'The Bells of St. John' -- DW 7x06

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'm still not sure how I feel about Clara, but part of that may be cuz I'm still not sure about the whole mystery that is surrounding her. I think that maybe if I knew what was going on with her, I might like her a little bit better. I'm also not entirely sure that I really like the fact that she got her smarts from being downloaded into the internet and returned to her body. It kind of feels a bit like cheating. That does make a bit of sense for later on, when she gets downloaded into a Dalek body (as far as possibly continuity goes), but it feels a little bit too much like the writers were saying that she needed some special boost to be able to keep up with the doctor.

I'm also not sure why the doctor would say that being a nanny is "Victorian," since there are nannies and governesses all over the place, and sometimes doing that kind of job is something that someone is suited for. Maybe it was something that Clara kind of fell into after the death of her mother, but that doesn't mean that she couldn't enjoy doing it (or that she isn't good at it). And even if she didn't particularly enjoy it (which there was no indication that she didn't), sometimes you have to take a job that you don't necessarily like so that you can save up some money to do things that you do enjoy. It may just be messing with his mind cuz the Clara that he ran into during the Christmas special was also a governess ... and she was only helping out for a while.

I really hope that whatever it is that is going on with her, we aren't disappointed by the reveal. Seems like there is a possibility of being all kinds of buildup, and then, having everything kind of fizzle out at the end.

Also, the new interior of the TARDIS ... am I the only one who doesn't particularly care for the TARDIS changing? I still miss the look from back when nine and ten were in there. I kind of got used to the interior from when the Ponds were there, even though I didn't like it as much. But this one ... it doesn't make all kinds of sense to me if they're really going to have buttons and knobs that the doctor (and whoever else) need to deal with that aren't on the main control panel. It doesn't seem very efficient to make him run all around (and not have the things he needs right in front of him) if there's an emergency. But maybe it was only something that they were having him do this once, or something that Matt thought would look cool, or something?

Even though Moffat has said that there isn't going to be an over-all story-arch for series seven, I have a feeling that we are going to see the Great Intelligence again at some later point. The only thing that makes me think that maybe that is going to happen is that the face that we saw at the end that was supposed to represent the Great Intelligence was the same guy who played Doctor Simeon in the Christmas special. So, if we're going to keep seeing a reoccurrence of Clara, maybe we're also going to see a reoccurrence of baddies that are surrounding her that all kind of look like this one guy (otherwise, why use the same actor in the introduction of the new companion in the Christmas special, and then, again when she comes onto the series proper?).

'Nameless' -- Grimm 2x16

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Did anyone else look at the MotW in this episode, and instantly have flashbacks to the goblens from Legend, cuz I could not stop thinking about how much that new Wesen (whose species name is escaping me, and it's not loaded onto the "Grimm" wiki page yet) looked like the goblin. Not that there was any acid involved with the goblin in Legend, but still ... the look was still pretty much dead on.

I don't like the fact that Juliette is trying to force Monroe to do things that he isn't comfortable doing, and kind of banking on the fact that he is a good guy and wants to do the right thing (and that he's kind of innocent, in a way). But it does make me happy that he pretty much stood his ground, in at least in making sure that Nick knew what was going on, and making sure that it was ok with him, before he was involved with anything more. After all, it isn't exactly Monroe's secret to give away about Nick being a Grimm ... even if Juliette finding out about Nick could also mean that she finds out about Monroe and Rosalee ... and it isn't his trailer to take her to (and just cuz Nick trusts Monroe enough to let him inside of the trailer, that doesn't mean that he has permission to take other people in there without him knowing about it). And as much as I understand that Rosalee wants to help Juliette cuz they're friendly, I don't like that she's pressuring Monroe into doing things that he may not be comfortable doing ... or that she thinks that it's ok to pressure Monroe to take Juliette to the trailer. Again ... not her secret to tell, and not her trailer to go into (and it's kind of presumptuous for her to try to make Monroe take Juliette there and let her in).

But I am really happy that Wu was able to do some good in this episode, and was the one who was able to figure things out where the "legitimate detectives" weren't able to figure things out. Go, Wu!! You make me all kinds of happy on the inside. And it was really nice that the writers went there, since it was nice to see him do something more than the fab snarky comment, or the eating of fiber his carpet.

Also, now that Renard is part of the Scooby gang, it would be nice to know that he realizes that things aren't nearly as safe as he thinks they are ... even when he's trying to be careful about being caught by his brother and the rest of the royals. Yeah, he knows that things aren't terribly safe, but there apparently needs to be some more caution when it comes to meeting up with his dudes. And now that his friend's tail is dead, I'm wondering how he's going to explain that to everyone (since I have the feeling that Eric is probably going to call him out, in a round-about sort of way). If he doesn't say just the right thing, I have a feeling that things aren't going to be looking all that good for him later on.

'Freaks and Geeks' -- SPN 8x18

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Oh, how I love it when a show uses the same actors to play the parts that they played in previous episodes. Continuity makes me all kinds of happy inside of my happy place. But I will admit to getting kind of distracted by the fact that the girl that played Krissy looked like the woman that plays Mary Margret on "Once Upon a Time" ... though it's more the shape of her face and her coloring (as in the light skin and the dark hair) that makes me think that than anything else.

I'm not entirely happy that the boys left the kids to take care of themselves at the end of the episode. Sure, they're going to have people that they trust to come check in on them, but still ... the kids are still a bit too young to be left alone without a grown up. They may be pretty good at taking care of themselves, but there are still going to be things that they aren't going to be ready for, and will need to have someone with a little more experience to defer to. They will also need someone who is an authority figure who is "legally responsible" for them in case they need paperwork signed, or some kind of law enforcement figure comes around (since they are probably not going to be able to talk their way out of something like that if the person is insistent on talking to a grown-up, and even if they can count on Garth being able to get rid of anyone in those kind of circumstances, it will take him a while to get to them ... and how exactly are they going to explain something like that without having CPS called?). Yes, yes, no room for logic in genre television (as used to tell me all of the time) ... but I really can't stop my brain stuffs from wondering about that sort of thing. Believe me ... I've tried; but it won't listen to me ... ever.

I do think that having some kind of school for young hunters is kind of a good idea. Not only will it make sure that the next generation of hunters would be far more likely to survive things that are scary and go bump in the night, but they will probably be more successful in making sure that the things that are harmful aren't going to be able to hurt people. And if they are able to kind of do a "Men of Letters" thing about it, they may even learn to not shoot first (and realize that sometimes the monsters are humans, and that things that aren't traditionally "normal" humans aren't always the things that need to be feared, hunted, or harmed). In that way, I'm really hoping that the show is taking a bit of a turn (since this whole idea of anything that isn't strictly human is something that needs to be killed is something that I haven't liked about Show). And if Sammy is able to survive the trials ... I would kind of love to see him become kind of a Professor X type character (doing the research, and maybe teaching the childrens that it is completely possible to leave some people alone when those people aren't human ... but who are just trying to live their lives without hurting other people). And who knows, maybe even Dean could become a teacher ... though, I have a feeling that his classes would be a little more hands-on, and a little less theoretical (which is how I imagine Sammy's classes to be). Hell, they could probably even get James Frampton and Portia to teach some things to the kids.

Also, I kind of wanted to shake dude for calling Bobby a barely functional alcoholic. While it might technically be true ... I am still a Bobby fangirl, and will always dislike anyone who says mean things about him.

'The Wild Rover' -- Castle 5x18

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Am I the only one who started singing the song that this episode was in reference to once they saw the title? Just me then? Yeah, I'm still singing it to myself ... even with the Young Dub's "With All Due Respect" playing right next to me.

I'm always happy whenever they do an episode that focuses on Ryan, since I want to draw hearts all over his face. Hell, I'm happy even when we get to see him geek out over things, but I love it even more when the episode pushes him into the forefront.

I'll admit to being kind of upset with Jenny when Ryan left to go undercover. I get that she was upset with him, and upset by realizing just how much of his life she didn't know anything about, but that's the way you react when the person you love is about to go undercover in an extremely dangerous situation. What if something had happened to him, and he never came back? She would have to live with the fact that she was pissed off with him when he left, and she refused to say goodbye to him cuz of it. And how guilty would she feel knowing that (if he had been killed), he may have been thinking about her at the very end, and he probably would have wished that things had been mended before he had left so that things would have been the way they should have been before he died? The guilt would have been horrible.

Maybe she had a reason to be upset with him ... finding out that he had been that deep undercover is kind of huge. But you know what? That was a long time before they met, and he hadn't been undercover since then. So far as he knew, that part of his life was over, and he wasn't going to be going back there. And there was still time for him to tell her about it ... it wasn't as though he should have told her everything about himself already, since it isn't as though they've known each other for that long.

And to be honest, I can kind of understand why he may not have told any of them about it (Jenny or the gang, I mean). When he was undercover, he was someone else ... he wasn't really himself (not really, even if he used elements of himself to make the cover seem a little more real) ... and it may have been like telling them about things that happened to someone else. So, in a way, telling them about it wouldn't really have been like telling them anything about him; it would have him telling them about Fenton O'Connell as though he were a real person.

But I'm really glad that underneath everything, he's still the good boy that I want to draw hearts all over the face of.

'Mr. Sandman' -- Grimm 2x15

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Soooooo ... now Nick has super hearing? That makes me wonder even more if there is something special about the Grimms (in that they kind of have a super power of some kind, or three), and if they may have some kind of Wessen background (like that they started off being a branch of the Wessen who had some kind of birth defect that made it so that they couldn't Woge ... but they could still see others when they Woge). It did also occur to me that there may be something kind of special about Nick's family, and that may be why he is able to get advanced hearing, but there didn't seem to be anything special in that way when it came to Aunt Marie or his mom ... not that we would necessarily know one way or the other (since he didn't really know his mom, and he didn't know that sort of thing about his aunt).

Also, I'm really hoping that this doesn't become something of a trend with the writers (with the giving of random heightened senses and such), since once is ok (especially when we aren't sure of any of the circumstances of why such a thing would have happened at this point) ... twice is kind of stretching it ... and three time is right out. And I'm also really hoping that we are given some kind of explanation of why his hearing would have suddenly become superhuman, when there was no indication before this point that such a thing would occur. That doesn't mean that I'm holding my breath that it will happen, since they still have yet to have him ask how it is that Wessen are able to tell that he is a Grimm, and he has (now) three Wessen hanging around who are not only completely able to give him that information, they are also willing to give him information (well, at least two of them are willing to tell him whatever he wants to know ... Renard might hold things back, or tell him something that isn't true, cuz it's possible that his goals are aligned with the Scoobs' now but might not be later on).

I was glad that they showed that it was Nick that was the ghostie that Juliette was seeing, and it makes me a little more sure of the idea that the gapping holes that she keeps seeing are supposed to represent her memory (and the sparks are supposed to be things getting mended inside of her mind). Perhaps things will get back to normal for her by the end of the season, and we can finally have Nick explain everything to her before the finale. It's getting kind of annoying how things are being dragged out where that is concerned, and I want her to be on board with Nick being a Grimm.

But I'm wondering why it is that Renard is hallucinating stuff about Juliette. If the potion is starting to give her back her memories, and it is lessening his feelings for her ... why is he seeing things? Maybe he wasn't completely truthful when it came to what he told Nick about his feelings for Juliette? Or maybe the potion works differently on his since he's half a hexenbiest (or would we say that he's half a zauberbiest since he's male)?

Oh, Adalind. I'm sure that she thinks she knows exactly what she is getting herself into when it comes to getting pregnant and having the father either be Renard or his brother. And I'm betting that she thinks that she is going to be safe with having a hexenbiest help her out with (probably) protection. But I have a feeling that she is going to find out that she is in way over her head, and she's going to find out rather quickly. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that her mother gave her far more protection than she ever realized, and now that it's gone ... she isn't fully prepared for the hurt that is going to come down on her cuz of the things that she's playing with.

Non-Spoiler Thoughts on the Jane Yellowrock Series.

The last of the Jane Yellowrock books that I read (which is called Mercy Blade, and which is the third book in the series) is the first one that I really got excited about reading and wanted to down as quickly as I could. Yes, the first two books were entertaining, but there were far too many parts that felt a bit like they were dragging. It probably helped a lot that in the third book is where the werewolves (as well as other were-creatures (such as panthers and lions) were introduced). All you have to do is know me for all of five minutes to realize just how much I love werewolves and werewolf stories (and that I much prefer them to vampires, or any other supernatural type characters).

It didn't even matter to me that there is something seriously off about the werewolves (and not any of the other were-creatures) ... it makes me love them a little bit more, the fact that there is something seriously damaged about them. I guess that may say something about me (and perhaps more than I realize), but I have always thought that werewolves should be tragically flawed.

I'm also really glad that Faith Hunter has seemed to have finally gotten her groove when it comes to these books, since it sometimes can make a series kind of daunting to try to get into when the author doesn't seem to "feel" the things that s/he is writing (that they are outside of the story, instead of making themselves a part of it through the use of one or more other characters ... I kind of feel like that will make sense to people that write, but may not make any kind of sense to people who don't). And the fact that the go to curse word for this character is "crap," and it is said at least once every two pages or so (at least that's what it seems like ... it almost makes me want to go back and do a count of how many times she does it through each book of the series), has stopped bugging me as much as it was in the first couple of books, but that has a lot to do with the fact that this last book made me all kinds of happy on the inside (and the current one is making me happy as well, but for spoilery reasons).

And the farther I get into this particular series by her, the more I wish that there was some kind of cross-over with her Rogue Mage series. The mages in that series seem like they are related to the witches in the Jane Yellowrock series (and in my personal headcanon, the Rogue Mage series is what happens to the witches in the future, after the whole world goes to Hell ... it would just make me all kinds of happy to find out that my fanon is actually author canon).

But there is one thing that bugs me about this series that really has nothing to do with Ms. Hunter: it bugs the hell out of me that the model that they use for the cover of the books (and which is supposed to be the main character of thse books) is different on every. single. book. I suppose that I could always try to handwave this fact, saying that she is a skinwalker and changing her shape is part of who she is. But being a skinwalker doesn't mean that she is a shapeshifter. What I mean is that her human form shouldn't change ... she should still have the same face every time she goes back into her human form (and the fact that no one has ever made comment about the fact that she looks different, and everyone is always able to recognize her should say something to the fact that her original form remains the same). Like I said, not a problem with the author, but a problem with the people involved with putting together the cover art of the different books.

'Goodbye Stranger' -- SPN 8x17

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I want to know what exactly happened the last time that Naomi and Crowley saw each other, cuz something happened. And I find the fact that he knows who she is to be rather interesting, since she seems so keen on making sure that no one knows who she is ... and so many angels seem to not know, until she does the drill to the brain on them. Could it have possibly have been a fight over something? Or maybe she hadn't been as high on the food chain as she is now, and at least a few other intelligent creatures out there made her acquaintance? I'm getting more and more interested in her backstory now ... now that I know that she didn't have other angels do all of her dirty work, and she at least did some of it herself (if we can take the fact that she and Crowley know each other as some kind of clue as to that effect).

I'm still wondering why, if Dean knew that Cas was acting strangely, that he didn't put the angel tablet back into the angel be gone case once Cas started to freak him out. If he knew that there was something creepy going on (even if he didn't know exactly what it was), it seemed like keeping the tablet away from him right in that moment might have been the way to go. Even if Cas has been their homie for a long time, this isn't the first time that he's gone kind of mental ... or the first time that he's done them harm ... and once he started acting strange(er), that might have been the point where keeping something so important away from him might have been the way to go (at least until Dean was kind of sure that he wasn't going to go all nutso).

But seeing as how the tablet helped him in getting him away from Naomi, that is a good thing. It makes me wonder what power the tablet actually has, and why the demon tablet didn't so anything of the sort when it was picked up by Crowley? Maybe cuz there was an angel around to cancel out anything it might have done in that regard? I also want to know what exactly the angel tablet says if Cas thinks that it's dangerous to have it around Dean (or have Dean around it). Could it be like I was wondering before in that it might close the gates on Heaven and make sure that all of the angels are kept securely on the other side of that particular gated community? Or could it be something more, and is that why it had the weird Naomi be gone light of impending power? But whatever it is, the fact that Cas is going to be a regular next season makes me think that the angels are still going to be around, and that maybe the tablet gets destroyed before anyone is able to use it. And also, since there is going to be a next season, I wonder if the boys aren't going to be able to get through the trials to get rid of the demons, since the show banks so much on demon interaction.

I'm wondering if Cas taking the bus to ... wherever ... instead of using his angel powers would help him keep off of the Naomi radar. Probably. And it would also be kind of awesome if the tablet itself would help protect him from being found (like maybe there's something special in their very fiber (or would it be rock?) that makes them hard to locate) ... something that may have been put in there by Metatron.

So ... Meg is gone now. I'm kind of sad about that. She was the first demon that we really got to know; the first one to become our homie ... and the one that didn't completely suck when it came to trying to get Sam to do things. I'm looking at you Ruby. I would have liked to have seen Meg stick around a while longer, but I don't suppose that she would have had much in the way of forward motion of the plot to go on, and seemed to have been kept around for the awwwes and the woobie feelings of her being our first demon homie toward the end.

Haha! on Dean quoting LotR. And does it mark me out as a complete nerd that I totally said his line about carying Sam right before he said it? Also, haha! on Sam for making fun of him for quoting it, and again on Dean for the Rudy!hobbit comment. Oh, boys.

'Scared to Death' -- Castle 5x17

Warning: Spoiler Alert

WTH with Perlmutter not wanting to say that it looked like the girl that they found might have been scared to death? At that point, it was the only thing that seemed like it was going to make sense for what happened, and just cuz he said that it it was possible doesn't mean that he couldn't have gone back later and said that he had actually found out what had happened ... and that it wasn't being scared to death. Yeah, the more that he's on the show, the more sure I am of why he doesn't usually deal with live people (and why he prefers the dead ones).

The Ring was leaned on a little too heavily for my tastes when it came to this episode, and it would have been nice if they dealt with something a little bit more original. The watching of a series of random images followed with the threat that the person is going to die after a certain amount of time has become a little too iconic at this point for someone else to come around and try to do something so similar. Maybe that might change after some more time, when the film isn't so heavily in the public consciousness, but right now ... it still feels too much like getting lazy and stealing a construct from somewhere else.

I was amused, however, by Castle calling Wes Craven. I was not expecting that, since Wes isn't a mystery writer (or a novelist for that matter), and up until that point, we had only ever seen Castle interact with mystery novelists. But I guess Castle is also homies with horror writers as well (whether they are novelists or screenwriters), since he's apparently friends with Wes Craven and Stephen King. Speaking of ... how awesome would it be if the people involved with the production of the show were able to talk Papa King into making a guest appearance on the show? A metric ton, that's how much. And they've already given him an in, what with Wes saying that Papa King is involved with the poker games that he's always having (even though we've only seen ... what? ... three real writers involved with those, and he hasn't been one of those so far).

Why am I not at all surprised that Castle is so superstitious? He's such a big kid when it comes to those things, letting himself get freaked out over his own over-active imagination. But I won't fault him for the over-active imagination, since I have one as well ... and I also write (so I figure that it maybe is a pre-requisite for being a writer-type). But still, there were points where I wanted to tell him to calm. down., cuz there were going to be rational explanations found for everything that he was freaking himself out over ... he just needed to wait a little bit for them to be found.

'Natural Born Wesen' -- Grimm 2x14

Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, there is a council that is supposed to make sure that everything runs smoothly, and no one figures out that there are actually Wesen running around with "normal" humans. Can't say that I'm terribly surprised, not with there also being Reapers and Grimms running around (who also seem to work as something of a deterrent to the kids getting all crazy-like and showing off who and what they are).

But if there is a council, and the council will so whatever it takes to make sure that no one figures out that there are Wesen out there, it makes me question what the Grimms are really for. Up to this point, it seemed like the Grimms were something like law enforcement for the royals ... and that at some point they were doing the job that the council seems to be doing now. But maybe that's the point? Perhaps the Grimms were doing this job at one point, but they decided that they no longer wanted to be the lapdogs of the royals and decided that they would do their own thing; and because of that, the council was formed out of necessity. Since there was no one doing the job that the Grimms had been (not only in keeping people in line through brute force, but also keeping them in line out of fear), those who were in charge needed to think of something quick ... so they created the council, and made sure that the people that were on it took care of anyone who endangered everyone else. And it does seem that the council is a separate thing from the royals, even if the Reapers may be in their pocket. I totally don't see Renard contacting someone within the council as anything to do with the royals, even if he is one on his father's side; being half a hexenbiest would make him want to keep everything a secret, as far as I see it.

And speaking of Renard, I'm glad that he seems to be joining the Scoobs. Even if he was an awesome mysterious figure, I like it that he is trying to help Nick with the Wesen stuff. That may only be because he wants to stick it to his family, but right now ... that's completely alright with me. Sometimes, the enemy of my enemy is my bestie. Nick and the other Scoobs may need to worry about Renard later on, but at least they don't need to worry about him right now ... and he can give them a ton of help when it comes to Wesen and royal stuff.

The holes in the house with Juliette ... why do I get the feeling that those are supposed to be a metaphor for the holes in her memory? And the weird silvery flashes ... that they're supposed to be the firing of synapses inside of her brain? I kept thinking through all of that that pathways were being reformed, and she was going to start remembering again when all of that freakiness was over. And that voice she heard at the end of the episode ... didn't Nick tell her that exact thing before her memory went? I would not be at all surprised to find out that she is going to start to remember him within the next episode or two, and you know what would be really nice once that all happens? If she finally was able to find out everything that has been going on. I don't like it that she's been in the dark the way that she has; she should have been the first person that Nick told about what was going on with him, and that is a fact. And once she finds out, if she is on board with everything (which I think that she would be, if she decides that she wants things to go back to the way they were with Nick), I have a feeling that she would kick ass as a member of the Scooby Gang ... besides the fact that she would be the one that helps Nick remain strong and sane through everything ... and would be his compass when things get out of control. I can just imagine Nick's mom coming back, him finding out everything, going a bit berserker, and Juliette being the one to remind him of the man that he is.

Some Thoughts on Different Seasons by Stephen King

So, I finished Different Seasons a couple of nights ago, and have now had time to kind of decompress.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

The Body made me kind of sad ... for a couple of reasons. There was the fact that the four of them were such good friends when they were kids, and they drifted apart after a while. Sure, that happens, but the four of them (in that moment in time) seemed so very important to each other, and what they went through was so huge that it felt like they should have stayed friends through the years. But I will give it to Chris that he was right about Vern and Teddy when it came to them being friends with Gordie (even if I think he was completely wrong about himself, since it seemed like he was down on himself for being part of the family that he was a part of ... which was not his fault); Vern and Teddy would have never been anything more than big fish in a small pond, and Gordie completely had the ability to move into a bigger pond than either of those two knuckleheads would have ever have been able to be comfortable in. Still, it would have been nice if they had remained friends ... or at least closer than what they seemed to be in later years.

But the thing that was more sad about the story was that Gordie was the only one that was still alive by the end. Even if Vern and Teddy were knuckleheads, I didn't want either of them to die, and the fact that they both went out kind of pointlessly was kind of tragic. Even more tragic was Chris' death and the fact that it wasn't pointless ... well, it was (and stupid), but at least there seemed to be some kind of reason behind it (in that he was trying to do the right thing, and (in a way) paid the price for trying to be the good person that he was). Their deaths almost make me want to think that there was some sort of karmic retribution for the four of them going to find the body of that kid, and that one of them had to live long enough to be able to write everything down. Or maybe reading so much of King's stuff recently has turned me kind of morbid? lol

The Breathing Method ... ok, that one was just freaking creepy. I want to know what the hell that clubhouse of theirs was all about. There was obviously some kind of bad joojoo in there, and Stevens knows exactly what is going on around there (what with the people that wonder off into hallways and are never seen from again, cuz they are supposedly still wondering around ... and also with the slithery thing). Yeah, the story that the doctor told was kind of strange, but I am far more interested in what the hell that clubhouse was doing, and what it was housing. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE SLITHERY THING WAS!! Eeep!!

And why do I get the feeling that Stevens never actually leaves the clubhouse? Sure, the narrator makes it sound like he goes off somewhere else, but it seems like there is a great deal that he doesn't actually know about what goes on in there (and that the people that go there aren't supposed to know a great deal about the place). I don't get the feeling that he is in control of anything that goes on there (the seen, or the unseen), but I still think he is the one that knows all of the secrets ... probably because he is trapped there by whatever really is in control.

Also, WTH? with the books that shouldn't exist? Maybe the place really does exist between realities, and those books are from another reality entirely?

Oh, Papa King. How you make my brain want to go boom.

'What Use Our Work?' -- Ripper Street 1x08

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Damn it!! I was sure that the little girl that the Warner brothers, and the Warner sister Victor and his sibs had was actually Matilda. ::shakes fist at the writers:: But then, I'm quite sure that's exactly what the writers wanted us to think, getting our hopes up that Emily and Reid would finally be able to be reunited with their daughter. But I suppose that only the first eight episodes of series one would be far too soon to be able to reveal what ever happened to her. If anything, it will be one of those things that we never actually find out about (giving the show as a whole an undercurrent of mystery) ... or maybe once the writers realize that the show is going to be coming to close (whether because the show runners no longer want to work on the show anymore, or the peeps in charge of the BBC decide that they are going to cancel it). I really hope that we do find out what it is that happened to her, and that she is alive somewhere ... even if that seems like it might be a bit unlikely at this point.

I'm really glad that Jackson wasn't labeled as the Ripper (and not just cuz he really isn't). Even though I still don't completely trust him, since I have the feeling that he and Susan both would end up doing whatever it was that they thought was the best thing for them ... even if that meant turning on someone else that they had been allied with before. Yes, he likes Reid, but liking someone doesn't mean that you are always going to be able to be trusted. He's always going to butt heads with Drake, and that's a fact. I get the feeling that what his helping Reid with that bit of information about our baby!Bobby and his body was more out of the fact that he was fond of the baby (just like everyone else was).

Speaking of the baby!Bobby ... he was married!! Oh, his poor wife!! She married such a sweet boy, who had such potential to be a really good inspector if he had been given the chance. And if he had been able to grow up a little bit more, he would have been a good man (he is still too young inside of my mind to be anything other than a sweet boy). ::woobie::

I'm really hoping that things get better between Reid and his wife after this ... even if things are still going to be kind of strained for a while because of their grief for their daughter. I almost expected that they were going to keep Mary for their own, but I wonder if that would have made things even harder for them, since she may have been a little bit too close to Matilda's own age (and may have done nothing more than to remind them of what they had lost). So, maybe it's better that she went to the orphanage? Maybe. That is yet to be seen at this point.

Also, we have now been given at least one of the suspects that they had thought had been the Ripper (and they have now gotten rid of him). I'm wonder if we are also going to be able to see some more of the suspects later on (since there is going to be at least one more series of the show). I don't think that I'll have a problem if they go through a few more of the suspects, but I don't think that I want them to actually settle on any one of them and say that this one suspect really was the Ripper. It seems like it would take away from some of the mystery of who the wo/man actually was.

'Face Off' -- Grimm 2x13

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Finally, this show has come back. It seems like forever since it was last on, but then, I suppose that it would since the last time it had a new episode that aired was back in November. Yeah, that's a huge break for a show that isn't one of USA's special "over the summer" or "over the winter break" shows.

I was not expected Renard to actually find the key. I figured that there would be a bit more looking around for it before he actually found it ... but I'm not sure how much longer the writers would have been able to draw that out without giving us some kind of payoff, especially since it seems like they really do have something that they're going toward (and that we might see the first part of the payoff by the end of this season ... which will lead us to something even bigger later on).

But more than not expecting that Renard was going to find it, I really didn't expect him to give the key back to Nick and reveal who/what he is ... at least somewhat. He may not be completely trusted at this point (since he is technically a royal (even if he's on the outs with the family), he's been keeping what he is and what he knows a secret, he's been watching Nick while knowing full well what Nick is, and has his own secret agenda), but it seems like he is kind of a "Friend of the Scoobs". I get the feeling that the writers are going to have him become a full member of their little club, and that they are going to all help each other try to take down the royals. Perhaps that is why he told Nick that he had taken it in the first place: he was trying to prove that he knew how important the thing was and was wanting to be trusted by giving it back. But I also think that he is going to prove to be fully capable of changing his alegences (since it seems that the reason he wants to mess with his family is out of resentment over whatever it was that they did to him), and the fact that he knows that Nick has the key may prove to be a bad thing later on.

So, it doesn't look like they are going to be able to hide things from Juliette anymore, not now that they've taken her to the spice shop and Nick has started down the road to trying to get her memory back. I'm really hoping that this works, and that she is finally able to remember him (since I haven't entirely dug that whole plot point ... especially since it kept giving off the vibe that the writers were on the verge of getting rid of her character). And on top of that, I am also hoping that she will be ok with finding out something so incredibly huge about Nick. Hank was ok after he was able to process a bit, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she will be; working with someone and being there friend is a bit different than being in a romantic relationship with someone (and it may put more stress on their relationship than she can, or is willing to get over).

Oh, Adalind. I have absolutely no doubt that she was trying to get pregnant ... and I'm wondering if that's the reason why she wanted Renard to woge out. Maybe there is something about being in their woge state that makes it more likely to happen? Or maybe that's the only way that it can really happen? I don't know. But the expression on her face made it incredibly clear that she got exactly what it was that she was trying for, and I think that it has something more than trying to have something so that she can control Renard later on; it probably has something to do with getting some sort of control or foothold with the royals (as well as probably trying to protect herself later on, now that she doesn't have her powers anymore). But whatever the reason is, we can be assured that it is for no good.

'A Man of My Company' -- Ripper Street 1x07

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Well, that was a bit of a letdown. I was expecting there to be a bit more when it came to the reason that Jackson and Susan were trying to hide, and why they were pretending to be people that they weren't. The writers kind of made a big deal about why they were hiding, and made it seem like it was something so very, very important that people from America not find out where they were now. But to have the reason be that they were running away from her father, cuz he didn't like Jackson ... disappointing. Very disappointing.

But I was very happy with the fact that Reid was still willing to cover for Jackson (and by extent, for Susan as well). I think that it says quite a deal about him as a man that he is willing to be so very loyal to the people that he considers to be his friends ... and I'm using that term kind of loosly in this respect (since Reid and Jackson's relationship is complicated at best). Also, that he was willing to pretend like he didn't know where Susan was, and tried to get that Pinkerton that was looking for them to think that he had forced Susan to leave the area. Even if dude realized that he was lying for them, good on him for keeping up with the lie (and good on Drake for not saying anything to the contrary, even though he and Jackson don't see eye-to-eye ... and probably never will).

I do have a giant beef with the writers cuz of this episode however. What is that beef? The fact that they killed off Hobbs. He was such a sweet boy, and he was trying to do the right thing, even though he was afraid. And what did he get for his trouble? He got murdered. I don't think that I'm going to be able to forgive them for killing off the baby ... even if it was completely emotional, and it gave them a chance to show that Drake had a gooey center (by having him be shocked and sadned by Hobbs' death), and they had the others in H Division double check with Reid that it would be ok if they killed the guy who killed Hobbs (cuz they were so hurt and angry by the baby's death).

I was really glad that Jackson cheated in the fight with dude that killed Hobbs ... and the fact that he had the ok from Reid to do it made it a little bit better. I completely admit that I wanted there to be a bit of revenge for what happened to Hobbs, and I am not sad that it happened ... or that Jackson was able to walk away from it afterward without anyone blinking an eye (even though there were police everywhere). But I really want to know who it was that gave the commissioner the information that Jackson supposedly killed the prostitute that Emily was trying to help. It seems like it might be significant to know who it was that was trying to make trouble for Jackson ... though, I wouldn't be surprised to find out if it was the Pinkerton that Jackson had the beef with ... or Susan's father ... and neither of them can/could be trusted when it comes to Jackson.