'DOCTOR WHO' 6.4 – "The Doctor's Wife"

It was mooted that renowned author Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Coraline) might write an episode of Doctor Who during Russell T. Davies' era, but only now does the Hugo-winning wordsmith make his debut on the estimable sci-fi drama he grew up watching. "The Doctor's Wife" was a heady brew of fan-pleasing assortments, but sutured to the kind of barnstorming storyline that denied it becoming simply "one for the fans". Exemplifying many of the show's delights in a swift and pleasurable 45-minutes, it's very likely this could replace "Blink" as the ideal episode to show non-fans, as it worked as an effective entry point for Doctor Who as a concept.

This week, The Doctor (Matt Smith) received a distress call from a fellow Time Lord, via a levitating cube containing a psychic message. After detecting the source comes from an adjacent universe attached to ours like a benign parasite, The Doctor, Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) found themselves on a junkyard planet populated by two "patchwork" people called Uncle (Adrian Schiller) and Auntie (Elizabeth Berrington), their Ood servant Nephew (Paul Kasey), and a buxom woman known as Idris (Suranne Jones) who, shortly after the TARDIS landed, became the host body for the TARDIS's consciousness itself. Soon after, The Doctor realized the distress call was a trap set by the planet's own consciousness, referred to as House (voiced by Michael Sheen), which achieved residency in the "lobotomized" TARDIS and vanished with Amy and Rory trapped inside, aiming to devour more TARDIS's in the contiguous universe...

What can you really say? This was a wonderful episode from lifelong fan Gaiman, who seemed to scratch several itches pertaining to Doctor Who while he had the chance, offering audiences some surprising insights into the TARDIS and, most importantly, the machine's relationship with its "thief", The Doctor. It's been alluded to before that Time Lords have a psychic connection with their TARDIS, but by actually giving the TARDIS a physical form with the delightful Idris, we got a much deeper sense of the bond that's shared between them. It was actually quite comical, as Idris believes she chose The Doctor and has been taking him on adventures for the past 900-year, but also rather touching when The Doctor admitted his private name for the TARDIS is "Sexy", and rather heartrending in the final moments when The Doctor had to say goodbye (or rather "hello") to the closest thing he has to a life partner. That title's more apt than you may think.

Matt Smith was at his very best throughout "The Doctor's Wife". We know he's very comfortable with the comedy and physicality of the role, but this was perhaps the first time he's been required to emote to David Tennant levels. His lip-quivering in the aforementioned final scene with Idris was genuinely moving, and in many ways has changed the way we see The Doctor and the TARDIS as the show's enduring duo. Equally good was guest-star Suranne Jones (a very underrated actress who deserves a successful post-Coronation Street career.) Her performance was spirited, naughty, magical and sublime, perhaps owing a debt to Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen in Alice In Wonderland. She found an instant bond with Smith that radiated through the television screen, and it was a significant wrench when her character had to disappear. The idea of a talking TARDIS has never been a good one, but Jones' performance almost made me regret The Doctor will never have more dialogue with his trusty time-machine.

Amy and Rory had some fun sequences, which were notable for giving us an extremely rare glimpse beyond the Console Room of the TARDIS. Sure, it my have only consisted of some hexagonal corridors (well, until David Tennant's Console Room got an encore), but it was still a treat for fans. The jeopardy for them was a little too illogical, as House toyed with them by playing tricks with Space and Time (did Rory really live until he was elderly, alone in a corridor?), but if nerdy nitpicks are about all you have negative to say that's a good position to be in.

Overall, "The Doctor's Wife" thankfully lived up to the considerable hype surrounding it. I'm sure even Neil Gaiman's been nervous about the reaction. Well, he needn't have worried because he has same creative spark as Moffat when it comes to Doctor Who and its ramshackle energy, but as a contributing writer he's also forced to ensure everything ties up neatly. It's been awhile since I've been able to say the same thing about Moffat, who these days appears to enjoy the freedom to leave plot-threads dangling for weeks, even years. But this was a self-contained episode blessed with wonderful production values (the scrapheap planet was beautiful), full of excellent ideas, great performances, lovely moments of humour, and held together because it was fundamentally the story of an old man's love for an inanimate object that's been given life. Doctor Who's version of Pinocchio.

Asides

• The visual of Idris "bleeding" TARDIS energy, which closely resembles the yellow energy Time Lords give off when they regenerate, had me pondering some connection to the little girl from the premiere who was seen regenerating (we assume.) Is there a connection with Idris, or are both visuals just similar?
• Do you think the idea for this episode popped into Neil Gaiman's head after fans speculated that Kylie Minogue's character Astrid (an anagram of TARDIS) was going to somehow be the TARDIS in "Voyage Of The Damned"?
• I loved the fanboy questions Gaiman managed to squeeze into the script: where does The Doctor sleep? Why does he always push the TARDIS door open, when the sign on the door says pull? Plus, we got to see the Tenth Doctor's Console Room again! I bet they're glad they kept that in storage over at BBC Wales.
• Before "dying", Idris had Rory pass a message onto The Doctor ("the only water in the forest is the river"), which must surely be a reference to River Song in the episode "Forest Of The Dead". Has Gaiman been asked to lay some groundwork for something Steven Moffat has planned, hearkening back to that season 4 two-parter? Is River's demise not actually set in stone? Would any return to that story in Matt Smith's future necessitate the return of David Tennant? I doubt it, but... speculate.
• There were some truly delicious and hilarious lines here. A few favourites being Amy's reaction when The Doctor introduced the bosomy Idris as his TARDIS/woman ("did you wish really hard?"), or "biting's excellent; it's like kissing only there's a winner".
• The revelation that The Doctor's been making newlyweds Amy and Rory sleep in bunk-beds!
• The working title for this episode was "The House Of Nothing", which I kind of prefer. It was also known as "Bigger On The Inside" for awhile.
• Did you catch The Doctor referring to "himself, or herself"? That surely confirms that Time Lords can change gender, right?
• It was fun to see another Ood, particularly now they have luminous green eyes. Or have they always had those?

written by Neil Gaiman / directed by Richard Clark / 14 May 2011 / BBC One

Next time...

Read more...

'COMMUNITY' 2.23 & 2.24 – "A Fistful Of Paintballs" & "For A Few Paintballs More"

Last year's seminal episode "Modern Warfare" (commonly referred to as "the paintball episode") cemented Community's reputation as television's most creative, geek-friendly and imaginative comedy. A pastiche of the action genre (directed by Fast & Furious' Justin Lin) is turned the corridors of Greendale Community College into the setting for a Battle Royale-meet-28 Days Later scenario with the characters all competing for the inscrutable "prize" the last man standing will win. It was a dizzying concoction of in-jokes, hilarity, pop-culture references and surprisingly exciting action sequences, and one that a lesser show wouldn't even contemplate trying to top. Only, this season, they topped it...

The two-part season 2 finale "A Fistful Of Paintballs" and "For A Few Paintballs More" was twice as fun, twice as clever, twice as rich, and twice as exciting. It may have repeated the basic concept of last year's revered episode (everyone on campus turns feral with paintguns, in order to win a $100,000 prize), but improved on practically everything. This time the paintball knockout tournament had a sponsor in Pistol Patty's Cowboy Creamery, allowing the first part in particular to develop a Western theme and riff on Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy", as the core characters split and once again had their friendship and loyalty tested. Of particular interest was Annie (Alison Brie) becoming a sultry cowgirl with a quickdraw more impressive than her cleavage; Jeff's (Joel McHale) Alpha Male status was tested by the arrival of mysterious bounty hunter "The Black Rider" (Lost's Josh Holloway); and Pierce (Chevy Chase) becoming the leader of a makeshift "town" with a strict no-gun policy.

The second part refused to rest on its laurels, instead lessening the Western motifs and taking the story to the next level -- a mix of Star Wars and war movies in general, with Abed (Danny Pudi) managing to woo Annie by channeling his inner Han Solo, and the Pistol Patty mascot playing the Darth Vader role as Greendale's residents became "rebels" to eradicate. In a neat twist, Patty was revealed to be the Dean or rival City College (a black man inside the creamy-white suit, subverting Vader's race-bending reveal in Jedi), and this turned the whole situation into that of a hostile takeover bid.

There are too many highlights to choose from, truth be told: the awesome gatling-paintgun in the Saving Private Ryan-like climax, the surprisingly hot kiss between Abed and Annie as the sprinkler system doused everyone in orange paint; The Black Rider in general (were his twin rifles a nod to Hot Fuzz?), Troy's Blazing Saddles-inspired yellow Sheriff costume; Pierce's faking of heart attacks to get himself out of tough spots; Chang (Ken Jeong) being obliterated by a volley of paint ("am I out?"); Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) nearing orgasm as Dean Steven whispered in his ear; the Stormtrooper-esque paintballers; Magnitude's (Luke Youngblood) death scene in Troy's hands ("Pop? Pop-what?"); Shirley's (Yvette Nicole Brown) inability to buy into the fantasy ("Can we move this along? I'm missing CSI"); Jeff's "hero moment" coming to a comically abrupt end; the Inception-like music throughout; the brilliant way Pierce's underhandedness saved the day; and the epilogue with Abed and the janitor who has to spend his summer mopping up the paint-splattered school.

Community's essentially a playground and make-believe episodes such as this are the moments when the show can embrace its considerably skill at Michel Gondry-ian creativity. There's no other TV show around that has the skill and budget to pull off these kind of episodes and somehow make it all look effortless and endlessly re-watchable. The way it also keep an eye on the characters is also rather wonderful – especially here, where Pierce's divisive treatment all season ended with a redemption that also earned out respect and sympathy. The final scene, with Pierce admitting he's attended Greendale for 12 years, and how the study group were the first people to befriend him, was rather moving. The fact the season ends with Pierce's self-imposed exile from the group was also a nice cliffhanger, although it surely can't be too long before he's back in the fold for season 3. Or will creator Dan Harmon take this opportunity to somehow refresh the show? Season 2, while far from terrible, definitely wasn't as sharp with the characters, and seemed to occasionally have fun with the format (an animated episode!) while allowing the characters to drift somewhat (Chang was used very inconsistently, Shirley's pregnancy wasn't very engaging.)

Overall, this was a tremendous two-part finale to what's been a great second term with the Community troupe. It just pains me this show's practically unknown in the UK, having only aired season 1 on obscure music channel Viva. It would be a fantastic purchase for Sky1 or E4, and I just can't see why there's not more British network interest in procuring it. It's proven to be the funniest and most innovative comedy around right now, with almost every episode taking an opportunity to deconstruct pop-culture or stretch the limits of what you perceive can be done on a US TV comedy budget. Added to that, it's so immensely likable because of the talented cast and the sharp material they're working with.

written by Andrew Guest (2.23) & Hilary Winston (2.24) / directed by Joe Russo / 5 & 12 May 2011 / NBC

Read more...

My Full-Star TV Reviews of 2010

I'm notorious for rarely giving out "full star" ratings for episodes of the TV shows I watch. I've reviewed approximately 250 TV episodes this year, but only 11 episodes achieved top marks from me. Am I miserly or too difficult to please? Quite possibly. But at least you know the shows that manage to get maximum stars are worth watching, even if they're often highly rated because they mark the culmination of a season/series (and consequently a long storyline.) Below are excerpts from my "full star" reviews of 2010, assembled for your reading pleasure in ascending order of greatness:

'24', 8.23-8.24 – "2:00PM – 4:00PM"

It definitely felt like the end of an era watching a bloodied Jack limp off for his movie adventures. 24's kept the quality surprisingly high for a TV series with such a rigid format, kept on air three years past its prime. Except for the deplorable Day 6, the show never gave us a season of television I didn't enjoy on some level, and the early years were genuine weekly thrills that I'll always have strong memories of. Some of the events and situations 24 presented us with seem passé these days (remember when a terrorist nuke being detonated in a remote desert felt raw and shocking?), but that's a testament to how much the series changed the game and upped the ante for thrillers everywhere. Continue reading...

'CHUCK' 3.18-3.19 – "Chuck Versus The Subway"
& "Chuck Versus The Ring: Part II"

If there's one thing that impresses me about Chuck it's the show's ability to pull off consistently excellent season finales that manage to freshen, evolve and incrementally mature the series. "Chuck Versus The Subway" and "Chuck Versus The Ring: Part II" were two of the best episodes Chuck has produced, which is remarkable considering we've just finished the third season of a show that felt in danger of early suffocation... Continue reading...

'SHERLOCK' 1.3 – "The Great Game"

The episode was stuffed with incidents and the show's trademark deductions, making this episode feel like we essentially got half-a-dozen mini-adventures in one feature-length shebang. The addition of a ticking clock element elicited extra tension, as Sherlock raced around London trying to solve his opponent's mental obstacle course, although perhaps more could have been done to emphasize the against-the-clock element. Occasionally superimposing numbers to show the remaining hours left to crack each mystery worked fine, but I couldn't help feeling a constant ticking clock would have kept the anxiety simmering better. Continue reading...

'DOCTOR WHO' 5.12 – "The Pandorica Opens"

The return of Steven Moffat to guide series 5 to its conclusion worked very well in terms of untangling this year's deeper puzzle, and certainly did a nifty job of retroactively making previous episodes feel more relevant and interesting, with regards to the overall arc. "The Pandorica Opens" delivered an abundance of action, adventure, chills, thrills, explanations, and ridiculously big stakes that actually made sense. It wasn't perfect, but it came damned close, and was certainly an impressive hour of ambitious British sci-fi action that left you desperate to see next week's conclusion. Continue reading...

'BOARDWALK EMPIRE' 1.1 – "Boardwalk Empire"

This confluence of writer Terence Winter (The Sopranos) and director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas) is as prosperous, satisfying, and exciting as you could hope. HBO’s crime epic Boardwalk Empire begins with a fascinating and beautifully-crafted 75-minute drama that introduces Atlantic City (circa 1920), the coastal town’s feted treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, and people whose lives will be changed by the onset of Prohibition... Continue reading...

'BREAKING BAD' 3.13 – "Full Measure"

My overriding feeling is that this was Breaking Bad's finest season, and easily the best drama on television so far this year. The performance are sublime (it was great to see actors other than Cranston come to the fore this year, too), the writers are capable of squeezing tension from the most unlikely of places, and the direction has been exceptional (the Cousins two-pronged attack on Hank's car, Rian Johnson's creative "Fly"). There's always room for improvement, but this episode set the stage for a fourth season of significant change. Walt's professional relationship with Gus is going to be strained (to put it mildly!), so he'll surely have to find a way to appease Gus, earn back his trust, then kill him at some point. The show appears to be headed in the direction of Walt and Jesse becoming the city's drug barons (battle-hardened by the events of this season), and I'm eager to see exactly how the writers get us there... Continue reading...

'BREAKING BAD' 3.12 – "Half Measures"

What can you say? "Half Measures" was another incredible episode; a beautifully simple storyline that got under the skin of Jesse and provoked some interesting decisions and emotions from Walt, too. Walt's been drifting through this season slightly, sucked into Gus's world to be his meth-making monkey, despite knowing his percentage of the product Gus sells is grossly unfair. But there are now signs of a resurgence. Of Walt taking control once again. Skyler is showing a few signs of compromise at home, he may soon have a money laundering business in the Car Wash that's comparable to Gus's fast-food restaurant, and maybe if Gus was out of the picture he could get his hands on the super-lab to use for himself? Is that where all this is heading? Continue reading...

'MAD MEN' 4.7 – "The Suitcase"

Overall, "The Suitcase" definitely ranks as one of Mad Men's best hours; packed full of funny, perceptive and emotional moments. It also marks a clear turning point in the Don/Peggy relationship, symbolized in the final scene when Don tells Peggy she can leave his office door open. He's no longer a closed book to her. Continue reading...

'MAD MEN' 3.13 – "Shut The Door. Have A Seat"

A momentous, emotive and gripping end to what's been a strong third season that only suffered from a relatively slack start and infrequent use of Don. Otherwise, this year's been just as mesmerizing and poignant as always, with some very strong episodes in the latter half especially. "Shut The Door. Have A Seat" saw the razing of the two pillars in Don's life: his marriage and his career, and only one was able to rise from the ashes... Continue reading...

'FRINGE' 2.18 – "White Tulip"

The best episodes of Fringe splice a compelling sci-fi idea to relatable human emotions; a balance the show doesn't always succeed at. But that's why the recent "Peter" was so memorable, with its focus on Walter's grief and guilt over his son's origins bolstering a simplistic, pulp sci-fi storyline. It's also why so much of Olivia and Peter's storylines never seem to ignite. Olivia hasn't had a believable connection to anyone since her fiance died in season 1 (recently she's just been taking advice from a bowling alley mystic), and Peter's main function on the show is to interpret Walter's technobabble and spew snarky rejoinders. But "White Tulip" got everything just right, with a clever and stirring hour of entertainment that ranks as one of my favourite Fringe's... Continue reading...

'BREAKING BAD' 3.7 – "One Minute"

There are no superlatives to do justice to those final moments, and everything prior to that was rock solid character building. This was the kind of episode that reminds me why I love the long-form storytelling of television, where spending so much time with characters results in pay-off that can strikes a hammer to your heart. You're feeling every sting of pain and anguish these characters are going through now, and it's simply stunning to watch. If you're not watching Breaking Bad, you're missing the best thing on television. Continue reading...

Read more...

'MAD MEN' 4.7 - "The Suitcase"

The Stateside buzz from this episode has been deafening, and "The Suitcase" thankfully justified the hoopla. For the majority of its run-time this was a two-hander between Don (Jon Hamm) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), together at work after-hours, and as two of the most compelling characters, it made for a gripping and informative hour for both.

On the eve of a boxing match between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston, Don's stewing over a commercial for Samsonite suitcases, being unimpressed by Peggy, Stan (Jay R. Ferguson), Joey (Matt Long), and Danny's (Danny Siegel) pitch for a football-themed advert with an endorsement from NFL quarterback Joe Namath. Still, the idea of promoting the Samsonite's toughness and durability at least felt like the right direction, and prompted Don to start brainstorming campaigns using that angle. The Samsonite account became something of a welcome distraction, too, after Miss Blankenship (Randee Heller) informed him of an urgent phone call from Stephanie (Caity Lotz) in California, the niece of Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton), who's no doubt calling with bad news about Anna's terminal cancer.

With the workforce leaving to watch the big fight, Don instead retired to his office to create the troublesome Samsonite commercial by himself, refusing to join Roger (John Slattery) for an evening in the company of teetotal Freddy Rumsen and Pond's Cal Rutledge. Peggy is also leaving for a 26th birthday dinner with drippy boyfriend Mark (Blake Bashoff), but made the mistake of checking on Don before she leaves, finding herself on the receiving end of his sharp tongue over the Samsonite failure. Unwilling to reveal her dinner date, Peggy reluctantly agreed to stay behind and help Don think up a better commercial, and so began a long evening of arguments, revelations, and even a brawl...

Don and Peggy are two of my favourite characters, and considering how the world of Mad Men was first introduced through naive Peggy's eyes, I've always considered her the audience proxy, to an extent. An episode that pairs them together was always going to be fun, but "The Suitcase" found real heart, darkness and humour that took things to a higher level.

It was a joy to see Duck (Mark Moses) make a proper comeback, as I thought his appearance last week at the Clio awards was just a fun cameo, but here we saw him drunkenly trying to rebuild his life and career by lurking Peggy away from SCDP with the promise of making her his Creative Director in a fictitious startup agency targeting women. It was an offer that flattered her, although she sensed how Duck's scheme is pie in the sky.

Peggy's argument with Don over his poaching of her Glo-Coat idea, which earned him a Clio award in which he didn't mention her input during his acceptance speech, was also a wonderful flashpoint. Don fighting his corner, claiming she's being immature for wanting approval all the time, and saying the money she earns is thanks enough. This episode often felt like a psychological boxing match -- Clay versus Litton becoming Draper versus Olson -- as they battled for supremacy while trying to hammer out the Samsonite advert. There were even seconds-out with the pair returning to their "corners": Peggy in a rest room, crying in anguish; Don slumped in his sofa. The boxing allegory even became physical when Duck arrived in the office, steaming drunk and planning to leave an equally steaming turd on an office chair. Duck and Don then drunkenly fought over Peggy's honour, with Duck surprisingly getting the upper-hand over the tipsy Don -- perhaps because he's seen real wartime combat and knows how to handle himself better.

There were plenty of opportunities for Peggy to leave Don and the situation behind, especially when he realized she was giving up a birthday treat with her boyfriend and gave her permission to go, but she always found an excuse to stay. And after hearing Mark's arranged a surprise party with her family attending, it was obvious Peggy took his gesture as evidence Mark doesn't really understand her desires. That's not to suggest she thinks Don would be better boyfriend material, but she's certainly developing maternal feelings for him -- bizarrely, given she's younger than he is. And for Don their bond is becoming tighter, too.

When Don finally made the call to California in the morning, having seen an apparition of Anna in his office during the night (clutching a suitcase, off on her final journey...), the confirmation of her death caused him to break down in front of Peggy. A magnificent shot; asleep Peggy sudden revealed as sitting upright on his sofa, having overheard his most private conversation. Don reveals that "the only person in the world who really knew me" has died, and Peggy's response "that's not true" appears to signal that Anna's torch has been accepted by her. Indeed, Peggy's seen more of Don/Dick than most other people. Don's even told Peggy things about his past he'd usually be very tight-lipped about the night before, including how his father died after getting kicked in the head by a horse.

Overall, "The Suitcase" definitely ranks as one of Mad Men's best hours; packed full of funny, perceptive and emotional moments. It also marks a clear turning point in the Don/Peggy relationship, symbolized in the final scene when Don tells Peggy she can leave his office door open. He's no longer a closed book to her.

Aside

• In an episode heaving with brilliant moments, one of my favourite was Don listening to Roger's audio-tapes with Peggy, revealing that Bert Cooper has had an unnecessary orchiectomy (castration) and once slept with "queen of perversions" Miss Blankenship! The mystery of Roger's earlier comment about a Dr Lyle Evans was also revealed: he was actually the surgeon who removed Cooper's testicles!

WRITER: Matthew Weiner
DIRECTOR: Jennifer Getzinger
GUEST CAST: Matt Long, Blake Bashoff, Alison Brie, Cara Buono, Jessica Pare, Jay R. Ferguson, Danny Strong, Melinda Page Hamilton, Caity Lotz, Randee Heller, Audrey Wasilewski, Jerry O'Donnell, Myra Turley & Mark Moses
TRANSMISSION: 20 October 2010 -- BBC4/HD, 10PM

Read more...

'BOARDWALK EMPIRE' 1.1 - "Boardwalk Empire"

Today over at Obsessed With Film: I review the feature-length opening episode of HBO's period gangster epic BOARDWALK EMPIRE, starring Steve Buscemi and directed by Martin Scorsese...

"This confluence of writer Terence Winter (The Sopranos) and director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas) is as prosperous, satisfying, and exciting as you could hope. HBO’s crime epic Boardwalk Empire begins with a fascinating and beautifully-crafted 75-minute drama that introduces Atlantic City (circa 1920), the coastal town’s feted treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, and people whose lives will be changed by the onset of Prohibition..." Continue reading...

Read more...

'SHERLOCK' 1.3 – "The Great Game"

[SPOILERS] Beyond a few quibbles, Mark Gatiss's "The Great Game" was a breathlessly assured finale to this three-part drama. It's just a pity Sherlock wasn't twice as long, if only to increase Moriarty's mystique before he made his on-screen debut as Sherlock's (Benedict Cumberbatch) archenemy, as his arrival felt slightly premature. Is there a risk this series has blown its load early? Isn't this akin to reintroducing the Daleks three episodes into Doctor Who's revival? Whatever your opinion, "The Great Game" was an early dessert of knotty narrative, delicious characterisation, spry action, and juicy thrills...

"The Great Game" was essentially Sherlock-meets-Die Hard With A Vengeance, with the despondent sleuth spurred into action by Lestrade (Rupert Graves) to foil a mad bomber who's fascinated by Sherlock's deductive reasoning and observational talent. Expectedly revealed to be his "number one fan" Moriarty, the bomber's plan involves kidnapping innocent people, outfitting them with explosives, and having them read out clues via phone to a particular mystery Sherlock must solve before an allotted period of time has passed... or else consign the kidnapped clue-readers to a fiery oblivion.

A handful of baffling conundrums were posed; involving a pair of old trainers with a connection to Sherlock's childhood, a daytime TV presenter killed by tetanus, a victim of infamous Prague hitman "The Golem", a counterfeit painting valued at £30 million, and the staged death of a car salesman -- together with an additional case brought to Sherlock's attention by his brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss), about stolen MoD missile defense plans and a body found laying by the side of a railway track.

The episode was stuffed with incidents and the show's trademark deductions, making this episode feel like we essentially got half-a-dozen mini-adventures in one feature-length shebang. The addition of a ticking clock element elicited extra tension, as Sherlock raced around London trying to solve his opponent's mental obstacle course, although perhaps more could have been done to emphasize the against-the-clock element. Occasionally superimposing numbers to show the remaining hours left to crack each mystery worked fine, but I couldn't help feeling a constant ticking clock would have kept the anxiety simmering better.

This episode did a particularly fine job of drawing Sherlock as a self-confessed sociopath; more a violin-playing insect than a human being, at times. A man who overcomes boredom by taking potshots at his livingroom's wall with a gun, admits his ignorance of things beyond his immediate concerns (the Earth revolving around the Sun was news to him!), is often so engrossed in work that he has poor John (Martin Freeman) fish his phone from his own coat pocket, keeps a decapitated head in his fridge, and in one bravely contemptible scene manipulated a grieving woman by pretending to be an inconsolable friend (stirring tears in himself just to wheedle information from her). In less skilled hands Sherlock would already be TV's biggest bastard, but the joy of this series has been seeing such despicable traits in a person work in an oddly sympathetic way. Sherlock's a genius whose work feeds his ego, but he's clearly suffering from a type of autism, too.

It was great to see John Watson grow in this episode; encouraged to try and deduce things by Sherlock -- who couldn't help criticizing his friend's relatively feeble effort with a trainer. What works is the sense that John's having a positive effect on Sherlock, however marginally right now. We haven't had enough episodes to see the evolution clearly, but undoubtedly the intention is that two halves make a crime-fighting whole.

Naturally, there were some downsides to this jam-packed finale. The storyline didn't really need 90-minutes to tell its tale; so, consequently, a feeling of exhaustion seeped into the episode halfway through. There were simply so many crises for Sherlock to solve that they became a little overwhelming. If Moriarty had only concocted three devilish cases for his nemesis to solve, I think this story would have been fresher and tighter at an hour.

Paul McGuigan returned behind the camera and surpassed his own estimable work from "A Study In Pink", giving the production a richness and visual pizazz that other UK dramas must envy. I particularly enjoyed the planetarium brawl against The Golem (Sherlock's version of Jaws from the James Bond movies?), which was given a delirious feel via the room's video projector malfunctioning to create a strobing effect with a scratching audio track. The climactic sequence set in a spooky, rippling indoor swimming pool was also incredibly cinematic. Is there any chance McGuigan can be persuaded to lend his keen eye to Doctor Who?

Speaking of the climax, I'm sure the unveiling of Moriarty surprised most people watching. This being the brainchild of two writers famed for their involvement with Doctor Who, it was unavoidable we'd expect them to cast a celebrity in such an iconic role (a John Simm, Derek Jacobi, or Timothy Dalton, say). Instead, rather brilliantly, little-known Irish actor Andrew Scott took the role, keeping his native accent and playing literature's first supervillain as a highly intelligent, lyrical, cunning, and chillingly playful "consultant criminal". A performance that wasn't anything like I expected, but all the better for it.

As a miniseries, Sherlock proved itself an immediate critical success and a hit with audiences, so there will definitely be more from this update (hopefully in greater quantity). But I think it's worth remembering that Sherlock isn't perfect yet: the female characters were practically non-existent, and the few involved were given little to do. Giving John a girlfriend had great potential, but Sarah (Zoe Telfer) was sidelined for the majority of the two episodes she only briefly appeared in, and landlady Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) was nothing but a walking cliché. I also think D.I Lestrade was a sore disappointment, only adequately portrayed by Graves, and too obviously used as a plot-device (introducing Sherlock to each case, asking expositional questions at crime scenes). I'd love to see his character and back-story fleshed out in future.

Still, none of that can overshadow what's been a marvelous Sunday night treat that took the potentially embarrassing conceit of updating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters and made it work, thanks to a combination of excellent casting, slick direction, and witty scripts. It's going to be tough waiting to see the resolution to the cliffhanger -- with Sherlock perhaps opting to defeat Moriarty by detonating a discarded booby-trapped vest (my money's on Sherlock and John surviving its explosion by diving into the nearby pool) -- but I'll definitely be watching to find out for sure...

It's elementary.

Asides

• Sherlock finally whips out his iconic magnifying glass, which is naturally a stylish modern version resembling an extendable plastic slide.
• I thought Mycroft worked better this week because Gatiss played him less broadly, but I hope he won't always be used in such a manipulative way for the benefit of the story. He's invaluable as someone who can puncture Sherlock's hard, insensitive shell... so I'd like to see him used in a more interesting way.
• A simple idea, but having Moriarty's potential victims address Sherlock over a phone was incredibly haunting, and a great way to update the idea of Moriarty as someone who lurks in the shadows and doesn't get his hands dirty.
• Is it realistic that John is allowed to blog about cases he solves with Sherlock? I know they're not active investigations now, but still.
• You may recognize Andrew Scott as Paul McCartney from the recent BBC4 biopic Lennon Naked. But if you do, Sherlock has competition!
• One aspect of this finale I enjoyed was how the reveal of Moriarty tested the audience's own observational skills, as Moriarty had actually already appeared earlier as Jim, the "gay friend" of the lab assistant who fancies Sherlock. Very clever. I certainly didn't recognize him, until Moriarty himself mentioned his earlier disguise.

WRITER: Mark Gatiss
DIRECTOR: Paul McGuigan
GUEST CAST: Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Zoe Telford, Louise Brealey, Andrew Scott, Vinette Robinson, Matthew Needham, Kemal Sylvester, San Shella, Deborah Moore, Laurence Crace, Nicholas Gadd, Caroline Trowbridge, Paul Alberson, Rita Davies, Di Botcher, John Sessions, Stefano Braschi, Jeany Spark, Alison Lintott, Haydn Gywnne, Doug Allen, John Lebar & Lynn Farleigh
TRANSMISSION: 1 August 2010 – BBC1/HD, 9PM

Read more...

'DOCTOR WHO' 5.12 – "The Pandorica Opens"

[SPOILERS] The return of Steven Moffat to guide series 5 to its conclusion worked very well in terms of untangling this year's deeper puzzle, and certainly did a nifty job of retroactively making previous episodes feel more relevant and interesting, with regards to the overall arc. "The Pandorica Opens" delivered an abundance of action, adventure, chills, thrills, explanations, and ridiculously big stakes that actually made sense. It wasn't perfect, but it came damned close, and was certainly an impressive hour of ambitious British sci-fi action that left you desperate to see next week's conclusion.

The extended opening was the kind of dizzying treat only this show is capable of pulling off on TV right now; The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan) were appraised of a dire warning from Vincent Van Gogh (Tony Curran), by way of a painting that found its way first to Winston Churchill's (Iain McNeice) bunker and then to an imprisoned River Song (Alex Kingston) in the distant future. The difficulty in getting word to a Time Lord who could be anywhere and anywhen was already played with in "The Time Of Angels", but it proved just as interesting and exciting here, as River eventually snagged The Doctor's attention by etching "HELLO SWEETIE" on an ancient cliff-face with co-ordinates pointed to Roman Britain...

Arriving on the outskirts of Stonehenge, The Doctor saw Van Gogh's painted premonition that his TARDIS will be destroyed (assumedly causing the "cracks in the universe" that have been scattered throughout most episodes this series), and with the help of River had to get to the bottom of the mythical Pandorica – a large prison-cube buried beneath Stonehenge, in the so-called "Underhenge", that's mysteriously started to open while broadcasting a signal that's alerted every single one of The Doctor's enemies -- from Daleks and Cybermen, to Sontarons and Sycorax. Can The Doctor prevent the TARDIS from being destroyed and causing these worrisome time-cracks before it happens? Can he defeat thousands his greatest enemies, all swirling above Stonehenge in countless spaceships? What's inside the ominous Pandorica? Why has the Rory (Arthur Darvill) , who was erased from existence in "Cold Blood", suddenly reappeared as a Roman soldier? And why is Amy and her peculiarly nonsensical life the key to solving this maddening riddle?

"The Pandorica Opens" was modern Doctor Who at its most creative and exciting best, expertly weaving together a story in the confident and spritely manner we've come to expect from Steven Moffat. Ultimately telling a simple story, this meant there was time to have fun in different corners of the plot; from the teaser's joyous leaping about in space-time (reacquainting ourselves with guest stars from recent episodes), to wonderful action sequences (Amy being attacked by a Cyberman's disembodied head with "tentacles" sprouting from the neck, a la The Thing), and the fact the mysteries over Amy and the Pandorica were explained in a fairly intelligent and rational way. Given most fan's annoyance about Russell T. Davies' similarly bombastic finales suffering from a paucity of logic and dues ex machina solutions, this was by far the most satisfying aspect of "The Pandorica Opens": a story that came together in the telling, connecting snugly. Let’s hope that continues into next week.

For the few people still scratching their heads: The Doctor's enemies had calculated the universe-threatening cracks were caused by the exploding TARDIS in the near-future, so had scanned Amy's memories as a child to create a scenario designed to get their common enemy into the Pandorica prison-box using his own companion. It was essentially a trap designed specifically for him -- taking millennia to achieve, if you consider that they must have built that Pandorica (and Stonehenge itself?) purely for this purpose of neutralizing the last Time Lord, once and for all.

What more can be said? Part 1 of this finale was gripping and enthralling stuff from beginning to end, with any bumps in the road forgotten about within seconds. The tense ending served up three mini-climaxes that would have made a fitting cliffhanger individually, too: Amy shot in the stomach by her fiancé (revealed to be an Auton doppelganger) seconds after she regained her memories of the lover she lost; River Song trapped in the TARDIS as it was apparently destroyed by whatever force has been controlling it, and the defeated Doctor frogmarched into the Pandorica (a prison created from the imagination of his own trusted companion), finally outwitted by an alliance of his greatest enemies.

Easily the best episode of this series (and maybe for a good few years), "The Pandorica Opens" also found both Matt Smith and Karen Gillan on fine form together -- arguably because Moffat's still the only writer attuned to their particular characters. Certainly that feels more true of Amy, under his pen. Smith's been good all year considering the daunting challenge of stepping into David Tennant's shoes as an unknown actor with a less photogenic look, but his rock star-like diatribe to the armadas buzzing above Stonehenge seemed to cement his ownership of the role. He wasn't just The Eleventh Doctor here, now he's The Doctor. Gillan was also a lot better than she's been recently, particularly in her entertaining tussel with an injured Cyberman and the emotional moment of her struggling to remember Rory. Speaking of which, it was a nice surprise that the Amy/Rory relationship somehow overcame its flaws in that moments --possibly because of Murray Gold's stirring music (very Michael Giacchino for that scene, no?), but also because true love trying to overcome death is inherently more interesting than unconvincing lover's tiffs.

Fantastic episode; let's hope "The Big Bang" lives up to its title as next week's conclusion.

Asides

• One fascinating aspect of this episode is how the villains formed an alliance to defeat their common enemy, whom they believed will cause the end of reality itself, and that's a very understandable reaction! Of course, The Doctor won't be proven responsible for the "cracks" and is the only one who can actually save the day, but you can see where the villains were coming from.
• There were some fantastic production values here. I assume that's because series 5 actually had two "cheap" episodes in which to conserve budget for the finale ("Amy's Choice" and "The Lodger"). The alien world in the teaser, the twinkling ships flying around Stonehenge like something from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, and the intricate Pandorica's external workings were especially good effects. Kind of makes you wish the BBC would double the show's budget, or they co-financed it with a big US broadcaster, a la Torchwood.
• This episode marks director Toby Haynes' Who debut, having previously worked on Being Human.
• I'm a little confused about why Winston Churchill didn’t just call The Doctor directly on his phone about the painting, rather than River Song. Maybe I missed a line of dialogue to hazily explain that? Also, how did River know The Doctor would visit that cliff to see her message?
• The enemies united to defeat The Doctor were: the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Autons, the Slitheen, the Sycorax, the Atraxi, the Sontarons, the Zygons (last seen in 1975's "Terror Of The Zygons"), the Drahvins (last seen in 1965's "Galaxy 4"), the Draconians, the Terileptils, the Nestene, the Drahvins, the Hoix, the Judoon, the Silurians, and the Chelonians. Not all were seen on screen.
• For River Song, this adventure is taking place before "The Time Of Angels" and "The Silence In Library" adventures, so she obviously survives the TARDIS being destroyed -- right? But as she's clearly aware of The Doctor while locked in her Stormcage prison, we can clearly expect more adventures to come. It'll be fun to see the day when, to River, The Doctor is a complete stranger! And maybe there's even a reason Churchill has River's phone number?
• Who is controlling the TARDIS, intent on its destruction so that "silence will fall"? A villain we haven't seen before? The return of a familiar foe, like Davros of The Master? Or something more mindbending?
• If this episode was all about The Doctor's enemies succeeding in eliminating him, might his friends come to his rescue next week? Let's see, you have the Ood, Captain Jack, River Song... oh, and the rest are all humans without the capability of time-travel, damn. Unless one of them releases him in the present-day, echoing a situation that happened to Captain Jack in that Torchwood episode.

WRITER: Steven Moffat
DIRECTOR: Toby Haynes
GUEST CAST: Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, Iain McNeice, Sophie Okonedo, Tony Curran & Nicholas Briggs (voice)
AIRDATE/CHANNEL: 19 JUNE 2010: BBC1/HD, 6.40PM

Read more...

'BREAKING BAD' 3.13 - "Full Measure"

[SPOILERS] Was there any doubt the third season finale would be so relentlessly gripping and fascinating to watch unfold? "Full Measure" went down some interesting alleys; some of which I didn't expect, others I thought they'd avoided mid-season, and ended on a scene to leave you gnashing your teeth in frustration until season 4 rocks up...

Another of this season's flashbacks opened the finale, giving us a glimpse of a younger Walt (Bryan Cranston) and pregnant Skyler (Anna Gunn) buying their first home together, planning for a rosy future with three children and no financial worries because of Walt's job at the Sandia Laboratory. "We've got nowhere to go but up," Walt assures his wife. Cut to the present-day, where suspended chemistry teacher and cancer sufferer Walt's having to explain to a local drug kingpin why he murdered two of his street dealers in a desert rendezvous. How times change.

Walt has the upper-hand with Gus (Giancarlo Esposita) because he's the only quality meth-cook in town, and production can't afford to shut-down anytime soon. Assuring Gus of his total loyalty from hereon in, and that the troublesome Jesse (Aaron Paul) is out of the picture for good, this appears to satisfy the disgruntled Gus. Naturally, nobody is telling the absolute truth here: Jesse's actually still in town, hiding out at the Laser Tag arcade Saul (Bob Odenkirk) wants to use to launder Walt's millions, and Gus has plans to let Gale (David Costabile) return as Walt's new lab partner with the express purpose of learning his meth recipe and procedures so he can takeover. Gus even went to Gale's house in person, enquiring about how fast he can replace Walt, ostensibly concerned that Walt's cancer means he won't be around for long. Of course, Walt's neck a metaphorical noose around it, ready to be lynched once he loses his uniqueness.

We actually got to know three supporting characters a little better throughout this episode. World-weary "cleaner" Mike (Jonathan Banks) was shown to be a doting grandfather, amusingly using his granddaughter's helium balloons to disable power lines to a chemical supply warehouse, seconds before he raided the premises single-handed to eliminate four gunmen from the Mexican cartel who are apparently "probing for weakness" in Gus's operation. One of many beautiful sequences, if something of an extravagance to eat up some time. But who doesn't like watching Mike shoot two men with one bullet, or outmanoeuvre another with a frightened Chinese woman's shoe?

Saul also went up in my estimation, after Mike pressured him to release information about where Jesse's hiding, still intending to cut-off that loose end at Gus's behest. As unctuous and self-serving as Saul can be at times, it turns out he's actually very loyal -- feeding Mike inaccurate information to buy Walt and Jesse some time. He may not be happy that his own P.I has turned against him, but he's more willing to side with reasonable people like Walt than cosy up to the city's underworld boss. Or perhaps he just knows Walt and Jesse are easy streams of revenue, if left alone to do what they do best.

The crux of this episode came down to a terrible, life-changing decision. Walt's further down the path to blackening his soul than Jesse is, having committed murder last week, but sensing that Gus is plotting to have Gale takeover his job, Walt decides the only way to assure his safety is to make himself invaluable as a chemist. And that meant eliminating his closest competitor: quiet, modest science nerd Gale. A hit he wanted Jesse to perpetrate, seeing as he owes him his life and should return the favour likewise, but realizes he's asking too much of his partner-in-crime and resolves to do it himself if Jesse gets him Gale's home address.

This sets up the final act's teeth-clenching tension, with Walt leaving his house late at night, intending to drive over to Gale's apartment and assassinate him in cold blood, but instead being picked up by Gus's henchman Victor (Jeremiah Bitsui) and taken to the super-lab -- supposedly to repair a chemical leak, but in actuality the waiting Mike's been ordered to kill Walt so that apprentice Gale can step into a dead man's boots.

Walt's already been quite a wily character all this episode (talking himself out of immediate danger with the angry Gus, keeping Jesse safe with help from Saul), and even when backed into a corner his alter-ego Heisenberg's cooking up a plan. In offering to lure Jesse out into the open for Mike to kill him instead, Walt used the call to quickly appraise Jesse of his situation and order him to carry out the hit on Gale, before informing Mike of the gambit he's playing: if Mike kills Walt and Jesse kills Gale, Gus is left with nobody to cook meth and a calamitous gap in meth production now the cartel's beginning to sniff around. And that in turn lead to the heart-stopping tension of Jesse arriving at Gale's house, under life-or-death orders to pull the trigger on likeable Gale when he answered the door... and indeed firing the supposedly fatal shot. But did he shoot Gale dead, given the ambivalent camera position? Well, yes. Vince Gilligan has confirmed Jesse went through with the hit. So now Walt and Jesse have both "broken bad" to an extent they can't rationalize to themselves. They're murderers, plain and simple. And now they've killed a decent man just to keep themselves on the payroll of a criminal who clearly has no qualms about murdering them once they outgrow their usefulness.

Overall, "Full Measure" was a great ending to what's been a wonderful season of television, although I'm not sure season 3's quite the masterpiece other people are painting it as. Quite a few subplots were dropped, or didn't really go anywhere that interesting (Skyler and Ted's romance, Jesse stealing the meth), and I still think the writers need to get a better grip on the episodic pacing. "One Moment" was the season's peak, then things went relatively flat until just recently. The show definitely rises and falls every week, which certainly gives it a sense of unpredictability, but also means the storyline comes off as a little too improvised for my taste. For example: the return of Gale in this episode was handled okay, but it would have been nicer if it didn't feel like the writers essentially dropped his story at mid-season just to get Walt and Jesse together in the lab, then came back to continue a storyline with him that people had been predicting would happen the moment he debuted.

Still, these are small concerns and nitpicks. My overriding feeling is that this was Breaking Bad's finest season, and easily the best drama on television so far this year. The performance are sublime (it was great to see actors other than Cranston come to the fore this year, too), the writers are capable of squeezing tension from the most unlikely of places, and the direction has been exceptional (the Cousins two-pronged attack on Hank's car, Rian Johnson's creative "Fly"). There's always room for improvement, but this episode set the stage for a fourth season of significant change. Walt's professional relationship with Gus is going to be strained (to put it mildly!), so he'll surely have to find a way to appease Gus, earn back his trust, then kill him at some point. The show appears to be headed in the direction of Walt and Jesse becoming the city's drug barons (battle-hardened by the events of this season), and I'm eager to see exactly how the writers get us there...

Asides

• I love the little touches: fastidious chemist geek Gale uses an infrared thermometer gun to measure the temperature of his tea, and he owns a telescope (a nod to his love of the poem "When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer"?) Gale also liked patter songs, Stephen King, and Marxism/Leninism.

WRITER & DIRECTOR: Vince Gilligan
GUEST CAST: Kaija Bales, Jeremiah Bitsui, Tiley Chao, David Costabile, Louis Herthum & James Ning
AIRDATE/CHANNEL: 13 JUNE 2010 - AMC, 10|9c

Read more...

'DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES' 6.19 – "We All Deserve To Die"

[SPOILERS] As the sixth season hurtles ever nearer to the upcoming finale, the pace was ramped up this week with a thrilling episode which juggled a multitude of plot progressions for all the major characters, without putting a foot wrong with any of them. Furthermore, a genuinely unpredictable twist revelation at the death (pun fully intended) finally put to bed one of the season's longest running mysteries and tipped an already great episode into a classic. But more about that later...

Firstly, after refusing wife Susan's (Teri Hatcher) help with paying off his business debts, proud family provider Mike Delfino (James Denton) saw his work truck get repossessed. While Susan is busy paying-off the neighbourhood to call on her husband's plumbing services in the most unsubtle and clichéd fashion possible (putting cutlery in the food dispenser, clogging a bath's plughole with soil), Mike quietly confesses to friend Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) that his debts are far beyond what Susan imagines. Chequebook in hand, Carlos comes to the rescue. It's handy having rich neighbours, isn't it? Still, it was great to see James Denton flex his acting muscles with his defeated declaration, even if I do agree with Susan's statement that in a marriage there is no you and I, but a united team who should share the load.

Speaking of sharing the load, Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker) made perhaps her least selfish decision ever in "We All Deserve To Die", when she agreed to donate her eggs to help gay couple Bob (Tuc Watkins) and Lee (Kevin Rahm) have the child they so desperately want. Of course she was only privy to the information because she was eavesdropping on the exasperated partners arguing, but it's a start. Right? Well, not quite, as Gaby eventually comes to the realisation that she wouldn't be able to deal with giving away "her" child, and when she backtracks on her "gift", Bob and Lee get into another row which sees Lee dump his love and leave town. Accolades all round for the scene where Gaby is -- for once -- rendered speechless and helplessly walks away from a heartbroken Bob, who is left surmising "it was a lot to ask". Am I alone in hoping Lee makes a quick return and the plucky pair give things another go?

Someone else who I hope makes a quick return is Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), after Bree (Marcia Cross) is reluctantly forced to fire her own son. Again. In an attempt to discredit his smarmy half-brother, Sam Allen (Sam Page), Andrew is outed as a thief when Sam points out the company's books don't tally; clearly this relative stranger is not to be messed with. Not that Bree can see past his perfect smile, even when a make-or-break dinner to certify a book deal is sabotaged and either Andrew or Sam is culpable... Orson (Kyle McLachlan) is on hand to plant the suspicion in his wife's mind, but what is Sam set to gain from such underhanded scheming?

I commented in my review last week of how disappointed I was by Patrick Logan's (John Barrowman) somewhat underwhelming introduction, having been characterised as the "big bad" (to coin a Buffy the Vampire Slayer phrase) all season. To my surprise, he continued his measured approach to confronting runaway ex Angie (Drea De Matteo) this week (well, it has taken him 18 years to get this close, why rush into it now?), but with a menacing undercurrent which made his befriending of Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff) all the more villainous. Innocuously telling his estranged son his life story in the form of a novel he is supposedly writing, Patrick asks for feedback on how his final chapter should end. How wickedly twisted to have poor Danny naively sealing his -- and his mother's -- own fate by brainstorming "dark" conclusions.

On the subject of fate, Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) is certainly not resigned to allowing her son, Parker (Max Carver), to marry Russian bride-to-be, Irina (Helena Mattsson). The housewife is more convinced than ever that the beautiful blonde is after nothing but money, especially after a mystery man phones Irina's mobile to rant at her in Russian about involving the police... a quick visit to immigration later and Lynette is hopeful of something incriminating being uncovered before the fast-approaching big day. An eleventh hour reprieve sees the delivery of Irina's colourful file -- the polygamous gold-digger has been marrying men from around the globe and draining them of their finances before moving on to her next victim. Busted. Watching Lynette make a teary-eyed vow to always be there for her silent and heartbroken son, even if he hates her now, was absorbing television which really highlighted Felicity Huffman's range as an actress. Stunning.

But wait, this rollercoaster episode isn't over yet! The sting in the tail is still to come... her bags hastily packed, Irina is power walking down Wisteria Lane and out of the show as Eddie Orlovsky (Josh Zuckerman) -- long-haired, unfunny friend to the Fairview youth -- pulls up and offers her a lift to the airport. How odd, I thought, given how he was to be a guest at the wedding and surely would support his deceived friend at his time of need. Yet, regardless, he tries his luck at coming on to the sexy Russian who bluntly knocks him back. Bad move. Eddie's quirky (read: irritating) attitude quickly dissolves as he runs his car off the road and into the forest...

In an episode which rarely let up, this was a superb and unanticipated twist -- the weedy, innocuous guy has been parading in front of our eyes the entire series, and now it turns out it was he who strangled Julie Meyer way back in episode one and, no doubt, the waitress in the Coffee Cup also! And there was me blaming Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling)! I don't want to get my hopes up, but judging by the preview clip, next week's episode looks like another corker as we jump around in time to discover just what has unhinged Eddie to the extent that he would commit murder. Looks like season six of Desperate Housewives is going out with a bang.

WRITERS: Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott
DIRECTOR: Larry Shaw
GUEST CAST: John Barrowman, Shawn Pyfrom, Sam Page, Helena Mattsson, Max Carver & Josh Zuckerman
AIRDATE/CHANNEL: 9 JUNE 2010 - CHANNEL 4/HD, 9PM

Read more...

'BREAKING BAD' 3.12 - "Half Measures"

WRITERS: Sam Catlin & Peter Gould
DIRECTOR: Adam Bernstein
GUEST CAST: Jeremiah Bitsui, Antonio Leyba, Angelo Martinez, Julia Minesci, Ian Posada, Emily Rios & Mike Seal

[SPOILERS] A fantastic penultimate episode for what's been an impressive, if oddly-paced, season of Breaking Bad. "Half Measures" did a sterling job of once again taking the show to a whole new level by its thrilling climax.

"Half Measures" cold opened on another arty scene-setter, this one set to The Association's song "Windy", with meth whore Wendy (Julia Minesci) revealed as a provider of fast-food to the two drug dealers Jessie (Aaron Paul) knows were responsible for killing his friend Combo, using the brainwashed kid brother of his girlfriend. This gave Jesse a sinister idea: to poison the dealer's burgers using ricin that Walt (Bryan Cranston) can make, delivered to them using Wendy's regular food-run. It's an idea Walt wanted no part of, despite feeling some parental sympathy for how the dealer's are using kids as drug mules, but he's adamant he won't stoop to murder. "You are not a murderer. I am not, and you are not. It's as simple as that," Walt insisted to Jesse. Words he would inevitably prove very wrong by the time the credits rolled...

The crux of this episode was the moral battle going on between Walt and Jesse, who have a similar ethical code but very different ways of dealing with situations and emotions. Walt prefers avoidance and distraction, so he considered having Jesse wrongly arrested and sent to jail for a month to "cool off", something Saul (Bob Odenkirk) says he can organize with the help of his fixer Mike (Jonathan Banks). But Mike actually visited Walt to refuse the frame-job in person, during a fantastic scene where he told Walt a story about how he did't go through with killing a perennial wife-beater he arrested when he was cop, instead settling on scaring him with a gun in his mouth, then regretting he never pulled the trigger when the man killed his wife a week later. "No more half measures" has become the code Mike's stuck to, and one he believes Walt should follow.

So, instead of push the Jesse problem aside with a temporary fix, Walt tackled it head on by telling Gus (Giancarlo Esposita) that Jesse plans  to kill two of his dealers. This resulted in another superlative scene, with Jesse's solo effort to poison the dealer's food being interrupted by Mike, who drove him away for a round table meeting at Gus's remote chicken farm. Gus, Walt, Jesse, Mike and Combo's two killers all seated together, in a very uncomfortable let's-clear-the-air moment. What interesting me here was seeing Walt place his trust and faith in Gus to fix the situation, but what startled me was seeing Jesse actually stand up to Gus and refuse to blindly make peace with two murderers. A moment almost worth cheerinf for. Jesse's swaggering impertinence appeared to have the desired effect on Gus, who had his employees agree to never use children in their line of work again (as a compromise decision), before everyone shook hands on the deal.

Jesse's drive home in Walt's car threw up an interesting line from Walt ("your actions, they affect other people"), as that's essentially the core problem the characters in Breaking Bad keep running into; every decision they make leads to more destructive events further down the line. The airplane disaster last season, Hank's (Dean Norris) face-off with the Cousins earlier this year... everything has been the result of relatively small decisions stretching right back to the Pilot. And here, Jesse's decisions likewise caused some gut-wrenching ripples. Seeking comfort with his girlfriend Andrea (Emily Rios) for the night, she received a call that her brother Tomas (Angelo Martinez) has been found dead in a playground. The dealers may have agreed to Gus's demands, but in so doing decided to cut ties with their existing "mule" in a manner least likely to cause problems for them in the future. Or possibly as a calculated way to upset Jesse without going against their employer's wishes.

The final scene was another season highlight, with Walt hearing about Tomas's murder on the evenings news before sitting down for dinner with his family, mind ticking over what Jesse must be feeling and what he might do next. Walt knows his partner too well by now, so made his excuses and hurriedly left the house. Across town, Jesse had armed himself and driven to the dealer's street corner, intending to shoot them both dead for killing Tomas. A foolhardy decision on Jesse's part, coming from a place of narrow-minded vengeance, certain to end in his unfortunate death in a two-against-one standoff... that is, until Walt's car bounced into shot at the last second and ran both dealer's over before they could get a shot off. If it wasn't obvious enough that family man Walt had allowed his "Heisenberg" alter-ego to assume control, he then proceeded to coolly shoot the surviving dealer through the head, before telling Jesse to "run".

What can you say? "Half Measures" was another incredible episode; a beautifully simple storyline that got under the skin of Jesse and provoked some interesting decisions and emotions from Walt, too. Walt's been drifting through this season slightly, sucked into Gus's world to be his meth-making monkey, despite knowing his percentage of the product Gus sells is grossly unfair. But there are now signs of a resurgence. Of Walt taking control once again. Skyler (Anna Gunn) is showing a few signs of compromise at home, he may soon have a money laundering business in the Car Wash that's comparable to Gus's fast-food restaurant, and maybe if Gus was out of the picture he could get his hands on the super-lab to use for himself? Is that where all this is heading?

Judging from the final scene, it feels to me that Walt's going to let Jesse take the blame for the dealer's deaths, which will no doubt mean Gus is going to go after him. Part of the reason Walt's been so loyal to Jesse this season is that he feels so much guilt over letting his girlfriend Jane choke to death on her own vomit, so in rescuing Jesse and becoming a murderer on his behalf, are they now quits in his mind?

And does this all leave Walt, the trusted half of the partnership, free to kill Gus in next week's finale? Seeing that news footage appears to have shaken Walt awake to who he's dealing with, realizing he's working for a man who hires child-killers to do his dirty work. Walt's still something of a hero figure for the show, so it'll be interesting to see how his role progresses from here. My guess is he'll still be able to rationalize murder, but killing that dealer's a definite turning point for his character.

Asides

• Great comedic scene between Hank and Marie (Betsy Brandt), who managed to get her husband to leave the hospital by making him bet against her being able to arouse him within a minute. The series is primarily a study of how masculinity and pride can be a destructive force in the world, so it was rather fitting that alpha male Hank was sent home using his uncontrollable dick.
• How will Walt explain the dented car to his son, who's using it to learn how to drive?
• Excellent work from Giancarlo Esposita, who gave us a much sharper version of Gus in this episode. I hope he explodes into rage during the finale. Also worth mentioning Jonathan Banks as Mike, who handled his sermon-like monologue extremely well. In fact, this cast is such a joy everywhere you turn. I'm even enjoying Betsy Brandt's heartfelt moments this year, having previously considered her the "weak link".

6 JUNE 2010: AMC, 10|9c

Read more...