Saturday, March 03, 2012

Monsters And Ghosts

It's been nearly three weeks since my last TV jumble, so here's a rather big one for you.

Desperate Housewives: It's been a rather interesting set of episodes with the housewives at odds with each other over the handling and disappearance of Alejandro's body, Susan stupidly painting evidence of their crime and Chuck's constant harassment of them all but I think the scenes where Bree saw a familiar face and contemplated the act that an old friend once committed just shows how much this season has returned to form. It's saddening at this point that it's being ignored but perhaps that is the consequence of being on the air too long. It's a shame because the quality of the last few weeks has been sublime.

Glee: This show seems to be forever caught in a loop of being damned whether it does or doesn't. The handling of Valentine's Day/Brittany and Santana finally acting like a couple was a mixed bag but some fans weren't too thrilled with Sebastian's sudden turnaround, Karofsky's suicide attempt or even that pesky little cliff hanger moment with Quinn. It's going to be a rather interesting few weeks until the show returns in April but at least UK viewers can finally catch up with the 2012 episodes aired so far now that Sky1 is finally airing them.

Grimm: I wasn't really going to give this show a go but after catching up with the first three episodes on Watch, I have to admit, it's not that bad. Actually, apart from it being a standard cop show with a fairytale mixture, it's actually a lot of fun. Okay, Nick seems like a standard leading man/ordinary cop dragged into a supernatural world but I do like Monroe the werewolf quite a bit and they're setting up a rather decent mythology. Now I just gotta wait until Once Upon A Time winds up airing on UK screens to see which is the better show.

Homeland: Yes, this was a series I was going to watch and with a superb cast like Claire Danes and Damien Lewis, I can see why this show has become such a critical darling and award bait for Showtime. I still worry how Channel 4 will overall treat this show as most US programming doesn't seem to fare well on terrestrial channels nowadays but the first two episodes have been particular riveting stuff. Carrie Mathison might be one of the most compelling new female characters on TV (apart from Emily Thorne) and her constant attempts to see whether or not formerly imprisoned soldier Nick Bordy has been turned into a sleeper agent is fascinating to watch. If you're not watching this series, give it a whirl.

Skins: I'm beginning to lose patience with this series. The last three episodes might have had eventful stuff - Franky's rape, Mini's pregnancy and Nick resorting to desperate measures to try and get Matty home but the writing has been a bit too haphazard in parts and the sudden undying between Nick and Franky rings false to me. On the plus side, Liv and Alex are a fun double act and it's nice that Rich has finally returned, even if he hasn't done much. This show desperately needs to improve with it's final four episodes.

Upstairs Downstairs: Okay, so some of the cast and the writers might not like the comparison this show gets to Downton Abbey and while you can argue that they're unfair comparisons, I have to admit that if I had to choose between the Granthams and the Hollands, it'd probably be a rather easy choice. The first two episodes of the second series of 165 Eaton were a mixed bag and as much as I do love Alex Kingston, I'm still finding her character, Blanche as polarising as the rest of the cast. On the plus side, at least Beryl is likeable and Harry has improved. I can't say the same for Agnes and Persephone though or Pritchard and just no to any more dead monkeys.

The Vampire Diaries: It was the night of the ghosts and it was also one of the best and low key episodes we've had as well. The fact that the last two episodes were seemingly short on Klaus as well also helped matters but I enjoyed the returns of Anna, Pearl, Mason, Lexie and Sheila as well. Too bad that Elena still seems to be too fixated with trying to rehabilitate the ripper version of Stefan and that Jeremy and Bonnie broke up but either way, this show still knows how to deliver.

- David Morrissey will be playing The Governor in the third season of The Walking Dead.
- Revenge will feature both a time jump to winter, a former flame of Victoria's and an episode set in 2003 while a wedding will open up the second season.
- Both Zachary Quinto and Jessica Lange will remain as regulars for the second season of American Horror Story, however they will be playing different characters.
- Jennifer Love Hewitt's series The Client List will debut on Lifetime in April. Think Secret Diary Of A Call Girl and you're there.
- David Zayas will be playing a troll like monster in an upcoming episode of Grimm.
- Alan Ball will be stepping down from True Blood upon completion of it's fifth season.
- Adam Baldwin will be appearing an upcoming episode of Castle.
- Jessica Brown-Findlay and Katie McGrath's Labyrinth will air on Channel 4 as will World Without End, starring Cynthia Nixon, Miranda Raison and Peter Firth.

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