57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/10/16

BrainDead: So you cannot kill the queen bug with a rolled up magazine. Oh no. Better stock up on some Raid. I wonder if the CIA guy was telling us the right story or if he was just misleading him as some devious plan with Red.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Fear the Walking Dead: So drunken mom and gay dude were able to escape being surrounded by zombies? Alrighty. And why do the writers on these walkers show love splitting everyone up all the time? We started out with three separate storylines, maybe four depending where the hot chick went off to. I guess she was probably hijacked by the wedding party because lost people on these shows never turn out to be dead. Well except for Carol’s kid.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Ever since Joanna and Elliot first met, I thought she knew more than she let on (my working theory was Tyrell was also one of Elliot’s delusion and Joanna knew and did not want Elliot to know she knew). So when the last episode ended with Joanna driving up on Elliot I was expecting some Joanna shoe to drop. Hurumph. All she did was have Elliot hack the phone that may or may have not been given to her by Tyrell. Then we end (kind of) on another cliffhanger with two backs of heads approaching Angela after Elliot made out with her. I really could not make out who they are so it may not be someone we have met already. Then poor Dom, stuck in another Dark Army shootout. But who died? It will be quite convenient that Dom and Darla escape but the boyfriend target managed to die in the spray of bullets like (presumably) intended.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: Penny Dreadful really perfected how to handle the last minute cancellation with a “The End” place card at the end of the episode. Instead Tyrant was canceled hours before the now season finale aired. I was always bearish on the show, but one thing I will say about the show is that it did have a radical shift every season, something no other show really have the gull to do. They exiled Barry to start off the second season and killed off Jamal to start the second, so there was always the hope the show would course correct, it just never manage to be as great as it wanted to be. So even though we did not get tto see how the show ended on its own term, it is apropos that it ended how it did because there are no end to these holy wars and so the wars in Abudian will wage in perpetuity just like they do in the real world and the titular character was not Jamal, or any of the Al-Fayad’s, but it is all of us.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/28/16

Ray Donovan: There seems to be a pacing problem this season as they are having trouble balancing between the Russian storyline and the boxer. Two episode, Ray kills a Russian and I think, well the other Russians will not like that. Except it was not brought up once last week. Then finally someone found the body this week. And just as things started to get ramped up, they had to slip in a scene with the boxer and his crazy sister. But at least the Russian plot got interesting. Does Ray get the niece back to save Avi or sacrifice him? (Or a third option where both the niece and Avi are safe?)

Fear the Walking Dead: Has there ever been a more boring season premiere than this? I was actually rooting for the dogs.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Roadies: Wait, does Machine Gun Kelly have suspenders tattooed on his body? Weird. But anyway. But man, did they really bring Phil back just to kill him? Should have stayed with Taylor Swift.

BrainDead: I do not care if it did not turn out to be true, Ramona Flowers has forever been tainted by having sex with Michael Moore. The dream nightmare sequence will forever be seared into my brain. And I thought the bug sex scene last week was the worst thing I would ever see on the show.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Murder in the First: I have talked about the rise of incest on television considering it is one of the last taboo left. But up to this point is has been brother-sister relationship, all of which have been creepy, but oh my goodness, did this show really do a consensual father-daughter relationship? Eww. Then there was Hildy talking about the time her brother got a bit handsy because telling her partner it was a line because saying she was a good liar. I am not sure if it was the writer’s intent, but I was left wondering if her I am a good liar line was about the story she told the pop star or telling her partner she was lying.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

The Voice: I was not expecting much, but I had to bail quite early on the preview episode right around the time Miley Cyrus opened her mouth. The actual person who sang was not that much better though I did like they went straight to the singing, no super sappy background. I did check out the other person they featured who was a big giant meh. The first person picked Alicia and the second picked Miley so this was clearly a showcase on the new coaches not the talent. But that is ever increasing point of the show. Each episode used to end with the best season, but the last three of four seasons, it seems to end with mediocre singers at best but a lot of coach banter and fighting. But if that was the best person Miley got on her team it will be a long season and she will rival Shakira season six as the worst collection of talent on a team ever. Then I had to skip the coaches singing Dream On because I have no desire to hear anyone sing that song on this show other than Amanda Brown.

Pretty Little Liars: I was hoping Hanna would go Liam Neeson this week and after a pitiful attempt at drugging Noel, boom goes the dynomite at the end the episode with a baseball bat. Awesome. I cannot wait to see what goes wrong with the interrogation.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: Interesting they chose not to end the season like they started the series, at their father’s funeral, but I guess they ended the first season in a church so I guess they did not want to go back to that well. Instead we end with Valerie moving back in with her ex-husband. Alrighty, Hopefully the side piece did not get too comfortable, or pregnant, I thought they we going through fertility procedures. But really, for a show whose title would lead you to believe it is about casual sex, there was a lot of talk of death this season and relationships that are moving out of the “causal” category.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: And we are back to starting episodes with flashbacks that wink and nod but do not really mean much. So the Muslim chick and fat guy who spent most of a season and a half met in a coffee show, presumably owned by the same guy Elliot took down in the first episode, but not the one with his illegal operation, one with crappy wi-fi. Of course this begs the question, when is Elliot going to run into him in prison? Back in current time, Darla kills a chick… alrighty. So is her boy toy going to give her up as the person who took his gun? Instead, Dom pulls in the fat guy. But really, I think it is safe to assume that everyone can agree the best scene this week was Angela singing Everybody Wants to Rule the World even if it was a bit on the nose. Speaking of the karaoke bar, holy Duck Phillips sighting! He has to be tied into the story somehow, you do not bring in Duck Philips just to creepily hit on someone half his age just for one scene.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: I thought we were going to have a repeat of the first season of Homeland where the suicide vest did not go off then… boom goes the dynamite. And now that Jamal is dead, it looks like Barry is slowly morphing from the voice of reason to the titular character.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/7/16

MTV Classic: A couple years ago VH1, in honor of MTV’s anniversary they devoted an entire weekend to the channel’s history with classic episodes of its shows and a couple documentaries. It was a great watch and made me think that is what VH1 Classic should be. And how about running full episodes of Yo! MTV Raps, Headbangers Ball, and 120 Minutes instead of random blocks of music videos in the morning. But then VH1 Classic went back to its rock heavy schedule and random movies that have nothing to do with music after the weekend was over.

So I got slightly excited when I heard they were rebranding VH1 Classic as MTV Classic bringing back classic shows from the channel’s history. The lauch started off well enough with an Unplugged marathon but I have been less than enthused since. Sure they show the occasional Beavis and Butt-Head, but so far they have been all episodes from the recent reboot and none from the nineties. And is any one setting their DVR for midnight airings of Run’s House? C’mon, where is Remote Control. And still no one is taking my advice to show genre specif shows in their entirety, instead we are still getting random videos in the morning. Really not the best start when the first one I saw was Vertical Horizon’s Everything You Want. Even worse, the first time I came across Yo! Hip Hop Hits, they were showing a video by Xscape, a fifth rate nineties girl group (featuring the future Mrs. T.I.) who are neither hip hop nor classic. Le sigh.

Ray Donovan: Did we really need to start off the episode with some dude pleasuring himself to a chick playing Cat’s Cradle? And just when you thought that was gong to be the most graphic part of the episode, a minute later we get to watch s full body cavity search. And then a couple minutes after that Conner pulls out some lubricant? Then after everything he went through with the Russians to get Belikov out of jail, he kills him over the Cat’s Cradle chick. That is probably not going to go over well.

Preacher: What the frack was that? Was that meant to not be coherent and meant to be a complete mess? How does an episode like that even make it to air?
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Roadies: In the beginning I thought it was a wise choice to keep the band in the background and focus on the titular characters (and definitely we should never hear any of their songs because the worst part of these scripted music shows is they are supposed to be superstars but their songs are mediocre at best), but after Janine went HAM on the lead singer, the band instantly became extremely interesting. I actually want to see more of Janine as she writes her tell all and Chris’s reaction to all the revelations. And just how does Bill not get fired for sleeping with the lead singer’s girlfriend even if I took place a decade or so ago?

The John Mellencamp cameo made me wonder just where do some of these celebrity cameo stories come from. Did Cameron Crowe ask them for the personal stories like the one about the hundred year old grandmother that could fit in the show? Are they strictly written for the show? Are they stories Crowe has heard and asked the celebrities if he can use it on the show?

BrainDead: I figured Laurel would find a way to get the bugs out of her head before they push out half her brain, but I thought she would simply go to the refrigerator and put some bacon on her ear. Instead we got maybe the most entertaining segment on television this year.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: Seriously promo monkeys, we are already to the countdown portaon of the season. I get annoyed with the “one more episode until the (insert hyperbolic adverb here) finale” promo but four more episodes is a bit much. Sad thing is, that is most of what I remember from this episode. Um, Alison got attacked by someone and it turned out to not be her dead fiancée who is still in the ground. It probably was not Sara who ended up dead. Um, evil(er) twin maybe?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Well at least we did not start with a cute flashback this week. And good news for anyone who was wondering what Angela’s douchebag ex-boyfriend was up to. Otherwise, meh.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: Oh hey Barry, you are really doing that days after your daughter died and hours after your wife checked herself into a mental institution? Cold.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: What a horrible ending to a horrible season. What a completely douche thing to do even by Johnny Banana’s standards. At least he cannot possibly get another invitation back after that and even so, how is he not sent into whatever they are calling the elimination round every time? What is worse was the whole point thing was kind of shady; I never really got the standing on the log checkpoint, and making things worse it was worth two points. Why not just stay on the log and refuse to leave?
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

2016 Rio Olympics Opening Ceremonies: Not a very good sign for these games that I fell asleep somewhere around the M’s during the parade of nations. I am ready to call it the worse opening ceremonies of my lifetime. I know Pele was sick, but how was the biggest name at the ceremony Giselle? Was there really no one more important from Brazil? I was ready for Camilla from The Challenge or Abi-Maria from Survivor to pop up.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/31/16

Ray Donovan: So after half the season dedicated to this casino heist, it ends with the owner with his money back, does not even bother to press charges (presumably to get the insurance money and the original money) and Ray does not even need that money to bribe the FBI guy to blackmail the other guy because Micky is going to turn himself in. But hey, at least we got to hear Ray sing Bob Seger. We dd get some set up of two storylines that will likely end disastrously: apparently Bunchy is now a single father and Connor was able to break into the gun safe. Checkov would have us believe that gun will go off sometime in the third act, the question now is who is he going to shoot?

Roadies: So Janine is the chick from The Civil Wars. Alrighty. Though she was actually competent as the girl next door that got away. But is she really going to hook up with Reg. Or as importantly, is Reg going to hook up with the girl who broke his boss’ heart? Well, if it ends the will they or won’t they storyline with KellyAnne, I would be happy.

BrainDead: Oh no, Ramona Flowers better not be taken over by the bugs. Hopefully she is able to get to her bacon before they push out her brain or Gustav arrives in time. But c’mon Ramona, you throw out all the stuff he brought but did not throw his flowers at him?
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Casual: Oh, hey, Leon, I forgot you even existed. Where has he been, he was the best part of the first season. He should have gotten the C-storyline; it probably would have been more interesting than the teen cancer one. Then you have Pete Campbell as vindictive as ever, lowballing Alex for his company. But since there is still four episodes left, I am guessing Alex will be fighting this even though his partner may take the money and run.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: So we are just going to get a flashback at the start of every episode? Meh. At least this was a bit more informative than last week’s F(un) Society origin. I guess we saw the start of Mr. Robot and where the masks came from. There was also the return of White Rose as him and Evil Corp guy talk about there still as unknown Illuminati plot on society. But still I am still a little down on this season. Hopefully now that Elliot is back to hacking, things will pick up.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: And I thought Jamal not coming back to life would be the most shocking part of the episode, nope his son actually being Barry ended up being more shocking. Sure they had to do some retconning by saying Jamal had low sperm, oh his other son (who died two episodes ago without much of a mention) was not really his son either.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: So after a whole season, we are left with Johnny Bananas, his cousin, and a team that was booted the very first week, but since so many teams left prematurely, were brought back, were sent into the jungle over half the time and managed to not pull the black skull once. How anticlimactic. At least they goosed the finale with a twist where you can screw over your rival and take all the money. At first I thought you have to split the cash otherwise you are the first one out in future Challenges, but if you are Sarah and you are ready to go to grad school and pop out some babies, you might as well take the money and run. Plus that would be funny if she screwed over Johnny Bananas twice in consecutive seasons.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/24/16

Ray Donovan: Welcome back FBI guy (although it was a little silly Ray got the epiphany to see him after seeing a chick in a “Federal Boobie Inspector” t-shirt), he and Micky’s parole officer are the best character on the show. I was actually thinking when he told Ray that he looks like a Bob Seger guy, how disappointing that we will not get to see Ray pretend to be a member of The Silver Bullet Band. Yet somehow FBI guy actually got Ray to do it. I wonder if Showtime asked for this so there would be some synergy with Roadies. That song got the asking price down three million, but apparently Ray does not have two million lying around (um, whatever happened to his buy a football team money?) and will look to get that Horseshoe money with Micky. Whenever those two work together, things never go well. Actually Ray needs that money because of killing all the Armenians for Micky.

Preacher: The hell is not as far as you think comment was really deep, too bad they muddled it by making Eugene turning out to be fake.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Roadies: Did someone already say the C-word on the bus before because the tour already seemed pretty cured up to now. The one guy fired everyone including Phil who seemed to be the lifeblood of the tour (bu hey, he got to go to space with Taylor Swift), they are on their third opening act (does My Morning Jacket count as the fourth or was Jim James just a stowaway), oh and this week the bassist went MIA with the band’s groupie. But I wonder if The Who cast is to explain the inevitable hookup of KellyAnn and the money guy. No way that is really happening without some devilish curse pushing them together.

Pretty Little Liars: Ugg, Ezra proposed to Aria? Still creepy after all these year. Hopefully Ezra’s not so deas fiancé comes back and ruins that relationship one more time.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: I said last week the workplace would be weird if Pete Campbell found out about Alex and his fiancé and it is worse than weird, Pete Campbell plans to burn the company to the ground. Oops. And of course Alex then hooks up with her again, and it kind of looks like she is moving in as he brought a lot of luggage.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: Fun Society? Alrighty. I fear we may be getting into Lost-ian territory of silly backstory told in way too cute of a way (the concrete scene was a bit much too). But it is hard out there for secondary characters from the first season, All Safe dude last week, hacker guy this week. I fear for the job security of Gloria Rubin. But the other hackers think it may be the Chinese. My first thought was Tyrell. Mr. Robot also crossed my mind as well as E-Corp who would rather dispense their own brand of justice than let the Feds deal with it.

Tyrant: What the frack? Why did they have and go kill off the hot chick? Sure her character was worthless but, um, yeah, oh well. And did they really kill Jamal too? Sure he was flat lining but that does not stop some people from coming back to life. I know this is a third world country, but he is a former president, so where were the doctors when he started to flat line? Still this guy survived driving off a cliff and being show at point blank range, certainly he can survive a pillow.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Finally, a silly challenge harkening back to the early days and not some everyone takes turns to do something short and boring. The Jungle should have been better too except no one got dirty. How do you not pull a leg as they are going by?
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/17/16

Ray Donovan: Oh Bridget that was harsh, especially with the fake Boston accent. And of course Conner was just oblivious to the whole thing complaining gun shots ruining his television show. Why are the sons on anti-hero show always the most worthless and incompetent? And just how many times has Terry sat alone in the center of his gym with a gun? Well at least he had company this time around.

Roadies: It was clear by showing up and sitting next to fake Lindsey Buckingham on Saturday Night Live that the real Lindsey Buckingham had a sense of humor, but who really knew just how funny he was? Just the reaction shot of him with Rainn Wilson were great. Speaking of whom, I wonder if Rainn’s character was based on anyone in particular and this was Cameron Crowe’s revenge against some bad reviews.

Murder in the First: Kind of a weird start to the season, in the first episode, Hildy gets a dire diagnosis, but then in the second, they were just like, oops, we were looking at someone else’s records. Then Terry kills what looks to be an unarmed black man, how topical, but again, another false alarm, the perp’s gun fell out of his waist in the chase. Two storylines that looked like they could have been season long arcs that the writers were just, um, nevermind.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

BrainDead: Sure I laughed at the cat CAT scan. Which begs the question what do those bugs do to cats? It clearly makes humans more partisan. And are these bug controlling their humans or just heightening already existing views? The head dive makes it seem like the former. But does that make the bugs partisan or are they just taking over the already held beliefs in the human. At any rate, those previously on segments are just gold.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: What a horrible plan. Some dude ran in front of you when you were following him when he kidnapped your friend, which is a legitimate excuse to the police. Instead they come uup with an elaborate plan of leaving his phone on a train (which Spencer ended up being too drunk to do) and burn the car that hit him which would have been extremely conspicuous, at Mona knew a guy who does not ask questions.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: I did not see the episode title was “Threesome” until after the episode ended. The teenagers were obvious (is it horrible of me to think he may be faking), but the more interesting part of the episode were the emotional threesomes, Valerie is stuck between the two guys, one who is pushing hard and the other who is drunk texting random emojis. Then Alex is not even in a threesome, it is more of a foursome with his crazy ex, her fiancé (possibily ex, that will be one weird working environment if he finds out about them; although they seemed to figure out about him and the secritary) and their pathological assistant.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: What a weird way to start the season, Tyrell was completely absent from the marketing of the second season except being named dropped by President Obama leading me to wonder his involvement in the second. Then he was the first person we see in season two, of course never to be seen again in the double episode premiere. One thing I went back and forth on all first season was: is Tyrell real? That opening scene made me lean back to the delusion side. Then when Elliot asked Mr. Robot where Tyrell is, it reinforced that theory as if when they are not out and about, all of Elliot’s personas are hanging out in his head like Inside Out.

But then Tyrell’s picture was plastered on an episode of Nancy Grace (natch) which pulled me back to the real person side and that maybe the reason Elliot ask Mr. Robot about Tyrell because Elliot knew Tyrell was in the game room, then Mr. Robot took over and when Elliot took over again, Tyrell was missing. I did come up with another theory in that Tyrell is both real and fake. When Elliot meets Tyrell in the Pilot, Elliot decide he is going to be his patsy and to best set him up as the fall guy had to become him and who we saw ever since was Elliot’s delusion. The flaw in that is where does the pregnant wife come from, could she be another delusion?

Speaking of patsies, RIP Gideon. I was surprised he even showed up again and of course he will not again. Though I was unclear what the other guy’s motive was: revenge, fame, hired by Evil Corp to make Gideon the fall guy? Poor Gideon, the ultimate wrong guy wrong time. But really the most interesting part of the first two episode was Elliot saying that we, the audience probably does not trust him the way he does not trust him. Very true, I am beginning to believe less and less of what my eyes see on this show. I am just hoping this does not lead to some sort of St. Elsewhere finale (where the audience learned the whole show was taking place in the mind of an autistic kid) and everything we have seen was taking place in kid Elliot’s mind who is really laying in a coma from the time his father pushed him out a window.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Another meh challenge (okay, Vince belly flopping was somewhat entertaining), even the Jungles were stupid too this week. What ever happened to the physical challenge where teams go head to head, almost every challenge this season teams have been taking turns. But at least we got a “Greatest Moments” episode this week. Granted it was basically twenty-five minutes of waiting for the CT using Johnny as a backpack. Weird that they completely ignored all the fighting or the time Julie almost killed Veronica. I guess it was not surprising that the avoided the time Tonya emptied Beth’s luggage into the pool considering the things that happened behind the scenes with here.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Tyrant: These types of family drama follow a familiar format; the older daughter gets a storyline (for better or worse) while the younger brother just stays in the background. This show kind of flipped that, well both children are mostly worthless, but every once and a while the son does something to remind you, oh yeah, he is a gay homosexual, but really never push that storyline very far. After three seasons, they finally gave the daughter something to do in being captured. I am with Barry, you cannot trade the daughter for the wife, they would likely just kill both, really, the obvious answer is to get the American general exactly what he wants and have them send in Seal Team 6 to rescue the daughter.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll: Networks got interesting with their On Demand channels. NBC made the most noise by releasing the entire season of Aquarius after its series premiere. What I found more interesting was FX released uncensored version of this show on its On Demand channel. But much like NBC who did not air drop Aquarius this season, for some reason did not upload uncensored episode leaving me to wonder just what Denis Leary is saying whenever the audio when silent. Hurumph.
You can download Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/5/15

Hannibal: I was unfamiliar with most things Hannibal before watching the show so they actually did fool me of the Red Dragon shooting himself in the face. But as we come to the end of the season and quite possibly the season I am almost glad it is over because they really laid on the homoerotic codependency way too heavy this season. The which side is Will on last season was fascinating but it was just eyerolling this season with Will flinging himself over the cliff in a loving embrace. An FBI falling in love with the serial killer he is trying to catch sounds like the conceit of a bad Lifetime movie. Still if Bryan Fuller manages to revive the series, I would still watch because I am still very interested to see where this is going especially if Will rides off into the sunset (though it sounds like Fuller plans to use Will if the show continues in any form) as I believe he is completely absent from future books. And of course what was up with Sully's leg on a platter after the credits?
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Ray Donovan: I usually complain about the "x amount of time" title card that start episodes because I find it lazy writing, but it actually worked in this case because it teased a murder mystery. Sure it was clear right off the bat that the red herrings were just that, I never thought that the government lady was going to die or that Ray would kill yet another priest, but it was shocking that Al Swearengen killed his son-in-law / lover. The show even upped that tease with the eventual inclusion of Avi. I am not sure if I can believe that Ray would finally accept his apology like that, but Ray has seemed to be a bit more forgiving this season.

Fear the Walking Dead: Okay, this show is just trolling us. One of the biggest complaints of the flagship show is they cannot have two black dudes on the show at the same time, they have to kill one before bringing on a new one. So the new show actually looks a bit more diverse, except the three black dudes they introduced in the premiere are (un)dead by the end of the second episode. Okay the boyfriend is not (un)dead yet, but he was just left to turn and we will probably have to wait for the girlfriend to bash his head in next week. But the most disappointing part of the episode was that the fat pimply kid did not go with Matt Saresen's mom he is the only person that has been on either show that apparently knows what a zombie is.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: Holy Beth Greene sighting! After being the best part of The Walking Dead in the last season or two, it is nice she can still get work, even if it as just a sex surrogate who has to sleep in the surrogacy room at night. But with Virginia hooking up with the fragrance king I hope she does not become a personal surrogate for Bill even though it is clear she has a crush on her former neighbor (it would also be the second time someone way too young for him hits on him this season. But as usual, the episode belonged to the staff of the office be it Betty failed attempt to get her girlfriend pregnant or Lester being the lone male in the surrogacy program just to irk Jane.

Falling Skies: On one hand, the new queen was the creepiest of all creepy aliens in the history of the show, but on the other. that was a pretty anti-climatic ending with Tom just touching the bomb thingy and the queen dissolving like a vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And of course Anne was not going to actually die after telling Tom she was pregnant again. Of course I was wrong to turn my back on my do not believe anyone is dead on television until you see the body (and even then am still a little suspicious) as I thought Pope was really dead last week. He might as well have been because their final talk was just as anticlimactic. And they must have spent all their CGI money on dissolving aliens because that crowd at the end looked about as really as crowds in Playstation 1 sports games. Oh well.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

The Strain: Hopefully now that the young Goodweather saw his mother try to kill his father he can stop moping around because that kid is seriously dragging the show down. But at least we got a great passive-aggressive conversation between the old dude and the Nazi vampire this week.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Tyrant: Sure the first sixty minutes were boring but what a final scene. After actually seeming contrite and humbled by all he horrible past deeds, Jamal gets on camera and goes full Trump and denies everything and does not give an inch. And then it managed to get even more shocking when his daughter in law shoots him. Wow. Sure I am guessing he will survive (he did survive driving off a cliff while getting his manhood bitten off) but the fight for power has only begun (well if there is another season).
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: What a bizarre way to start and end the episode. It opens with the cheater from the first episode taking about bringing down Elliot for his crime (and how he was part of the extremely timely Ashley Madison hack) and is not seen again in the episode, but I guess he is one of numerous people knocking on the door. Except that was not the end as we get a scene of (presumably) The Illuminati with the Evil Corp head and B.D. Wong. It took me a while to put two and two together and figure out that was also B.D. Wong that met with Elliot earlier this season (I was wondering why that scene was included in the "Previously On" montage). So are these two in cahoots and the Evil Corp dude condoned the hack? Mmmm. We may have nine and a half months to find out.

But the part that struck me the most coming out of the finale (other that how perfect playing Got Your Money at an end of the world party after a financial collapse is) is how I am starting to believe that Elliot and the American Psycho dude may actually be the same person. In a episode of bizarre things, Elliot talking with American Psycho's wife may have been the most bizarre. She seemed to know more than what she was letting on, so maybe she knows her husband has a split personality and known not to bring one up to another. To the best of my recollection, they only had three scenes together, American Psycho offering Elliot a job, the time they ran into each other at Steel Mountain (what a coincidence they were there at the same time), and last week when he barged into Elliot's apartment (again, conveniently waiting until Dalia Royce left). Of the big flaw in my theory is that Elliot could not have a job at All Safe and Evil Corp at the same time without anyone noticing. But maybe American Psycho never worked there and that delusion was just Elliot there in an All Safe capacity. Mmmm, I may have to watch the first season again looking for clues. I am still guessing the better theory is that everyone is a delusion inside Elliot's head and the real Elliot is staring at a snowglobe in some mental health hospital somewhere.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Under the Dome: So the new queen is same actress as her mother but in a bad wig and blue contacts. This show is so horrible. Thank goodness CBS finally canceled it.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/29/15

Aquarius: Even for the season finale and the most interesting part of the show did not happen on screen. It is a bit odd that they would preempt the show for gymnastics the week before the finale. And instead of debating what will happen on screen next season (I particularly do not care if the gay daddy or his buddy died in the car or what is going to happen to Fox Mulder's son) the big question is how NBC will release it. Will they again stream all episodes on line, if so does the show get a mid week timeslot or start out in the Saturday deathslot? Will NBC quietly dump it or move it to another network? Wait, I do care about one thing that happened on scree: what the frack happened to the chick with the historically bad accent?
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

Hannibal: I was going to start off by saying poor Dr. Chilton but the dude is extremely slimy. Kurt Sutter on Sons of Anarchy is the only character I can think of that has been tortured more than Chilton. Except Sutter did that to himself. What did this actor do to Bryan Fuller to piss him off. Someone removed his organs in the first season, got shot in the face last season, and now was set afire. I guess it is good for him that the show was cancel because I do not want to think what else Fuller had in store for Chilton in the four other seasons he had planned.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Ray Donovan: I am beginning to wonder who made the worse business partnership: Ray with Al Swearengen and family or Mickey with the Armenians (we soon may have to add Bunchy with his luchadora bride). But c'mon Mickey, bringing a lead pipe to a meeting with the guys that just pistol whipped your son (key word: pistol) was not the brightest idea. Unfortunately the rest of the episode dealt with Ray and his priest problem which has always been the weakest part of the show. Hopefully now that he has been excommunicated, there will be no more religious figures on the show, but sadly I fear we probably have not seen the last of that priest.

The Last Ship: Holy Ben Linus daughter sighting! Was she really just hanging out on an oil rig this whole time all alone? And is this going to be the every episode from now on? The navy rescues someone who bought into Immunes propaganda and bring them on the ship to show them they are the good guys?
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

Fear the Walking Dead: Well that was kind of boring.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: As soon as you hear the female ape wrangler was given the boot, you knew what was coming, but, boy did Virginia cross the proverbial line this week made worse by Bill egging her on. But the most interesting part of the episode was Tessa's interactions with the scent guy. Interesting that she just outted the affair between her mother and Bill and nothing came about it.

The Strain: After all the trouble getting to Washington, it seemed like Eph had no problems getting back to NYC even with a bullet in his shoulder. Alrighty. And I have spent a lot of time making fun of the Muppet looking Master, but at least that was a distinct look, rocker star Master looks like every other cheap vampire on screen. And that was a weak attempt to kill the Master, c'mon Fett, if you are going to bring down the building, bring down the building.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Falling Skies: So no one thought to check to see if hot alien daughter had black blood like the army lady? That would have been high on my list if I suggested Lexi was a plant. And is Pope really die (I have said it before I never believe someone is really dead until I see the body and even then I am still a little suspicious; but this was the penultimate episode)? That was kind of an anti-climatic way to die. It seemed like the writers had this big story line for him this season but by the time they got to the finale they realize they did not have the time for it and just decided to blow him up a week before. They might as well just killed him off during the fight at Lois Lanes.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Murder in the First: Well the second season was better than the first but that was an odd ending. First I barely remember the head man up until this point. And the hypothetical scene was just silly. Then they kill some random black dude, wasting screen time, just to make us think that it was Sugar who just ended up on a beach with the hot cop. But hey, it is summer, I have watched worse this season.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

Tyrant: It has been clear that the firs two seasons that Jamal was the titular character, but he cannot possibly end the season still in power. But who will? Barry seems like the obvious choice along with Ahmed and the illegitimate son. But my money is on his scheming wife. And if he is outted where does that leave Jamal, is he exiled (his adviser plated that seed this week), rots in prison, or executed, or "executed" like he did his brother.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Under the Dome: Julia pushing down on Barbie's baby mama's stomach to force labor was probably the funniest thing on television this season. You have to wonder if the writers are even trying at this point or are basically seniors with just a week or two left of school assuming there is no way the show is getting another season. I am pretty sure I have caught some of the actors rolling their eyes at their dialogue this season.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/22/15

Hannibal: Oh Hannibal, telling the Red Dragon "They're listening" and dropping the phone (though I am a bit surprised he did not say "They know" calling back to his conversation with Jacob Hobbs). And I know the Red Dragon is evil, killing people and all, but did he really have poison the Graham's dogs?
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Ray Donovan: I really hate Chekhov's Gun an annoying cliche that any gun introduced in the first act has to go off in the third. Though the gun did go off shockingly no one actually died. I though BunchyBrendan's new girlfriends would be the one that bit the bullet even though I doubt anyone with Parkinson's would be a very good shot. I still think she will not be long for this world (surely the Ayrian Brotherhood who may or not be stalking Terry will not like her presence). We actually got the Deadwood reunion and it was as anticlimactic as expected (what was not expected was that word leaked this week that HBO is in early stages of a Deadwood movie, a decade after it aired; it is official, no media property will ever die; here is hoping for a Rome revival too).

Masters of Sex: For the last two months or so I have been complaining Pretty Little Liars teased Allison becoming a youth soccer coach to never bring it up again. But Masters of Sex almost made me forget my disappointment by having Bill start coaching pee-wee football. Awesome. Though I cannot imaging many things being more entertaining than that, Bill new gorilla patient that presumably he will treat next week will come close.

The Strain: Poor Nazi Vampire, not only does the Master not choose you as his new vessel, he forces you to watch him transfer into the some cheep Marilyn Manson wannabee. I wonder if this will make him switch sides and actually team up with the Jew (as he likes to call him). That seems slightly unlike since the Master has a thrall over all his underlings though maybe the Ninja Vampires have some cure for that that will allow the Nazi join their cause against the Master.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Falling Skies: When they started the episode with the execution I thought great, we will not have to wait the entire episode with the Masons trying to escape because we all know that none of the Masons will ever die (um, unless you do not count Lexi). Then they flashed the dreaded "eight hours earlier" tile. Ugg. I hate "X Amount of Time Earlier" tiles. At least the show did come up with a creepy twist behind the evil lady's plans: she was some sore of body snatching decoy with black blood (I told them to check that thing on her neck).
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Tyrant: The show has done a somewhat decent trimming some of the useless characters from the first season, the journalist buddy fled the country (granted Barry ended up killing his daughter which would have actually made an interesting plot if he was still around), the daughter is home alone back in American. I do not even remember Justin Kirk being mentioned this season. The matriarch was also pretty much worthless but at least she went out with a literal bang thanks to possibly Jamal's dumbest plan to date (which says a lot). It will be interesting to see where everyone's loyalties lies as both his wife and son look like they may join the bastard son's side realizing Jamal actually killed his mother. Then there is also Barry and as the promo monkeys would have use to believe more people will learn next week just how not dead he is. The first season was a drag, but season two has really picked up steam as it has gone along and for the first time in two seasons I am kind of excited to see what happens next.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: The ending of the last episode really kind of hurt my brain and left me pondering for days what exactly just happened. Anything seemed on the table. So it was a bit of a let down that it turned out that the big twist this was something I, and pretty much everyone else predicted from the first episode: Mr. Robot is just in Elliot's head. I did go away from that theory when Mr. Robot started having conversations with other people. My working theory was the more Mr. Robot interacted with people, the more delusional Elliot was, though I have to wonder if the rest of fsociety are even real. But I still have to wonder, what was up with the scene with Mr. Robot and American Psycho dude last week? Was that actually Elliot thinking he is Mr. Robot? Did it not really happen, Elliot just thought it did? Even though I was a bit let down this week, I am still extremely excited for the finale next week. I hope we learn more about the Elliot / American Psycho relationship and maybe a flashback on how they met. And faux Lily Kane definitely will be taking that job with Evil Corp, right? That has to be the big plot point, division, with Elliot next season.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/1/15

Hannibal: Well that was an odd way to start off a new episode, dialogue free with a character we have never seen before. Then we get to learn what has happened since Hannibal turned himself in three years ago, he has pleaded guilty but is eclipsed by a new serial killer. Will now has a wife and a teenage son and of course is talked into working on the new case, the first time since Lecter was locked away. Really other than Hannibal, I do not think he has worked on a case since season one (except I guess when he was wheeled in to consult on cases while in the prison for the criminally insane). It is nice to see him back at work.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: I figured they were not going to go with Hef, but was still a bit disappointed that it did not go that way. It is amazing to think that The Playboy Club failed spectacularly, but if my memory serves me correctly, that did not have much, if any Hef on that show either. But poor Tessa, having an absentee mother who is best known for writing a sex book is going to be rough.

The Strain: The kid was annoyingly precocious last season in a oh yeah Eph has a kid kind of way whenever he popped up on screen, but not with the recast, the kid is just downright extremely annoying in a I really hope his mom turns him so we do not have to listen to him anymore kind of way. But the UV security system was pretty cool, I did not see the ninja vampires going out like that.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Falling Skies: By far the best part of the episode was whoever named their bowling alley Lois Lanes. Awesome.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Wait, Red Hood is back? I thought we already learned that CeCe was Red Hood. Or is this an A situation where we learn who it is only for the writers to go, nope, that was not A because we need to stretch the story out another couple seasons so here is another A to torment the girls? Meh. It may be time to end the show.At least Hannah and Spencer commented on how much the scholarship guy looked like Jason because I actually thought that was Jason when he walked into the room for a couple seconds. But alas, I fear the cop will no longer what Allison to coach church girls soccer after she stole his pass key, that was not very Christian of her.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Tyrant: It only took half a season but finally someone recognized Barry even with the beard. You would think someone in the second biggest city would recognize him considering we saw his face plastered all over the place in the season premier. Of course the one person who recognized him ended up dying, and really for no good reason either. But since her father left the show, there was no reason to keep her around either even though that was one of the more interesting relationship in the first season. But now that his son is on the way to the city, I wonder how long it will take for Barry to run into him (but seriously, who gets ten million dollars and then decides to drive to a war zone, take the money and run young gay dude).
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: I spent the first couple episodes assuming Christian Slater was a figment of Elliot's imagination only to have some very distinctive interactions with many other characters the past two week. But this week he is back to just randomly showing up out of nowhere (on the steps of Elliot's apartment because Dalia Royce told him about it? Alrighty). But this episode felt like the show's first misstep going back to the drug dealer who I am still not entirely sure how he figured out Elliot was behind his incarceration. It just felt like a very long excuse to put Shala's death on Elliot's conscience.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

SexAndDrugsAndRockAndRoll: I usually talk about how the behind the scenes aspects of Aquarius are more interesting than what actually happens on the screen and that may be the same for the new Denis Leary Show (I probably will not be writing it by name because of the overabundance of ampersands in the title and for some reason Blogger does not like displaying them properly). I went to watch the second episode of the show On Demand this weekend and found it interesting that there were four different versions of the episode. Most episodes typically have two version in my On Demand folders, SD and HD (TNT is the only channel I watch regularly that annoyingly does not offer their shows in HD On Demand) but the new FX show also had SD and HD version for the broadcast version and an uncensored version. Then again yesterday there were all explicit versions. I did not noticed anything naughtier than I am used to seeing on FX except Joan Jett dropping an F-bomb in the two episodes (other FX shows have used plenty of non-F expatiates and I have seen Jax Teller's naked backside many more times than I ever wanted too). Maybe this may be where television is headed. I know Aquarius has an uncensored version but was used for the On Demand release (at least the version I have watched. Mr. Robot had some F-bombs in this week's episode that were noticeably edited out (I think Mad Men pioneered the using F-Bombs that are edited out unless you count nineties rap videos). If only the actual show was as interesting as it is being distributed.
You can download Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll on iTunes.

Twinning: I found the premiere cheesy fun but nowhere near as good as other competition shows that it rips off. Then something caught my eye this week in that I kind of recognized a pair of the twins Roxanne and Nicole. I could not find confirmation anywhere on the internet that they are the same set, but the duo do share the same names are the twin who appeared in the seminal bad movie The Real Cancun a decade ago so I am just going to ahead and assume they are the same twins. (Fun fact: current VH1 star of Hindsight Laura Ramsey also got her start on the first, and probably only, so called reality movie). As for the actual episode, this week's challenge was slightly better but that wall seriously limits having any good challenges. I wonder at what point, if ever, do the change the game and merge the houses and take down the wall. And the Twin Off continues to be stupid. You can grab two random friends from any high school in the nation that could do just as well if not better at these questions.
You can download Twinning on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/25/15

Hannibal: There has been some extremely disturbing scenes over the two and half seasons, but delivering a still born Verger baby from a dead pig takes the case even when it was being sliced with a scene with a dude's face being removed.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Aquarius: Finally they gave the chick with the historically bad accent her own episode. And what a tour de force performance. Give her her own show.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

The Strain: I did not catch on the two old dudes knew each other until they came face to face in current times (it probably does not help that Dr. Goodweather is the only name I remember besides The Master). But still those blind vampire kids are really going to creep me out all season.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Falling Skies: Yep, of course Pope was not happy that Tom would not save his his girlfriends but I did not see him going all saved head vengeful. Though I doubt anything bad will end up happening to Hal.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: How disappointing we did not get to see Hannah go amateur doctor and remove everybody's chip. Almost as disappointing that Allison did not coach any youth soccer this week.T least they did not drag out the Charles may or may not be dead and confirmed that he is still alive this week. And only two episodes until we get to see him. Um, yeah. So that will be the fifth A reveal on this show? I just if it will someone we have already met or will it just the actor playing Jason pulling double duties.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Tyrant: Poor Ahmed, he cut his hair to be taken more seriously only to be passed over for the new general position for the brother he first meets at the announcement ceremony. Maybe it is time to change that ring tone too Ahmed.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Wait, so did the drug dealer kidnap Eliot's neighbor while he was still in prison? Does he know Eliot was involved in his incarceration?
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/18/15

The Strain: The first season it seemed like the show really had a hard time finding the right balence and tone. On one hand the vampire were the creepiest creatures on television with their tongue claw things. On the other, their Master looked like a Muppet. It is hard to figure if the show is actually getting on the right track or not but there it looks to be. It looks like we will be getting a new Master, at least that is what I took out of the scene with vampire mom getting her voice back though it will is yet to be seen if she will be going back to her old form or will be fitted with a Muppets mask of her own (the former Master in the flashback look more like the lesser vampires on the show so maybe she will be fitted with a latex suit). We also learned more backstory and it turns out the Master went rouge from his kind of which there are seven of (no word on what is up with the three other yet) which is kind of interesting. The least interesting part continues to be the science behind the show with them trying to "cure" vampireism..
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Falling Skies: So Anthony's girlfriend dies in the premiere and this week Pope's lady friend gets stuck in some sort of alien quicksand... it looks like no one is going to get a happy ending in the final season. Well except the Mason family, they always get their ways.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Murder in the First: Wait, so you are not allowed to plead guilty without being considered insane despite multiple eye witnesses and overwhelming physical evidence? Seemed like an open and shut case. Take the win and move on guys.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Oh that lab scene was glorious, Hannah learning she was chipped, they stupidly freeing the animals including a wild raccoon that she has to give her dinner to appease. And of course Mona showing up to almost makes sense. It almost made me forget the Allison coaching youth soccer story line. Almost.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Tyrant: It only took five episode but Barry has finally decided to fight for his country. Let the season finally begin.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Finally an episode featuring Dalia Royce in more than two scenes. And she was a nice diversion to the extremely trippy Elliot story line. From the start I have assumed Christian Slater was a figment of his imagination but he did talk to a couple other characters this week and gave money to the drug dealer so maybe I am wrong.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Under the Dome: I finally caught up with the early season and though the second season was completely dreadful I actually like the season premiere with the alert=native reality. But since that ended this invasion of the body snatcher lite story line is almost as dreadful as last season.
You can stream current episodes of Under The Dome for free with Amazon Prime.


Aquarius: Once again the most interesting aspect of the show did not happen on the show this week because there was no way it could because the show has not aired this week yet. That is because NBC announced this week that it is getting moved to Saturdays (along with Hannibal) starting tonight. This has to be the first time a show that has been renewed but banished to the death slot less than a month later.
You can download the entire seaaon of Aquarius on iTunes if you do not want to watch television on Saturdays.

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: 6/20/15

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: 8/3/14

Ray Donovan: To show just how more entertaining the second season is from the first, last year when Ray was trying to get Bridget into private and dour and featured Connor attacking someone for a reason that still was not completely explained other than he is turning into a hot head like his father. This time around the douchebag producer was even entertaining on his never-ending quest to have sex with his favorite pornstar. Sure it ended out exactly how I thought it would, with her getting a role in his movie, but it was still entertaining to watch. This is turning into one of the most improved seasons of television ever.

Masters of Sex: Why is it the smaller episodes (or what insiders call bottle episode) always reveal the most? The majority of the episode was just Bill and Virginia in a hotel room, but even role playing we learned so much about the two and how they view each other. This was an early contender for Best Episode of the Year.

The Strain: Finally, after three episodes, we finally got our first vampire kill. Well, maybe, as vampire lore, stake through the heart and decapitation is the only way to kill one; I am not entirely sure if bashes skull in qualifies as decapitation. Certainly at some point it does. But that was not even the big news this week, which was the full frontal male nudity on basic cable. That was not something I needed to see. Maybe I should not have asked what that thud was during his trip to the toilet.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: I wonder if they added the weird Daphne / hooligan kiss to make the Toby / British chick kiss less awkward. Seriously, does the kiss a chick to get her to shut up and end a fight ever work in real life? I have only known it to end in a slap and more yelling.
You can download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Under the Dome: So Uncle Sam killed the Token Hot Chick because she was one of the hands “holding up the dome,” what? Why start with her, why not off one of the annoying teenagers first, or his psycho nephew? This show is just infuriately dumb.
You can stream Under The Dome on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime users.

Murder in the First: So Eric confessed after the trail that he did kill the stewardess and I am guessing he did not just say that sarcastically just to taunt the detectives. So I guess the final two episodes will be the detectives trying to get him on the murder of his father, whether he actually did that or not. Hopefully it solved and they do not save that trial for next season.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Let me preface this kiddies by saying do not drink alcohol, it is bad for you and makes you make bad decisions, with that said, drunk Hannah is becoming the best thing on the show.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Tyrant: When the sheik got sick in the meeting I thought for sure someone poisoned him, be it the defense minister, or even his son or himself just to make Jamal look guilty. But I came away from meeting thinking there is no way he makes it very far, the only question is when and who is responsible. We actually got the answer to both at the end of the episode with Jamal in the bathroom with the toilet bowl. And for the first time, I am interested where the show goes next.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Bridge: I actually wanted to see Ray and Charlotte’s trip to Alaska. Oh well.
You can download The Bridge on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 6/28/14

Quote of the Week: Talk to him, you mean like Oprah? How do you feel? You had a bad childhood? Oh me too, let’s hug it out. (Jamal al-Fayeed, Tyrant)

Song of the Week: Dream On – Aerosmith (Tyrant)

Big News of the Week: USA Loses and Advances: People were cautiously optimistic when America drew the “Group of Death” for the World Cup. But after a first game win against Ghana (who knocked them out of the last two World Cups) and a lead against Portugal people were thinking about more than advance, they could actually finish first in the group. And then came the equalizer and more certainly. Still the US controlled their own destiny, win or tie and they advance. A tie in the other game even meant advancement despite a loss. Things got a little murkier if a team won outright meaning Ghana could actually knockout the US a third straight time despite losing to them. Thankfully everything worked out despite a close lose. Now the USA has advanced to the Knockout Round in two consecutive World Cups for the first time ever and will face a formable Belgium team on Tuesday. Most importantly America managed to advance without biting any other player.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Thrown From the Ride” Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: My Silver Lining – First Aid Kit (Amazon Digital Music)

New Album Release of the Week: Legend - 30th Anniversary Edition (CD + Blu-Ray Audio Disc) - Bob Marley

New DVD Release of the Week: Helix: Season 1

Video of the Week: Life After Beth features Aubrey Plaza as a sarcastic zombie? Awesome. Sign me up.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Under the Dome, Monday at 10:00 on CBS: The Tiffany Network usually plays things safe filling its schedule with police procedurals and Chuck Lorre laugh track sitcoms. One of their rare outside the box ideas came last summer when they commissioned a show based on the Stephan King book and safeguarded their investment by selling the streaming rights to Amazon Prime before it even aired. It paid off becoming the biggest summer hits in years. Sure there was some serious flaws in the execution and some iffy acting, but it still held my attention all summer and has brought me back for a second season.

Previewing Tyrant

It has become a cliché ever since The Godfather coined the phrase: "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in." Barry has been living the simple life as a pediatrician in Pasadena for the past twenty years with two teenaged kids (one boy and one girl of course). But his nephew’s wedding brings him back home for the first time in two decade and in instantly brought back in to family turmoil. But unlike the numerous other stories of people being pulled back into the family business, Barry was born Bassam Al-Fayeed and the family business is the dictatorship of the Middle Eastern country Abbudin.

That is the premise of the new FX series Tyrant. The show comes from the same guys who did Homeland which is kind of the reverse of Tyrant where an American exiled in the Middle East (so to speak) returns to the United States. But where Homeland had twists and shocks at every turn (some good, some horribly bad), Tyrant for the most part plays it safe, the series premiere plays out almost exactly how I expected it to just from knowing the premise. The only scene that was mildly surprising is that that causes Barry (Adam Rayner who looks like a vaguely ethnic Matthew Fox).

After the premiere, the show falls into an almost procedural where instead of a case of the week, there is an Arabic country problem of the week where the country’s general (and Barry’s uncle) wants to solve with force, usually the deadly kind, while Barry tries to convince the president to solve the problems in a more civilized (read: American) way. Teenage terrorist kidnap someone? The general want to storm the building and kill everyone, Barry wants to go in and talk. Suspected terrorist is captured? The general wants him hung in the town square within twenty-four hours, Barry wants a trial. Peaceful protest in the town square: The general thinks the president should go talk to them. Oh, wait no that is Barry, the general want to kill them all.

I am actually more interested in Barry’s family. The underappreciated Jennifer Finnigan (Monday Mornings) has been married to a dictator’s son for all this time but apparently never talks about it. The son is your typical teenage douchebag who has no problem living up the dictator family lifestyle even though some of his action would have him stoned in the town square. The daughter does not want to be there but never really articulates why (she does call her grandfather a war criminal at one point) and we have to assume she does not want to spend time in a country where women are oppressed. It was almost as if the Homeland writers are overcompensating the internet’s hate over Dana Brody that they give the daughter absolutely nothing to do but know she is basically just Chris Brody without the irrational Wizards fandom. But none of the American citizens are flushed out and that includes the underutilized Justin Kirk (Weeds) as a U.S. diplomat.

The most interesting characters in the first couple episodes are Barry’s brother Ashraf Barhom (300: Rise of an Empire), who, without his brother for the last couple years, managed to be Uday and Qusay Hussein rolling into one. Sure some will see the character as way over the top, but nothing he does in the first episode I do not look at and say yeah, I would totally believe that either Uday or Qusay did the exact same thing, I would actully be more shocked to learn they were not doing the swame things. He is married to Moran Atias (The Next Three Days) your typical political wife who may very well be more ambitious than her husband.

Tyrant reminds me of numerous post-Golden Age of Television show where all the ingredients are there: good idea, good acting, it looks good, but it sometimes forgets to be entertaining. Tyrant is good, but for the first couple episodes I have been waiting for great, it just has not arrived… yet (hopefully).

Tyrant airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on FX.

Best of the Week: 6/21/14

Quote of the Week: Have you seen Dexter? Random scuba divers are finding everything Donnie. (Alison Hendrix, Orphan Black)

Song of the Week: Silver Springs – Fleetwood Mac (Californication)

Big News of the Week: I Hate the 00’s: When I heard VH1 was dusting off their I Love the… series for last decade, I said to my, Um, did they not already do that with I Love the New Millennium?” Apparently they would like us to forget they tried to do that before the decade even ended because we got a name change to I Love the 00’s pronounced the two thousands not like the oo’s as in Cheerios which was its first mistake. Actually the first mistake was the “Love” part because there were few things in pop culture to love about that decade.

So the mini-series was not appointment for me like prerious installments. But I did check in during commercial breaks during other shows I was watching this week. One thing catch the opening to the 2004. The opening of each episode pretty much teases everything that they are going to talk about that episode and 2004 was just laughably bad: White Chicks, Pimp My Ride, Fat Joe, The Swan, Napoleon Dynamite, Howard Dean, George Bush getting reelected. What the frack? Bret Michaels (?) has a segment each year counting down the guiltiest pleasures of the year (oh yeah, Rock of Love); what could have possibly be the guilty pleasures of 2004 if those crap were in the In Love part of the show?

The only things that did not suck about the 2004 episode was a double bill of Rachel McAdams (isn’t time for a Rachel McAdams comeback?) So I had to look at my Greatest of the 00’s list to see what they missed or if 2004 was truly the worst year ever. It turns out 2004 was a really good year boasting the album that topped the Greatest Albums of the 00’s The College Dropout (other music they missed in included Hey Ya!, The Grey Album, American Idiot) and the Greatest Television Show of the 00’s Veronica Mars (also premiering that year were Deadwood, Rescue Me, Lost). Some movies worth mentioning include Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Shaun of the Dead, and the two biggest documentaries up until that point Fahrenheit 9/11 and Super Size Me. In video games two of the most successful games had sequels: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2. The Olympics happened that year, the first time since the first modern games it was held in Greece. Other firsts at those games included the first loss ever for NBA players at the Olympics, and Michael Phelps winning his first gold medal. He would go on to win the most medals at one Olympics in a non boycotted Game.

But still, I wish instead of the first I Love the 00’s VH1 would have just done a third I Love the 90’s (the 80’s have three installment). Since that looks like it will not be happening anytime soon, there is National Geographic’s The 90’s: The Last Great Decade? premiering in two weeks. It will certainly be better than I Love the 00’s as it will be a Fat Joe free mini-series.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Pilot” Young and Hungry, Wednesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Stolen Dance – Milky Chance (iTunes)

New Album Release of the Week: x - Ed Sheeran

New DVD Release of the Week: Masters of Sex: Season One

Video of the Week: I had my issues with the first season Ray Donovan but the trailer for the second season has gotten me excited for it again. Sure whoever makes trailers these days have perfected the art and can make anything seem much better than it actually is. We do get a look at some new blood with Hank Azeria as the new FBI agent on the case, Wendell Peirce (who is one of those actors who is great in everything they are in even if what they are in are not great; see The Michael J. Fox Show as the most recent example) as a new parole officer, and Vinnessa Shaw who never quite lived up to the Next Big Thing label from the late nineties (40 Days and 40 Nights ruined a lot of up and coming stars just like her new channel mate Josh Hartnett). Ray Donovan returns Sunday, July 13 at 9:00 on Showtime.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Tyrant, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: Last year FX essentially declared they were getting into the prestige business targeting the most talented creative minds even if just for a miniseries event. Those first announcements are starting to debut: The Coen Brothers Fargo small screen reboot just ended this week, The Strain, written directed, and produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy) premieres next month. The other big name announced at this time was Ang Lee, coming off his Academy Award for Best Director, who was set to direct the Pilot for Tyrant from the producers of Homeland. Tyrant debuts this week but without Lee’s name on it. Instead he was eventually replayed by David Yates, best known for the last couple Harry Potter movies. And that was just the start of some behind the scenes turmoil surrounding its production (which was detailed at length in the Hollywood Reporter). So I am a bit weary of Tyrant (especially when you also consider Homeland’s last season and a half). But given FX’s track record, I will at least give it a try.