Chuck

You know what inevitably kills a show? When the sexual tension is resolved. I mean if one of the chief reasons you tune in is to see if the guy gets the girl, why tune in after it happens? Did you watch another episode of "Who's the Boss" after Tony and Angela hooked up? Especially if your show is already on the renewal bubble, why do something to reduce viewership?

Well if you don't know what I'm talking bout Chuck finally got together with Sarah. In fact they decided to quit the spy-game and run away together. They are on a train in Europe making plans for their new life when a plot twist approaches, excuse me I meant bad guy. They both recognize him but don't tell the other because they both agreed to get out of the game. Making excuses to each other they separately do some re-con and find out the guy's identity but get in each other's way and discover that they are both working on the same case. They decide to work together to neutralize the bad guy.

Meanwhile, Casey and the bearded one are back at the Buy-More trying to track down Chuck and Sarah. Morgan uses his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Chuck to track him down and the dynamic duo depart for Europe. The manage to find Charah (Man I hope that doesn't stick but it's better than Suck) just as they slip a mickey to the bad spy that manages to knock out his bodyguards but leave him free to run off. Casey handcuffs Chuck and Sarah and they respond with the most ridiculous moment of the night. They punch Casey with they're handcuffed hands and knock him out! That's right they knock out Green Beret Casey with a short jab to the face. That's believable. But it allows Chuck and Sarah to chase down the bad guy and learn that they have totally misread the situation.

Turns out the bad guy was turning himself in and the two bodyguards were Interpol. Whoops! Well now they have to tell the General what happened, she's not happy, and they have to babysit the spy until they can hand him over to replacement Interpol agents. But that's OK because it gives everyone a chance to talk. Morgan is heartbroken but understands and Casey won't stand in their way. So they leave to start their new life together and Morgan and Casey wait for Interpol.

Heading back to the train, they learn that the Interpol agents had been switched for more bad guys and Casey and Morgan need saving! So they run back and long story short they save the day. The spy gets handed over to the real Interpol, the bad guys are arrested, everybody's happy. In fact Chuck and Sarah have so much fun they decide to tell the General about their relationship and throw caution to the wind. The General's reaction? "About time" Indeed.

This is a fun show and another great episode. You really couldn't ask this show to have more heart, more thrills, or more humor. They hit just the right mix every week and do a wonderful job telling very good stories. And as much as I like Chuck and Sarah together I sincerely hope that it doesn't damage their chances for renewal.

What did you think? Leave me a comment.

Glee

What's better than a rockin' Glee? A Glee focused on one of the icons on my youth!

Turns out Sue is a huge Madonna fan and decides to restructure the Cheer-ios using the Material Girl as inspiration. Now no one can use their last names and all the girls need to find younger boy-toys to have on their arms. (Unfortunately this means the Freshman Cheer-ios have to raid the Middle school!) She even forces the principal to play Madonna music over the intercoms and choreographs a dance number to one of her songs.

The highpoint of the show is when Rachel, Finn, and Emma all decide to lose their virginity and launch into an imaginary "Like a Virgin" dance number. Fortunately two of the three decide to hold off with a very disappointed Finn being the only only one to lose his virginity.

Over all, a very good episode with lots of good music. (After all, that's why we watch!) What did you think? Leave a comment.

24

Goodness. Not a good hour to be Jack Bauer. First he has to deal with the love of his life being on a slab then the President makes a special trip to tell him "Screw You" to his face. Let's dive in.

First, Jack has to answer a few questions about Renee's next of kin. Should be simple, right? After all they were soulmates with a love forged in the heat of battle, but no. Turns out Jack knows nothing about her family, if her parents are alive, who should be contacted about her death, nothing. Perhaps a simple background check would have been in order before jumping in to bed with her. I mean after all Jack should know by now that the possibility of someone he loves being killed approaches 100%. Heck I knew that 5 episodes ago.

So a determined Jack calls CTU and finds out what Renee and Chloe were talking about when she was killed and that leads him to Sergei Bazhaev, remember him? He was the Russian that was trying to buy the bomb from Hassan's traitorous brother earlier in the day. Jack goes to see him while he is being arraigned, gets a private audience with him and makes it clear either he gets the info he wants or he kills every member of Bazhaev's family. Bazhaev's not a stupid man and tells him everything he knows. Doesn't even ask for immunity which seems to be the knee-jerk reaction whenever anyone wants to tell Jack anything. Jack "Where's the bathroom?' Bad Guy: "It's in the building, any more and I'll need immunity from the President" And scene.

Turns out the woman with all the answers is already in custody. That's right, our favorite Starbuck Dana Walsh is the source of all needed info. So Jack heads back to CTU to do a little interrogating, Bauer-style. After a few slaps to the head and face and Dana is ready to spill the beans but first she needs...wait for it...immunity. (On a side note, did anyone else's stomach churn just a little to see Jack unload on a woman like that? It was a little unsettling. I couldn't remember another time when Jack was so physical with a female, can you? Leave me a comment if you are remembering something I'm not.) Fortunately, this won't be a problem. The President already has immunity forms filled out and waiting for Jack's call, all he has to do is pick up the phone and before you can say Anger Issues the deal is done. Except not. And for why we need to go to ...

President Logan is given the task of getting the Russians back to the negotiating table and is able to use the fact that he knows that the Russians were behind the Hassan assassination plot as leverage. And it works; the Russians are back, the IRK has accepted Hassan's widow as leader, all is good in the peace process except for one small fly in the ointment. Logan gets word that Bauer is interrogating Walsh and if she gives up the fact that the Russians were involved in Hassan's murder, Hassan's widow won't sit with them at the negotiating table and the deal's off. Logan takes this to Taylor and President Taylor is forced to make a choice. Either she can refuse Bauer's request for Walsh's immunity or grant it and risk the Peace agreement falling apart. After some debate with Logan pushing for no immunity and Brian Hastings arguing for it, (Imaging President Taylor with Logan in an devil costume on one shoulder and Hastings as an angel on the other shoulder.) Taylor decides to listen to Logan.

Instead of just calling Jack and telling him no, Taylor hops in a car and actually drives to CTU to tell Jack to his face. (That's right, the President went to see Jack, not the other way around.) Not only does she refuse to give Jack what he needs to avenge Renee's death, she decides to sequester Jack for a "debriefing" until the whole episode is over. You know what that means right?! Ahhh yeah, it's Jack vs. the whole US government. Jack gets taken to a helicopter which he promptly commandeers and takes flight. Chloe sees all this go down and begs Jack to land or she will call the Air Force in. Ahh yeah, it's Jack vs. Chloe. Jack will take on all comers!

The only thing I'm unsure of is what his plan is. Will he rescue Dana Walsh and force her to tell him what he needs to know. Will he tell Hassan's widow about the Russians' involvement with her husband's murder and blow up the peace agreement? Will he retire to nice island somewhere and live out his days in peace? What do you think? Leave a comment.

Human Target

I gotta confess. I have seen every episode of this show. I never talk about it because I kind of just let it play in the background while I'm doing other stuff but darn it if it hasn't grown on me.

Christoper Chance is a mercenary with a Heart of Gold and a mysterious past who uses his considerable talents to protect the innocent and defend the weak and it just gets more entertaining every episode. This was the Season (Hopefully not Series) Finale where we finally learn a little about his past and the mysterious Katherine that gets mentioned every week. Seems Christoper used to be a hired assassin that was tasked to kill Katherine but had a change of heart because she hadn't done anything wrong. It also helps that she was very, very pretty.

We get the story mostly in flashback as Chance and Co. are held captive and asked about what happened on that fateful mission. Seems Katherine knows the location of a book with enough compromising info about world leaders to End The World As We Know It. Chance retrieves the book but gets Katherine killed. In fact the only way Chance survives his run-in with the other assassins on his tail is by a little Dues Ex Machina in the form of Lee Majors(!) shooting his attacker in the back just as he is about to stab Chance. Very cool to see the 6 Million Dollar Man back in action. (And this fresh off the heels of his guest spot on Community, do I smell comeback?)

So Katherine is dead, the book is presumably lost (but probably not, we don't know for sure) adn Chance decides to dedicate his life to helping people. Winston and Guerrero sign on to help and it's like the 3 Amigos Save The World. But the bad guys want the book back which brings us back to the present time. Chance and Co. manage to escape their captors but not before Winston is captured and taken away but before Chance and Guerrero can go after him Chance's old handler and Father Figure waltzes in and says he wants to help. At least that's what I think he said. This guy delivers his lines like his mouth is full of gravel. I had to rewind and turn the TV up to make it out but that's the gist of it. So Chance has to save Winston and that's where it ends. A little cliffhanger but enough to make me want to see this renewed.

What do you think of this show? Leave a comment.

Lost

Well, well, well. Everything's starting to come together. Tonight we saw the emergence of a new leader, a look at just how evil Smokey is, a better clue as to what the island is, the return of an old friend, and the power of Love. (Cue Huey Lewis and the News).

This episode opens with Jack and Hurley's group on their beach arguing about what to do. Ilana and Richard are determined to blow up the Ajira airplane so the Smoke Monster can't use it to leave. Ilana picks up up the bag of dynamite, packs a few things in the bag and promptly explodes. Goodbye Ilana, we hardly knew ye. Despite this Richard is still determined to blow up the plane and leads the team back to the Black Rock for more dynamite. On the way there Ben makes the observation that Ilana is dead because "the Island was finished with her" and wonders what will happen when the Island is finished with them. Good question. I think by now it's obvious that somebody is controlling things. In fact it's so blatant that if we get to the end of this thing and someone tries to explain all this as an experiment in Free Will I will throw something at my TV. The "Free Will" choices that these characters are making are obviously being guided by a higher power. (Of course I'm a Calvinist so I'm comfortable with the idea that man's Free Will and God's Decisive Will are compatible, but I wonder if that's where this is going.)

On the way to Black Rock, the team loses Hurley. Just let that sink in for a minute. They look around and Hurley's not there. There's not another character on this show that this turn of events would be more ridiculous for. Not only do they lose him but apparently he beat them to Black Rock with enough time to blow up all the dynamite there. Can you see Hurley taking off in a dead run towards Black Rock and NOBODY NOTICING? Can you see Hurley running? I sure can't but what do I know.

With all the dynamite gone this team has to make a new decision. Richard wants to continue to try to blow up the plane, Hurley wants to go to Locke. Unable to reach a consensus, Richard, Linus and Miles head toward the plane and Hurley leads Jack, Sun, and The Lawnmower Man towards Flocke. Along the way they hear the whispers that we hear right before disaster strikes but this time Hurley says that he knows what they are. He steps into the clearing and Lo and Behold, it's Michael back from the dead. Hurley tells us that those whispers are the ones who "can't move on". Apparently if you did enough bad things you are trapped on the Island after you die. So if the Island isn't Hell or Purgatory it at the very least has some connection to one of those places. I can't wait until that is explained.

Michael tells Hurley where Flocke is and Hurley leads his group out of the forest to Flocke's camp. Two things. #1 All 6 of the candidates are together just like Flocke said they would be. (Assuming that Sun is a candidate and not Jin) #2 Hurley is leading the way. Wouldn't it be something if the main over-arching plot of this entire show is Hurley's transformation from bumbling lovable loser to noble bold Leader of Men. Never bet against the fat ones.

Back at Flocke's camp, while all this is going on and before the other group arrives, Sayid delivers Desmond to Flocke and Flocke and Desmond go for a little walk. Locke takes Desmond to a well (like the one Locke fell into and turned the Donkey Wheel) and delivers a little history lesson about why people dug the well in order to see why it made compass needles go crazy. Then Flocke asks Desmond why he's not scared. After all, they are in the middle of a jungle alone, and no one knows where he is. Desmond answers "What is the point of being afraid?" and Flocke promptly throws him down to the bottom of the well. Poor Desmond, finally freed from his bunker only to end of at the bottom of a well.

Meanwhile, back in Flash-Sideways land, Hurley gets to meet the love of his life, Libby. Unfortunately she's crazy. Like Insane Asylum crazy. But when she sees Hurley she starts to remember her time on the Island and when she kisses Hurley, he remembers also. Which comes back to a theme in these Flash-Sideways, namely that Love is some kind of bridge between the two time periods. A strong enough bond will allow you to "pierce the veil" between the two worlds. I'm pretty sure that if I think about it to long my head will hurt but I look forward to that being revealed.

However, all of this was not the most entertaining moment of the night. That occurred when Flash-Sideways Desmond purposely runs over Locke while he's in a wheelchair. That is cold-blooded! I wondered if he remembered Flocke pushing him into the well?

What did you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

24

Hoo boy. 24 does TV right!

This episode begins where last week's shocking episode ended when Jack actually failed epically at a task. I've come to expect a certain level of success from our hero, especially when he's asked to do something directly by the President, so I wasn't expecting Hassan to be killed. But killed he was and along with him all hope of a Middle East Peace Accord. Or is it?

Seems Madame President has a trick up her sleeve. She wants Hassan's widow to be the new leader of whatever made up country she's from, have her sign the Accord and everyone's happy, right? Wrong! Seems there was another party at the negotiating table which was a shock to me since they had not even been hinted at until last week. The Russian ambassador must also sign off on the treaty for it to have any real power but he doesn't want to. He says it's because he won't recognize Hassan's widow as the legitimate leader of Islamistan (whatever) but we know the real reason.

The real reason? He's Russian. If you are a Russian on 24 you are automatically a bad guy and sure enough we learn those evil Russians were behind the plot to kill Hassan. They planned everything and the plan worked to perfection with Hassan dead and all the assassins killed by Bauer's team except for one. Not a problem, just need to slip a Russian guy in to the building where the CTU team is and poison the last guy with a little poison to the neck and Voila! The perfect plot to destabilize the MidEast reaches fruition with the Americans none the wiser. Almost.

You know what they say about the best laid planes, right? This one is no exception as the Russian assassin tasked with killing the last Muslim assassin that survived the CTU assault is seen by probably the only person in Washington who could recognize him. Who is that person? Why none other than Renee Walker. She doesn't put it together at first, after all it looks like that last Muslim will survive and she's got other things on her mind, namely Jack's sweet lovin'.

Jack and Renee hightail it to his apartment for a little afternoon delight and we finally get the answer to the question, how long does Jack make love to his women. Answer? About two acts. Pretty respectable and not a Viagra (or condom) in sight. After they finish making the beast with two backs, Jack gets up for some water (gotta stay hydrated) and while he's away his phone rings. Renee yells at Jack that it's Chloe and Jack tells her not to answer it. I'm sure I don't need to remind any of you if you do not EXPLICITLY OBEY Jack EVERYTIME he tells you to do something, you die. That's the rule. But poor Renee, not knowing she is sealing her own fate, answers the phone.

Chloe tells Renee that she has been put in charge of CTU (Yeah Chloe! You go girl!) and the last terrorist has just died from poisoning. Renee puts two and two together, remembers the Russian she saw at the CTU attack site and tells Chloe to get her files assembled so she can ID the guy. The she runs into the other room to tell Jack and that's when it happens. If you'll recall a few episodes ago I predicted that because Jack was developing feelings for Renee, she would surely get kidnapped, tortured, raped, and beheaded. Well I was wrong. She gets taken out by a high powered sniper rifle from the next building. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. Despite Jack's heroic effort to save her, Renee is lost to us forever and gets the highest honor any fallen 24 character can receive, the silent final countdown. RIP Renee Walker.

In other news, in order to get the Russians back to the bargaining table, Madame President has to take a desperate measure and we are introduced to a familiar face, President Logan! All of President Taylor's hopes for salvaging the Peace process is in the hands of a man so evil he assassinated an ex-President and was stabbed in the neck by his own wife. I'm betting this doesn't end well but we'll see.

The Mentalist

Patrick Jane verses Indians!

When an amnesia victim covered in blood stumbles to Cho and Van Pelt's car, the investigation uncovers multiple dead bodies and leads to an Indian reservation. Long story short, Jane uses his considerable talents to trick the killer into revealing himself, you've seen this before if you've ever seen an episode of this show.

By far the most entertaining part of this show is the presence of Special Agent Madeline Hightower. Finally there's someone who will at least attempt to stand up to Jane and bring some order to the team. Poor Lisbon looks like her spirit has been so broken by Jane she doesn't know what to do in any situation, even one as blatently obvious as how to handle Rigsby and Van Pelt's relationship. There's no thought needed here Lisbon! They can't be on the same unit and be in a relationship! Surely they covered this in Unit Leader Training!

Finally Hightower wades into this mess and lays down the law to everyone. Jane needs to shape up of Lisbon goes! Lisbon needs to shape up or she is fired! Rigsby and Van Pelt either need to break up or one of them needs to go! The only one that escapes her fiery gaze is Cho, probably explains why he's one of my favorite character's on the show. Of course anyone who comes into conflict with Jane doesn't last long, they'll probably get a few good episodes out of the fight but in the end she'll end up like Lisbon; shuffling around, looking to Jane before she speaks or acts, etc. In the meantime though, sure to be good TV.

A few other notes:

I was surprised when I saw the episode title didn't include the word "Red". Every episode had up until this point but a quick Google (actually Swagbucks, might as well get paid while I'm searching) informed me that Aingavite Baa means "Red Water" in English. Who knew?

Also this episode was directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, father of Maggie and Jake.

Blog Party 2010

Blog Party 2010 has started! An exciting time for all us bloggers. Most people are probably more familiar with my wife's blog www.groceryshopforfree.com but I hope you like my site as well. I review TV shows and anything else I like that entertains me and you can read my past few post here. Stay a while, read a few posts or click on an ad. Thanks!

I would like these prizes if I win.

39 -Be My Guest certificate ($250 value) for one lucky winner, (2 night stay for a family of four) at any Hilton Garden Inn.
Provided by: Hilton Garden Inn
Follow here: bloggin2noggin

13 – $100 gift certificate to Kay Jewelers
Provided by: an unpink life
Follow here: life is not always

39 – A $50 paypal cash prize for one winner.
Provided by: MomDot
Follow here: MomDot or Visit Our Fan Page: Trisha Haas

If those are already chosen, I would love any of these:

US and Canada Only Prize List: #3, 8, 15, 35, 37

Stuff Christians Like

The “Is that contestant on American Idol a Christian? Scorecard”

49. During their performance they include sign language, which next to mime, is something Christian love = + 2 points

To add up your score with over a 130 other ideas on this scorecard, visit stuffchristianslike.net.

Lost

I knew going in to tonight's episode that there was a better than average chance that it was going to be a bit of a let-down. Not only was it coming right after the episode on Richard's backstory, (which was awesome) it featured Sun and Jin, the two characters I care about the least. Well I was right, it was boring and except for two small moments, very skippable.

In the sideways story we find out that Sun and Jin aren't married but are in love. Sun performs a little strip tease for Jin and we get a good look at what I can only assume are stunt boobs. The bad news is that sun's daddy found out about the affair and isn't happy. Remember that 25 large that Jin was bringing to the states that was confiscated at customs? Turns out that was for Martin Keamy and in return for the money he was to kill Jin. So Jin was given the responsibility of transporting his own blood money from Korea to the states by Sun's dad. Sucks to be you Jin.

Well the money is gone so Jin is taped up in a restaurant pantry while Sun tries to come up with the money. This of course is where we saw Jin at the end of Sayid's episode a few weeks ago. Sayid gives Jin a knife and leaves and Jin frees himself just as Sun and the mercenary tasked with taking her to the bank arrive. Jin and him get into a fight, shots are fired and Jin kills him but not before Sun is shot in the belly. As Jin takes her to get help she drops the bomb on Jin, "I'm pregnant". I'm sure daddy will be thrilled.

Back in the Island timeline, Widmore's people sedate all the people in Locke's camp and abduct Jin while Locke is away trying to gut Sun to come back with him. Once Jin wakes up he gets to talk to Widmore and he gives us the first of our small reveals in this episode. Widmore tells Jin that if Locke leaves the island then all of the people on the island and all of their loved ones "would simply cease to be." It didn't sound to me like Locke would kill them but that Locke could do something retroactively to the timestream so they wouldn't ever have existed. Maybe he has the power to wipe out all life on Earth. Who knows?

Back on the other island, when Locke finds out about Jin's kidnapping he grabs Sayid and heads off to rescue him but when he lands on the beach, Sayid is gone and Locke can't go past the pylons that Widmore's crew set up. Once Widmore actually arrives on the beach Locke threatens him with war. I certainly hope so because after this episode I'm ready for stuff to blow up. Once night falls we see the missing Sayid swimming silently towards the docked submarine and we get our second reveal of the night. The crew is getting a "package" off the sub and we see that it's a heavily sedated Desmond! That doubles his screen time for this season to about 15 seconds total. I can't imagine what Widmore needs with Desmond but I sure am looking forward to finding out.

24

Back for another hour in Jack's world! But this time all bets are off! That's right, with the announcement that this is the final season ever of 24 literally anything can happen. I remember how amazed I was way back in the first season that they killed his wife, (hero's wives are not supposed to die!) now who knows what will happen. Maybe his daughter will finally get eaten by that mountain lion. Maybe Tony will come back and die again. Maybe Chloe will smile. It's all on the table.

First off, let me just say how glad I am that the whole Dana Walsh sub-plot is going somewhere. Last episode we saw her kill Bill Prady and stuff him in a wall then call the bad guys and give them intel. Sure this is the upteenth time that CTU has had a mole (who is in charge of screening these people?) but at least there is a reason for her to be on the show. (I was just fast-forwarding through her scenes to get to the commercials!) Throughout the episode she is funneling info to the terrorists, knocking out satellites and generally making Jack and Chloe's day miserable. But enough about her, lets move on the star of the show.

When last we left our hero he had been gunned down while trying to draw the fire of the bad guys so Cole can get word to CTU about where the bomb is. He takes three to the chest and is defenseless on the street when Renee Walker shows up and takes out the last bad guy. Renee runs to Jack who looks dead but is really OK. We are told Jack was saved by his bullet proof vest but we know the truth. Jack is bullet-proof. Vests are for wussies.

With the scene locked down and the authorities on-site Jack gets a phone call from the President. How exciting! She wants Jack to oversee President Hassan's transport from the UN to the White House. Sure Jack's on the trail of a Nuclear bomb that could take out half of Manhatten but lets pull him off that and put him on a menial job that any one of a thousand Secret Service or Military personnel could do. That seems smart. But it's the President so what are you gonna do. Jack agrees and tells Renee what's going on and they share a little moment. Seems Jack really likes her. Look for her to kidnapped, tortured, raped and beheaded before the end of the season. I'm saying Jack's love interests don't do very well.

In the meantime, the bad guys call the Prez and give her the 411. Either turn over Hassan or the bomb goes blooey. Of course President Taylor isn't having any of that but some on her cabinet don't think that's the wisest move. In fact two members on her staff take it upon themselves to go behind her back and stage a kidnapping. That way they can turn over Hassan, remove the bomb threat, and the President can say that she didn't know anything. Just one problem with that, remember who was put in charge of the transport? That's right, Mr. Bauer himself. When General Brocker learns that Jack is heading up the detail he utters what will go down in history as the dumbest thing any character in the 24 universe has ever said. "He's going up against and elite team with the power of surprise. Bauer and his team doesn't stand a chance." Go back and read that again. Where has this guy been for the past 8 seasons?

Brocker and Weiss are downloading the relevant details from Ethan Hunt's laptop when Ethan walks in. He figures out what's going on and calls Jack but before he can say anything Brocker takes the phone but the damage is done. (How cool is it to have Jack Bauer on speeddial?) This one phone call combined with Jack's inability to get back in touch with Ethan makes his spidey-sense tingle. He turns his convoy of people around just as that elite team starts firing. Long story short, Jack goes all Jack Bauer on them and pretty much single-handedly takes out that "elite team" with "the power of surprise". Stupid General. He manages to leave one alive to learn who is responsible for this attack against the person of Jack Bauer and Friends and now I wouldn't want to be in Brocker or Weiss' shoes for all the cattle in Texas.

Finally we cut to guy with the bomb who sets it to explode in 15 minutes. Even though it is across town I have no doubt that Jack will get there in time to disarm it. Either that or Chloe will handle the situation with her humorless deadpan leet hacking skillz.

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments!

Lost

Finally some answers! Kind of.

Tonight's episode was all about the enigmatic Richard Alpert, who he was and why in the world he doesn't appear to age. We finally got some of the answers we've been waiting for and were rewarded with pretty good story to boot.

The first thing we see is when Jacob greeted Ilana in her hospital bed and she is told to protect Jacob's six candidates. Jacob tells her that Richard (Ricardis?) will know what to. However, when Ilana actually asks Richard what to do he drops a bombshell on our intrepid Losties. He says that they are all dead and the island is actually Hell! And to make matters worse, he has no idea what to do next and thinks that he has been misled his entire life by Jacob. Not what you want to hear from the guy who is supposed to have all the answers!

Flashback to Richard's past and we learn that he is from Tenerife on the Canary Islands in 1867. (My first thought was "Oh great, another timeline to keep straight.") He is a married man with dreams of taking his wife to the New World and starting a family with her but she has fallen ill. In his desperation to save her, he rides to the doctor and begs for medicine to save her, but the doctor wants more money than he has. When Richard tries to get him to accept his prized possession, his wife's cross necklace, he tells him that it's junk and tells him to go. In a panic, Richard wrestles the medicine from the doctor's hand and in the tussle the doctor falls, hits his head on the table and dies. Richard races back home to find his wife already dead and Richard is arrested for murder.

While in jail, the priest comes and tells him to make confession for his sin before he is hanged but when Richard confesses the priest says he cannot absolve him because he must do penance and he doesn't have enough time. (On a pastoral note, that Theology is wrong. Christ forgives any man (or woman) who repents and puts his trust in Him to save him. Leave a comment if you have any questions.) However, when the priest finds out that Richard speaks English he sells Richard into slavery and Richard is chained aboard the slave ship, The Black Rock. The Black Rock is caught in a storm, smashes against the statue on the beach and is hurtled inland. (Answering such burning questions as "Where did the Black Rock come from?" and "How did the statue get smashed?" Left unanswered: "Is it plausible that a wave could throw a ship hard enough to smash a statue and fling it miles inland?" and "Where are the other pieces of the statue?")

As the crew of the ship comes to and assesses their situation they realize that they need to kill the slaves in the hold before the slaves try to kill them so the captain goes down and runs each of them through with his sword but before he gets to Richard we hear a familiar sound. Sure enough the smoke monster comes and kills all the crew but leaves Richard alive. (Not sure why. I don't think Richard was a candidate or under Jacob's protection because he didn't touch Richard until later in the episode. Maybe he recognized a kindred spirit because the smoke monster sees himself as Jacob's slave. Or maybe he just knew he could manipulate Richard into doing what he wanted.) That night Richard sees his dead wife Isabella who tells him that they are in Hell and the devil is coming for them. Before she can free Richard the black smoke comes back, Richard tells her to go but the black smoke gets her. Later the Man in Black comes to Richard and tells him that he will free him if he agrees to do whatever he tells him. Of course Richard agrees because let's face it, anything's better than starving to death while chained to the side of a ship. After the Man in Black frees him (with a set of keys he got off the officers body. Why didn't he just make the chains fall off like he did for Ben in the Dr' Linus episode?) they go make camp and eat some roasted boar.

After they eat, Man in Black gives Richard the same knife that Dogan gave Sayid and tells him to go to the beach and kill the man living there near the (now destroyed) statue (MiB tells him it's the devil) but not to let him talk, if he talks it's too late. So Richard heads down there but before he gets the chance to do any damage, Jacob beats him up and takes the knife. When Richard tells Jacob what MiB said and that he thinks he is dead and in hell, Jacob takes him to the ocean and forcibly dunks (baptizes?) him until he realizes that he is not actually dead. Thus Richard is recruited to Jacob's side and has the meaning of the island explained to him. Apparently evil (MiB) is like wine in a bottle and the island is like a cork that keeps the evil from escaping. Well that's clear. Still doesn't explain why Fake Locke doesn't just turn into black smoke and leave the island now that Jacob's dead.

Jacob says that he brings people to the island in order to prove that people are good while the MiB believes that people are already corrupted and sin because it's in their nature. (At this point I should probably be worried because I agree with MiB. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5 We are born sinners.) Jacob then offers Richard a job. Since he doesn't want to interfere directly with the people he brings to the island, Richard will be his representative and let Jacob's will be known to the people. (Much like Christ was the exact representation of the Father and only did what he saw His Father do and said what His Father wanted Him to say.) In return, Richard wants his wife back but Jacob can't do that. (Because that's beyond the scope of his abilities? Because the black smoke got her earlier? Because he doesn't want to? Who knows) Then Richard asks for his sins to be absolved but Jacob can't do that either. So Richard asks to never have to die. This Richard can do. (That's a pretty specific power set.)

So Richard goes back to MiB, hands him a white stone (a gift from Jacob) and MiB tells him that if he ever wants to switch sides he always has a place by MiB's side. Then MiB gives him his wife's cross necklace back telling him he found it on the ship and leaves. Richard then buries the necklace presumably because he never got to bury his wife. Flash Forward to the present and Richard is digging up that necklace and shouts "I changed my mind! I was wrong! Does the offer still stand?". Thankfully before he can make the switch, Hurley shows up with his "I see dead people" power and lets Richard have a final conversation with his dead wife. Richard puts the necklace on and Hurley tells him the last thing his wife said which was that he has to stop the MiB from leaving the island and if he doesn't they will all go to Hell.

Pan over to Fake Locke watching the scene and we flashback to MiB just after his conversation with Richard. Jacob visits him and asks him why he tried to kill him and MiB says he just wants to leave and asks Jacob to let him go. Jacob says Fuggedaboudit as long as I'm alive and gives him a bottle of wine that MiB promptly smashes. Jacob says "I'll see you around" and MiB replies "Sooner than you think" which is what he told Richard a few episodes ago when he lowered him from the tree. Not sure what the significance to that is.

I love episodes like this that really answers some questions but leaves us wanting more. Richard has long been one of the most mysterious figures on the island and we know now a big chunk of his back story. With only 7 episodes left until the finale I'm not sure how they are going to fit the rest of the answers we need but I can't wait to find out. For the record, if this series ends anything like how Sopranos ended I would not want to be in the shoes of anybody connected with this show!

30 Rock

Last night's first scene of 30 Rock shows why this show is so well known for its originality. Jack is giving a presentation to the NBC employees about the upcoming merger with Kabletown and says they are a good company "even if they are from Philadelphia." Liz (also from Philly) takes offense and all of a sudden it's like an Eagles-Patriots game with Liz throwing snowballs at Jack and defending the greatness of Philly (Philly rules! Cheesesteak, Bobby Clark, Will Smith. Your town sucks!) and Jack returning fire with a battery and the high points of Boston (Boston Tea Party, Boston Cream Pie, Boston Rob Mariano!). Of course they all laugh when someone tries to defend LA (Michael Bay, Freeway, Legoland!). It's this off-centered quirkiness that endears the show to you and compels you to come back every week.

In tonight's episode we watch as a sex scandal unfolds for Tracy Jordan. No, he didn't sleep with a stripper, he talks about that every week. It's not that he slept with his kid's nanny or groupies or anyone else. For Tracy, that would all be acceptable and wouldn't be cause for alarm. The scandal that Tracy has to deal with is that he actually loves his wife and has never been unfaithful! All of his well-publicized sexual exploits were staged! Worst of all the media has gotten a hold of damning voicemails where Tracy calls his wife and asks her what to pick up from Bed, Bath and Beyond and how he can't wait to get home and be alone with her.

Such a great way to turn the typical celebrity scandal on its head and let us see what someone would do if he has to have an affair or his endorsements will leave him. He tries to seduce Liz but she's not having it. ("That's not going to happen for many reasons. Reason 1: I'm conscious. Reason 2: You smell like Icy-Hot. Reason 3:...") Liz is able to convince him that he should be thankful for the loving and devoted family he has and stop trying to cheat on them. (Liz:"You know what I have? A Sims family that keeps getting murdered") The interaction between Liz and the cast of crazies she is surrounded by is so great!

The funniest bit of the night? Jack creates porn for women. I's basically a channel of hot guys that will listen while women talk and say things like "I understand, That's so true, She's obviously jealous of you, You look pretty" for 24.95 a month. Operators are standing by! That was so good I had to interrupt whatever horrible reality show my wife was watching and show her. In fact I could see that really taking off with husbands buying it for their wives!

This show is so good, so well written and has confirmed my long-standing thesis that Tina Fey is a genius and deserves whatever awards and accolades her industry could throw at her.

Community

This show just gets better and better every week. From the ridiculous visual of Chevy Chase dressed in a sailing suit from the 70's to the racial humor that should be incredibly offensive but instead is somehow hilarious, this show keeps delivering funny lines and well crafted jokes.

Probably what resonates strongest with me are the racial stereotypes thrown out constantly. I was the youth pastor at a church that was ethnically diverse and am now the pastor of a church that has a mix of skin colors and our Wednesday night Bible studies often sound like some of the stuff said at the "Community" table. Take tonight's episode for instance. Pierce is going to take a one week sailing course for an easy credit and talks Shirley (a black woman) into joining him, Troy (A black man) says "A black on the water? This I gotta see" and joins the class. Then Pierce asks Abed to join by saying "Wanna join us? We got black people!" This is the kind of stuff that would get you killed if said around strangers or in public, but around friends it's acceptable because you know the hearts of the people speaking. It's real easy to do racial humor wrong and have the whole world against you but Community manages to find the balance between pushing the envelope and just being funny.

Tonight's episode was also funny for the movie references. Jeff, Abed and Annie take a pottery class that has one rule, no re-enactments of the famous pottery scene in "Ghost" and no singing of the Righteous Brothers song associated with it. Then he points at a poster of Patrick Swayze with a big red X over it. Sensing the class is a little taken aback by that the teacher says, "Oh it's OK. I had that made before he died." Again, using someone's death, especially if they have recently died, shouldn't be funny but it just is. Of course, because this is the only rule given in the class it is the first rule broken by Jeff who works on a guy's pot ala "Ghost" and when the teacher tries to throw him out he leaves singing Unchained Melody.

Meanwhile, over in the sailing class, Pierce can't do anything right and is in danger of making the entire class fail. The rule is that anything that falls off the boat is lost at sea and is gone forever even though the boat is in the middle of a parking lot because the nearest water in 2 and a half hours away. While trying to fix the sails, Pierce is knocked off the boat and the crew has to throw a life preserver to rescue him but a storm is coming and the crew has to decide whether to try and save him or sail out of reach of the (purely hypothetical) storm. In one of the funniest scenes I've seen in a long time, the crew decides to leave Pierce out at sea and not reel in the rope attached to the life preserver that Pierce is clutching. What makes this so funny is they aren't at sea and Pierce is on the ground four feet from the boat but this decision is made with all the gravitas of consigning someone to the icy waters of Davy Jones locker.

If you don't watch this show, do yourself a favor and start. It's smart, funny, well-written and well-acted. I haven't liked Chevy Chase in anything since the National Lampoon movies and he knocks it out of the park every week. Joel McHale is hilarious and every member of the cast is very smart and very good at their jobs. Abed alone is usually worth the price of admission every week, his comments and meta-commentary are always very funny. I have yet to watch a bad episode of this show and hope the cast and crew can keep up the good work.

Incredible Hulk #608

I remember when "Planet Hulk" was announced and I wondered if a big storyline centered around the Hulk would be any good. Turns out it was extremely good. Then "World War Hulk" was announced and I wondered if the Hulk could support a big summer crossover event. Turns out it was even better than "Planet Hulk". So when "Fall of the Hulks" was announced I was really looking forward to it. Turns out that it's pretty much horrible and at times unreadable.

This issue has the final assault on the Intelligensia's reconfigured HeliCarrier and showcases some of the problems. It seems everyone has a plan but we don't really know what it is. It's hard to be taken by surprise by some plot twist if you weren't really sure what direction the plot was headed in anyway. Skaar has the sense to start asking what the plan is (Albeit not until they are in the middle of a huge fight) and seems satisfied when he really isn't given an answer, just more vagueness. What makes this more incredible is the bad guys have already captured Dr. Doom, Henry Pym, Reed Richards, and Hank McCoy but Banner's going to able to outsmart them? He's a theoretical physicist, not some strategical savant. You want to know how quarks and protons interact with Gamma radiation? Ask Banner. You want to know how to attack a team of ultra-smart bad guys? Don't ask Banner because he has no experience with that, at least until this story line.

Of course everything goes wrong, Banner is captured and the heroes are "Hulked-out". Not sure why the bad guys want to turn everyone into super-strong monsters but I guess we'll see. The bad part is we have no idea if this Banner's plan or not. Maybe this is exactly what was supposed to happen, maybe not, who knows.

The back up story was even more ridiculous. Red She Hulk vs. Electra and Domino. After the first attacks on Red She Hulk all her clothes fall off. I'm sure that always happens. So she get her hands on Domino and does she hit her? No. She strips her clothes off. Am I reading someone's wet dream? Is this fan-fic? Was this written by a twelve year old? Just terrible. I feel like even though Greg Pak and Harry Wilcox are credited with writing this issue, the blame for this needs to fall at the feet Jeph Loeb. This just feels like his level of "character development".

The good news is that this is the conclusion to "Fall of the Hulks" and next month starts "Hulked out Heroes". I hope this all gets much better real quick.

COVER BY: John Romita JR.
WRITER: Greg Pak
Harry Wilcox
PENCILS: Paul Pelletier
Ryan Stegman

Justified

OK I had last night's episode on DVR from last night because I just couldn't get to it with all the Lost and Parenthood goodness so this is a little late coming but WOW is this a great show! Is there anyone else on the planet that does smoldering anger better than Timothy Olyphant? Answer: No. This is definitely going to the top of my must watch list, I'm just not sure how to fit it in to an already packed Tuesday.

Tonight's episode starts with U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (Olyphant) on a hotel patio in Miami telling a drug kingpin that the 24 hours he gave him to leave town are almost up. He can either hop on the next flight out to South America or Givens would shoot him. Of course the drug dealer's not having any of that so he pulls his gun but Givens is the faster draw and kills him before he can get a shot off. This sets off an internal investigation into the shooting with the final result being Givens is shipped out to the Marshall's office in Lexington, Kentucky. Just so happens that Givens grew up in nearby Harlen and is very familiar with the area but doesn't like the idea that he has to come back.

When he arrives he finds out one of his old buddies he used to work in the coal mines with, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), has become a Neo-Nazi that likes to blow up churches with bazookas and rob banks. He also had a brother that had just been shot and killed the night before by his wife. Givens figures he should go call on the wife and wait for brother Boyd to stop by but Boyd sends one of his men instead so Givens tells him to go back and tell Boyd that he's in town and is going to be seeing him soon.

When they do finally meet up each man takes the measure of the other, sizes him up and wonders how exactly they got to such different places though they started from the same beginning. Givens tells Crowder to show up at court the next day for a line up, which he does, then Crowder tells Givens he has 24 hours to leave town or he will kill him, a nice reversal from the deal Givens gave the druglord at the beginning of the episode. Of course, being a Nazi Crowder doesn't really feel obligated to give Givens the entire 24 hours so he goes to his brothers house and makes his widow call the Marshall over for dinner. Then, in one of the dumbest moves I've seen in a while, sends the widow away while he makes Givens sit and eat his "last meal". Why is this so dumb? Well this woman has already killed one brother with her shotgun, what makes him think she won't kill another? Sure enough, here she comes around the corner with a shotgun and shoots Crowder. Unfortunately she doesn't kill him as it looks like this is the beginning of a long story arc with these characters and not just a one and done story then off to the next case.

Admittedly the main draw for this show is Olyphant staring down bad guys then being quick on the draw but my goodness that appears to be enough. Not only that but it looks like they have surrounded him with enough talented actors to give this series legs and keep it going for a long time. If you missed this show go find it on FX, I'm sure there will be encore showings all week, and watch it. It will be well worth your time.

Daily Show

Tonight's episode had Aasif Mandvi try to interview Health insurance executives at one of their meeting but he kept getting blocked by security so he tries to sneak back in, in disguise. First he's Senator Mandvi and demands entrance, then Uncle Moneybags, then Batman, each costume more ridiculous than the last but all to no avail. He wasn't getting in but it did look like he was amusing the security guards.

Jon's guest was Michael Lewis, author of The Blindside and Moneyball. His new book "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" is out and details how a few investors saw the current financial meltdown coming and were able to make a profit on it. in fact one guy with a glass eye and Asparger's made a billion dollars betting that the economy would crumble. This of course begs the question, if one guy could see it, why not all the others? Michael said the answer might be that the big banks had gotten so good at hiding their bad assets that they had fooled themselves into believing their own lie. Pretty good interview that made a very difficult subject easy to understand.

Parenthood

OK, this show is good. Real good. And not just because it has Lauren Graham who was fantastic in Gilmore Girls, (I saw every episode. I'm not ashamed. Much.) but because it has real heart and shows a real family dealing with real issues.

In tonight's episode we see Max's Asparger's get confirmed by a doctor's diagnosis followed by Max breaking a fishtank in his classroom, flooding the classroom and making all the fish flop on the ground in front of the rest of his classmates. (An insight into why I like this show: the mother's reaction? "And we were going to have fish tonight, too.") Now the parents have to find a new school that can handle Max's Asparger's but the only one that can deal with him is full until September. Max's parent's insist on the principal meeting Max and it's enough for the school to figure out a way to squeeze Max into the current school year. This is where Parenthood really shines because you get the sense that these are real people who are a little over their head, don't have a guidebook on how to deal with a kid with Asparger's and are just trying to do the best that they can. They're not afraid to push or fight or do what's needed so Max can get the best treatment available.

Next we see Sarah (the aforementioned Lauren Graham) ask her father about the condoms she found in his desk drawer. He doesn't want to talk about it at first but eventually admits that he and his wife have been having some issues and he has been sleeping in the guesthouse. While he didn't outright admit to an affair I'm sure we will meet his mistress eventually.

And little sister Julia (played by Erika Christensen who I couldn't remember what I had seen her in before until I saw her in her bathing suit. Ah yes, Swimfan.) who is determined to teach her child to swim by asking her to swim to her from the side. Of course as soon as the kid kicks away from the side she sinks like a stone, comes up terrified and starts screaming for Daddy. Which greatly embarrasses Julia in front of all the other parents who are watching, causing Julia to feel even more like a failure as a mother. What parent hasn't been embarrassed by something their kid has done in public? I remember telling my Dad very loudly that I had to go "Do number 2" in a bookstore and him walking away like he didn't even know me. Good times.

All in all, if you aren't watching this show you really should. It's very well written and acted, has charm, humor, drama and anything else you would want from a show.

Batman Confidential #42

Batman and the supernatural don't mix well. Anytime ghosts or demons enter the picture he wisely gets help from Jason Blood or Deadman or any one of the many people he knows from his particular line of work. But not in this story. No, in this book Batman hunts down some kind of creature (ghost? demon?) that is causing perpetrators of gun violence to killed themselves. At least I think that's what's happening, the art work is very difficult to decipher at times. In fact between the strange story with Batman acting a little out of character and the bizarre and at times downright ugly artwork, this book is not a fun read and I can't wait until it's over.

Written by SAM KIETH

Art and Cover by SAM KIETH

Batman and Robin #10

I have to hand it to Grant Morrison. In the interest of full disclosure there is very little that Grant does that I don't like, in fact his run on the JLA I consider one of my favorite iterations of my favorite team. (The other being the BWAH-HA-HA League) But with his creation of Damian, son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al-Ghul, is such a stroke of genius it's made this book one of the few I really look forward to. I wish they would tell us how old he's supposed to be because it would make some of the situations he's put in even more surreal.

Take, for instance, the opening scene of this book. He's in a Wayne Enterprises board meeting talking about financial irregularities in one of the firm's charity accounts. Can you imagine going to work and getting dressed down by a twelve year old while he explains financial dealings you had to go to school for years to learn about? Although, all this talk about someone bleeding money out of the Wayne accounts reminded me that Hush is still out there posing as Bruce, spending all his money. Did that plotline ever resolve? Wouldn't that be the first place to look for financial drains? Maybe Batman and co. forgot about him.

One of the coolest things about this issue is we gota peek behind Damian's rough exterior and saw that he really cares about being Robin and honoring his father's legacy. As he and Dick are serching for clus to find Bruce, who has apparently been "lost in time" ala Captain America, he realizes that once Bruce returns there's really not a need for him to be Robin anymore and it worries him. Add to that the fact that apparently his mother as brainwashed him and can force him to kill Dick at anytime and he is understandably concerned.

This issue also kicks off the big "Hunt for Bruce Wayne" story line that will run through the summer with Alfred finding clues hidden in paintings in the mansion. The search finds a second "batcave" hidden from the main cave that has the word "Barbatos" scrawled on the wall in big letters and the word "Thomas" written smaller all over the wall. Not sure what's going on here but it looks like the search for Bruce has started in earnest and with Grant Morrison at the helm it's going to be a fun ride.

Written by GRANT MORRISON

Art by ANDY CLARKE and SCOTT HANNA

Cover by FRANK QUITELY

Variant Cover by ANDY CLARKE

Lost

Sawyer's a cop? Yabuhwuh? It didn't appear he was any longer a con man in his flash sideways but I sure didn't expect cop. It certainly makes when he saw Kate's handcuffs in the elevator at the airport much more curious. I guess he didn't turn her in because he didn't want anyone to know where he was. And am I the only one that thought of Spider-man when Kate smashed his car? He didn't stop her when he had the chance so his car got smashed? Could have been worse, Kate could have killed his Uncle Ben.

This whole flash-sideways thing is so odd, I can't wait until it's explained. I thought at first that each character's life changed from the point Jacob initially touched them, Jack is touched when he's older so his life is pretty much the same just with a son but Sawyer's is radically different because Jacob touched him at a much earlier age. However, I don't think I can make that theory work because of Hurley, his life is very different but Jacob doesn't come to him until after they Oceanic six are already rescued. So, quite frankly I don't know what the heck is going on.

Probably the most interesting part of tonight's episode was fake Locke's conversation with Kate on the beach. He reveals that he had a mother who was crazy like Claire. To be honest I had never even considered that the smoke monster started off human. How did he change into something that can go back and forth between a human body and a black cloud? Who was his mother? The first one I thought of was Rousseau but I don't think the time frames work out, not the time means anything on this show. He could be Aaron for all we know.

Also we see that Charles Widmore has made it to the island and preparing defenses against the smoke monster in the form of pylons like the ones the Others used to keep him out. Sawyer is captured and makes a deal with Widmore to deliver fake Locke to him then goes back and tells Locke what happened. This felt like a test of trust for Sawyer that Locke was giving him and Sawyer passed, although Sawyer makes it clear that he's on his own side and will do what's in his own best interest.

As good as this episode was I think the thing that got me most excited was the previews for next week's episode. We finally get to learn about the mysterious Richard and his back story. That should be a good one!

What did you think of tonight's episode? Leave a comment.

Batman: The Widening Gyre #5

I am all for letting us see well-established characters like Batman in new or unusal situations but thic comic had crossed the line from interesting to a little uncomfortable. I was fine with seeing Batman as a love-sick puppy falling head over heals for Silver St. Cloud, he's a hard working man and he should get a pretty lady to go home to. Where it got strange is the fact that he is cheating on her with Catwoman! I mean the guy has gone how many years without a lady in his life now he needs two? I've heard of making up for lost time but this is ridiculous!

The artwork for Catwoman is a little sketchy also. The first shot we see of her it looks like her legs are entirely too long for her body and her backside is oddly shaped. Also it looks like she went to the back of the closet and got a costume from the 60's. In fact it reminds me of the costume worn on the Adam West TV show. I know this mini-series is set in the past but I thought it was the recent past. Catwoman knows Batman is Bruce, that happened in the Hush arc, right?

That brings us to the new addition to the Batman family introduced in this story, Baphomet. An interesting character in that it appears he shows us what happens when crime kills someone important to an ordinary guy instead of the heir to a vast fortune. Baphomet doesn't have all the money and resources that Bruce had starting out but is just as driven and focused. I think it will be interesting to watch a guy fight crime then go home to the wife and kids. I wonder if they know what he's doing with his nights. Of course I've read enough comics to know that this will eventually end in disaster. The Joker or someone will track him back to his home and kill his family in front of him or something equally as horrible.

Regardless of what happens I have enjoyed the series so far and look forward to the last issue next month. It 's always fun to see Bruce lighten up and get the girl (or two) and see him rely on his "family" to hold down the fort while he is off getting some badly needed R&R.

Written by Kevin Smith

Art by Walter Flanagan and Art Thibert

Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz

Variant cover by Gene Ha