House Season 5

Who doesn't like watching a season all the way through in several days?

So House season five became available on DVD a few weeks ago in the UK.  For those of us who have no access to Sky1 this was a fabulous event.  Inevitably, I bought the season and watched it all through during the course of several days and made great progress on a scarf I'm knitting as a present for someone close to me.

So, was it worth the wait?

This season was really interesting to watch.  Compared to previous seasons I had no real clue as to where it was all going to go, and the last few episodes are well worth watching.  I'm not sure if I want to know what goes through the heads of their script writers...  So yes, it was worth waiting for the series to come out on DVD.

Why did you like it?

I enjoyed this season because not only are you treated to lovely doses of the 'what-disease-or-condition-is-screwing-with-our-patient-this-week' syndrome, but the overall stories for the characters in general developed really well over the course of the season.  Sure you can watch it as one off episodes, but the story arcs for the season are fabulous.

Availability

So the DVDs for the previous four seasons and the fifth are out now.  Sky1 has started screening the sixth season already (the lucky buggers).

Related links

Official House site run by Fox 

Official House site run by Sky1  

IMDB entry on House 

Wiki entry on House

First episode of FlashForward

So this is what Five has been spending money on, instead of buying HOUSE season 5...

In true fashion of trying to stop people in the UK from watching the series illegally online, Five have managed to get their schedule sorted to start airing this new series just days after the US have viewed the first episode.  So far, so good.

But what's this, I see...

Oh no, not the world experiencing a single event simultaneously... No, they surely had not done that in The 4400 already, no of course not...   No they don't have US government officials investigating the world's population from the get go...

Y'know, it's almost as if it were The 4400, but without the super powers, and they still need to save the world.

Actually...

The series is meant to be "loosely" based off an SF novel Flashforward published in 1999.  However, I saw far too many similarities with The 4400 in the first episode.  And I liked that series, and it was cancelled prematurely, so perhaps I'm hating this new series just a little too much due to this bias.

Basically, what happened was

If you have watched Five at all during the last two weeks, it was not difficult to understand what the show's basic concept was:

What would happen if the world's population of 7 billion people simultaneously experienced seeing their future in six months time? And, just how did this happen?

Of course this must be investigated by the likes of the FBI post-haste.

Here's a question

If the world's population essentially blacked out whilst gaining these visions of their futures, why the hell did the scriptwriters not think to talk about the thousands who either died or just survived plane crashes after their plane pilots blacked out?

Will you continue watching it?

Well, I'll watch the second episode when it airs on Five next Monday at 9PM.  I'm not ready to give up on this just yet.

Related links

Five's FlashForward website 

Wiki entry on FlashForward

Wiki entry on the novel Flashforward

Wiki entry on The 4400

Hank is back

Across the pond
Unlike American viewers, the UK has only just got access to the second season of Californication. Last week Fiver began showing the second season.

Everyone needs a bit of Duchonvy
I'm a bit of a fan of the actor, so once again having a weekly dose of him suits me just fine.

If you're easily offended don't watch this series. It'll save people like me from hearing your ranting and raving.

Anyway the series is about a writer, Hank Moody, who moves to California from New York, and finds that his writer's block and personal relations can only get worse as time moves on.

Why watch it?
Well if you enjoy watching series with characters whose lives are far more complicated than your own, you'll want to give this a go. My main endorsement is that this show is its extremely adult nature, I'm not just talking sex, I mean sex, booze and drugs and uneasy relations.

The series tends to be well written and has some class acting. I always like how it's plotted out.

Catch it
Watch it on Fiver, on Thursday at 10pm, and repeated Sunday at 10pm.

Related links
Official Showtime site for series
Fiver site for series
Wiki entry

Being Human on BBC3

Going beyond the pilot
So after a slight change of cast from the pilot that was screened in February last year, a full six part series was commissioned by the BBC. Tonight the first episode was aired.

What an interesting group: a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost, all living together. Oh, and the vampire can handle daylight. All three trying not to be a stereotype.

Promising
Unlike so many British shows these days, the acting on this was of a really nice quality. Things don't feel forced and false such as on another BBC show, in the same vein, Torchwood. It's not completely there, but it's an improvement.

It has the slight impending apocalypse theme that a lot of shows with supernatural based storylines tend to go for. I'll forgive them for this staple.

How many episodes to this season?
Six.

Am I going to continue watching it?
Yeah. Reminds me of another good supernatural series that the BBC once had (Strange). So far Being Human has an almost equal level of creepiness that this previous show had, a creepiness factor that I like.

There's also some nice metaphors and allegories running about the place too.

Check it out on iPlayer, if you've missed the first episode.

Related links
Being Human portal on BBC website
Strange pages on BBC website

Skins, series 3, episode 1

SKINS, is back
So, I've just finished watching the first episode, repeated on E4. I'm still waiting for more of what we saw in the last two series.

How was it?
There was a farcical nature to this first episode. Yes it did make for some pretty comedic moments, but I kind of hope each episode is not like it. The characters are just about believable, from the main group of teenagers, through to the adults and teachers.

What do you think is going to happen to them?
In this first episode most of the teens were pretty confident about themselves, about what they wanted and how to go about getting it. I think we're going to see some big falls for the characters, else there will be no drama, no conflict, and most importedly: no growing up (character development).

Fave character so far?
Freddie, he's an accomplished skateboarder. His opening scene must have been one of the most difficult to film.

Should we watch it?
People who haven't seen the past two series, don't necessarily need to have seen them to watch the new one. If you haven't seen them, you'll just miss out on recognising previously established characters, but that doesn't seem to be a huge issue so far. If you like watching teenagers get up to all sorts of shenanigans, and being reminded of what sixth-form/further education was like, then you'll probably enjoy this.

Why do I watch SKINS?
'Cause it reminds me of the further education college I went to: friends, drugs, sex, drink and death.

Related links
Official E4 site
IMDB entry on Skins

Dexter

Second season
When the second season started airing on ITV1 this month, oh how I was thankful. I don't tend to watch series that revolve around investigators of crime, or the psychopaths and sociopaths that commit them, but this show is the exception.

How'd I get into it?
Perhaps my main reason for getting into it was due to being a bit of a fan of Michael C. Hall. Despite being under the age of 18 when it originally aired in the UK on Channel 4, I was (and still am) a big fan of Six Feet Under. So when I found out that he was in a new show, well I felt compelled to at least try and watch it. Also I had enjoyed Julie Benz's performances in Taken, and Buffy and Angel.

What is it then?
The series is based on the novels Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay. I have to say that I am slightly tempted to read them.

Why do I like the show?
Maybe it's the suspense, or the characterisation, or just how subversive the character of Dexter is, but I really like this show. Admittedly, it did take me a while in the first season to get into it and start enjoying the whole thing, but I stuck with it and now I find it pretty enjoyable to watch.

It's all about Dexter
The character of Dexter Morgan is deeply disturbed, and if the image above is not enough of a hint, well, he's also bit of a sociopath too. He also just happens to work for his local P.D., (where his adoptive sister works), attached to their forensics department. His situation, and after work hours activities are certainly intriguing. Dexter lives by a code that was created for him by his adoptive father, a police officer, when it was realised by his father that he had sociopathic tendencies. The code is along the lines of: only kill those who kill. So Dexter is a sort of dark avenger, killing off the serial killers living around Miami.

One reason to watch ITV1 and ITV4
Dexter is the only thing I'm currently watching on an ITV channel on a regular basis. Mind you, just because it was shown in the UK on FX first does not mean that I am unable to wait long enough for a series to be shown on a free channel or to arrive on DVD. I will wait, and happily go slowly mad in the process too.

Try to watch the first series, if you haven't yet
The first season is currently available on DVD. I advise at least renting it.

Related link
Showtime's official website for Dexter