Battlestar Galactica - Daybreak Part 1

Battlestar Galactica started the beginning of the end with part one of Daybreak, and if last night's episode was any indication, it will be a huge frakking ending to the best frakking TV show out there. WOW! I am so hooked and was on the edge of my seat as things wrapped up in the first part of the finale. The series is going out with a bang (as promised) and it looks like our Battlestar will be doing one final mission and a one way trip to rescue Hera and fulfill a few prophecies.

The flashbacks back to Caprica before the fall were all fascinating, and it's an interesting way to go back to the very beginning and see some of the other impetus that brought our characters to where we are at in the story, that penultimate chapter before the end of this story. I know that there are other stories to tell and more of this fascinating universe that they have created and I am looking forward to more tales, but this story happening right now is so enthralling. We learn how Adama was reluctant to take on the Galactica, how Roslin was stricken with great personal tragedy and lost her father and sisters in a terrible accident and the transition scene from her dealing with her grief in the fountain transposing to her chemotherapy treatment was very well done. Seeing Kara and Zack (and her first meeting of his brother Lee) was poignant, and as it is history that we have not seen much of (but heard about earlier in the series) it gave even more insight into what makes Kara tick, and her ties with the Adama family. Seeing the first meeting between Gaius and Six was a shocker, Gaius was a complete prick with his infirm father, and after literally dismissing her, she turns around and in an very emotional turn of events get his father placed into a great nursing home to take care of him and worms her way into his heart. Six always surprises me with her level of emotion and empathy, pretty frakking awesome for a machine. Anders was the surprise of the flashbacks, showing his love of the mathematics of his sport and his quest for perfection which sounded pretty Cylon from way back when. The deeper you scratch the surface of all these characters the more and more you discover about each of them and how complex and fascinating each and everyone of them is.

With all of that going on, and the continuing dismantling of Galactica, Adama decides that they have a final mission, and they are going to rescue Hera from the Cylons. They draw a line down the center of the hangar and after a huge rousing speech, sides are chosen and they prepare for their final showdown with the Cylons. The biggest shock was seeing Roslin arrive, frail and dying but willing to fight with her last breath and I am in awe of the transformation of the character.

This is it.. the final act ... and I can hardly wait until next Friday to see how it all plays out. This was probably one of the best hours of television that I have ever seen and can now only wait for it to be surpassed with the finale. There are so many questions to be answered and I can hardly believe that it will all be over in just a week...

Pushing Daisies - Dim Sum Lose Some

Pushing Daisies can not possible get any better. This week`s episode was so quick and witty that I have the feeling I need to watch it again to catch all those little details that I missed the first time around. I am still kind of disappointed that the ratings are not higher for the show and am still crossing my fingers that it sticks around for a few seasons.

If you haven't checked it out yet (and I highly recommend that you do, the episode is available on line), some of the little treasures that you missed this week in Dim Sum Lose Some are:

Emerson and the "Help Me" note in his fortune cookie from the Chinese Restaurant under his office, I loved how things in this series are tied together and even though we had seen the Chinese letters in Emerson's office window forever, it was the first time that things were really referenced in the series. I love me some good dumplings too and the unfortunate demise of our master chef made up for a pretty comédie noire scene of our resurrected chef running around with a pipe through his head. Death by exploding steamer is a pretty funny thing if done right, and I loved the Matrix feel of the explosion.

The whole den of inequity feeling that they were going for with the camouflaged poker (cards replaced by Dim Sum instead) was brilliant and the little twists and turns in the story were great. It was not as predictable as first glance and the undercover stuff was all very funny. Ned and Emerson were hilarious as their 1970s inspired Undercover Brother and some incarnation that reminded me of Burt Reynolds. It must have been the pornstache.

Chuck is a continual surprise with her ability to translate (almost fluently) for the gang. The flashback sequence was hilarious as Chuck wasn't quite sure if it was milk or something else that the gamblers were drinking and it added another flavor to the scene. Chuck and Olive are turning into a great undercover team and as usual, the costumes and makeup were incredible. The design crew does amazing work in this show. The street scenes look astounding and the decor in the Dim Sum restaurant was as kitschy as you can get and it had to be a real restaurant, in fact it reminded me of a restaurant that I had Dim Sum in Vancouver.

The return of Simone (click click and her clicker) was another boost for Emerson. Simone killed me in her first appearance and I am happy she is back in the picture. Emerson seems to be getting some nice plot and character development this year, and the scenes with them were great. Simone knows how to click a guy insane.

Ned got some great development with the appearance of a mystery man looking for his father, Ned getting all tangled up in his emotions and Chuck discovering that Ned has twin half brothers (or one whole brother as Ned likes to say) who are Magicians. Ned has many issues with dear old Dad and the more flashbacks we see of his youth, the more it becomes clear that he is angry and feels that he was pretty much discarded years ago. Dad has yet to prove otherwise ... and it appears our mystery man is after more than we think. Watching Ned freak out over these emotions that he has locked away forever is almost painful to watch, but you know over the long term there will be some important growth. That is definitely one of the things I love about the series and how the overall plot is developing with each episode. More please!

Weekend Rant - Just one of those Best Weeks Ever

This week turned into one of the best ever on the tube. Not only was there brilliant and funny all week long, but playing catch up this weekend I saw some pretty fun stuff, the first being the final and deciding episode of Farmer wants a wife, and Matt decided to take Brooke to be his girl. After seeing his house more closely (and that weird hallway of dead deer looking at you) I changed my mind and although I was originally hoping for Christa, I thought Brooke was a better match. Matt sure made it seem like he as more interested in Christa, but I think he wants more of a puppy dog to follow him around so he made a good choice (and I think Krista dodged one here). If they do another round I could be sucked in to watch if the Farmer is really hot.

Celebrity Circus is a demanding as ever, and I am really impressed by the difficulty of the various routines the celebrities are performing. I was almost surprised that Wee Man was still around this week after his challenges last week but not that surprised that our Olympic athlete Janet got the boot.Yes she is physically capable but is not graceful enough. I did think it was a little ridiculous to have the elimination between her and Antonio Sabato Jr ( seriously, the guy is the hottest thing on the show and always gets high scores) and to keep it hanging until the end. It's a weird formula and this show has a strange pace sometimes. Stacey Dash won some respect and applause from me this week once I realized that the woman is over 40 (I honestly thought she was much younger) but it's pretty much a no-brainer that it will go down to her and Antonio for the win. Rachel did a good job on the tightrope (and kudos to the guys that carried her in that dangerous pyramid stunt), Christopher Knight was okay with his challenge but Wee Man just pointed out to me that penguins are not meant to fly with his routine and he must be the next to go... sorry Wee Man.

Flipping Out is as manic as ever -- and I am in awe of Jeff. This man is the poster child of OCD

and I can not get over his ability to centre his existence on one detail. The sandwich dilemma was funny enough (meatball or pepperoni?) but I hit the roof with the whole drapes drama. When Jeff started obsessing about " The drapes ... The drapes ... The drapes" I almost completely lost it. You better start treating Zola better though man because she deserves it and the whole portrait thing was just poor taste. Give the woman a break -- she has to deal with you Jeff and I can not imagine that she is getting adequately compensated for that. At least Jeff has gotten a taste of his own medicine with his psycho client and might learn the error of his ways eventually.

Doctor Who- The Stolen Earth is way up there on the list of Best Episodes EVER. Not only did we get the appearance of all of the more recent companions but it's a fantastically great story that ties together all of the clues that they have been leaving all season (and probably from earlier as well). I just love the way all of the spin off shows and their characters were tied in to this storyline so seamlessly, and better yet, managed to keep the same continuity that is/was happening in those shows. Torchwood is only the 3 remaining characters (Jack,Gwen and Ianto) who were there at the end of the season. Martha is still with the Unit as we last saw her, as Sarah Jane is doing her thing. The interaction between Jack and Sarah Jane is interesting and I am hoping to see more crossover stuff between the series, even though they are intended for different audiences. I am really loving Catherine Tate as Donna and she makes a great companion to the Doctor and complements well the others while being new and different.

The episode was so jam packed full of fun stuff that I'll list a few of my faves:

- alien bees -- I just knew it....

- Exterminate! (love those Daleks)

- The Shadow Proclamation

- Harriet Jones: Former Prime Minister and the subwave network

- the whole conference call thing with the gang calling the Doctor

- Paintball guns

- Project Indigo

- Rose and her big ass gun

- Captain Jack (and I love how Ianto gets jealous and how everyone finds Jack hot)

I was feeling so sorry for Rose being left out of the call to the Doctor (she was only an observer) but you could feel her heart calling out to him, the level of emoting in this series is astounding. You could feel the terror from the characters dealing with the Daleks, it was all very palpable.

I am still completely freaked out by the ending of the episode and all the cliffhangers .... you knew that it was too good to be true to see Rose and the Doctor reunite, and it was very bittersweet with the Doctor getting zapped by a Dalek and in a sense, dying in her arms.

Is the Doctor really regenerating in to another version? Will there be a faithful companion that will make the ultimate sacrifice (my money is on Rose for that one) ... I am seeing a possible exit and I think it may have to do with Donna and that weird Time Beetle thing from the previous episode Left Turn. When they were at the Shadow Proclamation, one of the attendants commented to Donna about something being on her back, and I wonder if Time Beetles have anything to do with Time Lords or the fact that the Earth is out of synch in the Medusa Cascade. I can hardly wait until next Saturday... like I said, BEST EPISODE EVER.

And on a final note, I checked out the GLAAD Media Awards on Bravo and was impressed with the entire presentation. Great work, and it's nice to see people like Kathy Griffin, Janet Jackson and Herb Ritts celebrated for their positive work with the gay community. I was in awe of some of the celebrities that participated and the subject matter was very serious for the televised portion. We go to see some of the other events as there were awards in several cities. I do have to say that Barbara Walters was humble and articulate in her acceptance of her award, and it was even more humbling to see Judy Shepard accept the Excellence in Media Award. She made it very clear that she was not celebrating her award and would trade it in a second to have her son back. We have made some steps but there is still a long way to go for equality and general acceptance in society, and as long as there is hatred, intolerance and violence towards the LGBT community there is still work to be done.

Lost - Season Finale -- What a ride !

Lost finished up this tremendous season with a completely kick ass multiple episode finale -- so astounding that it has taken me a couple of days to absorb all of what happened and to be able to make some sense of all of it.

It was that good... and for you negative nellies that feel the story line is not going anywhere -- well you just missed the BEST EPISODE ever. I suggest you find it and watch as soon as possible.

Where to start? Flashing back to our "flash forward" ending from last season, we see the follow up to Jake and Kate's argument at the airport in the future, and see Kate leave again, only to stop her car and we finally get to get past this one moment and see more of what is going on. Our Oceanic six are all in bad places, and tired of living the various lies that they have propagated since their miraculous return. We finally learn the reasoning behind this elaborate hoax -- and it's a thrilling ride with tons of bumps and sharp corners (and giant mystery wheels) that was one of the best couple of hours of TV that I have ever seen.

Things are getting dangerous on the Island -- our various factions are scattered between the beach, the Orchid and the freighter. Locke, Ben and Hurley are off to the Orchid as per Jacob's instructions to move the Island. Our gang of mercenaries from the Freighter are waiting for Ben and need to bring him back alive to Widmore. The gang on the Freighter have discovered the huge bomb on board and know it is under the control of the mercenaries, and it can blow at any moment.

Ben surrenders himself to the mercenaries, and Locke and Hurley try to find the entrance to the Orchid. There is a great fight scene between Sayid and the nasty mercenary Keamy, where the ever mysterious Richard saves the day and pumps a few bullets into Keamy. For their help, Ben gives Sayid and Kate the helicopter as a way to leave the Island.

With Ben free, he makes it back to Locke and gang who have been joined by Jack and Sawyer. After Ben tells Jack of their plan to move the Island (received with much scepticism - Jack doesn't have the belief that the others do), and the guys leave Ben and Locke to get to their project. They go to a much lower level via an interesting elevator system and Ben gives Locke another Dharma Initiative Orientation Video to watch, this one explaining the Orchid, and it's unique properties and the experiments involving time travelling bunnies. There is this hilarious scene with our Dr. Hanso explaining the danger of metal objects coming in contact with the Vault in the video and Ben grabbing anything and everything metal in the room and piling it into the Vault at the same time. Keamy suddenly appears ( combination of body armor and the Island's unique properties it seems... ) and lets them know that he has a Dead Man's switch attached to his body. If his heart stops, a huge amount of TNT will blow up the Freighter and kill everyone on board.

Ben ignores all this, and attacks Keamy, viciously stabbing him in the throat and Locke is stunned and tries to save Keamy's life as to prevent the bomb from going off. Ben makes it clearly know that he doesn't care what happens to the others as long as he got his revenge. On the Freighter, they are trying to disarm the bomb, and are only able to freeze it from detonating, and are quickly running out of coolant. It's all going to hit the fan, and soon. Keamy dies and the bomb gets ready to blow up. Michael is using the last of the coolant to delay the explosion and tells the others to leave.

Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sawyer and Lapidus are all on the helicopter and heading back to the Freighter, they have taken a few hits and are leaking fuel, so in an effort to make it back to safety they lighten their load and Sawyer jumps off to give the others a chance. He ends up swimming back to the Island and meeting up with Juliette on the beach.

The helicopter barely makes it to the Freighter, only to learn that they have to leave immediately before the bomb explodes. They quickly patch (thank god for duct tape) the hole and start pumping fuel. It's insane as Sun, Kate,Desmond, Jack, Hurley, Aaron,Sayid and Lapidus leave on the helicopter as Jin arrives too late. Christian appears before Michael and tells him that the Island is finished with him... and the bomb explodes. The Freighter is gone in no time and the helicopter is heading towards the Island. Sun is in hysterics.Someone give that woman an Emmy please, she is one of the most astounding actresses on TV.

Daniel was ferrying survivors from the Island to the Freighter, and was just on his way back to the Freighter with another group of what seemed to be all 'unknown' survivors (all wearing red life jackets which sounds a little Star Trek to me...).. Charlotte and Miles want to stay on the Island and all of our players are in their positions.

It's time for Ben to play the big card ... and move the Island.

After blowing up the Vault, there is a tunnel and cave on the other side. In this strange icy world ( what????), there are some strange hieroglyphics and a huge wheel-sprocket thing in the wall. Seriously -- and it looked like it had been there for a very long time.... there was some difficulties and Ben was quietly cursing Jacob for making him do this. In a herculean effort, he turns the wheel.... and it all glows white again... and the Island is gone. Poof - vanished -- leaving only ripples in it's wake.

Our Oceanic Six have no choice and hit the water in the helicopter. After breaking out a life raft they are rescued by none other than Desmond's beloved Penny (Widmore's daughter). Our Six know that they have to lie to protect the other survivors who are on the Island (where abouts unknown), and know that they are in probable danger because none of them were to have survived. They concoct a story that includes Boone, Libby and Charlie as other survivors... and Aaron is suddenly Kate's baby. There is a striking flash forward scene where Jack learns that Claire is his half sister (and Aaron his nephew) and another where Kate has a dream in which Claire tells her not to bring Aaron back to the Island).

The biggest shocker at the end being that (in a flash forward) we discover Locke (aka Jeremy Bentham) dead in a funeral home back in "regular" time.. meaning that he left the Island after some time and ended up dead.... does this mean that Ben can go back?

Of course... there is a ton of unanswered stuff about where and when the Island might be -- what happened to Daniel and his boat ? Is Desmond still his constant ? Is Penny in danger to be killed by Ben? Will the Oceanic Six go back to the Island? Will Walt keep growing? That flash forward of him meeting Hurley was freaky stuff... maybe we will see more of him next season but I am not counting on Michael... I think his story might be over but I can hardly wait until next season.. wait dammit -- that means 2009... arghhh!!!!

Lost - Ji Yeon

This week we learned the identity of another of the Oceanic Six, and in a cleverly woven tale of birth(s), we met Ji Yeon, daughter of Sun and Jin.

Sun is another one of the Oceanic Six, and by the end of our story we learn that Jin is dead and buried... so something drastic is going to (has already) happen(ed) and it appears that we know five of the six. My count is Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley and Sun. I didn't count Aaron (Claire's baby) as he wasn't really a passenger on Oceanic Flight 815 but could probably be looked at as a survivor... I didn't see anything posted on the ABC website saying that all had been revealed just that Sun was the latest one revealed and I am wondering if the other member will be revealed next week before the break in new episodes...?

The episode this week was another outstanding one, and every time there is an episode that highlights Sun and Jin I get chills. Yunjin Kim is an outstanding actress and emotes across the screen is ways you can't really describe but have to feel in the moment. Not only was she keeping my attention in the flash-forward and impending birth, but in the present day "on the island" she was kicking butt with her confrontation with Juliet and her rupture with Jin.

I still wish that there was more Lost each week (2 hours would be great) and that we had the time to get more into all of the characters and subplots and their different methods of coming to terms with redemption. There seems to be some common threads and I am signed on until the end of this ride as I really want to know more of what/might/could happen.

It was great that Michael finally popped up.... now the question is how long has been gone for? Why is he on the freighter? Where's Walt? ( I think he is still on the island and that is why Michael is back) and as usual so many questions and so little time...

Lost - The Economist

This week we learned the Sayid is one of the Oceanic Six, joining Kate, Jack and Hurley. There are still 2 unknowns in this equation and I have been trying to think of who else could be part of this gang ... and Michael and Walt keeping popping into my mind. I still have a sneaky feeling that it is Michael on that mysterious boat and that he will be part of the equation once we get to the actual boat and see who else is there. We did hear more than one name mentioned in connection with the ship (Regina and Minkowski which don't sound familiar at all), and I wonder how many other people are on that ship....

Between the flashforward and a look at what has become of Sayid in the future was a fricking amazing episode. The whole hit man/espionage angle, his notoriety as one of the Oceanic Six, his sexy/dangerous persona was all a hit out of the park by Naveen Andrews. His character as always been fascinating and he added even more depth and dimension (again) with his whole falling in love with the wrong woman routine (how very James Bond) and then getting the ultimate shock/betrayal/surprise by finding out that he is working for Ben in the future. Just seeing Ben there and still pulling the strings of those around him is the big shock of the night.

Seriously, this show is such a mindfrack, it's complicated and has tons of subtle imagery and clues (sometimes a cigar is not a cigar) and it gets my mind racing in ways that no other show can. I have TONS of questions and want to know more of how things might/will/did happen.

Faraday (and his gang) on the island blew my mind with his little science experiment involving a rocket, some timers and a freaky time shift of 31 minutes. Curiously.... this is not one of the Lost numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42) but it is a prime number as well. At this rate, my head is going to explode I think. Does this mean that the island is in a different space/time continuum and that is the reason the Faraday was so insistent that he instructed Frank to follow the exact bearings that they used to reach the island? Does time pass differently on the island? We might know soon with Sayid off in said helicopter and off to the ship...

Meanwhile, Locke has problems trying to track down Jacob's cabin, has to play alpha male and take charge and later his gang bait a trap using Hurley, capture island time Sayid and his gang and in the end exchange Miles for Charlotte. Since it has been alluded to that Miles can speak with the dead, will there be some time in with the mysterious Jacob or the lost souls that have died on the island?

There is more drama with Kate and Sawyer (and Jack) and more of the angst involved in all of that but it's the gripping drama with Sayid that is center stage this turn around and I can hardly wait until the next episode.

Rumour has it that with the strike over we will get a few more Lost episodes this season... I can hardly wait!

Lost - Confirmed Dead

This was a great addition into the mythology of the series, and the whole big reveal that everyone thinks that Oceanic Flight 815 has been found and that there are no survivors was not that much of shock, but a trip none the less. Things are playing out at a nice pace (I guess having a definitive amount of episodes left to play things out) and in only 2 episodes we had some nice twists with the storyline and another creepy appearance by the new freaky character Abbadon.... yikes! I have to note that I was ecstatic to see more of Vincent in this episode and still wish that they do an episode from his perspective, that dog has seen and done quite a bit of stuff... It goes to show how far things are playing out and the influence and control that Dharma (or some other force) is holding over the Island and its inhabitants.While I always have a ton of apprehension anytime there are new characters added into the equation that we call Lost (and know that it doesn't always work out that well as most of the "Tailies" learned the hard way), characters like Juliet have added more and interesting dimensions to the storyline.

I can see how these new additions can enrich a story and give even more impact to the events that happen. Our not-so-Fantastic Four that have just arrived include: -Daniel who is some kind of neurotic scientist and has some kind of a connection to Oceanic Flight 815 that we don't really know about yet; -Miles who is some kind of ghost whispering psychic for hire/con man character -Charlotte, the perky anthropologist who found a polar bear skeleton with a Dharma collar in Tunisia (huh??) and finally our pilot with a drinking problem, -Frank, who knows that the news footage about Flight 815 is false and he was supposed to be the pilot of that particular flight..... It's a complete and utterly glorious mindfrack of a situation that gets even better when you learn that: - We have an interesting flashback with Naomi and see her get put together the not-so-Fantastic Four who are there to find Ben and even have his photo... -Surprise! Surprise ! Ben knows all about them... and even says he has someone on their boat..... .....3 guesses says it's Michael.... it might explain where he has been all this time.... does that mean that Tall Walt Ghost has been on the Island the whole time? So many questions... so few episodes...

Lost- The Beginning of the End

What an adventure last night.... Lost returned for a limited run ( 8 episodes? - let me repeat myself again, damn strike--) and sent my mind into overload with a kick ass season opener.

After ending last season with the killer flash-forward that showed Jack and Kate off the island, we join Hurley in the outside world (our time and space?) where he is on the run, and is now known as one of the Oceanic Six. It's hard to tell if this is the same future time as Jack and Kate, and it was interesting dissecting whether or not the events happening on the island are now flashbacks or current time... but the point quickly becomes moot. Time is used with such fluidity in this series it gets hard to figure out when and where things are all the time.

Hurley is one of my favorite characters and has a big part of the story. His big freak out and car chase in the beginning and then meeting Anna Lucia's former partner (and pretending not to know her) shows how there are really no coincidences in this show. Learning that Hurley has been having visions of Charlie who keeps appearing and trying to explain why he died is something that only this show can pull off. The freaky guy from Oceanic Airlines (so he said) who was offering Hurley a nice insane asylum to go rehabilitate in was so creepy... but that was not as freaky as Jacob's place appearing in the jungle and freaking Hurley out even more on the island.

Yup, bad stuff happened(s) to the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815... and we get another glimpse of part of the future (present?) before catching up where the story ended on the island in the present (past?). Yes, Charlie just died cutting off the jamming signal in the Looking Glass Station and the story is continuing on from that point. Jack is with the majority of the survivors and they are trying to contact the so called rescue ship and can finally do so because of Charlie's sacrifice. The only hitch is Locke who is not interested in leaving and throws a knife into Naomi (and believes she is not there for the right reasons nor she is who she says she is) trying to stop the communication and fails.

Our gang of survivors who are still at the beach have managed to get out of a difficult situation due to Hurley's heroism, and have just learned that Charlie has died and relayed the message that it is not Penny's boat that is out looking for them. We have no idea if these other people (not to be confused with the Others) are on their side or not, but are willing to listen with their hearts to what Charlie died to tell them.

It's all very derisive, and the survivors end up splitting into 2 groups, with some willing to hide and survive (Locke, Hurley, Sawyer, Claire and others) versus those wanting to be saved (Jack, Kate, Juliet and others) and all we know is the so called rescuers are on their way, and that in the future(s) Hurley had been locked away again, and that both he and Jack have felt in some way that they have done something wrong and need to go back and fix it.

Lost is back in all it's complex glory... and I am completely hooked again. I fear for the survivors and want to know who the rest of the Oceanic Six are... are they the only ones that got off the island? The only survivors? Why so famous? So many questions... so little episodes.

Kathy Griffin- Straight to Hell

Kathy Griffin is going to Hell, and if I have any choice I will be there with her, laughing my ass off like I was last night.

In Kathy's 6th Bravo special, she makes light of her recent Emmy (or should we say Shmemmy) win and all the hoopla surrounding her parody of NOT thanking Jesus for winning. Kathy is a good Catholic girl and had me in hysterics with her reasoning, her mother's reaction and all the media attention that it gave her.

In a very funny hour (I can hardly wait to see the un-edited edition) she gave us hilarious routines about Paris Hilton (just a retard, and some very funny walking sequences), blasted Dr.Phil about being a fat bald Predator, played mind games with Barbara Walters, explained more about Martha Stewart than I think any of us knew and worshiped the gift they call Paula Abdul. Kathy is more biting and real than ever and left me wanting more.... I am still in awe of her dare to tell humor and bet most of those celebrities shake in their boots when they see her coming.

You can check out a sampling of the hilarity here.