My Review of Atlantis's 2x05: "The Day Of The Dead"

Written by Howard Overman
Directed by Declan O'Dwyer

Ariadne (to Jason): "But nothing scares me more than admitting that I love you."

I've been somewhat critical of this current series and while I still think this show is rooted in various problems, I will give praise where it's due and this was a fairly praise worthy episode. Not without problems but the good outweighed the bad and it felt like things were finally going somewhere as well.

First of all - Jason and Ariadne. Let's face it, their love has hardly pulled viewers in the same way that Arthur and Gwen did on Merlin but after much faffing about the place and following the more compelling but subtle story with Orpheus and his wife, it was nice to see Ariadne finally admit her feelings to Jason to his face. Then that ending happened.

Anyone remotely surprised that Medea decided to stab Ariadne at the end? In spite of the fact that she spent a lot of time building Jason's trust, saving his life and undoing Pasiphae's spell with the walking dead? I wasn't but it did make for a good cliffhanger though. However I still can't figure out if her attempt at regicide was motivated by her loyalty to her aunt or her seeming attraction to Jason. I'm really hoping for it to be the former.

I was hoping that we would finally get more on Medea and this episode didn't disappoint. Although she did stab Ariadne, I actually spent a great deal of the episode feeling bad for the character. I even found her scenes with Jason pretty interesting to watch as well. Medea might be the only real bright spark about this series so far.

As for the rest of the episode - some nice choice moments with Pythagoras and Hercules but the battle scenes with the dead weren't that interesting and actually pretty hard to see at times. The love story with Orpheus and his wife and Ariadne stepping up to the plate were nice character moments though. I have to give the show that credit.

- Pasiphae literally caused the spell, passed out and then buggered off. She was pretty quick to abandon Medea.
- This episode was too dark at times. I could barely see certain scenes clear enough.
- The more they mention/allude to Medusa, the more I wish they'd get on with bringing her back already.
- Dion briefly came back to life, only to die again. Another minus for Ariadne.

Well, that was better than expected. First episode this series I mostly enjoyed and hopefully, just maybe this might hint at slightly better things to come now.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 1x08: He Has A Wife

Well, this was certainly a great lead into what looks like it will be a brilliant mid season finale as more secrets spill out.

Written by Doug Stockstill
Directed by Debbie Allen

The Other Woman: For someone whose death has been such a huge focus in the first eight episodes, I'm actually surprised it took this long (ish) to get some flashbacks on Lila and this week, they were definitely her moments. Most of which saw Lila gushing about the start of her relationship with Sam to Rebecca, wanting to dump Griffin (who still has had no character development at all), getting dumped by Sam while trying to tell Annalise about her pregnancy, only for Bonnie to intervene. I did feel a tad sorry for Lila, but mostly she came across as a rather vacuous person who knew full well that she was getting herself into a problematic situation with Sam. Rebecca came across as far more likeable by comparison.

He Is Not A Good Man: Um, yeah, thanks for that obvious soundbite there, Bonnie. Poor girl, she really did go through the crapper this week. Fudging up elements of the case had Annalise refer to her as mousy in a way that I actually wanted Bonnie to slap her for it while the last moments where she confessed to covering for Sam and getting kissed by him, only got her fired. I've been lukewarm to Bonnie at times but I actually felt bad for her this week and it was nice that out of everyone, Asher showed her the most kindness. Also, good foreshadowing for you know what with them too.

Study Group: Ah, Connor. You might have a way with the men but it seems that nobody wants to study with you. Except when you bagged copies of the previous years exams and then they can't get enough of you, including Michaela to a point. Of course, no studying actually happened in this episode because Michaela was too busy stealing the trophy off Asher, Laurel got pissed that Frank had a girlfriend and Wes was also similarly pissed off that Rebecca and Nate are working together to bring down Sam. On the plus side, all this cool stuff went towards setting up the next episode, so yay on that score.

Monster In Law: While I hated (and weirdly found it also amusing) that Michaela stole the trophy off Asher, even if she did crack the case of the week, I actually felt bad for her when she met up with Aiden's mother. The same mother  who drove the point of getting Michaela to sign the prenup (which Michaela refused to) and also made allusion to Michaela coming from a poor background. Aiden's mother came across as a right dragon and while I don't think Michaela is a gold digger, I can see why she's refusing to sign the thing as well.

Love The Nanny: Well, for the case of the week it was revealed that both Gretchen's husband and son were having it off with the nanny and it was only due to Michaela's previously unheard of medical background that we found out they both had the same STD as well to boot. Funnily enough, Gretchen didn't seem all that pleased that her husband was revealed as a cheat and a killer in one fell swoop. It still managed to motivate Annalise though to take some direct action against Sam. Doesn't make up for her nastiness towards Connor and Bonnie in this episode though.

Mid-season finale time next and we finally find out who bumped off Sam.

Recap/Review: American Horror Story: Freak Show - Tupperware Party Massacre

Or is it The Fat Lady Sings? Originally it was meant to be that title. And being dead doesn't mean that you still can't be seen on this show as this episode demonstrated.

Written by Brad Falchuk
Directed by Loni Peristere

Less God, More Whackjob: We've seen that Dandy is clearly a boy with some serious delusions and in this episode, both Maggie and an easily bought detective prove that he's going to become even more delusional and dangerous for the remainder of this season. Regina's attempts of getting justice for her mother got her a bullet into the head and Jimmy (who was pretty unbearable in this episode, save for his last two scenes) ended up getting arrested for Dandy's murder spree as well, because that's how you end an episode of this show.

Puppet Time: Keeping with dandy for a moment because he really did manage to become even more disturbing than before. When he wasn't rabbiting on about being a privilege male who can buy his way out of serious crime or bathing in blood, he was creating his own Bette and Dot puppet with both Gloria and the head of an unfortunate Avon lady. Not to mention the fact that he went and massacred a tupperware party, which he later made that Jimmy got the blame for as well. Much as I'm enjoying Wittrock's portrayal of the character, someone needs to pose a proper threat to Dandy and soon before he bumps off the remaining cast.

The Right Thing: With Sarah Paulson's absence from the previous episode, this one felt like it was trying to more than make up for it. While Paulson has been given better material in the previous two seasons, I love how this episode went from Dot desperately wanting to be seperated from Bette to realising that they were better together. Now if the two ladies can kill off both Elsa (who thankfully had little to do here) and Stanley in a gruesome manner, that would be super. Also the scene where both of them laid themselves bare to Jimmy, only for him to reject because he's in love with Maggie (I assume) was a little heartbreaking too.

Failed Attempt: I don't want to sound heartless and maybe compared to Stanley, perhaps Dell is the lesser of two evils (that's some maybe) but this episode's attempts of trying to garner sympathy for him didn't work with me. I don't care that he was haunted by visions of Ma Petite and Ethel (as was Jimmy with the latter in a more affecting scene) and I don't care that he tried to kill himself, even though it was Desiree who saved him. Dell's been too horrible as a character to truly sympathise with and that's a shame.

Group Stuff: Let's see - Elsa was mostly scheming with Stanley and trying to curry favour with Bette and Dot by promising the latter her freedom, Maggie and Desiree seemed to be rather chummy with each other (which was nice and the latter also seems to have attracted an admirer) while Jimmy was mostly being gross with his behaviour towards Barbara throughout the episode as well. Then again, this was also yet another episode where we didn't actually see a performance either.

Next week, Jimmy's stuck in prison and Desiree realises that Maggie and Stanley might be responsible for recent freak deaths.

American Crime Story - Lead Roles Cast

This week we had the casting for Scream Queens announced and now it's time for the cast of Ryan Murphy's other anthology show - American Crime Story: The People V. OJ Simpson.

The 13 episode series due to air on FX next year and based on the book, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, it has been revealed that Cuba Gooding Jr, best known for his roles in Jerry Maguire and Instinct will be playing Simpson himself while American Horror Story actress Sarah Paulson will be taking on the role of case prosecutor, Marcia Clark.

The series will focus on he perspective of the lawyers that explores the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution confidence, defense wiliness, and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt. The series will be executive produced by Ryan Murphy who will direct the first two hours (to be written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski) along with Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson & Brad Simpson, Alexander, Karaszewski and Dante Di Loreto. It's also been revealed that each season (assuming it's a success) will focus on a different famous true crime.

I'm not entirely sure about this one though. The casting is good (though I'm sad if it means we lose Paulson from American Horror Story). I'll probably watch the first episode though to see how it fares but I'm looking forward to Scream Queens a bit more.

Press Release: http://deadline.com/2014/12/cuba-gooding-jr-oj-simpson-sarah-paulson-marcia-clark-american-crime-story-fx-1201317622/

American Crime Story: The People V. OJ Simpson will air on FX in 2015.

My Review of Revenge's 4x10: "Atonement"

Written by Ted Sullivan
Directed by John Terlesky

Emily: “I want you to know that it wasn’t all a lie. Not with you.”
Daniel: “I know.”

Okay, Daniel’s death may have been coming for a long time but bloody hell, that was an incredible episode. Why did it take until now for the writers to give us something this great this season?

After spending three and a half seasons alternating between being something of a right bastard and wanting to be a decent man, it seemed that the latter won out and Daniel’s demise was on the horizon, courtesy of a trigger happy Kate of course. I liked that his final scene was with Emily and I also liked that he managed to make amends of sorts with Margaux as well.

I even liked the flashbacks to 2008 with Daniel and Conrad (how the latter really is missed on this show) as well. I’m not surprised that Conrad manipulated Daniel out of doing the right thing back then but I did like that Daniel took responsibility for his actions in the present day, including the fact that he shot Emily this time a year ago as well. Now that was the Daniel I kind of liked back in early seasons.

As for the death in question – Daniel just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as Kate and Emily were duking it out with each other. Having Daniel save Emily from a shooting prior to getting shot himself seemed ironic though. As for Kate, well she didn’t get time to gloat because Jack shot her moments later for good measure.

It’s kind of a shame though that we lost Kate in this episode because she finally became interesting to watch. I liked her and Victoria trying to get information out of each other and the whole fight/shoot out scene with her and Emily was also brilliant as well. Kate made for a potentially decent adversary and having her revealed as Malcolm’s daughter was a pleasant enough twist.

Keeping with decent twists, David finally did something interesting this season. While he might have failed in his murder attempt with Victoria (belladonna in the wine – an appropriate twist), the fact that he now wants to kill her suddenly improved him a little as a character. However with Victoria admitting her part in his original downfall and Daniel being dead, I think David might lay off any further murder attempts for the time being though.

Last but not least and to add some levity to the episode – Nolan and Louise. I don’t know if it’s the start of a potential hook up or just a really amusing friendship but those wonder twins were fun to watch this week. I really hope that by having Nolan offer Louise a way to get back at her politician brother it means that she doesn’t become psycho with him. Is that too much to ask for?

Also in “Atonement”

Relegating Ben to one simple scene meant he was less annoying than before.

Daniel: “Why is my future more important than hers?”
Conrad: “I once asked myself the very same thing.”

Louise and Nolan got their own shipper name – Lolan and took some selfies too for good measure.

Kate: “What is it you want?”
Victoria: “Just for David and I to have the relationship we were denied years ago.”

Nolan: “When does anything ever go right for the host of a Hamptons party with you on the guest list?”
Emily: “I heard that.”

Victoria’s conversation about the difference with Conrad and Daniel to Margaux was nice. I was surprised that Kara was later mentioned in the episode.

Louise: “How I enjoy toying with the weaker sex.”
Nolan: “That includes me too.”

Daniel (to Victoria): “I’m done running. I hope you are too.”

Standout music: Jessie J/Arianne Grande/Nicki Minaj’s “Bang Bang”

Emily: “I’m guessing only question is, when were you planning to kill me?”
Kate: “”Well, I was planning on after we got your money but plans change.”

Chronology: From where “Intel” left off.

Brilliant episode. “Atonement” definitely is the standout of the season and I’m hoping a sign of a much meatier and gripping second half too. Oh and quite an exit for Daniel too. I think I’m gonna miss him now.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Scream Queens - Lead Roles Cast

It might be another ten months before we see this show but FOX and Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan's upcoming horror anthology series, Scream Queens has it's leading ladies for it's 15 episode first season.

The ladies in question leading the show are Emma Roberts and Jamie Lee Curtis. While their roles have yet to be disclosed, both women do have their horror credential. Curtis is infamous for her role as Laurie Strode in four of the eight original Halloween movies while Roberts played the killer in Scream 4 and has been in the last two seasons of Murphy's other anthology horror series, American Horror Story.

The first season of the series will revolve around the murders of a college campus and presumably both Roberts and Curtis's characters will be integral in solving the murders as the season progress. Like Gotham, the series went past the usual pilot stage and got a straight to order season instead. With Glee finishing up and American Horror Story entering it's fifth season by the time Scream Queens arrives on screen, it'll be interesting to see how the show fares. The fact that Murphy managed to get Curtis though is already a big draw for me.

Press Release: http://deadline.com/2014/12/emma-roberts-jamie-lee-curtis-cast-scream-queens-series-ryan-murphy-fox-1201315464/

Scream Queens will premiere on FOX from fall 2015.

My Review of Atlantis's 2x04: "The Marriage Of True Minds"

Written by Lucy Watkins
Directed by Declan O'Dwyer

Hercules (to Jason): "We're accompanying Ariadne to her wedding?"

It might have sounded incredulous but I would've been more shocked had Jason not decided to help Ariadne on her journey to Telemon's home of Aegina and even more so had both Pythagoras and Hercules not helped too. Aside from that, very little in the episode itself will go down as a surprise to people.

The journey to Aegina was more or less a piss poor attempt by both Pasiphae and the wavering Telemon to bump off Ariadne and needless to say it failed when the latter had a minor attack of conscience and revealed his intentions a bit too early. For his efforts, he did get stabbed by the annoyed Pasiphae and left for dead, so I guess he has a chance to maybe redeem himself next week.

As for the rest of the episode, there was the attempt to heighten the danger by having Ariadne, her men, Jason, Pythagoras, Hercules and a dying Dion stranded in the desert. It gave the episode a chance for Jason and Ariadne to have an honest conversation with each other and there was some nice guest characters with Orpheus and his wife too. I did however find it amusing how quickly they both sussed who exactly Ariadne, in spite of her attempts to disguise her royalty.

The final five minutes of the episode offered a bit of excitement in a cave where Jason and Ariadne came up against Pasiphae and Medea and led to a decent enough cliffhanger which put Jason in a suitable amount of peril I guess.

- While it would be nice to see her show better judgement, Ariadne's archery skills weren't so bad in this episode.
- Medea seems to have difficulty controlling her power. That's twice now this series.
- Another Medusa mention. Why do we have to wait until 2015 to see her again?
- If Dion's dead, what the odds that Ariadne's next advisor will be someone on Pasiphae's payroll?

Maybe I need to watch this episode again because I've read seemingly positive reviews but for me, outside of a few choice moments, The Marriage Of True Minds just felt dull and plodding in parts. Or am I being too harsh on the show?

Rating: 6 out of 10

Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones - Lead Role Cast

And you thought it was just the current season of Agents Of SHIELD and the upcoming Agent Carter and Daredevil that Marvel had in store for you television viewers.

Krysten Ritter, best known for her roles in Veronica Mars, Breaking Bad and Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23 has been cast in the role of Marvel's A.KA. Jessica Jones. The 13 episode series, which will air on Netflix (as will Daredevil and two other Marvel series), has Ritter playing Jones as a woman  rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City after a short stint as a superhero.

I'm not going to lie - Jessica Jones isn't a comic character I'm overly familiar with but Ritter is certainly an interesting choice for a heroic role, not one I would've expected. Having seen her previous work, I think this could be potentially a breakout role for the actress as Netflix continue in their attempt to give regular television a run for it's money with it's programming. With Agent Carter, Supergirl and now this series, next year is looking pretty good for some female led superhero shows. The show will be executive produced and ran by Dexter's Melissa Rosenberg.

Press Release: http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/12/jessica-jones-marvel-netflix-series.html

Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones will air on Netflix in 2015.

Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 1x07: He Deserved To Die

And now it's time for a certain unruly character to get focus in an episode that didn't change my opinion on him.

Written by Warren Hsu Leonard
Directed by Eric Stoltz

We're Not Screwing: As soon as Rebecca said that to both Laurel and Michaela (when she wasn't having fun rattling their cages) about herself and Wes, guess what happened? Yeah, they did the deed and Wes offered a few tiny drops of information about himself as the flash forwards showed him cleaning up Rebecca in the motel and telling her not to answer to anyone except him while she talked about Sam deserving to die. In the present day, she was sabotaging her own case after a gag order had been in place when Nate wasn't trying to get her on side to take down Sam. Nate's belief in Sam being Lila's killer is starting to make me think that he also be privy to something we don't already know. As for Rebecca, like I said above, this episode didn't change my mind on her or whatever relationship the writers are aiming for with and Wes.

Voodoo Penis: Connor might have difficulty remembering the name of some of the guys he's shagged through HumpR but he's certainly left an impression on one of them. Although hot blond lawyer Julian had a boyfriend, he was more than happy to remind Connor of their previous hookup with a repeat performance in the bathroom while Asher seemed envious of his fellow Keating Five member's prowess with men this week. Actually this was a pretty good episode for Connor - first with the scene with Julian and then later in the episode with his drunken moping over Oliver at a bar and then failed attempt of wooing the techie back. It seems that Connor isn't the only hot guy that Oliver has pulled in recent times.

Prenups & Job Offers: While Asher didn't have much to do (aside from getting information from a secretary) and Wes was on White Knight duty with Rebecca, there was a bit more focus with both Laurel and Michaela in this episode. The former was tempted by a job offer from her boyfriend while unwisely resuming her thing with Frank while the latter seemed affronted that Aiden's family (are we going to see him again?) wanted her to sign a prenup. I think seeing Rebecca blab their secrets and needle them on it was probably what made these plots a bit more interesting than they would've been bit without her somewhat bitchy commentary on them.

Pregnant: Much as I love the cliffhangers on this show, was anyone remotely shocked when Bonnie revealed that the second autopsy learned that Lila was six weeks pregnant? While it was a good moment to end the episode on, it just didn't come across as that shocking really. In fact, it seemed to make sense on the count of Sam trying to smooth things over with Annalise and wanting to help prevent a second autopsy on Lila in the first place, it just seemed like the sort of twist that was expected. It's enough to make it look like Sam had a greater motive to murder Lila though. Or Griffin. Or Rebecca. Or even someone else altogether.

Keating Vs. Parks: The case of the week was actually about Rebecca and Griffin and whether or not a second autopsy could be done on Lila, along with the gag order stuff. While we saw both Rebecca and Griffin doing more to make themselves look guilty, the rivalry between Annalise and Wendy is an interesting one, especially as we had one moment where Wendy looked like she was going to help Annalise, only for her to change her mind and help herself again. It's an interesting enough rivalry and it's nice to have a character that Annalise can play off as well.

Next week, flashbacks into Rebecca's friendship with Lila as we get closer to solving the murder of Sam.

Recap/Review: American Horror Story: Freak Show - Blood Bath

Tis the season to be murderous as two more characters meet their death in this episode and another gets pretty close to it.

Written by Ryan Murphy
Directed by Bradley Buecker

World Without You: I'm going to be controversial here - I am glad that Dandy murdered Gloria in this episode. As much as I love Frances Conroy, Gloria has largely been a willful idiot, enabling her son's murderous antics and even in this episode when she had the perfect chance to stop him and actually admit to Regina what really happened to Dora, she chose not to and ended up being killed by her increasingly unstable son. The last scene where Dandy slipped into an actual bath of blood (his mother's I assume) only made the episode a little too literal.

A Knife To The Eye: However unlike Gloria, whose death didn't move me, Ethel's certainly did. For a tiny moment I nearly felt sorry for Elsa but the moment she put a knife into Ethel's eye and then used Stanley to forge the most implausible suicide seen on this show, that quickly disappeared. I wasn't expecting Ethel to make it out of this season alive but I was hoping she was going to at least make it until nearer the finale before being bumped off altogether. It's a shame we lost her because I absolutely loved seeing Ethel tearing Elsa into strips and it's an even bigger shame that aside from shooting a wooden leg that Ethel didn't get to kill Elsa either. The accent may have been dodgy as hell but unlike Elsa, at least Ethel genuinely cared about her fellow freaks. I am going to miss her.

Sister Act: Probably the best thing about this episode was having Penny, Desiree, Legless Suzy and Amazon Eve band together to kidnap and tar and feather Penny's awful father. While there are plenty of characters deserving of horrible fates (Dell, Stanley, Elsa, Dandy etc), I could sort of see what Maggie was trying to accomplish when she persuaded the girls not to murder Penny's father but at the same time, considering her own antics with Stanley, it's a bit rich coming from her. I liked Desiree's speech about not wanting to be trampled on and it's nice to see the ladies band together in the wake of both Ma Petite and Ethel's deaths. It's a shame though that Bette and Dot weren't part of the plot but their absence didn't really deter matters though.

New Recruits: With both Ethel and Ma Petite (and too much screentime of Elsa's awful OTT crying), Elsa went and recruited a fat lady named Barbara, renamed Ima Wiggles (the hell?) and even suggested that Jimmy could take some comfort from her, which he kind of did at the end of the episode. Elsa might on some level care about her freaks but she cares about herself more and even in flashbacks we learned that she was initially envious of Ma Petite being a hit with audiences and even Jimmy and Stanley had a go at her desperation and self interest in this episode without getting knifed for it. As for Barbara, she seems harmless but if I were her, I'd get the hell out of that camp and fast.

The Coyotes Got Her: Keeping with Ma Petite (and still wanting to wish all kinds of horrible deaths on both Dell and Stanley), I'm still glad that everyone banded together to look for her and I even liked the idea of Ethel thinking Elsa had something to do with it (considering Elsa's admission about wanting rid of Bette and Dot), even if the latter's grief for Ma Petite was actually genuine. I thought Dell would've had more focus in this episode but seemingly not though at least he seemed sympathetic towards Jimmy over Ethel's death. As for Jimmy's lashing out and drinking - those scenes were worthy of the fast forward button along with the boring melodrama/lack of chemistry he has with Maggie. Oh and did anyone spot Danny Huston as the surgeon during the Elsa flashbacks as well?

Next week, Dandy admit that he's a murderer to Regina and the twins may be seperated after all.

Suicide Squad - Cast Officially Announced

As of last night and low and behold, it's pretty much all the actors that were rumoured for the last few weeks. So, let's meet the Suicide Squad, shall we?

So we have got Will Smith taking on the role of Deadshot, Tom Hardy as leader Rick Flag, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as the Joker (that's going to be interesting to see), Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress (the only member I've no clue about, need to do some reading up on her).

In terms of the cast, I have no strong opinion. I like nearly all of them as actors. Actually, scratch that, I love Tom Hardy much as the next person and Margot Robbie is probably pitch perfect as Harley but it would be nice if her depiction of the character was more similar to her origins rather than the fetishy way she's been portrayed in recent times.

The movie itself has yet to cast it's Amanda Waller (the overseer of the Suicide Squad) though it's rumoured that Oprah Winfrey is the first choice for the role. Also rumoured include Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis and Kerry Washington. The choices are certainly interesting and this would be the second time the character has made it on the big screen. Angela Bassett previously played the role on Green Lantern while on the small screen in recent years we've had Pam Grier and Cynthia Addai-Robinson have played the role on Smallville and Arrow respectively. The movie will be written and directed by David Ayer.

Press Release: http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/12/movies-suicide-squad-will-smith-jared.html

Suicide Squad will begin filming in April 2015 with a release in cinemas for August 5th 2016.

My Review of Revenge's 4x09: "Intel"

Written by Karin Gist
Directed by Wendey Stanzler

Ben: “I wanna learn about the mysterious Emily Thorne.”
Emily: “Well, then I wouldn’t be mysterious.”

Emily and Ben. Like two other pairings in this episode (or three), this is not a relationship that will probably go the distance as both of them clearly have an angle for being interested in the other. While Emily later admitting to approaching Ben to get information on his boss, Ben himself doesn’t strike me as someone whose interest in Emily is purely romantic either.

This is probably a good thing as there’s nothing in the way of chemistry with either character but it’s also worth pointing out that Ben seems to have a problem with Jack and maybe part of his interest in Emily is to rub his partner’s nose in it while at the same time, Ben did seem suspicious in Emily’s interest in David Clarke as well.

Then there’s Jack and Kate, which like last season with him and Margaux could’ve been another reasonably inoffensive pairing. Except for the bit at the end where it was revealed that Kate’s in cahoots with the men after David Clarke, which has now made her a tiny bit more interesting than before.

Keeping with the doomed pairings – Daniel made at least two half arsed attempts of trying to get Margaux (one on his own, the other after Emily dismissed him as a coward – kind of), only for the latter to point out his shortcomings and inform the audience that she’s pregnant. I guess Daniel should be relieved that unlike Emily last season, Margaux at least isn’t faking it.

However while the Daniel and Margaux stuff wasn’t too riveting, I have to admit that I like Daniel a lot more recently. His bar scene with Emily at the beach club (officially the new Stowaway I take it?) was a riot and I loved that he didn’t mince words when pointing out that Victoria and David’s relationship was doomed.

While it’s easy to pile the blame solely on Victoria’s feet (notice how quickly she abandoned her promise not to go after Emily anymore), David should take responsibility too. He lied to Victoria several times in the episode and while he did somewhat come clean about Malcolm Black at the end, he probably didn’t tell her every single detail either.

Speaking of Malcolm Black – I really do hope that he lives up to the hype because we have to wait another three episodes before he actually shows up on the show. While it does feel like the show is rewriting some bits of its own history in order to give this mysterious character super prominence, I will admit that I’m pleased the show seems to be going somewhere hopefully interesting now.

As for Nolan – he’s everyone’s friend, isn’t it? When he’s not castigating Emily for torturing a guy or calling David out on a piss poor apology, he also realised that he might have misjudged Louise and decided not to go through with helping Margaux. I’m not sure where else the writers can go with the character, but Louise’s scenes with Nolan are a lot more fun than I was expecting them to be. I think I want her to stay for a bit longer.

Also in “Intel”

I just realised that a) Christa B. Allen is no longer a regular and b) Brian Hallisay actually is.

Kate: “I’ve never been called a perk.”
Jack: “I doubt that.”

Ben mentioned having an ex-wife who used him to deal with her past. Now there’s a parallel between him and Daniel if ever there was one.

Louise: “Tell you what; you never forget your first mental institution. In fact, I did self medicate with some hot nutty boys.”
Nolan: “Your words, my life.”

David: “I owe you an apology.”
Nolan: “You owe me a reputation.”

Emily really went for it with the torture (well, as much as network television will allow) but I was amused that Nolan drugged the guy with a nanotech tracker.

Victoria: “I keep waiting for a blowback but it hasn’t happened.”
Daniel: “Not yet.”

Louise (to Nolan): “Where I’m from, you claim the deer you shoot.”

I’m guessing we’ll end up seeing Louise’s politician brother in the second half of the season, won’t we? Also, it’s only now we learn that David/Victoria have five million in a random safe?

Nolan (to David): “You’re right about Emily. When it comes to you, she can’t stay out of it.”

Standout music: Rae Morris’s “Skin”.

Daniel: “I deserve a better answer. Why?”
Margaux: “Because I’m pregnant.”

Chronology: From where “Contact” left off.

Credit given where it’s due – “Intel” was the third episode in a row this season I enjoyed and while the Malcolm Black thing does seem a little trite (is he really anymore threatening than Conrad was or another Initiative waiting to happen?), at least it means that the show will have a direct focus/threat for the second half. Plus, the promise of a main character in the next episode has potential too.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Atlantis's 2x03: "Telemon"

Written by Richard O'Brien
Directed by Justin Molotnikov

Hercules (to Pythagoras): "Should Jason learn the truth, his heart will blacken and he'll be lost to us forever."

I use the above quote because it highlighted the best part of the episode - Hercules telling Pythagoras after the least amount of coaxing that Jason is Pasiphae's son and that he can't know that or else. While it did show that Hercules can't be trusted with a secret, it was also a great moment between him and Pythagoras and keeping such a secret from Jason should be quite the task this series. Until Pasiphae probably reveals it herself that is.

As for the rest of the episode, the sense of deja vu was positively overwhelming. Clive Standen is one of those actors who is easy on the eye and generally plays fairly interesting enough characters, but with Telemon, there's a sense of the writers not doing anything particular inventive with him and his hot pursuit of Ariadne.

Throughout the episode, he just came across as a slightly smarter version of Heptarian, killing off one competitor (Areto) who recognised him from the salt mines and then bribing another (Leonidas), just so that he could get into the final round with Jason in a fight that didn't prove to be fatal to either one of them. Aside from Pythagoras (probably the only smart character at times on this show), everyone else seemed taken in with Telemon.

Ariadne herself went from trying to keep him at arm's length to then accepting his proposal of marriage at the end. Even without the aid of the trailer for next week, I didn't need much to realise that Ariadne has made something of an error here. Surely she could've waited a bit before deciding to marry the first stranger on the day of her coronation, right?

- Aside from Ariadne, this episode was absent it's other main female character and I actually missed seeing the Oracle, Pasiphae and Medea because of it. Medusa got another mention too.
- This episode was basically a mash up of episodes three and seven from the first series, wasn't it?
- I'm really liking Dion as a character. He does genuinely seem to have Ariadne's back, which is nice.
- Clive Standen has previously appeared in episodes of Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

Although a slight improvement on the first two episodes, it's becoming more and more of a general struggle with this series. Not only did this episode essentially lift strands from previous episodes, but if I can recall, it didn't do anything particularly different or exciting with them either.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Glee - Season 5 Review

US Airdate: September 26th 2013-May 13th 2014

The series hits a hundred episodes and commemorates the passing one of their leads.

Broadway Or Bust: I should've reviewed this season earlier but I've been busy and due to the fact that more spoilers are emerging for the final season, I'm getting around to it now. I've got to be honest - the fifth season of this show is without a doubt the weakest season we've had and maybe it was the tragic passing of actor Cory Monteith or other stuff behind the scenes, but part of the reason why this season doesn't seem to work is because it feels all over the place to be honest.

Getting back to Cory Monteith first - I am grateful that the show gave his character, Finn an appropriate tribute episode with The Quarterback, an episode both powerful and extremely uncomfortable to watch (I've literally only seen it once). It was a suitable nod to one of the show's most prominent character to boot.

However aside from the tribute episode, there's only really a handful of episodes that are really worth watching again. The opening episode, Love, Love, Love was probably the better of the Beatle tribute episodes (along with that Kurt/Blaine proposal) and Previously Unaired Christmas was easily the best (and least saccharine) festive offering the show has given us. Add into the mix a bisexual gigola hunky Santa in Bryce Johnson and it's an almost perfect episode.

The highlight of the season though would be the 100 and New Directions two parter. The former for bringing back many of the past characters (Quinn and Puck being the obvious examples as Mercedes was brought back earlier in the season), celebrating a 100 episodes and of course, writing out the second generation of kids and shutting the doors of McKinley, though now we know the place will be returning properly for the sixth season anyways. As episodes, they're probably the most fun the show has had in a long time and the remaining seven episodes following them just don't hit the mark either, except the penultimate episode written by Chis Colfer, which turned out to be a surprise gem.

In fact most of this season seems to be marred - first by a tiresome feud with Rachel and Santana which lasts about two episodes longer than necessary. Santana herself is actually savagely underused in this season, even to the point where she was written out in the finale and the relationship she's given with Demi Lovato's character, Dani doesn't really go anywhere. Similarly, her reunion with Brittany, while sweet is also somewhat rushed and unexplored as well. It also doesn't help that both Will and Sue also feel there at times, the Blaine and Sam bromance felt like it was pandering to the Tumblr crowd and it's a shame that Adam Lambert didn't get more to do, though his stint as Elliot was fun to watch.

Also the tribute and special episodes don't seem to have the same effect as well. One where the group are divided into either Katy Perrys or Lady Gagas reeked of scraping the barrel as did the ode to twerking while Bash for all it's good intentions of highlighting gay bashing was something that also didn't quite hit the mark either. Plus, the less said about the episode, Tested, the better right? Definitely one to erase from the memory banks there.

Much as I enjoy this series in general and as much as it will probably be Ryan Murphy's most successful offering (with American Horror Story not far behind), there's not actually a lot to recommend about this season. It's definitely the weakest, save a few episodes and too often at times too focused on Rachel's ambitions which take in both Broadway and a television career as well (also complete with a Lena Dunham style writer trying to mine a TV show from Rachel's life) and the finale is definitely the weakest of the bunch.

With a reduced final season to 13 episodes, hopefully the series can regain some focus and spread the love a bit with it's core characters because this season certainly could've benefitted from that.

DVD Extras: A feature on the show's 100th episode as well as the features Glee in the City and Glee Music Jukebox. Not really anything too exciting there.

Episode Ratings

5x01: Love, Love, Love = 7/10, 5x02: Tina In The Sky With Diamonds = 6/10,
5x03: The Quarterback = 8/10, 5x04: A Katy Or A Gaga = 6/10,
5x05: The End Of Twerk = 7/10, 5x06: Movin' On = 7/10,
5x07: Puppet Master = 7/10, 5x08: Previously Unaired Christmas = 9/10,
5x09: Frenemies = 6/10, 5x10: Trio = 7/10
5x11: City Of Angels = 8/10, 5x12: 100 = 9/10,
5x13: New Directions = 8/10, 5x14: New New York = 7/10,
5x15: Bash = 7/10, 5x16: Tested = 4/10,
5x17: Opening Night = 7/10, 5x18: The Back Up Plan = 7/10,
5x19: Old Dogs, New Tricks = 8/10, 5x20: The Untitled Rachel Berry Project = 5/10

Glee Season 5 is currently available on DVD.

Downton Abbey - Season 5 Review

A slightly better year than the previous one but not one without it's faults as things were in full 1920s during this series.

Episode 1: The fire episode, well the one with the least dramatic fire going. This was also the episode that revealed that Edith's daughter, Marigold was staying with the Drewe family while a former employer of Jimmy's cost him his job at Downton. February 1924.

Episode 2: Focusing on Daisy's study as well as Robert's dislike of Bunting, this episode also introduced Richard E Grant's Simon Brucker as well. There was also the plot of Mary getting Anna to obtain a diaphragm so she could sleep with Gillingham. April 1924.

Episode 3: A good episode for delving a little into Violet's past but another hostile moment between both Robert and Bunting did seem a little unnecessary though. Also some good moments between Carson and Mrs Patmore over a past matter as well. 1924.

Episode 4: Despite Thomas being pretty horrible to Baxter during this series, she is the one who comes to his aid when he needed it the most here. There were also some great Violet/Isobel moments and Rose's father arrived at Downton as well. Mary also ditched Gillingham in this one. 1924.

Episode 5: Rose meets Atticus while Robert and Brucker slug it out over Cora. I have to admit I sort of enjoyed Violet's scheming as well when it came to Isobel's love life and the Carson/Patmore scenes were pretty good as well. 1924

Episode 6: Edith finally got her daughter back and we met Violet's new ladies maid, Denker, whom Spratt took a great dislike towards. There was also a plot including a horse and some great scenes with Baxter and Thomas as the latter's conversion storyline was resolved. 1924.

Episode 7: Isis died. Probably the best character on the show at this point while Cora and Edith came up with a nonsensical way for Marigold to stay at Downton as well. Then there's also the fact that Lord Merton's sons are still annoying and Mary and Blake drove Gillingham and Mabel into each other's arms. Plus Rose and Atticus got engaged. 1924.

Episode 8: Rose and Atticus got married, Anna got arrested, Robert figured out that Marigold was actually his granddaughter while Thomas saved Andy from Denker's gambling talons and Branson made a decision about his future at Downton as well. 1924.

Something of a better series than the previous one but at the same time, I hated the convoluted manner in which they dealt with Edith and Marigold and the whole 'Who Killed Green?' and Mary's suitors plots have been horribly dragged out as well. I'm hoping the upcoming Christmas special and the first half of the sixth series puts these storylines to bed, once and for all as well as Thomas finally getting some action as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 1x06: Freakin' Whack-A-Mole

I'm getting through the first half of this season nicely and last night's episode (from Universal's POV, not ABC's) finally gave Asher a bit more to do.

Written by Michael Foley
Directed by Bill D'Elia

Dude: In which out of all the male characters, Asher seems to have written as a stereotypical frat boy dude throughout. Even in the first few minutes of this episode, flashforward time, he's virtually amping up the perception of his character before realising the trophy he acquired not so ethically has been nicked. There's also the fact that he was nearly run over by the other members of the Keating Five and the ending where it was revealed that he slept with Bonnie as well while his classmates were disposing of a corpse. Asher's not a particularly deep character and could be arguably the weakest of the Keating Five but this episode did raise some good moments with the character though.

Daddy Issues: While Michaela seemed to take a pop at Connot perhaps having father issues (due to the implication he didn't know who his father was), this episode raised the possibility that Asher's respected judge father might have been responsible for an innocent man serving over two decades in prison. Of course Asher didn't want to assume the worst of his father and confronted him (which didn't end well) on the issue. I did like that Asher did use his smarts however to figure out something vital in the case and I even don't mind that he resorted to some tiny blackmail in order to get the trophy as well, given that Wes handed it back to Annalise. However, I'm not sure if this episode will make audiences care more or less about Asher than they already do but it was still a decent insight into the character's backstory nonetheless.

Change The Paper, Plant The Phone: While I still maintain that Sam did not kill Lila (mainly because for dramatic/narrative purposes, Lila's killer has to be someone currently alive for the second half of the season), it is amazing to see the lengths that Annalise will go to protect her husband, even if it does seem like she might have some doubts about Sam's innocence herself. Planting the phone on the boyfriend to get Rebecca out of hiding and Wes off his high horse (I like the guy but he got on my nerves this week) and changing the wallpaper to help keep Sam out of prison - it was almost a perfect plan. Except for the bit where Nate caught Frank planting the phone. Still, points for a near perfect plan there, Annalise.

This Lot Are Bitchy: Okay, not the snappiest title I could come up but six episodes in and this lot are super bitchy towards each other. I suppose you could chalk it up to them wanting to impress/work full time for Annalise but when Connor and Michaela weren't taking cheap shots at each other, they were grilling Wes over his relationship with Rebecca and pretty much slagging off Asher's father without knowing the full facts. In fact the only one who seemed to be levelheaded was Laurel, even if it took Bonnie (who I think was projecting a lot here) to convince her to dump Frank. This would be the same Bonnie who may or may not have feelings for Sam and five weeks later would end up sleeping with Asher too.

21 Years: So this is the third episode in a row where I've found the case interesting. Perhaps I was too hasty in assuming that I wouldn't care about most of them after all. I liked that it was death row case and with recent reports in America, it felt oddly timely too when the issue of Dave Allen's race was brought into Annalise's defence of him too in court. While I did see the outcome coming a mile away, I still enjoyed the turn of events and case wise, this was probably the most gripping one so far.

Next week, we delve into Rebecca's past with Lila, while Michaela gets an unpleasant surprise.

My Review of Gotham's 1x10: "LoveCraft"

Written by Rebecca Demaron
Directed by Guy Ferland

Bruce: “No offence but you don’t strike me as a nice person.”
Selina: “What do you mean? I’m nice.”

She might be a pickpocket who would put Fagin’s crew to shame but essentially, yes, this version of Selina Kyle is pretty nice. Especially to Bruce and especially in this episode as being on the run from overzealous assassins meant that the two of them had to rely on the other for their own very survival.

Without getting into shipper territory here, the scenes with Selina and Bruce are without a doubt, the highlight of the episode. Even in this incarnation, the two of them work superbly together and their hi-jinks in the street are a joy to watch as even assassins and greedy fence people are no match for the pair of them.

The assassin plot was actually better handled than Victor Zsasz from a few episodes ago too. I didn’t catch the name of the lady that was gunning for Selina but she was one of the most charismatic and interesting guest villains we’ve had on the series and I’m hoping that she’ll appear again in the second half of the season too.

However the only reason that Selina had her life in danger (along with Bruce) was because of Harvey Dent being a blabbermouth and leaking information that got into the wrong hands. I liked that Gordon called him out for it. I didn’t like that Dent cowered when the Mayor got involved and that Gordon got a demotion to Arkham as a security guard though.

The Lovecraft stuff though took an interesting turn. I wasn’t expecting that the assassins sent after Selina were also gunning for him but his death being used to demote Gordon, I did see coming. Then again, having Gordon at Arkham could also mean that he ends up causing more hassle for the Mayor and that can’t be a bad thing really.

Another highlight from this episode was the pairing of Bullock and Alfred. Can I just say that was an inspired choice? The two of them work brilliantly together, even to the point where Bullock ended up looking like good cop by comparison. As for Fish extending her kindness to Alfred – I’m fairly certain that’s going to be something she’ll cash in on during the second half of the season as well.

If the episode had a weak moment, it was probably the mob related story of the week. Not because it was bad but just because the Bruce/Selina and Alfred/Bullock/Fish scenes were more interesting to watch. However it was nice to see Falcone exert some authority and he even managed to put the frighteners on Fish with that awkward dinner scene as well. As for Oswald, I don’t think this episode actually needed him to be honest.

Also in “LoveCraft”

Despite the episode being presumably named after him, Lovecraft himself barely appeared in it.

Selina: “You wanna kiss me?”
Bruce: “No, thank you.”

Alfred showed a lot of bad ass moments in this episode. He’s also a better detective than both Bullock and Gordon too.

Bullock: “You’re pretty handy for a valet.”
Alfred: “Butler, mate. I’m a butler.”

Oswald (to Falcone, re Fish): “With respect, I don’t understand why you still tolerate her existence. She has proved her disloyalty a hundred times. She wants your head.”

Oswald possibly pinned the mole on the shot Bannon. Liza is more useful to him alive than dead.

Selina (to Bruce): “You’re right about me. I’m not nice, not like you. You got a nice way about you.”

Selina: “You’re crazy.”
Bruce: “Please don’t run off again. I’m out of breath.”

This episode might have been appealing to Bat/Cat shippers with the rooftop chase scene and the kiss between Bruce and Selina at the end. Barbara, Renee, Crispus and Essen didn’t appear in this episode.

Ivy: “I’m doing great. How do I look?”
Bruce: “You look good.”

Bullock: “Am I the only one in this damn town who waits for back up?”

I thought Ivy was going to kill Bruce at one point. She seems a bit unhinged since the opening episode. I also loved seeing Nygma hugging Gordon as well in this episode.

Alfred (re Selina): “This old house seems very quiet without her, don’t it?”
Bruce: “Yes, it does.”

Chronology: Not long from “Harvey Dent” left off.

As a mid season finale, “LoveCraft” was easily one of the best episodes we’ve had with the series and it did seem to set up an interesting second half with Gordon at Arkham, Fish continuing her machinations against Falcone, Oswald keeping his head above water and an even bigger league of baddies if those assassins were anything to go by.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Doctor Who - Christmas 2014 Title Revealed/Series 9 News & Rumours

With the eighth series currently finished up and Christmas only a month away (exactly), some news about Doctor Who has surfaced.

First of all, the title for the Christmas episode has been confirmed as Last Christmas. A synopsis from the BBC has been released ...

It’s Christmas in the North Pole when the Doctor and Clara return to BBC AMERICA in an all-new Christmas special. Last year’s special featured the emotional regeneration that marked the start of Peter Capaldi’s run as the Twelfth Doctor. This year the Time Lord and his companion are in for an all-new adventure as stars Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are joined by Nick Frost (The Worlds End, Shaun of the Dead) as Santa Claus! Previously announced guest stars include Michael Troughton (Breathless, The New Statesman), son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, Natalie Gumede (Coronation Street, Strictly Come Dancing), Faye Marsay (Pride, The White Queen), and Nathan McMullen (Misfits, Casualty). Written by Emmy® Award winner Steven Moffat (Sherlock, Coupling) and directed by Paul Wilmshurst (Strike Back, Combat Kids), the 2014 Christmas Special will air on BBC1 and BBC America.

Now whether or not this mean a final Christmas for the Doctor and Clara remains to be seen, but it's certainly a possibility, isn't it? A brief scene between the Doctor, Clara and Frost's Santa was released during the recent Children In Need on BBC1.

Also, did you recently enjoy Michelle Gomez's version of the Master in the two part finale, Dark Water/Death In Heaven? Well, it seems that according to the actress's recent interview with DWM that she might be reprising the role for Series 9. When asked if her character would return, Gomez answered,  “‘Yes’ is my answer. I’ll be back. Can I say that? Am I allowed? If not… well, I guess we’ll have to see how she’s received…". It's also been confirmed (though it was never in any doubt) that Peter Capaldi will be back for the ninth series but Jenna Coleman has yet to sign up. Which certainly adds some credence that Clara could be leaving properly at Christmas then, right?

Meanwhile with the ninth series set to enter production, one writer seemingly confirmed (other than Steven Moffat naturally) has been Catherine Tregenna, thanks to a recent update to her online TV. Tregenna, whose credits include The Fixer and Law & Order: UK, also penned the Torchwood episodes Out Of Time, Captain Jack Harkness, Meat and Adam. With so much discussion as to the lack of female writers under Moffat's era, it's nice that the upcoming series will at least feature one and Tregenna's previous work definitely proves that she's a great fit for the show as well.

Christmas 2014/Series 9 News: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/Doctor%20Who

Doctor Who's eighth series is currently available on DVD. Last Christmas will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica on Christmas Day. Series 9 begins filming in January 2015.

My Review of Atlantis's 2x02: "A New Dawn Part 2"

Written by Howard Overman
Directed by Justin Molotnikov

Pythagoras (to Jason/Hercules): "Mathematically ... the odds suggest we will all be slaughtered."

The second part of the least bloodiest or gripping siege ever (so much for the darker tone, show) continued in an episode that managed to be even more plodding than it's first one. Sure, there was some nice surprises but not nearly enough to make overall but for the sake of balance, let's talk about the things that did actually work.

Sarpedon's sudden change of heart, whilst a bit rushed was a nice enough twist, especially as I fear that this series will probably have too many 'traitors in court' moments. Unfortunately his renewed loyalty towards Ariadne resulted in a botched murder attempt on Pasiphae, who ended up bumping the guy off with little fanfare.

Speaking of Pasiphae, while I do think Sarah Parish can be somewhat hammy at times, this episode actually tried to give the warlady some layers. For instance, she seemed genuinely bothered that Jason almost died and actually killed one of her own men in order to save his life later during the final hours of the siege. Something which both Medea and Hercules took notice of.

Leading into Hercules, I really liked him in this episode. Especially in the last scene where he confronted the Oracle and managed to discover that Pasiphae is Jason's mother. Of course, Hercules can't exactly relay this information to his friend but at least it's something to help make the character a bit more interesting compared to last series.

As for Ariadne, the scene where she decided that she would be willing to kill Pasiphae was probably the best thing to emerge from this two parter overall. Yes, she showed bravery and determination to protect her city and people and she rightly punished Sarpedon for his treachery before letting him redeem himself but there's still work to be done with the character.

In particular, the love story with her and Jason is as frustrating as ever with this episode having Ariadne decide that she couldn't marry him, although I'm sure fans might have been pleased with the snogging before though. Overall, it's hard to care and the longer we get these sort of angsty scenes with the two, it'll end up becoming impossible to care at all.

- Medea doesn't seem to be in control of her magic when she lashed out at Sarpedon. Though she did save her auntie from being killed.
- They didn't really do much with the Cyclops in this episode. Did this two parter even need the monster?
- I'm hoping at some point this series, the Oracle actually gets to step out of that temple.
- The ratings for this series aren't looking good. This episode alone just scraped about 3 million. I would be surprised if this is picked up for a third series, despite the producers recent discussion of a five year plan for it.

Marginally better than the first part, I still don't think this series needed a two parter to open it up. Perhaps one episode would've done the job but despite the talks of improvement and some signs of it here and there, I just don't think Atlantis realistically is ever going to engage or capture audiences like Merlin managed to do (and even that show had choppy writing at times). I hope the rest of the series is made of better stuff but honestly, I would be surprised if this does go beyond the thirteen episodes this current run has.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 1x05: We're Not Friends

While I'm a month away (Universal pace here) from the mid-season finale, it's nice to see that this episode gave a little more insight on one of the lesser focused on students so far.

Written by Tracey A. Bellomo
Directed by Mike Listo

Saw This Coming: Frank and Laurel - hooking up. This was pretty much hinted since episode 1 when Michaela realised that Frank was calling Laurel and here the latter was forced to admit that she was sleeping with him as they continued to use the bonfire as an alibi while getting rid of Sam's body. This episode in general certainly gave Laurel more to do and between her hot boyfriend and Frank, the girl isn't short of admirers. While I do think Annalise and Michaela are stronger characters, Laurel is on a par with Bonnie for me and far more likeable than Rebecca has been so far. This was a solid centre piece episode for her really.

Patterns: Like most people, Sam seems to have a type when it comes to sexual partners and Annalise realised that there was something of a similarity between herself and Lila. Sam's got a thing for fixing vulnerable women and we learned in this episode that Annalise was originally his mistress, which also has to mean that at some point Wife 1 will appear on the show. Still, we didn't get any answers as to whether or not Sam really killed Lila (though Nate was somewhat cruel in taunting Annalise about his possible guilt), though things took an interesting turn when Rebecca and Sam met onscreen for the first time.

The Wallpaper: Five episodes in and I still don't like Rebecca and being aware of what's in store in the next four episodes, don't expect my opinion of her to soften anytime soon. She's surly, unpleasant and generally brings out the worst in Wes. On the other hand, at least her remembering a certain wallpaper at least made Wes privy to the fact that Sam was Lila's 'Mr Darcy' (anyone else find that moniker a little cringey?) and that led to a brilliant final scene between Wes and Annalise. If there's one thing this show has mastered well, it's the art of a great cliffhanger.

HumpR: In the lighter moments of the episode, can I just say that I love Asher's curiosity about Connor's ability to juggle six guys on the go with a sex app (by the way, Asher, the straight version is called Tinder). I know there's some fans who want something to actually happen between Connor and Asher but personally, I think a solid friendship between the two of them would be better served, seeing as Connor doesn't really interact that much with Wes and Laurel and takes an overzealous glee in winding up Michaela (as does she now it seems with him too). Also Asher's crying moment after the case makes me suspect he would be a blubbering wreck if he watched any Disney movie ever.

A Case I Like: Well, yeah, I enjoyed this case but more to the point - Ryan killing his abusive cop father was apparently the first time Laurel liked one of her clients. Laurel liked and felt sorry for Ryan so much that when she wasn't going through his blog during the trial, she was also tampering with the jury and ended up causing a mistrial. I'm not shocked that Frank covered for her but I'm almost a tiny bit surprised that Annalise didn't figure out it was her though. That being said with the exception of Asher, pretty much four out of the Keating Five have done things (excluding killing/disposing of Sam etc) to jeopardise any future career in law they want and will probably continue to do so for however long this series lasts.

Next week it's time for Asher to get his moment while Wes and Annalise clash.