HBO Renews “Luck” For a Second Season

Well I haven’t even watched the first episode but I guess I should because HBO has already renewed Luck, which premiered on Sunday night, for a second season.

These cable networks don’t mess around.  Game of Thrones, The Borgias, Luck were all renewed after 1 or 2 episodes.  Hell Boss was renewed before an episode even aired!!!  Cable knows what they like and they know what works.  If only some of the networks were that confident and decisive.

Congrats to the cast and crew.  I’m looking forward to checking out your show…probably this weekend!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Alcatraz “Cal Sweeney” S1 E4

I’m sorry but I have to be a high school girl for a minute.   DAMN!!!   Those Alcatraz boys are HOT!!!  I may have to commit a crime to land in jail with those cuties.  Wow.  They may be heinous people committing awful crimes but they sure look incredible doing it!

Ok, now that the giddy16-year-old inside of me is out of my system, let’s break down the episode shall we?

Cal Sweeney is another terrific installment of Alcatraz.  And I think we got a peek behind the curtain (pardon the pun) at some of what may possibly be happening and who is involved.  I haven’t had a chance to re-watch the episode yet so I’m sure there are lots of things I missed but I’ll do the best I can.  As I mentioned to my boys at The Alcatraz Podcast last night on Twitter, it’s hard to live tweet and catch everything on the show.  You are bound to miss stuff!  But that’s ok, that’s why we are all on e big happy TV community and we can clue each other into the things we missed.

Recap

Cal Sweeney is hot.  Sorry.  I slipped.  Won’t happen again.  Cal Sweeney (played by Eric Johnson) is a bank robber.  He goes after tellers in their late 30’s, early 40s who are, as Detective Rebecca Madsen calls them, “average looks” and he seduces them to get into the Safe Deposit Box area of the bank.  He then drugs them, goes through the boxes to take what he needs, and leaves.  However, things will take a violent turn if he gets interrupted (or pissed off enough) and he will kill people with this nasty looking weapon that can not only opening gaping holes in your head and hands, but open safe deposit boxes as well!

Sweeney has patterns that make it pretty simple to track him down.  He always pawns his items and he always romances the tellers ahead of time and sends them flowers….giving Madsen and Soto lots of way to find him…which they do.   Sweeney, unfortunately for him, picks a teller who fights back and is able to sound the alarm before he knocks her out.  He gets trapped and he takes the entire bank hostage.   This worries Hauser significantly because he doesn’t want people finding out who Sweeney is and blowing their investigation (more on this later.)  Madsen breaks into the bank so she can break Sweeney out.  While fleeing the scene, with Soto and Hauser following them, Sweeney is not very grateful to Madsen and threatens to kill her if she doesn’t do what he says.  He realizes he isn’t wearing a seat belt, crashes the car and handcuffs him to the steering wheel.

Back in 1960, Sweeney is in charge of the laundry room as well all the contraband that is smuggled in.  In that sense, he has some power and makes some money.  He brings in a protegé named Harlan (played by Steven Grayhm) and starts explaining to him how his little business works and how you can never show any weakness for fear of someone taking over his little enterprise.

At one point, Tiller tosses Sweeney’s cell and Sweeney notices a small tin box is missing.  We eventually learn it’s the only remnant from his childhood and he wants it back…at any cost.  Tiller says he wants a piece of Sweeney’s business in order to get the tin back.  Sweeney declines.  He sets up a way to meet Tiller one on one, by being a waiter at his birthday dinner.   When Sweeney goes to confront Tiller, Tiller stabs him with a pen and tells him he now wants 50% of his business.  If he doesn’t give it to him, 60 days in the hole.  Sweeney is backed into a corner.  Back in his cell, he starts talking to his little protegé who is more like a little weasel.  Turns out Harlan was the one who stole his box and wanted him to think Tiller took it so he would get tossed in the hole and he would take over his business while Sweeney’s in solitary.  Unfortunately, Sweeney taught his new buddy a little too well.

At the end of the episode, we see the warden leading Harlan down a dark hallway to a huge door.  He unlocks the door and forces Harlan, who is quite frightened, inside telling him that his future looks very bright.

Review

Now comes the fun part!!!!  So what clues did we see last night and what happenings are making our eyebrows raise up ever so slightly.  Let’s break it down:

1. Soto’s Conversation with Madsen at the “Diner”
   Seriously, what the hell were they eating for breakfast?  Yuck.  While this may have seemed a very innocuous conversation, I’m wondering if it was.  Madsen asked him how a professor with two doctorates suddenly owns a comic book shop.  Soto tells her he only got the degrees to make his parents happy (he has a tricky relationship with them.)  However, he was blacklisted due to the fact that he published a major breakthrough in crime prevention theory for a national criminology publication.  He says he was blacklisted because it was about Gotham City.  But I think it’s more than that.  Was Soto on to something that could have unraveled what is going on behind the scenes at Alcatraz and not even know it?  I have to wonder why this specific conversation was brought to light.  Now could I be reading into this too much?  Sure.  But on shows like this, I have learned not to take any interaction at face value.  So for now, I have to think this was something more than just history on Soto.
2. Dr. Sangupta/Lucy’s Dinner Conversation with The Warden and Dr. Beauregard
   This was probably the most revealing of all the scenes last night.  Lucy was talking to condescending, ass-face Beauregard about dealing with the inmates and she suggested that she is formulating a study that revolves around the memories of the prisoners.  She believes that they becoming criminals due to traumatic memories from their past.  If she can remove those memories (“rewire” them so to speak), they would become less violent or not become criminals at all.That is quite interesting.  In the “previously on Alcatraz” segment of the show, we see Lucy in present day interviewing Sylvane (before Cobb shot her up) and asking him “Where have you been for the past 50 years?”  To which he responds “I have no idea.”  And when Madsen and Sweeney are in the car talking about the leather pouch he was after, he seemed very confused about why he was going after the leather pouch and who he was doing it for.So is that why Lucy was involved in this from the beginning?  Because she was working with the inmates on her experiment to remove certain memories?  If that’s true then one of two things may have happened…1. Her experiments were working and this unknown group of people behind all this had asked her to spin her experiment in a whole new direction or 2. Her experiments only partially worked but something went wrong or is missing and this is the result we have today.The inmates we have seen don’t seem to know what is going on or where they have been.  Are they frozen somewhere with Ted Williams’ head only being released when whomever is in charge needs them to do something for them..like kill people or steal keys?  And I can’t imagine these people are happy when their cronies fail.  Sylvane didn’t technically fail but he did get captured.  Sweeney failed because the key ended up in the hands of Hauser and his team and he got captured.  Unless, Hauser IS the group in question and we just don’t know it yet!  I don’t believe this to be the case.  I think there is another faction out there.   There is just so much going on, it’s hard to know who’s on the good side and the bad side.

   The other thing I noticed is that it seems these “memory methods” are having the opposite effect of what Lucy/Sangupta intended.  The criminals seem to be becoming more violent.  Sylvane was not a killer yet he turned into one.  Same with Sweeney.  He only robbed banks.  Now he’s using some nasty weapon and killing people left and right.  So what is happening?

3. “How the Prisoner’s Jumped”
   Jumped?  What the hell does that mean?  Hauser made this comment when they were looking at the keys secured by Sylvane and Sweeney.     If he’s talking about the prisoners “jumping” doesn’t that say time travel to you guys?  I also think time travel could be involved because of the keys.  Since we’re talking about the keys..
4. The Keys that were found by Sylvane and Sweeney
   Both Sylvane and Sweeney were tasked to find these funky looking keys for the mystery group.  I really need to figure out something to call them.  Turns out, Hauser has a whole tech team on stand by waiting for his direction and he instructs them to investigate these keys.  Upon further review, it seems these keys were cut using a laser that wasn’t available in the 1960s.  So if they weren’t available in the ’60s, when were they available and when were they made?This is another reason why I think time travel could be an element of the show.  When you look at the last scene where the Warden leads Hayden to what certainly looks like a door to hell, he uses the two keys to open a hidden compartment that had a third lock for another key.  So it appears the keys were USED in 1960 even though they may not have been MADE in 1960.
5. Kit Nelson’s name on the wall in the room of 63s
   This wasn’t a huge revelation as much as a “isn’t that interesting” kind of revelation.  Although who knows, maybe it will become a big deal.  Did you notice the two walls in the 63s room?  One wall had all the inmates yet to be discovered and captured and the other had the four men we have already encountered.Under Sylvane, Cobb, and Sweeney’s mug shots and next to their names, the same word appeared…CAPTURED.  Do you know what was under Kit Nelson’s mug shot and next to his name?  Come on, take a guess?  I won’t laugh.  Well maybe a little.  You give up?  It said…..nothing.  Shouldn’t it have said DECEASED or KILLED next to his name?   I found it interesting that there was nothing.Now as I said, this could mean absolutely nothing.   But shows like this usually don’t have oversights like that…unless it’s on purpose.   So are we to assume that Mr Nelson isn’t dead but refrozen with next year’s Thanksgiving turkey?  I’m not sure.  But I will certainly keep it in the back of my mind.
6. Rebecca needs to be more forceful with Hauser
   Remember how I said last week that I was so happy Sarah Jones took major steps forward in her character?  Yeah well, I’m disappointed with her again.  Here’s what is driving me crazy.  She is way too blaze about what is happening.  When she had the key and wouldn’t give it to Hauser, he threatened her.  She said she would give it back if he told her what it was for.  Then stupid Madsen gave him the key before she got the explanation.  Rebecca!!!  You have the upper hand.  You have something he wants.  Don’t give it to him until you get what you want!!!   Are you kidding me?   And then when he walks away and tells her “some other day” she should have jumped out of her skin.  Instead she just shrugged her shoulders at Soto.   WHAT!!!!  I would have followed Hauser and had a little come to Jesus talk with him (but first I would have never given him the key without giving me the information I wanted.)In all seriousness, it’s going to be very hard to buy Madsen as one of the best detectives in San Fran if she keeps acting this way.  She has to start pushing back.  She has to tell him that she is risking her life each time she gets involved and if he wants her help, he needs to include her more in what’s going on or he’s on his own.  I know she has her own reasons for doing this, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of her pride.   So she needs to toughen up and fast!

So that wraps up this week’s episode of Alcatraz.  As you can see, there is A LOT that came out.  What did you think?  Did you like “Cal Sweeney”?  What are your thoughts on the issues I raised and was there anything you saw that missed?  Let me know!

 

NEW PODCAST: Episode 24 Features Alcatraz, The Good Wife, Mid Season New Shows, Person of Interest and More!

A new episode of For the Love of TV Podcast is up here so click on the link to check it out or download it from iTunes!

Episode 24 Covers the following shows:

1. Alcatraz
2. The Good Wife
3. Survivor
4. Person of Interest
5. Work it
6. Are You There Chelsea
7. The Firm
8. House of Lies
9. The Finder

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Alcatraz “Kit Nelson” S1E3

How flipping creepy was Kit Nelson?  Seriously, I wanted to take a shower after watching that episode (especially the solitary scene with the warden.)  Yikes.   But “Kit Nelson” is just another strong episode from the new series Alcatraz.  I don’t want to jinx it, but I think FOX, may have a hit on their hands.  The ratings for the second week will be interesting to see.

Recap:

This week’s convict of the week follows the story of Kit Nelson (played by Michael Eklund) who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering 11 year-old boys.   I love how criminals have an honor code.  Isn’t that the biggest oxymoron there is?  Since murdering a child puts a criminal at the bottom of the scum barrel, everyone at Alcatraz is giving Nelson a hard time…from the warden to his fellow inmates, everyone hates this guy.  The inmates nearly beat the guys to death.  The doctor who treats him, has a son around the age of the murdered boys, so he gives him the minimum treatment, and the warden also has sons around that age as well.  What does he do?  Well he forces a guy, who can barely walk, as far away from his cell as possible in a wheelchair, forces him to get up, and then leaves him alone to get back to his cell, without the wheelchair.  Later, he puts him in the hole and forces to reveal what really happened to his brother.  To everyone, including his own father who tries to get the truth out of him, he says his brother (age 11) died of scarlet fever.  After 4 lit matches in the hole, Nelson finally acquiesces and tells the Warden that he killed his brother because he got all the attention in the house while he receive little to no attention.  And the little he got was to tell him how horrible and freaky he was.  The parents weren’t wrong, let me tell you.  He even described and showed his brother’s facial expression as he was struggling to survive.  Nelson took great pleasure in that!   So to “win his mother’s love” he strangles his brother.  That way, the only son she can focus on, is him.    Well that backfired royally.  As a result, Nelson went on killing young boys the same age as his brother.   I’m telling you Eklund played this character so well.  I was severely freaked out by him and that rarely happens to me with TV characters.  Ok, maybe it does happen frequently, but I can’t remember one as good as Eklund in a long time.

Leading us to present day, Nelson is back and has kidnapped an 11 year-old boy named Dillon.  Madsen and Soto are on the case and desperate to find Dillon because Nelson always kills the children 48 hours after abducting them.  This particular case seems to hit closer to home with Soto but aren’t sure why until later in the show.  They were close one time to getting Nelson and rescuing Dillon after Soto remembered Nelson liking cherry pie and the diner where he and his brother would get slices.  But it wasn’t meant to be.  I mean really how could it?  It was only 32 minutes into the show at that point.   They can’t rescue Dillon already!!  Which really made me nervous that the kid was going to end up dead.

Spoiler Alert (although really, if you’ve read this far are you really worried about spoilers at this point) I was wrong!  Dillon didn’t end up dead, he was rescued by Madsen and Soto ( and Mr Personality Hauser.)  You know who did end up dead?  Our creepy, nasty, repulsive, disgusting, vile, Kit Nelson.  Sorry, I ran out of adjectives.  I know Hauser wants to keep them all alive for questioning, but I’m glad he put this one down like the dog that he is.  Actually, calling him a dog was too kind.  The best part was at the end of the show, when Hauser brought Nelson into the morgue of the Dharma Station (sorry to keep calling it that but I have no other name for it yet but I’m open to suggestions) and laid his body bag on the table where the doctor from 1963 proceeded to play a song about how awesome a day it is!

Analysis:

I threw a question out to my friends at Alcatraz Podcast (follow them on twitter @PodcastAlcatraz) and I’m going to throw the same question out to you.  How big of a role does Grandpa Tommy Madsen play in all this?  We’ve now seen him in two episodes where he was behind the curtain getting his blood taken.  At first, with Sylvane, he seemed panicked and scared warning him about the bad things happening at Alcatraz.  But then when we see him tonight with Nelson, there is an eerie calm that is over him about what’s happening to him.  Is it because he was talking to a jerk like Nelson who he could care less about?  Or was it because he has become involved in whatever experiment or other “bad thing” is happening at Alcatraz?  I really believe Tommy is involved in this in a big way and Hauser has that hunch as well.  Which is why he wants Rebecca investigating with him.

Hauser doesn’t come across as the kind of guy who would host your Fantasy Football draft party.  He seems a loner Dottie, a rebel.  Where in the world did that Pee Wee Herman reference come from!!!!   Ok moving on.  Hauser doesn’t seem the type to be very inclusive with what he is doing (whatever that is.)  So why was he so willing to include Rebecca and by proxy, Soto, so easily?  It was a question many people asked last week.  I think it has to be her family’s involvement in whatever this is.  Whether it’s Grandpa Madsen or Uncle Ray, someone is involved and Hauser has that same gut feeling.  And since Robert Forster usually plays a shady, up to no good character, chances are he knows more than he lets on.  But in my mind, this is why Hauser is putting up with Rebecca and Soto.  He either thinks she knows more than she realizes or she is the key to getting to the bottom of whatever he is trying to get to the bottom of.

I’d like to give a shout out to Sarah Jones and Jorge Garcia.  Jones was light years better in this episode and much more believable in her role as Detective Madsen.  Some of the elements I was looking for in her character last week (which showed signs of possibly being there but weren’t) showed up this week.  I liked how tenacious she was Nelson yet very nurturing with Soto.  I like how she never came across as condescending either with Soto.  With him being new to all of this real world investigating and police work, he naturally spooked many times.  She has shown patience and respect to him which I really admire in her character.  She was forceful when she needed to be with Hauser and backed her partner up 100%.  So I think Jones has the potential to be a solid presence on this show if she can keep that up.

Garcia was fantastic.  I’ve heard people describe his portrayal of Soto has Hurley with a brain.  I think to say that gives Garcia very little respect.  Just because Soto is caring and nice, doesn’t make him Hurley.  Soto is a very intelligent but mature character.  While he is insecure regarding his skills as a law enforcement ally, he is very cognizant of his worth in regards to Alcatraz history in information.  I think when people make the comparison to Hurley (which is natural) it’s because you see Garcia’s natural personality shinning through at times, like it has with both characters…which isn’t a bad thing.  But he is definitely playing a much different character.  In that regard, his final scene with Dillon when Dillon was back home was sensational.  We learned that the reason Soto was so invested in this case was because he was also taken around Dillon’s age.  But he was able to escape and be stronger as a result.  He likened it to having super powers…like in comic books but real.   Can you say back story?   It was awesome and it made me want to learn so much more about Soto after that scene.   Actually, with each passing week, I want to learn more and more about the characters we are introduced to (except Nelson and he’s dead now, so we don’t have to worry about him.)

I have to wonder if we are going to have any “name” guest starts become inmates in the future?   Alan Dale seems to pop up on every thing.  I’m waiting to see Charles Widmore on this show.  What about David Anders?  It’s always good to see Sark from Alias play a baddie?   How about you?   Who would you like to see as one of the inmates with a secretive past?

What did you think of week 2 of Alcatraz?  I know it’s the 3rd episode since we had back-to-back episodes last week, but I’m curious if you’re still tuning in.   Because you know what?  YOU SHOULD BE!!!  If you aren’t, I’ll tell those people to tell Jack Sylvane to come after you next?  Who are those people?  Well I don’t know yet.  But I’m sure we’ll find out.  But you won’t if you don’t watch.   And you must watch!!!!   Also make sure you check out my other friends on twitter @podcatraz and on their website here Podcatraz.

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Revenge “Commitment” S1 E13

This has become one of my favorite shows on TV.  I know I haven’t written much about Revenge.  It’s just been a timing issue.  I’ve always been away or had work commitments that have kept me from talking about it in a timely manner and it kills me because there is so much to discuss!

Let’s start with last week’s bomb shell that exploded tonight…Charlotte isn’t Conrad’s daughter.  She’s David Clarke’s!!!  Emily has a half-sister.  I have to say, I never saw that coming.  That’s one thing I really enjoy about this show…it continues to surprise me because there have been many twists that I didn’t see at all.

I really thought this new development was going to simmer for a while and Emily would use it to her advantage at some point.  I didn’t think that point would be the very next episode!  But it was.  Conrad gets the tape of David confessing and plays it for Victoria and her lawyer.  Afterwards, he basically tells her that she is no longer dictating the rules of this settlement…he is…and he is going to leave her with nothing.  Man these Hamptonites sure are bitter when divorcing!    As a result, Victoria realizes she has to start telling Daniel and Charlotte.  She never gets around to Charlotte but she has an interesting way of telling Daniel.   She leads him to believe that David Clarke raped her and that’s how she was impregnated.  Victoria Grayson is on my official hate list forever.   That is something you NEVER lie about.  EVER.   She is disgusting.

You know what else was disgusting?  The fact that Conrad kicked Charlotte to the curb after finding out the news.  I’m sorry but she has been your daughter for 16, 17 years.  Now all of a sudden, she’s nothing to you?  When did his become her fault?  I never thought he would do that to her.  Conrad isn’t a good man but I thought he loved his daughter.  Apparently, not so much.   With that family, I can’t believe Charlotte isn’t on massive amounts of drugs or liquor.

In other big news, Daniel proposes to Emily in a very romantic scene.  He brings her on the family yacht (because everyone has one of those just hanging around in a dock) with a four piece string band and private wait staff for dinner.  It begins to rain to everyone runs off the boat, but not Daniel.  He stays and begins to tell Emily how much he loves her and drops to one knee (but not before handing her the umbrella to hold for them.) He pops the question and she says yes.  Did it seem a bit hesitant to you?   It did to me.  I’m not sure if marrying Daniel was part of Emily’s plan but I guess in order to carry out her end game, she has to see this through.  I’m also not sure if she really has feelings for him or not.  I think she’s grown to like him more than she thought, but I don’t think her feelings for him are real…especially after the final scene.

Emily was ready to walk away from the whole revenge game.   Jack was beaten severely and she doesn’t want anymore innocents getting hurt because of her.  So she was going to break it off with Daniel and leave the Hamptons.  Yeah right, like that was really going to happen.  Well before she could tell Danny boy that they were through, he tells her that the “terrorist” that lived in her house prior, is the asshole responsible for raping his mother and getting her pregnant with Charlotte.  Emily amazingly keeps her composure during all this and asks Daniel questions about this new twist in the story.  He is visibly angry and distraught by this and Emily calmly sits and listens to him.  Eventually, Daniel asks her what she was thinking about all morning and her response is “what do you think of a June wedding?”  While she’s hugging him, she sees Victoria on her terrace and gives her the worst stare down since Maximus to Commodus at the Colosseum.   The game is back ON!!!!

The other big twist I didn’t see coming…Victoria’s lawyer, Ryan Huntly, was working with Emily the whole time.  When we first saw the flash back of Emily (in that horrid black wig) with Huntly, it appeared to be a contentious discussion.  Turns out, we see the remainder of the conversation where Huntly tells Emily (then Amanda) that he always believed her father was innocent.  He was trying to help her destroy Victoria from the inside and he did a pretty good job.  He also was able to save the day when Victoria invites Amanda over for tea only to use it as a rouse to get her DNA because she refuses to believe that she’s David Clarke’s daughter.   Victoria may be a vile human being, but she’s not stupid.  Huntly was able to “fix” the DNA test to prove that yes she and Charlotte are related and therefore David’s daughter.  Victoria still didn’t believe it, but it doesn’t matter.   She proceeds to fire Huntly.

Finally Amanda Clarke has left the Hamptons.  Emily comes to clean to her about her real motives for being there and she warns Amanda that she is in danger.  The Graysons are powerful to the point that they could have her destroyed or worse, killed.  Amanda offers to help Emily in any way she can and wants to be there to support her friend.  Emily tells her the best way to help her is to get out-of-town and be safe.  She agrees but she is heartbroken to leave Jack.  She tells Em she can’t say good-bye and Em agrees to do it for her.  Amanda doesn’t say good-bye but she does leave Jack a Dear John letter making Jack’s day even worse than it was before.  (Jack got the tar beat out of him by one the Grayson’s henchmen because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.)

This show is fabulous!  I am on the edge of my seat each and every week with what will happen next.  I’m a sucker for a good night-time soap.   But this is more than that.  The term “night-time soap” can conjure up different biases.   Mainly because most of them are poorly written and acted.  But that would be a fallacious perception in regards to Revenge.  This show is smart, fast paced, well acted, and has a compelling story that grips you each week.   How many shows can you honestly say that about right now?  I don’t mean watching the first season of Damages on Netflix.  I mean shows presently on network TV right now.   This isn’t a Titans or Model’s Inc.  This isn’t about sex, money, or power.  Well, it is a little about power.  More about bringing down power and the people who have abused it for years.  This is about righting a terrible wrong that was done to many by people who thought they were above the law and paying for their mistakes.  This about a woman who loved her father so much that she will do anything, including destroying her own life, to make sure her father’s good name is cleared.  I am rooting for Emily/Amanda 100% and I can’t wait to see what happens when she gets to her ultimate goal of taking down Conrad and Victoria.

 

Revenge “Commitment” Recap Coming Tomorrow

Charlotte is David Clarke’s daughter.  Victoria’s lawyer was working with Emily.  Victoria alluded to the idea that David RAPED her and that’s how she got pregnant.  Amanda finally left town.  Can this show get any better?

That sound you just heard was my head exploding!!!!  I have so much to discuss but my dog really needs to pee and I need to get some sleep.  But the recap will be up ASAP tomorrow!  So come back then!

 

Cougar Town Returns!!! It’s About Flipping Time.

After the disaster that was Work It, ABC has finally stopped sniffing glue and put Cougar Town back on the schedule.  Cougar Town returns Tuesday February 14th…the perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day!   Which is the dumbest holiday on the planet but that’s another story.

Woo hoo!!!  Penny Can!!!!  Big Joe (oops sorry Big Joe died).  Big Carl and the cul-de-sac crew is back and not a moment too soon.  The new comedies this year were awful and it’s about time a real comedy was back on the air.

If you need to find me, you know where I’ll be on Tuesday Feb 14th at 8:30pm.

 

500 POSTS!!!!!!

I was trying to think if what I wanted my 500th post to be about….Castle, Revenge, Parenthood, how hot Dean Winchester is (he is you know…insanely hot!)  God I sound like a freshman in high school.  But Dean can do that to me!

Instead I decided to just celebrate the fact I got to 500 posts!!!!!  Holy crap I can’t believe it.  When I started this blog over a year ago, I never in a million years thought this would go as long as it has, that I would have a podcast (I really need to do one of those soon), or have some amazing loyal readers that are shockingly not my mother or someone I paid to say nice things!

Okay I literally just ran downstairs to grab a Sam Adams to toast myself…what a loser.  Here’s to the first 500. Please God let the next 500 be slightly better.

 

SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: Alcatraz “Pilot/Ernest Cobb” S1 E1

HALLELUJAH!!!  HALLELUJAH!!!!  Sing it with me people.  You know you want to.  Come on, your co-workers won’t mind.  They may look at you a little strangely but what do you care.  Finally, a premiere worth singing about!!!  Even if it is singing badly.   Last night, one of the more anticipated premieres aired and it didn’t disappoint.  There were two pilots I was most impressed with in the summer…one was Smash, the other was Alcatraz.   I was following the viewers comments on Twitter last night and most people loved the show.  There were some that thought it was boring and slow.  To that I say….are you crazy?  But the most common tweet was how this show could fill a nice void that a little teeny tiny show left when it aired its series finale over a year ago….Lost.  I mean come on…it has an island, it has a character named Jack who woke up lost and confused as to where he was, it has the eerie music, it has the “what the hell is going on here” vibe, IT HAS HURLEY!!!  I can see where it’s very easy to draw the comparisons.  But in all seriousness, that is where the comparisons end.

Alcatraz opens with a very simple premise…”on March 21st 1963 Alcatraz officially closed.  All the prisoners were transferred off the island.  Only, that’s not what happened.  Not at all.”  I appreciate when a new show lays it out for you right off the bat.  This simple statement clearly defines what this series will be about.  From here, the mysteries and curiosities unravel.

In the first hour, we focus on the story of Jack Sylvane (played by Jeffrey Pierce), an Alcatraz inmate from 1954-1963.  Originally, Sylvane was in prison for stealing groceries from a corner store.  Why was he on the Rock then if it was petty theft?   The corner store also sold stamps, therefore making it a post office and therefore a federal crime.  But when we see Sylvane in present day, he is on a killing rampage.  How does a man who was in prison for stealing groceries to feed his family suddenly become a cold-blooded killer?   More importantly, why in present day, does this man still look 45 years old?  He should be 85 and he looks 45!   He hasn’t aged since 1963.  After Sylvane’s killing spree, he is eventually captured and brought to a remote Dharma station in the woods where Emerson Hauser (played by Sam Neill) is putting them back in prison so he can question them about what they know.

The second hour focuses on Ernest Cobb, a sniper who transferred to Alcatraz because he wanted a private room.  In present day, he is picking off people (mainly young girls) one by one while repeating over and over again “47 slats in a picket fence…1 2 3 4 5….”  Ok.  Again we have another prisoner out and looking just as young as he did in 1963.  He is back to committing his original crimes (which stem from some mommy issues he had thinking his 16-year-old sister was getting more attention than him.)  He is also captured and taken to the Dharma Station.

Ultimately, it seems there is someone or a group of people who are managing the former inmates and guards.  When Madsen goes to arrest Sylvane and she asks why he’s doing this, he tells her he killed Tiller for personal reasons but he killed Flynn because “it’s what they told him to do.”  They?  Whose they?  The inmates are being controlled or directed to target specific people.  Flynn was a target.  I think after seeing the final scene in “Ernest Cobb” we can assume that Lucy was a target as well.   So who are these people?   Why did they take these 302 people in 1963 and what is their purpose?  What’s their goal?

The main protagonist is Detective Rebecca Madsen (played by Sarah Jones) of the SFPD who is ultimately transferred to the FBI at Hauser’s request to assist with the Alcatraz case.  Of all the characters in the show, Madsen is the weakest of the bunch, which is very worrisome in a show like this.  You need a strong character who dominates the screen and who we believe in 100%.  She needs to be tough, intelligent, fierce, feisty, and compassionate.  Jones exudes some elements of these traits, but not all of them and not very convincingly.  She comes across as a person trying to be tough and edgy but isn’t either of those things at all.  This is the part of the show that most concerns me.  She is supposed to be the driving force behind finding out what is going on.  But in scenes with Neill, she has issues matching his presence on-screen and he is so dominant that it’s hard to believe she has the power to stand toe to toe with him.  Now, maybe over the course of the series it will get better and she will become more of a force.  The question is, can people move past her weaknesses as a leading lady and still continue with the show?

Madsen’s partner is none other than one of our favorite Lostie, Hurley!  Dr Diego Soto (played by Jorge Garcia) is a renowned Alcatraz expert and resident genius.  He has written four books on Alcatraz and Madsen seeks his assistance on the history of the Rock as well as his expertise on the prisoners and guards.  While he seems to struggle with the death and danger of the job, he really wants to help and is intrigued by the mystery. As he states so eloquently “is anyone else’s head ready to explode right about now?”  Priceless.  But here is my biggest problem with Soto if I am supposed to buy into his character.  If he is really the foremost expert on Alcatraz, how in the world did he not know ANYTHING about this?  In all his years of research, he never came across what happened the day before Alcatraz closed?   That the prisoners and guards simply vanished?  It seems a tad unbelievable to me.  Unless….he is involved somehow.

Rounding out our main characters we have Hauser and Lucy (played by Parminder Nagra.) Hauser is an enigma, much like our storyline.  Sam Neill is perfect to play this role.  No one does creepy, matter-of-factness better than Neill.  At this point, we have no idea if Hauser is a good guy or a bad guy.  It appears as if he is someone with his own agenda.  We learned he was one of the cops who came to Alcatraz the day before it closed to assist with the transfer.  And he was just as stunned as his counterpart when the place was a ghost town.  So he has obviously been involved in this from the beginning.  But other than curiosity as to what happened that day, why else go to the lengths he has gone through to get these prisoners back?  Why build that security center (that looks like a Dharma Station) to house all these criminals?  Why keep what he knows from Madsen and Soto?  What is his connection with Lucy?   Why has he aged but everyone else from back then who was connected with this, hasn’t?  What is his end game?   How much does he know?   He seems to want these criminals captured but alive to question them.  He doesn’t appear to be the one behind what happened to the prisoners and guards but I’m not sure, yet, if his motives are pure.

I’m not sure what to think of Lucy, especially after she was shot in the chest!   But the really big twist at the end of the episode was that Lucy was also at Alcatraz in the 60s as a psychologist name Dr. Sengupta.  So that leads to a few questions.  Did Hauser know that or does he have no idea?  If he did know, then he knows about how people who were at Alcatraz at that time aren’t aging.  How did he get hooked up with Lucy?  Did he approach her or did she come after him?  My initial guess is that she went to him.  Is Lucy working for the person or group that is behind what happened to the people on the Rock or is she just simply working with Hauser?  I wonder if Lucy is going to be hanging around in present day (whether it be alive or in a coma) or if she will kick the bucket.  I have to say, it was quite shocking because I didn’t see that coming at all!

One of the other mind-blowing events that happened in the episode revolved around Madsen’s family and work life.  Madsen had a partner at the SFPD who was killed by a criminal they were chasing.  As a result, she never partnered with anyone after that and right when she was supposed to choose, she got the transfer.  As the case moved forward, we meet her uncle Ray (played by Robert Forster.)  Arthur Petrelli is in the house!!!  Madsen introduces Ray to Hurley and explains to him that her grandfather was a guard at Alcatraz.  Ray and Soto exchange a strange glance that she notices but brushes off.  Later, when Hauser is walking Madsen and Soto through the mug shots of who disappeared that day, she sees the picture of her grandfather, Tommy Madsen.  Madsen learns her grandfather wasn’t a guard at Alcatraz, he was a prisoner.  But that wasn’t the worst part.  What to know what was?   When she sees his picture, she realizes that he was the man she and her partner were chasing and his was the one who killed her partner.  Dun dun dun dun!!!!!!   Talk about head exploding!  I don’t know how hers didn’t….for SO many reasons.  But mainly that one.  This was a great addition to the original pilot.  The first pilot I saw, Madsen learns her grandfather was a prisoner instead of a guard, but there was nothing about her partner dying and her grandfather being the killer.  That scene wasn’t in the original but I’m glad they added it.

I really enjoyed the show last night.  I know a lot of people want to compare it to Lost and as we discussed, there are some funny similarities.  But there is one MAJOR difference….Lost was a show about characters, first.  The mythology came second, even though we may not have known it right away.  Alcatraz, at least right now, is all mythology driven with some character focus in the background.  And that’s ok.  I think the story is fascinating enough to keep it moving along and people interested.   The question will be for how long?

The smartest thing Lost did was say it had a finite shelf life.  6 seasons, that’s it.  I don’t know if Alcatraz has that, I’m not sure if it needs it.  But with shows like this, it seems important that the writers know the end game going into the series.  If they don’t, I think shows like these have a tendency to go off the rails and start to become something that it isn’t or worse, something that it doesn’t know what it is anymore.  When that happens, you destroy what was once good and you lose your audience.

In the first two hours, we have one hour about one inmate and the second hour about another.  There are over 300 people involved in this disappearance.  Surely we aren’t going to have 300 more episodes about each individual inmate or guard right?  I wouldn’t think so.  Therefore, the show will really need to draw on the mythology to keep it going or we are going to have to have more character study.  I’m not sure which direction is going in right now.   What I do know, is that I am along for the ride.

Alcatraz was a breath of fresh air in a pretty smoke-filled mid-season so far.  Actually, the new TV season as a whole, going all the way back to the fall, has been pretty stale.  Talking strictly new shows here, other than Revenge and Homeland, Alcatraz is the only other must see TV for me…at least so far.   I think if the writers can keep the storyline moving and hopefully Jones starts to come into her own, this show will be one of the best of the 2012 season.  Does the show have some issues…of course.  Does it need to improve in some areas…absolutely.  But is it better than a lot of other shows out there…your damn right it is.

What did you think of Alcatraz and will you keep watching?

DVRs: 4

 

REVIEW: The Good Wife “Bitcoin for Dummies” S3 E13

Even when The Good Wife has a marginal episode, it’s still 5000 times better than a lot of the shows on TV.  Last night’s episode showed how creating a new currency or protecting someone who has, will get the US Treasury Department breathing down your neck.  Honestly, this is how NOT creative I am…I wouldn’t even know where to begin to create a new currency that people could actually use.  Incredible.  But I thought the show did a solid job of keeping you guessing as to who was Mr or Ms Bitcoin until the very end.  Hell, there may be some people who are still guessing.  But while the case was interesting, it wasn’t the edge of your seat story telling we have come to expect from TGW.

What I really want to get into is Will’s case.  One of the things TGW has always been amazing at doing, is creating fantastic secondary characters and finding the perfect actor/actress to bring that character to life.  And there is no better example (at least not this week) than Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth Tascioni.  What makes this character work is that she is phenomenal at her job.  Yes she’s quirky.  Yes she can be unprofessional.  And yes you start to wonder how someone this flighty got through law school.  The question is, is this really who she is or is it all a rouse to throw people off.  I think it’s both.  I think Elsbeth is who she is but she’s very self-aware and uses that to her advantage.   I think people either underestimate her or are completely thrown off their game by her mannerisms.  And that’s her goal…and it usually works.

This week, Wendy, Cary, and Dana (really what is the point of Dana) go to meet with Elsbeth and Will.  They think they have the upper hand but before they know it, they are giving up the names of the three judges they are looking into (significantly narrowing down who Elsbeth and Will have to look into) yet Will gives them nothing in return.  It’s brilliant.  Wendy is pissed because she just got played and wants Dana to go play hardball with Kalinda.

I have to admit, these scenes with Dana and Kalinda have me confused.  I don’t know what Dana’s endgame is.  Is she trying to help the SA office or is she trying to help Kalinda because she has the hots for her, even if she won’t admit it?  Kalinda, I still believe, is playing with her.  Kalinda is the best at saying a lot and saying nothing at the same time.  You have no idea what she is really thinking and feeling because she has the same poker face at all times.  It’s one of the things that makes her character so fascinating.

Somehow, the SA office/Dana, got their hands on the document Alicia was questioning last week.   Dana shows it to Kalinda and asks her to turn evidence on Will to save Alicia.  They don’t want Alicia, they want Will.  In the end, Kalinda hands Dana the file she and Will were reviewing earlier that has the documents regarding the case he was most nervous about looking like bribery, even though it wasn’t.  Now I have to believe, she handed her some incriminating information but not everything.  I can’t believe Kalinda would turn on Will.  They seem to be pretty tight so I don’t see her giving Dana anything, even if it is to save Alicia.

And what do we think about Will’s situation?   Well you know my feelings on him.  He has always seemed ruthless and willing to bend the limits of the law to see how far he can bend them before they break.   Will always seemed to be a take no prisoners type of lawyer.  But something tells me he’s not guilty here.  Notice I didn’t say innocent, but not guilty.  I think the big reason I support Will here (try not to crash your cars after that statement.  Come to think of it, don’t drive and read this at the same time…wait till you get home…it’s safer) is because Diane has his back.  I loved her line this week when she told Kalinda “let me know when it gets bad.” “So you’ll know when to bail?”  Kalinda asks.  “No.  So I’ll know when to help” Diane replies very matter-of-factly.

Diane and Will have always had a strong partnership, which is evident considering what they have been through and they’re still together.  But their friendship is even stronger.  They are always there for one another and have each other’s back no matter what.  I really believe that if Will was truly guilty of something that could hurt Diane or the firm, he would let her know or remove himself from the firm.  I don’t think he would take Diane down with him.  The one thing I do believe about Will’s personality (regardless of all the bad things I think about him) is that I believe he would do anything for the people he vehemently trusts.  Diane is one of those people.  So I think Will is in the clear here.   Whether or not that matters, is a whole other story, but I like where it is going….sort of.

Did you see the previews for next week?  Actually the show returns in two weeks, but still.  Alicia is on the witness stand and Wendy asks if she’s ever had sexual relations with Will Gardner.  Uh oh.  This is going to get U-G-L-Y ugly!    How did Wendy find out about that or is she going off a hunch?   Is Peter in the courtroom when she asks the question?  Is Will?  Diane?  Is that when Alicia walks out?  I am chomping at the bit for two weeks from now!!!!   And why do we have to wait so long?  Didn’t we just come off of a long hiatus?   Sheesh.