By John Keegan and Henry Tran
Time moves in only one direction: Forward. We saw it all around this episode of "Breaking Bad". Walt is moving on without giving a second thought to the consequences of his actions. Like I mentioned before in a previous review: Walt is now embracing the Heisenberg persona, and Heisenberg doesn't live in a world of fear. He intimidates. He bullies. He is "the one who knocks."
Time moves in only one direction: Forward. We saw it all around this episode of "Breaking Bad". Walt is moving on without giving a second thought to the consequences of his actions. Like I mentioned before in a previous review: Walt is now embracing the Heisenberg persona, and Heisenberg doesn't live in a world of fear. He intimidates. He bullies. He is "the one who knocks."
Of all the standard tropes in genre storytelling, the "fight club" plot device is among the most reviled. It has many variants, from a straight-up boxing match to a bloody MMA free-for-all. In nearly every case, the situation is contained to a single episode, so there is rarely enough time to give the pounding a realistic context. It takes a long-form approach and a well-rendered world, like seen in "Spartacus", to make it work.
After a couple of darker installments, it makes sense that the writers would want to turn to more comedic fare. That is, after all, the tone of the show; it would be hard to imagine "Warehouse 13" going completely dark. While there are a few connections to the overall arc within the story, this is more an opportunity for the various characters to pair up and get into the field.
Alphas, which recently began its second season on Syfy, will be welcoming a new character to the mix: Kat, played by Erin Way. Kat has the ability to learn a new skill instantly - retaining both knowledge and muscle memory; however, it has a down side. Kat has memory problems which cause her to forget her past.
The resolution phase of the season arc kicks into gear as several moments of transition arrive in Bon Temps and the rest of the world of "True Blood". At the end, though, there's just as much lack of direction in evidence as there has been all season (and since the start of the third, for that matter). I'm still left wanting more out of the potential that still remains in the main storyline.
This season of "Covert Affairs" started with a shift in perspective and approach that provided some hope that the producers and writers had seen the weaknesses within the show and were dedicated to making substantial, necessary changes. And there were plenty of hints within the first three episodes that this was a long-term strategy. So why does it feel like this episode is one big excuse to hit the reset button?
"School's Out" has all the hallmarks of a typical case-of-the-week episode. There are some undercover shenanigans, red herrings and blatant allegories, and were it not for a very humorous, light-hearted approach to the material this episode would've dropped into the lower percentile of average like a wet stone. As is, it winds up being the good kind of typical "Lost Girl" fare, which is welcome in a very inconsistent season.
TNT's hit drama Leverage recently returned for a fifth season. The series follows ex-criminals who now use their skills to help those who have been duped by the rich and powerful. The key players include the mastermind, Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton); the grifter, Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman); the hitter, Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane); the hacker, Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge); and the thief, Parker, played by Beth Riesgraf.