Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Twin Peaks S2 E11

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Masked Ball”

Twin Peaks takes a real step from the Laura Palmer mystery into what sure felt like a series of dull and uninspiring storylines.

  • James rode his motorcycle and met a woman named Evelyn Marsh. I legit hate this storyline.
  • Nadine is interested in high schooler Mike.
  • Catharine has some new manipulations
  • The mayor’s brother gets married again- played by Tony Jay.
  • David Duchovny comes to town as DEA Agent Dennis/Denise Bryson
  • Windham Earle makes a chess move.
  • Dick brings Little Nicky for a malt; Andy tags along.
  • Betty Briggs is not upset that her husband disappeared in the woods last episode.
  • Audrey was on screen for three seconds dancing with Cooper at the wedding.

Seriously, this was very dull for most of the episode. It was odd to see David Duchovny show up in drag, but it is less of a shock these days as it would have been back in the 1990s.

There was an interesting scene between Hank and Ben Horne. Horne is very eccentric at this point, watching old home movies and making shadow puppets with his hands.

This was a huge step down from previous Twin Peaks episodes.

Moonlighting S5 E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Plastic Fantastic Lovers”

Season five continues to put the David-Maddie relationship on the back burner and focus on the cases with only a few references to the “Spaceman.”

This episode dealt with plastic surgery, and made me think about the episode from season two, The Lady in the Iron Mask. This time there was a man who had been horribly disfigured by a plastic surgeon that he wanted to find details to sue him. This is why he hired David and Maddie.

David did not want to take the case. This led to an interesting discussion of vanity between Dave and Maddie that continued to inform on their characters.

Of course, as any Moonlighting case, things are never exactly what you see and it leads to a wild, cartoonish chase scene.

There was a chainsaw too.

This episode did feel as if the writers were trying to reach back before the whole Dave and Maddie thing to capture some of the old magic of the show, and they did a fairly decent job of it. This had that same feeling of the third season, but the tension between Dave and Maddie was not here. I liked this episode, but you can see how it is just not quite the same.

The X-Files S3 E23, E24

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Wetwired”

“Talitha Cumi”

After a series of excellent monster-of-the-week episodes, The X-Files came back to the governmental conspiracy mythology with a vengeance with the final two episodes of season three. While “Wetwired” was not as directly involved as it seemed, it did turn out to be a connected show where as “Talitha Cumi” expanded the mythos dramatically.

“Wetwired” dealt with the use of subliminal signals over the television to lead to a form of mind control. The best part of the episode was seeing how the signals affected Scully, turning her paranoid and angry at Mulder, whom she believed was betraying her.

When Mulder tracked Scully down at her mother’s house, Scully confronted Mulder at gunpoint about how he did not trust her, and he delivered one of my favorite lines of the series when he said, “You’re the only one I trust.” Gillian Anderson gave a great performance as the unhinged Scully.

We also learned (at least, I do not recall it coming up before) that Mulder is red-green color blind, which kept the signals from turning him into a crazed killer.

In Talitha Cumi, we meet Jeremiah Smith, played by Roy Thinnes, who has apparent healing powers and an ability to shapeshift. We discover that the alien bounty hunter from earlier in the series was out to kill all the different version of Jeremiah Smith that were out there.

This is the dramatic end to the show, leaving a cliffhanger over the summer until the beginning of season four.

Mulder’s mother had a stroke just after a confrontation she had with the Cigarette Smoking Man. We learned that she had a connection to him in the past, and that one of the weapons capable of killing the alien bounty hunters was hidden in a summer home of the Mulders.

I swear, every time Mulder has CSM pushed against the wall with a gun to his head, I want him to finish the creep off. How would everything have been different if he had taken care of the bastard?

The show still referred to him as Cancer Man a couple of times, and I believe the episode with the actual guy who could see cancer comes in season 4. That is my guess as to why they removed that tag from CSM.

Two very good episodes that concluded an excellent season of TV from the X-Files. Season three is definitely the best season of the show so far, and is arguably the best season of the series.

Moonlighting S5 E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Color of Maddie”

The third episode of season five of Moonlighting had some decent moments to it. The end chase scene was still a little cartoonish, but it felt less obnoxious than the last time with the hot air balloons. I will say that I laughed when suddenly David and Maddie were on a bicycle built for two from out of nowhere, with little helmets to add to the imagery.

The dialogue between Maddie and David felt more on the nose and like an episode of Moonlighting. Their relationship was still at the center, but it was handled with care and not as if it were the most foulest thing ever. There was a feeling of love, not the anger that seemed to permeate season four of the show. That was a welcome change.

Of course, you could see the twist at the end with Maddie being great at pool coming from a mile away. Cybill Shepherd looked absolutely fabulous in that dress at the end of the episode, however, and it was worth the time to see her looking so gorgeous.

Unexpected background for Agnes though. A football team?

The X-Files S3 E22

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Quagmire”

This was a great episode of the X-Files. A monster-of-the-week episode that sees Mulder and Scully in search of Big Blue, a supposed lake monster that is killing humans.

It turned out to be a killer alligator, which, by the way, is one of my biggest fears. We lose Scully’s dog Queequeg to the alligator.

The best part of this episode was when Mulder and Scully wound up stuck on a rock after their boat sinks in the pitch black and they have an amazingly meaningful conversation. Scully compares Mulder to Captain Ahab from Moby Dick. The truth=the white whale.

This scene just makes this episode special. The 10 pages of dialogue for that scene was one of the best Mulder/Scully interactions of the series up to this point.

There was a lot of tension, not only when they were trapped on that rock, but also when the alligator was rushing at Mulder and he unloaded his weapon at the beast. I remember that tension from the first time I watched it.

There was some good humor in this too, as Darin Morgan, who was the writer of all of the classic humor episodes this season, did some touch up here and you can tell.

A slight story, but really enjoyable.

Shogun S1 E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Eightfold Fence”

I really enjoyed this week’s episode of Shogun.

The fish-out-of-water feel of Blackthorne continues to be very interesting as he is trying to comprehend aspects of the Japanese culture that he just cannot grasp. The way they both dealt with the differences and the unintended slights was fascinating, and it was clearly leading to a connection between the characters.

Blackthorne has realized that everything he believed about his deal with Toranaga may not have been what he expected. Still, his instruction on the use of his ship’s cannons impressed the Japanese.

 Lord Ishido sent his warrior, Jozen, to check in on Toranaga, to see if he were preparing for war. Jozen’s presence has been a challenge for the people in place, but Nagakado, Toranaga’s son, wound up attacking him with the cannon.

The brutal imagery of the victims of the cannon attack was amazing. The horror was impressive for a TV show.

There were also some tense stand offs between Blackthorne and Omi, whose initial confrontation at the beginning of the series still plays into this feud.

It is going to lead to a terrible situation, a declaration of war. What will happen next? What will Toranaga think when he discovers what his son has done? All pretty great questions and I am looking forward to finding out what is next.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live S1 E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Bye”

The third episode of the new Walking Dead spinoff arrived Sunday night, but I could not watch it then because of the Academy Awards. So I watched it on Monday.

Rick and Michonne are really great together. I honestly did not see that much of the couple since they were not together as much during the time in which I was watching The Walking Dead. However, they really do have that chemistry where you believe that they could do anything.

Janus’s comment about how she was more concerned with them together because they could maybe do anything was very appropriate.

The potential escape attempt that Rick backed out of shows how far down he has fallen. This was the guy who was unafraid to take on the Governor or Negan, but he has been so beaten down that he can not see a way out of his current situation without losing everything.

Michonne has not lost that focus and I have to say that I gasped loudly when Michonne grabbed Rick and threw them both out of the helicopter during the terrible rain. What a shock. It was something that Michonne would do. Past Rick too.

I do think that next episode is going to really set the stage for what’s to come.

The X-Files S3 E21

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Avatar”

This is an episode featuring Assistant Director Walter Skinner. We get to learn some details about Skinner’s life, such as that he was married, a marriage that has been on the rocks for many months now.

Skinner is also being visited by a spirit of an old woman, who had helped protect him during his tour in Vietnam, and who was referred to by Agent Mulder as a succubus. Honestly, the paranormal aspect of this episode was a little slipshot.

The use of Skinner’s sleep troubles as a weakness for the secret government group to manipulate is better for the episode, to me. The way Agent Mulder found the culprit was quite clever (with the use of the airbag).

I am glad that they put Skinner front and center in this episode, but it did feel like the episode needed some more attention overall. Still, it was a decent X-Files contribution.

Shogun S1 E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Tomorrow is Tomorrow”

Toranaga makes a brazen escape attempt from Osaka with Blackthorne and Mariko in tow.

This episode was chocked full of some exciting action bits, including a fire-arrow fight in the woods and a dramatic ship ‘race’ on the sea. Both action scenes were extremely well done and shot.

You can see the beginnings of the relationship between Blackthorne and Mariko forming. Mariko’s husband Buntaro, stayed behind and held off the forces trying to prevent Toranaga’s escape. We do not see him killed on screen, but that is certainly the implication. I was never a fan of Buntaro, but he came through big time in this episode. I wonder if we will see him again since we did not see his death on camera.

Néstor Carbonell returned this episode as Vasco Rodrigues. He was a hoot here and shows, again, how awesome Carbonell is as an actor.

Moonlighting S5 E2

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Between a Yuk and a Hard Place”

I am glad that Moonlighting decided that Dave and Maddie needed to deal with the miscarriage before just moving on. The fact that they were both denying the problem and running away from it in their own ways.

Agnes Dipesto was the MVP of this episode as she showed some true manipulation by arranging it for Dave and Maddie to get stuck in an elevator. I guess she also is able to work it so they are leaving at the same time and wound up in the same elevator. She’s sneaky!

But the best moment of the episode was inside that elevator when the Muzak in the elevator was playing the song, You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, causing Dave to freak out and use his briefcase to destroy the speaker. This led to a beautiful moment between these characters and they end up singing together. It’s weird since this show mixed this kind of strong drama with powerful acting with the over-the-top cartoonish moments.

There was a typical Moonlighting-like case too that ended up with a fun chase scene involving a hot air balloon. There were some surprisingly good stunt work here.

The problem was that this felt too cartoonish. In fact, Dave even made a Wile E. Coyote joke. The show does become like a cartoon before, but when it gets too cartoonish, it weakens the situation. The ending with Maddie and the jeep just is like an animated moment.

Such a contrast in tones inside this episode.

By the way, Bert is just so obnoxious. I can see why I hated that character so much.

Twin Peaks S2 E10

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Dispute Between Gentlemen”

With the case of who killed Laura Palmer solved, the show Twin Peaks started off on its newest mystery, “How do we keep Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks?”

Okay, maybe that is not quite right, but it is pretty close. Twin Peaks began its new group of stories for the second part of the second season with some background on Agent Cooper, a revenge plot from a Renault, another mysterious disappearance and the return of Josie.

Cooper is suspended for his part in the rescue of Audrey Horne, which is orchestrated by Jean Renault, via the FBI. This keeps him in Twin Peaks, for the immediate future.

I do love the brotherly relationship between Cooper and Sheriff Truman. Harry believes in Coop completely and their bromance just works on a positive note. And Harry 100% has Cooper’s back, even in the face of the FBI (and the Royal Mounties, apparently).

Just before Major Briggs disappears, he drops the first mention of The White Lodge. Even if the show becomes too disjointed or less taut in the rest of this season, I do enjoy the concept of the White Lodge.

Leo looks to be starting to get ready to stop being a wheelchair bound vegetable.

As the show tried to push Bobby Briggs and Audrey Horne together, Audrey had a goodbye scene with Agent Cooper that just showed how much chemistry this pair had and makes the decision for them to never get together all the more questionable.

Windham Earle is name-dropped once more. If I had not known, it would be painfully apparent that these moments of foreshadowing would lead to Windham Earle’s arrival eventually in Twin Peaks.

Those owls are still not what they appear.

The X-Files S3 E20

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Jose Chung’s From Outer Space”

“I know how crazy this is going to sound, but….”

One of the greatest BLEEPIN’ X-Files episodes of all-time was next on my list. It was “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.”

Let’s start off with the amazing casting of Charles Nelson Reilly as author Jose Chung. CNR was so great in this role and he brought a sensational comedic chemistry with Gillian Anderson, whose facial expressions and comedic timing were as on point as I have ever seen her. The pair of them recounting this story from different POVs made for such a fantastic framing device that the humor just worked perfectly between them.

Guest appearances from Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek as Men in Black added such a special feel to the episode, as they tormented the weirdos involved in the story. Jesse Ventura was a personal favorite performer, originally from the world of pro wrestling, and I loved his use in this show.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson did a great job of changing the style of their characters’ performance depending on which person was providing the POV.

This episode was not just a comedic one. It started the stretch of doubt from Mulder that led him to dismiss his belief in UFOs, accepting the fact that everything is part of the government plan. This would carry on for quite a few episodes.

The use of footage of Scully’s actual autopsy of a man in an alien costume being used as a cheap alien autopsy video was a master stroke of genius as was Scully’s breathless reaction of consternation when Chung asked her about it.

This was the final episode written by Emmy winning writer Darin Morgan, whose episodes included classics “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “Humbug,” and “War of the Coprophages.” Morgan would return in the X-Files 2016 revival.

There are so many clever moments in this episode that you could not hit them all. From the craziness of Rocky to the sweet potato pie, “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” had something for everyone. It is one of my, if not THE, favorite episode of the show and I am so glad that we reached this episode in season three.

The X-Files S3 E19

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Hell Money”

The X-Files head into the world of Chinese culture with a odd game played that is involved with harvesting body parts for money.

There are some creepy people in scary masks, but not much for paranormal activity. There was some talk about ghosts, but it felt more like an idea shoehorned into the story to involve Mulder and Scully.

The setting was Chinatown in San Francisco and you could see many of the typical Chinese stereotypes.

So much so that we see James Hong, an actor who has been in countless films and TV shows over the years. He even received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

B.D. Wong as corrupt detective Glen Chao was one of the more interesting characters on the show. Mulder and Scully did seem like arrogant outsiders.

Overall, this was not my most favorite episode, but it was fine.

Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live S1 E2

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Gone”

It has been a few years since I watched any Walking Dead, but I remember a cardinal rule about the show. Never get attached to characters, particularly new ones.

I broke that rule tonight as I was watching the second episode of the Rick/Michonne spin off The Ones Who Live. And did I pay for it.

Episode one focused on where Rick was and what he had been doing all this time and this week, we got the same thing with Michonne. With Michonne, she came across some people whom she saved and then bonded with. So did I as an audience member.

So of course they were doomed.

I think some of these characters at the beginning of this episode were from the end of The Walking Dead, but I have not watched that show for several years so I have no idea what was happening at first.

I did love Nat though. I was sad when he died.

Rick and Michonne are now in the middle of the belly of the beast.

Moonlighting S5 E1

Posted on by

Spoilers

“A Womb With a View”

The final season of Moonlighting kicked off with a big musical number and one of the jokes in the song was that they were determined to make 22 episodes this season, but the critics claim that they would only get to 16. Funnily enough, they do not get to 16, they only make thirteen.

I can understand why. The first episode of season five introduced us to Baby Hayes, played by Bruce Willis and visited by angel Jerome (played by Joseph Maher). Jerome introduced Baby Hayes to his mom and dad and showed him some of the best and worst parts of the world.

Then, in a remarkably cruel twist, Jerome claimed that the “Creator” has decided that Dave and Maddie were not going to be parents and took Baby Hayes away to let him be born to a different set of parents.

I remember being upset with that decision when I first watched the episode. It was like everything we as an audience member went through in season four was rendered a waste of time with one quick twist of fate… and they did it with another musical number.

They gave Dave and Maddie a three minute scene tacked on the end of the episode to deal with their grief and their loss. It just felt so wrong. Clearly they had decided that the show could not handle a baby in the cast and they went out of their way to fix it. I wonder how many viewers they lost with this stunt?

It made no sense and was a weak way to try and get around a prior season full of narrative. No the best way to kick off a new season.