Tuesday, October 30, 2012

'Probable Cause' -- Castle 5x05


Warning: Spoiler Warning

I'm so very, very glad that what we had here wasn't what the preview seemed to be showing us for this episode. From the preview, what it looked like what we were going to have was Castle being believed to be the killer ... yet again ... and the gang thinking that he was really the one who had done those crazy things ... again. The probably that I had with that idea was the fact that maybe the gang may have not known for sure about him in the beginning, whether or not he would be willing or able to do something truly heinous to another human being, but they've gotten to know him over the past 4+ seasons, and they should know him better than that now ... they should know at this point, no matter what his flaws me be, he is not the kind of person who would harm another human being like that ... not for kicks. The only thing that could really make him harm someone else is if he was trying to protect himself or others (and it's never going to be something that he just does for kicks, the way a serial killer does).

As amusing as it was when the boys were trying to figure out who it was that Beckett was seeing, and to watch Beckett and Castle freak out over the fact that they might have been on the right track about what was really going on ... I'm glad that both of the boys and Lanie now also know (along with Martha and Alexis) that Castle and Beckett are together. As much of a pain in the ass as I'm sure that it would be to keep that sort of thing away from the captain (since the captain is likely to try to keep them apart when it comes to questions of ethics, at the very least), the fact that they don't have to keep this away from the people that they are the closest to (and who are most in their lives) is probably a relief; it's no fun to have to keep things away from the people that you most care about in the world, esepcially when it's something so important to you as the person that you are seeing. If you've found love, having to keep that thing under wraps has got to be toxic to you as a person, as well as to the both of you as a couple.

Speaking of them being together: when Beckett was talking to Lanie about the whole thing ... yes, I was glad that she was clear through that whole thing that she believed in him and that she didn't at all think that he had anything to do with what the evidence was making it look like he had done ... the fact that in the midst of that saying that she knew that murder wasn't like him, that she started saying how egoistical and self-involved that he was ... that's the sort of thing that bugs the hell out of me when it comes to Beckett. She may love him, but she has never been at all forgiving when it comes to him; she always has seemed to focus on the bad parts of his character and used it to try to make him feel like there is something wrong with him, and I've never liked that about her. I've had someone do that to me (where they keep pointing out things that they don't like, in what seems like a constant effort to make me feel bad about myself, and that isn't contusive to a loving and healthy relationship. As much as he loves her right now, I have a feeling that if she continues to pick at things about him, he's going to start feeling like he isn't good enough (not just for her, but for anyone); even with the healthy self-esteem that he has at this point, it's going to wear him down after a while).

I also don't see why, after all was said and done, she refused to believe his instincts when it came to what 3XK was trying to do. After all, that's the whole reason why she was willing to keep him on in the first place, and why she went to bat for him with the new captain: he has great instincts, and can sometimes see things that the others miss, since he is so good at looking outside the box (and he doesn't have the cop mentality, where everything has to be a certain way to work). And espeically after 3XK said straight out that the only way that he could go back to killing was to pretend that he was dead for a while, and that they had taken that ability from him (and how pissed he seemed to be about that). I don't see why Beckett is unwilling to trust his instincts about this, when she's willing to trust his instincts about everything else. Maybe it's more convenient for her to think that he's gone? That's only thing that I can think of for why she would try to handwave the entire thing to make it seem like it was something other than what it actually was.


Saturday, October 27, 2012

'La Llorona' -- Grimm 2x09


Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, it would appear that the woman in white has managed to make an appearance in the Grimm world now. So, not only do we need to consider all of the various fairytale creatures that could possibly cause harm upon Nick, Juliette, and Hank, but now we also need to consider urban legends and ghost stories. I'm glad that the writers decided that they would expand a little bit so that we aren't just dealing with fairytale creatures from the Grimm's fairytales, but that we're also dealing with things that have their basis in urban legends. It gives them a little bit more wiggle room when they are trying to create their mythos, since they don't have to be locked into one group of stories. It almost makes me want them to add on the fairytales by Hans Christian Anderson, but only really being familiar with the Disney version of "The Little Mermaid," I'm wondering if they would be dark enough for the series (I have bought the Barnes & Noble binding of the complete Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales, and they have been added to the pile of books that I'm planning on reading).

I was kind of disappointed by the fact that when Nick was fighting with the woman in white, the moment that she started to fall away from him, my first thought was that it had to have been midnight (and that that was really the only thing that would have caused her to break off her fight with him) ... and then, when Nick got out of the water, he was told that it was a minute passed midnight. I was kind of disappointed by the fact that that was the reason why she left, and that the boys weren't able to figure out some way to stop her from hurting anyone else in the future. Ok, it may not have been entirely plausible, since there seemed to be Grimms in the past with a lot more knowledge of their history (and what they could and could not do) who were unable to figure out a way to stop her from hurting anyone else in the future, but I would still have liked to have seen Nick figure something out ... like maybe that he was able to come at it with a new perspective since he's still new to the whole thing? But maybe that was hoping for a little too much ... especially since he still seems like he is unable to realize that Monroe and Rosalee could probably tell him exactly why it is that Wesen are able to figure out that he is a Grimm after they have gone into their Woge state. So, maybe I'm expecting a little too much from him sometimes.

And at first, I thought that Valentina Espinosa (the former detective who was trying to find the woman in white) was a Rißfleisch, and I was super excited that we were finally getting to see one in the flesh (as it were). I mean, how many times have we seen that page with the Rißfleisch? A billiony, or so? The people on this show are giant teases in that way. But she wasn't a tiger Wesen, she was a jaguar Wesen. Still cool, but it would just be nice to finally have a character example of that particular one, since we've seen the picture over and over and over again. And I totally did a facepalm when I realized that her fir in her Woge state wasn't actually purplish ... which would have been kind of cool. Stupid light from the computer screen messing with the color of her fir and making me think that it was a color that it actually wasn't. ::shakes fist::

Also, those punk kids who were terrorizing Monroe ... am I the only one who thought of the punks from Cobra Kai when they saw the kid who was dressed up as a skeleton? Those Cobra Kai punks would totally have broken Monroe's window on purpose, and they would totally have deserved having the crap scared out of them, too.



Thursday, October 25, 2012

'Bitten' -- SPN 8x04


Warning: Spoiler Alert

I will admit to getting kind of annoyed by the Cloverfield of the episode. There is really only so much shaky cam that I can handle before I want to tell people to knock it off, and start using a steady cam. Also, I wasn't overly thrilled by the fact that the boys weren't really in the episode all that much, but at the same time, it was also kind of interesting to see things from the other side (instead of only from the side of a couple of hunters). I think that this may have been the first time that the writers took one of the "monsters" and made them kind of human ... showing that they aren't all bad, and they don't necessarily ask for the things that have been done to them (that they are only the way that they are cuz it was forced on them, and to have hunters come in and kill them without considering the fact that they haven't hurt humans isn't really fair). I was glad that the boys decided to let homegirl live, even if it took her showing them all of that footage to prove that she didn't want what had happened to her, and that her life had become kind of tragic cuz of what had happened, and that she didn't want to hurt anyone. That isn't something that happens all that often. Maybe spending all of that time in Purgatory with a vampire helped Dean realize that not everything that isn't human is a monster that needs to be killed as soon as possible.

In a way, I feel bad for Brian ... even though I also don't feel bad for him. It can't be easy to be the BFF of someone who gets all of the attention, and who gets the girl that you (at least think that you) want. When all you really want is for someone to notice that you're really there, and to think that you are worthy of their time, it has to be hard when their eyes always glide over you to the person standing next to you ... someone who seems more than happy to take advantage of you ("Hey, you taped the class I just slept through, right?"). I have a feeling that if he could see that someone really saw him, that he wasn't as invisible as he thought that he was, things might have been a little bit different in the end. Michael still would have ended up a werewolf, but if Brian had really believed inside of himself that he was something special (that he was just as worthy of love as Michael, and that he could find someone who loved him for who he was, and really saw who he was) he wouldn't have forced the professor to turn him, and Kate would not have had the change forced upon her. As much as he may have been comfortable having Michael as his friend, and as much as he probably was grateful that someone like Michael would agree to be his bestie (even though he took advantage of, and hurt Brian in ways that a bestie wouldn't have), it probably would have been better for him to break up with Michael and try to find someone else to be his bestie ... at least until he was able to see (and believe) that he was worth being loved for who he was (and not what he thought that he should be). So, I felt bad for him for how lonely he seemed to be, even with people around him; but I don't feel bad for how things ended up with him ... not after what he did to Michael and Kate. If not for him, Michael would have lived (for at least a while longer), and Kate wouldn't have been turned (at least not right then; who knows if Michael would have turned her later on).

But you know what? I liked this episode way more than I liked "Heart". What happened to these three struck me as being a lot more tragic than the whole thing with Madison (tragic the way a real werewolf story is supposed to be) ... but then, I couldn't bring myself to really care about what happened to Madison, but I was able to feel bad for Michael, Brian, and Kate. It probably had something to do with the writing, and the fact that I don't care for Gamble's writing.


Monday, October 22, 2012

'A Vast and Fiendish Plot' -- Copper 1x10


Warning: Spoiler Alert

For a season finale, this episode didn't really give me all of the closure that I was hoping for regarding the season. Sure, they had to leave some things open for next season, but I am still bothered by the fact that Kevin never found out that it was Eva that killed Molly. While they seem to be going their separate ways (now that Ellen is back in the picture), I don't think that he would have trusted Eva anywhere nearly as much as he did if he had known that she had killed someone so that she could be closer to him; and I certainly don't think that he would have left her alone with Ellen nearly as much as he did, if he had known that she was willing to kill someone who looked like she might be even the slightest bit of a threat to her being near him (and being his one and only). I have the feeling that he would have wondered if she was willing to do it to Molly (when Molly had only the slightest connection to him), what would she do to Ellen? But I'm glad that she realized that killing Ellen was out of bounds (not that killing Molly was ok, cuz it wasn't), and that now that his wife is back in the picture, she should probably take her leave (at least as far as them continuing to sleep with each other was concerned). But I still want there to be justice for Molly ... I still want someone to know what happened to her (what really happened to her). Regardless of her profession, she was still a person, and still deserved to be able to live without being murdered (especially by someone that she trusted).

"Maggie" standing there and "watching" Kevin shoot up ... I was struck right there by just how much she really did look like Annie, cuz I really did think that it was Annie standing there and watching him ... that she maybe woke up after he had closed her door and had come downstairs to see what was going on. As much as I don't want Kevin to use drugs (and I want him to feel happy enough that he doesn't feel like he needs to use them), I really don't want Annie to see him do it. She's had enough horrible things happen in her life without adding seeing someone that she trusts and cares for shoot up; for all we know, seeing Kevin do it might make her think that maybe it's ok for her to do it as well, and who knows what added horrors would have come into her life cuz of that.

And speaking of Annie (and of Eva), I was really glad when Eva called Annie out for her BS, and her inability to have sympathy (or empathy) for anyone else ... and for the fact that even though she had been dealt a crappy hand, she could make things far worse cuz of her attitude. I don't think that she would have listened to Kevin if he had said the same thing to her (especially since he seems to be so willing to protect her from everything, regardless of what that may mean, and knowing that, she may not take it as seriously if it came from him); it seems like that sort of thing probably held a little more weight coming from Eva than from Kevin (or from anyone else that was in her life).

I'm really glad that Morehouse Jr was able to get out from underneath his father's thumb, and was able to start down the road of becoming his own man. Good for him. His father's company seemed to be rather toxic for him, and seemed to spur him down a road that would have caused him to continue to do things that were harmful to himself. Also, good on Elizabeth for telling Kennedy that he needed to piss off, cuz he had been willing to do more harm than she had thought that he was going to do. This doesn't excuse the fact that she seemed to be ok with the burning of New York when she thought that there would be less loss of life, but at least she was willing to pull herself out of things once she realized that there was more going on than what she had originally thought.

'The Other Side' -- Grimm 2x08


Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, I guess that we know for sure now that Renard really is half a Hexenbiest. I am glad that they had Renard's brother say so, cuz I didn't want to just accept it on speculation (as I would much rather have the writers put something like that in canon). And the fact that Renard is half a Wesen, and his brother seems to be entirely human ... it makes me wonder how the royals were able to know who the Wesen were in general, and who the individuals were specifically? It doesn't seem as though they started off as Grimms, since Renard's brother seems to think of them with a bit of distain. When he was talking to Adalind, it seemed like she felt like she needed to make sure that he knew that she wasn't really associated with the Grimm (cuz he has cooties. Ewwww). Also, why would they have needed (or wanted) to control the Wesen? Is there some reason behind that? Did the Wesen originally help them in getting their power, the power that eventually led them to becoming royals in the first place? And then, they needed the Grimms to make sure that the people that helped them get control were ... under control? I have the feeling like there is so much more there that we are not being told about ... and I'm starting to get the feeling like the writers may not tell us what is going on with this. After all, they are still leaving Nick clueless about how the Wesen know that he is a Grimm, even though he still has two people that could tell him exactly what is going on ... two people who are right there ... and yet, he still insists on walking around and guessing about what may be the cause, instead of asking them (even though he has no problem asking them about other things).

Also, about Monroe and Renard ... what the hell was in that potion that made it possible for Renard to kiss Juliette awake? The effects of it (when it comes to his Wesen half) don't seem to be permanent; but when it comes to the manufactured feelings that they created ... wow. Whatever it was that they created, it doesn't seem like it was a "true love" potion; it seems far more like it was meant to create obsessive feelings. Or could it maybe have really have been something to manufacture "true love," but the longer you go without getting something to counter it, the more likely you are to become obsessed with the person that you kissed awake? Maybe? But until we really know for sure what was in the potion, and how it is supposed to work, everything is guesswork at this point. For a second, it almost seemed like Monroe might be able to get some information out of him that he might have been able to pass on to Nick, but that would be far too easy, wouldn't it? But now that he's seen Renard's face, and knows that Renard is now obsessing over someone (via a potion that he took), I have a feeling that at some point in the future, Monroe will see Renard in an official capacity, and relay some kind of suspicions onto Nick and Hank.

And the fact that they seemed to be making such a big deal about the new ring that Renard is wearing, it makes it seem like there is something important about it. On the "Grimm" Wiki, they were saying that it could have been a ring with a coat of arms on it, but it seems much more likely to me that he stole it after he broke into Nick and Juliette's place. Ok, yeah, if he stole one of Juliette's rings, he would probably have to wear it on his pinkie (unless he had it enlarged to fit his ring finger), but the fact that he didn't start wearing it until after he broke into their place seems kind of significant to me when trying to guess its importance and its significance (to him and to the overall mythos of the show).

Mixing the DNA of different Wesen in one person, creating a person that could access two different Wesen ... interesting. It makes me wonder what would happen, if it occurred naturally (instead of the alternate Wesen DNA being added artificially, when the person already has a complete set of DNA from one group of Wesen, and the alternate information creating what appeared to be an alternate (and foreign) personality). If it happened naturally, would it be possible for the Wesen to be able to access two different Wesn Woge forms? Or would there be some kind of merging of the two? Since this particular kid had added things that were foreign to his original makeup, it makes me wonder if that was the reason why he had two different forms (and where there was one that he really wasn't aware of being there). Now that it's official that Renard is half a Hexenbiest, it makes me wonder if the way he looks when he Woges is the way that anyone would look when they Woge (if they were half and half) ... but maybe that only works when you're half human? I know that I have a tendency to think far too hard about this sort of thing when it comes to genre television, but I needs to know!!


Friday, October 19, 2012

'Child Predator' -- Elementary 1x03


Warning: Spoiler Alert

If the writers continue on the track that they've been going on, maybe I won't give up completely on this show. I still think that the Beeb does it better, but even within the three episodes of this show that have been presented, the writers seem to be getting better at what they are doing. Perhaps they have figured out where they want to go with the show, or maybe they are feeling a bit more confident in their own abilities when it comes to the show ... maybe it's a little bit of both?

With that in mind, I'm still not sure how I would feel about this version of Sherlock Holmes tackling stories from canon. It would seem almost inevitable that at some point the show would deal with Moriarty and Irene Adler, but it seems like the show (and the writers) should get more firmly on its feet before trying to tackle two of the more notable characters from canon. I have the feeling that if the writers try to bring either of these two into the canon of the show to early, they may be bungled. The episodes may be getting a bit better with each new offering, but there are still only three episodes, and until the writers and the actors are able to really sink their teeth into the material, and they are able to stand on their own feet as far as what they are trying to present to the viewing public, I'm not sure that they will be able to do justice to either Moriarty or Adler (hell, if they aren't even able to really present Holmes and Watson as well as they could be presented, when they are the main characters, doing the epic bad guys right now may not be the best of ideas. And no, I don't think that they've got Holmes or Watson down quite yet ... but then, it is still early in the show's run yet).

I don't know if it's because of the American sensibility when it comes to television programs, but it feels almost like the Holmes of the American version of events isn't nearly as smart as he should be. Sure, he's clever, but he doesn't feel nearly as clever as he should be. Of the episodes that are out so far, he's really only solved one of them as far as I see it. In the other two, Watson was far more instrumental in getting the case solved than she was given credit for. In "Sherlock," Watson is clever, and he certainly helps a ton on the cases, but Sherlock is still the cleverest person in the room (unless maybe Moriarty is there), and he isn't quite as dense when it comes to figuring things out. It almost seems like you kind of have to shake the Holmes of "Elementary" a little bit before he is able to be clever, and I'm not sure that I really like that. At this point, if that continues, Moriarty and Adler would mop the floor with him; and seeing as how he is supposed to be the protagonist of the show, I'm not sure that would look good on him.

So, even though it's getting a bit better, I still think that "Sherlock" (and even the Guy Ritchie movies) are better at this point.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

'Heartbreak' -- SPN 8x03


Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, this is the second week in a row where there has been a reference to Thor. Last week we had Mjölnir, and this week, we have a testy police officer calling one of the boys "Thor". There's probably nothing meant by it, but it still seems rather odd to me that this one particular god would be alluded to, two weeks in a row. It makes me want to think that there is something going on there, but I'll admit that a big part of that just may be the fact that I would really love to see Thor show up on Show (and is it horrible of me that I would kind of like to see him mop the floor with the boys for a little bit?). It would be kind of awesome if the boys became allies with him (if he did show up), since he's supposed to be a champion of the people. But knowing them, and the way that they want to kill anything that isn't human (with the exception of Cas and Gabriel), I doubt that he would last for very long against them. Even though he's supposed to have +1 Billiony in strength, I'm sure that the writers would add some sort of weakness for him so that the boys could gank him before the end of the episode.

I really don't see why Dean isn't taking Sam's threats seriously. It isn't as though Sam hasn't wanted to get out of the hunting life since before the show started. Hell, he's gotten out for a while, more than once. Just cuz Dean is gung-ho about the family business (and just cuz he's got blinders on right now) doesn't mean that Sam won't bail on him at the first opportunity ... again. Too bad Bobby isn't around to knock their heads together and demand that the two of them actually talk to each other (as well as actually listen to each other). It might not do a whole hell of a lot, but at least it would be something, since the two of them have always seemed bent on not communicating with each other. The way that the two of them turned out with John "raising" them, it makes me wonder how different things might have been if it had been John that died, and Mary had been the one that raised them. She would certainly have been far more sympathetic to their lives, being raised as hunters (since that's how she was raised as well), and she would more than likely have understood why Sam would not want to be a part of it. As much as it seems to give Dean a direction, a purpose to his life, Sam only seems to really thrive when he doesn't have to hunt. I have a feeling that if Mary had raised them, neither of them would have really understood what it was to be a hunter, and maybe Sam would have been able to go to college and be a lawyer ... maybe he'd have a family of his own by this point (whether he would have still met Jess and had one with her, or met someone else along the way).

I get the feeling that the way that Dean keeps brushing Sam off when he says that he wants to give up hunting, we're going to have a repeat of season four when the boys had that knock-down/drag-out before Sam bailed ... and season five, when they had that fight and Sam walked away. But what was I saying before about the writers rehashing old ideas instead of coming up with anything new? It would be truly fantastic if they would do something new, instead of doing the same things over and over ... as well as if they would Joss some of the theories that people have about what will happen on Show, instead of consistently pulling a Kripkie. But that may be expecting a little too much from them.



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

'Murder, He Wrote' -- Castle 5x04


Warning: Spoiler Alert

This is one of the first episodes that I've really enjoyed in a long time, as it made me keep laughing through the entire episode. Most of what I really found amusing about it happened with Ryan and Esposito trying to figure out who it was that Beckett was seeing now, and being so completely wrong about who it was. I almost expected the two of them to realize that it was Castle almost right away, after everyone seemed to know that Esposito and Lanie were seeing each other ... but maybe the two of them were a little worse at hiding it ... Castle did seem kind of obvious about it to me, but maybe that's just cuz I had the advantage of being a viewer and being privy to information that Ryan and Esposito didn't have. I also almost expected Ryan to tell Esposito all about what he had found out, especially after he seemed to enjoy making Castle sweat, and implying that he knew exactly what was going on, but I'm glad that he didn't. It seemed to be Esposito that was all worked up about trying to find out who Beckett was seeing in the beginning, and Ryan seemed to be more than happy to just let her have her secret.

But the fact that the person that got killed just happened to stumble into Castle's Hampton backyard and fall into his pool on the one weekend that the two of them were there seems a bit of a stretch to me. The odds of that happening seem to be a little too high. It's not as though Castle goes out to his Hampton's home all that often (only seeming to go on an odd weekend, or over the summer when he's trying to escape his feelings for Beckett), so it almost seems like there would need to be a "perfect storm" for all of these things to happen at the same time. It seems far more likely to me that something like that would have happened when he wasn't there ... but then, we couldn't just have Castle and Beckett having an "uneventful" weekend away, can we? That would more than likely make for an episode that didn't appeal to viewers of a show about a detective and a mystery writer. But I suppose we can take from it that at least Castle got an idea for another book, and he may be able to fool mostly everyone for a while longer.

That being said ... if the writers are already having other characters in Castle and Beckett's lives figuring out what is going on between them, how much longer before the information is all over the place? I don't think that Ryan will say anything ... at least not for a while yet (and I don't think that Martha and Alexis are going to say anything ... unless by accident), but eventually Esposito and Lanie are going to figure it out, too. And if the information gets back to the captain, Castle really isn't going to be able to tag along with them anymore (and there goes the show). Montgomery would more than likely have pretended that he didn't know about what was going on, but that is cuz he liked Castle. The new captain ... there is no way that she isn't going to throw Castle out on his ear. Is it wrong that I kind of want the captain to figure it out, just so that I can see how Castle would figure out how he would still be able to help them on their cases? It might be kind of interesting.


Monday, October 15, 2012

'A Day to Give Thanks' -- Copper 1x09


Warning: Spoiler alert

Ahh, so it looks like Ellen did kill Maggie, but that it was an accident. The fact that it was an accident doesn't make me feel any more forgiving toward her for what happened ... probably for the fact that she was having an affair, and that Maguire had been lying to Kevin about the whole thing ever since he came back. Sure, she was lonely, but that doesn't seem like it's an excuse to be disloyal to him IMO. But at least now we know what it was that happened that the writers have only been hinting at since the beginning of the season.

And now I'm wondering when exactly Maguire's relationship with Molly started, and if he was really in love with her. Could it have been that he started it up right after checking Ellen into the hospital? That seems like it might be likely. And if his relationship with Mary is anything to go by, perhaps Molly was only someone to fill the hole that was left by Ellen. He really seemed like he cared about Molly, but if Kevin can be believed about Maguire's character (and what the man looks like when he's in love), maybe it all really comes back to Ellen.

It also seems much more like Maguire was trying to protect Ellen. Maybe not so much from Kevin's anger (which I'm sure he would probably have known would be coming), but from the ghosts that were inside of her own head. She seemed to be wracked with guilt over the baby and over Maggie, so her being in a constant, drug-induced haze probably seemed preferable to her, and something that might be helpful for her to him. Of course, it only delayed the inevitable when it came to dealing with what had happened, but it probably seemed to them like it was something that could help her deal with everything.

Morehouse Jr seems to be up to his neck in it now, and I'm not entirely sure that he's going to be able to extricate himself from something that might be eighteen kinds of awful. It seems much more like he's trying to show up his father in some manner, and so he's willing to agree to do things that maybe he should back away from (and things that he maybe doesn't entirely agree with. I don't get the impression that his thinking is completely aligned with Kennedy and his pals, regardless of what he may say. It seems maybe that he is looking for a bit of excitement in his life (cuz he feels like it's dull), and that he is trying to get his father's attention (especially when you consider his little outburst in this episode)). It seems like the longer he stays palling around with these guys who are trying to burn down New York, the harder it's going to be for him to stop them, and the harder it's going to be for him to look like he's completely on-board with everything that they're doing. It's almost funny that he also says that Kevin is really the only person that he thinks that he can trust, even while I want to go "well, duh". Even while he's the one that has said that everyone lies to Kevin, he also seems to realize that Kevin is really the only one (besides O'Brien) that is really honest, and who you can trust to be someone of his word (and someone who is authentic).

Elizabeth and John Wilkes Booth ... yeah, there is certainly something going on there. It could be that the two of them had an affair sometime in the past, but I'm thinking that it might actually have been something more like she is a Southern sympathizer, and met him that way. Either way, I really can't bring myself to trust her, and I kind of want something bad to happen to her by the end of it for all of her lies and manipulation (I still think that she's trying to manipulate Morehouse Jr (and really anybody that she thinks that she can) to get herself a leg-up).

Good on whoever wrote this episode for putting in that line about Molly, and the director put Eva full in shot for that look of d'oh. It kind of seemed like Molly's murder had been forgotten, and maybe now that other more pressing things had been figured out someone will figure out what had happened to her. Why do I kind of want Annie to be the one who finds out? It probably wouldn't be good for her to find out that just one more person had been murdered by someone that she trusted (it would more than likely give her another reason not to be able to trust people and to become bitter about life), but at the same time ... Eva isn't exactly the best person for her to be looking up to. I'm not talking about what she does for a living, but I'm talking about what she is willing to do to people who trust her. While I don't see her sending Annie off somewhere cuz she has become "problematic" (the way that Elizabeth did), but the fact that she is willing to lie to Kevin and kill someone who she thinks is getting a little too close to him (in her own obsessive mind) means that she probably shouldn't be a role model for a little girl.


Saturday, October 13, 2012

'The Bottle Imp' -- Grimm 2x07


Warning: Spoiler alert

This episode brought to you by "The Spirit in the Bottle".

Very nice that the bad guy of the episode turned out to not be who we were led to believe that it was in the beginning, and that everything that we thought that we saw in the episode was really something else. Fantastic. But the thing that kind of left me unnerved was when the guard came to meet up with Nick to take our creepy kid to juvie, she kept smiling, but we couldn't see what she was smiling to, or hear what was possibly being said that would make her smile. When a creepy kid starts smiling, and you don't know why ... that makes them even more creepy. Word.

So, Captain Renard was the only one who could reverse the "spell"/"potion" that Juliette was under the effects of ... I want to know why that is. Is it only cuz he has royal blood, or is it something within the workings of what was done to her that only Renard could specifically wake her up? It could be the former, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter. Adalind certainly seems like she would be the type to do something like that just to mess with people that she thinks have done something to her (whether they really have, or she just imagined that they did). And I'm still a bit bitter about the fact that the writers pulled a fake-out on us about Juliette remembering who Nick is (and who he was) to her. Thanks for the "Dallas" moment, writers. Psyche. As happy as I was by the preview that it looked like she was going to remember him, as soon as the scene played out in the episode, I had a really bad feeling that Nick was going to suddenly realize he was dreaming and wake up. Yeah, it might be a little too early for her to be getting her memory back about Nick (especially with this infatuation that they're building up between Juliette and Renard), but I would still really like to see it happen. The fact that she can't remember him still feels a whole hell of a lot like the writers may use that as a way to write her off of the show, and I don't want that to happen.

Also, why did it take me so long to actually notice that Renard is wearing what appears to be a wedding ring? There doesn't seem to be any wife around, so I wonder if she has died? Or is somewhere in France? In hiding? Or if he is only wearing it (and has the picture of the baby) as some sort of cover story? If there is a wife, she doesn't seem to be in Portland at all, or else we probably would have met her by now. If she does exist, I wonder if she is being held by his family, and the reason why he is keeping an eye on Nick is so that he can figure out a way to use Nick to help free her? That might explain why he is doing things that are so secretive, and he has people that are working as informants for him. I'm trying to remember exactly what he said to the blonde Mia last week, when he said that he would ... what was it? ... get back what was his? Something like that? I wonder if what he actually meant was his family (as in wife and kids, and not the family he was born into), and not his "rightful place" as a member of the royals. It might make an interesting twist, since the writers have been seemingly leading us down the path of believing that what Renard really wants, more than anything, is to make his family pay for the way they have treated him cuz he is illegitimate; but if what we've heard and seen that has let us think that that's what is going on, and it's really that he's trying to save his family (from his brother, maybe?), that would be fantastic. And the fact that this entire episode was all about the bait and switch, and making the viewer think that one person was the baddie, when it was really someone else ... that really goes right into what I am starting to think maybe is going on with Renard. So, maybe the writers are trying to set us up for that? That would be kind of awesome.


Thursday, October 11, 2012

'What's Up, Tiger Mommy?' -- SPN 8x02


Warning: Spoiler Alert

There were a few things that kind of bugged me about this episode.

1. Why does Crowley have red smoke, instead of black? Sure, it looked cool, and he started off being the king of the crossroads (and crossroads demons have red eyes), but that doesn't explain why his smoky bits aren't black. Every other time that we've seen a demon's smoky bits, they have been black; none of them have been special enough to have a different colored smoke attached to them, and it doesn't make sense for that to suddenly change now (as far as canon is concerned). If high ranking demons are going to have smoke that is a different color than black, then we should have seen that happen with Lu, Lilith and Azazel. After all, Lu is the first demon (so, you have to figure that he is special, right?), Lilith was the first one that he turned (and if her eyes were white, why wasn't her smoky bits as well?), and YED was pretty much in charge after Lu was caged up (again, if his eyes were yellow, why wasn't his smoke?). This seemed far too much like the new show runner wanting to put his stamp on the show, and coming in some time when they were first putting everything together and saying, "ZOMG!! you guys!! I have the coolest idea ever ..." But the fact is that it makes no sense as far as canon goes, since Crowley is only the King of Hell cuz Lu, Lilith, and Azazel are no longer in the picture; as soon as Lu shows back up again, Crowley is back to giving people contracts to sign.

2. Crowley being told that he doesn't have a soul. Uhm ... bull. Canon has already established that demons started off as humans; humans have souls; demons can be killed if you salt and burn their bones (same as a ghost); therefore, demons have souls. They may be corrupted and not necessarily the kind of thing that you would want to accept as payment on a trade, but canon tells us that it is still there.

3. Mjölnir being thrown around without the use of the belt Megingjörð, or the gloves Járngreipr. Ok, I can understand maybe forgoing the use of the gloves that legend says are essential for using the hammer, but not using the belt? Part of the point of the hammer is that it is so heavy that it can't be picked up without the use of the belt (no matter how big or small it happens to be in that moment). So, having some random dude carrying it around like it was no problem wasn't going to happen, and having Sam actually use it without the belt ... uhm ... no. Sam may be a giant, but he is not strong enough to be able to throw around Mjölnir without assistance, and that is a fact (if Thor needs the belt, so does Sam). Also, the dude that bought the hammer at the auction ... the one who said it was so nice to have the hammer back ... and then, got smashed by Sam hammering him to death ... I want to know who that guy was. I don't believe for a second that it was actually supposed to Thor (despite the possession of a finger bone of a Frost Giant, or the fact that he said it was nice to have Mjölnir back). Why don't I think that that was Thor? The fact that he offered up part of a virgin as his payment for Mjölnir. Thor is a champion of the people, and as such, he isn't going to go sacrificing them to get Mjölnir back ... dress in drag, certainly, but not harm a human for it. And we know that it also couldn't have been Loki, since Gabriel was pretending to be a Norse god after he left Heaven and went into hiding. We also know that it wasn't Baldur, since he was killed by Lu (and beside the fact that Baldur would not have harmed a human for Mjölnir ... well, if we're talking about Baldur before he went to Helheim. After Helheim, he may not have been the same ... but the fact that he's supposed to be the new All-Father after Ragnarök would suggest that he would probably come out of Helheim not all that different than what he was like when he went in). So, who was that man? I needs to know.



Tuesday, October 9, 2012

'Secret's Safe With Me' -- Castle 5x03


Warning: Spoiler Alert

Good on Martha for knowing that Castle and Beckett are seeing each other, even though the two of them have thought that they have been completely secretive and awesome about not letting anybody know what is really going on between them. Also, double good on her for telling him that he needed to tell Alexis about what was going on between the two of them. Honesty with the kids when you are seeing someone new is necessary, or resentments grow out of that (and that's a fact).

Castle really has been waiting a while to be able to say that the butler did it ... ever since season three (with that episode "Lucky Stiff") ... well, at least since then. So, good for him for finally being able to say it and get something off of his bucket list (oh, you know that was on his bucket list). Sad, though, about how this one douche was responsible for the death of an entire family (whether the deaths were accidental or purposeful). But it looks like he's going to have to put "getting the new captain to like me" is going back onto the bucket list. I almost got happy for him when it looked like she was going to like him, but I had the feeling that it wasn't going to last for very long. She's hated him for much too long for the writers to suddenly have her pull a 180 and start loving him for giving her that doll (no matter how hard it was for her to find, and how much she was excited about getting it).

Speaking of the doll, it would have been nice if the writers hadn't made it so obvious that there was something about the doll. Even if you didn't figure out who it was that had actually killed the twins, the fact that such a big deal was made about the doll from the moment it appeared on screen made it clear that there was something significant about it. As soon as it showed up in Esposito's hands, I knew that there was something about the doll that was going to be significant to the rest of the episode, and I kind of wished that at least that part was a little less "in your face". But the part where Castle dropped the dolls on the ground to get to what was inside of the one ... how did the one twin get anything inside of the doll, if Castle had to smash it to bits to get to what was inside of it? If something was put inside of it for safe-keeping, wouldn't it be able to get opened again without breaking it (since I'm assuming that the twins would have needed the glass eye and the flashdrive to prove that the butler was the one that killed their parents)? So, couldn't there have been an easier way than that? And if the captain was playing with the doll when she first got it, wouldn't she have been able to tell that there was something inside of it (after all, she was moving it around, and the stuff inside of it would have had to have moved around as well and made some noise, or something)? I doubt that the eye and the flashdrive were wedged inside of there so tightly that they wouldn't have shifted at all when the doll was moved around. At some point, someone would have had to have noticed that the thing was making noises that it really had no business making.