grade: B

Parenthood: Awkward rewards

2010-03-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

Parenthood

Season 1, Episode 4: Wassup

Confession; the Braverman family is kind of growing on me. It's not groundbreaking or realistic, but it does touch upon subjects that aren't always as played out it's concept. In this episode, grandpa Braverman is actually a fun comic relief, Mae Whitman proves she's Lauren Graham mother/daughter-bonding worthy and awkward situations are made (somewhat) bearable.

Thankfully leaving the Asperger story line alone for a week, we get to see more of Haddie (that's her name!) who got herself a boyfriend (reveal; it's someone from the 'Fame 2009' cast! And yes, I saw that movie) and failed to mention it to her parents giving Adam and Kristina more scenes to be convincing parents who slightly forgot how to talk to teenagers.
Meanwhile, Sarah sticks up for Amber after Julia doesn't want her to babysit. Drew spends a lot of time in the shower, worrying his mother and basically setting off half of the family convinced that they are the ones to talk to him about [apologies, the previous message was deleted due to awkward content which should only be watched in this episode and to be never spoken of again].

It's nice to see the family together at the end of every episode, before the show started I wished for a classic family drama, and previously I complained about the scenes thinking they were mushy and forced, but you know what? Who cares, the Braverman feel more like a family that hangs out with each other than the Walkers ever did, and it's actually kind of natural. I liked this ending, and I officially like this show.

Overall Grade: B

How I Met Your Mother: Yay!

2010-03-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

How I Met Your Mother

Season 5, Episode 18: Say Cheese

How I Met Your Mother probably owns the rights to comedy flashbacks and gets storytelling right in a way few other shows manage to. 'Say Cheese' has the ingredients of every HIMYM episode, funny side notes, hilarious Barney comments, an overexcited Marshall, Ted searching for love and a trip down memory lane. The last one takes home the award, with such a great look in the past even some of Ted's ex-girlfriends return to guest star just for flashback purpose only. Gotta love bigger budgets.

But saying that this episode is great because some old flames were there to fit the story that was being told would be wrong, it's just a tiny factor that makes this picture look great. How I Met Your Mother gets friends as family, and nostalgic moments and execs them perfectly.
This time it's Lily's birthday, leading to a story about her obsession of perfect group photo's. The only problem is, there's always a variable in those pictures; Ted's girlfriends.
And once again, what starts out as a fun anecdote turns into something serious, with comic relief, only to turn into a heartwarming and sweet ending.
After five seasons, How I Met Your Mother has come to a point where returning to the past involves stories we've already seen, and fitting them to the current story line is hard, but where other shows fail, this show gets it right. 'Say Cheese' is just another roller coaster ride through the history of the core five, but as a viewer, there's nothing more rewarding then seeing them fight, make right, and eventually, turn 42.

Overall Grade: A-

Desperate Housewives: My Three Hundred Boring Stories

2010-03-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

Desperate Housewives

Season 6, Episode 18: My Two Young Men

What to do with perfectly good food? How to out yourself to thy neighbors? Am I replacing my son with my dead-husbands bastard? Is selling chocolate at a I-survived-cancer party OK? All of these questions (and more) could've made up for much more interesting documentary's than Sunday's installment of Desperate Housewives. In an episode that exceeded every expectation of the show's capability of not just stopping progress, but actually get stuck in lame-story land and reside their until future notice...

Because it really was that unoriginal. Every show has it's fillers, but to have same stories being melted into something completely useless resulting in no satisfying end at all, well, that's just waisting prime time. Imagine all the Hallmark movies that could've shown housewives doing useful stuff?
In 'My Two Young Men' Lynette continues to question her sons relationship with the blonde bimbo from Europe, just like she did last week. Only now, there's a unrealistic talk about sex, coldest ready-for-diner sauce in history and a stupid move.
Meanwhile, Susan and Gaby battle through their children again when both have reasons for their kids to sell the most chocolate bars. Resulting in some not-so-hilarious scenes in which these desperate housewives sink low, and learn nothing.
Bree is still dealing with Sam coming into her life and Andrew is still mad. Nothing changed there.

Basically, anyone could've skipped this episode and be perfectly up to date next week, except that one couple is leaving the lane, and a bad guy has come (again) looking mysteriously in his rear window (not. scary.). The only thing that made this episode bearable? Let me get back to you next week for that one.

Overall Grade: F+

The Simpsons: It's Just Advanced, We Can Catch Up

2010-03-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

The Simpsons

Season 21, Episode 15: Stealing First Base

It goes without saying that the first five minutes of 'Stealing First Base' had 10x more sincerity and humor to it than the entire episode of Family Guy. I think The Simpsons is lifting me to a much higher form of animated humor and quality and I, for one, love it. In this week's episode, Bart gets a girlfriend, Lisa gets an F, many gay kisses are seen and Michelle Obama makes an appearance.

But first things first, the best story line is that of the kids. Lisa and Bart still struggling with the same things every kid, and every viewer can relate to. It's powerful to see these standard things worked out in a way that's true to these characters and can still be fresh. Bart meets a girl that is a good match for him, but the focus isn't on the fact he gets a girlfriend or even that he kisses her (which eventually leads to a good 'ol rule that prevents any lip-contact), but that she's a girl, and he's confused.
Lisa faces an F, which, probably has been done before, but now we get a quick peep at Lisa being popular because she's no longer "gifted".
In both scenario's there's place for some guy on guy action between two memorable characters of Bart's school (no, Millhouse is not one of them) and a visit from the First Lady herself (but not voiced by her).

Touching upon kid problems, but still having quick, smart jokes that don't distract from any story, but push it to a whole new level, and The Simpsons is one of the best shows out there. I'm just surprised it keeps surprising me every week.

Overall Grade: B+

The Second Season Premiere of The United States of Tara

2010-03-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

The United States of Tara
Season 2, Episode 1: Yes
Review by: Ian

Episode Recap: (spoilers since it hasn't been viewed yet)
A neighbor commits suicide, making Tara (Toni Collette) feel that she isn't the only one that's crazy in her neighborhood. At the scene of the crime, Tara, Max (John Corbett), Kate (Brie Larson) and Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) meet a gay couple that lives near them as well, they make friends, and have a dinner party shortly after.
Tara has been taking her meds so the alters stay in check, and none of them have appeared in 3 months. But when Tara visits the now abandoned house (belonging to the man who committed suicide, who's sister gave Tara the key to look after it), she feels sad and strange.
Marshall makes friends with the Gay table at school, and they are mad at the school for not including gay rights on the agenda for one of their rose events.
Kate graduates high school early and gets a job at a debt collecting company, and already starts to do good work judging by the end of the episode.
Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt) is still dating Nick, and at the end of the episode, he proposes to her... and she says 'Yes'.
We then see Buck (one of Tara's alters) going into a bar and flirting with the waitress taking shots and the episode ends.

Episode Review:
Storylines I liked: Kate's new storyline and Tara/Max's storyline with the neighboring house.
Storylines I didn't like: Marshall fitting in at school

For once I wish they wouldn't give Marshall a love interest, I wish they would have to do with him... running for school president or something else but not a love interest. Even though Marshall is getting a female love interest later this season (which is shocking because he's gay, which means that he's either experimenting again or becoming bisexual).

I also wish that the whole episode wasn't just Tara and 30 seconds of Buck, when it's just Tara it's kind of boring.

I was expecting a big cliffhanger to come throughout the end of the episode and my prediction was correct. So the end of the episode was predictable, but the storylines in the episode were still very unique.

This wouldn't be the strongest Emmy submission for Toni Collette, because her alters didn't really make an appearance at all, until the end of the episode so maybe they should do an episode where all of her alters make appearances.

The episode seemed like a TV-14 episode but it's showtime so it could easily be ruled as TV-MA.

Overall Episode Grade: B

The episode premieres March 22 on Showtime so set your DVR's or just get ready to watch it live!

Justified

2010-03-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

Justified

Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot

A policedrama about a lone Deputy U.S. Marshal named Raylan Givens who doesn't tie any knots around it. Away from fancy crime solving, this show takes Middle America and shows it the way it is. Rough around the edges, but a decent moral inside.

In the Pilot we follow Givens after he makes his superiors angry by a shootout in Miami, forcing him to go back to the small town he once escaped, Harlan, Kentucky. Old memories resurface, and old friends are new enemies. How much has really changed in all this time he has been gone?
You don't need very much to decide if this is the kind of show for you. This is the Wild West, in modern times. Or the real America if you like. Here people don't need cops to defend themselves, here race and the belief in God are high topics. Bazooka's, gun fire and some good boots, and you're good to go to give Justified a decent chance.
The show is edgy, a little dark, but entertaining and grounded. There's not much to it, because there doesn't need to be. It's a story about a normal guy from a normal time. No pop hits, no fashion models, just good old folk passing time and staying between right and wrong.

Overall Grade: C+

Parenthood - The Pool Is Too Big

2010-03-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

Parenthood

Season 1, Episode 3: The Deep End Of The Pool

Parenthood continues to struggle with it's big, but talented cast, as some stories are reproduced fastfood meals, while others are intriguing and compelling. The characters start to grow on me in the third week, but the show never gets to the level that you look forward to seeing more of.

In 'The Deep End Of The Sea' the show focuses on parenting in every way possible, leaving you to wonder how many times they can pull the same story off in a different setting. Because in the end, parenting is a daily job, and can't be different every week. Which is exactly what TV doesn't need; a story that never changes.
Sara's car breaks down on a very inconvenient moment forcing her to either make it or accept a new car from her parents. But she's also still worried about her finding condoms in her father's office.
Adam and Kristina are smoothly becoming my favorite couple of the show as they worry about their sons Asperger's and a daughter who lacks attention, but still find time for humor and love.
Julia wants to teach her daughter how to swim, but goes beyond an average lesson.
The show offers up some great family moments, siblings appearing in each others scenes at random moments and the fun things kids can do. But having to feel for every child, every parent gets tiring. I stand by the too crowded cast, and the idea of saving some of the story lines for later. But who am I? Parenthood is becoming quit the charmer, but if it's full-season material...

Overall Grade: C+

90210 - Not Much Of A Girl Fight

2010-03-17T09:04:00.001-07:00

Review By: Manju

90210

Season 2, Episode 14: Girl Fight

In case you escaped the many promo's of The CW showing you much of the episode titular scene, it might come as a happy surprise to see a classic girl fight. It's Naomi and Ivy hitting the sand to settle once and for all who gets Liam. And as much as I love girl fights, it wasn't even all the good stuff. Because Dixon gets what he deserves and Jasper is getting creepier by the second.

But first; Silver and Teddy. These two don't pass for teenagers at all, even in the way they get together. Not that anybody cares, because the two still share some chemistry. Unfortunately, Dixon isn't ready to let go just yet, but his boyish schemes will surface pretty fast.
Meanwhile Annie has reached a tipping point of Jasper's threats and decides to try another method. It's great seeing Annie become someone we can actually feel something for. The first half of the season really made her a character, the way we want to see them, now she's finally making her way back to society, with only one very, very big obstacle left to tackle.
Back to Ivy, Naomi and Liam. I could watch those awkward scenes between Naomi and Liam forever, but Ivy makes both of them face what's really going on. It might just be the end for their long-awaited get together.

The episode was fairly entertaining, nothing spectacle and the girl fight wasn't anything for the books. It could've gone way more out of hand, but the show decided to stay safe. It was a little disappointing, but I'll take any sort of girl fight over none any day.

Overall Grade: C+

The Pacific: Just Watch The Fireworks

2010-03-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Review By: Manju

The Pacific

Season 1, Episode 1: Part I

Even though I'm a little late to the party, I just saw The Pacific and was bedazzled by it's beauty, terror and, somehow, simplicity. A miniseries that pushes the boundaries of television, grabs reality and turns it into an event you can not miss. A story about a war, nobody was prepared for.

It's hard to bring something to the table when it comes to WWII. Band Of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan pretty much said it all, letting Inglourious Basterds even come in and reshape that very history. But The Pacific doesn't aim at what happened in Europe, not even what happened in Pearl Harbor. We go back to December, 1941, right after Hawaii was attacked and young soldiers across the nation were encouraged to fight for their country, without really knowing what that means. We follow several marines as they are being shipped out to a little island called Guadalcanal, and what they find there changes everything they ever knew. In one of the most expensive shows ever made, produced by blockbuster vets Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, this is the kind of television happening High Definition was made for.
The most gripping about the stories that are told in 'Part I' is that they feel real, and grounded. We see how families say goodbye in their own way, how men are rejected or encouraged, how their boats leave the ships and head for land and the terrible wait that comes with it. It shows us what we've seen before, but in such a matter that it still confronts you. Anyone can get out of it what they feel like. The pride of fighting for the free world we live in today. The cruelty and meaningless battles. The frighting fact of watching your fleet in a sea battle and all you can think of is the fourth of July.
There is absolutely nothing meaningful about war, but as we follow these man and see how they change in the very first hour, is astonishing. The depth of the characters, the emptiness that follows, the change that you have to go through, it all feels real. It makes The Pacific an extraordinary look at a part of the war History classes fail to mention. Not liking war-movies is not a reason to skip this miniseries, because this is the way it was back then. You couldn't escape it, you couldn't say "no". These things happened, and never before was it filmed so beautifully and breathtaking.

Certainly, a can't miss event.

Overall Grade: A-

Recon

2010-03-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

LOST
season 6, episode 8: recon
review by ian

EPISODE RECAP:
Off-Island Timeline: It's a Sawyer (Josh Holloway) centric episode, and in his alternate timeline, he is a cop instead of a criminal, but it still hunting down Anthony Cooper for doing that unthinkable crime. Miles (Ken Leung) is his partner, and Miles sets Sawyer up with a girl that works with his dad (which implies that Pierre Chang is in Miles' life at that moment) at a museum, Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) who returns after her last appearance being her death on the island. Things don't go well as Charlotte accidentally sees Sawyer's book of information about "anthony cooper", and he shouts at her and leaves. He tries to make up with her but she doesn't even let him in her house (which is her last scene in the episode, so hopefully she'll be in more than one episode). He then tells Miles the story about "Tom Sawyer" and how he plans to kill him once he finds him. We also briefly see Liam (Neil Hopkins), Charlie's brother, looking for him saying that he was arrested of drug charges.
On Island Timeline: Sawyer goes over to the Ajira campsite and discovers that Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) is the leader of them, and he has a new submarine over there. Claire (Emilie de Ravin) attacks Kate (Evangeline Lily) and tries to kill her but Fake Locke (Terry O'Quinn) saves her, with Sayid (Naveen Andrews) watching from the sidelines not caring at all. Sawyer makes Widmore think that he's going to lead Flocke into a trap there but Sawyer tells Flocke of his plan and Flocke is very appreciative. Now Claire is on the crazy train also. Flocke tells his followers that the "black smoke" killed the people that were left behind at the temple.

EPISODE REVIEW:
I really hope that wasn't Charlotte's last scene on the show because if it is I would be very disappointed, especially since shes working with Pierre Chang at a MUSEUM (where they could explain somehow how polar bears got on the island!).
Sawyer flips between good and evil more than Lindsay Lohan's sexuality.
I think there should somehow be a Widmore centric episode just so we know his connection to the Ajira people.

OVERALL EPISODE GRADE: B

SPOILERS
Many characters will return this season. Here's a list of some that haven't been shown this season so fare but will be featured throughout this last season. The main characters or past main characters are in bold.
Maggie Grace who played Shannon
Julie Bowen who plays Sarah, Jack's ex-wife (rumored)
Jeremy Davies who played Daniel
Sonya Walger who plays Penelope
Fionnula Flanagan who plays Eloise
Cynthia Watros who played Libby
Harrold Perrineau who played Michael
Andrew Divoff who played Mikhail (the reason Charlie is dead)
Titus Welliver who plays the Man In Black (returns next episode)
Vincent the Dog will also return
Fisher Stevens who played Minkowski (that weird guy on the Kahana)
John Terry who played Christian Shephard
Said Taghmaoui who played Caesar (rumored)
Francois Chau who plays Pierre Chang
Kevin Tighe who played Anthony Cooper
Mira Furlan who played Danielle Rousseau (she was first confirmed to not return but then she changed her mind as is returning near the end of the season, probably in the series finale)
Michelle Rodriguez who played Ana-Lucia

Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) Bernard (Sam Anderson), Rose (L. Scott Caldwell), Helen (Katey Sagal), Cindy (Kimberley Joseph),

Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde),

Zach and Emma (Mickey Graue and Kirsten Havelock), Charles (Alan Dale) and a few others that I have forgotten at the moment have already returned but are going to be in future episodes as well, so that's something to look forward to.

The producers have confirmed Matthew Abaddon (played by Lance Reddick) will not return and Mr. Eko is now rumored to not return, but that is not set in stone yet thank god.

Liam (Neil Hopkins), Charlotte (Rebecca Mader), Aldo (Rob McEllehenney),

Dr. Arzt (Daniel Roebuck),

Ethan (William Mapother), Neil "Frogurt" (Sean Whalen), Margo Shephard (Veronica Hamel), Edward Mars (Frederic Lehne) and Roger Linus (Ben Gries) have already returned and is unknown if in future episodes.

Still awaiting news about: Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), Nikki (Kiele Sanchez), Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) and other supporting characters from before. Nikki and Paulo just got a shout out in a recent episode, so that might be all we might see of them for this season. The producers have also said that we will see Walt in some form or another.