My Review of Brothers And Sisters 4x17: "FreeLuc.Com"

Written by Molly Newman And Brian Studler
Directed by Bethany Rooney

Sarah: “Is this what you douchebags do for a living or is harassing private citizens your idea of fun? It’s people like you who give this country a bad name.”
Journalist: “Thank you, Sarah. Have a nice day.”

Ah, the paparazzi really are a mean bunch of SOB’s. The problem with having a sister that’s running for a seat is that you find your own life under horrid scrutiny. Sarah had to suffer that humiliation in this episode all because a bunch of xenophobic conservatives have issues with Luc being in their country.

It’s discrimination like this that’s pretty worldwide nowadays. People complain about foreigners entering the country and working and yet if they were on the dole, they’d also complain. If the writers actually wanted me to feel bad for Luc in this episode, then I give in – I felt bad for him.

The weird part of this episode is that Luc didn’t have to suffer any racial/bigoted view directly in his face. I know the internet went crazy with every rumour left, right and centre about him but more than anything, it was Sarah and Kitty who had to endure public scrutiny. That doesn’t mean that I’m trying to downplay his visa being revoked; I’m just highlighting how it affected the Walker women.

For one thing, it pissed off Kitty’s target voters. Kitty’s a pretty reasonable enough conservative but sadly every rime we seem to encounter one that isn’t her or Robert, they’re usually nuts. Here we had a few of them gatecrash a conference by spouting out bile about America for America. Don’t these losers have anything better to do?

Naturally fallout like this didn’t look good for Kitty’s campaign but it also engineered conflict between her and Sarah and while we’ve seen bigger spats with the women over more trivial stuff, it was annoying having the pair of them largely at each other’s throats and no, I am not going to blame Luc for this one.

While Kitty got an unfavourable comparison to a long dead Fuhrer, Sarah got painted as a cougar. A cougar? For Christ’s sake, Luc isn’t that much younger than her – both physically and in actual age. Still, some of the internet rumours did make me laugh and I definitely enjoyed the little confrontation that Sarah had with one particularly snarky journalist.

As for the rumours – just typical. Luc would have some involvement in a brothel and it would turn out to be something completely innocent. I guess he really going to be whiter than whiter if he’s going to be the one for Sarah but as manipulative as the writing has been with Luc, I did actually feel bad for him.

He became legally allowed to stay in the country and that got taken away from him all because of a bunch of conservative morons with nothing else to do. He was even willing to head back to France because he didn’t want conflict between Sarah and Kitty. I’m not rooting for him and Sarah just yet but it’s hard to knock him on these alone.

Also I did like the fact that Kitty and Kevin were able to turn this pathetic excuse for a scandal to their favour. Luc got to stay in the country and both Kevin and Kitty made the most hilarious viral entry in quite a while. Plus it’s bloody appropriate that Kevin would point out that family loyalty comes above conflicting political beliefs. Isn’t that one of the reason why a lot of us viewers like the Walkers? Anyone?

Speaking of Walkers, seventeen episodes in the season and Tommy had to make an appearance. I’m almost tempted to say that it’s a low key one but technically it’s not. It might be not be because of Kitty’s health or failed nuptials this time around but I did think that Tommy’s appearance in this episode was a strong one.

He certainly seemed to enough of awareness about Dennis York when Nora mentioned him and he definitely wasn’t all that pleased when she suggested that Tommy should try and persuade the rest of the family to help sell Ojai. This worries me because this would the point where Nora would be devising something to hold tight to Ojai, not sell it.

It also doesn’t help that Dennis’s presence around Nora has a sinister overtone to it. She clearly had a hard time even being in the same hotel as him and yet again, there were more hints that the two of them had a history of some kind. Nora has castigated Saul in the past from keeping things from her so perhaps it’s time that she revealed something herself.

Even Holly could tell that something was up with Nora, despite not directly confronting on it, which for Holly is definitely unusual. Hopefully the start of next week’s two parter will actually delve into whatever Nora is keeping from the Walkers and Holly about Dennis. Ojai might be a sinking ship but I still don’t want to see Dennis sink his claws into it either.

In slightly less dramatic storytelling, how apt was it that Kevin’s only skills in the world are law and politics and he’s fallen out of favour with both? Probably as unsurprising as both Kitty and Sarah dragging him into a legal/political situation with Luc but for all his protesting, I don’t think Kevin would be satisfied in a lower job.

He probably should stay out of the political field for a bit but I don’t see why he can’t just work for a law firm where he wouldn’t have to hide his sexuality? He could also work for himself if needs be and given that he was encouraging Scotty to open up a restaurant, I don’t see why not.

As for Scotty losing his job, poor guy but them are the breaks sadly. I did like that the bad news only resulted in Kevin being encouraging to Scotty but at the same time with a baby on the way, both of them don’t have the luxury of resting on the laurels too long to figure/realise their dreams.

Also in “FreeLuc.Com”

I have to admit as episode titles go, this is a bad one and ABC missed a marketing opportunity as well.

Luc: “Stop calculating. I’ve promised to live in the present.”
Sarah: “I am, I am and right now, I’m upset that my government to whom I pay taxes to by the way is lurking in my bedroom, waiting to ruin my life.”

Again, the cougar issue has to be addressed. Giles Marini is only eight years younger than Rachel Griffiths. I actually thought he was older than her.

Kitty: “I know I have staff. I hate my staff but I promise you won’t have to do anything. I just need someone with a sense of humour to hang out with me.”
Kevin: “Okay, what about Sarah? She makes you laugh. Hang on, Sarah, make Kitty laugh.”

Dennis: “You seem tougher, colder but you’ve been through a lot in the last couple of years.”
Nora: “Oh really, do you think cleaning up after William might have changed me?”

Rebecca noticed the files from 1975, which is partly how she got to the bottom of Holly’s financial woes but Nora being hesitant about giving her back her money wasn’t smart.

Kitty (re Luc): “Why would they put him in a beard?”
Robert: “Because he’s Fidel Castro’s illegitimate son.”
Kevin: “They really have no shame.”

Holly: “Nora, Rebecca and I have never had an easy relationship.”
Nora: “Then how the hell does this help your relationship?”

Hi-Kitler? Another image of Calista Flockhart from the third season promos, only defaced with a certain moustache. And Sarah’s an oversexed housewife. Well, this was another episode that opened up with her and Luc post coital.

Kevin: “Kitty, would you please apologise to Sarah?”
Kitty: “Why, that’s not my website?”
Kevin: “Just do it.”

Tommy: “Okay, I guess it’s time for me to go home.”
Nora: “Yeah.”

Tommy and Julia still seem to be at loggerheads with each other so I guess we can assume that they won’t be patching things up anytime soon.

Kitty: “Kevin?”
Kevin: “Yeah?”
Kitty: “Get the douchebag for me.”
Kevin: “Okay, those are four words I never want to hear again from my sister.”

Kevin (to journalist): “This is what’s so great about our family. We can despise each other’s political beliefs but we don’t despise each other.”

Standout music: Amos Lee’s “Shout Out Loud” and it’s been five days since “Leap Of Faith”.

“FreeLuc.Com” may have the worst title for a television episode but it is thankfully not a dodgy episode, just not a classic one either. Still looking forward to the next two-part story however.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Time Warps

I don't know about everyone else but I've been divided about Rachel Berry on Glee for some time now. Sure, Lea Michele can sing excellently but there are times when I wish that more characters were given bigger numbers than just Rachel. This week, in a homage to all things bad, Rachel/Finn/Puck/Jesse got to do both Run Joey Run (never heard of it) and Total Eclipse Of The Heart. And while Rachel probably should've informed all three that she was using them in the video for the former, I do think they overreacted a tad. Why was Puck so narked? He doesn't even fancy her all that much and as for the Glist, it did make sense that it was Quinn. Nice to see that Quinn still can be a bitch. Wouldn't want her getting all soft on us. Other highlights from this one included Emma calling Will out on his crap, any moment between Sue and her sister and Kurt/Mercedes/Brittany/Artie/Tina's failings to be bad-ass. The Olivia Newton-John appearance and Physical remake with Sue however didn't work that well and please stop Will rapping, it's painful.

You can tell that we're towards the end of Lost forever because more characters are dropping like flies. This season we've had Juliet's death linger on for two episodes, confirmation that Locke is totally gone, Illana blown to smithereen and now this episode delivered four big death and for this show, that is an achievement. Will anyone be alive by the time we get to The End? Jin, Sun and Frank all died inside a bloody submarine and when Sayid came back from the brink, he had to go and sacrifice himself, didn't he? And this week's episode, featuring The West Wing actress Alison Janney features none of the main cast.

I've been missing Grey's Anatomy for a bit but after reading about The Time Warp, I made the effort to go and watch it for myself and you know what? I actually enjoyed it. Sarah Paulson and J August Richards did a good job as the younger versions of Ellis and Richard and this is coming from someone who's never been that interested in anything involving those characters at all but am I really supposed to believe that Ellis drove him to drink? The whole series of lectures in this episode was brilliantly done out. I liked seeing a reserved Miranda who learned to stand up for herself by having such a bitch for a resident and even the reveal of Alex/Callie sleeping with each other during Season 2 didn't bother me, though it seemed to nark Arizona for some reason.

Desperate Housewives is another show beginning to reach it's conclusion. Introducing John Barrowman's Patrick Logan was much needed at this point. I've been bored shitless of seeing the actor in rubbish Saturday night game shows so it's nice to see him a role as removed from Jack Harkness as humanly possible. That being said as good as the Patrick debut was, there are some still rubbish plotting - Susan and Gabby competing with their kids again, Lynette's hatred in Porter's fiance Irina, Bree favouring Rex's kid Sam over her own. No wonder new couple Katherine and Robin decided to leave Wisteria Lane.

Every time BBC3 say there's a new series of Family Guy, I should cop on to the fact that they're usually a season behind. Season Eight started in double bill form last night on the digital channel and it was a fine enough opening episodes. Stewie and Brian's jumping back and forth into different realities certainly hit a funny bone or two, though Peter's brief dalliance with a fecking cardboard cutout of a supermodel was less funny.

- Katee Sackhoff turned down the role of Debbie Pelt in True Blood. Okay it's not the best role but I thought any actor would want to be on that show nowadays. And Lafayette's fella in the third season will be supernatural.

- Paul Young is the main mystery for the seventh season of Desperate Housewives. Mark Moses will reprise the role in this year's finale and become a regular for next season.

- Brothers And Sisters will be time jumping, so expect Robert out of the picture (along with Ryan), Kevin and Scotty to be parents and Justin and Rebecca to be geographically seperated as well.

- The producers of Glee want Victoria Beckham on the show. Why?

- Irish viewers can catch the final season of The Tudors tonight at 10pm on TV3. BBC2 will air it later in the year.

- The future of One Tree Hill is left uncertain. Why not cancel it? Hasn't it ran long enough?

- Damages has been cancelled by FX. Damn.

- NBC have picked up three new shows - Love Bites, Outsourced and The Event.

My Review of Doctor Who's 5x06: "The Vampires Of Venice"

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Jonny Campbell

The Doctor (to vampire girls): “Tell me the whole plan! One day that’ll work.”

You would think with Being Human under his belt that writer Toby Whithouse would’ve had his fill with vampires but it seems that he can’t get enough of them and now they’re invading the world of the Doctor and not for the first time either.

As with werewolves and witches in the new series, the vampires that we were given this episode were not just going to be straight up vampires. Nothing is ever really allowed to be supernatural in this show, there always has to be an alien undercurrent to it and with the vampires here, they’re alien.

But the fun of thinking that we’re dealing with straight up vampires isn’t shattered too early in the story, though as a long time viewer, I was trying to guess the moment it would be announced that the vampires under Rosanna Calvierri would be identified as aliens. I was about maybe five or six minutes off from my estimation.

So, Venice – it’s as good a location as any for alien vampires (or fish aliens to be precise) and it might have been a bit too on the head had this been Transylvania as well. Besides the goal for Venice was a romantic one. The Doctor wanted to give Amy and Rory a romantic present. Venice was the place to go and for Rory, it’s definitely an eye opener.

With the last two episodes, the dynamic with the Doctor, River and Amy proved yet again that two companions is actually a perfect mix for the Doctor. Of course, his method of getting Rory on board could’ve been a bit better. I laughed when he jumped out of the cake but I did a face palm when he told Rory that Amy was a good kisser as well. Seriously, Doctor, did you have to?

The fact that Rory didn’t clobber the Doctor in front of his mates showed a good level of self-restraint but this was also an episode that was going out of it’s way to show viewers as to why Rory deserved to be a companion. You could also draw some much obvious parallels to him and Mickey as well if you want.

Rory had massive issues with Amy’s travelling with the Doctor and at one point in the episode, he did want to have it out with the Doctor over the kiss but he also knew when and where to help in a crisis as well. Particularly when it came to the vampires/fish aliens of this episode.

While Amy was running after Francesco, Rory was busy tending to see the girl that he tried to bite from. Similarly when the Doctor got himself electrocuted, Rory made sure to check that he was still breathing. Good to see Rory’s compassionate side and nursing being used in this episode. Almost makes me miss Martha Jones a bit.

However while Rory was good in that department, he certainly wasn’t happy with the idea of Amy going undercover at the Calvierri school to try and learn more about the menace of the week. He predicted something bad would happen to Amy and it very nearly did when Rosanna quickly worked out that she was being sent in as a spy.

You have to admire Amy’s determination. It was stupid to go in there after Francesco had seen both her and Rory hours earlier but it didn’t stop her from doing it nonetheless. There was also some good humour too when Amy decided to give Rosanna’s offer of 10,000 husbands a miss in favour of the one she’ll soon have. Atta girl, Amy.

As for the vampires in their pure form – they didn’t really look like fish to me so I was glad that we didn’t see much of them that way, even when the perception filters were beginning to stop working for them but as villains, it definitely was reminiscent of baddies we’ve had before but with much more depth added to them.

Rosanna chose the Earth to snag as many female suitors for her children as possible because there was nowhere else for her race to live. Her world was gone and she didn’t seem to at first want world domination, even if she was stealing girls and using rumours of the plague to scare the locals.

Also in an odd twist, the Doctor didn’t offer her an alternative, even after she considered the idea of a partnership with him. Maybe there weren’t any other planets he could offer her or had the right to but it definitely stood. Rosanna only seemed to go to extremes to prolong her race’s survival when he refused to help her.

Helen McCrory was a good casting choice for the role of Rosanna. Certainly one of the best female villains we’ve had in a while, her scenes with the Doctor were also the best. Rosanna did herself no favours by throwing Gallifrey’s destruction in the Doctor’s face and she definitely doomed herself by not remembering Isabella, the girl whose death she ordered halfway through the episode.

However when Rosanna chucked herself into the water towards the end of the episode, her parting words certainly stung the Doctor hard. He did look sorrowful that another species was wiped out but more importantly, it was the talk of silence and cracks that really began to worry him.

A key moment in this episode was having Rory oblivious to the silence, which surely has to be as alarming as Amy’s ignorance of the Daleks. Does Rory remember that invasion or is he also blissfully unaware of it as well? The Doctor better ask him soon because we’re nearing the halfway point of the season and already the Doctor’s had a bellyful of monsters telling him about the cracks, silence falling and the Pandorica.

Personally I have to admit that this approach to the arc is a bit refreshing. It’s just now we need to see the Doctor tackle it more head on and sort of let Rory in on it too. I genuinely believed the Doctor when he told Rory that he didn’t want him and Amy to drift apart, hence the Venice trip but I also want him to be honest about everything else as well.

Another noteworthy thing about this episode as well was Amy’s attitude towards Rory. She went from being slightly apprehensive about the Doctor’s motives for bringing him on board to being in love with the idea of travelling in time and space with the two most important men of her life. Amy Pond, it looks like for a while you might get to have your cake and eat it.

Also in “The Vampires Of Venice”

I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was a little disappointed that Arthur Darvill didn’t get his name in the opening credits.

The Doctor (re Amy): “Now then, Rory, we need to talk about your fiancé. She tried to kiss me. Tell you what though, you’re a lucky man, she’s a great kisser.”

Rory showed zero surprise once inside the TARDIS, annoying the Doctor in the process. Also, like Mickey, Rory’s been doing some studying since 2008.

The Doctor: “I owe him a chicken.”
Rory: “You owe Casanova a chicken?”
The Doctor: "Long story, we had a bet."

Rory: “Did you miss me?”
Amy: “I knew I’d be coming back.”
Rory (re the Doctor): “He was right. It blocks out everything else.”

About five years ago, David Tennant played Casanova, so the reference will undoubtedly please a lot of Tenth Doctor fans.

Vampire Girls: “I’ll ask you again, senior, who are you?”
The Doctor: “Why don’t you check this out?”

Francesco: “Have we met?”
Rory: “Just got one of those faces.”
Francesco: “I wasn’t talking to you.”
Rory (re Amy): "She's got the same face because she's my sister."

Francesco was played by Confidential narrator, Alex Price who also appeared in the first season of Toby Whithouse’s Being Human as Gilbert.

Rory (re Amy): “You said she kissed you?”
The Doctor: “Now? You want to do this now?”

Rory (re portable sunlight): “Yours is bigger than mine.”
The Doctor: “Let’s not go there.”

Funnily enough while both Amy and Rory wore 16th century costumes at different points in the episode (while Guido wore Rory’s stag jumper), neither of them did any cod accents for the Doctor to reprimand them on.

Rory (to the Doctor): “You know what's dangerous about you? It’s not that you make people take risks, it’s that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around.”

Amy: “And if I survive?”
Rosanna: “Then there are 10,000 husbands waiting for you in the water.”
Amy: “Yeah sorry, I’m kind of engaged.”

Rosanna’s throne was the source for the generator to change the living conditions for her kind on Earth as well as that creepy bell tower as well. I loved the William Hartnell appearance on the library card as well.

Rosanna: “Your question?”

The Doctor: “Why can’t we see your big teeth?”

The Doctor: “The people upstairs are very noisy.”
Guido: “There aren’t any people upstairs.”
The Doctor (to Amy/Rory): “I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?”

Rory definitely wins awards for serious dorkiness with the love heart picture of him and Amy on his stag shirts and the comedy fight scene with him and Francesco.

The Doctor: “Rosanna, please help me. There are 200,000 people in this city.”
Rosanna: “So save them.”

Rory: “You stink of fish.”
Francesco: “Well I’m hardly gonna smell of cheese and biscuits.”

Why didn’t Amy actually help Rory when he was taking on Francesco? Wait, a minute my bad, she killed him with sunlight as well giving Rory that kiss.

The Doctor: "I told you, you can't go back and change time. You mourn and you live. I know Rosanna, I did it."
Rosanna: "Tell me, Doctor, can you conscience carry the weight of another dead race? Remember us. Dream of us."

Amy: “Hey, look at this. I’ve got my spaceship, I've got my boys. My work here is done.”
Rory: "Pfft, we are not her boys."
The Doctor: "Yeah we are."
Rory: "Yeah we are."

The trailer for next week certainly seems to be a big one for Amy. After all, the episode is named after her. And this one was filmed in Croatia rather than Venice itself.

It’s episodes like “The Vampires Of Venice” that make me glad to be a Doctor Who fan because while there’s some serious shit ahead, this is a show that knows how to have some bloody fun. The ‘vampires’ might not look all that great in their original form but they’re a fantastic menace and while Rory raises more than obvious comments about the dangers of the Doctor, there are times when he still managed to find himself swept up in the excitement as much as the Doctor and Amy.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Ashes To Ashes 3x06: "Episode 22"

Written And Directed by Jamie Payne

Paul: “Don’t mock me. You forget, Alex. That’s what happens to you here, Alex, you forget.”

Ignoring the leaked spoiler that this episode was going to kill off a regular character, can I just say how fantastic this episode was in general? This season has been slow moving in places and now it’s really cranking up the heat in a big way.

As characters went, I assumed that it was going to be Viv. I didn’t even consider the idea that it could’ve been someone else, even Keats for that matter. It was just always Viv who I expected to die in this one and he did, afraid and regretful of his actions. And I liked Viv, even though it took this episode to give him any development whatsoever.

Viv getting involved in a prison riot on the hopes of freeing a member of his family made sense. I don’t think I could’ve bought Viv becoming corrupted, so him being driven in doing something so desperate made a lot more sense to me. It also made a lot of sense that he’d be sorry as a result.

I don’t just mean Chris figuring out that Viv gave Jason his gun to kick off the raid but more the point of Jason turning around and killing Viv in the process. Jason had a reputation to keep up with and Viv basically got caught in the crossfire when Jason had no other way out of the raid that Gene managed to outsmart with Alex’s help.

Viv might have betrayed his friends and colleagues but I did love the fact that Gene put that aside and reminded everyone of Viv’s good side. It’s a pity that he didn’t get there a minute earlier when Jim was all over Viv. What the hell was Jim trying to do? I thought he was going to snap Viv’s neck but Viv freaked out for a good bit with Jim before dying.

This raises a lot of questions about Jim. If Jim is supposed to be some kind of guardian angel, then he’s a really terrible one. Viv was more freaked out than reassured to see him and Alex was openly resentful with him constantly telling her to help unearth Gene as well. Still, there are only two episodes left and we’re nearing to answers as well.

Whatever Jim’s motives are with Gene, his general plans are beginning to work. Gene was downright reckless in this episode, especially given that he put both Chris and Ray’s lives in danger with Jason and if it hadn’t been for Alex, both Chris and Ray would’ve been electrocuted. It’s a good job that he did listen to her on that one.

But not only that, there was the issue of Paul Thordy as well. I get that Paul was supposed to be seen as a fantasist, given his insistence that he was Sam Tyler but there was also the indication that there some truth behind a lot of the bullshit that Alex had to wade through with him as well.

Gene has been keeping far too many secrets in regards to Sam and Paul was certainly able to play on that with Alex as well. He also hit something of a nerve with Alex when he mentioned that she could end up forgetting things if she didn’t know the secret. One which he didn’t really share with her besides Jason’s plans to electrocute some coppers.

With Gene’s behaviour the way that it is, Alex did really need to take some more assertive steps into getting proper answers. He won’t tell her a damn thing and the episode did end with her looking at the photo of that scarred constable, which certainly seemed to promise quite a lot for the finale as well.

Also in “Episode 22”

This is the first (and probably) only time in the series that an episode has been written and directed by the same person. And Viv was a big West Ham fan.

Jim: “Perhaps it wasn’t a wise call to take charge of the attack?”
Gene: “Are you saying it’s my fault?”

Paul Thordy was the last person Sam arrested prior to his death, something which Alex questioned when no-one relayed that to her.

Gene: “I’m negotiating.”
Alex: “What, like Hiroshima was negotiated?”

Chris (to Ray after knocking out Paul): “Well, when the sheet hits the man.”

Alex walked in on Ray and Shaz discussing seeing stars. There was a moment in this episode where it looked like Chris was about to see them too.

Jim: “You ever stare at something so long your vision goes black?”
Alex: “What?”

Paul: “I want to float amongst the stars.”
Gene: “The only thing you’ll be floating in is your own shit.”

Did anyone else think for a bit that the mystery copper Alex keeps seeing and Thordy look a little too similar to each other?

Alex: “I hope you got a heart in there.”
Gene: “I’ve got two. Mine and some toe rag’s I ate earlier.”

Alex (to scarred constable): “I don’t want to be here anymore. Please just show me; just show what I’m supposed to do.”

In Alex’s dream, both Chris and Shaz were looking at Gene’s mysterious tin box. Does that mean something else?

Jim (to Gene): “Oh look at you, lost at sea.”

Jason (to Ray): “Old Spice, fags and loneliness. I suppose you could be a journalist.”

I was expecting Ray to come out with something more than wanting Chris’s mug when he thought that he might not make it out of the prison riot alive.

Shaz (to Gene re Chris/Ray): “You sent them in there. The bastard’s right, it’s on your hands.”

Chris (to Ray): “If I don’t make it out of here, can you give Shaz a message? Can you tell her, can you tell her I love her?”

There were two trailers for next week’s episode, both of which having Alex directly ask Gene if he killed Sam Tyler and them nearing to a kiss.

Alex (to Gene): “You are far from perfect, you are rotten.”

Jim: “What are you trying to achieve?”
Gene: “Shut it.”

Standout music: The score music for this one mainly and Sam ‘died’ in 2005? Now that was a good way of proving that Thordy was a fantasist.

Well, this was definitely a riveting episode from start to finish. Prison riot episodes could’ve been a bit dull but this one forwarded some stuff and with two episodes left, it does look like we could see this show end on a great note.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 4x16: "Leap Of Faith"

Written by Matt Donnelly And Mark Holsey
Directed by Michael Morris

Rebecca (to Justin, re ballet): “I used to be good at this. This used to be easy. Now I can barely stay on my feet.”

Okay, as lines go, it’s hardly the most provocative thing that Rebecca could have said to give us an insight into her current state of mind but it yielded the desired affect. Rebecca isn’t coping with losing the baby and can’t bring herself to talk to anyone about it, especially Justin.

There’s a recurring theme for anyone who isn’t a Walker to suddenly become critical of the Walker way of talking about things at inappropriate times when they’re heavily stressed. Rebecca used it in this episode when she told Justin that it wasn’t healthy to talk about her feelings all the time.

Then again, Rebecca wasn’t doing herself much favours by bottling things up. Justin wasn’t going to let it go because he cared too much about her emotional state and when he did show signs of backing off, it was just so he could watch her struggle to dance from afar and be there when she finally unloaded.

Ballet scenes aren’t exactly something I have a big craving to see. I don’t hate it but I’m not overly enamoured with them either but it served as a reasonably good analogy for the way Rebecca views her body. She struggled with the seemingly simple ballet moves and told Justin that she felt broken.

Even when Justin offered advice on not giving up and trying again, Rebecca seemed unconvinced by what he was saying to her. I think the worst thing for the both of them to do would be to try and rush to get pregnant again. Rebecca should give it some time; she’s barely in her twenties and has plenty of time to become a parent as does Justin.

As plots go, this is still one of the strongest ones that Justin and Rebecca have actually had as a couple. I can’t even groan at them arguing because this time around, there’s sound reason behind it as opposed to them behaving like petulant kids. Though I do hope she ends up talking to David, seeing as he returned and is clearly interested in Rebecca’s well being as Justin is.

Speaking of emotional well being, if there’s something that guaranteed to rub the audience up the wrong way, it’s having a strong emotion forced on you. Luc’s barely back for a week and this episode had to go into overdrive with moments where we’re supposed to believe that he and Sarah are made for each other.

If it’s not Luc wittering on about fate, it’s the Walkers bending over backwards to take him out to everywhere and anywhere in the space of an afternoon. It’s not like I want the Walkers to detest the bloke but as a viewer, I don’t want to be told on a repeated basis how brilliant Luc is supposed to be. I want to see it for myself.

What I got here was nothing that told me for myself that Luc was brilliant. I got to see the same evasive Luc from earlier in the season. Sarah had to practically pull it out of him that he had four weeks until deportation. And then I got to see the desperate to stay in the country side of Luc.

Despite some Walkers unwisely telling Sarah to green card marry Luc, I was thrilled that she put her foot down but I knew that the idea wasn’t going to die with her. Nope, Luc’s nice art friend, Ginny was happy to marry Luc and you could just see Sarah barely struggling to accept the idea.

In fact thanks to Nora and Kitty, Sarah let her jealousy get the better of her and managed to stop Luc from marrying Ginny. This was a good thing but only for two reasons and them being that a) Ginny thankfully did not have any romantic desires for Luc and b) Sarah did not marry him instead.

Never mind the fact that it would’ve career suicide for Kitty’s campaign, Sarah’s refusal to marry Luc stemmed from something known as common sense. So, while the writers are still insisting that Luc is the one for her, at least they’re not reducing Sarah’s intelligence as a result. Though I am curious as to how Luc is going to not get deported given that we know Gilles Marini is sticking around.

Another thing that is wonderfully curious and curiouser is Dennis York. What the hell did he do to Nora because she most definitely knows more than she’s letting on about him? When both Holly and Saul tried to get some answers, Nora was surprisingly evasive with the pair of them. And, also what’s up with this Narrow Lake place that William bought? Are we gonna find even more Walker treasure there because I assume that’s what Dennis is actually after.

And then there was Nora’s desire not to have Saul tell the kids about it as well. It’s amazing that within the last three episodes, this plot has gotten more and more interesting. I really do hope that the pay off is a satisfying one because York hasn’t shown up in this episode either.

As for Buffy, well there was only so much of her wackiness that Kitty could tolerate but seemingly not enough of it because Buffy got the sack in this episode. Technically I should be delighted – the character was annoying, constantly undermined Kitty, came out with one of the lamest bits of dialogue in regards to Kevin and Robert but yet, I felt a little bad to see her go.

Maybe with Buffy being fired, Kevin could go to work for Kitty. Then again, unlikely as he decided to get out of the politics game by handing in his notice to Robert. Now while I enjoyed Robert’s little toast to Kevin near the end of this episode, I have to admit that I also thought this episode forced the Kevin/Robert friendship a little bit too much to be honest.

On the plus side, Kevin is finally free of politics and if we’re lucky goes back to being a kick-ass lawyer in a firm that hopefully will not tell him to hide his sexuality. Also with a baby on the way, I don’t think he can afford to be out of work for too long also, especially given that Scotty also seems to have work woes of his own.

Also in “Leap Of Faith”

Even though I suspected that it was true, I found myself feeling sorry for Roy when Sarah referred to him as a rebound.

Luc: “Nothing is certain in this world, Sarah. All we have is fate.”
Sarah: “You know I’m an agnostic?”

Five episodes in and yet again, no Ryan. I think at this point, even the production team have literally forgotten who he is.

Buffy (to photographers, re Kitty): “Alright boys, don’t be shy. Who wants a shot of Annie Oakley here?”

Nora: “I’m not convinced. Dennis wanted Ojai. I think he would’ve practically said anything to get it.”
Holly: “How well did you know him?”

Holly told Nora about Dennis’s offer to make her a partner in Ojai and Nora didn’t seem to react a bit to it.

Robert: “Shut the door.”
Kevin: “Should we go down the bat cave?”

Kevin: “Are you crying?”
Buffy: “You guys love each other. Don’t you get it?”
Kevin: “Will you pull yourself together, it’s embarrassing?”

Does anyone remember what episode Rebecca mentioned ever dancing in? I know she was in some girl rocker band back in the first season but I can’t remember her mentioning dancing.

Kevin: “You’re not mad?”
Scotty: “Of course not, I’m proud of you. You did a brave thing.”
Kevin: “I don’t feel brave. I practically ran out of there.”

Nora: “Doesn’t this move you at all?”
Security Guard: “Ma’am, I watch Oprah, nothing surprises me.”

Standout music: Colin Hoy’s “Waiting For My Real Life To Begin”.

Robert (to Kevin): “As in politics as in life, there are no endings, only new beginnings. Here’s to the start of something new.”

Chronology: March/April 2010?

“Leap Of Faith” is definitely a highly enjoyable episode, certainly filled with both touching and mysterious moments but the writers did go overboard with Kevin/Robert and Sarah/Luc for my liking though.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

The Future Of True Blood On This Blog

Is looking absolutely positive. Did anyone think I was suddenly going to ditch this show? I've fallen head over loafers for the series and now that I've finished with the second season (which I enjoyed more than the first), the future for this show being discussed on this blog is looking positive indeed. So, a brief manifesto of sorts.

- There are webisodes that are being done for the series, prior to the arrival of the third season. I will look into them, review wise.
- Book reviews will commence again next week when I'm done with All Together Dead.
- I'm not waiting for FXUK to air the third season. I'm going to do it at US pace, so I apologise to UK viewers/readers of this blog for spoilers in advance.
- And isn't that above Season 3 cast shot bloody fangtastic (I know crap pun but it wouldn't be suppressed).
- Season 2 is available on DVD from May 17th as well for Region 2 fans.

My Review of Doctor Who's 5x05: "Flesh And Stone"

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Adam Smith

River: “It’s never gonna work.”
The Doctor: “What else have you got? River, tell me?”

And here’s an episode where there are enough moments for the Doctor to get spectacularly angry at different things, people and situation and the one that I’ve learnt about this new Doctor, it’s that he doesn’t hold back when someone/something’s riled him up big time.

The Weeping Angels are a prime example of something that been riling him up in this story as well. Having the image of one of them in Amy’s mind was going to make things a lot worse for everyone involved. Amy might not have turned into a Weeping Angel but she was certainly screwed and more off than usual.

The first clue to that this week was when she was counting. Everyone had managed to make it into the Byzantium and while the Doctor was trying to get to the secondary flight deck and keep the Angels out, Amy was on a countdown. It made sense given the spoilers that were released for this episode this week.

But what could’ve Amy been possibly counting to? Her death of course. The Weeping Angels wanted to use everyone to swell in their ranks and Amy was already on the verge of death in this episode. Even when the Doctor and River confronted her about the counting, it was the Angel Bob who had to fill in the blanks.

I really do love the fact that the Weeping Angels have gone from the kindest killers in the world to the most malevolent and spiteful ones there are. They took absolutely joy in telling the Doctor that they were hurting Amy for kicks and even more in telling him that he stood no chance of succeeding against them.

Yeah, it’s a classic villain mistake to make and for a moment, the Angels did have the Doctor in their clutches but it was also their own fault that he slipped through their fingers in a bid to get to the main deck in this episode. As for Amy, well she was definitely having the worst time of it.

You know there’s something odd when it’s River who was comforting Amy more than the Doctor in this episode. Granted he was too busy trying to come up with a plan to save Amy and destroy the Weeping Angels but he wasn’t exactly a beacon of sensitivity even if he was right in telling Amy that she’d die if she kept her eyes open for more than a second.

Although it won’t be another two weeks before Karen Gillan gets an episode largely dedicated to her character, this is definitely one of her strongest episodes, performance wise. Some fans have bitched about Amy being a little too cool for school when it comes to facing the strange and alien. This episode saw her more human reactions to things.

Like anyone else in her situation, she was terrified of dying and really had to get the Doctor to open up about what the Angels were doing to her. She also might have claimed that she wasn’t that clingy in the previous episode but in this one, she was reluctant for the Doctor to leave her. It seemed those lingering trust issues are definitely still there. Man, he has been a letdown to the girl.

But the biggest factor of this episode was her coming face to face with the crack in her bedroom wall. I’m delighted that both the Doctor and Amy were forced to meet this head on and I was more than interested in the face that it was time energy as well that ended up being powerful enough to destroy the Weeping Angels.

For a death scene of a big menace, it did feel a little besides the point because as soon as that crack appeared, everything became about Amy in a much bigger way. You had the Doctor telling River about the lack of ducks in a Leadworth pond as well as Amy’s obliviousness of the Daleks. Something is more than off with Amy and the Doctor is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Even if it meant that by saving her life, him and River nearly came to blows over if. For all the Doctor’s strategic telling of Amy to keep her eyes shut and walk like she could see, it was River’s use of teleportation that actually got Amy out of a nasty predicament with the Weeping Angels.

Then there’s the trip back to Earth. Amy finally told the Doctor about her wedding and then responded by trying to seduce him. Thanks, Daily Mail for spoiling that scene but I have a feeling that it’s going to anger a lot of fans as well. It also says a lot about Rory too.

Not in a negative way but if Amy’s so determined to bed the Doctor (and it’s made clear here than she means one night stand, not love), then you have to ask why the hell is she marrying Rory? Is Amy something of a cheat or does she have some genuine reservations about marrying her lover? Rory’s a nice guy but if Amy’s not that into him, then it’s odd that she’d go through with the wedding.

The even odder part was when the Doctor wasn’t making a balls up of blocking Amy’s advances, he finally really seemed to get that Amy needed sorting out. Unfortunately for Amy that does not mean seeing her raggedy Doctor naked anytime soon and from the trailer for next week, it looks like Amy’s going to be stuck with the two most important men of her life for the time being.

As for River Song, if she’s not the Doctor’s future wife, does that mean she’s his killer? That was why she was in prison – because she killed a good man. And both her and Octavian (before he became a victim of the Angels) were being annoyingly cryptic when the Doctor tried to get more information out of them as well. And if we didn’t know that River was due back for the finale, we sure as hell do now.

The Doctor for a minute didn’t sound like he was taking River’s warning of the Pandorica seriously but the ending certainly suggested that he was. I’m going to assume that both Amy and the Pandorica are linked. For all we know, Amy could be the bloody Pandorica. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me, come to think of it.

Also in “Flesh And Stone”

The title for this episode was suggested to Steven Moffat by his son. It’s a terrific title for the episode. And was there an eye watching River in this episode as well?

Father Octavian (re the Doctor): "Dr Song, I lost good clerics today. Do you trust this man?"

River: "I absolutely trust him."

Father Octavian: “He’s not some kind of madman then?”
River: “I absolutely trust him.”

River was kept prisoner in the Storm Cage facility and according to Octavian, she’s trying to earn a pardon. I’m surprised it wasn’t Volag Noc.

Amy: “That’s, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall when I was a little girl.”
The Doctor: “Yes.”

The Doctor (to Weeping Angels): “And I’ll tell you something else. Never let me talk.”

Interesting idea the oxygen factory/forest on the ship as well as the tree borgs. A forest can certainly be something else in a Steven Moffat episode.

The Doctor (re Amy/Weeping Angels): “Bob, why are they making her count?”
Bob: “To make her afraid, sir.”
The Doctor: “Okay, but why? What for?”
Bob: “For fun, sir.”

The Doctor: "You need to start trusting me. It's never been more important."

Amy: “But you don’t always tell me the truth.”
The Doctor: “If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me.”

Even though I’m glad that Octavian told the Doctor the truth about River, it also could’ve backfired in his face. If he had survived this episode, I imagine that River would’ve gotten him back in some way.

The Doctor: “Never mind the Angels. There's worse things than Angels.”
Father Octavian: “I beg to differ, sir.”

The Doctor: “I wish I had known you better.”
Father Octavian: “I think sir, you know me at my best.”

There’s an almost deliberate “Doomsday” reference when the Doctor, Amy and River have to hold on tight as the Angels get sucked into the crack in time. A crack that’s anything but healed as well.

The Doctor: “River Song, I could bloody kiss you.”
River: “Ah, well maybe when you’re older.”

River (to the Doctor): “You. Me. Handcuffs. Must it always end this way?”

Um, here’s a hoping, only next time with the Doctor and not River in handcuffs. And there was a reference to the Cyber King as well, which spoils something else.

River: “You’ll see me again quite soon when the Pandorica opens.”
The Doctor: “Pandorica? That’s a fairytale.”
River: “Haha, Doctor, aren’t we all? I'll see you there.”

The Doctor: "I'll look forward to it."

River: "I remember it well."

Amy: “I’m getting married in the morning.”
The Doctor (re engagement ring): “Why did you leave it here?”

The Doctor stated that he was 907 in this episode. It was this time four months ago (TV wise) that he was telling Wilfred he was 906.

The Doctor: “I’m 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?”
Amy: “It’s been a while?”

The Doctor: "It's you, it's all about you. Everything. It's about you."

Amy: "Hold that thought."

The Doctor: "Amy Pond. Mad, impossible, Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now."

Amy: "That's what I've been trying to tell you."

The Doctor: "Come on."

Chronology: 26th June 2010, the date of Amy and Rory’s wedding, a certain base code and the date in which the finale for this season should also air, barring interruptions.

Actually somewhat better than the previous episode, “Flesh And Stone” certainly amped up the mystery angle of this series big time. Anyone for the crack plot to be gone in this episode, I can honestly say that it’s only widened. I’m so looking forward to see what exactly happens when the Pandorica does open up.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Ashes To Ashes 3x05: "Episode 21"

Written by Tom Butterworth And Chris Hurford
Directed by Jamie Payne

Bevan: “The thing about Gene Hunt, it’s not what he did. It’s about what he got other people to do.”
Alex: “And what did he get you to do?”

I complained in my review for the previous episode that we weren’t getting anything with Sam Tyler and here was an episode that teased so much that I’ll be genuinely shocked if John Simm doesn’t appear in the last episode of this series. I mean, we’re three episodes away from the end. Now’s the time for answers, writers.

Bringing back another known Life On Mars character with Litton and his scumbag partner Bevan was certainly a way to throw us more morsels on Sam Tyler than ever before. Litton took an initial similar disdain to Alex that he did with Sam and Bevan certainly knew more than he was letting on.

At one point, Bevan even cornered Alex and promised her that he’d give her information on Gene and Sam if she’d drop Frank Hardwick. Alex didn’t fall for that one but she did get to witness Gene stealing her files and burning them along with Sam’s jacket.

I never get bothered by seeing clothes ruined or destroyed but seeing Gene burning Sam’s jacket for some reason got to me. It was like he was burning away the last trace of Sam, even though I still think he’s alive and it was enough to spark Alex into demanding some straight answers on the issue. So, why doesn’t Gene give her any?

Hasn’t Alex proved enough in over twenty episodes that she’s worth trusting? Or did Gene really did have something to do with Sam’s disappearance? He was desperate enough to silence Bevan and whatever he said to Bevan, it freaked the bent copper out enough to tell Alex to stay away from him.

Gene’s doing himself no favours by not confiding in Alex. Every time he pulls away from her is another chance for Keats to try and widen the gap between the pair of them. Keats can see that and he certainly has taken enough delight in undermining Gene at every turn this season. He even rubbed Gene’s nose in it by suspending Litton.

The idea of Gene actually being bothered that Litton’s career could be in tatters is certainly a change for the books. I used to enjoy Gene and Litton’ rivalry and Litton was largely obnoxious for the best part of this episode but if ever there was an episode to redeem an otherwise unlikeable character, it would be this one.

It would’ve been easy for the writers to have taken Litton down the road of corruption. Like Gene, Litton isn’t down with change and certainly couldn’t stand the more progression stances of either Jim or Alex in this episode. He even made a few sexist comments here and there when Frank Hardwick had originally been let go.

But being a sexist, old fashioned brute are his only flaws. He wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Bevan and actually believed that Frank had been stealing from police widows. The moment he realised that Bevan had been duping him saw a different change in his attitude. He even respected Gene at one point and commented on their glaringly obvious similarities.

More importantly though, he noted that both Sam and Alex have affected Gene and you don’t have to be a genius to agree with that. Now, I wish Gene would just bloody open up to Alex about Sam because there is very little time left and if he doesn’t act soon, Alex will end up being swayed by Jim from the looks of it.

As for other mysteries in this episode, we now have three main characters that have seen stars. I didn’t expect Ray to start seeing them as well and it was interesting that it gave him and Shaz something to discuss, even if he denied seeing them in the end. Is this show going to take a similar route to the US version of its predecessor? Something about those stars are significant.

Speaking of significant. Ray’s loyalties seem to be tested a lot recently. First with the army bloke and now with Litton and Bevan. Bevan had some kind of weird control over Ray and even tried to use that when he was trying to escape from Gene, Alex and Litton. I’m glad that Ray managed to snap the hell out of it though. Having friends like Bevan is definitely not worth the hassle.

Another good thing with Ray in this episode was him and Shaz actually getting along for a bit. Shaz asked him if he was lonely and he admitted that he was. Plus there was more dubious comments made about his sexuality. Whatever could that possibly mean? And I loved him and Shaz singing “Danny Boy” at the cop gala more than Chris’s impressive dance moves and those were bloody impressive.

As for Bevan and Frank, well it was a lot more interesting that some of the main cases this season and it helped that a lot of it tied into or related around the Sam mystery and even the stars. It also helped that Bevan was suitably nasty and that Frank (who’d witnessed him beating a black man to death) was reasonably harmless, even if he wasn’t the best comedian in the world.

Finally with Jim – hats off to Daniel Mays because he’s really doing a great job with showing how much of an odious little pencil pusher he really is. I’ve read theories about him possibly being a guardian angel for Alex and if that’s true, I bet she’d happily trade for Castiel off Supernatural. At least he’s likeable and hot.

Also in “Episode 21”

Those clips of Sam from Life On Mars were fantastic but I want a John Simm appearance on this show now please.

Gene (to Alex): “I’m not having two months hard graft blown by you, Sleeping Beauty.”

Jackie Tyler herself Camille Coduri played a prostitute in this episode. Sadly she wasn’t given much to do in this episode but it was nice to see her on TV.

Alex (to Gene, re Litton/Bevan): “I thought you were a throwback. Compared to those two, you’re practically homo erectus.”

Shaz (re porn): “Who watches this filth?”
Alex (to Gene): “You care to share anything with us, guv?”

There was no scarred copper in this episode and there was nothing further on 6-6-20. Bevan was also the police photographer on the day of Sam’s death.

Litton: “Couldn’t have made something up, you stupid woman.”
Alex: “No, because that would be breaking the law, chief inspector.”

Gene (to Alex): “Look at us; we’re like Sapphire And Steel. I’m like him and you’re like ... her. Team work, cop solidarity.”

I think this was the first episode where we weren’t in Alex’s flat, even if we did have some scenes in Luigi’s for this one.

Bevan (to Alex, re Sam/Gene): “I’ll never tell you what happened. The closer you get to it, the more you’ll never know.”

Ray (to Chris): “I just saw stars, like the edge of the world. Can’t you see them?”

Standout music: The Cure’s “Love Cats” won for me.

Chris: “Shaz, I’m cacking it.”
Shaz: “You’ll be fine. Now go break a leg.”
Chris: “That’s not very supportive.”

Gene: “Not many of us left, Litton, good old day. Now bugger off back to Manchester.”

Chronology: Still in 1983, though nothing further on that.

While there’s a lot of teasing in this episode, at least we’re back to things getting exciting. Now with three episodes left, let’s just hope the answers will be worth it because we’ve waited long enough.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of True Blood's 2x12: "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"

Written by Alexander Woo
Directed by Michael Cuesta

Maryann (to Sam): “Was there no god?”

The amount of debates that particular question raises would have my head in a spin but to answer Maryann’s question, there was no god. Or if there was, he couldn’t be arsed to show up, even with all the big fuss that Maryann had set out.

She had the entire town under her control and even Sookie as maid of honour (so this whole debacle was treated as a union and a rebirth of sorts) and Bill was even kind enough to hand her Sam in exchange for Sookie. Heck, Sam was even bound and gagged to that meat pile and Eggs stabbed him but it wasn’t enough.

For one thing, Maryann’s probably been doing this for a while now which means that Dionysius had no intention of actually showing up and given that Maryann was supposed to be so savvy, she should’ve realised that she was being duped in a way.

Sookie smashing the ostrich and trashing the altar aside, it should have been clear that Bill and Sam had their own little plan to shaft the maenad once and for all. Both men desperately wanted her out of town and both of them knew that she needed to be her most vulnerable in order to do it.

The moment where Maryann thought she saw her god in bull form was the moment where she was undone. I’ve seen gorier death scenes on television but having Sam literally rip her heart out was enough to make me glad that I hadn’t been eating anything when watching this episode.

I know there was some disappointment with fandom over this episode’s quick resolving of Maryann’s plot but I thought it was perfectly fine. The character had been so radically different from “Living Dead In Dallas” that there was no way the character was going to make it out of the season alive. She had to die.

Sure, I’ll miss Michelle Forbes but we had her for fifteen episodes and she did a wonderful job with Maryann. And there’s also the fact that Maryann’s time on the show had serious consequences for nearly every character in some capacity as well.

Eggs for instance couldn’t deal with the fact that large chunks of his memory were gone and freaked out when he saw blood on his hands. Even Tara was no use in trying to reassure him and when Sookie did end up helping him fill in the gaps, Eggs did not react well at all. You can say what you like about the character but he did care about he’d done.

He freaked out over murdering both Miss Jeanette and Daphne and nearly causing Sam’s death and even tried to attack Andy in his guilt and confusion. While I didn’t exactly cry over his death, I did feel incredibly bad for Tara and for Jason, who was the one that inadvertently caused Eggs to die.

Eggs might not have been the most ideal of boyfriends but for Tara, she loved him and was hoping to have a relationship with him that didn’t consist of Maryann controlling either one of them. And if this series adheres to future books, then Tara’s abysmal track record is going to get worse.

I did love that Sookie reassured her about the family and I’m sure there will be scene in the third season that will see the pair of them bond over their losses but I also really feel bad for Jason and Andy. Covering up the truth behind how Eggs really died isn’t going to be successful for either one of them.

Andy didn’t need to actually lie for Jason. Jason did shoot Eggs because he thought that Andy was in danger, so it’s accidental. Still in some ways, this cover up might even cement or eradicate their newfound friendship. Jason had encouraged that heroes do things for good rather than glory. There might be a possible chance that Andy’s covering up of this murder could be his way of honouring that way of thinking.

As for the townspeople themselves – it’s amazing what a lot of self-denial can do. This is a community that have had to embrace the supernatural or at least acknowledge its existence and now they’re pretending that it never happened. I can understand why Andy was annoyed with them. I think I would be too.

Arlene in particular might not have remembered everything but she felt guilt about not being there for her kids and Terry was just awesomeness personified with the way he bonded with Coby and Lisa and Lafayette was just glad not to remember everything. Maxine, well she was less awesome but her venomous tongue finally got Hoyt to man up and choose Jessica over her.

And that would’ve been a brilliant thing but then we had to go and see Jessica sink her teeth into some trucker. I get that she’s young, immature and unable to deal with an adult relationship (hey, most adults are like that too) but perhaps she should’ve just faced Hoyt instead of snacking on some pervert trucker. I’m just saying.

As for Sam, it seemed that he got some lessons in people accepting his true nature. I loved that Sookie told him that he was special and while I never want to see a romantic entanglement with these two, it’s nice to see them more friendly with each other than they have been. Also the fact that they were some scenes together as well given how little interaction they’ve had this season.

Sam’s quest to learn about his true nature however was probably much needed for him but I can’t help but think that maybe he should’ve heeded Mrs Merlotte’s advice about his real family being bad people. And there’s Sookie’s own feelings of identity.

Electrical stuff aside, Maryann went to great lengths to point out that Sookie wasn’t entirely human and the words stuck with her. It was why Sookie had reservations to Bill’s marriage proposal and while it was predictable that she would change her mind and agree, I actually liked the fact that she did have some initial doubts.

With Bill being missing, it would seem that the obvious culprit would have to be Eric acting on Sophie-Anne’s behalf but knowing the books, Eric properly didn’t get the opportunity to keep Bill quiet on the V supply situation. Sophie-Anne was slightly more threatening in this one as well but even I know damn well that she’s not responsible for Bill’s disappearance.

Also in “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”

Sookie Stackhouse creator Charlaine Harris guest starred in this episode as a customer talking briefly to Sam in Merlotte’s.

Maryann: “That’s hitting me. You’re not committing to this at all.”
Sookie: “I don’t have electrical powers. I’m a human being.”

And Sookie was literally the only human in Bon Temps, apart from Hoyt who didn’t succumb to Maryann’s power. Even Jason and Andy did in this one.

Maryann: “Come on, it’ll be our little secret. What are you?”
Sookie: “I’m a waitress. What the fuck are you?”

Eric might have many talents but it turned out that Yahtzee is not one of them. Hadley on the other hand looked worried/threatened when Sophie-Anne talked of Sookie and bored during the rest of the time.

Sophie-Anne (re Bill/Sookie): “Of course he would be with her. You probably are too.”
Eric: “I do not love humans.”
Sophie-Anne: “She’s not entirely human. Have you tasted her?”

Andy: “I never killed nobody before.”
Jason: “You see that house? It’s been in my family for 150 years. What kind of man would stand by while his grandmother’s house gets torn to the ground?”
Andy: “Not my grandmother’s house.”

I loved the deliberate contrast that Bill and Jessica had with each other during this finale. They’ve come a reasonably long way from disliking each other.

Bill: “I need you. Sookie needs you to make this right.”
Sam: “If I thought it was easy as giving myself up to Maryann, I’d have done that by now. What’s to say she’s gonna stop with me? Killers just don’t suddenly quit, you ought to know that.”

Maryann: “You’re lucky Sam. It’s everyone’s wish to have their life mean something. So few ever get to realise it.”

One of the patrons in Merlotte’s thought that Maryann Forrester meant Martian Foreigner and that the water had given them an LSD trip. Some people do have selective memory.

Jane: “Andy, whatever you’re drinking, we all want some of that.”
Andy: “It’s diet coke with lime.”

Sookie: “I don’t have the words to thank you for what you did.”
Sam: “Probably best you don’t.”

Standout music: “Beyond Here Lies Nothing” by Bob Dylan, which was also used in the main trailer for this season.

Sookie: “Yes, yes, Bill Compton, I will marry you. Bill?”

Chronology: From where “Frenzy” left off.

As a finale goes, I liked “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” a freaking lot. It tied all the loose ends of the season together nice enough and it set up a lot of very interesting storylines for the third season. It might have killed Maryann halfway through the episode but it certainly didn’t lack in keeping me interested. And I bet I know exactly who kidnapped Bill too.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Brothers And Sisters 4x15: "A Valued Family"

Written by Sarah Goldfinger And Michael Cinquemani
Directed by Michael Schultz

Kitty: “What part of ‘make it happen’ do you not understand?”
Buffy: “Not a thing. Excuse me; I’ve phone calls to make.”

Oh dear God. How many episodes of Buffy not the vampire slayer am I gonna have to endure before I decide to sue Cheryl Hines for noise pollution? That voice can’t decide what accent it wants to be but seriously, good at her job aside – would you hire the woman?

Kitty wanted to run a campaign about family values and while I get that she’s appealing to conservatives for that governor seat, I wanted to shake Buffy when she suggested putting some of her family members in the back. They’re her family, Buffy and your idea defeats that purpose in a big way.

Buffy might have been able to have bagged the job but she didn’t have a clue about Kitty’s feelings on certain things. Kitty isn’t ashamed of her family and you wouldn’t have to be a genius to deduce how Nora would’ve reacted if Kitty had actually listened to Buffy’s ill advice on this one. And yes, this is one rant I would’ve sided with Nora on.

Not only that but Buffy had to go and vet out Alec on the possibility that he slept with Kitty? I was actually pleased enough to see Alec in this episode, even if Robert initially wasn’t. And we finally got confirmation that him and Kitty didn’t sleep with each other. Looks like Kitty decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps after all with that one.

Also the way Alec and Robert interacted in this episode was one of a few good moments where mature writing actually came to a head. There was no self-righteous indignation, no fisticuffs or attempts for either guy to score points off each other. Robert wasn’t thrilled to see Alec but Alec at the same time actually did prove to be a stand up guy.

He could’ve easily gone to any downmarket tabloid and told them that he slept with Kitty. He also could’ve easily told Buffy and not informed Robert but he didn’t. He told Robert that he was being sought out for the story because he genuinely cared about Kitty. Both Alec and Robert even talked about Kitty getting better.

I don’t think in real life circumstances this would happen too often but for a plot strand, it actually was a relief to watch. Also relieving was Kitty putting Buffy in her place and telling her to arrange the announcement of her candidacy at the Walker homestead on a Sunday of all days. Who said that Sundays can’t be a work day for a political candidate?

I actually did love the Walkers sucking up a press conference in their family home, even if the episode didn’t actually end on a sweeping speech from Kitty to announce that she was in line to run for governor. That was another pleasantly surprising and unpredictable thing from this episode. Besides, later episodes will more than deliver on big sweeping speeches from Kitty so we’re not being denied really.

However, when it comes to denial I have to admit that while I’m glad that we don’t have to deal with two baby plots this season, I really did feel bad for Rebecca miscarrying in this episode. I knew as soon as she was getting pains in Nora’s kitchen that that was going to happen and sadly it did.

I don’t often give enough kudos to Dave Annable and Emily Van Camp but both of them really deserved it for this episode along. The anguish that both Justin and Rebecca had was sad to watch, especially when Justin broke down in Kitty’s arms and Rebecca had difficulty looking at Evan as well.

Kitty was also wonderful with this storyline too because it’s not been that long since this happened to her and she knew what Rebecca was going through and offered the girl support too. It was also the loss of a baby that saw a truly defining scene between Nora and Holly as well.

Things have been far less strained with the pair this season and Nora was even able to label Holly as family, which was something that even last season I don’t think could’ve possibly happened. Then Nora had to go and find out about Holly’s sale of Ojai Foods to York, courtesy of Buffy’s snooping and Kitty’s ability to spread the word.

To be honest, I actually Holly pulling out of the sale coming a mile off but I don’t think it was just because York being a total creep. She and Nora had finally made some peace with each other and Holly might not like the Walkers dramas but I don’t think she hates them enough to actually send them up the creek without a paddle.

But the odd thing was that she let Nora go off on one before admitting that she chose not to sell her shares. The best part of that confrontation however was the look on Nora’s face when she learnt that York was trying to buy his way into Ojai. Clearly Nora’s just as aware of him as Saul is and now I’m actually interested to see where that goes, which is odd considering that up until a few episodes ago, I had zero interest in this storyline.

Speaking of zero interest – Luc had to come back and Sarah and Roy’s relationship had to end, didn’t it? I guess I can’t totally pin this one on Luc because Roy dumped Sarah because he thought that they weren’t working out. He wasn’t even a jerk when doing it and neither was Sarah when she was getting the push. Do you see how great a storyline as mundane as this can be when the characters act like adults?

However if Roy hadn’t dumped Sarah, it was obvious that she would’ve dumped him. Apart from children, both of them acknowledged the fact that they didn’t really have much in common and decided on the ‘let’s be friends’ option instead. So, then what do Sarah and Luc have in common because we didn’t see that much of it when he was here first time around?

I mean, yeah, she dug his art and passion but she hated him being a bum and while he has this art gallery, is that suddenly going to make them a match? Even their reunion at the end of the episode was saccharine at best and the only part that deterred an otherwise excellent episode. Luc’s gonna have to up his game as a character if we’re to get invested in this relationship.

Also in “A Valued Family”

Apart from some sweet moments here and there, this is one of the few episodes where both Kevin and Scotty had naff all to do.

Kevin (to Sarah, re Roy): “You’re having sex so he’s either your boyfriend or friend with benefits.”

It’s a little too on the nose that Roy ended up being Luc’s painting as a valentine’s gift for Sarah when she got him chilli pepper chocolate.

Buffy (to Kitty): “Platforms are for Olympic divers, we already need to be swimming.”

Paige: “At least Andrew will say thank you.”
Sarah: “Well, there’s a lot to be said for a boy who says thank you.”

While I liked seeing Sarah and Paige getting along, that conversation was a little weird. Or is that just me?

Robert: “Why would you give a damn about my political career?”
Alec: “I don’t but Kitty does.”

Kitty: “How do you sleep at night?”
Buffy: “Like a baby. Now, let’s talk about your husband.”
Kitty: “You want to put him in the closet too?”

Scotty’s woes from the second season were mentioned but I’m surprised that Buffy didn’t mention William’s affairs or that Kitty didn’t discuss them either.

Roy: “I don’t think this is working out.”
Sarah: “Are you breaking up with me?”

Nora: “It’s always about money with you, Holly.”
Holly: “No, it’s about survival.”
Nora: “Well, congratulations, you made it through another day.”

Standout music: Billy Paul Williams “Till You Tell Me So”.

Robert (to Kitty): “This moment needs to be about you.”

Chronology: Valentine’s Day 2010.

I really loved this episode. “A Valued Family” is definitely the strongest episode we’ve had in a good while and while I’m sceptical for Luc’s return, I do think there will be enough other interesting stories as we gear towards the conclusion of the season.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of True Blood's 2x11: "Frenzy"

Written by Alan Ball
Directed by Daniel Minahan

Sookie: “How come there’s so much wrong in the world, Lafayette? How come people are wiling to do bad things and hurt other people?”
Lafayette: “Because they are weak.”
Sookie (re Maryann): “Well, I am not weak and I am not afraid. I’m gonna kick that evil bitch’s ass out of my gran’s house and then you are gonna shoot her.”
Lafayette: “In the fucking head.”
Sookie: “Right.”

Well if you’re going to try and stop something as powerful as Maryann, it’s probably best not to enter the situation with a defeatist attitude. Who needs Bill Compton to save the day? Sookie doesn’t. All she needed was a gun and a right hand in Lafayette to break into her own home to try and stop Maryann. Sadly for her, everything was going wrong.

Not only was her house being decorated with people fornicating left, right and centre, cutting off body parts and trashing the place, but it seems all of Sookie’s defences were being stripped down one by one. Bill was being delayed, Tara let her obsession with Eggs rule her head and Lafayette came into close contact with Maryann. So let’s focus on these three.

Tara first of course. The poor girl seemed to be mostly free of Maryann’s hold but she was determined to get to Eggs by any means necessary. If it wasn’t taking pot shots at Sookie, Lettie Mae and Lafayette, it was by sheer manipulation alone. Lafayette had the right idea tying her up. Too bad he had to leave Lettie Mae of all people to stand guard on her.

Of course Tara was going to be able to use religion to psyche Lettie Mae out. Lettie Mae’s easily swayed by religion and superstition. It was how Miss Jeanette was able to scam her and it was this coupled with some old fashioned emotional blackmail that Tara was able to get her free.

Lettie Mae desperately wanted Tara to forgive and while I’m glad that she finally acknowledges what a horrible mother she’s been to Tara, this was the worst time to cave into her daughter’s protests. Plus for a woman who taught Lafayette how to shoot, she did seem surprisingly rubbish when holding him and Sookie back to aid Tara’s escape.

Tara heading straight to Eggs was only going to lead to trouble. Eggs is way too far gone that I don’t think anything short of killing Maryann can bring him back. Tara made an attempt to get him to leave Adelle’s house before Maryann interrupted them. And there gave me some interesting things to mull over.

All season long it’s been interesting to see how Maryann has latched herself onto Tara. I thought it was only because Tara was vulnerable but it turned out that Tara somehow managed to summon Maryann to Bon Temps, despite the fact that Miss Jeanette was a fake. I’m not gonna say this chaos is Tara’s fault but as explanations go for Maryann’s arrival in this town, it actually does make a lot of sense.

What also made sense was how easily Maryann was able to sway Tara back into her influence once again. It almost looked too easy last week when Sookie and Bill pulled Tara back so having Maryann sink her claws into Tara once again wasn’t too much of a shock to the system. Still Sookie’s allies are narrowing down a lot, aren’t they?

This lead to Lafayette. Seriously, Lafayette and Sookie need a lot more scenes together next season because the both of them are a joy to watch. I loved their mutual annoyance over Eric tricking them to drink from him almost as much as I loved seeing Lafayette give some reasonable answers to Sookie’s questions of human decency.

Yes, none of the residents of Bon Temps right are themselves but even when they are, they’re guilty of doing bad and being led astray. Lafayette was pretty clear on trying to emphasise to Sookie that right now, they were under Maryann’s influence and sadly for him, Lafayette became the next person to succumb to Maryann.

I suppose I should be glad that Maryann did get Lafayette. The other options would’ve involved her claws and the poison from hell. And given that the next episode is the finale, Lafayette along with everyone else will be restored. Maryann might want to sacrifice Sam for her god but she’s in for a letdown on that one.

I didn’t need the cryptic comments from Maxine about Maryann’s imminent folly but it certainly helped. Given that Tara and Eggs were making a nest for an egg, I’m guessing Sam isn’t the only ingredient in Maryann’s little bid to be ravished by Dionysius. If Maryann hadn’t caused such chaos, I might actually feel a little bad for her. Goodness knows, she’s going to be sorry in the next episode.

This is where Sophie-Anne came in handy. Yes, she might have distracted Bill a lot in this episode but at least he left knowing exactly what Maryann was and how could be killed. The sacrifice itself allows her to be vulnerable long to die and given the look Bill gave Sam towards the end of this episode, it looks like these two might have to band together to rid Bon Temps of this particular maenad.

Also after all the intrigue, did Sophie-Anne come up a cropper? I know some other viewers complained a little about Evan Rachel Woods’s depiction of the character but I actually liked the Queen a lot. Reasonably mischievous, slight bratty/precocious but mostly a lot of fun. More surprising was her patience when Bill was losing his in some parts.

Plus I think there are a lot of fans out there who would happily watch with her as Eric and Bill screwed each other to deal with their tension. If there’s a low point of this episode (apart from it not being as good as past ones), it was having that brief scene outside the Queen’s mansion where Bill and Eric were goading each other about Sookie. Grow up guys.

Speaking of growing up, if Bill and Eric can’t settle their differences, amidst the chaos of Maryann, it’s great that Jason and Andy are able. Okay, so there were a few swipes in there but for the most part, both of them were able to get past their residual issues with each other to try and get weapons. And that’s not counting the amount of times Andy grumbled when Jason’s unhealthy curiosity about Sam’s shifter status generated the oddest of comments.

Also in “Frenzy”

We met Hadley in this episode, who is now a lover of Sophie-Anne’s. She’s still unaware that Adelle is dead. And Sophie-Anne wants to meet Sookie, which Bill did not seem pleased about.

Bill: “Isn’t that delusional?”
Sophie-Anne: “Never underestimate the power of blind faith. It can manifest in the ways that bend the laws of physics or break them entirely.”

There was some parental issues raised in this episode – Hoyt’s father committed suicide, the father of Arlene’s kids was a wildcard and Lafayette’s mother sounds worse than Lettie Mae.

Tara (to Sookie/Lafayette/Lettie Mae): “I finally find a good, beautiful, strong man and y’all want to keep me from rescuing him because you’re afraid I’ll get hurt? How hurt do you think I’m gonna be if we wait and something happens to him?”

Jason (re Sam): “Can you believe this? What an asshole!”
Andy: “Welcome to my world, Jason.”

Jason accepted Sam as a shape shifter very well. It’s also good, especially if his later fate in the series resembles what has happened in the books.

Tara (to Lettie Mae): “You’ve never been a real woman of God. You’ve never stepped outside your own ignorance and fear and done something selfless for me or for anybody. Well God is knocking on your door now, mama. He couldn’t be more loud and clear. Are you gonna let him in?”

Lafayette (re Maryann): “Somebody needs to slap that bitch.”
Sookie: “I have.”

Lafayette admitted that he’s had sexual dreams about Eric. Can we see them on screen? Oh, and Eric flew in this episode.

Tara: “Sookie, I need your keys.”
Sookie: “You’re being a fucking idiot.”

Tara (re Miss Jeanette): “So, she was real?”
Maryann: “Sadly no. I should’ve known she wasn’t the vessel but you have to try every option.”

This episode was loaded with some odd moments – Jane cutting her finger off, Mike forcing Sookie to lie down with him on the kitchen floor, a guy in the kitchen sink, another one trying on Sookie’s clothes and Bud in his underwear getting Andy to dance with him.

Maryann (re group): “You fucking morons. Must I do everything myself?”

Maxine (to Hoyt): “Maryann will remember this day for the rest of her life. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it’s all downhill from here.”

I laughed during the scene where Lafayette used drugs as breadcrumbs to distract both Terry and Arlene from the house. And has Hoyt and Jessica finished for good? Plus Sam also asked Eric for help with Maryann and who did Eric turn to? Sophie-Anne of course.

Pam (to Coby/Lisa): “You make me so happy I never had any of you.”
Eric: “Oh come on, Pam, they’re funny. They’re like human but miniature. Teacup humans.”

Lotus: “I will have sex with you.”
Bill: “That will not be necessary.”

Standout music: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “Frenzy” of course.

Sophie (to Bill, re him/Eric): “This alpha posturing. You two really should just fuck each other and get it over with. I could watch.”

Chronology: Straight where “New World In My View” left off.

“Frenzy” certainly whipped up enough of a one to make this a standout episode. We’ve had stronger episodes in the season but there’s certainly enough going on with this one to serve as a satisfying prelude to the finale.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 5x04: "The Time Of Angels"

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Adam Smith

The Doctor: “Any questions?”
Amy: “Is River Song your wife?”

If you were hoping for a concrete answer to that gnawing question, then that’s one way in which this episode will disappoint you. Yes, River Song might be back but neither she nor the Doctor are anywhere inclined to let Amy know if they are in fact married. Still, this isn’t the only this season that River will factor so I guess I can wait a little longer.

This was one of those episodes that was always going to be a big one because in a lot of ways, it’s sort of a sequel to both “Blink” and “Silence In The Library”/“Forest Of The Dead” due to the fact that the Doctor and Amy find themselves dealing with both River Song and the Weeping Angels.

When I first heard that the former was returning, I admit that I wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels in excitement much as I liked the fourth season episodes she hailed from but time is a great thing and over the last few weeks, I did find myself more and more enthused with finding out a bit more about the mysterious River Song.

She’s even given a rather cool intro into this episode where she’s cornered by Alastair (not that one) and literally throws herself out of a flying spaceship to strategically land into another. Bit of a recurring theme for River – she needs helps and does her damndest to ensure that the Doctor is there to pick her up.

If ever there was a woman to get under his skin and annoy him to a degree, it’s definitely River. What has to be more annoying for the Doctor than to have River show him how to park his own motor? That scene could’ve been a lot cringe worthy than it actually was but it was actually a lot of fun.

River’s return only really meant one thing – danger. She wasn’t here to give viewers answers on her identity, just more answers and more importantly she came packed with another motley crew who needed the Doctor’s help. If he didn’t like being a taxi service, I’m fairly certainly the Doctor was less pleased with the notion of being the equivalent of an army.

In fact, almost true to Doctor form, he actually tried to disengage himself from River as soon as they landed on Alfava Metraxis. The only reason he got involved was because Amy badgered him into staying on the mysterious planet and also if he did scraper, I’m sure River would’ve found some other way of roping him into things.

River was certainly meticulous with her planning on this one. She knew what she was doing when she got to that ship and she also knew that by talking about the Weeping Angels that the Doctor would fall into line and help her and her band of clerics. Yes, really, River’s crew this time around consisted of military priests.

Even the recording of a Weeping Angel and one of them being stored in the crash Byzantium (and yes, it’s that story) was enough to really reel the Doctor in. But it was Amy who had to suffer the brunt of the Weeping Angel image coming to life and trying to attack her with the Doctor and River being unable to help her. The only thing that did help Amy was her ability to use the pause button and even that had a limited effect.

Another Steven Moffat pointed out in various interviews in the build up to Season 5 was the difference between the Weeping Angels in their previous appearance and here. Previously they had been scavengers but here was a race of them determined to swell in power and with enough people around to use at their disposal, the Weeping Angels were certainly gunning for victory.

Amy was the prime example of the Weeping Angels striking dirty. The Doctor warned her not to look into their eyes because the eyes represented a door rather than a window. Amy unfortunately did look into the eyes of one of them and throughout the episode; there was a great emphasis on her rubbing her eyes.

I think twice I wanted to yell at Amy to tell either River or the Doctor that something was wrong with her. The only time she did it was when she thought her hand was going to stone and she was left with no choice. While I don’t ever want to see the Doctor take a bite out of his companions again, I am grateful that it was this that managed to get Amy to snap out of it as the Angels began their homicidal descent in the catacombs.

This lead to my other issue – the Weeping Angels. Do they work a second time around? Well, I don’t prefer this episode to their first one but they are evolving as a creature and while there are many nice nods to their first appearance, the strength of this story is showing how much difference two seasons can make. Sending you back in time really was the kindest thing they did first time around.

Here there is no such luxury. Amy slowly but surely being infected by one of them aside, the rest of the Angels (including the more grotesque looking ones) had a great time eradicating River’s sacred team one by one. A snapped neck is nothing when the likes of scared Bob’s voice is being used to convey the Angels order.

From the bits that Bob does say, it just seems that the Weeping Angels want to evolve from their weaknesses and become supreme but one notable thing was the glee it took in telling the Doctor how much he failed Bob. That was enough for the Doctor to get liberal with a firearm in one of the oddest cliff hangers for a two parter as he shot the gravity globe.

In the past we’ve had the likes of Slitheen attacking Downing Street, Cybermen surrounding the Doctor and company, a hybrid Dalek and the sky being choked by Sontarans but here, it’s the Doctor shooting up at the Byzantium in the catacombs with Father Octavian’s gun and telling the Weeping Angels they made a mistake by putting him in a trap. It’s not terrible but it does seem a little odd by comparison to the above cliff hangers I’ve mentioned.

As for the dynamic between the Doctor, Amy and River – I could get used to this. This show works better with two companions (did I mention I was looking forward to Rory returning recently?) and the scenes with Amy and River ganging up on the Doctor are wonderful. Amy and River also work brilliantly together that it’s a pity we didn’t get this sort of stuff with River and Donna last season. But I am still safe to assume that River’s the Doctor’s wife or not? Now that it the question.

Also in “The Time Of Angels”

I don’t know why but I was slightly disappointed that Alex Kingston’s name wasn’t in the opening credits.

River (to Alastair): “Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to.”

Mike Skinner from The Streets played a security guard at the start that River used her hallucinogen lipstick on. I can’t critique his acting because he didn’t do much to critique.

The Doctor: “Parked us? You haven’t landed.”
River: “Of course we’ve landed. I just landed her.”

River (on driving the TARDIS): “Oh, I had lessons from the very best.”
The Doctor: “Well, yeah.”
River: “It’s a shame you were busy that day.”

The blue things are apparently the stabilisers or boringers as the Doctor now likes to call them. I felt bad for him when he made that wheezing noise with the TARDIS and River and Amy looked unimpressed.

Father Octavian: “You promised me an army, Dr Song.”
River: “No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor.”

River (to the Doctor): “Sweetie, I need you.”
Amy: “Anybody need me? Nobody?”

We got the Doctor and Donna in a library for River’s first story and here, the Doctor and Amy had to nab a home box from a museum to locate River in this one.

The Doctor: “River, hug Amy.”
Amy: “Why?”
The Doctor: “Because I’m busy.”

Father Octavian (re the Doctor): “He doesn’t know yet, does he about what you are?”
River: “It’s too early in his time stream.”
Father Octavian: "Well make sure he doesn't work it out or he's not going to help us."

What the hell is River then? Also, didn’t both of them talk about her being prison as well at one point?

The Doctor: “Sacred Bob? More like scared Bob?”
Bob: “Yes, sir.”

Amy: “I thought they were all dead.”
The Doctor: “So is Virginia Woolf, I’m on her bowling team.”

This was the first episode to be filmed for this season. Other with New Who, later stories end up being the first ones filmed. And we got Gallifreyan writing in this episode.

The Doctor: “Don’t be an idiot; the angels don’t need you alive. Bob, keep running but tell me, how did you escape?”
Bob: “I didn’t escape, sir. The Angel killed me too.”

Amy: “You know you can’t die here.”
The Doctor: “Time can be rewritten. It doesn't work like that.”

River has a spotters guide on the Doctor and knows the look of every incarnation of him. She even called this one “baby face” at one point.

Amy: “I don’t need you to die for me, Doctor. Do I look that clingy?”

River: “No pressure but this is usually where you have a really good idea?”
The Doctor: “There’s always a way out.”

We can add the Bone Meadows as another in a line of Doctor/River adventures that have yet to be seen on TV. She was also surprised to learn that she was going to be a professor someday.

The Doctor: “Trust me?”
Amy: “Yeah.”
The Doctor: “Trust me?”
River: “Always.”

The Doctor: “Didn't anyone ever tell you, there's one thing you never put in a trap if you're smart? If you value your continued existence. If you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there’s one thing you never ever put in a trap.”
Bob/Weeping Angel: “And what would be that be, sir?”
The Doctor: “Me!”

The Confidential for this episode gave us a look into the upcoming BBC games for the Doctor and Amy, coming out on June 5th – my birthday.

Okay, it’s not as good as the previous episodes that it’s being a sequel to, but I did enjoy “The Time Of Angels” massively. It’s certainly better than most first two part stories of a season and both River and the Weeping Angels are nicely utilised. Plus, the trailer for next week promises a lot on another lingering issue.

Rating: 8 out of 10.