Glee Review: Proud to be Different

From now on, whenever Glee pays homage to a musical icon, it’s going to be compared to the Power of Madonna – an episode that would be hard to top. And while I don’t consider Lady GaGa a musical icon just yet, it’s fair to say she’s on her way. Lady Gaga’s name comes up during a Glee meeting when Principal Figgins bans Tina from wearing any more goth outfits. The words “self-expression,” “theatrically,” and “individuality” are thrown around and all seem to have one thing in common: Lady GaGa.

Rachel finds out that Vocal Adrenaline are also rehearsing a Lady GaGa routine. She goes with Quinn and Mercedes to spy on their competition. But while there, club coach Shelby schools her glee kids with a real theatrical performance. She sings “Funny Girl” and it’s during this performance that Rachel recognizes her mother’s voice from last week’s tape.

Mother and daughter are reunited, but it’s not the scenario both of them hoped for. In fact, their whole interaction throughout the episode felt like a bad date, with the exception of Rachel asking her mom to help her create a GaGa costume. That was genuinely sweet. Shelby realizes it’s too late, though, to form a real motherly bond with Rachel because she missed out on her growing up, but they still manage to squeeze in a wonderful duet of “Poker Face” before parting ways.

Kurt and Finn are now roomies! Never thought you’d hear that, did you? Burt and Carol, the boys’ parents, have decided to move in together and everyone is now living under the Hummel roof. From very early on, Finn has problems with Kurt’s sexuality and he doesn’t feel comfortable sharing a room. Kurt goes to extreme lengths to try and make things better between them, but all it does is cause Finn to go bananas and start throwing around the “f” word – faggy.

Cue Burt Hummel choosing that precise moment to walk in and give Finn one hell of a tongue lashing. Seriously one of the best scenes on Glee in a long while! It’s amazing to see Burt step up for his son like that, despite what reservations he may have. He’s made it quite clear he accepts Kurt just the way he is. Anybody who has a problem with that can eff off!

This episode reminded me that Glee’s success has to do with more than just the music. I really can’t think of another show on TV that addresses such serious topics with a real sense of truth (but then again, my TV viewing is limited) and a touch of humor. Too often things like bullying and discrimination are sugarcoated or made to seem like it’s an easy problem to solve. Glee doesn’t do that, although it was nice to see Kurt finally standing up for himself at the end against those footballers.

There were plenty of other great moments that deserve a shout-out: the “Bad Romance” performance was off the hook! Finn sticking up for Kurt in a red GaGa-inspired dress; the boys performing KISS; cute scenes between Quinn and Puck; Principal Figgins being traumatized by Twilight fangirls (aren’t we all), and BRAD THE PIANIST!

One of my favorite lines from the night was Rachel calling for Brad and explaining, “he’s always just around.” I probably found it extra hilarious because earlier this afternoon I was reading an interview with the pianist himself on CNN. An interesting read, I highly recommend it!

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Glee Goes Gaga by Allison Toner.

Season 1, Episode 20: Theatricality (originally aired May 25, 2010)

For more on Glee, click here.

Tuesdays at 9pm on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro

MacGruber Review: MacGruber is Mediocre

Sometimes I just say “What the eff, I’ve got 10 bucks to burn.”  That was my thought process when deciding to go see MacGruber (Will Forte), an SNL send-up of the 80’s classic, MacGyver.  MacGyver was a resourceful hero who could hotwire a jet or create a distraction with dental floss and paper clips.  I’m exaggerating a bit, but the character was ridiculously handy.  Such characters lend themselves well to parody, and the MacGruber SNL skits are always pretty funny.  Can you make an entire movie out of one skit?  In this case, I think you can.  Just give MacGruber a mission or goal and put him in one dangerous situation after another.  His character is a bumbling idiot, so most of his “heroism” is played for laughs, with mixed results.

SNL has had some hits (Wayne’s World) and misses (A Night at the Roxbury) when making the leap from small to big screen.  I would say MacGruber falls somewhere in the middle.  The movie begins with MacGruber being reluctantly pulled out of self-imposed exile to square off against old enemy Dieter Von Cunth, played by Val Kilmer.  Cunth (pronounced without the ‘h’ most of the time) has nuclear codes that could destroy Washington, DC and it’s up to MacGruber and his motley crew to stop him.  I guess Kilmer and Ryan Phillippe didn’t mind slumming in this silly movie, because they are certainly better than this.  I’m not opposed to “real” actors poking fun at themselves and having a good time in silly movies.  Tom Cruise’s cameo in Tropic Thunder was hilarious, for example.  The difference is that Tropic Thunder was actually a smart, funny movie.  I don’t think MacGruber was intended to be a smart movie at all.  In fact, MacGruber’s ineptitude is mind-boggling.  Will Forte makes the most of the material he’s given, portraying MacGruber as a cocky idiot.  One funny aspect of the character is his refusal to use firearms.  In the TV show MacGyver, he used household items to make impromptu weapons out of necessity, not by choice.  MacGruber intentionally opts for the more difficult method of making  weapons.  Instead of using a gun right in front of him, he’s looking for duct tape and other crap to make a weapon.  In another scene, MacGruber must create a diversion for Ryan Philippe’s character.  Does he release a smoke bomb or set a trap?  No, his diversion is to waddle out with his pants around his ankles and a celery stalk sticking out of his butt.  I’m serious.

Opening in 6^th place at the box office, I think it’s safe to say that MacGruber may have fallen short of expectations, whatever they were.  Or maybe not.  I doubt that anyone associated with the movie took it too seriously.  I think the movie was amusing at times, but it wasn’t nearly as funny as it could have been.  There were two ridiculous love scenes that had my audience in stitches, but that was about it.  I wasn’t disappointed, because my expectations weren’t that high.  It was an okay movie, but trust and believe that it was every bit as dumb as it looks.  I believe that one commercial stated that it was the funniest movie since Beverly Hills Cop?? That notion is funnier than anything I saw in the movie.  Overall, for the few laughs it provided I’d say wait until it airs on cable.  I wouldn’t even Netflix or Redbox it.

Photo by Greg Peters/Rogue Pictures – © 2010 Rogue Pictures.

Chuck Versus Bonkers Plot Twists at The End of the Season

There was so much packed into the two-hour season three finale of Chuck that at times I felt as if I were watching eight different programs smashed up together into one layered mess. The whole affair brings to mind that bowl thing they have now at KFC where they just take chicken and like every side dish they have and smash it into one savory, artery-clogging, three-thousand calorie hodgepodge. I imagine that eating that bowl and watching last night’s Chuck provide remarkably similar experiences: you’re exceedingly satisfied and happy while eating/watching it, but hours later you’re left with the realization that it was sloppily prepared, overstuffed and probably not good for you in the long run.

As the first part opens, Chuck is in neurotic overdrive, pestering his father Stephen (Scott Bakula) to hurry up and finish making the Governor, a high-tech device (though it looks suspiciously like a wristwatch) that will regulate Chuck’s brain and prevent the Intersect from making him cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. This whole the-Intersect-is-making-Chuck crazy thing seemed to pop out of nowhere earlier this season, with no hints or development leading up to it. But that’s often the case on this show—for one reason or another—so I’m learning to just roll with it and not question too much.

Also during this exchange, Stephen reiterates his discomfort with Chuck having become a spy, and warns his son that there may come a time when Chuck has to leave those that he loves in order to protect them—just as Stephen himself did. I can’t stress enough how much Scott Bakula adds to Chuck. He brings such warmth and sincerity to his role that does wonders to ground the show emotionally, even as it frequently plunges into the depths of utter ridiculousness.

While taking a breather with Sarah at a farmer’s market, Chuck starts having a splitting headache, hearing a voice and flashing, all in tandem. Yikes. He follows the source of all of this into the nearby subway and catches up with…Shaw! No! How the hell is that little pretty boy weasel/surprise Ring honcho still alive? Did Chuck not pump him full of lead in Paris and watch him do a Peter Pan over a bridge? Of course, then again, the same thing happened to Jon Voight at the beginning of Mission: Impossible and we all know how that turned out.

Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and a reluctant Stephen track Shaw down via subway surveillance cameras and follow him into a secret building…the same secret building where Justin is holding Ellie. Meanwhile, Beckman is at some CIA review board trying to convince higher-ups not to shitcan Operation Bartowski. Chuck runs into Justin and takes him out as Ellie watches in shock. Justin rebounds, Chuck tackles him into an auditorium…the same auditorium that Beckman is pleading to the higher-ups in. What? They’re fighting in a CIA building? Justin is really in the CIA? Then Shaw walks in and the higher-ups don’t do anything to him?

Chuck and Sarah—as confused as I was—emote to the suits that Shaw tried to kill both of them in Paris, but Shaw claims he was a double-agent who was about to shut down the Ring when Chuck shot him. It’s Shaw’s word against everyone else’s, and Shaw uses Dr. Dreyfus’ notes regarding Chuck’s deteriorating mind to discredit him.

Casey thinks that Shaw and the Ring have been massively infiltrating the CIA and are taking it over. He also thinks that the only chance they have is to run, because the bad dudes will now surely come after those they care about. Casey runs to tend to his daughter, while Sarah runs back in after Chuck.

The rest of this first half deals with Casey trying to convince his daughter that she is in fact his daughter and save him from Justin, Ellie trying to figure out what the real deal is about Chuck and the CIA via Awesome and Morgan, and Chuck on the run with his dad trying to save Casey and Sarah from the clutches of Shaw.

And remember how important I said Scott Bakula was to the show? Yeah, well (SPOILER ALERT) the writers had Shaw shoot him in the chest in cold blood. I screamed at the TV. See, Chuck was about to kung fu Shaw (oh yeah, he also now has an Intersect too) and see which Intersect would win out. Shaw said that Chuck would lose because he couldn’t work his Intersect when he was emotional. Chuck said that he was totally calm, so Shaw killed Stephen to mess Chuck up. Now I’m not saying the writers were necessarily wrong to kill Bakula; it was a shocking and emotional moment. But I still can’t say I’m happy about it.

The first half ends with Chuck—along with Sarah and Casey—trapped in Shaw’s clutches. In the wake of his father’s murder, Chuck feels defeated. There is no one left to save the three of them…no one except Morgan, Ellie and Awesome. That’s where the second half picks up.

Chuck & Co. are being transported via armored van by Shaw and his minions to some remote place where he can kill them. But Ellie is following them and relaying instructions to Morgan and Awesome. I loved seeing Ellie in unexpected steely take-charge mode, and I loved the flashback we got right after that showing Ellie and Chuck as young kids in 1991.

Shot in muted tones with a soft filter, the flashback shows young Ellie yelling at young Chuck after he broke his mother’s favorite charm bracelet. Stephen—busy at work creating the original Intersect—comes out and tells Ellie that Chuck has a knack for getting into trouble and that she will always have to be there to protect him. This scene economically shows Stephen’s patience and gentleness with his kids and sheds light as to why Ellie has always been so over-protective of her brother.

We cut back to Ellie, as determined as ever to carry out her mission of protecting Chuck. Except she lost the transport truck. But Awesome and Morgan pull up and spot it a few hundred yards away from them. Awesome whines about how they need a plan to take out armed traitor thugs. Morgan replies that not having a plan has never stopped him before. He says he sympathizes with Awesome, but there isn’t any time. It’s a funny little exchange, and I loved seeing Morgan ready to just act on gut instinct and not strategize. “What do you want me to do, open the glove box?” Morgan facetiously asks Devon. But then they both realize that, as they’re driving Casey’s car, there might very well be a weapon in the glove box.

They open it and find a gun! Awesome disgustedly hands it to Morgan, and Morgan looks at it for a second and gets serious. Now here’s where I think the writers made a big mistake: there are also two unmarked buttons in the glove box. They push one of the buttons, a giant missile fires out of the front and overturns the armored truck holding Chuck & Co. and simultaneously blows Shaw unconscious into the woods. Instead of playing this moment for laughs via a James Bond-esque gag, I think they should have played it seriously and shown Morgan ramming the car into the van in a crazy intense kamikaze move. And then gotten out and kicked some ass the old-fashioned way.

It was such an adrenaline-charged moment, the way they cut from Chuck in the van saying “Who even knows we’re here?” to Morgan and Awesome pulling up in the car. They could have had a really cool and powerful action sequence showing Morgan—the unlikeliest of heroes—acting on pure emotion, gunning to save his best friend. It could have been like that classic moment in the third act of Lethal Weapon when Danny Glover is being tortured by the bad guys, and the main bad guy tells him to give up because “there are no more heroes left.” Then Mel Gibson charges through the door and blows holes through everyone. That was an awesome moment, and Chuck had a similar opportunity but they botched it.

I get that Chuck is a comedy, but given all the serious stuff that had already happened in this episode, I really think they would have been better off building on that instead of going for an easy joke.

Then, as they’re escaping from the overturned armored truck, everyone gets into the getaway car, with Chuck bringing up the rear. Suddenly Shaw gets up and he and Chuck lock eyes. And similarly, they had a great moment here for Chuck to send everyone away in the car, act on pure animalistic rage and run back to take on Shaw barehanded. But they just had him skedaddle with everyone else. So be it.

After this, Chuck and Ellie have a big sibling talk and he tries to explain all of the CIA stuff to her. I didn’t buy this exchange though; Sarah Lancaster as Ellie did not nearly act as incredulously as she should have. She believed all of these insane revelations Chuck was telling her just a little too easily. She also demands that Chuck quit the spy business after he gets Shaw. Chuck agrees, though personally, if that were my sister, I would have told her to screw off.

So the rest of the finale is about everyone trying to take down Shaw and get back the Governor before Chuck goes nuts-o. During the climactic fight with Shaw the writers finally took the suggestion I’ve pushed all season that Chuck should have to fight once just on pure heart, with a malfunctioning Intersect no help to him. It was exciting and fun to see Shaw’s comeuppance, and the final twist involves a message that Stephen left behind for Chuck that has all sorts of implications about the history of Chuck’s family and conflicts that may be on the horizon.

It was all a little too packed and a little confusing, and there was also way too much attention spent on a pointless Buy More subplot with Big Mike, Jeff and Lester (and hilariously blatant Subway plugs). But there were some nice moments and I’ll be interested to see if Chuck can get off to a better start next season than they did this season.

Season 3, Episodes 18 and 19: Chuck vs. the Subway and Chuck vs. the Ring: Part II (originally aired May 24, 2010)

For more on Chuck, click here.

Mondays at 8/7C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and Justin Lubin.

The Real Housewives of New York Review: I’m on a Boat Part 1

These women have the stupidest ideas.

Last week, and this week, on Real Housewives, we get to see Ramona take her BFFs (uhh ok) on a vow renewal bachelorette party on a yacht in St. John. Like any normal person, ya know? Things got weird pretty quickly given the varying degrees of narcissism and insanity in the group.

My girl Bethenny was just coming back from LA where her father passed away. She didn’t have a relationship with him to begin with, so the whole ordeal was more than a little depressing and just kind of ahdoahofihewngh. So she was in a pretty odd emotional state, but was looking forward to getting some sun and girl time slash relaxation in.

Alex kept mentioning how the people who weren’t there were missing out (AHEM JILL, COUGH COUGH COUGH). Then kept bringing it up how much the other girls were missing out, by saying over and over again how they wouldn’t talk about them because they aren’t there. Vicious cycle.

Ramona had free and easy access to alcohol, so enough said. Sonja was just…there. I love how Ramona took her, acting like she is some lifelong friend, when really I think Sonja just has some really good blackmail on her or something from the 1980s.  And I now think Kelly is the worst of them all by her mere existence as a psycho.

All was well in the world of the privileged until lunchtime. Everything was fine until Kelly became a lunatic. The girls once again brought up how happy they were to be there, how lucky they were, and how anyone who wasn’t there just didn’t matter because they weren’t there. And who wasn’t there? Jill. Kelly couldn’t take it anymore, and called all the ladies out on being bitches pretty much and petty women who have nothing better to do other than talk about Jill. I would want to agree with Kelly, but then she just went crazy. She kept saying that she wasn’t that kind of girl to talk about other people. News flash: you are on a trashy reality tv show, talking about other people pays your bills. So I didn’t like her bull right off the bat. So Kelly tried to take the high road and leave lunch before Ramona even had time to take a sip of her pinot. Also, it is pretty hard to be all high and mighty when you are in a losing battle with an automatic door.

After Kelly’s first exit, things just fall apart. She kept talking about rainbows and ponies in her world (?) and all the other women could be mean. Whatever, sometimes airing out your dirty laundry with people can be cathartic and Kelly needs to get over herself, or adjust her meds. Things seemed like they were going to get better when Ramona found out there was a Hooters boat next door. She wanted to go to the other boat because it basically promised a good time. While the women were getting good and liquored up before heading over to boobville, Sonja was trying to give Kelly some advice about tending to her sexual needs, and Kelly took that opportunity to call pregnant Bethenny a ho-bag. It’s fine if Kelly doesn’t want to sleep around, but wtf left field? She then went on to attack Bethenny over the fact that she claims to be a chef when she is really a cook, and keeps calling her creepy, which just makes me thing Kelly is totally creepy.

Somehow they all stumble over to the Hooters boat. Ramona is stumbling, Alex is holding her back, Kelly is psycho, and poor Bethenny is sober. Luckily Alex, Ramona, and Bethenny make it to some bar to dance the night away, and order is restored in a drunken haze during the night.

Meanwhile back in New York, Jill was doing nothing I cared about and LuAnn was recording her single “Money Can’t Buy You Class.” Woof. What the hell. The only thing worse than LuAnn’s singing and the producer insisting on calling her “The Countess,” was her horrid date with that creep show later in the night. Ew. There are no words for how uncomfortable I felt and how bitter I was towards Bravo for making me watch that ordeal.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2!

Season 3, Episodes 11: Housewives Overboard (originally aired May 13, 2010)

For more on The Real Housewives of New York, click here.

Thursdays at 10/9c on Bravo

Photographs courtesy of Bravo and Heidi Gutman.

Grey’s Anatomy Review: Best. Episode. Ever.

The internet was ablaze last Thursday night as millions held their collective breath witnessing quite possibly the best episode of network television I’ve ever seen.  It was that good.  In fact, it was easily the best episode of the entire series, and that’s high praise considering how great Grey’s Anatomy is.

The writers have been subtly planting the seeds that would lead up to the finale, one that featured the returning character of Gary Clark, a mentally unstable spouse of a patient who died at Seattle Grace earlier in the season.  Clark lost his wife and blames the hospital and Derek in particular for murdering her.  Nevermind the fact that they were bound by a ‘do not resuscitate’ order signed by the woman.  There isn’t a hospital in America that would ignore such a directive, but this fact is lost on Mr. Clark.  When a hearing on the matter proves unsuccessful, Clark’s anger only deepens.  The writers have also been hinting at whether or not Derek has what it takes to be Chief.  His mettle is tested in the chilling season finale, as Clark resurfaces at Seattle Grace on a mission to avenge his wife’s death.

The ominous parental discretion warning is the first indication that the finale is going to be serious.  The terror starts when Clark enters the hospital and begins looking for Derek specifically.  After being rebuffed by a nurse, he finds Reed in a supply closet.  He asks her where to find Shepherd.  When she responds rudely to him he pulls a pistol out and puts a bullet in her head.  And so it begins, two hours of nail-biting tension.  Two seconds after he shoots Reed, Alex comes around the corner and becomes victim #2.  A feeling of dread and despair permeated the entire episode, and my emotions were tested several times as revered characters faced unbelievable terror and sadness.  It was painfully realistic to watch people plead for their lives while Clark methodically murdered his way to Derek Shepherd.  He stalked the halls, coldly dispensing with anyone whom he believed was responsible for his wife’s death, even if only tangentially involved.  The brilliant aspect of this episode was that Clark managed to directly interact with each main character in a way that held the episode together.  I’ll recount the most meaningful, heart-stopping moments.

Derek learns fairly quickly about the shooter and puts the hospital in lockdown mode.  Bailey is with a patient named Mary (played by Mandy Moore) when that happens, and she and Percy must remain where they are.  She steals a glance out the window and sees Clark approaching with the gun.  She tells Mary to play dead and orders Percy to hide.  Bailey is under the bed when Clark enters, and for a second it looks like they might pull it off.  Mary does a great job playing possum and Bailey is undetected.  And then Percy makes a noise and Clark finds him.  “Are you a surgeon?” he asks.  Percy says yes and then we hear him pleading before a gunshot sounds.  We don’t see their interaction, we only see Bailey waiting with her hand over her mouth.  Percy falls to the floor, looking into Bailey’s eyes and gasping for breath.  Bailey stifles a scream while Mary remains silent.  My heart drops when Clark drags Bailey from underneath the bed just like that scene in the movie Taken.  He asks Bailey if she’s a surgeon and she has the good sense to give a different answer than Dr. Percy.  She tells him he’s a nurse and he leaves the room.  Now Bailey must calm Mary and try to save Percy’s life with only gauze and tape.

While Bailey tends to Percy, Lexie and Mark discover Alex’s body in the elevator.  He managed to crawl on the elevator but didn’t have the strength to press a button.  While they attempt surgery on a very much awake Alex, on another floor Owen, Teddy, and Avery perform surgery on a critical patient.  They are insulated from the chaos and are oblivious to the danger around them as they continue to work on the patient.  Derek pulls Avery aside and tells him to apprise the others after the surgery is complete.  When he finally tells them, Owen rips him a new one for waiting so long.  He and Teddy agree to move the patient while the others remain behind.  When they are found by a SWAT team and ushered outside for safety, Owen decides to go back in, symbolically choosing Cristina over Teddy.

Clark’s intentions are to punish everyone who worked on his wife’s case.  This means Derek, Richard, and Lexie.  Damn, all the girl did was pull the plug like she was told!  This guy is a f*cking nutbag for sure.  He can’t get Richard because he’s celebrating 6 months of sobriety at a nearby café.  He’s looking for Derek but finds Lexie en route to his office.  She was getting supplies for Alex and ends up coming face to face with Clark.  But before he can ice Little Grey, SWAT lands a shot to his shoulder.  Which brings me to my only complaint with the finale: Clark manages to continue his rampage, even though law enforcement managed to locate and wound him.  To borrow a line from one of my Facebook friends, this was the worst SWAT team in the history of television.  I understand that they needed a way to keep the storyline going and they didn’t want to kill everybody, but let’s be realistic.  This guy was like the Terminator, the Golden Years.

Another recurring theme that I noticed in the episode was love, quite simply.  Not that “flowers and candy” kinda love, but that “baby imma jump in front of a bullet” for you kinda love.  Owen went back in for Cristina.  Meredith abandons her safe hiding space to find Derek before Clark does.  Owen threatens to kill Clark if he hurts Cristina, and last but not least: Meredith offers her life for Derek’s as true justice for Clark.  She gets the opportunity to do this because eventually Clark finds Derek and confronts the man he’s been searching for all day.  Derek tries to connect with Clark and appeal to whatever humanity he can find in his eyes.  Cristina and Meredith watch from a distance, helpless.  It looks like Derek might actually be finding a shred of hope somewhere beneath Clark’s crazy eyes, but then April makes her umpteenth blunder by bursting through the double doors at that exact moment and jarring Clark back into focus.  He strengthens his resolve and shoots Derek in the chest while Meredith stares in horror.

One of the few fortunate aspects of the finale was that they were in a hospital, which was useful for treating the gunshot wounds that Clark was giving everyone.  Derek is shot, but he’s surrounded by people and facilities that allow him to be treated immediately.  It’s a bit unrealistic that Clark would shoot Derek just once rather than finish him off, but I’ll play along.  Anyway, there are no Attendings on the floor to perform the surgery, so Cristina will have to operate on her best friend’s husband.  Later, Owen finds Meredith and tells her to remain outside the OR while Cristina operates.  Unbeknownst to her, Clark has made his way into the operating room and is ordering Cristina to stop working on Derek.  She tearfully refuses and by this time Owen has come in.  Meredith enters also and tries to offer herself in place of Derek.  Owen jumps in front of the bullet, which lodges in his shoulder.  Clark basically says that he can kill everyone or just Derek.  Avery stops working on Derek and tells Clark that he will bleed out momentarily and flatline.  Sure enough, a flatline appears and Clark is convinced that his mission has been accomplished.  Meredith collapses, bawling hysterically.  Her reaction reassures Clark that Derek is dead, and he leaves.  After he leaves, we see that Avery disconnected some wires but that Derek was never in danger.  They continue working on him.

The last scene I’ll talk about in detail is another involving Bailey, her patient Mary, and Dr. Percy.  Left with meager supplies, they must get Percy to an operating room or he will die.  Percy is a big boy, so they are forced to position him on a blanket and drag the blanket down the hall.  After fighting so hard to save him, Bailey realizes it is all for naught.  The police have cut power to the elevators, and there is no way to get Percy up to an operating room.  He will die right there on the floor, and there isn’t a damn thing Bailey can do about it as the life slowly drains from his body.  This has been a day from hell and Bailey can’t take it anymore.  After the shock of pleading for her own life, the frantic attempt to save Percy, and trying to calm Mary, now she comes to the realization that Percy will die.  And she loses it.  She screams hysterically, yelling at the futility and inevitable doom of the situation.  She has her moment of weakness and then gathers herself, summoning the courage and backbone we know she possess.  This time she tells Percy the truth: he is going to die.  But she and Mary will be with him every step of the way.  At this point I need Kleenex, which should be the official sponsor of Grey’s Anatomy.  He asks Bailey to tell Reed that he always had a crush on her and that he died brave.  *sniffle*

The episode was too intense and intricate for me to relay every detail, but I can say that Seattle Grace will never be the same.  Percy and Reed were killed.  Meredith found out she was pregnant, but the day’s heart-stopping stress was too much to bear and she suffered a miscarriage before she could tell Derek.  Owen was shot in the shoulder.  Alex was shot and nearly died.  Derek was shot in the chest.  These are the lives that were affected and will be changed forever.  This was easily the best episode of the season, and of the entire series, in my opinion.  I’ve never been so enthralled by a network television show.  I’m used to HBO giving me the realness, but not ABC.  Best. Episode. Ever.

Season 6, Episodes 23 & 24: Sensitive & Death and All His Friends (originally aired May 20, 2010)

For more Grey’s Anatomy, click here.

Thursdays 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Danny Feld.

Lost Review: It Ends where It Began

All television shows must come to an end (unless you’re The Simpsons) and this week Lost bids viewers everywhere goodbye. I personally am okay with not having every question answered though I understand the frustration that some people may feel after devoting six long years of their lives. It might taste like a bad breakup if you don’t understand everything that happened. But as the show tells us, it’s okay to let go because it’s over and getting upset over it isn’t going to change anything.

Recap

The episode begins with Sawyer splitting up from Kate, Hurley, and Jack to go get Desmond out of the well while the rest of them proceed to the place beyond the bamboo where the light source is located. Jack knows that’s where MIB is headed for and they intend to kill him somehow. MIB and Ben are at the well and run into Sawyer who tells them that they are not candidates anymore. MIB decides not to kill Sawyer and mysteriously says that he knows who took Desmond. Desmond wakes up having been rescued by Rose and Bernard; the two have been living undisturbed on the island for quite some time now away from the drama. Rose asks him to leave as soon as he eats because they had sworn not to get involved in anything. But it’s too late as MIB and Ben show up with Bernard being made to lead them back to his camp.

By the way Bernard looks authentically like he’s been living on an island for goodness knows how long. His hair and beard are all over the place while Rose looks so neat and clean. What’s up with that?

Anyway, Desmond goes with MIB and Ben not wishing any harm to come to his rescuers and the three head to the “heart” of the island where they run into Jack and the rest of the gang. It’s a very intense moment leading up to the confrontation and audiences are led to believe that something big is going to happen…but just not yet. Jack tells MIB that he knows exactly what he’s planning to do with Desmond and says that he’s going to help make it happen because the other is wrong. On the final stretch it’s only Jack, Desmond, and MIB who go further into the bamboo area and finally into the stream and to the light source. Jack and MIB lower Desmond down where he comes upon a chamber and a shallow pool. At the center of that lies the light source and a large stone cork that he manages to move. After that all hell breaks loose and the island begins to rumble and fall apart. It seems that MIB was right and Jack was wrong, Desmond wasn’t a weapon after all. Desmond thought that by removing the cork he would leave the island and manages to get himself out of the now empty pool onto the side where he passes out. MIB dashes out and makes tracks for his boat but before that happens Jack tackles him outside where we learn that they are both now mortal again! They of course proceed to beat each other resulting in Jack being knocked out.

Meanwhile Miles and Richard are making their way to Hydra Island to destroy the plane in hopes of preventing MIB from leaving. On their way they come upon Frank Lapidus in the water! I was seriously happy that the pilot was still alive and the writers didn’t forget about him. They change their plans and intend on flying off the island themselves instead.

The final battle between Jack and MIB takes place on the cliff side where you can see MIB’s boat anchored in the water. MIB stabs the doctor but is shot by Kate. Jack then pushes him off the cliff where he plunges to his death. Sawyer, Ben, and Hurley arrive with Jack telling them that he needs to go back down into the cave and fix it to prevent the island from sinking into the ocean. Kate tries to convince him not to and to leave the island with them but he says no. As the protector it’s his job to do this. The two profess their love for each other and share a passionate kiss before separating. It’s a touching moment when she asks Jack to tell her that they’ll see each other again. She decides to leave because she still wants to reunite Claire with her son Aaron. Kate and Sawyer make their way to the boat to get back onto Hydra Island to depart with Miles, Richard, and Lapidus (by the way Richard is no longer immortal either!). They run into Claire at the beach and the three of them make it just in time. Hurley and Ben decide to stay with Jack and help him back down into the cave. Before that though Jack passes on the torch to Hurley who becomes the new protector of the island (Hurley later on asks Ben to be his number two). Inside the cave Jack tells Desmond that he needs to get out of here and go back to his wife and son. He ties Desmond up so that Hurley and Ben can pull him out and goes to put the cork back into its place. Jack manages it and saves the day! Later we see him transported somehow by a river (reminiscent of when Jacob found MIB’s body by a river after he pushed his body down the stream into the cave). He makes his way back to the spot where he first woke up in episode one. The cherry on top was Vincent the Labrador coming to sit by him as he laid down for his final rest.

In the alternate reality, things pick up with Kate and Desmond at a church where it looks like Christian Shephard’s coffin is being delivered. Hurley and Sayid are parked outside a shady looking apartment complex where Hurley proceeds to pick up a drunk Charlie by shooting him with a tranquilizer gun. We find out that Juliet is Jack’s ex-wife and that she turns out to be Sun and Jin’s fertility doctor at the hospital! Hurley then takes Sayid to a spot across the street from a nightclub where you see Boone getting beaten up and Shannon trying to stop it. Sayid is unable to resist the urge to help and then finally Shannon and him get flashes of their time on the island and they remember their affection for each other. Boone apparently had already gotten his flash as he complains to Hurley that it took a lot to get Shannon to leave Australia. One by one all the original characters begin to remember their experiences on the island – Jin and Sun during the ultra sound, Claire, Charlie, and Kate as they helped Claire give birth to Aaron at the concert, Juliet and Sawyer when they accidentally run into each other at the hospital, and Locke after Jack performs surgery on him. Jack though is the last one to regain his memories and is most resistant to it. It isn’t until he touches his father’s casket that he gets all his memories back and actually talks to Christian Shephard that he realizes he’s actually dead and so is everyone else. Christian explains that they (the castaways) created this place to find each other again because the time they had spent on the island together had been the best time of their lives. Jack finally understands. He goes out into the main part of the church and reunites with all of his friends. We see Desmond, Penny, Bernard, Rose, Hurley, Libby, Boone, Shannon, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Sawyer, Juliet, Claire, Charlie, Locke, and Kate. Interestingly enough Ben remains outside, saying that he needed to work some things out still and would stay out there for a while. He does get a sense of closure though because Locke forgives him for the past.

Christian then walks out of the church (he’s wearing sneakers I noticed) and a golden light appears, eventually enveloping the entire church and the castaways.

Final Thoughts

Firstly noticeably absent were Michael (stuck on the island forever according to Harold Perrineau’s interview on Jimmy Kimmel after the finale), Walt, Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, Miles, Daniel, and Charlotte. Though all of them except for Michael and Walt were in the alternate reality, my theory is that they were somehow less bonded to the other castaways. The ones who weren’t in the original season one cast at the church were strongly linked to someone who was: Libby and Hurley, Juliet and Sawyer, Bernard and Rose, Desmond to Jack and therefore by extension his constant Penny was there as well.

My favorite parts were actually in the created alternate reality because I believe that’s where the best message from the writers was being delivered. There was so much emphasis on trusting each other and letting go even if you didn’t understand everything that worked on so many different levels. I assert it was a message to viewers saying that there’s no way we can possibly answer everything but life is a little like that too. Is that a cop out? There will be many who feel that way, but I’m actually okay with how they chose to end the series. The sense of closure was there because we know that everything they went through was real and that eventually they all were happy and with loved ones, even if it was in the after life. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks that it’s nice to have some mysteries remain unsolved and that the island will always be a mythical place where some day others will have their own adventures. The castaways of Oceanic Flight 815 weren’t the first ones there and they certainly won’t be the last.

For another opinion on this episode, read See You In Anotha Life Brotha by Bilal Mian.

Season 6 Episodes 17 & 18: The End (originally aired May 23, 2010)

For more on Lost, click here.

Tuesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Mario Perez.

NCIS Los Angeles Review: One Hot New Show

If you’re not watching NCIS Los Angeles, you’re missing out. NCIS LA, the spin off of NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) has become a huge hit even though it’s in its first season. This new CBS show stands on its own—you don’t have to be a fan of the original NCIS to enjoy this action packed show. You’ll tune in to see great looking actors, likeable characters, strong writing featuring sarcastic and witty dialogue, the backdrop of LA beaches plus lots of awesome cutting edge technology…what else could you want?

NCIS LA, a branch of NCIS, and also known as the Office of Special Projects (OSP) is appointed with the monumental task of capturing dangerous individuals who pose serious threats to national security.

One of the most important aspects of NCIS LA and what makes it one of my new favorites is the rapport and chemistry of the ensemble cast. The group meshes well together and its snappy and amusing banter keeps the show extremely entertaining and the viewer wanting more. Not only are they taking down the bad guys and dedicated to each other but they mix in laughter and other fun activities like, believe it or not, karaoke nights.

Special Agent G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell) is quite the chameleon, playing any role necessary to help with the case. Although one sore spot for Callen is his background—he grew up in numerous foster homes and doesn’t know anything about his family or even what his first name is (he is simply called “G”).

Callen’s partner is Special Agent Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), a former U.S. Navy Seal who saw time in both in Afghanistan and Iraq. A real tough guy and also super intelligent, a master of many languages. The duo know each other extremely well and sometimes they affectionately bicker like an old married couple. For example:

Sam: You’ve never gotten a single birthday card?

Callen: Nope… What? It’s not a big deal.

Sam: I’m definitely getting you a birthday card this year.

Callen: Great. Make sure you put some money in it.

Sam: How about a personality in it?

Henrietta “Hetty” Lange (Linda Hunt) is the petite den mother of the team, with connections to higher ups in the government, plus the controller of nifty gadgets, clothes and cars. Don’t underestimate her because of her size—Hetty is a spitfire and will quickly put the agents in their place but she also has a soft spot for and is devoted to her agents.

Special Agent Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) is a strong and feisty woman with a girl next-door type of charm who always seems to be in the middle of the action scenes. Relatable dating woes seem to constantly plague Kensi. Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) is the team’s psychologist. He is smart but somewhat dorky and constantly desires to be in the field with the other agents and carry a gun. Add in the final member, Eric Beal (Barrett Foa), the high-tech wiz who is at the same time a surfing beach bum, shorts and sandals kind of guy.

In a recent episode, Callen perfectly described his team: “Sam sees the glass as half full. I see it half empty. That’s why we make a good team. Kensi, on the other hand, drinks right out of the bottle. Nate wonders why it has to be a glass and Eric usually breaks the glass by putting his feet on the table.”

NCIS LA is a can’t miss show! It’s definitely become a must see for me each week. The season one finale airs Tuesday night at 9 pm on CBS…check it out!

For more television reviews, click here.

Photographs courtesy of CBS, Sonja Flemming, and Monty Brinton.

Merlin Review: The One Where Arthur Gets Beaten by a Girl

Last season, the beautiful sorceress Nimueh was a recurring villain who kept trying to destroy Uther and bring down Camelot because of his fight against magic. We learned, in a rare meeting between Uther and Nimueh, that Arthur was conceived by magic. The laws of magic stated that in order for a life to be created, one must be taken. Uther understood this, but he did not know that life would be his own wife, Ingrid.

It is because of the circumstances of Arthur’s birth and the falling out afterwards that Uther outlawed magic in Camelot and fights so passionately against it.

Needless to say, Arthur is completely oblivious to the conditions by which he was born. Gaius has also left Merlin in the dark about this crucial piece of information. That is, until a mysterious woman named Morgause (Emilia Fox) comes to Camelot.

Morgause throws down her gauntlet and challenges Arthur to a fight till the death. Arthur accepts, but it’s not until Morgause takes her helmet off that he realizes he’ll be battling a woman. Whoops! Arthur practically begs Morgause to withdraw – though he wants to seem chivalrous, it’s clear he’s worried about being beaten by a girl.

Despite giving Morgause the opportunity to withdraw, she refuses and battle commences. Right when it seems likely that Arthur is a goner, Morgause instead makes him promise to meet her in three days out in the woods and she will set him another challenge.

The truth is, Morgause knows the real story about Arthur’s conception and she plans on using this information to bring Camelot down. When Arthur finally comes to see her, Morgause conjures a vision of Igraine and the vision plays on Arthur’s emotions and tells him about what Uther did.

A vengeful Arthur returns to Camelot and confronts Uther. Well, confrontation seems too soft a word with what really goes down between the father/son duo. Arthur’s just about to murder Uther when Merlin bursts in and tells Arthur that everything Morgause did was a lie. She enchanted him, deceived him, etc. Arthur lowers his sword. This scene, however, was definitely one of the best in the series. The pain in Arthur’s face is completely raw, and Uther’s composure was unnerving. Kudos to Anthony Head and Bradley James for a job well done!

Merlin and Arthur’s friendship continues going from strength to strength. Although Merlin is absolutely basking in Arthur’s humiliation, he still provides good moral support and helps his friend sneak out of Camelot. It’s also interesting to see how the pair bond over the loss of a parent. Servant or prince, it really makes no difference when it comes to something like losing a parent.

What frustrates me about this show, however, is that there’s always so much progress throughout the episode, but by the end, everything is back to the way it was. At one point when speaking with Morgause, Arthur seemingly opens his mind to the belief that not all magic is bad. There’s that glimmer of hope! But by the end, he’s back to believing it’s the root of all evil.

Same goes with this huge revelation that Arthur was conceived by magic. Though he knew the truth for a while there, now he’s back to being oblivious. It’s almost as if the whole episode never happened. Where’s the story development?

Oh, and did I mention Morgause is revealed to be Morgana’s half-sister? Yeah, I have a feeling she’s this seasons Nimueh…she’ll definitely be back…

Ironic quote of the week:

“That’s how she defeated me. She must’ve been using magic.” – Arthur
“Hmm, no I don’t think so. It didn’t look like it.” – Merlin
“And what would you know about magic, Merlin?” – Arthur

Season 2, Episode 8: Sins of the Father (aired May 21, 2010)

For more on Merlin, click here.

Fridays at 10/9c on Syfy

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and SyFy.

Holy Rollers Review: A Jew Deals in Brooklyn

Holy Rollers is, pretty much beat for beat, a film we’ve all seen before, and its familiarity is a characteristic that in its own specific case (since, with other films, too much familiarity can translate into the sort of cliches and triteness that make the film not worth seeing), is both of tremendous credit, and occasionally hampering detriment.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Sam Gold, a Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn who becomes reluctantly seduced into the dangerous yet lucrative underworld of ecstasy smuggling. And if you’ve seen even an average number of movies in your lifetime, you probably know exactly what kind of story you’re in for, just from reading that one logline sentence alone. You probably know that the protagonist is going to be getting into trouble with both seedy drug dealers and law enforcement types alike, and you probably also know that at some point he is going to regret that he ever ventured down this particular rabbit hole, but alas! Of course it will not be so easy to just escape and take it all back!

Now, in my opinion, that type of story is awesome and enjoyable. So I was excited to see this anyway, and could care less about the fact that the originality factor of the movie merely consisted of ornamental adjustments to time, place, and culture (indeed, we’ve never seen it done with Hasidic Jews and ecstasy before).

I also enjoyed Holy Rollers in part because I once again got to enjoy the work of Jesse Eisenberg (I always do). To continue the diatribe I started in my last movie review (Date Night), the dude’s acting, to me, is always truthful. I always believe what he’s saying and doing and I always believe he’s living and breathing as a real human being would under the imaginary circumstances of the script he’s working with.

This film of course is a bit of an exception to his usual roles, in the sense that he has thrown on a yarmulke, and the requisite curls that dangle from beneath it. He doesn’t look like the same Jesse Eisenberg that sometimes seems to be accused of doing the same thing over and over again, movie after movie. In fact I’m sure plenty of movie-goers will confuse his wearing a costume with the idea that he’s “stretching himself” as an actor.

But as Stanislavsky, the Russian godfather of modern acting technique, once said, there is no character that anyone could ever write that is more interesting and complex than the actor, the person playing the character is, as a real life human being. And I do believe that a lot of the actors who are known to “stretch,” and hide behind things like heavy makeup and intense departures from their “type,” actually cannot, or have lost sight of how to bring this concept to their roles. But Eisenberg can.

Of course if there is an extraordinary, unusual achievement of “character creation” taking place in which the actor still does manage to bring the truth of a real, complex being to the work, then that’s an awesome, amazing thing.

Anyway, Holy Rollers is directed by Kevin Asch, and also stars Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor and Q-Tip. If you love he’s-in-way-over-his-head type crime movies, go see this for sure.

Splice Advanced Screening: Free Movie Tickets

Everyone knows that when you combine two really cool things, awesomeness comes out the other side. Peanut butter + Jelly = PB&J, Awesome. Lion + Tiger = Lygers, Awesomer. Poptimal.com + Warner Bros. = Free Tickets for YOU, Awesomest!!!! Come check out Warner Bros latest Sci-Fi Thriller, Splice, where two genetic engineers, Clive and Elsa, go rouge and get their Frankenstein on and create a far-out new creature. What’s the worst that could happen?

Poptimal.com has spliced itself together with Warner Bros. to give you a chance to experience your inner mad-scientist, by giving away free advanced screening tickets to see Splice:

Here’s How To Win (No Purchase Necessary)
1. Post your comments about at least one (1) of our front page articles

2. Email your name, email address and name of the post you commented on to contests@poptimal.com. Put “Splice Me” in the subject line.

3. Come up with a crazy awesome splice combo, drawings in crayon will get you extra points.

4.  Wait. Winners will be notified by the Friday May 28, before the Movie.

Just that easy!

***Make sure that you supply a valid email address. This is the email where the passes will be sent, if you are chosen.

Opening nationwide in Theaters on Friday, June 4.

Guidelines
-Open to U.S. Residents only
-Entrants must be at least 18 yrs of age

Synopsis:
Directed by Vincenzo Natali, Splice features two superstar genetic engineers Clive( Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) who specialize in splicing together DNA from different animals to create incredible new hybrids. Now they want to use human DNA in a hybrid that could revolutionize science and medicine.  But when the pharmaceutical company that funds their research forbids it, Clive and Elsa secretly conduct their own experiments. The result is Dre, an amazing, strangely beautiful creature that exhibits uncommon intelligence and an array of unexpected physical developments.  And though, at first, Dren (Delphine Chanéac) exceeds their wildest dreams, she begins to grow and learn at an accelerated rate – and threatens to become their worst nightmare.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, “Splice,” to be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.  The film is scheduled for release on June 4, 2010.

Passes provided by Warner Bros, http://www.splicethefilm.com

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