Hiatus

So, this whole blogging thing hasn't worked out quite like I planned. I've lost all but 1 of the original team members, and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. Additionally, what happened after I began my career in the music industry has repeated itself here -- blogging about TV has actually made me enjoy TV less. I will be taking a brief hiatus in order to regroup and think about what I want to achieve with this blog, then will (hopefully) come back stronger, and with a redesign. In the meantime, however, Hans Blix has expressed interest in continuing to write about Lost. So stay tuned, and thanks for sticking with us.

Also, after last night's Fringe I've decided that Astrid is bad news.

And maybe Charlie is too.

Friday Night Lights S3E3: How the Other Half Lives

* why hast thou forsaken me?

I’ve given up hope for any mention of Santiago. I haven’t given up hope for mention of Street, but I’m still irritated that it hasn’t happened yet. That being said, this episode brought some good ol’ friction back into Dillon, TX.

When Katie McCoy sweet-talks Tami into letting her host the annual Panthers BBQ, Tami is delighted to have it off her plate while Eric is livid, believing this to be a maneuver to increase J.D.’s standing. And sure enough, during the BBQ Eric gets cornered by Buddy and Mr. McCoy. At home that night, Eric snarls that he misses the coach’s wife, to which Tami retorts that she can’t wait to meet the principal’s husband.

When Smash realizes his mom is working two jobs just to stay afloat – and then is offered a substantial promotion at the Alamo Freeze – he ponders whether or not to accept. While I understand why Mama Smash would want her boy to go to college instead of straight into the workforce, I’m still bothered by the message that the practical path is somehow lesser. I guess it’s a plot contrivance to keep Smash around, but this is three episodes in a row, shoving it down our throats.

When Billy gets embroiled in a scheme to steal copper wiring from a recently closed plant, Riggins allows himself to be dragged along too. Nothing new here, except a nice side scene of the friction between the Garritys and the Collettes. Lyla is quite funny this season, which is whole new side of her. First the pigeon comment, and now the Finding Nemo thing. Hilarious!

When J.D. overhears Matt & Julie making fun of him during the BBQ, we catch a rare glimpse into the character, which thus far has been underdeveloped. Perhaps, like Eric, J.D. doesn’t believe all the hype about himself. This would be interesting, and would mean that the immaturity of J.D.’s character is not about poor writing or acting, but about the fact that he’s kind of a ghost in his own life, dragged along by his physical abilities and parental pressure.

At the Arnett Mead game, Matt is feeling the pressure, worried that if the Panthers don’t win he will be benched. And naturally, he fumbles the final play. Poor Matty.

Sad News

And a couple days late: Kim Manners has passed away.

Supernatural S4E13: After School Special

I don’t really have time for this so if you didn’t watch it, check out a full recap at Buddy TV. While there is no such thing as a bad episode of SN, this has got to be the most disappointing flashback episode ever. Shame on you, Supernatural. Usually SN flashbacks are phenomenal (“In the Beginning,” “A Very Supernatural Christmas,” “Something Wicked,” “Home”) but this one didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know and even Jensen Ackles in the above outfit couldn’t save it. Although the part when he nailed that kid in the stomach with a ball almost did. Some thoughts:

1. How on earth did Dean have time to absorb all these pop culture references in his life as a hunter? Heathers, Dead Poets Society, Hello Kitty -- he was all over the place in this ep. Although I guess young Dean and young Sam did spend a lot of time holed up in hotel rooms waiting for John to come home.

2. Young Dean was basically the same as old Dean. I was surprised by Young Sam, though. It had never occurred to me that they went to school, nor what their skills would translate into as far as high school goes. One of my favorite moments was when Dean asked why Sammy let the bully beat on him. “You could have torn him apart!” says Dean. But little Sam didn’t want to be a freak. Touching, and yet scary.



3. I already complained about this, but why does Dean look so much older than Sam? They are only supposed to be a couple of years apart.

4. Also, what came between these boys in the first place? In the pilot ep, they haven’t spoken in some time -- Sam asks why Dean didn’t call before showing up, and Dean says Sam wouldn’t have answered even if he had. And in the flash-forward ep “What Is And What Should Never Be,” Sam and Dean are totally estranged. But in the flashback eps, the brothers always get along relatively well. I get why John and Sam had issues -- supposedly when Sam left for college, John told him to “stay gone.” But Dean and Sam? What’s the deal there?

5. So, Sam’s teacher had some great effect on him by encouraging him to write? Maybe it would have been too perfect, but this would have made more sense if College Sam had majored in English rather than Law. I understand that the point of the inspiration was that he didn’t have to go into the family business, but they focused on the writing thing so much that I thought it could have flowed better.

And so could I, if I weren’t in such a damn rush.

Fringe S1E12: The No-Brainer

Grams and Pacey, reunited! The woman who played Mrs. Warren is Mary Beth Peil, who played Grams on Dawson’s Creek. Though she looks younger in this than she did on that show. Funny how makeup works.

In this episode, a gaggle of seemingly unrelated folk are exposed to a computer virus that liquefies their brains, causing the matter to dribble out of their ears. Disgusting, but the juxtaposition of old and new technology was interesting, going from Olivia playing Operation with Ella, to Walter asking about floppy disks, and finally to the super-intelligent bad guy of the week, Brian Dempsey. Dempsey is a tech genius who has fallen on hard times, and is understandably bitter. Less understandable is his decision to murder those he feels have wronged him via a complicated computer virus. How the virus kills is never really explained, nor is what relationship the car salesman and Olivia’s niece Ella had to Dempsey. I think the writers hoped we might not notice.

In other news, Peter snags an envelope addressed to Walter and reads a letter, then crumples it up and tosses it out. Sneaky little Astrid retrieves the letter, and gives it to Olivia. Turns out its from Mrs. Warren, mother of Carla Warren, Walter’s assistant who died in a laboratory fire and whose death sent Walter to the institution. Peter is worried that his father’s fragile mental state can’t handle meeting Mrs. Warren, whom he is sure will blame Walter for the death. Instead, she just wants to share her pain and learn more about her daughter’s life. And, for the first time, we see Walter’s empathy toward an outsider. It’s nice.

Olivia’s character has really comes leaps and bounds, especially due to the introduction of her sister and her niece. She is fun and silly around Ella, whom she obviously adores. I also loved the moment when the car salesman admitted that he went to strip clubs, and asked her not to judge him. She’s much more likable now. Not so good, however, is the flirtation between Peter and Rachel, largely because Rachel is so obviously not above board. We’ll see. The only good this about it is seeing Joshua Jackson’s roguish charm on full display. Yum.

I recently read the Five Reasons Why The Fringe Team Is The Worst Department In The FBI, and the hilarious #2 was “They Refuse To Check Out Massive Dynamic Despite The Fact Massive Dynamic Is Obviously Involved In All This Shit.” Amen! WTF ever happened to Massive Dynamic? The pilot episode of Fringe introduced the original team who worked on fringe government projects: Walter Bishop and William Bell. Why, then, has there been no mention of William Bell since? It makes no sense.

I continue to enjoy Fringe. However, when it comes to building a larger framework within which all of the episodes to date fit, I’d say the show is failing miserably.

Friday Night Lights S3E2: Tami Knows Best

Perhaps I’m missing something, but it is remarkably difficult to find episodic FNL promo photos online. Even today, the NBC site only has photos from S3E1.

I know it has only been two episodes, but I’m a mite disappointed so far. The Matt-Julie thing has been done. Why bother with it again? I don’t get Riggins-Lyla, and I have a horrible feeling we’re going to see the “you’re trying to change me” fight more than once. Tyra is kind of lame this season, while Landry is simply an afterthought. And still no mention of Santiago, who had become one of my favorite characters. And a pretty major one, seeing that his main purpose was to allow Buddy’s redemption. During the scene in which Lyla and Buddy eat dinner, it was pretty clear that Santiago is no longer in the picture – but why not at least a brief mention of what happened to him? Same with Street. Second season ended – literally ended, as in it was the final scene – with Street telling the waitress that they should have the baby. Didn’t it? Or, even if it wasn’t the final scene, it was a pretty fucking big part of the finale. And now, it’s like it never happened. What do you think? Is FNL still as good as ever, or is it starting to falter?

On to the recap:

1. Tami is interviewed by a local paper, and explains her reasoning for reallocating the JumboTron funds. She is quite neutral during the interview, but the reporter spins the story with a headline something along the lines of “New Principal Vows To Shake Up Establishment.” Soon after, she gets a visit from Buddy and Mayor Rodell, who basically threatens her. It’s a sticky situation. Buddy points out that when he solicited the funds, the donors were specifically told they would go toward a JumboTron. On the other hand, Tami is trying to give a much-needed boost to the marginalized academic program at Dillon High. Regardless, even Eric doesn’t support her, claiming that she should know better than to go up against the Boosters (which is true, just look at everything the Taylors have been though). “If that’s what they want, that’s what they’ll get,” Eric says. In the end, Buddy arrives at the Taylor home to inform Tami that there will be a hearing to decide what to do with the funds.

2. Eric is working with Smash to improve his speed and agility, but Smash is easily frustrated. He thinks the only reason he was good, is because he was a Panther. He can’t do it alone. Meanwhile, Eric is contacting schools for Smash, with no luck. He’s pushing this so hard, while Smash is ready to give up, that it seems this is more for Eric than it is for Smash. One night, Smash goes out onto the field in a Panther uniform, looking distraught. It is really depressing, because it appears that he is wandering the field alone, longing for the glory days. But then, the rest of the team shows up. “You ready to go live?” Eric asks, and Smash plays wonderfully. Awwww. Later, Eric receives a call from Texas A&M. He goes to tell Smash and his family, and there is this perfect little moment when he walks from the house, the door shuts behind him, and then from inside there is an eruption of delighted screaming. Eric allows himself the tiniest of smiles, then leaves.

3. Tyra runs for class president. After her posters are defaced, she tries to come up with a campaign strategy. In a move that is completely out of character, Landy convinces her to play up her hotness in order to win. Her mom and Mindy agree. “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em,” says Mom. So on the day they give their speeches, Tyra brings strippers to school and wears a revealing oufit. She tells the students they should vote for her because nobody will get laid at prom if the other candidate plans it. She wins by a landslide, but her delight is stamped down by Tami’s supreme disappointment. “You have to earn back your own self-respect, and my faith in you, or you really will be on your own,” Tami says. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I love Tyra, but I can easily see her slipping back down the quick & easy path.

4. Riggins starts geting letters of interest from various colleges, which delights Lyla. When Buddy and Lyla are invited to dine with the McCoy family, she brings Riggins (against Buddy’s wishes). As they walk into the restaurant Buddy holds Riggins back for a moment, threatening him not to screw it up. He literally says, “I'll hurt you.” It’s nice to see a Buddy with bite again. It was a little bit intense, but then again Lyla is the only family he has left, and is a girl, and Buddy is a bit crazed when it comes to football and, now, the McCoys. Unfortunately, Lyla finally managed to build Riggins up and now Buddy has shredded his confidence in about two seconds. Naturally, Riggins becomes a robot during dinner. He won’t answer any questions, or talk at all, and he orders rare squab. Later, he accuses Lyla of trying to change him. “Trying to change you into a person who doesn’t order raw pigeon?” she shoots back. They sort of break up. That night, Riggins is chilling at home in his underwear with Tyra, who is waiting for Mindy. Refreshingly, they don’t hook up. Even more refreshingly, when Lyla shows up and finds them, she doesn’t run away in tears. Lyla gives Riggins a hamburger, and they make up.

5. Matt’s grandma is getting worse, but he can’t legally take care of her affairs. He meets with a lawyer to discuss his options, and it soon becomes clear that he needs to be an emancipated minor. However, his father is in Iraq and can’t sign the form. Frustrated, Matt attacks a bunch of empty boxes behind Applebees, where he runs into Julie, who has gotten a job there. They share a moment. Out of options, Matt goes to see his mother. I’m assuming he’s always known where she lives, because they don’t show him tracking her down or anything like that. Matt’s mother knows NOTHING. She doesn’t even know that his dad is in Iraq, or that Matt has been left behind to care for Grandma. She tries to ask him about his situation, but he shuts her down hard. Helpless against his glares, she he signs the papers. On the way home, Matt veers back toward Applebees and offers Julie a ride home. They stop to look at the car Julie is saving up for, and it’s just so sad! Julie’s biggest worry is how to buy a used car, while Matt has the weight of an entire family (and an entire town) on his shoulders. They flirt, exchange a meaningful look, and … credits.

Lost S5E1/2: Because You Left/The Lie

* why does sawyer have no clothes anymore?

My apologies in not getting this up earlier. I've been embroiled in our Mayor's sex scandal and furiously not caring about what he does in his bedroom. I even attended a rally. Isn't that nice? I wanted to re-watch the episode at least one more time before I finally came to a conclusion about what I thought. It so happens it took me through the weekend to finally get through the two-hour season premiere one more time. After watching it again I still don't know what to think. So…here it comes.

I don't think I like this episode. Usually we get a nice mindfuck out of a Lost premiere and if the fact that the island is traveling through time is the mindfuck then consider me fucked. I couldn't figure out what Faraday was doing in the past and somehow I just pictured it as he had been on the island before and hasn't aged since. It would make total sense considering the storyline of the natives…you know…how Richard doesn't age or anything. Oh, and I have a new theory on Richard. I think he was originally a member of the crew on the Black Rock. Also, remember when he went to little John Locke and asked him which items were his and one of them was a compass? Yeah, guess that mystery was just solved.

Sun is mad. Real mad. Mad enough that she wants Caleb Nichol…err…I mean Charles Widmore to help her kill Benjamin Linus. So non-island Sun is evil. Me likey. Some lawyers show up to take blood samples from Kate and Aaron to see if she is really the mother. Obviously she isn't and the lawyers don't want to tell her who they work for. This leads us to the inevitable part where Kate starts running away from the law again. She's always running. If Evangeline Lilly weren't so hot this would really be annoying. Since she is really hot I'll let it slide.


* what is wrong with hurley's skin?

Sayid busts Hurley out of the insane asylum. People are trying to catch them, which leads to an awesome scene where Sayid kills a guy by throwing him onto a dishwasher tray that has knives sticking up from it despite getting a tranquilizer dart to the neck. Now that's how to kill a guy! Hurley is still seeing ghosts. In this case it's Ana Lucia. She tells him to lay low. Hurley does this by buying a XXXXXL shirt that says, "I (Heart) My Shih Tzu." Way to go, Mr. Moral Compass. Ben flushes Jack's pills down the toilet and now he can't go back to being sad beardo Jack. We also find out Ben has to get everyone back to the island in 70 hours or, "God help us all."

I don't really know how to react to these episodes. They weren't exactly what I was expecting for the new season. I definitely like the "two groups" aspect they have going on: the Oceanic 6 + Ben, and Locke & the group back on the island. I kind of chuckled to myself when Sawyer spent the entire first hour shirtless. I guess the writers know the demographic they're trying to get. Ladies, am I right? Anyway, what were your reactions? Like it, loved it, or hated it with all your being?

DTV

While I have no doubt that SDYW readers are well-informed, I thought I'd post this news item from the Washington Post:

Obama Urges Delay In Digital TV Switch

Personally I hope that it is delayed, as I still have not decided which TV to buy. I'm paralyzed by choice, and by conflicting recommendations. Grrrr.

Supernatural S4E12: Criss Angel is a Douche Bag

First: In exciting SN news, the show has had a ratings surge! An average of 3 million viewers a week, which is much better than its previous numbers. And, Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune recently called it one of the best shows of 2008. Yay!

Second: how many times did they say “douchebag” in this episode? At least 15 or 20? Fabulous.

On to the recap: At a magicians’ convention, an aging trio of magicians are depressed about the state of the biz, which is being taken over by young, eyeliner-wearing douchebags. Jay, who still has a show (albeit a failing one), decides to do a trick called the Table of Death even though he’s really not dexterous enough anymore. There is a vague hint that he’s trying to commit suicide. Even though his friends are concerned, they strap him to a table upon which a bed of spikes will impale him if he cannot escape in time. A curtain is drawn, so the struggle is seen in silhouette. He totally doesn’t make it and the spikes slam into him…and then he draws back the curtain, beaming and alive. The crowd erupts in applause. But, out in the street, a young douchebag magician collapses as rows of blood spots pinprick his shirt. Dum-dum-DUM!!

The brothers arrive to see Jeb Dexter (a parody of Criss Angel) and immediately identify him as a douchebag. Jay is feeling good from the previous night’s triumph and decides to do “The Executioner,” a trick so dangerous that Houdini wouldn’t attempt it. Dean speaks Jay’s friends Charlie and Vernon. They misdirect him, later explaining that “you can’t con a con man.”

Meanwhile, Ruby pays a visit to Sam and informs him that 34 seals have been broken while he’s doing nothing. She pressures him to use his abilities to go after Lilith, but he resists. That evening, the brothers attend Jay’s show and are surprised to see him throw back the curtain after his silhouette clearly shows him being hung by a noose. Dean is wowed. Sam is dubious. He is also starting to panic, because he wonders if he and Dean will still being fighting demons when they’re 60. It’s kind of depressing.

The brothers go after Jay, but quickly discover that he’s not their man. However, during the interrogation they tie him to a chair, so naturally he presses charges. Later that night, Jay does the Table of Death trick again…only this time, Charlie is the one who dies. Horrified, Jay drops the charges and approaches the Winchesters for help. Oh, and the bros figure out that cursed tarot cards have something to do with the murders.



The only other option is Vernon, right? Jay confronts him and they argue, but both are shocked into silence when Charlie appears, all of 28 years old. WTF? Apparently, Charlie has used the Grimoire (also referenced in Charmed, ha ha) to cast an immortality spell. But for this “rebirth,” he wants Jay and Vernon to come with him. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore. Vernon is down with the idea, but Jay refuses.

When the brothers arrive, Charlie strings Dean up in a noose and straps Sam to the Table of Death, but just in time Jay stabs himself in the stomach and reveals that, via sleight-of-hand, he has secreted a tarot card in his friend’s jacket. So, Charlie dies. I don’t really understand this – I mean he’s immortal, so won’t he just be reborn?

In the end, the brothers come upon Jay drunk and alone. Vernon has sworn him off for what he did to Charlie, and he is despondent. They try to convince Jay that he did the right thing, but he shuffles off in despair. Dean gets a beer, and Sam says he’s going for a walk. And by “going for a walk,” he means “getting into a car with Ruby, saying ‘I’m in,’ and driving off.”

Next week: Dean and Sam, together again. And, the episode will involve flashbacks of the Winchesters as youngsters, but Dean looks way older than Sam. Aren’t they only supposed to be a couple years apart? Check it out:

Fringe S1E11: Bound

“Hey, guess what just happened? Finding out that my father's giving drugs to bugs just became a typical moment in my life.”

1. I expected Mitchell Loeb to be a bad guy for some time, at least a full season. But he’s already done! It was chilling when he told Olivia that he had kidnapped her to save her. Whenever someone says, “You don’t understand what you’re doing!” on shows like this, it never ends well.

2. Did Nina have anything to do with the abduction? And how smart was Olivia to hide the canister when she escaped? It’s almost like she knew what would happen…

3. I don’t remember Harris, have we seen him before? Because now he’s investigating the Fringe division, and he has a serious hatred for Olivia.

4. Olivia continues on the road to humanization with the intro of her sister, Rachel, and her niece, Ella. Ella’s father is out of the picture, and Rachel totally knows what Olivia does for a living. I’m not saying she’s evil, but I imagine she’s not all sweetness and light.

5. Magic 8-Ball?

6. Development as far as an Olivia-Peter relationship, if only that Walter suspects something is brewing. And feels free to chat about it, openly.

7. Olivia has started to reply more on kicking ass than her gun, which is nice.

8. The slug is a mutation of the common cold!?!? How gross! Although fabulous when Walter gave it decongestant.

Get Your Lost On

Geez it's been too long eh? Last season I had an unfortunate choice to make. It revolved around bowling and Lost. This season it's different. I had a horrifying elbow injury that makes bowling not an option now, and perhaps in the future. Never fear SDYW fans. I think it was a sign from God that I should watch more TV and blog about it. I will listen to the dear lord sweet baby Jesus and blog until I can't blog anymore.

Tonight we get lucky. Lost is back and it's a 2-hour season premiere event. First, a giant recap of what has happened up until this point (that's for all of you who have been lazy, unwilling, and non-committal about your relationship with the TV). Then, the 1-hour season premiere. Who else is excited? Will Kate finally decide between Sawyer and Jack? Will Sayid continue to be the awesome killing machine he's become? Will Hurley freak out within the first seven minutes? Come on…thoughts…anything?

How I Met Your Mother S4E13: Three Days of Snow

“Serve the hotties first.”

This one was straight filler, all the way. Marshall and Lily, in an attempt to be more mature, start letting go of all their cute little “rituals.” Funny, I thought they learned this lesson last time they tried to be mature. The ritual in question involves airports, local microbrews, and chauffeur signs. They both agree not to take part in the ritual, and then each decides that the other will do it anyway, leading to a desperate gambit on both sides.

Meanwhile, Ted and Barney take over McLaren’s for a night, complete with a re-enactment of the behind-the-bar antics from Cocktail. Robin agrees to drive Marshall to the airport. Because if he were to drive himself, she would literally have no role in this episode. Anyway, they get buried by a snowplow, thus forcing Marshall to miss Lily’s arrival at the airport, and causing her to sit forlornly on a bench.

…Or not! HIMYM writers are quite good at subverting the viewer’s expectations. In the end, it turns out the three story lines that appeared to be simultaneous actually took place over the three days. Day One: Lily’s flight was canceled but Marshall didn’t pick up the phone because he thought it was their “ritual” lunchtime call, so he and Robin are buried in snow on their way to the airport. Day Two: Barney & Ted take over the bar and accidentally invite over an entire marching band. Day Three: Lily arrives at the airport and doesn’t find Marshall. But then a marching band appears, along with Marshall (now it makes sense), and the two kiss passionately.

So, filler. Filler that was only mildly palatable.

Friday Night Lights S3E1: I Knew You When

“She went to bed with Jesus and woke up with you.”

I’m not sure how much time has passed here – three months(?) – but some fairly ridiculous things have taken place in Dillon, TX.

1. Tami has gone from guidance counselor to principal. Um, what? Don’t you need experience, or qualifications, to be principal? She quickly discovers that the school has no money, being forced to lay off teachers – and just as quickly realizes that her husband has a brand new computer. So, she takes the money that Buddy has donated for a Jumbotron and uses it to pay teachers instead. This won’t go over well.

2. Smash wrecked his knee at State, and thus his dreams of college football are gone (again). Coach Taylor won’t give up on him, though. Even though there would be nothing wrong with Smash quitting football, since his doctor says he will never get back to where he was before the accident. Plus, in the real world football isn’t everything.

3. Riggins has taken Smash’s old position, going from fullback to tailback. I don’t know much about positions, but Riggins is so much bigger than Smash. Is this realistic?

4. Lyla’s mother and younger siblings have moved out of Texas, so she is living with Buddy. Santiago is nowhere to be found in his happy little family.

5. Street is neither seen nor discussed.

6. Lyla and Tim are sleeping together, but telling everyone they’re “just good buddies.” In the end, he somehow convinces her that he will make a good boyfriend by telling her it’s ok for them to keep their dalliance a secret, and she kisses him in front of everyone. Buddy is not pleased.

7. Landry and Tyra have broken up, though they spend all of their time together.

8. Tyra’s new guidance counselor tells her she doesn’t have a chance in hell of getting into a four-year college, which basically gives her the same storyline as Smash.

9. Julie is as useless as ever.

10. New freshman J.D. McCoy, touted as “the next Jason Street,” is apparently going to give Saracen a run for his money. His father has moved the whole family to Dillon specifically so that Eric Taylor will coach him. Coach Taylor is not amused.

11. Billy (Riggins’ brother) is engaged to Mindy (Tyra’s sister).

12. The team doesn’t deserve smoothies.

Supernatural S4E11: Family Remains

This show isn’t that great for a girl living alone. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. positive that some horrifying girl was going to sneak out of the closet and start licking my hand.

Anyway, as usual SN picks up not-at-all-where-it-left-off. Sam and Dean are exhausted, having taken job after job with no rest. Sam tries to convince Dean to slow down, but Dean is obviously still trying to make up for his time in hell / trying to get past the fact that the last girl he touched has exploded. They follow the trail to a house recently sold to a nice, normal family. But the house has a dark secret – last tenant brutally murdered, his wife died in childbirth, daughter hung herself 20 years later – you know, the usual.

The family ignores the boys’ warnings and moves into the house. The son is delighted to have an ET-esque moment throwing a baseball back and forth with something hiding in his closet. Meanwhile, the daughter lies in bed with the family dog, giggling as the dog licks her hand. But then the dog walks into the room, and she looks over to see “something” disappear into the closet. AHHHHHHHHHHH!



The Winchesters burst in to help the family escape, but the ghost has removed all of the weapons from the Impala. This confuses the boys, but they corral the family into a salt circle nonetheless. Sam investigates the attic while Dean stays with the fam. Suddenly, the girl (who looks much like the girl from “Bloody Mary” and The Ring) appears and trots on into the salt circle. Everyone screams and runs away, but the son disappears during the melee.

Dean takes the uncle to find the girl, while Sam takes the rest of the fam to a shed. Dean discovers a hole in the wall and slips down to find the family dog, murdered. Meanwhile, the girl appears out of nowhere and shoves a knife through Uncle’s throat. Back in the shack, Mom recounts all the horrible things that have happened to the family, including the death of their eldest son. It is kind of weird to spend so much time talking about the dead son when he has nothing to do with the episode. Usually in SN-verse, a family with a dead son would be haunted by the son, or something.

Regardless, Sam has been whiling away the hours reading the diary of the daughter who hung herself, and learns that GhostGirl is actually human. The man of the house (murdered in the opening) had relations with his own daughter (ew) and then locked the baby up to keep it a secret. I love this, when the “monsters” on this show are human. It provides a great moral counterpoint – this girl is, quite frankly, an inhuman monster. But, because she’s technically human, the Winchesters have a hard time justifying killing her.

Eventually, Dean finds the son, who – once the gag comes off – screams, “He’s coming back! Her brother!” Who then attacks our hero, and they fight in a flurry of limbs until Dean shoots the brother twice. At point blank range. In the heart. Have they killed a human before? I feel like in “The Benders” (S1E15) they just escaped.

Outside, IncestGirl is advancing on Mom and Daughter when suddenly Dad drags her outside and murders her via what closed captioning calls “slicing sounds.” In the end, Dean muses that he understands what drove the IncestSiblings. A lifetime of torture can do that to a person. And, in a twist I certainly did not expect, he admits that he enjoyed torturing souls in hell because it dulled his own pain. All this time I’ve been anxiously awaiting a brotherly showdown, it never once occurred to me that Dean could be the monster of the family.

HIMYM S4E12: Benefits

"I love you."

I’m reasonably certain that HIMYM has never made me tear up before, but this was a sad one. The show isn’t particularly complicated, but that being said, Barney is a surprisingly complex character – and one that Neal Patrick Harris plays to perfection. How the man manages to make his lines both hilarious and utterly depressing is beyond me.

In “Benefits,” Ted and Robin find themselves fighting about mundane things once they move in together. They decide that the reason they never fought before was because they were having sex. So, they start “casually” sleeping together even though everyone warns them that someone will get hurt. Barney is visibly distraught, but apparently Ted and Robin are assholes who don’t pay attention to the world around them. Finally, when Ted comes home to find Barney cleaning the apartment because he “can’t stand it when they fight,” Ted figures it out – although Barney won’t admit it even then. Marshall, in the meantime, has overcome his fear of pooping in the office bathroom, and his victory inspires Barney.

Barney goes to Ted & Robin’s apartment to tell Ted the truth, and finds Robin instead. She tells him that Ted called off their arrangement, and she thinks its because he can’t “just have sex.” “He’s not like you,” she says, and Barney blurts out that he loves her. Because of the conversation, though, Robin assumes that Barney is “playing the role” of Ted and proceeds to drive the nail in a little deeper by asserting that she doesn’t want to date a friend anyway. And, in the end, Ted’s voiceover ponders that, “It’s true, someone does always get hurt. It just didn’t happen to be one of us.”

I hope this goes somewhere good. Also (possibly because I missed the last three eps), I want Lily to have more to do.

How I Met Your Mother S4

Apparently I am not only a bad blogger, I'm a clueless one. I had no idea I had missed three episodes of HIMYM. Whoops! So here are three brief recaps from the CBS website.



HIMYM S4E11: Little Minnesota
When Ted’s younger sister, Heather, comes to visit and decides she wants to move there, Ted worries that she’s not mature or responsible enough to survive in NYC. Being the overprotective older brother, Ted tries to keep her out of trouble, and in particular keep her away from Barney. But when Ted becomes too overbearing, Heather teaches him a lesson that gives him new respect for her. And after northern natives Marshall and Robin bond during the first frost of the year, Marshall helps Robin get through her worst bout of homesickness by introducing her to his favorite Minnesota themed bar.



HIMYM S4E10: The Fight
When the bartender at MacLaren’s gets into a fight with some patrons sitting in the gang’s favorite booth, Ted and Barney decide to back the bartender up and get into their first fight. Ted wants to prove he’s not the pathetic guy who got left at the altar and Barney wants to impress Robin, who thinks fighting is sexy. But when they step outside and find the bartender has knocked the guys out in a flurry and thinks Ted and Barney helped him do it, Ted and Barney decide to go along with the legendary story. The story of the fight makes them heroes at the bar until the guys who got beat up decide to press charges, and Ted and Barney have to decide whether or not to come clean.



HIMYM S4E9: The Naked Man
When Ted walks in to find Robin’s date sitting on the couch naked, he stumbles onto a phenomenon that revolutionizes the gang’s concepts on the art of seduction. For Ted has discovered “The Naked Man”: a move on a first date that involves waiting until the woman leaves the room and then stripping nude in hopes that when she returns, she’ll be charmed by the man’s bravado and decide to sleep with him.

90210 S1E12: Hello, Goodbye, Amen

I tried. Really, I did. But 90210 never should have taken a winter hiatus because now I really don't care. I made it maybe one-third of the way through this episode before switching on my DVD player and returning to season 3 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I give up.