Chuck 3×16 Chuck vs the Tooth
I already like this new mini-arc (there are only three episodes left). My guess for the end is something like this: Ellie and Orion get caught by the Ring and Chuck and Sarah have to burst in to save them and thus revealing themselves.
I loved to see Christopher Lloyd in this episode and while I only know him as “elderly person” I was a bit surprised how old he actually looked now (he’s 71 after all…). On TV Tropes there’s a trope called “Running the Asylum”. It has a different meaning but I loved the idea that an inmate of the Cuckoo’s Nest is now the chief psychiatrist for an asylum full of spies.
Spoiler (mark to read):
Since I’ve read that they introduce yet another game-changer into the finale my guess would be that Orion removes the Intersect from Chuck’s head for good. Except for the Karate they didn’t make much use of it this season anyway (or at least I have that feeling). I think Chuck is ready to be a spy in his own right and they don’t actually need the Intersect as plot device anymore.

The Big Bang Theory 3×21 The Plimpton Stimulation
“You are my landlord and you are my movers. And I can’t pay any of you.” Great episode. It was a great fun in itself.
I’m still somewhat troubled over that whole break-up thing. I don’t have the feeling that they’ve actually explained why they’ve broken up. Penny just ran out on him and that was it. No real aftermath or real explanation. For me that makes it a bit unreal.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×16 Too Much Information
The first episode was a bit anvilicious (modelling & eating disorders…) but I liked that Kat tried to help Patrick open up.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×17 Just One Kiss
I liked the second episode better, especially with bringing Blank/William back.

Bones 5×21 The Boy with the Answer
I liked it that they brought the Gravedigger case again. I also liked that the writers and actors made me really hate her for attacking “my people” by questioning their integrity.
I also smell change coming. When characters start to question their own purpose and goals right before the season ends, most of the time they are going to change the concept of the show (at least for a while).

Castle 2×22 / 2×23 Food to Die For / Overkill
On the one side I like this little rivalry between Castle and Theft guy as long as it’s on the fun side. But when you see him hurt at the end, it’s just sad. Rationally I know it’s the foundation of these shows but emotionally I like them both (Castle & Beckett) enough to not wanting to see either of them hurt.

Community 1×24 English as a Second Language
It couldn’t top last week’s episode (but I think that’s pretty much impossible – and that in turn is amazing for a first season episode). But I thoroughly enjoyed Good Will Hunting meets Disney Eyes.
And just when I thought this was the season finale, I learned that there’s another episode coming.

Cougar Town 1×22 / 1×23 Feeling a Whole Lot Better / Breakdown
The red balloon story that wove through both episodes was so funny because of all the physical comedy involved. But I also liked the elongated and well structured graduation speech Travis gave and the reasons why he emphasised on his father.

Gossip Girl 3×20 It’s a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World
It was an average episode that was just the warm-up for the next one.

Gossip Girl 3×21 Ex-Husbands and Wives
I loved it how everybody turned to Queen B. and how the gang worked together to foil Dr. Evil van der Woodsen’s plan. It was only sad that S. got hurt in the process but at least no one did it intentionally.
The end worries me though; I just hope N. doesn’t make a huge mistake now. Little J. has done enough damage already.
(see how I did Gossip Speak there? I always find it funny how nobody seems to have a complete name on that show. )

Happy Town
Since the show was already put on a break AND has been cancelled, I don’t even bother to watch the second episode.

House M.D. 6×19 The Choice
A good episode. I liked it how they didn’t verbally judge him for lying to himself about his sexuality. But they made it clear that he’s lying to himself.
And I always love karaoke pieces, especially when the characters/actors also seem to have a lot of fun with it.

Veronica Mars:

Angel:

Smallville:

House M.D. 6×20 Baggage
From the story-telling POV I loved the episode. The way it was told, the way they changed the scenery and how they interwove House’s session with his memories or assumptions.
And the ending is just sad because it feels like House is giving up and no good can come out of this.

Justified 1×08 Blowback
It’s no new character trait to him. He always spoke quiet and polite to his opponents in the previous episodes. But I really liked how they made an entire episode out of it and he didn’t even had to shoot anyone.

Justified 1×09 Hatless
And another episode I enjoyed, especially with everyone pointing out that he’s not wearing his huge hat.

LOST 6×15 Across the Sea
I have to say, I was a bit disappointed of this episode. Because even if it pretended in doing so, it didn’t actually answer any questions (except for the unimportant ones). For example: Now we know who the skeletons are. Wow. That was the question I’ve been dying to get an answer for. And they used a sledgehammer to make that point (when did the LOST viewer ever need an actual memory-flashback to connect the dots?).
But it didn’t answer the important questions: Why was bother-without-name not allowed to leave the island – even before he became Smokey? And more to the point: If I understood it correctly, he didn’t even become Smokey. Smokey was something Jacob released when he killed his brother.
So far I was under the impression that Smokey wasn’t allowed to leave the island because that would be bad for the world (and probably is). But with b-w-n’s back-story that doesn’t make much sense anymore, does it?
And how did b-w-n know the things he knew, especially what a wooden wheel could do with a subterranean glowy thingy.
Also: When did that happen? I’m no Bones, but I would guess that bones that lay out in the open (even if it’s in a cave) would decompose eventually. For me it seems unlikely that they would even outlast the time Richard has already been there.

How I Met Your Mother 5×22 Robots Vs. Wrestlers
Sometimes I think I watch this show out of pure habit. It isn’t as funny as it used to be, especially since Ted doesn’t seem to move forward anymore. Granted, I liked it how he enjoyed this party – it was within Ted’s character. But there doesn’t seem to be a lasting consequence. It was just a one-episode gag.
And to be perfectly honest, I didn’t like it at all that the gang always interrupted him with their infantile fart noises.

Party Down 2×03 Nick DiCintio’s Orgy Night
Blunt and honest as always. Liked it.

Smallville 9×21 Salvation
Great finale, if you ask me. A cool yet short super-powered fight and then a really good man-to-man without powers. I also liked the JSA/JLA cameos, even though not all of them were there (Impulse, Aquaman, Zatanna).
And I really liked how Clark inadvertently spoke the same sentence to Lois that the Blur said to her a few episodes ago. But I also believe that he must have known that she’d figure it out when he kissed her. After all, it was the same way she figured out he was Fake Green Arrow in 6×14 Crimson.
I just hope they don’t pull another amnesia joker out of their lower backs.

Supernatural 5×21 Two Minutes to Midnight
I really like the notion that Death is by default above all this petty rivalry and if you really think about it, who Death is, then it makes absolutely sense. Thus I liked that he simply gave Dean his ring and even explained how they work exactly.

Supernatural 5×22 Swan Song
I’m at peace with both endings. Sam sacrificing himself and pulling Michael with him, thus ending the rivalry (at least on Earth) and Dean keeping his promise to both Death and Sam.
I honestly could have lived with that as a series ending and liked the way Chuck told the story about the brothers and the ‘67 Impala.
The only question that remains now is, was Chuck God? Or was he simply just a prophet and got some kind of reward in the end?

And since there is a sixth season and we’ve already seen a being that looked strangely familiar I take it that Sam got an honourable discharge from the service. It might be possible that I’m wrong, but I think that he will be regular Sam because Eric Kripke stated that this whole five season arc would end with this episode.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand 1×11 / 1×12 / 1×13 Old Wounds / Revelations / Kill Them All
Just when I was about to say that they eased up on the blood, the finale comes along and with it the biggest slaughter of them all (the episode title can be taken quite literally). Let’s just say not many people from the first season cast will be seen again in the second season…
Everything considered I’d say the adjective best describing this new show would be “interesting”, in all the facets that word can be used. “Bloodporn” would be a noun describing the show. I promise, there is a story in it and it’s not that bad but one must decide for oneself if the main dish is worth all the toppings.

Two and a Half Men 7×20 I Called Him Magoo
$1000/day hooker is still cheaper than marriage. Says Charlie Harper. Charlie Sheen pays his ex-wife Denise Richards $1,643.83/day. Is it just me or is this show getting more meta with every episode in the recent season? Or has it always been this way and Charlie S. just wasn’t so much in the news?

Doctor Who 5×07 ***’* ******
I hadn’t read the episode title during the opening credits and to honest I’m glad I didn’t and I think it’s a bit spoilerific. Of course all Doctor Who titles are a bit spoilerific (What to expect from Vampires in Venice?) bit I think in this particular case they could have been a bit more cryptic.
That being sad I can say I have figured out who this was all about long before it was remotely made clear in the episode itself.
Though I had thought it would end differently. I had thought the TARDIS reality was the first to vanish. My reasoning was that for all Companions the travel with the TARDIS are a wonderful dream come true. But one day, inevitably, this dream must come to an end; the Companion awakes in the real world again. This will be true for Amy, just as it was for Sarah Jane, Rose, Martha, Donna and all the others who travelled with the Doctor at one time or another.
But I also have to admit, I didn’t figured out who the Dream Lord was, for a moment I assumed it was a shadow of the Master or something like that.
PS: I enjoyed it very much.

The Good Wife 1×20 Mock
The People vs. Hänsel & Gretel. Great choice. I also liked the skateboard stunt in the beginning. Otherwise it was an average episode.
PS: Can someone help me out here: Who exactly was the redhead at the beginning of the episode?

The Good Wife 1×21 Unplugged
It had to end this way. Since it’s a show about her and it’s unlikely that she will change firms and introduce an entire batch of new co-characters it always had to be her in the end. Ironically, it’s the same for the character of Cary as well as his actor. Unless of course they’ll find a way to keep both around (I haven’t sneak-peaked).
And that Eli would come to collect was also no surprise for me (that it was a surprise for her was a surprise for me, she shouldn’t have been that naïve).

CW 19-20

Happy Town @ IMDb
Happy Town @ Wikipedia

Haplin, Minnesota is a small town where not much happens. At least in the past five years. Before that a serial killer known as the Magic Man killed one person each year for seven years. Then he vanished without a trace – just like his victims who were never found.
But here is something brewing. New people come into town, a man gets brutally killed and the sheriff has some sort of breakdown that is somehow connected to one of the newcomers.

I’m a bit confused. Is this pure mystery? Is there a supernatural element in the story? What’s up with Chloe?
The pilot felt a bit rushed because so many different characters had to be introduced (however briefly) but it certainly looks intriguing and I’ll continue to watch.
The show has quite a number of known faces, among them Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse), M.C. Gainey (LOST), Sam Neill (The Hunt for Red October, Merlin) and Abraham Benrubi (Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, ER).

LOST 6×04 The Substitute
This episode was much better. It didn’t give us many answers (if you consider the association of numbers and names an answer at all) but it’s a start and the off-island story was much more interesting (especially with seeing Katey Sagal again). It’s funny to see how they all still manage to run into each other even though they never met.
Locke and Smokey-Locke were both great and I long to find out what this is all about.

Life Unexpected 1×05 Turtle Undefeated
Ended well again. What a surprise. Since this season has only 13 episodes I’m probably going to watch it completely – one has to give a show a chance after all – but so far I still don’t think this is a show I’m going to watch for years.

Human Target 1×06 Lockdown
It was nice too see Alias’s Marshall Flinkman again – and again in a role as tech-savvy developer. I also liked it that Chance’s back story is slowly becoming a part of the show. I suspect it will be a background-arc that pops up once in a while just like Beckett’s mum’s murder in Castle. We’ll see.

Leverage 2×15 The Maltese Falcon Job
Too bad the season is already over again. I liked Jeri/Tara on the team very much but now Gina/Sophie is back and that’s good too. At least I hope she is since I have no clue how the ratings were this year and whether the show will return. I certainly hope so. But I also hope they don’t pull this trick at the end of every year – the team falling apart I mean.

Burn Notice 3×14 Partners in Crime
It was nice to see the gang reconcile after the events from last week. It was also interesting because I can’t remember the last time Michael actually “lost” a client.
While Fi played her role as kidnapped girlfriend very good it was nothing against Sam’s “CSI: Caruso” impersonation and one-liners.

Smallville 9×13 Persuasion
I bet there are already some fan discussions out there about Clark being a terrorist who brings the Twin Towers down. While it looked funky, the moment you bring your logic part of the brain into this, ou realize there was no way he could make sure no one was getting hurt. Yes, there was a time component involved but by no means had he to destroy the build that instant in that fashion to save the day.
Still the episode managed it quite well to mix the serious Kandor storyline with the more funnier Valentine’s storyline.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand 1×05 Shadow Games
Slowly but steady something like a story is creeping into the show. But it is still mostly a blood fest with some titties thrown in for good measure. One could argue that the latter is an actual portrayal of these times but we all know why they do it in this show…

After I read that LOST’s Sawyer played in the Angel pilot, I had to look. Found him:

And Christian Kane also has changed quite a bit since these days:

CW 08-09

Chuck 3×06 Chuck vs Nacho Sampler
Interesting choice of conspiracy partners. I don’t think both will found out but just one of them and he/she will help Chuck cover it up for the other one. On the one hand if it would be his sister, Awesome could finally relax before he breaks. If it would be Morgan it would certainly be fun because he would be a sure candidate for interfering in the wrong moments.
It was also an interesting use of flashbacks to show how much Chuck and Chuck has changed over the past few years. On some level I’m sad that the show has lost its more lighter tone on the other hand I do like it.

Heroes 4×18 Chapter Seventeen ‘The Wall’
So I was right, it will go out in a fight of Specials vs Specials vs. Normals. I liked this episode because this “compressed time” gave Sylar and Peter the chance to deal with their issues. But it’ll only work if the writers don’t come up with yet another Face Heel Turn for Sylar – it’s already hardly believable how often Sylar switched sides…
Now I am keen to see the fight between Samuel’s ma/en and Sylar/Peter. I don’t see him having the slightest chance against them, especially if Peter copies Sylars abilities.

How I Met Your Mother 5×14 Perfect Week
It was OK, but since I knew neither the moderator nor the Yankees baseballer I assume some of the    punchlines got lost on me.

House M.D. 6×12 Moving the Chains
House is doing nice things and still remains a scheming mastermind. I liked both side-stories about Foreman’s brother and the condo pranks. The case was also mildly interesting but pretty routine…

Life Unexpected 1×03 Rent Uncollected
Huh. They pretend to have problems, but they actually don’t. This time Baze had a big row with his parents but in the end his daughter who has known him for merely a week fixes things and the episode ends with a roof-top party.
I had hoped for a more realistic portrayal but this episode was too much 7th Heaven for my taste. If this continues, I’ll drop it again.

The Big Bang Theory 3×14 The Einstein Approximation
We’ve seen a “normal” Sheldon, a drunken Sheldon and now a sleep-deprived Sheldon. He just went up to eleven. I don’t dare to imagine a drunken, sleep-deprived Sheldon.
It was a really funny episode, especially with the gag reel at the end. Bazinga!  

Two and a Half Men 7×14 Crude and Uncalled For
I will hold judgement until I’ve seen the second part.

White Collar 1×10 Vital Signs
I love it when they use Neal’s abilities properly: To con a man into giving a confession. That’s why he’s here for after all.
The talk between Peter and his wife when she found the business card was also great, it was absolutely in the mood of the show.
BTW: Is it just me or does Tiffani Thiessen (Elizabeth Burke in White Collar) a lot like Sarah Lancaster (Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb in Chuck)?

Human Target 1×03 / 1×04 Embassy Row / Sanctuary
It’s simply a cool action series where one can enjoy a badass hero, badass support and cool one liners without having too much to think about it (in fact, thinking about it may reduce the enjoyment ).

LOST 6×01 / 6×02 LA X
LOST is back and confusing as always. I love it. One has to wonder how many different groups there are on this island and how they managed not to run into each other for so long. I’m also keen to learn how these two different realities (if they are distinct!) will play out.
Once again I’m in full LOST addiction mode!!!
“You’re the monster!” – “Please don’t resort to name-calling.”

Bones 5×14 The Devil in the Details
That was a really cool case with interesting guest characters and a fascinating victim. What I also liked was how Bones fell for that loony’s play and how the chief psychiatrist confronted her because of her vilification of psychology. I also loved Bones’s & Booth’s talk about “reassurement” at the end.
I just wonder how many Angel jokes David Boreanaz got during the production of this episode.

Cougar Town 1×14 All the Wrong Reasons
This episode had again the right mixture of fun and seriousness in all three stories it told. And I liked all three stores, though I have to say that Jules’s/Ellie’s was the least interesting.
Funny thing, I feel a certain vibe between Laurie and Travis but I think that is a major no-no on the show (but I bet it would have fascinating consequences).

Leverage 2×13 The Future Job
It was surprising to see Parker so … human and sad to see her so sad. But the coolest part in the episode was not the final con but the initial con to get him hooked – though I didn’t understand how they pulled off that thing with the cop. But the rest: great.

The Good Wife 1×13 Bad
I loved it that they let it in the vague whether this guy killed his wife or not. In any case he was an interesting and shady type. I also liked the developments in Peter’s trial and how the attorney “deconstructed” both witnesses.
I like the balance between the case-of-the-week and the arc about her husband.

Burn Notice 3×12 Noble Causes
Michael does the Steven Seagal! A microwave actually seems to be a good weapon.
I love it how Michael can be pressured into doing anything Fi or his mother want him to do. It makes it so much more ironic when he’s playing/being the tough guy towards the bad guys.
“To save time, just press popcorn!”

Supernatural 5×13 The Song Remains the Same
I enjoyed this episode a lot, it was nice to see the young Winchesters again and for her mother to see her grown-up children even though the reset button was punched in the end.
But this episode had one major logic flaw on Dean’s part: He said being murdered is not the same as to have never been born. But the end result is pretty much the same. If he really thought that it would be necessary to sacrifice himself and his brother he might as well have Anna let kill his brother and stop the Apocalypse this way.

Smallville 9×11 Absolute Justice
I was a bit anxious after I saw the pictures of the Justice Society member costumes because they looked so comic-like. On screen they still looked a bit out of place but they fitted much better into the scenery.
I liked the whole story because the points made about “family” were true, Martian Manhunter got his powers back and Tess has a new (dubious) part to play in the events to come.
I think I’m going to watch it again soon.

The Vampire Diaries 1×13 Children of the Damned
Oh the irony. When Elena sleeps at Stefan’s house she sleeps with him but when they’re at her own house the bedroom door must remain open…
But I liked the flashbacks to the 1860s though I doubt that a white man would openly show his fondness towards an Asian-looking woman – in a Confederate State during the Civil War.
Be that as it may, I like how the show is progressing.

CW 05-06

Since everybody seems to be starting to count at zero instead of one the first decade of this century and millennium is now over. So it’s time to recap these past ten years and take a look at the TV Shows it has given us.

Let me give my résumé at the beginning: Of the four decades I know TV Shows from (70s – 00s) this was without question the best decade for us TV junkies. When you read my review you might say in the end “Hey what about <insert your favourite here>?” (e.g. The Sopranos, Dexter, The Wire, Six Feet Under, …) but that’s exactly my point. This decade has given us so many outstanding shows that it was impossible to watch them all. Also, everybody has a different set of favourite genres but I’d say that every genre got their fair share of excellent series in the last years.

But let’s face it: There’s rarely any series (if there’s one at all) that could keep up the quality and its appeal for its entire run. Some had a bad year in between, some fell short at the end. But even in these “bad years” they had more quality episodes in it than entire shows from previous decades. So all the shows I am going to name have of course aspects that can be criticized and I invite you to do so.

For me the most outstanding characteristic of this past decade’s shows is that they are more often than not more about the “journey” of the character(s) than the actual events. It’s not the character who shines a light upon the unfolding events but it’s the events that shine a light upon the character and his development. I have to say that shows (hereby excluding comedy shows that work with stereo- and archetypes) that don’t have a real character development don’t interest me at all. But if the character development is interesting I might even watch shows from genres that usually don’t interest me at all.

If the character development is interesting enough I might even set the fact aside that my second favourite characteristic is missing: A real story-arc. The first TV Show in my TV universe that had a real story-arc, was Babylon 5. Later Star Trek: DS9 did the same albeit not in that quality and complexity. But these shows were two of the rare exception in the 90s (another famous exception would be Twin Peaks, but I never watched it). It seemed that viewers weren’t interested in either developing characters or story-arcs.

This drastically changed in this decade and one show had an early start to this:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

I believe Buffy is one of the most studied TV Shows there is, possibly only surpassed by the Star Trek universe and comparing the age of both franchises one sees how truly amazing that is. Just take a look at Slayage Online to get a glimpse.
I had of course heard of Buffy but ignorant as I was I did not watch a single episode during its original run. It was only in the year 2007, three years after the show had ended, that I discovered it for me and it swept me of my feet. This show does not deal in black & white, every character is flawed and yet tries to contribute in the ultimate fight against evil.
For me there’s not one season I’d qualify as “bad” even though some of them are very different than the others.

Angel (1999-2004)

On the dawn of the new millennium Angel relocated from Sunnydale to Los Angeles and opened a second front against the apocalypse. The show was different from Buffy but the characters were still wonderfully drawn and the story was very good. The show had its down during the fourth season which I didn’t like that much but got better again only to get cancelled. But it went out with a BOOM. “Let them fight the good fight. Someone has to fight the war.”

And then the new millennium began.

24 (2001-)

“All Events Occur in Real-Time.” This show introduces a whole lot of concepts in a TV Show. Since everything happens “live” they depend heavily on split-screens to show multiple events in different places. It’s also one of the first shows that uses technology to a sometimes ludicrous extend. But its compact and thrilling story-telling totally makes up for it.
There have been years where the story absolutely jumps the shark, especially the fourth and fifth season. But then the writers manage to refresh it again end they’ve delivered a real highlight with the seventh season and I truly hope they can keep it up in the soon-to-begin eighth year.

Alias (2001-2006)

The show surely declined during its five-year run but overall it’s a fascinating piece of television, with its elaborate Rambaldi-arc and its shifting allies and enemies. It especially wins it fascination from all these grey characters where it isn’t certain on which side they’re on (for now) and what their hidden agenda is. It also uses a remarkable amount of plot locations all over the world that coincides with the number of wigs the main character Sydney Bristow seems to have.

Smallville (2001-)

Smallville is a complicated topic. The label says “How Clark Kent became Superman”. On its face it’s a show about teenage drama mixed with some action pieces. Many don’t like it because it often breaks with the official Superman canon (whatever that means in a comic universe that retcons itself all the time…). Others have problems with Clark himself who is not yet the iconic character he’s supposed to become. Still others had problems with the prolonged presence of Lana Lang and the very existence of the not-in-the-comic character Chloe Sullivan. And they are supported in their criticism by the often kitschy storylines and the Freak-of-the-Week episodes in the early seasons. The show also lacks a mastermind who has a clear idea of where the journey is supposed to end up. This was painfully obvious during the seventh and eighth season that fell flat on every aspect of story-telling.
But still, the show has something that draws me in – even though I never read a single Superman comic. Despite their problems the characters are really enjoyable and most of them undergo a real development. If I had to name a favourite character (excepting Clark) it would be Allison Mack’s Chloe Sullivan even though they heavily damaged the character in the last two years. The second one is Erica Durance’s Lois Lane who is slowly taking the place that is rightfully hers.
I have to admit I was nearly giving up on the show but the ninth season is developing really great so far – let’s just hope they can keep it up this time.

Firefly (2002)

Maybe it was so good because it was so short-lived but the 14 episodes of this series showed a potential worthy of a Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel) show. This show literally brought the wild west into space. One has to wonder what this show could have achieved if it would have had a reasonable lifetime.

Two and a Half Men (2003-)

Sitcoms have always been era-bound for me. I’ve watched many sitcoms during their original run. When I watched them again years later I didn’t find them as funny as the first time or don’t find them really funny at all anymore. Maybe all the sitcoms in this list will fare the same fate. But for now I really enjoy the two brothers, their house-keeper, their mother and their son/nephew very much.

Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009)

Most sci-fi shows are plot-oriented. The spaceship that flies from planet to planet to go where no one has gone before. The station that is the last hope for peace. The team that searches for technology to protect Earth from the Evil Overlords. The fleet around the Galactica also has a goal: to find Earth. But the story is about the crew of these ships and about their robotic enemies who are as diverse as the Humans. In the end it’s not as simple as in the beginning: Humans vs. Cylons. The journey will re-shape all of them in a way none of them could have anticipated.
Unfortunately the end was a bit disappointing because the writers thought too late about where the journey is supposed to be going.

House M.D. (2004-)

House is a typical Procedural. Basically every episode has the same general plot. If that were everything to it, I would not bother to watch it. But it is more. All the other characters sum up to a counter-balance to House, to keep him in check. While House spirals down in his medication addiction they try to pull him up again and they manifest as a wall when he tries to go too far. Every one of them is necessary and due to recent events in the sixth season I fear that one element will be sorely missed in future episodes: Humanity. They have to find a way to restore the balance. House doesn’t work with just House.

LOST (2004-2010)

A great mystery show that will hopefully have an end this year that is worthy of it. For me the entire appeal of the show depends now on if they manage to give satisfying answers to all (or at least most of) the riddles they produced over the last five years. Otherwise it might have the same fate as Battlestar Galactica. They promised that they would have a satisfying end in mind – let’s hope they can keep this promise. If they do this will be one of the most memorable shows of this decade.

Veronica Mars (2004-2007)

After the 80s I was never to much into private investigation stories but this show was highly praised – even though German television dump-aired it in the middle of the night. And it rightfully got the praise. It combines teenage drama and crime/PI stories to an excellent mix and has an excellent cast, especially the ones of the Mars family. Unfortunately the third season deviated from the way the story was told in the first two seasons and the show never got a fourth season. But these three seasons are absolutely worth checking out.

Bones (2005-)

Another Procedural that combines technological overdose and a relatively strict plot pattern. But it has a fascinating set of characters who complement each other (both at work as well as emotionally). Just with House I do not watch it for the case of the week but to see how the characters grow and how they struggle with their past and try to find their future.

Doctor Who (2005-)

The Brits are different. But that doesn’t make them less interesting. The Doctor is a national institution just like the Queen. The show as a whole has been running since 1963 with a big break during the nineties. In 2005 they revived the show and the Ninth Doctor and his companion Rose took the TARDIS and travelled to the end of the Earth. The Tenth Doctor even took it to the end of the universe itself. And in 2010 the Eleventh Doctor will take command of ship and he too will travel to places and times one can hardly imagine.
In order to like Doctor Who one has to like a certain kind of humour and has to appreciate weird stories and ideas. To give you an idea: If you like/disliked the The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book series by Douglas Adams or the “Thursday Next” book series by Jasper Fforde or the Australian TV Show Farscape you’re probably going to like/dislike Doctor Who.

How I Met Your Mother (2005-)

In one regard sitcoms are like all other shows: There are those that are episode-based and those that are arc-based and then there are those in the middle. While Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory are more (though not strictly) episode-based, so is HIMYM more arc-based. The very title points to it. In this regard HIMYM is the successor of Friends; the life of the characters is actually changing and not a (relative) constant.
Although, now that the show is in its fifth year I feel that it is time that Ted actually meets his future wife. I don’t have the desire to drag out every show endlessly. I prefer a good closure over a never-ending story.

Supernatural (2005-2010?)

Two things brought me to Supernatural: Firstly my disappointment of Smallville over the last two years. While reading and writing in the KryptonSite.com forums I often read good comments about this show that otherwise totally went below my radar. Secondly my getting closer to the horror genre by watching Buffy and Angel. I’ve never been a great friend of the horror genre and probably never will be – but this show intrigued me. At first it looked like a standard Monster-of-the-Week show but soon it developed its own story-arc that is culminating in this year’s battle against the apocalypse and Lucifer himself.
According to the show runner, this will be the last year of Dean’s and Sam’s journey and I really like that idea because then the show has managed something many shows fail to do: To tell one big story and to bring that story to a defined end.

Heroes (2006-)

Heroes is now in its fourth year and it’s doubtful whether there will be a fifth. It started with great promise and the first year was really great. But then basically everyone lost their way and the characters started to act uncharacteristically and erratically and unpredictably and it all went down the drain. I am still watching it because I like the characters but it’s not nearly as much fun as in the beginning.
If you’re new to this show, buy the first season and probably leave it that.

The Big Bang Theory (2007-)

The best sitcom there currently is. The four geeks and their hot neighbour are a really great ensemble and the hilariousness goes up to eleven when Penny and Sheldon clash into each other. There’s nothing I can laugh more about than these five.

Burn Notice (2007-)

I don’t even remember how I stumbled across this show but Michael Westen is basically James Bond and Q in one person. He’s the spy who builds his gadgets himself. His entourage is also great: The trigger-happy ex-IRA ex-girlfriend, the now retired former spy and friend – and his mother. Since he can’t work as spy anymore he has become the local MacGyver / Michael Knight / A-Team of Miami, Florida. He still tries to get his old “job” back but there is someone who does not want him back and Michael has no idea, why.

Chuck (2007-)

Chuck is an action comedy about a guy who accidentally gets all the secrets of the CIA and NSA uploaded into his brain. What makes things worse: His knowledge is now the only copy in existence. He gets two personal bodyguards: The CIA agent Sarah Walker and the NSA Major John Casey. The three of them try to use Chuck’s knowledge to protect the country while hiding the fact that he knows what he knows and without getting exposed as spies by enemies and family.
This show is pure fun and I am really glad that they got a third season. The three main characters are great but all the supporting characters from Chuck’s family and the Buy More superstore form a great ensemble.

True Blood (2008-)

There are Vampires in the world and they live openly among us. But not only Vampires, but also mind-readers and shape-shifters and others. And in Bon Temps, Louisiana the waitress Sookie Stackhouse meets Bill – the very first Vampire in their small town. But mankind has still getting used to the idea that Vampires actually exist and there are quite a few animosities between both groups, especially when people get killed and it looks like Vampires were behind it.
This is a very graphic show based on the “Sookie Stackhouse” book series by Charlotte Harris. But it’s quite fascinating to watch all these different people and how they deal with life (and death).

Being Human (2009-)

A Vampire, a Werewolf and a Ghost are moving in together. What sounds like a joke is basically the question that what it means to be Human. All three struggle with themselves and their fate. The Vampire is the oldest one; he’s fought as a young man in the First World War. The other two have only recently become “different”. This British series is not a comedy although it is funny at times and as most British series relatively short (the first season has only six episodes). But the story it’s telling is really worth watching.

So, that’s it. Let’s hope that this new decade can at least hold the quality bar if not even outshine the last decade since the producers should have learned by now that high-quality television is something viewers do appreciate.

Paradox 1×01 Episode #1.1
A scientist has a satellite in orbit to observe the activities of the sun (like flares and stuff). But when he downloads the new images from it there are eight images that come from Earth. And they weren’t taken by the satellite. The timestamp of the pictures seems to indicate that they were taken in the future. And they seem to show an attack or an accident. The institute involves the police and now a race against time begins.

When I read the description of this new British series, it sounded like a variant of Early Edition or Tru Calling so I gave it a try. But unfortunately the pilot was a bit disappointing. The scientist behaved like he was behind all it. I assume he did it to force the police to investigate but it didn’t really work out for me. And the police didn’t even take the most obvious precaution. They simply could have blocked that seemingly unimportant road but they didn’t.

Paradox 1×02 Episode #1.2
Now they’ve got their first possible paradox. If they hadn’t got the pictures the guy most likely hadn’t died. But if he hadn’t died the boy most likely wouldn’t have died either. So their investigation caused the boy to die but their knowledge helped save him.
Still the scientist is too underused; I believe for the show to really take off, he has to be more involved, otherwise it’s just another ordinary cop show.

Cougar Town 1×08 Two Gunslingers
Alan Ruck was cool in this episode but Travis was awesome; it was so cool to see how he first messed with Grayson’s head and then conned him.

Cougar Town 1×09 Here Comes My Girl
Huh, that was awkward and uncomfortable at the same time, thus funny to watch…

Bones 5×09 The Gamer in the Grease
That was one huge trailer / viral marketing advertisement for a certain Cameron movie that is about to be released. But I still liked it how Hodgins and Fisher danced around Camille in order to save their spot in the line.

Gossip Girl 3×10 The Last Days of Disco Stick
That was a bit disappointing. Not the story itself but the departure of Olivia. I really liked her and really hope she comes back. The one character I wouldn’t miss is Jenny, she’s just annoying.
And I couldn’t care less about Lady Gaga’s appearance (I take it that she’s currently a celebrity?).

The Good Wife 1×09 Threesome
It’s funny how expectations go. Before this one has never seen Stern himself and I thought he would be an old grey-haired stereotype lawyer. But this guy was really interesting and I am keen to learn what kind of trouble his departure will cause.
This show is really good drama, if you ask me.

Stargate Universe 1×09 Life
This on the other hand, is not. You had one semester psychology? Great, do a psych eval of everyone! We’re on food rationing? Great, let’s all do a lot of exercise to burn some calories!
But at least one gets more insight on the characters – even if only when they “return home”.

Stargate Universe 1×10 Justice
The problem with that ship is that except for three, maybe four people nobody trusts each other. In the long run that can’t either work in-universe nor for the show. It’s like watching day-time soap operas where even the seven year-old niece has an evil scheme.
And while I am actually glad that Rush got marooned I fear they will find some deus ex machina way to bring him back (they conveniently placed a ship there).

Heroes 4×10 Chapter Nine ‘Brother’s Keeper’
This episode was kinda boring even though there were three different storylines. Yes, there were some revelations (at least to the characters, the viewer knew most of this already) but overall not much happened.

Heroes 4×11 Chapter Ten ‘Thanksgiving’
That was a cool episode again. All three Thanksgiving dinners had their appeal, especially the one in House Bennet. I was really glad to see Elizabeth Röhm again. When she first appeared a few weeks back I thought it would be a guest appearance only but I’d really like to see her as a recurring character, I already liked the actress on Angel.
The problem with Thanksgiving in House Petrelli was that I already knew that Nathan would be finally killed and now I am asking myself if this was it (they said it would be disappointing) or if he will at least struggle for a while.

Heroes 4×12 Chapter Eleven ‘The Fifth Stage’
OK, now he’s dead. That wasn’t too bad and it was ultimately inevitable or they would had to sacrifice Sylar – which was unlikely (in my opinion he’s one of the five basics of the show: Peter, Hiro, Claire, HRG and Sylar).
I am also wondering: That’s the big plan of this season’s “Big Bad”? Gather all the mutants? And for this he kills some of his own? Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

House M.D. 6×09 Wilson
That was a really cool episode which showed the very difference between Wilson and House. I really felt with House when he said that he would be all alone and I felt with Wilson when he had to learn that his patient does not share his values.

CW 46-50

Homecoming

Synopsis: Buffy has decided to run for Homecoming Queen in order to prove that “she’s still got it”. But she runs against Cordy and it won’t be easy since both Willow and Xander are helping Cordy out of a feeling of guilt for kissing one another. But Mr. Trick has also something planned: He creates “SlayerFest ‘98″, a hunt where both Humans and demons are the hunters and the Slayers are the hunted.

My Opinion: I liked the assortment of hunters because everyone hunted in his own way (but naturally they all lost), especially the mix of the types “Daniel Boone” and the german high-tech hunters. And I loved it when the “second Slayer” (Cordy) scared the Vampire off just by threatening him. It’s a talent she will use in Angel again.

Band Candy

Synopsis: Principal Snyder forces everyone to sell candy bars to finance new uniforms for the school band. But suddenly all the adults start to behave like teenagers and don’t acknowledge their proper age. As it turns out, Ethan Rayne is the producer of the bars – but he’s only a subcontractor for Mr. Trick who works for the mayor now.

My Opinion: Ethan is back and the episode is fun. Snyder reminded me a lot of Quark (Star Trek DS9) when he tried to chase after the women and couldn’t be discouraged in any way. And Giles and Joyce were also great in reliving their youth. What we’ve learned so far about the mayor also explains some of the put-it-under-the-rug events of the second season.

Revelations

Synopsis: Faith has gotten a new Watcher, a stiff english woman who expects nothing less than the best. And Buffy is still hiding the fact that Angel has returned. And a new demon is in town and he wants the Glove of Myhnegon, a very powerful artefact. In the end, all their paths will cross in Angel’s hideout place. And Xander and Willow have a hard time denying their feelings or refrain from showing affection to each other.

My Opinion: Xander has never really liked Angel, even before he knew that he was a Vampire. But in episodes like this he shows pure hatred towards the guy and except for the Angel-Buffy thing I never understood why his emotions towards Angel are that strong. But it was great to once again see a real Slayer vs. Slayer fight. They both kicked ass!

Lovers Walk

Synopsis: Spike is back in town, but he’s a wreck. Dru has left him for a chaos demon and he wants her back. Buy chance he runs into Willow who is just buying ingredients for an anti-love spell for Xander and her and he considers the general idea of a love spell a good one. So he kidnaps her and Xander and forces her to make one for him and Dru. Meanwhile the rest of the Scooby gang is looking for them.

My Opinion: Spike – Phase II has just begun. First he was the villain, now he will be the comic relief for quite some time. But in the end, he will take his rightful place as one of the heroes. Too bad this will be his only appearance in this season. And from a retrospective POV I liked Xander’s and Willow’s little affair. First of all because it didn’t feel forced, there have been hints towards this since the pilot. And second of all it ultimately leads to the introduction of Anyanka in the next episode. I also liked how Spike could look right through Angel’s and Buffy’s we-are-only-friends charade.

Season 3: Disc 3

Since I’ve purchased quite a number of new TV shows, I thought to resurrect this marathon.

V

(1983)

What’s the show about?
A group of underground rebels fights against an alien race who have invaded Earth without making it appear as such. The resistance cell is a motley crew with all kinds of backgrounds and their goal is it to expel the aliens again. And their sign is the “V” – for “Victory!”.

“V”
One day a number of huge space ships appear all over the world. But they don’t come as enemies, but as friends. In exchange for a certain chemical the aliens give us cures for all kinds of diseases and improve our technology. But the aliens and their intentions are not what they appear to be.

My Opinion
The show comprises of the two mini-series V (1983), V: The Final Battle (1984) and the one-season-show V (1984). It has aged quite well, the storytelling stands out for a show of its time and the special effects don’t look that bad, either. It’s still very watchable and that the subject is still interesting is proven by the fact that a remake of the show will come to television land this fall.

Gossip Girl

What’s the show about?
Gossip Girl belongs to a group of students who live in Manhattan’s upper east side and they are rich – really rich. The “outsiders” of this group are Dan and Jenny Humphrey who live in Brooklyn but go to the same private school as the others. It’s a show about love, life and intrigues and the one person who blogs about all this: Gossip Girl. Nobody knows who she is, but she and her network of “informants” know everything.

“Pilot”
The new school year has begun and Dan is now a junior. And one event will change his life and that of the others forever: Serena van der Woodsen is back from her year on boarding school and she will go to their school again. S is D’s big love but she doesn’t even know he exists and S and Queen B have some unfinished business.

My Opinion
The show is very intriguing with all these characters that have their own agendas, with their love and revenge plottings and in the middle of it Dan who so doesn’t really fit into this world yet is bound to become the ultimate insider. And I love Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) as the voice of Gossip Girl. I never watched shows like Beverly Hills, 90210 or The O.C. but this show I really like, I even bought (and read) the book by Cecily von Ziegesar on which the show is based on:

House M.D.

What’s the show about?
Dr. House leads a team of diagnosticians who have specialized in rare and/or extraordinary cases. House himself is a misanthropic cripple who doesn’t like to handle the patients personally, basically because “everybody lies”. He bounces ideas off his team and together they find the disease but not always fast enough to actually save the patient.

“Pilot”
A young kindergarten teacher is brought to the hospital because she has lost the ability to speak and five different doctors have made five different diagnoses based on the same evidence. House’s friend Dr. Wilson tricks House into accepting this patient and he and his team try to diagnose her illness. And the hospital boss Dr. Cuddy forces House to do clinic hours, too.

My Opinion
It’s not lupus. Whatever it is, it’s never lupus. The case of the week follows a fairly regular pattern. Patient comes in, something makes it interesting for House, they treat, they mistreat, they treat again, they nearly kill the patient and then something totally unrelated to the case gives House the solution. Case closed, patient (maybe still) alive. For me that’s not the reason to watch this show. For me it’s about House himself and his friend Wilson and Cuddy and his three doctors and how they interact and what they do besides treating the patient. And even though the case always follows the same pattern, the position of the players (even House’s) is constantly changing and will change again when the show goes into its sixth season this fall.

Supernatural

What’s the show about?
Dean and Sam Winchester are brothers. 22 years ago a yellow-eyed demon killed their mother. Since then their father has been on the hunt for all kinds of supernatural beings and phenomenon. Sam once tried to get out of the “family business” but after his father went missing and his girlfriend was murdered in the very same way his mother was he has rejoined with his brother. They fight against vampires, ghosts and everything else you dare not think about in the middle of the night.

“Pilot”
22 years ago. John Winchester has to evacuate his son Dean and infant son Sam out of the house after something pinned his wife onto the ceiling and set her on flames. Present day. Sam has stopped hunting two years ago and studies at Stanford now. But suddenly his brother Dean stands in the door and announces that their dad has gone missing while being on a hunt. Sam agrees to accompany Dean on this one thing to find their father – only ’til Monday.

My Opinion
I was never really into horror stories, but shows like Buffy and Angel brought me closer to the topic and since I liked Jensen Ackles in Smallville’s fourth season I thought to give it a try. And it’s a great show. Except for the fact that there’s a monster of the week every episode is totally different due to the very nature of the supernatural being. There’s also an overall story arc that includes the yellow-eyed demon, fallen angels and the apocalypse.

Early Edition

What’s the show about?
Every morning Gary Hobson gets his paper delivered by a cat. And if this weren’t weird enough, it’s not the paper from today – it’s the paper from tomorrow. And every day Gary and his friends try to prevent any disaster he reads about and that are about to happen.

“Pilot”
Gary is a not so successful stock broker who lives in a hotel room. His wife has thrown him out and has filed for divorce. Then a cat “delivers” a paper, he reads it and throws it away. It takes a while for him to figure out that something was wrong – or very right – with that paper. Luckily for him, he gets a new one the next day. Now he can hit the race tracks. But he has overlooked more urgent news than the sports results…

My Opinion
I really liked that show. Kyle Chandler (now on Friday Night Lights) is a very likeable guy and they always found new twists to make his day an adventure. And I also liked his friends, especially Fisher Stevens (The Plague in Hackers) who always tried to make a little profit on the sideline but came through when he was needed.

Veronica Mars

What’s the show about?
Veronica Mars is a high school and later college student who works part time for her father. He is a private eye who used to be the Sheriff of Neptune, a town that has no middle class. You either are a millionaire or you work for one. Aside from working for her father she also works for other students and solves their problems. And both father and daughter work on the biggest case in their life.

“Pilot”
Veronica used to belong to the “cool guys” but then her father (the local sheriff at the time) accused the richest man in town of murdering his own daughter. Now he and his daughter are outsiders and the Lilly Kane murder appears to be solved. But it is not, not in the eyes of both father and daughter. But she also has to rescue another student because he interfered with the business of the local biker gang led by Eli “Weevil” Navarro.

My Opinion
It was a great show that was unfortunately short-lived (three seasons). For the first two seasons they had this one big mystery per season (in the first season the Lilly Kane murder), when Veronica went to college they had two cases and some single episodes, maybe that was the reason it went under. And every episode had its very own case to be solved. The show had a great cast and a good supply of supporting characters and I enjoyed it a lot.

Alias

What’s the show about?
Sydney Bristow is a double agent. She works for supposedly covert branch of the CIA called SD-6 and for the real CIA. SD-6 is part of a larger group called The Alliance but only the high-level leaders know that SD-6 is not CIA. Field agents like Sydney are not supposed to know. Thus Sydney goes on whatever mission SD-6 sends her and the CIA gives her a counter mission to sabotage SD-6 without them knowing.

“Truth Be Told”
Sydney Bristow is a grad student who works part time at a bank. But the bank job is only a cover. She’s an agent in a covert branch of the CIA and she hasn’t told anyone about this. But when her boyfriend proposes to her she makes that fatal mistake. After she’s come back from her next mission she finds him dead. SD-6 has killed him because he became a security risk. And when she doesn’t come back to SD-6, they try to kill her, too. But luckily for her she has a father who also works for SD-6 and who saves her. After she’s re-established her credibility with SD-6 she goes to the CIA and offers to work as a double agent.

My Opinion
I’ve only seen one season so far, but really liked it. There is a mystery element on the show in the form of artefacts the Italian inventor Rambaldi has built – in the 15th century (it’s a J.J. Abrams show after all). Rambaldi has also made a prophecy and it is not clear yet whether it refers to Sydney Bristow or not (I assume that it will become clear in later seasons). Just like with Chuck I like it how they try to keep their public and their secret life apart and how it becomes more and more difficult to do that. But Sydney has also a cool number of disguises.

Scrubs

What’s the show about?
The staff of the Sacred Hearts Hospital is not like other hospital staffs. The show is told from Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian’s point of view but includes the lives of then medical school buddy now surgeon Dr. Turk, Dr. Elliot and other doctors, nurses and even the janitor of the hospital.

“My First Day”
First day at the Sacred Hearts teaching hospital. J.D. is nervous but the he meets his new co-worker, Dr. Elliot and everything seems to turn upwards. He also believes to have found a mentor in the form of the Chief of Medicine, Dr. Kelso. If it weren’t for the attending, Dr. Cox and the janitor everything would be fine.

My Opinion
There’s one German TV station (Pro 7) that could easily be called Scrubs TV. Whenever they cancel another program or don’t know what else to send, they air another re-run of Scrubs. I watched a few episodes but couldn’t really get into. But a friend of mine (the same one who suggested Friends) told me that I should start at the beginning and he was not wrong. I had a better connection to the characters when watching the first disc but I still don’t know whether I will buy further seasons. Time will tell. But what I really like is that the authors didn’t forget that it played in a hospital and that (not unlike M*A*S*H) they they also showed what it’s about to be a doctor.

Doctor Who

(2005)

What’s the show about?
The Doctor is an alien, the last of the Time Lords and he travels with his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) to any point in time and to any planet he wants. The Doctor often travels with a Companion, most of the time a human woman. Wherever he goes, there’s a mystery to be solved and sometimes the entire universe is at stake, in this dimension or another.

“Rose”
When Rose tries to close the shop she’s working in she’s attacked by the window dummies. At first she thinks it’s a student prank until she gets rescued by a man who calls himself only The Doctor and the entire building explodes. This entire evening was so weird that she tells nobody what really happened until she gets attacked by a dummy arm again and is again rescued by him. A Nestene Consciousness tries to take over the world and only The Doctor can prevent it.

My Opinion
If one likes weird science-fiction stories (such as I) with way-out ideas thrown in for good measure then one should definitively give it a try. I’ve seen a few episodes of the old Doctor Who but not enough to make a valid comparison. But I really like the new series on its own, especially since they are not afraid to re-use old enemies without re-designing them. The Daleks look like from a 50s movie but that makes it so charming. Too bad that UK seasons are always so short.

Chuck

What’s the show about?
Charles “Chuck” Bartowski is a man who works is an electronic market in the “Nerd Herd”. But he’s also a spy – sort of. He carries all of the government’s secrets in his head without having direct access to them. But from time to time he “flashes” on something and then he and he and his handlers Sarah and Casey go on a mission to save the country. But Chuck’s main goal is it to get the Intersect data out of his head again.

“Pilot”
After 9/11 NSA and CIA have put their information together into a computer system called Intersect. It stores the data encrypted in a huge amount of images. One day the rogue CIA spy Bryce Larkin destroys the Intersect and sends this data to his former friend Chuck Bartowski who opens it and unintentionally loads all this knowledge into his brain. Both CIA (in the form of Agent Sarah Walker) and NSA (in the form of Major John Casey) try to get the data back but the computer gets destroyed and the only remaining Intersect copy is in Chuck’s head. Additionally an east-european assassin wants to kill a high-ranking NATO general.

My Opinion
Granted, the basic premise of the show is a bit ridiculous, but the show is still great. Chuck is the typical late 20s nerd who lives with his sister and her fiancé “Captain Awesome” and loves to play video games with his friend Morgan and now he has to be a spy. Sarah and Casey try to protect him but naturally Chuck gets into trouble all the time and it’s great fun to watch these three and the rest of the Nerd Herd.

Part 7

Disc 1

When She Was Bad

Synopsis: Summer break is nearly over and Buffy has returned from L.A.. But she seems to to have changed. She is closed up and snubs virtually everyone. And it gets worse: The Anointed One wants to get the Master back from the really dead. And for this he needs the people who were close to him when he died.

My Opinion: This behaviour will develop into a habit. Everytime Buffy goes through a shocking or traumatizing event she will try to shut everyone out and keep the world at bay. She will do it again at the beginning of the third season and during the sixth season. It may not be a good character trait but it’s definitively a defining one for the character. Just as the one that she will do what’s right when it matters.
The episode was also a portent for the season. When she claims that Angel has thought about fighting her and that he should try it. When Snyder states that he would love to expel her. When she was lured away from the library and that’s the place she was needed most.
I think it was a good start of the season.

Some Assembly Required

Synopsis: During her patrol in one of Sunnydale’s graveyards she discovers that a grave is empty that shouldn’t be empty. But it’s not another Vampire who has risen. The body is simply gone. So it’s either the work of flesh-eating demons or a group that wants to build an army of Zombies. But when Cordelia finds a lot of body parts in the dumpster they can safely dismiss both theories. But who needs only some parts from several young women?

My Opinion: I never liked these frankenstein-y stories, neither here nor in the fourth season. But once again I liked it that good and bad weren’t clear cut, that our Dr. Frankenstein in the form of Chris didn’t go as far as killing someone just to build a bride for his brother. But I haven’t understood what the other guy was hoping for. Why was he helping in the first place and why would he have killed Cordelia? I simply couldn’t see his motive to act the way he did.

School Hard

Synopsis: Buffy and another “rebel” is ordered to organize and host the annual parent-teacher-night. And Buffy has to keep her mother far away from principle Snyder. And some special Vampire holiday is coming up. And the Vampire Spike has come to town to have some fun around here. And he will kill Buffy on Saint Whatshisname’s day. Fortunately those two events don’t fall on the same day…

My Opinion: …Unfortunately Spike isn’t the most patient guy. I loved it how he single-handedly decluttered all the Vampire rituals and my prejudice about them. James Marsters once stated that he played Spike “with a bit more soul than he was supposed to”. I knew him from Smallville and he was one of the reasons to give Buffy a chance and I couldn’t wait to finally see him here. He will develop into one of the most interesting characters on the show even though he just lost his first battle against the Slayer.
But they also made two statements about him that they will “correct” later: Giles states that he’s barely two hundred. I would assume “barely 200″ means something like 190 or 180. Later they will make him just 150 years old (born around 1850). Spike also says that Angel was “his Sire, his Yoda”. But as it will turn out, Spike was sired by Drusilla who was sired by Angel. But maybe Spike meant it in some figurative way. After all, Angel is his Grand-Sire and Yoda was Luke’s second Jedi teacher after Obi-Wan.

Inca Mummy Girl

Synopsis: During a visit of the local museum one of the student tries to steal a mummy seal and accidentally breaks it. The young, female Inka mummy re-awakes, kills the student and disappears from the museum. Shortly after she takes the place of an exchange student (whom she also killed) and moves in with Buffy for the next two weeks. And naturally Xander falls for her the minute he sees her. But then there’s a mysterious knife guy who seems to be connected to the mummy and the body count is increasing. The gang has to find out what’s going on.

My Opinion: I have to say, I liked this episode. As most creatures do this young woman tried to ensure her own survival. But in the end she couldn’t kill the person she fell in love with. I also liked the comparison between her and Buffy’s fate: The be the Chosen One and not being able to have a say in it. And in opposition to Teacher’s Pet Xander could be Xander without being influenced from the outside.
In this episode we’ve also seen Oz and Jonathan for the first time but I think one notices Jonathan only if one knows him already – ironically that is exactly what this character will be about.

Disc 2

Reptile Boy

Synopsis: Cordelia is invited to a fraternity party by senior college students and she accepts of course. Buffy is invited, too, but refuses until Cordelia convinces her. Since it seems to be a demon-free time, she agrees. Only a bracelet with small amounts of blood on it hints to new trouble in town.

My Opinion: I knew it all along! All rich people are in league with the Devil! Or a demon in this case. I liked this episode because it showed that Humans can be as evil as demons and that the former have no problem dealing with or using the latter to achieve their goals. And Buffy’s bad luck streak with guys continues, although the pattern will emerge only later (nice guy who turns into a monster/asshole once he has what he wanted).

Halloween

Synopsis: Halloween is coming up and that means Vampires will stay at home. Unfortunately Snyder isn’t a Vampire and he makes Buffy, Willow and Xander “volunteers” to escort children around the blocks on Halloween. But something is wrong with the costumes: Everybody seem to turn into what they are wearing: soldier, vamp (not -ire!) ghost, 18th century lady and a whole lot of monsters. Spike is delighted! And the Slayer faints.

My Opinion: I love this episode. The introduction of Ethan Rayne as an old friend of Giles’s/Ripper’s was a great idea and I love the episodes he’s in, because there will always be some weird side effect and Giles will behave unusually. I also liked that Xander was allowed to be the protector of the ladies and I loved how Buffy had no idea what who and what she was. My favourite line was when Willow said (in regard to Buffy): “Couldn’t she dress up like Xena?”.
I noticed though that there was an uninvited Vampire in Buffy’s house. But they never explained how exactly this magic works and since Joyce seemed to be out of town and Buffy wasn’t really Buffy, maybe the house was deemed “deserted” and thus unprotected.

Lie to Me

Synopsis: An old friend of Buffy’s, Ford, has moved to Sunnydale and she’s excited about it. They went to school together for seven years and as it turns out he’s found out that she’s the Slayer. Neither Xander nor Angel are very thrilled about this development, but Buffy loves spending time with him and catching up on old stories. There’s one catch though: Ford has joined a cult that reveres Vampires, calling them “the lonely ones”. They have no idea about the true nature of these creatures and their knowledge is bade upon old Dracula movies. And they want to become Vampires themselves.

My Opinion: He committed suicide because he was afraid of death. But he deserved what he got. I would have understood it if he had made that choice only for himself even though he didn’t really understand the consequences. But to sacrifice all these naive teenagers and even Buffy to get his wish granted, was over the line. But it was also one of the rare occurrences where Buffy has to dust a Vampire that she and we knew as Humans (e.g. Jesse in Welcome to the Hellmouth / The Harvest [OK, that was Xander]) and/or that she knew before he became a Vampire (Conversations with Dead People).

The Dark Age

Synopsis: A man tries to get to Giles but gets killed by a female demon in school grounds. When the police informs him of that he can identify the man as an old friend of his. From there on Giles behaves unGilesish and he has to learn that more friends of his have died recently. As it turns out, Giles wasn’t always the virtuous librarian. Many years ago a group including the dead people, him and Ethan Rayne have summoned a demon and now he’s killing them all.

My Opinion: After Halloween this was the second time we see a glimpse of Giles’s darker side and especially his past. In just two episodes they managed to break his facade and to make him into just an imperfect human being as everyone else. I also liked how Willow established herself as “third-in-command” when Giles and Buffy were gone. She’s already developed a lot since the pilot. But it doesn’t appear to be fully serious yet, more like giving orders with a .

Disc 3

What’s My Line, Pt. 1

Synopsis: Spike has two goals now: To find a cure for Drusilla’s illness and to finally get rid of the Slayer. To achieve the latter he hires bounty hunters from the Order of Turaka whose members are both Humans and demons. They will not stop until they have Buffy and so they send one after another after her. Both Angel and Giles are really worried. And there’s someone else in town: Kendra – the Vampire Slayer.

My Opinion: I really liked the idea of a second Slayer and I liked how they set it up in a way where you had to think she is another member of the Order. I really like her accent although I have no idea where she’s supposed to come from (accent-wise). And Xander finally introduced the term “Scooby Gang”. I always liked it better than “Slayerettes”, but I have to admit that Scooby Doo and Shaggy are childhood favourites of mine and I found it very funny when SMG took the role of Daphne in the Scooby Doo movies.

What’s My Line, Pt. 2

Synopsis: When Buffy died in her fight against the Master, the next Slayer was called. But Kendra is very different from Buffy. Kendra was trained all her life to be a Slayer, she has no life outside her duty. Together they try to find Angel (OK, Buffy tries and Kendra accompanies her) who was nearly killed by Kendra. But Angel is now a prisoner of Spike’s who needs him. The blood of the Sire to heal Drusilla and the Sire will die in the process.

My Opinion: A good conclusion to the story and I am truly thankful that Joss Whedon didn’t kill Spike in this episode (as it was planned). I thought it was really great how Drusilla grabbed him from under the debris and how she carried him outside. Too bad Kendra was already leaving again but we will see her again.

Ted

Synopsis: Joyce Summers has a new boyfriend: Ted. Ted is a computer software salesman and a hobby chef. At the beginning Buffy she has a hard time accepting him but her patience is over when he threatens to hit her because she cheated at mini golf. And when he later actually hits her, she hits back – hard. He falls down the stairs and dies. But that’s not the end of the story.

My Opinion: I loved the appearance of John Ritter in this show. He was a great robot. I especially like this episode for the scenes after the apparent death of Ted. How Buffy tortured herself for killing a human being. It shows how human she herself is even though she has to kill demons nearly every day. She will harden throughout the series and especially in the last two seasons but in the end her heart will always guide her.

Bad Eggs

Synopsis: Both Xander’s and Cordelia’s as well as Buffy’s and Angel’s relationship is intensifying. But Xander and Cordelia don’t know yet what kind of relationship they actually have and they keep it as a secret for now. On this very day the health class gets the assignment to parent a chicken egg and document the care. Since Buffy wasn’t there (as usual) she becomes a “single mother”. But these eggs aren’t chicken eggs at all.

My Opinion: The body-snatchers episode. Nothing special about it. The bugs reminded me of the alien creatures in Star Trek TNG’s episode Conspiracy who tried to take over the Federation in pretty much the same way this episode did.

Disc 4

Surprise

Synopsis: Buffy’s 17th birthday is coming up and the gang has planned a surprise party. But Drusilla and Spike have also something planned: They want to reassemble the Judge, a demon who could bring forth Armageddon and destroy the Human race. And Angel and Buffy are getting closer and closer but the Gypsies who once cursed him will not allow that he is happy and they have an “agent” right in the gang’s midst.

My Opinion: Maybe it’s due to his frustration of sitting in a wheel chair, but reassembling the Judge contradicts Spike’s statement in the season finale that he likes the world as it is (“Millions of ‘Happy Meals’ on legs.”). But I liked this (and the following) episode very much and I really liked Vincent Schiavelli’s appearance as Gypsy elder even though it was short. This episode also starts the tradition that Buffy’s birthdays will always be terrible.

Innocence

Synopsis: When Buffy and Angel have slept together, Angel experienced a “moment of true happiness” and subsequently lost his soul again because the curse was lifted. He’s now Angelus again and teams up with Dru, Spike and the Judge. Buffy is crushed and has to deal with it, but she also has to stop the Judge of whom is said that he can’t be destroyed by any weapon forged by men.

My Opinion: Angelus is back! I love David as Angelus. He’s cruel, he’s an asshole and he’s still obsessed with Buffy. And he plays it very well. I’d say he plays the soulless Big Bad better than the tormented ensouled Vampire. I also love the idea to recruit the Big Bad from the good guys. It was also a great idea to kill a demon with some modern day weaponry instead of trying to slice and dice him with swords and the like. And I thought it was a great idea that Xander retained some of the memories from when he was a “real” soldier in Halloween.

Phases

Synopsis: When Cordy and Xander make out in Lover’s Lane they are attacked by a Werewolf but they can escape. Since a Werewolf is a normal human being at day and only a Werewolf three nights a month there’s only a short time for Buffy and other hunters to get him before he attacks more people and then goes dormant for a month. And Willow is frustrated that Oz won’t make a move on her.

My Opinion: So, Oz is a Werewolf. Our trio seems to fancy more extravagant partners. I really like it how people – who are way different – are accepted by the gang as long as they don’t do evil. This kind of acceptance and (later) alliance will help them to survive and defeat the true evil. The Werewolf costume didn’t look really convincing but I assume it’s hard to create a realistic one. It doesn’t even always work when you use CGI. For example, Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was also not a convincing CGI-Werewolf. But I really liked the Werewolf-CGIs of Underworld.
The growling contest between Angelus and Oz was also great.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Synopsis: After their relationship has become public knowledge, Cordy dumps Xander Valentine’s Day, even though she (secretly) still has feelings for him. Xander is crushed, laughed at and furious. After he’s witnessed Amy using a spell on one of their teachers he blackmails her to cast a love spell on Cordelia for that she may feel as tormented as he does. But the spell seriously backfires.

My Opinion: This episode managed to keep the balance between comedy and drama. The scenes between Xander and (all) the girls were hilarious but Giles managed to point out the seriousness of that whole affair. This also starts the tradition that using magic for one’s selfish purposes will ultimately backfire and that magic is always to be handled with care.

Disc 5

Passion

Synopsis: Angelus is stalking Buffy and the others, he draws pictures of Buffy when she is asleep and leaves them on her pillow. The gang has to find a way to un-invite him from their homes. And there is still tension between Jenny and Giles and the gang but Jenny plans to do something about it: She translates the ancient texts and wants to perform the curse again that will restore Angel’s soul.

My Opinion: A very strong, powerful and sad episode. I thought that the murder of Jenny was a “point of no return” for the season. Until now Angelus had bitten nameless people and he had done what the average vampire does. But now Buffy is out for blood. Here there won’t be a simple “Sorry, I was possessed by Red Kryptonite / an evil witch / …” apology and everything is forgotten.
But I also liked that they showed the road to salvation in the very same episode.

Killed by Death

Synopsis: Buffy is weakened by the flu and when she faces Angelus in a graveyard he pummels her until the gang can drive him away. They have to bring her to the hospital. But Buffy doesn’t like hospitals; she was there when her cousin died in one. And the flu causes delirious dreams in which she sees a demon that is killing the children in this hospital: Der Kindestod.

My Opinion: It was an OK Demon-of-the-week episode but I would have liked more Angelus action at this point of the season.

I Only Have Eyes for You

Synopsis: Buffy feels guilty about what has happened in the last months. She blames herself for turning Angel into Angelus and not stopping him when she had the chance and thus not preventing the death of Jenny Calendar. But suddenly weird things are going on on Sunnydale High. A male student tries to kill his girlfriend but has no recollection of why and how afterwards and the gun mysteriously disappears. And Buffy begins to dream about events that happened over 40 years ago.

My Opinion: I thought it was a clever solution to give Buffy the role of the student who shoots his lover (Angelus) and since Angel cannot be killed by a bullet this was the only way to end the torment of the Poltergeist. I also like the very emotional scene were Buffy won’t forgive the murderer because she can’t forgive herself what she has “done” to Angel.

Go Fish

Synopsis: The Sunnydale swim team has brought fame to the school and is about to compete in the state finals. But after a party on the beach one of the members is found death – eaten alive and only the skin remained. And then a second swimmer is killed in the same way. Xander joins the swim team and investigates undercover (although not under much cover ) in places where Buffy cannot go.

My Opinion: A very visual representation of steroids destroying one’s body. But it also represented an aspect of the american education system that I will never fully understand: That you can get a high school and even college degree just because you are talented in some form of sport (in this case swimming). If I were recruiting officer and someone would applying for a job who has a college degree but was also in the Football team I would have serious doubts whether this diploma is worth the paper it was printed on. But what if he is one of the persons who actually worked hard for their degree? As Xander said: “It’s a slap in the face to every one of us who studied hard and worked long hours to earn our D’s”.

Disc 6

Becoming, Pt. 1

Synopsis: A series of flashbacks shows us how Angel became Angelus the first time, how he drove Drusilla into insanity, how he was cursed by the Gypsies and how he finally found his way to Sunnydale, to help Buffy. But in the here and now he has stolen Acathla, a transfixed demon who will swallow the world if he is re-awakened. But Buffy gets help: Kendra is back. And Willow wants to perform the curse to restore Angel’s soul.

My Opinion: I never noticed it before that Darla says “Close your eyes” before she turns him – a sentence that Buffy will also use at the end of the next episode. And I really liked how they argued about how to deal with Angelus with Xander being the advocate for killing Angelus. He never trusted Angel or any Vampire for that matter and that won’t change until the end of the show and this distrust will lead to serious arguments with Buffy again, especially in the sixth and seventh season.
And sorry to sound like a broken record, but when Xander asked whether Buffy wanted to restore Angel’s soul, go on “with the smooches” and pretend as if nothing had happened I involuntarily registered that as a side-remark towards Smallville. But that’s impossible since Smallville wasn’t even produced yet.

Becoming, Pt. 2

Synopsis: After Dru has killed Kendra and taken Giles to the mansion, Buffy is wanted for murder by the police. She has to sneak into the hospital to visit the injured Xander and the comatose Willow. But she has a lucky break: Spike (who secretly can walk again) teams up with her in order to defeat Angelus and get Dru back. Meanwhile Angelus tortures Giles to learn how to awake Acathla.

My Opinion: In just one episode Buffy’s world fell apart. She has saved the world (again) but had to sacrifice pretty much everything for it. It must have been so hard for her to kill Angel – whose soul had been restored just moments ago – to close Acathla’s vortex. She was thrown out from home, expelled from school and had to kill her boyfriend – can it get any worse?
But I also found the events that happened before the final fight very interesting, especially her temporary alliance with Spike whom she also hates but who was the lesser of two evils at that moment. And that Xander lied to her and didn’t tell her that Willow was trying the soul restoration again will also become an issue again.
These two episodes have a place on the Olympus of season endings and together with the ending of season five this was the strongest ending of any Buffy season.

The Season – My Opinion: I’d say Angelus was the best of all Big Bads this show had to offer. Others were great, too, but due to Angel’s personal relation to Buffy and the gang he could hurt places the other Big Bads simply couldn’t touch. And even though he was just a Vampire I had the feeling he was a more threatening opponent than other “Überdemons”.

Season 3: Disc 1

So I decided to order a batch of new stuff.

These are the Buffy / Angel comics that I already have:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate

Angel: After the Fall

Angel: After the Fall: First Night

And now I continue with

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Time of Your Life

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Predator and Prey

Angel: After the Fall: Volume 3

Angel: After the Fall: Volume 4

And outside the Buffyverse I ordered

Star Trek: Countdown

This is the comic that sets up the new movie and since a few people have said one would understand Nero’s character better if one reads this first, I decided to do so.

Heroes: Volume One

Heroes: Volume Two

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns