Waiting To Exhale, Prior Commitments, Who Related Stuff
Dexter - 2x02: Waiting To Exhale
Loved it. I don't want to speak too early but this season is all sorts of great, right?
- Rita finally confronted Dexter about the shoe and Dexter pretended he was an addict.
- Loved the appearance of Rudy in this episode. Totally worked well.
- Maria is going to screw Esme over, I can feel it.
- Lundy is perceptive. That makes 3 potential threats to Dexter this season. The other 2 being Rita and Doakes.
- Glad Little Chino got done in in this episode. I don't think they could've dragged that one out.
Review for this episode is up. An Inconvenient Lie airs tonight at 10pm on FXUK.
Brothers And Sisters - 2x16: Prior Commitments
Amazing last episode. Will definitely be tuning into Season 3.
- Kevin and Scotty are hitched. Kevin also tried to appeal to Scotty's parents but it didn't work.
- Both Sarah and Kevin figured there was another Walker out there - Ryan.
- Kitty and Robert consider adoption.
- Nora's accepting of both Rebecca and Scotty.
- Justin and Rebecca are a couple? I'm hold my reservations on that one.
Review for this episode is up and a blog dedicated to Season 2 is below this one. Enjoy!
Grey's Anatomy - 4x08: Forever Young
Fine episode really. One of the stronger ones.
- Bailey met an old high school sweetheart.
- Derek went on a date with Sydney.
- Cristina and Callie took some pleasure in Izzie/George's problems.
- Meredith and Lexie's annoying father returned.
Private Practice - 1x04: In Which Addison Has A Very Casual Get Together
Maybe the best episode yet. This series is far from perfect but it's good summer TV.
- Cooper's patient is gay and the show deals with his sexuality responsibly.
- Violet goes nuts when her former lover's spouse stops by Oceanside.
- Naomi and Addison quarrel over a patient. Addison ends up being right.
- Sam promotes his book on TV.
The Week In Who
- Above the choice out of four covers for the latest issue of DWM. Covers 1 and 4 are sticking out the most for me.
- Journey's End was actually watched by 10.5 million viewers and was the highest rated thing on TV for that week.
- Planet Gallifrey have some spoilers/speculation about this year's Christmas special and the 2009 specials. Check it out here ...
http://planetgallifrey.blogspot.com/2008/07/whats-going-on.html
- Torchwood writers for Season 3 are Russell T. Davies (episode 1), Jon Fay (episodes 2,3 and 5) and James Moran (episode 4). All episodes will be directed by Euros Lyn.
- The Sarah Jane Adventures Season 2 trailer has just been released. Some interesting stuff is on the way. Check it out.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=KPnOJy0uY6w
- Next week it's Doctor Who At The Proms. Freema Agyeman will be presenting it and David Tennant has submitted a little scene. Yay!
Top 10 Angel Episodes Part 6
21: 5x10: Soul Purpose
A parasite gives Angel the worst hallucinations ever.
22: 5x08: Destiny
More of Angel and Spike's complext past is explored in this one. And Lindsay returns.
23: 4x12: Calvary
Angelus escapes and Cordy murders Lilah.
24: 3x17: Forgiving
Justine helps defeat Sahjan and Angel nearly smothers Wesley.
25: 1x22: To Shanshu In LA
Angel learns of a certain prphecy and Darla is resurrected by Wolfram and Hart.
Song Of The Blog
Sam Sparro - 21st Century Life
Not the best follow up but decent no less.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=zVMwlP3J76U
Posted by shawnlunn2002, 07/20/2008 7:28am 15 Comments
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Digg thisBrothers And Sisters - The Season 2 Blog
I promised I'd do one for this show and it's something that I will be doing every season for the show.
Top 10 Episodes
1: 2x16: Prior Commitments
I loved the finale more than any other episode and I think it set up things nicely for next season. Kevin and Scotty also got married.
2: 2x15: Moral Hazard
Saul came out, Kevin proposed properly to Scotty and Ojai faced ruin. Plus Justin discovered Rebecca wasn't his sister.
3: 2x07: 36 Hours
A family intervention got Justin off drugs once again but it was a brilliant episode.
4: 2x06: Two Places
Kitty miscarried and Sarah got Paige and Cooper back.
5: 2x01: Home Front
Nora feared for Justin's well being and Kitty's 39th birthday raised havoc.
6: 2x02: An American Family
Kevin, Nora and Kitty went to get Justin and Tommy met Lena.
7: 2x12: Compromises
Kevin and Sarah take karaoke to new levels. One of the funniest episodes of the series.
8: 2x09: Holy Matrimony
Kitty and Robert got married and David reunited with Holly.
9: 2x05: Domestic Issues
Sarah lost Paige and Cooper in an ugly custody battle with Joe.
10: 2x11: The Missionary Imposition
Kevin had that awkward dinner with Jason and Scotty and Nora got closer to Isaac.
Character Of The Season - Kevin Walker
Maybe I'm being bias what with being Matthew Rhys' editor for this site but I love Kevin. He's one of the few gay characters on TV that I find believable and he's just a believably written character. The writers often focus on his flaws in a way of proving just how real a character he is. He was the one who challenged Saul about his sexuality. He also went from being commitment phobic to actually marrying Scotty and if he ever gets bored playing lawyer, he could turn detective. Deducing that Ryan might be a Walker shows he's one smart cookie.
Season 2 In General
A lot of people didn't like the second season but when I think about the kind of second seasons both Lost and Desperate Housewives had, I have to differ. IMO Season 2 was equally as good as Season 1 and while the Rebecca plot was a big retcon of the worst kind, we didn't really have any genuinely horrible episodes. In fact we had a series of stunning episodes, including the final two and with characters like Sarah and Kevin centre stage, I'll never be able to quit this series. The Ryan thing in Season 3 has potential if the writers are clever enough not to repeat themselves and I think they are capable of that. Overall I enjoyed Season 2. It wasn't perfect but close to a certain other show I'm obsessed about, I literally couldn't get enough of it.
By the way I've also written a show review for the series above my review for Prior Commitments. Check it out.
Brothers And Sisters - State Of The Parties (Missing Episode on Season 1 DVD)
Surprisingly enough this is an exceptional episode. I wished it had actually aired during the first season.
- William's funeral got nicely emphasised here.
- Kevin helped Sarah and Tommy buy some time in telling Nora about Ojai.
- Justin let rip into Holly and Saul conforted her.
- Kitty's first day at Red, White And Blue was a disaster and she dumps Jonathan.
- Nora invites Kitty to move in with her at the end of the episode.
Review for State Of The Parties is here to read ...
http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-review-of-b-state-of-parties.html
Season 2 DVD - September 23rd 2008
Guest Book - Some of the show's illustrious Season Two guest stars open up about their experiences on the show in this interactive piece.
TV Dinners: Food from Season 2 - Family gatherings mean plenty of food, but that tasty treat on the dinner table doesn't always translate on camera. Welcome to the wonderful world of the food stylist, with exclusive tips on how these professionals work their magic.
Open House: walk-through of the sets with the Set Designer
Audio Commentaries with director Ken Olin, and actors Dave Annable, Sarah Jane Morris, Matthew Rhys, Emily Van Camp, , and Patricia Wettig.
Deleted ScenesBloopers
Like Funkyfresh said, I'm not keen on the cover but I will definitely be snapping this up on it's UK release.
Season 3 Spoilers/Speculation
- There will be 24 episodes this season and the season premieres on ABC from September 28th.
- Episodes titles for the first six episodes are Glass Houses, Book Burning, Tug Of War, Everything Must Go, You Get What You Need and Bakersfield.
- Ryan will be introduced in the sixth episode.
- Nora and Holly will have a showdown in the first episode.
- Kitty is going back to punditry and is publishing a book.
- Justin will get a job involving his army vet background.
- Kevin will experience some work related problems.
- Sarah will be getting a new love interest. Her and Tommy will also still conflict while running Ojai with Holly.
Top 50 Angel Episodes Part 5
26: 1x01: City Of
Wonderful opening episode for the series.
27: 5x16: Shells
Fred is dead and Illyria is here to stay.
28: 3x06: Billy
Angel and Cordy battle to stop the misogynistic bad guy Billy.
29: 4x06: Spin The Bottle
The gang lose their memories thanks to Lorne.
30: 5x07: Lineage
Wesley's father arivves in LA with deadly results.
Song Of The Blog
Yvonne Elliman - Can't Find My Way Home
Featured on the Brothers And Sisters episode Prior Commitments.
Posted by shawnlunn2002, 07/17/2008 6:15am 11 Comments
It's Alive, Moral Hazard And Other Stuff
Dexter - 2x01: It's Alive
Miami's best anti-hero is back and this was a delightful opening episode.
- Rita learns that Paul wasn't lying about Dexter and when Paul dies she openly challenges Dexter.
- Deb is having a hard time coping with life after the ITK incident.
- Dexter let two people go. Jimmy through guilt and Little Chino through recklessness.
- Esme and Maria could have more in common than they'd like to think.
- So who's the new killer that is filling both Dexter and Deb with excitement?
Review for this episode is up now. Waiting To Exhale airs tonight at 10pm on FXUK.
Brothers And Sisters - 2x15: Moral Hazard
One of my favourites episodes from the series. I think maybe my favourite from Season 2.
- The weirdness between any Justin/Rebecca is at least being addressed. That doesn't mean I'm rooting for them to hook up.
- I really loathe Holly even more for alluding to the fact she's a bit of a gold digger. Hence her merger idea with Ojai.
- Everyone went a bit too far with Sarah. Maybe she shouldn't have entrusted Saul but I wanted to bop Tommy for his self-righteous attitude towards her.
- Kitty and Robert were the source of comedy this episode with their efforts to conceive. This was better than any of the campaigning that has dominated them this season.
- Saul finally came out to Kevin and Kevin made a heartfelt proposal to Scotty. Hats off to Ron Rifkin, Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane during those scenes.
Review for this episode is up now. Prior Commitments airs tonight at 11pm on E4, repeated Monday at 10pm. A special blog for Season 2 will surface during the week.
Grey's Anatomy - 4x06/4x07: Kung Fu Fighting/Physical Attraction Chemical Reaction
Slightly better than previous episodes.
- Hahn really, really hates Cristina.
- Meredith still can't really accept Lexie
- Derek's dull as ever
- George and Izzie are having problems in the bedroom.
Private Practice - 1x02/1x03: In Which Sam Receives An Unexpected Visitor/In Which Addison Finds The Magic
Better than the show it's spawned from but still a work in progress
- Addison realises that Pete's wife died a few years ago.
- Both Cooper and Violet challenge each other on their addictions.
- Naomi realises food isn't a good substitute. Especially chocolate.
- Sam should never let Cooper help him out.
The series will air Tuesdays at 10pm on Living TV from July 15th.
Other TV highlights have included the one off drama Fallout as part of Disarming Britain season with some stunning performances from everyone involved. I've caught up with the last three episodes of The Sunday Night Project and while this series hasn't been as funny as the last, it's still an entertaining romp no less. The Charlotte Church Show returned with both Catherine Tate and Lee Mack on fine form and I enjoyed the first episode of Bonekickers. Another show I'd recommend is More4's Back To You, especially if you're a fan of shows like 30 Rock and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. Matt's been talking about Australian comedy Summer Heights High and after seeing the first five episodes, I can see why he's so into it.
US TV Spoilers
- The first 2 trailers for the US version of Kath And Kim with Molly Shannon and Selma Blair have been leaked. It's not that bad.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24003322-5005369,00.html
- Kevin McKidd is rumoured to be heading into the fifth season of Grey's Aantomy.
- Edie will get a love interest in Neal McDonough in Season 5 of Desperate Housewives.
- The US version of Little Britain hits HBO in September.
- Lucy Liu will be joining the cast of Dirty Sexy Money.
The Week In Who
- Promotional shots of David Tennant in the upcoming BBC one off Einstein And Eddington have surfaced. David will be playing the Eddington role. Check them out here ...
http://davidtennant.albumpost.com/album630
- Burn Gorman will be playing Hindley in ITV's upcoming Wuthering Heights. Thanks to harihudson for alerting me to that.
- A soundtrack of the music used in Torchwood is due for release, though a specific date has yet to be verified.
- 9.4 million people watched Journey's End last Saturday. The episode is repeated tonight on BBC1 at 6.25pm.
Top 50 Angel Episodes Part 4
31: 2x04: Untouched
Lilah tries to sway Bethany into working for Wolfram And Hart but Angel has other ideas.
32: 3x15: Loyalty
Wesley is tricked into believing that Angel will come to harm Connor.
33: 4x19: The Magic Bullet
Fred resorts to extremes to break Jasmine's hold on the gang.
34: 4x10: Awakening
The gang realise they need Angelus to defeat The Beast.
35: 5x18: Origin
Connor gets his memories back and fulfills a prophecy.
Song Of The Blog
Weezer - Pork And Beans
Love this one. Really catchy too.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=WanLLnVixC4
Posted by shawnlunn2002, 07/13/2008 9:04am 20 Comments
The Torchwood Seasons 1 and 2 Blog
Two blogs in four days, I have not done that for a while. Anyways I'll be doing it for Brothers And Sisters, Dexter and Doctor Who in the near future. First of all ...
Top 10 Episodes
1: 2x13: Exit Wounds
Tragic and poignant, who didn't tear up upon Owen and Toshiko's deaths?
2: 2x12: Fragments
Best flashback episode ever. Wished Suzie had made an appearance but it was perfect.
3: 1x08: They Keep Killing Suzie
I love Suzie even if she's evil and I loved this episode. Dark and delicious.
4: 2x08: A Day In The Death
Insightful and personal as Owen comes to terms with being dead.
5: 1x06: Countrycide
I loved this episode. Pretty dark and had such brilliant moments and dialogue.
6: 2x07: Dead Man Walking
Owen battles death and Martha ages impressively.
7: 2x05: Adam
Where we finds out about Jack and Gray as kids on the Boeshane Penninsula.
8: 1x12: Captain Jack Harkness
Jack and Toshiko take a trip into 1941 with some interesting moments.
9: 1x10: Out Of Time
Three strangers from the 1950's descend the hub and Owen falls in love with one of them.
10: 1x13: End Of Days
Bilis unleashes Abbadon and Jack goes to find The Doctor.
Top 5 Characters
1: Ianto Jones (Gareth David Lloyd)
How can you not fall in love with him? Ianto really makes for compulsive viewing.
2: Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)
Charismatic and unpredictable, it's hard not to enjoy Jack. Ever.
3: Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori)
Loveliness personified. Her death made me cry.
4: Suzie Costello (Indira Varma)
I wish we had gotten much more of her as a character.
5: Captain John Hart (James Marsters)
I don't love bad boys but I do love this guy. There's something kinda great about him.
Season 1 DVD Review
Debut seasons of any show can be tricky and Season 1 of Torchwood did have some shakiness. There were times when the gang's caustic manner with each other could be difficult to get through and some of the sex/swearing did feel tacked on. Plus Gwen and Owen could test your patiences but overall with Jack as a leader, Ianto as support and Toshiko with so much unxplored potential, Season 1 had more in it's corner than against it. 13 episodes with storylines centring on employees coming back from the dead, Weevils, time travellers, fairys, cannibals, cyberwomen and the end of days. Overall this was a mixed bag but an interesting one. On the extras front you have commentaries, behind the scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, bloopers and John Barrowman's video diary. Regardless of divisive stories, there's an enthusiasm here than cannot be questioned.
Rating: 8/10.
Season 2 DVD Review
If S1 had some quality issues in storylines, then S2 comes across as borderline perfection. Every crack first time round is repaired as a more solid unit of Torchwood fight more and more baddies. With insights through Jack's past via characters such as Captain John Hart and Gray, we're learning more about him as a person. His relationship with Ianto is another highlight as the office boy becomes more vocalised this season. Mid-way through we also have the delighful Martha Jones as her arrival sees Owen grappling with death prior to him and Toshiko meeting their makers by the finale. Gwen also gets married to Rhys while involving him and Andy more into her world and there's even a fantastic episode where we learn more about how and why the gang signed themselves onto Torchwood. With the extras, there's no commentaries but the deleted scenes, bloopers, behind the scenes stuff on each episode and The Lives And Deaths Of Captain Jack featurette, you're not left entirely empty handed.
Rating: 9/10.
Season 3 Spoilers
- Begins filming in August.
- Will only have 5 episodes that could air in a week.
- The storyline will extend for these episodes.
- Freema Agyeman and Noel Clarke are likely to be regulars as Martha and Mickey.
Top 50 Angel Episodes Part 3
36: 5x04: Hell Bound
Dark and creepy, why wasn't this a Halloween episode?
37: 4x14: Release
Faith still has demons and Angelus has plans for her.
38: 1x11: Somanabulist
Kate discovers Angel is a vampire and doesn't handle it well.
39: 1x09: Hero
Doyle makes an ultimate sacrifice before leaving Cordy something to remember him by.
40: 3x05: Fredless
Fred becomes a full member of Team Angel.
Song Of The Blog
Solange Knowles - I Decided
Beyonce's younger sister makes a good debut record.
Posted by shawnlunn2002, 07/09/2008 10:38am 21 Comments
Journey's End, Time Of Your Life Part 1, After The Fall Parts 9 and 10
Doctor Who - 4x13: Journey's End
Oh this was brilliant. Made me laugh and cry. A lot.
- Davros really has become more psychotic in the last 20 years. Loved that he recognised Sarah Jane.
- The Doctor, New Doctor, Rose, Donna, Martha, Captain Jack, Mickey, Jackie and Sarah Jane in the TARDIS.
- Mickey and Martha have officially joined Torchwood. Well as good as.
- Rose got to keep New Doctor and we got a topless David Tennant. BBC you are spoiling us.
- Catherine Tate broke my heart as Donna's memories were being wiped.
- Loved the last conversation between Wilf and The Doctor.
- We got a trailer for Return Of The Cybermen. See here ...
David Tennant and David Morrisey reunited, Dervla Kirwan, Victorian setting, lots of snow and Cybermen. Another five months to go.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=2vD7xn4wYd4
Reviews for Journey's End, Remembrance Of The Daleks and Survival. A S4 blog will appear when info on the S4 DVD surfaces.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - 8x16: Time Of Your Life Part 1
Good introduction to an exciting crossover.
- I have to admit to never reading Fray's comics but I like her even if she's beating up Buffy.
- Dawn's a Centaur and she's not happy about it.
- Warren, Amy and Twilight blow up the Scoobies castle.
- Kennedy and Violet are back. The former grills Buffy on experimenting.
Angel - 6x09: After The Fall Part 9
Better than expected but a little off too
- Fred's not back, it's Illyria acting up.
- Gunn is up to something bad.
- Spike didn't know Wesley was around.
- The gang move back to the Hyperion.
Angel - 6x10: After The Fall Part 10
A slightly better but dark issue.
- Illyria reveals to everyone that Angel's human
- Angel and Gunn face off at the end
- The opening plays out like the 60's Batman
- It snows in hell.
Reviews for After The Fall Parts 9 and 10 and Time Of Your Life Part 1 are here ...
http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/
Brothers And Sisters - 2x14: Double Negative
I can't believe they actually did that. What the hell?
- Rebecca's not a Walker. Emily Van Camp really shone in this episode. Don't like where her/Justin are going.
- Kitty and Robert finally move past campaigns
- Kevin and Scotty, marriage seems imminent
- Saul and Graham prove Sarah right what with Ojai being bankrupt again.
Review for this episode is up. Moral Hazard airs tonight at 11pm and is repeated Monday at 10pm on E4.
Dexter Season 2 - Tonight 10pm on FXUK
You didn't I forgot about this, did you? Season 2 is finally airing on FXUK tonight and here are a few brief spoilers for the season.
- The Bay Harbour Butcher and Dexter are connected
- At least one regular will die.
- Watch out for Lila who appears in 10 episodes. She's a bad one.
Trailer ...
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=eL4SZ6cv1y0
The Week In Who
Doctor Who - Martha In The Mirror
The last of the books I've read in the past few weeks, this one has more of a fairytale feel to it as The Doctor and Martha take a visit to Castle Extremis with some strange goings on. With a set of twins, robots called Bill and Bot and a cursed mirror, there is a fair amount in this story can be seen coming a mile off but it's all so pleasantly weaved by Justin Richards, it doesn't matter. It shall be interesting to see what can be found in the upcoming Donna books.
Rating: 8/10.
- I got Season 2 of Torchwood on DVD. More on that next blog.
- Catherine Tate will be on this Thursday's Charlotte Church Show on Channel 4. Wasn't she brilliant on Graham Norton this week?
- Eve Myles has been cast as Maggie in Little Dorrit, also featuring Freema Agyeman.
Top 50 Angel Episodes Part 2
41: 4x17: Inside Out
Connor meets Darla and Cordelia gives birth to Jasmine.
42: 3x22: Tomorrow
Angel sinks to the ocean and Wesley starts sleeping with Lilah.
43: 2x21: Through The Looking Glass
Lorne doesn't receive the best of welcomes in Pylea.
44: 2x22: There's No Place Like Plrtz Glbr
The gang return home and Angel learns that Buffy has died.
45: 5x01: Conviction
The gang now run Wolfram And Hart
Song Of The Blog
Portishead - Roads
Played in last night's Doctor Who Confidential
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pq2k_bxsSs
Posted by shawnlunn2002, 07/06/2008 6:31am 15 Comments
My Recent Reviews
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Dexter An Inconvenient Lie Avg Score: 9.46 Total Ratings: 426 Total Reviews: 16 |
Going to a Narcotics group is something I will hopefully never have to experience. As one of my friends recently pointed out to me, I've got an addictive personality but then again, name one person who isn't addicted to something? Luckily for me, my addictions are dangerous or damaging to my life or anyone else's.
As for Dexter, it's different. His compulsion to kill is somewhat remedied by Harry's code. If it wasn't for Harry's code, Dexter would be possibly killing anything that looked at him in the wrong but luckily a code and his own sense of justice just keeps him to killing those more deserving.
Last week Rita had it out with him about the shoe. I stressed that while he was right to admit to assaulting Paul, pretending to be an addict wasn't the smartest thing that Dexter could've done. This episode only went to prove that belief in spades, even if Dexter is adept at faking it.
The first meeting he goes to is played for laughs. Dexter watches a few people go on repeatedly about their vices and how said vices have damaged their lives. Instead of feeling sorry for these people, Dexter just rolls his eyes in boredom and decides to skip the rest of the meeting.
However one thing Dexter did wrong was to tell Rita that he didn't stay until the end. In Season One, Dexter could've gotten away with this but here, Rita is pretty adamant that either Dexter sticks it out or they are done. I like seeing this stronger assertive side to Rita but I just wish that we weren't seeing this element of her at Dexter's expense though.
Dexter to his credit manages to stick it out at a second meeting and in a bid to get some chip even talks about himself. Of course, Dexter is a master of faking and he spins a pretty lame story that everyone watching, even if it's their first episode of the show could see that Dexter was lying through his teeth.
One person in particular who could see through Dexter's surprisingly unimaginative story is Lila. Before she even uttered a word, Lila made her presence felt by staring at Dexter. Well to be honest it looked more like she was sizing him up but then again, Dexter does have that certain effect on people.
Joining Lila for a coffee is something of a wake up for Dexter. Seeing through his crap story is all well and good but when a complete stranger starts making rather personal and perceptive comments about your psyche, it doesn't take much to get a little nervous. In fact it's enough to make Dexter want to quit NA for good.
Probably best known for playing Stacy on Hustle, British actress Jaime Murray is seemingly fine in the role of Lila. Like all British actors playing British characters on television, Murray has to heighten her accent just to emphasise that she's from Britain. Fortunately it's nowhere near as bad as you'd expect it to be but it is a little distracting when watching Lila.
I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to feel about her as a character. While it's nice to see someone actually understand Dexter's darkness and be okay with it, the last person who did that was Rudy and we all know what happened with him. It also doesn't help that there is something of a distinctly creepy vibe about Lila too.
Dexter's scared enough of her prying to try and quit and when he brings it up to Rita, he gets dumped. It's only when Dexter decides to take NA seriously and adopt Lila as his sponsor does Rita take him back. That being said, it's interesting to then see Rita looking threatened by Dexter hanging out with Lila. Another thing the episode tried to highlight was an underlying sexual chemistry between Dexter and Lila.
Rita shouldn't really worry for now because this episode actually went out of it's way to prove that Dexter loves her. Okay so there's the fact he's taking the NA stuff seriously in an effort not to lose her but there's also the fact that when Roger trashes Rita's name, Dexter loses it and kills him.
Roger's this week's victim and he's also an accomplished liar at everything. Dexter figures out he's been killing women and even when he confronts the evil salesman, Roger still tries to deny it. Then Roger also lets his sexism get in the way and Dexter does us all a favour by killing the scumbag.
Of course with Rita, Lila and Roger all playing heavily on his mind, it's almost perfect that it's this episode where Doakes finally gets Dexter. First there are the snide comments in the elevator and then there's Doakes going for the jugular by accusing Dexter of being connected to the Ice Truck Killer.
This however doesn't compare to the fact Doakes revels in thinking that Dexter is an addict. Dexter might have been feeling like the man of the moment when he bared himself in NA but he also perfectly conveyed a look of dread when Doakes showed up. Of course Dexter thinks this will keep Doakes at bay but something tells me the opposite is more likely to happen.
Then there's Lundy. He's already proved to be a perceptive guy in the way that he knew Doakes wasn't the sort of cop to play with other. His brief conversation with Dexter gave off the distinct vibe that he wasn't so trusting of him. As threats go, Dexter should worry about Doakes but also keep an eye out for Lundy as well. Right now he doesn't have the luxury of being able to relax.
Being the new serial killer in town is definitely causing ripples. While Dexter makes some wry observations that Deb hunting for him makes for an awkward family dynamic, there's also the fact that Masuka is getting him to look at his own handiwork to boot.
Dexter feels more annoyed than moved when seeing all of his corpses and even tries to get himself away from doing as much as he can. He's not the only one who feels like evading responsibility. After all, the still hurting Deb is also pretty keen to distance herself from this particular case.
With everyone else being excited about working on solving the Bay Harbour Butcher case, Deb feels like she can barely hack it. In the interviewing stage, she tries to get Angel to convey to a woman in Spanish that she can't help her and then she tries twice to get out of the case.
It seems Lundy's perception of people also has a positive sting to it as well. He deliberately put Deb on this case because she was involved with Rudy. It's not a shocker to learn this and you also wonder if it's a good way of getting Deb to sort her demons out once and for all too.
Refusing to let her go proved good for Lundy. Deb interviewed a young man and learned that his father was an abusive criminal who evaded justice. Deb then went to Lundy and the two of them deduced that the victims were criminals. It didn't take much for them to consider that this could be the very pattern.
As a viewer, while I seriously don't want Deb to learn that Dexter has been slaughtering Miami's less savoury population, it's just nice to have a reminder of Deb's capabilities. She might be flighty and head strong but at the end of the day, she's a better cop than other people.
The other person in question I'm hinting at would be Esme. Now I like Esme reasonably enough and while I sympathise a little with her, I'm also finding her recklessness incredibly annoying. There's a reason why domestics are supposed to be left at home after all.
For the past two episodes, Esme's allowed herself to be distracted by her cheating fiancι. At this point it has become too problematic as not only is she making an ass out of herself during TV interviews about the Bay Harbour Butcher but it's Maria of all people who is having to cover up to for her.
Angel can tell that Esme isn't up to the job and both Lundy and Captain Matthews aren't too thrilled with Esme's handling of the media. However when Matthews gives Maria the opportunity to score her job back by bad mouthing Esme, Maria refuses to take the bait and accuses Matthews of being sexist.
Now Maria probably has a point there and it's rather honourable that she's willing to defend Esme. Maybe Maria has gone through something similar without support or perhaps it's further efforts on the writers' part to show us that she's not a terrible person but either way it's admirable and reckless.
It's admirable because it shows that Maria has loyalty within her but it's also reckless because she's spiting Matthews as well and if Esme doesn't get her act together, then something disastrous might happen and it could look bad for Maria as well.
Also in "An Inconvenient Lie"
The previously on bit are still rather long but I liked seeing some clips from the first season again.
Dexter (re Caroline): "No self control lost everything. Same whiny story, over and over again for the last ten minutes".
Because of BHB fiasco this episode saw the office being littered with as many people as possible. Lundy (re Esme): "I wish your Lieutenant would consult me before the press".
Matthews: "I'll rip her a new one if I can find her".
Counsellor: "You've got three minutes to share if you want".
Dexter: "Really?"
Drug Addict: "Go ahead. You're among friends".
Maria got a little suspicious of Dexter's new minivan. It's the first time these two have interacted at all this season.
Lila: "Tell me exactly how full of **** are you?"
Dexter: "I'm not full of anything".
Lila: "It was a nice performance in there. Where did you download it from addict.com?"
Dexter (re NA): "I swear to you, I'm better off alone".
Rita: "I pray you'll change your mind".
Rita was smoking again in this episode. Deb did a lot of that Season One as did Maria a few times. Is it to convey stress or has Rita always been a smoker?
Esme: "I seem to have my hand up my ass this week".
Maria: "It's called being human".
Dexter: "So is this it?"
Rita: "It's up to you Dexter".
The guy Deb was interviewing at the end looked a little familiar. I'm wondering which one of Dexter's victims who he is?
Maria (to Matthews): "You know what neurotic means non male. The same bull**** sexism I put up with when I was in charge. I won't dignify the rumours. Pasquale's fine".
Doakes: "I know you're a good liar too".
Dexter: "Yeah but not good enough".
We learned in this episode that Dexter is a jujitsu expert and that he was also originally going to go to med school.
Dexter (re corpses): "You're hoping they'll talk to you?"
Lundy: "The ones with heads anyway. They always speak in the end. You gotta ask the right questions".
Dexter: "Which is?"
Roger (re killings): "No I wouldn't".
Dexter: "You did and you'll do it again. That's why we're here".
Deb is still making no effort to move out of Dexter's, even though he's less anxious about her being around the place.
Dexter (re Lila): "That's my sponsor".
Rita: "What, the guy in the blue shirt?"
Dexter: "No, the one next to him".
Chronology: A week or two since "Waiting To Exhale".
Giving us all a nice examination in the drawbacks of lying as well as those who actually believe in their own fibs, "An Inconvenient Lie" is definitely an exciting episode. So far this season is striking well enough.
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Brothers & Sisters Avg Score: 9.08 Total Ratings: 2682 Total Reviews: 113 |
Kevin: "Oh please, it's my job".
William: "Yes but I enjoy spending time with you".
Kevin: "I like you too" Prior Commitments.
Okay hands up, how many genuine dramas are they out there that are solely about family? Maybe a long time ago there might have been plenty but right now; there is surprising dearth right about now. Because of that, Brothers And Sisters already has a unique selling point.
When I first heard about this show, it was in April 2006 when ABC had leaked a few cast shots and a preview for the series was available on their site. This was around the time when Betty Buckley was originally playing Nora Walker and the character of Kevin Walker was actually Bryan Walker played by Jonathan LaPaglia. Of course like many pilots things tend to change.
Amazingly though the changes on this series had many people quickly assuming the worst but I kept my optimism. I liked some of the casting decisions in Rachel Griffiths, Calista Flockhart and Ron Rifkin and I was willing to accept the other cast members despite not being too familiar with some of them. Plus when Matthew Rhys and Sally Field's casting was confirmed, things were looking good.
By September 2006, After Elton had done an expose on the series, drawing some comparisons to the likes of Six Feet Under, Thirtysomething and The West Wing. Throughout the course of the series two seasons, these shows would always be a source of comparison.
It's easy to see why. Aside from Rachel Griffiths in the cast, Brothers And Sisters had a family dealing with the dead of the patriarch and trying to stop the family business from going into financial ruin. Also like Six Feet Under, you have one of the most realistic and intriguing gay characters in Kevin Walker. Actually this show emcompasses these comparisons in a positive way with the way some scenes are conveyed and the subject matter it touches on.
The Thirtysomething and The West Wing comparisons are also noteworthy. Both Patricia Wettig and Ken Olin had pivotal roles on the former series and then on this show. Also both Brothers And Sisters and Thirtysomething air/aired on ABC and have a similar feel with writing and characterisation.
The political slant is definitely The West Wing all over it. In some ways Brothers And Sisters' timing couldn't have been more perfect. The West Wing came to an end by May 2006 and four months later, American viewers were settling into the antics of the Walkers. Plus there are many viewers who aren't turned off by politics, especially when it directly factors into a family like the Walkers.
The Walkers are a largely democratic family with the exceptions of William and Kitty. Kitty's political views have been both a source of ridicule and extreme arguments with her family, in particular with her mother Nora. Nora did blame Kitty's politics for Justin's decision to go off to Iraq.
The first half of Season One saw Kitty fighting her corner on the show Red, White And Blue and in flashback episodes "Mistakes Were Made Parts 1 and 2", we saw that Kitty was affected by the 9/11 attacks herself. It was because of this rather than her political beliefs that spurred Justin's decision into going to Iraq.
The latter half of the first season saw Kitty move away from punditry and into the world of being Robert McCallister's communications advisor. Casting Rob Lowe seemed a little on the nose but him and Calista Flockhart illicit chemistry and the writers didn't waste much in the way of time when hooking the two of them up.
Robert's campaign for presidency largely dominated both his and Kitty's storylines for the show's second season. At times it was interesting but at other times it dragged on too long and while there were some good moments such as Isaac being responsible for Jason being outed and Nora's involvement with Isaac, I think a new dynamic is best advised for the third season.
I've heard rumours that Kitty could be going back to her first love of punditry and if so, it'll make things interesting. Robert's clearly going to keep up with his political ambitions even though he rejected the idea of Vice Presidency to Taylor. Oh and when they aren't busy campaigning, Kitty and Robert have also suffered a miscarriage ("Two Places"), gotten married ("Holy Matrimony") and upon being unable to get pregnant have considered adoption ("Prior Commitments").
Keeping with politics, the Walkers are something of a wealthy bunch thanks to family business Ojai Foods. In "Patriarchy", prior to William's death Sarah discovered her father squandered away the pensions fund but by "Mistakes Were Made Part 2", both herself, Tommy and Kevin discovered William's extra cash to save them.
In "Love Is Difficult", Tommy went into business with Holly, William's mistress and the two of them set up the winery called Walker Landing. As businesses go, this had a more successful rate than Ojai and when Ojai suffered yet another crushing business blow, Holly's suggestion of a merger was the only option that could happen.
Out of all the Walkers, Sarah hates Holly more than anyone and to be fair, she's got good reason. Not only is Holly the very woman who carried on a twenty year affair with William and was left financially solvent upon his death but by mid Season One, it was revealed him and Holly had a daughter called Rebecca.
Rebecca was introduced in "Love Is Difficult" and the knowledge of her existence caused a fair amount of ripples in "The Other Walker". With the exceptions of Justin and Nora, everyone else had a hard time accepting Rebecca at first and the girl didn't do herself any favours by kissing Joe in "Game Night" and lying about it.
The real sting in the tail is that when everyone was getting around to accepting Rebecca, the writers pulled the worst retcon by revealing that she wasn't a Walker in the much unloved "Double Negative". Nope instead her real father was Holly's ex-boyfriend David and if Holly wasn't loathed beforehand, then her admission of wanting to protect her own financial assets rather than her daughter's well being certainly made her a hate figure.
The weirdest thing wasn't just Rebecca turning out not to be Walker but the writer's decision to turn her and Justin into a couple. It'll be interesting to see how that pans out in Season Three, especially as we'll also have to deal with finding the real other Walker Ryan. To say that William got around might be cutting it short.
As for the Walker siblings, I've covered Kitty's main plots and with Justin, it's largely been his relationships with either Tyler and Rebecca or his soldier duties in Iraq, notably his absence in "Home Front" and injuries causing Nora to almost go out of her mind with worry. There are also his drug problems which have resulted in him OD'ing in "Mistakes Were Made Part 1" and having his entire family an intervention in the excellent "36 Hours".
Tommy is largely the unexplored Walker. In Season One he had a healthy marriage to Julia and both Kevin and Justin helped him and Julia conceive. In "Favourite Son", Tommy and Julia's son William died but their daughter Elizabeth survived. In Season Two, this caused a divide between them and Tommy had an affair with Lena, the secretary at Walker landing.
Out of all the kids, Tommy seems to be the one who has parallels drawn between him and William but unlike his father, Tommy only had one affair and by the looks of it, not one that destroyed his marriage or Julia's belief in him. Then again she cheated too so that might have had something to do with.
Sarah meanwhile dealt with both business and marriage. She's the one who has to be responsible and also the one who takes the heat when things get really bad. Key examples being Rebecca and Ojai's second financial collapse. On top of that her marriage to Joe was on shaky ground.
It would be easy to blame Rebecca for Sarah and Joe's marriage collapsing but these two were well on their way. In Season Two Joe hooked up with his ex-wife and got custody of Paige and Cooper. Later in "Two Places" Joe left and custody between the kids were shared.
Sarah is however one of the best characters on TV. Rachel Griffiths who plays her is a superb actress and the first two seasons of the series have given the actress plenty of chances to be dramatic, funny and downright flirty. For examples check out the episodes "Bad News" and "Compromises" for those three things.
Sarah is also quite the shrewd little detective and in "Prior Commitments" she realised that another Walker could be out there. Luckily for her, Kevin was also able to back that up with his own findings and flashbacks to an incident he had with William over the death of a female friend.
Kevin is also the best Walker of the bunch. He can be sarcastic, sweet, funny and downright cute and that is all down to both the writers' clear devotion to the character and Matthew Rhys' consistently excellent performances. As a lawyer he's good at his job but it's his personal life that is more explored.
In the Season Two episodes "States Of The Union" and "36 Hours" he tried to get Saul to come out and when his uncle finally did in "Moral Hazard", Kevin was supportive of it. Kevin even honestly admitted his own difficulties in being a gay man, something a lot of people can identify with.
For the most part, Kevin's love life has been the most exciting. From "Sexual Politics" to "Three Parties" he embarked on a relationship with closeted soap actor Chad Barry and in "Matriarchy" he began to date Robert's minister brother Jason McCallister. Of course that relationship wouldn't last either.
The one relationship that would last was Scotty Wandall. In the first season, they'd split over different issues but when they renewed their relationship in "Something New", it actually ended up with them getting married in "Prior Commitments". As a character Scotty has greatly improved and both Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane radiate such excellent chemistry that even I became a Kevin/Scotty shipper this season.
Nora, Saul and Holly do an excellent job in filling up the older quotient of the series and are seen as every bit as important as the other characters on the series. Then again, this show is incredibly well written that not many characters are left doing nothing.
With its mixture of drama, humour, politics, self-awareness, excellent use of music and believable family dynamics, it's easy to see why this show has attracted a small but loyal audience. The show will have to bend over backwards to ensure the Rebecca thing doesn't kill it's credibility but I think it stands a very good chance of doing just that. There are literally not many shows out there, except maybe Six Feet Under.
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Brothers & Sisters Prior Commitments Avg Score: 9.50 Total Ratings: 123 Total Reviews: 11 Users who agree: 1 Users who disagree: 1 |
Scotty: "Is that what we're calling it now? That sounds kinda kinky".
Usually we only get one main wedding in a season of our favourite shows but Brothers And Sisters were generous enough to splash out on two this year. First we had Kitty and Robert in the delightful "Holy Matrimony" and now Kevin and Scotty get hitched in the season finale.
Well these two deserve to have their wedding in a season finale and as viewers we deserve it to be the main focus of the episode. Fortunately the writers felt the same way and have acted accordingly. They are other plots in this episode but its Kevin and Scotty who dominate proceedings.
The episode opens up on a light note when everyone is told that Rebecca isn't really a Walker. The reason why I consider this light because Kevin is the last to know and makes the mistake of thinking his entire family have gathered around because they know about him and Scotty.
Surprisingly they are actually in the dark about that one until Kevin blurts it out himself and soon they start congratulating him. Of course Kevin picks up on their half-hearted responses and Sarah begs someone to enlighten Kevin on that other pressing issue of the episode.
Kevin relayed this fun little fact to Scotty who jokes about their engagement feeling a little usurped by comparison. As an audience member, I've had to deal with Rebecca not being a Walker longer than Kevin and Scotty getting engaged so my mind is more on them than Rebecca for the time being.
Although Kevin is probably upset that Rebecca isn't his sister, he does see an advantage. With this revelation causing a fair amount of ripples, Kevin figures that Nora will be too distracted to interfere with his wedding plans. If there's one thing Kevin should be reminded of it's that Nora has a habit of multi-tasking.
The other issue for the soon to be weds are Scotty's parents. Both Wally and Bertha were mentioned back in Season One's "Affairs Of State" and now we learn that Scotty's folks aren't very accepting of him being gay Scotty's hurt in having to explain that to Kevin made feel for the guy.
Kevin himself has never really taken into account Scotty's family up until now. When Nora asks about it, Kevin does make a point in mentioning that not every parent suddenly turns into Debbie/Hazel from Queer As Folk US/UK. Scotty is in the unenviable pool of unsupportive parents.
It's amazing that Nora doesn't stick he oar in on this one. It's got to be more juicy for her that arguing with Kevin over flower arrangements. On that score Kevin doesn't want a botanical garden but Nora has her own ideas. Ideas that she also has no problems in sharing with Scotty. It's amazing that Scotty has been in this show so long and yet he and Nora have only interacted in about four episodes. Just like with Robert, Nora took to Scotty very quickly and there's an utterly wonderful moment where she thanks him for making Kevin happy. This isn't the first time Nora will say something amazing and sweet in this episode but it's still a poignant scene.
I've always loved how Nora's acceptance over Kevin has never felt too egged on. It's always been matter of fact and seeing her embrace Scotty as a member of the family just proves that in spite of her tendency to interfere too much she really does have her children's best interests at heart.
Of course the selflessness also extends to Kevin. Most soon to be married men should be out enjoying a stag do and perhaps being handcuffed to a lamp post. Maybe Tommy and Justin originally had that planned but when they get wind of Scotty's parents not being accepting of their son's wedding, they decide a road trip is a better alternative.
For some reason there should never be a road trip on this show without Sarah and a few tequila shots but this short lived one is interesting enough. Kevin sort of knows the irony of meeting the parents of his imminent husband who already aren't going to welcome him with open arms. It doesn't stop him however from braving Scotty's folks either.
Another I do admire about this show is its grey area. I don't understand nor condone homophobia in any shape or form for obvious reasons and while I hated that Scotty's parents, especially his mother Bertha couldn't accept that his son was marrying Kevin, I still didn't hate them as much as I thought I would.
Out of the two of them it was nice that Wally seemed more accepting of Scotty being gay Although Kevin was right to tell Wally to face Scotty, I thought the cuff links gesture was a nice touch. Also now that we've seen Scotty's folks, is it fair to assume that we'll getting more from them next season?
As for the wedding, it took place in the latter half of the episode. With all the antics going on, Kevin just accepted Nora's flower arrangement (boy, did she really go to town) without argument. Maybe it was just seeing Scotty's folks because even Kevin realised that his mother did a good thing.
I also respected the fact that Kevin told Scotty that he went to see Wally and Bertha. Scotty didn't get mad, probably because he knew Kevin was trying to do a good thing and also because he was touched by his father passing on the cuff links. Even later Scotty mentioned that it was like having his father there in spirit. It might sound sappy but I get where Scotty was coming from.
The ceremony itself was nice. Given that Kitty's original speech was lame, it's a relief that her actual speech for the wedding turned out brilliantly. Still it couldn't go off completely so Tommy and Robert having to part with their rings was the only calamity needed for this episode.
So as a couple, how are Kevin and Scotty gonna do? With any luck very well because while I do expect the odd argument from time to time, I'd really love to see them progress even more as a couple. Right now they are the best one on the show and that's mainly because there has been character growth on both parts.
However it's also great that getting married wasn't the only thing Kevin had to do as well. In flashbacks we had some delightful scenes between him and William. It's been alluded to a few times on the show that Kevin and William didn't have the strongest of relationships and this episode explored that a bit.
Obviously set a few years after Kevin came out to his family, there were still some difficulties between him and William. The death of a friend of William's got the Walker patriarch into thinking about his treatment of Kevin. Kevin like myself can bear a grudge well enough so he didn't make things too easy for William.
When Kevin came out, it was established that everyone in his family took it well and supported. William didn't and even told Kevin to keep a lid on his sexuality. However probably because of his friend's death William came to the realisation that this wasn't the best way of dealing with things and tried to make amends. Kevin took a while to let him.
During a business trip between them, we learned a lot more. The friend of William's left a husband and three children behind. Kevin spotted the picture of a child named Ryan. Funnily enough the very picture in question is also the same one Sarah found back in "Northern Exposure" and assumed was Rebecca.
When Kevin relays this back to Sarah, it's after a long process of Sarah doing her own detective work. Knowing that Rebecca isn't a Walker, Sarah naturally assumed the worst and went out of her way to accuse Holly of fraud. Not so surprisingly enough, just about everyone else in her family thought she was talking rubbish.
Tommy for the second episode in a row was downright annoying in dismissing Sarah's accusations. I don't know if it' stupidity on his part or perhaps some residual sibling rivalry but the fact that Tommy chooses Holly's side over Sarah's frankly sucks. I know she's a good businesswoman but this episode also proves that she's a pathological liar as well.
Sarah was right to point out that the only reason William might have left her money was that he did believe Rebecca to be his. Holly admitted in the last episode that she was well aware of the possibility that Rebecca wasn't a Walker and kept that information to her because she didn't want to risk her bank balance.
Worse still is when Sarah actually showed Rebecca the photo and Rebecca confirmed that it wasn't her. Sarah also showed that picture to Holly in "Northern Exposure" and told her it was Rebecca. If that's not lying, then what is? Sarah's got reasons now to accuse Holly of fraud and thankfully she's also got Kevin to back her up.
If the lives of being a lawyer and working for Ojai begin to lose their allure, then perhaps Kevin and Sarah should become private eyes. Their investigative skills are good enough and both of them also have the good sense to tell Nora about this latest revelation rather than sit on it.
I know that there are probably going to be a lot of viewers out there that don't like the idea of another Walker being out there, but due to the password thing it makes sense. Without a mistress to deal with, it'll be interesting to see how Ryan is introduced into the series and how the Walkers themselves will deal with this.
As for Rebecca, she might not be a Walker but they still accept her. Kevin invites her to his wedding, Nora tells her that she's glad Rebecca was there for her and Sarah casually jokes with her. Hell even Kitty admits to liking her as well. There's also Justin as well who not only talks to her but by the end of the episode the two of them end up kissing.
It's a weird thing to watch and I bet it'll be weird during the majority of Season Three as well. With hostility from many of the US viewers due to it being so rushed, will this be every bit as reviled as George and Izzie in Grey's Anatomy? I'm not for this storyline but it's not enough to stop me watching the series either.
In terms of other storylines, Kitty and Robert comes to blows when Kitty can't conceive and Robert suggests adoption. After a talk with Sarah, Kitty comes round to the idea but hopefully there'll be more than just babies for them next season. Plus Saul also comes out to the rest of his family but that's unexplored compared to the way he came out to Kevin in the last episode.
Also in "Prior Commitments"
This is the second gay wedding/domestic partnership that ABC has done. The one with Bob/Lee in Desperate Housewives though pales in comparison.
Nora (to everyone): "Okay how should I say this"?
Justin: "Rebecca's not our sister. Dad wasn't her Dad. Gotta love DNA".
Nora's comment on people using their cell phones so frantically and all at the same time was a nice moment. Though I'm surprised it wasn't more texting that calling. Kitty: "Are you engaged to Scotty?"
Kevin: "No I met some guy last night. Of course to Scotty".
Holly (re William): "I never lied to him".
Sarah: "Oh come on, Holly. The only reason Dad left you any money was because he thought Rebecca was his daughter".
Maybe William did think Rebecca was his daughter but he obviously knew that Ryan was his son and Ryan has to be at least younger than Justin as well.
Nora (re Scotty's parents): "You're not serious".
Kevin: "Look Mom, not every parent joins PFLAG when their kid comes out. It's okay. Scotty was expecting this".
Nora: "I'm glad it happened. I'm glad you're in my life".
Rebecca: "You don't have to say that".
I notice that once again, Ida didn't show up to a family wedding. This time around though she wasn't mentioned.
William: "I'm trying to talk to you".
Kevin: "I've been trying to talk to you for years".
William: "I wasn't ready back then".
Kevin: "Maybe I'm not ready now".
Scotty: "Nora, thank you for everything".
Nora: "No, I should be thanking you for making Kevin so happy. And I get another son".
Did you notice how pointedly Bertha kept referring to Scotty as 'Scott'? It's like she's in serious denial about her son.
Sarah: "Kitty, you remember the somersaults, I remember the heartburn. Do you know what Cooper remembers? Nothing! There are no guarantees in the end and all that matters is that there's a child and that lasts forever".
Wally (re himself/Bertha): "Try to understand we're not bad people. It's just um".
Kevin (re the cufflinks): "I'll give them to him".
Wally: "Thanks".
Kevin: "Thank you".
I think it's really sweet that Tommy and Justin would happily go to a gay bar for Kevin's stag do. Pity they chose the one night for lesbians for their bad choice.
Scotty: "Oh God, we're looking at each other".
Kevin: "Who cares?"
Saul (re Kevin/Scotty): "I think that was the bravest thing I ever witnessed".
Nora: "It's amazing what our kids can teach us".
Good question was Kevin/Scotty's wedding a brave thing for American network television? I didn't think it was but I did think it was a wonderful moment in general.
Sarah: "You think I'm crazy?"
Kitty: "No I don't think you're crazy. I think you're angry and you're hurt".
Kevin: "We weren't talking about you Saul".
Saul: "Oh".
Justin: "Oh God this is the gayest week of my life".
Both Julia and Cooper appeared in this episode with no dialogue. I notice that Lizzie has some curly hair on her. It's been ages since we've seen the girl.
Scotty: "It's funny, it's the first night as a married as a married couple and suddenly I'm not in the mood".
Kevin: "Yeah Tommy warned me about that".
William: "I'm glad you came with me".
Kevin: "Oh please, it's my job".
William: "Yes but I enjoy spending time with you".
Kevin: "I like you too".
Standout music: "I'm Not Drowning" by Steve Winwood and "Can't Find My Way Home" by Ellen McIllwaine.
Kevin (to Sarah): "The picture you found in Ojai. The one we decided was Rebecca. Sarah, I swear, I never thought I'd seen that picture but I had. I saw it then. And when I asked Dad who it was, he said it was the woman's son. You were right; There was another 'R'. But it was never Rebecca. It was a boy. And his name was Ryan".
Rebecca: "Because by some miracle you're all still willing to accept me and I can't help but wonder, what if, in all of this insanity"
Justin: "What?"
Rebecca: "It was just a way to meet you".
Chronology: May 12th, 13th and 14th 2008.
For a season that has had it's fair share of up and downs and sparking a development that has seen many viewers spitting venom, it's amazing that "Prior Commitments" has more hits than misses about it. Kevin and Scotty's wedding was brilliant and the Ryan thing has potential if tackled differently. Either way this is one viewer who will definitely be coming back next season.
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Dexter Waiting to Exhale Avg Score: 9.37 Total Ratings: 354 Total Reviews: 15 |
Dexter (to himself): "I don't know why people can't just deal with death".
It's a good question and there are a multitude of answers. Why is Rita so affected by the death of her ex-husband? The same guy who went out of his way to make her life a living hell. Out of all the emotions she should be feeling, shouldn't relief be the biggest one?
Guys like Paul are leopards and there's nothing or no-one that can change them. Sure he might genuinely care about Cody and Astor but not enough to stop terrorising Rita and file a false report against. I know there's probably a part of this storyline that should make feel some compassion for Paul but I refuse to.
His death has also caused something of a rift between Rita and Dexter but that's not the reason why I won't sympathise for him even in death. Rita's not stupid and eventually she would've caught on to Dexter's suspicious behaviour but I do hate the fact that it was a scumbag like Paul who had to enlighten her. I'd almost rather it had been Doakes.
In times of grief, you tend to take things out on those you love. Rita spent some of her time venting her anger at a funeral home but Cody and Astor also picked up on her stress and alerted Dexter. When he stopped by to see her, I did think she was going to go off on one. Rita strikes me as someone who's also capable of an explosive temper.
There are times when you wish Dexter would get a clue about the emotions of some of the people around him. Rita was pretty hostile with him throughout the entire episode and not for one second did Dexter think it was anything more than grief. In fact she was rather livid when Dexter suggested that the state bury Paul rather than she did.
With this I can see both sides. Paul isn't a person Dexter cared about. To Dexter and pretty all of the audience members, Paul had no redeeming qualities so at the end of the day, Rita and the kids were better off without him. I think despite admitting to Deb last week that there were elements of Paul she missed, Rita knows that she is better off without him.
Unfortunately with the can of worms that Paul has left in his wake and Cody and Astor's feelings, Rita's not thinking straight. She practically has to guilt Dexter into coming to Paul's funeral and when Dexter does show up, Rita ignores him for the most part.
Of course towards the end of the episode she does finally have it out with Dexter. It's one of those intense but non shouty confrontations that worked pretty well on shows like Six Feet Under. Dexter just sits there as Rita tells him that Paul told her about Dexter hitting him and leaving a shoe behind.
The only problem with this scenario is that Rita mistakenly thinks Dexter is a drug addict. After all how else would he have been able to cook heroin to get Paul out of it? I'm no drug user myself but I don't think it's rocket science either and wasn't it somewhat reckless of Dexter to let Rita believe he was an addict.
He couldn't get out of that he hit Paul and dragged him back to his hotel but he could've gotten out of the drug part if he had kept his mouth shut and insisted he had nothing to do with it. I don't think Rita wanted to believe that Dexter was a drug addict and given that Paul was one, it wouldn't have implausible for Rita to have bought that. Paul did try to rape Rita before Dexter assaulted him.
Of course Dexter probably thought that by allowing Rita to believe that he could get her off his back. We all know that Dexter is beginning to feel the heat from different angles already. Rita finding out that he isn't as pure as the driven snow couldn't have come at a worse time.
Seeing as Dexter is so good at faking stuff, he'll have to work overtime to really convince a rehab programme that he's an addict and if the likes of Doakes gets wind of this I can imagine more craziness ensuing as well. Dexter did make a point of noting that all his secrets were beginning to surface.
That leads to problem number two those delightful corpses found in the last episode are Dexter's handiwork and with the Miami met and the feds working together, our newest serial gets the title the Bay Harbour Butcher. It's not got quite the same ring to it as the Ice Truck Killer but it's a neat twist.
Last season Dexter was hunting for his own brother without knowing and now he's got his own colleagues hunting for him, including Deb. Seeing a photo of Rudy stirs memories for Dexter and Deb who are having a hard time dealing with things. Having a big cheese like Frank Lundy also over this case could create problems for Dexter too.
Played by Keith Carradine, Lundy seems like an okay enough guy. Nowhere near as annoying as either LaGuerta in her first few episodes or Captain Matthews in the latter half of Season One. However he still manages to create some ripples by effectively Doakes to leave him alone when the angry Sergeant tries to get on his team for the Bay Harbour Butcher.
As for the Rudy stuff of the episode, it's ghostly appearance for the most part. In the conference room Dexter sees Rudy photo talking to him and at Paul's funeral, Rudy is also talking to him. Dexter denies feeling guilty for killing Rudy but you can't help but think that Dexter is protesting too much.
In flashbacks we see things from Rudy's perspective. Harry picks up Dexter but effectively abandons Rudy. I didn't think about it before but why did Harry just up and abandon Rudy? If he hadn't, could Harry have prevented Rudy from becoming a vicious sociopath? You do wonder that things could've turned differently for Rudy if he had a similar support system that Dexter did.
Dexter isn't the only one with Rudy on their minds Deb naturally has her own issues to deal. She's still living with Dexter and she also has to face the consequences of her bar assault but more importantly she still has people reminding her that she was screwing the Ice Truck Killer and has problems trusting men.
On the men front, there's a cute gym instructor who tries to help Deb with her punching. While she doesn't end up punching him, she does freak out a little when he gets a little too close to her. I have to praise Jennifer Carpenter's performance as Deb slowly struggles to rebuild her life.
Even in the working environment while Deb is able to get some answers on a drug bust, the only reason it comes to be is when she loses it with Joey Nunez and points a gun at him. Angel warns Dexter about Deb's erratic behaviour and Dexter resolves the issue by letting her stay with him for a little longer.
Another major factor in this episode is Little Chino. The vile scumbag managed to escape ending up in Dexter's slide collection in the season premiere and managed to get Eva killed without the cops being able to point the finger. This worked in Dexter's favour as it made him more determined to take the guy down.
However second time round, Dexter still had difficult. Little Chino arranged for a few mates to be there when Dexter tried his luck and it was only when Joey was next on Chino's hit list did Dexter actually get lucky. Well there is that thing about third time lucky and it applied here with Dexter.
Little Chino made a lot of noise about Dexter being as bad as him for killing him. In any other series, the hero or good guy of the piece would take this into consideration and either changes their mind and let jail be the option or go ahead with it and feel bad for doing. You could pick any hero you like; right now I'd go with The Doctor seeing as that recent Dalek/Davros altercation is playing heavy in my mind.
The great thing about Dexter is that he doesn't feel that way and has no problem with ridding the world of Little Chino. Dexter even comes close to gloating before dismembering Little Chino. I know I probably shouldn't support but it's nice to see that Dexter's performance anxiety was a temporary thing. Something tells me, he'll have worse to slay this season than Little Chino.
As for Maria, it seems I might have jumped the gun with her and Esme. I was hoping they would become allies to spite Tom but it seems that Maria is looking out for herself and seeing as Esme is allowing her personal life to conflict with her professional life, Maria has good opportunity for sabotage.
In fact she tries her hand at blackmail with phone records and Esme has to appeal to her better nature to stop their superiors from getting them. If Esme is smart, she'll have realised that Maria is a slippery creature. If Maria's smart, she'd work with rather than against Esme but Maria doesn't strike me as the type of woman who plays well with others.
As for everyone else, there's isn't much to go on. Masuka gets a few snappy one liners, Angel is still babbling out new age stuff and Doakes is still following Dexter. If Doakes isn't careful, Dexter will be able to use this brand of stalking to his own advantage. Right now Doakes has nothing other than suspicious and hatred of Dexter for his behaviour.
Also in "Waiting To Exhale"
I take it there are no fans of Whitney Houston then? I was half-expecting one of her songs to pop up given the title.
Dexter (to himself): "Where is the orderly, controlled Dexter? How did I lose him? How do I find him again? I'm drifting but not to sleep".
In a surprising moment in this episode, Deb actually asked Dexter if crime scenes get to him. Later on he sounded genuine to Angel when he admitted that he couldn't go there with certain thoughts.
Deb: "This stuff doesn't get to you".
Dexter: "I'm more of a crying on the inside kind of guy".
Angel (re Eva): "Seeing her that way. Can you imagine that?"
Dexter: "I can't even go there Angel".
Dexter got visibly confused when Cody went up to him during the funeral and asked him if he was going to be his new father. It would've been interesting to see how Cody would've reacted had Dexter said yes.
Lawyer (re Little Chino): "People tell me you're looking for my client".
Masuka: "People told you right".
Gabriel: "Was that a yes or a no?"
Deb: "It was yes but it sounded like a no but yeah".
Anyone else laugh when Dexter muttered to himself about not killing his sister? Now, that is very sibling like.
Deb (re brief case): "What **** **** left that there?"
Lundy: "It's Special Agent **** ****".
Woman: "How many is a few?"
Deb: "Three but one is a two parter".
Not only did Deb pull a gun on Joey but she also made him pee in his pants. Deb's also scary when she's angry.
Rudy: "I'm not sorry. I never left".
Dexter: "I killed you".
Rudy: "No you just took my life".
Rudy: "It's human nature".
Dexter: "I'm not human".
Rudy: "No you just felt it".
FXUK seem to be doing a lot of ads for the series Breaking Bad during the breaks for this show. I'm tempted to check it out.
Little Chino: "You kill me what do you leave behind?"
Dexter: "A world without you".
Rita: "Part of me believes that with all of Paul's flaws, he paid the price for my dreams. Did you attack him Dexter? I understand. He attacked me".
Dexter: "I hit him over the head".
Chronology: A few days after "It's Alive".
A very strong second episode, "Waiting To Exhale" timely sees Dexter getting past his performance anxiety and Rudy in enough time for him to be knee deep in other problems. Like last season, it's great that we didn't have to wait ages for things to kick as well as they do.
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Brothers & Sisters Moral Hazard Avg Score: 9.40 Total Ratings: 136 Total Reviews: 10 |
Scotty: "What?"
Kevin: "I mean it. I don't want to wait. I don't want - I want to make if official".
Scotty: "Because I changed the light bulbs?"
After the unleashing of the worst possible idea of a development in Rebecca not being a Walker in last week's episode, I was initially dreading that the series could have had its day. If this episode is anything to go, there is definitely more than enough hope in it yet.
Rebecca decided last week that ignorance was bliss so she concealed the fact that she wasn't William's little girl to herself. This meant that her and Justin behaved as if nothing happened and just opted for hanging out with each other. Of course with Holly also around, Rebecca's on edge too.
For a girl so desperate to be a Walker, Rebecca is certainly going the wrong way about things. In the past maybe her and Justin would've hanged out but in this episode she's practically attaching herself to him that even Justin is beginning to panic.
In an attempt to get some time to himself he pretends that he's got a new girlfriend in order to avoid spending time with Rebecca at the cinema. Of course it's total crap and instead Justin confesses to Kevin that he has feelings for Rebecca. All those in favour of a 'yuck' response raise your hand.
Okay so if Rebecca and Justin hooked up it wouldn't be incest. However Justin still believes that they're siblings and Kevin is horrified at the very suggestion that Justin might find Rebecca attractive. There are probably times when you should keep things to yourself and telling your brother that you fancy your sister could be one of them.
Kevin however doesn't dole much in the way of successful. It's pointless telling a Walker not to say what they're feeling because they are incapable of privacy. Justin only goes to prove that when he's suckered into seeing a movie with Rebecca and he acts like a crazy person.
Rebecca's reaction when Justin tells her that he has feelings for her doesn't fill me with confidence. She can't tell him the truth but yet when she storms off it does appear to have less to do with being horrified about what Justin's just said to her and more to do with her own anxiety.
Also seeing as last week saw Holly not getting yelled at; it's nice that because of Justin being weird, Rebecca finally gives her mother what for. Come on, with all little snarky comments Rebecca was throwing at Holly, it was only right that she gave her mother a piece of her mind.
I think the one thing about Holly that really annoys me is how she has a tendency to play victim. Okay it's something we all do (or not) but when you're seriously in the wrong as much as Holly, is it even a smart move? Every time Holly comes up with a lame excuse to defend herself, Rebecca gets more angry.
For too long now, Holly has practically gotten away with too much. She's repeatedly lied to