Review: Deadly beast captured.

Glee (s1ep22): Journey
★★★★

Season 1 finale: Regionals are looming and Sue is scheming, read more cystitis jeopardizing the glee kids’ chances once again. Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban have cameos as themselves.

Stargate Universe (s1ep20): Incursion (2)
★★★

Conclusion. A hostage crisis unfolds following an attempt by the Lucian Alliance to seize Destiny, website like this which starts to have ship-wide power fluctuations and blackouts in the first-season finale.

New

Pretty Little Liars (s1ep1): Pilot
★★★

The series premiere of a drama about four estranged friends reuniting because of mysterious messages that suggest their missing friend is watching them.

Rubicon (s1ep1): Gone in the Teeth
★★★

A preview of the AMC crime drama "Rubicon," premiering August 2010. The series stars James Badge Dale as a beleaguered analyst for a New York-based government intelligence agency who stumbles upon a sinister conspiracy.

Rewatch

The Vampire Diaries (s1ep3): Friday Night Bites
★★★

Stefan joins the football team after an impressive athletic display. Elsewhere, Elena invites Stefan and Bonnie to dinner in hopes that they will bond, but Damon disrupts the evening with an unexpected visit.

Glee (s1ep22): Journey

Narrator: So, I don’t know why anyone would miss an episode of Glee, but here’s what’s been happening in case you did.

There was a different and highly amusing previously at the beginning of this episode for the finale. Despite all the previous quibbles with recent episodes, including continuity issues stemming from apparently the last two episodes being switched, this episode seemed to go back to the beginning.

We’ve got Rachel and Finn getting on better ground after the recent Jessie incidents, ending with a kiss and starting the song that also started their relationship in the pilot, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’. See, we even went full circle in their choice of song, even with changes such as Santana and Puck getting lines, and it was brilliant to go back to that with a Journey mashup.

At first it also seems like a rehash of the first competition at the midseason finale, maybe even using the same theater to film. But there’s also some new and different developments. This time around Sue is one of the judges, and it seems she’ll be the reason they lose. Yet, Sue is small fries amongst the judges, and the only one of the judges for our glee kids. And this time they don’t win, which I’m actually glad to see.

Yet, one thing has steadily changed, and grown, over the season, the sense of family the kids get out of glee club. One of the most poignant scenes of the season I feel is seeing all of them at the hospital with Quinn as she’s wheeled away to have her baby.

This is what Glee should be about over the music, with the show should focus more on it’s writing and development. I even liked the kids singing to Mr. Schue (‘To Sir, With Love’) and him singing back to them (‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’) at the end.

And it was just icing on the cake to see Rachel’s mother who never got a chance with her own daughter, and is finally ready to settle down, to adopt Quinn’s baby. It’s actually kind of perfect. It was a bit odd to have ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ inter-cut with the birth, but I suppose it worked.

So well done Glee. I’m not happy with you yet, but this episode was actually kind of a step up. Well, if I ignore some little things that bothered me, such as Quinn’s mother reappearing after being gone most of the season just because her husband had an affair.

Pretty Little Liars (s1ep1): Pilot

It’s difficult to know where to start with reviewing the pilot of this show since I read the script a couple weeks ago and it was, as far as I remember, exactly the same. There’s one thing to say about this show, there’s enough here to get different of viewers interested. Even though it’s set with the high school age set, and adults aren’t really the primary focus, there are a variety of storylines happening.

There are high school relationships, friend relationships, romantic relationships, family relationships, and most importantly the sense of mystery the show is going to milk as much as it can. Think Desperate Housewives meets Gossip Girl. I call it soap opera with a twist. It’s definitely not Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Also, like other ensemble shows there’s a character for everyone. There’s the sporty one, the overachiever, the normal one, the pretty one, etc. We’re crossing all the lines with this show, too and lots of setup for the rest of the season. We’ve got a lesbian relationship in the making, a student-teacher relationship, and suggestions of infidelity and teenage drama.

The show still has room to grow, but it’s good enough for some light mysterious summer fare.

A: I’m still here, bitches. And I know everything.

The Vampire Diaries (s1ep3): Friday Night Bites

One of the reason’s I love this show is because it reminds me of BtVS in it’s an ensemble show and there’s focus on secondary characters beyond the main characters. In my opinion, one of the signs of a good show.

That said, there’s always one character in each show that constantly gets screwed over. In this one I think it’s Caroline. She’s always second to Elena, in life, in love, and when she gets a guy it’s an evil blood sucking vamp aka Damon. That sucks, literally.

Then, there’s Matt who is a total sweetheart next to his sister Vicki. He gets a lot of crap also, starting with his losing Elena to Stefan, and yet, he still manages to be a total sweetheart to everyone, even Stefan. I love how we’ll see the friendship between Matt and Stefan continue to grow throughout the season.

Tyler: Oh look, there’s Elena and her new boyfriend. And what are they doing? Oh they’re walking, walking, walking, look they’re walking right into the sunset.

We also have the beginnings of the Bonnie and Stefan relationship, and her witchy powers, in this episode. I’d forgotten their storyline started way back at the beginning. Another thing I like about this show, the fields are all prepped early on for the sowing later. How’s that as a metaphor for you?

Then, the most important relationship of all doesn’t even involve Elena, but Stefan and Damon. Each episode we get more backstory as to why they hate each other and what’s up with Katherine. It’s like Damon was created just to annoy Stefan, and isn’t that what siblings are for? That and sharing, since Stefan and Damon share everything, including girls, right? Well, Katherine anyway.

Damon: Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul, so many… adjectives.

Damon: I’m sorry, Elena. I know what it’s like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we’ve ever cared about die.
Stefan: We don’t need to get into that right now, Damon.
Damon: Oh, you know what, you’re right, Stef. I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up.

Stefan: They are people, Damon. She’s not a puppet, she doesn’t exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to.
Damon: Sure, she does. They all do. They’re whatever I want them to do. They’re mine for the taking.

Which brings me to one of my favorite moments when Elena realized both Damon and Stefan dated Katherine. Then, her saying ‘I’m sorry’ to Damon cause ‘you lost her, too’ , the expression on his face was the best. The first human moment Damon has had since he arrived.

Of course, their friendly status doesn’t last long as Damon has to try and kiss her just to screw with Stefan. Thank goodness Stefan had already given her the vervain necklace.

Elena: Let’s get one thing straight, I am not Katherine.

It’s my theory that Damon never gave himself over to the monster within.

Stefan: There must be a shred of humanity left inside my brother, somewhere, I keep hoping, but how do I make him see it? And how do I protect her?

But Damon doesn’t want anyone to see him as weak, so he does everything he can to prove his human side doesn’t exist.

Stefan: Because deep down inside there is a part of you, that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you. That you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be.
Damon: Who’s pretending?
Stefan: Then kill me.
Damon: Well, I’m – I’m tempted.
Stefan: No, you’re not, you’ve had lifetimes to do it and yet here I am. I’m still alive and there you are, you’re still haunting me after 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me, because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, that is your humanity.
Damon: If that’s my humanity, than what’s this?

He then attacks and kills Mr. Tanner, forcing Stefan to reconsider.

Stefan: I thought there was hope. That somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There’s nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness, no love. Only a monster… who must be stopped.

Then in the last scene we see Damon caress Elena’s face while she sleeps, and we realize Stefan was right and it’s love that keeps Damon human.

It’s his love for Stefan that keeps him from killing his brother, though it doesn’t keep him from making his life miserable as he said in the pilot: "I promised you an eternity of misery, so I’m just keeping my word." The question now is does Damon see Elena as Katherine or was he moved by Elena’s consideration of his loss of Katherine?

Stargate Universe (s1ep20): Incursion (2)

The season finale was probably a step up from other episodes, and I enjoyed it, but I actually enjoyed the first half of the season more. The development of character, the struggle for survival, the exploration of the ship and the planets, that’s what I want to see in my Stargate Universe.

I know people complained about there not being enough action, but now I feel it’s the reverse. Sure, it’s more exciting now, but we’ve lost the backbone a little. The show is called Stargate Universe, and I want to see the Universe part as they discover these outer reaches, what it means for them to be in it, and what is out there.

That said, I enjoyed this episode for it’s adrenaline pumping everyone is in danger attitude. It’s exciting to see the characters we know and love all in life or death situations. Eli leaves Chloe alone, still losing blood from being shot last week, to go save Greer and Scott. While Telford is injured after being shot by Kiva. And everyone else is just shit out of luck as the boring pulsar shoots gamma ray radiation down on the ship.

Rubicon (s1ep1): Gone in the Teeth

There are a couple interesting things about this show: a mystery where a secret society manipulates world events, and interesting characters including an analyst at a national think tank (solving threats against the country) who discovers clues as to the existence of this agency. There are two things I like, a mystery to solve and smart people, and that’s Rubicon.

James Badge Dale plays Will Travers, apparently the smartest person in this government think tank. He’s the one who discovers these clues about the secret society. There’s a cool sequence with a four leaf clover representing the three parts of the US governement and the last leaf representing the secret fourth branch. Interesting.

Essentially, Rubicon pilot episode is one big teaser and we’re going to have to wait til August for the second hour aka the trailer.

Glee (s1ep22): Journey
★★★★

Season 1 finale: Regionals are looming and Sue is scheming, anabolics jeopardizing the glee kids’ chances once again. Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban have cameos as themselves.

Stargate Universe (s1ep20): Incursion (2)
★★★

Conclusion. A hostage crisis unfolds following an attempt by the Lucian Alliance to seize Destiny, information pills which starts to have ship-wide power fluctuations and blackouts in the first-season finale.

New

Pretty Little Liars (s1ep1): Pilot
★★★

The series premiere of a drama about four estranged friends reuniting because of mysterious messages that suggest their missing friend is watching them.

Rubicon (s1ep1): Gone in the Teeth
★★★