Tag: mystery

Doctor Who 6×5 – The Rebel Flesh

As River Song would say, spoilers! Read on at your own risk.

No, seriously.

Last chance to turn back.

Look at all the space I gave you.

 

 

 

Alright, for those who are left, this is my review/recap of the latest Doctor Who episode “The Rebel Flesh”. I was originally going to wait so I didn’t have to deal with the cliffhanger, but I was convinced otherwise. So here it goes.

We start this episode in true, creepy, Doctor Who fashion. Not sure where events are taking place this time, we are left with the mystery of what we are seeing and where it will lead us. Whatever happens, we know the Doctor will become involved somehow.

Cut to the TARDIS, and our heroes our listening to Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” – something that excited me greatly. Two of the best things to come out of the UK in one place. Gotta love it.

Back to the real story, the Doctor predictable lands himself right in the middle of our latest mystery. We’re introduced to our title creature, an acid that can take the form of a living organism. Of course this is something that fascinates the Doctor. There’s a bigger problem on his mind though, and that is the solar storm that is going to hit the planet they are on.

The scene where we first see the storm coming is visually stunning. We know we should be scared of what will happen next, but it is hard to not be in awe of this massive yet beautiful surge of energy. We have heard how this show has to work with a low budget, but it is hard to tell in moments like this. It’s one of the many things that make this show so good.

Of course we’re not going to drop one story for the sake of another. The rebel flesh have been given life after the last storm, and are now wandering around the facility somewhere. The flesh have the same memories as the people they were originally based on, which will have its own consequences in the future. They may not be real to us, but in their minds they have lives of their own, and will put up a fight to keep them. They’re scared and angry and just want to survive. They don’t see themselves as monsters; they see themselves as people. It brings about an interesting question about humanity and where the line is drawn between innocent and dangerous creature.

The episode ends with the originals and the copies declaring war against each other. It’s hard to completely blame anyone for wanting to survive, but this clearly leaves the Doctor and company in a tough spot. Just when you think things can’t get any messier, a flesh copy of the Doctor appears, and we are left waiting till June 4th to see how it all ends. I look forward to the conclusion, and especially look forward to seeing two Doctors interact with each other and the repercussion that will result from this.

This Is Why We Stay in Happy Town

Sorry about the massive delay on this recap, folks, but my schedule for the past week or so has been pretty crazy. But you don’t really care about that, do you? You just want to soak up as much Happy Town as you can before it goes away forever. So, here it goes…

*Note: if you haven’t watched this one yet then you are slower than I am – congratulations! If you are worried about being spooled then you should probably get watching before you read this though. This is your SPOILER ALERT, people. You have been warned*

Last week Rachel reappeared after being kidnapped from the Magic Man. This week we see her making an attempt to get her life back on track while the rest of the town tries to figure out what to do next. Rachel may have come back safely, but the rest of the missing people are still out there, and there is renewed hope that they are still alive. Rachel is having trouble adjusting though, and who can blame her? She’s been through a trauma bad enough that she doesn’t remember any of it. I honestly couldn’t blame her for wanting to leave town. Normally I would be angry at the husband for not joining her, but I understand his need to stay in town and make every effort to catch this guy. As bad as he probably wanted it before, it has now become personal. There is no way he stops digging until he finds the guy responsible for causing so much destruction for his hometown. I was really glad to see Rachel not only understand that, but realize her place was right there by his side. Kudos!

At this point I’d like to give my award for most interesting character – The most interesting character on this show has to be Henley. In this episode we see her making some deal with Mrs. Haplin where she swaps the mystery hammer for a whole lot of cash. Curiouser and curiouser. Seems she is being blackmailed for something though because Mrs. Haplin doesn’t want her leaving their happy little town. I know we’re supposed to get the Magic Man mystery solved, but I wonder how much we’ll eventually figure out about Henley and any other questions we have unanswered right now. I hope they don’t leave us hanging too much or I will be a very unhappy customer.

Speaking of the Magic Man, it cannot be coincidence that the disappearances stopped when Greggy went to jail and promptly started up again the minute he got back. On the other hand, it seems almost too obvious. Also, Greggy seems smart enough to realize if he started up again right away that he would be the #1 suspect (assuming he is the Magic Man, that is). Would he really be stupid enough to leave such an obvious trail leading straight to him? I’m not completely convinced yet.

Award for second most interesting character goes to Merritt Grieves. From a conversation with Rachel Conroy we learn that his son went missing, and he believes the Magic Man is the one who took him. He asks Rachel if she will allow him to try to help her remember what happened when she was taken. As a psychology student I’m somewhat skeptical on whether or not hypnosis actually works. Even still, I enjoy when it is used as a plot device. That’s the beauty about fiction – you don’t have to believe things really work to enjoy them. In this case it helps Rachel remember flashes, but not who actually took her. We do get a sense that wherever she was taken was the same place the other women were being held, which means that those who are missing are likely still alive.

The only story from this episode that seemed to have no purpose was Georgia and Haplin’s son wandering through the forest in an attempt to get away from the craziness of the town. That was until they found a camper hidden in said forest. A camper that seems to belong to the Magic Man, as it has something that belongs to one of the victims. Whoever owns the camper drives off before the kids can get out. Not sure if he realizes he has a stow-away or not, but pretty soon it won’t matter. There’s nowhere for these kids to hide, so they’ll be discovered sooner or later.

Final wrap-up for this one – the police have found evidence that suggest the first victim was involved with John Haplin. This same evidence also suggests to them that Haplin might possibly be the guy they are looking for and only kidnapped his daughter to divert suspicion. I would have thought the same except he looked genuinely concerned about his daughter’s disappearance. Unless that was just guilt over what he had done…?

The only other thing worth noting is Henley asking Grieves for help in getting the money to mystery person (who I think is her mother but I’m not sure if they actually said it was or I just made it up in my head). Grieves says yes, but while he’s on the train heading out of town someone grabs him from behind. For those who had to wait a whole week for the conclusion of that – I’m sorry. The ending kinda made me glad I waited so long to finally watch this one. No worries though, I will definitely be watching tonight’s episode either tomorrow or Friday, so there won’t be as long a wait for my next recap.

What did you think of this episode? How about the show in general? As usual, feel free to sound off in the comments section below.

Polly Wants A Crack At Happy Town

It was announced recently that Happy Town would be pulled after this week, with the remaining episodes airing starting June 2. To all my fellow Happy fans, I mourn with you. This series showed a lot of promise, and I am disappointed in the network for not giving it enough time to blossom into the great product it could have become. Two episodes simply wasn’t enough time to determine if you had a hit show here. I am very disappointed with ABC in not having a little more faith and giving it somewhat of a chance. Hopefully they will at least let the mystery wrap up, although with only 5 episodes left I seriously doubt that will be the case. What will more likely happen is we will get highly invested in a great mystery only to be disappointed when we don’t get all the answers we want. I just hope they prove me wrong.

Complaining about network issues is not the reason for this post though. No, the real purpose here is to recap tonight’s episode and sift through all the shiny new details we got about the residents of Haplin. So, without further ado, I present my recap of “Polly Wants A Crack At Her”…

When last we left Happy Town, Henley had just gotten into her auto accident due to the giant bird crashing through her windshield. Cue the cheerful little ditty with lyrics about being dead. One of the things I will miss about this show is it’s quirky choice of song placement.

Last week we had also learned that Dave was the one who killed Friddle, claiming it was because he believed him to be the Magic Man and he was therefore doing a service to the community. Debate: If Friddle really was the Magic Man, does that give Dave the right to take the law into his own hands?

This week we saw Dave and Tom Conroy looking for the bodies Friddle supposedly buried. The problem is they can’t seem to find said bodies where they are supposed to be. Looks like Friddle wasn’t our Magic Man after all… because that would have been too easy.

And what about our mysterious Mr. Merritt Grieves? Well, today we see him interact with Conroy’s wife and daughter. He talks bird myths – “In some cultures the frequent appearance of a bird is a harbinger of things to come” – and magic journals. The little girl’s reaction to this was adorable (and exactly the same as mine would have been). Where’d Grieves get the journal from though?

Apparently Happy Town has a thing for birds, because there is another reference to them later on when Bravin is describing the Magic Man. One of the things he mentions is the Magic Man having a giant bird with him with wings of fire. The bird’s name – Cicero. Let the analysis commence.

Going back to Henley though – she is found by a mysterious stranger called Aidan who helps her back to town (after bringing her to a vet to be checked out and sexing her up a bit). Who is this Aidan fellow though, and where did he come from? And is it just coincidence that he happens to find Henley right after her accident?

If nothing else, Aidan seems to give Henley a reason to stay in town a while longer. What is really interesting though is that some of the ladies in the boarding house seemed to recognize him, although we realize who he is by the end of the episode.

It wouldn’t be an episode of Happy Town, it seems, without a mysterious phone call from Henley to mystery person. Hopefully within the next 5 episodes we finally get to see who this person is and what they are about. Tantalizing quote of the night, “I’ll go see her and get it done.” See who?! And get what done?! Oh, HT, please don’t leave me in suspense much longer. I get enough mysteries on Lost. I’m not sure how much more I can take.

Getting back to Henley though – she realizes the mystery hammer is missing and Aidan probably took it. Speaking of Aidan, turns out his full name is Aidan Gregory Stiviletto – the brother that Tom Conroy sent to prison (and who was supposed to be in jail still). Oh, and he has a grudge against Conroy – a fact we spent practically the whole episode establishing before finally getting the big reveal. To make matters worse, Conroy’s wife goes conveniently missing right around the same time. Too easy? Possibly. But sometimes the simplest solution is the right one.

As Tom goes looking for his wife, he remembers something his dad said about the Magic Man, “He’ll be back, now that blood’s been spilled again, everything will unravel.” Add to that the daughter saying something about the man made the writing go away in the journal (which Mom was holding before she disappeared) and a giant hawk flying over them (which I think we are meant to believe is Cicero) and we’ve got ourselves a chilling scene here, folks. It would appear the Magic Man is back and has kidnapped the sheriff’s wife. Based on the comment about the journal, I’m going to take a guess that Grieves is going to have some connection to this case. I won’t go so far as to say he is the Magic Man though. No, I actually like Aidan for that one (depending on how his prison sentence overlaps with the crimes). If I am right, I think they stopped when he went to jail and are now conveniently starting up with him back out. Speaking of which, how exactly did he get out of prison two years early? With only five episodes left we don’t have much time left to answer all of these questions.

Desperate Housewives – The Ballad of Booth

*Do I really have to say it? Spoilers ahead, people*

We left off last week with Patrick cornering Angie and saying he needed a favor. This week we start with the flashback that explains how Angie dropped out of college and joined the eco group that Patrick ran. She built him a bomb, but didn’t like the results so she ran. We learn the favor previously mentioned is this: he wants her to make him another bomb.

The rest of Wisteria lane isn’t quite as happening, but there are still stories to tell. Lynette is starting to get suspicious with Eddie’s mother missing, but not nearly suspicious enough. She still sees him as this sweet kid, instead of the monster he truly is. Just you wait, Lynette. You’ll find out soon enough…

Gaby and Carlos looked to be the comic relief for the night, but it was just a red herring. They started off fighting about Gaby’s lasagna, but this quickly turned into Gaby getting caught in the middle of Angie’s problems.

Susan and Mike are still dealing with their financial troubles. It turns out some of the problem is that Mike didn’t request payment up-front from some of his customers. Susan decides she is going to get them to pay up by guilting them into it.

Bree is still trying to figure out how to deal with Sam. Andrew seems to be the only one who isn’t scared of him. Orson comes up with the idea to offer Sam a large sum of money to make him go away.

And all that was just the beginning. Intrigued? Well hold onto your hats, kids. Because this week was full of twists and turns down Wisteria Lane.

Let’s start with Lynette. The police discover Irina’s body in the woods and visit Lynette’s house looking for Porter. They want to ask him a few questions, but he is on a camping trip with his brother. Know who is at the house though? Eddie. And he overhears everything. So he decides he is going to move back home, claiming he doesn’t want to get in their way during these difficult times. Lynette says she thinks of him as family and he should stay. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why are you so dumb, Lynette?!” I quickly changed my tune when she hugged Eddie goodbye though. I actually feel sorry for her now that she is getting attached to him. Especially when she finds out the truth… but that comes later.

Next I’m going to shock you by actually talking about my favorite story early in the recap instead of “saving the best for last”. This is mostly because Gaby had some crossover here and she was next on my list. First I would like to say that Patrick actually seems delusional enough that he honestly believes his plans to blow more things up is the best solution to saving the planet. This is what he and Angie are fighting about when Gaby knocks on the door, asking Angie for her lasagna recipe. Way to walk in at the worst possible moment, Gabs. I loved Patrick’s line at the end of this scene though. “You know how to make a bomb and you haven’t used one on her yet?” Classic. Eventually Danny comes home and finds his mother handcuffed to the bed. He says he got a text message from her telling him to come home, but it turns out that Patrick was the one who really sent it to trick him out of hiding. He also says that Danny is the “piece that was missing,” referring to a conversation the two of them had in the coffee shop. Patrick apparently tells Danny that they are father and son, but most of this happens off-screen. We only got the end of the conversation to let us know it had happened. I was disappointed we didn’t get to see the whole thing for ourselves. A word of advice for Patrick though – telling your son about your relationship while you have him tied to a chair… you are sooooo not winning Father of the Year for that one. And trying to make his real parents look bad because they lied? Please tell me that doesn’t work on him. I mean, he has to realize you were dangerous and they were just trying to protect him… right? And finally, way to go Gaby walking into the worst situation ever… AGAIN. So much for Gaby being the comic relief for the evening. Angie tries sneaking a note in the lasagna she brings over, but Gaby throws it out without noticing it. Lucky for us her girls are hungry, hungry hippos and dig it out of the trash. They find the note that was hidden inside, “Danny and I held hostage. No cops. Get Nick.” Looks like Gaby is officially involved in the outcome of this story.

Gaby isn’t the only one in a dangerous situation though. For that matter, the only one who isn’t dealing with life-or-death stuff is Susan. I’m sorry but her storyline seems really weak compared to what the rest of the ladies have to deal with. Real quick: she goes to all Mike’s customers and gets them to cough up the money they owe. Yeah it was fun watching her threaten everyone (especially the lady with the Hummels) but other than that this story has been underwhelming. Even when she tells everyone she is moving off of Wisteria Lane, I wasn’t that worried about her. I mean, she is moving to an apartment nearby, so it doesn’t mean she is leaving the show. That would have made for a different story.

Moving on to more important matters… Bree tries to get Sam to leave after handing him a large sum of money, but that doesn’t work according to plan. (I know, *shock*and*awe*, right?) Sam merely rips up the check and says she can’t buy him off. Oh, and let’s not forget the threats. “If you ever insult me again you’re going to wish you hadn’t.” Bree dishes it as well as she can take it though. She introduces him to a couple of ex-cops that she catered retirement parties for. The image of Sam sitting between these two rather large, threatening men as they told stories about the things they could do to make someone hurt was wonderful. The best was them casually letting him know they knew where he lives. That’ll teach Sam to mess with Bree Hodge. Or so we thought… Instead he takes it up to the next level. He tells Bree he wants her to sell him the company and uses knowledge he learned about Andrew running Carlos’ mother over as leverage. Looks like there’s more trouble ahead for this family.

Going back to Lynette now… Preston gets cleared for Irina’s murder but feels guilty for bringing her to America in the first place. Meanwhile, Lynette overhears that the police found the body of Eddie’s mother. She goes to tell Eddie about this, but he mentions having just talked to his mother before Lynette gets the chance to say anything. This makes Lynette think they must have made a mistake and she’s not really dead. When Eddie hears about them finding the body though, his reaction tells Lynette that he lied about talking to her. Now she is about to see what Eddie really is.

To be continued…

It occurs to me that a lot needs to happen in the last episode of the season (which is next week). We have Patrick’s endgame for starters, which could be the whole hour easy. And what happened to him affecting the lives of everyone on Wisteria Lane? It definitely said that in multiple interviews that John Barrowman did after announcing he got the part. So far only Gaby has gotten involved. And what about Lynette? We all know she has to go into labor while Eddie has her, right? Hopefully this kid shows he has a heart and helps her when the time comes. As for Bree, she still has to deal with Sam’s threat to her family. Does she give in to his demands for ownership of the company? Or does she find some way to stop him from spilling what he knows about Andrew? I don’t see how they are going to get through it all. Obviously some of it will carry over into the next season, but most of it should happen in the next episode. I guess we’ll just have to tune in next week to find out how it all ends.

The Shepherd’s Tale

Firefly fans get ready, because one of the mysteries left after the show ended will finally be seeing some light. Shepherd Book may have not received a lot of screen time, but there were certainly mysteries surrounding his character that fans were dying to have answered. For one thing he didn’t really seem to fit on the ship with the rest of society’s rejects. For another, he didn’t always act like a holy man ought to. Well our questions will finally be answered in November thanks to Dark Horse comics. Joss Whedon and his brother Zack will be writing the graphic novel which goes into the past of one Shepherd Book. Looks like those nagging questions will finally be answered.