Previewing Penny Dreadful: Season Three

At the end of the last season of Penny Dreadful, everyone seemed to be leaving Vanessa, Ethan turned himself in to the American lawmen who hunted him for the past two seasons, Sir Malcolm went back to Africa, even the Creature even boarded a ship to an undisclosed location. The only people left in London with here were Ferdinand and Dr. Frankenstein who experienced his own abandonment when Lily chose the company of Dorian Gray over his.

So it is Ferdinand who visits Vanessa at the start of the season while she is living in squalor who shakes off her cobwebs and sends her to a doctor specializing in alienism (the study of mental illness) played by Patti Lupone, just not as the same character she played last season on account that she got tarred and feathered. Across the globe we meet up with Ethan on a train in the New Mexico territory along with his captor and other familiar face. The Creature finds himself at the start of the season on the same boat but is now frozen still in the arctic.

Sir Malcolm meanwhile is in Zanzibar runs into an Indian who has a connection with Ethan. Dr. Frankenstein is also visited by an Indian but this one is from the Asian subcontinent not North American and has a name that everyone will know. Victor’s visitor is not the only new familiar Victorian literary name we hear except the second one we hear is the last word we hear in the season premiere and do not actually get to see the person who introduces himself to a new acquaintance of Vanessa.

The start of the new season is a bit of a slow burn with the main characters spread across three continents and one undisclosed arctic climate, and only two actually interacting with each other (Dorian and Lily are completely absent aside from a couple glimpses in the “previous on” package). But with the introduction of the two new Victorian characters and Lupone’s new creation, the new season looks to shake things up as Penny Dreadful looks to claim the title as best horror show on television.

Penny Dreadful airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime. If you can not wait for the premiere you can watch it below (albeit the TV14 version):

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/11/15

Penny Dreadful: So the creepy Vanessa doll was the Earthly vessel for the Fallen Angel... Awesome. But did destroying the doll end the Fallen Angel or will he just be stewing in hell until he find another witch to do his bidding (and could the witch's daughter be that person; though I have a feeling if she shows up again it will be to help Ethan escape)? I did not quite understand the absorbing the scorpion, was she absorbing the Fallen Angel and is now an angel herself? Is that why she burned the cross. Maybe that was the Fallen Angel processing her, maybe? Though it does seem that they are setting up Lilly and Dorian as the big bad of season three.
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

Tyrant: Offering his services as baby sitter for the woman who is leaving the village for six months really makes it looks like Barry will be spending the whole season there and not trying to get home to his family which would be a bummer. At least the promo monkeys make it seem he will be going to Syria next week.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: That bar scene basically just confirmed to me that Christian Slater is just a figment of Elliot's imagination. Then you had Tyrell going as close as you can get to going American Psycho without having Huey Lewis and the News playing in the background (which begs the question who is this decade's Huey Lewis... Maroon 5?) But still, I need more than one or two scene of Dalia Royce per episode. This is the worst tease in television history.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Hannibal: Leave it to this show to make even hot lesbian sex seem creepy. And I finally figured out who Mason looks like with his new face: he looks like a resident of Whoville. Now I will probably start laughing whenever he comes on screen.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/5/15

Penny Dreadful: Last week I was beginning to think that Sembene was special after he was able to shake Sir Malcolm from his enchantment. Well it turns out the marks on his face was because he was a slave trader and he is, as he claims, just a man. Of course if he is still around next week after surviving a wolf attack he is more than just a man. But the show did set up what looks to be a tense finale. Malcolm and Dr. Frankenstein are locked up in a room of illusion. Vanessa was introduced to a creepy doll version of herself (or I assume even though it looks less like her than the bust of Lionel Richie made by a blind woman looked like him). Then you have to wonder if Lyle is still playing both sides because he is safest of them all right now.
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

The Last Ship: The two hour premiere was pretty intense, defeating the evil dictator o Utopia. But is that going to get the whole show now that they have the cure: go into a new area, overthrow a dictator, pass out the cure? Hopefully they find something more interesting to do this season because that could get old soon. This week's searching for surviving family members was kind of boring.
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

American Odyssey: Oh, how did the writers think they were actually going to get a second season? There really was no need for a cliffhanger here. It really put a damper on a stupid fun season which is becoming a NBC post football Sundays tradition. But at least the show went out stupid with Aslam just running the streets of Spain looking for Odell, the weird thing in the cemetery, plus there should have been no reason for a cliffhanger because shouldn't Peter's flashdrive backed up everything Odell said? Oh well. It will not put a damper on whatever cheap Homeland ripoff NBC puts in this slot next spring.
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Can we just please get to the point where Allison starts coaching the church's soccer team please. Forget the summer of answers, all I want this season is her coaching. For some reason we will have to wait at least two weeks or that because the show is randomly off next week. In non soccer news, let me go ahead and predict the little dancing girl is actually the younger version of Spencer.

Tyrant: So is Barry just going to spend the whole season in a desert town? Even in the middle of nowhere and with a beard, it is kind of hard to believe no one noticed the brother of the president.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: The show does paranoia better than I can remember being depicted on screen before. It crossed my mind last week but I am becoming more convinced that Christian Slater is just a figment of Elliot's paranoia, basically the person he want, or thinks he should be. And maybe all the hackers are parts of him. But as good the first two episodes have been, I am going to need more Dalia Royce than just one scene going forward.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Hannibal: If Danny DeVito's momma cannot survive being thrown from a train it is hard to believe Will Graham can. And I thought European countries had bullet trains now. Oh well. At least Jack got some form of revenge on Hannibal as we know he will not be able to capture him (not that Jack looked like he had any intention of capturing). I am just hoping Hannibal's capture happens soon so they can move on to the next capture because I am not sure if I want to sit through a whole season of near captures.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/27/15

Orphan Black: Season three got off to a rough start with muddling mythology and a new clone that was not very interesting. Things did start picking up around the time the killed off most of the dude clones and the female ones started interacting more again. We did get a mostly satisfying season finale even if they reintroduced the nevolutionist (those are the guys with the tails from the first season right) who I did not really care for. I am surprised that Cosima's new girlfriend did not turn out to be someone involved, those she is still on the top of my list of who killed Delphine.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Last week's episode was kind of meh, but things certainly picked up this week with the best of the season, maybe series. We learned Lily is playing dumb and apparently Dr. Frankenstein implanted the brain of some evil megalomaniac. We finally got to see what Dorian Grey was hiding (even if everyone already knew what he was looking at). We also got the full text and that Lucifer needs Vanessa to get back into heaven and the vampire monster that was the big bad of last season was his brother that was cast out of heaven at the same time. We also may have learned what is up with Sembene who was able to break the witch's curse (unless I am reading that scene wrong but dude has to have some power right?). Should make for an interesting final two episodes.
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

American Odyssey: Oh yeah, #OdellLives was a thing before everyone except for her daughter forgot about her. And we learned by Luc is so irrational around her, he actually loves her. And could anyone have blamed her had she just stayed dead with the hot French dude instead of going home to her slubby husband?
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I really hope this season does not devolve into Charles being alive and dead every other week. Make up you mind. Hanna should have continued digging up the grave (not that a body would have confirmed it was him; everyone thought Allison was in her grave). But I was mostly disappointed we did not see Allison coach youth soccer this week.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: I had absolutely no interest in watching this show from the promos, seriously television and movie writers, hackers are not lead characters, the are background ones at best. Especially one who is trying to bring down some Illuminati one percent cabal which has been done to death recently. It did not help knowing Christian Slater was in the cast considering all the crappy one and done series over the past decade. Then I saw a behind the scenes package featuring Dalia Royce as one of the hacker. Awesome. That got me to watch. I was really shocked with how good the whole thing was despite the tired plot and the even more tired Christian Slater. And that was even with Dalia Royce only appearing in two scene. If they up her involvement in future episodes we may have out first contender for best new show of the television season.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Aquarius: Again the most interesting part of the show this week happen off screen when NBC actually renew the show for a second season. Apparently releasing the whole season online was a resounding success. NBC even said it broke streaming records. I just wished NBC would have tried that once with Hannibal before canceling that show this week. Oh well, now there is the waiting game to see if anyone will bother to pick Hannibal up. As for onscreen, as much grief I gave her when the show started, the hot cop with the bad accent is the most entertaining part of the show and it was a much better episode with her back this week stupidly trying to seduce a football player who beats women before Mulder stepped in.
You can download the full season (just the televised version as of now) of Aquarius on iTunes.

Hannibal: After a month, we finally learn what became of Alana Bloom, apparently just a lot of broken bones. And we learned that Will is after Hannibal, Jack is after Will, and Mason is now also after Hannibal with a reward. Alrighty. I really do not like this non-linear storytelling this season. But it looks like we are all now caught up with everyone now so hopefully it is linear from here on out.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/20/15

Penny Dreadful: I guess we should not be surprised that Lily did not come back right, but a what is up with her killing a dude during sex?
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

American Odyssey: I am not sure what my favorite part of the episode was: Luc again flipping allegiances by saving Odell by pretending to have her kidnapped and killed and not bothering to tell her the plan. Or Ruby who loves Harrison so much that she would commit suicide by cop that either kill him or get arrested (even though if her boss wants him dead can he not just hire another assassin after she dies). Nope, now that I think about it, my favorite part was Ruby having a pager. Who knew those were still around?
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: In the supposed "Summer of Answers" we still did not really get any. We did get a confirmation that Charles is a long lost brother of Allison but we essentially already knew that. But I do not really need answers this summer, really all I need from the the show this summer is multiple scenes of Ali mentoring a youth soccer team.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Tyrant: I was kind of hoping that this show would not be back for a second season because it was one of those post golden age shows that had a good concept, good acting, but was just missing something (usually any entertainment value). I was hoping for a hard reboot with Jamel actually going through with the execution of Barry, and was almost fooled that he did until I remembered my cardinal rule of television: no one is really dead until you see the body (and even in some cases that still does not stick), so I figured that was someone else under the hood. But if you are not going to hang Barry, why leave him out in the middle of the desert to die? Meh.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Aquarius: Another week without the howling hot chick with the bad American accent? Meh. But again the most fascinating part of the show this week was something that did not happen on screen as the show did not get a "Next Time" segment instead airing a promo for I Can Do That making me wonder if they are going to pull the show. Though Hannibal did get a Next Time package which ended with the announcer saying, "after an all new episode of Aquarius." Plus my TV Guide listing does still list an all new episode next week. It would be interesting if they actually pull the show the week the streaming and On Demand full season episode were supposed to expire. Of course that would not have been the weirdest thing NBC has ever done.
You can download the full season (just the televised version as of now) of Aquarius on iTunes.

Hannibal: It is official, the show is much better as a procedural with weird cases every week instead of a stow hunt for Hannibal. At least it looks like the whole gang will be back together next week.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/13/15

Orphan Black: Oh Donnie, how long until he tries to have sex with one of the clones, I thought it may actually happen this week with Helena. Then I thought he might accidentally kill another dude this week but instead just gets into a slap fight instead (where I thought he might have been dead until the promo monkeys went and spoiled that).
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Fun fact: I was once an award winning actor who once was tasked with throwing confetti on stage during every performance. After the first time I actually did it and the play was over, I went to sweep up the mess I created until the director came by and told said the star does not have to clean anything, leave that to the minions. I felt bad as someone else had to clean up after me every night. It was that thought that ran through my mind when it started raining blood this week, somebody is going to have to clean that up, wash the clothes and everything. And just for a dream sequence. Poor chaps. But I have a feeling we may never see Dorian Grey's ball room again after that.
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

American Odyssey: Of course Odell gets captured by a pre-teen army. Why would she not? Luc not selling her out would have may actual sense, he has to flip on her for no reason at all every other episode. I also liked Yucef's plan to assassinate a sitting Senator so he could go on trial and tell his story as if that really would have happened his security team would have totally shot first and asked questions later, instead of wrestling the gun toting terrorist to the ground without a shot fired by them.
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Well that was boring. After a tense season premiere, that was really boring with the girls moping around for the whole episode. So much for the Summer of Answers.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Aquarius: I had spent the first two week making fun of the hot cop with the embarrassingly bad American accent but I have to admit I kind of his her and her howling this week. Oh well. But hey, Mulder rescued the runaway about eight episodes before I expected him too. And the acid trip scene was almost as entertaining as the howling.
You can download the full season (just the televised version as of now) of Aquarius on iTunes.

Hannibal: When Abigail Hobbs walked into Will's room as he was coming to I thought, she has to be a hallucination. They actually got me to believe she was real when she was still around "8 months later." Well they got me, of course no one is going to survive getting their throat slit twice. Noe she can go to that big fly fishing river in the sky. But this reintroducing only one character per episode like it is Lost is getting kind of annoying.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/6/15

Orphan Black: Finally, after weeks of boring and confusing mythology, we actually got back to what made the first season so good: clones interacting with and pretending to be each other. I still think there needs to be a Donnie and Allison crappy CBS spinoff sitcom. I may bring this up every weekend until I will it into existence
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Well that was a dark montage at the end. And just when you thought it could not get any creepier, Dr. Frankenstein has sex with his creation? Ew. As for the previously mentioned montage, what is Sir Malcolm thinking? Ethan just told you to be on high alert. I would think a woman coming on to him at this very moment would be suspicious, but, c'mon Malcolm, she "accidentally" drew your blood with her ring. That might as well have been a tattoo on her forehead that reads, "I'm a witch!"
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

American Odyssey: When Bob told Harrison that he deeply cared for him I was taken about thinking that is a little strong thing to say, you might as well try to kiss him at this point. And then Bob leaned in. Oh my. I know this show is not very good, but what it lack in quality it certainly makes up for in entertainment value. And apparently Harrison was so shocked by the move and having someone's brain matter splattered on him he was stupid enough hook up with the person who was responsible for that brain matter. But hey, at least she is not a witch.
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes

Pretty Little Liars: I was kind of hoping we would get an entire season in the dollhouse. Probably not the smartest idea to set a fire when you are locked underground but again, these are not the smartest girls to ever be on television. At this point it would be out of character to do the smart thing.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Stitchers: Just last week I declared the chick from Aquarius to have the worst American accent put to film, but the lead on this show is pretty bad too. And what may be more annoying is the accent fluctuates constantly. Seriously casting agents either 1) let these actors use their normal accent; there is not reason the lead charterer here cannot be from Australian (okay, it would be a bit more of a stretch to have a rookie Australian cop back in the sixties; which begs the question, just how many hot Australian are there in Hollywood these days? Even Harley Quinn in the upcoming Suicide Squad is played by an Australian) or 2) just be xenophobic and cast an American.
You can download Stitchers on iTunes.

Aquarius: So having your kid run away is an aphrodisiac... who knew? As previously mention, the hot lady cop has the worst American accent put to film, but you know how to make her accent less distraction: make her howl. Wow. That was weird and random. But much like last week, the most interesting aspect of the show this week did not happen on screen but behind the scenes when the creator said there is an NC-17 version of the show floating around. He originally said it was the version on iTunes but that turned to be incorrect and revised to say it is coming soon. I did notice some kind of bad overdubs this week where they obviously replaced naughty words and once where they just completely cut out one of Mulder's words. I wonder if the edits are just auditory or if there are any missing scenes. Though I do not really need to see Charlie Manson bed Emma's dad.
You can download the full season (just the televised version as of now) of Aquarius on iTunes.

Hannibal: The show left us with three of the leads bleeding on the floor along with Abigail Hobbs. We will have to wait to find out their fates (though it is a bit of a spoiler that all three actors remain in the title sequence so Hobbs is the only one with a question mark). The show has always been a slow cooker, but with the hole episode devoted to Hannibal, it got kind of boring. Hopefully things get back on track when the people at the FBI (presumably) show back up next week.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/30/15

Orphan Black: The show should never put Allison on the shelf for an entire episode but they almost made up for it this week with her and Donnie's dance party which rivals the nineties dance party back in season one as the best scene in the show's history.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Whoa, for I believe is the first time in the show's history, it was having a bit of fun with the dress shopping sequence (is Dr. Frankenstein really going to fall in love with his creation). Of course that did not last long as it had to go back to creepy which the wall people definitely were.
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

American Odyssy: Oh no, they killed the arab transvestite television host who trades sexual favors with the Malian general, (s)he was the best part of the show. But hey, Chloe Sullivan showed up this week (though her name has been in the credits for the last couple weeks, have they brought her in just to show the back of her head all those eavesdropping scenes). I wonder what she has been up to since the end of Smallville.
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes

Aquarius: I have weirdly enjoyed NBC's midseason attempts the last couple years, the shows have been ambitious even if they tend to fall short of the cable quality they clearly are trying for. Plus they are almost guaranteed to be low commitment because I believe Hannibal is the only one of these shows to get a second season (although based solely on ratings, even that probably should have been canned but luckily returns for its third season this week. I am not sure I really needed to see a highly fictitious show built around Charlie Manson (though I would have said that about Hannibal Lecter three years ago too) but there is almost nothing else on this week. Plus it is nice to have Fox Mulder back on free television plus it also has my favorite Bunhead. Unfortunately is also stars the worst actor Friday Night Lights. Seriously, why is Smash Williams relegated to recurring when the dude whose name I never bothered to learn in the main cast? Then there is a hot blond cop (cue Sir Psycho Sexy) who may have the worst American accent in the history of television.

 Still Aquarius did have its moments be it funny (though I am not entirely sure all were meant to be intentionally funny) or weird (Charlie Manson tries to rape a dude... twice). But I fear the most interesting part of the show will be NBC's decision to release every episode for purchase, streaming and On Demand the day after the premiere. As a creature of habit, I will probably will still end up watching the show live since I will be watching Hannibal afterwards anyway, but I do like it when networks try something new. I am not sure what will qualify as a success but I do hope this leads the networks to new innovation.
You can download the full season of Aquarius on iTunes.

As I just mentioned, there was not much to watch on television this week. So I had to make a little hart to let myself know when summer shows start premiering. Apparently Wednesday will be movie or video game night for me. Even Monday looks pretty barren until late August.

Sundays
9:00 - Ray Donavan (July 12, Showtime)
9:00 - The Last Ship (June 22, TNT)
10:00 - Masters of Sex (July 12, Showtime)
10:00 - Falling Skies (June 28, TNT)
10:00 - The Strain (July 12, FX)

Mondays
Switched at Birth (August 24, ABC Family)

Tuesdays
8:00 - Pretty Little Liars (June 2, ABC Family)
10:00 - Royal Pains (June 2, USA)
10:00 - Tyrant (June 16, FX)
10:00 - Public Morals (August 25, TNT)

Wednesdays

Thursdays
9:00 - Aquarius (already airing, NBC)
9:00 - Under the Dome (June 25)
10:00 - Hannibal (June 4, NBC)
10:00 - Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (July 16, FX)
10:30 - Married (July 16, FX)

Fridays
8:00 - Defiance (June 12, Syfy)

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/23/15

Orphan Black: Meh, an episode without Allison is not an episode worth watching.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Mad Men: I know the show was about advertising, but ended the series with a Coke ad was silly, not autistic boy imagined the whole thing a snowglobe silly, but silly nonetheless. Matthew Weiner had stated that last season's ending of Don showing his kids was how he originally was going to end the series (not to be confused of last year's half season finale of Bert Cooper dancing his way off this mortal coil). That worked as a much better ending to the show than the one we got. Mad Men was depressing and everyone getting a happy ending (well, except Betty) just did not fit with the ending of the show, everybody finds love and / or gets a better or more full filling job then after "retiring" Don comes up with what some call the best commercial of advertising (at least that is what I am assuming that final scene was about).
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: I always find it interesting when shows go full flashback for an entire episode. Basically it is a flashing "This Is Important!" for the viewers, or least the writers want you to think that. Sometimes it seems like the writers came up short breaking a story so they add a flashback episode to fill the season. Timing is also interesting, this show was smart to have it at the beginning of the season because when it falls near the end, it just breaks the momentum of a show going to a conclusion (Lost comes to mind who would always try to cute with stunts like that). Overall, I am not sure if this episode added much to the overall arch of the season, we already knew the witches were evil, we may not needed that reinforced by having her manipulate someone to burn the witch in between her Vanessa. And I am not sure we really learned enough of Vanessa's past to really warrant an entire episode. All I was left with was wondering once Vanessa left the premises, how did it take the witch a couple more years to track Vanessa down again?

Survivor: Blue Collar vs. White Collar vs. No Collar: Watching the reunion just reminded me just how horrible this season was considering the spent almost the entire show talking about just how horrible Dan and Will were. And they did not even have enough time to get to the Masshole who said some pretty offensive things too. Thankfully they had the Second Chance vote which meant five less minutes spent on this cast.

As for the actual finale, I was shocked that Mike won. Not that he did not deserve it, I thought for sure the Second Chance voting was a spoiler and his inclusion meant he would not win. But win he did, taking home the last two Immunity Necklaces and even somehow convinced Dan to vote for him in the end even though Dan refused to forgive him during the game which could have meant he had been in the finale. I was a bit surprised Carolyn did not get more votes, tying Will for second. Tyler ended up being more bitter than I expected and I originally though the Blue Collar would end up voting for her. But in retrospect that was stupid thinking Dan and the Masshole would actually vote for a woman.

Even more shocking than Carolyn's lack of votes at the Final Tribal was her lack of votes in the Second Chance voting. I figured everyone from the last two seasons would be a lock (with maybe the exception of Max who was booted early this season and lacked a defining moment). I was also shocked Not-Dante Culpepper was also passed on considering Probst man crush on him that may only be rivaled by his man crush on Boston Rob. I am glad more people were with me than Probst. And Not-Dante should have had an easier route than Carolyn since Mike became ineligible. I wonder who took Mike's spot. My guess would be one of the elder men from the early season be it Terry or Andrew.

As for the shocking inclusions, I am a bit befuddled with who voted for Kass and to a lesser extent Kimmi. I was also surprised Kelley Wentworth got one of the two token hot chick nods considering I did not even remember her despite her being on last season (I did vote for her solely for physical reasons). Hopefully she gets on an opposite tribe from Kelly Wiglesworth because that could be annoying. I thought Mikayla may get the other out of pity for absurdly of being voted out solely so Brandon Hantz would not do something immoral to her.

Overall I am surpised that of the twenty people I voted for fifteen made it. Sure I wouild swapped Kass and Kimmi for Mikayla and Sabrina. I did not vote for Shirin but I am fine with her addition and will probably will be better than Natalie whom I voted for instead (mostly because no one on thirty seasons looked better in a bikini than her). I am also fine with the two guys I did not vote for, Terry and Joe (I went with Max and Troyzan but did not felt strong about either). But after one historically bad season and one meh season I m really looking forward to Second Chances. Which could only mean Kass and Kimmi will be making the finals.

I did not have a place to put it in earlier, but I have to say the way Probst revealed the cast was extremely awkward. It felt like a Maury Pauvich type reveal. As a stats guy it is also interesting that of the six runner ups on their seasons, half gote voted onto Second Chance while half went home (Carolyn, Natalie, and Sabrina). Weirdly, there were five tenth placed finisher and all of them are heading to Cambodia. Then Kimmi and Kelley (not to be confused with Kelly) were the only two that finished worse than tenth to board the bus. The other five double digit finishers are going home. Five was an unlucky number, because besides the three runner ups and the five double digit finishers, two of the other three not boarding the plane (T-Bird and Shane) finished fifth. Granted Ciera and Peih-Gee also finished fifth.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

Previewing Penny Dreadful: Season Two

For years Showtime played second banana to HBO until Homeland came along and won all the awards and praise in its first season. Sure it was basically a one season wonder that burned out quicker than maybe any series in the history of television (even if it was almost able to regain its footing last season). Homeland did get an identity with Homeland, but in the years since has been chasing that critical and commercial buzz ever since with what I call post-Golden Age Television: shows with good acting, good premise, but something is just keeping it from being great. Showtime's post Homeland shows Ray Donovan, The Affair and Penny Dreadful all fit in this category (The only other new drama since then, Masters of Sex is legitimately great, but is in the same category as The Americans where it seems like only critics watch because no one else actually seems to talks about them). And the less we say about the Twin Peaks reboot right now may be the best because we may never actually get to see it.

One of my biggest problem with the first season of Penny Dreadful was it seemed very paint by numbers. All season long they teased Ethan was the Wolfman, and as the season closed out, he went all Beast Mode. From the moment Brona started coughing up blood, it was safe to assume she would end up being the Bride of Frankenstein which also came to fruition by season's end. Then there was Dorian Grey who seem utterly useless in the first season, only there to have sex with everyone else. That was not to say the whole season was completely predictable, Frankenstein's monster getting ripped opened by the original prototype early on was extremely shocking and I certainly did not see Sir Malcolm spending the entire season looking for his daughter to find her and kill her after telling her, "I already have a daughter."

But what may Penny Dreadful's biggest flaw is that it pales in comparison to Hannibal in the horror department even though the latter is hamstrung by the standards and practices of a network series. Sure Eva Green put on a very haunting performance, but I would be more frightened to see Mads Mikkelsen at the end of a darkened hallway than Green.

As season two starts off, it seems like Penny Dreadful and done better to quash my biggest complaints on the show. Now that we all know the real and new identities of Ethan and Brona, we can finally move on to new less predictable territories. It also looks like they are giving Dorian Grey something to do this season, tied in the season's big bad, and coven of witches than can transform themselves into something that looks like Marilyn Manson circa The Dope Show but sans any hair at all. And they are actually look more scary than Hannibal Lector himself and at the end of the second episode one of the witches does something as creepy as anything Hannibal has done on his show. Many shows have a sophomore slump in their second season, but Penny Dreadful may just be finding its footing in its second and may quickly become the scariest show on television.

Penny Dreadful airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2013-14

For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that air a majority of their episodes during the past year so I did not consider the most recent season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season with the remaining episodes not airing until spring of 2015. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Hannibal, Season 2 (NBC)

2. Justified, Season 5 (FX)

3. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (FOX)

4. Masters of Sex, Season 1 (Showtime)

5. The Blacklist, Season 1 (NBC)

6. Orphan Black, Season 2 (BBC America)

7. The Americans, Season 2 (FX)

8. Penny Dreadful, Season 1 (Showtime)

9. Parenthood, Season 5 (NBC)

10. Sons of Anarchy, Season 6 (FX)


And for fun, here are the shows that had the most Quotes and Songs of the Week from the past year.

Quotes of the Week:
Justified – 8
The Bridge – 6
Mad Men – 5
Homeland – 4
Shameless – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 2
Masters of Sex – 2
Once Upon a Time – 2
Orphan Black – 2
Penny Dreadful – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Survivor – 2
The Challenge – 1
Community - 1
How I Met Your Mother – 1
King of the Nerds – 1
Nashville – 1
NFL Draft – 1
The Neighbors – 1
Ray Donovan – 1
The Sing-Off – 1
Tyrant – 1
Under the Dome – 1

Songs of the Week:
How I Met Your Mother – 6
Pretty Little Liars – 5
The Goldbergs – 4
The Americans – 3
Nashville – 3
Ray Donovan – 3
The Blacklist – 2
Growing Up Fisher – 2
Orphan Black - 2
Revenge – 2
Suburgatory – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 1
The Bridge – 1
Californication – 1
The Colbert Report – 1
Community - 1
Crisis – 1
Dominion – 1
House of Lies – 1
Mad Men – 1
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 1
The Millers – 1
Perception – 1
Sons of Anarchy – 1
Tyrant – 1

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/6/14

Penny Dreadful: We finally got to find out who was going to be Frankenstein’s Bride and not surprisingly it ended up being the prostitute with consumption. We also learned what Ethan’s deep dark secret is and not surprisingly he turned out to be the wolf man as that has been telegraphed all season. The only shock of the finale was that Sir Malcolm actually chose Vanessa over Mina. We did not get any conclusion in the Dorian Grey storyline and we never saw him again after getting rejected by Vanessa for what seemed to be the very first time ever rejected the man.

Switched at Birth: That is an interesting debate, is someone Hispanic due to their upbringing or should Daphne be disqualified since she was technically born a WASP. Does that make Bay more deserving since she was raised in a very posh lifestyle?
You can download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Under the Dome: After a stellar first season, Lost inexplicably killed the Token Hot Chick early in the second season (for the second time, they killed her off during a dream sequence during the first season) starting a swift decline thereafter. I figured after that gaff, no show would be dumb enough to kill off their Token Hot Chick ever again. Fast forward to this week when Under the Dumb did not just kill off their Token Hot Chick, they killed off two of them. In the same episode. What the frack?
You can stream Under The Dome on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime users.

Murder in the First: I cannot decide what my favorite part of the episode was, the octipi t-shirt or Steven Weber dancing at Burning Man.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: After Alison returned to Rose4wood I was expecting a new change in the dynamics of the show but those changes have been as small and inconsequential as Hanna’s new hairdo. It seems like the show has been in a holding pattern since Alison’s return. Maybe they were holding anything exciting off until the 100th episode next week. Hopefully things pick up from there.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/29/14

Orphan Black: Oh no, I fear that we already seen the Jump the Shark moment. Most sci-fi shows with an extraordinary character usually takes a misstep when they introduce a second version of the special person and I was thinking the exact same thing when we learned there are a second set of clones. Surprisingly that set of clones was not based on Paul but instead the weird Prolethean dude. I will give the show the benefit of the doubt, but this type of revelation always seems to be the downfall of these types of shows.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: They have teased there is something more to Ethan than simply being American, I first thought he may be Jack the Ripper. Then it seemed pretty obvious that he was a werewolf. But after this week, could it be something entirely different, some sort of high priest, demon hunter? What exactly was he doing to Vanessa and why has he not done it sooner?

Crisis: Sure it had its issues and some back acting, but now that the season is over the show turned out to be the best case scenario for a network trying to rip off Homeland. It is a shame more people did not watch. But it is probably the best thing because that way it is now limited to just one season (though a second season manhunt for Gibson after breaking out of prison could have worked). Since the season was for the most part self contained, it is surprising that Amber did not learn that her aunt was really her mother; even more surprising is that we learned Gibson knew this and never used it to his advantage.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Crisis on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: The show’s writers really need to stop watching Catfish. The plot was silly enough when the dude was getting revenge on Emmitt for getting him suspended, but to now make him secretly in love with Emmitt is just silly.
You can download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Please, please, please let the new hot Rosewood resident be part of some new lesbian Swimf@n storyline.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Challenge: Free Agents: Oh Nany, I am not sure out could have made up the extra time had you not, but you cannot get off the bike. Oh well, winner or second place, this was clearly the season of Nany: she somehow out-crazies Camilla in a passing of the torch moment, hooks up with another dude while flirting heavily with another, gets blown up by Cara Maria and still manages to win that Challenge. That is an all-time performance right there. On the flip side of the coin there was Zach who flips over his canoe in the first leg, does not figure out the tree puzzle is an actual puzzle, no geography knowledge needed (granted on Bananas figured that out), then almost died multiple times in the third and fifth legs. How are you in a final with Devyn and still manage the lead impressive performance?
You can download The Challenge: Free Agents on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/22/14

Orphan Black: My favorite part of last week’s episode was when Donnie surprised Vic and Angie in the van and told them to smile as he took a picture and for no apparent reason Vic through up the peace sign. Awesome. I have long hoped for a Donnie and Alison spin-off and even though she is at the bottom of the Clone Power Rankings I would also watch a Helana / Gracie road trip spin-off.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: R.I.P. Van Helsing. I am not sure if it was intended, but I laughed.

Crisis: So everyone already knows Gibson is behind the whole kidnapping scheme and yet he still concocted a plausible way of explaining that he is actually not the man behind the curtain. But with the secret service guy dead, who are they going to make the fall guy? Well since the final two episodes got burned off last night, you may already know by the time you read this (for the few of us that kept with it).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Crisis on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: My favorite part of the episode was that John just happened to type in just the right phrase (weather?) as to be suggested that Bay was searching for the morning after pill. That is going to be an awkward conversation next episode.
You can download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Murder in the First: I am not legal expert, really all I know about the law is from I learn from procedurals like these, but to does seem like the way the people obtain DNA on this show are blatant violations of the fourth amendment.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: So the person that saw who “killed” Allison and buried her to keep that secret is now dead. Ugg. I guess the two leading subjects are whoever did try to kill Allison and maybe even Allison herself.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Defiance: So what happened to the madam? She was only mentioned once and we did not even get to see her in the lengthy “previously on” segment. I vaguely remember her being brought into the woods to be shot but would not put any money on it. And she was my favorite character and I am not just saying that because she ran a brothel. Okay, I am mostly saying that because she ran a brothel.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also donload Defiance on iTunes

Dominion: I am not sure what was more disappointing, that they killed off Tyra Collette off screen or that Rupert Giles has an American accent. I guess I probably should not have expected more for a Syfy original show. Their best ones are the shows they import. I am pretty sure there was a wire in one of Michael’s flying scenes. Interesting to see ads for Spartacus premiering next week considering I remember ninety percent of the show was gratuitous nudity and violence so there is going to have to be copious editing even for basic cable. They may actually be able to air the entire season in one hour after cutting out the scenes unsuitable for cable.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Dominion on iTunes.

The Challenge: Free Agents: What a crappy way to go out for CT and the chick’s who name I cannot even remember even though she somehow made it through an entire season. They could have come up with a better way to determine the finals than everyone participating in the draw. At least have everyone vote for one person to go into the draw for one ofr the competitors and if there is a tie, everyone does it.
You can download The Challenge: Free Agents on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/14/14

Quote of the Week: Post Script: Your father loves you very much and will do anything to save you. But I love you in a different way. I love you enough to kill you. (Vanessa Ives, Penny Dreadful)

Song of the Week: Vacation – The Go Go’s (Growing Up Fisher)

Big News of the Week: Dynasties Over?: The NBA Finals started much like last year, Spurs and Heat trading wins (they did so until the Heat won the final two games), that was until in game four when the Spurs embarrassed the Heat for the second straight game in Miami. It is not outside the realm of possibility that the Heat could win three straight games, but it would be the first time a team came back from a 3-1 deficit. So what would be next for both teams? It is highly speculated that pop Tim Duncan and Greg Popavich would go out on top, five championships in fifteen years. Then there is the Heat, all of the big three can opt out. There are rumors that LeBron could take his talents to LA or back home to Cleveland. But losing in the finals (the second time in four trips), could all three come back and add on a big fourth in Carmelo Anthony, who I like to refer to as the worst star in the history of the sport.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"Paris" Perception Season Premiere, Tuesday at 10:00 on TNT

Orphan Black: I am all for more clones on the show, which is lacking so far this season aside from one we met via video who is already dead, , but Tony may have gone one clone too far. And that was before Felix made out with the dude who looks exactly like his sister.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: We finally learned more about Vanessa like how her ties with Sir Malcolm goes way back and she is possibly the reason Mina was targeted. We met the demon that torments her in very explicit fashion that actually scares her mother to death. But there are still plenty of questions surrounding her.

Pretty Little Liars: Wait, so Shanna has been A this whole time? I thought she has know Allison’s whereabouts. Granted I am sure there is probably more A’s out there or we will learn she was just part of the A-Team. Although it looks like Mona might be starting up her own B-team.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Challenge: Free Agents: I routinely mention how Survivor should steal The Challenge challenge makers, but this week The Challenge actually stole Survivor’s triangle puzzle. Nothing else much to talk about since this was the week when the show foes its once a season, end the episode before the final duel which I always hate. It does seem safe to assume that CT will win the men’s side because in the Next Time On we saw him punch through the dry wall wrist deep o one punch. Then on the other side it seems like Laurel has the clear advantage with the length, oh yeah, and she has two functioning hands.
You can download The Challenge: Free Agents on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Try - Colbie Caillat (iTunes)

New Album Release of the Week: Mutineers - David Gray

New DVD Release of the Week: Walk of Shame

Video of the Week: For Seth Rogan and James Franco’s next movie, The Interview, there are going to kill Kim Jun Un. Awesome. Though the characters’ names are not mentioned in the trailer, I am just going to go ahead and hope this is a sequil to This Is the End where they are playing themselves. Unfortunately with Lizzy Caplan showing up as some government agent, this is probably not the case. And that is the first time anyone has used the words “unfortunately” and “Lizzy Caplan” in the same sentence.


Next Week Pick of the Week: World Cup, Monday at 5:30 on ESPN: The World Cup started earlier this week but for us xenophobes, it really does not start until Monday when the red, white and blue take the field (quite literally, and the jerseys are kind of hideous in a vertical French flag kind of way). It will be a hard road to the Knockout Round, only Group D with all four teams in the FIFA top 35 World Ranking. But Group G features two of the top four teams in the world (Germany and Portugal). At least America gets to start off with the easiest match of the group: Ghana (37th in the world) except the African country knocked the USA out of the last two World Cups. The next match is Sunday against Portugal also at 5:30 and they close the round robin against Germany, Thursday (6/26) at 11:30 A.M. both on ESPN.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/25/14

Mad Men: After Pete missed her twice, I was beginning to fear that we not get to see Trudy this episode and after Community got canceled, I need my Alison Brie fix anyway I can get it. I even sit through her vodka ads. But anyway. Every since Bob Benson creepily touched Pete’s thigh, people questioned his sexuality and this week we got a definitive answer as to just how he swings, going as far as to ask Joan to be his beard. Poor Joan, actually thinks she can still find love as a single mother pushing forty. Her best, and probably only hope is her baby-daddy Roger who has the maturity level of his kid.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: I was beginning to think the second episode was going to enter into a sophomore episode slump after a fairly uneventful first half of the episode (consumption sex notwithstanding). But things really picked up in the second half. The séance scene was more disturbing than anything on The Walking Dead while the first Frankenstein Monster reintroducing itself to his father was just as creepy. Still the second episode felt more like an extension of the Pilot where we are introduced to two or three main characters. Now that we have met all the players, hopefully the show starts to pick up next week.

The Voice: I checked into the finale for a couple minutes and quickly realized that I wisely checked out somewhere between the first and second Battle Rounds. Somehow they found singers more boring and bland than last season’s final three in Christina and Jake. At least Josh won, though I not sure if he could have even sniffed the semi-finals in the first four seasons. This is usually where I make a long list of ways to fix the show, but I have only one right now: find better talent. I thought season four was pretty weak talent wise compared to the first three and the last two have gotten significantly worse talent wise. It is time to bring in more ringers. And good ones, not silly YouTube “superstars,” ones with actual talent and entertainment value.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Survivor: Cagayan: Sometime I just have to scratch my head at how some people vote. After three jury members attacked Tony for lying after swearing on his badge, wife and kid, and even his death father’s grave, I actually though Woo had a chance of winning, yet all three of those players ended up voting for Tony. I do not mind lying and cheating to advance in the game, but who gives a million dollars to someone who reigns on the memory of their dead father? What’s worse is that Tony did not even gain anything from voting for Trish. Ugg, so after such a promising premise, Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn, this season ended up being in the bottom five of the series.

Undoubtedly there will be an all-star edition of the format in the near future (they are already recycling Blood vs. Water), so here is my suggestion for the cast. I did fill the Beauty tribe with all hot chicks because I do not think anyone wants to know my thoughts on the subject. Plus, let’s be honest, the idea of a “beauty” tribe is that the members use their looks to advance and guys just do not do that. Look at this past season, two of the male beauties looked like they could have very well been on the Brawn tribe.

Brains
Ciera Eastin (Blood vs. Water)
Kim Spradlin (One World)
Sophie Clarke (South Pacific)
Rob Cesternino (Amazon)
Stephen Fishbach (Tocantins)
Todd Herzog (China)

Beauty
Parviti Shallow (Cooke Island)
Andrea Boehlke (Redemption Island)
Morgan McLeod (Cagayan)
Natalie Tenerelli (Redemption Island)
Chelsea Meissner (One World)
Mikayla Wingle (Phillippines)

Brawn
Kat Edorsson (One World)
Cliff Robinson (Cagayan)
Jeff Kent (Philippines)
James Clement (Blood vs. Water)
Stephenie LaGrossa (Palau)
Abi-Maria Gomes (Philippines)

You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: With teaser at the end of the first season finale it seemed obvious that Paige would learn of her parents other lives sometime this season. And with Larrick hot on their trail, it seemed likely that he would kidnap and she would learn that way. Oops, got that totally wrong. It turns out it was the other kid who learned of his parents extracurricular activities. And then killed his parents. Alrighty, that was a bit rushed. But it did set up would could be a fascinating third season where Paige has to find out about her parents… right?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Free Agents: I have to grown whenever a new cast is announce and Johnny Bananas is once again a part of the season. And I have done a lot of growing because this is his tenth Challenge (he, along with C.T. and Anessa have tied Paula for the most appearance; and since I was on the Wikipeia page, I was flabbergasted to see Cara Maria just tied Sarah for most consecutive Challenges ever with seven, who keeps asking her back). So it says a lot that for the first time ever I was actually rooting for Bananas in an elimination round. That shows you juts how much of a douche Jordan is. And really there are very few things more entertaining than Jordan calling his shot against Bananas and then lose. And not just lose, but fail epically, falling of the wall. Good riddance Jordan, here is hoping you do not reach Johnny’s record.
You can download The Challenge: Free Agents on iTunes.

Hannibal: Well, frack, that is how you do a season finale. It may take me a couple days to fully compute what just happened.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Previewing Penny Dreadful

We are in the golden age of horror on television. Okay, honestly we are in the only age of horror on television. When there was only three networks, the genre was too niche for precious airtime. Even as cable channels popped up the genre was too violent for basic cable and beneath premium channels that could get away with it. But the 00’s were all about pushing the boundaries, sure you still cannot say the seven words that George Carlin warned you about (well, it may be down to five four decades later), or show certain body parts on network television, but everything else has become fair game.

Then the 10’s have become the nitchification of television, it was not about how many people watch, but how many passionate people watched. So we went from no horror shows on television to an overabundance. There are psychopathic serial killers like Hannibal, comic book gross out horror like The Walking Dead, and campy horror like American Horror Story. These shows can all be traced back to Dexter and with that show having its swan song last year, Showtime is ready to get back into the horror game it started with Penny Dreadful.

Penny Dreadful start two former next big things that never quite ever made it to that next level. Josh Hartnett was a heartthrob in waiting thanks to roles in The Faculty and The Virgin Suicides but starring roles in two high profiles duds in Pearl Harbor and 40 Days and 40 Nights has put him in relative obscurity ever since. Eva Green has also been teetering on the edge for a while but has not quite gotten over that hump after being cast as a Bond Girl. Ironically the cast is filled out with the guy on the bottom of everybody’s James Bond Power Rankings: Timothy Dalton.

Much like HBO’s signature serial killer show True Detective, Penny Dreadful takes place in the 90’s. Well, actually the latter takes place in the 1890’s Victorian England. And much like Grimm, there are two worlds, one were most people live normal lives unaware of the second world with literary monsters lurking in the shadows. But instead of fairytales come to life, the world of Penny Dreadful id filled with old horror stalwarts like vampires, Frankenstein’s monster, and Dorian Grey.

Dalton is drawn into this world when his daughter is kidnapped by an unknown monster and has sworn to get her back at any cost. At some point he recruits Green, a mysterious woman who seems to know more than she lets on and is haunted by her own demons which usually show up in the form of spiders (she because even more haunting in the second episode). The show starts up when they recruit Hartnett, a brash American showman who knows his way around a gun. I am also guessing it is not a coincidence that Jack the Ripper is striking terror in the hearts of Englishmen again just as he arrives.

When Showtime debuted Dexter, it was one of a kind, a serial killer with a heart of almost gold. A decade later, Penny Dreadful needs to find a niche. It has the literary monsters like Grimm but it seems like it is going with The Walking Dead type gore mixed with Hannibal’s quality writing. Of course unlike other shows of its ilk that are still confined by a standards and practices department, it can “go there” without any constraint. I am not sure anyone wanted to see Frankenstein’s Monster in all his glory, but Showtime allows them that ability. Though it is hard to out-gross The Walking Dead who creates a new way to kill a zombie almost week, there is a scene in each episode of Penny Dreadful that will rival those scenes.

Penny Dreadful airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime. Even if you do not have Showtime, check your cable provider because the premium channel is having a free preview weekend starting Friday where you can watch the season premiere of Penny Dreadful as well as the latest episodes of Nurse Jackie and Californication, the television premiere of Scary Movie 5, access to Showtime on Demand where you will have access to past episodes of multiple Showtime original shows and documentaries. But if you are not one of the 74 million households that will get the free preview (sorry Time Warner subscribers, it looks like once again, no Showtime free preview for you) you can watch an edited version of the premiere on Youtube.