Dexter S4 Finale: Whoa.

Last night was the season finale of Dexter and... wow. What a finale it was. Suspense, intrigue, murder, Dexter almost getting caught (many, many times) and... an ending that sets up season 5 as the season that might finally be Dexter's undoing. (The following contains spoilers for all of season 4, including the finale.)

I posted on the beginning of season 4 of Dexter, and with so much else on I wasn't able to keep up with it weekly, but this season is probably my favourite one so far, and for one very big reason: John Lithgow. WHAT an inspired choice in casting. The hilarious Dick Solomon from Third Rock from the Sun. The sympathetic Roberta from The World According to Garp. The tiny yet evil Lord Farquaad from Shrek. Maybe we saw a touch of his wrath as the reverend in Footloose (ha) but nothing could have prepared any of us for the sheer horror of Arthur Mitchell. On the surface, a church-going family man who has it all. Behind closed doors he systematically locks his daughter in a room, beats his wife, and breaks his son's fingers one by one. Of course, that's only when he's at home in between travelling the countryside in the guise of someone doing a Habitat for Humanity project while serial killing along the way. His M.O. was terrifying: first, kidnap a 10-year-old boy, force him to wear the exact same pyjamas that he'd worn when he was a 10-year-old, moments before he looked into the bathroom one day, saw his older sister showering, she saw him watching her, tripped, cracked her head open and died right in front of him. No... he can't have that happen to THIS little boy. So he'll put him in those PJs, tell him to stay innocent forever, and to insure that happens he'll drug him, throw him in a body bag, and bury him (alive) in cement in one of the homes he's building. Five days later, he'll kill a woman in her bathtub, re-enacting what happened to his sister. A couple of days after that, he'll find a woman with a boy and a girl, roughly the age his mother would have been when everything went to hell in his house, trap her, take her to a tall building, and force her to jump. How does he do that? Simple... just threaten her children. He refuses to push her, because he needs her to commit suicide the way his own mother did. And then, he hunts down a man in his 40s, with a boy and a girl. Doesn't matter if they're actually beating their children the way Arthur's father was beating him... but he DOES need to prove to himself that the guy COULD do that if provoked. So he provokes him. Forces him to punch him just once. And that's it: he bludgeons him to death with a framing hammer. Then he packs up, heads home, and continues playing happy families while terrorizing his own.

Oh, and I didn't mention that at each crime scene he leaves a tiny smudge of his sister's ashes that he keeps in an antique urn. All together now: SHUDDER.

I have been a John Lithgow fan for a long time now. He also, in case you don't know, writes children's books. He wrote one of my daughter's favourites: Micawber, about the squirrel who lives in Central Park and becomes a painter. Last week I was cleaning up her room and came upon the book, upside-down on the floor with John Lithgow's happy face smiling up at me. I flipped it over quickly, a cold chill going down my spine. I'm actually typing this in HTML so I don't have to look at the photo above. THAT is how much Arthur Mitchell has affected me.

So last week, Dexter's mistakes he's been making all season (not focusing on his work, getting caught by Rita for having an apartment, killing innocent people because he's not taking the time to do his homework) finally really start to build and Arthur finds the crack and figures out he's not actually Kyle Butler. Arthur follows him to work, without Dex even noticing (a season ago, Dex would have known in half a second if someone was behind him in a car). Arthur strides into the office, all 7 feet tall of him (seriously, that guy looks SO massive) and Dexter nearly passes out as he sees this guy encroaching on his own territory. Dex stumbles out of his office and stands before Mitchell, who grabs a hold of Dex's name tag and says, "Hello... DEXTER MORGAN." I practically passed out myself. It was one of the most frightening endings ever.

This week I figured he'd find the guy, he'd kill him, he'd realize he's making too many mistakes and maybe he'd decide to quit the life, and next season would be about his vain attempts to try NOT being a serial killer. And yes, the episode had all those elements. In fact, when he finally DID have Arthur on the table, it almost seemed anticlimatic, and even stranger when he let him leave this world listening to a favourite piece of music, with the calming sound of his train set chugging around the room. Dexter carried the body to his boat, dropped the parts into the water, and breathed a sigh of relief that it was all over.

But how was it over? Arthur's family knows Dexter, has seen him many times and even saw him try to kill Arthur once. Just because they know him as Kyle Butler doesn't mean they can't finger him when it comes down to it. How will he explain how he had been on the trail of Trinity all along and never bothered to mention it to the REST of the homicide department? And what about Debra? She just figured out that Dexter's brother was the serial killer who died mysteriously at the end of season 1: will she put it together that Dexter was the one who did it? And what is the possibility that Dexter is actually her father's biological son and therefore her real half-brother? She seemed pretty suspicious about Dexter being at Mitchell's house immediately after the call went out -- the same suspicions she had when she wondered how that reporter who turned out to be Mitchell's daughter got to the crime scene so quickly.

Dexter figured out that Arthur was going to pick up his convertible. Arthur picks it up, and we see him riding happily around Miami. Late that night, his car breaks down and Dexter shows up in his killing outfit, having pulled off the oil cap. But what's not completely clear is what exactly Arthur did that day... did he leave from the car lot and go straight on the road? Did he make a pitstop right after or right before picking up that car? And could that pitstop have been... the airport?

For just when Dexter vows to walk away from his life and abandon his dark passenger, he arrives home and gives Rita a quick phone call. Her phone rings nearby. She's not away on vacation like she should have been, even though she just left him a message saying she was at the airport. He hears a baby crying, and follows the sound.

And what he finds in the bathroom is the culmination of his life's work, and the result of his personal vendetta against Arthur Mitchell. Just as his own mother had been bludgeoned in front of him as he sat in the rivers of blood that flowed from her body when he was a mere toddler, now his own baby sits in Rita's blood as she lies, lifeless, in the bathtub, where Arthur Mitchell made his final mark. Just as Harry had picked up Dexter and rushed him out of the scene, only to realize it was too late to save him, so too does Dexter grab his son, Harrison, and rush out of the room. Is it too late to save this child? Or does he have both nature AND nurture working against him here? Will his sociopathic genetics cross with what he witnessed in that room and doom him to a life of crime like his father?

And what will Dexter do next? When he calls 911 and Debra comes over, she'll be horrified at what's happened to him. But then she'll wonder why Arthur targeted Dexter in particular, especially so soon after Dexter was at the Mitchell house. Maybe she'll start to question every strange thing Dexter's done, including the extra apartment. Quinn's been noticing Dex leaving work a lot and running around. He assumes Dex is having an affair, but if he begins putting the pieces together, he'll find something much worse. Masuka told Dexter about Rita's transgression: what if he thinks Dex killed her in the bathtub out of revenge? What if several people believe that, since Dexter would know the details of the Trinity killer's M.O. intimately and would know exactly how to position the blood?

Dexter's been sloppy, and now his family has paid the price. It's probably only a matter of time before he gets caught, but the question is... who will be the one to finally catch him? Will it be Debra? Imagine THAT catch-22: finding the greatest serial killer Miami has ever known and wrapping up several dozen cases all at once (including the demise and damnation of Doakes)... it'll make her career. She'll be the #1 detective on the force, and probably find herself on the FBI for pulling off something like that. But Dexter means everything to her, and while her professional life will be at its peak, her personal life will be in a shambles. She wouldn't be able to live with herself having done that.

Season 5 promises to cause most of the characters' lives to unravel. But none will fall apart quite like Dexter's. Season 4 was a brilliant continuation of this man's story, and knowing that the show has only been planned for 5 seasons, will season 5 finally see the death of Dexter Morgan?

What did YOU think of the fourth season?

Dexter Preview: Season 4

Dexter is one of those shows that's a REALLY hard sell to a conservative friend who's a casual television viewer. "Well... it's about this serial killer who's a sociopath, and, okay, it's a little violent and graphic, BUT he kills people who somehow slipped through the system, because, you see, he's a blood spatter expert by day working in the forensics section of the police department, and he's seen killers slip through the cracks on technicalities, and so when they get away, he, um... hunts them down and puts an animal tranquilizer in their neck and then Saran Wraps them to a table, slices their cheek open so he can get a drop of blood onto a specimen glass (did I mention he keeps a drop of blood from each of his victims in the A/C unit in his apartment? No? Um... he does) and then he usually stabs them through the heart. But it's REALLY funny, and you're totally rooting for Dexter.... Wait... where are you going?"

Yeah. Not the one to recommend to the mother-in-law. (I've tried. You know I'm not kidding.)

For those of you who watch Dexter, though, you know what a fantastic show this is. Season 1 was about the Ice Truck Killer, who (spoiler for season 1!) turned out to be Dexter's brother, of all people. He and his brother had watched their mother get hatcheted to death by an axe during a drug deal gone awry, and the police officer who took them out of the situation carried Dexter out and adopted him, and left the brother behind. Big bro became a serial killer in his own right, and season 1 ended with poor Dex having to kill the only person who could ever understand what was happening in Dexter's head. In season 2, Dexter began searching for more clues about his adopted father and his real mother, while the police discovered all the bags of bodies he'd been dumping into the Harbour, and he realized that for the first time, he was in serious danger of being caught. His relationship with Rita -- which in the beginning had been one of convenience, because he had no need for sex, and Rita, having been raped, didn't want it either -- began heating up as she wanted to be more serious and finally wanted to have sex with him. (Spoiler for season 2 ahead!) Somehow he managed to convince the department that the real killer was Sergeant Doakes, who'd been on to Dex from the beginning, and who died a fiery death. Meanwhile, Dexter had hooked up with a pyromaniac crazy woman, to whom he'd admitted some of his darkest secrets, and with whom he had wild sex he actually enjoyed. But he did away with her, too. In season 3 he and Rita became friends with Jimmy Smits and his wife, and Smits, being the DA, was sick and tired of watching criminals walking away from crimes, and he commented to Dexter that the Bay Harbour Butcher was actually a good guy, since they'd linked all of the victims in bags to criminals who'd gotten away with their acts. When he catches Dexter in the middle of doing away with one of his victims, he wants in, and Dexter allows him to enter the dark world he lives in. (season 3 spoiler ahead!) But Smits' character had other plans, and he began killing people who he just didn't like, rather than killing by Dexter's code. Unhappy that this person knew too much, and that he was a dangerous loose cannon who could go off at any time, Dexter offed him at the end of the season. Just as Rita announced she was pregnant.

And now, in season 4, it's several months later, Rita's had the baby, and Dexter is dead tired and has been up night after night feeding this newborn baby and helping him go back to sleep. He's married to Rita now, he's falling asleep on the job, Aster (Rita's eldest daughter) is becoming a teenager and hates him, and Cody, the younger one, still loves to play with Dex, who is too tired to reciprocate half the time. And how does a serial killer sneak away at night to kill people when he's had a total of 10 hours of sleep in the past week and can barely stay awake during the day, much less at night? That's what season 4 is all about. Dexter wants to have it all: the wife, the kids, the new baby, the house, the job... and the freedom to kill bad people at night and maintain his sociopathic tendencies.

Ah, the American Dream.

Meanwhile, there's a new serial killer on the loose. John Lithgow joins the cast this year as the creepiest killer yet -- in an early scene, the calm way in which he kills his victim, and the look on his face, will haunt you for a very long time.

An old face from the show returns, and with his return one person in particular finds her world turned upside-down. As we watch Lithgow's methods -- and Dexter begins showing up at the scenes of his crimes, and, as he did with the Ice Truck Killer, tries to hide the fact that he's DEEPLY IMPRESSED by this guy -- what unfolds is one of the most dangerous people we've ever seen on the show. Who is he, why does he kill the way he does, and is it as random as we think?

I've seen the first four episodes, and they were bloody fantastic. You will see Dexter in a way you've never seen before; Lithgow's character oozes with a sadism that is SO creepy I can barely put it into words; the writing and acting are fantastic; and Deb's colourful language is in top form. DO NOT miss this show -- season 4 is shaping up to be the best one yet.... if Dexter can actually stay awake for all of it.

Dexter premieres on The Movie Network in Canada and Showtime in the U.S. at 10pm ET on Sunday, September 27.

Oh, and just have to share this. I get strange promo kits all the time, but this one probably takes the cake (and I've never laughed like this after getting one). Just today, there was a knock at the door and the courier was there with a package for me. My husband got the door and signed for it, and it was a gift bag for a new baby. He handed it to me and the tag on it said, "To Nikki Stafford, Nik at Nite." For a brief moment I thought, "I mentioned it was my son's birthday this week on my blog... did one of my readers somehow find out where I lived?" But inside was a card that said, "It's a Boy!" and I thought, "What?!" and I opened it to find three milk chocolate cigars that had the Dexter logo on them and a reminder to watch this Sunday. Freakin' brilliant.

New Dexter S4 Promo Poster

Best promo poster for a new season ever? YES. (Click on poster to enlarge it.)

2008: The Year that Was

And only a week after everyone else has done it, here is my best of list for 2008. What a crazy year. On the international stage, the United States finally has a president who can complete a sentence without a non sequitur and dodged the Alaskan bullet, while at home, it was a difficult year for many of my friends. Just the other day I was thinking about how last Christmas was a certain way for many people I love, and this year it was entirely different, marked by absences. I hope they made it through OK.

On the television front, it was a year of strikes, disappointments, endings, beginnings, and more endings.

Saddest Cancellation of a Television Show: Pushing Daisies. I don't know if I'll ever get over that one, to be honest. It was colourful, funny, kitchy, and awesome. The Writers' Strike cut its first season short, and ABC attempted to roll it out a second time this past fall, but new viewers were nowhere to be seen. I guarantee you this show will go down as a massive cult classic like Freaks and Geeks, with people like me whining 10 years from now into our chips and dip that it ended too soon.

Funniest Jack Donaghy Line on 30 Rock: In the Christmas episode, Liz asks Jack if he knows the Postmaster-General. He says yes, but they haven't spoken for a while because they had a fallout over the Jerry Garcia stamp. "If I wanted to lick a hippie," he says, "I'd return Joan Baez's phone calls." My husband and I were screaming with laughter.

Funniest Moment, Period: I already blogged on this, but when Jan shows up for a baby shower on The Office, she describes having a tub birth, and Creed's response is still something that makes me laugh just thinking about it (especially because a friend of mine had a tub birth in her home, and her husband once explained rather graphically to us what it was like for him cleaning it up afterward):
Kelly: Uh, so you're in the tub with everything?
Jan: Oh yeah, the afterbirth floats.
Creed: Must be like the tide at Omaha Beach.

Biggest Reality TV Disappointment: After a gabillion seasons, America's Next Top Model finally went off the rails when Tyra Banks lost her mind. In the opening episode she emerged from some futuristic time machine thing like that vessel Jeff Goldblum stepped into in The Fly, appearing completely whacked-out and robot-like, while her cohorts stood nearby, all silver-haired and insane. I quit watching at that very moment, only to be pulled back in by a friend who assured me the next episode wasn't nearly as crazy. So back I came, only to see the makeovers with Fairy Godmother Tyra in a little box in the corner talking in a weird high-pitched voice about what magical things she was going to do with their hair and makeup. I hit Stop on the PVR, deleted the episode, and never watched again. You used to be a funny kind of crazy, Tyra, and now you're just CRAZY.

Best New Reality TV Obsession: So You Think You Can Dance. This show is freakin' fantastic, and I've never had a dance class in my life. This series doesn't spend the first 2 months highlighting the "hilarious" Clydesdales who show up for the auditions like another reality talent show that shall remain nameless, but instead celebrates dance and its many forms. From Bollywood numbers to some contemporary routines that brought me to the edge of tears, I can't get enough of this show. Next installment doesn't start until the spring (curses!) but I cannot WAIT. The Canadian version was in the fall and I'll admit I only caught the last half. It was good, and by the end it was excellent, but I need my screechy Mary week after week.

Series that Returned to its Former Glory: Friday Night Lights. Most people haven't seen it and are waiting for the January start on NBC after season 3 aired on DirecTV in the US, but it is SO worth the wait. Season 3 is glorious: I realized I care about these people like family, and when they're hurting, I'm hurting. Two major characters make their exits from the show, both wrapping up their storylines beautifully, but able to return if the show makes it to a fourth season, which it probably won't. A new character showed up with his family and started off as a bit of a disaster, but by the end I cared about him, too. God, I love this show.

Top 8 Lost Moments of Season 4 (check out THAT use of the numbers!):
8. The Oceanic 6 reuniting with their families as they get off the cargo plane.
7. Ben referring to Alex as his daughter in the first episode and Rousseau cracking him in the face with her elbow.
6. The return of Old Smokey as he flies into New Otherton and takes out the freighter folk.
5. Sawyer racing through the compound amidst a hail of gunfire to save Claire. :::swoon:::
4. Hurley and Ben sharing the chocolate bar while Locke went into the cabin to talk to Jacob's cohort. It was funny for its silence, and seemed like such a banal thing to do while the world was being changed inside that cabin, while at the same time suggesting that Hurley accepts Ben now.
3. The look on Ben's face when Keamy shoots Alex in the back of the head.
2. Desmond calling Penny and her picking up on the 15th ring, and the lovely way they begin to finish each other's sentences in delight.
1. Sayid blinking his eyes hard when he sees Nadia at the airport hangar, as if he can't believe his own eyes and is trying to convince himself he's not dreaming. It's wonderfully done. Yeah, I'm a sucker for reunited love.

Favourite New Show: Mad Men. Okay, I know it's in its second season, but I just caught on this year because it was not easily available in Canada. I started watching the show from the beginning as the second season and was piling up on my PVR, and I ADORE it. Jon Hamm is magnificent, and Betty Draper is one of the most complex characters on television, hidden inside a very uncomplex package.

Most Shocking Series Finale: The Shield. Without giving any spoilers, something happens in the finale that made my hand fly to my face, I gasped aloud, and immediately started weeping. I don't think I've ever had such a sudden and visceral reaction to something like that before.

Most Expected Series Finale: The Shield. Because Globe and Mail reviewer John Doyle, in his year-end column, GAVE AWAY the very ending that made me weep, despite the fact the season hasn't yet aired in Canada (yeah, I'm downloading it, but I've bought every season on DVD and will buy this one, too, so they'll get their money out of me). AGAIN making me wonder, why the HELL does anyone want to KNOW spoilers in advance?! I think my immediate reaction was because I knew what was about to happen in the next scene (though, because he didn't give specifics, I didn't know the nature of it), and my heart leapt into my mouth a moment earlier than it normally would have (this was only, of course, after watching about six episodes leading up to it where I thought, "Will it happen now? Now?"). After 7 years of watching that show, I really wish the guy had kept his mouth shut and allowed this loyal fan to watch it spoiler-free. Sigh.

Most Amazing Series Finale: Ok, it's a tie between my two favourite cop shows, now done: The Shield and The Wire. The Wire, which killed off a very important character a couple of episodes from the end in a completely unexpected way (thank you, John Doyle, for not mentioning THAT in your column), ended beautifully, showing that the world will go on, the sun will continue to rise and set, and things will get better, then worse. It didn't pretend to have the answers or wrap up everything in a lovely little bow, but instead showed us the world as it really is: dark, angry, depressing, hopeful, funny, loving, confusing, and difficult. WATCH. THIS. SHOW. The Shield wrapped up years of Vic Mackey in a way that was more satisfying than the way Tony Soprano's storyline ended up. Mackey's always told himself that everything he did was for his family, but it wasn't. It was for himself. And at the end of the series, what happens to him runs counter to everything he'd been working (and stealing and killing and silencing) for. Amazing.

Favourite SNL digital short: This one:



I actually watched it the next morning on my PVR before it became a viral phenom and was howling with laughter. I've seen it a million times since then. This is the first single of The Lonely Island's new CD, and the faces that Samberg and Akiva Schaffer make in the video (the DJ, Jorma Taccone, is the third member of the group) are worth the entire thing.

Easiest (and Most Fun) Target: Sarah Palin. It used to be Rebecca Eckler, but Ecky isn't nearly as interesting as Palin. I just wish the woman wouldn't make it SO freakin' easy. Her campaigning — which actually made George Bush look like a Rhodes Scholar — was legendary. The only thing that outshone her was Tina Fey's inspired impression of her. She refuses to believe it had anything to do with the campaign's outcome. I respectfully (and happily) disagree.

Favourite Fan Experience: The Buffy conference in Arkansas. I loved the people I met there, made new friendships that continue through blogging and emails (and postcards with Buffy stick figures -- thank you, Cedar!) and now 2010 seems SO far away. We need to find an excuse to all get together again and hang out. How about a weekend conference in my living room? It will involve Buffy viewings and we could even write papers if we want. I'll put up a sign-up sheet soon. :) Ian posted on his blog that Parade Magazine also included the Buffy conference in its year-end wrap-up, calling it one of the quirkiest events of the year. Ha!

Biggest Anticipation for 2009: Lost season 5 and Dollhouse. Joss Whedon back on my telly... I don't have words for what this means to me. And Lost's season 4 was just too fabulous, so season 5 is HUGE for me.

My New Boyfriend: I am sorry to tell you this, Desmond, but I have found another. It's been a lot of fun, and I thank you for keeping that blue shirt slightly open for most of season 4, but... I've met someone else. His name is Chuck Bass. Oh Chuck. You join a long list of fantasies that begin with Luke Skywalker and include Bo Duke and Spike, but you are the first one who is younger than I am. Sigh... but that is OK. I'm willing to let that one go if you are. You are so wrong for me, but when you gave in to your mourning over your father and curled up in bed with Blair, that was it: I was yours.

Worst Boyfriend: Henry on Ugly Betty. I mean, come ON, Betty, Gio is RIGHT THERE and he is SO superior. Henry, on the other hand, got a girl pregnant and decided to stay with her during the pregnancy with her understanding that he will dump her like a ton of bricks the moment that baby rears its head. Yeah, that's some prime manhood, there, Bets. Sigh. Thank god he hasn't shown up yet this season. Gio's only made a cameo. And super-cute dude across the hall turned out to be a dud. I want Gio back.

Best Comedy that No One Watched Until It Was Too Late: Aliens in America. This show killed me week after week, but NO ONE seemed to watch it. I blogged on it, no one commented. None of my friends turned on to it. It was risky and had its hugely politically incorrect moments, and I loved every minute of it.

Most Graphic Thing I Saw on Television: On Dexter, the other serial killer on the loose this season was "The Skinner," who would gouge out large sections of people's skin until they died. Near the end of the season, we saw the skinner at work. I wasn't watching the screen after about 5 seconds of the scene. Gnarl on Buffy was bad enough. :::shudder::: Dexter, by the way, continued to be fantastic, and somebody PLEASE give Michael C. Hall that Emmy!

Most Inspiring Thing I Saw on Television: CTV's W-Five aired a documentary called Peace Warrior, about soldier Trevor Greene, a Canadian who was stationed in Afghanistan when he was hit in the back of the head with an axe. I've talked about him on this blog before (here and here) because I worked with Trevor on his amazing book about the missing women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. When I heard the news, I was shattered. I was interviewed early on for the documentary and offered them some background, but I was unprepared for what I would see in the show. I hadn't seen him since the "accident" and the images of him being taken onto the aircraft with his head bandaged and half his skull gone were very difficult for me to handle (I think I started sobbing at the beginning of the episode and didn't stop until the end... though it was for a very different reason I was crying at the end). He has recovered his speech, some of his upper body motor skills, and is determined to walk despite so many experts telling him he won't (they don't know Trevor). At one point the interviewer asks Trevor what he would say to his attacker if he could see him again, and he says he'd say sorry, because he walked into his village with a gun, and his colleague shot and killed him, but Trevor is still alive. Wow. Keep an eye out for this show to re-air.

Favourite Jon Stewart Moment: Describing Dick Cheney's completely unsurprising support of John McCain, Stewart shows a clip of Cheney announcing his backing, and Cheney coughs at the end of it. Stewart then imitates him, doing his own version of the announcement where he's coughing and hacking so hard and so loudly he can't get a word out. I was laughing so hard I stopped breathing. I kept that on my PVR and watched it about a half million times before finally erasing it.

Favourite Thing About My Blog: The commenters, good and bad. I was at first surprised, then baffled, then amused by the people who came onto my blog during the election campaign and used it as their personal sounding board for Why the Republican Party Is Awesome, and while some of them made me want to pluck my eyes out with a fork so I wouldn't have to read the drivel anymore, I miss them and almost wish there was some Republican stuff happening in the media so I could spark the debates again. But I'm not the sort of person to goad just to bring them back. I actually had a lot of respect for the ones who used a name or reasonable facsimile to argue, knowing this was a blog written by a non-conservative and read by a lot of non-conservatives, but sadly, the anonymouses ruled the roost. But then again, if you were a member of the Republican Party, wouldn't YOU remain anonymous, too? (KIDDING... I'm not goading. Really.) But I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who come and read my posts and comment on them (or not), whether it's because you like what I say or hate it. Some of the comments on here throughout the year have been some of the most insightful writing I've read, and after going to other boards and seeing some of the dumbass things people write, I'm constantly grateful that I have such an intelligent readership. Keep the comments coming... you guys make my day.

He's Back... and Bloody as Ever...

At the end of season 1 of Showtime's grisly and disturbing drama Dexter, I remember thinking, "Where can they go from here?" (Then my brain began humming the song from Buffy, and I lost my train of thought. It happens a little too often. Ahem.) Spoilers for anyone who hasn't yet watched Dexter's first two seasons: In season 1, we discover that his mother had been killed and Dexter had watched it happen, that her being chopped into chunky bloody bits by a chainsaw probably turned him into the sociopath he is today, that his adopted father realized his son was a sociopath so he "honed his skills" to use his powers for good, rather than evil.

And by good, that meant hacking the baddies into tiny little pieces. So, Dexter is a blood spatter expert in the forensics department of the Miami Police Department by day, doing his job but also checking records of cases where the perp got off, then by night hunting down said perp and slaughtering him. And remarkably, you actually end up cheering for Dexter. In season 1, by day he's after the Ice Truck Killer, who appears to be leaving him personal messages in his own serial killing, and Dexter eventually realizes it's his brother, who he kills at the end of the season. The problem is, his brother, like him, was also witness to their mother's murder, and also turned out like Dexter, but he didn't have Harry the dad to hone those "talents." So the problem became, how could he kill the guy who was just like him, in fact, the ONLY person who could possibly understand him, when it's not his brother's fault that he turned out like this?

In season 2, the police discover the bags of bodies that Dexter has been hiding in the Bay, and he becomes known as the Bay Harbour Butcher. By day he's actually doing the work on the case where he's the killer, and by night he's being REALLY careful about how he disposes of those bodies. Doakes, a detective on the force, knows Dex is up to no good, but his obsession with pinning the cases on Dexter eventually puts him in the spotlight, and he dies with the world believing HE was the Bay Harbour Butcher.

This series has a definite psychoanalytic feel about it, and if in season 1 Dexter mined his psyche to realize what Harry did for him, discover the brother who could have been him if not for Harry, and killed him, that's psychotherapy gold. I thought, there's no way they can have a season 2. And then season 2 was even better, with Dexter beginning to get hints that maybe Harry had had an affair with his mother, and... could Dexter have actually been his real son? The audience is given those clues, but Dex doesn't seem to have made that connection yet. He comes close to being found out, hooks up with a looney pyromaniac who discovers who he really is and eggs him on, and then pulls back at the end, killing her, Doakes, and covering up who he is once again. How could they have a season 3?

I've seen the first two episodes, and they're bloody brilliant (pun intended). Season 3 is shaping up to be my favourite one so far. If season 1 is us realizing who he is, and season 2 is Dexter maybe seeing who he's not and beginning to question Harry's methods, season 3 is looking at what Dexter's life might be like if he acted outside Harry's code. As Dexter hunts down one of his victims, things go slightly awry and he accidentally kills an innocent. Desperate to find out SOMETHING this guy has done wrong so he can tell himself that he really didn't do a terrible thing, Dexter begins crossing lines that put him once again in danger of being found out. The Rita storyline moves in an inevitable direction (I called it back in season 2), and this season's guest star is Jimmy Smits, one of those actors who could just sit on a chair staring at the wall and I'd be riveted. At the end of the second episode, the suspense builds in one scene to the point where I had both feet up on the couch and my hands over my mouth, suppressing a scream. It was awesome.

THIS is my new show that I can't wait to see week after week. Sorry, Heroes. So far you're just not cutting it.

Random Stuff for a Tuesday
Lots of little things have been passing by my blog and not making it on because I've been spending all my time talking about Lost. So let's talk about some other things, shall we?

But first, LOST. (Oh stop it, this is my thing.) My pal Jeremy blogged last week on a series of Lost maps that are incredible. A fan named yung23 has studied screen caps of various maps on the show, and then put together any scenes of shoreline that he's seen, and by doing that has created a bunch of maps -- flat and three-dimensional -- that he believes are accurate depictions of the island. You can read all about how he put it together in a long thread he's posted here.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I'm posting this for a regular reader, "cartographer." I would presume by his screen name that he might have some insight into the maps. :)

You've probably all seen this by now, but in case you haven't, Sarah Silverman was on Jimmy Kimmel, who's been joking at the end of his show that he's run out of time again, and is going to have to bump Matt Damon. So she put together a song about how she's f&#%ing Matt Damon, and Damon participated. It's hysterical:




If that doesn't work, the link is here.

So earlier this week, Jimmy Kimmel ran his response video, where he's f&#%ing Ben Affleck. But he took it to a new level, with an all-star cast singing a "We Are the World" song about it. Watch for a certain cast member of Lost singing (YES, I know, it all comes back to Lost). I just wish this one hadn't been bleeped.



And that link is here.

The TV Addict has posted on the Parent's Television Council's damnation of Dexter. If you've read my Buffy books, you know of my hatred for the PTC. They went against Buffy for using religious iconography to fight the vampires, without realizing that Joss was suggesting that something like a cross actually had power AGAINST evil. These people don't think. Ever. Seriously, if Dexter were broadcast at 4 in the afternoon, I'd have an issue with it. But if, as the TV Addict says, your little kids are up at 10, you are the one with the problem, not CBS.

This is Star Wars, as recapped by a 3-year-old. She talks a lot like my daughter (and is the same age) so I think that's why I laughed so hard when I saw it.




And finally, finally, another Mitchell and Webb, making fun of game shows that make absolutely no sense. That's Numberwang!!




This post has been brought to you by YouTube.

Dexter
Lots of little blog posts today. This past week's Dexter was SO good, that, as has been the case the past few weeks with this show, when the end credits run I moan out loud, SO disappointed that I have to wait a whole week to find out what happens. (This is why people wait for DVDs...)

Lila has turned out to be a psychopath. As much as I loved her character, I always found it a little too convenient that she's a former addict, yet always seems so together. In the last couple of episodes, we've seen that Lila knows exactly how to get what she wants, and will go to criminal lengths to get it. Her addiction stems from her fear of abandonment, and now she thinks Dexter will be the one to leave her. She's set fire to her house, and now broken into Rita's home. When Dexter finally confronts her after she does the unthinkable and forces him to meet the man who killed his mother once again, hoping it would bring them closer together, he is truly frightening. If she decides to push things further, we might see Dexter come closer to his breaking point than ever before.

I LOVE this show.

TV Roundup: The Week So Far
I still have a lot sitting on my PVR, but here are my thoughts for the week so far:

Heroes:
I finally got around to watching it last night, and I must say it was the best episode of the season. Of course, I still had nitpicks (for example, Elle says she caused a blackout in 4 states when she was 8, then was put into a room attached to a lithium drip when she was 9 while psychiatrists tried to figure out what to do with her, and then The Company stepped in, and she's spent the last 16 years of her life with them. Then she says she's 24... she'd be 26 if the writers could actually add). But going back 4 months just felt right. Unfortunately, there should have been 2, maybe 3 episodes before it, rather than making us wait almost 2 months for some answers. And apparently it's not important what happened to Parkman, Mohinder, Molly, Claire, Noah, Hiro, and Ando, although... when you think about it, their stories are pretty much self-explanatory. Regardless, I thought it was really well done. I hope next week's is more of the same. I might just be persuaded to go back to doing full posts on it. :)

Dexter:
ROCKED. Dexter stepped up his game this week, and actually brought his life as a serial killer into the office to help him get rid of his arch-nemesis. The scene with him and Doakes alone in the room, with Dexter whispering, "I own you" and what followed, is possibly my favourite of the series. Everyone on staff thinks Dex is this quiet meek little man. They have no idea who they're in the company of, and that's what's so much fun about this show.

Ugly Betty:
I forgot to mention last week that playing the show out to Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" -- despite it being one of my all-time favourite songs ever (especially as covered by him) -- was SO 2002. And so overdone. Every other show on television used that song years ago, and now Ugly Betty has to get on that train late. That said, this week's was great. The final reunion of Claire and Bradford; Betty and Mark saying, "The Secret Sex Room" and then pointing at each other in shock; Wil telling Mark that she's worried Bradford will leave his money to charity, and Mark saying, "Then we need to hunt this Charity down and kill her" (HA!); and the final scene with Alexis and Daniel sitting by an empty space. Loved it. I think it's even better this season than last. Oh, and Mo'nique was BRILLIANT.

The Office:
This week's, like last, was kind of meh. It had its moments, but it was actually far more interesting to watch it as a drama than a comedy. Steve Carell is amazing in the scenes with the lawyers, as he goes from goofily compliant to stupid to upset to hurt to furious to vengeful. He's put his loyalties in the wrong place, as usual. It was actually a little disappointing to have it end with him and Jan casually talking about what to eat for dinner. The drama was so important, and then deflated in the end. I think the scene of Dwight and Mose playing ping-pong was the highlight of the episode (though I did LOVE Kelly's distinction between trash talk and smack).

America's Next Top Model:
You know, I've kinda been with Bianca on Heather for a long time... she's beautiful, yes, and she seems to take a great picture and handles Jay's suggestions perfectly. But critique her and she falls apart like a house of cards. She just does not have the tough skin required for the business, and if she wins, it could destroy her.

Kitchen Nightmares:
Boring. I actually have the second half of it still running in the other room as I type this, and stopped watching. Yawn. That said, if you want to see Gordon Ramsay in a HILARIOUS scene with Ricky Gervais, check it out:



Pushing Daisies:
LOVE LOVE LOVE. See post from yesterday.

Gossip Girl:
I still like this show, and its soapy goodness. I'm glad Nate didn't go through with what his parents wanted, because he's right: I saw Blair all excited on the bed thinking they're going to get back together, and all I could see her was as a socialite years from now, alone while her husband is off with another woman. So I'm glad he saw the error of his ways early. Why am I talking about this show so seriously? It's campy awesome. :)

Dirty Sexy Money:
Haven't seen this week's yet, but last week was just too tied up in the whole quest for Nick's father's killer. I hate that storyline, and just want to focus on the Darlings.

The Next Great American Band:
OK, I've been wanting to post on this show FOREVER now. No one is talking about this show, for some reason, like it's the poor man's American Idol, but I am SO completely hooked. This show is where bands perform for the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, Sheila E. (!) and some judge from Australian Idol named Dicko. (Seriously.) Unlike Simon Cowell, who just says stuff to be funny, this guy is good. Every time a band performs my husband and I are critiquing them for one thing or another, and 80% of the time Dicko says exactly what we'd just said. He's always got good advice, even when the stupid audience is booing. Speaking of which, whenever they boo dude from the Goo Goo Dolls he gets SERIOUSLY pissed and upset and begins complaining about it like a big whiner. It's worth it just for that. :) My favourite band in the competition right now is Sixwire, a country band. Yeah, I said it. A COUNTRY band. I HATE HATE HATE country music. HATE IT. (The other day I'm in a store and over the sound system comes this line: "I want to kiss you out in the sticks/ I want to check you for ticks." I stopped what I was doing, thought, I couldn't have possibly just heard what I think I heard. And then I did. Came home, googled it, and it's apparently some huge hit for Brad Paisley. What the hell is WRONG with country music fans???? Anyway.) But Sixwire has a lead singer that looks like a slightly heftier version of Josh Holloway (if you don't believe me, tune in) and they are brilliant. There's a retro 60s band called Tres Bien, who were fun in the beginning and now are kind of boring. Last week this screechy grrl band called Rocket got booted (thankfully) but we are still subjected to the horrors of this tiny hardcore metal band called Light of Doom, where all of the members are between the ages of 9 and 11. Seriously. They were awesome in the beginning, now creepy and weird (especially since all of their moms are in the audience screaming for them and drooling... ew...) My other fave is The Clark Brothers, a sort of gospel band (yeah, I said it... oh forget it) who are unbelievable. The thing about this show is, typically the band I'd be listening to would be more along the lines of one called Dot Dot Dot, a guy who wants to be the lead singer of The Killers but appears to be too coked out to even focus on the judge's critiques, but when you're watching this show, you don't care about the STYLE of music being played, it's how good they are. And the country band is stellar, as is The Clark Brothers (and the lead singer of the Clark Brothers is seriously hot.) Franklin Bridge is another wicked band, and they play sort of a funk/rock thing, kinda Jimi Hendrix. It's on tonight: TUNE IN. I love this show... it's seriously addictive. Unlike the trumped-up karaoke night that is American Idol. The best part? You don't have to suffer through an annoying results show. Instead, they make everyone prepare a song for the following week, and then one by one they announce the bands who made it, and they come out and perform. At the end there are 2 bands left in the green room (which is, literally, green), and they're booted. Bwaaaahahahahaha. Awesome. I have a feeling this week we'll be saying goodbye to Denver and his Mile-High Orchestra. Awesome name, but not very good.

Friday Night Lights:
The show I will miss the most (equally with Pushing Daisies) during the writer's strike. Last week Landry's dad found out what was going on, and what he decided to do as a result was nothing short of shocking. Would any of us do it for our children? Probably. That's why I love this show. Good parents teach their children it's wrong to murder. Special parents help their children cover up that murder. Awesome. Did anyone else think that Jason was going to be killed off the show two weeks ago, by the way? Whoa...

Aliens in America:
This show just cracks me up to no end. It exposes the subtle racisms that we seem to all accept, and makes them look ridiculous. This week the mom -- who talks like Margie in Fargo -- runs into the breakfast room and says, "This is my running partner I told ya about... ya know, the one with the black husband?" Last week Raja got a job working for an Indian boss in a convenience store (causing the sister to say, "What are you, a total stereotype?") and the boss kept muttering under his breath that he was a dirty dog eater. I always thought the actor who plays Raja was over the top and not particularly good, just funny for sitcom's sake, but this week when they showed him screaming in nicotine withdrawal, I thought it was some of the funniest stuff this show's ever had.

Reaper:
I think I'm behind on this one, too, but last week with Leon trapped in the snow globe was particularly hilarious. I loved the actor who played Leon, especially when you just heard his voice calling them douchebags.

Chuck:
Still one of the best new shows on TV. If you're not watching this show and they rerun it during the strike, tune in. It's SO hilarious. I love Casey, who's so hardcore and wanting to kill everyone in sight... Chuck is great, his friend Morgan is funny, Tang is awful (as bad as he is on Dexter), and the premise just doesn't get old. I love this show.

30 Rock:
Haven't watched last night's yet, but last week's was brilliant as usual. I'm so glad Alec Baldwin stuck with the show. A couple of weeks ago he was pretending to be Tracy's father and I was doubled over. Baldwin is a comic genius.

Journeyman:
A couple of weeks behind on this one too (man, all the shows I watch with my husband I'm behind on!) but while it started out strong and then faded a bit, it's definitely back on track and I think it's great. Another one to check out if you haven't yet. Now that his son also knows what is going on, it's definitely stepped up things. It's only a matter of time before they have to let the brother know what's up.

I think that's everything. I'm sure I've missed something. :) Oh, I've dropped Everybody Hates Chris. It was just getting too samey. And, you know, that extra half hour was TOTALLY eating into my week. Har.

Dexter: Season 2
No Spoilers here for anyone who hasn't been watching yet:
When I saw the last season of Dexter, it followed the mystery of the ice truck killer, a serial killer who was murdering women and draining them of blood, and who started sending messages to Dexter... ALSO a serial killer (by night; by day he's the forensics blood spatter expert trying to find other killers). By the end of the season, the storyline had taken a turn that made the show brilliant, but it also made me wonder how the heck they could go onto a season 2? And then, this year, I saw exactly how they could do it.

If you're not watching this show, you should be. Go back to season 1, watch it, and then start in on season 2. You will not be disappointed. I will tell you now -- it's gory, it's dark, and you might want to stop after the first episode or two. But trust me: Stick with it. It's genius, and surprisingly, HILARIOUS. Seriously. The darkest of dark humour, but hilarious nonetheless.

Sunday night's episode was awesome. I can't tell you how many times I gasped, or put my hand over my mouth, or said, "oh my GOD" out loud, etc. All in one hour. And now... the spoilers for those watching: Just highlight the paragraph below (if you're not watching, stop reading here and skip down to the next part).

Last night's episode revealed that not only did Dexter's foster father KNOW Dex's mother, but he put her in the container as bait, promised that nothing would happen to her, AND seemed to have been having an affair with her. Through the help of his new Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, he hunts down the one man still alive who murdered his mother, and when they finally come face to face you think this guy is SO gonna get it... and then he doesn't, because the sponsor is able to pull him out of the situation. Meanwhile his sister is dating a guy who she can't trust because the last guy tried to kill her, and when she finds out he's selling a book to publishers called The Ice Princess, she thinks it's a tell-all about his relationship with her, only to discover he writes children's books. AND THEN the episode ends with Dexter spraying his boat for blood still on it with a fluorescent light, and the camera pulls back to reveal the cops have put CCTV on the docks, and someone has just seen Dexter erasing his tracks. I cannot wait to see how he gets out of this one.

Season 1 was all about Dexter finding out that there's someone out there just like him, because he went through the same hell Dexter did. Season 2 is about who Dexter really is, and why he is the way he is, and whether or not he is able to change himself. I think this show is amazing, and why Michael C. Hall hasn't gotten an award for this is just insane.

Dexter airs in Canada on The Movie Network Sunday nights at 10pm, the same time as new episodes air on Showtime in the U.S. Please check it out!

Heroes recap coming soon!

WATCH PUSHING DAISIES...
And that's an order.

I just watched the second episode, and I am absolutely head over heels in love with this show. I feel like it was written just for me, with an Edward Gorey/Tim Burton feel to it that I adore. The second episode was fantastic: Olive broke into Olivia Newton John's "Hopelessly Devoted" in the middle of The Pie Hole (how much do I love the name of the restaurant, seriously...), but kept getting interrupted, which was hilarious; Ned and Chuck shared a kiss through body bags that was more romantic than any other kiss I've seen this season; Ned installed a protective guard in his car between the passenger seat and driver seat so Chuck could ride shotgun without dying... and he included a little glove so they could hold hands (squee!); Emerson is a knitter, and it actually gets them out of a tight fix... he was the highlight of the ep for me, knitting his little gun cozies, almost making a comment about Ned and Chuck being the real dummies but keeping it to himself, using his knitting needles to get them out of a tight fix, and giving the single most hilarious face in the episode when the car in front of them explodes and a fiery box of laxatives lands on their hood...

If you haven't watched the ep, this will all sound seriously insane, but this is my fave show that's on right now (and yes, I'm officially putting it ahead of a lacklustre Heroes this season...). I can't wait for next week.

News: Fisher Stevens -- i.e. that guy who was once engaged to Michelle Pfeiffer back in the 80s, and then... I dunno, did he do something since then? -- has been cast on Lost as the guy you heard talking on the sat phone at the end of the finale last year.

Bionic Woman, Cane, Journeyman, and Life have all gotten requests for more scripts. It doesn't meant they'll get full-season orders, but this is a good sign! Gossip Girl has been picked up for the full season, and is the first show to have gotten the order. Yay!

Other shows I'm watching:

Heroes: Did I mention lacklustre? I still love it, and enjoy it every week, but I need some new heroes, quick (Kristen Bell doesn't show up until week 5 so I have 2 more weeks to wait).

Cane: Is still great. I've seen the first two episodes, and Jimmy Smits' character has that same moral ambiguity of Angel or Spike, but without the camp. You do NOT mess with him, yet as the protagonist he gets us to cheer him on, even as he's doing terrible things to people. Please don't cancel this show...

Reaper: Still hilarious, but it might be one I drop, only because it's SO much like Chuck, as I've mentioned, that I'm starting to mix the two up in my head, and Chuck is far superior.

Chuck: In this week's episode, Chuck goes to a fancy ball with an art auction, and as he's drawn to the one painting, a woman comes up to him and asks what he thinks, to which he replies, in a fluster, "It has a certain... Bob Ross-ian quality to it." I nearly fell off the couch laughing. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's been on the couch on a Saturday afternoon channel-surfing, and stopping when I see a white guy with a giant afro standing on an entirely black stage with a single spotlight on him, painting and talking about inserting "a happy little tree." At least, now I know Chuck has also sat and watched this guy transform a white canvas into a painting of an outdoor landscape that I would see hanging in my grandparents' home. Best line of the week.

Gossip Girl: Still awesome, and I'm enjoying the ongoing tension between Serena and Blair. Does anyone else get the feeling that Dan is Gossip Girl? I know that's probably not the case, but I swear he's standing right there whenever you hear Gossip Girl's voiceover.

America's Next Top Model: Not awesome. Boring, in fact. I think I'm watching it out of habit at this point. This week was makeover week, traditionally a great ep, but they showed us the digital image of what each girl would look like, taking away the final result so it's not a surprise. Wah.

Dirty Sexy Money: In last week's ep, there's a quiet scene at the end of the episode where Nate Nick tells Tripp that he can't get his dad's briefcase open. Tripp, gazing out of the window, suggests he try 712, which is his wife's birthday. As Nick sets up the numbers and pushes the button, the loud click of the briefcase causes Tripp to close his eyes in pain. The moment he's dreaded for 40 years -- proof that his wife had been having an affair with his best friend -- has finally come. Sutherland is terrific in this scene, and this is coming from someone who's not a big fan of his. This week he's just as good, when he explains to Nick that he probably knew deep down about the affair, but didn't actually know know. Jeremy and Juliet continue to intrigue me (Jeremy's hot in a going-nowhere kind of way), though the scene at the end where Juliet finds out Jeremy bought expensive jewellery for her nemesis featured the worst acting I've seen on the show yet. I really like the scenes between Patrick and Carmelita (played by Candis Cayne, possibly the most beautiful and believable female impersonators I've ever seen). They could have gone the route of the outlandish with this plotline of Patrick -- the guy running for senator -- sleeping with a transsexual, but instead he's really in love with her, and she's pretty amazing.

Ugly Betty: Continues to make me laugh. Too bad Papi's back (I don't like him very much), but the scene this week of Henry telling off Marc and Amanda and Marc saying he can't remember ever being so turned on was a riot.

30 Rock: Last night's ep was as brilliant as the week before: Jenna deciding to "keep" her belly roll as if it's a baby; Liz eating the steak WAY too fast and saying with a straight face that a dog came into the room and took it from her; Jack taking a little too long to save Will Arnett from choking to death; Tracy sending Kenneth as a gift to his wife; Kenneth telling Angie that he's really good at the "sex stuff." I love this show.

The Office: Finally back to its original form. The scene where Meredith walks up to Jim and has him sign her pelvis cast had my husband laughing so hard we had to pause it (by the way, I'm positive he signs "John Krasinski" and not "Jim Halpert" in that scene... did anyone keep the episode so they could pause and look?). Dwight's computer becoming "self-aware" was pure prank classic (and it was sweet that Pam felt sorry for Dwight and was nice to him, but she said he "mercy-killed" Angela's cat, and there was really nothing merciful about what he did...); Kevin saying Alfredo's pizza is like eating a "hot circle of garbage" had me howling (now... why didn't Michael just send the kid away with his pizza and not pay for it, since he was going to order pizza from the other place anyway?); Phyllis trying to use psychology on Angela's bitchiness; Stanley grooving to the Infinity Web site music; Michael giving a speech and everyone in the office just watching the TV screensaver hoping it'll go straight into the corner slot (ok, I've TOTALLY done that with the computer windows screensavers); Andy getting his Barbershop quartet on the phone and doing ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" (HA!)... how could Angela not fall for that, even when the guy is Andy?; . This was a great episode.

Journeyman: I liked this week's ep more than the previous, but like I said last week, I want a little more tension in the present. Luckily, Katie discovered at the end that one thing Dan is doing in the past is seeing Livia, and if that doesn't cause serious tension, nothing will. I was talking to someone who knows the writer on this coming week's ep, and said it was going to be a high-concept episode. I'm intrigued.

Moonlight: Week 2 was a vast improvement over week 1. However, the writer was David Greenwalt (i.e. the guy who created the Angel character on Buffy, and helmed the show Angel in the first season it was a spinoff). What is he doing writing for this show? A) doesn't he recogize it's ripping off his baby? B) doesn't it kill him that all of the vampire tendencies/myths/belief systems have been thrown out the window to make the writing easier? What is he thinking?
Anyway, all that aside, I liked it a lot more, but by 3/4 of the way through, thought this was it, and I'm not tuning in beyond this. And then in the final 5 minutes, I changed my mind: when Beth walks into Mick's apartment and finds him greedily sucking back blood from blood bags and his eyes all white and the teeth showing, she discovers that he's a vampire. That's going to put things in a new direction. I'll give it one more week...

Aliens in America: HILARIOUS. If you're not watching this show, please do. There's a scene where Justin turns to his bitchy sister to find out how to distance himself from Raja (after Raja has stood up in class and announced that if he were trapped on a deserted island, the only thing he would want is Justin, prompting people to say they were a gay couple), and she says, "Just do what I do: I told everyone you were my brother, and we adopted you from a retarded family." He stares at her and says with a dead voice, "You had to make my WHOLE family retarded." I was in stitches. I love this show.

Everybody Hates Chris: Something's been lost with this show. The scenes at home are still funny, and there are still moments in Chris Rock's voiceover that make me laugh, but it just doesn't compete with The Office or Aliens in America. But I've been watching it for 2 years now, so...

Torchwood: I checked out this series last Friday when it premiered on CBC. It was intriguing, and had some interesting twists, but I don't think I'll stick with it. A little too Doctor Who, without the Daleks. Not that that's a bad thing, but it just didn't feel original.

The Tudors: Holy Henry Hotness! I've just watched the first ep of this show, and it was great. And Henry is one fine-looking dude. This is the pre-50-inch-waist years. Thank god.

Dexter: Still creepy as hell... this week's was hilarious and tragic, as Dexter tries to get his killin' mojo back. His voiceovers are still SO great, as they're usually ironic or sarcastic commentary on what is happening on the screen. He had to put his brother to rest, finally, though I felt it was done a little quickly (I was hoping his bro would dog him for the season, and maybe he will reappear, but the final scene seemed pretty... final). The scene of Dexter being pulled away from his brother when they're in that carton was heartbreaking... what kind of cop would take only one child and leave the other one in that horrid place?? It made me cry.

Friday Night Lights: Yay, it's back!! I was talking to a friend who was pretty disturbed by what happens with Landry and Tyra (she's not alone), but I actually found it pretty believable, and in keeping with how they might react to the situation. If you didn't like it, and thought it was contrived, Jason Katims has said in an interview that this week's episode will change that, and offer more explanation. I love love this show. And I'm still in love with Coach Carter...

Bionic Woman: Hmm... I wanted this show to be better... here's still hoping.

Kitchen Nightmares: Haven't seen this week's ep yet. See above.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: OK, this show was supposed to have been finished after last season, and that's what Larry David said, and then, like the Who, the show came back. But I'm so glad... it's the same horrid discomfort that the show's always done best, and I love it. Larry meets the "Black family," who happens to be black, and blurts out that it would be like his last name being "Jew." Larry is late getting home, and drives past the site of his best friend's mother's recent death, which is covered in flowers, and actually steals some flowers from it to take to his wife as an apology. Yeowch. Only Larry...

OK, I think that's it. Well, I'm also watching EastEnders (where Michelle Ryan is NOT bionic) and loving it, but it's too far behind (I think they're in November 2005 at this point) to comment on it.

I think I need to cut down on my TV. Thank goodness for long periods of feeding my newborn son on the couch. :)

What’s on my PVR – Part 2

Returning Shows:

Dexter: Ah, how I love that this show is back. Opening episode was seriously awesome, and made me even angrier that Michael C. Hall was completely overlooked for the Emmy. I wasn’t sure how they were going to possibly follow the first season up with a further season, considering what happened, but now I see that while the first season was about him chasing another serial killer, in this season he will become the hunted. By his own sister, no less, while “helping” the force find him. Awesome.

Gossip Girl: Still love.

Bionic Woman: Halfway through ep 2, and I’m enjoying it still, but it’s not knocking my socks off.

Journeyman: After week 2, I’m a little worried this show is going to be a “who will Dan save this week?” show and won’t have enough of the present circumstance in there. What I liked the most is the conundrum between sticking with his wife and child in the present and wanting to go to Livia in the past. I hope they delve more into that.
**Peter Bjorn and John Watch: “Young Folks,” which I previously spotted in Gossip Girl and Dirty Sexy Money, ALSO played in the end moments of Journeyman. Come on, people… sure, it’s a great song, but there are other small indie bands that have a huge song that could be inspiring you.

America’s Next Top Model: Same old.

Kitchen Nightmares: This week’s was more like the first ep, unfortunately. Now that someone posted in my comments that last week’s was, indeed, the contentious episode the show is being sued over, I wonder if Fox just toned it way down, making it far more subtle and not so over-the-top. THEY SHOULD KEEP DOING THAT. It was the subtlety that makes the show work on the BBC. This week, they pretended to return 2 months later, but they didn’t really (I was so excited, and then…) All of the scenes they showed were from the final night, not 2 weeks later. To make it worse, they made it look like Mike the manager had a blowup during service, when in fact it was long after the restaurant had closed. Not sure if Fox thinks were stupid (correction: they do) but the owners tell him to leave, he goes outside, cut to edit of a full restaurant of people looking outside. Cut to Mike, standing outside waiting for them to make a decision, and he’s standing near the window, which is DARK with the curtains drawn and it’s long after closing. Duh. I think Martin from ep 2 just might have a case.

New shows:

Chuck:
Premise: Guy who works as a Nerds on Site person for a Staples-type store gets an email from a former roommate, now working as a spy, sending him all of the government secrets encoded in a series of weird images. The spy is killed, and the NSA and CIA are in a race to see who can find Chuck and put him to good use.
What I Liked: The show is hilarious. It has a wry humour about it that made me laugh out loud at parts (in one scene he goes to “LargeMart,” which is clearly a Costco, and when a spy begins chasing him throughout the store he runs up to an employee and asks her if she can find someone from security “or that guy who checks the receipts.” HA!!)
What I Didn’t Like: I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like about this. It’s bizarre and over-the-top, and in just the right parts.
People from my other shows: Jayne from Firefly; General Beckman made appearances on Buffy, Alias, and Angel.
Verdict: Chuck’s a keeper.

Moonlight:
Premise: If you’ve seen Angel and Forever Knight, you know the premise.
What I Didn’t Like: Geez… where to start? First of all, in the opening five minutes they drop every myth about vampires you can imagine. This guy can walk around during the day, it just gives him a headache (??) Holy water has no effect on him, nor does garlic, a cross or any religious symbol, and if you drive a wooden stake through his heart, he “gets better.” COME ON. The writers just tossed everything about vampires out the window because it makes their job easier. Unlike the writers on Angel, these ones don't have to worry about actually setting everything at night and making sure they're consistent, etc. And as if the premise of the show wasn’t Angel enough, between every scene they do an overhead shot of L.A. shot very quickly with the traffic sped up below… EXACTLY the same segues they used on Angel all the time. There’s a blond woman in the show who finally catches on that Mick’s a vampire… think Elizabeth Rohm in season 1 of Angel, without the attitude problem.
What I Liked: Jason Dohring was great; he was NOTHING like Logan, showing the guy’s actually got a lot of range. And the second half of the show was a lot better than the first.
People from my other shows: Logan from Veronica Mars; Hiatt from The Shield; I know there were some others but now they escape me.
Verdict: One more week, and then I’m dropping it. The fight between the two vampires at the end was pretty cool, and enough to bring me back, but I was SO ticked about them dropping the vampire myths it’ll take a lot to keep me.

Reaper:
Premise: A guy’s parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born, and now on his 21st birthday the devil’s come to collect, making him a bounty hunter, collecting people who’ve escaped from Hell.
What I Liked: Another really funny show, Sock has a very Kevin Smith sense of humour (Smith exec produces and directed first ep), and the cast is great. Also had moments that made me laugh out loud. In the second ep they chase a guy who can make lightning, and they dress from head to toe in rubber, causing Sock to worry aloud that they’re going to die “dressed like a bunch of condoms.”
What I Didn’t Like: Odd that Chuck and Reaper are two similar shows in the same season – two geeks who both work in big box stores and have things happen to them by people on the outside that sentence them to a life of doom. I honestly keep mixing up the two shows in my head.
People from my other shows: Chuck’s crush, Ali, is the illusionista from Heroes.
Verdict: Another keeper. Man… my poor PVR. Why so many good shows this year?!

Pushing Daisies:
Premise: A piemaker has discovered since he was a kid that if he touches a dead thing he can bring it back to life, but with a second touch he kills them again, permanently. A second catch: If he brings them back to life for longer than a minute, someone else drops dead to balance out the universe. He makes money on the side of pie business by finding out where reward money is offered, and going in to the dead people, touching them, asking who killed them, getting the info, and killing them again.
What I Liked: I LOVED this show. The night before I watched it, I was saying to my husband that despite this season having a bunch of great shows that I really don’t want to stop watching, there was no standout like Heroes or Friday Night Lights that I became completely emotionally invested in. And then I saw this one. Okay, I won't become "emotionally invested" in it, not like Friday Night Lights, but it's a keeper for sure. The colours are a little too bright, the sets too unrealistic, the music very Tim Burton/Bernard Herrmann, and it features a voiceover that sounds like a man reading a bedtime story. It’s perfect. In fact, the thing I could compare it to over anything else is a Tim Burton film, which I was saying to a friend of mine the other day. It’s like an outlandish fairy tale… about killing people for money. Lee Pace is great as Ned; actually the cast is fantastic overall. The humour is very funny (the waitress at the Pie Hole, the hilarious name of the restaurant, keeps mixing up words and says for years she thought masturbation was when you chewed your food slowly, hahahaha!), and yet it has a twinge of sadness about everything.
What I Didn’t Like: Only one nitpick: When he’s a little boy, his dog is hit by a car, and he touches the dog, who jumps back up and starts running. Unphased, the kid runs after him. Some time later, after touching flies and bugs, etc. his mother drops dead of an aneurysm. He touches her, and she’s fine. Then that night she kisses him goodnight and drops dead, and that’s when he realizes if he touches something twice, it dies again. My question is… we’re to believe he NEVER touched that dog again? I find that hard to believe. Just a small nitpick. And I’m not sure how it’ll continue; I just hope it doesn’t become a “dead person of the week” show.
People from my other shows: Locke’s mom from Lost.
Verdict: The best of the new shows. I’m praying it doesn’t get cancelled after 3 episodes. Then again, it’s reminiscent of Wonderfalls, so…

Aliens in America:
Premise: A guy who is a complete loser in school gets an exchange student, thinking he’ll get some swim team captain from Sweden who will make him totally cool, but when an equally nerdy kid from Pakistan shows up, he knows his loserdom just plummeted even further.
What I Liked: Three new comedies that are really funny! STOP. I can’t take another show… how am I going to decide what to drop? The mother in this one is especially great; she’s uber-aware of the giant L on her son’s forehead, and does everything to make him “cool,” but nothing works. When he ends up on the jock’s list of top 10 “bangable chicks,” I was howling. (But felt bad about it.)
What I didn’t Like: The scene at the airport where the boy shows up from Pakistan would have been funnier with that crazy music, if I hadn’t seen the movie Election 4,000 times and completely associated it with Reese Witherspoon. Again, stop with the music that is so readily identifiable with something else.
Verdict: I’m going to keep watching. Dammit. I need to get a bigger PVR.

Still on the PVR: The Tudors, Five Days, The War