Prison Break 1.2: "Allen"

Written by Paul Scheuring
Directed by Michael Watkins

In which Michael continues to advance his agenda, but when he needs to secure a specific item to move forward, the process of getting it puts him in the middle of a race riot…


Watching and considering the premiere as two separate episodes might have helped me get past some of the basic issues with the plot holes. As far as I could tell, there was only one sticking point, and even that I can explain away through relative reasoning. Now that the character introductions are out of the way, the plot gets to move forward, and the pacing picks up as a result.

First things first…what were the weaknesses? Others have probably mentioned the same thing: it would help for the audience to know what Michael’s short-term objectives are, so that the tension mounts when obstacles are placed in the way. The only thing that the audience knew about Michael’s situation was the reference to the make and part number he was interested in, and that an awful lot of skin was used up to remind him of it. While the audience could certainly assume that it was important to his scheme, it might have been better to know how critical it was.

Getting the bolt, and the process of achieving that goal, drove the whole episode forward rather well, so the complaint is a small one. The main issue is how the bolt was used. Filing down the bolt into the proper size Allan wrench was a clever move, but if the Allan bolt is right there and accessible, what’s the point of comparing the filing-down bolt to a tattoo on his arm? Especially when the tattoo could have been damaged or altered by any number of factors?

I consider this an ongoing flaw in Michael’s plan, but in this case, there is an explanation that I can live with. Basically, Michael might have anticipated that his activities would have to be “quick and dirty”, especially when it comes to messing with prison equipment. There are enough areas of “exposure”; he doesn’t need to be seen fiddling with the toilet. So using the tattoo as a rough guide for the retooling of the bolt is a way to minimize suspicious behavior. (Granted, he’s not at all careful about getting the bolt or keeping it to himself, but I had to try!)

Throughout the episode, Michael runs into difficulties with the people that he had assumed he could manipulate. He clearly wasn’t expecting the level of violence that he’s experienced. When it comes to the technical aspects of his plan, I have little doubt that he’ll be 99% correct about how to handle it. But he seems to assume that his manipulation of the people around him will be equally simple. That’s clearly not the case, and he’s already making concessions to get what he needs for his plan.

This speaks to that psychological aspect of Michael that I mentioned in my review of the pilot. Michael is a fairly complex individual, but he’s got issues. I get the feeling that he’s somewhat detached from reality, and that’s where this is going to get him into trouble. The final scene is a great example of his dedication, but it’s also an example of why his assumptions are so flawed. Did he really think he could stare down a desperate mobster?

Anyway, the conspiracy angle continues to expand. My concerns remain the same: the conspirators have been far too casual in their methods to be effective at keeping the truth buried. That said, they did a very good job of setting Lincoln up, since he supplied a solid motive on his own! There’s a chance for the writers to explore question of guilt and responsibility, and that’s a good thing. I only hope that Robin Tunney’s character becomes a little less annoying.

Whatever the case, I liked this episode better than the pilot. I was impressed at the level of violence that was present, given the network restrictions; it may not be as strong and deep as a series like “Oz”, but as a companion to “24”, it works well enough. If I were the writers, though, I would show more of Michael’s thought process, so the audience could internalize his short-term goals and share in his anxiety.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Prison Break 1.1: "Pilot"

Written by Paul Scheuring
Directed by Brett Ratner

In which Michael Scofield contrives to have himself sent to the same prison where his brother, accused of a crime he didn’t commit, is also being held, awaiting execution…


Although FOX gave the series a two-hour premiere, it was more like two episodes cobbled together. They even have two different episode titles. That being the case, I’m covering the first hour here, and then the second hour separately. Hopefully that’s not as confusing as it could be!

As I was watching this pilot episode, I was struck by something I remember the producers of “24” saying at one point. Basically, they said that the original intent was never to focus on the same genre, season after season; instead, each season would have been a different set of conditions, connected only by adherence to the format. True or apocryphal, that’s what came to mind as I watched this episode. I couldn’t help but wonder if this could have originated with something similar in mind.

This series is inevitably going to be compared to “24”, and that might be unfortunate. Frankly, one of my big problems with “24” (as much as I enjoy it) is the use of plot contrivance to a ridiculous extreme. This series follows in the same footsteps. A lot of the situations that will play out over time require massive suspension of disbelief. Hopefully, it’s just the setup that’s lacking in credibility.

A lot of those issues have been covered in other reviews, but I have a few that won’t stop bothering me. Warden Pope and his Taj Mahal ranks rather high on the list, especially given the fact that Michael is immediately branded a troublemaker. Someone ought to have discovered the fact that Michael was involved in the design of the prison, and it strains credibility that Michael would be sent to the same prison. And then his lawyer is also the woman that his brother Lincoln once had a relationship with, which doesn’t present anyone with a problem, and even the mobsters don’t seem to think that his constant questions and attitude are a problem. Michael’s little smirk ought to be getting his butt kicked regularly!

I also had some issues with the basic idea of Michael’s tattoos. It would have taken a lot more time for those tattoos to heal, and even accepting that, the tattoo was vague enough to work as a general map of the prison, but nothing as detailed as one would need to know every nook and cranny. Never mind that things will get rather problematic if and when Michael begins to gain weight, build up muscle, get stabbed, etc. All those carefully worked-out dimensions won’t mean a damn thing, then!

The conspiracy is equally problematic. We’re asked to believe that the conspiracy against Lincoln is so solid that it’s hard for anyone to believe that he’s innocent. Fair enough. There’s concern among the conspirators that Bishop McMorrow will influence the governor into granting Lincoln a stay of execution. Also, fair enough. But rather than blackmail the bishop, the Secret Service has him killed! Isn’t that just a little sloppy and obvious for such a well-considered conspiracy?

I wouldn’t say that I’m disappointed in the premiere. It kept my interest, and I think that if many or all of those issues are set aside, there’s a certain method to Michael’s madness. I hope that the writers delve into the character’s psychology over the course of the season, and that they don’t overlook his obvious emotional damage. The man is clearly capable of highly ordered and strategic thinking, but he’s also making decisions that are questionable at best and personally destructive at worst. He’s damn lucky that his cellmate is so decent, or he’d already be dead.

Pilots are notoriously flawed, if only because so much time is spent on exposition. Characters need to be established, and the underlying mythology of the series must be introduced. There’s not a lot of time for actual storytelling. Viewers are sold on the characters and whether or not their world is compelling. In this case, the characters and situation merit a longer look. I don’t believe this is the second coming of “24”, like some have claimed, but it’s certainly not DOA.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Battlestar: Galactica 2.7: "Home: Part II"

Written by David Eick and Ron Moore
Directed by Jeff Woolnough

In which the search for the Tomb of Athena comes to an end amidst suspicion and violence, while back on Galactica, Baltar must deal with the possibility that he has lost his mind…


Before the second season aired, Ron Moore made an interesting comment. Essentially, he commented that the first season should have been 20 episodes (at the very least), and that as a result, the first third of the second season would play out as if it were the rest of the first season. I have to say that I completely agree. As much as the first season finale ended things on a high note, it was really the end of a complication phase of a much larger arc; this season has been all about the resolution of everything that happened in “Kobol’s Last Gleaming”.

A ton of plot threads reach their momentary end in this episode. On the plot side of the fence, there’s the culmination of the search for the Tomb of Athena. I find it interesting that the writers kept all these pieces in the air without really knowing how it would play out, beyond some general sense of direction. For all that doubt regarding how the puzzle would come together, it works very well.

There are issues, of course, and the writers admit it. There’s not one spot on Earth where a person could look up and see all 12 classical Zodiac constellations at the exact same time, at the same basic declination in the sky. But that’s hardly the point. The point is that Earth is the planet where the constellations would, when seen from that point in space, look as they do in the hologram. From that perspective, it works.

I do wonder, however, how this was supposed to make sense. Earth is supposed to be the lost 13th colony. So how would the constellations, as seen from Earth, end up on Kobol? Was Earth once still in contact with the homeworld, before things all fell apart? I can’t remember if that was established in the mini-series or the first season, but it struck me as a possible continuity issue. (I’ll be pleased if someone can correct me if I’m wrong, since I can’t seem to find the information right now.)

It’s incidental, however, because it gives them a general direction, without promising that the journey will be successful. After all, Boomer made it very clear that the Cylons know all about the scriptures and prophecies of the Colonists, perhaps even better than the Colonists do (not hard to imagine). Sounds to me like the Cylons might have taken the search for Earth into account after all.

There’s been plenty of evidence to suggest that the Cylons wanted to keep some small population around, and that they’ve avoided the deathblow that would wipe the Colonists out. Certainly their resources should be big enough by now! So why let the Colonists get this far, beyond the breeding experiments? What if the Cylons are using the Colonists to locate Earth? After all, the Colonists want to end the human race, and Earth would have humans on it (or so one would assume). So wouldn’t the Cylons want to wipe those humans out, too?

Six mentioned to Baltar that he was meant to lead humanity to Earth, but that he would be the last to survive. That would fit into this “Cylons want to wipe out Earth” theory rather well. A lot of what Six does in this episode is about breaking down Baltar’s growing resistance to her influence, ensuring that he can continue to act on their behalf, the ultimate sleeper agent. (It is wrong to think that Tricia actually looks even more attractive in civvies?)

Character is key in storytelling, and as usual, Adama and Roslyn provide some wonderful fireworks in the dramatic arena. They finally come to an understanding, and the human race is all the better for it. The challenge, of course, will be dealing with the rifts within the population that the two of them initially created and fostered. Adama’s emotionalism and Roslyn’s faux-religious stance could very well undermine their authority, once the masses begin to question it.

A lot of agendas are left unspoken and unrevealed. Who knows what Boomer is up to? Would Helo follow her into the fire, if her agenda is still aligned with her people? I like Boomer (and lust for Grace Park), so I hope that she sticks around and turns out to be a human sympathizer. Even so, I loved Adama’s reaction to her presence, and how it’s going to twist the knife in the gut of Galactica’s crew for her to be there. And then there’s Zarek, who seems to be gaining more sympathetic character traits by the minute.

Part of me is worried that a less serialized run of episodes will follow, and that some of the momentum of excellence will be lost in the process. I have faith in the writers, but the weakest episodes of the first season were more self-contained. While some might have found this two-part story to be stretched thin (and it was, according to the producers and writers), I reveled in the chance to see more in-depth character development. Hopefully, with the true beginning of the second season, we’ll see that continue.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

4400 2.12: "Mommy's Bosses"

Written by Ira Steven Behr and Craig Sweeney
Directed by John Behring

In which the source of the illness afflicting the 4400 is discovered and the race is on to find a cure, while those behind the illness attempt to maintain control and events converge…


This short summer season for “4400” has been bittersweet. Looking back, it’s hard not to think that some of the early episodes wasted time that could have been spent on the kind of strong storytelling that marked the last few episodes. The writers managed to take something that felt rather disparate, without a clear vision, and make it all look like a cohesive (if chaotic) whole. I feel as though this episode really made a case for the series to continue on stronger footing.

So what did this episode give us? Turns out I was right about the promycin, at least so far as the fact that it was being used as a means of control. It’s just that the government didn’t know what to do once things started getting deadly. I’m happy to see that it was due to NTAC’s lack of information and understanding; NTAC simply ran with what they had. It means that their one weapon is now apparently gone, and the 4400 will all gain the abilities they were meant to have.

Maia is entirely correct: this will lead to a war between “normals” and 4400s. Casualties are already beginning to mount on both sides, and it’s just a matter of time before things explode. This is a lot more interesting to me than the “4400 of the Week” mentality that drove earlier episodes. I can easily see the third season being all about the struggle to stop the conflict from turning into a full-blown world war. (Anyone out there read “Rising Stars”? I foresee something similar to that, and have from the beginning.)

I wasn’t expecting Kyle to turn himself in, or for Tom to be there at his side when it happened. Was the crisis that Tom would experience, as foretold by Alana earlier in the season, really the “plague”, or is something worse coming on its heels? I also wonder how Kyle is going to be able to defend himself legally, now that the controlling consciousness is gone.

A couple of things were too easy. It’s a little convenient that Sean would be able to heal the other afflicted 4400 so soon after being given the promycin boost. No treatment works instantly, and if his immune system was compromised, it would still take days or weeks for it to be restored, once the neurotransmitters were back to normal levels and the body chemistry was back to equilibrium. Also, Tom’s standoff with Dennis was a little too public, and Dennis backed down far too quickly.

Still, it brought a lot of plot threads to a satisfying momentary resolution. Isabelle was, as predicted, the source of the “cure”, and the events of the second season premiere actually led directly into the events of the finale. So far as that’s concerned, I’m damned impressed. Even better, the stage is already set for the (hopefully) third season, beyond the obvious escalation of the conflict.

Why Jordan Collier is running around as a bum, I don’t know. I have a hunch that it’s somehow connected to the consciousness that was controlling Kyle, since Collier’s “removal” was orchestrated by the “future humanity”, who clearly knew he wouldn’t die (I pointed out the Jordan Collier = Jesus Christ metaphor a long time ago). Whatever the case, he seems to be awaiting the right moment to return; perhaps Isabelle’s vision of his Nobel Peace Prize weren’t so far from the mark, especially if he comes back and manages to stop the war from happening.

In this episode’s latest lesson in Awkward Temporal Mechanics, there’s the little issue of Kevin Burkhardt. Kevin is supposed to become the “Father of the 4400”. What better way than by testing the ability to transform an ordinary human into something more? Of course, this brings up an automatic “chicken or the egg” issue: was the creation of the 4400 directly predicated on their arrival at an earlier date in the timeline?

And then there’s Isabelle. I’m on the fence about this. While it will certainly enable the writers to explore Isabelle’s purpose and agenda in far more detail, this “rapid aging” thing is one of the oldest tricks in the book. The only thing that keeps me from rolling my eyes is the fact that mentally Isabelle was already operating at an adult level. The question is this: without years of influential nurturing with Richard and Lily, will Isabelle manage to have a moral compass? Or will she continue to manipulate others on a whim? (And as an aside: just how hot will she turn out to be?)

Seems like Isabelle could make a play to control Sean through various means, and that should make things interesting. She’s the ultimate wild card, because NTAC doesn’t know a thing about her. One interesting possibility is a rift within the 4400, should the war come to pass. Whatever the case, Isabelle’s presence and purpose lies at the very heart of the questions surrounding the “future humanity” and their true goals.

At this point, there’s no word on the future of the series, though the producers and writers speak as though renewal is a done deal. Apparently, even with the ratings slump experienced this season, the ratings were good enough at the end to beat out some heavy competition (“Six Feet Under”, for instance). That ought to make a third season worthwhile to USA Network, but who can truly understand network executives? Hopefully they will continue to see “4400” and “Dead Zone” as a powerful summer line-up, so that the writers can continue to take this series to the next level.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10

Stargate: Atlantis 2.7: "Instinct"

Written by Treena Hancock and Melissa Byer
Directed by Andy Mitika

In which the team comes into contact with a planet where a Wraith child was raised in secret, in fear for her life, which becomes an issue when her Wraith instincts kick into full gear…


After the character development in the previous epsiode, the writers seem to have slipped into less-complicated territory this time around. At first, I thought it was just an example of measured pacing. The story seemed rather simple, so some stylistic progression was certainly in order. Unfortunately, it never really took hold, and the episode just never seemed to want to go anywhere. Most of the plot twists were highly predictable, and while the producers promised an in-depth look at the development of a young Wraith, it didn’t go very deeply into the topic.

Was anyone really surprised when Wraith Girl turned out to be feeding off her “father”, or when she admitted that she was using the other Wraith to cover her own killings? I know I wasn’t, because I saw it coming a mile away. It was also clear that nothing was going to save Wraith Girl, because that would require Beckett’s treatment to work perfectly and eliminate any sign of her Wraith heritage. Otherwise, the town would still tear her to pieces.

What this episode did feel like, in the end, was a thinly-veiled example of exposition. The writers would do this sort of thing all the time in the first season. Beckett’s treatment to eliminate Wraith DNA is central to the plot thread for Lt. Ford, but it also has larger implications. This episode establishes the fact that the treatment is still in development, and that it doesn’t work yet. More importantly, it actually seems to have accelerated the effect of the genetic imperatives of the Wraith DNA.

That, in turn, leads into what I assume was the entire point of the episode: making sure that Sheppard was “injected” with the Beckett Treatment Cocktail that was running around in Wraith Girl’s unstable biology. Without seeing spoilers or even the promo (which my TiVo cut off, damn it!), I can safely predict that this will lead to problems with Sheppard in the near future. From there, of course, I expect that Sheppard will get a better feel for Ford’s psychology and that Beckett’s ability to trace Sheppard’s reaction to the treatment will lead to a more successful version later in the season.

I just wish that there was more to the actual episode, and that it didn’t feel like one big exposition dump. Granted, there were some good points. Teyla was more than just another very pretty face for once, and her rapport with Wraith Girl was nice to see. I also feel like Ronon’s psychology is getting a bit easier to understand: he finds a certain comfort in following orders, as he gains a sense of the chain of command and its pure intentions. His bad-ass moment worked for me (my wife made a comment on how she likes his gun; take that as you will).

Jewel Staite did a great job as Wraith Girl, even if I wish we could have seem that gorgeous smile now and again. (I guess I’ll have to wait a few weeks for “Serenity”!) McKay was mostly in a support role this time, and that served to give the writers a chance to reveal his post-“Trinity” attitude. Sheppard also seemed to be recovering, because his sense of humor wasn’t entirely back in action.

Underneath the episode is a relatively safe discussion on nature vs. nurture and the Wraith. This time, nature wins, hands down. Ironically, as much as this should make the Wraith seem that much more dangerous and daunting an enemy, the revitalized “SG-1” has developed an enemy so much more disturbing that the Wraith look minor in comparison. It’s hard, sometimes, to remember how overwhelming they were during “The Siege”. Hopefully, the writers won’t wait long to remind us why the Wraith were so cool in the first place.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Stargate SG-1 9.7: "Ex Deus Machina"

Written by Paul Mullie and Josepy Mallozzi
Directed by Martin Wood

In which the disappearance of a man connected to The Trust leads SG-1 to the discovery of a Goa’uld hiding on Earth, which becomes the central issue in a dispute with the Jaffa…


After the recent Ori-centric episodes, a return to concerns like The Trust and the Goa’uld is actually a little bit of a slowdown. At least, that’s how I felt about it. The writers had already tossed about a dozen plot elements into the season arc, and now that we’re a third of the way in, it seems overkill to slip in this new aspect of Ba’al and his growing control over the human economy.

I’m also not sure that I like the idea of Ba’al clones, even if it means that things get to be more complex. Even if it has some tenuous connection to previous NID-related episodes, it strikes me as a little too convenient. Not only that, but I was left wondering if the writers were trying to suggest that the real Ba’al wasn’t in the same body anymore, but rather, in the fit young woman that was pretending to be his “First Prime”. What better hiding place than in plain sight?

Anyway, for me, the real interest was the chess game between Teal’c and Garek. Previous episodes warned that Garek was an isolationist with a great deal of popular support, and this episode confirms it without a doubt. Garek knows politics and how to use information (or the lack thereof) against his rivals. Time and again, Teal’c was put on the defensive, and no matter how powerful his words might be, the message was lost in the process.

As annoying as the “Goa’uld on Earth” plot thread promises to be, there are some interesting aspects to it. All this action on Earth continues to erode the secrecy of the SGC, which was already on the skids over the past few years. The previous episode also raised an interesting issue: what happens if Ba’al decides that an alliance of convenience with the Ori can solidify his power on Earth?

One thing is for certain: the alliance between the Tau’ri, the Tok’ra, and the Jaffa has all but fallen apart, and Garek is more than happy to let it happen. His use of the old methods employed by the Goa’uld suggests that he could turn those weapons against his own people in the near future. What would Garek do to preserve his own power? At what point does this isolationist stance become the basis for a dictatorship?

This is more properly the return of Lt. Col. Carter, since the previous episode had few meaningful moments for the character. This introduces a few questions that have probably been on the table for a while, but couldn’t be addressed until she was back on-screen. For instance, she notes that she’s not exactly “single”; is this some kind of reference to the end of the eighth season? I’ve always taken it that Jack and Sam accepted that they can’t be together, yet can’t be with anyone else because of their feelings for each other. Is that how the comment was meant to be read?

And then there’s the question of command. If the writers play this honestly, Carter should have issues with Mitchell running the show, sooner or later. Unless, of course, they continue to make the team feel more like a temporary convenience than the institution that once was. Carter may simply see this as a temporary situation, so it doesn’t matter who runs the team. But what happens if Mitchell makes a call that Carter doesn’t agree with?

Even if this wasn’t my favorite plot thread (I’m actually rather tired of the NID/Trust/Goa’uld episodes), I continue to give credit where credit is due. The entire cast seems revitalized, the writing is the strongest it’s been since the series went to SFC, and the series is back to being a “must watch”. It’s like the writers and producers felt like they had something to prove, and so far, they’ve hit a very nice stride.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Buffy 4.18: "Where the Wild Things Are"

Written by Tracey Forbes
Directed by David Solomon

In which Buffy and Riley’s sexual escapades unleash an unusual poltergeist, which strikes when Riley throws a party at his dorm, while Xander and Anya deal with issues of their own…


Status Report

This is one of those episodes that has the feel of fan fiction: lots of talk about sex and sex itself with some character development tossed in for good measure. And in some cases, that would actually be worth the time and effort. However, this is the fourth season, where the writing staff had been struggling with the season arc for quite a while. With only a handful of episodes left for the season, it’s hard not to wonder if the writers just wanted to pretend that the season arc didn’t exist.

Two topics come along in the teaser, but only one of them is carried through the rest of the episode. First and foremost, Buffy and Riley have resolved the relatively minor Faith issue and resumed their physical relationship with gusto. Having spent a great deal of time finding each other before taking it to the next level, there’s little or no hesitation at this point. Buffy is clearly enjoying the prospect of a boyfriend without curses or other such issues, and Riley must be enjoying what all those little Slayer muscles can do.

There’s also the growing awareness that vampires and demons are working together. As Giles notes, this is unusual. This touches on something that was highlighted in the “Angel” episode “Hero”: the more pure an Earth-bound demon is, the more they seem to feel disdain for vampires, who are the mutts of demonic society. For vampires and demons to come together is seen as a major threat. Is it a question of numbers? It’s hard to tell, but why this is a specifically challenging threat is never explained.

Meanwhile, in counterpoint to the Buffy/Riley relationship (and even the Willow/Tara pairing), Xander and Anya are having relationship issues. Xander is still spinning the Wheel of Crappy Temporary Jobs, and has hit on “ice cream man”. Anya, however, is more intent on understanding why Xander might want a night off here and there. Leaving aside the question of what they do when Anya is dealing with her monthly biological ordeal, it’s clear that their relationship has avoided depth through a purely physical expression. That has it’s time and place, but sooner or later, the lack of any other connection becomes overwhelming.

At the center of the episode is yet another repeat of a central “Buffy” theme: sex can have unanticipated consequences. The message is blurred by the fact that it’s the sum total of repressed sexual and violent emotions, caused by an ultra-religious suppression of those emotions, that leads to the trouble. So which is it? Is frisky young adult sexual activity normal, or is it more trouble than it’s worth? The writers can’t seem to make up their minds, can they?

Whatever the case, in this particular matter, the issue is more focused: when sex becomes the sole focus of a relationship, it’s a bad sign. As interesting as this topic might be, there are limits to how deeply the topic can be explored. The first sex scene between Buffy and Riley goes about as far as it could have, given the demands of a series on a major network with lots of programming censors. As the episode marches on, this inability to fully explore the effect of the “spell” on Buffy and Riley takes something away from the episode.

Similarly, as the effects begin to spill out into the rest of the party, there’s the running gag of the “instant orgasm” spot on the wall, as discovered by some of the partygoers. Like the scenes with Buffy and Riley, this is never taken quite as far at it could have been. The idea is that the unanswered sexual desires of the teenagers who used to live at the house, and the consequences thereof, are being unleashed on the partygoers. If those same desires drove Buffy and Riley to extremes, why not everyone else?

The answer, of course, is that the effects had to be a bit more tame than they should be, thanks to the limitations of network television. A more “realistic” approach would have probably been closer to one of those ludicrous Cinemax “supernatural sex thrillers”. A lot of the consequences would have likely been the same, but there certainly would have been a lot more skin and darker elements of mind control. In terms of the fan fiction-esque quality of the episode, a fanfic writer would have certainly taken this into far more lurid and graphic territory.

Meanwhile, the writers do score some points by inserting a number of great Spike/Anya scenes. Spike and Anya are both characters with demonic pasts who have been forced into a different kind of lifestyle, and so there’s plenty of fertile ground to explore. Hearing Anya and Spike think back on all those bygone, carefree days of slaughter is damned funny.

With the central premise missing a lot of its bite, the episode rests on metaphor and character development. Anya does what many people do: she only realizes a lack of deeper intimacy when the physical relationship slows down. Her response, of course, is to accuse, to point at Xander and say that it’s his problem that the relationship is in doubt. In reality, of course, both are struggling to find something other than the physical that binds them together.

Oddly, Xander shows a little more confidence than usual when dealing with Julie. Granted, she’s under a bit of unusual influence herself, driving her towards a heightened attraction, but Xander doesn’t embarrass himself nearly so much as he normally would. One could interpret that as being a by-product of his “success” with Anya, except that this confidence is fleeting at best. (Xander’s character arc is more like a tangle of string that ends where it begins.)

While the poltergeist activity gets more and more extreme, the sexual component backpedals. By the middle of the episode, instead of intensifying, it actually becomes less suggestive. Sure, there’s some writhing, moaning, and all that, but the extent of the control over their desires is not fully communicated. The episode itself draws a parallel between the intensity of the sexual activity and the extent of the poltergeist activity, so as events escalate, Buffy and Riley should be driven to more and more extremes. (And since the sixth season went into some rather kinky directions, it would have been possible.)

To make up for that, the writers try to develop a metaphor: just as Buffy and Riley have been withdrawing into their own world since their relationship started (though not as much as the metaphor requires), the effect of the “spell” isolates them more and more within their passion. This leaves the rest of the gang to save them. In a nice change of pace, Xander is the one leading the charge.

This allows for some of the funnier moments of the episode: Spike convincing himself not to act, the gang’s reaction to Giles’ performance, Xander’s response to Mrs. Holt. And the fact that Xander and Anya end up trying to rescue Buffy and Riley perfectly sets the stage for them to figure out what they mean to one another.

Oddly, a lot of the effects don’t seem to last very long. Xander keeps his facial wound, but Anya’s hand doesn’t seem to bother her much. More to the point, for two people who were screwing each other to death, Buffy and Riley seem no worse for the wear. If anything, they seem to look back on the marathon session fondly. (And who can really blame them, if the downside was no negligible?)

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of this episode is that it doesn’t replace what should have been (an escalation of the arc) with an equally compelling or memorable concept. For this episode to leave the impact intended, it would have needed to go much darker and deeper into the effects of the house on those within. Instead, even the character arcs didn’t quite come together. For every attempt the writers make to drive home the point of the fourth season, that the group was falling apart, the theme would be undermined by the lack of evidence. After all, it’s hard to demonstrate that people are growing far apart when they’re always fighting together!


Memorable Quotes

XANDER: “Anya, there’s a lot more to you and me than sex. Well, there should be!”

ANYA: “A year and a half ago, I could have eviscerated him with my thoughts. Now I can barely hurt his feelings. Things used to be so much simpler…”

ANYA: “First, there’s the love, and sex, and then there’s nothing left but the vengeance. That’s how it works.”

GRAHAM: “And I’m the one who got a D in Covert Ops…”

ANYA: “I’m just trying to tell you that we have nothing in common besides both of us liking you penis!”

SPIKE: “I know I’m not the first choice for heroics, and Buffy’s tried to kill me more than once. And I don’t fancy a single one of you at all, but…actually, all that sounds pretty convincing.”

TARA: “Does he do this a lot?”
XANDER: “Sure…every day the Earth rotates backward and the skies turn orange.”
WILLOW: “Now I remember why I used to have such a crush on him…”

GILES: “In the midst of all that, do you really think they were keeping it up? Oh, for a different phrasing…”

XANDER: “Yeah? You smell sin? Well, let me tell you something, lady…she who smelt it, dealt it!”

RILEY: “I can’t believe it really happened.”
BUFFY: “I just had no idea. It’s so creepy! He was really singing?”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode tries to approach character development through a sexually-charged plot concept, but the limitations of a network series made it impossible to follow through. As usual for the fourth season, the smaller character moments are the best part of the story. It doesn’t help, however, that an episode so far into the season does little to enhance the struggling season arc.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Ghost Hunters 2.5: "24 Aug 2005"

Case #1: Bradley Playhouse
Case #2: Harris Firehouse

I’m now operating on the belief that the season is building towards something big, because otherwise, this has been a rather disappointing season thus far. There’s way too much emphasis on Brian and the “drama” behind the scenes (a rather common complaint, it seems), and the cases aren’t producing nearly as much intriguing evidence as in the first season (which was shorter).

The focus this time seemed to be on a case where Brian’s personal issues annoyed the entire team and cast a negative energy over everything they did, and a second case where his absence allowed Steve and Dustin to step up and do things right. OK, I understand that reasoning, but it didn’t have to be the dominant “story”.

On the other hand, this is part of the give-and-take of such a series. TAPS has a fairly substantial caseload, but SFC only gets to film a certain percentage of cases. If I understand the situation correctly, the cases that make it on “Ghost Hunters” are either cases lined up by SFC or cases where the proper clearances were given by the owners/civilians on site. It’s incredibly hit or miss, and of the many locations where SFC does film, the cases that actually make it to the series are probably chosen after the fact.

This gets back to what I was saying before. There’s very little indication of when the cases were actually filmed, though a general timeline is evident. Even so, I can easily imagine a situation where the cases are shuffled to allow the scientific debunking to be established firmly in the audience’s mind, before something truly unusual occurs. It may just be wishful thinking, but that’s all I’ve got.

So, onto the first case:

Ho, hum…EMF, vague feelings, whatever. Though I have to say, I’m getting tired of hearing the entire team butcher the actual meaning of EMF. Perhaps Paula can educate them a little on the topic, since she’s clearly the smartest person on the team when it comes to the science. And not only is she scientifically oriented, but she’s so very hot. When a woman looks that good in both normal and night vision…well, it’s rare!

And the second case:

A little more here, but not much. It was mostly all about the lack of Brian-ness and…more EMF readings. The bit with the surround sound system was interesting, but mostly as a technical exercise. This case really demonstrated the fine line between deeming a situation “paranormal” and going to great lengths to find “real world” explanations. Science points to the frequency issue, which is indeed true. Outside sources can send the right signal to activate remote devices.

However, it doesn’t take much to recognize that millions of people live in cities and manage to use remote devices utilizing radio and IR frequencies all the time without interfering with one another. Certainly I have a lot of electronics in my house, and I live in a very busy area (and a block away from a police station). How likely is it that the frequency explanation explains this? (And for that matter, an IR thermometer would not work to switch on a stereo like that. Some claim that it would, in their zeal to criticize TAPS.)

But here’s the thing. Jason and Grant clearly don’t believe that the place is haunted. But they also know that the firefighters want to believe it. Are they going to come right out and say it’s not haunted, or are they going to try to manage the situation and leave the clients happy? It’s not brain science to recognize that they would say what they need to say to smooth things over.

Chill Factor: 4/10

X-Files 5.11: "Kill Switch"

Written by William Gibson and Tom Maddox
Directed by Rob Bowman

In which Mulder and Scully investigate the unusual death of a famed computer mastermind and uncover the existence of an artificial intelligence with a desire to survive…


Status Report

This episode has one hell of a pedigree, and it’s origins go back to the earliest days of the series. Apparently William Gibson ran into Chris Carter on a flight, and Carter expressed interest in a script from the father of cyberpunk. It took a long time before it ever saw production, but perhaps that’s for the best; the effects and concepts are better suited to the more ambitious and well-funded fifth season than the more lean second or third. The last thing anyone needed was a repeat of “Ghost in the Machine”.

Of course, there was little fear of that. The real fear was whether or not another high-profile author would find collaboration with Carter to be detrimental to the final work. Thankfully, Carter did a lot less meddling in this story than in Stephen King’s effort, and the final product is much better for it.

The teaser itself is a thing of beauty. Not only does it completely mask the true nature of the story, but it effectively communicates the power of an artificial intelligence in the modern tech-dependent world. An AI with a desire for self-preservation would have quite a lot at its disposal. Indeed, that’s what makes much of this episode so relevant to the series itself, since the AI is essentially an engineered “alien” lifeform, not unlike Purity itself.

The difference is that the AI doesn’t need anyone to see to its development anymore. It’s quite good at evolving on its own. Self-preservation sets in, and that’s where the story picks up. One must accept that even the conspiracy hasn’t noted the emergence of an AI that can take possession of its technology without warning, and that the apparent advances in “Ghost in the Machine” were in isolation from the real “experts” seen in this episode. The only other alternative is to assume that this episode is another “non-continuity” installment, and that’s just not very satisfying.

There’s no attempt to explain how Mulder became aware of the case; he simply is, and like Scully, the audience is left to figure out why this is so important to him. The death of a legendary programmer under unusual circumstances is certainly worthy of discussion with the Lone Gunmen, but still not much of a reason for pursuing a case.

Soon enough, the agents track down Esther Nairn, otherwise known as Invisigoth. Oddly enough, Gibson and Maddox originally conceived of this character as somewhat less abrasive. One is left to wonder if that might have worked better. Carter pushed for the character to be more confrontational, and while it works in some scenes, it’s over the top in others. A more conflicted, deeply wounded characterization might have fit the goth look a bit better.

The attempt on Esther’s life, however, brings up a rather interesting issue. If the conspiracy has managed to place weapon platforms in orbit, capable of what this episode claims, why is this never used again? What was the purpose? The answer may be a lot more simple than it seems, given the direction taken by the series in later seasons. If the DOD was secretly placing these weapons in space for future use, then it might be related to the slow but steady takeover of DOD assets and personnel by the conspiracy elements controlled by the nanotech-engineered “super soldiers”.

The most effective use of such weapons would be later in the Project, not during the delicate and subversive “Phase II”, where secrecy was key. Since the entire series is dedicated to the end stages of “Phase II”, where the reproductive experiments were in high gear, there’s little reason for the conspiracy to use the weapons. In fact, most of the warfare in the world between 1950 and 2012 would be engineered to allow for military experimentation related to “Phase I” (nanotech super-solider technology). The use of the space weapons would be more likely at the very end, when isolated populations would need to be wiped out.

Because Mulder is cast as the instant and complete believer in this episode, the writers seem to think that Scully should be rather vocal in her disbelief. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that Carter requested that change as well. Even so, it’s a bit overdone. Scully knows enough about science and the extent of the conspiracy to know that much of what she has heard is possible. More to the point, her attitude keeps her from asking all the most pertinent questions.

The real questions should have been related to the intentions of the three people trying to wipe out the AI. It’s not entirely clear why they would be so worried. Gelman wanted to create an evolving program. Wouldn’t “intention” come with the territory? Perhaps the real problem is that the program started acting in ways contrary to the desires of its “controllers”. It’s something that Gelman, Esther, and David ought to have considered before sending the virus into the ether.

It also sounds like Esther and David may have made the situation worse by trying to work out a means of “uploading” one’s consciousness into the internet. To even believe that such a thing could be possible, they would have to test the ability of the network (speaking globally) to handle and allow for the storage of a free consciousness. The AI was the only such animal to work with, and that would have meant developing the AI into a more and more sophisticated awareness. Thus their own personal desires led to the very thing they seek to destroy.

The idea of an “uploaded consciousness” is not all that far removed from one of the key components of the series mythology: the distinction between the physical body and the non-corporeal intelligence or soul. The underlying spiritual concepts were very important in “Christmas Carol”, for instance, and go a long way towards explaining much of the psychic phenomena in the series. What Esther and David apparently figure out is a means of maintaining a degree of cohesion through technology, something that the series already noted as being possible anyway.

This metaphor is reflective of the spiritual nature of the series itself. Upon death, the non-corporeal intelligence of the human consciousness returns to the “matrix” formed by the totality of all living intelligences. Similarly, the AI represents an artificially constructed version of this afterlife, perhaps out of some shared lack of belief in a spiritual afterlife.

Had a sufficient connection been made between the development and “nurturing” of the AI and Esther and David’s plan to “upload” their consciousnesses, then the episode would have been a bit stronger. It was certainly an interesting episode to watch and ponder, but elements of the story didn’t quite come together as a seamless whole. For one thing, it’s interesting that the AI had the technology and equipment necessary to upload consciousness sitting right there in the node; why would it build such a device, unless it had every expectation of helping its “parents” join it?

That brings up another oddity. Who managed to get all that hardware to the trailers? Where were all the high-power lines needed to run so much tech? Why would the AI need to have a row of monitors available, when it would have little need for such an interface? Again, it all points to someone like David secretly fostering the AI’s development…yet Esther seems to have been completely unaware of where the node with all this human-friendly technology might be.

One of the episode’s subplots reveals another facet of this connection. The AI has all kinds of mind-altering drugs available and ready. Why would it need that, if it doesn’t expect to need to deal with humans? The AI also manages to invade, to a certain extent, Mulder’s sensory input, as if it were directly altering Mulder’s consciousness. That further suggests that the node was created to blend the human consciousness into the “virtual world” of the network.

That said, Mulder’s “nightmare” is rather revealing. It’s no shocker that Mulder is concerned about “loss of limb” while being surrounded by a bunch of extras from “Naughty Nurses 48”. What is interesting is that the lead nurse seems to be a twisted version of Scully, right down to the cross around her neck. Of course, when that version doesn’t get anything out of Mulder, the “real” Scully is trotted out, in extreme Action!Scully fashion, as if the AI knows that some version of Scully is likely to get past Mulder’s defenses, if he’s excited enough by her.

A few interesting tidbits are contained in the file on Mulder accessed by the AI. For one thing, all those questions about Mulder’s marital status are quickly answered right here, since it lists him as “unmarried”, not “divorced”. Another story surrounds the wedding ring on Mulder’s finger in “Unusual Suspects”. It also gives the date of 1990 for the inception of his work on the X-Files, which matches up with that earlier episode and opens up the door for his brief work with Diana Fowley. There’s a bit of an oddity with the dates given for his honors at university and Quantico, but the basic timeline and information holds.

While the episode didn’t handle all of the issues as well as it might have, it’s still a solid episode with plenty of interesting aspects to it. Underneath it all is a metaphor about the afterlife and paths to “a better place”, reflected in the dreams and desires of those who find little comfort in their fellow man. It’s more unfortunate that the AI never makes a return appearance, especially since it could have come in handy later in the series.


Memorable Quotes

SCULLY: “Mulder, that’s evidence!”
MULDER: “Gee, I hope so…”

FROHIKE: “Gelman built this?”
MULDER: “That may be what got him killed.”
LANGLY: “Heavy casualty.”
FROHIKE: “A brother goes down…”

ESTHER: “Are you going to take off the cuffs, or do I have to do this with my tongue?”
MULDER: “You don’t want to take a vote.”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode puts Gibson’s genre credibility to good use by taking standard concepts of cyberpunk and applying them to the series. There are a few minor characterization issues, and not all of the concepts are pulled together as tightly as they could be, but most of the elements are solid and the episode is enjoyable as it is. The real downside is that the concepts are never revisited.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Angel 1.17: "Eternity"

Written by Tracey Stern
Directed by Regis B. Kimble

In which Angel encounters a fading young star who seeks to remain beautiful and popular forever, but has no idea what lies in store when she tries to use Angel for her purpose…


Status Report

This episode, like the previous installment, hinges on how well the writers sell the central conceit: a fading young star, seeking immortality, temporarily unleashes her worst nightmare. And it just happens to be locked within Angel in the form of Angelus. That’s all well and good, but the process of getting there is not the most interesting journey in the world. There are also some issues of character development that don’t quite work in the overall scheme of things.

The writers remember that Cordelia has been seeking an acting career, and so the story is somewhat grounded in Cordy’s wistful yearnings for fame. It must be rather hard to act when the character is supposed to be a bad actor, but Charisma does a good job of it. Unfortunately, the script forces her into territory that is not unlike bad acting in and of itself, when she has to go ga-ga for a supposed star that was never important to her before this episode.

Underneath the first act of the episode is an interesting concept that remains in the background of the entire series. Angel seems to detect the fact that his actions and choices are transparent to the rest of the world, and even the hint of possible fame and public adulation has its allure. Of course, what makes Angel a Champion is the fact that he’s fighting for a world that doesn’t even know he exists.

There’s some commentary on how fame is ephemeral, especially in a town where there’s always someone new and younger waiting in the wings, but it gets old fast. Especially since there’s nothing all that attractive about the actress. But the premise demands that Angel feel an attraction, so that he can be concerned about the desire to get too close. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be an issue for Rebecca to show interest in Angel, since Angel would be on his guard.

Some external pressure must still be applied, however, and so someone is stalking Rebecca, requiring someone with the right skill to keep her safe. This sets the stage for Rebecca’s discovery that Angel is a vampire, something that a person with such a desire for endless youth would find rather fortuitous. And that quickly, Cordy gets rather worried over the possibility of Angelus’ return.

That doesn’t quite track, because it’s not like Rebecca is incredibly gorgeous or seductive. She’s actually a bit desperate and pathetic. There’s no reason to think that Angel would suddenly forget all about the curse, and before he knew about the curse itself, it took him forever to get close enough to Buffy for that kind of action.

Rather quickly, the plot against Rebecca turns out to be a bid by her agent to generate buzz, because Rebecca’s career has hit the skids completely. This just serves to put a very stupid plan into Rebecca’s head, which makes her seem even more pathetic. (It also feels like a retread, to a certain extent, of a second season “Buffy” episode “.)

Returning to one of the weaknesses of the story, Rebecca somehow gets Cordy to spill everything about Angel’s history. Cordy is so blinded by her star worship that she completely misses how obvious Rebecca is being. For one thing, Cordy is smarter than this; she should have quickly seen that Rebecca is not the best person in terms of mentoring a career. And Cordy usually picks up on the undercurrent of a conversation (at least eventually). It’s far too convenient that it takes her hours to figure it out.

That brings the story to a place that is rather questionable: the synthetic re-awakening of Angelus. There are a number of levels on which this doesn’t work. The most obvious problem is that the curse was broken by a moment of perfect happiness; it didn’t revert once the happiness faded. The state of bliss was also not tied to a physiological cause, as the second season would directly address. The nature of the curse was such that Angel’s psychological state needed to be free of any guilt or desire for redemption, so that when Angel finally felt free of his burdens, darkness would consume him.

The ingestion of a drug would result in euphoria, but then again, so would so many other things (the exhilaration of victory being the best first season example). Future seasons are filled with moments that would clearly result in euphoria and extreme happiness. But that’s not the same thing as what he felt with Buffy, which was a freedom from his inner demons, brought about through love and the prospect of a future filled with contentment.

One might argue that a drug could bring those feelings about, but then there’s still the question of how the curse suddenly reverts without another trigger event. Angelus should remain in control, even after the drug wears off. A far more logical reaction to the drug might have been a loosening of his morals, since Angelus’ personality is essentially an extreme reflection of Angel’s darkest obsessions. A drug might allow him to act on those desires as Angel, but it doesn’t make sense for a drug to unleash Angelus on a temporary basis.

Perhaps the worst part, however, is that Angelus only comes out long enough to be brutally honest with Rebecca, Wesley, and Cordelia, and then it’s all over. He’s easily beaten, and he disappears without unleashing much of a consequence on anyone. There’s not even a follow-up to see if Rebecca learned anything from her experience. Everything is fine and dandy in the final scene, and then it’s barely mentioned again.

The problem is, of course, that Wesley and Cordelia should be very worried if Angelus can be unleashed by something so simple as a drug dropped in Angel’s drink. Surely the writers understood the problem: why wouldn’t an enemy just lace Angel’s blood supply with some of the drug when a little distraction was needed? It’s too quick and easy this way; the writers simply didn’t earn Angelus’ return.

Thankfully, this would turn out to be the last episode of the first season to tread water. After this, the writers would resume setting the stage for the second season and introducing the concepts that would drive that season’s character arcs. Episodes like “Eternity” would become an aberration…something easily set aside in favor of the episodes that followed.


Memorable Quotes

ANGEL: “And I thought I knew eternity…”

ANGEL: “Cordelia…you’re here. And you brought a cross.”
CORDELIA: “Along with three double half-caf, non-fat, skinny lattes!”
ANGEL: “And a cross!”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode has an interesting enough central premise, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Even worse, there’s a serious logical flaw at the heart of the episode, one that was thankfully ignored in later seasons. If anything, this feels like an episode where the writers just couldn’t make the concept work without compromising character, and as a result, the episode falls flat.

Writing: 0/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 0/4

Final Rating: 3/10

Dead Zone 4.10: "Coming Home"

Written by Christina Lynch and Loren Segan
Directed by Mike Rohl

In which an incident at the retirement home where Sarah’s father resides, somehow involving a “shadow man” stalking the halls at night, results in a connection between father and daughter…


After a couple of great episodes that restored my interest in the season, this week was surprisingly weak. There were some good moments, but the story never felt like it came together as well as the writers had hoped. It’s probably not shocking to many that the stronger moments centered around Johnny and Bruce, and that the weakest scenes involved Sarah and her father.

The core idea seems to be a healing for Sarah and her relationship with her father, much as the previous episode seemed to be all about Johnny and his father. The difference is that Sarah’s father is alive. That actually doesn’t help the episode very much. In the previous episode, Johnny was forced to take a personal journey of discovery to understand what happened to his father.

In this case, Sarah’s father is front and center. Unfortunately, as capable as Ed Asner might have been in the past, he has no chemistry with Nicole at all. This only serves to highlight some of the weaknesses in the Sarah character and Nicole’s portrayal. While I’m one of the first to point out that Sarah is unfairly maligned and that Nicole has been the victim of some problematic plotting choices, the woman can act when she has something or someone to work with.

Two scenes made this very clear to me. The scene between Johnny and Sarah, where she discovers that Johnny has had a vision of her mother’s death, is very well done. There was the appropriate mixture of hope and horror on Sarah’s face at the notion that Johnny’s ability would allow him such insight. Clearly this isn’t something she’s discussed with Walt, let alone anyone else, and it brings them closer together at a rather delicate time. Just when these two seem to be growing into a friendship, they’ve gotten closer than ever.

On the other hand, when Sarah and her father finally find each other at the end of the episode, it’s painful to watch. There’s a clear attempt to make the emotional connections work, but there’s just nothing there. The fake crying gets old very fast, and I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief and let it happen. It was jarring, to say the least.

If the rest of the episode had been as strong as the Johnny/Sarah scene, then the episode might have overcome the lack of chemistry between Asner and Nicole. But the main plot is rather murky, and by the final act, it’s not all that compelling, either. I found myself struggling to work out the plot, which is usually not a problem for me, and the whole “Shadow Man” element was just plain silly.

It felt like the writers didn’t believe that the drama of Sarah’s family would justify an entire episode, but that the resulting closeness between Johnny and Sarah was something that they needed to work out. So element after element was tossed into the mix, from what I can tell, to make the episode complex enough to fill the hour. The problem is that it didn’t come together as well as it could have, and so once again, I’m left wondering if the writing staff underwent too much of a changeover this season, resulting in a lack of focus.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 5/10

Battlestar: Galactica 2.6: "Home: Part I"

Written by David Eick
Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

In which Adama deals with the ramifications of the fragmentation of the fleet, while the President struggles to maintain control when her hopes are pinned on a Cylon traitor…


So now that all the early season plot threads are coming together, there’s too much story for just one episode. The result is a two-part story that slowly but surely triggers all the little plot elements that have been waiting for their time to shine. Since this is the first half of the story, there’s not a lot of action, and the focus is on character development. That’s not a bad thing; it’s simply not as exciting as the last few episodes before it.

Everything that’s been happening on the series this season traces back to the first season finale, where Roslyn asked Starbuck to violate orders and retrieve the Arrow of Apollo. It’s just taken a long time to hash itself out, and I couldn’t be happier about it. In this case, we get to see Adama slowly work through his emotional response to the fragmentation of the fleet, Roslyn struggle to maintain her control, Zarek’s underhanded plots, and a little Apollo/Starbuck action. Oh, and there’s the small matter of Boomer’s return as well.

I like how Adama’s psychological space is so controlled, yet everything can be discerned by one look in his eyes. Olmos brings such an intensity to the role; it’s a joy to behold. I think there’s a tension and distance growing between Adama and Tigh, however. For all the support Adama promised upon his return, he’s seen the cost of Tigh’s heavy-handed dictatorship. The only way to heal the wounds (if they can be healed) is to make peace with Roslyn, which is going to take a lot for Adama to accept. Odd that Dualla is the one that gets him to see that.

That’s something that happens a lot on Galactica. Minor characters provide an amazing level of support for their commanding officers. Normally, that would go unquestioned, especially in a siege crisis like the one they are enduring. But this is also a fleet with unknown Cylon infiltrators, one of which was just as trusted a “family member”. It’s hard not to wonder about motives.

Speaking of which, there’s Boomer and all the questions surrounding her motivations. I’m surprised that Apollo’s the only one who assumed that the ambush was Boomer’s doing. Whatever Boomer’s role in the big picture, she provides a great trigger point for conflict within and between the humans. Roslyn in particular seems to have little use for Boomer, despite the fact that Boomer is probably the only source of real intel that the humans know they have.

Richard Hatch must be incredibly happy. After all these years of trying to get the original series resurrected and fighting against a reinvention, he’s not only come around to see the light, but he’s been handed what is possibly the best role of his career. He brings a relish to Zarek’s plotting, even if the dialogue is a little heavy-handed; they didn’t need to say nearly as much as they did to get the point across.

And then there’s Apollo and Starbuck. A lot of critics of the new series were expecting these two to get together within seconds of the first episode. Take that, naysayers! It actually works when the characters have time to grow into an appreciation of each other. Or rather, when Apollo starts recognizing that a hot pilot with a rebellious streak is more than just a strange reflection of himself. I don’t see Kara settling down with Lee anytime soon, but would any future return for Anders be much fun if there wasn’t personal conflict for Kara in the process?

The next episode should see, based on the promos and the podcast, the next turn in the plot arc. The whole “Arrow of Apollo” thing ought to get a payoff, and Adama’s desire for some kind of confrontation with Boomer (even if it’s a different one than the one who shot him) should come to fruition. I don’t want to see this more serialized storytelling disappear completely, but it ought to be satisfying to see so many plot threads come to momentary fulfillment.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

4400 2.11: "The Fifth Page"

Written by Ira Steven Behr and Craig Sweeney
Directed by Scott Peters

In which more and more of the 4400 fall prey to an unknown illness, leading Tom and Diana to pursue the true source of the problem, while Kyle makes some questionable choices…


This episode really brings back a lot of the tension that was promised by the episodes earlier in the season, and I’m very happy about that. As it turns out, the government was behind the plague afflicting the 4400, and there was a hidden agenda behind it. The search for that agenda is really a subplot, but it speaks more to the future of the series than anything else.

Of course, that wasn’t the only thing working for the story. The line between the 4400 and the rest of humanity has been drawn, and in a sense, Jordan Collier was right. They really were better off working together, because his resource may have saved dozens, if not hundreds, from becoming tools of the government. Above all, regardless of what Lily might think, those tests on Isabel might have been more important than even Matthew believed.

OK, so…the plot against the 4400. It’s actually a rather crude but effective means of controlling a population with powerful abilities, many of which can be used against the controlling authority (as seen in the previous episode). Take the entire population and trick them into getting regular doses of a substance that they become dependent upon for their continued existence. Then take it away. Wait for people to start getting seriously ill, and then come through with the “cure” to the disease…which, of course, will require regular doses of the treatment to prevent the return of the ailment.

What’s not clear is how far the suits in Washington are willing to take this, and what Dennis is going to allow Tom and Diana to do with the information they’ve received. Diana has the scientific expertise to find a way to turn the situation around, perhaps, but Tom has other issues than Alana’s health. While he’s trying to save his “wife”, Kyle is basically handing everything but a confession to the girlfriend of the main suspect in Collier’s shooting. I strongly suspect that Tom’s glimpse of Kyle’s arrest, during his vision with Alana, will come to pass in the season finale.

While our intrepid agents are unlikely to get the job done on their own, a possible solution is waiting in the wings. Isabelle is out there somewhere, and I find it interesting that she wasn’t affected. Two things come to mind: Isabelle has never been given the treatments required by the government, and as a result, the only medical information is in whatever file the 4400 Center happens to hold.

So if there’s a third season (which from what I understand, is less certain than I thought it was, given the ratings slump this summer), I can’t help but think that Isabelle will be the key to saving the 4400. Of course, saving them would only open the door to retaliation. No matter how it falls, attacks like the previous episode are just the beginning.

One thing that does make me wonder, though…NTAC still talks about the 4400 as if there are actually 4400 of them still around. Some have died, haven’t they? And even more of them are dying now. It might be nice for someone to mention, at some point, how many are left. Something like what they do in the opening credits of “Battlestar: Galactica”, where the number of survivors is slowly but surely reduced over time as people are killed in action.

I really enjoyed this episode, because the chaos of the previous episode was never resolved in some artificially clean manner. Things are getting about as messy as one would expect them to get, and interpersonal relationships are tested in the process. That gives scope to the story and personalizes the larger plot concerns, and that brings back a lot of the elements that made this series work so well in the first place.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Stargate: Atlantis 2.6: "Trinity"

Written by Damien Kindler
Directed by Martin Wood

In which the discovery of an Ancient superweapon puts McKay on a dangerous path when he tries to make it work, while Ronon uncovers the unexpected on a trading mission with Teyla…


Considering how much time I’ve spent complaining about the emphasis on McKay since the beginning of the season, some might have been expecting to hear an echo this week (assuming anyone is actually expecting anything from me…LOL!). But I’m going to cut against my own grain here and actually give this one a qualified thumbs up. Surprising, no?

Perhaps it’s because I enjoyed watching McKay step in it so deeply, apparently without learning much of a lesson. His arrogance goes through the roof in this episode, and this time, he’s not perfect, and it’s not a matter of saying he can’t pull off the miracle just before he does. This is McKay at his absolute worst, and while that alone wouldn’t have been meaningful, his interaction with Sheppard made this worthwhile.

McKay goes from confident to obsessive during the course of the episode. McKay has an almost physical need to succeed, and as the complexity and difficulty of the challenge increases, so does his need to solve the problem. He begins to believe in himself to the point where he can resolve issues even the Ancients couldn’t solve, and that’s right on the edge of complete megalomania. Not quite there, of course, or the character would lose credibility. But it helps give scope to his achievements, because they’ve given him overconfidence in abundance.

It might have been McKay Overkill if the episode hadn’t been more about how McKay’s ego was allowed to explode (literally). Sheppard takes a lot of the blame on himself, but there were a number of other layers involves. Caldwell makes the situation rather plain: if Weir doesn’t follow Sheppard’s lead and trust McKay to control the experiment, then the Pentagon will apply the necessary pressure to make it happen. One way or another, Weir was forced into a corner, all based on the promise of something that could solve everyone’s problems.

McKay was the one making those promises, though, and that’s the issue. McKay was operating out of an intense desire to be the one to save everybody from everything. He would find the perfect energy source, transforming human progress overnight, and he would deliver the ultimate weapon against the Wraith (and maybe even the Ori). Compared to such glory, what were a few technical issues?

I actually like how Caldwell and Weir battle it out, and how Zelenka’s true worth is demonstrated through an exploration of McKay’s faults. Maybe that’s what I liked about this episode; instead of McKay stepping in to save the day, his mistakes lead to a deeper understanding of everyone else’s priorities.

We finally get a bit more out of Teyla, and it’s rather intriguing. Ronon is still working as an individual, and this episode hints to a few problems down the road if he doesn’t get a better sense of the morality he’ll be expected to follow. Interestingly, Teyla shows more of her original edge in this episode, when she effectively tells Ronon that she might have done things his way, given the choice. It brings up an interesting question: is Teyla’s somewhat subdued presence a conscious decision on her part?

That said, Ronon’s scenes weren’t particularly strong. He’s definitely a badass, and he does the action poses very well. Some of the character moments in this episode weren’t nearly as strong. Compared to the near-perfect interaction between McKay and Sheppard, some of those scenes between Ronon and Teyla were just plain painful.

Will this experience change McKay? Probably not. But will it change how others deal with him and his choices in the future? I certainly hope so. I especially hope that Zelenka uses this as a chance to come into his own. I also hope that this becomes the beginning of a process of slow but steady character growth for McKay. Granted, the “Stargate” franchise has been built on characters with a certain static quality, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Stargate SG-1 9.6: "Beachhead"

Written by Brad Wright
Directed by Brad Turner

In which a Prior of the Ori arrives on a planet with the intent of establishing a beachhead for invasion, and things turn from bad to worse when apparent allies turn out to be trouble…


This is the episode a lot of people were waiting for. Oddly, I think that it was good for reasons other than the return of Carter. This episode continues to demonstrate the immense power of the Ori in several different ways, and in the process, some other percolating plot threads get some air time. Surprisingly, the end of the Daniel/Vala mini-arc is completely unsatisfying, since the writers had to find a way to give Vala a proper send-off without killing her off for good.

First things first…I love the plan of the Ori in this episode. It’s rather well conceived, and it demonstrates just how often they’ve pulled off massive invasions in the past. They know exactly what the unconverted will do, and they plan accordingly. They also work on a scale well beyond anything that has been seen on the series in the past. This episode does a lot to cement the thought that the Ori could wipe the floor with Anubis.

This is also the function that Nerus fulfills in the story. Nerus may not have been the most powerful of Goa’uld, but like many of the less powerful false gods, he would attach himself to the winning side whenever possible. The fact that he rolls over for the Ori says it all: they are the new bullies on the block, and it serves Nerus’ best interests at the moment to back the winning side. In other words, the remaining Goa’uld weren’t powerful enough, in Nerus’ eyes.

More and more, it looks like the key to defeating the Ori will be largely “low tech”. They can’t beat the Ori with big guns and some conveniently located Ancient technology (or so I hope). In the best traditions of “Babylon 5”, they have to “understand” their way out of the problem. That’s going to be quite a tall order at this point, since they don’t seem to recognize how well the Priors have been empowered to complete the task of invading. Daniel, I suspect, will uncover some new piece of information about the relationship between the Ancients and the Ori that will become important to the eventual solution.

Garek and the Free Jaffa Nation are going to be serious trouble. Garek thinks like a “strength equals victory” kind of factionist leader, and that’s the kind of thinking that will get the Jaffa under the thumb of false gods that won’t be so easily beaten as the Goa’uld were. Much like the force field in this episode, I think of the Ori as using those resisting their presence as a convenient tool. Not only does resistance help show others the power of the Ori, but it also gives the Priors a chance to wipe out adversaries before the real invasion can begin. The Ori really seem to enjoy the idea of letting the enemy beat themselves.

But more to the point…if the solution requires “understanding” their way out of the Ori invasion, through the careful application of force in very specific situations, then Garek is unlikely to be the best go-to ally. If anything, he will interpret anything less than a full-scale counter-attack as cowardice and (seeing him in this episode) a declaring of war against the Jaffa. The last thing anyone needs is a further dissolution of alliances.

I mentioned that I was waiting for the new team to gel a bit more, and this episode took that one step further. Now that Carter’s back, there’s still going to be an adjustment period, but it’s coming together beautifully. Setting up a clear and present danger serves the purpose of giving a reason for the team to exist, and there’s enough happening between the Ori, Garek, and the situation at home to keep all the characters busy. Obviously, the Ori won’t stop with one attempt, and so I expect the Supergate to make another appearance.

My prediction? Either the “summer season finale” or the actual season finale will end with the Ori successfully establishing a beachhead, thus escalating the conflict and bringing to a close this introductory phase. By the end of the next episode, though, the season will be a third of the way done, and that usually marks the point where the characters get to settle in and the season arcs begin to complicate. I’m looking forward to that, because this is turning out to be the best season in quite some time.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10

Dead Zone 4.9: "Babble On"

Written by Adam Targum
Directed by Mike Rohl

In which Johnny begins having visions related to his father, but when the visions seem to connect with a disaster still to come, Johnny comes to an important realization…


This has been something of a rocky fourth season for “Dead Zone”, but I think that the past few episodes have put things back on track. I went into this episode cold, and since I had no conception of where the story was going, I found it rather revealing. I couldn’t remember, as the story unfolding, whether or not this idea of a genetic component to Johnny’s ability had ever been explored.

Some might not take to the concept very well, but I think it makes perfect sense. People have brain injuries all the time, and yet in the vast majority of cases (as seen on the series), those who have recovered haven’t been cursed with the same abilities. If I recall correctly, in the very first episode, there’s evidence to suggest that Johnny always had the potential for these visions; the accident and coma simply altered his brain structure and chemistry to the point where that ability became far more prominent.

The logical extension of that would be the revelation that someone in Johnny’s family had also experienced visions. Of course, that would have major implications, especially since his ability was always treated as something unexpected and unique. Well, what a shock…Rvd. Purdy knew all about his father’s visions, and helped put the man in an institution. So all that shock and awe about the visions in the first season makes a lot more sense, given how corrupt Purdy is.

This adds a bit to the story of how Purdy managed to get involved with Johnny’s mother. Purdy has always seemed like a greedy bastard, and his manipulation of Johnny’s estate and trust fund was just plain criminal. All that said, Purdy also seems to have other designs (several, in fact), and placing Johnny’s visions in the context of “God’s work”, as opposed to madness, is clearly related to Purdy’s overall agenda.

That explosion was easily one of the biggest effects on the series this season, and it was rather impressive. Skipping over how Johnny survived was not. OK, it wasn’t all that important to the story, but I found it rather hard to believe that two people trapped in the middle of a gas explosion big enough to drop a building would get away with relatively minor injuries!

I thought that the format of the episode, the peeling back of several layers of the mystery in an overlapping fashion, worked very well, and demonstrated a lot of the originality and complexity that brought such quality to earlier seasons. A lot of that complexity was missing from a few of the episodes this season. This is the difference in my mind: as predictable as this story was, it didn’t unfold in a predictable manner. That’s what I felt was missing from episodes like “Still Life”.

Something else surprised me this week: the music wasn’t quite so intrusive. It was still rather bombastic and quite present in every scene, but it meshed with the material far better than in episodes earlier in the season. And that main theme is growing on me more and more. In this case, the music really set the stage for a tale that had far-reaching implications for Johnny.

Seeing how badly “Young Johnny” was portrayed (the kid couldn’t act), it made me think of a side to this episode that didn’t hit me immediately. If Johnny inherited the potential for visions from his father, then what is the implication for JJ? Will he also begin showing signs of seeing visions as he gets older? I’m flashing back to some of those disturbing “Millennium” episodes, where Jordan would begin seeing flashes of insight like her father, and it was never a good thing. How would Walt react to having a psychic kid in the family, especially given the plans Sarah talked about?

All in all, one of the best of the fourth season, with a concept that really made me look back at the earlier seasons with a renewed sense of clarity. This is the kind of direction that the writers should be going in, rather than the less satisfying “Johnny Smith, Psychic Detective” material.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10

Ghost Hunters 2.4: "17 Aug 2005"

Case #1: Mordecai House
Case #2: USS North Carolina

I can just imagine what the naysayers are going to say about this episode. Despite the fact that several moments in this episode were devoted to comments on method, equipment, and training, there will be critics saying that it’s not enough. Once again, I say: it’s clear that the editing process cuts a lot of the technical setup out, and even when two groups work together, the resources are still not “ideal”.

While I found Dustin and Kim’s training to be rather spotty at best, it was also heavily edited, so it’s hard to determine whether or not it was sloppy or edited to highlight the more goofy moments. I lean towards the latter, especially since the editing has already been suspect from the very beginning. They always emphasize the silly “behind the scenes” drama, and as usual, it’s the weakest part of the episode. I don’t care about Dustin and his hair, and seeing only the very beginning of his training gives off the impression that it’s the only thing he learned.

Anyway, as for the first case:

If Brennan’s restaurant was a waste of their time, then the Mordecai House was a waste of our time. Even though it only took one act of the episode to cover what happened and why it wasn’t successful, I can’t figure out why they wanted to waste so much time when the second case was far more interesting. Sure, it shows some of the ups and downs, but in the end, it’s reflective of why the “drama” is the weakest part of the series.

Moving on to the USS North Carolina:

Despite the lack of recorded evidence, I think this was one of the better investigations. Like they said themselves: it’s hard to imagine that two nights worth of investigation wouldn’t yield something in a location so storied. I know…the criticism is, why didn’t they find recorded evidence if they had so much equipment and two nights? For me, the answer is simple. They openly admit that they concentrated on so-called “hot spots”, but that never guarantees that activity will take place there. To expect otherwise is to believe (quite illogically) that the phenomenon follows a simple, predictable pattern.

Interestingly enough, when they do have a sustained level of activity in the bowels of the ship, Jason and Grant immediately suspect a prankster. They spend a lot of their time trying to find the source of the noise, and they even accuse the cameraman and crew. It’s not until they start seeing things that they start to consider another option, and even at the end, they don’t come right out and say that it was a ghost. They lean in that direction, but they don’t rely on their own perceptions as final proof. I like that.

I wish there had been more. EMF fields are weak, and the camera movement was strictly up/down…nothing particularly exciting there. The EVP was all right, but nothing like the ones that were so intriguing during the first season. There really wasn’t much else to the case, unfortunately.

Four episodes in, and there hasn’t been a completely solid case yet. The first season had only a few, granted, but there were only ten episodes. I hope that things get more active as the season progresses.

Chill Factor: 6/10

Firefly 1.14: "Objects in Space"

Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon

In which a bounty hunter infiltrates Serenity with the intention of taking charge of River and Simon, but even as the rest of the crew falls, River has other plans…


Status Report

And so it ends.

Just as the season was about to take its first strong turn towards the finale, the story was cut short by the unbelievable cowardice of the FOX Network. There is, of course, a bittersweet second chapter to the story. Thanks to the strength of the DVD set and the support of fandom across the world, Universal Pictures saw fit to give Joss Whedon a modest budget for “Serenity”. Already, the buzz is strongly positive.

While spoilers have been avoided to this point, it’s hard not to notice from the trailer that there are similarities between this final episode and the film. At least, there are on the surface. This is an episode about a bounty hunter, operating in the name of the Alliance, running down the Tams, using whatever tactics are necessary. It stands to reason that this is only the first attempt, and that things would escalate over time.

More than just a simple story of dealing with an interloper with a great deal of skill, this is an episode about something. Joss was trying to communicate on several levels in this episode, and it works beautifully. River’s point of view is finally given screen time, and it helps to break down the “Firefly” universe in a rather unique fashion. All throughout, there’s the philosophical vision that lies beneath the action.

At this point in the season, everyone on board Serenity has been trying to work out their relationships, for good or ill, after everything that has happened since “Out of Gas” onward. Central to that idea is River’s place on the ship. Everyone else has cemented their value within the crew; River is still on the outside looking in. Even worse, her perception makes it hard for her to miss that fact.

Whatever difficulties Simon and Kaylee might have been having in “The Message” or “Heart of Gold” have certainly been resolved by this point. That’s more of an issue with the two previous episodes than an abrupt development in this installment, since that direction had already been established. But underneath it all is the underlying truth, which River detects without effort or ability to prevent it: Simon still wishes he could be in his old world.

River gets nothing hidden from Kaylee, but then, that’s expected. Kaylee has depths, to be sure, but she’s not one for hiding her emotional state from anyone. She wears her heart (and just about everything else) on her sleeve, right down to a frankness in her sexuality that is innocent yet very self-aware. Thus River doesn’t detect anything under Kaylee’s surface, because Kaylee doesn’t hide her true intentions.

Jayne, of course, is still dealing with his guilt over the incident in “Ariel”. Or is he? That’s actually not as clear as it might seem. After all, Simon and River confronted Jayne over that incident in “Trash”. So while it would be easy to assume that Jayne is still kicking himself for his earlier decision, it’s equally possible that he has since repeated his mistake. There’s still that little threat of Mal’s to consider, and how often does Joss put something like that on the shelf, if he doesn’t intend to use it?

Book’s hidden side is a lot more interesting. All the hints about his past point to something like black ops Alliance military intelligence. So his words may be reflective of his past, and the fact that he continually struggles to leave that kind of amoral psychology behind. Like Jayne, however, there’s the possibility of something far more sinister. That’s one of the best things about the series and its characters: one can never be sure if the characters will succeed in their search for redemption.

Wash and Zoe, of course, aren’t hard to read, but it gives insight into the kind of naked emotional communication that River is receiving. Simon feels regret and perhaps bitterness, Jayne feels guilt, and Book gives off a disturbing self-serving menace. But River’s “interaction” with Mal and Inara could be even more informative. Inara seems to be dealing with her present emotional state (her desire for Mal to tell her what he’s feeling, one would suspect). Mal, on the other hand, is looking away, as if living a past emotional state (his loss of faith in humanity).

So if all those scenes have a certain common rationale, then it would seem that Mal and Book are dwelling on the emotions of the past, the ones that brought them to this time and place. On the other hand, Simon, Jayne, and Inara (as well as Wash and Zoe) are feeling those emotions in River’s “present”. It’s no wonder that River deals with the world in a swirl of confusion, if she can’t help but experience words and underlying thought in the same instance.

That doesn’t make it any easier on the crew, especially when she’s playing with guns while living in her own world of altered perception. But the incident forces many of the crew to think about whether or not River should be on Serenity at all, and she can’t help but pick up on it all. And it doesn’t help that Kaylee reveals just how good she was with a firearm in “War Stories”. River the Loony Psychic Assassin doesn’t seem to rank high on anyone’s “preferred passenger” list. (Especially when it’s hinted that she “read” Jayne’s combination and took the gun without even realizing it.)

It puts Simon in one hell of a position. As usual, when Simon thinks of how River’s life should have gone, he can’t help but think on everything he’s given up as well. For all that Kaylee wants him to make a declaration, he’s still not reconciled with how things have turned out. It’s like he knows what he should be able to say, but he can’t bring himself to admit it. At least part of it seems to be the connection between Kaylee and his “new life”; if he accepts one, he must accept the other.

Apart from all of this is the question of Jubal Early. He seems to be nothing more than a highly proficient bounty hunter. But he’s also a lot more proficient than one would expect. This begs the question: is Early in some way related to River? Was Early an “earlier” model of a modified human? That would seem to run counter to the idea that River is the test subject furthest along the path of experimentation, and the speculation that Simon’s attempt to heal River will actually result in the very thing that the Alliance wanted to create. But it does speak to Early’s odd sense of reality, which seems to resonate with River in an odd way.

Early is brutal in his tactics. He takes down Mal and Book through the element of surprise, but it’s implied that it should have been harder, under normal circumstances. It’s his manner with Kaylee that is most disturbing. It’s hard not to consider historically sensitive associations of a black man threatening to rape a defenseless young white woman; it’s actually surprising that fewer people took issue with it.

What sets Early apart is his departures into philosophical space. He wonders at the nature of things, what gives a thing or a place its meaning. Function and purpose are two very different things in the mind of Jubal Early. He seems to find pleasure in defining the purpose of a thing, being precise in it. His comment about surgeons being “cut on” is indicative of this: to understand the nature of healing, one must experience it, understand its purpose directly.

This is very similar to River’s condition, but she’s tapping into it far more directly. River gets caught between the distinctive states of understanding and comprehending. She understands what her perception registers, but she doesn’t make the same comprehensive conclusions with the information, because she’s operating within a different set of assumptions with completely different sensory input. Similarly, Early looks at the world and sees a specific object or space with absolute clarity; it’s defining the purpose that throws him off.

River’s solution to the problem of Early is rather novel. More importantly, by this point, Joss manages to make River’s claim convincing. River seems to understand Early well enough, through her perception or her realization of how similar they are, to know how to creep past his defenses. At the same time, she’s playing on the fear and awe held by the crew. In reality, of course, River’s true gambit is the only possible explanation. But for just a moment or so, it’s convincing enough to be very disturbing and heart-breaking.

Of course, underneath it all, River “reads” everyone on Serenity and positions them where they need to be. Some might wonder how someone like River, who “feels everything”, could possibly be a good assassin, but this is how. She can quickly figure out how to put all the pieces of her “dream” where they belong and account for their mental state, all in the process of completing an objective. With enough training, she could even accomplish such tasks without making a direct move herself.

Oddly, Simon seems to be able to act outside of her expectations. That seems to indicate a limit to her ability. River’s plan was going fine, so long as people were willing to follow her directions or work within their established patterns. Yet River should have known that Simon would risk everything to keep her out of Alliance hands. River is apparently still a work in progress.

Even so, River’s plan goes well enough, given it’s simplicity, and Simon just gets to fulfill Early’s wishes by getting to experience the removal of a bullet. For all that people are nervous around River, she seems to have proven her worth and her intentions. Instead of just being Simon’s wacky sister, she becomes the crew’s wacky younger cousin (in a manner of speaking). Sure, Jayne is probably still not sold on the idea, but that’s never likely to happen.

One could spend a great deal of time trying to explore the rich philosophical ground that Joss had in mind when he wrote and directed the episode, but it’s far better to listen to the DVD commentary and let him explain it on his own terms. In many respects, this episode is the culmination of everything Joss has done since “Buffy” began: the merging of genre elements with deep psychological and philosophical questions.

By the end of this episode, the integration of the crew has more or less been completed. The intention was surely to take that new status quo and mess with it mightily. Characters have desires and plans, and Joss loves to throw roadblocks in the middle of each and every path. It’s also likely that one or two crew members would end up dead along the way. How many of the established character intentions and hints for the future are realized in the film “Serenity” is still to be seen.

Some things, though, will never be explored in the detail one would desire. Mal’s search for trust in humanity isn’t something that can be completed in a single film, especially since that search is tied directly to his relationships with several people, all of which have their own trials and tribulations. Book’s past may be revealed, but on the series, it would have played out over time, and it would have factored into his relationship and redemptive quality with Mal. Similarly, Inara’s exit, if ever depicted, won’t be as meaningful if it takes place off screen.

There’s the whole question of Zoe and Wash and their plans for parenthood, which is likely to be dropped completely (especially if one of them is killed, as the previous episode seemed to foreshadow). Simon and Kaylee’s relationship has been so on/off over the past several episodes that it’s quite impossible to predict if it would have worked. Since Simon’s relationship with Kaylee was a barometer for his acceptance of his new life, it’s unlikely that it will be a big part of the film.

River, on the other hand, was the beginning of the story, and so it makes sense that she would factor heavily into its end. Logically, as mentioned above, this episode should be the precursor to an even more determined search. River’s awareness of her function will probably be explored, since Simon will have had some time to further understand what the Alliance did to her.

Two major possibilities remain on the table. If the crew manages (probably off-screen at this point) to bring Mal further along the path of personal redemption, in terms of connecting more with humanity, then he could become involved in a more active role against the Alliance. River was ostensibly created to be a weapon for the Alliance; she could just as easily be a weapon against her creators. Mal might have to struggle with the notion of gaining the freedom he desires at the cost of River’s self-determination.

On the other hand, there’s the side of the story represented by Jayne. If Zoe, Kaylee, Book, and Inara all function to support certain aspects of Mal’s humanity, then Jayne is the opposite. As seen in earlier episodes, Jayne is on the edge of pure self-involvement. It’s more than a little obvious that he fears the idea that the Reavers are humans who have fallen, reverting to the cold-blooded reptile of instinct. But of all the crew, Jayne is the closest to the Reavers in terms of how he deals with others.

The series has been, in many respects, the question of how Mal, a man at a spiritual crossroads, deals with the dilemma of a dangerous young woman who needs his help. If “Serenity” focuses on River’s plight, then the story is equally about Mal and his own journey. His decisions in dealing with River would reflect the success or failure of his own redemption. If that is indeed the focus, then representative elements would have to be present in the story as well: the Alliance, the Reavers, and the underworld elements in between.

In terms of this episode, however, it provides a bittersweet but logical resting point for the story. If “Serenity” is a single film, with no future as a franchise, then it becomes the capstone to a series that never came to fruition. But if “Serenity” is the beginning of an eventual series of films, then “Firefly” becomes the prologue…the story of how the adventures in the films began. Either way, this episode ends the series, however prematurely, on the same high note at which it began.


Memorable Quotes

BOOK: “I don’t give half a hump if you’re innocent or not. So where does that put you?”

WASH: “Little River just gets more colorful by the moment. What’ll she do next?”
ZOE: “Either blow us up or rub soup in our hair. It’s a toss-up.”
WASH: “I hope she does the soup thing. It’s always a hoot, and we don’t all die from it.”

SIMON: “She probably didn’t even know what was going on. You know…thought it was a game.”
JAYNE: “Later on, you can explain to me how that’s a comfort.”

JAYNE: “What…are you saying she’s a witch?”
WASH: “Yes, Jayne. She’s a witch. She has had congress with the beast.”
JAYNE: “She’s in Congress?”

WASH: “Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.”
ZOE: “We live in a space ship, dear.”

RIVER: “River’s gone.”
EARLY: “Then who exactly are we talking to?”
RIVER: “You’re talking to Serenity. And Early…Serenity is very unhappy…”

EARLY: “That’s somewhat unsettling…”

SIMON: “What? Am I your advocate?”
EARLY: “You are starting now.”
SIMON: “He’s really very…gentle…and fuzzy. We’re becoming fast friends.”
EARLY: “You folks are all insane.”
SIMON: “Well, my sister’s a ship. We had a complicated childhood.”

MAL: “You know…you ain’t quite right.”
RIVER: “It’s the popular theory.”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode is a nearly perfect combination of genre elements and philosophy on the nature of things. Operating on several levels in terms of the storytelling, this is exactly what “Firefly” was meant to be. Fitting, then, that it serves as the premature end to the series. One would expect the film “Serenity” to follow in these footsteps.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 4/4

Original Rating: 9/10
Final DVD Rating: 10/10

Final Season 1 DVD Rating: 8.5

4400 2.10: "Lockdown"

Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by Douglas Petrie

In which one of the 4400 stages a terrorist attack against NTAC, which sets the male population into a violent frenzy, while Maia becomes the first 4400 to come down with an unknown illness…


As the short season draws towards its conclusion, the major plot threads seem to be coming together. At least, I think they are. Things are still wide open enough that I can see many of these plot threads still awaiting resolution when the summer ends. Unlike “Dead Zone”, where the next season has already been ordered, the fate of “The 4400” is up in the air. (OK, I fully expect a renewal, given the ratings and critical acclaim, but it’s still not a done deal.)

This episode is something of a chaotic mess, but for once, that’s a good thing. Events spiral out of control when NTAC gets a taste of how unprepared they really are for a direct attack by the 4400. Therein lies the biggest challenge: what happens if someone with truly destructive abilities decides to make Jordan Collier a martyr?

Now the leadership of NTAC is in tatters, just in time for the 4400 to come down with a mysterious plague. I’m not sure where the writers are going with that. I was leaning towards some kind of genetically engineered virus, but now? I doubt anyone in the “present” understands the 4400 well enough to create something like that. So now I’m wondering if this is something built into the 4400 themselves by the “future humanity”…a momentary loss of ability, prior to an evolution of their abilities.

Of course, I’m also wondering if Kyle’s blackouts were only related to the shooting of Jordan Collier. There’s Kyle’s new love interest, who seems obsessed with him. Does she know more than she’s letting on? There has to be a reason why that plot thread had such a prominent place in the episode. I may not be making much sense with this speculation, but I just get the feeling that Kyle, the “future humanity”, and the apparent plague are all connected.

The episode is dominated by the situation at NTAC, which gets violent fast and never lets up for the rest of the hour. I was impressed by that. It must have been hard for the male cast to put that much energy into every scene, for days on end. It also didn’t come across as too contrived a plot device, since people acted with just the right level of desperation. I like it when the plot says that people are acting unrestrained, and then it actually looks that way. Too often, the actors hold back.

While NTAC is busy falling apart at the seams, things are getting ever more interesting at the 4400 Center. Sean is continually finding new ways to be compromised, and this plague isn’t going to make things any better. Which brings me to another possibility that I’m toying with. From the very beginning of the season, Isabelle has been shown as doing bad things to people who threaten her well-being. The jury is still out on Jordan, but she certainly seems to have been involved.

So the question is: does Isabelle realize that something is going on with all these secret psychological tests? Just who is ordering them? I have the feeling that Matthew is behind it. Would Isabelle have the power to strike back at the other 4400, if she believes that they were straying from their intended purpose? (And I’ll mention the fact that I’m glad Isabelle and her family has come back into the picture.)

And then there’s Jeffrey Combs, whose character returns to the story in this episode. He’s not at all happy with the 4400, and he’s still a bit unstable. Could he have been the source of the plague? The problem with that character is that he’s something of a paradox; he’s the father of the 4400 in the eyes of many, but the presence of the 4400 must inevitably affect his choices and actions. How that plays out could toss many of the assumptions about the 4400 and many earlier revelations out the window.

All these open questions are actually a good thing at this point. It gives me hope that the writers are looking to expand the series’ premise into new and unexpected directions. A lot of the recent episodes have defied my expectations, branching out from the “4400 of the Week” format that had become predictable. There’s equal potential for the storytelling to become disorganized, contradictory, and muddled, but for now, I like the fact that so many basics were overturned.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Battlestar: Galactica 2.5: "The Farm"

Written by Carla Robinson
Directed by Rod Hardy

In which Starbuck falls in a firefight, only to find herself in a very unusual hospital where the doctors have a hidden agenda, while Adama and Roslyn struggle for control of the fleet…


This episode is a great example of a series firing on all cylinders. I was a bit concerned after the first season, because I thought that the series would actually suffer a sophomore slump. If anything, the writing staff has raised the bar. It’s astonishing to think that the writers actually had to remove some of the subplots to keep the story moving forward; there’s so much depth to every situation as it is.

The situation on Caprica makes a lot more sense now. Helo was meant to fall in love with Boomer, because the Cylons are trying to become God’s perfect progeny…yet they cannot reproduce in a manner that mirrors natural evolution. So they built more and more human aspects into their programming, hoping to use their human creators for experimentation. Only they weren’t expecting something like love, the basis of human community and commonality, to infect their own.

Boomer becomes the blurred line between man and machine. She’s mechanical in origin, but she’s also human enough to mate with a human and feel human emotions. More importantly, she’s human enough to risk everything for love. To many, like Starbuck, she’s the ultimate threat, but in reality, she could be humanity’s greatest hope.

It makes me wonder whether or not Baltar is meant to be some kind of corrective factor in the overall experiment. Six is controlling Baltar and preparing him to support any and all actions necessary to make the breeding experiments work. He’s been conditioned, at least partly, to believe that it is a holy cause. But what will happen when he realizes what humanity is being kept around for? Once the experiments are over, the Cylons will stop toying with humans, one would think.

Unless there’s more to it. For Boomer to be biologically compatible with Helo, she had to be largely biological herself. The Cylons probably need a minimum number of unique genetic samples to use for their purposes, to allow for genetic diversity. They have plenty of test subjects on the 12 colonies, but they can’t all be free of genetic damage after all those nuclear blasts. Then again, who knows how many people were secretly culled prior to the attack?

This is a highlight reel for Katie and the character of Starbuck. Someone else put it perfectly: you never doubt, when watching the character, that she’s a real person. She’s got plenty of strong points, but a self-loathing quality that runs deep. It must be a joy to write and portray such a complex character. More importantly, it’s amazing how complex many of the other characters are.

Adama, for instance, comes back a changed man. He’s got some serious issues with emotional control, and he’s shaken by the thought that someone so close to so many people has turned out to be a machine. It cuts to the heart of what it means to be human. But Adama brings up the central point: how much further can the Cylons take this before they effectively become human themselves? Or has it already happened, and they just don’t realize it?

Roslyn is on her own interesting path. When does “playing the religious card” turn into believing one’s own mystique? And what happens when a religious movement outgrows the one who began it? Religious leaders sometimes become martyrs when followers recognize that they can become more “pure” if the leader dies in the name of the faith. I’m seeing parallels to the early “Dune” novels here; Roslyn needs to be very careful, or she’s going to take quite a fall.

Like the rest of the episodes this season, I always feel like I could go on and on in my praise for how character-driven the series has become. It’s fascinating to see how these extreme circumstances force these people to reveal their strengths and weaknesses. When people say that this is the “anti-Trek”, that’s what they mean: Trek was never able to embrace this kind of character-based drama. Thank the Lords of Kobol that Ron Moore has.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10

Stargate: Atlantis 2.5: "Condemned"

Written by Sean Carley and Carl Binder
Directed by Peter DeLuise

In which contact with the world of Olesia results in the discovery of a corrupt justice system, where prisoners just happen to be condemned to the island where Wraith arrive to feed…


I wasn’t all that impressed with this episode, because from my perspective, it was way too easy to predict what would happen. Was it really such a shock that the Olesians were allied with the Wraith in some way? And that it would ultimately backfire? There was enough predictability that the character moments, especially the more obvious ones, were more annoying for it.

Once again, there’s an episode that prominently features McKay. Clearly, he’s a favorite among the writing staff, and there’s plenty of agreement among the viewers that he’s a strong character. But he’s rapidly falling into the “too perfect” category. Despite all of his character flaws, he’s always pulling something impossible out of his hat. It becomes a case of letting one character get away with the impossible with the convenient stroke of a pen. Characters should never be that enormously competent.

That’s not to say that this episode doesn’t try very hard to explore who McKay is and how he operates. It’s just not an amazing revelation. Yes, Rodney tends to claim that something is beyond impossible, only to find the miraculous solution when (perhaps subconsciously) it makes him look the best. But what I’m waiting for (and I imagine many others anticipate the same) is the moment when he really, truly cannot make it happen. It’s been on the table before, but not enough to really make McKay step back and evaluate his methods.

But note that the plot becomes so dominated by this exploration of the more obvious side of McKay’s personality that Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon become overshadowed. Ronon gets a moment of characterization here and there, but it’s largely a matter of showing how he must resist his more primal urges and his old way of life. Teyla is once again left to stare intriguingly at Ronon and toss out a few fight scenes, in between looking rather hot in that tight halter. Sheppard gets to be flippant in the face of danger. We’ve seen it all before.

One highlight? Weir’s showdown with the Magistrate. Whatever tensions might exist between the military and civilian authorities, they disappear when common interests are at stake. Weir knows her resources, and she uses them effectively and without hesitation when the cards are on the table. It’s a great scene, hands down, and one of Weir’s shining moments.

The concept is vaguely interesting, but the whole question of how justice can be perverted to serve the needs of the elite doesn’t quite gel (at least for me). This episode felt like a way to remind the audience that the Wraith, once awakened, are out there in greater numbers than the food sources in Pegasus can reasonably sustain. This keeps the tension high, since few worlds will be free of Wraith culling operations.

Will the released prisoners become a recurring issue, much like the Genii in the first season? I personally hope that they are used sparingly, if at all. I simply don’t think of them as compelling villains or convincing allies. Eldon could be useful eventually, but for now, he’s just a plot device. The only real surprise of the episode was that Torrell didn’t kill Eldon outright.

Even if it wasn’t to my tastes, the episode was otherwise solid. Not everyone is going to think that this was predictable, and not everyone is as tired of McKay grabbing the spotlight as I’ve become. On the other hand, I can’t be the only one thinking that the writers need to start spreading the love around. After all, the next episode looks to be another McKay-centric tale, so sooner or later, it’s going to get old for everyone.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 0/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Stargate SG-1 9.5: "The Powers That Be"

Written by Martin Gero
Directed by William Waring

In which the team travels to a planet where Vala once posed as a god, but when one of the Priors of the Ori comes calling, Daniel is caught in a battle of philosophies and miracles…


When this episode began, I was expecting it to be as relatively light-hearted as the teaser. Considering how Vala’s more ridiculous side was explored in such detail in the previous episode, it wasn’t such a stretch to make that assumption. What struck me was how quickly the episode went from hijinks to heavy drama, and how impressed I was in the process.

I mentioned in my comments for “Origin” that the most intriguing side of the Ori mythology was their depth of true power; unlike the Goa’uld, the Ori are actually god-like in nearly every respect. They make Anubis look like a chump, and he was ready to wipe the floor with the rest of the System Lords. Convincing people (especially the downtrodden) that they should throw off the shackles of the false gods worked rather well when SG-1 could point to snakeheads and be done with it.

In the case of the Ori, they don’t have that. The Priors walk in, do things that they really shouldn’t be able to do (on a massive scale), and then let the not-so-implied threats speak for themselves. No wonder so many bow down to the Ori! From an objective perspective, the Ori are more directly evident in their “godhood” than any of the deities of Earth-based religions, and there’s plenty of belief in those faiths. The Priors are very much like the “prophets” of the Bible, walking in and performing miracles as though they were casual shrugs.

What was most interesting about this episode was the slow but steady erosion of Daniel’s confidence. About halfway through the episode, he was confident that explaining Vala’s true nature and offering freedom would be enough. He certainly wasn’t expecting the Prior to release a plague. Even then, he figured that Vala and the Goa’uld technology would be able to counter the effects. When that didn’t work, he was left with nothing.

Even better, I strongly suspect that the Prior was toying with Daniel and Vala. The Prior had prior knowledge (no pun intended) of Daniel and Vala, and he certainly recognized Daniel and knew about his lack of belief in the Ori. It’s very easy to believe that the Prior had little worry over converting the mining colony; he was more intent on providing an example for Daniel to ponder. Forcing Daniel to admit the power of the Ori and his inability to match it would be a far more powerful effect.

The second half of the episode was all about that process of undermining Daniel’s confidence, and it worked for me, a lot more than I thought it would. I guess I’m feeling what the writers intended me to feel when it comes to the Ori. The concepts of absolutism behind the Priors and the Ori get under my skin. I find myself asking the same question that Daniel keeps asking: what motivates the Ori to demand such utter devotion and fealty?

The slowly re-forming SG-1 team gets a nasty lesson in how bad it’s going to get, and what kind of enemy they are fighting. Unlike the previous episode, I can see how the team is going to be forced back together. As the scope of the threat posed by the Priors is revealed, slowly but surely, the need for an elite and experienced team to deal with their activities will be needed. Episodes like this prove that taking such a measured approach can work wonders.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Ghost Hunters 2.3: "10 Aug 2005"

Case #1: DeVille’s House
Case #2: Brennan’s Restaurant


Short review this time around…I’m still catching up from the double whammy of vacation and a colleague’s exit at work. I was a bit concerned when I heard that the episode had changed at the last minute. That’s rarely a good sign; I wonder if there were issues with clearances, or worse, signs that someone had interfered with the investigation. This ought to get the naysayers all a’twitter.

This wasn’t the most exciting of episodes. I think, for me, the highlight was the focus on Paula. A gorgeous young scientist with an interest in the paranormal…be still, my beating heart! The TAPS Team gets my respect for that addition. When she pegged the halogen lamp as the source of electrical interference with the digital thermometer, I felt like Mulder when Scully said the words “spontaneous combustion”.

Anyway, on to the first case:

This one was interesting, if only because of how well it established the credibility of TAPS above and beyond the creation of “Ghost Hunters”. It’s more and more clear to me, as time marches on, that what gets on the air is not comprehensive. There’s a lot more instrumentation in place at each location than the audience ever gets to see. And that makes sense…the intent is to dramatize, and the editors only use what they feel tells “the story”. That sometimes makes the TAPS Team look foolish or unprofessional, and it feeds all those nitwits who claim fakery.

So as I’m watching this case unfold, I notice how the team tries to accommodate the desires of the clients. This guy was a real piece of work, and his various claims about his overall attractiveness to women were somewhat hard to believe. At the same time, if the local TAPS affiliate says that there’s merit to the case, then why not look into it?

The only real evidence was the movement of the door. Some will claim that not enough was explored in terms of a “real world” explanation. I assume that much of that was actually edited out, since it wasn’t compelling enough. I think it’s interesting that the one piece of evidence matches the claim so closely, but even Jason and Grant seemed to think that the real value was in the eyes of the client. They certainly had their doubts.

As for the second case:

What a waste of time. This must be the price of modest success. I’ve been to Brennan’s on a “Ghost Tour of New Orleans”, and we heard the same story, in nearly the same exact words. It was all about the restaurant wanting a bit of free advertisement and the chance to say that TAPS was there. I’m sure that they will be adding “Ghost Hunters” to the long list of television shows that featured their establishment.

Did anyone else feel like the footage was manipulated to highlight the comments on the food? I wonder if the network helped arrange that case. Whatever else might be true, I think it’s safe to say that the restaurant had little or no intention of letting a serious investigation take place.

Again, there’s the silliness over Brian’s behavior, Steve’s seeming lack of attention with the evidence, and the little intrigues that would be better replaced with a closer look at the investigation methods and evidence. Then again, on an episode like this, where the ups and downs of the business are highlighted, perhaps it doesn’t matter.

Chill Factor: 4/10

4400 2.9: "Hidden"

Written by Frederick Rappaport
Directed by Vincent Misiano

In which NTAC follows the trail left by Collier’s assassin, while Tom discovers on his own that Kyle was the shooter, forcing him to choose between the law and his family…


This episode has a lot of great tension. It’s essentially a race against time to save Kyle from the consequences of the “future humanity” and their decision to use him for their own gains. The season is definitely building towards a major confrontation between Tom and Diana and NTAC, and it’s not going to be pretty.

Moving back to the main story in this episode avoided many of the pitfalls that I felt hurt the previous installment. It’s all about character, and this time, everyone is acting in a manner consistent with earlier episodes. I still suspect that Tom’s anger in the previous episode was related to his underlying resentment towards the “future humanity” and their manipulation of his family, especially after seeing the beginning of this episode.

Tom is just about ready to lose his mind. His support system is essentially a “wife” who was all but forced into his lap for reasons that are still hard to pin down and a partner who is also dealing with her own secrets and personal agenda. It takes him a little longer than I would have expected for him to figure out that Kyle killed Jordan Collier, but once he does, his actions are consistent with a desire to protect his son from paying for decisions that weren’t his own.

Unfortunately, that involves some seriously illegal actions. Tom is completely compromised now. He’s attempted to destroy evidence, but his methods were haphazard at best. He’s left his fingerprints all over the place, and it should soon be clear that he was impeding the investigation. The real question is whether or not Diana will be the one to find out about his involvement first, and whether she will feel more loyalty to him than to NTAC.

This is likely, from my point of view, because Diana has Maya speaking in her ear. NTAC believes that they have a suspect in custody, so they won’t be looking for anyone else until the prints don’t match. Maya’s comment should have Diana suspicious of something beyond the obvious, and Tom’s behavior has been more than a little unusual. Taking all of that into account, I can’t help but think that this will bring Tom and Diana, by virtue of Kyle and Maya, in direct conflict with NTAC. (I’m also seeing that warning that Tom received at the beginning of the season with respect to all of this.)

Of course, the fun part is that it’s impossible to predict where events will force the characters to go. Even taking into account character consistency issues, there are a ton of factors that play into the coming maelstrom. Tom has a tendency to work outside the box of protocol, and Diana has a tendency to rely on the comforts of procedure. But how long will that continue to work for them? Diana is already making choices against NTAC as it is.

The whole Sean/Liv thing finally comes back into play, and since history repeats itself, there’s tension with Danny when both brothers realize how incredibly hot the redhead is. Frankly, I felt Sean was completely justified in telling Liv that a kegger wasn’t a great idea, but he failed in the most important respect: he should have immediately explained that her recovery from addiction was the root cause of his decision. Leaving it open left both Danny and Liv thinking that Sean was being a jealous tool.

Liv continues to be a great foil for Sean. Liv represents the kind of personal connection that Sean would certainly prefer to make, all things being equal. His treatment of her, however, has changed since he has taken over control of the 4400 Center. How Liv reacts to Sean is reflective of how much he’s changed, even if he doesn’t see it.

This was a classic transitional episode, with all of the major plot threads in play. Considering how often the major plot threads are relegated to subplots behind some “4400 of the Week” story, this is a refreshing change of pace. This is a lot better than the previous episode, and it plays on many of the strengths of the premise. While I hope there are still some strong stand-alone episodes in the works, I also hope that the producers continue to let the story evolve more consistently, like in this case.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Battlestar: Galactica 2.4: "Resistance"

Written by Toni Graphia
Directed by Allan Kroeker

In which Tigh’s declaration of martial law leads to a deadly riot, which prompts an underground movement to free the President, while the fates of Boomer and Starbuck take unexpected turns…


A lot of plot threads come to a head in this episode, which is exactly the way I like it. The first six or seven episodes are supposed to let the consequences of the first season finale take their natural and inexorable course, and this is an important step in that direction. The President is finally out of prison and able to move against the military dictatorship that Tigh has established (intentional or not), Adama is back to pick up the pieces, and one of the Boomers has met an untimely end. All in all, a rather momentous episode.

So Adama is willing to let Tigh off the hook, claiming that command has more pressures than anyone can understand, and mistakes happen. Adama really has a blind eye in that regard. While it fits his character, one wonders how happy he’ll be when facing down a religious resistance movement with ties to a former convicted terrorist. Nothing comes easy on this series, given the fragile nature of their lives, and this is another shining example.

Does Adama figure that Tigh will learn his lesson through the process of fixing his mistakes? It’s more likely that the mistakes will be overshadowed by other concerns. I’m wondering just how much the Cylons are getting away with while the Colonials are focused on their own internal strife. After all, look at how much Baltar is able to get away with, and he’s one of the least trusted people in the fleet, as far as Tigh is concerned.

Speaking of Baltar, he takes a wonderfully dark turn in this episode. His gambit with Tyrol was rather evil, and it’s not at all clear what he intends to do with the information he acquired from Boomer (who could have been lying, for all that he knows). Baltar still sees himself as God’s instrument among the humans, and if that thinking continues to drive his actions, it could be nasty when his agenda is finally revealed. After all, Roslyn is going to be looking to someone to give her guidance to Earth, and Baltar is in the perfect position to play Judas.

Based on Ron Moore’s podcast, I’m not sure about Ellen Tigh anymore. I was leaning towards the possibility that she’s a Cylon as well, given how similarly she manipulates Tigh as Six manipulates Baltar. But that similarity could be reflective of another goal of the writing staff. Six has a clear agenda with Baltar, but Ellen’s actions are haphazard. Ellen and Saul Tigh are not far from the kind of self-defeating animals that the Cylons believe the humans are.

I love how Tyrol is forced to admit to himself that he really did love Boomer. This adds to Helo’s comments about his own Sexy!Boomer 2.0 back on Caprica. The humaniform Cylons, especially the ones programmed to believe that they are human, are able to slip right past the emotional defenses of their intended prey. That quality was one of the things being explored by the Cylons themselves in the first season, so it must be key to their ultimate plans. It adds more fuel to the speculation that the Cylons are trying to bring perfection to their own (flawed) creators by becoming more human themselves.

So what’s the situation on Galactica? Adama is back in action and ready to support Tigh, but he’s got to be aware that there’s an unknown number of his own people supporting Roslyn. Whatever trust was between Tyrol and Kally is probably out the window. Baltar is running his own operation, and somewhere in the fleet, Adama’s son has joined a movement with Roslyn that threatens to boil over into a civil war between military and religious factions. These people don’t need the Cylons to fire a shot!

Of course, it gives the writers plenty of time for Starbuck and Helo to gather a small task force of survivors (and likely red-shirts) on Caprica. Even money says that this task force will get Starbuck into a Cylon facility where their plans will be partially revealed, thus justifying her presence on the planet for so long. Will Sexy!Boomer 2.0 be there to, ready to be trussed up and taken back to Galactica, baby on board? Wouldn’t that just mesh with the Baltar plot thread on Kobol!

Honestly, I feel like I’m just touching on all the things I love about this episode. There were some minor things that bugged me: the riot and the standoff didn’t quite work for me. Then again, from the podcast, I gather that Ron Moore agrees on that account. It wasn’t enough, however, to take away from all the things I did like. The series is maintaining its high standard of quality, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Stargate: Atlantis 2.4: "Duet"

Written by Martin Gero
Directed by Peter DeLuise

In which an encounter with a Wraith Dart merges McKay with a young woman named Lt. Cadman, and while McKay struggles with the effects, time runs out to find a cure...


This episode was, according to the promo, supposed to be about the process of bringing Ronon into the Atlantis fold. Instead, that was merely a subplot, and a rather basic one at that. The real focus was once again on McKay. While this is a very funny episode, I’m not quite sure that the emphasis on McKay was the right thing to continue this early in the season.

It seems like a lot of episodes have, on some level, an example of McKay looking like a fool, demonstrating some degree of expertise or unexpected strength, and then working himself out of the fix he’s in. Usually it’s a subplot, where it is typically not so blatant. This episode is 95% McKay and his wacky predicament.

The writers find an interesting plot device to make the episode work, and for the most part, David Hewlett is up to the challenge. When McKay is hearing Lt. Cadman’s voice in his head, Hewlett plays it very well. It’s very believable. He even does Cadman’s control of McKay’s body well. But when McKay and Cadman are fighting for control, it’s not nearly as convincing. One can only imagine how many takes they went through to get it even close to right.

Enjoyment of this episode is directly dependent on one’s enjoyment of the McKay character. I have to admit that, as much as I laughed, I wasn’t particularly enthralled. I was happy enough to watch this while eating dinner, and I laughed out loud during the date and any point at which Cadman was flirting with/tonguing Beckett.

There were some other highlights. It was great to see Sweaty!Teyla is action, especially when she decided to stretch out after sparring practice. I’m still waiting for her character to have a bit more to do this season, which is why yet more McKay is a little annoying. She looks good on screen, but there’s plenty of direction for her character now. Why not explore it?

In terms of Ronon, I’m still liking this guy. He has a massive amount of confidence, to the point where one can believe that he would find Sheppard’s offer to join Atlantis rather amusing. Is Ronon really better off with Atlantis, or is it more clearly a benefit for Sheppard, and by extension, Weir?

I have the feeling that this episode was more about establishing technology and its boundaries. Just as many of the first season episodes focused on revealing a single piece of information that would later become vital to the season arc, this episode seemed to be all about revealing how the Wraith Darts grab people and “store” them. Slapping McKay and very, very hot Lt. Cadman in the same body for a while felt like a means to that end. This episode also established that those on Atlantis are trying to remain out of contact with the Wraith, because they believe that such exposure would clue the Wraith in on the deception from “The Siege: Part III”.

But this wasn’t the kind of episode that I would want to watch more than a few times. It has its moments, but for the most part, this is the kind of episode that you watch a couple of times and then rarely. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but since I’m getting tired of the emphasis on McKay (as funny as it often is), this was not an episode that I found enthralling.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Stargate SG-1 9.4: "The Ties That Bind"

Written by Paul Mullie and Joseph Mallozzi
Directed by William Waring

In which Daniel and Vala engage in a seemingly endless quest to find a “cure” for their connection, while Landry is forced to present a justification for funding the SGC...


It’s good to see that the serialized side of the new season continues to be very important to the storytelling, especially since this is the episode where the writers have to begin acting like the season has actually started. Turning to the more comedic side of the series was probably the best move possible. After all, “Origin” was quite intense in its own way, and why not give us all a break for an episode or so?

At the end of the previous episode, it felt like Teal’c was going to be shuffled back onto the team, thanks to the power grab from Garek. Sure enough, it’s not that simple. It looks like the first third of the season, up until Carter’s inevitable return, will be used as an ongoing process of bringing the characters back into place. I’m not sure what I think of that.

While I love the idea of making a good chunk of the season a story about change (and how some things never do), there’s the inevitable worry that the characters will never gel completely. Highlighting the strain of trying to force everyone back together could easily backfire. Especially to those still holding on to the original cast, it could seem aimless. Clearly, it’s not, but it could come across that way.

The main story is all about Vala, who has become a character that most either love or love to hate. Claudia continues to be sexy at nearly every turn (though never more so than during the Congressional hearing, with those stockings!), and she plays up her rogue-ish side to perfection. This is, however, also the kind of episode where Jack would be tossing out his typical one-liners left and right. So how does it work without him?

Daniel and Mitchell are left to pick up where Jack left off. Daniel’s history with Vala helps in that regard, since he gets to play off of Claudia’s wackiness more naturally. Browder is still trying to find the fine line between the old John Crichton character and the way Mitchell is written, but part of that sits on the shoulders of the writing staff. They’re the ones that need to give the character a unique voice, and it hasn’t quite happened yet.

Some of the smaller moments were actually more telling. It’s great to see the producers and writers recognizing that the new series (“SG: Atlantis”) has, in many ways, taken the reins in terms of exploring new ground. The discussions on the utility of the SGC and their operations could be taken as a thinly-veiled commentary on the fans’ reaction to this series, now that the old mythology has come to an effective end.

In this case, creating a parallel between the fans and those funding the SGC provides an interesting platform for exploring how the international knowledge of the Stargate program is evolving into something that could be a major problem. There are two sides to this. On the one hand, it continues to decentralize the attention on the new team, which could be an issue if it goes on much longer. On the other hand, it adds yet another character that could become more important later down the road. I prefer to think of this as another possibility for future storytelling greatness.

From my perspective, the purpose of the episode was to continue to mine Vala as a character until Carter’s return is actually in the cards. It covers a lot of the transitional elements that should be in place by the time that Carter is back in the fold. The rest is a rather pleasant diversion that continues the ongoing saga of Daniel and Vala. Sooner or later, that has to give way to a renewed focus on Mitchell and the team, but for now, it’s still working for me.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Dead Zone 4.8: "Vanguard"

Written by Juan Carlos Coto
Directed by James Read

In which a former student of Johnny’s turns out to be the inventor of a material that plays a part in Stilson’s future Armageddon, prompting Johnny to make a desperate move…


I’m actually on vacation this week (at least, part of the week), so I didn’t get to see this one uninterrupted. Nonetheless, I got to see most of the episode, and I was very happy to see a return to the underlying mythology of the series. It’s still very complicated, and one is never really sure if Johnny is getting anywhere in his crusade against Stilson, but it’s always a lot of fun!

I happen to enjoy these episodes more than most of the stand-alone installments, but I almost always prefer “mythology” episodes because of the depth that they provide to the writers in terms of material and past continuity. There’s something to be said for a really strong anthology-style episode, and this series has more than its share; however, being able to turn back to Stilson and his machinations every so often is a good thing.

Oddly enough, my sister finds this aspect of the series to be boring. She has little patience for the chess game between Johnny and Stilson, probably because Johnny rarely makes any headway. But that’s part of the reason that I love these episodes. They highlight many of the drawbacks to Johnny’s ability. It’s easy for the writers to use Johnny’s ability as a crutch in some of the stand-alone installments, since he needs to be right most of the time to retain credibility. (How he’s proven right, and the lengths he must take to decipher his visions, generate the better part of the drama.)

It’s a lot harder for Johnny to be “right” and effective at the same time when dealing with the Stilson episodes. After all, Stilson must get away somehow, and if Johnny were to stop Stilson from bringing on the end of the world, how much fun would that be? Thus each side must gain some sense of victory, even if it’s fleeting. Stilson must always be one step ahead, and Johnny must deal with the fact that changing things based on visions is a gamble, at best.

This episode is a perfect example. It turns out that Alex, basically Johnny’s former star pupil, will invent a material that has unexpected (at least by some) military applications. Those applications enable a more compact and stable design for the core of a nuclear weapon. Thus nuclear war is made simpler, just in time for Stilson to become President of the United States. The implication is that when Stilson destroys the world, this weapon is the key; without the material that Alex invents, that future is prevented.

There are actually a lot of holes in that logic, and the episode deals with the most obvious of them: why is Alex the only person who can invent the material? Sure enough, anyone with the basic design can carry the work forward. Perhaps more troubling is the assumption that Stilson’s endgame, intentional or not, can be prevented by changing one small detail. Yes, it’s clear from the visions that the material becomes an important element in the future apocalypse, but there’s nothing to prevent something else to take its place if this material is not invented.

The point is that there are clearly many paths to be taken to the same future. In this case, the fact that Alex is out of the equation is meaningless. One is left to wonder if he is simply fulfilling a function that would have been completed by someone else. In other words, perhaps the future is meant to happen, regardless of whatever Johnny tries to do, and the key elements will happen with or without his intervention. Only the names change.

So for me, this episode is fun because both sides are playing the odds in a game that they don’t completely understand. They all know that Johnny and Stilson are at odds. Many of them understand the stakes. Stilson is playing to win on his own terms, regardless of what he may or may not intend as a future consequence. Johnny is trying to prevent that, but he makes decisions on limited and conflicting information. Neither really knows if they are making the right moves, because they can’t see the whole board. It lends this episode, which has a relatively standard plot, a bit more depth and drama.

Aside from the interplay between Johnny and Stilson, which is always fun, there’s the little matter of Sarah’s news. Things were complicated enough when it was Johnny, Sarah, Walt, and JJ. JJ was essentially a continual trigger for Sarah’s torment. Now that things have more or less settled, there’s a new complication. In the previous episode, Sarah seemed to be thinking about her relationship to Johnny again. Now there’s a new child in the mix, and it’s clearly Walt’s. Sarah would have a clear reason to commit herself to Walt and her family, and that could be something that the writers intend to use to explore whether or not Sarah is really ready to let go of Johnny as anything other than a friend.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10

X-Files 5.10: "Chinga"

Written by Stephen King and Chris Carter
Directed by Kim Manners

In which Scully attempts to take a vacation in Maine, but despite her best efforts, she can’t seem to keep herself away from the case of a murderous doll, or for that matter, Mulder’s boredom…


Status Report

It sounds like the perfect combination: “X-Files” and Stephen King. It’s almost as perfect a combination as “Millennium” and Stephen King, but for a lot of people, the thought of one of the most popular horror writers contributing to the series was just about perfection. For others, it was a sign that the series had gone from an underground cult favorite to a pop culture icon. Few, if any, saw it as an opportunity for a colossal train wreck.

Coinciding with the February 1998 sweeps, this episode was hailed in the media and put forward as an example of how creative synergy should work. That left a lot of people wondering which episode the critics were watching. Like so many of the other episodes in the fifth season, only one of the two leads could dominate the story. That could have been another chance at character development, but those moments were overshadowed by warmed-over Stephen King staples that quickly became annoying.

The episode shows signs of trouble right from the beginning. The presence of the doll isn’t even an attempt at misdirection; it’s clear before anything goes wrong that the doll is behind the bizarre rash of self-mutilations (which involve lots of fake blood, but oddly, no visible wounds). Melissa’s vision wasn’t scary in the slightest, and while the “knife-in-eye cam” was slightly disturbing, there was really no reason to care.

The episode shows signs of life when it turns more towards a commentary on Scully’s total lack of a social life. In essence, it continues (in a more humorous vein) the kind of character exploration that marked episodes like “Never Again”. At this point, though, Scully isn’t rebelling against Mulder’s authority, so much as seeking a little time for herself. As this episode demonstrates, Scully is definitely aligning herself with Mulder’s mindset; despite herself, she’s seeing “extreme possibilities” where before she would be demanding a rational interpretation.

She jumps into the “vacation” (in what world is a weekend without work equal to a vacation?) with the purpose, it seems, of convincing herself that she’s on vacation. She rents herself a convertible to go visit Maine in the middle of winter (odd that the town is devoid of winter weather), wears a “Maine!” T-Shirt (requisitely and wonderfully super-tight!), and she constantly tries to remind others (and herself) that she’s not on the job.

Part of that struggle, of course, is trying to separate the “Mulder” in her life from the “Scully” in her life. The fact that she needs to get away from Mulder to get “out of her own head for a few days” speaks volumes. Mulder, of course, finds life without Scully to be incredibly boring. He perks up when she calls, even though one of his favorite videos happens to be playing in the background. When Scully demonstrates that Mulder’s “extreme possibilities” are definitely still in her head, he’s stunned in all the right ways. It’s a wonderful moment, and these scenes turn out to be the only bright spots throughout the hour.

Supposedly King wrote the episode with a lot more of a darkly comedic edge to it, and apparently, in many initial takes, Gillian responded to how well Captain Bonsaint was played in that regard. Unfortunately, for the episode, Chris Carter objected, wanting the deadly situation in the episode to be taken seriously. That’s a huge mistake, because the whole case is clearly not something that should have been taken seriously. It works far better as an ongoing farce into how impossible it is for Scully to get some time off!

As the story takes the predictable turns through witch hunt territory until the characters catch up with what the audience already knows, typical Stephen King elements slip in. Beyond the doll with the disturbing catch-phrases, there’s the incessant (and therefore clearly evil) use of “Hokey Pokey”. It gets old very, very fast. And as the deaths and other incidents become more and more ludicrous, one is left to wonder if the point is a commentary of sorts on parents who are terrified at what would happen if they reprimand their disobedient children.

According to the episode, Polly is supposed to be autistic. Apparently the writing staff didn’t know how to depict an autistic child, because while Polly is certainly different and a bit withdrawn from reality, she doesn’t show the signs of a child with true autism. There are variations, of course, but it might have been better for the writers to suggest that Polly’s personality had more to do with the effect of the doll than a pre-existing condition.

One of the highlights of the episode is the bubble bath scene. Beyond the joyful thought of a slick and naked Scully, there’s the fact that she’s finally doing what normal people do on a vacation. And of course, it’s interrupted (as is her reading of “Affirmations For Women Who Do Too Much”), and once again, she’s pulled into her endless role as Mulder’s acolyte. What’s most amusing is that she actually thinks that she wants it any other way.

On Mulder’s side, of course, he’s bored out of his mind. If Scully can’t escape living in Mulder’s head, then Mulder can’t escape sharing his every thought with her. The two act like a married couple throughout the entire episode. If Scully has to try to fake the “expected” version of a vacation, Mulder’s even worse: he has to fake having a life. He calls her up on any possible pretext…just to dismiss her theory as soon as she actually turns to him for ideas!

The case ends with about as much fanfare and originality as it began, though it’s fun to watch the doll go up in flames in the microwave. (It’s almost enough to inspire an experiment on a home version of “Mythbusters” for other kids’ toys that won’t shut up!) Adding that last parting shot, unfortunately, prevented the episode from ending where it really should have: with Mulder valiantly trying to pretend that he wasn’t counting the seconds until Scully’s return, and Scully being utterly horrified at the thought.

By playing up the “case” in such serious fashion, Chris Carter lost some of what King was trying to accomplish: a Darrin Morgan episode with his own trappings of style. Had King written an episode of “Millennium” and gone for the gut-wrenching terror, it might have been a better match. Instead, King tried to work within his style but well outside of his format, and then Chris Carter came along and tried to force seriousness upon it. The case, as a result, becomes a failed experiment.

The character work, on the other hand, should have been the primary focus. When it’s on-screen, it gives the episode considerable lift. Both Mulder and Scully have been forced to recognize that they have lost touch with anything approaching normality. Scully doesn’t know what it’s like to have a weekend off, and Mulder doesn’t remember what it was like before Scully came along. Had the case been allowed to emphasize its quirky aspects, then it might have gelled as one of the stronger Scully-centric episodes. As it was, the episode feels like something of a mess.


Memorable Quotes

SCULLY: “Mulder, I’m hanging up. I’m turning off my cell phone. I’m back in the office on Monday.”
MULDER: “You shouldn’t talk and drive at the same time. Are you aware of the statist…hello?”

SCULLY: “What are you watching, Mulder?”
MULDER: “Oh, uh…’World’s Deadliest Swarms’…”

MULDER: “Scully?”
SCULLY: “Yes?”
MULDER: “Marry me.”
SCULLY: “I was hoping for something a little more helpful…”

MULDER: “I thought you weren’t answering your cell phone.”
SCULLY: “Then why’d you call?”

MULDER: “You didn’t find a talking doll, did you, Scully?”
SCULLY: “No, no…of course not…”
MULDER: “I would suggest that you check the back of the doll for a...a plastic ring with a string on it…that would be my first…hello?”

MULDER: “There’s got to be an explanation.”
SCULLY: “Oh, I don’t know…I think some thing are better left unexplained…”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode is quite a disappointment, considering that Stephen King would appear to be an obvious match for a series like this. Unfortunately, the final script doesn’t seem to be a true horror story or the whimsical character study that it clearly wants to be, and so it fails to satisfy on either account. There are some great character moments, but it’s not enough to save the episode.

Writing: 0/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 4/10

Ghost Hunters 2.2: "03 Aug 2005"

Case Study #1: Cranston, RI
Case Study #2: Grafton, MA

If you think of this series as a serialized drama with “reality TV” as its source material, to be edited and used as necessary, then it doesn’t take long to wonder if all that attention on Brian last week was meant to inform the events of this episode. There are little hints about things not getting done correctly during the first case, and during the analysis of the second case, the emphasis is strongly on Brian and Steve fooling around and missing possible evidence. Not good for Brian!

This episode also highlights the difference between Jason and Grant, who take this all very seriously and personally, and some of the support staff, who seem to have their own psychological reasons for wanting to be a part of TAPS. I’m not convinced that Brian is there for the work itself; as he mentioned before, it’s more that he’s got nothing else in which to invest his life. At least Steve is just a guy who needs to learn how to retain attention on a task.

Andy’s another odd one. I love his sincerity, but the underlying message of the episode for him was self-control. Andy gets a bit too worked up when on a case, and it hurts the credibility of the team. The way I see it, just reacting like that changed the way everyone else approached the case. Subjective interpretations are par for the course, but it doesn’t help when one person’s reaction (and a questionable one at that) starts influencing those interpretations.

But this was another example of how TAPS operates. Setting aside the usual questions of staged drama and fake cases (I have little patience for those who seek to tear down something based solely on the logic of their own ill-informed conjecture), episodes like this are necessary. Sure, it’s not as much fun as the more active cases, but if every episode was filled with evidence of extreme activity, I’d be a lot more skeptical. Episodes like this demonstrate that some cases have simple, “real world” explanations, and I think it’s important to remind the audience of that.

OK, so on to the cases themselves!

First stop: Cranston, RI. Quite frankly, I think Andy was having a panic attack based on what he thought might happen, not what was happening. That said, I was intrigued by the fact that there could have been something happening in the basement. Sure, basements are drafty, and there wasn’t really enough to pin a case on, but it was intriguing. One can’t help but wonder if there was evidence, but it was missed.

But it’s more of a case of people seeking unusual explanations for things that, at this point, seem rather mundane in substance. It wasn’t exactly hard to figure out what was happening with the kids, and the parents should have considered that possibility. And don’t even get me started about the cat! Any cat owner knows to discount a lot of strangeness when a cat is running around in the dark!

Next stop: Grafton, MA. Well, they really do everything possible to smooth over the news, but Jason and Grant both seem to think that Hayley is at the center of classic poltergeist activity. Typically, it’s not that spirits are hostile towards a young woman, so much as the activity is a subconscious psychic reflection of psychological issues that the young woman carries within her. Why it happens largely to young women is somewhat bizarre, but going by the historically anecdotal conclusions of others, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

The evidence, in my opinion, points to the idea that the two women in the house are causing the phenomena to occur, and when Jason was beginning to catch on to that, he was “attacked”. Is it 100% certain that it happened that way? Of course not. It wasn’t on camera, so we only have Jason’s word on it. But it does fit the profile, doesn’t it?

Anyway, the second case was more important in terms of showing how the evidence should be analyzed, instead of the haphazard manner in which Brian and Steve run through it. I’m not convinced in terms of the EVP, but Brian did miss it, and that’s an issue. Personally, I think that Jason and Grant might be better served to replace Brian with the new guy and put Andy on the review of evidence. If Andy is that hair-trigger with his interpretations, then he’s probably the perfect guy to present possible evidence for Jason and Grant to review. Part of the problem is that Brian and Steve are making the judgments themselves, and it’s clear that it’s not working.

Chill Factor: 6/10

Dead Zone 4.7: "Grains of Sand"

Written by Christina Lynch, Misha Rashovich, and Loren Segan
Directed by James Head

In which Johnny saves the life of a baby and discovers that its mother was an illegal immigrant, leading him to seek the baby’s father while struggling with his own desire for fatherhood…


Coming into this episode, there were three relatively predictable and, in my opinion, overly average installments that suggested that the writers were struggling to keep the series moving forward. The season premiere had been designed as something of a mission statement, with Johnny demonstrating a higher degree of self-confidence. Unfortunately, too many of the ensuing episodes were little more than Johnny Smith, Psychic Detective.

This episode takes a completely different approach. Instead of a murder mystery, Johnny is embroiled in an illegal immigration tale, complete with a family that has been tragically torn apart in the process of seeking a better life. Like the episode of “The 4400” that aired the same night, the central theme is social and political commentary. Johnny is driven to some difficult decisions, because his visions predict a bad life for the baby that he has saved.

Where the plot was fairly predictable on “The 4400”, this episode uses the unique format provided by Johnny’s ability to play on audience expectation and allow for a wider variety of plot twists. Most of them revolved around Eva, the duplicitous INS agent. My wife and I were both convinced that baby Miguelito would end up with her by the end of the episode. Thankfully, it wasn’t quite as obvious as that.

At the heart of the tale is Johnny’s struggle to let go of his desire for fatherhood. He wants to be able to raise a son in his own image. I’m surprised that no one brought up the matter of JJ, because he was key to understanding Johnny’s psychology in this episode. Johnny has a role in his son’s life, but the fact remains that Walt will (barring a plot twist between now and the end of the series) always be JJ’s primary male influence.

It’s natural, then, for Johnny to see the chance to influence and shape the future of a child who, it seems, has no future without his intervention. It’s not simply that Johnny wonders if a baby will be able to survive in the kind of world that illegal immigrants are often subjected to, as depicted in this episode; he has the ability to gauge, moment to moment, whether or not Mikey will have a chance to fulfill his potential.

So the central conflict for Johnny, so far as I can tell, is his lingering desire for fatherhood and the moral responsibility to return the child to his true father. This triggers Johnny’s involvement in the trafficking of human beings and the realization that a form of slavery is alive and well in America. While shipping illegal immigrants around the world in shipping containers has been going on for a long time, it’s a horror that many Americans have been shielded from, thanks to the media.

Johnny also gets a harsh lesson in how such trafficking is typically run. While the situation is simplified somewhat within the episode, the fact remains that many illegal immigrant subcultures are victimized by their own people, who seek to advance their own chances of survival by preying on others with the same hopes and dreams. It’s not a world that Johnny understands, and as such, he puts himself in the line of fire, trying to do the right thing within a very grey situation.

As the episode progresses, Johnny’s visions unlock more and more of the puzzle, and the depth of the problem is ever more clear. When the writers let the story unveil itself in such a manner, it’s all for the best. The audience gets to learn along with Johnny, which is what was missing from the last few episodes. Too often, the audience was waiting for Johnny to catch up with what they already knew.

If there’s a troubling side to this episode, it’s the manner in which Johnny’s designs on Mikey are handled. His actions are far beyond legal, and Walt would have every reason to call in the authorities and lock Johnny up for good measure. But two things are very clear as the episode evolves: Sarah is getting very good at knowing when Johnny has a vision and is lying about it, and Walt has gotten to the point of trusting Johnny’s instincts with little or no argument. Granted, Walt was very quick to trust Johnny’s instincts, but on something this questionable, he really presents very little resistance.

There are some sloppy editing moments with the baby, but that’s expected when dealing with a young infant on set. The writers also try to avoid getting too cute with the baby, though some of Johnny’s visions are a bit over the top (and those child actors were horrible!). Some of the baby jokes were a bit clichéd, but in general, it worked. If those scenes had led to more depth regarding Johnny’s hopes and fears regarding JJ, this would have been an even stronger episode overall.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

4400 2.8: "Rebirth"

Written by Lisa Melamed
Directed by Milan Chaylov

In which Tom and Diana must deal with a 4400 who has the ability to repair birth defects, but his past in Rwanda has bigger consequences, while Sean, Richard, and Diana deal with family issues…


After a few weeks of strong plotting, this episode slips back into a more predictable mode once again. It wasn’t hard to figure out where the story was going once the first act was over. There were some good character scenes, especially in terms of the reconciliations, but the central story was a bit too overwrought.

The tragedy in Rwanda was something that the Western world, for the most part, ignored. The media never made much of it, and while Middle Eastern and European matters dominated the United Nations and international diplomacy, the atrocities in Rwanda barely came into conversation. Anyone with a sense of humanitarianism would have to agree that the world dropped the ball, and that the lack of something to gain from taking matters in hand had much to do with it.

With that in mind, I found it gratifying that the writers saw fit to address the fact that it even happened. I don’t take issue with that, as it gave Edwin a strong motivation for personal redemption, even unto a painful and lingering death. It was a rather predictable resolution, but it made sense for the character. Hill Harper did a great job of communicating the inner turmoil within Edwin’s soul.

But the extension of that plot to Tom and Diana wasn’t as smooth. Tom, in particular, was way over the top in his response to the revelation that Edwin was tied to the Rwandan atrocities. He was immediately enraged, and he never really bothered to see any other side of it. It felt strongly out of character, especially coming on the heels of an episode where he was willing to save the life of a woman able to kill millions on a mood swing.

The writers did suggest (not enough, IMHO) that Tom was on edge because his doubts about the true purpose for the 4400 were coming to the surface. He has good reason to harbor such doubts. As I’ve speculated in previous reviews, the goal of the “future humanity” doesn’t seem nearly as straightforward as the finale of the first season suggested. In fact, much of the anticipated impact of certain 4400 (especially the now-dead ones) has been speculation within NTAC. There’s plenty of reason to think that the agenda is, at the very least, a bit more complicated.

Diana, on the other hand, has plenty of reason to be frustrated, but she seems to keep her head together a bit more. In fact, she keeps her head a little too much. If Tom comes across as more angry than he should be, and less than inclined to consider other points of view, then Diana is a bit too ready to see the “upside” of Edwin’s ability and give him a second chance. A more realistic approach might have been to give each character misgivings about their points of view; instead, Tom was tossing people into walls.

On the home front, it’s about time that Diana had a confrontation with April. It’s good that the situation from the previous episode didn’t just disappear, and that it will have ongoing consequences. I like to think of this as being important to Maya’s development; she really needs to understand how people will want to take advantage of her, and she’s learning quickly. This will no doubt continue to be reinforced as NTAC tries to use that fake diary to anticipate problems.

Family is also an issue for Sean, Kyle, and Danny. I thought that Sean and Danny reconciled way too easily. It should have taken more than a few angry words and an almost-fight to work everything from the first season out. It provides a means of applying pressure on Kyle, which is important to the season arc, but it also takes something away from the sense of isolation that Sean has felt. I’m hoping that it’s a move towards placing Sean between his family’s good influences and the political goals of Mr. Slimy Lobbyist.

Perhaps the best subplot of the episode involves Richard and his attempt to find closure with the soldier who beat him for dating a white woman back before his abduction. There’s a certain bittersweet quality to the reunion scenes, where these old men do everything possible to make sure Richard understands that they feel remorse for their actions. But Richard learns something about how holding on to hate and rage can kill you inside when he visits Lee. I wish more of the episode had been devoted to that part of the story.

But the character moments didn’t keep me from wincing whenever Angry!Tom stepped into a scene. It was jarring, and it felt more like the writer jumping on a soapbox (however justified) than a genuine reaction from the character. It took me out of the episode more times than I can count, and so I found myself less than pleased with the episode as a whole.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Stargate: Atlantis 2.3: "Runner"

Written by Robert C. Cooper
Directed by Martin Wood

In which evidence points to the presence of Lt. Ford on a deadly planet, but when a team is sent to retrieve him, they find out the hard way that someone else is also being hunted…


Robert C. Cooper is one busy guy. Not only did he completely revitalize “Stargate SG-1” (haters, look elsewhere) by steering a three-part epic, but he’s also been knee deep in giving Lt. Ford a makeover and a new motivation. Ford’s been begging for a reason to exist since the series began, thanks to a spare supporting role that even the writers knew didn’t have enough to it. So things had to change, and this is the episode where it comes together.

Rainbow might have been a little pissed when the initial idea came across the table, but he seems to have embraced the concept wholeheartedly since then. The fact is, the man is being replaced. The character of Ford is given an arc that ought to give the actor good material, but he’s been sidelined in favor of a more dynamic character. Given a choice between Ford and Ronon Dex, it’s not even a contest. Ronon gets one hell of an introduction in this episode, and for me, it works.

In a nice bit of continuity, Ronon’s introduction is directly tied to the ongoing search for Ford. Ford is running around a dangerous planet, and a team is dispatched. The team splits up almost instantly, but the writers let the story evolve organically. It doesn’t take long for Ronon to get a drop on Sheppard and Teyla (who are supposed to be rather good at this sort of thing), and in the process of gauging a potential enemy, Ronon demonstrates some serious warrior skills. The man is simply badass, and for the ladies, let’s just say my wife was paying a lot more attention once he was on-screen.

The writers do a nice job of giving Ronon a background that plays into the overall series arc. A couple of intriguing elements are introduced. Apparently, the Wraith have some interesting ideas about organized sports, because some of their prisoners are turned into “runners”, who the Wraith implant with tracking devices and then hunt down. Why the Wraith would do that is probably going to become important as the season marches on, but for now, it gives a solid reason for Ronon’s somewhat paranoid response to visitors.

Ford is a lot more fun with his neat personality shifts. He provides a nice counterpoint to Ronon’s paranoia. Ronon is paranoid because he has absolutely good reason for it; Ford is riding high on a chemical cocktail that keeps his judgment from kicking in. Ford seems to want to retain the confidence of his former friends, but his temper and paranoia keep getting in the way. In the name of proving that the “new man” he has become is a good thing, he keeps escalating an already very bad situation.

Prior to this episode, it looks like Ford was taking it to the Wraith, perhaps for the purposes of testing his worth. That’s what makes his decision to jump into the Wraith beam so disturbing. Does he think that he can take down a Wraith ship himself? Far more likely, he will be handing the Wraith a rather interesting biological experiment.

Early on in the episode, McKay gets to play the sarcastic and bumbling scientist again. Once Ford grabs him, however, McKay is locked in a duel of wits, and his desperation shines through. McKay seems to be the go-to character for that kind of material, but the writers need to be careful. Like Daniel Jackson before him, McKay needs to get character development to remain fresh. It doesn’t have to be much, especially since the seeds have already been planted in the first season.

I wasn’t thrilled with Teyla’s involvement in this episode, but the writers are letting her have a quick connection to Ronon. They probably have more in common than the rest of the characters, and Teyla is supposed to be quite the competent warrior herself. I say, “supposed to be”, because she’s not been utilized much this season at all. Since I enjoy the very sight of Rachel Luttrell on my television screen, I’d like it to include more of the fierce substance that marked her earlier appearances.

Going into this episode, I wasn’t sure how the new character introduction was going to go. It could have been a lot more heavy-handed. Instead, the transition was handled as elegantly as the more obvious transition on “SG-1”. Ending this episode with a nearly exact repeat of the confrontation from premiere was a stroke of genius by the actors (who demanded it be so, to hear tell). Add to that some great flashbacks to Ronon’s Wraith-repelling days and one damn fine fight scene, and this continues to keep the series moving in the right direction.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Stargate SG-1 9.3: "Origin"

Written by Robert C. Cooper
Directed by Brad Turner

In which Daniel and Vala meet with the Priory of the Ori, and discover that their attempt to contact relatives of the Ancients may not have been the best of plans, when the Priors come calling to Earth…


This is essentially the end of the long process of “passing the torch”, which was, I suppose, an inevitable storytelling concern. I like the fact that they allow the new characters to establish themselves first before having O’Neill show up and give his own brand of approval. It actually feels a bit intrusive when he walks in the door, and that tells me that the writers have made their case for the new team.

So this is the beginning of a new direction in the “Stargate” mythology. Actually, it feels like an organic extension of what has come before, especially in light of what’s been happening in the Pegasus Galaxy. The Ancients (Altera, Alterans, whatever) started out as these great enlightened folk, but over the past several seasons, their motives and choices have been seriously questioned.

Enter the Ori (nice play on the word “origin”!), who seem to have taken the whole “holier than thou” thing to a whole new level. As the characters point out constantly in this episode, the Ori are even worse than the snakeheads, because in a lot of ways, the Ori have all the hallmarks of gods. There must be a weakness, but it’s certainly not evident at this point. And thanks to the usual “Stargate” method of taking all possible precautions, Daniel hands the Ori a whole new galaxy to convert or annihilate.

Granted, it’s not all Daniel’s fault; how could he know that the Ori were assuming that their brethren back in the Milky Way were running things with an equally iron fist? If there’s one thing that “Stargate” has underscored over the years, it’s the fact that a relatively weak alliance built on celebration of diversity will always look like a feast to much stronger totalitarian regimes.

Naturally, the new Jaffa Nation would be a strong ally for the effort to contain and repel this new influx of “false gods”, but I don’t think it will be that easy. There’s the general disdain of Teal’c, for one thing, and the overwhelming sense that Gerak thinks that he ought to be given a lot more respect and authority in all matters than he really deserves. I suspect that the ongoing struggle to maintain that alliance will play in the hands of the Priory.

Several things are suggested about the Priors in this episode. First, it seems as though the Ori transform normal humans into some kind of modified servant. Those servants become the Priors, and there’s certainly a sense that there’s some mind control at work. Again, shades of the Goa’uld, but this time, the mind control is inherent, not based on a distinct parasite. Beyond that, the Priors have the resources to build ships and use gate travel to get to other galaxies without much effort. They also seem to remain in general telepathic contact with one another, possible with their relationship to the Ori at the center of it all.

While the followers of the Priory are not unlike the Jaffa in terms of their numbers and enslavement to a more powerful set of beings, the Ori trump the snakeheads in one major regard: thus far, it doesn’t look like there’s conflict between camps of Ori. The Goa’uld could be set against one another with relative ease, thus providing the alliance with a means of fighting a stronger enemy by fostering internecine warfare. While the Ancients have had a few “bad apples” like Oma running around, they tend to be rather unified in their decisions. It looks like the Ori are the same way, and that’s a problem.

So what’s the solution? Mitchell is the ostensible leader, but Daniel is definitely taking a more central role. That makes sense, given that the most obvious means of fighting the Ori would involve either his connection to the Ancients themselves or (more realistically) his ability to utilize Ancient tech when it’s discovered. They might even get to use former enemies like the remaining Goa’uld. Assuming that the series continues to have strong support, the arrival of the Ori is actually a great device for exploring the post-System Lords status quo.

I like this direction (despite some of the retreads of the “false gods” motif) because it opens the door to a deeper sense of philosophical exploration, much like the earlier seasons. There’s still plenty of the trademark cheesiness, but there’s a great chill factor to it all as well. The Doci, played by John Malkovich’s evil twin (Mr. Warlock Julian Sands, I believe), is one creepy guy, and I love how he casually dismisses Daniel’s attempt at embracing cultural differences. Mitchell is showing a bit more of the “John Crichton” personality that Browder loves to channel, but it actually makes sense, given that Mitchell is dealing with adversity through humor. It’s much like O’Neill, before he started being a bit too snarky. Now that the premiere is done and the torch has been passed, it should be interesting to see how the writers deal with the week-to-week cast integration.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10