(S06E07) "There are two sides to every story." - Nick
And to finish that thought, Lynette said, "Yeah, well your side is married." Which sums up part of what this episode covered -- the fact that Julie and Nick had an affair, and Lynette found out about it and confronted him. During the scene, I thought to myself, why is Lynette confronting him? What does she hope to gain from it? But I can see why she did it -- to try and protect Julie.
I'm filling in for Isabelle this week (apologies for my lateness on the review), so be gentle with me. Mostly what occurred to me about this episode was how thin all the ladies have gotten again. For a while there, it seemed like some of them bulked up to at least a size two. Now they're all back down to a size 0. Bree runs a catering service, for cripes sake, and looks like she hasn't eaten in weeks. Sandwiches for all. Oh, and Carlos is looking more and more like John Travolta. And thank God for Kathy Najimy.
(S06E06) "Aren't you glad I'm not crazy anymore?" - Katherine to Susan
To our pleasure and amusement, Katherine is still crazy and maybe even more than before. She is so deeply in denial that she can't see the truth anymore and thinks her make-believe world is accurate.
I've had to teach a teen who was in such a denial a few years back -- he was making up all sort of lies to hide the fact that things weren't going well at home, so he made up this "other and better" life. I can tell you that it's extremely difficult to help the person come back to reality and also to differentiate if what they tell us is true or false, since they are really convincing as, to them, their world is accurate. It needs a lot of therapy to help someone like that come back to reality.
Since Katherine is not getting the help she needs to deal with her denial, fantasies and problems, she will keep plotting to get Mike back and hurt people in the process, including herself. It won't be pretty when she'll hit rock bottom.
I'm not spoiling anything by telling you at the top that Bitty Schram was back as Sharona for this episode. Hell, the title of the show was "Mr. Monk and Sharona." Oftentimes when a former character returns to a long-established show, it doesn't live up to the expectations. You want it to be like it was, only better. Fortunately, Bitty Schram's guest turn was excellent. This might be the best Monk of this finale season.
I'll have to admit that I've probably watched a total of four minutes of the ION network. But the previews for their new mystery drama Durham County make me say "hey, I'm gonna check this out." It's a Canadian drama about a detective and his family who move to a new town and encounter weird things, including secrets, women vanishing, hockey player fights, secrets, weird weather, and secrets.
It's a six-episode series and it starts September 7 at 10PM.
Sure, sometimes recaps can be unnecessary, but sometimes they're actually welcome, especially if you missed just an episode or two and you want to get caught up. Below is a summary of what has happened so far on CBS' Harper's Island, which airs tonight at 10. It's actually a good little recap for those of us who missed the first two episodes (of course, the full episodes are available too). Catch up before there are so many episodes you say to yourself, "eh, I don't have time to watch this!."
I'm a big fan of mysteries, but it's hard to watch them on television. I'm talking about the onslaught of serial TV shows that we've seen the past couple of years. For every Lost or Heroes we've had, we've had an infinite number of shows that didn't make it, such as Daybreak and Kidnapped. It's easy to get frustrated and disillusioned when you start to watch a continuing drama and the show doesn't even get past its first 13 episodes. ABC pulled Daybreak after a handful of episodes and then put the rest online. NBC did the same with Kidnapped (it was also on Saturday nights, which didn't work out either).
When CBS presented their upfront last May, one of the more intriguing dramas was a murder mystery/slasher film/whodunit about a wedding party on a Seattle island. It was called Harper's Island and projected for mid-season. The preview played like a cross between Ten Little Indians and Twin Peaks to me, and I liked what I saw. I certainly plan on giving it a try when it shows up on CBS.
"Oh, goodness. Is this where they do Dancing with the Stars?" -- Willie Ray Johnson, Brenda's momma
(S04E08) Here was an episode that epitomized what I like about The Closer. This was an excellent mystery. It was complicated and drew you into the chase. Like Brenda, you're wondering how it was done, why and by whom.
Of course, it didn't seem like it was going to be a heavy duty episode, not when the opening was all about Willie Ray and Clay's unexpected visit. That damn RV has brought Brenda's parents cross-country, even with gas at $4 a gallon!
Don't get me wrong, I like Barry Corbin and Frances Sternhagen. They're great actors, but the roles are so broadly drawn. The show uses them for comic relief, even though they can do drama brilliantly. The scenes at the film studio were too jokey to me, especially in light of the heinous crime scene that Brenda was investigating.
The murder reminded me of the O.J. Simpson case. It looked like Ryan -- an actor with anger management issues -- was the murderer. He lied and had a history of beating his wife. The sight of him with the gym bag and then those black gloves were all vaguely reminiscent of O.J. Of course, since he was the prime suspect, I never thought that he was the killer. Too obvious.
After the season finale of How I Met Your Mother last May, Joel asked readers if they believed that Ted would marry Stella. Nearly 61% of you responded to that poll in the negative. Six out of ten answered: "Nah. I just don't think she's the mother."
I say seem because if television has taught us anything it's that just because he's in a tuxedo and she's in a wedding gown, that doesn't guarantee that both will say "I do."
Even if they do go through with the wedding, though, does that mean that Stella is actually "mother"? Is it possible that Ted and Stella get married and break up before Ted hooks up with the character who is destined to be the mother that he's talking to the kids about in the openings.
One thing about Mother co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, they keep us viewers on our toes.
Since Lostpremiered about 4 years ago, fans have been active in coming up with theories (include the now-famous time loop theory) to explain the mysteries of the show. From the start, producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have debunked a few of the most popular theories (e.g., they are in purgatory) and hinted that others may be legit.
To help fans discuss theories and propose their own, USA Today's website devotes a section to fans' Lost theories. With these theories in hand, USA Today turned to Darlton (that's the common nickname for Damon and Carlton) to see if any could be accurate.
Hey, remember that show The Pick-up Artist, starring internationally recognized d-bag Mystery? Was one of your Christmas wishes to see the same kind of show, except this time on the internet, with lower production values, starring two has-been former Fox sitcom stars? Well start carving up the Christmas goose, because you just got your wish!
In a move that is sure to please lovers of both so-good-it's-bad ironic entertainment and cautionary Hollywood tales, the AV Club is reporting that noted d-bag author of The Game, Neil Strauss, has released this set of promotional videos. In them, David Faustino and Corin Nemec team up to show just how good Strauss's method for picking up chicks is by challenging each other to a "who can get the most telephone numbers" contest. A sample (NSFW) video after the jump...
In the world of TV, one of the riskiest things a creative team can do is shoot for the "quirky" factor. It's an all-or-nothing deal: either it works, where everything clicks and the audience embraces the show, or nothing works, and the show explodes in a big awful mess over the poor suckers who decided to tune in and watch. At the beginning of the 2007-08 season, we have two shows who went for the quirk: Pushing Daisies and Viva Laughlin. And as it turns out, one show works and the other show is a disaster. Considering Daisies is one of the most praised new shows of the season, we all know where we're going with this.
For the past few days, I've been watching VH1's non-stop reruns of their reality show The Pickup Artist, which is just an unmarked white van and fistful of roofies away from being the creepiest show on television. I cannot bring myself to look away, so I watch each episode with my face twisted in an expression that is equal parts horror and malicious amusement. The finale will air tonight and I have already come to accept that I don't have the self-control to avoid watching, despite the fact that every time I tune in, I lose a little more faith in humanity.
I suppose it isn't the fault of the contestants. After all, they're unintentional virgins and their minds are malleable, subject to easy manipulation by anyone who wears eyeliner. That's where the show's host, Mystery, comes in.