My Top 50 Doctor Who Stories Part 5

Halfway point now.

26: Ghost Light (7th Doctor)

One of the big themes with the 7th Doctor was that he was a manipulative so and so and he certainly had no problem in being a little underhanded when getting Ace to face up to things. Like bringing her to Perivale to the house she burned a hundred years before she did it and doing battle with Light. Oh and doesn't Sophie Aldred look gorgeous in this one?

27: Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/Last Of The Time Lords (10th Doctor)

The first time the Master surfaces in the new series and it's a hit and miss affair. On one hand, both Derek Jacobi (briefly) and John Simm are delightful in the role and play off David Tennant brilliant (oh the slash, people) but we could've done without the excess use of flashbacks and the Doctor being old and a crappy woodland creature for the majority of the third act. Still the emotional moments between Doctor/Master outweight that stuff.

28: Robot (4th Doctor)

In a lot of ways, this is a perfect story for a Doctor to open with. It's fairly light weight and uncomplicated (bunch of Think Tank using a robot for nefarious purposes) but nicely gets audiences used to a new Doctor and we got another companion with the brilliant Harry Sullivan. Plus, it's hard not to love Tom Baker upon his debut here.

29: Remembrance Of The Daleks (7th Doctor)

An odd story but a goodie, though Davros seemed bloody shoehorned in at the end of the fourth episode of it. He should've appeared earlier. I liked the Daleks in this one, the various past references, Ace's disgust to some of the bigotry overtones in the story and of course, seeing her beating the shit out of a Dalek with a baseball bat never fails to amuse.

30: The Movie (8th Doctor)

As far as I'm concerned, this movie gets too much of a bad wrap. Paul McGann is brilliant as the Doctor, even Eric Roberts gets better as the Master when watching it, Grace is a good companion, the central plot is fine and some of the cheesy moments are no worse than some of the stuff we've seen in the new series.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x13: "Epitaph Two: The Return"

Written by Jed Whedon And Maurissa Tancheroen And Andrew Chambliss
Directed by David Solomon

Mag: “This is worse than the Butchers. At least by a lot.”
Caroline: “It’ll be okay.”
Zone: “You got a plan wonder kid?”
Caroline: “I guess I do.”

I never thought in a million years that a show that’s been so hot and cold for me as a viewer would actually do a series finale this satisfying. Now I wish Joss Whedon could go back six years and give Angel a far better send off than the nihilistic one we got instead. Anyways, back to Dollhouse.

It’s 2019, the apocalypse has been raging on and dolts like Harding get to pick and choose from as many hunky bodies as they possibly can when they’re not getting obese in the one they’ve got. Luckily, there’s also a nice scene where Echo gets to shoot Harding for all the good that it actually achieved.

Harding sensibly pointed out that he can upload himself onto any body he wants, so Echo shooting him every time he finds a new home was going to be futile. Luckily, Echo does have enough sense to break into the lion’s den with Paul in a bid to rescue Topher and if you thought he was broken in “Epitaph One”, then wait until you see him in this one.

I never thought that I’d feel sorry for Topher but the second season more than saw to that one. We saw his moral compass when he tried to help Priya get away from Nolan and his disgust when Adelle turned over his schematics to Harding and this episode brought all of that to fruition.

Topher was literally a shadow of his former self. No confidence, no wise crack, just a completely broken, guilt ridden man who couldn’t bear himself. I absolutely loved how Adelle fought his corner throughout this entire episode. Her maternal concern for him (and that’s what it was – maternal) was one of many effective moments in this episode.

When Topher finally realised that he could free everyone with a pulse bomb, he got down to business. He knew that the bomb would cause his own death but did it no less. The lack of close ups when Topher did the deed probably made his death scene far more effective because of it.

Kudos to Fran Kanz, who in the space of twenty six episodes took Topher a lot further than some actors get to with their characters in twice or three times the amount. Even by Whedon standards, I don’t think anyone would’ve expected that Topher of all people when this show started out would be the man to save the world.

And there was Alpha. Alan Tudyk is a great actor and this is a far better episode for him than “A Love Supreme” but it’s sort of weird seeing Alpha being all heroic. Not because it’s possible for him to go from homicidal maniac to hero but because if he had popped up in more episodes, we’d have at least seen the transition played out.

I’m gonna stop moaning because Alpha was brilliant here. Even as a good guy, he got some excellent dialogue and the little parting gift that he left Echo was certainly unusual to say the very least, though pretty much within character for Alpha as well. At least as a goodie, his fixation on Echo was non-existent as well.

As for Echo, it’s her finale in a way but like some of the best stuff that Joss Whedon has ever done, the strength of this episode was that everyone was important. Echo was important because she was leading a revolution and managed to rescue Caroline, Zone and Mag with Paul as well as taking the fight back to the Dollhouse to aid Topher.

But then there’s her relationship with Paul. I’ve never cared all that much for it but with this episode I actually did. I actually sympathised with Paul’s frustration with Echo not letting him, I felt bad that he died and while I could see it coming a mile off, I totally felt for Echo when she finally let her grief overcome and let rip in front of Priya.

In a weird way, I even found the idea of her imprinting herself with Paul’s wedge (Alpha’s parting gift) not quite as cringe worthy as I feared that it was going to be. I mean she still lost the man that she loved, but it was a surprisingly sweet scene in spite of the strangeness around it and Echo now finally has the chance to be herself in a world without imprints. Victories don’t come sweeter than that.

As for Mag, Zone and Caroline, it made total sense to bring them back. It’s interesting that Caroline didn’t want her original body back and was happy to be a child again but she did talk about starting over and that’s what the pulse bomb gave everyone along with their free will. Plus, it was awfully generous of Zone to take the girl under his wing. That was another thing I didn’t expect.

Mag on the other hand, I actually thought that she was going to be a casualty along with Paul, so I’m glad that she lived. It’s almost a pity that this show had to end because it actually had managed a third season, she would’ve been a character I would’ve loved to have seen in a recurring role.

In terms of Tony and Priya, some interesting conflict there. It made sense that they would have opposing views towards the tech. Priya herself didn’t want to be upgraded any further and Tony felt he needed to if they stood a chance of survival. Them having a child together was one of the things however that didn’t shock me though. At least now they get to be a family.

As for Adelle, it’s strange to think what the future can hold for her. I think that she’ll play a role in trying to help everyone who’s gotten their free will back and because of that, I imagine her and Echo will probably be in each others lives for the foreseeable future. She’s another character who’s really come a long way since “Ghost”

Also in “Epitaph Two: The Return”

Despite a certain press release, Boyd, Claire, Mellie and Dominic did not feature in this episode. It would’ve been nice to have seen them one last time but it does make sense that none of them appeared as well.

Caroline: “Are you?”
Echo: “Thanks for the insight, Mini-Me but you missed the last quarter of this game. We’re not ahead.”

Tony and his pals imprinted themselves with USB ports in their necks. Now that got to hurt a bit.

Paul: “The world still needs heroes, kid.”
Echo: “Did you really just say that?”
Paul: “What? I was being inspirational.”
Echo: “You are so corny.”

Mag: “I don’t know, the little Asian’s kind of cute.”
Zone: “She’s a tech head, Mag. She’s a girl, Mag.”

So, Mag is gay? Wonderful! Now, why couldn’t she have appeared in more episodes?

Priya (re T): “I wanted him brought up away from all that crap in the back of this truck.”
Tony: “You and me both did.”

Echo: “I hate it when you pretend to know me.”
Paul: “It’s not a claim I make. I’ve been knocking ten years. You still won’t let me in.”
Echo: “I’ve let you in a few times.”

Eliza Dushku’s brother, Nate appeared in this episode as Ambrose. He also appeared in the Angel episode “Orpheus” with her as well.

Alpha: “Where’s Big Bad Ballard?”
Echo: “We lost him.”
Alpha: “Man, I’m sorry. When did this happen?”
Tony: “Ten minutes ago.”

Echo (to Priya): “Paul’s dead. And I’m alone, alone. I’m always alone.”

Standout music: Lissie’s “Everywhere I Go”, which was an appropriate choice in music for the series ender.

Adelle: “You’re not coming back.”
Topher: “Small price to pay. I don’t wanna cause any more pain.”

Paul: “Am I? Are we?”
Echo: “You wanted me to let you in.”

Chronology: 2019, like it was at the end of “The Hollow Men”.

“Epitaph Two: The Return” is actually a blisteringly brilliant series finale, far better than I ever hoped it would be and surprisingly positive. While I’m not sad to see this show end, I am thrilled that it went out on such a high note. Joss Whedon, don’t abandon TV.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 4x09: "Pregnant Pause"

Written by Sarah Goldfinger And Jennifer Levin
Directed by Matthew Rhys

Rebecca (re David): “I had to talk to somebody.”
Justin: “Not me? You don’t talk about this to me?”

Every time Justin and Rebecca argue, an audience member weeps – because it’s a reminder of why they question the fact that these two are together when they seem to do nothing but bloody argue all the time. Even I’ve gotten whiplash from the amount of times that these two have argued since becoming an item.

And it’s funny because this episode had Justin talking to Saul about losing Rebecca as a best friend due to all the wedding chaos but the only time they’ve ever had that kind of a rapport was when they thought they were siblings. Things were simpler back then for both them and us as an audience. Now all they do is just bicker and bicker all the time.

Also when did Rebecca become so passive aggressive? Telling David that she’s pregnant is totally fine but I just hate the way that she tried to conceal it from Justin as long as possible while raising so many alarm bells that something was up with her. If Kitty hadn’t been at the dress fitting with her, we’d have to wait another episode where the Walkers weren’t privy to Rebecca’s condition.

I liked the scene where she confessed to Kitty because it showed a nice closeness but I wished that Kitty had kept it to herself instead of automatically telling Robert over the phone or at least made some effort to tell Rebecca that telling Justin would be a lot better than everyone else finding out and gossiping about it beforehand. Just a suggestion.

But instead not only does Kitty go and tell Robert but Robert clearly has developed his own inability to keep schtum about things and told Kevin, Scotty and Saul at Justin’s really lame bachelor party about Rebecca’s pregnancy. Really great timing there, Robert. What was it you said last season about a filter? Where was yours tonight?

Not that Justin himself reacted particularly well to Rebecca’s little bombshell. I don’t think there was ever going to be a good way of telling him but Rebecca pretty made the mistake of blurting it out in the heat of the moment. Justin naturally got angry and stormed off before later telling Rebecca that he wanted the baby.

You don’t have to be a genius to know he’s lying because in between their usual bout of fighting and making up, Justin actually did tell Robert that he wasn’t ready for children and that he didn’t want the baby. No surprises with that then. Inevitably, when this is revealed, it’ll be another thing to widen the gap between Justin and Rebecca.

Similarly Justin himself hasn’t exactly been a font of honesty either. Flunking his exams after trying to put the work in, I get how that would seriously upset him but if he can confide this with Saul, then surely it has to be easier to tell Rebecca than the rest of his family, right? Well, better than the way he did behave anyways.

Drinking champagne on his own bachelor party would’ve been fine if he wasn’t a recovering addict and then didn’t go nuts on Kevin when the latter rightfully took issue with his drinking. Justin probably should’ve been glad that Tommy wasn’t there or that fight would’ve been way worse than it had been.

We really should be at the stage where as sceptics, that we should have some emotional investment in Justin and Rebecca as a couple but all these episodes have continued to show us that both are not ready to be parents or married and that sucks, both for them and us as viewers.

It also doesn’t help that their wedding is a financial ticking time bomb for Holly as well. I hate to admit it but Holly hasn’t been that grating in recent episodes. Even when she and Nora argued here, I could almost see Holly’s perspective for once and strangely enough, both of them actually managed to find a compromise to the wedding finances faster than expected. Well, the wedding is the next episode so that made sense.

Plus, Holly does earn her pointers here. She was supportive when she realised that Rebecca was pregnant, gave her some reasonable advice in regards to Justin and even though I don’t really care about Ojai’s latest blunder, she investigated a little into the sabotage and backed off when Saul advised her to. Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever praised Holly that much in an episode. Maybe the writers are changing my mind with her.

Speaking of mind changing, Kevin – less pouting. So what if Scotty’s swimmers beat yours? It’s hardly the end of the world and we’re already aware that your little guys are capable of causing reproduction, so less with the whinging already. Besides, Scotty wasn’t exactly being unbearably smug about winning out either might I add.

Also with Scotty, nice to see him in some scenes with Sarah, who this week took an instant dislike to Simon. Confirming the whole ‘too good to be true’, it seems that Simon’s got negligence cases against him that Nora was aware about but the big deal happened to be Simon lying about when these cases had come his way.

Doctors might get sued all the time but it is something that I do think is a big deal. Mistakes can made but when they’re professional ones, I don’t think I’d have been so casual about them, so in other words, I don’t blame Sarah for taking issue with Simon but it’s a shame too because once again, Nora’s love life starts and stops almost at the same time.

Why can’t the writers give her a stable love interest? Holly has one for crying out, so why can’t Nora? Do you know how better it is watching her actually having fun and not running around after her adult children all the time? A lot! And I bet Sally Field would like to have an on screen lover that lasts more than four or five episodes a year as well.

Also in “Pregnant Pause”

This episode was directed by Matthew Rhys, making him the first regular actor on the series to helm an episode.

Robert: “Did your mother pass away in the night?”
Kitty: “Of course not. I just walked in on her and Simon in the shower together naked.”
Robert: “Good for her. It’s a whole new day in Pasadena.”

Kitty was starting to wear scarves on her head in this episode. Robert’s comment to Justin about fearing for her life was powerful.

David (to Holly, re Justin/Rebecca): “They’re starting a life together. Don’t put this wedding at risk because of your pride.”

Kitty: “Are you pregnant?”
Rebecca: “Yeah. Kitty, you can’t tell anybody.”

I’m surprised the writers didn’t draft Balthazar Getty in this episode, even though Justin’s stag do was a last minute thing, courtesy of Robert.

Robert (to Kevin/Scotty/Justin/Saul): “What kind of conversation is this? This is a bachelor party, not The View.”

Justin (to Saul): “I miss Rebecca. I miss what we used to be. I feel like we’ve gotten caught up in all this wedding stuff and I’ve lost my best friend.”

This was another episode not to feature Ryan. I bet Luke Grimes must be loving the way he’s being used on this series.

Holly: “I just wish we had the kind of relationship that you felt safe enough -”
Rebecca: “No, that’s not it either.”

Kitty (re Simon): “You Googled him?”
Sarah: “Say it, Kitty, I’m disgusting.”
Kitty: “You’re disgusting.”

Standout music: “I Have Loved You Wrong” by The Swell Season.

Rebecca: “What do you want?”
Justin: “I want us to be happy.”
Rebecca: “What about the baby?”
Justin: “Yeah, I want that too.”

Chronology: Around November 2009. Rebecca said she was seven weeks pregnant in this one.

Strange episode. “Pregnant Pause” certainly gave me some moments to pause for and there are some great performances but it’s hard to get invested with Justin and Rebecca when they seem to make no progress and it doesn’t help that we had another episode where Kevin and Scotty disagreed on something baby related.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Top 50 Doctor Who Stories Part 4

And we're onto the fourth part of this. Near the halfway point.

31: Spearhead From Space (3rd Doctor)

One of my favourite Doctors and as opening stories go, I love this one a lot. It's not big but it set up the 3rd Doctor wonderfully and began the establishment of his exile to Earth and joining up with UNIT. We also got the wonderful Liz Shaw and the debut of the Autons.

32: The Waters Of Mars (10th Doctor)

I had such low expectations for this special, so imagine my delight when it turned out to be one of the most daring episodes of the series. Okay, so the Flood weren't as heavily focused on as you'd expect but the character moments, including the Doctor's foolish Time Lord Victorious stance along with Adelaide's suicide certainly made this a memorable one.

33: Inferno (3rd Doctor)

For a seven parter, this one never dragged a bit. A parallel UNIT and a great big threat with those monsters and the Brigadier can be one scary bastard with his parallel counterpart, the Brigade. If I had to pick one flaw, it's that this is Liz's last proper story and they don't bother to give her an actual exit.

34: The Edge Of Destruction (1st Doctor)

Way before Midnight aired, we had this delightful little paranoia two-parter where the TARDIS were becoming mistrustful of each other. And all because the spring of the Fast Return Switch had broken.

35: The Talons Of Weing Chaing (4th Doctor)

I've not seen as many 4th Doctor/Leela stories as I'd liked to have but this one is certainly of high quality. Essentially a Victorian mystery, the Doctor even dresses like a detective in this one and Magnus Greel is a pretty interesting villain.

My Top 50 Buffy Episodes Part 10

Last one, it's been fun and my number 1, I let slip last week. But here it is ...

1: The Gift (Season 5, Episode 22)

Had this show not moved to UPN, this could've very well been the series finale and that might not have been a bad thing. It's better than Chosen and Buffy's death/sacrifice is utterly brilliantly done, with arguably one of Sarah Michelle Gellar's best performances on the series. So, why the hell did this 100th episode not garner a commentary for the Season 5 DVD? Bad Joss!

2: Conversations With Dead People (Season 7, Episode 7)

I told you this list wasn't going to be an obvious and I hope my Top 5 has lived up to that one. What to say about this one? It's like a four-header with Buffy unloading emotional baggage to a vampire, Willow being manipulated by the First Evil in the disguise of Cassie. Likewise Dawn is fooled with Joyce and Andrew despite knowing he's being fooled still bumps off Jonathan. The little shit.

3: Seeing Red (Season 6, Episode 19)

For an episode that provokes a lot of reasons to make a viewer angry - Spike's attempted rape on Buffy, Tara being killed by Warren's stray bullet, I love this episode. It's brilliantly written, there are some exceptional performances and it's one of the most character driven and raw episodes of the series. Plus it sets up the cataclysmic events of the final three episodes wonderfully.

4: Hush (Season 4, Episode 10)

Name one show in recent times, other than this one to pull off a silent episode? Joss Whedon has a reputation for his dialogue, so an episode where there's a scant amount of it was a tricky one but it bloody well works on so many levels. You've got comic/touching/surreal moments in the silence, you have Buffy and Riley outing their identities and you debut Tara. What's not to like?

5: Once More With Feeling (Season 6, Episode 7)

Musical episodes, now there's an experiment that has been tried a good few times. Why did this one work so well? Let's see - original songs, character development, foreshadowing future events and the fact that the majority of the cast could hold a tune. All helping factors. And the songs are bloody catchy.

Now that was fun! Back to the comics.

My Top 50 Doctor Who Stories Part 3

And here's Part 3

36: Dalek (9th Doctor)


Reintroducing the Daleks for a modern day was going to be a tricky one, given their massive history with the Doctor but Rob Shearman did a cracking effort here with keeping the focus on just one. And Nine is far more intolerant of just one Dalek than Ten is of billions of them. I guess it was good that he had Rose to keep him from veering into the darkness with this confrontation.

37: City Of Death (4th Doctor)

One of the oddest and sophisticated stories of the bunch. Four and Romana in Paris, Leonardo daVinci, Count Scarlioni as well as the nasty Scarooth of the Jagarooth. I get the hype behind it, it's definitely a classic one and it's hard not to notice Tom and Lalla's chemistry throughout.

38: The Claws Of Axos (3rd Doctor)

No-one should be surprised that there are a lot of Master stories popping up in this list. Delgado in particular is just irresistable and while this was another in a line of stories where the Master allied himself with a race that backfired, it's hard not to feel a little bad for him when he thinks the Doctor is going to abandon the Earth and travel with him. Even then, the slash pretty wrote itself.

39: The Tenth Planet (1st Doctor)

Okay, so this mostly survives (3 out of 4 episodes, I stand corrected) but this is a pivotal story in the show's history. Not only did it debut the Cybermen (voices great, look not so much) but it's the first regeneration we see as William Hartnell left and Patrick Troughton entered the scene.

40: Terror Of The Autons (3rd Doctor)

How to make a good impression for Jon Pertwee's second year? I don't know, maybe introduce jo Grant, Mike Yates, further make UNIT into family or give us the Master, the bestest villain ever? Either way, all of these elements and a return from the Autons made this a wonderful story that needs a DVD release like now.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x32: "Twilight Part 1"

Written by Brad Meltzer
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Xander (re bullet): “You beat it.”
Buffy: “Neat, huh?”

Yes, very neat, Buffy. Beating a speeding bullet. Up until now, only Superman and a few speedy superheroes could master that feat but as demonstrations go for showing us that Buffy is packing a lot more power nowadays, it served it’s purpose. Buffy’s got superpowers and there’s cause for celebration and concern with it.

Xander himself was pretty happy to try and explore the upside to Buffy’s newfound powers. I loved their little training session together whether it was him getting her to chase a speeding bullet or testing her strength with carrying a few broken down trains, there was some geeky fun to be had with things.

Xander even went to great lengths to try and find out exactly how powerful Buffy had become in such a short space of time. Speed, strength, flight and apparently the ability to see an older couple at it were seemingly more than enough to prove that Buffy wasn’t her regular self. So, that led to the bad side of the equation.

Buffy herself seemed to have some niggling little thoughts in regards to her friends asking how she was feeling about her new powers but it was Dawn who actually articulated concerns in a better manner. She was worried about Buffy’s newfound and damn it, you can’t begrudge her for it.

I know it did look like she was a little threatened with the amount of time that Xander and Buffy were spending together but Dawn raised the obvious pointer about nothing coming for free. All her abilities/transformations earlier on in the season came as a direct result of being cursed. What was to say that Buffy’s powers weren’t a curse either?

The annoying part was that I could almost understand Xander not really paying attention to Dawn’s concerns but Willow had no excuse. The woman might be happy that she’s got her magic back but it was very reckless of her to dismiss Dawn’s fears for Buffy as casually as she did in this issue.

Fortunately though, this comic did win out in actually showing that was just concern with Buffy’s powers from Dawn’s perspective. When Willow actually did do some investigating, she came across the horrid realisation that a lot of slayers died while Buffy was experiencing her enhancement.

Actually the main revelation was that Buffy was getting more and more powered up from each slayer who died. Needless to say, it made Dawn’s earlier statement about never getting anything without consequence true and also the horrified look on Buffy’s face after Willow told her confirmed a lot of angst material for the next issue.

Of course, Buffy doesn’t just have that to contend with as well. For some reason, we’re supposed to believe that Amy, Warren and some random general have been kicked out of Twilight’s little play house and are now happy to help the Scoobies out. I really hope to God that it’s actually a trick because the one thing I actually do want to happen by the end of this season is Warren to be properly dead. Not too sure about Amy.

And besides, why would the Scoobies trust them so easily? I know they don’t but it sort of looks like they might for the sake of moving the plot along. That’s been the problem with the villains this season – they haven’t featured enough in the issues to really move things along and now we’re on the cusp of learning Twilight’s master plan/

Having Twilight interact with Giles, Faith and Andrew had a better punch to it, even if he did appear just in the last panel. I already know who the bloke and even you’re one of the lucky few who missed that spoiled, it’d be obvious in this issue alone that the character was someone that the Scoobies were already familiar with. As for his ‘master’ plan, don’t let it be six billion versions of himself because a certain series has already done that one in recent times.

The gang at least seem to have a realisation that Giles, Faith and Andrew are missing and this issue just had them snooping around Twilight. Every time I groan about Andrew making a geek reference, I should be rewarded with Faith smacking him one. That is why this issue is a lot of fun – Faith hitting Andrew.

Still with a machine as beastly looking as that Death Trap one that Andrew gushed about, I can’t imagine that Twilight has a more benevolent use for it. Also, wasn’t it stupid of Twilight to leave Andrew, Giles and Faith around that thing?

Also in “Twilight Part 1”

The cover for this issue has Buffy flying in the air. It’s not the best cover but it’s nice enough.

Buffy: “Whose gun is that?”
Xander: “You keep forgetting I carry a gun.”
Buffy: “I don’t like them. They keep killing my friends.”
Xander: “You ready for this or not?”

Buffy’s dressed rather GI Jane in this issue. Maybe she stole the clothing of one of Twilight’s soldiers. Probably not.

Dawn: “Where’d you get a train?”
Xander: “From the castle. In the garden.”
Dawn: “Put it back!”
Xander: “Don’t worry ... that’s exactly where we’re heading.”

Dawn (re Buffy’s powers): “Even Andrew would take it more serious than that.”
Willow: “Andrew’s not with them? Huh. Odd.”
Dawn: “No, what’s odd is when you ignore the fact that you don’t get power for free. Mine was a curse from a thricewise! With this ... who knows what they’ve unleashed.”

No Kennedy, Oz or Bayaarma appearances in this issue. How much longer are the Scoobies going to be in Tibet as well?

Xander: “Try reading my mind.”
Buffy: “I can. It says ... so much ... masturbation.”
Xander: “Sweet mother of Shirley Hemphill, is that the best you can do? Really?”

Warren (re Buffy): “She’s got powers?”
Amy: “Warren, are you blind? She’s faster than a speeding – oh. I just realised what they were doing. Nerd-a-trons.”

Xander asked Buffy if she could teleport, had super breath, shoot arrows, solve a mystery, spin webs or build a suit of armour. I’m surprised he didn’t ask her if she could regenerate while he was at.

Faith: “A, you got three seconds to stop speaking nerd, and I’m starting at two ...”
Andrew: “The psycho wave! 1982! X-Men/Teen Titans crossover!”
Faith (punches him): “You were warned.”

Buffy: “I can see ... it’s hard to turn off. In Greece ... in Mykonos ... there’s an older couple who – ew! Ew, like internet ew!”
Xander: “That’ll learn you. You can’t unsee what you see.”

Willow found all the dead slayers in Louisiana, which might be the closest to a True Blood reference these comics will dare to do.

Twilight (to Andrew/Giles/Faith): “You can call me Twilight. Now who wants to hear a really cool master plan?”

“Twilight Part 2” came out on March 3rd. I’ll get round to reviewing it.

“Twilight Part 1” is an enjoyable enough issue, fun in places but the ante doesn’t feel as upped as it should by now in the series. Hopefully with the reveal in the next issue and actually know what Twilight wants, things will improve.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 2x12: "The Hollow Men"

Written by Michele Fazekas And Tara Butters And Tracy Bellomo
Directed by Terrence O’Hara

Caroline: “How do I even know I can believe you?”
Boyd: “It’s like I said, you’ll learn to trust me.”

And don’t I wish that Sci-Fi hadn’t gone all triple bill on us during that last week with this show? Well, that and I wished that I hadn’t been ill either so I could’ve seen this episode much sooner and been amazed by it. And amazed I was.

Boyd as the founder of Rossum is still a hard thing to grasp because even in the flashbacks with Caroline, he’s showing a certain level of affection that seemingly cannot be faked. Yes, there were some more platitudes about how special the girl is and now we know – it’s in her spinal fluid.

Actually, the key to being immune to being automatically wiped and made into a Doll is Echo/Caroline and it certainly seems to explain a lot. From what we’ve already been seeing, it’s not remotely shocking that the girl’s physiology would be different in the literal context to any other Active.

She’s been put through the ringer long enough and apart from herself and Alpha, there is the argument that not many people would survive physically, never mind mentally with 40 different voices in her head. And Boyd was going to use that fluid so that a select few along with himself wouldn’t be abused by Topher’s advancement.

Which led to the interesting part – Boyd. I could gush about how brilliant Harry Lennix is in this episode but that’s too obvious, so I’ll focus on some other stuff instead. First off all, the select few – Echo, Adelle and Topher. All pretty obvious candidates to keep on side and also his strongest allies/opponents depending on how things could’ve gone down.

Also all of them overcame massive odds that Boyd had put in their path – Topher’s moral compass, Adelle’s underlying strength against Rossum, Echo’s process into becoming an actual person. No wonder Boyd wanted this lot on his team for the final days. I’d have chosen this lot a lot as well.

Then there are his claims of loving them. Can a sociopath ever be capable of love? I can believe that Boyd’s admiration of Adelle, Echo and Topher is true but I’m not sure of actual love itself. Even when the chips were down, he still had no problem with Echo dying provided that he could still drain her of that fluid in her spine.

As for Boyd’s fate – certainly one of the nastiest things the series has done but deserving no less. Reduced to a Doll like state by Topher and made blow himself and Rossum up by Echo, Boyd was never going to make it out of the series alive but I did think that his death would’ve been delayed until the next episode.

As deaths go, it’s more dramatically effective than it should be. I totally would’ve killed Boyd myself had I been in Echo’s position but I couldn’t help but feel sad to see him die. This was the man who basically acted like Echo’s father and protector and who most viewers trusted as much as Echo and the rest of the gang did themselves. Plus Harry Lennix was just brilliant in this episode with his performance. Easily his best in the series.

The reveal to others of Boyd’s betrayal also had the necessary devastating effect. You could tell that neither Adelle nor Topher anticipated that it could ever be Boyd and even Paul looked dumbstruck by it as well. Paul also had a gun pointed to his throat when that particular revelation was being spilled out.

Paul was another interesting point in this episode. The way Boyd talked about him being the relative that everyone tolerated but didn’t like made me laugh. He really was that character on this show. And I feel bad for Tahmoh Penikett because he’s not a dreadful actor but Paul never seemed to click emotionally for a lot of viewers.

But still Paul did have his moments in this episode. The main ones were trying his best to keep Mellie safe, even when Boyd set off her trigger and she tried to kill him. I wish we had seen Paul be more careful with her feelings in the first season (aside from the obvious times) but even he couldn’t stop Mellie from shooting herself.

Two deaths before the finale and I just know that there will be more but yeah, Mellie’s got to me more than Boyd’s. I know “Epitaph One” more or less hinted that she hadn’t a good outcome but I was hoping that this episode would’ve denied it. And then there was Claire as well.

Instead of a trigger, Clyde 2.0 was wearing her body and oozing every bit as much as callousness as he could in the body of Boyd’s lover. Amy Acker certainly made sure that there wasn’t a shred of Claire in this episode as Clyde saw Echo as little more than a lab rat and happily took a few swipes at her.

This episode had some memorable fight scenes – Echo vs. Boyd and Echo vs. Clyde 2.0/Claire. I think out of the two, I preferred the former because Echo certainly couldn’t handle being betrayed by Boyd but still didn’t hold back in her anger towards him either. It’s probably a good thing that Topher intervened with the remote wipe when he did then.

As for Tony and Priya, no way were they going to go off and abandon Echo. Nope, they’d have to go in the Dollhouse long enough for Tony to be Topher again and long enough for the both of them to learn of Boyd’s betrayed. I laughed when Priya said that her, Tony and Echo were family mainly because Boyd distorted the word for Echo a few minutes prior to Priya and Tony’s rescue of Echo.

And the apocalypse still came after all. Blowing up Rossum was never going to be enough but at least they set up the gloomy future and if the finale is anywhere near as good as “Epitaph One”, we’re going to be for a fantastic send off to the series.

Also in “The Hollow Men”

Caroline flinched when Boyd mentioned a certain relative at the start of the episode. I wonder who they were talking about.

Tony (to Priya): “Looks like the war started without us.”

I thought it was brilliant that while Topher didn’t have a problem with Tony’s body, he had great admiration for his own. I don’t know why but I liked it. Weird, huh?

Paul: “How do we get inside, Boyd?”
Adelle: “We walk in through the front door. There’s no need to sneak around. We have something Rossum wants.”

Topher: “She killed Bennett.”
Boyd: “She’s not Claire.”
Clyde 2.0/Claire: “He’s quick, very quick.”

Props to the costume department for Amy Acker’s slightly androgynous look as Clyde 2.0. I hope she fares better TV wise on Happy Town though.

Adelle: “Caroline’s going to save the world?”
Clyde 2.0/Claire: “No, no, not the world, just the deserving few. You’ll be happy to know you’ll be counted among them.”

Tony/Topher (to Priya, re Boyd): “That dude can act. I don’t know if I want to kill him or get his autograph.”

Tony did get upgraded with some super soldier skill prior to leaving the Dollhouse again but Priya didn’t want to be upgraded, not that I blame her.

Clyde 2.0/Claire (to Echo/Adelle/Topher): “I have enhanced weapon skills. Anyone care to see a demonstration?”

Boyd (to Echo/Adelle/Topher): “You’re here because you’re my family. I love you guys.”

How did Boyd really feel about Claire? I’m guessing not a lot if he was fine with Clyde having her body.

Paul: “I don’t think there’s an elegant way to do this.”
Mellie: “Good. I hate elegant.”
Paul: “Me too.”

Echo (to Priya): “Will you do me a favour? Call us whatever you want but just not family.”

Surely Clyde couldn’t have survived that blast to Rossum, even if Claire’s body managed to?

Boyd: “I try to be my best.”
Echo: “Good.”

Chronology: We’re in 2019/2020 now, thanks to the apocalypse.

“The Hollow Men” was a bloody terrific penultimate episode. Definitely worth catching up for and I’m certainly not going to wait any longer to go and watch “Epitaph Two: The Return” either.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 4x08: "The Wine Festival"

Written by Sherri Cooper-Landsman And Michael Foley
Directed by Michael Morris

Sarah (re label): “Would you just do it?”
Luc: “Okay, I’ll do it for you.”
Sarah: “Don’t do it for me, do it for you.”
Luc: “Babe, I do a lot of things for myself. This is for you.”

I don’t know about anyone else but that line alone enough was enough to give Sarah the right to give Luc a right slap across the back of the head. She’s asking you for a simple thing – get a job, not your soul you pillock. I’m a bloke and even I get where Sarah was coming from in this episode.

If the writers were hoping to show viewers that Luc does have flaws, then they can take solace in knowing that they succeeded with that one. Why did the issue of money and security have to come into Luc and Sarah’s relationship? Answer: because neither of them thought things through.

Luc quickly moved from Bordeaux to California without thinking and similarly Sarah moved him into her house. Before now, the discussion of Luc’s financial plans should’ve reared their head. Sarah at least was trying to come up with solutions. Luc on the other hand, kept trying to use artistic temperament to stonewall her.

I get that designing labels for a wine company may not be enriching for an artist but needs much, Luc in this type of a climate and it wasn’t like you were doing anything with your paintings. You’ve been in LA for four episodes now and have you once decided to take any of your art to a gallery? No! So, stop whinging when Sarah tried to help you out.

Yeah, she could’ve probably broached the topic a little better (especially later when at the wine festival, she tried to get Luc work with another company) but her heart was in the right place and her concerns were too justified that even if I could see Luc’s point of view, Sarah’s stuck much bigger for me with this one.

And it’s not like Sarah didn’t consider the fact that she might have overstepped the mark. We had a nice scene with Nora where she admitted that she feared she might have done. That scene also had drawing some reasonably fair comparisons to Joe and Luc. Sarah doesn’t need another Joe in the same way she probably doesn’t need another Graham.

The only downer for her was that Luc ended the relationship and decided to bugger off back to France, which killed my respect for him. I know he’s coming back later on in the season but would it have actually killed him to have listened to Sarah’s apology? Nope. Bad Luc. And on that note, I thought Sarah was grovelling a little too much in that respect. She might have dented Luc’s male pride but she was hardly emasculating him either.

Speaking of male pride, Kevin and Scotty need to go through at least one episode where their quest for a surrogate does not spill into another analysis of their own male egos. Picking the perfect surrogate should not have this much of an effect on either one of them. This week, Kevin’s being an overachiever and Scotty’s a quitter.

Mainly that was down to Kevin trying to whittle it down to the perfect woman to carry their baby. I said it in my previous review and it bodes saying again, why is surrogacy the only option being considered here? There are plenty of kids out there who need a stable home and are just as good as some ‘super baby’ that Kevin seems to be aiming for. Why not give them a shot?

Still as much as they argue about things, Kevin and Scotty do make up in the end and while it’s getting repetitive, it’s still cute to watch. That being said, we’re eight episodes into this plot, so maybe some progress should be made on this one before it gets to the point of running around in circles.

As for circles, what the hell is wrong with Rebecca? I like the girl, I really do but sometimes she can be frustrating. How hard was it for her to tell Justin that she’s pregnant? I know he’s under pressure and the writers are trying to overdramatize the pregnancy (as it’s come at the wrong time for both of them presumably) but I got heavily annoyed with all the near misses and squabbling that ensued with her and Justin as a result.

Still Emily Van Camp got one really great scene in this episode where Rebecca confided in David that she was pregnant and he was wonderfully supportive of her. Not that I expected David to freak out or anything. I wouldn’t have even expected Holly to freak out but I’m fairly certain that Justin himself will have a freak out when he learns that he’s about to be a father while trying to be a doctor.

Also when it comes to freaky, I’d love to know what’s going through the writers’ heads at the moment. If they think that Nora dating Simon is weird, let me assure it’s not. The guy is in his late forties for God’s sake, not his early thirties. A little perspective writers because the big deal being made about Nora and Simon’s age gap was a bit much.

Okay, so there was an insensitive photographer who stupidly thought they were mother and son (how could you mistake the two of them for mother and son?) but Simon’s main problem with Nora was that he didn’t think she was adventurous enough. It took Nora to show him a blow by blow of the stuff she had to deal with in her family to prove otherwise. I’m still not sure about the two of them to be honest.

As for Kitty, well her plot this week was similar to Lynette’s in Season 4 of Desperate Housewives where Robert took a fascination to Kitty’s wig (like Tom did with Lynette’s) and Kitty found she feeling insecure. The only difference was when Kitty stopped wearing the wig; Robert’s reaction was made of win with him reassuring her that she was beautiful. The writers are making it very easy for Robert to be respected in this plot, aren’t they?

As for the Ojai stuff, I actually felt bad for Holly this week. Her cheap plonk idea caused Ojai to have a victory at the wine festival and that irritating little shit Ryan sabotaged the rest of the contents because York manipulated him so easily. I really, really wish that York would take a run and jump because he is in no way a remotely interesting foe for the Walkers. Similarly, I feel the same about Ryan as well.

Also in “The Wine Festival”

Kevin learning off the candidate’s statistic reminded me of David in Six Feet Under dreaming about them. This plot keeps reminding me of that show.

Scotty: “I can’t believe we’re picking up the mother of our child online. I’ve never even hooked up with anyone online.”
Kevin: “Really? Me neither. Once.”

Don’t worry, Scotty – you’re not the only one to have not hooked up with anyone online. As for Kevin, I wonder who that was.

Sarah (re Simon): “It would be weird if he wanted to have a family with you.”
Nora: “That wouldn’t be weird, that’d be impossible.”
Sarah: “Be thankful he’s got a social security number and a job.”

Scotty: “We need to stop eating and get out of this apartment.”
Kevin (re candidates): “We can’t. We have another 76 to go.”

Carter’s still getting visibly irritated with Justin’s unprofessionalism. I don’t blame people for getting snarky with his phone going off in the library. That is highly annoying.

Rebecca (re Justin): “He’s already told me he doesn’t want a baby.”
David: “Obviously that was before he knew you were pregnant. What do you want?”
Rebecca: “I don’t know.”
David: “Well, you have to figure that out.”

Sarah (re Luc): “I pushed him on that label. Now I feel like a pushy, corporate dream dasher all over again. Déjà vu.”
Nora: “Luc is not Joe; he’s the opposite side of the men spectrum. He’s kind and happy and he’s not trying to be someone he isn’t.”

Standout music: “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. I wouldn’t be surprised if this popped up on Grey’s Anatomy soon if it already hasn’t.

Robert (to Kitty): “I love you for reasons that have nothing to do with your hair. You’re beautiful.”

Chronology: Around the November 2009 point of the series. Rebecca’s six weeks pregnant as well.

“The Wine Festival” is probably the weakest episode of the season with some of the main stories not working as well as they have done but there were still some nice moments in this episode as well. It’s just not as memorable as previous ones this year though.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Strike A Pose (Doctor Who Season 5 Spoilers/Cast Magazine Posing)

Blimey, sometime you go weeks without Who spoilers and then others, you're inundated with them (as well as other goodies).

Matt Smith poses for several photographs for the latest issue of Esquire magazine as he discusses his role as the new Doctor and his former football aspirations. The issue is currently out since last Thursday.
Karen Gillan herself also posed for several shots in the latest issue of InStyle magazine as well, discussing her modelling career, fashion faux paus and her desire to do Porno. The sequel to Trainspotting, not the other thing, people.

Both scans of these interviews can be found on the LJ comm doctoreleven

Aww, the Doctor and Amy are seperated for a good part of episode 11 (still no official title for it) and she brings him a fish. Er, okay. He seems more enthused to take it than she does holding it to be honest.
The Doctor and Craig (James Corden) with more food. Blimey, along with football in this episode, there looks to be a fair chunk of eating as well. Unlike some of the posters on Digital Spy, I'll give Corden a chance because if I can survive an episode with Peter Kay, James can't be that bad.

The Doctor, Craig and Sophie (Daisy Haggard). When this scene was being filmed, the three of them exited the house after an explosion. We also still don't know who or what the alien force is in in this episode.
The Doctor plays football for Craig's team and he's bloody good. Well, Matt did want to be a footballer before becoming an actor. His shirt also has '11' on the back as well, which is nice.

Meanwhile, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are going on tour to promote the new series in various towns. From Digital Spy:

Doctor Who will begin a UK tour later this month, it has been announced.

The three-day jaunt will introduce Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and his companion Karen Gillan to fans and will screen a regional premiere of episode one of the new series, titled 'The Eleventh Hour'.

Smith and Gillan will begin their tour on Monday, March 29 in Belfast before travelling to Inverness and Sutherland via a specially themed Who bus the following day. Salford and Northampton are scheduled for Wednesday, March 31.

"This is a great opportunity for the new Doctor and his companion to interface directly with the people who matter most to Doctor Who: the fans," said executive producer Piers Wenger.

"The chance to visit them in their hometowns will ensure that the Eleventh Doctor’s maiden voyage is an utterly magical one."

Following the tour, the BBC will also hold events at selected BBC Big Screens across the UK, beginning on April 1.

Doctor Playing Foootball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOTYwj40cq0

My Top 50 Buffy Episodes Part 9

Penultimate list. Sorry for the delay, I've been sick last week and just about recovered so I'll be catching up properly on reviews and the like.

6: Becoming Part 2 (Season 2, Episode 22)

Devastating episode. How can this not be high on anyone's list? Buffy and Angel do the ultimate battle and the latter is sent to hell when he becomes good. Tough call, Buffy. Plus the use of a certain Sarah McLachlan song really does highlight the episode.

7: The Body (Season 5, Episode 16)

I've always found it laughable when certain critics have dismissed this series as a kids show because there have been plenty of episodes to dispel that theory. This one, which examined the death of Joyce Summers and the gang's truthful reactions to her passing is sublime television. And sadly more relateable now that I've lost my own mother.

8: Chosen (Season 7, Episode 22)

I know some fans are divided with this finale but compared Angel's nihilistic Not Fade Away, this to me was a far better way of ending Buffy's seven year run. Plus we got a whole new generation of slayers, the consequences of which are dominiating the current eighth season in comic book form.

9: Nightmares (Season 1, Episode 10)

Ah, nightmare episodes. The one where Giles couldn't read, Willow had to go on stage and Xander got chased by a clown. More seriously was Buffy being turned into a vampire by the Master and the episode's undercurrent of child abuse.

10: Innocence (Season 2, Episode 14)

The second part of the most defining story in the series history, I loved the big battles between between Buffy and Angelus as well David Boreanaz's easy as hell transition into the murderous vampire. He really does outdo himself here.

My Top 50 Doctor Who Stories Part 2

And here's Part 2 of the list

41: The Fires Of Pompeii (10th Doctor)

Moral dilemmas on Who are a big deal and putting the Doctor and Donna in the situation where they couldn't prevent something like Pompeii certainly raised some interesting moments between the pair. Oh and see if you can spot Amy Pond in this one.

42: Pyramid Of Mars (4th Doctor)

Regarded as one of Tom Baker's best stories, this one certainly hits the right spots. How come we've never gotten a televised follow up to Sutekh, given how he promised to kill the Doctor but not yet? Maybe it's something for Steven Moffat to consider writing.

43: Smith And Jones (10th Doctor)

Arguably the best opening episode of the new series and all because the focus is brilliant. Martha endears herself as a resourceful and wonderful companion, the Doctor's on fine form, tricking Florence the way he does and like the Ood, the Judoon make a brilliant first impression. And there are those hints about a certain Mr Saxon as well.

44: The Unquiet Dead (9th Doctor)

Ghost stories are always a nice to do, even on a show that technically doesn't indulge in ghosts and ones that feature Simon Callow as Charles Dickens is another reason why this story is made of win. Plus, I was beginning to feel the Doctor/Rose connection here.

45: The Mark Of The Rani (6th Doctor)

Another underrated story IMO. The Rani made a good impression in this one, Six and Peri's bickering wasn't as bad and the Master's actually fun, even if he is undoubtedly shoehorned into proceedings. Plus, the Rani knees him in the nadgers at one point.

DWM Scans from 417 (Doctor Who Season 5 Spoilers)

Slight edit in this post to include another significant picture.

The Doctor (Matt Smith) playing football with James Corden's character. Even when taking part in the sport, he sticks to the tweed. Gotta love that. Daisy Haggard is also appearing in this episode as well, presumably as a love interest for Corden's character.

Filming was still commencing on this block of episodes and by the looks of it, this is the lodger episode I speculated about in the previous spoiler blog (Amy's pregnancy one was confirmed as episode 7, so this is 11).

The Doctor (Matt Smith) is either spying or hiding from someone. Well, he's going to be spending a lot of time with James Corden in this episode so maybe that explains something.

Yes, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) does look pregnant in that one. One of the better pictures from that episode.

Scans from The Eleventh Hour (which will be 65 minutes long), showing Amy and Rory (Arthur Darvill) investigating at a hospital. The menace, Prisoner Zero is a shapeshifting foe for this one. Guest stars confirmed for this story are Nina Wadia as a doctor, Annette Crosbie as Mrs Angelo, Marcello Magni as Barney Collins, Tom Hooper as Jeff and Peter Moyes as a patient.

The Doctor's clearly gotten a distubing phone call - well, something's worrying him no doubt. Also in DWM 419, Steven Moffat talked about Matt having to carry a torch in episode 12. As long as it's not a Fear Her type thing, I'll be happy.

The Doctor sits down to a well prepared meal. Actually I've been reading that food might be something of a thing with this version of the Doctor, in that he's got some erratic eating habits. There's a scene where him and Amy are discussing food in the opening episode as well. Other confirmed episode titles are The Time Of Angels, Flesh And Stone and Vampires In Venice.

Also the new series starts April 3rd on BBC1.

My Review of Being Human's 2x08: "All God's Children"

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Charles Martin

George: “You make me nervous. It’s liking my senses are telling me that you’re dangerous.”
Lucy: “I am.”
George: “Excuse me?”
Lucy: “Not to you.”

And the testament of every season finale to end the year on something that will get fans talking but essentially reel them in for more. Needless to say, this finale did succeed with that one but maybe not the way in which Toby Whithouse might have hoped. Online fandom – what can you do?

In the space of eight episodes, objectively it’s fair to say that Kemp and Lucy don’t compare to Herrick as a season threat. Let’s look where they go wrong, first with Lucy. Being written as a love interest didn’t help her much, did it?

Some people lamented online about the lack of chemistry between Lucy and Mitchell and they’re sort of right but there are flaws on both sides. Mitchell’s being the fact that he wanted a woman to save him and showed poor judgement when it came to Lucy. Lucy’s on the other hand go deeper.

Throughout the season there seemed to be state of conflict within her. A part of her could see the humanity in monsters (stopping Nina from being killed in the decompression chamber, believing Mitchell was capable of change) but not enough to really stop with the experiments on werewolves or to blow up the funeral homes full of vampires.

Even in this episode, there’s a mass of contradictions with Lucy. There’s one scene where she’s unnerved by the vision of a former werewolf whose death she aided and then she’s telling George that she’s dangerous. Not exactly a stellar way of inspiring either confidence or sympathy for her.

Then there’s her confrontation with Mitchell itself. She’s fuelled by the same righteous anger we’ve seen in Kemp and while she does raise a point about vampires, especially after the shit we’ve seen Mitchell pull this season, it still made me wonder how Mitchell in his feral state managed not to kill her during that scene.

Then there’s Lucy’s death. I like Lyndsey Marshall but the scene where Kemp staked her, I just couldn’t care. I know there was an attempt with Lucy to try and amend her actions when she caught up with Mitchell, George and Nina but I guess by then, it was a case of too little, too late.

And then there’s Kemp. He lacked humour all season long and in the end was little more than a religious fanatic out to wipe vampires because they murdered his family. His scenes where he’s telling Mitchell that he’ll suffer lose resonance because it’s the first time they’ve interacted and Kemp has had no personal history with Mitchell to make the plot any more compelling.

That being said, Kemp did earn his odious stripes by being responsible for Annie being sent through another door. Where everyone else failed, Kemp sadly had to succeed but at least Annie managed to drag the evil old bastard through a door after he murdered Lucy. With any luck, this will be the last we see of him. Essentially Kemp had potential but lacked the same charm and intrigue as Herrick did.

Which led to the other thing – Daisy and Cara resurrecting Herrick, why? I loved him in the first season but I thought Toby Whithouse was adamant about not bringing him back to life and more importantly, shouldn’t the main villain for the third season be someone/something new? I hope Whithouse knows what he’s doing with this one. Until knowing more, I’ll keep an open mind about Herrick coming back to life.

As for Annie’s fate, I’m not emotional about it. I already know that she is coming back next season so whatever form of hell she’s currently being stuck in (which oddly enough, sounds like that waiting room in Beetlejuice), I don’t imagine that she’ll be there for too long. And besides, Annie deserves a bigger arc and Mitchell and George’s determination to rescue her makes me curious as to how they’ll succeed.

Annie got some pretty wonderful scenes in this episode. When George realised what she was up to, I think both Lenora Crichlow and Russell Tovey got some of their best material this season. Annie and George bicker but it’s clear that they’re extremely fond of one another and George was more than willing to back out of his treatment when he realised that being normal would make Annie invisible to him.

Plus the absolute agony and anger that Mitchell conveyed when he realised what Kemp had done made me wish he had actually killed. I don’t know what Mitchell has in mind to get Annie back but I mostly applaud. Even Nina was pretty cut up about Annie being sent through the door.

Ah, Nina – maybe her best episode yet. The fact that she survived it was impressive because I had a nasty feeling in my gut that she was going to die along with Lucy. Kemp certainly had no problem in threatening to kill her. Luckily for us, she’s survived to snark another day, even if she didn’t get a chance to live to her threat to give Lucy a bit of a nip.

As for Nina and George, they did seem to get back together quickly. There were some nice moments between them where they got to be totally honest with each other about their feelings but it did seem a little rushed. Oh, what do I care? I like these two as a couple and I hope that there are some good times ahead for them next season as well.

Also in “All God's Children”

There was no flashback to open the episode but we did see Lucy’s vision of victim Amy McBride.

Kemp: “What’s the alternative? We simply allow the possession to spread?”
Lucy: “Are you saying win-win?”

Where exactly did George, Nina and Mitchell move to? I know from next season onwards they’ll be shooting in Cardiff but their location wasn’t specified.

George: “You really thought that? Nina, you are worth a thousand of me.”
Nina: “Just the one will do nicely. What happens now?”
George: “I’ll stay.”

Annie (to George): “But you boys, I love you boys because it was through you two that I really truly lived.”

George and Nina should’ve acted earlier to try and stop Kemp from expelling Annie, given how easily they escaped from the decompression chamber.

Nina (to George): “I can’t tell one smell from another. I think everyone stinks now.”

Mitchell: “So you took it upon yourselves to do a bit of ethnic cleansing.”
Lucy: “Don’t you dare, don’t you fucking dare try to legitimise ...”

One of the decompression chamber victims was Tully – the same Tully from last season?

Lucy: “You are poisonous. You are wearing other people’s clothes. You’re not human.”
Mitchell: “You have such a reductive view of the world.”

George: “I can’t be your confessor, Mitchell, not now. I need you too much.”

The DVD for this season is due out later in the month. I hope there are some decent extras for it.

Lucy: “I betrayed my lover, I betrayed my faith. I don’t know who I am anymore.”
Mitchell: “I guess you’re a monster now. Just like us.”

Annie (to Mitchell/George): “Please don’t forget me, will you?”

Chronology: There was a three week time up towards the last ten minutes of the episode.

As a finale goes, it got me talking; it certainly interested me but not as much as I had hoped. Season 2 has had a very hit and miss feel to it but not enough to stop me watching or reviewing the series.

Rating: 8 out of 10.