Reviews and More

Now that we’re into October, it’s definitely time to start thinking about the holidays. With the economy slumping, a lot of people are probably wondering (and worrying) about how they’re going to finance all of the expenses that naturally go hand-in-hand with the season. From Thanksgiving dinners to airplane tickets for visiting out-of-state relatives to office parties and presents, the bills can pile up very quickly.

I know many of you might be tempted to use credit cards to finance your holiday spending. This is something that I would recommend only if you absolutely do not have cash readily available and only if you’re willing to take a couple of extra steps to get the most out of your credit.

First of all, I recommend that you compare credit cards to make sure that your current one offers the lowest interest rates and best terms. Chances are you can always find something better out there, so it’s critical to shop around. Many websites offer side-by-side comparison charts these days, which makes this step a lot easier.

And second, I suggest signing up for a card that offers 0% balance transfers or a similar no-interest promotion. What you can then do is use your current credit cards for holiday expenses, transfer the balance to your new card, and then enjoy 0% interest while you pay down the debt.

Just remember: it’s imperative that you read the fine print and know all of the terms and conditions for any credit card that you sign up for so you don’t get hit with unexpected finance charges. Most cards that offer 0% balance transfers do so only for a specified period, but as long as you pay off the balance within that time frame, you’ll be fine.

The holidays are stressful for a variety of reasons, but if you’re smart about making your credit work for you, then the financial aspect shouldn’t contribute to your headaches!

How I Met Your Mother was back again last night with a brand-new episode. I’m spoiler-free for new eps, so I was a bit surprised to see Enrique Iglesias back as Gael. I thought his appearance last week was a one-time gimmick for the season premiere. Anyway, there was a lot going on in this ep, so let’s get right to the recap of 3×02, called “We’re Not From Here.”

Robin/Gael: As I said, Gael is still hanging around during this ep. But now Robin’s discovering that all the things she liked about Gael while on vacation just annoy her back in “real life.” She realizes that “vacation Robin” was lame, and the care-free, peacenik attitude she had in Argentina simply doesn’t work in New York. The final straw comes when Gael invites a group of travelers to crash indefinitely at Robin’s apartment. She can’t take the way they smoke dope and play bongo drums at all hours, so she kicks everyone out — including, presumably, Gael.

Ted/Barney: Ted and Barney are jealous of the way Gael is able to attract women at the bar. They hang on his every word, no matter what kind of dumb story he’s telling. Barney thinks it’s because he’s a tourist, so to test that theory, he and Ted pose as sightseers from Missouri (Barney pronounces it “Mssourah”) in order to pick up a couple of women. This ruse actually works, but the women turn out to be posers as well. They’re actually from New Jersey and end up taking Barney and Ted to a party in the South Bronx, which I guess is a dangerous area. The group gets mugged, and Ted spews forth with a rant about how New Jersey is not New York.

Marshall/Lily: Marshall and Lily are busy writing thank you notes for all of their wedding gifts. They’re also trying to get settled into married life, which apparently to them means putting together a death folder containing important financial information that the surviving spouse will need should the other one die. Lily also mentions that the death folder should contain a letter with a few parting words for the survivor.

Marshall sits down to write something totally sappy to Lily. When he’s finished, he notices Lily’s letter in the folder and can’t help but take a peek. He’s disappointed to see that Lily just included some ATM info, plus a reminder to cancel her Vogue subscription. Marshall then confronts Lily, who takes exception to the fact that Marshall opened the letter early. This leads to their first fight as a married couple.

Marshall convinces Lily to write him a real letter, which she agrees to do — only if he promises not to open it. We then flash-forward to the year 2029 where we see a balding Marshall sitting behind a huge desk. He opens the letter, which basically just says “Busted!!” Older Lily then walks in and starts ragging on Marshall because he opened the letter early.

My Reaction: I wasn’t as into this ep as I was the premiere. This one felt a bit forced in places, and didn’t work as well as last week’s effort. I think there was just too much going on for one episode, so everything was rushed. HIMYM hardly ever has three developed storylines like this — and now I can see why. They should stick to two at the most.

I have to admit that I got a bit of a scare during the flash-forward. I thought they were going to show us that Lily dies 22 years from now, but thank god that’s not the case! It was cool to see that Lily and Marshall end up in what looks to be a pretty swanky house. And did you notice the framed newspaper clipping behind Marshall in that scene? It said something like “NYC Lawyer Captures Nessie” (the Loch Ness monster). Ha! This show rocks the continuity like no other!!!

At the beginning of this television season, I decided to keep Prison Break off my regular recap list. I became so disappointed with the show at the end of Season 2 that I wasn’t sure if I’d even tune into Season 3. However, I’ve gotten several requests to bring back the Prison Break recaps, so here I am. I’m not going to bother backtracking for eps 3×01 and 3×02; instead, I’ll just start with 3×03, which aired last night. Here’s what happened on “Call Waiting.”

Michael/Linc: Michael’s still trying to figure out a way to escape from SONA, but he doesn’t even know where to start. Plus, he loses all his ability to concentrate when Linc shows him a photo of Sara being held captive. Michael insists that he be able to talk to Sara soon, so he sends Linc out to negotiate with Susan (cat-scratch face) to get that phone call. Then, Michael blackmails T-Bag into stealing Lechero’s cell phone so he can receive the call.

Sara gets on the phone and talks to Michael in code so Linc will be able to find her. Linc manages to figure out where she’s being held, but the bad guys move Sara and LJ before Linc can do anything about it.

Then, at the end of the ep, Susan expresses her displeasure by sending Linc a message. It’s a head in a box, like in the movie Se7en, but we can’t see who it is.

Mahone: Mahone gets a visit from his public defender, who brings him some “good” news. Apparently, Mahone was able to get a court date for one year away, which I guess is considerably sooner than most foreigners could expect to see a judge. Mahone of course thinks this is unacceptable, and he flips out so much that the guards have to fire warning shots in his direction. Oh, and he needs his drugs. Bad.

Later on, Whistler stops by to see Mahone in order to get the scoop on Scofield. From the questions Whistler asks, Mahone is able to figure out that Michael’s planning on breaking out. He wants in, but Michael isn’t about to take on any more passengers.

T-Bag: Continues ingratiating himself to Lechero, while earning the hatred of a few of the other guys in Lechero’s inner circle.

Bellick: Is still stumbling around the prison doing nothing. I think he spent this entire episode looking for shoes, and was even willing to trade sexual favors with the Panamanian T-Bag in order to get some. And he overhears Michael and Mahone talking about Whistler.

Sucre: Catches up with Linc and tells him he wants to help out so he can get a cut of the millions that Michael recovered last season. Linc first tells him to get lost, but when Sucre passes out in Lincoln’s hotel room doorway, Linc brings him inside. Looks like they’ll be a team again.

My Reaction: As with the first two episodes of the season, not much happened on “Call Waiting.” I’m getting so sick of Bellick already. What freakin’ purpose does he serve here?? Is it really necessary to have him limp across the prison yard looking for shoes? Give me a break. Just don’t show him at all unless he’s going to add something to the plot. Yeah, yeah, I know he’s there to screw things up for Michael. But couldn’t they get a brand new character to do that? Or can’t they let T-Bag kill him like he wanted to last season?

Speaking of T-Bag, he’s kind of boring when he’s playing this subordinate follower. He can’t stay that way much longer, can he?

I thought the Sara scenes were completely cheesy! If Sarah Wayne Callies is unavailable to film because she’s having a baby or whatever, then don’t even bother showing some body double! It was totally stupid how they tried to film that phone call scene while showing Sara from behind. And call me crazy, but that wasn’t even SWC’s voice we were hearing!

BTW, that better not be Sara’s head in the box. I’m thinking it’s Whistler’s girlfriend. That’s the only other character we’ve even seen on the outside of SONA this year, so it has to be her.

Well, so far there hasn’t been a whole lot to like in Season 3. It feels like nothing’s going on, and Michael hasn’t even begun to check out the prison in order to get ideas for how to break out. Hopefully things start picking up soon!