Review: Being Human (USA) "Partial Eclipse of the Heart"

Non Spoiler Review:

Josh struggles with the potential cure (involving killing his maker) and revealing the truth to Julia as their relationship continues to grow. Aidan, on the run with Suren, attempts to secure a safe refuge for them both. Sally struggles to make peace with Zoe. It all goes crazy when an unexpected plot device phenomenon appears out of left field.

As boring as I found Josh and Julia's drama, it was actually the stronger part of this particular episode, but it fell victim to yet another outrageous paranormal fix the writers bring out of their bag of tricks. That derailed it all for me, and diminished a potentially powerful ending that could have made this one of the stronger episodes this season.

Spoilers Now!

Henry's arrival is all a ploy, as he's there to rescue Aidan and kills the attackers. He suggests they run away together and leave behind Suren. But Aidan refuses because he's in looooove, then wounds Henry so it looks like he put up a good fight (and will be welcomed back in among the vampires. Because Mother is young and niave enough that she's probably never encountered that particular ruse before). He hopes he doesn't have to wait another eighty years to see him again. We feel the same way, as he's more interesting than most of the cast.

Julia and Josh are pretty much back together, but he warns her he has some issues to work out first, but she's okay with that, and he even passes the test of meeting up again with her former maid of honor, who really resented Josh for abandoning her. It all looks like things will end just awesome for Josh and Julia.

Sally manages to track down Zoe, who no longer cares about taking care of the babies and protecting them from ghosts. Being a medium is a curse and kept her alone all her life (which is very true given Sally basically torments her for half the episode until she talks to her).

Josh spies on Ray, debating if he can kill him, but sees he has a wife and son. Ray catches him creeping, so Josh apologizes for leaving things the way he did. Ray is very happy to see him again, and told him one day he'd come looking for him and gives him a big hug. He got his wife and kid back through telling the secret, and advises Josh to tell his girl the truth too.

Suren is tired of hiding at the hotel, but Aidan just needs her to be patient a little while longer as he goes to the Dutch for protection. He reminds the ginger vampire guy that Aidan brought justice for Haggeman, not Mother. Ginger V, ever the coward, is reluctant to hide them, but suggests Aidan bring food for the rest of the Dutch, as they will be up soon, and it will be a good overture.

Sally succeeds in making peace with Zoe, but in the park the two are privy to an unexpected eclipse, and the old man that Sally shredded abruptly appears dazed and confused. In one of the more ridiculous moments of exposition, Zoe muses the eclipse confuses the planes of paranormal existence (it's all a moon/sun kind of thing). If she shredded the old man in the park, then the others will be appearing back at her house. Sally heads there immediately, finding a very frightened Nick—and Danny.

Nick explains that shredding him sent him to some kind of limbo—everything ended but just for a moment. He still knew he existed but in another place. Zoe arrives to console him, while a shaken Danny tells Sally the place she sent him is so bad.

Josh is about to tell Julia about his secret when the eclipse prompts a change, so he goes running out of the restaurant. Julia tries to chase after him but he comes to a dead end in an alley. He has no choice but to show his fangy face to her. She backs away...and gets hit by a car. But he can't do anything as everyone is taking photos of him, so he runs off.

Aidan returns to the hotel to find Suren gone. She's returned to the hotel, and Mother, telling her she was right and she belongs there. Was there ever any doubt?

The eclipse ends and the ghosts fade away. Zoe feels she's okay now. Josh reverts back to normal and runs back to the accident scene to find Julia (a little worse for the wear) but she's in shock. He admits he's a werewolf. He comes clean but she confesses it's too late—because her body is on a stretcher, and he's been talking to her ghost. And her door shows up, so Josh explains what it is. They say their good-byes and she walks through

The Verdict:

Aidan and Suren's on-the-run plot doesn't hold much interest for me. She's still too new a character to feel any sense of bond between them (aside from what the writers try to hammer home to us through flashbacks). Maybe this could have worked a few seasons down the road, but I detect a stronger bond between Henry and Aidan than I do with Suren, yet he readily tosses him aside for her.

Another character, Zoe, hasn't endeared herself to me either, so we get Sally trying to make amends for all the damage she's done—by hounding her. That says so much about Sally. Has she really learned anything from her reaper period? And why is Zoe so important, anyway? Couldn't a tenacious ghost who wanted reincarnation just go to another hospital—anywhere?

Josh and Julia were actually kind of cute, so that means death awaits. Sure enough, it provided one of the best shocks of the episode, and I admit I was even taken in by the fake out that she was still alive. But all of this was kicked in the pants by the awful deux ex machina—the eclipse. Because these things just happen out of the blue with no one knowing they're coming. And Zoe's casual explanation of how they affect the supernatural side of things was laughable. All it did was give both of them an opportunity to say good-bye to the shredded—which are apparently going back to this horrible limbo? It's unclear just what was happening to them on their second fade out.

It's been such a dull and directionless season, I'm going to be happy when it's over. The series swings between the episodic and serialized. It needs to decide what it's going to do, and stop the continued time jumps between full moons.

Review: Mad Men "Tea Leaves"

Non Spoiler Review:

Mad Men brings us up to date with Betty and Henry, who face an unexpected crisis that eventually gets Don involved. Meanwhile, Don is having difficulty understanding all these crazy young people (not to mention his wife), when he has to try to get the Rolling Stones to do a commercial jingle. With the return of Mohawk Airlines, SCDP needs an additional copywriter, and it falls to Peggy to find a suitable prospect.

Generational themes played heavily this week, and it's a clear line between Roger and Don's perspective and their inability to relate to anyone in their twenties anymore. There's also some job-related concerns, as Roger and Peggy both wonder if they could be replaced by their own proteges. 

Betty's reappearance stole the show and was an unexpected way to deal with January Jones' real life pregnancy. It will be interesting to see how this plot fits in with the season as a whole. But it was a pretty good episode overall, aside from some unusually erratic pacing in how the scenes cut back and forth. 

Spoilers Now!

Betty has changed—a lot. She decides not to attend a political function with Henry given she can't fit into her dress. That prompts a visit the next day from her obese and icky mother-in-law, who suggests she get control of her weight through diet pills. Betty goes to a doctor to get a prescription, but he insists on an exam to rule out other causes, then finds a lump on her thyroid. So she phones Don in a panic and he manages to calm her down somewhat. Henry gets her in to the specialist sooner with his connections, and at the hospital she runs into an old acquaintance there for treatment herself, and they have lunch. With discussions turning towards cancer, Betty laments the mess she'll leave behind. A psychic walks by and offers to read their tea leaves. She tells Betty she means so much to the people around her, which only upsets her.  

Mohawk has returned to SCDP and Pete thinks Roger should handle the day-to-day matters of the account. They'll need a dedicated copywriter (male). Peggy reviews portfolios and is impressed with a Michael Ginsberg (also a Jew, which Roger says is the in thing at the moment), but Stan hopes she likes him as he'll likely be her boss someday. 

He's brought in for an interview, but really only wants to meet Don. His erratic attitude fails to impress her and she warns him he can't act like that with Don. Roger pops in to see Peggy after drinks with Mohawk and tells her to hire him given he's already told the client and the man's a Jew. Roger assures her no one will replace her, and he'll handle Don if there's any problem.

Megan and Don have dinner with Heinz, who has a bright idea to try to get the Rolling Stones to do a jingle. Harry manages to arrange a meeting when the Stones play in New York. Backstage, Harry and Don have to wait for the band, so Harry chats up some young girls, who get him in to see them. Her friend is doubtful Don can get them to do a TV ad, and while they wait Don tries to analyze why she likes the Rolling Stones, but it just cements how difficult it is for Don to relate to young people anymore. Harry comes running back, saying he got the deal. Except the Stones come down another hall and he realizes he was talking to some other group, the Tradewinds.

Don fills Megan in that Betty could be very sick, and he balks at her more optimistic attitude about them dealing with whatever comes their way (more generational divide).

Don meets with Peggy and Michael. He's more subdued than his initial interview, and has admired Don since the letter. Don seems impressed and tells Peggy good work. She's still unsure about the hire, but gets him set up. Michael returns home to let his father know he got the job.

Betty and Henry wait at home for the test results and learn the tumour is benign. Henry is elated, but Betty just gets snippy about being fat. Don calls Henry to ask about the tests, and is told (curtly) that she's fine, and Henry is not happy that he's aware of their crisis.

Pete gathers the staff to announce Mohawk's return, but uses it as a sideways insult to Roger, passing the account off to him to look after now that he's done all the initial work. Roger remarks to Peggy to forget everything he just said about Michael, given Pete is the last guy he hired. Roger vents to Don and is tired of having to prove he has any value. 

Betty and Sally seem to be getting along much better, sharing some ice cream. As her daughter leaves to watch TV, Betty finishes hers, as well.

The Verdict:

Following last week's civil rights storyline, we now find Don with a new black secretary, Dawn, and the source of many Don/Dawn jokes. Hopefully she gets some airtime next week so we can get to know her better.

Don has never come across as young at heart, but he's certainly showing his age these days. If the Rolling Stones didn't prove it, then his odd adversarial tone with Megan says he's really finding it hard to adapt to the world of the late 60's. Both socially and in the work world (with Roger being usurped by Pete) it's evident that his generation is losing ground and can't accept the new reality. Even younger Harry doesn't recognize he's not even talking to the Rolling Stones.

Betty's obesity was quite a surprise, but perfect for her vain character. After just six months, that's quite a weight gain, and I imagine it has a little to do with Don marrying a younger wife. I wonder what Don thinks of all that. They do seem to have eased into a more relaxed relationship with the divorce finally out of the way (much to Henry's chagrin).

I admit I was expecting cancer, but it remains to be seen how this might play out over the season. In fact, I believe Betty was almost hoping it was cancer, because having that be responsible for her weight gain would get her off the hook for letting herself go (especially given her angry reaction at the news the tumor was benign).

Like Peggy, I didn't like Michael at first, but I think he'll grow on me as Stan did. Though I do hope that Peggy isn't shoved to the background like she fears. There was a lot of teasing about a potential boyfriend, so it could easily go in that direction, too.

My only real criticism was the pacing—especially the numerous cuts back and forth between Betty and Don's stories. There were just too many short scenes. It was a shift from what we're usually used to, but this was also Jon Hamm's directorial debut.

Review: Being Human (USA) "Don't Fear the Scott"

Non Spoiler Review:

Sally has to come to terms with all the damage she's done to ghost and human alike, while Josh is making the attempt to move forward with Julia—enter Nora to cause problems. But why not have a dinner party in the meantime with Suren and Julia? Sounds like a great idea.

A lot of decent ideas were thrown into this week, but the pay off is not there. The characters continue to respond to what the writers throw at them rather than have events evolve naturally out of their lives, amounting to contrived scenes and plot devices. So often we're told how we should be reacting to these people (the usual musical montage and flashbacks to fill in the gaps of story that we should have gotten long ago). It's driven home by having just watched the final episode of the UK season four, which has about twenty times the emotional investment of this version. 

Spoilers Now!

Mother is visiting again, so Henry and Aidan make preparations. Josh wants Julia to stay over, but she has issues with how Aidan treated her. Sally is still being tormented by her reaper persona and tries to ignore him, while lamenting about the lives and ghosts she's ruined. To make matters worse, Aidan fills her in that the doctor's girlfriend, Janet (whom Sally possessed) was brought in to the psychiatric ward.

Josh convinces Aidan to make peace with Julia so he can get on with his relationship, so Aidan suggests dinner (with Suren as well). At the dinner party, Julia is the only human present and Sally just watches making annoying commentary. It starts out awkward but Suren behaves quite well and treats Julia rather decently, and is okay with the fact that Julia was with Aidan before. 

But afterwards, Suren isn't sure she fits in with Aidan's human life now. However, Julia is comfortable enough with the situation that she will come back to Josh's place again. Except they run into Nora. She's come back to try to fix things, but Josh says she's too late. She was confused when she left and admits it was a mistake. Julia's worried Josh will leave her again.

Sally wants to possess Janet so she'll at least know she's not insane. The boys don't think that's a good idea, but she crosses paths with Nora at the hospital (failing to get her job back) and they commiserate about what's happened. She wants to help, so Nora visits Janet and tells her she knows who Sally is too, and explains why she has her memories. Janet decides Nora's just a mental patient like her, and tells her to prove it by reciting a poem Sally wrote when she was nine. She does. Janet believes her and they ultimately get her out of the hospital. 

Mother applauds her daughter's success and says she will remain in charge in Boston (much to Suren's chagrin, who just wants to go somewhere better, like the coast). She's yet to make up for eight centuries of disappointment, though. Mother does keep up her bargain with Aidan and grants him freedom, sealing off the vampire world from him, and anyone who does contact him will be put to death. That's not exactly what he meant by getting set free, so he lunges for her and is thrown out. 

Josh is elated Aidan is free. But Aidan explains he's banished, and that's not the same thing. He's in love with Suren and freedom means nothing to him now. So Aidan calls Henry in to help. He wants Suren to run away with him and announces to Sally and Josh he's leaving. So it's a final (cough cough) goodbye as there can be no communication (ever). They say their good-byes, and there's even a montage of all their happy times in the house which lasts all of three seconds.

Nora comes to see Josh again, apologizing for all she's done. She learned Brinn was the violent one, not Conner, and she got tired of it. But she's brought an interesting tidbit about werewolves she learned. He can get back everything he wanted and lift the curse—finding the man who turned him. If he finds Ray and kills him while he's still a man, he's free. 

Aidan and Suren go into temporary hiding in a hotel, but he has to run out to get Suren some food because she's being a bitch and turning into Sally. He's confronted by Henry and a few vampires with stakes who tell him they won't let him run.

The Verdict:

There's zero tension with Aidan's decision to abandon his friends in favor of Suren. The whole season has shown he's looking out for himself and not Sally and Josh. Why not ditch them for the crazy vampire princess? Why not ditch his own protege, as well, which he's fine to leave behind in Mother's company? Add in Aidan's send off that was a bit much...queue the lame music and (brief) montage. This season has obviously spanned a large amount of time (due to Josh's regular full moon transformations), so the three of them haven't been spending an enormous amount of time together. At least that we've seen, which is the whole point of seeing them interacting rather than just assuming.

Nora plays plot device in several ways—disrupting Josh's happiness, and providing an extra supernatural revelation that offers Josh the promise of a cure. He just has to become a murderer. Her whole scene with Sally and Janet was just ridiculous—oh my god, I can't remember that poem, but wait, oh ya I can. And the whole ordeal from last week really didn't accomplish much if Sally is still seeing the reaper. What was the point of all that, aside from filler?

Would Josh really let Aidan bring Suren in the house to meet his girlfriend and put them in the same room together given their history? I can't see it. But the writers seemed to feel it would make for some lighthearted Josh and Aidan moments. This American version has too many episodes and slashing it in half would make the writers hopefully come up with a concise and taught script absent of unnecessary scenes like Sally lying on tables (which they seem to love).

Review: The Walking Dead 94

Non Spoiler Review:

Issue 94, A Larger World, charts the journey to meet up with Jesus' people. Carl returns to the storyline as he talks to Jesus and seems to like him, then tags along as the group gets on the road to see if the stranger's story of a greater society is true.

The whole gang is back together for this trip, so it promises to be interesting once they get to the new settlement. It's been awhile, but Carl is finally back in the action of the story. 

While this whole storyline has been on a slow burn, at least it brings events to a point where it feels the world for our characters is going to change in a big way.

Spoilers Now!

Carl gets his bandages tended to, and sneaks in to see the prisoner, Jesus. Meanwhile, scouting around the borders of the community, Rick and Michonne find no indication that Jesus' people might be lying in wait. When Rick returns, he's alarmed to find his son talking to the captive. He informs Jesus he's going to lead them to his hilltop outpost, and if Rick doesn't like what he sees, he'll kill him on the spot.

Later, Aaron has a chat with Rick, making the comment that Rick didn't trust him at first, either, and things ended up not too bad. If he pushes Jesus too hard, he could damage some potential opportunities. Rick asks Andrea to stay behind, but she realizes he's protecting her given his feelings. She convinces him he needs her on this expedition.

Abraham joins the group, as well, so he, Rick, Glen, Michonne and Andrea drive off in a van with a tied up Jesus. On the way, they find Carl has stowed away, which infuriates Rick, but he opts to take him along. Carl just wants to see the place Jesus is talking about.

The next day they have to clear the road of some vehicles, and Jesus reveals he's been free all along. He and Rick seem to have established a measure of trust. Jesus sees they're good people, given his talk with Carl has impressed him that he's raised his son pretty well given the circumstances. Now he asks Rick to trust him, as they've arrived within sight of the hilltop.

The Verdict:

This was an interesting chapter. On one hand I did enjoy that Carl was getting back into the action of the book again, as well as the interplay among the characters along the journey. But Kirkman is taking his sweet time building up to whatever is waiting on the hilltop fort, so I will definitely be happy to actually get through the doors next month.

Rick can be very infuriating at times, and Aaron voices what is likely going through everyone's mind—that Rick's mistrust could royally screw up everyone's chances for a better life. It's very hard to gauge who is right in this circumstance, as the journey did bring up thoughts of Woodbury and all the mess that happened there. It will be interesting to see what kind of leadership lies within the hilltop, and if it raises the spectre of the governor.

The series has been about survival. Now they're reaching a place where it might be about rebuilding, so the implications of this storyline for the future of the The Walking Dead is really exciting.