Television Breakdown: The Dog Can Still Hunt

Fringe: Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

You know, maybe Fringe isn't the healthiest show for you to watch, seeing as you'll probably lose several hours of sleep thinking of the many potential outcomes. On the other hand, forget that small strain of thought and just bathe in the amazing and unexpected twists and turns this show takes from week to week! This episode took us into a whole new strange universe, Olivia's mind, and gave us a detailed yet subtle look at the character without ever really showing her until the end. Right from the first take, we knew that this was going to be a fast paced and unexpected adventure, with Olivia being put in danger within the first five minutes.

At this point, is it irrational to believe that William Bell might be scheming to put his own nefarious deeds ahead of others? It should be, but thankfully it isn't, as Peter and Broyles still keep an arms length from the famed scientist. Soon Walter and William decided to send themselves and Peter into Olivia's mind to guide her out. Along the way they come into contact with the more nefarious and dark constraints of Olivia's subconscious, mainly the memory of her stepfather. It also takes a strange detour into a cartoon version of all our characters, en route to Jacksonville to find Olivia in hiding.

Before we get into the deeper parts of this episode, may I first state that Peter is hilarious while tripping on LSD! It appears that Walter can handle his shit better than anyone else. His reaction to Broyles as he starts experiencing the effects of the hallucinogenics is priceless, amongst other fun moments. Astrid retorting to Walter's misspelling of her name by calling him "Wally" was such a sweet and hilarious little moment that only fans of the show will truly get. And what's better than Astrid's musings and Peter tripping? Broyles tripping, obviously. Not only did we get the impromptu critique of Walter's love for licorice, but that goofy wide eyed glare just made such a wonderful impact. In the end, it was all in service of the story, as Broyles confided in Astrid emotionally about seeing his own body dead in front of him. I'm glad to see that that plot string hasn't evaporated entirely.

Television Breakdown: "Mother" Renewed (x2)

After a season like the one this has been, this news will certainly come as a delight to fans like me. How I Met Your Mother has been renewed for not just one, but two more seasons. This news does extend the story of Ted's search for his true love another two years, so the poor guy is bound for at least two more years of disappointment. You'd think the guy would have killed himself after six years of this, but Ted certainly has persevered. So this news can be taken in one of two lights, the first being that the producers just jumped at the chance to secure another two years for their hit show. That seems a bit too simple for me, so I'd rather believe that they are setting an end date, much like Lost did. I'd say that their show should end in 2013, or else it will become suddenly terrible and go the way of Two and a Half Men. On the other hand, I doubt Jason Segel is about to go on an insane night with strippers and bimbos.

Television Breakdown: Hearts So Red

This week covering: Fringe, The Chicago Code, Glee, How I Met Your Mother

Fringe: Immortality

I'm going to go ahead and call this Fringe's Valentine's Day episode, because it surprisingly dealt with romance in the foreground. Of course this still is an episode focusing on a case of extinct insects burrowing their way out of their victims before dying shortly afterwords. I'm with Charlie on this one. Those bugs really grossed me the hell out, and I'm glad Fringe hasn't forgotten how to do that. At the base of it, this episode was about the fallout in the alternate universe, much like Marionette was the fallout in our universe. Things don't go as expected, and they go wrong in the most perfect way imaginable.

As mentioned before, this works as a wonderful Valentine's Day episode for the show that edges on the horror genre occasionally. Charlie has a sweet and awkward little moment with the girl who apparently treated his outbreak of arachnids. That borders on one of the most unbearably funny moments of this series, right up there with Vagenda. I hope that she comes back into the fold later on. Another nice and awkward romantic moment came when Walternate was getting cozy and intimate with his Asian mistress. It was kind of funny to tell you the truth, because I got our Walter in my head for a moment. I would've been balling on the floor laughing if that actually happened to our Walter.

All joking aside, we saw the human side of Walternate this week, as he refused to cross the line and experiment on children, mostly due to his past with Peter. We caught him opening up to his mistress about his regrets in letting Peter return home, and it was a bit sad to tell you the truth, and it makes sense that a great politician like him would have a mistress he could open up to. My question now is what is going on with him and his wife? I need an answer on that one. Don't take my musings to mean that I'm suddenly backing the other side. Take it as what you should, which is the writers making the emotionally dividing show they always intended.

Theatrical Trailer: HappyThankYouMorePlease

After watching this trailer, the first thing most will get from it is that it's starring and directed by the guy from How I Met Your Mother. It's certainly progress, because I've never seen him in anything else, and he needs to break away from that. I'm not sure the role is much different, but he's doing other things, and this is pretty damn interesting. It includes Kate Mara, whose only other film was a short stint in 127 Hours, and Malin Ackerman, who I only know from that cheesy and foul superhero film, Watchmen. Richard Jenkins is supposed to pop up sometime during the film, so that automatically makes it worth watching. The trailer is kind of nice, even if it's not perfect, and I think HappyThankYouMorePlease will actually be pretty damn sweet. Check it out, and comment on your thoughts.

Television Breakdown: Final Countdown

Apologies about springing this up so suddenly, but if I wait any longer then it may be easily forgotten. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know there was a new episode of How I Met Your Mother on last night, so when I found out there was this morning, it was a top priority. If you haven't seen last night's episode of the hit sitcom, I caution you to read no further until you've seen it. It's quite a devastating and emotional blow for the usually light and comical series, so as with every edition of Television Breakdown, I place a vital
SPOILER WARNING
for all readers.

Small Glass Screen: Ratings, Pickups, and Drop-offs

Now that the premiere week has come to an end, it's a good time to decide which shows I'll be sticking with throughout the season, and which I'll be kicking aside. It may be a while before I am able to get AMC on my television, but even so, I have no problem purchasing those Mad Men episodes on iTunes. Fringe, which opened to a rating of about 5.9 million viewers, has fought long and hard for it's place on my schedule, and I'm not about to abandon it like many have mistakenly done in the past. If there's a show that I recommend catching up on, it's that. The season premiere does a superb job of catching new viewers up on the events of previous seasons, so it's not a problem if you just start from there.

There are a few shows that I plan on sticking with for now, but that don't offer quite enough to comment on weekly. So don't expect many reviews on the events of How I Met Your Mother (8.8 million viewers), Cougar Town (8.3), 30 Rock (5.8), or Glee (12.5) any time soon. J.J. Abrams' new show, Undercovers (8.6), looks like the sort of casual action series that I could get into every week just to cool off from everything else. Only time will tell if it offers enough to report on weekly. Capping things off, I think I'll stick with The Event (11.2) throughout the entirety of this season. Word has it that the two episodes that follow up the pilot deliver answers and action in an interesting way.

I'm completely dropping Running Wilde and Raising Hope, because they just didn't deliver anything of value. So in summation, I'll be reporting to you every Friday on Fringe, Mad Men, Undercovers, and The Event. Mad Men will filter out once it finishes it's season run in a few more weeks, and I may take up AMC's The Walking Dead once it premieres. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope to have you here again next Friday. And in case I wasn't clear enough, please pick up watching Fringe. If you're watching Grey's Anatomy, there's probably nothing I can do to change your mind, but please just take it into consideration.

The Small Glass Screen: "HIMYM", and "The Event"

How I Met Your Mother: Big Days

A lot has been made about this season premiere, and perhaps too much if you ask me. I would've rather gone into this knowing as little as possible, but I went in expecting some huge reveal about the whole "wedding" plot-point, which was only a small segment of the actual episode. The episode was actually a bait-and-switch that kept preparing the audience for Ted to meet the love of his life. Then there was the switch at the end, and I was left with questions but no answers. I'm sure we'll get them at some point, but for now, it's Lost all over again.

But disregarding the main plot, this episode wasn't quite as funny as I was hoping. Barney offered some moments that evoke the best of his character, but leave us wanting more. Marshall and Lily ALMOST try to have a baby, but they're sidetracked by an unforeseen intervention by Marshall's father. I didn't really feel the distraction was worth it. And finally, Robin is looking a lot like she did in The Rough Patch, and it offers as much comedy as you'd expect from such. Ultimately, this episode left me wanting a little bit more from this great series, despite a few small laughs. I'm sure it'll improve as the season goes on, but this is definitely a rough start.

The Event: Pilot

So I went into this episode not knowing much about what was happening, as most certainly did as well. However, from the first twenty minutes on, I was hooked on it, if only because it evokes two well respected series that are now off the air: 24 and Lost. From start to finish, I had very little idea exactly what was going on. I had a vague idea of what was going on, but I still don't know why any of this is happening. There's nicely written dialogue, a fast pace, spectacular use of the non-linear formula, and solid acting, so I'm going to have faith that the creators weren't just meshing a bunch of random events together to make people think it's important. Then again, it could easily end up being like the last science fiction show to premiere in that spot on Monday (Heroes). At the very least, I'll be checking out the second episode. For now, I'd just be stabbing in the dark if I tried to review this episode.

P.S. What was with the Monsters Inc. style title sequence that lasted all of 10 seconds? It makes this show seem like a whiz-bang caper.

The Small Glass Screen: The Week in Television Premieres

I do mostly indulge in films on this site, but I also enjoy television for the same reasons. Most commonly, expect me to do just one of these posts a week, but this week I'll be shuffling through a few premieres to see which I want to stick with, and which I'd rather discard. Below is my schedule of premieres for the next four days, in case you want to follow me along and offer your own thoughts.

Monday: How I Met Your Mother (Sixth Season; 8-8:30; CBS)
The Event (New Series; 9-10; NBC)

Tuesday: Glee (Second Season; 8-9; FOX)
Raising Hope (New Series; 9-9:30; FOX)
Running Wilde (New Series; 9:30-10; FOX)

Wednesday: Undercovers (New Series; NBC)
Modern Family (Second Season; 9-9:30; ABC)
Cougar Town (Second Season; 9:30-10; ABC)

Thursday: Community (Second Season; 8-8:30; NBC)
30 Rock (Fifth Season; 8:30-9; NBC)
Fringe (Third Season; 9-10; FOX)