Showing posts with label The Americans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Americans. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/15/16



Once Upon a Time: So as predicted Robin Hood died and Captain Hook made his way back to Storybrooke. The only question now is what are they going to do in the final two episodes now that Hades was defeated? The only unresolved issue is that Belle remains under her sleeping spell. Maybe we will get more than the usual tease of the next Disney property they exploit. When do they go to Tron?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

House of Lies: Oh, no, not the Douchebag Twins. And yet, even with an episode that saw the not so triumphant return of the Douchebag Twins, they did not even give us the most disturbing scene, that was instead Clyde and Doug chugging Jennie’s pump and dump.

Penny Dreadful: Dorian and Lily were wholly absent from the premiere and that was a quite unexpected way for them to return to the show. I fully assumed that that was the type of show they would enjoy but I guess it makes more sense that they would rather participate than just watch. I fear (and would be kind of disappointed) that she will end up like the transvestite from last season. Then you have Dr. Jekyll who has a formula that can turn a criminally insane person into fully functioning human being. Of course there are going to be side effects, the question is has he tried it on himself yet or not. Dracula again is resigned to the final scene again. Last week I feared when we did not get to see him it was going to be a Master on The Strain situation who ended turning out to be a not very scary looking Muppet, but we did get to see Dracula who ended up looking like a low rent Matt Dillon which I guess is better than a low rent Muppet.

Quantico: So it turns out the football player was yet another pawn though the whole using his voice on the phone with Alex was a bit of a stretch. Instead the traitor was the Quantico teacher because… oh who know. Even when he eventually gives his Bond villain type speech I doubt it will make any sense.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: I guess I was wrong with Galavan killing the Captain. It turns out Galavan is really bad at killing people. Tabatha also landed in the hospital and not the morgue. Alfred gets thrown out of a window and was still able to walk away to fight some more. I was going to say Galavan was as good at killing as everyone was at trying to kill him; just how many bullets can that guy take? Then Penguin and Butch show up with a bazooka. Awesome.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: Can we get more drugged up chick in the elevator? She was by far the best part of the episode.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I have an irrational hatred of movie theaters so naturally I did not see Captain America: Civil War prior to this episode so I guess I now know who wins. Yeah, D.C.’s movies may have sucked but their separating television from the movies is looking better every time SHIELD spoils a movie. Granted really they have only spoiled the last two Captain America movies. Oh yeah, and they killed off Peggy Carter. Booooo. I was really hoping she would get some anti-aging serum like the Nazi got last season. What a shame that they may possibly kill off her character and cancel her show in the same month. Hopefully ABC finds a way to keep that show going. Oh well. Sending Lash after Hive seemed like a great idea but they kind of overlooked two huge plot point. Okay, Lash, the Inhuman killer can ward off Hive’s parasites, fine, whatever. But why did he not kill Daisy, and not only did he not kill her, he actually helped her and saved her from Hive’s trance? Andrew’s last sliver of humanity was kind of a big stretch.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: Last episode, Cal mentioned before killing a dude that the next leader would perform a miracle, could Sarah saving the baby be that miracle? Certainly Cal would no be too happy he is not the chosen one. Maybe that is why he tried to hook up with her.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II: I have long thought that winning Individual Reward was advantageous to your game, especially in a case where you pick two people and then there are four people made at you back at camp. But I never thought winning a Reward would turn out as badly as this. To have to be pulled from the game because you ate too much meat, ouch. And we have known this for a while that this was bad. How many times in the early seasons did we see people get Rewards only to spend a lot of time in the woods with a pile of leaves? Seriously people, Reward Challenges are not worth it. At least we did not get the stupid Survivor Action where morons bid on food instead of waiting for an advantage. And that was the second pull out this season which negated what could have been a fascinating Tribal Council. On one side you had a strong Joe/Aubrey alliance. On the other was Michelle. Then there is Cydney in the middle but seemed to be leaning Michelle. Then you had Tai and his Idol so he was not going anywhere. When he and Michelle were alone I was waiting for someone to come up with a plan where he give her his Idol because no one would vote for him because of it. But then he seemed to make up with Aubrey. Really what it may have come down to it is who talked to Tai last. Instead we had our third unplayed Idol, one that went home with someone being pulled, one that went home with someone because he did not play it expecting a SuperIdol, and one that did not get to played because the last Tribal that it could have been played at never happened. Kind of sums up this lackluster season.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

Black-ish: Isn’t it too early for the show to bring in a baby? Usually sitcoms do that when they run out of ideas, it should be too early for that, it I only season two. At least wait until season five.
You can download Black-ish on iTunes.

The Americans: There are few thing lis scary than watching The Day After thirty plus years later. I kind of had to laugh at everyone's reaction. Interesting Philip's reaction was maybe we should not give that destructive virus to their government after watching. It is about time for a shajke up in the show. Maybe instead of the FBI finding them out as tradors, maybe the twist could be Philip becoming sympathetic to Americans.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Poor Leroy, that is two straight seasons he goes home early for medical reasons. But we essentially had a two and a half premiere episode. I guess that is needed to get to know the new cast and introduce the season, except the two people who went into The Jungle I had no clue they were even on this season until they got picked to go in. Hopefully we go back to one elimination per episode because there was just too much filler in these first two episodes.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

The Blacklist: There was a point when I thought Scottie was going to turn out to be Lizzy’s mother, but no, she is Tom’s… or least that is what Red told him. The episode was alright but as a backdoor Pilot, I am not ready to watch another show which is just The Blacklist with the gender of the two leads being swapped. Maybe I will watch if the show is filler between a break of the ordinal.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.


Sunday, May 08, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/8/16



Once Upon a Time: Learning how Emma got that silly Thriller jacket is the Jack’s tattoo episode on Lost. It I time to give this show an end date and wrap it up. The promo monkeys also teased a death, it is not Regina or Emma, my first thought was Robin Hood, but then I thought could that funeral we see be just be a cheap ploy and they are just having one for Hook after the fact? I do have a sinking suspicion that whoever does die will be the key to get Hook back to the land of the living.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Fear the Walking Dead: When Strand was carrying that dude back to his hotel, I thought he was holding him a little too cloe and actually thought he might take advantage of him. Strand did, just not in the way I was thinking. Except, flash-forward to the end and he actually does make out with the dude. But why exactly did he run when the other people boarded? Actually, I spent most of the episode thinking I missed something. I rven went back to see if I missed an episode. But no, maybe jut bad editing.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Quantico: C’mon, you cannot have a pedophile character on the show and them name him after a sitting governor who was running for president. I do not care about your politics, that is just wrong and really kind of appalling. Then the promo monkeys promised that next week we will learn who the traitor is. Um, did they not reveal that this week? It seemed pretty clear the former football player was the traitor. Unless he had an accomplice.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: Has Galavan’s ears grown since he died? But anyway. We also got a tease of the Mad Hatter with Hugo Strange choosing Alice in Wonderland as a persona for one of his resurrected patients. I wonder if we already met who he read the story to or if we actually get to meet him. Well Captain Barnes needs a way to get back on the show now that he is dead.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: Oh my, Chrissy Seaver went full MacGyver defending thee cottage. Although I guess you can say she went full McGruber by blowing it up. Was that really necessary.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Castle: Kind of disappointing that they brought in a Firefly co-star only to be a run of the mill killer of the week. Adam Baldwin really set the bar for shameless guest spots. Actually, since Backett seems like she will not be back next season, how about bringing Baldwin back full time? Oh yeah, I guess his TNT boat show is still on the air.
You can download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Holy Billy Riggins sighting! Although I could have sworn he has been on the show before and if my memory serves me correctly (which it rarely does anymore) he was some random civilian in a restaurant a couple seasons ago. I kind of thought he was going to be a red shirt but he actually made it through the episode. But what was with the lack of fire power in fighting Hive? How about taking a grenade or a rocket launcher, or some alien tech left by the invaders from the first Avenger’s movie? All they brought was regular guns and some laser blaster.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: Alright, things are finally starting to come to ahead. Cal caught Eddie aiding Allison, Mary confronted Cal, Hawk’s girl’s family left the cult, and then Cal up and killed a dude after leaning The Path is a scam. Now Eddie and Hawk are out on a two-hundred and fifty mile walk. Should be interesting to see wear all this goes as the season starts to conclude. I still think Hawk will chose the girl over the cult, Eddie will chose Allison over the cult too. Then there is FBIC guy who may just picked the cult over work, especially if they help his daughter.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II: I knew they really should have gotten rid of Tai last week, now he is guaranteed the final four with his Idol. Although after irking everyone this week, I do not think he is as likely to win if he makes the final. They should have blindsided him this week except Joe and Cydney (I think this is the first time I even mentioned either of them; not good for someone who makes it to the final five) were dead set on Jason. So who goes home next week, Tai has the Idol and this is the last he can use it so unlikely he gets any votes. Michelle does look like to be on the bottom but the promo monkeys make it look like she buddies up with Tai. That would be awesome if he give her his Idol and sends home one of the other three. The only thing better would be Michelle laying Ti to get his Idol and then everyone votes him out. Tai does seem that gullible.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

The Americans: So Martha is actually going to make it to Russia. I wonder if we will actually follow her there or that is the last we see of her. If Nina was still around I figure they would run into each other but no fish out of water buddy comedy scenes for those two. Kind of an odd ending, it almost felt like a series finale. Instead it will likely be the calm before the storm.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: We usually only get one Challenge per year but when the last season sat nicely in between the Survivor hiatus I suggested that the shows should always alternate. Apparently someone was listening because just as Survivor is running down, we get a surprise season of The Challenge. Rivals and Exes has been some of the most entertaining recent seasons of the show and they sort of combined them with the first ever co-ed version of Rivals (alternating boys and girls eliminations was always silly especially when we are supposed to be considered equals these days). Unfortunately that was one of the most boring first challenges ever. The first time someone dropped their partner was kind of entertaining, but they did not even drop into water (a Challenge staple). And then it just kept on dragging on. I thought around the time Johnny Bananas went, well at least he is the last one, but then there were about four more rounds after that. Ugg. Hopefully they have something better planned for later in the season.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So this was essentially an introduction for the proposed Tom Keene spin-off with presumably Famke Janssen playing the Red part. We will get more next week, but that better get much interesting because I was kind of meh on the idea so far.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Sunday, May 01, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/1/16



Fear the Walking Dead: So Junkie Riggins learned that zombies cannot tell you are living if you are covered in zombie guts. But we have known that for a long time, so what a boring episode. Is this just what the show is going to be, discovering things we already know?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Lucifer: So Lucifer dies, goes to Hell, finds the gates are locked and gets to come back to Earth. Alrighty. And then later he says his father gave him the get out of Hell free card that he gave the crooked cop. Huh? But at least we got some intrigue for the next season. At first I thought they were going to pull the annoying fade to black ploy when Lucifer took a dramatic pause when his brother asked who escaped from Hell as for the reason God let him back to Earth. But we did get the one word answer before the season ended, “Mum.” Mmmmmm. Who knew angels had a mother? Unless it is more of a metaphorical mum. I am guessing this “mum” who gave the lady cop her powers to make Lucifer more human.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

Blindspot: The show actually managed to combine my two least favorite plots these types of shows do: the school shooting and authoritarians taking advantage of kids.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Castle: Having a guy cheating death was entertaining, but c’mon, surviving a bullet to the head? That was a bit much. I did peg the crush as the baddie of the week, she was way too quick to accept a date and then plan it for a half an hour later.
You can download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: So we got to learn the power of the Australian dude this week: he is some sort of microwave man who can turn anything into a bomb. I guess that is kind of cool for a bad guy but the idea of a superpower was always going to be more interesting than whatever you actually get. But that was really the only interested thing that happened this week. Seriously, how anticlimactic was the team taking down Hydra?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: Oh yeah, Hawk is leaving the cult for the chick. Except the only problem is that her family might be joining. This may be a runaway situation by the end of the season.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II: And here in lies the big problem with recent seasons of Survivor, contestants have learned not to vote out the annoying people because you can win against them in the finals. So Jason gets a pass despite being the obvious choice while the tribe cuts loose the eye candy. Hurmph. But really what should had happened was when whoever broached the subject (I think it was Aubrey but am too lazy to look it up) everyone else should have realize, she is going to take Jason to the finals instead of me, we should get Aubrey out, and then I can take Jason to the finals. But the editors actually got me to think Cydney and other hot chick were going to flip. That was the right choice in my eyes. It is better to be in a four person alliance with someone who has no chance of getting any jury votes besides Scot than possibly fourth and fifth in a five person alliance with two people likely to beat you in the finals (Tai and Aubrey) especially since one has an Idol and an unknown to you advantage. Sure worst case scenario he plays the Idol and then uses his extra vote to break a three-three tie next week, except he did not play his Idol and you could have gotten him out.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

The Americans: Meh, we basically ended where we started, Martha back in the safe house with nothing changed except Henry getting his first beer. Something better happen next episode.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Very noticeable that Lizzie had a closed casket. It was also interesting that Aram was talking about standing over an empty grave with Red. So are we going to have to wait until the season finale to see a not so dead Elizabeth? Only three episodes to find out.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/24/16



Once Upon a Time: When they said Dorothy did not have anyone to give her true love’s kiss, my first thought was, are they really going to turn red Riding Hood lesbian? But then I vaguely remember Mulan being into chicks, so maybe it would be her. For a fleeting moment I thought true love’ kiss would come from Toto, but no, they actually turned Red Riding Hood gay. Alrighty.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

House of Lies: So did the cobra and lion fight or have sex? But they could have had a longer “previously on” segment because I barely remember who Steven Weber or that other guy talked to were. Then I completely forgot Clyde and the weird chick was still a thing.

Fear the Walking Dead: I am they guy who always thinks the people on these show should be more trusting and should be taking in as many people as they can to ward off the zombies, but even I would say no to taking in someone else’s kid. I may take kindness on an orphan but survivalist dad and grown son can take care of the two small children
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Supergirl: This show is cheesy, and I am fine with that, but there is cheesy fun and eye rolling cheesy and Surpergirl being able to break the mind control with some speech about hope was eye rolling cheesy. But I did like that it did not work completely and Non still had the ability to explode every human’s skull even if they were no longer under his spell. Of course the big question was who, or what, was in pod at the end? I vote for Krpto.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Gotham: So we actually learned who killed Bruce’s parents: Hugo Strange. Maybe it is because I have seen the Wayne’s die so many times in my life; the reveal was not the biggest reveal. The bigger Hugo Strange reveal of the week was he was finally able to resurrect someone and that someone was Theo Gallavan. Just how many more will he be able to resurrect before Jim is able to shut him down? I think we have seen bodies that liik like Fish and Jerome in those floating tanks.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: Oh wow, what a great plan by Rich Dot Com. Get that guy his own spin off.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Early in the series, Skye wad the clear weakest link in the acting department but over the seasons became more comfortable in the role. But goodness, evil Daisy was hard to watch. They need to cure her quick, or at the very least do what they did in those early episodes and have her jump in a swimming pool while wearing a red dress to distract from her acting.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: So the cult may be a drug smuggling front, I guess that make the whole Peru trips make more sense. If true, the question is who knows? Will Eddie learn of the drugs when he gets to 7R? Is Cal one of the few because he is 10R? Are the drugs they get people off other drugs what they are smuggling or are they also smuggling other more conventional drugs. And I am starting to thinking the FBI guy might be buying into some of this. Mary’s story last week was convincing and itb is weird to open up about your real life problems while undercover.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II: When they introduced the SuperIdol I was a bit skeptical because someone only has two Idols at the same time about once every four seasons, and though it does not look like it will be used this season, the SuperIdol did play a huge part in the episode when Tai refused to Voltron his Idol with Jason’s to save Scot. We have had wild Tribal Councils but that was the first wild post vote Tribal with Hot Chick #3 imploring Tai to use his Idol to save himself, the two douchebags being over confident when Tai did not, then Scot gets the most votes, asks Tai for his Idol, and Tai was just like, “Nope.” And just when you think it could not get any better, in Scot’s goodbye at the end of the episode, he mentions he went home with Jason’s Idol in his pocket. Awesome. So Jason goes from thinking he has a clear path to the finale with an Idol in his pocket, his buddy has another that can form a SuperIdol and a mole in the other alliance to hiss only true ally getting voted out with his Idol in his pocket. I guess we are going to get more fires getting put out next week.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

The Americans: Leaving Martha along in a house with an old man and a cane was not the smartest idea the Russians ever had. So who is going to get to her first? Probably the Russians, but do not think she will be getting that trip to Moscow. Although that would have been a fun fish out of water story had Nina still be around to be Martha’s escort.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Interesting the episode after they killed Lizzie (or so we are led to believe) with a very introspective episode with very little dialogue. And was the supposed to be Lizzie’s mother? With Red reenacting their first meeting? Or was she just a completely delusion?
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Orphan Black: We did get some more Beth but they already got to the point where she steps in front of the train, or presumably the point where she left her apartment on the way to the train station. As much time they spent in the premiere, I thought we would get a full season of flashback. Back in present day, Sarah learns she has some biotech living in her check. Creepy. Just how many of the clones have that?
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Vikings: So Ragnor was gone for “years” but looking at his eldest son’s hair, and his youngest sons who are now teenagers, it seems like he has been gone at least a decade. Which begs the questions just how long has it been since the first season. It seemed like they already jumped a decade when they first aged up the eldest son who went from pre-teen to twenty-something in between seasons. It has to be at least twenty-five years. And just where was Ragnor? I wonder if we will get flashbacks of his pilgrimage when the show returns.
You can download Vikings on iTunes.

Saturday, April 09, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/9/16



Once Upon a Time: Did we ever meet Dorothy when the show first introduced Oz. Weird that she barely shows up when she is the star of that movie. But right now we are in Hercules’ movie and he was just in one episode and seems to be written off the show already.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: You know a show is messed up when someone crashes a wedding to reveal the groom’s heroin stash and you are a little disappointed that that is all that happen. I was expecting the huge massive screwed up wedding and that was pretty tame for a show like this. And as much of a clichĂ© it is, I was a bit disappointed that Chekov’s Gun never came back up. But at least the end scene was entertaining.

The Walking Dead: My favorite part of the episode: right before what looked to be a very large Mexican standoff, Savior dude just whips out a spray paint bottle and marks the dude. My least favorite, obvious the ending, as if last week’s cliffhanger was not annoying enough (and no one ended up dying; not that I thought Darryl had died anyway). Ugg, so the question is, who did Negan bludgeon to death (presumably, we did have two fake out cliffhanger deaths this season). Obviously not Rick because Negan wants him to watch the death as punishment for killing his people. I am also crossing out the females and Carl because Rick is not standing by and watching that. We already had fake out deaths of Daryl and Glen so why kill them now? That leaves Eugene, Abraham, and Aaron. Aaron is the odd man out because he is the newest to the group, but I am going to predict Abraham, he does seems like someone who would talk a beating like that for the team.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: With one episode left I was expecting some big lead up to an epic finale, but instead we get a holding episode where the case was still in limbo. Instead we got weird scenes with Axe and Wendy playing basketball games, Lara and her sister paying a lot of money to shoplift jewelry again, and the DA’s setting off fireworks, we get reminded Chuck is into kinky stuff (Red is kind of a boring safe word). There was a small moment when I thought Axe was leading Wendy out to the middle of nowhere to kill her, or at least try to hook up with her, but alas, they could not even kiss when Chuck spied on them. At least in the final moments we got some movement in the plot, first Chuck catches someone taking pictures of him. Obviously Axe comes to mind first as who put the photographer up to it, but the more I thought about it, Axe won, sure having extra leverage is always nice, but I would not rule out someone else like Chuck’s father or maybe even Rob Morrow. Then, after a season of diligently keeping their private and professional lives separate, finally one of them actually broke that trust with Chuck snooping on Wendy’s computer, finding wrong doing of Axe. So just what is Chuck going to do with that information? And will Wendy realize that Chuck got that information from her?

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Fitz’s explanation of the fourth dimension just made things more confusing, and it even made my understanding of Intersteller more confused too. Then their big plan to keep the future is to make sure Daisy does not leave the base and Coulson vows to not pick up a gun until that future had passed. You just cannot keep her there indefinitely; you do not know how long in the future that happened. Then Lash show up and everyone is like, oh well, I guess Daisy should go to what may be her inevitable death, and Coulsen was quick to end his no gun vow. And why did Abercrombie model whose name I still have not bothered to learn even show up, just to get his face bloodied? But we got another glimpse of presumably will be the season finale but we do now know that is someone’s death and it is of a SHIELD agent… or t least someone wearing a SHIELD uniform.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: I wonder who is going to stray from the cult first, the father and son. And it will likely be for the same reason: a hot chick. I guess Lyla Garrity is currently Schrodinger’s Cat until the next episode when we get confirmation but she seems pretty dead. But what did Sarah think would happen. To me there were only three outcomes after kidnapping her: the release her and she goes to the police for kidnapping, they brainwash her and bring her back into the fold, or she dies, which seemed like the most likely outcome to me. And is there something in door number four? That last shot lingered pretty long on it.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty: We already had the worst meltdown in Tribal Council history this season, so Gay Asian’s faux pas does not look that bad in comparison, but c’mon, why are you leaking the Super Idol info? Information is the biggest currency in this game and he blabbed to his second tribe he had an Idol which he did not even use for his advantage, now everyone knows there is some sort of Super Idol floating around. Now I have to wonder if the girls flipped because of that or if they made a last minute decision because of that information. And if that slip was not head scratching enough, Gay Asian then goes and randomly votes for Jason. What!?! I guess the best explanation (other than dude is just completely clueless) was the girls decided to flip pre-Tribal, fed him false information because they did not trust him not to tell Nick and Gay Asian ended up doing what the girls told him. Should be interesting what happens next as two Idols are in position of the guys in the minority. Does Jason play his Idol next week, can Scot convince him to hold on to it and then convince Jason and Gay Asian to form a Super Idol after one of them is voted out?
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty on iTunes.

The Americans: Oh man was that a cold ending. Sentencing someone to death, say it will be carried out shortly and just bang. Cold, man, even for the Evil Empire.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Since they were not going to kill her, maybe giving up Lizzie would have been the right play and just try to get her back later. But Red seems to protest too much for her mother being dead, it is almost as much as he tries to makes everyone think he is not her father.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes,


Saturday, March 26, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/26/16



Once Upon a Time: Wait, there are crossing guards in the Underworld. At least Mr. Gold pointed out the absurdity of that saying they are already dead. It is almost as silly as the Underworld turning out to be a pit stop to somewhere else, either up or down. How sad that Hades as been reduced to being the gatekeeper of Purgatory.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh Lip, you were living the dream and now you are back at the Gallagher house, no sorority sisters and no track for a career. And the house is even more crowded with Fiona’s soon to be husband and a new baby. Oh well, at least the house should be safer now. Who would have thought back in season one that Ian would grow up to be an EMT while Carl would get into police work? But c’mon, a black cop harasses “Mitt Romney Jr.” and no one tells him White Lives Matter?

The Walking Dead: When the trip ended halfway through the episode, and the two storylines were about the doctor and mullet guy taking more personal responsibility, I thought, oh yeah, one of them or both is going to die soon. About a minute later doctor gets shot in the eye and mullet guy gets dragged out by the killer. Then the ending sees Carol leave the group again (okay, she was forced the first time). It has to be a safe bet she runs into Negan in the season finale.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: Ooo, wife fight, how did that not happen sooner? It seemed like everyone just accepted that the wife of the U.S. District Attorney’s wife just so happened to work at a place he is investigating. Sure those two are actually keeping thing professional, even though it hurts their marriage, but I am surprised everyone else around them trusts their spouse. But it may happen soon, Wendy caught Chuck talking about the case he said he recused himself from. I actually thought she went to Axe to tell him about Donnie. And speaking of Donnie, what was actually said in the dead room? Do we trust him when he give up the inside man that he said Axe told him or is he playing the government? I do trust Axe when he told Wags that he truly did not know where Donnie is but I do not trust when Donnie said.

Quantico: What a boring episode. Really the only thing worth talking about is the promo which made it look like terrorists attack Quantico. Let me go ahead and predict that it is just a test because it is always a test.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Supergirl: I am spoiler adverse but for some reason I still will read casting news which sometimes are a bit spoilery. So I have known before she even showed up that Slobodan was Silver Banshee but it was still shocking that’s she was able to use her powers to keep her from hitting the concrete after falling over the edge of the building. I assumed we would get some sort of origin story as to how she got her powers.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Gotham: There are fewer more annoying things these days when television shows run over a minute or two. So I was watching Supergirl and then flipped over to Lucifer only to catch Jim heading off to prison. Great, thanks for the spoiler (later in the night going from Lucifer to Blindspot I saw someone get stolen but I guess that is less of a spoiler because every episode ends with a Steal since they introduced the twist). What makes this practice more annoying is it is not as if we are getting an extra minute of content, no we are getting an extra minute of commercials simply because Gotham gets more ad revenue than Lucifer. Hurumph. So I spent the whole episode knowing Gordon would be going to prison which just makes the episode less satisfying. But hey, at least Fox got a couple more pennies of revenue. Oh and we learned where Penguin got his affinity to tuxedoes.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Wait, Bobby and Hunter cannot go back to the agency that technically does not exist? And their fond farewell did not carry much weight knowing a spin-off is in development.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty: Just another completely dysfunctional Tribal Council. It may be time to blame it on Scot. He has been to every Tribal Council but one, and two of them were historically dysfunctional. First was the first time someone got themselves voted out because of their answers at Tribal. And this week I think this may have been the first time ever someone actually changed their vote on the parchment. When the social media person pause before putting the name in the bin, I actually thought she was going to throw it into the jungle and write down a new name Instead it turned out she just x-ed out the name and wrote a new one. Next week is the merge which should be interesting, four brains, four beauties, three brawn, with each original tribe having their own Hidden Immunity Idol. Should be interesting how the voting blocs break down and if any Idol gets played. I wonder if anyone will hold on to their Idols too long hoping to get the Super Idol. Gay Asian definitely should have last week.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty on iTunes.

The Americans: To kill Pastor Tom or not to kill Pastor Tom. That is kind of a lose-lose situation. If you do not, he could turn you in, but if you do, Paige could get suspicious. And after Paige came clean she would definitely get suspicious if he dies now. Moving may actually be the best option. It would be funny if Pastor Tom if ended up getting hit by a bus on complete accident now.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/20/16



Once Upon a Time: Poor Abigail Hobbs, suffers so long on Hannibal only to get her throat slit by him and end up in the underworld. I figured she would end up being the love interest from the Hercules movie, but that movie was so unmemorable I barely even remember her. And since this half of the season is based on his movie, it is weird that it looks like Hercules only gets one episode. I guess being a demi-god means he could probably travel to the Underworld whenever he wants, so maybe he will be back to take on his uncle.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh Lip, you just do not pour Jack Daniels down your throat, which was just the bane of my existence in college. I guess I am lucky to never walking up in a hospital and downing that. But maybe the dumber part of the episode was Fiona excepting a proposal by a guy using her current husband’s engagement ring. Shouldn’t it happening at your divorce proceeding be a huge red flag as to you not being marriage ready? And I cannot help but assume Frank is guying to go through that weed stash befor the commune makes enough to move to Hawaii, here is a guy who still has not learned to never, under any circumstance, get high off his own supply.

The Walking Dead: It took me a couple of minutes to recognize Alicia Witt. And it only took me a couple more minutes before realizing I do not want to see evil Alicia Witt. At least she died quickly, well after having her face eaten off. Ouch.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: At the beginning of the episode I thought, oh wow, having the janitor as a mole is kind of brilliant, he can go through trash, is usually alone after hours to do other snooping. That may actually be better than blackmailing the lesbian. Who would suspect the janitor? But I turns out the attorney’s mole is actually a double agent and Axe knows everything. Though how does this even end good for the mole / double agent? Does Axe have a retirement plan for him where he lives on the beach of a country without an extradition tready? There is the old saying that some people play checkers against people playing chess, Axe may be playing three dimensional chess while Rhoades is just playing regular chess.

Quantico: Stupid promo monkey, last week when they said someone was going to die this week, I figured there is no way they would kill of the person with a bomb strapped to their waist, but that is exactly who they killed (granted not with that bomb). Also my theory about death no meaning much on the show since the actors would still be in flashbacks became moot because that chick got sent packing in the flashbacks too.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Supergirl: Awe, red kryptonite, always good to spruce things up. I did like how they explained it as Maxwell Lord failing to recreate the regular kind. It also explains why Jimmy would not instantly know what was going on because Superman would have never been exposed before. Apparently Superman was too busy to stop his cousin from destroying her city so instead Martian Manhunter had to expose himself. Though that still does not explain why they did not have any green kryptonite to weaken her first so he did not have to out himself as an alien too, and in the process go, oh yeah, the guy whose body I took over is dead. Still I give it one episode before a threat so great pops up that they need to release him to help Supergirl in the fight.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Gotham: Holy Lori Petty sighting! And still sporting her Tank Girl haircut about a quarter of a century later. Interesting that the show has younger versions of all the Batman buddies and villains and yet we get what I assume is a older Harley Quinn surrogate. But of course since she is in the movies, we will likely never get an actual character named Harley Quinn on the show. That would have been a lot more interesting than the Silver St. Cloud we got instead.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Lucifer: Holy Herc back in a wheelchair sighting! A couple episodes back I suggested what this show needed was a serialized component, except I was hoping for something more supernatural, not a cop corruption case. And of course the separated husband shot the other cop, it is really the only possible suspect. Maybe this will end up having a supernatural component because Lucifer did save the guy. Does he know that he was shot by the husband and that is why he saved him? But if so, why not tell lady cop her husband is corrupt.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

Blindspot: Oh wow, a Chrissy Seaver training montage, get that girl in the field. But I thought for sure the mole was going to end up being Sutter ex-girlfriend. Oh well.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ooo, Talbert was the mole, not a good way to start off that relationship. But I missed part of the episode because my local ABC station broke into the show for John Kasich’s victory speech as if anyone who actually wanted to hear it was not all ready watching CNN or another 24-hour cable channel. So after a minute of him not actually saying anything (Apparently there was a protester yet the cameraman could not find him) I flipped over to The Voice until it went to a commercial. So I switch back to ABC and they were airing commercials already. So I flipped to CNN and Kasich was still talking. Seriously, if you are going to break into a show just show the whole speech at that point. So I missed about five minute of the show. I went to Hulu the next day but forgot ABC has a stupid eight day waiting period as if they do not want people to ever get caught up. I am certainly not watching it On Demand if I cannot skip to the part I missed, so hopefully nothing important happened during those five minutes.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Wait, let me get this straight, CeCe is not Alison’s sister, but her cousin, that her parents adopted (and then ignored even existed) whose mother is Mrs. Dilarentas twin (and apparently has the same initials A.D.), is just as tech savy as her daughter, and is in cahoots with CeCe’s doctor who married Alison as part of some plan that involves an extremely lifelike Wilden mask. Alrighty. And of course Hanna’s plan to admit she was the killer turned out horribly.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty: After Lizzie got the boot two weeks ago, I came to the realization that I do not particularly like anyone this season besides the hot chick alliance. And as if the show was trolling me (and every red-blooded American straight dude watching), when they split the tribes into two, the hot chick alliance somehow ended up on three different beaches. Making things worse, the third hot chick would replace the person who gets voted out waking it is both tribes best interest to get rid of a Beauty to make sure they do not become a majority on their tribe. What an amazing turnabout because had Caleb had not been pulled from the game, and assuming the tribe split when the same way with Caleb and Hot Chick #3 go to opposite tribes, the Beauty tribe goes from a majority in both tribes to being outnumbered or even in the tribes.

What is amazing is the actually had a way to make lemonade out of lemons because Gay Asian had an Idol, if he uses it correctly, can turn hiss tribe from a Brains dominated tribe into a Beauty controlled one. Except Gay Asian and Scot showed exactly why they did not start on the Brains tribe because they both made extremely dumb strategic moves. Instead of using the Idol, giving his tribe a Beauty majority, now Gay Asian is exactly where he was when the tribes swapped, one less Beauty than Brain with untrustable Scot in the middle. So he may very have to use that Idol next week except now when someone gets voted out, there is not another Beauty coming to help you out. I fully understand wanting to save an Idol for yourself, but the one time you do give an Idol to someone else is to get the numbers on your side. And what is even worse now for Gay Asian is that now not only does he not have the numbers, everyone knows he has an Idol which puts him in a horrible position in the game.

As for Scot, telling Gay Asian not to play the Idol was a bad strategic move too. So what if he now knows where two Idols are? Does he really think that if he is voted out, Gay Asian and Bounty Hunter are really going to come together like Voltron to save him? Do you know what is better than knowing where two Idols are? Having your own Idol. And if Gay Asian plays his Idol, there will be a new one in play the very next day that you can go out and find for yourself (and there is another reason Gay Asian should have played his, he already found one Idol, go and replace it after you play one like Kelley Wentworth last season). You can easily convince Bounty Hunter to enter a pact to save each other, than to get two people to give up their Idols for basically nothing.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty on iTunes.

The Americans: It took the daughter three seasons to find out her parents were Russians, so I guess it should not be surprising nothing happens with that information except tell her minister who I guess is bound by some client confidentiality agreement or something. Kind of a run of the mill premiere as I guess these chemical weapons will be this season’s theme. How disappointing Stan did not break it while assaulting Philip.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: What a boring wedding. No deaths, no crashers. Just Avery annoyingly getting asked where Juliette was every two minutes. At least let Layla go HAM after learning Jeff did not kill himself and Juliette was just covering it up so she did not look bad. Meh.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

The Eleventh Scooter Television Awards




Welcome to the 11th Annual Scooter Television Awards honoring show that aired a majority of their season between July 2014 and June 2015. Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2014 STA's:

Best Scripted Show: Justified

Best Sitcom: Blackish

Best Sci-Fi Show: Orphan Black

Best Comic Book Adaptation: Marvel's Agent Carter

Best Animated Show: Star Wars: Rebels

Best Reality Show (Competition): The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II

Best Reality Show (Documentary): Sing it On

Best Talk Show: Pardon the Interruption

Best New Show: Marvel's Agent Carter

Guiltiest Guilty Pleasure: Hindsight

Best Awards Show: 2015 Grammy Awards

Best Hour of TV: Fight - Masters of Sex

Best Half Hour of TV: Martin Luther Skiing Day - Blackish

Biggest Shocker: Paige telling someone who her parents really are

Worst Idea: Bringing back Resurrection for a second season

Worst Moment: Carrie seducing her target on Homeland

Biggest Disappointment: It took Paige this long to learn her parents are Russian

Best New Title Sequence: The Affair

Best Dance Sequence: Alison and Donnie Hendrix rap video homage

Best Character: Alison Hendrix (Orphan Black)

Best New Character: Peggy Carter (Marvel's Agent Carter)

Best Recurring Character: Ronald Pierce (Ray Donovan)

Best Guest Appearance: Lady Sif (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Best Duo: Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder (Justified)

Most Entertaining Reality “Star”: Nany Gonzalez (The Challenge)

Most Annoying Reality “Star”: The men of Survivor:Worlds Apart

Show That Should Be Brought Back: Hannibal

Most Anticipated New Show of Next Season: Blindspot

Biggest Question for 2015-2016: What happened to Becca in the elevator?

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2014-15



For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that finished their seasons between July 2014 and June 2015 so the final season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season is finally eligible even though the season started almost seventeen months ago. What is not eligible is the show that topped last year's list Hannibal as it just started its third season. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Justified 7.x (FX)
2. Masters of Sex 2.x (Showtime)
3. Marvel's Agent Carter (ABC)
4. The Americans 3.x (FX)
5. Homeland 4.x (Showtime)
6. Parenthood 6.x (NBC)
7. Gotham 1.x (FOX)
8. Mad Men 7.x (AMC)
9. Blackish 1.x (ABC)
10. Orphan Black 3.x (BBC America)

Saturday, April 25, 2015

57 Channel and Only This Is On: 4/25/15



Orphan Black: Oh Allison, how have I missed you. Now that Raylan Givens has retired to Florida, you are now the best character on television. But I did not appreciate them teasing that she might die. Not cool.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Once Upon a Time: When Ursala got her happy ending with papa Winston Zedmore, I theorized Cruella who have some sappy reunion with her puppies. Boy was I far off from that. So is Emma really going to turn dark and she will end up being the Big Bad next season kind of like the Willow season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Mad Men: Oh hey, Creepy Glen, of course you get to come back to say goodbye one last time. Usually I would complain about him, but there was such a big gathering of horrible acting in that lobby season that it was almost entertaining. But not as entertaining as Don telling his realtor how to sell his apartment. Too bad they could not string that out for the last couple episodes.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Revenge: Oh snap, Victoria actually killed herself in hopes that Amanda takes the fall. Bold move. I just hope they do not try bring her back saying she made it out in time and then planted another body there to make people think it was her. That would make it the second time that the writers wanted us to think Victoria died when she did not really.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Gotham: And there in lies the problem with prequils: where is the suspense that Barbara is going to be the Ogre's next victim when anyone familiar with the comic knows she is going to survive long enough to marry Jim (um, spoiler alert for those not familiar with the comics)? Though I do wish the writers were actually bold enough to kill off Barbara because she has been pretty worthless as a character so far.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Castle: Oh yeah, I forgot the season started off with Castle with amnesia that they never figured out. Maybe they should have kept it that way because the explanation was pretty thin. Sadly I do not believe that saga is over.
You can download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Meh, I really wished they killed Ward off back in season one along with Garrett, him now playing both sides is just silly. The only way to make it worse if they do wipe his memories and make him a good guy again.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Blue Collar. vs. White Collar. vs. No Collar: Ooooh, a new twist. So Dan can add an extra vote whenever he wants (or did they give a final date like they do with the Hidden Immunity Idol). Could be interesting. But it could end up like the Hidden Immunity Idol which has become inconsequential because if someone in the majority alliance has it, it never gets used, if it is in the minority alliance, that person is just voted out at a later date. The only time I could remember an Idol having any bearing on a season was when Paravti whipped out two during the Heroes vs. Villains season.

The other big news is Mike turned out to be an even bigger idiot than I thought. Seriously, if you are not going to buy the letter from home, then just say you are not going to do it, ad if you are stupid enough to try and lie about it, do not go back on it. Between that and his blow up after the action, this may have been one of the dumbest power moves in the history of the game. All he had to do was pull Sierra and Dan aide, point out the Masshole's four person alliance, say that if they vote out Shirin and Jenn, we would be the next three so we should recruit Shirin and Jenn, vote out the flippers, then vote out Shirin and Jenn for an all Blue Collar Final Three. Instead he managed to get booted from his alliance and did not even get the extra vote from the auction. Moron.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

Black-iah: Was it not enough for Michael Rappaport to ruin Justified last year, he had to bring down the funniest show on television too?
You can download Black-ish on iTunes.

The American: Oooh, Paige talk Pastor Tim about her parents. Yet I will feel this will not end up with them being caught but it will be like when Martha learned of her husband and nothing will come of it. Look at Stan, just like I predicted, his correspondence with Oleg will make him look like the buy who planted the bug, but not only does he not get arrested for treason, he gets a promotion. I really wish someone will actually get caught soon.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: Sure Christina Aguilera cannot act, but that three way cat fight in the bathroom was almost as entertaining as the bad acting meet on Mad Men this week. I always thought Layla made a much better foil to Juliet than Rayna, it is nice that the writers are finally figuring that out again.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/19/15



Once Upon a Time: Oh yeah, I forgot Robin Hood was out there somewhere. I also forgot just how boring he is. Maybe the show can turn him into a wolf or something.

Mad Men: Weird that Betty and company showed up in the first scene and were not seen again after that. I audibly groaned when I saw them thinking we were going to have to sit through another boring Betty story line. Instead we got the loathsome Harry who managed to to creep on Megan before the ink on the divorcee papers was even dry, or technically before there was any ink on them at all. Overall a pretty meh episode even if we mostly avoided the Francis clan, it definitely needed more Ken.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Holy Billy Riggins sighting! But why are they wasting his talents on just knocking on the door to a bathroom? He did not even get to run into his sister-in-law. Oh well. So we finally learned how May get her title of The Calvary before taking a desk job until Coulson brought her back into the field. Fine, whatever, But maybe the most interesting part of SHIELD this week was Clarke Gregg Skyping into Jimmy Kimmel Live during a fan Q and A segment to ask any of the Avengers if they ever thought about working on the small screen which was met by deafening silence by the six movie stars. Ouch. Guess none of The Avengers will learn Coulson is not so dead anytime soon.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: For the third time in the series history, the finale episode featured the song No One Gets Out of Harlan Alive. This turned out to be one big red herring because everyone who has been around from the first season was able to get out of Harlan with their heart still beating: Raylan, Boyd, Ava, even Wynn Duffy moved to an undisclosed location presumably to to door to door dog grooming.

Not that it was a satisfying ending. Raylan got in a few more great zingers, the best being, "Try this one" as he kicked a gun to Boyd after admitting he was out of bullets. Then Raylan did get his one last showdown with Boone that even though you knew was coming the moment he stepped on screen did not make it any less epic. Raylan is actually losing his touch because he actually let Boone get a shot off.

As it seems to becoming standard for television shows, we got a "four years later" coda, most surprising being that Raylan did not get the girl (whatever did happen to Jackie Nevada), Ava had a chid of her own and we finally learn why Boyd and Raylan just could not kill each other: they were brothers in arms who just took different paths, and they managed to help each other get out of Harlan alive.

All that is left now is figuring out where the show lands in the Pantheon of all time great television shows. I am ready to call it the best of the first half of this decade. As for all time, the show boasts the all time greatest opening of all time (Raylan giving the crime boss twenty-four hours to leave town and the time is up), one of the greatest antagonist of all time in Mags Bennett (sorry Boyd). Really only two demerits: the drag of the Michael Rappaport season and the flimsy heal turn by Ava, shaking up with her brother-in-law who was more evil than the man she killed. Still, if there were a Television Hall of Fame, you could make an easy argument for Justified in five years.
You can download Justified on iTunes.


Survivor: Blue Collar vs. White Collar. vs. No Collar: I liked how Probst refused to verify the validity of the Hidden Immunity Idol for Mike. Fake Idols are not made on this show enough anymore. Other that, a pretty boring episode as we are in the long decimation of the smaller alliance post merge that happens most seasons. They should really double up those eliminations into one episode when that happens to speed things up. Hopefully the promo for next week was not a red herring and that Mike and the Masshole go after each other (which hopefully results in the Masshole's elimination).
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The American's: When Martha found out Clark was not who he said he was I thought, well he has to kill her now. With her cracking and about to go home I thought, oh yeah, Clark is taking off his wig so Martha knows exactly who he is before he kills her. Except the episode just faded to black. But she cannot possibly survive the season. And with the season finale next week, someone has to finally take the fall for the bugged pen. Martha death making it look like a suicide because of guilt over betraying her country but I still think Stan may actually going to get caught trying to free Nina that he gets fingered.
The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: Juliet's irrational post pregnancy moods is really the most entertaining she has ever been.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

Saturday, April 04, 2015

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/4/15



Once Upon a Time: I remember back when we saw Emma's back story saying that it was surprising that her friend did not turn out to be a fairy tale character. Well, it turned out she was in fact from the fairy tale world and apparently Malificant's daughter. Except wasn't Lily Hispanic? Or was I thinking of someone else?
You can Download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Even though I thought it was the case, I still laughed at the end when Sammi started banging on the storage bin revealing she was not so dead. I do wonder if that is the last we see of her, it does seem like that character has run her course and this show has no problem getting rid of characters they do not know what to do with anymore.

The Walking Dead: During the final commercial break I was thinking, are they really not going to kill anybody off in the season finale. Sure Glenn somehow made it out of the zombie dog pile, Daryl somehow was saved by one dude as about a hundred zombies surrounded his car (no one thought of at least trying to hot wire it). Things got even more surprising when Glenn and his nemesis and Sasha and the Reverend were all seen in some weird friendship montage. Of course that was all red herrings for the finale when the evil doctor stabbed the politician's husband who gave Rick the okay to kill him right in front of his old friend Morgan who just got done telling Daryl "Every life is precious." There has been a lot of discussion this season about how Rick has morphed into Shane. Does that make Morgan the season one version of Rick to Rick's Shane? We will have to wait until fall to find out but first up we get to see how the outbreak broke out with Fear the Walking Dead this summer! Starring Matt Saresen's mom!! Hopefully that show does not take four to five seasons to get good.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So Courtney Love pops up in one scene as a hit man who services will not be needed? Alrighty, I have a feeling this will not be her only appearance. Does she still go after Emily Amanda or go after Margot for knowing her identity? This is just getting too silly, hopefully this is the end of the show, just let Courtney Love and Louise kill them all.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Finally a showdown between Bobbie and May, and it certainly lived up to expectations. But the feuding SHIELDs is a little silly, you are both on the same side, there is no need to act so covertly against each other.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: Rarely is there is a scene that is extremely shocking but Mikey Michael strangling Katherine to death while she keeps shooting him had my jaw dropped for a couple minutes.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Wow, an Immunity Idol actually worked I cannot remember the last time that happened. Not that it matters much if it stays six versus four. I am surprised the White Collar went with the Blue Collar who is full five, why not go with the easier No Collar tribe?
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Finally Paige learned who her parents were after teasing that she was on to them way back in the first season finale. Of course right went something interesting was about to happen when CIA Agent Stan showed up to diner, the episode ended. Meanwhile Henry got more lines this week than in his entire run of the series to date.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/29/15


Once Upon a Time: So if the good guys are going to pick off Mr. Gold's cabal one by one with kindness, does this mean they are going to give Cruella Dr. Hopper's Dalmatian as an appeasement to her at some point?
You can Download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh no, Sammy called the Army to report Ian. Which begs the question how did it take a tip from someone to catch him, Ian was hiding in his own home? I wonder if he will get a bunk with his brother.

The Walking Dead: Oh snap, I just figured that the old group would just blindly follow Rick with his overthrow of Alexandria but it did not cross my mind that any of them would actually want to assimilate which apparently Michone does. If Rick is exiled like I assume I wonder who goes with him. Of course they will be back just as Rick warned Deanna that anyone exile will be back. Sure the middle episodes were a bit of a drag but no one does season premieres / finales like this show and next week should be explosive. Plus we still have the person that is marking walker foreheads with a Scarlet A.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So a taxi to happened to plow Margot over in the fire lane? Seems fishing, nothing is that coincidental on this show. I wonder if her henchman had anything to do with it, with or without Margo's knowledge, because he seemed a little to overeager not to give up the fight.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Bates Motel: So Norman did not kill the token hot chick like I feared, but she still ended up dead. Meh.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have long predicted a not so dead Mona would turn out to Be A, well at least I was half right. When her name flashed up under the guest star list I then assumed a not so dead Alison's mother was going to be A after realizing it was not Mona. Completely wrong at that. We learned that Charles is actually A and by the home movie that do make it seem like Charles is Jason's twin brother that apparently no one knew existed. If so, where has he been all this time? Did the Dilarentas family have him hidden in that bunker this whole time?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent of SHIELD: So the "Real SHIELD" does not trust Coulson and his alien DNA, that actually seems reasonable. They could have spent the whole episode in that conference room explaining stuff I would not have minded because I could not care less about Ward and Agent 33 (but it did give us some decent comedy with Talbott ruining his marriage and basically sexually harassing his female underlings).
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: One of the main problems with this season was that you knew that Raylan was not going to catch Boyd until the series finale but much like season four where they actually caught Drew Thompson a couple episodes prior to the finale and then ending up have its best episodes of the season after that, Raylan actually caught Boyd redhanded with a couple episodes left. It looks like we may get the trial Tim was hoping for. Though since the CI shot him, I wonder if a RICO case will stick.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: Congratulations to Sarah and Jordan. And since you won, you can both retire because I really have no desire to see either back on the show. And take Jay and Jenna with you because they do not deserve another invite after quitting (though it is odd the other challenges had a thirty minute time limit but the drinking one). Pure rookie moves, first they do not look at LeRoy's answer and then they actually tried drinking the fish oil while Sarah and Teresa clearly poured half of it down their faces and then spit out the rest while pretending to puke.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: Blue Collar vs. White Collar vs. No Collar: Morons, Survivor 101 states you never, under any circumstance: throw a challenge. The only time anyone threw a challenge and actually ended up winning was when in Fans vs. Favorites they did not even bother to compete just to get rid of Brandon Hantz. Every other time a team that has thrown a challenge, no one involved ever won that season. It is weird to think after how bad their tribe was, No Collar may actually be in the drivers seat. Blue Collar is in disarray, White Collar lost two members after the tribe swap, if smart the No Collar could easily decimate everyone, but are they smart enough to do that now that the merge is immanent?
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Could Stan actually take the fall for the bug in the pen? If someone catches him working with Oleg he would have to move to the top of the suspect list for the FBI. But I have a feeling the black dude will end up being that fall guy.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Wait, did they just out Lizzie as being pregnant? Tom having an ultrasound in his pocket pretty much confirms it. Red is going to be very disappointed.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/22/15



Shameless: I was hoping for a Carl / Chucky juvenile spinoff but it looks like we will be getting that on the main show with both being sentenced to hard time. Of course Chucky ended up with the white supremacists while Carl ended up with the hood gang. Elsewhere I really liked the doctor story line, I just wonder how long it will last. On one hand, Frank needs a place to stay, on the other, the last time he took care of a dying women in hopes of being left her estate did not work out very well for him. But then again, nothing really works out for him except for his inability to stay dead.

The Walking Dead: A couple weeks ago I floated out the theory that it was not Rick and company who should be weary of the residents of Alexandria because they always run into evil doers, it should be Alexandria that should be hesitant of the new group. It looks like I am not the only one as the reverend also voiced his concern over Rick. With the death of the congresswoman's son, I am guessing the coup will be coming next week (or at the very least in two weeks for the finale).And poor young Chris Rock, but how do you let one person out power two in the revolving door? And speaking of those two deaths, the camera really lingered way too long on those death scenes.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Bates Motel: So Norman maybe killed the token hot chick already? Bummer. But that was not her in the lake was it, it looked more like a dude, I first thought that was the creepy neighbor.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes

Community: About a decade ago Arrested Development did everything it could to get a fourth season, they even slipped some in jokes about hoping to being picked up by HBO or Showtime into episodes. But alas, the show could not find a new home. Five years later, DirecTV saved Damages from cancellation opening up a flood gate an now five short years after that no beloved or cult television show is allowed to died because there are so many channels, band streaming sites looking for content. Even horrible shows that everyone hates like The Killing somehow manages a reprieve. Seven years later Arrested Development finally got its fourth season. So it is clear we are now living in an era when no media property will die as long as everyone involved wants it to live on (sorry Friday Night Lights fans, Kyle Chandler has no interest in reviving the series, probably for the best).

So when Community finally got the ax from NBC, the was little question on if it would get its prophetized six seasons a movie, the question would be where would it land. Hulu passed and surprisingly Yahoo! wanted to get in the streaming game. Even more surprising is that the show is basically commercial free and free to watch. I watched the first two episode and they only aired on ad before the first one. As for the content itself, it is still Community even though it is down yet another cast member (Shirley escaped to CBS multicam hell), it did not even relish in the lack of network standards and practices. Like always it is somewhat enjoyable but I really hope that this is it, well plus a movie. But even if this is it, it will probably be revived again in five years or so.
You can watch Community on Yahoo Screen.

Pretty Little Liars: I have been out on this show for a season or two now, but this episode finally pulled me back in with the characters acting like idiots (passing notes in jail with the lawyer calling them out for it; Aria's brother leaving the car after getting hit with an arrow... stay in the car and keep driving you moron, do not leave the car where there is not a windshield to protect you) and other characters just doing things for no apparent reason (Calab just sitting in the dark at the cabin) and a big plot twist: Alison gets convicted followed directly by all the Liars getting arrested. If only they had gone to the police after the first text. An let me predict one more time, a not so dead Mona will turn out to be the next A that will be revealed next week.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: So the big secret Bobbi and Mack have is they are covert operatives for "the real SHIELD." Alrighty. At least they only drug that secret out two episode. Granted if Edward James Olmos is involved, maybe it is the real SHIELD. And let me guess, he is going to want to lock Skye up but over Colson's dead body.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes

Justified: If you are dumb enough not to assume the evil crime boss lady does not keep a gun in her purse, you definitely deserve to die. The Ava finally tipped her hand and went with Raylan this week, unfortunately for her, Boyd did not get caught red handed as he did not make it through the bottom of the floor. Yeah, it probably was not the best idea to trust the crazy explosion expert.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: So Sarah has had two of her partners leave prematurely and was sent home too as a result; Leroy had two of his sent home and both times got a replacement partner. This time he got an upgrade right before the finale. Lucky boy. Why not just hand him the prize right then and there (well probably because Sarah ends up winning anyway). But the best part of the show was the After Show with Banana's saying he would never sell out a friend / cut to him selling out Paula. Did he forget all of this was on tape?
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar: Ask and you shall receive, just last week I was complaining about no Reward Challenges and we get two this week. The show flows a lot better with two challenges per episode. Then we had a Tribe Swap which could not have ended better for Blue Collar, a majority on one tribe and a swing vote on the other. Bearded dude brought up it ended up like the swap back in One World but it was also divided by strength back in the Fans vs. Favorites II season also. Maybe it is fixed.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Wait, is Martha really going to forgive Clark? Even more surprising, how does Clark kill Martha just in case?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Wait, so they just let Tom walk after confessing to killing harbor master just to keep Lizzy out of jail even though the AG guy could have made the whole thing go away anyway? Maybe Tom should have been taken to a black site. I really hope he does not end up joining the team somewhere down the road.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/15/15


Once Upon a Time: So Snow White had something to do with Malicifant losing her baby and she had something to do with Cora's death... are we sure he is really pure at heart?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Considering all the horrible things Frank has done, I am not sure this tops the list, but getting your grandson arrested by selling out your son at the same time is pretty high on the list. I have long advocated for a Justified spinoff starring Dewey and Dicky in prison, but a Shameless spinoff with Chucky and Uncle Carl in prison may just be as entertaining.

House of Lies: As soon as Clyde hooked up with Kelsey after Doug got there first last week my first thought was, oh no, we are going to have to sit though a threesome of them. Kelsey quickly brought it up shortly afterwards, joking or not, but I really fear they will go through with it. You know Doug will have no qualms about it, no will Clyde just talk himself into it.

Revenge: So the chick from Firefly is Victoria's ex-mother-in-law... What? It is really time for this show to end.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

The Returned: As I teased in my preview, the sisters turning out be twins was extremely freaky. Twins are kind of freaky on their own but this takes it to another level. And to tease upcoming episodes, their twin connection get only more freaky in upcoming episodes. I did not get to bring it up in the preview, so just let me now point out just how wrong having sex with a "psychic" to connect with your daughter is. And if you are a fake physic, why add they sex part to it?
You can download The Returned on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I was expecting the trial to be a little more explosive than that. Sure it came out that Mama Marrin hooked up with Jason and the prosecutor theorized that Alison was never kidnapped without any actual proof. Hopefully they are much more fireworks in the season finale which promises another "A" reveal which I think with be the fifth in the show's history. Let me go and predict a not so dead Mona is pulling the strings.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: If ABC decides not to bring Agent Carter back, they should definitely go with a Lady Sif spin-off for a mid season filler for SHIELD. Or even better, cut SHIELD to ten episodes, then ten of Agent Carter and Lad Sif.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes

Switched at Birth: Whoa, Bay, of course Emmett is going to break up with you when you go all crazy girlfriend on him, interrupting his movie not once but twice. But very smooth for Emmett to pull they maybe we can hook back up after college if I cannot find anything better while I am here ploy. Has that actually ever worked for anyone?
You can download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Justified: What a weird ending to the episode as Raylan gets Shakespearean with his father in his old hiding space which turned out to be as empty as Al Capone's vault. Just a weird departure for a show with about a month left before going off the air.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: At the beginning of the season TJ asked Nany which of the guys was going to be her partner and she mentioned it could have well been half of them. For the inevitable next Rivals season, there are just as many possibilities and it looks like you can add Nia and Sarah to that list. Of course Sarah made the right decision, you eliminate a strong team right before the finals. If Bananas or Leroy think they deserve to be in the finals, they should have won the last challenge, and they definitely should not have lost it.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar: zit seems like I say this every season, but the show really needs to bring back the Reward Challenge, with only one challenge per episode we get way too much filler, like watching monkeys having sex.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

Hindsight: So Lolly, who was okay with Becca hooking up Kevin, now thinks its is an unforgivable act because a Lolly in another timeline shunned future Becca for it. Chicks, man, chicks. What a depressing way to end a season, Becca pretty much screwed everything up, her future husband ended up marrying someone else, her brother, and possibly father, are going to jail, she ruined her friendship with Lolly a whole decade earlier. Really, they only one whose life improved was her ex-husband who managed to sell some paintings. Then the ending was pretty vague, clearly she went into the elevator hoping to be transported back to current day. The musical cue of Numb would have us to believe that there was some time traveling involving involved but I would be surprised if she ends up back in 2015. Of course I would be more surprised if there is a second two. But if there is I would guess Becca wakes up in a different year, maybe 2005. The Killers! Jack Johnson!! Gorillaz!!! A sane Kanye West!!!! Sure I'd watch that.
You can download Hindsight on iTunes.

The Americans: This is beginning to be one of those show where the promos are more entertaining than the actual show. Last week they made it seem like Martha was going to confront Clarke, this week she realized that the spying equipment was inadvertently brought in by her, but she never ended up confronting Clarke about it. And wasn't Paige supposed to confront her parents this week? Are they really going to drag this out for the rest of the season?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Odd to have a glorified clip show at this point in the second season. And did we really learn that it was Red who hired Tom to get close to Lizzy instead of Berlin like we were told earlier? I guess that is why that interaction they had before Tom disappeared was weird.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Finally, at long last, gender equality has become a reality now that a dude has actually been crowned King of the Nerds for the very first time. I was rooting for Kaitlyn, but it is hard to justify having a King of the Nerds be someone who works with NASA and cannot get a sun question right that even I guessed correctly.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.