Fringe Season 2 – Episode 14 “The Bishop Revival”

A so-so episode of Fringe, haven’t watched the mid-season finale yet but I am ready for some more mythology about now. Once again I will preface this by saying it wasn’t horrible but it really wasn’t much to write about. I say again and again how much I like Fringe’s cold openings and this one didn’t let me down. Maybe it is because I was fond of J.J. Abram’s Cloverfield or anytime some real show or movie uses a camcorder but I did like the opening. It isn’t creative but it gives a bit of a personal feel to the show. The woman playing the mother of the groom was excellent and her face when her family was dying was so sad and depressing to watch. That right there is what make’s Fringe stand out at least to me. I am hoping that this show continues on because of these cold openings.

The plot was interesting and a bit more Fringe like than X-Files like since it had to do a bit more with science than freak of the week. A German Scientist (Nazi?) was experimenting with a toxin that would kill people based on certain genetic traits. The back story was that Walter’s father designed this back in the 40s which would help the Nazi’s kill any inferior race and keep only the Aryan race. Apparently is was too advanced for Nazi’s at the time but science had improved so much that it was now capable of happening and the german scientist was experimenting on various people. Not only that but somehow this scientist didn’t age. They referenced this at the beginning when the holocaust survivor recognized him, the DNA in his fingerprint, and right at the end with his picture. They never explained it but it was subtly talked about and referenced throughout the episode.

It is interesting that Walter’s father Robert was a scientist just like him and that he was working on these crazy experiments for the Nazis. Obviously it is something that the show can further delve into in future episodes but this new plot or story device kind of came out of nowhere. It had never been referenced before and it does explain why Walter is so brilliant or why he is so much into science.

The show also decided to hint at a possible Peter and Olivia love connection. Nothing serious of course but it will be an interesting choice if they go in that direction. At the beginning of the episode Walter seemed to be trying to get Peter and Olivia together or hook them up and Peter basically let it slide off his shoulders. Yet, Walter seemed convinced that the two of them would eventually end up together. Though I think that would kill the show and make it extremely lame it would be neat if they played with that idea at least for a little while. I don’t know why a show like Fringe couldn’t toy with that idea for a season and eventually have Olivia or Peter say to the other that nothing would ever happen. That way they could go through some flirting storylines or Walter trying to play matchmaker and then successfully end it.

The next episode looks like it is going to be great. Just need some time to watch it. I am hoping for the return of Massive Dynamics and Nina Sharp plus I hope they give Broyles some more to do. I feel like the two of them are kind of waiting on the sidelines right now. Again this episode was average at best but it is tough to write some times when nothing sticks out in the episode, or at least not much.

Lost Rewatch: Season 4

Season four of Lost brought the amazingness back. I’ll say it again and again. I’m not sure if it was the writer’s strike or the producers had set an end date that made this season, but it felt fresh and reinvigorated my interested in the show. However season four of the show is special to me just because of how much fun it is and how it really took Lost in a completely different direction. Now I’ve said in these past few articles how each season is different but I don’t think any of them were as different as this one (so far). The viewers had grown accustomed to the flashbacks and the ultimate end goal of the show was that the Losties were trying to get off the island. However after Jack’s flashforward at the end of season three we knew that a few of the castaways got off the island and the show changed directions on us.

It really was a big game changer and a huge shocker which got me extremely excited for the show. We now were seeing what happens after they got off the island and who got off. There were a lot of puzzle pieces and you really had to piece together who was in the Oceanic Six and what really happened. I think it made every episode exciting because you really didn’t know what they were going to do. Even in season three it was getting a little tiring seeing Jack’s daddy issues or another Sawyer con-man flash. Now we got see Sayid killing people for Benjamin Linus and Kate’s trial. We learned that Jin and Claire didn’t make it off the island and neither did plenty of others. All these things were excellent reveals and kept me, the viewer, on the edge of my seat.

I want to say the writer’s strike really helped this season. There was no room for filler episodes since this season only had thirteen episodes. Everything was important and everything was driving to the Oceanic Six being rescued. You couldn’t get away with Bai Ling or any other detour that wasn’t necessary to the story. This season also basically told us nobody is safe and that anything  can happen. Lost has always had no problem killing off main characters or completely screwing with the viewers and this season was not going to apologize. I could go through each episode and tell you something surprising that I wasn’t expecting at all to happen. Plus the plots got stronger and the acting was phenomenal this season. The ongoing fight between Ben and Charles and all the issues with the freighter plus the return of Michael (and his excellent flash story) and the supporting but excellent cast from the freighter.

Season four introduced us to the amazing character Daniel Faraday. He quickly became a staple of the show and one of the voices of reason. He would explain issues and became the center to a lot of the issues that the island presented. All of the scientists and Lapidus were all extremely interesting and all of the actors brought some great work to the show. It is great that even in season four we get new developed characters like Miles and Charlotte all with their own problems and issues and they are easily intertwined into the story.

Season four presented a lot of questions but most of it was self-contained or has been figured out since than. As of this article we still have seen the temple but we have seen the temple wall in season five. Perhaps the only big question that I can really think of is what is going on with Claire. Where did she go and what is she doing with Christian in Jacob’s cabin?

Overall an extremely strong season of the show. If you have a friend who is getting tired of the show in season three or two, just tell them to stick it out because four will bring them back and will literally keep them guessing. If they aren’t excited trying to figure out who the oceanic six are, or get surprised when Aaron shows up with Kate, shocked by the Sun and Jin dueling flashbacks, or feel terrible for poor Michael than you shouldn’t be watching Lost anyway…

Better Off Ted: Dead?

I hate to say it but I think we might have seen the last of this show (except wherever they plan to burn off the last two episodes). But I think that Tuesday was it, at least at any reasonable hour or day. From what I heard from the TCA tour and a few other articles and interviews…it seems this show is dead. Well at least nobody is really saying anything positive about the show coming back for a third season. I won’t pretend that it is. It is great that Jay Harrington tries his best to create interest as well as websites like Entertainment Weekly among others but it just wasn’t enough to help this little show. I thought this season was just as weird and quirky as the first season and one of the best shows that nobody is watching. My same friends who I’ve gotten to watch Modern Family show no interest in Better Off Ted even after I aired an episode with them. It is unfortunate because everyone does such a good job, the show is quick, slick, and hilarious. I’ve had my problems with Ted’s daughter in the past but even she improved in these last few episodes. It is a really strong ensemble cast.

I think maybe the only shining light for Better Off Ted is the cancellation of Ugly Betty. I would think if ABC was trying to shed some shows they would have announced Better Off Ted’s cancellation first or at least before a such like Ugly Betty. I’m not saying that because of Ugly Betty that Better Off Ted won’t get canceled because it is pretty likely that it will be canceled and it will be done…I’m just saying it isn’t canceled yet. However with ABC canceling a big comedy as opposed to one of their half hour ones…there is a tiny glimmer of hope. Maybe another chance for Better Off Ted to get a reprieve is an emmy nomination for Portia De Rossi, but if she didn’t get one for the first season I doubt she would get one for the second season.

So enjoy your season one DVD because maybe this show will be one of those cult favorites that nobody watched on tv but became popular after it was cancelled….meh I can only hope.

Live for the Moment “Pilot”

I like competition reality tv. You’ll notice I don’t mention things like Real Housewives, Jersey Shore, or even most of the talent reality shows. All the ones I like are elimination and competitive shows. I almost really just like the game show/reality show hybrids like Survivor, The Mole, and The Amazing Race. So I went into this knowing that it probably wasn’t going to be my cup of tea…and it wasn’t. It looked good, it was sad,  and a message was delivered but there was just nothing to keep me coming back from episode to episode. Bottom line is that it goes back to what I want to see on tv and these feel good shows are good but I just don’t find them that interesting or compelling…because there isn’t that much to it. Lets give a good person something good. That isn’t a bad thing but it is like reading or watching something where there is no conflict.

Now I think that ALS is a horrible disease and I feel terrible for Roger and the Childs family. It is also just unbearable to watch knowing what is going to happen to him. I don’t know the disease that well but I have but have witnessed its effects first hand. It is rough to see someone you know go through that and this brought back those memories, so it did its job making me sad.

Once again though it had no conflict it was just Jeff Probst tagging along with a guy on an adventure. In fact Jeff Probst was hardly in the show at all and could easily be replaced with anyone. Unfortunately for Jeff he is going to have a tough time shaking his Survivor image because even the first few moments of the show seemed like he was introducing us to a new season of Survivor. Also for a Mark Burnett show it seemed kind of tame and boring and nowhere near as epic as his other productions. It was neat seeing these adventures on tv but if anything it made me want to go skiing or go to Cape Canaveral myself instead of watch Jeff Probst let someone else do it. The ratings also tanked so that might be it for Live For The Moment however I don’t know if that is that bad of a thing.

Lost Rewatch: Season 3

This is arguably (and yes very arguably) the most forgettable season of Lost. That doesn’t mean it is terrible but in the grand scope of things this season kind of pales in comparison to the others. Though it has some of my favorite episodes and plot developments it doesn’t have the focus of the first two seasons. However because of this the best decision about Lost was made during this season and that was to set an end date. Because of the decision to set an end date the show came back together and became very focused in its final few episodes and left us with an amazing cliff hanger and a beginning to where the show would eventually take us in seasons four and five.

This season of Lost was odd to begin with. The producers didn’t want scheduling issues with ABC to keep viewers from watching it. So they decided to air six episodes in the fall and the remaining 16 in the spring. However those first six episodes were considered weak and hurt the series. At the time their was some criticism that the show was aimless and was only going to give more questions without giving any answers.

The first six episodes are kind of a short little series of their own. Kate, Jack, and Sawyer have been captured by the others and are being held on a smaller island that is off the coast of the main island. Basically they were there to get Jack to operate on a tumor on Ben’s spine. It was an interesting little diversion but once the three got back to the main island and integrated with the rest of the cast did the show start coming back together.

The feel of season three is a lot different from the first two seasons. For one the show added a lot of new characters. Not only did we deal with the likes of Nikki and Paulo but characters like Juliet and a handful of others were all introduced. Ben and Desmond were now series regulars. It gave us a lot of new material to deal with and  changed the focus of the show. It wasn’t about Oceanic Flight Survivors against the Others as much anymore but about all these deals and promises between different characters. It was about getting off the island still but the focused started to change to what the island was all about. This season also introduced us to Jacob as well as gave us the beginning of what would happen in season four with the introduction of Naomi at the end.

Because of all these new characters we were treated to some very creative flashbacks, especially since about 1/3 of them up until this point had been Jack and Kate centric episodes. We now had several flashbacks for Juliet, Desmond, Nikki and Paulo, and Ben which make this season interesting in the terms of new storylines being woven into the overall plot. In fact those flashbacks are some of my favorites. Juliet’s one is interesting and ties directly into the mystery about why pregnant women die on the island. Desmond’s flashes have always been very interesting to me and “Flashes Before Your Eyes” is one of my favorite episodes because it is entirely Desmond-centric. I have a soft spot for “Expose” because of how hilarious it is and how the show threw in some more Boone, Shannon, and Arzt. Plus Ben’s flashback about what happened to the Dharma Initiative proves to be very interesting as well.

I think the thing that takes away from this season are the few useless episodes that don’t forward the plot. “Stranger in a Strange Land” is useless and does nothing for me and it is hard to sit through “Enter 77″ and “The Man From Tallahassee” when you know those flashbacks don’t ever lead anywhere.

However I really appreciate the finale to this season and it has an amazing cliff hanger. I remember watching “Through the Looking Glass” and thinking “Why does Jack have such a new looking phone for something that happened before 2004?” and about two seconds before Kate showed up it clicked together for me. The fact that Jack and Kate had gotten off the island blew me away and put an entire new focus and spin on the show for me. That twist and game changer really helped focus the next few seasons and really gave the show a whole new meaning. The flashforward was an excellent decision and an excellent plot development.

I am trying to rack my brain for big mysteries from this season, but a lot of them have been resolved. The biggest thing at the end of the season was whose boat it was if it wasn’t Penny’s and who Jacob is, both things that we have figured it. The only big mystery from this season left is the pregnancies and I would love if they told us the answer to that question in the final season. It would just be something that bugged me if they never answered it.

Finally there were two big deaths this season. We lost Eko very quickly and I think that had more to do with Adewale Akinnoyre-Agbaje wanting to leave the show and pursue other things. I kind of found his whole storyline and plot kind of cheapened because of that. His entire plot really only leads to the question about what did Locke see when he looked at the “monster” in the first season and why the monster killed Eko. The other death was huge in the scope of the show. Charlie was one of the main characters in the pilot and I think one of the more liked one by the cast. I was never the biggest fan of Charlie but he was an integral part of the show throughout the first three seasons. His looming death made every episode tense that you were never really sure when Charlie was going to be killed off.

So in the scope of things it is hard to categorize this season which is why I think it would be forgettable. I think there are some great episodes in this season and plot developments but it does have a few focus problems. If season one was introducing the characters and season two was the hatch I guess this season would be about the others…but there are so many other things going on I don’t really know if you could say that. Great solid chapter to the Lost story and it led the way to the amazing fourth and fifth seasons.

Celebrity Big Brother UK 7 – Cycle 2

Well it seems that everyone is starting to get a little bit testy with one another. I like how it naturally progressed to this as opposed to the show trying to create conflict in the first week in some series. A lot of the time if they get  the right cast together they will start picking on each other because of their differences. Plus it is also great if there are natural differences and not cheap manufactured “I want to be a star” fights that can be seen at the beginning of the eighth and ninth series. There weren’t any huge fights this week but everyone is starting to get on each others nerves which makes the show much more compelling.

I don’t even think I mentioned Lady Sovereign in my last update of the show because I thought she was okay and she really had nothing going on. However in this second cycle of this season she has fallen really far down and I dislike her the most besides Alex. She is just so aggravating. She gets pissed at Ivana and Stephenie when they were just trying to do the best they could with the task. She gets pissed at wearing the clothes. She gets pissed at Stephen Baldwin…she just gets pissed at everyone and everything. She really just got on my nerves this time because of this and I will be happy to see her go. She just comes across as whiny and immature and needs to grow the fuck up. Seriously Lady Sovereign deal with the situation and don’t let it get to you.

Vinnie also continues to grow on me. Maybe it is his quick wit or how he just doesn’t care about any of these people. He thought there were going to be bigger celebrities and basically just tries to make fun or get a rise out of people the whole week. He realizes what this is and is just trying to enjoy himself. I love how he constantly questions Alex about his career and life in the tabloids and tries deliberately to trip Alex up…or even show Alex how big of a fool he is. I think he almost feels bad for Alex and yet also gloats at how stupid he can be. The only thing that got me confused and I am still not entirely sure what happened was when he gave up control of the kitchen. I think Vinnie himself was confused with the situation and didn’t need to snap at Nicola or the incredibly bland Dane. That was Vinnie’s only problem but otherwise he is one of the better characters in the house.

Stephen also wasn’t that bad this week. Last week they shoved his Bible beating down our throats and this week he relaxed a bit. I think he realized their was a mutiny approaching and he got a favorable edit but just looking like, as Heidi would say, the big dork that he is. Ivana has been kind of interesting this week. I like her and she is interesting. I could see her being aggravating to live with since she doesn’t ever listen to anyone else but she is an excellent companion to Stephanie and I kind of like the atmosphere she brings to the house.

Both Sisqo and Jonas fell for me in this cycle. Sisqo isn’t adding much and when he does it isn’t anything of value. I almost find him slighty obnoxious. Jonas only fell a little bit but it was basically because of his horrible attitude with Katia when she “dumped” him and just for kind of being a bit of a jackass. He thinks way to highly of himself and really isn’t that interesting at all. Stephanie and Nicola continue to be my top two in this cycle. They are just pleasant and I personally think are interesting. Nicola had an interesting little plot with Stephen talking about nominations. Stephen basically blamed Nicola when the house was punished for talking about nominations. He told her that she chooses what she wants to remember and told her it was her fault that they were punished. However Nicola went to the diary room to get some clarification and explained to Stephen that it was his fault. Stephen denied the whole thing saying that he never said anything that would be deemed as talking about nominations and said the show was trying to manipulate them. So good points for Nicola for defending herself because I am not sure anyone else would have in her situation.

The elderly task was interesting and different from tasks this summer and I enjoyed it. I also have enjoyed some of the editing tweaks this season and how they have decided to do montages instead of showing every single time stamp for every single interesting event.

This cycle though we lost Katia and Heidi. Katia wasn’t interesting and was the obvious first boot. She just wasn’t doing much besides flirting with Jonas. She was actually kind of boring. I grew to like her a little bit this round when they all made her cry but too little too late. They made a good point though when talking to her. She had told them that she didn’t want to be seen as part of this couple and wanted to be her own person. However it was quickly said to her (by Jonas?) that she was only famous because she was in a couple to begin with. Other than that though Katia added very little to the house and to the game and I am fine with her going.

I was a bit more upset that we lost Heidi over Sov. Heidi was a fire cracker. Her face looked like hell but she was funny and articulate and truly an interesting person. She did stay in bed all day but she had opinions on just about everyone. She was basically a huge bitch and got away with it which was great. She was just really entertaining and I had her up at the top of my favorite chart with Vinnie, Stephanie, and Nicola.  We lost her way too soon and perhaps if she had made it to the final 8 or so she might have come out of her shell a little more and wouldn’t stay in her bed all day. She seemed to have a difficult time in there but she was one of the better choices for this season.

I’m crossing my fingers for a Stephanie Beacham win…but I think that Vinnie might have this.

The Office Season 6 Mid-Season Premiere “The Banker”

I would hardly call this a premiere because all it was really just a clip show. No other way to even really describe it….it was kind of a waste of time and I found myself not really paying attention. The beginning was somewhat interesting with a few new details on the ongoing problems with corporate. Apparently Michael Scott is now the highest ranking member of the entire Dunder Mifflin Corporation and has a potential buyer in an investment banker. Sadly I think we have seen the last of David Wallace and if not he cannot be around for much longer. It will be interesting to see where they go with that. Otherwise besides a few new jokes like Stanley being replaced by a younger and better looking man or that Ryan still works in the closet we really didn’t get much of anything. Jim was nowhere to be found and Pam was oddly going along with Michael’s scheme to make the office look high-tech and nice. The only joke I truly appreciated was Michael replacing Toby with Dwight until Toby came in. The clips themselves were nothing new of course. They gave a pretty good overall feel of the show and highlighted some very funny and memorable moments. They didn’t have the amazing scene in Casino Night though with Jim expressing his love to Pam who was still with Roy then. So yea that was the first episode back and there isn’t an episode the week after (or tonight since I am late putting this up) so they kind of dropped the ball. I thought that originally they were going to have this as a standalone episode at the beginning of January and then have the real first episode back but I guess NBC decided not to do that anyway. So if you missed this episode…you didn’t miss a thing.

Fringe Season 2 – Episode 13 “What Lies Below”

Virus that takes control of the host and is millions of years old? Sounds a bit like X-Files…I will have to stop saying that because a lot of the episodes are like X-Files but Fringe ends up approaching the subject or the problem in a different way that continues to make the show interesting and fresh to watch. Hopefully it will continue to be fun and interesting and that FOX will pick it up next season despite its terrible ratings. I like episodes like this that take a bunch of background people who normally aren’t important and shove something like a virus or in other cases a gunman on them and basically we get to see how the react. A lot of the times they end up really developing this guest star. But they didn’t really do that. For instance they could have dealt a little bit more time with Vincent Ames and the plot about company secret stealing but it was quickly brushed under the rug when Peter got infected.It just wasn’t really explained thoroughly what exactly had happened. However it was interesting seeing all of their reactions and finding out who survived and who didn’t but I felt like they had missed their opportunity with some of the guests and developing some backstories for them because they might as well have all been wearing red shirts.

What an odd but refreshing first scene with Walter and Astrid. I especially liked the story about the monster under the bed and how he related it to people dying for the sake of everyone else. I also liked how they tied it in with the storyline for this episode and how people do survive and how hope wasn’t all lost. It was very interesting and great since we usually just get a really quick Olivia scene or none at all. Maybe it is time to give Peter his own little opening, I know they’ve set him up with Walter but it would be nice now to get a bit more from him. I did like it though it was interesting and helped develop their friendship a bit more.

Detective Kassle had quite a haircut, very big and very distracting. Also familiar, not sure who he is going to have to look it up. I also recognized the CDC head Arnold McFadden and I am going to have to look him up as well. Fringe has done a good job getting a couple of people I have recognized in the past and I love figuring out where I have seen them before.

Also one of my issue with the episode was Walter getting arrested. After all these cases and problems they can’t get Walter a simple FBI badge? Are they really that underground? If he is involved in 20 odd cases a year I would think he would have gotten one by now or have gotten some form of identification. It just blows my mind and I think that it is kind of a waste of time. The audience isn’t that stupid. Unless the FBI actually doesn’t trust Walter at all I would think they would have given him something if not a badge. Thinking about it, there are probably some tests and training you would have to go through to get a FBI badge, but I still think that Olivia would have been able to get Walter….something.

The show had a lot of great moments with Walter worrying about Peter. There was another heartbreaking scene where Walter couldn’t shake the solution to see if Peter was infected or not with the virus. Plus it was great seeing the virus take control of Peter as it got smarter and tried to escape.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was Walter accidentally revealing to Astrid that “Peter” had died before. He quickly glossed over it and at the end turned Astrid away when she asked him about it. This now puts Astrid in a very interesting position. She knows something has happened or at least something is up and neither Peter or Olivia know. This could make the next episode or the one right before the break very exciting with Astrid finally becoming a main player or really becoming involved in the overall plot.

Fringe Season 2 – Episode 12 “Johari Window”

Now back to your regularly scheduled Fringe. After last Monday’s brief trip to yesteryear, Fringe continued on with a real episode from season 2. I actually found Johari Window much more interesting and entertaining than Unearthed. The plot was fairly simple a small town in upstate New York was used during military tests. These tests experimented on frequencies and waves and how they effected the optic nerve. However the tests went bad and the entire Edina community is disfigured except that you can’t tell because one of the scientists on the project went back and perfected the frequency or the “Edina hum.” So the people who live in Edina weren’t shapeshifting at all they just appeared normal because of the frequency. However they wanted to keep this a secret and by doing so ended up killing three officers to get back one of their own children who left the community. Of course the saddest part of it all is that they were trapped in Edina unless they wanted others to see their disfigurement. Rose in particular didn’t want to be trapped and didn’t want to hide anymore but for the sake of the town and the people the hum was turned back on at the end.

It was an interesting episode. I thought it had a lot to do with confidence and truth and how one sees themselves. Are you okay living a lie as long as you are happy? That was basically the idea here. If nobody knows well that really can’t hurt them. It would have interested me to see the reactions of the children in the town who probably had never seen their true appearance before.

Peter and Olivia were pretty boring this episode. They had a lot of boring exposition and information lines and the best scenes once again went to Walter. He was trying to remember information using the tune of Carmen which he hummed through most of the episode. Plus he had an interesting scene with Astrid. Walter brought her a butterfly which was also affected by the Edina hum and it looked deformed when he brought it to her. Astrid actually seemed offended and did not think it was funny and I felt was actually kind of mean to Walter. He obviously didn’t bring it to her to be cruel but Astrid kind of went a little over the top with her reaction and made Walter seem rather sad about the whole ordeal.

I also thought it was interesting how they referred to Sasquatch and other zoological cryptids. Walter seemed to believe in them and I guess that makes sense considering the episode “Unleashed” from last year but it is too bad they made him sound relatively crazy instead of having a really good scientific example about it.

Another interesting thing about this episode was that it was called “Edina City Limits” up until January. Johari window is some psychological thing to help people get to know each other (see more at Fringepedia). I wonder if other episodes have had alternate titles? I know that “Unearthed” was called “Unearthed” because it was a “lost or discovered” episode. It would have been neat to see what that episode was originally called.

I liked this episode a lot. It seemed original for Fringe and I had not seen a lot of it. Plus it is always nice to have good standalone episodes every once and awhile when they don’t have a serialized episode. Plus Rose’s final monologue about her life was good and I liked Walter trying to save the town from further experimentation.

24 Season 8 Premiere “4 PM to 6 PM”

Toss in a little bit of the old and mix it with some new things and you have the eighth season premiere of 24. It felt very familiar but had enough going for it that I wasn’t bogged down by some of the plot points. I always appreciate the first few episodes of 24 because these episodes are much different from episode 8 or episode 14 where Jack is in the thick of things. In the first episodes we get a bit out of Jack’s current life and what is going on with him. The exposition in 24 is usually very refreshing compared to the non-stop action packed moles and mountain lions that will plague the rest of the season. Jack is now a grandpa and living in New York but is about to get on a plane to LA to live by Kim and her husband. However an old informant from Jack’s Salazar days stops by saying that President Hassan is the target in an assassination attempt…and you know what that is probably going to lead to a larger terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Jack, Chloe, Ethan, and President Taylor are all back for another day and we will be seeing Renee pop up soon. Plus a nice cameo appearance by Elisha Cuthbert who appeared as mountain lion loving Kim in the first two episodes. By the way Jack is apparently all better after being poisoned by some pathogen last year.

It was great seeing the show in HD for the first time. The city shots were all very well done and they look great and they had a sort of greyish tint to them which made it look interesting and gritty. The new CTU (or CTU from the future) looked nice. It did have a very over the top futuristic look to it which was kind of odd. However despite it being a little ridiculous it looked really cool. I would think that hand print identification, slow sliding doors, and computer screens under glass tables wouldn’t be the best choices for a fast environment but again they all looked nice. The underground entrance though seems very familiar to me. I am curious if any other shows have had a similar opening like this CTU cause I thought I saw it somewhere before.

Perhaps the most interesting character development is Chloe working in the new CTU. She is supposedly behind in the current protocols and technology advancements. She is still used to how they used to run things at the old CTU in LA and has become the butt of the jokes here. Nobody likes her and she is actually slowing them down. She had to take the job here because poor Morris O’Brien isn’t making as much money anymore. So she kind of needs the job for financial reasons. Though because of her new outsider status she had already had to work covert with Jack so that the new director of CTU didn’t find out what she was looking up.

The new people are well different and have their own personality quirks. None of them really stand out for me yet and I am not going to really get attached to people so quickly. I could see Katee Sackhoff’s role of Dana Walsh cut out very soon. We are already getting into her problems. Apparently she has a fake name and whatnot and a whole separate past. I don’t think she is the CTU mole we’ve come to know and love/hate every year but she of course is the character who is hiding some sordid past. Freddie Prinze Jr. didn’t annoy me Cole Ortiz. I actually found him kind of forgettable. I liked Rob Weiss who is on Taylor’s staff and I liked quirky Arlo who heads up CTU’s drone division.

Speaking of drones? What the hell was that all about. I heard that word a billion times. Is it really just the super high-tech satellites that they have all over the city? I don’t know what the big deal was but apparently this drones are going to cost a lot of people their lives this year.

Overall it was a nice welcome return to 24. Last year I was getting kind of sick of it but after re-watching the brilliant fifth season I am hoping we can get something like that again. Somewhere. They have the people to make this show entertaining they just need to use them correctly. I thought the pacing was good and I paid attention the whole time. I liked how the show looks and I am looking forward to whatever is the first big terrorist attack. This first one looks like it will be winding down after episode four anyway. I thought that they made it very clear that Hassan’s brother was the real mole though even though they also made it obvious who the fake one was. It will be interesting to see if this show can surprise me eight years into it. I hear this is the last season but I also hear that there is another season that is possible after this but Keifer has said he’d like to do a feature film so…we shall see.