[TV] Bye House

Unfortunately, I didn’t get into the show as early as I would have liked in the series. I think I started watching around the third or fourth season and really started to enjoy the scathing wit, burning sarcasm and brutal honesty of the House character.

Watching the finale tonight was bittersweet. Bitter because it is coming to an end and I enjoyed it thoroughly over the years I was watching it. Sweet because it was starting to drag a little – people bleeding from eyes and ears or coughing up blood was becoming common. Even the gag of hiring an actor (or actors) to trick Wilson was used twice this season.

So in some ways, it was time for House to die.

SPOILERS

And I really thought he was going to die, just as he was coming to the realization that he could change. Of course, his idea of change and what was being portrayed was more about giving up the puzzles to spend time with his dying buddy. I didn’t quite expect them to fake his death. I admit, as soon as the cell phone started ringing, I clued in.

Good show, great series, lots of laughs, lots of ZOMG did he just say that?’s and lots more room on my PVR recording schedule.

I wonder what they’re going to try to slot in there next season?

 

Season Finales

Unlike other TV series that leave you at the end of the season with a cliff hanger that makes you eager for the show to return next season, The Glades season two finale did the opposite. It leaves you with a sense of things being okay.

Sure there are a few open questions, but the end leaves you with an understanding of how things are going to be.

I won’t spoil much more than that.

The show itself opens up without the typical whodunit and instead puts that out in the open with the main part being around dealing with a hostage negotiation. Something you probably don’t want Jim Longworth doing because he tends to annoy people. It makes things interesting.

On to upcoming shows.

House trailer implies he’s in prison which is odd because I thought he ended with being on some tropical island somewhere? Interesting…

I have yet to see a trailer for The Mentalist but I can easily see how Patrick Jane would start the series off by being in jail (sure enough, there is a trailer of him in jail however I cannot view it because it’s outside my viewing area… f Canada/US internet content rules). This should be an interesting season with Jane having killed his nemesis, Red John. As I noted previously, I suspect there will be a discovery that Red John was just a murderous dog whose lease was held by a greater mastermind. We’ll see soon! Not exactly a cliffhanger of “Is he going to get him?” but more of a “What now?!” type season ending.

Castle left us with a cliffhanger, several actually. Castle admitted he loved Beckett but will Beckett remember? Will Beckett live? Of course. Who will be the new Captain? Will the Captain put up with having Castle around? Drama between Castle and Beckett’s doctor boyfriend ensues as well. Is the show even going to have a murder case involved at all? Lots of questions!

Hawaii Five-O left us with a cliffhanger too. The team is mostly split up, one is thrown in jail for a murder he didn’t commit. The trailer notes there will be an escape and a patron-type helping out. How quick will it be resolved? Are they really going to get away with the escape and there won’t be repercussions?

Of the fall line up, I’m mostly looking forward to Castle and The Mentalist.

Just a few more weeks!

 

2011 TV Finales – Castle, Chuck

SPOILERS ahead. You were warned.

Castle

Nice. I ended up calling that the Captain would die and figured out he was the third cop, the one that was being covered up. The big clue? How much he wanted Beckett to back off. Her job is dangerous by simply the fact that she deals with catching killers, so why would this be any different?

She was getting close.

And when she wanted Castle out of the way and he so readily agreed after trying to get Castle to convince Kate to back off? Yeah, that sort of sold it. Castle was a big part in figuring out that the documents were tampered with.

I liked Esposito and Ryan’s reactions to learning it.

I figured someone would take a shot at Beckett at the funeral, confirmed when Castle noticed the light reflecting but I suspected HE would get shot trying to save her. Still, interesting ending. Castle professes his love while Kate’s life sputters out. So it seems.

Anyone want to bet she ends up with amnesia or something? Clearly not dead. That’d kill the show.

Very awesome that it’s confirmed that ABC will be putting out another season in the fall. Exciting!

Chuck

Interesting ending. I actually thought last week’s was going to be the ending but I was wrong.

Sarah saved, Chuck’s intersect supressed, Volkovs sorted out, Buy More (and the Volkov assets) in possession of Chuck and Sarah, they’re married and finishing off with Morgan getting the intersect dumped into his head. Next up, they’re going independent.

Nice!

I think it’s a brilliant move. Not only will it bring Morgan further into the plot, but it’ll allow for some rehashing of older material in a charming sort of way. Chuck gets to take on more of a patron-type role. Also by being independent it opens up all sorts of possible stories; they go against the CIA, they get tricked into doing something they shouldn’t, they end up working for the wrong side, corporate espionage even, etc. Maybe the General throws them the odd job. Who knows, lots of options.

Love Morgan. Great character. Sort of a modern day Samwise Gamgee.

House

I’m not sure if House was a season finale or not, but holy shit! Seems like everyone was falling apart around House and unable to help him out. I was a little surprised he skipped over Foreman and Chase (he did skip Chase right?) by only calling 13, his bud (brain not working, can’t remember his name), the nose and Cutty.

I was almost expecting to see an accident where Chase, rushing to the hospital, crashes into Cutty.

The scene where House cuts out the tumor… jeez. What an epic scene. I mean it. One of the most engaging or mind blowing scenes I’ve seen on TV in a long time.

Great TV!

Cute

I managed to stay up to watch Castle last night, or rather I watched House, Chuck then started the recording of Castle from the beginning then watched Hawaii Five-O.

Castle is really pushing the bounds of the Castle/Beckett relationship. I suspect it’ll crack soon and there will be something big that happens that pushes them back apart. He actually admitted he was jealous, not of the heart surgeon boyfriend (who is clearly doing more than just interviewing her), but the new, up and coming mystery author spending time with Beckett.

One of the better lines in the show yesterday (and there were several good ones), “Know what I did after I wrote my first book? I shut up and wrote 23 more.” That was during the mystery writers poker game, one of the older writers to the new writer that was stealing Castle’s muse.

Too funny.

I didn’t get the murderer on this episode, though I probably should have. The evidence came out pretty early and the mention of the red herring being a red herring was a red herring. Nice.

Love it. I’ll even say the situation was cute.

House was pretty good, Olivia Wilde is back after filming with Tron (I’m guessing) and there is some ethical surgery being performed. I didn’t get a chance to figure out what she did before House blurted it out. It came out quick but I did manage to piece it together as soon as House pointed out she had a sibling.

Chuck was Chuck. Fun to watch and humorous – Casey and Morgan having breakfast was win. That’s actually an interesting pairing for humor. The show sort of reminds of Get Smart, sort of.

Hawaii Five-O was decent, though the main character is a bit campy. I think he’s good, but some of the scenes remind me of this kid I went to high school with. You know the type, can’t simply point in a direction when asked which way, he has to flex a little and show off how much of a man he is. He’s always prepared and it seems to make him less human – even after breaking his arm he fashions a splint out of what was available and climbs up with one hand – admittedly Danno is pulling him up some more.

That show makes me want to go to Hawaii, very badly. I’m happy they show a lot of scenery and I don’t mean hot woman (though that does help). The fly over and scene sweeps are beautiful. I really think that might be the location of the next family trip.

Good TV night.

8, 3, 8, 3, 8…

No, not cool down timings for my paladin cast sequence (not that I use a macro). Those numbers are about what I measured for show to commercial intervals last night while watching the season premiere of Heroes.

Now, I’ll be honest and say I didn’t have a stop watch. Instead I looked at the clock when the show would start up and then switch to commercial. Several times I counted about eight minutes of show to about three minutes of commercial. I didn’t count the whole way through, but that seemed to be the pattern.

Frustrating.

But then I realized that it is a lot like reading a comic book – at least back when I used to read comic books. You’d get a couple of pages of story then a full page of ads for Sea Monkeys, X-Ray Glasses, Spy Kits and other gadgets.

Is that intentional?

The other pattern it seems to follow – at least as far as bouncing around from people grouping to people grouping – is that of a soap opera. Every bit leaves you hanging with some sort of, “Oh mah gawd! I just have to see what happens next!” drama only to slap you in the face by returning from commercial and jumping into another part of the story. It makes you anxious about getting back to the previous part only to get another cliffhanger on this story thread.

On the other end of the spectrum you have House which seemed to have longer parts of show with about as long for commercials as Heroes had. Heck, I think the first part of the show ran for about 20 minutes before they put in a commercial.

I MAKE WITH TEH SPOILSORZ IN THE NEXT PARTZ, K?

The premiere was pretty decent if not a bit slow in parts. It still had moments of funny but for the most part attempted to be a little more serious. I was surprised it ended with him getting out the psychiatric hospital, but I guess they wanted to get him back to the hospital where the bread and butter of the show happens.

He’s drug-free (aside from what was given prescribed to him), seems to be pain-free, ghost-free and seems to be quitting, according to the preview for next week. I’m curious to see where they’re going with all this.

NO MORE SPOILSORZ AFTER HEER

Good TV so far, even if one of the shows is weighed down by advertising. I’m looking forward to The Mentalist tonight where the previews show him quitting (do you sense a trend here?) because they’re taking his team off the Red John trail.