Sun Eggs and George Takei: The Horrors of the Stennheiser-Pong Wedding Reception on the Season Finale of Starz's "Party Down"

Was it just me or was Friday evening's season finale of Party Down ("Stennheiser-Pong Wedding Reception") absolutely hysterical and poignant in equal measure?

Throughout its first season, Party Down--which will return for a second season sometime in 2010--has proven itself to be a cutting social satire of the wannabe Hollywood set as it explores the morals and motivations of a group of cater-waiters hoping to move up a rung on the ladder of fame and fortune.

In episodes scripted by co-creator/executive producer John Enbom, this has typically taken a dark turn and Friday night's episode ("Stennheiser-Pong Wedding Reception"), which guest starred the always delightful Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) as Ron's catering nemesis Uda Bengt, was no exception, offering an installment that not only shocked and saddened but also made me giddy with excitement.

While Party Down attempted to cater a gay wedding this week, they discovered that they weren't the only caterers assigned to the event and soon had to contend with the Valhalla Catering Company, a group of attractive, black-garbed model-esque waiters overseen by the rigid and icy Uda Bengt (Kristen Bell). (Yep, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.) But that's not the only problem. Ron is a total mess, having gone off the deep end and reverted back to his old habits of drinking, Roman is stuck directing guests' attention to the restroom sign and latches onto wedding guest George Takei, Casey awaits a call about a gig that could end her relationship with Henry, Bobbie (Jennifer Coolidge) is high on magic mushrooms (her description of lemons as "sun eggs" had me rolling on the floor), and Kyle is desperate to pitch himself to a producer at the event.

All of which leads to poor Henry having to take the reins of Party Down and keep everyone on track. Season One has largely been about Henry's path from former actor ("Are we having fun yet?") to full-time caterer, a move that he's been largely resistant to, even as he can't quite veer from this inevitable destination. But Henry does step up, organizing the color-coded appetizer trays, preventing George Takei from dying, keeping Ron under control and largely out of site, and shielding his employer from the suspicions of Alan Duk (Ken Jeong). And just like that, Henry suddenly is thrust into the role of responsible member of society, a team leader. In essence, Henry has now become Ron.

For everyone else, the party provides a bit of an escape, a last hurrah before their lives change forever. Casey accepts a six-month stand-up gig aboard a cruise ship (shudder), Kyle is so willing to do anything to get a role in a feature film that he agrees to do, well, anything (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), and Ron finally gets the seed money from Duk to start his very own Soup R' Crackers franchise. It's a series of changes that beautifully sets up a second season of the series and allows some actors to come and go.

I'm hoping, however, that they all--including Jane Lynch--return for another go-around as I'd hate to lose any of them. I think that it's pretty safe to say that Ron's Soup R' Crackers franchise will fail (especially now that Ron is back on the sauce) and he'll have to return to Party Down, likely reporting to team leader Henry, and Casey will return from what's bound to be a horrific cruise gig as well. Jennifer Coolidge's Bobbie St. Brown has been a fine fill-in for Jane Lynch's Constance Carmell but I'm hoping that Lynch can find time from her busy Glee-filled schedule to reprise her role as Constance next season.

Meanwhile, I have to say what a thrill it was to see Kristen Bell again on the small screen, particularly in scenes with her former Veronica Mars sparring partners Ryan Hansen and Ken Marino, the latter of whom played the despicable Vinnie Van Lowe on the short-lived Rob Thomas series. Bell brought a severe iciness to the role and we felt--painfully--just how much Uda manages to ruffle Ron's feathers. (Personally, I could see an entire series filling in the backstory between Uda and Ron when they worked together at Party Down.) And the way that Bell kept up her arctic demeanor even when hitting on Henry? Priceless. (Is there anything we can do to lure Bell back to a weekly series again? Anyone?)

All in all, this week's episode of Party Down was a fantastic season closer to a ten-episode run that has cemented Party Down as one of the hilarious and moving comedies on television today. I'm going to miss the deliciously loopy gang at Party Down and hope that Rob, John, et al can bring them back to the small screen sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I see a sun egg that requires my attention.

Party Down will return with a second season next year on Starz. Missed the first season? It's currently available for streaming on Netflix's Watch Instantly.

All Pomp and No Circumstance: An Advance Review of the "Gossip Girl" Season Finale

Gossip Girl unmasked? Could it be?

I had the opportunity last week to see tonight's season finale of the CW's Gossip Girl ("Goodbye Gossip Girl"), in which all signs point to the elusive trash talker being, well, trashed herself after the muckraking maven unveils a series of shocking scandals at the graduation commencement ceremony.

Just who could be behind the juicy blasts? Well, that would be telling but this wouldn't be Gossip Girl without several plot twists being involved. (Hell, I'm not even saying whether Gossip Girl is even really unmasked.)

It's an intriguing storyline that pays homage to the role that the never-seen GG has played on the eponymous series. Her blasts--and ubiquitous narration--have provided no end of groan-inducing pun-based wordplay on the series but there's no way that Kristin Bell, who voices the elusive blogger, would turn up in the flesh on Gossip Girl proper, so don't hold your breath waiting for Bell to walk into the Oak Bar or similar.

What else can I tell you about tonight's episode? It features resolutions to some of the season's romantic storylines, with several twists in store for Lily and Rufus, Chuck and Blair, and Nate and Vanessa. Just who will end up together and who will be torn asunder? You'll have to watch to find out.

Meanwhile, there's a subplot that involves Eric's boyfriend Jonathan and Blair selecting her heir to the throne at Constance Billard School for Girls. To whom will Blair pass her scepter and tiara? That would be telling but look for there to be much in-fighting between Jenny and Mean Girls Penelope, Nelly Yuki, and Hazel as they each set about to win the right to choose Blair's successor for a variety of reasons.

And Georgina Sparks makes a decision that could have major consequences for several characters on the series but it's not quite what you might expect. (One fly in the ointment, however, is that Michelle Trachtenberg's NBC medical drama Mercy was ordered to series, so I don't know how much time Trachtenberg will have come next season.)

Plus, the gang graduates in one of the most unimpressive and unimportant graduating scenes ever to air on television. But given this group's interest in gossip rather than (caps and) gowns, is it really a surprise that the series would downplay this rite of passage? Serena braiding her tassel into her hair rather than wear a traditional mortarboard? Really? Where were the yearbooks, the photographs, the excitement and nerves of graduation? Sure, these kids are oh-so sophisticated but it is the end of an era, an important stepping stone on the path to adulthood.

Basically, I was hoping for a bit more fun here (even if not pomp and circumstance) and for anything of interest to happen to characters like Dan, Vanessa (hiss!), and Jenny. There's a rather intriguing subplot involving Serena that I won't spoil here and the set-up for a major confrontation in Season Three with a mystery figure but overall I wanted the series to rediscover its way a little and recapture the frothy fun and exuberant spirit of excess that defined its first season. One can't help but hope that the summer allows both Gossip Girls' characters--and its writing staff--the opportunity to recharge their batteries.

As it is, the road to college would seem to be just more of the same for these Upper East Siders. Let's hope that it winds up being the blank slate that Serena and Company (and Schwartz and Savage) need in spades.



Gossip Girl returns with a third season this fall on the CW.

Fixing the Pit: Another Look at NBC's "Parks and Recreation"

After its six-episode first season, NBC's Parks and Recreation still isn't reaching anywhere near its actual potential.

Given the strengths of creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur and the comedic timing of the talented cast, Parks and Recreation should have been a home run but it's been hampered by an unnecessary and clunky format that sucks the energy out of every scene and an over-reliance on unfunny talking heads.

However, last night's season finale of Parks and Recreation ("Rock Show") was at least a step in the right direction. Written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Mike Schur, it played down the mockumentary aspects of the format that are typically overused and irritating, focusing the energy of the piece on several storylines--Andy (Chris Pratt) getting his casts off, Leslie (Amy Poehler) going on a date with a much older man, and Ann (Rashida Jones) discovering that Andy had lied to her--all of which dovetailed quite nicely at Andy's first rock gig with his band, Scarecrow Boat, since he fell in the pit and broke his legs.

Parks and Recreation tends to go off the rails when it relies too heavily on the documentary angle, with the cameras forced to shoot from behind windows, trees, or blinds at the action going on inside tiny, cramped offices. The documentary aspect works a hell of a lot better over on The Office, thanks to the physical arrangement of the workplace set. By using an open-plan bullpen-style environment, The Office is able to imbue each scene with a vibrancy that's missing here; at any time the camera can swing around to grab a reactions shot or a snatch of dialogue and this openness gives The Office some of its best bits.

By contrast, much of Parks and Recreation is set in a series of separate offices and there's none of the community and spirit of its predecessor. The talking heads--which don't always work quite as well on The Office as they should either (as opposed to the British original)--typically share information that is either obvious, implied, or could be shared with the audience in a better (and typically more humorous) way. Every time the action on Parks and Recreation is limited to workplace scenes, the energy plummets. But get the cast outside the confined walls of the Pawnee seat of power and the cast can surprise with their vivacity.

Last night's episode, for example, found Leslie on a date with a man she believed was going to help her with zoning regulations but was in fact a blind date arranged by her overbearing mother. That Amy Poehler looked so gorgeous in this scene (and, hell, even breathtaking for Leslie) was a plus; it gave Leslie an aura of normalcy and made her optimism not the freakishness of a loser (as it's been portrayed for much of the season) but the hopefulness of someone who knows they are fighting an uphill battle. Hell, Leslie and Mark (Paul Schneider) even address this issue head-on and Leslie is given the opportunity to make her cockeyed optimism something to root for rather than deride.

Additionally, the complex shadings of their relationship took a turn for the awkward last night as Mark tried to make a move on Leslie... after his advances towards Ann were brutally rebuffed. That Leslie, who previously mooned over Mark (they did, you'll remember, share a one-night stand four years earlier), would also spurn his proposition shows some real character growth. Could Leslie be becoming a more three-dimensional character (finally)? The entire episode seemed an effort to humanize Poehler's Leslie Knope, to make her character more sympathetic and relatable to the audience. (And, I'll admit that I laughed my butt off when Mark fell into the pit.)

So is there hope for Parks and Recreation, which has already been renewed by NBC for a second season? I'd greatly suggest they follow last night's episode as a model and either cut back or altogether ditch the awkward mockumentary format and give the series a straightforward single-camera comedy aesthetic. I'd also say that having the cast spend time together as a group offsite--whether that's at a local bar, an event, or just anywhere other than the claustrophobic office--is a Very Good Thing.

Plus, I'd advise Daniels and Schur to not try quite so hard to make the characters quirky and just let the actors breathe a bit more. Aziz Ansari's Tom was a hell of a lot more amusing last night because he seemed more at ease and less like Ansari was working overtime to please. And that goes for all of the actors, with the exception of maybe Nick Offerman and Chris Pratt, whose characters remain the most nuanced and real, possibly because they seem to be giving them a more naturalistic air, as though they are unaware that they are being filmed. (And, since I'm thinking about it, please upgrade the always likable Pratt to series regular.)

Make Leslie's optimism both her strength and her weakness but also don't allow it to overtake her character completely and make her a clueless buffoon. I'd rather see her as misguided at times than a total moron. She can still be funny without being the butt of every joke on the series. She can be Pollyannish, she can be peppy, but I'd prefer she didn't become another deluded boss along the lines of Michael Scott and instead becomes a fully realized character in her own right, rather than a punchline.

All in all, NBC has given Parks and Recreation an incredible opportunity to find its footing next season. Will it be another hit along the lines of 30 Rock or The Office? I don't know. But I will say that now is the time for Schur and Daniels--and NBC--to take some risks and try to find the core of this series by retooling a bit. Could it work as a series? I'm not entirely sure but I know that eternal optimistic Leslie Knope would offer a resounding yes.

What did you think of last night's season finale and of Parks and Recreations' season as a whole? What changes would you suggest Daniels and Schur implement for the second season? Discuss.

Parks and Recreation returns for a sophomore run next season on NBC.

Deal Breaker!: Liz Finally Gets Hers on the Season Finale of "30 Rock"

Last night's season finale of 30 Rock ("Kidney Now") featured a host of celebrity cameos, including Sheryl Crow, the Beastie Boys, Mary J Blige, Elvis Costello, Clay Aiken, Adam Levine, Cindi Lauper, Michael Stipe, and a ton of others.

But, if I'm being honest, the real joy of the episode, written by Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock, wasn't seeing an impressive batch of musical talent performing a hilarious benefit song for Kidney Now but seeing Jack Donaghy playing catch with his father Milton (played with relish by Alan Alda).

And while Jack wasn't ultimately a match for the kidney that Milton desperately needs to survive, partially so he can finish that three-volume biography of Jimmy Carter, I do hope that Alda's Milton returns next season. I love seeing Jack alternately child-like and suspicious around his biological father and it would be fantastic to see Alda on a more regular basis.

Meanwhile, I loved how Liz's story--with her new found fame for the "Deal Breaker" lady sketches skewering the trajectory of the phrase "he's just not that into you"--propelled her to superstardom, landing her a spot on a raucous daily talk show and a book deal. That Liz is completely unqualified to give out relationship advice (and only screws up both Pete and Tracy's relationships with their wives) is precisely the point. She's a writer and her own romantic relationships have been disasters on par with the Hindenburg.

What else did I love about last night's gleeful season finale? Liz's biology-related song about kidneys, brains, and colons; Jenna's murderous half-sister Courtney; Leo Spaceman's insistence that he would remember to do the opposite of what was on those medical forms; "You have sexually transmitted crazy mouth!"; Liz's insistence that bisexuality was something "invented in the 90s to sell hair products"; Tracy's crying montage; the aforementioned game of catch; Steven Killer; Jack telling Liz that TGS has maybe two more years left and invoking Wings; Tracy's promise to the graduating class of his alma mater that they would all become president of the United States one day; Sheryl Crow and Adam Levine's European alter egos; Rainstorm Katrina. (Really, the list goes on and on.)

Best line of the evening: "A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show." - Milton (Go, MASH series finale shout-out!)

All in all, "Kidney Now" was a fantastic ender to another wonderful season of 30 Rock, television's best comedy. Or as Liz might say, "We sure had quite a year." Yes, Liz, we did.

30 Rock returns for a fourth season this fall on NBC.

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread.

It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off.

With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost, should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry.

Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season enders or reveal as jaw-dropping a game-changer as, say, the finales of Season One or Three, but with "The Incident" we did finally get to see just what tapestry Team Darlton have been building toward.

So what did I think of the season finale? Put on your Dharma jumpsuit, take a swig of your sedative-laced OJ, sneak a peek inside the box, and let's discuss "The Incident."

Beginnings and Endings. I absolutely loved the season finale's opening which showed the enigmatic Jacob working on a tapestry depicting some Egyptian hieroglyphs before he catches a fish and shares it with a Stranger (given Jacob's Biblical name, let's call him "Esau") as they watch a ship in the distance heading towards the island. The ship, of course, is the Black Rock, although I'm still not sure just how it got onto the middle of the island from its perch on the ocean. Here, Jacob and Esau seem to be the literal embodiments of Good and Evil. Jacob believes in the innate goodness of man, in his right to choose, and of free will. Esau, on the other hand, believes that men are corrupt and inherently bad and that these latest visitors to the island will bring with them sin and war.

Together then, Jacob and Esau represent the two sides of mankind and of the universe itself: the Creator and the Destroyer. We see that Jacob is the Creator and this is shown via his actual handiwork, standing at the loom. Esau, on the other hand, is the Trickster, the destructive nature of the universe to tear down, to destroy, to murder... even if it's indirectly. Thanks to some fundamental laws on the island, Esau can't murder Jacob, but it's not for want of trying. However, in order to achieve this end, he must discover a loophole, a means of destroying the seemingly immortal Jacob.

And seemingly he does, though it takes him several hundred years to do so. It's still not clear how Richard Alpert fits into the picture here with Jacob and Esau, ageless as he is but it's likely that several of the island's strictest rules were created to avoid such a loophole that Esau, in his trickery, would look to take advantage of. Only the Leader could receive messages from Jacob, typically passed along by spiritual adviser Richard Alpert. And only the Leader could be received into Jacob's presence to obtain his instructions. (Aside: very interesting to me that it was Eloise Hawking, not Widmore, who was the Leader of the Others in 1977.)

Which is how Esau eventually manages to enact his vengeance on Jacob. If their Biblical names hold true, Esau's rage stems from the fact that he feels that Jacob has stolen his birthright. In this case, it would be the island itself. Jacob seems to be a largely benevolent presence on the island and has a seemingly unerring belief in what is Right but allows the denizens of the island to make their own choices. As Esau can't directly take action against Jacob (he would have stabbed him himself ages ago if he could have), he would have to persuade someone else to do so, to work on their faith and ego and vanity and force them to pick up that knife.

Time travel is a funny thing, particularly when you are diving around in the past. We tend to accept the world of time travelers at face value, as if they know the outcome of all possible actions. Richard Alpert, because he had run into John Locke at several points in the past, accepts the word of the seemingly resurrected Locke, who takes him and Benjamin Linus to the scene of the beechcraft in the jungle, where Locke is bleeding to death after being shot by Ethan. It is "Locke"--whom we later learn is Esau (more on that in a bit)--who tells Richard that he needs to give instructions to Locke: he will need to bring the Oceanic 6 back to the island and he will have to die.

Of course, it's the perfect long con from a malevolent force that thrives on trickery and subterfuge: "Locke" has to know what he's talking about, thanks to the twisty logic of time travel, and in giving the real John Locke these instructions, Richard Alpert has unwittingly sealed Jacob's fate, giving Esau a form to use and allowing him to maneuver the pieces into position. This cosmic game of chess has been played for quite some time and with Esau's assumption of Locke's form, Esau finally moves Jacob into checkmate.

The Box. So what was in the box that Ilana and Bram were so hellbent on lugging all over the island, from Jacob's cabin--which they burn to the ground--to the foot of the Statue (again, more on that in a second)? It turns out that they discovered something very interesting in the cargo hold of Ajira Flight 316: the corpse of the real John Locke. It's a staggering reveal which has lasting implications for the series. Richard Alpert mentioned that he had seen many things on the island but he had never seen anyone come back to life... because Locke hadn't been resurrected. We assumed because his corpse was on the plane and he was seen on the beach that it was him but that was an erronious assumption. It's only fitting that the first shot we see of the "resurrected" Locke is him cloaked in black. Locke is dead and it would seem that dead really does mean dead on this series. The reveal of him within the box is clearly meant to echo the reveal in the Season Four finale, in which we learn that it's Locke who is in the coffin. By substituting a steel cargo box for a coffin, Team Darlton have been shouting at us all along to realize just what was inside.

Locke. So is this the end of John Locke? If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say no. I don't know that we'll see Terry O'Quinn channeling Esau for the remainder of the series but O'Quinn gives us a hell of a performance as the calculating Esau. I'd be really quite sad if the corpse is the last we see of the "real" John Locke and that his story ended under quite such tragic circumstances: he believes he is fulfilling his destiny, the one the island set out for him, by killing himself. That it's Ben who would kill both Locke and Jacob has to be significant; Ben and Locke seem to be avatars of Esau and Jacob, playing over the same story time and time again. He's pushed by his ego and rage in both cases to murder but I believe that both will be resurrected in either physical or spiritual terms. After all, Christian Shepherd--another Christ figure in this story--seemingly achieved life after death on the island. So why not Locke as well?

The Monster. Esau's long con was completely brilliant. After all, it's he who says that they have to summon the smoke monster at The Temple... and Ben's run-in with the monster leads to a face-to-face confrontation with Ben's dead daughter Alex. Or at least the monster in the guise of Alex. And it's "Alex" who tells Ben that he has to follow all of "Locke's" instructions without question, forcing him into a pattern of blind faith that leads to Jacob's murder.

That the smoke monster is aware of Esau's ruse makes me wonder if the smoke monster and Esau haven't been in league together this entire time. After all, one side is light (Jacob) and one is dark (Esau). Locke saw something in the jungle in Season One, the heart of the island, which he said was beautiful. I now believe that this "something" was in fact aligned with Jacob, rather than Esau's smoke monster. The smoke monster, with its Temple-based connections to Anubis, clearly belong on the dark side with Esau and he was able to masterfully manipulate Ben using the monster, which can impersonate the dead as we've seen with Yemi, Alex, etc.

The Statue. Last night's episode also gave us a closer look at the face of the island's four-toed statue and it is clearly NOT Anubis, the jackal-headed god who is the subject of the statue. Instead, the face on the massive statue appeared to be more akin to a crocodile than that of Anubis' jackal. If it is a crocodile, the obvious subject is therefore Sobek, the ancient Egyptian deity linked to the creation of the world. Given the previous discussion about Jacob being the Creator, it's a fitting visage for the statue, which appears to be where Jacob lives. And given Jacob's methods (the passing along of lists, instructions, and indirect assistance), it also fits given the mythological M.O. of Sobek himself, who often only was indirectly involved in situations rather than an active participant. Sobek has also at times been linked to the Egyptian sun god Ra. It's not the first time a sun god has been named on the series; the omnipresent Apollo chocolate bar is named for the Roman sun god...

What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue. We finally learned the answer to Ilana's riddle about what lies in the shadow of the statue. After Frank failed to have the correct answer and was knocked unconscious as a result, I began to wonder about just what answer Ilana wanted to receive. I didn't think that it would be Jughead or anything so concrete. Instead, the answer is the Latin phrase Ile qui nos omnes servabit, which translates to something along the lines of He who will save us all. The implication being that the "He" in that phrase is Jacob, who is connected to the statue, a benevolent and powerful deity who is pushing the pieces around the board.

Ilana. We see Jacob appear to Ilana in flashback as she lies in hospital, badly injured (from what exactly?), and he asks her for help. It's clear that the two have met before and Ilana is loyal to Jacob's cause... but just who are Ilana and Bram? How are they connected to the island? Are they former hostiles? Immortals like Jacob? We know that Jacob knew about Ajira Flight 316 (as it was he who instructed Hurley to get aboard the flight) and it was very likely Jacob who constructed Ilana's cover story in order to engineer Sayid's appearance on the plane. So are they followers of Jacob/Sobek? A cult that is designed to worship and protect him? It's interesting to me that the answer to the riddle was in Latin and that she referred to Richard Alpert by his Latin name, "Ricardus." Given that we know that the Others are all taught Latin, it stands to reason that Ilana's team are some sort of offshoot of the island natives, still loyal to Jacob off the island. But why burn the cabin to the ground? Hmmm....

Jacob. As for Jacob himself, it now appears that he crossed paths very intentionally with several members of Oceanic Flight 815, appearing to them at various points in their lives, often at critical moments that defined their characters. He turns up at the hospital, after Jack botches a spinal surgery and severs a nerve sac in the body of a young girl he and Christian were operating on. Afterward, he rails at Christian for humiliating him in front of his surgical team... and then receives the Apollo (aha!) bar he sought to purchase from Jacob himself. We see Kate as a young girl, with her friend Tom Brennan (who later is shot as Kate flees authorities) attempt to steal a New Kids on the Block lunchbox; Jacob prevents the store owner from calling the police and gives the lunchbox to Kate. Jacob also appears at Sun and Jin's wedding, giving them his blessing, and is seen (reading Flannery O'Connor's ''Everything That Rises Must Converge'') when Locke is pushed out of the window by Anthony Cooper. There, he touches Locke's shoulder and causes him to open his eyes, possibly even bringing him back to life. (That's what it seemed to me, anyway.) Jacob asks Sayid for directions in Los Angeles, mere seconds before Nadia is run over in the street by a hit-and-run driver.

He also appears to James Ford as a child at his parents' funeral as he attempts to write the letter to Anthony Cooper (a.k.a. Sawyer); he gives James a pen to continue writing the letter. And Jacob makes contact with Hurley after he is released from jail, waiting for himself outside in a taxi. It's the only time where Jacob's connection to the island is made clear to the person in question and he tells Hurley that returning to the island is his choice. He gives him a mysterious guitar case... the contents of which are still a mystery, as is why Hurley would need to bring this object back to the island. He also makes Hurley see that the ghostly visitations aren't a curse, but perhaps a blessing.

So what we have here is that Jacob went to great lengths to connect with these particular people and in all of the cases, he very noticeably touches them in some way, perhaps marking them or protecting them. His hand touches Jack's, his fingers graze James; he taps Kate on the nose; he touches Jin and Sun's shoulders; he softly grabs Locke's shoulder and he touches both Sayid and Hurley's shoulders as well. The fact that he makes physical contact is significant. After all, it's these people who remain alive on the island throughout everything that happens. I also believe that they are Jacob's chosen people, those who will rise up to stop Esau's plan, and he has marked them for this purpose. It's them that Jacob refers to when he tells Esau, "They are coming." (Which leads me to believe that Jack and the others will find themselves in 2007 on the island after The Incident.)

So what is the loophole by which Jacob can be killed then? By someone's hand other than Esau's? Or is it that Jacob has to allow himself to die? He offers Ben a choice, that he can either do what Esau has told him or he can leave. Yet when Ben rails against Jacob, revealing his hurt and anger for not being one of Jacob's chosen ones, never being allowed in his presence, and asking "What about me?" Jacob's reply, "What about you?" leads directly to Ben stabbing him savagely. Does Jacob willingly sacrifice himself as he knows that it is the right thing to do? Has he in fact somehow tricked Esau all along into believing that his physical death will be the end of him? Does he die for everyone's sins?

The Incident. I was glad to see that Miles was once again the voice of reason and (caustic) sanity on this week's episode. As Jack believes that they can use the bomb to somehow cancel out The Incident and thus prevent the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Miles believes that their actions may in fact cause the very thing they are seeking to prevent. Sure enough, Miles is right: by attempting to detonate Jughead's core inside the energy pocket, Jack and the others actually bring about The Incident itself.

The Incident isn't just the rupture of the electromagnetic pocket of energy, it's the combination of this energy with the hydrogen bomb, unleashing a wave of energy that leads to the Swan computer protocol and, yes, ends up causing the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. The past can't be altered but their presence there actually causes things to occur just as they always had. Jack and the others had always been in 1977 and had always caused The Incident itself. Just as Miles being there led to Pierre Cheng losing his arm (crushed when the electromagnetic pocket began pulling things in) and walking away with his life.

Juliet. I was completely heartbroken when Juliet got pulled into the pit by the electromagnetic energy. And while I assumed something awful was going to happen to Juliet (thanks to Elizabeth Mitchell's casting in ABC drama pilot V), I still didn't expect to get quite so choked up as Sawyer and Kate attempted to pull her out of the pit. Juliet has been a particular favorite of mine and it was brutal to watch Sawyer and Kate attempt to rescue her, even as she knew that she would have to let go. Sawyer and Juliet's relationship was always going to be doomed by tragedy, whether that would be the return of Kate, their decision to get off of the sub, or her letting go in order to save Sawyer's life.

But Juliet didn't die. Still alive at the bottom of the pit and in agony, she finds herself laying right next to the undetonated Jughead core. Knowing what she must do, she makes the ultimate sacrifice, picking up a stone and bludgeoning the core until it detonates, causing The Incident. And then everything burns to white. So is Juliet dead? Sadly, it does look that way, unless she's somehow pulled out of the time stream before she is incinerated by the blast. The fact that Jacob didn't appear to her in her flashback this week (which depicted her and sister Rachel as children learning that their parents were divorcing and discovering that love isn't forever) makes me believe that, sadly, this might be the very last we see of Juliet. Which makes me very sad indeed.

Bernard and Rose. Just a quick aside to say thank you to Team Darlton for giving us a glimpse at a very happy Bernard and Rose (not to mention Vincent) who have taken to living off of the land and staying out of the island dramas that have ensnared the others. The speech Bernard gave about just wanting to be with Rose, even in death, was absolutely poignant and profound. And it deeply saddened Juliet, who knew that she wouldn't be with Sawyer forever.

Sawyer. I think we've all been waiting for a nasty smackdown between Sawyer and Jack for five years and this episode didn't disappoint. It was a brutal, ugly, and vicious battle between the two rivals with Kate hovering between them the whole time. In a single stroke, Jack has torn down the life Sawyer has built over the last three years, a life that includes Juliet. And by coming back, by looking to erase the past, Jack has essentially spit on his memories. And, yes, I literally cheered out loud when Sawyer kicked Jack in the groin.

Jack. I think Jack wanted to escape the hardship and pain of the last few years, whether that meant somehow magically resetting their lives so that the plane landed in Los Angeles or obliterating all of them. That Jack would be acting on blind faith alone is at strong contrast with his character in the first few seasons. Did Locke's letter make him believe? Did he just want a second chance with Kate? Did he refuse to believe that what's done is done?

But life doesn't give us blank slates. We are the sum conclusion to all of our experiences, the good and ill that we've done in our lives, the choices we've made and those made for us.

So will the castaways find themselves back aboard Oceanic Flight 815? Or will they open their eyes and discover that they're on the island in 2007, about to face their toughest situation yet? Will Juliet and Sayid survive? What did you think of the season finale? And just what do you think the final season of Lost will hold for the castaways? Discuss.

The sixth and final season of Lost will premiere in 2010.

Soft Spots: There's More Than One of Everything on the "Fringe" Season Finale

Look for the soft spots.

Last night's gripping season finale of Fringe ("There's More Than One of Everything"), written by Jeff Pinker and J.H. Wyman and directed by Brad Anderson, pointed towards a new direction for the series, one that is unfettered by the physical boundaries of our world and presents limitless possibility for the second season of the FOX series, which will air this fall.

Revolving around several intriguing plot strands, the season finale followed Olivia as she investigated an incident involving a tear between the dimensional barriers brought about by David Robert Jones (Jared Harris), Nina Sharp recovered from her shooting at the hands of Jones and his men, Walter traveled to his beach house to recover an important device, and we learned the truth about Peter's identity. And, oh, finally got to see William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) in the flesh.

I hate to say I'm right but... I was right about William Bell! As I posited in yesterday's post, William Bell has in fact been in an alternate reality this entire time, which is why he is always "out of the country" and unavailable for questioning by Olivia Dunham and the FBI's Fringe Division. Not only that, but Bell's office is located in a version of the World Trade Center that were never destroyed on 9/11. A pair of Twin Towers that are located in one of the multitude of alternate realities. (Along with a reality where the Obamas move into the "new White House.") It really is a most ingenious place to hide; no one can come looking for you, after all, in another world.

And it's a good thing that Bell had removed himself from our world as David Robert Jones was going to every length possible--from carrying out illegal and dangerous experiments to garner his former mentor's attention to breaching the dimensional barrier himself to locate Bell. So is Bell behind The Pattern? Nina Sharp claims he's not a terrorist and that The Pattern-related incidents were carried out by Jones in order to get his former mentor's attention. So what is Bell's endgame? That's still tantalizingly abstract. He's clear that he's happy to finally come face to face with Olivia but for what purpose? Hmmm...

Meanwhile, I'm glad that the writers didn't kill off Nina Sharp. Throughout her appearances, she's been an intriguing (if at times frustratingly so) character and her past relationships with Broyles and Walter still need to be fleshed out. The impetus behind her attack was so that Jones could obtain an extremely powerful energy cell which Bell had secreted in Nina's bionic arm. A power cell that, when used properly, could power equipment to open a doorway through dimensions. I thought it interesting that Nina upheld her end of the bargain and allowed Olivia to see William Bell, though not without a little trademark subterfuge.

After agreeing to meet Olivia at a Manhattan hotel, Olivia finds herself waiting there for Nina, who fails to turn up after several hours. Olivia gets on the elevator to go down--and one blue flare later (and a flickering light which displays for one brief second that she's not alone in another reality of this elevator car)--she embarks in a high-tech, iPhone-white HQ, where she comes face to face with Bell himself. I'm sure Nina had good reason for keeping all of this a secret from Olivia (and I began to become paranoid too when that car nearly swerved into Olivia's right outside the hotel) but the whole things smacks once again of gamesmanship.

Loved the final appearance of David Robert Jones, who we learn has been much changed from his teleportation-enabled jailbreak. Having opened a doorway to another reality, Olivia fires on the bandaged and nearly gelatinous Jones repeatedly, only to learn that the bullets pass right through him. He's ascended to some sort of higher state of being... but it's not one that can counteract getting sheared in half when Peter uses the patch (more on that in a second) to close the rift. (Ouch.)

So is Jones the true mastermind behind The Pattern? I don't think so. We know he worked for Bell 15 years ago and clearly picked up some impressive skills during his time at Massive Dynamic. But I don't think he's the ring leader, just another foot soldier in the battle. Was he in league with corrupt FBI agent Sanford Harris? I don't know. But I think that there is still much to be learned about the coming war that we still don't know.

This week's episode showed a lot of character development for Walter, who was forced to face up to some ugly truths about his own life and accept some semblance of responsibility for his life. (Hence the note he leaves Peter as he steps out of he lab at the end of the episode.) As we saw last week, The Observer pulls him from the lab and takes him on a road trip of sorts. Clearly aware of David Robert Jones' attempts to breach the dimensional barrier, The Observer tasks Walter with locating an instrument that he concealed at the Bishop family's old beach house. But first Walter takes a trip to a graveyard where he cries over one particular grave. (Hmmm.) And the Observer gives him a coin--rather like one he used to have--as not a token but a beacon to awaken his dormant memories. Walter, after having a fit at the beach house, finally does locate the object he's looking for: a patch, a sort of plug, that can close any doorway opened between the dimensions. And there's another coin. He tells Peter that when Peter was young, he was "very sick" and took to collecting coins, but Peter doesn't remember any of this. (Double hmmm....)

Seeing Walter finally remember not only what he was looking for but where it was allowed John Noble a fantastic moment to catalyze Walter's intelligence and tragic situation. A man whose intellect is second to none who is forced to shoulder the indignity of not being able to remember. And yet that's just what Walter doesn't want to do: remember.

It's not just the coin that there's more than one of, echoing the episode's title. We know that travel between the dimensions is possible, that these realities are inhabited by people very similar to us, and have seen with our own eyes this week that both Bell and now Olivia have successfully managed to cross the barrier. Walter it seems has done so too and he took something back with him, something that he sought to ease his grief. He brought back Peter. We learn that the gravestone he's standing over is in fact Peter's and that his son died at an early age. The Peter Bishop we know isn't our world's Peter Bishop at all... he's the Peter from an alternate reality, one taken by Walter to replace the son he lost. It explains why Peter's memories from his childhood are missing and why Peter is himself so very special. I'd go a step further to say that Nina Sharp knows Walter's secret and that Walter likely turned to Bell for help in "replacing" Peter.

It's a tragic and sad reveal of a father's love and the lengths Walter went to--breaking the laws of physics and every moral and ethical boundary--to bring his son back to life. Just what this signifies for Peter's future remains to be seen. Was this the reason why the Observer rescued Walter and Peter from the frozen lake? Was it the cause of the estrangement between Walter and Peter's mother, who we've yet to meet? How did original-flavor Peter die? And just how soon after his death did Walter have Peter replaced?

All I know is that I am very intrigued by the developments contained in this week's episode and I hope that Fringe's writers realize the strength of their mythology and focus more on developing the relationships between the characters, their backstories (in particular Astrid and Broyles), and exploring the overarching story of The Pattern. Kudos to FOX for using footage from the episode already filmed for Season Two as a lure to get viewers to tune in next season; we all appreciated even that small glimpse ahead to next season.

What did you think of the season finale? Were you surprised by the reveals of Peter's identity and William Bell's whereabouts? What was David Robert Jones hoping to achieve by visiting Bell? And just what does the future hold for Fringe? Discuss.

Fringe returns with Season Two this fall on FOX.

Broken Dolls: Thoughts on the Season Finale of FOX's "Dollhouse"

In a position that is bound to make me unpopular with the legions of Dollhouse fans, I have to say that I found Friday evening's season finale of Dollhouse ("Omega"), written and directed by Tim Minear, an illogical and messy affair.

Following a first season that was fraught with behind-the-scenes complications and showcased an often disjointed approach to serialized storytelling, the finale failed to pay off some of the more intriguing story threads that had been slowly weaving together throughout the eleven or so preceding episodes and offered an Alpha (Alan Tudyk) that seemed bizarrely at odds with how he had been previously presented within the series.

"Omega" also suffered from an odd emphasis on telling rather than showing some important beats (meet Adelle: exposition dump) and potentially wrapped the series with a nonsensical ending that didn't in any way feel earned. (Not helping matters: the last scene was in fact culled from the final scene of Joss Whedon's original Dollhouse pilot.)

Confession: I've known about the Claire/Whiskey twist since last May and had been eagerly awaiting this reveal, though after several Joss Whedon interviews indicated that the series likely wouldn't be dealing with the possibility of any of the Dollhouse staff being dolls themselves until the second season, I gave up all hope of seeing this storyline play out. Still, I thought that if they were going to go down this road with Claire/Whiskey, it could have been handled a hell of a lot better. I thought that the reveal that it was Whiskey and not Echo dancing in the distance was fantastic and spoke to the beautiful visuals that Minear constructed throughout the direction of this episode.

But Alpha and Whiskey's Mickey-and-Mallory rip-off engagement was just odd to me. Why would a client book an engagement with a psycho couple? I could see Lars perhaps hiring Whiskey to be his Mallory on a crime spree but what was Lars' role meant to be here? Third wheel? It seemed more a means to an end for Minear to create a stunning visual of Whiskey and Alpha going at it while they torture this poor guy in a deserted club while the handlers try and track down their errant dolls.

Sadly, I thought that the handling of Whiskey's backstory was clunky and made little sense, given her scars and her apparent agoraphobia, neither of which was dealt with satisfactorily. It was interesting to learn that there was a previous Dr. Saunders and that Whiskey was given his personality as an imprint, leading to some continuity for the Actives as they continue to be treated on-site by a Dr. Saunders. (I did love that Whiskey accepted who she was at the end and picked up the jar of lollipops and that her hatred towards Topher was unrelated to her programming.)

But the reveal didn't quite ring true when you consider Whiskey's scars. Hell, I'd have much rather learned that the scars were repaired and Whiskey kept recutting her own face, making it impossible for the Dollhouse to fix their most valued Active and that it was self-inflicted, indicating that some things can't be erased no matter how many times you imprint. As it is, it doesn't really make much sense why Whiskey still has the scars that Alpha inflicted on her. Why would the Dollhouse let their best Active remained scarred and locked up? Surely they would have forced her to have them fixed, given she was under contract. And why was she an agoraphobic in this imprint? It made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

Additionally, Alpha's characterization here was diametrically opposed to the week before, where he was presented as a genius whereas here he was a garden-variety psycho with a fixation on Echo. Not that we know why he was quite so fixated on her or what his master plan actually was... which seemed to have nothing to do with taking down the Dollhouse at all and more to do with giving himself a multiple-personality psycho bride and killing Caroline's personality and making Echo watch. What happened to the Olympian-sized intellect? The genius skills? The feeling that Alpha was a larger-than-life ghoul instead of an average psychopath?

Was his endgame really so small? To allow Echo to "ascend" the same way he did via his accidental compositing and achieve something that wasn't quite self-awareness but an ability to embody a host of imprints at once? To infect someone else with the same madness he suffered from? If so, why did he give Echo an imprint of a Southern floozy rather than, say, Whiskey's Mallory imprint? Just why did he fixate so much on Echo in the first place? You've got me. And then without any real answers, Alpha climbs up the stairs of the power plant never to be seen again. Just how did he escape? No idea.

Even more frustrating to me was that several storylines--especially Paul Ballard's--went nowhere. I've never been a fan of Ballard as a character. Throughout the season, he's been portrayed as icy and unsympathetic and this week's episode made him seem weak-willed and vapid as well. After doggedly pursuing the Dollhouse (resulting in the end of his career) and proclaiming the wrongness of what they're doing, he just sits back and takes a job for the very organization he was looking to take down? Why? To be closer to Caroline? To free November/Mellie, whom I never bought his feelings for in the first place, from her contract rather than, say, Caroline? To take it down from the inside? (A rather far leap of logic, given that this is not indicated anywhere on screen.)

Meanwhile, November and Sierra vanished after being imprinted with the personalities of two bounty hunters and tasked with tracking down Alpha. I understand that a scene with the two of them at the power plant was cut from the finished episode but the result made them look like the two worst bounty hunters in the entire world, who apparently failed to find their quarry at all. Why bother showing the scene of them being imprinted as bounty hunters if it wasn't followed up on at all? (If anything comes from Dollhouse, it's that I hope that the superb Dichen Lachman gets a lot of work as a result. She's proven herself versatile, talented, and memorable even when stuck with a largely thankless role, as has the supremely talented Enver Gjokaj.)

We're told repeatedly that the Dollhouse is impenetrable and infallible yet it was anything but and the last two episodes proved this once again. Apparently, to get in, you need only break through two flimsy grates. And to get out, Alpha just took the elevator. Additionally, the fact that no one--not Topher, not Adelle--thought it was prudent to look at Alpha's file and investigate (A) who he was before he came to the Dollhouse or (B) what crimes he had committed after slicing up members of their staff, tormenting them, and breaking in was absolutely ludicrous. Surely, they'd want to to know everything about their target, even if it meant delving into his past before his initial imprinting. And, given that Alpha smashed his wedge on his way out the first time, shouldn't Topher have taken a look at the primary and backup wedges first thing after Alpha's latest attack? Sloppy.

As for Echo herself, I don't really think that after her experiences with Alpha, she would just gladly go back to the Dollhouse and have her mind erased. Yet we weren't given any inkling into what this Super-Echo believed or thought about her situation. I never for a moment thought there was any danger for Echo from Alpha at the end and he literally runs up the stairs into the ether while Echo climbs out onto a catwalk to retrieve the wedge with her original Caroline personality on it. Was Alpha really going to kill her? Hell no. And even when he has multiple opportunities to do so, even when Echo is distracted from chasing him by the precipitous position of said wedge, he doesn't even bother to fire at her. I thought the ending--with Echo whispering the name Caroline as the pod closes on her--was completely unearned and at odds with the Super-Echo we just saw in the previous scene, given how the season as a whole seemed to point the way towards Echo's growing self-awareness. After finally achieving self-awareness, would she really throw it away to be put back into a box?

Dollhouse dealt with some intriguing concepts of identity, individuality, memory, and free will but the execution of the individual episodes often paled in comparison with the ideas that they sought to explore. I'm all for the discussion of these fascinating moral and metaphysical questions--such as whether it's right to experiment on prisoners, whether our identities are more than just electrical responses--but I couldn't shake the feeling that the questions themselves were more interesting than the answers that the series was offering and that the series itself had the haphazard feeling of a rudderless boat.

All in all, I have to say that I'm disappointed. For a series so rife with potential, it failed to achieve it on a regular basis and remained, in the end, a frustrating exercise in the push and pull of concept and execution. Whether FOX will renew Dollhouse in spite of its shortcomings (and its dwindling ratings) remains to be seen. But I'm definitely ready for the cast and crew to move on to other, hopefully less creatively uneven, endeavors.

What did you think of Dollhouse's finale and, should Friday's episode be the series' finale, of Dollhouse as a whole? Were you disappointed by the final product or did you revel in the concepts of identity, memory, and individuality that the series brought up? Discuss.

Love and Marriage: A Real Botswana Diamond on "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" Season Finale

Was it just me or was last night's season finale of HBO's superlative No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency absolutely heartbreaking and gripping television at its very best?

Last night's episode ("A Real Botswana Diamond"), written by Nicholas Wright and Robert Jones, found Precious reeling from the revelation that her ex-husband Note Mokote (played with terrifying precision by Colin Salmon) had arrived in Gaborone even as she faced a future with JLB, Grace investigating the truth behind the Kgale Hill break-ins, and Florence the Maid taking a decidedly troubled approach to her employer's engagement.

It was at turns distressing, inspirational, humorous, and thought-provoking. Throughout the first season of the lovingly crafted series, a co-production between HBO and BBC, Precious has lived in the shadow of her former husband, an abusive drunk whose beatings lead to the death of their unborn child and propelled Precious into a new life.

And yet the past always has a way of catching up to you.

In Precious' case, it's the fact that she hasn't been entirely upfront--not to her fiance JLB or us as the audience--about her relationship with Note. In fact, it turns out that there was more going on as Precious considered JLB's proposal of marriage than met the eye as Precious really shouldn't have accepted the offer as she is still married to Note Mokote.

It was an unexpected plot twist that was handled extremely well and spoke volumes about how much Precious has sought to transform herself and her life. At no point did I consider that Precious had deliberately misled or lied to her honorable and upright suitor JLB Matekoni; rather, it's clear that Precious herself has been lying to herself and had convinced herself that she was free of Note, even if the divorce papers hadn't actually been signed.

The scenes between Jill Scott's Precious and Colin Salmon's Note at her beautiful house, decked out to the nines by Precious' ambitious maid Rose to impress JLB, were fraught with peril. Given that we've seen Precious as a strong woman in control of her own destiny, it was saddening to see how she reverted to the position of a battered wife as soon as Note invaded her home and began to walk around the place as though he owned it. This is the demon she's fought for so long to free from her heart, one that prevents her from truly giving all of herself to JLB and one that she finally manages to exorcise at the end of the season.

For all of the abuse Precious has had to endure at the brutal hands of Note, she is still an intuitive and resourceful detective and she does her job with the skill of a true gumshoe, uncovering evidence that proves that Note was already married to another woman when he married her, negating any legality to their own union and preventing him from extorting money from her for a divorce. (I literally jumped with joy when Precious threw this in his face, even as I wanted her to slap Buthelezi earlier.)

Yet still, Precious also proved that there is still mercy in her heart for her former husband. Discovering that he is squandering his gifts with drugs, she sadly holds up his trumpet and tells him that, with his gift, he has more than most people. And she gives him money, not for the drugs but for the music. It's enough to get Note on stage at the Go-Go Handsome Man's Club to perform... and for Precious to walk off with JLB into the night and finally tell her fiance that she loves him.

What else did I love? The fact that it didn't matter whether Precious' engagement ring were a real diamond or a cubic zirconium in the end, especially after she read JLB's beautiful inscription ("To a real Botswana diamond"), which finally compels Precious to admit the depth of her own love for JLB. I also loved the reveal that the culprits behind the break-ins at Kgale Hill weren't vandals or teen thieves but monkeys (loved the way that Precious stood up to that nasty one and gained the strength to stand up to Note himself), that Mr. Patel gave the agency a hefty check for solving the case (and admits that Paterson Joseph's Cephas Buthelezi is the lesser detective), the fantastic and funny scene between JLB and wheelchair-bound orphan Mothleli, the return (albeit brief) of Wellington, and that Nandira Patel really did have a boyfriend named Jack after all. Hmmm...

I am extremely worried, however, about just what Florence intends to do with that illegally purchased gun, whether she intends to plant it at the agency or Precious' house and send her rival to prison... or whether she intends a more permanent solution by finishing Precious off for good. Either way, Florence's maneuvers with Philemon Leannye at the Frosty Glass Bar do not bode well and are clearly meant to set up a second season of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

A second season that I hope comes sooner rather than later. Throughout its first season run, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency has been a beautiful epitaph to the work of the much missed Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack and a testament to their creative partnership and work ethos. I'm hoping that HBO and BBC realize that a trip back to Botswana is a necessity for the many fans of this remarkable and well-crafted series and that all of us want to see just what happens to Precious, Grace, JLB, and PK.

In the meantime, I might have to make myself a cup of bush tea, cut myself a piece of cake, and think about just what a true diamond The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency really is.

Surf Boards and Memory Games: The Season Finale of "The Amazing Race"

I'm just glad the redheads didn't win.

On last night's season finale of The Amazing Race ("This Is How You Lose a Million Dollars"), the final three teams raced to the finish line in Maui, Hawaii in a final leg of the race that was at times heartbreaking, inspiring, and frustrating. (In the best possible way, of course.)

All three teams played an extremely strong game throughout this cycle of The Amazing Race and I was happy to see that one of the two teams that I was rooting for walked away a million dollars richer in the end.

I was absolutely crestfallen that Margie and Luke didn't win the million dollar prize waiting at the end of the race. Yes, I am amazed that both of them--a woman in her 50s and a deaf guy--made it as far as they did but I was really rooting for them to win the top spot. And they would have if Luke had been able to figure out which surf board represented the last leg of the race. (I think that one was harder for him as Margie, rather than he, ate the scorpions in the Beijing Roadblock challenge.)

They had such an amazing lead going into that final Roadblock and I got really, really excited that they were actually going to come in first place... but their lead was quickly squandered when Tammy and Victor arrived and then the redheads finally showed up, after having more problems with their umpteenth taxi driver. (I do have to say that it's perhaps karma for Jamie's awful behavior along the way.)

I was surprised that there wasn't a Detour on this final leg of the race and that it all really came down to one final test of memory at a Roadblock... and then a quick taxi trip to the finish line. For a season that felt so reinvigorated and exciting, it seemed a quick final episode, with the teams ending up on the same flight to Maui and then remaining fairly neck-and-neck throughout the final leg and not that many speed bumps along the way. I wished that there had been just a few more challenges standing in the way between them and the finish line.

I am happy that Tammy and Victor won and they made huge strides in their sibling relationship throughout this competition (just think back to that awful Romanian leg with Victor leading them into the wilderness) and that they walk away with a stronger relationship as well as the million dollars. For Luke and Margie, the experience they shared is worth more than a million dollars; they each proved that they are capable of doing anything and everything that life puts in their path and they should hold their heads high and walk away from this race as true winners. (And I'll admit that I got teary-eyed as they crossed the finish line and both were crying as Luke said how amazing his mother was for learning how to sign and being able to communicate with him.)

What did you think of the final leg? Were you pulling for Luke and Margie to win? Discuss.

The Amazing Race will return with a new cycle next season on CBS.

Murder on the Orient Express: The Final Teams Go Head to Head on the Season Finale of "Last Restaurant Standing"

The dream has been achieved for one team.

On last night's season finale of BBC America's deliciously addictive culinary competition series ("First Class Service"), the final two teams faced off against each other as the prize--the chance to open a restaurant with famed chef and restaurateur Raymond Blanc--was within their grasp.

But before Raymond Blanc would make one couple his partners in a future restaurant venture, he would be putting both teams through their paces with one of their toughest challenges yet as Blanc tasks them with devising and serving a lavish five-course meal to the passengers aboard the famed Orient Express.

No mean feat this. The well-heeled clientele of the Orient Express expect the very best in cuisine, service, and atmosphere and, if that weren't enough for the teams to worry about, they also have to contend with the fact that they are preparing this meal in a small, cramped kitchen aboard a moving train. In other words: this could be a disaster.

So how did the final two teams fare in the final challenge? Let's discuss.

Overall, I have to say that I was both impressed and disappointed by both teams, both of whom made a wide array of errors in the final challenge. That said, I do think that they were both way out of their depth in such an elaborate and complex challenge such as this. Raymond Blanc really stacked the deck against them with the Orient Express challenge and that was the point: it wasn't to see who could pull off the better meal (though, certainly, that was part of it) but really to see which team was more adaptable, more flexible, more ready to roll with the punches... or at least the turns in the train tracks.

Alasdair and James. Throughout the competition, this team of best friends has been rightly slated by all and sundry for the lack of communication between kitchen and front-of-house and their side has often been let down by the inattention to detail shown by Alasdair. However, over the last few weeks, I do have to say that Alasdair has taken on board all of Raymond and the inspectors' criticisms and has shown more confidence and skill in front of house. The lack of communication, however, is felt all the more in this final challenge as bulldogish James keeps railroading Alasdair's efforts to know what is going on in the kitchen, resisting his requests for information about timing, etc. If these two have any hopes of eventually opening a restaurant of their own, they have got to work together better and learn to talk amongst themselves without getting defensive or aggressive, as they have in the past.

The duo started off the train journey on the right foot, offering guests aperitifs, champagne, and canapes... but their decision to offer travelers a bowl of mixed olives and a cheap disposable camera reflected a disconnection from their clientele. These weren't appropriate "gifts" to give customers aboard the Orient Express and James and Alasdair should have realized this. Nothing wrong with olives per se, but it lent the proceedings the atmosphere of a corner Italian trattoria rather than the lush excess of the fabled Orient Express. Likewise, the camera was the wrong signal to send. I get what the guys were going for but again wrong audience here. They should have offered something simple and elegant to takeaway from the train, not a cheap disposable Kodak from the local corner shop.

Big mistake trying to make risotto on a train and getting it out to customers on time. Risotto has to be eaten piping hot and there was no way that James could serve the risotto to all of his guests without it getting stone cold in the process; additionally James overcooked the rice, turning it to the consistency of porridge. (Ouch.) I understand why he thought--conceptually, anyway--that a summer vegetable risotto with broad beans would be a showcase dish but it failed on all fronts. Likewise, the ghastly lobster Thermidor and its accompaniment of bitter vegetables (loved the face Raymond made describing the bitterness of the turnip). This was intended to be a showstopper and instead the lobster was overcooked and rubbery and just looked... not right. This should have been elegant and refined but lacked any real panache. Not improving things was the fact that Ali never took a headcount of the guests aboard the train and told inspector David Moore that he had run out of lobsters... even though he actually hadn't.

The guys did make some good decisions, however. The idea to book a close-up magician was a good one and showed that they were looking to think outside the standards and they offered a superior cheese plate and a vastly wider selection of wine than their competitors. Additionally, James' dessert, a duo of strawberry and champagne soup and lemon posset, struck the right chord as a final course. But would it be enough to put them over the top?

Michele and Russell. I've been pretty hard on this couple throughout the competition because Russell is just so damn talented and Michele often lets him down with her scattershot attention to front-of-house details, frequent histrionics, and inability to receive criticism of any kind. To me, Michele is not the ideal business partner in any venture. She's far too given to make emotional outbursts and become bitterly defensive when faced with any sort of negativity. Her entire purpose of being is seemingly to create a welcoming atmosphere for the customers of The Cheerful Soul but she lacks the business acumen and the culinary knowledge to truly achieve that goal. Russell has been a patient and level-headed chef for most of the competition but recent weeks found him becoming self-doubting and slightly whinging at times. (Last week's risotto plating, for example.) Still, they've clearly been doing something right, winning Restaurant of the Week more times than any other couple and wowing the judges with their well-executed dishes that reflect the bounty of the English countryside. Would it be enough for the discerning palates of the Orient Express travelers, however?

Russell was extremely wise to offer a delicious broad bean and pea veloute served in a tea cup as a first hot course. Able to prepare the soup ahead of time, all Russell had to do was to simply warm the soup and serve it; the choice of a tea cup as a vessel for the green elixir was a stroke of genius that left diners wanting more rather than leaving them with a bowl of half-eaten cold soup at the end of the course. Sarah Willingham waxed ecstatic about the veloute, saying that she could have eaten a whole bowl of it. (Always keep them wanting more!) Up next was a spice and nut-crusted goat cheese salad which seemed fairly fomulaic and straight-forward. None of the wow factor of the previous dish and it screamed dining room standard, not Orient Express dining car.

The same was true of Russell's poached salmon with cucumber and dill salad, sauteed potatoes, and a lemongrass broth. Many complained that the dish was very cold and the flavors bland. Again, this is the sort of thing that would work quite well in the casual atmosphere of The Cheerful Soul and less well aboard an elegant train ride when customers are paying an arm and a leg. Likewise, I thought that their choice of entertainment--a musician and accompanist playing some songbook standards--was unoriginal and didn't quite match the theme or tone of their venue. (A train ride to Venice through the English countryside and the singer is crooning "Lullaby of Broadway"? Really?) At least the musicians got on the train. Michele failed to check to see that they did climb aboard the Orient Express and she last left them a long time before departure in the waiting lounge and then never checked up on them, only realizing after the train pulled away that she never double-checked to see they were on board. Fortunately, for her, the musicians were paying more attention than she was.

Russell did, however, prove himself willing to roll with the punches. Discovering that there were no freezers aboard the Pullman car, he still went ahead with his grapefruit sorbet, turning the dish into a lovely and delicious granita, which Sarah raved about ("you can taste every grapefruit") and which seemed to please the travelers as well. And when the biscuits for his double-decked dessert went crashing onto the floor, Russell didn't let it derail him, instead opting to transform the dessert into an elegant single-layer. Michele's gift boxes which tied in the English country theme of the evening were a little too down-home for my liking but Raymond seemed to appreciate the little touch of the countryside aboard the train. Still, not sure why Michele found it necessary to call Russell--while he was trying to prep all his dishes alone--when she couldn't figure out which tissue paper to purchase for the gifts. Priorities, anyone?

All in all, I thought that Russell and Michele winning was really the only plausible outcome here. I've thought that Michele and Russell were going to walk away from this competition with the big prize for quite some time now. In fact, they seemed like the front-runners since nearly the very beginning of the season, although they did make some pretty big missteps along the way. I do think Russell is extremely talented and Michele is a welcoming presence in the front of house; they both have a ways to go to become the professional restaurateurs that Raymond is expecting them to become but that's part and parcel of the learning process.

As for Alasdair and James, they both have a lot of growing up to do before they are anywhere near ready to take on a challenge of this magnitude. I would have been amazed if Raymond had decided to open a restaurant with them. They've proven that they are adaptable and take on criticism and suggestions but a partnership with them would be a hands-on operation, with Raymond pushing and pulling them constantly in order to get them anywhere near the level they need to be at.

What did you think of the final outcome? Would you have awarded Russell and Michele the top prize? Did the teams perform to the standards you thought they would in this final challenge? Discuss.

BBC has commissioned a third season of Last Restaurant Standing, which airs in the UK under the name The Restaurant. Stay tuned for news about when BBC America will schedule the third season.

Full Frontal Nerdity: The Sensational (and Game-Changing) Season Finale of "Chuck"

"Oh, Chuck me."

If I was anxious before about NBC renewing Chuck for a third season, last night's jaw-dropping season finale ("Chuck Versus the Ring"), written by Allison Adler and Chris Fedak, left me screaming to the heavens for a solution that would pull Chuck back from the brink of cancellation. (It can't end that way, it just can't!)

Series creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak promised a "game-changing" season finale and they not only delivered on this promise but gave us what may be one of the single most enjoyable hours of television this year in the Chuck season finale, as well as one of the strongest installments of the series so far.

Whether this week's episode of Chuck ends up being a season or series finale (and I'm pulling for the former), "Chuck Versus the Ring" was a primer on how to infuse tension and possibility into every scene, while also offering the series' rabid viewers a lot of laughter and more than a few tears along the way. It also deftly set the stage for what looks to be an incredible new direction for the series, should NBC decide to follow up on that tantalizing (and torturous) "To Be Continued..." card that ran at the end of the episode.

On the edge of my seat? I'm on the edge of a cliff waiting to see just what will happen to this brilliant and compelling series. So put on your tuxedo, check your pocket for rings, get your kung-fu on, and let's discuss "Chuck Versus the Ring."

I wondered after last week's amazing episode (which itself could have been a season finale) just how the writers would manage to top themselves but I needn't have worried: "Chuck Versus the Ring" was everything that a season finale should be, managing over the course of forty-odd minutes to reinvent itself, give its lead characters new purpose, and alter its own underlying structure to open the gates of possibility to this story.

This episode will definitely go down as one of--if not the--strongest episodes on the series to date and it's due entirely to the lushness of the writing and the strength of actors Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, and Adam Baldwin. I can't offer enough superlatives about this trio, who week after week manage to imbue their characters with genuine emotion and three-dimensional personalities. Chuck has succeeded due to their abilities and their chemistry.

Chuck. Season One began with Bryce stealing the Intersect and destroying it. So it was only fitting that the series would come full circle and wrap its second season by placing the characters in the same position, albeit with a twist. Bryce believes that the Intersect 2.0 is far too powerful and intends to destroy it. His mission is of course compromised by the entry of a new secret organization (more on them in a bit) and it falls to Chuck to carry out Bryce's plans. It's that moment, with Chuck standing over the Intersect computer, that the entire series has been leading to: the moment where Chuck finally learns that he is a hero.

At the beginning of the series, Chuck had no choice about the Intersect being placed inside his head. That decision was forced upon him and Chuck became an unwitting and reluctant hero, forced to work for the government because of the information inside his head and not out of choice. Here, with Bryce having given his life for this cause, Chuck finds himself standing at the edge of a precipice. He's finally achieved everything he's ever wanted: the girl of his dreams, the freedom to do whatever he wants, and he's gotten back a "normal" life once more. And yet he places his palm on that desk and activates the Intersect cube. Why? Because Chuck has discovered that he is a hero and that heroism isn't easy, it isn't convenient or safe, but very, very dangerous. A true hero risks everything, most especially personal happiness and security, in the name of protecting those around him. In that very moment, Chuck goes from being a reluctant hero to a true one, uploading the Intersect back into his head and destroying it. It's a sacrifice of sorts as Chuck willingly opts to place national security above self-interest.

Kung Fu. We knew that the Intersect cube had some upgrades, thanks to the conversation between Orion and Bryce Larkin but even I could not have imagined just what those upgrades would be. While the Intersect 1.0 contained government intelligence and the ability to retrieve data at an alarming rate, the Intersect 2.0 has knowledge of a different means: physical ability. When the Intersect room is flooded with agents, Chuck is able to flash and retrieve some physical data: kung fu. He's able to skillfully and gracefully take out a room of agents without breaking a sweat. (Hell, even Casey was impressed.) Just what the limits of this technology are remain to be seen. Can Chuck learn any ability? Could he suddenly have the knowledge to dismantle a bomb, assemble a gun, skydive, or sculpt? Has he become a super-soldier, the perfect repository of intelligence and physical know-how?

The reveal was just, well, awesome and set the stage for what promises to be a vastly different role for Chuck should Season Three happen. (No more staying in the car for him.) It's with new eyes that Sarah and Casey see him and with a new appreciation for his heroism. Casey had earlier said that if Chuck were a true patriot, he wouldn't cash his government check but even he can't argue with the ramifications of what Chuck has done. He's proven, in no uncertain terms, that he's just as much a hero as Casey or Sarah. Perhaps even more so.

Bryce Larkin. I was absolutely chuffed that the writers brought back Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer) and brought the series full-circle with Bryce and the Intersect. I suggested a few weeks back that Bryce could have been working with Orion all along, and I am glad to see that the writers ran with this idea as well. It was never a coincidence or a stroke of fate that Bryce sent Chuck the Intersect in the first place: he was tasked with protecting Chuck at Stanford and sent Chuck the Intersect because he knew that Chuck could handle it, even if Stephen wanted him to keep him out of it. Bryce knew that Sarah would find Chuck and that Chuck deserved to know the truth about his father.

Sarah. Much of the series has dealt with the love triangle between Chuck, Sarah, and Bryce as Sarah found herself torn between the suave superspy and the sweet, well, nerdiness of Chuck. This episode finally ended that triangle, killing off Bryce Larkin once and for all in a scene that had me screaming at the television. Before that, Sarah was faced with a difficult decision as she spent her last few hours with Chuck at Ellie's wedding, revealing that she was supposed to fly out with Bryce to start work on the new Intersect project in the morning. Would she go with him and follow her duty? Or would she choose her heart and stay with Chuck? Her decision was clear; asked by Bryce to stay or go, she shakes her head sadly, indicating that she's choosing Chuck this time. Strahovski's expressions in this scene indicate the battle going on inside of her and her head-shaking demonstrates her resolve and her love for Chuck. No easy decision this. On a lighter note, how many people cheered when Sarah effortlessly ripped off the bottom of her bridesmaid dress in order to get down and dirty with the Fulcrum agents at the wedding? And when she and Chuck shared their "You look like a real spy"/"You look like a real bridesmaid" conversation and later their dance in the courtyard? (All together now: aw.)

Colonel Casey. I'm glad that Casey and Chuck shared a scene together and Casey revealed his own feelings towards the Chuckster, giving him his private number (on a business card, one can't help but note, with nothing else on it) and telling him to call him if he's ever in trouble (like his "fingers being on fire"). I knew Chuck would hug Casey but didn't imagine that Casey would actually tolerate it for as long as he did (though he did threaten to remove Chuck's "man parts"). Casey proved his loyalty by rescuing Chuck and saving the day at the wedding and I wouldn't have had it any other way. And, hell, he attacks Ellie's wedding with as much enthusiasm as he would a military engagement. ("That clashes with the bunting!") Double aw.

Orion. Stephen has an Intersect of his own? Very intriguing. He claims that he tested the machine on himself first and he's able to "flash" on the agent accompanying Bryce. How awesome was it that he got to punch Ted Roark after twenty years of hell? I thought for sure that Stephen would wind up dead by the end of the episode, so I am very surprised to see what they do with him next season, should the series continue. Loved that he gave his nifty Orion wrist device to Chuck to use to track down Bryce. Any thoughts on what his involvement would be next season?

The Ring. Fulcrum may be destroyed and Ted Roark dead, but there's more intrigue afoot in the spy world as the gang learns that there's a new organization interested in acquiring the Intersect for its own purposes. Casey's team is infiltrated by an agent for his new unnamed secret society, who shoots Roark in his cell and kills Casey's entire team. (Casey, meanwhile, only gets pistol-whipped as he previously saved Miles' life.) And they kill Bryce Larkin when he gives them access to the Intersect cube. So who are these baddies? I don't know. Miles (The Office's Tug Coker) says that they are not Fulcrum, though one of their number is a former CIA agent presumed dead. Bryce says that Fulcrum is just "one part of The Ring." I can't help but think of that scene a few episodes ago when we glimpsed a shadowy cabal. Is Fulcrum one of the many players after the Intersect? Do they work for a central and very evil overseer, just as these new spies do? "No one stops us," says Miles. "No one ever has." Hmmm...

The Wedding. True confession: I'm always nervous about wedding episodes; they have a tendency to be cheesy and overblown (just look at Anya and Xander's wedding on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for an example) rather than have genuine heart. It turns out that Chuck pulled off one of the most beautiful and understated weddings on television by first literally destroying the site of Ellie's wedding (how cool was it when Casey and the commandos parachuted in through the skylights?) and throwing the ceremony off the tracks with Jeffster performing a awe-inducing rendition of "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto."

The gun fight between Chuck, Sarah, and Bryce and Ted Roark (Chevy Chase) and Fulcrum was absolutely fantastic, especially that Sarah once again got to use her knife-throwing skills. (Remember in the pilot how she threw that knife to trigger the emergency barrier?) Especially as the battle destroyed Ellie's entire reception room, from the centerpieces and cakes to the elaborate ice sculpture, as Chuck inwardly moaned while seeing Ellie's dreams go up in smoke. The sprinkler system cutting in and nearly drowning an already overstressed Ellie who was meditating a few minutes earlier? Awesome. I'm glad that Ellie didn't just forgive Chuck for destroying her wedding day (to her knowledge, anyway) but instead climbed into the bathtub with her wedding dress and a bottle of champagne after canceling the wedding.

And just when you thought everything was wrecked beyond belief, Chuck managed to pull it all together, using his government paycheck to grant his sister the wedding day she deserved and the one she originally wanted: a small affair on the beach. It was a beautiful moment of true happiness, not just for Ellie, but for Chuck and Stephen Bartowski (Scott Bakula) as well. As for Devon, when he learned that Morgan was stalling the wedding because Chuck asked him to, he knew it was a matter of life and death. The look of pride on his face when Chuck pulls off not just the wedding of the century but has likely saved all of their lives as well spoke volumes.

Buy More. Seeing Jeffster take to the stage to perform "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto" (complete with fireworks show-stopping ender) was a thing of beauty and hilarity. (I can't stop singing the damn song the next day.) Even if Mr. Woodcock called the duo "Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian." And it kept some of the focus on the Buy More employees this week, given Chuck and Casey's departure from the store (not to mention Morgan's as well.) I'm not quite sure what will happen to the denizens of the Buy More should the series end up getting renewed for a third season. Given that Chuck will need a cover, it would make sense to utilize one that's already created but the writers have given themselves an out should they need to reduce the cast: they could cut the Buy More altogether now that Chuck has quit. However, some of the Buy More characters (in particular Jeff and Lester) are extremely beloved by the audience, so I'd hate to see them go. I was, however, extremely pleased to see Chuck quit his job in so forceful a fashion, telling Emmett that he could take his job and his flag and shove it. (After, that is, Emmett thought Chuck was coming on to him and said he was flattered but was a "flaming heterosexual.")

All this, references to Back to the Future and The Matrix, and some fantastic musical choices, including The Cure's "Friday, I'm in Love"? I think I'm in heaven.

Best line of the evening: "Guys, I know kung fu." - Chuck (tied with "Thank you for saving my life at least once a week.")

"Chuck Versus the Ring" packed more action, emotion, and tension into itself than many dramas do in entire season-long runs. When that card for "To Be Continued..." flashed on the screen, I found myself desperate for more. While this installment wrapped up some of the series' overarching plots, it also opened the door to a whole new set of adventures for Chuck, Sarah, and Casey. I would hate to see the series end with so much potential still in its bones.

If this is in fact the ending, all that's left to say to the talented cast and crew of this phenomenal series is domo arigato, really. Thanks for the memories, the laughs, the tears, and the edge-of-your-seat action. And thanks for two wonderful, memorable seasons of one of television's most innovative and original series. Personally, I'm still holding out hope that Chuck will continue next season. Because anything else would be unthinkable right now.

What did you think of "Chuck Versus the Ring"? Was it the perfect season finale or an ideal series finale? What do you think the future holds for our beloved team of super-spies? Were you surprised by the upgrades to the Intersect? And just what is The Ring? Discuss.

Chuck has yet to be renewed for a third season by NBC. Fingers crossed that they do the right thing and bring back this fantastic series.

Confession and Repentance: Patty Unburdens Her Soul on "Damages"

“It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution." - Oscar Wilde

Patty Hewes has always been plagued by nightmares. Perhaps its the fact that hers is a guilty conscience, no matter how much she might try to hide behind the seemingly impregnable armor she wears so tightly around herself.

In the second season finale of Damages ("Trust Me"), Patty is fighting off attacks from all quarters, from her lecherous husband Phil and her headstrong son Michael to her treacherous protege to a widespread conspiracy that involves a Washington power broker, a corrupt FBI investigation, and a duplicitous energy tycoon.

It's the very weight of the forces mounted against her that propel her into a nightmare in which she's forced to face up to the betrayal of everyone around her, as she sees the men in her life--both past and present--laughing at her and then must come face to face with Ellen herself, a woman she too sought to destroy.

But does Patty destroy Ellen in the end... or save her? Does Ellen enact her revenge against Patty for her attempt on her life? Or does she too move past the seed of anger that has taken hold of her soul? Let's discuss.

There's still a few holes in the labyrinthine logic of Damages this season, a few things that don't quite add up. First, I think it's safe to say that the original FBI investigation of Patty Hewes, the one that Ellen finds herself enmeshed in thanks to Hollis Nye, was unencumbered by the corrupt that pervades it later, when it's taken over by power broker Dave Pell. There was no reason for Pell to want the FBI investigating Patty in Season One, so one has to assume that his involvement with the case stemmed from her position on UNR and her involvement in the Aerocyte case and Christine Purcell's murder. And that Pell was the real villain here, while Kendrick is yet another pawn in a colossal game of chess that Pell is playing. After all, Kendrick knows nothing about Pell's FBI investigation of Patty or that Patty has a leak in her firm; this is something that Pell keeps in his back pocket to use at the right time, when their case seems to be falling apart.

Second, David's wedding present to Ellen seemed such a vital piece of characterization and a token that connected Ellen to her past and David's murder-by-proxy by Arthur Frobisher. That we wouldn't see Ellen open David's gift seems an intentional move but I did think it was odd that there was absolutely no mention of this gift whatsoever in the season finale, whether or not Ellen chose to open the package. I thought for sure she would be sitting at David's grave and finally open the box, finally choosing to let go of the past and move on. But in not opening it, Ellen continues to carry around that piece of David with her. I just wish that the audience had been privy to seeing a scene that explored her choice.

Third, Daniel Purcell never learns that it was The Deacon, acting on Kendrick's instructions, who actually ends Christine's life. But, in a way, that doesn't matter either: Daniel knew what he was doing when he started to strangle Christine, even if he wasn't entirely successful. When he calls for help, he believes he has murdered his wife and looks to cover up his involvement. That it would be The Deacon rather than himself who inflicts the final injustice on Christine doesn't impact Daniel's guilt or his confession. Will his children forgive him? Who knows. But he believes he may have saved his immortal soul by telling the truth about his sins and attempting penance.

Patty. It would have been obvious and far-too-potentially game-changing to have Ellen shoot Patty in the hotel room. After all, where can you go from there? Ellen has the opportunity to enact revenge against Patty, to punish her for her crimes against her, to take her Biblical justice, but she chooses not to. So the reason for the blood? Far more interesting and shocking. After attempting to get energies trader Finn Garrity to testify about the GPS codes (and failing), he follows her to Ellen's hotel and tries to get her to change her mind now that Kendrick has attacked his hooker girlfriend and threatened him. When Patty refuses, he stabs her in the gut. That Patty would go through with the meeting with Ellen is a testament to how much she (A) cares about Ellen (more on that in a bit) and (B) wants to nail Pell, Kendrick, and the rest. Patty is no pushover. Bleeding out, she sits in Ellen's hotel room and watches Ellen draw a gun and then force a confession out of her about the murder attempt.

Does Patty believe that she is dying? Does she heed Ray Fiske's advice that there are worse things than death and offer a final confession to Ellen, an unburdening of her soul as she slowly bleeds from the wound Garrity has inflicted upon her? Does she listen to Daniel Purcell who tells her that she has to confess? Most people would have called for help after being stabbed. They certainly wouldn't go through with a sting operation involving the bribing of a high-profile judge. And yet that bribery wasn't actually going to land Ellen in the slammer, after all. Despite what Patty promises Dave Pell in order to get the evidence about Aerocyte, there are other forces at work here. Even as she bleeds out, Patty confesses to Ellen what she's been dying to hear and tells her to make the payoff... not because Ellen will be arrested by the FBI but because it will flush out the corrupt agency on Pell's payroll and prove that Pell was instructing them in an unsanctioned investigation. Patty has Pell on tape discussing what will happen to Ellen and, sure enough, there are the FBI goons--led by Agent Werner--to arrest Ellen at the courthouse.

In the end, Patty saves Ellen's life. It's a payoff for an attempt on it, yes, but it sets the cosmic scales right again. Despite Ellen's betrayal of Patty (her betrayal, after all, consists of six months of passing information to the FBI), Patty opts to save her protege instead of destroying her. Could it be that Patty does care for her after all? That Phil's warning that Patty focuses on her enemies more than those who care about her rings true? Or that, despite the line Ellen gives about them "both" finally being able to move on, it's the right thing to do for a change?

Ellen. I was very surprised that Ellen's gunshots actually take out the FBI surveillance equipment in the hotel room after she passes Patty a note that says that they are being watched b the FBI. So why does she change her mind about getting Patty to confess on tape about the murder attempt? After all, Ellen now has a photograph of Uncle Pete and Patrick, the man who attempted to kill her, and the folder that Stephania gives her from Uncle Pete that shows the detailed instructions for the attempt on her life. What more does she need than to have Patty confess, at gunpoint, on tape that she was behind the attack? Could it be that she too has moved on from the need for revenge? That what she says to Patty about not being loyal to her but believing in what she does is actually the truth? Could it be that Patty doing her job is more important than Patty being behind bars?

In the end, the two women save one another. They both come clean about their betrayals, confess their sins to one another, and manage to tie up the loose ends of the UNR case. The bad guys do go to jail this time: Kendrick, Pell, and Garrity are arrested, the world knows the truth about Aerocyte, the cleanup in West Virginia begins. Tom retakes his place at Patty's right hand. And Ellen turns her back on Patty to start a new life somewhere else. After getting handcuffed at the courthouse (and sprung by the AUSA's office), Ellen disappears. She moves out of the hotel, shuts off her mobile, closes out her email account, and vanishes.

It's only fitting that she visits David's grave to tell him that she's met someone (Wes) and has a new job offer and is going to take it. Just who she'll be working for is a mystery but I can't help but hope that it's Claire Maddox as I'd love to see Marcia Gay Harden return for Season Three. Regardless, Ellen has finally grown up, she's flown the nest, and she's ready to start life on her own two feet.

Michael. I couldn't believe that Patty had Michael's stuff packed up and shipped to Jill's house once she learned that he hadn't even applied to college. I can't say that I blame her. Michael tries to pin the reason for his deceit on Patty's need "to have a man around the house," but she throws that right back in his face, saying that if she wants a man, she'll have a real one. (Burn.) I hope this isn't the last we've seen of Michael; he shone as a character this season in particular. Yet, he's right there in Patty's nightmare, laughing at her with the other men in her life: Uncle Pete, Phil, Kendrick, Tom, Ray Fiske. They want to punish the "bitch" and their laughter is humiliating to her. Michael ends up being no different than any of them, far too willing to put Patty in her place, to mock her and humiliate her. In the end, if he wants to be with Jill and be an adult, he'll have to do so while not living under her roof. Cruel? You bet. But this is also the woman who had him kidnapped and sent to a rehabilitation center against his will. Mailing his stuff to his girlfriend's house is child's play in comparison.

Tom. I'm glad that in the end Tom ended up being the hero for a change. I thought it was odd that he didn't question why Ellen would need a gun, considering she was working for the FBI, and just went and picked up the pistol that she had purchased from Wes' contact. And despite Patty firing him for refusing to bribe a judge, he does go back to the office to try and warn her what's coming... and ends up saving everybody's skin by going to see his sister, an Assistant US Attorney, and filling her in on everything that's happened so far. Together, they are able to set up a sting that reveals the corrupt agents, save Ellen's hide, and prevent Patty from getting disbarred. All of their actions then seem like they were leading towards a sting operation, rather than some unethical and illegal behavior. Happily, Tom seems to be back as a partner at the firm, judging from his scene with Patty at the dock. I can't think of a better place to leave the two of them and hope that Season Three gives Tate Donovan's Tom Shayes more to do overall.

Wes. In the end, Wes was assigned to tail Ellen and then murder her in order to prevent her from connecting Frobisher and later Rick Messer to David's death. But over the course of the six month period that comprises Season Two, Wes falls for Ellen and can't bring himself to kill her. Instead, he becomes her protector, moving into her hotel room to guard her against Messer and saving her life on more than one occasion. I loved that he was hiding in the hotel room when Messer comes to shoot Ellen whilst she's in the shower and puts a gun to his head, promising him that next time they see one another, they won't be having a conversation. He follows through on this promise, showing up in Messer's car after learning that he had made contact with Ellen in his guise as an upstanding police detective... and blows his brains out.

Yes, it was obvious all along that Messer was killed by Wes but this episode showed the depth of his devotion to Ellen, even as he moves into the room across the hall so he can keep an eye on Ellen. And it's a good thing he does as he's the one who ends up saving Patty's life after she collapses in the elevator and takes her to the hospital. The epilogue with Ellen at David's grave reveals that Wes and Ellen are still together a month later. Whether she will ever discover the truth of Wes' involvement with Messer and what he did to protect her remains to be seen but I have a feeling that Season Three will dive into the cracks forming in their relationship from all of these dark secrets.

Frobisher. And no season finale could be complete without an appearance from Arthur Frobisher, seen here excited about the near-competition of his new environmentally green offices. He even reaches out to his ex-wife Holly to share his excitement and new outlook on life. He seems to have moved on from the past and Messer's murder would seem to break any connection that Frobisher had with David's death. Or has it? Will we see Frobisher in Season Three as he's tied to some rather illegal dealings with the crooked police detective? I certainly hope so. But for now, we're left with the sense that Frobisher has moved on and is trying to do good for a change. Let's only hope this isn't the last we see of Frobisher or of Ted Danson.

While Season Two of Damages as a whole lacked the sort of intense, driving tension and high, personal stakes as the freshman season, I do have to say that the season finale's ending, which reset Ellen and Patty's relationship and pushes the series into a new dimension, set up what will hopefully be a fantastic third season.

In the end, this season of Damages was about Ellen and Patty finding themselves on equal footing, accepting their sins and confessing them, and hopefully moving towards forgiveness. What their relationship will be when Season Three begins remains a mystery but I can say wholeheartedly that I can't wait to see what fate holds in store for these two, whether they do end up working together... or, more probably, working on opposite sides of the courtroom.

FX has already ordered a third season of Damages, however don't look for the series to return until 2010.

Keys to the Kingdom: Disintegration and Realignment on the Season Finale of "Big Love"

I'm still in awe thinking about last night's breathtaking season finale of HBO's Big Love.

Over the course of the ten episodes that comprised Big Love's intense and gripping third season, we saw the Henrickson clan go from being a complicated but stable family unit to literally disintegrating before our eyes... and possibly coming back together again, if last night's superlative episode ("Sacrament") points to a new direction for the series.

It's hard to believe that Season Three of Big Love was only ten episodes, the series' shortest season so far, as it was so packed with tension, drama, emotional beats, and enough neck-snapping plot twists to give you emotional whiplash. Showrunners on network series that are working with 22 episodes a season take note of executive producers Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, who managed to squeeze in more plot and story in those ten fantastic installments than many showrunners are able to fit into the traditional twenty-plus.

And just when I wondered how Olsen and Scheffer would be able to top themselves following this amazing season, they effortlessly set up a new direction for the series, one that's likely to be rife with the sort of tense and gripping plots that have become hallmarks for this intelligent and provocative series.

Nicki. Just when I thought that Nicki had perhaps permanently severed her bonds with Bill and her sister wives, she managed to rebuild those bridges and redefine herself over the course of a single episode. In other series, this might have been slightly unbelievable but the strength and grace of Chloe Sevigny's performance and the subtle writing here render her transformation completely credible. Nicki finally accepts responsibility for her own actions, coming clean to Barb about why she's really on the compound (it has nothing to do, as she claimed, with Joey and Wanda) and about the existence of her daughter, Cara Lynn (Cassi Thompson), and forcing herself to connect with Cara Lynn and accept that she did abandon her all those years before.

But before you can say "heartfelt moment," Nicki flees the compound with Cara Lynn, rather than let her undergo the same fate she did as a teenager and be sealed to an older man she didn't love, and brings her to the Henrickson houses. And together, they take the sacrament of Bill's new church. It was a gorgeous moment of redemption for Nicki (especially as it did coming on the heels of her not-quite-joking conversation with Alby about how best to murder their parents) and points toward the possibility of a renewal of affection between her and her family. The way that Barb quietly took her hand and led Nicki toward the others was a beautifully understated expression of solidarity and forgiveness. While Barb has painted Nicki as the reason behind her ex-communication from the LDS church due to her "invasion" of her marriage to Bill, it's a sign that Barb and Nicki might be able to move forward together.

As for Nicki, the conversation she had with Cara Lynn might have been the most affecting scene she's had on the series to date as she learns that Cara's father J.J. (Zeljko Ivanek, here playing a truly terrifying serpent of a man) wants to place the girl in the Joy Book and has pulled her out of school. Seeing history repeat itself all over again, Nicki urges her to tell her parents that she wants to go back to school and then, in an effort to undo the past, takes her from that very life. Does it explain why Nicki didn't want to become pregnant? Possibly, as she herself went through a traumatic experience as a teenager, forcibly married to an older man and impregnated, who then flees her marriage and her baby. Is Nicki terrified of having a daughter now that she's borne Bill two sons? Was she in a state of denial about what had happened to her?

Barb. Poor Barb, following her ex-communication, suffers a slight breakdown and becomes obsessed with the notion of expanding their family, even suggesting to Bill that they rent the womb of an Indian surrogate and implant her with Bill's sperm in order to add a child to their family... as Nicki is in "open rebellion" about her desire to not reproduce. For Barb, a child is something to cling to. Given that she can't bear children of her own and has been ex-communicated, it's an effort to find something to desperately hold onto. Fortunately, her prayers are literally answered as Nicki does expand their family for them, bringing Cara Lynn into their midst and adding another soul to their eternal family.

Margene. Ginnifer Goodwin's performance in this episode when she stands up to Bill about her business was absolutely exquisite. The strength with which she imbued Margie was at complete opposition to the meek, peace-keeping girl we've known and loved. It pointed to a new-found maturity and purpose and it was absolutely wonderful to see her stand up to Bill, as a mature and fully realized woman. And it completely stunned Bill to see his youngest wife draw a line in the sand. I do think that Margene knows what she's doing and I hope that Season Four picks up with Margene embarking on a successful business venture that is completely her own. In that one scene, the former Henrickson babysitter grew up and became a Boss Lady of her own. It was a dynamic transformation that speaks towards the complexity of her character and the writers' artful development of her character over the past three seasons.

Cara Lynn. While Cara Lynn only appeared in about two scenes in this episode, I have to say that I am already impressed with the young actress Cassi Thompson who plays Nicki's daughter. In just those few on-screen minutes, Thompson has painted Cara Lynn as a young woman with an independent streak who is more like her mother than they realize. (Just look at the ease which with she lied to Malinda about the cake.) While she dreams about being a doctor and vet, it's clear that she has no future other than motherhood and servitude on the compound. However, it's also clear that there's no way in hell that J.J. is going to let his daughter go without a fight...

Sarah. I was surprised that Sarah asked Scott (Aaron Paul) to marry her so suddenly but I am extremely excited to see what new dimension their union will bring to Season Four. While Scott was initially skeptical about embarking on a new life together without a plan for the future, he quickly came around and accepted her proposal. Just what sort of future will these two have? Is Scott cut out for a life of secular monogamy or will his philandering ways lead him to receive a testimony pushing him towards the Principle? Hmmm...

Alby. I loved the scene between Alby and Nicki as they ghoulishly discussed how best to eliminate Roman and Adaleen for good... and Nicki only seemed to half-understand that Alby was being serious. He and his wife Lura (Anne Dudek) are absolutely terrifying together and are two very dangerous partners in crime. (Lura, after all, did grow up in a copper mine so knows first-hand about explosives.) Alby's attempt on his mother's life seemed to balance the scales a bit and points to a possible reconciliation between the two in Season Four. The scene in which he left her a letter bomb in the hallway of her motel--only to have the maid run over the package with her cart--was painfully tense. And, of course, Alby literally got caught in the line of fire, while Adaleen wasn't injured at all.

Ted and Cindy. Yes, Bill and Barb were there for Ted and Cindy during the ordeal of Kim Lee's kidnapping by Hollis Greene but both Ted and Cindy thought that this traumatic experience could erase what they had done to the Henricksons. I'm glad that Barb didn't promise her sister that they could just work together on the casino project and forget the past... and that Bill managed to cut a deal with the LDS church, offering a massive endowment to Brigham Young University (five percent of the casino profits) in order to remove the many impediments that Ted had thrown in the way of the project.

Yet I am also glad that Kim Lee wasn't killed in the end (even that would have been too depressing, even for Big Love) and was safely returned. That all of this should have happened because of a letter--and a fake one, at that, created by Alby--is mind-boggling. That this was a business that Juniper Creek regularly engaged in and was successfully picked up by Alby after Roman's arrest points to a keen manipulation of the system and just how insidious both Roman and Alby truly are.

The Greenes. Once again, Hollis Greene managed to escape into the ether. After making Kim Lee a special pet and wanting to adopt her and bring her to their compound in Mexico, Selma makes a deal with her brother Roman to return the girl... and winds up arrested. I'm glad that Selma didn't come to her senses and realize that what they had done was wrong but rather she became intensely jealous of Kim Lee and acted once again out of self-interest rather than the greater good. I'm extremely nervous that Hollis will return once more next season to try to gain control of the compound now that Alby is in the hospital, his wives have fled, and Roman Grant is dead.

Roman. Speaking of which, I'm impressed that the writers killed off Roman Grant. I loved Harry Dean Stanton's nuanced performance of this complex and tyrannical self-made prophet and I'll miss him but I couldn't really imagine what the series would have done with Roman next season had he managed to escape unscathed. (Certainly not another trial for the murder of Kathy Marquart, as we've been down that road once before.) There was only one way that this season would end and it would be with the death of Roman Grant. When that closet door opened as Roman, alone, played his guitar in the big house, I wasn't sure who would be there to send Roman on his way to "salvation." In fact, I wondered if it would be Nicki herself... but I was saddened to see that it was Joey enacting a Biblical vengeance for Kathy's murder. Roman has had a way of wriggling out of every net and Joey ensured that he would pay for murdering his beloved Kathy. That it was man's justice rather than God's, will weigh heavily on Joey in the coming season, I am sure. But there was no way that Joey, unhinged as he was by Kathy's death, wouldn't seek to make Roman pay for what he had done, with no way of knowing that the D.A.'s office was going to indict him the following day. Tragic.

Bill. As for Bill, if the past three seasons have taught him anything, it's that he needs to reclaim the keys to the kingdom and form his own church, one that's separate from the one that turned its back on Barb and from the violent splinter group of Juniper Creek which have turned the Principle into something dark and twisted. The realization that he would do so brought a new sense of purpose (something each of the characters experienced in their own ways this episode) and the simple grace with which he offered his family communion pointed toward the hope of the future.

And that's really what Season Three ended on: the Henricksons once again joined together in a spirit of community and hope, united against the darkness around them, forging a bright beacon of faith against those who would seek to harm them or corrupt their beliefs. While I'm heartbroken that this amazing season of Big Love has drawn to a close, I'm already shivering with excitement to see just what Season Four has in store for the Henrickson clan... and only wish that day could come sooner rather than later.

What did you think of the season finale? What are your predictions for Season Four of Big Love? Were you shocked by Roman's death? Alby's attempt on Adaleen's life? And just what does the future hold for all of them? Discuss.

Channel Surfing: Rosenbaum and D'Agosto Experience Sibling Rivalry, ABC Announces Season Finale Sched, Moore Talks End of "Battlestar," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Former Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum and Heroes' Nick D'Agosto will star in NBC's untitled Justin Adler comedy pilot, where they'll play brothers in the Sony Pictures Television and Tantamount project; D'Agosto will play the family's youngest sibling who brings his girlfriend home to meet his family while Rosenbaum will play the middle sibling, a married man freaking out over his adopted baby.

Elsewhere, Noah Gray-Cabey (Heroes), Oded Fehr (Sleeper Cell), Kyle Riabko (Instant Star), and Jessy Schram (Life) will star in ABC musical drama pilot Limelight, about the teachers and students of a performing arts institute; Sam Neill (The Tudors) has joined the cast of ABC drama pilot Happy Town; and Rochelle Aytes (Drive) will star opposite Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks) in ABC's untitled Jerry Bruckheimer drama pilot, about a team of amateur detectives, where she will play a police officer who slips cases to Penry Jones' team. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has announced that they are developing A Ribbon of Dreams, about the history of the Hollywood film industry, with writer/director/executive producer David Chase, creator of The Sopranos. (Televisionary)

Henry Rollins will guest star in a six-episode story arc on Season Two of FX drama Sons of Anarchy, where he will play a new antagonist for the fictional town of Charming, California. (Televisionary)

ABC has announced season finale dates for most of its series, with Scrubs to air an hour-long finale on May 6th (likely the series' last) and According to Jim on May 5th. Meanwhile, Lost will wrap up its fifth season on May 14th with a two-hour season finale; Grey's Anatomy will air a two-hour season finale on May 14th; Desperate Housewives will air a two-hour installment on May 17th; Brothers & Sisters will wrap on May 10th; Private Practice is set to end its season on April 30th; In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? will both air season finales on April 30th. Ugly Betty is set to return to the schedule on May 7th and end its season on May 21st. Freshman series Better Off Ted will wrap on April 29th, Castle on May 11th, and Cupid on May 12th, while midseason offerings Surviving Suburbia and The Unusuals haven't had end dates announced yet. On the reality side, Dancing with the Stars will wrap with a two-hour finale on May 19th, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on May 17th, Wife Swap and Supernanny on May 1st, and America's Funniest Home Videos will end its season with a two-hour episode on May 15th. (Variety)

SCI FI Wire spoke to Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ronald D. Moore about the upcoming series finale, slated to air on Friday. "I was ready to let it go creatively," said Moore of the decision to end the series after the fourth season. "I knew that the show had entered the endgame, and I knew that we were in the third act. It was time to wrap up the story. I wasn't emotionally ready to let it go, and I'm still not. It was a very important experience for me. I love it. I loved working on it. I loved the people I got to know. I loved the end product. I liked watching the show. I was a fan of the show. So it's hard to know that there's not more Galactica coming. But as a producer and as a writer, I'm very happy that we got to end it on our own terms." (SCI FI Wire)

Runaway production is once again on the forefront of everyone's minds. This year, at least 20 of the 39 hour-long broadcast network pilots slated to shoot this season will be produced outside of California, due to stringent new rules governing incentives for new television series in the State of California, which limit tax credits to basic cable series with less than $1 million in episodic budgets. (Variety)

Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live) will host the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, which will air life from the Gibson Ampitheatre in Universal City on May 31st. It marks his first time hosting the awards ceremony. (Hollywood Reporter)

Oxygen is said to be close to ordering reality series The Naughty Kitchen, featuring Dallas chef Blythe Beck and her employees at her restaurant, from Code Entertainment and Authentic Pictures. Also in development at Oxygen: The Girls, about three wannabe singers in Nashville, and Hogs and Heifers, about the workers and patrons of the eponymous bar. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

The Big (Not-So) Easy: The Final Three Square Off for the Title in the "Top Chef" Season Finale

Color me very surprised.

If there's one thing that Top Chef has remained in five seasons of culinary challenges, Quickfires, and Eliminations, it's that it's always unpredictable. At times, frustratingly so. The judges are quick to remind us that every chef is only as good as their last dish and this week's season finale of Top Chef: New York, in which the final three chefs face off at Commander's Palace in New Orleans, was no exception to that rule.

Had you asked me at the beginning of this season whether I could have predicted that the final three chefs competing for the title would have been Carla, Stefan, and Hosea, I would have laughed. Sure, I figured that Stefan would be in the mix as he's been consistently amazing throughout the season, dazzling the judges with his precise execution and innovative flavor profiles, even as he rubs his fellow contestants the wrong way with his brazen arrogance. Carla has been the underdog for the last few weeks but reminded the judges (and the home audience) that she is a classically trained chef who cooks from her heart... and managed to take home quite a few wins as a result. And Hosea? I haven't been too impressed with Hosea throughout this season. He's had a few good dishes but he hasn't wowed the judges too often and seemed to coast by in the middle of the pack more often than not.

So who won the title of Top Chef and a cool $100,000 to start their own restaurant? And who went home empty-handed? Let's dish.

It wouldn't be a Top Chef season finale without a few twists or two. I loved the inclusion of Richard, Casey, and Marcel as the contestants' sous chefs in the final challenge, rather than bring back other ousted competitors from this season, which has now become a bit of a cliché. It was fantastic to see these three competitors, who placed extremely well in their respective season finales but failed to take home the top prize, pair up with the final three. I had a feeling that Hosea would select Richard (I would have), that Casey would end up with Carla, and that Stefan would pick Marcel.

But I didn't imagine that Casey would completely derail Carla's chances at taking home the top spot. I think Casey's intentions were completely honorable and she genuinely thought she was helping Carla by making some suggestions about what to serve. But Carla has excelled this season when she has cooked from her heart and cooked what she loves to cook. That passion and love has infused her dishes with a soul that is lacking in some of the dishes created by the other chefs (cough, Stefan). Sadly, Carla was completely swayed by Casey and as soon as they decided to sous-vide the New York strip steak, I knew that Carla was sunk.

I also appreciated the fact that in addition to cooking a three-course meal, the chefs were blindsided a little bit by the inclusion of a passed hors d'oeuvres course that would involve either alligator, redfish, or crab... and sure enough Hosea drew the lucky knife and stuck Stefan with the alligator.

Still, the hors d'oeuvres that the chefs created were each remarkable. Carla's shiso soup with blue crab and chaote squash looked gorgeous and had an intense combination of flavors while still retaining the very essence of the blue crab. I thought the presentation on Hosea's blackened red fish on corn cake with creole remoulade was outstanding and the execution and conception were spot on. Even faced with alligator, a tricky ingredient if there ever was one, Stefan turned out an amazing alligator soup with celeriac and puff pastry. Well done, all around.

The starter course on the other hand was a bit of a mixed bag. The judges loved Carla's seared red snapper with saffron aioli, braised fennel, and grilled clam, a deconstructionist take on bouillebasse that just screamed Carla. Hosea underseasoned his starter, a sashimi trio of black bass, hamachi, and tuna with citrus and tempura bits. And Stefan made a rare miscalculation with his smoked salmon and halibut carpaccio with micro greens and American caviar: he never should have frozen that fresh fish in order to thinly slice into millimeter-thin pieces. Yes, the presentation was absolutely gorgeous and it pointed to his strong use of innovative techniques, but the result was a watery serving of fish that lost its intrinsic quality by undergoing freezing. Hmmm...

Up next: the main course which showcased some strong execution and imaginative flavor profiles from Stefan and Hosea... and which quickly knocked Carla out of the running. Her sous vide New York strip steak with seared potato rod and merlot sauce was not indicative of her cooking style, her classical background, or her soul; Carla was far too easily swayed by Casey's insistence that she needed more oomph on the plate and stepped way too far out of her comfort zone. This dish was not a Carla dish by any means and it sealed the deal for her, sadly. Meanwhile, Hosea offered up a dish of seared scallop with foie gras on pain perdu with apple preserves and foie gras foam, which seemed the perfect combination of his vision and Richard Blais' molecular gastronomy techniques; the combination of sweet and savory and the shoutout to New Orleans in the form of the pain perdu (French toast) was a stroke of genius. Stefan offered the judges their favorite dish of the evening with his pan-seared squab with braised cabbage, Schupfnudein, foie gras, and grape jus. It was a dish that knocked the socks off the judges and perfectly encapulated Stefan's approach to food and his signature style in one dish. (And it had me ravenously drooling.)

For the final course, Carla and Stefan opted for dessert while Hosea took the opportunity to move towards a richer, heavier course that was in keeping with his menu's progression from light to heavy. Carla once again had the opportunity to do her own thing but instead listened to Casey and turned her blue cheese custard tart into a souffle... but neglected to turn down the oven, which resulted in a boiled mess that she refused to serve. Instead, she offered up the other elements already assembled on the plate: an apple tart coin with blue cheese and walnut crumble, micro greens, and kumquat marmalade; once again, she was undone by Casey's influence and she knew she had lost her shot.

Hosea's main course consisted of a beautifully cooked pan-roasted venison with chestnut and celery root puree, wild mushrooms, and carbonated blackberries, courtesy of Richard. It was a sophisticated dish and the contestants were told explicitly that they didn't have to prepare a dessert. His menu did showcase his talents, his style, and his vision and it did have a nice progression, even without dessert.

As for Stefan, I expected more. He's wowed the judges with dessert courses before so I expected him to concoct something truly show-stopping with his offering. But the judges thought that his dated combination of stracciatella ice cream, chocolate mousse, vanilla syrup, and banana lollipop wasn't sophisticated nor was it the best note on which to end the meal.

If Stefan hadn't frozen the carpaccio and had created a different dessert that better showcased his abilities and offered a nicer progression of richness in the menu, I believe he would have won last night. After all, he had been consistently at the top of the pack throughout the season and this was his game to lose. Yet his overconfidence did him in, I believe, in the end. This wasn't his best performance and two of his courses left a lot to be desired. I hoped that Carla would be the one to dethrone him but even she knew--and tearfully admitted to the judges--that she hadn't cooked her food and hadn't showed them her soul on the plate. And then there was Hosea; he offered up a beautiful menu with the least amount of missteps and displayed a confidence and belief in himself and his style of cuisine that seemed to win the judges over.

Still, I can't believe that they awarded the top prize to Hosea. I was shocked beyond belief that the season played out the way it did and that Hosea, whom I had pretty much written off, was declared the winner of Top Chef: New York. Just completely flabbergasted. Yes, you are only as good as your last dish and he did present the best menu overall (though not the judges' favorite dish, I might add) but shouldn't overall quality throughout the competition count in your favor? Isn't being a Top Chef also about always delivering the very best quality, consistently and repeatedly?

What did you think of the outcome? Would you have awarded the top prize to Hosea if you had a say? And were you heartbroken when Carla cried in front of the judges? Discuss.

Next week on Top Chef ("Watch What Happens Reunion"), watch what happens when Bravo's Andy Cohen reunites the contestants of Top Chef: New York with the judges to find out what really went on behind the scenes of the latest season of the culinary competition series.

Sneak Peek at "Top Chef: New York" Finale

Bravo's Top Chef: New York might not be airing its season finale in New Orleans until tomorrow night, but you can catch, not one, but three sneak peeks at the season finale ("Season Finale, Part Two") below, thanks to the good folks at Bravo.

Here's what the cabler had to say about the Top Chef: New York season finale:

"It's do or die for Carla, Hosea, and Stefan, and now all they have to do is complete one very simple challenge: cook the best meal of your life at renowned and historic New Orleans restaurant Commander’s Palace. With Carla having gained serious momentum in the last couple of challenges, Hosea feeling intimidated by Stefan’s ego, and Stefan without his “Team Euro” sidekick, who will be able to withstand the judges expectations and hone their skill to become Top Chef?"

"Do or Die"



"No Finale Without a Twist"



"The Best Meal of Your Life"



Who are you rooting for to take home the top prize? Will underdog Carla manage to beat out arrogant Stefan and technically shakey Hosea? Find out tomorrow night.

"You Look Like Peter Pan": High-Flying Moves After a Season of Dramatic Lows on the "Amazing Race" Season Finale

Last night brought us the conclusion of the latest cycle of CBS' reality franchise The Amazing Race and, while this past season hasn't been the series' best, I do have to say that I was caught up in the action, tension, and Peter Pan-high flying escapades of last night's installment.

(Additionally, my wife is originally from Portland, Oregon so it's likely that there was a fair amount of nostalgia for PDX going on for the final leg of the million-dollar race. Not to mention cheering when they showed that iconic Made in Oregon sign.)

I have to say that, while I wasn't the biggest champion for this lackluster season, I was happy about the final outcome of the race and pleased as punch that mistake-prone frat boys Dan and Andrew didn't walk away with the top prize. (Come on, even if you haven't yet seen last night's finale, you know they had a snowball's chance in hell of winning this thing.)

I knew from the very start that Nick and Starr would win if they could just stay focused on their own performance and not get sidetracked by competitiveness with the other teams (Starr) or become romantically entangled with their competitors (ahem, Starr again).

They were, in my opinion, one of the strongest teams ever to participate in the Race and the producers definitely tried to play up their rivalries with their fellow Racers throughout the season. But this brother-and-sister combo managed to keep their heads down, outwit the other teams, and finish detours and road blocks in record time. They even managed to finish ahead of other teams when faced with taxicab drivers from hell who seemed devilishly bent on knocking them out of the race.

As for Ken and Tina, I was pretty damn impressed with how much competition they offered the much younger Nick and Starr and by the fact that the Race really did recharge and renew their struggling marriage. Ken shakily taking out their wedding rings and tearfully placing Tina's back on her finger (after a long time off) was just the icing on the cake.

And I was super-impressed with how well they remembered their previous destinations during this week's challenge, in which they had to match route markers with various instructions, detours, road blocks, and pit stops from each of the legs thus far. Not an easy task, that, especially the physical element of running back and forth from the clue boxes to the board over and over again. And Tina not only got over her fear of heights to do the High & Dry Detour, but she seemed to relish the zipline drop from the Bridge of the Gods outside Portland.

It does seem like The Amazing Race really can bring people together and improve their life outlook, no?

I would suggest next time around, however, that the producers focus a bit more on casting. While I enjoyed Nick and Starr's enthusiasm and drive (and Ken and Tina's rows), there weren't very many teams to root for or against on this cycle, which definitely goes down with TAR: Family Edition as one of the least enjoyable and exciting seasons of this venerable series.

But my congratulations go out to Nick and Starr for managing to play smart, run hard, and stay together throughout many an obstacle along the way and take home the million dollar prize after so many first place wins this season. Way to go, guys!

Amazing Race is set to return with a new season on February 15th on CBS.

Oh, What's Occurrin': An Early Look at the "Gavin & Stacey" Season Two Finale

Over the course of thirteen episodes, James Corden and Ruth Jones, the writers/stars of British comedy Gavin & Stacey, have done the impossible: create a comedy series that manages to make you laugh and cry in equal measure, capture the pathos of twenty-something true love (which at the best of times never does run smooth), and, well, make the Welsh seem pretty damn cool.

BBC America tonight airs the brilliant second season finale of Gavin & Stacey (I was lucky enough to watch it last week) and it absolutely breaks my heart that this could be the penultimate time we catch up with Gavin and Stacey, Nessa, Bryn, Gwen, Smithy, and the Shipmans.

BBC is airing a Gavin & Stacey Christmas special later this month in the UK (no word on when it will air Stateside) and has already commissioned a third season of Gavin & Stacey. But I won't lie to you, there is a fly in the ointment: Corden and Jones' schedules have been too busy to accommodate getting together to write any of the scripts. Which is really a shame as Gavin & Stacey has been lush and I could see the duo easily creating another series or two (or, hell, three) with these hysterical and memorable characters.

While I don't want to give away any spoilers for tonight's season finale, I will say that it involves Gavin and Stacey making a decision about the future of their marriage, Nessa going into labor a month early in Barry (or, as Pam calls it, "Barry's Island"), Bryn purchasing an iPod, Gavin and Rudi trying to track down a missing Smithy before he misses the birth of his child, some Jack Johnson tunes... and the very best secret handshake I've ever seen.

Tonight's season finale is a hilarious and touching installment but you wouldn't expect anything less from Corden and Jones, aided ably by Gavin & Stacey's remarkable cast. Tidy. Each of them gets a chance to shine in this episode as Gavin and Stacey contemplate their possible future apart, Pam and Mick try to make Stacey at home (once again) in their Essex house, Smithy deals with fatherhood, and Stacey holds Nessa's hand during the delivery. (Of course, this being Gavin & Stacey look for Nessa to have a rather, uh, unusual delivery technique and for Gavin and Smithy to encounter problems with both the toll payment and the thought of Smithy's baby being born in Wales.)

While I love all of the characters, I'll definitely miss Nessa (Jones) and Bryn (Rob Brydon) more than anything, but there have been very few female television characters as memorably shameless and outrageous as our Vanessa Shanessa Jenkins. So I will particularly miss the dynamic Nessa, with her outrageous stories of her colored past, her delightful lexicon ("fair play"), and her innate brazenness.

So make yourself an omelette (plain or cheese will do) and sit back and catch the season finale of one of the most original and bittersweet comedies on television. Your stomach will hurt from laughing and your eyes from crying, but you'll thank me in the morning.

Gavin & Stacey's second season comes to a close tonight at 8:40 pm ET/PT on BBC America.

Meditations in an Emergency: Truth and Consequences on the "Mad Men" Season Finale

I am still in awe over last night's superlative and heartbreaking season finale of Mad Men ("Meditations in an Emergency'). In fact my only complaint is that it was too short; even after 50 minutes, I wanted more and especially didn't want the season to be over, especially given that we'll have to wait until next summer to find out what happened to our beloved characters.

Set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its attendant paranoia and fear, "Meditations in an Emergency"--written and gorgeously directed by series creator Matthew Weiner--brought to fruition two seasons worth of storylines as we saw Betty attempt to gain the upper hand over her philandering husband Don, watched (mouth agape) as Peggy told Pete about her baby, and watched Don finally take a stand rather than keep his mouth shut upon being told that Duck would be the new president of Sterling Cooper following the merger. And no scene has been as powerfully moving or as provocatively gripping as that final scene between Don and Betty. (I do believe I screamed at the television set when the picture faded to black, so desperate was I for more Mad Men.)

Last night's installment was all about telling the truth and we saw this theme play out several times in the episode as various characters unburdened themselves in various ways but none of these truth-telling missions was as fraught with peril or heartache as when Pete admitted to Peggy that he was in love with her and wanted to be with her... and Peggy told him that she "could have shamed him" into being with her, that she got pregnant with his baby and "gave it away."

Does Pete truly love Peggy? I'm not sure that reptilian Pete Campbell is capable of love but the closest he'll ever get to experiencing it is with Peggy, whom he claims "knows him." Was it completely inappropriate for him to tell Peggy of his love? Absolutely. Especially as he had the chance to have her in Season One and then treated her like crap for two seasons. I loved the scene where he basically told his wife Trudy that he didn't love her when she said that if he loved her, he would come with her to her parents' house to set out the Crisis and he replied by saying that he'd help her pack the car.

The scene between Peggy and Father Gill in which he told her that she was going to go to Hell unless she unburdened herself to God was absolutely beautiful and poignant, as was Peggy's soft-spoken reply to the priest who views it as his holy mission to save Peggy's soul. While she has learned to believe in God, Peggy can't accept that a vengeful God would sentence her to Hell and, rather than come clean to the priest, she finds the courage to finally tell Pete what she had done. (Can we please get an Emmy nomination for Elisabeth Moss already?)

Was it fair for Peggy to tell Pete? Probably not, but that's the problem with telling the truth: she may feel a weight has been lifted from her (afterward, she says her prayers and goes to bed) but for Pete, his entire world has come crumbling down around him, especially given the fertility problems in his own marriage. How can these two people work side-by-side knowing what they now know? And does it mean that Peggy now believes that Don's method of pretending that things never happened is as foolish as it sounds? That the past always catches up to you, no matter if you change your name, lose weight, or put things out of your mind?

I was impressed that Pete decided to tell Don the truth about Duck, even after learning that he would be made head of accounts under Duck's new regime. Was it the fact that Don finally admitted that Pete was ready to take on more responsibility, that he had passed Don's "test," that made him come clean about what was actually happening? Regardless, I think that Pete proved his loyalty to Don and then scene was the complete reversal of his attempt in the first season to blackmail Don with the knowledge of his true identity. His rationale for telling him speaks volumes as he tells Don that if he were in his shoes, he would want to know.

Do we think that Don would have behaved the same way had he been ambushed by Duck in the merger meeting had he not known in advance? I do but I think it would have been a hell of a lot more explosive. Still, I couldn't help but scream with glee when Don told an incredulous Duck that he didn't have a contract, after Duck said he'd either fall in line or be out on the streets selling shirts. (What, like Bubbles?) I'm glad that the contract subplot paid off here and the look on Duck's crestfallen face was absolutely priceless.

Last night also showed Betty coming apart at the seams. Learning that she is pregnant with a third child (and walking right out of the doctor's office without a word), she seriously considers terminating her pregnancy rather than reconciling with Don... and then seemingly embarks on a campaign to miscarry: drinking, smoking, and continuing to go horseback riding, despite her doctor's orders not to do so. But the true crux of Betty's issues come to the fore in the scene at the bar, in which she stumbles in and barely seems capable of ordering a drink. But before long, she embarks on a drunken tryst with a stranger (Chuck's Ryan McPartlin) after telling him that she's married. (So was he, from the look of his ring.)

I am sure that many viewers are wondering why Betty would stumble into the arms of a stranger when she had the opportunity to have an affair with someone she genuinely had feelings for. To me, that's the very point of Betty's transgression. Her would-be affair with her friend from the stables was too close to home, too messy, and too intimate. But a quick tryst with a stranger in the backroom of a Manhattan bar had no strings attached whatsoever. She would never see this man ever again, never know his name, and she told the truth beforehand: she was married and was up-front that this was meaningless sex. And when the man asked for her name, Betty didn't even lie; she just didn't bother to answer. Betty isn't the type of woman who engages in this type of behavior (the barman had to even tell her that if she accepted the drink from the man, he would try to chat her up) and that made this act an even bigger act of defiance, an effort to one-up Don and get even.

The gorgeous shot of her ravenously eating a chicken drumstick from the refrigerator belied this point even further: Betty had stepped outside her carefully ordered, structured life and had, for the first time, gotten messy. It's a view of Betty that is at distinct odds with how her family perceives her... and echoes (just as it cancels out) Sally's earlier line that Betty "doesn't like to eat." And yet the sight of her, alone in the dark feasting on a chicken piece, can't help but break your heart, even as it points to the veil of ignorance being ripped from her eyes.

Will this secret eat away at Betty now that she has told Don about her pregnancy? Only time will tell, but I can't help but think that some secrets should remain buried, that by bringing some into the light, one only hurts the receiver tenfold. Betty's sad voice as she told a speechless Don that she was expecting another child only made the previous hour's action all the more heartbreaking. Can they repair the damage they've caused to their seemingly perfect family (showcased in that shot of them gathered around the television) and move past their indiscretions? Or have they doomed themselves to a lifetime of regret? We'll have to wait to find out until next season.

Best line of the evening: "If I'm going to die, I want to die in Manhattan." - Pete

What did you think of Mad Men's season finale? Will Don and Betty ever be able to repair the damage to their marriage? Will Betty ever truly trust Don again and will she come clean about her own infidelity? Will Don stay at Sterling Cooper... and will Duck? And can Pete and Peggy ever move past now that they've confessed? Discuss.

Petals, Paint, and Beads: The "Project Runway" Season Finale

Last night's season finale of Project Runway wasn't filled to the brim with surprises, per se, but it did offer a nice showcase of each of the final three designers' aesthetics as they each put on shows at New York Fashion Week.

And while I had a feeling that Leanne would ultimately take home the top spot, I actually began to hope during the runway collections that it would be Korto who went home the ultimate winner of this season. (Hell, just as long as it wasn't Kenley, I'd be happy.)

So what I did I think of each of the designers' individual collections? Let's talk.

Kenley showed her collection first and I have to say that she didn't set the bar very high. Yes, there was a very specific point-of-view evidenced in her work and you could tell that it was definitely Kenley's collection, what with the painted fabrics and the use of rope (which I still think was inappropriate and, yes, did break the organic feeling of the collection, as Tim pointed out). It was an okay collection, certainly not groundbreaking or visionary in any respect.

I thought that a lot of the pieces actually looked a little too 1980s and, while I am no fashion expert, you could definitely see influences of other designers in there, from Balenciaga (who did an entire collection of painted fabric, no less!) to Christian Lacroix. I still think that the bridesmaid and wedding dresses were the most effective and captivating of her pieces and better showed her range than some of her other efforts, which did look a tad too "homemade" for my liking. One piece that did stand out: the separate skirt and top (with an ornate OTT collar) which I thought was gorgeous. She probably should have selected that as her "signature look." I knew that she was done for.

Next up: Korto, who showed a gorgeous collection that injected African elegance into a vivid color palette and amazing silhouettes. I thought that she took the most risk as a designer with her collection (heck, she created two new pieces on the fly that were absolutely breathtaking!) and offered a unique perspective as a designer. That askew halter dress in emerald was exquisite and showcased her beadwork immaculately. The new pieces, including a floor length off-the-shoulder dress in cocoa and a shorter tunic dress with bubble sleeves, were stunning and elegant.

I thought her collection was absolutely cohesive and inspired. It looked like a collection and her models worked the clothes beautifully (unlike Kenley's models, who seemed dour and bored). Were some of the pieces a little overdesigned (such as the green dress modeled by Top Model's Bianca)? Sure, but Korto can learn to edit and pull back just a little bit. She wisely discarded two pieces that she felt were way too overwrought and created two new ones mere days before the runway show, but I feel that it was some of this excess that did her in in the end. Still, I have every confidence that Korto will make a name for herself in the fashion industry and I really hope that we haven't seen the last of her.

Finally, there was Leanne. If I had one complaint about Leanne's collection it was that it was a little TOO cohesive. Too many of the pieces shared that intriguing petal architecture, which after a while, seemed to blend the pieces together rather than make them stand out individually. However, that's a minor quibble about a collection that showed innovation (the aforementioned petals/wave structures), vision (sustainable fabrics), and technical skill (the execution was flawless on every single piece on the runway). The icy blue dress was sophisticated and soft; the wedding dress was a thing of beauty to behold; that belted white and blue petalled dress was gorgeous.

Out of all three of the designers showing their collections, Leanne was the only one to do something that hadn't been done before. I am extremely glad that she opted to include the pants in the collection and Nina sparked immediately to the fact that Leanne included pants, shorts, dresses, and skirts in the mix, a wise move that displayed her range and abilities to craft all sorts of garments for many different occasions. I did wish that there had been a little more of a "wow" factor involved but the technical elegance and creative scope of her collection had me in doubt that she would be crowned the winner of the final Bravo-based (for now anyway) season of Project Runway.

What did you think? Should Leanne have won? Or was it Korto's prize to lose? And who else jumped with glee when Kenley realized she should have changed her attitude as soon as she saw that Tim would be the guest judge? Discuss.