Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Picket Fences S1 E3

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“Mr. Dreeb Comes to Town”

The dancing midget from Twin Peaks arrives in Rome, Wisconsin riding on the back of an elephant.

Okay, so it wasn’t the dancing midget. However, the actor, Michael J. Anderson, who played said dancing midget played Peter Dreeb, a circus performer who had stolen an elephant from that circus because the circus owners were being cruel to the animal and beating it as a way of training.

Honestly, though, the animal cruelty aspect of this episode was down the list of the storylines. Mr. Dreeb and Maxine had some dates, and that was higher up than the case. Wambaugh and Mayor Pugen were looking for any camera they could stand in front of since they were both running for mayor. Kimberly’s gifted teacher was dismissed from his job because of a tumor that he had in his brain that was affecting his mental state. The teacher asked Jill to help with the surgery.

There were a bunch of scenes strung together without that major throughline. The finale of the show was very emotional and helped make the episode finish strongly, especially when focused on Jill, Jimmy and Kimberly.

This was a good episode with a strong ending, but was weaker than what this show is known for.

Picket Fences S1 E2

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“The Green Bay Chopper”

The second episode of Picket Fences is a classic episode that brought a serial kidnapper to the borders of Rome, Wisconsin named The Green Bay Chopper.

When a little brought a severed hand to school for show and tell, Maxine knew what this meant. The serial kidnapper who would cut off the right hand of his victims had come to Rome.

The FBI followed close behind and was anything but happy with the involvement of the Rome Sheriff Department.

This episode made the deputies and Jimmy look better than the last one did. M.E. Carter made some crucial discoveries. Kenny and Maxine found the car that they believed the Chopper had left, including samples of urine from victims in the trunk. Ginny could tell the severed hand had been removed from a dentist because, as she said, she could read palms.

When Carter said that the hand had been removed after death, the case was now a homicide investigation, preventing the FBI from insisting that the deputies stay out of the way. Another brilliant courtroom scene featuring Douglas Wambaugh for the Rome Sheriff’s Department! Fyvush Finkel was listed as a guest star on the episode, but this was one more reason why he would become a series regular. The few minutes you spend with Douglas Wambaugh is always some of the most entertaining parts of an episode.

American Horror Story: Murder House S1 E2

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“Home Invasion”

It’s Sunday morning and it is time for the next American Horror Story episode. This one is entitled “Home Invasion” and it is really creepy.

The episode starts off showing a home invasion into the Murder House from the past when a couple of nursing students were tortured and murdered by a man. This led to Vivien and Violet being taken hostage by a group of three wanting to re-enact the famous murder.

Lots of weird and frightening things happened this episode:

  • We find out that the house is on the LA famous murder tour.
  • Ben gets a call from the woman he cheated on Vivien with and she told him she was pregnant. He went to Boston so she could have an abortion. He lied to Vivien about it.
  • Constance made some poison cupcakes for Violet.
  • Constance was having an encounter with a young male model.
  • She shut Addie into the “bad girl closet” with a bunch of mirrors.
  • Tate mortally wounds one of the home invaders with an axe.
  • The ghosts of the dead nurses murdered the other two home invaders.
  • Tate, Constance and Moira have a connection and knowledge of each other and work together to get rid of the bodies. Tate says that they had to get rid of the bodies, “If we want him to keep treating me.” Mysterious.
  • Constance could sense that Vivien was pregnant.
  • Vivien is worried that she has not been getting sick with this pregnancy unlike before. She worries that something is wrong.
  • Vivien ends the episode saying that they were going to sell this house.

Packed full of horrific goodness, I remember how confusing everything was when this first aired. Watching it with foreknowledge of what happened is a new experience and bring more depth to what is happening.

Moonlighting S2 E1

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“Brother Can You Spare a Blonde”

The second season of Moonlighting kicked off with David and Maddie sitting on her desk and addressing the viewers. This was a technique they used several times over the years. Breaking the fourth wall was a common occurrence on Moonlighting, and their joke was that the episode was too short so they needed to fill time. That actually may not have been just a joke, knowing how some of the backstage issues caused problems for this show.

This episode was the first of the family members to be introduced of our two lead stars. In this case, Charles Rocket guest starred as a David’s huckster brother Richard, who had found a briefcase full of $100,000 and came to run David’s nose in it.

Of course, more than that happened as the actual owners of the money came looking for Richard and found David instead.

The jealousy between David and Richard was clear and when Richard took a shining to Maddie, well, it made David all the more crazed.

The story of the money is way down the importance of this episode. The story itself was underdeveloped. The most important part was how David and Richard’s relationship was and how that affected David’s relationship with Maddie.

This was never my most favorite episode of the series and I was never much of a fan of Richard Addison.

Picket Fences S1 E1

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“Pilot”

It is strange how things work out.

I am starting a DailyView through the month of November, re-watching one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Picket Fences. I hadn’t considered doing another re-watch at EYG for now, especially since I am doing Moonlighting, The X-Files, and American Horror Story already. However, when I discovered that I could see the entire series of Picket Fences on Hulu, well, that changed my mind.

I was watching The X-Files episode called “Eve” when I thought that it was the episode that was intended to be the X-Files/Picket Fences crossover. I did my research and realized that it was not that episode, which was among the X-Files’ second season.

I own season one of Picket Fences on DVD, but I have not seen the rest of the series since it was on TV back in the 1990s. I loved this show very much so I took a chance and Googled whether or not it was available on any streaming service. Lo and behold, I fund that it was available on Hulu, the same service where I watch Moonlighting, The X-Files and AHS.

I couldn’t believe it. This David E. Kelley show was so quirky and clever, with amazing characters and acting. I decided that, not only would I watch the series on a re-watch, I would make it a DailyView through November. I had been looking for something to do for a goal for November and this works perfectly.

The pilot episode is listed as both episode one and two on Wikipedia, but only episode one on Hulu, so I am not sure how to classify it. For now, I am considering this only episode one.

This kicked off with the murder of a man who was playing the Tin Man in a local play of The Wizard of Oz. It appeared to be a heart attack, but thanks to the overzealous medical examiner Carter Pike, an injection spot was found and it was proven that the Tin Man had died via poison.

Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerritt) and Dr. Jill Brock (Kathy Baker) are at the center of the case as they always would be. Their relationship was the heart of the show, good or bad, fighting or happy, their love was everything.

One of my favorite television characters of all-time was everybody’s lawyer, Douglas Wambaugh, played by the irreplaceable Fyvush Finkel. Judge Henry Bone is another character that makes his debut here, played by Ray Walston.

The show featured a good chunk of twists and turns and plenty of courtroom shenanigans. It also focuses heavily on its characters’ moral dilemmas, just like this episode’s one where Jimmy used his wife’s job as a doctor to gain a confession with the use of privileged information. As many Picket Fences cases, it put a strain on the marriage as well as their jobs.

One of the standouts from the the Poltergeist movie was Zelda Rubinstein, who appeared as police dispatcher Ginny Weeden. She fit right in with the rest of the eccentric residents of Rome, Wisconsin.

I am so excited about being able to re-live this multiple Emmy winning series. Without the X-Files re-watch, I would have never gone looking for this series and I would not have found that it was readily available. Fate is amazing sometimes.

X-Files S1 E11

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“Eve”

Interestingly enough, this was another episode of The X-Files that I do not remember ever seeing before. This rewatch has really been a treat with some of these episodes that, if I have seen, I do not recall because “Eve,” the 11th episode of season one, was a taut, tense episode with some great acting and anxiety-filled moments.

As the “Monster-of-the-week” episode, “Eve” features a great acting performance from Harriet Harris, who has been a great character actor for years including work on Desperate Housewives and Marvel’s Werewolf by Night. She plays several roles as a woman who had been involved in a program where a group of men and women, ‘Adams’ and ‘Eves’ were cloned and given extra chromosomes. Unfortunately, it also created a higher level of homicidal tendencies.

The twin actors, Erika and Sabrina Krievins, played Cindy and Teena respectfully and they did a great job as these somewhat creepy children who were discovered to have been continuation of this cloning program by ‘Eve 7’ under the alias of Dr. Sally Kendrick. The girls were raised on different coasts and both of their fathers had been killed by exsanguination.

I feel that the show really took a huge step in storytelling by making these girls the ones who had killed their fathers, using their advanced intelligence to figure out how to do it. They also “just knew” that the other had existed. They also poisoned Eve 7, who had kidnapped them, as well as attempting to poison Mulder and Scully.

The Krievin twins did a great job being these cold-blooded killers. They certainly worked very well as the trope of creepy kids that we see often in horror films.

“Eve” is an excellent episode of The X-Files and I am so glad that I got a chance to see it either again or for the first time. I wonder how many episodes of season one will be like this?

Goosebumps S1 E7

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“Phantom of the Auditorium”

The next episode of Goosebumps arrived on Disney + this Friday and it is a major moment. I will say that there were parts of this episode that I found to be sillier than we have had before, but I did still enjoy watching it.

In this episode, we find out where Mr. Bratt has been. He shows up to the kids who have been trapped in the house. They had just found out that Bratt had been possessed by Harold and now they were meeting the ‘real’ Bratt.

The episode was spent with the kids trying to find a way out of the house and several of the moments felt too comedic at time. The fact that Bratt was able to retake his original body when he was feeling pain and the kids kept punching him to make him switch. It felt a little odd to me.

I did enjoy Nora’s standing up for herself and getting out of the asylum. The parents story was more interesting to me in this episode than the kids.

Gen V S1 E7

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“Sick”

Episode 7 of Gen V made some massive shifts in the story that I did not see coming.

We found out last week that Dean Indira Shetty had been ordering Doctor Edison Cardosa of the Woods to create this virus that kills supes and she wanted it to be contagious. They revealed this episode (or at I think it was this episode. I don’t remember this before..) that Shetty’s husband and daughter in the plane crash that Homelander caused.

However, the virus storyline took a twist when Cate got involved. The show made us think that Shetty was manipulating Cate once again, but when the others arrived at Shetty’s house, she forced Shetty to tell the truth and then slit her own throat. Cate prevented Marie from saving her.

Earlier, Marie had gone to see Victoria Neuman, making a cameo from The Boys, and she revealed everything about the virus. Neuman told Marie that she would handle it. That meant that she contacted Cardosa, had him bring the virus, and then exploded his head as she did to many others on The Boys.

I do not know if that virus storyline will be picked up again in The Boys since Victoria left with it, but it feels as if it is over on Gen V.

This is the penultimate episode of the season with next week’s finale coming. But with the virus seemingly done, Shetty dead… what is left? Is it a showdown with Cate? Maybe it is the increasingly agitated Sam, who is started to embrace the philosophy of Homelander.

This has been a solid first season and a great addition to the universe of The Boys.

Loki S2 E4

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“Heart of the TVA”

Holy F-ing crap!

Episode 4 of Loki is one of the best episodes of Marvel TV ever.

This was so beautifully created and laid out. The fact that there were several examples of ouroboros as OB and Victor Timely geek out over each other and we see whom pruned Loki from episode 1.

And those were the minor parts.

I was literally shouting at the screen several times. I felt like a YouTube reactor as I watched the show. I usually do not do that, but I was fully engaged in this story.

One moment that shocked me was the arrival of Renslayer and Miss Minutes in the cell with Dox and her team, who had been imprisoned at the TVA, and they got crushed in the box that we saw Brad in earlier in the season. I was literally yelling, “no, no, no.”

Then ending of this episode with Victor trying to head out to fix the Loom and he got spaghettified… absolutely shocking. Never thought it.

The scene with Loki and Sylvie in “Pie Land” is brilliantly written. “Hope is Hard.”

There were so many shots that were so beautiful. The direction of this episode was just spectacular. It was the same director from episode one, and he did an amazing job.

I had a empty feeling in my gut at the end of this episode. I was speechless and breathless.

I loved this episode and I love this series…so much.

Moonlighting S1 E7

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“The Murder’s in the Mail”

I was not remembering this episode at first… and then I realized that this was the episode with the following, absolutely brilliant dialogue:

David: We’re looking for a man with a mole on his nose.

Maitre’D: Mole on his nose?

Maddie: A mole on his nose!

Maitre’D: What kind of clothes?

Maddie: (to David) What kind of clothes…?

David: (to Maitre’D) What kind of clothes do you suppose?

Maitre’D: What kind of clothes do I suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose? Who knows?

David: Did I happen to mention, did I bother to disclose, this man that we’re seeking with a mole on his nose?

I’m not sure of his clothes or anything else except he’s Chinese, a big clue by itself.

Maddie: How do you do that?

David: You got to read a lot of Dr. Seuss.

Maitre’D: I’m sorry to say, I’m sad to report, I haven’t seen anyone at all of that sort.

Not a man who’s Chinese with a mole on his nose with some kind of clothes that you can’t suppose.

SO…get away from this door and get out of this place

Or I’ll have to hurt you…put my foot in your face.

David: Oh..!

Maddie: Time to go!

David: Time to go! *hasty exit*

This whole Dr. Seuss bit was so fantastic that it is one of the most iconic scene of the show. I’ve seen some bloopers of this scene that were hilarious as well.

This episode included a car chase scene with Maddie behind the wheel while David tried to give her instructions on where to turn and what to do. This was very funny and worked well.

The story was messy as always. Once again, the story is always the secondary aspect of Moonlighting, although this plot was a bit more involved than some of David and Maddie’s cases. And this was another example of David and Maddie stumbling into a case without a client. It happens quite a few times.

This was the final episode of season one of Moonlighting, which was a midseason series. It was a solid one ending with a food fight and including a Bruce Willis Three Stooges sound effect.

Bonus Action Vol.1 Episode 2

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“Pit Stop in Star-Top”

Week two of the Bonus Action Dungeons & Dragons adventure from the pReview’d crew was the shortest episode yet, but felt like the heaviest.

This was a sensational episode all based in character and backstory.

It started with some really goofy action from the crew, especially with Todd, Bric and Bar’b. And it had to do with food, of course.

However, when they were talking with one of the survivors who had gone after the MacGuffin that our new group is after, suddenly, Victor’s back story was front and center.

And it was heartbreaking. It was powerful. Adam Lash was amazing. He had been straight-faced with Victor for most of the time and we found out why. A great back story with Victor and his father brought Victor into conflict with his teammates as well as Alistair (via rock communicator).

It was tense and uncomfortable. And fantastic.

It brought some true drama into the campaign of goofiness and gave the comedy characters a chance to be more than just fun.

Congrats to Adam on the creation of a truly compelling character that doesn’t seem to fit, but he has an arc for the ages.

American Horror Story: Murder House S1 E1

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“Pilot”

With the mid-season finale of American Horror Story: Delicate airing this week, and with the news that the second half of the season would not be here until some time in 2024, that opned up Sunday morning for something else. This gives me a chance to go back and revisit (or watch for the first time) some of the previous seasons of AHS.

I’m starting first with the season of TV that grabbed my attention and helped make me more of a horror fan. That is season one, which was later entitled Murder House.

When I first watched the show, I was not much of a fan of horror movies. I watched some horror, but that genre was not near the top of my list. Thanks to the wonderful characters and downright creepy nature of American Horror Story, I was more interested in the genre.

Rubber Man is one of the scariest and hauntingly creepy characters on TV and the show was filled with unbeleivable actors providing some of their best work. Jessica Lange is utterly perfect as the neighbor Constance. Evan Peters showed us what a star he would be as Tate, the troubled teen that Ben (Dylan McDermott) was seeing out of his home office. Ben and Connie Britton’s Vivien and their marriage problems were both understandable and warped. Frances Conroy’s Moira, who changed her appearance depending on whom was looking at her… old or young.

This pilot episode does so much to set up Murder House as a sinister location with mysteries and ghosts abounding. Taissa Farmiga helped to kick off her scream queen persona with her troubled Violet.

I love this episode and the whole season only gets more exceptional. I’m excited about watching this every Sunday morning moving ahead.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E5

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“Preech”

The first half of season 12 of American Horror Story: Delicate is done. The mid-season finale dropped the other day and now it sounds as if it will be well into 2024 before the show comes back for the second half of this season.

So it seems as if Ms. Preecher is not the horrific stalker that we thought as she told Dex’s mom that she had given up a baby when she was young to this same cult and she wanted to help protect Dex and Anna’s baby.

Of course, Dex and Anna are having their own issues as Anna confronted Dex about the affair she believed he was having and about how he really did not believe that she was being stalked or, basically, anything that she had been saying since the beginning of the series.

Anna and Siobhan had some trouble when Anna found out that Siobhan was representing Babette Eno, a younger actress in the same Golden Globe category. Anna loses the Globe to Babette, but finds out that she had been decapitated in a car crash. Siobhan has some secrets going on and she is so very sus. She seems to have some ties to the baby stealing cult and those vials of B12 she keeps giving Anna are iffy at the best.

Dex’s dead wife, Adeline, was also connected to the cult somehow. The mysterious Nicolette had some tie to Adeline that we have yet to know. Honestly, if I were Anna, I would have fired Nicolette by now and got her out of the house.

At least Anna is not eating any dead raccoons this episode.

X-Files S1 E10

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“Fallen Angel”

“Fallen Angel” is another X-Files episode that I do not remember seeing when it first aired. This is the second of the first season episodes that I do not remember. I had always thought that I had seen all the episodes of the X-Files (at least the ones with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in it. Robert Patrick, not so much). However, this episode did not ring any bells for me.

It did follow a basic concept though. Mulder sneaks into a government something-or-other (in this case, a crash site), gets caught, government conceals whatever it is, Mulder deals with the real issue (usually something with UFOs) and then gets no answer.

This episode featured a man named Max who seemed to be a precursor to the Lone Gunmen. Max was a conspiracy theorist/UFO aficionado with long hair and lots of technical gadgets. Max did have several apparent mental issues which seemed to make him interesting. Sadly, the aliens took him off and we lose Max to the wind (or had his body in a container).

Deep Throat appeared in this episode and saved Mulder from being fired from the FBI. He did the old “Keep your friends close, enemies closer” line in a ominous voice, implying that he may not be the ally that Mulder believes he is.

Oh, and while we had the X-Files meet The Thing a few episodes ago, this one is The X-Files meets Predator. The invisible creature was killing people in the woods and I kept waiting for Mulder to yell out, “Get to the chopper!”

Mulder and Scully vs. the US government is always fun, though they are really lucky that they haven’t been stuck away in a cell somewhere as of yet.

Moonlighting S1 E5

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“Next Stop Murder”

This is one of the best episodes of Moonlighting. They brought Agnes DiPesto to the forefront as she winds up winning a space on a murder train. David and Maddie wind up getting stuck on the train too. The Murder Train was meant to be the staged murder, but it turns into a real one. This is another well-known trope in mystery stories but it is around so much because it works.

Miss DiPesto gets a love interest in the shape of actor Vincent Schiavelli. He is quirky and interesting looking and he made a great pair with Agnes. The actor was actually married to Allyce Beasley, who played Miss DiPesto, for a few years.

This actually gives David and Maddie a chance to actually solve the case, well…David in sense. I liked that we got to see that David and Maddie are not always jokes when it comes to their detective careers. They stood out here among a group of wannabe detectives.

As with every train centric episode, they had to climb up to the roof of the train to do battle. They did it in a very Dave/Maddie way that made this a funny exception.

I liked how this episode showed how much Miss DiPesto meant to both Maddie and David and how the eccentric character made such a tight connection with them.

This was a ton of fun and one of my personal favorites in the first season.