'Xplosion of Awesome

Person of Interest - Firewall

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sat, 19 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

In the season finale Reese (Jim Caviezel) tries to protect the latest number from the Machine, a psychologist (Amy Acker) in danger from one of her patients, while staying one step ahead of Special Agent Donnelly (Brennan Brown) and the FBI who are starting to close in on him. His job is complicated when he learns the heads of HR, whom Detective Fusco (Kevin Chapman) has finally met, have accepted a contract to go to whatever lengths necessary to makes sure the woman he's attempting to protect is dead within 48 hours.

Needing a little help looking for the wealthy and secret patient that might have ordered the hit, Reese calls on a former number, Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco), who is able to narrow down the suspects to three suspects. Although Reese is able to save the shrink from HR's hit he's force to go to ground to the doctor with the killers, the FBI, and several corrupt cops on their trail.

The more Zoe investigates the potent the less the case makes sense until she finally uncovers the truth as to who put the hit out on the doctor, and why. When Finch (Michael Emerson) leaves to help Reese escape Alicia Corwin (Elizabeth Marvel) tracks him down and jeopardizes everyone's safety at just the wrong moment, but thankfully Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Fusco arrive just in time to save their mysterious friend. Finch, however, isn't so lucky as he's saved from Alicia but now finds himself at gunpoint face-to-face with Root.

The first season finale not only returns Zoe and unmasks Root but plays with the status quo by letting Carter and Fusco trade notes about Reese. As an Amy Acker fan, I'm happy to see her here, and even more excited to see she'll be returning next season as well. All that an a cliffhanger which sees the Machine reach out and contact Reese directly should make for a very intriguing Fall premiere.

Avengers vs. X-Men #4

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

The fourth-issue of Marvel's big summer event only moves forward the larger story in a minuscule way as the Phoenix Force awaits in space above Earth. However, Avengers vs. X-Men #4 does give give us a face-to-face confrontation between Hope Summers and Wolverine as the mutant messiah attempts to convince the man who wants her dead that she should be given the opportunity to try and control the Phoenix Force.

With frozen beers and a well-reasoned argument Hope convinces Logan to help get her to the moon where she can confront the looming cosmic entity. Although Logan agrees, he proves to have other motives leading to another confrontation between Marvel's two marquee teams on the surface of the moon.

The comic does a good job by showcasing how powerful the Phoenix Force is (it takes down Thor and the rest of the space-fairing Avengers with little effort), and Hope's early scenes with Wolverine work really well, but Logan's multiple turns are a little awkward and far too rushed.

In the end we're left an okay comic with a couple of nice scenes but where the big tease of Hope becoming the new Phoenix is still unfulfilled. I'm probably done with the series until the focus shifts to the actually event and its fallout, rather than just teasing us about what's coming (especially at $4 per issue). Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

The Mentalist - The Crimson Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Six months after giving up the Red John case and being fired from the CBI, Jane (Simon Baker) hits rock bottom and returns to his roots as a con man in Las Vegas. While the team investigates the murder of a John Doe without him they learn their former partner has been arrest for assault, fraud, narcotics, and resisting arrest.

Jane is unexpectedly bailed out of jail by a new acquaintance, a showgirl name Lorelei (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who was talking to Jane shortly before he run for his life from a man who he had conned out of $10,000 which led to him being beaten up and thrown in jail. But Jane's brief moment of happiness in his spiral out of control is immediately yanked from him when he learns the woman he just spent the night with is a disciple of Red John who is behind Jane's release from prison and is offering the mentalist his friendship and a new life in exchange for a small gift as a show of respect.

Lisbon (Robin Tunney) is upset to learn that Jane's breadown was nothing more than a ruse to lure out Red John and is concerned for her friend who is risking his life on a "stupid plan" to capture the man who killed his wife and daughter. She's also surprised to learn Luther Wainwright (Michael Rady), the man who fired Jane after he humilated him in front of the office, is looking to reach out to the mentalist and help put him back on the path to working with the CBI again, especially now that their number of closed cases has dropped significantly since his absence.

After faking the deaths of both Lisbon and Risby (Owain Yeoman) for Red John's benefit, Jane finally gets a meeting with the serial killer. Smelling something fishy Susan Darcy (Catherine Dent) starts poking around the crime scene and discovers the body in the morgue is far too short to belong to Rigsby and puts warrants out for the entire team almost destroying the sting operation and leaving Jane alone with Red John, his hired muscle, and Lorelei without any backup.

The episode's conclusion, with the FBI's eventual arrest of Lorelei and the yet another twist by Red John to escape custody is a little awkward for the season's finale but the moments leading up the FBI taking the limo work quite well. As to Jane's future with the CBI, the show has been renewed for another season, and with a solid lead in custody I think it's unlikely Jane will be going anywhere anytime soon.

Community - Digital Estate Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

What happens when you take the cast of Community and digitize them as 8-bit characters and then let them loose upon a computer generated world? A awful lot of fun! Pierce (Chevy Chase) shows up with the study group to meet Gilbert (Giancarlo Esposito), his father's longtime assistant and executor of his will who informs he before his death Pierce's father created an old school 8-bit video game for Pierce and seven friends. Whoever wins the game will become the heir to the Hawthorne fortune.

Because Pierce only brought six friends (LeVar Burton was a maybe) Gilbert also joins the group to take the fortune for himself, and his familiarity with the game (and his ability to constantly cheat) gives him an unfair advantage. The real fun, however, comes in the group exploring the digital world as Abed (Danny Pudi) falls in love with a computer-generated character, Pierce keeps moving in the wrong direction, and the game brings out the violent side of both Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Annie (Alison Brie).

When Community goes for broke, raising the levels of nerdiness and insanity, the show delivers its best episodes. But hidden underneath all the computer-generated action (and crazy, crazy racism inherent in "Journey to the Center of Hawthorne"), there's also a nice story about Pierce and his strained relationship with Gilbert. I'm glad the show has been renewed for another season because I want more episodes like this one.

Battleship

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:05:00 +0000

I don't know the history behind how this movie based on a Hasbro board game got made, but I have an idea. I'm pretty sure director Peter Berg must have found himself at a Hollywood party where the alcohol was flowing freely and he stated emphatically that Michael Bay was a hack and anyone could make one of his movies. Battleship, I assume, was his attempt to prove this point.

Even for a movie based on a board game, Battleship is dumb. In fact it's incredibly, inexcusably, mind-numbingly dumb. And for a film filled with explosions, big budget special effects, and alien attacks, the film is neither all that exciting nor enjoyable.

We begin with a nearly half-hour of "dramatic" set-up in an attempt to showcase background of our main character, typical generic charming slacker-with-potential Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch). We watch as Hopper wins the heart of a girl by breaking into and robbing a convenience store to grab her a burrito. Rather than scare this remarkably attractive, and at least resonably intelligent, woman away, Sam (Brooklyn Decker) decides Alex is boyfriend material. Ain't love swell?

Kitsch's Hopper is Top Gun's Maverick without the charm or any discernable skills. Oh, we're told (countless) times in the opening half-hour that the man has wasted potential but we see no examples of this (at all) until most of his colleagues are dead at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean almost a full hour into the film. And since Brooklyn Decker thinks he's a catch that must be enough, right?

Of course Hopper's latest romantic screw-up has the opposite effect on his brother, Commander Stone Harper (Alexander Skarsgård) who signs him up for the Navy against his will, where coincidentally Alex goes to work for his new girlfriend's father, Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson). If this sounds to like the stuff bad romcoms are made out of, that's because it is.

Meanwhile NASA has discovered a habitable planet similar to Earth and has sent a radio signal into deep space in hopes of finding life in space. Fast-forward a few years, Hopper is still an Naval officer (but still perpetually one bad move away from a dishonorable discharge) and while the Hawaii fleet is off on joint maneuvers with Japanese war ships the aliens track the signal back to Earth, crash-land in the ocean, and make their way to the satellite relay in Hawaii to call for reinforcements.

With the rest of the fleet cut off my a force field, the Hopper brothers have only three ships (which quickly dwindles down to one) to fight off an enemy they can't find on radar. When the two other ships are taken out by the enemy, Alex Hopper finds himself in command and his Destroyer the only thing to stop a full alien invasion of Earth.

Every frame of this film screams Michael Bay's name. From the paper-thin cliched characters to the hamfisted patriotism, giant hulking metal monsters, actresses whose man job appears to be to look startled while the camera tries to lovingly frame their curves in each shot, to the slow motion cutaways set to rousing music. Sadly, even Michael Bay only manages to create a handful of good Michael Bay films, and it turns out Berg isn't that much better playing with Bay's themes.

And much like a Michael Bay film, the film makes absolutely no internal sense. In the most egregious example, the script informs us early on that the alien ships are made of a mysterious compound that is not metal. Yet in every subsequent shot we see big metal ships transforming and clanking their way around the ocean.

The aliens are basic movie monsters with no defining characteristics. They simply need to be destroyed. And although their weaponry is impressive it's also quite oddly suited to a planet for an invasion of a planet that's mostly water. You'd think an advanced race might take something like that into account. It's the combination of the advanced technology of the enemy as well as the Navy's inability to find the giant hopping metal frog-like ships (which is the best way I can find to describe them) on radar that leads to the film's best (if still insanely stupid) sequence.

Using buoys Hopper's ship starts to track the alien vessels by wave displacement and begins anticipating their movement and firing where he believes the ships are located on the grid. That's right, the film's best sequence is when the entire enterprise is boiled down to the characters actually playing Battleship (even calling out grids before getting a hit or a miss) with millions of dollars of Naval equipment.

The supporting cast includes Tadanobu Asano as Kitsch's rival who eventually will become his ally (let's call him Iceman), Skarsgård as the main character's more down-to-earth best bud (let's call him Goose), Neeson as the head of the operation who respects Hopper's talent but can't stand his antics (let's call him Viper), and Decker as the love sex-bomb love interest whose given her own plotline for no apparent reason (let's call her whatever the hell Megan Fox's character's name was in those truly awful Transformers films).

John Tui, Jesse Plemons, Gregory D. Gadson, Jerry Ferrara, Rico McClinton, Adam Godley and Rihanna round out the cast as characters aboard the ships or who find themselves on land fighting the aliens alongside a supermodel. Surprisingly, or maybe not given the level of writing, it's the recording star who has the film's only real break-out performance as the spunky weapons officer aboard Hopper's ship. She's also the only one involved in the entire project that appears to be having any fun on-screen.

Battleship just goes to prove if aliens do decide to attack the US Navy we should be sure to have a supermodel, an R&B star, and a total fuck-up on hand to fight back. If you like Michael Bay's brand of loud but empty summer action flicks you'll probably have more fun than those involved in making the film. But in a summer where you can see a film like The Avengers which gives you characters to go along with the big-budget effects there's really no reason to sit through this one just to find out who sunk your Battleship.

First Look - Elementary

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

CBS has released a teaser for Elementary, the new modern day American take on Sherlock Holmes starring Jonny Lee Miller as the great detective and Lucy Liu as Joan Watson. I have serious doubts as to whether or not the CBS series will be able to reach the bar set by BBC's Sherlock (and this short behind-the-scenes look doesn't instill me with confidence), but as a Holmes' fan I'm willing to give it a shot. Elementary is set to premiere on September 20, 2012.

Glee - Nationals

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

New Directions makes it to Chicago for nationals but immediately faces trouble when Mercedes (Amber Riley) goes down with a 24-hour bug. While Sue (Jane Lynch) tries everything to speed her recovery she also drafts Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) into the Troubletones' number in case her diva isn't able to perform. Will (Cory Monteith) starts to fear that destiny might be against them again and maybe he hasn't done enough to prepare the team to win, but is touched to learn the team wants to dedicate their win to him.

New Directions is the first Glee Club to take the stage. The Troubletones open with Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory," followed by Rachel's solo of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," and finishing (to a thunderous standing ovation) with Finn and Rachel leading the group performance of Meat Loaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

Vocal Adrenaline takes the stage second led by Unique (Alex Newell) who needs a pep talk by Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Mercedes to take the stage. The New Directions' rivals open with Nicki Minaj's "Starships" followed by The Who's "Pinball Wizard." The only other nationals number we're shown is the third place Portland Scale Blazers' performance of "Starlight Express."

Once again we get behind-the-scenes footage of the deliberation of this year's celebrity judges who include show choir junkie Alderman Martin Fong (Rex Lee) along with Lindsey Lohan and Perez Hilton each playing themselves. The judging goes a little more favorably for McKinley High's Glee Club this time around as the show allows the graduating class go out with a bang.

The group returns home to an unexpected amount of cheer from their classmates (in a triumphant montage set to the New Directions' performance of Grouplove's "Tonguetied,") and just in time too celebrate and perform Queen's "We Are the Champions" at the school's ceremony to award Will the school's teacher of the year award. Rachel even gets Carmen Tibideaux (Whoopi Goldberg) to show up and cheer her performance as well as Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) putting in a kind word on her behalf.

Although a little too sugary-sweet as everyone gets exactly what they want, the episode delivers some very strong performances and gives the Glee Club their moment in the sun after teasing audiences for the previous two years. Next week means the season finale, graduation, and goodbye for the seniors (except not so much as we know almost all of them will return in some capacity next season).

Batman and Robin #9 (New 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Damian gets his first solo mission of the New 52 in this "Night of Owls" tie-in issue as he's sent to protect Major General Benjamin Burrows from a being the latest victim of the Court of Owls.

Although it's not a bad issue, Damian taking control of a small squad of soldiers to save their wounded leader, for Damian's first big adventure on his own it's far from memorable. The dialogue of Damian convincing the soliders to take his orders, and eventually lead them is pretty damn awkward. I'm also not totally sold on the art by Lee Garbett which in some panels feels a little too goofy for so serious a storyline.

If you're only picking this up as a "Night of Owls" tie-in you could probably give it a pass. If, however, you're a fan of Damian (even the New 52 version) there's enough here to keep your interest, at least for awhile. For fans.

[DC, 2.99]

Glee - Props

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

With graduation and nationals quickly approaching for the New Directions, Sue (Jane Lynch) develops an obsession with props and arranges a complicated dance number while trying to convince Kurt (Chris Colfer) to perform in drag at nationals to combat Vocal Adrenaline's new star (Alex Newell).

Shortly after unexpectedly exploding in front of the entire Glee Club for her limited role in the group, Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) bumps her head at the mall causing her to hallucinate herself as Rachel (Lea Michele) as well as randomly recast the rest of the club in random roles. Her limited time in Rachel's shoes gives her a little perspective into how much nationals means to her and prompts her to help Rachel attempt to get Carmen Tibideaux (Whoopi Goldberg) to give her a second audition by watching the Glee Club perform at nationals.

Mercedes (Amber Riley), Santana (Naya Rivera), and Brittany (Heather Morris) confront Coach Beiste (Dot Jones) after learning she lied to them about leaving her husband after he hit her, but despite their best efforts and intentions they are unable to convince her to leave her abusive husband. However, it's Puck (Mark Salling), who hits a new low when he loses a fight to Rick "The Stick" (Rock Anthony) and is further embarrassed in front of the whole school, that finally reaches her which leads the pair to perform a duet of Taylor Swift's "Mean."

Other songs from this episode include Rachel singing Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up," Tina performs Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me," and in the finale Rachel and Tina perform a duet of Irene Cara's "Flashdance... What a Feeling." Overall a good episode that gives Tina a rare chance to shine, and her dream sequence was an awful lot of fun, as well as wraps up a couple lingering stories before nationals.

Hawaii Five-0 - Ua Hala

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

In the Second Season finale Five-0 finds itself under attack as someone is systematically targeting the team members. A hired gun (Taylor Cole), a woman who was supposedly killed more than five years ago in a bank robbery gone wrong, starts by killing Captain Fryer (Tom Sizemore), putting a bullet in Max (Masi Oka) at the crime scene, and blowing up police headquarters injuring Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) and more then two dozen other officers.

Now that Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos) has been captured Joe White (Terry O’Quinn) returns and agrees to introduce McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) to Shellburne, and Danny (Scott Caan) must decide how far he will go to stop his ex-wife (Claire van der Boom) from taking Grace (Teilor Grubbs) of the island to live in Las Vegas with her new husband. But before either can make a decision they have a cop killer to catch.

Running out of leads the team pays a visit to Fryer's old partner, Frank Delano (William Baldwin) and tracks the wounded shooter to a veterinary clinic where she fled after to after being shot. Although McGarret is able to take down the shooter, Chin is forced to let the man behind the attacks out of prison and given a choice to save either his wife (Reiko Aylesworth) or Kono (Grace Park) before both are killed.

The season finale gives us not one but two cliffhangers as Kono slowly drowns and Chin's wife bleeds out in his arms, McGarrett comes face-to-face with the mysterious Shellburne who is anything but what he expected. The Delano twist is too easy to see coming, and the capture of Chin's women and the double death traps feels far too rushed, but the show certainly finds a way to give everyone their own moments in the finale and leaves several threads hanging for next season.

Bones - The Past in the Present

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Just when they are needed most to make sure Christopher Pelant's (Andrew Leeds) appeal doesn't overturn his original conviction, Booth (David Boreanaz) is given a new murder case involving the discovery of a body in the National Hamilton Wildlife Refuge where all the evidence points to Bones (Emily Deschanel).

Not only did Bones know the victim, a brilliant mathematician and trouble schizophrenic, but security camera footage puts her in the facility where he was kept the night before he died, and the man had threatened Booth and Bones' newborn child only days before his death. Although they have no evidence to prove it, Booth and Bones are sure Pelant is behind the attempt to frame Bones for the murder.

When Pelant plays Booth one more time, making him think Brennan is in danger, the FBI Agent reacts forcefully which gets both he and Bones removed from the case. Following the evidence Special Agent Flynn (Reed Diamond) follows the evidence and centers his investigation on Bones especially after Cam (Tamara Taylor) finds DNA evidence linking the victim to Bones' car.

As the Seventh Season draws to a close Brennan listens to her father (Ryan O'Neal) and not her husband as she disappears with baby Christine before she's arrested for murder. To bring his family home and keep his wife out of jail Booth will have to find a way to prove Pelant is responsible when the show returns next season.

Captain America #11

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Dum Dum Dugan and Diamondback discover that someone out there, posing as the new Scourge, is killing former terrorists and minor super-villains who are now protected witnesses for S.H.I.E.L.D. Okay, it turns out they aren't that well protected.

A little digging into the leak leads to the discovery of an even bigger problem when Captain America finds a HYDRA infiltrator in to the echelons of S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile the group tries to narrow down the list of potential targets the new Scourge may hit next which leads to a confrontation between the assassin and Diamondback and the murder of another witness.

I like the inclusion of Dugan and Dimondback here, the later (given she's a former super-villain) will have a real stake in the case. Scourge, in one for or another, has been around forever in the Marvel Universe to help trim the fat. I'm intrested to see how writer Ed Brubaker uses the character in this new arc. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

Fairest #3

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Finding themselves captured by the Snow Queen, Jonah Panghammer regales the the unlikely group with the story of Briar Rose's birth and magical blessings bestowed upon the princess. Slighted, and at the most opportune hour, the Snow Queen also bestows her own curse on the newborn child.

This series is becoming an awful lot of fun and the third issue shows us the complexity and deviousness of Panghammer who has used the situation involving the Snow Queen to his own advantage. We're going to have to wait until the next issue to find out what the imp really has in mind, but writer Bill Willingham has certainly crafted and intriguing new character in the Fables universe.

There are a couple of small, but fun, touches as we learn magical blessings can have quite literal translations in the real world (and the reason why Briar Rose never sang for her 60's girl band). With strong art by Phil Jimenez and another cool cover by Adam Hughes, this tale of Sleeping Beauty is definitely worth a look.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

Morning Glories #18

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

"P.E." continues, and although we don't get any answers about the school and its mysterious ways we do learn a little about Abraham's group working against Morning Glories Academy. The issue is centered around Jun (really Hisao) who gets into another fight with his brother Hisao (really Jun) but is rescued by a childhood fried, Guillame.

As Guillame and Jun reconnect and kill time in a way that would be sure to make Bill O'Reilly shout down the evil homosexual comic book agenda of Image Comics, we also get flashbacks to Jun and Guillame's time together as children growing up in Abraham's compound.

Although the issue doesn't really move the plot forward it does cement a couple of important points (other than Jun's sexual preference). One, we know Jun isn't alone working for Abraham. And two, we discover which other member of the new Morning Glories recruits is not only part of the group but in charge of their mission. It's not who you expect. Worth a look.

[Image, $2.99]

Fatale #5

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Hank wakes bloodied, chained, and with odd symbols carved into his chest. He's a guest of the Satanic cult deep below the bowels of the city. Their Bishop plans to use him as a sacrifice to, as he puts it, "help me see my god again."

Jo finds herself betrayed by her former lover Walter Booker who has found a way to lessen her hold on him and now it seems he plans to turn her over to the very people who he saved her from all those years ago, but appearances aren't all that they seem.

Issue #5 concludes the series' first arc "Death Chases Me." And although Hank is saved from the cult and makes away safely with Josephine it's clear evil has only been stymied, not stopped. As to whether Hank's life is better today than before he met the woman he loves with all his heart, well, that's a little murky as well.

Credit to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips for delivering a noir/horror thriller that it appears is only getting started. Bring on Book Two. Worth a look.

[Image, 3.50]

Chuck Versus the Fifth (and Final) Season

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The final season of Chuck finds the Intersect in the head of Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez) and our super-CIA spies entering the private sector as Carmichael Industries. As Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) enjoy married life, Casey (Adam Baldwin) gets a girlfriend (Carrie-Anne Moss) and goes to jail with Lester (Vik Sahay).

This year's missions include a computer super-virus, the return of old foes Decker (Richard Burgi) and Shaw (Brandon Routh), and an even deadlier new one in Nicholas Quinn (Angus Macfadyen). We'll also learn Sarah's darkest secret and meet her mother (Cheryl Ladd), Chuck will briefly return to his hacker roots, and two members of the team not named Chuck will have adverse effects from the Intersect as the super-computer begins to melt their brains and alter their personalities. And in the series' final arc Chuck finds himself at war with a wife who doesn't recognize him and a vengeful former spy who wants the Intersect for himself.

The three-disc set includes all 13 episodes from the show's final season as well as really nice collection of special features. Extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, an extended version of the show's finale, the Buy More commercials starring Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) and Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin), an interview with the show's composer Tim Jones, and commentary for the last two episodes by Levi, Gomez, and co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.

Also included are featurettes on the show's beginnings, where cast and crew see the characters in another five years, the changes to the cast and characters' lives over the years, the cast and crew saying goodbye on the set of the final episode, and a tribute to the show's fans for helping to keep the series alive for five seasons.

Although short, the final season brings the show back full circle (with an amazing amount of call backs to the first season) as the series ends on the same beach from the final scene of the Pilot episode. Although Sarah and Chuck's path might be a little rockier than we'd like as the show comes to a close, the pair are together to face whatever comes next (which, in a perfect world, would be a series of awesome TV-movies).

Fairly Legal - Kiss Me Kate

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

While trying not to deal with the aftermath of her late night kiss with Ben (Ryan Johnson), Kate (Sarah Shahi) is called in by Judge Nicastro (Gerald McRaney) who needs help with a heated dispute between the transit-workers union and a company facing bankruptcy. The judge wants Kate to broker a deal between the head of Bay City Metro (Chris Payne Gilbert) and the violatile head of the union (Meat Loaf) with a contentious history with the judge.

Kate's attempt to try and get the union leader and judge together to put the past behind them only riles up them both, and when the judge finds himself surrounded by members of the union while leaving the courthouse he ends up punching one of them to defend Kate's honor. As Kate tries to keep the judge from throwing away his entire career over a moment of humanity she discovers the person behind the damaging public campaign isn't the labor leader but the head of the company the judge has so far sided with in the case.

After unveiling a recently purchased painting for the office Lauren (Virginia Williams) watches in horror as as as a street artist (Khary Payton) uses a paint gun to destroy in front of the entire office. Despite her desire to see the young man punished, Justin (Michael Trucco) and Leo (Baron Vaughn) attempt to convince Lauren to take vandal's case when Justin discovers he's actually responsible for the original art used in the painting he destroyed.

Although Kate is able to solve the dispute and save the judge's job, her fear at having dinner with Ben leads her into the arms of her ex-husband who Ben realizes she was with all night after speaking with Leo. As to what this means for their relationship going forward, we'll just have to wait and see.

Scarlet Spider #5

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Now that Kaine's battles with the Assassin's Guild are over (at least until they ask him to make good on his promise to assassinate someone on their behalf) the Scarlet Spider can relax. Except he can't because a small group of terrorists have chosen Houston to detonate a nuclear device.

With time running out Wally Layton asks for the Scarlet Spider's help (a name Kaine is less than thrilled that people have begun using for him) in finding the bomb. However, the police officer is a little unprepared for how brutal Houston's new super-hero gets while pumping suspects for information.

With Kaine and Lawton the comic has a fun odd-couple buddy-cop movie feel which when mixed with the countdown and suspense of the story turns out to be a hell of a lot of fun. We do get cameoes from Iron Man, Maria Hill, and (for some unknown reason) Ultimate Universe Nick Fury, but none of them interact with our hero or make it to Houston in time. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

Batman #9

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The Night of Owls continues as Batman fights off an army of Talons inside the Batcave while dressed in an armored Bat-suit designed for the most hostile and alien places on Earth, and armed with a pet dinosaur and an army of bats that come in the nick of time.

Most of the issue deals with the fight in the cave but I do wonder why so many Talons were sent after Bruce Wayne (who they didn't yet know was Batman) when the other targets didn't garner so much attention.

The back-up story features Alfred's father Jarvis in his final days of service for the Wayne family and his attempts to leave Wayne Manor and make it back home only to be stopped by a member of the Court of Owls.

I wish the last few pages had dealt with the Night of Owls other than a mostly forgetable back-up story. I'm also not thrilled with writer Scott Snyder's attempt to rope Alfred's family into the seemingly all-encompassing Court of Owls arc. Worth a look

[DC, $2.99]

Comic Rack

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It’s a new week so it must be time to talk about comics! Welcome to the RazorFine Comic Rack boys and girls. Pull up a bean bag and take a seat at feet of the master as we offer you this quick list of all kinds of comic book goodness set to hit comic shops and bookstores this week from all your favorite publishers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Archie, Dynamite, Image Comics, and others.

This week includes Adventure Time, Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Catwoman, Cobra, Conan the Barbarian, Danger Club, Daredevil, Fury MAX, Ghostbusters, Glory, Hellblazer, Invincible Iron Man, Jughead, Justice League, Mondo, New Mutants, Nightwing, Planet of the Apes, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Richie Rich, Saga, Saucer Country, The Shade, Simpsons Comics, Sixth Gun, Supergirl, Uncanny X-Men, Winter Soldier, Wonder Woman, X-Factor, the first issues of Dancer, Hardcore, and the final issue of Locke & Key: Clockworks.

Enjoy issue #176

Scandal - The Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

While Gideon (Brendan Hines) and US Attorney David Rosen (Joshua Malina) both separately investigate Amanda Tanner's (Liza Weil) past and the events surrounding her apparent suicide, the episode gives us flashbacks to the contentious Presidential campaign between then Governor Grant (Tony Goldwyn) and the current Vice President (Kate Burton), including the first meeting between Olivia (Kerry Washington) and the man she fell for, and helped get elected President of the United States, on the campaign trail.

During the first big crisis on the campaign, news that Governor Grant's wife (Bellamy Young) was having an affair with a literacy advisor and former porn star, we see Olivia reach out to various contacts and old friends and start to build the team that would eventually become Pope & Associates. We also see the beginnings of the Olivia/Fitz love affair.

Despite being led to uncover the President's relationship with Amanda Tanner, Gideon digs a little deeper to discover it's the Vice President's Chief of Staff Billy Chambers (Matt Letscher) who was actually the father of Amanda's unborn child, and it was he who sent her into the President's bed as ammunition to use against him when the time came.

The President's late night visit to Olivia's also reveals it isn't Amanda on the blackmail tape, but Olivia. Chambers had been holding on to the recording for two years, and the President's recent indiscretion with Amanda gave him just what he needed to spring his trap. As for the reporter who stands in his way, well, given the final scene between them it looks like Quinn (Katie Lowes) is going to need a new boyfriend.

A strong episode that fills in a hell of a lot of backstory while answering several lingering questions about who is gunning for the President, and why. Brenda Song is awfully good as Rosen's secretary, and we learn just how devious and manipulative the First Lady can be when she sets her sites on something. Billy's dark turn is a little surprising, especially because I really liked his character and this severally limits where he can go from here. Next week's season finale should be a doozy.

Avenging Spider-Man #7

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

This comic was a hell of a lot of fun. I haven't been picking up Marvel's new version of Marvel Team-Up featuring Spider-Man and a current and former Avenger co-stars but the pair of Spidey and She-Hulk in this issue was too good to pass up.

After the pair take down a giant sewer monster Spidey follows She-Hulk to the Egyptian Exhibit of a local museum hoping for a free meal and some nerdy fun. When he sees some mysterious hooded figures entering the museum the wall-crawler springs into action. And that's where the fun really begins.

The story has to do with a mystical cat statue, a cult of cat worshipers, and Bastet (the goddess of cats). It also includes She-Hulk growing a tail and Spidey putting on a cow's head and impersonating a god. Yeah, you gotta pick this one up.

She-Hulk has been far underused in the Marvel Universe of late and any time she's game to show for another issue here I'll be sure to pick it up. Must-read.

[Marvel, $3.99]

The Mentalist - Red Rover, Red Rover

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

On the eight anniversary of his wife and daughter's murder Red John reaches out to Jane (Simon Baker) causing him to loose focus on the current case involving a financial broker missing for eleven months found buried alive in a toxic waste dump. Lost in the yearly rituals around the murders and shaken by Red Johns' brazen attempt to send an innocent girl as his messenger, Jane finds himself slowly spiraling out of control and considering giving up his quest to catch Red John once and for all.

Jane and Lisbon talk with the victim's boss (Ray Wise), co-workers (Aaron Lohr, David Furr) and fiance (Amanda Schull) while Cho (Tim Kang) and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) try to reconstruct the victim's final hours and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) tracks down a pair of random numbers from the victim's files to an exclusive club, but with the case nearly a year old any leads have long gone cold.

Jane is able to solve the case and get a confession from the killer but to do so has to cross the line with one of his stunts which includes burying the suspect alive. His actions, which he refuses to apologize for, cause Luther Wainwright (Michael Rady) to suspend Jane, but when the mentalist further antagonizes him Jane finds himself fired. An even more vindictive version of Jane works well and provokes confrontations that won't be easily swept under the rug. With all of Jane's ties cut the show seems primed for a few interesting twists in next week's season finale.

Person of Interest - No Good Deed

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sat, 12 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

The latest number turns out to be a secretive and solitary analyst (Jacob Pitts), who works for an investment firm which is actually an undercover secret government SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) and NSA listening station. After asking the wrong questions he finds himself framed as a drug dealer, suspended from the NSA, his security clearance revoked, and an government trained assassin (Marc Menchaca) has been dispatched to finish the job.

What Peck has stumbled on and begun to question, without realizing it, is the existence of the Machine, which will in all likelihood get him killed. Without giving away his existence Reese (Jim Caviezel) has to find a way to keep the analyst safe from the government hit squad sent to silence him and keep him from learning more about the Machine which will only increase the danger to him and anyone else he comes in contact with.

Running for his life Peck gets himself arrestted with copies of the reports he stole from the NSA detailing hidden surveillance which leads him to uncover the full existence of the Machine. Luckily for Finch (Michael Emerson) it's Detective Fusco (Kevin Chapman) and not Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) he unburdens his soul to. Knowing the only way to stop the man from looking is to give him the truth Finch does just that, but he may have just opened Pandora's Box when Alicia Corwin (Elizabeth Marvel) overhears him admit he invented the Machine.

A strong episode that not only gives us a new kind of threat against a number but also Reese gets a glimpse into Finch's past as he sees what the brain behind the machine gave up in order to keep the person (Carrie Preston) he loves more than anything safe from those who would kill to keep the Machine hidden.

Green Lantern #9 (New 52)

noreply@blogger.com (Cap'n Carrot) — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

The secret of the Indigo Tribe is finally revealed as Hal Jordan tracks down Natromo, Keeper of the Indigo Light. Jordan learns that years ago Abin Sur freed the world of Nok from invaders who had subjugated the tribe and turned them into slaves.

For a comic with this much monologue, Green Lantern #9 moves at a pretty good pace. The discovery of an Indigo Light which could bring out compassion and remorse in even the most vile creature lead Sur and Natromo to create an army out of the worst killers and sadists in the known universe to fight the biggest threat the universe has ever known - the Guardians of the Universe.

I would have liked to have gotten the Indigo Tribe backstory a couple of issues back (or even way back when the group was first introduced well before the New 52 reboot). The introduction of the Guardians as the universe's greatest threat opens up several new possibilities and alliances. The idea of making a remorseful army of the worst creatures in the galaxy is an intriguing one. However, it has one major flaw which Hal Jordan stares both Hal and Sinestro down in the comic's final panel. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]