24 Review: "1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m." (Episode 7.06)
The intensity and sense of urgency is definitely beginning to pick up in Season Seven of 24. When we left Jack Bauer last week (or last hour, if you prefer), he and the good guys were faced with a triple threat. The president's husband was about to be offed along with his dead son's former girlfriend in what would look like a murder-suicide by his own hand. FBI agent Renee Walker was being buried alive by Jack and Tony. And one other more small thing: The clock just ticked to 1 p.m., the deadline by which President Allison Taylor could... read more
30 Rock Review: "Retreat to Move Forward" (Episode 309)
As a general rule, flashbacks on 30 Rock are nearly always hilarious. Case in point: the biggest laugh to be found in "Retreat to Move Forward" was the flashback to Liz and Jenna's improv comedy days when the audience would shout out Sling Blade and Oprah as suggestions for characters for the two. Liz gamely launched into a Sling Blade impression, but poor clueless Jenna thought she did Oprah.... read more
Lost Review: "Because You Left" and "The Lie" (Episodes 5.01 and 5.02)
If you watched the back-to-back episodes of Lost last night, you know this will not be a recap. It's simply not possible. When Ben worked loose the frozen wheel in Season Four's finale, he scattered the house of cards that was any semblance of order to Lost's storyline. Now, hapless fans don't just have to follow a double plot of flash-backs and flash-forwards, but a "present" completely unglued from chronological time.... read more
24 Review: "12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m." (Episode 7.05)
Following a premiere that consisted of four hours spread over two nights, waiting a week just seems a bit unreasonable for another episode of 24. And, these single, one-hour episodes go by way too quickly. That's the Bauer trade-off: You're quickly spoiled with a barrage of episodes, only to go into typical weekly airings with an occasional two-hour grouping. It's a tough transition.... read more
30 Rock Review: "Senor Macho Solo" (Episode 307) and "Flu Shot" (Episode 308)
Fresh off Golden Globe wins for Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and best comedy series, 30 Rock kicked off the new year with two of its funniest episodes of the this young third season. The third season has been a bit up and down, but after watching The Office spin its wheels this season and go nowhere, I've realized 30 Rock is still in peak form, and how lucky we are to still have it on TV.... read more
24 Review: "10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m." (Episode 7.03) and "11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m." (Episode 7.04)
Really quick for the 24 newbies: Ever since the beginning of Season Four, Fox has waited until January to kick off a new batch of episodes (as opposed to November) to avoid losing precious momentum in that three-week gap networks are in reruns from mid-December to early/mid-January. That's the reason for the four hour, two-nights-in-a-row premiere every season since. Momentum: In 24's real-time world, it matters.... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 10)
Taken as a whole, the most surprising thing about "The Face of the Enemy" is how a 10-part webisode starring one of the show's minor characters feels crucial to the set up of the final episodes, beginning this Friday. But through Lt. Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani), we get a little clarity from Season 3 and little foreshadowing of things to come.... read more
24 Review: "8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m." (Episode 7.01) and "9:00 a.m. - 10 a.m." (Episode 7.02)
Fun fact: It's been 24 months since the beginning of the previous season of 24. And boy, did Season Six start with a bang...literally. Remember, the dirty-bomb attack outside L.A., this occurring right after our tortured hero Jack Bauer shooting and killing lovable good guy and show-staple Curtis?... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 9)
In Part 9 of "The Face of the Enemy," Felix Gaeta is having trouble accepting the reality of his inadvertent betrayal—by "hope" as Eight puts it: "I'm a woman and Cylon. I didn't seduce you. Hope seduced you. And the more you ate of it the less you saw. You ate yourself blind." Even Dr. Gaius Baltar knew about how Eight used him to get to members of the Resistance. That little morsal from way back in Season 3, Episode 13 ("Taking a Break From All Your Worries") where Gaeta is interrogating Baltar is finally made clear. Baltar whispers "I... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 8)
The search team is giving up in Part 8 of "The Face of the Enemy." And Gaeta is having an even worse time. Eight has killed off the rest of the crew, and tells him, "We needed the air. Felix, I picked you over my own kind, over my own model. I protected you from something you never could have done but you were thinking all along." It's a "That's just how the world works speech" that gets harsher when she reveals that all the names he was providing for rescue on New Caprica were just getting executed. He's not... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 7)
Clocking in at two minutes and 12 seconds, Part 7 of "The Face of the Enemy" actually moves the plot along quite a bit. After some chatter between the two search-team members about Gaeta's "moral core," Gaeta finds that his Cylon ex-girlfriend doesn't have much of one. Two more passengers dead, and there's no mistaking their slit throats for an accident or a suicide. It's been Eight all along, and Gaeta's hands are literally bloody after trusting her. The search team is having no luck, and the floating graveyard's hopeful jump ended up in just as dead space.... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 6)
The flashbacks in Part 6 of "The Face of the Enemy" are to simply back to earlier parts of this webisode series. It's cracking me up how each four-minute segment starts with some kind of recap, as if you wouldn't be able to remember last week's full four minutes. But then Cylon Eight links up with the ship through a cool hidden Cylon port deep inside her hand. And then they kiss. That's pretty much it this time. A little flashback kiss, a current-time kiss and the search results from the cable shoved inside her hand. I'm sure we'll get... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 5)
Another one bites the dust in Part 5 of "The Face of the Enemy." This time from overdose of Felix Gaeta's pain medicine. The humans, of course, suspect Eight, but Gaeta's holding out hope that it was a suicide. Still, Eight's in cuffs, and we learn that the two had a thing going on during the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. This Eight was helping Felix to free members of the resistance, and as emotions rose during their meeting, they shared a kiss. But the other humans aren't so trusting, and Part 5 closes with Eight tied up, and the... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 4)
In Part 4 of "The Face of the Enemy," Cylon Number Eight has a plan. She had a plan back on New Caprica, too, we learn—to work with Gaeta to free members of the Resistance from the Cylon prisons. She also seems to have a thing for Gaeta, but we've already learned she's not his type. But her scheming to get home is starting to sound suspicious, especially as the oxygen runs dangerously low, and there are still five bodies breathing. Is this all just a misdirection to show that you can't always blame the Cylon? We'll have to wait... read more
Pushing Daisies Review: "The Legend of Merle McQuoddy" (Episode 209) and "The Norwegians" (Episode 210)
With precious few episodes left, Pushing Daisies is really picking up momentum in its story arcs. In "The Legend of Merle McQuoddy," Olive proved her investigating worth to Emerson, which could lead to a world outside of the pie hole, for good. And Chuck's dad (understandably) proved to be so protective of his daughter he advocated for her to remove the biggest threat to her safety: Ned.... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: "The Face of the Enemy" (Webisode Part 3)
It's almost silly to think that a two-minute-and-42-second webisode would contain a flashback (or that I would spend more than three minutes reviewing it), but this is Battlestar Galactica, dammit. Someday there will be college courses just on that wordless flashback scene and the mysterious paper that changes hands.... read more
Hey, No Impact Man was on Law & Order last night!
Last night's episode, Zero, opened with a scene of a woman puttering around a dim apartment, turning off a phonograph, cleaning up some toys by an old TV, arranging some glass containers on a kitchen counter before grabbing her purse and ducking into a bathroom down the hall. There, a man and a young son are stomping some clothes and soap in a bathtub, their pant cuffs and sleeves rolled up. “Dad says this is how they make wine!” the little boy exclaims, and everyone smiles. The mom tells them goodbye and heads off to the farmer's market and community... read more
30 Rock Review: "Christmas Special" (Episode 306)
The third season of 30 Rock has proven to be a bit erratic. While the show has always relied on its lightning-quick jokes and asides, its relying on them a bit too heavily this season to the point where the main story of the episodes are often the least interesting part of the episode.... read more
Battlestar Galactica - "The Face of the Enemy" Webisode Part 2 Review
Like part one, the second webisode in the "Face of the Enemy" series (airing Dec. 15) feels like its over before it's hardly begun. Mostly, we get to see the six-man/Cylon crew of the missing raptor freaking out about being stranded with 20 hours of oxygen. There's also a quick scene with Gaeta's boyfriend begging Col. Tigh for a raptor and a pilot to start searching and doing so with enough earnest passion to tip Tigh off to his sexual orientation. I don't know if there's a Colonial Fleet version of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but the gruff Tigh is... read more
Battlestar Galactica Review: Webisode #1
The Face of the EnemyIt's been a long time since Battlestar Galactica's fourth season ended with the Galactica fleet finally discovering earth, only to be underwhelmed by its apacolyptic condition. A really long time. I've tried to get my sci-fi fixes from lesser vessels like Fringe and Sanctuary, but I missed Paste's favorite frackin' show. Today, like a thirsty man in the desert finding an ounce of Big K cola, my thirst was quenched. I mean cruelly teased.... read more
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