Awake: Pilot

Awake

I like Awake. Or I want to like Awake. I love Jason Isaacs, and after I watched “Case Histories”, an English miniseries based on the novels by Kate Atkinson, in which Isaacs plays a PI who lives and works in Edinburgh (this show is ongoing by the way, go check it out!), I was eager to see he was going to do a show in the states.

In Awake, Isaacs plays a detective who was in a terrible accident, and now lives in two worlds: One where his wife survived and one where his son survived. And the icing on top? The disparate cases he’s working on in the two worlds are connected.

It’s not a bad hook. Its different, certainly not something we’ve seen before and I love seeing Jason Isaacs play a good guy (it blows all of the bad guys he’s played out of the water), but there’s just something...off. It’s very overwhelming. Of course, it must be overwhelming for Isaacs’ character, and it gives us impetus to care about him, but while I like the idea of having more to follow (therefore making it harder to figure out who the bad guy is), it’s very hard to make sense of what’s going on. And if it’s hard for a person who watches TV constantly, I wonder how it is for people who are a little more casual with their viewership.

To put it another way; the reason shows like CSI and Star Trek: Next Gen. work is because they are mostly episodic. They have a general theme each season and story arcs that are presented at the beginning of a season and resolved by the end, but most episodes are able to stand alone.

In contrast, Awake is dependent on the suspense created by Isaacs conflict, so how long will the writers be able to hold on to it? Without conflict-resolution at some point, viewers are left in limbo, and will eventually move on. This is the same problem I have with Once Upon a Time. How long will the residents of Storybrooke be in battle with Mayor/Queen Regina? Once Upon a Time might have made a better miniseries ala Lost; which was slated for four seasons before it even began.

Awake, on first viewing, feels more like a Movie, than a TV show. But I hope I’m wrong, because I love the English feeling it has (much like Life on Mars, which was based on an English series) and I love Jason Isaacs. So here’s hoping.

Did you watch the pilot? What did you think?

White Collar: "Stealing Home"

Recap: Neal (and Mozzie) join a celebrity crew, led by a John Dillinger expy named Gordon Taylor (played by Hal Ozsan), that plans to steal Babe Ruth’s signed baseball from Yankee Stadium. Taylor gets away in the end, but the ball is saved. More exposition on Neal’s commutation hearing, and we find out that Peter played minor league ball! He left after a rotator cuff injury.

Review: Good episode, I wouldn’t put it on a par with the mid seasons finale episode “Checkmate”, but it was definitely entertaining. The procedural heist formula worked well, the guest stars were interesting and Neal did this really amazing billiards trick. Oh, and Peter was adorkable as usual. My only beef with the show right now in fact, is that I really don’t like the Agent Kramer storyline. He’s being a jerk for no apparent reason.

Getting The Kinks Out

I think I'm still working on the format this blog will take. So far, I just sort of exploded all over this text box, but I think maybe I'll write my next review in word and tidy it up before I post it here. Also, I dont really want these posts to be recaps, moreso I want to write my opinion about what I watch. What was good and what was bad. Hmm...

Being Human "Mama Said There'd be Decades Like This"

Bwah. Being Human is one of those shows that always leaves me breathless. I always approach the show in three parts, since there's three Protagonists and little else in between. Also these reviews are spoilerish, you have been warned.

1. Sally: I find Sally kinda boring. I dont know, maybe its just that I dont think Ghosts work that way or something...but if Sally gets another chance to go through her door I wont mind. I can deal with the Josh and Aidan show. So in this episode Sally's mom died. It was awkward. The whole thing was awkward. Add Josh to the mix? More awkward. That's all.

2. Josh: Last episode, Josh's girlfriend Nora and the pure-bred Werewolf Twins (who I will only call the Twins) killed Nora's abusive Ex. So Josh has to deal with that. Of course, Josh really didnt have anything to do with it, but of course, the cops from stereotypeland dont care. Josh is connected to Nora, so Josh must have something to do with it. Not much to say here except that Josh is so much fun when he decides to do something. I love awkward Josh but I ADORE confident Josh, especially when he's still being awkward when he does it. So anyways, after Aidan brushed him off, Josh decided to approach new vamp cop Cecilia...too bad she didnt know anything about Nora's case until Josh brought it up and now he's got himself a whole ball of complicated on his hands.

This is kinda awesome tho. Early in the episode Josh reveals that he has Hegeman's gun. If either the Vamps or the Cops find it on him, things will be bad. So all Josh has to do is plant the gun on the Twins, and when Cecilia drags them back to the Vamp Heads...well, who will look at poor awkward Josh and his girlfriend? Of course, this still gives Cecilia leverage over Josh, but we'll save that for another day.

I'd also like to point out that Nora makes zero appearances during this entire episode.

So yeah. Go Josh! Also, there was awkward Lasagna and a weird mean cop flash thing. I dont like those cops.

3. Aidan: Oh Aidan, you really are the reason I watch this show. Not only is Aidan awesome, but his actor, Sam Witwer, is a Star Wars geek (and the voice of Starkiller and The Son, both Star Wars characters...The Son is the living embodiment of the Dark-Side of The Force). So yeah, I love Aidan, and he didnt disappoint tonight.

First, we get HeadBishop! Why did they kill Bishop in the first season? He was such a great character and it seems like such a shame to take him out of play so early in the shows existence. Luckily, Bishop is back in the form of a vision had by Aidan. According to HeadBishop, this is not new for Aidan; but I like this idea, it reminds me of Farscape and HeadScorpius...except HeadBishop is more like those little good angel/bad angel things you see in cartoons. We also get flashback Bishop. Hopefully there will be lots of those if HeadBishop doesnt last.

So Aidan's dealing with relapsing his live drinking problem...which isnt really a problem for any Vamp except Aidan. This gave us a really fun, drunk Aidan episode...well, when Aidan is at home and trying to ignore HeadBishop.

Then there's Aidans other little problem. Henry, Aidan's "son". Henry got banished in last weeks flashback, and now he's back, and its bad for everyone. Except maybe the Orphans, but they're screwed already so...yeah. We got a fun little flashback to 1918, where Aidan introduces Bishop to his newely made "Son" as they get off the boat in their adorable WWI uniforms. Ah Aidan, ever the loyal soldier ^_^. Then we come back to the present, where Aidan and Henry have an awesome fight and Aidan wins, but doesnt kill Henry, cause he still loves him. I wouldnt trust Henry tho, and Bishop backs me up. Hmmm, I guess thats all I got for Aidan. He's gonna try to get Henry back into the Vamp family, but I dont see that going down to well.

Thats the end of the review!

I just want to add that I really like Surin. I wasnt sure about her at first, but I look forward to where she might go. She wasnt in this episode, I just thought I'd share it with you.

So another great episode that leaves me going Dude! Oh, and this show has such awesome music, check out the syfy.com page where they show you the playlist episode by episode when you get the chance.

I also watched 'The Amazing Race' episode 1, but I'm not gonna review it.

Dont know what I'm watching tomorrow, but it might be Glee or White Collar.

Downton Abbey Supplemental

Richard and Edith

I completely forgot about Richard in my review last night! It was terribly hard to like him. He would profess his undying love for Mary and then act like a jerk about everything else. He's got a great face tho and is an excellent actor and I'd like to see more of him...just nowhere near Mary.

I hope Edith gets her happy ending next series, I really like that old guy, and Edith deserves something good.

Downton Abbey Series 2 Finale

What a great episode!

I wont say anthing about how it looks or the acting, as everyone already knows how wonderful they are. And since I'll admit that I knew about Bates and Mary and Matthews fates, so I'll just talk about what I found suprising ^_^.

Thomas. Will that man ever learn to just leave things be? I was so mad when he hid Isis in the shed, and when he found the shed empty?! Well, who would have guessed a side story about a dog would be so interesting?

Daisy. That was great. I really loved that she and William's father were able to bond, and that she finally stopped listening to negative influences. I really love Daisy.

Maggie Smith kicks ass as always.

I was really suprised that the episode began with Christmas instead of culminating in it, but it worked so I'll let it go.

Okay, so that's it for Downton Abbey Series 2. Series 3 is being written as we speak, but of course we'll have to wait a bit longer than our English friends for it. And before we go, I thought I'd share something cool about the location of Downton Abbey. Did you know that the castle is actually the ancestral home of Lord Carnarvan? Yes, that Lord Carnarvan. Dont believe me? Check out the website: http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/

See you tomorrow with Being Human!

Hello and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence

Hi. I'm Molly (Wandering Molly or MollyTheWanderer). I like TV. I watch a lot of movies, cartoons and plain old television, so I thought I'd share my thoughts and feelings about what I'm watching with you, the reader. Ready? Here we go!

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence

Rating: B+

I liked this movie. It found a good balance between the seriousness of Nolan's Batman and the silliness of West's Batman, which is where I think most, if not all superhero movies should fall. I liked the way it looked (it both looked and felt like an independant film), and I really enjoyed the use of animation. This movie looked like a comic book (see the scene where Roarke and Carrigan talk on the phone).

It had a simple plot, and was fairly linear with a small cast, which is appreciated in film of this caliber, not expecting us to take too much in. I found the european settings a little unneeded (indiscriminate european location #3!), but they never looked silly and if that's all I have to complain about, I'm happy.

The acting was good too. Hey, its a Nic Cage film, if its a little hammy so what? And we got two great guest appearances, Anthony Head of Buffy The Vampire Slayer fame and Connor MaCleod himself, Mr. Christopher Lambert! Most of all I liked Carrigan, played by Johnny Whitworth. I think he'd make a good replacement for Heath Ledgers Joker, and if they ever need a new Beetlejuice...

If this movie has one real drawback I think its that it doesnt really have a connection to the original film. I really feel like Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: SoV were two very different films, the original was much darker, but it also felt much more formulated, while the new film has a lot more fun. I do wish we could have seen a few more tricks on the bike too, but thats beside the point.

So there you have it. My feelings on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence. Tonight, we'll do 'Downton Abbey: The Christmas Special'