Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

The X-Files S2 E7

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“3”

Scully is still missing, as Mulder places her file squarely in the X-Files, now reopened. Solo Mulder heads to LA to investigate a murder that had connections to a series of cases in the X-Files. Cases that have a connection to vampirism.

I did not like this episode very much. The biggest problem with it for me was the relationship that was forced for Mulder and the woman Kristen. I did not buy that for a second and it felt so out of character for Mulder, especially with Scully missing.

David Duchovny was solid but the absence of Gillian Anderson was absolutely felt. Bringing in vampires for this episode was not a good choice. Unlike later in the series where we had a more comedic episode with vampires, this one just never seemed to really work. It played with some of the vampire tropes, but was more of a mess than anything else.

Scully’s absence needed to be played up more than it was. Thankfully, I believe she returns very soon.

Picket Fences S4 E6

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“Heart of Saturday Night”

Saturday night in Rome.

What does everybody do when there is nothing to do?

They sit around bored? Like me.

This was not my favorite episode of the series. There was not much to it. It felt very forced in a lot of moments. Jimmy gets his penis stuck in his zipper. Maxine is thinking about buying a vibrator. Matthew spends about the first twenty minutes with his friends driving around chanting “party” in the most annoying way possible. One of Judge Bone’s friends dies at their poker game. Wambaugh wins the pot. 

It just felt very muddled.

There were some sweet moments in there too, so it is not the worst of the episodes, but there just is nothing of note.

Season four has been a real downer so far.

Moonlighting S3 E4

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“Symphony in Knocked Flat”

Another one of my favorite episodes when I was watching in the late 1980s, Symphony in Knocked Flat has a lot of classic Moonlighting tropes and still plays very well. 

There was a ton of slapstick involved in this episode, especially in the third act inside the arena and boxing ring. You can tell the influences of The Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin in this episode, as well as some nods to Rocky IV.

There was also a really fun scene at the Blue Moon offices with two sets of FBI agents and a repetitive scene that both Maddie and David repeated lines within. A fourth wall break added in as David quipped that the writer’s just Xeroxed the other scene.

“No, it was par for the course.“

That scene was one of my favorites and I remembered it immediately as soon as Maddie said that line the first time. 

Moonlighting could handle these over-the-top, silly episodes better than any show I can remember and still have the credibility with the characters and the story that they are telling.

It kicked off with a fun cold open with David and Maddie and the Temptations. 

Oh, and by the way, Cybill Shepherd absolutely killed that dress she wore to the symphony. She looked unbelievable!

Fargo S5 E5

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“The Tiger”

There was this weird voice over going on through this episode with a voice talking about the tiger, specifically how dangerous one could be. In particular, the female of the species.

Of course, I understood the metaphor. It wasn’t subtle, but I found the voice over annoying and unneccesary.

However, that was the only drawback that I could see from this episode.

We continued to see the amazing abilities of Dorothy, as she had people coming after her from all sides and was desperately doing everything she could.

These scene between John Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh was exceptional. They both have a great grasp on their characters and you could see how they each were cautiously moving around each other verbally.

Meanwhile, Dorothy was steps away from being caught by several different people. Of course, she was a tiger and was most dangerous when cornered. I heard that somewhere.

It was clearly that the show is moving quickly toward a major confrontation between Dorothy and Roy, and I am here for it.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S1 E6

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“Terrifying Miracles”

I’m not 100% sure how he is getting around, or if he is supposed to be the same Titan or if he is a different one, but Godzilla was making the rounds in this episode.

The Godzilla of 1954 came back up out of the water after supposedly being blown up a couple of episodes ago. In 2015, Godzilla was in an African desert, coming up from beneath the sands. Was this the same Godzilla who rampaged through San Francisco during G-Day? I am just not sure.

I love seeing him though. He looks great. The special effects on Godzilla are amazing. 

We get quite a bit of switching between 1954 Shaw and 2015 Shaw. It is always fun to see both Russells on screen. 

Some of the 2015 Monarch people learned that the helicopter vs. Godzilla, not a good idea. There was a surprising death there as well.

Picket Fences S4 E5

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“Dog Eats Dog”

Jack Black guest starred in this episode, playing a man in a giant bratwurst costume. He got in a confrontation with Maxine and she ends up shooting him in the shoulder. He ends up suing her and the city for excessive brutality.

I have to say that this episode was not very good. Once again, the show tried to to take the situation and make it a character piece, but I wasn’t buying it. They tried to undermine Max’s confidence in her choice, but that seemed outside of the character. 

I kept waiting for Wambaugh to bring up all the great things that Max has done in her time as a Rome Deputy, the Green Bay Chopper, Cupid, etc. but he never did. It feels as if the show has been trying to tear this character apart for awhile, and I have not liked it.

At this point in season four, I have not seen that same spark from the first three seasons, with just a few exceptions. 

The X-Files S2 E6

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“Ascension”

Part two with Duane Barry and the kidnapping of Agent Scully. 

Very active episode of the show including a very tense snow lift ride. Show included:

  • The capture of Duane Barry
  • The death of Duane Barry
  • Alex Krycek disappears when Mulder figures him out.
  • Skinner reinstated the X-Files in the FBI
  • Scully is taken and ‘tested’ on; still missing by episode’s end.

It was meant to look like Mulder had killed Duane Barry, but the show did not build on it. It was funny. One of the people at the meeting suggested that Mulder was behind it, Mulder said he did not do it, and everything just went on as normal. Bizarre.

Everything was done because Gillian Anderson was pregnant, and this gave her the time off she required. These two episodes are exceptional examples of what this series could be.

The X-Files S2 E5

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“Duane Barry”

Ooh, a really great episode of The X-Files. 

Series creator Chris Carter was the first time director for this episode and he did a fantastic job. It was tense, suspenseful and simple in the construction.

Duane Barry was a former FBI agent who claimed to have been abducted by aliens and had taken hostages. Because of the alien abduction claim, Mulder was summoned to help with the negotiations. The steps of the negotiations did not feel right to Mulder.

Mulder winds up going into the situation when one of the hostages gets shot, and Mulder begins to connect with Barry. 

The imagery of Duane Barry’s abduction from out of his memory were truly frightening. Of course, as in all things X-Files, you are never sure if this is true or just inside the mind of a mentally disabled psychopath.

Barry talked about the implants in his cheek, sinuses and abdomen. This would be important later as they eventually remove the one in the gut and Scully tries to identify it.

After being shot, Barry goes to the hospital. He is in critical condition, but wakes up and escapes. This was the weakest part of the episode because I had a hard time thinking that he would not have been secured better than he was and his escape seemed too simple.

He winds up grabbing Scully at the end of the episode before it flashes the “To Be Continued.”

There were great performances across the board.

The cliffhanger was scary with Scully begging for help from Mulder over the phone.

When I saw the episode, I did not remember much about it, but I knew this was the one where Scully would be kidnapped. I do not think I saw this before, but I did see the conclusion of it. This is a sensational episode and I am excited to see the next chapter.

Moonlighting S3 E2

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“The Man Who Cried Wife”

This was a really strong episode because it moved the relationship between David and Maddie along. Some of the scenes between Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd were very strong when they were fighting over spontaneity. 

Mr. Bower, in a fit of passion, killed his cheating wife. Panicking, he took her into the forest and buried her. The next day, he received a phone call from her. Of course, he was shocked. It led him to hiring Dave and Maddie.

Dave and Maddie did a decent job on this case, which is something that you cannot say every time. They discovered about the affair, they traced the phone call and they figured out that what had actually happened.

I also loved the conclusion to the episode, because typically when the reveal comes about, it leads to a chase scene, but this felt much more mature than some of those. Not that I want to put down those chase scenes because they are always fun, but it was a nice change of pace.

They toned down the fourth wall breaking too, with one, very subtle, reference the ‘home viewers.’ It worked very well.

We also get the first appearance of Jack Blessing as MacGilludy, one of the office workers who would be a recurring character. 

Picket Fences S4 E3, E4

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“Pal Joey”

“Bloodbrothers”

It was weird today as I watched episodes three and four of the fourth season, but on Amazon Prime, The episode three was entitled “Pal Joey” and episode four was titled “Bloodbrothers” but the truth was that those titles were backwards. The episode I saw in the morning was “Bloodbrothers” and the one I watched tonight was “Pal Joey.”

Bloodbrothers was one of the better episodes of the fourth season. It was a self-contained episode focusing on John Littleton whose brother, Dale, escaped from prison and showed up on his doorstep looking for money.

This, obviously put John in a bad situation, being the Rome District Attorney. However, it got worse as the other prisoner who escaped along with Dale, showed up with a gun in hand. This led to John getting shot and Dale being killed.

I have to say that the only drawback I had of this episode was the score did not feel as it fit the story that it was telling and was a distraction of the episode.

In Pal Joey, we are introduced to Dr. Joey, played by Amy Aquino. A talk show/doctor who shows up and tries to strong arm Jill into selling her practice. It turned into a partnership between Jill and Dr. Joey. 

There was further advancement of the marital strife between Douglas and nuMyriam. I have really not liked this story arc because it turns Douglas Wambaugh into a real jerk. Wambaugh has always been a shyster lawyer who would do anything, but he had a heart of gold and was a good man deep down. This whole episode made Douglas look terrible. There may be more coming with this, but this does not feel like the character that we have seen over the last three years.

It was weird considering I only intended on watching one Picket Fences today, but with the strange mix up on the episode order, I had to watch “Pal Joey” in order to stay in the right stretch. It was much like the Twilight Zone during this past summer’s Daily Zone as there were several episodes that were out of order according to the list of Twilight Zones episodes. Not sure why this happens on Amazon Prime, but I have it straightened out as of now. I am going to have to keep my eye on these last season episodes to make sure they are in the correct order.

Fargo S5 E4

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“Insolubilia”

What an episode this was.

We start off with Gator leading a group of men, masked by the creepiest masks, into Dorothy’s house in an attempt to get her to return with them.

That did not go as they had planned.

This was like a real-life, more brutal Home Alone sequence as Dorothy had booby trapped her house and played with the home invaders like a cat playing with its prey.

Oh, and speaking of creepy, the Tiny Tim version of “I Got You, Babe” playing as the crew slowly moved through the traps was just goosebumps inducing.

That was… until Wayne stumbled into the situation. Poor, dumb Wayne needed to listen to his wife’s directions about sliding down the laundry chute, but he decided to try something else, which got him electrocuted.

It also caught the house on fire. It made the whole situation even more of a challenge as Dorothy had to try and get her unconscious husband out of the house and to safety.

That included dumping him into bushes from the roof. Oof!

We got to see more of Sheriff Roy Tillman and his own brutality. He is so manipulative and crooked, but able to easily work the system to his favor. He was remarkably intimidating and sinister through this episode, even making up details to service himself.

John Hamm is amazing as this sociopath. I believe everything that this guy does and says. He feels like a total lunatic in a position that allows him the power to do what he wants. 

Juno Temple is awesome as Dorothy as well. Her strength both physically and emotionally was on display not only with fighting off the home invasion, but also at the hospital with Deputy Witt Farr and her mother-in-law.

This really was an excellent episode that had me engaged from the first scene. 

Picket Fences S4 E2

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“Reap the Whirlwind”

A tornado was on its way to Rome, Wisconsin and it sent the populace into a tizzy.

It was also the longest tornado I have ever seen. It was raining there for what felt like multiple days at a time. I’m just not sure this was the way weather worked.

Lots of storyline arcs taking place during the tornado.

  • Carter decided to take up quilting and meets a new woman.
  • Kenny is having sex with a hooker.
  • Maxine sets up a sting and catches said hooker.
  • There is a new Miriam Wambaugh.
  • Doug and nuMiriam had an anniversary party where Doug made a bunch of dumb jokes about her and their marriage.
  • Zack gets worried about Kimberly and rides his bicycle ten miles through the tornado to get to her.
  • nuMiriam leaves Doug after the tornado.
  • Carter was worried that his reputation was going to chase the new woman away- so he gives up on her and quilting.
  • Judge Bone talked Carter out of his stupidity.

Honestly, this episode was not a very good one. None of these storylines felt as if they had any sort of connection or throughline to them. So far, season 4 is not off to a great start.

Moonlighting S3 E1

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“The Son Also Rises”

Season three started off with a message to the audience with Dave and Maddie sitting on her desk. It was a joke about how Moonlighting lost all those Emmys after receiving 16 nominations for season 2. It was a funny joke, but I remember watching those Emmys and being really mad about Moonlighting losing.

We get to meet David Addison’s father, David Addison. Who knew that our David was a junior?

He came to see David to tell him that he was going to get married. David Sr. wanted David Jr. to meet her.

Thing was that David Jr. had already met her. Four years before, he picked her up in a bar and slept with her.

This episode had a nice balance between seriousness and silliness from David Jr.

Paul Sorvino appeared as David Addison Sr. Brynn Thayer played the woman. Two solid castings for the show. We added to the family of our two main leads.

By the way… Maddie looked amazing.

Picket Fences S4 E1

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“A Change of Season”

The first episode of the finale season of Picket Fences started with a solid episode with a lot of character development.

Carter’s house burned down, and he had to be carried out. Turned out that he took some pills. mixed with some wine that caused him to fall asleep while there was something on the stove.

We learn that he took the pills with the idea that he might die. He was not exactly suicidal here, but the concept was definitely there. Judge Bone offered to have Carter move in as a border in his big house.

We also had Kimberly decide that she did not want to become a lawyer and instead go into medicine. That created some conflict with Jill.

Another storyline was Marlee Matlin, new series regular, trying to make changes at the police station, including uniform changes that Jimmy balked at.

Maxine dyed her hair blonde (I remember always hating it, by the way) and that led to a deeper conflict with Kenny. They split up as a couple.

There is no major storylines going here, but there were a lot of little things that will play into the fourth season.

Honestly, my memory of the fourth season was that it was a step back from the first three seasons, but we’ll see how it goes.

The X-Files S2 E3 & E4

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“Blood”

“Sleepless”

Two good episodes of The X-Files followed one of the best one.

Both were dealing with victims who were seeing things, whether it was because of a pesticide being secretly sprayed on a small town or because of a secret sleep experiment to create soldiers who never slept.

We meet a couple of important characters to the X-Files mythology. First, there was a meeting between Mulder and his new ‘friend’ inside the FBI, X. We get to see what X looks like, though we know very little about him. And as we saw at the end of the second episode, Cigarette Smoking Man does not know who X is at this point either.

The second character is FBI Agent Alex Krycek. He is introduced as another agent who partnered up with Mulder and said that he wanted to believe. He is shown as a potential new ally, but we learn that he is one of CSM’s flunkies.

The Lone Gunmen make their return in Blood, to spew some of their paranoid ideas. They are in a short moment but they were memorable.