In Treatment 3x15

This is another intense session with Jesse. Not because he is his usual antagonistic, foulmouthed, attention-deficit rebel, quite the contrary. He is much calmer, more hopeful and satisfied, even cheerful. What changed his mood is that his adoptive father Roberto got very angry when he heard that Jesse’s birth mother Karen had tried to contact him. It gave Jesse a sense of being loved seeing how much distress it has caused his parents fearing that he might disappear from their lives. He also felt closer to his father since Roberto helped him with his algebra and scored a “B” on his test. In fact, Jesse wants nothing to do anymore with his birth parents. He received a letter from his biological father Kevin, who is now married to Karen and regrets that they had to give him up for adoption when they were teenagers. For years Jesse has been dreaming about his birth parents, coming up with the wildest fantasies about them, but now that he can actually meet them, the reality of it is no longer as attractive. He needed to be loved, and has found that his parents did care for him for the past seventeen years. He expresses his emotions about his biological parents’ attempts to contact him in almost the same words as he describes Roberto’s anger. He wrote a very formal response to Kevin, declining their request and begging them not to get in touch with him again. Paul, however, understands Jesse’s biological parents’ desire to get to know their son, even if they don’t mean to take him away from Roberto and Marissa. He encourages Jesse to reconsider his response to Kevin. And when Jesse notices the remarkable similarities between his handwriting and that of Kevin, he is overwhelmed. He wonders if maybe he does have things in common with his birth parents. In short, a remarkable breakthrough happen in therapy, even though Paul had nothing much to do with it.

Caprica 1x18

Well, this is the moment no one has been waiting for, the Grand Finale of Caprica... While Daniel and Amanda Graystone are still trying to secure their house with the help of a team of investigators, that STO sympathizer Global Defense Department Director Gara Singh storms in ordering their arrest on the trumped up accusation that they were behind the MagLev bombing that started off the entire series. Daniel’s trusted assistant Cyrus grabs a gun, points it at Singh, and tells Daniel and Amanda to find Clarice’s holoband and foil whatever plot she’s schemed. Flying off to Orpheus Park where Agent Duram was shot, the Graystone’s spot notices that they are now wanted as terrorists. Daniel finds the holoband in the park and learns of the plan to bomb the Atlas Arena during this season’s only home game of the Buccaneers, and he also gets to see the apotheotic virtual heaven Clarice has created for the martyred believers in the The One True God. Daniel and Adama quickly rush downtown in order to prevent the bombing. They get their hands on the program that controls the Cylons, break into the arena’s control room, and bring in two dozen troopers robots. Activating their sensors, the Cylons spot the STO bombers and take them out one by one, except for Clarice’s husband Olaf. He is able to detonate his sole bomb, but by that time the arena has already emptied out in the panic.

Meanwhile, after little Willie’s death, the Adamas find support among their Tauron neighbors in opposition to the Guattrau. Fidelia pays her respect and apparently had a change of heart. She is willing to negotiate so as to avoid a war among the Ha’latha. She agrees to arrange a virtual sit down between Joseph and her father, but during the meeting the Guattrau is being suffocated in real life. Fidelia takes over her father’s position, justice has supposedly been restored, and war averted. From a flashforward into the future we learn that Joseph will have another son, with his new wife, named William after his dead half-brother, but nicknamed Bill not Willie. Fans know that this is the Bill Adama who will command Battlestar Gallactica in the Cylon War another half century in the future. For her part, Zoe realizes Clarices apocalyptic schemes and confronts her in her virtual heaven. As the martyr’s avatars are uploaded into this sham Mount Olympus, Zoe rages and burns Clarice’s heaven down. The Sister returns to the real world, realizing she has sent innocent people to their death, and agrees to become high priestess for artificial intelligence. In another flashfoward we see that they Graystone’s have succeeded in creating a skin job for Zoe, and that Lacey Rand has become Great Mother on Geminon who approves of Clarice’s mission converting Cylons to The One. The End.

Clarksdale

Would you pardon the Cricket for shamelessly plugging his friends’ band in this Chirp? You wouldn’t, would you? Clarksdale is the new blues rock sensation in Beat City The Hague, Holland. Guitarist Sander Kaatee formed Clarksdale late last year with drummer Rob Kramer after they both split from a previous formation. Sander has been playing guitar since he was eleven and from the age of seventeen has been performing with various bands, including Breathtaking Angels. Rob has been marching to the beat of his own drum for over thirty years, playing in various jazz formations and accompanying almost every Dutch artist on record or on stage for television or radio broadcasts. Sander invited Hans Kühbauch to take up bass duty in Clarksdale. Hans was already making waves with his bass at an early age, enjoying local success with The Davies and The Groovy’s in the 70s and 80s. Singer/songwriter Kevin Burns was soon added to Clarksdale, and he brought along his blues harps, and acoustic/electric guitars. As Sander is playing in Boris van der Lek’s Breathtaking Angels, it seemed only natural that Boris would return the favor and join Sander’s band. Boris is a renowned tenor saxophonist in his own right, who was played with greats such as Herman Brood & His Wild Romance, Golden Earring, Hans Dulfer, Frits Kaatee (Sander’s father), and Laura Fygi, and has made sixteen appearances at North Sea Jazz festival.

Currently, Clarksdale are working hard rehearsing for their first performances, with a try-out show this Saturday. In line with the city that inspired their name – Clarksdale, Mississippi, home of the blues – they are influenced by blues legends such as Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Elmore James and Muddy Waters. They add a deep appreciation for the Allman Brothers, the Rolling Stones, Taj Mahal, the J. Geils Band, the Black Crowes, Lester Butler, Tom Waits and Willy DeVille. Songs on their setlist presently include “Cross Road Blues,” “Got My Mojo Working,” “Not Fade Away,” “Statesboro Blues” and “Cruisin’ for Love.” The other day I was witness to a magical moment when Kevin started playing one of his own three-chord compositions. It sounded like a cross between acoustic country and psychedelic pop. Tentatively the other guys joined in and soon we were on J.J. Cale’s veranda watching the sun go down. Then unexpectedly, miraculously the whole thing turned into a free jazz rocker fusing Coltrane, McLaughlin and – one of Sander’s greatest influences – Derek Trucks. And bear in mind that no one in the band had ever heard Kevin’s song before! That’s the kind of exciting music you may expect from Clarksdale – blues as blues can get, but with a beautiful twist. Check them out, friend-request them on Facebook, visit their website, and come taste the band when they stop by your neck of the woods!

Californication 4x04

Hank has finished the script for the movie adaption of his novel, and Runkle is so excited he could pleasure himself. They have a meet and greet with Stu and Zig (resp. the producer and a potential investor). Things start to go from weird and wonderful to bizarre and brutal when Zig invites them to his mansion for a reading of some scenes. Zig, too, gets overly excited and starts to give a face ride to one of his sister-wives – and then excuses himself as the sister-wives continue making out on the couch. Hank and Stu are too high, but Runkle gladly takes one of the sisters for a ride – except that she is distracted by Zig’s pet monkey. When it starts throwing its feces, Runkle tries hitting it, gets bitten, tries to shake the monkey off his arm and kills it as it flies through the room. The sister shrieks hysterically and accuses him of murder. Although Stu has a serious case of the giggles, he demands that Runkle apologizes to Zig to save the deal. Hank finds the investor hanging on the bathroom door: death by auto-erotic asphyxiation. Not much later Runkle gets tased by a police officer, Hank punches him out. Hank then hits on his attorney who agrees to handle the mess and keep it out of the tabloids. None of this phases Hank one bit, but when he drops off Runkle he spots Karen flirting with another man. That hurts Hank every which way.

Gossip Girl 4x13

So, what are the big shockers this week on Gossip Girl? Serena hooks up with Ben; Blair and Dan both end up interning at W magazine; Chuck is clean in business but dirty between the sheets with Raina Thorpe; Captain Archibald is offered a job at Russell Thorpe’s company; Eric is dating dope pushing Damien; Lily tries bribing Ben to stay away from her family; and Rufus keeps defending his wife! Yes, indeed, this show is running on empty asleep behind the wheel. It all makes very little sense. Serena is all puppy-dog eyed over her boarding school teacher, who until recently had been instructing his Flatchester sister to ruin her life for getting him into prison on account of statutory rape. Lily stubbornly maintains the façade that she always had the best intentions for her family, though by now she has alienated almost everyone. There is yet another party that just about everyone attends. And in the end Williamsburg weasel Humphrey loses his internship when he tries sabotaging Blair, who actually believed they were becoming fast friends despite her open remonstrations. Yawn...

Modern Family 1x19

It’s Phil’s birthday and Claire wants to make it extra special. It’s like Steve Jobs and God got together to say they love Phil, because the first ever iPad comes out on the day of his birthday. So, instead of letting her husband wait in line for his new toy, Clair offers to go instead. You can see it coming from a mile ahead that she isn’t going to make it – and her antics to make up for her mistakes are not particularly funny either. In his disappointment, Phil storms off to the batting cage. Then he hears an announcement for “Phil’s Birthday Party” ... different Phil. In the end, Luke saves the day by e-mailing some of his father’s online buddies telling them Phil is dying and his last wish is to have an iPad. Over at Jay’s house, Manny and Gloria are trying to hide that they are excellent chess players, because Jay is such a sore loser. For his part, Cam is listening in over the baby monitor on their neighbor’s marital foibles, while Mitchell wants to take up some self-defense lessons. Sorry, friends, but this isn’t making the Cricket chirpy.

In Treatment 3x14

Frances is an entirely different animal from the previous session when she stormed out in anger because Paul refused to help her read her lines. She was terrified the preview would turn out a disaster. Now she is dejected yet resigned, although she’s had a great week on stage to laud applause. She has every reason to feel satisfied, yet she is quiet, reluctant to talk about anything, and still insecure about herself. She keeps talking about what other people think of her – her mother, her sister, her daughter, her ex-husband, even Paul – and how she feels she has disappointed them all in her life. She always felt inadequate around Russell and his intellectual friends. She apologized to Patricia for discouraging her from pursuing an acting career, but was hurt that her sister said she is glad she led a “real life.” Frances admits she stopped visiting her mother in her last days, feeling guilty Isabel came all the way to New York in her state to attend her premiere. She has been trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, putting up a performance her whole life, that she has no idea how to judge herself. The problem with her is that she is so passive-aggressively manipulative that it is impossible to know when she is telling the truth. Paul is aware that she contradicts herself every session, but makes no bones about it. Instead, he emphasizes that her feeling of inadequacy and disappointment comes from within, and that she needs to consider her own self-worth. Frances didn’t speak about her breast cancer test, but at the end of the session we learn she got the results, but hasn’t opened them yet.