From WB: After Sam (Jared Padalecki) has several haunting dreams, he persuades a reluctant Dean (Jensen Ackles) to return with him to their childhood home for the first time. They find much more to battle with than painful memories when the house's current occupants, a single mother with two young children, experience terrifying supernatural phenomena, just as in Sam's nightmares. The boys track down an eccentric local psychic, Missouri Mosley (guest star Loretta Devine, "Waiting to Exhale," "Crash"), who is mentioned in their father's journal, and together the three fight to rid the house of powerful spirits. But before they can stop what's happening now, they have to face what happened when they lived there - including their mother's horrible death. Amazing twists and revelations await Sam and Dean on their most personal mission yet.
My Rating: 4/4
Oh my God! I really had high hopes after seeing the teasers for this episode, and boy did this episode live up to my hopes. In my mind, this was the best episode of the season for this show to date. So much happened in this episode. We learned so much about what happened all those years ago. Am I the only one that cried at the end of tonight's episode?
Let's discuss this episode titled 'The Journey Home' and all that happened. A new family moves into the rebuilt house the two brothers lived in as a child – a single mother with two young children. Almost immediately things begin happening in the house. The girl sees a fire being in her closet, and the mother hears strange sounds. Sam also starts having dreams about his old house and a woman begging for help. Turns out we can see it is the woman that moved in.
After some work, Sam gets Dean to return to the scene of their mother's death all those years ago. He has to tell dean about the dreams he has, and the current dream involving their house. It does involve a lot of work though because Dean swore to himself that he would never return to their childhood home.
They do return, and for once they are completely honest about whom they are. They go to their old house, and talk to the woman now living in it, Jenny. She quickly starts to tell them about the house and all the problems she has had in it since she moved in. She blames it all on the house being old. The brothers know different.
After a long conversation, the two start treating this like any other case, but Dean isn't handling being back at the house so well. He makes a frantic phone call and leaves a message for their father. One he hopes he hears. I've never seen tough guy Dean so shaken up before.
The two brothers go off to learn more about the house and what has happened in it, while things continue to occur at house. A man called in to fix the kitchen sink loses his hand it appears when the garbage disposal turns on with his hand inside it. The youngest child, her son, is locked in the fridge by the force in the house.
While all this is happening, Sam and Dean are meeting up with various people, the last being a psychic their father had gone to years before. She tells them things before they can even do so themselves. She knows about Jessica's death and their father being missing by just holding Sam's hand. I love the psychic's character. She can read their thoughts before they act, and she catches Dean a few times. She also tells them something evil once was in their house, but she is confused as to the reason it is acting up now.
They take her to the house, and the three arrive just minutes after the mother finds the little boy locked in the fridge. She takes through the house and to the room that was once Sam's nursery, the location of their mother's death. She tells them the spirit there in the house now is not the same one that took their mother years before. She also tells them there is two spirits in the house.
The three then go about cleaning the house of spirits. They send Jenny and her children away, and proceed to destroy the spirits. They appear to be successful after a few scary moments, but Sam still feels something in the house. He takes Dean back, and they see the scene he has dreamt with Jenny pounding on her window. They run inside the house, Dean goes for Jenny and Sam goes for the children. Dean makes it out okay with the mother, but Sam gets trapped inside the house.
Dean runs in, and they both see the fire spirit. Dean is about to try to kill the spirit, but Sam stops him. Well, it turns out the fire spirit is the spirit of their dead mother, Mary. This scene just made me cry. The mother returning, seeing her boys and then sacrificing herself so they may live. This scene was so sad and touching and spooky – all at the same time. However, now the house is free.
The episode doesn't end here though. In a surprise twist, the psychic returns home, but she isn't alone. Their father was closer than thought. It appears he is staying with Missouri. She tells him to go see his boys, but he says he won't - not until he knows the truth. Truth about what I'm not sure, but this just adds another twist to this amazing episode.
We learned so much here - about the brothers, about their father, about their mother. This episode has to be the best to date as far as this show is concerned. Another great episode looks to be in store for us next week.
TV Review: Supernatural 1.09
TV Review: Bones Episode 1.08
From FOX: When Brennan and Angela get caught in a melee in a dance club, Brennan kicks someone into a wall, causing it to break open and reveal a mummified corpse and a stash of methamphetamine. Once it's determined a murder was committed, Brennan and Booth pair to follow a trail of drugs and money within the Washington D.C. club scene. Their investigation uncovers a turf war between artists within the local urban music industry, where the quest for success may end in death. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if Booth's current relationship is ready to move to the next level.
My Rating: 4/4
If possible Bones just keeps getting better and better with each episode that airs. Quirky characters, interesting plot lines and good writing all make this show compelling and in my mind one of the best of the crop of new shows on television at the moment. I only love Surface as much. Tonight's episode titled 'The man in the wall' puts an interesting case before us, which also allows us to see more of Brennan's quirky eccentricities come to life.
Angela decides to take her and Bones out dancing at a club. After finally dragging Brennan away from her full of inbox of emails, they are out and about, and what do you know Brennan likes hip-hop music. Never pictured her to be the hip-hop fan, but hey whatever works right? While out dancing, Brennan opens her mouth about how hip-hop music is tribal influenced, and it causes a bit of a brawl to ensue. Once again, we see Brennan get involved in a bit of a fight and coming out on top. However, when she kicks a man into a wall, a startling discovery is found. A mummy is found in the wall.
The police are called and Booth shows up, with girlfriend in tow. Just last week I mentioned we hadn't seen her much, and look here she is! Turns out when the mummy came out of the wall, he also somehow triggered the release of a lot of Meth into the air, and it gets everyone in the club high. This includes Bones and Angela. Let me tell you Bones high was hilarious! All that smart talk coming out all jumbled because she's high – best thing yet.
Bones is excited they have a modern mummy on their hands, and she immediately starts to work on identifying the victim and cause of death. Here starts our journey into the hip-hop world with plenty of opportunities for Bones to say how much she loves hip-hop music. I think we got the point after the third mention! After some work it turns out the victim is a rapper and DJ, and he has been dead about six weeks. Bones finds out he was killed the man, and it leads down a bumpy path of twists and turns.
At first, Bones and Booth think his girlfriend, who also dated a rival rapper, killed the man. When the two find out she has been missing for almost as long as the dead rapper, they throw out that as a possibility, and start looking for her as well. Turns out she is dead as well, buried in the cement underneath her ex-boyfriend's brand new studio - an obvious attempt to try to frame the murder of the girl on him, but he's innocent. Early on in the program, we learn the rapper had been shot in the wrist in the past, so it was impossible for him to have committed the crime.
So Bones and Booth finally figured out who it is, but there is no way they can touch him. It is the club and record label owner. He is as clean as a whistle, but too clean. The cops are onto him, and trying to take him down. His bodyguard is part of this, and he tells Booth how hard it is to get this guy. If they are going to be successful, they need solid proof.
Booth and Brennan confront the man anyway, and in the process Bones discovers something that might just make the case against the man. Both victims had small indentations on their skin. When Bones sees the man poke Booth with his cane, she tells Booth to take the cane as evidence. Back at the lab, she has Hodgins use the cane, and the mark left matches the same exact mark left on both bodies. We have our killer.
This show is truly amazing, and it isn't something you can just casually watch either. This show is intelligent, and the characters are also intelligent. However, this show succeeds by mixing the intelligence with humorous one-liners and great acting. Each week we learn something new about Brennan, and she is definitely one that marches to the beat of her own drum.
Back to Booth and his girlfriend for a moment. This week, Booth tells everyone the two are going on a vacation. However, a small talk to Angela scares the girlfriend silly because Angela tells them both about the steps of a relationship, and after the long vacation comes moving in. Well, the girlfriend mysteriously had something come up at work last minute, so she didn't end up going. Booth decides to go anyway, but I almost wanted him to ask Bones to take the girlfriend's ticket and go. I know its way too soon for that though.
Another great episode of Bones, and we have another new episode set for next week. See you then!
TV Review: Surface Episode 1.08
From NBC: Laura (Lake Bell), Rich (Jay R. Ferguson) and Jackson (Austin Nichols)) race to finish the submersible they are building, and despite several setbacks during a test run, take it out to the spawning site. As Rich and Daughtery begin their descent, they spot the creatures spawning but a system failure causes the submersible to freefall, putting them in jeopardy. Elsewhere, Miles' (Carter Jenkins) parents consider sending him to a boot camp for problem children, but rethink their decision and send him to an aquarium for volunteer work. Ian Anthony Dale and Leighton Meester also star.
My Rating: 4/4
Well, folks, it looks like we have a cliffhanger on our hands, and we won't know the answer until next week's episode. Last week, Laura began working on a submersible with Rich and Jack. The man-made sub would take them down on a date when it is known for the creature to act up. This week, they continued their work on the submersible with only days left before they have to launch. Some problems do pop up. Namely one with a leak, but Rich thinks he finds the source and fixes it.
With the sub ready to go, the group leaves for the launch site, and the creature is sighted almost immediately as it creates a lightning storm from the ocean. They launch the sub, and all appears well. All systems are go until they reach about 1700 feet, and then water starts dripping in. Apparently what Rich thought was the source of the leak wasn't, and the sub starts to slowly take on water. The further it goes down, the faster the water will come.
After a bit of a debate with Jackson, Laura and Rich decide to continue on, especially after the two hear the creatures nearby. They continue going deeper and deeper, and eventually have a sighting of creatures, which Laura is able to capture on film.
However, even more problems arise. Up top, Jackson sees something, and then we cut to commercial. When the show returns, the sub is going down even faster, and Laura can't reach Jackson by radio to tell him to stop it. We then find out why the sub is going down so fast. The cable connecting the sub to Jackson's boat has snapped, and 3,000 feet of cord is coming down towards them. Once it reaches their depth, the cord then pulls them down into one of the craters that go down further into the earth.
This is where we leave Laura and Rich as the episode ends. What happened to Jackson? Did a creature just chew the wire or is Jackson gone as well? We do know the creatures are capable of eating an entire small boat. We're not sure what happens to him either. I'm sure those questions will be answered next week.
The cliffhanger isn't all that happens. We also have some happenings with Miles and also with the mysterious Lee. First, let's talk about Miles. Last week, the police found him after he sets Nim free. We assume he was arrested, and this week's episode confirms that, but apparently his father is able to call in some huge favors and Miles gets off with just community service it appears. He starts working at his new job after school cleaning up the roads as part of the trash patrol.
However, his parents aren't done. They start to wonder if Miles should be sent to a wilderness camp for troubled teens. When his sister overhears their plans, she goes to them and tells them she knew about his pet all along, and she had never seen Miles act so interested before. After some thought, they decide to try to change his community service, and they are successful. Instead of trash patrol, he now is working at the aquarium after school, caring for the animals there. On his first day, his boss decides to show him something cool. Turns out to be some eggs similar to the one Nim hatched out of him. Things should get interesting once those babies hatch!
Now about Lee! I'm not so sure what he is up to, but he is looking for Laura. This week, he goes to her ex-husband's home and tries to get the man to tell him where she is. For some reason, the man keeps quiet, and doesn't speak one word about Laura, even though she just called him minutes before. I really don't trust Lee. I'm not sure what he will do once he finds her, but it can't be good.
This episode was amazing. In my mind, this episode was the best of the series to date. The sightings of the creatures, and the cliffhanger ending make me on the edge of my seat as we wait for the next episode. I love how every story gets equal time. I'm glad Miles got changed to the aquarium too. I really wonder when Miles will connect with Laura and Rich. He has to eventually.
Speaking of Miles, apparently NBC has created a character blog for him over on the show's website. Each week, he writes entries that go along with the story line for the show. Last week's entry talks about the arrest. Past entries have talked about him caring for Nim. Check out the blog here.
Weekend Buzz
These are the buzz worthy stories I posted over this weekend on my Media Village blog, Thoughts from the Couch.
That's all! Be back with my review of tonight's Surface! Don't forget to check out my Blog of the Week on my sidebar!
TV Review: Grey's Anatomy Episode 2.08
From ABC: Derek and Addison Shepherd's professional relationship is challenged when their closest friends come to Seattle Grace seeking a radical, preemptive operation to avoid breast and ovarian cancer. Meanwhile, George can't understand why a patient who fell five stories doesn't seem happy to have survived; an elderly gentleman makes a difficult decision upon learning that his wife has only a few months to live; Cristina and Burke try to have a "normal" date, and Chief Webber is disappointed by Bailey's fellowship decision -- until he learns her reasons.
My Rating: 4/4
Oh my God! This show can frustrate me so! Anyone that watched the last scene tonight knows what I am talking about. We were this close … this close I'm telling you, and then? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. How frustrating is that. If this show were titled properly, it would be called "The one with all the frustrating moments in the elevator." However, it is called "Let it be."
I am jumping way ahead of myself here though. Let's go back to the beginning. It is just another day for our interns and surgical staff of Seattle Grace. The sun is shining. Derek is on his way to work on the ferry, as is Addison, but oops not really because Derek chooses to ignore her existence on the ferry. George is eating his bagel for breakfast when things go crappy – literally.
A man falls from the sky … yes Chicken Little the sky is falling! Well at last a part of it. Poor pigeon definitely got its payback for crapping on George's day though! However, it was for a good cause. The bird broke the man's fall and he lived. A fact he should be ecstatic about, but he is anything but. George is as happy as could be because a second earlier, and it would have been him breaking the man's fall, and not the bird. This could have injured both him and the man severely. The bird did them both a favor, even if George and Cristina spend a good amount of time taking the bird off the man's back, beak and all.
George finally figures out why the man isn't thrilled to have survived. He had jumped - a suicide attempt gone bad. The man then figures he was meant to live to patch things up with one of his old flames. She just happens to work at Seattle Grace in the billing department. Talk about coincidences huh? Well, George goes off to find her and he does. Problem here is the man is a bit late – ten years late in fact. Daisy, the woman in question, wants absolutely nothing to do with him. George goes to the man, and tells him he couldn't find the woman, and he dies right there at that moment on the operating table. Quite mysteriously in fact because other than a pretty banged up leg, the man was fine.
Moving on to Burke and Cristina. This episode marked their first real date. These two are a couple, and they have never seen each other dressed in normal clothing, much less outside of the walls of Seattle Grace. This could spell trouble for the new couple. After Cristina picks out the perfect dress to make her look hot, the two are off to dinner. Things don't start well. She eats meat, and he doesn't. There is silence, and things look bad. Then miracle of miracles, a man collapses in the restaurant, and luckily it is even a surgical case. Burke and Yang dive right in, and the patient is sent to SGH. The two perform surgery together, and things work well. When Burke apologizes for the bad date, Cristina says it was the best date of her life. Okayyyyyyy.
A good portion of this episode deals with a case Addison takes on. Two friends of hers and Derek fly out from NYC, and this isn't just a purely social visit. The woman wants to be tested for a gene that causes ovarian and breast cancer in women following the death of her mother. The gene runs in her family, and others have died as well. Once she tests positive for the gene, she asks Addison to remove it all - her ovaries, uterus and breasts. This she decides on her own without consulting her husband. This of course upsets him.
Izzie is also upset by the woman's decision, and this throws a bit of a cog into the new relationship she is forming with Alex. He kissed her last week if you recall – with tongue and all! He makes it clear to her he attends to do it again, but when she sees the case of this woman she is upset, and she tells him that if it was her in the woman's shoes he wouldn't be with her. Breasts are one of the things that attract him. At first, he doesn't deny this, but in a touching scene near the end of the episode Alex comes to Izzie and tells her even without breasts he'd want her because it isn't those he wants, he wants her. She slaps him, and then kisses him. Mixed signals!
A smaller subplot on tonight's show dealt with Bailey and a fellowship she has been offered at SGH. Webber is pressuring her for an answer, and when she doesn't supply one to him fast enough, he approaches her to ask if she is leaving SGH to take a fellowship elsewhere. She sets him straight, and delivers him some more news. Bailey is pregnant. We just learned she was married, and now she is pregnant. How exciting. Something tells me this baby will be born safe and sound. Two failed pregnancies in once season would be hard to handle.
Now let's talk about the source of my frustration in tonight's episode – Meredith and Derek. Meredith is assigned a case with Bailey that at first looks like simple gall stones, but turns out to be a case of advanced stage gall bladder cancer. The woman is old, and she comes with her husband. When Meredith finds out, she goes to him with Bailey, and he doesn't want his wife to know she is dying. Meredith doesn't tell her at first, but Bailey makes her. When she tells the wife, she doesn't want the husband to know. Heartbreaking story, but the couple will live happily in denial until she passes.
Throughout the episode while working on this case, Meredith keeps running into Derek in the elevator. Every single time she gets on it, he is either already in it or getting on it on another floor. The final time it is just the two of them, and she admits she misses him. He comes up close behind her, almost looks like he might kiss her or touch her, and then steps back after a really long agonizing moment with an 'I can't.' Oh my God! So so frustrating. He loves her. She loves him. He is staying with his wife out of some moral obligation or some other reason that makes no sense because he obviously no longer loves her. It just makes things really difficult, and the one it is hardest on is Meredith. I feel so sorry for her in this situation. She had no idea he was married, and if she had known she would never have allowed herself to be in this position. She is though, and it is making for really good television.
Once again Grey's Anatomy has captivated me for an hour on Sunday night. There are no words for how much I love this program, and it is by far my favorite on television. I am so involved in these characters and what happens in their lives each week. Next week, we spend Thanksgiving with our interns and others at what appears to be Meredith's house! Things should be interesting. See you next week.
If you want to discuss this episode with myself and others, don't forget I have a discussion topic set up over at the Media Village Forums in a topic here.
Starting with this week's episode, I will also post the episode song list once the song information becomes available. The songs will be available to download from iTunes unless otherwise noted.
Music from this week's episode
"Sexy Mistake" The Chalets
"No Sleep Tonight" The Faders
"Bang Bang To the Rock N Roll" Gabin
"I Melt With You" Nouvelle Vague
"Far Away Blues" Joe Purdy
"Miss Halfway" Anya Marina Good - Not Available for Download
Saturday Night Premiere: Spanglish
This week's Saturday night premiere comes to us from HBO. Spanglish is a movie I had heard about, but I really wasn't all too sure of what to expect from the film. When I see Adam Sandler, I automatically think comedy, but this movie – although had comedic moments, it was more of a drama, and Sandler also did well here. The movie also starred Tea Leoni and Cloris Leachman.
This movie tells the story of one women's life through a brief period in it. The story of her life is told through the words of her daughter Cristina, in the form of a college admissions essay sent years later to Princeton. The story is of a woman that comes from Mexico with her daughter to Los Angeles, looking to make a better life for herself and her daughter. After years of working and living in the Mexican area of the city, she knows she needs to do more for her daughter, and she takes on a job working for a family as a house keeper.
The father is a chef with a popular well-known restaurant, and the wife is a bit on the neurotic side, and I'm not sure what she actually does for a living. I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the movie. They have children nearing their teens, a son and a daughter. The wife's mother also appears to live with them.
At first, the woman, Flor, works at the home during the day hours. She doesn't speak any English, so this makes communication between the family and herself difficult. By the time the summer months come around, the family is ready to rent a beach house and move there for the summer months. This poses a problem for Flor because the mother wants her to move with them. The problem here is they didn't even know she has a child. Once that is discovered, Flor is persuaded to move both herself and her daughter with the family for the summer months.
Once the wife meets Flor's daughter, she takes the girl under her wing. I think because Flor's daughter is much like she wishes her own daughter were like. This causes more problems for Flor, and soon an even bigger problem becomes evident. The husband and Flor develop feelings for each other. Not only that but the wife comes out with the fact that she has had an affair behind the husband's back.
A tangled family living situation in this household, and one that Flor decides she no longer wants any part of. She decides to leave the job, the house, and to even pull her daughter Cristina out of the private school she had just enrolled in on scholarship.
This is a very touching family movie. I was expecting a comedy, but what we have here surpasses that. It is a touching story of one daughter's love for her mother, and why she admires her so much. I especially enjoyed how the daughter told this movie's story using her essay being read in a voiceover. How many of us that are old enough have had to write a college admission essay. So many of them are written, but very few reach the heart as this one does here. I'm also assured Cristina would be accepted to the college she applied to, in this case the prestigious Princeton. I would definitely recommend this movie on DVD. You won't be disappointed.
To see this movie for yourself you can check it out at Amazon
For you Blogazoo folks out there, here is a gazoo.
Checking in, today's buzz and blog of the week
Hi everyone. It has been awhile since I checked in here, and I wanted to drop in real quick today. Things are moving right along with the television season. Posts slowed down here for a bit, but that was only due to repeats airing on many of the shows I review. I have no intentions of going anywhere anytime soon. I'm even looking ahead at what I can do during the off season summer months. Things might slow down a bit then, but I'm sure some new programming will be offered during those months.
Starting today, I'm adding a new feature here on this site, and that is Today's Buzz. As some of you might know, I also write a daily blog over at Media Village. This blog is updated several times a day with the latest in television and movie news. Weekly updates include the latest in DVD and movie releases, how your favorite program rate against other programs and sales numbers. This with all the celebrity gossip you'd like. If they have something to do with movies or television, it is probably found on my blog. I also give further analysis of the shows I review here each week, and other shows that I don't find the time to talk about here. Every day or two I'll post a recap of what stories I've covered there, so you can catch up on the news as it hits.
This is today's buzz for 11/10 -11/11
This week's Blog of the Week is Tales of the Opiated Sphera, a blog for Ophiated Sphera Media Corp. Check them out on my sidebar! If you want to be my future blog of the week, join over at Blogexplosion and bid when my blog is up open again. Starting now, a link to your blog will remain underneath the current blog of the week for a month past your week.
TV Review: ER Episode 12.07
From NBC: Neela (Parminder Nagra) gets all dolled up for Gallant's homecoming (Sharif Atkins) and her co-workers seem to take notice but, her plans change when she receives a call from Iraq. Meanwhile, Abby (Maura Tierney) is caught in the middle between Kovac (Goran Visnjic) and Clemente (John Leguizamo) when they disagree on how to save a patients life. When a cop and a little girl become victims of a shoot out, Neela is plagued with the decision of whether or not she should save the shooters life. Also starring Laura Innes, Mekhi Phifer, Linda Cardellini, Shane West and Kristen Johnston.
My Rating: 
Okay I have to admit early on during this episode titled 'The Human Shield,' I felt a bit ho hum - another episode that promises to be huge, but doesn't follow through. Yes, we had a lot going on in the ER. All with the victim's of just one event, but the previews for this episode promised something huge for this episode. I didn't really get into things until the girl started to fail. To me it felt a bit like let's have all this stuff happen to this poor little girl and then send her on her way. We know that doesn't end up being the case, and the result here is completely heart breaking. We see here how a difference in treatment can end up in the life or death of a patient. When one course of treatment is taken over another, it costs this young girl her life.
Let's go back a bit though and tell this story. A man has kidnapped a young girl. This man may be familiar to some because the actor is C. Thomas Howell, another well-known actor. They find him and the girl, and a gun battle ensues. She is shot, and he is also injured. A cop is also shot in the battle. They are all taken to the ER. However, before they all arrive at the ER, we see Eve and Clemente talking about some new items being introduced in the ER to make things run smoother. Are Clemente and Eve working well together? Wow, I never would have imagined the two most overbearing of characters getting along.
Abby and Luka start to work on the little girl that is brought in. She's a kidnapping victim that has been missing for several months. There is also sign on sexual trauma, which is also heartbreaking to see in a child so young. The way her kidnapper was trying to make it sound, the little girl was in love with him, but this is surely not the case. Luka moves to work with the kidnapper with Neela, leaving Abby to work on the little girl. Pratt and Ray are working on the cop that was shot.
When Dubenko and Clemente come down to look at the little girl, this is when things get stressful. We have Abby and Luka going with one course of treatment. Clemente suggests another, and Dubenko ends up backing him up. This just signs this little girl's death warrant. Clemente never even notices something important during the little girl's ultrasound. Not only does this little girl die, but also it appears an earlier patient of Clemente's also stops breathing.
As for the kidnapper, Luka, Dubenko and Neela need to operate on him in the ER in order to keep him alive. Luka makes a speech about them keeping him alive so he can pay his time for what he has done to the little girl in jail. They need to crack him open in the ER with Neela assisting. Nice move right before her surgery elective gets underway. The man does bleed all over their floor, but it looks like he makes it through. The little girl we know isn't as lucky.
This heartbreaking case isn't all that is happening in the ER tonight though. We have other happenings as well. One of which is the addition of John Stamos to the cast for a couple of episodes, the first of which aired tonight. Rumor had it over the summer, he was up for the new attending role. We might not have seen John Leguizamo, but Stamos in this role if his show Jake in Progress hadn't been picked up for a mid-season replacement. Tonight, Stamos comes in as a paramedic that brings in the little girl. His eye catches Neela, and he does ask her out, but she says no.
In fact, Neela's mind is all on the return of Gallant. He was supposed to return on leave, but she is called about half way through the episode from Iraq. She has her hands quite busy when the call comes through, so she has to call them back. Turns out there was an event with mass casualties, and Gallant was sent there instead of on his leave. We do know he is alive, but does this foreshadow a future event? Will Gallant return? Or will Neela be left to look for someone new? What about her and Ray? I've caught a bit of a vibe there, and there is also the paramedic, but we know that role isn't a permanent one. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
Neela's romantic life isn't the one featured on this episode. Last week, we had Ray find out the girl he had been sleeping with was only fourteen years old. This week, her father comes to the ER wanting to know why Neela treated his daughter. As Neela and Ray are leaving the ER, the father approaches them and he beats up Ray. Apparently, he knows what Ray did with his daughter. Could there be more repercussions in the future because of this?
That isn't it folks! We also have what looks to be the return of Abby and Luka. After the day is over, Abby ends up at Luka's, and she has a bit of a breakdown. This is where we see Luka go up to her and kiss her. A sad scene. The overall episode was just heartbreaking, and another good episode for ER. Even if it did start a bit slow for me, this was an excellent episode that used the whole cast to their finest. We even saw Weaver briefly, very briefly. Kerry is getting less and less time on the show these days.
We see her when Luka approaches her about the head of ER position that Susan vacated. He isn't one that is usually for administration, but if he doesn't do something the position will go to Clemente, and that might be detrimental to the ER with Clemente's current record there. Next week's episode looks to be huge, and I can't wait. The previews hint at someone dying, and I really hope that doesn't happen.
TV Review: The O.C Episode 3.06
From FOX: Taylor Townsend locks up Seth’s night when she throws a Harbor School event that keeps Summer at a distance. Meanwhile, Marissa’s new friendships at public school worry Summer and she enlists Ryan’s help. Meanwhile, Sandy works on a plan for the Newport Group and forms a new partnership. And Charlotte convinces Julie and Kirsten to edge back into Newport society on The Swells episode of THE O.C.
My Rating: 
Tonight The O.C. packed another episode with all the major characters having something going in around Newport. A good portion of this episode did focus on Marissa and her new friendship with the boy she now goes to school with, Johnny. Turns out she is spending an awful lot of time with her friends and with Johnny in particular. Marissa is even ditching out on events with her boyfriend, and this is really starting to raise a red flag to those around the two of both sides.
Ryan tries to ignore it because he knows Marissa wants to fit in with her new friends at Newport Union, but Summer is also starting to wonder if there is a bit more than friendship brewing between the two, especially when she finds a jacket belonging to Johnny in Marissa's bed. That would definitely raise a red flag to anyone, and Summer does ask Marissa about it. Marissa tells Summer that she would never cheat on Ryan, and I actually believe she wouldn't. Marissa even asks Summer to tag along to a Newport Union function so she can see the two in action so to speak. When she does, Summer grows even more concerned and calls in Ryan to come to where they are immediately.
I am thinking the situation here is that Marissa is blind to what everyone else around her is seeing, including Johnny's girlfriend. Johnny is falling in love with Marissa, and Johnny's girlfriend even tells Marissa that. This is after she cheats on Johnny before he can cheat on her. Johnny and Marissa walk into a bedroom to catch Johnny's girlfriend in bed with his biggest surf competition. Definitely doesn't help matters here because the first one Johnny turns to is Marissa. This is also with Summer and Ryan now there at the party. Johnny is understandably upset, and he goes after the other guy, but he is definitely no match for him. Ryan jumps into the fray and flattens with the guy with just one punch. Ryan is definitely not working on his temper issues here is he?
The Newport Union antics aren't all that happens in this episode. Let's move the focus over to Harbor. At the private school, Taylor Townsend has set up an event for the seniors that has a mandatory attendance for all seniors. This is Ryan's first week back at school, and he has been warned to not make any mistakes now or he'd be kicked right back out of school by Principal Kim. Taylor even makes it so that Ryan and Seth have to help her out. However, Summer and Ryan are over at the party with Marissa, and they never back to Harbor in time before Taylor has the seniors set in lock down.
This makes it so that Seth is stuck in a room full of people and Taylor without his two best friends. However, Seth ends up coming to the rescue when the rest of the class doesn't want to cooperate with Taylor. He had seen her with her mother earlier in the day, and you can see Seth kind of felt bad for the girl, and I did too. It appears Taylor is working so hard to earn the attention at Harbor because she doesn't get any at home. At least not position attention. Her mother was just horrid to her.
Summer does eventually make it to the school, but Taylor sees an opportunity to get closer to Seth so she fakes not hearing her. Taylor now has Seth all to herself, and Seth had already made it so that Taylor added his two friends to the sign in list for the lock in, so neither of them should get in any trouble for not showing up. Ryan never makes it to lock in because he is off with Johnny after the little fight on the beach.
The teen set isn't the only ones with happenings on this week's episode. All the adults had plenty to do as well. Charlotte is still figuring out a way to get money out of Kirsten and using Julie to do it. This week's scheme is to throw a huge party with a high buy in for charity. She gets Julie to go along with it, and then guilts Kirsten into joining as well. However, at dinner one night Julie has a reason to go through Charlotte's purse in order to pay for dinner, and she finds out all about Charlotte and her other identities when she finds credit cards and identification for several identities in Charlotte's wallet.
Julie doesn't play around, and she quickly confronts Charlotte about what she is up to. Charlotte knows she is caught, so she does tell Julie of her plans. She even asks Julie to go through it, but Julie doesn't really want to do anything that would break the law. I still think the Charlotte plot line is one of the weakest of the season. It's now being stretched out way too long for my tastes, and it should be put out of its misery as soon as possible.
Sandy is also working on things with the Caleb's company. Kirsten still wants to sell it, and this week Sandy has found a buyer, but he is concerned the buyer will tear down one of his pet projects. He confronts the man working with the man he is selling too, and the younger man wants to work out a deal that will keep the company in Sandy's hands as the young man joins forces with him. Sandy is intrigued by the idea, but first he must go to Kirsten for her approval. She supports him, and now Sandy has a new partnership, and a new job. However, something is definitely fishy here, especially with all the recent happenings with Charlotte. Is it possible this is the new way she found to get a Kirsten's money? Or is this a totally separate issue that we need to keep an eye on. We will have to wait and see.
I think this episode was a good episode, but it ran just a bit slow to me. There is a lot going on here, which makes things interesting, but some of the plot lines are a bit predictable. I really figured that Julie would be the one to figure out Charlotte before long. Julie is no dummy. Things seem to be moving right along though, and next week looks to be exciting as well.
For some O.C. news check over at my media village blog, Thoughts from the couch, and don't forget you can come and discuss this episode of The O.C. with myself and others over at my forum here.
TV Review: Lost Episode 2.06
From ABC: Sawyer's wound becomes life-threatening as he, Michael and Jin make their way through the interior of the island with the tail section survivors. Meanwhile, Shannon is once again haunted by visions of Walt, and Charlie becomes jealous of Locke's interest in Claire.
My Rating: 
Lost is back tonight with an all new episode, and I am glad to see it back after a few weeks off. Speculation has been running wild the last few weeks on who would die on tonight's episode. Everyone had a theory, but early on it was leaked who it was. Even with the spoilers, you had to hope it wasn't true because this meant another major character was leaving the show. However, yes Shannon was killed off on tonight's episode. Might as well get that out of the way now. This episode actually had the most air time for her character all season, so you had to wonder if there were plans to kill her off because of the lack of air time. We also saw Boone back for a bit on this episode in flashback sequences Shannon has.
Let's go back to the beginning though. The other survivors are still trying to make it to the first survivor's camp. Sawyer's arm isn't doing all that well. In fact, it is slowing them down a bit. If you recall, he was shot when the others took Walt. After digging out the bullet himself, it looks like his arm may now be infected. He has to stop and rest several times, and at one point he does collapse and he does need to be carried by the others with him. Michael, Jin and Echo have all rejoined the group as well. With Echo leading them, the group is able to make it through the jungle. Without him, Ana Lucia had ended getting them lost.
The group of survivors is still worried about the others showing up as they make their way through the forest. Ana Lucia tells a bit about the background of their group, and we learn the others came in and first took three and then took nine more. We'll learn more about the tail end survivors and their story on an extended episode next Wednesday. Something tells me we have a lot to forward to next week.
However, we're not done talking about this week yet. Let's jump to Shannon a bit. Abandoned was a Shannon centric episode, so we were able to see a lot of Shannon this week. Both on the island and in the flashback sequences. We learn a lot more about her and Boone's life before the island, and we see her with Sayid a great deal. Walt also appears to her this week, and he also appears again at the end of the episode. This time Sayid also sees him, so we know that Shannon wasn't making him up or dreaming.
On this episode, Sayid building a tent for Shannon and they make love for what I believe is the first time. After she sees Walt the first time, they have a bit of a battle, but that is worked out by the end of the episode, and Sayid admits his feelings for her and tells her he'd never leave her. He also believes her. This is when Walt appears, and he is telling the two of them to be quiet. Shannon doesn't listen and runs after Walt. This is where our two groups of survivors meet. Sayid hears a gun shot, and he runs to Shannon just as she turns and he sees the gun wound in her stomach. She collapses and dies in his arms.
We then pan out, and we see who shot Shannon. It was Ana Lucia. In a trigger happy moment, she shoots Shannon, but now we have all our survivors together. However, one of the women in Ana Lucia's group does disappear just before they reach the camp. With Cindy's disappearance, we thought our group of survivors would be safe, but this looks to be a two for one deal. The shooting was also foreshadowed a bit early on in the episode when Michael and Ana Lucia are talking in the forest when Ana Lucia tells him that one bullet and one gun won't make a difference when it comes to the others.
Another story line in this episode has to do with Charlie, Claire and Locke. This is the most we've seen of Claire since the season began, and I loved that. We're seeing a bit of tension with her and Charlie. He is a bit overbearing and jealous when it comes to her and the baby. When in reality, they aren't even a couple, and by Claire's own admission she doesn't really know all that much about him, but she feels like they are married.
Really though Claire and Charlie aren't a couple. Sure, they have had a few cute moments, but the only true couple formed on the island was Shannon and Sayid. Charlie gets a bit jealous when he sees Locke with Claire and the baby, but we've seen Claire and Locke talk before. I love when these two interact. Locke interacting with anyone is fun always actually.
Now let's talk a bit about Shannon's death. We all knew someone was going to die, and it was rumored to be a female that would die in a shocking manner. I disagree with them killing Shannon though. Why her? No, she wasn't my favorite character, but they built this totally amazing back story for her and Boone. She had so much they could do with her now that her and Sayid were a couple. They could have explored that some more, and they just had her killed off. I understand they have always said major characters can go at any time, but I just don't see the point to having Shannon be the one killed off here. Also another character also disappeared on this episode, so it really was a two for one deal.
I was really glad to see this show back, but I'm a bit upset about Shannon's death here. There are still so many unanswered questions. Walt keeps appearing, and now someone other than Shannon has seen him. The others are definitely close by, but we have yet to see them really either. Sayid looked ready to kill, and without Michael and the others close by there is a good chance he would have killed first and asked questions later. However, we don't know how reacts because this is where the episode ends this week. We also had no signs of Kate or Sun this week, and we only see Jack briefly as he runs through the hospital during one of the flashback sequences Shannon has.
This episode was good. Perhaps in my mind a bit over hyped, but every episode of Lost seems to have a lot of hype to it. Next week, we will learn the story of the tail end survivors from the beginning. And I'm not sure, but it looks like the week following next we will have another repeat. ABC was hyping up a Kenny Chesney concert during tonight's episode of Lost.
Don't forget if you want to discuss tonight's episode, I have a topic for tonight's episode over on my Lost forum here. If you missed tonight's episode, it will be available over on iTunes for download in the morning! Check for that on my blog sidebar.
TV Review: Supernatural Episode 1.08
From WB: After a construction worker is killed by insects burrowing into his brain, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) investigate the town's history and find that the new housing development is being built on sacred Indian land. The Indians put a curse on the land after their reservation had been ravished and destroyed. Sam and Dean must find a way to survive and kill the deadly swarm of bees, locusts, spiders and beetles.
My Rating: 
Okay for a good part of this episode titled 'Bugs,' I found myself asking the question of why this was considered a supernatural phenomenon. I didn't see why the two brothers went to investigate this case. At first, it was labeled as a case of human mad cow disease. A strange disease to die from, and we know it was the insects that killed the man, but even then it was just bugs. A lot of bugs, but even so not something I thought would warrant the Winchester's attention, and certainly not something their father would have looked into in any case.
After the death of a man on a construction site, the two brothers go to investigate. That is the first death with more to follow as the days pass. The brothers know that insects are involved, but they aren't sure why they are acting out in this manner. It isn't just one type of insect either. Beetles, bees, spiders and even roaches are all in great numbers around the area, and their numbers only seem to be increasing with each passing day.
After the two brothers are shown to where a good number of insects are swarming by the son of the developer of the homes in the area, Dean finds the remains of a body, and he takes these to be examined along with Sam. Turns out the remains are Indian, and the homes that are being built are over a burial ground. The brothers go to an Indian, and he tells them the story of what happened on the site, and the legend that goes along with the events.
Apparently, a tribe of Indians had been killed on the site, and with his last dying breath the Chief had cursed the land saying that no white man would ever live there, and if they tried that nature would take care of it. Well, nature is certainly taking care of it. Everyone working or living on the land was in danger, and a few were killed by freak insect instances. The brothers are able to save the last family from being killed, and with the sun rise the insects all just ... leave? At least it appeared that way.
In my mind, this was probably one of the weaker of the episodes this series has produced. I found myself really confused by why the bugs were needing of investigation. There was nothing really spooky or supernatural about it until about half way in to the episode, and possibly even longer. I really love this show, but this episode really didn't grab me in any way. We really didn't have any character growth this episode either from what I could tell.
The burial ground did remind me of one movie that was quite popular in the 1980s, Poltergeist, but bugs weren't really a part of that movie. The only reason it reminded me of this movie was the burial aspect. Rumor has it they are making a new Poltergeist movie. This time with Hilary Duff playing the part of the young girl all grown up.
This episode of Supernatural seemed to be a bit of a filler episode before next week's episode. They were hyping up next week pretty hard during this one, so perhaps they needed a bit of a slow week to lead up to next week's episode. Based on the previews I'm really excited about next week. The brothers are going home!
TV Review: Bones Episodes 1.05
From FOX: Brennan working hard on her latest novel, is enlisted by Booth to help locate and identify the remains of Charlie, a 6 year old boy who went missing from a local park. Brennan determines that Charlie was sexually assaulted before he was murdered, which leads booth to conclude they are on the hunt for a serial pedophile. When the prime suspect is eliminated, Booth and Brennan pay a heartbreaking visit to Charlie's mother, Margaret to inform her that Charlie's killer is still on the loose.
My Rating:
Tonight's episode of Bones was probably the hardest to watch for me, and I'm sure it was the same for other viewers. Seeing the death of a child is never easy, and this episode had to dissect one. Bones and her crew had to figure out what happened to this one little boy. Charlie is found just outside the mall. His body is severely decomposed even though he has only been dead for a day and a half when he is found. Angela and Zach have a hard time working on the case due to the boy's young age, but Bones once again seems a bit detached from it all. In order to deal with the case, she focuses on the details. This is just another case like all the rest they have dealt with in the past. She suggests her team members do the same, but it still isn't easy.
Angela's problems with the case aren't all that is bothering her about her job. She is an artist first, but now she is feeling a bit stifled by what she does. She is even pondering quitting, and this worries Temperance because Angela is her best friend. Things do work out in the end for Angela, but only after their boss explains her job to her in a whole new light. I think Angela by far is my favorite on this show. I love Bones most of all, but Angela and character are right there at a close second.
Let's talk about the case for a bit though. A young boy is found outside the mall, and it looks like he has suffered a blunt blow to the chest. They aren't sure what happened, but we soon learn his foster brother had taken him to the mall when they were supposed to be playing at the park. The older brother said he lost track of him, and the little boy was kidnapped. After some viewing of the mall surveillance footage, they find out that the young boy lied, and he had led his little brother away from the mall. The brother turns into the main suspect.
However, after some more investigation, Bones discovers that the injuries the little boy sustained couldn't have come from the brother, but someone much larger. He was essentially crushed, and the only way that could happen is by someone at least 190 pounds or larger being on top of his chest. She then goes to the brother and gets him to tell her who was the man that killed his foster brother. He finally does tell her after a scene in which tells his more about Brennan's background.
The three brothers were all foster children, and Charlie had been taken by the mother after his birth mother died after a drug overdose. We learn that for a time Brennan was also a child in the foster care system, and this explains a bit about her character and why she is the way she is. This whole episode was truly heartbreaking for me to watch. At the end when they are putting the remains away for burial, I found myself tearing up.
However, the case isn't all that we have going on this week. Just like it isn't any other week. just as we learned something more about Temperance this week, we also learned more about one of her team members, Hodgins. Apparently, he comes from a very rich family that donates a great deal of money to the Jeffersonian. Essentially, he is the boss of all of them, but when Booth, Zach and Angela confront him on this, he asks them to not tell anyone else. He just wants to live his life in the way he is happiest. If this is playing with bugs, then so be it!
I truly am loving this show. I know we're only five episodes in because of the break last month for baseball, but this show is really growing on me. The story lines each week and the character development are really sucking me in. I also liked how they stopped trying to push Booth and Brennan together so hard like they had done during the second episode. The show has mellowed out a bit. It is still mentioned as a possibility, but it isn't pushed so hard. Not only that, but Booth's girlfriend seems to have mysteriously disappeared. Although she was mentioned in this episode. We still haven't seen her in a few episodes. I'm not even sure why. Almost makes me wonder if episode two had been shot later on, and shown second for the series for some reason. Her not even being seen now is just odd to me. Am I the only one? Bones is back again next week with another all new episode!
TV Review: Surface Episode 1.07
From NBC: Dr. Lee (Ian Anthony Dale) gives a small account of Cirko's death to his superiors, concluding that it was a necessity in the long run, before revealing a new and budding clue in this investigation. Laura (Lake Bell) and Rich (Jay R. Ferguson) enlist the help of Jackson (Austin Nichols) when her home is mysteriously ransacked by strangers, sending the trio under the radar and up the coast. Meanwhile, Nim's uncontrollable behavior forces Miles (Carter Jenkins) and Phil (Eddie Hassell) to steal a pizza delivery car and lead the police on a chase to the beach where Miles lets Nim go in the ocean. Nim reluctantly swims away and Miles turns back to the shore where his parents and the police are waiting for him. Leighton Meester also stars.
My Rating: 3 out 4
Surface returns this week with an all new episode, after taking last Monday off so that NBC could show three episodes of Medium on Halloween. When we last saw our three main characters on Surface, all three were on the run. Lee and his people had broken into Laura's house, and when she saw this she and Rich were able to get away in his truck before they were spotted. Miles was also on the run with Nim since the police now want him following him eating a neighborhood poodle and shocking one of the animal control people.
Before we pick up with our characters, this episode starts with a scene in the air over Portland. Now I was watching this show, and I found myself asking the question what does a creature in the ocean have to do with a plane in the air. Well, as soon as I asked myself that question the show answered it. The creatures were in the water below sending up lightning bolts to the sky surrounding the small plane, and it took it down. The plane crashed, and the traffic control lost its signal. Once again, this show either began or ended with a bang, and this week it decided to start with one. The scene with all the creatures in the water made me jump in my seat.
After a commercial break, we come back and pick up right where we left off with Miles. Let's talk about him first. Last episode, we saw the animal control guy get shocked when he tried to stun Nim with a stun gun. That didn't work, and the man did receive a good deal of injury from the encounter. Miles and Phil run off in to the woods while carrying Nim in the dog carrier. They stick around a bit to see about the man, but then they continue on their way. However, not before the sheriff detects them.
Miles and Phil stay on foot for a bit until things get a bit on the dicey side and they end up stealing the car of a pizza delivery guy that spots them and calls the cops. Phil drives the car, and they stay on the road, trying to avoid detection. However, Miles' mom calls Phil's cell phone, and she is able to keep him on the phone long enough for the police to triangulate their location.
They are on the run again, and this time the police do catch up to the two teens. However, they seem to find them jut at the perfect spot. The same spot where miles found Nim's egg. In a sad scene, Miles sends Nim away, back into the ocean. I don't think this is the last time we'll see Nim though. He'll be back. I just think next time we see him he might just be a bit bigger than he is now.
What about Rich and Laura? These two are able to get away, and after a quick dive into the water, Laura somehow gets to her friend Jackson's boat. She wants his help yet again. This time to find a place to hide from Lee and his men. Turns out Jackson knows of a place. He used to have a little import/export business with his father, and they have a hideout and a sea plane to get there. He helps them fly to the hideaway, and Laura gets to work trying to dissect all the research Cirko left her.
After a bit of time, she figures out the relationship between some satellite images of thunderstorms to the creature. The storms seem to happen on the same day every November, and that day is fast approaching. Laura is determined to be right in the middle of all the action when the storm takes place. She goes to work in constructing a submersible with Rich and Jackson. The most amazing thing here is with the sea orchid she had been given by Cirko. Jackson puts it in the fridge and turns it on to keep it safe and out of the way. when Laura goes back to grab some more beers, the sea orchid had grown into this amazing thing, and this happened in just a few hours.
What about the government cover-up of the species? With Cirko and his assistant now gone, we had to wonder what would happen. Lee has made the creature a non-issue, so the government defunds the project, and Lee goes to talk to a new man. We never see his face, but something tells me this man will become very important on this show. Apparently, him and Cirko had both gone down to see the orchid in its own environment. Now with the government out of the way, this man has eight months of uninterrupted time and access to the creature. Maybe it wasn't the government we ever had to worry about hmm?
This show is a slow build. It isn't very fast paced. It has its moments, but this is like someone peeling back the layers of an onion slowly. This episode was a bit slower than most. We had the action with Miles, but that was it really. This episode allowed us to know a bit more about the creature, while also giving us another fantastic sighting. Next week's episode looks to be really really exciting. I can't wait!
TV Review: Grey's Anatomy Episode 2.07
From ABC: Cristina, Izzie and Meredith aggressively pursue the case of Shane, a male patient who seems to have a hysterical pregnancy, which fascinates them and the entire medical staff; and a sheltered young patient inspires Alex to better express his feelings for Izzie.
My Rating: 
This episode of Grey's Anatomy titled "Something to talk about" really lacked focus for me. This episode had the majority of the interns working on one case. Izzie and Cristina steal a case from psych of a man that looks to be suffering from a hysterical pregnancy. They pull in Meredith, and once psych finds out what happened to their patient they have to pull in Bailey to help them. Turns out to be a surgical case when the pregnancy test comes out positive.
We later discover the man isn't pregnant, but something is inside him. It appears to be a baby, but that isn't really the case. This is a phenomenon that is usually not seen in adult men, and it puts the focus on the man and his condition. Everyone wants to see him. Izzie and Cristina sell tickets to the man's surgery, and there are bets placed on whether or not he is pregnant, and then when it is discovered he isn't, what he has inside him.
This actually angers Meredith, and by the end of the episode we see her kicking butt and taking names as she kicks everyone out of the man's hospital room, so that he can have a few moments of peace with his wife by his side. She can certainly understand where he is coming from because it seems this week was the week to put Meredith under the telescope. Everyone and anyone at the hospital is talking about her behind her back because of Derek's choosing Addison over her. Meredith isn't really doing all that well since his choice became official. She even has Bailey sticking up for her, and who would have thought we'd see that happen. I'm really starting to warm up to Bailey. She is a tough witch with a heart. You really have to love that.
What about Derek and Addison? How are they doing now that Derek has made his choice? Well, this week we see these two going to marriage counseling. Derek wants Addison to move to Seattle, and Addison wants Derek to cut Meredith out of his life. Ouch! You know that is really going to be hard to do when the two of them working in the same hospital, and you know the whole he is kind of her boss thing.
Addison won't move to Seattle since it appears Derek isn't totally ready to give up on Meredith. However, she does get some outside influence from Chief Webber to stay - a cushy job and a lot of money with a place to make a name for herself. Staying starts to look really good to her, and that is what she ends up doing. That means Addison looks to be sticking around for the long haul.
As for Derek giving up Meredith? It won't happen. He can't even let her get over him without wanting to check on her and be near her. This is when Bailey puts her foot down. Even after that though, he still wants to help her, but he is the last person that Meredith wants help from, and she makes that painfully clear with just one look. Meredith looks like the walking wounded though, and I do honestly feel bad for her. These two aren't done yet. Not by a long shot.
Meredith isn't the only intern at Seattle Grace having romantic issues on this week's episode. Cristina and Burke also seem to have come to a bit of snag in their new relationship. Burke quickly finds out that his new go to guy O'malley knows about him and Cristina. Cristina suspects Bailey knows, but she doesn't. Burke wants to be up front and tell Chief Webber now. Cristina doesn't. She has some concerns about her job and reputation with what happened to Meredith. She doesn't want the same to happen to her. However, going against her wishes Burke does end up going to Webber, and Webber appreciates the honesty. It looks like things will be okay on that front, but we will have to see what happens next week. The previews show a first date for Burke and Yang. Yes, they are actually leaving the hospital to go out like civilized people and have dinner. Shocking I know. You would think that Yang practically lives at the hospital.
Alex and Izzie also have their issues this week. Even if these two aren't even together. That is quickly changing though. Alex gets to work on a case of a young woman that needs surgery to fix a nerve condition. Her parents are against the procedure, so Derek puts Alex on babysitting duty. He spends the entire day with her, and by the end of it she has helped him move forward with Izzie. As the group is all sitting at the bar at Joe's, Alex walks in and plants the hugest first kiss I've ever seen, and he then leaves behind a shocked but pleased Izzie. Now the only one left alone and without someone is George. Soon that should change. They can't have poor George pining over Meredith forever can they?
Now this episode of Grey's Anatomy was good, but not great. This week seemed to be a bit more of a filler episode, and it certainly wasn't intense as last week's episode. Now I know not every episode can pack as much a punch, and this episode did have its moments. Meredith's speech in the room when she is kicking everyone out. Alex talking to the girl about how her first kiss should be. Alex kissing Izzie. All great moments that I enjoyed. This episode really just felt a bit slow to me, and maybe this show needed to do that after the emotional roller coaster they have had his riding the last few weeks. Another new episode next week. The eighth episode straight since the season began. Are they going to go straight through to December before taking a break? Looks like that might be the case.
Don't forget to check out my Grey's Anatomy forum over on Media Village! Come join us here to discuss tonight's episode.
Saturday Night Movie: The Amityville Horror (2005 DVD)
For this week's Saturday night movie review, I am going to talk about the Amityville Horror, the new 2005 version. This movie is a remake of a popular movie from 1979 of the same name. It is the haunted house story probably to end all haunted house stories, and many might think because the movie is said to be based on true events that it is based on something that really happened. Some say it is, and some say it isn't.
According to Snopes, the story behind this house is true. There was a family killed on the premises, and the family shown in the movie, the Lutzes, did move into the house and leave it twenty eight days later, but that is all that is true. As for the haunting experiences, none of those did take place, and once the Lutzes moved out no future families experienced any odd supernatural phenomenon. The Lutzes are said to have planned the whole story with the houses previous owner.
Now onto the movie. As I mentioned, this movie is a remake of the earlier version, and when it comes to remakes I'm usually skeptical. When it comes to remakes, the original is usually better. I can say the same for sequels. There are exceptions to this. Aliens comes to mind. I think this sequel was better than the 1979 original, but some might disagree and say the first movie in the series was the best.
In the case of this movie, I say this version might have been a bit more gory than the original 1979, but for some reason that movie scared me more than this version did. There are a couple of scenes where I needed to turn away, but other than that this movie didn't scare me all that much. In fact, I found myself losing a bit of a focus when this movie was on. I did enjoy this movie, but I think the original was a classic, and you really can't mess with a classic film.
As I rented this on DVD, there was more features to it. Not only was there the movie itself, but we also had some special features that included deleted scenes, commentary, and two documentaries. One a behind the scenes look at the filming of the movie itself, and the other a behind the scenes look at the actual story of Amityville Horror talking about the murders that occurred in the house.
Although I do think the original was better, I did really think this was done well. They did some things different in this version than they did the original, and I think it was those differences that make this movie good. The movie was trying to find its own uniqueness about it. After watching the deleted scenes on the DVD, I found myself asking the question of why these weren't included. Yes, it might have been because of time constraints in the film, but these additional scenes might have made for a more full rounded movie in my mind. The majority of the deleted scenes were a lot scary than the scenes in the movie. Sometimes I wish there was a feature on DVD's where you could have these deleted scenes added where they go in the movie. Then you could watch the entire film as it was originally shot. Maybe sometime in the future this will happen. We will have to see.
My Rating: 
To check this movie out for yourself, here is the new version available at Amazon as well as the original: The Amityville Horror (Widescreen Special Edition)
TV Review: ER Episode 12.06
From NBC: Clemente (John Leguizamo), Abby (Maura Tierney) and Neela (Parminder Nagra) secretly care for a VIP patient while Dubenko (Leland Orser) tortures the staff via a robotic television camera from home. Sam (Linda Cardellini) is coerced into a management role and is given a dreadful task. Meanwhile, Pratt is visited by his half-brother, and emotions from the past remind him of his father’s (Danny Glover) abandonment. Goran Visnjic, Shane West and Kristen Johnston also star.
My Rating: 
This week's episode was probably one of the most emotional episodes for me of this show in a very long time. I think I might have been crying the entire last ten minutes of the show, and it wasn't just one story line that brought on the tears, but two of them. They were really pulling at the heart strings this week.
This week's episode titled 'Dream House' with Clemente bringing in a special secret VIP patient into the ER that no one knows about. He enlists Abby to help, who then enlists Neela, and we discover we have an infant chimpanzee on our hands, and Clemente treats him. At first it appears the chimpanzee is okay, and he is returned home to his mother.
However, things quickly take a turn for the worse, and the chimpanzee is brought back to the hospital in even worse condition than before, and it seems there is no hope for the chimpanzee's survival. The carrier goes to retrieve its mother, and in a sad scene the mother watches as her infant dies. Afterwards, Abby expresses the emotions I know I was feeling myself.
We see human patients enter the ER on a daily basis, but one tiny chimpanzee's death brings emotion to this episode, and it is emotion I haven't felt with a patient in quite some time. Not even with the coma patient a few weeks ago was I this involved. I sat there and cried, and the crying only worsened with the next scene.
During this episode, Danny Glover returns in the role of Pratt's father, and we continue on with this story line. This week, we discover that there was more to this story than even Pratt knew about. His father had attempted to return to Pratt's life when he was a boy, but he was stopped by Pratt's mother. Not only that, but he even made an attempt after his mother died, but that was unsuccessful as well. At first, it appears this new information might heal the rift between father and son, but it quickly becomes apparent that it didn't. Pratt won't give in and forget all the time his father wasn't there for him. I shed more tears over this entire final scene.
This week we also were able to see Eve and Clemente both in the ER at the same time. These two together will be interesting. Although there is mention of interaction, there isn't much true on air time with the two together. Unless you count intercoms. Eve does find out about the chimpanzee, and there does end up being consequences, but that is about it.
Speaking of Eve, she once again laid down the law in this episode, and this time it caused us to see the departure of another one of the long term nurses on the cast. Eve bumps up Sam to management, and she wants Sam's first task to be the firing of her friend, but Sam won't have it. Eve points out she will be fired whether Sam does the firing or not, so they fire her together. Another sad scene here.
A sub - plot of this week's episode focused on Ray. A bit more of a story line for him. The last two weeks he had been stuck on a tox study, and now this week we found out the girl he picked up at one of his shows and has been wild chimpanzee sex with is only fourteen years old. Not only that, but she is also diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. I wonder how this will be handled in future episodes. Will this little transgression come back to bite Ray in the butt? We'll have to wait and see.
An even smaller sub plot had Dubenko in the ER via robot. An amusing event to say the least, but it doesn't last all that long once Clemente got involved. The robot was eventually locked away in a room.
The episode moved a bit slow in parts, but it was highly emotional, and I loved it. This is the ER that made me fall in love and keep all these years. The next two episodes look to be fast paced and amazing just from the previews shown. Also, it looks like we will have the reuniting of Luka and Abby. I'm a Carter and Abby person myself, but I always did like Abby and Luka together as well.
TV Review: The OC Episode 3.05
From FOX: Ryan decides to make a life-changing decision that Sandy surprisingly supports, and Marissa turns to her new public school friends for help with Ryan. Meanwhile, Harbor High’s Dean of Discipline, Dean Hess, continues his crusade to ruin Ryan’s future, and Summer and Seth go on their own crusade to reveal Dean Hess’s secret. Meanwhile, Charlotte makes Julie an offer she cannot refuse on The Perfect Storm episode of THE OC.
My Rating: 
The OC has returned to FOX after a brief hiatus to allow the FOX network to show the Major League Baseball play offs last month. When we last saw our cast of characters living in Newport, things were just getting interesting. Ryan and Marissa had both been kicked out of Harbor, which left the other half of the foursome to deal with the Dean Hess, the new Dean of Discipline, and Taylor Townsend, the girl that wants to take Marissa's place at the top of the social ladder at Harbor.
We also had some interesting happenings with the adults. Kristen seemed to come out of rehab with a growth attached to her, a fellow rehab resident, Charlotte Morgan. Appears Charlotte has a bit of devious side to her, but her original plans to swindle money out of Kristen have seemed to fizzle out when she discovers Caleb died without leaving Kristen a penny.
This week's episode titled 'The Perfect Storm' picks up right where we left off. With Julie looking for a new place to live. Marissa staying with Summer and attending public school, while Summer tries to figure out how to use the little tidbit of information she discovered the night of the school dance - the affair between Taylor and Hess.
College preparation is in full swing for this year's seniors, and for the students on this show this is no exception. Harbor is hosting a college fair for all the surrounding schools, and Sandy checks with Principal Kim about Ryan attending. She gives him the go ahead, but he finds out that Dean Hess has included a letter about Ryan's violent temper into his file. This will raise a red flag with almost any college, and it almost assures the chance of Ryan going to a decent school post graduation as a non possibility.
When Hess approaches Sandy at the college fair after seeing Ryan, Ryan is upset, and he decides at that point to drop out school entirely and look for a job. Most of his family never finished high school, so why should he? He meets up with one of Marissa's new classmates, Johnny, and he mentions a job that might work for Ryan. Johnny's uncle owns a fishing company, and Ryan goes to apply for a full time job on a boat. This would mean weeks away from home at a time. He takes the permission slip home, and Sandy tries to play a reverse psychology trick and signs the slip. this means Ryan can go.
So not only has Ryan dropped out of school, now he is leaving Newport for weeks at a time to go out fishing. This leaves his family and his girlfriend without him. This upsets Marissa a great deal, and just before Ryan sails off to work, she comes to him and explains why she is so upset. Her father left, sailed off on a boat, just like Ryan was about to do. When things got too hard for her father, that is what he always did. The fact that Ryan is doing the same exact thing is what upsets her because once again she is left alone. By the end of the episode, Ryan hasn't left and all is well.
However, that isn't the whole story. What about Summer and her trying to expose Hess and Taylor? At first Seth doesn't believe her, but he soon joins in her plans to expose Hess because it could give them the leverage they need to have their friend return to Harbor. They decide to capture Taylor somehow, and by the end of the episode they have tricked Taylor into going to a hotel room thinking she is about to meet Hess. Hess doesn't open the door, but Summer and Seth do.
The two get Taylor to spill to Sandy, and Sandy goes to Dean Hess with what he knows about him and his little affair. Dean Hess needs to let Ryan back into Harbor, withdraw the letter from his file, and find a nice job as far away as possible from Newport. The east coast sounds nice actually. Ryan does get to return to Harbor, but Marissa does not. She's okay with it though because there was more of a backlash when it came to her than Ryan in the first place.
Another plot presented in this episode is the on-going story line with Charlotte Morgan. Now that her one plan has failed, it looks like she is working on another way to milk Kristen for money, and it appears she is going to use Julie in some way to do it. While Julie is out looking for a new home, Charlotte meets up with her, and then ends up buying Julie a condo. Now, we all remember what happened a few weeks ago when Charlotte has to skip out on paying a house rental fee. I hate seeing what will happen here if she doesn't pay up for the condo. Julie seems to be headed for trouble once again, and I actually am starting to feel bad for her now. Never thought I'd say that.
Now it is wonderful to see this show back. I had really missed it while it was off air for the play offs, but I do have a small problem with this episode, and it is a similar problem to what has already happened this season. That problem is the quick wrap-up. Instead of having Summer trying to expose Hess and Taylor over the course of a few episodes, the writer's have made it so that it has to happen now or Ryan will end up leaving. We all know there is no way in hell Ryan would actually go through with leaving. That would make a major problem with the show as it is.
I would have rather seen some more development of Summer exposing the affair, and some other way of dealing with Ryan and the college fair incident, instead of him trying to run. That is just my opinion though. Looks like things are only getting started. It might be heading into winter soon, but things are only starting to heat up in The OC. Check back next week for my next review. If you want to discuss this episode with other viewers drop in over at my OC forum on MediaVillage.com.
TV Review: Real World Austin 11/1/05
My Rating: 2 out of 4
On this week's episode of the Real World Austin, our seven strangers headed out into the world to Costa Rica for their vacation. They had been working hard or barely working - depending on how you view their work activities throughout the season. Now it was time for them to travel to a far off destination and have some fun.
However, the focus of this week's episode wasn't on the beautiful location they had traveled to, but once again the focus was on the relationship of two of the house mates, Danny and Melinda. Throughout the episode, we see many incidents in which Danny becomes jealous and angry when it comes to the attention his girlfriend receives from the males they encounter on their trip.
During one night of their trip, a fun prank turns quickly sour and in a drunken rage, Danny actually goes so far as to end his relationship with Melinda. The next morning, Danny doesn't even remember what happened exactly until Wes tells him that he broke up with Melinda. Danny is shocked and is quickly apologetic, but he doesn't know exactly how to approach Melinda to apologize. Once he does approach her, things are resolved, but Melinda is still hurt by what he did. The rest of the episode shows them making up and healing the small rift the fight caused between the two of them.
While in Costa Rica, the seven house mates participate in many activities. They learn how to surf, go river kayaking, and by using lines they propel themselves high above the ground through the tree foliage. This last one was a problem for Melinda, as she is the house mate afraid of heights. The water activities were worrisome for Lacey because she doesn't know to swim. Lacey was quite proud of herself once she is successful at kayaking. Being in the kayak with one of their instructors does help ease her worries somewhat as well.
By the end of the episode, the house mates were headed on back home to Austin. A quick trip it seemed, and I almost didn't feel as if they had actually done anything all that special. If they hadn't done those extra things you do on a vacation, it would have felt like any other episode of the Real World. Once again, the show depended on the relationship of two of the house mates, and it actually brought forth a good episode. However, at this point in the season when the entire focus has been on Danny and Melinda to begin with, it is smart to focus on this.
They really hadn't paid much attention to the rest of the cast, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface on knowing who these people are. That is a bit of a shame actually. In my mind, this show is supposed to put seven people together so they can see how they all interact. This allows the viewer to see how people interact in different environments. During the course of a season, we should learn more about each of the individual cast mates.
On this cast, I don't really feel I know anything about Johanna or Wes or Lacey. We've learned a bit about Rachel and Nehemiah, but not nearly enough. Outside of their relationship, I don't feel I know much about Melinda, but I do feel the most developed cast member of this season is Danny. He was so much of a focus on earlier episodes it made it easy for us to get to know a lot about him. This season started off really great in my mind, but these most recent episodes are really failing to capture my interest. Next week, the house mates return to work on their documentary.
What did you think of this episode of the Real World: Austin? Are you enjoying the Danny and Melinda show or are you ready for this season to be over? Let me know what you think.
TV Review: Bones Episode 1.04
From FOX: When a human arm is found inside the stomach of a black bear, Brennan and Booth travel to Washington state to investigate. They search a small town for clues and discover that ritualistic cannibalisme is involved. After a symbol points to the suspect's occupation, Brennan and Booth realize that there is sometimes more to an autopsy than they thought on 'the Man In The Bear' episode.
My Rating: 
I don't know if I can properly express in words how happy I am to have Bones back following the baseball playoffs. I kept waiting for November 1st, and it finally arrived. That wasn't the only reason I was waiting for the date to arrive, but it was definitely one of them. During the month of September we were treated to the first three episodes of this series, and I fell in love with it almost within the first fifteen minutes of its airing. This show has already been picked up for the season by its network, and we'll have to see if the break hurts viewership any in the weeks to come.
Let's start with a bit of a refresher. Bones tells the story of a forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan. She works with the Jeffersonian and the FBI, along side her partner Booth. Each and every week, Bones has a different case to solve as she uses the victim's bones to identify the identity and cause of death. The character of Temperance is actually based on a real life person, Kathy Reichs. Reichs is an antrolopologist and author. Temperance is the character she created based on her experiences.
On tonight's episode, Bones and Booth take a field trip to Washington state in order to discover the identity of a body when a hand is discovered in the body of dead bear. The rest of the team stay behind in D.C., and Bones keeps in contact with them from the small town via phone and satellite hook-up. The more she uncovers, the weirder things get, and soon she realizes she has a cannibal on her hands. On the bones of the hand, there is both saw marks and teeth marks, and that just makes things too sickening to think about.
A sideplot of the episode shows the men of the town hitting on Temperance at every chance they get. Small town means there isn't all that many available single females for the men, so they all want a piece of Brennan. This doesn't set too well with the one single woman in town. Apparently the town vet gets around town, and is dating several of the men, and they all know about it too.
As things progress, it looks like this little love triangle or quadrangle might actually be at the heart of the murder. Bones thinks it is the young woman, but she is soon cleared, and with more research, they learn it was one of the men the vet was seeing, the town doctor. Bones and Booth return to his lab just in time to see him trying to destroy the evidence by burning the bodies. Bones hits him over the head with a bed pan, and he is taken into custody.
Across the country, Brennan's team is hard at work taking in the evidence she sends them over night and helping her piece together this new puzzle. however, that isn't all they are doing. The two men on her team are after the new delivery girl that services them. Both men flirt with her, but in the end it is neither she shows interest in. Turns out she swings her bat the other way, and she would date Angela if she had her choice. However, it looks pretty good that Angela doesn't swing her way. Poor guys. They did try this week. On the romance front with Bones and Booth, things are still moving slowly on that front, but it is still something there as a possibility. Maybe in time we will see some action between these two. First, Booth needs to ditch the girlfriend.
Bones is probably one of my favorite shows on television right now. I did miss it over its break, and the break did allow other shows to move up higher on my list of favorite shows, but just by watching tonight I remembered why I love this show. Bones is well written and the acting on the part of the female actresses part of the cast is excellent. Temperance is a wonderful character, and I am growing to love her. I also love how they are developing her. She is growing more and more each week. I love that this show is back, and I can't wait for next week's episode.
For you Supernatural fans looking for a review of tonight's show, Supernatural was a repeat tonight of the third episode of the series. You can find a review of that episode titled "Dead in the Water" here.