Bones - The Couple in the Cave

Network: Fox
Time: Thursdays, 8:00-9:00pm
Cast: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, TJ Thyne, Michaela Conlin, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley

Summary: A surprise visit by Booth's girlfriend, war correspondent Hannah Burley, forces Brennan to take another look at her relationship with Booth.  Meanwhile, the team tries to identify a couple whose remains were found in a cave in a national park.

Review: I'm going to come right out and say it: I like Booth's new girlfriend.  And I like her and Booth together.  Booth is so happy with her, and he's so obviously in love.  How can you not like it?  I also really like about their relationship is that Booth is clearly not with her as some kind of twisted ploy to make Brennan jealous (which you may scoff at, but is a fairly typical plot device when two characters are engaged in the "will they, won't they" game that Booth and Brennan are).  He loves Hannah because he loves her, and it has nothing to do with Brennan at all.

This episode was good for several reasons.  First, like I just mentioned, because it introduced Hannah and really showed her relationship with Booth.  Also because the team was solving their first case the way they used to, without any of the awkwardness of having been apart for seven months.  Even Clark was back as an intern... and he was still troubled by the fact that the team brings their personal lives to work with them all the time.  Everything was back to the way it should be.

The case itself was pretty easy to solve, which is a mild detraction from the overall quality of the episode.  I know after awhile there are only so many ways a case can pan out, but it's nice when the writers still manage to trip you up a little.  In this case, I identified the killer the first time he/she walked into a scene.  It loses a little bit after that point, even though it's still enjoyable to watch the team try and come to same conclusion.

It's good to see that a summer off and a new character haven't disrupted the chemistry between our favorite characters.  Booth and Sweets had a few wonderful exchanges throughout the episode, Booth and Brennan were spot on, and even Cam and Hodgins had some fun.  I'm looking forward to more of Hodgins and Angela and the baby story as the season goes on.

This episode did exactly what it needed to: introduce Booth's new girlfriend, establish what her relationship with Brennan would be, and show the audience that, despite the end of season 5, the team is back and just as good as they were when they left.


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My Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

Nikita - Rough Trade

Network: CW
Time: Thursdays, 9:00-10:00pm
Cast: Maggie Q, Lyndsy Fonseca, Shane West, Aaron Stanford, Ashton Holmes, Tiffany Hines, Melinda Clarke, Xander Berkeley

Summary: Nikita tries to right a past wrong when she posed as a nanny for a government official who ended up dead.  Michael comes to Nikita's aid during her quest, and also begins to question Percy's motives.  Meanwhile, Amanda forces Alex to deal with her claustrophobia after she has a panic attack.

Review: I'm constantly surprised by how much I like this show, and how quickly it became something I anticipate watching.  The writers did a wonderful job creating characters that are likable despite the horrible things they sometimes do, and I find that I am sympathetic towards almost all of them (not Percy, but they really haven't done much to expand his character yet).

Every episode provides a little more backstory into characters' lives, and this one was no exception.  We finally got to see a little more of Alex's life before she met Nikita, and we got just a small hint of Michael's past as well (did you catch that last line?).  We also saw a flashback from when Nikita was first recruited, when she was happy to be working for them, and her hair was messier.  I imagine we'll see more of the chemistry between Michael and Nikita as the series goes on.

As much as I liked the backstories, I wasn't as wild about the present day mission Nikita was trying to pull off.  It stemmed from her first kill, and she wanted to make amends by taking down the group that hired Division to kill him.  But there was a slight twist that I wasn't wild about, since it warped Nikita's reason for doing what she was doing.  I don't want to spoil it by giving anything away, but I like when Nikita has the moral upper hand, and this twist brought her down a little.  That being said, it did create an interesting moment for Michael, who is starting to realize that he has no idea why Percy does anything he does.

I really enjoyed Alex's present-day story too.  She hasn't been doing much but acting as a mole for Nikita in the past few episodes, so it was nice to see her with her own story to carry.  In this case, she has claustrophobia due to a traumatic event from her childhood, and Amanda is trying to "help" her get over it.  We got to see some real strength of character in Alex, not giving Division a win over her, even if she made it look like they did.

Between this episode and the summary for the next, I'm starting to get little prickly warnings about Alex's sort-of friend Thom.  Right now he's pretty gung-ho about Division, and I can't imagine he'd be okay with the things Alex does to help Nikita.  Which leads me to believe that Alex should not be getting as close to him as she seems to be.  I'm curious to see where that road leads.

Like I said, I never expected to like this show as much as I do.  It's ratings are a little shaky though, and I'm hoping the CW doesn't pull it before it really has the chance to develop into a great show.

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My Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

Criminal Minds - JJ

Network: CBS
Time: Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00pm
Cast: Thomas Gibson, Joe Mantegna, Shemar Moore, Paget Brewster, Matthew Gray Gubler, AJ Cook, Kirsten Vangsness

Summary: While JJ attempts to reunite a family whose daughter has mysteriously disappeared, her BAU family braces for the loss of one of their own.

Review: I understand a news reporter is supposed to be objective about the stories she covers, never letting her personal opinion prevent her from telling the facts.  That's why I'm extremely glad I'm a reviewer in this case, not a news reporter.

I haven't been quiet about the fact that I'm upset they wrote JJ out of Criminal Minds, and I know there are many, many other fans who feel the same way.  And while I appreciate that she went out in a dignified, almost wonderful manner, it doesn't change the fact that she's gone, and my enjoyment of Criminal Minds has gone down just a little.  I know I'll get over this eventually because it's just a television show and it doesn't really matter, but right now I'm sad and angry.

Clearly the writers felt this way too.  From start to finish, they couldn't have done a better job of making it obvious that they believe JJ (and consequently AJ Cook) to be irreplaceable.  The fictional reason for her leaving mirrored the real reason in many ways, with her being forced to leave the position she loves because people with more power and authority made her.  Even when Garcia asks who will make the team feel safe with JJ gone, and JJ spits back a sarcastic, "There are plenty of big, strong men around," is a thinly veiled comment on the sexism that many fans feel contributed to the firing of AJ Cook (and Paget Brewster's impending departure next season).  The writers obviously felt it was wrong for Cook to leave, and they channeled those feelings into the script.

These same feelings were apparent in the actors' performances as well.  Probably to appease angry audiences, we were treated to a touching scene between JJ and Hotch; an angry scene between JJ, Emily, Reid, Morgan and Rossi; and an absolutely heartbreaking scene between JJ and Garcia.  All three were perfect in their own way, from Hotch's almost-awkward handshake to Reid's lost little boy voice to the very real tears Garcia cried.  I sniffled when Hotch told her he'd miss her.  My eyes filled up when Reid insisted they couldn't take her away.  And I bawled like a baby when they showed flashbacks from JJ's many episodes over the past five seasons.  I'm not ashamed to admit it; this is probably tied for the most emotional Criminal Minds episode ever (with the final Reaper episode, of course).

It's also unfortunate that this was probably one of AJ Cook's best episodes.  I've always loved her character, but they rarely let her get any good stories.  Not only was she the focus because she was leaving, but they also focused on the part of her job we don't see as much, where she deals with grieving families and somehow gets them to help solve the case.  It was wonderful to see her getting so much screen time, even if I didn't like all the reasons.

The sad thing is, I could really have liked this episode.  Watching Morgan, Rossi, Emily and Reid take turns trying to crack the two suspects while JJ tried to handle a family about to break was good.  It wouldn't have been the most action-packed episode, but it was uplifting in its own way.  If the last ten minutes had never happened, I would really have enjoyed it.

I still don't know why someone thought it was a good idea to get rid of an actress who is not only clearly beloved, but important to the show, but I would certainly love to be able to go back in time and stop them from making that move.  As is, I'll have to make due with hoping the backlash from this will be bad enough that they'll call and offer Cook her job back.  And that she'll accept.  For now, I give this episode 4 out of 5 stars because the acting and writing were wonderful, but I just can't see the episode where JJ leaves as excellent.

What did you think?  Are you as upset as I am?  Sound off below.

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Castle - A Deadly Affair

Network: ABC
Time: Mondays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Susan Sullivan, Molly C. Quinn

Summary: Beckett finds Castle at a murder scene holding a gun and is forced to arrest him despite his claims of innocence.

Review: Castle's ratings weren't so hot last season, when ABC was debating whether or not to renew it.  Ultimately, they decided to give it a chance to continue growing... and I imagine this season premiere made them glad they did.

When we last left our heroes, Beckett was finally coming to terms with her feelings for Castle, right before he skipped town with his ex-wife to finish writing his book.  In the season 3 premiere, no one at the NYPD has heard from him since he left.  Ironically, it's not Beckett who's most upset, but Esposito and Ryan, who provide comic relief to Beckett's almost-pining.

While the scene where Beckett finds Castle holding a gun over a dead body (and Ryan almost shoots him) is good, the show really picks up when Castle is released from custody and joins the investigation, against Beckett's wishes.  A summer apart certainyl hasn't dampened the chemistry between them, and Castle is the perfect mix of his normal obnoxious self pushing Beckett's buttons and suitably contrite for not calling all summer.  Yes, he's still with his ex-wife, but she doesn't make an appearance and, frankly, she doesn't seem particularly important in the grand scheme of Castle and Beckett's relationship.

Ultimately, this episode probably won't stand out against other episodes of Castle, but it did what a good season premiere should--it resolved the cliffhangers from the finale and opened the door to a good season to come.  The most important thing is that it should make the audience want to continue watching, to see what will happen next.  They can either do that by adding a cliffhanger at the end, or, in the case of Castle, by creating such engaging characters that you can't wait to see what situations they'll wind up in as the season continues.

The only downside to this episode was that there really wasn't enough of Castle's mother and daughter, just a little taste to remind the viewers that they still exist.  This is an issue I imagine will easily be resolved in the coming months.

Aside from my perpetual disappointment that they chose to move away from the Beckett/Castle coupling, there was much to enjoy about this episode.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season will play out.

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

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Terriers - Pilot

Network: FX
Time: Wednesdays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Donal Logue, Michael Raymond-James, Laura Allen, Kimberly Quinn

Summary: A favor for an old drinking buddy leads Hank and Britt, small time private eyes, down a rabbit-hole of corruption in deceptively sunny Ocean Beach, California.

Review: I'm having a lot of trouble placing what exactly was the problem with this show, but it doesn't seem to be any one thing in particular.  The acting was fine, the writing was fine, and the story was okay.  Nothing was exceptional, but nothing was horribly bad either.  Everything was just... fine.

I really wanted to like Terriers because one of the creators is Shawn Ryan, who is also responsible for Lie to Me and The Unit, among other successful programs.  One of the lead actors is Donal Logue, who spent years on Grounded for Life, which was one of my favorite daytime sitcoms when I was in high school.  So perhaps my expectations were a little too high going into the first episode.

Terriers disappointed me.  Like I said, I can't point at any one thing and say, "That's the reason why."   It was a bunch of little things.  The story was mildly enjoyable, but it was predictable.  I was never surprised by anything the characters did, even though I think parts of it were supposed to surprise me a little.  Nothing momentous happened, which is really bad for a pilot, since this should set the tone for the rest of the season, if not the series.  I wasn't even really sure what the main characters, Hank and Britt, were supposed to be doing besides running around doing favors for friends and somehow getting money for it.  Supposedly they're private investigators, but they don't have any ID or, presumably, an office of any type.

That's not to saw Terriers didn't have any redeeming qualities.  The writing was good, despite the predictable storyline.  The dialogue between Hank and Britt was, at times, pithy and even funny.  I caught myself laughing out loud at a few of the one liners.  And I found that I liked both of the main characters, despite their flaws.

It's common in shows to expose something from the main character's history (usually something bad) in the first episode, so that the viewers will understand him better and perhaps even sympathize with him.  This is no different in this episode of Terriers, in which we learned much about Hank's messy divorce, the ex-wife he's still in love with, and the fact that she's moving on with her life.  I'm not denying that main characters should have a past; I'm questioning the need to reveal so much personal information about him so early, before the audience has really had time to bond with him.  I really did like Hank, and I felt bad that he still seemed to be so hung up on a woman who no longer loved him back, but I also didn't really care yet because I haven't decided if I care about him.  So instead of being emotional, or even particularly revealing, the personal aspect of this storyline fell flat.

I might come back to this one when things die down over the summer, but I have no plans to continue watching as the new episodes air.  There just wasn't enough in this one to hold my interest.

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

Rizzoli & Isles - When the Gun Goes Bang, Bang, Bang

Network: TNT
Time: Mondays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Jordan Bridges, Lee Thompson Young, Bruce McGill, Chazz Palminteri, Lorraine Bracco

Summary: A savage gang that killed an undercover officer now targets Boston homicide headquarters for an attack, with Jane, Maura and Frankie Jr. trapped and fighting for survival.

Review: Wow. This season ended with a bang. Literally.

It took awhile to collect my thoughts after this episode's cliffhanger ending. It's not the most compelling cliffhanger I've ever seen, but the episode as a whole does a pretty good job of making you wish the next season would start today.

There have already been a lot of ups and downs in the ten episodes of season one. From the creepy Surgeon who almost killed Jane (twice) to Maura finding out who her real father is, the writers jam-packed the season with as many plot twists as they could fit into the approximately 7.5 hours of air time. This is a fairly common occurrence for new shows, since the cast and crew are never sure if they're going to get a second season.

This finale was a great ending to a great season. Not only was there a considerable amount of action and suspense to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but there was also another foray into Rizzoli family politics. Turns out Jane and Frankie have a brother. I've read the first book in the series this was based on, so I remember hearing mention of him, but I didn't remember the full story (or the book never went into it). Without going into many details for those who haven't seen the episode yet, Jane and Frankie aren't happy that Tommy's coming home. For some reason, I really enjoyed the scene where they made that clear to their parents. It's the first time we've seen a "kids vs. parents" situation, and it added a layer of realism to their familial relationship.

Then there was the actual plot of the episode, the shooter who killed an undercover cop attacks headquarters. It's hard to talk about this without giving anything away, but Maura was awesome. She really stole the show for me, but she wouldn't have been half as good without Jane there too. The whole series has been building up this sometimes-awkward friendship between Rizzoli and Isles, and there are times when I was left wondering how they could possibly be so close, but this made it obvious. When Maura was doubting herself, Jane was right there to pick her, and when Jane needed her help, Maura literally saved a life for her. The chemistry has been good between them since the beginning, but this really cemented it for me.

There were only two sticking points for me. The first is that there wasn't nearly enough of Frost and Korsak. They did have one or two scenes (and they do seem to be getting along much better than they did in the first episode), but they were so far on the outskirts of this episode that I actually started to miss them a little.

The other thing was Maura's tortoise. She brings it to work because it's not eating and she's worried about it (which, by the way, was kind of adorable), but it doesn't ever do anything. Normally a random prop or animal that appearance once or twice will be involved in the climax of the story somehow, but I think this was just a desire by the writers to have the tortoise come back for another episode. Which is fine, but it seemed like a loose end to me.

TNT renewed Rizzoli & Isles for a second season after only the third episode, so look for new episodes to begin again in 2011.

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

Lie to Me - Black and White

Network: Fox
Time: Mondays, 9:00-10:00pm
Cast: Tim Roth, Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines, Monica Raymund, Mekhi Phifer, Hayley McFarland

Summary: The Lightman Group investigates the murder of a journalist and friend of Lightman’s who was killed while exposing a corrupt politician--a case that tests Lightman’s relationship with Reynolds and the FBI. Meanwhile, Emily’s newfound interest in dating makes her father uncomfortable.

Review: This was a good episode, but a bad season finale. I imagine the producers and writers of Lie to Me weren't sure they'd get a third season when they shot this episode, so they didn't want to leave any cliffhangers in case they didn't have time to wrap them up. Now that they did get the green light for at least half the third season, this episode came up a little short.

Not that it was bad, per se. It was just fairly typical where it should have stood out, especially since it's imperative that Lie to Me gets good ratings next season if it hopes to make it to four.

One of the best parts of "Black and White" is that it added another layer of complexity to the already puzzling character of Cal Lightman. We've seen Cal trying to help his friends, and we've even seen his distrustful of his friends, but we've never seen him when his friend was the victim of a murder. The writers did a great job staying true to his character. Lightman has always marched to his own beat, so it was perfectly reasonable that he would stray from the FBI reservation to do whatever it took to get justice for his friend. And it made perfect sense that Foster, Torres and Loker would follow him right down that path.

It was the personal storyline that seemed a little weak. It was supposed to focus on Cal dealing with Emily growing up, which they've already done several times. While it's kind of fun to watch Cal as a bumbling father (who doesn't, apparently, know everything his daughter does), it seemed like they were just reaching for a storyline for Hayley McFarland. I much preferred the episode where she was writing an article for journalism class and she followed her father and Foster around for a few days. The one good moment I thought they were going to give us with this story--where Foster came over for dinner and they talked about sex--never actually happened, which was a huge disappointed. They've never done as much with the Foster/Hayley story as I wanted.

The other problem I had with this episode (and it's actually something that bothers me about a lot of episodes) is that, despite the fact that Lightman just promoted Loker, he still treats him really badly. Honestly, I can't understand why Loker puts up with it. But instead of challenging him or making him funny, the abuse just makes Loker whiny. Couple that with the fact that he can never win with Torres (and, by the way, them sleeping together last week just seemed like a desperate ploy to rekindle the chemistry they had in the first season), and Loker's character is getting just a bit pathetic.

Lie to Me has seemed to become the Cal Lightman show recently. Even the episodes that have been about the others (Foster's boyfriend, Torres' sister) have wound up being more about Cal than anyone else. It's still fun to watch, and I still love it, but the writers need to step up their game if they hope to get picked up for more episodes after the show's expected finale in early 2011.

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average[2] OK
[1] Bad