65th Primetime Emmy Awards Recap

 

The 65th Primetime Emmy's, which aired on Monday, began as any television awards ceremony should, with host Neil Patrick Harris attempting to binge watch an entire season's worth of television, which funny and disorientating results. Throughout the night, Harris, if nothing else, was an enthusiastic host. Often presenters are forced to deliver line after line of bad jokes, and while for Harris it was no different, he seemed to generally enjoy himself, giggling at the bland jokes, like when he had to 'pause' American Horror Story: Asylum on his contact lenses to stop from screaming. I found it a little disappointing that Harris had his opening interrupted by previous host to give him advice on doing the gig, despite the fact he has done it before, although it cultivated in a hilarious performance by Kevin Spacey donna the persona of Frank Underwood from his series House of Cards.

 

 

The extremely funny Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who always have great chemistry, presented the first award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series which went to Merritt Wever for her portrayal of Zoey Barkow on Nurse Jackie. A surprising win, but an even more memorable speech. Short, but not so much sweet. At least it saved some valuable running time for the show.

 

 

The Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series category was pre-empted with a pre-recorded segment in which the writers were asked, 'Who's your favourite cast member to write for?'. Proving that she totally deserved the award, Tina Fey (who also won the award with Tracy Wigfield for their writing on the series finale of 30 Rock), started her recording by thanking the 2009 People's Choice Awards, before releasing it was a recording for the Emmy's and bluntly stating: 'That's going to get cut for time, I'm not doing that.'

 

The Deschanel sisters cleverly introduced the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series my noting the diversity of the category, slyly highlighting the presence of three Modern Family actors who all play fathers. In another surprising win for a supporting actor, none of those Modern Family cast members won this year, bur rather the award went to Tony Hale  for his portrayal of Gary Walsh on Veep. It was heart-warming to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the female lead of Veep, look so happy for her co-stars achievement as he accepted the award.

She went on to win, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of Selina Meyer on Veep for the second year in a row, and was equally as humbling with her acceptance speech.

 

Meliss Leo, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Louie went on to announce the winner of Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series, which went to Gale Mancuso for Modern Family, and the voiceover thought it important to tell the audience that this was only the second time a woman had won this award.

 

Jimmy Kimmel and Sofia Vegara awarded Jim Parsons Oustanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, who gave a fast yet emotional speech.

Elton John performed a tribute performance for Liberace, a song he wrote titled 'Home Again', and while he made no effort to hide reading straight from the teleprompter during his introduction, the performance of the hauntingly nostalgic tune was solid.

 

 

Matt Damon and Michael Douglas, stars of the Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, presented the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini-Series/ Movie to Laura Linney for her swansong as Cathy Jamison on The Big C: Hereafter.

 

Harris, along with his How I Met Your Mother co-stars did a skit as a public service announcement for, EHD - 'Excessive Hosting Disorder', which Harris, having now hosted several award shows, must be rehabilitated in The Ryan Seacrest Center for Excessive Hosting.

 

 

Connie Britton and Blair Underwood honoured to the recently passed Henry Bromell for the Homeland episode "Q&A", which was a most deserving win, and his widow Sarah accepted the award. They also gave Anna Gunn the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Skyler White on Breaking Bad, and again, it was a most deserving win.

 

Although Harris was coy leading up to the Emmy about performing a musical number at the awards, which he has none become know for, during the half-way mark of the show he broke out into a song aptly titled, 'The Number in the Middle of the Show'. While I wanted to role my eyes before it had even become, the number was short, sweet, and was tongue-in-check in its self-awareness so for a musical number, it went down quite well. Plus Nathan Fillion's cameo served as a mini Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog reunion.

Mindy Katling and Stephen Amell awkwardly presented the Outstanding Reality/ Competition Program to The Voice, breaking The Amazing's Race's winning streak.

Kerry Washington honoured Bobby Cannavale for his one season portrayal of  Gyp Rosetti on Boardwalk Empire (who's dating Australia's own Rose Bryne apparently).

Dylan McDermott and Julianna Margulies presented the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, which surprisingly went to first-time nominee Jeff Daniels for his portrayal of Will McAvoy on The Newsroom.

Six-time Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood then performed a tribute to the historic events of fifty years ago, 1963, The Beatles 'Yesterday'. It's a great song, but unfortunately I don't think it was the best fit for Underwood's naturally more upbeat twang.

Jimmy Fallon, unhilarously struggling with a moving microphone, honoured Claire Danes with her second win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Carries Mathison on Homeland.

Outstanding Guest Actor and Actress in a Drama Series, Dan Bucatinsky and Carrie Preston presented Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series to David Fincher for House of Cards.

Jim Parsons and Bob Newhart, who got a standing ovation, honoured The Colbert Report (which also won Outstanding Variety Series as well) with the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, which is a welcome change from the usual winner Jon Stewart, although I wish his speech would have been as funny as his show usually his. Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series went to Don Roy King for his work on Saturday Night Live.

Harris and the nominees for Outstanding Choreography then performed a dance routine highlighting and using the music from some of the awards most prominent featuring shows, which was a fascinating celebration of both dance and television combined. Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, winners of the Outstanding Reality Host for Project Runway, then presented the Emmy to Derek Hough for his work on Dancing With The Stars.

Anna Faris and Allison Janney (of which Janney is either really tall or Faris really really short) announced the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie, which went to Abu Morgan for The Hour, and the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie which went to James Cromwell for his role as Dr. Arthur Arden / Hans Grüper on American Horror Story: Asylum.

Andre Braugher and Mark Harlin presented Steven Soderbergh with the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Movie for his work on Behind The Candelabra, which also picked up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Michael Douglas's (who gave a short but hilarious speech) portrayal of Liberace, and Outstanding Miniseries or Movie.

Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie went to Ellen Burstyn for her portrayal as Margaret Barrish Worthington on Political Animals.

To present the final two awards Will Ferrell (and his kids because of his inability to find good child care) took to the stage, honouring Modern Family with the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and Breaking Bad for Outstanding Drama Series. Great to finally see Breaking Bad getting the allocades it deserves.

Overall, the show was nothing spectacular, and could have really done with more skits. But that would mean more time, and until the organisers of shows like this realise the less presenters the more smooth-flowing the show feels, there will likely never me more time allocated to do this. As I said at the beginning Harris was a fine host yet again, I'm not sure about some of the gay jokes made at his expense though, although they were funny, and he seemed to enjoy them too, so I guess that makes it okay? The most interesting moments of the evening though were the many surprise winners, many first-timers, which always makes for refreshing viewing. Because of this I only managed to correctly predict 6 winners for the 15 categories I made predictions on. Anyway, here what I thought were the best/ worst parts of the evening.

Best Speech Award: Michael Douglas (provided some playful banter with co-star Matt Damon who was sitting in the audience).

Worst Speech Award: Gale Mancuso (Said her and her kids were going to listen to Blurred Lines and not Poker Face in the car on the way home. Umm, what?).

Most Deserving Award: Claire Danes (for Outstanding Leas Actress in a Drama Series).
Biggest Upset Award: Jeff Daniels (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, which could have gone to many other deserving nominees, like Bryan Cranston or last year's winner Damien Lewis).
Funniest Moment Award: For those that have seen House of Cards, Spacey's bit was hilarious, but otherwise it would be Nathan Fillion and Sarah Silverman's cameo in 'The Number in the Middle of the Show'.
Worst Moment Award: Jimmy Fallon tries to introduced nominees with a moving microphone.

Did everyone else enjoy the show? What was your favourite/ most memorable part of the night?

True Blood Recap & Review 5.9: Everybody Wants To Rule The World

At the vampire Authority, the group watches the news which reports that the largest Tru Blood factory in the world has been destroyed. In celebration, they feast on a man tied to their table.
Molly tries to leave compound and finds that it is in lock down, meaning nobody is allowed to leave. Eric approaches her and asks her if there is any way that they can escape.

Sookie enlists Lafayette to help figure out who the vampire spirit Warlow is, and he ends up getting a message from Sookie's grandmother: that what she's looking for she's lying on top of. Sookie finds a box of Gran's old things under her bed and as her and Lafayette search through it she discovers from an old newspaper clipping that Sheriff Bud was the one who found her parents bodies. Sookie goes to Bud's house to see if he knows anything, and Sookie reads his mind and becomes aware he's hiding something. She questions him about Warlow and finds he doesn't know anything, and then large woman hits Sookie over the head with a frying pan and tells Bud to grab her body.

At the police station Jessica tells them that Hoyt is not apart of the supernatural hate group and that he tried to save her from them. She tells Jason that she's worried something has happened to him and he promises to find him for her. Deputy Kevin Ellis finds a website that Junior frequented called 'Keep America Human', on which are videos of the hate group in their Obama masks tying vampires to posts in daylight. On the video they chant long live the Dragon and Andy is reminded of Cleetus Boathouse, a former Klansman who died 20 years ago, who went by that name. Andy and Jason wonder who the new Dragon might be.

Terry leaves home and tells Arlene that he is going to find Patrick. Arlene begs him not to go for her sake and their children, but he tells her that they have to have a fair fight, and that they're the only reason he's fighting.

At Fangtasia Tara walks into Pam's office with four boxes of Tru Blood. Pam asks her what she is doing and Tara says that they have to start reserving their stock now that the Tru Blood factories have been destroyed. Pam tells her that they will keep selling to stop their vampire customer feeding off of their human customers and puting them out of business. She says that when they run out and they'll just have to pretend they're still drinking it to keep up appearances.

Eric confronts Bill and tells him his Pro-Lilith facade isn't going to fool Salome much longer. Bill informs him it's not an act, and that he believes in Lilith, but Eric reminds him that he is a true mainstreamer, and that his relationship with Sookie is proof of that. Eric tells him that they need to escape the next day by procuring Salmoe's blood to open the security doors.

Andy addresses the press about the hate group but can't reveal too much about the investigation. As he concludes his statement Sam and Luna arrive at the station and tell Andy they went back to the basement and got the scent of pigs. While Andy appreciates their help he tells them they're in danger and that they should go home and let him do his job. Irritated, Sam and Luna turn themselves into flies so that they can wait in the station overhear any developments about the case. Later, Andy notices one of the member in the hate group video is wearing the cowboy boots Bud was given at his retirement party, and they believe Bud is the dragon. Jason and Andy break into Bud's place and Jason remembers that Bud's wife's family owned a pig farm.

As Alcide drives he has a flashback to being a teenager. He's being taught by his father what it means to be a werewolf and the importance of being in a pack. A group of young wolves, including Alcide are given the option of choosing their human or wolf side as they go forward in life, and they all choose pack. In the present we see Alcide is driving to Jackson.

Arlene opens up Merlotte's and is confronted by Patrick who holds her at gunpoint. He tells her to ring all the employees and tell them that they are closed, and that he won't kill her if she does what he says. Terry arrives at Merlotte's and finds Patrick sitting in a booth with his gun at Arlene's head. Terry wants the fair fight, but Patrick says he's wife's pregnant and that he has to kill Terry for his family. Terry gets down on his knees and puts his hands behind his head so that he doesn't hurt Arlene. Patrick pushes her away and is about to shoot Terry when Arlene stabs him in the neck with a hairpin. The two men scuffle, and Patrick gains the upper hand, but Arlene retrieves the gun and points it at Patrick's head.

While in bed together, Salome tells Bill that they are chosen to bring about a new world. Bill asks her what if he didn't want to be chose, and she tells him that SOMETHING. They begin having sex and Bill sees her as Sookie and bites her until she dies. He then sees her as Lilith, before he again sees her as Salome. He has bitten her and has her blood in his mouth.

Sookie awakens tied up in a pigpen, and she sees Hoyt lying in the one across from her. Bud and the other members of the hate group confront Sookie, and he tells her that when he was Sheriff there were hundreds of unclosed cases due to supernatural beings and that something has to be done about them. The large woman that hit Sookie, Sweetie, boasts that they are doing what is right and are taking back America from the supernatural beings, and reveals herself as the Dragon. They then force Sookie to drink some ginger ale laced with oxycontin, planning to let her and Hoyt be eaten by the pigs. Before they can put Sookie into the pen with them though, Sam, who had shifted into a pig, shifts back and takes on the hate group. Sweetie runs away, and Andy and Jason arrive. Andy pulls his gun on Bud, and when Bud makes a move at Sam with his shovel Andy shoots him in the chest. Luna chases down Sweetie and beats her. After Hoyt is taken to hospital and all the group members are arrested, Sam and Luna decide to go get Emma.

Terry has his gun pointed out Patrick, and Arlene tells him he has to kill Patrick for their family. Patrick tells Terry that the reason they're in this situation is because Terry blindly followed orders, and that he needs to do what is right. The Iraqi woman appears telling him the same thing, and he shoots Patrick. The Irqai woman says that blood has been paid with blood, and summons the Irift which appears and takes Patrick's body.

Russell decides to show Steve his wolf pack. Russell tells him of their undying loyalty as pets, and Steve laments he never had a pet. They walk into a barn and Russell congratulates JD on becoming pack master. He then proceeds to bite his own wrist and the wolves flock to him for a drop of his blood. He notices Martha there, who is holding Emma. When Martha says she'll never drink from Russell, he grabs Emma and gives her to Newlin as his first pet.

In Jackson, Alcide arrives at his father's trailer. His father is watching a horse race and Alcide asks him how much money he put on the race. When he says he's entire pension check, Alcide scolds him, but then reveals that that is not why he is there. He tells his father that he lost pack master and has been abjured. He is now a lone wolf just like his father.

At Fangtasia, Pam sees a vampire sitting on Eric's throne while feeding on a human. She confronts him and tells him that it's prohibited to feed on humans in the bar, and that only the sheriff can sit on the throne. He replies that the Vampire Authority has lifted the ban on public feeding, and that Eric is finished, and that he is the new sheriff of Area 5. He throws Pam across the room, and Tara runs to help her. The vampire tells all the other vampires in the bar to drink from the humans.

Back at home, Sookie is visited by the faeries who tell her vampires are responsible for the Tru Blood factory explosions and that they want to take over the world.

Eric tells Nora that he wants to believe in Lilith but has difficulty doing so, and Eric asks her if she will help him. He takes her to the main foyer, and Molly arrives. The pair drug and Nora and are about to escape, but Eric wants to wait for Bill. He arrives and Molly proceeds to open the security doors, but Bill has betrayed them and Salome is standing in the elevator with several guards who handcuff Eric and Molly. Eric is seething, and Bill tells him he has been chosen by Lilith.

Rating: 3/5

Breaking Bad Recap & Review 5.4: Fifty-One

Life's good for Walter White. So much so that he treats himself and his son, Walter Jr., to brand new cars on the eve of his 51st birthday. Oh, if it wasn't for his pesky wife. Skyler realises that she's stuck in this awful situation with Walt, but now she's worked up the courage to tell Walt she doesn't want her children in the same environment. Being the man he is, Walt ensures Skyler his they're safe from danger, but as Skyler cleverly recalls, isn't Walt the danger?

Let's just say I think Skyler has been taking lessons from Walt in trying to get what she wants, and she decides to pull a cool pool party trick at Walt's birthday, that involves walking into the pool fully clothed and remaining underwater until your husband has to jump into the pool to stop you from drowning. Hank and Marie are understandably concerned, and while they don't think Skyler was actually trying to kill herself, they agree that she wanted there attention and that she needs help. Marie suggests taking Walter Jr. and Holly for a while so that Walt and Skyler can have their space, and Marie tells Walt it was Skyler's idea.

So Skyler's plan works, but Walt's certainly not happy about it. Skyler wants her children safe and away from Walt, but he wants his family, after all, hasn't everything he done been for that? So there's no way he's going to let Skyler keep them away. He asks her what her next move is, she says she'll hurt herself, he's says he'll get her committed, she's says she tell everyone he beats her because of her affair. Being the chess master that he is he knows Skyler has no more moves, bringing Ted into the game would lead to a police investigation, and neither of them want that. Skyler admits she's powerless against him, and I must say I love her all the more for it. She tells him she'll just bide her time until his cancer returns. So while Skyler plays the waiting game, it'll be interesting to see what move Walt will make against her next.

At the Houston office of Madrigal Electromotive Lydia  receives a tip-off call from Mike and seconds later the DEA arrive to question. She leads them to Ron Forenall who is arrested. Lydia calls Mike to tell him that the methylamine transport will be cut off due to Ron's arrest. Mike informs he'll send someone else, Jesse. Later he arrives to retrieve a barrel of methylamine from a hesitant Lydia. While lowering the barrel Lydia finds a GPS device attached to the barrel. Mike calls Walt in and Jesse tells Mike about the GPS device. Mike believes it was Lydia, attempting to get out of their business and prepares to leave to kill her but Jesse stops him and makes a vote of it. Walt tells them that the cooks must not stop under any circumstances.

After the meeting, Jesse gives Walt a nice looking watch as a birthday present, what a nice guy, and the receipt too, what an even nicer guy. Walt returns home and shows it to Skyler, telling her that Jesse wanted to kill him recently, but that now he's buying him watches. Walt tells Skyler he changed his mind about him, and that she will too. And as with all things Walt says now, what is meant as a reassurance has a threat cleverly disguised underneath.

Rating: 3.5/5

Damages Recap & Review 5.4: I Love You, Mommy

Having dinner at a restaurant with an old friend, Roger Kastle, Patty is offered a job in the supreme court, but she says she'll have to wait until McClaren case is over. He invites her to a weekend away with him at his holiday house, and she's laughs hysterically in response.

On their way to work, Ellen's mother Denise finally reveals why she has moved in with her: her husband Gary is starting to scare her. Parson family drama is so boring, and having Ellen and Denise both be so stubborn as to not address the problem for an entire episode seems pointless and unnecessary.

It was only a matter of time until we witnessed a hacking scene from McClaren, and we got one as he attempted to hack into Samurai Seven's computer to obtain the information he has on Princefield. Let the hack war begin! Despite McClaren music pumping in the background, the scene wasn't all that exciting, and just as McClaren thought he had the information, Samurai fought him off.

At Hewes and Associates Bill questions Jake Stahl, an attorney interested in cyber law. Bill is unimpressed by his qualifications, but Jake reveals that Patty has already hired him. She needs him to get access to Princefield's servers to find out whether or not they have been tampered with to figure not whether or not it was actually Noami Walling responsible for the leak.

Patty goes to the SEC to gain access to the servers and she is turned away, so she goes on the attack and decides to take the case public. On 'The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell' on MSNBC, Patty tells the world that McClaren sexually assaulted Naomi Walling.

Ellen organises a hearing with Judge Gearheart to discuss Patty's accusations, and he issues a gag order on the case from both of them. Ellen is irritated that now she can no longer respond to Patty's allegations about McClaren, and tells Gearheart that the gag order was exactly what Patty wanted, but he ignores her.

Rutger and Gitta attempt to go behind McClaren's back to pay for the information on Princefield from Samurai Seven, but he wants $500,000 and McClaren's only financier refuses to pay. Rutger then turns to Ellen, and after a warning from her accountant, Ellen agrees to give them the money.

At a cafe, Michael (where the hell has he been?) is being interviewed and is short of horrible things to say about his mother, including that the McClaren case is all about her crushing Ellen.

After many hilarious misinterpretations of Katherine and the man with the sword who lives in the garbage can, Patty finds Samurai's message on her computer. With Jake's help, she too, agrees to pay Samurai $500,000 for the Princefield information.

Patty gets a call from Roger, who tells her to turn to page 38 of the latest issue of American Lawyer. There Patty sees Michael's interview about her. She tells Roger she is not concerned, and he tells her that she made a career going after bullies, but that if she's only on the McClaren case to best Ellen that she better be careful or it could blow up in her face.

At Ellen's office, Ellen shares a drink with Michael telling him that his interview will get people to question Patty's standing in the legal community. Michael tells her he needs to know that his custody case in going to move forward. Ellen says she will give him her testimony, but that he just has to be patient, to which he replies he's not going to wait forever.

Patty and Jake meet with Samurai and once they've transferred him the $500,000 he gives them a USB containing the Princefield information. They leave, and Samurai remains there waiting for Ellen's arrival. Ellen and Gitta arrive and again they transfer him $500,000, but before he can get out of his car to give them the USB, he is attacked, and someone drives off in his car. The man later ditches the car and set's it alight, after retrieving the USB.

Rating: 3/5

True Blood Recap and Review (5.7: In the Beginning)

After Sookie's outburst at the end of last week's episode, because she discovered that her parents were killed by vampires, she awakens in the faerie club after being examined by Claude and his sister. They inform her and Jason that she is only half-faerie and that she needs to be careful how she uses her powers, because she could run out. Although why the faeries are suddenly so concerned with Sookie and whether or not she keeps her powers is beyond me. The next day, Jason brings her breakfast in bed, and tells her not to feel responsible for their parents death, which of course is exactly what someone is going to do when you tell them not to. She goes and visits Luna in hospital and brings her flowers, but what she really wants is to have a hypothetical conversation with Sam in which she asks him if he had the opportunity to be human, would be take it. I suppose that the writers had to show Sookie debating over whether or not she should try and remove her faerie half and her powers in the process, but there was never really any debate. After everything Sookie's been through, of course she'd want to get rid of her powers (although, yes, she is extremely naive in thinking that getting rid of them at this stage of her life will benefit her at all. She's too far in, I'm afraid.) Anyway, after an episode of deep thought (don't strain yourself Sookie) she dramatically begins to expel light form her hands in an attempt to drain her powers outside her house.

Russell's imminent return and escape is what True Blood fans have been waiting for this entire season, but unfortunately this is paired with what has to be one of the shows nonsensical plots, as it continues to spiral into complete and unnecessary craziness. It starts off well: Roman is dead, and the the Authority goes into lock down, the lights are cut, the everyone panics. Immediately guards storm the room and subdue Russell with a silver net. Bill and Eric are taken back into captivity, and as they ponder who used them to find and bring Russell to the Authority to kill Roman, Salome summons them. In her chambers they find not only Nora, who pleads with Eric to forgive her, but Russell as well, who claims he has been reborn and found faith in Lilith. Salome reveals she dug Russell up (Really? True Blood fans had no idea) because he was the only vampire powerful enough to kill Roman. Apparently there was some important reason why she or Nora couldn't do it, and it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now that Salome's running things she wants to share their power with everyone, but having been used and all, Bill and Eric aren't interested. She invites them to a ceremony the following night anyway, and surprise, surprise they agree to go. At the ceremony, Russell continues to praise Lilth, and Salome tells the other members of the Authority that they didn't evolve from humans as Roman believed, but from Lilith, and that her blood wasn't meant to be kept sacred, but rather shared and that they should all drink Lilith's blood. Chancellor Dieter says that that is blasphemy, and Russell decapitates him. No one else in dumb enough to refuse, so they all drink her blood, including Bill and Eric, who can't see the harm in playing along, and the horribleness begins. While for the sake of the story Bill and Eric needed to be there, for the entire season they've been extremely susceptible and passive in every situation they've been in, even when it's been against their better judgement. It was so annoying because after Roman's death they were free, why did they have to stick around? The group, high on Lilith's blood, roam the streets in a drunk like state, only stopping to intimidate a cab driver that honks at them with their fangs. They crash karaoke at an engagement party and proceed to kill all the attendees. On the stage, a drop of blood hits the ground and  a nude, blood-drenched woman appears: Lilith. She walks over to Nora and releases a red mist from her mouth, which hits Nora and makes her continue to forcibly feed on a human; the other vampires act similarly. And if things weren't bizarre enough, Godric, Eric's deceased maker, appears as a ghost to tell his progeny that Eric knows what he is doing is wrong, but that he has to convince Nora so. Eric looks over to her and Lilith has vanished. The religious overtones of the Authority storyline annoyed me from the beginning, especially because similar themes were dealt with in season two, but now it's just plain stupid. Who knows what Lilith's plans are, but at this stage I don't really care, because everything up until this point of the season hasn't made all that much sense. I doubt her sudden but inevitable appearance will actually reveal  or justify anything meaningful in terms of plot, and I just want to say, as Eric did early on in the episode: 'Fuck you, bible bangers.' Despite all this Russell remains awesome, and I so hope that he was only pretending to praise Lilith in an attempt to bide his time and come up with a plan to escape (although I have no doubt he too was under the influence of her blood).

At the weapons store, deputy Kevin questions Andy about Junior's death, while Sam uses his acute sense of smell to sniff out clues (I smell a spin-off!). Sam tells Kenya, another officer, to open a box he finds sicne she has gloves on. When she opens it, they find it full of the Obama masks the shooters have been using. I'm really liking Sam investigating/ hunting down these supe killers, plus he doing a way better job than Andy. After a long period of doing nothing in particular his character seems to have found a real purpose and energy, and it shows in the storyline. Meanwhile, Andy visits the previous sheriff, Bud, because he's concerned that he's not doing a good job (you made Jason Stackhouse one of your deputies Andy, do you think you're doing a good job?). Bud however, is too busy cheating on his wife to care. Similarly, Hoyt seems to have instantaneously stopped caring about Jessica now that he's drinking beers with his new hate group friends. Hoyt tells them how much support he feels they've given him even though he only met them half-an-hour earlier, and the just generally discuss how supernatural beings ruin everything until one of them gets a call from their leader named 'Dragon' (how dangerously mysterious) telling them that Junior has been killed. In an attempt to avenge their fallen comrade, the group decide to go out on another mission, and invite Hoyt along with a throw of an Obama mask. I'm honestly starting to wonder how I ever liked Hoyt, he's become such a shadow of his former self unfortunately. At the hospital, a nurse tells Sam visiting hours are over. As he goes to leave he catches the smell of one of the supe killers he picked up from the weapons store. He's disguised as an orderly and Sam chases him down, knocks him to the floor and punches him in the face.

In a barn, Alcide and Nikki train, and Alcide tells her he's prepared to lose against JD in his fight to become packmaster. She suggests using vampire blood to even the playing field, but Alcide angrily refuses. The pair start kissing, but are interrupted by Martha who tells Alcide that JD denied taking vampire blood, and that it's JD's turn to be packmaster considering he had enough respect to allow Marcus to be alpha after Marcus' father died. Later, JD tells the pack that his vampire friend (Russell) told him that the end of days is coming, a fight between humans and vampires. JD tells them they should join the vampires and that the only way they will trust them is to drink Russell's blood. A female wolf agrees and drink a vial, and Emma tells JD she's scared. He offers her another vial, telling her it will make her strong, but Martha walks in as he does so, taking Emma away. We weren't given much from Alcide this week, but Nikki could be developed into an interesting character, and Martha would be very fun to see as a woman scorned. Also, I'm straight, but Alcide and Nikki rolling on the ground, well there's a two perfect looking people having fun for you.

When Lafayette's mother Ruby-Jean told him last week that he had to go and safe Jesus from Don Bartolo, his grandfather, I rolled my eyes. However, the storyline was relativity painless and definitely entertaining. Layette returned to Jesus's family home to find Jesus' severed head with his mouth sewn shut (so that's who took his body, thanks for finally clearing that up, True Blood). Bartolo confronts Layaette with a gun and reveals he used Jesus head to lure him there, so that his family can take back the powers Jesus gave him. Later, Layette has been tied to a chair and has had mouth sewn shut (I would have loved to have seen that happen, it would have made things a lot more scarier). Bartolo begins a ritual that is somehow supposed to transfer Layette's power into his wife's girlfriend. Just as Bartolo started to cut Lafayette, his pregnant girlfriend  rose from behind him and stabbed him to death, and then proceeded to cut Lafayette's lips free. I have no idea where this is going, But I feel Lafayette going to feel indebted to this pregnant lady, and her hopefully not too evil future spawn.

At Fangtasia, Tara, previously failing at being a successfully bartender, is now a pole dancer for Pam. I hoped at the beginning of this season that Tara's resurgence as a vampire was going to be the well needed transformation her character needed, but unfortunately, it's done the opposite. Whereas, I used to dislike Tara for her constant complaining and hypocrisy, at least she stood up for herself and did something about it when she didn't like the way she was being treated. Now she's just Pam's immortal slave, and watching Tara, who has eternally been True Blood's punching bag, enthusiastically shake her stuff fro Fangtasia's patrons was just plain sad. Her mother, Lettie Mae, arrives to tell Tara that because she's a minister's wife that she cannot have a vampire for a daughter, and that she has come to say goodbye. I seriously doubt Tara would have gone to any effort to seek out her mother before this, but knowing that her being a vampire threatens her mother's happiness, Tara shows her her fangs and threateningly tells her that she'll be seeing her again. Overhearing their conversation, Pam smiles proudly at Tara's response. Unfortunately, not only is Tara been continually mistreated, but Pam had been stuck with her all season, and given nothing but the reluctant maternal mother to play. She finds Tara crying over her mother's visit in her office and Pam tells her that Lettie Mae is no longer her mother now that she's a vampire, and that in a hundred years Tara would have forgotten about her. Tara quickly hugs her, but Pam ruins the moment by telling her to get back on the pole. Pam was fast becoming my favourite character on True Blood before this season, but the way she interacts with Tara has become painfully predictable. Every episode this season Pam offers Tara some sentimental motherly advice, realises what she's doing, and then proceeds to act like a complete bitch to compensate for her momentary lapse of character.

Arlene cries as she watches her wedding video at Merlotte's. Holly comes in to comfort her and tells her that her and Terry could always work things out, but Arlene says he's crazy. Holly reminds her that Arlene can't really be sceptical, this is Bon Temps after all. I enjoyed watching Terry and Arlene's wedding video, considering we missed originally. I'm so annoyed of Arlene though, she's such a hypocrite, and most people wouldn't have needed a 'why don't you think again speech' from Holly the witch to realise something supernatural might actually be happening. Duh! Anyway, the Irift was still after Patrick and Terry, and it looks like it will be for some time, deciding it would rather appear and laugh at them, making fun of their impending death, than actually killing them. Why won't it put us and them out of our misery's? Terry tries to kill himself with Patrick's gun, but Patrick convinces him that he wouldn't want his kids thinking he gave up on them. Wasn't much to this plot this week, but it still manages to be the most uninestering and unimportant one going around.

A drunken Jason arrives at Jessica's mansion looking for some consoling after the discovery about his parents death, unaware that she had a male snack bleeding from a thigh upstairs. Jessica tries to convicne him of the goodness of some vampires by making out with him, but it didn't work so well with some guys thoigh blood still on her lips. Jason then yells at Jessica and tells her she's no different from the vampire that killed his parents. Angrily she bites down on Jason's neck and Jason then shoots her in the head. They both quickly heal, and he storms out. Well Jason you can't have it both ways, either you hate vampires, or you don't, and you can't have one for your best friend if you do. And isn't Jessica sick of stringing him along already? Does she have any self-control, and if so, why doesn't she let Jason go? He's better without her and she knows it. Anyway, from outside Jessica's Jason sees Sookie going all flashes of light and runs to investigate her emotional outburst.

Rating: 2/5

Damages Recap & Review (5.2: Have You Met the Eel Yet?)

Ellen's not having the easiest time trying to represent Channing McClaren, mostly because he refuses to listen to or do what Ellen and Rutger, his chief adviser at McClarenTruth.org, tell him. During an interview McClaren publicly admits that his organisation made a mistake by publishing Noami Walling's personal communications. As Patty watches online McClaren receives a subpoena she served him while onstage, ensuring that he cannot leave the country while she tries to build a case against him by proving McClaren knew Walling personally and had intent to harm her. She asks Bill to find her proof that the pair knew each other.

Back at McClarenTruth.org Ellen questions Channing McClaren about Naomi Walling. He claims he never met her in person and that all their correspondence occurred online. As Ellen is leaving Rutger tells her that the company is having cash flow problems since the Naomi Walling story came out. Ellen tells him to find the money to pay her or hire another lawyer, and he questions her ability to represent McClaren, considering she does not appear to have much experience and has no staff. She informs him she is starting to hire, and that he should be more worried by the fact that the Judge assigned to their case favours Patty.

As Ellen has a name plaque installed outside her firm, an older woman named Kate Franklin approaches her with her resume and additional anecdotes. While Ellen accepts the resume she seems uninterested but later reads it and discovers Kate worked with Patty decades ago when Patty was establishing her legal practice. Kate also approaches Patty at Hewes & Associates and tells Patty she wants a job, and that Ellen as given her one, but she wants double the money to work for Patty. While Patty notices the proposition is out of character for Kate, she agrees. Kate returns to Ellen telling her that Patty was willing to pay her double the amount, revealing that she definitely doesn't want Kate working for Ellen. Ellen tells her she passed the test, but asked why she wouldn't want to work with Patty, to which she replies that she doesn't like her.

Despite being told to stay out of the public eye, Channing leaves the confines of McClarenTruth.org to meet with a man who claims he has more information about what happened with the Princefield leak. He asks Channing for money, which he refuses to give, saying he has never paid for information. After the man leaves and McClaren is kicked out of the bar for smoking, he is followed out by a brunette who recognises him. The pair start to flirt, and soon find themselves out the front of her apartment building, kissing, unaware that a man is watching them from the shadows. She asks him if he wants to come up, and after hesitantly looking at the security camera above the entrance to her building, he puts on a long black wig and agrees to come in.

At McClarenTruth.org, Rutger gives Ellen a USB containing damning evidence against Judge Haring. While she is hesitant to take it from him, they are both desperate to win the case, so she's takes it and approaches Haring outside his house. He initially doesn't believe that Ellen has anything on him, but when she produces the USB he agrees to step down as judge on the case, citing that his wife has become ill.

Later, the man that was watching Channing and the brunette them from the shadows arrives unannounced in Ellen's office. It is revealed he is a friend of Chris's, who Ellen hired to keep an eye on McClaren. He reveals that he has proof that McClaren meet with Naomi Walling at a hotel, using the hotel security footage and a photo he took of McClaren putting on the wig before heading into the brunette's. Ellen realises that this means McClaren is lying to her.

At Hewes & Associates, Bill is awoken by a drycleaner as he sleeps on a couch. After he tells the drycleaner he's wearing all the clothes he owns, he grabs out a flask from the side of the couch and starts to drink. Patty continues to ask him how his investigation into finding the link between McClaren and Naomi Walling is going, but it is obvious he has been half-heartedly doing the work, getting other employees to do most of it for him. Bill reviews the hotel security that Ellen also receives, but doesn't pick up that the man in the wig is McClaren and tells Patty that he can't find any evidence McClaren and Naomi ever met.

The next morning Channing returns to McClarenTruth.org and tells Rutger they need their employees back, after having angrily fired them earlier, because he knows that there is still more information to uncover about the Princefield leak and they need to get to work.

Ellen quietly celebrates back at her office with a glass of bourbon, but she is interrupted by a phone call from Patty Hewes. Patty congratulates her on removing the judge from the trail, but tells her that paranoia can lead to one seeing things that aren't actually there. Patty reveals that her conversation with Judge Haring that Ellen saw after the first hearing was misinterpreted, and that when Ellen sent Kate to Hewes & Associates she asked her assistant to lie and say she was receiving a personal phone call from Haring, to give Ellen the idea they shared a personal relationship. Patty tells Ellen that they actually didn't like each other, and he would have made her case very difficult, but the judge replacing him, Richard Gearheart, are on good terms. In court, Judge Gearheart tells them that Haring was not going to allow Patty to continue the case against McClaren, but that he thinks otherwise and will let Patty establish her case against him.

Three months in the future, Ellen stands and watches a pigeon on the top of a building, seemingly waiting for someone. The pigeon is suddenly flustered and flies away, and Ellen turns to see what caused that reaction. At the police station, a phone is given to Patty in the interogration room for her to make her call. As Ellen lies lifeless in an alleyway, her phone starts to ring. Presumably it is Patty calling her. Above, an unknown man looks over the edge of the building down at Ellen's body.

While again Patty bests Ellen in the match, the game is only just beginning, and now that Ellen has Kate on her side she might be a formidable force. Patty has problems on her hands with the lacklustre Bill, but because McClaren is such a loose cannon, and obviously lying to Ellen, it will be interesting to see which one is able to overcome and remove their obstacles before the other one gets the better of them.

Rating: 4/5

True Blood Recap & Review (5.6: Hopeless)

So the Authority aren't as useless as the seem to be. Just as Russell looked to have the upper hand over Sookie, Bill, Eric and Alcide with his wolves Councilman Kibwe and a swat team arrive to take Russell back to their headquarters. Sookie and Alcide know too much, and are glamoured by Bill and Eric respectively. While Sookie can't be glamoured as a faerie, Bill takes the opportunity and pretends to glamour her anyway, telling her she'll remember nothing of the night, nothing of him or Eric. He tells her that it will be as though they never met, and that she should live her life as she was meant to live it, in the sun with other human. Always the gentleman, Bill, but on the other end of the spectrum there's Eric, who not only glamours the nights events away in Alcide's mind, but convinces him he will not pursue Sookie romantically and that he actually finds her repulsive.

The morning after having returned to Sookie's, Alcide is unable to remember whether or not they slept together. Sookie uses her faerie powers (yet again she seems to have mastered them suddenly) and he remembers everything. He recognises one of the wolves from the night before as JD, and realises that some members of his pack are once again on vampire blood. He returns to Shreveport and tells JD he's stepping up and taking on the role of pack master saying he won't allow him to take down the pack. After receiving a second from a female wolf named Rikki, allowing him to challenge JD as pack master, Alcide leaves.

After having another dream about their parents, and adamant he will kill the vampires that killed them, Jason visits Merlotte's and tells Sookie about the faerie nightclub, and she demands he takes her there. He takes her to the field where the faerie club manifested, and while he can't see anything, Sookie uses her powers to find the opening and drags him inside. Inside, they find Hadley and Claudine's brother, Claude, as well. Claude tells them he heard that a vampire ambushed their parents on a bridge because he was drawn to something he smelled in the back seat of their car, a bandage of Sookie's. Sookie angrily says she doesn't believe him and tries to manifest her faerie fire, but it fails, and a group of faeries in the bar shoot their beams at her as she screams.

As Sam and Luna, somehow both still alive, arrive at the hospital, wolf-pup Emma, unfortunately, goes to the only place she can think of: her werewolf grandmother, Martha Bozeman. Despite suffering a mortal bullet wound, Sam is determined to stay with Luna at the hospital, and while Luna is less than impressed when Martha shows up with her daughter, the arrangement is somewhat timely, considering Luna is in hospital and there's a shifter killer on the loose. Sam tries to convince Andy that he should help him find the shifter killers, and because Andy is incapable of good police work he agrees. The pair return to a store that specialises in selling weapons to kill vampires, and as Andy questions the shop owner, Sam walks around the store inspecting weapons. Andy asks to look at something behind the counter and the man grabs a gun, but he is shot by Sam, who explains he could smell the owner go into survival mode.

At Fangtasia, Pam has to break up Tara and Jessica's fight, and she drags Tara into a back room, scornfully telling her that Fangtasia is her house, that Tara just works there. However, she is pleased that Tara held her own against Jessica. Jessica is approached by Hoyt as she sulks in the corner of the bar. He tells her that her fighting Tara proves she's still in love with him, which she denies. Annoyed, she jumps on him, and he then asks her if she'll glamour him, bite him, do anything she wants to him, and that he is desperate for her to do so. Sickened she gets up and leaves. Later on outside Fangtasia Hoyt lets a male vampire drain him. The vampire notices his heart beat is fading, but Hoyt tells him to keep going. As he's about to do so the men that attacked Sam and Luna pull up in their fan and shoot the vampire with a wooden bullet. He explodes all over Hoyt, and one of the assailants recognises him and proceeds to pull him into the fan, telling him they just saved his life.

Having killed Eller, the Irift comes after Terry and Patrick as they're leaving. As they run, Terry yells at Patrick for not believing him. Later on, an extremely emotional and scared Terry jumps from Patrick's car as they're driving. Patrick chases him down, and Terry tells him that they will both die because of what they did in Iraq. Terry arrives back in Bon Temps at Merlotte's and he tells Arlene about everything that happened in Iraq, that he's cursed, and the the Irift is after him. Arlene tells him that he needs to get back on his meds and that he can't leave because she and her children depend on him, but he makes it clear that if he stays with them, they will all die, so Arlene lets him leave.

Lafayette goes to visit his mother, Ruby Jean, in her nursing home. She tells that Jesus appeared to her too and wants to talk to him. Lafayette asks why she saw him, and she says that she doesn't know, that the electricity has always run through her. She then tells him to save Jesus from his Uncle.

Upon arriving at the Authority headquarters Bill and Eric have their I-stakes removed, and are toasted by the members of the Authority for finding Russell. Salome tells Bill and Eric that Nora confessed to being a Sanguinista while they were gone and she offers to go and continue Russell's interrogation, but Roman tells her not to bother as he plans to execute him. Salome seems shocked about this decision, but offers to go give him an extra dose of intravenous silver and bring him forth. Eric asks to visit Nora in her cell, telling the members of the Authority that she's his sister. While visiting Nora in her cell, Eric is unable to get her attention, as she is too busy praying and praising Lilith to notice him. Salome and some guards pass by dragging Russell with them, and Salome tells her that Russell is to be executed. They drag Russell off and Nora seems ecstatic claiming that Lilith's plans are coming to fruition. In the main chamber Russell is fitted with an I-stake, but when Roman tries to activate it, it fails. Suddenly Russell is on his feet, with a stake in his hand. He pushes Roman onto the table and slams a stake into his heart.

The pace picked up significantly in this episode, and other than the Fangtasia storylines and Terry, all of the others were solid. Andy and Sam are on the trail of the hunters, who have kidnapped Hoyt; Russell has killed Roman, and Lilith's plans are apparently coming together, and Sookie and Jason find themselves in an interesting predicament in the land of faerie's, so there's plenty to look forward too.

Rating: 3.5/5

Breaking Bad Recap & Review (5.1: Live Free or Die)

Breaking Bad has always made use of it's intriguing openings, giving audiences a glimpse into the future, and this season starts no differently. Somewhere in New Mexico an unkempt Walt is at a Denny's restaurant. In the bathroom he hands over an envelope full of cash in exchange for a set of keys. He goes out into the parking lot, finds the car the keys belong to, and opens the trunk revealing M60 machine gun with ammunition. This sets up what is sure to be an intriguing journey. Walt looks to be on the run, and needs to take matters into his own hands.

Back in the present, having 'bet' Gus, Walt returns home to get rid of the evidence of the pipe bomb as well as the Lily of the Valley plant he used to poison Brock. Skyler and Walt Jr. return from Hank's, and Walt Jr. is excited by all the new coverage Gus's death is getting on the news, as well as for Hank. Skyler is acting hesitant towards Walt, revealing she's afraid of him.

Walt can never stand still for long anymore, and he realises that the camera's in the lab may have left evidence for the police to find. He and Jesse go to meet Mike, who is on his way to find them after hearing about Gus's death, and a tense, and slightly amusing stand off ensues. I'm not surprised Mike wanted to kill Walter, and I think the only thing that stops him from doing so at this stage is his loyalty to Jesse. While initially amusing, Mike and Walt's bickering became quickly annoying, especially in the scene where they ignore Jesse, who had a legitimate solution to the problem of Gus's laptop that has the lab footage on it.

Saul goes to the car wash revealing to Skyler that Ted survived his accident. Skyler goes to visit him and finds him in a neck brace, much to her dismay. He promises her that he will not breath a word about how his accident occurred.

It's always fun when old characters/ sets are revisited on a television show, so it was nice to see the junkyard and Old Joe again.

I simultaneously loved and hated that Walt turned the magnet up too high and turned over the truck. On the one hand it demonstrates that he's a flawed character, which I've always enjoyed. On the other it continues to highlight just how debilitating his paranoia has become, and I'm waiting for the moment he makes a mistake that will ruin him, because he's made so many, yet somehow manages to get past them with minimal repercussions. This time, as the police are cataloguing broken items of evidence at the station, a smashed photo of Gus reveals account numbers of a bank account in the Cayman Islands hidden behind the photo.

Saul tries to explain to Walt the situation that occurred with Skyler and Ted, and Walt remains responsive until Saul tells him he no longer feels comfortable with their arrangement, especially after Walt poisoned Jesse, and says that they're done. Walt  walks over to Saul, intimidating him, and replies that he says when they're done.

I am very interested to see what Skyler will do now that she's afraid of Walt. Up until this point in the series she's been extremely loyal to him, but now that she knows that he is capable and willing to commit murder, It'll be interesting to see if she's remains passive and sticks by him, or tries to find a way out of the situation for her and her kids. At the end of this episode it's obvious she's trapped in a relationship with a man she no longer loves or really knows. Walter may forgive her, but can she forgive him?
Rating: 3/5

Damages Recap & Review (5.1: You Want to End This Once and For All?)

The setup of the McClaren case so far has been good. I was hesitant that the show was again using parallels from current media headlines to form the shape of the main legal battle this season, and it's obvious corporate America is once again in the spotlight, as well as Wikileaks founder David Assange. However, at this stage, the case has yet to be clearly defined, and there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered about what happened. Did Noami willingly give information about her company to McClaren, if so, why? Or Did McClaren steal it? Or someone else? And again, why? And why add all the dirty details of Noami's sex-life too? I love that guilty and innocence are relative terms in the world of Damages, nothing is that simple, and I hope, in terms of the characters involved in the legal battle, at least some ambiguity remains.

Noami's death was certainly shocking, and while Damages has never shined away from violence, I found myself feeling squeamish when the two masked men ambushed her in her bathtub and slit her wrists with a box cutter. It'll be interesting to find out who did it. While the obvious answer is Patty, as usual, you can't be certain.

Obviously, the courtroom confession of Ellen had to wait, but the custody of Catherine storyline seemed to fall by the wayside as the episode progressed and as Bill suggested, what is the point of keeping it around? I hope Michael starts to become a more aggressive character rather then just acting like an immature smart-ass. I can see him trying to dig up inofmration about his mother to build his case, possibly from Ellen. I hope this occurs, after all he's Patty's son, he's not just going to let her take his child. Hopefully Catherine is used more to, she provoked some very entertaining emotions from Patty during her dream.

While I understand the need for Patty and Ellen to have people to confide in, the inclusion of Bill and Chris respectively as the people they turn to to discuss their problems doesn't excite. At this stage, we know little about Bill, other than his loyalty to Patty. I could see him easily getting his hands dirty, but he pales in comparison to Pete. I'm hoping that he'll develop into a more three-dimensional character and not just be Patty's lackey, I'd love to see him start to question her as the season goes on, possibly even betray her. As for Chris, he's a liability to Ellen if there ever was one, and I can see a David-esque situation occurring all over again. Obviously the longer he hangs around, the more he's going to learn about Ellen and Patty's relationship, and that can't end well. He's just a distraction Ellen doesn't need. She's thinks she can do it all, be a successfully lawyer, have the perfect relationship, but she's needs to learn she can't.

While of course, for the sake of the story, Ellen had to represent McClaren in order to set up her showdown with Patty, it still always annoys me a little when Ellen plays right into Patty's hands. She knows she is giving Patty exactly what she wants by doing this, yet she still does it because she seems to have the delusion that somehow she will be able to truly triumph over Patty. It's a self-centred move, and while I don't necessarily like it in her character, hopefully it will lead to a sense of self-realisation before the end of the season. Ellen can't beat Patty without becoming exactly like her.

Flash-forwards have always been a staple of Damages' storytelling, and they're the perfect way to entice viewers to keep watching. Unfortunately, the adds for this season spoiled what would have surely been the episode's main talking point: Three months later Ellen is shown to be lying on a road, dead, a pool of blood surrounding her body. So what lead Ellen to her untimely end? Or perhaps more importantly, how was Patty involved, if she indeed was involved at all. Other flashbacks within the episode show Patty being taken away in handcuffs, and interrogated about Ellen's disappearance, revealing that Ellen was meant to tesify against her in court that day. Given that Ellen agreed not to do that in this episode, either she changes her mind about representing McClaren, or possibly fails at doing so, and goes back to testifying for Michael as a last attempt to get Patty. Or there's the possibility that she's testifying against Patty for a whole other reason, perhaps she finds out Patty's responsible for Noami's death during her investigation for McClaren, and plans to reveal it to the court? Either way, despite the giveaway in the trailer, the flashbacks have certainly intensified the build up for the rest of the season.

A solid start to the season, the introduction of the McClaren case was perfect, and the tantalising flashbacks ensure us that the showdown betwen Patty and Ellen is not to be missed.

Rating: 4/5

True Blood Recap & Review (5.4: We'll Meet Again)

Sookie's not in a good way, and it's one of the few plots I'm interested in on True Blood at the moment. Lafayette gives her some harsh truths after she reveals to Alcide she killed Debbie, but her attempt to repent by also confessing her crimes to Jason, of course, don't end up in her being punished. The citizens of Bon Temps try their best to make her feel super guilty about turning Tara into a vampire with their super hateful thoughts, but Lafayette's demon alter-ego seems to hate her the most when he puts some mojo on Sookie's car so when she hops in it and starts driving the gas pedal decides to go full-throttle. Of course, she manages to jump out of the car before it crashes into a pole, providing the most exciting moment in an otherwise boring episode. It's not all bad for Sookie though, Jessica overhears her conversation with Jason and glamours Andy into forgetting Debbie's case (if only True Blood could glamour it's viewers into thinking they don't just magic away plots whenever they went). Annoyingly loyal Alcide also helps Sookie out by telling Debbie's parents that Marcus killed Debbie, and that he killed Marcus in retaliation. Well at least he was only half-lying. Not only that, but Sookie also gets to have a drunken make out session with the werewolf when he comes to tell her his good deed. Too bad Bill and Eric, who jealously decide to use Sookie in their attempt to find Russell (hurry up Denis O'Hare, and make this show awesome again).

So while Bill and Eric were freed from the boringness that is The Authority at the beginning of the episode, it looks like they were paying too much attention as to how their vampire overlords like to do things and decided to act extremely boring themselves. The very amateur investigators decide to confront Pam, who was the one other person to know about Russell's hole in the ground other than them an Alcide. Pam has just returned from child troubles of her own, having saved Tara from death by tanning booth. Eric is unnecessarily mean to Pam, Pam continues to become increasingly annoying in her devotion to Eric, and neither Bill nor Eric seemed the slightest bit phased that Tara was now a vampire. It's turns out to be a case or being cruel to be kind, when Eric tells Pam later on that either The Authority or Russell will kill him, and he wants her as her progeny to live on. He releases her from their blood bond, and it's a whole much of seriousness, sappiness and crying. Meanwhile, Bill searches his house for bugs, him and Eric having concluded that if neither of them told anyone else of Russell whereabouts, that someone must have overheard them. Jessica is helping him, and she's aware something serious is going on with Bill, but he refuses to tell her. She tries to convince him to go see Sookie, and he tells her that she that he did a good job as her Maker and that she should look after herself. These vampire family moments are all exactly the same... boring. Jessica seems to have surpassed Bill, but for Pam, unfortunately, Tara is as stubborn as ever and refuses to drink a human she offers her (the only in-character thing Tara does all episode). But again, vampire powers solve everyone's problems and Pam forces her to drink.

The Authority, as usual, are having vampire problems of their own. Roman decides Nora is still withholding information about the Sanguinistas and he asks Salome to help in retrieving it from her. After threatening her with the true death and failing, Roman offers Nora Bill and Eric's safety in return for her revealing who the real leader of the Sanguinistas is, to which she agrees. Later, Roman confronts the other members of The Authority and reveals Alexander as another traitor. He plays a video of Alexander feeding on a human, and Alexander tries to plead his case, but Roman tells the other members that the video has been sent to all of the Authority's enemies and kills him. With the most annoying member of The Authority dead, Roman says there will be no more rebellion or opposition to his cause and they will all fall in line. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

Despite being glamoured to forget Debbie's case, Andy continues to try and be a good sheriff by agreeing to that night on the town Judge Clements offered him in exchange her making his sons speeding fine disappear. The Judge also invites Jason along. Judge Clements arrives at the station later on in a limousine pull of beautiful women. Although they all have bags placed over there heads Andy and Jason don't seem to put up much of a fight. They're lead to a field and then through a portal into a nightclub in the fairy world, where Andy once again meets Maurella the fairy. That's not the only recognizable face there though, as Jason sees his cousin Natalie. Jason tells her that Sookie is alive and Natalie is glad then asks if Jason was a refugee from vampires. He says no, then realizes he's in a fairy safe house from all the vampires. Natalie says they should get Sookie before she gets killed by vampires just like Jason and Sookie's parents were. Natalie mutters that she's said too much and leaves once Layda tells her to. Jason tries to catch up to her, but other fairies attempt to stop him. Andy intervenes and tries to help Jason. Both are kicked out of the fairy safe house. When they look around and realize they were in the middle of a field, Andy warns Jason of the two male fairies in front of them. Andy and Jason screams as they are hit with a beam of light from both fairies, which of course will make them forget everything.

Unfortunately, Terry seems more concerned with remembering is past rather than forgetting it. While he and Patrick are on route to South Dakota on their search for Brian Eller, their old navy buddy, Terry has nightmares about his time in Iraq. He and his fellow soldiers were acting incompetent, innocent civilians got killed, boring. Later on they search Eller's barn at night and notice a hidden opening below. They both go down, they see pictures taken and drawn of homes on fire. Eller then appears aiming a shotgun at both of them, and hopefully he will put Terry, Patrick and this annoying storyline out of its misery.

At Merlotte's, Sam sees Suzanne and Emory, two of his former shape shifting friends who beg him to shift and run with them again. Sam agrees, but later that night when he goes to meet them he finds them shot dead.

A very slow week on True Blood, basically undoing any excitement I may have held for the future of the show after the end of last week's episode. I don't think The Authority and Bill and Eric could move at a slower pace if they tried. I love where Sookie's at at the moment, but the way in which Marcus's and Debbie's deaths have just being tied up in a neat little bow annoys me a lot. Hopefully Sookie can improve Bill and Eric's situation next time. The fairies always hold promise, but they failed dismally last time they were used on the show, and I don't want to get my hopes up. The same goes for Sam's storylines, I want to get excited, but what's the bet it just means the werewolves are back?

Rating: 2/5

True Blood Recap & Review (5.3: Whatever I Am, You Made Me)

I've always wanted to watch a major character on a television series go through the transformation of human to vampire, and now I get to do so with Tara, but are there senses really that good that they can see every star in the sky? Anyway what was more important was that Tara has become the thing she hates most, and has no idea what to do. She's turns to Sam, and for this episode at least, he's given the exciting storyline of harbouring a seriously confused vampire Tara from Sookie and Lafayette who are desperately looking for her. I love that when he discovered what Sookie had done that he understood, and didn't judge. I also like that Tara's relationships with Sookie and Lafayette seem to have been seriously hindered by her transition, I mean, she practically told Alcide what Sookie did. Despite all this interesting stuff though, Tara doesn't seem to be having a good time (Rutina Wesley seems to have an awfully difficult time adjusting to talking with her fangs out) and decides to try and suicide by solarium, which of course Pam will save her from.

Bill and Eric's own little plea to save themselves from The Authority by killing Russell needs to be thoroughly discussed apparently, and Roman is so uncertain they can keep Russell at bay that he calls upon Steve Newlin who, should he need it, will go on television and sell the mainstreaming initiative to humanity. To make sure Bill and Eric are both good little boys while they're out hunting Russell, they have iStakes attached to them. Ah, technology. And apparently a part of their psych evaluations involves Salome sleeping with them both, and afterwards tells Roman that neither of them are Sanguinistas, and that they can trust them both. He is unconvinced however, considering Nora, someone they all trusted, revealed under torture that she was a member of the Sanguinista movement.

Andy might have to be a bit more careful about who he trusts as well, considering his 'sleepover' with Holly has resulted in a naked picture of him ending up of Facebook. But for once on True Blood, the sexual antics of Bon Temps citizens must be put to the side because Debbie Pelt is missing, and her very concerned parents have come looking for her. Andy goes to Merlotte's and heavily questions Sookie, which I loved, and it seems that her and Lafayette are in way over their heads. I've never really understood all the Lafayette love until now, the way in which Nelsan Ellis portrays him when he's nervous or scared is absolutely hilarious, yet believable, and he was right of the mark as he eavesdropped on Sookie's interrogation. Anna Paquin, too, is finally getting to strecth her acting skills with this storyline.

Jason momentarily reverts to his playboy self when he bumps into his old high school teacher, Miss Steeler, at the grocery store. The pair is revealed to have had an affair when Jason was in high school, she supposedly having taught Jason everything he knows about sex and prematurely starting Jason's sex life. They return to her house and she apologises for their previous relationship. He tells her not to worry about it and they have sex, but once they're finished Jason has an epiphany and realises that they're relationship was wrong. Later, after smelling a very attractive man at the clothes store, Jessica arrives at Jason's and tries to have sex with him. Jason tells her that he's not a piece of meat and refuses to try and fill the void in his heart with sex anymore. He says he cannot be friends with girls because he immediately thinks of having sex with them. He wants Jessica to leave, but she doesn't. She demands they will talk about what happened to him, and assures him that they can be friends.

Missing Eric, and possibly sentimental about becoming Tara's maker, Pam continues to have flashbacks to when she first met Eric. At her brothel Eric expresses his interest in her, and while initially she refuses, Eric tells her everyone has a price. Remembering one of her slaughtered working girls, she gets Eric to stop the vampires that are killing the women that are working for her, which turn out to be, Lorena and a newly turned Bill. After threatening them and spending them away, Eric and Pam have sex. Afterwards Pam asks Eric to turn her into a vampire, which he refuses. Pam then intentionally cuts both of her forearms and starts bleeding profusely.

This episode of True Blood greatly benefited from focusing of only a few key storylines, and having them cleverly linked together with several characters, rather than just having each character have their own annoying storyline. Terry's fire problems, and Alcide and Sam's wold troubles were gratefully put to the side for the time being, allowing the development of Tara's transformation and the beginning of the ramifications Debbie's murder will have. It was also great to have several of the characters interacting all together again and having Sookie back working at Merlotte's made me wish for the old days when True Blood was a lot more simpler and self-contained. While not a lot happened in terms of the progression of the storylines, by trimming away some of the excess characters this episode reminded me just how much of a good guilty pleasure show it can be.

Rating: 4/5

True Blood Recap & Review (5.2: Authority Always Wins)

Oh Sookie! Just what have you got yourself into this time turning your best friend into a vampire? A very hungry and violent Tara tried to take a bite out of Sookie and Lafayette, and all Pam could do to help as her maker was command Tara not to eat either of them, or leave Sookie's house. Cue destruction of Sookie's house! Sookie and Lafayette were both good this episode, Sookie, showing what must be her only admirable quality with compassion and understanding towards Tara, and Lafayette, who was acting all scared and torn over bringing Tara back. Tara herself was a little underwhelming, and for the most part you couldn't tell whether she was actually a retarded vampire, or whether she was just having a little difficulty after her transition. In the end it turned out to be more the later, her telling Sookie and Lafayette that she'll never forgive them before running off. And she's back, and I hate her already.

Too bad Pam couldn't stick around and act all authoritative and sarcastic towards her, but she had to return to Fangtasia where she could have some completely unimportant and uninteresting flashbacks to when she and Eric first met.

Terry started his compulsory war flashbacks this episode too, and they were so brief and full of fiery imagery and Patrick, that it made me care even less about what happened. Arlene was though, considering Terry's crazy upped the anti a bit and he started standing over her in the middle of the night and pushing her across Merlotte's kitchen. She goes to Patrick and tells him to fix it (oh I wish it was the easy Arlene), and Terry reveals to Patrick that one of their old war buddy's is in fact alive. Patrick thinks he's responsible, and if this storyline couldn't be annoying enough in Bon Temps, it looks like we're going to get a road trip.

After an unsuccessful road trip of their own, Bill and Eric find themselves at the hands of the infamous Authority. Their hideout looked pretty cool, but their torture methods were outdated and predictable. Plus, they have this super weird religious vibe about them (haven't we done this already?) and they all seem more of a bunch of characters interested in playing bible study and politics to actually do anything. Which is why Bill suggests, predictably, that he and Eric go hunt down Russell as to not have him spoil the Authority's plans.

Alcide has plans of his own, and they don't involve eating dead wolf pack master Marcus or having anything to do with the pack. Just when we think all is done with the werewolves, (wasn't season three the season of the wolf?) Marcus's mother comes to talk to her granddaughter Emma and try and convince Luna to let her have the pack in her life. Luna refuses, and for some ridiculously stupid reason, Sam thinks it might be a good idea for Luna. Much more understandably, Luna kicks Sam's stupid ass out.

Jessica does the same when Steve Newlin comes a knocking trying to buy Jason's love from her, which she naturally refuses. She's still partying it up in Bill's house, but Steve's taunt that Bill's no longer the King might put a serious damper on her new lifestyle, god forbid she tries to be mature for once.

Maybe she should take a leaf out of Jason's book, who's no longer sleeping around and is trying to repent for his past indiscretions, but is actually doing some good police work too. Him and Andy find Debbie's car, and I get all excited that a good storyline might be starting and that a characters actions in True Blood will actually have consequences for once. But that's all put to the side for another episode, as Jason must continue to pay for his past mistakes when some kid comes to the police station and punches him in teh face for having sex with his Mum, and then again when he tries to apologise to Hoyt and is rejected.

This episode was a slow one, but the set up allows for a lot of promising storylines, here's hoping there's more action from now on and that the pay-offs are good ones.

Rating: 3/5

30 Rock Season 6 Final Recap & Review (6.22: What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?)

Criss is desperate to be able to help out Liz financially so that they could think about 'having a plant' together, so he plans to take his hot dog van, named Van Der Beek, to an event in Queens.

At work, Hazel asks Liz if she can crash with her for a year or two now that she's moved out Rosmond's place. Liz tells her that they need to have boundaries, while Jenna taunts Hazel for her failures.

Jack asks Liz to officiate his and Avery's vow renewal, and while Liz thinks its a sign of deeper martial problem, she agrees. Avery arrives at Jack's office, with her mother Diane, much to Liz's surprise leading to a very tense and awkward situation.

Tracy is named man of the year by the Journal of the Aryan Patriot Party, and becomes concerned that he is not a good role model for African Americans.

During an interview Avery and Scott Scotsman do for NBC, Jack notices both of them tapping their fingers. He quickly returns to his office and watches tapes of the pair of them when they were forced to present the news in Korea. He discovers the pair of them used a secret code to communicate with one another, and possibly had an affair.

Kenneth goes to cry in the stairwell when he receives a letter that he hasn't been accepted back into the NBC page program, but he finds Hazel sitting there. Hazel tells him to stop complaining, because he could have no place to live like her. Kenneth then tells Hazel that she is staying with him.

When Avery returns to Jack's office he reveals he knows the code her and Scott share. She tells him her and Scott have never had a psychical relationship, unlike Jack and Diane. Jack tells Avery she was supposed to have forgiven him for that, and the pair angrily agree that that they problems but that they are going to get through them because they are Jack and Avery and they don't give up.

Jenna overhears that Kenneth and Hazel are now roommates, and Jenna warns tells to leave Kenneth out of their feud, to which Hazel replies that she's already taken care of Kenneth.

Before Jack and Avery's ceremony Liz becomes increasingly concerned about the wedding when both Diane and Scott ask Liz if she plans to say the part 'speak now or forever hold your peace', both expressing that they plan to stop the union. Liz's expresses her worries to Jack and Avery, but they are too preoccupied with not quitting that they ignore her.

Jenna reveals to Kenneth that she went down to Human Resources and discovered that Hazel sabotaged his application to reapply to the page program in order to remove him as a possible threat.

Liz overhears a news report about a bank robbery, and Criss's van is shown as the getaway vehicle. Distressed, she runs from the reception.

At the civil rights museum, Tracy is trying to find inspirational American Americans to look up to. Despite failing to do so, he states he will start his own movie studio, in which everything produced, written, directed and seen will be done so exclusively by African Americans.

Liz runs into Criss outside Rockefeller Plaza and tells him she'll go to prison for the robbery, he tells her that he sold his van that morning in order to get money to pay for their upstairs renovation, and now they both know neither is going to try and bail from the relationship.

During the ceremony Liz states 'speak now or forever hold your peace', but a drunk Diane has fallen asleep, and Scott is sitting next to his fiance before he was kidnapped in Korea, no neither of them say anything. Liz is pleased, but Jack and Avery interrupt her, saying they can't believe no one is going to stop them renewing their vows when there's so much to object to. They reveal they only got married because Avery was pregnant with Liddy, and decide that because they both hate to quit they were hoping someone else would ruin their wedding for them. They ask Liz to divorce them, and she does so.

At his apartment Kenneth confronts Hazel. She tells him it started off as sabotage, but turned into love. He asks her how he can believe her, and they start making out.

As Criss starts work on the renovation, Jack arrives at Liz's apartment with a gift for her for officiating the divorce: the remote control holder she wanted from Sky Maul. She asks for his advice on planning to have a baby with Criss, to which he replies he has no right to give her any because of the state his own life is in. She's asks for it anyway, and he tells her she'll be a good writer.

All of the storylines were strong this episode, but because they were so plot driven it left little time for funny character moments and went more for sentimentality. I liked the way Jack and Avery's relationship ended, both too stubborn to admit that it was a mistake. I'm indifferent towards Criss's character, but it's nice to see Liz happy, but it'll be interesting to see where their relationship goes from here. Ironically, it's Tracy's and Kenneth's storylines that I'm most looking forward to next season. Tracy had little to do this episode, but the announcement that he plans to make his own production company sets up a long, and likely hilarious arc for next season. The same can be said of Kenneth's unexpected relationship with Hazel. While it took me a long while to begin to like Hazel, her obsession with Liz, and now her feud with Jenna have great comedic potential. My problem with Kenneth is that he's been the same character for so long, so seeing him out of his comfort zone and in a relationship will hopefully bring out some funny moments next season.

Quote of the episode:

Hazel - ‘My living situation’s been a little in flux. Obviously I can’t go to a homeless shelter, I mean the people there can be a little too sexually conservative for my taste.’

Rating: 3.5/5