Sunday, October 31, 2010

Dexter 4x12

Dexter, The Getaway, on Showtime
Dexter has been trying to rid the world of the monster that is known as the “Trinity Killer,” but family and work and many other distractions sidetracked him time and again. Now, the killer is on to him. Arthur Mitchell knows his real name and occupation. This is the season finale and the heat is on! Arthur tells Dexter to leave him alone and advices him to give up his vigilantism. “You’re not very good at it. Goodbye, Dexter Morgan.” Dexter follows him, but is stopped by Quinn who accuses him of chasing girls instead of working on his rapport of Christine’s suicide. Dex brushes him off, hot in pursuit of the “Trinity Killer.” He chases him to a parking garage, meanwhile side-swiping a car’s side-view mirror as he’s talking to Rita on the phone about honeymoon plans. In the garage, Dex subdues Arthur and finds an envelope stacked with all the money he owns. Dex concludes Arthur is planning his getaway. He is disrupted by a scene outside the garage. The man whose car he damaged has called in the police. He argues with the officers and gets arrested for fleeing the scene of an accident. In prison, Dex wonders whether it’s because of his “Dark Passenger” or his family life that he messed up. Rita then picks him up, as he’s released due to overcrowding.

Ordered to take a day off, Deb has another meeting with one of her father’s informers. The woman takes her on a trip. They arrive at a house that Deb recognizes as the place where the “Ice Truck Killer” took her. The woman tells her this is where one of Harry’s old girlfriends, Laura Moser, lived with her two boys. Researching Laura Moser, Deb learns her sons names where Brian and Dexter. Capt. Matthews, one of her father’s colleagues, confirms that Harry adopted Dexter after Laura died, but encourages her to keep the information to herself.

Meanwhile, Miami Metro realizes Stan Beaudry cannot be the “Trinity Killer,” because there is enough evidence to place him elsewhere in many cases. Batista has also discovered that in each killing cycle there was a missing boy prior to the three killings. The “Trinity Killer” must have planted the evidence to frame someone else. Deb talks to Scott, the boy kidnapped by the “Trinity Killer,” hoping to find any new clues. He draws a picture of the Four Walls logo. That leads them to the building site where they find the body of another victim. Running through the names of volunteers working for Four Walls leads them to the killer. Once they arrive at the Mitchells’ house, Dex is already there – acting as if he is searching the garage for evidence. Deb notices something is off, but is too concerned about her own discovery. She tells him she knows Laura Moser was his mother, and that the “Ice Truck Killer” was his brother, but stops short of wondering if Harry could be his father. She is thankful that Dex has been the one constant, the one constantly good thing in her life. Dex expresses his gratitude.

Dexter has more pressing concerns. Arthur has fled Miami in his repaired and newly painted convertible. When his engine overheats, Dex jumps up from behind the car. (I have no idea how he was able to trace him.) Next, we’re back at the bomb shelter where Arthur held Scotty. Dex has prepared the scene for his ritual. He confronts Arthur about the monster he is, while Arthur pleads that he gave everything to his family. Dex tells him Christine killed herself. Arthur chides that he’s no better than him. Dexter bludgeons Arthur with a framing hammer and later dumps his body at sea. He wonders if Rita is looking up at the full moon from the Florida Keys, where she is waiting for him to celebrate their honeymoon. He feels connected and hopes his family can help him be rid of his “Dark Passenger.” Once home, he responds to a lovely message Rita left him. He hears her cell phone ringing in another room. Then baby Harrison starts crying in the bathroom. Turning on the light, he sees his son in a pool of blood. Rita lies lifeless in the bathtub. What a nightmare! Dex thought he could keep his family safe, but the sins of the father shall be visited upon the children.

This has been another excellent season. The main story arc as well as the various subplots were riveting – apart, perhaps, of the dalliance between LaGuerta and Batista. I watched all twelve episodes in the span of about a week as I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. The performances, not only of Michael Hall (Dexter) and Jennifer Carpenter (Debra), but of all involved, were stellar. The addition of John Lithgow (Arthur) and Courtney Ford (Christine) this season was also tremendously engaging. Season five has already started a month ago. So, stay tuned for more Dexter next week.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Planet Terror

Planet Terror movie review on NY Times
In the spirit of Halloween, the Cricket thought it would be appropriate chirping on some over-the-top zombie horror action flick, like Planet Terror (2007), Robert Rodriguez’ contribution to the Grindhouse double feature. This is a textbook example of disgusting sore and rotting gore, and an all-out splatterfest. Nothing spells over-the-top better than a former go-go dancer (Rose McGowen) with a machine gun for a prosthetic leg. Then there’s the botched military transaction with some Indian biochemist who likes to cut off testicles. A green fume is released, prisoners escape, and soon radioactive blistered zombies are attacking stranded damsels (including Fergie). We also have a paranoid doctor who is treating the affected townspeople – and who is suspecting his anesthesiologist wife of cheating on him (with Fergie! Nice. But she’s dead.) Before you know it all hell is breaking lose in all its fiery rampage. And amidst such terrifying insanity, the only natural thing to do is having sex. The faux-seventies air, with the weird new-age synthesizer soundtrack, is annoyingly distracting. Never mind it’s supposed to be a “tribute” to the grindhouse fare of yesteryears. The story obviously takes place in this millennium, what with the cell phones, rifles with night-goggles, video games, references to the “Food Channel,” Jesse James the motorcycle guy, and even Bin frikken Laden! It would have been fun if I could turn my brain off, but I’ve seen worse.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Modern Family 1x05

Modern Family, Coal Digger, on ABC
When the whole Modern Family is coming over, you know things are going to get awkward. Jay’s upset Gloria invited the family for some barbeque, because the Ohio State game is on. Turns out Cameron used to be a starting offensive lineman at the University of Illinois, who are playing against the Buckeyes. Mitchell doesn’t like football, but is pressured into making an effort enjoying his partner’s interests. But before the get together, Claire and Phil are called to school as Luke got into a fight. As they arrive in the principal’s office, they find Jay and Gloria there already. There was some name-calling and shoving. Manny keeps calling Luke his nephew, because, well, technically he’s his uncle. Even the principal is confused. Thing is, it brings out the tension between Claire and Gloria. At the gathering, the boys make up, with a good smack on the head by Jay. But the girls, well, they have some unresolved issues. They try to talk, but Phil keeps interrupting with his dorkish cool phrases. “Wow, powerful, powerful stuff,” he intones all seriously, when Gloria admits she feels that Claire doesn’t like her. When things improve, he smiles, “I’m feeling a hug” – he’s thinking group hug (anything to feel Gloria up).

Then it’s dinner time, Luke and Manny are joking around with each other. “I made fun of his mom, because she used to dig coal,” Luke says. “What?” Gloria asks angrily. “Who said I’m a coal digger?” “That’s what my mom told me,” Luke answers. Oh-oh. “It was all in my head, huh?” Gloria tells Claire. Tension’s mounting again. Claire confesses it was only a natural assumption to make, such a beautiful young woman marrying Jay. Phil jumps on the opportunity to talk to Gloria alone. In her anger, she starts throwing her colorful panties around, to make the point she doesn’t need all these things to love Jay. Clair walks in, wondering why her husband is covered in Gloria’s underwear, he leaves and the girls talk it over. To get even, though, Gloria wants Claire to embarrass herself in front of the family – by jumping in the pool with her clothes on, then she’ll know she’s sorry. Letting bygones be bygones, everybody ends up in the pool. Yes, I’m starting to get into this. I actually got a few good laughs here.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Weeds 6x10

Weeds, Dearborn-Again, on Showtime
This roaming around is doing Weeds a lot of good! Every episode offers entirely new possibilities for comedy and emotional development. This week, Nancy takes her family to her hometown, Dearborn, in Michigan. They crash at the home of her old high school math teacher, Warren Schiff (special guest star Richard Dreyfus), but she persistently denies she lost her virginity to him. Of course, Shane and Silas are curious about their mother’s past. And Warren is eager to share. There’s even a suggestion that Silas isn’t the son of the man he always thought was his father. Some delightful moments ensue, in which the boys ring a man’s door who may be Silas’ real dad. He really is a grown-up version of Silas.

Meanwhile, Nancy is trying to sell some hash for one more big score, but she’s told kids don’t want to get mellow, the want to get fucked up. Thus, Andy concocts a fierce drink that gives you a rich experience all night. They’re hoping it will become a hit. Yet, if they wish to flee the country, they will also need passports. So, while demurring the discriminatory implications, Andy visits a local mosque whispering “passport” in hopes of catching bait. Outside he’s approached by a Muslim who gives them an address and tells him to ask for his uncle Sam. Do you see it coming? It’s the U.S. Federal Passport Registration Office – Uncle Sam, get it? At the cemetery paying respect to her parents, Nancy is approached by an old classmate, who later phones someone (Esteban? the FBI?) that he has finally found them...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Gossip Girl 4x06

Gossip Girl, Easy J, on The CW
There have been quite a few new faces on Gossip Girl – to avoid running around in circles who’s dating who. Chuck’s Parisian girlfriend, Eva, was a nice addition for as long as it lasted, but ultimately she had to go, because we want our Chuck mean and nasty, not tame and boring. I’m bothered, though, by this guy relentlessly pursuing Serena, Colin Forrester (Sam Page, who I also can’t appreciate as Joan’s husband Greg on Mad Men). And what do you know, he turns out to be her new Columbia professor. She has to chose between love and career. Her mother Lily is none too pleased, but uses some nice reverse psychology by encouraging to go for it. A beautiful girl like her, she reasons, can essentially marry whomever she wants, so why worry about studying. It helps – for now, at least. When Nate stops by to visit his father in penitentiary (imprisoned for fraud and embezzlement), guess who’s waiting in line to get in too? Yup, Juliet Flatchester! While he comes clean about his father, she lies flat to his face that she’s volunteering for the inmate literacy program. That same day his father is used as a punching bag. Things are going too far for Juliet. She is truly starting to fall for Nate, while he just about had it with her behavior.

Meanwhile, Blair is having nightmares about Chuck and a girl she can’t quite figure out who she is. It’s like Wait Until Dark. (Blair likes to dream she’s Audrey Hepburn.) When she visits the Vander Woodsens suddenly it’s déjà-vu. She opens the door – and Jenny’s back on the block! Now, remember that Blair swore to ruin Jenny if she ever set foot in Manhattan again after she slept with Chuck the day he was supposed to propose to Blair. Who wouldn’t be vengeful? Obviously Chuck is behind Jenny’s interview at Parsons – and just as naturally Blair is behind sabotaging her dresses spelling out W.H.O.R.E. on the models. Chuck arranges a second chance at some New York Observer party, where Jenny apologizes for the embarrassing situation to Tim Gunn (Project Runway). Then she tells Chuck and Blair, “goodbye, good riddance and good luck.” Confronted with their inevitable demise, Chuck offers Blair a truce, which she reluctantly accept – emotional as it makes her hoping they may get back together again. Rihanna sings “Love the Way You Lie” on the soundtrack. And then at the closing scene Colin pays Juliet a check for all her trouble... Oh, the drama!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

BBC Oceans: Indian Ocean - coastal waters

Oceans: Indian Ocean - coastal waters
Oceans cover two-thirds of our planet, they hold clues to the mysteries of our past, and are vital for our future survival. That is the message this BBC nature documentary has been trying to get across. In this second installment about the Indian Ocean the focus is on the Spice Islands off Tanzania, on the edge of two continents, where the full force of the Indian Ocean collides with the African coast. These waters are a nursery supporting an enormous diversity of marine life. But the ocean’s currents can also cause unpredictably heavy weather (rain, storm, monsoons, cyclones), that can trigger floods, droughts and famine. The Spice Islands, moreover, are an intense meeting point of man and sea, particularly vulnerable to human impact. Starting at the north of the archipelago, Tooni Mahto and Paul Rose dive inside a submerged facture in the solid rock on the edge of Pemba Island, a fissure between the two continents. They find a recess teeming with life, where the inhabitants have adapted to living in the shadows. One example is green tree coral which does not contain algae, but feeds by filtering the food that the currents sweep into the passageway. At night, Tooni and Philippe Cousteau Jr assess the health of the coral reefs and find a wide variety of species, including large table corals, staghorn and pineapple corals. Naturally, environmental conservationist Philippe is visibly excited about the reef’s vibrancy. Off Zanzibar, the team takes coral core samples to create a data record of weather patterns that could help scientist predicting natural disasters.

Tooni and Paul then show us the marvelous land crabs, that are halfway between land and sea creatures with lungs and gills, lay their larvae in the water but live their adult life on land. Then Philippe and Tooni visit the mangrove lagoons around Mafia Island in search for the enigmatic sea horse in the lively waters teeming with juvenile scorpion fish, yellow box fish, tiny squid, and hermit crab. Sea horses have been heavily exported from Tanzania for the traditional eastern medicine market. They actually find the largest recorded specimen of its kind. On the west coast of the island, maritime archaeologist Lucy Blue dives with Paul to study the remains of the village of Ras Kisimani washed into the sea by a cyclone in 1872. Not only is the seaboard littered with nineteenth century local pottery, but she also discovers fifteenth-century Persian ware, as well as fourteenth century East Asian ceramics. The site was thus once a trading hub between Africa, Arabia and Asia. Finally, Philippe has the chance of a lifetime to swim with a group of whale sharks, the world’s largest fish. Not a bad episode, but not exceptional either.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Caprica 1x12

Caprica, The Things We Lock Away, on Syfy
We start off nicely in the sci-fi world of New Cap City, two Deathwalkers squaring off. (More of this, the Cricket chirps!) Not too surprisingly, Tamara Adama is a little resentful of the fact that Zoe Graystone killed her in the real world. “Remember the Maglev bombing?” “Oh, that.” “Yes, that!” (Alas, the dialog leaves something to be desired.) Quite a few other people are none too pleased they lost their friends or family on that train either. Zoe may not be able to die in v-world, but she sure can feel pain when they punch and kick, and shoot and stab her. Through flashbacks we learn that Zoe was responsible for creating the avatar program that is behind the holoband virtual reality. There was also some gibberish about virtual doppelgangers that doesn’t hold much water. At any rate, nothing brings girl closer than a good cat fight. So, in the end Tamara agrees to help Zoe find her higher purpose.

For her part, Sister Clarice Willow is holding Lacey hostage, not in her remote log cabin, but in the attic of her monotheist polygamous community home – and drugging her water. After letting her suffer for a bit, just enough to make her desperate, Clarice gets enough information to let the girl go – well she sends her away to the terrorist training camp on Gemenon. Meanwhile Amanda is ransacking the cabin for STO clues, but to no avail. In all their double-dealing, they manage to convince each other that it would be a good idea for Amanda to live with Clarice and her various husbands and wives.

Enough board members have been blackmailed into reinstating Daniel Graystone as executive officer of his own company. Quite naturally, Joseph Adama informs him that they now need to take care of Tomas Vergis. Daniel offers Tom a pact. As two powerful businessmen they can combine resources and drive Guatrau’s Ha’latha to the ground – and return them to the soil whence they came. But his Tauran stubbornness disallows him a good deal when he gets one. His enemy overcame him, and now he must die. He plunges the blade in his chest like Cato at Utica.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Dexter 4x11

Dexter, Hello Dexter Morgan, on Showtime
Christine Hill has been taken into custody as a witness on the “Trinity Killer” investigation – as her DNA is related to his. She pretends not to know who her father is. As she refuses to co-operate, Deb and Batista search Christine’s house and find postcards her father sent her, all signed “Love, Daddy.” (Still no name.) Some match known locations of the “Trinity Killer” case. Confronted with the evidence, Christine demands a lawyer. Quinn is forced to accept the truth, enraged how she used him all this time. Deb consoles him by reminding him she had been engaged to the “Ice Truck Killer.” After a night in a cell, Christine is let go, hoping she will lead them to the “Trinity Killer.” She calls her father again, who tells her never to talk to him again and that he wishes she had never been born.

Dexter, meanwhile, worries that his colleagues will catch Arthur before he can. So, he decides to set them off on a false lead. Arthur calls “Kyle,” after hearing the news about Scott’s safe return. Dex made sure no one can link Arthur to the boy’s disappearance. So what does he want, Arthur wonders? To deflect him, “Kyle” demands $50,000 to remain silent. Arthur grabs a phone books to look up “Kyle Butler.” Then, Dexter is called in for an emergence at a crime scene. A Kyle Butler has been murdered. Now he knows Arthur is hunting for him. He breaks into Arthur’s house to collect a razor, comb and toothbrush so as to frame his decoy. The victim in question is a truck driver, accused of murder. Miami Metro is soon enough alerted to the man’s disappearance and finds the evidence Dexter planed in his truck and at his house.

Deb is told Christine wants to talk to her in private. Quinn drives her to Christine’s apartment. Dejected by her father’s rejection, she confesses she shot Deb and killed Lundy to protect her father, and asks for Deb’s forgiveness. She tells her “fuck no.” Christine grabs a gun and before Deb can stop her kills herself. Distressed by yet another traumatic experience, Deb calls her brother, who is looking for Arthur at the amusement arcade. Dex rushes to the police station, unaware that Arthur is following him. Arthur gains entrance by stealing a visitor’s pass, sneaks into the briefing room filled with evidence of the “Trinity Killer” investigation. He is surprised to see their lead suspect is a truck driver named “Stanley Beaudry.” Then he spots Dex in his lab, who comes out to confront him. “Hello, Dexter Morgan,” Arthur says, reading his badge.

During the episode, Dexter contemplates his different personas. “We all have our public life,” he muses, “our private life ... and your secret life, the one that defines you.” He is having a difficult time juggling his various roles as husband and father, blood splatter analyst, serial killer and now as “Kyle Butler.” But this is why the audience can relate. This is why we can sympathize with someone who is really just a monstrous serial killer. We all have skeletons we prefer to keep in the closet. Still, it troubles me I am rooting for him, hoping he will catch Arthur, rationalizing his urge to kill. It is testimony to how well this show is written and performed that they are able to pull that off. On to the season finale we go!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Modern Family 1x04

Modern Family, The Incident, on ABC
Yes, yes, yes, Sofia Vergara is two eyes full of busty candy. Mitchell and Cameron are an endearing couple of fags. I said it, “fags,” as in: two man who love each other. No problem with that. And then, a ring at the door bell, it’s Shelly Long!!! Well, Mitchell’s mother DeDe. Now that’s fun! Then, bang! a bird flew against Jay’s window just as he was about to join glorious Gloria under the shower. DeDe is some new age addict. She’s stopping by because she wants to get past “the incident.” She’s talking about Jay’s wedding to Gloria. She showed up and got drunk. It was funny and then it was gross. And then it got weird. She needs closure, but Mitchell wants to repress it like “normal family.” Bet your life the Sunday dinner is going to be awkward. But to top it off, Haley’s boyfriend sing a song he composed for her: “The stars are falling from the sky / and you’re the reason why. / The moon is shining on your face / ‘cause it finally feels it’s found its place / ‘Cause maybe, maybe I just want to do you, do you. / Do you want to do me, do me, / underneath the moonlight, the moonlight? / Baby, baby, maybe I will steal you, steal you, / just so I can feel you, feel you, / maybe that would heal you, heal you on the inside.” Not that that allows Haley to go to the concert with Dylan, but everyone is singing his song the next morning. Yeah, I guess it was funny.

[This one goes out to Hui Yon, because she really needs a shout out!]

Friday, October 22, 2010

Weeds 6x09

Weeds, To Moscow and Quickly, on Showtime
“What happened to your arm?” Shane asks Doug. “I dropped my keys in the portopotty.” Dough responds deadpan while texting. “Tried to get ‘em out. It’s a raccoon in there. Punched him out.” Oh, man, hilarious! While off the grid in Colorado, on the run from Esteban and his goons, not to mention the FBI, Nancy notices that little Stevie’s poop is green. She’s worried he might be sick. So she must take him to a pediatrician, no matter the risk. Meanwhile, Shane and Silas need to make gas money selling hash at a kiddie concert. In the waiting room with Andy, Nancy talks about the future. It’s clear she’s not including him. He’s invested in her family. But before he can get really upset, Nancy notices an amber alert on TV. She’s officially become a missing person. Then she’s called inside. Little Stevie is fine, but the doctor advises her to give him a more stable upbringing. So, on the way back they talk about Andy’s dream to move to Denmark. Some funny moments – and with just a few episodes left, I’m wondering where all of this is going to take them.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Gossip Girl 4x05

Gossip Girl, Goodbye Columbia, on The CW
Best moment so far on Gossip Girl: Chuck declares war on Blair! Of course he decides to audit a few classes at Columbia, preferably the ones she’s attending – and gets himself the student assistantship she was dying to get for herself. Petty rivalry ends up in the professor quitting to avoid the psychotic idiocy Chuck and Blair got themselves into. Blair wonders why Chuck’s still around instead of celebrating his little victory. He tells her he’s just warming up and won’t stop until he’s taken away everything that means anything to her. Meanwhile, stalking Juliet tells her “brother” Ben in prison that she’s isolated Serena from Nate and Dan, but she’ll need more time to distract Blair. For whatever reason, because he was left with nothing, he wants to take everything away from Serena, too, and get her expelled from Columbia. So, Juliet passes on a blast on GG that SVW has STDs. The backlash is inane beyond believe. Ultimately Juliet resorts to stealing Serena’s iPhone to e-mail a professor offering sex in exchange for a good grade. Yet it’s Vanessa who gets blamed for the naughty e-mail, and Serena is off with only a warning from the dean. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what are we getting ourselves into, girls? Pretty low, even for this show.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

BBC Oceans: Indian Ocean

Oceans: Indian Ocean
This episode the oceanographic explorers take us to the waters of East Africa. First, marine biologist Tooni Mahto goes swimming with manta rays off the coast of Mozambique. These mantas suffer from shark bites, but remain healthy by taking advantage of the butterfly fish and moon wrasse that clean their wounded skin. Quite expectedly, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr. investigates a threat to one of the ocean’s greatest predators – the shark (just as in the previous episode). Philippe and Lucy Blue look on as one fisher boat returns with several baby sharks. The fishermen cut off the fins, from which they’ll earn about $50 a day (in a country where an average day’s wage is a single dollar). Just this one boat catches about a thousand sharks in a year. Philippe is fuming with rage and disgust. All this just for shark fin soup!

The team then goes in search for the ever elusive dugong (sea cow). Tooni is visibly excited when they finally spot a group. Off Zanzibar, Philippe and Lucy inspect the health of the coral reefs only to find a great many sea urchins (again, just as in the Southern Ocean) and worse, the crown-of-thorns starfish that eats the coral alive. They visit a “coral nursery” where coral fragments are grown in a man-made underwater garden in hopes of reversing the reef’s decline. Maritime archaeologist Lucy Blue dives for the wreck of the Paraportiani that sank in 1967 (forced to circumnavigate Africa when the Arab-Israeli conflict closed the Suez Canal). She is particularly disturbed to find that many wrecks are not protected and are plundered for bronze scrap. They discuss the importance of archaeological sites, but show little sympathy for the plight and poverty of the locals. Overall, not a particularly impressive episode.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Caprica 1x11

Caprica, Retribution, on Syfy
Rogue commander Barnabas of the Caprican STO cell has ordered Lacey and some other foot soldiers to blow up the interplanetary spaceport, but she’s having second thoughts – there are too many people. Really? Who would have thought? It’s an act of terrorism, it’s supposed to kill as many people as possible. Yet things go amiss when a security agent asks to see inside Lacey’s bag. That didn’t just get her nearly arrested, it nearly got them killed. They end up in a fight and Lacey takes off into the pouring rain.

Daniel Graystone is donning a ridiculous beard. Why? (Supposedly, because he’s grieving over his wife, to whom he lied and blames for the death of Zoe?) Didn’t anyone tell him he’s a redhead? At any rate, to get back into business, he is blackmailing board members for support to get him in place at his former corporation – and if that won’t help there’s always Adama’s mobster brother to roughen things up. One of the executives blows his brains out. Ever faithful Cyrus brings the U-87 to Daniel, lying to Vergis he’d melted it down for scrap.

Clarice learns that the botched bombing was targeted to assassinate her. (Wait! She was already back from Gemenon last week. Continuation error?) She visits one of her former pupils who was there with Lacey. She forgives him – and then drops his tv in the bathtub with him. “It’s God you should be worried about,” she told him. Then one of her hoodlums takes out another one of the foot soldiers who was at the spaceport. That just leaves Lacey, who – unlike the other two – has the guts to face Barnabas. When he asks her to promise her loyalty, she swears she’s committed to God. (She’d better be committed, period, but that’s just the Cricket chirping.) Then Clarice barges in, kidnaps Lacey and blows Barnabas to smithereens.

The sole detective able to piece together that Sister Clarice must be the linchpin behind the STO terrorists, talks to Amanda Graystone hoping to convince her that Clarice is a monotheism spouting menace to society responsible for the death of her daughter Zoe. Amanda is puzzled by flashbacks of Zoe wearing the STO emblem, of Clarice talking about god in the singular. She can no longer deny the truth. Through flashbacks we also learn that Daniel visited Amanda in the hospital after her attempted suicide, but they had a fight.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Dexter 4x10

Dexter, Lost Boys, on Showtime
Dexter has followed Arthur to an amusement arcade. Arthur follows a young woman with two kids. Is the cycle starting anew? Dex briefly loses sight of Arthur, who kidnaps a boy. What is going on? Dex rushes to the parking lot, but is too late. Arthur calls “Kyle” that he doesn’t appreciate being followed – and promises he will “preserve the boy’s innocence.” He takes the boy to a basement, addressing him as “Arthur,” while playing with a toy train. The boy, Scott, asks for food, but Arthur won’t give him any unless he puts on the pajamas he laid out for him. The kid refuses, wanting to return to his parents. Later, Arthur talks about his sister, and Scott says he is sorry. He can call him “Arthur,” he puts on the pajamas, and they can play trains some more. Arthur mixes a sedative into an ice cream cup, promising he will take him home after he’s finished. At his lab, Dex researches lost boy cases and discovers that the “Trinity Killer” always started his cycle with a boy about ten years old. Lundy misread the pattern, for missing children are never reported as homicide. In his morbid ritual, Arthur begins with a boy, to “preserve his innocence,” indeed. Through a hint from Jonah, Dex is searching empty houses in hopes of finding Arthur before it is too late. Eventually he finds the location, but Arthur has already left with the boy. At the Four Walls building site, Arthur is about to hide Scott’s body in cement. After a quick scuffle, Dex knocks him out, saves the boy from the cement, still alive, but Arthur has fled.

Deb is such an excellent cop. She noticed something was off with Christine. She was the first reporter to arrive on the scene of Lundy’s death, in full make-up, at 5:20am, barely fifteen minutes after the shooting was dispatched on the police scanner, and she asked Deb how horrible it was to look the man she loved in the eyes as he breathed his last breath – something only her colleagues knew (and Quinn never spoke about it to her). Under the pretence of the “hero interview,” she plans to interrogate Christine, while Batista looks on from the monitor. Christine dodges Debra’s questions uneasily. She’s clearly lying. They have to be careful, now that they have raised her suspicion, as she hasn’t been accused of anything just yet. Once out of the police station, she calls her father, who denies her request to see him. Deb pleads with Quinn to get Christine’s toothbrush for DNA testing. He is livid that they are even considering that she may have shot Deb and killed Lundy. Why would she? Still, he relents and Masuka tests the DNA to discover she is related to the “Trinity Killer.” Christine confronts her father in a parking lot that she saw him murder a woman in a bathtub when she was a child, that she has pieced together the patterns of his killing cycle through the postcards he sent her, and that she killed Lundy to protect him. Expecting him to visit her again, she answers the door. Deb, Quinn and Batista take her into custody.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Modern Family 1x03

Modern Family, Come Fly with Me, on ABC
Self-proclaimed “cool dad” Phil knows how to hang with the kids. So, when Haley’s boyfriend’s at the door, he welcomes him with a cheerful, “Chillin’ with Dylan the Villain! D to the Y to the –” but he interrupts himself. He invites Dylan to watch sports with him. Later he tells Clair he’s ready to take it to the next level with him. She tells him she thought he was just going to keep it real and asks him when he’s going to take it to the next level with her father after sixteen years. So, Phil needs to hang out with Jay, which is toe-curling awkward. Jay just got himself a new model airplane which he takes for some flight time. When Jay finally can’t take it any longer he suggests they play “thread the needle.” At the end of the field Phil is ready with a hoop above his head. But Jay flies the plane straight into Phil’s head – on purpose. Can you blame him? That guy’s a real pain in the neck!

Gorgeous Gloria takes Claire’s second daughter Alex shopping and the two bond over some frank girl talk. Meanwhile Gloria’s son Manny has a sit-down with Claire and offers her some parenting advice about Alex. He is her stepbrother, after all. He even got a very adult-looking milk ‘stache. Fort their part, Mitch and Cam are shopping for diapers. Cam wants to go to Cotsco, but Mitch is above that. “Mitchell is a snob,” Cameron explains. But once he’s inside shopping paradise, Mitch goes overboard and can’t stop buying stuff, a shredder, a camcorder, you name it. Comes in handy, though, when they visit Claire. For a group bear hug ensues after Claire pressured Jay to admitting he likes Phil, Gloria pressed him to admitting he likes Cam, and Manny joins in for the sake of it. with his new camcorder, Mitch can put it down on film. Admittedly, I got a few good chuckles. Guess the show is starting to grow on me.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Weeds 6x08

Weeds, Gentle Puppies, on Showtime
Weeds is too hilarious for words! If I would try to describe the opening scene of this episode even a full transcript of the dialog would fail to capture all the incredible details: the Winnebago, the dildos, the Jewish gay porn, the speeding ticket narrowly evaded by referencing the good lord, and gentle puppies – and that doesn’t even include Shane’s chutzpah suggesting he and Nancy take off with little Stevie in Ignacio’s car without Andy, Silas and Doug. But they’re off the grid – so much so, Andy takes them to some “deep outlaw” scab city called Pioneer Town that used to be a western movie set. Once again, the comedic entertainment is beyond description: Doug and Shane steal water from Grandma Sugar Pops, Silas and Andy buy a washer to produce more hash, Nancy gets laid by saloon owner Jack, Andy does his best Evangelical performing a baptism with Doug as his assistant, they make wads of cash, but have to run off when it transpires that Jack’s married ... with children. So, on the move they go, on the road again. Doug doesn’t have many lines, but he doesn’t need them to be funny, just the looks on his face makes you laugh out loud. It was nice to see Dean again, another hilariously sweaty scene, but it means the FBI is still investigating Pilar’s death. How long can they keep this up? When will the FBI catch up with them? Or will Esteban get to them first?

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Gossip Girl 4x04

Gossip Girl, Touch of Eva, on The CW
“The guys are easy, but the girls are presenting a little bit more of a challenge,” pretty Juliet said last week to some guy in an orange prison suit. Apparently mysterious Eva has turned Chuck from a billionaire basshole into a genuine philanthropist. Blair quips that Eva clearly has an agenda (ooh, that rhymes) and guesses it’s his money (which, of course she didn’t know about when she rescued him off the streets of Prague). Clearly, Blair, you have a jealous heart. Meanwhile, Blair’s new Columbia roommate and renewed BFF Serena is checking out all the latest gossip about Nate – not to mention Humphrey and Dumpty. Mean scheming Blair is making nice with Eva, to get her life story and hopefully find a clue to something scandalous. Serena and Dan are searching every bit of input online. Then Eva mentions Perlovka, Prague’s red light district, where she found Chuck. Chuck being Chuck, he obviously already knew (or at least that’s what he tells Nate), which kinda takes the sting out of Blair’s childish vendetta. But when he is led to believe Eva knew all along who he really was, he’s ruined. Why is it that they always believe the lies they’re told? Chuck knows better than anyone that Blair would do anything to ruin his relationship with Eva. He rushes back to the guardian angel who saved his life when he realizes Blair’s lied, but it’s too late, Eva is set to leave – seeing how much Blair can still affect him. He confronts Blair, asks her if her despicable deceit means she still loves him. She denies and he declares war. For her part, Juliet claims that the man she’s visiting when she’s not with Nate is her troubled brother Ben. We’ll see about that, you flat-chested stalker!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

BBC Oceans: Atlantic Ocean

Oceans: Atlantic Ocean
BBC’s underwater science program Oceans takes us to the Atlantic this time. First, marine biologist Pooni Mahti brings us to the Bahamas’ “Black Hole,” an isolated column of water mimicking chemically toxic conditions similar to the seas of three and a half billion years ago. After diving eighteen meters (60ft) deep through emerald green water, suddenly the temperature spikes by six degree centigrade (10F) and the water turns a cloudy shade of purple. The cause is a purple sulfur bacteria that traps the sunlight through photosynthesis, thus heating the water, and producing hydrogen sulfide. Below the purple cloud the water turns pitch black and the oxygen level is practically nil. The divers’ skin starts itching and they need to return to the surface out of safety precautions. From this “Black Hole” on the island of South Andros, we travel to Lee Stocking Island to investigate one of the oldest surviving life-forms on Earth. Stromatolites are almost lifeless seeming rocks formed by cyanobacteria that produce oxygen through photosynthesis. Their existence has made it possible for more complex life to develop.

Lucayan remains of Grand BahamaMaritime Archaeologist Lucy Blue searches for clues of the lost civilization of the Lucayans, the pre-Columbian people inhabiting the Bahamas. (The arrival of the Europeans obliterated them by the tens of thousands.) In an underwater cave system she finds a neatly deposited skull that may be identified as Lucayan due to its flattened forehead. On another dive she finds the remains of the HMS Southampton, possibly the first true frigate, that was wrecked off Conception Island during the War of 1812 between the British Empire and the recently independent United States of America.

Quite naturally environmentalist Philippe Cousteau wishes to gauge the effects human activity has on the second largest water mass on the planet. He shows us the bad-guy poster-child of invasive species: the beautiful lionfish (popular in aquariums), which belongs in the Pacific Ocean, not in the Bahamas. This ornate creature has neurotoxic venomous glands on its fin’s spines, but more problematically, without a natural predator around, it is free to prey and wipe out the native fish stock, spreading fast from the Caribbean all the way north to Rhodes Island. Additionally, commercial fishing has practically annihilated some species of fish by 95%, most significantly endangered is the shark. (Anywhere between seventy to a hundred million sharks are caught per year – mostly as accidental by-catch!) The team participates in several experiments to test shark repellents that may save the oceans’ shark population from extinction.

Maybe because I’m getting used to the formula, maybe because I’m getting to know the individuals better, maybe because my expectations were so low about the Atlantic Ocean, I have to say there were some pretty interesting moments in this episode.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Mad Men 4x12

Mad Men, Blowing Smoke, on AMC
Due to Roger Sterling’s ineffectiveness, the firm has lost Lucky Strike, and now they may be on the brink of bankruptcy. Don has pressured Faye for a meeting with a Heinz executive, who shows interest and is excited about Don’s ideas, but remains reluctant going into business with a firm that may not exist anymore in six months. How are they to attract new clients and remain financially solvent like this? Then they are offered an exclusive meeting with Philip Morris for their new brand of women’s cigarettes. They have everything in place for another cigarette brand, so it seems like their best shot. Still, Lane Pryce remains worried and implores they reduce staff and office space. He also requires a substantial collateral contribution from all the partners. Pete Campbell panics, because he doesn’t have the required $50,000 (even if that’s only half of what the senior partners’ share). Everyone at the office is nervous about losing their jobs. When push comes to shoves, it turns out Philip Morris was just using the pitch meeting as leverage with another firm. The deal goes up in smoke, so to say. Don understands they look too desperate.

Then my girl Peggy reminds Don of what he used to say, “If you don’t like what they’re saying about you, change the conversation.” Once home, he tears out his old journal entries (another interesting comment on that lone episode with Don’s voice-overs) – and starts writing a note, “Why I’m Quitting Tobacco.” He admits it’s addictive, causes illness, never gets better, but earned him big money when they were working for Lucky Strike. What is he doing? Is he seriously quitting? No, he changed the conversation by putting in a full-page ad in the New York Times, without consulting his partners, mind you. The next day the office is all abuzz, phones ringing everywhere, everyone unsure what Don was thinking, and his partners furious they weren’t included. Bert Cooper walks out and resigns. Don’s secretary Megan tells him she admires his guts. It’s like “he didn’t dump me, I dumped him,” she explains. Something good came out of it, too, because the American Cancer Society wants to go into business with SCDP. At the end of the day, Pete also learns that Don paid Pete’s share (no doubt to keep him quiet). He’s grateful for not having to go against his wife’s demand that he won’t lose their savings in the firm.

Meanwhile, Sally is trying to make nice with Betty and Henry. Not because she is no longer mad, or because therapy is helping, but because that weird kid Glen told her to kiss her mom’s ass. Betty doesn’t really believe Sally’s making progress, but Sally’s therapist thinks they may reduce their sessions to just once a week. Sally keeps seeing Glen secretly, until Betty catches them together. Mind you, Betty knows better than Sally what a weird little freak this kid is. During dinner Betty tells Henry she wants to move. Typical – if you don’t know how to handle a situation, walk away from it. For his part, Don bumps into an old flame, Midge (back from season 1), who we learn tracked him down to sell him a painting. She’s become addicted to heroin and needs money. Don’s appalled but offers her some money and walks away with one of her paintings. It seems like a lose thread in the plot. Are we going to hear from her again next week? At any rate, what a marvelous show! I am very impressed how this season keeps us on the edge of our seats wondering what is going to happen next. Almost imperceptibly Don has found his center of gravity again, taking the reins even if he cannot know whence he is going.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Caprica 1x10

Caprica, Unvanquished, on Syfy
The Cricket is unsure why we should be watching frakkin’ Caprica, but suddenly it’s back on SyFy unexpectedly early. (To get you up to speed, you can check out the recap of the first half of the season, or you can go here to read all the episodes’ chirps.) Thus far, the story has hardly been compelling, the acting poor -- if not outright atrocious. Admittedly, this second half of the season started out dramatically: we witness how various “Soldiers of The One” carry bombs inside the Buccaneer stadium and blow it to smithereens. Alas, it was only Clarice’s indulgence in wish-fulfillment as she was demonstrating to the Conclave of Gemenon the apotheotic blessing of eternal life in virtual reality. That is, by using Graystone’s avatar-software Clarice is sure the religious leaders can unite the Twelve Worlds in the worship of the One True God with a promise of artificial heaven. Obviously, if that wasn’t clear, her “Apotheosis” delusion is utter blasphemy theologically – and terrorizing souls into converting to the One True God may not be the most charming form of proselytization either. Monk Obal, the head of the Conclave, informs the Blessed Mother Superior that Clarice suffers from a definite Messiah complex. But this latter-day Mother Teresa believes Clarice may prove useful in the fight against polytheism and allows an Ides of March inside the church as Clarice charms a foot-soldier into assassinating Obal while all other members of the Conclave stab their knives in turn. (The reference to Caesar is blatant, but the significance escapes me.)

Back on Caprica, Daniel Graystone has lost everything – his daughter, his wife, his company, his pyramid team. He turns to Joseph Adama’s Guatrau, the head of the Tauran mafia, hoping to sell his avatar-program as a cure for grief: give your loved ones artificial eternity and you can always be with them if you put on your holoband. Adama tests Daniel who backs out of the deal when he’s required to detonate a bomb inside his own mother’s car. Then his former assistant Cyrus informs him that Vergis is able to produce robots for the military, yet they still have been unable to reproduce the artificial intelligence of Graystone’s U-87 prototype. Somehow this prompts Daniel to return to the Guatrau, who somehow suddenly accepts his partnership. I thought that we had at least lost that wining Amanda Greystone to suicide, but after jumping to her death she is unfortunately still alive, hiding out in Clarice’s log cabin. Somehow Sister Willow has rescued her from her near-death experience. (Clearly, the Cricket wasn’t paying much attention.)

For her part, Zoe Graystone is now trapped inside New Cap City – without the U-87 to give her access to the real world. It is perhaps unsurprising that as a Deathwalker (an avatar that cannot die in v-world) she should try and find the other, Tamara Adama. Although Tamara didn’t want to see her father grieve over her death, she clearly wants to be found by someone, as she is leaving marks all over town. Even some Clockwork Orange droogs are bearing her mark. (Once more the significance of the reference escapes me.) Zoe, a babe in high heels and tight pants, gives them a nice display of martial arts. But with all of them flashing out of v-world and the last one standing pleading ignorance, she’s none the wiser about Tamara’s whereabouts.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Dexter 4x09

Dexter, Hungry Man, on Showtime
Dexter is watching from his car as Arthur breaks his son’s trophies. Jonah rushes out and drives off in his car. Curious, Dex follows him only to see Jonah bash the convertible with his baseball bat. He wishes “Kyle” had just let his father die – everyone is terrified of him. At the office, Deb tells Dex she believes it wasn’t the “Trinity Killer” who shot her and killed Lundy. The news confuses him. Now he has less reason to murder Arthur. Thanksgiving is next day. Dex invites Deb, who is reluctant to leave Lundy’s files, but she relents – later inviting Masuka along, too. Quinn is still playing cat-and-mouse with Christine. While complaining about her to Deb, she walks into the office with some pecan pie. She offers Deb her sympathies for watching Lundy die before her. Deb later notices that all the “Trinity Killer” deaths occurred around school vacations.

Flirty Elliot is helping Rita prepare Turkey dinner, while Dexter uses the excuse of work to visit Arthur. There, the family is rife with tension, despite the happy holiday. The daughter, Rebecca, is confined to her room behind lock and key – and once released tries to seduce “Kyle” into taking her away. Jonah arrives late on the scene. Arthur is livid when he sees the car – and once inside breaks one of Jonah’s fingers in an unguarded moment. Before the meal, Arthur invites his family to recite what they are thankful for and notices that no one mentions they are thankful for him. Jonah gets up and argues he is not thankful at all. He smashes Vera’s urn. Arthur starts to choke him. Dexter grabs him from behind and nearly kills Arthur in front of his family, a kitchen knife ready behind his back. He restrains himself and rushes out.

Meanwhile at the Morgans, Masuka is horrified to see Elliot kiss Rita. Without telling why, Masuka wants to leave, but Deb promises booze. Then Dex arrives home and receives an unusually enthusiastic welcome from a guilt-ridden Rita. (My patience is running out with her, always chiding Dex, while she’s no picture of perfection herself. I should sympathize with her that she would be devastated if she found out about Dexter’s “Dark Passenger,” but I cannot.) Cody asks Deb if she saw Lundy die, which reminds her of Christine’s remark. How could she have known if she wasn’t there? Angrily she calls Quinn, but he says he learned his lesson and never spoke about the case with Christine. Quinn leaves Christine. There’s a knock on her door. Expecting Joey came back, she opens the door, seeing Arthur Mitchell. “Hi, dad,” she says startled. Wow, what a revelation! Now I must see the next episode!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Modern Family 1x02

Modern Family, The Bicycle Thief, on ABC
What’s the key to being a good dad? That’s the theme question of the second installment of Modern Family, the faux-reality comedy about the families of Jay Pritchett, his daughter Clair and his son Mitchell. Jay’s gorgeous wife Gloria knows it means spending quality time together and teaching your son to fix things around the house. But Manny doesn’t like Jay, and would rather be with his biological dad – even if he is so flakey he cancels his plans to take Mannie to Disneyland. Self-proclaimed “cool dad” Phil (Clair’s husband) is sure he knows what’s best for his son, too. That’s why he believes they should get him a new bike so that he can prove he is responsible enough to look after it. In the course of events, Phil unwittingly steals another kid’s bike, then loses it when he climbs into the busty neighbor’s bedroom window because she locked herself out, buys a new one, and somehow ends up with three bikes. You can’t help but wonder what Clair sees in this douche. Things are more complicated for uptight Mitchell and flamboyant Cameron, because who is the dad between them? On the first day of toddlers’ playschool, Mitchell is too concerned about being judged and works his way into one awkward situation after another. Was it funny? Well, I got a few chuckles out of it here and there. And I didn’t mind that busty neighbor Desiree (former Penthouse and Hustler model Brandy Ledford).

Friday, October 8, 2010

Weeds 6x07

Weeds, Pinwheels and Whirligigs, on Showtime
After leaving Esteban an emotional voice mail message, Nancy drives off with her family. She gives the reigns to Andy, the guru of off-the-grid, Randy Newman, you can keep the hat on, Sly and the Family Stone. But once they hit Montana, Nancy wants to spend the day at a fair, guilty as she feels about the never-ending shit she drags her children into, a trip to the carnival, pinwheels and whirligigs. Apparently, Nancy’s deceased husband Judah was a roller-coasters designer. They spot a Winnebago, the grand price in a butter sculpture competition. Obviously, Andy and Silas sign up, only to find out that the contest is to eat the sculpture! And even after Silas wins, they can’t take their new home on wheels on the road, because they are required to fill out tax forms and take pictures. Nancy leaves baby Stevie with Doug, certainly a poor choice for a babysitter, but he sure enjoys the carnival fun. Meanwhile, Shane bonds with his mother, practically bleeding for approval, for affection, for attention. For her part, Nancy is worried sick Shane will turn into a psychopath. After all the light-hearted recreation, they return to the road. Will someone find Cesar’s wallet, Nancy left in a trash bin? Will the FBI get to them before Esteban’s goons?

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Gossip Girl 4x03

Gossip Girl, The Undergraduates, on The CW
OMƒGG! Gossip Girl, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite in “under construction”! Could it be that Gossip Girl is preparing something big for Serena’s and Blair’s first day at Columbia? Well, there is a lot of gossiping to be done, of course. Now that her Parisian dalliance with the Monégasque Prince has come to an end, Blair receives the key to Columbia’s most exclusive social club, Hamilton House – from none other than that remarkably flat-chested stalker, Juliet – and what’s more, Serena doesn’t! Rufus has done a little paternity testing of his own and discovered that Dan’s blood type doesn’t match Georgina’s baby – and baby mama is hanging out on the beach at St. Bart’s! Goody-two-shoes Vanessa says, “If Ted Danson and Tom Selleck can do it, so can we, right?” Then Georgina returns with some crazy ass story about someone trying to kill her! And, oh, yeah, Chuck is back in town with Eva! Eric is back to spoil everyone’s party! The cat fight is on, obviously, between Blair and Eva – and it’s going to be ugly! But the showdown at Fashion Night is truly awesome! You go, girls! Give that Juliet a taste of her own medicine! In the end Juliet is talking to some convict about the girls proving a teeny bit more troublesome than the boys! What a teaser! Talk about gossip, girl, am I sad I don’t live on the Upper East Side! Notice that every sentence has an exclamation mark! OMƒGG!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

BBC Oceans: Red Sea

Oceans: Red Sea
The team of BBC’s Oceans travels to the Southern Red Sea, an area of mostly uncharted territory, inhabited by a wide and colorful variety of species. First we sail to Djibouti to discover how oceans are formed as tectonic plates shift away from each other. Oceanographer Tooni Mahto and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau take us deep inside the rift between Africa and Arabia. As excited I am sure they must be, for me, all I can think is, so what? Not very spectacular viewing. Off the coast of Eritrea, maritime archaeologist Lucy Blue goes in search evidence of early human activity when our ancestors first went out of Africa across the globe. Around a raised coral reef she finds a flaked hand blade and other tools made from obsidian dating from the middle Paleolithic as well as oyster shells tossed together after a meal some hundred and twenty five thousand years ago.

We then discover that the coral reefs in the Red Sea are thriving despite the rising temperatures in what is already one of the warmest seas on Earth. They speculate that heat resistant algae are keeping the coral vibrantly healthy. Another extraordinary phenomenon is the florescent pigmentation of some corals which perhaps functions as a filter to screen out certain wavelengths of sunlight. From Eritrea we are taken to Sudan to explore the wreckage of the Umbria, an Italian cargo ship. At least we are offered a stirring bit of modern history. The captain deliberately sank the ship on the day Italy declared war on Britain so as to protect her secret cargo: not the thousands of wine bottles, not even the cars on board, but the five thousand five hundred and ten tons of explosives to be used against the Allies in World War II. Next, Philippe makes an emotional journey to the remains of an underwater village his grandfather Jacques Cousteau built in 1963. Actually only the submarine’s garage is all that is left. Finally expedition leader Paul Rose dives for sharks and finds gray reef sharks, barracudas, sail fish, silky shark, and on the last day of the voyage a school of about thirty hammerheads. A little disappointing they didn’t get any closer to show them in their natural glory.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Mad Men 4x11

Mad Men, Chinese Wall, on AMC
Lucky Strike, from the start, was the account on which our Mad Ad Men could count to remain financially solvent. Now American Tobacco wants to consolidate their business and take it elsewhere. Through the grapevine Ken hears about it from someone gloating that their firm is getting Lucky Strike. Ken calls Pete, Pete calls Don, Don calls Bert, Bert calls Roger. That same evening, Bert Cooper, Don Draper, Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove ambush Roger Sterling in his office about Lucky Strike, the sole account he had to look after. Losing it may financially ruin their firm. Roger feigns surprise and fakes a call to Lee Garner Jr., with his thumb on the receiver, acting shocked. He offers to fly to North Carolina to convince the board to change their minds. The next day, Roger continues the charade calling in to inform his partners it’s useless, the board has already made their decision, all the while sitting in a hotel room downtown.

Meanwhile, Peggy returns from a weekend on the beach with her hip friends. She takes Abe home and they make love. The next morning, she convinces him to stay awhile longer and they get it on again. When she comes into work late, the office is in a state of nervous energy. Don ensured their employees that nothing will change, that this is going to be an exhilarating challenge. No one knows how serious the loss of Lucky Strike is until Lane Pryce returns from London. Privately Don tells Peggy he’s counting on her. She has to give a Playtex presentation tomorrow, and with her amorous encounter fresh in her mind, she changes the course of the commercial to a more sensuous approach – how Playtex gloves preserve a woman’s hands for the things she really wants to touch. Then Abe arrives, pretending to be a delivery boy, and they have a go at it again in her office. Roger calls Joan from his hotel room, desperate, confiding like a little boy who confesses to his mommy that he knew for weeks that the account was lost. Joan responds with appropriate fury. Ken and Pete call clients to assure them the firm will remain viable. Then Don receives news that Glo-Coat is dropping the agency.

While they are in the hospital waiting for Trudy to deliver, Pete’s father-in-law suggests he should abandon ship. Pete even gets courted by a rival firm and is offered full partnership. Faye consoles Don that he is the most hirable man in the business, but he wants none of it. When she notices how tense he is about losing clients, she mentions that she has encountered enough unhappy clients in her consultancy. They get into an argument when he pushes her to arrange meetings with them. When Roger shows up at her apartment, Joan turns him away. “I can’t do this anymore,” she repeats over and over. The next day, Bert berates Roger that “Lee Garner Jr. never took you seriously because you never took yourself seriously.” Stan hopes to take advantage of Peggy’s nerves by kissing her, but she rejects him once again. In retaliation, he lets her walk into her presentation with lipstick smudge on her teeth. Nevertheless, the executive adores the new approach. At the end of the work day, with everyone gone, Don’s new secretary Megan throws herself at him. Good thing Don just had a fight with Faye. After the sex, Don goes home, only to find Faye in his hallway. She arranged a meeting for him with Heinz, because he means enough to her that she’ll bend her own rules for him.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Danger After Dark

Suicide Club movie review on NY Times
Not too long ago, the Movie Cricket borrowed a box set of Japanese movies. The one that I really wanted to see again was Suicide Club (Jisatsu Sākuru, 2002). That film, directed by Sion Sono, opens with one of the most memorable cinematographic scenes you will ever see: young girls come walking down the stairs onto the train platform, in their school uniforms, they step up to the edge, hold hands, and on the count of three all fifty-four jump in front of the train together, blood and body parts gusting all over. With more and more suicides happening, the police are left clueless about their connection. Are they dealing with a cult, or a fad? In that respect, the story is a murder mystery, but one larded with tropes of the horror genre: rainy nights, dark and empty office building, curtains flowing in the breeze, power failure, splatter and gore, strips of human skin. Then there’s the all-girl idol-group Dessert, who sing about e-mails and jigsaw puzzles. Gradually things get more and more weird, to the point of a psychedelic trip into delirious hallucinations and delusions of glam-glitter grandeur. “I want to die as beautifully as Joan of Arc inside a Bresson film,” some psychotic freak sings, “Lesson one: apply the shaving cream – and smile as you then slowly slice away the heart.” In all, this is an exploration of isolation in urban Tokyo, of alienation in modern society; a social commentary of the dehumanization of online interacting and pop culture mass media; and about people finding meaningful relationships in committing mass suicide.

2LDK movie review on NY TimesNext up in the box comes 2LDK (2002), directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, about two roommates (played by the beautiful Eiko Koike and Maho Nonami). (The title is a classified ad abbreviation for a 2-bedroom apartment, with shared living room, dining room and kitchen.) One is a neat, reclusive country girl who only recently arrived in Tokyo; the other is a fabulous hip chick with money to burn on Gucci, Miu Miu, Chanel and Hermès. One is a well-educated lover of theater; the other is an air-head beauty pageant queen who began her acting career in porn. One plays classical piano; the other listens to heavy metal. (Guess who the Cricket was rooting for.) They find out that they are competing for the same lead role; the extrovert Lana taunts the introvert Nozomi about a man she has a crush on; but Lana is also jealous about Nozomi’s bigger breasts. In the close confinement of their apartment (the whole film is set within the titular 2LDK), their petty quarrels soon escalate from insecurities and envy to mutual murderous hatred. Thematically there are some parallels with Suicide Club, in that 2LDK also deals with isolation in urban Tokyo, but rather than turning that social seclusion inwards, this film unleashes the claustrophobic and paranoid violence outwards between the two young women. And that violent rivalry is brutally ugly. For a film shot on one set within a week with only two actresses, it is quite an achievement to keep the viewer engaged, but the performances, the dialog, and the cinematography and offering excellent, though gory, entertainment.

Moon Child on IMDBThe last movie of the set is Moon Child (2003), directed by Takahisa Zeze, and stars J-pop idols Hideto “Hyde” Takarai and Gakuto “Gackt” Kamui (who also co-wrote the script). This film is a futuristic science-fiction martial-arts gay-glam vampire organized crime action horror thriller comedy drama. It follows the life of orphaned Sho (Gackt) and his friends through the first half century of the 21st millennium, when Japan has suffered a major economic collapse and many people have taken refuge in the multi-ethnic “Asian Special Economic Zone” of Mallepa on mainland China. The Mallepa Orphans make their living through robbery and in so doing run into conflict with the Cantonese mafia. The orphans have one advantage, their guardian Kei (Hyde) who happens to be a vampire. Gradually the group of friends falls apart, while Kei is imprisoned. In essence, then, this is a story of love and friendship, the ties that bind. Kei provides the common trope in vampire stories, that is, the loneliness that comes with immortality as friends become mere drops in the ocean, tears in the rain, that wash away in the sad agelessness of the undead. Unfortunately the movie employs those musical interludes – when the writers have to move the story forward, but can’t write a script for the scene. The film also drags on for two full hours, resorts to the cheap and cheesy ploy of cancer to bring Kei and Sho together one last time, and ends with a dual suicide at sunrise. In all, it’s not an awful movie, but it isn’t one that comes with the Cricket’s chirpiest recommendation.

You may now find a follow up of sorts: Danger After Dark II!

[A special shout out goes to Anthony and Sander!]

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Dexter 4x08

Dexter, Road Kill, on Showtime
Dexter made a mistake: he killed an innocent man, and let a guilty man live. Will he learn from his mistake? At Miami Metro, Debra briefs her colleagues about the bludgeoning cases. Taking a lead from her brother, she found that all the victims point to a smudge of ash. There’s a stray photo in her presentation of a bathtub murder. LaGuerta encourages her to explain Lundy’s theory about the “Trinity Killer” – and takes Deb off the case when it transpires that the killer may have shot Lundy because he was getting too close. Angel and Maria cannot constrain their feelings for each other, and make love one night in the briefing room. Cute Christine continues to beg Quinn for some leads, as she’s afraid to lose her job. She confronts Deb, too, who deflects her questions by offering the “hero interview” she has been begging for. A while later Deb notices from her bullet wound that the trajectory was straight. Masuka confirms that the “Trinity Killer” could not have shot her from that angle. Someone shorter must have fired the gun. With the conflict of interest removed, LaGuerta reinstates Debra to lead the investigation. But despite the random DNA swabs taken throughout the city, they are no nearer identifying the serial killer.

Dex visits Arthur and his family, and notices more cracks in the perfectly happy family. When he hears Arthur is going on an out-of-town trip, he worries the “Trinity Killer” is about to start his next ritualistic cycle. He comes up with some bogus excuse to join Arthur in Tampa, a meteorology conference, and gets permission from LaGuerta. The next day “Kyle” urges Arthur to take him along, claiming he is disturbed about something, and Arthur reluctantly agrees. On the road, Arthur presses “Kyle” to confess, and he tells him he killed someone. He thought he was an animal. Arthur assumes it was a hunting accident, and consoles him that his sense of guilt proves he has a conscious. At home, neighborly Elliot is openly flirting with Rita in Dex’ absence. She is clearly uneasy – but I cannot help finding her annoying.

The day after, instead of going to the Four Wall build, Arthur takes “Kyle” to his childhood home. Stomping past the baffled owners, he shows him the bathroom where it all began. As a ten-year old, he was innocently looking on while his sister Vera took a shower. Startled, she slipped, shattering the glass door and slicing her femoral artery. She was dead before the ambulance arrived. Arthur’s parents blamed him; his mother committed suicide; his alcoholic father was beaten to death. Arthur is excited he could finally tell anyone, so many years later. At night, Dexter prepares to kill Arthur, but finds he’s already left for the Four Wall site at 4:45am. He is about to jump to his death. Is this the lesson about remorse, he was supposed to learn from him? Is that the solution to his monstrous urges? But he cannot let Arthur die this way, and saves his life. Arthur pleads to consider the incident an accident and never talk about it again. “To err is human,” he tells him. “Wait, does that make me human?” Dexter wonders to himself, “huh.”

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Modern Family 1x01

Modern Family, Pilot, on ABC
If we believe the Emmy’s, Modern Family is the best comedy on television this year. So the Cricket better check it out! It’s a mockumentary-style series that follows the life of Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill, Married ... with Children), his daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen, Happy Gilmore), and his son Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, The Class). We get the bouncing and shaking camera, the talking heads offering a running commentary, while supposedly hilarious scenes ensue. Jay, despite his physical appearance, is married to beautiful Gloria, a much younger Columbian woman. Homemaker Claire is married to self-proclaimed “cool dad” Phil, whose antics are too lame to believe. Gay Mitchell has just adopted a Vietnamese girl with his partner Cameron – their differences are played out throughout: one is mild-manner, but uptight; the other is flamboyantly dramatic. On paper, this sounds like it should be good fun, but from this pilot episode I cannot say I am impressed... but I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Weeds 6x06

Weeds, A Shoe for a Shoe, on Showtime
The Botwins are on the run for Esteban’s goons. Alas, they already got Shane – in addition to Doug, who has been pleading for his life for several episodes now. Cesar demands an exchange, Shane for little Stevie. Nancy is still knee deep in shit. She makes it at the meeting place in time, but instead of a baby, she is carrying a crossbow underneath the blankey. She shoot Cesar in the leg, but he refuses to tell her where Shane is. Meanwhile, Andy and Silas are having a bite in a diner, weighing their options, until they happen upon Ignacio, Shane and Doug. Andy’s heroic effort fails hopelessly. Having traced them, she points a gun at Ignacio under the table, but he responds in kind – a Mexican standoff. Then Shane takes over the gun from Nancy, and that show of cojones convinces the goon to let them go. So, off the Botwins go starting over their lives for the umpteenth time. It was a nice episode, though a bit of a mid-season dip. It is always funny watching Doug – even when he isn’t doing anything else than his usual, looking frightened like a puppy. Silas is a charmer, and I really wonder how long he is going to go along with his mother’s crazy shit. Shane has become quit a character, a psychopathic serial killer in the making. And Andy is just Andy as always, a lovable, good-for-nothing dork.