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Saturday, October 31, 2015

Halloween Is The Grimm-est Holiday #Grimm #NBC

Halloween Is The Grimm-est Holiday #Grimm #NBC


All pictures courtesy of NBC 

  
NBC's Grimm (#Grimm) is back after last year's craziest season ever. With so much going on last season, it was difficult to figure out where they'd go with the story after exploding a few plots into oblivion. For those that can't remember what happened, let's recap.


Nick, for a while at the beginning of last season, wasn't a Grimm anymore. He lost his powers due to a spell cast on him by Adalind who also slept with him while disguised with her witch powers to be his wife Juliette. Through another potion, Juliette was able to literally sex the Grimm back into Nick but not without turning into a Hexenbeast herself. Trubel, the other Grimm girl, came back into town talking about some secret organization and the royals who control all of these monsters. Adalind wound up pregnant with Nick's baby, Juliette hated him for that even though it was explained countless times that it wasn't his fault, everyone was searching for Adalind's first child that Nick's mom was supposed to be keeping safe and the royals sent multiple guards to find the baby as the baby was also a royal by blood. The season ended with the baby being taken, Nick's mom's head being cut off and gifted in a box to him a la Seven, the Asian cop finally finding out about Nick, Juliette losing her mind and burning down Nick's trailer with all the Grimm history inside, and Trubel shooting Juliette with a bow and arrow twice in the back to stop her from killing Nick.


Fast forward to this season, as Nick is lamenting his wife's dying breath, some other organization shows up and starts taking people. The same group that took Trubel before and informed her of the shadow organization that wanted to know if she was a Grimm or not (still haven't a clue about what they do), some FBI lady came in with the group and instructed them to take everyone. The next day Nick awakes to find Trubel gone, his dying wife Juliette gone, his mother's head-in-a-box gone and the house cleaned. Not only is he confused about why they'd take all the ladies and lady heads, but he can't remember what happened after they came into the room.


The Grimm Identity (the name of this season's premiere episode) played similar to the Blindspot or Bourne Identity--what they were going for. The whole episode sees Nick running around from his police station with his partners and the captain, to Monroe, to the FBI field office where the lady works. No one knows if they should believe him or not and the only one who does know what happened that night is the lady who isn't too forthcoming with information. Like any law-abiding cop would do, he kidnaps the woman and demands to know where she took Trubel.


Meanwhile, his partner Hank and his captain along with the Asian cop all question his story. They do some digging to find that the woman does work for the FBI and they find where she lives for Nick. While they're trying to help him out in as correct of a way as possible, he pushes forward like a bull, stomping from one place to the next and making himself look like a fool. In the midst of all of this back and forth of "is Nick telling the truth or making it up" (he doesn't halfway know himself), Adalind finally births their baby boy. Again, just like any man who was tricked into having sex with one of his mortal enemies who has tried to kill him and the people around him multiple times before, Nick is ecstatic about the birth. They've potentially just given life to a HexenGrimm (#HexenGrimm).


Oddly enough, though the episode moves exceedingly fast, very little actually happens.

After Nick kidnaps and holds hostage the FBI woman, she tells Hank and the others that she has a meeting with her people scheduled for later that night. She and Nick go to the meeting only to find it already ambushed by another group. Her people are dead and the new monsters have a knack for leaving huge calling cards that resemble something Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' villain The Shredder might leave. Four slash marks across the side of the empty warehouse where they get the best of the FBI agent and they are off into the night, leaving Nick the clue to what comes next. With her dying breath, the agent says horsemen and tells Nick that it's four (or at least I think that's what she said. It could have been Norsemen too). I'm assuming this refers to the book of Revelation's four horsemen prophecy that signals the end of days (everyone loves mixing in Biblical references these days).

What any of this means, we currently don't know. But from the season preview, we know that Trubel will return at some point and that war is coming. I think there's also potential for Juliette to re-surface somehow too, but I don't know if the actress has moved on or not as she was always underutilized. I have a feeling the show might be better without her.

What do you think? Do you watch Grimm? How did you like last night's premiere episode? Do you think that Nick will get a new love interest in either Adalind or Trubel or someone else? And what do you think happened that night the group took Trubel? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “Just because I am a wolf doesn't make me a big bad wolf."

P.S. That is probably from a movie or a show or something having to do with wolves, but I can't remember if it is or not. It might not be from anything but it is now. I'll think of something better next time.

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Friday, October 30, 2015

Creepy But Logical #Bones #SleepyHollow #Hollowbones

Creepy But Logical #Bones #SleepyHollow #Hollowbones

All pictures courtesy of FOX

Ahhh! Why do I even try? Ever feel like life itself is going against you at the moment? That is precisely how I've been feeling for the last near two weeks. Every year, usually twice a year my computer gets a virus or gets so hot that it overheats and does this ten minute shutdown thing for a few days (the computer is a little old, so...). As luck would have it, both things smacked me at the same time I was doing cleanup in my garden. I had to focus on getting my yard together while trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer and ended up rebooting and re-installing everything on the computer. There's not much on here save for a few programs to help me create my books and other such works. Still, it is a hassle, especially if you have to do it a few times because the code is rootkited or whatever. I'm not going to go into it.

So, with that mini-rant about how computer viruses are from the devil, I get back on topic and give you a review of FOX's confusing and confounding crossover event from last night, Bones and Sleepy Hollow. Now, to be fair I read an article yesterday on my phone (should have saved the link and emailed it to myself) that stated how little the actors understood the crossover also. Other than the fact that they were both on Fox and both had a male and female partner that clash at first like oil and water (bad and overused cliche; hey, I haven't written anything in over a week. Gimme a break!) before accepting each other's differences and maybe even coming to appreciate them. And they're both FBI.


But when looking outside of that, one show is steeped in modern-day real world science while the other deals in fantastical paranormal occult stuff. It would be like if Walter White showed up on The Walking Dead because everyone discovered that the way to defeat the zombies was to give them blue meth. If that's confusing, well, it's probably because I don't watch the Walking Dead, or it could also be the fact that the idea doesn't make any sense. If anything, FOX could have done a crossover between Rosewood and Bones (something I expect they will do come next season) or a crossover between Sleepy Hollow and, uh... hmph? The one show I can think of is NBC's Grimm but network logistics and all. Other than that, they could have waited until their Lucifer show (premiering mid-season) came out but who knows if that'll last and if it'll replace Sleepy Hollow as the strange show on the network.


How did they do with this strange, ill-advised crossover event? Believe it or not, I'd say they did OK.
First off, though I wanted it to be, I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be some explosive mind-blowing crossover that ends with all of the crossover characters in a shootout for their lives and situations that had long-lasting repercussions on both shows. No, this was more of a toe-dip into the water of making a shared TV universe where they can have their different shows crossover with little problem to mark special occasions. In this case, the occasion was Halloween as this was to be a haunting crossover spectacular. And while it didn't live up to that moniker per se, it did do a nice job at making us believe these two radically different-in-tone shows could coexist in the same universe.


Beginning with Bones, the team found two pairs of human bones because... well, the show is called Bones. I can't imagine what it'd be without actual bones. Anyway, the first set of bones belonged to a woman from this time period. Recently dead, she had much of her skull intact and had clue markers on her like hair that had recently been dyed back from a previous purple hue, and multiple earring holes. Nicely dressed, she appeared to have been a puritanical church girl until those two clues (because straight-laced people would never do something so silly as dye their hair a cool color or get more than one ear piercing).

They discover that she was actually a doctor going for higher position, so she wanted to be taken seriously. That, however, still did not account for why she was found in the near vicinity of the second dead body.
Enter Ichabod and Abbie. The second body belongs to a redcoat fella from back when redcoats and bluecoats and midnight rides were still a thing. He first determines that the man is one person but when Dr. Brennan does a facial reconstruction and analysis through her neat machine, they match the possible face to the man that Ichabod had been talking about for the last few weeks, a General Howe. I say possible face because for more than half of the show the body did not have a head. Why? Because the purple-haired woman believed back when she was alive a myth from long ago that spoke of the head somehow being a gateway into life after death. Essentially a good luck charm, she could resurrect so long as she had the head near her. How she discovered the body was where it was I can't recall, but she found the general's grave, sliced off his skull and took it back to her place where she participated in a crazy stunt.


A morbid but natural fascination with death, the woman had previously gotten a doctor friend to stop her heart with a drug cocktail before reviving her. When she died, she went to what she perceived as a stop before heaven where she spoke with her sister who died as a young child (the catalyst for her death intrigue). This life-changing experience is what prompted her to act differently, re-dying the hair, removing the earrings, etc.

With the experience so phenomenal, she pushed her boyfriend to do it with her the next time. He went first and all he saw was darkness and nothing. So frightening the experience, that when she revived him he panicked and accidentally killed her. And so solved the case of The Ressurection in the Remains.
Frankly, I thought the Bones episode of the night was rather lacking in excitement, though all readers should take that with a grain of salt as I don't normally watch the show. Outside of a few cutesy referencings of Ichabod's strange character, his garb, how much he knows about history of that pre-revolutionary era, and an odd note with his signature on it as dictated to or by George Washington, nothing else leapt out as overly strange. There was some talk about Abbie's FBI mentor also being the mentor of Boothe and a throwaway line about Ichabod and Abbie having a romantic relationship in the future but other than that it didn't reach the heights of weirdness more than a few of us were expecting it to; instead, everything made perfect sense.

Moving into the Sleepy Hollow episode, Abbie requested the headless man's body be moved back to Sleepy Hollow as ordered by George Washington long ago. See, he had not only given the order to kill General Howe but knew that burying him in England wouldn't be beneficial to the patriots. Why? Because the purple-haired woman was right. The general had some kind of artifact that tied him into the dark plans of the evil one Ichabod and Abbie are always talking about. While they still haven't fully engaged in Christian lure and just outright said it is the devil doing this stuff, it has been hinted at more than enough times (giving him other names doesn't change that when they're going off the Christian book of Revelation). This amulet or stone the general has allows him the power of resurrection, not only making it easier for him to be resurrected by someone else (Pandora) but to call forth his own dark army that can only roam around during the night and become subterranean during the day.


Naturally, when the transport for the body is interrupted and the dead guy escapes, the Bones crew is called on for some assistance as they can get Ichabod and Abbie into a historical monument in D.C. While Brennan is tripping off of how historical of an archaeological discovery this all is, Ichabod finds a secret passage where the general's body was to originally be stored under Greek fire or napalm as scientifically pointed out by Brennan. She and Ichabod get trapped and almost burnt to death before Booth shoots out the keypad to reopen the secret passage door. I don't honestly know what to say about that part as the archaic lock popped off like cheap house siding in a summer rainstorm, prompting the question of why Abbie doesn't always do that. That was pretty much it for the Bones' crew as Ichabod and Abbie took over, discovering that General Howe's undead army was defeated by the Greek fire in the battle of Manhattan where Betsy Ross helped burn the city to the ground.

Abbie and Ichabod, along with her sister and the old sheriff's son lure the zombie-gopher soldiers into an underground tunnel where they burn them all. Then, in a strange twist, the general walks into the fire on his own and roasts himself. Still trying to figure out why he did that.

To end the episode, Bones got their new artifact to obsess over with the secret passages, Ichabod and Abbie stopped another monster-of-the-week threat that had brewed since the season opener, and Abbie was confronted with info that her sister was caught up in an ongoing FBI investigation. Again, this is a bias statement because I don't normally watch Bones, but I found Sleepy Hollow the much better episode in the crossover. I enjoy crossovers so long as they are done correctly (still waiting on that Agents of Shield/Daredevil crossover). Though they showed no split or frayed seams between the two shows, I would appreciate a little more fireworks and bizarreness the next time the network and producers go for #HollowBones. Viewers certainly did enjoy it as both shows saw a slight uptick in ratings for the historically tough Thursday night.

As a side note about ratings, with canceling season upon us, I will soon be giving my predictions on what will and won't stay and why. For now, I still have a few more premiere week three week roundup posts on new shows.

What did you think viewers? Did you watch the Bones and Sleepy Hollow crossover? Did you like it? Did one hour standout over the other? If they do this again in the future, what would you like to see happen? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign."


P.S. Yeah, it's Friday and I just hit you with a little throwback 90s jam music from Ace of Base. The lyrics sorta apply here... kinda. OK, maybe I'm reaching a little but I couldn't think of anything else to write and it was in my head. I think of something better next time.

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Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Doctor Is In The House And He IS... #DrKen #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundUp

The Doctor Is In The House And He IS... #DrKen #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundUp

All pictures courtesy of ABC unless otherwise stated

So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen. My post on ABC's new comedy Dr. Ken. Again, I'd remind you that if you want my original thoughts on the show, click the #Premiere Week button up top and scroll all the way down to ABC. As a quick refresher for those that won't do that, I will say that Dr. Ken had me on the fence as far as anticipation went. While I enjoy Ken's humor in other things--The Hangover series and Community--I didn't know how well it could translate over to his own show. So, did it translate or no?


On Dr. Ken, Ken Jeong plays a doctor who, from what I can tell, is a general practitioner. While he doesn't have his own practice, he works in a private in- and outpatient treatment clinic somewhere in California I believe it was, though I have to admit locale details were sparse. He's quite rude to his patients who, in return, are rude to him and don't often pay attention to his diagnosis. This is evidenced by the first episode in which a man comes in and believes (read: self-diagnoses) that he has a few hemorrhoids which would quickly pass. He gets into a back and forth with Ken where the good doctor tells him he actually should have a colonic and that there could be something else wrong with him than booty bumps. As the man learns at the end of the episode, he listens to Dr. Ken and goes to have the flush-out, finding non-malignant polyps inside of him. Though he complained enough to have Dr. Ken potentially fired, in the end the doctor proved right and helped to save his life.

Dr. Ken has a mix of coworkers who all seem a little off and help to add to the comedy. You first have prime time sitcom vet Tisha Campbell-Martin who viewers will remember from her stints on 90s hit comedy Martin and early aughts gone-too-soon comedy My Wife and Kids. Head nurse, she plays on the same comedic wavelength as Ken sometimes, daring to go over-the-top with her outlandishness. Her experience and the amount of funny she brings to the cast is nice to see.


Next is the secondary doctor in Ken's small posse of friends. Dr. Julie (first names for everybody!) is the perky, I-just-love-my-job-because-I'm-helping-so-many-people type. Again, no specialty given, I suppose she, too, is a general practitioner. Her voice is high and chirpy like a Tweety bird and though she is dark-haired, she plays the role of the ditsy blonde. Though the actress playing her has a fair amount of credits to her name, she hasn't hit big on anything yet and can still be considered a fairly new comer on the scene. Her character is fluff, the Phoebe from friends of the group. As a side note, you know I had a mental lapse and had to look up Lisa Kudrow's character name on Friends on IMDb--Happy 25th Birthday IMDb--and guess what they didn't have as her four big "most known for" roles.

Next, we have Hector. Hector is played by another comedy veteran who has been seen in bit roles and character roles ever since back when he had a full head of hair. Check just about any NBC or ABC canceled comedy in the last decade and he's been on it at some point, not to say that he is bad luck or the reason these things get canned. Hector is Dr. Ken's designated nurse working side-by-side with him. He thinks of Dr. Ken as his work husband and a big deal is made of their friendship on the second episode when he turns from Ken after not receiving the proper recognition he believed he deserved for becoming a registered nurse. If he wasn't good in his role, people wouldn't keep hiring him.

While the supporting cast at work is good, the one at home matches if not surpasses it. Married to an Asian woman who is a psychologist or therapist or psychiatrist (not really sure), they live in a near palatial home. They have two children, a girl and a boy. The girl gets her license the first episode causing the overly protective and controlling Ken to freak out about her whereabouts. In the end, he learns a lesson when his daughter doesn't attend a rave like he thought she did. Her name being Molly, he gets arrested by an undercover cop when his searching for his daughter is mistaken for him trying to buy the drug. Laughs and hugs all around when he realized that he had to let his daughter grow up to be a woman which meant allowing her a little more freedom.

Daddy-daughter bonding

His wife, played by Suzy Nakamura who has been on the fringe of the spotlight for years now and has surely been "that one Asian woman from that thing" on more than a few occasions both brings an understated comedy to the show (she does have to play the straight man to her husband's foolery) and maintains a sense of warmth and realism not seen since, dare I say it Clair Huxtable. She's not neurotic, doesn't come off as a desperately oversensitive mom that wants the approval of the cool label, though in the second episode she is intimidated by Ken's parents when they visit. In a rather humorous twist, the parents bond with her and the children when they hear their son is late to dinner every night because of having to attend a sensitivity course assigned after Hector files a patient complaint for the whole RN diss. The parents wholly agree with their daughter-in-law's assessment that Ken is overly angry much of the time. They even add their own source of laughter after visiting, his overuse of the qualifying phrase, "as a doctor."


The third episode dealt with a small issue of helicopter parenting/teaching your child to stand up for himself. Called names at school, it is Allison (his wife's name) who tries to defend her son. Their son seems to be a little slow or just all around goofy similar to the character played by most young kids these days. They're supposedly always out of touch with their own feelings and life in general as the boy doesn't know how he feels about the new nickname he is given. Dr. Ken deals with his own separation from the crowd at work when he earns a better parking spot and weekends off as a senior staff member who puts in excellent work. Both issues are resolved when Ken fights for the rights of his colleagues and Allison takes on a nickname from the bullying preteens herself, thereby distracting them long enough to return to calling her son his proper name.

What's my grade? I give it a solid B leaning toward B+. It's not going to be anything you haven't seen before if you've been watching TV for 20-30 years, or even 10 years. But it is a nice change of pace from the influx of one-camera comedies with no laugh tracks that Bernie Mac started way back in the day. It's filled with doctor-patient humor that I'm sure plenty of people will identify with, albeit on the wrong side sometimes (most of Ken's patients self-diagnose and stray from his treatment regimen). The wife is allowed to be a woman with an identity separate from her children and husband which is also refreshing. This may sound racist but I hope they bring more of their own ethnic experiences into the comedy as Fresh Off The Boat and Blackish do. Ken can really open it up with the over-the-topness on the racial subject matter, though I know how tiresome this can be for any ethnicity. ABC has been desperately trying to bring back TGIF when in the 90s they had Boy Meets World, Family Matters, Step-by-Step and Full House. I can say I think this is another solid step in the right direction.


Should you be watching? Again, with comedies it is always up to you. With the solid B score and ratings that are quite good for a Friday at 8:30, I would say that yes you should be watching. Tim Allen as his lead-in, the two shows are just different enough humor-wise for you to enjoy them both. If you have a family not embroiled in Friday night lights of any sport or extracurricular activities and you aren't using it as your Netflix and chill night with your significant other or just to catch up on your DVR, then I say give this show two to three episodes to impress you. It probably won't garner your attention every week, but it should give you a few good chuckles.

What do you think? Will Dr. Ken see you as his next patient--erm, viewer? Have you seen the show? If so, which area do you think is funnier, his work life or his home life? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “ha ha ha ha ha! It's funny because he's fat."


P.S. Mr. Chow. So we meet again. Better sign-off next time. You know the deal.

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Saturday, October 17, 2015

Cornstalks, Bullets, And GMOs? Finally Something Close To My Heart #TheBlacklist #NBC

Cornstalks, Bullets, And GMOs? Finally Something Close To My Heart #TheBlacklist #NBC #DVRRewind


All pictures courtesy of NBC 


In a twisted episode quite near and dear to my heart in a way, last night's The Blacklist (#TheBlacklist) dealt with a villain named Eli Matchett. Not necessarily a Blacklister from Red's or the FBI's personal list, he is a homegrown terrorist who really only wants revenge on the big, evil GMO corporation. Hold on to your butts people, because this is going to be a crazy ride just in case you missed it or need a refresher.

After the daring and artfully done escape from a restaurant they sieged last week, Red and Elizabeth rode their freight container all the way to Iowa. Why Iowa instead of across the Atlantic Ocean like originally planned? Because Red is hellbent on clearing Liz's name. To do that, he must bring down the Cabal--those creepy behind the shadow controllers of everything. He wants to pin everything on the director and get Liz back on US soil safely where she no longer has to flee. Well, the best way to bring down a secretive, world-controlling organization is to bring down its funds and, as most secretive, world-controlling organizations, the Cabal has to launder their money because much of it is illegally gotten. For instance, the Illuminati's money is funneled through OPEC which funnels its money into the oil and cleans the money by selling it to the people all around the world so that every time you buy a tank of gas or turn on your natural gas-fueled power you're cleaning the money of an illegal group.

On The Hunt For The Missing Farmworker

Anyway, Red knows that a GMO corn-creating company called Verdiant is the global corporation laundering the Cabal's money. If they can bring that corporation to its knees, then they'll have the Cabal and leverage. And how do they do that? Easy, steal some corporate trade secrets. Enter Eli Matchett.
Eli is second or third or even fourth generation farmer who grew up, lived and worked on the same family farm for years until he had a legal scuffle with Verdiant. See, the corn seed Monsanto--oops, slip off the fingers, I meant Verdiant makes is too costly for the small-time farmers but in high demand. They produce faster and have genetic properties that help to fight off pests so they also produce a bigger crop. 

Unfortunately, they don't play nice with farmers and would rather drive them out of business and grow food on their own corporately structured mega-farms. Well, a while back Verdiant decided to grow some of this new GMO corn strain that hadn't yet been fully patented. Upwind from Eli's farm, when some of the strain cross-pollinated (I'm sure you farmers and gardeners are going crazy right now; yay, language I understand!) with his own strain, they sued him for patent infringement or some other legalese for supposedly stealing their GMO. What? Pure insanity!

Not only did he lose his crop from that, but he lost the farm trying to pay bills and such. The farm was bought by Verdiant and then turned into another one of those industrial mega farms. He wants that sweet Silver Queen revenge. So, he devises a plan to steal the trade secrets of the company to sell them? No, to find the GMOs weaknesses and modify the bugs that eat corn to know such a weakness. Release the bugs, kill the corn, create famine and a world food crisis in a matter of two months--yes, Verdiant's corn is grown across the globe.


Red just wants the info for the purposes described above, but knowing that an industrial farm was hit just earlier that day (how the hell does he know this? He was stuck in a shipping container with Keen the whole time) in Iowa he and Liz track this Eli man and his band of angry farmers through the fields of the great state. As it turns out, Ressler pieces together their D.C. escape and is hot on the trail of the missing cargo freight. He tracks it to Iowa where they discover that a farm had been hit earlier too and go to the house of the missing farm worker as everyone else that came in that day was dead. Converging on the same secret lab, Red and Keen make a harrowing escape as they try to get the needed data just before Ressler and the one woman arrives (damn, what is her name). They arrive to see the bugs and they know what Eli was doing.

Stopping at a diner for no particular reason other than food and to show Keen sinking farther into Breaking Bad territory as she shoots an undercover cop (she didn't know he was a cop) who identifies them, she freaks for a few minutes about the things she's done and how the man will surely die because there's probably no heart surgeons around to save him. That gets Red thinking about how this simple farmer got into contact with a bio-geneticist that would engineer a bug to attack the corn. The genius he is, he uploads some info about Verdiant back to those that still believe in him and Keen at the Blacklist HQ. He then goes to confront one of the Verdiant execs at her house. Turns out, Verdiant was steathily behind their own company's attack. They gave the farmer the geneticist to create the bugs. They already had a strain of corn even stronger and equipped against such infestations. They would get their biggest opponent killed or captured, and look like heroes when they released the corn strain as the world approached the precipice of catastrophe. Arrests all around for the Verdiant executives, surely interrupting the Cabal's money flow but not crippling it.

Tom Is Back For Yummy Asian Cuisine

And while Red and Keen remain on the run, there were a few side-stories that didn't render much: Dembe's (aka Mufasa) absence had finally been noticed by Red who called the little guy with glasses to find him. He's still being held in an abandoned factory somewhere. Keen's ex came back to chat with Ressler about finding Liz. Ressler says no and lets him leave but Harold Cooper goes to him with a proposition at the end of the episode. And that proposition is... stay tuned for next week's The Blacklist.

What did you think of season 3, episode 4? Did you want something more out of the Cooper/fake Keen meeting? Were you shocked that only now did Red realize his right hand man was gone? How did he know about the theft before he knew about that? And who was that other person they threw into the room with Dembe? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “Even though we have won this battle, we have already lost the war."


P.S. Is that from a great literary work of fiction or nonfiction? Do you know? A mystery is a foot my dear reader. I'll come up with a better sign-off next time.

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Friday, October 16, 2015

How Not To Defend A Sociopath #HowToGetAwayWithMurder #HTGAWM #ABC #TGIT

How Not To Defend A Sociopath #HowToGetAwayWithMurder #HTGAWM #ABC #TGIT


All pictures courtesy of ABC 

Episode four of the second season of How To Get Away With Murder (#HTGAWM) aired last night and boy was it crazy as far as the client goes. With the season now well on its way, many of the shows both old and new are settling into what they will be and the tone they'll set for this season, and while some shows have changed their modus operandi (cough *Blacklist* cough; doesn't mean it's not good because it is still really good), others have stayed the course giving us the good twisty, drama we all want. How To Get Away With Murder fits squarely in the latter category.

Opening with the flashforward of Annalise's possible death after being shot or stabbed in the house of her rich clients, the kids sans-Asher as usual, hopped into the cop's car after he found them on the side of the road. This only after they fled the scene from the mansion where they left Mrs. Keating to die in a pool of her own blood. Who shot or stabbed her is still up for debate and will remain so for much of the season as did her husband's murderer last season. What they have given us as viewers is the fact that her cop ex-boyfriend who she tried framing for Sam's death is now on the kids' side. Not only does he help with their escape in the flashforward, but he also helps Wes find the dead girl that Bonnie killed on the first episode of this season/season finale of last season weeks prior to Annalise's life-threatening injury. Does he believe Annalise killed Rebecca? I'd actually say the jury's still out on that, but he does think something suspicious is going on.

Speaking of Nate, his dying-in-a-hospital wife gets the courage to call her husband's mistress and invite Annalise in for a bedside visit. Is this to yell at her and curse her out? No, actually she wants to ask the woman a very important question: will Annalise help her commit suicide. Just a few pills stolen by her guy Frank and she'd slip off into oblivion. As much as it looks like she considers it throughout the episode, even daring to zone out a few times and get sloppy on her current case, Annalise doesn't take the woman up on the offer. Too smart for that, she surely knows that not only would it be morally and ethically wrong but if she did get the pills, she would only be showing that both her and her main grease guy Frank are capable of heinous crimes such as murder. She even goes so far as to tell the cop about the proposal, not that they're on the best of terms.


Speaking of her current case, it was juicy. A teenage girl convicted of killing her best friend in a brutal stabbing attack, the girl poses the murder as something she was peer pressured into doing by two other popular girls. A classic case of in-crowd syndrome, the two girls grew up together and were like sisters until the dead one started being noticed by the "popular girls." A kind heart, she dragged her best friend along with her but didn't realize that her BFF would be so obsessed with trying to fit in with the cool crowd that she would become a life-model robot, bending to the will of her feminine overlords regardless of what they said. The group started to turn on the dead, kind girl and pressured her manipulated BFF into stabbing her over 50 times somewhere in the woods.

One of the few people not distracted and with good sense working the case, Laurel suspects the girl of lying. She confiscates her phone to reveal a few videos in which the girls bragged about killing the fourth girl, Annalise's client even going so far as to suggest their next victim, a teacher who gave her a C. Still loving their daughter, her parents order the recording buried by Annalise but only after Connor has already sent a copy of the recording to the prosecution. His conviction: he's tired of seeing murder treated as if it were normal. The recording coupled with the testimony of one of the girls makes the accused flip out and scream in the courtroom how both of the so-called popular girls were basic 'B's that weren't worth anything before she made them interesting. She was the mastermind behind the crime the entire time (did that just rhyme? Ooo, I think I'm still doing it. Aww, I lost it. Never mind). 

No, we aren't sleeping together. 

One of the few cases Keating actually loses, she gets good news on the other overarching case of the season with the adopted siblings suspected of offing their parents. In what is only legal incest (not the real thing. Damn that sounds creepy. Uck!), the two adopted siblings were accused of having an affair. Annalise sent Michaela to test the boy to see if he showed any interest in her, though only bisexual, gay and agenda-plying men have ever looked her way. The good news comes when the young woman admits she is a virgin which they then have proved by a doctor. But for every one good thing, Annalise has a bad thing follow. She sees Wes and the cop speaking in the parking lot. Wes thinks he found Rebecca's body in a cemetery where Frank's brother works as groundskeeper. Only the fourth episode of the season and there's been more scheming, plotting and backstabber-y than you could brandish a gun at.

What do you think? Have you been having a hard time keeping up with all the twists and back-biting? Are you a little ticked I didn't mention the thing with Asher? Do you think they'll find Rebecca's body? And who do you killed (no, not Annalise, though feel free to write your theories below) the prosecuting attorney with whom Asher is working? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “It's taken some work but I finally have 'em, the worst of the worst."


P.S. Yes, ladies and gentlemen and nerds everywhere, their are only five and a half months left before Batman V. Superman comes out which means we can officially start the countdown for Suicide Squad also. And although that's not a good sign-off for me every time, it reminded that Will Smith and Viola Davis are in that movie. Yeah!

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Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Grinder Is Kind Of Cheesy... But What If It Wasn't? #TheGrinder #3WeekRoundUp #PremiereWeek

The Grinder Is Kind Of Cheesy... But What If It Wasn't? #TheGrinder #3WeekRoundUp #PremiereWeek

All pictures courtesy of FOX 

Making Tuesdays their comedy night, FOX hits us with another comedy from two Hollywood old heads (not as in they are old but they've been around forever), The Grinder. Starring Rob Lowe and Fred Savage as brothers it is sure to be quite a ridiculous show with over-the-top cheesy goodness smothered all over it like a real Grinder. Mmm, sandwich!

Before we dive in, as always, I'd point you to the #Premiere Week button up top to get my initial thoughts on this series. Just scroll down to the FOX section (second section I believe) and look for the picture up top. Also, don't be shy in browsing through my previous posts as I cover dozens of shows including American Horror Story: Hotel, Nashville, Castle, Once Upon A Time, The Blacklist, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Limitless, Rosewood, Empire and the list goes on. And to give you a brief recap of what I did feel about this series just in case you don't click that premiere week button, I didn't think highly of it. As was expressed in an earlier post on Grandfathered, I didn't feel that FOX had much trust in either show as I didn't see as much advertising in them as other series. Usually that means the network is iffy on the product they've pushed into production.

So what is The Grinder about? Rob Lowe stars a famous TV actor who for the last near decade or so has played a lawyer on a highly successful and popular show entitled The Grinder. He was The Grinder, known for grinding out his cases and getting wins, and bringing justice. With the show finally ending, he looks to find his next path in life, what will he do, where will he go, who... will he ultimately be. Isn't that the question that (dramatic pause)... we all face? Coming back to the small town where he grew up and where the rest of his family still lives, he hides out there for a while to visit his family and figure out what he wants to do as those royalty checks will stream in for the rest of his life. While there, he comes into contact with his father, brother and his brother's family and there is where the tension starts.


His brother, played by Fred Savage is a real lawyer. Everyone in the family save for him is enthralled with his brother's talent, even watching re-runs of the show (sweet, sweet royalty checks) nearly every night with Rob Lowe providing behind-the-scenes commentary. As much as he loves his brother, Fred is a high-strung, worrywart who is also possibly the "biggest wuss in the history of TV" as he identifies highly with a character from his brother's show who always said just how wrong Grinder was for attempting something--"you're gonna get disbarred, Grinder. You can't do it! This case is un-winnable!" Seeing the show for the overwrought melodrama it is, Fred despises his brother for just about everything that Lowe stands for: bad acting, false lawyering, ridiculous plotting, TV star glamour, etc. And as much as he'd like for him to leave as quickly as possible, the rest of the family enjoy having him around for a while.


It isn't until Lowe stumbles into one of Savage's real cases does the show take off into its main thrust. The case: a wrongful eviction from clients that supposedly never paid their rent. They felt they had been discriminated against due to race. In just meeting the clients, word spread that The Grinder would be trying their case and Lowe not only didn't deny such claims but made declaration that he and his brother would indeed win the case and justice... would be brought to the wrongfully evicted couple, because justice... at least in America... is for all. Yes, if you haven't noticed by now, some of this review/recap syncs with the overly dramatic tone of the show. It is in that tone where the humor lies. Honestly, Rob Lowe really just plays every character (read: the same character) he's been playing for the last decade or so with longer dramatic pauses. Another silly comedy, the hilarity comes from the fact that he takes everything seriously even though the very premise of the show is ridiculous.

With word out that the grinder will be helping his brother try a case, their father steps in to solve the petty sibling squabble that Fred has brought up because of his brother's lack of skills and preparedness and generally anything having to do with actual lawyering. Having immersed himself in the grinder character, Lowe feels he doesn't need law school just to practice law, the show was its own school. He could take the bar exam in a few months and... pass. Being the levelheaded one, Fred says no to all of that and refuses his brother's help. It isn't until they actually show up at court and Lowe watches his inept brother deliver a mumbling speech from note cards about how wrong it is for his clients to have been discriminated against, does The Grinder step in and save the day. It is not that Fred is a bad lawyer, he just gets terrible stage fright.


Not legal in the slightest, he steps in during the next court appearance and, with cameras pointed at him, holds up an envelope with a supposed check from the tenants that had been thrown away by the landlord. Falling for the ruse, the landlord confesses that the check couldn't be in the envelope because he destroyed the check. What is in the envelope? One of the many sayings from the show: "the Grinder rests." A pratfall by Savage and hugs and kisses as The Grinder says goodbye even though he doesn't want to go, and Fred finally invites his older brother to stay around for a while longer. It could be fun.

And this is the show. Their second case, a wrongful termination lawsuit which shouldn't have even been a lawsuit, introduces the audience to a single female lawyer who starts as an opposing counsel and by the end of the show is hired by Savage to fill a roll on his staff. Of course the case is won when grinder and his brother come up with a stalling tactic that tests the patience of the busy employer. Not only does he hire the couple back but changes the no inter-office dating policy. The third episode deals more with personal stuff stemming from a broken window 20 years prior and admitting the truth when wrong. Still, in none of these episodes is the grinder a real lawyer, yet his brother's clients allow him to sit in on the case because he's the frickin' Grinder. Are you saying you wouldn't trust Meredith Grey/Ellen Pompeo to medically save your life if you were having a heart attack in a restaurant. Eleven seasons on a medical show, you would think she knows something about saving lives, right?

What's my grade on when a TV lawyer becomes a real life fake lawyer? I give it a B-. Listen, outside of the great and ridiculous music they play whenever Lowe is about to make some astonishing discovery or suggestion, this show is ridiculous. Though I laughed during it, I didn't get that chuckle until the last five minutes of the first episode, and while the second and third episodes were better, I'm not sure I'd tune in for a full season. Don't worry, I get the humor. It's just as silly as Grandfathered and satirizes the plethora of lawyer and crime shows out there. But I have to say that I was looking forward to how Savage and Lowe played off each other and while Lowe is good, I think Savage is actually bad in this role. He's playing the straight guy but there's something about him that annoys me more than makes me find him sensible. Maybe this just isn't the role I'd like to see him in.


Should you be watching? Eh! Though I gave it a B-, my first reaction is to say no. But comedy is subjective and different things work for different people. In a night that is completely over-the-top humor beginning with Grandfathered and ending with Scream Queens, The Grinder at 8:30 on Tuesdays on FOX fits perfectly with the rest of the shows. Though it's not the case for me, if you like one, you'll probably enjoy the others. If you're not doing anything or you already watch one of the other shows, then I say give this one or three episodes and see if it grabs you.


What do you think? Am I being too harsh on the show? Have you seen it? If so, what do you think about its humor? Do you think Lowe will ever actually take the bar? And what's the over/under for him hooking up with the lawyer woman? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “What would you do if I sang outta tune... I get by with a little help from my friends."


P.S. Oh, those wonderful Wonder Years. TV has changed quite a bit since then, especially the family sitcom. Honestly, I've found most family sitcoms not funny these days. So, when one does come along that's hilarious, I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops. Until then, I'll keep thinking of a better sign-off.

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Uncle Jesse Is Back And It's, Um, Well... #Grandfathered #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundup

Uncle Jesse Is Back And It's, Um, Well... #Grandfathered #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundup


All pictures courtesy of FOX 

Note to the readers, sadly this is not a review of the revived TV/Netflix show Fuller House based off the lovely and star-making vehicle that was Full House from the 90s. And yes, while I know how duped you feel about me using Uncle Jesse to lure you in I will not apologize for it... sort of. OK, I am sorry for dangling that tasty bit of Grecian lure for you to bite into, but it had to been. Plus, the hype around the show Fuller House is one of the things that I'm sure helped John Stamos get his new role in Grandfathered (#Grandfathered) and remind people that he and his career weren't dead outside of his years spent posing as Bill Cosby of Jello to Oikos Greek yogurt. I'm sure he's choked enough of that down in the last decade or so to realize that hawking that product was not what he wanted to be doing for the rest of his life. That is not to say that Oikos isn't good, because if that's all he's been eating since his days of Full House 20 years ago, then I definitely need to be eating a lot more of that stuff myself.

Before I go farther into this review/recap of the first three episodes, I will point out that if you want my initial thoughts on this show click the #Premiere Week link up top and scroll down to the Fox section. For those not interested in doing that, I'll give a brief refresher and say that I wasn't all that thrilled about this or its brother show The Grinder with Rob Lowe (review of that coming later). Both seemed destined to lose and didn't seem to have the full support of FOX as far as advertising dollars went (I saw countless Scream Queens ads during the summer's Wayward Pines but almost nothing on these two shows). Hopes were not high.


In John Stamos' triumphant comedic return to TV--and no, Galavant does not count!--he plays a hot (as in popular) LA restaurateur (side note: I keep spelling that word wrong even though I know it doesn't have an 'n' in it). In his late 40s, early 50s he is having the bachelor time of his life, seeing grand successes at his restaurant, literally living the high life in what has got to be one of the only, what, six high-rises in the downtown LA landscape (come on, I lived in LA; it ain't New York or Chicago). Charming, charismatic and a ladies' man he has told not only the patrons of his establishment but himself and the occasional (read: plenteous) women he beds that all he really wants in life is family as it is the only thing left for him to achieve.


Ask and ye shall receive (dear God, I want two international bestselling books that will then propel my career to bigger, better things; yes, I'm a little vain), a much younger handsome guy played by Josh Peck--the fat kid from that Nickelodeon show Drake and Josh that magically grew muscles and got attractive--shows up and announces that he is Stamos' son. But even better, Peck has a daughter himself making Stamos a, wait for it... grandfather. I know, right? Now the whole title makes sense. Don't you hate it when creative types give titles to things that are so on-the-head that it makes you roll your eyes and say, "really? Gee, I wonder what this is gonna be about. Stupid!" As an aside, my new comedy novel "Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend" is out on Amazon Kindle now.

This is what happens in the opening minutes of the first episode. A half hour comedy at 8pm on FOX's Tuesday just before The Grinder, it actually doesn't have much huge competition outside of The second night of The Voice on NBC, The Muppets on ABC, The Flash on CW, and whatever CBS is putting out. In fact, nothing quickly comes to mind involving the cable channels of AMC, USA, HBO, and FX, meaning it has all the potential to do well. I say that because it does have its laugh-inducing moments.


After Peck tells Stamos of his daughter, which I believe is great casting as I can completely believe they are related, he explains who his mom was and, well, you know. How his mom and Stamos... got along back in the day. Naturally Stamos goes to the woman played by Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds, anyone?) and asks if it's true. Surprisingly not calling Maury, Bill Cunningham, Lauren Lake's Paternity Court or any other of the thousand shows that do DNA testing, he takes her word for it as they were in a relationship back in the day as young punks. Why didn't she tell him? Eh! Basic stuff: he was immature, he wasn't ready for such a big commitment, she thought it'd be easier for both of them, etc. Tight-knit, she and her son still share in movie nights under the blanket and know each other like the back of their hands as evidenced by the third episode's opening game night. But she isn't the only special woman in his life.


Peck also has his non-girlfriend oops-we-messed-up-that-one-time-and-had-sex-thusly-breaking-our-platonic-friendship-and-got-a-baby-out-of-it best friend played by Christina Milian. Are you all getting how every character on this show is played by a well-known enough actor that I don't even bother to remember their character's names? Yeah, if this show manages to survive and I keep watching it, I'll probably never use the character names. Anyway, in her first regular role on a scripted show from what I know, she is the hottie who has known Peck for quite a few years and a night of inhibitions loss led to their baby together which looks strangely completely white. I know about genetics and all of that stuff but it would seem like they could have gotten a darker baby but I digress. Anyway, as much as Peck wants her, they never actually dated and she still only sees him as a friend and her child's father, leaving him to long for her in semi-silence even though he tries to tell her multiple times including a fanciful and elaborate cartoon movie drone display on the side of a house. He's got no game and this is the second main thrust of the show.

Stamos being the ladies' man he is has to teach his dorky 25-year-old son not only how to be a real man as his mother babied and feminized him, but he must also teach him how to gain favor with his crush/child's mother before she commits herself to one of the many beefhead, chauvinistic losers she's used to dating. Stamos, similar to Will Smith in Hitch, must also learn the true meaning of family, love, and being a father/grandfather as this new experience turns his life around for the better. Where once he womanized without a care in the world, now he dares ask his possible conquest who her mother was and if he's slept with her as he could be his current potential sex partner's father. His urge to bed hop has also been dampened by the fact that Paget just happens to be the one that got away for him. He still loves her but his infantile maturity will not allow him to truly explore such deep emotions just yet. Like Amy Schumer in Trainwreck, he has to learn how to be a good person and actually care about something other than himself.

Sometimes the two thrusts of the show will conflict or interact as judged by the second episode when Stamos wishes to go to Diddy's West Coast White Party--the first since 2009. While going there and taking his son would expose Peck to a level of fun, sophistication and a playground of beautiful women he can ply and tweak his game on, it also means skipping a family beach day in which Paget and Christina will attend to watch the baby take her first swim in the ocean. Not only does he learn that family is filled with a ton of uncool duties and responsibilities but Paget learns a little about why her son loves Christina so much--she's a fiercely protective mother hen with a plan to become an internet sensation to make money, which is just... ridiculous, right? Anyway, as is custom with these shows, he always chooses the family and goes for the family day. Just like in the third episode when he realizes his lack of knowledge concerning his new son and volunteers for a guy's night. During the night he gets his son drunk, Peck makes a funny throwaway reference about being husky as an adolescent, and Stamos loses his drunken son, feeling the unwelcomed rush of a parent with a missing child for the first time in his life. Everything solves itself at the end of the half hour and life ticks on.

That lady is his restaurant manager and the head chef is in the back.

What's my grade? I give it a B+. You probably thought I'd rate it lower, didn't you? Surprisingly, it's highly enjoyable. It has a decent cast, Stamos is good in the role and Peck recalls his days on that Nickelodeon show. The lesbian restaurant manager plays well off Stamos and his head chef who I believe is Middle Eastern. The jokes are light and fluffy while not straying away from the topic of sex, but keeping it grounded in family sitcom territory. There is not only tons of name-dropping but a few good guest stars too (Lil Wayne took time from his busy schedule of trading exes with The Dream, and suing Birdman to appear on the first episode). And maybe its nostalgia or just plain fun, but it's funny to see Stamos dealing with babies again after having the Olsens playing one child on Full House.


Should you be watching? That depends highly on your humor as it is the most subjective part of entertainment. You might not even think I'm funny in a sarcastic hipster way. This isn't ground-breaking humor and shades on the goofier, sillier side of funny rather than the you have to think about it side. I'm a guy who still likes a laugh track (no, this show doesn't have one) and finds it strange when people are so against laugh tracks--up until 15 years ago, maybe sooner, every sitcom had a laugh track and it didn't diminish the quality of humor. If it did, people wouldn't still watch Seinfeld daily. I like goofy as much as I like intellectual. But I will say that if you aren't committed to watching anything on Tuesdays and you like a decent laugh every so often, at least check it out and give it an episode or two. You might like it, you might not.

What do you think? Are you happy to see that John Stamos is back on national TV? Have you seen the show? If so, do you think Stamos and Paget will rekindle their romance. Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking
If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.

Until next time, “Have Mercy!"


P.S. Uncle Jesse. Man, why didn't Fuller House get picked up on ABC as a reunion miniseries. I really wanted to see that thing. Oh well. I'll keep thinking of a good sign-off.

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