Doctor Who - Planet of the Dead:
This is the second (of 3?) "movie specials" featuring Doctor Who until the new season starts with the new Doctor.
This one starts with Michelle Ryan who played the Bionic Woman 2 years ago, as a burglar who steals a goblet from the British Museum. She then boards a double decker bus, and gives the driver her diamond earrings as payment as she doesn't have a bus card, called an Oyster Card. She is quickly followed onto the bus by the Doctor.
The cops see her on the bus and give chase. The bus heads into a tunnel and the cops block the other side. The Doctor suddenly gets worked up that his device is acting oddly, and tells everyone to hold on tight. The bus then disappears right in front of the chasing cops.
The bus lands, in a worse for wear condition, on another planet. One with 3 suns, and appears to be entirely a desert. The Doctor says that there's something weird about the sand. Meanwhile, one of the passengers had been complaining about hearing screaming while in the tunnel and now says that "death is coming."
The Doctor is accused of causing the problem but he explains that his device only tracked the hole, it didn't create it. He then shows the location of the hole by tossing sand at it. The bus driver runs to it, intending to go back through to Earth. The Doctor (barely) tries to stop him. As soon as the driver hits the hole, he starts screaming. On the other side, a skeleton emerges from the hole. The Doctor explains that the forces would tear the skin off people, but that the metal of the bus protected them, and caused all the damage to the bus.
The Doctor and the Thief get the others working on putting planks from the bus under the tires so that they can maybe drive the bus back through the hole. One of the 2 young guys on the bus works on the planks, while the other works on getting sand out of the engine.
The Doctor and the Thief head towards what looks like a coming storm, but are captured by a fly-man (or would it be man-fly?) They are taken to a ship that has crashed and find another fly person. They are accused of causing the ship to crash, but the Doctor explains that they're on the planet by accident as well. The Doctor is able to get their systems working, and they send a probe into the coming storm where they find out that it's not a storm, but billions of manta-ray type creatures. The Doctor realizes that they fly around a planet faster and faster until they tear open a worm hole which they then fly through and devour everything on the other side. That is why the planet they are on is all desert, the creatures ate everything on it. And now they are heading towards the wormhole to Earth. Their bodies have metal exo-skeletons so they can pass through the wormhole without dying.
The Thief uses her burglar equipment to lower herself down to the engine room where she nabs the power crystal, and all the control equipment attached to it. She awakens one of the creatures who had been sucked inside the ship causing it to crash. Another creature apparently also was inside and it eats the 2 fly people. The Doctor and the Thief make it back to the bus, where the Doctor discards the gem as useless, and the Thief nearly cries at the thought. He uses the control device on the tires, and attaches the main part to the steering wheel, but the 2 technologies won't interface. He needs something metal, conductive, and malleable...like gold. He takes the stolen artifact and hammers it into the shape that he needs, and make the connection.
The bus goes airborne, and flies through the wormhole. On the other side UNIT is waiting and the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to fix one of the teen's cell phone so that it could call anywhere...like he had done to Rose's phone. He got one of their scientists to work on the wormhole to try to figure out how to close it as it was getting larger. The UNIT command personnel ordered the scientist to close the hole, trapping the Doctor, even though he is UNIT's highest regarded being. The scientist wouldn't do it, and once the bus flew through (followed by 2 or 3 of the Alien Manta-Rays) he closed the hole. UNIT takes down the aliens, and the bus lands safely.
The Doctor recommends UNIT hire the 2 young boys. The Thief wants to travel with the Doctor, but he tells her he has had many companions and has lost them all, so no. She is then arrested. He uses his sonic screwdriver to release her cuffs and she escapes to the bus, which she flies off in escape. The psychic woman who heard the screams of the dead from the planet they were on tells the Doctor to be careful, that his song is ending, and that it is coming back through the dark...and that he will knock 4 times. Uh oh.
Being Human:
This is a new BBC series that aired on the BBC in the Spring (I believe) and is now airing on BBC America on Saturday nights. It is about an apartment being shared by 3 young 20 somethings, 2 men and a woman. Nothing special, sounds like Melrose Place or something right? WRONG! The girl is a ghost, and one guy is a vampire and the other is a werewolf.
The premiere episode began with the woman narrating the back story (somewhat) of all three characters. First, it shows her lying dead on the floor, eyes open, while a pool of blood forms around her. Then it shows her, heartbroken and terrified, yelling and screaming at her wake, trying to figure out why nobody is responding to her. Heartbreaking, but at least we only hear her narration and not her pleas to her loved ones. Then we see a WW1 soldier stumbling onto 3 men feeding off a dying soldier. We next see him waking up amongst a pile of dead soldiers, only now he is a vampire. We don't get the back story on the werewolf until much later, but we see him waking up in the woods with a terrible wound on his upper left chest, and he's lying next to a dying guy who has been essentially disemboweled. Later we get a little more detail about the 3.
The girl ghost is finally at a point where some people (but not all) can see her. She also can interact with objects, but for some reason, can only wear the clothes that she died in. Her fiancé who owns the apartment where the 3 live finally stops by and thanks the vampire (obviously not knowing that he is one) for staying at the apartment because nobody else has lasted there very long since her death. When asked how it happened, he said that nobody really knows, it appeared that she just fell down the stairs. Later she uses the werewolf's cell phone (without his knowing it) to text the guy to tell him that a pipe in the kitchen is banging (it was) so he'd come over and she'd reveal herself to him. When her fiancé arrived, he couldn't see or hear her...although he did seem to pick up something. He arrived with his new girlfriend, a woman who the ghost told the others was probably all over him the minute she died. I guess she was right! So, she is upset that he is with this other woman, and that is possibly why he couldn't see her.
The ghost girl asks the werewolf what happened to him and he said that he was vacationing and got caught in the woods by this "monster." He said that he was offended by the mere thought that such a thing could exist. It chased him in the woods where he stumbled on another guy. That guy got slaughtered. He was merely gouged by the creature before it was chased away. Apparently, that was all it took to infect him.
As for the vampire, apparently he made a deal with the vamps to allow himself to be "sacrificed" so that his company of soldiers would be spared. The vamp who apparently "sired" him, said, oh yeah, some sacrifice. You live forever, can't get sick, while all his men either died in the war or at some point since as it's been nearly 100 years since WW1 and none of them are still around yet he is.
The vamp "leader" is now a cop, and the vamps have members in all parts of society in order to help and protect them. The vamp star of the show has sworn off blood, but we see that he killed a girl in a moment of passion during sex. Turns out, she worked at the hospital where both the vampire and the werewolf work. The Vamp appears to be a doctor, while the Wolf is a custodian type. The vampires claim to be on the verge of something big, maybe even revealing themselves to humans and seeing what happens. The boss vampire asks where the doctor vamp stands, and he replies that he stands with the humans. This took place just after the hospital girl who the vamp "turned" ended up killing another hospital girl who was on a date with the vamp, but who the werewolf was interested in. The girl vamp said that the girl from the date could be "saved" if the doctor vampire "turned" her. He wouldn't do it, because he knows that it was a mistake to turn the other girl, and so she died.
The werewolf wants to lock himself down in the basement of the hospital in a secured but abandoned room as it is "that time of the month." He finds workers are fixing the place up, and they comment how the walls are all scraped up. Now not having anyplace secure to "change" he has the vampire drive him into the woods. The vampire says that their home would be better and safer, but the werewolf wouldn't hear of it and ran off into the woods. He stumbles onto a camping family, then a couple making out, then some other people, and finally some creepy guy. The wolfman then goes back to the car and tells the vamp to drive him home. Once there, they removed as many breakable stuff as they can and the vampire sits outside on the porch. The ghost wants to stay and see what he goes through and maybe be able to help calm him down in his wolf state since she can't be harmed. The wolfman doesn't think it's a good idea.
Then, he changes. I have to say it was one of the most brutal transformation scenes I've ever seen. The guy sounded like someone was pulling his intestines out of his nose. I mean, it was horrible. The vampire covers his face from the sound, which they try to drown out with loud techno music. The girl starts crying and turns away. Once he's changed, she calls his name. The wolf sees her, and loses it. So, she sits on the porch with the vampire. The next day, the place is trashed.
I kinda jumped around with how the story was told, but I think I covered most of the main points. It seems to have potential, and from the "coming attractions" it appears that the creepy guy who the wolfman ran into in the woods wasn't there by accident. The vamp leader (the cop) seems to have something very big planned and it looks like the 3 stars are not in for an easy time of it.
Next Food Network Star:
I've always said with these cooking contest shows that I'd love to have them give the contestants enough time and money to make something great. It's like either giving them enough polish to truly shine, or enough rope to hang themselves. This episode of NFNS did just that.
They met with Emeril at his Miami restaurant and he told them that they'd be cooking for a dinner party of about 20 ELITE food people and that they'd have $1,000 to spend and 3 hours to cook a 3 course meal. I kept waiting for Bobby Flay to show up at the grocery store and take away half their money, but he never did. But before they went shopping, they got to see an advanced screening of the new movie Julie & Julia which tells the true stories of a woman who cooked from Julia Child's famed cookbook every day and then wrote about it, and Julia Child's story. The movie was to serve as inspiration for them as they, like Julie & Julia, are following their dreams in the culinary world.
They brought out many of the FN talent like Morimoto, the Neeley's, Sunny Anderson, Anne Burrell, my "twin" Tyler Florence, and then chefs/restaurateurs like Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson, Emeril and my favorite, John Besh. It was an AMAZING lineup of people to have to present to.
Each made a 3 course meal of an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. They also each hand to live demo one of their dishes. To help out, the last 3 booted contestants returned to be their sous chefs. Melissa got Jameka, Debbie got Michael, and poor Jeffrey got Katie who puts the NUT in nutritionist.
Melissa went first. She made a pastry dish for dessert, but also made a pastry dish with sliced potatoes and bacon inside. Originally, that was going to be part of her appetizer, but they hadn't cooked enough, so she swapped it with the orzo from her main dish. Her orzo also had issues. She made so much that it was in 2 pots, which was a good thing because one pot was too salty. She seemed to imply that Jameka must have over salted it. She gave her presentation where she revealed that her mother committed suicide. How is that a topic for a dinner party? It was another revelation from her that just seemed oddly placed. She cooked an herb-cheese chicken for her demo. The guest all seemed to like her and her dishes, although some said that her chicken was over done and the skin wasn't as crispy as she intended. Her dessert pastry was said to have been the single best thing everyone ate the whole night. One of the dinner guests is an elite chef from France and he's a renown pastry chef, and even he raved about it.
Debbie went next and if I had to do a shot everytime she said "Korean" I'd have died of alcohol poisoning. All of their dishes were similar in that all 3 had something sitting on a bed of something else. Her food was so so. Some didn't like her Korean ribs as they were tough, but Debbie rightfully noted that that is the way the Korean's make ribs. They don't make them "falling off the bone." Her appetizer was said to be 100% Soul and no Seoul. Bobby complained about needed more flavors. For her demo, she made her dessert and most thought that she did well, but some complained that her egg roll dough wasn't fully cooked.
Jeffrey went last and right out of the gate, everyone liked him. He is VERY charismatic and polished and told some good stories. His appetizer got VERY high marks, as did his dessert. Tyler commented several times that the guy is money on tv, that anyone would want to watch and learn from him. Jeffrey's main course of seafood risotto; however, was a disaster. A risotto must be made to order and served right away. Jeffrey knew that it would end up sitting, so he tried to undercook it a little so that by the time it was served, it should be dead on. As Jeffrey was explaining the dish, the faces on the diners told it all. The French chef told him it was the worst risotto he'd ever had, and this one chef who I've seen many times as he competed for Next Iron Chef and like Jeffrey brings tastes of the world to his cooking, said that the risotto was an affront to Italy. Wow.
For me, it seemed like the judges should look at the season as a whole. If there were 16 challenges, and Jeffrey had won 6 and Melissa 3 and Debbie 1, that would tell it all for me. In the end, that may have been what sealed it. Jeffrey is CLEARLY the best chef there and is great in front of people and on camera. Melissa is EXACTLY what the FN audience loves, a home-cooking mom. Debbie has never wowed them with her food, and head judge Bob even alluded to that in his blog BEFORE this season even began that he wrote once the casting was completed. So, Debbie got the boot. The final now is the cool trained chef against the home cook with great cooking tips. No matter which one wins, I think they BOTH will end up on FN.
In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.
UPDATE: The finale of NFNS was yesterday. They both made "pilots" and I thought that Jeffrey's was better. He showed more of what he was doing, and explained the why, the how, and made you want to eat it. Melissa did a good job, but for some reason, just showed a potato dish she had made, but didn't tell how to make it. The selection committee revealed that in the 5 seasons, this was the hardest decision they've made. Bobby Flay made a point during the deliberations to ask,"We can only pick one, right?" That wasn't the only hint that they both might get a contract. Even Melissa said that she thinks they BOTH should win. As expected, they chose Melissa. Most of the winners of NFNS have been guys, and the only woman to win won due to controversy and then left FN after her 6 episode deal that each winner gets. So, I figured that she would win as she fits their demographic better and because people might complain that they only pick men to win. I still think they see a star in Jeffrey, so I'm betting that SOMETHING will be coming with him soon.
Kathy Griffin:
This episode was all about Kathy opposing Proposition 8 in California. It was a voter inspired ballot proposal that repealed the California Supreme Court supported gay marriage law. This was one of those bills where voting yes meant no and voting no meant yes. So if a voter chose yes to Proposal 8 that meant they were voting no to gay marriage.
Kathy started by visiting singer Melissa Etheridge, her wife, and their 2 kids. Originally it was just to ask for her opinion on what cause or causes Kathy should become an activist for, since A-Listers all have causes. It was by talking with Melissa that she decided that since "the gays" always have supported her and that she was so adamant about this issue that she should take it up.
So, Kathy went to a gay community center which as part of their programs allows homeless gay youths to stay there for up to 18 months, but they have to either attend school or get jobs. Kathy has performed there at their auditorium many times, and felt that she could enlist some of the youths to help her in this cause.
The kids are there for many reasons including having been shunned by their families for being gay. None of them had done any advocacy work, and none of them knew the story of Matthew Shepard who was lured from a bar and then tied to a fence where he was beaten, robbed, and left to die...all because he was gay. Kathy said that she had flown to Wyoming and been at the candlelight vigil for him while Matthew was still alive and in a coma after being found, 18 hours after the beating, still tied to the fence. Shepard died a few days later.
So, she took the kids to a place that teaches how to work in an advocacy campaign. Kathy and the kids were then sent out (with a "babysitter" to try to make sure Kathy didn't get out of line) and they went to a neighborhood in Sacramento which overwhelmingly voted for Prop 8 (so against gay marriage.) Kathy and the troupe (camera in tow) knocked on doors and spoke to people who happened to be outside. Many of the people were found to have been confused as to if yes meant no or yes. Since the proposal only won by 4%, the confusion alone could have turned the tide. She said that many of the people were firmly against gay marriage, but several people seemed to reconsider after Kathy spoke with them, including a 90 something woman, a white woman, and a black woman who was working on her yard.
Kathy then took the kids to a rally decrying Prop 8 and trying to get publicity for it's repeal in 2010. There they met a gay couple who has been together for 10 years. One of them has developed a condition to where he is slowly losing his ability to walk. His job is only part time, in part because of his physical limitations, so he doesn't qualify for health care through his job. His partner's employer doesn't recognize same sex domestic partnerships, although it DOES recognize opposite sex domestic partnerships! So, this poor guy doesn't have any health benefits, and can't seem to get them. If he were allowed to marry, then the problem would be solved. I guess they must not have been from California, or I'm sure they would have gotten married while it was legal there. They didn't specify, or I missed it.
After that, Kathy showed the kids a youtube video about Matthew Shepard and that seemed to really energize the kids who finally had a face to go with the name. Then they showed Kathy and the kids at another rally where Drew Barrymore gave a famous speech, about how "civil unions" is separate but not equal, and that all gay people want is to be treated equally under the law as the Constitution mandates.
The last bit showed Kathy give a benefit performance at the gay community center where she raised $30,000. She also auctioned off 2 big tubs of cookies that were made by Melissa Etheridge and family and some woman bought them for $1,500! Those are some expensive cookies!
Warehouse 13:
I wasn't that crazy about this episode. Again it started with a cutesy bantering with the 2 lead agents who were assaulted by monkeys, in various ways, while retrieving an artifact.
Meanwhile, it turns out that the experience Artie had at the end of last week wasn't a time travel or anything, it was like a waking dream, a memory that he interacts with. He has another episode and wakes up to find that the warehouse has been breeched and he's in electrified handcuffs at the mercy of the person who broke into their computer and then their electrical grid to spell "knock knock."
She is a 20 something gal who is the sister of a person whom Artie worked with 12 years prior and she blames Artie for her brother's death. She claims that her brother is alive and needs Artie's help to bring him back. He thinks that she's nuts, and the agents find out that she was recently in a mental institution while they are trying to track down Artie. They go to her apartment and it's the standard "walls covered with clippings and photos" of Artie and Warehouse 13 related stuff.
Like Artie, she also had been having those waking memories/visions and that led her first to the mental hospital and now to the lab. She takes Artie to her brother's old lab and there they see her brother appear in a ghost like state. His appearance though affects the sister's health and is slowly killing her. Artie realizes that the brother had been working on teleportation (Fringe, anybody?) and appears to have instead gotten stuck, for 12 years, between the 3rd and 5th dimensions.
The brother appears and Artie is able to hold him in our dimension long enough for the brother to tell Artie to cut his tie to the lab, which would kill him, but would save his sister. Artie agrees, but the girl wakes up and tries to stop him. Just then the 2 agents arrive. They tell Artie that the guy was missing a piece of the solution and that it is hidden in a compass that the guy used to make the teleportation thing work. Artie grabs the girl and grabs the brother when he appears, and all three disappear together.
Artie tells the brother what he has just learned. The guy show him the compass. The brother and sister are happy to be in the same place, but not happy that it's in the 5th Dimension. Artie unlocks the compass and solves the final part, which happens to be how to get back home, and all three arrive back at the lab safe and sound. So now the brother is back, but he hasn't aged a day, while the girl went from like 12 to 24, so they're about the same age now.
Back at the warehouse, the boss lady shows up and is unhappy that the computer, electrical services, and the warehouse itself were all breached, and that now this girl knows too much...and there aren't many options for her now.
Top Chef Masters:
We're finally at the Champion Round and the final six chefs are: Classic French Chef Hubert Keller, Classic French/Asian Fusion Chef Anita Lo, Authentic Mexican Chef Rick Bayless, Contemporary Italian Chef Michael Chiarello, Fresh Modern American Chef Suzanne Tracht, and Oprah's personal chef Art Smith who cooks Southern Comfort food.
The Quickfire has them draw knives and they become 2 teams of 3. They have to compete in one of my favorite Top Chef challenges which is the mise-en-place relay. There would be 4 tasks to complete, so 1 chef on each side had to do 2 tasks. The task were, shuck 15 oysters, dice 5 onions, butcher 4 chickens and separate 6 eggs and then whip the whites co that if they invert the bowl the whipped whites would stay in the bowl for at least 5 seconds. TC head judge Tom Collechio judges this portion (as it wouldn't be him judging their cooking skills, only their prep skills.) he noted that none of them probably has done any of this in a looong time as they have sous and line chefs to do this kind of work.
The French judge did the oysters against Suzanne, and then did the onions against Art. Each round was a virtual tie. Then Chef Anita and Chef Michael did the chickens and that too was essentially a tie. Art came back to do the egg white against Bayless. Art had yolks mixed in and had to get them out, and Chef Bayless kicked his ass. As a result, each member of the winning team got 5 stars, while the losing team only got 4 stars each.
The chefs were then allowed to make their "signature dish" and share it with the others. All of the food looked pretty good, but I didn't especially like Chef Anita's dish. Then they were told that the Elimination challenge would have one chef remake one of the other chef's signature dishes their own way. Chef Hubert got to choose which dish he wanted to do since he was on the winning team and he was the one who did 2 tasks. He chose Anita's, so that meant that she had to recreate his dish. The others had to drawn knives with either a 1 or a 2 on it. Chef Michael didn't want to do Rick's dish because he knew Bayless was very precise and used a lot of ingredients. They drew knives and Bayless got 1, Art got 2, then Suzanne also drew a 2 meaning Michael had to do Rick's dish. He exclaimed, "Hosed!" since he never even got to choose a knife.
Along with the regular judges, some of the former competitors returned to eat the reworked dishes. Anita ended up with the highest score, ending up with 24 of a total possible 25 points. Wow! Chef Suzanne ended up last and was eliminated which doesn't upset me because I had never heard of her and she was so dour the entire time. Until she left smiling, she never seemed to enjoy the experience. I think she was just doing it to try to win money for her charity, otherwise she couldn't have given 2 shits.
A new season of regular Top Chef returns on 8/19, and this time, they're in Vegas Baby!
Burn Notice:
I wasn't especially fond of this episode. It might have been that my work has picked up, and on Thursday when this aired, I got SLAMMED with orders! So, my focus may have been off.
The episode started with Michael getting ready to go do a job for the "Agent to the Spies." He showed up to pickup Michael, and Fi snubbed him pretty harshly. She grabbed Michael by his arm as he headed out and told him that if the job doesn't feel right, to walk away.
The guy drove Michael to a US Military storage house where they store weapons and ammo seized out in the field. A group of guys were stealing from it, and loading it up. Michael wanted to stop them, but the Agent told him that wasn't why they were there. He wanted Michael to follow the "cleaner" in order to find out where they were ultimately going to trade those weapons to other people. The "cleaner" then blew up the facility.
Mike then got a call from Barry the money launderer who told them that his ledger with all his names and contact numbers and accounts had been stolen, and he got a ransom call. He told Michael that he kept his records "old school" because he was afraid of being hacked if he kept it electronically. He told Michael that ALL of the favors he owed Barry would be forgiven if he got the ledger back.
Mike and the gang found that the "cleaner" was staying near an outdoor bingo place, so it was decided that Michael's Mom would be the perfect person to watch for him, as spies don't pay attention to kids and old people. Maddie called Michael once she saw him, but at this point Michael and Sam were tied up so Fi (who doesn't want Michael to get his old job back, or work with the Agent, and wasn't happy that they were using Maddie as a spy) had to now follow the "cleaner" to see if he would lead her to where the weapons drop would be made.
Following some leads, Michael and Sam found a place where they believed that the person who stole Barry's ledger was staying. They turned the place upside down, but didn't find anything. Then the people came home. Knowing that they didn't have time to tidy up, and once the people saw that their place had been ransacked, they'd hit the road and put the ledger online as they warned Barry they would do if he didn't pay up. So instead, Michael and Sam waited for the people to come in and made them hostages. When the baddies entered, they saw Mike and Sam and one was a woman and she "panicked." This caused the guy with her to back hand her pretty hard. Mike and Sam then took the 2 to the place where Sam and his new lady friend were going to stay for the weekend as it was currently empty.
Fi returned and told Michael that the guy scouted out a park next to a canal so it made sense that they would drive up and unload the crates of weapons onto a boat and be gone. Sam wasn't getting anywhere with the woman hostage who essentially broke down. Michael wasn't doing too well with the guy hostage as he had been an interrogator for the Soviets.
Mike & Sam first went to the house where Barry (using his skills) was able to determine that he had been staying. Inside, they found a "burn safe." It's inside of a fireplace and if someone tampers with it, everything inside gets torched. Sam & Michael were able to substitute the fire expellant with a liquid coolant. So when they opened the safe, instead of everything burning, everything got frosted. They found 3 passports, one for the woman, one for the former Soviet interrogator, and one for another guy, but not the ledger. Sam went back to interrogate the guy with the knowledge of his name, but the guy tried to get the upper hand. He spit in Sam's face, then burned him with a cigarette in the face, and grabbed Sam's gun. Only, Sam was smart enough to keep it unloaded. Fi went and talked to the woman who told them that the guy forced her to drive him around to look at places and that he threatened her son. Sam & Mike went to the one place that was on her list of locations that also showed some activity that Barry was able to find on the third passport that they found in the burn safe.
Sam & Mike made it seem like they were part of the "gang" and the third guy let them in. He then opened fire on them from the other room with a powerful but wildly inaccurate machine gun. Mike got the drop on him, and he revealed that it was the WOMAN not the Soviet who was the ringleader! Oh noes! Fi is alone with her! Mike & Sam sped back to the house, all the while calling Fi, and trying to get Barry over there as well. Meanwhile the woman was working Fi and got her to call her "son" and then got her to take off her handcuffs. She had just gotten them off when Mike & Sam arrived.
Now, Mike & Sam showed up with guns out expecting the worst, but since they saw Fi was ok, and the woman was still there, Mike went into Plan B. Except, he didn't have time to tell Fi. Instead,he walked over and slapped the SHIT out of Fi! He yelled at her for letting the woman out of cuffs. He then tossed the woman back into a bedroom. Fi looked like she was about to kill Mike. he had to quickly whisper that he was sorry, but that the woman was the boss and he had to make it look good. Fi still wasn't happy. She yelled at him about his hitting her, he told her to shut up and that they'd now have to kill everyone. he told her to kill the woman, while he and Sam took care of the former Soviet dude. The true plan was to make the woman THINK they had killed the guy and were coming for her all while Fi would then set her free so they could follow her.
Sam & Mike took the guy to the bathroom with duct tape on his mouth. They told him to start screaming, but as soon as they started shooting, for him to stop screaming. If he said ANYTHING after they were done shooting, they'd have to shoot him for real. He understood and obliged. The woman heard all of it and was freaking out when Fi let her go and gave her the keys to Sam's old convertible (as it would be the easiest to follow.) They let her go and gave her some lead time. Barry had gotten close, so as soon as she got to him, he told them which way she was heading. Sam, Mike, and Fi then played tag team car pursuit and followed her to a park.
The woman sat at a table until a guy on a bike rode by. They made a swap, she gave him the ledger and he gave her car keys, so Fi followed the woman while Sam & Mike followed the biker. They clotheslined the biker, and recovered the ledger. Fi followed to woman to the car which had a BUNCH of money in the trunk. Unfortunately, it also had a gun. She and Fi were at a standstill, but my money was on Fi...even though they learned that this bitch was a highly trained killer. A group of kids went by and she told Fi that if she flinched, she start shooting kids, and that she had no problem using the kids as shields nor to start shooting at Fi from among the kids and their parents. So, she got away. The Soviet got turned in with the car and stolen cash so he's screwed.
Michael now was heading out to take photos of the people unloading the guns. he was not happy that all he was doing was shooting photos of the people involved, and not stopping it. Fi told Michael that if he's going to try to get back to being a spy and work with people like the Agent and let stuff like this go down without stopping it that she was leaving Miami. So, Michael now had to do his spying solo although it really needed 2 people (Sam was now at his weekend getaway with his ladyfriend.) The episode ended with the Agent being highly impressed with the photos that Michael took. Just then, Mike got a call. It was his CIA contact from the airplane hanger (from the previous 2 episodes) he told Mike that he had been called and that people were now taking a serious look at his file. This could be the start of Mike's "getting his life back." But at what cost?
Eureka:
There were 4 things going on in this episode. (1) The Sheriff's sister and her boyfriend were at odds over her pregnancy and her running off on him and not telling him, and then surprising him with the news by pulling up a shirt that had made her belly disappear. (2) Fargo and his team were taking on a team from Area 51 (no, no aliens there, but Fargo and his team like to mock the Area 51 people about it in order to throw them off their game.) The leader of the Area 51 team is named Bismarck. Get it, Fargo...Bismarck. Ok then. (3) Something kills one of Fargo's teammates, and it is learned that it feeds on radioactive stuff, so it ends up eating up all of GD's recovered nuclear material (see # 4,) except for what powers the Sheriff's house. (4) GD needed ALL of the fabricated nuclear material that various people use to power things around town (like the Sheriff's AI House) so that they could use the power to boost their electronic telescope in order to try to see the object that is heading towards them from space, emitting a signal that hasn't yet been decoded.
(1) The Sheriff's sister says that apparently it was too much for the guy and she never wanted him to give up his job that requires him to travel the globe saving people. The guy shows up and says that he was upset at what she did and how she did it. She tells him to just go away and go back to his life because she didn't want or need him. Eventually, he convinces her that he wants to be with her and that she can travel with him when she can, but otherwise he'd be fine staying in one place. At the end of the episode, they decide to leave town.
(2) The Area 51 team exposes Fargo's team to low levels of Gamma radiation, turning them all green...like the Hulk only without the strength. The Sheriff's sister's boyfriend was able to create a cure based on some work he had to do with people suffering from a radiation leak in some Third World nation. But, while exposed, an organism is attracted to them and their radiation. This is what kills the "ringer" on the team, who it turns out had been stealing all of the fabricated nuclear power around town in order to feed this thing as part of an experiment now gone horribly out of control. Eventually, Fargo and his team, now cured, go on to finally beat the Area 51 team for the first time in years as Fargo makes a 7-10 split, by using a ball that splits in 2. I'd call it cheating, but apparently it's allowed.
(3) The creature was made to "clean" places that had been exposed to radiation, but now it was ravenous. It devoured its creator who was Fargo's ringer on his bowling team as he once had been a pro-bowler to earn money for his education. Jack thinks that cold might stop it because it attacked Fargo while he was showering, but slithered off after touching him so the thought was that it didn't like the cold. Jack went down into the plumbing system of GD where they thing was traveling through the pipes trying to get more radiation in other rooms, and where it had been trapped by GD securing all of their external pipes. Jack froze it, but it only froze the surface, so it managed to continue on. Now having grown to a massive size from devouring all the fabricated nuclear material that had been recovered, it was able to bust out of GD. It headed for Jack's house as it is powered by the material, and it hadn't yet been collected. Jack and the mayor figured out (with some help from Allison's friend from CETI) that it wasn't Fargo's cold shower that it didn't like, it was the Sheriff's sister's boyfriend's radiation cleanser. They managed to put a bunch of it inside an exploding bowling ball that was coated with radioactive material. Jack was able to toss it into the gooey mass and then explode it, killing the creature from within.
(4) Now that they weren't able to recover the fabricated nuclear material from around town, and it would take weeks to make more of it in the amount that they needed, they missed their window of opportunity to get a look at whatever it is that is coming to them from outer space. This required Allison to order extra defensive measures. Her friend from CETI was alarmed because they don't know the intention since they can't decode the signal. Allison said that she had no choice. Next week, the start of the arrival.
Big Brother SPOILERS!!!:
Right now you can call in and leave a message for the HGs. Here is the number:
1-323-386-2350. Here is the link: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/interact/
Here is the link to vote for the Coup D'Etat winner:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/i.../americas_vote/
In re: the internet voting for the Coup D'Etat winner...the official rules state that only 10 votes per IP address will be counted. On the website, it only shows the first part of the rules. The full rules were posted elsewhere, and here is the pertinent part about online voting from the full official rules:
>>Big Brother Description: During the Voting Period, viewers of the Big Brother television program will be asked to interact with the show by answering a poll type question related to the Big Brother television program. The announcer will invite viewers to vote either by sending in a text message on their text messaging capable mobile phone or by going online at www.cbs.com/bigbrother. There is a maximum of ten (10) votes using the text message method of voting and ten (10) free online votes.<<
Not only did the HGs figure out the end of the cliques, but the true BB fans in the house realized that the power must be the Coup D'Etat. Ronnie keeps going on and on about it and how he'll get chosen. Natalie says that America will either give it to her or Jessie since BB11 is the "Jess & Nat" show. PUKE!!! Kevin told Lydia that since Julie asked about her and Natalie, that they must be editing the show to make it look like there is a "love triangle." Which is funny, because they really haven't done that.
(Personal side note: I wish that when Jessie was talking to Julie in the HOH room that after he said that his dealings with the women is strictly Platonic that she would have said, "Jessie, you DO know that the cameras are on you 24/7?" And left it at that. It has been confirmed that Lydia has not only given him "hand release," but also that they "did the deed" and Jessie was a 2 pump chump.)
As one of the first 5 out, Kevin won the money, and Lydia won a TV. Jordan also was one of the first 5 out and won the ability to make 3 people "Have Nots." She said that she wouldn't put up any of the "Brains" since they were just Have Nots and had been Have Nots twice. She couldn't make herself or Russell Have Nots since he's HOH. So, she had them draw names. Natalie got drawn, but she has a slop pass. So, while I think she's in the Have Not room, she can eat. Natalie said she'd go without showers...like that's anything new or different. Eww. Kevin got drawn. Jeff was drawn but the others said no since he had been up there vying for HOH with Russell for so long, plus Jeff got mad at her for even allowing his name to be considered. On the redraw, Jessie got the "Have Not." He was pissed so Jordan had people guess numbers and he lost again. Lydia offered to take his place since he needs food for his muscles, but he said that he lost twice. Natalie told Jessie that she'd give him her slop pass, but BB told her that she couldn't.
All Jessie and Natalie did next was whine and complain...for HOURS!!! Natalie complained that she can't sleep next to a guy, even Kevin, since she has a boyfriend. Then she ended up trying to sleep between Kevin and Jessie. It sounded to me like she just wanted to be next to Jessie. Jessie heard the camera guys laughing at him while he was whining, so he flipped them off. It's probably just that Natalie wasn't allowed to give him her slop pass so he's mad at BB for not allowing her to give it to him. Whatever, he's a sore loser and is taking it out on the BB people.
Russell won HOH and nominated Lydia & Ronnie. Michele won the Power of Veto for the second week in a row. She has said that she won't use it to take down Ronnie. Since then, Russell has been yelling at Ronnie that he'll be going home. Ronnie has been trying to rally people to his side, and also still thinks he will win the Coup D'Etat. He thinks America LOVES him because he is "so good" at playing Big Brother. Whoever goes home this week is the final person who will NOT be eligible for the Jury House. Apparently, Ronnie's wife was soliciting people online to make a "voting bot" that would plug votes for Ronnie, but as there appears to only be a limit of 10 votes per IP address, it shouldn't work. Also, people have been critical of her for that, so I don't know if anyone took her up on the offer to help out Ronnie.
I will post as to if the Veto was used or not and if any of the nominees changed or not once that info is known, so you may have to check back sometime later today or tomorrow (I think the Veto Ceremony used to be on Sundays but is now on Mondays. I'm not sure.)
This is the second (of 3?) "movie specials" featuring Doctor Who until the new season starts with the new Doctor.
This one starts with Michelle Ryan who played the Bionic Woman 2 years ago, as a burglar who steals a goblet from the British Museum. She then boards a double decker bus, and gives the driver her diamond earrings as payment as she doesn't have a bus card, called an Oyster Card. She is quickly followed onto the bus by the Doctor.
The cops see her on the bus and give chase. The bus heads into a tunnel and the cops block the other side. The Doctor suddenly gets worked up that his device is acting oddly, and tells everyone to hold on tight. The bus then disappears right in front of the chasing cops.
The bus lands, in a worse for wear condition, on another planet. One with 3 suns, and appears to be entirely a desert. The Doctor says that there's something weird about the sand. Meanwhile, one of the passengers had been complaining about hearing screaming while in the tunnel and now says that "death is coming."
The Doctor is accused of causing the problem but he explains that his device only tracked the hole, it didn't create it. He then shows the location of the hole by tossing sand at it. The bus driver runs to it, intending to go back through to Earth. The Doctor (barely) tries to stop him. As soon as the driver hits the hole, he starts screaming. On the other side, a skeleton emerges from the hole. The Doctor explains that the forces would tear the skin off people, but that the metal of the bus protected them, and caused all the damage to the bus.
The Doctor and the Thief get the others working on putting planks from the bus under the tires so that they can maybe drive the bus back through the hole. One of the 2 young guys on the bus works on the planks, while the other works on getting sand out of the engine.
The Doctor and the Thief head towards what looks like a coming storm, but are captured by a fly-man (or would it be man-fly?) They are taken to a ship that has crashed and find another fly person. They are accused of causing the ship to crash, but the Doctor explains that they're on the planet by accident as well. The Doctor is able to get their systems working, and they send a probe into the coming storm where they find out that it's not a storm, but billions of manta-ray type creatures. The Doctor realizes that they fly around a planet faster and faster until they tear open a worm hole which they then fly through and devour everything on the other side. That is why the planet they are on is all desert, the creatures ate everything on it. And now they are heading towards the wormhole to Earth. Their bodies have metal exo-skeletons so they can pass through the wormhole without dying.
The Thief uses her burglar equipment to lower herself down to the engine room where she nabs the power crystal, and all the control equipment attached to it. She awakens one of the creatures who had been sucked inside the ship causing it to crash. Another creature apparently also was inside and it eats the 2 fly people. The Doctor and the Thief make it back to the bus, where the Doctor discards the gem as useless, and the Thief nearly cries at the thought. He uses the control device on the tires, and attaches the main part to the steering wheel, but the 2 technologies won't interface. He needs something metal, conductive, and malleable...like gold. He takes the stolen artifact and hammers it into the shape that he needs, and make the connection.
The bus goes airborne, and flies through the wormhole. On the other side UNIT is waiting and the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to fix one of the teen's cell phone so that it could call anywhere...like he had done to Rose's phone. He got one of their scientists to work on the wormhole to try to figure out how to close it as it was getting larger. The UNIT command personnel ordered the scientist to close the hole, trapping the Doctor, even though he is UNIT's highest regarded being. The scientist wouldn't do it, and once the bus flew through (followed by 2 or 3 of the Alien Manta-Rays) he closed the hole. UNIT takes down the aliens, and the bus lands safely.
The Doctor recommends UNIT hire the 2 young boys. The Thief wants to travel with the Doctor, but he tells her he has had many companions and has lost them all, so no. She is then arrested. He uses his sonic screwdriver to release her cuffs and she escapes to the bus, which she flies off in escape. The psychic woman who heard the screams of the dead from the planet they were on tells the Doctor to be careful, that his song is ending, and that it is coming back through the dark...and that he will knock 4 times. Uh oh.
Being Human:
This is a new BBC series that aired on the BBC in the Spring (I believe) and is now airing on BBC America on Saturday nights. It is about an apartment being shared by 3 young 20 somethings, 2 men and a woman. Nothing special, sounds like Melrose Place or something right? WRONG! The girl is a ghost, and one guy is a vampire and the other is a werewolf.
The premiere episode began with the woman narrating the back story (somewhat) of all three characters. First, it shows her lying dead on the floor, eyes open, while a pool of blood forms around her. Then it shows her, heartbroken and terrified, yelling and screaming at her wake, trying to figure out why nobody is responding to her. Heartbreaking, but at least we only hear her narration and not her pleas to her loved ones. Then we see a WW1 soldier stumbling onto 3 men feeding off a dying soldier. We next see him waking up amongst a pile of dead soldiers, only now he is a vampire. We don't get the back story on the werewolf until much later, but we see him waking up in the woods with a terrible wound on his upper left chest, and he's lying next to a dying guy who has been essentially disemboweled. Later we get a little more detail about the 3.
The girl ghost is finally at a point where some people (but not all) can see her. She also can interact with objects, but for some reason, can only wear the clothes that she died in. Her fiancé who owns the apartment where the 3 live finally stops by and thanks the vampire (obviously not knowing that he is one) for staying at the apartment because nobody else has lasted there very long since her death. When asked how it happened, he said that nobody really knows, it appeared that she just fell down the stairs. Later she uses the werewolf's cell phone (without his knowing it) to text the guy to tell him that a pipe in the kitchen is banging (it was) so he'd come over and she'd reveal herself to him. When her fiancé arrived, he couldn't see or hear her...although he did seem to pick up something. He arrived with his new girlfriend, a woman who the ghost told the others was probably all over him the minute she died. I guess she was right! So, she is upset that he is with this other woman, and that is possibly why he couldn't see her.
The ghost girl asks the werewolf what happened to him and he said that he was vacationing and got caught in the woods by this "monster." He said that he was offended by the mere thought that such a thing could exist. It chased him in the woods where he stumbled on another guy. That guy got slaughtered. He was merely gouged by the creature before it was chased away. Apparently, that was all it took to infect him.
As for the vampire, apparently he made a deal with the vamps to allow himself to be "sacrificed" so that his company of soldiers would be spared. The vamp who apparently "sired" him, said, oh yeah, some sacrifice. You live forever, can't get sick, while all his men either died in the war or at some point since as it's been nearly 100 years since WW1 and none of them are still around yet he is.
The vamp "leader" is now a cop, and the vamps have members in all parts of society in order to help and protect them. The vamp star of the show has sworn off blood, but we see that he killed a girl in a moment of passion during sex. Turns out, she worked at the hospital where both the vampire and the werewolf work. The Vamp appears to be a doctor, while the Wolf is a custodian type. The vampires claim to be on the verge of something big, maybe even revealing themselves to humans and seeing what happens. The boss vampire asks where the doctor vamp stands, and he replies that he stands with the humans. This took place just after the hospital girl who the vamp "turned" ended up killing another hospital girl who was on a date with the vamp, but who the werewolf was interested in. The girl vamp said that the girl from the date could be "saved" if the doctor vampire "turned" her. He wouldn't do it, because he knows that it was a mistake to turn the other girl, and so she died.
The werewolf wants to lock himself down in the basement of the hospital in a secured but abandoned room as it is "that time of the month." He finds workers are fixing the place up, and they comment how the walls are all scraped up. Now not having anyplace secure to "change" he has the vampire drive him into the woods. The vampire says that their home would be better and safer, but the werewolf wouldn't hear of it and ran off into the woods. He stumbles onto a camping family, then a couple making out, then some other people, and finally some creepy guy. The wolfman then goes back to the car and tells the vamp to drive him home. Once there, they removed as many breakable stuff as they can and the vampire sits outside on the porch. The ghost wants to stay and see what he goes through and maybe be able to help calm him down in his wolf state since she can't be harmed. The wolfman doesn't think it's a good idea.
Then, he changes. I have to say it was one of the most brutal transformation scenes I've ever seen. The guy sounded like someone was pulling his intestines out of his nose. I mean, it was horrible. The vampire covers his face from the sound, which they try to drown out with loud techno music. The girl starts crying and turns away. Once he's changed, she calls his name. The wolf sees her, and loses it. So, she sits on the porch with the vampire. The next day, the place is trashed.
I kinda jumped around with how the story was told, but I think I covered most of the main points. It seems to have potential, and from the "coming attractions" it appears that the creepy guy who the wolfman ran into in the woods wasn't there by accident. The vamp leader (the cop) seems to have something very big planned and it looks like the 3 stars are not in for an easy time of it.
Next Food Network Star:
I've always said with these cooking contest shows that I'd love to have them give the contestants enough time and money to make something great. It's like either giving them enough polish to truly shine, or enough rope to hang themselves. This episode of NFNS did just that.
They met with Emeril at his Miami restaurant and he told them that they'd be cooking for a dinner party of about 20 ELITE food people and that they'd have $1,000 to spend and 3 hours to cook a 3 course meal. I kept waiting for Bobby Flay to show up at the grocery store and take away half their money, but he never did. But before they went shopping, they got to see an advanced screening of the new movie Julie & Julia which tells the true stories of a woman who cooked from Julia Child's famed cookbook every day and then wrote about it, and Julia Child's story. The movie was to serve as inspiration for them as they, like Julie & Julia, are following their dreams in the culinary world.
They brought out many of the FN talent like Morimoto, the Neeley's, Sunny Anderson, Anne Burrell, my "twin" Tyler Florence, and then chefs/restaurateurs like Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson, Emeril and my favorite, John Besh. It was an AMAZING lineup of people to have to present to.
Each made a 3 course meal of an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. They also each hand to live demo one of their dishes. To help out, the last 3 booted contestants returned to be their sous chefs. Melissa got Jameka, Debbie got Michael, and poor Jeffrey got Katie who puts the NUT in nutritionist.
Melissa went first. She made a pastry dish for dessert, but also made a pastry dish with sliced potatoes and bacon inside. Originally, that was going to be part of her appetizer, but they hadn't cooked enough, so she swapped it with the orzo from her main dish. Her orzo also had issues. She made so much that it was in 2 pots, which was a good thing because one pot was too salty. She seemed to imply that Jameka must have over salted it. She gave her presentation where she revealed that her mother committed suicide. How is that a topic for a dinner party? It was another revelation from her that just seemed oddly placed. She cooked an herb-cheese chicken for her demo. The guest all seemed to like her and her dishes, although some said that her chicken was over done and the skin wasn't as crispy as she intended. Her dessert pastry was said to have been the single best thing everyone ate the whole night. One of the dinner guests is an elite chef from France and he's a renown pastry chef, and even he raved about it.
Debbie went next and if I had to do a shot everytime she said "Korean" I'd have died of alcohol poisoning. All of their dishes were similar in that all 3 had something sitting on a bed of something else. Her food was so so. Some didn't like her Korean ribs as they were tough, but Debbie rightfully noted that that is the way the Korean's make ribs. They don't make them "falling off the bone." Her appetizer was said to be 100% Soul and no Seoul. Bobby complained about needed more flavors. For her demo, she made her dessert and most thought that she did well, but some complained that her egg roll dough wasn't fully cooked.
Jeffrey went last and right out of the gate, everyone liked him. He is VERY charismatic and polished and told some good stories. His appetizer got VERY high marks, as did his dessert. Tyler commented several times that the guy is money on tv, that anyone would want to watch and learn from him. Jeffrey's main course of seafood risotto; however, was a disaster. A risotto must be made to order and served right away. Jeffrey knew that it would end up sitting, so he tried to undercook it a little so that by the time it was served, it should be dead on. As Jeffrey was explaining the dish, the faces on the diners told it all. The French chef told him it was the worst risotto he'd ever had, and this one chef who I've seen many times as he competed for Next Iron Chef and like Jeffrey brings tastes of the world to his cooking, said that the risotto was an affront to Italy. Wow.
For me, it seemed like the judges should look at the season as a whole. If there were 16 challenges, and Jeffrey had won 6 and Melissa 3 and Debbie 1, that would tell it all for me. In the end, that may have been what sealed it. Jeffrey is CLEARLY the best chef there and is great in front of people and on camera. Melissa is EXACTLY what the FN audience loves, a home-cooking mom. Debbie has never wowed them with her food, and head judge Bob even alluded to that in his blog BEFORE this season even began that he wrote once the casting was completed. So, Debbie got the boot. The final now is the cool trained chef against the home cook with great cooking tips. No matter which one wins, I think they BOTH will end up on FN.
In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.
UPDATE: The finale of NFNS was yesterday. They both made "pilots" and I thought that Jeffrey's was better. He showed more of what he was doing, and explained the why, the how, and made you want to eat it. Melissa did a good job, but for some reason, just showed a potato dish she had made, but didn't tell how to make it. The selection committee revealed that in the 5 seasons, this was the hardest decision they've made. Bobby Flay made a point during the deliberations to ask,"We can only pick one, right?" That wasn't the only hint that they both might get a contract. Even Melissa said that she thinks they BOTH should win. As expected, they chose Melissa. Most of the winners of NFNS have been guys, and the only woman to win won due to controversy and then left FN after her 6 episode deal that each winner gets. So, I figured that she would win as she fits their demographic better and because people might complain that they only pick men to win. I still think they see a star in Jeffrey, so I'm betting that SOMETHING will be coming with him soon.
Kathy Griffin:
This episode was all about Kathy opposing Proposition 8 in California. It was a voter inspired ballot proposal that repealed the California Supreme Court supported gay marriage law. This was one of those bills where voting yes meant no and voting no meant yes. So if a voter chose yes to Proposal 8 that meant they were voting no to gay marriage.
Kathy started by visiting singer Melissa Etheridge, her wife, and their 2 kids. Originally it was just to ask for her opinion on what cause or causes Kathy should become an activist for, since A-Listers all have causes. It was by talking with Melissa that she decided that since "the gays" always have supported her and that she was so adamant about this issue that she should take it up.
So, Kathy went to a gay community center which as part of their programs allows homeless gay youths to stay there for up to 18 months, but they have to either attend school or get jobs. Kathy has performed there at their auditorium many times, and felt that she could enlist some of the youths to help her in this cause.
The kids are there for many reasons including having been shunned by their families for being gay. None of them had done any advocacy work, and none of them knew the story of Matthew Shepard who was lured from a bar and then tied to a fence where he was beaten, robbed, and left to die...all because he was gay. Kathy said that she had flown to Wyoming and been at the candlelight vigil for him while Matthew was still alive and in a coma after being found, 18 hours after the beating, still tied to the fence. Shepard died a few days later.
So, she took the kids to a place that teaches how to work in an advocacy campaign. Kathy and the kids were then sent out (with a "babysitter" to try to make sure Kathy didn't get out of line) and they went to a neighborhood in Sacramento which overwhelmingly voted for Prop 8 (so against gay marriage.) Kathy and the troupe (camera in tow) knocked on doors and spoke to people who happened to be outside. Many of the people were found to have been confused as to if yes meant no or yes. Since the proposal only won by 4%, the confusion alone could have turned the tide. She said that many of the people were firmly against gay marriage, but several people seemed to reconsider after Kathy spoke with them, including a 90 something woman, a white woman, and a black woman who was working on her yard.
Kathy then took the kids to a rally decrying Prop 8 and trying to get publicity for it's repeal in 2010. There they met a gay couple who has been together for 10 years. One of them has developed a condition to where he is slowly losing his ability to walk. His job is only part time, in part because of his physical limitations, so he doesn't qualify for health care through his job. His partner's employer doesn't recognize same sex domestic partnerships, although it DOES recognize opposite sex domestic partnerships! So, this poor guy doesn't have any health benefits, and can't seem to get them. If he were allowed to marry, then the problem would be solved. I guess they must not have been from California, or I'm sure they would have gotten married while it was legal there. They didn't specify, or I missed it.
After that, Kathy showed the kids a youtube video about Matthew Shepard and that seemed to really energize the kids who finally had a face to go with the name. Then they showed Kathy and the kids at another rally where Drew Barrymore gave a famous speech, about how "civil unions" is separate but not equal, and that all gay people want is to be treated equally under the law as the Constitution mandates.
The last bit showed Kathy give a benefit performance at the gay community center where she raised $30,000. She also auctioned off 2 big tubs of cookies that were made by Melissa Etheridge and family and some woman bought them for $1,500! Those are some expensive cookies!
Warehouse 13:
I wasn't that crazy about this episode. Again it started with a cutesy bantering with the 2 lead agents who were assaulted by monkeys, in various ways, while retrieving an artifact.
Meanwhile, it turns out that the experience Artie had at the end of last week wasn't a time travel or anything, it was like a waking dream, a memory that he interacts with. He has another episode and wakes up to find that the warehouse has been breeched and he's in electrified handcuffs at the mercy of the person who broke into their computer and then their electrical grid to spell "knock knock."
She is a 20 something gal who is the sister of a person whom Artie worked with 12 years prior and she blames Artie for her brother's death. She claims that her brother is alive and needs Artie's help to bring him back. He thinks that she's nuts, and the agents find out that she was recently in a mental institution while they are trying to track down Artie. They go to her apartment and it's the standard "walls covered with clippings and photos" of Artie and Warehouse 13 related stuff.
Like Artie, she also had been having those waking memories/visions and that led her first to the mental hospital and now to the lab. She takes Artie to her brother's old lab and there they see her brother appear in a ghost like state. His appearance though affects the sister's health and is slowly killing her. Artie realizes that the brother had been working on teleportation (Fringe, anybody?) and appears to have instead gotten stuck, for 12 years, between the 3rd and 5th dimensions.
The brother appears and Artie is able to hold him in our dimension long enough for the brother to tell Artie to cut his tie to the lab, which would kill him, but would save his sister. Artie agrees, but the girl wakes up and tries to stop him. Just then the 2 agents arrive. They tell Artie that the guy was missing a piece of the solution and that it is hidden in a compass that the guy used to make the teleportation thing work. Artie grabs the girl and grabs the brother when he appears, and all three disappear together.
Artie tells the brother what he has just learned. The guy show him the compass. The brother and sister are happy to be in the same place, but not happy that it's in the 5th Dimension. Artie unlocks the compass and solves the final part, which happens to be how to get back home, and all three arrive back at the lab safe and sound. So now the brother is back, but he hasn't aged a day, while the girl went from like 12 to 24, so they're about the same age now.
Back at the warehouse, the boss lady shows up and is unhappy that the computer, electrical services, and the warehouse itself were all breached, and that now this girl knows too much...and there aren't many options for her now.
Top Chef Masters:
We're finally at the Champion Round and the final six chefs are: Classic French Chef Hubert Keller, Classic French/Asian Fusion Chef Anita Lo, Authentic Mexican Chef Rick Bayless, Contemporary Italian Chef Michael Chiarello, Fresh Modern American Chef Suzanne Tracht, and Oprah's personal chef Art Smith who cooks Southern Comfort food.
The Quickfire has them draw knives and they become 2 teams of 3. They have to compete in one of my favorite Top Chef challenges which is the mise-en-place relay. There would be 4 tasks to complete, so 1 chef on each side had to do 2 tasks. The task were, shuck 15 oysters, dice 5 onions, butcher 4 chickens and separate 6 eggs and then whip the whites co that if they invert the bowl the whipped whites would stay in the bowl for at least 5 seconds. TC head judge Tom Collechio judges this portion (as it wouldn't be him judging their cooking skills, only their prep skills.) he noted that none of them probably has done any of this in a looong time as they have sous and line chefs to do this kind of work.
The French judge did the oysters against Suzanne, and then did the onions against Art. Each round was a virtual tie. Then Chef Anita and Chef Michael did the chickens and that too was essentially a tie. Art came back to do the egg white against Bayless. Art had yolks mixed in and had to get them out, and Chef Bayless kicked his ass. As a result, each member of the winning team got 5 stars, while the losing team only got 4 stars each.
The chefs were then allowed to make their "signature dish" and share it with the others. All of the food looked pretty good, but I didn't especially like Chef Anita's dish. Then they were told that the Elimination challenge would have one chef remake one of the other chef's signature dishes their own way. Chef Hubert got to choose which dish he wanted to do since he was on the winning team and he was the one who did 2 tasks. He chose Anita's, so that meant that she had to recreate his dish. The others had to drawn knives with either a 1 or a 2 on it. Chef Michael didn't want to do Rick's dish because he knew Bayless was very precise and used a lot of ingredients. They drew knives and Bayless got 1, Art got 2, then Suzanne also drew a 2 meaning Michael had to do Rick's dish. He exclaimed, "Hosed!" since he never even got to choose a knife.
Along with the regular judges, some of the former competitors returned to eat the reworked dishes. Anita ended up with the highest score, ending up with 24 of a total possible 25 points. Wow! Chef Suzanne ended up last and was eliminated which doesn't upset me because I had never heard of her and she was so dour the entire time. Until she left smiling, she never seemed to enjoy the experience. I think she was just doing it to try to win money for her charity, otherwise she couldn't have given 2 shits.
A new season of regular Top Chef returns on 8/19, and this time, they're in Vegas Baby!
Burn Notice:
I wasn't especially fond of this episode. It might have been that my work has picked up, and on Thursday when this aired, I got SLAMMED with orders! So, my focus may have been off.
The episode started with Michael getting ready to go do a job for the "Agent to the Spies." He showed up to pickup Michael, and Fi snubbed him pretty harshly. She grabbed Michael by his arm as he headed out and told him that if the job doesn't feel right, to walk away.
The guy drove Michael to a US Military storage house where they store weapons and ammo seized out in the field. A group of guys were stealing from it, and loading it up. Michael wanted to stop them, but the Agent told him that wasn't why they were there. He wanted Michael to follow the "cleaner" in order to find out where they were ultimately going to trade those weapons to other people. The "cleaner" then blew up the facility.
Mike then got a call from Barry the money launderer who told them that his ledger with all his names and contact numbers and accounts had been stolen, and he got a ransom call. He told Michael that he kept his records "old school" because he was afraid of being hacked if he kept it electronically. He told Michael that ALL of the favors he owed Barry would be forgiven if he got the ledger back.
Mike and the gang found that the "cleaner" was staying near an outdoor bingo place, so it was decided that Michael's Mom would be the perfect person to watch for him, as spies don't pay attention to kids and old people. Maddie called Michael once she saw him, but at this point Michael and Sam were tied up so Fi (who doesn't want Michael to get his old job back, or work with the Agent, and wasn't happy that they were using Maddie as a spy) had to now follow the "cleaner" to see if he would lead her to where the weapons drop would be made.
Following some leads, Michael and Sam found a place where they believed that the person who stole Barry's ledger was staying. They turned the place upside down, but didn't find anything. Then the people came home. Knowing that they didn't have time to tidy up, and once the people saw that their place had been ransacked, they'd hit the road and put the ledger online as they warned Barry they would do if he didn't pay up. So instead, Michael and Sam waited for the people to come in and made them hostages. When the baddies entered, they saw Mike and Sam and one was a woman and she "panicked." This caused the guy with her to back hand her pretty hard. Mike and Sam then took the 2 to the place where Sam and his new lady friend were going to stay for the weekend as it was currently empty.
Fi returned and told Michael that the guy scouted out a park next to a canal so it made sense that they would drive up and unload the crates of weapons onto a boat and be gone. Sam wasn't getting anywhere with the woman hostage who essentially broke down. Michael wasn't doing too well with the guy hostage as he had been an interrogator for the Soviets.
Mike & Sam first went to the house where Barry (using his skills) was able to determine that he had been staying. Inside, they found a "burn safe." It's inside of a fireplace and if someone tampers with it, everything inside gets torched. Sam & Michael were able to substitute the fire expellant with a liquid coolant. So when they opened the safe, instead of everything burning, everything got frosted. They found 3 passports, one for the woman, one for the former Soviet interrogator, and one for another guy, but not the ledger. Sam went back to interrogate the guy with the knowledge of his name, but the guy tried to get the upper hand. He spit in Sam's face, then burned him with a cigarette in the face, and grabbed Sam's gun. Only, Sam was smart enough to keep it unloaded. Fi went and talked to the woman who told them that the guy forced her to drive him around to look at places and that he threatened her son. Sam & Mike went to the one place that was on her list of locations that also showed some activity that Barry was able to find on the third passport that they found in the burn safe.
Sam & Mike made it seem like they were part of the "gang" and the third guy let them in. He then opened fire on them from the other room with a powerful but wildly inaccurate machine gun. Mike got the drop on him, and he revealed that it was the WOMAN not the Soviet who was the ringleader! Oh noes! Fi is alone with her! Mike & Sam sped back to the house, all the while calling Fi, and trying to get Barry over there as well. Meanwhile the woman was working Fi and got her to call her "son" and then got her to take off her handcuffs. She had just gotten them off when Mike & Sam arrived.
Now, Mike & Sam showed up with guns out expecting the worst, but since they saw Fi was ok, and the woman was still there, Mike went into Plan B. Except, he didn't have time to tell Fi. Instead,he walked over and slapped the SHIT out of Fi! He yelled at her for letting the woman out of cuffs. He then tossed the woman back into a bedroom. Fi looked like she was about to kill Mike. he had to quickly whisper that he was sorry, but that the woman was the boss and he had to make it look good. Fi still wasn't happy. She yelled at him about his hitting her, he told her to shut up and that they'd now have to kill everyone. he told her to kill the woman, while he and Sam took care of the former Soviet dude. The true plan was to make the woman THINK they had killed the guy and were coming for her all while Fi would then set her free so they could follow her.
Sam & Mike took the guy to the bathroom with duct tape on his mouth. They told him to start screaming, but as soon as they started shooting, for him to stop screaming. If he said ANYTHING after they were done shooting, they'd have to shoot him for real. He understood and obliged. The woman heard all of it and was freaking out when Fi let her go and gave her the keys to Sam's old convertible (as it would be the easiest to follow.) They let her go and gave her some lead time. Barry had gotten close, so as soon as she got to him, he told them which way she was heading. Sam, Mike, and Fi then played tag team car pursuit and followed her to a park.
The woman sat at a table until a guy on a bike rode by. They made a swap, she gave him the ledger and he gave her car keys, so Fi followed the woman while Sam & Mike followed the biker. They clotheslined the biker, and recovered the ledger. Fi followed to woman to the car which had a BUNCH of money in the trunk. Unfortunately, it also had a gun. She and Fi were at a standstill, but my money was on Fi...even though they learned that this bitch was a highly trained killer. A group of kids went by and she told Fi that if she flinched, she start shooting kids, and that she had no problem using the kids as shields nor to start shooting at Fi from among the kids and their parents. So, she got away. The Soviet got turned in with the car and stolen cash so he's screwed.
Michael now was heading out to take photos of the people unloading the guns. he was not happy that all he was doing was shooting photos of the people involved, and not stopping it. Fi told Michael that if he's going to try to get back to being a spy and work with people like the Agent and let stuff like this go down without stopping it that she was leaving Miami. So, Michael now had to do his spying solo although it really needed 2 people (Sam was now at his weekend getaway with his ladyfriend.) The episode ended with the Agent being highly impressed with the photos that Michael took. Just then, Mike got a call. It was his CIA contact from the airplane hanger (from the previous 2 episodes) he told Mike that he had been called and that people were now taking a serious look at his file. This could be the start of Mike's "getting his life back." But at what cost?
Eureka:
There were 4 things going on in this episode. (1) The Sheriff's sister and her boyfriend were at odds over her pregnancy and her running off on him and not telling him, and then surprising him with the news by pulling up a shirt that had made her belly disappear. (2) Fargo and his team were taking on a team from Area 51 (no, no aliens there, but Fargo and his team like to mock the Area 51 people about it in order to throw them off their game.) The leader of the Area 51 team is named Bismarck. Get it, Fargo...Bismarck. Ok then. (3) Something kills one of Fargo's teammates, and it is learned that it feeds on radioactive stuff, so it ends up eating up all of GD's recovered nuclear material (see # 4,) except for what powers the Sheriff's house. (4) GD needed ALL of the fabricated nuclear material that various people use to power things around town (like the Sheriff's AI House) so that they could use the power to boost their electronic telescope in order to try to see the object that is heading towards them from space, emitting a signal that hasn't yet been decoded.
(1) The Sheriff's sister says that apparently it was too much for the guy and she never wanted him to give up his job that requires him to travel the globe saving people. The guy shows up and says that he was upset at what she did and how she did it. She tells him to just go away and go back to his life because she didn't want or need him. Eventually, he convinces her that he wants to be with her and that she can travel with him when she can, but otherwise he'd be fine staying in one place. At the end of the episode, they decide to leave town.
(2) The Area 51 team exposes Fargo's team to low levels of Gamma radiation, turning them all green...like the Hulk only without the strength. The Sheriff's sister's boyfriend was able to create a cure based on some work he had to do with people suffering from a radiation leak in some Third World nation. But, while exposed, an organism is attracted to them and their radiation. This is what kills the "ringer" on the team, who it turns out had been stealing all of the fabricated nuclear power around town in order to feed this thing as part of an experiment now gone horribly out of control. Eventually, Fargo and his team, now cured, go on to finally beat the Area 51 team for the first time in years as Fargo makes a 7-10 split, by using a ball that splits in 2. I'd call it cheating, but apparently it's allowed.
(3) The creature was made to "clean" places that had been exposed to radiation, but now it was ravenous. It devoured its creator who was Fargo's ringer on his bowling team as he once had been a pro-bowler to earn money for his education. Jack thinks that cold might stop it because it attacked Fargo while he was showering, but slithered off after touching him so the thought was that it didn't like the cold. Jack went down into the plumbing system of GD where they thing was traveling through the pipes trying to get more radiation in other rooms, and where it had been trapped by GD securing all of their external pipes. Jack froze it, but it only froze the surface, so it managed to continue on. Now having grown to a massive size from devouring all the fabricated nuclear material that had been recovered, it was able to bust out of GD. It headed for Jack's house as it is powered by the material, and it hadn't yet been collected. Jack and the mayor figured out (with some help from Allison's friend from CETI) that it wasn't Fargo's cold shower that it didn't like, it was the Sheriff's sister's boyfriend's radiation cleanser. They managed to put a bunch of it inside an exploding bowling ball that was coated with radioactive material. Jack was able to toss it into the gooey mass and then explode it, killing the creature from within.
(4) Now that they weren't able to recover the fabricated nuclear material from around town, and it would take weeks to make more of it in the amount that they needed, they missed their window of opportunity to get a look at whatever it is that is coming to them from outer space. This required Allison to order extra defensive measures. Her friend from CETI was alarmed because they don't know the intention since they can't decode the signal. Allison said that she had no choice. Next week, the start of the arrival.
Big Brother SPOILERS!!!:
Right now you can call in and leave a message for the HGs. Here is the number:
1-323-386-2350. Here is the link: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/interact/
Here is the link to vote for the Coup D'Etat winner:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/i.../americas_vote/
In re: the internet voting for the Coup D'Etat winner...the official rules state that only 10 votes per IP address will be counted. On the website, it only shows the first part of the rules. The full rules were posted elsewhere, and here is the pertinent part about online voting from the full official rules:
>>Big Brother Description: During the Voting Period, viewers of the Big Brother television program will be asked to interact with the show by answering a poll type question related to the Big Brother television program. The announcer will invite viewers to vote either by sending in a text message on their text messaging capable mobile phone or by going online at www.cbs.com/bigbrother. There is a maximum of ten (10) votes using the text message method of voting and ten (10) free online votes.<<
Not only did the HGs figure out the end of the cliques, but the true BB fans in the house realized that the power must be the Coup D'Etat. Ronnie keeps going on and on about it and how he'll get chosen. Natalie says that America will either give it to her or Jessie since BB11 is the "Jess & Nat" show. PUKE!!! Kevin told Lydia that since Julie asked about her and Natalie, that they must be editing the show to make it look like there is a "love triangle." Which is funny, because they really haven't done that.
(Personal side note: I wish that when Jessie was talking to Julie in the HOH room that after he said that his dealings with the women is strictly Platonic that she would have said, "Jessie, you DO know that the cameras are on you 24/7?" And left it at that. It has been confirmed that Lydia has not only given him "hand release," but also that they "did the deed" and Jessie was a 2 pump chump.)
As one of the first 5 out, Kevin won the money, and Lydia won a TV. Jordan also was one of the first 5 out and won the ability to make 3 people "Have Nots." She said that she wouldn't put up any of the "Brains" since they were just Have Nots and had been Have Nots twice. She couldn't make herself or Russell Have Nots since he's HOH. So, she had them draw names. Natalie got drawn, but she has a slop pass. So, while I think she's in the Have Not room, she can eat. Natalie said she'd go without showers...like that's anything new or different. Eww. Kevin got drawn. Jeff was drawn but the others said no since he had been up there vying for HOH with Russell for so long, plus Jeff got mad at her for even allowing his name to be considered. On the redraw, Jessie got the "Have Not." He was pissed so Jordan had people guess numbers and he lost again. Lydia offered to take his place since he needs food for his muscles, but he said that he lost twice. Natalie told Jessie that she'd give him her slop pass, but BB told her that she couldn't.
All Jessie and Natalie did next was whine and complain...for HOURS!!! Natalie complained that she can't sleep next to a guy, even Kevin, since she has a boyfriend. Then she ended up trying to sleep between Kevin and Jessie. It sounded to me like she just wanted to be next to Jessie. Jessie heard the camera guys laughing at him while he was whining, so he flipped them off. It's probably just that Natalie wasn't allowed to give him her slop pass so he's mad at BB for not allowing her to give it to him. Whatever, he's a sore loser and is taking it out on the BB people.
Russell won HOH and nominated Lydia & Ronnie. Michele won the Power of Veto for the second week in a row. She has said that she won't use it to take down Ronnie. Since then, Russell has been yelling at Ronnie that he'll be going home. Ronnie has been trying to rally people to his side, and also still thinks he will win the Coup D'Etat. He thinks America LOVES him because he is "so good" at playing Big Brother. Whoever goes home this week is the final person who will NOT be eligible for the Jury House. Apparently, Ronnie's wife was soliciting people online to make a "voting bot" that would plug votes for Ronnie, but as there appears to only be a limit of 10 votes per IP address, it shouldn't work. Also, people have been critical of her for that, so I don't know if anyone took her up on the offer to help out Ronnie.
I will post as to if the Veto was used or not and if any of the nominees changed or not once that info is known, so you may have to check back sometime later today or tomorrow (I think the Veto Ceremony used to be on Sundays but is now on Mondays. I'm not sure.)
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