The Cape: S1 Ep3-Scales on a Train (Recap Part 2)

Okay, I'm finally back with part 2 of my episode recap and reaction for "Scales on a Train".  I know, I know, it took me a while, but sometimes a man has catch up on some rest.

When we left off, Scales had just tried to talk business with the mayor of Palm City with less than the desired results.

The Cape runs into Rollo and tells him to call off the robbery so that his plan of outing Fleming as Chess through Scales can go off without a hitch.  Rollo refuses and Ruvi sets off some kind of flash blinding The Cape.  Portman finds The Cape and goes off to find some water for The Cape's eyes.

Flashback to a camping trip.  Vince and Trip share some father/son bonding time. Vince tells Trip that he'll always be there to help him get to where he needs to go.

Back at the Faraday's apartment, Travis is still stuck outside in the hall.  Trip asks Travis through the door what happens when someone seems guilty.  Travis tells Trip that there's always the presumption of innocence in the law.  Trip opens the door and asks if that means that legally his dad is innocent.  Travis tells Trip yes and starts to get up to go inside the apartment.  Trip shuts the door and locks it again (haha) and slips a fruit roll-up through the peephole to Travis.

Back on the train, The Cape regains his sight, and goes off in search of Max.  Meanwhile, Fleming enters one of the train cars surrounded by photographers and the press.  He notices Orwell (but doesn't know who she is) and asks her if she's alright.  She says a quick yes and retreats to the rear of the group.  Fleming brags to the press about how much ARK is doing for Palm City.  He mentions the drop in the crime rate, city beautification efforts, etc.  Orwell, from the back of the pack mentions that the illegal sweeps of Palm City is the reason for the drop in the crime. and accuses him of Fascism.  Fleming dismisses her as someone just parroting talking points from the "Orwell is Watching" blog and tells the press that the blog is full of misinformation.  Orwell beats a hasty retreat, followed closely by Fleming.  Portman returns with the water and notices that The Cape is gone.

Orwell is still making her way through the train being followed by Fleming.  Fleming comes upon Scales giving a tongue lashing to the mayor and the judge.  Meanwhile, Portman is on the hunt for The Cape and finds him in between train cars.  The Cape wants to see how the confrontation between Scales and Fleming plays out.  The mayor asks Fleming why he brought his "friend" onto the train.  Fleming assures the mayor that Scales is not his friend (which gets Scales even more annoyed) and tells him that if Scales is bothering him, he'll have him thrown off the train at the next stop.  This is just too much for Scales and he makes the announcement in front of everyone that Fleming is Chess.  Everyone in the train car laughs it off like some big joke.  This annoys the crap out of Scales and now he's angry.  The Cape watches from between train cars and is disappointed that his plan to clear his name didn't work.  Fleming tells one of the members of his security team to take care of Mr. Raoul and begins to leave in pursuit of Orwell.  He doesn't get far before Scales punches the guard, disarms him, grabs his gun and takes everyone in the train car hostage.  He tells them if they want villains, they've got one.  The Cape continues to watch from outside the train car.  Scales then demands everyone's valuables and starts with the judge.

The Cape tells Portman to take cover, but Portman still wants to help.  The Cape radios to Orwell to tell her to get to the front of the train and secure the engine.  He then gives Portman a gun and explains that the safety is off and to not fire unless he absolutely has to.  Back inside, Fleming asks Scales if he thinks it's a good idea to rob the train as there's going to be no where to hide from ARK and Fleming.  Scales says he won't need to hide.  Portman bursts into the train car, gun drawn.  Scales and his lackeys turn their guns on Portman.  Portman explains who he is and that he's "off the reservation"  He tells Scales and the lackeys to drop their guns before he "blows (their) gizzards off".  Scales is dumbfounded and prepares to shoot Portman, but before he can, The Cape busts some fuses and the lights go off in the train car.  Scales pushes Fleming through the door and leaves the car.  From above The Cape uses his cape to disarm Scales.  Guess what?  Scales gets annoyed again and decides to take off after The Cape across the rooftop of the train car leaving Fleming below with one of the lackeys.  Scales says something menacing to The Cape, but he just grins as he winds up to grab him with his cape.  The cape gets caught in the wind, though, and flies off somewhere.  Scales and The Cape fight.  The Cape gets thrown near the gap between train cars and looks down as Max unmasks himself and looks up.  The Cape shouts for help, but Max goes into the next car.  Scales then kicks The Cape off the side of the train and makes his way back down.  It's now a stand off between Scales and Fleming...they both have their guns drawn and Fleming gives Scales the chance to give up and go back to the docks where he belongs.  Scales basically tells Fleming to shove it and instructs his lackey to disconnect the cars.

Seems that The Cape wasn't thrown from the train (big surprise, right?).  He makes his way back onto the train and meets up with Orwell who tells him that the braking system failed when the caboose was disconnected from the rest of the train.  The Cape asks the engineer if there's any way that the train can be stopped.  Engineer tells him that the only way to stop the train is to cut the main brake line underneath the train.  He sends Orwell and the Engineer to the engine room and takes off to stop the train.

Inside the party car, Fleming is giving orders to his men and The Cape comes through the door.  All guns swivel toward The Cape.  Just then, Portman comes through the door to stand at The Cape's side with his gun drawn.  The Cape tells everyone to take it easy so that they can stop the runaway train.  People start to show a bit of panic at this news and Fleming and his men lower their guns.

At the now stopped caboose, Scales and his lackey open the door and catch Ruvi in the act of stealing the goods.  Scales tells Ruvi to get his hands off his cash, but then from behind the open door, Max steps out and knocks out the lackey, points his shotgun at Scales, calls him ugly and orders him to turn around.  Max talks a bit about their last meeting and then Rollo steps out and asks Scales how his knee is doing.  Say it with me, folks, Scales gets annoyed.  Max orders Scales into the security cage.  We get a brief flashback of a cage with a wooden sign saying SCALES on it and a voice saying that his place is in that cage.  We flash on a little person offering the young Scales a piece of cake and then taking it away just before he can reach it (no wonder Scales doesn't like Rollo very much).  Rollo locks Scales in the cage.  Max and the gang high tail it out of the caboose and into the night.  Back inside, Scales is banging his head against the bars of the cage.

Back on the runaway train, The Cape has recruited Fleming to help him stop the train.  The Cape uses his cape (I guess the cape is like some kind of boomerang or something) to lower Fleming down to cut the brake line.  As Fleming is being lowered, he looks into The Cape's eyes and starts to realize who is behind the mask.

Fleming asks to be lowered further to get better access to the brake line, but before he will cut the line, he asks The Cape who he is.  The Cape just tells Fleming to cut the hose before he drops him.  Fleming finally jabs a pocket knife into the hose and the train's brakes reengage.  The Cape pulls Fleming back up and then slams him up against the wall.  The Cape tells Fleming that he will end him and that Fleming isn't as smart as he thinks he is.  The Cape then goes back inside leaving Fleming outside.

Back at the caboose, a now bloody Scales is still banging his head against the bars of the cage.  He stops, pushes on the cage door, and the door falls off.  Scales walks out of his cage.  Before he leaves, he looks down and sees the stooge from the beginning of the episode and grabs him.

Back at the Faraday's apartment, Trip is sitting on the couch reading the latest "The Cape" comic book issue and Dana comes through the door with his present and cake.  She tells him happy birthday, apologizes and embraces him.  Travis walks in soon after.  Trip asks "Trevor" if he'd like any of his melted cake.  Travis says he'd love some.  Dana goes to Travis and asks him to join them.

At Trolley Park Amusements, Max is counting up the loot from the train robbery and Vince enters the trailer.  Vince is wondering why Max is helping Vince and questions if doing good actually matters to Max.  Max replies that sometimes it does matter.  Vince grabs Max's wrist and explains that some time in the future their two very different ideologies are going to put them at opposite ends of a loaded gun and that friendship has its limits.  Max just smiles and says something about enjoying the times they will have before that day comes.

Back at the Cape-Cave, Vince and Orwell are sitting back and about to have beers.  Orwell apologizes for being off her game.  She laughingly blames it on the outfit and Vince agrees.  Orwell gives him an annoyed look.  He explains to her that he's upset because he got Scales on video outing Fleming as Chess and no one believed it.  She tells him about the good things that came out of this night (Scales and Fleming at war, saving hundred of innocent lives, etc.).  He looks down at the table and we see that he's wrapping up a birthday present for Trip.  Orwell asks why parents love their kids like that (and we're given another hint that she's really Fleming's missing daughter).  Vince just tells her it's because they just do.

Back at the Faraday's apartment, Trip is sleeping but is awoken by a noise out on the fire escape.  He wakes up and goes over to the window where there is a present and card on the window sill.  Trip opens the present and finds a new compass.  Tears open the card and reads "No journey too far.  Your friend, The Cape" (almost enough to bring a little bit of a misty feeling to my eyes).

Next week's episode guest stars Mena Suvari (American Beauty) as Dice.  Dice is a woman that knows the secret double life of Fleming.

Until next time,
-Bill-

Dark Tower Casting News

Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) has officially been offered the role of Roland Deschain in the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower epic.

More news should be forthcoming over the next few weeks.

The Cape: S1 Ep3-Scales on a Train (Recap Part 1)

So, we're now 3 episodes in (4 if you count the two hour premiere as 2 episodes) and I'm still enjoying the show.

Tonight marks the return of Vinnie Jones (X-Men: The Last Stand) as the intimidating Dominic "Scales" Raoul.

Here's what TV Guide has to say about "Scales on a Train":

A tip about stolen money from the Cape prompts Scales to confront his business partner Peter Fleming at a costume party on a train. Meanwhile, the Cape and Orwell learn Max's gang is planning a heist aboard the train, and Dana and Trip are taunted.

 "You interrupted Lasagna night, and I like Lasagna"

We open at the docks where Scales is waiting for Peter Fleming.  The limo pulls up, but it's not Fleming that gets out of the car, it's one of Fleming's stooges.  Scales isn't pleased.  The stooge tells Scales that ARK is going to be taking over security at the docks.  Scales is definitely not pleased.  Scales threatens the stooge while two of his lackey's watch.  Cut to The Cape getting a USB drive from one of Scales' lackeys.

At the Cape-Cave, Vince is listening to the audio from Scales' meeting with Fleming's stooge.  Orwell is fitting a camera into a masquerade mask in preparation for surveillance at Fleming's Masquerade ball on a train.  Vince is in a bad mood because today is his son's 10th birthday and he can't be there.  Orwell tells Vince to stop being such a baby and suit up.

At Trolley Park Amusements, Vince interrupts Max, Rollo and Ruvi discussing their latest caper.  Vince asks for backup, but Max tells Vince that they are busy tonight.  Once Vince leaves, Max and crew begin preparations.

Back at the docks, The Cape grabs one of Scales' lackeys and tells him to call Dominic.  Dominic arrives and is annoyed that The Cape has interrupted lasagna night.  The Cape then tells Scales that Peter Fleming and Chess are one and the same, and that Scales is essentially going to be paying the same man twice.  Once for sharing the revenue of his ill-gotten gains at the docks and again for the security force from ARK.  The Cape then tells Scales about the big masquerade gala on the train and about all the money and back alley deals that will most likely be going down.  Seems that Scales wasn't invited to the party, so he decides to get a little payback.

At the train station, Fleming (dressed in a ridiculous Marshall's outfit) and Marty are at the photo op for the big party.  Marty tells Fleming that he'll see him at the other end.  Vince watches from the shadows and notices a father and child triggering a flashback of Trip's last birthday where he was the special guest at school for a little Q & A session with the kids.  We find out that Trip is also day dreaming of that day.  He opens his school book and notices that some punk kid has scrawled a nasty message "RETURN TO MURDERURS(sic) KID".

Stuck in traffic, Dana is fiddling with Trip's birthday present.  She makes a call to her colleague, Travis to let him know that she's stuck in traffic and that she's going to call Trip to let him know that Travis is coming to the house so he doesn't freak out about a stranger at the door.  Her phone battery dies before she can make the call.  Travis arrives at the apartment and explains who he is and why he's there, but Trip won't open the door (Good move kid, I wouldn't let that weasel Travis in either).

Back at the train station, Vince watches from his perch as Scales arrives and says hello to Fleming in front of all the cameras.  Fleming is noticeably nervous and becomes even more so when Scales tells Fleming that he knows his dirty little secret.  Vince asks Orwell, who is in the crowd, if she's getting all of the action on camera.  Scales and Fleming share some more words and then board the train.  Vince then notices Rollo disguised as a train conductor on the train and figures out what the "Carnival of Crime" was planning earlier.

Later that evening at the party on the train, Orwell is meandering through the crowd.  Fleming looks right at her without seeing her (thank goodness this is a masquerade party) and makes his way through the crowd being followed closely by Scales.  The Cape arrives on the train in mid journey (from where, we have no idea he just kind of jumps out of the sky onto the train).  He makes his way into the party and finds Orwell.  He tells her what he knows about the plans of the Carnival of Crime.  Vince decides that the Fleming issue can wait and goes off in search of Max and the rest of the Carnival to try and stop them.  On his way through the train Vince runs into Portman (the Secretary of Prisons) dressed as The Cape.  They share a few words and when Portman asks what The Cape is doing on the train, The Cape opens up a side door and notices an ARK guard knocked out on the floor.  The Cape tells Portman that he's working.

The Cape makes his way through the train to try and find Max, but Portman stops him and tells The Cape that he wants to help.  The Cape tells him to keep his eye out for Rollo as the Carnival is about to rob the train.  Portman wants to call the police, but The Cape tells him that it's "just you and me" and then takes to the roof of the train.

Back inside, Fleming runs into the mayor and a judge.  Scales, still tagging along, gives the judge a compliment and then the judge tells Scales that he has the most hideous costume she's ever seen.  Scales is annoyed (again).  Fleming makes the introduction that Scales wanted and leaves.  Scales and the mayor begin to talk business but the mayor isn't having it.  I guess the mayor isn't as corrupt as Scales had hoped.  Scales is annoyed as the mayor leaves.

I'll be back with part 2 of my recap later today once I've enjoyed a little bit of sleep.  It's been a long day and I'm very tired.  Also later today, look for my recap and reactions to Being Human:  There Goes the Neighborhood Pt 2.

Until next time,
-Bill-

No V Recap?

Due to circumstances beyond my control, there was no recap for last Tuesday's episode of "V"

In other words, someone erased it from the DVR before I could get around to watching it.

Sorry, everyone.

No Ordinary Family S1 Ep13: No Ordinary Detention Recap (Possible Spoilers)

IMDB says:

While Internal Affairs officer Rachel Jacobs investigates reports of a rogue cop, Jim risks revealing himself as the prime suspect when the police station is overrun by a group of thugs, and he is the only hope of survival. Meanwhile, while trying to nurse an ailing Joshua back to health at the lab, Katie and Stephanie run into Human Resources VP Victoria Morrow and begin to suspect that she isn't who she says she is.

Recap:
We open on Stephanie in the Kitchen using her speed power to whisk eggs (yes, it is a bit silly, but think about it...if you had these powers you'd probably use them in your personal life as well).  Kids in too much of a hurry to eat breakfast, so they take off to school.  Jim tells Steph he'd love to have breakfast with her, but George calls with a tip about 4 escapees on the run.  Ring leader Austin Davies was last seen headed toward Pacific Bay College.  Jim jumps into action and arrives at campus just in time to see Davies jump on a scooter with two cops on foot pursuit.  Davies drives the scooter through a campus building but Jim takes him out at the exit with a clothesline.

At the high school, Daphne is giving a report in front of her class and is distracted by bad boy Chris' thoughts about how bored he is listening to her. He turns on his mp3 player to drown her out.  The teacher notices Daphne's distraction at which point she rats out Chris which results in him getting detention.  Daphne finishes her report and goes to sit down.  She and Chris argue about what a jerk he is.  Daphne gets detention for not paying attention in class.

At Global Tech, Stephanie is in the lab and gets a phone call from Katie.  Katie is worried about Joshua being sick (from not taking Dr. King's magic juice) and tells Steph that he absolutely refuses to go to a doctor.  Stephanie tells her to bring him to the lab so they can run some tests.

At the police station, George and Jim are talking about the take down of the ring leader of the escaped cons.  George notices Rachel Jacobs of IAB at the station in the interrogation room questioning an officer and gives Jim the scoop on the investigation into a number of recent arrests of criminals that Jim has taken down.  Rachel leaves the interrogation room to let George know that she has a few questions for him and introduces herself to Jim.  As she and George walk away, Jim is noticeably nervous.  As a quick aside here, I'd like to point out that Joanne Kelly doesn't look as hot here as she does in Warehouse 13.

Back at the high school, J.J. is in Mr. Litchfield's class.  J.J. and his love interest, Natalie (played by 21 year old Katelyn Tarver of Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush) are sending cute little test messages back and forth.  They get caught, and Mr. L reads their messages out loud to the class and gives them both detention.

Katie and Joshua arrive at Global Tech and are greeted by Victoria.  Victoria "introduces" herself to Joshua and you can tell that Joshua is a little freaked out by her presence as Katie still doesn't know his secret, but Victoria does know that he was working for Dr. King as his "Watcher".  Victoria leaves and tells Joshua in a rather ominous way that she's sure she'll see him again soon.  Katie and Joshua arrive at Steph's lab and Katie tries to play off the fact that she and Steph planned to get him there so they can find out what's wrong with him and make him better.  Joshua tries to tell them that science can't help him, but gets drown out by an alarm for a radiation alert in the lab.  We see that Victoria set off the alarm manually in order to lockdown Joshua, Katie and Steph in the lab.

Back at the precinct, Jim is sweating bullets as George is in interrogation being questioned by Rachel about the rogue cop that IAB is trying to track down.  A couple of cops bring in Austin Davies and his crew for booking; Jim tries to keep a low profile, but Davies notices and recognizes Jim as the man that clotheslined him off the scooter.  Jim heads to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face.  George enters and tells Jim to calm the hell down and quit acting like a suspect.  Jim is freaked out because he is a suspect. While Jim and George are having their little chat, Davies and crew take out the cops escorting them to the cells.  Jim and George exit the bathroom when they hear shot and emerge to see Davies taking Rachel hostage.  Now Jim will have to risk exposing his "secret" in order to save the day.  That brings us to the first commercial break.

Back from break and things at the precinct have gone from bad to worse.  Davies and his crew have armed themselves, put on bullet-proof vest and taken the precinct hostage. George and Jim have hidden themselves in the bathroom hoping to keep an element of surprise so Jim can do his superhero thing.  They come up with a plan inspired by "Die Hard" (one of the most awesome movies of all time, btw).  Jim is going to use the air vents to travel through the building and take out the bad guys one at a time.  Best line so far in the episode...George is trying to convince Jim to let him help and tells Jim "Bruce Willis would have never survived if he didn't have that black dude there helping him.  Jim, let me be your black dude" (LOL).

Back at Global Tech, Katie is freaking out about the lock down, and Steph is beginning to examine Joshua.  The alarm quits and Katie relaxes.  Ol' Josh is getting worse by the minute and burning up with a fever.  Victoria enters and lets them know that she's been able to get all the interior doors unlocked but can't get any access to the exterior doors.  She asks if there's some kind of override.  Seems that Steph has a key card for the override.  Victoria sees that Stephanie is busy with Joshua and asks if Katie can use the keycard.  Joshua tries to get Katie to stay as he doesn't trust Victoria (because he knows she's Dr. King's new enforcer), but Katie just tells Josh that she's in good hands and leaves with the wicked redhead.  One question here pops into my mind.  Why doesn't Joshua reveal the truth as to why he's sick?

At the high school, we are in detention with Mr. Litchfield, J.J., Daphne, Bailey, Chris and Natalie.  Mr. L informs his charges that he has important matters to attend to in the teacher's lounge, but will check in on the kids on a regular basis (Am I the only one getting a "The Breakfast Club" vibe here?).  Natalie decides she has to break up with J.J.

Jim is up in the ventilation system above the precinct.  He hears and eventually sees Davies on the phone with the department negotiator.  George starts telling Davies that he needs him to do the negotiating for him since he's an attorney and that's what attorney's do.  He gives the advice that Davies needs to keep his hostages happy or things will end up badly.  George tells Davies to get the pregnant woman some snacks.  Davies sends one of his crew off in search of snacks giving Jim the opportunity to take out one of the bad guys.

Back in detention, bad boy Chris isn't doing his homework like he's supposed to do.  He recruits J.J. and they take off from detention leaving the girls.

Back at the precinct, bad guy #1 is looking for the vending machines when Jim springs into action, easily taking him down.  In the bullpen there's an exciting game of "Hurry up and Wait" going on.  George really needs to stop looking up at the ceiling all the time.  Rachel asks George where Jim is at.  George tries to say that he doesn't know, but Rachel knows that Jim was around when the shit hit the fan.  Bad guy #2 comes back into the main area and tells Davies that bad guy #1 is no where to be found, all he found was just a busted vending machine.

At Global Tech, Stephanie assumes that Joshua has OD'd or is in withdrawal from some type of drug.  Joshua assures her that he's not on drugs, so Stephanie tells him she wants a blood sample.  Joshua tells her that there will be no needles and takes off from the lab.  As he tries to use his powers, he's confronted by Katie who explains that the doors to the outside are still locked.  Joshua is getting more nervous and tells Katie that he's not going back to the lab and he's not going to be undergoing any type of tests.  Katie kisses Joshua and that's when Joshua realizes that it's not Katie at all, but Victoria posing as Katie.  If you remember, last week we found out that V. is a shape shifter (think Mystique from the X-Men comics).  V. shifts back to her own form and Joshua demands to know where K. is.  We cut to K. knocked out on the floor.  That brings us to the next commercial break.

There's a short struggle between Victoria and Joshua.  V tries to inject J with the juice, but J knocks the syringe away.  He doesn't want to go back to being one of Dr. King's stooges.  Joshua slumps to the floor.  Victoria explains to Joshua that soon his organs will start shutting down and when he's too weak to resist, she'll inject him and bring him to Dr. King.  She then walks off to let Joshua suffer alone.  Joshua notices that the syringe of juice is within easy reach.

At the precinct, George keeps looking up at the air ducts and Rachel asks him what the heck he's looking for (see George, you should have listened to me and quit gawking up at the ceiling).  George says he's just wondering when they are going to turn the AC on because it's hot.  Davies gets a call on the walkie talkie from who he assumes is bad guy #1(his name is apparently Waid). Jim (as Waid) says that he has one of the cops pinned down near the gun cage.  Davies sends BG2 (Quesada) to help BG1 (Waid), which of course gives Jim the means to take out another of the bad guys.  George tries to hide his grin from Rachel.  BG2 comes out by the broken vending machine looking for Wade, we see Jim playing possum on the floor.  BG2 goes over to investigate and it's lights out.

Back in detention, Daphne is worried, Natalie is trying to study, and Bailey is being a twit.

Meanwhile back at the cop shop, Davies is calling for BG2 on the walkie talkie and not getting a response, so he starts throwing things around.  Rachel still has her suspicions that Jim is behind the disappearances of BG1 and BG2, but George tries to quell that suspicion by telling her that the only way that Jim can make bad guys disappear is with an eraser.  His misdirection doesn't work as Rachel can tell that it's not an actual cop behind the disappearances because a real cop wouldn't put everyone in danger with such a stupid stunt.

At Global Tech, Stephanie is looking at something under the microscope when Victoria (as Katie) comes back to the lab inquiring about Joshua.  Steph tries to explain that they are just a research facility and don't have access to medicines that Joshua might require.  UnKatie tries to get Stephanie to use the "ability giving" flower (sorry, I can't remember the name of the dang thing to save my life).  Joshua bursts into the lab saying "Don't trust Katie" and then collapses in a heap on the floor.  Time for another commercial break.

Back from commercial, Steph and UnKatie are tending to the unconscious Joshua.  Steph uses her speed to go get some ice packs and UnKatie is stunned.

At the precinct, Davies has had it with the waiting game.  He tells BG3 (Brueur) to pick a hostage and kill them.  Rachel pops off saying that if the bad guys do that, he won't learn who is picking them off one by one.  Rachel has a chat with Davies and explains her theory (dumb broad).  She gets Davies to start giving a description of the guy that took him out earlier in the day, but he's interrupted by George.  George tries to get Davies to let him go to the bathroom, but Davies isn't having it.  He wants the identity of the guy taking out his men.

Back at detention, the boys are back after almost getting caught.  Bailey continues to be a twit, but suggests a game of truth or dare.  Natalie doesn't want to take part, everyone else is up for it.  Daphne asks Chris if it's true that he's been arrested (I'm guessing it's because she wants to dispel his bad boy image).  He answers  that he has not been arrested.  Bailey dares Daphne to kiss Chris.  Daphne kisses Chris and gets a vision of a bloody Chris, someone being loaded into an ambulance and Chris being arrested.  She pulls away from the kiss disappointed, but there's probably more to the story as is usually the case with these glimpses into people's thoughts.

At the precinct, it seems that Davies now knows who Jim is and calls him on the walkie talkie trying to goad him into showing himself by asking questions about Jim's family. Davies then gets Jim to show himself by shooting one of the hostages.  The plan works and Jim comes running out to see Rachel lying on the ground clutching her wounded left shoulder area.

More truth or dare teen drama crap.  Oh boo hoo, Natalie's a foster kid.

A Katie rushes into the lab (anyone else see a show down coming where they have to choose which Katie to take out?).  She tells Steph what happened to her, and then the other Katie comes back into the lab demanding to know what's going on.  Steph is freaking out, the Katies are freaking out.  Steph wants to know who the impostor is.  One of the Katies proposes a quiz to determine who the real Katie is.  The other Katie starts to argue, but realizes that it's a pretty good idea.  Steph starts asking questions and we find out that UnKatie is a pretty big geek as well, but when real Katie divulges something that only the real Katie would know, UnKatie grabs a trash can and knocks out Steph.  UnKatie then shifts back to her true form.

Back at the cop shop, Davies is ready to put a bullet in Jim when the phone rings.  It's the negotiators and they are giving in to the demands.  George and Jim are both relieved that no one is going to die and that Jim's real secret is still safe.  Davies knows, though, that there are snipers, so Jim volunteers to be Davies hostage as they leave the station.  Davies thinks that's a pretty good idea, but he takes Rachel along for the ride as well.

More teenage drama.  J.J. makes faux-snow by dumping a bunch of stuff into a lab sink in order to impress Natalie.  It seems to work.  J.J. is quite the little ladies man.

Joshua wakes to see Katie and Victoria struggling.  It looks like Victoria is about to give up Joshua's secret and it also looks like she's about to attempt to kill Katie by injecting air into her veins, creating a gas embolism which will presumably travel to her heart and kill her.  Joshua sneaks out into the hall, barely able to walk and begins stumbling toward the syringe with the "ability juice", it's the only way that he can save Katie.  He injects himself, and rushes back to the lab in time to telekinetically lift Victoria into the air, and throwing her through a large pane of glass.  Katie is stunned to discover that her new boyfriend has powers, but a little freaked out that he's been keeping the truth from her.

Leaving the police station with their captors, Jim and Rachel argue about proper protocol on the way to the exit.  Jim tells Davies to let her go as they really don't need two hostages to get away.  Davies agrees that they don't need both of them and fires at Jim.  Jim slumps to the ground.  Davies and BG3 (Brueur) continue on into the underground parking garage with Rachel thinking that Jim is dead or at the least incapacitated.  They all jump into their black getaway vehicle (a mini-van?  Really?) and here comes Jim busting through the driver's side window and bashing BG3's head into the steering wheel.  Davies jumps out and tries to get away but Jim takes him down.  Rachel looks on in amazement from the now magically opened sliding door (Davies closed the sliding door before getting into the passenger seat).  Rachel asks Jim how he's still alive.  Jim shows her that he's wearing a bullet proof vest (nice c.y.a. moment, Jim).  Rachel knows he's the one that has been going around stopping crimes, but she doesn't know about his powers.  She tells him to go before the SWAT team shows up.  Jim wonders if she's going to turn him in and she tells him she's not because he's a hero.

After Joshua saves Katie, Steph wakes up from her little forced nap and sees the broken glass and Victoria laying on a table in the other room.  She asks what happened and Katie gives a vague answer about Joshua saving her life.  The outside doors are now unlocked and while Katie, Steph and Joshua have their backs turned, Victoria escapes.  Joshua stands there looking nervous about the questions about him that are sure to follow.

Detention is over, and Mr. L returns to find the kids where they are supposed to be.  He returns everyone's phones not knowing that these kids have bonded (yup, plot points stolen directly from "The Breakfast Club"). Mr. L sees a piece of the faux-snow on the counter, gets a confused look on his face and then leaves the room. The other kids leave, leaving Daphne and Chris alone.  Daphne confronts Chris about why he was arrested (She can tell when people are lying, she explains).  Chris tells her the story about how he and his dad were out to dinner, Dad got drunk so Chris took his keys away.  Dad decides that since Chris is being such a big man, maybe he should drive them home.  Chris hit a tree on the way home, and was arrested for driving without a license.  Dad was paralyzed in the accident, but he tells Daphne that there's a chance he'll walk again.  Daphne then confesses that she likes Chris...not just like, but like like.  Chris says that it's a good secret and the two share a real kiss.

J.J. catches up to Natalie in the hall and offers to help her in any way that he can, but Natalie declines because she's been taking care of herself for so long that she doesn't know how to let anyone else in and walks away leaving J.J. standing in the hall looking like a lost puppy.  Bailey overhears the conversation, comes over and gives him some words of encouragement and a kiss on the cheek (Seems that Bailey isn't the big bitch that she'd like everyone to believe she is).  One side note...J.J. needs to ditch the Justin Bieber look and get a haircut.

Joshua let's Katie know some of the truth about his abilities.  He was sick, and the serum they used to make him better also gave him powers and made him special.  He realized after meeting Katie that he didn't need the "juice" anymore to feel special as Katie made him feel special.  Katie offers to work on a new serum with Stephanie, but Joshua tells her that no one else can know the secret about him.  He still doesn't confide that he was at one time working for Dr. King (hasn't he ever heard about weaving a web of lies that may be impossible to escape from?).

Back at the Powell house, Stephanie is in the dining room setting the table for dinner.  At first it seems like she's going to be eating alone, but Daphne comes in followed by J.J. and then Jim comes and gives his wife a kiss and they all sit down to a family dinner.

I was disappointed that Stephen Collins wasn't in this episode.  It's great seeing him play against type as a scheming big bad.

Next week is a repeat, so I won't be doing my recap.  Also, I know that my recaps tend to be very long, but I'll try my hardest to get them a little shorter in the coming weeks.  Thanks again for coming along on this ride with me, and I'll be back tomorrow later today with my "V" episode recap.

Until next time,
-Bill

Main Cast:
Michael Chiklis (The Commish, The Shield) - Jim Powell
Julie Benz (Angel, Dexter) - Stephanie Powell
Kay Panabaker (Summerland, Phil of the Future) - Daphne Powell
Jimmy Bennett (Star Trek, Orphan) - J.J. Powell
Romany Malco (Weeds, The 40 Year Old Virgin) - George St.Cloud
Autumn Reeser (Entourage, The O.C.) - Katie Andrews
Josh Stewart (Criminal Minds, Dirt) - Joshua/The Watcher

Guest Stars:
Rebecca Mader (LOST) - Victoria Morrow
Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13) - Rachel Jacobs
Andrew Rothenberg (The Walking Dead) - Austin Davies
Katrina Begin (The Beautiful Ordinary aka Remember the Daze) - Bailey Browning
Luke Kleintank (The Young and the Restless) - Chris Minor
Jason Antoon (Kings) - Mr. Litchfield

No J. Jonah Jameson?

Bad news for those of us that are looking forward to the new Spider-Man movie.

IGN.com is reporting that J. Jonah Jameson will not be appearing in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot.

http://movies.ign.com/articles/114/1144625p1.html

Sorry, Marc Webb, but triple J is an essential part of the Spider-Man universe.

What do you think about this decision?  Let me know in the comments!

Being Human S1 Ep 1 There Goes the Neighborhood Pt. 1

Tonight marks the premiere of the Americanized version of the BBC's supernatural drama.  Here's what TV Guide has to say about tonight's episode.

After a bloody night out, a vampire and a werewolf decide to become roommates to look out for each other, and they find a townhouse that's haunted by the ghost of their landlord's fiancée in the opener of the series following three supernatural beings who try to live like humans.

I've only caught parts of 1 or 2 episodes of the Original on BBC America, so I won't be able to make any comparisons between the 2 versions, but I'll be back after the show with my thoughts.

So far so good!  I'll definitely be tuning in next week.

Decent effects, much better than the CGI work that goes into Syfy's original movies.  Josh's transformation at the beginning of the episode wasn't the best werewolf transformation that I've ever seen (That honor still belongs to the transformation in An American Werewolf in London), but it was very nicely done.

Seems we have some mysteries to unravel with this show, which is always a good thing in my opinion.  As long as the show runners don't drag the mysteries out too long, it should work out just fine.

We don't yet know how Josh and Aidan met and we don't know how Josh came to be a werewolf.  We do know, however, that it happened about 2 years ago and he was so freaked out that he ran away from his family and hasn't had any contact with any of them until his sister ends up at the hospital that both Josh and Aidan work at.

Seems that Bishop is some kind of Vampire boss in some sort of Vampire Mafia.  Bishop was responsible for turning Aidan.  Sometime in the recent past, Aidan decided to leave "the Family" and try to run away from his true nature.

It's always great to see Mark Pellegrino back on television.  He seems to have beefed up a little bit from his time playing Jacob on Lost and Lucifer on Supernatural.

We know that Sally died sometime recently (of course she did, duh...that's why she's a ghost), but we don't yet know how she died and neither does she.  All she can remember is going to bed and waking up a ghost.
Sally can't leave the place where she died (although from the promo for upcoming episodes, it seems that she learns how to leave the house), and she's really upset about the whole deal.  She'd love to be able to leave and be with her fiancée, but she can't.  Very easy to sympathize with her.  When she's not brimming over with excitement that someone can finally see her and that she has other people to talk to, you can damn near feel her sadness coming right through the television.

Near the end of the episode, we see Bishop take Aidan to some kind of Vampire groupie whorehouse type place, where the women let the vampires drink from them.  Bishop believes that he has Aidan back under his power again, but things aren't always what they seem.

Also near the end of the episode, Josh leaves the hospital, but his sister Emily follows him wanting answers.  Josh makes it to his "cage" and both he and his sister end up locked in moments before the transformation.

As I said earlier, I've only seen parts of 1 or 2 episodes of the BBC series, so I look at this show with a fresh pair of eyes.  It's nice to watch something without always sub-consciously comparing it with the original.

Until next time,
-Bill-

Main Cast:
Sam Witwer (Smallville, Star Wars:The Force Unleashed I & II) - Aidan (The Vampire)
Meaghan Rath (The Assistants) - Sally (The Ghost)
Sam Huntington (Superman Returns) - Josh (The Werewolf)
Mark Pellegrino (Lost, Supernatural) - Bishop
Alison Louder (The Mummy:  Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) - Emily

The Cape: S1 Ep2-Kozmo (Spoilers Ahead)

The Cape returns this week in its regular time slot.

Here's what TV Guide has to say about "Kozmo"

 Vince fights to protect his new friends from an old pal of Max's who comes in search of the cape. Meanwhile, Dana returns to work at the public defender's office, and Peter and Marty try to determine Orwell's real identity.

Looks like we're going to get some background on the history of the actual cape that Vince Faraday uses as The Cape.  I'll be back with my thoughts after the show.

Decent episode tonight.  We learned that the cape seems to have some kind of power to know what lies deep down in the soul of its wearer.  In recent history, Max Malini was the wearer of the cape that has been passed along through generations.  Max passed along the cape to his apprentice, Gregor, but Max saw that Gregor had a dark soul, so Max took the cape back and tipped off the authorities about Gregor's crimes.  Gregor escapes from prison and hunts down Max to take back his cape.

Meanwhile, Peter Fleming (James Frain) aka Chess and his stooge Marty got close to capturing and eliminating Orwell.  We also see Peter trying to find out where his daughter is.  Seems she's been on the run from him for some time.  It was heavily hinted at in tonight's episode that Orwell may indeed be the daughter of Chess.

Dana Faraday is settling in to her new job at the public defender's office (at least it seems like the public defender's office and not the District Attorney's office as some sources are saying).  While going through the large pile of new cases, she comes across a defendant that lives at the Train Yards.  When she goes to talk to this defendant, she uncovers evidence that suggests that her husband was framed.

Later on we see ARK is rounding up all the folks at the train yards to hopefully bury any evidence that supports the notion of Vince's innocence.

We see Orwell beginning to come out of her shell a little bit tonight.

Best moments:
Gregor is looking for information on where his cape might be.  He joins a card game and gets the information he's looking for, then kills the other players with playing cards to the jugular.

I also like that the show is building up a decent Rogue's Gallery.  In the big showdown between Vince and Gregor, Vince has the chance to kill Gregor, but decides to take the high road and have him turned over to the authorities back in Russia which sets up an opportunity for a return.

Next week, we see the return of Vinnie Jones as Scales.

Main Cast:
David Lyons (ER) - Vince Faraday aka The Cape
James Frain (True Blood) - Peter Fleming aka Chess
Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse) - Orwell
Keith David (Pitch Black) - Max Malini
Jennifer Ferrin (As the World Turns) - Dana Faraday
Ryan Wynott (Flash Forward) - Trip Faraday
Martin Klebba (Scrubs) - Rollo

The Dark Tower Movies and Television Series

Greetings-

Stephen King's epic "The Dark Tower" is one of my favorite stories of all time.  When the news came out that Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman were working on bringing the Gunslinger's adventures to theaters and television, I let out a whooop of delight.

Casting rumors currently have Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings) and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) as being considered for the role of the last gunslinger Roland Deschain.

One thing so far that worries me about the casting of this epic tale is who they are going to get to play Jake Chambers.  In the books Jake Chambers is supposed to be an 11 year old kid.  The production might run into an aging problem (similar to the aging problem with actor Malcolm David Kelley {Walt} in LOST) if they chose to stick with one actor in the role of Jake.

What do you think?  Do you think the producers will decide to stick with one actor for Jake Chambers, and if so, do you think they will alter the story in some way to explain Jake's aging?

Until next time,
-Bill

V: Serpent's Tooth-Possible Spoilers Ahead

Greetings-

Pre-Show:
Last week we added another member to the resistance.  A scientist, Dr. Sidney Miller (Bret Harrison from Reaper) found a Visitor skeleton a couple years ago that, according to carbon dating, was about 50 years old.  Our heroes find him and recruit him to be a member of the resistance.  TV personality Chad Decker (Scott Wolf from Party of Five) also seems to be completely on board with the resistance after learning of the experiments done on the people of the Visitor Live Aboard program on the motherships.  We also found out that Erica may have been experimented on by the Visitors years ago while she was pregnant with Tyler.  I'm guessing this is why Tyler is so important to Anna's plan.  We also learned that Joshua (leader of the 5th Column on the NY mothership) was healed before he could die of his wounds, but he seems to have no memory of being a part of the 5th Column.

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!-King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4

In this week's episode, Serpent's Tooth, we might get a little payoff from what we learned last week.  Here's what TV Guide says about tonight's episode:

Diana (Jane Badler) faces off with Anna on the mother ship; Erica has Tyler's blood tested, and learns that something sinister happened while she was pregnant with him.

I'm really digging the casting of Jane Badler as Anna's mother.  Ms. Badler still has the ability to get me breathing a little heavier after all these years.  I've also heard that Marc Singer will be playing a part in the series toward the end of this season (still no word if there will be a season 3 or not).  I'll be back with my reaction in a bit.

Post-Show:
We find out tonight from Diana that the Visitors have known about Earth since the first atomic bomb was detonated.  Diana used to be the Queen 15 years ago until Anna seized power and had her locked up in the bowels of the ship for becoming "infected" with human emotion.  Diana's plan was to create a new home for the Visitors and to interbreed with the humans.  Diana knew that her plan would fail when it became clear that interbreeding would create a new generation of free thinkers that would never bow to a queen.  Anna wants to continue the plan by eradicating emotion.

Erica gets a blood sample from Tyler by swiping a piece of toilet tissue with some of his blood on it due to a shaving cut and brings it to Sid for analysis.  We saw Ryan attending the funeral of his wife.  It seems that Val's parents blame Ryan for their daughter's death because she got pregnant with her heart problem.  Ryan blames himself for other reasons.  Anna sends an envoy to give Ryan an access card of some sort so he can see his daughter.  Chad keeps up the facade of being visitor friendly while putting a seed of doubt into a young mother to be who is about to have her baby delivered with nothing buy Visitor tech.  We also find out that words from trusted religious leaders can have terrible consequences when there is a rash of suicide bombings at Visitor Embassies across the world.  The FBI assumes that these suicide attacks were ordered by the Fifth Column.

Back on the New York mother ship, we see Anna putting human skin on Ryan and Valerie's baby in order to prey on Ryan's vulnerable state.  Anna is planning on using Ryan's vulnerabilities when it comes to his family in order to turn him against the resistance.  We also finally get to see a Visitor chow down on a rat as we find out how the Visitors feed their young (think of a mama bird feeding her babies...yuck)!

Back at resistance HQ Hobbes is trying to convince Erica and Father Jack that they need to recruit the people that carried out the suicide attacks.  Father Jack and Erica are horrified at this, but Ryan shows up and convinces them to reach out to the others and convince them to fight the war a different way.  Not sure if Ryan is falling for Anna's scheme or not, so I don't really trust him at this point, but it could just be a red herring.

Back on the NY mother ship, Anna is accessing Joshua's memories to find out who destroyed her eggs.  Erica's face shows up on the screen.  Turns out though that the last thing he remembers is getting shot by Erica and his near death experience has wiped out all other recent memories.  That's really too bad in my opinion as it would have forced the resistance to go completely underground.  This cat and mouse game between Erica and Anna is getting a little bit old.  Diana lets Anna in on the secret to controlling the humans...the soul.  Anna vows to find the soul and destroy it.  Meanwhile, Father Jack speaks to Ryan who doubts that he has a soul and tells him that the soul is not a thing that can be analyzed or measured by science.

We found out that Chad Decker is a target of the radical 5th columnists because of his closeness to Anna.  The visitors have tracked down a lead as to who the leader of the radical might be and the FBI has a bombing suspect in custody who leads Erica to the same person that the Visitors are after.  Visitor FBI agent arrives at the warehouse first, and Hobbes shows up moments later.  Hobbes gets the drop on the Visitor and knocks a tooth, a big nasty Visitor tooth, out of her with his gun.  Erica shows up and Hobbes saves her from walking into an ambush.

Looks like they found the right place...the rest of the FBI shows up and finds bomb vests, shipping labels, blank passports, and all sorts of other evidence. Hobbes calls Erica with an address and says he'll meet her there.   Erica's boss sends Erica and Malik (secret Visitor) off to that same address found on a shipping label. Chad finds video evidence that Agent Malik is working with the Visitors and brings that evidence to Father Jack telling him that Erica is in danger.  Erica and Malik are on the way to the address when Erica notices the blood on Malik's shirt from earlier when Hobbes hit her.  Malik notices that Erika has seen the blood and pulls a gun.  Erika fights for control of the gun and wrecks the car.

Anna continues to manipulate Ryan by using his daughter against him.  He says he will do anything to get Anna to ease his daughter's suffering.

Anna visits her mother to brag about Joshua knowing what to look for, but Diana reminds Anna that it's just a matter of time before she too is "infected" by human emotion and that time is running out.

Looks like next week things come to a head.  We see that Erika and Hobbes have taken Malik prisoner, and Sid has the results from Tyler's blood sample.  Anna's daughter, Lisa, is changing.

Was hoping for more in tonight's episode, but I guess I'll wait until next week.

Plot hole:  Diana reveals that Anna is infertile.  How?  Didn't Anna just lay a buttload of eggs last season?  Or do the Visitors only get to lay one batch of eggs in their lifetime?

Dropped plotline:  Are we ever going to get back to Hobbes and Marcus working togther on some type of plan (I assume that Marcus is tired of being Anna's yes-man and is looking at gaining leverage over her in some way)?

Until next time,
-Bill

No Ordinary Family "No Ordinary Brother"- Spoilers Ahead

  Greetings-

So far, no news as to whether or not ABC is going to pick up No Ordinary Family for a second season.  It really wouldn't surprise me much if it gets canned.  It seems that most of my favorite shows rarely make it these days.  That being said, I do love this show...yes, it's a little silly, but I like silly.

One thing I'd like to see more of is Stephen Collins being a bad guy...we rarely get to see him except at the end of the show every week...the creative team behind this show really needs to flesh out his part in the over-arching story.

We'll see what happens in tonight's show.

Guest Starring Tonight is Rebecca Mader (LOST) as the new VP of Human Relations for Global Tech.

Here's what TV guide has to say about tonight's episode:

Jim's freewheeling brother (Jason Wiles) shows up at the Powells unannounced, and after learning of their abilities tries to use JJ's powers to cash in at the racetrack. Meanwhile, Katie gets promoted by a human-resources executive (Rebecca Mader), but Steph wonders if there are strings attached; and Daphne worries that a fellow student has been falsely accused of a crime.

 Turns out that Jim's brother Mike owes a loan shark about 150k.  He uses JJ at the track in order to make a buttload of money to pay off the debt.

The Lair gets robbed and Jim automatically assumes that it was Mike, but Daphne finds out that isn't the case at all.

Daphne uses her powers to find out that the bad boy student is covering for his brother (a model student) and asks JJ to open the model student's locker where they find a buttload of Adderall.

Joshua again tells Dr. King that he's done being his enforcer.

Dr. King and Victoria Marrow conspire about what to do about Joshua.

Steph and Katie do lunch and Steph apologizes to Katie for being an ass about her promotion...they get up to go their separate ways, but Steph notices that Katie is about to be squished by some falling panes of glass and speeds over to save her in front of a bunch of witnesses.

Jim calls Mike to let him know that he knows Mike didn't rob the Lair, but Mike is now being held hostage by the loan shark.  Loan shark gives Jim 24 hours to come up with the money or he'll kill Mike.

The Powell's decide to let JJ go to the track to win all the money that Mike owes.

Joshua thinks that the "accident" wasn't really an accident.

JJ's math fails and they lose all the money they were going to use to save Mike.  Could see that coming from a mile away.

Jim shows up to the loan shark to trade his life for his brother...loan shark says sure, put gun to Jim's head, but Mike isn't having any of that and together the brother's take down the loan shark and his goons.

Bad boy confronts Daphne about his model student brother getting caught with the Adderall and they have a nice little exchange about expectations.

Katie stops by and talks to Steph about how she's not going to Miami.

Jim and Mike have their brotherly love moment.

George gets all new equipment for the Lair thanks to Homeowners insurance.  I've got to say that the Lair is awesome!

Turns out the Katies near accident wasn't an accident at all.  Turns out the Crane operator was really Victoria Morrow (a shape shifter).

Now, don't get me wrong, I like this show a lot, but I really wish everything wasn't all neatly tied up with a bow at the end of every episode.  Sure, there's the overall arc with Dr. King, but there needs to be more that ties each episode together, or they need to speed things up with the Dr. King plot.

Until next time,
-Bill

Introduction

Greetings-

Welcome to my new blogging experiment.  Talkies, Tomes and the Tube is going to be a place where I talk about movies, books and television.

I watch a lot of television, I read a lot of books and I watch movies quite often as well.  I also like to write from time to time, so I figured I'd start a blog about three things that I love to do.

I don't consider myself to be a very good writer, but I do try to keep things easy to understand.  Come along and enjoy the ride.

Until next time,
-Bill-