The Daredevil in the Mold

Spoiler Alert!: This review gives away all of the events of this episode, and some of them are big.
by Courtney Hilden

In this episode of Bones, Booth and Sweets get drunk and decide to propose to each of their girlfriends, while Cam struggles with her own love life, and the rest of the team investigates the murder of an extreme sportsman.

The theme of the episode, extreme biking, was fairly well-d0ne. One scene involved the coordination of several bikers doing stunts amongst the actors, all of which was handled flawlessly and looked fluid and natural on the screen. The subject also gave us the chance to enjoy some fun guest actors and their characters, including Naul (with possibly the weirdest name of all time). Anglea chasing people down to interrogate them was also fun to watch. (Can we please have more of the squints go out in the field to interview subjects, espeically the otherwise-annoying interns? There's something fun about their reactions to the world outside the lab.)

In terms of goofs, Cam would never have had a problem with a discussion of dog vomit slime and bed bugs, since she works with dead bodies all the time.
And finally, the most important thing about the episode: Booth's proposal to Hannah. So much of the proposal was rushed, from Booth's decision to while drunk (which felt totally false and far-to-pat) to Booth buying a ring with Sweets. On a normal episode of Bones, all of this would be drawn out enough that everything would feel genuine. Usually on this show, a case gets one of the characters to change their point of view, like it did when Bones saw herself in a victim. If the writers were not in such a hurry of getting rid of Hannah (who really has grown on me), she would get sucked into a case (another gang deal gone bad? a hostage situation?) and then Booth would realize that he loved her so much he wanted to marry her. And then, of course, she'd let him down.

It seems obvious that Hannah is not the right person for Booth. I hate to reference a certain line, but: Booth loves Hannah but is not in love with her. What a relief that Hannah said no, but not really because it gives Bones a chance at Booth. I love that Hannah knows herself well enough to know that getting married is a bad idea. But Booth was totally acting like Hannah was the problem, instead of recognizing that making her marry him would never work.
This is not to say the Bones is really a good choice for Booth. As this season has gone on, it seems clear that Bones, despite the occassional pang of lonliness, doesn't really need anything at all, and I'd rather like to celebrate that instead. Booth increasingly doesn't deserve her, and I'd much rather see us move on from that.

The montage at the end of the show, after Hannah rejected Booth's proposal, featured Booth getting drunk at the Founding Fathers, was totally boring and unnecessary and just filler.

Given the events of this episode in terms of the long story arc, this was all big stuff, yet it felt thrown together instead of the event that it should have been.

Downton Abbey: Episode 1

by Courtney Hilden

Spoiler Alert!: Some of the episode's best surprises are given away in this review.

Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theatre's premiere show this season, centers on the title house and the two classes of citizens it contains: the elite, wealthy family and their servants. In this first episode, Robert, an Earl and patriarch, discovers two of his relatives, and heirs to the estate, have passed away aboard what is certainly but not named to be the Titanic. This causes Robert's wife Cora to try to gain part of the estate for herself and her eldest daughter, Mary, and for Robert to invite the new heir, Matthew Crawley, to the estate. Meanwhile, the "downstairs" family deals with a new servant, who, because he was wounded a war, has trouble fulfilling his duties, but much more trouble because most of the other servants treat him so poorly.
It's not as if anything is wrong with the show, it just feels very much like other movies and miniseries that also feature both the wealthy family and servants, and in fact, there doesn't seem to be anything different from this than other earlier shows. So we trend on the familiar ground of the servants and the family and their intertwining drama. The servants, of course, have the more interesting, lesser-seen drama. The family's drama has been part of so much of the Masterpiece stories and Austen adaptations as to be boring to anyone who is familiar with either. This is, after all, the same situation Mrs. Bennett was trying to prevent in Pride and Prejudice, which takes place some one hundred years before. At least in this version, the economic situation of the elite female characters is not avoided. Countess Cora spends time trying to get some money to live off of, but she is blocked even from trying to get her dowager money back out of the estate. In a system like this, the economy is structured to take from women (their bodies, ones that are forced to stay sexually monogamous) and give them nothing or close enough in return.
There are some highlights in terms of great characters. The eldest daughter, Lady Mary, shows a delightful lack of care towards her dead fiance, a perfect reminder of the love that was not present in these marriages.
The show also deserves credit for having a "lame" character. John Bates had served Robert in the "war with the Boers", and now has taken a job as Robert's valet. The show does an excellent job at depicting both how relatively fine Bates is at his job and the way the majority of servants look down on him for his disability. "Crippled" characters are few and far between on television, so it is nice to see a show that depicts him in a way that is judgemental of those who are judgemental of him.

Unfortunately, the depiction of homosexuality leaves much to be desired. Thomas, the first footman, spends time scheming (first against Bates, then later against his former lover). The other gay character spends time manipulating Thomas and Lady Mary. Gay men are not evil, and showing them this way just plays into stereotypes and homophobia.
As for the next episode, it seems obvious that the solution to the problems of the estate rest with the lawyer, Matthew Crawley. Countess Cora would be wise to enlist Crawley to figure out how to separate her money from the rest of the estate or to simply let her have it, as that is what would make both him and Cora happy.
So, even though the show manages to create sympathetic female and disabled characters, ones who are forced to fight through difficult circumstances, the show fails a rounded depiction of homosexuality. It acknowledges their difficulties of being so closeted, but tonally makes the judgement on them that they are dangerous. Coupled with the already-explored aspects of the story, Downton Abbey is somewhat admirable but in no way splendid.

The Pandorica Opens

by Courtney Hilden
Spoiler Alert!: The conclusion of this episode, and the massive twist, is given away in this review.

"The Pandorica Opens" is the penultimate episode of this year's Doctor Who. The episode begins with Vincent creating a strange, unseen-by-the-audience painting that finds its way to Winston Churchill, who then tips off Dr. Song, who steals in from Liz 10. Dr. Song, using her knowledge of where the Doctor is in time, leaves him a message of the oldest of planets, Planet One, which sends the Doctor and Amy to Roman conquered-Britain, sometime after the death of Cleopatra, where they discover, indeed, that the Pandorica exists. Now they just have to figure out what's inside, why every great villain is showing up to meet it, and how to stop some unstoppable villain.

It's brilliant that they were able to wrap around various plotlines from earlier in the season to this. They also brought in Stonehenge, answering, at least for the Whovians, what's down there. What a great way of integrating Rory back into the mix as a Roman solider. (Poor Rory, not being remembered by Amy.) And the revelation at the end of the episode, that the Doctor himself was the ultimate weapon, was a great twist, though one that makes a lot of sense, given the trajectory of the last few seasons.
Also, props for bringing back the most beloved guest characters, Dr. Song and Liz 10. Too bad we didn't get to see more of Liz 10, who they should really consider for a companion.
The not so brilliant bits? Bringing the normal group of villains back, like the Daleks and the Cybermen. I've already mocked this most recent brand of Daleks by calling their leader White Chocolate Dalek. It's too bad that this show always has to use the same villains, instead of inventing new, and less grandiose, antagonists.

The End

by Courtney Hilden
Spoiler Alert!: The ending to Lost's finale episode is discussed in this review.

So, here I am, having just watched the series finale of Lost. I'm pretty stunned.
I guess, after all this time, that I should have known that this was a long con, and that none of the people ever survived, they just died in that plane crash. The show as we saw it was an opportunity for them to each find their own redemption. The ones who did presumably moved on to heaven and those who didn't continued to live in an unreal, painful existence. This show worked awful hard for us as viewers to believe in that redemption and for us to buy into the final part of episode.
As to the Sawyer/Kate/Jack triangle: there's a part of me that wished they wouldn't answer the question, because I feel like these three are best with all the tension between them. (And seriously, wouldn't it be great if the show had Sawyer/Jack?) I wanted the three of them to be the guardians of the island, because, as Jack himself said so early on: "live together, die alone."
It was good to see so many of our favorite characters again: Juliet, Boone, Shannon, Daniel, even Vincent showed up.
I love that Juliet ended up being Jack's ex-wife, and that they were capable of getting along with each other even after their divorce. I also love that Boone and Shannon were found in a bar fight. (Isn't that where Christian should have been?) I'm glad that some of our favorite couples, notably Charlie and Claire, were reunited.
The episode had some great funny moments. Kate telling the Lockness Monster that she had "saved him a bullet," was the kind of classic quip you'd expect on Buffy. I also love the great discussion surrounding ducktape. "I don't believe in much," Miles told us, "but I do believe in ducktape." Amen! It was these little details in the episode that made it fun to watch, especially for fans who could spot moments that were based off of earlier parts in the series, like Smokey and Jack lowering Desmond down to see the light and Kate and Charlie being present for Aaron's birth.
In fact, it was those details that were similar to the Charlie-centric episode "Greatest Hits." It reminded the audience of all of those characters and moments that they loved most.
The best part of the episode? The action, unquestionably. Watching Jack and Smokey the Lockness Monster square off on that cliff, fighting it out, with his knife in the traditional place that Locke always kept it was wonderful and amazing.
As always, I'm still left with some questions. I'm not a super fan of the show, so sometimes I wonder if it's just my lack of knowledge or if I'm supposed to be wondering those things. I want to know how Desmond knew about the bright light at the center of the island. Was this part of the knowledge he gained after Charles Widemore put him through that electromagnet test? I'm also curious as to if the white hair that Richard found was there because Richard wanted to really live again or if it was because Jacob's final destruction removed the magic keeping Richard in stasis. And how did the Lockeness Monster get that boat to stay?
And there were a lot of things that I was unhappy with. I'm still very iffy on this whole "they were really dead all along" business, since I was hoping for something more profound. I wanted Ben to make it off the island. And I disapprove of Sawyer/Juliet. I feel like Juliet belongs with someone else, though the whole "we can go Dutch" call back was awesome.
I guess what really bothered me about the ending to the show was that it's unclear to me if good and evil exists or if they're just part of a bigger plan that is beyond such a dichotomy. The ending made me wonder if the world we've been watching for six seasons was real or if it was the Sideways world. I'm inclined to believe, as previously stated, that the Sideways world was the real one, and that our characters are dead. But then I wonder about the Present world: did the airplane make it off the island? Where did those characters go? Or were those last shots of the crash supposed to tell us that crashed and died too? The lack of clear answers for these new mysteries is frustrating. It left me feeling like this wasn't so well-planned, it just kind of looks that way.
The final flew by amazingly fast, especially given how much information they had to soar through. I'm glad it's over in some ways, since it's a relief, but I'm sad since I'm already missing my favorite characters. If Sawyer wants to come live with me and give me a nickname, that'd be fine by me.
Overall? This finale was no where near as good as Buffy the Vampire Slayer's, which will probably always be the finale to beat in sci-fi fantasy shows. At the same time, it wasn't as overbearing or disappointing as Battlestar Galactic. It was sort of meh, which is too bad, because all the fans expected better.