The winter TV season is in full swing and since it's been some time since I've written one of these columns, I've got a lot to talk about - think of this as a TV buffet. The obvious choice to open with? Lost. Hard to believe, but we're already four episodes into the 17-episode fifth season. This week's installment, while panned by many because of it's slow pacing and what many have called a return to a dead formula, still kept me glued to my seat. Yes, I agree that the horrendous chemistry between Jack and Kate bogged down a significant portion of the episode (as did the disappointing red-herring reveal of Carole Littleton's uninvolvement with Kate's lawsuit), but the shortcomings were easily outweighed by the happenings on the island. Scott offered his predictions earlier this week and I've got some as well. I'll let you good folks argue in the comments about their validity:- Seeing as how Penny and Desmond aren't married, we can assume that the baby took his mother's name. While it's quite likely that the baby was indeed named after Charlie Pace, his formal name would be? Charles Widmore. I posit that Penny just gave birth to her own father. Think about it.
- And speaking of lineage, let me throw these two guesses out there as well: Daniel is Charlotte's father and Miles is the son of Pierre Chang.
- And for my final trick, by the end of this season, we're going to find out that Richard Alpert, and possibly some of the other early Others, have only four toed feet. Realistically, whomever's been on the island the longest built that statue and it's safe to guess they built it in the only image they knew - their own.
And for you word freaks who loved finding out that "Hoffs/Drawlar" was an anagram for "flash forward" (the funeral home from the season three finale), then you'll love this: the carpet cleaning van that Ben had been driving Locke's body around in bears the name Canton-Rainier and that's an anagram for reincarnation. So even though most have assumed it anyway, I'd say it's for certain now that Jeremy Bentham has not taken his last breath.
Moving on to Heroes. The show returned this past Monday for what NBC spent an ungodly amount of money on to promote during the Superbowl. While they wisely billed it as a new season (it's actually the second half of season three), I'm not sure the masked wording is going to be able to make people forget about the abysmally bad seasons two and three, part one. Heroes' frosh season was critically acclaimed and for good reason - it was damn good television. But ever since the strike-shortened second season, the sci-fi drama has never been able to reclaim its past glory. Claims of "comic book logic" can only account for the show's poor inconsistency for so long. That being said, this week's mid-season premiere was a step in the right direction and hopefully the return of Bryan Fuller will remedy some of what's wrong. Fuller was a co-EP during season one, but left after that to chair Pushing Daisies. PD has since been canceled by ABC and Fuller has returned to Heroes.Now, some quick thoughts on shows that everyone should be watching, but not enough are:
- Battlestar Galactica (airs Fridays at 10PM on SciFi) - Entering the tail end of its fourth and final season, BSG has proven to be one of the most well written and well acted dramas on TV. I shunned the show initially because I was never a fan of anything even remotely similar to Star Trek. That being said, BSG is not Star Trek. It's an incredibly layered, smart, textured narrative that says far more about human nature, intolerance, and ethics, than it does about stun rays and warp speed. I blew through the first three seasons on DVD in about two weeks. You will too.
- Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (airs Mondays at 10PM on Travel Channel): I didn't even know the Travel Channel existed and had you mentioned this show to me, I would have assumed it was on Food Network... mainly because Bourdain used to be. AB:NR is much more than a Tasty Travels rip-off though. It's part Planet Earth, part Sundance documentary, part cooking show, and it's all narrated by one of the most likable assholes currently on TV.
- Friday Night Lights (airs Friday at 9PM on NBC): This show is going to get canceled. Period. And it's a damn shame too. Arguably one of the greatest sports dramas to ever grace the small screen, FNL (a spin-off of the film in title and topic only), is the quintessential slice of Americana that everyone can relate to. Unfortunately, the ratings have never been there and had DirecTV not ponied up to secure first-run airing rights for the third season (which is now airing in its second run broadcast premiere on NBC), then season two probably would have been the end for Dillon Panthers.
And finally, a look to the future. I recently screened the opening minutes of the new ABC drama The Unusuals a few weeks ago and I think the alphabet network might be on to something with this one. In a TV landscape that's still dominated with police dramas, it takes a lot to stand-out. ABC has already grabbed one success this season with Life on Mars (that's another one that you should be watching and probably aren't) and I'm guessing The Unusuals (premieres Wednesday, April 8th, at 10PM) will follow suit.
As always, comments are welcome, and thanks for reading.
-Tooms
