Monday, November 19, 2007

'Heroes' - "Cautionary Tales"

Well. Now, this was an episode, wasn't it? Oh, not that I understood exactly everything which went down tonight, but ... wow. Without further ado, here's the skinny as I know it:

The Bennets in CA
HRG decided they have to move, run,
hide ... whatever. Claire has decided that he's a liar because he abducted West. She told him she hates him. She refused to leave with the family until Mom Bennet (Butler) stepped in.

Claire tried to apologize to West by writing SORRY with rocks on the ground below his regular flight route. He met her there, but isn't sure whether she lied to him and was in on some sinister plot to get him or what. "Spy girl, the jig is up." (Maybe the writers shouldn't return with lines like that!)

M
eanwhile, at home HRG told his wife that he did indeed abduct West at the age of 12 -- to save the world, of course. He realized that West is probably the only one who can find Claire. So he puts in a call to Mohinder Suresh to use Molly to find him, then goes out the door ... only to be swooped up by a flying West.

Upon landing, they wrestle. HRG admits to West that Claire knew nothing and since she lied to him about West, she obviously cared for him (West). HRG decided he'd force West to tell Claire to leave with them for her own safety.

Then his cell phone rang ...

Mohinder, Elle, and Bob to CA
Bob convinced Mohinder (where is his mind) Suresh that they needed Claire's blood to save Nikki ... and that they had to take HRG out. Uh-oh. Mohinder was reluctant, but Bob gave him a new hitwoman partner -- Elle, his daughter. Like with Peter, Elle was all over Mohinder. "He's adorable, can I keep him?" Blech.
Mohinder demanded they try it his way first with no violence.

Oh, back to the phone ringing ... it was Mohinder calling supposedly from NYC saying Molly located
West. Now, HRG was with West, so he knew something was up.

As this was happening, Bob was at the school posing as a school board official. He interviewed Claire about the drunken cheerleader, then kidnapped her.

Oh, but the tables were turned once again! HRG teamed up with West. It turns out HRG and Elle know each other well. While HRG was talking to Mohinder accusing him of "going native" and being indoctrinated by the Company, Elle started towards him. Wham! West flew smack into her, then HRG shot her in the arm and took her captive.

Daughter for daughter trade was on. First, Bob took some of Claire's blood. I'll finish the rest of that story at the end. Let's go to ...

Matt Parkman, Molly, Mrs. Petrelli in NYC
Matt has discovered how to use his powers to read minds to actually instill thoughts in them. First he experimented with Molly -- making her eat her cereal. Then he did it with his sergeant -- giving him another talk with Angela Petrelli.

Then he used it on Mrs. Angela Petrelli herself despite her knowing about the
power and trying to resist. Matt wanted to know who killed Kaito Nakamura -- she told him it was Adam. She said he did it for revenge for being held for thirty years. She also said that as the power to regenerate and heal is used, the aging process stops. Adam is 400 years old.

Matt also wanted to know who the woman in the group photo was, but she refused to tell him. Her nose started to bleed and she said she had to keep that one secret because she had promised her. "If you force me, you're not like your father. You ARE your father." The post it note he had on the photo read Victoria Pratt for her name.

Hiro, Ando, and Kaito Nakamura
Hiro cannot accept his father's death. Ando told him he can't change it. So Hiro teleports himself to the roof of the DeVeaux Building just before it happened. He teleported himself and his father 17 years back to his mother's funeral, meeting up once again with his younger self.

His father, Lt. Sulu, er ... Kaito, is proud of him. But when Hiro told him that he was going to die, his father said it couldn't be changed. Hiro, after sentimental funeral for Mom stuff, teleports them both back to NYC.

Once back on the roof, he witnessed the discussion between Kaito and Mrs. Petrelli, then as the hoodie-wearing killer attacked, Hiro stopped time. He told a frozen in place Ando that he couldn't change the future, but he can see who killed his father. He lifted the hoodie ... Takezo Kensei, AKA Adam. "I never thought it would be you."

Then there was a rather extended bit about him refusing to say eulogy at his father's funeral as when he followed his lessons he still lived, yada-yada-yada. (Yes, I stole those yadas.)

Back to CA and the HRG vs. Bob showdown
Bob released Claire and HRG released Elle. West had been told to immediately fly Claire out of danger. He did, but Elle nailed them with an electric bolt, knocking them out of the sky. West landed atop Claire, thus saving his life.


HRG turned to Bob, aiming his gun. "If you die, the Company dies." But before he could shoot (he hesitated a really long time for an ex-Company dude), Mohinder shot him in the eye just like in the Isaac Mendez prophetic painting. Oh, no! I was liking HRG!

But, he's not dead even though Claire thinks he is -- West flew her away and stayed as she broke the news to her mother.

Bob took HRG. He gave him a transfusion with Claire's blood and the eye bullet hole healed before his very eyes. He was on a bed in a cell-room at the Company, it appeared.

He woke up startled. Then he declared, "I'm home!"

Wow.

Mohinder has got to go. He's whacked as of late. Maybe Elle will accidentally electrocute him.

There were no Wonder Twins this chapter. Good.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

'The Amazing Race 12' - East Coast Update - 11/18

Jackie's TV Blog, Amazing Race, TAR

It's past 8 PM, do you know where your TAR is? What? Delayed by football once again?

Argh.

Graphic arteest Zoetawny made this TAR street for me. I feel like I'm gonna snagged by the cops for driving over the double yellow line. In CT, that offense is "failure to drive right." I always thought it could just be called "driving wrong." Thanks for the graphic, Zoetawny!

In other TAR news, I wrote a TV Squad entry about my hypothetical "if I were to do it" application for the next season.

Once the show starts here in the NYC area, this entry will be updated with the major happenings as they air. All comments are welcome -- I love to read your thoughts about the show.

UPDATE 8:20 PM ET -- The show has started, yay.

They're on the way to Ouagadougou. Yes, they are.

Once in Bingo, the roadblock is milking camels, then leading four camels to the next clue. Priceless!

Detour wasn't exciting, but was cool anyway. They could teach or learn ten words either to students (teach) or in the native language (learn). Phil said MAY be eliminated, so we'll see if the non-elims exist.

Pit Stop order:
1. Azaria and Hendekea - won a trip to Bermuda
Abunch of teams arrived almost at once. I have to review my tape, but I think this was the order...
2. TK/Rachel
3. Nathan/Jennifer
4. Kynt/Vixsyn
5. Ron and Christina
Then ...
6. Donald and Nicholas
7. Shana and Jennifer
8. Lorena and Jason
9. Marianna and Julia -- eliminated.

My full review of the show is over on TV Squad.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

TV Newsy Bits - Saturday, November 17, 2007

Some tree fungi in the autumn afternoon sun. No, it wasn't me who took that bite out. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is coming up on us later this week. They're talking a wintry mix of wet snow and rain for tonight. As long as my home is warm, I'm okay with it. My knee isn't thrilled, but what can you do?

Here are today's TV Newsy Bits:
  • This first one isn't really a TV newsy bit, although the restaurant has been featured on TV news shows for its $25,000 (yes, you read that right) dessert sprinkled with gold dust -- Serendipity 3 in Manhattan has been closed down by the health department for one live mouse, a dead mouse, mouse droppings, and over 100 live cockroaches. No, I have never been there. I love chocolate and desserts, but don't want to take out a mortgage to have them.
  • Tyler Perry's House of Payne returns with new episodes on TBS December 5.
  • RealityWanted.net has an interview with Frosti, the latest castaway booted on Survivor 15: China. While he mentions getting by the age restriction, he doesn't mention how he did it. I still wonder why a 20-year-old got on when the rules are 21. I guess we'll never know.
  • In that article, there's a link to Frosti's MySpace page. Hmmm... he saves the world? From that page, you can pages of find other Survivor castaways including Jean-Robert. Well, you might not want Jean-Robert's page, I guess.
  • Oh, no! Save the dolphins, arrest a cheerleader! Actress Hayden Panettiere, Claire on Heroes, has an arrest warrant out for her issued by police in Japan. Why? Her efforts to save the dolphins.
  • American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee is now engaged. Maybe that's why she hasn't been so noticeable on the airwaves as of late.
Today's music non-sequitur:
Goodnight moonlight ladies,
Rockabye sweet baby James
Deep greens and blues are
The colors I choose
Won't you let me go down
In my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby James.
-- "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor

Thursday, November 15, 2007

'Survivor 15: China' - East Coast Updates 11/15

The show has started here on the East Coast. As it airs, I'll be updating this entry with the latest news including the boot at the end of the show. My full review will be posted later tonight on TV Squad. I look forward to reading your comments about the show!

Erik, Frosti, Amanda, and Courtney won reward -- an overnight cruise.

Denise, Todd, Courtney, and James chose to eat instead of trying for Immunity.

Peih-Gee won immunity.

Frosti was voted out. Aw.

Although it's over, it's not. Jeff said they weren't heading back to the camp as they had more business to attend to, cut to credits. It's a to be continued kind of thing, I guess.

TV Newsy Bits - Thursday, November 15, 2007

Can you spot Roofus the cat? It was rainy and overcast here today, turning into windy, cold, and rainy as the day progressed. My own cat who's ill is quite ill. I have two fifteen year-old cats and one of them has developed kidney disease to go with a few other ailments. The prognosis isn't good. He's at home now, but has to have medication and is getting really fussy about everything. The other cat is fine. Fat, but no signs of any problems.

I'll be putting up a Survivor East Coast Update post around 8 PM ET. I'll keep it updated and reading your comments as the show airs, then will later be posting a review of the show over on TV Squad.

In other TV News:
  • Buddy TV has an interview with Jack Coleman of Heroes.
  • TV Land will have a special TV's 50 Greatest Icons tomorrow night (Friday, November 16) at 8 PM ET/PT. You can sneak a peek at the list here.
I have some more news about The Closer, Frank TV and more which will have to wait until over the weekend. I have to watch what they sent me!