TVSquad

I want to talk to you about a grass roots campaign to save Eli Stone. You see, I had this idea where fans of the program would send George Michael paraphernalia - CDs, MP3s, T-Shirts, programs, videos - to the executive mugwumps over at ABC in order to express their frustration that they were not picking up the back nine episodes of the series. It would have been similar in scope to the Great Peanut Campaign of 2007 that ending up (temporarily) saving Jericho.

(S02E09) The Adult Swim schedule grid has this episode listed as "Holy Image," but the opening credits had it as "Holy Visage," so that's what I'm calling it. At the start of this season I received an e-mail from creator Dino Stamatopoulos that said the title of the episode may change from "Holy Image" to something else. I assume it was changed so viewers wouldn't confuse it with "God's Image," an earlier episode. [Note: Dino e-mailed me and confirmed this after I posted this review].

(S02E06) This episode dealt with the line between faith and reason, which may be why I wasn't as drawn to it as other episodes. I thought it was a good episode, but the way in which the citizens of Moralton use fractured reasoning to explain their religious beliefs has been a major component of the show since it began. This episode merely brought that idea to the forefront, and while it was still funny, there wasn't much to surprise a fan like myself. I laughed several times, but was ultimately left with a feeling of "oh yeah, I knew they were gonna say that." That being said, this wouldn't be a bad episode to introduce someone to the show, as I think it's a great overview of the show and what it's trying to say.

(S02E04) This is turning out to be quite the mini-series. Plenty of twists and turns that I did not see coming, especially after the way last night's episode turned out. Sleeper Cell has been edgy since the beginning, but it would appear that nothing is off limits now.

The biggest development was Salim's story. I honestly did not expect him to turn out gay. I really thought his story was headed in a direction with Farrah and that their romance would lead to issues later on. I like the twist -- the scene in the gym completely caught be off guard. What I didn't like was how the revelation manifested itself. The entire story of Salim's disgust with the Muslim televangelist was a bit over the top. Not to mention the fact that it felt exactly like the story from last season when Christian killed that visiting scholar. It was the exact same progression. The only difference was that Darwyn was able to stop it this time around. From here on out it would appear that Salim won't be a problem anymore because Darwyn can hold that knowledge of Salim's preferences over his head. Unless Salim tries to revolt and take out Darwyn for good?

It is said one cannot toss a dead squirrel in the air without it landing on a Christian, what with there being so many of them. Do we really know all about the origins of this religion, though? With the Christmas season upon us, CNN will be airing a two-hour documentary, CNN Presents: After Jesus – The First Christians, which will examine the early days of Christianity, including the persecution of early Christians and debates over the direction the religion should take even among its own followers.

I consider myself a non-religious person who's still interested in learning about religion. While I don't subscribe to the Christian faith, I'm always interested in learning about the history behind things, and to fill in what I forgot from my college religion courses. Based on the press release, this sounds like it could actually be rather informative, so I'm looking forward to it. It will air December 20 at 7 and 10 pm, and re-air December 23 and 24 at 7 and 10 pm also.

(S01E19) Sanctuary, on a personal level, is where we perform the job of taking care of our soul. -- Christopher Forrest McDowell

The consequences of Faith's actions during the last episode are coming to fruition, and there are a number of people who aren't happy with her. Let's take a look at who wants a piece of the slightly insane slayer.

1. Wolfram & Hart -- Considering the fact that the law firm hired Faith to get rid of Angel, they're a bit miffed at her not fulfilling the contract. So, they hire another assassin to eliminate both Angel and Faith at the same time. Unfortunately, the assassin who was hired to kill the assassin who was hired to kill Angel failed at his task as well.

(S01E18) Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies. -- Mohandas Gandhi

The best, most intense, angriest fight scene of Angel up to this point appears in this episode. It's between Angel and Faith, who . . .

I'm sorry, did you say 'Faith who?'. You remember Faith: she was the slayer who had a recurring role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer during the third season. She arrived in Sunnydale to assist the Buffster in her slaying duties. Later on in the season we found out that Wesley was her Watcher (just as Giles was Buffy's Watcher). At first, she seemed like your standard fun-loving, wacky teen with superhuman powers. But, as the season went on she became a bit crazy, began working for the evil mayor of the town, and eventually got the crap beaten out of her by Buffy.