Soap Discussion - July 2013

Last blog for the month and it's a soap one.

Coronation Street: It's been a mixed month for the show. With dreadful storylines including the badly handled race plotline with Lloyd and Paul and Tracy/Rob vs. Peter/Carla, it's a good job that David's growing vendetta towards Nick and the reveal of Hayley having cancer have been more prominent. The latter storyline is certainly poignant, showing the beginning of the end for easily the best partnership on the show and if watching the storyline is hard now, it's going to be worse as the months progress. I really am going to miss Hayley as a character.

EastEnders: Pretty boring month to be honest. On the plus, both Max and Lauren took themselves off screen and it's nice that Jean has been given a romance as well but aside from Ian scheming against his family, Carl continuing to pile on the pressure and Alfie and Roxy getting engaged, very little of interest happened. The fire at Scarletts seemed unnecessary and the Dexter/Ava/Sam plotlines were pretty boring as well. With the confirmed exit for Lorraine Newman, hopefully the show will get itself back in order and be a bit more interesting over the next few months.

Emmerdale: Oh Gennie - talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, eh? It's amazing that in nine months Cameron has now bumped off three characters but Gennie's death needs to be the one that becomes his undoing and preferably soon as well. As exits go, it was violent but not as violent as some people seem to be making out though. I liked Gennie but the actress wanted a good exit and the show gave her one here. Other than that this month we also had Brenda shaving her head and the hand fasting ritual with her and Bob and of course, Cameron and Debbie sleeping together again. Definitely one of the show's strongest months.

Hollyoaks: A pretty good month as long as you're Browning, Ste, Sinead, Trevor, Nancy/Darren/Sienna or a Roscoe. Other than that, underuse for everyone else but still a good month. Trevor is shaping up to be a better baddie than Browning ever could be and Sienna's tearing apart of Darren and Nancy has been pretty interesting as well to watch. A part of me also feels a bit bad for Ste and Sinead but given that most of their actions are self-inflicted, it's hard to sympathise that much to be honest though. In terms of the gay couples on the show - George and Vincent seem imminent (great storyline with the latter by the way), Esther/Tilly are nice and so are John Paul/Danny at the moment. Also, the sooner Will is uncovered as Texas's killer the better because Ash seems inches away from being bumped off by her psycho boyfriend.

My Review of True Blood's 6x07: "In The Evening"

Written by Kate Barnow
Directed by Scott Winant

Nora (to Eric): “My death shall be my own.”

I’m not sure if that’s exactly what happened but in terms of exits, Nora did go out quietly but sadly though. I’ve enjoyed the character and while I feel we could’ve gotten some more development from her had she lasted a bit longer, it’s hard to deny that at the moment the show is probably killing off the right characters in order to clear the decks and further some storylines.

Nora’s death will unlikely be in vein as well. Eric’s anger towards Bill being unable to save her will more than likely continue to drive a wedge between them and it won’t be long before he ends up in that room along with Jessica, Tara and Pam as well as James too. At least this episode gave us a flashback to Eric and Nora’s first meeting in 1665 London (with a brief King Charles cameo), though disappointingly a lack of Godric in it.

Nora told Eric that he had both Pam and Willa to live for and she was right. I’m also wondering that if having Nora, the writers might hold off on killing either of Eric’s progenies for the time being. Although slightly underused in this episode, both Pam and Willa had their enjoyable moments in this episode.

I liked that Willa was able to take Pam on verbally and that the latter was even civil enough to come up with a logical plan in relation to the Hep V spiked blood bottles. I also liked that Pam insisted Willa told Tara and Jessica about the blood being spiked as well. Things like that can make Pam a bit more endearing to watch as a character. The other endearing thing was her therapy session with that prat of a shrink. Pam knows exactly what he wants to hear and she’s using it to her advantage. It’s hard not to be impressed with Pam for that.

Keeping with the impressed for a bit but for the wrong reason, there’s also Sarah Newlin. She spent a few moments grieving for Burrell before assuming control of his operation and placing Jason in mortal danger as well. With Burrell being dead and Warlow not doing much villainy, it’s eerily good to see Sarah step up to the plate and be a nasty piece of work. I think Maryann, Marnie and Salome would all be impressed with her work so far. Probably Marnie the most though.

As for Jason – he might be in a pit of female vampires waiting to tear him apart but at least he has Tara protecting him. While I do wish Tara was getting a bit more to do this season, it’s great seeing her protective and sensible side coming out to play. If anything this season has only further justified why making her into a vampire has been the best thing for her character. Although she’s obviously going to have problems keeping Jason safe with that head vampire, Violet wanting him as a snack though.

Of course being a vampire has also been good for Willa and two episodes in, it’s also showing us that James is perfectly capable of being a compassionate bloodsucker too. I liked that he did question Jessica wanting to have sex with him before he actually agreed to it and he does seem to be a good romantic option for her at the moment too. Basically, can we keep him?

Also, if we can keep James, can we please get rid of Alcide’s numbskull pack and that bitch Rikki as well? I don’t know what the hell happened to her between seasons, but having her capture Nicole and her mother just angered me and if Alcide doesn’t step up to the mark and take her out, I will be pissed off. Jackson was right about being a lone wolf and Rikki just proved it as well.

The show is bumping off characters and personally I think Rikki needs to be next in line. At least then the Alcide I liked in the previous three seasons can return at last. Besides, even the writers at this point must have twigged that the wolves are the weakest part of the whole storyline this year. They just don’t work and I hate seeing Sam being ostracised from his own town because of them too.

Last but not least – nothing really happened with Sookie and Warlow in this episode other than debates about courting. It was her scenes with Arlene and Bill that had more going for them instead. Bill raised a fair point about using Warlow’s blood and though Sookie didn’t seem keen on the idea, I think she saw where Bill was coming from though.

Also in “In The Evening”

This was a great episode for Rob Kazinsky – he literally was just naked in it for about two scenes.

Eric (to Bill, re Nora): “If you are God, please heal her for me.”

Sarah kissing Burrell’s head was a scene I could’ve done without. I did find her elocution lessons tape rather amusing though.

Sarah (to David): “When God’s message is this clear, I am truly an unstoppable woman.”

Sam (to Nicole): “My friend died. Not being there is not an option.”

James was punished for not shagging Jessica by having his fangs smashed in by the looks of it. I don’t think he’s that old a vampire as he seemed to be referring to his father in the present tense.

Jessica (to Jason): “You can’t stop bad things from happening to me. We don’t live in that kind of world, I’m sorry. All you can do is go and be the sweet, wonderful man you are.”

James: “Don’t you have any good news at all?”
Jessica: “Nope.”
James: “Damn. I feel like a fool.”

Bill and Andy had a pretty tense moment in this episode. It did seem like he was threatening Andy against hurting Jessica. Arlene’s reaction to Bill being able to walk in the day was priceless though.

Eric (to Bill): “Do you need to hear me say the words? I believe you. I believe in you. I believe that you are divine.”

Arlene: “You’re walking in the daylight?”
Bill: “Yes.”
Arlene: “Fuck me.”

Standout music: Led Zeppelin’s “In The Evening” of course.

Tara (to other vampires, re Jason): “Back off bitches.”

Chronology: From where “Do You Feel Me?” left off.

Great episode. “In The Evening” might not have had the excitement of the previous two episodes but it certainly wasn’t a dull one either. Nora’s death was another in a long line of needed kills and it will be interesting to see if Warlow can vamp up and how low Sarah will go to fulfil Burrell’s plans as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Assured Destruction

It's a short run down of some programmes that I've watched but here it goes ...

Defiance: This has been a decent but slightly lacking first season. Let me point out that I intend to watch the second season and while I enjoyed a lot of the events over the last few episodes such as the wedding, Nikki's downfall, Stahma/Kenya's affair, Irisa fulfilling parts of her destiny and Datak predictably winning the mayoral vote over Amanda, I still feel the show needs to be a bit more adventurous. In a lot of ways, even with some of the machinations going on, the show still hasn't moved into gripping television just yet. Hopefully though it will next season.

Skins: Well, it's been three episodes since I last discussed this show and to be honest, I am not enjoying this final series at all. It's not that the episodes are awful but they just feel uneventful. Fire Part 2 gave us a pretty annoying ending for Effy, Naomi and Emily while the two-parter Pure did nothing to Cassie except give her her a lame triangle, some pretentious rubbish with photography and an unexplored subplot with her family and a stalker to boot. I am beginning to wonder if this six part series would've been better focusing on a character per episode, instead of giving three characters a two parter each. I can only hope that Cook's story, Rise ends the series on an interesting note.

The Americans: I really love this show but what I don't love is that it airs on a Saturday after one of ITV's terrible talent shows though. Like Homeland, this series deserves a better day to air and better promotional material as well. At least eight episodes have aired now and the show has gotten better and better. Philip and Elizabeth are compelling to watch, especially given that now they seem unable to maintain their arranged marriage but it's the likes of Claudia and Stan who are just that tiny bit more interesting though. Claudia has been quite the fly in the ointment for the Jennings since she was assigned to be their handler and Stan's relationship with Nina has been gripping to watch too. I can't see it ending well though. Nina has casualty written all over her.

The Returned: And the series that has continued to dominate Twitter every Sunday night has only gotten better and better. Tomorrow night might be the finale but over the last three weeks we've gotten backstories for the likes Serge, Lucy and Adele and more importantly we've had the town become aware of Camille being alive, Victor choosing not to seek vengeance against the man that wronged him, more stuff with Adele and Simon as well as Julie and Laure and Lena's back getting healed as well. It's going to be interesting to see how the finale will top all the brilliant and surreal stuff that has happened so far.

- Indira Varma has been cast as Ellaria Sand in the fourth season of Game Of Thrones.
- Naveen Andrews will be playing a Victorian version of Jafar in the spin-off Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.
- Sean Maguire meanwhile will be replacing Tom Ellis as Robin Hood in Once Upon A Time.
- Though it's first season has yet to air, Starz have already commissioned a second season for Black Sails.
- UK viewers can watch the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix from August.
- Summer Glau will be in the second season of Arrow while Caity Lotz has been cast as Black Canary for the show.
- Luke Roberts has been cast in upcoming CW series, Reign as Simon Westbrook.
- Michael Vartan will be appearing in the second season of Bates Motel, playing George a love interest for Norma.
-  A spin-off for Supernatural is currently in the works with the CW. It'll be based on a character who will be introduced in the upcoming ninth season.
- Channel 4 will air the second season of The Returned in 2014.

My Review of Dexter's 8x04: "Scar Tissue"

Written by Tim Schlattmann
Directed by Stefan Schwartz

Deb (to Dexter, re Harry): “I think I know how he felt when he killed himself but he only got it half right.”

Well, it had to happen, didn’t it? Of course with the way Deb has been spiralling and unable to deal with her guilt over LaGuerta’s death would she do something extreme. The strange thing was that although trying to drown her and Dexter in the car was shocking, it wasn’t surprising.

In fact, what’s probably more surprising was that it took her to watch the wrong DVD from Vogel’s sessions with Harry in order to prompt her into doing such an extreme action. I’m actually glad though the end of the episode resulted in both Deb and Dexter being spared but that rift between them has certainly widened all the more.

Dexter went to lengths in this episode to prove that his caring for Dexter wasn’t just because he needed her to see the good in him and Vogel spent a good portion of the episode trying to tear it down. I don’t like that Vogel seems a little hell bent on separating Dexter and Deb from each other but her scenes with both of them this week were definitely the highlights of the episode.

With Deb, it was nice/bizarre that Vogel took her to the shipping crate twice where Maria was murdered in order to ‘help’ Deb. Deb admitting that she originally dreamed of shooting Dexter was a good foreshadowing moment for the ending of the episode but the second time, Vogel convinced her that she was right to protect her brother after all. It’s just too bad that the combination of the wrong DVD and Elway’s rant about family got in the way of that.

As for Dexter himself – he turned on Vogel here but only after learning that she was keeping notes on him with their recent encounters. Dexter had a right to be annoyed with Vogel for that but why was he shocked though? She’s still kept her recorded sessions with Harry, so if anything Dexter should’ve seen this coming as well.

Also his promise of breaking away from Vogel probably won’t last long either given that Dexter messed up with catching AJ Yates as well. I don’t know what possessed Dexter to show off the way he did at the hospital but aside from the episode making comparisons with Dexter and Yates, I’m still not sure if he’s the Brain Surgeon. The episode seemed to indicate that he might be though.

The other thing episode indicated more vocally though was the fact that Vogel has a thing for grooming/mentoring serial killers into ‘heroes’. Yates seemed to be a failed attempt judging by his reaction to learning about Dexter and the latter is someone that Vogel has only just about managed to keep her under her control but for how much longer though? I think one more false move and Vogel will end up regretting getting on Dexter’s bad side.

Also in “Scar Tissue”

Yates was played by Aaron McCusker, who UK viewers will recognise as Jamie Maguire from the original version of Shameless.

Vogel: “When you shot Dexter, how did that make you feel?”
Deb: “Better. Worse. I don’t fucking know.”

Jamie and Quinn are still having problems in their relationship over Deb. I really care though I did like Quinn defending Deb’s honour and his scene with her this week. However Dexter did seem keen on Jamie’s friend, Cassie in this one.

Dexter: “When I do what I do, I have to know everything.”
Vogel: “Sorry for the oversight.”

Yates (re Dexter): “Vogel, she found herself a hero.”

In this episode alone, Masuka found out that he had a daughter named Nikki. I think we could’ve done without him trying it on with her though.

Deb: “How do I make it right?”
Vogel: “By accepting that you’re a good person who was forced to do a terrible thing and that you made the best of an impossible situation.”

Dexter (to Vogel): “You were experimenting on me with Harry and you still are. I’m nothing but a lab rat, just like Yates.”

Chronology: It’s been a week since the events of the previous episode.

“Scar Tissue” is a pretty solid episode, though I think the ending was more impacting along with any scene involving Dexter, Deb and Vogel. The rest at this point still feels like padding, especially with the tedium of Angel and the sergeant exam but overall, still a great episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Doctor Who - Top 50 Companions: Part 5

And now we're half way through the Top 50 list of Doctor Who companions and it's a rather diverse bunch I'm listing here.

26: Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson)

We've never really had a dark companion on Doctor Who and while future companions such as Jack Harkness and River Song would have a little ambiguity about them, it was Fifth Doctor companion, Turlough who really could've been the first antagonist companion we've had. He nearly came close to killing the Doctor at the start of his tenure and by the end of it, they were solid friends. Turlough was definitely an interesting combination with the Fifth Doctor and Tegan Jovanka.

27: Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin)

Okay maybe another slightly ambiguous companion or maybe a more misguided one? Pertwee's era was probably the most successful for companions and considering that we had an even female/male ratio of them, it's amazing how brilliant the lot of them are. I quite liked Mike's reserved attitude, occassional dry wit, misguided sense of wanting to do right before his inevitable redemption of sorts in Planet Of The Spiders as well.

28: Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury)

Zoe Heriot - how I love thee. This is a young woman who wrecked a computer in The Invasion by proving just how much smarter she was than it and while Jamie didn't seem as smitten with her as he was with Victoria, it was the dynamic with these two and the Second Doctor that became one of my favourites. Plus her and Jamie's exits in The War Games set up a precedent we'd later see with Donna Noble.

29: Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling)

Okay, so Victoria could scream a little and be a bit more afraid at times than other companions but if there's one reason she deserves to be on the list, it's definitely for that scene about family with the Second Doctor in The Tomb Of The Cybermen. Oh and the fact that she's bloody fantastic as well.

30: Paternoster Gang - Madame Vastra/Jenny Flint/Commander Strax (Neve McIntosh/Catrin Stewart/Dan Stewart)

Okay, I'm aware this is cheating in a Top 50 list but I couldn't exclude any of them from it and bundling them together seemed like a logical choice here. With this trio we've got a katana wielding Silurian, her Victorian wife and maid and of course, a certain Sontaran whose general bloodlust hasn't been quelled just because he's a butler. A spin-off with these three (either television or audio) seems pretty inevitable but for the time being, they're some of the best allies both the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors will have in their tenures.

Part 6 of this list will go up tomorrow.

When The Simpsons Met The Griffins

Well, it's been in the news for the last week - The Simpsons and Family Guy are crossing over for an episode due to air in 2014.

For Family Guy's upcoming 12th season (which will also feature Ashton Kutcher and Peter Dinklage in later episodes), the Griffins will meet their Springfield counterparts with castmembers Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria as the Griffins take a roadtrip and end up in Springfield with some alliances and clashes expected with Homer/Peter, Marge/Lois, Bart/Stewie throughout the episode. The episode itself will go by the title of The Simpsons Guy too.

I have to admit, I'm not really sure of this. Both shows aren't as good as they used to be and crossovers don't always work. Plus, I have an urge to fast forward through the Peter/Homer scenes as well. Then again, it might actually be the very thing both shows could do with at the moment but it's hard to deny that it seems more like a publicity stunt for two shows that don't have the impact that they used to though. It's also been confirmed that Cleveland will return to Quahog and a member of the Griffins will die at the end of the upcoming season and be replaced by a new family member too. Is it too much to hope that it's Peter?

More News: http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/07/18/simpsons-family-guy-crossover-episode/

Family Guy's 12th season will air Sundays at 9pm on FOX from September 29th.

Comic-Con 2013: True Blood

Last of my Comic-Con related blogs and it goes to the glorious True Blood of course...

And here are a large portion of the cast. Not pictured was Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer but they were also present during the event and while the cast were on fine form, it was the releasing of a trailer for the second half of Season 6 and here it is ...

We've already seen Jason breaking into the vampire camp to rescue Jessica and given Bill has just murdered Burrell, it seems that chaos is coming big time for both vampires and humans in the next few episodes. Sarah looks she's on the warpath and Jason seems to be pretty messed up here.

As for Jessica, she might not have slept with new vampire James (Luke Grimes) but it definitely looks like he's going to be having sex with her pretty soon. It's already been rumoured that James is a character will be a regular in Season 7 and given that he made a great impression this week, I can't wait to see some more of him. And to think he was Ryan in Brothers And Sisters not so long ago.

As for Sookie and Ben/Warlow, we've already seen them having sex and bondage times in the last episode and despite his protests of not caring, Bill certainly doesn't seem that pleased with Sookie's new choice of lover either. Then again, he's also desperate to stop his own visions from coming true and being begged by Eric in order to cure a dying Nora as well.

Other clips in the trailer see the likes of Arlene, Steve and Andy all looking miserable for various, Warlow being bitten by Bill, Pam talking about humans wanting to be devoured, Rikki smacking Nicole (who also shares a shower scene with Sam), some Sookie/Sam interactions, Sarah declaring herself as a powerful woman, Lilith getting pissed off with Bill and Tara trying to protect Jason. Overall, it looks like more deaths are coming in the last four episodes.

Season 6 Comic-Con Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuCySSwrp-4
Comic-Con Panel: http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/07/true-blood-full-comic-con-2013-panel.html

Season 6 of True Blood continues to air Sundays at 9pm on HBO and will air for UK viewers on FOX later in the year.

My Review of True Blood's 6x06: "Don't You Feel Me?"

Written by Daniel Kenneth
Directed by Howard Deutch

Sookie (to Ben): “I have these feelings for you I don’t wanna have but I can’t stop myself feeling them.”

I suppose the thing about having two less episodes this season meant that Sookie had to give into Warlow/Ben’s charms a little sooner and while I do think she’s being a little too forgiving towards the bloke who bumped off her folks, she did make some points here worth taking into account.

First of all, Warlow has saved her twice from being killed by Corbett (the second happening after Bill let him loose for a bit) and his declarations of love seem to be genuine enough. Ben/Warlow even offered to tear up that contract that Sookie rightfully took him to task with in this episode but more to the point, she made a comment about being a ‘danger whore’.

While that’s an extreme description for describing her sexual pattern, there’s no denying that Sookie has been attracted to dangerous men (which is why Alcide never stood a chance) and in this episode alone, she transported Ben to faerie land, tied him to a tree with vines and her own light and ended the episode by shagging him. More to the point, she also let Ben feed off her as well.

Now this is definitely Sookie being reckless and in some ways, it seemed like she was giving into Ben’s desire to have her as his queen but in other ways, it was also Sookie taking control of the situation as well. I’m not sure if she really can have a future with Ben – I highly doubt it for some reason but right about now, he’s the only vampire/fairy hybrid out there, unless Sookie decides to become one herself and that’s quite possible I suppose.

Keeping with the vampires this week, things at vampire camp kept shifting every few minutes. Eric and Pam’s supposed battle to the death only resulted in a security guard getting killed instead but while this was a minor victory for Eric, Burrell did manage to strike back in a truly vindictive style.

Having Nora being infected with Hep V was a truly nasty thing for Burrell to do, especially given that he made Eric watch but while Nora’s life certainly looks like it could be coming to an end, I wouldn’t be too shocked if Bilith was able to cure her at the very last minute. The trailer for next week certainly showed that Eric was going to explore that possibility at the very least.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad for Eric this week. Pam’s still alive and Willa certainly stepped up to the mark (thanks to some coaching from Tara) in trying to break both him and Nora out of the camp, so points there. Actually, truth be told, this was probably Willa’s best episode and certainly her most endearing as well. Willa managed to give her father a piece of her mind and I liked that she considered Tara a friend as well. I really do hope she makes it out of the season alive.

However her father was already toast in this episode. Infecting Nora with Hep V and ordering the contamination of the Tru Blood bottles sealed his fate and his confrontation with Bill was gloriously brief but effective. I have to admit I’m both intrigued and fearful of a day walking Bill Compton at the moment. Drinking Warlow’s blood has certainly made him into a force to be reckoned with at the minute.

Last but not least in the vampire related plots – Sarah Newlin is some bitch, isn’t she? Jason’s plan to rescue Jessica by getting accepted by the LAVTF was going smoothly until Sarah outsmarted him and needled him with watching Jessica and James nearly have sex. James might have been onscreen for about three minutes but he already endeared himself by undergoing torture not to screw Jessica and that was even after Jessica gave him permission to as well. I definitely hope we get to see him again.

As for the final plot of the week – I hated the way Terry was killed off. I knew it was coming but it still felt a bit too cruel, especially after Arlene and Holly had gotten Matt the friendly gay vampire to glamour him. In some ways though I guess the character had been written into a corner but in terms of exits, Terry deserved a better one than this.

Also in “Don’t You Feel Me?”

Comic-Con released a trailer showing us some clips for the remaining episodes of the season. I’ll blog about it tomorrow.

Steven: “I think we should go.”
Sarah: “You always were a pussy.”

Steven’s cowardice in this episode was amusing but he’s screwed himself over big time though.

Sam (re Emma): “She’s got me.”
Nicole: “Are you sure that’s enough?”

Ben/Warlow: “You’re special.”
Sookie: “I ain’t that special.”

Nicole spoke sense in this episode and I’m glad Sam handed Emma over to Martha. Alcide on the other hand was a complete asshole in this episode.

Burrell (to Eric, re Willa/Nora): “I want you to feel the same immeasurable loss. I want you to understand what it’s like to lose part of who you are.”

Sarah: “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Jason: “Grabbing you by your purdy little Texas balls.”

Creepy shrink fella has a thing for Pam. Chances are this thing will result in his own death by next week and Andy’s surviving daughter is now called Adeline.

Willa: “For me? Now you’re playing God.”
Burrell: “No, not God. It’s science.”

Jason: “Can you define ‘copulation’?”
Sarah: “It’s fucking Jason. You know what that is.”

Standout music: Damon’s “Don’t You Feel Me?”

James (re Jessica): “I’m a vampire, not a rapist.”

Burrell: “The extinction of your race.”
Bill: “That ain’t ever gonna happen.”

Chronology: From where the previous episode left off of course.

“Don’t You Feel Me?” certainly delivered on the death front with both Terry and Burrell’s demises stirring up different reactions but I have a feeling there’s going to be more blood spilled before the season is out though. As for Sookie/Warlow, it’s going to be interesting to see how this pans out over the next four episodes.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Comic-Con 2013: Doctor Who

Ah yes, the most controversial of all panels (from a non American perspective) was this year's Doctor Who panel at Comic-Con but more on that in a bit, eh?

This year's panel was hosted by Craig Ferguson (who did a bloody great job at it) and featuring on the panel were stars Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor), Jenna-Louise Coleman, David Bradley (Solomon/William Hartnell in An Adventure In Space And Time), executive producers Steven Moffat and Marcus Wilson and writer Mark Gatiss to talk about cosplaying, creating monsters and the odd spoiler there and there too.

Of course the big reveal at the panel were the trailers for both the 50th Anniversary special and the biopic, An Adventure In Space And Time, in which Steven Moffat asked audiences not to upload online. To be fair, while I understand the need for exclusives at events such as Comic-Con, it might have been wiser for the BBC and Moffat to have uploaded the trailers on the former's site and YouTube officially. It certainly would've avoided the online carnage that's still happening at this moment. Anyways, the 50th trailer from most sources has plenty of Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Eleventh Doctor interactions, a certain line from a previous anniversary story mentioned, shots of Clara, Rose (Billie Piper) being all cryptic and warning of danger, John Hurt's Doctor as well as clips of Zygons and Time War era Daleks as well. The BBC at least released some pictures to confirm the Daleks were back for the 50th but the trailers would've been better though.

And here's a first image of sorts of David Bradley as William Hartnell/First Doctor in the upcoming An Adventure In Space And Time. From what I heard, the trailer to this in particular is absolutely stunning, so here's hoping the BBC get their skates on and release a trailer soon. If only to shut certain people up on Twitter for the time being.

Comic-Con 2013 Panel: http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/07/doctor-who-complete-comic-con-panel.html

Doctor Who returns in November with both the biopic and anniversary specials.

Doctor Who - Top 50 Companions: Part 4

Well I promised I'd do two of these lists this week and here is the fourth segment of my Top 50 companions of Doctor Who. Let me know what you think guys.

31: Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins)

He might have played Tom Campbell in a certain Peter Cushing movie but to a lot of us, Bernard Cribbins is Wilfred Mott. Not just the man who was the grandfather of Donna Noble but also the last companion of the Tenth Doctor and easily the best thing about The End Of Time. Wilfred Mott, we salute you and your wonderful family. Even Sylvia too.

32: Liz Shaw (Caroline John)

There's a lot of things about Spearhead From Space I am thankful for. The arrival of the Third Doctor, the Autons, both the Brigadier and Benton becoming regulars on the show, the show itself moving into colour but one thing I am most thankful for is the excellent Liz Shaw. I've never believed that intellectual companions don't work on the show because while Liz may have only lasted a season, she was bloody fantastic from start to finish. Much respect to the lovely Miss Shaw, folks.

33: Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant)

Long before the days of Amy Pond, one of the most lusted after companions was probably a certain American botanist but let's be honest here - Peri was more than that. She could stand up for herself with the Sixth Doctor (though she debuted with his predecessor) and outside of Adric, she's probably had one of the most interesting departures from the show. Whether you believe she was killed to store Lord Kiv's mind or became Yrcanos's wife, Peri left during the show's most polarising of times.

34: Nyssa of Traken (Sarah Sutton)

Oh Nyssa - it's always the quiet ones, isn't it? When you have the more vocal of companions with Tegan and pompous at times with Adric, the Fifth Doctor was probably glad to have the more calmer Nyssa on board as well. Also like Liz and Romana, Nyssa was another clever companion who worked quite nicely in the two seasons of the series she was on.

35: Vicki Pallister (Maureen O'Brien)

Vicki - what can I say? In some ways, it felt like she was brought in as a surrogate Susan for the First Doctor but saying that is being rather dismissive of the character to be honest. She was a brilliant companion with the First Doctor, even better when Steven Taylor was added into the mix as well. Another underrated traveller in the TARDIS.

Parts 5 and 6 will be up next week.

Comic-Con 2013: Game Of Thrones

The second of my Comic-Con related blogs and this one is focusing on current HBO juggernaut, Game Of Thrones ...

Attending this year again was showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, writer George RR Martin and actors Richard Madden (Robb), Michelle Fairley (Catelyn), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), John Bradley (Samwell), Kit Harrington (Jon) and Rose Leslie (Ygritte) and once again, the crowd definitely loved them in abundance. In terms of spoilers, it doesn't seem like we got too much compared to last year. Discussion mainly seemed to stem on the events of the Red Wedding, with Madden himself admitting he "cried a lot" during the making of the episode.

Other stuff that was mentioned on the panel included George RR Martin himself mentioning the possibility of continuing the series beyond the last two books he has in store for us. By that he meant exploring the series far distant past rather than a prequel though. In terms of visual content, we managed to get a deleted scene between Pycelle and Tywin as well as an in memoriam of many of the deaths we've seen on the show over the last three seasons.

Last but not least - it was leaked this week that Doctor Who and Sherlock actor Mark Gatiss will be appearing in the upcoming fourth season of the show. However it seems that while Mark's role in the fourth year hasn't been leaked, the actor has revealed that he has already filmed his role for the new season. Let the speculating on what the role begin.

Comic- Con 2013 Panel: http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/07/game-of-thrones-season-4-comic-con-2013.html

Game Of Thrones fourth season is currently being filmed and will air on HBO and SkyAtlantic in March 2014.

Comic-Con 2013: Sherlock

First of a few Comic-Con related blogs you can expect from me over the next few days and the first one to go is Sherlock ....

The panel in San Diego was headed by writers/creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who was confirmed this week to appearing in the fourth season of Game Of Thrones) and Sue Vertue. At least ten interesting things were leaked about the upcoming third series.

1: A fourth series will definitely happen but of course, it'll depend on when Benedict and Martin are available for filming.

2: Benedict has been described as the "goofy" one with Martin as the "dry, sardonic" one. I would've thought it was the reverse.

3: Mark Gatiss is still surprised that we haven't figured out that cliffhanger. I think I might have done.

4: Sherlock and Watson's reunion is definitely going to appeal to the slash fans in a big way. It's been described as "beautiful" and will "make your hands stand on end".

5: Benedict's spoilers for the cliffhanger have included two toy monkeys, teabag and cabbage. He might not be entirely serious though.

6: For those who ship Sherlock and Molly, well, they won't be kissing anytime soon.

7: Moriarty is definitely dead. And Watson is married.

8: The ending for Series 3 is going to outdo the second series ender to the point where you'll wonder how the show can continue.

9: Mark Gatiss still wants a Roger Moore cameo in either Sherlock or Doctor Who. Then again, so does Roger Moore himself.

10: Don't expect a Sherlock movie anytime soon.

They're not the most revealing of spoilers but they're definitely something to whet the old appetite. The filming for the final story in the third series, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran will begin later this month and before we know it, it won't be long before Series 3 kicks in and we're watching. I'm betting it might air during December with the finale airing around the Christmas period.

EDIT: All the titles for Series 3 have been revealed. They are The Empty Hearse, The Sign Of Three and His Last Vow.

Comic Con Write Up: http://www.digitalspy.ie/tv/s129/sherlock/news/a499716/sherlock-at-comic-con-10-things-we-learned.html

Sherlock's third series will air in late 2013 possibly.

My Review of Dexter's 8x03: "What's Eating Dexter Morgan?"

Written by Lauren Gussis
Directed by Ernest Dickerson

Dexter (to Galuzzo): “I consume everything I love.”

However on the plus side – at least Dexter isn’t serving brains in garlic or fingers in a stew. We haven’t had a memorable minor kill for Dexter so far this season and Ron Galuzzo thankfully broke that trend with his kitchen being a kill room. Even Dexter was grossed out by the thing and that was something to see alright.

Of course Galuzzo’s main purpose in this episode was just to be another one of Vogel’s psychotic former patients who wasn’t the Brain Surgeon. Also, if this episode was anything to go by, Vogel herself might not be the brain surgeon either but I still don’t trust her and the fact that Dexter has involved her more won’t end well either.

I’m not surprised that Vogel managed to get some insight into Dexter’s relationship with Deb but once again, why aren’t some alarm bells going off for him? Once again, she seemed to encourage his darker side and was it me or did she seem not to like the bond that he actually had with Deb as well?

However she was there when Dexter needed to get Deb out of the station and made sure that she was the one to help Deb as well by telling Dexter he couldn’t do it. Even Dexter agreed with Vogel that he was unable to help Deb anymore in spire of his attempts of reaching out to her this week.

I thought Dexter had managed to make a breakthrough with Deb when he purposefully showed her the man whose life she saved a few seasons ago had turned out. It was a nice gesture and seemed to reach Deb until both her client and Elway soured things by pointing out the habits of living in denial.

Deb confessing to Quinn that she killed LaGuerta though has to come back to haunt her. Quinn might have bought Vogel’s “survivor’s guilt” spiel for a bit but even he’s going to eventually realise that Deb wasn’t lying about killing her former superior though. Much as I generally dislike Quinn, this was a good episode, namely for his concern about Deb but other plots however detracted a little from things.

It’s three episodes in and I still couldn’t care less about Quinn and Jamie as a couple and her lack of sympathy towards Deb kind of seems out of character for Jamie a bit. It also doesn’t help that Angel seems more interested in Quinn becoming a sergeant than Quinn actually does himself. I think Angel needs to focus his energies on something other than his sister and Quinn at the moment.

Also in “What’s Eating Dexter Morgan?”

The opening sequence with Harrison eating too many lollipops was good but we’ve had better fake out moments than that though and Vogel got more brain pieces delivered to her in his and her boxes.

Masuka: “Ah, suicide. Makes our lives so much easier.”
Miranda: “You should put that on a T-shirt.”

Masuka seems to be developing a similar rapport with Miranda that he used to have with Deb. I like Miranda, even though she’s ridiculously underused.

Vogel (re Deb): “Is alcohol an issue for her?”
Dexter: “I’m an issue for her. She’s acting this way because of me.”

Deb (to her client): “Don’t look at me. I think the truth is overrated.”

I’m pretty sure this is the second episode in a row that Elway has had a hangover cure for Deb. I did find his teasing about Briggs and Quinn amusing enough too.

Dexter: “I would never kill Debra. She’s my sister, I love her.”
Vogel: “What do you love about her?”

Deb (re her client): “Is she fucking kidding? That’s obviously her husband.”
Elway: “She just didn’t wanna see it. People get used to living in denial. It’s just easier you know.”

I really didn’t like Deb getting an injection from Dexter and for a moment, it did look like Quinn might have seen him do it as well. Vogel’s reaction was interesting as well.

Deb: “I don’t want some coffee. I want to confess.”
Quinn: “You want to confess to what?”
Deb: “I killed LaGuerta.”

Dexter: “Vogel was right. I am perfect at one thing.”

Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

“What’s Eating Dexter Morgan?” – definitely a solid episode, though not an appetising one if we’re going by the contents of Galuzzo’s fridge, that’s for sure. That being said though, I do hope we get the identity of the Brain Surgeon and pretty soon.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Doctor Who - Top 50 Companions: Part 3

Sorry for the delay with this blog but last week was a bit hectic, so to make it up to people, there will be two blogs (the second one on Friday or Saturday) to make up for the lack of posting. Anyways, onto the third part of my Top 50 companions of Doctor Who ...

36: Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford)

There have been many important people who have travelled with the Doctor and surely the most important of them all has been his own granddaughter. I know there are some who kind of don't believe that Susan is actually related to the Doctor but I definitely do. Like with Ian and Barbara, Susan was the first companion we've had on the show and while we've had stronger companions, her impact on the series has never been forgotten. Plus her exit in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth is still one of the best companion exits the show has done in it's 50 year history.

37: Molly O'Sullivan (Ruth Bradley)

Or the woman known as 'Dark Eyes' as well. It's amazing that it's taken Doctor Who so long to actually have an Irish companion in any medium and casting Ruth Bradley in the role of WW1 nurse, Molly O'Sullivan is making me wish she'd appear on the actual show itself. As a companion for the Eighth Doctor, Molly is certainly one of his best yet and exactly what he needed following the departure of Lucie. And thankfully for us with recording on Dark Eyes 2 starting up, we should hopefully be having more adventures with this wonderful Irish lady very soon.

38: Polly Wright (Anneke Wills)

She might have started off with the First Doctor but like with her fellow companion (and probable love interest) Ben, Polly certainly felt more associated with the Second Doctor and while I wish she had lasted a bit longer, she was a great companion to watch. Definitely one of the show's most underrated of companions I'd say.

39: Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman)

Remember the days where the Doctor had an archaeologist travelling with him who wasn't River Song? Well, it did happen and has been happening on and off since 1992 as Bernice Summerfield has made quite an impression on both his Seventh and Eighth incarnation. More to the point, Bernice herself has even bagged her own ongoing spin-off, which has been going pretty fine for over a decade now. 

40: Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford)

And the award for the most polarising companion (who isn't Adric) would probably go to this lovely redheaded lady. Melanie might have literally taken the screamer aspect of being a companion too far at times but for a series and a half, she was a decent companion to both the Sixth and Seventh Doctor. Plus, if you ever get the chance to listen to her on audio (particularly The Juggernauts), you'll realise that a) the writers did Bonnie Langford a massive disservice and b) Langford can actually act and pretty damn well too.

Part 4 will be up either Friday or Saturday.

Glee - Season 5 May Be Delayed

I didn't really want to write this blog because I still can't believe it but sadly, I have to.

It's been two days since the news broke about the death of actor Cory Monteith and like so many people, I am definitely shocked and saddened to have heard the news. I'm not going to make any speculations here but my thoughts most definitely go out to his family, friends and colleagues. 31 is no age to die and he will be missed from Glee and in general. I've not always been the biggest fan of Finn as a character but Monteith always struck me as a nice guy though.

Because of the untimely passing of actor, it seems that production is rightly going to be delayed for a month to give everyone some time to breathe. This will now mean that the show will more than likely return in November when filming begins.

More News: http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/07/glee-season-5-production-possibly.html and http://ontd-glee.livejournal.com/tag/actor%3A%20cory%20monteith

Glee is currently being repeated on Sky1 and E4 at different points during the week. EDIT: Season 5 will now air September 26th on FOX with production beginning in August.

My Review of True Blood's 6x05: "Fuck The Pain Away"

Written by Angela Robinson
Directed by Michael Ruscio

Pam (to the shrink): “You humans just love pain, don’t ya? You just love being in it. You even consider it a virtue.”

Now, that is the Pamela Swinford de Beaufort I missed watching. Not the whiny one we’ve had for the last few episodes whose bitchiness has been more of a source of tedium but the one whose bitchiness is more a source of observation and amusement and she was certainly swinging in this episode.

Pam at a therapy session has been the best thing that has happened with the character this season and watching her challenging the patronising shrink who was trying to get into her mindset was wonderful. This is easily Pam’s best episode this season and the observation she made on humans indulging in their pain was neat to watch. I wonder what she makes of the phrase ‘tortured artist’.

Of course, while Pam thought she was being clever and besting the shrink in question, it didn’t stop Vampire Camp from outsmarting her and placing her in the position of having to fight Eric at the end of the episode. For all her bluster, I can’t see Pam ever trying to kill Eric and I certainly don’t think he would do the same to his own progeny either.

It was nicely stinging moment though for the pair of them, all brought together by Steve and Sarah being their treacherous selves and Burrell wanting his own payback for what happened to Willa as well. More to the point, Bill’s prophecies really have come to fruition considering that him and Warlow are the only vampires not at the camp at the moment.

However getting back to Eric – he wasn’t thinking straight this week. He let himself get captured in the hopes of having the upper hand on Burrell but twice in this episode, Eric was put in his place. He was shocked that Burrell turned on Willa and even more so that Pam was sent to fight him. It’s going to be interesting to see how he gets out of this one to be honest.

As for the rest of the vampires at camp – is anyone shocked by Steve being a turncoat? I thought his actions were pretty in character but it’s the scenes with Tara and Jessica and the new vampire lady that are intriguing him. I’m sensing an unholy alliance in the next episode if any of them stand a hope of getting out of that camp alive because honestly it really does look like someone is going to die in there pretty soon as well.

This was certainly not Jessica’s episode though. Her remorse over killing three of Andy’s fairy kids (one of them survived) saw her do something reckless with Bill and Sarah Newlin of all people got the upper hand when visiting Jason didn’t exactly go to plan either. I did like that Tara did her best to look out for Jessica though in the episode. Tara was pretty fantastic in this one throughout.

As for Warlow/Ben – of course Bill can control him. It did make sense given that Lilith is coursing through his veins but more to the point, Ben’s story kept getting interesting in this episode. His feelings for Sookie seem genuine enough and he wasn’t actually lying when he dropped that bombshell about Corbett and Michelle trying to kill her but Sookie would be a massive fool to be taken in so easily by him.

I loved the flashback scenes to Ben/Warlow’s turning as a vampire by Lilith and the interactions with him and Bill were brilliant to watch as well. I’m guessing if Bill can synthesise Warlow’s blood, he could be onto something with saving all vampires but again, do they deserve to be saved? Even Jessica was starting to have her doubts in this episode.

Also in “Fuck The Pain Away”

Where was Nora in this episode? We were at vampire camp for ages and I don’t think she was seen once.

Ben: “You are my intended. I wandered the Earth for millennia in misery and solitude waiting for you, dreaming only of you.”
Sookie: “Fuck you.”
Ben: “It’s our destiny to be together.”
Sookie: “Fuck destiny.”

It’s been three seasons since Lafayette can communicate with the dead and yet again, he got possessed by Corbett who ended the episode by trying to drown Sookie. Get some control already, Lafayette.

Sookie: “Oh, great, now you wanna save me too? I thought I was dead to you, Bill Compton.”
Bill (re Ben): “I didn’t come here for you. I came here for him.”

Pam (re experiments): “All in the name of science?”
Guard: “Shut up.”
Pam: “Care to explain the scientific value of this?”

Sarah Newlin has become quite the bunny boiler, wanting Burrell to get her pregnant and sleeping with Jason in this episode. How was she able to rescind Jessica’s invitation though?

Lilith (to Ben): “You are destined to save vampire kind.”

Sarah: “You’re a demon whore.”
Jessica: “Oh, you take that back.”

Terry wants to kill himself? Jesus, can the writers not come up with a better way of writing his character out of the show? As for the Sam/Nicole and Alcide/Jackson scenes – only meh can describe them.

Shrink: “What value do you place on my life?”
Pam: “None.”

Jessica: “Where are we?”
Tara: “We’re in hell.”
Jessica: “Thought so.”

Standout music: Peaches “Fuck The Pain Away” funnily enough.

Ben (to Corbett/Michelle): “I’m a prince. I’ll make Sookie a princess. It’s the way our tribe has done things since the beginning of time.”

Chronology: From where “At Last” left off and 3496 BC during the Warlow/Bilith scenes, which were also suitably homoerotic as well.

This season is halfway done and it’s arguably shaping up to being one of the best going. “Fuck The Pain Away” was hard not to enjoy as an episode (despite some boring subplots) and with that ending, I really want to see the next episode almost immediately.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Batman: The Animated Series

What can I say? I'm a big kid at heart and if there's one cartoon I loved, it was Batman: The Animated Series.

Sure there has been many Batman related cartoons over the years and I've enjoyed the majority of them (though I have yet to see Beware The Batman) but for me, The Animated Series was kind of the pinnacle of them all. Running for a total of 85 episodes, the series just started off with Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) as the Dark Knight taking out most of Gotham's deadliest of villains before the likes of Dick Grayson/Robin (Loren Lester) and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (Melissa Gilbert) also joined to help save the day from the likes of the Joker (Mark Hamill), Catwoman (Adrienne Barbeau), Bane (Henry Siva) and Ras Al Ghul (David Warner) to name a few.

More to the point, my own enthusiasm for the Caped Crusader in many of his mediums will result in a few blog posts about him over the next few months as well. Not only will I do some postings about the animated adventures and the live action Adam West series but I also intend to actually get around to watching and reviewing the movies from Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher and Christopher Nolan as well. I hope you enjoy folks.

Revenge - Season 3 Casting Spoiler

It's been some time since I've posted a blog in relation to Revenge but it seems now is the perfect time as the casting for Patrick, the first born of Victoria Grayson has been revealed as ...

 ... Justin Hartley of course. The former Oliver Queen on Smallville and from the shortlived Emily Owens, MD has been cast in the role and will first appear in the third season premiere episode, titled Fear. Patrick will also be popping up in several episodes of the new season as a recurring character as well. I just hope for his sake that he fares better than Jennifer Jason Leigh did as Kara in the previous season. Personally, I think is fab casting and if he cops off with Nolan, it'll be even better too. What, one can dream right? I can't wait to see Patrick and Victoria clash/interact with each other.

Casting News: http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/07/revenge-season-3-justin-hartley-joins.html

Revenge Season 3 will air on ABC, Sundays at 9pm from September 29th.

My Review of Dexter's 8x02: "Every Silver Lining"

Written by Manny Coto
Directed by Michael C. Hall

Dexter: “You’re wrong about me. I’m a mistake.”
Vogel: “You’re everything you need to be, Dexter. You’re perfect.”

And with those words, alarm bells really should be ringing in Dexter’s ears about now. With the exception of Lumen and Deb, anyone else who has been privy to Dexter’s bloodlust has not turned out to be good for him and it’s pretty obvious that Vogel is going to be joining that line up as well.

I’m not sure if I entirely buy the idea of Vogel being responsible for Harry giving Dexter his code but the maternal streak she showed Dexter alone in this episode certainly means that her chances of manipulating him for a bit are pretty good. Already in this episode she sent him after someone she assumed was the Brain Surgeon and stalking her.

I liked the reveal about Lyle Sussman being more of a victim of the Brain Surgeon as well, even if he was responsible for a victim’s death in this episode before being killed himself. Is it too much to assume that Evelyn herself is the real surgeon and she’s preying on certain psychopaths to do her bidding? I don’t think so.

Evelyn knows about psychopaths in a pretty detailed manner and she knew exactly what to say to Dexter at various points when it looked like he was going to snub her requests as well. She’s definitely an intellectual threat for Dexter and he really hasn’t had one of those in a long while, has he?

This week certainly wasn’t Dexter’s best one. With Vogel getting under his skin and Deb continuing to distance herself from him, it was a little hard not to feel bad for Dexter a bit in this episode.

Speaking of Deb – I’m disappointed that she killed El Sapo (assuming she did, in spite of her fuzzy memory) but the downward spiral has been nicely played by Jennifer Carpenter nonetheless though. Deb made some valid points again to Dexter but at the same time, it was him who managed to save her bacon from being identified as El Sapo’s killer though.

Of course the scenes at Miami Metro still had their moment of tension though. Deb could barely look at Angel or Tom and she couldn’t even snap back at Masuka like she would do in the old days. Even her questioning with Quinn about El Sapo saw her only being inches away from confessing to murdering the guy.

Also in “Every Silver Lining”

This was the first time Michael C. Hall directed for the show. He previously directed the penultimate episode of Six Feet Under’s final season.

Vogel: “Sooner or later somebody’s going to be holding a piece of my brain in a jar. I want you to find him, Dexter and I want you to do what Harry and I taught you to do.”
Dexter: “I don’t take requests.”

Angel admitted to being aware about Quinn sleeping with Jamie but seemed more fixated on Quinn taking the sergeant’s test.

Dexter: “Miami makes more corpses than sunburns and I’m thankful.”

Dexter: “You never felt guilty about what I was doing.”
Vogel: “No, all I ever felt was pride.”

Elway seems to be harbouring some romantic feelings for Deb and Quinn’s feelings for her have been noticed by Jamie as well.

El Sapo (to Deb): “You’re lucky I don’t kill people unless I’m paid to.”

Deb: “Nobody’s coming after me, Dexter.”
Dexter: “How do you know that?”

Standout music: Mama Cass’s “Make Your Kind Of Music” was played in this episode during a gruesome scene.

Dexter: “What if I weren’t here to cover your ass.”
Deb: “Do you really wanna play the ‘what if’ game?”

Chronology: I assume from where “A Beautiful Day” left off.

Although not quite as good as the opening episode, at least “Every Silver Lining” moved things along nicely. Michael C. Hall did a good job with directing the episode and Vogel is certainly proving to be a whole new kind of problem as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of True Blood's 6x04: "At Last"

Written by Alexander Woo
Directed by Anthony Hemingway

Sookie (to Ben): “Get the fuck off me or die, Warlow.”

Aren’t closing moments like this almost an anti-cliff-hanger of sorts? Not that I didn’t enjoy it but Sookie nearly getting naked with Ben before letting him know that she was aware of his real identity was certainly the opposite of the usual type of cliff-hanger we’d get on the show.

It’s a nicely gratifying moment though as we saw in the episode how Sookie pieced things together with Ben being Warlow and how she went to good lengths to trap him as well. I do think informing both Jason and Niall of her master plan might have been a good idea too but at least Sookie was on a roll this week.

The reveal about Ben being Warlow was hardly a shock but it actually was quite satisfying to watch. In this episode alone, he got both Jason and Niall out of his hair but in a merciful way. He made Jason forget everything instead of killing him and he spared Niall yet again, even if he did shove him into that dimension he was trapped in for the last twenty years himself.

Now I’m really curious as to why Ben/Warlow actually wants with Sookie. She basically asked him the question as well and he gave her some spiel about wanting to belong but obviously there has to be more to it than that, right? More to the point – a fairy/vampire hybrid?

Personally I think it’s actually rather a neat twist and given that previous episodes alluded to it, not one that feels off about Ben/Warlow either. In some ways, he’s got the best and worst elements of being both but at the same time, he’s going to be massively hard I assume to get rid of over the coming weeks as well.

This season has certainly breathed a lot of new life into the characters but for the vampires, it’s almost like this episode went out of it’s way to prove that Burrell has a point about wanting them dead. Eric more than proved this point when he decided to make Willa into a vampire and send her back to Burrell.

It was nice that Burrell showed some genuine conflict upon seeing Willa being turned (times like this, I like being proved wrong) but with Sarah in his ear and Willa trying to attack him, it doesn’t look like Burrell will be giving up his vendetta towards those with fangs anytime soon. Thanks to Eric, Burrell will probably be a lot worse in the remainder of the season.

I mentioned in my previous review about the double standards in fandom surrounding Eric and this episode highlighted it again. I get that people adore the character but the fact that some did try to rationalise what he actually done to Willa, yet berate Bill for his similarly reckless actions this week does smack of hypocrisy to be honest.

Speaking of Bill – he was both right and wrong in this episode. His idea of trying to synthesise fairy blood in order to save vampires isn’t a bad idea but using Andy’s daughters in order to do it wasn’t too smart either. I really did think that it was going to be Bill who would drain the girls dry. Having Jessica do it after her desperate attempts of trying to keep the girls safe only made it more sad. And I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t actually like Andy’s daughters. The teenage versions we had in this episode were super annoying that I hope we never see them again but I have a feeling they’re not dead though.

Last but not least – Ginger, Pam and Nora were snatched by Burrell’s goons a little too quickly, weren’t they? I guess the pieces of Bill’s doom laden prophecy are coming true and it won’t be long before Eric, Jessica and Tara are next on the list. Why do I get the feeling one of these characters might not make it out of this season alive?

Also in “At Last”

Ben gave Jason some of his blood to drink and we got a delightfully homoerotic shaving dream with the pair of them.

Burrell (to his men): “Get those choppers in the air. I want this town to light up like a Christmas tree.”

The annoying clerk from “Strange Love” was in this episode when Jessica acquired Andy’s daughters.

Andy (to his daughters): “No telepathy. It’s illegal in these parts and that’s coming from the Sherriff of this parish.”

Ben: “You haven’t done this before, have you?”
Jason: “No, not really.”
Ben: “Just relax. Do it like you do it to yourself.”

Ben can’t seem to drink fairy blood and he also seemed immune to silver (which Sookie laced in his dinner). I wonder when he dies if he’ll go to dust or goo.

Willa: “Why did you choose me?”
Eric: “You deserve to be one of us.”

Ben: “It’s a date.”
Sookie: “I didn’t say that, now did I?”

Sam and Nicole had sex in this episode and it seems that Sarah and Burrell are sleeping together as well. There’s some speculation that she’s pregnant too. Also, what’s happened to Steve?

Ben: “Go to work, do your job.”
Jason: “Okay.”
Ben: “Stay away from Sookie’s place tonight, we have plans.”

The werewolves are getting increasingly boring this season and I’m not liking Alcide too much either, though I did appreciate him taking Rikki down a peg or two.

Willa: “You did this to me to get back at him. You took my life.”
Eric: “Just as he’s taken so many of ours.”

Standout music: Etta James’s “At Last” of course.

Niall: “No, there, no.”
Ben: “I survived twenty years. I’m sure a King can survive longer.”

Chronology: Pretty much from where “You’re No Good” left off.

“At Last” lived up to it’s title and delivered the Warlow plot with some aplomb. I can’t wait to see where he’s going to go in the next few weeks and with the likes Bilith and Burrell, surely Warlow/Ben is going to face off with them soon, right?

Rating: 9 out of 10