Robots and Vamps

We occasionally watch a bit of TV…. Alright… fine, we admit it. We watch A LOT of TV. So here is the weekly rundown of shows that we watched this week and the quick and dirty on what we thought of them. Is there something we should be watching that we are not? Let us know and we will check it out.

Fringe 2.15 “Jacksonville”

There are earthquakes in New York, which is unheard of.  But it appears to be happening.  Tremors rock the area and dogs bark and howl in warning.  The dogs are smarter than the humans because they know there is something much more going on.  Turns out the alternate universe is colliding with our universe since Newton tried to open a door.    This has been tried before and Walter remembers what the repercussions are.  When something from the other universe comes through, in this case a building, something must be sent back to balance it out.

Olivia, Peter and Walter travel to Jacksonville to revive Olivia’s special talent.  She can see things that came from the other universe.  They objects take on a “glimmer”.  When Olivia was a child (going by the name of Olive for some god awful reason) she went to a special school in Jacksonville where Walter and William Bell performed experiments on children to heighten their abilities to see the alternate universe.  During their stay, Olivia gives Walter all sorts of grief about her childhood, but when she finally can see the “glimmer” they head back to New York to try and identify the building that will be moving to the alternate universe.  They make it just in time to evacuate the building and save lots of people from having their bodies morphed into those from the other universe. Yay Olive… er I mean Oliva.  Also, Peter glimmers….

Matt says: So this is the Fringe winter finale’ and it was pretty decent.  No quite as good as a Lost season ender but adequate enough to keep up my interest until the show fires back up again.  I really like the whole alternate universe story line but wish they would explore with more regularity.  I felt the Jacksonville, FL road trip was more of a filler as we have been over this ground before.  What was new though was how Oliva (Olive) began to view Walter.  I wonder if this is the beginning of the fracturing of their relationship?  The big non-surprise was the glimmering Peter.  This was pretty much foretold in the past episodes.  I do have one question though, does this Peter is also a vampire? (IE, vampires glitter in Twilight).

Vampire Diairies 1.13 “Children of the Damned”

Hold on to your hats people…. I may have actually liked this episode.  I admit I am a sucker for period pieces and all of the beautiful clothing that goes with them, so that might have been the reason I could stand this one.  Throughout the episode we are whisked back in time to 1864.  1864 is much cooler to watch than modern day high schoolers!  When Katherine was the vampire and the Salvatore brothers were mere mortals with goofy hair.  Katherine had a friend named Pearl and she just happens to be locked in the tomb with her.  Guess who wants to free Pearl?  Her daughter Ana (Anabelle), that flirty meddling girl who wont leave Jeremy alone.  Take a hint, he’s just not that into you!

Everyone wants the Gilbert journal and Mr. Salzman has it.  Stefan meets with Salzman and learns that Damon killed his bride.  Only the journal has been stolen by Ana while the two men were working out thier differences and now they are bot without.  Good thing Salzman made a copy!  Stafan liberated the copy from Salzman and he and Elena figure out where Emily’s Grimoire is.  It is buried with Giuseppe Salvatore, their dad (who is also Dexter’s dad!).  But Damon figures it out too and he has to threaten Elena to get the book from Stefan.  So much for that brief 2 minutes of brotherly love, they are back to fighting.

And I almost forgot, Bonnie went on a date with the Vamp/Jock, but she figured out what he was and he attacked her.

Supernatural 5.13 “The Song Remains the Same”

Right in the middle of Dean’s stripper dream, Anna the Angel appears and ruins it.  It is the only way she can find him since Castiel carved those markings on his ribs and she wants to meet.  She provides him with a time and place, but Castiel doesn’t trust her, so he shows up instead.  Turns out Castiel knows what he is talking about because Anna had a grand scheme to kill Sam so Lucifer won’t have a vessel and the apocalypse will end.  But Dean and Cas really aren’t cool with that idea.

Anna goes back in time to 1978.  She figures she will just kill Sam and Dean’s parents instead, preventing them from ever being born therefore preventing the apocalypse.  In theory, not a bad idea, only Sam and Dean don’t want their parents to die.  So Cas takes them back in time to save them. Castiel is weakened since being cut off from heaven and the trip takes too much out of him, so he disappears for most of the episode.

In groovy 1978, the meet their parents and try to protect them.  Posing as cousins to Mary, they gain access to their home where a very odd conversation ensues.  Would be really strange to meet your parents in time when you were not even born yet.  John gets a call from his boss and has to rush off, only it was Anna posing as his boss to lure him away from the house.  John is being attacked, but the boys figure it out and show up to save him by banishing Anna. The boys try to talk Mary into leaving John so they are never born.  Too late, she is already pregnant.  Did they not even think about that?  Would Dean not have thought about the fact that they went to 1978, a time so close to when he was born? Anyway Anna enlists the help of the 1978 version of Uriel and together they go after all 4 of them.

But not so fast… Michael steps in and uses John as a meat suit to banish both Uriel and Anna.  He saves them all but has a little talk with Dean first.  You see Dean is his vessel, setting the brothers up for a final showdown.  The showdown to end all showdowns.  Michael vs. Lucifer… Dean vs. Sam.  But the boys are determined to keep this from happening.  Micheal scrubs John and Mary’s minds and returns the boys to thier own time. Crisis averted, for now.

Caprica 1.3 “Gravedancing”

After Amanda Graystone so foolishly announced to the world that her daughter was a terrorist, things have gone down hill. She had to leave her job at the hospital amidst catcalls and airborne bottles, Lacy has been shunned at school, and Danile is getting his ass kicked but the Taurin mob. So…. Excellent decision there Amanda!

Zoe is still stuck in the Cylon body which leads to lots of problems, like having to watch your parents do it in the lab. Ewwww. Plus she has to listen to them admit that they both believe she is the one who set off the bomb. That would be maddening, not being able to tell them what actually happened and oh yeah, please stop having sex in front of me!

Clarice believes that Zoe’s avatar is still out there somewhere and she is searching for her. Joseph is getting cruel and asked his brother to “balance things out”. He lost a wife and daughter and Daniel Graystone only lost a daughter. Look out Amanda, you might be next.

Have I mentioned yet that I want a Butler Bot like the Graystones?  That would be so damn cool!

Matt says: This episode dealt with the ramifications of Amanda Graystone’s “my daughter is a terrorist” speech.  Not sure that is something you want to announce to the whole flippin’ world.  Shockingly this is a bad move for both of the Graystones.   At this point Ronald D. Moore is tackling some pretty heady issues; terrorism is not simply a black and white issue and religious extremism.  But this where this needs to operate in order to be successful.  Be a mirror to society and cause people to think about their ideals.  I am alittle more hopeful about this show now but not it will make it past 2 seasons.

Spartacus Blood and Sand 1.3 “Legends”

Spartacus is still at Gladiator boot camp. He’s a mouthy little shit which gets him in all kinds of trouble. Hasn’t Spartacus ever heard of keeping your head down? When the games are announced, Spartacus is scheduled to fight his blonde buddy, but manages to disable Naius and work his way into the Primus against Crixus.

Xena is obviously boinking Crixus, and she gets a super jealous look on her face whenever any other woman looks at him. Which is often as the Legitus’ wife has eyes for him, but Crixus actually has eyes for the servant girl. Also, these Romans must have been really bored, because sex is suddenly a spectator sport. How awkward, being forced to have sex with someone you don’t even know, in the middle of a bunch of strangers who are commenting on your performance.

So Spartacus makes it into the Primus to fight Crixus and we get the slo-mo and big blood spatters from the first episode along new “helmet cam” shots and the original boob flashers. (so that is where it all came from…) Anyway, Sparti gets his ass handed to him and has to give the 2 finger surrender salute. Baitius spares him, as he is in debt from buying him in the first place. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Matt says:  The hazing continues at gladiator for poor little Spartacus.  But then again Spartacus needs to learn to shut his mouth or he will be spending alot of time down in the shit hole, literally.  In this episode we are also introduced to Roman porn.  Wow, they don’t kid around.  I guess being a gladiator also has some upsides.  The gladiator fights are pretty cool but have all the pageantry of a WWE event.  We learn that Spartacus is not quite ready for prime time by getting his ass kicked by Crixus.  This is a fun show as long as you don’t take it seriously and just go with it.

Lucy Lawless nekkid update: Lame, we only get to see a belly button.

Heroes 4.18 “Brave New World”

That guy who duplicates himself, is super annoying.  I hate him. I don’t even know why.  Maybe there are too many of him.  I think I will call him copy cat from now on.  Anyway, Copycat shows up at Parkman’s place to stop Peter and Sylar.  But our 3 heroes (yeah, I said 3) prove to be more than he can handle and they beat him.  Parkman whines to Peter about how Sylar is the bad guy and he won’t let him take him.  Sylar has to convince Parkman that he is a good guy now and finally they take off on thier merry way to save the world. yay.  But Parkman has one last trick up his sleeve.  He pushes a thought or two into Copycat’s head.

Claire and Noah are still buried alive in the souvenier trailer, having one  of those “I’m dying so do what I ask as my last wish” kind of talks.  When Traci shows up and floods the place so they can swim out.  Thanks to Noah’s new girlfriend, who called Traci to come and help.

Hiro and Ando are bumbling around the hospital when they run into a version of Charlie who is 65 years older. Samuel had her sent backward in time. Hiro wants to return her to her previous life, but she has kids and grandkids now and she doesn’t want to leave them. Dejected, Hiro teleports outta there to help Noah and the good guys in New York.

Samuel has taken the whole damn carnival to central park with the plan of drawing thousands of people in and then opening the earth and killing them. NICE. Doyle the Puppetmaster forces Emma to play her cello until her fingers bleed, which calls the unsuspecting humans to the park and their demise.

All the good guys show up at the park to stop Samuel from his sinister plan. Even Darth Maul switches over from the Dark side to help out. Claire talks the carnies into getting away from Samuel so he will weaken. As they are mobilizing and getting Hiro “supercharged” by Ando (really?) Peter is taking on Samuel. He takes his power and they have an earthquake tug of war! Lame… then the carnies mass teleport outta there leaving Samuel powerless. So off to jail he goes.

All is well, the threat of the specials being made public is over…er… wait a minute. What is Claire doing on top of the ferris wheel with multiple news cameras pointed at her? Awww hell. Now the whole damn world knows about the “special people with abilities” Way to go Claire! Thanks for making that decision for EVERYONE!

Matt says: Break out the popcorn and the iced cold drinks for the Great Final Heroes Battle at the Big Top.  It begins with Emma’s cello of death and ends with Samuel sitting on knees dismayed.  Somehow I missed the whole battle part.  Wow, color me underwhelmed.  Let me get this straight, Samuel’s big plan was to draw people to Central Park and then put them in a sink hole.  Really! If you wanted to make a big splash then go to Times Square and reduce it to rubble.  Man, he is a poor excuse for a villain.  In other news, the wussification of Sylar is complete…he is now a “hero”.  Yawn.  Season 4 ends with a whimper but overall it was a much better than seasons 2 and 3.  They were able to tie up alot of loose ends but the bad guy was just lame which lessened the suspense.  They need to create a total bad ass that holds the world at his/her knees instead of just a couple people in Central Park.  I enjoyed season 4 enough that if there is a season 5 I will stick around.

Lost 6.3 “What Kate does”

So Sayid is back from the dead and The Others think there may be something wrong with him.  So they take him in the back room and torture…er… I mean diagnose him.  Yeah right… It was definitely torture!  They shocked him and burned him with a hot poker while he whined and begged for them to just tell him what they want from him.  From a guy who was a torturer by trade, this seems like he rolled over awfully fast to me.  Once they diagnosed him, the let him out with his friends.  But The Others try to give Jack a pill and call it “medicine”  for Sayid.  Only Jack dosen’t trust him so he tries to take the pill himself to prove that it is OK.  It must not be OK because the leader of The Others has to perform some kind of Karate, ass kicking heimlich on Jack to get the pill out.  Huh, turns out it was poison.  The Others believe Sayid has been claimed.  The darkness is growing within him. (duh, he was a torturer by trade, hellllooooo).  Jack asks how they know and they respond, “because it happened to your sister.”  Enter Claire..

Sawyer missed all of this action because he decided to get a gun and make the others let him leave.  He heads back to the Dharma camp and his home where he pulls out a ring from the floorboards.  He explicitly asks his friends NOT to follow him, but Kate never listens and does anyway.  Still brooding, Sawyer throws the ring in the ocean and Kate finally realizes that he truly did love Juliet.  Sorry Kate, you can’t fix everything with your love triangle.

Alternate reality Kate is running from the law.  She kicks the cabbie and Claire out an takes off.  Only when she goes fishing in Claire’s luggage does she feel a pang of guilt for throwing a pregnant woman out on the side of the road.  So she heads back to find her and give her a ride.  Claire is trying to meet the people who were planning to adopt her baby, but the woman changed her mind since her husband left her.  Now Claire gets upset and brings on labor.  Her new BFF Kate takes her to the hospital and her Dr. aka Ethan helps her slow the labor.  So pretty much, Claire would keep the baby, Island or no.

On the Island, Jin is looking for Sun when he gets caught by two others and a bear trap.  But someone shoots the Others to free Jin.  Look out, it’s Island Claire.  She’s back, although apparently “claimed” by the dark side.

Matt says: In this episode we continue to learn that The Others “others” (not sure what they are called) are the worst hosts EVER.  They drown dying men and then they torture him when he comes back to life and if that doesn’t work they resort to a good ole fashion poison pill.  Not exactly the place you want to visit on holiday.   Also The Other “others” are just as shitty at explaining anything as the rest of the nimrods on this island.  No wonder it has six years just to explain the smoke monster.  I like the appearance of Dr. Ethan coming to save Claire…wow, that was a strange turn of events.  Ready for next week, too bad it is 7 days away.