The Daily Beast: "Grey's Anatomy's 7th Year Surge" (Interview with Shonda Rhimes)

Over at The Daily Beast, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes opens up about polarizing storylines, repetitive questions from fans on Twitter, and Grey’s creative renaissance in its seventh season.

You can read my latest feature, entitled "Grey's Anatomy's 7th Year Surge," in which I talk to Rhimes about Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Off the Map (launching January 12th), polarizing storylines, incessant fan questions, Twitter, potential endings, and more.

Have you found yourself sucked in once more to Grey's? Have you noticed a sudden creative resurgence or is it just as good as it always has been? Can there be a Grey's Anatomy without Ellen Pompeo? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Outsiders: Cynicism and Optimism on Friday Night Lights

"State."

Throughout the four-plus season run of Friday Night Lights, we've gotten quite a few inspirational speeches from Coach Taylor, spirit-rallying calls to action, soul-stirring St. Crispin's Day speeches intended to join men into a single unit, to merge them together into a single entity before they leap once more into the fray.

Sometimes, however, all it takes is a single word scrawled on a dry-erase board.

On this week's episode of Friday Night Lights ("On the Outside Looking In"), written by Kerry Ehrin and directed by Michael Waxman, a number of stories about isolation and unity tumbled together in an appealingly loose fashion. There was the nicely rendered parallel stories of Tami and Julie, each adrift in their own way, desperately seeking to fit into an environment that has them ill at ease.

Despite the distance between mother and daughter, they're linked here by a taut thematic thread. For Tami, it's an effort to fit into her new surroundings as the guidance counselor at East Dillon. She's got her work cut out for her, given the apathy of her fellow teachers, the disinterest of the parents, and the outright hostility of some of the students, including at-risk Epic. Julie, meanwhile, can't quite fit in at college. She's got a roommate who is less interested in getting to know her and more interested in, uh, getting to know the opposite sex.

Better news, however, for Vince, who receives a tonnage of letters of intent from various colleges. The look of shock on his face when Eric explained just what those letters were and the look of pride and love on the face of his struggling mother spoke volumes about just what Vince has been able to accomplish since he joined the Lions last year. It's the first taste of the power of the game beyond the joy of winning; it's the realization that it's a transformative experience, one that can forever change both his and his mother's lives if he sticks to the straight and narrow.

He's also become a bit of a local hero, in the light of his performance on the field. From the free lunch to the fact that he's able to get his mom a better job with Bob at the garden supply center, he's experiencing a sense of fame and power that he never has in the past. We've seen other plays utilize their local weight in the past, but I can't think of a time (perhaps with Matt Saracen) where we've seen the first inklings of change rumble in their heads.

But Vince has some other issues. For one, there's the threat that Maura clearly poses to his relationship with Jess. Maura has made it clear that she intends to steal Vince away, going so far as to put her panties in his locker, something that enrages Jess and leads to a full on girl fight in the bathroom. (It also leads, later, to Jess getting blindly drunk at the party in an effort to compete with Maura.) I'm a little concerned about just where this storyline is leading, particularly with Maura drunkenly being lead off-screen by several guys. (Could it be that we're seeing another rape storyline spring up, one that's perhaps less melodramatic than Season Two's revenge plot for Landry and Tyra?)

The Lions themselves, despite their surprising victory last week, aren't ranked... and the tackle that Luke made during that game is under investigation. Was it a clean hit? Is there a safety issue? And will Luke be suspended as a result?

The answer to the last one, this being Friday Night Lights, is yep. Despite Eric's insistence that the entire hearing is politically motivated because the Lions beat a team that they weren't supposed to beat, Luke is suspended for one game, a twist of fate that sends him racing to the bottle.

I thought it interesting that Luke's rage should be so directed at newbie Hastings and that it was Becky--given their shared history--who intervenes and gets Luke home safely. The boy still clearly has feelings for her (he was so desperate to get her as a rally girl) and he went so far as to trade his pig (!!!) to Tinker in order to land Becky as his rally girl.

But despite what Becky might feel, there was no way she was going into his house with Luke as drunk as he was. Her "not tonight" was just ambiguous enough to imply that on another night, under other circumstances, maybe she would have gone inside. I'm concerned though that that history, the thing that binds them together, might be the wedge that keeps them apart. How does one recover from what happened to the two of them? And the fact that Luke's mother went so far as to try to get Tami fired for even counseling Becky in the first place? Hmm...

I loved Mindy's fury when Becky came in late, after she chewed out Billy for the girl even staying with them in the first place. (Her Jon/Kate/nanny analogy was classic.) Whereas other teens may have been defensive about getting yelled at by someone who isn't even their mother, Becky's smile showed that she's not used to someone even noticing that she's not home... and that she might actually enjoy the attention and worry for a change.

As for Tami, she attempted to launch a volunteer tutoring program and tried to get the other teachers to offer some of their time but the "homework club" seemed to rub everyone the wrong way. Despite the conversation between Eric and Tami about catching more flies with honey than vinegar, Tami's very optimism--one of her great strengths--seems to be working against her with such a defeated, apathetic group. Despite not fitting in at all, she makes an effort to attend the weekly happy hour (an invitation very reluctantly offered) and makes a quick exit after getting a drink spilled on her. But she does win over one teacher--Laurel--who offers to volunteer. And she does get Epic to turn up for their meeting. Baby steps!

Julie, meanwhile, finds herself on the outs with just about everyone, though I do find it hard to believe that a beautiful girl like Julie wouldn't have the freshman guys swarming around her. She seems bored by her classes and by college life in general. (The girl isn't even in a study group! Horror!) She attends the history department mixer and spars with her TA, Derek Bishop, about the outcome of a classic football game, repeatedly telling him that there is a 36 throwback in the game. (He very wrongly doesn't believe her.) From their next meeting, it's abundantly clear that he's intended to be a new love interest for Julie but I question whether, as a freshman, she should be getting into bed with her graduate TA. This will end badly...

Eric, meanwhile, isn't going to give into defeat, even with the armaments being turned on the team from all directions. As I mentioned earlier, I loved that rather than give another moving speech, a Clear Eyes, Full Hearts shout-out, he very simply wrote "state" on the board. It's a direction, a goal, a mission. And it's very likely where the series finale of Friday Night Lights is heading. One can only hope for a victory, an opportunity for this ragtag team to come together and bring home the ultimate prize. I can't help but get misty-eyed just thinking about it...

Next week on Friday Night Lights ("The Right Hand of the Father"), someone from Vince's past resurfaces; Julie connects with a faculty member; Eric tries to instill discipline in the team; Buddy is troubled after learning something about his son.

Childhood's End: First Blood, First Fights on Chuck

Hmmm, did you see that coming?

While I teased some details about this week's fantastically serpentine episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the First Fight") in my advance review last week (which you can read over here), I was especially careful not to spoil that particular bait and switch, lest it ruin what was a rather masterful plot twist this week.

Morgan, here thrust into largely the same role that Chuck was way back in Season One, claims that first fights set the tone for the entire relationship and his rubric can be applied to relationships in general. In fact, the way that the final conflict in this episode plays out might hold the key to unlocking--or at least gaining some understanding--about the ways in which Mary Elizabeth Bartowski operates. Her frosty exterior belies a true emotional core, one that's not tied up in whatever elaborate ruse she's involved in at the moment.

So now that the episode has aired and I can get more specific with my thoughts without spoiling you, what did I think of "Chuck Versus the First Fight"? Read on. Just be sure to put down the tiny weapons first.

As I did in my original review, I again want to praise Timothy Dalton for some fantastic work in this week's installment. From the befuddled professor facade he created (I loved his glee in diving out of the airplane and his joke about there only being one parachute) to the final reveal that the man we've come to know as MI6 handler Gregory Tuttle is nothing more than an illusion, a cover story concealing this man's dangerous true nature: Volkoff himself.

I suspected as much when "Tuttle" began to ask Chuck about his relationship with Frost (during their sheep-laden trip back to Los Angeles) and when he got shot at the bank, it clinched it for me. It was far too easy to have Tuttle get shot and bleed out on the floor of a bank, but the mechanics of the plan were ingenious, a long con designed to get Chuck to take Mary inside Orion's headquarters, bypassing all security measures and allowing her to walk in freely.

Which is what it appears to have all been about: access to Orion's technology and the secrets that were hidden away underneath the Bartowskis' Encino house. Triangle-shaped discs, MI6 black ops, kindly handlers, they were all props in the end, a convincing slight-of-hand that distracted Chuck from what was actually going on behind the scenes.

For all of his training and his Intersect-derived skills, Chuck fell prey to exactly what Sarah had tried to steer him away from: he was felled by his own emotion, clouded by his unresolved feelings about his mother, and he was an easy mark for a spy as gifted and accomplished as Frost. Why? Because despite the evidence, he wanted to believe that his mother was as good as he wanted her to be. That underneath the posturing and the brutal iciness, she was the same woman that read him stories and tucked him in at night.

Did that woman ever exist? Was her whole life as Mary Bartowski just a convenient cover? Was her relationship with Chuck and Ellie's dad Stephen an assignment? Or is there something more to her? After all, she doesn't let Chuck and Sarah go boom when the explosives--rigged to destroy Orion's HQ--go off. And she does slip Sarah the means of escape. Plus, her scene with Ellie, in which they talk about little Ellie curling up between her parents in the blue leather seats of that classic car, did point towards some true emotion buried underneath that icy surface.

Better still, just what did Mary do to Chuck in the basement there? What was that that she showed him on that monitor. What was it that Orion never wanted Chuck to see? Given that we don't see Chuck flash on anything for the remainder of the episode, nor use any of his Intersect 2.0-derived abilities, it seems as though Mary has either deleted the Intersect from Chuck's head or somehow removed his access to the data.

Chuck has largely dealt with Chuck Bartowski's relationship to the Intersect program, so I can't see why the writers would decide to remove it altogether at this point in the game, but I also can't quite figure out just what Mary did to Chuck in this week's episode. It would be a huge game-changer if he lost the Intersect altogether, though it could also be a sign that the MacGuffin of those powers are replaced by real spy training and martial arts. And that Chuck becomes more proficient a spy on his own, rather than backed by any performance-enhancing technology.

But if Mary's actions aren't Intersect deletion- or alteration-related, could it be that she showed him something specific, a particular piece of intel, that could be hugely damning? Something that his brain hasn't yet processed but which is waiting to be analyzed by the Intersect? Something related to Mary's disappearance in the first place?

And, finally, was this action part of Volkoff's plan? Or a rogue personal mission for Mary herself? Hmmm...

And then there's the matter of Stephen's old classic car, the one with the custom-made blue leather seats... and whatever is going on underneath there. I'm not sure what to make of the glowing box underneath the driver's seat, nor why he specifically left this boon to Ellie rather than Chuck. Could it be that Ellie herself might be more important to the overarching plot than we realized? Did Stephen have a plan for his daughter that was separate to Chuck? Curious.

It's fitting that the Encino home where Chuck and Ellie grew up was destroyed by the end of the episode, an explosion that incinerates Orion's life's work as well as the closest symbol Chuck as of the family life that detonated when Mary disappeared all of those years ago. Everything that those years represented, those small moments that define a family, detonate with those explosives. What's taken down to the ground isn't just Orion's work, but the decades of secrets that the Bartowski clan kept.

And it's perhaps also a signal that there are no sacred cows in this show, that Orion's underground lair, with its vast caverns of knowledge, tech, and nifty gizmos, is able to be destroyed so casually. Volkoff is clearly playing for keeps... but what might undo him in the end is a mother's love for her son. At no point is it made explicit that Volkoff is aware of just what Mary and Chuck's true relationship is; in fact, it seems clear at the end of the episode that Volkoff orders Chuck and Sarah's execution without knowing who Chuck actually is.

Which is very interesting to me. While Mary went to great lengths to conceal Chuck's identity from Volkoff, it's that very relationship that could end up saving her. If she isn't completely evil, that is. But that moment between her and Sarah ("keep him safe") points towards some goodness in her heart, at least where her son is concerned.

Here's to hoping that the dastardly Volkoff and his kick-ass cohorts (including guest star Ana Gasteyer's hilariously scarred and scary indestructible woman Dasha) has more than a few tricks still up his sleeves. And that this season turns out to be just as twisty and complex as this week's episode. (Dare I say it: one of the all-time best Chuck episodes?)

What did you make of "Chuck Versus the First Fight"? Did you love Morgan's slapstick moment with the earpiece and him redeeming himself by suiting up and going into battle at the bank with John Casey? Is Mary Bartowski good or evil? What did she do to Chuck? And what's the deal with Ellie's new car? Head to the comments section to discuss.

In two weeks on Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Fear of Death"), Chuck tries to prove himself by going on a hazardous mission; Casey and Morgan try to cover when the Buy More staffers attempt to investigate the identity of the newest Greta (guest star Summer Glau).

Talk Back: The Series Premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead

Here's to hoping you did more on Halloween than just go trick-or-treating.

Last night marked the series premiere of AMC's new horror series The Walking Dead. While you already read my advance review of the first three episodes here, now that TWD has premiered, I'm curious to know just what you thought about the zombie apocalypse drama.

Were you put off by the gore and violence? Or was it just the right amount of muck and mayhem for you? Did you believe British actor Andrew Lincoln as a Southern cop? Were you on the edge of your seat the entire time? Watch through clenched fingers? Unable to look away? Did the pilot episode linger with you the rest of the evening?

Also, were you struck by similarities to both 28 Days Later and Survivors? Did you feel it advanced zombie mythology or, er, regurgitated it?

And, most importantly, will you tune in again to The Walking Dead next week?

Talk back here.

Next week on The Walking Dead ("Guts"), Rick unknowingly causes a group of survivors to be trapped by walkers; as the group dynamic devolves from accusations to violence, Rick must confront an enemy far more dangerous than the undead.

Death Goes Walking: An Advance Review of AMC's The Walking Dead

Zombies represent a real nexus of fear for me, something approaching an all-out phobia.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that zombies--unlike, say, other horror-based characters like vampires or werewolves--are brought about by something uncontrollable like a virus. They become a faceless mob, hell-bent on feasting on human flesh, transmitting the virus as it takes over the world. Unlike vampires (whose hunger is based upon something entirely different and inimical), zombies have no intellect. Rather they represent something alien, chaotic, and unstoppable, a walking virus in rags and bones that doesn't realize that it has shed its last vestiges of humanity.

One of the most eagerly anticipated new series this fall is AMC's The Walking Dead, a horror drama based on the ongoing comic book series by Robert Kirkman that's executive produced by Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd. The six-episode first season launches on Sunday, bringing a horror series to basic cable fittingly on Halloween night.

In the hands of Darabont and his team, that central notion of humanity is explored through the nightmare situation that unfolds. What makes us essentially human? If we become monsters in the name of survival, do we lose that inherent humanity? How does one live when surrounded with so much death? Is there any possibility of happiness to be wrung out of this new hell? What happens when we're alive but dead inside?

The answers to those very questions are at the heart of this gripping, ultra-violent series, which follows the survivors of a full-on zombie apocalypse. Whether they're shooting or beheading zombies, those ragtag humans remaining are holding on dearly for survival and the series explores the unbreakable nature of the human spirit. Simple pleasures--a hot shower, a fast car, the sight of a loved one--take on monumental weight in the face of such horrific adversity.

British actor Andrew Lincoln (This Life, Love Actually) stars as Officer Rick Grimes, a local deputy sheriff who is in a coma at the time of the zombie uprising and awakens in a deserted hospital to a world that's very different than the one he left behind, a dark mirror image of where the familiar and comforting have turned topsy-turvy. (The comparisons to 28 Days Later are inevitable.) A vase of fresh flowers is long dead, its petals crushed and dried. A nurse's station becomes an ominous place, the creaking doors, chained and padlocked, containing the dead who continue to walk.

Rick provides a natural entry point to the series for the viewer, his disorientation ours as he attempts to find his bearings in these new circumstances. Where are his wife and son? What has happened to the world while he was sleeping? His journey will take him back to their house and ultimately out into the world, on a mad quest to reunite his family.

But this is a horror drama, after all, and the stakes are high, as is the mounting body count. Rick's journey towards Atlanta becomes a path of destruction and the pilot episode ("Days Gone Bye") is one of the most tension-ridden episodes of television you'll ever see, a white-knuckle thrill-ride that had me breathless with anticipation and dread. The ominous tone and foreboding atmosphere is ably assisted by cinematic-level visuals, sweeping shots of emptiness that signal the isolation and fear gripping Rick while rendering the swarms of zombies, their teeth and nails and rotting flesh, all the more terrifying.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a real fear of zombies that's almost paralyzing in its severity, but I couldn't help but fall under the spell of The Walking Dead's opening salvo. The plot is arranged in such a way that it becomes impossible to look away, dragging you along with its breakneck pacing and overwhelming horror. Its more philosophical questions remind of the short-lived British television drama Survivors, which also explored the ways in which we hold onto--or discard--our humanity in the face of cataclysmic change. The empty streets of Atlanta, however, hold nothing but death at the hands of the savage mob, just as in Survivors it contained a viral death warrant.

I will say that I was slightly let down by the series' second episode ("Guts"), which pushed it into far more prototypical horror territory, negating some of the moral importance of the pilot episode. Rather than continue to mine those themes, the episode focuses much more heavily on the logistics and terror aspect of the zombies as Rick finds himself in an impossible situation and then goes from the frying pan into the fire. (Lest I spoil plot particulars, I'm being intentionally vague here.) Still intense, but the violence begins to grate rather than engage after a while.

Additionally, the dialogue in the second installment felt particularly stilted in this episode and unrealistic and certain characters--again, I won't say who--behaved in manners that seemed to shout out that they had never seen Scream or any other horror movie and didn't know the "rules." (Stupid behavior, after all, gets you killed.) Rather than feel panic for these individuals, I actually found myself feeling that it would be justified for them to get eaten after behaving so idiotically. (Which is a bit of a problem in a series about survival and humanity.)

Fortunately, the third episode ("Tell It to the Frogs") put the series back on track in my opinion, better balancing the horror and dread with humanity and hope, zombies with matters of the heart and soul. It also delves into the makeshift community established by the survivors of the zombie storm, a place where members attempt to recreate society anew with rules, chores, regulations, and lookout duty. It's a place where a string of tin cans becomes an early warning system, where clothes are washed by hand, and the simple pleasure of fishing for frogs becomes a wish fulfillment fantasy.

The Walking Dead's cast is top-notch. Lincoln simmers with intensity, his honor and duty as affixed to him as his deputy sheriff's uniform. (I can't get one particular scene, in which he solemnly apologizes to a female zombie before ending her, out of my mind.) Jon Bernthal, who plays Rick's partner Shane, exudes a hard sadness. Former Prison Break star Sarah Wayne Callies plays Rick's wife Lori, a woman who is determined to keep her son Carl (Chandler Riggs) safe. Look for Steven Yeun to break out as Glenn, whose irrepressible nature is at odds with the horror witnessed around him. Michael Rooker and Norman Reedus are terrifically terrifying as redneck brothers Merle and Daryl Dixon.

I'm intrigued to see just where The Walking Dead is going and how long it can sustain its tension and horror in the long run. But despite some bumps in the road (particularly, again, in that second episode), even this zombie-phobe is along for the ride. Though I might just be watching with my hands half-over my eyes.



The Walking Dead premieres Sunday evening at 10 pm ET/PT on AMC.

The Daily Beast: "AMC: Television's Hottest Network"

Mad Men. Breaking Bad. Rubicon.

Those titles are intimately familiar to any television devotee and cabler AMC, the home to those groundbreaking series, is about to launch their fourth original series this weekend with The Walking Dead.

Over at The Daily Beast, I examine AMC's success, speaking to the channel's top executives--president/general manager Charlie Collier and SVP of original programming Joel Stillerman--as they dive headfirst into the horror genre with Sunday's The Walking Dead.

The piece, entitled "AMC: Television's Hottest Network," contains a discussion with Collier and Stillerman covering AMC's brand, their programming decisions, and the future and challenges for the basic cable network as well as topics such as the fate of Rubicon, next year's crime drama The Killing, and much more.

Zombies (and Dancing Queen): Community's Awe-Inspiring Halloween Spectacular

As I said last night on Twitter, I didn't think I could love Community more than I already did and yet last night's episode ("Epidemiology"), written by Karey Dornetto (who previously scripted the "Contemporary American Poultry" episode) and directed by Anthony Hemingway (True Blood), proved me wrong entirely.

In the hands of the immensely talented cast and crew of Community, this Halloween episode transcended all boundaries, injecting horror tropes into its comedic trappings without sacrificing the ephemeral spirit of what makes this show unique in the first place. Rather than offer up a dream or a similar faux reality, Dan Harmon and Co. found a way to have an actual zombies attack on Greendale Community College... and still keep the emotional integrity of the series.

While people succumb to an illness related to a highly classified experimental military compound purchased as "taco meat" by a cheap Dean Pelton and the gang attempts to stay alive long enough, the horror gives way to a storyline in which Troy and Abed's friendship is tested. When their initial plan to go to the Halloween party as Ripley and the Alien from Aliens (hell, there was even a cat lurking about the place) falls apart dramatically, Troy attempts to cast off his "nerd" trappings by reinventing himself as a bare-chested "sexy Dracula," complete with a toilet seat cover that reads, well, "Dracula."

Community did it right by keeping the emphasis on the humor and emotion while juxtaposing their bread and butter with the horror of zombies and a constant stream of ABBA (along with the dean's personal voice memos). The spooky opening credits, George Takei's narration, and zombie attacks set to "Waterloo" and "Dancing Queen" all set the tone for this fantastic installment, which ranks up there with "Modern Warfare" as the all-time best episodes of Community.

And they definitely pushed the envelope in terms of the horror. I was on the set for two days while they filmed this episode (in preparation for this story) and was able to see the initial "ZOMBIE ATTACK!" as well as the gang barricade themselves in the study room... and then watched as Annie was pulled through the broken window by a mob of zombies. The constant biting, the mob mentality, the sheer terror of it all were brilliant brought to life here.

It helped that the costumes for the gang were so hilarious. Abed's Aliens costume (with bike messenger helmet), Shirley's Glinda (which I knew right away that's what she was meant to be), Britta's T-Rex (or "dragon turtle"), Chang's Peggy Fleming ensemble, Troy's Ripley... and even Jeff's lazy, lazy David Beckham.

I'm also extremely curious to see whether the writers address the fact that Yvette Nicole Brown's Shirley and Ken Jeong's Chang seemed to have had sex in the women's bathroom during the zombie apocalypse. I expected them to break the scene before Chang actually kissed her but the fact that they slid out of view seemed to point towards some mode of interaction there... and which was seemingly later confirmed by Chang's panicked voicemail message to Troy. Given that Troy is now the only one who knows that something happened between the two, will he keep his mouth shut? Or will Shirley and Chang develop feelings for each other outside of a life-and-death situation?

I was glad to see the Community broke the trend of the black man being the typical horror victim by having Troy outlast the entire gang... and save the day by reaching the thermostat and lowering the temperature in the library. (Or Li-scary, as it were.)

What else did I love? The return of pottery savant Rich (a.k.a. "Chiquita M.D."), Shirley's "end of days" routine, Chang attempting to catch everyone in an act of racism, that cat ("is someone throwing that thing?"), the crawl space, Abed's sacrifice for Troy, the ironic juxtaposition of flesh-eating zombies and ABBA's Greatest Hits, and anything involving Jim Rash's Dean Pelton, really. (What does one do with whole milk if not drink it?)

Ultimately, "Epidemiology" ranks up there with the best of the best of Community, raising the bar of creative spirit for the show and, really, for television comedies in general. Other comedies should wish they could be this gonzo, this hilarious, this experimental. Thanks to Community, the competition all seems a little bit less funny today.

Next week on Community ("The Aerodynamics of Gender"), Abed discovers his inner mean girl; Jeff and Troy embrace a Zen-like spirituality when they uncover a secret trampoline on campus; Pierce lands in the hospital.

AOL Television's Skype Second Opinion: Community's "Epidemiology"

What did you think of last night's episode of Community?

This week marked another go on AOL Television's Skype Second Opinions, where I connected via Skype to ramble on for a few minutes about this week's episode of Community ("Epidemiology"), which included zombies, ABBA, Aliens, Halloween costumes, and experimental military compounds.

You can watch the video in full over here at AOL Television or right below.



Community airs Thursday evenings at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC.

HBO Sets Date for Fifth and Final Season of Big Love, New Project in the Works for Olsen/Scheffer

It's official: it's the end of the road for the Henrickson clan.

HBO today announced that the fifth and final season of Big Love will kick off on January 16th. Yes, you read that correctly: the final season.

“It has been an honor and pleasure to work with series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer on this unique and provocative series, and I’m happy that they will be able to bring the story to its close the way they always envisioned,” said HBO Programming president Michael Lombardo in a statement. “We look forward with great anticipation to collaborating with Mark and Will on their next venture.”

However, don't get angry at HBO. At least according to comments made by Olsen and Scheffer in the official press release, it seems as though the series is reaching a natural ending, as it were... and the duo aren't going anywhere. It appears that a new HBO project for the writing team will be announced shortly.

“When we created Big Love in 2002, we had a strong conception of the journey the Henrickson family would make over the course of the series, of the story we had to tell,” said Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer in a joint statement. “While we were in the writers’ room this year shaping our fifth season, we discovered that we were approaching the culmination of that story.

“Big Love has been our all-consuming labor of love for the past eight years. We are very grateful for HBO’s continuing support and for the collaborative effort of our partners at Playtone, our producers, our fine cast and our fellow craftsmen and crew for making this show the exceptional and joyful experience that it’s been," they continued. "This coming January, we look forward to presenting our audience with the most vibrant and satisfying final season of a television series that we can produce.”

Here's what executive producer Gary Goetzman had to say about the news:

“Big Love has been a truly rewarding experience in every way for Tom Hanks and me,” said Goetzman. “We’ve been so fortunate to have had such a tremendous cast over the five seasons, and we’ve never been less than amazed with their brilliance and willingness to take risks. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our partnership with Will and Mark and have always been blown away by their storytelling abilities. We believe this final season of BIG LOVE will be the best ever.”

As for that future project, here's what HBO had to say: "Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer have a continuing relationship with HBO, and their next project for the network will be announced when it is confirmed."

In other words: stay tuned.

Personally, I'm going to miss the Henricksons. Over the last four seasons, I've come to fall head over heels in love with this complex and emotionally resonant series. While Season Four may have been shaky at times, I still maintain that the third season of Big Love stacks up against the all-time greatest television seasons of all time.

And I have a feeling that Season Five will attempt to shift the tone of the series back in line with where it was in the third season. I have faith in Olsen and Scheffer to not only wrap up this series with grace and grit but also to reduce me to tears once more.

Are you sad about the news? Is it time for HBO to wrap up the saga of the polygamist family drama? Or is there still life left in this non-traditional family? Head to the comments to discuss.

Choosing Sides: An Advance Review of Chuck's "Chuck Versus the First Fight"

Sometimes the hardest advance reviews to write are the ones where the episode in question hinges ever so much on the plot.

The innate twists and turns of next week's episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the First Fight") make the episode delicious fun, but also make it super-difficult to write about as I don't want to spoil any of the plot mechanics, as there are quite a few surprises and unexpected treats in this installment.

It's no spoiler to say that the episode deals head-on with resolving some of the issues left dangling from the cliffhanger at the end of "Chuck Versus the Aisle of Terror." The title should be a good indication of just where Sarah and Casey's actions have left her relationship with Chuck and their romance has definitely hit a rough patch for all of the reasons that I outlined in my post-air review of "Aisle of Terror."

Trust is a funny thing and once broken--regardless of the reasons behind it--it's often difficult to get back to how things were beforehand. But this is Chuck, of course, so don't expect that this episode is all doom and gloom. Instead, it's a winning mix of action, suspense, romance, and humor. In other words, all the things that Chuck does so well when it's firing on all cylinders.

What else did I think of next week's episode? Read on, but--as always--please do not post my comments in full on any websites, message boards, or the like.

"Chuck Versus the First Fight" approaches that breakdown on two fronts, not surprisingly: from the fallout for the relationship between Chuck and Sarah (the romantic angle) and the implications that the motives of Chuck's mom, Mary Elizabeth Bartowski, may not be as pure as she claims (the spy word). Fittingly, these two tracks come together in perfect fashion in this episode, providing the impetus for the a whole slew of new story possibilities down the line.

I'm also happy to say that rather than fit into the overarching storyline in a tangential fashion, Ellie and Awesome do play a role here (huzzah!), though I can't say much more than that. The realization that their mother was a spy, learned by Ellie from Chuck at the end of the episode, fuels a thirst for knowledge that puts her on a very interesting journey that will have consequences for more than one member of the Bartowski clan. A certain reveal, arriving after an explosive twist, sets up an intriguing direction that had me nearly working myself into a leather. Sorry, I mean lather.

There's definitely still an aura of Alias' Irina Derevko lingering about Mary Bartowski and that doesn't dissipate with this episode. However, there is an extremely tender scene between Mary and one of her children as well as one moment that has me thinking about its importance a day later. Hmmm...

As for Chuck and Sarah, there are definitely some things that need to be worked out between these two. In looking to protect Chuck, Sarah may have shot herself in the foot but, as always, I have faith that these two can work through just about anything. That is, if they put their mind to it. First fights, as Morgan claims, set the tone for the rest of the relationship. So does the breach of trust signal other potential landmines for Chuck and Sarah down the line? Or is first fight just a fight like any other? In the meantime, sides are chosen, alliances made, and friction makes its way into their relationship, both personal and professional.

There are a series of great scenes with our newbie spy, Morgan (a.k.a. "The Magnet"), who is somewhat drafted into the role that Chuck played back in the first season of the series. However, look for him to step it up--or at least for Morgan, anyway--in a scene with John Casey... and for a particularly slapstick scene involving an earpiece and a glass of water whose hilarity comes from the fact that the sequence keeps going and going. And let's just say that the title doesn't just refer to Chuck and Sarah...

The episode also features a classic car, a flock of sheep (yes, seriously), the incomparable Timothy Dalton, and Ana Gasteyer as the indestructible Dasha, a Volkoff operative with a penchant for tiny weapons and a lack of personal grooming habits. Gasteyer is a hoot here and it's great to see her as a villain, particularly one as horribly scarred and freakish as this one.

As for Dalton, I can't heap on enough superlatives. The former James Bond shines in this episode as he plays completely against type as Mary's handler Gregory Tuttle. There are some truly fantastic--and hilarious--scenes with him and Chuck and Dalton's gleeful performance, alternately professorial and bewildered, is something to be experienced. He's all cardigans and crocodile grins. A fantastic addition to the Chuck world that doesn't smack of stunt casting at all.

I don't want to say more about this fantastic episode lest I spoil the surprises therein, but I will tease just a little more and say that "Chuck Versus the First Fight" is an episode that marks a potential turning point for the season and, quite possibly, for the series, subtly altering some of the foundations of the series in some compelling and tantalizing ways.

Suffice it to say, you'll definitely want to see what happens next. I know that I'm on the edge of my custom-designed seat.

Chuck airs Monday evenings at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC.

ABC's Charlie's Angels Pilot Gets Greenlight; We've Got the Casting Breakdown

Looks like Charlie's Angels is heading back to the small screen, courtesy of Sony Pictures Television and Smallville creators Miles Millar and Al Gough, who will executive produce alongside Drew Barrymore, Nancy Juvonen, and Leonard Goldberg.

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that ABC has given the pilot the official greenlight, with production slated to begin roughly in mid-January.

The project has been in development for a year, with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Josh Friedman originally set to oversee the project.

Which brings us to the Angels themselves. Producers seem to be particularly keen to make this a multi-ethnic version of Charlie's Angels, with the casting breakdown indicating that the three leads will be African-American, Latina, and white.

So just who are this latest batch of Angels? Let's find out, thanks to a look at the hot-off-the-press casting breakdown, courtesy of a tipster who wishes to remain anonymous, that I just got my hands on...

First up is Kate Prince, the team's "gorgeous" African-American Angel, a former cop. Here's how she's described: "Kate is an incredible athlete and possesses a razor-sharp intellect. Although the most serious of our three Angels, she also knows how to let her hair down and have a great time. Kate is an ex-cop, a master or martial arts and a strict vegetarian." Age range is 24-30.

Next is Abby Sampson, the youngest of the Angels (and likely the blondest) whose street skills are at odds with her upbringing. "Her beauty has always turned heads, but it's her quick wit and quirky sense of humor that makes her stand out. She grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side and is the daughter of a notorious Wall Street crook a la Bernie Madoff. She is an expert thief, con artist and is trained in the deadly art of Krav Maga." Age range is 22-27.

Finally, there's Marisa Valdez, our "exotic" Latina beauty with a buff physique and a knowledge of weaponry. "She's an orphan, an immigrant and a former U.S. Marine. She is a weapons expert and is trained in all forms of hand-to-hand combat. Marisa has a no-nonsense attitude, is a Play Station addict and self-confessed neat freak." Age range is 24-30.

No word on breakdowns for Bosley or the mysterious Charlie--always heard and never seen--himself.

What do you make of the breakdown? Are these the Angels that you envisioned? Does this reboot excite you or make you want to run for the hills?

And, if you were playing amateur casting director, who would you want to see in these roles? Discuss.

Of Lions and Lambs: Thoughts on the Season Premiere of Friday Night Lights

"I'm going to miss this." - Eric Taylor

Those words, spoken by Kyle Chandler's Eric Taylor in the season premiere of Friday Night Lights ("Expectations"), written by David Hudgins and directed by Michael Waxman, are said as he looks over at the minor squabble developing between wife Tami (Connie Britton) and daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden). But that simple sentence, offered in a sweet and rather sad tone, might as well encapsulate the overall feeling of the audience: we're going to miss this too.

Even though the "this" in question might be yet flare-up of adolescence angst from Julie Taylor. But it's the fact that the Taylors are together, engaged in the regular rigors of daily life, that the entire declarative statement takes on bigger meaning. Change is coming for the Taylors, with Julie heading off the school. Their family is once again being split up and those breakfasts, those arguments, those stolen moments are soon to be a thing of the past.

The arrival of the fifth season marks the beginning of the end, as it were, of Friday Night Lights and the installment plays up this sensation by offering a series of farewells, most notably from Julie and Landry (Jesse Plemons), each heading off to a new life at university. At its heart, Friday Night Lights has echoed the rhythms and patterns of quotidian life: seasons pass, people come and go, lovers come together. Life goes on as it always does, with friends returning, children growing older, parents realizing just how quickly time has passed.

I'm tempted to speed through this final season but I also want to savor it, knowing that it's the very end of our stay in Dillon, a town that's largely changed from when we first encountered it in the pilot episode. But, hold on though we might want to, just like Eric, we too can't stop the passing of time.

You read my advance review of the first two episodes of Friday Night Lights's fifth season, but now that the episode has aired, you'll find my more specific (and spoilery) thoughts about the season premiere. (Though I've watched the next episode, I've kept my comments limited to just the season opener.)

"Expectations" did a marvelous job of showing the audience just where we are and where we're going this season, dropping us once again at the end of summer and the edge of the new school year, as Julie leaves for college and Tami settles into her new job as the guidance counselor at East Dillon, a professional change that reunites her with Eric.

But as Julie clashes with her parents about everything from buying supplies to driving herself, it's just one of many family issues developing. Tami and Eric's attempt to hold on just a little bit longer to their daughter results in some hurt feelings as Julie brushes off Tami's homemade fruit cobbler to see Landry's band perform on his last night in Dillon.

And what a last night it is, as Crucivictorious plays what might just be their final show, Julie and Landry have a tete-a-tete outside the Alamo Freeze, and Julie treats Landry to some fun at The Landing Strip, offering him something that approximates the "epic" final night in town that he desired. (I loved that he made a specific trip to say goodbye to Lorraine Saracen, a scene that paid homage both to the friendship between Landry and Matt but also between Landry and Lorraine.) The best bit? Landry's "You stay golden, Julie." Classic.

(While Landry heads off to Rice University in Houston, I thought it interesting that no mention was made of just what college Julie was attending. Odd, no?)

But Julie's squabbles are minor compared to the weighty issues at play in other households. Becky (Madison Burge) has been living with her father and his new wife while her mom is working on a casino boat. It's an arrangement that's not really working out for any of the parties involved and it's just a matter of time before things implode there... or at least until Becky seeks out new accommodations.

Naturally, her desire for some stability at home leads her towards the closest thing she recognizes as family: the Rigginses. Despite the fact that Tim (Taylor Kitsch) is still in prison--he has another three months left on his sentence after good behavior--she heads over to Billy (Derek Phillips) and Mindy (Stacey Oristano) to see if they'll let her move in.

After all, Tim did take the fall for Billy and is serving time so that Billy can be with his family... and Billy did promise to look after Becky. It's only natural then that Becky should turn to these two for help. The only problem being that these two haven't ever raised a teenager and they have a new baby to care for. Whether Becky will be able to find a place in the Riggins' household remains to be seen, but I'm curious to see just where the writers intend to take this storyline.

Tim, meanwhile, is far different than the charmer we first met way back when in Season One. Sullen, depressed, and defeated, he pushes both Billy and Becky away, telling his brother that neither of them need to visit him as much as they do. His isolation, his loneliness, are all the more keenly felt, despite his insistence that he be left alone. (In fact, isolation seems to be the underlying theme in both of the first two installments of the season.)

In an effort to "give something back," Billy pushes Coach Taylor for a football coaching position at East Dillon, saying that Eric is a "molder of men," a callback to a compliment that Tami once paid Eric back in the day. According to Billy, "It would be a good idea for me to be around someone like you right now."

For her part, Tami is finding it difficult to integrate herself into the infrastructure--or the crumbling infrastructure--at East Dillon, as she encounters ennui and resistance from her fellow teachers. Once again, the at-risk students are falling through the cracks and the teachers would rather not deal with them, period. It's interesting to see Tami struggle in this way. Her sunny disposition is clearly at odds with the sort of larger problems facing this school, her office tucked out of the way, her phone not even connected. If Tami has any hopes of reaching these kids, it's going to be a Sisyphean endeavor.

Elsewhere, we got a chance to see that Jess (Jurnee Smollett) and Vince (Michael B. Jordan) are still together and still happy in couplehood, even though Jess has her hands full at home, with her dad's recent franchising extravaganza. But there is some potential tension brewing between Jess and the team's newest recruit, Hastings Ruckle (True Blood's Grey Damon), best seen during their free spirit/coward scene during the party thrown by Luke (Matt Lauria) specifically to recruit basketball player Hastings to the Lions. Whether Hastings will prove to be the wedge that drives Jess and Vince apart remains to be seen, but there were definitely sparks there between Jess and Hastings, hippy or no. (I also loved Hastings' contention that football rewarded the basest elements of American society, something that Eric took umbrage with immediately.)

As for Luke, he has issues of his own, namely a key tackle during a game in which the Lions beat one of the state's best teams, an unexpected victory that makes the team roar. The fact that the player involved, Cody Pearl, didn't immediately get up gave me flashbacks to Jason Street (Scott Porter) in the FNL pilot. While everything seems to be fine, the moment is played for tension... which means that it's likely to carry over into the next episode. While the team won, there's an underlying menace to the moment that has me wondering what new obstacle will spring up in front of this pride of lions.

The most emotional moment by far in this episode had to be the final ping pong game between Julie and Eric. I wondered whether Eric would be cross with Julie for coming home so late or if his conspiratorial tone would lead to a discussion about being nicer to Tami but instead he takes Julie out to the garage where they search for the paddles and take a trip down memory lane. It's an intimate moment in a series overflowing with them, one that pays testament to the relationship between these two characters in a realistic and grounded way. There are no big speeches, no melodramatic goodbyes, just a late-night ping pong game and an understated parting as Julie drives off. In true fatherly fashion, Eric shoves an envelope into Julie's hands before she leaves. "For emergencies," he says.

And then there were three.

It's not an easy thing to dramatize that leaving of the nest nor to make both sides of the equation immediately sympathetic. Her car overstuffed with the detritus of college life, Julie is bound for bigger and better things. While her parents are sad, they're also proud of their daughter. And they should be. Eric might be a "molder of men," but he and Tami are molders of everyone around them, pushing them towards being better people, better versions of themselves.

And television--and perhaps our own world--might be all the better for it.

What did you think of the season premiere? Did it live up to your own expectations? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on Friday Night Lights ("On the Outside Looking In"), Coach finds out not everyone is pleased by the Lions strong showing in the season opener; Vince's newfound football stardom comes with perks; Luke faces consequences for his aggressive play.

Syfy's Caprica is Toast; Better News for Bored to Death and Eastbound and Down

Bad news for Caprica fans.

Syfy has axed the Battlestar Galactica prequel spinoff and will be pulling the remaining episodes from the schedule, effective immediately.

Which doesn't mean that you won't get to see how the season ended. Syfy also announced that it would air the remaining five episodes sometime next year, according to the press release:

"The remaining first run episodes of Caprica -- airing Tuesdays at 10/9c -- will be removed from the schedule as of next Tuesday, November 2. These final five episodes of the season will be re-scheduled to air at a to-be-announced time in the first quarter of 2011, and will conclude the run of the series."

News comes on the heels that the cabler has ordered a pilot for another Battlestar Galactica prequel series, entitled Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, which will return the series' setting to war-torn battles and Viper maneuvers. (I had wondered just what Syfy would do with Caprica last week when that announcement was made.)

"We appreciate all the support that fans have shown for Caprica and are very proud of the producers, cast, writers and the rest of the amazing team that has been committed to this fine series," said Syfy programming chief Mark Stern in a statement. "Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, Caprica has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season."

No word on just when those remaining episodes will unspool but the fact that Syfy has yanked the series from its lineup--a real rarity among cable networks--points towards just how dismal the ratings were for this Syfy original series, ratings that likely weren't helped by the move to Tuesday evenings at 10 pm where there was a hell of a lot more competition from the broadcast networks than on Fridays.

The news was better for fans of HBO's edgy comedies Bored to Death and Eastbound and Down, both of which were renewed yesterday for third seasons.

I've seen the remaining episodes of this current season of Bored to Death and thought they were among the series' sharpest and most nuanced to date. Fun, hilarious, and meaningful. I'm going to miss this show between seasons. Bored to Death has consistently emerged as one of the most underrated comedic gems on television. I'm glad to see HBO giving it a vote of confidence with another season.

What do you make of the news? Is Syfy right to cancel Caprica? Are you sad to see it go? And are you happy by HBO's renewals for Bored to Death and Eastbound and Down? Discuss.

The Daily Beast: "NBC's Disastrous Season"

Poor Peacock.

NBC continues to flail in last place, with new shows like Outlaw and Undercovers bombing and veterans like The Office eroding.

Over at The Daily Beast, I take a look at the current state of NBC in my latest feature, "NBC's Disastrous Season," in which I offer six possible ways to save the Peacock.

What do you think of NBC's current crop of programming, from highs like Chuck, Community, and Parks and Recreation to lows like Chase, Undercovers, and The Event? Do you agree with my assessment and my suggestions? Head to the comments section to discuss.

The Last Waltz: An Advance Review of Season Five of Friday Night Lights

Well, this is it: the beginning of the end.

After four seasons of emotionally resonant drama, a nuanced exploration of life in small town Texas, and one of the most realistic portrayals of marriage ever, television masterpiece Friday Night Lights is heading towards the its final days, beginning with this week's thrilling and evocative season premiere ("Expectations"), written by David Hudgins and directed by Michael Waxman.

It's not surprising that "Expectations" had me getting choked up no less than four times over the course of 40-odd minutes, as characters made their farewells and prepared to leave Dillon behind. While their goodbyes might be temporary, it was a canny way of signaling to the audience that the final parting is still to come, that with just a dozen or so episodes left, there would be no going back to Dillon.

The first two episodes of the fifth and final season--"Expectations" and next week's installment ("On the Outside Looking In"), written by Kerry Ehrin and directed by Michael Waxman--contain an aura of both sadness and hope.

Which is fitting as there is a lot of change afoot in just the first hour alone, as Landry (Jesse Plemons) and Julie (Aimee Teegarden) prepare to leave for college and Eric (Kyle Chandler) and Tami (Connie Britton) grapple with new professional challenges (including, for Tami, one hell of a high-risk student), while also attempting to come to terms with Julie growing up and leaving home.

But everyone has to deal with some new circumstances, some of which are inherently challenging. There's trouble at home for Becky (Madison Burge), who has to deal with a sudden change in her family life as well as feelings of isolation and abandonment. Jess (Jurnee Smollett) attempts to raise her little brothers now that her dad is on the road launching multiple franchises of his BBQ restaurant. Billy (Derek Phillips) and Mindy (Stacey Oristano) have troubles of their own, not the least of which is Billy's crushing guilt over Tim (Taylor Kitsch) still being in prison and further changes at the Riggins household.

What else did I think about the first two episodes of Season Five? Read on, but, as always, please do not reproduce these thoughts in full on any websites, message boards, or the like.

Given the emotional complexity of Friday Night Lights, it's not surprising that the writers tackle the pride and sorrow of Eric and Tami as they say goodbye to Julie, clinging to the small final moments they have as a family living under one roof.

In the hands of writer David Hudgins, a fruit cobbler becomes emblematic of something larger, something lost that can't be regained. An argument between mother and daughter--one of countless ones that Tami and Julie have engaged in over the years--isn't a point of anger for Eric but a symbol of what's about to change: their daughter is leaving home. (But before she does leave, look for an extremely touching final scene between Teegarden and Chandler, set against a very fitting backdrop.)

Julie's departure from Dillon is indicative of a larger change among the series, as Julie is the only remaining series regular from the younger generation of Dillon. The first episode also marks a goodbye for Landry, leaving to attend Rice University and there are several scenes that celebrate his relationships with Julie and with Matt's grandmother Lorraine Saracen (Louanne Stephens). Small moments--both tender and hysterical--that pay homage to the role that both Plemons and Landry have played in the series since the very beginning.

Before viewers get upset: Teegarden's Julie isn't going to disappear.

The second episode of the season follows her to university, where we get a glimpse of her new surroundings and her own sense of isolation, one that neatly mirrors her mother's, as both Tami and Julie attempt to fit in among strangers in new situations, with Tami attempting to snap her fellow East Dillon teachers out of their apathy. Both mother and daughter get a lifeline as it were, an offer of friendship, but I can't help but wonder whether Julie's new friend--whom I'll leave unnamed for now--isn't quite the lifeline he appears to be. In fact, he might prove to be just the opposite.

Viewers also get the chance to check in with poor Tim Riggins, who has three months left on his prison sentence after taking the fall for brother Billy. It's safe to say that the Riggs glimpsed here is vastly different from the smooth-talking charmer we last saw. Prison changes people and it's certainly changed Tim. I'm curious to see just how his story will play out this season and just what his eventual return to Dillon will mean for him and his family.

But, in the meantime, there are other issues at hand. The new season for the East Dillon Lions is underway and Coach Taylor is attempting to assemble a team with a real shot at making it to the playoffs. Which means engaging in some less than, uh, altruistic behavior when it comes to poaching a basketball player whom he believes will be an asset to the Lions.

Enter Hastings Ruckles (Grey Damon), the basketball player in question. But rather than repeat the Vince (Michael B. Jordan) storyline from Season Four, Eric's pursuit of Hastings is entirely different... and Hastings himself is as far from Vince as possible. He's a self-styled "free spirit," a "hippy" who wears a woolen hat and spouts off about football celebrates the worst elements of American society.

But Coach Taylor, that molder of men, doesn't ever like to take no for an answer and he makes it his duty to try and lure Hastings to the team, using whatever methods necessary, including leaving it up to Vince and Luke (Matt Lauria). Hastings is a wild card, one that will likely wield an influence on the plotlines of Vince and Luke this season. Meanwhile, look for some intriguing twists to some of the romantic subplots, such as the Jess/Vince relationship and the tensions between Luke and Becky Sproles.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot of these fantastic first two episodes of the season, but I will say that Season Five is already off to a cracking start and the scenarios engineered by the writers not only feel organic but begin to position the characters for a season of, well, great expectations.

It likely will prove to be a season that examines our own expectations as viewers, as well as the hopes and dreams of characters that we've come to know and love over four seasons of stories. Saying goodbye is never easy, but with the final season actually here, I'm finding it even more difficult than I thought to bid farewell to Dillon.

At least we've got an entire season before Friday Night Lights heads to that great Alamo Freeze in the sky. But, if the first few episodes are any indication, it's going to be an intense and emotional season of hope and loss, wounded hearts and renewed friendships, conflict and victory. Clear eyes, full hearts, as they say, can't lose.

The fifth and final season of Friday Night Lights begins Wednesday evening at 9 pm ET/PT on DirecTV's The 101 Network.

Blind Spot: Mommy Issues and Protection Rackets on Chuck

Yes, Mama Bartowski is as slippery as an eel.

Mary Elizabeth Bartowski has proven so adept at her spy training--possibly with some extra courses on emotional manipulation thrown in--that it's impossible to get a bead on just what her true allegiances are.

Double-crosses, triple-crosses, and some quick excuses all add up to a vastly complicated picture of who Mary really is and this week's episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Aisle of Terror") gave us some very different snapshots of Chuck's estranged mother.

Is she a villain? A hero, as she maintains? Just how convenient is her cover story? And why would she go to such lengths to convince her son of her innocence... only to have everything blow up in her face?

You read my advance review of this week's episode, but now that it's aired, here are my slightly more spoilery thoughts about "Chuck Versus the Aisle of Terror."

As I mentioned in my initial review, his week's episode was all about trust and the way in which we protect the ones we love. If we believe Mary's story, she left Chuck and Ellie behind because she had to "close the door" on her real life after her undercover assignment infiltrating Volkoff Industries got her in too deep. She claims to have sacrificed her life and her relationship with her children in pursuit of the greater good, in the name of national security.

It's a story that's perhaps reassuring to Chuck: she didn't willingly walk out on him and Ellie but had to protect them. Her absence from their lives ensured that very continued existence. But there are some problems with her claims. For one, there's no record of her with the CIA, a circumstance she explains away by saying that her records were expunged from the agency. But what undercover assignment lasts twenty years, really? And then there's the truth of the situation that Casey discovers and keeps from Morgan and Chuck: Mary's a liar.

I'm glad that Casey didn't tell Morgan the truth. The scene in which he looked in Mary's file and told him flat-out that her story checked out didn't ring true to me at all. It was too easy and too pat. Which is why I'm glad that it wasn't the truth at all. In keeping the information from Morgan, Casey made the decision to handle this on his own. Or at least with Sarah by his side.

Which is where a monumental breach of trust comes into the story. Chuck finally confided in Ellie that her had made contact with their mother and arranged a rare meeting, one that came on the heels of Mary stalking Ellie around a children's store while she shopped with Devon and Honey. Was she feeling a wee bit guilty about running out on her kids? Did she want to see what Ellie had made of herself? Was it a case of curiosity? Or of contrition?

Chuck has been lying to Ellie about being involved in the spy world again, for the sake of protecting her. But each of these characters is an adult. It's not for someone else to "protect" them from the harsh truth of life. Chuck has deceived his sister time and time again for the sake of easing her mind. It's not right and it's not honest.

But it's just what Sarah and Casey do. Rather than tell Chuck the truth about Mary, they stage a kidnapping and grab Mary right in front of Chuck, believing that his blind spot when it comes to his mother has clouded his judgment about her true motives, whatever they might be. It's a brash move, considering that Sarah and Chuck are romantically involved and he's a vital member of their team. It's their actions that are a true sideswipe to Chuck's heart, more than the shot he receives from his mother.

If he can't trust Sarah, who can he trust?

By removing the opportunity for Chuck to decide how to proceed, they shift him back into the position of asset rather than spy. Of someone who needs protecting rather than one who is equipped to decide their own course of action. They've reduced Intersect 2.0-active Chuck to someone reactive, someone whose blind spot extends to more than just his missing mother.

For a split second, I thought that the black van-staged kidnapping was Volkoff's men or someone else entirely, but I was surprised to see Chuck pull off the balaclava and reveal Sarah herself. Is it for the best? Possibly. Not since Irina Derevko returned to menace Sydney Bristow on Alias has a mother-child relationship been so deliciously overwrought.

But the telling thing is actually how Chuck handles it. Shocked, he returns to the restaurant to tell Ellie that their mother isn't joining them but drops a bombshell on her: it's because Mary is a spy. I'm wondering just how much Ellie will be able to parse this message and realize that the reason Chuck was able to track her down is because he's a spy again too.

Secrets and lies always have a way of blowing up in people's faces. You don't need nightmare toxins or plastic explosives for that. The human heart might be resilient but it too has pressure points.

I'm still struggling to figure out just what Mary wants and why she chose now to return to Los Angeles. Her explanations seem valid--she knew Chuck was wearing Kevlar, she held him at gunpoint to "keep up appearances," and she turned over the toxin and criminally insane/evil scientist Wheelright (guest star Robert Englund) to the CIA as promised--but her methods don't cry out for universal adoration. In fact, the way in which the toxin handover was handled put Chuck in severe danger and actually led to him being exposed to the toxin.

(Which, if I'm honest, I was hoping would turn into a homage of the "Over the Edge" episode of Batman: The Animated Series, in which we'd see Chuck's greatest nightmares play out. We got a quick shot of that but not the full effect.)

The question likely to be resolved in weeks to come: has the incident in which Sarah betrayed Chuck's trust destroyed their shot at happiness? This being Chuck, I'm sure that it hasn't in the long run, but Sarah hasn't exactly done their relationship any favors, either. In fact, I dare say that the coming confrontation between the two of them will lead to a major breakdown in their relationship. This isn't something that can be recovered from with a sexting spree or a training montage.

Which is a good thing: I prefer it when the tension between Chuck and Sarah comes from internal sources, rather than external ones. The course of true love never did run smoothly and one can't expect that there wouldn't be a rocky road ahead for these two spies. I'm hoping that the breakdown--notice I didn't say breakup--leads to some further exploration of Sarah's past and her emotional baggage.

In the meantime, we got an episode that was filled with narrative tension, between the return of Mary Bartowski and that storyline's significant twists and turns, and some humor as well, courtesy of Morgan (a.k.a. "The Magnet") and Casey. I loved Morgan's Ross and Rachel line, the antics of Jeff and Lester and the titular Aisle of Terror this week, complete with its pictures of such horrific things as old people, inter-species relationships, and babies in costumes. (Is it a baby or a snail?)

But sometimes the most terrifying thing isn't a horrible nightmare at all but just the cold, hard truth: you can be blindsided even by those you love.

But I'm curious to know what you thought of this week's episode. Was it as strong as I made it out to be ahead of time? What lies ahead for Chuck and Sarah? What is the deal with Mary Bartowski? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on Chuck ("Chuck Versus the First Fight"), Chuck goes on a rogue mission to avoid confronting Sarah after their first real fight; Ellie looks into the Bartowski family's past.

Talk Back: Sherlock's "A Study in Pink"

Now that Sherlock has premiered Stateside on Masterpiece Mystery, I'm curious to know what you thought of the modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes, from creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

I reviewed the first three episodes of Sherlock here, and spoke with Moffat, Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman in a feature over here at The Daily Beast.

But now that the series premiere--"A Study in Pink" (so clearly an allusion to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet")--has aired last night, I want to hear what you thought of the mystery series.

What did you think of the partnership of Cumberbatch's Holmes and Freeman's John Watson? Did you like the way that Mssrs Moffat and Gatiss updated elements of both characters and included such technological advances such as iPhones, text messaging, and blogging? Did you love the way that director Paul McGuigan visually translated these elements to the screen with thought bubbles and the like?

What did you make of Gatiss' M? Or Rupert Graves' Lestrade? And of the mystery itself this week, that woman in pink, her coat, and that missing suitcase? And of the way that Watson came to Holmes' rescue?

And, most importantly, will you tune in again next week?

Talk back here.

Next week on Sherlock ("The Blind Banker"), Sherlock and Watson work on deciphering the deadly symbols that are covering the walls all around London and killing everyone who sees them within hours before any further victim succumbs to the mysterious Black Lotus.

The Daily Beast: "Sherlock Comes to the U.S."

Sherlock Holmes has an iPhone, Watson blogs: The 21st-century version of Sherlock, a BBC phenomenon, begins Sunday on Masterpiece Mystery.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Sherlock Comes to the U.S.," in which I talk to Sherlock creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman about Sherlock and Watson, the similarities and differences between Holmes and Doctor Who's The Doctor, The Hobbit, and more.

Meanwhile, you can read my glowing advance review of the three Sherlock installments here.

Sherlock begins tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on PBS' Masterpiece Mystery. Check your local listings for details.

Talk Back Redux: Which New Fall Series Are You Still Watching?

About two weeks ago, I asked readers to discuss which of the crop of new fall series they were still watching after sampling. I posted the question on the heels of the cancellation of FOX's Lone Star and ABC's My Generation, both of which were yanked from the airwaves after just two broadcasts.

A few weeks later, CBS yesterday picked up all five (yes, five!) of its new fall offerings, giving $#*! My Dad Says, Hawaii Five-0, Mike & Molly, The Defenders, and Blue Bloods full seasons.

It's rare for a network to go five-for-five when it comes to their freshman shows, but it also points to just what a middling season of television this has turned out to be thus far. A season where even NBC is giving a vote of confidence to mediocre series like The Event, Chase, and Outsourced... and ordering more scripts for Undercovers.

So now that the dust has settled a bit more, I'm wondering once again: what are you still watching a few weeks on from the initial question? What has fallen by the wayside in the time since? Are you still sticking with Nikita or No Ordinary Family? Curious to see whether Undercovers will improve?

What are you still watching? And what have you deleted from your TiVo Season Pass list?

Talk back here.

Syfy Plots Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Pilot: Where Does that Leave Caprica?

AOL's Maureen Ryan broke the news this morning that cabler Syfy will air its upcoming web series Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome as a two-hour backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off series that will focus on a young William Adama during the First Cylon War.

The project, written by Michael Taylor, shouldn't be confused with Syfy's current BSG spinoff Caprica, which ALSO features a young William Adama, here a pre-teen whose character is vastly different from the Admiral Adama played by Edward James Olmos that we came to know on Battlestar Galactica. Production on the pilot is expected to begin in early 2011 in Vancouver, according to Ryan, though it won't make it on air until at least fourth quarter 2011, if not later.

"When we read Michael's script, it was so clearly a full-blown pilot for a series," Syfy's executive vice president of original programming Mark Stern told Ryan. "The scope is fantastic and bigger, I think, than anticipated, so we said, 'Let's do it as a 2-hour backdoor pilot.' ... We're trying to get up and running as soon as possible."

"It's an opportunity to 'see them before they were famous,'" said Stern. "Here's the Battlestar Galactica as a brand-new, shiny ship -- well, not shiny, but as a new ship that had just been commissioned. What was that like?"

All of which begs the question: what happens to Caprica, the current BSG brand extension that has struggled with viewers and critics alike?

Stern indicated that a decision on the fate of Caprica will be made before November 11th and that the two series were developed independently and can stand separate from each other, given that Blood & Chrome is set ten years after the events of Caprica and four decades before the events of the BSG mini-series.

It will also be, based on the information provided by Stern, Taylor, and Ryan, much more war-driven and action-centric, something that was distinctly missing from Caprica, which focused on the interpersonal conflicts and dynamics between families grieving after a terrible tragedy, monotheistic cults, teenage terrorists, amoral lawyers, backroom politics, and the birth of the Cylon race, the latter of which has been teased for the back half of the freshman season.

But the main problem with Caprica--which I discussed in my advance review of the first two episodes of the second half of the season and in my review of the season finale--is that the stakes weren't high.

While we may have been seeing the emergence of the Cylon threat, unlike BSG, there wasn't the immediate danger of human genocide. Caprica has been about the excess and moral ambiguity of Rome Before the Fall, but throw in less than sympathetic characters and no clear "team" to root for and you have a series that's largely spinning its own wheels.

By contrast, the war-torn Blood & Chrome has immediate narrative stakes. While we know that Bill Adama, here an ensign, will survive to tell the tale, the fates of new characters introduced are up for grabs and many could be destined to be canon fodder. By pushing the narrative into the trenches, there's an immediacy to the threat here, a tension that's lacking from Caprica and a potential for some stories of survival and courage that are more in line with BSG than the current spinoff.

(It does concern me a little that Ronald D. Moore--described as the "godfather" of this project--isn't involved at all with Blood & Chrome. While I'm a fan of Michael Taylor, the lack of Moore's involvement here is a little worrisome.)

It wouldn't surprise me if Syfy looks to wrap up Caprica with the current season. Of course, they could renew it for one more season, allowing the creative team the opportunity to create a "bridge" to the new series, setting up the future conflict and providing the seeds that will pay off in Blood & Chrome.

But, ultimately, given the direction that Syfy seems to want to go in with its BSG franchise, it's only a matter of time before Caprica is, well, toast.

Caprica airs Tuesday evenings at 10 pm ET/PT on Syfy.