My Top Ten Shows of 2009

As the year is coming to a close, many websites are touting their "Best of the Year/Decade" lists, and I've read enough of them to know that the best list is always your own list. Looking back on the countless hours of television that I've watched and how much I loved certain things for very different reasons, I can see why critics spend weeks on their lists - they're lots of fun to compile because you get to re-experience all the wonderful stories, but you get into serious debates with yourself, constantly second guessing and rearranging.

After so many changes of heart, you finally have to accept that it's impossible to get it perfectly right. I'm pretty happy with mine. I left off some shows that I love because they either didn't have great seasons this year, or because they are new and I don't feel like I've seen enough episodes to judge yet. Then there are a few that I left off because I haven't seen them yet--after reading the lists of my favorite tv critics, Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune and Alan Sepinwall from the Star-Ledger, I have now moved Torchwood and Parks & Recreation up to the front of the line on things I need to watch.

10) Bones- Giving Booth a brain tumor and a coma dream in which he was married to Brennan gave a new burst of life to this show. Before that, things had fallen into a bit of a lull in which the interactions between the two main characters had become a cycle of life lessons. Now, however, their relationship has become the central focus of the show because Booth is keenly aware and dealing with his love for his partner on a daily basis, just as she is reaching a place where she is starting to realize her love for him. Someone could make a montage of all the emotion you can see in Booth's eyes when he looks at Bones--it would be the most romantic thing ever.

9) The Office- I love these characters so much after 5 years of awkwardness, hilarity, and sweetness, that I will continue watching for a long time. I recognize that the constrained setting means that storylines will be constrained as well and not always be at the same quality level as they once were. But the end of Season 5 was absolutely brilliant, interesting, and funny, as Michael, Pam, and Ryan formed the Michael Scott Paper Company. The beginning of Season 6 has had its ups and downs, but those Spring episodes remain one of my favorite parts of the entire show.

8) Mad Men- Season 3 was the year I fell in love with this show. I had always appreciated the exceptional writing, acting, and vision, but it was more of a fascination with what the characters would do than a deep desire to find out. Beginning with "Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency," all of that changed. With the finale "Shut the Door. Have a Seat," my obsession was sealed.

7) Chuck- Sure, I sometimes get annoyed with Chuck for not manning up. But at the end of the day, this is probably the show I have enjoyed the most over the past couple of years. It's well-made and fun, when it usually seems to be one or the other. After the Season 2 finale--"Guys...I know kung fu."--I knew what a wasted opportunity it would have been if the show didn't return. Luckily, I never had to deal with that. The show was renewed for a third season, which begins in January, and I rejoice.

6) Sons of Anarchy- The premise itself was intriguing enough to make me watch Season 1. Motorcycle club that serves as "The Law" in the small town of Charming, CA. Young man gains a new perspective on life when his son is born and he discovers his dead father's memoirs. All very loosely based on Hamlet. It was pretty great, especially in later episodes. Then Season 2 premiered in September, and I was excited to have something to watch on Tuesday nights. Little did I know that the end of the season premiere would shake me up and leave me in an emotional knot for the next 3 months. I've already written about how mind-numbingly amazing Katey Sagal was. It's worth repeating. She was incomparable.

5) Dollhouse- Aside from the final 3 episodes airing in January 2010, this show's life began and ended this year. It took a little while to find its footing, but it did--just as I knew it would--and it has since developed into as smart and engaging a show as Joss Whedon has ever done. We got to know the Actives (Echo, Sierra, Victor), the Clients (various), and the Dollhouse (Adelle, Topher, Boyd, Ballard, et al). Nothing was as simple as who was right and who was wrong. What this show presented was the idea that, no matter what heights technology reaches, you can't erase a soul.

4) Friday Night Lights- With its return to form in Season 3, fans have learned to forget that the abysmal second season ever happened. In 2009, FNL regained its clear eyes and full heart, and just as the saying goes, it couldn't lose. Tami became the principal at Dillon High School, Julie realized what a fool she had been for letting Matt go, Riggins had the

first healthy relationship of his life with the first girl he had ever loved--Lyla, and Coach Taylor had to deal with an even more annoying booster than Buddy Garrity--Joe McCoe, father of gifted freshman quarterback, JD. One of those limits of making a tv show that deals with high school is that you have to figure out the exact ages of your characters, and then acknowledge that you will have to let some of them go, no matter how talented they are. With "Hello, Goodbye," and "New York, New York," FNL gave beautiful sendoffs to Smash Williams and Jason Street. Then with the finale, a show-changing thing happened when Eric was fired from the Panthers and offered the head coaching position at the newly-redistricted East Dillon Lions. Season 4 would be no longer see our beloved coach at a well-established program, with funds and talent in abundance. Everyone loves a good underdog story. Friday Night Lights itself is one such story.

3) Battlestar Galactica- With the series concluding in March of this year, BSG had a lot of ground to cover in the ten episodes of Season 4.5. Who was the Final Cylon? Where would the fleet go now that their dream of Earth had been shattered by the discovery of a radioactive wasteland? What the heck was wrong with Starbuck? All of these questions, and more, were addressed, if not fully answered (but really, nobody wanted that--it would have taken away all the mystery). The highlights of the end of one of the greatest tv masterpieces of all time: 1) The Zarek-Gaeda coup. This is when characters were tested and true loyalties revealed. I loved seeing Starbuck and Apollo jump into action for Adama. 2) The Cylon history lesson in "No Exit." 3) The deterioration of Galactica, concurrent with the decreasing health of Laura Roslin. The performances of Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos were tragic and deeply moving. 4) The gathering of the fleet in "Daybreak." There's a line. Pick your side.

2) LOST- Every episode of Season 5 was full of momentum and tension. It took a while to get used to the time traveling, but after "316" (the episode in which Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, and Ben returned to the island), it was clear that LOST was approaching its end. We knew that the show was no longer about getting off the island. The Oceanic 6 had come back, each for different reasons, but knowing that it was where they belonged. With the season finale and the possible "RESET" that happened when Juliet hit the bomb, people are concerned that all the character development over the past 5 years will mean nothing if she changed time and made it so that Oceanic 815 never crashes. That won't happen. Without having seen more than a couple of intriguing alternate reality commercials and some cryptic hints from EPs Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, I feel confident that 2010 will bring a phenomenal conclusion to one of the most complicated, but rewarding, viewing experiences I have ever had, and will ever have.

1) True Blood- So much of this year was about True Blood for me. Because of this show, I got some really great opportunities that have brought me closer to my dream of being an entertainment journalist. I got to interview Charlaine Harris twice. I started writing for my first website, and now True Blood has become part of my daily routine. I love the characters and the story. I think the cast, crew, and writers have managed to create something that's bizarre, funny, scary, emotional--and completely addicting.

Upcoming posts:

-Six Feet Under. I finished the fifth and final season about 2 months ago, but I haven't written about it yet, which is probably a good thing. It was kind of a soul-draining experience that I can only now talk about with any real sense of clarity.

-New Year's Resolutions, by which I mean the shows that I will watch in 2010.

Endings

I spent Spring Break at the beach with my family and, on Friday night, watched the final episode of Battlestar Galactica with my dad. When the final scene faded away into the credits (yeah, Ronald D. Moore!), I laid my head down and said, "That show was the closest to perfect of any in my life." To which my dad replied, "You must have never seen Bonanza." ................

Galactica split off from the fleet with a group of volunteers to go on a mission to rescue Hera from the Cylon Colony. A firefight ensued. Apollo, Starbuck, Helo, Athena, and a group of Rebel Cylon Centurions went to find Hera. Boomer made another monumental decision and brought Hera to them (she owed the Old Man), and then Athena shot her. Hera got away from her parents and started running, bringing the dreams of the Opera House

into play for the final time, with Roslin, Athena, Caprica Six, and Baltar all playing their roles. Baltar and Six brought her into the CIC of Galactica, where Admiral Adama and the Final Five were waiting. Cavil got hold of her and put a gun to her head, until Tigh offered to give him the secret to Cylon resurrection if he would release Hera and stop chasing the humans forever. It was Baltar's speech about angels and divine power that finally got Cavil to agree. To download the information about resurrection, Tigh, Ellen, Tory, Tyrol, and Anders each had to contribute part of the equation. They stuck their hands into the hybrid pool that Anders was hooked up to

and saw flashes of each other's memories. Including Tory's murder of Cally. Tyrol stopped the process when he pulled his hand out of the water and strangled Tory. The Cylons called "foul" and started attacking again. Admiral Adama told Starbuck to jump them out of there. They all knew that Galactica was collapsing in on herself and had one jump left, so wherever they went was where they would stay. Starbuck played the magic song, "All Along the Watchtower," on the FTL keyboard, and away they went. She had brought them to a planet. The new "Earth." The human fleet joined them there, and settlement began. The happiest endings went to the family- Helo, Athena, and Hera- and, surprisingly but beautifully, Baltar and Caprica Six, and Ellen and Tigh. They went off on their own to build their homes. Tyrol, fittingly, said that he had found an uninhabited area of Highlands where he was going live. Admiral Adama knew that Laura was fading away, so he said goodbye to his son, Apollo, and his honorary daughter, Starbuck, and took Laura away in a Raptor to find a place to build the cabin they had talked about back on New Caprica. She died while they were flying over a lake. He found a place on a hilltop and buried her. Presumably, he was going to build a cabin there and live out the rest of his days. Apollo decided that, now that the fighting and the search for a home had ended, he wasn't just going to settle down. He would explore the planet- climb mountains, swim oceans. And Starbuck disappeared. She said her destiny was complete, and she was just gone. This is open to interpretation, but I like to think that Baltar and Leoben were right about her when they said she was an angel. Flash forward 150,000 years, and this primitive Earth has become our Earth. Modern-day New York City. Head-Caprica Six and Head-Baltar are walking the streets, discussing the discovery of "Mitochondrial Eve" (aka, Hera), and the advancements in robotics. This has all happened before, but it doesn't necessarily have to happen the same

way.

My other shows are entering the home stretch now. I am really excited to see what they have in store. Desperate Housewives is nearing the big finish and the conclusion of the Dave Williams storyline. Edie found out everything last week but she got electrocuted before she could tell anyone. Hmmm...a bit contrived. I'm not loving it right now, but last season's finale was pleasantly surprising so maybe the same could be said for this one. Chuck is seriously starting to escalate. Getting the Intersect out of his head is now a real possibility for Chuck, and he is working hard to find out how. Also, Ellie and Awesome's wedding will be soon which means MORE BRUCE BOXLEITNER!! LOST is, as always, full of shocking twists every week, and with only 7 episodes left, I hope my mind will continue to be blown as we approach the finale, entitled "The Incident." Dollhouse just hit the halfway mark for Season 1, with 6 episodes remaining. Several mysteries have been established while new ones are constantly being introduced (just how I like it, shows that get me hooked and don't let go), and basically everyone should be watching this show because it's awesome.

P.S.- I went back and watched the episode of The Office that I missed for Grey's Anatomy. It ended up being my favorite episode of the season, go figure. They have had a run of good episodes over the past month or so, but this one really stood out to me. The title of the episode was "New Boss," and Michael was having some issues adjusting to the guy who took the position that Jan and Ryan previously held. Played by Idris Elba of The Wire (Seriously, I've got to watch The Wire. I think I'll start this week.), Charles Miner does not stand for Michael's antics, he thinks Jim is a slacker, and he has a powerful effect on Kelly and Angela- "I could see our kids facing obstacles being half-black and half-Indian, but it's so worth it, you guys."

This is non-tv-related, but I just finished watching The Parent Trap. It was the best way I could think of to honor Natasha Richardson, to return to the first thing I saw her in, back when I was 10-years old. I teared up when she comes gliding down the stairs at the beginning to hug Lindsay Lohan. It really made me think about how much we value actors. They become part of our lives when we watch them in movies and television and on the stage- we relate to the characters they portray, they evoke emotions within us, and we hold onto the experience of watching them just as we do our own memories. We may not know the actors personally, but how to explain our feelings of sadness when one of them passes away? A fundamental part of this life is connecting with people, and of the best actors, it can certainly be said that we connect to them in a powerful way. We love them, as much as we can, for simply doing what they do, for showing us truths that make us think about life and the world. For Liam Neeson and his sons, and all of Natasha's family and friends, I pray that they would have comfort and peace.

A Brief History of EVERYTHING (By which I mean, the last few weeks)

Okay, so this was a super stressful week of classes, and more is still to come next week. That means that today and tomorrow are all about giving the ol' brain a little downtime. But I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog. My solution: delivering my thoughts to you in incomplete sentences, which is probably not what my shows deserve because they have been stellar the past few weeks. Props.

In alphabetical order so as not to show favorites (even though LOST is by far my #1)-

Battlestar Galactica-

Frakking with my mind. 2 intense weeks in a row when Gaeta (whom I loathe with every ounce of my being) staged a takeover of Galactica with the help of Tom Zarek. Things starting to slow back down as we learn more about the history of the "Final Five" Cylons. This past episode was all about the background that, having been revealed, brings the entire series into a new clarity. The EW recap by resident BSG expert Marc Bernadin sums it up perfectly:

"It was as if some hidden vault of information opened up in front of me, kind of like the Ark of the Covenant, and by the end of the hour, it melted my face off... And there were so many little touches. Anders' pre-op ramblings ('All the forgotten faces, all the forgotten children, we speak a forgotten language. The mind is its own place. The Hell of Heaven.'); Ellen the Machine Goddess offering Boomer the apple of knowledge; Roslin passing the mantle of leadership to Lee; Tigh laying his head on Caprica-Six's swelling belly. At the end of the day, you know why I loved this episode so much? Because I earned it. We all did. All of us who've been watching, faithfully, from the very beginning. It was like finally getting to the 'mystery solved' speech in a Sherlock Holmes yarn. We've put in the time, and now here's our reward. Now we know the truth behind the Cylons but knowing is half the battle."

Bones-

Follow-up to Season 2 milestone, "Aliens in a Spaceship." Booth escaped with the help of a ghost, a young soldier he fought alongside. Bones swooped in to save him. Creepy Gravedigger (turned out to be a woman, who saw that coming?) taken down with the help of Little Booth, Jared. Not as emotionally gripping as its predecessor but still great. Nothing beats the beginning of Angela-Hodgins love. Or the Booth-running-and-digging-Bones-out-of-the-dirt scene.

Burn Notice- Moving kinda slowly right now. Not that I have a problem with that because there is lots of Michael-Fiona cuteness. I am looking forward to some intense action going down between Michael and Carla soon. And I read something about finally finding out WHO burned him?

Chuck-

Post-Super Bowl episode in 3D. Except only barely so as not to exclude people without 3D glasses. Kind of a disappointment on that front. Awesome on the guest star front, though. Dominic Monaghan as a rock star being hunted by terrorists.

The Closer- Wedding of Brenda and Fritz happening soon. Lots of good episodes since it came back in January. Sanchez dealing with the fallout of his gunshot wound. Provenza being his awesome self. Last week had another Billy Kroelig-type creepy bad guy who got away with multiple rapes and a murder. Gives me chills but hope to see him again. Next week has Amy Sedaris as Fritz's sister.... Sweet!

Desperate Housewives-

Eh. Lynette continues to wear me down with her dismal storyline. Bree has nothing interesting going on. Gaby is trying to get her old self back- complete with excessive amounts of money and a hot body- but realizing that she should leave some of her less attractive former personality traits behind (we'll see how long that lasts). Susan is ridiculous. She doesn't deserve to get Mike back. Dave's masterplan seems to be at a standstill.

Friday Night Lights-

The DirecTV run ended, leaving us with no assurance that there would be a Season 4. If there isn't my heart will be broken, especially since Season 3 was spectacular in every way. Perfect exits for Street and Smash. Matt/Julie and Tyra/Landry reunited.

Life wasn't all happiness, though because JD's father was the worst kind of scum and got Coach Taylor fired. The Dillon school board offered him the position at the about-to-reopen East Dillon as the Head Coach of the Lions. Whoa. Switching my loyalties away from the Panthers will be a difficult adjustment, for me and all the characters on the show. Which is why there needs to be a Season 4 so that we can see what happens next.

Grey's Anatomy-

Lots of dramatic buildup to a Meredith-Derek proposal. Private Practice crossover didn't do much for me because I hadn't been watching Private Practice and neither knew nor cared who Archer was. Mark has definitely become a better man thanks to Lexie's influence, and their flirting is adorable. Owen-Cristina interactions have me hooked. Don't care about anybody else.

Heroes-

My once-great love for Nathan and HRG has disappeared almost entirely. Hoping some hidden layers are there that I don't see. Sylar as a mentor to a young boy is twisted but fascinating. Rest of the heroes are having to band together to hide from the Hunter/stop Nathan from this hypocritical persecution.

How I Met Your Mother-

Has lost a little of its magic from previous seasons. I might retract my judgment in retrospect, but I'm just not enjoying these episodes as much as I used to. Funny aspects remain (almost all revolving around Barney), but not with the same mixture of humor and sweetness.

LOST-

People on the island- Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Charlotte, Miles, and Locke- have been flashing through time. Good opportunities for us to learn more about the island's history as we have seen the period when the Dharma Initiative was active. Returned to events we have already witnessed- Claire giving birth to Aaron; pillar of black smoke. Desmond working in the hatch.

Rousseau arriving with her team, pregnant with Alex. Jin came back after floating in the water on a piece of wreckage. Charlotte died from time-travel sickness. Desmond and Penny are married and living on a boat with their son, whom they named Charlie (*tear*). Faraday came to Desmond in the hatch and told him that the on-island people needed his help. In the present-day, Desmond woke up and remembered that it had happened all those years before. Now looking for Daniel's mother=Mrs. Hawking=First name, Eloise, so potentially the same person as the young Ellie who is part of Richard Alpert's band of "hostiles" (along with a young Charles Widmore). Ben trying to get the Oceanic Six back to the island. What he will gain from getting them back, I don't know... Jack is fully on-board because he has finally come to accept that his destiny lies on the Island. Kate is angry. She wants to keep Aaron away, but she should come around soon because she will follow Jack to the end of the world. Sun is willing to go back because Ben gave her proof that Jin is still alive (How will Jin react when his wife brings his baby girl, Ji-Yeon, to that place?). Hurley is in prison. Sayid is the biggest holdout because he resents Ben for making him kill people. I can't wait to see the reunion between the 2 groups.

The Office-

Post-Super Bowl episode, "Stress Relief," definitely full of moments of high hilarity. Overall, not the greatest episode ever (I still argue that "Money" has been the only hour-long to successfully maintain a great story that is consistently funny). Favorite parts were with Andy, thinking that Pam & Jim were really insightful about the movie they were all watching together, even though they were talking about something completely different. 2-part episode, "Lecture Circuit," was awkwardly wonderful. Michael and Pam traveling to other Dunder-Miflin branches. The hope of a Holly Flax reappearance was dangled and then snatched away. Soon, my friends. Soon. Back in the Scranton office, Jim and Dwight trying to function as the party planning committee. Angela licked her cat.

The Beginning of the End: Battlestar Galactica

It's been a very long time since the fleet's hopes (and ours) were shattered by the revelation that Earth was not the Promised Land. For 3 years, Galactica has been searching the galaxies far and wide to find a home for the remaining 40,000 survivors. They have endured Cylon oppression, personal loss, political upheaval, and everything else imaginable, but they knew that everything would be okay once they found Earth. At first, most people didn't even believe in the prophecies that told about the lost planet of the 13th tribe. But President Roslin's faith was unwavering. And soon everyone believed.

So where do they go from here? In the case of last night's Season 4.5 premiere, many have simply given up. Dee left the desolate planet, sobbing, but once back on Galactica seemed like she was optimistic. She had a heart-to-heart with Lee, they enjoyed a fun night together, Lt. Gaeda noted that she was "glowing," and then she shot herself. I have not felt such a physical and emotional upheaval in a long time. After that, everything just seemed to be crumbling. President Roslin burned her book of prophecy one page at a time. She skipped her cancer treatment and couldn't have cared less. Admiral Adama was walking down the halls of the ship as his crew was fighting and crashing around him. When Laura shut him out, he got very drunk and tried to enrage Tigh so that he would shoot him. Death would have been a welcome presence on Galactica, and that was more shocking to me than the truth about Earth.

The Cylons were having an alternate experience than the humans. They lingered on Earth because, looking around the wreckage, they were having flashbacks to their previous lives.

2000 years before. On Earth. It would seem that the 13th tribe was made up of Cylons because the remains found, although they appeared to be human bones, were later confirmed by Baltar to be Cylons. No human bodies found anywhere.

Except for 1. Starbuck went off on her own search for the source of some signal, accompanied by Leoben, and started finding pieces of her Viper. Then she found the cockpit with a body in it. Completely charred, but with some leftover blonde hair. And around the neck, her pilot tag and wedding ring. She made a huge bonfire and burned what was left of the body, perhaps afraid of the implications if someone else found it. Then she would surely be thought to be the Final Cylon. I haven't entertained the possibility of Starbuck being the Final Cylon for a long time. I was positive that she wasn't, even after she came back in the brand new Viper. I admit, last night, I started to have my doubts. But then Tigh walked out into the sea, contemplating the idea of letting the tide carry him away, and he stopped, because he had a flashback. Ellen was there. On Earth 2000 years before as the nuclear attack was happening, she told him not to worry because they would be reborn together.

So the big reveal happened. I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point. On the one hand, I trust Ronald D. Moore unconditionally. He has never disappointed me before. This is probably the closest thing to a perfect show that I will ever see. And yet, I can't understand what the implications are of Ellen being the 5th. When we saw at the end of Season 3 that Anders, Tyrol, Tigh, and Tory, were Cylons, that was a huge deal because they were all intimately connected to the fleet. Now that we know Ellen is one, it explains some things about her character and actions, perhaps, but who will this matter to except for Saul? That has not been determined, so I withhold my judgment until everything plays out. I have a feeling it will be bigger than I expect. With Battlestar Galactica, it always is.

----In other news, shows are just starting to come back, so I don't have a lot to report on. But I would just like to mention how stellar the first episodes of The Office and Grey's Anatomy were. In The Office, Michael (of course) was the one to tell Andy about Angela's affair with Dwight. So the 2 guys (of course) decided to have a duel. My favorite moment was when Oscar realized that Dwight and Angela had engaged in their "activities" on his desk. And Grey's was just really enjoyable this week, I'm sure due to the presence of Derek's mom, the awesome Tyne Daly. Izzie was trying to help Meredith be bright and bubbly (result: "alarmingly high ponytail"), but Mer eventually came clean and said, "Look, mom's don't like me. I'm not a cheerful person. I'm someone who feels sorry for serial killers." And this was all it took for Mrs. Shepherd to know that she was the right girl for her son. Sloan told her about his relationship with the 24-year old Lexie ("the one with the juice box"), and she assessed the situation for him, asking Lexie if she was "a good girl." Meredith and Cristina aren't on friendly terms, but we know they still care, especially when Cristina tells Meredith that her ponytail looks ridiculous. And in other Cristina news, her interactions with Hunt this week were especially awesome. He asked her on a date. She asked him what his best surgery was. He showed up to her apartment drunk and took a shower with all his clothes on. Soaking wet, he told her that about his best surgery on a soldier with holes in his body that he saved but the guy later killed himself. So she got into the shower with him. With all her clothes on.

Next week: LOST + Bones + more Battlestar = much rejoicing

LOST & Battlestar Galactica Finales

This post is long overdue. One good excuse is that these phenomenal shows are very dense and require a great deal of processing...yeah, that's it, I was processing. The delay has certainly not been because I was watching other things, like Buffy and Angel...

Anyways! Both were quite excellent. There isn't really anything left to say about them. Haha! Okay, that was a joke. Get it? Because there's lots left to say. I seriously dropped the ball on LOST reporting during the last half of the season. I had wanted to try moving from the realm of "recap" into that of "commentary," but then became too intimidated by the task. After all, in a show like LOST, trying to explain what you think things mean results in your being wrong a great majority of the time. I don't tend to handle failure well... But for this finale post and for later seasons, I'm going to attempt to be a risk-taking writer because I find that to be the most interesting. In cases where my theories are completely off, I hope my readers will at least be able to admire my bold ideas. (Either that, or I'll go back and change what I wrote to make it seem like I knew the right answers all along.)

The finale, "There's No Place Like Home," left our characters with futures more uncertain than ever before. Jack, Kate, Aaron, Desmond, Sun, Hurley, and Sayid departed from the island by helicopter. My darling Sawyer heroically jumped out to lighten the load, but not before he kissed Kate and whispered something in her ear - a favor involving his daughter, Clementine, most likely. He swam back to the island (oh, bless the shirtless magic) where he joined Juliet in her Happy Hour. The freighter blew up, killing Michael. Jin was on the deck when the explosion occurred, but I suspect he survived and was blasted into the water, sucked into Ben's Great Island Move. With a great burst of light, the island disappeared, taking with it: Locke, the new leader of the Others; Charlotte, Miles, and Faraday; Juliet and Sawyer; and, hopefully, Jin. To what place (or time) the island went, we do not know. All we know is that off-island, the Oceanic Six have been going about their separate lives. None of them is happy. Jack is a depressed, alcoholic druggie with a lumberjack beard. Sayid's wife has been murdered, leading him to work as an assassin for Ben Linus. Hurley gets regular visits from dead people in his mental institution ("Checkmate, Mr. Eko."). Sun has become ruthless in her mission to avenge Jin's death. Kate had a nightmare with a foreboding message from Claire. All of them were visited by a man named Jeremy Bentham who told them that they had to return to the island. This turned out to be our man in the coffin from the Season 3 finale, none other than LOCKE. Ben came to see Jack to tell him that he had some ideas on how they could return to the island, but that everyone had to be brought back. This includes Locke, and obviously the Six, but who else? Possibly Walt. I doubt that helicopter pilot, Frank, would be required. I'm hoping that Desmond will not have to go. His reunion with Penny was the most beautiful resolution to the heartache I had been experiencing ever since "The Constant." He promised her that he would never leave her again. As much as I will miss Henry Ian Cusick, I want more than anything for him to stay where he belongs.

I have a feeling that next season is going to be very different, structure-wise, than it has been. Rather than flashbacks and flash-forwards, I think we will be alternating between the people who were left back on the island and those who have to find a way to return. It will certainly be interesting to see what Locke discovers about his precious island, and what would make him leave...

Battlestar Galactica. More like Battlestar FANTASTIC-A! The last two episodes of 4.0 had more depth and emotion than I have seen yet on this show. "The Hub," written by Buffy rock star Jane Espenson, followed the Cylon rebel bayship in its journey back to the resurrection hub. Roslin explored her responsibility as a leader to the rest of humanity. She finally allowed herself to feel the love that she had for Adama. D'Anna was unboxed and withheld her knowledge of the Final Five until they met back up with Galactica and the fleet. Cylons and humans worked together to attack and destroy the resurrection hub. In one swift blow, they laid the burden of mortality on all Cylons, now without the ability to download into new bodies. The finale, "Revelations," finally delivered on the promise that served as the show's mantra this half-season: "All will be revealed." D'Anna decided to hold Roslin and the rest of the human pilots hostage on the rebel bayship until the 4 Cylons in the fleet were released. Admiral Adama finally learned the truth about his best friend and was consumed with anger and grief. Lee, still serving as Acting President, had to figure out if he could rescue his people without risking the loss of the way to Earth. Tigh, Tyrol, and Anders followed the music in their heads to Starbuck's mysterious Viper, which now pointed the way to Earth. Lee and the humans made an agreement with D'Anna and the Cylons that they would all go their new home together. They didn't have to continue the lies and the manipulation: on Earth, they could start fresh. The problem, however, arose when they landed on the planet of their dreams to find destruction.

BSG returns sometime next year for its final 11 episodes. LOST returns in January for the 16 episodes of its fifth and penultimate season. I find it hard to believe that over the next two years, I will witness the conclusion of these masterpieces. Undoubtedly, my experience will be one of fulfillment and despair at the same time, for what could possibly take their place?

The Catch-Up Post: LOST, Battlestar, Brothers & Sisters, and more...

I am a horrible person. I have not posted anything in over a month. You know what I say to that? Whatevz! It's my freakin' blog!! I do what I want! But in all seriousness, I'm sorry for being so absent. I do have an excuse- whenever I have had time to think about tv, I have spent it watching Buffy and Angel for the first time (more on that to come later) instead of writing about things I have already seen. I know that my loyal readers (all 2 of them) have been suffering withdrawal from my television rantings. Fear not! This is going to make up for all of that- a summary of everything I've watched since April.

1) Grey's Anatomy. Welcome back into my life! I had almost given up on it, but I gave it a second chance hoping that the strike would give it a renewed sense of purpose. Indeed, the last 3 episodes have been quite good. I didn't even realize how much I missed the characters. Well...really just Derek, Dr. Bailey, Cristina, and Sloan. But now we are happily reunited. The writers have toned down the soap opera factor, and the dialogue is actually funny again. The Addison episode, in particular, was classic Grey's. Although I would have to say my favorite scene so far has been Dr. Bailey advising the nurses to stop boycotting Dr. Sloan's surgeries because they all knew he was a whore when they slept with him. I'm so glad Meredith has found a forum for her whining in therapy. And that Izzie and George are now firmly back in their "just friends" corners. Overall, I'm enjoying my return to Shonda's world, and I hope that I'm never forced to leave again.
2) New Amsterdam. This show started at the beginning of March and ended after only 7 episodes. I really wanted to find a new show this semester (something to fill the void in my heart left by Chuck and Pushing Daisies), and I wish that this one had turned out as amazing as it could have been. I was very intrigued by the story- it's about a New York cop who is immortal until he finds his one true love. Each episode had some murder case that related to his past, so there were lots of flashbacks, ranging from Colonial times to the '50s. I loved some of the details put into the show: in the pilot, he goes to the middle of Times Square and takes a picture. He goes back home and puts the picture on the wall alongside dozens of other pictures of the same spot, labeled by year, so you can see the evolution of just that one section of the world. Amazing, really. Unfortunately, the acting was nothing memorable. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played John Amsterdam, was good, but the other characters were pretty thin. Truthfully, I don't regret watching the show, but I don't regret it being canceled either.
3) Samantha Who? This show is fun, and that's all there is to it. Every single member of the cast is perfect in his or her role: Christina Applegate as Samantha Newly, the amnesiac learning about the world and herself one day at a time; Melissa McCarthy as Dena, Samantha's childhood friend who just wants to be included; the scene-stealing Jennifer Esposito as Andrea, Samantha's long-time best friend who is trying to keep "old Samantha" alive by making sure she doesn't become too good of a person; Jean Smart and Kevin Dunn as Regina and Howard Newly, Samantha's HILARIOUS parents; Barry Watson as Todd, Samantha's sweet and adorable ex whom she falls in love with again and has to steal from his crazy new girlfriend; and, finally, Tim Russ as Frank, the stoic, but wise, doorman who reluctantly has gotten to know Samantha. I really appreciate this show simply for consistently making me laugh. I don't love it like I do The Office, but I get the same enjoyment out of it that I think other people get from Scrubs, which I refuse to watch because I think Zach Braff is a major tool.
4) The Bachelor. Well, he chose Shayne! I resisted her all the way up until the finale, but I guess she kind of ended up growing on me. The best part about her is that Matt really seems to be himself around her. Even though I loved Amanda, and then rooted for Chelsea, Matt said that Shayne made him feel something he had never felt before, so I am satisfied (I keep telling myself). It is totes adorable that he calls her "Monkey" because of how she holds onto him so tight when they cuddle. I just watched this little video of the two of them finally able to do a public interview as an engaged couple, and I can't lie, it was really cute.
5) Gossip Girl. Such intense drama, I am exhausted just from watching. I probably won't be able to write about it very long before I need a nap. Anyways, let me try to break it down! Jenny Humphrey and Blair have engaged in a war of social power. Each one does something petty to try to gain the advantage. Little J starts dating a very wealthy, very preppy boy from another school who makes out with Serena's little brother, Eric, on the side. Serena has been pushing Dan away in the post-strike episodes because a friend from her past has returned: the truly devilish Georgina Sparks, played by Michelle Trachtenberg. Georgina wants things to go back to the way they used to be when she and S were wild- drinking, doing drugs, doing whatever they wanted. She knows the real reason Serena left town for boarding school and holds that secret over her head. The only person that Serena can really talk to is Chuck, who has become my favorite character. Like, seriously, I love him. Turns out Serena killed someone. Except not really, because all she did was hand a guy some of his own drugs that he used to overdose. Before everything gets resolved, though, Georgina, who has become friends with Dan as a girl named Sarah, seduces him to hurt Serena. Also, Nate likes Vanessa now. And for the first time, he seems like an actual human being. And Rufus and Lily sleep together on her wedding night to Bart Bass. The end. (Naptime)
6) Brothers & Sisters. A lot happened at the end of this season. Nora spent lots of time with Isaac. Isaac asked Nora to move with him to Washington, D.C. She accepted. Her kids became insane. She decided to stay. Sarah was sleeping with Graham (Steven Weber). He lined up a business deal in China that would be a huge commitment for Ojai. Sarah wanted Saul to reject the deal because she couldn't tell Graham herself. Saul went behind her back and signed the contract anyway. The business partner in China went bankrupt and put Ojai $20 million dollars in debt. Sarah needed Walker Landing to bail Ojai out. Holly came up with a scheme that created a merger between the two companies, so that Sarah and Tommy would be co-Presidents and she would be CEO. Kitty and Robert tried to get pregnant. After many failures, they decided to adopt. Kevin proposed to Scotty. Kevin married Scotty. Rebecca had doubts about whether William Walker was really her father. Justin admitted that he had feelings for her when he thought about her as not being his sister. Rebecca discovered that David (Ken Olin) was actually her father. She lied to Justin because she didn't want to leave the Walker family. She then told the truth. He was mad. Then he forgave her. Then they kissed. Oh, and William Walker probably fathered another child, some boy named Ryan.
7) Desperate Housewives. Gaby adjusts to married life with blind Carlos. One very amusing episode has her using his handicapped parking tag. He gets a seeing-eye dog. A cocaine dealer moves into their spare bedroom, and the cops want them to act like nothing is wrong because they want to arrest her supplier. Susan is the funniest pregnant woman alive. There is one scene where Mike has just come home from rehab. She wants to make his favorite dinner, and when she finds out that it's not actually his favorite, she breaks down and leaves to put her emotions in the metaphorical box that Bree told her about. Mike and Susan find out that Orson was the one who ran over Mike and put him in the coma. They manage to forgive him, but Bree kicks him out. He spends a drunken night at Edie's, and Bree gets the wrong idea. Edie finds out the truth about Danielle and Austin and Benjamin. She blackmails Bree, who finally comes clean with the girls about everything. Cue dramatic walking scene. They inform Edie that they are cutting her out of their lives. Rick comes back into town. His restaurant is burned down, and Lynette is convinced that Tom did it. It was actually the twins, Porter and Preston. They were given the idea by Kayla. Lynette thinks Kayla needs counseling. Kayla does need counseling because she is a manifestation of evil straight out of The Bad Seed. She convinces one of the twins to jump off the roof. The shrink thinks that Lynette and Kayla need to spend time together so that they will come to see each other in a real mother-daughter way. Kayla tells Lynette that she convinced the twins to try to jump off the roof (which one of them did, causing him to break his arm). Lynette slaps Kayla, who later calls the shrink and says that she is afraid because she is being abused. Katharine and Bree bond after planning a party together, and it is wonderful. Dylan's dad (Gary Cole) makes contact with her, and they secretly begin spending time together. Katharine finds out and wants to prove that he is a horrible man who is incapable of love. She tells him that she had affairs when they were married and that Dylan is not really his daughter. He has a DNA test done, confirming what Katharine said. He gets drunk and watches old home videos of Dylan as a little girl- one in which she is riding her bike and shows her dad some stitches on her arm. Later, Dylan comes over to see him, and he notices that there is no scar on her arm. OMG. I did not see that coming. Different girl.
8) The Office. Michael and Jan have a dinner party. Hilarity ensues. They break up. In the next episode, a few months have passed. Jim and Pam are still going strong. In fact, he tells her that he is going to propose to her. Dwight and Michael party with Ryan in New York City. Ryan is a coke head. Stanley yells at Michael in front of everyone. He tells Michael that he has no respect for him. Michael is upset that his friend would say those things to him (haha). He doesn't want to fire Stanley but tells him that he can't talk like that to his boss at work. Dwight makes his usual power plays. More hilarity ensues.
9) Battlestar Galactica. The most recent episode, "Faith," was incredible. The ones before that have been kind of...confusing. There hasn't seemed to be much purpose, except to show that the Cylons are fighting amongst themselves (The Brother Cavils killed a bunch of Sixes, Eights, and Leobens). And Tory killed Cally, who found out that Tigh, Tory, Anders, and Tyrol are Cylons. The Chief has since become a very angry man. Colonel Tigh is adjusting to his discovery that he is a Cylon by visiting the captured Six every day. It's sorta weird... Apollo has been MIA since he became a member of the Quorum. His new role hasn't done anything more than show that Laura Roslin is abusing her power. She is, however, dying of cancer. Admiral Adama sits by her bed during treatments reading books to her. Starbuck and the crew of the Demetrius have been searching for Earth. Starbuck has become a bit of a nutjob. Everyone except Anders becomes part of a mutiny (I still love you, Helo!), but then Leoben comes upon them. He wants Kara to come see the Hybrid and continue her journey to Earth. She finds out that she has to unbox D'Anna (yay Lucy Lawless!!) to reveal the final 5 Cylons, who can then lead her to Earth. The Hybrid also mentioned that she is "the harbinger of death." Or something like that. Intense. And intensely awesome.
10) LOST. Episodes 7-11: "Ji-Yeon," "Meet Kevin Johnson," "The Shape of Things to Come," Something Nice Back Home," and "Cabin Fever." Each amazing in its own way. So it would be inadequate to merely summarize them in one paragraph here. Also, this has become the longest blog in history. And my hand hurts. So I'm going to put it off a few more days until I can sit down for another length of time and write about each episode in detail. I will say one thing, though. In the future, Jack and Kate get engaged. And, although my heart belongs to Sawyer and I am a Skater through and through, it was kinda hot.

Battlestar Galactica

I'm doing another post today because I have some catching up to do. It's that stupid strike! It threw me off my television groove ("I'm sorry, sir, you've thrown off the Emperor's groove." "Ahhhhh!!!!"). As soon as all my shows come back- starting with The Office tomorrow- everything will be back to normal. Just in time for summer to get here and all my shows to go on hiatus again...

The 4th and final season (*tear*) of Battlestar Galactica kicked off with a great premiere titled "He That Believeth In Me." The best part of the episode was that they put us right back in the action. Most premieres tend to be catch-up episodes where they show you a little about where each character is now and show you what the season is going to be about. Well, the people at Battlestar Galactica don't mess around. Starbuck returns. She thinks she's been gone 6 hours when she has, in fact, been presumed dead for about 2 months. Her story is that she followed the Cylon Raider into the storm back in "Maelstrom," blacked out, woke up orbiting Earth, took some pictures, and then joined back up with the fleet. People are obviously concerned that she is a Cylon. [My theory: Roslin is the Final Cylon. More on why I think this is true at the end of the post.] Lee, bless his sweet soul, could care less what she is. The second he stepped out of his Viper, he rushed over to her and hugged her like he would never let go. Meanwhile, Anders, Tori, Tyrol, and Tigh, have to adjust to the realization that they are Cylons. They don't know what their purpose is, or when they will lose control of themselves, which makes things very exciting- and tense for them, I'm sure. Tigh has made it clear that he will shoot himself if need be, yet he daydreamed about shooting Admiral Adama in the head... Baltar's trial has just ended and now fears for his life. Luckily (?), he is taken into the protection of a cult of women who worship him. Starbuck wants to lead the fleet to Earth because she now has some mysterious connection to it, but the farther they jump away from it, the weaker her link becomes. Adama wants to trust her, but he feels like he needs to listen to Roslin and keep going in the direction she thinks Earth is. So, Starbuck's solution is to go to Roslin while she's sleeping and point a gun at her...

So Season 4 is off to an excellent beginning. Each character has plenty to deal with. This should be a very intense 10-episode arc, and I, for one, will love every second of it. So say we all.

Why I think Roslin is the 12th Cylon: Her visions. What other characters have had these kinds of visions? The Chief. Cylon. D'Anna. Cylon. Granted, Starbuck has had some crazy dreams before, too. But I truly believe that she will not be the Cylon. Perhaps she does have some greater purpose (Kara Thrace and Her Special Destiny), but I think the ultimate Cylon plan involves Roslin- who is much more influential in the human race than Starbuck. Another clue is her cancer. Cylons are biologically the same as humans in every way, except for their programming. Wouldn't it be a masterful Cylon trick if Roslin were programmed to have cancer- just to convince everyone that there was no way she could be a Cylon? But, by some amazing skill from Dr. Gaius Baltar, he found a cure for her the first time: the blood of the Cylon-human hybrid. I read in an interview with Ronald D. Moore that the hybrid blood will not be used now that her cancer has returned. Thus, I started to think that the Cylons might have reprogrammed Roslin's cancer so that it could not be cured in the same way. Perhaps she will even die. But I think that everything that has happened to Roslin aligns very nicely with a Cylon plan to take over the humans. She is not only the President, but she is also close to Adama. He listens to her advice. Control of the government + control of the military. Why, then, would Roslin be guiding them in the wrong direction? My guess is that the Cylons don't want the humans to reach Earth. Not first, at least.


Joss Whedon and others talking about how awesome BSG is