Okay, for this edition of the flagship I realize that I still haven’t caught up with the Dead Zone, and have fallen two episodes behind. Since this is the biggest deficit of my must-watch TV shows (American Dad and The 4400 are also one behind), I’ve decided that this week I’m going to do a “live” recap of Dead Zone, and where the commercial breaks go I’ll talk about whatever I want. Talk about killing two birds with one stone, eh?
The Dead Zone
I rather enjoy the fact that Johnny Smith continues to give his spiel at the beginning of every episode, so a fan can basically come in at anytime and still be somewhat aware of the storyline that’s going down. Sarah’s finally back, and for some reason her son is getting more independent. Pretty sure J.J. is still pretty young and still needs some support from Mommy Dearest. Anyway, there’s a woman who hasn’t been coming to her regular outreachings, so it’s up to John to keep his eyebrows in a constantly raised state at all times to find out what the dilly is, yo. Good to see that the intro hasn’t changed, except for the MUSIC, of all things. Jeff Buckley’s “New Year’s Prayer” was just fine for the music, why stop using it? Must’ve been cutting costs. I guess this music works, since it is creepy.
Family Guy
Stewie riffing on Brian’s novel is funny stuff to me, although to others it might’ve been a joke that dragged on too long. But that’s the thing about this new season of Family Guy: Some are appreciating the long, drawn-out jokes and others are groaning in agony because of them. The episode with the Hindenpeter and the Petercopter remains the best one after the debut to me, but this one had a fairly interesting concept, and it made fun of a reality show which is always good to me. If I remember what TVtome has told me in the past, I can be expecting a three-part series mostly focused around Stewie and Brian, but I’m not sure if that’s still the plan. Hope so, because that could be a return to greatness for Family Guy.
Sarah regrets not getting closer to Erica, and it seems like Chris Bruno is phoning in his performance so far this season. Some weird dude might be dressing up like a woman, but it’s hard to tell. It is pretty creepy, though. Anyway, some prostitute wants to be touched by Johnny, but she let Erica stay at her place so she has information. Apparently this ho gets plenty of business but the important thing is Erica taking money from an envelope in her hotel room. Johnny and Walt standoff inside the cop car is good fun. Hopefully it sets something up in the middle of the season, because Walt and Johnny fighting is good fun. The house belongs to some white guy with no priors, and there’s Deputy Dogg with Walt, another returning character, thankfully. Dude’s wearing an oversized condom on his head, but there’s no condom dude who answers the door.
American Dad
Finally started watching past the pilot episode and it’s been damn hilarious, and I can agree on some points with Family Guy not being as good in comparison to American Dad. There are some clunkers in the bunch, of course, but it seems like American Dad is the fresher of the two shows right now. Lots of fun and I hope they don’t plan on cancelling it anytime soon. Not that I’m paranoid or anything.
So there’s no one with a condom on their head in the house, and there certainly isn’t an Erica inside here. But a handshake with the housewife reveals that John thinks that she was kidnapped by the condom dude. Johnny has to get the hell out, but the husband is a little suspicious and the wife is a little nervous. Walt goes to take off from the house but the wife is willing to help now. The wife is overacting quite a bit, as she explains that he punished her for her mistakes, such as when Linda had a wrinkle in her dress or when her hair didn’t look too good. Hey, John gets a train whistle in the distance, and Linda wants to tag along for when they find him. Sarah is playing the cello for some reason and she gets neglected again. But she’s happy that someone’s close to Erica and whatnot. So it’s apparently not a condom but a clear mask, as this guy is apparently dead set on making prostitutes beautiful. Interesting concept. Apparently Erica tries to escape, and the dude kills her by suffocating her. Nice.
The 4400
Gotta love Jordan. Bangin’ all the popstars in America. I knew that we’d have a “Thinner”-like storyline with the whole water thing, but it was still pulled off really well. This show is really starting to emerge as one of my favorites, but will likely turn out to be one of those shows that gets lost in the shuffle of the other cable juggernauts like The Shield, Rescue Me, and so forth. But this has been really well done so far this season, and I can’t wait to see the third episode.
We retrace Linda’s steps from the end, where she was dropped off by the man. John takes a look around and discovers that this man has kidnapped quite a few ladies. And they’ve all been dropped off at the same spot, right? Erica’s mother hasn’t had a daughter for nearly three years, so she doesn’t care if she’s gone missing. Linda and John have a heart-to-heart about why she’s trying to find the man again. Linda thinks life should be more about surviving the weird dude, and Linda is clumsy and spills something on John and excuses herself to the restroom. 11:55 on the 22nd is when Erica bites it, but Linda isn’t in the bathroom, she’s decided to skip out. Linda also took Walt’s vehicle.
30 Days
Interesting episode covering steroids and whatnot. The interaction between the personal trainer and the guy’s wife was pretty interesting, and Morgan’s presentation regarding the whole supplements thing was very entertaining. I was surprised to see that the guy at the gym was quick to say that all of these supplements that he was taking were horrible, as I figure that a professional gym would try to promote the supplements, since they would supposedly result in a better body and keep them coming back for a longer membership and pay more money. Fun stuff, as Morgan is the Michael Moore of a new generation, since everyone has seemed to turn on Michael.
Turns out Linda used the spill to cause a distraction to take Walt’s keys, and “Mr. Suds” is the caretaker of the lye factory. Linda must’ve remembered that smell. Johnny and Walt have to get up there, so they naturally highjack a big rig and go to the lye factory. There’s Walt’s car, but it’s missing a shotgun. Walt calls for backup and tries to give John a gun because he doesn’t want John unarmed, but John’s a freaking psychic. A dead one, perhaps. John makes the big discovery first, as Linda is on the prowl. John is too hot on the trail, as Linda’s right there to knock him out with the butt of the shotgun, and now Walt hears some screams. Linda’s got a case of Stockholm Syndrome, but Linda doesn’t want to hear anymore. And there’s Mr. Suds. Walt finds Erica and John gets in Mr. Suds’ head, and starts to fight back when Mr. Suds has the shotgun, but Linda threatens to kill John. Flashback fakeout as Walt catches a shotgun shell but it’s all fake. John manages to get Mr. Suds, but the lye is very flammable and everything’s exploding. They get Erica and they make their way out and it’s wonderful high-tech explosions everywhere. The lye factory burns and burns. Sarah wants Erica to stick around, and Walt tries to keep the relationship steady. Walt doubts Erica made it, but he and Mr. Suds most certainly did. They should be a reoccuring group of characters. That would be excellent.
Anyway, some parting shots:
Not a bad Dead Zone for straying from the storyline but building up Walt/Johnny again.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is still very, very good. Get it now if you haven’t already.
Intervention seems like a good concept for a TV show, but why not call the cops when a person is taking heroin ON CAMERA?
That’s all I got for this week. Hope you liked the hybrid concept as well as I did.
