Smallville, Vampires in Hawaii?

Smallville: For the 2ooth episode, James Marsters will return to the show but not quite in the role he originally played. When before he was the recurring character of Milton Fine/Brainiac, he will now appear as Brainiac 5. As Brainiac 5 is of the Legion of Superheroes (first seen at the start of last season) and Marsters is obviously not a teen, this must be even further along the Legion's future.

For non-comic book fans, Brainiac 5 was a descendant of sorts from the Superman villain Brainiac. Only this time, he was a teen and a hero, serving with the Legion of Superheroes. Which set up an interesting time-travel wrinkle as it meant in the comics Superboy would meet Brainiac 5 before he ever heard of Brainiac. Supergirl, also a member of the Legion, would have known the villain first and recognizes the resemblance to the villain her cousin fought. The two would have a long history of time-crossed crushes.

Last week's episode with the re-appearance of Kara/Supergirl and the introduction of Glorious Godfrey was a lot of fun. Although, Godfrey was hardly glorious and flamboyant. The character should have been more along the lines of Kenneth Branagh as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, only not as a buffoon but charmingly insidious.

We have more of the tiresome Clark's destiny to do this and not do this. Meanwhile, we see other heroes actually leading the way with Oliver going public with his identity and Kara performing superheroics in public. We need less talk about seeming pre-ordained destiny. We, as viewers, already know what Clark's destiny is, so we don't need literalizing it in the stories themselves. We're interested more in the obstacles and growth.

The end with seeing Kara in her "Linda Lee" look was a nice nod to the comics, but it manages to sabotage it as well. One, Laura Vandervoot was too made up in her disguise, too glamourous looking for a disguise that is supposed to be making her fit in. Two, Clark recognizes her right away, highlighting the ineffectiveness of such a disguise. Another nice nod was Lois trying to come up with a name for her and the first two were Supergirl and Powergirl. Powergirl is the identity of a Kara from an alternate history.

Erica Durance does a good job as Lois with what they give her. A pity it's someone that is too often a goofball and love-sick school girl instead of a competent and driven journalist. In this one episode, she violates journalist rules right and left. As they are looking back at the early seasons for the upcoming 200th episode, the writers and creators need to look at how Chloe Sullivan was written and portrayed. That passion for seeking and reporting the truth and fighting against cover-ups and corruption, that needs to be Lois Lane.

Hawaii Five-O: Finally caught these on the In-Demand channels as it normally airs opposite something else we watch. I don't remember much of the original series other than the opening theme and Jack Lord. So, I was surprised to see this is more along the lines of an action series than a cop drama set in Hawaii.

It's a fun show, with plenty of fast moving action. I've always liked Daniel Dae Kim as an actor and Grace Park is always a delight. More importantly, their characters as cousins, with Kim as the experienced but disgraced cop and Park as the fresh out of academy and surprisingly tough rookie are fun to follow and have a chemistry together that works well. Likewise, the bickering and chemistry between military intelligence McGarrett and experienced cop and father Dano Williams as played by actors Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan play well.

The only real groaners are the attempts at working in the classic "Book 'em, Dano" in every episode and how they gain the Hawaii Five-O name.

An interesting trivia, James Marsters (shown as Brainiac above) is the villain in the first episode and we see him fight against O'Loughlin's McGarrett and ultimately is set up to be possibly dead but open for a future return. Marsters' big claim to fame is his role as the initially villainous vampire Spike in the tv series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel. O'Loughlin played the heroic vampire Mick St. John in the tv series Moonlight. Maybe, we'll see other television vampires pop in.

No Ordinary Family: Still enjoying this look at a family trying to cope with powers. But, each episode tends to have a scene that bugs me. Last week it was Julie Benz running at superspeed in high heels. No wonder she tripped

This week, we get several that just throw me out of the show. Chiklis throws a man off the top of a top building and he lands on his back on top of a police car and not only does the guy survive, but he's up and walking with no problem within 24 hrs.

The the whole use of superspeed to break into a high security building, the sorta thing that works in a comic but not really when you have to portray it. And, at the end, her swapping the blood vials shows a little blurring on the security tape on just the vial swapped but not the fact that she was standing there. If it's because that particular vial was swapped, instead of a little blurring for a second, we'd just see it suddenly "jump" as its position was changed between frames.

The humor was also a bit over the top at places, with characters doing just stupid things. The stars of the week that salvaged it were the kids just trying to navigate the world of teenagers and generally acting like teenagers. The angst and humor there felt spot on and natural without being over-wrought.

Supernatural: We have the return of Misha Collins as the angel Castiel. He's not quite his charming self with the new responsibilities and restoration of powers though.

Doesn't look like Sam came back from his prison completely intact. If not for Cas not seeming to notice, I'd wonder if it was Sam at all and not a copy. In several places, it implies that Sam went to Hell like Dean did, but that wasn't really the case. We're not exactly sure what kind of place Sam went to. But, the future previews suggest an explanation is in the offering. And, when did Jared Padalecki get so buff?

Had a few problems with this episode, mainly that they seemed to forget their mission, to get the Staff of Moses, and the fact that other weapons from Heaven were stolen. They got one piece of the staff and freed one soul, but that was it after all the hoopla and build-up of how dangerous that multiple people had the pieces and other weapons were out there. I'm sure we'll see other weapons pop up, but it seemed off kilter that the reason they were there was all so conveniently forgotten at the end of the episode.

Interesting, at the Supernatural listing at IMDB, their car is listed as a character/actor.

Other shows shows: After watching two episodes of The Event, I bailed. I wasn't a big fan of Lie to Me but at least it gives something else to watch. Plus another channel has started showing this season's Bones as a second run which is great as it is on opposite other shows I like plus being on a channel that doesn't have their shows on In Demand for later viewing. $#*! My Dad Says continues to be surprisingly enjoyable and not the one-note show it so could easily have been. I wonder about the return of Tim Bagley's character and establishing him as house-keeper though. The actor and character are a riot but it's a sign of a show still trying to find itself when it adds new characters to the status quo. Hopefully, he'll be kept to a minimum and not wear out his welcome. Law & Order: UK is a worthy addition to the franchise and had more of the feel and pacing of the original than the first episode of Law & Order: Los Angeles did. Realized one of the problems I have with really getting into and keeping track of the characters in SGU Stargate Universe is that they don't use each others' names very often and add to it that there is an omnipresent brown-ness and dimness to the sets, costumes and lighting, and a whole lot of secondary and tertiary characters who are often there in scenes episode to episode but not used much. Look at other shows, you'll notice that there is usually a steady use of calling people by name, reinforcing the characters' identities throughout a show as well as references to a tag that describes the role of the character. They need to work more on truly differentiating the various characters, making each memorably stand out.

BBC Shows

Aahh... the joys of digital television and On Demand. I love catching up on old shows that I missed due to being out of town or just gotten behind on such as Being Human or just the ones that I miss due to being on opposite of other shows that I like such as Rules of Engagement. Although, it is a little annoying in how some channels don't show up on the On Demand channels or just are absent for whatever reason such as CBS has the tired Two and a Half Men but not the superior How I Met Your Mother or Big Bang Theory.

In a small marathon system, I watched the last several episodes of the BBC show Being Human. The Sy-fy channel is developing an American version though I wonder why. If it was being developed for the major networks such as the CW I could see their concern. But, Sy-fy is already a niche channel and most that watch the station aren't really going to care about the pedigree of the actors and shows. I also wonder if it will follow the BBC scripts like NBC did with Coupling or just use it as a starting point? NBC showed that it is possible to recreate a show using the exact same scripts and still manage to produce a complete dud where the original sparked and sizzled.

The premise of the show was originally about three people with mental issues (a sex addict, agoraphobe, and a guy with anger management problems) sharing a house but changed to a supernatural show about a vampire, ghost, and a werewolf sharing a house. In the last few episodes, the werewolf George decides to move in with a girlfriend and her daughter though he hasn't told them about his problems. Meanwhile Mitchell is struggling with the role of leadership he has found himself as he tries to guide other vampires in giving up blood just as he has. This leaves the ghost Annie with the possibility of spending eternity alone as she is once again invisible to most humans. On top of this are the exterior pressures of Kemp, an elderly priest who heads an organization that has targeted them, and Lucy, the female doctor who is working for him but developing a relationship with Mitchell. The organization lures Nina, George's ex- who is also cursed with lycanthropy, with promises of a false cure in hopes to also get George.

Daylight savings time screws things up for George and he practically wolfs out at Parent's Night at his girlfriend's daughter's school. He realizes that his dreams of normalcy will never come true while he is cursed and he agrees to accompany Nina to the secret labs and be cured. The organization also promises Nina to secretly help her move on. Due to finding out more about Mitchell and his group of vampires and when and where they are holding their self-help group meetings, the organization plants bombs, killing all the vampires on site saving Mitchell. As Mitchell hunts the bombers, he discovers the betrayal of Lucy which sets him off on a killing spree. It all culminates with much bloodshed though Lucy and Kemp manage to escape. In a surprising twist, before he leaves, Kemp kills one of his own men in order for a door to the afterlife to be opened, pulling Annie through.

It ends with Nina, George, and Mitchell in a cabin trying to find clues to the whereabouts of Lucy and the priest when Lucy shows up, apologetic for her role, that she really did want to find a cure for lycanthropy. However, if Lucy could find them, is Kemp far behind? He shows up to kill Lucy but then out of the blue in a shockingly creepy scene, Annie blips in, grabs Kemp and takes him through the door of the afterlife while still alive! She then shows up on the television set and pretty much informs them that the waiting room of the afterlife is fairly terrible. It ends with them vowing to some way get Annie back. And, a ritual in a cemetery bringing back Herrick, the vampire adversary of the first season.

A nice season with the characters growing and suffering setbacks of their basic nature. Mitchell's devolvement is especially troubling in accepting him as a sympathetic character. He's akin to the person that is fine as long as he stays off drugs or stays on his proper medication, but his condition makes him a time-bomb waiting to go off. No matter his best intentions, eventually he's going to slip and kill someone. Knowing this should he be held accountable for those he killed? Kemp starts off as the typical holier than thou priest adversary in such shows, but we get a nice scene that explains what set him on this path, seeing vampires slaughter his wife and daughter. Now decades later, he has gone so far as to become a monster himself, valuing human life less than those he hunts. Although, in several scenes it's hard to take him as a credible physical threat considering his age.

In the future season, it would be nice to see an exploration of what other supernatural beings are out there other than just these three.

Good News: It appears that BBC America will soon be showing Law & Order: UK. I like the original and being in a setting like London sounds like an interesting variation and providing a look at a nuts and bolts side of culture and life of the UK that doesn't really get much inspection. It also has the beautiful Freema Agyeman of Doctor Who fame. On the flip side, the opening episode of Law & Order: Los Angeles was flat and dull despite having several actors that I like including the usual excellent Alfred Molina, Oded Fehr, and Jim Beaver (apparently part of his contract now is that his wardrobe must consist of a baseball cap and plaid shirt regardless of his role).

Strangely, BBC's Sherlock is coming to PBS as part of their Mystery Series on Oct. 24 instead of BBC America. As a big Sherlock Holmes fan it looks to be an interesting adaptation, seeing the fact that Holmes & Watson were not written as archaeological artifact but as being contemporary to the time of the original audience. Thus this adaptation gives viewers the chance to experience Holmes in much the same manner as original readers did, a compelling detective of contemporary times. I prefer my Holmes as a Victorian detective, but this move helps avoiding the trap of turning him into strictly a pastiche and capturing some of the original spirit of the characters. The trailer online definitely seems like an enjoyable show with great characters. It has to be truer to the characters than the Robert Downey Jr. movie was.

Stephen Cannell RIP

Stephen J. Cannell passed away at age 69 from melanoma. He is one of, if not the, first people not in front of the camera whose name I recognized and associated with good shows. A big part of that of course is how his shows ended with a clip of him banging on a typewriter, then pulling out a sheet of paper and tossing it away only to morph into a logo. His name was associated with mainly cop/detective shows such as Rockford Files, Baretta, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (think I'm the only person that actually remembers watching this), 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy, Hunter, Silk Starkings, Hardcastle and McCormick, Black Sheep Squadron, Rip Tide, but also delved into popular if silly shows such as Greatest American Hero and A-Team among others. Lately, he'd been appearing as himself on the show Castle as one of several real-life writers that were friends with the title character. His shows helped establish actors like Jeff Goldblum (Tenspeed & Brown Shoe), M. T (A-Team), and Johnny Depp (21 Jump Street).

Almost as impressive are his quotes on how he did business. And, despite his extensive career as a writer, until college English was one of his worse subjects due to bad spelling and he had dyslexia. Then, there's the bit that even though being in Hollywood, he was married to his first wife Marcia Finch for 46 years until his death.

Sadly, this year we also lost actor Robert Culp (of Greatest American Hero).

Godspeed Mr. Cannell.