24 Review: "9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m." (Episode 7.14)
Ah, 24. As soon as we start warming up to annoying/loathsome characters, they kill 'em off! Never fails. It doesn't seem too long ago Sen. Blaine Mayer was conducting his torture hearings against one Jack Bauer (in the scene pictured above) at the outset of Day Seven. We hated him then; we hated him a few hours ago. Little changed...until last night.... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "Daybreak, Part 1" (Episode 4.21)
It may not have felt like it, but “Daybreak” - an episode equal parts excellent and disappointing - was the first part of Battlestar Galactica’s two-part series finale... read more
24 Review: "8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m." (Episode 7.13)
You don't even need to be in the same room watching to know exactly what it is when you hear it: the pulse-like pound of the seconds as 24 either wraps up or goes to commercial break. But every once in a great while, there's an eerie quiet accompanying that bright yellow, digital clock up against the pitch-black background. To date, the silent clock in 24 has been used a total of nine times in the span of its seven seasons. Sometimes, it's to signify a heightened state of emotional uncertainty. Other times, it's out of respect for a fallen... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "Islanded in a Sea of Stars" (Episode 4.20)
When we last left the fleet, Boomer had escaped with Hera, tearing Galactica a new one in the process... read more
Lost Review: "LaFleur" (Episode 5.08)
Like last week's "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," "Lafleur" was a filler episode. TV Squad put it well: "when we first started watching Lost, it was like dumping a giant puzzle onto the floor. At this point, the entire puzzle is assembled, and for the most part, we can almost see the big picture, save for a bunch of pieces that are still missing. Lafleur was one of those pieces."... read more
24 Review: "6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m." and "7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m." (Episodes 7.11 and 7.12)
"And you, sir, are weak —unwilling and unable to look evil in the eye and deal with it!" As he's being taken into custody, this is what Jack yells at the senator (AKA: the dad from That '70s Show) holding the torture hearings against him, shortly after he nearly cracks the politician's slimey chief of staff, a man in the know about the next terror plot. Anyone watching 24 the past seven years and viewing it as mere entertainment may be slightly at odds with Day Seven, as the show and its creators continue shoving back at its critics in... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Episode 4.19)
With three episodes until the finale, “Someone to Watch Over Me” was another exercise in building tension through omission... read more
Lost Review: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" (Episode 5.07)
Lost slowed down again last night with "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," focusing only on John Locke's life, and finally, his death.... read more
24 Review: "5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m." (Episode 7.10)
Brace yourselves and set your DVRs an hour early: Fox is airing a special two-hour event of 24 next Monday, taking us right to the halfway point of the season. And judging by the teaser for next week, it's going to be huge, at the very minimum involving a threat against President Taylor's life. Even as moles tried scurrying back into their holes, cars crashed into other cars and people (Jack, obviously) shot and sliced open bad guys, there was an eerie "calm before the storm" atmosphere hovering over last night's 24. That's because with main baddie Colonel Ike Dubaku... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "Deadlock" (Episode 4.18)
After last week's torrent of space-opera-exposition, it seems natural that Battlestar Galactica would shift gears... read more
Lost Review: "316" (Episode 5.06)
Lost has a long, complicated relationship with religion. While the show is not overtly religious, it is decidedly metaphysical, and not just as a sci-fi nodding to whatever else is "out there." Smoke monsters, ghosts, baptisms, churches and priests with rosaries and biblical walking sticks have all populated the island's lush environs since Season One.... read more
24 Review: "4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m." (Episode 7.09)
Who is the mole in the FBI?In the run-up to this week's hour of 24, we were promised that question would be answered. But really, there were only five choices. Let's go through this agent by agent, shall we? You could immediately scratch off Renee, who's been working with Jack most of this time. Although her boss, Larry, is one of those straight-down-the-line do-gooders you love to hate (IE: Ryan Chappelle in Season Three), he's nevertheless a do-gooder. Then, there's Janis. You might be able to see the writers really shocking you by making her the mole, but they've invested... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "No Exit" (Episode 4.17)
The last half of the final season of Battlestar Galactica started not with a bang, but an existential whimper... read more
30 Rock Review: "Generalissimo" (Episode 310) and "St. Valentine's Day" (Episode 311)
As a longtime fan of 30 Rock (IE: since the beginning, IE: old school), I cannot tell you how exciting it is when the show gets on a roll. This season has been pretty good and fits and spells, but the last three or four episodes of the show have been firing on all cylinders—especially "Generalissimo," which might be one for the ages in the already illustrious 30 Rock oeuvre.... read more
Lost Review: "This Place is Death" (Episode 5.05)
When Jin floated up to Rousseau's raft on a piece of plywood, I had mixed feelings. On one rather superficial hand, its nice to see his chiseled cheekbones again. But from a critical perspective, I know that one of Lost's most effective strategies is its merciless annihilation of characters. The production crew kill em' off and don't look over their shoulders, and plot lines are completely unpredictable as a result. Hopefully the show has a deeper, plot-based reason for bringing him back on, and its not just a ratings ploy.... read more
24 Review: "3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m." (Episode 7.08)
After listening to an hour of President Obama's answers to questions on everything from the economy to steroids in baseball, it was nice to finally take a break from the real-life drudgery and enter the much faster-paced, anything-goes fictionalized world of 24. Actually, that brings up an interesting topic for discussion regarding last night's episode. How much of 24 is actually fiction? Moreover, how would we know? That's the beautiful thing about this show. While there's a certain heightened, over-statement of happenings for entertainment purposes, one might wonder how someone in Jack Bauer's position would diffuse a time-sensitive crisis.... read more
Lost Review: "The Little Prince" (Episode 5.04)
Last night's Lost officially got its groove back. Not that the first three episodes haven't been wonderful, rife with plot twists and turns, flashbacks and forwards, and shocking cliffhangers. But the roller-coaster of the season intro was so wild it was hard to keep a grip on the plot, and "Jughead" delved mainly into the islanders' histories. "The Little Prince" did what ABC's darling does best, and meshed a dizzying, flash-around plot with snippet-glances into each character's mind. The character development is on.... read more
24 Review: "2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m." (Episode 7.07)
Did you realize last week marked the quarter-way point in the seventh season of 24? Even weirder, next week will wrap up a third of the episodes. Time flies, er, ticks away, doesn't it? But while the show never gets boring, it seems like it's getting a little disconnected from that hard-hitting, often politically incorrect wild-card adrenaline of the first four seasons. Perhaps it started when the creators of the show felt pressured to have Kiefer Sutherland do a promotional, public-service-type spot during the fourth season in which he had to explain to viewers that not all Arabs are terrorists.... read more
Heroes Review: "Clear and Present Danger" (Volume 4, Episode 1)
While America continues to cheer on Jack Bauer as he does whatever is necessary to keep the country safe from terrorists over on Fox, Sen. Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) takes things into his own hands on NBC. Except while Jack's excesses are in the name of fighting those who are planning great evils, Nathan's are of a more... preemptive variety.... read more
Lost Review: "Jughead" (Episode 5.03)
This week's Lost was less a series of wild cards than the whirlwind season premier. Having established that the survivors on the island have come loose from time, and are spinning back and forth between decades, "Jughead" zoomed into the former lives of physicist Daniel Faraday, and the notorious Mr. Widmore.... read more
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