Wrapping up the 2009-2010 season

American Idol

Did the best singer win? No. But, Lee probably "needed" the win and the Idol/19 machine push more than Crystal. Crystal is a "true" artist, but her style of music isn't always the most commercial. I can see her still performing in 20 years, while I can't quite say the same for Lee. I think Lee is clearly the least talented singer to have ever won, and he's in the same genre as David Cook, Daughtry, and even Kris Allen to an extent, but isn't anywhere nearly as talented or inspiring as any of them...and Kris for all his talents didn't really inspire a lot of fans either.

I liked Siobhan and Casey and I can see Casey having some sort of a career as he's good looking, a pretty darn good guitarist, and is a decent singer. Siobhan is perhaps the best pure singer from this season, but can she have a sustained career? She's a quirky personality and somehow should find a way to combine those 2 things into something successful.

As for the judges, Simon had clearly checked out of this season and just didn't care. Ellen was HORRIBLE, as I predicted. Randy is useless. Kara turned in the best judging performance all season. Who knew?

Going forward, Idol should fire everyone but Kara. Give Ryan's job to Ellen. Hire 2 new judges (so ONLY 3 total) and consider the following for those final 2 positions, Shania Twain, Neil Patrick Harris, Ken "Babyface" Edmonds, superproducer Steve Lillywhite, P Diddy, Ben Folds, Piers Morgan, Natalie Maines, Don Was, and someone heretofore unknown (as Simon was originally.) I would prefer that one be a singer/performer and one a producer/talent scout.

They also should incorporate the judges in the process in terms of who goes like they do on DWTS and X Factor. That gets rid of the "judges save," and instead allows the judges to pick kbetween the Bottom 2 or 3.

Get rid of the theme nights that focus on one artist, and don't go further back for a "decade" theme than the 80s. Country night, R&B night, Rock & Roll night ALL make more sense than Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis, Sinatra, Shania Twain, etc...

AI also needs to give the contestants more choices to sing, and not allow a song from earlier in the season (or the prior season) to be sung. They also should ban any song performed more than 3 times, and certain songs should be banned that are associated with a "moment" from a former Idol (like Summertime, Stuff Like That There, Hallelujah, Mad World, etc...)

AI had a VERY comprehensive poll on their website asking all sorts of questions about what works and what doesn't, and I HOPE that they got good replies and they take it to heart.

Smallville

FINALLY a season ending that rocked! It's about time after the last couple that sucked. All in all, it was a pretty good season, but honestly, I wish "Checkmate" had been the "big bad" and not the stoopid Kandorians.

Survivor

Russell SHOULD have won Samoa, and as much as it pains me to admit, Parvati SHOULD have won Heroes vs Villains. I STILL think that in order to win Survivor you really should have won at least 1 Individual Immunity. I understand "puppet masters" and "social players," but Sandra was neither. Sandra won because she wasn't Russell and by proxy Parvati. Sandra did NOTHING to win. She had no alliance. She had no puppets doing her bidding. She had no strategy other than "boot Russell." The ONLY move she made was getting Russell to evict Coach, and by finding the last HII she kept anyone else from getting it. Whoopee doo.

Amazing Race

This last one was MUCH better than the prior one which had some of the LAMEST challenges ever (like go to the top of this building, run onto the roof, and find your clue...seriously?) That said, the Cowboys SHOULD have won, but they goofed at the end. I still don't like how they bunched the final 3 together onto the same plane back to the US. The brothers were waaaay behind and shouldn't have been brought to parity. Ah well. At least the unlikable lesbian couple didn't win.

Justified

WOW! This was a very "slow burn" series. It started with a spark, well a bang anyway, and then slowly burned until the explosive finale. It was one of the best season finales of ANY show this year, and probably one of the best finales ever.

V

This show finally hit its stride the last few weeks. I see this on a short leash next season. This show has many problems, the kid who plays Tyler, the Vs calling themselves Vs, and the way people are able to do things that they shouldn't (like move about unnoticed on a high tech spaceship.) Let's hope that they get off to a fast start next season.

Stargate:Universe

This series also was quite uneven, but I like it on the whole. Good performances, and good ideas. I like that unlike Star Trek:Voyager, there isn't a "reset button" at the end of each episode. Shit happens and mostly the results stick. This has a LOT of potential, and I hope that they're able to get some traction next season.

Chuck

This series should be REQUIRED VIEWING for people writing series that have a "serial" format. This shows how characters can evolve naturally and even find love without losing chemistry or jumping the shark. This past season saw the addition of several new characters, and ALL of them worked. Scott Bakula as Chuck's Dad was genius, and Brandon Routh was actually quite good as the largely unlikable character Shaw. Mu-ha-ha indeed. Next season will have Chuck's Mom. I vote for her to be played by Sarah Connor (either Linda Hamilton or Lena Headey...hmm, they both have LH as initials...oddly interesting.)

Top Chef Masters

Ok, I now am CONVINCED that this series is FIXED. Last season, I predicted that Rick Bayless would win before the season started as he is revered as some sort of Messiah in the food world, and surprise surprise, he won. This season, I again predicted that Marcus Samuelsson would win before the start of the season as he too is highly praised whenever I see him mentioned on something and he also seems to be a "favs" of the "foodies." At the end of the day Susur Lee seemed to do the best overall (heck he got 19 and 19.5 out of 20!) but Marcus got the win in the end. I may have to give up on this show. The new Top Chef is about to start and it features a pretty well regarded local chef from Farmington Hills, so I hope he's a good dude and I can cheer him on.

LOST

While there are about a hundred unanswered questions http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291 the ending was amazing and Vincent laying down next to Jack as Jack died was so moving. This series had FAR more hits than misses, and although LOTS of things were unanswered, the characters got their stories resolved (for the most part.) Kudos for an interesting series and well made finale.

New or Returning Shows I Am or Will Be Watching:

Burn Notice, Eureka, My Life on the D List, The Gates, Worst Case Scenario, Mythbusters, Next Food Network Star, and for the first time America's Got Talent. I think that the choir comprised of former homeless vets will win AGT, and they were introduced in the first episode. They're good, and have an amazing and inspiring story. I also like Michael Grimm and he has a good look, voice, and story, and could have won any other year. The 18 year old who looks like James Blunt is decent, but Grimm is better, and the choir's story trumps them all.

Recap 8/10 -8/16 2009

I'll try to do the finale of Top Chef Masters which I think is this week, and I may continue with Warehouse 13 until it ends, but I doubt that I'll pick up any new series (Like Top Chef 6, new season of Top Gear, etc...) unless I have time.

At some point, I will write about Torchwood:Children of Earth, but we STILL haven't yet been able to arrange to have everyone over to watch the last 2 episodes yet. Also, I still don't know what to do about the unseen last 20 minutes of Harry Potter (thanks power outage!)

Kathy Griffin:

This was the season finale, and probably the most humorous. Kathy started the episode by telling her mom and "Team Griffin" that she was going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Everyone was all excited, and her Mom asked who she should tell, and Kathy said, "Everyone!"

They then took a walk along the Walk of Fame to try to "pick out a spot." When Kathy saw Ryan Seacrest's Star, she threatened to puke on it...or worse. They saw the guy who cleans the stars and ended up washing a few themselves. Kathy actually cleaned Seacrest's...but would occasionally "spit polish" it as well.

Dissolve to "2 weeks later" and Tiffany says that she has bad news and good news. Kathy was NOT going to get a star. She had been told she was being considered, but ultimately she got turned down. Kathy was crestfallen. She and her mom had been telling people, so now she felt embarrassed. The good news was that Kathy WAS going to get a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame. Not the same.

So, Kathy went to visit her best friend in Palm Springs, Suzanne Summers. Suzanne lives high up in a compound. She grows her own food and cooks (she had trained to be a chef but went into acting.) Kathy asked Suzanne to introduce her at the ceremony, but Suzanne said that she'd be out of town. Kathy asked who they could get instead, so Suzanne called Barry Manilow. Barry said that he too would be out of town, as he'd be performing in Vegas.

Kathy decided to ride along on one of those "star tour" buses and if they found a celeb that could maybe introduce her, they'd get out and try to persuade the celeb to come to the ceremony. Most of the star's homes were stars who are now deceased, but they came upon Carol Channing's house so Kathy got out. She knocked on the door and traipsed around the yard, but nobody answered. Kathy thought that maybe she too was dead. Just in case, she wrote a note and Tiffany stuck her gum on the back of it and they stuck it to a Lion statue at her front door.

When Kathy showed up for the ceremony, there was one sign waving protestor saying that the only thing Kathy had earned was her place in Hell. Nice guy. Kathy then was surprised when Carol Channing actually showed up and said some nice words, then Kathy actually fell down when BOTH Suzanne and Barry showed up. Fooled her!

Warehouse 13:

A gas explosion at a St Louis police station turns up 6 dead bodies...all charbroiled. The 2 Warehouse agents learn that an old basement was unearthed, so they went down there in search of clues. They found the long dead body of another secret service agent who had a warehouse Tesla gun on him...so he too had been an agent. He seemed to have been walled in to a large room.

Back at the warehouse, Artie tried to figure out who the agent was and through photos and scans and a hologram projector that the new gal created out of cobbled together parts, they learned that his name was Jack and he'd been an agent in the 1960s. They then went into "his room." An exact duplicate created at the warehouse that contained all of his actual personal effects. I guess when an Agent dies or disappears, they create one of these "museums" in their honor. The room contained notes and a letter to someone named Rebecca. There also was an address for a home in St Louis.

The agents went to the home and found Rebecca. She knew why they were there. The agents got reports of more similar deaths, but as they left Rebecca asked if there had been more electrocutions. The agents said that they couldn't say any more and left. Turns out that she too had been a warehouse agent, as well as Jacks' girlfriend.

They came across a cop who had been doing the killings due to some 11th century "scarab" device on his back. It fed off his bio-electrical energy and used anger and hatred to increase its killing ability by emitting high voltage shocks. The cop would up dead, and the device was no longer on his back. Later, a woman came running out of her house while the agents were looking for the device and it turned out that it was attached to her ex husband. He too wound up dead and the device scurried away. It ended up attaching itself to the male agent, who ran away screaming.

Artie realized that it stays on until death, and then finds a new host. When the gas explosion took place, it freed it from the tomb with the agent Jack. Now it was on one of Agent Peter and the only way they thought it would come off is if it was "overcharged" through too much high voltage. Peter also had come up with the idea, but couldn't connect jumper cables from a high voltage box to the device. Rebecca did it for him, and Peter died. The device tried to get away, but had been weakened. Rebecca smashed it, while Agent Myka brought Pete back to life. At the end, Rebecca brought the device to the Warehouse and turned down an offer to come back. She also told Myka to get out ASAP or like the device, they'll use her until she's no use to them or dead.

Top Chef Masters:

The Quickfire was the dreaded "blind taste test" where the Chefs are blindfolded and given 20 items to taste and to try to identify. They all did a miserable job. Hubert only got 5, Anita and Rick only got 6 and Michael won by getting 7. Anita missed identifying Hoisin Sauce, a staple in Asian cooking, and she's an Asian Chef who cooks Asian Fusion! Pathetic all around.

Because Michael won, he got the advantage for the Elimination Round. They then brought in 12 former Top Chef contestants,and Michael's advantage was that he got to pick who he wanted first. They gave each Chef 2 minutes with each contestant, and Michael pissed a LOT of people off by asking them what his name was, and then having them do a knife skills test with a carrot. Richard Blais on TC4, and the "molecular gastronomy" expert in particular blasted Michael about it later.

I don't recall who all the returning chefs were nor who got whom. I do know that Anita got Jamie from Top Chef 5 who actually once worked for her, and at one point each Chef had to cut one member of their "team" and Jamie got cut. I also recall that Michael's first pick was Fabio from TC5 as he is from Italy, so natch.

In the end, Anita's dish was the worst and she was sent packing. So the final 3 are Michael, Hubert, and Bayless...all predicted here.

Recap 8/3 - 8/7 2009

Big Brother Spoilers at the end!

Next Food Network Star:

As I predicted the past few weeks, Melissa won. Her show starts tonight. Rachael Ray is probably PISSED! Melissa's show was called "Kitchen Survival Guide" in the demo that she made for the finale, but is now called "Ten Dollar Dinners," which sounds like a combination of Rachael's 2 shows "30 Minute Meals" and "$40 a day." For her demo, Melissa showed a 4 step cooking process to make chicken, but her technique is easily interchangeable so that you could use different proteins and different veggies but follow the same method and get a good dish. The thing was, she didn't show how she made her side dish. It was like, "Oh, and here's a mixture of potatoes and cheese that I cooked at 450 for 15 minutes in a cupcake pan, but didn't show HOW she made it.

Jeffrey's demo called "Ingredient Smuggler" was FAR superior to Melissa's. He brought out a West Africa spice called Harissa and he showed how to make everything he cooked, why he was cooking it that way, and made everything look and sound yummy. I'm going to head out and look for Harissa the next time I go spice shopping.

I stated after the first episode that Jeffrey SHOULD win, and I stand by that. He won the most challenges and is just more interesting. He'd also be FN's only host of Arabic descent. So like last year, the person who won the most didn't win the big prize. At least this time that person made it to the finals. Melissa hits their demographic better, and most of the NFNS winners have been men. I also think that had Rachael been one of the judges instead of Bobby that Jeffrey would have won. Throughout the series, Jeffrey cooked in a Southwestern flavor mode...and that's Bobby's gig. Had Rachael been the judge, she would have seen Melissa as a threat and pushed for Jeffrey to win. I'm pretty sure of that. I also am CERTAIN that Jeffrey will get hired.

Kathy Griffin:

This episode dealt with Kathy's book. She did the photo shoot for the cover and then picked out the cover photo. She also met with Jackie Collins for advice on how to maximize sales, and Salmun Rushdie for advice on how to turn controversy into sales. She also was photographed and measured for a wax figure for Madame Tussaud's in Vegas. The end result looked JUST like her, except it didn't have ANY wrinkles or Crow's Feet (Kathy mentioned it too.)

Warehouse 13:

This episode dealt with a guy who could walk through walls to steal objects. The way he did it was an ancient magical Native America cloak. The agents found a feather from the cloak stuck partially through a wall and they realized that just by holding the feather they could put part of their arm through solid objects.

The first item noticed to be stolen was a sculpture by a Native American artist. It was said to depict one of the 4 prime elements. The agents found that there had been a bidding war between an older Billionaire and a younger Billionaire who inherited his money from his unscrupulous father. The younger guy was played by Joe Flannigan from Stargate:Atlantis. The female agent was attracted to Joe. Shocker.

It turns out that all 4 sculptures would point to a cave hidden under Manhattan that would give the person who found it great powers. The agent's realized too late that the older guy was the thief and they arrived at the cave after the guy had absorbed 3 of the 4 powers. The male agent killed the old guy by stabbing him with a magical arrow (one of the items that had imbued the guy with a power) while he was receiving the final power. The resulting clash in power incinerated him.

Oh, and the young girl who infiltrated the warehouse in the last episode was staying with them until she and her brother figured out what to do, so when he left to pursue his life, she was left behind. She helped them find the cave and now it appears that she's been offered a job at the warehouse.

Superstars:

This was the final episode. They had to kayak around 3 buoys and try to pass another team to eliminate them. Bode and Paige passed David and Lisa and then quit to save their strength so Maks and Kristi won.

In the next event, they had to pull 3 buoys out of the water. One weight 100 pounds, 1 was 200, and the 3rd was 250. As David's wrist was still messed up, they basically quit early to save their strength for the "rubber match." Kristi pulled the 100 pounder while Maks pulled the 200 pounder. Then they both worked on the 250. Paige pulled the 100 pounder while Bode pulled BOTH the heavy buoys at the same time. Once he got them to the beach, he pulled up on, and then Paige helped him pull in the last one. Bode and Paige won, sending Maks and Kristi to the "rubber match" for the first time (as they have won more challenges than anyone and never been at risk of going home.

In the rubber match the gals had to run then swim to a bridge where the guys dove off, swam around a buoy and then swam to shore. At shore, the teammates would join up and body board across the lagoon. Kristi and Maks kicked their ass, but what was funny was that Maks was on the board right behind Kristi's ass. She held her legs in the air so that Maks could use his arms to paddle better. From the front view, we see Kristi moaning and gasping while Maks looks like he's behind her and his head would bob up and down and side to side while her legs were in the air. Discuss amongst yourselves what that looked like.

They had a LOT of filler and showed behind the scenes stuff and DRAGGED out the start to each competition. For the final, they had to run the obstacle course and the best 2 of 3 would win. Maks & Krist had never run it, so they must have asked them 5 times about how they felt about that fact. Ugh! It didn't matter, Maks & Kristi won both heats and won 2-0. In fact, their last heat was the fastest time of ANY team the entire season. Wow. They TRULY deserved to win.

Top Chef Masters:

The Quickfire Challenge had them make their version of burger and side. All of them looked really good but Anita made a "cheeseburger soup." She got 1.5 stars. Hubert made a burger he sells at his restaurant (he also is famous for selling the most expensive burger...like $10,000!) He got 3 stars. Art got 3.5 stars. Michael and Rick both got 4 stars.

For the elimination challenge, they had to make a 5 course meal for actress/singer Zooey Deschannel (her sister Emily is the star of Bones, her mother was an actress, and her father was a cinematographer.) Zooey is a vegetarian with a vegan diet. She also is gluten intolerant, and doesn't eat soy. I had to think, I guess she only gets protein from Beans and Lentils. She said that NOBODY ever cooks for her (shocker) and she usually just eats fruits and veggies.

Beans are a staple of Mexican so I figured that Rick would do well and he ended up with the second best score. Lentils are big in Indian cooking,and since India is in Asia, I figured that Anita would do well. She did make an Indian inspired dish, but still flopped. Michael cooks Italian and a LOT of Italian food is vegetarian. He got around the gluten issue (since it's a BIG part of pasta) by finding noodles made from Quinoa. Hubert made a gazpacho inspired dish that looked better than it tasted apparently. Art made a dessert and used store bought rice ice cream. he either should have found coconut ice cream or made it, or made a sorbet. In the end Anita and Art had the lowest scores and as predicted here, Art was sent home as he was the lowest by 1/2 star.

Burn Notice:

This was the "Summer finale" and it had been teased that Michael & Fi's relationship would be put to the test. After last episode, she was going to leave Miami to return to Ireland. Instead, her brother showed up and said that a radical Irish nationalist bomber (terrorist) was in town hunting Fi. He thought that Michael was Irish from his cover when he met Fi, so Michael had to speak in an Irish Brogue much of the episode.

The gang took Fi and her brother to a safe house that Sam procured after the baddies showed up at Fi's place. Michael tried to work an angel with the guy where he'd turn over Fi if the guy delivered some weapons for him. The plan was to get him caught with the weapons and a bomb that matched bombs that the guy has used but has never been pinned with. Instead, they attacked the safehouse, shot the brother, knocked out Michael, and kidnapped Fi. They had planned to take her by boat to a plane and then fly her to Ireland to "sell" her to people with a grudge against her.

Turns out that Strickler, the "Spy Agent" is the one who let the guy know where Fi was and set the whole thing up to get Fi away from Michael as he thought that it would help Michael's case with the CIA, as well as pull Michael more towards him. Michael shot the shit out of him. Michael then planted the guy's body and the bomb on the terrorist's boat and Sam called in the Coast Guard.

The episode ended with the brother telling Michael that although he lied and was actually an American, he was still the great guy that he respected and was glad that Fi had found him...but that the terrorist had told people of Michael's true identity so Michael can never go back to Ireland as his Irish cover. Fi and Michael also had a moment, unspoken as it was, but a moment none-the-less.

Eureka:

Things were disappearing all over town and it was found that teens, while sleeping, were building a device out in a field using the missing items. It was found that they were being controlled via some remote calling but nobody knew from where or by whom or what the device was. Later as the teens were contained and prevented from going out to build, the control started affecting other people, even elderly.

Meanwhile, product placement abounds as Joe got a suped up Subaru and then Fargo traded in his old clunker, with it's on board AI, for the same new Subaru. His car didn't like being "dumped" and kidnapped Fargo just as he had figured out what the device was.

The Eureka folks realized that the signal was affecting the automated traffic system and that's how people were being affected. Anyone who had a "remote controlled car" was being controlled by the signal. They shut down the traffic grid, but not long after the people were still being affected. The Sheriff realized that the signal from outer space was probably the cause and it was confirmed that as the object was so close, the signal was exponentially growing and now they had no way to stop it.

Allison was ready to destroy the object coming towards them when the car finally released Fargo and he was able to tell them what the device was. Essentially, it was going to use the clouds and atmosphere to "catch" the object, like in a catcher's mit. So they let it arrive, and Henry walked up to it and wiped off some grime on the bottom...and there was an America Flag!

In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.

Big Brother Spoilers:

Actor Jeremy Piven was in the house and some of the HGs would get to see his new comedy movie. Jeff, Michele, Kevin and Lydia are the Have Nots. Jordan, Russell, Jessie, Natalie and Chima won the movie. As predicted here, Chima nominated Russell and Lydia. Kevin won Veto and wants to use it to take off Lydia but Chima told him no that she was safe and she wanted to have ALL THE POWER. The HGs believe that Jeff or Jordan (probably Jeff) has the Coup d'Etat which they call the "Wizard Power" since they don't know for sure what it is. Process of elimination. Neither Ronnie nor Lydia had it or they would have taken themselves off the nomination block last week. Jessie, Natalie and Chima don't have it as they would have taken down Ronnie. Kevin doesn't have it as he would have taken down Lydia. That leaves Russell, Michele, Jeff & Jordan. They doubt people would have given it to Russell since he was HOH, and they doubt people like Michele. Chima has said that if CBS "ruins" her HOH reign by allowing someone to use some power that she will "ruin" the live show by yelling and screaming and swearing all throughout the next HOH competition and going nuts if her nominees are changed. Wow. I can't wait! I just hope that Jeff DOES use it to put up Jessie and Natalie, and I hope they are encouraging him to use it when they talk to him in the DR.

I'm going to pull back on my recaps as I've gotten so busy lately that I'm having trouble keeping up. I'll post BB spoilers, but probably not much else. At some point when we finish watching Torchwood: Children of Earth I'll post about that, plus maybe some movie and DVD reviews if I can.

Recap 7/27 - 7/31 2009

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.)

Recap 7/20 - 7/24 2009

Big Brother Spoilers at the end!!!


Torchwood: Children of Earth:

My DVR is quickly filling up with all the episodes and behind the scenes stuff. At some point, we'll have to find the time to watch them all. Once I've seen them all, I'll probably post my thoughts about it here.
I can't wait to watch it!

P.S. Did anyone watch the special about John Barrowman called "Making Me" or somesuch? It was about him trying to find out why he's gay and how and when he became gay. It was fascinating. For him (the rest is in spoiler proof inviso text. In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.) it looks like his mother had 2 sons before him (one who miscarried) and there is a direct link to gay men having older brothers. Something about the mother not being able to produce enough testosterone with each pregnancy. I've heard about that for a long time. Also, research from all over the world pretty much concludes that 99% of gay people are born gay.


Next Food Network Star:

The first challenge was to make a dish and present "live" on a local morning show. I don't remember what they made, it wasn't important. Each presentation was sabotaged. Debbie went first and her sabotage was they didn't have utensils and instead of fish, she found that it was chicken. She just used other things to stir, said that the dish could work with any protein, and then without being able to cut it, just broke it off and she and the host ate it that way. Guest judge "Iron Chef" Michael Symon and the other judges were impressed, said they made it too easy on her. The "live tv host" kept calling Melissa the wrong name and the guy said that he hated one of her ingredients (olives) but she said that she was the right girl for him because she'd make him like them with her dish. Then the guy just started adding hot sauce into her dish, and poured in like a gallon and she got flustered and went into her "speed talk" mode that they've criticized her about many times. Then at the end of the segment when he tried the item he nearly puked. For Jeffrey, they kept saying they had technical issues like the mics weren't working, so at first there was a boom mic right on top of his head, and they actually hit him with it, then a guy came up with a handheld and was holding it while making Jeffrey lean over the counter to talk into it and then he ended up holding a chef knife and the mic in the same hand, which led to the judges being afraid that he'd stab someone with the knife, but on the whole he kept calm and just rolled with whatever else went wrong. Then came Jameka who even BEFORE the problems started, just put her head down and tried to plunge thru the segment because her last cooking demo on Rachael Ray's show went poorly. Then things went wrong like the camera was in her face and they gave her the wrong time cues telling her they needed to speed up, slow down, cut it short, stretch for time, and once even just pointed at the watch and shrugged. Debbie won that challenge, which was the first one that she's one. So, it took the elimination of 8 other people before she was able to win something. Hmm.

Then in the next part, they had to cook something where if they won, the dish would end up on red lobster's menu for a short time. This time, they were all rolling along making their dishes, when Symon and Bobby Flay had them stop the time and then they switched ingredients. They took away all the spices and peppers from Jeffrey, who was already nervous from having to use a wood fired grill which he'd never cooked on before, and made him use Asian sauces and spices. They took away all the citrus from Melissa who said that she'd never made fish without citrus, and they gave her hot habeneros. For Debbie, they took away all of her Asian/Korean stuff and gave her Mediterranean ingredients including capers which she ended up forgetting to use. When called on it, she first said they were in the sauce, then said she hadn't been given capers. For Jameka, they took away her pineapple and gave her celery root. She doesn't like celery root, so she basically shut down. She didn't know what to do, and when asked by head judge Bob what she was up to, she told him that she was just pissed off. Hmm. At the end, she grilled the celery root and found that it tasted great, so she was able to complete her dish.

Jeffrey ended up winning the challenge, and they put a version of his dish on the Red Lobster menu as of Monday, 7/20, although they changed the fish from what he had to Tilapia. Also, I think that since he won that they should have had him make the dish that he wanted to make, and then Red Lobster's head chef could have chosen which of the 2 (or both) to put on their menu. So Jeffrey was the only one who was safe. The judges went after Debbie about her lying about the capers and said that she has made excuses several times during the competition as to why things didn't go well, including last week when she claimed that she did all that she could, but was found out to have only worked on her own dishes. Debbie got upset and said that they were attacking her character and integrity. But it was clear who was going home and as predicted here last week, out went Jameka.

Sunday 7/26 is the second to last episode, so the finale is next week. Here are my odds to win: Debbie really is the least pleasant of the three personalities. She's also only won 1 challenge, and has been caught lying and making excuses. Still, they have favored her from the start, and she has made some good dishes, and FN doesn't have any Asian hosts. Odds to win: 8-1. Jeffrey has won more challenges than anyone. He's a nice looking guy, and is very laid back. He comes across as a more exciting Michael Chiraello, or a more laid back Tyler Florence. FN also doesn't have any Arabic hosts, so he also would be a first. He has been a fan favorite on many forum boards, but almost all of the winners of NFNS have been guys, and the 2 FN executives have seemed to favor the 2 final women more the whole time. Still, he has the best culinary skill of them all, and has worked well live and on camera, and has won the most challenges. Odds to win: 3-1. Melissa is an untrained "home cook." FN already has Rachael Ray, Paula Dean, and Sandra Lee who all work in that same area. Melissa is bubbly and the judges like her tips and advice that she has, plus when she hasn't gone into "speed talker" mode, she's done well on camera. I think she has been a favorite from before the series began, as she fits right into their main demographic, home cook mothers. Odds to win: 6-5


Kathy Griffin:

In this episode, Kathy was going to perform at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, so she went around asking black people what she should and shouldn't do. First she asked her friend who was in the movie Clueless, then she asked comic Katt Williams who is hysterical and made so much money doing standup that he announced in December 2008 after having had some sort of breakdown that he was going to retire after his New Year's show and he's only 35. After talking with him, she went and hung out with rapper T.I. and had chicken and waffles with him. Then she met with Rev Al Sharpton at his office, and later appeared on his radio show. She got Rev Al to introduce her at the Apollo.

When she got to the Apollo, she found out that she was performing on "amateur night," so she said it totally showed that she was still on the D-List. There were a bunch of kid acts before hers, but she was told that they had all left by the time she hit the stage. So she went out and was doing her act and all was going well until she used the p-word for a woman's privates. Dead silence. Crickets. She started to go into another joke, when the band struck up. So she said thanks and good bye and left the stage. When she got backstage, some guy told her that she had disrespected the Apollo and how dare she say that with kids still in the audience. They then essentially tossed her out of the building. In the limo driving away from the Apollo, Kathy called Katt and told him what happened and he thought it was awesome. Back home, she read an email the Apollo sent her talking about how egregious she was and that if they get requests for refunds, they'll add them up and send her an invoice to repay them. Oh, and that she will not be allowed back to the Apollo "anytime soon."


Warehouse 13:

They had some hokey moments bookending this episode with the 2 leads fighting in the warehouse and getting doused with the purple goo as "negative energy" can affect many items in the warehouse. At the end of the episode, they tricked Artie into thinking that they had blown up his precious car to get him back for telling both of them to let the other think he/she was in charge because he/she was "sensitive."

The main storyline was about 3 people suddenly acting violently impulsive. A teen boy smashing his violin during practice, and old lady smashing the jar with her husband's ashes against the entrance to the hospital where he died, and then spray painting the F-Word on their sign, and a nun jumping off of a building thinking that she could fly. Later, each went on to do more of the same, and the boy ended up in a coma.

As the agents went around investigating, a man at an AA meeting suddenly took off for the bar after 20 years sober and then he too wound up in a coma. The Sheriff got affected and became hostile towards the agents for stepping on his turf and his needing to "protect America." The woman agent also became affected and she kept showing man hatred specifically towards her partner, so she kept socking him in the nose.

It turned out that the town's priest was a descendant of a powerful hypnotist and that the recent arrival of his ancestor's "hypno-chair" where those hypnotized would sit had stored mental abilities in the iron springs and anyone who sat in it while being counseled by the Priest would have the power of the chair unlock their "hidden anger."

The hold on the townspeople wouldn't let go, even after the male agent doused it with the purple goo. He had to axe it apart to break the "spell." While doing that, the Sheriff had strapped a bomb on himself and took hostages in the church, and then he activated it before the chair had been destroyed. Once free of the spell, the Sheriff helped the male agent get the bomb vest off and the agent ran outside with it where it exploded and shattered much of the church's stained glass windows. The agent was unhurt, and that's where they came up with the prank against Artie.

Finally, the warehouse power grid kept acting up and Artie realized that the person who tried to hack the computer last week was now trying to hack the power grid. At the end of the episode, the hacker was successful and was able to use the power grid's monitor to send a message, "Knock Knock." From the previews, it looks like this hacker is revealed next week.


Superstars:

Down to the Final Four. Kristi & Maks, Bode & Paige, Brandi & Julio, and Leslie & David.

Since there are only 4 teams left, they had 3 challenges instead of 2...plus the stoopid "rubber match."

The first even had 1 member race a jetski around a slalom course, and then after clearing the last buoy, they could race back to the beach at top speed where they'd have to remove the key, run to the shore and give the key to their teamate. The second member would then run out to the water bike, start it up, and then run the course themselves. The winner of the first 2 races would then race each other to determine 1st and 2nd place, while the 2 losers would race each other to determine 3rd and 4th.

The second challenge had the each team member shoot 5 arrows into a target. What they did was take a regulation target that has 10 rings,and make 10 targets, 1 each size, and each ring was worth the same points. So the largest ring was worth 1, and the smallest worth 10. Julio did the best overall by hitting the 8 point target 4 times in a row. He wanted to shoot for 10 with the last shot, but Brandi told him they only needed 8 points and if he missed they'd finish last. So he made the fifth in a row and got the 8 point target again.

For the third challenge, one player had to climb a 30' rock wall and press a button. Once the button was pressed, the next member could climb up until they too hit the button. Again, the winners of the first 2 rounds would face off while the 2 losers would face off. Maks revealed that he's afraid of heights, but you'd never know it from the way he quickly scrambled up the rock. He kept complaining that the safety harness was hurting his cojones and also said balls (which was funny, because they subtitled it on the screen so that you could tell that he said balls. WTF was up with that?!)

At the end of 3 events, Krist & Maks had won 2 and tied for first once so they were safe in first. Leslie & David had finished last, and second to last each round so they were in dead last.

So time again for the "rubber match." Once again, the team in second place got screwed as Bode & Paige had 30 more points than Brandi & Julio who were in third. Bode & Paige SHOULD have been allowed to be safe without the stoopid "rubber match." For the "rubber match," they had to again shoot at a target, but this time it was the 8 point target only. Also, each member only got one shot. The first team to have a member hit the target without the other team being able to do so would move on. They each shot, and Bode went last. His first arrow looked like it was resting on the top of the target, but the judge ruled that it didn't actually hit it. I was amazed, as was everyone else. It really looked like he had scalped it. But, on the second round, again nobody hit it although there were a couple of near misses. This time, Bode nailed it. So, while Bode & Paige shouldn't have had to do the "rubber match," they prevailed sending Julio & Brandi to the obstacle course.

At the obstacle course, it was a best of 3. Julio & Brandi won the first heat which saw David injure his wrist. In the second heat, when David hit the big heavy obstacle that you have to push into and run through, he screamed from the pain of hitting it at a run with his hands. But, David & Leslie won (especially since Brandi fell twice) setting up a 3rd heat. In the third heat, David again screamed (duh, try to use the other hand only) but again Brandi stumbled and seemed to get caught up in the cargo net. This meant that, once again, Leslie & David had been in the bottom the whole time yet survived the obstacle course.

Next week, the season finale with the final 3 of Kristi & Maks (who have finished alone or tied for first in like 7 events,) Bode & Paige, and Leslie & David. My money is on Kristi & Maks.


Top Chef Masters:

This one had Oprah's personal chef, Art Smith. A guy who's been a chef since 1971, and actually once trained the youngest competitor in this week's competition. An Asian guy from Hawaii named Roy who owns 37 restaurants named Roy's (or some variation of Roy's blah blah blah.) The youngest guy I had heard of too, but maybe in passing.

The Quickfire had the chefs make a dish using only the ingredients found in one aisle at Whole Foods (the aisle was randomly chosen by knife draw,) and had to cost under $20. I think this was the highest rated Quickfire yet as the scores were 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5. The oldest guy had the lowest initial score, while the youngest guy (who had to make a dessert) got 5 stars.

For the Elimination Challenge, each chef had to make a "mystery lunch box" full of ingredients for one of the other chefs (names randomly drawn.) The young guy and his old mentor drew each other, while Art & Roy drew each other.

For the first time, they showed the night between challenges. The 4 chefs went to the Hostess (Ms. Choi's) home (allegedly) and the 4 of them made dinner together. They all hung out with Ms Choi and all seemed to have a good time and the dinner was probably amazing.

None of the chefs tried to sabotage the other, and in fact each pretty much gave them what they knew would be their specialty. The old guy made pork and got enough points to go from 3.5 points to 20 total. The Asian guy made mahi mahi and ribs but they didn't go over well and he got low points and was eliminated. The young guy also got eliminated. Art only needed 16 points (and average of 4 stars from the 3 judges and the table guest who were culinary students.) He got a total of 17.5 stars to win the week with 22 total stars! Wow, who'd have thunk it?


Burn Notice:

I thought that this was a pretty decent episode, and it featured Krycek from X-Files! Well, the actor who played him. Also, this is the first episode to air since star Jeffrey Donovan was arrest for DUI, and at first I kept thinking, "what a dumbass," but once the episode got going, I forgot all about it.

It started with Michael getting a gift from the "agent to the spies" who still wants Michael to join up with him. Michael paid him a visit and once again told him off. Michael then barged in on his put upon CIA contact, and left him a note about the agent, and asked him to find out what he could for him. Michael then tapped into his CIA contact's internet connection to record data (that wouldn't be able to be deciphered) in the hopes that it would show how much activity he's had since Michael's visit and if he has had to change his passwords. All that data WOULD be readable, as statistics, and it would indicate to Michael just how connected this supposed "agent" really was.

Michael and Fi arrive at her home and find it's been broken into. They catch a kid, maybe 13 or so, who is trying to steal one of her guns. Michael catches him and takes him back to Fi's where he eventually spills that he's trying to kill his step-dad. Turns out the step-dad is on several local boards and is connected to several judges, cops, and politicians. His brother (Krycek!) is connected to the local mobs. This make the step-dad virtually untouchable. He has been beating his wife, and now has started on the kids (like 13 & 8...the 8 year old is his kid with the mother.) So the Mom filed for divorce, and this has led the guy to try to steal the kids from her and use all of his connections to get sole custody.

Mike, having had an abusive Dad, feels VERY connected to these people and wants to help. After hearing their stories, Fi and Sam want to help the family by killing or at least beating the step-dad into oblivion. Instead, Mike finds out that he has a side business that even the brother doesn't know about. He resells seized goods (like cars and black market stuff) and keeps the profits. Mike decides to pretend to be a guy who bought one of these stolen goods and beats up the step-dad and tells him that people are after Mike (his cover) and also the step-dad. The scumbag doesn't buy it, so Mike and the gang rig the lights to the parking lot where the step-dad's car is to go out on cue as the guy leaves work. Then they disable his car. Then they jam his cell phone. They next speed at him, and Fi shoots the ground near him. This rattles him, so he calls Mike (Mike's cover) and says that they need to work together to find this guy, while Mike keeps trying to get him to leave town (so he'll miss the next custody hearing, and the mother will get the kids by default.)

The 13 year old decides that Mike's plan isn't working, so he steals Mike's mother's car and shotgun and waits in ambush for the step-dad. Mike finds him, but the step-dad has seen the car drive by his office several times and is spooked. Mike has the kid speed off in the car, leading the guy to pull out his gun and run in terror across the parking lot. Mike then shows up. The guy STILL won't leave town, and insists that they hire people to find out who's doing this and take them out. Mike of course "hires" Fi and Sam to be the take down squad, and the step-dad pays them $40,000. Michael then uses fake blood and small explosives in bottle caps to wire his, Fi's and Sam's shirts. They then take the step-dad to where they tell him the people are, but then set off the explosives, making it look like they were all killed. This time it works, and the guy goes back to his office and is getting ready to run when Krycek, err, I mean his brother shows up and stops him. The guy tells his brother what's going on, but the brother doesn't buy it, as the step-dad has had a history of substance abuse.

The step-dad takes his brother and his brother's goons to where the bodies were, but...no bodies! No blood! No spent shells either! They go to the place where Michael told him the baddies had been holding up, and they find it now is a small church...with Pastor Pete (aka Michael!) Out front, there's Sam working as a fruit vendor! Fi is shown walking down the street, as just a casual passerby! The guy flips out, yelling that Michael was the guy who took him here, and Sam & Fi were the hired killers...and all of them were dead just minutes ago! With that, the brother's seen enough. Michael, Sam & Fi read that he's been tossed into the mental ward, the wife automatically gets sole and full custody of the kids, and the step-dad's business dealings are being investigated. The wife is given the $40,000 to help her start a new life somewhere far away from Miami.

At the end, the CIA Contact catches Michael removing his computer bug, and tells them that the note Mike left with the "agent's" name on it caused the guy to be questioned by 7 different intelligence organizations...1 that he'd never even heard of! Mike hands the guy the computer bug and says that is all he needed to know. Michael then goes to the agent who tells him that he has a job for Mike and either he's in, or the agent will never bother him again. Michael decides to make a deal with a devil in hopes that it will get him where he wants to be (back as a spy.) Stay tuned, only 2 Summer episodes left, and I know the last one is supposed to include a "falling out" between Michael & Fiona.


Eureka:

Something is coming to Eureka.
They've alluded to it several times now since the season restarted, and this episode was part of the process of getting to whatever this big event will be. So far, it seems like the folks at GD and the government I assume, are expecting the arrival of aliens. None of this really had anything to do with this episode, yet all of this was lurking in the background just beyond the events of the episode.

An old friend of Allison's arrives in town to take over a newly reopened Level 5. Odd things start happening all over town about this same time. A scientist whose mother had been a famous psychic believes that her spirit is trying to make contact with him. He has a meter that reads fluctuations in our dimension that he attributes to spirit activity. About the same time that his meter starts picking up all these readings, objects start moving by themselves all over town, sometimes violently thrown about.

The GD people don't believe in ghosts, so they think it must be something else. Carter investigates and while checking the various labs in Level 5 to see if any of them might be responsible, they find themselves transported into the 5th Dimension. Turns out, a Level 5 lab has been trying to create a device, not unlike a Star Trek transporter, that would allow people to shift into the 5th dimension allowing them to travel through objects and perhaps great distance...even into space. Unfortunately, the scientist who "opened the door" hasn't figured out how to get back. Worse, Carter and Allison's friend are now also trapped in the 5th dimension after they walked onto his "transporter" inadvertently.

Meanwhile, the opened door is wrecking havoc all over town, and it's getting worse. Cars and mailboxes are being throw about like a little boy having a temper tantrum with his toys. Also, the affected area appears to be growing. Why is it that in almost EVERY episode of Eureka when there is some sort of anomaly, that it ALWAYS seems to be growing out of control and spreading?

Anyway, the mayor and Allison head to the lab thinking that the scientist may help them stop it, only to discover that it's him that caused it. They decide to shut down his device...once they figure out how to do it. The scientist panics, because if they shut down his device, there won't be anyway to get back from the 5th dimension. He tries to use a portable version of his portal to get himself back, but ends up cooking his body and hurling it across the room.

Carter says that the body skidded across the room much like Allison's friend's car had earlier in the episode. Allison's friend realizes that the portal guy was off on his aim, and that if she could reduce the power needed to send them back (so they don't get cooked) as well as correct the aim, she should be able to get them back. But they have to hurry as Allison wants the device shut down. Carter uses the portable device to try to "communicate" with Allison. He succeeds in getting her to realize that nobody has seen Carter or her friend since they both had been down in this area hours ago. Allison delays shutting down the device just long enough for her friend to recalibrate the device. Allison has the device shut down and all the "spirit activity" around town suddenly stops. Carter and Allison's friend, meanwhile, are able to get back...but somehow her aim was off enough that they landed outside of town, right where the gal's car had been "shoved" by the device earlier.

The episode ends with Carter telling Allison that he heard her and Henry talking about "a signal," and that since Allison's friend worked at CETI, the search for intelligent alien life center, that he believes that they're directing something to Eureka. Allison can't tell Carter anything, but Carter warns her...that something is coming, and they all better hope that they can handle whatever it is.


Big Brother Spoilers!:

This may not all need to be in "spoiler proof inviso text," but I'll put it all in it anyway.
As of now, the nominations have been made. Check back sometime late tomorrow and I'll add the Veto winner, and I'll post the results of the Veto meeting once it's over. Veto competition is usually Saturday, and Veto Ceremony is usually on Sunday, but it looks like they may move the Ceremony to Monday. Not sure.

Also, if you haven't read it, here is the link to Julie Chen's BB blog on EW.com. It's awesome as she has all sorts of details of things that took place that weren't aired on tv. Great blog from the Chenbot! http://tinyurl.com/myq6ex


In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.

SPOILERS!!!

Jessie and Natalie are still allied with Ronnie. Russell also is still allied with Ronnie. Russell doesn't like Jessie. Russell had been paralyzed and worked hard to get to where he is now, and thinks Jessie's goal of wanting to be a "fake professional wrestler" is a joke as Russell fights real fights in Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) bouts. Russell also doesn't like how many of the HGs just defer to Jessie since he was in BB last year. He says that Natalie and Lydia are so far up his butt that he's amazed if Jessie can poo. Russell and Jeff have sort of bonded. Russell blasted a fart last night that was not only loud, but was beyond stinky. Everyone nearly lost it!

Natalie apparently only has been showering once every 3 days or so. Eww! She mooned Lydia last night, and Lydia said that she saw her vajayjay. Natalie has admitted her true age to some, but keeps messing up to others. She wanted wine and was denied by the HGs because she's only 18. What a moron. Also, she said that her HS reunion would be in 4 years instead of 10, or something like that. Ronnie now thinks she's been lying about her age.

Lydia admitted to Kevin that she's been giving Jessie, umm, hand relief, but says that's as far as she will go. But then last night, it looks like they more. I'm not sure if Jessie just "returned the favor" of if they "did the deed," but whatever happened to Jessie, it was over quickly. 2 pump chump.

The "Brains" lost the "Have/Have Not" competition...again...and I'm assuming that they're now stuck eating whatever won the America's Choice vote. The options were: Sauerkraut & Seaweed, Cabbage & Cocktail Weenies, or Pickled Eggs & Pickled Herrings. I voted for cabbage & cocktail weenies, and that appears to be what won. I also think they get to have slop as well.

Jessie nominated Michele & Jordan. He has told everyone that Jordan is a pawn, but he has told some that he will backdoor Casey and others he's told he will backdoor Ronnie. I was right in that he was targeting Michele and Casey, as I had predicted that after he won HOH.

End of Spoilers!

I will be back later to add in the Veto winner, and then the result of the Veto Ceremony hopefully by sometime tomorrow unless they more the Ceremony to Monday.