Original: June 28 1914

Fringe: November 18 2009

Adobe should've had a commercial plugging CS4 during this episode! Look what they can do; and so can you! Regardless of that bold piece of revisionist history, this episode is easily my favorite, like I said, Fringe is on the up turn!

To anyone who watches Friday Night Lights, the game commentator in the background of this last episode (season 4 episode 4) said that the Panthers had to forfeit a game? Now I know the Lions had to forfeit a game because of coach Taylor, but why'd the Panthers forfeit? Is that a mistake? Was it because of Luke? I feel like I missed something here.

The Prisoner remake was on this weekend, and I have to admit I truly enjoyed the intense acting, but I don't think I could tolerate such a wild trip down the rabbit hole any longer than six episodes. I'm by no means going to give you a synopsis of the show, that's what wikipedia is for, suffice to say that the village is a parallel consciousness controlled by Curtis' or 2's wife in the real world at a company called Summakor, as a form of psychotherapy for troubled people. Michael or 6 left Summakor and they are trying to bring him back, ie Curtis is trying to bring him back, as Curtis has found a suitable replacement for his wife in this patient 313 to take over the controlling consciousness of the village so that Summakor can keep operating. Just makes me think about how crazy go nuts my dreams are, and how the brain operates to sort out all the cobwebs, kind of like Neo before the architect, showing all the different sides of his subconscious, mixed with Alice in Wonderland tumbling down a rabbit hole of delusory. Good times, but never again!

Why TV sucks in the fall of 2009.

If I were to go by the year, I would consider 2009 the best year of television in the history of television, but this fall, definitely has not. I say that in retrospect as Mad Men, In Treatment, Battlestar Galactica, Damages, Lost, Breaking Bad, 24, Burn Notice, Entourage, Dark Blue, and Raising the Bar were all epic in their own right, above and beyond the writing in any other era or season of TV. Like I say every year though, Spring, is the best season for television, and Fall is an exposition on filler.

Needless to say, TV sucks because BSG is gone and all the relevant HBO and AMC shows are over. I recently got a friend of mine hooked on BSG, and he can't watch TV anymore because everything is terrible in comparison. The best TV series right now is Friday Night Lights, easily. From the acting to the writing to the production, it's by far the show with the most relevancy and heart on television, in these weak and aimless days of TV where everything is some obscure apocalypticesque crapfest! My guilty pleasure show is the X Factor, which is basically British Idol but with a huge budget compared to American Idol and better talent, and I feel like I've missed out not watching it for however many years its been on; go Danyl Johnson! Dexter is really interesting as he finally killed an innocent man, that is, he killed a disturbed artist who is not a murderer, but by all appearances might as well have been and is now going to kill the trinity killer who has become his new Sith Lord, so to speak. John Lithgow is a great character in the show, perfectly cast.

For dramas, they all just come and go. House, The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Crash, Fringe, Smallville, Heroes, White Collar, SGU, Clone Wars, and Flash Forward. I've altogether stopped watching Grey's Anatomy after the season premiere. The rationale is that, season openers should blow your mind away, and then sort of slowly progress into a deeper storyline, and that premiere was so terrible the whole show is permanently out, just like V. Things of note for the above list, Tim Roth was phenomenal a couple weeks ago on Lie to Me and should be nominated for an award or recognized in some way for his work, Tom Welling had a hilarious line as Clark to Lois with, "Better? You tell me the color of your underwear every day, what else is there to know?" Classic Clark, oh the hilarity, but what a crappy show. I really look forward to the Mentalist, I'm probably going to stop watching Flash Forward, Heroes is going back to the season one storyline which has been excellent as Greg Beeman was fired, but Claire is still annoying, White Collar is interesting, but filler, SGU isn't as good as Atlantis at all but I'll still continue watching because it's great scifi (no siffy/syfy), Clone Wars is exciting, but childish, Fringe is getting better and on the up turn, Crash has some excellent stories and terribly annoying stories...mixed bag, but I love the storyline around Seth Blanchard, and something I do not want to miss. Top Gear is coming out tomorrow which should be good, and I really enjoyed Season 2 of By Any Means way better than Season 1 as he fixed all the mistakes that I suggested in my previous blog.

The comedies are where it's at right now actually. Some of the best writing is on The Office, Californication, Modern Family, Gary Unmarried, How I Met Your Mother, Parks and Recreation, Community, The Big Bang Theory, Bored to Death, Metalocalypse, SNL, and even Sunny in Philly, The League, and 30 Rock. That's right, I'm not a huge fan of 30 Rock, but it gets a laugh from me from time to time. Modern Family is thee new show, and possibly thee best show on TV right now, next to Friday Night Lights and Dexter. Al Bundy and Carol Vessy in a comedy centered around the nuances of a chaotic quasi nuclear family. Well written and well acted hilarity. A great laugh every episode. #1 recommendation this season: Modern Family!

Maybe I've watched too much TV in the last few days and come down with a bad case of tunnel vision overlooking possible brilliance, or maybe I'm spot on, but regardless I have been watching it all and this is my take and feeling on TVso far this season.

Can you believe I've seen every episode of every season of the shows mentioned and I'm all caught up, and still have time for work and a 4.0 GPA!?

It was actually and truthfully about the sovereignty of God, and our lack of stewardship of our resources leading to the destruction of the environment!

Coming from a Christian background, I really resonate with this form of divine sovereignty. Kara was the missing link, the angel of God, planted by God back into the fleet to change the repetitive cycle of technological self destruction. God altered the previous cycle through her. I mean, I don't know what to say about this? I'm at a loss, "All along the watchtower" was played at the end, so, maybe not? They weren't programming, they were actual angels. Real Angels! Angel Baltar and Angel Caprica Six. When human Baltar and Cylon Caprica six, finally confirmed they were angels, I was blown away! SAY WHAT???? No more suspicion of what was really going on. Now, finding earth through the songs correlation to earth and the FTL, I mean, the editing and musical timing with "All along the watch tower" playing throughout was nothing short of brilliant! As well as the battle scene on and around the Cylon base ship had some of the best special effects money can buy! The environmental statement of giving up their technology for a greater good was excellent and I resonated with that as well. This show is and will always be, nothing short of spectacular!

Thank you Ronald D Moore and David Eick for 5 incredible years! Nice shameless entry into the final scene Ron, well played!

Critique: I would've played up their hopes way more while they were on their way to earth. About what the main characters would do, and how they would live once they arrived on earth. Subtly specific, but not in your face. That would've made this transition easier for me, and given the viewer some solice. Hope seemed dim for Chief, for Adama, for Balter and Six, and especially for Lee with Kara vanishing. That aspect left me cold, rather than refreshed. There was a definite redemption of the soul and conscience with not enough reprise at the end for my liking. Maybe if I hold onto this quote, it won't seem so empty:

"I laid out the cabin today, it's gonna have an easterly view, should see the light that we get here, when the sun comes over those mountains, it's almost heavenly, it reminds me of you."

When TV starts to disappoint in 2009, and it most assuredly will, I will go back and remember this. One of the best movies, of the year!