Burn Notice s2 ep 7

Hurrah! Either my “winter blues” have gone or this was the best episode of Burn Notice this season.  

The main plot (for what it’s worth) had Michael and co trying to retrieve a shipment of medicines, stolen by “total psycho” Gerard before they could reach the poor sick children (aw) they were intended for.  As well as the usual shenanigans – the undercover mission, the double-cross, the “how to do something spy-like” lesson-of-the-week - however, there was a whole lot of added fun to be had with Fi’s arms dealer buddy Seymour (“another total psycho”), old client Virgil and his unfinished business with Michael’s mum, and a boat-load of utterly hilarious scenes. 

I wasn’t 100% convinced by the final defeat of the bad guys – that scene seemed a little rushed and anti-climactic – but given how cool, clever and fantastically funny the episode as a whole was, who really cares?  Loved it.

Without a Trace s7 ep 13

The search for Elena’s BFF, complete with lots of loving flashbacks devoted to their relationship, was never going to be something I particularly enjoyed - especially as said BFF was just as irritating as Elena herself.  However, thanks to only keeping half an eye on the tv and the rest of my attention on surfing the internet, the episode passed just fine.  In fact, it might have been quite good.  Until the ending.  I assume we were supposed to think it was heroic, rather than annoying, but it involved this pair, so there was absolutely no danger of me seeing it that way.

Modern Family s1 ep 9

You know, I might be wrong about this, but I think we’ve just seen a tiny bit of comic history.  To the list which includes ’Cheers’’s Kelly Song, ‘Seinfeld’’s yada yada yada and Soup Nazi, and ‘How I Met Your Mother’’s Slap Bet, add the name of Fizbo the Clown. He’s a classically trained Auguste clown who’s going to twist you like a balloon animal if you diss his boyfriend.  One of the many joys of ‘Modern Family’ is that despite an unusually large ensemble cast just about everyone gets two or three good moments in every episode, but right now they’re all in Eric Stonestreet’s shadow.

Curb Your Enthusiasm s7 ep 6

I’m a bit late with this review (it’s the one with the bare midriff).  Taken in the round, this was probably no more than average ‘Curb’.  But it was elevated by – and you know what I’m going to say here – the scenes in which Jerry Seinfeld and Larry sat back and shot the shit.  I mean, c’mon – it was like getting a window into the creative process which fuelled ‘Seinfeld’ itself as Jerry and Larry riffed on the appropriate use of the car horn, and the unfeigned pleasure they were clearly both taking from it was the icing on the cake.  Larry could hardly keep a straight face, and generally didn’t even try.

(As for the spurious controversy about the splashback and the picture, I’m not going there.  Except to say this: as an adherent, more or less, of the faith which was allegedly being mocked – come off it.  We’re big boys and girls, are we not?)

Hung s1 ep 6

Another downbeat episode in which the sadness and loneliness of the characters were to the fore.  I really do like this show, more than I thought I would, but I never come away from ‘Hung’ feeling good, even after this week’s unusually feelgood ending.  And it’s probably as well if I don’t think too much about the morality of Ray falling for Jemma – which, when all’s said and done, is nothing more than a noughties spin on the ‘Pretty Woman’ fantasy of hooker and client romance.  It did, though, give the excellent Jane Adams yet another opportunity to portray the vulnerability of Tanya.

Im my review last week, incidentally, I suggested that Jemma was sufficiently attractive to make it surprising that she had to pay for Ray’s attentions, observing further that I would gladly undertake the act of love with her for no charge.  (At least, I think that’s how I put it.)  One of our regular commenters seemed surprised by this.  Having reviewed my position at leisure this week, I remain of that view.  If anything, I would pay her.  Admittedly she’s clearly demented, but if guys were to regard that as a dealbreaker…

Spooks s8 ep 4

Well, that was a bit risque for prime-time BBC 1, wasn’t it?  Naked Richard Armitage, topless Genevieve O’Reilly, a homo-erotic sub-Stockholm syndrome storyline…was this meant to be on BBC 2?  And was it meant to be on another show? 

I’m not sure that seeing Lucas’ backside or CIA Blondie’s breasts really added all that much to the story, to be honest, and I felt a bit sorry for Richard Armitage, in particular, given his extensive female fan base and the frenzied ogling he must’ve known would ensue.  It does seem much more daring to have a little nudity in something as mainstream as Spooks than in something as self-consciously “raunchy” as True Blood where it became almost routine.

But enough about the skin, what about the story?  The episode started off fairly slowly but turned into a slightly more cerebral one with the psychological effects of torture and the extent to which trust and love can be borne out of domination and subjugation as the underlying themes.  Armitage put in a restrained, but incredibly powerful, performance as the damaged Lucas, who will never be truly free of his captors even if he’s not actually in a cell any more, and carried the episode beautifully. 

Unfortunately, the long-term story arc bubbling in the background  (y’know, about the New NEW World Order, rogue intelligence agent conspiracy, all that stuff) ended up being far less restrained, culminating in a momentarily shocking, but unbelievably silly, murder which no one, absolutely no one, could legitimately think they could get away with.  Shame, as it detracted a little from what was otherwise a very good episode.  They’re going to have to be careful not to let that particular storyline run away with them again.

FlashForward s1 ep 9

I don’t know about you, but… that wasn’t bad at all, was it?  Admittedly the starting sequence was straight from the ‘Lost’ playbook of flashbacks and apparently unrelated characters, but it was none the worse for that.  More significantly, the writers have finally, finally given us a couple of people we can care about: Bryce has been somewhat peripheral until now, but given a storyline of his own he blossomed into an understated but likeable and sympathetic character, and Keiko was all of that and as cute as a button as well.  Even the measured pace, misplaced in other episodes, was just about right for the contemplative nature of this one.

We had most of the usual stuff as well: the man with the beard is still there, and he and Shakespeare managed to treat us to a couple of masterclasses in how to struggle through if you’re grievously miscast.  There’s more foreign travel on exes for Shakey and Demetri.  And Suspect Zero remains unidentified, despite the available technology managing to pick out the ring he was wearing.  (We got a preposterous explanation for this, of course.)  My theory remains that it’s probably former Radio 1 DJ “Me” Mark Page, although the lovely Debbie McGee can’t entirely be ruled out at this stage.

Not bad, though.  Not bad at all.

In Treatment s1 ep 31; ep 32; ep 33; ep 34; ep 35

With Laura temporarily not featuring, the first episode of the week instead gave us Paul and his children.  It was typically well-crafted, but did little apart from add a little of Paul’s backstory.  This might have been the first time all season that ‘In Treatment’ has been a little dull.

Everyone else, however, was on top form.  Sorry to keep going on about this, but I just don’t buy the resumption of the therapist/patient relationship between Paul and Alex as remotely plausible.  I’m prepared to live with it, though, as it gave Blair Underwood the opportunity to turn in his best performance yet, even better than last time: apparently revealing a lot, but leaving the big questions opaque.  I still couldn’t say for sure whether he’s gay, whether he wants to go back on active duty, whether he’s traumatised.  Mia Wasikowska’s excellence as Sophie is now so routine that we’re in danger of losing sight of just how good she is.   And Paul and Kate’s own session with Gina was as compelling as ever: after a week of seeing Paul preside loftily over the petty behaviour of others, it’s salutary to watch him sniping petulantly at his wife, even if she does kind of deserve it.  Strike that “kind of”, on reflection.

But the most powerful episode of the week – and the real revelation – was the Josh and Amy episode.  After weeks of this being the weak link, we got the payoff this time round.  I mean, I’m now firmly on Team Josh, but as the two of them ripped each others’ souls out it was harrowing stuff.

Fringe s2 ep 8

It’s a bit unfortunate that Sky 1 chose to screen ads for the new seasons of 24 (January!) and Lost (Coming Soon!) during this episode.  They got me excited, yes, but also reminded me that there are tv shows out there that I’m hugely excited about (since you were asking, e  ) and that Fringe isn’t one of them.

Which is a shame really as this episode wasn’t a bad one.  The Observer was back again (I know, he’s in it every week, but I’ve NEVER managed to spot him so it doesn’t count, ok?) and this time he brought his buddies.  Apparently, The Observer is not like The Highlander – there can be more than one.

And guess what The Observers (which I was going to say should be the name of an indie rock band till I saw this) have been up to?  They’ve been turning up before significant events in history – execution of Marie Antoinette, Boston Tea Party, you know the type of thing – getting themselves a seat at the back and settling down for the show.  Why, you ask?  I don’t know.  Maybe they don’t have cable tv. 

Anyway, this week, one of them decided to stop observing and start taking part, so the story kicked off with him kidnapping a young woman, and Olivia and the Bishops being called in to help find her.  The story of his relationship with the girl might have been a bit more movingly handled in another show, but Fringe’s effort at the themes of love, loss and self-sacrifice was passable, and at least Olivia’s role was scaled down a bit.  The Observers may play robotic but they’re still more lively than Agent Dunham.

Of course, we can’t have everything, so, because the story was a bit better, they decided to scale down Peter’s role too, relegating him to jumping up and down demanding to know what The Observers know.  Oh, Peter.  I hope you actually get to do something about it when you find out.

House s6 ep 7

A very difficult episode to write about.  It had a few awesome ideas, and a couple of moderately awesome things.  Ultimately, though, I think the problem was that it was just a bit too in love with its potential awesomeness, and as a result fell short of delivering actual awesomeness. 

Unlike last time, Patient of the Week was a goodie: one Hank Hardwick (huh huh huh), a good Jewish boy who also happens to be a porn star.  He’s got stuff wrong with him – as ever, the details and the cure don’t matter much.  It was edifying, though, to see that an adult movie actor was in a position legitimately to lecture the Princeton-Plainsboro crew on job satisfaction, relationships, and getting the work-life balance just right.  And I positively relished the moment when Mrs Porn Star called the doctors on their annoying habit of presuming that they can deliver little moral homilies to their patients: “You’re here to treat him, not lecture us”.  I suppose she should be thankful that Chase didn’t take it on himself to kill her husband, mind you.

But it’s the team which is the real story this week. House is using the patient as a means of getting all of his former team members to fall in love with diagnostic medicine and their old jobs: so he doorsteps Taub and Thirteen with some tantalising symptoms, and keeps Cameron and Chase within striking distance, although they still have the whole Chase-the-murderer thing to work through.  Three vacancies, four potential applicants.  Something’s gotta give, and it isn’t impossible to guess what it will be.  Or is House just doing all this to distract himself from the improbable relationship between Cuddy and Lucas?

Anyway, could have been awesome but wasn’t quite.  I’m hopeful that now the team has reappointed itself the show can settle down a bit – the writers are more keen than I am on team instability as a plot device.