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.

No Ordinary Family

No Ordinary Family is in some ways a typical family drama. The father is struggling with his job where he feels ineffectual and trying to keep a fracturing family together, the mother is an over-achiever and the bread-winner of the family and mostly oblivious to the family's crisis, the high-school daughter struggles with wanting to be popular without giving in to sexual peer pressure by her boyfriend and peers and the younger son struggles with school and feeling inferior due to a learning disability. What differs is that while on a vacation, a plane crash into a mysterious lake leaves each with super-powers, gifts tailored to their unique problems.

The father and husband who feels weak and powerless both at home and at work is super-strong and near invulnerable. No longer having to feel like a second rate cop as a sketch artist, he tries to use his powers to become an active crime-fighter and superhero.

The mother and wife who is overworked and struggles to meet the trying demands of battling two fronts, home and work, gains super-speed. A gift of time.

The daughter trying to traverse the dangers and pitfalls of high school, and the feeling of being different and alone even in a crowd can suddenly read the minds of those around her, what they are truly thinking and feeling.

And, the son who feels like an idiot, gains some kind of super-intelligence, able to easily see the solutions to complex problems.

Being a superhero show in addition to a family drama, there is of course danger. The father is not as invulnerable as he thinks as he tries to take on crime and discovers there are others also with powers. And, the resolution of the pilot episode shows that the mother's boss is tied somehow to the crime wave that he's investigating, providing an over-arcing plot and storyline to future episodes as the family must come to terms with their powers.

There are clever and funny bits. When the spouses realize individually they have powers, they initially turn to their closest friends instead of each other in scenes that establish subtle bits to each character. The husband has a close friend but the wife really only has an overworked and eager to please lab assistant. The mysterious crime wave is attributed to a gang called the "Obama Bombers". At first I thought I heard wrong until we see one of the criminals and he's indeed wearing a rubber Obama mask.

The show falters with the youngest son. The two siblings are both given rather passive powers which are going to be problematical to use them effectively other than highlighting the possible problems that such abilities can cause in a family and school atmosphere. And, how long can that be played out before becoming tired? However, even in the first episode, the son's powers are the least dealt with as he doesn't display them until near the end so we don't see any follow-up to his sudden bout of super intelligence.

The actors all do a wonderful job with their parts. The children look and act like the teenagers they are meant to be as opposed to over-sexed glamorous adults. Michael Chiklis as the husband and father covers much of the same ground as he did as the Thing in the Fantastic Four movies, but he excels at playing someone that is both tough and vulnerable. You feel for him as a family man that's overshadowed by his wife's accomplishments and his struggles at keeping a family together that's threatening to drift apart with their individual concerns. Julie Benz as the mother and wife, well I cannot be totally objective there. I've had a crush on her since her days on Angel. Something about her voice... Stephen Collins as her boss plays a bit against character as he is set up with some secrets of his own, having mysterious links to others with powers that have a more criminal bent.

Much is made of the show being one the whole family can watch and it definitely has that vibe. Yet, it does so without feeling like it's being dumbed down for the adults. The real life tribulations are real ones that families cope with. And, while it's about superheroes, it doesn't venture into making fun of them or going cynical with them though maintaining a slight light-hearted feel. The over-the-top nature and comedy comes mainly from the spouses' friends and they react as many superhero fans would if their best friend gained powers. Benz' assistant wonders how the super-speed doesn't destroy the clothes, Chiklis' buddy makes him a lair decked out with dozens of computers and talks him into trying to fly. These are logical reactions as a public that thinks about all of the tropes of superheroes. Sort of like Hiro in Heroes who kept trying to cast himself and those around him into traditional superhero archetypes and cliches. But, Chiklis doesn't set himself up as a superhero or make a costume. His use of powers to go after the Obama Bomber is a natural development of his character as a frustrated police artist and not because it's the superhero thing to do. Although, he does betray a certain knowledge of superheroes when he insists that his jumps over a building are "bounds".

SGU Stargate Universe: The ongoing cast is so large for this show, the finale was a bit more convoluted than I remembered so the season premier left me playing quite a bit of catch-up with what was going on with the individual characters and plot. While it managed to resolve the major issues, it left a few other minor mysteries to be developed such as the sudden healing of Chloe's character who was practically dead from the blood loss and shock of being shot. There is actual use of the gate on the ship to temporarily remove a bunch of characters and cast from the story and to remind viewers that the show is called "Stargate" though it's really about a crew being trapped on an errant alien spacecraft. While it is hard to keep track of many of the secondary and tertiary characters, the show is a more complex and well thought out science fiction show than the more light-hearted and action oriented shows of the franchise and I feel better than the Sci-Fi channel's much lauded Battlestar Galactica whose style it emulates. If for no other reason that the science fiction extrapolation is better handled. Galactica never ceased to annoy in how North American-centric so many props and clothing were. Despite the budget, no thought was really given as to the fact that these people were from completely different and alien cultures. Yet their formal clothes included your standard suit jacket, pin stripe shirt and neck tie.

The Human Target debut delayed: All summer long, I've been wondering why The Human Target was moved to Fridays opposite Smallville. Despite being on separate networks, both are adaptations of characters published by DC Comics and by extension, Warner Brothers. You'd think that the company would do everything in their power to fight having two of their properties being in direct competition. Especially as this is the last season of Smallville and only the second of The Human Target, so it behooves them to want both especially to succeed. The former so as to not to have to do a rush wrap up job is numbers start tanking and also in case there is a chance of a spinoff. The latter so that it will not only make it to the magical third season which is generally when a show becomes profitable for syndication but also to maintain a presence of having successful properties on the air. Well, the premier originally scheduled for this Friday has been delayed until mid-November and moved back to Wednesdays!