what are we watching today?

Supernatural s05 episode 05 – Fallen Idols – well, it’s nice to get back to some of the classic meta-comedy SN does so well….even if they had Paris Hilton in it…who admittedly is pretty good. Much better than she was in Veronica Mars (but let’s face it, next to Kristen Bell, she never had a chance….KB is a GODDESS). It was nice to see some follow-up on all the brotherly angst and stuff…but elt’s face it, the only thing that really got us excited was the SOON…….EEE! I want SOON to be NOW!

Grey’s Anatomy – s06 ep04….

Ah. Izzie’s ever-changing hairstyle has gone with the spunky blonde look. Interesting. I like the dynamics of her and Karev’s relationship this seas9on, it seems a little more organic than the ham-fisted great love story of last year.

Interesting to see their technique of getting rid of meredith for a little while – very nicely done, and tying in well with her lonely orphan storyline. Also good to see Yang, although they are ruining her character – she’s going to waste! Come on people, give this amazing woman something to work with! Still…the show is losing my interest again…….well, at least they haven’t brough back more dead ghost sex!

Glee – s1 ep06 – GLEE! Yes – watching this one a little late, but oh glee, you have my heart. Well, Kurt owns me, like a dominatrix owns a slave. (I can totally see it. Kurt, whip in hand, all in shiny black leather and knee-high platforms…errrrr……..let’s move on!) Interesting dynamic bringing Terri in as a nurse, who proceeds to hand out decongestants and get the kids all high on amphetamines *snort*. And loved loved loved Sue’s journal entry. That woman is pure and utter gold. GOLD.

Finn’s still hung up on Rachel, who has called a truce with Quinn…which is an interesting dynamic. There’s still not enough Mercedes, Puck and Kurt! Oh Kurt, they need more Kurt….although, maybe these little bursts of Kurt are better, doling it out in bits and pieces.

I totally <3 this show to death.

Amazing Race – s15 Leg 3 – oh my god! PEOPLE! Zev and Justin, you DUMBNUTS! You ran a brilliantly good leg, coming from last to first, with such joy and goodwill…AND THEN YOU LOSE A PASSPORT AND GET YOURSELVES ELIMINATED.

ACK! Show, you have me, you know you have me by the balls..but dammit, don’t break my heart like this! It kills me.

Oh and Lance? Needs to be off my screen. YESTERDAY. I hate the arsehole. He’s exactly the type of man who should be decastrated and shot.

But thank you for visiting beautiful Cambodia! I seriously love that country and Phnom Pennh is amazing….although, flying there from Ho Chi Minh City? Seriously? It’s a 4-5 hour bus trip – why the hell would production decide to wait 15 hours for a half hour plane flight? That makes no sense to me……More Cambodia, peeps!

Gossip Girl – my guilty pleasure

i do love her. gossip girl, that is. And while I initially was drawn into this show because it was narrated by the delightful Veronica Mars, the drama, frivolity and pure guilty nastiness of the characters just kept me there.

There is always a fear with the sophomore season for any show with such a brilliant premier season. And although GG did lose the plot from time to time, overall the season held together beautifully and kept the twists coming.

Although we all fell in love with Serena and Dan to begin with, the Blair and Chuck relationship hd crept out of the woodwork throughout the first seson, very similar to Veronica and Logan from VM, the best teen show I have ever seen.

After the fallout at the end of the season, this one was all about Blair and Chuck denying how much they love each other.I will admit to squeeing with glee when Chuck finally comes forward and tells her he loves her.

Wecontinue the back-and-forth see-saw with Serena and Dan, and Rufus and Lily, throwing in Lily’s shock secret – she had Rufus’ child back in the day and put him up for adoption. Well. That could throw a spanner into the works. When they go and find the parents, they are dismayed to find their son died…only for it to be revealed to the audience the parents only said that in order to keep Lily and Rufus away from their child – which is actually an awesome little twist.

Dan had an affair with the teacher who took away Blair’s dream of Yale and while many did not like the storyline, I actually did – anything to pull Serena and Dan apart, plus with people like them, I’m surprised there weren’t more illicit trysts with teachers going on. Of course, now that both Dan and Nate have slept with odler women maybe it’s time for one of the ladies to pick up an older gentleman?

Vanessa lost her morals along the way, but has become more likeable, Nate seemed to disappear for episodes at a time, and then eye-fucked Dan with smouldering looks whenever possible. Yum. Jenny lsot the plot, gave up school, became a designer, and then went back to school, and inevitably became Queen Bee, in some weird surmountable way – and I never realised B’s little fashionistas were a year below.

Eric was sorely under-utilised – I love him. More Eric, please! Chuck’s father died, leaving him the sole heir and to be screwed over by his uncle (Who screwed his girlfriend, but now we’re just getting complicated), and Georgina came back after Serena’s deightful boyfriend screwed everyone over and they needed a way to make her ex-friend pay. Which of course didn’t work, leaving Serena in jail and an opportunity for a terrific flashback episode to Lily’s younger days, a spin-off which will now never happen as the CW prefers to throw money at crappy remakes of awesome 90’s shows.

Oh, and our gangly crew graduated.

High point? So many. But the final episode was jsut brilliant – Gossip Girl’s final gift to the graduating class is to reveal all of their secrets, as she reveals one clue – she is graduating with them. And how can we forget Chuck’s admission of love to Blair? Oh, we all squeeed at that one, didn’t we?

Low point would have to be the plodding mid point, before Chuck’s dad died and everything kind of exploded into a frenzy of drama. It got a little dull. Not to mention Nate and Blair getting back together momentarily. WTF?

This show is my guilty little pleasure. There is no way I can miss an episode of this frivolous little show with its explitative drama and naughty teens. But shh…I’ll never tell.

Gossip Girl, never leave us. And don’t reveal yourself at all – after all, we know you who you are, V.

Ugly Betty – waiting for the uk version

Betty, Betty, where did it all go wrong?

Probably when they got rid of Gio.

My love affair with this show is over, taking a beating throughout the season. Somehow, the enthusiasm I used to have for Betty dwindled until I was merely watching it out of habit.

It’s hard to say what exactly happened, but I think it may have come from the lack of character development for Betty. We finally had some developments with her deciding to be her own person, move out of home and live in the city and..well, grow up (unfortunately this didn’t extend to her fashion taste, but whatever. Obviously the show has no concept of how people actually do evolve over time – and when are those damn braces coming off?).

And then they slam on the brakes and reverse wildly back to the firsts eason, throwing Betty back into the family home and just not letting her mature. It really frustrated me. We see all these people around her growing, expanding their roles and becoming more than the 2 dimensional characters we were first introduced to, and yet our titular character remins exactly the same. There is no need to re-invent her overnight but for god’s sake – by now maybe she could have tried contacts once or twice, decided ponchos aren’t the best idea in the world, experienced with heels and TAKEN IFF THOSE GODDAMNED BRACES.

We saw Daniel maturing with a child of his own, and then a splendid twist, where he discovers it’s not his biological son – but his brother/sisters. Ouch. And while he broods, he meets Molly, his best friend’s fiancé, and the perfect woman for him. Wilhemina softens with a relationship with said best friend of Daniel, and also has a new baby to tend to. We have growth with her, as her hard metal shell crackens occasionally to reveal how deeply she cares about her status in life and does everything within her power to hold onto it.

Even Amanda and Marc have growth, with Marc’s relationship going through the wringer as he becomes uncomfortable being with only one man, a man he loves but doesn’t fit the ideal world he is desperately trying to throw himself into. And then after breaking his heart, he throws himself into becoming a junior editor, which he obviously excels at…but which is cruelly stolen away from him at the end. Gah. I love you Marc.

Even Christina, who has Wilhemina’s devil spawn, gets her husband back, tried to help him with his disease, and then finds herself attached to the child, only to find out it actually is her child and waltzes back to Scotland – see? Some..semblance of…

Screw it. Betty just annoys me.

They keep flinging around the editor-in-chief role like it’s the holy grail, now it’s Alexis, now it’s Daniel, now it’s Willy, now it’s I don’t give a toss. We see Betty develop and then regress again. They bring bloody Harry back to destroy her new relationship with the rich boy, who I was growing to like (although he will never replace the joy which is Gio in my heart –Bring Back Gio!) – and then at the end of it, the new guy’s dad is now in charge of the whole shebang, and brings in the newly heartbroken boy to be Betty’s boss – and I find myself not caring. I honestly don’t care. I want to see Amanda, Marc, Wilhemina, Daniel’s heartbreak over losing Molly to cancer, hell, Hilda and Justin. I don’t care about Betty anymore.

Which is why this show is being relegated off the schedule. I’ll see what the first few episodes bring – and if they don’t entice me, it’s off to E4 with the show. I’ll see it when they finally show the new season next year.

Grey’s Anatomy – ridiculous but just can’t put it down

Grey’s took after its own subject material in its most recent season: started off alright, took a turn for the worse, flatlined, and then miraculously recovered, finishing strong.

GA has definitely peaked, which isn’t surprising as it would have been immensely difficult to keep up those numbers. Even so, the show seemed to fall into precarious waters and all over a dead ghost.

Complaining seems to work well on this show; that or being a Grey. As it is, while we still had our 5 beloved interns to follow around, after 2 seasons we still only know one of their subordinates and that’s solely because she’s little Grey. The others remain nameless characters (although they do manage to have a few beautiful scenes where their own personal dramas bled into the lives of our own doctors, without the back-story: pretty much what we’ve been watching from our famous five, but how everyone else would have seen it. Cute)

The season was mainly dogged by controversy. After disastrously ruining Callie’s strong embodiment femininity, they gave her a lesbian relationship with Dr Hahn (even though Callie continued sleeping with mark) and then spectacularly wrote Hahn off the show a mere 2 episodes later, in what became affectionately known as Hahn-Gate. After Isaiah Washington was kicked off for homophobic slurs, Hahn was kicked off for fear of scaring off the advertisers and network execs. Ouch. And then Hahn was replaced with another blonde doctor- a younger, prettier and more hyper version. May the live happily ever after (or at least however long any relationship seems to last on this show).

Our beloved George had no storyline this year, quite often just popping in to make his single line in each episode. It’s no wonder he asked to be off the show. But what makes this sadder for me is the last episode: Yes, George goes out a hero for throwing himself under a bus – but I never made the connection. Because I was so used to not seeing George on the show anymore, I didn’t even realise it could be him, just disappointed they were treating him so badly as to not even give him a proper farewell.

Christina stayed quiet this year and was in the background for a large chunk of the season, albeit the one shining moment in all the muck Her storyline with PTSD-stricken doctor Owen was pure genius. It’s so old-school romance and perfect and I’m just grateful she’s getting a storyline again.

After pulling out of the Emmy nominations last year due to lack of a storyline, Katherine Heigl was rewarded with a season-long story-arc –inevitably leading to the single incident which broke the show. Yes, it’s the infamous ghost sex incident. Izzie has sex with a ghost, even though the man we all know she belongs with is right there. We waited 4 years for her and Alex to get it on, and when they do, Izzie is sleeping with a ghost.

And then they have to go and fix it by giving Izzie brain cancer which has grown to such proportions it’s taken over her entire body.

And poor Alex, who has obviously had a crappy life, who’s recovered from his crappy exes, who is finally making something of himself (here is an amazing character arc they’ve been driving since season 1) only for it to fall apart when the woman he loves is dying. BAD SHOW.

That’s the problem with this show – the cast is too big (and their egos even bigger) and they just don’t know what to do with them all. It’s difficult juggling so many storylines, but it can be done – something which they proved the first couple of seasons. And yet, lately they’ve really stuffed it up. Characters fade into the background for a whole season before finally demanding they have something to do, while others are being constantly thrown through the exact same ringer time and time again. Yes, morose Meredith and McDreamy. Ugh. I’m so over this relationship. I don’t care. I don’t. And it was so obvious on their “very special” episode it would be Izzie and Alex walking down the aisle and not Meredith and McDreamy. We’re not stupid.

So, while it managed to keep me for the beginning of the season, it spiralled. Callie was still ruined, I didn’t care about Lexie and McSteamy, nor Meredith and McDreamy, and really didn’t care about the serial killer storyline and the tones of grey. Heh.

I wanted beautiful, strong Calliope back (and may that happen next season). I wanted Miranda to stride down the hall like she was the Lion Queen, and this was her kingdom. And then they brought Denny back yet again (intoning once more how he was the great love of Izzie and yes, he was amazingly wonderful and all, but they didn’t even date!) and I came every close to throwing it all in.

And then Izzie’s story came together, and she and Alex grew stronger together, showing how couple can come up against adversity and make it through. They had beautiful scenes between Christina and Owen and actually gave Christina a soul, and it made the show watchable again. Dr Roberts brought out the Callie we all love, and Miranda came back as well. I found the show creeping back up my favourites list.

And then we come down to the final moments with both Izzie and George’s lives on the line. We see the infamous elevator and Izzie in that damn pink prom dress (and when I saw that at the beginning of the season I had a feeling they’d  be killing Izzie off) – the doors open and there’s George. Not Denny. No, because Izzie has finally moved on and actually wants to be with Alex.

Who dies? Well, those who read the spoilers will know the answer. But after all the crap, they managed to pull the show back to its previous standards. Question is, can they keep it up?

Highest point definitely had to be the finale because that was amazing. Realising it was George on the table, realising the lengths Alex would go to, both of them flatlining and that damn scene in the elevator to tide us over…it’s just sad it took them over 22 episodes to get to that level. On the other hand, the scene a couple of episodes earlier where Christina and Owen slowly brush past each other in the corridor was damn HOT.

Lowest point: do I have to spell it out? They ruined a beloved character on this show by bringing him back to have ghosts ex. And who didn’t work out his words, I came for you, meant she was dying? Show, stop treating us all like 5 year olds. Please.

I will be back. But this is your last shot GA – any more shambolic shenanigans like last season, and I’m audi.

Bones season 4 – off the shelf

Wow – I didn’t think it could get worse than the 3^rd season finale.

Not that any particular episode was worse – but the entire season overall was unimpressive, limp and slightly boring. It became my scrapbooking show, so I no longer actually paid 100% attention to it.

It is a procedural show, and I never really understand the immense popularity of these shows. Nothing ever changes in them (except the cast, the victim and the murder weapon) – but this year Bones really felt stale. I hated what they did with Zack, and although I’ve always enjoyed the chemistry between Bones and Booth, I just wasn’t too pleased with the direction they were taking the show this season.

The first 2 episodes in London were pretty cool, if only because I actually live in London, but even then it was a case of the same old tired stereotypes of the British people and the Americans. The season didn’t improve until the wonderful Cesar came along to work his magic – and then it plodded on.

I did like the twist towards the end: firstly with Booth getting knocked out and dreaming about a hockey player, and then being captured by the gravedigger and hallucinating about an old army buddy who died. And as apprehensive as I was about the appearance of Stewie (Yes, from Family Guy) – it actually worked, particularly when they reveal Booth has a brain tumour. That was probably the best plot point the entire season and beautifully played out throughout the season.

I didn’t even mind the revolving door of interns, even though they apparently promised it would be resovled and it actually never was. There were a few good ones in there who I wouldn’t mind seeing again (unless Zack comes back).

I actually enjoyed the final episode, set inside Booth’s head (and boy, maybe we should change the name of the show to Booth) because it was terrific seeing the characters in a different set-up (and hopefully Zack’s mysterious words mean he’ll be released and allowed back into the fold – I miss him).

The low point – gee where do I begin? The stale familiar routine began to really grate this season and it just lost its spark. No Zack. See, show? You need the wonderfulness of Zack to survive.

The high point might have to be Stewie, and the plot behind him. Because that was crack!tastic.

I’m tentatively closing the book on this one this season. Unless we end up totally snowed in for months on end, I just don’t have the heart to get involved anymore – unless they bring Zack back. Bring the fun back. The show needs it.

Being Erica: in the good books

La-la-la-la-la…..la-la-la-la-la… This show was a surprise hit in an understated way. And I’m grateful for the free newspaper delivered to our hotel room every morning while on holidays over the New Year; otherwise I would never have even known this show existed. I was curious by the premise, as it seemed to be mixing light hearted chick drama with a bit of a sci-fi fix and decided to give it a shot. And I enjoyed it from the first – they showed how every trip back in time made her grow up a little but without changing her past too greatly (as in the first episode where she went back to fix an embarrassing high school moment, it was replaced with another embarrassing moment, so same result, but different outcome…does that make sense?) For such a frothy show, it delved into some really great concepts of how our actions create the person we are, and how selfish we can really be, in only thinking about ourselves and how we respond to the people around us. We all think everyone is affected by our actions, and they are, but not in the way we think they are. This show grew on me, and it became a highlight amongst the drivel the US networks were offering. An earnest young woman whose life is in the shit and how she changes her own character and the way she does things in order to boost her life and move it forward…and while they use the sci-fi element here of letting her go back to the future to change her regrets, the show also works in a way to remind us all we can move on ourselves – because the lessons she learns are so varied in how they shape her character you can see how sometimes it’s not the journey which helps her, but just the knowledge she’s empowered herself which has thrust her forward. And it helps when the guys are so damn cute. I hope Dr Tom is coming back for a second season, but it looks like they’re throwing us for a twist, one I’m not sure will be an enjoyable ride. Ultimately, the relationship between Erica Strange and Dr Tom was one of the main focal points of the show; I hope it survives without it. Because I love this little unassuming show about a nondescript girl struggling to make her way in that little city called Toronto (I’ve been there!) It’s also been amazing to the layers unfolding with her family; how her close relationship with her sister became estranged only for Sam to subconsciously realise her sister’s been right all along, her strained relationship with her mother changes once she learns exactly how much she gave up and kept secret from the girls, and then to lose the faith she once had in her father. It all displays a normal/dysfunctional family in such a brilliant way, slowly revealing all these 3 dimensional characters, and you can actually see yourself in them, see your own family members. It really grips you – surprisingly, considering its light-hearted banter with a sci-fi twist. The lowest point had to be the second or third episodes, when the show was still finding its feet and occasionally clunky, although earnest to the ninth degree. The highest point? The episode where Erica goes back to the 70s and meets her parents when they were hippies: it is one of the most comical scenes I’ve seen on TV in a long time and features one of my all time favourite songs, FTW. I;m very eagerly awaiting season 2 – even if there is no Dr Tom, even if they fluff the storyline now with the new stark and cold “doctor!” I want more Erica Strange.

Supernatural – s04ep14 – Sex & Lies

Oh this episode. Oh dear. I tried not to laugh or read too much into it, but I couldn’t help myself!

So the boys find themselves in Iowa where men are murdering their loved ones, in particularly gruesome manners. Like, freaky nasty. They discover all the guys have been visiting a strip joint and seeing Disney strippers (Jasmine, Belle, Aurora) and then kill their wives/girlfriends/mothers for them. Sam gets his flirt on with the local doctor/medical examiner/mortician and while Dean begrudges him for stealing his thunder, he soon forgets it in his excitement over actually getting to visit a strip joint on the job. Which avails to nothing. Except for the guy who ends up killing his mother that night.

When the boys next visit the sexy doctor, they’re interrupted by another FBI guy, and come on, I as suspicious here! Anyway, they give him a number to calla s the FBI director, who turns out to be Bobby, frying up some food while wearing a kiss the cook apron. God I love Bobby. Bobby ahs also informed them they’re dealing with a siren, someone who appears to you as your total fantasy, poisons you and then convinces you to kill loved ones for them. I guess they feed off of something. The blood? The adrenalin? The sex? Who knows? They don’t go into details, wanting to mess with the fangirl’s heads instead. Of course, as sirens are shapeshifters they’re bloody difficult to catch.

Sam sends Dean away with the FBI man to keep him occupied so he doesn’t interfere with them while Sam and the doctor flirt and attempt to find the missing blood samples, because they need it for eventually killing the siren. Affected blood on the knife in the siren will kill it. Or something like that. Again, who cares about semantics? All we want is to understand the psychology behind this episode! Kripke, you evil genius. So as Sammy flirts with sexy doctor, Dean gets along amazingly well with FBI guy, who provides him with some evidence of a plant found at all the scenes…which is in the sexy doctor’s room and as we pan over it we see, oh hello they’r eknocking back whiskey and she’s pushing him up against the desk and the shirts are off and it’s a free for all! Woo! Any episode where we get to see so much Winchester skin, is a damn good episode. Yum.

Right. Dean realises Sammy slept with sexy doctor and tells him off. Ooh Sammy is angry about that. Could he really be under her spell?  Ss she’s the main suspect Dean calls in FBI guy to help him follow her. They start a stakeout for the doctor, and yeah she heads to a rough and tumble bar. Knowing they’re in for a long night he grabs his trusty flask, and offers it to FBI guy before taking another sip…only for FBI guy to reveal he’s the siren! Bells are going off! Dean’s been suckered in by a male siren!

Fangirls are fainting in fits of ecstasy!

They head back to the motel, where Sam realises Dean’s the one who’s under the spell as he holds a knife to Sam’s throat…and the siren explains Dean didn’t want a hot sexy girl he wanted <anal> his brother back.

And then the siren spits milky liquid into Sam’s mouth, thus infecting him and my god, I don’t even have to spell it out, do I? IS anyone out there not salivating? Or off writing gayporn? Anyhow, now with both brothers infected, he tells them to face off with each other and fight to the death. The winning brother gets to stay with the siren. And they start…verbally. Huh. What, no slappy fisticuffs?  Dean starts in his tirade about how his brother won’t stop using his powers and turning evil and then Same really goes for the low blow, telling Dean he’s sick and tired of him moping and whinging about his time in hell. OH that’s it, he deserves a bloody spanking for that one! His brother endured 40 years of hell…HELL…for him and that’s how he repays him? Ooh, skinny tall boy, you’re going down!

Anyway, they start with the fisticuffs, really going at each other and it seems Sam has the upper hand, until Dean drags him through the door, blowing it down and Sam lies there, winded. Dean grabs the fire safety axe and is about to chop off Sam’s head…when in comes Bobby on his brilliant white horse, stabbing dean in the back (literally, and then throwing the (infected blood) knife ninja-style at the siren, who dies.

And we end with pretty scenery scene again, except this time there’s no beer, as Bobby hands them coke instead. After all, someone has to drive. Heh. I love you Bobby.

The boys agree they didn’t mean anything they said while infected (thus avoiding those awkward male siren thoughts sweeping through their heads) and pretend everything’s fine…but we know it’s not, because of the angsty faces they’re pulling as they drive away…into March.

GAH! I have to wait a month for the next one?

Supernatural – s04ep13 – After School Special

Heh.

I love this episode for 2 reasons – I adore young Sam and want an entire spin-off just with young Dean and Sam: Supernatural, the kiddie wars, just because they are unbelievably awesome. Young Sam has the snarl, the woe-is-me look down pat. He’s brilliant.

And secondly? I love this episode because we see Dean in little red shorts. Ooh, down girl! Ha ha.

So, here we have the boys returning to one of the high schools they attended as kids, following a spate of murders/accidents were kids seemed to turn on their bullies…and then have no recollection of it afterwards. While the boys get undercover roles, Sam as a janitor and Dean as the football coach, Sam has flashbacks to their first time here and how it changed him. And wow, Dean shot up and lost the baby fat fairly quickly. And became hot. And man, could that kid look anymore like a young Dean? Whoever the casting director is for this episode, damn! Did they do a good job or what?

So in the past they get dropped off and dad leaves for a hunt. Dean immediately proves how he didn’t care about school at this stage, walking in with his rebellious drop-out attitude and no books, talking back to the teachers and obviously catching the attention of every damn girl in the room. He also manages to make good use of the supply closet. Until he gets caught macking with another girl, and the first one draws him out for the person he really is…or at least how he sees himself as a no-hoper with zero social skills, no future and an overall loser. Ouch. High school can be brutal…particularly when you already have severe self-esteem issues and a dead-end future. Poor Dean. What a big woobie he is.

Sam, on the other hand, walks in already being picked on, befriending the abused victim of the class and standing up for him. While he doesn’t fight back and allows himself to get bullied (At which point Dean does attempt to swoop in and whoop the little bully’s ass, but Sam stops him, wanting to deal with it on his own),  it gets to the point he fights back and just becomes the abuser himself. He wallops the bully one and becomes the champion of the school. And wow- anvils! Poor little victim Sammy become the executioner…why am I seeing parallels with what will happen? Sam is so the puppy – kick him when he’s down but then he’ll bite.  Sam also has a discussion with his teacher who lets him know he doesn’t need to follow in the family footsteps, he can do whatever he wants, be whoever he wants to be, and you can see this is where the rebellion began. Before this, Sam was a mopey kid who followed along with his dad sullenly, but this is the point he thought hell, no I’ll do what I damn well please….and it’s so awesome of our show to provide us with this moment!

Anyway, so let’s stick with the present for now, as the boys investigate and Sam realises his English teacher still teaches here. They investigate and Sam finds out the boy he befriended killed himself not too long after they left. Ouch. Heartbreaking. But I guess he wasn’t strong enough to deal with it all and decided that was the easy way out.

But the killings continue to happen, until they realise it has something to do with the school bus. They find the bus driver, whose new, and was the bully’s father. The bully, who had only recently lost his mother to cancer and was lashing out, and also ended up killing himself later on. And damn, Sam’s expression here just about kills me! So the bully’s ghost is still lashing out, as daddy keeps a lock of his hair on the bus…the bus which is now driving the football team to another town. Our boys stop the bus, and as Sam has a little tussle with another possessed kid, Dean finds the hair and burns it and peace is restored to the world. Sam does have a little chat with his teacher, wanting to let him know how did it, he broke out and became his own person…until it finally sinks in that he didn’t, because ultimately he’s hunting. He became exactly what he ran away from all those years.

And damn – depressing episode! But a really, really good one! Just needed a bit more Castiel, that’s all.

Supernatural – s04ep12 – Criss Angel is a Douchebag

Well, with a title like that, what else can you possible expect from this episode besides magic? And it’s magic galore, along with some very heavy-hitting anvils of future DOOM for our brothers (And some more undertensions of gayness….seriously…they’ve been racketing up the bromance this season, as well as the angel loving)

So this time around we’re following the Amazing Jay (not the Amazing Race, which I think is just a little more Amazing Jay…but not as great as the Amazing Yellow Line….but that’s another story). Jay is old, washed up and over the hill. Him and his friends all enjoy the classic magic tricks which people sued to rush to see, but are now overshadowed by today’s young’uns, with their flashy sparkles, fireworks and emo eyeliner. And yeah, they’re so taking the piss out of Criss Angel here, but I wonder if this is something that is more American based, because while I have heard of the guy, I’ve never seen any of his work. And neither do I care. But I digress. Because the story isn’t about Criss Angel, it’s about Jay!

Jay’s ready for his final curtain, and decides to perform one of the trickiest moves for his show – attempting to escape iron clad straps before the spiky thing falls on him, piercing him to death. And yeah, he fails, because they’re too tight…..and  it drops…and out walks Jay. In one piece.

Outside, another douchebag of a magician keels over, bleeding from little spikes all over his body. Uh oh.

So, our boys rock up in town and start investigating and get screwed over by the old-timers…heh. They send Dean to meet this guy at a random address…and he walks into a dungeon-esque room, and out walks a large bulky man, in tight leather and straps with a whip, asking Dean for his safe word. Oh dear. Oh, that amused me to no end. Of course, we still have no idea how our bow-legged friend got himself out of that one. J

So, Jay performs another trick, and again seemingly fails, but walks away scot-free…and another douchebag of a magician dies in his stead. While our boys think another grim reaper spells, we discover Jay’s oldest friend, Charlie, actually has a grimmoire, is immensely old (and now looking bloody young) and did all of this to stop Jay from dying, because he wants them to be immortal forever. Together.

Huh. How many anvils did you count in that last sentence alone?

So, as Charlie strings Dean up and strangles and places Sammy on the table, straps him in and prepares to..well….puncture him to death, Jay sees his friend’s behaviour for the madness and kills him himself. And then is devastated by what he just did. And lo and behold, instead of another scenic little tête-à-tête, we have Dean sleeping  (underneath a blanket this time so he’s slowly coming back to…err…life) as Sam sneaks out to meet up with Ruby, telling her he’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of Lilith, because he doesn’t want the rest of his life to be hunting…and he doesn’t want either him or Dean to die any time soon, and the only way to do that is by stopping Lilith. Oh Sammy. Did you not get any of those heavy anvils dropping left, right and centre? That’s exactly what did Charlie in! He didn’t want to grow old and watch his friends and die and oh there’s no point. Sam’s as stubborn today as when he drank that bloody demon’s blood. Bring on the devastation and torture!

Supernatural s04-ep11 – Family Remains

After tormenting ourselves through the Christmas hiatus (Well not really, as Christmas Day fell on Thursday and I happened to be in the US, I got to watch a Very Supernatural Christmas on the CW for once. And yes, I found that damn exciting) – we now get back to our regularly scheduled programming and well, who can we really forget how we finished off with 2008, with Dean revealing his deep, dark secrets of hell? It appears a month has passed in the world of the supernatural, and the boys have been cross-tracking the country on back-to-back hunts. Sammy not getting his beauty sleep or something?

We jump in with a haunted house which the brothers are trying to investigate  after a redneck old man was discovered in a very icky manner, but a new family is attempting to move in and just simply won’t take no for an answer, even if they psyche the boys out by “leaving” for the motel only to return once the boys are gone. They’re either very smart or very stupid, and in this case I’ll go with really stupid. When such hot tottie comes knocking on your door…well, you hope you have plenty of rope handy so you can tie them up and err…

*cough*

Sorry. Was distracted there.

So, the boy is seen playing with a young girl and talks about how she lives in the walls, whereas his teen sister is pretty freaked out by the whole thing, and yet seems inherently cool, and could potentially fit right into this show in a few year’s time.

The family and the boys kind of get stuck on the property that night as all the tyres are slashed and they can no longer escape. For once, a seemingly smart ghost. Particularly considering this ghost can cross salt lines…and isn’t affected by rock salt. Uh oh.

So, what the boys think they’re hunting here is the ghost of a young girl who committed suicide years ago in this house…is actually the girl’s daughter. You see, daddy dearest abused his daughter and when she fell pregnant, he locked the kid up in the basement. She killed herself after her twins were born, leaving her 2 cubs to grow up in the basement with no human contact, education or daylight. Yes, there’s 2 of them. And yes, it sounds totally ripped from the headlines, doesn’t it?

So they’re pretty feral kids and damn terrifying.

As Dean and the brother find out when they investigate the inner walls of the house and the brother is killed. Eep.

And then the little boy is kidnapped by the young feral who wants a new playmate. And Dean won’t be able to live with himself if he dies, so he has to heroically go in and find the young boy and rescue him. And while the girls heroically attempt to save themselves in the shed, the boys and the family’s daddy first try to find the young boy, which Dean does manage to do, hence learning about the feral brother and then they all get chased outside and have to fight off the ferals, with Dean rather vengefully kills the young man…as daddy heroically takes out the young woman after she attempts to claw her way into the shed. Quite a heroic episode. And yeah. I can see countless therapy bills for this family.

But, this being our beloved show of course, means we get another very brief glimpse of the gorgeous star of the show, Metallicar, as our boys yet again decide to find the prettiest bit of scenery to pull over and have another heart-to-heart moment…and seriously, Krip, can you lay off the picturesque tourist propaganda for a change? I like these exchanges, because they’re some of the rare glimpses we get into…well, they all tend to be Dean moments, so we get momentary flashes into Dean’s damaged psyche. But I feel like every episode seems to be finishing with one of these scenes now, and this show is anything but formulaic. I mean, this season has been a case of opening with the boys driving to their next destination, arguing over whatever revelation was made in the previous episode, and then expositing about new beast, and then closing off with the tourist shot of Vancouver.

Anyway, this time we learn how Dean is broken up this time because he actually started to enjoy torturing those souls down under (huh, that’s how I feel whenever I visit home). And he’s not happy with what that potentially says about him. And Sam again weeps majestically, stoically….silently.