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October 3rd, 2008

Weekly TV Roundup for 10/3/08

Bones 4×06 — “The Crank in the Shaft”: I tell ya what, the mysteries on this show get weaker and weaker. Do the writers remember that Booth is an FBI agent and not a local cop? Why would he get called in to investigate the murder of an office manager? As far as I could see, there were no jurisdictional issues involved, and the victim’s identity was established rather early on. Wouldn’t the cops handle that kind of case? I guess I shouldn’t expect any kind of reality from this series!

I liked the toned down Bones/Booth interaction in this ep, and appreciated the fact that Hodgens and Angela finally got to deal with their angst. I’m still not liking the intern-of-the-week gimmick, but that’s the least of my worries right now. Oh, and what was the point of Booth’s back problems or wanting that old office chair? I didn’t get it.

pp logo1 Private Practice 2×01 — “A Family Thing”: Yay, Private Practice finally returned with the Season 2 premiere! I admit that the show ended weakly last season, but I was still looking forward to the premiere to see if it would bounce back — and it did! I thought the premiere was good, and I was far more interested in what was happening with these characters than I was with the Grey’s cast. This show still feels very fresh and new, while I’m pretty much just tired about everything on GA.

Anyway, I’m glad Addison told Sam what was going on with the finances, but I’m surprised at how he handled the situation. He should have talked to Naomi and told her what he was going to do instead of blindsiding her in the conference room. That didn’t make sense at all, since there was absolutely no reason to take her by surprise like that. Sam owed it to her, as a professional, as a friend, and as his ex-wife. What a jerk.

Dell isn’t really going to be gone for long, is he? He was certainly nice to look at! I’m glad Violet is going on her trip without Cooper, but am a bit disappointed that he would keep a secret for Charlotte at the expense of his friendship with V. Tim Daly still annoys, but Addison was on top of her game, so I’m happy!

House 5×03 — “Adverse Events”: It’s official: I like the private eye! Lucas and House are awesome together, and really provide some great comedic moments. As much as I liked the House/Wilson dynamic, I think I like this new duo even more. They’re not nearly as depressing, which makes their banter all the more fun. It’s kind of hard to take Wilson’s sad sack act in large doses; give me Lucas any time!

The patient of the week storyline was weird, and I thought that solid mass of food (sorry, I forgot the medical term) was disgusting. Did they really need to show that?? I also didn’t care for the “dirt” that House got on his minions. It just proved that they really are as boring as they seem!

Entourage 5×04 — “The Fire Sale”: This episode was a little strange, as everyone was involved in vastly different storylines. I thought Ari overreacted to that guy emailing him a picture of his wife from her, ahem, film career days — especially since he’s the one who started the ridiculous prank war in the first place. Oh, and I don’t even want to think of how Lloyd complied with Ari’s demands about how to send in that $100…. yuck!

I like the fact that Vince is now willing to take supporting roles in order to get his career back on track. That’s far more logical and natural than his previous “who gives a fuck” attitude. Hopefully the writers let him sweat it out for a few more eps before giving him another job. And I hope Eric gets into big trouble with this whole script sale thing. I bet his loyalty to Vince trumps his morality on this one. He won’t take Amanda’s offer to the writers; he’ll just give them the previous number to ensure that Vinnie gets in on the project. I hope there’s major fallout from that!

October 3rd, 2008

“Cold Case” S6 Premiere

Cold Case used to be the highlight of my television viewing week. I thought the stories told in Season 1 and Season 2 were extremely poignant, and I usually ended up with tears in my eyes as a perfectly fitting song played during the perp walk. This was a show that I rarely ever blogged about because I just wanted to enjoy the experience without worrying about taking notes, remember names, etc. It was my time.

But in the past few seasons, the episodes have felt tired and repetitive, and the regular cast of detectives were stagnating in their roles. They hardly ever show any personal stories, so it’s hard to demonstrate character growth — even when it’s desperately needed.

Anyway, I finally got around to watching the Season 6 premiere on TiVo yesterday, and I was surprised that I didn’t hate it! The ep was far from perfect, but it did many things well. For example, I was left guessing about the killer and the motive until the reveal at the end, and I thought several of the characters had touching stories. I felt bad for the victim’s mother, for the victim’s football buddy whose “glory days” came and went so long ago, and for the tutor. Good characters and a solid story… wow!

The only problem I had was with the core group of detectives. Will and Kat were okay, but Scotty was kind of boring, and I’m really getting tired of Vera looking like he’s about to explode over every little thing that happens. That guy needs to be hooked up to a blood pressure monitor 24/7 or else he’s going to keel over one of these days! I’m not sure how I feel about Rush and Eddie. On the one hand, it’s time for her to get back into another relationship, but on the other, Eddie is so different from her that I can’t see how it would work.

Anyway, it’s nice to have Cold Case back! I hope the good episodes keep on coming, because I’ve really missed my favorite show!

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