TV Roundup - Feb 12 Week

I'll admit it, I haven't found much time for reviewing books lately - I've been reading, but I've been hard pressed to sit down and find something to actually SAY about them. I blame February blues and not feeling so well. Anyway, I hope to do better about that, but in the meantime - here's what I've been watching this week:


Smash (1x01) - Pilot
I have long been awaiting the (much-hyped) new TV show Smash and I have to say, the pilot really wowed me. A pair of musical writers throw together a number on a whim for a possible Marilyn musical they're toying with. The number gets posted on YouTube and is an instant sensation - producer (Anjelica Huston) picks it up and brings in a brilliant jerk of a director (Jack Davenport). Now all they need is a star - and it's soon narrowed down to ensemble-veteran Ivy and fresh-faced newcomer Karen (who has a lovely supportive boyfriend whom I adore already).

I loved the numbers - particularly the fun Chicago-esque baseball number where the view switched between the rehearsal and what the finished version would look like. Fantastic. Plus, even when he's sleazy, there is something about Jack Davenport that I just can't resist. Katharine McPhee has a lovely voice, the original numbers were good, the dancing was great fun to watch - oh the baseball number. I have really high hopes for this one.

Smash (1x02) - Callback
The second episode deals with the callbacks (dancing/acting) for the role of Marilyn. Ivy has a strong team of supporters - a dancer-spy and particularly Tom, who swans about in a pre-teen drama queen fashion doing everything but sticking his fingers in his ears and singing LA-LA-LA during Karen's auditions. Karen, on the other hand, has Derek in her court (sort-of) but also working her really hard and certainly not holding back with the snark. There's also a continuation of the Chinese baby adoption sub-plot for Debra Messing's character Julia, but I really don't care.

I enjoyed the 20th Century Fox-Mambo number, but it's going to be desperately difficult to beat the Baseball Number. I continue to love how supportive Karen's boyfriend Dev is (even when he's angry with her) - I am with her Mom (MARRY HIM!) and I have absolutely no idea how things are going to move forward with this show. One thing it certainly hasn't been is predictable. Though I wanted a bit more motivation/background for Ivy.

Castle (4x15) - Pandora  
Castle and Beckett are on the trail of a ruthless killer - a man who insists (frustratingly correctly) that all they have on him 'is going away'. When the body and the suspect disappear, the pair find themselves in the midst of a government operation and the shady world of espionage with one of Castle's former muses, CIA agent Sophia Conrad - a development that leaves Kate none too happy.

I always love Castle - though I wish we had a bit more of the old will-they/won't-they (or heck just a whole lot of will they) back between Castle and Beckett. This one does a bit better in that regard with Beckett getting jealous over Sophia (not to mention with the two of them locked in a car trunk again). But they've really let the tension drop, which is a shame. I liked Alexis new internship and Castle's jealous guarding of his turf. And the cliff-hanger is killer. I can't wait for next week.

Whitechapel (1x01) - (official website)
I picked this up on the recommendation of Irish at Ticket to Anywhere originally found on her review of Maureen Johnson's The Name of the Star. Whitechapel is about hotshot political DI Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) who takes on a murder case in Whitechapel (a woman found with her throat cut) as a stepping-stone for his next big promotion with no experience whatsoever in solving homicides. His new squad  includes the experienced (and not a little resentful) DS Miles, who gives absolutely no credence to the fact that the murders may be the work of a copycat - but the timing and means of death show a frightening resemblance to Jack the Ripper's famous murder spree.

 I enjoyed watching Chandler try to impose control and order on his new team, with an emphasis on tidiness - which the men neither respect nor appreciate. A battle of wills for leadership of the group emerges in this first episode, and while it was good to watch, I hope Miles starts showing some respect (however grudging) in the next episodes or their hostility could grow stale. I appreciated the eerie camera work (including some interesting camera angles) that certainly added to the creepy atmosphere as well as having ominous shadowy figures walking through shots (Ripper? Not Ripper?), but I could have done with fewer shots of the Gherkin, please.


Bedlam (1x01) - Cohabitants

Jed (Theo James - also known as everyone's favorite Downton Abbey Turk Kemal Pamuk) sees dead people and how they died. And he's only just been let out of the mental ward because of it. When he receives a series of cryptic text messages instructing him to Save Kate, he runs to help his bitchy manipulative cousin, who just so happens to be living in a building of luxury flats her family are renovating housed in an old mental asylum. An asylum shut down for abuse of patients. An asylum that is most decidedly haunted.

Another recommendation from  Irish at Ticket to Anywhere. Deliciously creepy (I'm a wuss, but I had to watch this in smaller chunks because it freaked me out too much to watch at night after work), though with relatively low-budget effects (water running down the walls). The horror aspect definitely worked best for me with the eerie music, sounds of water dripping and the flashes of the ghost in mirrors. I really don't care for Kate at all (though I do like both of her flatmates(?) Ryan and Molly), but while I didn't need everything tied up in a bow, I didn't like how certain plot-lines seemed to be completely dropped (like the disappeared friend who thought she was being watched). We'll see if those are picked back up in the next episode.

Glee (3x13) - Heart
Finn and Rachel's parents have found out they're planning on getting married. Kurt is receiving Valentine's gifts from a Secret Admirer. Somebody complained to Figgins about Santana and Brittany kissing in the halls - and now the Jesus club (including newest member Joe (Sam from The Glee Project) at McKinley has to decide whether they're ok singing to gay people. Mercedes can't be with Sam (though she will Always Love him) because she's a confused cheating cheater. And there's something about Rory and Artie competing to be Sugar's date to her Valentine's Day party.

I think it's official - Glee and I are breaking up at the end of this season. Other than Mercedes' gorgeous (and well-timed) rendition of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You and the cute L-O-V-E (more Tina and Mike, please) I was mostly just bored. Rachel and Finn getting married is too ridiculous for words. He needs O-U-T of that relationship. I hate that they glossed over the very real fact that she wants him around as a fall-back fan to hold her purse and is giving absolutely no thought to Finn as a person. Somebody really needs to smack that girl for being the most self-absorbed and selfish person on the planet. Ugh. Also, I can't get over the fact that they just can't seem to figure out what to do with Rory other than have him play the homesick card over and over again in his numbers but not actually ever say anything of substance during the show. Boooooring (and trust me, I loved that kid on The Glee Project).