Review - DOCTOR WHO: 'The Angels Take Manhattan'

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

If I had to rate this episode, and why would I want to, I'd give it:

But if I had to rate it after my tears have dried, then I'd give it:

85 out of 100

Goodbye Amy Pond. Life isn't worth living anymore without you in it. Goodbye Rory. I can survive without you but you were cool too.

Best review ever.

Review - FRINGE 5.01: 'Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11'

The beginning of the end of FRINGE is upon us and its fans squee in earnest. But was it worth the wait? Can this final season live up to the hype? Does this episode kick off greatness or invite the coming of disappointment?

Season 4's failure was in building up to several main points that under-delivered. Peter's attempt to return to his timeline was a silly and total waste of time since it should have been obvious to anyone paying attention that he was already in the correct timeline (as I shouted in virtually every single review last year). And the "death" of Olivia that was foreshadowed by September felt totally void of earned drama when it occurred after we had already seen an episode about the future that made it clear she had to have survived.

Not to mention the weak plodding along of the main storyline and its lazy resolution.

However, within that season there were several interesting developments, the greatest being the takeover of Earth by the Observers and the jump-forward into the future where everything has gone wrong and our heroes have to be collected and released from amber to fight the invaders.

That is where we begin this season and at least I am excited to see where it all goes. I am thrilled that the case-of-the-week element has been vanquished from the show (I know some of you dig that).  So this should be a 13-episode fully serialized story about how these characters either save the world or fail and die.

Spoiler: they will save it.  Not that I know anything but... they will. Come on.

What one has to wonder is whether or not the ride will be satisfying. Do these writers have it in them to deliver something worthy of the greatness of say seasons 2 and 3?  Will we feel like the journey, even with some of the missteps, was done justice when the final curtain is pulled back on the series?

I want to be able to say yes but this episode made me a bit worried even though I did like it.

The fundamental problem with it is that we are given certain story beats as expositions and that rarely works. Something happened between Peter and Olivia (and Walter I guess) where Pacey Poof decided to not join them because their daughter was missing? Yeah, I'd like to have seen that not heard about it. And if I couldn't see it, then don't bother explaining it. Or don't even write it. Unless there is some grand plan to have that pay off in some way later, it is just a strip of dangling drama that used up time that could have been spent on emotional points that weren't utilized enough.

In that regard, why have these writers been so afraid, since the end of season 3, to allow Peter and Olivia to have actual intimacy without having to play with their relationship? How many times do we need them to rediscover each other? Does this show even need that? I'd rather focus on whatever and wherever this story wants to take us toward. Again, unless there is some grand plan for that this season, it is just a waste of time.

Anyway, I liked the Walter interrogation scenes even as I cringed at his suffering. I loved the infiltration sequence though it did go by much too quickly (could have extended it by doing away with exposition talk earlier).  I even enjoyed the search for Olivia even if it was completed (again) much too easily.  And I was encouraged by a few character beats that make me wonder about where Henrietta's mind is at and whether she may be a loose cannon at some point.

I also watched the promo that followed the episode and did feel a twinge of excitement about future episodes.  So, while I wasn't blown away by 5.01, I am also not too down on it. Instead, I am cautiously waiting to be blown away.

If I had to rate this episode, and Walter's scrambled brain says I do, then I'd give it:

81 out of 100

Less exposition, less Peter and Olivia emo-sillyness and more shooting Observers would have brought the score up.

TV Ratings 9/27/12: ABC’s Last Resort Fails to Overcome Bad Timeslot

Last Resort is probably one of the most ambitious series of this TV season. It generally got good reviews. ABC promoted it as much, if not more, than anything else on their Fall schedule. But, it is in a timeslot that has buried many other shows. As you can see below, the buzz and the promotion couldn’t overcome this. The Big Bang Theory dominated the time period. But, it can be said that Last Resort’s male/female mix was different than Charlie’s Angels last year. More men were watching than watched that doomed show.

Person of Interest got ratings in it second season debut that were pretty much the same as the series premiere last year. This is a show that declined after debuting last year, but then rebounded later.

The ratings for the NBC comedy line-up was about the same as last week. I don’t have the heart to even show them. The best that can be said is they didn’t go down despite stronger competition and being preempted in Baltimore and Cleveland for the football game. It’s just amazing to ponder that Go On is now NBC’s highest rated sitcom.

Elementary had a strong debut with a 3.1 A18-49 rating and that typical CBS skew to older viewers. I’m really curious to see if it holds up next week.

Review - SOUTH PARK 16.08: 'Sarcastaball'

The 8th episode in this 16th season, and the 231st in the series, comes only FIVE MONTHS after the previous episode because these silly cable networks like to space these things apart to extend the length of seasons without ordering more episodes.

What dicks.

THE PLOT
Randy becomes concerned about rules changes meant to stop concussions in football and takes action to change the game forever by making sarcastic suggestions in a PTA meeting that the board takes seriously. It then appoints Randy as head of his new type of football where the players wear bras and tinfoil-hats instead of helmets. Also, instead of a ball the game is played with a balloon. And the player who catches the balloon tries to run while all the other players hug.

He names it Sarcastaball.

Unfortunately for Randy, his sarcasm totally falls on dumb ears. The country happily and excitedly takes to this new sport. And Butters give a rallying speech about a kinder gentler game.

The NFL Broncos then hire Randy to coach the team and newly changed game-play.

Later, Butters has a wet dream and we learn he saves his creamy goo (what the fuck is he going to do with it?!). When Cartman worries that he just doesn't have the creamy goo fortitude to be good at Sarcastaball, Butters shares with him his goo which Cartman slurps up enthusiastically.

We also get a timely jab at the replacement referee problem, proving yet again why SOUTH PARK is the most unique show on television, able to put something that just happened into the show.

Anyway, so Randy becomes so consumed by Sarcastaball that he can't stop being sarcastic. Others have the same problem. The sport is turning everyone into fuckin' sarcastic douchebags!

Meanwhile, the little boys' team is drinking Butters' performance enhancing spank juice to get an edge over the competition. Soon the whole country is on Butters' Creamy Goo. Best served just above room temperature.

QUOTING SOUTH PARK

Stan: Dad, do we really have to wear bras?
Randy: [sarcastically] Yes Stan, this is what people want. Don't worry, you look really cool.

Butters: [upon waking up] Daaaaad! It happened again. More of my creamy goo came out.

Cartman: I don't know what to do. Kids are starting to make fun of me because I'm no good at Sarcastaball. I suck at being nice and polite! I am so good at sucking, I should work at a Thai massage parlor.

Butters: [showing Cartman his spunk collection] My goo doesn't come out every night, but I sure do seem to have a surplus of it.

Randy: [after drinking Butters' Creamy Goo] This is cum.

Butters: What's sarcasm and what's cum?
Stephen: We'll talk about that when you're older.

RATING
If I had to rate this episode, and Butter's Creamy Goo says I do, then I'd give it:

88 out of 100

The episode was obviously a shot at the pussification of the NFL as well as the replacement referee problem and PEDs. But also a social commentary on the evils of sarcasm! As such it definitely works. Sure, the point of it all is hammered along a bit too much but when you consider that these things are conceptualized, written, voice acted, and animated in a week, it becomes more impressive.

TV Ratings 9/25/12: Neither of Fox’s new comedies repeat New Girl’s splash from last season

Last season, Fox’s New Girl exploded on its first outing. Its ratings even exceeded its lead-in Glee. The show faded over the course of its season, though, and ended with significantly lower ratings.

This year, Fox launched two new comedies with New Girl episodes as their lead-in. Neither repeated New Girl’s feat. They both lost audience on a Live + Same day basis.  But, if you read the bottom of this article, you'll see that this is not cut and dry.

Ben & Kate had the lower rating of the two new shows, but it faced the higher rated The Voice in its timeslot. Mindy Kiger’s show was up against much the lower rated New Normal, which has had a ratings decline with each episode.

The most interesting thing about the losses in audience—and you won’t probably read this on other sites—was that almost all of the loss was due to having fewer time-shifters. If you look at the "live-only" audiences, the shows did well vs. their lead-in.

Live A18-49 Rating: 

New Girl 8PM-- 1.72; Ben & Kate—1.73 

New Girl 9PM—2.01; The Mindy Project—1.96.

This goes to show that when people are talking about "audience retention" in their ratings analysis, they probably shouldn't be talking about ratings that include time-shifting.  If somebody didn't playback New Girl until 10PM and didn't even DVR The Mindy Project, the latter isn't likely to retain that audience.

Rating the FOX Tuesday Comedy Block Premiere (2012)

Here are my quick reactions to the premiere Tuesday FOX comedy block.

NEW GIRL

Episode 1
Schmidt's penis escapes its cast and so he puts on a party. Jess gets fired.

90 out of 100

Oh look... another show breaks up a romantic pairing in the off-season and it makes no fuckin' sense. Otherwise I laughed a lot and there was some fantastically silly dialogue.

Episode 2
Jess whores herself out to different dudes and pretends to be Katie. Schmidt tries to nail Winston's sister. Nick meets his future self.

88 out of 100

Nick believing he met his future self bit was perfect. Jess trying to juggle multiple men and Schmidt trying to nail Winston's sister bit was less successful, though it had some terrific dialogue.

Jess: I had the best sex of my life last night.
Nick: Oh so that was you? I thought it was a couple bums fighting.
Jess: It wasn't. It was me. Having sex. I left my body, went up to heaven, saw my grandparents, thought it was weird that I saw my grandparents, came back down. I became a werewolf, I scared some teenagers. I came back into my body. Only thing is, he thinks my name is Katie and that I'm a dancer and or something involving puppets. 

BEN AND KATE

Ben is a lovable idiot. Kate is a lovable twit.

82 out of 100

It was okay but I feel like I've seen this type of show before and done better. Though, that little kid is ADORABLE! I may just stick around for her because she's also a pretty good actor. And we rarely see good child actors who are ADORABLE.

THE MINDY PROJECT

I love Mindy Kaling. She plays a neurotic doctor who can't find love... or something. She's goofy. Fast talking. Craycray. I love her! But I fear the show may be too good for network TV. Should be on HBO or Showtime.

92 out of 100

I really want this show to do well and to see more NBC stars appear because we all know FOX wants nothing more than to steal everything that is successful away from NBC because Kevin Reilly is still burning mad about being fired by the Peacock.

Huh huh... I said cock.

Furycast 42 - Carrie Underwood Mouth Rapist

In this episode, VladyGG and HGF talk Carrie Underwood's sex kiss of a young boy; NBC's REVOLUTION; my severe back pain; and other stuff.

Consider EVERY discussion a potential SPOILER discussion.

Now with AUTOPLAY!


You can also DOWNLOAD this podcast as an MP3 by right clicking on this link and saving it to your hard drive.

Click this link to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes.

Review - HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER 8.01: 'Farhampton'

Robin: "Just one small issue ... I can't go through with this wedding."

Me: "Just one small issue ... I can't go through with this show, anymore."

Alright, I'm being a little over-dramatic, and clearly after watching all 162 episodes over seven seasons, I'm not going to stop now. But man, I want to. I want something new, but unfortunately for me, the new crop of shows this season looks to be bleak.

I think at this point, the actors on the show want something new, too. How much more of this crap can they seriously take? The same shit over and over. They've all done some pretty cool things in their careers since this show started and could all easily move on. But for some reason they can't and I can't -- but at least for them, they are getting paid to do so.

This episode was fine enough, but that's not my point. The Season 7 finale was brutal but I can't exactly say I'm confident this will be turned around in Season 8. This was once a fun show. I laughed frequently, loved the style of the show, the characters and enjoyed seeing Ted's process of meeting his future wife.

But I don't laugh much anymore. And instead of enjoying following Ted's life journey, I feel just like his kids -- insanely annoyed at the story and wanting it to end. I'm not really going out on a limb here by saying the show would be properly served by meeting the mother and spending a season with her hanging out with Ted and the group. But that's not going to happen. And if it isn't, making me laugh every once in a while would be swell. Watching Marshall and Lily act like idiots all the time is starting to get tired, and I envision that their new baby is only going to exacerbate this problem. Seriously, who cares about those two characters anymore?

A silver lining: it looks like we won't waste several episodes with Ted and Victoria. Not sure how much more of that I can take, even though I like her as an actress. It does seem like Quinn will be sticking around for a while, which is also cool with me. What won't be cool with me, however? Robin and Barney. Not sure why people want to see them together. Never bought it. And now we are going to get ANOTHER annoying love triangle because of it. SWELL.

How can a woman, WHO KEEPS A BOX OF THINGS FROM A RELATIONSHIP IN A STORAGE FACILITY, not go through with the wedding? That seems like a woman who is in love (obsessed, even) and not a woman who has ridiculous doubts minutes before the wedding. Even I'm not that pathetic, Robin. Get it together.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--BARNEY (to Quinn): "No, no, we are. I already took off your bra."

--QUINN (to Barney): "Barney's on board!"


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--That was a pretty impressive 52 seconds from Barney.

--Band of Horses!

--Damn yellow umbrella. Every time we get teased with that, I want to punch a baby. Preferably Marshall and Lily's.

THE SCORE: 54 out of 100

Points for ditching Victoria. ...That's about it.

TV Ratings: Revolution beats Castle and Hawaii Five-0 in first battle on September 24th, 2012

In its second week, NBC’s Revolution faced season premieres of Castle and Hawaii Five-0. It beat both in the Adult 18-49 ratings. There was a 16% loss of Live + SD audience in that demo from its debut last week, but it definitely could have been worse and many thought it might be. The median age went down a tad. So, its losses for older audiences were a little bit higher.

Meanwhile, the hype about Castle and Beckett becoming an item did not produce a big ratings bump. It was actually down 35% in the key demo, but 21% for all viewers. The median age went up a few years and the percentage of male viewers went down. Thus, they probably kept more of their older female viewers than other demographics. In fact, 43% of Castle’s audience is women aged 55 or older. If you are a young dude watching Castle, you’re in the real Cougartown.

It’s notable that the Castle premiere didn’t even match last year’s finale number of 2.45.

Hawaii Five-0 seemed to take an even harder hit with a 42% decline compared to last year. It’s median age rose about three years.

We should acknowledge that all of these 10PM shows may regain some viewers when the Live + 7 ratings come through. A person has to watch by 3AM to count in the “same day” ratings. When so many shows compete, some shows are bound to get pushed to another day.

Other highlights:

• Fox’s Mob Doctor dropped to a sad 1.3 A18-49 rating from a 1.5 last week.
• CBS’s Partners scored a 2.4 A18-49 rating. That wouldn’t be bad except that it’s on CBS and it lost a significant 3.6 How I Met Your Mother lead-in and the show that came after it rebounded to a 3.7.
• NBC’s The Voice was the top-rated A18-49 show of the night—4.4.

Review - CASTLE 5.01: 'After the Storm'

As a generally negative person, I find myself nitpicking, criticizing and downgrading shows that I enjoy watching when I write my reviews.

And while I could complain about a few tidbits from the 'Castle' Season 5 premiere, 'After the Storm', I'm not going to dwell on the little things when an episode hit this big.

This was an excellent follow-up to last season's finale, which was good enough, but the stakes were lowered in that one because we knew Beckett wasn't going to be shot again (not gonna do that in consecutive finales) and that her resignation wouldn't last long.

I actually think that Monday's premiere was more intense than that finale, because we really had no idea what to expect from it. The scene at the end between Beckett and Senator Bracken was pretty chilling. I knew she wasn't going to kill him, but at one point I had no idea what she would do. The way she took control, fooled him, threatened him and pistol-whipped him was a better and more-earned moment than anything we saw at the end of last season and perhaps any in the series.

After four seasons of dragging it out, we finally have an answer as to who killed Kate's mother. It's nice to finally know and I like where they are going with it, I just hope they don't go too overboard with it. An episode here or there that touches on the Senator Bracken storyline would be good, but if I were him, I'd be scared shitless of Beckett after their encounter.

It was amusing how scared Castle was at the beginning of the episode when his mother almost walked in on him and Beckett. I feel like his mom would have picked up on that something was going on, but nevertheless, that was a fun moment with Kate hiding in the closet and sneaking out of the house. While cliche, it had the fun dialogue and goofiness that we like so much about this show.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--CASTLE (to Beckett): "We shoulda done that four years ago!"

--SMITH (to Beckett): "I owed Rob, not you."

--ESPOSITO (to Ryan): "Put that phone away or I'm going to break your freakin' arm."

--SENATOR BRACKEN (to Beckett): "Who are you? You're a disgraced cop obsessed with her mother's murder."

--BECKETT (to Bracken): "I am done being afraid. It's your turn now. [Pistol-whips him] That's gonna leave a nasty scar, every time you see it -- think of me."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--UGH. If she's such a great cop, how come she didn't realize they were being tracked to the demolished building?

--Is Kate ever going to call Castle by his real name? Now that they are sleeping with each other, one would think she would call him Rick.

--Seriously, how cool are the gadgets that criminals use?

--Poor Castle, always looking for a weapon.

--I totally called that safe being booby trapped ... yet somehow I still jumped a bit in my seat when the bomb went off.

--I know lives are on the line and all, but is it even worth putting that puzzle together? I think I'd rather just die.

--Call me crazy, but NONE of that file would have survived that explosion. It looked like it went through a shredder and not, you know, fire and shit.

--Feisty Beckett, I like it!

THE SCORE: 90 out of 100

Furycast 41 - Homeland Downton Emmy

In this episode, Jess and Magnus discuss the Emmys, DOWNTON ABBEY, COPPER, and a bunch of shit. Outtake at the end (so wait for it!).

Consider EVERY discussion a potential SPOILER discussion.



You can also DOWNLOAD this podcast as an MP3 by right clicking on this link and saving it to your hard drive.

Click this link to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes.

BF3: What would RussianBadger do?

In this craycray video, I play some BF3 while yapping about a Badger from the Ruskie land. I also talk about other stuff. You will enjoy this even if you don't care about video games. Then you will share it with all your friends. Then you will send me all your money. These are not the droids you are looking for...

Review - WHITE COLLAR 4.10: 'Vested Interest'

If the goal for a mid-season finale is to shock the viewers and leave them itching for the show to return, then mission accomplished.

I expect big things in finales, and 'White Collar' delivered with the Season 4 mid-season conclusion.

Finally, we got an answer (sorta) on who Sam is. And boy, maybe I should have seen that as a possibility, but that completely blindsided me. It was one of those TV moments where you hear it, and you're speechless for a few seconds and all you can say afterwards is "WOW", "DAMN" or "SHIT!"

I love those types of moments. They don't happen often and they leave you surprised and excited for what's to come. That's what a good finale is all about.

This whole storyline had me confused from the beginning. During 'Vested Interest', all I could think about was Ellen telling Neal: "Trust Sam." Why would she tell Neal to trust a dude that was dead? Despite being in witness protection, how could she NOT know that Sam wasn't alive? And if she knew that Neal's father was going to pretend to be Sam, why not just tell Neal about all this in the first place? I suppose maybe she was about to before she was killed. We went from trusting Sam, to not trusting Sam, to thinking he was alive, to thinking he was dead, to thinking he was a crooked cop to knowing he's Neal's father.

Awesome.

But bigger questions remain, like: What is he up to? ... What does he want? ... What is his end-game? ... Was he really crooked? ... Why didn't he just tell Neal? ... Did he have anything to do with Ellen's death? ... Wasn't he supposed to be in witness protection? Is he in danger? And so many other questions that we'll have to wait until at least January to have answered.

As for the case-of-the-week, it wasn't bad and it did include Neal being shady and sneaking around, so that's always cool with me. And there were some nice moments of banter between Peter and Neal as an added bonus.

BUT. Neal and Peter are back to being buddy-buddy again, just one episode after Neal tells Peter (twice, mind you): "We're DONE!" Considering the circumstances of this episode, I kind of get how they got back to that point. But that doesn't change the fact that this show constantly pulls this sort of crap. As solid as this episode was, you can't deny that this is getting to be a bit annoying.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--NEAL (to Peter): "Are you sure? Cause I have a great joke that starts with you and a priest walking into a bar."

--NEAL (to Peter): "I'd still be in jail and your arrest rate would still be in the high-70s."
--PETER (to Neal): "Low-80s."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--"Well, Diana doesn't like bulges." CREEPIEST line of dialogue in history.

--It took Peter all of two seconds to deduce the rat was a distraction for Neal to slip in the document.

--That shooting scene was embarrassing. First off, those bad guys would have eventually just left and given up. It was clear they were either going to get arrested or killed. Second, wow, they were terrible shots. For every 200 shots that hit a car or a wall, one actually hit a person. That was like an 'Archer' shooting scene where everyone misses despite being so close. In that show, those scenes are hilarious in a good way, in this one, it was hilarious in a bad way.

--This week's installment of 'Eli is a Creep': There were no hot chicks in this episode, so I'm taking one point off of the final score.

THE SCORE: 86 out of 100

TV Ratings: Revolution is Off to a Strong Start

NBC’s Revolution, which debuted on September 17th, 2012, got better ratings for its premiere than Terra Nova and Alcatraz did last season. Both of those shows failed to make it to a second season due to subsequent ratings declines during their first seasons.

Its debut Adult 18-49 rating was closest to the rating for ABC’s Once Upon a Time. That show survived to make it to a second season. It skewed a more female than Revolution did, though. As it was, Revolution came in at 45% Male/55% Female.

Revolution did have the benefit of three things. First, it got tons of promotion during the Olympics. Second, it had a strong lead in from The Voice, which generated a 4.7 rating last night. Third, it debuted a week before the “official” start of the season. Castle wasn’t on and Hawaii Five-0 was a repeat. They will have their season premieres next week. Last year, Castle had a 3.2 and H5O a 3.4 for their premieres. Next week, Castle will be coming off a season ending “cliffhanger” where Castle and Beckett finally “did it”. So, it could have a strong debut next week for the “morning after”.

Revolution may see its ratings decline in the coming weeks, but this is a good number to start with and leaves more room for possible declines. Personally, I liked the show and I want to see where it goes from here.

Incidentally, 89% of Revolution's viewers watched live.

Fox’s Mob Doctor didn’t even get interest for its first episode. It had a dismal 1.5 A18-49 rating.

Lack of content!

Hello dedicated readers. I, the site creator and content wizard have run into a unforeseen issue that will make it difficult for me to update the site or create content for it for the next couple of weeks (at least). So, while I had many plans for this week and beyond, things will be delayed a bit until I am able to get back up and running normal (almost literally).

So, the new TV season will have a lack of initial coverage but we (or I) will come back with a fury never before seen by humankind.

I promise.

Love,

Magnus aka Razorback aka DarthRazorback aka Head Geek Furious aka that dude half a dozen girls are glad to be rid of and maybe two miss and think could have made a good husband.

Review - WHITE COLLAR 4.09: 'Gloves Off'

Neal and Peter are fighting. We still haven't learned anything substantial regarding Neal's father or Ellen's murder. The case-of-the-week was lame, pointless and basically ripped off from a Season 1 episode (1.8 "Hard Sell") that did it much better.

In other words: Season 4 in a nutshell!

Contrary to popular belief, I don't want to complain each week about this show and the others that I write about. But this season of White Collar, leaves me no choice. This season is markedly down from Season 3 and 'Gloves Off' is no exception.

As always, there were a few highlights. Watching Neal get enraged before the fight and taking it out on Peter was fun to see. Their confrontation at the end was intense, but I temper my excitement for that emotional scene and apparent falling-out between the two, because I don't expect that to last for long. The show would be better and get a necessary shot-in-the-arm if those two remain on the outs personally, but 'White Collar' has given us no reason to believe that the we won't just go back to the status-quo in a week or two.

This "falling-out" should have happened a long time ago. Why do Peter and Neal start each episode trusting the other person, when by the end of every episode one or both of them have betrayed the other? If Neal truly believes that Peter is in some way responsible for Ellen's death, they better be at war for the majority of rest of this season.

I'll tell you what, though, I'm not holding my breath on that and next week's mid-season finale better be a doozie and leave me excited for the second-half of Season 4. Because right now, I'm really itching for the fall season of TV to come back and save us all from this summer crap.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--NEAL (to group) : "I just think it's more realistic if I win."

--NEAL (to Peter): "They found them because of you. They found Ellen because of YOU. I may be a ward of the state, and I will do my job for the FBI -- but as far as my personal life goes: We are done. We're DONE."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--Stupid Neal jumping to conclusions that his father was just saving himself. Because he said that, I'd be willing to bet that the truth is the complete opposite of that.

 --Ah, who hasn't had an argument about the rules, regulations and ethics regarding calling shotgun?

--Nice car, Mrs. Suit.

--OF COURSE Mozzie has experience cornering fights.

--I know stock brokers/traders are crazy people, but a fight club? Come on.

--This Week's Installment of 'Eli is a Creep': There is no installment this week. I am reformed.

THE SCORE: 53 out of 100

Furycast 40 - Super Excited

In this episode, Vladdy GG and HGF discuss the future of the podcast, DARK KNIGHT RISES, PROMETHEUS, and stuff. View the list below for the information and time.

Consider EVERY discussion a potential SPOILER discussion.

00:00 - 00:39 Musical Intro - Daft Punk, Derezzed
00:40 - 06:26 Podcast Opening
06:27 - 13:35 DARK KNIGHT RISES
13:36 - 22:31 PROMETHEUS
22:32 - 23:44 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
23:45 - 26:15 "They don't make movies like this anymore" (Star Wars talk)
26:16 - 28:08 End of episode ("everyone does a podcast")
28:09 - 28:54 Musical Outro - Mastodon, Blasteroid



You can also DOWNLOAD this podcast as an MP3 by right clicking on this link and saving it to your hard drive.

Click this link to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes.

Furycast 39 - Deadly Whores

In this episode, Jess and Magnus discuss a bunch of topics. View the list below for the information and time.

Consider EVERY discussion a potential SPOILER discussion.

00:00 - 00:17 Musical Intro - Metallica, Rebel of Babylon
00:18 - 02:00 Podcast Opening
02:01 - 04:34 GO ON pilot episode
04:35 - 07:24 ANIMAL PRACTICE pilot episode
07:25 - 11:11 REVOLUTION pilot episode(s)
11:12 - 18:34 Stuff that leads into BBC America's COPPER
18:35 - 21:37 DOCTOR WHO and that leads into discussion of fandoms
21:38 - 24:47 DOWNTON ABBEY
24:48 - 30:30 The problems with reality shows like SURVIVOR
30:31 - 31:21 End of episode
31:22 - 31:52 Musical Outro - Metallica, Rebel of Babylon



You can also DOWNLOAD this podcast as an MP3 by right clicking on this link and saving it to your hard drive.

Click this link to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes.

Review - WHITE COLLAR 4.08: 'Ancient History'

Gloria Votsis.

That's enough to make this guy happy. Forget the fact that she's sexy and scintillating, the return of Alex Hunter in 'Ancient History' this week was a welcomed shot-in-the-arm for 'White Collar'.

Her character always makes things interesting for Neal and Peter. She has great chemistry with Matthew Bomer and whenever they are together in an episode you know whatever they're up to will be entertaining. As for Peter, he always tries to catch her, but either Neal prevents it or Alex proves she's smarter than both of them. Which is nice, because they can bring her back whenever they choose. Hopefully this won't be the last we see of her this season.

As great as it was to see Alex back, I thought the episode fell short of the other one's she's been in. The heist they pulled off was unrealistic (even for White Collar standards) and wasn't all that intriguing. The job they pulled together back in Season 1 ("Out of the Box", Episode 14) was vastly superior and bad-ass, this one was a bit lame. 

Speaking of lame, not seeing what was on that video at the end enrages me. So as much fun as Peter and Mozzie were together in this one, that ending really put a damper on the episode.

I don't know where the Sam/Peter's father arc is headed, but I hope that's not the only thing this show hands its hat on for the rest of Season 4. I need some heightened drama. I need some Neal breaking the law behind Peter's back. I think Neal's getting soft on us. Heck, you can tell from this episode, in which he gets pinched twice by the police, that his con-man and thievery skills are getting sloppy. I could also use some more fun in these episodes. It just seems like this season has been vanilla.

QUOTES OF NOTE:
 
--MOZZIE (to Suit): "Plain view!"

--PETER (to Mozzie): "Some day I'm gonna strangle you."

--PETER (to Neal): "It just used to mean something when you caught Neal Caffrey, but now that the police are doing it all the time..."
--NEAL (to Peter): "Once again this does not count."

--PETER (to Neal): "You're no fun."
--NEAL (to Peter): "Well, I'm having a three out of ten day."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--I enjoyed how terrified of Alex that Mozzie is.

--Clean your damn sleeve, Neal! How do you blow that? As Head Geek Furious might say, "Neal cost himself some sexy time."

--This week's installment of 'Eli is a Creep' (as if my first two paragraphs weren't creepy enough): I think when Gloria spoke in Greek, my heart melted. That shit was sexy.

--THE SCORE: 73 out of 100

Review - BREAKING BAD 5.08: 'Gliding Over All'

I reviewed the first episode of the season, so I feel it only seems fitting that I review what AMC is calling the mid-season finale. Though, it is just the mid-point of the season where they make us wait a year to see the rest. Like what was done with the final season of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. I envy those who will watch either of the shows in 2013 all the way through without these ridiculously long breaks.

Anyway, unto the breach, dear friends.

The season has been pretty solid and Shawn Mahone has been guest reviewing it on this blog and seemingly digging it. I haven't always agreed with his assessments but I appreciate that he has put his thoughts into words when I didn't feel like it (I am lazy).

But the show saved its season best episode for last (or mid-last) by not giving us big shocking moments, like last week, but instead by suggesting shocking moments to come at every meeting. And that's essentially what this episode was.

A series of meetings.

A series of deadly or potentially deadly meetings.

And because the show didn't play cute little games with the story points --that inevitably end up with obvious story solutions- the episode played up the tension organically, leaving the audience holding its breath at every potential bad turn.

With Mike gone and Walt having to deal with the consequences of his former business partner's goon squad squealing, things kick into action at a simmering pace. Walt meets with Lydia to get the names of Mike's crew. She worries that his intention is to get those names and kill her. At the end of the scene we learn she was right but by then she has saved her life by offering Walt a larger scale distribution for his meth operation.

Walt then meets with: Jesse to reminisce and pay him his share, with Jesse terrified that Mr. White has come to kill him; Skyler, who reveals they are rich beyond their ability to spend and that she wants him out and the family back together; and a crew of bad guys with the ability to wipe out the individuals on Lydia's list.

The episode also hints at the fact that Walt's cancer has returned.

Mike's men are assassinated in a brutal montage (the episode also has another montage of Walt's now more advanced meth network in play).

Walt quits so that he can have his family back.

And then we get the best THE USUAL SUSPECTS type ending since... that movie. The family, including Hank and Marie, enjoying each other's company, as the audience feels the charge of doom in the air. Something is going to go wrong. Someone is going to die. Walt can't possibly just get out. There will be men walking in any second now to blow them away. Or maybe a bomb. Or a sniper? Something bad is about to happen and there is no way it won't!

It reminded me of the SOPRANOS ending.

The anticipation.

And then the payoff.

Hank, accidentally discovers the truth while taking a dump. Gale's signed "Leaves of Grass" to "W.W." calls back to an earlier conversation between Walt and Hank and poof, like that, the detective puts it all together.

Walt is Heisenberg.

Genius.

Mind you, I've been saying for two seasons now that this show would end with Hank finding out and having to deal with the consequences and reality of what that means.

What does Hank do? Obviously he has to gather evidence but will he burn a family member? Hell, it will destroy his career having the mastermind behind all of this being someone that close.

I imagine he will do the right thing in the end, but that he will do what he can to not take the family down with Walt. And with Walt out of the game and dying, what is the thing that will bring him back into it? Why will he be arming himself to the teeth on his next birthday?

Many questions are left up in the air and we are a long way away from knowing the answers or even pieces. At least the show went out on a high note and earned every breathless moment of anticipation.

If I had to rate this episode, and Mike's rotting corpse says I do, then I'd give it:

98 out of 100

What did you think?