'The Rager' - The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries

Season Four

Episode Three

'The Rager' - 4.5

This could be the start of something wonderful

In an episode devoted to an exploration of rage and emotional control, there was little to be passionate about in 'the Rager'. There were moments here and there that show this series is attempting to take Elena's transformation with the upmost seriousness and with a degree of realism, but the quick-fly scenes and almost pestering tone of this episode detract from the relatability.

Stuff always happens in Mystic Falls, it's not like Sunnydale. Yeah, if you put it out on paper I bet more bad stuff has gone down in Buffy's Californian small town, but it just feels like the writers have this need to fill every episode to breaking point with action and shocks, thinking that we don't have to attention span to last out the 'boring bits'. To make my point, my favourite scene tonight was the first conversation between Matt and Elena, in which he offered his wrist to her as some sort of loving, nurturing symbol of his undying devotion to her, but all she can talk about is herself. She doesn't even seem to register that her ex-boyfriend is feeding himself to her. Nonetheless, the more held back and subtle direction here was a nice, toned-down change from the in-your-face obviousness that often tarnishes this show.

I'm definitely not calling the director good though; his filming of Elena's two instances of showing-off were just awful. First, when she does a handstand on a beer keg and drinks is absolutely atrocious, it was clear when it was a stunt double or when she was being held up by wires. Later, the green-screen motorcycle ride was reminiscent of the boat scene from the Pilot of Ringer. That is definitely not a good thing when the moment was supposed to be an emotional high for the character, when all it looked like was Nina Dobrev having an acid-trip in front of a box fan.

We finally get to see Phoebe Tonkin's character strut onto the set and I have to say; I was a little disappointed. So far, Tonkin is once again playing Faye, just a sassy werewolf this time instead of a sassy witch. Granted she seems much less selfish, I thought they'd have a bigger focus than sticking her in for two scenes, establishing her as a potential hurdle for Tyler and Caroline then having Klaus say 'she's left'. Right. Of course, she hasn't left the town or anything, but she didn't even get a witty one-liner as a send off. Last I saw of her, she was bad mouthing Klaus in her stereotypical, anti-authoritarian tone-of-voice. 

I was much more appreciative of Rebekah's return to form, once again playing the role of a thousand-year old teenager, perpetually pining for the love and affection of her peers but always failing to get it because she FUCKING KILLS THEM. She dwells on this tonight as she comes under a seedy attack from the town's current vampire-hater, Connor, who poisons some beer with Tyler's werewolf venom. I was worried for a second that the writers had completely forgotten that werewolf bites don't kill Originals, but luckily Rebekah's temporary sickness ends with her simply sliding out of her bed. While she's sick she has a vision in which her high school crush, Matt, scolds her for failing to mature during her thousand years, causing her to freak the shit out and rip his heart from his chest. I knew they wouldn't kill off a main character so unceremoniously, so it was completely obvious that it was a fantasy, but it was still pretty impressive.

In other news, Rebekah's brother is starting to irritate me. I was generally a fan of Klaus, but as of tonight he seems... shorter. That's nothing against him, but Joseph Morgan lacked his normal intimidating stance and position as he strolled about doing jack all - except helping Elena survive her werewolf venom incident and saving Connor's life. What? I guess we'll get to that later this season?

Damon and Elena are still in deep desperate love with each other, but I still can't take the writers seriously for even considering this a possibility, and I sure as hell will never take Ian Somerhalder seriously as an actor. Just no.

There's nothing much that would entice me to tune in next week had this been my first viewing, but I will invariably return. If I were to be asked a reason, it would be that I am intrigued by the prospect of April and Rebekah alliance, which was hinted at towards the end as a repentant Rebekah offers her expertise to help the orphan out with the investigation into her father's death. I guess that will tide me over until next week. 

'Friday Night Bites' - The Vampire Diaries, Season One

The Vampire Diaries

Season One

Episode Three

'Friday Night Bites' - 7.0

And Stefan's brief stint on the football team is never mentioned again

I know all you Damon or Stefan Salvatore fans out there must hate me, and I understand. Both of my prior reviews for uber-teen sensation 'The Vampire Diaries' have been a little negative - well, I've ripped into the show like one of the bloodsuckers rips into a nice throbbing neck - but I should get around to telling you why. Not only have I heard wonderful things about the series, but I have watched it before I decided to start again for the blog. I know at some point it does become watchable, heck, enjoyable; it's just that those first two episodes verged on unbearably atrocious. They were largely poorly acted, and the plot went absolutely nowhere and the characters were not given an ounce of depth or real history. Luckily, the first season's third episode 'Friday Night Bites' changed that. Yes, though it will by no means be perfect, I am giving The Vampire Diaries it's first of hopefully many positive reviews. Shall we proceed?

Our first glimpse tonight was of Caroline, who awoke half-nekkid in bed with none other than the world's most irritating evil doer - Damon freaking Salvatore. I like Caroline, I admit, though that is probably from my prior knowledge of the show, and how awesome she ends up becoming later on. At the moment though, she's a bit of a dud. She whines and brags and has the tack of a poster pin someone left in the ocean five decades ago. It's pretty tough to watch her at this point. Regardless, for those who didn’t know everything was gonna be fine, the first few moments were pretty suspenseful. I remember when I first watched it a couple of years ago I thought she'd die for sure - she was a bitch and we were only three episodes in. It made sense, and would definitely cause conflict.

When she did turn up alive and as perky as usual later on, I was probably a bit disappointed. Luckily for the viewer though, Caroline wasn't the only character who could be shoved off to create a bit of tension - towards the end of the episode we lost Mr. Tanner, the teacher who acts like he forged a education degree so he can torment teenagers. The writers could have chosen to off a character with a bigger emotional draw, but I'm told Tanner died in a similar manner in the novel, so I guess I can pass it. I was pleased anyway, cause it confirmed the powers of Bonnie, which I don't think really needed confirming at all, but it is appreciated nonetheless. It also completely tore apart Damon and Stefan's already floundering family ties - at the conclusion, Stefan makes a decision (into his journal of course) that Damon needs to go, and he needs to go quickly. Oooh! I can't remember where this goes, but it sounds suspenseful.

Outside of faculty fatalities, Elena also noted a clue to Stefan's true nature - she noticed a cut, only for it to disappear because of vampire regenerative capabilities. Elena didn't really take it any further than a few confused questions, but the groundwork for the big reveal I know is coming was laid down, and she clearly hasn't brushed it off as a misreading.

On the note of Stefan's little hand injury, can I again mention the utter waste of space that is Jeremy Gilbert? I know Tyler started the fight, but it was Jeremy who tried to slash someone's flesh - that has to count for something. Tyler never attempted to kill the kid, in fact I remember Jeremy threatening to murder Vicki's ex only the last episode. It's clear Elena needs to send her brother for some help, I'm thinking more like a psychiatric institution than rehab. Or why don't we save everyone some trouble and just get him the lethal injection?

I still have issues with the overall patronising writing that prevails the show - Bonnie repeats her psychic numbers a couple of times during the episode. We would have got it once, and if we didn't it wouldn't have mattered. The viewers all know that you are a witch, Bonnie, cause it would be boring as shit if it turned out you were a normal girl with a penchant for coincidences. We don't have learning disabilities, you can be vague or subtle. In fact, please do. Half of the human population has less than average IQ, but half of us are above average. Which half do you care about more?

One last positive and negative point. I'll admit Damon was less infuriating tonight than he was in the first two episodes. He was less of a one-note bad guy, and more of a deeply affected man who is putting up a front. I will comment that it was a bit of staging, not acting, that led me to this conclusion, and I still think Ian Somerhalder kinda sucks right now (my theory is that he didn't think the show would last so he hammed it up), but I know he slowly improves over time. That wasn't the negative, no, the negative was a general issue with the characters of the show - I continue to wish a slow death on most of them, most notably Jeremy, Damon, Matt, Tyler and Vicki - only one of whom actually dies in the future episodes I've seen. This is more an issue of writing-failures and abuse of stereotypes than acting ability, but this again will improve as the show goes on - at least from my memory it does.

So, it may not be that momentous an occasion, but that was a positive review. So if you've been sending me hate mail, you can stop now. I don't have a bias against the show or the genre, no, it is awful television I have a bias towards, and I'm sorry, but the first two episodes were pretty awful. Get over it, I think we are past the worst of it for now.

'The Dreamscape' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Nine

'The Dreamscape' - 7.5

Fringe is a show that will force you to make a choice between sense and enjoyment. You can't have both. 

Now that Fringe is moving towards the halfway point of the season, the last few episodes have all been relevant and important to the overarching storyline. 'The Dreamscape', though it starts with an unknown character being murdered by butterflies, eventually becomes a story that focuses on what Olivia does and doesn't know about former lover/partner John Scott.

The cold open of this episode may not be the most action packed of sequences, but I believe that is was incredibly beautiful. The very thought of killer butterflies is intriguing, but they were handled so majestically here, with the show making them still as pretty and harmless-looking and - acting as we believe them to be. Those insects manage to tear the poor Massive Dynamic employee apart with their razor-sharp wings whilst looking absolutely innocent and elegant. Just as I thought it couldn't get any more gorgeous, the shot of our victim falling from god-knows-how-many-storeys-above-the-ground with the shattered glass floating down beside him was almost poetic - although that was probably the idea there. I guess the gist is, it may have started with a board meeting but it ended with a man sliced up by butterfly wings and falling onto the roof of a New York taxicab.

Later the episode continues the stylish approach, with an entire sequence devoted to Olivia kind of re-entering the mind of John Scott, but without the floating kayak-alignment portion. You see, after she begins investigating the death of the scientist from before, Olivia is led to a vital clue by an email from none other than her deceased lover. I loved the brief moment she was walking down the basement hallway with the soft sound of movement around her (which turned out to be toads), it was wonderfully suspenseful and visceral.

Anyhow, the 'dreamscape' I assume the episode is named for was typically eye-catching. Presented with atmospheric camera-angles, an abundance of lens flare and arrangements of blurring and shadow, I found it engaging and much more subtle than the Pilot's dreamscape, which was too in-your-face and computer animated. There was a sense of reality in this episode, they were real-world settings we were looking at through the eyes of memory and the show wanted us to be sure of it. At the same time as being attractive, the sequences also managed to impart a lot about John Scott, and that perhaps he was as evil as we thought. Clearly he is capable of murder - he sort of murders two people over the course of the episode - but we don't know who he was working for, why he did what he did, or really what his connection to the victim was. What we are told is that they had met and made a deal, and it can be assumed that that deal is what got him murdered by the pretty.

I should just mention quickly that it wasn't actually butterflies; turns out he had been slipped a drug that caused him to envision the insect barrage, which was so frighteningly real to him that he actually suffered the injuries he was imagining he was receiving. Eek. The same thing happens towards the end to another member of the four-man deal, who instead had his throat opened by an apparition of John Scott, who was also a part of the deal.

It's all confusing to me, we don't learn much in regards to anything. Massive Dynamic is evil, maybe, John Scott is evil, maybe, MD murders two people, maybe, the deal was against MD, maybe, Scott worked for MD, maybe. I don't know, so I assume that this will be clearer by the end of the season.

So yes, 'The Dreamscape' is beautiful and packed with information, though it fails to really answer any questions, rather posing us more and more to work with, while also presenting us with extended periods of the insufferable John Scott. You're dead, man, you shouldn't be important anymore.

'The Equation' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Eight

'The Equation' - 4.5

Fringe is by far the hardest of my shows to find a picture for, so here's Olivia with a  horse statue. 

'The Equation' effectively ends Fringe's winning streak of excellent episodes, having some terrific visuals that were let down by some shoddy acting, a platitudinous (I'm having fun with a thesaurus right now) and lengthy asylum sequence and some serious pacing issues.

Child actors are a problem whenever they are needed, only a small percentage of them actually appear half-decent at portraying complex emotions. In this episode, a young boy was tasked to play a musical prodigy kidnapped by a mysterious woman who wants him to finish the musical piece he's writing. Personally, I am more of a mathematician than a musician - and I'm really no mathematician - but while I'm aware that music can be viewed mathematically, I wasn't particularly sold when Walter took about thirty seconds to transpose an intricate equation into musical notation. I just don't know if it's possible, but I don't think it is - at least not when there are so many variables and stuff. Anyway, that was only an issue because it distracted me then, as it is now. Back to the kid, who as a whole was alright. He managed to get the most important shot pretty right in my opinion, but in general, I thought the actor looked bored and distant.

The case-of-the-week was at first about crazy-hypno-Christmas-lights, then quickly became about the woman who kidnaps gurus of various fields in order to help her decipher the eponymous equation, before releasing them back into their lives completely insane from the experience. This is what leads to the asylum that Walter came from in the first episode, as he is able to recall the tales from his friend Dashiell, who was a former victim of the kidnapper. For some convoluted reason or another, the FBI were not simply allowed to question Dashiell, rather Walter had to ask the questions himself in the middle of the hospital. In a bizarrely serious seen for the mad scientist, he not only caused a psychotic break in his old friend, but also seemed to suffer one himself and get himself temporarily recommitted.

Regrettably, the institutionalised portion of the episode slowed it down considerably, and while John Noble's performance deserves to be lauded, it was great a bit less interesting than the story of the boy should have been. Alas, there is nothing I can do now, and in the end Walter was freed, unknowingly with the knowledge that would save the day. It just seemed to me that the knowledge could have come in the initial questioning scene, rather than about fifteen minutes later.

I was impressed by some of the visuals in the episode. The first scene was wonderfully creepy, it was built up to be like the first kill of a horror film, but instead became a quiet, eerie moment where everything felt fine the entire time, until you realised what had happened. The green-red hypnosis-lights were a good choice as they are well timed and utilised to be both plot and aesthetic devices. When the kidnapper begins trying to coax the child into completing his composition, she both coerces then punishes him with visions of his dead mother. At first the mother is able to comfort him, but later, as her child has trouble finishing his work, her face practically rips itself open. It is disturbing, but the kid and his mum do a terrific job.

A favourite moment of mine featured Olivia attempting to apprehend the evil woman, because not only did it bring us our first hand-to-hand cat fight, it also brought us a great moment when Olivia was caught up in the flashing lights herself and inadvertently let the kidnapper escape. Charlie was there too, and Charlie's kinda cool, I like him.

This surprisingly ended up being an episode with strong ties to the overall mythology - it turns out the equation was needed by Loeb, who wanted to utilise it to phase through walls. Loeb's scene was brief, but was filmed and paced formidably - at first. It showed him set all his little gadgets up, then pull an apple right out of small metal safe from the back. I thought it was amazing, until he shot the kidnapper. I didn't like her or anything, I just had assumed she was an intelligent woman, and we all saw that coming. Surely she did too? Anyhow, no more information was given as to what Loeb will use this for, but presumably we won't have to wait too long.

As would be expected, the episode ended on a light note, presenting the healthy and probably still a little sane son to his relieved father. It was all very nice and sweet, and then it ended. I was almost surprised, as while it sounds like it, it was not overly satisfying and did not feel like a proper conclusion. Realistically, I think Loeb's scene would have been a far more striking and memorable finale, but whatever. I'm not the director... yet.

'Walk With Me' - The Walking Dead, Season Three

The Walking Dead

Season Three

Episode Three

'Walk With Me' - 7.0

Slow, yes, but also a bit of an info dump. 

The third season's x-episode presented a whole new world for two of our heroes to play around with, as well as a possible new human villain with a thirst for... guns, or something. 

Anyone who reads about this show online has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of 'The Governor', a human antagonist who rules his little safe haven known as 'Woodbury' with a seemingly kind hand, only to be working a seedy agenda underneath it all. I'm not overly familiar with the comics, so I can't say how accurately David Morrissey plays the literary version, but the character we see tonight has a very admirable and threatening level of both sincerity (even if it is insincere) and malice. 

I don't think any viewer can be expected to see the Governor as a good guy when we meet; his method of bringing in Michonne (who is finally named tonight) and Andrea was less than comforting, even if he didn't actually choose how they were handled. Turns out it was actually a downed helicopter that saved the ailing Andrea, as it allowed the two girls converge with the Woodbury gang and be apprehended by the Governor's troops.

It would be remiss of me not to mention one particular plot point from 'Walk With Me': Merle's back. Yes, Daryl's brother who was handcuffed to a pipe on an Atlanta rooftop and forced to saw off his own hand comes across his old co-survivor hanging out in the wilderness. Turns out the redneck had been swept up the Governor's group and given shelter and medical care, much like what Andrea receives when she arrives in Woodbury. We learn that it may have come at a cost though; Merle appears entirely subordinate to, even frightened of, his new leader, even though this isn't really explored. He just does everything that is asked of him, which doesn't fit too well with the Merle we remember from season one. It has been like eight months of hell though.

Michonne didn't leave that big an impression on me, however her treatment of her two walkers was shocking. When they started making too much noise when the Governor's troops roll up at the crash, she grabs her katana and decapitates the two of them with no hesitation, though we see later that they aren't actually killed. They're just two heads now though, and that's just disturbing. Who is this Michonne though? She refuses to reveal who the walkers once were, she has absolute trust issues and she doesn't even seem to like Andrea that much. Hopefully she transcends the troubled, quiet and tough girl persona that the show has already carved out for her and becomes a real and relatable adaption of her illustrated counterpart.

The downed helicopter leaves an injured pilot in the hands of the Governor, and from his word they are able to locate a small military convoy, which our new villain approaches while waving a white flag. Once he's close enough and has their attention, he and his men storm the troops with a shower of machine gun bullets, taking the ammo and vehicles all for themselves, then informing the normal people back at Woodbury that the men had been dead by the time they arrived. 

He also has a scientist, for some reason. It's known that he is trying to rebuild 'civilisation', though what the implications of this are is beyond me. Why does that involve regressing to the basic instincts of everyone-for-themselves? Surely a group of cooperative soldiers would be highly useful in defending Woodbury from an inevitable zombie ambush. There is something else going on here and I can't quite discern what it is yet. Does it have something to do with his room full of re-animated heads in aquariums? What was that?

So many questions! But that's good! I love to be intrigued by television, it is one of the most useful emotions to evoke, as it forces us to return to the show to work out the truth. Think Lost, though we rarely tune into a show just for a mystery. Again, think Lost, which could count on a stellar ensemble cast playing beautifully realised characters, and then think ‘the Event’, which attempted to depend on its mystery without granting us any worthwhile players in the plot. The Walking Dead didn't have any great mysteries, and it still doesn't. All we have are the questions; Who is the Governor? What is his plan, and how does it involve Woodbury? Why does he have a scientist? Of course, this lucky show also has amazing characters to question with us, though I noted that the absences of all but two of the main characters was barely felt. I guess these people are wonderfully realistic, but so much so that they aren't entirely likeable. Doesn't matter though, as long as we want to know what happens to them we don't actually need to like them! That, in a nut shell, is why the Walking Dead is such a success. 

'Tell it to the Frogs' - The Walking Dead, Season One

The Walking Dead 

Season One

Episode Three

'Tell it to the Frogs' - 8.0

Along with zombies, there's also a serious sentimentality epidemic here. 

Despite sounding to the uninitiated like a dumb, shoot-'em-up zombie flick, but made a couple times longer and with commercial breaks, The Walking Dead continues to establish itself as something much more complicated; a character drama.

What is important to note about the premise here is that any single character can die at any point, because they effectively live in a world largely populated by danger. Unlike the universes of almost any other show there needs to be no motive or opportunity, rather death can happen whenever the writers want it to. Oddly that isn't that important in 'Tell it to the Frogs' since no one dies, but the constant threat does open the stage to an intriguing character study.

The cast of this post-apocalyptic tale is surprising extensive. Aside from Rick, his wife and son, Shane and the few Rick met in Atlanta, there are whole mess of people we meet at the survivor's camp outside the city, which our protagonist arrives at in the early scenes of the episode.

It is impressive how moving Rick, Lori and Carl's meeting was, considering we hadn't actually seen these people as a family yet, but it managed to be incredibly touching. I can't really give credit to the writers because the scene was largely dialogue-free, but the composers and actors clearly worked hard to make it relevant and realistic. Obviously Andrew Lincoln is especially good; his bewilderment and happiness are palpable and stirring, while Sarah Wayne Callies manages to appear conflicted in one of the few times I've seen an actor actually accomplish conflicted.

Laurie Holden is also a significant player as Andrea, who oozes the much needed feminine strength amidst an environment inhabited by male leaders and soldiers. I'm no feminist, but when a cast only has well developed male characters, people will notice; like me. It is something that is clear in the first few seasons of Lost as well, and you can often tell the target demographic through the number of strong women on the series. Before you ask though, Lori doesn't count. Anyhow, Andrea comes through the best during the clothes washing scene, which ironically deals explicitly with the role of women in this new society. She challenges misogyny itself when she gets between the prick Ed and his wife Carol, and even earlier breaks feminine convention by explicitly talking about her love for her long-lost vibrator. I like this woman, which undoubtedly means she won't last much longer - not a spoiler, FYI, I don't actually know if she survives.

Jon Bernthal does a terrific job playing a character who effectively falls from grace. In his first scene of the episode he is almost joyous to be inducted into his believed-to-be-dead best friend's family, a status that changes only a few minutes later when Rick arrives in his rescue vehicle. Just one moment destroys everything he had gained, and you can see it in his face then, but he really shines in the scenes at the quarry, first with Lori and then with Ed. Lori reveals that Shane had said her husband had died - an obvious move by the writer's to ensure that we don't dislike Lori for her actions - and makes it clear and plain that he can have nothing to do with her family. Bernthal is near silent during Lori's confrontation but his acting is effective enough to not need him to speak; we know how he feels about all this. Only a short while later, a frustrated Shane takes out his agitation on Ed in an incredibly brutal beat down that says to me that Shane probably won't live very long. It was a good scene, yeah, and very affecting, but in most television shows characters who severely assault anyone for no terrific reason, not a long time after doing the protagonist's wife aren’t particularly popular among audiences. It doesn't help that he isn't the most original creation, nor does he add anything to the group now that Rick can fill the role of former-policeman current-leader.

It might not make sense to you, but I watch way too much television and I'll be surprised if Shane makes it through too many more episodes. I won't really miss him if he dies, but I know my tropes and it isn't looking good.

'Tell it to the Frogs' only features a handful of zombies over the course of the episode, and none of them do anything except die and eat deer. Oddly enough however, it doesn't feel like it matters too much, and the characters of the show manage to hold it up without blood and guts with the help of terrific acting and a fine script.

'A Crowd of Demons' - 666 Park Avenue, Episode Five

666 Park Avenue

Season One

Episode Five

'A Crowd of Demons' - 8.0

Admit it Jane: You loved being chased by an axe murderer just as much as we loved watching it.

Can anyone else agree when I say that that episode was a hilariously fun instalment of this drama? Hell, I could probably bare to call it a horror drama after that, since we got kidnappings, black outs, axe murders, slasher-flick-style pursuits and even a dumbwaiter escape! Was I the only one who got vibes of 'Halloween: H20' during the latter sequence? I was groaning during that bit; I thought Jane might get her leg torn off like that unfortunate victim of Michael Myers.

But we aren't here to talk about the Halloween series, or any films series for that matter. We're here to talk about 'A Crowd of Demons', the fifth episode of 666 Park Avenue and their inarguably best offering yet. To be simple about it, the reason it topped the others was that it had one basic component they lacked; fear. 

It is of course the Halloween episode, and the Drake celebrates in typical fashion by holding an extravagant costumed bonanza ripe for the guests’ worst horrors to come true. Even Gavin gets preyed upon by the gods of horror tropes, and it was good to see the Terry O'Quinn character cowering in his boots as some gas masked kidnapper stole from him and abducted his dear wife. 

Before we get to the great let's get to the low standard; Brian and Louise. I get that Alexis is evil and such, but Robert Buckley has still failed to provide either an interesting or relatable character, which actually makes me root for the vixen to work her slutty magic. Instead of just killing people - though I did wonder if she was in some sort of cahoots with the power cutting, Olivia-kidnapping baddie who was terrorising Gavin - Alexis opts to attempt some convoluted plot to get her STD-ridden fingers into her boss' husband. It involves Louise and a man she may-or-may-not be fucking being given the chance to be alone while she rigs up their phones with incriminating – but misleading – evidence of an adulterous affair. Brian being the stupid playwright that he is, chooses to not trust his own wife while falling into Alexis' less-than-cunning rouse. Is she even supernatural, or is just tacked on to... to... Ok, what the hell is the purpose of this? Seriously!

It's Jane's terrified - and terrifying - run through the Drake that steals the show tonight, as she is unendingly chased through dark corridors and abandoned storeys by an axe-wielding murderer from over eighty years ago. Turns out the little girl and the man-that-is-smoke are daughter and father, and that the said father murdered the mother in 1929 - on Halloween, of course - and has come to finish off his family. I  think? Anyway, the little girl's necklace turned out to be Jane's grandmother's, which perhaps indicates that Jane has more ties to the Drake than she thought she did. They always do.

There were many moments of anticipating silence as Jane walks backwards through dark doorways after hearing the creaks of an approaching serial killer, as well as the many 'THERE HE IS!!!' moments as he appears out of the black, his axe held high above his head. Hell, he actually claims a victim during the chase when an unfortunate good Samaritan stands between him and his target, with the poor guy getting a fast axe to the back before being left to bleed out on the carpet. Damn, I'd hate to be the cleaner in this building.

I'm hard pressed to decide what was more scary; Jane's tense evasion, or the initial, cold-open murder. In the latter, we see the 1929 incident in which our present killer drew an axe and took a nice shot at his wife, who is able to stumble bloodily into her daughter's room and present her with the plot-device necklace. For a second it looked like it was going to be epically violent, as from the daughter’s under-the-bed-perspective we can only see the dying mother's feet at first, as they get dripped upon by her blood. I was actually disappointed when she bent down, showing only a healthy coating of fake blood instead of intestines or only half a face. Oh well, maybe next time.

For that reason alone I'd probably have to go for Jane as the receiver for tonight's coveted Scariest Scene award, namely for the dumbwaiter moment. The clear horror-movie-virgin runs loudly and clumsily through a darkened and abandoned corridor somewhere in the Drake, knowingly on the run from her would-be killer, finding the only method of escape being a dumbwaiter. She hops in hopefully, pulling herself up with the rope inside as the bad guy starts trying every door around. Eventually he goes quiet enough to hear Jane's very audible grunting as she struggles with lifting her own weight. He proceeds to wham the axe's blade through the rope and bring the little box down to him again, but thankfully our heroine's escaped just in time to avoid both spontaneous leg amputation and falling into the killer’s trap. 

It's not over yet though, as he follows her into the very apartment in which he committed the acts so many decades prior, lunging at her with his axe only to imbed it in the wall instead. I was immensely elated to see that the crazy birds from 'Murmurations' were appearing again, as the big hole in the wall heralds the arrival of hundreds of the devils, who all embrace our psychopath in a sea of black wings and pecking beaks while Jane runs away. 

With the action over, the building eats the evidence of the attacks, absorbing both the axe and the body of the killer's unintended victim. This will surely lead to some definite questionable sanity scenes over the coming episodes for young Jane, and this entire show has been based on the horrors of old so we can't go without the sane/insane exploration. Halloween, the Birds, where else can we go? Hopefully the Exorcist will be soon. And hell, this whole thing is leading towards the Shining. 

While I didn't quite grasp the significance of the subplot, Gavin is confronted by a mystery individual who wants to prove to him that he isn't 'invincible' or something. Anyway, it may have just been an excuse to kill a flock of birds with one convoluted stone, as the stranger cuts the power in the Drake which plants Louise with her supposed lover and puts Jane square in the middle of several horror-movie-dark sets, while also showing that the Drake's doorman can survive being hanged (though an oddly small amount of attention was given to this) and allowing an enigmatic box of Gavin's to be stolen from his hidden safe. Intriguing... But - as surely the writers and producers want us to ask - what is in the box?

We end this stellar - for this show - episode with a rock-infused reflection on the chaos that just happened, and Jane's effective loss of innocence. Before now she's been an observer of the horrors, but now they not only surround her but involve her, and she can no longer brush them off to nothing. She recognised her attacker from a photo in an article about the original murders, as well as showing a hint of recognition at the name. Jane is entirely aware that something is off here, and unless the writers suck major ass she'll hopefully confront the evil head on. 

Also, despite Nona's absence from the entire proceedings, don't discount her involvement. If I remember correctly, she'd foretold Jane's death by axe-attack whilst she was wearing her brilliant red dress, meaning something has changed that allowed our female protagonist to go on kicking. But what changed? Or will it still happen in some way? 

For once, the acting was never grating. Rachel Taylor was even good playing the near-slasher victim, and though she runs screaming through a building in a pretty dress she never actually loses that sense of strength and ability that Jane often emits. This is hopefully the beginning of my appreciation for the character, and not a simple one-off 'Oh she's alright' moment. It depends on how well she can handle the coming episodes of jeopardised sanity. Let's be honest; dying by axe is an easy emotion to portray. I can do it too. I just really want to like her though;  she is an Aussie after all.

With the box stolen and an enemy for our enemy, 666 Park Avenue appears to have forsaken it's very temporary monster-of-the-week format to embrace the serialised manner of a real horror series, as well as the actual scares of a real horror too. For the first time I am excited, like really excited, to sit down next Monday night for the sixth instalment and find out how Jane handles what she's just experienced, as well as how Gavin deals with his new nemesis. Of course, what is in the box is important too, and whether tonight's killer will make a reappearance, but for now, and god-willing until the show calls it a day, I care more about the characters. 

'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Seven

'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones' - 8.0

With Astrid standing where she is, this looks like a horrible porn scene. *Shudders*

The seventh episode of Fringe gives us a satisfying advance in the series' overarching plot line, even if the case-of-the-week is a bit too far-fetched to be at all believable.

It is always a positive thing when a show is able to introduce a beguiling villain who can stand toe-to-toe with our intelligent and articulate good-guys. David Robert Jones is just that villain. Not only does his name roll absurdly well on one's tongue, but his actor, Jared Harris, is truly fantastic as the accented genius. His interrogation scene with Olivia is absolutely mesmerising to watch, the exchange being so deftly written and spoken, it is almost like a dance or fight scene.

There are also two other evildoers introduced - Mitchell Loeb and his wife. Mr. Loeb is the unfortunate fringe-event this week, suffering from a severe case of heart-being-clamped-by-spiky-worm-thing-itis. We only get a couple lines from either Loeb during the episode, none of which are particularly character-building. For a while all we know is that Mitchell was some sort of FBI agent and that theirs is a loving marriage. Aw, cute. Nonetheless the final minute-long scene subverts the personas we assumed on them by implicating them as the orchestrators of the entire parasite fiasco, although it doesn't explain if their relationship was staged or real. Either way I honestly don't care, we barely meet the two of them, let alone conclude they are completely good. It was not particularly shocking or inspiring that they are terrorists. Perhaps better actors or more time spent developing their unblemished facade would have benefitted the final twist.

Aside from the overall progress this episode brought to the show, it also provided quite a few excellent scenes. On top of Jones' interrogation, there was anything involving the death and subsequent questioning of Joseph Smith as well as the simple look on Agent Broyles face as Walter explained his memory of a cocktail he missed - all the while Broyles' friend lay dying only a few metres away. Hilarious job by both actors, by the way.

Joseph Smith, though he doesn't actually get any real lines, had a real and noticeable presence in 'In Which we Meet Mr. Jones'. His bullet to the brain became an important and original plot point - forcing Walter to hook him up to his son and shoot him up with electricity. The fast paced electro-shock therapy was interspersed with Jones' interrogation to create an incredibly unnerving and nearly disturbing sequence. I absolutely loved them both, even more so combined.

So what is the verdict? Well overall I really enjoyed the episode, and I believe that it will be an incredibly integral point for the rest of the season; we meet three new mysterious villains, as well as the parent company they may all work for, ZFT. I am really looking forward to the show digging deeper into the history and the goals of the terrorism-by-science group.

'The Cure' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Six

The Cure - 6.5

'Insert something vulgar about Anna Torv's chest'

Were this a real blog, I would be detailing that I feel like absolute crap. My head feels like it is floating, I can't keep my eyes open and I have a bucket beside me cause I think I might throw up. Because of all this I'll keep it brief (if you are wondering, I try to write reviews almost straight away, before I have a chance to forget anything).

'The Cure' starts with a spectacular opening sequence - a young girl walks into a diner, she accidentally kills everyone and then her head explodes. It is tragic, because not a single person present deserved to die, and almost everyone had been trying to help the poor woman while her brain began to boil. Fringe is always good for a way-out-there cold open, and this is possibly the best so far. It is extremely violent, and the visual of her head bursting all over the glass window was disgusting and unforgettable.

It turns out that the woman has some made-up disease, the radical treatment for which has made her a candidate for weaponisation. Coolio, that kinda makes sense. Something about radiation-releasing particles in her blood. Whatever man, I don't really care about the explanations anyway. All I know is that it had a fantastic beginning and a fantastic ending. The middle, however, was a little long winded and mostly involved Olivia sulking around and doing illegal things to corporate moguls.

I mean, sure, it's her birthday and she doesn't like her birthday, but Olivia's mood was over-the-top cold tonight. Hopefully this isn't an annual occurrence. Although, it gave Anna Torv some great chances to stretch her acting muscles, especially in the suicide scene, during her conversation with Esterbrook and in her feminist monologue with Agent Broyles. All terrific moments for a terrific actress.

Walter also got some good moments, if only because of his hilarious dialogue - 'Expendable gerbils' being the pick of a large litter. Fringe really is a gifted show in a cast and crew sense.

I found the rich-guy-is-evil theme and even the feminism bits veering towards preachy though, and that is always a tad irritating, especially when sick. Lost was also full of messages and morals at points, and those were generally of low quality. Hopefully Fringe learns to steer clear of trying to teach us lessons about how we live our lives and stick to the weird and gruesome cases of the week – and its out-there mythology as well. 

'Power Hungry' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Five

'Power Hungry' - 8.0

'I've been wanting to do this since you died.'

While it isn't quite as good as the last episode, it looks like 'Power Hungry' is the second in hopefully a long streak of terrific episodes of Fringe.

It's not quite obvious where the quality dips below what we saw in the previous outing, it may be the relative lack of action, or the fact that in the long run this episode probably won't have the same impact the last one did. The discovery of John Scott's old files will surely be important, but that is more a plot point than a drastic altering of the show's backbone, like we saw in 'The Arrival'. Don't let the irrelevance dissuade you, 'Power Hungry' is a fine hour.

It opens with a well-made sequence of scenes which introduce us to the aptly-named Joseph Meegar (if you can't tell, it's similar to Meagre), who is pushed around helplessly by his boss and his mother, and is pining after a girl at some random company he occasionally takes deliveries to. However, this all goes to hell when Meegar develops the ability to influence electric devices. This causes all sorts of problems, which were initially simple things like computers crashing, lights dimming, appliances fizzing out, you know, clichéd technopathy stuff, all caused unintentionally when Meegar lost control of his emotions. This all leads to a brilliant moment when he accidentally drives the elevator he and an indeterminate (it varies between five and eight) number of passengers into the ground, killing everyone else whilst he walks free. The lift crash is so well filmed, and the explosion it causes is pretty breathtaking. Even Meegar's walk of shame through the parking garage was fantastic, as he sets off every car as he passes them. Great stuff, and only the first five minutes of the episode.

Following on from the previous episode where Olivia caught a glimpse of dead beau John Scott, she spends tonight grappling with questions of sanity. It's all fine to me though, I like how it's been like a month and she is still pining for him on the inside - at one point even making out with hallucination - because a lot of other shows choose to practically jettison lost loves from the memory of their characters. I hope she is forced to dwell on John Scott's death for many more episodes, even if I didn't really like him. Hopefully he won't just be a device to unearth a bunch of files, and can actually allow Olivia to grow in our eyes and her own.

I did appreciate the 'scientific' explanation behind Olivia's visions of Scott, since the explanation behind Meegar's new ability was pretty stupid. It is kind of clever when a science-fiction show is able to give a rational-sounding reason for implausible or impossible events or circumstances.

As with much of Fringe the effects are well-done, whether it be something violent like Meegar's boss getting his arm ripped to pieces, or something simple and kind of beautiful like Olivia's necklace floating in the lift due to the remnant magnetic radiation. Ah, pretty. What Fringe does best is not call attention to its more shoddy CGI manoeuvres, and I believe that the odd blue lens flare that appears at random intervals aids that cause. There are few moments that sway our sense of disbelief or forcefully eject us from this universe, as a badly computer-generated scene can do.

Complaints and concerns? Well, this episode was pretty light on character development. Yes a bit of it was spent detailing Olivia's well-hidden desire to rip John Scott's corpse from the ground and either kill it again or have sex with it, but in the end it was more reminiscent of groundwork to develop her even more. I feel like what could have been said tonight is being saved for another time, if that makes it any clearer. Walter and Peter barely feature at all, only there occasionally to discuss the case or help Olivia overcome her psychotic break. Aside from this, there was only the smaller quantity of action-packing that were not in favour of 'Power Hungry', and ultimately it was a largely pleasing experience.

'The Arrival' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Four

'The Arrival' - 9.0

Cute. Boy or girl? 

'The Arrival' is really the first episode of Fringe that deals solely with the overall mythology of the series. While initially the show had seemed like a by-the-week procedural with continuously linking and building season-long elements, we are pretty explicitly told here that Fringe is going somewhere and it's taking us with it. Sure there is a 'beacon' that comes and goes over the course of this episode, but it leaves behind a thousand questions and moves the plot and the characters forward to an extent I didn't think we would see this early on.

There is little to call out over the forty or so minutes. It appears to me that the makers of the show have watched long-running sci-fi hit 'the X-Files', which Fringe resembles on paper, and weeded out exactly what made the 1990s cult classic so... last millennium. No, Fringe is modern, and it is going somewhere. The questions are obvious - what is the beacon? Who is the Observer? Who's the man trying to get the beacon? - but they don't feel like they will go unanswered, not yet. The way the plot devices are introduced, it at least seems like the writers have an idea of why they are important. Hopefully this won't turn into Lost.

Something that made the X-Files good was that it assumed its viewers were intelligent, capable of coming to their own conclusions while still providing us with some answers to the truck-loads of questions. In this regard Fringe is not overly different - for those who have yet to watch the next few seasons of the show, many questions are in fact answered - but Fringe also chooses to leave its episodes less open-ended, at least in my opinion. It lacks the infuriatingly vague story-telling style that plagued its predecessor.

'The Arrival' featured some terrific moments, outside of the beacon. That first scene is a worthy opener, and makes the entire episode a must-see for any TV fanatic; if only to see the Observer make and eat a disgusting hamburger to Willie Nelson's version of 'Crazy'. Lovely stuff.

Walter is at his finest tonight, managing, as usual, to be both utterly insane and the smartest person in the room. This entire episode is set over around about forty-eight hours, and in just that time he sedates Astrid, steals the beacon, meets with the observer, gets arrested by the FBI and gives us some surprising clues into one of the great mysteries of Fringe. It was thrilling to watch, most in part due to the captivating acting ability of John Noble. In fact, almost every actor in this episode does a fantastic job, especially during Walter's interrogation scene. Peter's impatience and anger are palpable, while Walter's typically insane ramblings are as believable as ever. The diner-based meeting between the Observer and Walter was also terrific, I was genuinely shocked when he simply sat down across the table. He is probably Fringe's greatest creation, that hairless man.

I'll also commend the episode's villain - apparently referred to as 'the Rouge', who did a great job humanising someone who appears to only feature tonight. His dialogues with his victims were surprisingly well written and acted, and I do hope that he can make another appearance in some form. Also, I loved the sounds and effects of his futuristic gun, it provided some epic stunt work and lots of sparks. Literally.

This was Astrid's first real acting job, not only was she drugged she also got to act unimpressed by her assailant's babbling apology. It may not sound like much, but it was the most she'd been given so far. The moment she got syringed by Walter was a nice twist, I didn't see it coming, and I love that she hands him the very syringe he sedates her with. Later, after the action’s over, he comes to admit his guilt and apologises for attacking her in one of the most well-scripted scenes the show has sent our way. I won't transcribe it, but it was perfect, if too short.

I can't give the episode a ten out of ten, not because it has flaws, but only because there could have been more. The bad guy and his great gun were too underused, he should have done more, shot more, killed more. There probably were slightly too many questions raised as well, I mean the Observer is freaking bewildering on his own, but the beacon? We aren't dumb, but don't overestimate our ability, like Boardwalk Empire or something. Nonetheless, I'm very happy to give 'the Arrival' my highest rating so far for the show as a whole.

'State of Independence' - Homeland, Season Two

Homeland

Season Two

Episode Three

'State of Independence' - 6.0

'Hey Friend. Remember that vest you gave me? About that: prepare to be chased through the woods, thrown down onto a star picket and then have your neck snapped. Ready?'

Normally when I write my reviews I do them immediately after I watch whatever the hell it is that I'm watching, give my brain a night's rest then post them at some point the day after. That's fine, I guess, but I saw 'State of Independence' last night, wrote half a review, got pissed and went bed. Instead of continuing on from where I left off I have opted to start it anew, but this time writing it with the intention of posting it straight up to the blog.

Therefore, the time and date that it says this was posted at is the point that I actually finished. This allows me to something I haven't had a good opportunity to do so far; actually comment on how the blog is coming along.

As I've said before, I'm not actually a professional reviewer, I've had no training outside school, nothing like that. You could probably discern that pretty damn quick, and no one out there would be the first to tell me I sucked at it. I kind of do. It doesn't bother me, but if you find it grating then feel free to find someone else.

I've only been posting reviews here for two weeks, so I wouldn't be hanging out for some sort of sudden improvement. I'm sure it will happen eventually, but it may take many a review. In fact, since I posted my first review to this blog I've only actually written eleven new posts, with the others all being written up to four months ago.

'State of Independence' is my first - and possibly only - review posted somewhat 'live'. There is nearly no better drama to choose to write about, as Homeland is regarded as one of the last few years greatest gifts to the world of television. Yet, this episode was... sub-par.

I can't shout at it for being not-too-bad, but these average episodes are always the hardest to discuss, simply because all you can say was that '[insert aspect here] was alright' or 'fine' or 'average'. Even though I despise any episode that scores below about a 3.0, anything above that and below 7.0 are difficult to talk to talk about. I mean, why did 'State of Independence' not sit right with me?

How much backlash can I get if I say I didn't like the performances? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can see that this is Homeland, possibly the greatest showcase of acting talent this side of Mystic River, but that prevailing notion of untouchable actors leaves room for terrific failings. What I'm saying is that when we come to expect nothing but the best, if we get just a little less it seems like a lot.

The two best moments belonged to Claire Danes and Morena Baccarin, with the former playing her character's suicide attempt with supreme subtlety and completely dialogue free. Baccarin has the honour of being ushered up on stage before a room filled with extras and forced to act like she's shy. She stammers and fumbles, pauses and gesticulates wildly. Yes, absolutely stereotypical idea of stage fright, but she did incredibly well and I was swept up in her awkward but beautiful impromptu speech.

I appreciated that Saul managed to get the SD card back into America and within an arm's reach of the CIA, as at the very start there was a horrid moment that looked as if we'd have the proof of Brody's defection taken by the Lebanese government. Lucky for us Saul kept the real one hidden in a safer location, as I would've been immeasurably aggravated by the nullifying of this fantastic twist. By the end of the episode, Saul's appeared at Carrie's door and given her the emotional realisation that she was right all along. She's still nuts though, because she had tried to kill herself only about an hour before hand.

I'm not sure how I felt about Brody's subplot tonight, as it was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. Why would Abu Nazir threaten one of his most important operative's position like that? It was insane, and I didn't believe, even though the eventual pay off was satisfying. Brody killed the tailor from 'The Vest'! Because, you know, we had to mention him again, I guess. I do like that I think the show is trying to make his actions less and less justifiable, as he could have tried harder to save the poor guy's life, instead of just snapping his neck. There is this sense that Brody will end up being in enemy territory by the end of this season, with the entire force of the American government after him while he tries to evade the most powerful organisation on the planet, in a country where everyone knows who he is.

That, or the mole will destroy the evidence. That would irritate me less than had some random event caused Brody to be let off the hook, but I'm thinking that it would still be highly disappointing. Though I'm not saying that it couldn't be done well, we have built up the mole quite considerably.

Theories are theories, here in Australia Homeland airs nearly three weeks after the same episode airs in the States, so I'm sure I could sort out fact from hypothesis by checking my sources. Maybe, depends how slow the storyline moves from here on out, I'm assuming they don't slow the entire thing to a crawl to push back Brody's approaching destruction further and further.

'State of Independence' is an almost unfortunate choice to be my first review written on the blog, as for the most part I was actually dissatisfied by the week's offering. Considering how many views I get a day (it's around about thirty, on average. Some days I have none) it's not like that many will read this anyhow. If you are one of the lucky ones, feel free to give your opinion below.