With the lack of summer viewing options starting to get to me, I decided to sign up for Hulu Plus just to ensure I always have something to watch. While most people would probably just stick to Netflix, I really wanted to see what Hulu Plus was all about. The $7.99/mo isn’t all that overwhelming, so I decided to go for it.

Anyway, I’ve already got more than 300 movies and TV shows in my queue, and am currently working through Season 1 of L&O SVU. I know that I’m more than a decade late to the L&O party, but I always seemed to have other things to watch and kept putting this show off.

I’ve seen three episodes so far, and have mixed feelings about it. I figured the SVU version would have more emotional stories, but I haven’t really been overcome by tears when watching. Still, I like Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni well enough, and the fact that the show will start its 13th or 14th season this fall is encouraging.

The bottom line: Right now it’s just another procedural, albeit one with great potential.

Burn Notice 6×06 — “Shock Wave”: I had mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand, I’m positively thrilled that Anson is dead and Fiona is out of jail. I’ve been waiting for those things to happen all season. On the other, I’m sad that Nate died. I knew this would happen (I accidentally read a spoiler), but that didn’t detract from the moment. As soon as I saw Nate going rogue during the operation instead of sitting around with in ear headphones on listening to his iPod, I knew he was gonna buy it. RIP.

So what does this mean for the rest of the season? I doubt that next week turns into a standard client-of-the-week show. Does the group now go on a mission to avenge Nate’s death? I guess that’s the only thing left. Find the sniper, find out who ordered the sniper, etc. etc. Hope they can throw some fun in there, but that wouldn’t really fit now, right?

Breaking Bad 5×01: “Live Free or Die”: Since there’s not much else going on TV-wise this summer, I decided to get back into Breaking Bad. I watched the first season and liked it, but stopped in the middle of the second season because I couldn’t identify with any of the characters. Plus the show was just so damn dark and depressing that practically every episode brought me down. Nevertheless, I caught up with all the eps online and was ready to watch the Season 5 premiere.

This episode moved along at a nice clip and dealt mostly with tying up loose ends from S4. I liked the magnet caper, if only because it put Jesse and Walt on the same side for once. I miss those two being a real team instead of at odds all the time. Mike definitely adds a new dimension to the partnership, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens to the trio this season.

I’m back to hating Skylar (after warming to her a little bit in S3 and S4), and the whole Ted mishap isn’t helping in that regard. I’d be willing to bet that poor old Ted isn’t long for this world, as Walt will likely identify him as too much of a liability (if he hasn’t done so already) and orchestrate his death somehow.

The flash forward was interesting. I wasn’t all that surprised to see Walt on the run, but I was surprised to see him buying a BAW (big-ass weapon). I wonder who he’s planning to take out with that thing!

Burn Notice 6×04 — “Under the Gun”: I was so bored with this episode that I barely watched it. I was more focused on aimlessly surfing the Internet with my iPad instead. As I mentioned after the last episode, I’m getting pretty tired of this season’s format (the gang being separated, Fiona in prison). I know it probably seemed like a good idea on paper, but messing with a proven formula (the case of the week) has turned out to be a disaster for BN!