This week was all about Jessie trying to cope with Gale’s death, and Hank once again, about to inadvertently save our meth cooks. Walt, despite his massive amount of screen time is actually for the most part filler here. We start out with Pinkman playing video games, in what almost seems like training for the job. In his head he keeps seeing Gale’s face and it obvious that our beloved meth head isn’t quite right…
As the episode progresses Jessie is being pulled in 2 directions. First by Walt, who wants him to kill Gus, and secondly by Gus, who wants to control Walt. Gus’s influence seems to be taking hold too as we see the hesitation to poison Gus’ coffee. Walt treating Jessie like an idiot vs Gus making him feel important, he is torn.
In the middle with Pinkman is Mike, who seems to see what is happening, and to no real surprise is vocal about it in their talk about ‘loyalty’. Walt’s focus in this episode, other than being a catalyst for Jessie’s problems, is acting rather childish as he and Skyler get the car wash operation up and running. His actions with Junior’s car show just how careless he is becoming. No longer the constant source of worry, Walt seems headed down a path of self-destruction that undoubtedly be thwarted by…Hank.
As foreshadowed in past episodes, Hank has determined that Gus is Hisenberg, which, while not accurate, is close enough to true and should ultimately prove useful for Walt and Jessie…assuming they both live that long.
Maybe the best scene of the episode is where the title comes into play – the ‘problem dog’. Jessie goes to his old support group as a result of his mixed feeling about Gus. He talks about a dog he killed, obviously referring to Gale, and seems to totally break down about it. He can’t vocalize a reason for the dog to be killed, because the ‘dog’ didn’t actually do anything, but was a problem none the less. Jere Burns (Justified) returns as Jessie’s group leader and he becomes the focus of Pinkman’s outcry, giving us yet another excellent performance from an under-rated actor.
Overall, very good episode. This is without a doubt, one of the best shows on Television, and it continues to deliver week after week. 4/5 Bears.
So let’s get to the part of the show that’s most interesting to me at the moment. Eric and Sloan. I was just thinking that in the last episode Eric may have been jumping the gun thinking that Galecki and Sloan were an item, but after Turtle spots them at lunch together I can’t help but think they are. Eric does too as he storms off angrily…. from the bed where just slept with Sloan’s ex-mother-in-law… again. Sparks fly at the farmer’s market and later a huge bombshell is dropped. I can only imagine where it goes from here.
Things are looking bad for Turtle. The only way for him to get Don Pepe’s off the ground is to find more money from his investors. Amare Stoudamire and Michael Strahan both tell him to screw himself and Derek Jeter says so much in a nicer way. To top things off, the tequila line that Turtle decided to invest in went public, making Mark Cuban and many other investors a ton of money. Sorry you lost out on that one Turtle. It will take a miracle for Turtle to pull the restaurant gig off at this point without asking Vince for help, which he vowed to not do. Will Vince bail him our or is Don Pepe’s done?
Things are only looking up for Drama after he and Dice successfully won in their work strike to get higher paydays and Johnny Bananas to stay on the air. Now he is going to star in his own movie, involving the miners and a rescue dog, on the Hallmark channel. Not much but it’s a starring gig. Hats off to Drama, even the bad ones he wears.
Vince still continues his pursuit of Sophia in this episode, this time with a bit of a different result thanks a lot to Drama and Turtle. And just when I thought Ari was over his wife, Dana urges him to try winning her back because he tells her how he is still in love with her. It seems like everything is starting to go good for everyone except E. Will Ari get his wife back before season’s end? We’ll have to wait and see in the next episode.
I give this one a 4 out 5 grizzlies. The show is definitely living up to the expectations I had at the beginning of the season even though I had begun to lose hope. Keep up the good work fellas!
This episode starts with Johnny standing picket line firm and Eric dealing with blow-back from the guys. I was glad to see Ari get through the episode finally able to accept that divorce is the only option and he is doing it by the books at this point. I never understand why he was being so nice to Mrs. Gold when it was so obviously over for her and that he was the only one trying to salvage the marriage. Bravo to Ari for being strong finally and taking no shit. He never took shit from anyone except the Mrs. and now she has joined the distinguished club.
Eric finds out some disturbing information that may or may not be true: That Sloan is banging Johnny Galecki. That’s like Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie…. gross. Eric actually gives Scott the ultimatum of dropping Galecki or dissolving their partnership. How far you’ve fallen Eric my boy.
Vince continues in his seemingly futile quest to gain a date with the brilliant Sophia, only managing to make himself look like a stalker. Turtle likewise starts to experience difficulties when his partners seem none too interested in his plans for his new restaurant Don Pepe’s. On the bright side of his terrible storyline we do get to see David Spade briefly in action.
Drama just keeps getting better and better. He stands strong after Phil threatens to screw up his Miner/Rescue Dog movie if he doesn’t return to work on Johnny Bananas. Dice then gets the call…. Phil caved to their work strike and as Dice says – “Johnny Bananas rides again.”
I liked the episode, but I’m hoping the second half of tonight’s double premiere is a little better than this one. I give the episode a 3 out of 5 grizzlies.
I gotta tell you, after watching this episode I absolutely want a periscope on the top of my car. Sounds silly right? Not after you watch this Curb episode. This episode reminded me so much of a Seinfeld episode. Imagine Larry and Jeff driving a car equipped with a periscope through the streets of New York chasing a one armed man who framed Larry. That sounds like a Kramer-Castanza adventure right there.
Larry runs into nothing but trouble in this episode. Wanda returns in New York (funny how everyone ends up in NY) just in time to try and steal Larry’s trainer. Probably the funniest bit in the episode are Larry’s interactions with Grant Shaud’s (Murphy Brown) father “Judge Horn” who spouts out all sorts of racial epithets whilst playing scrabble.
Larry raises a very interesting idea through the course of the episode, even though it gets him into even more trouble with those around him. Does a good looking guy who marries a not so attractive woman mean he has more integrity than the next guy? To Mr. David does and he let’s that idea guide him for better or worse.
I give this episode a 4.5 out of 5 grizzlies. It was worth watching just for the car periscope and the racist Judge Horn. Only two episodes left in the season, let’s hope for a glorious finale!
True Blood, I have missed you! For the first time in weeks, I feel like we’re getting back to our roots. Drama, intrigue, HUMOR (where did THAT go?)…this episode had almost anything we could hope for in a decent HBO show, without feeling like a supernatural episode of Jerry Springer.
Tonight’s episode of True Blood picks up where last week’s left off – at the Festival of Tolerance. Brainwashed Eric has been commissioned to kill King Bill; and during their scuffle, something miraculous happens. Sookie is able to use her fairy light to break Antonia’s spell. This means, of course, Eric has his memories back and Pam has a normal face once again!
This whole thing feels like a cop-out to me. What is the limit to these fairy powers? She can hear your thoughts, make vampires daywalk, and she can break the spells of learned witches. If there’s a problem, yo – she’ll solve it. Like Vanilla Ice. And if the writers write themselves into a corner, it’s okay. The solution is simple: just have Sookie use her flash-hands and attribute it to another unknown fairy power. Brilliant!
Sookie also lets Eric know that she’s jonesing for both him and Bill. Shockingly, she’s not wearing lingerie and they don’t want to have an impromptu threesome with her. I was surprised, too.
No threesome?!!?
The Festival of Tolerance also brings some dimension to the character of Antonia and her relationship with Marnie. Finally. She’s been a broken record in each episode, playing her vampire hatred on repeat, it’s about time she felt something else. Like remorse for harming innocent people. And we hear from Marnie for the first time in ages, and discover that she is thrilled to have the spirit of a dead necromancer living in her body. And who wouldn’t? It was always on my Christmas list, and I always got socks.
We also learn that Antonia can create force fields that can turn Jesus into a member of Insane Clown Posse. I’m no fashion expert, but I think I prefer this look to his jean jacket and overly spiked hair. I half expected him to break out in a chorus of “Hangin’ Tough.”
The rest of the witches speak Latin and a wind machine appears.
The Festival also brings out my favorite side of Nan – the bitchy side. Of course she’s going to turn a bloodbath into some political statement. Bill has other ideas, and FINALLY stands up to her! I love Nan as a character, but it’s time someone questioned her motives and practices. It’s time to take action instead of turning everything into a vampire PSA. Nan is like the angry vampire mom, who threatens true death to anyone who mouths off to her like it’s a time out, and is realizing that her kids have outgrown her guidance.
This episode also made me appreciate how funny Terry Bellefleur is, and his dysfunctional relationship with Andy was one of the most comical things that have happened this season. Andy’s V addiction has been a yawn this season, but Terry’s attempt to “scare him straight” at Fort Bellefleur made the episode SO much better. These are the kinds of side stories that I wish would be incorporated more into the episodes. We need something light and funny to take the edge off. The show is dark and heavy enough on its own without giving so much material to minor characters.
Speaking of minor characters, TOMMY IS GONE!!!!!!!!! I wanted to feel bad about it, but I just couldn’t! Talk about a waste of space. I hated this kid so much, I started calling my fast forward button the “Tommy button.” Now, his death means that Sam (and Alcide, by the look of it) will have some confrontations with the werewolves. I can’t say this story holds much investment for me, and I can’t say I have a dog in this fight, but mindless violence is always a good idea on True Blood. It’s on like Donkey Kong.
This was a much better episode than those prior. I felt like a lot of this season has been filler, and not even good filler. I’m digging the Bellefleurs. I’m digging the relationship between Jason and Jessica (and I love that Jason has a cooler of beer next to his armchair, that’s never a bad idea). I’m even digging the Eric/Sookie/Bill love triangle. Eric is so much more interesting with his memories; and it’ll be interesting to see Sookie come to terms with her feelings for both. And we’ll have to wait and see where Sookie and her Scooby Gang got transported to.
You really just have to like this episode for the Bad Boys ending. Vampires wielding weapons, walking in slow motion to music – complete with the early ’90s freeze frame before the credits.
“Now everyone remember, if there is an explosion – do NOT look back.”
Being such an uber fan of the 80’s classic that was the original Fright Night, I went into this one with excitement and apprehension. Were they going to do something completely different than the original or stick to the same thing? Luckily they did a little bit of both. They changed a few things, but gave plenty of nods to the original and what they did change was actually pretty cool.
So we start off with pretty much the same premise as the original Fright Night. There’s a young kid named Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) who lives with his mom (Toni Collette), has a girlfriend and all of the normal teenage problems you would expect. Luckily that’s where the remake changes things up a bit. The relationship between Charlie and Ed was different, as they were nerds-in-arms in the past, but now Charlie is one of the “cool guys” who won’t talk to Ed to maintain his status. I was pretty surprised at how fast they jumped into the “he’s a vampire” mode, but it didn’t kill the movie for me. It’s not long before Charlie is suspecting that there’s something more going on with his new neighbor Jerry than meets the eye.
I never thought that Chris Sarandon could be replaced as the smooth talking, hooker slaying vampire from the original, but Colin Farrell really took that role and ran with it. He was excellent as the vampire lord, looking like he had a ball playing the part the whole movie. Chris Sarandon had a great cameo in the movie that made me grin ear to ear and it’ll be easy enough for you fans of the original to catch, trust me.
Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots did fine as Charlie and Amy respectively in the movie. They may not have been the most interesting characters in the flick, but I didn’t hate them either. Yelchin is great in pretty much everything up to this point, such as Kyle Reese in the most recent Terminator and Chekov in Star Trek which we’ll see more of in the next year or so. Christopher Mintz-Plasse played “Evil” Ed perfect, compared to his annoying counterpart from the 80’s Stephen Geoffreys. Honestly I’m not sure if Mintz-Plasse can play anything except the dorky outcast kid that he is notoriously famous for since the creation of the Hawaiian organ donor Mc’Lovin in Superbad. Is that a bad thing?
The biggest role that it seemed like the movie kept under wraps until the release of the movie was that of Peter Vincent. We knew that Doctor Who veteran David Tenant would be playing the Las Vegas Illusionist, but other than a couple of publicity pictures there wasn’t much in the way of footage of him. I was skeptical because of how much I adored the Roddy McDowell ‘Peter Vincent’, because there is no way that anyone could replicate that character. Thankfully Tenant took the character and made it his own. At first it seemed like he was channeling Russell Brand, but after about five minutes I began to see he wasn’t as annoying as his fellow countryman. Peter Vincent was definitely a drunken mess to start out, but they pulled out a twist in there that made him have a far more integral part to the story that surpassed the original.
I can’t help but give the movie a 5 out of 5 grizzlies based on what it was, plus I’m a little biased with my love for the original. It was a horror movie that gave me everything I wanted from it and then some, with a bit of humor injected here and there.
It honored the original that it was derived from while still maintaining its own separate identity. I’m definitely disappointed that the movie didn’t fare so well in the box office, limiting its chances for a sequel. Though perhaps based on its modest budget we may still see the continuing adventures of Charlie Brewster and Peter Vincent. And now, check out the awesomeness that is the musical version of the original Fright Night below!
As the episode progresses Jessie is being pulled in 2 directions. First by Walt, who wants him to kill Gus, and secondly by Gus, who wants to control Walt. Gus’s influence seems to be taking hold too as we see the hesitation to poison Gus’ coffee. Walt treating Jessie like an idiot vs Gus making him feel important, he is torn.
As foreshadowed in past episodes, Hank has determined that Gus is Hisenberg, which, while not accurate, is close enough to true and should ultimately prove useful for Walt and Jessie…assuming they both live that long.
Overall, very good episode. This is without a doubt, one of the best shows on Television, and it continues to deliver week after week. 4/5 Bears.
Grizzly Bomb 