Fringe: August

When this episode started I was ready to be pissed.  I knew that the observer we were following  in this episode was not the observer we were familiar with and I was annoyed that they could not get the actual actor for the big episode featuring his character.  Thankfully, Olivia noticed that it was not the same observer as well, and from there this hour of TV veered into much more interesting territory.  

I guess the title of this episode could have been "An Observer in Love" though it might have given away a bit too much.  How vane are the observers that causing the death of one of them makes a person important?  Though I guess they cannot be vane if they do not feel emotion.  Of course if August felt love maybe the others can feel vanity.

I'm glad they writers of Fringe decided to remind the audience that Olivia has a family but I was expecting someone to kidnap her niece the entire episode.  Speaking of people this show has introduced and then forgotten about, what happened to that FBI agent that helped Peter when Olivia was out of commission?  It seemed like she might be set up to be Charlie's replacement as Fringe divisions go to back up person but she only showed up in that one episode.

The fact that Peter can fire the observer's gun has something to do with inter dimensional citizenship.  The FBI might as well just let him keep it.  I really thought Walter might tell Peter about his true identity this time around.  Sadly, I guess it's just going to have to come out in some ugly unexpected way.

The Massive Dynamic mad scientist continues to be a terrific addition to this series.  Please keep giving that guy something to do!  I find him infinitely more interesting than Nina "it's cool if we clone a few kids and drive them mad" Sharpe.

Now that Walter is in possession of August's notebook I feel like the writers have opened a Pandora's box of plot lines.  Walter could translate a few key symbols and send our gang on a mission to stop a future event from happening.  It could go along the lines of Daddy Winchester's journal sending Sam and Dean on all kinds of adventures in the Supernatural universe.  

It seemed like a lot happened but I can't think of anything of consequence other than the older observer remarking that it was a shame that Olivia's life was about to get so hard.  

Supernatural: Abandon All Hope

That episode is the reason I often think of Supernatural as the best show on television.  Supernatural has done a wonderful job of creating a universe full insane and unbelievable scenarios which I implicitly buy hook line and sinker.  Let me summarize this episode.  

Sam and Dean hunt the Devil with a gun built by Samuel Colt, given to them by a a demon, that can kill anything in the world.  Sam and Dean are accompanied by an Angel and a mother/daughter pair that run a bar and hunt monsters in their spare time. The mother/daughter have to blow themselves up in order to stop a roving pack of invisible hell hounds from killing Sam and Dean.  Dean shoots the Devil in the head with the miracle gun, only to find out that it doesn't kill the Devil because the gun, that can kill everything on the planet, actually can't kill 5 things and the Devil is one of them.  The Devil then makes the brothers watch as he raises Death (one of the Four Horsemen) by killing every inhabitant of a town.  

I know it sounds crazy but as I watched this episode not only did that all make perfect sense, I was completely enthralled.  

I had thought that Ellen gave up on Jo way too soon, so I felt emotionally satisfied when she stayed with her to light up those good for nothing hell hounds.  I will miss Ellen and Jo.  They were the one example of recurring female characters that had a long and healthy relationship with our heroes.  In a show that tends to overloaded with testosterone (Sam, Dean, Bobby, Cas, Chuck, Daddy Winchester, and most other hunters) Ellen and Jo were always a welcome breath of fresh air on this series.  Ellen especially, was the closest thing that Sam and Dean had to a mother and her absence will be felt.

Speaking of strong male characters Crowley is a welcome addition to the Supernatural universe.  Sure he's not as attractive as the last crossroads demon, but Mark Shepard is one of the best actors floating around today and while we wait for Joss Whedon or Ron Moore to build a show around him, his presence will help continue to raise the bar for Supernatural season five.  

Crowley is evil, that was made clear as he sat joyously watching footage of the Third Reich (normally I hate allusions to Nazi's because they are so cliche, it was appropriate here because Crowley sees Lucifer as his own personal Hitler).  While his evil is obvious, his sense of self preservation is also apparent.  He's no idiot, he managed to give Sam and Dean the gun and not get killed by it.  That was a wonderful interaction by the way.

I would like to complain about Supernatural taking two month break now when it's on such a creative roll but I feel that is a silly thing to do considering this is the internet and you could be reading this in 2014 after picking up the complete Supernatural series on a special edition Blu Ray.  If that is the case its pretty impressive that I knew that right?  

FlashForward: Believe

In an example of terrible writing I've got to point out a glaring weakness in the character of Bryce.  He was concerned about making his death difficult for his family and believed that suicide was the only viable option.  Pretending that makes sense logically (obviously it does not) why would he kill himself so publicly on a pier in the middle of the day with literally hundreds of witnesses?  How would the media coverage that followed his death be dealt with by his family?  Either he's an idiot not worth rooting for or this is yet another example of the writers/producers dropping the ball big time.

Are Bryce and Keiko the new Penny and Desmond?  Peripheral characters that you can pin all the hope for the future on in a series that otherwise is devoid of hope and happiness?  How's that going to work if Nicole is slowly falling in love with Bryce?  How blind is Bryce that he can't see the girl of his dreams when she's on the same fraking plane as him? Did neither of them get up to pee on the flight from Tokyo to LA?  

As a viewer in order to buy into this series, I must accept that Mark and Demetri are going to fly to Hong Kong defy Stan's order and yet no one has gone to Somalia to follow up on the only true lead they've had in this entire series?  Also, Mark has still not asked his daughter why she knows the name D. Gibbons.

I'm glad they started to follow up on the cryptic text message that Olivia got regarding Mark's flash.  Olivia's not stupid, why wouldn't she think that was relevant information to her husband?  Mark is stupid but could he have gone about questioning his friends anymore boneheadedly then he actually did?  What's worse after his questioning of Aaron went so poorly he did the same exact act when he tried Stan, with exactly the same results.  

I am starting to worry that Stan is just as idiotic as Mark.  If he didn't text that to Olivia and Aaron didn't text that to Olivia shouldn't Stan be concerned about who did?  More importantly what else does this person/the NSA know?

While we are on the subject of the NSA, when the agent revealed to the group that she had information on Demetri's phone call and was subsequently pressed by the males in the room to "make the call" did anyone else laugh out loud when they cut to Mark and his "somebody fart?" face? 

I really do like Bryce and Keiko and I hope they can put Bryce's suicide behind him and move on. I also like Olivia, Nicole, Demetri, and Janis (who didn't show up this episode).  If Mark, Stan, or Aaron have to pull an Al and I don't think I'll be too broken up about it.   

No Simon or Lloyd either this time around.  Didn't miss them too much but I don't wish death upon them so take that for what you will.

The Prisoner: Harmony

What an interesting show.  It is a rarity that a series contains a glowing ball of goo which erases memory/kills/incapacitaes people, fake family members, and disappearing oceans.  

Let's start with the goo ball that keeps prisoners from reaching the crystal towers.  It seems to have erased the memory of 6 or at the least scrambled his brain.  Yet it killed 6's fake brother almost immediately after he admitted his rouse to 6.  Is it controlled by 2 or is 2 a prisoner as well and not the warden as it seems?  Speaking of 2 I forgot to mention that he spoke to the cab driver right before the cab driver "inadvertently" saved 6 from the exploding restaurant by slowing him down with his "nice guy" conversation.

Is there no money in the village?  Does that make the village communist?  In truth, it seems to be more like a dictatorship where 2 holds all the cards and informs people of their position in life.

The talking doctor is obviously scared of 2, as is the cab driver and his wife.  12 is not scared of 2 but even being the son of 2 is cold and somewhat aloof when talking with him.  Is it important that 2x6=12 or am I placing undue importance on numbers because of my love of Lost?  Is it possible to overemphasis the importance of numbers on a show where every character is numbered?

Do the people of the village interact with the real world in some way?  When 6 drives his bus is he actually driving a bus in the real world?  Is that how radio and water waves seem to phase in and out of this unreality?  Are the inhabitants of the village under some kind of augmented reality hypnotic distortion field?  Maybe the village is some kind of reality show.  Could it be a Truman show where criminals minds are erased and then reprogrammed to fit into this quasi Utopian society?

It seems like characters that 6 convinces about the unreality of the village are quickly killed off, why does 2 (or whomever is in charge) not simply kill 6?  Could the doctor with the crush on him and a fondness for Status of Liberty sketches be next?  Maybe the pleasant cab driver?

Is 6 valuable to kill off because of what he does in the real world?  From what he described he is some kind of analyst.  He's evidently good at his job considering he was able to identify the women he picked up as more than she originally let on.  Did 6's former employer place him in this "prison" to get his priorities in order and push him back on the job?  Did 6 kill the lovely lady he picked up in the coffee shop?

Wouldn't it be terrible if 6 was in fact some kind of sociopathic killer that was imprisoned because he lives in a post death penalty society?  That would certainly make him difficult to root for.

Last post I mistakenly identified the woman in bed at 2's house as the pleasant doctor with the interest in 6.  Obviously I was mistaken, I'd thank the people who corrected my error, but seeing as I am fairly sure no one is reading my "The Prisoner" posts I will hold my thanks.  I'm guessing the colored pills are some kind of meal replacement.  Based off 2's comments to the talking doctor (about his son not liking him if he knew the truth) I'm wondering if he is responsible for he current condition.  Maybe too much glowing goo ball does creates a permanent catatonic state? 

I noticed in the credits Jim Caviezel was listed as both 6 and Michael.  Did I miss him introduce himself as Michael or have we not learned that yet in the series?

The Prisoner: Arrival

Full disclosure, I've never seen the original Prisoner and probably will not bother going back to watch it.  That's why they make remakes!

The title of this episode implies that 6 (its' weird referring to a character as 6 who happens to be a he, and not a Cylon) has just arrived in the village.  2 seems to be the head honcho in the village and he is trying to convince 6 that he's gone crazy and needs to give in to the fact that the village is all there is in all the world.  524 sees the Statue of Liberty in her dreams and is inclined to accept that 6 is not crazy.  524 then explodes in an event that the doctor (whose number I forget) says happens not too frequently but sometimes does.  Also, there is a cab driver and number 2's protege (both of which have numbers that I forget).

I must say the title of this episode might as well have been disorientation!  The wife and I spent most of the episode confused and at points I was wondering if I should start taking notes.  That being said, I can tell that there is something of interest in this series.  It's got mystery, chase, danger, social commentary, great actors, and that is just what I can take away from the first episode.  

Additionally it has cultivated a definite Lost vibe!  The village itself reminds me of Dharmaville with the ways the houses are set up and the fact that the technology of the place is so obviously from a different era.  The flashback scenes to 6's life before the village were intriguing.  I liked that 6 and the mystery woman had a conservation about cell phones to at least show us that the real world is in a time/tech period more akin to our own.

Why is 6 imprisoned?  Did he kill someone?  Did he get into terrible debt after resigning from his job?  Is spray painting a window punishable by memory wipe and exile in his NYC?  Are the crystal towers supposed to be an allusion to the Twin Towers?

What was 2 doing to the nice, though misguided, doctor?  That was creepy.

Now for some wild speculation.  The village is like the island in the movie "The Island" rich people cloned themselves to grow spare parts so they would never die.  Though that seems a bit far fetched because it's been done, and if the village was in the business of making money off peoples organs I'm guessing they would go blowing people up on a sort of regular basis... Unless that's the way they keep the semblance of normalcy around the village, killing people off before they harvest their organs...

I have the next three episodes on the DVR and I plan on watching!

V: A Bright New Day

"We are of peace, always." Sure you guys are of peace.  V's are of the kind of peace that is obtained through treachery and carrots, Machiavelli would approve (I may have mixed a few metaphors there).

George Bush wishes he could have turned Cindy Sheehan the way Anna flipped the face of her protest movement... The preceding comment may have been a bit political for some, so if you were offended in some way, the following is a similarly overly wordy metaphor with a video game company instead... Anna must have learned a thing or two from Valve when they turned the "Left for Dead 2" protesters into excited fans http://bit.ly/YePmz (I am a man of many varied interests)

The V resistance is called the 5th Column, I'd like to know what the four other columns of V society are.  I bet one of them is the mind meld/Matrix juice that Anna is pushing to the brains of the loyal V's.  How does a handgun turn V's into a human shaped pile of dust?  Is Ryan now in possession of some crazy V vaporizing tech?

Human resistance was gearing up as well.  Our less than plucky heroes Erica and Jack were able to meet up with Georgie and Ryan.  Honestly, it's more like 3 and 1/2 humans but you get the point.  I'm guessing out of our fantastic four Georgie is not long for this world and does not make it past next weeks finale.  Though you'd think Erica was one the chopping block considering she broke into the secret V survellance room, got herself on camera, and was outed as a significant threat by Dale.

I must admit that when the Dr. killed Dale I geeked out (you can picture your own visual) because I simply did not see that coming.  On one hand I'm bummed that Alan Tudyk was permanently killed off this series but on the other I was thrilled with the fact that 5th Column members have infiltrated Anna inner circle.

Erica's son, Tyler, is "the one". If we follow the Matrix allusion does that mean he gets to take the blue pill and a direct line into Anna's secret sauce (that wasn't meant to read as dirty as it did)? I can't decide if this makes Tyler more or less interesting.

One more episode in this pod and then no new V until... well I'm not sure a simple Google search bore no fruit. I must say that I'm not thrilled about waiting for new episodes but if the rating stay strong I guess ABC can trickle these things out as they see fit.  Here's hoping the ratings stay rock solid!

Supernatural: The Real Ghostbusters

While some of the comedy fell a bit flat, overall I was happy with this one.  The best part of this episode was the fake hunt in which dozens of Sam and Dean's were searching for fake clues, interviewing fake witnesses, and speaking to fake ghosts.  These are the kind of inside jokes that only a terrific show in its fifth season can pull off.  

Besides that, any episode with the prophet Chuck is a winner in my book.  Especially an episode in which Chuck admits that he has no marketable skills and needs to keep writing the Supernatural books in order to feed himself.

When the Supernatural super-fan gave Sam a critical piece of information about the missing Colt in a seemingly light hearted throw away episode meant to reaffirm our heroes strength comes from each other I was reminded of Jonathan giving the Scoobie gang the key to defeating Adam in the terrifically comical and otherwise throw away episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Superstar".  I feel comfortable writing such a ridiculous sentence in this space because my Supernatural posts are the least read on Sensyden's Sounding Board which is saying something considering it has the readership equivalent of "Tim's Terrible Posts About Tuesday from Timbuktu".

Other than the Colt clue, Chuck's mysterious benefactor the "Swede" could possibly come into play in a future episode.

FlashForward: Playing Cards With Coyote

This one was a bit weaker. If Al could not find the woman he was going to kill, how did Demetri find her so quick?  Don't they have the same resources?  Al's death made front page news because it was the first instance of events not playing out in the way they should.  Is the Blue Hand group gone now? Replaced by the "hope" club that Nicole grabbed that flyer for?  If that's Al's legacy I wish he would have lived because I liked the Blue Hand angle.

Janis is trying to get pregnant to prove that Al's sacrifice was for nothing?

Simon and Lloyd playing cards to decide whether or not to go public with what they knew seemed very contrived.  According to Simon's logic, killing 20 million people makes him a god, Hitler, Stalin, and countless other historical monsters were gods.  Simon is not nearly as cool or interesting as Charlie.  Speaking of Charlie, when Simon was talking to Olivia did anyone else scream "NOT PENNY'S BOAT!" and scare both their spouse and dog?

On the lingering and annoying writing choices front this episode we still did not have anyone ask Charlie Benford about her vision and no FBI agents were sent to Somalia.  Though I guess I should at least be happy that Wedeck as least recognizes that the Somalia breakthrough is what almost got them all killed.  Is anyone else feeling odd about how often Stan touches Janis?  Could my wife have been right about him being the father of her child?

Aaron's daughter is back and running from Blackwater... I mean Jericho.  Did Aaron intentionally not mention that she looked completely beat up when he was talking her in that tent?  Aaron thought telling Mark would be a good idea because Mark is trustworthy?  The same Mark who admitted to him that he was drinking in his FlashForward.

Mark Benford is not only unlikeable, he's also an idiot.  Three stars on an arm is not exactly DNA evidence.  In fact, I'd venture a guess that it's a fairly common tattoo for someone with military/Jericho service.  Mark's best lead is sitting in his sponsors house but he's not going to put 2 and 2 together until it's too late.

The scene at the end with the Brando look a like quoting Oppenheimer was a little cool.  It would seem the rings keep you awake during the flash and our missing one must currently be in the possession of Suspect Zero.

V: There Is No Normal Anymore

It seemed odd that Erica did not know Jack was a priest.  So much ground was covered in the mini-series my brain assumed that they could write mini-biographies about each other by the end of it.  Though fun was had seeing them connect, fight, and reconnect by the end of this second stellar episode.  It is wrong that I'm rooting for the priest and the FBI agent to hook up?

I love that the characters are so fully realized in this series just two episodes in, it really is the hallmark of a good piece of fiction.  I care about Erica and Jack and I want them to successfully and safely build the resistance.  I'm worried about their well being and am greatly anticipating them getting in touch up with Ryan (the V).  

Speaking of Ryan, he does need to drop the soon to be fiancée.  He's going to get her killed, the V resistance fighter/mechanic/doctor is right.  

Is it wrong that I don't have faith in the agent we followed this week from the V task force because she played a miserable, untrustworthy, selfish character on Battlestar Galactica?  That and she made the "I'm a bad guy" face throughout all of her scenes.  Admittedly the "I'm a bad guy" face is easily confused for the "I'm a good guy, but I'm faking the viewers out" face.

Another miserable character on this show continues to be Erica's son Tyler.  His character makes me cringe every time he's on screen.  Why didn't the angry mob beat the snot out of Tyler when he hit that guy to impress the V he's got a crush on? Side note, I also intensely dislike Tyler's friend.  

Why would Dayle keep a cell phone to call the V's from on a regular basis?  Sadly it just seems like sloppy writing.  If the V's are smart enough to intercept 911 calls, they are smart enough to get their undercover agents burner phones.

I would have liked to see Erica swipe that list of crazies out of the V task force's office.  That could have added a moment of levity to a seriously intense episode of television.  

I like the way they are portraying Decker, the reporter.  I can't tell if he's in this for himself, the V's, or humanity and I think I'm going to have a fun time trying to figure him out.

Why does Anna make the blinky eyes every time Decker walks away from her?  More importantly why haven't we seen other V's make the blinky eyes?  Is it unique to Anna?  Is a twitch that comes with the stresses of being the V "High Commander"?  Why don't other V's make the blinky eyes?  These are important questions.

Have I mentioned I love this cast?

Supernatural: Changing Channels

I was ready to be angry and bitter about this episode from the teaser.  It seemed like a complete rehash of the sub par Paris Hilton episode from earlier this season.  The laugh track stuff got real old, real quick and I was afraid the entire episode would be stuck in that stale style.  Thankfully I was dead wrong!  

When they came back from commercial and the brothers were transplanted into "Seattle Mercy" hospital I knew the Supernatural crew had a much better episode in store for us than they originally let on.  As you may or may not be aware, my wife makes me watch "Grey's Anatomy" and other than the fact that the CW's version of Seattle Grace looked much shabbier than ABC's, the character names, cadence of speech, general dialog, and the background music were uncanny!

The generic "Cop Show" was terrific, I loved Dean saying that he hated procedurals!  Unbelievably, I almost missed the highlight of the episode.  I hope that Supernatural's advertisers  paid more for this particular hour of TV because after seeing Sam and Dean in a genital herpes commercial I made sure to scan each break carefully rather than fast forward through.  The Knight Rider skit was pure comic gold as well.  I laughed audibly when Sam was uncomfortable with Dean being in his "trunk".

Then Supernatural did the thing it really is great at and switched from comedy to tragedy without missing a beat.  Not only is the Trickster "an" angel, he's The Angel Gabriel!  Refusing to take sides and content to let the war play out in an effort to end it all is not how I pictured Gabriel but it is an interesting take.  In Supernatural lore it seems Gabriel did not bring the news of Jesus to Mary or deliver the Koran to Muhammad because he was busy avoiding his heavenly responsibilities.

I had a feeling that Sam was right to think that the Trickster would be a powerful ally but I did not come close to how powerful he actually is, considering he's Gabriel.  Gabriel and Castiel had an interesting little spat about finding/not finding God but I think Gabriel's tirade about Sam and Dean being chosen from the start of existence was the most interesting aspect of the episode.  

Here's hoping they can avoid their destinies because predetermination is a concept I was never comfortable with and tends to make for bad TV (see FlashForward before the episode entitled "The Gift").

Supernatural: The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

This once again was off the main storyline of the series, no Cas, Chuck, Angels, Demons, or even a hint of Lucifer and yet I did seem to enjoy it for the most part.  

The bit with Old Dean running up stairs because the elevator was out of order was a bit predictable as was the fact that his old body could not digest the burgers he's so fond of when he's his normal self.  That being said the actor cast to play Dean as an old man did a good job mimicking Dean's gestures and general attitude.  He was much more believable than "Old Bobby" who was just middle aged Bobby with grey hair and a cough.

I found it odd that the brothers did not feel the need to hunt the gambler at the end of the episode and that they were content to simply let him be (maybe the fact that he was forced to kill his partner at the end of it all was punishment enough).  I really did enjoy the actor who played the gambler.  He had a worldly way about him that mixed well with his supernatural abilities and reminded me of the character of Doyle from Angel (though it was probably just the accent).

Sam stepped it up this week and saved the day when both Bobby and Dean failed miserably to do so.  I must admit that it is nice to have Sam and Dean truly on the same side working for the same goals again.  It seems they have finally truly gotten over the "you ended the world" finger pointing.

FlashForward: The Gift

Al! You did it Al, too bad we barely knew you (I didn't even know your name until you were about to jump).  Al you changed the course of the series and your death was truly a gift to the viewers of this series as well as the characters.  You have opened FlashForward to a brand new world of possibilities, great job.

The Blue Hand cult turned out to be a bit more interesting than I expected.  Quite honestly any single episode of television that includes Battlestar Galactica actors tends to be better than the episodes that precede it.  Here's hoping we see more of the high school teacher turned German fatalist!

Why do all episodes of television entitled "The Gift" have people leaping off tall buildings to their inevitable doom (Spoiler: Buffy Season 5 finale)?

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and it seems that FlashForward is on a general upward tick in quality.  It was disappointing that Simon did not get much of a role this episode and the fact that they are still ignoring the Somalia lead is criminal.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Warning: Don't watch "The Plan" unless you've seen the complete BSG series and don't read this musing unless you've seen "The Plan".

I had this DVD sitting on top of my XBOX 360 since it came in the mail from Netflix over a week ago.  I kept finding reasons not to watch.  It's too long (almost two hour run time), the Yankee's are on (baseball bores me), or I'd rather be playing Uncharted 2 (ok that one was legitimate) all these excuses kept cycling through my brain whenever I thought about putting it on.  It turned out that I had a hard time bringing myself around to the idea of "The Plan" because Battlestar Galactica the series ended on such a strong note. I was worried this new movie might spoil the sense of pure television joy I had whenever my mind drifted to this groundbreaking show.

The good news is that "The Plan" did not sour the taste of Battlestar.  The bad news is that it did not do much to improve upon the splendor of this series either.  The most intriguing aspect of this movie was that Boomer the Cylon was able to come to the surface whenever Cavil presenter her with a hand carved elephant.  It was ironic to learn that when Boomer thought she was most out of control of her own destiny she really held the keys to her own and the entire fleets fate.  

It was fun to see scenes from season one cut into the new material shot for this movie.  I must admit that some of the early footage was simply unnerving.  Revisiting the scene where Felix saved Baltar from certain doom with newly colored with the embittered future path they would soon be on.   

A major frustration with this movie was that we still did not learn anything about the creation and subsequent decimation of the eighth (non-final five) Cylon model Daniel.  "The Plan" would have been infinitely more interesting it focused on the creation of the human Cylons rather than the story of human destruction at the hands of the Cylons.  

I was also disappointed that we did not learn the fate of the Olympic Carrier.  The Carrier as you may remember was a ship in the fleet that Apollo destroyed because the humans thought the Cylons took it over and killed all the humans on board.  It seemed like the perfect fodder for this movie to explore and yet this is an aspect of Battlestar lore that will forever remain a mystery. 

Speaking of mysteries, why did Ron Moore and company put in all the gratuitous skin?  When  I heard that there was nudity in this movie I assumed it would be the Cylon's during resurrection.  Instead we got naked bartenders, humans in the shower (ripped right off of "Starship Troopers" in a series lowlight), and Simon and his wife, in the weirdest trifecta of nudity on a TV movie I have ever seen.

Simon's wife was the one new character I was impressed with on the whole.  I thought it was poignat that humans were able to change the opinions of single Cylons since before the genocide of humanity.  Simon airlocking himself rather than destroy his home ship may have been the best moment for any Simon in the history of the series (admittedly that is a low bar).  It seemed the scene when Chief kissed her was an act of desperation to find a kindred spirit.  It's funny that that kiss and the moments around it led to the Tyrol's recurring suicide dream.

It was fun to visit these characters again, even with a subpar (for BSG) movie.  The lack of Battlestar has really left a tremendous television void.

V: Pilot

V: Pilot 

Call me crazy but I really enjoyed that.  Erica is a terrific character to build a series around and Father Jack will be a great foil for her.  Reporter Chad Decker entered a morally grey area when faced with his first major career decision and I wonder how his character will react to the choice of going with a fluff interview over a substantive Q and A.  Erica's FBI partner going reptile was a bit of a shock, though it did cleanly prove to her that the people she was dealing with weren't complete wing nuts.  Speaking of shocking I loved that the Ryan was a sleeper V agent gone rouge and again, I didn't see it coming.

The only character I didn't love was Erica's son Tyler.  I feel like the story of the son rebelling against the parent has been done to death (see "The 4400") and I never get the emotional payout I want from it.  

The overall story of V seems serviceable enough and I am certainly more excited about it than what I've seen of FlashForward thus far.  I love that sleeper V cells have been out causing havoc in the world for decades.  It's nice to pretend all of our problems come from outside malicious forces beyond our control.  

The religious angel in this series is an interesting aspect of the show as well.  It was funny that when faced with irrefutable evidence that the Christian galactic view was a bit narrow the Catholic Church immediately endorsed the V's as part of God's plan.  

Am I missing something or did the creators of V just tell the House and Senate that they better pass Health Care reform or reptilian aliens disguised as humans will trick the citizens of Earth into worshiping them (the reptiles not the Congress)?

Did I mention I love this cast?  Please ABC don't drop the ball on this unique and engaging series!