5 posts tagged “bones”
I took a bit of a break over the summer, when there wasn't much TV anyway, but I'm back!
Next week is jam-packed with season premieres, and in honor of that (and also because I'm trying to entertain myself while I watch 5 hours of political documentary for class), I present what I thought were the 10 best hours of TV last season. I'm sure I've neglected something fantastic, and please take into account that I haven't caught up on every great show yet (sorry, Friday Night Lights!) This is just one humble person's opinion based on the TV I happen to be watching.
*WARNING: SPOILERS WITHIN. Proceed with caution.*
10. The O.C. "The End's Not Near, It's Here" - This is more of an honorable mention (there were probably even better episodes of the O.C. this year), but belongs on this list as a wrapup to four seasons (two great, two okay) in the world of these characters. The last 10 minutes or so brought the series full-circle in a lovely and satisfactory way. And for those of us who adored the show's stellar first season, meh-ed the second, and were disappointed in the third, the turnaround back to fun, fresh TV in the fourth season was a welcome surprise.
9. Bones "Aliens in a Spaceship" - Who'd have thunk I'd put a forensics show on this list? Certainly not me. But Bones is surprisingly engaging, with lovable, fully-formed characters, and this episode was a standout last season. Two beloved characters in mortal peril plus a fantastic performance by David Boreanaz (whose acting I've certainly ridiculed in the past - hellooo, worst Irish accent ever) made this a solidly great hour of TV.
8. Gilmore Girls "Bon Voyage" - A touching sendoff for the Lorelais. After seven seasons of fast talking and copious junk food, Lorelai and the town send Rory off into adulthood, complete with a solid hour of tears. If you watched and didn't cry, you have no heart. For real.
7. Battlestar Galactica "Exodus Part II" - Season 3 of this consistently stellar show got off to an INCREDIBLE start, and this episode, where Galactica finally charges in to help the people of New Caprica, is a standout.
6. Ugly Betty "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - For a show that has definite elements of the telenovela about it, Ugly Betty managed to pull out some very realistic and moving moments in its first season. This episode, in which the lovably bitchy, flamboyant Marc finally comes out to his mother, dealt with serious issues in a way that managed to be funny, smart and ultimately touching.
5. Doctor Who "Doomsday" - I was all set to hate Rose when I first starting Netflixing Doctor Who - a blond shopgirl played by a former British pop star? Psh! - but Billie Piper made the character lovable, real and a perfect foil for the Doctor's (slight) insanity. She even managed to transfer her chemistry from Nine to Ten, and when they finally said goodbye (at Bad Wolf Bay, fittingly), she had transformed into a confident, radiant hero. (Daleks vs. Cybermen was pretty cool, too.)
4. Lost "Through the Looking Glass" - The show took a lot of flack last season for moving too slowly, but by the end of season 3 things were looking up. The finale gave us a heroic death for a character who had moved into the background, a few kick-ass fights (Sayid broke someone's neck with his LEGS, people), and, um, a FLASH-FORWARD.
3. Heroes "Five Years Gone" - Heroes was a freshman hit, leaving it with a lot to live up to in the coming season. But if "Five Years Gone" is any indication, there's a whole lot of awesome up their sleeves. A look at a dark, creepy "what-if" future, this episode may have had an element of X-Men about it (mutant/hero = different = WRONG), but it managed to be surprising and give us a chilling look at what could be. Plus, Peter looked totally hot with a scar. (Kidding! Kind of.)
2. Veronica Mars "Spit and Eggs" - In a season that was admittedly a bit uneven, after a second season finale that drew mixed reviews, "Spit and Eggs" was proof that Veronica Mars still had it. With a couple of truly chilling moments - Parker's courage in the face of her rapist, Veronica's drugging, Logan's purposeful jailing - this episode was a perfect example of why Veronica's fans were (and still are) so devoted.
1. Supernatural "What is and What Should Never be" - Supernatural isn't often held up as the pinnacle of critically-acclaimed TV, but "What Is", well, should be. Jensen Ackles delivered a spot-on, moving performance, and the poignant look at what Dean's life could have been was an emotional punch to the gut.
Here's hoping for a great new season of shows!
With finals finally over, it's time to concentrate on what's really important in May: season (and in some cases series) finales. So here's my wishlist for some of this month's season-enders (air dates in parentheses):
Gilmore Girls (May 15, aka tonight) - Having just gotten into this show last summer, I'm not quite caught up with this season, but I will be glued to my couch tonight for this one. They've given us seven (mostly) great, witty and heartwarming years, and there are only a few things I ask: some sweet Lorelai/Rory moments, some good moments with Emily and Richard, love for all the wacky Stars Hollow townsfolk, and, oh yeah, some Luke/Lorelai lovin'. Because they are MEANT TO BE, people.
Bones (May 16) - We're getting a Hodgins/Angela wedding, so I'm just hoping for some good Booth/Brennan chemistry. Which they never fail to deliver, but let's keep that up, okay?
Ugly Betty (May 17) - Ummm, can Betty and Henry please just get together already? Oh, and as much Marc and Amanda as possible, because they (and of course Justin) are totally my favorite part of this adorable show.
Grey's Anatomy (May 17) - I've been less than impressed with this season, so I think almost anything would be an improvement. If they could stop force-feeding us the George/Izzie thing and make Derek less of a jerk, that would be great. Oh, and more Alex. Always more Alex.
Supernatural (May 17) - I'm not quite caught up with Season Two so I don't know what to ask for exactly... but I'd settle for some shirtless Winchester boys. Pretty please?
Heroes (May 21) - Continued awesomeness. And not killing Peter, Claire, HRG, Hiro, Ando, Micah, or any of my other favorites.
Veronica Mars (May 22) - Let's finish up the Pizonica already and bring back the LoVe - especially since there's a good chance this could be the series finale. My ultimate wish here would be for a fourth season - c'mon, CW, you know you want to!
Lost (May 23) - I've LOVED some of the recent string of episodes, so my wishes for this one just include more answers, more intrigue, and more Sawyer.
There are several other shows I could mention - Numb3rs, Desperate Housewives, House, American Idol - but those are my main wishes for this May. So if the networks could just go ahead and adjust their finales accordingly, that'd be great. Thanks.
I know, I know, it's still a week until Thanksgiving, but I don't think it's too early of a list of things I'm thankful for - especially when it was triggered by the FABULOUSNESS of #1.
1. According to E's TV Diva Kristin, Veronica Mars has been picked up for another 7 episodes! EEEEEE!!!! So, okay, that's only 20 eps and not a full-season 22, but I'll take what I can get, and more Veronica is definitely something to be thankful for.
2. The continuing awesomeness of Ugly Betty - I love these characters so very, very much. Justin continues to be hilariously flamboyant (athletic cup turned Phantom mask? Awesome.), Marc and Amanda are hilariously bitchy (and, last night, hilariously drunk while performing musical numbers in couture dresses), and even Daniel and his man-whore ways are making me smile these days.
3. Izzie and Alex on Grey's Anatomy. These two have so much chemistry, even just as friends, that the rest of the show just seems inconsequential. Alex has been the highlight of every episode this season for me, and pairing him with Izzie again just made everything that much more awesome.
4. The OC, in it's fourth episode of the new season, is... still good. Meaning that the first three solid, funny, moving episodes were potentially not a fluke. In fact, could it be getting better and better? Seth and Summer are sizzling again, Kirsten and Sandy aren't having a stupid fight, and even Ryan and Taylor found some pretty hot chemistry. I never thought I would say those words, but... that kiss was pretty damn sexy.
5. Pie. Because everything remotely connected to Thanksgiving should end with pie.
So, really, those are just things that I'm thankful for from the last 24 hours, because I never really got around to mentioning how much I ADORED this week's Bones - how much I love Angela and Hodgins together, and how my little fangirl heart squealed with joy when a freaked-out Booth raced over to dig Bones out of the dirt. I also could have included my excitement over next week's fantastic-looking Heroes, or how psyched I am that all those shows that seemed to be having bad seasons last year are stepping it up this year (Desperate Housewives and the already-mentioned OC, for example). Or Wentworth Miller's continuing hotness. But if I really put down ALL the TV things I'm thankful for this year, well, this list would just get ridiculous.
I think I kind of hate November sweeps. Everything is just so. damn. good. There are cliffhangers all over the place. And even all the previews look fantastic. It's just gooey, wonderful, heart-attack-inducing TV overload.
Tonight definitely proved that with a solid two hours of excellent TV, thanks to Prison Break and Heroes.
There were some great lines in tonight's Prison Break - Michael's explanation of why he broke his brother out of prison ("My brother got me a catcher's mitt for my 14th birthday - I owed him.") and Kellerman's snide introduction to Sara before he commenced with the torturing ("Hello, my name is not Lance, and I am not an addict.") Less cool was T-Bag pulling off his reattached hand to get away from the police - eeeew. And shouldn't he have bled to death by now? It's seeming more and more implausible that he's still alive...
My favorite moment of the episode had to be Sucre busting in and saving Michael. Their friendship is just so awesome. And while I'm a litte skeptical of Linc and Michael's dad (especially after Michael recognized him), and worried about LJ being sent off with a strange woman, I can't wait to see where this storyline is going.
Heroes gave us a bit more insight into Claire's dad and Eden - seems like maybe they're not SO evil after all, although they're definitely treading gray area. And we found out exactly when Sylar is supposed to go after Claire - meaning next week, I think, is the big "Save the Cheerleader - Save the World" episode. Excuse me while I freak out.
Meanwhile, Hiro made a new friend - a sweet Texas waitress with some secret powers of her own. Unfortunately, Sylar showed up to slice her head open, which proved too much for Hiro, who decided to try that whole time-bending thing to save her. Since he didn't show back up in the present like he was supposed to, it's kind of unclear whether that went well. Even though we certainly don't need any new characters, I almost wish he would save her - she and Hiro were supercute together. Sigh.
Over in India, Mohinder did a whole bunch of confusing stuff, and had some freaky dreams, and found out he had a sister. Not sure where his story is going, but I get the feeling there's a big point (and Mohinder's pretty cute) so I'll bear with the confusion to find out what's up.
If there wasn't a week of exciting TV ahead (Veronica Mars and Bones look especially good this week), I think I would be going crazy waiting for next Monday.
I'm not sure I've ever discussed Bones on this blog, but last night's episode was just so good that I have to do it. Booth, Brennan and the gang returned from hiatus with a vengeance, giving us an hour of TV that included an adorable Angela/Hodge date, finally, although it seems Angela is still resisting the love, and finishing off with a very nice moment between Booth and Bones. As usual, the squints offered some great funny lines, but the best was Bones trying to talk to a group of child beauty queens. And with cameos from two actors from Veronica Mars - Beaver and Celeste Kane - the episode just reached a squee-worthy high.
Over on Lost, the show continued its record of major character deaths with Eko biting the dust after a creepy encounter with his dead brother and the return of the Smoke Monster. As much as I loved Eko, I was super spoiled on his death and had some time to come to terms with it, so it didn't hurt me as much as I thought it might.
It was a pretty good episode overall. The appearance of the eyepatch man in the camera in another hatch was intriguing, and I for one am excited to find out more about him - although it does seem like this island is getting awfully crowded. But the best moment was Juliet's secret message to Jack through posterboard cards on videotape telling him to kill Ben during surgery. I'm still not sure we can trust her, but the actress is doing a great job - she's fascinating to watch.
The new characters are still feeling forced to me - hopefully this will change, if they're actually sticking around. But at the moment it just seems a little off that suddenly these two new people are in the mix, and the actors have yet to impress me.
Next week looks exciting. I would say I can't wait, but since we have an insanely long hiatus after that, I'm partly dreading it. Hopefully it'll be an amazing episode and send us to hiatus on a high note.
