Guest Post: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in New TV Spy Drama “Undercovers” Gets to Kick Some Serious Butt

Another guest post brought to you by the wonderful Phylis Z. Miller:

J.J. Abrams has taken the successful formula he used for the ABC TV drama series “Alias” and used a similar template, including a comic relief character, for his new fall NBC show “Undercovers,” of which I’ve seen the pilot co-written by show co-creator Josh Reims.

This time, though, also sprinkled in are bits of the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film “Mrs. And Mrs. Smith,” in which the conceit is that both Angelina Jolie’s character and Brad Pitt’s character are assassins who don’t know about each other’s assassin career.

In “Undercovers” the husband and wife team (starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, playing Samantha Bloom, and Boris Kodjoe, playing Steven Bloom) are not at each other’s throats but they are too tired for sex.

Former CIA agents (they met at “The Farm” – the CIA’s training center), they’ve been out of the agency for several years and are now running their own catering business.  A CIA representative comes knocking to ask them to find and rescue their former colleague because Samantha Bloom had been working with this agent when she left the agency.

Of course they say no way.

Then Samantha Bloom decides to say yes to the rescue mission before her husband says yes.  He, meanwhile, says he would do the mission if his wife isn’t told.  Oops, too late; she has already signed on.  And, anyway, where is he going to tell his wife he is going when he leaves town, especially with a major catering commission on hand?

Now I did find it somewhat of a disconnect when, in the middle of a very tense life-and-death situation, Samantha Bloom is on her cell advising her sister regarding problems at the catering event.  True, I know how much multitasking women do, but this much seems rather ridiculous.

Still, in “Undercovers” the wife gets to be as heroic as her husband, even though, when they are in Russia at the climax of their rescue mission, he does want her to remain safely behind.  (Of course she doesn’t.)

Then when their adrenaline kicks in – and they get their mojo back – they sign on permanently while keeping the catering business as their cover.

“Undercovers” will definitely add a nice dimension to the recent run of TV dramas with strong action heroines.  Gabrielle Anwar’s Fiona Glenanne in USA Network’s popular “Burn Notice” and Piper Perabo’s Annie Walker in USA Network’s new “Covert Affairs” also each get to kick some serious butt.

And here’s my personal CIA story:

While at Wharton getting an M.B.A., I applied to the CIA and filled out numerous copies of numerous forms on an electric typewriter.  But on the day that the CIA called inviting me down to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a two-day interview process I had a change of heart.  I just couldn’t see myself, currently married with a house in Philly, as a CIA agent stationed in some end-of-the-world country.

To this day I regret at least not going for the two-day interview process.  And what really rankles me is that an episode of “Top Chef” this season takes place at Langley.  Talk about national security and need-to-know!



Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) writes about social media and military-related topics.  Her newest book is FOUR COMEDY SCREENPLAYS at http://budurl.com/4comedyscreenplays and her company has just launched the Quick Start Social Media Track at www.millermosaicllc.com/social-media-track

Guest post: Upcoming Television Shows Preview

Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/The_Event.jpg

Fall is almost here and you know what that means… brand new television shows! This year there are a lot of new shows premiering; some with your favorite veteran actors, and some with a lot of new faces. From thrillers to comedy, there is something new for everyone, so let’s sit back and get a feel for some of the new shows you’ll be watching this season.




Blue Bloods (CBS)

Blue Bloods is a police drama set in New York about a family of cops. Tom Selleck plays Frank, the chief of police, whose father was also chief. Donnie Wahlberg plays his oldest son Danny - a blunt investigator and Iraq War vet who uses questionable tactics to close cases. Will Estes plays Jaime, the youngest son who is fresh out of the police academy, and rounding out the cast is daughter Erin, who is assistant district attorney, played by Bridget Moynahan. Blue Bloods was created by some of the people behind The Sopranos, but this show looks at life on the other side of the law, and the family dynamics involved with multiple generations of police.

The Event (NBC)

The Event is a conspiracy thriller that follows Sean, played by Jason Ritter. Sean is on a search for his missing girlfriend Leila (Sarah Roemer), and comes across a vast government conspiracy and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in history. Sean’s journey affects many people including the U.S. President, who is played by Blair Underwood. Laura Innes, Bill Smitrovich and Scott Patterson round out the cast of people whose futures are uncertain in a world where a massive global conspiracy could affect all of mankind.

Outsourced (NBC)

In this workplace comedy, newcomer Ben Rappaport plays Tom, an American who works at one of the world’s largest novelty companies, and who just passed the management-training course. After a little downsizing, Tom is sent to India to look after a group of customer service representatives that aren’t very experienced when it comes to American culture… or customer service. In order to keep his job, he must teach them the tools of the trade, without too much culture clash. The sales team includes many characters including the socially awkward Gupta (Parvesh Cheena), Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan), a young romantic who loves America, and Rajiv (Rizwan Manji), who plays the assistant manager that wants Tom’s job.


The Viamedic writing team has hundreds of articles published online and in print, covering everything from sexual health to parenting to beauty, fashion, entertainment and more. Viamedic.com, a safe medications facilitator offers such medications as Valtrex and Cialis Online.

Guest Post: Scott Pilgrim vs the Animation

This Guest post was brought to you by Sara Allen of  www.inkandpixelclub.com 

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation is an animated short created to promote the live-action film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Both the short and the movie are based on Brian Lee O’Malley’s excellent Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. The short debuted on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block on August 12 and is still available to view on Adult Swim’s website.

The animated short tells how Scott met and briefly dated his band’s drummer, Kim Pine. This part of Scott’s history is fully explored in the comics – in the first chapter of volume 2 – but is only mentioned in passing in the movie. So it’s an ideal subject for a four-minute special. Because this story wasn’t originally meant as an introduction to Scott and his world or a stand-alone narrative, it may be more meaningful to people who have read the comics (which I recommend) or seen the movie (which I also recommend). But even if you aren’t familiar with the story already, the short will whet your appetite for the movie and give you and introduction to Scott, the world he lives in, and the video game styled boss battles he has to fight.

The voices for the main characters are provided by the actors from the film. Even the characters that don’t appear in the movie are voiced by actors who play different characters in the film. Normally it drives me crazy to see “face” actors taking parts that would otherwise go to professional voice actors. (I do consider Mae Whitman a real voice actor because of the large amount of voice work she’s done alongside her onscreen performances, most notably as Katara on Avatar: The Last Airbender.) But between the animation being a teaser for the movie and all of the actors actually doing a pretty good job, I’m happy with the results and I’m making an exception.

Since Scott Pilgrim began life in comics form, animation is an ideal medium to retell his story with. In fact, as much as I did enjoy the movie, part of me still wishes that it had been animated instead of live-action. I felt that way even before I saw Scott, Kim, and their various friends and foes in animation, and watching the short only made it clearer how well an animated Scott Pilgrim works. The style is just about as accurate to O’Malley’s artwork as it can possibly be. Flash animation can often result in characters that look like a group of cutout pieces being tilted back and forth to simulate movement, but that’s not the case here. Animation studio Titmouse Inc. has done quite a bit of work for Cartoon Network before and certainly isn’t slacking off on this project. Details like changes in the shapes of the characters’ eyes add to the illusion of life and the animation in the fight scene is surprisingly fluid and dynamic. It’s a lot of fun to watch and extremely faithful to the source material.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation is a lot of fun. It’s a great introduction to the tone and content of the Scott Pilgrim world for newcomers and a wonderful homage to the comics for longtime fans. So whether you loved the movie, loved the comics, or don’t know a thing about either, check out Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation.

Guest Post: Piper Perabo in New TV Series COVERT AFFAIRS Plays a Realistic CIA Field Agent

In the new drama series “Covert Affairs” on USA Network, Piper Perabo stars as Annie Walker, a 28-year-old CIA trainee yanked from her training at “The Farm” for a critical mission in D.C. and then kept at CIA headquarters rather than finishing her training.

What makes this spy thriller believable (as a TV drama) starting with the first episode is the scene in which Annie is hauled in to speak with a trainer and she believes she is about to be cut from training.

She blabbers that she’ll take retake the exercise.  She asks if it was the driving course or the deception training.

The reply is that she was better on the driving course than any woman they’ve ever had and better on the deception training than anyone in a decade.

Then she is told she is being yanked from training to immediately report to Langley – CIA headquarters.

And, yes, she does silly newcomer things and is then introduced to her new secret world by Auggie Anderson (played by Christopher Gorham), a Langley analyst blinded on a special ops mission.  (His computer has a Braille keyboard.)

What I like best about this new series is that it is relatively realistic.  Perabo is not Angelina Jolie in the new movie “Salt,” a CIA operative who functions more like Spider Man than a real CIA field operative.

Perabo’s Annie Walker is an active field agent but she doesn’t do any superhuman feats.

What’s more, during her polygraph exam in the first episode it is established that she speaks six languages.  (Thanks to having traveled around the world in search of herself.)  And this language ability is integrally woven into the episodes.

Although “Covert Affairs” takes the usual TV dramatic license with the realities of jurisdiction between the CIA, the FBI and local police, it does provide an interesting insider’s look into CIA covert operations.

I highly recommend this show for its entertaining plots and for its realistic portrayal of a female action heroine.  And the show rightly takes its place alongside a sister show on USA Network that I also highly recommend – “Burn Notice” – in which a female operative is also realistically portrayed.

Learn more at www.usanetwork.com/series/covertaffairs/

Phyllis Zimbler Miller writes about social media and military-related topics.  She is the author of the novel Mrs. Lieutenant and co-author of two other books.  Read her blog at Miller Mosaic Power Marketing.

Community Wrapup

This is a guest post brought to you by Joe. Check out his blogs On Repeat and Pizza Prospects.


By far the show I was most fond of this season, or maybe any season ever (1), was NBC’s underdog/fanart-stimulator/Soup -host-vehicle/Channel 101-mastermind-masterminded/community-college-set Community. In 09-10, while most people were getting too-involved with the conclusion of Lost (2), I was trying to figure out how to make .gif files so I could join in all the fun people were having with the Community ensemble on Tumblr and Livejournal (3). Speaking really broadly: I liked the show a lot and I think it worked on a whole lot of levels.

(More specific now!) The show sometimes gave me butterflies and I think its first season excelled because it featured: a great ensemble led by a fairly-recognizable anti-Seacrest who is able to make my DAD laugh; an exaggerated but accurate portrayal of a few aspects of college that haven’t yet been beaten into a desk (classroom puns!); inter-character chemistry that became a shipper’s dream; fans that (I think probably) mostly experienced and expressed love for the show on the web; the Dan Harmon that listened to those fans; and Alison Brie.

A laundry list of stray observations that are related to most of the laundry-listed reasons above, written both now and over the course of the season:

Nailing “It”

Community has, in perfect, realistic amounts, been nailing aspects of college that nothing else has nailed. Last week (episode 121, "Contemporary American Poultry,") it was chicken fingers... or rather the fetishization of edible cafeteria food. This week (episode 122, "The Art of Discourse,") it goes a step further/deeper and examines the inner-clique tensions that rise towards the end of the school term. I don't know about you but when the semester starts reaching its end, I notice, plainly, people getting sick of each other. I'm obviously not exempt. And in that same episode, Community acknowledged that a lot of times you have to stoop down to the level of annoying high schoolers and how hard that can be. “You have to bang his mom!” Britta Perry exclaims.

Abed

I like that the writers don't overdo it with Abed. I think Abed is two things: a TV character with Asperger's and great meta-commentary on how everyone wishes their life was more like a TV show and will go to distant ends to make that a reality. It would have been really easy to: have the entire character (and maybe even entire show) revolve around the fact of Abed's Asperger's... the entire show would devolve into jokes about his "social awkwardness" (in most college lecture halls and conversations, being "socially awkward" is considered a disease unto its own) and Abed's storylines would be centered around trying to get him to assimilate into, like, normal society or whatever, and the lessons it would teach would be "it's OK to be different!" (Which it is, and I don't have a problem with that being "a lesson that is often taught," but it would get tired.) Also it would be really easy to have each episode be some amalgam of sitcom tropes and Abed would sort of ground the whole thing by calling everyone out on it. This is something the show does do a lot but not to excess. Abed isn't a crutch the show leans on... he really is like some kind of commentator keeping each character in check. In that way he works to the show's total advantage. Just as the audience is catching on, saying to each other "Hey this is just a riff on _________," Abed steps in and calls everyone out on it.

Comedic “Synergy”

Sometime midseason, Community hit on a new weirdness that utilized actors’ ability to do physical comedy and tempered that with their great dialogue/chemistry. I think it created comedic “synergy” that carried it through the rest of the season. Moments like Britta being hit with a switch by Troy’s grandma didn’t make viewers uncomfortable like they probably should have.  We were just delighted that Troy and Britta were getting an episode together and it was working out nicely.

______/______

And in keeping with that _____/______ episode thing, here is a listicle of different combo episodes in order of how well they worked, least to most. Actually they all worked surprisingly well and without feeling forced. What do we owe that to? Dan Harmon seems like a really great guy to work for, for one. Also, none of these people were exactly stars going into the show. Alison and Joel and Yvette have shows on now that reach a medium sized but demographically particular audience (4). Chevy Chase, probably the biggest “star” of the lot, hasn’t had a big role in years though was likely responsible, along with Joel, for a bulk of the shows early viewers. I doubt there was much ego-butting on set.  Judging by their Twitter feeds, the cast seems to be an actual community that gets together pretty often.


-Troy/Abed episodes *

-Jeff/Britta episodes

-Jeff/Annie episodes *

-Jeff/Shirley episodes **

-Jeff/Pierce episodes

-Jeff/Abed episodes

-Britta/Troy episodes

-Britta/Shirley/Annie episodes

-Britta/Shirley episodes

-I think one or two Annie/Abed episodes

-Pierce/Shirley episodes (or maybe just one of those.)

-Pierce/Britta episodes

-Troy/Pierce episodes


Without drawing a chart for you, I think you can gather that these characters all shared functional, laugh-inducing/memorable screen time with each other.

Is this really what you want?

Because of a vocal web, creator Dan Harmon was really in tune with what people wanted out of the show, for better or for worse. Case in point: Jeff and Annie. Up until the debate episode, I thought I was a Jeff/Annie loner (I had yet to really explore the concept of “shipping” but I was a kind of quiet shipper.) Actually, I’m having trouble stringing together dates here. At the start of the season, things were clearly going to be Jeff/Britta. Then, either before or after Debate, I don’t really recall, people started becoming more vocal about Jeff/Annie. This may be post-debate, actually, because I don’t think people really knew what they wanted until they got it. So Harmon teased that nothing was really written in stone and that since people seemed to be into Jeff/Annie, Jeff/Annie might be what we get. Things kind of cooled off for the middle of the season, which was a totally smart move. I’m really glad the writers didn’t get couple-happy; chemistry was milked, slowly. And then, just when things were starting to turn out Jeff/Britta and I was kind of cool with it, we are given Jeff/Annie in the finale. A finale that gave us a little bit of everything, actually. It was definitely a reward for dedicated fans, especially because it was written before NBC ordered more episodes and a second season, and it made my stomach turn with apprehensive “glee” (5). Although it’s thrilling that a well-loved show like Community would recognize those that love it, to me it didn’t really feel like the writers’ finale, didn’t really feel “true.” However, I’ll reiterate: I’m fucking thrillllllled we got to see Alison Brie and Joel McHale make out again. I’ll be back for more.



Footnotes:

1.    Have really avoided getting too attached to a TV show until this season, season 5 of “Lost” aside. However, I have grown too attached to TV shows through DVD rewatches: Veronica Mars, Arrested Development, Radio Free Roscoe etc.

2.    Which I watched, and was often thrilled with, somehow managing to only go on Lostpedia once or twice.

3.    I’m not exactly well-versed in sitcom fandom on the web but it seems like Community has attracted a lot of fans that have shipped and .gif’d at an above average level.

4.    Those willing to subject themselves to the “wow, those sets and their behavior and outfits are really period appropriate!”-borefest that is Mad Men, people willing to get past the contradiction that is a comedian making fresh fun of celebrities on the E network (a contradiction that Joel would be the first person to point out,) and fans of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh, respectively.

5.    Glee became a really great in-joke on Harmon’s Twitter feed and in bits of dialogue. You’re pretty much in one camp or the other when it comes to shows about schools filled with
“loveable misfits.”

Lost Review of “Ab Aeterno”

By Paula Perry

OK Lost FANatics, Richard’s entire story is revealed in this episode, Ab Aeterno, in Latin means “Since the Beginning of time”. The Oceanic survivors went through years of tragedy and time travel to find out who the Smoke Monster is. Within several days of Richard or “Ricardo”, crashing on the island he meets Man in Black) MIB, Smokey and Jacob, the main guys running the island.

Richard crashed on the island in 1867 and now it is 2007, so he has been island bound for 140 years. He never ages and is always around, no matter what year it is. We don’t know hardly anything about him and then boom a whole show about him. I see now why he is ready to die, he lived a lie his whole life. (I liked the 1800 Richard character a lot. He was so honest, loving, and devoted, and that accent!)

It all started when his wife, Isabella is very sick and dying back in the 1800’s. He rides out for a doctor, a half-day’s journey. When Richard finally arrives riding all night through the rain, the Doc has a very bad bedside manner. They get into it, Richard only wanting to save his wife. Richard ends up pushing him away and accidently kills the Doc.

Now Richard is in prison ready to be killed for his sin of murder. A priest comes to visit Richard to absolve him of his transgression. As Richard prays for forgiveness of killing a man, the priest is like “oh no, you can’t be forgiven for the sin of murder, you must die”. Pretty harsh I thought, no slack at all.

Then in walks his savior, or is he, Mr. Whitfield. Richard wants to go to the New World, the good ol’ US of A. He is checked out like a piece of meat and since he can also speak English, he is reprieved from his death sentence and going aboard the Black Rock for the New World. He says Ricardo is now the property of one Magnus Hanso, the owner/captain of the Black Rock. Ricardo is bought by Mr. Whitfield from the priest. Wonder what souls went for back then?

So now they are traveling through some pretty heavy storms and CRASH they are on the island. Ricardo or Richard is chained below. Whitfield goes below and starts killing other prisoners that are chained. Ricardo is the last prisoner left, he screams, “Why are you doing this”? He says because eventually you will come after me to kill me. Smokey enters with his usual “whispery” entrance and kills everyone but Richard. Why is he spared?

Isabella, his dead wife, shows up. She is there to save Ricardo from Smokey or as she calls it the “Devil”. Richard tells her to run, she doesn’t want to leave him, but eventually runs up the stairs and the noises of Smokey getting lunch is heard. Poor Ricardo lost her again, or was that really Isabella?

The Man in Black (MIB) comes bearing a gift of water for Ricardo and wants to be his friend. (Something is always wanted in return.) The MIB tells Richard “HE” probably has her, Isabella. MIB refers to HIM as the devil. Ricardo asks if he is in hell. MIB says he has been there a very long time. MIB makes Richard promise he will help him before he takes the chains off. Richard, without many choices, agrees.

So now Richard is free, or is he? MIB gives instruction to Richard, just as Dogen did to Sayid, to kill Jacob with this special dagger. He even says don’t let him speak to you first, just as Dogen said. MIB tells Richard Jacob is the black smoke. So I have been thinking MIB is the smoke monster, so is it Jacob or what? I always perceived Jacob as the “good” and MIB as “evil”. Maybe it is the other way around.
MIB tells Richard the only way to get his wife back is to kill the smoke monster, knowing he will do anything for his Isabella. Ricardo says murder is wrong. MIB replies we can argue all day about right and wrong but do you want your wife back?
MIB tells Ricardo where to find Jacob and off he goes on his mission. Jacob takes the knife upon Ricardo attacking him. Richard wants to know where his wife is, Jacob doesn’t know who is talking about. Ricardo tells Jacob she is dead like me. This seems to really upset Jacob because Richard thinks he is dead. He takes Richard into the water and is drowning him. “Do you still think you’re dead”, Jacob screams.
Jacob tells Richard his name and that he brought their ship to the island. Jacob has a corked bottle of wine, comparing the corked wine to the evil on the island that must never be released. Good analogy. He then goes on explaining to Richard that the Man in Black sent him on the murder mission because he believes every man is corruptible because it is in their very nature to sin.

Recall the MIB's speech "They Come, They Fight, They Corrupt, They Destroy" Recall Jacob's "You're wrong, it only ends once. Everything before that is progress." Jacob says that he brings all of these people to the Island to prove him wrong.
Jacob tells Richard that there were many people brought to the Island before him and that they're all dead. Richard asks why Jacob didn't help any of them. Jacob says he wanted them to help themselves and to know the difference between right and wrong without him having to tell them. It would be meaningless if he had to force them to do anything. (Sounds like God’s free will for people, let them choose good or evil, right or wrong.)

This is where Richard gets his Advisor position. He could be Jacob's representative to people he brings to the Island. Richard wants something in return. First he asks for his wife back. Jacob states that he cannot do this. Second he asks to be absolved of his sins so he doesn't go to hell. Jacob states that he cannot do this either. Third, Ricardo then says he never wants to die, he wants to live forever. Jacob touches Richard's shoulder and says "Now, that I can do!" And hence, his never ending life that he just wants to end now.

Man in Black is not even upset when he finds out Richard didn’t kill Jacob. He knows that Jacob can be very convincing. Richard then says that Jacob asked him to give MIB a white stone. MIB tells Richard that if he ever changes his mind and he means "EVER" his offer still stands. And then he gives Richard his wife's gold cross.

Richard buries the cross by a bench and says goodbye to his wife. In 2007 we find Richard arriving to the same location and watch him dig it back up. He then screams over and over for the Man in Black saying that he has changed his mind about his offer.

Only Hurley shows up, he has been talking with Isabella and she wants to know why Richard buried the cross. Richard is confused and doesn’t know how Hurley knows that, Hurley says she is right here. She tells him to close his eyes and Hurley will tell him what she says "It wasn't your fault that I died. It was my time. You have suffered enough, Ricardo." Richard misses her and would do anything to be with her again. Isabella says they already are together and then she kisses him and disappears.

Back in 1867 Man in Black is sitting and overlooking the Island holding the white stone. Jacob comes to him all happy acknowledging he got the present. MIB says he doesn't have to gloat.

Jacob said as long as he is alive MIB is not going anywhere. And he said even if MIB kills him somebody else will take his place. And then MIB says the one thing that defines what side he is truly on (his own). "Then I will kill them too!"
Jacob then gives MIB the bottle of wine and tells him it is to pass the time. "I'll see you around" MIB: "Sooner than you think" he then breaks the bottle symbolizing his escape from the Island. This season I believe is reveal the “good” and the “evil” people or person. This whole thing is like a Bible School story with Jacob gathering his flock and giving them free will to chose. (He did help all them get back to the island and gave Hurley the guitar case.)

A great episode from start to finish! Only seven more shows till the end. There are still many many unanswered questions. The main one being will Locke, Smokey, make it off the island? What happens when there is no one to take Jacob’s place? Ilana was suppose to ask Richard, according to Jacob, but Richard only wants to die; hardly a leader. Will the present day island or the side flashes be reality?

Oh yeah, Jacob tells Ilana that there are 6 people he needs her to protect and this is what she has been preparing for. So, a couple things stand out here to me. Jacob gave Ilana the number 6. Ilana tells Sun there are 6 remaining candidates. Ilana also knows that John Locke is dead and that there are still 6 candidates. So we still have the question, who are the six.

The other thing was the whole concept that Ilana has been preparing for this day. It would seem like Jacob has had a team of people preparing off Island for the day that the candidates would be called to take over for Jacob. So how did he manage to get killed before Ilana got there to protect him and gather the candidates? Probably another wicked twist in this fantastic story!

Lost: Dr. Linus review

Here's another Lost Review from Paula! Make sure you check out her awesome blog @ http://dreamr-dogblog.blogspot.com/!

Michael Emerson plays Benjamin Linus, an Emmy winning actor. He was awarded the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Dramatic Series. In 2007, he was nominated for an Emmy for his role on Lost. This episode is named after him and he actually has a heart, and is redeeming himself.

Now Ben is a Doctor teaching high school history. In LA at the high school Locke tells Ben he is listening to him and if he doesn’t like the principal do something about it. Ben teaches history, very caring about students and especially his student, Alex.

Back on the island in 2004 when the plane first crashed, Alex was Ben’s daughter. The mercenaries that came to the island to kill Ben killed Alex. Ben had chosen the island over his own daughter, which always caused a great deal of guilt for him. Now Ben is playing a lead role again in Alex’s life.

In LA, Ben is at home taking care of his dad. A direct contrast to the hate he had for his father on the island in 2004. He gassed his dad and all the Dharma Initiative. His dad says maybe they should have STAYED ON THE ISLAND AND NOT LEFT. This is the first person in sideway flashes that has any knowledge of the island. News breaking!

Jack and Hurley are coming back from the Lighthouse. The (dead) Jacob told Hurley to take Jack there. They meet up with Richard Alpert. Richard is a strange character. He is the only one we know least about that has been a major player through all seasons. We learn a little more about him, but where did he come from? Why would you follow someone for decades and not know why?

Ilana has Miles “read” Jacob’s ashes and he tells Ilana Linus killed Jacob. Ilana wants to kill Ben now and chains Ben and makes him dig his own grave. Ben is always getting himself in a pickle even when he tries to do right.

Back in LA Ben is tutoring Alex and she reveals to him that she caught the principal banging the school nurse. Ben gathers the principal’s private emails and confronts him.

Miles brings Ben some food while he is digging, Ben tries to bribe Miles once again, but doesn’t work. Miles read Jacob’s last thoughts and said Jacob was hoping he was wrong about Ben, but he wasn’t. Miles has no sympathy at all for Ben. I’ve grown too really like Miles with his laid back attitude.
Richard Alpert says he is taking Jack and Hurley to the Temple but he lied to them. Richard tells them everyone is dead at the temple. Richard doesn’t see any reason for living now that Jacob is dead, his mentor. Jack tells Richard they are not meant to die now. Richard cannot kill himself because he was touched by Jacob. I wonder just how old Richard really is.

Hurley leaves jack and Richard and a lit stick of dynamite. Jack tells Richard what he saw at the lighthouse and the mirror of his house as a kid. They are talking, sweat running down their face, watching the fuse get shorter and shorter. And the fuse mysteriously stops right before the BANG. Richard is in awe now of Jack. He says now we go back to where we started. (Back to the beach.)

Ben is becoming a man in charge as the history teacher in LA .He was in charge on the island before; Ben went through great lengths to become the man in charge. He was brought to the Others as a child and has planned every since and devoted everything to the island.

Locke, Monster, shows up while Ben is digging his grave, unknown to Ilana. This reminds me of the devil coming to give you eternal life. Locke offers Ben charge of island if he follows him, and bam the lock on his ankle just falls off. Ben takes off running, Ilana right behind him.

Ben gets the drop on Ilana and gives a very heartfelt speech about his daughter getting shot and sacrificing everything for Jacob. Ben says Jacob didn’t even care. (Very touching, an Oscar performance.) Ben cannot forgive himself and doesn’t ask for forgiveness, he just wants to leave. He tells Ilana he is going to Locke,” he is the only one that will have me”, he says crying. Ilana tells Ben, “I’ll have you.” We see a whole other side of Ben now on and off the island.

Ben confronts the principal with the emails, but it backfires. Ben says I want your job, (Ben doing whatever it takes to get what he wants, at least it’s not killing anyone.)The principal turns around and blackmails Ben with his student Alex; he will torch her future. Ben backs down for the sake of Alex, Which he didn’t back down on the island and got her killed.

THE REUNION- Miles, Sun, Ilana, Ben, and Frank Lapidus, the pilot are all back on the beach now. Who should show up but Hurley, Jack, and Richard. What a touching sight. Sun is so glad to see them, but still no Jin. Will she ever find him?

To put an end to this touching reunion, Whitmore is back in the picture. He is on a submarine with a military crew, when he is told there are people on the island. Whitmore says go on by. I can’t wait to see what that was all about. At least he is not out to kill them now. Any thoughts on Whitmore’s role with the island present day?

Guest post: Review of ABC’s Cougar Town

By: Liberty Kontranowski
Don’t let the name Cougar Town scare you away. This fabulously witty ABC show is not just about old grandmas chasing down teenage love interests and shouting about it from the rooftops. It’s about so much more. Friendship, wacky relationships and finding oneself in the midst of a jumbled world are all central plot themes. We can all relate to those, right?

In the show, Jules Cobb is the main character (played brilliantly by Courteney Cox of Friends and Dirt fame.) Jules is freshly divorced, though her down-on-his-luck ex-hubby, Bobby, is a constant fixture at her house. She has a teenage son, Travis, with whom she has a very open and gray-area relationship with, and a couple of best friends whose sole source of fun is to duke it out with each other over Jules’ affections.


Add in her hottie singleton neighbor, Grayson, with whom constant barbs and personal jabs are the norm and you’ve got one lively neighborhood. And despite all of their dysfunctionality, the crew meets up at Jules’ house with such regularity, you’d think her kitchen was the local java joint where they all surf the web and read the Viamedic blog together every day.

Now, while Jules dabbles in sexcapades and frivolous relationships with fresh, young Floridian meat, she also has her eye on Grayson, who kind of digs her back. Except neither of them will admit it. She embraces her singleness one minute and laments it the next. It’s that push and pull feeling most of us encounter at some point in our lives, only for most of us, our lives aren’t nearly as funny, glamorous or well-cast.

The laughs come often and plenty in this show. The writers did a great job giving each of the characters distinct personalities (and quirks!) and the actors are so convincing, you’d swear you know these people on a personal level.


Whether it’s Ellie and Laurie (Jules’ besties) bearing their claws to each other, Ellie and hubby Andy exchanging snippets about their somewhat mechanical sex life or Travis’ embarrassment over the fact that his dad cuts the lawn at his school for a living and his mom brings home random guys only a few years older than he, each episode is bursting with plot advancement and side-splitting one-liners. It’s a great show to unload the day’s stressors with.


With characters that are so varied in age and many different relationship combos to explore, there seems to be a plethora of avenues this show can travel down. I, for one, am super excited to see what the writers do next. If you haven’t given Cougar Town a chance yet, you really must. It won’t be a waste of your time, I promise (so long as you have a sense of humor, that is.) Warning, though: there is some strong sexual language and connotation to this show, and you’re sure to hear and expletive or two in nearly every episode, so this is not something you want to watch with the whole fam. Make it your time to get away and have a good laugh solo or with some pals. And laugh you will.

For more info on the show, including a cast list and full-length episodes, visit Cougar Town’s official website. Drop us a comment here to let us know what you think of the show and any predictions you may have for future episodes and seasons. Enjoy!


Liberty Kontranowski is a freelance writer and blogger with hundreds of health, sex and lifestyle articles published online and print. She contributes health articles to Viamedic, a safe and secure online drugstore. 

Image courtesy of http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/.

Our First Guest Post: Lost!

Here's this blogs first guest post by Paula! You can read her information in the Guest blogger portion of this site and be sure to check out her blog, http://dreamr-dogblog.blogspot.com/. Enjoy her plost about Lost:


Lost: The Last Season
     Oceanic Flight 815 crashed six seasons ago and it’s been a roller coaster ride every since. The main characters John Locke, Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Jin, and Sun are always doing something unexpected. Claire has come back in the picture on the island and in the flash sideways is giving birth in Los Angeles and not on the island. Remember, she disappeared on the island before the rescue and was left there.

What are the flash sideways differences?
     There are two stories going on simultaneously, not an alternate timeline but a different outcome in the same situation of Oceanic Flight 815. I can’t wait to see the rest of this season and get all the answers. I don’t see how they can be on the island and in Los Angeles at the same time, though. It is awesome, though. So here are the differences.
     The plane flies safely into LAX, Los Angeles airport in Season 6. Desmond is in Jack’s seat on the plane. Desmond was on the island for three years before the plane crashed. (Also Desmond was in the empty stadium running when Jack was there pondering).
     The island and statue are completely under water, only a four-toed foot remained when they crashed. Hurley says he is the luckiest guy in the world and won the lottery, before Hurley insisted he was cursed and the lottery numbers were everywhere on the island as a bad omen. Sun tells the customs agent she doesn’t speak English, before she secretly took lessons and learned English before boarding the plane.
    Ethan is Claire’s OB/GYN doctor when she is giving birth. Back on the island, he was the one who kidnapped Claire and held her prisoner. Helen and John Locke are living together and are going to be married, before Helen had left Locke because of his obsession with his evil father. You remember Helen from Married with Children, Peg?
    Now this is a twist, evil, no-conscience Ben Linus is a European history teacher at a high school. Jack has a son, David. Do you think he kind of looks like Kate? He didn’t have any kids before. Jack’s appendix was taken out when he was 7 or 8. On the island Juliet took his appendix out.
The commentary shows are really good. If you get lost, especially in this season, it really helps to clear things up. I like how they show last week’s show enhanced and then the new show. I can’t wait to see how the flash sideways is explained. I hope there is no “it was all a dream”.

How do you view this blog? Please leave your input!

If you have a second, please answer the poll on the right. I'm considering moving this blog to wordpress because I checked it out and it has so many more cool features, and since I really don't feel like I've really made a niche for myself here yet, I figured it would be the best time to move.

I think there's a way I can keep it so my posts still appear here though, and I would most likely try to figure that out.

So how do you feel about the move? Should I do it, or should I not? Does anyone have any experience with wordpress vs blogger?

EDIT: Also, I'm looking to find some guest posters for this blog to help cover TV shows I don't watch including American Idol/if you just have an awesome idea for a post you'd like to write relating to TV, I'd be glad to have you. Just leave a comment here or email me at atvandagirl@gmail.com!