The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments

by Courtney Hilden

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments by George Johnson is a short book chronicling the scientists and science surrounding the ten most eloquently simple and clever experiments of all time. You won't find the classic moments of Galileo's infamous observation about movement or Newton's gravity apples, but you will find some of the better known scientists and their least known experiments, with illustrations and personal stories as part of the narrative.
Sadly, the most boring part of each chapter is the explanation of the experiments. Science is best explained and understood in a more visual form, and even though the book has illustrations, it was hard to discern what Johnson was saying, even when dealing with Pavlov’s famed dog and saliva experiments, which is usually understandable in most textbooks.
The most interesting thing about this book is the human drama going on in tandem with these experiments. Johnson says in this introduction that he doesn’t want to talk about the personal lives on scientists, but then discusses it at the beginning and end of the chapter. It is unfortunately the best parts of the book, and too bad that so little time is dedicated to it.
There’s something very narrow about the author’s view. Johnson seems most interested in science happening in Western Europe from about 1810 to 1850. If he wanted to write a book about those experiments, the relationships between these scientists, he should have done so. In addition to that, much of the book focuses on the work done to understand electricity. There’s little in the way of biology, except for a chapter on the heart and (shockingly!) electricity. I don’t know what exactly Johnson’s background is, other than what is in the book’s biography, but I get the distinct impression he’s an electrical engineer. The lack of life sciences in the book is disheartening and gives the reader an impression that somehow life science is not capable of great experiments.

There’s an annoying change in point of view and verb tense within the chapters. He tells the scientist’s background in one tense, then switches to another to explain the experiment, then occasionally tell his own story in another tense. There’s something irritating in how jarring the switch is from one to another, even though they are often clearly separated within each chapter.
Overall, this book is an excellent read, but only if you already have a technical background. Otherwise, it's only interesting in small sections.

Chuck Versus the Subway and the Ring

by Courtney Hilden
Spoiler Alert: This review references the end of the episode and the third season of Chuck.
Another day, another season finale. Tonight: Chuck.
Our story picks up with Chuck seeing Shaw, the arch-nemesis for the night, and following him to a CIA-run base. Chuck runs into his sister, being held there by Justin, who discovers that yes, indeed, her brother is a spy. Chuck also walks into a meeting discussing the intersect, where he manages to embarrass the entire team and put the project in jeopardy. Oh, and Shaw is turning the CIA into collaborating unknowingly with the Ring, jailing Beckman and threatening Alex's life. This is a bad day, even for Chuck.
It's nice to see Alex again. I've been hoping for a continuing storyline involving her and her Dad, John Casey. While it was disappointed to not see the Mom make another appearance, I'm still hoping for a reunion of the three of them. One of the better moments was John frequenting the dinner where Alex worked, though it's too bad that this wasn't established for us early on, so that we knew he was seeing her. Though the kidnapping thing was great.
This episode also had a lot of subways, both hiding dastardly Ring bases and delicious breakfast sandwiches for Big Mike to eat. Nice, unsubtle plugs there.
There were also some great lines tonight, including Morgan's "No plan? That's never stopped me before." (Too true.) Chuck's throw away line of "She's going to be so mad at me if I die," was perfectly delivered. One of the greatest was definitely Shaw's sardonic "Muwahaha," which could easily turn into a catchphrase.
Some of these great lines were also awesomely terrible, like Lester's come on to Alex, involving a reference to Empire Records, or like Jeff's line about Ellie being like Chuck, just "with lady parts." Jeff's answer of "Pineapple" to "What are you thinking?" was amazing. Best part of some of these lines? Lester, once again proving that acting is reacting. (Oh, and that Jeffster video? Amazing. They should totally play Comic Con.) As always, there were shinning comedic moments, particularly Morgan licking his phone and breaking his thumbs, and still failing to save the day.
Though, of course, one of the most shocking things about this entire episode was that they shot Chuck's Dad. I figured they were going to keep him on the show for years to come, especially since that actor has so much nerd cred, but it made sense to kill him for the larger storyline. Zachary Levi's slow-mo headshake of denial was perfect. And it was heartbreaking to see Ellie watch her own father's death.
The beginning of the second part of the finale where Ellie's Dad asks her to take care of her brother was great. As the eldest sibling, I can tell you that parents totally put you on the guilt trip when you're young, and it ruins you for life. You spend all your time watching your siblings like a hawk and going to therapy. I like that the flashback also allowed the audience to see the first time that Chuck's Dad realized his son could probably handle being the intersect.
The fight scene near the end was explosive and fun and did a great job of incorporating Jeffster's music video. Levi is much more fit than the show would usually have you believe. I'm still not sure how I feel about the reboot thing. It makes sense, and it works, but I'm afraid that the show will use it as a deus ex machina too often, as it was in this episode, though it might be interesting to see what happens if the team attempts to force a reboot of Chuck's computer-like brain.
I was also really intrigued by the brief discussions of choice in this episode. Choice isn't something that's discussed a lot; in fact, most of the time, they discuss how Chuck didn't have a choice about first becoming a spy. It's nice to see Chuck realizes that he did make choices in the course of the show and do something about it.
One of the disappointing things to see was that, once again, Chuck's heart is what makes him weak. We get it writers! You don't have to distinguish Chuck from his fellow spies; he's already the main character of a show. Though watching Shaw's annoyed look as he discovered that Chuck has accidentally infiltrated his other base was priceless.
Although I like the idea of Morgan chasing after Alex and Casey being none too happy about it, Alex and Morgan would not work as a couple. Morgan is at his best when he's single. And Alex is way too adorable.
You knew the moment Mike, Jeff and Lester were dealing with the possible closedown of the Buy More that it was going to go up in flames. I'm also saddened to see that they put Jeff and Lester on the run. I really hope this doesn't mean that these two aren't coming back to the show, particularly Lester, who is pitch perfect and more consistently brings the funny than Morgan.
I'm also a little annoyed by the whole "burn" thing. The entire series no one's mentioned getting burned, but apparently they are this finale. What, have the writers been watching Burn Notice?
The show could have ended at the break in-between the two episodes, where Chuck, Sarah and Casey in a detention facility for the summer, since it would be a good way to leave the audience wondering what would happen next.
Also on that note, I think it's clear at this point that Chuck's not going to keep his promise. The audience already knows, given Chuck's history and the fact this is a spy comedy that there was no way Chuck was going to stop being a spy. So they shouldn't even ask us to try to believe that was ever going to happen. It was also unrealistic how forgiving Chuck and Ellie have been of their father. Normal abandoned children do not behave like those too, particularly Ellie. She should be incapable of having a relationship with anyone, and shouldn't trust anyone.
The reappearance of Chuck's Mom at the end of the episode was also predictable. If she's a spy, as the end seemed to imply, really, I doubt anyone watching this show will be surprised. (Let me guess a little further: that's how Chuck's parents met: in the spy biz.)
It'll be interesting to see what happens now that both Ellie and Awesome know Chuck's true identity. I was hoping that maybe Awesome's revelations about knowing so much more than Ellie would drive them apart, since this duo needs a change-up.
Daniel Shaw has also managed to become not only the worst, most psychotic ex-boyfriend but the best villain of the show. No one would have never guessed that Superman would be so delightfully evil, but he is. I want them to bring him back as a continuing menace to Chuck and Sarah and Casey. They only thing not believable concerning Shaw is that he apparently has terrible aim, which is hard to believe, considering he's a top CIA agent.
I also like the idea of intersects eventually becoming a more normal thing as the show goes on. Wouldn't it be great if Alex became a regular member of the show and then an intersect herself, which would lead to Chuck trying to train Alex as an intersect, inevitably dealing once again with his own failings as a spy? That could make great tv, though if Alex just getting a job at the Buy More, it would be awkward and fun, since she would be working with her Dad, a known killer.
Speaking of great ideas for this show, Lester would make a wonderful Buy More manager. He's so crazy and evil that working for him might be legitimately scary. His schemes to get more money would be worth putting him the position.
I'd also like to see more of Chuck sans Governator watch. It would be interesting to see Chuck with deteriorating flashes but somehow is a better spy, since he's less predictable. It's too bad his bad flashes were not a little more like the flashes Frank Black used to get on Millennium, though I enjoyed the fetus image that cropped up.
Those phones the Ring operatives use should be in stores, but so far, there's been no marketing pitch. I love that they also apparently text, making them sort of the perfect tie in with the show.
Some final thoughts: This show does a great job at making hot actors (Zachary Levi and Vic Sahay in particular) look way nerdy than they are. Although this is nice and works with the show, it would be nice to take a moment or two to admire how truly adorable they are.
I'm increasingly of the mind that the show's end game is to make Chuck and Sarah run away, since it seems to have become a major theme for the show. I'm not sure how I feel about that as a possible ending. I'm sort of ambivalent about it.
Overall, I would say that it was a solid final for a show, though not as good as the endings for the show in year's past. Guess that's what happens when you guarantee it'll be back next year.

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.

Possession

by Courtney Hilden
Spoiler Alert: The ending of the movie is given away in this review.

If you had been following the drama over the release of Possession, you might have gotten the idea that the movie was terrible, since no one wanted to release it, spending several years finished by unavailable, even though it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lee Pace, both respected, though not overly-loved, actors. You’d be wrong.
The movie is about Jess, a newlywed, played by Gellar. Her husband, Ryan (Michael Landes), has a ne’er-do-well brother, Roman, played by Pace. Roman’s been in and out of jail, dresses like a punk, and abuses his girlfriend. While on parole and living at Jess and Ryan’s home, Roman suddenly leaves. Ryan chases after him, and the two get in a crash, dramatically enough on the Golden Gate Bridge, both falling into comas. When the body of Roman awakes, he claims instead to be Ryan. Jess is forced to consider that either her husband’s spirit is inside Roman or that Roman is playing her. Much of the drama, subtly but well-executed by Gellar and Pace, revolves around who really woke up.

To be fair, Possession doesn’t break much new ground until the end. It’s a stylish thriller a la Seven or Playing God. The cinematography is beautiful and smartly lets the lovely Northwest scenery do much of the work. The blues used in some scenes is well done, and it looks like an expensive, Duchovny and Anderson-less version of The X-Files.
Both Gellar and Pace give terrific performances. Given this and their other work, they really both deserve to be bigger stars. The movie was shot with two different endings, so both of them had to do more than just play one set of motivations: they had to play two.
The movie seductively allows the audience to fall in love with Pace’s character, who, up until the end, it is unclear if he is Roman or Ryan.
The ending is a well-won pay off. Roman turns out to be exactly who Jess fears he is, and he turns violent. Pace is better known for his lovable romantics, but is just as good at playing someone evil and manipulative. Jess’s creepy and deluded belief that her husband will wake up leaves the audience wondering if Jess was so easy to fool because her connection to reality was tedious at best.
There’s also that alternative ending that leaves us with more questions than answers. Jess decides that Roman really is lying and is not Ryan. She decides not to say anything, and goes about treating him as if he is her husband. We’re left to wonder what her motivations are. Does she love Roman? Is it really Roman if he’s pretending to be Ryan? Does she believe he has changed into a “good” person, and is worthy of loving? Is she just desperate, even for someone that is lying to her? Is she afraid of him, since he has a violent past? The ambiguity is delightful. It is this that really makes the movie more than just a thriller: it makes it the sort of movie you think about well after you’ve watched it.