The first season of The West Wing was some great drama. Mixing political and social commentary with deft humor and pop culture references, the show gave us a number of entertaining and thought-provoking episodes. There were hints of bigger and more dramatic events during the season, but nothing so earth-shattering that it changed the dynamic of the series.

That is, until the second season premiere. With the assassination attempt of Presidential aide Charlie Young, the series Blew the Hatch and became a different show. Not in a bad way, mind you. On the contrary; what the multi-part episode “In the Shadow of Two Gunmen” did was set the stage for a more vibrant program, with an enhanced cast of characters.

The whole thing began with the season one finale “What Kind of Day Has It Been.” It’s a typical day for the President and his senior staff as they deal with a number of crises, including an American pilot shot down over Iraq, and trouble with Toby’s astronaut brother, who’s currently on a Space Shuttle mission. Mild stuff compared to the events that took place after a Town Hall meeting in Virginia. Soon enough, viewers were at the edge of their couches as the President and his staff ran for cover amidst a hail of bullets. In the end, both the President and Josh were injured, Josh the more serious of the two.

For a first season finale this was a powerful cliffhanger. However, it was the two-part, second season premiere that really did the job. While we knew some of the character backgrounds in the first season (Jed’s MS, Leo’s past addictions), we didn’t get a real feel for who these folks were before they took on their current roles. Aaron Sorkin and his gang rectified that soon enough, with a series of patented Sorkin flashbacks that took place while the characters waited to find out the fates of Jed and Josh.

Thanks to these glimpses of past times, viewers got a sense of what these people did before coming to the Big Show, and how they got there in the first place. This, in turn, gave viewers a three-dimensional look at the White House senior staff. They became real people to us. And, once that happens on a TV show, you gain fans for life.

In addition, the assassination attempt opened up a whole slew of stories for The West Wing to examine. For instance, Josh’s PTSD after the shooting, the re-election campaign of Jed Bartlet, and the President coming clean about his MS. Heck, even the death of Mrs. Landingham had traces of the assassination attempt story linked to it.

Would the series have been as successful without the assassination story line and flashbacks? Sure, but the show would have had a different feel. Luckily, we can thank Aaron Sorkin and his keen sense of character development — as well as his use of the same plot devices from series to series — for giving us such a Blow the Hatch moment.

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As much as I love The West Wing, and as much as I was feeding into the hype surrounding its premiere (being the SportsNight nut that I was at the time), I actually forgot it was on the first night, and only caught the last act. I was instantly hooked, because, well Sorkin is a genius with words (when not … er … distracted by other things), because the actors so wonderfully fit into their characters (for the most part, and I’ll get to that in a second), and because I was a political junkie (at the time … no longer an affliction I still carry). That moment solidified my fandom, so much so that now that I’ve seen all of the episodes (many, many times), it still deserves the Blow the Hatch tag.

Josh Lyman had a problem with that whole brain-mouth filter thing (a recurring problem with Josh, though not one I minded in the least). His need to eat a little crow lead to a meeting with Mary Marsh (the target of his wit on a cable talk show), John VanDyke (a pompous ass if ever there was one), and Rev. Al Caldwell (a respected member of the religious right). The meeting started well enough, as Toby Ziegler and CJ Cregg tried to make nice.

Things went downhill quickly when Marsh tried to turn the meeting into Let’s Make a Deal, and then seemingly insulting Toby and Josh’s religion. In an effort to change the subject, VanDyke tried to bring up a point about the First Amendment, but ended up tripping all over which of the Ten Commandments were which, something you’d expect a lobbyist on this issue to know. Toby insisted that if Josh was going to have to sit through this, they were going to have to get “the damn Commandments right.” What happened next had to be one of the greatest character entrances of all time.

From off camera we hear, “I am the Lord your God, Thou shalt worship no other God before me.” Bartlet stumbles in (due to an unfortunate arboreal related bicycle incident), and pretty much smacks down the hypocrisy that the lobbyists had been spouting. He did it with gravitas, he did it with wit, and he did it with finality. The scene introduced how the characters, how the administration, and how the show would work. It also ended on a great exchange:

“You’ll denounce these people, Al. You’ll do it publicly. And until you do, you can all get your fat asses out of my White House. CJ, show these people out.” — Bartlet
“I believe we can find the door.” — Marsh
“Find it now.” — Bartlet

A quick aside: I mentioned that one character didn’t seem to fit into their shoes, and it was Allison Janney as CJ Cregg. The role, according to reports, was written for eventual guest star CCH Pounder. I’ve always thought that CJ, as written in the Pilot, would have worked better with Pounder. However, when Janney was cast, you can tell that Sorkin slightly tweaked the character to fit Janney a little better. The development and character arc that CJ experienced over seven years is enough to fill a week’s worth of posts, and we all have the brilliance of Allison Janney to thank for that wonderful piece of work.

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Friday night, Canada’s CTV aired the ninth episode of Defying Gravity, an episode we in the U.S. may not ever see until the series makes its way to DVD. By other means — be it via a friend with a SlingBox or dowloading via torrents — some of you may (or will) get a chance to see that episode and the few more to follow. For those who were hanging on just to know what this “Beta” thing is, well, I’ll go ahead and tell you.

SPOILER ALERT! If you continue reading on or even looking below, you’re basically at risk of having the gist of the entire episode revealed to you, including what Beta is, how they have it and what it means for the rest of the show!

Seriously! Don’t complain now if you read on further! I used bold above on purpose!

Alright, here we go. In the episode titled “Eve Ate the Apple,” we get a quick flashback to 15 years prior to the Antares mission, where a couple of guys at an observatory catch an intelligent signal from space, all very Contact-like. It turns out this signal — more of a sound, really — is coming from the surface of Mars. As that signal is going off, they track a similar one coming from the surface of Earth in reply, from somewhere in Peru. As they are tracking these sounds, they label Mars as “Alpha” and Peru as “Beta.” There you have where the name came from.

Cut to Eve Weller-Shaw, on a humanitarian mission in Peru. She can’t sleep at night and figures out that it’s because of this music she’s hearing that nobody else can hear. She sets off at night, on foot, to find the source of it. It turns out it’s underground and she starts to dig for it. Suddenly the U.S. military happens upon her, takes her in and hears her story. They ask her to show them where this sound is, as it’s clear they are there to find it as well. The soldiers begin to dig and then, out from the ground, comes tiny Beta, hovering in the air and glowing golden.

The crew of Antares enter Pod 4 and find seven smaller pods inside. Only one pod is glowing, and they open it to reveal Beta:

It’s sorta swirling around in a very fractal way, folding into itself and singing a whale-like song. All of the crew can see and hear it … except Jen. And she doesn’t tell anyone that she can’t. Meanwhile, as they approach Venus, they can hear a similar sound coming from the outside of the ship — from nearby Venus (it’s noted that sound in space is impossible, but that this is “new science” they are experiencing now.)

The team then learns their real mission, from Goss. There are seven of these things total, in our solar system. There’s Beta, from Earth, and Alpha, from Mars. But there’s been signals detected from Venus, Mercury, Europa, the rings of Saturn and Pluto. They are out to retrieve them all, and the only reason for doing so is that it’s what they feel compelled they need to do — that these things (which we learn are organic but not made of any elements known to man) need to be collected and brought together in order to know their true purpose.

Meanwhile, we learn that the Mars mission Donner, Shaw and Goss were on together was actually to retrieve Alpha, and at least Donner and Shaw didn’t know that at the time.

That’s pretty much all we know at this point. They know that, should this news get out to the world, there could be riots in the streets not only from the thought that alien life was discovered, but that trillions of dollars were spent on this mission that has no clearly defined purpose or goal.

What I really dug about this episode was that the plucky, awkward Grey’s-like stuff wasn’t present. We had a good dose of science fiction and a feel for how grand this mission (and this show) could be, if we got to see it all develop. As Ivey said last week, these people are all changed now, and any of that kooky crap that turned people off from this show before is probably all but gone.

I honestly think this show could turn out to be a hit on another network, with some tweaking. While the science isn’t completely authentic feeling, I give the writers big props for filling in every hole they can, no matter how odd it may seem, like the floating hair and degraded communication signal. ABC not giving it a further chance doesn’t mean it couldn’t thrive elsewhere.

Dare I say this episode was where Defying Gravity Blew the Hatch for me? I might.

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This example of Hatch Blowing is going to sound familiar, if you read my previous one on Veronica Mars. As I said then, the transformation of Logan Echolls from unlikeable punk to likable suitor for Veronica was remarkable. Along those same lines, Angel had an amazing transformation to behold, with the depussification of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. However, unlike Veronica Mars’s Logan, the road to bad-ass “rogue demon hunter” Wesley took seasons to accomplish in full.

Wesley came onto the scene in the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a would-be replacement for the then-ousted Watcher, Giles. Book smart for sure, though completely lacking in fighting skills and backbone, he wasn’t exactly a likable character. In his attempt to force feed the rules of the Watchers’ Council down Buffy’s and Faith’s throats, he only succeeded in alienating himself further and destroying the one chance, then, at Faith finding redemption. Plus, he won the award for the most awkward kiss on television when he tried to plant one on Cordelia. Wow, was that uncomfortable.

Just as with Angel, Wesley left Sunnydale and made his next appearance on Angel, the series, as a self-titled “rogue demon hunter.” While taking on a more gruff appearance, likely due to his ousting from the Council, he still hadn’t shed the cowardly twerp persona from his Buffy days.

As the seasons progressed, Wesley made himself of more use to Angel Investigations, putting himself within the action in most episodes, whether he wanted to or not. Eventually, when Angel turned his back on the team, Wesley was forced to take things over, along with Cordelia and Gunn. He’s later put in charge of the team, even when Angel shakes things off and comes back. It’s during this time when we see Wesley take a less gradual turn to hardened leader, going so far as to protect one of his own by taking a bullet for him (Gunn). For anyone who watched Buffy’s Wesley, tuning in to Angel at this point would drop their jaw. THIS is wimpy Wesley?! Where are his glasses?!

Wesley’s turn doesn’t end there. Oh no. In Angel’s third season, Wesley eventually becomes crazed in his pursuit to put an end to a prophecy that indicates Angel will kill his son, Connor, by stealing him and eventually getting his throat slashed … and lives through it! Let’s also not forget how much personal loss Mr. Wyndam-Price had to endure, losing Cordelia, Lilah and Fred, not to mention his brief relationship with Virginia (though she didn’t die). His relationship with Lilah was the biggest indication that this guy was now a full-fledged bad-ass, seeing as she was working for the other team!

Finally, at the end of season five — and the end of the series — Wesley meets his fate, having done battle with the warlock Cyvus Vail. How did this dweeb from Buffy find his way to die so honorably and after kicking so much ass in the process? While this isn’t one singled-out moment in the series that led me to love the series, certainly it was the mere observance of this drawn out transformation that blew the hatch for me.

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It’s no secret that I’m a huge Twin Peaks fan. When we started tossing around the Blow the Hatch idea, I knew exactly what that moment was for me on Twin Peaks. In the second episode of the show (not including the TV movie pilot), agent Dale Cooper has a dream. A super trippy, David Lynch directed, acid trip of a dream. I still think it was one of the greatest scenes to ever be on television, and it defined the show. The scene would go on to be mocked, mimicked, and analyzed for years to come.

Before the dream sequence at the end of “Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer,” Twin Peaks was a slightly strange, quirky mystery show. The pilot was very dramatic, establishing the bizarre characters, and the tragedy of Laura Palmer’s murder. It was clear from the start that Twin Peaks was going to be a unique show, and with David Lynch at the helm, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. However, it really jumped to a whole new level of television when Cooper went to sleep at the end of the episode.

What followed was pure Lynch madness: a creepy zigzag floored room, red curtains, Greek statues, and a backwards-talking dwarf. Sure, nothing really made sense in the whole thing, and it was completely disturbing (I swear I still have nightmares about it to this day), but it was awesome at the same time. It was evident after the end of this dream sequence that Twin Peaks was going to be a wild ride.

When introducing friends to the show, I always make them sit down and watch the pilot and the first two episodes, ending with the dream sequence. I figure that if someone isn’t completely entranced and intrigued after that, they might as well not watch the show. I know once I saw that scene, I was hooked for life.

Oddly enough, I don’t even think that this is the best moment from the show. I think that the episode, and particularly the scene, where Laura’s killer strikes again is the best piece of television that I have ever seen. Ever. It’s not surprising that that was also directed by Lynch himself. However, I digress….

As a special treat, I’ve embedded Cooper’s dream below.

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Now wait a minute — hear me out, you naysayers. Even though I only recently earned my Supernatural whore status, I’m aware of what the fan community generally thinks of “Bloody Mary,” and for the most part, it ain’t good.

I have  a different experience with this episode, though. Look beyond the camp of the urban legend, and for crying out loud, don’t say “Bloody Mary” three times to see if the episode gets any better. That’s not what this episode was about, people.

It was about Supernatural laying the groundwork for the series it was to become. “Bloody Mary,” my friends, was when Supernatural Blew the Hatch for me.

I’ve written about “Bloody Mary” being my point of no return; the point at which I knew I loved Supernatural and there was no going back for me. I was hooked. But I got hooked for some very specific reasons.

This is the episode when we found out that Sam had premonitory dreams, and they brought dead Jessica back as a vision Sam sees at the end. They did it right here — they established the story arc that was still very, very active even in season four: psychic Sam using his powers to seek revenge. And how awesome is Kripke that he planned that arc way back in episode five?

Yes, Sam and Dean pretty much became Sam and Dean in this episode too — the brothers really had each other’s backs, and they worked together to defeat the ghost in a very Winchester way.

You can make the argument that Supernatural has blown the hatch several times over, and I’d agree with you. It really does keep raising the game and getting better and better. But for me, “Bloody Mary” was the beginning of the organic growth, the consistency, and the character studies that Supernatural is so, so good at.

Do you agree, or did Supernatural blow the hatch with a different episode for you?

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Remember how 30 Rock and Studio 60 premiered at the same time, and everyone knew that there was only room for one “behind the scenes at a late-night sketch comedy show” series, and most people, it seemed, had their money on the Sorkin one? Before they aired, one of my friends even dismissed 30 Rock “the un-funny sitcom version” of what was sure to be the far-superior Studio 60.

Well that obviously turned out to not be true. But while Studio 60 became universally hated, 30 Rock was busy being universally ignored. No one I knew was watching 30 Rock. I fell instantly in love, but felt as though I were by myself. I tried to get my friends into it, but nobody was biting. Until, that is, Jack and Kenneth played poker.

30 Rock is kind of a behind-the-scenes show, but it’s more about the absolute absurdity of the people who work there. While TGS was pretty prominent in season one, it all but disappeared by the end of season 3. So while the first season focused more on the office politics, the third episode of the series, “Blind Date,” gave us a taste of what was to come.

In this episode, Jack and Liz are still trying to figure out their relationship. She sees him as “the man,” and he sees her as someone who “hasn’t been touched in any way” in quite a long time, and sets her up on a date with a woman. So while Liz is off figuring out whether or not she can become a lesbian, even though she’s not into the “sex stuff,” Jack invades the writers’ weekly poker game.

It is in this poker game that we discover that Alec Baldwin isn’t going to be merely playing the straight man on this show; that even though he is playing the big executive, he isn’t above getting drunk and channeling a little Hannibal Lecter while playing  poker with a hapless NBC page.

Unfortunately, this is the only clip I could find of this encounter between Kenneth and Jack, so you don’t really get to see how brilliant Jack McBrayer is in this episode. But this is the one in which McBrayer began to transition from quirky background player to integral member of the cast. Between this and Baldwin infusing a sense of humor into the Jack Donaghy character, I had a lot less trouble convincing people to give 30 Rock a chance after this episode.

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As was always with The Shield’s Strike Team, they were a group of guys I hated to love. They were dirty cops, bending the law to their own purposes and outcomes, using their badge — their “shield” — as a means of protecting themselves from the scum on the street, and from being pinched by the very organizations they served. Yet, as the second season worked towards its finale, I found myself rooting for Vic, Shane, Lem, and Ronnie. I wanted to see them victorious.

The Shield’s second season was all about the Armenian mob’s “money train,” and the corrupt Strike Team’s plan and execution to reap in that big pile of blood-stained cash. Blood-stained not physically, but in the death that came both before, and after, it came into the team’s hands. By the time season two ended, I was more hooked on The Shield than I’d ever been, or will be.

The money train storyline of The Shield was really the pinnacle of the series. Though The Shield lasted a fantastic, and impressive, seven seasons, it was the money train that set the tone. Before the second season’s finale, when the Strike Team finally got the cash, the team — Vic, in particular — went about the motions of getting away with dirty dealings, to squeeze a bit more out of what they get from their work. Vic had a family, with two kids with special needs, and the cash he was able to strip off of the drug dealers and scum of the street, was always meant just to care for them. What he made from being a cop wasn’t enough to give his kids what they needed (or at least what Vic wanted them to have), so he kept at it.

When the money train came into play, we saw a possible decency to Vic Mackey. If he was able to take down the Armenians, and their cash with them, would this really mean the end of his dirty cop days? Would he play the straight and narrow, and stop skimming from the scum of the L.A. streets, if he had enough cash to take care of his family for good? At times he appeared overjoyed at the thought.

Within about 30 seconds, at the end of the second season, we saw rather clearly that this was by no means the end of what the Strike Team would be dealing with. First Vic acts like a kid in a candy store, as he gazes at the piled up cash on the table. That mood changes from giddy to “oh shit” in a heartbeat, as Vic sees the looks on Shane, Lem, and Ronnie’s faces. What have they done? What now? The song that played during that scene was perfect and haunting, and spelled it all out perfectly: “I Am Overcome” (by Live ).

The seasons that followed all connected back to the money train in one way or another. First guilt, then death, then friends turn on friends, more death, the end. Money was truly the root of all evil, and, on The Shield, we saw it all begin with the introduction of the money of the money train. This is why it stands out clearly, to me, as the moment when The Shield Blew the Hatch.

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I was a latecomer to the Veronica Mars craze. Being a writer of television, there was no getting away from how many people were professing their love for this show, including Joss Whedon. Then there was all this talk about the season one finale and the big question: “Who’s at the door: Logan or Duncan?” Well hell, I just had to know what they were talking about.

So, I whipped through the first season of the show before season two began. Right away I was confused: how the hell could this asshole Logan possibly be knocking at Veronica’s door in the finale? No freaking way. And then they went and gradually Blew the Hatch on me.

This is a rare moment when I believe knowing something akin to a spoiler actually worked better for a show. Had I not known that Veronica could possibly be answering the door to Logan Echolls with a smile in the finale, I wouldn’t have been paying much attention to his gradual transformation into someone we actually cared about.

This guy was a total dick to Veronica and anyone she cared about, giving us no reason to want to see any good come to him. Even Logan’s friends are dicks — one of them literally. Then we learned of the abuse from his father and his other family issues. He gradually befriends Weevil, something thought impossible early on. It’s not so much that the transformation of Logan Blew the Hatch for me, it’s how it was perfectly and gradually done in a way to make it believable.

The writers succeeded in creating a hero out of a jerk, and by the time the second season premiere was about to air, I found myself rooting for Logan to be the one at Veronica’s door.

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This is an Ivey West original. Due to the limitations of Internet on airplanes, as well as Ivey’s inclusion on the “watch list”, I’m doing a favor for a friend. But, be sure that this is an Ivey; do I tend to be this positive when I write? Begin, sir.

My love for all things Sorkin is well known around these parts. I think The West Wing is the greatest television show that ever aired, and I’ve said as recently as yesterday that the only people that like Studio 60 were me, Bob Sassone, and Aaron Sorkin’s mother.

A Few Good Men and The American President stand with some of my favorite films of all time. However, I’ve long held that his most under-appreciated work was Sports Night. Based (not so) loosely on ESPN’s SportsCenter, the show follows the behind the scenes antics (and if there was ever an appropriate time to use that word, it would be to describe these guys) of the production of a nightly sports recap show. I’ve written about the characters before; they are wacky and witty, wise and wise-asses, and they work so perfectly well together.

When I began to examine exactly when I thought the show had Blown the Hatch, several moments quickly came to mind. In the Pilot, when the awe of watching a man who was told he would never walk again set a world record in the marathon, brings Casey out of a funk. Or when Isaac stands up to his boss by delivering a stinging editorial on race, and the Confederate Flag, in college athletics (I do have problems with that episode, but one cannot deny the grace and wisdom Isaac imparts).

If the Hatch hadn’t been Blown by the first season finale, ‘What Kind of Day Has it Been’, then Isaac’s surprise reappearance and the delivery of the line, “Hey, lady! Are you planning on getting my show on the air anytime soon?”, would most certainly have done so.

All great scenes. But, me? I realized exactly how good the show would be in the second episode, ‘The Apology’. Dan had, in a recent magazine article, made some comments about the legalization of marijuana. The network, unhappy with the potential public relations fallout, laid down the gauntlet: Dan is to make an on-air apology for his comments.

He’s pissed, making the point that opinions, by their definition, cannot be right or wrong, and thus there is nothing to apologize for. Isaac, in an effort to calm, points out to him that it doesn’t matter what he apologizes for, as long as he apologizes.

Leading up to airtime, the rest of the crew had doubts on what, if anything he would say. When the moment came, he took a long enough pause before speaking, that Dana began to take the camera off of him. When Dan finally started, he began by talking about his younger brother; one who was a smart kid in his own right, but looked up to his older brother, and tried to emulate him. Unfortunately, that meant smoking pot while driving, which lead to his death. The apology was to his brother, for not being a better role model. It was a powerful moment, both to us the audience, and to the other characters who did not know the story, as well.

Few outright comedies have handled drama with the finesse that Sports Night did. In fact, it stands with M*A*S*H as one of the two best. There is drama in comedy, and comedy in drama, but sitcoms rarely can pull it off without coming across as campy. In ‘The Apology’, Sorkin set the standard that he could write for both genres, a fact that he would prove time and time again.

For Sports Night, though, it was the moment I realized that this would be no normal sitcom. That I was watching, as they would say on the show, “Shakespeare the way it’s supposed to be performed.”

Bravo, Mr. West.

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I’m known around the halls of CliqueClack as an unabashed Heroes fan (Though, I’ll openly admit to being out of my right mind most of the time, as I’d have to be, in order to still be a fan at this point). I had been hearing about the show in early 2006, and then got caught up in the hype during the summer. The show started strong enough, revealing more about the characters over the first couple of episodes. When Tim Kring and the gang Blew the metaphoric Hatch was when time stopped for a confused Peter Patrelli, and a figure appears and says to him, “My name his Hiro Nakamura. I am from the future. I have a message for you.”

Just the concept of Future Hiro blew my mind. Lets just put it out there: He’s a badass. I mean, he carries a sword, walks with a swagger, and has a (surprisingly) cool pony tail. What’s even better is when you compare where he came from: Hiro, as we knew him at the time, really was a child in a man’s body. Imagining the trials that would face the innocent, and shape him into the warrior that we met in the subway car gave the show a depth that we hadn’t yet seen, and wasn’t limited just to Hiro. The passing mention of Peter’s scar broadens that possible future out to more and perhaps all of our heroes.

Peter’s meeting with Future Hiro, as the Internets quickly dubbed him, happened at the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth episodes. At this point, our heroes were still trying to figure out their new found powers. Claire was driving cars into walls, Peter is finally getting the idea that he can copy other people’s abilities, Parkman was trying not to act like a bumbling fool, and Nikki was thinking she was going batshit crazy. My favorite character, Hiro, was acting like a bumbling fool, but was getting the job done despite that. The childlike Hiro was quite a contradiction to the man that Peter would meet, and whom would give the message, “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World.”

Most of the time, when we talk about Blowing the Hatch, we are generally discussing how the narrative of the show is affected. In this case, however, the “Save the Cheerleader…” message became a part of the larger part of the television lexicon. The catchphrase was hijacked by the NBC Marketing team, and became synonymous with the show itself, up to and probably surpassing “Who Shot J.R.” levels, arguably helping the show’s popularity quite a bit.

Sadly, abusing the concept of looking for answers in the future played a big role in the critical and popular downfall of the show. So much so, that producers have promised that it won’t play a major role in plot arcs again. It’s unfortunate that they latched on to such a great concept and played it again and again. When we were first introduced to Future Hiro, it was a much different story. His cryptic message about saving a (to Peter) mysterious cheerleader began the act of pushing the individual heroes to their collective fate, and helped push new viewers to the show.

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If you’re following our series of Blowing the Hatch posts, then you saw last week that Keith talked about Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The fun part of the Blow the Hatch moments is that they make for great debates. Keith thought that when Angelus popped back onto the scene in season two of Buffy the show took off, and my Blow the Hatch moment isn’t too different.

I think even the most ardent of Buffy fans will admit that the series really came into its own during the second season. I certainly have a fondness in my heart for a lot of the episodes from the first season (I still think I’m the only person who likes “The Puppet Show”), but the show kicked into gear during season two.

I was always a huge fan of the Jenny Calendar character. She was the typical Buffy female character: a smart, funny, and strong woman. She also was a great foil for Giles, and I think she really brought him out of his shell and made him the well-rounded character that we all got to love, instead of the uptight Watcher from season one.

The episode that really cemented my love of this show was “Passion.” I still get chills running up my spine when I think of Angelus chasing poor Jenny through the hallways of the high school. Of course, it didn’t end well for Ms. Calendar. Indeed, Angelus caught up with her and snapped her neck with relish and cruelty. I think it was the first of many gasp-worthy moments on the show, for me. Jenny was such a great character, I never thought that the writers would actually kill her, but in doing so they raised the stakes on the show.

Of course, to add insult to injury, Angelus set up Jenny’s corpse in Giles’s house, making him believe that Jenny had planned a romantic evening for them. This was a truly heartbreaking moment, and it set up some great drama between the rest of the group and Buffy, and certainly illustrated just how much of a monster Angelus was.

Oh Jenny, poor sweet Jenny. I still miss her.

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Do I really need to say this again? Alright, for the benefit of those who don’t know me or haven’t heard me say it the other 30 times in the past, I’m a big fan of the Buffyverse shows. So, when the idea of our Blowing the Hatch posts came about, I knew I’d want to bring Buffy into the mix.

Admittedly, I didn’t love Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I went to catch up with the series to see what all the fuss was about. Season one is one of, if not the worst seasons of the series. It’s because of this lackluster season that many people use it as an example of a show that started out weak but, because it was given a chance, blossomed in its sophomore season and continued to gather viewers.

So, what was it in season two that made me realize Buffy was really getting good, when it Blew the Hatch? When Angelus came to Sunnydale.

For many giggly teenage girls who were watching Buffy since the beginning, the intense moment when Angel and Buffy finally had sex was something they’d dreamed to have happen since Angel and Buffy first shared horny glances. Now that they finally got their wish, Joss rips the rug right from under Buffy — and us — by making Angel turn into one of the worst foes Buffy has ever had to face. It was Whedonesque brilliance.

From that point of the series on, things only got better … until season seven, that is, but I won’t go into that. If “Innocence” didn’t grab you into this show — if it wasn’t the moment that “Blew the Hatch” for you — then you could pick from a number of other episodes closely following within that second season.

Bringing Angelus to modern-day Sunnydale set the tone for the rest of the series when it came to Angel and all those who knew him. The trust he’d worked hard to earn from all the Scoobies was either completely gone or never fully regained. Ultimately it was this lack of trust by most of the gang that led to him leaving, which gave birth to Angel, the series. But that’s for another Blow the Hatch post.

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Yes, I know Reaper has been canceled (did you see all the CliqueClack team had to say about Reaper’s fate behind the scenes?) and instead of celebrating the moment when it became great, I should be sending socks to the head honchos at The CW or something, to try to get it renewed somehow. Well, I’m not an activist, and although I’ll miss Reaper, I’d much rather be grateful for the two seasons worth of fun that we got from the show then spend my time bemoaning its short life.

I liked Reaper from the get-go; I’ve always liked shows about the supernatural, especially when they have a sense of humor about them, and there’s no arguing this describes Reaper. From the crazy vessels (a Dirt Devil and a remote control monster truck!) and the antics of The Devil (played to perfection by Ray Wise) it was always an enjoyable romp.

The moment I knew this show was going to be gracing my TV every week, though, came at the very end of season one, episode five, “What About Blob,” when Sam’s dad tears out a page of Sam’s contract with The Devil and burns it in the fire. It was that exact action that Blew the Hatch for me.

What was so great about that scene? I mean, it was already pretty cool that Sam’s parents sold his soul to The Devil, with a very vague explanation. Until that point, though, it could have been considered just a means to an end; a device to get us to the uniquely comic situation Sam had gotten himself into, working for The Devil and all. But the creators and the writers didn’t leave it alone.

When Sam finally gets the contract from The Devil, basically so he could try to find a loophole to get out of the contract, Sam’s dad reveals a deeper, darker secret to the viewers: there’s something in that contract that he made with The Devil all those years ago that he doesn’t want Sam to know about. Boom! Right there, they’ve set the stage for an incredibly complex backstory; taken what was just a fun show with a bit of history to something that could be boundless, ripe with unimaginable lore, rich with secrets, reveals and underworldly greatness.

Alas (and here’s the part where I bemoan the loss of Reaper a bit), we had only just begun to explore where the story could have taken us. I’m glad we got to expeience the wonder of what Reaper could have been, though, the moment they Blew the Hatch.

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(Episode 4 – “Checkmate” & Episode 5 – “The Chimes of Big Ben”)

I have to admit that, going into “Checkmate,” I wasn’t digging this show. I loathed to hear the awful “music” again, and … well, that’s about it. The music really is that bad. Fortunately I seem to have gotten somewhat used to it and have somehow allowed myself to ignore it for the most part.

After hearing basically the same episode intro for the fourth time, I’m finding myself analyzing it more. The show opens the same way, with Number Six (we never know his real name, at least not yet) racing in his cool-ass car to what is presumably his boss’s office to resign. Thunder booms and awful music plays over whatever he’s ranting about to his boss, he walks out in a huff to his car and speeds off home. There, he’s packing his things for what looks to be a getaway somewhere tropical, someone gasses his flat and he passes out. Then he wakes up in The Village and we hear the same dialog again and again (from Wikiquote):

Number 6: Where am I?

Number 2: In the Village.

Number 6: What do you want?

Number 2: Information.

Number 6: Whose side are you on?

Number 2: That would be telling. We want information … information … information.

Number 6: You won’t get it.

Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.

Number 6: Who are you?

Number 2: The new Number Two.

Number 6: Who is Number One?

Number 2: You are Number Six.

Number 6: I am not a number! I am a free man!

Number 2: [laughs]

Lots of questions come to mind with just that one simple exchange:

• Why is there always a new Number Two, and where does he/she come from? It doesn’t appear to always be someone promoted from within the Village community. Is it someone brought in from the outside every time? The election from a few episodes ago was fake.
• Why would it “be telling” to inform Number Six whose side they are on? Why not answer that they are “the good guys” and be done with that line of questioning?
• Why is Number Two repeating this exchange in every episode? The Number Two changes each time, including the voiceover we hear in that exchange. So, presumably, Six is asking it again … and again … and again. Is it all part of a mind experiment, like that we saw at the beginning of “Dance of the Dead?”
• It appears, in the intro before that exchange, that Number Six is telling his superior exactly why he was resigning. If not, then what’s he going on about?

In the way this show airs, it would confuse the hell out of most primetime TV watchers of even mildly complicated shows like Lost, just from each episode’s repeating intro.

Something else I noted a couple of episodes back, which likely means nothing but I thought I’d bring it up: every time someone gives the familiar “be seeing you” salute, they form a circle with their thumb and forefinger over their eye and bring it forward. Do that with your left hand and notice it makes a number six. Coincidence?

I do like that, in each episode so far, Number Six continues to work toward getting the hell out of The Village, and we’re not left with a mere “filler” episode. In “Checkmate,” it almost appears as though he’s finally made some progress, though the Guardians (as I believe is the first I recall them being named) seem to be playing countless mind games with Six in this regard.

“The Chimes of Big Ben” was what originally aired as the second episode, when the series first appeared on TV. I feel it fits in quite well where it is in the DVD set, and really doesn’t carry any prior episodic knowledge that throws it out of whack. This is the episode that, for me, definitely Blew the Hatch and had me sit up in my chair at the events unfolding. It appears as though Number Six has made it out of the Village and is so close to spilling the beans on why he resigned from his “highest security clearance” job, when a critical mistake in detail is made by the Guardians … and it all falls apart for everyone. And just like that, Number Six carries on, through to another day to finding out where he is, why, and how he’ll get the bloody hell out of there.

“Chimes” showed some characteristics of Number Six that shows he really is grinning like a smartass, like I mentioned in my first post (and that Wil Wheaton said for me to look out for): he throws off the Guardians’ information about him by taking three lumps of sugar in his tea, versus the “none” reported in their information on him. This infuriates the Guardians, since Six is purposely throwing them off what information they have, making it all useless. And, lastly, we see that Number Six is apparently a master woodworker, able to carve a seaworthy sailboat out of a single tree in one afternoon, using nothing but rocks, sticks and twine. Bad-fucking-ass.

Past posts: Episode 1, Episodes 2 & 3

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Interestingly enough, our name for this phenomena comes from a moment when a lot of Clackers believe that Lost achieved greatness: When the plane crash survivors blew open the Hatch and all sorts of interesting things began to happen.  However, I have a different opinion of when the show really began to surpass being just a wonderful, interesting show and became one of the most creative, imaginative pieces of media I have seen.I used to think Lost was fundamentally Jack’s story, even though Kate, Locke, and Sawyer are such strong supporting/lead characters. However, I have come to believe that Lost is actually about Ben and his relationship with the Island. So, for me, the “Blowing the Hatch” moment really came in Season Two’s episode, “The Whole Truth.” The pinnacle moment for me turned out also to be the moment the producers decided that Michael Emerson’s Benjamin Linus needed to become a major character on the show.

Surely we all remember the moment when Ben is eating breakfast after Locke finally lets him out of “jail” in the hatch. Linus is pretending to be balloonist Henry Gale, and as Jack leads a group to verify his story, Ben casually tells Locke what he would have done if he were indeed guilty of NOT being who he says he is. And he is just ambiguous enough to cast some real doubt as to whether he is Henry Gale or someone much more dangerous. He just sits calmly laying out a possible scenario, and then just as calmly, he abruptly breaks the spell he has just cast by asking whether or not they have any milk for his cereal.

What is particularly brilliant about that line’s delivery is that with one simple line, Ben has gone from being the prisoner Henry Gale who has no right to ask for anything to someone with the upper hand who wants milk with the food he, as a prisoner, has no right to be eating. Instead of being grateful to be out of his cell and having any food at all, he is now asking for things. And the biggest joke is that Ben knows that they do have milk, because he is not a marooned balloonist: He is the leader on the island. That moment encapsulates the cold calmness that will define everything Ben does, every lie he tells.

That moment changed everything. From then on, the show was no longer about a group of castaways on an Island. After that, the mysteries of the Island itself became much more important than the fate of anyone on the show. The Island became a character after that, and Ben its closest defender and greatest adversary.

But isn’t it much more fun to say, “Blowing the Hatch,” than “Got Milk”?

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I’ve been hooked on this show since the beginning, but if you were sitting on the fence at all or weren’t all that sure about whether you liked it or not, I can imagine that this would be where the show Blew the Hatch for many people. This was a completely unexpected ending, one that no one could have anticipated without having access to some sort of spoilers.

I will say that the opening scene of this episode helped us understand what was going to happen later, as related to the many ominous flash-forwards we’d seen in past episodes, with the body bags and the items by the poolside. Everyone had assumed that the chaos surrounding the White household was going to be drug related and that it was isolated to only their home, when in fact we saw early on that something far worse had happened. And, wouldn’t you know it, it was drug related, though indirectly.

We saw how Walt’s activity in the drug business has such far-reaching consequences, some which come full-circle in the strangest ways. It’s as though you could play a Kevin Bacon Game-like scenario with how that pink doll wound up in Walter’s pool, leading all the way up to him making the blue meth. He makes the Meth with Jesse, Jesse meets Jane and gets her back on drugs, Jane dies, Jane’s father goes into a depression which leads him to mistakenly direct two planes into each other, right over Walter’s house. It’s all coming back to haunt him, and he doesn’t even get that yet.

There’s a lot to mull over for next season. Walter is basically cancer-free, meaning there will likely be little focus on that next season. Meanwhile, Skyler finally snoops around enough to get that Walt’s been up to something for quite some time, though she’s not sure she wants to know what it is — will she ever? I can’t imagine Walter will have any other recourse but to tell Skyler the truth, as any other lies about where he got the money won’t likely be believed. Could he lie and say he’s a gambling addict, having won it all on private, high-stakes poker games, and therefore it’s tax-free? He’d better brush up on playing the game, if that’s the case.

I’ll say this about Skyler: it almost seems as though she wanted to find out that Walter was doing something “wrong.” Rather than confront him with her little discoveries, she mounted a bulk of evidence and let all of that stew until she could present it to him without a moment’s consideration of kicking him to the curb and stripping his child from him.

Speaking of how things come full-circle, Gus in the DEA office with Hank was a surprise, and he didn’t look all that happy to know that Walter’s related to a DEA agent. How that comes to haunt Walter and his new bad-ass goatee will be another interesting aspect of next season.

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There was so much awesomeness in this episode, that I believe most fans forget that we saw Lily become Slap Bet Commissioner the same night we met Robin Sparkles. The group discovered that Robin had some deep dark mall-related secret when she was too scared to join them on a Barney-funded shopping spree. Ted pries, as Ted does. Marshall thinks it’s marriage, as Marshall does. Barney think its porn, because, you know, he’s Barney.

The bet, is the most legendary of bets: Slap Bet. Lily gets to mediate, but the winner gets to slap the ever-loving crap out of the loser. Because both of our contestants jump the gun, much slappage occurs. When it’s all said and done, Barney loses, and has to make a difficult choice: Ten slaps doled out immediately, or five, at a time and place of Marshall’s choosing. The latter prevails, and leads to great fun for Marshall, and for us.

The secret came out when one of Barney’s “contacts” tracks down some video of Robin’s past. When everyone gathered around the computer to watch, we get our first glimpse of Robin’s truly sordid past. The video of “Let’s Go to the Mall” is just a funny sandwich with a side of hilarious fries. From the robot, to the fact that the ’80s didn’t make to Canada until, like ‘93, Robin Sparkles is here to stay. Well, at least until the (obviously) career-ending follow up single.

Both the Slap Bet and Robin Sparkles have come back again and again. Not just in the big storyline way (like the “Sandcastles in the Sand” episode) but the little nods. Marshall jumping on-stage to slap Barney during his one man show, or singing “Let’s Go to the Mall” at the Canadian karaoke bar. When one episode can provide so much material down the line, you know they’ve hit one out of the park.

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For many … hell, most fans of Battlestar Galactica, the moment the show “Blew the Hatch” was from minute one, during the mini-series. This was the moment that they knew this show was going to be really good and, hopefully, stay just as good. For me, though, the moment BSG blew the hatch was the first episode of the first regular season, titled “33.” The mini-series was really good, mind you, but “33″ was when I knew this show was going to take us for an amazing ride.

Admittedly, at first, I wasn’t sure Battlestar Galactica really had a Blow the Hatch moment. With the exception of a handful of episodes scattered throughout the series, the entire thing was great. Then I asked myself if there was a specific moment when I was really hooked into the show. My answer to that was not the mini-series, but was at the conclusion of “33.” In fact, to this day I’d still call “33″ my favorite episode of the series, one I feel was never quite matched by those that followed.

The feelings of hope nearly lost and the extreme sleep deprivation experienced by the crew in this episode was almost hard to watch. The thought of having exactly 33 minutes between each wave of deadly attacks was gut wrenching to imagine. To go up against an enemy that needs no sleep, meanwhile having all odds stacked against you in a time of complete despair was also incredible to watch. Knowing that this was the first episode of a season was hard to believe — how were they going to get their asses out of this?

There are a few other moments I could pick as being blow-the-hatch-like moments. For example, when Boomer shot Adama in “Kobol’s Last Gleaming.” But “33″ is where the show nailed itself high up on the awesomeness scale and, for the most part, stayed up there.

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We waited, patiently and politely … OK, maybe not so patiently or politely, but we waited anxiously and fervently for Joss Whedon to return to television. And return he did, with a powerful new tale of the Dollhouse, where conspiracies abound. We mourned the loss of Dollhouse before it even began, because, alas, it would be on FOX.

Now here we are, at the end of it’s short season, waiting again, this time to see if this on the bubble show will be renewed for a second season. We don’t need to have faith in FOX to know that Dollhouse should be renewed. Here’s why:

Joss Whedon
Um, it’s Joss — he’s back! His artistry and vision are as good as they ever were. We’ve got sci-fi, drama, conspiracy, great characterization (how he can do this with mostly a cast of clean slates is a miracle in itself) and surprising reveals at every turn. Celebrate — it’s Joss!

It blew the hatch with its sixth episode.
I’m still not so crazy about FOX’s six mini-pilots they decided to run, but once Dollhouse made it to the sixth episode, this series changed. One huge reveal — that there was a mole inside the Dollhouse — changed the entire premise of the show. We moved from a mission-of-the-week format to a serial with plot twists that build upon one another. The rest of the cast became utilized in fascinating ways. It went from meh TV to riveting.

It’s become an ensemble, not the Eliza Dushku hour.
I loved Faith, the slayer with the questionable morals, as much as the next Buffy fan, but I’m not sure I’m on board the Eliza Dushku fan train. Brett loves her boobs, and he might just have something there, but there are more talented actors out there. She may not be able to carry a show, but she doesn’t have to. The rest of Dollhouse’s cast is excellent, and since it’s become an ensemble, it’s a stronger show. I particularly enjoyed Enver Gjokaj’s performance when he was imprinted with Dominic’s brain — good stuff.

The guest casting is excellent.
We loved Alan Tudyk in Firefly, but who knew he could play 48 parts at the same time? His performance defies words. I also enjoyed seeing comedian Patton Oswalt as Joel in “Man on the Street,” and Amy Acker and Miracle Laurie in their recurring roles were excellent. It takes a whole cast to make a show, and Dollhouse has got this one in spades.

Jane Espenson.
She wrote some of my favorite Buffy episodes (”A New Man”), and it was great to see her contributing her talents to Dollhouse, with writing credits on “Briar Rose.” This is nothing short of a spectacular move on Joss’s part.

It’s got a new game set up for season two.
If you saw the Dollhouse finale, then you know yet another game change is planned. Ballard’s new mission, to work for the Dollhouse and get Alpha, is a good one that makes sense for who he is and where the show needs to go. This game change came about in an organic way, through good writing and not a reinvention of itself because something was wrong with the show. Just like when Angel’s lair blew up and he moved in to the hotel, it works.

If FOX doesn’t see fit to renew it, perhaps TPTB over at The CW are reading this. If you are, oh wise and powerful ones, take a walk down memory lane with me, to a time when WB dumped Buffy and UPN saved her slayer ass for another two seasons. Don’t tell me that deal wasn’t worth it’s weight in syndication alone. Since both those networks have combined and are now The CW (that’s you!), wouldn’t it be fitting?

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