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Wanted: A Few Good Villains (For SMALLVILLE, SUPERNATURAL & THE EVENT)

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If there is one thing that guarantees viewers glued to their televisions, it is a great villain.  Names such as The Trinity Killer, Sylar, T-Bag, Arvin Sloane and Benjamin Linus still echo in our brains as some of the greatest villains of the past decade.  Even after redemption, the names themselves send shivers down our spines and recall images of treachery, villainy and pure evil.  It is undisputed that villains bring fans together in unity and horror and water-cooler gossip.

Yet lately in the battle of good versus evil, a number of television shows have been missing one essential ingredient: a villain.  

Genre and dramatic television shows thrive off conflict.  But in order for there to be conflict, it takes two sides — a good and a bad.  Yet looking across the television landscape, there seems to be a lot of shows scrambling to find their true villain; and from SMALLVILLE to SUPERNATURAL to THE EVENT, some television shows are adrift. 

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FRINGE in Focus: Peter’s Journey From Hero to Villain

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For fans sitting in front of their television sets last Friday night, there was a universal feeling of shock as the shape-shifter killer was revealed.  It was not some peripheral guest-star unmasked in this killing spree.  Rather it was one of our own.  From day-one, the show has been about a mad scientist, his son and the FBI agent assigned to work with them.  Yet as the mask slipped, we all discovered a harsh truth we never expected to see:  Peter Bishop was the killer. 
 
As our emotions sent us reeling in after-shock, our brains struggled to comprehend what had just happened.  In the four years the show has been on, has there ever been a doubt that Peter was the good guy?  He may have started off as a bit of a shyster and he was reluctant to aid his father, Walter Bishop, in his release from the mental institution and to be the babysitter that Walter needed so that he could work with the FBI.  But as time went by, we all succumbed to the ultimate con: Peter was never the good guy, he was the villain. 
 
Perhaps Peter himself did not know to what depths he would venture to accomplish his goals.  Yet in “Reciprocity,” the world shifted.  Not because there is an alternate dimension, or because Peter was stolen from that dimension; but because Peter may be a willing participant in the destruction of our universe as we know it.  Did he always know?  Did he always plan to be the one to bring down our universe?  Or was he merely a sleeper-agent that was activated once Peter was brought into the presence of the doomsday device?  Walter certainly wishes to believe that Peter was “weaponized” by the device.  But there is so much we now look back on and wonder about.  Was Peter blind to Faux-Olivia’s charade or was he merely playing along in a double-con of his own?
 
With one shift of the kaleidoscope and all our perceptions about the man we thought we knew are gone.

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Is Romance Dead on Television?

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When looking out over the television landscape today, one would be hard pressed to find even a few crumbs of romance.  There are oodles of relationships, people sharing intimacy, and more than a fair share of people breaking-up and making-up.  But there is very little actual romance.  As a viewer who is drawn to the likes of classic Jane Austen, I find myself shifting through the primetime television shows in search of even a sliver of a romance.  In fact, it feels rarer than if one were to go panhandling for gold itself.

Romance is not about people falling into bed, shacking-up, or making out with their flavor of the month boyfriend or girlfriend.  Instead, it is something much more delicate and elusive.  Romance is a hint of a soft whisper, the briefest of caress, or a stolen look of desire.  Perhaps it is naive to believe that viewers are even looking for romance on television today. 

But I imagine that there are more than just a few of us turning the channels, pouring over our TV schedules and praying for a miracle as we watch what is currently being broadcast.  Crime procedurals, legal dramas, medical dramas, family dramedies and teenage angst are all fine — if that is what you are in the mood for.  But, then there are the days, when I sit in front of my television wishing that it could magically offer an escape from the harsh world we live in — to be transported some place where there is beauty, love and engaging stories of people searching for and finding love.

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CASTLE: A Kiss Is Never Just a Kiss?

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As this week’s episode of CASTLE proved, a kiss is never just a kiss.  A kiss is always a promise of something more.  It may be a kiss hello, a kiss good-bye, a kiss-off, or a kiss-up, but a kiss always has an ulterior meaning.

In CASTLE, Detective Kate Beckett agreed to play along with Richard Castle’s preposterous plan to distract a guard by pretending to be lovers on a date.  When their cuddling did not appear to be enough, Beckett murmured that the guard was not fooled; so Richard Castle did the next best thing he could think of:  he kissed her.  It was not a momentary peck on the lips or a glancing caress — it was a full-blown passionate, knee-melting kiss.  As Beckett allowed herself to fall into the ecstasy, one could just feel the heat emanating from both of them.  Then as Beckett stepped back as if to take a breath, she threw caution to the wind and moved back in Castle’s embrace to fall into the abyss once more.

It was perhaps the most erotic scene on CASTLE ever.  Fans everywhere sank back into their sofa cushions in relief and then quickly rewound their DVR’s to replay that moment over again.  It was a kiss worth reliving time and time again — and from the looks on both Beckett and Castle’s faces, it is one they would have liked to have immediately relived again as well.  Beckett may have been able to regain her composure faster, but Castle looked rocked to the core.  He was shaken and overcome, and wiped a hand across his face as if to say, “oh, lord, what just happened?!”

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A Few Vampire ‘Bites’ Before THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Returns

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The second season of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES has given us everything a fan could ask for and more.  Not slowing down its high octane pace for one second, the show is just over half way through the season and already there have been more surprises and deaths than we can count.  When last left off before the winter break, Tyler had just gone through his first werewolf transformation, Katherine was trapped in the tomb, and the real big bad was revealed to be an ancient vampire by the name of Klaus who will stop at nothing to make Elena his blood sacrifice to break the Curse of the Sun and the Moon.  Oh, and a few warlocks moved into town seeming to have an agenda of their own that involves the mysterious vampire Elijah.

In order to refresh everyone’s memories in time for the return on January 27th, this seemed an opportune time to reflect on some of the things we love about THE VAMPIRE DIARIES’ second season. 

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From CASTLE to SUPERNATURAL, Clothes Do Make the Man

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Just ask Chuck Bartowski, Richard Castle, or even the Salvatore Brothers — if you are going to sweep a woman off her feet, what you wear is important. 
 
While wearing a simple white physician’s coat may work for some, like pretty boy Dr. Robert Chase on HOUSE, it is usually a better idea to dress-up a little to catch a woman’s eye — or better yet, dress the part. 
 
Not every guy needs to be dressed the nines like the suave Salvatore Brothers of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES or wearing a debonair suit like Richard Castle in CASTLE, but wearing something that brings out one’s better side and adds to the sex appeal does give one an advantage. 
 
Imagine if Castle wore blue jeans and t-shirts when visiting crime scenes — would Detective Kate Beckett have ever taken notice of his sly one-liners if he had come across so slovenly?  That is a resounding “no!”  It is Castle’s sense of style and panache that catches her eye; for he always dresses as if he were about to take Beckett out on a date.  Let that be a lesson to all men: you never know when the opportunity to ask a woman out may arise, so be prepared!
 
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Torn Between Two Realities: Is it wrong to love the alt-verse on FRINGE more than our universe?

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At the end of Season 1 of FRINGE we were introduced to the alternate universe.  It is nearly an exact replica of the world we live in, with significant differences.  It is where the infamous William Bell had been hiding and where Peter Bishop originally hailed from until stolen by Walter when he was a boy.  With the revelation that FRINGE had actually taken us “over there,” it was a game-changer.  The mysteries that Fringe Division were encountering were no longer limited to earthly explanations – they could be explained by the fact that there was another doppelganger universe on the other side, from which people and objects were falling through the cracks.
 
Then at the end of Season 2, FRINGE dared to do the inconceivable and replaced Olivia Dunham with her doppelganger – leaving Olivia stranded on the other side and the faux-Olivia to wreck havoc in our world.  When it was first announced that the 3rd season episodes would flip-flop (one episode in our world, and the next in the alternate-verse), fans were dubious that the show would be able to pull off such a feat.  Would viewers and fans be able to watch a show that was essentially two shows in one with a tiny bridge in the temporal rift connecting them?
 
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MODERN FAMILY! THE GOOD WIFE! DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES! Our TV Addict Week in Rewind

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Best unintentional scheduling move of the week: Further evidence that laughter is in fact the best medicine came on Wednesday when ABC helped a nation, okay us, heal following an emotional and gut-wrenching address in Tucson by President Obama with what was hands down the funniest episode of MODERN FAMILY of the season. Seriously. What better way to forget all the horrors of the world by watching Mitchell jump to conclusions that a one night hook-up with special guest star Mary Lynn Rajskub 10 years ago resulted in the child he never knew he had!

Jaw Dropper of the Week (Literal): After over a season of waiting, V fans (and one really unlucky rodent) finally got a front row seat to Anna’s not-so-appetizing appetite. Yum.

Best Argument Against Big-Budget TV: On the same day in which FOX unveiled their bank-breaking new series TERRA NOVA to members of the media at the semi-annual TCA confab, CBS countered with their “what’s budget got to do with it argument” featuring an unbelievably compelling hour of THE GOOD WIFE. Suffice to say, special effects and Steven Spielberg are no match for Christine Baranski and Josh Charles.

Jaw Dropper of the Week (Metaphorical): 7.7 million people turned into the return of THE GAME on BET. Yup, still not over that.

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Amidst Murder and Mystery, We Reflect on CASTLE’s Night of Romance

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It is not often that a one-hour drama can use humor with such precision and grace as CASTLE does week in and week out.   Recognizing that it is not aiming to be the standard police procedural, CASTLE opts to skewer its characters and its audience’s attention with perfectly set-up comic-barbs and seemingly inadvertent moments of hilarity.
 
For fans who tuned-in to see the episode “Nikki Heat,” they were rewarded with several prime examples of comedy at its best – and with an unexpected dash of romance.
 
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When Television Advertising Fails to Consider Its Audience

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There are times when I watch television commercials and I am shocked by the lack of strategic programming. One of the best examples of this was seen this holiday season when Lifetime Television’s chose to advertise its upcoming made-for-television movie THE CRAIGSLIST KILLER during the 4-hour mini-series event MARRY ME starring Lucy Liu.

If there is one thing people watching romantic comedies do not want, it is to see commercials for films with the tagline: “While she was planning the perfect day, he was planning the perfect murder.” It is jarring enough to have commercials for such things as catastrophic home or car insurance placed every 10 to 15 minutes during shows. To deliberately think that viewers tuning in to see a romantic comedy would want to watch a commercial about a true horror story is appalling.
 
What I am looking for when watching a romantic comedy is to be swept away — caught up in the fairy tale and take a break from the stress of real life and the horrors we face each day in the news.
 
So I ask you: is this what you are looking for? Does it take away from your enjoyment of the TV show you are watching when a network broadcaster/programmer fails to consider how negative a reaction a viewer may have to the advertising selected to air during a particular program? Does it then provoke you to boycott the product or show that they are attempting to advertise?
 
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