We knew what was coming. This episode didn’t make any shocking revelations but did confirm and expand on what we gathered from previous episodes – i.e., Renee is on the verge of insanity, Dana’s ex-partner-in-crime Kevin is an idiot, Hassan is paranoid, and Sergei is a bad, bad man. Oh, and Jack is awesome. But I enjoyed this episode because the thing that we were waiting for happened at last.
Read the rest of this entry »

American Idol has become such a ratings juggernaut that it’s always a little surprising when something actually tops it. The Grammy Awards were able to do just that last week, thanks to the best ratings for the show since 2004. The other big event for the week was the return of Lost on ABC. It didn’t approach the Idol or Grammy numbers, but it did finish the week as the number one scripted show in the adult demo. Granted, it was the season premiere, but knocking off Grey’s, House, 2 ½ Men, and Big Bang Theory is always worth noting. On cable, the big surprise was probably the performance from USA’s White Collar and Psych. Both were well down from last week. Read the rest of this entry »

Would you agree that this was the best hour of Day 8 so far? By now, it’s no longer just about the action; the level of emotional intensity has jumped to eleven. I think any type of abusive situation — whether between a man and woman or between a  parent and child — stirs our inner sense of justice. For that reason, I was completely drawn into Renee’s creepy relationship with Vladimir as well as Josef’s attempt to save his brother in defiance of his father’s orders.
Read the rest of this entry »

It was a bit of a slow week of television. Football on FOX sent all the other networks scrambling on Sunday. Then Obama took over all the channels on Wednesday. Add in an oddly quiet Thursday and we had three pretty weak nights of numbers. Not to worry though, there was still the occasional cause for celebration. To call the NFC Championship a success would be a terrible understatement. How terrible? How about it more than doubled the Idol numbers? In non-gridiron results, FOX took advantage of the quiet Thursday, garnering some very good results for Bones and Fringe. Castle managed to grow their numbers again. And Vampire Diaries tied for second in the demo! Read the rest of this entry »

The Hassan family’s secrets were laid bare last week. This week, we discovered more of the details surrounding Dana’s past with Kevin and Renee’s past with Vladimir (the Russian baddie played to brutal, intense perfection by Callum Keith Rennie, a.k.a. Leoben of Battlestar Galactica). Emotionally, the episode packed a punch and kept me riveted despite the fact that Jack spent the whole hour in a car.
Read the rest of this entry »

The complete implosion of Heroes just never gets old. I’m fascinated by it, and the show found an all new low last week. Over the years we’ve seen plenty of shows fall from their once lofty heights. But to see one crash so fast, and in such a dramatic fashion, is a rare thing. On a brighter note, the week that was also brought a host of premieres, including 24, Human Target, White Collar, Burn Notice, and American Pickers. And if you want to see some really crazy numbers, click through and take a look at what iCarly did. Read the rest of this entry »

I love how getting beat up by a vengeful New York cop doesn’t faze Jack in the slightest. He just goes about his day like it never happened, saves a few lives, heads back to CTU to say so long to Chloe … The guy’s a superhero, and it’s nice to see him occasionally get the respect that he deserves from the bigwigs like Hastings (who was clearly embarrassed when Hassan thanked him for saving his life).
Read the rest of this entry »