The Mentalist: Red John Seven Suspects Reviewed

                                                    
At the end of season 5 we were left with a list of seven suspects which Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) had narrowed down and coincidentally or not, these seven were also the ones on Red John's list he presented to Patrick too.  Have you made up your mind yet?  There's quite a lot to go on, maybe some of the following might help you, then again it might not.  It's an area any fan will and does get bogged down in!

Patrick Jane's list of seven suspects who all seem to sport the Red John cap/mantle in some form or another.

1 Bret Stiles: (Malcolm McDowell)                  
                                                              
Charismatic cult leader of the Visualize cult.  He can get anything done and get anyone to do it too.  Patrick and he have a kind of uneasy truce since they first met and Bret has been a suspect in some CBI investigations.  A lot of law enforcement agencies are after his head.  He was instrumental in the 'release' or re-appearance at least of Kristina Frye (Leslie Hope) when she was kidnapped, allegedly by Red John after she mentioned him on TV in the same way that Patty did and his family was killed by him. (The Blood on His Hands).

Kristina was a suspected Red John for many but seems this direction wasn't pursued and writer and producer Bruno Heller chose to keep Red John firmly a man.  Anyway, Bret has intimated on numerous occasions that he does have knowledge of Red John and whether that extends to being true or not has never really been proved conclusively.  He does seem to have the 'inside' on him and could be one of his accomplices.  Then again as in the past we've seen how most of Red John's accomplices/acolytes etc all end up, usually being killed, so the question is if he's really so close to Red John why was he never taken care of? Some may answer that with the reply cos Bret is Red John.

In which case why would he be so helpful towards Patrick even telling him he couldn't help when he wanted to get Lorelei (Emmanuelle Chiriqui) out of prison, trying to ensure Patrick didn't do the same.  Did he have insider knowledge that if she got out, she would, either, a) reveal something about Red John and overplay her hand, which she did when she told Patty he has shaken hands with Red John.  Or b) Patrick having feelings for her may get her to reveal other things about RJ.  However in His Thoughts Were Red Thoughts, Patrick did sort of play Bret when he was accused of murder and Patrick pursued the line of enquiry which would clear him of any wrongdoing.  (He has gotten away with other crimes in the past).  With Patrick admitting he did that so Bret would owe him a favour.

Suppose it could boil down to Brett just being a criminal mastermind.

2 Gale Bertram: (Michael Gaston) 
                                                      
He insisted on keeping Patrick around when the entire team were suspended.  Patrick even had Bertram wrapped around his little finger when he got the entire team reinstated in 4.2 Little Red Book.   Gale really doesn't know how to handle Patrick and so needs Lisbon around. Patrick also helped him to win at poker, so does he really not have much of a poker face, or was that all just for show.

There are many facets to Bertram.  He is Director of the CBI and what more powerful position can there be. He doesn't get on that well with Patrick, seeing as it was Virgil Minnelli (Gregory Itzin) who really wanted Patrick around as he could be so helpful to them.  In the third season he was also seen as the possible CBI mole which again Patrick proved to be Craig O'Laughlin (Eric Winter) Van Pelt's (Amanda Righetti) fiance. (Still want to know what happened with Van Pelt's necklace O'Laughlin gave her, considering we thought there was a bug inside it.)

It seems the media and media pressure is the only controlling factor that Patrick and Lisbon have against him since he's interested in protecting his image and that of the CBI.  In Red Sky At Night, Patrick tells Lisbon he has a feeling about Betram, whether or not this is related to RJ or just cos he's a stickler for maintaining a public image is hard to say.  He is one for quoting poems and specifically William Blake as in 3.16 Red Queen he quotes, "and when thy little heart doth wake, then the dreadful night shall break" from 'Cradle Song.'  Although LaRoche (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is the one who actually claims this as being by Blake.  RJ of course was into the The Tyger poem.  Todd Johnson (Josh Braaten) also said the title of the poem when he was dying.

SO appears it's not the poem, but apparently the poet who appears to have a significance to Red John for some reason. Anyway RJ must be as adept in reading people, or cold reading as Patrick is.

3 Ray Haffner  (Reed Diamond)
                                                    
hasn't been around that much on our screens at least, though he has been behind the scenes so wonder how much of an RJ suspect he could be.  He has admitted he is a member of Visualize to Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and to my knowledge she hasn't told Patrick about this.  To stick my neck out, for some reason he seems to be my number one suspect.  Okay now I've said that, or worst still written it down in writing, it probably won't be him.  Ray is a supervisory agent at CBI so is/was in a good position to know everything that's going on there and even to follow Patrick in his RJ investigation.  He also was Patrick's 'boss' in season 4.2 ep  and Patrick 'used' him to get the team back together  and we were first introduced to Ray in Little Red Book.

Patrick chose to 'mock' him frequently when he took him along for questioning at the gym, making Ray get Cho (Tim Kang) to spy on Patrick.  Was this a ruse to show he was unable to deal with Patrick himself, or did he just think Patrick would open up to Cho more since they've been together for four years.  A display of cunning on the part of RJ.  Then again it makes you wonder if he does have the intelligence to remotely come close to being Red John.

Ray however returned in Red Barn where he tries to recruit Lisbon into a private security company and lets her know he is a member of Visualize since he was a teen and how he was problematic as a teen and the Cult helped him.  He isn't pleased the killer of the Visualize member, Holly, isn't charged with murder but manslaughter.  Lisbon comes out and asks him if he was at Ellison Farm and she thinks he's guilty of the other two murders.  Ray doesn't reply which makes us even more suspicious of him.  Doesn't this reinforce how Visualize must have a connection to Red John, either through its members, some of them or Bret Stiles. But we haven't seen how much he's in favour with Bret, yet if he is Red John then it would show how Bret is so knowledgeable and how Visualize and Bret would have come to RJ, I mean, Ray's help as a teen.  Thus holding them in high regard and why Bret hasn't been silenced by him.

I agree with Lisbon that he was around at the time the Smiley face was drawn on the barn and clearly he could have been responsible for those two murders showing he had 'teen' troubles at that time. For a cult to be the only one to have been able to help him must show how disturbed he really was.  Also Ray is the only one who has been so closely associated with the red barn and the appearance of the Smiley face at such an early time.  As for his timing with asking Lisbon to come into the security firm with him, that was kind of, well, off.  I mean he could have asked her that when she was suspended and he was 'temporarily' in charge. She would have been more conducive to the idea of it.  Maybe he saw it as a chance to get her away from Patrick now when he asks her, or the fact Red John was on the hunt for a new lover.  Trying to entice Lisbon away from Patty cos it's something Red John would do.  If he can keep an eye on her, she's less likely to be trouble for him.  Would RJ really want to rid himself of Lisbon?  Though he wanted her head in the season 4 finale when Patrick went rogue. (The Crimson Hat).

4 Reede Smith: (Drew Powell)
                                                  
Don't know how much of a suspect Reede Smith could be since he only has made a guest appearance and hasn't been shown to be involved in much.  He is an FBI agent and is Gabe Mancini's (Ivan Sergei) partner.  We first saw him in 5.1 The Crimson Ticket.  The spotlight probably falls on him cos his name is an anagram for "red is me and theme is red."  Though this seems to be highly convoluted, since we haven't seen much involvement with him and Patrick.  A suitable case for a red herring perhaps.

5  Robert Kirkland: (Kevin Corrigan)
                                                           
first graced our screens in Red Dawn.  Having FBI connections with Alexa Schultz but that's only to be expected if he's Homeland Security (mentioned in If It Bleeds It Leads when he tells this to Lisbon.)  However his first meeting with Patrick wasn't in the normal sense as he shook hands with him in the corridor, with Patty asking, "do I know you."
Kirkland: "No, but I know you."  Which Patrick didn't deem strange or unusual, infact (I know it came towards the end of the ep) but Patrick didn't even give a second thought to it.  Suppose he would have after Lorelei's revelation of the handshake.  Usually Patrick isn't so complacent about such things.

Kirkland is interested in Red John and also Lorelei but he doesn't admit why he's here, seeing as Homeland Security wouldn't be involved in such cases.  We're meant to be suspicious of him for many reasons, including how he was with Alexa in the limo whilst she was on the phone to Minelli.  (Wonder why he wasn't listed as a suspect since I know many thought of him as a possible RJ - especially with his being so high up in the CBI.)

Kirkland's on the case in Red Sails in the Sunset and believes Patrick helped Lorelei escape, until they find his abandoned car.  In There Will be Blood, he makes another appearance, once again honing in on Lorelei but again we don't know why he's so interested in her.  Is it that RJ was unable to keep her in check like he was bale to with his other acolytes, but more importantly Homeland Security and specifically Kirkland is given carte blanche in the investigation.  Allowing him to get as much info as possible. Declaring Jason Lennon's house to be under his jurisdiction, again why?

Behind the Red Curtain is where Kirkland is meant to have shown his true colours (is that the colour red?) well he killed Lennon and lied to Patrick that he didn't say anything, but even if he asked Lennon if he knew him, that could be for any other purpose or case he's investigating.  Remember Homeland Security's remit are terrorist and national security cases.  Lennon's reply he doesn't know Kirkland and him asking that question was similar to Patrick asking if he knows Kirkland when they first shook hands.  SO there could be nothing in it.  Where would either one of them have known Kirkland from?

I personally don't think Kirkland is Red John, firstly he wouldn't need to go through the trouble of finding out what Patrick was hiding in his attic and wouldn't have sent his agents around to break in (Red Letter Day). Secondly with the revelation he was aware Lorelei told him about the handshake and that Patrick had narrowed down his list of suspects, he had the same information Patrick did.  Surely Kirkland couldn't have been so instrumental in narrowing down and compiling this same list.  I think Kirkland was put there for another purpose which we have yet to learn and is an ally for Patrick.

When Kirkland and Patrick met and shook hands, Lorelei was in prison, how would she then know of their meeting?  I know it sounds moot point. To bring Kirkland into play now as Red John would be an interesting theory since we are going to get the reveal in season 6 and another suspect for us, but he probably has other reasons for taking an interest. My gut feeling is it's not him.  Patrick wanted her out of prison so turned to Bret to break her out, who was the one arranging everything since he owed Patty.  She didn't suspect Patrick wanted her out and was the one behind her prison break.

What about Rosalind Harker (Alicia Witt) the blind woman and lover of Red John, she was left alive also and the one person who can recognize him by touch, even if she hasn't seen his face, it's as good as, and wasn't killed, but Lorelei was, even if what she told Patrick was seen as a betrayal by RJ.  It appears she would no longer be in his control particularly since she found out Red John killed her sister.

6. Sheriff Thomas McAllister:  (Xander Berkeley)
                                                       

His only appearance was in Red Tape and Silver Hair, though don't know if that title was meant to be some sort of RJ connection, McAllister having silver hair. He did seem to portray one of those 'homely' sheriffs without much nouse, or anything 'upstairs' since he didn't understand what Patrick did at the CBI.  Patrick also proceeded to win him six times in their game of Rock, paper scissors.  He also hasn't featured much in the show if at all, his next appearance will be in 6.3 Wedding In Red, which many have said will be when Van Pelt and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) tie the knot.

Question to ask is whether someone who hasn't been on the show aside from one or two episodes is someone who would comfortably fit the profile of Red John.  Unless we are to think he has been around all the time watching Patrick, or getting others to do this for him.  A sheriff is able to slip away undetected and has the means to carry out nefarious actions, but what are his connections to the CBI?
Oh hang the profiling, need the BAU (Criminal Minds) to profile Red John! ha.

7 Brett Partridge: (Jack Plotnick)
                                                  
is forensics guy for the CBI and is meant to be a veritable expert on Red John crime scenes, yet he hasn't been shown at every single one of RJ's CS.  We first met him in the Pilot. Not much info on him, characterwise or otherwise and it's been said he has a mother somewhere.  Surely Red John couldn't have a 'mother complex' which makes him who and what he is?  That'd be too unoriginal, but could explain plenty in terms of why he kills and leaves behind his trademark Smiley faces.  Infact in the Pilot he says how he's impressed at the Smiley face at a CS which turns out not to have been left there by the real Red John.  So forensics guy why couldn't you work that out?  Strange in that he compliments RJ when he hasn't been involved in the case, trying to throw Patrick off the scent, or testing his mettle?

So if he's an expert how come he doesn't tell the difference between the real RJ scenes and those which were the work of a copycat.  Patrick hates him and he doesn't seem to have much time for Patrick either. There's an underlying animosity between them.  He's shifty and creepy, always wearing that white shirt and in Red Sky in the Morning is perturbed Patrick wants him to leave so he can get his job done. Analyzing the scene.  This was also where Brett fobs Patrick off when he tells him it's the work of a copycat and not RJ.

Patrick sees him as a "ghoul" and he's right about that.  He's a bit like those fiendish types from Scooby Doo and looks like someone who would be revealed under the mask by Valma as being the killer.   In Patrick's notes of RJ suspects in Black Cherry, Patrick notes: "CBI Forensics Department - Totally Macabre - handles Red John cases."  (Don't recall Patty shaking hands with him, but will have to watch that ep over.)

Showed up again in Red Lacquer Nail Polish and again had an altercation with Patrick when he spoke of spontaneous human combustion.  He's into books, Moby Dick, just as RJ is into William Blake and the Tyger poem. Patrick of course looked at the books on the table of the Vic.  One possible basis why he's considered to be RJ is his voice which we heard in season 2 finale Red Sky in the Morning when Patrick was tied up and he appeared to him wearing that stocking.  He could of course use a voice distorter as many of RJ's accomplices have done so.

Funnily enough and I don't think Bruno Heller was giving away any clues but in an interview on season 6 and Red John, he said, "up until now if you're comparing it to Moby Dick, which is one of the analogies I used to describe the length of the chase, next season [6] the whale has been sighted and they're in the small boats and chasing the whale."  Brett Partridge's book he mentioned.

He appears in Red John's Rules when Lorelei is found murdered, but does turn out to be revealed as one of the suspects on the list. Here he said that Lorelei's murder appears to be personal.  He is directly involved with the CBI and is in a position to know what's going on here.  Then again is he the right age to be Red John and does he really have the intelligence? Other than just showing up to annoy us and Patty further.

Brett shares his name with Bret Stiles albeit with a second 't'.  You can of course get some sort of a 'red' in Partridge as far as anagrams go.  Also in Red is the New Black,  Red John left behind the DB of a morgue attendant at Rosalind's house aft r he listened to her playing the piano. Considering Partridge is the forensics guy he could easily get away with killing him.

I would have loved Red John to have been a woman, nothing to do with equal rights and all that, but just cos Patrick's nemesis should have been a woman.  Then again some would argue he wouldn't be as effective or have all those lovers (well two that we know of.)

Anyway time for you to pick your suspect and firmly place down your bets (not really) as to the identity of Red John...

CSI:NY 9.6 "Lady in the Lake" Review

                                           
Adam (AJ Buckley) relays the story of how Flack (Eddie Cahill) arrested a murderer and he leaves Flack hanging in mid-air when he's chasing the suspect.  That was a nice touch having Flack hanging there like that and if you left your recording on pause, you could have left him there even longer! ha  Adam changes his mind and then continues, the suspect says he threw the gun in the Turtle Pond by the dock and Flack tells him he better be right cos he just pulled his hamstring jumping like that.  The pond which also resembles a lake in which Adam goes diving but finds nothing.  Mac (Gary Sinise) tells them to drain the entire pond and search it.  Adam finds a gun and so does Mac.  Jo (Sela Ward) finds a sequin slipper and a DB.

The girl is wearing a ballgown and so the girls, Karma (Alexis Apple) and Dee (Tayler Buck) call her a princess, well the castle overlooks her.  Jo rules out suicide cos of how she was dressed and it's not a mugging cos she's still wearing her earrings, so it's murder.  Mac adding this fairytale has an "unhappy ending."  She was tied down in the boat and drowned.  Adam finds a piece of shiny metal in the mud.  Funny how Lindsay (Anna Belknap) wasn't around to go searching in the mud and for a moment there I felt like she wouldn't be in the ep but no such luck!

Sid (Robert Joy) processes the Vic and finds COD was blunt force trauma.  Hawkes (Hill Harper) is able to get some prints and finds a match in the system to Ashley (Madeleine Hamer) a meth addict but she was clean now.  Hawkes narrowing down the murder weapon to Manhattan schist, but there's plenty of it about in New York.  Sid also says she ate an expensive meal of puffer fish on the Saturday so they need to find out where she was before her death.  Sid: "...her last meal was to die for."

Jo analyzes her clothes and finds a piece of flora in one of the sequins of her shoe.  Her dress is expensive but the tag was still on so she was going to return it, the rest of her clothes were from thrift.  Jo also manged to find a trace of blood on Ashley's dress, under her arm so it was still preserved since her antiperspirant had aluminium sulphate.  Jo tells Mac this means she was dragged along the ground, she ran the blood and it comes up a match to Joseph Skiver (Niko Nicotera).  Mac apologizes to Jo for his behaviour last week but she says it's all forgotten.  He also calls Christine but doesn't get her.

Adam is taken by the metallic object and finds space dust on it so tells the girls it's from an alien ship and he has made first contact.  They aren't that interested and are more interested in the princess story.  He tells Mac the same who isn't impressed, telling him next time he shouldn't come up empty and slaps him on the back of the head, hey no Gibbs' slaps NCIS here!  Flack finds Skiver at his place of work and shouts out "NYPD" then asks why that never seems to work.  Skiver is stopped by some men when he runs.  He tells him he's not packing which Flack says may be a first but he believes him.

Jo and Flack question him and the cut on his hand was from a vicious toucan, which they don't believe.  He's shocked to find Ashley is dead but he didn't kill her.  He loved her but she broke it off for some rich guy, but he was happy for her.  The blood must have transferred when he hugged her.  He doesn't know the name of the boyfriend.  Flack asks Jo if she believes him but she's not convinced by the toucan story, Flack does says they can be vicious since he knows a friend who works with them.  They're going back to the CS.

Jo uses Danny's (Carmine Giovinazzo) word of "boom." Danny: "Did she just use my word?"  Here they find the drag marks and  Hawkes finds a jewellery clasp.  Danny finds a torn piece of paper.  Flack tells Mac they were over 300 elite guests at the party but no one noticed Ashley or reported her missing.  Lindsay arrives (Agh!) finding a trace of blood on the ground and also a shoeprint.  She finds the shoe print belonged to a size 11, also the circular divets around he scene were from an umbrella, someone was standing and could be a possible witness.  The shoe prints have a stitching which is only made by one manufacturer and is an expensive pair of shoes.  They could only belong to someone who is 5' 11".  Danny fits together the pieces of the cheque and finds the amount is $50,000, also the signature ends in an 'ello' or 'ilo' and just then Flack calls to tell Mac the man Ashley was with, was a Matthew DiBello (Alex Ashbaugh) part of the Coronation Group.

Matthew says he received a text from Ashley that she's in Kansas City on Sunday night and just then his mother, Krista (Kathleen York) arrives - the wicked stepmother or rather here, the wicked would-be mother-in-law.  Of course it's obvious she was behind it and finally Matthew consents to giving his DNA. The scratch on his palm was caused when he grabbed her wrist but he didn't kill her.  The blood on the ground matches his as does the blood on the clasp.  Flack and Danny approach their building when they see Skiver shoot Matthew.

Adam brings in Sid to ask about the piece of metal and says this could mean big movie rights, he wants Sid to invest and Sid tells him not to ask someone for investment who could fire him.  The signal from Ashley's missing phone is located and Jo and Adam find the phone in the rubbish truck, well Adam does after he goes truck dumpster diving!  See no Lindsay again to do the dirty work.  When they reach the SUV, Adam finds it's gone and Mac is gonna be angry.  Adam also suggests they could cross reference the route the truck took and could find the suspect's address.  How dumb was that and why leave the phone on too.  Leading the to DiBello.  Matthew is about to be taken in the helicopter, but it's Krista who they arrest.

She denies having anything to do with it and Jo tells Matthew he was there and was a witness.  He talks to his mother who finally tells him she didn't approve of Ashley, who was just a commoner.  He tells her she only got dressed up to impress her.  After Matthew and Ashley's argument, she followed them out an bribed her to leave, but she tore the cheque up.  She hit her and put her into the boat and Matthew was watching. He didn't realize until after they told him about Ashley.  Jo tells him she hopes her son will do the same for her, but also that he will show his principles and do the right thing.

Mac calls Christine again telling her something's wrong but he doesn't send the message.  He also tells Adam, "Mikael Gorbachev."  Adam finds the metallic piece was from a Russian spacecraft from 1988 and so a piece made it back to Earth.  Jo recalls the '80's had some good music and the song, "Be Happy."  Which is played at the end.  Adam finishes his story to the girls.

Some great on location filming features in the ep with the backdrop of Belvedere Castle in Central Park to add authenticity to the Cinderella story here.   Karma and Dee were happy to listen to the story and it was good to see Adam get some major airtime this season since it was to be the last, considering he only got one scene last episode and it wasn't even a speaking part.  Adam parked in a red zone without even realizing, he had that metal on the brain, ha!  But it was Adam to a tee getting into yet more scrapes and ones that will make Mac angry.  Though with Mac not being able to recall the word 'lab'when he speaks with the officer, it's a wonder he could recall Mikael Gorbachev and the space probe, Phobos 1.

Seems he's still not ready to tell anyone about his condition and will go it alone for as long as possible.  That scene with Flack and Danny just wasn't long enough and they didn't get much interaction either like they used to in the past.  At least that awful Lovato wasn't around either!  Also Hawkes gets to 'steal' Danny's "boom" too in Mac's office!

Once Upon A Time 2.21 "Second Star to the Right" Review

                                             
Looks like Hook has Regina all tied up where he wants her! ha

Regina (Lana Parrilla) tells Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) whatever they're paying him it's not enough and he is still on his mission to kill Rumples, believing they will help him, of course she tells him he can' trust them, but Hook won't listen.  Bae/Neal (Michael Raymond-James) dreams of ending up in London when he went through the portal and we even get to see Big Ben.   He ends up at the Darling's house after foraging for food and steals their bread.  Wendy (Freya Tingly) finds him and offers him as much as he wants.  She keeps him there and in her hidey hole in their room until he's caught one day by her parents.  Her mother wants him to stay with them as one of their own.  Well he could have been just about anyone!  That big house of theirs and the children all share the one room, even Wendy!  Oh their Brit accents!!

She tells Bae about the Shadow that comes every night and takes her flying but Bae tells her magic is bad, it destroys families, he won't let it destroy hers.  Wendy goes with the Shadow and returns since the Shadow is only after boys, he wants one of her brothers.  Explaining that's why it's called Neverland, cos no one comes back from there and at night, the children want their parents.  Bae won't let anything happen to them and sets a plan in motion by lighting the lamps and having pots and pans to fight it.

Neal wakes and Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green) tells him she's going for a run.  He sees Gold (Robert Carlyle) from his window with Whale (David Anders) and he's about to hurt him cos he looked at Lacey (Emilie de Ravin) and he knows what his 'look' means.  Neal rescues him and tells Gold he hasn't changed at all.  Gold asks why he's still here, that'd be obvious, for Henry.  What was the point of Whale?

Emma (Jennifer Morrison) Snow (Ginnifer Goodiwn) and Charming (Josh Dallas) break into Regina's office and find her gone.  The bean plant is still there but the beans are missing.  Emma finds the alarm was overridden, she has magic and Regina still resorts to using a conventional alarm system.  Gold can help them find her as Emma returns to search Tamara's room.  Neal still doesn't believe she is behind it but Emma finds sand in the room.  She runs in the woods so what's she doing bringing back sand.  They search for her on the beach and Emma tries to convince Neal he means nothing to her.  Wondering why he listened to August.  He says he was willing to go to jail for her and she tells him he found his Tallahassee with someone else.  Cue Tamara running on the beach and they tell her of Regina.  She feigns being concerned, anyone else would have probably asked what happened but she pretends.  Huh so fake!

Snow asks for a spell to find Regina since she's still feeling guilty about killing Cora and Charming reminds him he owes him.  He has Regina's tear and Snow asks what he's doing with that and how he has it (more for another ep).  He needs to put a tear from Snow's own eye in the bottle and it will lead her to Regina wherever she is.  Greg (Ethan Embury) tortures Regina and Tamara mentions the 'Home Office' meaning there are more of them and their aim is to rid magic from this world.  They also have Regina's failsafe but don't yet know what it is.  Greg wants to torture her until she reveals where his father is and Hook won't help until they help him with Rumples.  Of course that's not gonna happen.

Lacey tells Gold she heard everything they talked about and so everything is true.  He conjures up a necklace for her but he tells her he is immortal but that doesn't mean he can't be killed.  There's someone here who can do that but he can't deal with it cos it's complicated.  Snow has flashes of Regina being tortured and recalls the smell of sardines.  Emma realizes she's at the cannery.  Regina finally tells Greg his father is dead and is buried at the campsite.  Tamara sees them on the CCTV and the need to leave.  Emma is knocked out when they fight and she tells Neal she lied to him from the outset when she spilled coffee on him.  She throws a bean which opens a portal and Neal is shot.  Emma is saved from going in but Neal falls through, as they both say they love each other.

The Shadow comes for them but Bae steps in place of Michael (Benjamin Cook) and is taken.  As Big Ben can be seen showing 8.15 on the clock.  Significant for all sorts of reasons, such as time being stuck in Storybrooke.  Bae lights up a match and the Shadow drops him in the water, where he's picked up by Hook, that's Captain Hook of the Jolly Roger.  All that noise they were making in their room and no one heard them, not even outside.  London town does not become a ghost town at 8pm!

The Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) works her magic on Regina who can't believe they rescued her especially since they were going to leave her behind.  She tells them of the failsafe and she was going to take Henry with her.  Snow distraught she was going to let them die.  Tamara finds out what the stone represents and that the Home Office wants them to go ahead with stage 2.  Which will probably mean destroying Storybrooke and taking Henry.  Speaking of, he missed all the excitement this episode, cos he was probably stuck in school.

SO meeting Wendy here was kind of an anti-climax, she wasn't that interesting though and seeing as she believes in magic would have made her listen to Bae about magic being no good, but she is still swept away by the moment and by the menacing Shadow.  If the Shadow only wants boys (hence the lost boys) why does it take Wendy with it and then let her return?  SO what's Hook's raison d'etre for being in Neverland, going for some pirate pillaging or was he trying to help the lost boys and lost souls at Neverland.  When we get to meet him here and Bae's first encounter with him, he doesn't seem at all menacing or villainous.

Ooh Home Office, doesn't it sound such an English name (okay we do have one in real life - dealing with home affairs etc) but what if this one was started by Wendy in London, would be such a Brit thing, one for keeping magic away from this world since Bae opened up her eyes to its destructive nature and then it just continued from there.  Of course there would never be just Greg and Tamara who would stumble upon knowing about magic, since he says he ranted as a boy and some people believed him.  Thus it doesn't appear to be such a new concept or organization.

Just how many portals is Bae going to fall through and this scene was similar to the one with Rumples when he wouldn't go through the portal with Bae to where there wasn't any magic.  Emma jumping the gun telling Charming he's dead, just cos he was shot and went through, she doesn't know where he is and what's happened to him.  He could end up in another magic land, isn't that the purpose behind the beans.  Of course we all recall Bae's line of "this wold wasn't my first stop," so what was that about?

As for Lacey/Belle wanting to live forever, well forever young, would Rumples even entertain the thought of that.  He doesn't really want another Regina on his hands especially since Lacey doesn't have a good bone in her body right now.  A little too much magic could be a dangerous thing and especially in the wrong hands!

Castle: Ruggedly Handsome: Or A State of Mind

SO once you start reading you'll find this post has nothing to do with being the above, ha, but if you're reading then it must have caught your attention! Did I lure you in like one of Castle's long expositions!

Actually watching Castle season 4 on DVD I got to thinking about Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) and thought hey, they remind me of Lois and Clark.  No - really.  Castle's a writer so already a great shoe in for Clark Kent.  Beckett, well Beckett sits a lot at her desk, stacks of files beside her and making endless calls!  Beckett is Castle's muse and much more, the love of his life even.  Only difference being he doesn't have a secret identity.  But he is Superman, Superwriter.  Castle gets the better stories since he's usually the one with the clues to solving the crime.  Telling a yarn or two of his own in the process.

Castle even wears the requisite colours, blue, red shirts, but the purple's my fave, along with their purple ME gloves! Anyway they do sit around a lot on the edge of their desks, making connections, interviewing suspects.  Then there's that elevator...
Even the season 4 DVD cover of Castle has a photo similar to the Lois (Teri Hatcher) and Clark (Dean Cain) one for their show Lois and Clark.

Captain Gates/Sir (Penny Johnson Gerald) is a good Perry White, handing out assignments/orders.  Comics have also been mentioned many times over in numerous episodes.  Then there's the romance, always side stepping the issue for three seasons when everyone knew there was a chemistry there, as soon as they met and yet no one wanted to take it further until season 4.  It seems we were just left hanging with the 'will they/won't they' question which inevitably ends up accompanying such shows.  Of course they would, in the same way Lois and Clark were attracted to one another.

We've even had Superman quotes, Poof, You're Dead, Castle; " X-ray specs got them at the magic shop.  I can see you naked."
Beckett: "Really how do you like my naval ring?"

Castle: "...he has an identical twin who wears glasses.  That's the worst disguise since Clark Kent and you believe him?"

In the animated Superman Unbound Lois is voiced by Stana and there's a wedding proposal too.  (Molly Quinn voices Supergirl). Similar to Castle's proposal to Beckett in Watershed perhaps?

But he does make a ruggedly handsome Superman! Even if confined to an episode of Castle, maybe?

Scandal 2.9 "Blown Away" Review

                                                 
So Huck  (Guillermo Diaz) comes in and tells Harrison (Columbus Short) the man they're looking for on the news is him, so inevitably he would be caught.  Not by his own volition or shortcomings, but rather by betrayal.  Which is the name of the game in Washington right now.  Everything is becoming undone and as Verna Thornton (Debra Mooney) puts it, "karma for what we did."  But in her case she just betrayed Huck to keep her Supreme Court seat! Hollis (Gregg Henry) is betraying everyone left, right and centre by getting on side with Madam President (Kate Burton).  Why do you always need a Madam there, a woman's supposed to be as equal as a man, right?  Anyhoo,  Quinn (Katie Lowes) asks Huck if he knew who brought her to Washington and he says he didn't ask cos yeah, he'd do anything for Olivia (Kerry Washington).  Quinn's timing was off with everything going on around them, she thinks of herself.

Cyrus (Jeff Perry) finds out Jack (Dan Bucatinsky) wasn't at his parent's cos his mother calls and Cyrus sets Charlie (George Newbern) up to surveil him, thinking he's got a lover which he tells Olivia about, who is sure Fitz will die.  Thus the Whitehouse sets in  motion a plan for the funeral, which Langston approves with Olivia having to explain the empty horse without a rider is for and the inverted boots in the stirrup, a leader saying farewell to his troops.

Seems Huck was seen in the lift security footage at the hotel and he also picks up a woman's phone when she drops it, ridiculous really, he's just giving away fingerprints like that, though the FBI only gets a partial. Then there's that entire Becky (Susan Pourfar) fiasco, cos we all know she's the one who killed the President but we don't know for whom?  Also she leaves clues behind so Huck will think she's been kidnapped when she was the one who pulled the trigger.  SO obvious there was more to her, cos she just wouldn't want to meet and talk to Huck out of the blue at AA!  Not to mention Huck telling her all about himself and showing off his 'family' to her.  Would you really take someone to such personal places and I don't care if he tells them he can read liars and she didn't lie.  Cos she can do the opposite and act all innocent!

Charlie tells Cyrus Jack was in Defiance, Ohio and Cyrus puts two and two together, getting hold of a baby girl for them to adopt so Jack will leave his job, yeah and the rest of the time what exactly will he be doing at home, he's not going to give up the biggest story of the decade like that.  Jack gives David (Josh Malina) the memory card from the voting machine and together they're going to bring down the Administration.   Abby (Darby Stanchfield)  pays David a visit just for sex!  After he hands her the surveillance footage of the hotel which shows Becky checking in alone.  No one forced her to do anything.

Huck has the gun and Olivia can't really bring herself to look at it.  Huck has a last minute sex thang too with Becky before he calls Harrison to plant the gun at her apartment and turn her in.  Well no surprises there, she was listening to and so in revenge or a lesson or whatever, psycho Becky had in mind, she kills Huck's family! So Verna having turned in Huck to save her own neck, I mean the woman's dying and she still wants to cling onto that Supreme Court Justice seat, makes Langston choose if she wants her resignation or the name of the man who shot Fitz.  Naturally she's hungry for power, so Langston chooses the name of the shooter.  BUT it could have been anyone and I didn't know Verna knew Huck so well to have been able to recognize him from that sketch!  Yeah she's Olivia's client but she shouldn't have been so familiar with Huck.
Don't know about Abby but her scene with David was well, weird if not violent, she slaps him over and then pulls her skirt up, really?  Since when does she want to be the 'dominant' one.  Just as soon as Harrison said they'll get Huck's prints if they come clean about Becky, then up they pop and arrest him under the Patriot Act and we all know what that means!  No rights, no trial, straight off to Git'mo.

True to form or as the title suggests, everyone was blown away.

Shemar Moore's 100 Mile Bike Ride for MS

                                           
The generosity and compassion of  someone who truly cares, knows no bounds and  doesn't come along very often.  But one such angel is the exceptional and big hearted actor from Criminal Minds, Shemar Moore.  (Who plays FBI Special Agent Derek Morgan). Yes our wonderful Baby Boy is getting on his bike and gearing up to do a 100 mile bike ride to raise funds for MS #RideForMS.  Taking place on 12 October 2012, as he aims to raise $100k for this worthy cause.

Also you can get merchandise at shemarmoore.com/shop  
that's where you can grab all the Baby Girl gear you'll ever need.

If you can't be there in person to lend support and cheer the team on, then for more info and to donate go here:

WWW.bit/ly/RIDEFORMS

BUT DONATE ANYWAY!

Sadly Shemar's mother, Marilyn developed MS in about 1998.  Explaining his devotion and effortless campaigning.  Shemar has been extremely active, along with his fellow castmates from the show in highlighting this condition by taking part in many events for charity, to raise awareness and also for research.

To quote Shemar from one of his quotes on Instagram: "...your true friends will pick you up... and push you towards your greatness as you will for them..."  In the same way we will be there for you to push you towards your goal, ensuring your every pump of the pedal, lending you our support, our hearts and most of all our donations!!

Good Luck from us in the UK!!

CSI:NY 9.5 "Misconceptions" Review

                                                         
The neighbourhood where Tommy Lewis (Austin Kane) disappeared is still talking about the news as seen in the newspaper and Mac (Gary Sinise) drives there with Lindsay (Anna Belknap) (huh of all people!) as he tells her about the case and how Tommy was 8 and his parents let him take the dog for a walk.  A shoe store owner saw him and gave him a quarter for a lolly.  He was seen there.  The last person to see Tommy was Mitch Ventri (Jamie McShane) the deli owner and well yep you've guessed it, he was my suspect, the shifty looking guy behind the counter who has no personal hygiene, I mean would you buy anything from someone who just ran his hand through his hair!  Besides the last person who saw him would have the most to hide in most cases and especially since he was also a man.  Pity this investigation didn't lead anywhere 20 years ago, know there were different policing methods and none if any forensics, but surely someone must have slipped up.  They suspected Keith Milner (Zack Ward) the boy who was the drug addict and who terrorized the neighbourhood, hanging around on the balcony.  Of course he would have seen plenty from there.  Yet again those who are seen as the dregs of society are the ones suspected.

Keith was seen in the park with Tommy's dog and with blood on his jacket.  Keith is found dead and Lovato  (Natalie Martinez) says he was beaten and his throat was cut.  He was killed on the same day that Tommy disappeared 20 years ago.  Lindsay analyzes Keith's jacket and uses ink to replicate the marks round a lab coat exactly where the blood was found.

It's Flack's (Eddie Cahill) day off and he cooks breakfast, but not for any old person, no, it's for his dog. Yeah we knew that!! So when did he get a dog?  He then goes to the boxing ring for a work out with a parolee.  Obviously we know Flack would be into boxing since it's something that Eddie is also into in real life, as well as baseball.  He's a real sporting guy, is our Eddie!  He gets a call from his grandmother, Irene (Elaine Kagan) and hey the way he greets her on the phone, she must be one lucky lady, ha.  He goes round to her place for a leaky sink pipe but there's nothing wrong with it.  His sister, Samantha (Kathleen Munroe) arrives later and they proceed to eat Gram's meatballs!  She gives them a box of their father's she found in the attic and inside are baseballs and other photos and baseball memorabilia.  She wants him to have it but Sam doesn't want it.  She tells them to take the urn with his ashes too.  Flack will have nowhere to put it and clearly she's still holding grudges against their father.

Sid (Robert Joy) tells Jo (Sela Ward) that Keith didn't show any signs of drug use.  A slash wound cut his jugular.  He also finds unknown trace in the wound.  He was beaten before being killed but there are no defensive wounds so he didn't fight back.  Mac tells Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) that the blood could have been transferred from the dog onto Keith's jacket, there's no way to tell, so they didn't have conclusive evidence that he was behind his disappearance.  Jo finds that Nathan Lewis (Alex Carter) Tommy's father has vanished.  She then talks to Mac and asks him what's wrong since he's been getting other people to appear in court for him.  He tells her he's just delegating, what he should have done years ago and she tells him that she may be quirky and disorganized, but she's very perceptive.

Nathan's wife, April (Meredith Monroe) thinks he may have killed Keith.  Hawkes (Hill Harper) finds the trace in the wound is ink from a printing press and also some from the green nettle plant.   Nathan worked at the printing press.  Also Danny says the signal from his phone is not moving.  They find him passed out in the cemetery.  He can't recall if he killed Keith or not, but did see him at the bar and knew who he was.  He beat him up and left him in the alley.

Flack finds a letter in a magazine from their father, addressed to "Donny and Sam" which says how he loved them both but couldn't really tell them cos he didn't know how.  Flack calls her and tells her how he worried about her when she didn't return from the prom.  Before this Flack has a flashback to the baseball game where he held his father's police badge which he didn't let her do.

Keith's wife, Emma (Karina Logue) gives them his journal where he wrote how his parent's died thinking he'd killed Tommy but he wanted to put things right.  He knows who killed Tommy since he wants him to confess.  Jo talks with Christine (Megan Dodds) about Mac behind his back saying he may have problems identifying certain objects.  Christine takes him lunch (The dish he couldn't recall in Reignited) and wants him to tell her what it's called.  He says nothing is wrong and she's challenging his integrity.  She isn't she's asking cos she cares.  Oh just when there was going to be a major bust up, what happens, Hawkes interrupts, would've thought it would have been Lindsay, like she did with Jo and her hubby in season 7! Well she's the noisy one, always.  Hawkes tells him the green nettles, green mould, microcrystalline wax and paraffin are found in a special kind of cheese, Flaming Nettle Gouda; leading to Ventri.  No surprises then.

He confesses it was him and he hasn't hurt anyone since.  He wasn't going to hurt him but he cried out for help.  Keith heard all this from his balcony.  Lindsay losing it, oh so macho Lindsay, not!  Telling him he's an animal and worse than them, blah, blah.  No really got no tolerance for her, she couldn't be so understanding of the Vics she has come across, but likes to throw her weight around, be they suspect or Vic!  Keith confronted him cos he wanted him to own up and years before his parents didn't believe him when he told them it was Ventri who killed Tommy.  His DB is still at his shop.

They find him buried behind a sign and Jo tells Mac he'll have to tell his parents, which he does and then has a moment on the steps.  Before he leaves, he tells Jo to stay out of his personal life!  Oh Mac hasn't had a fight or lost his temper with anyone since Stella!  "Careful where you stick your nose."  Flack and Sam go to the stadium and run with their father's ashes.  Yeah we know, the dog scene and the eggs Benedict, cos they're implying he needs a real woman in his life and will pair him with Lovato, oh woe is me!!  No!!  Flack and his funny line of having an amazing night with some woman.  Yeah, he talks to Grams like that! Ha.
Flack: "Hey baby, last night was amazing, I can't stop thinking about you, you were incredible..."

Sam isn't ready to forgive their father, even after the prom story.  She knows he thought she was a stronger person than Flack and he's not bothered by this.  He wanted Sam to become a doctor.  When he couldn't find her, he cried for the very first time and Flack saw him do this.  Flack recalls her old boyfriend, Zane and he works at the Yankee's stadium, she  should contact him.  It was a touching scene between bother and sister, that after all the misunderstandings between them, they have finally moved on too and become closer, like they were when younger.  Of course, it's also relevant to the main story, of parents losing a child, Keith's unborn son who will never know his father and how Flack and Sam did know theirs and now she can put those past feelings towards him to rest.  Something all three 'families' had to do.

Of course the other story  is always a painful one when a child is involved, but you can't help but think it's all been done before, as cold cases often do revolve around missing suspects or those who don't seem to be suspicious at the time.  That Tommy trusted Ventri also shows how 'close'the neighbourhood was, but doesn't attest to the dangers that are abound even with people they seem to know.  Tommy running round after lollipops, when he should have known better.

Mac and Christine will come to terms with what's wrong with him eventually and he will apologize to Jo.  Finally Jo realizes something's up with Mac, when Danny said this all along and she just dismissed it!  Flack cooking in his vest, he seems to do everything in his vest!! Ha.  Loving his blue colour scheme though, especially since in most cases, it's always green!  Yuck!

Also Eddie's tattoo on his right arm has been faded out for the scene in his vest! As was done in 4.3 You Only Die Once.  It came to our attention in 2.24 Charge of this Post.  The tattoo being a heart with an arrow through it with a swallow on the top and his wife's name inside.  As mentioned in my other reviews.

Funny Mac tells Danny how no one listened to the opinion of a young detective, back then since there were a lot of experienced detectives who suspected Keith.  Yet Mac has on numerous occasions reprimanded Danny for following his mind and heart and not the evidence, see On the Job, A Man A Mile. He found himself in the same position back then.

Seems Det Vartaan, Alex Carter, got time off from CSI to appear here as Nathan, ha!

Once Upon A Time 2.20 "The Evil Queen" Review

                                            
Hook (Colin O'Donoghue)  think he's succeeded in killing the Crocodile as Greg (Ethan Embury) and Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green) hold him hostage in the clock tower of all places.  Umm, Madam Mayor shouldn't you get that glass fixed on the clockface? Ha.  Hook all tied up again, let's say he knows the ropes by now!  They have a plan to get Regina (Lana Parrilla) and show him that The Dark One, is well and truly alive and having a ball with Belle/Lacey! (Emilie de Ravin)  They just seemed so chummy now that she's not good anymore.  Tamara giving Hook his own spyglass to look through.

Regina overhears Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) talking about returning to the Enchanted Forest but what to do with her.  Charming thinks they should offer her a choice if she comes back, to stay in Rumple's cell.  Regina demonstrating her shapeshifting spell.  Regina tells Henry (Jared S Gilmore) about the beans and how they're going back to the forest and she will destroy Storybrooke with her failsafe destructive button.  Henry says she's going to kill everyone and she tells him he'll love her like he used to.  She uses her little black/gold book of spells to make Henry forget what she told him.

Emma (Jennifer Morrison) bumps into Tamara and sees her list with the names of the townspeople and their fairytale names and thinks August was warning them about her, which is true but shame Snow didn't really believe her when she tells her this.  She thinks Henry will hear and get the notion she and Neal (Michael Raymond-James) will get back together again and they can be one happy family.  Henry hears all this and says Operation Cora is back on.  Emma reassures Snow that she is over Neal and has no intention of getting back with him.  Snow also warns her that Emma's superpower of telling whether people are lying or not isn't always right, or even works when she's emotional about Neal.

Back in the Enchanted Forest Regina is on the hunt for Snow herself and asks the villagers where she is. They refuse to tell her and they're afraid.  She wants a way to get around without people knowing it's her to find out why they hate her so much and ask Rumples (Robert Carlyle) to tech the shape changing spell he taught her mother.  It took her a month to master it but maybe Regina could change her hair in about a week, or her highlights.  She suggests he can make her change her appearance, which he agrees to if she cease trading with King George.  She wants to know why but that's got nothing to do with her.  Rumples tells her to change back she must call him.  Oh there goes his Scottish accent again.

Regina comes across some villagers throwing daggers into the heart of Regina's effigy.  She says it's wrong but the man says it's rigged since no one can get the dagger in her heart cos she has none.  She takes the torch from the other man who plans on burning her and is seen by the guards.  She claims to be the queen and knows their names but her magic doesn't work.  She's about to be beheaded when Snow arrives to save her.  Of course Rumples doesn't show up!  As if he would!!  Snow nurses the girl, Wilma, her family works in the mills! back to health, tending to her wound and she tells her of the story where Regina rescued her from the horse, but doesn't give the name of who rescued her.

Snow chances upon the dead villagers and takes back everything she said about Regina, she doesn't have a heart, she's evil and always was since she killed all those people cos of her.  Regina tells Snow this isn't her fault but she doesn't believe her.  Snow would never forgive her now and Regina mentions the story again using her name.  Snow realizes it's really Regina and draws her arrow.  Once again Rumples doesn't show up to help her and he runs away.  Snow could have shot that arrow if she really wanted to!  Regina asks why he didn't show up and he replies that he didn't say he would.  He turns her back to Regina and she now calls herself "the evil queen."

Hook has a bargain for Regina.  She shows him the beans and he tells her how he wants to form an alliance with her again and maybe the three of them could do that. She tells him her mother's dead.  He wants to help Regina and also get the Crocodile.  If she trusts him she'll need his help with the failsafe.

Emma stakes out Tamara and Henry realizes they kept the news of the magic beans from him but he isn't upset about her lying to him once again.  No he's more concerned with coming up with a new name.  Emma suggest tiger but he says Praying Mantis, yes it's more up Tamara' street.  She sees her with Neal and they head to his room to find proof.  Unfortunately Neal arrives and tells Henry he taught Emma about hitting the door when someone shows up.  Inside she tells him about Tamara but he's the one who gave her the list so she'd fit in.  Why would he do that?  Considering she just came out of the blue to be with him and has yet to fully accept everything.  Shouldn't she undergo some kind of test, yes it's very medieval, ha, but it's something that would work.  Emma tells him about the creaking floorboard but finds nothing.

Regina takes Hook to the library, the place where everything happens, or rather under it.  She notices he's wearing her mother's leather cuff and demands it back, oh Regina couldn't see he was playing her!  He gives it back willingly  and she even puts it on.  She leaves him to fight the beast, Maleficent, as distraction whilst she finds the self-destruct.  Yes, Regina saying "destroy" again, love it when she says that.
Hook: "Maleficent love you in earth tones."  So where's he encountered her before?  Also wasn't she killed when she was a dragon?

Regina gets back to the surface and finds Hook already there as she tries to use magic, it doesn't work.  Cos Greg and Tamara know how to counter magic using science.  Hook standing by the 'Circulation' desk was funny, wouldn't you say.  Well he does get around doesn't he!  Suppose the two of them had a hand (no pun) in helping Hook defeat Malef! Regina tells him his father isn't here but he doesn't want him, he wants more than that. Yeah Henry no doubt!   Amazing how Hook could just spout those lies about being sorry for Cora and wanting to help Regina whilst they're playing him too.  Couldn't he see he was also being used by them! No, he isn't one for reading people.

All this science being able to overcome magic was a bit, don't know, a bit of a lark. Hey this means they could get Whale to help with his science, even though it didn't seem to work for him.  But of course we won't be going down that route.  But it did remind me of the ep where Gold made him say magic is better than science he he needed his arm put back.   So now we have these two outsiders saying the same thing, that science can defeat magic.  So anyway if Greg's name is Owen why doesn't Tamara call him this?

Snow, Grumpy (Lee Arenburg) and Charming find the entire crop destroyed and Snow asks who would do this?  Does she really need to ask.  They didn't have the best security system going.  The soldier calling Regina a "slag!" when she was in disguise. Er shouldn't he have called her something else! more befitting childrens' ears!  Also Hook with his "bloody," definitely Jack Sparrow there!  Hook being pushed and ending up on the ground again, but he manages to get up unscathed.  Magic afoot, or science?  Not to mention the failsafe being in Snow's coffin and would Cora really wear a piece of "cowhide" as Hook puts it.

Of course Rumples had his own plan in motion too, with Regina cutting off trade with George this rendered the kingdom bankrupt and led to the introduction of Midas, as well as Charming and Snow meeting, what he wanted.  But hey before Charming, there was the other one, James and his foray into the giant's castle to steal their gold.  Which would have come before Snow and Charming met, since James had to have been dead for Charming to have taken his place.

So why are they still insisting on making Regina evil, or far more veil than she was before, I mean she made all that headway into trying to change, especially for Henry and then they have her murdering an entire village. To be fair she did try to explain that her men went too far, which is probably true, since they set it upon themselves to murder even Regina herself with her head on the chopping block, even if they didn't know it was her.  Hey Regina, where's their punishment for almost killing you?!  I mean if she did kill those villagers, she wouldn't have brought all those people with her to Storybrooke would she?  Though she does tell Henry at the beginning she is going to let everyone in Storybrooke die with the failsafe.

Regina's become very inconsistent characterwise and ambiguous which I really don't like. I didn't like this episode much either, very predictable and Tamara and Greg are just so annoying villains, and fairytale villains at that, I think not, which is probably the case since they're not beloved fairytale characters.

Hook saying after they have their revenge there's nothing left for him, but she'll have Henry, will she?  Hook: "revenge may sate your being, but...it's an end not a beginning."

Scandal 2.8 "Happy Birthday, Mr President" Review

                                              
As news gets out of Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) being shot, several times over as broadcast by the news, we get plenty of flashbacks.  The Secret Service appeared to be a a bit slow off the mark when they rushed to the President's side, as well as with Britta (Keiko Agena) and Mellie (Bellamy Young).  At the hospital, Mellie is frantic and a man's voice is heard to be telling Fitz he can't die.  Which is heard by Olivia (Kerry Washington).  She finds his US flag pin on the floor and picks it up.  Cue first flashback where Olivia gave him the pin after he was elected President and before his inauguration.  It was a genuine flag pin belonging to Eisenhower.  She pins it to his lapel and Mellie sees it too but is oblivious to their attraction.

Later they meet in the Oval Office and Fitz can't resist being with Olivia and neither can she, to the point where they get physical on his desk of all places.  Of course no one's told him about the cameras, he must have been naive, at least not until the next day when the agent tells him where the cameras are located, when Fitz is out jogging in his Navy shirt.  He hates jogging.  Edison (Norm Lewis) calls Olivia to tell her they're being taken to the bunker.  On the news it's said Fitz is in surgery and Langston (Kate Burton) wants to be flown to the South lawn.  No one lands there except the President and Cyrus (Jeff Perry) loses his cool with her.  She's not the President yet since Fitz is still alive and until he dies or she takes office under the Amendment where the Cabinet signs her in, she is not the President and will have her forcibly removed if necessary.

We also get to see how Langston came aboard based on their promise she'd pick the Supreme Court Justice, of course the job was promised to Verna Thornton (Debra Mooney) and she demands her position. Also Olivia sees Cyrus with Jack (Ray Bucatinsky) as the two of them break up.  Olivia takes hold of the crisis and comes back to the Whitehouse for as long as they need her.  Telling Jeannine (Samantha Sloyan) she needs six outfits from her place.  She then holds a press conference telling them the President is holding on.  In another flash, Olivia is told about a reporter who is looking into vote rigging at the election and she relays this to Hollis (Gregg Henry).  As the name Cytron comes up and Huck (Guillermo Diaz) tells her their employee Jesse Tyler leaked this info.  Huck all long haired and dirty has been living on the streets, is given Olivia's key so he can stay with her.

Olivia meets Fitz once more and he tells her they're in this together.  They belong to one another and she can't drive him away.  "I exist for you."  Kind of another moment they will have in the future in the park when he went hunting and she told him that she's not his.  Britta is declared dead and the newscaster, Reed Wallace (Stephen Collins) can't hide his emotions as she used to work there.  Britta was press secretary and was under Olivia's wing as she let her go to the inauguration ball.  Edison calls to tell Olivia Langston is lobbying the Cabinet for their signatures to take over as President.  Olivia tells Cyrus and says Mellie is the only one who can stop this.

Olivia reluctantly approaches Mellie who won't let her sit beside her since they're not friends.  She sends Olivia for clothes and Olivia finds his Navy sweatshirt and weeps into it.  Er, it wasn't placed on the top of the other shirts, it was between them Olivia, but funny she didn't have any tears showing, red eyes or even a runny nose after she cried.  She takes an outfit for Mellie who assures the people that he is alive and is a believer in hope.   They shouldn't give up on him cos he hasn't given up on them.

Cyrus gets Jack to write a story about Langston's nominee for the Supreme Court and his juvenile record is disclosed.  Langston's angry and says that from now on, she's in it "for me."  Harrison (Columbus Short) Quinn (Katie Lowes) and Abby (Darby Stanchfield) watch the news from the office and Quinn mentions Huck being in the CIA.  He's meant to be on a date.  Don't know about you, but did anyone get suspicious at Huck not being here.  No really, at such a time of crisis, he's on a date!  He'd be back there quick smart seeing if Olivia wanted his help and to find out if she was safe!!

Another flashback where Olivia is told about an explosion which just happens to be at the Cytron offices, which Hollis says was 'taken care' of by him.  He's going to make an employee called Lindsey (Quinn) the scapegoat.  He's not perturbed that he killed seven people and Cyrus calls them collateral damage and patriots as well as heroes.  If they expose this, it will signal the end of the Presidency even before it's begun. Olivia finds this disgusting but she manages to go along with it and has been ever since.  Though she did try to help Quinn.  Mellie notices Fitz's pin is missing and one of the agents hands it to her later, when she finds out Fitz had been to see the Constitution, saying he'd have taken her with him.  Infact he took Olivia and she became the seventh person to touch it.  Mellie returns the pin and senses there's something not quite right.

The doctors have removed three bullets from Fitz but there's no change.  Olivia walks into the room and hands Mellie the pin which she places beside him on the bed.  Langston is sworn in as president and Cyrus loses his cool by wrecking his office!  The news broadcasts the description of the gunman, wearing a red hoodie with dark hair, which Harrison says describes plenty of men in Washington.  But this one describes Huck to a tee!  Knew it was him, like I said before.

Olivia's face when he finds Mellie turns up with Fitz to have dinner with her!  Olivia declaring she loves Fitz after touching the Constitution, makes you wonder if she'd feel differently about him if he wasn't the Pres? Well it does, since she didn't want anything more to do with him tendering her resignation, well she still found herself back there many times over and they still continued their illicit affair, so who was fooling whom, or rather us.  Course we weren't fooled  I mean if she really loved him she could have exposed the 'scandal' (!) re vote rigging and they could have run away together!  SO she either believes he wanted to stick by and do his job, or he wanted the job and her.

As for Huck, many reasons behind him having to shoot the President, cos think if it was anyone else as the shooter, he'd have been dead since he'd have a perfect head shot.  Sorry to sound so morbid but it's true. As we recall Hollis's threat of taking everyone down last ep, not clear what this would entail, but we've seen the man is merciless with the explosion at Cytron and framing Quinn.  Anyway we have a long while yet before we get any explanations, cos we're always behind!!

An explosive episode and I know a lot of fans loved the steamy scenes between Olivia and Fitz. Well we had to have those since that's what the entire show is about really when it boils down to it!  The relationship between two people who can't be together.