Yeah, I know it’s been a while, and I haven’t caught up with the most recent “Smallville” (taped it, haven’t watched it yet). But let’s get going…
CHARMED: The Charmed ones encounter a demon who is stealing the power of people’s guardian angels, while Leo finds himself face-to-face with the floaty evil guys called the Avatars…and decides they’re not so bad by him.
It’s amazing how there are programs entering their fifth, sixth season that seem on life support, while “Charmed” effortlessly produces material that looks to be the strongest entry since Phoebe first started dating Cole. What’s most compelling is the character journey of Leo, who is getting involved with an entity so fearsome that even demons are scared of him…yet Leo is doing so for what he considers only the best of reasons. On BtVS, characters would go bad usually out of a sense of grief or revenge. Here, it’s far more realistic: Leo is actually trying to do what he perceives as good, and thus the journey has more emotional resonance. If you’re not following this series (criminally unreleased on DVD) you really should be.
LOST: Jack’s brilliant idea to move to the caves seems to backfire when he’s trapped in a cave in, and we learn about the hobbit’s background; the followng week, Sawyer’s background is explored when it’s believed that he has needed asthma inhalers in his possession, a move that prompts the heroes into torturing him (wow, why don’t I come up with nifty ideas like the heroes torturing people?)_
The series just gets more and more intriguing as the mystery of the island is starting to take a backseat to the mystery of which of the castaways is actually working at cross purposes to keep them there (my guess is Locke…or possibly Gilligan.) Major eyebrow-raising moment goes to the kiss between Sawyer and Kate, so unexpectedly smoldering that it fogged up my TV screen. And the most stark contrast between the way that men and women thing: While the men went up against the brick wall of Sawyer’s stubbornness, the Korean woman comes up with the idea of using Eucalyptus leaves to substitute. Jack actually looks embarassed that he didn’t think of it.
SMALLVILLE: Mxy shows up in a rather unexpected turn as, not a fifth dimensional imp, but a foreign student who can shift probabilities to his advantage. This is, of course, a fairly controversial way to go and, let’s face it, he didn’t really have to be called Mxyzptlk at all and it wouldn’t have changed the episode one bit (although props to the writers for working in the in-jokes about his name backwards.)
Although I’m not getting any strong sense of the overall arc moving forward, at least the individual episodes are engaging enough. Having Clark pursue a blossoming football career was definitely a smart move, since it finally gives him something concrete to do other than react to the threat of the week or mope over Lana. Particularly liked Clark’s high-speed rescue of Chloe that almost seemed like something straight out of the Golden Age of comics, as Superman would resolve some identity threatening crisis by “moving faster than the eye could follow.” Thing is, if Clark could hotfoot it that fast, it makes you wonder how the hëll fast Bart Allen was moving when he ran backwards and waved bye bye.
WEST WING: Basically we’ve got two episodes dealing with the aftermath of the peace talks and Leo’s heart attack.
Although the series has not remotely returned to its pre-Sorkin-departure heights, the characters are no longer painful to watch. And CJ’s first days as chief of staff were absolutely great, particularly how she rebounded from her crash-and-burn first day (although how she got TO that frame of mind to rebound, I would have liked to see, since the scene before she was talking to a comatose Leo saying that this was a mistake.) Plus you have the love the timeliness of focusing on the Mideast at a time in the real world when Arafat’s death may throw it into even more turmoil than usual.
Highlight absolutely had to be Toby’s first press briefing which easily erases Josh’s debacle as the all-time worst press conference in the history of “West Wing.” (Indeed, I was almost wishing Josh would say to Toby, “Will you FINALLY get off my back about the secret plan to fight inflation now?”
PAD
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It occurs to me that PAD is pals with Paul Dini…who’s a LOST writer…and the one who came up with Locke’s back story (and Sun’s). Just pointing out a possible source of secret info:-D
Lost: This is a consistant and excellent show. Sure, there are moments when you think ‘But why didn’t they..?’ but over-all this is an uncharacteristically slow-burn show and all the better for it. I liked the resolution to the first Sawyer back-story and he could easily be living up to the ‘character we love to loathe’ motif without being too 2D.
West Wing: The characters haven’t bantered this well in a long time. Like Peter I don’t think it’s quite of Sorkin quality, but it’s certainly good comapred with most of the other stuff on offer. Such a pity to see John Spencer sidelined, but if all episodes of the seaosn wer eup to this par, I’d definitely stick around. Not sure if I want the series to contine after this season or not. I guess that decision won’t be mine but I’ll offer an opinion later in the run.
Smallville: : Only small spoilers to warn of here, but the latest episode was not as bad as the Charmed rip-off I expected (and, sorry, but not a Charmed fan anyway). Yet again there’s a memory-loss save-all and more people acting out of character. Not much to see, moving along…
The “Smallville” established two interesting tenets of the DC Universe; magic exists, and it affects Clark as efficiently as Kryptonite.
Although the series is moving slowly, it’s gotten away from the “Kryptonite Villain of the Week” by the simple process of showing metahumans that didn’t result from the meteor strike. Thus, Bart Allen and these witches. (How long before some good-guy magic users show up?)
I would like to see the establishment of some principle that prevents normal people from recognizing the existence of all these strange activities. Yes, it is not realistic that the world at large wouldn’t notice this stuff. Unless there was something else at work…and not just the Buffy/Beetlejuice copout that “most people ignore the strange and unusual.”
I think the town of Smallville must exist inside a “somebody-elses-problem-field,” and people can only notice the weirdness when they aren’t looking directly at it or it’s citizens.
I asked Charmed producer Brad Kern about the DVD situation, and I think the studio is currently dealing with the legal/clearances problems conected to a series like that. I suspect a lot of the ‘Tonight’s episode of Charmed featured music by…’ probably creates a lot of rights problems for the DVDs as they did for Roswell season one, where some of the music had to be replaced.
And Babylon 5 fans should note that Mira Furlan starts a three-episode arc on Lost starting with the November 17th episode. Wonder if she’ll have a scene with Crusade’s Daniel Dae Kim.
About Lost, how many times have you seen an axe on an airplane. I’m only an infrequent traveler so I can’t be certain, I just never recall seeing one in flight before.
Charmed: Season 1 comes to DVD on 2/1/05.
PAD,
Have you ever given Joan of Arcadia a try? It’s currently the only show (aside from The Daily Show) that I make an effort to watch whenever possible, and I’d love to hear your take on it. It’s got a whole lot of depth for what seems on the surface to be a standard “crisis of the week” type of show.
I’ve never understood the allure of CHARMED. My wife loves it, and I catch bits and pieces of it every now and then. It’s campier than the 60’s BATMAN TV show, the plots are warmed-over and cliched pop culture, the cast should hit overactors anonymous and any sign of testosterone vanished with Cole. The fact that brainless air like this should exist while ANGEL is cancelled is almost criminal.
LOST is fantastic as always. I sincerely hope that the producers take a page from the Whedon handbook and turn Sawyer into an honest-to-goodness good guy, possibly a leader. While this show is good, only time will tell if it is THAT good, noticibly growing and changing it’s characters.
SMALLVILLE is engaging every week, but Peter is right that there is no overall forward movement. I imagine it must be harder to maintain the status quo than to move the story forward, so why are they trying so hard? It’s good, but what’s with all the seedy sexual tension? I haven’t been able to watch this season with my 10-year old, and that’s too bad. A show about Superman should be safe for kids. SMALLVILLE isn’t. That said, the revelation about Lois’s virginity was funny.
I was dissapointed with LOST this week.
If we are still to believe that we have over 40 castaways, how come some major stink wasn’t brought up when two of our survivors, tortured and nearly killed another?
Who are Jack and Sayed to take “the law into their own hands”? Sure, Sayed left, but it was his own decision.
It was a very convenient ending.
West Wing: “Highlight absolutely had to be Toby’s first press briefing which easily erases Josh’s debacle as the all-time worst press conference in the history of “West Wing.” (Indeed, I was almost wishing Josh would say to Toby, “Will you FINALLY get off my back about the secret plan to fight inflation now?””
A neighbor, after being forced to watch all the Angel and Buffy DVDs, forced me to watch the West Wing. I’m halfway through the second season right now and kicking myself that I ignored this show for so long.
This past week’s episode was the first of the new season’s that I’ve watched, and with it so fresh in my mind, I too immediately thought of Josh’s botched press briefing.
I can’t wait to finally catch up with everything.
I have seen a fire axe on a plane more than once. These were smaller puddle jumpers with less space to hide things than the big jets. I haven’t seen one recently but that does not surprise me.
We do watch Joan of Arcadia but as I understand it, Peter doesn’t want to add more to Cowboy Pete right now.
WEST WING: You know, much as I might not have liked the very melodramatic way in which Leo was taken out of the position, I really enjoyed C.J. taking over as White House Chief of Staff. I think Leo can still have an instrumental role in the Bartlet Administration, as a senior adviser, but let C.J. handle the day to day work. In that respect, I think Jimmy Smits’s character nailed why Josh shouldn’t have been promoted into the role. Josh is the ideological base, the guy who moves Bartlet toward doing the right thing instead of the safe thing (and for a good example of this, see last season’s “Shutdown” episode, where Abby asked Bartlet, “Jed, where’s Josh?”). Josh is the stalwart ideological center of the Administration, while Leo’s job is that of traffic cop. C.J. is quite capable, and this is probably going to be one of the few changes in this “season of change” that I like (and from what I’ve read, there are more changes in store with which I’m less than thrilled).
I’m still desperately hoping that Wells is willing to close the curtain after Bartlet leaves office. As I understand it, Martin Sheen’s contract expires after this season, and if he renews, Wells plans to hold off the election until sometime next season, but if he chooses to exit, Wells is prepared to accelerate the storyline so that the election can happen within the parameters of the last few episodes of this season and the first few episodes of next season. I just hate to see a good show run on far too long. If Wells wants to spin off into a new creature (i.e. David E. Kelley morphed “The Practice” into “Boston Legal”), I’d accept that. But so much of the West Wing was created by Sorkin that I’d rather see the curtain close on “The West Wing.” By all means, Wells can continue on and produce a show centered around politics and the White House, but re-invent the show into some sort of spin-off. (Hey, if there can be three CSIs and 4 Law and Orders, there’s no reason why “West Wing” can’t morph into “Untitled White House drama.”)
LOST: I actually liked this week’s episode. I wasn’t really thrilled with last week’s episode, mostly because I felt the show was a little too predictably done, with Locke’s whole “ask me three times” schtick and Charlie’s “troubled rock and roll sibling” (which reminded me of the whole Oasis drama with Noel and Liam Gallagher a few years back), plus the whole “cave in” and Charlie’s heroism…just a little too choreographed for me. I could see the strings. It’s still a fantastic show, as evidenced by this week’s great exploration of Sawyer’s past, and I’m in for the ride.
Just exactly when did Lana, Lois and Chloe have time to go shopping for their new outfits?
I really didn’t like that part of Smallville last week with Clark running that quick. Having him able to run that quick changes everything. It just adds more to that “invincible” atmosphere. I mean, if he just looks at any oncoming danger, he justs has to move superquick and he can stop anything, anytime. The need to make sure they ‘ground’ him more.
Hysterical Product Placement Alert:
On last week’s Smallville we see the Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant in Clark’s locker, the we keep seeing the Old Spice Red Zone sign that takes up half of Smallville High’s scoreboard
several times during when they cut back during Clark’s game and the Old Spice Red Zone banner
across the stands where the Kents are sitting.
So did LuthorCorp acquire Old Spice? Sure, Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant stops odor, but can it ptoect you from the effects of Meteor Rocks?
LOST impressed me yet again. We get to see that not only is Sawyer a major áššhølë, but also that he knows that and wants to be punished for it. (He doesn’t try to fight back against Jack, he laughs off the torture knowing that more is in store, and he repulses Kate (the kiss was hot, but he had to know she’d be pìššëd when she learned he didn’t have the inhalers) just to be hated.
Who’s the traitor? Locke is the obvious choice (how far would he go to keep his mobility?), but we haven’t heard all of the backstories yet. If any fans want to list all the characters who couldn’t have whacked Said because they were helping dig out Jack, feel free to list ’em here.
The one weak point was how easily Kate let Sayed go. As Jack said earlier, every man for himself won’t work there. Yet Sayed just decides to take off on his own, without considering how this could endanger him or how he could help the other castaways. And Kate, who hasn’t held back her opinions, stood there silently instead of trying to persuade Sayed to stay.
When I saw the SMALLVILE trailer for this week — Clark topless and tied up, while scantily-clad Chloe, Lana, and Lois act seductively around him, I knew: They got my script.
Kidding! Seriously, how much more t&a will they squeeze into the season? A friend of mine suggested that when the DVD for this season is released, it should be called SMALLVILLE AFTER DARK.
As for Mxy, at least they found a way to tone down his powers. In the SMALLVILLE world there’s enough strangeness to make it onto the Wall of Weird, but not enough to mobilize the National Guard or call the world’s attention there; and a nigh-omnipotent imp could do just that.
Peter David: Mxy shows up in a rather unexpected turn as, not a fifth dimensional imp, but a foreign student who can shift probabilities to his advantage.
Luigi Novi: No, it
OMG!!!!!!!!!
change of subject but i just saw “THE INCREDIBLES” & that movie was awesome. But they also showed the Episode 3 trailer & it was… WOW!!! Here is a link to preview the trailer. it was amazing. i got goosebumbs watching it.
http://www.dtheatre.com/read.php?sid=2791
Can anyone explain how a name spelled Mxyzptlk can be pronounced “Mix-EL-pitelik?” In what language is a Z pronounced as an L? Or, were they merging the SuperFriends pronunciation (Mix-el-plick) with the correct comic book version (Mix-yez-pitelik)?
Hmm… on Super Friends, they pronounced it as Mix El Plick and on the animated series, Mix Yez Pit Lick.
Since I work swing shift, I don’t watch as much TV as I used to.
Was the foreign exchange student from Poland?
I ask this since a family friend’s surname was Pitlik.
Steve Chung
Joan of Arcadia is my favorite show. I’m glad it’s getting good review. So far the second season is doing well with developing longer background stories.
Smallville also at the top of the list. All good. However, I wish they could have put at least one show between last weeks episode and this one. Last week someone took over Clark’s body and this week someone took over Lana’s. My son asked if they were running out of ideas? I just answered , “bad timing”.
In re: the product placement on SMALLVILLE, the announcer at the football game also verbally mentioned the product as a sponsor, and there was some kind of “promotional consideration” credit in the end credits. Sheesh.
Of course, the music placement is no different (think about those “tonight’s episode featured music by” blurbs at the end — those are paid for, too, either by the record company allowing royalty-free use of the music or less commonly, actually paying to be on the show), but I won’t complain about it too much in this episode as it provided exposure to some good bands.
Wow. I guess I’m the only one who found SMALLVILLE this week totally gringe inducing, radiating the distinct oder of fromage…
As for LOST- I think Sayed leaving is a good thing. Remember his stated reason is to circumnavigate the island, a darn good and practicle idea. Also, as a character, he was drawn into to doing something he probably had vowed never to do. (As for whether he had vowed never to do it AGAIN remains to be flashbacked…) From a standpoint of isolating the character for some solitary reflection, this is a good way to do it.
Rich,
I thought I heard Sayed say something very much to the effect that he had sworn never to do it AGAIN. And I hope that’s the case because it would make a ripping great story to show us how a man can go from torturing people to become a sympathetic and, mostly, decent character.
“RJM: Who are Jack and Sayed to take “the law into their own hands”?
Luigi Novi: People who had every right to do so, since there isn
LOST:
I can’t believe no one here has mentioned “comic book” guy’s comment on Jack’s Jedi moment (after Jack talked down the girl with asthma from a panic attack.) Fun moment, if stereotypical.
Luigi Novi said: People who had every right to do so, since there isn
CHARMED: Haven’t we ran into this group of AVATARS before? It is funny that you mention Cole since wasn’t the Avatars giving him all this power that finally did him in?
Posted by: Thomas E. Reed at November 12, 2004 12:47 PM
(How long before some good-guy magic users show up?)
Did anyone else read that and start thinking “Yeah! Zatanna! We want to see a live-action Zatanna!”
PAD said: The series just gets more and more intriguing as the mystery of the island is starting to take a backseat to the mystery of which of the castaways is actually working at cross purposes to keep them there (my guess is Locke…or possibly Gilligan.)
Looking at the previews for the next episode, I have the feeling we’re about to find that there are other people on the island. They may have been the ones who konked Sayid episode before last.
By the way, has anyone else noticed that SMALLVILLE and CHARMED (though not this week’s episode of the latter) both tend to wrap up the week’s main problem right after the (approximately) 3/4 hour commercial break, thus freeing up the rest of the show for more plot and character development involving the seasonal story thread? Just a comment.
I agree with Michael Cravens that Wells needs to “spin off” West Wing if he continues with his new characters. I’m thoroughly disgusted with the changes. Not only are we misses Sorkins story telling abilities but we miss the characters thought processes. C.J. just accepts with no qualms being appointed COS?? I’m sure she had doubts, it would have just been nice seeing the scene between she and Jed where they surfaced.
I truthfully would have thought Josh or Toby would have been a better choice than CJ who has often been very tunnel visioned in her ability to work with nations whose social standards are below the US’s. Remember the weapons exchange and “they beat women”?
At any rate, if they keep replacing people I won’t be watching by the end of the season. It’s disheartening to watch a series that won award after award for the first four years lose it’s vision to the point of not being nominated for anything it’s fifth season. Ya think that would tell them something….
“Did anyone else read that and start thinking “Yeah! Zatanna! We want to see a live-action Zatanna!”
Did anyone else read that and start thinking “Fishnet stockings! We want fishnet stockings! Preferably on a girl!”
Kim Metzger wrote:Looking at the previews for the next episode, I have the feeling we’re about to find that there are other people on the island. They may have been the ones who konked Sayid episode before last.
Not necessarily. Sayad mentioned that he was in the Republican Guard and those scenes could be part of his flashback.