Reaper: The Leak
(S01E17) All things considered, this has been a pretty good week for Reaper. In light of the very real possibility that next week’s season finale could have been a series finale, news that the show has been picked up for next season is cause for celebration. Sure, the thirteen episodes for mid-season part isn’t ideal, but hey, gift horses and whatnot. I am already looking forward to a Reaper/Supernatural block on Thursday nights. And hey, there was a new episode too. There was a lot going on, but the big news was that after months of patience, there is finally some news on the contract. That, and the rest of the episode, after the jump.
Once again this week, the show managed to weave a collection of stories together. Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up. Ben and Sara, not that the story wasn’t good, but it’s hard to compete with the contract. I like the way this has all played out. Giving a much bigger story to Ben makes a huge difference. It’s been pretty obvious from the get go that the marriage wasn’t going to end well, and tonight it all came crashing down.
The lead up was fantastic, with Tyler Labine stealing the scene as they prepared for their interview. “Benjamin, rip off that shirt. We gotta get you lubed up.” The combination of fear and bewilderment emanating from Ben through the entire process was perfect, even forgetting his own mother’s name. But the crucial scene was that of the proposed bribe. I was hoping and hoping that Ben was going to throw her under the bus right there, showing up only to wave goodbye as the immigration agents carted her off. Nice guy Ben just doesn’t have that in him though. I knew the money was gone, but was guessing it had gone back to Manchester with Sara, not that she was on the lam. Nice that it leaves the door open for her possible return in season two.
Then we had one Mike Volta. Richard Burgi is always good, so nice casting there. Just as a soul of the week, it was pretty solid. The back and forth between Mike and Sam reminded me of the old cartoon “Don’t Give Up The Sheep” with Sam the sheepdog and Ralph the wolf. Both of them just going about their jobs. No reason they couldn’t be civil during their off time. I also really liked the Polaroid vessel, and the disposable flash bulbs were a great touch. Another interesting bit of Mike’s tale though, was the possibility that comes out of what we learn about Mike. Given his penchant for seducing married women, is it so inconceivable that he could be Sam’s father? Certainly all signs point to Jerry at this point, but it’s certainly not something that is set in stone. Don’t they look alike?
But the best part of Mike’s story was that it gave Gladys more to do. If you had seen any of the previews for the episode, they blew the big reveal that she was Mike’s inside man long ago. That was unfortunate, but not a huge deal as there was plenty more to the story. As it played out, it was almost a little sad when Gladys revealed that she did it because she was tired of being lonely. Awwww. It makes you feel for her. Not unlike the reaction we saw from Sock. I like that he has formed such an attachment to Gladys. Blaming himself for her death, and how he fretted over her burial.
Her resurrection came as a relief. And given the nature of it, I’m going to start operating under the notion that Claire from Heroes is a demon, because the idea just makes the show so much more entertaining. It’s also worth mentioning the showdown at the DMV between Jerry and Gladys. Just the looks from the two of them were fantastic. I know that the CW doesn’t get Emmy nominations, because of entirely too many sticks stuck in entirely too many asses. And neither do supernatural/comedy shows, but good grief, is anybody better at their job on TV than Ray Wise? I am awfully thankful that Sam, and his special connection, were able to get Gladys her old gig back. She’s just too much a part of the show to be gone so soon.
And finally, the contract. It’s been a long wait, but I was thrilled when Andi butted in and got Tony on board with taking a look at the contract. And even happier to see Conrad Coates (The Dresden Files) as Kenneth, the go to demon for contract law. Not only did we learn what we had expected, that the page Sam’s father ripped out had to do with who Sam’s real father was, but he removed multiple pages that referenced it. Just that one little reveal sets up a whole pile of conflicts for the big finale.
Now that Tony believes Sam is one of Jerry’s kids, does he tell him what they found? Will the other demons share Tony’s protective nature where Sam is concerned? Assuming that they do tell him, how’s that scene play out with the parents? And does Sam jump to the same conclusions as Tony, Kenneth, and the rest of us? It could make for some great scenes with Sam and Jerry. So many ways to go, but we’ll have to wait until next week to see how it all plays out.
One quick edit to settle the debate on which camera Sam was using for the vessel. On the left, an admittedly grainy screencap from the episode. And on the right, the Polaroid OneStep. Two points for bc and tracey. 
House: No More Mr. Nice Guy
.jpg)
(S04E13) Damn, that should have been my epiphany.
Tonight’s episode of House made me wish it was 1995 and I was still living in the freshmen dorms at Trenton State College. If I were back in college, I would be able to wander out to the hallway right now and start a philosophical conversation about what is more important: your happiness or your health? I mean after all, bra, what’s the point of being healthy if you’re unable to enjoy it? I could then go on to question whether the color blue was the same for me as it is for everyone else. Deeeeeeeeep.
Well, I don’t have a freshmen dorm at my disposal, but I do have TV. Epiphanies, philosophy, and syphilis after the jump…
The first image we saw tonight — after a two-and-a-half month strike-induced break — was, uh, a picket line. The nurses at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital are on strike, which gives us both the patient of the week and a nice little nod in the direction of the writer’s strike. Jeff, a husband of one of the striking nurses, collapses (natch), and we’re off and running.
Our guy is discovered by House in the severely under-staffed emergency room. Unlike anyone who’s ever been to an emergency room ever, Jeff is not angry at having to wait. Indeed, even though he’s been there through two meals and has yet to be seen (he’s low priority), he’s still smiling and pleasant. And not, as House points out, fake-smiling and fake-pleasant: he actually feels that way. In House’s world-view niceness is a symptom. He takes the case (even though no one on the team believes that there’s a case to take).
As the team reluctantly investigates Jeff’s case of MisterRogersitis, House is confronting the sad fact that Wilson is no longer completely his anymore. Amber (Cut-throat Bitch? She’s both, but which do you guys prefer for these reviewcaps?) is sinking her claws ever more deeply into House’s best friend and, worse, she seems up to the task of deflecting House’s usual manipulations. It’s gotten so bad that House is actually hanging out with Chase.
House is driven to ask for custody rights. Amber and he fight over Wilson and when they can’t resolve the issue, they take it up with Cuddy. She’s annoyed — House, as usual, is wasting her time and performance reviews are due — but she ultimately issues a ruling: House gets Wednesdays and every other weekend.
I thought the House-Wilson-Amber triangle was funny, especially when Amber and House fought like a divorced couple during pick-up and drop-off times. At first I flashed back to Bye Bye Love and its McDonald parking lot. Then, though, sadly, I began to flash back to Chasing Amy; specifically, the scene in which Holden tells Amy and Banky that the only way to resolve their awkward, weird, three-way relationship is to, well, have a three way.
I wasn’t a fan of that movie and I’m not sure I’m a fan of the direction House is taking with this particular plot line. The problem is that House, Wilson, and Amber are all too smart not to be self-aware: they know how ridiculous the situation is, even as they’re engaging in it. While I might accept House and Wilson’s psychological evaluation of each other as part of the give-and-take of their relationship, I don’t know just yet if it works with a third party being involved. I’m hedging here because I like Amber a lot — she’s a good foil for House — but the tug-of-war over Wilson looks to be not only getting old, but getting creepy.
The team settles on syphilis as a possible cause of Jeff’s niceness. As a side note to this from someone who has gown up in a world where venereal disease kills people: What!? The worst our grandparents had to worry about if they messed around with the wrong person is that they got nice and happy? I was totally born in the wrong generation.
Kutner’s exploration of Jeff’s possible syphilis leads him to make the following logical leap: if niceness is symptomatic of a disease, then the opposite must hold true as well. Meanness must come from the same place! If Jeff is sick, then so is House. It’s a ridiculous premise and I’m sure you were all thinking the same thing I was: there’s no possible way that a mid-season episode would take the main character’s defining characteristic and explain it away so… blandly. It would be like Meathead discovering that Archie Bunker’s racism was caused by a bump to the head and that all they needed to do to undo the damage was bump him in the same spot.
That was, of course, until they tested an old sample of House’s blood and it proved positive for syphilis. Credit the writing staff and the twisty path of past House seasons that for about ten minutes there I was actually fooled into thinking that we might have gotten to the bottom of this whole House Dilemma.
As always, I’m an idiot. House had planted a false sample with the knowledge that, at some point, the team would find it and test it. Why? Because this is the kind of thing that House does.
That said, the false positive allowed for two things:
1. An interesting discussion on the nature of genius. It goes something like this: House is miserable because of [reason x]. The team finds a solution for [reason x] and House is no longer miserable. BUT, if that misery is the fulcrum on which his genius turns, are they doing House a service or a disservice by removing it? Kinda makes you wish you had an apple bong right about now doesn’t it?
This is not the first time House has explored this topic (and I’m sure it’ll be brought up every other episode until the ninth season when House finally learns to be nice thanks to his buddy, the Great Gazoo), but it was interesting seeing how each member of the team dealt with the possibility that the penicillin they gave House might have destroyed his genius.
Further, the episode gives us something to talk about: if you were a miserable genius, would you exchange your genius for happiness? As someone who is generally pretty miserable with no genius save the ability to make family members angry at holidays, I would gladly take a little more misery in my life if it meant I could suddenly count cards Rain Man style or humiliate uptight Harvard d-bags, Will Hunting style. What about you?
2. After Amber gives up the secret of House’s phony bloodwork (which she got from Wilson, despite his promise not to tell), Kutner gets the kind of epiphany usually saved for House himself. If it was possible that House’s bloodwork was a false positive, it’s also possible the same is true for Jeff. A quick test for a parasitic disease called “chagas” shows that it’s present, which causes encephalitis which means… blah blah blah medical jargon. The end result is that Jeff is going to be okay, if a little different in demeanor. How different we can only guess at, but you can assume that his hot nurse wife is none too thrilled that the best part of her husband might have just been killed off with the parasites causing his other problems.
As a fat man with his own hot wife, I found that last part particularly disturbing. Ahh, House, this is why “you don’t care.”
Tonight’s episode was a good one, made better by the fact that its return was so welcome. I’m not sure it would rank better than average had it aired in a regular season, though. It was overstuffed and oddly paced. I’ll put it down to cobwebs, however, with the show being gone for so long. I’m expecting a return to form next week.
Other Stuff:
– Is it me or is Kutner becoming the break-out of the new team? Maybe they’re just giving Kal Penn all the good lines because of how well Harold and Kumar was tracking when they filmed this.
– “31?” “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought that either way was good with you.”
– “I didn’t invite you to be nice. I invited you because bowling isn’t one of the two things that guys do by themselves.” “What’s the second thing?” “…Other hand.” Is that the funniest masturbation joke of the week or does someone else have another nomination?
– I’m definitely feeling like the cast is starting to get unwieldy. The pre-strike episodes seemed to handle it pretty well, but tonight’s break-room scene felt about as natural as Chrissy’s calls from Fresno to Jack and Janet at the end of Suzanne Somers’s run on Three’s Company. I think we’re either due for some major cast-trimming or the acknowledgment that everyone can’t appear in every episode.
– Speaking to that: notice that I didn’t mention much about the staff performance reviews in the main review. Since it felt like it was tacked on to the episode (mainly to give Omar Epps something to do other than wear a suit and look flustered), I didn’t see how to easily integrate it to the reviewcap. Please, if I’m missing something, let me know in the comments: was that subplot necessary tonight?
– “Come over to the poopy side.”
– Did Cameron sleep with House? If so, when? This is a huge development, and not just because I’m a pervert who likes to really think about those kinds of things (but also, yes, because I’m a pervert too). Speculate in the comments!
ER: The Truth Will Out
(S14E16) Before I begin this week’s review of ER, I want to speak for a moment about the ambulance bay at County General. The place should be considered an Extreme Danger Zone and permanently closed. Over the last fourteen seasons it has been the location of car accidents, tank accidents, explosions, falling helicopters, and now a gas fire. The gas fire was courtesy of a patient who came in from an ambulance drenched in gasoline and was started by a careless smoker. By the way, smoking should be banned from the ambulance bay as well.
If you review some of the ER records you’ll find that a good portion of the patients were actually injured in the ambulance bay itself. That doesn’t bode well for the hospital. So, I say close it down, make it a nice little park area, and have the patients brought in through an underground parking garage. At least no helicopters will crush them should they fall off the roof of the hospital.
With that out of the way, let’s get going with this week’s review.
I was going to start my review criticizing the return of Abby to the emergency room: from the previews it looked like she was going to work to redeem herself once again after she did wrong to herself and her friends once again. Well, I shouldn’t have taken the previews to heart (I never learn) because Abby wasn’t looking for squat this episode. All she was trying to do was save some lives. Although, it always seems that Abby saves a mother and child after something bad has happened to her. I can recall an episode in the seventh season where, after a particularly dark time in her life, she helped keep alive a very premature baby in order for it to be baptized.
At least she could control her circumstances in the ER. When it came to her home life it was a totally different story. It was revealed that, while in Croatia, Abby told Luka about her little one-night stand with Dr. Moretti. Luka, while being a fairly nice guy, was not very forgiving about what happened. And, he had every right not to be forgiving. Illness or not, weak or not, there was still some part of Abby that could have stopped what she did. Now, Abby is in wait-or-see mode to find out what her husband of only a few months is going to do. By the end of the episode it looked like Luka was going to move out. Whether this will be for a short period of time or forever remains to be seen.
Staying on track with Dr. Kovac, a few episodes ago we learned that Luka quit County General to do something else. That something else was hospice work, and we found him looking for such a position this week. He ended up taking a position at a facility where he spent time playing poker with one of the residents. This was significant for two reasons. One, it gave newer viewers a chance to get a brief history of how Luka came to Chicago and County General. Two, it showed a different side of Luka that we normally don’t see.
Most of the time he has had that stoic, tight-lipped, low-lidded look about him. When talking to the hospice patient (played by actor Hal Holbrook) his face was different. He was animated; his eyes were wide open; he smiled broadly from time to time; he spoke with more passion than he normally does. Maybe it was just the camera angle making things different, but, to me, it showed another side to Luka that he hasn’t shown to his former co-workers.
So, what else went on in the hallways and trauma rooms of ER this week?
- Once again we saw an example of how Lucien Dubenko can get too involved with the people he works with to the point of being a bit defensive. This time around it involved Skye Wexler, the woman he’s been involved with since earlier this season. Lucien knew how much of a free spirit Skye was, but he still became jealous when he saw Simon Brenner flirting with her. Of course, his little outburst did nothing to help their relationship.
- While on the subject of Dr. Brenner — he’s still a git. Plus, he speaks too fast and so low that I can barely hear a frakking thing he says. At least he had his head handed to him thanks to his little screw-up over the speakerphone — blurting out that one of Abby’s patients had cancer while the patient was listening. We can only hope that Neela doesn’t fall under the spell of Brenner that other women at County have done.
- Sam and Tony: What’s happening here is that Sam doesn’t have a clue how to act in a semi-normal relationship after a few years playing the field. She’s being ultra-cautious at work, which causes a rift in her very new relationship with Tony. Luckily, she realized what she was doing and made up for it with a lovely dinner on the rooftop. Can this mean that we finally have a solid romantic relationship on ER? Nah, it can’t be true!
- Pratt decided to let his girlfriend make the cancer journey alone, according to her wishes. Unfortunately, Archie wouldn’t let him get away with it. So, he ended up going to her apartment, only to freeze up. It’s a delicate state he’s in: go and be there with her and have her accept Pratt with open arms, or go in and have her accuse Greg of giving her attention because she’s sick. What’s a love-struck Attending to so?
- Finally, Archie Morris has a man crush on Dr. Brenner.
That’s all for this week. Next time — despite all of the new security someone still is able to bring a gun to the ER, causing a hostage situation. Well, at least we get a Morris-centric episode out of it.
Survivor Micronesia: I Promise …
(S16E10) “When you’re annoying, you might not be able to appease everybody with a donut. They might just want the donut.” - James
All week the promos for tonight’s Survivor Micronesia episode were saying that a blunder would overtake James having two idols and not playing them to save himself in Survivor China. It’s true. James is no longer the goat of stupid moves. Maybe they should rename the tag line for the season. Instead of Fans vs. Favorites, it could be When Smart Castaways Do Dumb Things. Or, When Smarter Castaways Outwit Those Not as Smart.
Read on past the jump for the full review of tonight’s episode.
Argh, I don’t even know where to start. You see, I’ve been an Ozzy fan since his season. In the game, there are some basic proven strategies. You can be like Ozzy — very strong in physical challenges and usually astute to what’s going around you so you can plan ahead. You can be like Richard Hatch — manipulative and sneaky, but be a provider. It’s rare that anyone is like Ethan Zohn, the winner of Survivor Africa. He was good in challenges, a nice guy, and basically honest throughout the game. Then there’s Cirie Fields. Although sturdy and strong, she’s not great at challenges. She’s not a provider. But she might beat Richard Hatch in the people manipulating arena.
The game is “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.” It’s beginning to look like Cirie may be the triple threat to fit that bill. She’s still no physical threat to anyone as shown in tonight’s reward challenge schoolyard pick. With the way she’s been playing this season, I don’t think it matters that she’s always chosen last in those picks. She can scheme and has gotten way sneakier since her season. It’s starting to look the women might be running the show soon. That is, if they can keep this rolling. Of course, if they do, they’ll eventually have to kill off their own … er … vote each other off.
I have to touch on the reward for a moment. I get the same feelings Ozzy said he has about Erik. I swear that kid is growing on me more each week. Last week he had the fake tribe name. This week he was like the kid in The Sixth Sense, but instead of dead people, he saw boobs. “More boobs than I’ve ever seen in my life!” Then he just had to go and experiment with betel nuts and Micronesian beer (not to be confused with microbrews). Between his wide-eyed wonderment at everything, his excitement for the game, his loyalty to Ozzy for saving him … I’m really enjoying this skinny little dude. Plus, he seems to be basically nice. Nice can be good.
I’m still not getting much of a feel for either Alexis or Natalie. Other than becoming Cirie’s flying monkeys, I can’t say if I think they’re good game players or not. Parvati is annoying me to no end. Had she voted with her alliance, Ozzy wouldn’t have been voted out tonight. Had she even told her alliance, Ozzy could have played the idol and saved his butt in the game.
Jason? What about Jason? I cannot believe that, knowing he’s the main target, he trusted everyone who outright lied to him promising him they wouldn’t vote him out! They lied to him! Their fingers were crossed! These games are sneaky! What the hell is going on in his mind? He could have won immunity. I believe he could have outlasted Parvati. But, no … he wants friends. Right in the beginning of the show he ticked me off when he said, “Ozzy is not the only God-like competitor to play this game.” He was referring to himself. Get over yourself, kid. Cirie will eat you for a snack and spit out your bones!
So, the plan was to go back on their word to Jason. Now, I know that is kind of a mean thing to do. But if the kid is such a fan of the show, he should know that you can’t trust anyone in the game. Perhaps you can trust an individual, but no way in hell can you trust an entire group! Yeah, it was a lowdown plan, but they did have their fingers crossed. That works with the IRS, right? Um … oops, didn’t mean that. Nonetheless, it was a stupid thing for him to do.
Enter Cirie, gathering her flying monkeys. Now, the flying monkeys think that Cirie has their interests in mind — girl power and all that stuff. But, no. Cirie has her own agenda. She wants to pick off all the strong players and be in the end game. Sure, she can take an identity-less fan like Alexis or Natalie with her. Then she’d win hands down. Love her or hate her, she’s playing a damn smart game this season.
I guess Ozzy got what he deserved for being stupid enough to not play that idol. He shouldn’t have felt as secure. Eliza’s reaction was just a bit overacted, but I felt it coming. Too bad Ozzy didn’t feel it coming, eh? At least he knows that Erik (his little buddy like Gilligan was to the Skipper), James, and Amanda voted for Jason to leave. And, to the others (mainly Parvati), his closing words said it all, “Screw you.”
Although I wanted Ozzy for the win, this was one of the better episodes of the season. It was definitely the biggest blindside in a season of blindsiding. At least I have folks in the show I think deserve to win for gameplay or just because I like them. That’s differing from Big Brother 9 in which I don’t care much for any of them. I like James, Erik, and Amanda. Hats off to Cirie for a great strategical game. I can’t say I like all that’s happened this season, but it’s definitely entertaining me. That’s all I want from the show.
Stupid Ozzy … argh!