Take one part "The Shining", one part "Fantasy Island" and one part "The Devil's Advocate". Put it all into a blender, and you'll get this new ABC series.
This new series stars veteran actor Terry O'Quinn as the devilish owner of The Drake Apartments in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Cast Members:
Terry O'Quinn (Lost) : Gavin Doran
Vanessa L. Williams (Desperate Housewives) : Olivia Doran
Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters) : Henry Martin
Rachael Taylor (Charlie's Angels) : Jane Van Veen
The pilot episode follows the naive new resident managers of The Drake Apartments, the other residents of the building, and the building's married owners Gavin Doran (O'Quinn) and Olivia Doran (Williams)
Some spooky moments, Faustian deals and a bit of mystery are enough to get me to tune in next week. What did you think of the show? Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Talkies, Tomes and the Tube
News, reviews and recaps of television shows, movies and books.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Vampire Diaries
Greetings-
This marks the debut of my column for The CW's vampire drama The Vampire Diaries. Most people think that this is just a rip off of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of books, but the truth of the matter is that The Vampire Diaries series of books were published starting in 1991. The Twilight series came to us in 2005; 14 years later. The Vampire Diaries probably owes its television life to the Twilight movies, however.
In a nutshell, The Vampire Diaries is about a high school girl who falls in love with a vampire. Yes, it all sounds familiar. However, I believe that The Vampire Diaries is much better in terms of the mythology of the vampire. These are vampires that actually use their fangs. These vampires don't sparkle in the sunlight. These vampires don't rely on venom to kill their prey, they simply suck the blood of their victims until they die. In other words, these are the vampires that we have come to know over the years instead of their neutered sparkly cousins from The Twilight Saga.
Main Cast:
Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation) - Elena Gilbert
Paul Wesley (Wolf Lake) - Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder (LOST) - Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen (Everwood) - Jeremy Gilbert
Katerina Graham (17 Again) - Bonnie Bennett
Candice Accola (Deadgirl) - Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig (As the World Turns) - Matt Donovan
Michael Trevino (Cane) - Tyler Lockwood
Sara Canning (Slap Shot 3: The Junior League) - Jenna Sommers
Matthew Davis (Legally Blonde) - Alaric Saltzman
The Vampire Diaries airs Thursday nights on The CW at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central
I'll be back next week with episode reactions for the 15th episode of the second season.
Until next time,
-Bill-
This marks the debut of my column for The CW's vampire drama The Vampire Diaries. Most people think that this is just a rip off of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of books, but the truth of the matter is that The Vampire Diaries series of books were published starting in 1991. The Twilight series came to us in 2005; 14 years later. The Vampire Diaries probably owes its television life to the Twilight movies, however.
In a nutshell, The Vampire Diaries is about a high school girl who falls in love with a vampire. Yes, it all sounds familiar. However, I believe that The Vampire Diaries is much better in terms of the mythology of the vampire. These are vampires that actually use their fangs. These vampires don't sparkle in the sunlight. These vampires don't rely on venom to kill their prey, they simply suck the blood of their victims until they die. In other words, these are the vampires that we have come to know over the years instead of their neutered sparkly cousins from The Twilight Saga.
Main Cast:
Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation) - Elena Gilbert
Paul Wesley (Wolf Lake) - Stefan Salvatore
Ian Somerhalder (LOST) - Damon Salvatore
Steven R. McQueen (Everwood) - Jeremy Gilbert
Katerina Graham (17 Again) - Bonnie Bennett
Candice Accola (Deadgirl) - Caroline Forbes
Zach Roerig (As the World Turns) - Matt Donovan
Michael Trevino (Cane) - Tyler Lockwood
Sara Canning (Slap Shot 3: The Junior League) - Jenna Sommers
Matthew Davis (Legally Blonde) - Alaric Saltzman
The Vampire Diaries airs Thursday nights on The CW at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central
I'll be back next week with episode reactions for the 15th episode of the second season.
Until next time,
-Bill-
V S2 Ep5 "Concordia"
Greetings-
Even though a 3rd season of this show hasn't been green lit yet, the producers are planning a major cliff-hanger for the end of the 2nd season. I have a feeling that this is an effort on the part of the powers that be to get the fans to create a preemptive campaign to demand a 3rd season of the show. Fan driven campaigns have worked in the past (Jericho).
Here's what TV Guide has to say about "Concordia":
Before I actually get to the meat of this column, I want to express my growing disappointment with this show. For a show about a resistance movement against an alien invasion, the fifth column really hasn't done much over the course of one and a half seasons. There's really no sense of a global resistance like there was in the original V miniseries from the 80's. Another thing I'm disappointed in is the plot line changes. In the original miniseries, the Visitors were abducting humans to use as food. That's some pretty freaky stuff right there. In this iteration of the show, the visitors want to do the horizontal mambo with humans. That's not so scary. In fact, it's the dream of many a fan of science fiction television ever since Captain James T. Kirk got it on with the green Orion slave girl in Star Trek.
On with the show.
Guest starring tonight is Nicholas Lea (The X-Files) as Tyler's father, Joe Evans.
It's nice to see Erica and Father Jack get on board with the assassination attempt. For someone that is so concerned about her son's safety, she hasn't really shown up to this point that she's willing to do what needs to be done in order to protect humankind from the Visitors. I'm glad to see this change.
The overly elaborate docking stations for the waiting invasion force was pretty cool looking, but how the heck are they going to get built so quickly? Anna told Chad that Concordia was going to be built by human labor. There's no way a bunch of construction workers are going to get these things built as quick as Anna wants them to be built.
Very disappointed in Ryan's choice to believe Anna's line of bull. Ryan should know better, but still chooses to tip off the Visitors about the assassination attempt. At least he didn't (as far as we know) let Marcus and Anna know who exactly was behind the attempt. I guess this is a good out for the writers as we still haven't gotten any resolution of the plot line involving the meetings between Hobbes and Marcus. However, we do know that the Visitors have the technology available to them to bring someone back from the brink of death.
Hobbes is also ticked off at Ryan. Ryan better go back to living on the mother ship. I don't think he's going to be able to talk himself out of this situation. He just confirmed to Hobbes and Eli that the Visitors can't be trusted.
That's it for this week. Things are starting to move faster in the V universe.
Favorite Quote:
Jack Landry "They can take my collar, but they can't take my faith."
Until next time,
-Bill-
Even though a 3rd season of this show hasn't been green lit yet, the producers are planning a major cliff-hanger for the end of the 2nd season. I have a feeling that this is an effort on the part of the powers that be to get the fans to create a preemptive campaign to demand a 3rd season of the show. Fan driven campaigns have worked in the past (Jericho).
Here's what TV Guide has to say about "Concordia":
Anna uses a gift to humanity as a cover to hide a fleet of breeding vessels while Eli tries to sway the Fifth Column to assassinate Anna at a gala.As with the rest of my TV columns this week, I'm not going to be doing a full recap of the episode. I'll be sharing my thoughts with you at the end of the show.
Orion slave girl Vina played by Susan Oliver |
On with the show.
Guest starring tonight is Nicholas Lea (The X-Files) as Tyler's father, Joe Evans.
It's nice to see Erica and Father Jack get on board with the assassination attempt. For someone that is so concerned about her son's safety, she hasn't really shown up to this point that she's willing to do what needs to be done in order to protect humankind from the Visitors. I'm glad to see this change.
The overly elaborate docking stations for the waiting invasion force was pretty cool looking, but how the heck are they going to get built so quickly? Anna told Chad that Concordia was going to be built by human labor. There's no way a bunch of construction workers are going to get these things built as quick as Anna wants them to be built.
Very disappointed in Ryan's choice to believe Anna's line of bull. Ryan should know better, but still chooses to tip off the Visitors about the assassination attempt. At least he didn't (as far as we know) let Marcus and Anna know who exactly was behind the attempt. I guess this is a good out for the writers as we still haven't gotten any resolution of the plot line involving the meetings between Hobbes and Marcus. However, we do know that the Visitors have the technology available to them to bring someone back from the brink of death.
Hobbes is also ticked off at Ryan. Ryan better go back to living on the mother ship. I don't think he's going to be able to talk himself out of this situation. He just confirmed to Hobbes and Eli that the Visitors can't be trusted.
That's it for this week. Things are starting to move faster in the V universe.
Favorite Quote:
Jack Landry "They can take my collar, but they can't take my faith."
Until next time,
-Bill-
Saturday, February 12, 2011
No Ordinary Family S1 Ep14 "No Ordinary Double Standard"
Greetings-
Yep, another show that I'm still enjoying despite its lackluster ratings.
Like the rest of my television columns this week, I'm going to refrain from writing a play by play recap of the episode and instead give you my thoughts after watching.
Here's what TVGuide has to say about "No Ordinary Double Standard":
The villain in this episode has a pretty cool power. He turns into smoke/mist/fog in order to enter into the homes of his victims. The smoke effect was pretty well done for television special effects.
The double standard of being a parent with both a boy and a girl when it comes to dating seems to be pretty spot on in tonight's episode. I can only hope that when my kids are old enough to be dating that I won't apply a double standard, but the fact of the matter is that I probably will. I think it's written into the DNA code of parents.
Still loving the adorable geekiness of Katie. I like the fact that they didn't go with the typical comic book geek for this show. They could have gone with a pimply kid with hardly any friends, but instead they went with a woman. Very nice to see ABC stepping away from the stereotype.
I usually like when the Powell's work together (like in the episode "No Ordinary Anniversary"), but the little contest to see who could solve the crime first between Stephanie and Jim seems a little bit "meh". Jim is a little bit too arrogant about his abilities in this episode and it puts a little damper on his likability as a character. However, once the Powell's and their respective sidekicks decide that it would be best for them to work together, things get better.
Another problem I had with the episode, and previous episodes, is that the kids seem to exist within the show as a plot device instead of fully fleshed out characters.
The appearance of the menacing Dr. King (Stephen Collins) is always a plus. I don't get tired of seeing him as a villain. When he spills the beans about how dangerous Joshua is to Katie, I just wanted to punch him in the guts. Good reaction to have towards a true villain. When Tom tells Steph and Jim that Dr. King is behind the experiments that made him into a smoke monster, I about cheered.
Daphne learns a new way to use her powers tonight as well. It turns out that not only can she hear people's thoughts and see people's thoughts when she touches them, she can also push thoughts. Daphne has now learned that she can use the Jedi Mind Trick.
The confrontation between Tom and Dr. King was decent, but we don't know if Dr. King was telling the truth about Tom being healed by the injections.
Joshua is really creepy. I was hoping that his true nature (that of a killer) would stay buried, but when he used his powers to cover up his past to Katie, I just wanted to kick him in the teeth. He's getting a little obsessed, and it's sufficient to say that I don't think it will be much longer before he's working for Dr. King again.
The tension builds. Next week we see the return of the shape shifter, Victoria as she tries to destroy the Powell family. I'm looking forward to an "Incredibles" style family team up to put the smack down on Dr. King and his team of super-villains.
Favorite Quote:
George: She lied to me and she violated the sanctity of the lair.
Katie: Lairs don't have sanctity.
George: Well, then you violated the sanctity of the smoothie, which is even...
Jim: Kids, if you don't behave, I'm going to turn this lair right around.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Yep, another show that I'm still enjoying despite its lackluster ratings.
Like the rest of my television columns this week, I'm going to refrain from writing a play by play recap of the episode and instead give you my thoughts after watching.
Here's what TVGuide has to say about "No Ordinary Double Standard":
Jim and Stephanie have a contest to test their crime-fighting skills after a friend of hers is attacked; Daphne is upset by her father's double standard on a dating issue; Katie makes a shocking discovery about Joshua.Guest starring is Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl) as Tom Seeley.
The villain in this episode has a pretty cool power. He turns into smoke/mist/fog in order to enter into the homes of his victims. The smoke effect was pretty well done for television special effects.
The double standard of being a parent with both a boy and a girl when it comes to dating seems to be pretty spot on in tonight's episode. I can only hope that when my kids are old enough to be dating that I won't apply a double standard, but the fact of the matter is that I probably will. I think it's written into the DNA code of parents.
Still loving the adorable geekiness of Katie. I like the fact that they didn't go with the typical comic book geek for this show. They could have gone with a pimply kid with hardly any friends, but instead they went with a woman. Very nice to see ABC stepping away from the stereotype.
I usually like when the Powell's work together (like in the episode "No Ordinary Anniversary"), but the little contest to see who could solve the crime first between Stephanie and Jim seems a little bit "meh". Jim is a little bit too arrogant about his abilities in this episode and it puts a little damper on his likability as a character. However, once the Powell's and their respective sidekicks decide that it would be best for them to work together, things get better.
Another problem I had with the episode, and previous episodes, is that the kids seem to exist within the show as a plot device instead of fully fleshed out characters.
The appearance of the menacing Dr. King (Stephen Collins) is always a plus. I don't get tired of seeing him as a villain. When he spills the beans about how dangerous Joshua is to Katie, I just wanted to punch him in the guts. Good reaction to have towards a true villain. When Tom tells Steph and Jim that Dr. King is behind the experiments that made him into a smoke monster, I about cheered.
Daphne learns a new way to use her powers tonight as well. It turns out that not only can she hear people's thoughts and see people's thoughts when she touches them, she can also push thoughts. Daphne has now learned that she can use the Jedi Mind Trick.
The confrontation between Tom and Dr. King was decent, but we don't know if Dr. King was telling the truth about Tom being healed by the injections.
Joshua is really creepy. I was hoping that his true nature (that of a killer) would stay buried, but when he used his powers to cover up his past to Katie, I just wanted to kick him in the teeth. He's getting a little obsessed, and it's sufficient to say that I don't think it will be much longer before he's working for Dr. King again.
The tension builds. Next week we see the return of the shape shifter, Victoria as she tries to destroy the Powell family. I'm looking forward to an "Incredibles" style family team up to put the smack down on Dr. King and his team of super-villains.
Favorite Quote:
George: She lied to me and she violated the sanctity of the lair.
Katie: Lairs don't have sanctity.
George: Well, then you violated the sanctity of the smoothie, which is even...
Jim: Kids, if you don't behave, I'm going to turn this lair right around.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Being Human S1 Ep4 "Wouldn't It Be Nice (If We Were Human)
Photo courtesy of Syfy.com |
I'm still really digging this show. Let's hope Syfy keeps it around for a while. Everyone probably knows by now that I'm into vampire television. I'm a fan of "The Vampire Diaries", "Forever Knight", "True Blood" (even though I've only seen the first season), and I even enjoyed the short lived ABC series "The Gates".
There's just something about vampires that speaks to my nocturnal nature. When other kids were pretending to be super-heroes, I was secretly hoping that one day I would become a vampire.
Guest starring is Andreas Apergis (voice actor in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood) as Ray. Also a very special appearance by a pair of Zubaz pants.
Anyway, enough about my childhood fantasies. Let's get on with the latest episode. Here's what TV Guide has to say about "Wouldn't It Be Nice (If We Were Human)":
Josh befriends a werewolf who doesn't like vampires; Rebecca seeks out Aidan's help to evade the vampire clan; Sally learns a new trick.Like the rest of my TV columns this week, I'm stepping away from doing a blow by blow recap and just giving you my initial thoughts and reactions after watching the show.
First half hour:
Ray: A bit creepy at first, but tolerable. However, by the midpoint of the episode we find out that Ray is a full out bigot when it comes to vampires. Detestable character by this point of the show.
Aiden: He's definitely not as strong as he thinks when it comes to the lust for blood. He tries to teach Rebecca how to stay away from drinking the blood of humans, but at this point it's almost like watching an alcoholic trying to teach another alcoholic how to stay away from whiskey by having them drink light beer instead. The blood lust scenes are very sexy in a dark way.
Sally: She learned how to travel outside of their house by using her mind in last week's episode, which was pretty darn cool. I felt even more excited for her when she actually made something happen on the physical plane tonight. She learned how to cock-block from beyond the grave.
Josh: What can I say? I think it's great that he's beginning to shed some of the awkwardness and starting to gain some self-confidence. Just goes to show that we can learn something even from the most deplorable of sources.
Second half:
Okay, so maybe this dose of self-confidence wasn't such a good thing for Josh. I gave a good old fashioned face-palm during his attempt to hit on the hot blonde nurse in the hospital cafeteria. When he chews Aiden's ass for asking him about his attempt at dating suicide, I almost wanted to hit him in the eye.
I may be getting more emotional as I get older, but I was really touched when Sally decides to let go of the past and communicates to Bridget that it's okay for her and Danny to be together.
Rebecca learns how hard it is to control herself. It's not easy trying to control your desires.
I really want Ray to come to a bad end. Bringing Josh to the vampire den was not a good idea. Ray puts Josh in a position where he has to let his inner wolf out in order to defend himself. I like Josh better when he's awkward. However, this, along with Rebecca's struggles show how hard it can be to repress our baser instincts.
A little bit relieved to see that Rebecca is gone for now. Aiden is barely strong enough to keep his own urges in check. He doesn't have the strength that he wants to have. Danny needs to just grow a pair. Sure it may seem silly to try to talk to someone that you can't see, but he really needs to try. He's got something to get off his chest. Not sure what he wants to say, but if it's important, he needs to just say it no matter if he believes that Sally can hear it or not. It was nice to see Marcus get the snot beat out of him, but not at the expense of Josh's likability. While some of the things that Ray said to him at the end of the episode may hit a little close to the truth, we don't need Josh to go down that road. He needs to strike a balance between his inner-wolf and his humanity.
Seems that toxic relationships aren't only limited to humans.
Next week, Bishop is back.
Favorite Quote:
Josh: I think the wolf eats its own poo.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Labels:
Being Human,
Drama,
Ghost,
Syfy,
Television,
Vampire,
Werewolf
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Cape: S1 Ep5 "Goggles and Hicks"
Greetings-
Yes, I know that I'm really far behind. The kids have had way too many snow days off from school, so I haven't had much time to get caught up with my shows.
I won't be doing a full episode recap tonight, but I'll give my reactions to this episode of "The Cape".
First, as always, here's what TV Guide has to say about this episode:
The two bad guys in this episode (Goggles and Hicks) are members of the assassin's order Tarot. They are represented by The Chariot card. The Chariot is the 7th trump card in traditional Tarot decks. The Chariot is said to represent war and eventual victory.
Fleming hires the two man team to kill The Cape.
We get more of what we've come to expect from an episode of The Cape. We get our weekly flashback early on in the episode. We get our weekly consult withYoda Max. We get an annoyed Scales. By the way, does Scales ever have a good day? We had a hint last week that he really enjoys lasagna, so perhaps he has missed lasagna night again. We also get our weekly dose of Orwell being all Orwellian.
One of the things that I don't get about this show is that for a guy that's supposed to be dead, Vince sure likes being in public places. He also likes to discuss things about his previous life in public as well. Sure he's just talking to Orwell, but doesn't he ever think that maybe someone is listening in? Perhaps after tonight, he won't go out in public without being The Cape as often has he's been doing in the past episodes.
Okay, now on to what I thought was good about the episode. Dana finally beginning to put the pieces together that Marty knows something about what happened to Vince. The confrontation in Marty's hallway was pretty good. Trip's new annoying friend from the apartment from downstairs. The kid is annoying, but it's nice to see that Trip has someone that believes him about The Cape. Call me sappy if you will, but I liked the exchange between Orwell and Vince before she finds the tracker on him. I also liked the creepiness of Goggles and Hicks. They were much more entertaining and fleshed out than the other member of the Tarot order, Cain.
Best line of the episode: "If I see you in my town again; If I even hear that you're looking in this direction, I'm gonna tear your eyes out and pour my coffee in your skull"
We recently learned that NBC has cut the the episode order for The Cape from 13 to 10. That's not a good sign. Also, the show is shedding viewers every week. This could be yet another show I like that won't get another season.
To me, The Cape brings me back to a time when superheroes were allowed to be more like their comic book counterparts. Bigger than life, clichéd and cheesy. I miss that sometimes.
What do you think about The Cape? Will we get a second season on television? Do you think we might see a comic book spin-off of the show? Love it or hate it, be sure to let me know down in the comments.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Yes, I know that I'm really far behind. The kids have had way too many snow days off from school, so I haven't had much time to get caught up with my shows.
I won't be doing a full episode recap tonight, but I'll give my reactions to this episode of "The Cape".
First, as always, here's what TV Guide has to say about this episode:
Fleming hires a team of technical whizzes to uncover the Cape's true identity. Meanwhile, Dana digs further into her husband's case.Guest Starring are Pruitt Taylor Vince (Deadwood) as Goggles and Chad Lindberg (Supernatural) as Hicks.
The two bad guys in this episode (Goggles and Hicks) are members of the assassin's order Tarot. They are represented by The Chariot card. The Chariot is the 7th trump card in traditional Tarot decks. The Chariot is said to represent war and eventual victory.
Fleming hires the two man team to kill The Cape.
We get more of what we've come to expect from an episode of The Cape. We get our weekly flashback early on in the episode. We get our weekly consult with
One of the things that I don't get about this show is that for a guy that's supposed to be dead, Vince sure likes being in public places. He also likes to discuss things about his previous life in public as well. Sure he's just talking to Orwell, but doesn't he ever think that maybe someone is listening in? Perhaps after tonight, he won't go out in public without being The Cape as often has he's been doing in the past episodes.
Okay, now on to what I thought was good about the episode. Dana finally beginning to put the pieces together that Marty knows something about what happened to Vince. The confrontation in Marty's hallway was pretty good. Trip's new annoying friend from the apartment from downstairs. The kid is annoying, but it's nice to see that Trip has someone that believes him about The Cape. Call me sappy if you will, but I liked the exchange between Orwell and Vince before she finds the tracker on him. I also liked the creepiness of Goggles and Hicks. They were much more entertaining and fleshed out than the other member of the Tarot order, Cain.
Best line of the episode: "If I see you in my town again; If I even hear that you're looking in this direction, I'm gonna tear your eyes out and pour my coffee in your skull"
We recently learned that NBC has cut the the episode order for The Cape from 13 to 10. That's not a good sign. Also, the show is shedding viewers every week. This could be yet another show I like that won't get another season.
To me, The Cape brings me back to a time when superheroes were allowed to be more like their comic book counterparts. Bigger than life, clichéd and cheesy. I miss that sometimes.
What do you think about The Cape? Will we get a second season on television? Do you think we might see a comic book spin-off of the show? Love it or hate it, be sure to let me know down in the comments.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Thursday, February 10, 2011
X-Men: First Class - Official Trailer
Greetings-
The internet is buzzing with the news of the release of the first trailer for the new installment in the X-Men franchise. Take a look below and tell me what you think down in the comments.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Supernatural: S6 Ep12-Like A Virgin
Image Courtesy of CWTV.com |
Supernatural stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as brothers Sam and Dean Winchester who travel around the country hunting Supernatural phenomenon.
Here's what TV Guide has to say about tonight's installment:
Virgins mysteriously disappear, and Dean and Bobby learn that dragons are responsible for the kidnappings. Dean seeks out a weapon to slay the beasts, but he must prove himself worthy before he can claim it. Meanwhile, Death tries to restore Sam's soul.
Okay, I'm going to go away from my normal routine of doing a play by play recap of the entire episode. Why? Because it's nearly 2:15AM, and I really need to start getting a little more sleep at night.
At the end of the mid season finale, Death was putting Sam's soul back into his body. In this episode, the deal has been sealed and Castiel gives the verdict that Sam's soul is indeed reincorporated. The only problem is that the wall that Death has erected inside of Sam has left him without any memory of what has transpired through the first half of the season.
During the episode, Sam finds out from Castiel what happened over the past months and now wants to make up for the things he did while soul-less. Dean still wants to protect Sam from the truth, but Sam is determined to put things right.
Tonight, we also find out who the next big bad is going to be. Seems that Crowley wasn't the only one interested in purgatory. The dragons (who take the shape of humans) are kidnapping virgins. We find out that they are wanting to perform a ritual to open a door to purgatory and release the "Mother of All". They need a vessel for "MoA" to inhabit and that explains the need for the virgins.
At the end of the episode, the dragons succeed at opening the door and letting "MoA" into our world.
Great return for the series. I liked Robo-Sam quite a bit, but it's good to have Sammy back to himself now.
Next week it looks as if Sammy runs into a bit of legal trouble and ends up behind bars.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Smallville: S10 Ep12 - Collateral
Photo courtesy of CWTV.com |
Tonight, the mid season premiere of Smallville airs on The CW. Tonight's episode was originally scheduled for last week, but The CW rescheduled for this week instead.
Smallville stars Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Erica Durance as Lois Lane.
Here's what TV Guide has to say about tonight's installment:
The VRA releases Clark, Oliver, Lois and Dinah, who all have flashbacks of Chloe's involvement in their capture. Trust becomes an issue when Chloe returns to town and Dinah fears she is now a traitor.When we last saw our band of heroes, they had just finished the funeral ceremony of Hawkman (Michael Shanks). After the burial, a strange device came up out of the sands and detonated, leaving members of the Justice League unconscious. Tonight we find out what happened.
We open the episode at the Kent farm where an anxious Lois is on hold with the Vigilante Registration Agency. When someone finally gets on the line, Lois gives the person on the other end a butt chewing and threatens to go after the agent that she's speaking to. The agent hangs up on Lois. While cleaning up a broken glass, Lois hears a noise and runs to the front hallway to see Clark coming home. Clark informs her that the VRA was behind their abduction and tells her that they'll get answers tomorrow. Lois runs off to the kitchen to fix Clark something to eat. Clark follows her and assures her that he's fine. Lois isn't convinced. Clark squats down to pick up the broken glass on the floor and cuts himself. He tells Lois that the VRA somehow removed Clark's powers. They try to compare notes about what happened to them while in the custody of the VRA, but neither of them have a clear memory of what happened to them. Clark then has a wicked flashback where he's strapped into some kind of containment unit. He gets an injection in his neck and remembers Chloe being there at the containment unit.
At Luthorcorp, Oliver Queen is standing at his office doors which have been sealed off by the VRA. He tears down the official VRA notices and enters his office. Ollie pours himself a stiff drink. He notices his phone, picks it up and stares at the picture of Chloe that is his main background image and flashes back to his time in the custody of the agency. He's also strapped into some kind of containment unit having experiments performed on him while Chloe watches.
At the now abandoned Watchtower, Clark (in his Daily Planet uniform of shirt and tie) enters. Dinah (Alaina Huffman) steps out of the shadows. Dinah tells Clark that her powers are gone as well. She doesn't remember anything about her time in custody except for flashbacks that she's been having. She begins to tell Clark about the flashbacks and he knows that she's experiencing the same thing that both he and Ollie have experienced. Chloe is in all of their flashbacks watching. Dinah suspects that Chloe may have something to do with the absence of their powers, but Clark tells Dinah that Chloe wouldn't tell the VRA anything. Dinah is not convinced and asks Clark if he'll do what needs to be done if they find out that Chloe has turned on the League. Before Clark can answer, Dinah's phone rings. She tells Clark that Ollie is up at Metropolis General Hospital and things are not going well.
At Met-Gen, we see Ollie hunched in the corner of a glass enclosed room wearing a straitjacket. The thought that Chloe is somehow behind their abductions has pushed him over the edge. Clark enters the adjoining room and calls out to Oliver. Ollie tells Clark that the VRA is in his head. He tells Clark that they have him believing that Chloe is behind their time in custody. He tells Clark about the flashbacks that he's been having. Clark's face tells Oliver that Clark saw Chloe too, but Clark won't tell Oliver what he saw. Clark tells Ollie that he's going to find a way out of all this and leaves the hospital. The lights in the observation room begin to spark and explode. The walls begin to ripple. Chloe, or a vision of Chloe, steps out through the wall.
Ollie tells the vision of Chloe that whatever drugs they have him on are working. Chloe tells Oliver that he's not hallucinating. Chloe explains that she's there to save him, but Oliver isn't buying it. He tells the vision of Chloe that he remembers her being there when experiments were being performed on him. He also explains that Clark remembers the same thing. Chloe then explains that they are still in the custody of the VRA hooked up to a mainframe where their minds are being held prisoner in a virtual world. She explains that it's like they are playing a video game powered by their subconsciouses. Their own personal hells. Oliver tells Chloe that she's not real, and she explains how she is there.
She broke into the facility where they are being held, hacked into the computer and created an avatar of herself so that she could warn them about what was happening to them. She explains that the flashbacks that they've all been experiencing were flashes of reality when she tried to unplug them from the virtual world. When she unplugged them, their bodies flat-lined and she had no other choice but to plug them back into the mainframe. Chloe then goes into an explanation that since she knows that everything around them is fake, it gives her power (stealing an idea from "The Matrix"). She shows Oliver how she's going to rescue them all. Oliver buys her theory and the straitjacket disappears. Chloe tells Ollie to follow her out of there.
As they begin to leave the hospital, they run into Smallville's version of Agent Smith. They need to avoid the anti-virus programs or else they are toast. She explains to Ollie that if the agents catch him, they will kill him. Major plot hole here. She just explained that everything there is fake and as long as he believes that everything is fake, nothing can stop them. Here she is, however, completely contradicting herself by saying that if he dies in the virtual world as the result of being caught by the agents, he'll die in the real world as well.
They round a corner and run into an agent. Chloe and Oliver duck back around the corner. Chloe asks Oliver if he trusts her. He tells her that he trusts her with his life. Chloe steps back around the corner, pulls out two guns, and shoots the agent in front of them. Then she fires back down the corridor that they are in and takes out another agent. They continue their escape.
At The Daily Planet, Lois and Clark are trying to find out where they were held. They are soon joined by Dinah who explains that Oliver has just escaped from Met-Gen. Dinah shows Clark and Lois video surveillance footage of Ollie's escape and that he's being helped by Chloe. Lois and Clark decide that they need to find her, but Dinah says that if Chloe wanted them to find her she would have contacted them by now. Clark explains that Chloe must have a good reason for what she's doing, but Dinah tries to explain that they both saw what she was doing to them in the lab from their flashbacks. Lois tells Dinah that Chloe would never hurt Oliver. Dinah then shows them the footage of Chloe taking out the agents in the hallway. Chloe and Lois begin to argue. Clark's phone rings; it's a text message from Chloe telling him to meet her on the roof. Clark leaves without being noticed by the two women.
Clark joins Chloe and Oliver up on the roof of The Daily Planet. Chloe and Oliver bring Clark up to speed about the whole virtual world thing. They also explain how the VRA wants the League working for the government by manipulating their powers and skills. By this time, the agents make it up to the rooftop access door. Chloe gives the whole spiel about how Clark has to believe that everything around him is fake so that they can escape. Chloe tells them that they have to jump off the roof in order to get through the portal back into the real world. Clark wants to trust her, but wants answers first. Chloe tells Clark that she will answer his questions later, but they have to go now. Clark tries, but can't accept that what Chloe is saying is the truth. The agents are almost through the door. Chloe and Oliver jump from the roof and make it through the portal.
The glass topped gurney opens and Oliver is awake. He unhooks himself from the machine and gets up off the table. He turns and Chloe is there waiting to give him a kiss. The camera changes angles and shows a group of guards taken out on the floor. Flag and Deadshot enter the room. Oliver goes to confront them and they pull weapons. Chloe orders the two men to stand down and that she'll explain everything to Ollie later.
Flag explains to Oliver that the VRA doesn't know that they've infiltrated their facility in order to free the members of the League. But they will be finding out soon. He tells Oliver that they are going to be up against the dangerous and lethal VRA operatives. They need to get the rest of the crew unplugged and mobilized. Chloe goes back into the matrix.
Chloe is confronted by Dinah just moments after she jumps into the world. Dinah wants to know what she's done with Oliver. Chloe then tries to explain that they are inside a virtual world, but Dinah doesn't believe her and still believes that Chloe is a traitor. Dinah tries to ram Chloe into a wall face first, but Chloe pulls off some Keanu Reeves moves and flips back behind Dinah. They square off. After a few moments, Dinah pulls out one of her throwing blades and chucks it at Chloe's head. Chloe makes the knife stop in front of her and plucks it from the air. She asks Dinah where Lois is.
Back in the real world, the VRA operatives are on the way to the facility. At the lab, the next pod opens and Dinah gets unhooked from the machine. Oliver brings Dinah up to speed, Flag informs the team that the VRA agents are on their way. Flag goes to take up his defensive position, followed closely by the Black Canary. Oliver stays behind for a moment and Chloe tells him that it's going to be hard to get Clark out. Clark doesn't trust her anymore since she left the team. They've got just about 17 minutes to get the rest of the team out of the machine. Oliver tells Chloe to keep trying.
In the virtual world, Clark meets up with Lois in front of the Daily Planet. Clark wants to know what's going on and get back his powers so that he can stop Chloe. He thinks he's beginning to go crazy. He's seeing things that can't be real. He tells Lois that he saw Chloe and Oliver jump from the roof of the Planet, but when he went to check down below at the ground, they had vanished. Lois tries to explain the whole virtual reality thing to Clark. Clark still isn't buying it because he still doesn't trust Chloe. He's a little ticked that Lois is going along with the whole VR thing just because Chloe says so. Clark explains to Lois that he doesn't trust Chloe not because she left, but because she didn't explain why she was leaving. She just went. Lois tells Clark that Chloe has earned his trust and that he should respect her secrets and still believe in her despite the things that she's keeping from him. Lois tells Clark that they can't make him believe that the VR world is fake, he has to believe it all on his own.
Back in the real world, time is ticking away and the VRA agents are closing in. Chloe is pistol whipped from behind by Lt. Trotter as she's trying to get the rest of the team out of VR. Trotter's team then infiltrates the virtual world using Chloe's avatar.
The Chloe avatar seems to have something wrong with it. The Chloe avatar makes her way into the bullpen of the Planet and confronts Lois and Clark. The Chloe avatar tries to make Lois and Clark think that they are losing their minds by contradicting everything that the real Chloe tried to tell them earlier in the episode. Lois notices something is off about this version of Chloe. Lois backhands the Chloe avatar and sends her flying through a set of doors across the room. The Chloe avatar seems to be down for the count as Lois and Clark take to the elevator.
In the real world, the VRA agent that hijacked Chloe's avatar gets left alone in the pod room as Trotter and the rest of her team go to transport Chloe. Trotter tells the techie to not let Clark out of the VR world. Once the agents are outside they come under attack by gunfire. Flag walks calmly down the alley firing as he comes. When he stops to take cover, the VRA agents toss Chloe to the ground and are preparing to kill her when Deadshot saves the day with a couple of well placed bullets. Chloe runs and is stopped by a VRA agent. A green arrow slices through the night and Oliver jumps in to save Chloe. He uses his communicator to tell Canary that Trotter is coming. Trotter is firing as she runs, and Black Canary is acrobatically dodging the shots. When Trotter runs out of ammunition, Black Canary hits Trotter with he sonic scream taking Trotter out of the picture. The VRA agents are out for the count.
Back in VR land, Lois and Clark have made it up to the roof of the Planet, but they are stopped by the Chloe avatar who keeps trying to convince them that the VR world is the real world and that it would be suicide to jump from the rooftop. In another plot point ripped off from the Matrix movies a buttload of Chloe avatars appear on the rooftop. Lois tells Clark to not listen to the Chloe avatar and to trust in himself and take a leap of faith. Clark grabs Lois in his arms and he takes flight! Sure, it's in a virtual world, but we are seeing Clark Kent fly! Clark flies Lois through the portal.
Some time passes during the commercial break and when we come back we're at the Kent Farm. Chloe is looking through some pictures and Clark comes in the room to talk to her. She then explains how she took control of the Suicide Squad. She took out their missile capabilities and then gave Flag a choice. She could either report them to the government or they could work for her. Clark and Chloe then share a little chick flick moment about trust. Lois comes in from a grocery run and tells them that she just heard from Tess that Trotter and the rest of the VRA agents are now hooked up to their own VR hell. The League's secret is safe once again. Lois then asks Chloe if she'll be the maid of honor at the wedding. Chloe gives Lois a great big hug (I guess that means yes in the Smallville universe).
Later we join Oliver at Watchtower holding a rather large bouquet of flowers. Chloe comes in wearing a dress and tells Oliver that the flowers are beautiful. We have another chick flick moment about trust and Chloe tells Oliver how the helmet of Dr. Fate warned her to stay away. Oliver explains how he felt while Chloe was gone. Oliver asks if she's going to be sticking around for a while. Chloe says yes, and then they share some smooch-time.
In the barn at the Kent farm, Clark is reading through Carter's journal. Lois comes up behind him and lets him know that she's done picking out the flowers and bridesmaid dresses and it's safe to come back in the house. She notices he's looking through Carter's book and they share a moment about believing. They share some smooch time, and that's the end of this week's episode.
I had quite a bit of a problem with this episode and the borrowing of plot points from "The Matrix". It really took me out of the episode quite a few times. I was like "oh here we go again with the recycled plot points". Once the episode moved past the virtual world, though, I was back to enjoying things again.
Next week, we see some familiar faces return to the Smallville universe.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Hiatus
Greetings-
Just wanted to put a quick note out that I am putting this blog on a temporary hiatus. I've gotten so far behind on my television watching over the past week, that I don't think I'll be able to catch up at all until the end of the week.
Starting today, I'm going on a short hiatus to catch up and clear my head a bit. I'll be back at it, though, this coming Friday for the mid-season premieres of Supernatural and Smallville.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Just wanted to put a quick note out that I am putting this blog on a temporary hiatus. I've gotten so far behind on my television watching over the past week, that I don't think I'll be able to catch up at all until the end of the week.
Starting today, I'm going on a short hiatus to catch up and clear my head a bit. I'll be back at it, though, this coming Friday for the mid-season premieres of Supernatural and Smallville.
Until next time,
-Bill-
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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-
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-
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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.
More news should be forthcoming over the next few weeks.
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