Following in the series… KC reminded me I was past due to add some recent premieres.
Alias: At the end of last season the producers pretty much blew up the existing framework–again!–and so no surprise that the opening episode put Sidney, Vaughn and friends in yet another arrangement where they can fight off evil. This time in an unacknowledged black ops unit of the CIA, each of them with cover stories showing employment elsewhere, with Sloane nominally team leader. A couple of interesting episodes so far, but JJ Abrams is getting mighty busy with the addition of Lost and the next Mission: Impossible movie also claiming time and creative energy not to mention Jennifer Garner’s film career (wonder if the box office flopperino of Elektra will get her attention back to the show?). Hopefully the episodes will get stronger in the next few weeks now that all the major character moves are done, otherwise I might start wondering when The WB will be airing fresh episodes of the MIA Jack & Bobby…
Battlestar Galactica: KC certainly was impressed with the first two hours; I enjoyed them enough to keep watching and see where Ron Moore and his writing crew go with the intriguing characters and their potential conflicts. Plus the new metal Cylons are a truly cool design.
24: Jack may not be at CTU any more, he may have a rocky relationship with the unit’s new Director but when there’s big time trouble (at least in the Greater Los Angeles area, where all four “days” have been located) he’s the man to save the day. I like the fact that even after five hours into Day 4 I have no real ideas about where Navi Araz is leading Omar and the other terrorists after the Heller trial. I like the fact that daughter Kim and Tony are gone, though Michelle is missed. Is Chloe really done so soon or are she and Driscoll creating a cover and, I ask you, is the bit with career-minded Marianne just a bit too obvious? We know there’s someone on the inside who’ll turn out to be a bad guy but I’m pretty sure it isn’t her.
CTU Director Driscoll is played by Alberta Watson, who was terrific as Section One’s Madeline for most of the run of the TV version of La Femme Nikita (which was done by most of the same creative crew: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Michael Loceff, Jon Cassar), so I expect her to bring on the tension driving the office side of the show while dealing with her mentally ill daughter. Who was just brought into the CTU medical clinic and my first thought was “potential hostage.”
Carnivale: If anything, the second season of this wickedly dark tale from creator Daniel Knauf is off to an even more surreal jag than the first. And that’s pretty damn surreal, confusing and mystical. But the twisted build up to an off in the distance, perhaps not for years yet confrontation between Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin is developing a unique visual vocabulary and conversational palette that has me hooked.
MI-5: Resolving a cliffhanger in the first episode that rolled straight into a huge cast development in the second, this British spy drama does a nice job integrating the emotional strains generated by the job’s demands and the way personal life is strangled by them. For my money the writers ought to back off their dependence on inter- and intra-agency politics but I suppose the current intelligence environment only offers so many useful and realistic yet dramatic plots. One true pleasure is the overall lack of a single dominant character in favor of a strong ensemble. (Note: A&E renamed the show from its UK name Spooks and has already announced renewal for a third season)
Muder in Suburbia: A British variation on Cagney & Lacey set in a middle class English ‘burb, our leading ladies are DI Kate Ashurst (Caroline Catz, familiar from supporting Ken Stott in The Vice) and DS Emma Scribbins (Lisa Faulkner). Much lighter in tone than, say, MI-5 or 24 and more concerned with using murder to explore the same residential psychological vein as Desperate Housewives without the fleshy focus and, while amusing, never reaching the level of dark humor or intrigue of the American hit. Enjoyable and I’ll be looking for the next round of episodes.
Committed: Not catching my attention so far though it’s been onscreen for all or most of three episodes here. Maybe the writers need a little more time to adjust to the truly strange characters they’ve created and the actors need to adjust to the definitely not your normal sitcom characters they’re playing. Or maybe somebody at NBC was drinking a bad cup of tea when s/he greenlighted production. If there’s anything else on that interests me in the least, my TiVo remote will be pressing the change channel button.
Extra bits: ABC swapped time slots of life as we know it and extreme makeover so that’s out for now at least. Also, Fox has announced the half decent that Tru Calling has ended production though the six remaining produced episodes will be shown at some point and HBO has deeply saddened me with the all but confirmed rumors that The Wire will not be back for a fourth season.
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