Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

The X-Files S6 E15

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“Arcadia”

I remember loving this episode when it first aired. I still loved it after this rewatch, but it may have taken a slight step down. Still one of my favorite X-Files episodes.

Mulder and Scully going undercover as a yuppie married couple in a planned community to try and discover why people have been disappearing without a trace is a fantastic premise. It opens the show up to some funny moments as Mulder and Scully interact with each other and the neighborhood and its ridiculously strict rules.

This, I think, is a perfect episode to talk about something that I have truly noticed during this rewatch. I know there were people who thought Scully and Mulder were meant for each other, but this episode showed to me that they just did not have that lover connection. Each scene of them as a married couple, where there could have been sparks with their unrequited love, just lacked any energy and was played as humor.

I have never felt that Mulder and Scully had that “will they or won’t they” vibe of TV pairs such as David and Maddie of Moonlighting, Sam and Diane of Cheers, Richard Castle and Detective Beckett of Castle. I mean, I have no doubt that they loved each other, but more like brother-sister, or best friends. Heck, I would compare the relationship between Mulder and Scully more like that of Adrian Monk and Natalie from Monk. Closer than co-workers. Tighter than friends. Just platonic. Trying to do more feels uncomfortable, and that is the feel of “Arcadia.”

I do like the garbage monster which is revealed as a tulpa, a thought creature brought to life by the planned community leader Gene Gogolak, played by Peter White. However, the third act of the show sure seemed rushed. I think this concept could have been a two-part episode, although I know they kept those two-parters for the mythology episodes and not the monster-of-the-week affairs. I do think this could have worked as one in order to give a little more background to the monster and fleshing out the characters in the community more.

The comedic timing of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is really great. They work in so many versions of this show. They are such solid actors. It just does not seem as if their characters are in love.

The Greatest American Hero S2 E2

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“Operation: Spoilsport”

I think this was the best episode of The Greatest American Hero that we have seen so far.

I actually remember this episode from when I first watched it back int he 1980s because of what was different. In the episode on Amazon Prime that I watched today, there were several songs used as a soundtrack as Ralph and Bill raced around trying to prevent the launch of nuclear weapons via a computer program called Operation: Spoilsport. The nuclear weapons were intended to be a preemptive strike on the USSR and General Stocker (played by John Anderson) was behind the strike, bringing the story of Dr. Strangelove to The Greatest American Hero.

What I remember clearly about this episode was the use of the song “Eve of Destruction.” I believe it was the first time I heard this song and it was so much more powerful with this than the songs than the original songs that were on the version on Prime.

There was a definite thrill in this episode as the chance of a launch of nuclear weapons from a crazed general is a danger that loomed large in the 1980s. Ralph and Bill’s desperation fit right in with the tone of the episode, which still had its comedic flavor, but the humor was in its proper place and was not over used. The threat of nuclear war was real at the time and this story of two heroes doing everything they could to prevent it was epic.

Yes, the special effects are of the 1980s TV variety, but that is not the show’s fault. The storytelling was strong and these two characters reacted in ways that you understood.

Connie Sellecca was reserved for a phone call cameo, apparently since she was pregnant at the time.

We also saw the return of the little green guys who communicated with Ralph through the radio as well as through a dead guy (which was actually kind of creepy).

Great episode.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E13

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“Epiphanies”

I am officially unsure completely which side is the good guys on Battlestar Galactica.

The second season has spent much of it so far making it shades of grey. The Cylons are being shown not just as machines that are evil and looking to destroy humanity. And the humans are being shown potentially as warmongers. This episode did not do anything to dismiss that idea. In fact, when they were attempting to take Sharon’s baby against her will, I found myself completely behind Sharon.

As I said, this is absolutely not a show about good and evil. The shades of grey are all over the place.

VP Dr. Baltar surprised me in this episode with his last minute saving of President Roslin. I supposed someone could argue that he was doing this only to save the life of Sharon’s baby.

I was not sure if Roslin was going to be saved at the end, but it does not surprise me that she was. She has been a major character and letting her die off in the middle of the second season would be a huge swing. The show is starting to plant the seeds of problems between Roslin and Baltar as she was having memories of seeing him with Number Six making out.

Then, of course, there is the nuclear warhead Baltar sent to Gina on Cloud Nine. Where is that heading?

The X-Files S6 E14

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“Monday”

Some of the best X-Files episodes are the ones where they take a familiar premise from a movie or TV show and give it the X-Files treatment. We have seen movie/TV premises such as The Thing, Speed, Firestarter, Freaky Friday and Twilight Zone among others. This time it is Groundhog Day (although actually, according to Vince Gilligan, more of a Twilight Zone episode, specifically “Shadow Play” from 1961).

Mulder and Scully wind up in a bank near the FBI offices at the same time that a man with a gun (and a bomb) is there to pull off a robbery. It seems that no matter what happens, the bomb goes off killing everyone inside the bank.

However, the bomber, named Bernard, had a girlfriend named Pam and Pam was the one reliving the day over and again and realizing what was happening. She tried everything she could think of to stop the eventual explosion, to no avail.

The show brings up Deja vu in the middle, with Mulder telling Scully that all the terrible things that had happened to him that morning felt like had happened to him before. All Scully could ask was “When did you get a water bed?” which is a hilarious toss back to the two part episode from season six, Dreamland, where Mulder switched bodies with Morris Fletcher who bought the waterbed.

The show’s director does an admirable job of shooting each scene, which could have been very repetitive, in different manners and with different variations, which showed that things could be changed and was not just totally fate.

This was a nice blend of humor, which a lot of these premise episodes leaned toward, and serious drama. It was a very engaging hour of TV and has been a highlight so far of season six.

Bates Motel S4 E1

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“A Danger to Himself and Others”

Norman Bates has gone off the deep end.

In a show that takes the character of Norman Bates as a young adult, the main protagonist of this show is really Norma Bates. Her desperation in trying to protect her son is the driving force in her life, sending her off to do crazy things in the name of her son. Is she really helping him? No, not really.

Norma going to Romero and asking him to marry her so she could get insurance to admit Norman to a mental health facility is shocking. The disgust on Alex’s face when Norma said she’d sleep with him was actually more telling than you would think. It’s not as if Romero has clean hands. His hands were quite literally covered with blood at the episode’s beginning when he hid the body of Bob (who he had shot in the season four finale) by sinking his boat in the lake. Still, I know how Romero and Norma end up and they are destined for each other.

The show is also very much about parents and children as we meet Emma’s absentee mom. She tries to come see Emma as she is having her lung transplant, but Emma’s father Will sends her away. Emma’s mother then tries to go to the Bates Motel to have Norma help her, but Norma turned her away. Unfortunately for Emma’s mom, she came across Norman all blacked out and dressed up in mother’s robe. Norman strangled her to death, adding to his body count. As of this episode, we know Norman has killed his father, Miss Watson, Bradley Martin, and now Emma’s mother Audrey Ellis. Am I forgetting anyone?

This episode has a look at the state of mental health in the country as the institution that Norman is taken to after the farmer knocked him out (which was an epic moment) was shown as scary, overcrowded, and dark. The mentally ill have such a stigma connected to them that these types of places are operating to the best of their abilities, lacking the funds and the personnel to handle the cases that they have to handle. It’s the type of place where those without money or insurance, like Norma, have to send their loved ones who need help. meanwhile, there are lovely facilities that require waiting lists and lots of cash. It is just another example of the levels of class distinction and how it affects the people of the country.

This show has never shied away from the illustration of violence, in particular against women. In order to show the complexities of the character of Norman Bates, they must show a background that would lead him to the iconic character from Psycho. It can be difficult to watch at times, but it is always compelling.

The Greatest American Hero S2 E1

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“The Two-Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Fast Ball”

We start off season two of the Greatest American Hero with the happy return of Ralph’s original last name, Hinkley. Ralph Hanley is gone for good. At the end of the last season, they had to change Ralph’s last name because of the assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan by John Hinkley.

Ralph is going undercover on the California Stars, a MLB team (meant to be the LA Dodgers as it was filmed at Dodger Stadium), because someone is beating up the Star’s best players in an attempt to make them lose. Ralph and the suit are able to throw the fastest fast ball and attracts the attention of the bad guys.

This was a weird episode with Ralph using the suit to actually play major league baseball and not just go undercover. Bill got him a contract and everything.

Markie Post was guest starring as the Stars owner. Don Drysdale appeared too as the baseball announcer.

There was a scene where Markie Post told Ralph that Mike Douglas wanted him on his show, but every time Ralph said the word Mike Douglas, it looked like his lips was saying something else. Maybe “Merv”, like Merv Griffin.

Connie Sellecca only made a cameo appearance in the episode on the phone.

Kind of a strange episode. The Stars’ manager was involved in the plot and was trying to fix it so his team would lose. However, it is sort of a performance-enhancing situation with Ralph and his super powered suit. That does feel like he cheated in the end which did not mesh with the character of Ralph Hinkley.

The X-Files S6 E13

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“Agua Mala”

The thirteenth episode of the sixth season of The X-Files is an episode that I do not remember ever seeing before. It was entitle “Agua Mala” which is Spanish for bad water.

Mulder and Scully get called down to Florida by the man who helped originate the actual X-Files at the FBI decades before, Arthur Dales, who was featured in an episode during the fifth season. There was a hurricane underway and he was worried about neighbors, who had contacted him about some kind of tentacled creature that had attacked the family.

The story was strange because the agents wound up at the neighbors house and met a deputy there. They went apart and wound up together later at another location. There were other people in this location (basically an apartment building of some kind) and the water monster was here too. I am not sure why it was here and at the other location.

I did like how Scully showed her take charge side. She was quite the leader during the episode and made several of the decisions. As Arthur Dales stated, Mulder is lucky to have a partner like Scully.

The resolution of the story was fairly silly and, even though I just praised Scully, she certainly had a Batman-leap (a term my friends and I had dubbed about Adam West’s Batman from the 1960s show-who would make unbelievable leaps of logic/guesses from ridiculous clues) involving the way to stop the creature. I am not sure there was any evidence for Scully to have made that leap.

Overall, this was not the worst episode of the X-Files I have ever seen, but it was nothing that really stood out as a strong installment either.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E11, E12

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“Resurrection Ship, Part 1, and Part 2”

I had watched episode 10 the other day and I had intended on watching another episode right away. That was when I noticed that episodes 11 & 12 were two-parter and that I did not have time to watch both at that time. I made the choice to not start episode 11 and wait to watch the pair of them together. I am glad that I made that decision.

These two episodes worked very well together as the strife centering around the return of the Pegasus and the ascension of Admiral Cain over Adama filled the story significantly.

I did not expect President Roslin to tell Adama that he needed to have Cain killed. The show spent much of the time building Cain up as a bad guy, giving us details about some of her decision that may have been considered morally questionable. I did find Roslin’s comment to be inconsistent with her character, but with her getting sicker by the minute, I can see her wanting to have things settled as soon as she could.

The conflict within both Starbuck and Fisk over the orders that they had been given by their respective leaders was amazing. Neither of them felt like the order was the right thing to do, but they were both in position in which to do it if told to.

Having it be Gina who assassinates Cain felt kind of easy, but I am happier that it was her and not Starbuck.

The whole conversation and interaction with Gina and Baltar was tough to watch. The show has done a solid job of humanizing the Cylons that we know of and making them seem less evil. Gina had been so abused and tortured that she just wanted to die, but could not commit suicide as it is a sin. Sharon has also be made to be more human than what she started as and one wonders if this is real or still part of the plan.

The special effects of the episode were wonderful as the attack on the resurrection ship was impressive, especially for a TV show.

This two-parter did feel like a season finale, but there are several episodes to go in season two. I wonder if the show had an hiatus after this pair or if it just happened to feel that way.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E10

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“Pegasus”

A happy return becomes a tense standoff.

The Pegasus, a Colonial vessel that had been missing and presumed destroyed, arrived back at the fleet, with Admiral Helena Cain aboard. Admiral outranked that of Commander, so Cain took control of the fleet away from Adama. Adama was fully supportive of the order, showing his honor as a military man.

Even after Cain reassigned Starbuck and Apollo, Adama followed the orders and did what he was told.

Things got complicated. When the Cylon interrogator from the Pegasus went to find out what Sharon knew, things got bad. He was going to rape her during the violent encounter, but Chief and Helo came to her rescue, inadvertently killing the man.

Cain ordered Chief and Helo brought for trial, but she decided their fate without a trial and planned on executing them for treason. Adama wanted them to be brought back to Galactica for trial but Cain denied him. Adama launched viper crews and a Marine team to go get his men back and Cain ordered her vipers to stop them.

Hence the tension.

Major issues unfolding among the humans. I was excited about the next episode and I was going to start to watch it, but I saw the next episode was a part one, and I did not want to stop in the middle of the two-parter. So I stopped the next episode and hope to get back to it later this weekend when I can watch the two of them together.

This episode was really hard to watch as this crew of Pegasus had really been rough to the Cylons that they had in their control. They showed that they had a Cylon copy of Number Six, but she had been beaten and raped by many of the crew. This showed the Cylons in a new light, giving them more human qualities and almost made them sympathetic.

I thought at first that the Pegasus crew would turn out to be Cylons themselves, but this is even better. They are humans and showing the dark side of the race.

The X-Files S6 E11, E12

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“Two Fathers”

“One Son”

A big chunk of the mythology of the X-Files gets wrapped up in this two-part story, with pieces that have been major parts of the show for years.

It started off with the return of Cassandra Spender and ended with the deaths of the Syndicate, except of course for CSM. Mulder and Scully discovered much of the truth behind the Smoking Man, as Jeffrey Spender’s father.

Once again, Mulder had Smoking Man dead to rights with a gun to his head and did not kill that MFer. I want Smoking Man dead so badly. Again, the performance of William B. Davis as the Smoking Man is tremendous as he brings out the bloodthirsty nature of the audience.

Smoking Man also shoots and kills his own son in the offices of the X-Files at the end of “One Son.” Speaking of betrayal, CSM indicated that between Bill Mulder and him, only one of them had a son they could be proud of. What a dirt bag. This two-parter does a decent job of giving Spender a respectful, if not heroic, send off, as he spoke to Kersh about getting Mulder and Scully back to the X-Files, taking the responsibility for the deaths of the episode.

The alien story, which included alien invasions and colonization, hybrid human/aliens, rebel aliens, black oil, vaccines and sacrifices. It is fairly convoluted and I am still not sure exactly whose on the right side. However, it does set the show up to move in a different direction after this major piece of the mythology is brought to an end.

I hate Diana Fowler too, though I am not sure I am supposed to hate her. For now, I find her to be a rotten character who is in cahoots with the Smoking Man.

According to Wikipedia, this two-parter was written in part because Chris Cooper expected season six to be the final season of the show and was designed to give some answers to the series’s show-long mysteries.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E9

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“Flight of the Phoenix”

The Chief, tormented by the events of going on with Sharon and Helo, decided to take his situation into his own hands and built a stealth plane from spare parts.

It was met, at first, with division and sarcasm, but as the episode progressed, more and more of the crew began to buy into the hope that Chief was selling, and joined in on the project.

Meanwhile, a Cylon virus started taking over the Galactica technology and was in danger of sending a signal to the Cylons to attack a defenseless Galactica.

This dangerous threat forced Adama to bring Sharon into the mix and give her a chance to help right the ship.

I am starting to buy into Sharon’s redemption arc, so I sure hope the show does not pull the rug out from under it. I’m still not sure what the long range story is here with Sharon, but I have bought into it.

Chief and his stealth plane was a brilliant way to help build up morale on a ship that was lacking patience. Of course, Starbuck can fly anything. Even a slapped together dream.

Things are looking bad for Laura and I wonder if the show is actually going to have her die from the cancer that she has. I can’t believe that there will not be some last minute save for her, but I have no idea where that would come from.

It was yet another top line episode in a series that has been filled with them so far.

Greatest American Hero S1 E8

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“The Best Desk Scenario”

It is a day for wrapping up season finales for the TV shows I am watching. I just watched season three finale for Bates Motel, and now I finished season one of Greatest American Hero with the oddly titled “The Best Desk Scenario.”

The first season of this show has been a lot of goofy, cheesy fun as Ralph struggled to learn how his super suit worked. This episode he tried for a pyrokinetic power, which did not go exactly how he thought it would.

You would also think that at some point, all the crooks brought to justice by Bill Maxwell who claimed were brought in by a guy in red long johns might start to add up and someone might question what was going on instead of just shipping them all off for mental checks.

Bill was having his own trouble here as colleagues of his were dying and it was making him look at his own mortality and question if he had lost his own step. It was an interesting idea for Bill, but it is not really dealt with during the story. It is there, but not with any real depth.

Ralph and Pam’s career successes were causing Bill to be jealous and to doubt his own career. A new head at the FBI, a really young guy, also brought Bill’s insecurities to the surface.

Season two is the longest of the three seasons for Greatest American Hero so we’ll get started on that one soon. Season one was fun and quite a flashback to the 1980s.

Bates Motel S3 E10

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“Unconscious”

Season three finale of Bates Motel continues Norman Bates’ decent into madness as he finished off yet another young woman, the believed-to-be-dead Bradley in a frighteningly violent scene. Admittedly, it was Vera Farmiga who acted out the actual murder, Norman has slipped back into the multiple personality that has caused him to be such a dangerous young man.

I do find it fascinating that Bates Motel has been able to create two couples that are some of my personal favorite couples of all time on their little show depicting how Norman became a murderer.

First up this episode, we see the pairing of Dylan and Emma take a big step forward as they shared a kiss after Dylan was trying to get her to accept the lung transplant. Her reasons to be afraid of the transplant are understandable and relatable. She just wanted to live and was afraid that the transplant was too big of a risk. Dylan was understanding and sweet as he softly convinced her to take a risk.

And you can see the beginnings of what is one of my absolutely most favorite couples of all time with Norma and Alex Romero. I remember loving this couple when they got together and you can see how these two are being built.

However, on this rewatch, it is hard for me to consider Romero a hero. My memory from the first time through was that he was a good guy, but he clearly is not as he murdered Bob. Now, he did it to protect Norma and Bob was a really bad guy, but Romero outright murdered him. And it was not the first time that he had done this. It might have been for the greater good, but still…

Norma definitely needs to work on her knot tying as Norman got out of those binds in seconds.

Bring on season four!

The X-Files S6 E10

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“Tithonus”

I enjoyed this episode of the X-Files for all the ways it turned the typical formula on its head.

First, Scully was out in the field, assigned to a case with a different partner, and she would call back to FBI headquarters to talk to Mulder and he would do the background stuff. Lots of time, this was flipped, with Scully doing info searches or autopsies. Poor Mulder was like a sad puppy the whole time too.

This also felt like an opposite of “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” as we had an older man who could see death. This episode, the man himself could not die and he was determined to take a picture of death with the hope of being able to do what everybody else would do. This episode was played much more serious than “Clyde” was, which had some of the funnier moments in the early days of the X-Files.

The old man, Alfred Fellig, was played by character actor Geoffrey Lewis and he does a great job playing against Gillian Anderson.

At the very end of the episode, after Fellig had taken Scully’s place and had died from the gunshot wound, Scully was in the hospital from the same gunshot wound. Scully said “You know Mulder I don’t even know why I entertained the thought. People don’t live forever.” I think that was a reference, in Scully’s mind, back to Bruckman who had told her that she would never die. This brush with nearly dying herself from the gunshot wound made her question her own mortality in a very different way. At least, that is how I took it.

Bates Motel S3 E8, E9

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“The Pit”

“Crazy”

Norman and Norma have an uncomfortable conversation. Norman was upset from what Finnegan had said to him and he had to talk to Norma because he was afraid it was true. Norma reacted in such an understanding and honest manner that it completely put Norman at ease. It was really sweet.

That made the end of the episode, where Norma winds up screaming at Norman that he was going to kill her, all the more horrible. The juxtaposition of the two scenes were stark.

The whole Dylan and Caleb gun running scene was rough. The budding relationship between Emma and Dylan is cute. Alex is dealing with his own issues with Norma and he is told the truth about what happened to Norman’s father.

And what a shocker. Bradley is back.

Caleb and Chick have a major conflict and a fight. This is leading to something more explosive. It gave Dylan the money to help Emma get bumped up the transplant list. He gave it to her father with the caveat that Emma did not know it was from him.

Norma is unbelievably impulsive in a destructive way. Taking the shovel and starting to refill the ‘swimming pool’ in anger was shocking. She is a truly contradictory character. Sweet at times, insane at others.

And speaking of insane, Norman is really getting to that place.