Glee Review: Show Choir Kills

So much awesome happened in last night’s episode of Glee, I hardly know where to begin! Fans were over the moon that Joss Whedon would be directing this episode, and it wasn’t just any episode either! Neil Patrick Harris was the guest star of the week and Idina Menzel finally made her comeback on the show in a huge way.

Neil Patrick Harris assumes the role of Bryan Ryan – yet another rhyming name to add to the dictionary next to “Finn” and “Quinn.” Bryan is another former glee club member from Mr. Shu’s era who’s back with a vengeance. Having failed to reach his dream as a Broadway star, Bryan is now part of the school board and is threatening to cut funding for glee club.

Bryan speaks to the gleeks and instructs them to write down their dream on a piece of paper. He then rudely informs them that their dreams will never come true. The kids don’t seem too phased by this, probably since the dreams they wrote down had very little to do with showbiz.

Artie (Kevin McHale), especially, wants to be a dancer. Oh, it was about time we got some more emotional scenes with Artie. We see that he and Tina have become much closer, pretty much boyfriend/girlfriend territory. She promises to work on a dance assignment with him (…from his wheelchair) and even does some research on new treatments that might one day help him walk again.

Rachel Berry making it to Broadway is not a dream – it’s a fact. At least, that’s what she and her boyfriend, Jesse St. James, think. So Jesse tells her to come up with another dream, and she does so quite easily. Rachel would love to know her mother. Bingo! The master plan can now be put into effect. Jesse vows to help Rachel find her mom.

Since day one, everyone has said that Idina Menzel should play Rachel Berry’s mom in the series because of her freakish resemblance to Lea Michele. Yet when she was first introduced in the second part of season one as Shelby, we were lead to believe she’s just the head coach of rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline, out to crush New Directions.

Maybe some people saw this twist coming from a mile away, but I honestly did not even consider Shelby being Rachel’s mom until this episode. Maybe I was too harsh on Jesse St. James in the past for “using” Rachel. Jesse’s only helping reconnect mother and daughter, and he even admits to genuinely liking her.

There was a lot happening in this episode, and yet it didn’t feel like overkill. The storylines were well structured and seamlessly intertwined. The musical performances were great, but there were two that really stuck out from the rest: Glee had two fantastic musical performances tonight: Artie busting out of his wheelchair while daydreaming in a flash mob-esque number to “Safety Dance” and Shelby and Rachel singing a duet to “I Dreamed a Dream.” Beautiful!

Neil Patrick Harris did a superb job in his role, but while this was supposed to be “his” episode, I can’t help but think his limelight was stolen by Kevin McHale. Try again next time, Neil!

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Dream A Little Dream by Allison Toner.

Season 1, Episode 19: Dream On (originally aired May 18, 2010)

For more on Glee, click here.

Tuesdays at 9pm on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro

Lost Review: Are You Satisfied?

So we got some big answers this week, but were they satisfying?

MIB/Smoke Monster/Esau is one and the same for sure. Jack took the job and is now keeper of the island. Widmore was recruited by Jacob to bring Desmond back as some kind of fail safe.

This show always makes me question characters’ hidden agendas and even in this last episode before the two-and-a-half hour series finale on Sunday I still have my doubts as to whether or not Ben and Widmore were good or bad.

In alternate reality 2004 Jack wakes up to find a cut on his neck, we’re clued in that something bad happened in the real timeline (aka the bomb assault on the island where Jack was “rescued” by Locke/MIB). He goes to have breakfast with his son David and newly found sister Claire. It’s a very touching family scene where David and Jack talk about a concert and Claire says the baby is kicking again. Their conversation is interrupted when Jack receives a phone call from Oceanic informing him that they have found his father’s body.

It turns out though that the person on the other end of the line was Desmond who is speaking via cell phone in the parking lot of Locke and Ben’s school. Ben notices him and is threatening to call the cops when Desmond begins to tenderize his face, triggering flashes of Desmond beating him in the original timeline. Desmond tells Ben that he wasn’t trying to hurt Locke but was actually helping him “let go.” Of course it’s no coincidence that these were the exact words that Jack had told Locke the last time they met in the hospital.

Locke and Ben chat in the infirmary where they talk about Desmond and the beating. Ben tells the wheelchair bound man about Desmond’s true purpose in helping him let go. This startles Locke because they were the words Jack had said too. Ben admits that he believed Desmond.

Desmond in the meantime goes to the police station where Miles and Sawyer work and turns himself in. Before that, Miles is seen dressing up and telling Sawyer that he can still be his date to the concert that he’s been telling him about for months. Sawyer passes. He goes to lock Desmond up in a jail cell with Sayid and in the next cell is Kate. Later on they are being transported to a different police station when Desmond asks the other two if they want to get out. Confused and not entirely believing this strange man locked up with them, they both agree on the condition that they must do exactly as he says. True enough the police van stops and Ana Lucia, whom Desmond has bribed to let them get away, releases them. Hurley shows up and gives her the money and it appears that he’s remembered a lot more now of the real timeline because he recognizes her and realizes that he’s not supposed too. Desmond tells Sayid to go with Hurley while Kate and him are headed to a concert. This concert is presumably the same one that Jack, David, and Miles are attending as well.

Ben, upon leaving the school, runs into Alex who is a student there. She insists that he can get a ride home from her mom and her and here we meet a very normal Rousseau who is also a widow in this timeline. Rousseau invites Ben to have dinner at their house and we learn that even in this alternate reality, Alex and him have a close relationship where the girl thinks of him as a father.

Locke goes to see Jack at the hospital and tells him about the day’s event with Desmond showing up at his school again. He finally believes that this is all connected and that perhaps Jack is supposed to fix him (hmmm could this be a foreshadowing event to the real 2007 timeline?). Jack naturally says it’s just a coincidence but is happy to be able to help Locke. I love that we’re reminded of the difference between these two characters as a man of faith versus a man of science.

Back in the real timeline, a whole lot of stuff has been going on. We finally see Miles, Richard and Ben head back to the Dharma houses where Ben has hidden C4 that they intend to use to blow up the plane (gosh that seems like ages ago already). In an unexpected moment, Miles is able to sense Alex’s dead body underground and Richard tells Ben that he buried her after she had died. Widmore must have a bad sense of timing because he shows up soon after with Zoë. Ben is ready to kill Widmore but the other man reveals that it was Jacob who invited him back to the island for a reason.

Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and Jack mourn for the deaths of Jin and Sun. I’m wondering though why no one has even mentioned Frank Lapidus at this point! I guess they forgot about him? Anyway, Jack tells them that they have to go rescue Desmond because Sayid told him that Locke wanted Desmond dead. As they trek into the jungle, young Jacob shows himself to Hurley demanding that he give him the ashes of his burned adult body. As soon as he gets it, he dashes off with Hurley trying to catch up to him. He runs into the adult Jacob who instructs him to bring the rest of the group. This time everyone can see Jacob and he finally reveals some answers.

Kate was crossed out because she became a mother, but it doesn’t really signify anything because she can have the job if she wants it. The reason that they were all here was due to the mistake that Jacob made in last week’s episode of creating the smoke monster. He picked them specifically to be candidates because they were all flawed like he was and that maybe they needed the island as much as the island needs them. He also goes on to explain that the light source has to be protected from MIB and that he won’t chose for them because he wants to give them the choice, something he never had. Jack (no surprise there) steps up to the plate. I honestly felt like this was anti-climatic, all this build up and then Jack just does something very much to his character which is obvious but a little boring. Jacob takes him over to a nearby stream where he chants over the water and then has Jack drink it. He then says that now “we’re the same,” the words his mother had used after he became the new guardian. Jack asks him how long he has to protect the island and Jacob responds “for as long as you can.”

Meanwhile Locke/MIB is making his way to the Dharma village where, as the smoke monster, he takes out Richard (though we don’t know if he’s dead) and strikes a deal with Ben. Miles flees before MIB arrives while Widmore and Zoë hide inside Ben’s closet. MIB tells Ben that he needs him to kill some people for him and in exchange he’ll give Ben control of the island. Does he have the power to do that? And what does Ben want to do with the island anyway? He agrees and gives up Widmore and Zoë to MIB.

Inside the closet, MIB quickly slices Zoë’s neck and she bleeds to death. A threatened Widmore reveals that Jacob brought him back because he wanted Desmond on the island as a fail safe somehow. This isn’t further explained to the viewers because Widmore whispers it to MIB before Ben goes trigger happy and kills him claiming that he doesn’t get to save his daughter (MIB was intending to go after Penny once he got off the island if Widmore didn’t tell him why he came back). Next they go off to the well where Desmond had been and find it empty but with a rope dangling on the side. MIB though says that it’s a good thing that Desmond escaped because now he was going to use him to destroy the island.

Random thoughts/questions about this episode:

-       We still don’t know what happened to Claire.

-       I’m guessing Desmond is going to be used as a bomb somehow to destroy the light source.

-       MIB saying he’s going to destroy the island now contradicts what he said to Ben about giving him the island once he leaves.

-       What’s going to happen at this concert in alternate timeline 2004?

-       Maybe Miles helped Desmond escape while Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley were with Jacob.

-       It’s too predictable that Jack is the new guardian; something else is going to happen.

-       Aaron and Ji-Yeon should get together in the future in a spin-off show.

At this point I think I’m just soaking in as much of what’s left and happy to just get some questions answered. What did you think of this episode?

For another opinion about this episode, read This is IT by Liz Cooper.

Season 6, Episode 16: What They Died For (originally aired May 18, 2010)

For more on Lost, click here.

Tuesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Mario Perez.

Glee Review: Dream A Little Dream

Gleeks, what do you get when you mix Emmy Award winning director Joss Whedon, guest stars Neil Patrick Harris, Idina Menzel, and of course some awesome music—one dreamy and excellent episode! It ranks up there as one of my favorites, dare I say in the top three, of season one thus far.

Will is surprised by Bryan Ryan (Neil Patrick Harris), a former high school rival, who made his life hell and is now an auditor of curriculum/hater of glee clubs. He is threatening to cut the glee club. Is that storyline (of glee club possibly being disbanded) getting stale for anyone else besides me? Anyway, Bryan talks to the glee club and basically crushes their dreams telling them “show biz dreams are the most unrealistic of them all.”

In an effort to convince Bryan to not cut glee club, Will and he share a beer and reminisce. We learn the one girl who got away from Bryan was Will’s estranged wife Terri. We discover that Bryan desperately misses singing/glee club—he even has “playbills hidden in a box in [his] basement like porn.” Will and Bryan sing “Piano Man” and decide to audition for a local production of Les Miserables.

Unfortunately, at the audition, the rivalry is back on as Will and Bryan are trying out for the same role with the same song and are forced to sing (an intense) duet of “Dream On.” Later, Bryan tells Sue he is cutting half her Cheerio budget and the two end up having “anger sex.”

However, glee club is not safe when Sue announces that Will, not Bryan, was awarded the lead role in Les Miserables. Will explains to Bryan, that “there are no labels in glee club” and that “most are not stars but they shine like them.” Will exchanges his role in the play for the safety of the club. I for one hope that Neil Patrick Harris will make another guest spot in the future…I enjoyed his comedic relief!

Jesse is back and things are back on with Rachel. I have to admit I missed his gorgeous face. He asks her “when you lie awake at night, what’s missing?” Rachel answers, “my mom.” They decide to search for her mom and end up going through boxes from the Rachel Berry museum aka the basement of her house. Jesse pulls out a tape from his pocket and sneaks it into the box, which reads “From Mother to daughter” but Rachel refuses to play it.

We then witness a rendezvous between Jesse and Shelby (Idina Menzel). Shelby did send Jesse to “befriend” Rachel and he admits to now “kind of liking her.” She tells him to hang on for one more week and then he can return to Vocal Adrenaline. We find out that Shelby IS RACHEL’S MOM!!!! She tells Jesse how she signed a contract that she wouldn’t contact Rachel until she turned eighteen but Rachel can initiate contact, hence the reason for the tape.

Later, Jesse forces Rachel to listen to the tape which begins with Shelby saying, “hi baby, it’s your mom. I think this pretty much says it all” as she begins to sing “I Dreamed a Dream.” The scene switches to mother and daughter singing together…I teared up as I watched the beautiful duet between Rachel and Shelby.

If it wasn’t apparent in previous reviews, I’m a huge Wicked and Idina Menzel fan. I’ve been secretly hoping she would be Rachel’s mom and that they would sing together. So this episode was pretty much the icing on the cake. But I guess we need to stand by to see how this relationship will affect regionals.

It was a difficult and emotional episode for Artie and somewhat heart wrenching to watch. I just wanted to give him a hug. His one dream—to dance. Tina suggests that since there was no assignment, they should choreograph a dance together. While rehearsing, Artie decides to try a pair of crutches but falls down and looks devastated.

Afterward, Tina tells Artie about the promising research she found on correcting spinal cord injuries because she “doesn’t want him to give up on [his] dream.” They go to the mall and Artie has a dream/fantasy about him dancing to a fun performance of “Safety Dance.”

Back at school, a brief meeting with Emma brings Artie back to reality when she reminds him of the severity of his spinal cord injury. Artie explains to Tina that he has accepted his injury and proclaims that he is going to “focus on dreams that I can make come true.” He also tells her to pick a different dance partner (she chooses Mike Chang) to perform her tap number to “Dream A Little Dream,” which Artie still sings a beautiful rendition of to end the episode.

Another amazing Glee! So glad to see many more of the ensemble cast being featured. Well, I’m off to download the songs from this week’s episode. Two words for next week: Lady Gaga.

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Show Choir Kills by Stephanie Jaar.

Season 1, Episode 19: Dream On (originally aired May 18, 2010)

For more on Glee, click here.

Tuesdays at 9pm on Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro

ABC Upfront: Plenty of New Comedy and Drama for Fall 2010

Television shows have an interesting life cycle. Some can last years on the air and gain a strong following; others are lucky if they survive after the first three episodes.

Up Fronts are where new shows are introduced to the world by network executives, and old shows either make a triumphant return or meet their maker. Held every year in New York City on the third week in May, major networks host an Up Front meeting to reveal their fall primetime pick-ups. Press – including Poptimal! – and advertisers are invited to see clips from new series and meet the actors and crew involved with returning and upcoming shows.

Today in New York City, television network ABC unveiled its 2010-2011 Primetime Schedule set to start in the fall. Many changes come to the schedule as the network loses Lost this weekend with the series coming to an end. Along with the end of one of their biggest shows, ABC announced earlier last week that Romantically Challenged, Better Off Ted, Scrubs, and FlashForward would not be returning for another season. Let’s not forget that Ugly Betty, Hank, The Deep End, Eastwick, and the very recent Happy Town have all met the axe of ABC executives in the last year. So what does the network do when they are in need of new shows to fill in the spots? They emulate what works in their biggest shows.

With the reveal of the schedule its clear that comedy and drama are what ABC is aiming for in the upcoming year.

DAY TIME SERIES

MONDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”

10:00 p.m. “Castle”

TUESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “No Ordinary Family”

9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”

10:00 p.m. “Detroit 1-8-7”

WEDNESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “The Middle”

8:30 p.m. “Better Together”

9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”

9:30 p.m. “Cougar Town”

10:00 p.m. “The Whole Truth”

THURSDAY: 8:00 p.m. “My Generation”

9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”

10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”

FRIDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Secret Millionaire”

9:00 p.m. “Body of Proof”

10:00 p.m. “20/20”

SATURDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”

SUNDAY: 7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”

8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”

10:00 p.m. “Brothers & Sisters”

Many network favorites return in the fall including Brothers & Sisters, Castle, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, V, Cougar Town, The Middle, Modern Family, America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Dancing With The Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny, and 20/20.

The biggest emphasis for new shows comes off the success of ABC’s original series Modern Family. With a newfound concentration to build on its comedies, the network has picked up three new comedies. Of the three new shows, Better Together will air in the fall Wednesday comedy block at 8:30 P.M.  Happy Endings and Mr. Sunshine will appear on ABC during midseason.

Based off the trailers shown for the three comedies, Better Together, starring JoAnna Garcia, Jennifer Finnigan, Josh Cooke, Jake Lacy, Kurt Fuller, and Debra Jo Rupp, was easily my favorite. The show follows a family of three couples, Maddie and Ben have been dating for nine years and haven’t married, Mia and Casey who have dated for seven weeks and are engaged, and Vicky and Joel, the parents, married for 35 years who have recently adopted a carefree attitude.

Happy Endings, starring Elisha Cuthbert, Elize Coupe, Zachary Knighton, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans Jr., and Casey Wilson, really didn’t set well with me. The show goes for a real feel with a group of friends and dealing with relationships and break ups.

Mr. Sunshine, starring Matthew Perry, Allison Janney, Andrea Anders, James Lesure, Nate Torrence, and Portia Doubleday follows the life of a self-employed manager of a second-rate San Diego sports arena, who begins to re-evaluate his life on his 40^th birthday. The trailer seemed witty and funny for the most part, but if the show does not form an audience behind it quick, I can see this ending just as quick as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

On the drama side, ABC revealed Body of Proof, Detroit 1-8-7, My Generation, No Ordinary Family, and The Whole Truth for the fall schedule, while Shonda Rhimes’ drama Off The Map, will appear midseason.

Body of Proof, starring Dana Delany, follows the aftermath of an accident that ends the career of the brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Megan Hunt. Instead of giving up, Dr. Hunt continues her career as a medical examiner where she is determined to solve who or what killed the victims. My interest after watching the trailer was pretty low. The show comes off as another rehash of a forensic crime drama, but with more of a medical angle.

Detroit 1-8-7, starting Michael Imperioli, uses a documentary style to follow the Homicide Unit of Detroit’s finest. The cast of the show seems promising. In my opinion this show can take off if the characters are developed properly, otherwise ABC will have just another cop drama on their hands.

The Whole Truth, starring Rob Morrow, takes a unique approach on legal dramas. Following both the perspective of the defense and prosecution, the audience is left guessing till the final scenes as they try to piece together the truth to form their opinion if the defendant is guilty or innocent. I personally found this show interesting in concept, but ultimately the success will be decided with its execution.

Off the Map, from Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes, brings viewers to a tiny town in a South American jungle where an understaffed and understocked medical clinic resides. Following the lives of young doctors, who are running away from personal demons, I found this trailer to be refreshing even though it is another medical drama on ABC. By moving the location to an anything can happen, worst case scenario location, where the doctors have barely anything to work with, and only each other to rely on, I found Off the Map on my to watch list when it airs midseason.

Aside from these shows ABC prepared a goodbye video for Lost cataloging the experiences the actors had throughout the last six years. With the end of Lost video, Matthew Fox took stage to introduce two new event shows to look forward to this fall.

My Generation, a documentary style show, follows the lives of graduation seniors in 2000 and comes back to catalogue their lives ten years later in 2010. The show delves into the hopes and dreams each graduating student had and where life took them instead. The show comes off as a bit experimental, but appears to have enough to draw in an audience. My hopes might be a bit high on this, but I can see this becoming a hit show for ABC.

The last show left to talk about is easily the show to look forward to this fall. No Ordinary Family takes the life of an ordinary family and gives them extraordinary powers. After the family survives a plane crash while on vacation each member of the family slowly begins to realize they have powers of their own. The trailer really brought back memories of Disney’s Incredibles. I would add this to your must watch list for the fall.

ABC’s Upfront showed off many promising shows. With an aim more towards comedy and drama it will be an interesting year for the network. Hoping to bank on the success of the new shows, ABC could really use a new network showrunner to pave the way Lost has created for it.

Chuck Review: Never-ending Missions

Even though he has—somewhat surprisingly, I might add—been renewed for a fourth season on NBC, Chuck Bartowski has a lot of problems to deal with. Right at the top of the list are these kooky dreams he keeps having, the most disturbing component of them being Daniel Shaw seemingly back from the dead and up to (more) no good.

Chuck continues to hide these dreams from Sarah, even though they now both know that these dreams may be symptoms that the Intersect is poisoning Chuck’s brain. Simultaneously, Ellie is hiding her interactions with Justin—the supposed CIA agent she met under false pretenses when she and Awesome were doing Doctors Without Borders—from her husband and her brother. This guy is clearly a nefarious dude, someone after Chuck and everyone he cares about, including Sarah, Morgan, and Chuck’s father Stephen.

Ellie gets Stephen to come out from hiding and back to Burbank, which means the return of Scott Bakula! Stephen arrives at the Buy More, and a very surprised Chuck goes immediately on the defensive, trying to convince his father that he has quit the spy business and did not download the new Intersect. “Dad, you know me. You know I would never lie,” Chuck tells him. The camera holds on Sarah’s face as Chuck says this; she knows all too well that Chuck is lying and that he is doing it now with more and more frequency.

That’s what this episode is all about: secrets and lies, how sometimes they are necessary and are often motivated by good intentions, but how they always end up hurting those we love, chipping away at the foundations of trust and honesty until their structures become withered, compromised and unstable. Wow, that was kinda deep and poetic wasn’t it? Seriously though, it’s these kinds of human dialectics that make Chuck a more involving show. Yes, the show was conceived as light, frothy fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but these serious underpinnings that are now in place are really important. Like anything else, I think comedy is empty if you don’t have real emotions anchored underneath it.

Bakula, as always, is quite the welcome presence. He brings an invaluable earnestness to his character that anchors the show in some kind of reality, an effective contrast with the cartoon villains, flashy editing and pop-heavy soundtrack. Stephen Bartowski sets up multiple cliffhangers for the upcoming season finale, but it’s the family dynamic that is most enjoyable to watch.

I think Chuck has become a much better show now that Chuck and Sarah have gotten together and now that Morgan has been brought into the fold. It’s a warmer show and has more weighty dynamics to support the goofy comedy, a blend I have been pushing for since the beginning of season two. Chuck and Sarah are now facing their own mortality and the possibility that bad dudes are always out there and that their happiness, their togetherness, and their very lives will always be in some form of jeopardy. I suppose we’ll find out more next week.

Season 3, Episode 17: Chuck Versus the Living Dead (originally aired May 17, 2010)

For more on Chuck, click here.

Mondays at 8/7C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and Chris Haston.

Gossip Girl Review: Everything Explodes

Sometime last fall, I hesitantly accepted an assignment to watch/review/recap The CW’s Gossip Girl each week. Anyone who has read my weekly thoughts wouldn’t be shocked to learn that I’m not the show’s number one fan. In fact, I know there are some of you out there whose faces almost start on fire when reading my occasionally harsh diatribes against Squints, demon Jenny, and the rest of the gang. I apologize if I’ve offended one of your weekly treats because lord knows I get defensive when my favorites are attacked, but most of my jabs are in jest and fun. Sure, the show isn’t particularly well-written and the acting is often lacking at best, but it is almost always entertaining and I suppose that is sometimes enough to earn our precious time.

So, after nine months of hook-ups, break-ups, betrayals, political intrigue, and cattiness we come to the third season finale. I’m going to try to play nice, but we all know I’m prone to my own bouts of cattiness and this episode certainly allows for some to come forth, so please don’t hate me too much.

After last week’s shitshow almost everyone and everything is on thin ice. For starters, Dan and Serena wake up together after a night of drinking, talking, and a brief kiss. They decide to play it cool and keep it between them but sure enough that spawn of Satan Jenny snaps a pic of them sleeping and sends it out to all of Manhattan just to be spiteful.

Serena is able to calm Nate’s reaction by convincing him that absolutely nothing happened, but even more satisfying is watching Blair give Jenny an amazing verbal smackdown for this latest affront. I was convinced someone would end up getting slapped but no such luck.

You might be surprised to hear that Blair traveled all the way to Brooklyn just to give Jenny the smackdown, but she was also trying to avoid the Empire State Building as long as possible where Squints has been waiting for her in a last ditch attempt to salvage their relationship. Traveling with Blair is Dorota who then goes into labor on the streets of Brooklyn! I guess it’s not a season finale on any show unless someone dies, gets married, or has a baby so why should this show be any different even if it is just the maid?!

Everyone starts to gather at the hospital for the baby and it is here that Nate overhears Serena and Dan talking about the kiss. Oops. When will these kids learn that if you really want something to stay secret, you should just stop talking about it altogether? Regardless, Nate still forgives her but Serena stills feels like she needs time to sort herself out so they are officially broken up.

On the Jenny front, Rufus lets her know that her activities lately have been unacceptable and that its high time for her to go move in with her mother. She seeks out Nate for comfort but instead finds an almost drunk Squints wallowing in his pain from Blair not showing up at the Empire State Building. And in the potent mix of two lonely people commiserating, they of course have sex. What Squints doesn’t know though, is that Blair did eventually show up at the Empire State Building and since he was already gone turns up at his place instead! Luckily, Jenny manages to sneak out unnoticed and Squints woos the pants off of Blair (not literally) thinking that he dodged a bullet and actually got his girlfriend back.

That lasts for about five minutes. Jenny (looking like a bigger mess than ever) admits her dirty deed to the lovely Eric who in turn tells Dan who in turn punches Squints in the face just as he is about to propose to Blair. Blair puts it all together and threatens Jenny hardcore, Dan screams not to blame Jenny, Rufus walks up offering bagel chips, and I laugh.

In the aftermath of all this mess, Jenny is sent packing on a train to her mother, Blair and Serena decide to live as single ladies in Paris for the summer, Dan and Vanessa are on the rocks, and Nate gets drunk with some hookers and starts a sex party.

It would appear though that there is still a strong connection between Dan and Serena when he awkwardly calls her while she’s on her way to the airport. After hanging up he starts looking for flights to Paris himself when Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) strolls in sporting a fake baby belly and proclaiming Dan to be the father. Taking notes from Glee now, Gossip Girl writers? This is my first encounter with this clearly psychotic character, so I assume she’ll be an obnoxious thorn in the side of season four come autumn.

And finally, the episode comes to a close with Squints getting mugged in a red-light district to the tune of one of my favorite songs, “Under Pressure.” They attempt to take the engagement ring still in his pocket and when he protests they shoot him in the gut and leave him to die in the street. They obviously can’t kill my dear Squints, but he’s at least going to be severely scarred and maybe change his ways?

There will certainly be a lot of ground to cover when the show returns in the fall but it should be fun to see. I hope we actually get to witness some of the Paris antics instead of simply skipping ahead to September when everyone will be back in NYC. I’ll definitely be tuning in to see how some of this plays out, but whether they can keep me holding on for a whole other season will be up to them. Let’s hope the writers and producers bring their A-game and keep the fun coming all season long. Until then…XOXO

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Bring Your Kleenex…and a Puke Bucket by Trisha Huntsman.

Season 3, Episode 22: Last Tango, Then Paris (originally aired May 17, 2010)

For more on Gossip Girl, click here.

Mondays at 8/7C, The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW, Giovanni Rufino

Gossip Girl Review: Bring Your Kleenex…and a Puke Bucket

I don’t recall the exact quote, and I went into such a distraught state at the end of the finale I deleted the episode. Let’s just say Blair referring to Chuck as “Basshat” was a moment of brilliance in an otherwise devastatingly written finale. I felt, for the most part it was written with the sole intention of shocking fans and viewers, but with little thought to any developing plotlines, character arcs, or common sense in general.

September is far away. FAR AWAY, but that is how long all of us Gossip Girl fans have to wait to find out how the writers are going to extricate themselves from this quagmire.

The episode revolves around Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), or as someone on Twitter referred to her, the Antichrist. It shall be her new moniker as far as I’m concerned. Oh, and let me say upfront that Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg) is back during this episode. I’ll get back to her crazy ass at the end.

If you recall, last week left us with Dan (Penn Badgley) and Serena (Blake Lively) together, Nate (Chace Crawford) and Jenny together, and Chuck (Ed Westwick) giving Blair (Leighton Meester) an ultimatum. Nate and Jenny wake up together, but we are immediately reassured nothing went awry and they are still “friends.” At least, Nate is. Dan and Serena awake and…it seems like something has happened between them. Eventually we find out they talked, snuggled, and KISSED. I, for one, support a Dan and Serena reunion.

Oh yes, but I forgot to mention the Antichrist took a photo of them asleep together and sent it to gossip girl. Nate is upset with S, obviously, but even when she and Dan insist it was only a kiss and it meant nothing, he sees right through them. S and Dan start to wonder if maybe there WAS something to it. In the meantime, Nate emails Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) to rat Dan out and she stops taking his calls. Boo Hoo. Not.

Blair tries to resist the lure of a future with Chuck, even dragging Dorota (Zuzanna Szadkowski) with her on a date with Columbia boy to stop her from going to the Empire State Building. In the end, she decides to go just as Dorota’s water breaks and she goes into labor. Blair rushes to meet Chuck after she gets her maid to the hospital, but he’s gone. She finds a bunch of pink peonies in the trash.

Chuck is, of course, brokenhearted and drinking alone when who should show up with her usual bad-perfect timing? The Antichrist herself, looking for a shoulder to cry on after her father informed her she’ll be spending the summer and following school year in the country with her mother. Instead of leaving, she decides to have a drink with Chuck.

Which is when, for some reason, he kisses her. I gagged. I threw up in my mouth a little. She. Is. Disgusting.

This is the only part of the episode I thought was well written. We, as the viewers, know Blair has changed her mind and is probably on her way to Chuck’s apartment right then. He doesn’t, though, and expects never to have a chance to be with Blair again, so why should he care if he has sex with the nastiest piece of vermin on the show? For us watching, the tension is unbearable as we mentally beg Chuck to just WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE NEXT COMMERCIAL BREAK FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

Chuck deflowers Jenny and then Blair arrives and tells him she loves him and doesn’t want to be without him. Jenny hears everything and then leaves, bawling her eyes out. I don’t feel bad for her. She knew what she was doing. Chuck gave her more than one opportunity to leave. Jenny knows who Chuck is; he’s never lied about that or tried to play the nice guy.

Eric (Connor Paolo) finds the Antichrist crying and looking more terrible than usual, and she tells him she slept with Chuck. When he asks why she would do that, the Antichrist replies “He was sad, I was sad.” Which is actually honest, so…why would anyone get mad at Chuck?

Eric informs Dan of what happened, and Dan arrives to punch Chuck in the face right as he is about to propose to Blair. Blair realizes what happened, tells Jenny never to return to Manhattan or she’ll…I don’t know what, but if I were Blair I wouldn’t hesitate to call in a mafia hit on Jenny after last night. Then Blair tells Chuck to forget the entire night ever happened, she hates him again, all that jazz.

I have no idea why anyone is angry with Chuck. He’s Chuck. He’s heart broken over losing Blair, and desperately hopeless regarding his future, so he clung to the woman in front of him. It was disgusting, don’t get me wrong. It’s making me reach for my puke bucket again now, thinking about their lips touching. But…he thought Blair didn’t love him.

So how can she dump him? It doesn’t make sense. I might have thrown a pillow at my television.

The season ends like this: Jenny leaves for her mother’s, S and B decide to take a girls’ trip to Paris, Chuck is off to Prague, Nate is having a threesome with hookers, and Dan makes a last minute decision to follow Serena to Paris instead of trying to make things right with Vanessa.

Enter Georgina Sparks, who arrives at Dan’s loft…super pregnant. She says it’s his.

Oh, and then Chuck gets mugged, and when he tries to save the huge and gorgeous engagement ring he bought for Blair, he gets shot.

Is it Dan’s baby? Is Chuck going to die, or will his near death experience bring him and Blair back together? Dan and Serena?

It’s going to be a long four months.

XOXO.

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Everything Explodes by Matt DeGroot.

Season 3, Episode 22: Last Tango, Then Paris (originally aired May 17, 2010)

For more on Gossip Girl, click here.

Mondays at 8/7C, The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW, Giovanni Rufino

House Review: Help Me

Season finales are supposed to be big, and this sixth season ender for House took that notion to heart, literally: House and Cuddy are called to the scene of a massive crane collapse in downtown Trenton. This is a major disaster with all kinds of structural damage and collapse and dozens of victims who need help. House’s unparalleled diagnostic skills take a backseat to the sheer enormity of the situation. The accident victims aren’t dying from obscure, mysterious ailments; they’re just trapped under a sea of steel, street and suffering.

On scene, House and Cuddy are squabbling about Cuddy moving in with Lucas while simultaneously House and Foreman pull out the apologetic crane operator. The guy has a sick child at home and has been drinking coffee and taking caffeine pills to stay awake. House determines that the guy couldn’t have just fallen asleep and must have passed out due to some neurological disorder. He tries to leave with Foreman so that he can go back to the hospital and diagnose the guy away from all the chaos of the accident scene, but Cuddy orders him to stay put.

From here on out, House’s team is basically sidelined. They’re relegated to the hospital to work on the crane operator, but there isn’t a lot of urgency there; no one cares. Wilson is barely in the episode too, Chase is totally gone, and Thirteen shows up late and puts in a perfunctory appearance. There are hints of some hidden issues going on with her, but nothing is emphasized. This episode boils down only to House and Cuddy trying to deal with this massive accident and each other. Guess which task is harder?

The main thrust of the episode occurs when House hears a banging noise coming from underneath some rubble. He has the EMTs and firemen check it out, but they find nothing and don’t believe House. So he throws his cane to the wind and crawls under himself. He finds Hannah, a young woman with her leg pinned under a huge piece of a building.

After stabilizing her and giving her an IV, the general consensus seems to be that the most prudent option is to amputate Hannah’s leg and pull her out before the damaged limb poisons her system or a secondary collapse occurs. House, right on cue, does not go with the general consensus. He believes they still have some time to clear the debris and pull her out whole.

But as time continues to run out, Cuddy implores House to tell Hannah to let them amputate her leg. She thinks that House is opposing her just because he is upset that she and Lucas got engaged (gasp!). She questions his professionalism and tells him that she has moved on, that he is alone and has nothing in his life and needs to get it together. It’s a really harsh moment.

House crawls under the rubble back to Hannah as Cuddy tries to convince her to amputate. Hannah refuses adamantly, saying House told her that they didn’t have to. Then, much to Cuddy’s surprise, House tells Hannah that Cuddy is right. He then tells her about his choice to refuse having his own leg amputated, and how he wishes he had. In a stunning monologue that should win the radiant Hugh Laurie another Emmy, House tells Hannah how his leg has made him a worse person and how he has screwed up his life. Watch Lisa Edelstein during this exchange too; her reaction shots are telling and powerfully subtle.

Suffice it to say that things do not end well at the accident scene, and House races home and to his secret stash of Vicodin. Alone and in despair, House contemplates falling off the wagon when Cuddy arrives. I won’t go any further, but the scene that follows between Cuddy and House is impeccably acted and one of the best scenes in the show’s six-year history. It’s a textbook example of transcendental acting.

The cliffhanger is not an oh-my-god shocking plot twist, but something more provocative entirely: an emotional one. It promises a fresh start for House that is both exhilarating and joyful…but also incredibly painful to watch, because the laws of television mean that, sooner rather than later, it all has to go down the toilet. One of the great paradoxes of the medium is that as much as we want characters to be happy and as much as it pains us to see them otherwise, we have to continually bring them down. Happy people are people without conflict, and conflict is what makes them interesting.

House—as a show and as a protagonist—will never be the same after this season finale, and what will happen in its seventh year is anyone’s guess.

Want more House?  Check out This is Not a Hallucination by Stephanie Jaar.

Season 6, Episode 21: Help Me (originally aired May 17, 2010)

For more on House, click here.

Mondays 8/7c on FOX

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and IMDbPro.

House Review: This is Not a Hallucination

Powerful. Stunning. Emotional. Intense. Captivating…. I’m going to run out of adjectives soon to describe the season 6 finale of House. The importance of this episode is apparent right away with the simple fact that the typical House opening credits are gone. We’re in for an emotional journey, guys!

Things start off really quickly with some rushed, bloody shots of House sitting in his apartment. We know nothing about how he got so bloody or what he’s doing there, so we go back eight hours in time… House arrives at Princeton Plainsboro and hands Cuddy a book her great-grandfather wrote. It’s supposed to be a housewarming gift for Cuddy and Lucas since they’re moving in together.

Cuddy graciously accepts it, but she’s got something else pressing on her mind right now. Something far more important has happened: a crane has collapsed in downtown Trenton, and numerous people are either trapped or unaccounted for.

The team arrives on the scene right away, and as soon as he gets there, House spots something severely wrong with the crane operator. The operator thinks he fell asleep, and that’s what led to the crane collapsing. But when he admits to drinking oodles of caffeine, House realizes the man must’ve passed out from a neurological disorder, not fallen asleep. He sends him right off to the ER. The crane operator’s medical mystery sits mostly in the background for the rest of the episode, but works as an interesting device to check in on what’s going on at the hospital while House is away.

While House loafs about and the chaos unfolds around him, he hears someone tapping for help. He crawls under the concrete and into an underground parking garage and finds a woman, Hannah, whose leg is bring crushed by a big slab of concrete. The paramedics are trying to find a way to save her, but it looks likely they’ll have to amputate her leg. Hannah, who has become very attached to House, refuses to let them do it. House promises her they won’t amputate.

After a couple of hours, a paramedic returns with good news that they should be able to lift the concrete and save Hannah. But as they’re lifting the beam, it becomes too unstable and collapses again, only worsening Hannah’s condition.

This is when Cuddy and House really come head to head, and Cuddy teaches House a lesson in tough love. She wants to amputate Hannah’s leg, but House refuses to let her do it claiming “he knows what a leg is worth.” Cuddy snaps and reminds him that keeping his leg all those years ago only caused him problems. She announces that she and Lucas are engaged, and that everyone around House has been able to move on in their lives but him. “Keeping your leg really helped you,” she sarcastically tells him.

Shortly after their conversation, House returns to Hannah’s side and gives her the dreaded news that her leg should be amputated. He tells her his own story about his bum leg and convinces Hannah to let him amputate hers. She agrees, and this is the part where I turn away out of squeamishness!

Everything seems like it might be okay now. Hannah is being transported to the hospital with her husband by her side. But during the ambulance ride, she dies from a fat embolism brought about by the amputation. HEARTBREAKING!!!!!

House is clearly devastated, and Foreman tries to comfort him. But House snaps at him: “I did everything right. She died anyways. Why should that make me feel any better?” He returns to his apartment, throws his mirror off the bathroom wall… and there’s his private stash of “emergency” vicodin in a hole in the wall.

As House sits there contemplating whether to let the drug rule his life again, who should walk in but Cuddy. Despite their very big blow up earlier in the episode, Cuddy returns to tells House she broke it off with Lucas and utters three very important words: I love you.

Say what?!

She explains her feelings to House, and the only thing he can really think of is whether or not this is a hallucination. They kiss (for real!), House drops the vicodin out of his hand, and he no longer has to worry about any hallucinations. This is the real deal.

The season finale also left us with a small yet significant cliffhanger involving Thirteen. At the end of the episode, she leaves a letter on House’s desk asking for time off. When Taub asks if she’s OK, she replies with “obviously not.” Uh – oh….could it be something to do with her Huntington’s disease?

House has come full circle from last season’s finale, and the possibilities this finale left us with for next season is exciting! Kudos to the team for an overall fantastic season six. Until next time…

Want another opinions?  Read Help Me by Cameron Cubbison here.  

Season 6, Episode 21: Help Me (originally aired May 17, 2010)

For more on House, click here.

Mondays 8/7c on FOX

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and IMDbPro.

LOST Review: What Was That? We are Never Going to Tell You.

Last week’s episode of LOST was definitely a love it or hate it episode. After two viewings, I am unfortunately still in the latter boat.

Before I get into the episode, I need to go on a little tirade. What is going on with this season? I knew that all the answers would never be revealed, and that that is all part of the show’s charm, but come on. I need some answers after putting six years and countless man hours into figuring out what the hell is going on with this show that I love. And I’m not just talking about the nitty gritty answers (ahem, whispers), but the big ones too. I don’t understand why this season has veered so far off course and away from the characters that I have been invested in season after season. I wish that season six would have focused more on the connections between the Losties and the Others, the Dharma folk, and the real world people. Why did they waste so much time on the temple people and then never even attempt to explain away someone like Cindy, the flight attendant-turned-Other who I have been wondering about since season 2? I know the mythology is important to the show, but what the hell? This is getting too weird and too far away from the amazing character-driven show that I know and love. Woof.

Ok, now that that is off my chest, I can move onto the weirdtown that was “Across the Sea”. This episode (kind of) gave us the history of the island, or as much as we are ever going to get. It opens with a woman, stranded at sea, then on the beach (she’s preggers!). Then she falls into the custody of one miss Allison Janney. Now I happen to love Allison, but I was not buying what she was selling as Mommy dearest. Anyway, Unnamed Other takes care of the mother to be. She tends to her wounds and asks her name (in Latin). It’s Claudia, and now it’s time for English. Significant? Whatever. Claudia quickly goes into labor and begat Jacob, only to begat another baby boy, but she didn’t think of a name for two babies so he remains nameless… forever. Jacob is of course wrapped in white, and No Name in black (hit us over the head with it…). Mother then literally does hit Claudia over the head with a rock and kills her. How lovely. At least she apologized.

Jump to 13 years later, and Jacob and No Name are looking strikingly like Older Jacob and Zac Efron, respectively. I don’t even care what was happening during this whole adolescent phase so I’m just going to hit you all with the main points: No Name with Bieber Fever finds a game with black and white rocks, tells Jacob not to tell and he makes the rules for this game, and said someday Jacob can make up his own game. Jacob tells Mother about the discovery, because she is a manipulator and basically told him if he loves her he needs to tell her everything, and Mother lies (?) to No Name that she left the game for him and that he is special. I don’t know if Jacob really is pure of heart and No Name really is a special natural born liar or if these kids are just falling victim to the worst parent in the world. Mother also tells No Name that dead is something he will never have to worry about and there is nothing across the sea…hmmm.

Ugh. Some time later (it gets jumbled because I kept screaming at the TV in frustration) No Name (who I am now just going to call Zac because it is less letters) sees his dead Mother Claudia. Of course. Questions I have immediately: 1. Is that really his mother? 2. Why can he see her? 3. Is she a smoke monster apparition? 4. This kid can barely grasp the concept of death but suddenly spirits are ok? 5. Why would he follow her? 6. Did the writers just get lazy? Did I totally mess up the chronology of this episode? The answer is definitely yes to the last one, so let’s back up to the stupidest moment in LOST history, which is probably why I subconsciously omitted it from my recap.

Jacob and Zac are hunting a boar and come into contact with some burly looking men who manage to kill the boar. The boys are freaked out and run back to Mother to tell her about what they saw. Mother is freaked out that they saw men, and that it isn’t time yet for something and that they are here for a reason, and Zac yells at her to tell them what the eff is going on. Mother leads the boys (blindfolded of course) through the jungle and espousing pessimistic life philosophies like those men they saw aren’t like them, they are dangerous, they come from another part of the island, and all men are bad because they come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt, and it always ends the same. She then reassures the boys sans blindfold that she has made it so they can never hurt one another, and then reveals to them their purpose for being on the island: a Lucky Charms commercial.

Seriously, wtf? I was expecting hearts and stars and rainbows to float down the stream so at least the weird looks on the kids’ faces and Allison’s creepy talk could at least be chalked up to an intense sugar high. Whatever. Mother basically says that this light is the best thing in the world, and that all men have a bit of it inside them, but they always want more, so it is her job to protect it, and one day it will be either Jacob or Zac’s duty to take over.

OK cut back to Zac and dead mother romping though the woods. She tells Zac that these village people are his people, and that he came on a ship from across the sea and that she is his mother. Zac’s mind is blown and he loses it. He goes to the caves/his house and wakes up Jacob. Jacob is confused and Zac tells him that Mother lied, that she isn’t even their mother then Jacob loses his cool and beats up Zac (sooo it looks like they can hurt one another?). Mother shows up and Zac stomps off, Jacob stays and even though he feels like the lesser loved child, decides to stay with Mom.

Fast forward years later and Jacob is an infantilized adult, and Zac is working with the other people. The twins are still playing their game and Zac says he has found a way off the island and he is leaving, and even though Mother is crazy, she was right that the men are bad, selfish, terrible people. Jacob tells Mother Zac is leaving because he cannot tell a lie, and she goes to visit Zac down one of the wells. He tells her that he is leaving, that he looked to find the light again that he saw as a child but could never find it, so he had to be resourceful. Somehow, Zac and his people designed up this donkey wheel and dug until they found light, and Zac seems to think that water+donkey wheel+light= a ticket off the island. WHAT KIND OF SCIENCE IS THAT?! That actually made no sense, writers, NO SENSE. So then Mother says goodbye and embraces Zac, only to knock him unconscious out of her loving (crazy?) embrace.

Zac wakes up to find his well destroyed and all of his people killed and the village burned. Crap I forgot about the weird ceremony with Jacob. Ugh, basically Mother takes Jacob to the Lucky Charms sound-lot and tells him he is going to be the protector, and her time is up. He throws a fit that she wanted it to be Zac, and she says that she sees now it was always going to be Jacob. Then she mumbled something and poured him some wine (ruffied?), he drank, and she said they are now the same. Oh and he can never go down to the light because it would be a fate worse than death, and that the light holds everything: life, death, rebirth, pink elephants, etc. (ok I added the pink elephants but it wouldn’t have surprised me). SO Zac is pissed, and storms the caves and stabs mother in the back. Ouch. Mother thanks him and dies. All are upset. Jacob comes in, sees Mother, and beats up Zac, drags Zac to the light, tosses him in and then black smoke rushes out. Oops? Jacob then finds Zac’s body, brings it back to the caves, lays him to his final resting place with mother, and Jacob leaves them with one white and one black rock. Adam and Eve mystery solved from Season One.

OH BUT WAIT NO SATISFACTION HERE. Lost had to idiot-proof this scene for all those people who haven’t been re-watching every episode since 2005 by flashing back to those scenes where Kate, Jack and Locke find the bodies in caves. Now, Lost writers have always said they had a master plan, and doing things like Adam and Eve so early were indicative of that master plan. But then why the discrepancies? Jack, in that season one episode, said that the clothes’ deterioration indicated that the bodies were about 50 years old. Now I’m not saying the writers lied…but 50 years vs 2000 or even 200 years…big difference.

Major Questions from the episode: Where did the smoke come from? Did it just take Zac’s body or also his soul? Is Flocke now just the new version of the smoke, or is it somehow Zac the original (like, why did he tell Kate he had a crazy mother? made it seem like Zac…)? Was Mother the protector and the black smoke (how did she manage to kill all the Roman Others?)? Were those people Roman? Why is Jacob immortal now? How does this play into the “rules”?

Because I hated this episode so much, I forgot by far the most important part. Before Claudia went into labor, she tried to get information out of Mother like any normal human being would. Mother took this opportunity to tell Claudia that every answer she gives will simply lead to another question…so she isn’t answering anymore. I took that as a big “sorry, just enjoy the last few hours of this series, we aren’t going to explain jack” from the writers.

So what was the point? What was the point in being such a loyal fan if it was just going to get gimmicky in the end? I never expected an easy out or a crystal clear answer, but I expected some amount of satisfaction and even a reward for getting so involved in this show. What about Walt? What about the Dharma Initiative? What about Widmore and Fate and the Numbers?

What about Vincent????

For another opinion about this episode, read The Stream That Leads to More Questions by Nicole C.

Season 6, Episode 15: Across the Sea (original air date May 11, 2010)

For more on Lost, click here.

Tuesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Mario Perez.

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