Category Archives: Prime

Battlestar Galactica S3 E9

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“Unfinished Business”

The perfect example of a toxic relationship is explored as we do a deep dive into the strange relationship between Lee and Kara.

Both Lee and Kara are married to others, but neither seem to be able to keep from each other. However, it felt that the anger and violence overtook them as we saw flashbacks to detail specifics of their past and how they ended up where they were.

I have to say, there was a time once where I felt as if Lee and Kara was the rooting couple, the one that you wanted to see together. That is no longer as they both seem beset on a self-destructive path. Nothing symbolized that better than some brutal boxing.

Admiral Adama stepped into the ring as well, calling out Chief Tyrol, whom he was having troubles with too. This felt like an addition to the storyline, and we see some flashbacks that gave some understanding where this animosity came from.

This whole episode, while expertly written and acted, was extremely uncomfortable and difficult to watch. It truly made me not like either the character of Lee or Kara. It did make me think about Dave and Maddie from Moonlighting with their first time having sex, how violent it was and how angry they seemed. That is not the kind of relationship that I want to support.

Both Kara and Lee are damaged people with a selfish side to them, and they have or will hurt the people who love them and it will be difficult to watch. You can feel it.

Battlestar Galactica S3 E8

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“Hero”

Carl Lumbly guest starred in this episode and he brought an old secret for Adama to light. Lumbly, who played Isaiah Bradley in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, was a soldier that had to do a black ops that turned sour. He was captured by the Cylons after getting shot down past the Armistice Line.

Three years after that, Lumbly, whose character was named Lt. Daniel “Bulldog” Novacek, escaped from the Cylons and was able to return to Adama’s new ship, Galactica.

Honestly, the story of this episode really felt like it came out of left field. The whole Adama did these bad things to “Bulldog” which led to the actual attack of the Cylons on the colonies. While Edward James Olmos is a great performer, this felt very forced to me. This thing just dropped into the story, with Saul Tigh knowing everything too, just did not seem to make a lot of sense. If you have a secret this big, shouldn’t it have been mentioned or hinted at somewhere in a previous episode. This just came out of nowhere and it did not feel right.

It led to the reunion between Adama and Tigh though, which was a nice thing. Lumbly is always great and he does a solid job too.

And then Roslin giving him a medal. Odd.

I am not sure this is going to be referenced ever again. I don’t think that is a bad thing.

The Greatest American Hero S2 E6

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“The Beast in the Black”

I haven’t watched an episode of The Greatest American Hero is quite awhile. There were a couple reasons why. One, I have been watching a bunch of shows over the last couple of months and the schedule has been tight. But the real reason was the previous GAH episode I watched was probably my least favorite of the series so far and it kind of stunted me on the show.

However, watching season two, episode six reignited my love of the show. This episode, entitled “The Beast in the Black” was one of the best ones of the series so far.

Ralph recruits his students to come to an old house, scheduled for demolition, with the understanding that whatever they were able to salvage from the location would be theirs to sell. Ralph discovered a hidden safe and he and Maxwell went to the house before the kids to see if they could get into the safe, using the suit.

Ralph was seeing strange things, such as a fireplace that had a fire in it that Maxwell could not see. Turned out that the house was haunted by a wayward spirit and Maxwell had a bronze chandelier dropped on his head, killing him. At this point, the spirit, a woman, entered Maxwell’s body and possessed him.

This was a lot of fun and some of the special effects were funky. For the early 1980s on TV, this was very well done. Ralph had to go through a 4th dimension guarded by the Beast in the Black, in order to save Maxwell.

This was unlike any other Greatest American Hero episode we had seen before and I really found this to be creative and enjoyable. I thought this was excellent.

Battlestar Galactica S3 E6, E7

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“Torn”

“A Measure of Salvation”

A virus that can kill the Cylons is discovered aboard a ship. The Cylons discovered it first. Baltar went to investigate. He was told that if the infected Cylons were to die, and return to the resurrection ship, the virus would follow.

This set up this two episode story arc that dealt with the idea of some dark ideas, Specifically, genocide.

The show has never been about black and white. There are shades of gray everywhere on here. President Roslin has been showing those shades quite a bit recently as she approved the plan to try and destroy the entire Cylon race with the infected prisoners that they had brought back. Helo objected to the plan and wound up sabotaging it.

The concept behind the virus felt a little weird, and easily dismissed afterwards.

Highlights of these two episodes included:

  • Baltar’s scenes of torture at the hands of Deanna.
  • The continuing downfall of Kara and Saul from their experiences upon New Caprica.
  • The announcement of the “Final Five” Cylons that have not yet been seen. That feels like a big time plot coming.
  • The fact that they think they are on the right path for earth, but that the Cylons want earth too, as a place to start over.
  • Lee got his abs back. Easier than it was for Fat Thor.

Bates Motel S5 E9, E10

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“Visiting Hours”

“The Cord”

The rewatch of Bates Motel came to an end tonight as I watched episode nine and ten of season five. I did not remember any details of this finale so I had no idea of what was going to happen.

I was afraid that I would not feel that the end of this show would have a satisfying end. I was wrong.

It has been fairly clear the last season that this is not a prequel to the movie Psycho. It just had the character of Norman Bates and the setting in place, but they did not feel the need to keep things so they would line up with the movie.

I mean, Norman died at the end. That would make it difficult to have the movie come after this.

The scene between brothers with Dylan killing Norman in self defense, because Norman wanted him to. Dylan was shocked by the corpse of Norma at the dinner table. Freddie Highmore and Max Thieriot brought some amazing emotion and energy to this final confrontation.

What did feel like a letdown was the end of Alex Romero. The ending was always going to be about the Bates brothers and not Romero, but I loved Romero and Norma as a couple as I have mentioned several times so I wanted Alex to have some kind of retribution. Of course that was not going to happen. Alex’s emotions over the Norma body is what cost him his life. He should have killed Norman first, but he was not thinking, he was still in total grief.

I was very happy that Dylan and Emma wound up together. I was a little worried that they would no longer be together because Emma was mad about her mother being murdered by Norman. However, the end of the episode showed Emma, her daughter and Dylan meeting up and they shared a kiss. This was a wonderful moment that made me very happy. At least one of the great couples from Bates Motel made it through the series.

I am glad that I have made it through this series. It was a quality show that flew under the radar while it was on TV.

Bates Motel S5 E7, E8

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“Inseparable”

“The Body”

So much for Chick being the author of the novel Psycho was based on. One bullet to the head from Alex Romero took care of that.

I really do not remember how this is resolved, so I cannot begin to know where this is heading. I just have two more episodes left for the season and it is thrilling. I’m sure I watched this when it was released on A & E, but I legit do not remember much of this.

These two episodes had so many massive moments that it took my breath away.

The whole scene where Norman, as Norma, attacked Dylan and Norman prevented his other side from stabbing him was insane. I was telling Dylan to get out of there, I was so worried about him. Dylan is the conscience of the story, the heart of this family. His loyalty to his brother, despite all, is amazing. I do not remember Dylan’s fate, but I really do not want him to die. I want him to go back to Seattle with Emma and raise their baby girl, Katie. I feel a foreboding that those thoughts are pipe dreams.

Alex Romero is another character that I do not want to see come to an end. I think he is going to end up dying, but his will to come back for vengeance against Norman is downright Shakespearian. Alex is so damaged that you could see the pain constantly. The look on his face as Chick was telling him about what Norman had done (digging up Norma’s body and building a ‘mausoleum’ for her int he basement freezer) was very telling. There was one shot where his face looked to be like death itself, pale and conflicted.

I kind of loved watching Norma take over control of the body of Norman only to be thwarted by the new sheriff. ‘Norma’ thought she had everything handled, but surprises kept coming.

The police discovered the body of Emma’s mother in the lake alongside the guy Romero sent to try and kill Norman.

Just two more to go…

Bates Motel S5 E2, E3, E4, E5, E6

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“The Convergence of Twain”

“Bad Blood”

“Hidden”

“Dreams Die First”

“Marion”

Got on a bit of a run during the final season of Bates Motel. A couple of things turned out clearer than I remembered when I first watched the series on A & E.

First, I always had an issue with the Marion Crane storyline, which began to happen this season because I had believed that this was a prequel series to the Psycho movie from Hitchcock. However, I realized that this was not the case… or at least, I think that is the case.

When Norman chained Caleb in the cellar, Chick discovered all of the secrets of Norman and his “Mother.” He saw the frozen corpse of Norma in the basement. Chick, being the opportunist he is, decided he would write this story. He got a typewriter and was taking notes on a tape recorder. He told Norman that he was writing a suspense/thriller novel that he thinks could be a good movie someday. So the show is now an inspiration for the novel/movie instead of a prequel. I like that switch, and I wonder why I did not see it last time.

Understand, it might all be for naught considering I do not remember if Chick met an end during the series. If that turns out to be the case, then perhaps I will have to adjust my thoughts.

Second was the way Dylan and Emma finally found out that Norma was dead. It was a small scene, but it was really well acted. Dylan not knowing about what was happening with Norma was one of the more frustrating parts of the season. I know why they did it, but it was tough. Of course, Dylan lost both his mother and father. The scene with Dylan and Norman on the phone was powerful considering they were just on the phone together.

Third, I was not expecting Romero to get shot, but I do now remember it happening. Buckshot from a kid’s gun. He shows how tough he continues to be. I’m not sure if the show intends for us to hope that Romero fails, but I find myself rooting for him way more than I ever root for Norman.

Five more episodes remain in the series.

Battlestar Galactica S3 E4

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“Collaborators”

Tough episode as we deal with the fallout of everything that happened on New Caprica over the last year or so.

Characters have deep scars that have changed them drastically. Characters such as Kara are now filled with a desire or need for vengeance to try and fill the hole inside of them. A raw anger has taken over her as well as Col. Tigh.

Both of them wound up on a council of six aka The Circle that was set up by President Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch) to be the jury of those who collaborated with the Cylons.

Jammer was the first one we saw sent out the airlock, ending Dominic Zamprogna’s run on the show (and sent him to General Hospital). There was an absolute air of vengeance to the Circle that seemed to outweigh the justice they were searching for. Individuals seemed to be playing out their personal traumas on this jury, trying to find justice.

This made me think of PTSD, as these survivors of the Cylon control were acting on their own traumas and making decisions that they should never had been placed in charge of.

Zarek agreed to stand down as president, a position he inherited with Baltar’s absence. Zarek knew his presidency would not be supported by the military. He set it up so that Roslin would be appointed vice-president and then he would resign, effectively making her president once again.

Her first order of business was to issue a pardon to all humans who had worked with the Cylons in any capacity. It was a step in an attempt to begin to heal from the nightmare they all suffered. However, I get the distinct feeling that there will be some characters, including some of out beloved characters, who will not be anxious to move on.

Battlestar Galactica S3 E2, E3

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“Exodus- Part 1”

“Exodus-Part 2”

The storyline of New Caprica came to a dramatic close with the escape from the planet by the humans back on board Galactica. In sense, the status quo of the series had been reestablished with some new ideas moving forward.

The whole Starbuck/Kasey story ended with such a cruel blow to Kara. Discovering that Kasey was not her child was a tough shock for Kara, even though she was able to reunite the child with her real mother. Katee Sackoff did a tremendous job displaying the pain in her performance over the little girl.

Gaius and Number six now have the child, Hera. They gave her to Lucy Lawless and this apparently satisfied her. This arc has plenty of fuel in it yet as Sharon is going to be crushed when she finds out what Adama and Roslin had done. Sharon believed that Adama would not lie to her, but he certainly did. I would guess that this baby will drive much of the story for the third season.

I was wrong about the crew believing that Sharon betrayed them. Sam found the map that Ellen had stolen (instead of burning) and that led him to the proper culprit. However, having Saul poison her seemed to be a rough choice, and pretty cruel for him to do it. I never liked the character of Ellen but this felt like a harsh end for her. Where does Saul go from here?

There should be plenty of fallout among the survivors.

Battlestar Galactica S3 E1

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“Occupation/Precipice”

I had an hour to fill prior to the World Series game three this past Monday night so I thought I would kick off season three of Battlestar Galactica. However, there was a flaw in my plan. I was unaware that the season three premiere episode of Battlestar was a two hour event. So I had to pause watching the episode a little over an hour in. The week was so busy with school, Halloween, and other things that I was only able to return to the episode this morning.

Man, what a start to season three.

So much has changed. Battlestar Galactica has taken the status quo from the first two seasons and absolutely ground it beneath its heel. The Cylons took over New Caprica and the situation was unbelievably tense for the remaining humans who chose to settle on the planet.

One year later and everything is upside down.

Some general thoughts

  • I hate Dean Stockwell’s Cylon character. He is such a monster.
  • The resistance of humans, led by Saul, is just about as monstrous as the Cylons. The use of suicide bombers is very questionable.
  • The whole Starbuck is a prisoner would have been enough… and then they tossed in a cute little girl that was supposed to be Starbuck’s daughter.
  • I feel like my hatred for Gaius Baltar has subsided as we see the tortured soul that he has become. He is absolutely a traitor, but he is so pitiful that he is hard to hate right now.
  • Ellen’s betrayal at the end of the episode is horrible, even if she thinks she is doing the right thing, protecting Saul.
  • I can already guess that Ellen’s betrayal will be blamed on Sharon instead.
  • Not sure how Roslin will survive the mass execution at the end of the show. I can’t believe that is how she will go out.

It is amazing how they have reimagined the series and this feels like a truly momentous step for a show that was successful before.

Bates Motel S5 E1

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“Dark Paradise”

The final season of Bates Motel got underway with a bit of a time jump. I just talked about time jumps in the Battlestar Galactica season 2 finale write up. This is another year jump.

Norman is running his hotel with ghost Norma hanging around making him breakfast. Ghost Norma is quite the helpful hand… baking, laundry, killing hitmen and helping to dispose of the body. Not sure how the physics of any of that happens.

The funniest moment in the show was when Ghost Norma grabbed Norman by the ear and dragged him up to the house to show him the body of the man she killed. All I could picture was Norman with his head tilted to the side, with no one actually pulling on his ear, but he acting as if someone was. If only someone could have seen that.

Dylan and Emma had a baby girl. Awwwww…. I did not remember that from the first time I saw this series and I thought that was great. Of course, Caleb showed up looking for some kind of connection. This story was very nicely handled and showed some emotion. Its funny that a teenage rapist who got his sister pregnant is not the worst one in the family.

One would think that after having a baby, Dylan might have reached out to his mother or brother…even once maybe. Didn’t Emma have a good relationship with both of them. Keeping them isolated does feel a bit convoluted, though I understand they would be building toward something.

Romero is beating the hell out of that punching bag in prison. He had parole denied and he apparently hired the guy that tried to kill Norman. I think Romero is meant to be seen as the bad guy, but I still feel like I understand his rage toward Norman.

They introduced a new female potential victim for Norman. Maybe she will be okay since she reminds Norman of Norma. Or maybe not. Females do not have a good track record around Norman.

Nine episodes remaining for this rewatch. I really have enjoyed revisiting this show. Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga have been on the top of their game every week.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E20

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“Lay Down Your Burdens- Part 2”

Part two of this season finale was rocking. And so much happened, effectively resetting the series for season three and beyond.

Legitimately, there was so much here. The election happened and President Roslin rigged it. As shocking as that was, she wound up getting caught and she decided to make things right, which made Gaius Baltar president of the colonies.

That led to a settlement on New Caprica.

Number six exploded the nuclear bomb that was smuggled on to Cloud Nine, destroying everything.

Starbuck returned from Caprica with the soldiers she had gone to retrieve. That whole thing was strange and I thought for awhile that Starbuck had been replaced with a Cylon and that this was not her. There were some hints that seemed out of character for her, but the end of the episode seemed to not support that theory. I still think something weird is going on because that return from Caprica was so anticlimactic.

Dean Stockwell (two of them actually) turned out to be a Cylon and sent out the air vent (I assume. It was a presidential order).

Then we had a time jump of a year. Shows like this doing a time jump is always complicated, but so many of our characters received a serious reboot during this year. I wonder if season three will include flashbacks to this time frame. Certainly, we will see the conflict between Starbuck and Apollo that seemed to have damaged their relationship and maybe even Apollo and Dualla’s relationship too.

The Cylons arrive at the end of the episode, taking control of New Caprica, after Baltar surrendered to them. The army of Cylon robots marched through the streets as the scattered crew, including Starbuck, swore to keep fighting.

We get a glimpse of the baby given birth by Sharon that had been “killed.” The half human, half Cylon baby seemed to be very happy.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E19

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“Lay Down Your Burdens- Part 1”

Part one of the season two finale kicked off a rescue mission led by Starbuck back to Caprica. It also featured some presidential debates between President Roslin and Vice President Gaius Baltar.

By an accidental jump, one of the Raptors heading for Caprica came across a planetary body that had potential for settlement, which gave Baltar a topic to help his struggling campaign.

The Raptor that jumped into the mountain… whoa, tough thing. The old teleportation fear of teleporting into solid objects. Nightcrawler always talked about that and here Battlestar Galactica had it happen.

Starbuck reunited with Anders in a moment of happiness, only to be interrupted by Cylon forces attacking. It seemed as if the whole crew was trapped by explosions.

I have to say I was surprised that Sharon was involved with Starbuck’s crew considering the anger she had over the baby last episode. I kept waiting for her to turn on the humans, but she did not seem willing to do that.

Part II is coming up as the final episode of the second season.

Greatest American Hero S2 E5

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“Classical Gas”

It has been a long time since I have done one of the episodes of The Greatest American Hero. So long in fact it was no longer on Amazon Prime, where I had watched the first season plus. Fortunately, the show is now on Peacock, which I do have a subscription for so I continued with the fifth episode of the second season. Unfortunately, “Classical Gas” was perhaps my least favorite episode of the rewatch so far.

There were so many cliches and tropes swirling around this episode that just made it a tough one to sit through. How about the kids that Ralph teaches becoming a band? How many bands are formed on TV shows- from the Brady Bunch to Joanie and Chachi.

Secondly, Ralph finds himself jealous of Pam spending time with MASH’s Col. Flagg and his atrocious toupee. Edward Winter, who played Flagg, is a music exec. in this episode who happens to be crooked, but also trying to make a play for Pam. And, of course, Ralph was jealous and used the suit to spy on them.

The main antagonist of the show was named Hydra and he had apparently planned an escape from a German prison by having someone have plastic surgery to make him look identical and they flipped spots. Plastic surgery? Please.

Up to this point, Greatest American Hero has been better than I remembered and was an underrated series. This episode was a real flopper.

Bates Motel S4 E9, E10

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“Forever”

“Norman”

In my mind, I thought I remembered that the whole gas thing was an accident. I misremembered that because, seeing episode nine again, it was painfully clear that Norman had intended for them both to have died in that room. Had it not been for Romero, they both would be dead.

I will forever remember Alex desperately trying to give Norma CPR and holding her corpse, sobbing uncontrollably. It was a horrific punctuation to this relationship that, in very short order, became one of my favorite relationships in the history of TV.

Norman really goes crazy in the season finale as he kept waiting for Norma to tell him the plan and eventually digs her up out of her grave. We know that Norman from Psycho did dig up his mother’s corpse, although it sounded as if his relationship with his mother was considerably different than the TV show. In Psycho II, Norman says he poisoned his mother when he was young. I know that Bates Motel Norman may not be exactly the same version of Norman Bates from Psycho. Perhaps he is a multiversal variant.

The cruelty of Norman not telling Dylan about his mother was unbelievable. Yes, there were some strange coincidences with Dylan, so he remains unaware of the death. They felt a little too on the nose, but I know it works for the story.

When Norman glued Norma’s eyes open… I mean… how creepy was that. Was that Vera Farmiga being the dead body because, if so, she was brilliant.

When I originally watched this show, I really thought that these episodes ended the series, but there is a whole fifth season to go. This felt like a good wrap up for the series, at least for Norman and Norma, but there are 10 more episodes to go. The side characters all need more of a wrap up, but I could see this having been the end of Bates Motel.

Not sure I liked the Christmas lights popping on at the end of the episode though.