TeleChimp

Following Megan Fox’s somewhat abrupt departure from the Transformers franchise last week, there’s been much Internet speculation as to whom director Michael Bay would choose as a replacement.

Gemma Arterton, fresh from her appearance in Prince Of Persia, was thought to be in the running, while other names attached to the role included Miranda Kerr, Bar Refaeli and Brooklyn Decker.

Now, however, it appears that Bay’s selection is, in fact, none of the above. According to GeekWeek, the actor lined up to play the girlfriend role in Transformers 3 will be 23-year-old Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. If her name doesn’t sound too familiar (and we must admit, we hadn’t heard of her, either), she’s a British model whose great-great grandfather was politician Sir Herbert Huntingdon-Whiteley.

Other than the fact that she’s dating Hollywood hard man Jason Statham, Huntington-Whiteley’s acting CV seems rather thin, though her experience as a Victoria’s Secret and Pirelli calendar model probably makes her more than qualified to take on the role of Michael Bay’s eye candy in-residence.

Specific details of Huntington-Whiteley’s character have yet to be announced, but expect to see her draped over a motorcycle in a giant robot movie near you soon.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Chuck Versus The Living Dead

With this show now the proud owner of a shiny thirteen-episode season four, and an option on a back nine, those working on Chuck must be walking tall.

But that good news does also bring with it the whole question of where the show goes next? I mean, the concept must develop or die, I’d suggest.

If Chuck Versus The Living Dead is anything to go by, there appear to be those in the Chuck writing team who’d like the show to entirely morph into a serious spy drama. Because some bits of this week’s show were so Alias in places I wondered if Sydney Bristow herself would come gliding into view wearing an implausibly tight rubber dress and an outrageously red wig.

What underlined this to me was that the plot of the show is reworking the same idea as the first season of Alias, namely it’s not just being a spy that’s tough, it’s the impact on those around you that’s even harder. If this seems all a bit serious for Chuck, and it is borderline in some places, before it gets too out of hand they have Morgan Grimes and Jeffster on hand to remind us that this show was/is/can be a hilarious comedy.

The headline event this week is the reappearance of Scott Bakula as Mr. Bartowski Senior, lured back by The Ring’s manipulation of Ellie. With her planting bugs and telling lies, that makes Big Mike and Jeffster the only non-spies in the show!

I remember joking in an early review that, by the end of Chuck, everyone would be a spy, and by a quirk of weirdness that seems exactly where we’ve gone.

It’s the BuyMore characters that are the very spine of Chuck, though, and their often manic contributions are the highlight of most episodes. The bits they contributed this week made me genuinely laugh out loud, rather than the mumbled snigger that most allegedly funny TV can draw from me. The whole idea of Jeff and Lester breaking up their act and then Big Mike coming to manage their reunion was a masterstroke. But the scene where Mike explained that he was the missing ‘Rain’ from ‘Earth, Wind and Fire’ had me in hysterics.

They capped that piece beautifully when Mike handed Lester the gold stage costume, because, as he saw it, Lester has the ‘hips of a six-year-old girl’. This was pure Chuck magic, and I’m still chuckling now, hours later.

I suppose the strength of this show is that it can be intense, crazy and thoughtful, all within the space of 90 seconds, which makes it very entertaining. Where they’ll take this eventually, I’m not sure, but I’m glad they invited us along for the ride.

What it also demonstrates is the confidence everyone in front of and behind the cameras has in their product, and that they can still deliver strong entertainment going into a fourth season.

I’ve kept this review spoiler-free in most respects, but I do want to mention the appearance of a previously dead person at the end of the show. It will either be the catalyst for a suitably insane finale, or we’ll all regret that particular actor’s involvement in this show. Time will tell.

With only two episodes left in this season, I anticipate probably more drama than laughs, but the I’m confident we won’t be disappointed on either front.

Popularity: 30% [?]

There are a few ways to look at the jam-packed two-hour season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy.” It was a cleaning-out of a couple of characters that were going nowhere; it was a whirlwind tour through a bunch of long and drawn-out romantic story lines; and it gave several actors massive, Emmy-baiting showcases.

But mostly, it was an absorbing and suspenseful story that went just a little off the rails from the sheer amount of business heaped upon it.

It began with Gary Clark, who’s been suing the hospital over the death of his wife. He showed up with a gun and almost immediately did away with the little used Dr. Reed Adamson, one of the Mercy West imports, in the supply room.

More significantly, he shot Alex, who dragged himself into an elevator where he waited patiently to be discovered — much like Carter once did in the famous “Carter and Lucy get stabbed” sequence on “ER,” in the shadow of which this episode inevitably exists. When Reed’s body was discovered, the hospital went into lockdown.

Meanwhile, Lexie and Mark found Alex and dragged him into a conference room, where Mark cut him open and Lexie stuffed balled-up surgical gloves in his mouth to keep him from screaming. (Seriously, pretty intense, this whole thing.) Their battle to save Alex was on.

In the most harrowing story of the episode, Clark came into the room where Bailey was hiding with Percy and a patient named Mary (played by Mandy Moore). Bailey heard Clark ask Percy if he was a surgeon, and when Percy said yes, Clark shot him. So when Clark dragged Bailey out from under the bed (yikes!) and asked her if she was a surgeon, she lied and said she was a nurse. Once Clark left, Bailey’s battle to save Percy was on.

Meanwhile, Meredith was elsewhere in the hospital, happily learning that she was pregnant. But before she could tell Derek, Clark found and shot him as a horrified Cristina and Meredith looked on from the opposite walkway. (It must be said: It was a very nicely composed sequence). Meredith and Cristina’s battle to save Derek was on.

Down in the OR, Owen and Teddy were mid surgery when the lockdown began. They had to move the patient, making Avery the only one there to receive Meredith and Cristina when they brought Derek in. This left only Cristina to do Derek’s surgery.

But when Clark found them (he really got around), he put a gun to Cristina’s head and demanded she stop working on Derek. A horrified Meredith and a conveniently arriving Owen looked on as Avery bluffed Clark into thinking Derek was dead long enough for Clark to leave — and then, naturally, they saved Derek’s life anyway.

Alex was spared, too. Lexie barely survived an encounter with Clark herself, then announced to the half-conscious Alex that she loved him. This fact was not lost on Mark, who proposed to her last week. Lexie didn’t even mind when Alex briefly mistook her for Izzie in a state of delirium, so their relationship seemingly is on track.

Not everybody is so lucky: Owen picked Cristina over Teddy, but Cristina had already dumped him by then, so it’s not quite clear whether she intends to take him back.

But you can’t win them all. When Bailey heroically dragged Percy through the corridors of the hospital only to find that the elevators were stopped for the lockdown, she realized there was no way to get him to the OR and that he would die. She sat on the floor with him, cradled his head in her lap and stayed with him until he died. So that’s two Mercy Westers who didn’t find spots in the story and got themselves killed as a result.

Much of the episode worked, until one part that felt like it had been tacked on for no good reason: Meredith miscarried while all the madness in the OR was developing.

There was a lot to like about the episode: Bailey’s devastated explosion of temper at the elevators, Cristina’s speech to Meredith about how she herself couldn’t operate on Derek with Meredith in the room, and the scene in which Webber calmly talked Clark into killing himself to end the standoff.

But the miscarriage felt very much like an add-on, not quite earned. Having a pregnancy announced and lost in the same episode seems manipulative, and not really up to what was going on the rest of the time.

The other unsuccessful segment involved Arizona and Callie, who once again bickered annoyingly during an otherwise tense and serious story. They then got back together once again because they papered over their child issues again, with Arizona apparently agreeing to have kids even though she still doesn’t actually seem to want them.

All in all, it was a very well-done finale, but it got away from the writers just a little at the end. With the shooter seemingly everywhere you didn’t want him and everyone trapped with precisely the most dramatic person possible, it got a little ridiculous.

But in the end, the acting — including big nights for Chandra Wilson, Sandra Oh and Ellen Pompeo — carried it off.

Popularity: 100% [?]

With a title like Pain, it’s obvious that there’ll be some heavy drama in this episode, which may put some viewers off. Right from the opening scene, in which Lt Scott (Brian Smith) is having sex with Lt James (Julia Benson) emotional tensions are running high. Lt Scott tries to leave and Lt James takes it rather badly and bashes him over the head, leaving him dead on the floor.

In another part of the ship, Dale Volker (Patrick Gilmore) gets trapped in his room when his door doesn’t function, and it’s only when Sgt Riley (Haig Sutherland) opens his door from the outside that he can get out. However, it doesn’t take long for us to realize that these are illusions, as we see Lt Scott alive and well, and being entirely bewildered by his son appearing on board.

When it turns out that an alien tick has bitten into the heads of certain members of the crew, including Lt Scott, Dale Volker, Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque), Dr Rush (Robert Carlyle), Sgt Greer (Jamil Smith) and a few other members of the crew, the hallucinations become more of a problem.

Sgt Greer believes that another mutiny is about to occur, and under what he takes as orders from Col Young (Louis Ferreira), he takes unprovoked action.

All the while, Dr Rush gets increasingly freaked out by the fact that he thinks aliens have taken control over the ship, which has to be at least a little unnerving.

This is one of those classic sci-fi staples that has made appearances in many shows over the years including Buffy, Stargate Atlantis and Star Trek Voyager, and that, if you get right, can be brilliant.

Unfortunately, this episode is a little lacking in ingenuity and thought process.

For instance, the first scene in which Lt Scott gets murdered would be increasingly more effecting on the viewer if we didn’t see him a few scenes later alive and well. Dale Volker’s hallucinations, however, become more and more terrifying as the episode goes on, and it’s only a shame that they work out what’s going on early in the episode.

It’s in situations like this that a ‘red-shirt’ would come in handy. It’s something that Stargate Universe has done once before, in the episode which introduced them to the altogether different kind of alien life form they have come across in this series. The ‘dust devil’ in that episode was responsible for the loss of Cpl Gorman early in the series and made the threat to the crew all that more real.

Now, I know that, with a limited number of expendable background characters like we see on Destiny, you can’t afford to kill off a member of the crew every time there is an unknown threat. However, in situations like this, that very thing can sell the threat of the unknown so much more than it can without it.

Still, given that the ticks don’t take anyone’s life, and, in fact, only cast the illusion of doing so to a very limited number of people, the threat becomes relatively infantile and the impact of the hallucinations falters because of it.

Only in the first scene do we really feel like there is anything to worry about as, with a crew full of smart people and relatively good technology, they’re going to find a way around it within the 40-minute runtime.

However, we already know that the rules of the show can be changed, as in the episode Time, and that people can die from alien threats, as in the episode Water. So, the fact that this feels like a step down is disheartening.

It’s not bad, though. The quality we see here is higher than you can get in a lot of other shows on television right now, which is a testament to just how good this team is at making the show.

Even at their lowest hour, they can still make a good episode, no matter if the quality of the writing dips. It’s by no means a good reason to stop watching. In fact, the episode only goes to prove why it is worthwhile viewing.

By giving us this rather poor episode in comparison to the excellent standard we have become accustomed to, we see how this show could be weekly, and if it were at this standard every week, viewers would re-consider their fan status. As it is, this only goes to strengthen the efforts of Time and Human, which are arguably the show’s finest hours.

Of course, I would have preferred that the episode hadn’t been this weak and that this truly brilliant germ of an idea hadn’t went to waste as it has. However, I do still have faith that the quality will pick up, and that it’s only because this idea came from a wealthy pool of great sci-fi that it feels worse than it actually is.

In conclusion, probably the worst episode of the season to date, but given that it has some good points, it’s still worth a watch.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Meet the Griffins – Peter, the big, lovable oaf who always says what’s on his mind. Lois, the doting mother who can’t figure out why her son keeps trying to kill her. Their daughter Meg, the teen drama queen who’s constantly embarrassed by her family. Chris, the beefy 13-year-old who wouldn’t hurt a fly, unless it landed on his hot dog. Stewie, the maniacal one-year-old bent on world domination. And Brian, the sarcastic dog with a wit as dry as the martinis he drinks. The animated adventures of this outrageous family will have you laughing out loud.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Baywatch the nice and humanitarian service these Bunch of professionals as beach guards do for mankind, to this great Channel, before the frequencies

of this channel, Reached Indian shores, I Was familiar only with Odds and Evens, Ryan o Neal, Outlaw Josey Wales Duchess and the dirt water Fox, Inside Job of Henry Fonda, and Return of The Man called Horse.

These things kept me ignorant of the world. I used to think James Hadley Chase is a Genius to write such Good stories, Roger Moore wearing safari Suits is the ultimate in style statements or Dharmender Wearing Corduroy Shirts, Pants, Jackets are the Best things this world has to offer. Then I read and heard there is going to be a free Telecast of few hours From Singapore on Doordarshan A Network of channels called Star Network And this Network has Star World, The very first time I saw this Channel, I Was introduced to Baywatch the people the star cast of this nice program presented to the Indian Audience a show of milk of human kindness I could not believe the efficiency these professionals Of Baywatch displayed Diving into cold, salty sea water. Risking their own lives, saving lives of holiday makers Giving Artificial Respirations, unconcerned about the Risk of catching Some contagious disease. Their eye catching uniforms, their professional attitude left a deep impact on My impressionable mind, I was even allowed to look into their personal lives I could not help myself but admire their spirits, their approach their walks of Life.

My friends in college watched Baywatch they confessed to me for other Reasons than mine, their reasons were not worth a dime, they could not Influence me, I only watched this program to see the kindness in the Chest of these selfless souls. Who are doing a hazardous job like it’s Just another day at work. Ophra Winfrey was also my introduction from this channel, her tears, her Crusade, Her insights, her concern, Her Attention, Her alertness, her Compassion for the guest on the show made me addicted to this channel Ophra Winfrey Always reminded me of a Surgeon with a scalpel ready To make the incision in the patient body.

I have to mention Ophra as these were the 2 Gems I came to know about in The beginning thru Star World their Programs are a beautiful necklace of Many such Gems. I grew up watching FRIENDS growing old right In front of Me and becoming famous stars right in front of our eyes. Everybody Loves Raymond I believe this is true. I wished many a times and practiced to Stammer as nicely as perfectly like BOB NEWHART 911, Police Videos, and Americas Funniest Home Videos You Asked for It, Becker, all these soaps on Star World tickled me, I know star world and star network Gave blokes like me a Window to the outside world.

I am still fond of Star World, I am fond of Barkha Dutt I am fond of Simi Gerawal, sometimes I do use Remote control to take A peek at Poll Kholl on Star News or 17th re-run of Star Movie, overall my Favorite has bee The Star World. I am sorry to include all this in the review of Baywatch a review of just single program limits me. The pleasure I had from the channel itself must be Mentioned. Some channels force you to swallow programs down your throat, But Star World has been sensible they have purchased only widely accepted And popular Serials from other networks that saved them the trouble Of in-house programming and being original.

Instead of writing your own notes, just copy your notes from the best student In your class is a sure formula for success. Why dirty the hands, when there Are thousand others doing just the same? It sure saves a lot of headaches And backaches. Borrow and telecast. Relaxation has many name Baywatch, Star World is one Of them. I don’t get vomiting sensations watching Star World.

Popularity: 51% [?]

She’s graduated from St. Trinian’s, succumbed to the charms of 007, faced off against the Kraken, and will soon be seen, like, totally changing time in Prince Of Persia.
Now, Gemma Arterton faces her greatest test yet: six minutes with Den Of Geek.

How did you get involved in the film? Because we’re going back some two years, aren’t we? You’d done Quantum Of Solace by this point?

I think I’d just finished filming Bond. And I just got a phone call saying, “They want to meet you, the casting director wants to meet you for Prince of Persia.” And I thought, ‘Oh, okay.’ Because I have to say, I didn’t know about the game. And she said, “It’s quite a big deal.”

So, I went along and I met the casting director Susie Figgis, and she had a massive list on her table of other people that they were considering. And I sort of had a sneaky peek, so I knew who else was going up for it. And I thought, ‘Ooh, this must be a big deal then.’

And then she said,”‘Mike the director really wants to meet you.” so I came in and I did a reading. And I never really thought that I’d get it, to be honest with you, probably because I had seen that list. So, I sort of just went in there being myself, not too nervous, just being silly and funny. I had a really good meeting with Mike and he said to me later on that he knew then that he wanted me to do it, but it was just whether we can convince everybody that I’m the right girl for it.

It was exciting when I got it. I was in my little room in Bath where we were filming Tess of The D’Ubervilles, and my agent had tried to call me all night. I had, like, 25 missed calls. And I phoned her back and she said, “Why didn’t you answer your phone?  You’ve got Prince of Persia!”  And I just sat on my bed. I was in shock. Because I knew this was probably the part that was going to change things for me. And it’s weird the connotations that has on your life and your career. All of a sudden you’re given a phone call and that’s it.

Did you grow up watching Jerry Bruckheimer films? He’s dominated each of the last few decades – Top Gun in the 80s, Con Air in the 90s, the Pirates films in the naughties.

Yeah. You don’t even realise when you’re growing up who’s the producer on each film. And then you look at their CV and you think wow, they’ve just done these huge films.

For my generation it was the Pirates Of The Caribbean films I remember going to the cinema and seeing. The spectacle of them and how grand they were and fun. For me, it was just wow, I can’t believe it. Little old me from Gravesend in Kent is going to be in the next Pirates Of The Caribbean-style movie. It was an amazing thing to think that could that happen. [laughs]

It is a huge film but there’s a big British cast, giving it a Harry Potter feel. Or a Carry On. Did it feel like a family?

It did. And again that’s down to the casting director Susie Figgis. She’s brilliant at getting British actors involved who wouldn’t necessarily be in a Hollywood movie, like Toby Kebbell or Steve Toussaint. Which meant that even though it was this big Hollywood movie, it had this earthiness to it.

Also, aside from all the location shoots, it was filmed in London. I’d worked with a lot of the crew on Bond, so I already had a relationship with a lot of them and it felt more familiar. It wasn’t as nerve-racking as I thought it would be. And it was nice. I was able to go home. I could have a normal life while filming this crazy film.

And when you weren’t in London you were filming in Morocco. Can you have a laugh between takes in a desert at 120 degrees Fahrenheit?

Oh, I have a laugh anywhere I go. [laughs] I refuse to be serious. It was hot, but we all knew it was going to be hot. It was full on, especially for the crew.

I mean, us actors we get it easy. We’re fed and watered all day, but they were out there in the sun. At one point it was 50-something degrees Celsius It was ridiculously hot, but it was brilliant. And it was a British crew. They like to have a muck around. They take their job seriously, but they like to have fun. I think it’s important.

Why do a job that’s hard on yourself? You’ve got to enjoy it at the same time.

I read that there was a Snake Dude on set whose job it was to round up the snakes at the start of every day.

[Incredulously] Was there?!

He must have done his job pretty well, then.

Yeah, I didn’t know that guy was there. [laughs] There are all these snakes in the film, but I never came into contact with one because they always used the green sock. Which is the CGI snake, which is quite funny.

In the scene where I have a snake go over my body when I’ve been knocked out, I had the giggles. Because there’s this little green sock [laughs], which was stuffed.  And they had it on an invisible green string, and there was somebody that would puppeteer it. I’m lying there and this little green sock comes up my body. It was meant to be really, really scary and it was just really comical.

You’ve just done Alice Creed, which has recently come out. Was that a deliberate reaction, to do something much smaller and intimate?

Yeah, I think so. I never expected I’d end up in a film like this, or Bond, or Clash Of The Titans. I always imagined myself doing [Alice Creed] sort of films.

I always want to do things that are completely the opposite of what I’ve just done. It makes my job much more enjoyable. It was kind of the polar opposite, in terms of the budget and the style. It’s still good quality work, it’s just a very different discipline.

We had four weeks to shoot it, whereas on Prince Of Persia we had six months. So you have the luxury, or not. Sometimes having too much time and money is not a luxury in a way. But it was really interesting to go from one to another. I’m lucky I’ve been able to do both. I hope I can continue to do that.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Considering the strong run that Doctor Who has been enjoying this year, it was somewhat inevitable that at some point, the brakes had to be slammed on.

So it proved with the generally underwhelming Amy’s Choice, for this writer’s money, the weakest instalment of the series to date. What’s particularly disappointing is that the ingredients were solidly in place here for something better. The problem was that the end result – if you’ll forgive the cliche – was less than the sum of its collected parts.

In the first third, Amy’s Choice had the feel of being the low budget episode of the series (not necessarily a bad thing), given that it looked like it was going to be the Doctor versus a bunch of old people (who turned out to be a surprisingly good foe, before they got turned into yet another batch of aliens with a chip on their shoulder).

As the episode progressed, though, that feeling was dispelled, as gradually, more and more effects money made its way to the screen. Some of this work wasn’t too impressive – the creatures coming out of people’s mouths, for instance – but the sequences where the Tardis was gradually freezing were far more impressive. And by the end, it was clear that the low budget episode this was not.

What it turned out to be was an attempt to put together a mind-bending head scratcher, an episode where you’re unsure throughout what is reality and what isn’t. And the catalyst for that is the choice that Amy Pond ultimately has to make.

When we join Amy and Rory, they’re in Upper Ledworth, five years since they’ve last seen the Doctor, and with Amy heavily pregnant. Cue the materialisation of the Tardis, and the Doctor duly arrives to discover that Upper Ledworth is a very quiet place. Too quiet a place, as it turns out, save for the sound of birds that soon start following the Doctor around. It’s thus time to try and get to the bottom of the mystery, because quiet places generally equal deep trouble.

However, before they get a chance to consider this, the Doctor, Rory and Amy promptly fall asleep, and wake up in the Tardis. A bit of dialogue later and we work out that they’ve all had the same ‘dream’, and none of them have been on the pop either.

But is it a dream? Or is what’s going on in the Tardis the dream?

That’s the conundrum posed by Toby Jones as The Dream Lord, a potentially intriguing character who appears inside the Tardis, and knows the Doctor of old. He’s full of mystery, is clearly in control, and for once, knows a lot more than the Doctor seems to.

And yet, sadly, in spite of the clear potential here, the character of the Dream Lord never particularly intrigues enough to have us requesting a return for him in the future. We’ve had the immense pleasure of seeing Toby Jones on stage, and he’s genuinely an outstanding actor. But here, he gets a role that never quite falls the right side of slightly annoying (not helped by the overuse of him cutting in and out of scenes in different places). Certainly the script does him few favours, and by second half of the episode, we felt that the Dream Lord seemed to have outlived his welcome, if not his purpose.

That said, he does seem to hold the key to what’s happening, and he basically explains the rules of the game. One world that we’re seeing is a dream, and if you die in it, then you’re still alive. One world, however, is reality, and if you buy it there, it’s game over. The job? To work out which is a dream, and which real.

The problem is that there’s never really any doubt that the village sequences aren’t reality, and as the episode zips between the two, we have to spend more time in Upper Ledworth, when it’s the story of the Tardis crashing towards a cold star that feels slightly more interesting (albeit admittedly probably not enough to power an episode in its own right).

The core job of the episode ultimately feels like it’s there to bring Rory and Amy back together, which it does via a contrivance where Amy proves that she’ll die for Rory (thus making her choice, and presumably stopping her lurching at the Doctor in the future). Rory, bless him, is even willing to cut off his ponytail to get into the spirit of things.

But it can’t just have been us thinking it would have been far bolder to actually have the Upper Ledworth world be true? Appreciating that it’s an unlikely move for a show that goes out on a Saturday teatime, it would nonetheless have ensured that Amy’s Choice would be talked about and celebrated for some time, as opposed to its more likely life being buried at the back of a box set.

As it was, the episode felt like it cheated a bit, given that both worlds apparently happened to be dreams, caused by, er, psychic pollen that was lying in the Tardis’ time mechanics (sabotage, perhaps?). Thus, the Dream Lord, we’re told, is actually the Doctor. Which explains why the two characters knew each other so well.

Or is he? Is there more to him than that? We always think back to something like The Lazarus Experiment with something like this, where an episode that seemingly was unrelated to others suddenly had a big part to play in the narrative of the series. It’d be lovely if that could happen here.

Thus, was that an ongoing thread element when we got the reflection of the Dream Lord in the Tardis console at end of the episode? Possibly. For, that aside, we certainly didn’t have any cracks or silences this time round, and aside from that reflection moment, this was every bit an unspectacular middle of the series instalment.

All considered, Amy’s Choice wasn’t a terrible piece of television, but it’s the first episode of this particular run that left us underwhelmed. And it doesn’t help, of course, that the standard had been so high to this point (yup, we still like Victory Of The Daleks).

The messing around with our heads didn’t really work for us, and Simon Nye’s script – surprising, given his pedigree – came across as really quite dry. It had its moments, such as the “what is the point of you” line, for instance. More moments like that would have helped. Amy’s “can we not do the running thing” also felt like a bit of a nod to old Who again, although it’s likely to be more with the fact that she was expecting at that point of the episode.

In short, though, this was script that really could have used a few more sparks (and a bit less Dream Lord).

Sadly, it didn’t really get them. So, while it brought Rory and Amy back together, and while it once again showed that Matt Smith is already utterly owning the title role, this isn’t an episode we can see ourselves returning to many times again in the future.

Popularity: 35% [?]

The one thing you can say for V is that it is never consistent. Usually, that’s been a bad thing, as episodes have varied wildly in tone, filming style, lead character, script quality, acting quality, and (especially) direction of the show. It is a soap opera with aliens? Is it sci-fi 24? Is it a scathing satire of modern media mixed with a police procedural? I don’t know.

Actually, I’m still not sure, but I can say there’s been, for the first time since the first two episodes, two really good episodes of V in a row.

One of the strange things about the show is that every week I was sure that Tyler and Lisa were the weakest members of the ensemble. However, the more they get put into the background (or at least used properly), the more I see they’re actually not bad from an acting standpoint, or from character standpoints.

They’re useful plot pendulums when used by good writers, and this week’s combination of writers (including show runner Scott Rosenbaum and Gregg Hurwitz, who penned last week’s excellent episode) made really good use of the two. Lisa, in particular, was handled very well as a tool for both Anna and Erica to manipulate.

This week’s show was all about dichotomy, both featuring it prominently and actually showing it on screen. For instance, Lisa torn between her real mom and fear of said real mom, and Erica, who represents a loving mother, her loving boyfriend, and loving love. Anna definitely playing both sides, as she has all along, using her daughter’s pretty slashed face and mangled limbs to her advantage. Erica is both working for the V’s and for the Fifth Column. how much longer can she maintain the role?

The scene in which Erica, Anna, and Lisa are all in the interrogation room, while Lisa anxiously tries to decide if she’ll finger the man her mother wants her to frame, was some legitimately tense, really well-done television the likes of which this show has done too little of over its premier season.

Is Hobbes playing both sides, perhaps? What’s his true motivation? He’s edging dangerously close to double-crossing his fellow Fifth Column, despite the fact that the Visitors seem to have it out for him and want to frame him for everything from terrorism to jaywalking.

Speaking of true motivations, Chad Decker knows he’s being manipulated, and plays along in spite of this, but to what end? Is he all about ratings? Does he have some idea of what he’s trifling with? Will he cave in to Anna’s latest public relations campaign attempts?

Plus, there’s always Morris Chestnut. Ryan started out as an emotionless lizard, but developed love for Valerie. Now his love is his greatest weakness. Will he take Hobbes’ advice and burn the love out before it ends the Fifth Column in New York? Will he succumb to Anna’s bliss once again thanks to the advice of an amoral sociopath? More importantly, will Morris Chestnut ever return to not sucking every time he’s forced to do something close to acting? (Seriously, he’s starting to drag the show down when he’s given any emoting to do. There’s underplaying it, and then there’s not having a pulse.)

One of the positive things you can say for the show is that, since the new staff have taken over, they’ve done their best to put things back on track, balance the various storylines, and do some serious juggling.

Erica is back as the show’s primary mover and shaker, while the other characters are falling nicely into the niches prepared for them. Plus, we’re actually getting some teasers for stuff I want to see happen, and the all-important end-of-season-wrap-ups for stuff I’m ready to be rid of.

For one, Anna’s soldier eggs are threatening to hatch, and Lisa is threatening to get pro-choice on their unscrambled asses. While the egg scenes this week looked dodgy, this would be a great opportunity for Laura Vandervoort to get soaked in green slime.

There’s also the V fleet on the cusp of entering our solar system, which Anna will have to hide from the world by using more of her contacts, thereby giving her and Chad more chance to spar mentally.

Plus, Hobbes is approaching the delightfully evil Marcus to save his own bacon and fatten his bottom line (or so they’ve teased. Will they really let the show’s best character walk away?).

Oh yeah, there’s also the issue of Val’s lizard baby, which is finally starting to hatch/crown/whatever, the reptile-killing deus ex machina Hobbes has the formula for in his possession, and the only question that really has to be answered by next week’s episode: will the show be renewed for next season, and does it deserve to be renewed?

Two weeks ago, I would’ve said no. Until last week’s episode, I was basically counting the days down until the show was over so I could find something else to do with my Tuesday 10:00pm hour, but now?

I think if ABC chooses to bring the show back for a second season, I’ll be around for the ride. Unless they really drop the ball in the upcoming season finale, which is always a possibility, I think the show is moving into a good direction and I’d like to see how Rosenbaum and company play out these plot strings.

Popularity: 23% [?]

It was perhaps inevitable after two storming weeks of Ashes To Ashes that, sooner or later, a lull was on the way. As it turned out, the third episode of the show’s final series didn’t match up to the opening instalments, although it still had plenty in the tank to keep the momentum going.

This week, the reach of DCI Jim Keats was perhaps a little less concentrated, but increasingly broad and influential instead. Brilliantly played by Daniel Mays, Keats is now a regular and unnerving presence in the CID office, and he’s gone beyond investigating the past and more towards taking a day-to-day involvement in present cases. Furthermore, his policy of trying to divide the team this week focuses on Ray.

Last week, we saw Shaz stepping into the limelight as her character was subtlety developed. And the highlights of this week were all about Ray Carling, superbly played here by Dean Andrews. If you want a lesson in character progression, it’s worth seeing just how far Carling has come since we first met him in Life On Mars. In this episode, we dug far into his background, his father’s story and why he never ended up in the army, supplanting plenty of added flesh on top of already-impressive bones.

The catalyst to this is a series of arson attacks, set around the 1983 General Election. This gives Ray a moment where he runs into a blazing building to be the hero, against all common sense. He’s pulled out eventually by a fireman played by Joe Absolom, and for me, that’s when the alarm bells started blaring.

Joe Absolom is a very good actor, but the problem is that I’ve never seen him in a role where he didn’t turn out to be some kind of unhinged nutter. His character here developed very well, but from the moment his face appeared, there wasn’t really much doubt as to what direction the crime of the week was heading.

Where the script particularly worked, though, was in tying Ray’s story to the main case, specifically in relation to the end moment where he talks Absolom’s character out of sending another place up in flames. That was a good end to what had been quite a routine crime story by standards, although it did offer a solid excuse to throw up some terrific and scary archive footage of the 1983 election.

But there are one or two questions. Ray’s been arguably the most loyal sidekick to Gene Hunt since these adventures began, and thus I never really bought that DCI Keats’ attempts to drive a wedge between Carling and Hunt was ever going to work. It was spun out well enough, but the ending never really seemed in much doubt from where I was sitting. Granted, that didn’t stop me screaming at the television again when the Life On Mars music kicked in again, and I’m guessing that in the weeks ahead, that we’re going to get a Chris-centric episode where the same thing happens.

What didn’t ultimately move forward was Drake’s checking out of Sam Tyler, nor the overall investigation into Hunt. But that didn’t mean more clues to the overall story arc weren’t thrown in. What’s the relevance, for instance, to the numbers carved into Drake’s desk? And what about Shaz’s story about the stars? Are we supposed to think that she’s now going through something similar to Drake? Are these Life On Mars clips and stares to cameras the pieces of the Gene Hunt jigsaw slotting into place?

And who’s the cop with half a face? Is it Keats? Hunt? Someone linked to them? Or are we going to get something akin to the clown from series one?

Bluntly, your guess right now is as good as ours. But what does seem clear is that Ashes To Ashes is continuing to lay down some narrative threads that we can’t wait to see resolved. This was the weakest episode of the three we’ve had of series three to date, but the standard was still good, and the decision to give Ray some spotlight time was a well rewarded one.

Next one? The trailer looked a little bit muddled, but it seems to involve Keats and Hunt clashing a little bit. Given that Keats is proving to be arguably the most intriguing foe that Hunt has faced in the five years that we’ve known him, we’re happy to look forward to it.

Popularity: 23% [?]