I’ve been a fan of Burn Notice since it debuted on USA Networks in 2007 mostly because of Bruce Campbell. I’ve followed him ever since the Evil Dead days, but it was The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. that really solidified him in my wheelhouse of favorite character actors. The premise seemed cool: CIA spy gets “burned” (disavowed for you Mission: Impossible fans) and dumped in Miami. While trying to figure out who burned him he helps people in need.

The burned spy is Michael Weston (played by Jeffrey Donovan). He’s part MacGyver, part Magnum PI, part Yoda, and part ninja. He’s a brilliant strategist, expert in hand-to-hand combat, and can blend in to any locale or situation.

He’s helped by a group of friends including Sam Axe, played by my fave Bruce Campbell, a washed up ex-special forces agent (with a heart of gold) who lives on the favor of wealthy widows; and Fiona (“Fee”), played by the georgeous Gabrielle Anwar, an ex-IRA activist, weapons expert, and all around bad-ass in a Nikita sort of way. (Oh and she has a heart of gold too.) Sharon Glass (of Cagney & Lacey fame) plays Michael’s mother Madeline, a silver-haired spitfire who chain smokes and is trying to make up for past parenting sins.

Burn Notice is now in it’s fourth season and in my opinion continues to impress. The show is fun to watch and exciting. If you yearn for shows like the The A-Team, Knight Rider, MacGyver, and Magnum PI, then Burn Notice captures all the best parts of these shows, wraps it in sunny/beautiful locations, excellent writing, and great performances.

Do yourself a favor watch the show and make up your own mind Tuesdays 9/8C. You won’t be disappointed.

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I gotta tell ya, I looooved LOSTS’s season finale. I saw Cesar’s tweet just after the airing and I think he may have had some issues with it. Hopefully I can divulge some of the awesomeness to bring him back around.

1. We finally meet Jacob.
Excellent way to introduce this Oz-like character. Hanging on the island in maybe, what, the 1600′s? Maybe Ben can answer this question, but I am sure the type of ship sailing into the island in the first 10 minutes of the episode will give away the year. And who is the other character and what is their relationship? My bet is they’re brothers, maybe even Cane and Able. Now for those of you that listen to the podcast you’ll know I am not a very religious man, but I do find the mythology and stories surrounding christian religions (heck, any religion for that matter) fascinating. So I think I’d love to have some catholic mysticism injected here. Thoughts?

2. Jack finally gets back to form
So he finally has a purpose again…saving everyone. He has something to fix again. And in true “Jack-fashion” he’ll do whatever he needs to do to fix it. Also, I love the 180 degree turnaround in Jack’s concept of faith – the pragmatist is almost entirely gone.

Oh, there’s more…

3. Locke really is dead
OK, weird. I’m very interested to see how Jacob’s “friend” pulled this one off. However I love the idea of the “Loophole” – a loophole for what? Also, who are these other disciples of Jacob? As I write, I just realized that Jacob may indeed be a Jesus-type character. Hmmmmm. I ask again, thoughts?

4. Sawyer’s dilemma
I’m pretty sure the H-bomb went off and the white screen (which was how Supernatural ended its season as well, BTW) wasn’t a camera effect to trick us in to thinking it went off. I think Sawyer really doesn’t want Jack to complete his destiny because he finally likes where he is. He’s come to grips with “Sawyer” and is ready to leave all that behind, his death wish is gone. Although I thought Julia’s issues where a little too convenient and counter to her character (she always seemed stronger than that), it did give Josh Holloway a great opportunity to show some impressive acting chops.

5. Myles’ realization
I think Myles is the only character to actual come to the island and get what he came for (and live to get it). He finally knows why his father left and what actually happened.

6. More info on Richard
Still not enough, but the plot thickens…

OK, so some questions now…

1. Is that a guitar in Hurley’s guitar case? Is it Charlie’s? Why is he always carrying it?
2. Who is Richard, really?
3. Why are these people on the island and who the f’ are they already?

OK, that’s it for now. Penty of time over the next 7 months to mull this over.

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1. KIA Soul. Hamsters chillin’? Come on, All I need is some Dynamite Hack and we’re good to go.

2. Hulu. Alex Baldwin is just plain awesome. He gets the Cadillac for this one.

3. Hulu. Seth McFarland just cool, and whenever he can jump out and visit the really-real word is welcomed.

4. Quiznos. Oh man, this one is just plain wrong. But DAMN, if it isn’t funny!

5. ETrade. “Shankapotomus” – ROFLOL that’s all I need

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OK, so we’ve been given a TON of info in the episode. I love the pendulum, very cool . Dharma doesn’t seem to be a mystery now (to me at least). I guess they are (were) a scientific organization working on the island doing experiments with biology and electromagnetism. The one thing that I am confused about though, is are they still around? In season 1, there was a Dharma supplies drop, so they must be still around and still think they have functioning operatives on the island (at least until Keamey shows up). But they haven’t been in the story line for a while…or have they?

So here’s my theory…Widmore is Hanso. The Dharma Inititive is his company that he set up to exploit the island in his quest for power. This is why Richard and the Other-Others battled against Dharma in the past and recruited Ben to help them wipe Dharma out on the island. They want Widmore to stop the exploitation of the island. I think that after that Widmore, at some point, was banished from ever returning to the island, which is why he needed the Initiative to get back to it. I think he dedicated his life and resources to finding that Island again, and when he did (using the pendulum)

This theory also explains a little bit more about the confrontation with Ben and the we-can’t kill-each-other pact they have. Ben clearly made a deal with Widmore after Richard assisted him in destroying the Dharma Initiative on the island. What tht deal is, is still a secret, but I am sure we’ll find out.

Think about it, Widmore protects his interests in the island by masquerading as Alvar Hanso. That way he can keep his legitimate enterprises going, while he keeps the more clandestined “Island” business going.

Thoughts?

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Too soon? Sorry for the groaner

So, I have this love/hate relationship with BSG. I’ve been a fan since the old days and I even watched Galactica 1985 as well (The Starbuck/Cylon episode…none better). I’ve enjoyed the new show with a couple slips in which I just stopped watching altogether. I never put it together until last night, when I was watching this Friday’s episode (on TiVo) and was just starting to get that uncomfortable feeling again. The one where I think “I just don’t want to watch this” it’s too much.

Too much blood, too much anger, too many machinations. It just felt like it went off the track.

But then I realized, I’m uncomfortable because, while this is SF and fantasy, the themes are real – almost too real. I was thrown by Gaeta’s mutiny at first, but then I realized that it wasn’t a shark-jump. Gaeta was always a man of conviction when he felt he was doing the right thing. Even when he was working for the Cylon shadow gov’t on New Caprica – he fed the resistance info. He was always about anti-cylonism.

So if Gaeta’s motivations where sound, then maybe, just maybe the show wasn’t off track as I originally felt. It’s no secret that BSG is actually a very powerful drama wrapped in a SF package and I guess I had to come to grips with that more. BSG is an incredibly layered show with some of the best writing in any SciFi show. Once I realized that I wasn’t getting my escapism from BSG (far from it, BSG makes you think), I gave in.

The fervor I had for the show in previous seasons is back. And just like LOST, I’m excited to see where it goes.

I’ll end with a salute to Saul Tigh (played by Michael Hogan). He started as my least favorite chracter, but he’s steadily become my favorite. Hogan’s raspy growl and colorful language brings an emotionality to the Adama/Tigh pairing that (until recently) was required to balance Adama’s stoicness. He makes the eye patch work (especially as he compensates with the rifle scope – genius!) and his loyalty should be an example to the entire crew. I’m along for the ride with this mother frakker, All hail the XO.

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Yes that’s right! Unfortunately he’s stuck back when Russo crashed on the island so this is going to be interesting. It’s funny though how he always gets into situations where language plays a part. All of his main storylines revolve around it (especially Sun’s sneaking around and learning english). I’m excited to see him back and I’m intrigued about this. So is Jin now at the same time as Sawyer, Locke and crew? Has he been shifting the whole time, just out of it?

Also, as pointed out by Doug in a previous comment, Miles is indeed the baby son of the Dharma Initiative instructional film guy (what IS his name?). This was clinched this episode with Faraday’s comment about length of time on the island affecting the neuro-disorder with the time jumps.

I saw Ben being the catalyst for the blood sample debacle a mile away, it seemed like a logical way to get Kate to WANT to leave and go back to the island. Still curious about Ben’s end-game though.

It is also clear now that Jack is back to his old tricks. He told Kate that he “could fix this.” This of course goign back to Jack’s need to fix anything broken. He now has a purpose and that singularity that he exhibits to confront this purpose is back in full swing.

Best line this episode: “Who was that?” asks Syaid…”My lawyer.” says Ben, in a matter-of-fact tone that was perfect.

Good episode.

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So, just as I finished telling myself “They’re giving us all the answers! Time travel, they’re unstuck, Ben did it, they need to get back and save everyone.” LOST throws me a curve and does what it does best – gives some answers and leaves even more questions.

So here are some thoughts:

1. 1. The whispers heard in the jungle throughout the first several seasons are not only Others, but could be the time travellers as they jump through time. The people in the current time-frame can’t see them, but can hear them, somewhat. I’m thinking this because of something Faraday said – “If it happened, it can’t be changed.” Maybe to themselves, they are slightly out-of-phase? OR, maybe I’m just tired
2. Ben is wicked devious. It’s so hard to read him though. What is his end-game?
3. What’s the deal with the butcher?
4. Does anyone else think it’s funny that Jack is now going on faith?
5. Sun is now a badass! I’m am curious to see what happens when her and Ben meet.
6. So Locke is not dead. I am pretty sure he will come back to life on the island – maybe through a time incident, but he will come back.
7. I love the fact that the Dharma Initiative is back in the game. We lost them a bit, but now maybe we’ll find out who the hell Hanso is.
8. Anyone else REALLY intrigued about Richard now?

OK, that’s it, not a very substantive post, but I had to do a bit of a brain dump. OK, gotta run and catch some Z’s.

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I gotta say I think I’ve been Jack-rolled. You know, “Jack-rolled” – the 5 season old network-TV phenomenon that gets unsuspecting viewers to watch yet another shark-jumping episode of 24. Yeah, I definitely was…how is that that none of these villians can get anything done without compromising a law enforcement agency (or the President himself, for that matter).

You know, I’ve been a 24-hater since the second season. Ever since Kim had her “Dr. Greene” moment and had every conceivable tragedy happen to her – I just couldn’t do it anymore. The amazing, tense writing and action of season one had me hooked. But then the same shit kept happening. How come it took them this long to close down CTU? An agency riddled with that many leaks, charged with anti-terrorism?!?!? Uuugh.

Needles-to-say I had to watch the episode. The wife likes the show, so i thought I’d give it the benefit of the doubt and see if it could capture the old magic.

Nope.

Tony Almeida is a bad guy? Really? He was FUCKING dead. Come one, this isn’t Melrose Place, they couldn’t come up with a different vehicle to get Jack back?

OK, so let’s talk about what I did like:

1. Colm Feore. Every since “Storm of the Century” he’s been the man.
2. Janeane Garofalo. Interesting casting choice, of course we need to fill the socially akward hole left vacant by Chloe. So far, nice job.
3. The FBI’s digs. Plain, Steel Case desks and partitions. This is really what a gov’t agency office looks like. The old CTU had too much high-end hardware and ridiculous-looking software.
4. Jack didn’t say “Dammit” yet, but he did say “We have to do it My Way.” Uuugh.
5. Peter Wingfield. Methos is awesome. Nuff Said.
6. Colm Feore. Wait, did I say him already?
7. The rounding out of the Robocop cast. Seriously. Peter Weller, Paul McCrane, Kurtwood Smith, Ray Wise.

OK, so I’ll probably give the 3rd hour episode a shot and see, but I don’t know. I am SURE Tony is running something that is a big-picture thing and he’s doing the wrong thing for the right reason…but again?!?!?! IT’s the same story over-and-over-again.

Can’t…look…away…must…stop

dink…dink…dink…dooooooooo

..sigh..

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Well, maybe not the best day. But if you’re a fan of the steadily downward sloping Heroes, then this past Monday was indeed the best day ever.

I’ve been lukewarm on Heroes for a while. Last season was a bust, severely damaged by the writer’s strike. This season seemed to get moving , but it was still a little “meh.” Well “The Eclipse, part II” finally got the old chutzpah back and I’m excited to see where it goes.

With the genius casting of Breckin Meyer and Seth Green as small town comic shop employees (owners?) Tim Kring and crew where able to capture what made this series great in the first place. The wonder and awe that came from actual, real people possessing what used to only exist on the inked page. By using the comic shop as a storytelling tool, the viewer is both in AND out of the story; “Kirby plaza doesn’t count, they never actually even talked” – friggin’ genius.

Being a long time comic reader and huge X-Men fan, I was always intrigued with the melodrama that ordinary people with extraordinary abilities faced. The Cockrum/Clarement years that pitched a perfect allegory for racism and put it in a fantastic realm of super powered mutants set me on the path of believing in the characters and the amazing storytelling that accompanied them.

Heroes recaptured that for me in its first season. But from the second season through the beginning of the 3rd, various ridiculousness and especially Hiro’s shark jumping idiocy almost pushed me out the door. And for those of you that listen to the podcast know, jumping the shark is a series killer for me.

Finally, the show feels back on track, and with the cancellation of Pushing Daisies (a travesty, I know) the possible (probable) return of Bryan Fuller to fold bodes even better news. So, what stood out?

1. Peter wasn’t an idiot.
   Finally, the youngest Petrelli finds his strength. Consequentially, without his powers intact. Although, I am sure now that the Eclipse has ended he has them back, at the very least his absorbing powers.
2. Hiro did something right.
   Seriously, about friggin’ time
3. Matt Parkman is back on track.
   I felt for a while that Greg Grunberg’s character was on the verge of getting eaten by the smog monster (LOST reference, anyone?). The hilarious attempt at reading Speedster’s father’s mind sans powers was excellent.
4. Claire gets her groove back.
   Getting killed is the best thing to happen to her since, well not getting killed.
5. HRG kicks ass.
   He does, he really does. HRG contiunues to be the most consistently excellent part of this series.
6. Ando speaks REALLY good english.
   Seriously, where did that come from?
7. Mohinder is back, sorta.
   Get this guy back on track. His new storyline is too Jeff Goldblum for me.
8. Meyer and Green.
   ‘Nuff Said.
9. Nathan is a bad guy.
   Well, not really, but he is a politician. He’s doing the wrong thing for the right reason. I’m real interested to see where it goes.
10. Sylar is back and badder then ever.
    Zachary Quinto’s Sylar is the second best thing on the show (to Jack Coleman’s HRG) and it’s awesome that he’s back as the villain. He was interesting “good”, but he’ soooo much better “bad”.

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Seriously, this guy is OWNING the debate. I could have swore he just said “ONE minute bitches!” I’m waiting for him to break out Master Blaster and start the “2 men enter, 1 man leaves” chant.

I almost didn’t watch this debate since I was sure it was going to be the same old finger pointing. But as soon as Brokaw laid down the law. I was in for the haul.

He’s got my vote.

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So I was digging around and came up with this incredibly tasty morsel:

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/09/02/damon-lindelof-updates-the-dark-tower/

Essentially, King sold the rights for The Dark Tower series to JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof for $19. Yep, that’s right nineteen bucks. Damon expresses that this will probably happen after LOST wraps. It’s an exciting proposition. I think Abrams and Lindelof can do a good job. Roland’s story is such a complex tale and I think if anyone can do it, these guys can.

I am currently reading the last book book now (I took a break to read Watchmen). I’ve been a fan of this group of stories since the came out and I for one, am very excited about this development. I’ll continue to dig up some info and post any developments.

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Look, I don’t have as much ire for the Microsoft ads starring Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates than everybody else seems to. I did get a chuckle out of them. If taken a face value (and in a world where Justin Long and John Hodgman don’t exist), they were OK. Not $10 million OK, and not kick off a $300 million campaign OK..just OK.

Trying an image campaign like this is tough. Apple has succeeded in making Windows Vista look like a pathetic mess through its MAC/PC ads. Curiously enough though – Microsoft Office seems to fair pretty well in image from those commercials. This campaign is obviously trying to play on the hipness of the MAC/PC campaign, but it just can’t match it. When it comes to marketing Apple has always been the lead horse – ever since the 1984 ad, they haven’t stopped (They couldn’t, their market share was so small relatively – and still is – that they needed to separate themselves to survive). I am sure Cesar or Jason (my Windoze-using fellow iconogeeks) will chime in here about the virtues of Windoze, but me and Brett (my fellow MAC-using iconogeek) know the truth…if you use a Mac, you’re just, well, “cooler.”

Trying to make Microsoft look hip by admitting it is out-of-touch with real people just makes it seem desperate. Microsoft is an enormous company with tons of bad-will over the past years and to get past that by dropping Seinfeld in the mix just doesn’t make sense. The fact that Microsoft pulled the ads and is now laying some bullshit about an intended “teaser campaign” is ridiculous. They yanked them because they aren’t working. It doesn’t matter if I felt they were kinda clever, the bottom line is that they didn’t work, and they won’t work. Maybe Microsoft should just concentrate on releasing an OS that doesn’t suck, instead of dropping $10 million on a latex salesman.

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So last night was the premiere of Fox’s new JJ Abrams’-produced “Fringe”. I’ll start by saying that Fringe is like a cross between X-Files, Lost, and 24. Allow me to expand on that statement.

Fringe is like X-Files because of it’s basic premise. Crazy things are happening and it’s up to a wiley boy/girl team to get to the bottom of all the craziness. You have your stiff, enigmatic government suit who is in charge, some interesting side characters, but truly the focus here is on Anna Torv’s “Olivia Dunham” and Joshua Jackson’s “Peter Bishop.” Olivia is the FBI Agent who doesn’t believe but really does. Bishop is the skeptic scientist. Oh yeah, and the whole conspiracy theory stuff.

Fringe is not like X-Files because of it’s basic acceptance of these strange things. Where the X-Files showed you the baddies and crazy things, essentially Mulder was the only one that saw this stuff. Even when Scully was getting abducted, she still held fast to disbelief. This show goes for the gusty and puts it all out there – melting people? Check. Bad guy with a motive? Check. Interesting twist? Check. Continued intrigue? check. Everybody sees they crazy stuff? Check. The basic idea here is wrapped around science, no aliens here and I like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hanso makes an appearance.

Fringe is like LOST because of JJ Abram’s and his amazing storytelling sensibilities. Abrams certainly comes from the Joss Whedon school of tough female leads and I like that. All of his heroines are believable and multi-faceted (Kate and Sydney anyone?). Fringe shares a common soundtrack with LOST especially on the outros to a break. The crescendo of dissonance is a welcome reminder that this show is really not all in your face…you do need to look deeper (if you dare Muuuhhahawahawhhwhwhaaa).

Fringe is not like LOST because it wrapped up the first story in the Premiere! Seriously, a nice complete, contained story with a lead-in to a larger enjoyable story arc. Good thing too, because I think my brain only has room for one LOST right now, and I’m still recuperating from last season.

Fringe is like 24 because it’s heroine will do anything to save the people she loves. I mean…well you’ll see, if you didn’t catch the Premiere, Fox is airing an encore (check your local listings). Just like when Jack Bauer gets in all sorts of insane situations (torture, etc.) Olivia jumps into dangerous situations no questions asked (or very little for that matter) – It’s Bishop that is the voice of reason.

Fringe is not like 24 because right now it doesn’t suck. Ever since they killed off Dennis Haysbert’s Palmer, I was done.

In the end, I enjoyed Fringe, it provided a welcome escape from a stressful day and gave me enough thrills and homages to keep me entertained. A couple notable items:

1. The titles
   They are beautiful. Amazingly rendered and placed into the scene so as to become a character. I kept looking (upon location change) for how they where going to do them next. Excellent.
2. John Noble
   As the crazy Dr. Walter Bishop, he’s Dr. Emmet Brown, CSM, and Jeffrey Goines all rolled into one.

My only gripe with the Premiere is that by the end of it, the characters where a little too neat and wrapped up. I know they want to get the stories moving, but I would have liked to see a little more strife, it was a little bit predictable.

On a whole, I’m going to give the Premiere of Fringe a 7. I think it was a solid opener with some complicated plot points, but all-in-all, I think they pulled it off. I’ve set a season pass on TiVo and I will continue to watch.

Well, what do you think?

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I stumbled across this new Stephen King 25 episode web-based series. Just watched the first 5 installments (all that’s there). So far, pretty good. Great art, it’s done in a graphic novel feel with still plates and limited animation. But with a very high quality voice over.

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Seriously, if you haven’t been watching Burn Notice, now’s the time to get on board. In its second season, this USA series is light, fun and action packed. Kind of like a cross between MacGyver, the A-Team, and Magnum PI the show features Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Weston, a covert operative burned by the CIA. Left out in the field, with no resources, his accounts frozen and dumped in Miami (his hometown) Michael has nothing but his wits and a few friends to get his life back on track. Michael is a classic hero-type, trying to solve the puzzle of his burn notice, while helping out Joe Average with his worse-than-average-problems.

The show delivers a lot of heart, great stories and humor with an excellent cast that reads right out of the nostalgia fanbook. First up, Sam Axe played by…wait for it…Bruce Campbell, a boozing, philandering ex-seal. He’s the trustee side-kick and confidant. The girlfriend, played deliciously by Gabrielle Anwar (“Things to do in Denver when your dead”, and the cancelled-too-soon “John Doe”) is tough, sexy, smart, and tough. She’s the on again, off again flame and all-around goto girl.

Sharon Gless shows up as Michael’s chain-smoking, neurotic, psycho-somatic mother. Excellent job, and it’s great to see a veteran actress of Gless’s caliber on the screen again.

The thing I really like about this show is that it is total escapism. It’s a great balance for LOST with all it’s heady intrigue and mystery. Burn Notice allows you to jump in at any time, and enjoy the ride. Much like X-Files, it has a longer running mythology (why was Michael burned, who did it, what do they want him for) with episode long stories that start, fulfill and end satisfyingly. The show has a great visual style with some touches of Guy Ritchie thrown in (but not too much) and all those great whooshing sound effects to keep it fun. Oh and Jeffrey Donovan’s cheeky, dead-pan VO lends great exposition without being corny.

Oh and for those of you STILL not interested, Tricia Helfer has made a cameo as one of the Burners (maybe 2nd in command?). Not sure what side of her bread is buttered, but judging by the hoops she’s had Michael jump through, it can’t be the good side.

All-in-all I’ll give this show a solid 8. Real good TV.

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Finally, Hollywood has thrown us weary fans a frickin’ bone and apparently decided to green light a big screen version of Fox’s short-lived phenomenon that was Arrested Development. IMDb.com has it set to release in 2009, and with the writer’s strike over, I think this is a possibility.If this flick turns out to be half as good as season 2 of the show, I’ll be satisfied. For a show that was so short lived, I have supreme confidence in presenting a list of past/present comedies that AD is better than.1. Friends 2. Will & Grace 3. Everybody Loves Raymond 4. How I Met Your Mother 5. Family Guy .That’s right, I said Friends, watch the show and you’ll be looking forward to the movie as much as I am.

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OK, I’ll post more later after I re-watch the episode, but it was damn cool. I gotta say, I feel satisfied with the episode. I’m not chomping at the bit for next season because I really just want to mull over EVERYTHING for the next couple of months and get prepared. They gave SO much info it’s a bit overwhelming.

****** POSSIBLE SPOILERS ***********

First tidbit: the call that Kate received was backwards. Here’s the reversed audio.

Second Tidbit: Alternate endings to hide who was in the coffin.

Random Thoughts:

• Dharma’s doing space/time experiments – I’m curious to read timelooptheory.com‘ s take on the new space/time info and so should you.
• Michael is dead. Jacob’s emissary (Christian) tells Michael he “can go now.” This does not mean, “get off the boat,” it means he is no longer in service of the island, he is released to do what he came there to do…die.
• F’you, Jin is still alive.
• I must say again. Ben Linus is the man. So over on Dube’s blog she theorizes that Ben moved the island forward in TIME, not space about 3 years. I think I agree with the time thing, but not the 3 years. Does anyone (Cesar) have info on when Ben appeared in the desert? Also, Ben took out a special forces guy. Come on seriously…he’s badass.

OK, more later, too much to think about. Oh yeah, this ep gets a 10. No question. Cliffhangers, answers, questions…all good.

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So the latest episode of LOST, “No place like home, pt1″ was quite excellent. But I’m not here to talk about the show so much as I am about the writers. We see the Oceanic 6 get off the island. I mean really get off the island.

So what?

That’s right, I said it. But not how you think. I say “So What?” because the storytelling on this show is so amazing, that I now don’t care about them getting off the island. I’ve known they get off the island since last season, but that is now NOT the focus. The writers have deftly switched us to care more about them getting BACK to the island.

The island has now become a living breathing character on the show (to be fair, I don’t think it actually breathes – live yes, breath no). I know want to see why the six got off the island and why it’s only them. Where’s Jin? What’s up with Swayer? Is the island OK? etc.

Some highlights:

1. Keemey is sooo gonna regret “capturing” Ben
2. LOVED the return of the numbers on the camaro’s odometer. LOVED it.
3. Jack’s revelation about Aaron and Clair
4. Sun kicks ass – to stand up to her Dad like that, awesome. BTW Jin isn’t dead, it’s still a front. There is a VERY good reason why they can’t tell anyone about the other passenger’s. A reason yet to be revealed.
5. Richard and the Others are back, excellent!
6. More Dharma!

OK, tha’s all for now.

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Yep, Claire’s dead. It all started when the mercenaries bombed the Other’s camp.

“But Chuck, she can’t be dead. She’s all talkin’ and breathin’.”

You say defiantly.

“Sawyer found here, lifted her up and brought her back. She just had headache.” you smugly say.

Well, yes that’s true, but riddle me this… why is she with Jack’s (her) dad in Jacob’s cabin all chummy (Christian’s avatar sure was never chummy with Jack on the island). Why would Christian tell Locke “It’s best you don’t tell anyone about her.” Why? I’ll tell you why…

Because she’s dead.

The headache was a symptom of a fatal head trauma that took several hours to kill her. She died in her sleep. What Miles saw was her Island reinforced spirit/soul/avatar walking away. She is now an agent of the Island, in it’s service. Locke has no idea that Claire is Christian’s daughter, so why would he see the two of them together? Why? I’ll tell you why…

Because she’s dead.

This is the reason why Claire is not one of the Oceanic 6, It would have been paramount to the survivors to get Claire and the baby off the island. But why wasn’t Claire one of the 6? Why? I’ll tell you why…

Because she’s dead.

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OK, the latest episode of LOST (“Something nice back home”) had a ton of stuff in it, but I’m going to concentrate on Jack for this post. First of all, what the hell is wrong with this guy? He can’t be happy unless there is something to fix. This has been a running personality trait since the beginning of the show. However, in the flash-forward, he completely sabotages his happy life. Did you notice it happened the second he told Hurley he was happy? And what was his next move? Of course it was to ask Kate to marry him! This character is nothing if not true to type.

Jack is in an unending loop of Tragedy…Fix Tragedy… Be Happy…Sabotage Happiness…Tragedy…well, you get the idea.

Okay, first…Aaron. When he tells Kate “You aren’t even related to him” it was said in a way that the next line could have been “but I am, I’m his Uncle!” I think they know. What do you think?
Second, let’s discuss the Appendix issue. Since I am a firm believer that NOTHING is a coincidence on this show, it is no accident that it was Jack’s appendix that became an issue. The appendix has no apparent function in the human body except to become infected, burst an spew toxins and waste into the human body. Jack’s appendix is a literal allegory to what’s happening with him. He can’t control his surroundings, everything is coming crashing down, and he’s realizing he can’t save everyone – so what happens? His body begins to process the bad and needs to get rid of it, but since he has an inability to ask for help, there’s nowhere for this stuff to go…but to his appendix.

My theory is that while people don’t get sick on the island – the island is trying to purge Jack of his idea of rescue. It is becoming increasingly evident that these people are meant to be on the island. And that the island will do what it needs to do to keep them there.

OK, so let’s talk about the Flash-forward. Jack is shirtless. Why? He’s never been shirtless on the show before, Sawyer handles the beefcake, not Jack. So why? Since, coincidences are not option, my guess is they want us to see that Jack does not have an appendectomy scar. Now he would have healed just fine (Island physics), but would he heal scar-less? I don’t think so. So that being said, is Hurley right, are they dead? I doubt it, but Jack is seeing his dad, and so is Claire…and so is Myles. Yes, Myles…these are not hallucinations, they are manifestations.

The island wants Jack back, and this is the beginning of his decent into madness as we can see by his drinking binge.

Overall I liked the episode, good stuff for the future, good reveals, in the grand scheme of the show, I give it an 8.

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Just watched “The shape of things to come” again and I was just as floored the second time around – albeit some things stuck out a bit more. First, Ben is truly broken up over the death of his daughter – I think this is the first time he has every been truly “real” in the show. I get so used to second guessing his motives. But the real thing I want to open for discussion is the Widmore/Linus angle. At first, I was thinking Widmore may indeed be Alvar Hanso, and I still hold to that a bit (rich, mysterious benefactor) but now…not so sure.

First of all, we need to applaud the direction and writing of this show in the past couple weeks, Ben has slowly turned into a hero. That’s right, I said it, Ben is becoming the hero – slowly but surely. So – question time:

1. Why does Charles refer to the island as “his” (this supports the Hanso concept) – Ben very clearly stole it from him by killing everyone
2. “I know who you are, I know what you are” : Charles Widmore. OK, who, I get – he’s the little boy who came to the island as a child, but “what”? “what you are”? “What” as in profession, or “What” as in something more Meta?
3. Why can’t Ben kill Charles – are they both linked in some way?
4. Now that Ben wishes to kill Penelope, what is Desmond’s take on this? Obviously since he was not on the manifest of 815, then he wouldn’t be part of the Oceanic 6. So he could be off the island in the future.
5. How did Ben just “appear” in Tunisia? I’m thinking it has to do with the “magic box” that brought Locke’s father to the island (I am clinging to the mystical aspect of this and not the possible reality that they just went to the mainland and kidnapped him)
6. What did the desk clerk at the hotel looked scared when she realized who “Dean Moriarty” was? And in no way, shape, or form is “Moriarty” meaningless.
7. I think Jacks’ “stomach bug” is a physical reaction to the fact that everything is unraveling and he is losing control. The thought that he may NOT get these people off the island is literally eating him up inside. Thoughts?
8. The SMOKE MONSTER! Holy crap I love this. Ben called it? Of course he called it! He can control it to some point, but kinda like the Greeks controlled the Kraken in Clash of the Titans. What do you think?

OK, that’s enough, let’s get discussin’

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Ben Edlund must have taken some serious Awesome Pills while on strike because this episode embodies a wit and dramatic flair that reminds me of Joss Whedon’s best (think “Hush”). Now Supernatural is no stranger to great TV – in my opinion, this is one of the better shows on TV right now, simply because it is just purely entertaining and never insults my intelligence (buy the premise and you’re in). Jensen Ackles (as Dean) and Jared Padalecki (as Sam) do an amazing job of being believable in an unbelievable world. The acting is top notch and it touches on a trend that is pervasive through today’s best SciFi and started with the X-Files: Just deliver good drama, period. The SciFi, the horror, it’s just a back drop – Believe in what the premise is and surpass it. Just because it’s SciFi doesn’t mean it has to take off in silly directions. Shows like Battlestar Galactica, Space Above and Beyond, and Farscape all did this. The actors embody their roles and go for it, plain and simple.

It helps, of course, to have great material. And this is were Supernatural really shines and “Ghostfacers” is a prime example. The episode follows a crew of reality show dweebs as they enter the “Morton House” – a derelict haunted house filled all sorts of creepy goings-on. But what this episode does smartly is bring back characters that appeared on a previous episode, and fleshes them out and adds to the mythology. The episode is almost entirely shot on handheld HD cameras with a generous sampling of Blair Witch – and Cloverfield.

The two stars of the series are seen sporadically throughout the episode but their “bad-assness” is in no way diminished. The editing of the show was brisk and relentless. They even acceptably explained how they could capture non-handheld footage (the team placed several stationary camera’s throughout the house).

All-in-all I give it an >i< score of 10 – Top notch episode. So thanks, Eric Kripke for bringing us this excellently entertaining show. Keep ‘em coming.

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Pure Genius.. never realized how often this was used in the show. I’m sure this will spawn yet another Lost drinking game.

What?

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So great news for all you Jericho fans out there. Showtime has just announced that they have picked up the former CBS show for two full seasons. They also made the statement that ” being an elective cable channel we can allow the true Jericho story to be shown without the sanitizing necessary for network television”. Could you ask for more? Not only are they continuing the series, but from the sound of it, they’re looking to make it edgier and more kick ass than before.

The cable channel says you can expect to get your fix again in late summer ’08. Read the full story here.

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HUGE, huge, huge, huge fan of BSG (to the uninitiated, that’s Battlestar Galactica). For those of you who remember the 80′s SciFi show, this has the same basic premise, but ups the ante 100-fold to create one of the best dramas on television. Top-notch acting, blockbuster SFX, and exceptional writing make this show a must-see. If you have not gotten into BSG, do it now! This is the final season of the show and it starts on April 4th on the SciFi channel (check your local listings). The first 3 seasons are available on DVD so go pick ‘em up and get sucked in.

To help ease the transition, I’ve posted the “What the Frak” recap above. enjoy.

Official BSG page

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Chris Carter and other members involved in the production of the new X-files movie announced some details about the upcoming film. Apparently the movie will not involve the main X-files story about alien abduction/etc but will take place in modern day and will take into account the established lineage of the show. Meaning that the shows events will be relevant to where Mulder and Scully are at this point and time.

Although the film is coming out this July 25th, Carter and Fox Television have not yet come to an agreement on what the title should be. Personally I propose one of the following:

• The X-Files: Pretend like seasons 7 and 8 never happened
• The X-McflyFiles: Fight Back to the Future
• The XXX-Files: Gillian X-posed

I know which one I’m hoping for.

New bootleg trailer here.

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Ok, so let’s look at the scorecard:

1. Jericho premieres. (Fans: 1, CBS: 1, Actors: 1)
2. Jericho gets cancelled. (Fans: 0, CBS: 0, Actors: 0)
3. CBS receives a shitload of nuts. (Fans:1, CBS Mailroom: 0, Actors: 1, Elephants: 1)
4. Jericho gets renewed. (Fans: 1, CBS: 1, Actors: 1)
5. Writer’s strike. (Fans: 0, Writers: 1, CBS: 0, Actors: 0 – but maybe 1 if you’re in SAG)
6. Jericho gets cancelled. (Fans: 0, Writers: 0, CBS: 0, Actors: 0)
7. Jericho finds new home?!?!?!? (Fans: 1, Writers:1, CBS: 0, Actors: 1, SciFi or another deserving cable channel: 1)

Yeah, maybe so…check it out at Sci Fi Wire

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ABRAMMMMMMSSSSSSS, ABRAMMMMMMMSSSSSSS. Pull camera back.

Alas, one of my favorite characters on Lost is gonna bite the bullet! Now of course it appears that the next 2 1/2 seasons will take place over about 3 -4 weeks (Since Sun made it off, that means she leaves the island in the next 3 weeks – based on Juliet’s timeline) so we still get a lot of Jin, but why kill him off? Thoughts? And what does this mean to the fate of everyone else? Are they also dead? This is the first time we’ve heard of someone who did NOT get off being actually dead. All other references where to “your friends” and “we have to go back” – nothing about anyone being alive.

OK, so how many of you thought that Jin was in a time loop and maybe lost his memory? Aaahhh hah! I thought so. Well, this appears to be the first episode of Lost that exists in 3 timelines: past, present, AND future. Take a look at the phone Jin was using (old school), he was only married for “2 months”, he was working for Mr. Paik (Sun’s father); and besides, Jin and Sun where going to the US after they got off the Island, not back to Korea. So we had flashbacks, flashforwards and current timeline.

I knew Michael was Ben’s contact as soon as he told Locke to “sit down” – My question is this…where is Walt? As far as I know Michael didn’t have any extended family did he? K, let’s get this discussion started…

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Already on its third episode, Download: The True Story of the Internet is a nostalgic look back at the beginning of the internet, the bubble, the trouble, and the legacy. Discovery Channel (check DSC’s listings) is airing this engaging miniseries, hosted by journalist John Heileman, and I, for one, am hooked. Having lived and worked through the dynamic time portrayed in this docu-journalistic offering I find myself glued to the set. I wanted (heck…want) to be these guys and it’s great to get such a quality pop culture-esque treatment.

“Download: The True Story of the Internet is about a revolution — the technological, cultural, commercial and social revolution that has radically changed our lives.” (read more)

Oh yeah, that pretty much says it all. The first 2 eps are being re-aired throughout the month so go set your TiVos .

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In some additional Star Wars universe news, IMDb.com has a listing for an “Untitled Star Wars TV Series” set to start in 2009. Anthony Daniels is tied to this project, with Daniel Logan (pictured above) rumored to be involved.Boba Fett is arguably the most intriguing character in the entire Lucas Lore. To have his story involved in this can only mean one thing…it has to be cool. The plot line only acknowledges that the series is set between Episode III and IV.

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… a couple of decent laughs, some awesome looking movie trailers and some long drawn out commercial breaks featuring a bunch of guys in tights and helmets chasing after a brown leather mock-up of Stewie Griffin’s head.

Personally the highlight thus far for me is a new trailer for the movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie. I had read a bit about this, but seeing it in action is something entirely different. It’s from the same guy that did the Night Watch and Day Watch movies Timur Bekmambetov and based on Mark Millar’s graphic novel. IGN has a longer trailer than the Superbowl version if you’re craving more. Let’s all keep our collective fingers crossed that Wanted has as much action but is more comprehensible than his previous movies. Iron Man is looking pretty hot too.

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Jericho is back Feb 15th Feb 12th ( thanks to the reader that sent this correction in, Chuck was likely so excited with fanboy anticipation that he was probably shaking and typing with one hand) , set your TiVo’s. Check out the skinny on the official Jericho production blog

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Empty rocking chairs are neither rocking or empty. Discuss.

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If you didn’t stay up to watch Eli Stone and catch the special message message from Oceanic Airlines. Here’s the link: http://www.flyoceanicair.com

Watch the vid and make sure you have pop ups enabled. Enjoy.

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Yes that is Kate… (more great shots from Bowen Smith in Esquire here)

The only thing I allowed myself to look at was the score(9.1). I’m hoping it’s 9.1 out of 10, not 100. Read the review here.

Don’t read it if you haven’t seen it yet.. I won’t be responsible if it spoils anything for you. Send all complaints to Chuck.

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