Weekly TV reviews (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Reviews for Doctor Who, Teenage Mutant Turtles: Fast Forward, Prison Break, Veronica Mars, Lost, and South Park.



Doctor Who: "The Girl in the Fireplace"

This episode reminded me a lot of DS9's The Visitor and the entire premise was cool. I love that the girl fell in love with the Doctor. If I had any complaints about the episode, it's that I was enjoying it so much while I was watching it, that I didn't so much as find the ending sad, as unsatisfying. Good episode, regardless. ****.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward "Night of Sh'Okanabo!"

I didn't really like it. I was bored throughout and I don't find the future and the Turtles' reaction to it interesting, I find it lame. I don't know why I'm still watching this show. Probably habit. And Cody is SUCH a male Mary Sue. **1/2.

Prison Break "Dead Fall"

I admit it. They got me. I was really uninterested in seeing this episode because the idea of Sucre being a bad guy was really unappealing to me. But whaddaya know right before the opening credits we learn it was part of a plot between him and Micheal. Sweet twist. I was bummed T-Bag got the money though. I have a feeling it ISN'T over regarding the money so I can live with it.

I kept rooting for Sarah to figure out the paper cranes. I really hope she and Micheal are reunited soon.

SO glad Linc finally got LJ to safety. His plan was brilliant. Really great stuff. I want the two of them reunited with Micheal too.

I love how Micheal saved Sucre during the escape in the river. I love their relationship.

It's also good to know why two of the cons have ended up dead on Mahone's watch. He doesn't seem happy about having to kill every single one but it makes it much easier to root for some of the remaining cons. I hope T-Bag is taken out though. Great episode. ****1/2.

Veronica Mars "Charlie Don't Surf"

I've never been a big Logan fan so this episode was a pleasant surprise. It seems everything Logan touches turns to crap and I felt really bad for him. I'm still surprised Veronica helped Dick and the frat but I think that's the only way she is going to catch the real rapist. Good episode. ***1/2.

Lost "Every Man For Himself"

I haven't enjoyed a Sawyer spotlight since his first one in season one. Color me impressed. I'm not surprised Sawyer double crossed Ian Gomez but I AM surprised that he used the money to help his daughter.

I was REALLY bummed when Kate told Sawyer that she said she loved him only to stop them from hitting him. I DID like however that she decided to stick with Sawyer and climbed back into the cage. WE know she had no shot at escape but it means something because she didn't.

Ben/ Henry was a real hissable villian this week. I was relieved that he didn't actually put the pace-maker into Sawyer's chest and that apparantly the rabbit was still alive. I liked his wife's scenes with Jack though. I think Jack could turn out to be very inportant to the Others. I also don't think Zeke is quite the villian he was painted out to be in the first two seasons. We'll see.

I liked the episode. I'm getting used to this new storyline even though I liked last year better. ****.

South Park "Hell on Earth 2006"

God, I loved this episode. I love it when South Park doesn't decide to do preachy current event episodes and simply decides to do a farce. True, it WAS a parody of a current show but it had enough zany subplots to keep me laughing. And ALL four plots going on in the episode were really great. I loved The Three Murderers and the Butters and Biggie Smalls thing was great. I also loved the prisets trying to get into the party. And the Steve Irwin scene was one of the funniest South Park scenes in ages.

Not an important episode by any means but a really fun one. ****.

Comments

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Logan?

South Park wasn't doing a preachy current events thing, but you can still chalk it up to a parody on modern American society. Satan goes so far he's almost as bad as a rich white 16 year-old. Ouch. The Steve Irwin thing unsettled me a little, but then again, this IS South Park. But yeah, it was a great episode, Biggie Smalls was my favorite part. It was fun checking out the costumes, too. Bet I'll notice even more on a re-watch.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Logan's Veronica's boyfriend. He's kind of a butthole to people.

If they are done right Steve Irwin jokes can be hilarious just because they are SO wrong.

And Biggie Smalls WAS the best part.

[style92.livejournal.com]

Well, it's been established pretty much all celebrities go to hell when they die. That one Christmas episode showed Princess Dianna, Gene Siskell, Gahndi, George Burns, JFK SR and JR all in hell, and they were preparing room for Andy Dick. So, the concept that when Steve Irwin died he went to Hell is in keeping with their show continuity, even if it's slightly unsettling.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I think I could live with the idea of all celebrities going to hell unless they include Mister Rogers. Then the show will have crossed a line with me.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Not just all celebrities, but all non-Mormons. Seeing Irwin with that manta thing was unsettling (but only a little), not the fact that he went to Hell.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I thought it was kind of funny. I always never thought of Irwin's premature death so much as tragic, but more as inevitable.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, his death was definitely inevitable since he's bound to have a fatal accident if he works with dangerous animals long enough. Still, I thought it was tragic the kids he left behind were so young. But it's not like South Park was trying to joke about that or anything.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Well, considering that he once let his baby get WAAAYY too close to a live crocodile it may have been for the best. He was more than a little bit reckless with his kids.

[stewie-14.livejournal.com]

"Veronica Mars "Charlie Don't Surf"

I've never been a big Logan fan so this episode was a pleasant surprise. It seems everything Logan touches turns to crap and I felt really bad for him. I'm still surprised Veronica helped Dick and the frat but I think that's the only way she is going to catch the real rapist. Good episode."

She was only working for them to get dirt on them. I think she thought all along that they were guilty.

I see 3 possible outcomes for the story of Logan Echolls.
a)All the trials and tribulations make him stronger than ever. He becomes a rock, and lives happily ever after with Veronica.
b) He gets his life screwed up and screwed over one more time, and finally breaks. Collapsing to a shell of his former self, drifting through life, unable to care about anyone or anything (especially himself).
Either of those two sound fitting, and would be cool. B) would be sad, but I'd buy it.

What I'm afraid is more likely however is:
c) He takes the easy road and regresses into the annoying spoiled frat-boy 09er.
I keep feeling like they're going to do that, but have my hopes up.

"South Park "Hell on Earth 2006"

God, I loved this episode. I love it when South Park doesn't decide to do preachy current event episodes and simply decides to do a farce. True, it WAS a parody of a current show but it had enough zany subplots to keep me laughing. And ALL four plots going on in the episode were really great. I loved The Three Murderers and the Butters and Biggie Smalls thing was great. I also loved the prisets trying to get into the party. And the Steve Irwin scene was one of the funniest South Park scenes in ages.

Not an important episode by any means but a really fun one."

I liked it too. I didn't go for the rip on the spoiled-rich-girl-sweet-6-party thing because I've never seen that show. I know of it, but couldn't possibly care less. But Butters (say that three times fast) was hilarious. Even more than usual. And everyone's reaction to Biggie Smalls. And Biggie himself was funny (funny voicework).

I didn't mind the Steve Irwin thing. I was slightly disturbed by the priests and the little boys. The whole priest story was underdeveloped. Them wanting to get into the party just because it was cool didn't work. Usual South Park formula is to have them need to get into the party because they must do some misson to stop Satan from doing something. But their motivation just didn't make sense. Should've dropped that story completely.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

"She was only working for them to get dirt on them. I think she thought all along that they were guilty.

Maybe. I wish that had been made clearer.

"I see 3 possible outcomes for the story of Logan Echolls.
a)All the trials and tribulations make him stronger than ever. He becomes a rock, and lives happily ever after with Veronica.
b) He gets his life screwed up and screwed over one more time, and finally breaks. Collapsing to a shell of his former self, drifting through life, unable to care about anyone or anything (especially himself).
Either of those two sound fitting, and would be cool. B) would be sad, but I'd buy it.

What I'm afraid is more likely however is:
c) He takes the easy road and regresses into the annoying spoiled frat-boy 09er.
I keep feeling like they're going to do that, but have my hopes up."

I think B or C are more likely. If he ends up with Veronica I'll be kind of ticked. I just don't like him.

"I liked it too. I didn't go for the rip on the spoiled-rich-girl-sweet-6-party thing because I've never seen that show. I know of it, but couldn't possibly care less. But Butters (say that three times fast) was hilarious. Even more than usual. And everyone's reaction to Biggie Smalls. And Biggie himself was funny (funny voicework).

I didn't mind the Steve Irwin thing. I was slightly disturbed by the priests and the little boys. The whole priest story was underdeveloped. Them wanting to get into the party just because it was cool didn't work. Usual South Park formula is to have them need to get into the party because they must do some misson to stop Satan from doing something. But their motivation just didn't make sense. Should've dropped that story completely."

I don't think the priest story NEEDED to be developed. It was just a side gag. What I took from it was that the priests weren't ACTUALLY interested in stopping evil but building up their social standing which is pretty much in line with the priests who have been caught with little boys.

[stewie-14.livejournal.com]

"Lost "Every Man For Himself"

I haven't enjoyed a Sawyer spotlight since his first one in season one. Color me impressed. I'm not surprised Sawyer double crossed Ian Gomez but I AM surprised that he used the money to help his daughter.

I was REALLY bummed when Kate told Sawyer that she said she loved him only to stop them from hitting him. I DID like however that she decided to stick with Sawyer and climbed back into the cage. WE know she had no shot at escape but it means something because she didn't.

Ben/ Henry was a real hissable villian this week. I was relieved that he didn't actually put the pace-maker into Sawyer's chest and that apparantly the rabbit was still alive. I liked his wife's scenes with Jack though. I think Jack could turn out to be very inportant to the Others. I also don't think Zeke is quite the villian he was painted out to be in the first two seasons. We'll see.

I liked the episode. I'm getting used to this new storyline even though I liked last year better."

I'm liking this storyline well enough, but the timeline feels scrunched up. The first three episodes all took place at the same time. THere are too many storylines in too many different places. Jack, Kate/Sawyer, Sayid/Sun/Jin, Locke, and Desmond. And we're also busy analyzing everything The Others say because it gives us clues about their situation. And you could add
There have always been this many stories going, but they weren't all going at once. And they weren't on different Parts of the island (or whole other islands). I'm liking this better than much of last year though.

I'm still undecided about Sawyer. Not because I haven't seen enough of him, but the writers have been jerking me around for 2 years. What was all that crap last year in the crappy episode where he stole the guns and him reminding everyone he is a "bad guy"? If that were true, fine, I'd enjoy watching. But in every episode since, he's been a big pansy. Why even make him out to be a tough guy with a heart of gold. Just put a cross on him and call him Jesus.
And I don't care who Kate chooses. I can't figure out why any of the three would want the other. And their backstories have tread over themselves so much that they must be schizophrenic.

Every now and then, I get this impression that there will be a twist and it turns out that The Others are good guys. I sure hope not. Even if we find that some of the events attributed to them were different factions of Others, all the ones we've seen have been bad guys. I don't care if they are doing all this for a good reason. I am beyond forgiving them. Up until this season I could let everything go, and accept them as nuanced characters whose motivations I don't understand. But now, I just want them all to die. Violently.

Did you hear about this?
http://www.tv.com/story/6920.html?om_act=convert&clk=gumballs&tag=gumballs;title;4
Mal Reynolds on Lost. It will be glorious. I'll spend half the night trying to tell my parents who he is.

Me: "He was on Firefly."
Parent: "..."
Me: "It was a show."
Parent: "..."
Me: "A good show. A really good one."
Parent: "..."
Me: "Look, I've been right about every other show I told you to watch. 24, Spooks, Lost, the list goes on. Trust me."
Parent: "What channel is it on?"
Me: "It's not on anymore. It was on Fox."
Parent: "Is that channel 10?"
Me: "I'm hangin up. Lost is back on."

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

"I'm still undecided about Sawyer. Not because I haven't seen enough of him, but the writers have been jerking me around for 2 years. What was all that crap last year in the crappy episode where he stole the guns and him reminding everyone he is a "bad guy"? If that were true, fine, I'd enjoy watching. But in every episode since, he's been a big pansy. Why even make him out to be a tough guy with a heart of gold. Just put a cross on him and call him Jesus.
And I don't care who Kate chooses. I can't figure out why any of the three would want the other. And their backstories have tread over themselves so much that they must be schizophrenic."

I hated that episode last year. It contributed nothing. I actually liked Sawyer's flashback tonight. Dunno why but him doing time and having a daughter was stuff I kind of needed to see.

"Every now and then, I get this impression that there will be a twist and it turns out that The Others are good guys. I sure hope not. Even if we find that some of the events attributed to them were different factions of Others, all the ones we've seen have been bad guys. I don't care if they are doing all this for a good reason. I am beyond forgiving them. Up until this season I could let everything go, and accept them as nuanced characters whose motivations I don't understand. But now, I just want them all to die. Violently."

I can understand this. Even though I'm far from putting completely evil motivations for some of them like Juliet it's quite obvious that Henry/ Ben IS evil and that nothing he could be working on could be good. The Others messing with the castaways has just an air of nastiness to it that I don't think they'll ever be able to explain away, regardless of what their actual agenda is.

[dcauyojimbo.livejournal.com]

On the "Glass Ballernia", Colleen briefly whispered to Pickett that her team were taking the Galaga, now we know, the name of a submarine in their possession. How cool is that. A sub. This is probably what got edited out of the Pearl's Orientation Film when the Doctor mentions "Go to the Pala Ferry [where Jack, Kate and Sawyer were taken to by the Others in the Season two finale] and wait for the...". I also found it funny haha that the Polar Bears 'migrated' to the main island.

I was a little surprised that it didn't come up in the episode but I so think that Sawyer's ex was trying to get back at him with her own con, a fake daughter . I wouldn't be surprised if she might have some connection to Kate or that gang she was with in New Mexico, the Clemetine account was probably what they thought they were going after. If you remember, Kate admitted to Sun that she was pregnant once. What if Kate met and befriended Sawyer's ex and let her adopt Kate's daughter. Unbeknowst that this woman was connected to Sawyer and that she planned on conning him with the daughter.

That intercom communication that Jack heard was neat, as well. "you know what he's doing to Karl? Those teo shouldn't be here." Does that mean Karl was extracted from Rousseau's research team, too? The only other thing I can think of is maybe he was with a parent on one of those food drops, the parent got killed and the Others took in a younger Karl as their own.

40 year old man with a tumor...who else could it be but Ben.

But hell I'll give it to the Others for conning Sawyer.

Okay, it's confirmed Desmond is now a precog. Let's hope the Survivors figure it out and use it to their advantage.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

You noticed way more things than me. It probably doesn't help that I haven't visited any talkbacks or message boards for Lost this year. Thankfully I have you to keep me up to date. :D

"40 year old man with a tumor...who else could it be but Ben."

That would be neat.

"Okay, it's confirmed Desmond is now a precog. Let's hope the Survivors figure it out and use it to their advantage."

I hope so because it could be REALLY useful. I'm almost glad Jack is with the Others because he'd probably just spend half of the season trying to prove that Desmond is full of crap. :P

[dcauyojimbo.livejournal.com]

Heh, my pleasure. Submarines tend to be cool to I picked up on it a lot faster. I think it's cool if it really is named Galaga, it must be a pop reference to the video game and look like a centipede.

But yeah, my Kate-Sawyer theory is first one I came up this season so far. It's fun to think of them and watch other fans' reactions. I tend to do that all the time on the tz ones.

I noticed that Tom (AKA Zeke) seems to be a really nice guy and the most down to earth compared to the likes of Ben and Juliet who seem plain creepy.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Which is weird because last season they set up Tom/Zeke as the creepy one and Ben/ Henry as the sympathetic one. I really like that the writers pulled the wool over our eyes.

I too find Juliet creepy, but I still kind of really like her because she is also kind of sympathetic. I have a feeling she's going to turn out to be rotten though.

[dcauyojimbo.livejournal.com]

True, I did pick up that though Juliet is creepy, she has the potential to be redeemed. I heard rumors that she is supposed to be Jack's new love interest, but I'm on the fence about that one, even if it's true.

BTW, Matt you should watch Heroes if you don't already. If you need an incentive, today, Leonard Roberts is on the show. Anotehr mindblowing Whedon connection to an already great show. :P

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I've been taping them and I'll start watching it as soon as I'm caught up to Battlestar Galactica. It was REALLY smart for NBC to run that three hour marathon a couple of Sundays ago. Now I'm pretty much all caught up or I will be when I watch my tape.