My Fall Television Schedule

So today ABC released the premiere dates for its fall schedule this year. Now I finally have an idea of what my purposed television schedule will look like, and I am simultaneously both very excited and horrified. Excited that some of my favourite shows are returning (like Boardwalk Empire and 30 Rock) and that I finally get to check out some of my most anticipated new shows that I hope will become my favourites (like Nashville and Revolution). Horrified because I don't think I've ever tried to watch so much television in my life. I've only just gotten into downloading and this is my first 'season' in which I'll actively try and keep up with shows that are airing in the US instead of waiting for them to air here in Australia. Further horrified because, by looking at my proposed fall television schedule I already know several of these shows are going to fall by the wayside and that I'll have to watch them at a later date, or god forbid, drop them entirely off my 'to watch' list. My difficulties are different to those of most in that it's not about how much program are on at once, or how much space I have on my DVR, more so what will I have time to download and watch every week. Anyway, here's what my schedule looks like at the moment.

MONDAY:

Timeslot:                      Television Program                  Network          Premiere Date:
8.00pm - 8.30pm:           How I Met Your Mother           (CBS)               24/ 9
8.30pm - 9.00pm:           Partners (New Show)               (CBS)               24/9
10.00pm - 11.00pm        Revolution (New Show)           (NBC)              17/9

Mondays fairly easy. I already know I probably won't watch Partners, but it's the only new comedy that I think I might enjoy, so I'll at least try and check it out. If I lived in America I would just keep watching after How I Met Your Mother, but because I have to download it and can see myself not bothering. I only recently started watching How I Met Your Mother, and again, I'm not so worried about missing comedies, so I'm happy to wait until this airs in Australia rather than downloading it. I'm definitely watching Revolution though, one of my most anticipated new shows.

TUESDAY:

Timeslot:                      Television Program                  Network          Premiere Date:
9.00pm - 9.30pm:           Happy Endings                          (ABC)              23/10
9.00pm - 9.30pm:           New Girl                                      (Fox)                25/9

Tuesday looks to be the easiest night of the week for me. I definitely watching Happy Endings, and while I like New Girl, I'm happy for that to wait and air here in Australia. That being said, I still have plans to catch up on Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23, and if I like that, I'll add it to the list. Similarly, I've always wanted to get into Private Practice, and with this season likely to be it's last I might consider checking it out. Furthermore, there's heaps on new comedies premiering on Tuesday nights, six if I count correctly, and since I haven't been hooked by any comedies in recent times if I here consistently good reviews about any of these I might start watching.

WEDNESDAY:

Timeslot                        Television Program                  Network          Premiere Date
9.00pm - 10.00pm:          Supernatural                             (CW)                3/10
10.00pm - 11.00pm:        Nashville (New Show)             (ABC)              10/10

Wednesday is a fairly easy night, too. I'm definitely watching Nashville, and I'm fairly certain I'll keep up to date with Supernatural providing I don't become overloaded with other stuff to watch. Arrow is getting quite a lot of hype recently though, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to add that to my list. And don't judge me, but I'm also quite curious to see how The Neighbors will turn out.

THURSDAY:

Timeslot                       Television Program                   Network          Premiere Date
8.00pm - 8.30pm:          30 Rock                                        (NBC)               4/10 
8.00pm - 8.30pm:          The Big Bang Theory                 (CBS)                27/ 9
8.00pm - 9.00pm:          Last Resort (New Show)            (ABC)               27/9
8.00pm - 9.00pm:          The Vampire Diaries                  (CW)                11/10

Here's where things start to get interesting. Not only have I got four shows on one night, they're all on at the same time (sometimes I am lucky to live in Australia). I'm definitely watching 30 Rock for it's final season, and Last Resort is one of my most anticipated new shows. I'd like to watch The Vampire Diaries and The Big Bang Theory too, but if it all gets to much, I'll wait until I have some more time for The Vampire Diaries, and just wait for The Big Bang Theory to air in Australia. Unfortunately, Thursday is also the day of shows I've been wanting to watch for a while but haven't gotten around to. I'm just about to finish Scandal, and I had planned to catch up on Person of Interest. Similarly to its spin-off Private Practice, I've been meaning to watch Grey's Anatomy too. I don't think I'll get around to any of these though.

FRIDAY:

Timeslot                       Television Program                    Network          Premiere Date
9.00pm - 10.00pm:         Fringe                                          (Fox)                  28/9

Friday seems easy enough, but I'm fairly certain that I'll also be adding either Nikita or Grimm, or both, to this list considering I have their entire first seasons taking up space on my DVR, so they desperately need watching.

SATURDAY:

Maybe I could go outside and have a life or something? I dunno, it better be full of interesting characters and past-paced plots.

SUNDAY:

Timeslot                      Television Program                        Network         Premiere Date
9.00pm - 10.00pm:        Boardwalk Empire                         (HBO)             16/9
9.00pm - 10.00pm:        Dexter                                               (Showtime)     30/9
9.00pm - 10.00pm:        Revenge                                            (ABC)             30/9
9.00pm - 10.00pm:        The Walking Dead                         (AMC)            14/10
10.00pm - 11.00pm:      666 Park Avenue (New Show)     (ABC)             30/9
10.00pm - 11.00pm:      Homeland                                        (Showtime)     30/9

Where to begin on what most people consider to be the best night of TV in recent years? Reading through the days I could understand why some viewers may have thought I was overreacting with the amount of television I have to watch, but as you can see, Sunday is the major problem. Unlike other days where I've considered watching a show later or dropping it, that's not really an option here. Cable shows take even longer to reach Australian shores than network ones, and all of these are critically acclaimed and are heavily discussed online, so if I watch them later, chance are I would have been spoiled by the time I got to them. Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and The Walking Dead are a must. I've got friends that watch the, and they're discussed on much online that I can't afford to miss them. I enjoy Homeland, but I'm happy to watch that later. As for Revenge, if it gets to the point where I have to drop it I will, and the verdict's out on 666 Park Avenue until I've actually seen a couple of episode. Furthermore, Sunday nights has The Good Wife and Once Upon A Time, another two popular and well-received shows that I've been desperate to catch up on and just haven't found the time. And don't get me started on Fox's animation block. I enjoy The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad, but for the sack of my sanity I'm going to have to pass.

For a full list of the main television networks schedule check out this Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_United_States_network_television_schedule

For a full list of all the main television networks premiere dates check you should check out tv.com, and if you haven't already you should make your own fall television schedule lineup here (it's fun and helpful):
http://www.tv.com/features/upfronts-2012/

So there you have it folks. I plan to watch 17 television shows a week (Lord give me strength), at a total of 15 hours. And if you managed to read through everything, there's about another 14 shows waiting in the wings that I would like to watch at some point. It's impossible, I know, so for the time being I'll try to lower it down to the ten shows I will watch this coming season:

Boardwalk Empire

The Walking Dead

Nashville

30 Rock

Happy Endings

Revolution

Last Resort

Dexter

666 Park Avenue

Supernatural

That being said shows like 30 Rock and Fringe only have shortened thirteen episode final seasons, and all the cable shows generally only go for twelve episodes. Obviously the shows don't all start airing at the same time either, the first show starting being Boardwalk Empire (16/9) and the last being Happy Endings (23/10). Plus there's always a high chance that new shows I watch will get cancelled... so maybe once all that happens I'll be able to cram some more hours of TV in, if I'm not brain dead by then.

Give yourself a part on the back if you read through all of this, I very much appreciate you taking the time to do so. So what do you plan to watch this fall? Any painful clashes, or are all your favourite shows on exactly when you want them to be? Let me know, I'd love to here them.

I Smell a Spin-off: Sam Merlotte's Shifty Business

Original Show: True Blood

Spin-off Idea/ Description: After selling his bar, long-time Bon Temps resident and shapeshifter, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) decides it's about time he got away from all the crazy supernatural beings, and went and travelled America. He buys an RV and starts travelling, but soon realises that it's not so easy getting supernatural beings out of your life when you are one. Having experience in such matters, as Sam travels from town to town he starts helping people with their supernatural troubles, whether it a young boy coming out as a shifter, or scaring off a persistent vampire, Sam quickly learns the people of America need his help, and he's happy to provide a helping hand (or paw).

Possible Title Ideas: Shifty Business, Shifter, Drift & Shift, New Moon Rising, Howling for You.

Idea originted from: Sam's season five storyline in True Blood. Two of Sam's shifter friends are found murdered, and wooden bullets with a silver interior are found at the scene, implying their killers are hunting down supernatural beings. Later Sam and his girlfriend Luna, who is also a shifter, are shot, but survive the incedent. Sam convinces Sherriff Andy Bellefeur to let him help him in the invetigation because of his heightened senses, and during the investigation his abilities save Andy's life, and he smells out clues that help him indentify the masked killers.

Format: Monster/ Case/ Lesson of the week.

The show would be similar to: True Blood, Supernaural, Grimm and Scooby-Doo.

How could it be written out of it's parent show?: Sam would have to have a legitimate reason for selling his bar and wanting to leave Bon Temps. At this stage of the series, halfway through the fifth season, if his girlfriend Luna is killed by the supernatural beings hategroup, and he realises that Andy and Jason are hesitant to prosucute the men because of they shared dislike of supes, he may leave town, having become aware that he will never be truly accepted for who he is.

Will it feature any stars from it's parents show?: Sam Merlotte of course. I also suggest he take another minor True Blood character with him so that's it's parent show can focus more on its main characters rather than continously developing boring sideline plots. Hoyt, Terry and Alcide would all work well in my opinion, but I'd choose Hoyt Fortenberry (Jim Parrack). He'd be Sam's slack-jawed but lovable side-kick that Sam constantly has to get out of trouble. Plus, Hoyt could have his own story of redemption. After the events of True Blood's fifth season and his involvement in the supernatural beings hategroup, he can't face what he tried to do to his friends, and leaves with Sam to help him help other supes in need in attempt to right his wrongs.

How about any guest stars?: I could see that happening, but not often. A show like this would need to stand on it's own two feet, mostly seperate from True Blood.

Possible plot ideas: Other than helping everyday people with their supernatural (vampire, werewolf, were-panther, maenad, witch, ghost, or otherwise), problems, and Hoyt's redemption, I could see Sam running into people from his past, like some he met at Maryann's or after he was abandoned as a teenager. His adoptive parents could show up and some point, too.

Target Audience: This would target True Blood's audience, obviously, but be slightly more skewed to the young male demographic.

Could it work as a show?: I think it could. It's monster/ case/ lesson of the week format has proven time and time again to be popular with viewers. Plus, like many other procedurals, it has the oppurunity to have famous guests stars on every week to get viewers watching. I can see it now: Sam and Hoyt must help a woman (special guest star Kathy Bates) with her supernatural alligator problem.

Could it ever actually happen?: No. True Blood is based off a series of novels by Charlene Harris, and Sam Merlotte is a fairly important character in those novels. True Blood would have to finish, and the Charlene Harris would have to give the go ahead for Sam to have his own spin-off, which will never happen.

I Smell a Spin-off

Welcome to what I hope will be an occasional segment on my blog titled I Smell a Spin-off. For those who aren't aware of the concept, spinoffs are when part of a successful show, usually characters, but sometimes a general concept, are taken and given a second show of their own.

From a producer's perspective, it's a chance to explore other aspects of a concept. Actors can find opportunities to grow in their craft, as well as rise in importance by moving from just being part of an ensemble to having a show built around them. For the networks, it's a chance to establish a show with a built-in audience, making it that much easier for them to sell advertising. And for audiences it's an opportunity to watch a show that expands on the characters and ideas of a program we already love and watch.

Television fans can be an obsessive bunch, and since the rise of online media and forums, now more than ever fans have the ability to voice what they think a good spin-off of their favourite television program would be. At one stage or another most long-running and successful television shows, whether the idea of the writers or network executives, or yes, even the sometimes over obsessed fans, consider the creation of a spin-off.

One of my favourite television shows of all time, Angel (above), is a spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer that lasted five seasons. Angel, a popular and well known character on Buffy, and one half of the famous lovers, left the show at the end of season three, hoping to give Buffy a normal life. He moved to Los Angeles and attempted, with the help of new characters and old, to redeem himself for his past mistakes as a vampire buy helping the helpless through a supernatural detective agency. While it maintained some similarities to its parent show, including its humour and monster-of-the-week beginnings, spin-offs have the ability to become something not only apart of, but more than, it's parent show.

Anyway, as a TV nut, I often see promise in minor characters, plots, and situations that just aren't given as much attention as I'd like in the grand scheme of some television shows. That's why, with my I Smell a Spin-off segment I plan to highlight these ideas and give them a little justice by creating a mock spin-off for them. Things I'll be discussing will include: what characters will be involved, possible plots, how it will link from it's parent show, and most importantly, could it ever actually happen? I hope you all enjoy reading these, and please feel free to post your own spin-off ideas in the comments. I'd love to hear them!

True Blood Recap and Review (5.7: In the Beginning)

After Sookie's outburst at the end of last week's episode, because she discovered that her parents were killed by vampires, she awakens in the faerie club after being examined by Claude and his sister. They inform her and Jason that she is only half-faerie and that she needs to be careful how she uses her powers, because she could run out. Although why the faeries are suddenly so concerned with Sookie and whether or not she keeps her powers is beyond me. The next day, Jason brings her breakfast in bed, and tells her not to feel responsible for their parents death, which of course is exactly what someone is going to do when you tell them not to. She goes and visits Luna in hospital and brings her flowers, but what she really wants is to have a hypothetical conversation with Sam in which she asks him if he had the opportunity to be human, would be take it. I suppose that the writers had to show Sookie debating over whether or not she should try and remove her faerie half and her powers in the process, but there was never really any debate. After everything Sookie's been through, of course she'd want to get rid of her powers (although, yes, she is extremely naive in thinking that getting rid of them at this stage of her life will benefit her at all. She's too far in, I'm afraid.) Anyway, after an episode of deep thought (don't strain yourself Sookie) she dramatically begins to expel light form her hands in an attempt to drain her powers outside her house.

Russell's imminent return and escape is what True Blood fans have been waiting for this entire season, but unfortunately this is paired with what has to be one of the shows nonsensical plots, as it continues to spiral into complete and unnecessary craziness. It starts off well: Roman is dead, and the the Authority goes into lock down, the lights are cut, the everyone panics. Immediately guards storm the room and subdue Russell with a silver net. Bill and Eric are taken back into captivity, and as they ponder who used them to find and bring Russell to the Authority to kill Roman, Salome summons them. In her chambers they find not only Nora, who pleads with Eric to forgive her, but Russell as well, who claims he has been reborn and found faith in Lilith. Salome reveals she dug Russell up (Really? True Blood fans had no idea) because he was the only vampire powerful enough to kill Roman. Apparently there was some important reason why she or Nora couldn't do it, and it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now that Salome's running things she wants to share their power with everyone, but having been used and all, Bill and Eric aren't interested. She invites them to a ceremony the following night anyway, and surprise, surprise they agree to go. At the ceremony, Russell continues to praise Lilth, and Salome tells the other members of the Authority that they didn't evolve from humans as Roman believed, but from Lilith, and that her blood wasn't meant to be kept sacred, but rather shared and that they should all drink Lilith's blood. Chancellor Dieter says that that is blasphemy, and Russell decapitates him. No one else in dumb enough to refuse, so they all drink her blood, including Bill and Eric, who can't see the harm in playing along, and the horribleness begins. While for the sake of the story Bill and Eric needed to be there, for the entire season they've been extremely susceptible and passive in every situation they've been in, even when it's been against their better judgement. It was so annoying because after Roman's death they were free, why did they have to stick around? The group, high on Lilith's blood, roam the streets in a drunk like state, only stopping to intimidate a cab driver that honks at them with their fangs. They crash karaoke at an engagement party and proceed to kill all the attendees. On the stage, a drop of blood hits the ground and  a nude, blood-drenched woman appears: Lilith. She walks over to Nora and releases a red mist from her mouth, which hits Nora and makes her continue to forcibly feed on a human; the other vampires act similarly. And if things weren't bizarre enough, Godric, Eric's deceased maker, appears as a ghost to tell his progeny that Eric knows what he is doing is wrong, but that he has to convince Nora so. Eric looks over to her and Lilith has vanished. The religious overtones of the Authority storyline annoyed me from the beginning, especially because similar themes were dealt with in season two, but now it's just plain stupid. Who knows what Lilith's plans are, but at this stage I don't really care, because everything up until this point of the season hasn't made all that much sense. I doubt her sudden but inevitable appearance will actually reveal  or justify anything meaningful in terms of plot, and I just want to say, as Eric did early on in the episode: 'Fuck you, bible bangers.' Despite all this Russell remains awesome, and I so hope that he was only pretending to praise Lilith in an attempt to bide his time and come up with a plan to escape (although I have no doubt he too was under the influence of her blood).

At the weapons store, deputy Kevin questions Andy about Junior's death, while Sam uses his acute sense of smell to sniff out clues (I smell a spin-off!). Sam tells Kenya, another officer, to open a box he finds sicne she has gloves on. When she opens it, they find it full of the Obama masks the shooters have been using. I'm really liking Sam investigating/ hunting down these supe killers, plus he doing a way better job than Andy. After a long period of doing nothing in particular his character seems to have found a real purpose and energy, and it shows in the storyline. Meanwhile, Andy visits the previous sheriff, Bud, because he's concerned that he's not doing a good job (you made Jason Stackhouse one of your deputies Andy, do you think you're doing a good job?). Bud however, is too busy cheating on his wife to care. Similarly, Hoyt seems to have instantaneously stopped caring about Jessica now that he's drinking beers with his new hate group friends. Hoyt tells them how much support he feels they've given him even though he only met them half-an-hour earlier, and the just generally discuss how supernatural beings ruin everything until one of them gets a call from their leader named 'Dragon' (how dangerously mysterious) telling them that Junior has been killed. In an attempt to avenge their fallen comrade, the group decide to go out on another mission, and invite Hoyt along with a throw of an Obama mask. I'm honestly starting to wonder how I ever liked Hoyt, he's become such a shadow of his former self unfortunately. At the hospital, a nurse tells Sam visiting hours are over. As he goes to leave he catches the smell of one of the supe killers he picked up from the weapons store. He's disguised as an orderly and Sam chases him down, knocks him to the floor and punches him in the face.

In a barn, Alcide and Nikki train, and Alcide tells her he's prepared to lose against JD in his fight to become packmaster. She suggests using vampire blood to even the playing field, but Alcide angrily refuses. The pair start kissing, but are interrupted by Martha who tells Alcide that JD denied taking vampire blood, and that it's JD's turn to be packmaster considering he had enough respect to allow Marcus to be alpha after Marcus' father died. Later, JD tells the pack that his vampire friend (Russell) told him that the end of days is coming, a fight between humans and vampires. JD tells them they should join the vampires and that the only way they will trust them is to drink Russell's blood. A female wolf agrees and drink a vial, and Emma tells JD she's scared. He offers her another vial, telling her it will make her strong, but Martha walks in as he does so, taking Emma away. We weren't given much from Alcide this week, but Nikki could be developed into an interesting character, and Martha would be very fun to see as a woman scorned. Also, I'm straight, but Alcide and Nikki rolling on the ground, well there's a two perfect looking people having fun for you.

When Lafayette's mother Ruby-Jean told him last week that he had to go and safe Jesus from Don Bartolo, his grandfather, I rolled my eyes. However, the storyline was relativity painless and definitely entertaining. Layette returned to Jesus's family home to find Jesus' severed head with his mouth sewn shut (so that's who took his body, thanks for finally clearing that up, True Blood). Bartolo confronts Layaette with a gun and reveals he used Jesus head to lure him there, so that his family can take back the powers Jesus gave him. Later, Layette has been tied to a chair and has had mouth sewn shut (I would have loved to have seen that happen, it would have made things a lot more scarier). Bartolo begins a ritual that is somehow supposed to transfer Layette's power into his wife's girlfriend. Just as Bartolo started to cut Lafayette, his pregnant girlfriend  rose from behind him and stabbed him to death, and then proceeded to cut Lafayette's lips free. I have no idea where this is going, But I feel Lafayette going to feel indebted to this pregnant lady, and her hopefully not too evil future spawn.

At Fangtasia, Tara, previously failing at being a successfully bartender, is now a pole dancer for Pam. I hoped at the beginning of this season that Tara's resurgence as a vampire was going to be the well needed transformation her character needed, but unfortunately, it's done the opposite. Whereas, I used to dislike Tara for her constant complaining and hypocrisy, at least she stood up for herself and did something about it when she didn't like the way she was being treated. Now she's just Pam's immortal slave, and watching Tara, who has eternally been True Blood's punching bag, enthusiastically shake her stuff fro Fangtasia's patrons was just plain sad. Her mother, Lettie Mae, arrives to tell Tara that because she's a minister's wife that she cannot have a vampire for a daughter, and that she has come to say goodbye. I seriously doubt Tara would have gone to any effort to seek out her mother before this, but knowing that her being a vampire threatens her mother's happiness, Tara shows her her fangs and threateningly tells her that she'll be seeing her again. Overhearing their conversation, Pam smiles proudly at Tara's response. Unfortunately, not only is Tara been continually mistreated, but Pam had been stuck with her all season, and given nothing but the reluctant maternal mother to play. She finds Tara crying over her mother's visit in her office and Pam tells her that Lettie Mae is no longer her mother now that she's a vampire, and that in a hundred years Tara would have forgotten about her. Tara quickly hugs her, but Pam ruins the moment by telling her to get back on the pole. Pam was fast becoming my favourite character on True Blood before this season, but the way she interacts with Tara has become painfully predictable. Every episode this season Pam offers Tara some sentimental motherly advice, realises what she's doing, and then proceeds to act like a complete bitch to compensate for her momentary lapse of character.

Arlene cries as she watches her wedding video at Merlotte's. Holly comes in to comfort her and tells her that her and Terry could always work things out, but Arlene says he's crazy. Holly reminds her that Arlene can't really be sceptical, this is Bon Temps after all. I enjoyed watching Terry and Arlene's wedding video, considering we missed originally. I'm so annoyed of Arlene though, she's such a hypocrite, and most people wouldn't have needed a 'why don't you think again speech' from Holly the witch to realise something supernatural might actually be happening. Duh! Anyway, the Irift was still after Patrick and Terry, and it looks like it will be for some time, deciding it would rather appear and laugh at them, making fun of their impending death, than actually killing them. Why won't it put us and them out of our misery's? Terry tries to kill himself with Patrick's gun, but Patrick convinces him that he wouldn't want his kids thinking he gave up on them. Wasn't much to this plot this week, but it still manages to be the most uninestering and unimportant one going around.

A drunken Jason arrives at Jessica's mansion looking for some consoling after the discovery about his parents death, unaware that she had a male snack bleeding from a thigh upstairs. Jessica tries to convicne him of the goodness of some vampires by making out with him, but it didn't work so well with some guys thoigh blood still on her lips. Jason then yells at Jessica and tells her she's no different from the vampire that killed his parents. Angrily she bites down on Jason's neck and Jason then shoots her in the head. They both quickly heal, and he storms out. Well Jason you can't have it both ways, either you hate vampires, or you don't, and you can't have one for your best friend if you do. And isn't Jessica sick of stringing him along already? Does she have any self-control, and if so, why doesn't she let Jason go? He's better without her and she knows it. Anyway, from outside Jessica's Jason sees Sookie going all flashes of light and runs to investigate her emotional outburst.

Rating: 2/5

Breaking Bad Recap & Review (5.2: Madrigal)

At Madrigal Electromotive in Germany, executive Peter Schuler is informed by his secretary that there are police waiting in his office. Schuler goes into the bathroom with an automatic defibrillator, and as the police bang on the door, he electrocutes himself.

Jesse has become increasingly concerned about the missing ricin cigarette, afraid that an innocent bystander might find it. Walt tells him over the phone that he will come help Jesse look for it at his house. Before he does so he creates a fake cigarette and hides the real one he retrieved from Saul behind a power point outlet in his bedroom. Walt and Jesse search his house for a prolonged period of time and Walt suggests checking the Roomba, where Jesse finds the fake cigarette, and apologies to Walt for accusing him of poisoning Brock.

Walt and Jesse approach Mike at his home and offer him a partnership in their plans to continue making meth, which he refuses because he can see Walt is a ticking time bomb.

At the DEA, several Madrigal executives have a meeting with Hank, Gomez and Merkert, having flown in to answer questions about Schuler death and his involvement in Gus Fring's drug operation. The head of Madrigal Electromotive said he was shocked by Schuler's death, and that he was certain no one else in his company was involved, offering the DEA his full cooperation. In Merkert's office, Hank and Gomez share a drink with him as he has been pushed out of the DEA for his inability to see Gus as a drug lord. Gomez hopefully suggests that the discovery of Gus's secret offshore bank accounts as a possible lead in the investigation.

At a diner, Mike meets with a Madrigal executive, Lydia. She gives Mike a list of eleven men on Gus's payroll who can implicate Mike and herself in his operation and tells him she is concerned about what they'll do. Mike ignores her suggestion to kill the, and tells her that all the men have integrity and won't squeal.

After Walt Jr. leaves for school, Walt approaches Skyler who refuses to get out of bed. He suggests she take a shower to feel better, and she wordlessly agrees.

Mike is interrogated at the DEA by Hank and Gomez. He tells them he worked for Los Pollos Hermanos as head of corporate security. Hank doesn't believe him, but they don't have evidence against him either. As Mike leaves, Hank mentions that they traced Gus's offshore accounts to eleven benefactors, including a two million dollar account in Mike's granddaughter's name. Mike pauses, but says he has no idea what they're talking about

Walt and Jesse meet with Saul, who is still reluctant to be apart of their operation, but Walt forcibly tells him that he will find them a place in-town where they can cook undetected. Jesse tells Walt that he was able to find all the precursor chemicals except for methylamine, and again, Walt encourages Jesse to keep looking for it.

Chow calls Mike and tells him that the DEA has threatened to take his money, and that he needs to see Mike to discuss things. Mike agrees to see Chow at his house, unaware that Chris, one of Mike's former men, forced Chow to lure Mike there at gunpoint. However, Mike tricks Chris when he arriving, using an animatronic toy pig suspended from the door frame as a decoy, and he comes up behind him and tells him to drop his weapon. Chris tells Mike that Lydia offered him ten thousand dollars to kill the eleven men on the list and thirty thousand to kill Mike. Chris has already shot and killed Chow who is sitting on the couch, and Mike does the same to Chris.

Later, Mike travels to Houston, sneaks into Lydia's house, and pulls her into a bedroom at gunpoint. She begs him not to kill her for her daughters sake, and instead he asks her is she can get methylamine. Mike then proceeds to call Walt and tells him he's reconsidered the partnership.

Walt hops into bed with Skyler, who hasn't eaten dinner, and starts to caress her arm and kiss her neck as he tells her that in time her guilt over Ted will pass, and that they what they do for good reasons and that there's no better reason than family. Skyler makes no movement against him, a look of despair on her face.

After a dramatic shift in tone for last weeks season premiere, Breaking Bad returned to it's old self this week. The episode was extremely Mike-centric, and while I enjoy his character for the fact he sees Walt for who he truly is, his often nonchalant demeanour (an increasingly frustrating trait of Breaking Bad characters) gets boring fast. That being said, his plot was strong this week. After refusing to partner up with Walt and Jesse, he met with an executive of Madrigal Electromotive, and also a co-conspirator in Gus's drug operation. Concerned that she'll be implicated by men that Gus had on his payroll she suggests to Mike that he deals with them, but he assures her of their loyalty and integrity. Hank isn't so sure of Mike's though, and when Mike is interrogated by him and Gomez, he reveals that Gus's offshore accounts have been discovered including two million dollars in Mike's granddaughters name. Mike has more pressing matters though, when he's lured to Chow's house by one of his former men, Chris, who reveals Lydia hired him to take care of the men when Mike wouldn't. Mike kills him and confronts Lydia at her home. She begs him not to kill her for her daughters sake, and he doesn't, instead asking her if she can get methylamine for him, which Jesse has had difficulty acquiring. Mike then proceeds to call Walt and tells him he's reconsidered the partnership. While there was never any doubt that Mike would end up working with Walt and Jesse in some capacity, the reluctantness in which he has accepted was more out of necessity than anything else. I can see Mike biding his time until he can get out of this situation he's been forced into, or perhaps what would be even more exciting, if when he decides he's had enough of Walt. Furthermore, Laura Fraser played the paranoid obsessive-compulsive Lydia perfectly, and I'm hoping we get to see more of her desperate and intriguing character in the future.

While the Walt and Jesse's new drug operation isn't yet in operation, watching Walt plan it is extremely fun. The way in which he is able to emotionally manipulate Jesse is freakishly astounding as he demonstrates in this episode through the discovery of the 'ricin' cigarette, and his constant assurance they with the two of them working together anything is possible. Jesse, however, seems to be the only person Walt can convince of this though, with both Saul and Skyler continuing to be unwilling participants in Walt's life. Saul tries to convince Walt that he should get out while he's ahead, and even if Walt did have enough money, we know that Walt has gone too far and gotten too greedy to stop now. He wants Saul to find a lab for them to cook in, and watching poor Saul squirm as Walt lists outrageous and impossible demands to his lawyer like that the lab has to be close, but also hidden from people, is painful yet fulfilling as Walt continues his transgression. I wondered how Sykler would react to knowing the truth about Walt, and it seems in the face of fear she's become debilitating depressed. The way in which he continues to act as if nothing it wrong between them, while she lies horrified in bed makes for disturbing viewing. Especially in the closing scene when he starts to caress her and tell her everything they've done is for the good of the family as she lies their helpless. It'll be interesting to see whether Skyler is able to come back from this, and I hope she does, because having her constantly in bed will quickly become dry viewing. That being said, I think Walt will be the one who tires from Skyler's lack of involvement with him and his operation soon enough, and decide to do something about it. Surely not having her present at the car wash will be a strain on his new operation, particularly if he has to handle both the cooking and the money laundering. I can see him getting angry with her quite soon, so I pray she's careful. Also, I assume Walt Jr. is going to notice his mother's behaviour soon enough, and that brings another whole set of problems for Walt.

Although I've never really liked Hank, having his character back in his element, as seen is his interrogation on Mike was welcome. He senses he's close to uncovering everything, and I can see him getting to the point of constantly teasing people they interview like Mike, playing with his prey before killing it. I also hope that Merkert's departure from the DEA because he didn't suspect Gus, who was a close friend of his, is foreshadowing what is surely to be Mike's entertaining discovery of Walt's involvement with everything. I'm sure it's still a long way off yet, so I hope that, like this week, the DEA are shown to be slowly putting things together and getting more leads, because if the trail goes cold and the DEA drop of the map, it's going to be really annoying, and start to feel unnecessarily dragged out.

Rating: 3/5

The Dark Knight Rises Review

During a function celebrating the late Harvey Dent at Wayne Manor, Selina Kyle (Anna Hathaway) posing as a waitress, brakes into a safe of Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) and steals his mother's necklace. After she escapes, kidnapping a congressmen in the process, he realises that the brake in wasn't to steal the necklace, but rather to steal his fingerprints.

Patrol officer John Blake (Joesph Gordon-Levitt) assists police commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) in trying to recover the kidnapped congressmen, and in the process Gordon comes face to face with Bane (Tom Hardy), a mercenary hired by John Daggett, Wayne's business rival. Gordan escapes, but is shot, and Wayne realises that, with the use of his fingerprints stolen by Selina, that Daggett is attempting to take over his crumbling company Wayne Enterprises. Wayne, who has confined himself to Wayne Manor for eight years, is forced to take matters into his own hands when Bane attacks the stock exchange and engineers risky investments in Bruce's name, bankrupting Bruce and forcing him to relinquish control of Wayne Enterprises. Wayne entrusts Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) to keep full control out of Daggett's hands. She's the creator of a clean energy project designed to harness fusion power that Wayne Enterprises funded before shutting down the project, after learning that the core could be modified into a nuclear weapon. Bane kills Daggett to take control of his infrastructure, and Wayne, as Batman is forced to confront the mercenary, unprepared for the fight he faces, or the link to his past Bane shares.

The entire film's cast is solid. Christian Bale always brings gravitas to Bruce Wayne/ Batman, and Tom Hardy is menacing as Bane, although both suffer slightly because of their respective voices. Anne Hathaway is perfect as the femme fatale Catwoman, Michael Caine provides a very emotional and heartfelt performance as Alfred, and Gary Oldman is as good as ever as the police commissioner with a guilty conscience. Similarly, the film looks great. The set and costume design, the special effects, Batman's ever impressive artillery of weapons and gadgets, and the heavily choreographed action scenes, are all of spectacular display through the fast moving, albeit sometimes  a little confusing, narrative.

While Bane is a successfully threatening villain his political motivations for bringing Gotham to its knees are somewhat pedestrian. He's on a vendetta against the city's rich, those who have the power to corrupt and continue to do so, and he apparently wants the general populace to fight back and take what is rightfully theirs. This is all well and good, but one wonders why Bane, a mercenary who escaped from a prison known as 'Hell on Earth', would be so interested in such social and political agendas. Then it's revealed that Bane's actually not interested in this at all, but rather, works for the real interested party, Miranda Tate. She is actually Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul, the previous leader of the League of Shadows before Batman killed him, hoping to fulfil her father's work. This is an unexpected twist, and it gives more strength to the central motivations of the antagonists (and to the narrative link within the trilogy as a whole as well). But ultimately it reveals Bane as a hired gun, with confused motivation, and even less backstory. After the film builds him into a mythical creature, they literally disregard his character completely by the end, and his off-handed demise at the hands of Catwoman evidently proves this.

Furthermore, as the film is one of epic proportions, the lives of 12 million Gotham residents are at stake, certain viewers may find it difficult to sustain their suspension of disbelief throughout the film. Bane and a small group of mercenaries are easily able to trick and incapacitate the entirety of Gotham's police force by cleverly placing bombs around the city, and many of the lower and middle class citizens are shown to be relishing in the new, supposedly equal, Gotham Bane had created, despite the fact the city it in a pure state of anarchy. As usual, Batman himself is culpable of many unrealistic feats, including escaping from a secluded prison on a dessert continent, and somehow managing to return to Gotham in America, despite the fact Bane had made this city impenetrable by outside forced by removing all the bridges. Although all this is done to heighten the tension in the film, which it does do quite well, the stakes that are set up are let down in the film, because in the end no significant deaths occur, and predictably, everyone gets a happy ending.

The Dark Knight Rises fittingly concludes Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and while there might be some plot holes in terms character and believability, the film contains solid acting, stunning action sequences and is able to maintain an epic fast paced narrative for viewers to enjoy.

Rating: 3.5/5

Snow White and the Huntsman Review

When Snow White's (Kristen Stewart) mother, the Queen Eleanor of Tabor, dies, her father King Magnus (Noah Huntley) goes into a deep depression. During this time he is forced to confront an army that threatens his kingdom. After the dark army, consisting of glass soldiers, is defeated the King and his men discover a prisoner, Ravenna (Charlize Theron), amongst their ruins. Instantly enchanted, Magnus marries her the next day. On their wedding night Ravenna reveals herself as a sorceress, who, after been spurned by powerful men in the past, kills the King and takes his Kingdom. As Ravennas guards storm the castle Snow White tries to escape with Duke Hammond (Vincent Regan) and his son William (Sam Calfin), but she is captured by Ravenna's brother Finn (Sam Spruell), and locked away in a tower in the castle.

Many years later, Ravenna continues to maintain her youthful beauty through using her dark magic to drain youth out of young women. When Snow White comes of age, Ravenna learns from her Magic Mirror that Snow White is destined to destroy her unless Ravenna consumes the young girl's heart which will make her immortal. She sends Finn to retrieve her, and she escapes the castle into the dark forest Ravenna asks Eric (Chris Hemsworth), a widower huntsman who has survived the dark forest, to return her to the kingdom in exchange for Ravenna using her powers to bring back his dead wife, to which he agrees.

The main problem with the film stems from the fact the story of Snow White has become so familiar to audiences that even with significant changes, the basic plot remains the same, making for dull viewing. Naturally, the huntsman discovers Ravenna's offer to be baseless and he helps Snow White on her journey through the dark forest, and other enchanted lands, before leading her to Hammond castle to find an army that will help stop Ravenna. While the film looks beautiful and the special effects are stunning, especially where Ravenna and the Magic Mirror are involved, they do little to enhance the tedious plot. Various mystical animals are thrown in to liven things up and audiences are treated with dark monsters, fairies, and yes, of course, dwarfs, but again, they all just seem unnecessary, as if they're used to fill up time.

Stewart is an adequate lead and Hemsworth brings some emotional depth to the huntsman. Theron is given the very difficult task of trying to humanise the evil Ravenna, but her character's motivation is weak and not fully developed, resulting in a lot of what are supposedly meant to be terrifying outbursts from the sorceress, which only come across as melodramatic. Similarly, the same problem occurs in Spruell's character Finn. A major staple of the story, the dwarf's, are underused and initially come off as not at all likable. While they are intended to add some much needed humour and emotion into the film, their introduction and development leaves much to be desired and they ultimately end up being quite forgettable in the scheme of the film.

Despite a solid cast, and a wonderfully dark looking world that has been created within Snow White and the Huntsman, the plot of the well-used story fails to offer anything new and exciting for audiences.

Rating: 2/5

Damages Recap & Review (5.2: Have You Met the Eel Yet?)

Ellen's not having the easiest time trying to represent Channing McClaren, mostly because he refuses to listen to or do what Ellen and Rutger, his chief adviser at McClarenTruth.org, tell him. During an interview McClaren publicly admits that his organisation made a mistake by publishing Noami Walling's personal communications. As Patty watches online McClaren receives a subpoena she served him while onstage, ensuring that he cannot leave the country while she tries to build a case against him by proving McClaren knew Walling personally and had intent to harm her. She asks Bill to find her proof that the pair knew each other.

Back at McClarenTruth.org Ellen questions Channing McClaren about Naomi Walling. He claims he never met her in person and that all their correspondence occurred online. As Ellen is leaving Rutger tells her that the company is having cash flow problems since the Naomi Walling story came out. Ellen tells him to find the money to pay her or hire another lawyer, and he questions her ability to represent McClaren, considering she does not appear to have much experience and has no staff. She informs him she is starting to hire, and that he should be more worried by the fact that the Judge assigned to their case favours Patty.

As Ellen has a name plaque installed outside her firm, an older woman named Kate Franklin approaches her with her resume and additional anecdotes. While Ellen accepts the resume she seems uninterested but later reads it and discovers Kate worked with Patty decades ago when Patty was establishing her legal practice. Kate also approaches Patty at Hewes & Associates and tells Patty she wants a job, and that Ellen as given her one, but she wants double the money to work for Patty. While Patty notices the proposition is out of character for Kate, she agrees. Kate returns to Ellen telling her that Patty was willing to pay her double the amount, revealing that she definitely doesn't want Kate working for Ellen. Ellen tells her she passed the test, but asked why she wouldn't want to work with Patty, to which she replies that she doesn't like her.

Despite being told to stay out of the public eye, Channing leaves the confines of McClarenTruth.org to meet with a man who claims he has more information about what happened with the Princefield leak. He asks Channing for money, which he refuses to give, saying he has never paid for information. After the man leaves and McClaren is kicked out of the bar for smoking, he is followed out by a brunette who recognises him. The pair start to flirt, and soon find themselves out the front of her apartment building, kissing, unaware that a man is watching them from the shadows. She asks him if he wants to come up, and after hesitantly looking at the security camera above the entrance to her building, he puts on a long black wig and agrees to come in.

At McClarenTruth.org, Rutger gives Ellen a USB containing damning evidence against Judge Haring. While she is hesitant to take it from him, they are both desperate to win the case, so she's takes it and approaches Haring outside his house. He initially doesn't believe that Ellen has anything on him, but when she produces the USB he agrees to step down as judge on the case, citing that his wife has become ill.

Later, the man that was watching Channing and the brunette them from the shadows arrives unannounced in Ellen's office. It is revealed he is a friend of Chris's, who Ellen hired to keep an eye on McClaren. He reveals that he has proof that McClaren meet with Naomi Walling at a hotel, using the hotel security footage and a photo he took of McClaren putting on the wig before heading into the brunette's. Ellen realises that this means McClaren is lying to her.

At Hewes & Associates, Bill is awoken by a drycleaner as he sleeps on a couch. After he tells the drycleaner he's wearing all the clothes he owns, he grabs out a flask from the side of the couch and starts to drink. Patty continues to ask him how his investigation into finding the link between McClaren and Naomi Walling is going, but it is obvious he has been half-heartedly doing the work, getting other employees to do most of it for him. Bill reviews the hotel security that Ellen also receives, but doesn't pick up that the man in the wig is McClaren and tells Patty that he can't find any evidence McClaren and Naomi ever met.

The next morning Channing returns to McClarenTruth.org and tells Rutger they need their employees back, after having angrily fired them earlier, because he knows that there is still more information to uncover about the Princefield leak and they need to get to work.

Ellen quietly celebrates back at her office with a glass of bourbon, but she is interrupted by a phone call from Patty Hewes. Patty congratulates her on removing the judge from the trail, but tells her that paranoia can lead to one seeing things that aren't actually there. Patty reveals that her conversation with Judge Haring that Ellen saw after the first hearing was misinterpreted, and that when Ellen sent Kate to Hewes & Associates she asked her assistant to lie and say she was receiving a personal phone call from Haring, to give Ellen the idea they shared a personal relationship. Patty tells Ellen that they actually didn't like each other, and he would have made her case very difficult, but the judge replacing him, Richard Gearheart, are on good terms. In court, Judge Gearheart tells them that Haring was not going to allow Patty to continue the case against McClaren, but that he thinks otherwise and will let Patty establish her case against him.

Three months in the future, Ellen stands and watches a pigeon on the top of a building, seemingly waiting for someone. The pigeon is suddenly flustered and flies away, and Ellen turns to see what caused that reaction. At the police station, a phone is given to Patty in the interogration room for her to make her call. As Ellen lies lifeless in an alleyway, her phone starts to ring. Presumably it is Patty calling her. Above, an unknown man looks over the edge of the building down at Ellen's body.

While again Patty bests Ellen in the match, the game is only just beginning, and now that Ellen has Kate on her side she might be a formidable force. Patty has problems on her hands with the lacklustre Bill, but because McClaren is such a loose cannon, and obviously lying to Ellen, it will be interesting to see which one is able to overcome and remove their obstacles before the other one gets the better of them.

Rating: 4/5

True Blood Recap & Review (5.6: Hopeless)

So the Authority aren't as useless as the seem to be. Just as Russell looked to have the upper hand over Sookie, Bill, Eric and Alcide with his wolves Councilman Kibwe and a swat team arrive to take Russell back to their headquarters. Sookie and Alcide know too much, and are glamoured by Bill and Eric respectively. While Sookie can't be glamoured as a faerie, Bill takes the opportunity and pretends to glamour her anyway, telling her she'll remember nothing of the night, nothing of him or Eric. He tells her that it will be as though they never met, and that she should live her life as she was meant to live it, in the sun with other human. Always the gentleman, Bill, but on the other end of the spectrum there's Eric, who not only glamours the nights events away in Alcide's mind, but convinces him he will not pursue Sookie romantically and that he actually finds her repulsive.

The morning after having returned to Sookie's, Alcide is unable to remember whether or not they slept together. Sookie uses her faerie powers (yet again she seems to have mastered them suddenly) and he remembers everything. He recognises one of the wolves from the night before as JD, and realises that some members of his pack are once again on vampire blood. He returns to Shreveport and tells JD he's stepping up and taking on the role of pack master saying he won't allow him to take down the pack. After receiving a second from a female wolf named Rikki, allowing him to challenge JD as pack master, Alcide leaves.

After having another dream about their parents, and adamant he will kill the vampires that killed them, Jason visits Merlotte's and tells Sookie about the faerie nightclub, and she demands he takes her there. He takes her to the field where the faerie club manifested, and while he can't see anything, Sookie uses her powers to find the opening and drags him inside. Inside, they find Hadley and Claudine's brother, Claude, as well. Claude tells them he heard that a vampire ambushed their parents on a bridge because he was drawn to something he smelled in the back seat of their car, a bandage of Sookie's. Sookie angrily says she doesn't believe him and tries to manifest her faerie fire, but it fails, and a group of faeries in the bar shoot their beams at her as she screams.

As Sam and Luna, somehow both still alive, arrive at the hospital, wolf-pup Emma, unfortunately, goes to the only place she can think of: her werewolf grandmother, Martha Bozeman. Despite suffering a mortal bullet wound, Sam is determined to stay with Luna at the hospital, and while Luna is less than impressed when Martha shows up with her daughter, the arrangement is somewhat timely, considering Luna is in hospital and there's a shifter killer on the loose. Sam tries to convince Andy that he should help him find the shifter killers, and because Andy is incapable of good police work he agrees. The pair return to a store that specialises in selling weapons to kill vampires, and as Andy questions the shop owner, Sam walks around the store inspecting weapons. Andy asks to look at something behind the counter and the man grabs a gun, but he is shot by Sam, who explains he could smell the owner go into survival mode.

At Fangtasia, Pam has to break up Tara and Jessica's fight, and she drags Tara into a back room, scornfully telling her that Fangtasia is her house, that Tara just works there. However, she is pleased that Tara held her own against Jessica. Jessica is approached by Hoyt as she sulks in the corner of the bar. He tells her that her fighting Tara proves she's still in love with him, which she denies. Annoyed, she jumps on him, and he then asks her if she'll glamour him, bite him, do anything she wants to him, and that he is desperate for her to do so. Sickened she gets up and leaves. Later on outside Fangtasia Hoyt lets a male vampire drain him. The vampire notices his heart beat is fading, but Hoyt tells him to keep going. As he's about to do so the men that attacked Sam and Luna pull up in their fan and shoot the vampire with a wooden bullet. He explodes all over Hoyt, and one of the assailants recognises him and proceeds to pull him into the fan, telling him they just saved his life.

Having killed Eller, the Irift comes after Terry and Patrick as they're leaving. As they run, Terry yells at Patrick for not believing him. Later on, an extremely emotional and scared Terry jumps from Patrick's car as they're driving. Patrick chases him down, and Terry tells him that they will both die because of what they did in Iraq. Terry arrives back in Bon Temps at Merlotte's and he tells Arlene about everything that happened in Iraq, that he's cursed, and the the Irift is after him. Arlene tells him that he needs to get back on his meds and that he can't leave because she and her children depend on him, but he makes it clear that if he stays with them, they will all die, so Arlene lets him leave.

Lafayette goes to visit his mother, Ruby Jean, in her nursing home. She tells that Jesus appeared to her too and wants to talk to him. Lafayette asks why she saw him, and she says that she doesn't know, that the electricity has always run through her. She then tells him to save Jesus from his Uncle.

Upon arriving at the Authority headquarters Bill and Eric have their I-stakes removed, and are toasted by the members of the Authority for finding Russell. Salome tells Bill and Eric that Nora confessed to being a Sanguinista while they were gone and she offers to go and continue Russell's interrogation, but Roman tells her not to bother as he plans to execute him. Salome seems shocked about this decision, but offers to go give him an extra dose of intravenous silver and bring him forth. Eric asks to visit Nora in her cell, telling the members of the Authority that she's his sister. While visiting Nora in her cell, Eric is unable to get her attention, as she is too busy praying and praising Lilith to notice him. Salome and some guards pass by dragging Russell with them, and Salome tells her that Russell is to be executed. They drag Russell off and Nora seems ecstatic claiming that Lilith's plans are coming to fruition. In the main chamber Russell is fitted with an I-stake, but when Roman tries to activate it, it fails. Suddenly Russell is on his feet, with a stake in his hand. He pushes Roman onto the table and slams a stake into his heart.

The pace picked up significantly in this episode, and other than the Fangtasia storylines and Terry, all of the others were solid. Andy and Sam are on the trail of the hunters, who have kidnapped Hoyt; Russell has killed Roman, and Lilith's plans are apparently coming together, and Sookie and Jason find themselves in an interesting predicament in the land of faerie's, so there's plenty to look forward too.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Amazing Spider-Man Review

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) lives with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Fields), attends Midtown Science High School, has bullying problems, and is infatuated with a girl named Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone). He's a typical teenage boy. When Peter discovers a briefcase that used to belong to his scientist father, who along with his mother, disappeared when he was a young boy and was never seen or heard from again, learns he worked with fellow scientist Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) at Oscorp, where they were attempting to engineer a revolutionary regeneration serum to help regrow limbs and human tissue with the use of animal DNA. Sneaking into Oscorp, Peter enters a lab where a "biocable" is being created from genetically modified spiders, one of which bites him. On the subway ride home, he discovers that he has developed spider-like abilities.

From there, naturally, Peter must learn to control his new powers, and soon realises that he must use them for good, after a shocking incident that results in the death of his Uncle. Meanwhile, he tries to investigate the source of his powers, and unwillingly provides Dr. Connors with the decay rate algorithm he found in his father's briefcase, leading to a disabled Conners to try the regenerating serum on himself, turning him into a human/ lizard hybrid.

While Peter's typical teenage boy problems, bullying, girl troubles and the strenuous relationship with his Uncle and Aunt were all typical eye-rolling fare, Garfield's portrayal of a hero coming to terms, and coming of age, in which a little bit of teenage recklessness and arrogance is necessary, was great. The way in which Uncle Ben's death was handled was a wonderful, albeit dark, scene in which Peter learns a valuable lesson. The film allows Garfield to be smug and sarcastic as Spiderman, yet never lets him get away with too much without being severely punished or learning a thing or two.

Suspension of disbelief always goes out the window when watching films like this, and audiences have to take human/ animal regenerative DNA experiments, biochemical antidotes and the sort as extremely common occurrences. While Ifans is fine as scientist-turned-bad Dr. Connors, his character motivation is weak. He has a missing arm, so his life's work is understandable, but when exactly he decided to turn the entire world into human reptiles, or why, is beyond me. Again, Sheen and fields are fine as Uncle Ben and Aunt May, but the words of wisdom they share with Peter every time he's at home are instantaneously cheesy and overly sentimental.

The actions scenes were good, but nothing special, and the same can be said for the CGI, which actually didn't seem to be up to scratch with the special effects audiences are used to in superhero films today. Furthermore, the film spends a fair bit of time on the mystery surrounding Peter's parents, a conclusion left for one of the many sequels the film is going to have, but one feels time may have been better spent in the film then posing questions for a later date.

The Amazing Spider-Man is typical superhero stuff, but Andrew Garfield is a breathe of fresh air as the newly born character, which allows the film to stand a little more firmly on his shoulders.

Rating: 3/5

Breaking Bad Recap & Review (5.1: Live Free or Die)

Breaking Bad has always made use of it's intriguing openings, giving audiences a glimpse into the future, and this season starts no differently. Somewhere in New Mexico an unkempt Walt is at a Denny's restaurant. In the bathroom he hands over an envelope full of cash in exchange for a set of keys. He goes out into the parking lot, finds the car the keys belong to, and opens the trunk revealing M60 machine gun with ammunition. This sets up what is sure to be an intriguing journey. Walt looks to be on the run, and needs to take matters into his own hands.

Back in the present, having 'bet' Gus, Walt returns home to get rid of the evidence of the pipe bomb as well as the Lily of the Valley plant he used to poison Brock. Skyler and Walt Jr. return from Hank's, and Walt Jr. is excited by all the new coverage Gus's death is getting on the news, as well as for Hank. Skyler is acting hesitant towards Walt, revealing she's afraid of him.

Walt can never stand still for long anymore, and he realises that the camera's in the lab may have left evidence for the police to find. He and Jesse go to meet Mike, who is on his way to find them after hearing about Gus's death, and a tense, and slightly amusing stand off ensues. I'm not surprised Mike wanted to kill Walter, and I think the only thing that stops him from doing so at this stage is his loyalty to Jesse. While initially amusing, Mike and Walt's bickering became quickly annoying, especially in the scene where they ignore Jesse, who had a legitimate solution to the problem of Gus's laptop that has the lab footage on it.

Saul goes to the car wash revealing to Skyler that Ted survived his accident. Skyler goes to visit him and finds him in a neck brace, much to her dismay. He promises her that he will not breath a word about how his accident occurred.

It's always fun when old characters/ sets are revisited on a television show, so it was nice to see the junkyard and Old Joe again.

I simultaneously loved and hated that Walt turned the magnet up too high and turned over the truck. On the one hand it demonstrates that he's a flawed character, which I've always enjoyed. On the other it continues to highlight just how debilitating his paranoia has become, and I'm waiting for the moment he makes a mistake that will ruin him, because he's made so many, yet somehow manages to get past them with minimal repercussions. This time, as the police are cataloguing broken items of evidence at the station, a smashed photo of Gus reveals account numbers of a bank account in the Cayman Islands hidden behind the photo.

Saul tries to explain to Walt the situation that occurred with Skyler and Ted, and Walt remains responsive until Saul tells him he no longer feels comfortable with their arrangement, especially after Walt poisoned Jesse, and says that they're done. Walt  walks over to Saul, intimidating him, and replies that he says when they're done.

I am very interested to see what Skyler will do now that she's afraid of Walt. Up until this point in the series she's been extremely loyal to him, but now that she knows that he is capable and willing to commit murder, It'll be interesting to see if she's remains passive and sticks by him, or tries to find a way out of the situation for her and her kids. At the end of this episode it's obvious she's trapped in a relationship with a man she no longer loves or really knows. Walter may forgive her, but can she forgive him?
Rating: 3/5

Damages Recap & Review (5.1: You Want to End This Once and For All?)

The setup of the McClaren case so far has been good. I was hesitant that the show was again using parallels from current media headlines to form the shape of the main legal battle this season, and it's obvious corporate America is once again in the spotlight, as well as Wikileaks founder David Assange. However, at this stage, the case has yet to be clearly defined, and there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered about what happened. Did Noami willingly give information about her company to McClaren, if so, why? Or Did McClaren steal it? Or someone else? And again, why? And why add all the dirty details of Noami's sex-life too? I love that guilty and innocence are relative terms in the world of Damages, nothing is that simple, and I hope, in terms of the characters involved in the legal battle, at least some ambiguity remains.

Noami's death was certainly shocking, and while Damages has never shined away from violence, I found myself feeling squeamish when the two masked men ambushed her in her bathtub and slit her wrists with a box cutter. It'll be interesting to find out who did it. While the obvious answer is Patty, as usual, you can't be certain.

Obviously, the courtroom confession of Ellen had to wait, but the custody of Catherine storyline seemed to fall by the wayside as the episode progressed and as Bill suggested, what is the point of keeping it around? I hope Michael starts to become a more aggressive character rather then just acting like an immature smart-ass. I can see him trying to dig up inofmration about his mother to build his case, possibly from Ellen. I hope this occurs, after all he's Patty's son, he's not just going to let her take his child. Hopefully Catherine is used more to, she provoked some very entertaining emotions from Patty during her dream.

While I understand the need for Patty and Ellen to have people to confide in, the inclusion of Bill and Chris respectively as the people they turn to to discuss their problems doesn't excite. At this stage, we know little about Bill, other than his loyalty to Patty. I could see him easily getting his hands dirty, but he pales in comparison to Pete. I'm hoping that he'll develop into a more three-dimensional character and not just be Patty's lackey, I'd love to see him start to question her as the season goes on, possibly even betray her. As for Chris, he's a liability to Ellen if there ever was one, and I can see a David-esque situation occurring all over again. Obviously the longer he hangs around, the more he's going to learn about Ellen and Patty's relationship, and that can't end well. He's just a distraction Ellen doesn't need. She's thinks she can do it all, be a successfully lawyer, have the perfect relationship, but she's needs to learn she can't.

While of course, for the sake of the story, Ellen had to represent McClaren in order to set up her showdown with Patty, it still always annoys me a little when Ellen plays right into Patty's hands. She knows she is giving Patty exactly what she wants by doing this, yet she still does it because she seems to have the delusion that somehow she will be able to truly triumph over Patty. It's a self-centred move, and while I don't necessarily like it in her character, hopefully it will lead to a sense of self-realisation before the end of the season. Ellen can't beat Patty without becoming exactly like her.

Flash-forwards have always been a staple of Damages' storytelling, and they're the perfect way to entice viewers to keep watching. Unfortunately, the adds for this season spoiled what would have surely been the episode's main talking point: Three months later Ellen is shown to be lying on a road, dead, a pool of blood surrounding her body. So what lead Ellen to her untimely end? Or perhaps more importantly, how was Patty involved, if she indeed was involved at all. Other flashbacks within the episode show Patty being taken away in handcuffs, and interrogated about Ellen's disappearance, revealing that Ellen was meant to tesify against her in court that day. Given that Ellen agreed not to do that in this episode, either she changes her mind about representing McClaren, or possibly fails at doing so, and goes back to testifying for Michael as a last attempt to get Patty. Or there's the possibility that she's testifying against Patty for a whole other reason, perhaps she finds out Patty's responsible for Noami's death during her investigation for McClaren, and plans to reveal it to the court? Either way, despite the giveaway in the trailer, the flashbacks have certainly intensified the build up for the rest of the season.

A solid start to the season, the introduction of the McClaren case was perfect, and the tantalising flashbacks ensure us that the showdown betwen Patty and Ellen is not to be missed.

Rating: 4/5

True Blood Recap & Review (5.5: Let's Boot and Rally)

A drunken Sookie vomits on Alcide's shoes just as they're about to get it on, and if that ain't a mood killer, then her two other vampire love interests, Bill and Eric, show up to inform them they need to find Russell, and they need Sookie to do it. I'm loving her this season, and maybe it was just because she was drunk, but the way in which she hilariously resigned to the fact that even without Bill or Eric in her life that her life will always and forever more be a mess involving supernatural occurrences was a great character moment. Alcide takes them to Doug, an employee of Alcide who was glamoured the night Russell was broken free in the parking lot. Sookie uses her fairie powers (which she seems to have somehow skillfully mastered) to partially deglamour a very freaked out Doug, revealing that a woman with a necklace, a vampire Authority necklace at that, broke Russell free. They quickly move along to where Doug was glamoured to take Russell, because Eric and Bill receive a call from Molly saying find him by morning or die. It's the perfect horror movie set: the abandoned Babcock hospital/ asylum. Appropriately, a number of scary things occur, strange noises, rats, dead bodies, and live ones hanging from the ceiling. Y'know, the usual. But True Blood's style was to save the best until last, and that just what they did, after five episodes of waiting we finally got to see Russell! And he was all gentlemanly, seductive, creepy, and quite a bit angry all at the same time and I loved it all so much. Just as things got heated between a bed ridden Russell and Eric though, growling noises were heard, and it looked at though something has Alcide by the leg. Cut to credits. Oh, True Blood!

Tara took what seems to be a right of passage for a vampire on True Blood during this episode, working at Fangtasia. But as seems to be the way with Tara and Pam is that basically Pam has to force Tara to do everything as her maker which is getting old, and apparently for no pay either. Don't vampires have rights or something? Despite having worked at Merlotte's she wasn't very good. Number one rule of bartending, don't eat the the customers! Jessica takes pity on Tara and tries to tell her everything will get better with time, and that their urges aren't wrong, and I can't help but feel that vampires have never been a clearer metaphor for homosexuality on the show. I wasn't enjoying the vampire-gal pal thing, so I was glad that it didn't last long. A truly misguided Hoyt once again came to Fangtasia to get his fangbang on, and upon meeting Tara outside they both muse how unlike themselves they are. They moved this connection into the bathroom stall, but with Tara still learning, she took a little too much out of Hoyt. Jessica, who happened to be in the next stall with a female fangbanger of her own, heard this and was not impressed. Cue fast-forward vampire fighting. Also, what is someone actually wanted to use the bathroom in Fangtasia, to, y'know, go to the bathroom?

At The Authority Roman continues to have some inner turmoil of his own about the future of The Authority and their mainstreaming movement. Salome is acting increasingly suspicious and if it turns out she released Russell I will let out a long, indifferent and bored sigh. Nora also continues to praise Lillith and get punished with UV rays. Oh, The Authority, you're as useless as I always thought you were. After a long speech in which he considered giving in to the Sanguinista movement because they seem to have successfully infiltrated everyone and everything, Ramon reveals that no he, and the other members of the Authority with stay true to the cause of mainstreaming. Thanks for clearing that up.

After his little trip to faerie land Jason has a dream (or distorted memory) in which his parents suddenly have mortal neck wounds during breakfast on Christmas morning. He and Andy, both wake up naked at home to the call about the murder's of Sam's shifter friends, Suzanne and Emory. At the crime scene, Jason and Andy discuss and are both perturbed by their trip with the faeries, Jason saying that supernatural being have gotten away with murders for too long. They find wooden bullets, with a silver interior, and they conclude that however killed Suzanne and Emory may be after supernatural beings in general. After this, Jason visits his parents grave, and Sam goes to inform Luna of Suzanne and Emory's deaths. As Sam leaves, he is shot by a group of men with rifles on a pickup truck. Luna steps out to help Sam, but they shoot her twice, killing her. Emma then runs out to Luna, but Sam warns her of the gunmen. As the men aim their rifles, Emma shifts into a wolf and runs off, avoiding the bullets.

It seems Terry will be on the run for his life very soon, too. After Eller, their old navy buddy from Iraq, has Terry and Patrick tied to chairs in his creepy basement, Terry has some more flashbacks in which he sees a dying Iraqi woman, which Patrick tells him to kill. Terry does as he is ordered, but beforehand the dying woman curses them. When they burn the bodies he sees the face of the Ifrit fire demon in the flames. He tells Eller this and Eller is pleased that Terry believes him. Terry convinces Eller to untie them because otherwise the Ifrit will kill them all, he does so, but then Patrick knocks Eller unconscious saying that he and Terry are both crazy, and ties Eller up. Terry leaves and Patrick following him, telling him that they were on drugs that night and that he is just imagining everything. In Eller's basement he regains consciousness as a sudden rise in smoke surrounds him. In the smoke, a demonic looking creature reaches for Eller as he screams in terror.

Terrified of what his inner demon might have done to Sookie, Lafayette returns home and a bunch of crazy stuff happens, he sees the demon in the mirror again, and his praying statues come to life before he throws them to the floor. Scared, he calls for Jesus. Later, Lafayette wakes up on the couch to see Jesus' severed head, with his mouth sewn shut, on his coffee table. The head is also seen by Ruby Jean, Lafayette's mother, and she seems to understand what he is trying to say. She tells Jesus that she'll tell Lafayette what he's saying and screams for her son.

With Russell found, and a group intent on killing supernatural beings on the loose, this episode sets up a lot of interesting storylines. But others I'm still not so certain about, how much more can be done with Tara before it gets old? When will the Ifrit kill Terry and put us out of our misery? And can viewers really just be expected to pick up Lafayette's weirdo magic storyline when we just has faeries last week?

Rating: 3/5