TVSquad

(S02E02) "I mean, how can I not judge someone who creates their own harem and then tosses out the competition when they hit puberty?" - Foster

Already this is shaping up to be leaps and bounds ahead of season one of Lie to Me. The cases are more interesting, the writing is tighter, and most importantly, it's becoming far more personal for the employees of The Lightman Group. Every case has far more meaning when Cal and his team are in it for more than just a paycheck. That isn't to say that I'm against seeing cases like we saw in the season premiere with Erika Christensen, but finding out that Cal's daughter Emily has a connection to a statutory rape case he's investigating is far more compelling.

The folks at Caprica central are making a lot of geeks happy this week. First, we heard that comedian and professional nerd Patton Oswalt was joining the Battlestar Galactica prequel series as a Caprican talk show host. Now comes news that Buffy the Vampire Slayer vet James Marsters is joining the show for a sizeable arc.

Marsters will do what he does best on Caprica: play a dangerous and unpredictable baddie driven by his carnal and moralistic desires. EW tells us that Marsters will play a terrorist leader named Barnabus Greele in at least three episodes of the upcoming Syfy series.

Well, you guys were absolutely right. Season five of Angel is awesome, and I'm so glad I slugged through some of the earlier seasons that didn't exactly float my vampire boat.

The writing in season five is excellent, the characters are both fun and multidimensional (especially Wesley, whose story only gets more and more tragic), and it's just a great all-around season. Here are five reasons why I loved this season as much as any TV show (including Buffy).

Last week, I devoted my first Jane After Dark column to my top five Buffy moments. I was thrilled to read all the responses, both here on TV Squad and at Whedonesque, where the post was picked up. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are a passionate bunch!

This week, I thought it would be fun to delve into my favorite Buffy hookups. One that didn't make the list but holds a special place in my heart is Giles and Joyce. It was a fleeting moment, but one that was fun and would have made for great storytelling had it continued.

But who to pair Buffy up with -- Spike, Angel or Riley? What about Spike and Drusilla? And while Willow and Tara had a special love affair, there's a lot to be said for Willow and Oz. And what of Xander? Sure, he and Anya had a fun romance, but his hookups with Cordelia and even Faith were intense in their own way.

Oh the choices! Read on for my thoughts, and please add your own in the comments below.

I'm starting a new column here on TV Squad called "Jane After Dark." Some of you know I work the "night shift" here at the Squad, editing and scheduling posts into the wee hours. I'm a big multi-tasker, so I also use those hours to get caught up on all the great shows I've missed along the way.

Over the past year, I've watched some really cool shows, including Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Moonlight, Weeds, Entourage, Gossip Girl, and many others. So I thought it would be fun to write about my After Dark musings, and I hope you'll chime in with your own thoughts about whatever I'm watching.

I just finished Joss Whedon's magnificent Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I loved so many things about the show. No one could look as stylish as Buffy as she slayed those vampires. Angel and Spike were both hot in their own way. The love between Willow and Tara was sweet and gentle, but also powerful. And the characters continued to grow and evolve throughout the series. By the last episode, you really felt like you knew these characters and had grown right along with them.

In an interview with StarWars.com (yeah, I go there) former Buffy the Vampire Slayer baddie James Marsters talks about his new character, Captain Argyus, who he voices on tonight's ep of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But, here's the interesting news: Marsters says George Lucas once considered him for the role of Anakin Skywalker for the Star Wars prequel films.

"When George Lucas was casting The Phantom Menace he, for one day maybe, considered me for the role of Anakin Skywalker and possibly found that I was too old," Marsters told StarWars.com.

Too old? That's an understatement. Anakin Skywalker was a wamp rat-fearing tween in The Phantom Menace. Marsters was 37 when that film came out! Maybe Lucas was eying him to play an older Anakin in the prequels that followed Menace? Either that, or Lucas is far more out of touch than most people think he is. (That's a scary thought). Anyway, Marsters would've also been too old to play the 20-something Anakin we saw in the later prequels. Dude's in his late forties already.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S04E10) Well, it was a close call, with the top three candidates separated by two votes or less. So while I almost got to experience the Buffy musical experience with "Once More With Feeling," or the fifth season episode "The Body," it was instead the silent episode "Hush" that came out on top. Now, understand that this is by no means an intention to say that the entire series can be fully appreciated by one episode. In fact, I have every intention of watching the whole thing. Maybe I'll even give you guys season-by-season updates as I go along.

What I did learn from this is even several years after it's end, Buffy and Angel fans are as passionate today as they are about their favorite shows when they were on the air. And it makes me even more depressed at the poor treatment Whedon's other television masterpiece Firefly got at the hands of FOX. Maybe if it had been on UPN or The WB, it would have had a chance to develop as Whedon envisioned. But to the matter at hand. How does someone who's never seen a single episode of Buffy or Angel take an experience like "Hush?"

(S02E13) Well, despite some ups and downs throughout the season, to say that this second run went out with a bang, both literally and emotionally, would be an understatement. Definitely, this ranks as one of the best episodes of the series so far and so amazingly surpasses the first season finale in every way. Where that was a silly overblown giant monster romp, this one existed on a much more intimate level within the lives of our cast of characters.

The cast and crew spent all season really fleshing out this team for us and making us learn to love and care for each of them; all of it leading to this stunning finale. Now the events herein could really resonate. Now you might be asking why such a generic Torchwood picture for such a key episode? I see it as a tribute. To what? Well, if you've seen the episode, maybe you know what. If not, what the hell are you doing here? Go watch it already.

(S02E12) The penultimate episode of the second season delivers in a big way, both setting up the season finale as a major event with huge stakes for Captain Jack as well as delivering some great looks back at what brought each member of Torchwood to the team. Using the framing sequence of a massive explosion, we spend the majority of the episode in Lost-like flashbacks.

What's so brilliant about the stories we get is that in most cases the back-stories are nothing like I would have expected for that character, and yet at the same time it so perfectly serves the personality and drives of each individual on the team. Suddenly, Tosh's meekness, Ianto's eagerness and Owen's boorishness make perfect sense in the context of their past experiences. Even Jack's cavalier behavior and obsessive dedication to Torchwood make sense considering his own history with it. What they've managed is to add more depth to our relationship with each of the individual Torchwood members just in time for all hell to break loose in the finale.

(S07E15) This episode could have easily been the season finale of Smallville. It had characters change, characters vanish and a very sad cliffhanger ending. I wonder if it was the last one written before the writer's strike started?

It opened with a quiet day on the Kent farm. Then Brainiac (played by James Marsters) showed up and things got violent. In a rare instance, Clark showed up on time in the beginning to save the day, rather than the end of the program. On another note, that farm gets trashed a LOT.

From March 14th to March 27th, The Paley Center for Media is presenting the twentieth-fifth annual William S. Paley Television Festival. The Paley Center, formerly the Museum of Television and Radio, says that the festival celebrates "television's rich and diverse programming and the creative process behind the medium." This year the festival includes Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Pushing Daisies, and Gossip Girl among others.

Last night, I attended the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion. For what happened during the panel discussion and some pictures, read on past the jump...

Did you really think Captain Jack wouldn't be back? Now in its second series/season in both the UK and the US, we're going to do things a little differently with our Torchwood reviews this year. The fine folks on both sides of the pond finally got things squared away so that new episodes air much closer in the US to their initial UK airing. The third episode airs this Saturday, February 9, on BBC America, which is a little more than a week after the UK airing. To minimize any "spoilery" concerns, the episode reviews will follow the US airings.

But before we can get to that, we need to play a little bit of catch up, so look for an overview of the first two episodes of Series/Season Two after the jump. And about that image up there spoiling the first episode? Hey, that might just be a flashback sequence. That's right, I got you there.

(S07E10) In a triumphant return to television after a few months off, Smallville returns with Brainiac (played by James Marsters, best known as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and introduces a new Kryptonian named Dax-Ur (played by Marc McClure, best known as Jimmy Olsen from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies).

Has any actor involved with a previous screen version of Superman NOT been involved with this show? Anyone? Anyone? Okay, maybe Gene Hackman...

More after the jump...

Just as happened with parent series Doctor Who, those of us stateside won't have to wait as long after the British airing of Torchwood's second season to see it here, though ironically it has yet to be announced when it will premiere on BBC Two in the UK. TVGuide.com tells us the second season of BBC America's biggest hit comes to us beginning January 26. And with James Marsters (Buffy/Angel) dropping in for a guest shot, and Doctor Who's Freema Agyeman (companion Martha) checking in for an extended stay mid-season, this second go round with Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen and the gang is shaping up to be more exciting than the first.

Marsters will play a time-agent criminal who "goes around in different times killing people with no remorse at all." His character Spike, remains one of the most popular in the Buffy-verse, so I expect Torchwood's ratings to see another "spike." (Boo! Boo! Hiss! Get off the stage!).

Last May, when the sixth season finale of Smallville aired, a lot of TV fans were left wondering if Lana Lang, Chloe, and Lionel were dead or alive. Thanks to spoilers, we learned the fate of two of these characters pretty quickly. However, the third one kept us wondering, especially since the contract of the person playing that character was up in the air. Negotiations took so long that the show started shooting new episodes not even knowing if that character would be back or not. Want to know if all those three characters are back? Curious about new storylines and which characters from the past will resurface? Wait no more, we bring you answers!

Spoilers ahead!