“The Vengeance Formulation”

November 23rd, 2009

Last week, the show chose to split its story between something that works (Sheldon and Penny) and something that doesn’t (Leonard, Wolowitz and Raj on their own), resulting in an episode that was a mixed bag (although perhaps a bit better than I gave it credit for, as my distaste for the latter perhaps overshadowed the strength of the former).

This week, however, the show returns to more of an ensemble structure, and while nothing reaches the heights of adhesive ducks it’s a solid episode as a whole because it manages a reasonably emotional Wolowitz storyline with a cheap but not ineffective Sheldon storyline. There was every chance for these two elements to go off the rails (based on both the show’s tradition of misusing Wolowitz and the presence of Kripke), so the fact that they stayed moderately in orbit makes this a victory, if not exactly an overwhelming success.

When it comes to Wolowitz, I strongly believe that less is more, unless the show decides to do what they did here and turn Wolowitz from obnoxious to introspective. While interacting with a fantasy version of Katee Sackhoff isn’t genius or anything, it allows Wolowitz to stop acting like he runs the joint and actually come to terms with his delusions. The naked bathtub fantasy version of Katee Sackhoff spoke the truth, and while there were signs of the old Wolowitz (feeling more slighted by the fact that Sackhoff’s date was tall as opposed to handsome, since he actually believes he is handsome) for the most part he was honest with himself. Sure, he messes up his romantic overtures to Bernadette, but he was legitimately charming during his tone deaf wailing at episode’s end, and the fact that Howard was given any continuity at all in terms of a relationship is such a huge step forward that I think it’s commendable.

It also shows how even Howard, who to this point one couldn’t imagine in a relationship, is effectively getting the relationship stories that Leonard has been given in the past, except ones that are actually funny. While Sheldon in a relationship might be too ludicrous, and Raj in a relationship has been made impossible by the alcohol gimmick, Howard and Leonard are both effectively eligible, but the show has always resisted treating Howard seriously (by having his actual skills be so outmatched by his capability), sending him off to gothic night clubs and moving him away from legitimate couplings. However, while Leonard’s relationships tended to be neurotic and sort of dull, Howard’s relationship is (to use his own word) quirky in a way that adds a fun dynamic to the show. Sure, I’m not a huge fan of his relationship with his shrill mother, and I could have used less talk about what he was doing in the tub, but for once the show didn’t actually treat him like a horny 15-year old, and for this I was most grateful and certainly entertained.

As for the other half of the episode, it really comes down to how funny you find someone talking in a high-pitched voice and how you feel about Eric Kripke. Twitter user SnowDan mentioned that he likes Kripke because it’s ironic that the university bully has a lisp (which would, outside of that world, make him subject to bullying), but I’ve always felt like that joke has been long ago used up in favour of dialogue that calls attention to the lisp unnecessarily. The idea of Sheldon having a nemesis is funny on its own, which is why Leslie Winkle was more interesting to me (especially because the gender politics of it all wreaked havoc with Sheldon’s already problematic ability to respond in kind) than someone both more dully mean-spirited and less witty. Beyond the broad irony, that for me was not clever enough to sustain the character beyond a first appearance, the character is a normal guy who has a lisp, and most of the humour derived from the character has been through how he says it rather than what he says.

But I thought that this week’s story was less let down by Kripke (who on only a few occasions fell into traps like “Wiot”) and more by a single decision. I like the general principle of the storyline, with Sheldon’s big moment turning into an embarrassment and his attempt at vengeance going horribly, horribly wrong. There’s something very solid about that, and even when I know that we’re never going to get to see the aftermath (since everything will, conveniently for Sheldon, reset next week) the uncontrollable chaos of the final sequence was even communicated through webcam. However, where the storyline suffered was that the joke of Sheldon and his high-pitched voice didn’t appear to actually be Jim Parsons with helium, nor Jim Parsons faking such a voice. Unless I’m mistaken, the voice was looped in during post-production, which if true is a huge disappointment, and took me out of the scene regardless.

There were a number of things in this episode that bugged me a bit, like how the other guys so quickly joined in on laughing at Sheldon on the radio (as it was national radio, after all), or how Raj was too busy making fun of Sheldon to help Leonard try to get him out of bed, or how Penny’s self-awareness about her relationship with Leonard didn’t extend to her realizing that they have no actual chemistry and that sitting in close proximity to each other does not a relationship make. But none of these elements felt like they were the point of their respective storylines: Sheldon’s embarrassment was necessary to get to his vengeance gone awry, and Penny needed to be aware of her own relationship so she could objectively view Wolowitz’s and be able to ward off Bernadette.

And those two storylines worked, coming to solid conclusions that were either narratively satisfying or humorously destructive. They didn’t offer any particular comic highs, but they didn’t offend any of my sensibilities either, so I can’t really complain.

Cultural Observations

• Katee Sackhoff in the tub makes me realize that some part of me feels obligated to watch 24 this season with her being part of the cast.
• It says something about the show’s conditioning to not bother remembering things from previous episodes that it took me a while to figure out if Bernadette was actually the person on whom Wolowitz went on a double date a while back. However, I’ll give them this: her trait of not getting Wolowitz’s jokes was memorable enough that I was at least 75% sure.
• While some small moments bugged me, I thought Sheldon nailing the whoopie cushion gag on Leonard really did prove its comic validity.
• And just in case we weren’t sure, apparently Raj is delicious caramel.
• If Sepinwall writes a review, I think “as soon as I play Cylon and Colonist” seems like the obvious “after the jump” line. We’ll see if I’m right.

Disclaimer: This is the result of a late night, procrastination, and Thanksgiving break.

A burn is damage to your body’s tissues caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight or radiation.  Burns can cause swelling, blistering, scarring and, in serious cases, shock and even death.

The five most common causes of burns:

5. Yvonne Strahovski

Yvonne Strahovski as Chuck's Sarah Walker

Type of burn: First-degree (damage to the outer layer of skin)
Etiology: Yvonne can be seen with gun in hand as secret agent, Sarah Walker, in NBC’s geek-fest comedy, Chuck.  After two smoldering seasons, Chuck returns this upcoming January.  From the looks of the commercials they’ve been playing during Sunday Night Football, Yvonne will be back in all her beautiful glory.  The greatest thing to come out of Australia.

4. Dianna Agron

Dianna Agron, Glee's Quinn Fabray

Type of burn: Second-degree (damage to the outer later & under layer of skin)
Etiology: As Quinn Fabray on Fox’s hit musical dram-edy Glee, Dianna has lit a small fire in the hearts of male viewers all over the world.  Despite the bitchy & condescending cheerio she plays on Glee, Dianna is the ultimate sweetheart (see here) as well as an actress completely in love with music and literature.  Take her sweet personality and those smoldering eyes, and you may just start experiencing inflammation, redness, and swelling of the skin.

3. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift - Burning brighter than the sun.

Type of burn: Third-degree (damage to the deepest layer of skin & tissues)
Etiology: What more can be said about Taylor Swift?  Tonight, she beat the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson, for artist of the year.  Yet, after all the awards & accolades, she’s able to remain so humble and gracious.  Hypothetically speaking, if it were at all possible, Taylor Swift is the only woman I would marry that is taller than me.  (She’s 5′11.)

2. Megan Fox

I wish I was that lawn chair.

Type of burn: Fifth-degree (damage to your entire functioning human anatomy)
Etiology: Seriously.  Do I need to even explain this one?  Jennifer’s Body should be released on blu-ray within the next month or so.  This means an hour and a half of Megan Fox in all high-definition glory.  My eyes will burn and there will be a worldwide shortage of tissues.

1. Vanessa Hudgens:

Yeap, I'd say that's a pretty seductive stare.

Type of burn: Fifth-degree (your body will turn into ash)
Etiology: She sings, dances, acts, is cute as a button, and has the sexiest legs on earf.  Zac Synder, director of 300, has casted her to play a gun-wielding prostitute in her next movie Sucker Punch.  Re-read that and just THINK of all the possibilities.  And she’s playing Beauty in a real-life interpretation of Beauty and the Beast?  I should’ve auditioned for the role of Beast cause DAMN.

-I

Chuck Season 3 Premiere Details

November 19th, 2009

Just an hour after the news breaks about Lost’s sixth season premiere, another internet criticism favourite breaks similar news. After rumours of the show gaining an order for six additional episodes broke about a month ago, it was expected that the show would be moved up from its schedule March premiere date, and today’s news of a two-night, three-hour premiere event of sorts confirms those expectations.

And yes, you read that correctly: in the spirit of 24 (and launching around the same time, really), Chuck will be airing a two-hour season premiere (which is actually two episodes, as they had not planned for a lengthy premiere) on Sunday, January 10th, at 9pm before moving to their regular timeslot with a third new episode on Monday, January 11th, at 8pm. Now, there’s something to be said about this strategy: it creates more of an “event” style premiere to capture people’s attention, which is why 24 has been doing them for a while, and it also ensures that the show gets some plot momentum going into the Olympics break in February.

However, there’s enough concerns surrounding this move for my excitement to be tempered by at least a little bit of concern, as I’ll discuss after the break.

There’s a few reasons that this plan concerns me. First, while it’s quite possible other networks might not yet be programming originals on that night, the Olympics might mean they are, which would create a lot of competition from Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, and FOX’s comedies. And since NBC has the rights to the two Wild Card games on January 9th as opposed to January 10th, there’s no actual show to really launch the night, and since NBC’s Sunday lineup will have been entirely football up to that point no one is expecting to find drama on the network on Sundays (and those football viewers will be watching CBS, who has football rights on that night that will compete directly with Chuck’s launch).

Also, while the 24 premiere schedule made sense before the proliferation of the DVR, three hours of TV is a lot for people to catch up on if there’s other programming on the night in question, which could hurt the time period debut. I don’t doubt Chuck fans will be clambering to watch the new episodes as soon as they are, but I do doubt that any new viewers will feel like they can “jump right in” with three hours to watch over two nights. The fact that they’re all individual episodes, too, sort of takes the “event” feeling out of the actual content of the episodes: I have no doubt they’ll be awesome, but they’ll be more awesome for fans than they will be for the new viewers that, let’s face it, the show needs if it has any chance of continuing (even if the expectations at NBC have at this point dropped to the point where Chuck’s second season would be one of its highest rated scripted series).

Now, I’ll be there with bells on as will all Chuck fans, but it just seems like a bit of a strange way to premiere a show like this. It allows them to get six episodes in before the Olympics, leaving 13 episodes after the break which will take them comfortably into May Sweeps, but otherwise it doesn’t feel as if it really benefits the chances for the show to gain some new viewers. If it’s confirmed that there’s a football overrun, and that NBC won’t be expecting the show to self-start on a Sunday, then this move makes more sense. However, as it is, Chuck’s future is basically behind handled in a fashion entirely dictated by NBC’s schedule shuffling as opposed to thinking about drawing in new viewers, which is something I feel needs to be pointed out.

But, seriously: really excited. Honestly.

Acum am vazut episodul 10 din Gossip Girl. Mi-a placut, intr-o oarecare masura. Daca ar fi sa-i dau o nota, i-as da 4.5/5.

Pai, ce s-a intamplat? Stiti foarte bine 3some-ul dintre Dan, Olivia si Vanessa. Ei, a fost un pic de tensiune intre ei. Olivia crede ca Dan e indragostit de Vanessa si invers si vrea sa-i arate asta lui.

Din punctul meu de vedere, Serena este o mare c****. A fost chiar frumos momentul in care erau ea si Nate la bar, cand aproape se sarutau, dupa ce Nate i-a marturisit ca o iubea, cand a intrat Trip. Si bineinteles, dupa ce Nate a incercat sa o tina departe de el, ca Serena sa nu-i strice mariajul, ea a plecat cu el. Saracul Nate!

Jenny se cam joaca cu focul. Si o sa se arda. Sunt sigura. Dar a fost amuzant ) I-a dat mesaj lui Damien : “That was fun. We should do it again some time”. Amuzant?! Statea ca idioata intre aia doi, care o foloseau la maxim. Dar ce s-a mai distrat…:-j

A! A aparut si Lady Gaga in acest episod, la sfarsit si a interpretat Bad Romance.

Cam atat, astept cu nerabdare urmatorul episod.

So it is that time again! Liz and I recently finished the third season of the beloved West Wing and so per tradition  I have selected the 21 best quotes (in my opinion) from the series. There is a mix of serious and funny ones. Cast your vote by putting what number you think is the best in the comments section. Feel free to also put in a reason!

1/ Charlie: Aren’t you supposed to be writing?

Toby: I am writing.

Charlie: I don’t see paper.

Toby: ‘We can sit back and admit with great sensitivity that life isn’t fair… and the less-advantaged are destined to their lot in life… and the problems of those on the other side of the world should stay there… and our leaders are cynical and can never be an instrument of change… but that, my friends, is not worthy of you; it’s not worthy of a President; it’s not worthy of a great nation; it’s not worthy of America.’ Paper’s for wimps.

2/ Donna: I grew up on a farm.

Josh: You grew up in a condo.

Donna: I grew up near a farm. And I was cute and I was peppy. And I always did well on my 19th Century English Literature midterm until you came along and sucked me into your life of crime!

Josh: Hey, I’m not the-

Donna: White collar crime boy! You know what they do to a girl like me on the cell block? I’ve seen those movies.

Josh: Yeah, me too.

Donna: I bet you have.

Josh: Look-

Donna: Sell my farm girl ass for a carton of Luckys.

3/ Operator: Hello, welcome to the Butterball Hotline.

Toby: What the hell is…

Bartlet: Shhhh. Hello!!

Operator: How can I help you, sir?

Bartlet: Well, first let me say, I think this is a wonderful service you provide.

Operator: Well, thank you. May I have your name please?

Bartlet: I’m a citizen.

Operator: I’m sure you are, sir, but if I have your name I can put your comments in our customer feedback form.

Bartlet: I’m Joe Betherson…ton. That’s one ‘t’, and with an ‘h’ in there.

Operator: And your address?

Bartlet: Fargo.

Operator: Your street address, please?

Toby: [picks up another phone, into it] Zip code, Fargo, North Dakota, right now. [hangs up]

Bartlet: My street address is 114… 54 Pruder Street, and it’s very important that you put ’street’ down there because sometimes it gets confused with Pruder Way and Pruder Lane. Apartment 23 R… Fargo, North Dakota… [Charlie walks in with a piece of paper, Bartlet grabs it.] Zip code 50504.

Operator: Thank you. Your voice sounds very familiar to me.

Bartlet: I do radio commercials for… products.

Operator: And how can I help you?

Bartlet: [sits down] Stuffing should be stuffed inside the turkey, am I correct?

Operator: It can also be baked in a casserole dish.

Bartlet: Well, then we’d have to call it something else, wouldn’t we? [Toby sits down and puts his hand under his chin.]

Operator: I suppose.

Bartlet: If I cook it inside the turkey, is there a chance I could kill my guests? I’m not saying that’s necessarily a deal-breaker.

Operator: Well, there are some concerns. Two main bacterial problems are Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni.

Bartlet: All right. Well, first of all, I think you made the second bacteria up, and second of all, how do I avoid it?

Operator: Make sure all the ingredients are cooked first. Sauté any vegetables, fried sausage, oysters, etc.

Bartlet: Excellent! Let’s talk temperature.

Operator: One hundred and sixty-five degrees.

Bartlet: No, see, I was testing you! The USDA calls for turkeys to be cooked to an internal temperature of 180 to 185 degrees.

Operator: Yes, sir, I was talking about the stuffing which you want to cook to 165 to avoid health risks.

Bartlet: Okay. Good testing!

Operator: Do you have an accurate thermometer?

Bartlet: Oh yeah. It was presented to me as a gift from the personal sous chef to the king of… [Toby raises his hand and Bartlet catches himself] auto sales in…

Toby: [whispering] Fargo.

Bartlet: Fargo. Phil Baharnd. The man can sell a car like… well, like anything.

Operator: Very good, sir. You have a good Thanksgiving!

Bartlet: And you do, too. Thanks a lot! [hangs up the phone] That was excellent! We should do that once a week.

4/ Bartlet: Were we talking about something?

CJ: I don’t know sir, when I came in here – back in the late 50’s – there was a purpose to it but then one thing led to another and I blacked out. I mean, I can hang in there with the best of them, sir but somewhere during the conversation about anise and coriander and the other fifteen spices you like to use to baste a turkey I simply lost consciousness.

Bartlet: You know that line you’re not supposed to cross with the President?

CJ: I’m coming up to it?

Bartlet: No, no, look behind you.

5/ Cliff: This is bush league. This is why good people hate us. This, right here. This thing. This isn’t what these hearings are about. He cannot possibly have been properly prepared by counsel for these questions, nor should he ever have to answer them publicly. And if you proceed with this line of questioning, I will resign this Committee, and wait in the tall grass for you, Congressman. Because you are killing the party.

6/ C.J: So, the 4-H convention.

Toby: We’re not going.

C.J: I don’t get it. How can you not want to see the butter cow?

Toby: I’m that way.

C.J: You understand it’s a life-size cow made entirely of butter.

Toby: We’re not going.

C.J: There’s also a butter Elvis and a butter Last Supper which has, I swear to God, Toby…

Toby: Butter on the table?

C.J: It’s got butter on the table right there between butter James and butter Peter, an almost mind-blowing vortex of art and material that dares the viewer to recall Marcel Duchamp.

Toby: How do they keep it from melting?

C.J: How, indeed.

Nancy: Toby, you have a phone call in the staff cabin.

Toby: Thank you.

C.J: Butter, butter, butter, butter, butter, butter, butter.

7/ CJ: Let me explain something to you. This is sort of my field. The people on these sites? They’re the cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. The muu-muu-wearing Parliament smoker? That’s Nurse Ratcched. When Nurse Ratched is unhappy, the patients are unhappy. You? You’re McMurphy. You swoop in with your card games and fishing trips -

Josh: I didn’t swoop in, I came in the exact same way everyone else did.

CJ: Well, now I’m telling you to open the wardroom window and climb on out before they give you a pre-frontal lobotomy and I have to smother you with a pillow.

Josh: [pause] You’re…?

CJ: [nodding] I’m Chief Brombden, yes, at this particular moment. I’m assigning an intern from the press office to that website. They’re going to check it every night before they go home. If they discover you’ve been there I’m going to shove a motherboard so far up your ass – What?

Josh: Technically, I outrank you…

CJ: So far up your ass!

Josh: Okay.

CJ: Okay.

8/ CJ: [about the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia] Outraged? I’m barely surprised. This is a country where women aren’t allowed to drive a car. They’re not allowed to be in the company of any man other than a close relative. They’re required to adhere to a dress code that would make a Maryknoll nun look like Malibu Barbie. They beheaded a hundred and twenty-one people last year for robbery, rape, and drug trafficking. They have no free press, no elected government, no political parties. And the Royal Family allows the Religious Police to travel in groups of six carrying nightsticks and they freely and publicly beat women. But ‘Brutus is an honorable man.’ Seventeen schoolgirls were forced to burn alive because they weren’t wearing the proper clothing. Am I outraged? No… That is Saudi Arabia, our partners in peace.

9/ Fitzwallace: Mr. President.

Bartlet: Fitz! Fitz, you old polecat, you old so-and-so.

Fitzwallace: Trying to be “one of the fellas,” sir?

Bartlet: Yeah.

Fitzwallace: Well, well done, sir.

10/ Bartlet: I’m not going to the bunker. There are going to be people who aren’t going to the bunker, and when I get out I’m not going to be able to tell them what to do anymore and I like doing that. Let’s get Abbey to New Hampshire but I’m not going to the bunker. And if you say I have to, I’m walking across the alley with the Chief Justice and I’m handing John Hoynes my resignation. And as soon as he’s sworn in I’m telling him to appoint me his Vice President because I’m not going to the bunker. If the agents come, the agents come, but tell Ron he’d better bring more than a couple of guys.

11/ Donna: “Why are you a Republican?”
Cliff: “Because I hate poor people. I hate them, Donna. They’re all so poor, and many of ‘em talk funny, and don’t have proper table manners… my father slaved away at the Fortune 500 company he inherited so that I could go to Choate, Brown and Harvard and see that this country isn’t overrun by poor people and lesbians. No… I’m Republican because I believe in smaller government. This country was founded on the principle of freedom, and freedom stands opposed to contraints, and the bigger the government, the more the constraints.”
Donna: “Wow.”
Cliff: “You agree with that?”
Donna: “No, it’s crap, but you’re really cute.”

12/ Toby: “We’re a group. We’re a team. From the President and Leo on through, we’re a team. We win together, we lose together, we celebrate and we mourn together. And defeats are softened and victories sweetened because we did them together.”

13/ Leo: “We’ve got to meet with Albie.”
Bartlet: “He’s going to scold me. He’s been at the State Department since Truman. He thinks I’m a kid and that he outranks me.”
Leo: “You’ll be fine.”
Bartlet: “I’ve got to tell him I lost a submarine. Can I make something up like say ‘what if a friend of mine hypothetically…’”

14/ Leo: “I like the little things. The way a glass feels in your hand, a good glass – thick, with a heavy base. I love the sound an ice cube makes when you drop it from just the right height. Too high, and it will chip when you drop it. Chip the ice and it will melt too fast in the Scotch…”
Jordan: “You had a drink?”.
Leo: “I’m an alcoholic. I don’t have one drink. I don’t understand people who have one drink. I don’t understand people who leave half a glass of wine on the table. I don’t understand people who say they’ve had enough. How can you have enough of feeling like this? How can you not want to feel like this longer? My brain works differently.”

15/ Toby: “There’s always been a concern about the two Bartlets. The absent-minded
professor with the ‘Aw, Dad’ sense of humor. Disarming and unthreatening. Good for all time zones. And the Nobel Laureate. Still searching for salvation. Lonely, frustrated. Lethal. The one whose father never liked him because he was too smart.”

16/ Stanley: “I think Lincoln did what he thought was right, even though it meant losing half the  country. I think you don’t do what you think is right if it means losing Michigan’s electoral votes.”

17/ Bartlet: “Let me tell you, you’re really showing me something tonight. A lot of spunk, a lot of pluck. This game isn’t all about size, you know. There’s a little thing called heart and you’ve got it, my friend.”
Toby: “You know what, old man? The very minute they swear in the next guy you and I are going round and round.”

18/ Amy: “Canadian, huh?”
Donna: “Yeah.”
Amy: “You feel funnier?”
Donna: “No, but I am developing a massive inferiority complex.”

19/ Leo: “Toby, an encouraging word from you to Sam wouldn’t be totally out of line.”
Toby: “Sam doesn’t need to be patronized. He’ll shake it off.”
Leo: “It’d make him feel better.”
Toby: “I don’t want him feeling better, I want him feeling mad. Is there anyone you’d rather have as a blood enemy less than Sam? That’s how I want him.”

20/ Toby: He’s at the Yankee game right now?

Sam: Local news covered it. He said this was how ordinary Americans got their entertainment.
Toby: I’ve been to 441 baseball games in Yankee Stadium. There’s not a single person there who’s ordinary.
Sam: I know.
Toby: You making fun of the Yankees?
Sam: No.

21/ Bartlet: In the future, if you’re wondering, ‘Crime, boy, I don’t know’ is when I decided to kick your ass.

Follow along with The X-Files season 3 roundtable podcast as we go over episode by episode of the third season of the X-Files.  This podcast is exclusively found on The Film List  and Re-Opening the X-Files podcasts. Ratings are out of 10 point scale.

Podcast goes live on talkshoe at 1030pm est, tonight 11-17-09.  AD Heath Solo, Agent Donald and Agent Shadow will be joined by a new agent, Agent Nathan.

X-FILES SEASON 3

Season 3, Episode 1 – Aired: 9/22/1995

The Blessing Way (2)

Scully finds her career with the FBI in jeopardy as Mulder is still missing and The Cigarette Smoking Man is pursuing the stolen files. The Navajo elders find Mulder’s body in a cave and perform an ancient ceremony to call the spirit back to the empty vessel.

RATING : 9.5

Paper Clip (3)

Assistant Director Skinner and Scully are at a standoff when Mulder bursts in and discovers that Skinner has the digital tape. Reunited, Mulder and Scully travel to a secret vault inside a mine and find an elaborate filing system of medical records which reveals that Mulder’s sister may not have been the first choice for abduction. Meanwhile, Skinner deals with the Cigarette Smoking Man for their safety.

RATING : 9.8

D.P.O.

When a small town chalks up five lightning-related deaths, Mulder suspects something is amiss in rural America. Despite the apparent validity of the autopsy results Mulder asks her to review, Scully, for once finds herself in perfect agreement with her partner- especially when the suspect jump-starts his boss’s heart-bare-handed.

RATING : 8.2

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose

In the midst of a psychic sideshow while on a murder case, Mulder and Scully enlist the help of a man who may have a true psychic ability to foresee how people will die to help the agents catch a man killing fortune tellers.

RATING :  9.3

The List

No-one takes much notice when a death row inmate vows on the electric chair to come back from the dead and kill 5 men who have wronged him during his time in prison; until a guard is mysteriously murdered in the former inmate’s cell.

RATING :  8.6

2Shy

A serial killer with unusual tastes is doing his stalking on the internet, luring women to him by capitalizing on their vulnerabilities, using his knack for playing into the most desperate desires. His ‘long distance’ approach makes apprehension difficult-and complicating Scully and Mulder’s investigations further in his habit of digesting his dates, making it nearly impossible to identify his victims.

RATING :  8.7

The Walk

After a suicide attempt and multiple murders at a military hospital, Mulder and Scully meet a quadruple amputee who has gained the power of Astral Projection and is taking out his personal frustrations on his commanding officers.

RATING :  7.7

Oubliette

Mulder seeks the help of a woman whom he believes has a special connection with a young girl who has recently been kidnapped by the same man who held her captive many years earlier.

RATING :  9.1

Nisei (1)

An investigation into a video of an alien autopsy puts Mulder and Scully in the middle of a conspiracy involving WWII Japanese scientists brought to America to continue their experiments which may shed light on Scully’s abduction.

RATING :  9.5

731 (2)

Mulder is trapped inside a train car which contains a suspected alien-human hybrid and also a bomb, while Scully pursues the truth about her abduction and the mystery behind the implant in her neck.

RATING :  9.2

Revelations

Mulder and Scully swap roles as they pursue a man killing priests who claim to have the wounds of Christ. The agents find and must protect a young boy who may be a real stigmatic. While Scully’s faith draws her closer to the boy, Mulder is convinced of another explanation.

RATING :  8.2

War of the Coprophages

Widespread panic is caused in a small community after numerous deaths are linked to killer cockroaches and a government agricultural agency is discovered to have set up a secret experiment involving insects.

RATING : 9.8

Syzygy

A rare planetary alignment causes strange behaviour in the residents of a small town but particularly in two teenage girls who were born at the exact same moment on that particular date.

RATING :  7.9

Grotesque

A serial killer is captured after a three year manhunt and he claims an evil spirit is responsible for the crimes. When the killings continue as he sits in jail, Mulder’s battle with a former colleague gets more heated when he suggests that something more paranormal may be involved.

RATING : 9.1

Piper Maru (1)

A French salvage ship searching for a lost WWII fighter plane unknowingly surfaces an alien which appears in the form of black oil and has the ability to jump hosts. Mulder heads to Hong Kong to investigate the salvage broker who sold the information to the French and he encounters Krycek, who has been selling information from the MJ Documents. As Mulder prepares to take Krycek back to the US, the alien makes its way to Hong Kong and takes control of Krycek.

RATING :  9.7

Apocrypha (2)

Mulder pursues Krycek, not knowing about the alien that has taken over his body, to get back the DAT tape containing the MJ Documents. Meanwhile, the shooting of AD Skinner uncovers evidence that could lead Scully to her sister’s murderer.

RATING :  9.3

Pusher

Mulder and Scully are asked to help in a case involving Robert Patrick Modell, a murderer possessing a psychic ability to force his will onto people. Due to a brain tumor that is slowly killing him, he is searching for a “worthy adversary” and he forces Mulder into a battle of mind over matter.

RATING :  8.9

Teso Dos Bichos

When a series of deaths occur immediately after an ancient artefact is brought to Boston from an excavation site in South America, Scully believes the deaths appear to be the result of political terrorism, but Mulder suspects something more improbable. He thinks that the deaths are linked to a shaman spirit released by the Ecuadorian Amaru urn.

RATING :  7.6

Hell Money

The deaths of several Chinese men found to be missing vital internal organs that were removed prior to death leads Mulder and Scully to a deadly Chinatown lottery where men wager their body parts for a chance to win a cash jackpot.

RATING : 7.7

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space

An alien abduction of two teenagers with different versions of the same facts prompts a science-fiction novelist to write a book about the incident. However no one involved with the investigation can tell him the full story with any accuracy.

RATING :  9.0

Avatar

During a one-night stand in the midst of his divorce, AD Skinner becomes a murder suspect, and Mulder and Scully return the many favors that he has done for them by analyzing evidence that someone doesn’t want uncovered to prove his innocence.

RATING :  9.7

Quagmire

When a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances are reported near a lake in a small town, Agents Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate. With local folklore of a killer sea serpent running rampant amongst the locals, the agents must take their search for the truth to the water. But before long the agents find out that there may be more to the legend then they first thought.

RATING :  9.6

Wetwired

After a man kills three people and his wife because he mistook them for a ruthless Bosnian dictator, Mulder and Scully discover a test involving mind control using television signals that make people’s worst fears become real in any form.

RATING :  9.1

Talitha Cumi (1)

Mulder and Scully search for a mysterious man with the power to heal, whose actions risk exposing the existence of aliens on Earth. Meanwhile a confrontation between Mrs. Mulder and the CSM leads Mulder to the discovery of the only weapon which can kill the aliens.

RATING :  8.9

SEASON AVERAGE RATING :  B+ (8.8)

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Threesome?!?!?!??! And with the least expected characters!! But it was too much, I mean Olivia is easy and there is no denying it, it’s the truth! Sorry, Miss Movie Star but easy come, easy go! and as Blair said: it has to be a stranger!   I understand that familiar can be comfortable but it can be TOO much mess! :-/ :O

Seriously, it was one of the most shocking and interesting episodes but it was a very complicated way for Dan to realize he loves Vanessa, I mean we the fans knew that after the whole on/off phase with Serena. That couple would fit but I don’t think it would work because its too familiar and it would take Gossip Girl into a boring phase with Dan.

Also, when will Serena control herself? i get she’s hot for the guys and she’s really a goody-do-good but there is a line and married men which happens to be Tripp, Nate’s cousin; when she could have Nate who she belongs together with after Dan? Not a guy to refuse!  But I still hope that someday she and Dan can be together but somethings are too messy to function, even when they seem right.

But so far I still LOVE gossip girl, although the second season was better but hey it only started!

xoxo

S!