Terra Nova: S01 Ep07 – Proof

What happened?

Maddy became suspicious of an explorer idol of hers when he returned to Terra Nova and yet appeared to lack memory of key things from his past. She eventually uncovered that he was really the assistant and had murdered the explorer on Earth and stolen his identity to get to Terra Nova.

Josh, having been promised reunification with his girlfriend, steals drugs on behalf of the Sixers using his mother’s passcard. Learning that lives depend on the drugs, though, he confesses what he has done and in the process outs Boylan as a mole.

Taylor tracks down the soldier he banished, helps him recover from near-fatal injuries and suggests that if he can infiltrate the Sixer camp and obtain information for him he may allow him back into Terra Nova.

Thoughts

You know, once you just accept the cheese and clunk that is Terra Nova in script and screen acting, there’s something rather likable about it. Unless there is a tremendous rug pull around the corner – the equivalent of the all the gloss and lights been yanked away to reveal a dark, twisted truth – then it would appear Terra Nova isn’t to be treated as seriously as other shows, and is perhaps geared more towards a family Doctor Who audience.

It doesn’t quite have the right tone for that, because I think it wants to cater to a family audience whilst also being considered serious dramatic sci-fi. In trying to straddle both genres it’s not a fine example of either, but it’s muddling along in an amusing, bumbling, near-inoffensive way.

Maddy’s excursion into detective work this episode, for example, was actually rather engaging. Was it serious adult drama? No. But it was an intriguing mystery that was slowly peeled away to reveal a murderous truth. Quite how Horten thought he was ever going to get away with killing Maddy after Zoe had been sent off is beyond me, mind. What did he think he was going to do? Style it out despite being the last man to see Maddy alive when her father is the sheriff and would be beyond enraged and ceaseless in his hunt for the all-too-obvious culprit?

No, that was dumb. Better would have been to play up the contradiction of a murderer with his own not insignificant intelligence and positive benevolence; like curing the apple crops. He’d have been better played as a good man taking desperate measure after doing a bad thing out of a sense of necessity. I guess Terra Nova just doesn’t have the time to get beneath the surface in that way. Another example of a good idea squandered in favour of simplistic skimming over: it’s this show’s worst trait.

There were some unintentional laughs to be had here. Jim’s fishing exploits were one. The effects on his ‘catch’ were truly awful. The people in charge ought to have seen the CG in those scenes, cut their losses and edited the scene at the point where Jim was seen getting a bite on his line. Given how inconsequential it was anyway it would have been better leaving his struggle to land the dino-fish to our imaginations.

Other unintentional laughs: Taylor hissing and yelling at the cowardly dinosaur; Jim surveying a huge broken window and remarking about how that was the point of entry for the robbery (no fucking shit, Sherlock); the Shannon family having a panic codeword “asparagus” – would have been clever if that had been seeded in a previous episode rather than feeling somewhat conveniently conjured here.

Taylor’s tracking down of the banished soldier, Curran, was an enjoyable detour, though I am somewhat confused by the pertinence of it considering Josh’s confession and ousting of Boylan as the Terra Nova link to the Sixers. I mean, for a good few episodes now I’ve been confused whether the ‘mole’ in Terra Nova is meant to be a secret from the viewers (as in a key character will be revealed as a double agent) or if Boylan is it, and has been all along, and we’ve known about it all this time.

If Boylan truly is the one and only mole then Taylor has sent the solider on a redundant mission; infiltrating the Sixers to find out something already known. Unless the soldier comes back with a revelation that there really is a double agent then it’s pointless.

It was interesting that the belief of Jim, and perhaps Taylor, that the Sixers were primitive was shown to be false. Taylor instantly figured his son Lucas was the man to have developed such communication technology and, since Terra Nova apparently doesn’t have this, it still leaves the door open for the idea that Taylor has been ruling autonomously in a way not agreed by ‘future Earth’ and is the reason why the Sixers wish to overthrow him.

I’d really love Terra Nova to be pulling that kind of surprise but it just feels too wholesome, too set on making Taylor and the Shannons as good people and everyone else. . . not necessarily bad but in conflict with their well-meaning goodness. If Taylor is disobeying the original schemes for Terra Nova then it’ll no doubt be for a ‘good’ reason, and the Sixers and Lucas will have plans that we, as an audience, are probably supposed to feel isn’t the best thing to do.

I’d be thrilled to be absolutely wrong on that last point.

What was the best part?

Really struggling to think of a standalone scene that impressed, despite this episode generating an overall good impression. For sheer dumbness, I’m going with the fishing scene. Not only did they choose to fish on a cliff edge where the dino-fish could swiftly drag them to their doom, the visual effects were so shockingly bad I couldn’t help but crack a smile at the poor quality. Uniquely, then, the best part of the episode is one that really ought to have been left on the cutting room floor!

What do I think will happen next?

Hopefully there’ll be some clarification as to why the Sixers wanted the medication. I’m not convinced there really was an epidemic in their ranks they needed curing, but I can’t imagine that other purposes they needed it for. I’d have to assume Lucas requires it, but since what he is up to is the most oblique part of the show I’m literally clutching at straws in the dark wearing boxing gloves trying to grasp any sense from it. Now there’s an image.

The Walking Dead: S02 Ep06 – Secrets

What happened?

Glenn attempts to keep it a secret that the barn houses zombies. Maggie, and Hershel, know they are kept there as friends and relatives that may one day be cured. Glenn does eventually tell Dale about it, and about Lori being pregnant. Lori sends Glenn to get morning after pills, and he goes to town with Maggie where they narrowly survive a nasty attack.

Shane takes Andrea shooting and they run into a zombie horde but survive, and have sex shortly after. Returning to camp Dale confronts Shane about what kind of man he is and suggest he leave, only to have Shane threaten him. Meanwhile Rick discovers Lori has taken the pills and finds her. She states she threw them up and also confesses that she slept with Shane.

Thoughts

This episode crunched down to a few pivotal conversations between two people to make it worthwhile but, really, it was perhaps the weakest of this season. A weak episode of The Walking Dead is still good television, mind.

Glenn’s inability to keep his mouth shut does, at times, feel slightly too stretched to believe but at least it gets the plot wheels turning. I particularly liked how Dale has been Glenn’s confidant because he, on the surface, appears to be the wise elder of the group. And whilst his handling of Lori and her pregnancy was relatively delicately done it was inconsequential. And his conversation with Hershel achieved nothing. So by the time he made the mis-step of confronting Shane it marked a triple whammy of blows to his stature.

As I suspected, the Hershel zombies are people they’ve known and people they believe may one day be cured. Having been so insulated from the outside world Hershel considers it a disease rather than the actual resurrection of a corpse. I struggle with this. One man, like Hershel, being swayed into this notion is one thing – but for someone like Maggie to share that view feels risible. I mean, they were attacked on some level consider how many are in the barn – so they must have seen the extent of what this ‘disease’ is truly about, no?

Maggie will, perhaps, be quicker to align with Rick’s group’s view considering what she saw in the well and, more pressingly, the encounter in the pharmacy. When Glenn stepped up and battered the zombie with its head hanging off Maggie ought to be under no illusions that these are just people that are ‘unwell’! Glenn’s actions here, and his care for Maggie, as well as her words to him may also mark the point where he stops being the skivvy of the group and decides to stand up and be counted more, too. He certainly isn’t leadership material, no matter what Maggie says.

Shane and Andrea’s shooting training foray was one of the less successful elements for me. I don’t particularly like Andrea’s character, for one thing (which may turn out very intentional). But the shift from absolute shooting no-hoper to stone dead zombie killing marksman was too severe a shift. There’s the scary potential now that someone as unhinged as her, learning how to detach her emotions to fluidly and effectively kill, may make her a seriously dangerous antagonist down the line. I just didn’t buy the transition. Some successful shots would have been acceptable – but standing there picking off zombies with ruthless aplomb within moments of being a gibbering wreck just didn’t not go over for me at all.

Fair play to her for being direct. Girls, want to have sex with a man? Just reach down and grope his cock and balls. And fair play to Shane for an equally charming response: park car and say, “Come on then”. They certainly do seem made for each other, for all kinds of wrong reasons, and together they may be worse then they’d have been apart – perhaps vying for Rick and Lori’s status as the king and queen of the group.

It was surely impulsive jealousy that prompted Dale to give Shane an ill-advised dressing down and suggest he leave. Dale, of course, will firmly believe he is acting in the bests interests of the group but there’s no doubt his affection for Andrea tainted his judgment. Shane’s rebuke, that if he was the man Dale painted him as then that would make him a threat to Dale, was totally predictable (in terms of his character) and a net result Dale would have foreseen had his emotions not got the better of him.

Fractures and leadership rivals are appearing in the group all over the place, and this feels like the beginning of the disturbances. The only thing that might bring some harmony and unity, and restore morale and faith in Rick, is if Sophia is finally found alive and returned to the group. It’s been so long hunting for her now. At first I thought it might remain unresolved but, after all this time, I can’t conceive the show letting this hang as a loose thread. Dead or alive, she will be found.

For what it’s worth, I’m fully expecting her to be alive. Even The Walking Dead wouldn’t be so brutal to hit the group and the audience with the despair of a dead little girl, right?

The episode abruptly ended following Rick and Lori’s conversation – the last of the big secrets finally outed. Lori confessed that she and Shane had been together when she thought Rick was dead, and Rick was surprisingly accepting of it. Indeed, he’d apparently even suspected as much. I did like that his reaction wasn’t to lose his head and go out looking for blood. Given how heated and upset he was already, finding out that Lori was pregnant and had attempted abortion without consulting him, he showed remarkable restraint in keeping his head.

I expect Lori will feel much better that the weight of her secrets will have been lifted, and might bring back more composure from her. She’ll need it. If she has, as it seems, caused no permanent harm then the pregnancy will be going ahead and she faces tough times. I expect the urgency to get some place safe, to set up as ‘home’, will become paramount. Hershel’s farm certainly isn’t it, and not just because Hershel doesn’t want them there. With the zombies in the barn and friction between the factions, not to mention the threat of zombies appearing at any time, the place feels like a powder keg waiting to explode. If and when that happens, I expect Maggie will join the group – but Hershel and the rest will be left behind.

What was the best part?

The zombie attacks were cool, although Andrea’s sudden transition from useless to marksman shattered disbelief and ruined that scene. So for me the best scene was Dale’s confrontation of Shane. The expression on his face when he saw Shane and Andrea return, fuelling his sense of righteousness, to finish up with him looking dumbstruck and slapped down after Shane issued his threat was really well-played.

A well-earned second place for best scene, though, to the part where the woman (not quite sure who she is in relation to Hershel) broke the leg of the chicken and fed it to the zombies. As if the twisted nature of feeding chickens to zombies wasn’t messed up enough, hobbling it and carting the distressed and pained bird to its horrific doom was a very unsettling concept.

What do I think will happen next?

As I understand it, the next episode marks something of a mid-season break. As such I expect there might be fireworks to come, potentially to end the Hershel’s farm tenure. One way or another the zombies in the barn are literally going to be the cats that got out of the bag and create mayhem. Hopefully Sophia will be found before the shit hits the fan, clearing the way for Rick and his group, and probably Maggie, to cut their losses and hit the road once more. Hershel, surely, will pay for his pious foolishness with his life.

Fringe: S04 Ep07 – Wallflower

What happened?

An ‘invisible man’, Eugene, a product of a genetic disorder exacerbated by work done on him by Massive Dynamic, murders people to extract their pigmentation in order for him to become visible and make a connection with a woman he has a crush on. Whilst the Fringe team come close to capturing him, warning he will die if he continues, he pursues his goal. He makes conversation with the woman in the elevator and, finally happy, he dies.

Olivia frets about her mental state at having no release for these experiences she has. Taking prescription drugs for crushing headaches, she slowly begins to form a potential romance with Lincoln Lee. However, just before setting out to meet him a gas is released into her home, she is knocked unconscious and is injected by intruders, remarking that it will leave her with a terrible headache and no memory of what happened. Nina Sharp is revealed to be conducting this attack.

Thoughts

For the most part this was shaping up to be something of a weak episode, almost playing out as nothing more than a filler, monster of the week instalment. It was like the kind of episode Fringe had managed to dispense with of late (for the better) and so felt mostly underwhelming. It was rescued only by a lovely conclusion to the ‘invisible man’ plot and, of course, that bolt out of the blue final scene.

Eugene’s story was definitely a wholly unoriginal aspect. I’ve lost count of how many troubled individuals exhibiting strange phenomenon have appeared on the show and presented a threat to ordinary people. They’re invariably lonely and emotionally volatile, too, so Eugene ticked all those boxes, and having been persecuted in some fashion by Massive Dynamic was no groundbreaking notion either. Kudos to the effects work, though – Eugene’s Predator-like cloak of invisibility was brilliantly realised.

The truth of how ruthless Massive Dynamic can be (there’s not a lot morally worse than faking the death of a newborn baby to steal it away for a life of scientific research) is echoed in Nina’s actions to Olivia at the end of the episode. Her little speech to Olivia, about how choosing to care for her and her sister fundamentally changed her life, paints her in a cold light when it’s revealed how hollow that sentiment appears to be.

I don’t yet know exactly what is being done to Olivia. It would seem that she has been having these headaches for quite some time, considering she has been getting repeat prescriptions. Since we learned (through the clumsy expositional dialogue) that the injection she received will leave her with a painful headache and no memory it’s to be concluded that these gas attacks and injections have been occurring for a while.

Has she just been waking up on the floor of her apartment thinking she just fell asleep there or something? Or do they move her to her bed, or the couch?

What’s interesting here is that she had an appointed date to meet Lincoln, which may for the first time cause her to question if something peculiar occurred. The last thing she’ll remember is getting ready to go out and meet him (and, alas, it appeared she was running late for that date; if she’d been more punctual she’d have been out when the intruders arrived!) and then a blank. Possibly, with the pain of the headaches she’d conclude she’d blanked out. It’s hard to imagine she could ever conceive of the truth – that she’s been knocked unconscious and had something done to her on a serial basis.

What’s Nina doing? Surely something linked to her Cortexiphan-enhanced capabilities. My best guess would figure that Nina is injecting Olivia with Cortexiphan, or some variant, spearheading some kind of genetically-induced project using Olivia to aid the war against Over There. It’s the kind of thing they were doing with other subjects so it would fit their M.O.

It was a great final scene, no question. Completely lifted the episode from the average fodder it looked set to be defined as. And I did like the relationship development between Olivia and Lincoln, mostly because I do like Lincoln’s character in this universe. Her being late for the date and missing it entirely adds an extra layer of misery to proceedings

Peter was used in a more limited fashion here (I thought there was going to be more overt parallels drawn with Eugene’s sense of being in a world where no one made a true connection with him and Peter’s treatment as a ‘free prisoner’) and whilst I liked his clarification that the Olivia here wasn’t his Olivia that does suggest the idea of him returning to his original timeline is on the cards. What is he up to with all those blueprints? Attempting to re-build a kind of machine like the one that blasted him out of existence first time around? I suppose it’s the most logical place to start – a machine that can reverse what the first machine kickstarted.

Peter playing Cupid felt a little bit like overkill but, OK, I can live with it. He clearly saw his old self reflected in Lincoln (guy brought in from the outside and quickly handed a Fringe division badge and thrust into the madness) and wanted to give his lovelife a boost as a thanks for treating him like a human being. Fair enough.

Trouble with Peter is that he doesn’t seem to be particularly grieving the loss of his former world. Since he’s established that this Olivia isn’t his Olivia then, really, he ought to really be coping with the thought that she and everyone else he knew has been wiped out. Now, with Lincoln correcting himself for referring to Peter’s Olivia in the past tense, it’s arguable that Peter simply has not conceded defeat. He’s just apart from his world – it’s not gone. But then why care about this world?

If his plan is to go back then surely it’s occurred to him that undoing it all will mean this alternate world, and everyone in it, will be erased. So what difference does it make that Olivia and Lincoln get together to him? It should be inconsequential. On this matter, in terms of Peter’s state of mind, I think Fringe is guilty of just skimming the surface and shying away from having Peter face up to the awful dilemma of what has happened and what could happen next.

Very keenly felt, so far, is the lack of time spent Over There. Whilst clearly the issue with Peter breaking through has been the key storyline, Walternate’s lack of appearance is the elephant in the room. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t strictly consider this a criticism. If Fringe is holding back from showing us Over There, and Walternate, to deliver some serious zinging surprises further on then I’ve got patience. It’s frustrating but, so far, it’s frustration of the good kind.

What was the best part?

Has to be the scene where Eugene finally made the connection he had been seeking all his life. Just a simple conversation where the woman acknowledged she had noticed him and was worried he had got sick; he exchanged his name with her and then sunk to the floor and silently, contentedly, passed away. . . Fringe doesn’t often deliver tender moments that make you go ‘awww’ but that was one of them.

What do I think will happen next?

The plots are pulling in different directions, at present, and we’re not entirely sure what way Over There are going. Peter aims to hit reset. Nina is priming Olivia for enhanced powers (presumably against Over There). Meanwhile Over There could be looking to make themselves the dominant universe. And, amongst all this, The Observers wait on the sidelines (and we really ought to be shown what they have made of September’s actions).

Peter’s intentions to build a new machine strike me as more season-end material. I’d hope The Observer’s intentions emerge sooner but, most pressing, I’d expect the effects of whatever Nina is doing to Olivia to start to become manifest and perhaps escalate a conflict with Over There.

Misfits: S03 Ep04

What happened?

A holocaust survivor has the power to travel back in time and attempts to kill Hitler, but he botches the task and re-writes history when Hitler takes his mobile phone and uses the advanced technology to win the war. An alternate universe is created where Nazi rule runs amok, and in the present day they are keen on harnessing powers to use for their own ends.

Fighting a resistance movement is Kelly, Curtis and Rudy, who try to stop the Nazis from controlling the power dealer. Simon and Alisha, working for the Nazis but not agreeing with their ideology, eventually form a part of the resistance movement in a battle to the death. Kelly acquires the time travel power, goes back in time and takes the phone back from Hitler. At the episode’s end, remembering all of the alternate history, she visits the power trader and requests he rid of her the ability to time travel and lets her be a rocket scientist again.

Thoughts

What initially started out as a really promising episode for me quickly went south and ultimately disappointed. Probably it was because the inherent issue of the alternate timeline was one I knew had to be resolved before the end of the episode so there was little for me to invest in. I was also left confused by the time travel logic employed here – specifically to do with Kelly’s memories – which marred my enjoyment.

I’ll come to that.

There was some good stuff, though. I liked how the ‘missing’ Misfit from the first episode appeared here (and was once again killed off by someone else’s power!). And I liked how the probation officer was given more time here – he is an unsung comic hero of the show and it was good to see him utilised more. As a self-serving, cowardly toad of the Nazi party his character couldn’t have been better defined!

Less well-served here were Simon and Alisha. Simon, especially, I expected to emerge into something more heroic (like turn his gun on the commandant when ordered to shoot the old man) but perhaps that was the point; without the original timeline’s ‘man in the mask’ identity he is the shrinking violet. Although it appeared that he and Alisha still found time to get it on! Apparently, no matter what timeline, those two are destined to hook up – if that was the point it just about translated.

I’m not quite buying the pair of them as the doomed, star-crossed lovers Misfits potentially wants me to perceive them as, though. They just fall short of epic. (Mind, that’s Misfits in a nutshell – always deliberately falling short of epic despite conjuring the ingredients to do otherwise.)

I quite liked Curtis operating his bar as a cover for a resistant movement (albeit one with very few members!). It at least gave him something to do, and his death was a brutal one (although totally lacking in shock value on account of the previously mentioned certainty that this was not a permanent timeline and so the reset switch would inevitably get pushed).

Rudy, meanwhile, although more tolerable this time out was something of a spare part. Or even spare parts. He did bag some of the best lines and the scene with him bluffing that he and Curtis were a gay couple and, upon hearing homosexuality was outlawed, were actually cousins was the standout funniest scene.

Kelly and the power dealer continue to have some form of relationship, which I thought they might have consecrated in the alternate timeline. They didn’t, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t happen for them before the series is done. Unless power dealer gets to save his dead girlfriend, something his capacity to trade in the power of time travel may enable? (I doubt it – this undoing of the past plotline has been well-worn on Misfits, and now this series, so I can’t see it occurring again.)

The issue with Kelly and her travelling through time is the most confusing aspect. Because really it seems that the ‘original Kelly’ got erased here to be replaced by the ‘alternate timeline Kelly’. Now this clearly doesn’t quite stack up because at the end she wanted her power of rocket scientist back, so she evidently had awareness of the original timeline.

It’s like she has both: awareness of the original timeline and the timeline when Nazis where in charge. And I find that exceedingly hard to reconcile logically! It’s tempting, because of the show’s low-budget, rough around the edges nature, to say that it’s not supposed to be viewed rigorously but when I consider Simon’s future fate plotline, which clearly needs to be watertight, I’m not so quick to let Misfits off the hook.

Unless I’ve seriously missed or overlooked something, I’m calling it a plot hole.

Similarly, what happened to the old man with the power to travel in time? We saw him again in the reset timeline – but what about his time travel power? Doesn’t he still have that? Where there not then two ‘time travel powers’ in this timeline – the original one from the old man and the one Kelly inherited in the alternate timeline?

Again, perhaps I can be accused of thinking about this too much but I don’t think that’s acceptable. Or I’ve seriously missed something.

Fact is, Misfits has usually kept itself logically intact and self-contained in this respect, and the impression of loose plot ends (generally where Simon is concerned), are invariably be covered by the assurance that the writer has it all under control. At least we do now have – with the power dealer in possession of a time travel – a means by which Simon will one day travel back in time. But all those other ripples and niggles this timeline altering episode has conjured have made it one of my least favourite instalments of the show. Shame, really, because in principle it was Misfits at its most high-octane, high concept, boundary-pushing best.

Ironically, if it turns out I am the one that’s not understood things properly and the episode is totally shipshape then it’s actually one of the best Misfits episodes there has ever been! (But I don’t think I’m wrong, so it’s not.)

What was the best part?

The pre-credit sequence (suggesting so much promise!) with the old man writing the letter and venturing back in time. Managing to install instant sympathy and understanding about this man’s entire life story and motivation, and wasting no time getting to Hitler and a brutal stab (reminiscent, I thought, of a stab scene in Saving Private Ryan) the show packed more in those couple of minutes that most shows would dare tackle in one single episode. Having Kelly smoke a cig and sum it all up with “fucking Nazis” just stamped the Misfits brand of foul-mouthed humour perfectly.

What do I think will happen next?

There’s not much in the way of progression from the previous episode. The power dealer did hint that there was much about him Kelly didn’t know, so I envisage that may come under greater scrutiny. And, of course, there is now the means as to how Simon can travel in time on the board to play with, suggesting that the Simon vs Fate plot might find its conclusion this series. . .

The Walking Dead: S02 Ep05 – Chupacabra

What happened?

Daryl’s solo hunt for Sophia turned into a fight for survival when his horse threw him into a ravine. Terrorised by both walkers and visions of his brother, Merle, he cuts a shambling figure that the group initially mistake for a walker and nearly kill. His plight comes into direct conflict with an argument between Rick and Shane about whether the hunt for Sophia is justified – the search for one girl against the greater good of the group.

Friction between Rick and Hershal’s factions quietly mounts, with a peace-offering dinner merely a tense affair. Despite her father’s request, Maggie persists in seeing Glenn, but his suggestion of hooking up at the haybarn prompts him to discover that Hershal has been keeping at least a dozen walkers locked in there for reasons unknown.

Thoughts

I knew there was something in that barn! The moment Maggie read Glenn’s note it was a terrific sense of surprise waiting to be sprung. And I had predicted that the most likely thing to be kept in the barn were ‘walkers’, though I still don’t know precisely what Hershal was doing with them. My previous guess from last week, that they are friends and relatives waiting to be cured, still holds. Yet it has occurred to me that they might be held there for more practical reasons.

What is the lifespan of a walker? It’s an important point. Perhaps Hershal has herded them all in there and keeps them, unfed, just to see how long they last. Once they all die off he can perhaps figure that the rest of them ought to be suffering a similar fate. It seems like a good plan, right? Or maybe I’m thinking too much like how I would be. Hershal, with his strict manner and religious leanings, may have an altogether more far out reason for keeping zombies in his barn!

Hershal certainly isn’t the host with the most. That dinner scene was so tense, so awkward, I couldn’t help but laugh at how awful it was. The group eating in stilted silence. And that only got worse when Glenn tried to diffuse things with the suggestion of playing the guitar, asking if anyone knew how. Of course, Otis could play brilliantly!

(On this Hershal was being something of a dick. Let’s not forget that Otis was the one that shot Carl with a hunting rifle. He was the one that brought them there in the first place. No one knows that Shane made the hard call and killed Otis to save the boy so, from their view, Hershal's group drew first blood.)

Shane’s survivalist mentality does walk the line between common sense and inhumane. For now Rick will not cross that line and give up hope, or at least give up trying. Given that they do have leads – like the child’s bed and Sophia’s doll – I think I side with Rick’s view that they need to keep looking. I mean, it’s not just about abandoning one girl – it’s also about living with her mother and expecting her to just take that. Carol is quietly shaping up as a worthy character in her own right, and perhaps she’s just there to do the non-glamourous chores of cooking and cleaning, but that sill makes her a vital part of the group.

I really liked that she went to pay Daryl a visit and remarked that he was every bit as good as either Rick or Shane. He didn’t betray much emotion but I hope he did take some comfort from that, especially after the day he had. This was very much Daryl’s episode and if he hadn’t already earned his place as a fan favourite I think this instalment should have cemented it. Only question mark is whether his loyalty and decency are being eroded by his conscience and, perhaps, sanity.

His hallucinations of Merle were fascinating scenes, managing to deliver some insight into the kind of upbringing he had as well as reveal his state of mind. It’s important to remember that everything Merle said really came from Daryl’s mind, albeit projected onto Merle’s foul and objectionable manner. So Merle’s criticism for abandoning him betray those feelings of guilt Daryl possesses.

And Merle chiding him for following Rick exposes Daryl's nagging sense of selling himself out to a man that doesn’t deserve it. (If anything, Carol’s compliments about him being as good as Rick might actually throw fuel on his fire in that respect and make him resent following Rick’s leadership.)

I thought it was curious that Daryl established for himself that this Merle was not the real Merle (teased as long as possible for the audience by not revealing both hands for quite some time) and seemed rather comfortable with it. Are we to infer this might not be the first time he has had such visions? Like Merle remarks about the titular chupacabra he claimed to see, it’s every bit as likely to have been another figment of his imagination. . . As I said, maybe there’s a question being raised over Daryl’s sanity.

For what it’s worth I sincerely hope I’m wrong. I like Daryl as the capable, but dependable, outsider of the group. For as long as he can deliver sequences like how he saw off the two zombies here – smash the head in of one then rip out the crossbow arrow from inside himself, arm it and fire it at the other – he is the man!

Lastly, Andrea is establishing herself as a rather unsympathetic character this season. When she’s not wanting to kill herself she’s wanting to establish herself as one of the men, and she nearly killed Daryl in the process. Irritating woman, but mostly understandable. Dale, on the other hand, was a little too easy-going on her for my liking. Passing off her stupid actions with a quip about how they’d all like to shoot Daryl sometimes to try and win back her friendship was like crawling on his belly through dirt – an intended indignity, I am sure. Dale is the kind of man that, under Shane’s survivalist laws, wouldn’t last too long and he knows it.

What was the best part?

Without question the captivating ‘appearance’ of Merle and the exchange between him and Daryl, then bluntly proceeded by the zombie attack. Although Daryl coming round to discover a zombie eating his shoe made me think that it was the dumbest zombie ever it still didn’t stop the scare being effective and Daryl’s actions to see them both off nothing short of gory and cool.

What do I think will happen next?

Dependent on just how weird Hershal’s barn full of walkers turns out to be will depend on how tolerable it is for Rick’s group to accept it. If it’s purely as a measure of waiting for an antidote to cure them, or to see how long they last, it will be just about surmountable. However, there’s every reason to believe Maggie will convince Glenn to keep his mouth shut (and if he wants to use any more of those condoms he has he’ll keep it shut, too!) so the rest of them may remain unaware of the dark secret locked away. . .

Terra Nova: S01 Ep06 – Nightfall

What happened?

A meteorite falls near Terra Nova and explodes in the air triggering an EMP, disabling the fence security, weapons, vehicles and medical equipment. As a solution to craft new chips and return power to Terra Nova is sought Taylor and his men are forced to defend their colony the old-fashioned way.

Spying a chance at reclaiming the box, Mira launches an assault on Terra Nova and, using a dinosaur decoy, manages to take the box back and deliver it to its intended recipient: Taylor’s son.

Thoughts

Oh, Terra Nova walked a fine line with the opening minutes. It was almost, almost, as though it was self-aware enough to parody its worst traits as a means of delivering a surprise. I’m not sure it was being that clever. I just think the schmaltz and sweetness of seeing the Shannon family hurrying around in the morning to get to wherever they are going just all felt like it was being played for maximum mawkishness.

Really I think they were just trying to create the feel of an everyday, normal run of things that was then abruptly interrupted by the sudden impact of the meteorite knocking out the electromagnetics. I don’t think Terra Nova has displayed enough self-aware credibility to claim it was sending up its own tacky qualities before it dropped a big explosion on it all.

The meteorite delivered an EMP that knocked Terra Nova for six. (Note to writers: If you want to make us believe in Maddy as an intelligent geek girl (which she plainly is way too hot to play with ease) then don’t let her use the phrase “EMP Pulse”. If you don’t know why that’s wrong you’re too stupid to write the show.) Briefly I hoped for something of an old-school siege episode, with Taylor defending the weakened colony from dinosaurs smelling free lunch.

As far as I could tell they didn’t get troubled by a single dinosaur except for the massive lumbering one the Sixers directed towards the camp. I’m 50/50 on whether or not I thought that was the dumbest thing ever or the show managed to sell it convincingly enough. It was all basically a plot device to let the Sixers get into Terra Nova and get the box and get back out again. Felt like a waste, to me. There’s any number of ways that box could have been liberated (most dramatically would have been to use the mole in camp, yet to be revealed, I think!) but the programme-makers had the camp crippled to make them vulnerable.

As stated, a more fun, crowdpleading episode would have been a defence against a dinosaur assault under those circumstances. If there’s one thing Terra Nova could use it’s a rousing, crowdpleaser of an episoder.

Still, Taylor and Jim (once he got out of ‘the eye’ room, which better be used again for better purposes than rollercoaster simulators!) were good value for some punching and kicking action with the Sixers. And I don’t know the name of Mira’s right-hand man, the one that Jim chased, but he had some nifty moves and could certainly handle himself in a fight. Hopefully there’ll be a dust up between Washington and this guy; a right-hand sidekick face-off!

The subplots were reasonably decent, I thought. Sky and her friend, that she thought of as a brother and he wanted more, felt a bit fumbled. Up until that point the business with the tapeworm creature thing was unpleasant and amusing. Although just when you thought that Liz might have some tense, surgical procedures to perform, with lives in the balance due to the lack of power, Terra Nova elected to just not bother. She’s at risk of becoming seriously redundant and/or boring. Still hot, though.

Maddy and solder boy’s picnic/night in a tree was about as good as the blossoming romance between these two has been handled so far, though it’s still being ladled on syrup-thick with insipid chivalry. Unless teenagers in the future all live like The Waltons it’s highly unlikely and unclear why they behave in such a quaint fashion.

Soldier boy being away from the camp on the day the power went down and the night the Sixer’s apparently had inside help to retrieve the box suggests he’s not the mole. Shame, he would be infinitely more interesting if his noble goody-two-shoes front was a mask for sinister intent.

It has occurred to me that, regarding this mole, possibly I am giving Terra Nova too much credit and assuming it’s staging a mystery to be revealed. It could be that the bartender is the mole, we’ve been well-informed about it for some time, and now we just need to see if and when Taylor finds out! The bartender's actions here in shooting the Sixer were surely to prevent him from being captured and potentially telling Taylor about him, as opposed to stepping in to save Taylor’s neck – though it could be a handy bonus that he is winning back some trust.

There was absolutely no surprise to anyone who has paid the mildest bit of attention to the show that the man at the end was Taylor’s wandering son. Whilst the exact nature of what was in the box remains a mystery (there’s no more clue in the graphics that appeared than was present in the rock carvings from the first episode) it’s the most compelling plot thread Terra Nova has. Indeed, the idea that Taylor’s rule is flawed and that the truth about Terra Nova the place, its original intent and its potential future, have been subverted by his leadership are the best things Terra Nova has waiting to spring. The big question is: Will the mystery deliver a payoff that justifies the suspense and takes the show to a new level?

All in all, it was actually a decent episode, it’s just that all the shortcomings Terra Nova is riddled with (simplistic characters, cheesy values and a confused tone) were present here and, as ever, made watching it and enjoying it a matter of overlooking its flaws and holding onto the few good bits. It desperately needs to get better to be considered ‘good’, let alone ‘great’, television.

It’s a shame, really, because it’s actually a show with a terrific concept and good ongoing ideas. Somehow it just keeps getting in the way of itself from delivering them.

What was the best part?

You know, for all the crashing meteorites and huge stomping dinosaurs, the best bit of the episode for me was the all-too-human and non-effects scene where Jim and Taylor engaged in some smackdown with the infiltrating Sixers. Brutal without being overly-violent, it was succeeded by a nice chase to the fence. But, really, the cherry on top was Taylor’s “Let’s dance” taunt. It’s like 80s machismo never went out of fashion!

What do I think will happen next?

The plot ball really sits in the Sixer’s, and Taylor's son's, court. If that doesn’t get picked up and taken some place then there’s really not a whole lot else of ongoing interest worth getting invested in enough to make predictions about. Maddy and soldier boy will continue their romance. Josh might wake up to the fact Sky likes him, egged on by his mum. . . Is this really all there is going on!?

Fringe: S04 Ep06 – And Those We’ve Left Behind

What happened?

The Fringe team investigate a series of strange events related to apparent time anomalies. Believing Peter to be a potential cause, distorting the space-time continuum due to his appearance, they take him along to investigate. Whilst he experiences these time jumps himself it transpires that another man is chiefly responsible.

Continuing work his wife was pursuing before she developed Alzheimer’s, the husband has been creating a time bubble to the past so his wife can finish the work and create a permanent window to the past. However, realising the dangers occurring elsewhere the wife destroys her work so it can never be repeated.

Due to Peter’s assistance he is offered Walter’s campus residence to stay in, and whilst Olivia has figured the version of her Peter knew obviously meant something to him and is warming to him Walter is proving harder to win around.

Thoughts

Tricky business, time travel. A lot of sci-fi shows like to dabble in it and it can tie a plot up in knots and nonsense in no time flat. Fringe is very often a cut-above but, for me, it fell over itself with this episode. It’s a shame because, before the introduction of the husband, before the episode actually tried to explain itself so it could resolve the situation, it looked like Fringe was really cooking up a knockout instalment.

From the scene with the mother in her kitchen that switched to a burned husk, her rushing out of the place with her girl now a baby, to the scene where the kids in the car were nearly hit by a section of train appearing out of nowhere and dashing by, it was fast-paced and inventive stuff. Furthermore, Peter’s trips through time were masterfully handled; quick edits dropping him seamlessly from one place to the next. I loved how he just rolled with it, remarking how it could get annoying but got on with it.

Once an explanation was attempted to be posited it all started to unravel. I mean, there was a kernel of a good idea (albeit one that’s feeling a bit creaky on Fringe, that of the well-meaning person meddling with science and generating tragic results) but it wasn’t really well sold. The episode with Peter Weller in (can’t recall the name of it, possibly it was White Tulip) dealt with similar ideas, I seem to remember, and managed them far more successfully. I know Fringe often skirts around the cyclical nature of behaviour and events but recycling plot ideas with new riffs here just feels lazy.

I mean, the genius wife had her timeline interrupted by her husband dredging her forwards in time (kind of) and telling her everything, and then she disappeared back to her original timeline. . . Surely that would have changed history! And how did she just disappear anyway? To where? It was all very sketchy. Bizarrely the story could have shaped out that the husband’s mucking around with time travel was what caused her mental condition – but instead that self-fulfilling, terrible (and, yes, paradoxical) time loop idea was ignored.

Also glossed over was whatever was happening with Peter – when he kept zipping back and forth in time what were other people seeing him do? Did he break a piece off the car bumper first time at the scene, or when he travelled back there? Again, it was very sketchy, and I was waiting for a scene that would offer a more objective explanation – but it never arrived.

So the initially enticing premise gave way to a bit of a mess, luckily the episode had some good business going on with the main characters to redeem it even if I have to somewhat baulk at how quickly and easily the likes of Broyles and Olivia have bought into the idea that Peter is really Walter’s dead son as deposited from an alternate historical timeline! Just because it’s true doesn’t mean our leads should be so readily swayed by it!

I did like the interplay, or lack of, between Walter and Peter. Walter’s retreat into childish ignorance won’t hold for long, though I like how he is being won around by a sense of admiration by Peter’s display of intelligence at the Faraday cage belt plan. A sense of fatherly pride? Just a touch, but it can be fostered into something more.

Peter, meanwhile, has to deal with a kind of reversal to Walter, in that he has ‘lost’ the father he knew. This Walter won’t speak to him, but he also lives in the laboratory. The moment Peter returned ‘home’, pulling the sheets off the furniture of the place that he and Walter used to live in (curious that the place was furnished with a top notch enormous widescreen LCD television, I thought!), the point was hit home: this was the world he knew but it was a world he didn’t belong to.

As Peter remarked to Broyles, he has come to realise that he is the person that needs to be reset – but that is, of course, impossible. Also impossible, I feel, is the idea that he can go back to the previous version of the universe he knew. I think Fringe this season has set up plot dynamics and characters here that are establishing themselves as permanent, to be invested in, so I don’t see the ‘undo’ button getting pushed and all of that being erased to go back to the state of things at the end of season 3. So Peter is ‘stuck’ in this world but, maybe, Olivia and even Walter, might just awaken to an awareness of that previous version of things and make this new world feel more like home.

It was interesting that Olivia didn’t answer the question about what her dreams of Peter involved, and whether they at all featured the park and picnic as he dreamt. Also interesting was Peter being unaware of appearing and speaking to Walter before he properly arrived. If Olivia was dreaming of Peter, and Walter alone was having visions of him, it’s almost like they dragged him back into existence. . .

Deep, heady territory this. I rather hope that there’s more to be pursued about this angle, this extra dimension – a shared dream of a perfect day. That maybe all of these characters and versions of the universe are all circling around an ideal place, iterations and variations that fail to meet the ideal. . . If Fringe has an endgame, maybe that’s it.

What was the best part?

I really liked the sequence when Peter was jolted through time. The edits were sharp whilst the transitions were smooth. It was unexpected and it really enlivened what looked to be one of Fringe’s usual investigation scenes. Icing on the cake was Peter’s deadpan acceptance of what was happening and just getting on with it. Peter’s really cool this season!

What do I think will happen next?

I expect that Walter and Peter will continue to grow their relationship, to the extent that Peter may eventually be faced with a decision where he no longer wishes to return to the world he came from since he has become attached to this one. Olivia will be crucial in this. (As ever, Peter’s choice regarding Olivia will determine the fate of the universe!)

Misfits: S03 Ep03

What happened?

Simon saved a guy called Peter from being mugged, instantly winning Peter’s adoration. Simon doesn’t realise that Peter has his own power of being able to draw events that will then happen for real. Using this power Peter controls Simon and tries to split him apart from Alisha. However, when the gang stop Peter’s plans he draws a final scenario where he kidnaps Alisha only for Simon to rescue her and kill him in the process.

Kelly gets to know the Power Dealer more, learning that the girl in the cemetery was his previous girlfriend who suffered an overdose he feels responsible for. As such he’s finding it difficult to submit to a new relationship. Alisha, now back with Simon, makes him promise to burn his outfit and stop trying to fulfil his destiny of travelling back in time. He says he will, but in secret hides the costume.

Thoughts

A Simon-centric episode is the one that offers up the most engaging subject matter for Misfits fans interested in the larger story arc. This episode very much raised the questions tucked at the heart of the timeloop and Simon’s fate, but didn’t take any closer steps towards answering them. I don’t think this was the chief reason why this episode failed to lift off for me, but it was certainly part of it.

I did think Peter was underserved here. The reveal of his power was deftly uncovered, and as ever fitted with his character (being someone powerless to make things go his way in real life, as the story of the stolen handbag revealed, and thus granted a power to shape the world and events as he wanted). Yet I felt like we didn’t really get to understand what he was all about, and so his final act of showing Simon that dying for what you believe in by making the ultimate sacrifice didn’t quite land perfectly.

Was that his intention all along, when he was trying to separate Simon from Alisha? Or did he have a change of heart and mind once his first scheme failed? I’m tempted to believe he intended it all along, and breaking Simon and Alisha up was his way of testing their relationship’s resolve, but it’s impossible to really call for sure.

I liked Simon’s performance here, adopting a muscular comic book pose when he was under Peter’s control was a nice touch. It did seem a tad remiss that his power of foresight was never employed, although he has stated in a previous episode that it’s not something he is able to control. Didn’t particularly serve him well here!

The ending to the episode was a compelling build that, alas, felt anticlimactic. I did like how Simon’s burning of the corpse was depicted very similar to Luke burning Darth Vader at the end of Return Of The Jedi (are we to deduce something more meaningful about overcoming the dark side from this!?). However, Peter having ended his comic book with a ‘to be continued’ felt underwhelming; I expected the camera to pan towards a stack of comic book papers he had drawn already, basically mapping out events yet to come, which I thought would have been both cool and interesting in the sense of challenging notions of free will.

Simon’s very predicament is determined by the sense of doing what he believes must be done against what free will would suggest he is able to do. The compelling opinion of Alisha, that he doesn’t need to go back in time because she already got saved, feels right! If Simon never goes back, what happens? Does the space-time continuum unravel? But time travel logistics would suggest that Simon doesn’t have a choice. His fate is as predetermined as the drawings in the comic book. He will go back in time and die because he’s already done it. It’s set down. Drawn in black and white. Inescapable.

I’m torn 50/50 on whether Misfits will proceed with this tragic plot or, somehow, find a way around it so that it happens without Simon being really dead. There’s all manner of ways around it (on a show where anything can happen, where anyone can do anything, solutions are plentiful). He could be cloned. It could be an alternate timeline permutation. Someone could have the ability to reincarnate the dead. . .

This brings me on to the power broker, and the nice interplay between him and Kelly. His story of the dead girlfriend was less mysterious than it first seemed, but the reason why he can’t let her go and give Kelly a whirl makes me think he is looking for a power that will allow him to bring his girlfriend back. Maybe all of his power trading is a means for him to eventually acquire the power to bring back people from the dead, and this quest might dovetail into Simon’s tragic fate. Stranger things have happened.

Really enjoyed Kelly in this episode. Her straddling between awkward and vulnerable to cocksure and profane is really well-played. Lauren Socha performs it to a tee. High-fiving when she once again uses her powers as a rocket scientist, to bemoaning getting cum on her face, to laying her cards out and admitting she likes the power broker – she’s a subtle and unsubtle standout in every scene.

On the flipside Rudy was rather irritating this episode and got on my nerves. He was a rather redundant player in proceedings and yet still hogged screentime that would have been better used with Simon and Peter. For every funny scene, like Rudy suggesting the probation officer was abused as a child, there was a boorish misfire where his obnoxious sense of humour and witlessness clunked up proceedings. I wouldn’t want to see him befall the same fate as Curtis (present in scenes despite being utterly superfluous) but his character needs the most work to wrestle into someone relatable.

Lastly, and I know it’s debased and pathetic (so quite a good fit for Misfits!) but a word of praise for Alisha’s breasts this episode. The tops she was wearing, and the camera shots that amply showed her off, meant I could barely take my eyes off her chest when she was on-screen. More of *those* please! (I’ll break with tradition and stick a pic of her here for, uh, artistic purposes.)



What was the best part?

Despite the weighty thematic ideas, the actual execution of events wasn’t particularly slick in my opinion. Peter’s death scene felt rushed when it really ought to have been the best part. As such I’ll plump for Simon burning Peter and then making his false promise to Alisha, intercut with the flashbacks and comic book frames. The climax didn’t quite deliver the punchline I felt was coming, but it was still captivating and felt momentous.

What do I think will happen next?

Beyond the longterm quandary of whether Simon’s fate is sealed or he will fulfil his destiny and yet survive the only other ongoing thread concerns Kelly and the power trader. As previously suggested, I can’t help but figure he’s not given up hope of getting his dead girlfriend back. However, next week’s preview hinted at a deranged Nazi-inspired happening (time travel involved? Simon could be discovering his means of going back!) featuring the probation worker, too, so looks like demented fun.

The Walking Dead: S02 Ep04 – Cherokee Rose

What happened?

The group convene at Hershel’s Farm, ostensibly to allow Carl time to recover and to mount a more rigorous and controlled search for Sophia. With Rick still weak from gjving blood, and Shanae limping, it’s left to Daryl to continue the hunt. He finds a house and potential signs of life, but ultimately no Sophia.

Whilst Glenn and Maggie take a supply run to town, and get it on, Rick requests that Hershel reconsider his stance that the group are not welcome to stay permanently. Lori had asked Glenn to bring her back a pregnancy test and, in the secrecy of night, she steals away to check herself. The test comes back positive.

Thoughts

Whilst this episode felt a little like filler, it’s hard to imagine many other shows having filler episodes that house this much quality. Whilst there may be those that feel The Walking Dead needs to kick things up a gear and get moving I totally disagree. I like the leisurely pace and, besides, where exactly is the plot in a hurry to get to? Barring whatever information the CDC man told Rick at the end of season 1 (I’ve read a theory that he informed Rick that Lori was pregnant, but I’m not overly-convinced) there is little reason for the group to be in any rush to get anywhere.

Indeed, the fundamental issue comes down to wanting to stay at the seemingly idyllic Hershal’s farm. I got the first sense of things being not quite right about the place in this episode. They were only small touches, like the look on Maggie’s face when the zombie was brutally killed, or Hershal’s remarks to Rick that their staying here would depend on certain conditions. . .

I really can’t identify exactly what is going on, but I get the sense it’s something grim. I can’t help but wonder if the large building Rick offered to stay at (which Hershal refused) contains something rather unpleasant. Like what? My best guess, and it’s a total stab in the dark, is that Hershal and the others keep zombies there, perhaps people they know and love, awaiting the arrival of a cure that will bring them back.

Potentially the fat zombie stuck at the bottom of the well was one such zombie that had gotten free or something and thus Maggie had to steel herself and keep it a secret that she knew who it was, thus explaining her curious reaction. Like I said, it’s a total guess. But whatever the truth of it, I am definitely expecting dark revelations to be unearthed.

The zombie in the well did offer up the coolest scene and perhaps the most disgusting moment The Walking Dead has put on-screen so far. Glenn’s descent and hurried scrambled ascent in and out of the well was adeptly handled though I would have been mightily shocked if it had ended in tragedy. Very cool was the moment Glenn handed Dale the rope to show that, despite his panic, he had still managed to lasso the zombie anyway. Very cool indeed.

And, of course, dragging the zombie up out of the water (honestly, would you have drank from that well even if the extraction had been successful considering the drooling, bloated beast had been sloshing around in it for God knows how long?) ended spectacularly; it burst into two pieces and the camera near-delighted in giving an unflinching view of the guts and entrails flooding out.

Truly revolting. I absolutely loved it.

There was also time for some levity and humour, too, which was very welcome. The sense of dread and jeopardy is only increased the more we like these characters and the more we feel they are ‘safe’. Glenn and Maggie (hello farmer’s daughter indeed!) getting it on was a fun scene that humanised the pair of them as well as carrying the dark undertow of just how scarce choice and other people truly are. It was played for laughs but possessed an all too understandable truth about loneliness and the need for intimacy, if only casual and shortlived.

Daryl continued to transform into a new man. His determination to find Sophia yielding perhaps the best sign of hope yet with the discovery of the house and the small makeshift bed in a cupboard. There’s no definitive way of knowing if it was Sophia that had been staying there (and how much did you just want Daryl to find her?) but it’s the best lead so far. His finding and presenting the Cherokee Rose to Sophia’s mother was a symbol of hope, but also stood as a metaphor of beauty and life flourishing in unlikely circumstances, a concept echoed in Lori learning she is pregnant.

First question is: Who’s the daddy? I suspect Lori’s dread is formed from that potential quandary, and also from the opinion she expressed in the previous episode when she considered if it was better for Carl to die rather than live in this world. Now she faces the prospect of bringing a child into this hell. It’s certainly a daunting proposition but, if the human race is to survive, it’s precisely this that needs to happen.

With Shane still a brooding presence, wrestling with his conscience (he practically gave the game away of what he did to Otis in his near-confession to Andrea) and potentially misconstruing Lori’s meaning when she requested he stay with the group, things are set to get continuously edgy between him, Lori and Rick. No question this is a plot dynamic that is going to be painfully wrought out. It’s testament to the quality of the show that both Shane and Lori can be considered both to blame and yet totally sympathetic. Only Rick continues to play the role of burdened but thoroughly decent leader – the moment he becomes conflicted with immorality might be when this ragtag band of survivors really unravel.

What was the best part?

Has to be the whole exercise in attempting to get the zombie out of the well. It had drama (Glenn’s near-death), heroics (Glenn’s reveal of achieving the goal), gore (bursting zombie!) and humour (TJ’s remarks about how at least they didn’t do something like just shoot it). Wonderful stuff, even if the speed of how Shane and the rest were pulling on that rope didn’t quite tally with the complete lack of upward movement of Glenn in the well.

What do I think will happen next?

The previews I glimpsed somewhat help me here, as next week’s episode seemed to suggest that Daryl will get into trouble on his own – injured, and perhaps even seeing his brother (hallucination or real, that’ll be the key question, I suspect). That he seemed to stagger out in front of Rick I anticipate will trigger a tense moment of deciding whether Daryl has become infected or is just seriously injured. With any luck he’ll have suffered but survived and, please, finally have recovered Sophia!

Terra Nova: S01 Ep05 – Bylaw

What happened?

An apparent dinosaur attack that killed a man turns out to have been a murder. Whilst the initial suspect is the first person to be tried in Terra Nova and sentenced to a very public banishment, eventually the real murderer is revealed to be another soldier who owed the victim money. He is more privately sent out for banishment by Taylor who says he will lose no sleep over his actions.

Liz and her daughter are in the laboratory where a dinosaur egg they retrieved is cared for and eventually hatches. Meanwhile Josh has fulfilled his bargain with the bartender and meets with the Sixers and Amira. She tells him she can get him his girlfriend back, so long as he promises to one day fulfil a request from her no matter what.

Thoughts

How is it that this show can take powerful ingredients of a murder mystery, an issue of dictatorship against social equality, and traitorous behaviour, pack them all into a single episode and still make it all seem a bit blah? For the answer you just needed to watch this episode of Terra Nova which, as ever, continues to make the intriguing and amazing seem tedious and overcooked.

The opening murder was a nice introduction sequence, and was a rather cool idea. That someone would trap a dangerous dino in a confined building they knew someone was going to turn up to was a decent method of murder. The reveal of who eventually perpetrated the crime felt rather fumbled. Initially a red herring regarding a husband and young wife (another interesting question raised, regarding people who had won the lottery then getting married purely to bring people with them – what kind of quality control issues would that create?) it turned out to be a soldier we’d never seen before.

It was all rather convoluted, particularly when the episode had employed the bartender to be part of a pre-arranged ruse to trap the soldier. I didn’t get that. Why did they have to stage such an elaborate scheme? And what about the original innocent guy who was so publicly banished? Aren’t people going to be raising their eyebrows when they see him walking around camp free as a bird? If that matter got addressed I missed it.

The issue of Taylor’s rule over Terra Nova is meaty territory. From the very first episode I pondered what Terra Nova would do about law and order in this new civilisation. Turns out that Taylor’s word is pretty much law and, whilst he claims to have never encountered such a serious crime as yet, it’s still curious that he has maintained such a rule over these people for so long, unchallenged and unquestioned. (There was brief mention of it from Malcolm, I recall, in his first episode.) I definitely feel like this is quite a crucial aspect to the show, and one that the programme could really use to good effect. It would seem from the Sixers that they have a problem with Taylor and the fact that he has absolute rule over the camp if his character has moral grey areas or reason for dispute makes it an especially juicy scenario.

I say all that with reservation, of course. Terra Nova being Terra Nova can have all the terrific ideas in the world and manage to blunt them of any edge and squander pulse-quickening tension for safe and sound tied up plots.

Like, for example, the whole business with Liz and her daughter and the hatching egg. What the hell was that all about? It just felt like something cute and wholesome dropped in and nestling very uneasily against everything else in the episode. If it was there to provide balance then for me all it did was create problems with tone. Is this dinosaur now going to live with the Shannon family? Are they turning into The Flintstones!?

Josh and his deal with the Sixers was presumably meant to feel more dramatic than it played out. I’m not sure where Skye fits into this picture. Was her urge to go along purely because she’s worried about Josh? Or is she potentially the mole in the camp and she accompanied Josh to ensure he got there and would be on hand to be used? I fear that it was the former, because Terra Nova feels like that kind of show, but hopefully it’s springing a shock surprise and it will be the latter.

As could perhaps be deduced, I wasn’t a big fan of this episode. I feel like the honeymoon period is over and Terra Nova needs to start taking itself seriously and start producing some serious goods for me to continue with it. There’s a lot of good television on at the moment and right now Terra Nova isn’t sitting there in the schedules screaming ‘must-see’.

What was the best part?

I’d have to go with the pursuit and capture of the dinosaur. At least this episode did have the saving grace that the dinosaurs which are the show’s big calling card delivered the standout scene. Terra Nova needs to keep remembering that it is set in a world with dinosaurs and dinosaurs are cool and if they want to do an episode where the camp is under siege by T-Rex and raptors then it’ll be a storm and be a total hit. Play to your strengths, and hit the lowest common denominator if you must!

What do I think will happen next?

Josh will invariably have to be made to do something he doesn’t want to do. (Really, though, once he gets his girlfriend back what’s to stop him reneging on the deal and telling his father everything he knows?) And, I guess, the Shannon’s will have a baby dinosaur living with them for a while. Which will be fun!

An Idiot Abroad: S02 Ep08

What happened?

A retrospective episode with Karl sitting down with Ricky and Steve to discuss his travels and field questions from viewers, as well as Ricky finally ensuring that Karl had his prostate checked and his invention of Pilkopants made it to a shopping channel.

Thoughts

Strange kind of episode to write a write-up for, considering that a lot of it was basically going over old material and discussing it. As such there doesn’t leave much for me to actually discuss here so I don’t envisage this being too long-winded. Curiously, though, this retrospective episode was perhaps the most consistent and amusing episode of the whole series.

Anyone who has heard or watched The Ricky Gervais Show will be familiar with the trio of Ricky, Steve and Karl and how they get along together. It’s a lot of fun to actually see them, properly. I think one of my most memorable moments was the sight of Steve Merchant creasing up with laughter, clinging on to Ricky’s arm, when Karl was talking about how one of the rooms he had stayed in had stank of fish.

There’s little else to say about the three of them talking about what happened, save to say it remained fun and entertaining. The highlight of the straight conversations had to be when Ricky made Karl re-enact his ‘Bullshit Man’ superhero, which then resulted in an interrogation of whether he could fly, or had superhearing, all of which were added superpowers! If there was anything lacking, I would say that I'd have preferred to see more 'behind the scenes' pieces of the making of the show - stuff that didn't fit in with the regular episodes but could have been included here.

This being an episode of An Idiot Abroad then Ricky and Steve couldn’t help themselves lay out some stunts for Karl to endure, although they were definitely the highlights of the episode. The visit from the doctor that took Karl to a private room to perform a check on his prostate was brilliantly funny. I defy anyone not to observe a man begrudge another man sticking his finger up his arse and not laugh. And the scene was capped off brilliantly with Karl’s perfectly-timed joke remark asking whether he was a real doctor.

Karl also had his own surprise when he showed Ricky and Steve his stint on a shopping channel trying to sell his Pilkopants. They were truly a terrible invention, basically boiling down to little more than a string bag attached to the seat of trousers. (Surely a better idea would be to have a form of inflatable thing in the seat of trousers for the use as a seat when required?) Still, Karl gave it his best shot (best line being that they’d be useful for children that fell into water to keep them buoyant, with Ricky pointing out that they would be floating face down, submerged!) and managed to sell all fifteen of them.

Probably some smart consumers snapped them up. Not because they were a good product but because they’ll surely be worth quite a lot more as famous rarities.

End of the series then, and this second foray of An Idiot Broad has been good value. The first episode had me worried that they were striving too hard to re-create the effortless fun of the first and failing. But after that initial mis-step the series seemed to relax and find its own groove and be thoroughly good viewing week in, week out. Dare I say it, but I think I liked it more than the first one.

What was the best part?

Easily the part where Karl had his prostrate checked. He took it in good humour and, strangely, it probably did more for raising awareness about what such a simple and important check it is that might prompt men over 40 to do the same.

What do I think will happen next?

Ricky Gervais is usually pretty strict on quitting on a high, and his television output so far has always took the trend of two series, and a special (not including the podcasts that inspired The Ricky Gervais Show). So, I suppose, there’s always scope that there will be An Idiot Abroad special. Given the massive success of the show, though, I would imagine there’s a lot of encouragement to go right ahead and make a third. If they can get the right conceptual reason to be sending Karl overseas then I certainly would be tuning in.

Fringe: S04 Ep05 – Novation

What happened?

Peter makes an attempt to explain to Walter who he is and where he has come from, but only realises for himself that The Observer apparently didn’t intervene in this timeline and is left confused as to why he therefore exists. As a means of getting to spend more time with Walter he assists with an investigation into the shapeshifters that have now taken human form.

The shapeshifter takes hostage a Dr. Truss who manages to stabilise its physical condition, paving the way for them to be near undetectable infiltration units capable of impersonating anyone. Whilst the team face up this new potential crisis Olivia experiences a strange moment of de ja vue.

At the close, the shapeshifter is seen communicating on a typewriter where she is informed that the others will be sent over now that their physical form has been stabilised.

Thoughts

Good episode, this. Managed to pick up and dive straight in on multiple plot threads. Indeed, I was most impressed by how no time was wasted in Peter breaking the news of who he was and where he had come from to Walter. I anticipated that this would have been held off for more of a Peter/Olivia focus. Not so.

I really enjoyed Peter this episode. His confidence and intelligence has previously appeared as reserved and reactionary, but here he was on the front foot, calling the shots and making things work in his favour. It was good to be reminded that he’s also a genius – a point that doesn’t always translate. Way to return, Peter! And he was quick to ask the pertinent questions that revealed the fundamental difference between the universe he came from and this one: here ‘he’ drowned in Reiden Lake rather than get saved by The Observers.

Interesting point that Broyles and co had no idea about The Observers. Originally it transpired that The Observer, September, had been noticed and photographed many times over and was subject to investigation. In this universe there is no awareness of him, or the others. Was the function of the machine that September constructed and used to simply remove the traces of any Observer appearances and interventions? As such there was no investigation of Observer sightings since they had been erased, just as much as September’s intervention in saving the drowning Peter had also ceased to exist as an event.

Until I know better, that’s my rationale. September used a machine that wiped out his own interactions, though we know he didn’t fully complete the mission since he allowed traces of Peter to remain and ultimately bleed through. The answer to Peter’s question of how he still exists surely lies with September. The answer to why he has been permitted this continued existence is a far larger question.

Walter’s reaction was nicely handled here. Just when you thought he might eventually be won around by Peter – the man with his son’s eyes – he eventually confronted the situation like a kind of morality test; a challenge to see if he would repeat the terrible acts (terrible, at least, in the sense of the devastating consequences) he made with young Peter once before. Given his conviction he’s not going to be easily swayed.

The shapeshifter plot was perfunctory, though anyone who has even half-watched Fringe over the years could have predicted the injured man at the end was actually the shapeshifter’s current form. If a person is ever found lying prone, having survived an encounter with a shapeshifter, odds are it’s because they are the shapeshifter!

I fully anticipate our shapeshifters to somehow infiltrate Fringe Division courtesy of someone we are familiar with. Would Fringe be so bold as to have another main character (like Charlie) be killed and have a shapeshifter assume their place? I’d hope not, because it’s a plot that’s well-worn. It was used with Charlie’s duplicate, and also with Fauxlivia posing as Olivia – faking a person’s identity with their likeness has been well and truly done on this show, so the only problem for me with these new near-perfect human shapeshifters is the threat of retreading old ground.

Other tantalising pieces of information: Nina stepped in and raised Olivia. This explains their easy and comforting relationship previously exhibited. A surprising reveal, perhaps, though at present I can’t see how it will prove pivotal. The other major reveal was of the shapeshifter communicating with Over There. Barring any further knowledge, I have to now assume the shapeshifter is a creation of Walternate and operating under his bidding. If the truce between the two worlds is being undercut in this way then things are going to get messy (and, for dramatic purposes, it would make more sense for this to be the case).

All this and the episode still had time cram in a little bit of romance (kind of) with Olivia asking Lincoln if he wanted to go for a drink. I couldn’t tell if Olivia was genuinely asking out of attraction or distraction. I got the feeling it was more the latter, almost like the niggling feeling of Peter’s appearance had unnerved her to the extent that she needed to shake off the incertitude and Lincoln was her nearest and best bet. Unfortunately for her he said no!

The biggest subtle moment was the de ja vue Olivia experienced. I feel like this was seeding something major for the next episode, or possibly episodes. At present I have to assume that Olivia is somehow becoming aware of how this universe isn’t quite the ‘real deal’ (although, technically, if this is the way the universe is without The Observer’s intervention then it’s arguably the definitive one!) and her momentary reliving of a moment is an event that she’s going to encounter on a larger scale. Like maybe hours, or days, lived once and then reset to live again (perhaps with the capacity to make changes). It was curious that she didn’t ‘relive’ things completely – like she saw the folder returned to her desk twice yet only asked Lincoln out once. Weird.

Out of the box final thought: Olivia is experiencing the world like how The Observer’s experience the world. Able to relive moments over. When I think of that scene in Season 1 where September was able to speak the words that Peter was saying as he said them that’s a notion that doesn’t seem as ridiculous as it may have first sounded.

What was the best part?

Tempted to plump for Olivia’s moment of de ja vue for sheer intrigue level, but really I thought the scene where Peter had hacked the intercom to hear and speak to the outside area was good stuff. Peter’s manner and proactive stance here really suits him and makes his character more dynamic than ever before.

What do I think will happen next?

I suspect Peter’s ongoing struggle to justify why he is still around will be a longterm plot for the season, and of course it must be linked into the actions of September and the role The Observers play.

The shapeshifter communicating with Over There implies Walternate is involved and, despite previous reservations, I’m going to plump for the idea that he really is behind their actions. There’s the longshot that William Bell has/had a hand in it, and perhaps the reason he pulled the plug on the doctor’s research many years back was so he could continue it down this path rather than medical advancement. . .

Most intriguing was Olivia’s moment of de ja vue, which I suspect has to have something to do with the instability of this current universe timeline and it ‘glitching’ on account of Peter’s return. Why only Olivia has experienced it thus far may indicate that she alone is receptive to the phenomena, or she’s just the first. For now my hunch is that she alone will experience the strange time shifts since she was alone in dreaming of Peter, but possibly Walter might also be involved.

Misfits: S03 Ep02

What happened?

Curtis uses his power to turn into a woman as a means of getting back into his beloved sport of running. As both Curtis and his female counterpart, Melissa, he forms a romantic relationship with a fellow runner – but with the added complications of male advances and a date rapist trainer, Curtis is forced to reveal his secret to both the group and his girlfriend.

Meanwhile Kelly and Alisha set about following the Power Trader man and spy on him laying flowers at a grave to a person they don’t yet know.

Thoughts

Interesting episode, this, for the reason that there was actually little reliance of the super powers aspect. Save for the central conceit of Curtis’ sex change ability there were no other displays of powers. It was refreshing. If Misfits could be accused of a flaw it would be the way everyone around the place seemed to have some kind of power and were cropping up every episode. It’s telling that I was watching this episode rather expecting either the girlfriend or the date rapist to have a hidden power to be revealed, and it worked out better that they didn’t.

Stripped of super power shenanigans, this episode pretty much played out like a more conventional teen drama – albeit one with that specific brand of Misfits coarseness and profanity. Making Curtis the focus was much-needed for his character that appears to have been a little lost in the mix of late, though I do wonder if this might be his biggest time in the spotlight this series and now he’ll retreat to a more supporting role in the future.

The episode ended with him deciding that if he couldn’t feasibly run competitively then he would have to find something else to fill his life with. It seems like a reach, considering this is Misfits, but he could choose to become more heroic and use his powers productively (though this would, of course, depend on him getting a more useful power – with the presence of Power Trader remaining I fully expect that to occur for at least one or two of the gang).

Speaking of Power Trader, plot lines between he and Kelly are evidently being seeded. She wasn’t in it much, but Kelly almost stole the show. Her downbeat, pouting manner, even when singing her own praises at being a rocket scientist and so able to fix the car, were just fantastic. Her matter-of-fact remarks to Curtis about how he would have to put his bloodstained underwear in a hot wash were delivered pitch perfect.

Interesting question raised: If Curtis as a woman can have a period, does that also follow that he can become pregnant!?

The episode certainly wasted no time in getting down, literally, with Curtis exploring the sexual possibilities of being a woman. (I can’t believe he waited so long to investigate his own body! If there was a part of the episode that stretched credulity, that was it. The first thing every man would do were they in a woman’s body, I suspect, would be to masturbate and see how it felt.)

I liked Simon’s confused questioning of the matter of whether he was a lesbian or not – it’s certainly a grey area. And what I did think was interesting was Curtis’ reaction to Rudy ‘going down’ on him. He could laugh about it at the end, and during the episode he talked about Melissa as though she was a separate person. I’m not sure if Misfits is interested in going that in-depth with the idea, but there are suggestions of Curtis splitting his personality and experiencing himself as Curtis and as Melissa as two different people.

It’s not a totally farfetched idea that the programme could take this direction, as it would parallel Rudy’s own split personality power where two aspects of his character manifestly appear as distinct entities.

Yet, as I said, maybe I’m thinking too in-depth.

This wasn’t really an episode that particularly warranted massive analysis; it was an entertaining exploration of Curtis and his power that sprinkled a future plotline for Kelly and Power Trader but otherwise effected little else. Good fun but, in the grand scheme of the series, I would expect this to ultimately turn out to be a rather inconsequential episode.

What was the best part?

Standout sequence had to be the attempted date-rape of Curtis/Melissa. Not only was it a pivotal moment in the episode, but it also had the balls to show the full, well, cock and balls of Curtis back in male form. The scene needed that moment of stark clarification for plot purposes, but the fact that it was such an in your face full frontal makes me have to admire Misfits for always looking to push the boundaries.

What do I think will happen next?

From this episode I would have expected that the next logical progression would be to follow Kelly’s investigation into Power Trader man, though it seemed from the preview that Simon would be the main focus next. This is certainly welcome as the matter of why he pursues a course of action he knows will lead to his death ought to make for meaty subject matter for Misfits to grapple with (and possibly overcome).

The Walking Dead: S02 Ep03 – Save The Last One

What happened?

Shane and Otis try to escape from the school; running low on ammo, and both of them unable to move quickly, it doesn’t look like an easy escape. Shane eventually arrives at the farmhouse, telling how Otis and he got separated and he lost him. However, with the medical equipment he brought, the Doctor is able to perform the operation on Carl and save him.

Daryl and Andrea venture out into the woods to continue hunting for Sophia, with only Daryl holding hope that she could be still found alive. All they discover, however, is a zombie hanging from a tree and return to the camper van without her.

Lori pleads with Shane to stay with the group, little realising the truth that Shane was responsible for Otis’ death, having shot him in order to make his own escape. He shaves his head as he remembers the horrific act he had committed.

Thoughts

What a difference a final scene makes. Before the last reveal I have to say I was getting rather annoyed with this episode, particularly when Shane turned up without Otis and stated that he had been killed. I think I literally threw my hands up at the screen and remarked, “What?” I was already set to be annoyed if they killed off Otis, but to have done it off-screen just felt doubly-insulting.

And then, of course, the last scene revealed what had really gone on between Shane and Otis and it was devastatingly effective. Hats off to all involved; they totally got me with the surprise. Seeing Shane shoot Otis (and I loved how he angrily fought to hold him back) and then return to the farmhouse, shaving his head, was a shocking way to end the episode. In a good way.

With Lori imploring Shane to remain with the group, unaware of just how unstable he has become, it sets up a really precarious dynamic between the trio of Rick, Shane and Lori. I recall in the first season the moment where Shane had Rick in the sights of his gun and Dale caught him in the act. He held back then, but maybe Shane is moving closer to a point where he realises the consequences of his actions no longer come with the threat of law and order and he is turning to more brutal measures to get what he wants.

That’s not to say I believe Shane has suddenly turned into a murderous psychopath. The Walking Dead is smarter than that; Shane did perform a terrible act for the greater good of saving Carl. Clearly this is going to weigh heavy on his conscience and create strain and tension there that might push him into a bad state of mind. But, as stated, I also suspect that an awakening to what he can do to get what he wants may push his character into dark territory.

Also effective in this episode was the discussion between Rick and Lori about whether it was even right to battle to keep Carl alive, considering the world he was set to grow up into and the desperate life he would be forced to lead. It was a gruelling conversation and, perhaps it’s because I have a one-year old son and the feelings of protection and love as a father are ones I well understand, I thought the whole scene was powerfully charged. Lori, especially, really sold the steely yet fraught emotional state exceptionally well.

It was a little trite that Rick’s counter-argument basically boiled down to the fact that Carl remarked about how beautiful the deer had looked in the brief period of consciousness he had. Surely there are better arguments to be had? Like how there is hope for humanity to survive, and how if the current survivors last long enough they will see off ‘the walkers’ and face a world to re-populate for themselves. And even if they face only a desperate future, those little pockets of joy and happiness and the right to live surely count even more in such circumstances. Those are the kinds of arguments Rick could have laid out, and it would have been in keeping with his character, but let’s just say he wasn’t thinking entirely clearly on account of all the blood he gave away!

The scenes with Daryl and Andrea were also nicely observed. Daryl had a little more time to shine and ever more his character and personality show flourishes and depth that really mark him out as a personal favourite. That he seemed alone in the belief that there was a chance for Sophia was refreshingly unexpected, and the shared jokes between him and Andrea were nicely played. Who knew that these two might make an unexpected couple? Even if they do fundamentally disagree on the rights and wrongs of shooting walkers that have strung themselves up!

A lot of good stuff this episode, though the experience of watching it was also frustrating. The scenes of Shane and Otis desperately trying to escape the school were well done, but annoyingly short and interspersed with duller scenes at the farmhouse, away from the real action. I appreciate in hindsight that this was so the episode could load and spring its surprise conclusion, but during the watching of the episode it just became an irritation.

Other subplots, like Glenn trying to pray for the first time, felt superfluous here – almost as though they were included just to keep these characters in the mix, inventing ways to justify their inclusion and screentime rather than them naturally commanding attention as a result of events occurring to inform their actions and responses.

The last scene saved the day, then, on an episode that I was all set to condemn as a clunker of bad decisions (killing Otis!) and wasted tension on diluted, interrupted action sequences at the school. What I got was the rug pulled out from beneath my feet with Shane firmly in place as a serious liability within the group who is totally unpredictable.

What was the best part?

The last scene flashback, showing exactly how Shane managed to escape the walkers. Intercutting the shaving of his head and the reveal of scratches and marks on his body, the actual truth of how he shot Otis to make his own escape was nothing less than shocking. Shooting him in the leg so his screaming, prone body could be devoured by the walkers was nothing short of horrific. In retrospect I ought to have seen it coming, but I’m not going to pretend the episode didn’t fool me and thus make the revelation an absolute surprise (which, frankly, is how I prefer my television drama to accost me – it’s way more fun to be shocked than to predict stuff before it happens).

What do I think will happen next?

It’s hard to imagine what Shane will do next. For the short term I anticipate he will stay with the group and remain an uneasy, brooding presence that we the audience know houses terrible potential. The group will have to remain at the farmhouse to allow both Rick and Carl to recover, so I expect the other group will join them there, and still hopefully continue their search for Sophia from this new base. Fingers crossed they’ll find her alive and well. There’s still hope.