Well, that was interesting, and not really in a "What is going on here?" kind of way, because really, I'm kind of beyond that now. I only watched because it was the season finale, so I figured it had to at least try to be entertaining. I don't know, it wasn't too bad. (Disclaimer: I did not see last week, and only caught the last 20 or so minutes of the one before that. That was the one with the Angela flashback, wasn't it?) Anyway, like I said, it wasn't too bad, but I have some issues. I'm not gonna talk about all of it, just the One Big Important Part.
( I wish I'd watched enough to say 'Volume Four? More like Volume Snore, am I right?' But, I didn't... )

So, today I was so bored (where's my House?!?! Seriously, it seems to be on the same two-weeks on, two-weeks off schedule as the second season of Lost. This sucks, as I did not know until I had already used up my I-don't-have-HBO-so-I-watch-Big Love and the Conchords-online-on-Mondays earlier in the day, leaving a gaping hole in my prime time schedule.) I decided to watch Heroes. I have not seen a minute of this volume since some scene with HRG and Mohinder in a parking garage back in episode one, so I have no clue what is going on. None. Wait, no. I tried to watch last week or two weeks ago, but it seemed I stumbled upon a black-and-white HRG flashback. And we all know how much I love those. That one got about five minutes.
( Random stuff I typed while the show aired. )

And, on an unrelated note, How dare Lost make me choose between my two favorite characters! It's not fair. I mean, of all the people to have kill Locke. And of all the people to have Ben kill. Any other combination and I would have been just fine. But that? That?! Man...

From this week's Behind The Eclipse
"In a previous BTE interview, it was stated we would see in ‘Villains’ why Sylar was able to keep his telepathy despite being infected with the Shanti virus. However, we didn't seem to get any explanation last night. The only conclusion I can deduce is that it's all in his head, and somehow related to the extreme amount of guilt he felt over Brian."

Kyle, we assume you mean telekenisis, and not telepathy and if so, you nailed it. Brian was Sylar’s first kill and his power is connected to emotional empathy. In fact, we’ll be exploring that very sentiment tonight. In chains. With electricity.

How much do you want to bet that they had no idea, but this guy offered an explanation, they read it and went "Sounds good! Let's go with it!" Ever week someone goes, "Hey guys, what about [insert glaring mistake here]? Is it [insert rampant fanwankery here]?" And the writers go, "Yes! You are correct! Thanks for pointing that out!" It's like the show is becoming some some crazy retroactive interactive fan-writing project. Really, are they even trying anymore? (No.) Of course it's not as infuriating as that whole "HRG getting into the cab in a time when he should not have have been able to get into Mohinder's cab" thing, but still...

Somebody give me a reason to watch last night's episode. Like, a good reason. Something positive. I haven't watched it yet and I'm thinking that with basketball season and the holidays coming up, this is as good a time as any to just let it go.

2008 continues to be the year of watching movies everyone has already seen (The Godfather 1-3, Dog Day Afternoon One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest). This week's entry: Deliverance. Verdict: not so good. I mean, it was okay, but there was not enough stuff going on. It's the kind of movie you can only half-pay attention to, and still come away with the general idea. I am thinking of checking out Citizen Kane and Gone With The Wind. Not because they look interesting, but they are the kind of movies you are supposed to have watched. But first "Jesus Camp". Because, as scary as they are, religious fundamentalists are an insanely entertaining bunch.

I had mixed feelings about this week's episode. On one hand it centered on all of the characters I hate and had a serious deficiency of characters I like. And of the two that got any appreciable amount of time, one died and the other continued to suffer from they slowest and most painful form of character assassination. Oh, and Peter lost his powers... again. Overall, it was pretty "blah"... save for one thing. We all know what that was, right? Or, shall I say "who that was"? I think I shall.

( On with the show... )

Note: This is half a day after I wrote that first part, and Jesus Camp was 100% Pure Grade A Fail. I mean, I could not even finish it. I am sure it was interesting to someone. But something about the combination of kids and religious fundamentalism was just too much for me to handle. It was a lethal cocktail of horribleness that even I could not accept. It was so bad I calmed down by watching a 911 documentary.

Pre-Heroes! So I am watching the Project Runway finale (I missed the first run while watching the debate), and I haaaate Kenley! But, my hatred is tempered by the fact that she was pissy to my boy Tim Gunn this entire season without knowing that suprise!, he's the last-minute substitute judge for the finale.She was all, "His opinion doesn't matter!" but now it does. Does this fall under the umbrella of that German-sounding word that means "liking to watch people fail"? (That is what it means, isn't it?) Oh man, I hope she doesn't win!

And now... Hereos. So, episodes like this are the reason I write my notes during the initial viewing. That way, if it sucks, I don't have to sit through it again. This is one of those times. Episode five... not-so-good. But last week was good and next week looks alright, so there's at least that to fall back on.

( Cut link text? OK )

I am about five minutes from watching "I Am Become Death", so I figured I'd toss this up real quick. I am already having trouble differentiating between episodes, so I gotta clear out the backlog before moving on to the next thing. Plus, I am behind on reading all of the old recaps and, as i use them to catch up on all of the things I missed in my half-assed watching, the longer I wait to read things, the more confused I will be.

( unimaginative cut... )

By itself this episode was pretty good. It actually holds up better upon rewatching than "The Second Coming". Of course I rewatched them about three days apart, so that might have something to do with it. It was paced better, I know that's for sure. It moved the story along without throwing three dozen things at the screen at once. Oddly, watching this one made me want to go back and rewatch some things from season one. I didn't, but it made me want to.
( Will the good outweigh the bad? There's only one way to find out! )

So, here we are again. I figured that since I watched, I might as well talk about it. But, I'm not gonna talk about all of it. There's too many people and not enough time for all of that. Besides, what's so interesting about things that are just “okay”. It’s only when you really love or hate something that things get good, am I right? As such, this season, I’m gonna try something new. (Who doesn’t like “new”?) If your story is just kind of “meh” and you’re not really doing anything interesting, you get nothing. It's like Project Runway. You're middle-of-the-road, you're in... no critique, no "good work", no "for next time, why don't you try..." , just "in". It's the same thing here. I’m only gonna talk about the things that were really great, and the things that were really terrible. Not just terrible in the “Matt Parkman was in a scene, so it automatically sucked” or great in the "Oh man! HRG's laying the smack down! Nice!" sense, but in the “This character is great, but they are doing something that makes no sense” sense… or maybe the “This character sucks, but they're actually doing something fascinating,” sense.

( it's late, but it's not the latest! )
Overall this episode was alright, but there was way too much happening way too fast. If all of this stuff was supposed to be happening at the same time, it's not believable. And, "this is a show about people with powers!" does not mean it gets a pass on such fundamental things as "making sense". But I guess this is what comes from the writers continuing to not follow their own vision, and instead producing the show in reaction to what fans say. Last year it was all "Too slow! Too slow!" and now things are moving at breakneck speed. You get what you ask for, caveat emptor and all that.

Tomorrow night I won't get home from work until close to 10, which sucks, because that means I have to use the internet to watch both Prison Break (Oh man, last week's episode was one of the first "very near excellent" ones since season one!) and Heroes. This means I probably won't get around to seeing either of them until Tuesday. But Tuesday is for House and SVU. Perhaps I will save them for Wednesday. There's nothing on from 8-10, so that will give me something to watch before the premier of Dirty Sexy Money! I'll get to them eventually, I know that much.