Once Upon A Time 1.2-The Thing You Love Most-My Thoughts

After last weeks brilliant pilot, episode two had some big shoes to fill...and it didn't disappoint.

We open where we left off last week, with Henry watching the clock start to move again.

I really loved the opening sequence, with the townsfolk going about their morning (and noticing the the clock is once again ticking) while Cat Steven's plays 'Don't Be Shy'.

We then see Regina flipping through the pages of Henry's story book. This, and the look on her face, lead me to believe that maybe she DOESN'T remember being the evil queen!
She discovers the last few pages are missing and confronts Henry about it, who brushes her off.

Regina then heads over to Emma's room at the B&B with a peace offering...a basket of juicy red apples (HA!).
She then proceeds to threaten Emma again and we flash to the fairy tale world.

The Evil Queen is in her castle just after her trip to Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding.
We get our first glimpse of the Magic Mirror. The effects here are great, but I really disliked what they did to his voice. He sounds so tinny...like he's talking through a really bad phone connection.

The Queen tells the Mirror and her henchman about the curse she plans to use and they try to talk her out of it.
Of course, that doesn't work so Queenie heads over to Maleficent's to get her curse back.
Maleficent is played by the awesome Kristin Bauer (Pam from True Blood)
In a VERY cool scene, the two witches battle it out, with the Evil Queen winning and taking the curse.

The Evil Queen gathers the Evil League of Evil together and convinces them to help with the curse. This was another great scene. The witch with her eyes sewn shut was especially creepy.

The Evil Queen's attempt at the curse fails and when an evil little gnome laughs at her, she turns him to stone....Which we then see in Regina's garden is Storybrooke.

The editor of the local newspaper, Storybrooke Daily Mirror (can you guess who he was in fairy tale land?) shows up as Regina is picking some apples in her garden and she threatens him. She REALLY likes to threaten people.

Meanwhile, Henry meets up with Emma and she walks him to school. Henry explains that the residents of Storybrooke have been walking around in a haze for decades, not aging, not remembering and not realizing anything is wrong.
Henry gives Emma the missing pages from the story book and tells her to read them.

Emma then runs into Mary and asks who Henry thinks she is from the story book. Emma's face is priceless when Mary says 'Snow White'.

Emma heads over to Archie's office to talk to the shrink. Archie gives Emma Henry's file to read.
Of course, this is a set up and the police show up at Emma's door because Archie reported that Emma had stolen the file...as Regina told him to.

Regina shows up at Henry's school to tell him Emma was arrested and tells him Emma is a con man.
Of course, Henry doesn't believe a word.

Emma tries to convince the sheriff that she's being framed and Henry walks in with Mary, who bails Emma out.

In a kickass scene, Emma goes to Regina's and cuts a branch off her apple tree with a chainsaw...and then threatens Regina.

Flash over to fairy tale land where the Evil Queen is talking to her henchman about the curse not working.
The henchman tells her she has to go find out why it didn't work from the source.
She goes to see our dear Rumpelstiltskin!
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Robert Carlisle is BRILLIANT is this role. He completely steals the whole scene!
He's so much fun to watch!

Rumpelstiltskin makes a deal with the Evil Queen. He'll tell her what she wants to know if she'll give him money and power in the new land...and if she promises to do everything he asks there as long as he says, 'please'. She agrees because he won't remember her promise in the new land...or so she thinks!


Rumpelstiltskin tells her that to make the curse work, she must cut out the heart of the person she loves the most and use it as a sacrifice.
The Queen's first response is, "What I loved most died because of Snow White." Oooh...what could that be, I wonder?
She then realizes that there IS another person she loves.

Back in Storybrooke, Grandma kicks Emma out of her room at the B&B...again because of Mayor Regina, and the sheriff goes to talk to Regina about Emma. She threatens him (again with the threatening?!) and he explains to her that it's just going to go back and forth between Regina and Emma unless Regina steps up to be the bigger person.
Regina calls Emma and invites her over for a chat.
She apologizes to Emma and explains that she feels threatened by her. She's worried that Emma will try to take Henry away from her.
Emma tells Regina that she's just worried about Henry, considering all of the crazy stories he's come up with.
Henry overhears this...because Regina knew he'd be there to hear it...and he runs off after he hears Emma say he's crazy.

Back to fairy tale land where the Evil Queen is conflicted about her decision. She tells her henchman what Rumple said and the henchman realizes HE is the one she loves the most. We then discover that the henchman is the Evil Queen's father. Ooh, didn't see that twist at all!

Her father tries to convince her not to do it. That's she's better than this. That she needs to let go and start over and find love again.
The Queen can't let go of what Snow did to her...what she took away from her...and she feels she must punish Snow White.
The Queen then kills her father.

In Storybrooke, Emma goes to see Mary to pay back the bail money. The two then bond over cocoa with cinnamon and cookies (but neither of them realize they're bonding).
Emma wants to leave Storybrooke, but Mary convinces her to stay.

Henry is visiting with Archie and Emma shows up. Archie tries to explain that the mayor made him call the police and Emma understands.
Emma then tells Henry that she doesn't think he's crazy. She tells him she told Regina what she needed to hear and that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking they're non-believers.
Emma then throws the pages from the book into the fire so Regina will never see them.
Henry is overjoyed and gives Emma a hug. D'aww. *sniffle*

Back in fairy tale land, the Evil Queen's curse works.
She goes to her father's headstone to tell him she loves him...and we see his name was Henry. *gasp!*

In a fabulous the last scene, Mr. Gold shows up as Regina is again out with her apple tree. Gold tells her that Emma hasn't left town after all.
He tells her she should have come to him to get rid of Emma. Regina replies, "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore."
Gold asks which deal she's referring to and then guesses she means, "The boy I procured for you."
He goes on to tell her what a lovely name she chose for her son and inquires how she chose it.
Regina asks Gold if he wanted Emma to come to town. She wonders where he found Henry. She asks him if he knows something. She asks him who Emma really is.
When Gold tries to leave without answering, Regina tries to make him answer.
Gold refuses and says, "I'm not going to answer you. So I suggest you excuse me.....please."
And Regina lets him go with a stunned look on her face.

So! Another brilliant episode, in my opinion! It's been a long, long time since I looked forward to a show like this (since Lost!).
I find myself paying close attention to every detail, scanning the background for hints and clues and easter eggs.
I love the effects, the acting (even Henry has grown on me!), the plots, the guest stars....Okay, I love everything about this show!

Now, what questions do we have after this episode?

-Does Regina remember being the Evil Queen? After that last scene with Mr. Gold, I think she does.
-Does Mr. Gold remember? Again, after that last scene, I'm going with a yes.
-Who is the Sheriff? I still say he's the big bad wolf...although he's not seeming very bad to me.
-What did Snow White take from the Queen? Possibly Prince Charming? Hmm.
-How will Emma and Henry try to get everyone to remember?


And the Lost references I picked up in this episode:
-Emma's room at the B&B was #4.
-Archie had a framed photo of an island on the wall of his office.
-Henry's school uniform had a lighthouse in the crest.

I'm sure there are more I missed! Did anyone else see any? What were your thoughts on tonight's episode?

As always, questions and comments are welcome!

Supernatural-Shut Up, Dr. Phil

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a big Buffy fan...and a HUGE Spike fan in particular... so this episode was a real treat for me. I was so happy it didn't disappoint!

In the most light episode so far this season, the amazing James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter play a pair of married witches who's relationship is on the rocks.

Both still look gorgeous and it was just so much fun to see them together again!

Okay, enough fawning over the Buffy alum...

Dean's guilt seems to be slowly eating away at him. He's having nightmares and his drinking is almost out of control. Of course, Sam wants to talk about it but Dean being Dean, he won't open up to his brother.

The deaths/near deaths in this episode were very inventive!

Baking under a hairdryer (why couldn't she get out, exactly?), boiled in a hot tub, nail gunned in a port-a-potty, choking on a beating heart cupcake, decapitation with a silver platter.

I'm really hoping we see James Marsters back in a future episode. I mean, the guy is the only one so far that can mess up a Leviathan!
Speaking of which, WHY didn't Sam and Dean find out what spell Don used to knock the Leviathan out?!

Best lines:

-Dean, to Sam: "Why don't you just run home, 'Lance'?"

 

-Sam, to Dean: -"Really? From a....friggin' flask? What are you? 'Bad Santa'?" 

-Dean (on the phone)-"Bobby, hey, it's Dean. *pause* Winchester! *pause* Yeah, very funny."

-Dean, while eating a whole pie: "Dude. Pie."

-Don- "You're one to talk! 1492 ring a bell?"

Maggie?-"The man was about to set sale. He could possibly fall off the end of the earth!"

-Dean, to Sam: "The Lindberg baby? My fault. Unemployment? My bad."

Questions:

What's the Leviathan's next move?

How bad is Dean's drinking going to get?

What is Sam going to do about Dean's drinking?

Will Don be back?

How will the boys defeat the Leviathans?

Will Sam find out about Amy? And when?

Let's hear your thoughts about Shut Up, Dr. Phil! Comments here or over on the SPACE Facebook page are always welcome!

Happy Birthday, Teddy Wilson!

Today (October 26) is Teddy Wilson's birthday!

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE birthdays. Not just my own, but anyone's birthday!
I always try to make birthdays very special...I've thrown more surprise parties than I can count!


Being a big fan of the SPACE channel and being lucky enough to consider Teddy a friend, I decided to write a little something in honour of his special day.


So without further adieu, here's a little something I call--

A Poem For Teddy

By Christina B.

A day for Teddy, that loveable geek.

(You know, at his age, he's considered antique.) ;)

Lets see how he started, our dear Teddy-boy, 

In this little poem, I hope you enjoy.

Eastern Ontario is the place he called home, 

Our nation's capital gave us this handsome gnome.

A child actor! Believe it or not.

On a national show (that I liked a lot).

"You Can't Do That On Television", is what it was called.

With Ross and the slime and the water and all.

Our Teddy was "Ted" then, when the show biz bug bit,

Fast forward to college! Where he read, learned, and, er....writ. ;)

With an Honours B.A. in Political Sci,

Away to Toronto, our Teddy did fly!

With a day job in politics, and nights in comedy,

He eventually moved on, and joined MTV.

A few years producing, then again, on he moved.

This time to SPACE...and the station improved. ;)

As on-air reporter, his very first gig,

Was Lucas at Skywalker Ranch, WOW,  that's BIG!

InnerSPACE came along, and he joined Ajay Fry,

Now the two go together, like science and Nye.

Four nights a week, they'd head-butt and conflict,

Ted's, "They're building an army!" became a favourite subject.

Now five nights a week, and with Cynthia Loyst, 

InnerSPACE added beauty, more brains, a new voice.

The show keeps him busy, with celebs and events,

But Teddy stays grounded, he has no pretense.

So what does he do in his free time, you ask?

Why he plays the drums, in a band that's kickass!

His band is called Huddle, (you should buy their CD!),

Their music is wicked, have a listen and see!

Teddy also likes comics and movies and Sam,

(Sam is his girlfriend! A hawt redhead and genre fan!)

He lives a charmed life, and he knows that he's blessed.

"I'm so lucky! I know it!", he's been known to confess.

I'm so honoured to say that I've met Teddy twice, 

And in person, I promise that he IS just as nice.

He gives hugs and takes photos, a kind word for each viewer,

He's smart, sweet and funny, he has definite allure. ;)

So today, my friend Teddy, on this, your birthday, 

May you always be loved, live your dreams, ever play.

That's my wish for you, all the best that life brings,

Happy birthday, dear Teddy! (Please don't let Ajay sing!) ;)

I hope y'all enjoyed it! I'm pretty darn proud of it, myself. ;)
(Praise, pats on the back and general fawning are always welcome in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter!)

Much Ado About Nothing?

Twitter and entertainment news sites are all abuzz today with this news.

Apparently Joss had time to film this while he was shooting The Avengers!

And according to Nathan Fillion's Twitter, "Oh, it's real. Very. Very. Real."

Ahem..........SQUEEEEEEEE!

Once Upon A Time-Pilot-My Thoughts

You know, I wasn't planning on blogging about this series. I mean, I already post about too many shows, right?


And then I watched the pilot. Holy COW, I love this show. I mean, LOVE. There are no words strong enough to explain the love I feel for this show.


From the amazingly strong beginning to the emotional fist-pumping ending, I was literally glued to my TV.

Some of the highlights for me:


I loved the awesome cameo by Warren Christie (Alphas) as the married blind date guy.


Every single one of the flashbacks.


Robert Carlisle was brilliant as Rumpelstiltskin. He stole every scene he was in.

The characters around the table. I spotted red Riding Hood and Grandma, Doc, one of the seven dwarves, Jiminy Cricket, Geppetto and Pinocchio, and the Blue Fairy came in with the tree.


Did you spot Grumpy whistling "Whistle While You Work" in the cell next to Emma's?


Prince Charming being alive (in a coma?) in the hospital and Mary Margret bringing him flowers.

The clock ticking once at the end. 




Some observations:


Poor Emma and her sad little birthday cupcake with one candle. I'm glad the writers got into a bit of her backstory...being abandoned on the side of the freeway, growing up in foster homes. That gives her a way to relate to Henry.


The Evil Queen is the Mayor. Does she remember? I think she does. And it's obvious Mr. Gold does too.


The Sheriff...The Big Bad Wolf?


Does Mary Margret know Prince Charming? 


I'm a little iffy about the kid. I'm not sure I like him yet. GOOD child actors are so hard to find.




Did you spot the Lost references? Here are the few I found:


The clock is stopped at 8:15.
Henry lives at house number 108.
Emma has a Geronimo Jackson bumper sticker.


I'm really crossing my fingers that the show can keep up the pace and story-telling as well as it did in the pilot. 
I'm looking forward to next week!

Supernatural-Defending Your Life-My Thoughts

It's great to have another monster of the week episode. It definitely feels like the show is going back to its roots (finally!).


This episode was so heartbreaking. I was so glad to see Jo back, and she was brought back in a really great way.
She did her best to try to defend Dean while on the stand.

It was so heart-wrenching that it had to be Jo who was going to kill Dean, but she made sure to tell him that Osiris is making her do it...The whole scene between Jo and Dean at the hotel was just beautifully done.


He finally opens up and admits how guilty he feels for bringing Sam (and Jo) into hunting and Jo gets a chance to tell him her death isn't on his hands.
The tender last moment when Jo touched Dean's cheek before she disappeared brought tears to my eyes.


I enjoyed the opening homage to Stephen King, with the car and the dog. I was waiting for the creepy clown to pop up next, but WHY does no one ever stay in the salt when they're told to stay in the salt?! 


Dean probably made the right choice, not letting Osiris (who was played brilliantly, by the way) call his third witness. You know it would have been Amy, right?
And you also know that when Sam DOES find out what Dean did to Amy, it will happen at the worst time possible because the writers just love to torture us (and the boys) that way!


I was kind of hoping they'd go to Osiris in the future to ask for help defeating the Leviathans....I guess that might still be possible since the fix is temporary.


I really enjoyed this episode. We had some great character development in both Sam, who we now know is happier than he was in hell (Um, ya think?) and really doesn't feel much guilt about anything he may have done in the past, and Dean, who (hopefully) realizes that he doesn't need to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.


Questions:
Where are the Leviathans?
WILL Sam find out about Amy?
Will some of Dean's guilt lessen after the talk with Jo?
Will Dean stop drinking so much now? ;)


Best lines:
Sam-"What is it? Some kind of ghost?"
Dean: "With a license?......*pause, grin*.....A license to kill!"
Sam-"Seriously?"


Sam, to Dean-"I saw that on 'The Good Wife'."


Dean, to Sam-"This whole thing's like an episode of Pee Wee's Playhouse."


The Rabbi, to Sam-"I'm guessing you're not here for Bar Mitzvah lessons."




What did YOU think of this week's episode? I'd love your thoughts! Comments are always welcome!


Next week's episode is one I'm REALLY looking forward to. It guest stars Charisma Carpenter and James Marsters, who played Cordelia and Spike on Buffy and Angel!
I can't wait to see it!

The Walking Dead Season 2 Premiere-What Lies Ahead

So, WOW, Right?! I mean....WOW!

BEST premiere of the new fall season, BEST Walking Dead episode yet!

My heart was in my throat and I watched while peeking through my fingers during the first 30 heart-stopping minutes.
You were just waiting for the moment a hand was going to reach under a car and grab someone!

The balance of quiet anticipation and full out zombie-bashing was fantastic, and this episode showed a lot of character development.
-Rick's steely demeanor while Daryl is slicing open the walker and pawing through the innards, and his almost brazen attitude while killing the zombies.

-Daryl saving T-Dog's life not once, but TWICE.
-Andrea moving on from pathetic 'poor me' to finally standing up for herself, making her own decisions.
-Shane deciding to leave the group because he's tired of being the third wheel (and tired of the guilt he feels).
-Carl stepping out of the background and finding a cache of weapons and going on the search for Sophia.

Every scene in this episode was poignant and important, although I found Rick's scene in the church a little over done.

And holy CRAP, what an ending!

You think the writers are giving you a treat. A reminder that in a world full of death and chaos and terror, beauty can be found...and then, BANG.
I literally yelled out loud (a very bad word that I won't repeat here) at my TV when the shot went off.

The only bad side to watching it live was all of the commercials. Seriously, AMC?! Do we really need a commercial break every 5 minutes??

Because of that, I'll be PVRing all future episodes and watching them later in the evening.

Things to think on:
Where is Sophia?
How long will they look for her?
Who shot Carl?
Will Shane and Andrea leave?
Who was transmitting the radio signal and are they still alive?

Most gruesome scene: Daryl gutting the zombie. The sounds and gore were awesomely disgusting!

Best zombie kill: Daryl's shot with the crossbow through the eye of the walker in the forest.

Let's hear your thoughts about this episode!
Comments are always welcome!

Fringe-Subject 9-My Thoughts

Finally, with Subject 9, we're back to the Fringe I know and love! The best episode so far this season.

We open in Olivia's bedroom, where she wakes to find a big blue ball of energy hovering over her bed. As she points her gun at it, it disappears. She finds that all the metal in the room is in the middle of the floor.

At the lab, Walter is conducting an experiment with a peanut (and Astrid mentions shrimp, which was a great Buffy nod!) and mentions watching the Matrix, which was another great shout out.

Olivia tells Walter about the energy ball and she shows a burned spot on her arm where the energy touched her and asks Walter if it's possible she's causing it.

Walter avoids the question and walks away. Finding a letter from St. Claire's in the pocket of Olivia's jacket, he steals a peek and realizes they want Olivia to make the decision to commit him again. He quickly hides the letter back in her jacket before she can see him.

Back at Olivia's apartment, Astrid and Olivia are taking readings. On his monitor, Walter sees Olivia get trapped in the bathroom a minute before it actually happens.

Again, the large ball of energy appears in front of her before it poofs away.

Many differences come out in this episode, a big one being that apparently Olivia has always remembered the cortexiphan trials and she's never met any of the other cortexiphan children.

Walter tells Olivia of a boy who had an astral projection ability (remember that from the title sequence?), but the ability had a side effect that created a distortion in the magnetic field that would attract metal objects to himself.

Walter explains that maybe, because of the deep bond the cortexiphan children shared, this boy may now be targeting Olivia because she was the favourite child.

Olivia and Astrid head to Massive Dynamic to see what Nina knows about 'Subject 9'. Finally, we get to see Nina again, and it appears that she's a very different Nina.

Walter has a great one-sided exchange with Nina in Astrid's ear full of venom and anger. I laughed!

In this reality, Nina and Olivia appear to be VERY close, with Nina being a mother-figure to Olivia, even mentioning being a part of Olivia's teen years.

Weeeeird.

While searching through Massive Dynamics files, Olivia tells Astrid about the cortexiphan trials and that she got out when she ran away.

They find Subject 9's file, who is a boy named Cameron James.

They head back to the lab, where they find Walter waiting by the door with a suitcase. After being confined to the lab (by choice) for three years, he now wants to go help Olivia talk to Cameron.

He tells Astrid, "Claire, would you please man the cameras in my absence."

Astrid replies, "Really? Claire? That doesn't even start with an 'A'"
Yes, that made me laugh out loud.

Walter and Olivia arrive at Cameron James' apartment and find it empty. Walter notices there' s no metal at all in the apartment and it appears Cameron has changed his name to Mark Little.

After a weird bit of flirting from Walter, the neighbour tells them Mark will be back in the morning.

Olivia and Walter find a hotel where Walter promptly has a major freak out, screaming, smashing lamps and overturning furniture because of his germophobia.

Olivia calms him down and Walter apologizes, saying Elizabeth, his wife, used to say he was a man of contradictions. He then tells Olivia that she killed herself after Peter died as a child.

Olivia decides that maybe going out for root beer floats is a better idea than staying at the hotel.

I love the exchange between Olivia and Walter at the cafe. Their relationship is so loving and so caring and it's a real joy to watch.

Walter tells Olivia that he read the letter from St. Claire's. Olivia tells him that whatever she decides to do, she's only trying to do what's best.

Suddenly, the big blue ball appears in the cafe.

Olivia and Walter escape through the broken window and the energy ball follows Olivia, disappearing when it's hit by a car.

Olivia pulls rank on the local PD, showing the lieutenant a paper with Broyles name and Broyles boss's name on it.

Whoever Broyles boss is, he must be pretty powerful because the cop backed right off.

Olivia and Walter head back to Little's apartment. As they talk along the way, we find out that in this reality, none of the cortexiphan children's abilities lasted any longer than 24 hours.

Olivia goes inside, leaving Walter outside on a bench. Little tries to run when Olivia mentions the name Cameron James.

As he's running, he bumps into Walter who's come inside and recognizes him. Olivia catches up and tries to shake the truth out of him, asking him why he's doing this to her.

Walter tells Olivia not to kill the guy and Little recognizes Olivia's name. He tells her it's not him that's doing anything.

He can no longer astral project but he still has the awful side effects.

As he's talking, the energy ball appears and then disappears when Subject 9 gets upset and shouts, stopping it.

Walter thinks Little may be able to neutralize the energy with some amplification from a power sub-station.

Little tells Olivia that when his powers first came back, he thought something was attacking him and he wonders if it's Olivia bringing on the energy balls. Olivia says she never had side effects from the trials as an adult.

The energy ball once again appears after they arrive at the power station and Little tries to neutralize it. Olivia sees a man inside the energy ball and fires her gun into the air to break Little's concentration and the energy ball disappears.

At Reiden Lake, in an awesome display of symbolism, a naked Peter comes up from the bottom of the lake he once went down in.

A man and his son in a fishing boat rescue him as the Observer watches on.

Olivia tells Walter that she can feel the man didn't want to hurt her and that he needed her help.

Broyles calls Olivia to tell her about a man that was found in a lake. The man apparently knows more than he should about Fringe Division and he's asking for Olivia by name.

At the hospital, Walter notices that the letter in Olivia's jacket pocket has been filled out and the look of relief on his face when he sees that she won't be committing him is just wonderful.

Olivia walks into the hospital room and we get our first glimpse of Peter this season, and may I say he's a sight for sore eyes.

"Olivia, thank God you're here", he says.

His face drops when Olivia replies, "Who are you?"

Of course, that's where it ended, in classic Fringe fashion. And then we find out that we have to wait TWO WHOLE WEEKS for the next episode because of the stupid baseball playoffs. Argh.

Questions:

-Where was Peter?

-Who is Broyles boss?

-Why does Peter remember?

-How will he make everyone else remember?

-How did Peter get through?

The Glyphs spelled RESET.

Supernatural-The Girl Next Door-My Thoughts

With last weeks episode ending on a cliffhanger, I had high hopes for this one.
And I'm sad to say, I was a little disappointed.

This episode was directed by Jensen Ackles and he did a great job, especially with the flashback scenes.

The episode opens at Sioux Falls Hospital, where we find a very-much-alive Bobby rescuing our boys.
Now, here's my first thought upon seeing Bobby, "Hey, he's okay! Hm. Why didn't they go into where he was? Or how he got away from his burning house? HOLYCRAPMAYBETHATSNOTBOBBY!|"
IS Bobby a Leviathan? Who the heck knows?! ;)

So Bobby wheels out an unconscious Sam on a gurney and Dean hops out on his newly-casted broken leg just slipping through the fingers of the Leviathans.

We pick up three weeks later at a cabin in the woods, with Dean and Bobby addicted to Mexican soap operas.
After doing some snooping, Bobby explains that the Leviathans have left the hospital and are nowhere to be found.
Sam has a minor space-out moment with his wee bit of craziness but quickly pulls himself back together. I wonder what he's going to do when his hand fully heals?

Dean sends Sam out for supplies and pie and while he's at the local corner store, Sam sees a headline about an 'Ice Pick Killer' in the newspaper.

Later than night as Dean sleeps, Sam reads the paper and we flashback to Sam as a teenager. Teenage Sam is researching a Kitsune while his father and Dean are out hunting.
Kitsune is Japanese for 'fox'.
From Wikipedia: "

Back in the present, Sam takes off in the Impala while Dean sleeps.

In the morning, Dean wakes to find a very vague note from Sam. He cuts off his cast with a buzz saw and takes off to find Sam.

Meanwhile, Sam is interviewing a cop about the ice pick murders and finds out that the killer's trademark is to stab the victim behind the ear. He asks if they've found anything weird about the brains and, of course they have. It seems that the pituitary glands are missing in all the victims.

Dean arrives at the convenience store and spots the newspaper headline.

In another flashback, teen Sam tells Dean over the phone that Kitsunes eat pituitary glands to survive.
In the present, Sam notices that the current killings are following a similar pattern.

Flashback again to teen Sam spying a pretty girl. He tries to talk to her and fails, but her interest is piqued when Sam rescues her from some nasty boys.

In the present, Sam catches up to the ice pick killer...a women named Amy Pond (And Doctor Who fans around the world cheer), played by Jewel Staite (And Firefly fans around the world cheer).Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives."

Back in the past, teen Amy brings Sam back to her place and they do some smooching.

In the present, Amy tells Sam that she's been managing her 'condition', then bashes Sam against a tree and knocks him unconscious.

Dean follows in Sam's footsteps and finds out about the missing pituitary glands and the Kitsune.

Amy finds Sam waiting for her when she gets home and Sam gets upset when he sees she's killed again.
She finally tells Sam that her son Jacob had been deathly ill and to cure him, she'd had to bring him fresh, er...food.
She swears that the killing is over and begs him to let her go "After what I did for you..."

Flashback to Amy's mother coming home and Sam quickly hiding in the closet. "They caught up.", she says. "A couple of pros in a piece-of-crap Impala."
Amy's mother leaves and Sam comes out, telling Amy, "That's my dad and brother. You're the monster."
He tries to stab Amy but can't bring himself to do it.

Back in the present, Dean finally catches up with Sam at his hotel and punches him in the face for stealing the Impala.
San tells Dean the Kitsune is gone.

In the flashback, Amy's mother comes back and tries to kill Sam, but Amy stabs her in the back and kills her.
Sam tells Amy she has to leave town and refuses when she asks him to go with her.

Dean is shocked at Sam's story and tells him that if she's a killer, she needs to die.
Sam tells Dean to trust him. He's not going crazy. He's managing things and so is Amy.

Dean seems to abide by Dean's wishes.
The next day, Dean drops Sam off at a motel to check them in as he goes for a prescription refill.
Instead, Dean goes to see Amy, who he tracked through her licence plate.
"You are what you are and you will kill again", he tells her.

He stabs Amy, killing her. As he turns to go, he sees Amy's son, Jacob, standing in the doorway.
Dean asks the boy if he has someone he can go to, then warns him that if he kills, Dean will come after him.

"The only person I'm going to kill is you.", the boy replies.

"Look me up in a few years. Assuming I live that long.", says Dean.

And back at the convenience store, a Leviathan has tracked the boys and eats the store owner.

Interesting stuff:
-Bobby's books are okay!
-The credit card Sam uses is in the name Lemmy Kilmister. Lemmy is the lead singer of Motorhead.
-Dean's cell alias is Lars Ulrich. Lars is from Metallica.
-It would have been nice to see a little more of Dean in the cast. Hilarity would have ensued.
-KAILEE!
-Amy Pond! ROFL!
-The movie on the TV commercial was called 'My Bloodiest Valentine 3D'. A nice little nod there! ;)
-Death by cheese! There are worse ways to go!

Best lines:
-Bobby-"Balls!"
-Dean-"Hey, two legs!" (to Sam)
-Dean-"Girl interrupted over there!" (to Bobby about Dean)
-Dean-"New rule. You steal my baby, you get punched." (to Sam)
Questions:
-IS Bobby a Leviathan?!
-How will the Winchesters escape the Leviathans when they catch up?
-How do you kill those suckers?!
-Will Sam find out what Dean did to Amy?
-Will Jacob ever come for Dean?

Fringe-Alone in the World--My Thoughts

I find that on many shows, episode 3 is where it finally starts to get it's stride back. This season of Fringe is no exception.

This was a solid episode...The best of the season so far.

We open with a visit from Walter's Doctor from St. Clair's. It was painful seeing Walter so scared. We know he's not crazy and it's difficult to watch as he tiptoes through his visit, terrified that anything he says will get him recommitted.
(First Peter sighting in the shrink's shiny clipboard.)

In the next scene, we watch as two bullies chase a boy into a tunnel. The bullies are quickly attacked by some weird kind of fungus.

Back at Fringe HQ, Olivia is scanning the facial recognition database for a match. Was I the only one who noticed that the drawing taped to her computer looked veeeery familiar? And how quickly she closed the window...Not at all suspicious.

Broyles pays a rare visit to the lab to check up on Walter. While they're talking, Walter suddenly hears Peter's voice say, "Walter, I'm scared. I want to come home.", along with other cries for help.

Olivia and Lincoln track down the third boy, Aaron, who escaped unharmed and bring him to the lab for an exam.

Walter and Aaron quickly bond over milkshakes and tinfoil hats. Walter tells Aaron about his son. It seems both Peter's died as children.
Real-universe Peter died of his childhood disease and alt-Peter drowned when Walter tried to bring him over from the other dimension. September wasn't there to save him.

Astrid calls Walter over to have a look at the body. The fungus seems to be growing quickly and they get it into the incubator just as it explodes and can spray spores everywhere.
They call Olivia, who's on her way to the morgue to get the other body. The call comes too late and that body explodes too, killing the morgue staff.

Back at the tunnel where the first attack happened, the Fringe crew starts to examine the scene. When the floodlights are turned on, Aaron, who's still at the lab, starts to complain about bright lights. When they start to set fire to the fungus, Aaron spikes a fever and passes out.

Walter then deducts that the fungus is a 'living brain' and is somehow attached to Aaron.
He believes the fungus is a giant neural network, which he decides to name 'Gus', and that it's attached itself to Aaron because they share a loneliness and feelings of isolation.

Broyles finds a dead homeless man six miles from the tunnel and they realize that Gus is right over the sewer system.
He gives Walter six hours to figure out how to kill Gus without killing Aaron, but changes his mind when Gus reaches the subway platform.

Olivia, Lincoln and a redshirt try to inject Gus with poison, but Gus kills the redshirt and attacks Lincoln.

Back at the lab, Walter figures out that Gus is attached to Aaron through emotions and that it's Aaron holding onto Gus, not the other way around.
In a very touching scene, Walter tells Aaron that he'll always be there for him and that he'll never leave him. Aaron lets go of Gus and the fungus starts to die, letting go of Lincoln in the process.

Later at the lab, Olivia walks in as Walter is attempting to give himself a lobotomy. Walter confesses that he's been hallucinating and he's terrified of going back to St. Clair's.
Olivia asks him what he's been seeing and after some coaxing, he tells her he sees a man.
Olivia takes a sketch form her pocket (that same familiar sketch she was running the facial recognition on!) and shows it to Walter.
The sketch is of Peter, who Olivia has also been seeing in her dreams.

The two realize that this is someone they must find.

Thoughts I had during the episode:

-I still wonder where Nina is.
-I loved the banter between Lincoln and Olivia after the fungus let him go. "Do you want to talk about it?"
-Gus! Ha!
-Walter kept confusing Aaron with his son, even calling him "Peter' once or twice. :(
-No scenes with the alt-dimension this week. I didn't miss it!
-Seeing David Fury's name in the opening credits almost made my heart stop. He's known for writing and directing episodes of Buffy, Angel and the first season of Lost (he wrote Walkabout FGS!)
-Where the heck was Aaron's father? Who was giving consent for all these procedures?!
-The relief on Walter's face when he realizes he's not insane is just wonderful to see.

The glyphs before the commercial breaks spelled out, 'REBORN'. And did you spot the observer?

Supernatural, Hello Cruel World--My Thoughts

So, how about those cliffhangers, huh? Whoa!

The episode opens exactly where we left off last week, which was great. Castiel's vessel is melting and he takes off.

Dean and Bobby find Sam, who's in the middle of a hallucination about our good friend, Lucifer.

The boys and Bobby follow Casviathan to a lake, where Cas seems to poof into a bunch of black goo.

That can't be it, right? They wouldn't kill Cas off without a bang, would they? He'll be back, RIGHT?!

We have a sad (but short) scene where Dean lifts Cas's trench coat out of the lake and he brings it with them as they leave.
I bet that'll have a place of honour in the Winchester, um...trunk.

The Leviathans spread through the water to the pipes, infecting a little girl and a bomb expert.

Sam confesses to his hallucinations, but he isn't sure whether to believe Dean or Lucifer, seeing as both are telling him the other isn't real. Poor Sam.

Over at the hospital, we meet up with Sheriff Mills, who's in having her appendix taken out. It's good to see her again, right? She was cool.

The little girl Leviathan decides that being a little girl sucks, so she heads over to the hospital to take over a surgeon so she and her Leviathan buddies can feast properly. Apparently Leviathans eat human organs. Yummmmmmy!

Dean goes out to investigate a high school massacre (yep, the Leviathans are there too!), leaving Bobby with Sam.

Sheriff Mills calls Bobby and tells him her Doctor is eating people's livers. Of course, Bobby runs to the rescue, leaving Sam alone. Um, probably not a good idea.

Bobby rescues Sheriff Mills and the Leviathans make a meal out of the head nurse and the hospital administrator.

Back at Bobby's, Dean shows up and takes Sam for a ride. But, of course, Dean isn't Dean, he's Lucifer! Dun dun DUN!

Deancifer tries to convince Sam that the hallucinations will end if he kills himself and real-Dean tracks Sam down through Sam's GPS, which Dean conveniently turned on earlier that day.

Sam is shooting at Lucifer...I have NO idea why...When Dean walks in.
I really loved the next scene, where Dean brings Sam back to earth and shows him what's real and what's not. That was really touching. (Pun intended)

Out of the hospital, Bobby calls Sam and they decide to meet back at Bobby's place. When Sam and Dean arrive, they find Bobby's house a burned, smoldering ruin.
Noooooo! All those books! Those scrolls! Those spells and ancient relics!

But where is Bobby?!

Sam and Dean split up and search for Bobby. Dean leaves a very heartfelt message on Bobby's answering machine and then they run into the bomb-expert Leviathan.

It throws Dean like a ragdoll, breaking Dean's leg. The boys squish it with a car, but not before it bashes Sam in the head with a tire iron.

With Sam unconscious and his own leg broken, Dean calls 911. You know things are horrible when Dean calls 911!

In the ambulance, Sam has a seizure and Dean realizes they're going to the very same hospital that's been taken over by the Leviathans....and back in Bobby's yard, black goo runs back under the car and fingers twitch....

I thought this was a solid episode. It really feels like Supernatural is going back to its roots, which, in my opinion, is a very good thing.

Best lines:

Dean to Sam-"Why would the Devil holodeck you a whole new life....?"

TV Commercial while the little girl Leviathan is channel surfing-"It's like a salad bar, but with pie!"

Bobby- "Just lost one of the best friends you ever had, your brother's in the bell-jar, purgatories most wanted are surfin' the sewer lines, but, yeah. Yeah, I get it. Right. You're fine."
Dean -"Good."
Bobby- "'Course, if at any time you want to decide that's utter horse CRAP, well, I'll be where I always am. Right here."
Dean- "What? You want to do couples yoga or you want to get back to hunting the big bad?"
Bobby- "Shut up. Idjit."

Gossipy lady in the hospital to Sheriff Mills_ "He might not know your appendix from your vagina."

Bobby to Dean- "Hey, what am I? Chopped brains on toast?"

Sheriff Mills- "Kiss my ass, Dr. Monsterface."

Bobby- "Hey, Sam. You having a little bag lady moment?"

Dean to Sam- "This discussion does not require a weapons discharge!"

Bobby's answering machine message- "This is Bobby Singer's direct hotline. You should NOT have this number."

Questions that need answering:

Where is Bobby?!?! (Maybe in the panic room??)
How the hell do you kill those Leviathans?
What are the Leviathans intentions?
Who is 'The Boss'?!

Doctor Who, The Wedding of River Song--My Thoughts

And here we are. The end of Doctor Who, series 6. And boy, what an end it was!

Moffat threw so much at us in a short 45 minutes, that 4 hours later, my mind is still reeling!

The episode begins in an alternate timeline. The scene is London, on April 22 at 5:02pm.
You see, time is stuck and it's always April 22, 5:02pm.

All of time is happening at once. We see steam trains running through pyramids, pterodactyls flying over playgrounds, Charles Dickens on daytime TV promoting his new Christmas special and Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill.

Churchill, being looked after by a Silurian doctor, calls for his soothsayer.

Enter the Doctor...OUR Doctor...sporting a toga, beard and long hair. Looking very Jesus-like, really.

The Doctor tells Churchill that there's something wrong with time, and through a series of flashbacks, we see what happened.

The Doctor's death is a "fixed" point in time (or is it?), the Silence is a religious order that wants the Doctor dead because, at some point in the future, the Doctor will face 'the Question', and we hear about the 'fall of the Eleventh'.

He plays a fun game of 'Live Chess', takes a Dalek's eyestalk, has a very interesting conversion with the Tesalecta and goes spelunking in the caves of the headless monks, where he finds the head of Dorian Maldavar alive and well!

Back in the wonky timeline, Churchill asks the Doctor about 'the question' and why it meant his death.
The Doctor replies, "Suppose there was a man who knew a secret that must never be told...."
What secret, Doctor? What is your secret and why do the Silence want to kill you for it??

Flashback to the TARDIS, the Doctor talking to Dorian about his death.
The Doctor has been delaying it for a long time. He mentions joining the Beatles, helping Rose Tyler with her homework, "all-Jack stag parties", and says that time CAN'T touch him.

And then he phones the Brig.
Brigadier General Lethbridge Stewart.

In a very touching scene (yes, I cried. Surprised?), the Doctor learns of the Brig's death, "I'm afraid Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart passed away a few months ago," the nurse tells the Doctor. "It was very peaceful. Talked a lot about you, if that's any comfort. Always made us pour an extra brandy in case you came round one of these days."

And the Doctor realizes in that moment that, yes, time CAN and DOES touch him.

It was so fitting and so, so perfect that Stephen Moffat made the Brig's death a pivotal point. It wasn't just a glossing over or a mention. The Brig STILL influenced the Doctor to do the right thing, even in death. *sob*
Well done, Mr. Moffat. Well done.

The Doctor then goes to the Tesalecta and asks them to deliver his messages. You remember, the blue envelopes?

We find out then WHY River, Rory and Amy were at his death...He wanted to be with them in his last moments. He wanted to be surrounded by the best. Aww. *sniffle*

And once again, on the beach at Lake Silencio, we watch the astronaut rise from the deep.
The visor lifts and as we saw at the end of Closing Time, River is indeed in the suit.
But here comes nitpick number 1...If the suit is in control, WHY does River need to be in it at all? Why couldn't the Silence just choose anyone, or, hell, why couldn't the suit be empty??
Yep, that bugged me.

It was a touching scene, regardless. He tells River he brought her there, to his death so she could see that it's inevitable and that she's forgiven.

But River overpowers the suit and refuses to kill the Doctor, which breaks time. Ack!

Now in the wonky time, the Doctor continues to tell his story to Churchill, and as he does he realizes that they've been fighting and don't remember it.
You know what that means, folks! Silents!

Just as the doctor and Churchill realize this, Amy ("Pond, Amelia Pond") comes in with soldiers...All wearing eye patches!
Amy then shoots the Doctor with a stun gun!
He wakes up on a train and tries to get Amy to remember him.
Of course, Amy already remembers him because she grew up in a time rift which makes her special. But it was a great scene, with the drawings on the wall and the sexy sketch of Rory (which looks nothing like Rory).

The Doctor gets all cleaned up and asks about Rory.

Apparently in the wonky timeline, Amy and Rory aren't together and Amy barely remembers him. Aww. :(

Who walks in then? A soldier, wearing an eye patch. 'Captain' Williams tells Amy they've almost arrived at their destination.
Oh, the Doctor just LOVES this. Rory is right there in front of her face and has no idea. Hee!

As we enter the pyramid, Rory explains the eye patches to the Doctor. Time for me to gloat!
I called it! The eye patches DO allow the wearer to remember the Silents! Yay, me!

We see many Silents in tanks, in the pyramid, prisoners.
And the Doctor tries to play matchmaker between Amy and Captain Williams, telling the Captain that Amy wants to go out for 'texting and scones'. LOL

Back with Amy, the Doctor finally sees River, who has Madame Kovarian tied to a chair.

The Doctor tries to convince River that he NEEDS to die because time itself is dying with him still alive.
He then grabs River and time moves...seconds tick by...before River is able to pull away.

Meanwhile, the Silents are breaking out of their tanks. Oh, no!

In a totally BADASS scene, Rory once again plays the hero so everyone can escape. Have I mentioned I love Rory?

The Silents are upon him and Rory's eye patch is slowly killing him. They say to him, "Rory Williams. The man who dies and dies again. Die one last time and know she will never come back for you."
GREAT line!
Of course, Amy comes back with a big gun and kills the Silents, saving Rory.

And here comes nitpick number 2...Amy kills Kovarian.
I was glad Amy was pissed. It's about time she shows that losing her baby caused her pain and sorrow. God knows they didn't show that during the series at all.
But Kovarian was this big, bad mysterious, horrible woman...and she just DIES like that? We don't know who she is, why she did what she did, how she came to be such a horrible person, nothing!
I'm holding out hope that she will return in the future and that Moffat DOES have plans for her!

As Amy and Rory walk out, I loved their exchange--
Amy: "You and me, we should get a drink sometime."
Rory: "Okay."
Amy: "And married."
Rory: "Fine"

LOL!

Everyone heads to the roof of the pyramid and we find out that River has sent a message all through time (the universe is still moving outside the bubble they're in, apparently) to everyone the Doctor has ever known, asking them to help him because he's dying.

The Doctor is then very harsh with her and the look on her face when he tells her she's embarrassed him hurts my heart.

Of course, River then tells him that the sky is full of millions of races are saying they'd help.  D'aww.

And we've come to nitpick number three.
River says she'd suffer more than the universe if he dies. Um, wut? If he DOESN'T die, there will be no universe!
But I get what Moffat's saying. Love will prevail and all that.

And here's the next great Rory/Amy exchange--
Rory: "I'm not sure I completely understand."
Amy: "Oh, we got married and had a kid and that's her."
Rory: "Okay."

Welcome to nitpick number four!
WHY did the Doctor and River get married?!
He never tells her he loves her. Does he?
Did he marry her just so he could get close enough for her to look into his eye?
Bah!

Aaaaand back to Lake Silencio we go!
Where River kills the Doctor, as she was always meant to.
Time moves forward, the wonky universe disappears.

River, having just climbed out of the Byzantium (remember that? With the Weeping Angels?), has a visit with Amy.
This is a great scene. We find out how well River really does lie. Not telling Amy she's her daughter, lying about the spacesuit...
And then we see something wonderful. Mother and daughter, dancing in the garden. I just love this whole scene. :)
I love that the three seems so close now, hinting at many, many visits we've never seen. I love that River calls Amy 'Mother" and Rory "Father" so naturally, like she's been doing it her whole life.
I love the joy on their faces when River tells them the Doctor's last secret and I love the shock when Amy realizes she's the Doctor's mother-in-law. ;)

The last minutes show a hooded figure carrying Dorian's head-in-a-box back to the crypt.
The figure opens the door on the box and Dorian realizes that it's the Doctor.
And hello, nitpick number 4!
Really. REALLY?!
The Doctor that died was a Tesalecta?! I'm sorry, but that just screams 'cop-out' to me!
I was so very, very disappointed in that!
First, it was just so predictable. It was either going to be the ganger or the robot...so I figured Moffat would come up with something much less obvious. Yes, maybe I expected too much, but I can't help feeling a little cheated. :(

I am, however, looking forward to next season. With the Doctor 'back in the shadows', what kind of mischief will he get into that he couldn't before? I can definitely see the fun in this!

And River spending her days in prison and "her nights, well....that's between her and me, eh?"
There's your 200 years of stories between The God Complex and Closing Time!

And now we get to the end. Ah, the end. Here I get to gloat again.
The 'fields of Trenzalore (sp?), the fall of the Eleventh and the question'

THE question. DOCTOR WHO! DOCTOR WHO! DOC-TOR WHO! The oldest question in the universe because the Doctor has BEEN to the beginning of the universe!
CALLED IT! MONTHS ago! *does the happy gloating dance*

So!
Prediction time--
We won't see or hear of the fields of Trenzalone, the fall of the Eleventh or 'the question' until the 50 year anniversary in 2013.
That is when the Doctor will travel to the field, the question will be asked, and the Eleventh will fall...and regenerate into our 12th Doctor.
Remember I said that here first! ;)

But now the big questions--
Is Madame Kovarian dead? She died in an aborted timeline...so is she still alive now?
Are River and the Doctor really married? Firstly, she technically married a robot. Secondly, she married a robot in an aborted timeline. So...what does that mean, exactly?
Who blew up the TARDIS in series 5, and why? We STILL don't have an answer for that.
When did the Doctor tell River his name? We know he does because she whispers it to Ten in the library. I assume it's sometime in the missing 200 years we never see?
What is the secret the Doctor has that he dies for?
What about the Silents?
Will we see more River or has her story played out?


Aside from the nitpicks and plot holes, I did enjoy the episode. It was fast, it was fun, it was touching and it answered many questions.

I like the idea of a Doctor who's not so well known...who's not a 'God'. I'm looking forward to series 7...and after the Christmas special, we have a long wait ahead.
Doctor Who returns in the fall of 2012.

I'm thinking a rewatch may be in order, right from Silence in the Library.

Until Christmas, Whovians, I bid you adieu!