CSI: NY - 1.7: "Rain"

The CSIs investigate an apparent robbery at a bank, which leads to a kidnapping, as well as to numerous suspects and a few twists. Lots to analyze, forensics as it should be.

A man comes out of a building in Chinatown on fire in the rain.   Mac (Gary Sinise) comments on his eyebrows and eyelashes being singed.   There's bruising on his his cheek but his face hasn't got the same degree of burns as his chest.   Stella (Melina Kanakaredes) comments on there being "something gooey here."
Mac: "gooey that's a good forensic word, gooey, I'll have to use that more."  Mac notices the trace of melted plastic and finds a discarded mask.   Inside the bank, the safety deposit vault was cut away from the wall.   Flack: "Gotta wear a mask for a bank robbery, it's a rule."  Two bank security guards fired shots and the acetylene tank caught fire.   Martin Hummel (Matt Bushell) one of the guards thinks there were two, but he was trying to save his partner, Tony's life.   One shot the other and Tony (Andre Ware) was DOA.  

Stella follows a blood trail to the alley and the trail ends outside as it's washed away by the rain.   Mac takes Hummel's gun and retrieves a bullet from the wall.   Another mask is found inside.   Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) "ballistics is gonna be fun on this one." They all seem to get lines with 'fun' in them this first season.   Aiden (Vanessa Ferlito) got one in the third episode American Dreamers about being able to reconstruct the Vic's face; calling it "big fun." Six months ago the bank was a shoe store.   The wall was cut and Flack says the robbers entered through the empty store after the alarm was switched off.   Giving them 30 minutes to rob the place.   They had to leave the way they came in.   So Danny says the first robber knocked over the tank.   Aiden wonders why they didn't just take items from the boxes in one area.  

Stella had to have the answer on that one.   Box numbers all ended in '8'.   Which Mac explains is the lucky number in Chinese culture.   They believed their money would be safe in boxes with the number 8.   Danny asks why box numbers 12, 14, 45 were also opened.   This question doesn't get answered, which left us wondering too, so why have him ask it to begin with.   Hate when that happens, cos it leaves you hanging.

The leasing agent received a letter from the owner a week ago saying he didn't want the building rented out.   Mac asks Flack: "You buying this story?"
Flack: "You know me, everyone's a suspect until you prove otherwise."  Finally we begin to see the funny and witty side of Flack, which will become synonymous with him.   At least he was given more lines than he has in the past.   Mac finds an umbrella shell outside which was used on the hole in the door to open it.

Hawkes (Hill Harper) finds the Vic suffered secondary and tertiary burns over 52% of his body.   Abnormal accumulation of fluid in his chest led to pulmonary edema.   There's no smoke or soot in his throat and he was instantly suffocated.   He was holding something in his hand.  There's damage on his outer tissue of his hand so they'll have to work inside out for prints.

Stella examines the fragments found at the CS, including a Jade monkey; part of a charm and the clasp reveals a partial print.  Aiden examines the bank tape and all the robbers were wearing the same mask, constructed from a real face.   Which happens to be Aiden's specialty.   Aiden uses a laser to outline the face print from the mask.   The burn Vic was Carlton Heinz, the other is a John Doe.

Chinese characters signifying love, prosperity, were taken from the vault, but why?  The contents in the boxes were worth over $10,000 so they knew what was in the boxes, suggesting an inside job.   The print on the clasp leads to Joanne Cho (Samantha Quan) she keeps the bank keys and has an eleven month old daughter, Dolores and she recognizes the Jade monkey.   Stella: "The first time I looked at them, it took me a while to figure out what they were."  Cos she's implying she's not Chinese, but you don't have to be Chinese to work out what they were.   Joanne doesn't know Carlton.   Mac says the monkey is significant cos 2004 is the year of the monkey.   A young, female, Chinese child had the charms for prosperity and good fortune.   Dolores was kidnapped.   The bank robbery turns into a kidnapping.  Joanne shows them the note with missing letters, telling her they have Dolores and what she should do.   The letter 'x' is missing from the word 'boxes.'  She was threatened with Dolores' death if she called the police.   Flack discovers the phone number is a public phonebox at Madison Square Gardens.   The clothes and the note is analyzed.  Danny test fires bullets from the guns.

They go over the sequence of events inside the vault.   Hummel heard the shot, as Flack says, the first shot from the robber's gun hit  Tony.   Hummel wasn't there when it happened and he fired at someone in the smoke.   Flack asks Danny: "You believe me?"
Danny: "yeah I do, but then there's the evidence." Clearly showing what Mac said to him on the previous episode and in 1.5 A Man A Mile rubbed off on him and he knows he needs to follow the evidence to find the answers.

Mac analyzes the note.   Aiden accesses the parole database for the mask and the facial features match Luthor Willet (Alex Sol) he was involved in a bank robbery 4 years ago.   She and Flack interview Willet, "wow cops around here just get prettier everyday."
Flack: "Watch it."
Willet: "Well, hey don't get upset.   I just got out of prison, you both look good to him." Which isn't something Flack wants to hear.   Though yeah, Flack does look good!  He claims he can't help them since he had 15 different cellmates in prison.

Stella analyzes the clothes.   Danny uses a laser to map out the trajectory of the bullets.   Each of them talk to themselves here when they analyze the evidence and that disappeared soon enough in the show, which was a shame in some cases.  Stella finds the presence of sodium polyacrylate, found in disposable nappies/diapers and artificial snow.   Mac finds the letters used on the note are from 3 different magazines.   The snowflakes could be from a play set in winter, called Winter Retreat.   There's a hole on the door of the theatre and a DB inside.   Small handprints can be seen in the blood.   There's a hair on the DB.   A paper test proves positive for the presence of cocaine.   There's a missing letter 'X' on the inside of the magazine cover.   The DB is identified as Moretti, he was in jail with Willet.

Hawkes discovers a gunshot wound to the neck, hit the carotid artery and he bled to death.   There was shattered glass at the scene, lead paint.   Hawkes doesn't know what to make of it.   Mac: "usually you have all the answers Sheldon." His lungs contain mercury and traces of lead in his trachea.   The same trace found in the clean-up crews at Ground Zero.   Moretti was sick 3 years ago, over a period of time glass fibres settle in the lungs, this was more recent.   The paper has a dragon symbol.

A ransom note is sent to Joanne, but no prints or DNA can be lifted.   The handwriting is analyzed to reveal the same person wrote both notes.   Mac: "some sort of gooey residue on the top of the paper."
Stella: "great choice of words."  Well knew that was coming.  Stella raises the imprint from the page above and needs a translator.   Joanne wants to pay the ransom and the Police Department has to respect her wishes.   Stella places the money at the newsstand at Central Park and waits with Flack.

A man approaches the stand and sirens blare, causing him to run.   It's a Police Terrorist Response Drill.   Stella: "Did you know about this?"
 Flack: "They don't send out a memo."  Duh Stella, yes they'd advertize it wouldn't they, then how would it be a drill if they're aware it's going to happen.  The same principle of having fire drills at school and work, you don't know they're coming.   The money is still there and a mask is left on the ground.  The stand is dusted for prints.   Stella seems to have an irritating side, what another one, ha, she doesn't answer her own questions.

There's a message on the notepad.   Nina Chang (Kym Hoy) is a make-up artist who worked on the play at the theatre.  The name 'Chang' is searched in a 10013 partial zip code.   Mac comments on 'six degrees of separation'.   The hairs on the body, being out of prison, needed a place to live, leading to this zip code.  The debris in his body leads to the fallout zone in Lower Manhattan.   The drug packet has a dragon logo.   The address leads to Nina Chang.   She made the masks and met Moretti (David Guzzone) at the theatre.   She left him there to die.   Mac asks her to write the Pledge of Allegiance to check her handwriting.

Danny finds the computer trajectory doesn't match the sequence of events of where the bullets were fired from.   There were 5 shots at the CS, five casings were found.   One hit and killed the security guard, 1 was found from the wall behind him, 1 recovered from the adjacent building; missing discharge from Tony's gun was found in Moretti, 1 found in the vault pillar.   He recreated the scene and found that the bullet didn't hit the pillar.   Hummel's story doesn't fit cos his bullet stopped in midair, turned left and then hit the pillar.   Rain diluted the partial found at the newsstand, but it belongs to Hummel.   Danny tells him he shouldn't have fired his weapon.   He didn't shoot at anything, his casing was found out of the vault.   Hummel says no one was meant to get hurt.

 Hummel could have been a hero and returned the baby, no one would have known.   Mac: "It's always something, something you didn't expect or count on.   Something that always screws everything up...if only it hadn't rained." Alluding to the episode title.   Nice line that cos it's true, something always goes wrong especially when people think they can get away with committing crime.

Also some foreshadowing here, with Danny analyzing the bullets and casing and determining what happened at the CS, cos it'll happen to him too later on in the season.   Think someone was having a sneaky laugh here at his expense.

Mac mentioning Six Degrees of Separation, a play.   Which means everyone in the world is connected by six people.   Also mentioned by Gill Grissom (William Petersen) first in the CSI episode Let the Seller Beware: "to connect you to the Vic is one degree."  Also CSI episode $35K O.B.O.  where there was rain which affected the CS and the evidence collected.  Funnily enough typed this out after the season 9 CSI:Miami episode FTF was aired.   That had water from a  fire hydrant contaminating the evidence.   CSI:Miami season 2.12 Witness to Murder, rain clouds loom so no evidence can be processed until they reach the lab.   In CSI episode Friends and Lovers, string is used to map out the blood spatter traces.  

CSI:Miami season 2 episode Witness to Murder the bullet trajectory is traced.   I love writing about deja vu and how other episodes of CSI shows and the same show itself uses similar storylines, plots and evidence in their own episodes.   I just find it interesting.   If you do too, or if you just want to read up on the three shows and how they began, as well as an in-depth look at CSI:NY season 1, then check out my book, New York Minutiae: An Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to CSI:NY.

Great thing about this episode was that the producers got to actually film a real terrorist alert drill when filming on location in New York, as well as getting caught in a thunderstorm.   New scenes were filmed due to this drill and used in this episode.

Castle - 2.2: "The Double Down"

Castle and Beckett investigate a murder which turns out to be connected to the case Ryan and Esposito are assigned. To make matters worse they bet on who can solve their case first.

Chaos at the precinct and Castle (Nathan Fillion) comments the "full moon brings out all the crazies."  They've got "madness, mayhem now all they need is" murder.   Which they get.   A husband finds his wife, Ashley's body at the office.   Castle again mentions those science shows, where they can build a bird's eye view of what the fish saw from the tank.   Lanie (Tamala Jones) wears a dress which opens Castle's eyes and he can't stop staring and it ain't at the dress either.   There are words written on the Vic's face and Castle also adds the killer didn't have any sense of grammar.   That "who or whom would be tougher to use" but not 'your' and you're'.   The killer also murdered the English language.   Jason (Brennan Elliott) claims to be at a game and Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) have another murder to deal with.   Ryan will miss warm milk and honey with Jenny.   He wasn't meant to say it out loud.

Castle claims Ashley had dinner with someone with bad grammar.   Perlmutter (Ayre Gross) finds the second Vic was shot and the "body is speaking."  Don't know how many variations we'll get of that line.   It was probably a mugging.   Castle thinks by writing on the murder Vic, a point was being made.   Could have used proper language though.   Oh enough with the language.   The mugging Vic, Frank was a retired teacher and Castle is curious to know how the body was found.   Esposito replies, "in the ground."  No, that's on the ground.   Language!  He posits muggings are one of the hardest cases to close and they can close theirs first.   They bet on this.   Only if they don't tell Beckett (Stana Katic).   Castle: "Secrets, murder and gambling, three of my favourite pastimes."

Martha (Susan Sullivan) doesn't think much of the bet.   Ashley's friend, Brandi Rossini (Amy Stewart) had dinner with her and she was going to take a restraining order out against someone.   Castle corrects Beckett, when she asks who? "Whom."  She has an alibi and Jason's alibi also checks.   So they're left with the patients,  Ryan and Esposito find Frank's family, Christine (Linara Washington) and Eric (Marco Martinez).   Castle tells Ryan and Esposito it can't be gang kids who killed Frank cos it's their regular haunt.   Hey Ryan isn't reading any of Castle's books, thus far.   Beckett suspects they're up to something.

Hal (Jim O'Heir) had a doctor's appointment and he heard arguing in the session before him.   Well Castle was wrong about him, he wasn't the killer.   The session before was attended by Hinkel (Matt Winston) who doesn't have any record.   Castle posits he could have "snapped after two years of therapy." Kerpowsky (Diana-Maria Riva) gets in on the bet as do others.   Ryan and Esposito have a suspect already and Ryan suggests they 'double down.'  Esposito says the loser should wear a dress for a week and shave his head.  Beckett runs her hand through her hair at the same time.   Hinkel didn't do it as Ashley cancelled his appointment and had lunch with Jason.   Beckett wonders why Castle is playing supercop.   The entire office is buzzing.

Jason and Ashley were arguing at the restaurant and she was getting an order against hm, gee that was obvious.    Castle made it apparent there was a bet going on when he collected the money and Beckett wants in.   He claims the money is for Girls Scout cookie orders.   Really he couldn't come up with a better excuse than that?   Didn't think Beckett would be cool with the bet, she's changed this season - she may even be growing on me - I wearily say.   Jason took out life insurance on Ashley which he claims she wanted him to do.   Castle writes a note to Ryan and Esposito on the other side of the glass and they both prove Jason's alibi by watching the basketball game on TV.   Castle puts his mother's dress against him in the mirror, was Castle really contemplating defeat, when he knows he's been the reason why so many cases were solved.

Alexis (Molly Quinn) still has Owen issues.   Frank lived in a rent controlled apartment which stays controlled if it says in the family.  Eric was cut off, that was motive right there and the life insurance too where Jason was concerned.   Castle doesn't want to shave his head.   Lanie calls all four to tell them their cases are connected.   Both Vics had traces of salt water compound from the same body of water.   Eric and Christine have alibis too.   The fish tank was a red herring !  Beckett assumes the perp was in her office too and the Vics were killed by the same person.   That didn't sound right.

This isn't random anymore and Christine picks out a name from Ashley's patient list, Grovner (Gareth Williams) but he is wearing a GPS on his ankle for missing parole.     Castle was just saying there aren't any coincidences in murder and here was a coincidence.   He hears Martha and Alexis arguing but they're rehearsing.   Martha tells him there's a connection between everyone in New York city.   Beckett gives Castle a clue this time as does Alexis.   She recalls her mother and how Christina thought it was a random death, but she needs to know why.   Beckett tells Esposito and Ryan they should swap cases, "You take our murder, we'll take yours."  Had a feeling Hitchcock would be involved.   Strangers on a Train.   The connection is the killers themselves.   They could kill each other's Vic's and have an alibi, but not for any of  the other murders.   Castle notices Jason takes the ferry, thus the water connection, and it matches from the Hudson.   They need a confession.

Jason is the alpha in this conspiracy and he made a pact with Eric that if they don't break no one can prove what they did.   Beckett and Castle tell Eric that Jason confessed, leading him to break first.   They argue over who won the bet.   There was no other way out of the bet if the cases weren't related, though I didn't think that from the outset, but luckily I worked it out before they did, ha.  They couldn't have heads being shaved and dresses being donned.   Castle in a dress is so imaginable!  I wanted to see that.  The highlight of this episode was the comedy, screwball at times and trust Castle/Nathan to pull it off so convincingly.  

Castle: "If this was one of those super scien-cy forensic shows you could stick some electrodes in these fish's tanks."

Strangers on a Train, or boat in this case, makes for an interesting story and Castle (the show that is) executed it to perfection.   Other shows have mentioned this great book and film including, NCIS in 12.5 Stakeout, by Tony, who else.   Also 7.3 The Inside Man; Bones 2.15 Bodies in the Book; CSI 3.19 A Night at the Movies, The Simpsons Tree House of Horror XX, to name a few.

Supernatural - 6.17: "My Heart Will Go On" Review

Sam and Dean check out mysterious deaths and discover the Titanic never sank, but their descendants are being killed off. They meet one of the fates and Cas must help them.

Chester, Pennsylvania  a man in his garage has near misses and finally the garage door falls and decapitates him.   Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) both want each other to say something to Bobby (Jim Beaver) and Dean suggests they let him sleep.   Bobby doesn't believe it's about Rufus since he had it coming when he met him and the only question was who would go first, Bobby or Rufus.   Sam reads an article about Chester and they decide to investigate.

The Impala is no longer an Impala but a Mustang and the number plates changed to KAZ 2Y5, the plates the Impala had when the show first began.   Bobby is married to Ellen (Samantha Ferris) who has been hunting with Jo.   Now as soon as that happened alarm bells rang, something's not right.

Chester, Pennsylvania  They check out the garage.   Sam doesn't think it's about vengeful spirits (hey I miss those.)  Sam finds what appears to be some sort of tinsel like fibre and thinks it's gold.   Dean: "accidents just don't happen accidentally."  Sam looks at him when he says that.   Dean says they should speak to his next of kin and poses as a genealogy professor.   He asks if there have been any violent deaths in the Russo family and Shawn Russo (Jason Schombing) is in danger and could the next Vic.   The next Vic actually gets her scarf caught in the copier when a woman appears and throws her keys by the copier and drops another tassel on the floor.    How careless was that , leaving clues at the CS? Well, they were crime scenes.   Anne (Jill Morrison) wasn't related to the other man.

Ellen tells Bobby accidents have been happening globally.   The families came to the US in the Titanic in 1912 and it's just a boat.  No one's heard of it.   Sam finds the first mate's  name is 'IP Freely.' The picture is of Balthazar (Sebastian Roche).   The Titanic was meant to sink but he saved it, cos he hated the movie.   "God awful Celine Dion wanted me to smite myself."  Some would take offence at that especially Celine's fans.  Sam tells him they're all dying now and he "totally Butterfly effected history."  Dean doesn't want any [Ashton] Kutcher references.   Ellen and Jo are alive.   Sam posits the descendants of the survivor's are being killed off.  Balthazar: "You have me confused with the other angel...  the one in the dirty trenchcoat who's in love with you."

Bobby says they're dealing with Fate, at least one of them.   Sam comments the sisters from Greek mythology.   Dean: "nerd." Thus the gold thread.   They can't stop fate but can get an angel to sink the boat.   Which is different to dying since they won't have been born.   Dean tells Bobby about Ellen and Jo and then Bobby looks at the photo with him and Ellen at the B&E Scrapyard.   He doesn't want the ship sunk.

Russo gets run over by a bus anyway (like the bus in season 2.5 Simon Said.)  Dean laughs at the sign on the back of the bus, "Justice matters."  Sam sees Fate who lures them into a building.   Sam tells Dean she looked like a librarian.   Dean: "Your kind of librarian or my kind of librarian?"  Sam: "Well she was wearing clothes if that's what you mean." (Don't picture the librarian in The Big Sleep movie with Humphrey Bogart, stereotypically she too wore glasses.)  Sam and Dean enter the building and time stands still and she turns on the gas cooker.   Cas (Misha Collins) arrives in the nick to save them.   Sam suggests Dean should use his lighter when the torch goes out.   Dean's lighter never works which is just as well and it appears he hasn't replaced the old one yet but then again it may have lit.   By some turn of fate, ha.

Cas takes them to white Russia and hates them for stopping the apocalypse.   Cas knows her and has to kill her.   Sam: "Kill fate."  Wouldn't that be great.   Balthazar has a weapon.   Dean tells him he needs new friends.   Cas is "trying to save the ones I have."  Cas calls it "tempting fate."  Ellen meanwhile tells Bobby "you can't stop fate."  She thinks it's easier to sink the ship.   Bobby is angry and they'll be missed.   Bobby blabs about her and Jo's fate and he needs her.   Dean thinks they can meet their fate at anytime.  Blondie's One Way or Another plays throughout lots of scenarios, such as in season 3's Mystery Spot episode with the trickster.  They have to walk through knife throwers, jugglers with hatchets and fire, as well as dogs.   Why walk through them obviously to tempt fate as Cas put it.  

Atropos (Katie Walder) says Sam and Dean ruined her life, so did Cas.   Cas doesn't want her to get emotional since freedom is better.   She's no longer required.   This isn't about the movie, it's about souls and Balthazar is under Cas's orders.   Atropos tells him it's about 50,000 new souls for Cas's "war machine."  That was a clue to purgatory and why it's whereabouts need to be found.   If he doesn't sink the ship, she'll kill his fave pets: Sam and Dean.   "Fate strikes when you least expect it."  Balthazar was meant to kill her.   He agrees to sink the Titanic.

Dean wakes up to to My Heart Will Go On on the radio.   Dean has to wake Sam up and tells him his dream was weirder and Sam dreamt the same dream.   Cas says it wasn't a dream and he had to correct what happened for them.  Sam can't believe he killed 50,00 people for them.   Cas says what Ellen did, they were never born.   Cas wanted them to remember and to know what fate is.  Sam and Dean taught him you can make your own destiny, to choose freedom and he wanted them to understand that.   Dean "Titanic's not so bad - Winslet's rack." That was Dean's whole raison d'etre for watching it no doubt, ha!  Bobby still sleeps and Singer Autos' is now the sign in the photo with Bobby alone.

This was kind of going back to the earlier episodes where Dean used to not believe in fate or destiny - which Cas reminds him of at the end here.  Oh so everyone was liking this episode with Final Destination once more, just like from season 1.4 Phantom Traveler.   Yet it was different enough to maintain its own identity.   Final Destination involved death seeking out its survivors.   This episode concerned fate since these people should never have been born.   I should say they weren't fated to be born.   Also a swipe at Sam and Dean who have forever been "toying" with their own fates and keep bringing each other back from the dead or are brought back by someone else.   The argument about making your own destiny has been Dean's from earlier seasons and  what the show all entailed in its heyday.

Bobby and Ellen made a convincing couple; they have just enough similarities in their characters to make such a marriage work.  Bobby losing another wife - but when it came to the crunch he didn't want to lose her - even if it meant people were being stalked by fate.   For Ellen it wasn't the same thing since she was born and she died so her loss and her presence were both felt.

Were we meant to be convinced that Cas having all those souls for his war in heaven was his reason behind not wanting the ship sunk.   Considering there are considerably more souls in purgatory for the taking.   Balthazar was funny as usual, he did all that on the basis of not liking a song, clearly he showed he can mess with Fate if he feels like it and can get away with it for as long as possible.

Atropos, aka Aisa, was the eldest of the three fates.   Her sister was Clotho who spun the thread.   Lachesis measured the thread and Atropos took lives by cutting the thread of mortals with the use of her shears.   Atropos was also called "inevitable" or "inflexible" and she lived up to this title here.   Showing Cas she is a formidable force and she would do anything to ensure Sam and Dean met their fate as he couldn't be around to protect them all the time.   He could have just brought them back again as he will say to Crowley.

A bit of a Bad Day At Black Rock from season 3 episode, instead of bad luck we had Fate, though some may argue it's much the same thing.  The number of times the Titanic was called boat here, it was a ship.   Also Balthazar says what most have been thinking about Cas being in love with Dean.   Well I didn't think it, but that's been the joke.   He's more in awe of Dean and how he can do whatever he wants and get by, or get away with it no matter what.   That's more akin to Balthazar.

NCIS - 7.8: "Power Down" Review

NCIS investigates the death of a woman at a robbery which turns out to be more complex than it appears. Also Washington DC is hit by a power failure as a result. Can the team cope?

There's a shoot-out at a building where server info is stored, resulting in a power failure.  So why's Tony (Michael Weatherly) playing with all the electrical equipment, not everything will work even with their generators.  Palmer (Brian Dietzen) tells him Ducky (David McCallum) sent him up for a Sit Rep.   Gibbs (Mark Harmon) will get angry if Ziva (Cote de Pablo) and McGee (Sean Murray) aren't at work.   They happen to be stuck in the lift and Ziva breaks McGee's watch, cos he keeps looking at the time.  There's a silver lining, according to her, they could be worse off and be stuck here with Tony.   Oh no, then she'd have to mention his sweat again! Ha.  

Ziva comments Gibbs is feeling right at home, which he is, never was into all that techno stuff.  Tony adds you don't need electricity to drink bourbon and use hand tools.   McGee asks if Gibbs is behind Tony.   Tony quickly adds a cocktail wouldn't hurt now or then, just to cover himself, avoid a head slap in the process.

Ducky arrives late at the CS as Palmer has trouble navigating even when the street lights are on.   The Vic is Navy Lt.  Emma Paxton identified by her credit card in her boot.   The security guards shot three of them, she was still alive and was presumably shot by the others, nothing can be that straightforward.   McGee needs to take photos of the server farm, which he explains connects Net to Net users, but his battery runs out.   Cue Gibbs and his Polaroid, hey I've still got mine too.

 Tony notices tyre tracks from the car.   McGee asks how they can run prints through AFIS and the photos from the cameras without power.  McGeek shouldn't have to ask that! Emma was organizing concerts for military overseas.   Tony believes she was robbing the farm.   She married her high school sweetheart, Anthony Paxton ( Corey Sorenson), Tony: "nice name."  McGee resorts to using board and pins since his touchscreen TV no longer works, he says it's going to be a long case.

Abby (Pauley Perrette) needs her Caf Pow and attempts to make her own and needs to run a diagnostic on her "babies." She doesn't have any power.   Gibbs tells her Ducky has corpses that she doesn't have.   Abby will have to identify the tyre print by hand so he shouldn't expect her normal miracles, at least for an hour.   Tony is flashing to the fourth grade where his teacher thought he was cheating on his Geology test, when Gibbs uses the copy machine.   McGee refers to it as a brontosaurus and who'd know how to use it.

Gibbs questions Anthony who wants her buried with full military honours.   McGee says according to the CEO of the farm nothing was stolen.   Tony looks at the map and comments McGee hasn't seen Dragnet, Baretta or Kojak, thus "this will mean nothing to you, Who loves ya baby."  Tony complete with lollipop in hand.   Of course everyone will remember Kojak and his famous catchphrase and lollipop.  "Right boss, Telly on the telly, sorry." (Referring to Telly Savalas, the actor who played Kojak.)  Tony adds what's a cork board without a map! McGee has to go through the credit cards and bank statements and says he doesn't do hard copies.   Tony and McGee flip for who will talk with Emma's CEO and Ziva sneaks off with Tony.

Ducky says his tools don't need electricity.   Two gunshots were fired at close range.   He lets the staff use one of the lockers for storing food, cue influx of staff.  Made a change from hardly anyone going down there.   Emma suffered from severe trauma, broken bones and GS wounds, but she's never been in combat.  Emma's CEO (Cara Buono) tells them Emma called in sick and she is allergic to perfume.   Ziva doesn't wear any, it's Tony's eau de cologne, as there's no hot water.   There, see I saved Ziva the sweaty comments from earlier on by mentioning them myself, ha.

 Emma was lying to her husband as she was seen with another man.   Tony asks for a description.  "He was a male."  Tony comments, "A male man." McGee suffers from paper cuts and Gibbs provides him with band aids.   McGee was acting like a big baby here, as if he's never encountered paper before, he uses a typewriter to write his books!!  He hasn't gotten any paper cuts then?!  A commentary on the computer age and how technology's made people lazy! McGee ponders "how did people survive before search engines." Er, they didn't, they all used to live in caves.

Tony returns and throws files off his desk onto McGee's papers on the floor, yes more juvenile antics from him.   Tony wonders how people survived before e-mail?  Again he doesn't use e-mail that often or even the Net as he's said to Gibbs on many occasions in past episodes and yet here he's given that line.   Tony is old enough to have gone to school, college, etc without the use of computers!  Also the Baltimore PD wouldn't have been that computer savvy when he was around, especially in the early days! It took Abby two hours to find the make and model of the Chevy Impala '99.   She ponders how people survived before algorithms.  

An abandoned car report was heard over the police radio.   Here they find the car and a blood trail.   As well as a container with computer equipment.  McGee mentions it's like the TARDIS from Doctor Who, which Tony hasn't heard of.  Tony: "Doctor Who, who watches that?" (I do.)  Tony says it's more like Nic Cage in Lord of War.   Also there are Jason Bourne Identikits: passports and weapons.   Ziva's used such places before when she prepared for Ops.   McGee is glad it has its own generator, which gives out.

Tony notices a second car was used to leave in and he feels like Davy Crockett.   Ziva finds blueprints for Swiftcast, the server farm.   Tony had to say it, that Anthony is married to Mata Hari.   Emma also had a fake passport for him which he denies seeing.   He hired a PI, Emma wasn't cheating on him.  McGee views the tapes in MTAC and Tony asks if he needs help.    McGee doesn't and Gibbs tells him McGee was just rubbing it in since he was left with the paperwork earlier, and why not I say! ha.   Gibbs notices a man following her on the video and he leaves his handprint on the wall.   They have to physically go through the fingerprint cards from the local LEOs.   Now it's McGee's turn to flash to the fourth grade and Mrs Johnson's science fair.   Tony says "you never see this crap on Columbo." That's cos he doesn't need files, or fingerprints, ha, he only needs his Columbo brain and logic!  Abby matches the prints to Donovan Graham and it only took them all night.)  His photo matches the sketch.

They find two DBs in the house, both from the robbery and Emma's CEO, Cmdr Resnik.  Tony asks if she had a make-over.  She's NSA and Gibbs has to squint to read her ID.   They were working on a classified project.  She and Emma were the only two people who had their iris coated into devices, like a masterkey, enabling them to open any lock which has an iris scanner.   The passports were just incase their cover was blown.   She doesn't know if Emma had gone rogue.   Ducky says the CS was staged, both of the men were moved after they were killed.   Palmer asks who one of them was.   Gibbs: "Don't know Jim, do you have any ideas?"  Ducky also finds they had been digging.

Tony: "Think McToma, it's a classic cop show switcheroo."  They swapped it with a bugged copy and bugged the Net.   McGee says all government agencies were exposed explaining why the power went out.   Abby finds Emma wasn't selling info, she ran the blood, whilst drinking non-alcoholic whiskey,  to find she had ingested a vaso dilator, which would have blocked Emma's ability to unblock any iris scanner and mentions MacGyver.   There were traces on the guard.   When the power comes on, the security guard attempts to access the server.   Tony walks in repeating the lines from Dragnet, 'where the names have been changed to protect the innocent.'  Gibbs: "Book 'em Dano-zzo." Oh Gibbs you've been watching Hawaii Five-O.

Emma had a choice, as Gibbs tells Anthony and "that's what makes her a hero." Tony enjoyed being unplugged, no spam  no e-mails to return.   It gave McGee time to think, yeah of everything he could be doing on a computer, ha.  Elf Lord.  Gibbs switches off his computer and relaxes.

Good to see an NCIS episode where they had to resort to good old fashioned legwork without having computers and other equipment around to rely on and a chance for Gibbs to show them how it used to be done.   As said already, Tony should have been all for that as he's old enough to have been around before the computer revolution.  Probably he'd have liked to have been doing something else whilst the power was down and I don't mean eating either.

Merlin - 3.4: "Gwaine" Review

Arthur once again fights in a tournament, with someone who wants to kill him. He's helped again and this time by a knight who doesn't want to admit he is titled. Merlin sees in him something that will be helpful to Arthur.

After a day of hunting, Arthur (Bradley James) insists he's in need of some mead.  Merlin (Colin Morgan) mistakenly believes it's sleep that he needs, not mead.  They stop at a local tavern where Arthur posits he can tell what people are thinking about him in such a place.  Merlin won't be Arthur's servant when they enter the tavern, but just a "simple peasant."

Merlin replies, "The simple part's right," referring to Arthur.  The bar wench pays a compliment, which Arthur thinks is directed at him, but it's Merlin she finds handsome!

There's the usual trouble in the tavern; as we know by now, where Arthur goes, trouble is never far behind.  A man asks the bar wench for his share of the takings and insists on getting more than a coin.  Arthur, forever so chivalrous, has to come to her rescue.  The thug whistles for the rest of his men.  Arthur berates Merlin for having to open his mouth and speak, for the fight to ensue.  A stranger comes to their aid in an all-out bar brawl, or in this case, tavern travesty.  Merlin uses magic to dispose of a few of the unsightly lot.  He then meets Gwaine (Eoin Macken), the stranger who comes to their rescue.  (Gwaine is from Arthurian legend, he was one of the legendary knights of the round table.  Also note for the purposes of this series, the spelling of 'Gawain' is changed to 'Gwaine'.)

Gwaine is hurt and is taken to Camelot, but not before the thug leader is put into the stocks.  Arthur introduces himself as the king's son before he leaves.  Gwaine saved Arthur's life and he's in his debt.  (That's becoming a habit -- also Lancelot saved his life too in earlier episodes.)  Gwaine is adamant if he knew who Arthur really was, then he wouldn't have saved him.  To him, Arthur is nothing more than a noble.  He's not enamored of kings and refuses a reward.

As per usual, there's another melee -- with knights in a tournament.  Arthur calls it a "test of strength and courage."  Merlin wouldn't know what the melee involves since he's not a knight, which Merlin confesses is just as well, as he wouldn't take any pleasure in being hit on the head.  To which, Arthur throws a goblet at his head.  (Dangerous!)

The thug from the tavern crops up again, as we knew he would and demands "stulorne blades" from an old man.  The blades are unique and magical, as they appear to be blunt, but are sharp.  He buys some crystals.  (So why didn't the old man not realize he would be killed as soon as he activated the crystals magical properties?)  Whoever has possession of the crystals will take on the appearance of the dead, host body, after touching their blood.  Now he can have his revenge on Arthur.  (Lots of shirtless "eye candy" in this show, if you like that kind of stuff!)  This time it's Gwaine who is shirtless!

Gwaine notices Gwen (Angel Coulby).  Everyone has eyes for her and attempts to place a flower in her hair.  She looks like a princess.  (Ahem that's the future queen, he's leering over!)  She returns his flower.

Sir Oswald (John Hopkins) is killed by the thug and his body is taken over with the help of the crystals.  The thug's accomplice takes on the appearance of Sir Ethan (Philip Brodie).  They head for the melee.  Arthur tells Oswald that Merlin loves to work hard, so that's exactly what they do, make Merlin work hard.

Gaius (Richard Wilson) questions Merlin as to whether he's eating or inhaling his soup.  Merlin frets he's been treated despicably by Oswald, but Gaius can only recall Oswald as being nothing but kind.  Gaius: "not all masters are good to their servants as Arthur."  Merlin would find that debatable!

Gwaine gets drunk in the tavern and can't pay, so Merlin suggests Arthur should pay.  Gwaine tells Merlin about Caerleon's army and how his father was a knight and was killed.  He never knew his father, just as Merlin didn't know his either.  Merlin only met his father for a brief moment, he had been banished.  Merlin tells him Arthur isn't like a bad person.  Merlin offers to pay for the tavern bill and Arthur makes them both clean boots, for the entire army.  (More references to pickled eggs, 14 dozen, as mentioned in the second episode of this series, being Arthur's favourite breakfast food.)  Merlin thinks Gwaine should tell Arthur his father was a knight and then he wouldn't be here.  Gwaine believes titles mean nothing, the only things that matter are feelings and the sort of person you are.

Arthur practices for the melee and he and Oswald fight.  They bet on who wins and naturally Arthur does.  Oswald can't wait to use the stulorne blade on Arthur.  Merlin would have to notice the sharpness of the blades when he picks it up and cuts his finger.  Gwaine has witnessed those blades in practice, they entail the use of magic.  Gaius warns Merlin he can't accuse Oswald without any proof; he's a knight.  (Lately that's all Gaius seems to be telling Merlin, first with Morgana (Katie McGrath) and then with Oswald.)

More on the differences between knights and common peasants, demonstrating the inequalities of the time.  Merlin attempts to retrieve the blade, but he sees Oswald change his appearance into that of the thug.  Merlin is caught, leaving Gwaine to fight with Oswald, who demands an audience with Uther (Anthony Head).  Gwaine says he fought for Merlin and Uther forbids Gwaine from talking to a knight in such a way.  Uther: "For a commoner to attack a nobleman is in violation of the Knight's Code." Arthur pleads on behalf of Gwaine, he saved him, "he may not be of noble birth, but I can vouch he has a noble heart." (But it's okay for a nobleman to be lawless and unjust.)  Gwaine is exiled.

Oswald is aware that Merlin knows about him.  Gwaine asks Merlin to look after Arthur, as "maybe that one's worth dying for."  Gwen (Angel Coulby) reassures Gwaine that Arthur is not like Uther.  "He will be a great king."  Now Gwaine realizes why Gwen wanted nothing to do with him, she has feelings for Arthur.

Merlin will have to use his powers to protect Uther, who gives Arthur his sword, the same with which he won his very first melee.  Merlin asks Arthur to recall the times when he tells him that something isn't right and Arthur just ignores him; well this is one of those times.  He doesn't want Arthur to enter the melee.  But this is Arthur's chance to prove himself "a worthy leader."

Merlin throws Ethan off his horse using magic, whilst Oswald attempts to kill Arthur with the sword.  Arthur is joined by a mysterious knight in armour.  (Obviously it's Gwaine.  So why can't Merlin tell it's him until much later?)  Arthur concedes victory and Gwaine removes his face-guard to reveal himself.  Uther orders his arrest and execution.  Gaius removes the crystals from around Oswald's and Ethan's necks and reveals their magical trickery.  Gwaine is ordered to leave Camelot again.  Arthur knows Uther's wrong in his decision and if it were his choice, then Gwaine would remain.  Merlin thinks he should tell Uther who he is and Uther will pardon him.  They fought together and Gwaine thinks perhaps he will fight with Arthur once again.

Arthur is impressed with him and knows he would have been a good knight, but the rules only allow a nobleman to become a knight.  Arthur spots Gwaine with Gwen and comments "they seem very friendly."  Merlin reminds him that "Gwen can never consort with a nobleman -- that's the rule."  She kisses him goodbye.

This episode shows a brief, future glimpse of how Arthur will be a good king and how Camelot and Albion will change under him.

The Closer - 6.7: "Jump the Gun" Review

Major Crimes investigates bank robberies this time round and Fritz tells them the bank robbers are part of a gang the FBI is hunting. Fritz breaks the news he's the FBI/LAPD liaison. The short list for the position of Chief is announced.

Major Cases looks into the deaths of two bank robbers killed in a stand-off with police whilst robbing a bank and having killed a security guard in the process.   Hostage negotiator Det Heyward (Tom Verica) attempts to negotiate the release of the hostages, which they do release, but the robbers leave by another exit.   Fritz (Jon Tenney) thinks the gang has three more members since they all belonged to the 'Dear Jane' gang, as he explains to Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick).   They hand over the note to the bank teller asking for money, using the bank teller's name.   They were wearing hoods and one of them is described as 'brown overalls' aka Dennis Bailey, their normal MO is to wear baseball caps.   Gabriel (Corey Reynolds) and Sanchez (Raymund Cruz) find safes at one of the robber's apartments and leave them in Taylor's (Robert Gossett) cubicle.

Brenda along with the others watch the surveillance video, after which they view the footage from the bank.   The two robbers are Dennis and Jason McDonald.   A security guard is also killed.  Tao (Michael Paul Chan) and Buzz (Phillip P Keene) look at footage from the parking lot and Buzz notices the number plate of the getaway car in the reflection of another car.   Tao IDs the plate as belonging to Heyward.   Fritz deems it a suitable time to inform Brenda, Pope and Taylor that he has been appointed the FBI liaison to the LAPD, which is a shock to everyone, especially Brenda, who doesn't even congratulate him until Fritz mentions it.  

Didn't look like she wanted to work with him more than is necessary and you know what they say about working with family, at least Provenza (GW Bailey) will mention it later.   Pope thinks it a significance as she's running for Chief of Police and the shortlist is due to be announced soon.   Also that Fritz being appointed may have something to do with him knowing Brenda.   Fritz replies he knows Pope too, but can't really tell him anything about Pope's personal life when he asks.   Fritz wishes him luck anyway.

Heyward can't explain why his car was there since his wife was driving it to church.   Gabriel interrupts Brenda and Pope, informing he hasn't found Dennis but he has located his brother, Jed.  (Craig Zimmerman)  That was a coincidence everyone being in LA, small world.   When questioning Jed about his brother and his activities, Jed plays dumb or at least tries to and is shocked when he hears Dennis was killed during a bank robbery.   Though he does appear to be genuinely upset.   His neighbour, Gene (Mark Ankeny) asks if he's fine and he looked to be playing the too nosy neighbour.

At Dennis's apartment overalls are found, showing he kept his clothes from previous robberies, as well as money and a baseball cap.   Flynn (Tony Denison) comes across a receipt for a blue rental car with the license plate from Heyward's car.   Following up on this leads them to Boyd at the car rental place and he quietly makes a quick getaway in one of the cars.   Fritz comments, he made a good getaway.  

Tao is told that Heyward's wife reported the front number plate from the car as missing.   Fritz tells Brenda the FBI have Boyd as the driver but she wants him for murder.   He doesn't believe Boyd is the brains behind the robberies.   They argue over the case and one thing to look forward to are the blues between the couple, especially when it's about work.   Fritz thinks she's mad cos the only reason he's been promoted is her running for Chief and not cos he deserved it.   He leaves the room and she whispers, he stole her suspect., which he did but then they've been doing that enough times already anyway.

Heyward's alibi checks and Pope demands to know why he and his wife are still in custody, since his Union rep has been here.  She replies he's helping with their investigation and working overtime.   Gabriel finds a connection between Heyward and the gang: Jed and Heyward attend the same church and Jed and Jason were Frat brothers at college.   Brenda wants to search Boyd's apartment but needs a search warrant.  "Liaising" with Fritz over the phone, she searches for a choc bar in her candy drawer cos of her frustration and cunningly tells Fritz will be named as the witness in the warrant, and asks if he does want to be named as a witness or an informant, unless he answers some questions for her.   One gang member still alludes them and Provenza asks if the Heywards can leave.  He finds a choc bar for her.   She gives him candy for the Heywards.

Having had her question answered they find Gene doing a runner when he sees them, so he was the last member of the gang.  Jed's finances show he spends far more than he earns.   Gene confesses; which proves useful and Brenda needs to place Jed at the bank so out comes another ploy to fool him into confessing.   Jed denies he was there for the robbery but admits he checked the bank out and decided against it as there were too many exits.   Why did a bank have that many exits anyway?   He's arrested as an accomplice to murder as he admits he 'cased' the bank.   There he was trying to be clever again, they always fall for it. So much for being the criminal mastermind of the gang.

Fritz made a deal with Boyd who thinks he'll only be charged with being the getaway driver, but Brenda charges him with murder.  The FBI take Gene and charge him with the bank robberies.   Pope wants Brenda and him to salvage their relationship when this is all over and he receives a call telling him he's not on the shortlist, especially when he told Fritz earlier he worked his whole life for this and it comes as a major blow.   Brenda tries to be sympathetic, saying she doesn't even want the job, but he wants her to leave.   Brenda gets her own call informing her she is on the shortlist.

It's looking more and more like Brenda will be made Chief,. Can't help but think Fritz's appointment may have something to do with this since it seemed a little more than just a coincidence.   Everyone else seems to  think so too.   Pope argues with Brenda over this case and her running and she finally decides to have it out with him once and for all, when Gabriel interrupts their argument  which was a shame, as she clearly had plenty to say.

Supernatural - 6.16: "And Then There Were None" review

Mother of all makes an appearance wrecking havoc everywhere she goes. Sam, Dean, Bobby and Rufus must contend with Samuel and a strange creature inhabiting their bodies.

A man at a petrol station gives a woman a ride, who turns out to be the mother of all.   Eve kisses him and he gives her a sermon on how Jesus loves them.   The apocalypse came and went and he didn't even notice.     A mother wouldn't abandon a child and she's a mother.   She whispers in his ear and Rick (Brent Stait) goes home where he kills his wife (Kimberly Unger).

Bobby (Jim Beaver) tells the others how hunters are finding vampires, ghouls, werewolves, on the I-80.   Dean (Jensen Ackles) refers to it as the monster march.   They speak to Rick in jail and Bobby tags along too, all having to don suits.   Sam (Jared Padalecki) views footage and they see Eve (Julia Maxwell).   Dean: "freakish nightmare what the hell was that?" Dean refers to Eve as Big Momma.   Bobby thinks they're over their heads.   Another man goes mad at the cannery.   Rufus (Steven Williams) arrives there before Bobby.   Rufus is tracking "81 flavours of crazy."  Flavours being Dean's word.   Rufus wants to partner like the old times and Bobby wants to drive, just like Dean does.

Bobby and Rufus perform an autopsy on the dead man and Bobby notices a substance in his ear.   Yuk.   It's not ectoplasm.  They all worked at the cannery.   Hey, Bobby was driving when they met Sam and Dean.   Bobby suggests Dean, Sam and Rufus should get a room as they're so friendly.   Gwen (Jennifer Heafey) and Samuel (Mitch Pileggi) are already at the cannery and Dean pulls a gun on him and this time Sam stops him (last time Dean stopped Sam from shooting him).   Sam thinks he may know something.  Dean asks Sam if he recalls what Samuel did to them.   Samuel calls Bobby the man pretending to be their family.   Well he was more family than Samuel ever was or could be.   Sam got his soul back, no thanks to him and Samuel is hunting Eve.   She's escaped from purgatory.   She was on earth 10,000 years ago.

Bobby says he threw Sam and Dean to the ghouls and Gwen asks Dean if that's true.   She was awfully naive not knowing the man she's been hunting with for so long.   Dean replies, Samuel "didn't even blink." Dean shoots Gwen cos he's been possessed by the the thing and runs away.   He has discharge in his ear.   Sam says they need to find Dean alive or Sam will put a bullet in Samuel's head - that was prophetic coming from him as he'll do just that.     Sam calls Dean.   Dean mentions a "12" harpy crawled out of his ear."   Calling it a 'Khan worm on steroids'.   Rufus checks his ear.   Dean comments he needs to buy him a drink first, before he lets Rufus get so close, and there was Bobby telling them to get a room.   Ha.   Rufus: "second date."  Bobby gets everyone to lock their guns away.   They make calls to see if anyone knows anything and come up empty.

Sam and Dean follow Samuel to the loo and Rufus mentions Omaha.   Bobby calls that low.   Dean asks how Samuel sleeps at night after feeding them to Crowley.   Samuel isn't apologizing.   Sam is angry he still sold him out even after he spent a year with him.   Samuel doesn't believe that compares to what Sam did, but Sam didn't have a soul.  What was Samuel's' excuse aside from wanting Mary back, which he didn't get?   Samuel is possessed by the harpy.   They retrieve the guns and insist on staying together.  Sam stops them from stepping on a trip wire, that was set up quickly.   Sam gets separated and comes face to face with Samuel.  Sam wouldn't go with Samuel he'd shoot him.   Samuel wants to tell Sam about what he did in that year and Sam puts a bullet in Samuel's head.   That's what he said he'd do.

Sam is handcuffed and he insists he's Sam and no one saw anything come out of Samuel and nothing is found in his ears.  Rufus suggests they cut him open.  Er, who will watch Dean, watch Sam, watch Samuel.   Sam gets his soul back and ends up being the one to shoot Samuel and Dean knows he did the right thing.   Dean will assume Sam is really him.   Sam doesn't recall the good things about Samuel and what he did to them.   Dean recalls Mom would say, "Just cos you're blood - it doesn't make you family.  You've gotta earn that."

Bobby says Omaha was his fault and says sorry Rufus lost her.   Rufus will never forgive Bobby for what happened.   Samuel wakes and the harpy goes into Rufus or Bobby and gets electrocuted  forcing the harpy out.   It's in one of them.  Sam checks for goo and decides to use electricity on each of them.   Bobby goes last so it has to be him.   Rufus has a pacemaker.   Bobby stabs Rufus, should have seen that coming.   Sam asks why Dean keeps talking about harpies.   Dean protests he doesn't and tells Sam to shut up.   Yeah Sam this isn't the time for harpy talk.   The harpy (ha) doesn't leave Bobby with the use of electricity.

 There's no name for the creature yet and apparently Eve made it.   She's the mother, we know that by now, and has a message for them: they're all going to die.   Sam tapes Bobby's mouth and Dean has to be the one to electrocute Bobby, as Sam can't watch, the benefit of a soul wherein Dean has to be the one who continues doing the dirty work just as in earlier seasons.   Bobby is free and the worm is killed.   Okay I stopped calling it a harpy too.  As for calling it a harpy Eve made it so it must be female, ha.

They bury Rufus.   Everyone went out in this episode and thus the title.   Bobby tells them about being a mechanic and how his wife went psycho, Rufus saved him and taught him what was out there.   Dean says it doesn't matter what happens cos at the end of the day they're all family.   He knows something will get them eventually and he's knows it's okay whatever happens and he'll forgive them for it, blank apology.   Bobby pours scotch over Rufus's grave.

The title also reminds me of the Agatha Christie book, Ten Little Indians which was changed for the purposes of the movie and stage play to And Then There Were None and in some ways this episode lived up to that.   All the Campbell's are gone - that we know of, and Rufus too.   The plot of the book: people get killed off one by one and one isn't really dead, who turns out to be the killer.   This is what happens here, especially when Samuel came back to life with the harpy/worm still inside him.   They also suspected each other of being the one possessed just as in the book/movie, they all suspected each other of being the killer.

So many met their doom in this episode.   With Samuel it was anticipated after his betrayal of the Winchesters.   He couldn't really be expected to get off scott free.   But he was still hunting, even if we never figure out if it was still for Crowley or not, still in the hopes of bringing back Mary.   As he was a hunter, that's one less around to hunt monsters etc.   Gwen being killed was a surprise but it wasn't as if she was a major character. To have her die as soon as she found out about Samuel's betrayal of his grandsons didn't leave for any condemnation or retribution on her part.

Rufus was expected to also meet his maker eventually, not this early.   Another reason for the title, as said before.   Pedantically speaking - there were three still left standing .   Eve was introduced now when there's six episodes left, so take it she won't amount to much, since she was being built up as someone/thing to fear since 6.5 when mentioned by the Alpha vampire.  Releasing a 'worm' , oh sorry harpy, on the world to 'corrupt' people to her will wasn't very original and she came across as weak if this is all she has to offer.   Let's face it, demon possession is much more interesting and more down Supernatural street.

Somewhere Sam would have thought, if not said, they can't save everyone - meaning Rufus here and maybe Gwen.   Ironic in some ways that it was Bobby possessed by the worm/harpy who killed Rufus, especially after he said he'd never forgive him for Omaha.   Also when Rufus met Bobby he helped him with his possessed wife.   Sam showed very little remorse for killing Samuel although he has a soul.   Dean justifying he had little choice.   To be fair, think he felt a little left out in not being the one to pull the trigger out of revenge.   Dean was once upon a time so very trigger happy.   Now that's Sam's forte.   They reversed it here as it was Dean killing Gwen when he was possessed and Sam being the one to kill Samuel without being infected.

As far as episodes go about being 'taken over' by entities or viruses, season 2's Croatoan was much more exciting and atmospheric with everyone being stuck in the clinic and being taken over and killed off.   More drama , more brotherly discourse and discussion, with Dean wanting to give up the fight and hunting.   Years later he's still here.   Dean in that episode, "massacre a town." Here it was more like massacre the human race and his line, "one way to wipe out a town, take it from the inside." Which appears to be Eve's intention.

Also the season 1 X-Files episode Ice, referencing the movie The Thing; being isolated and having to work out who was infected with the extra-terrestrial parasitic worm.

Samuel was already on the case and knowing about Eve. Did Crowley tell him?  Also, he seemed to be hiding something about Sam and his "lost" year.   Chris Cooper, the name on Sam's phone is named for the props master on the show.

CSI: Miami - 8.8: "Point of Impact" Review

A car crash for the Miami-Dade CSIs to investigate this time round, with enough twists and turns as the cars themselves, finally revealing the driver to be someone they wouldn't suspect.

An SUV crashes into a stationary Bentley, causing one death and one survivor who is pulled from the wreckage by a man who appears to be an innocent jogger.   Jesse (Eddie Cibrian) comments he saved the boy's life by pulling him free (thought you weren't meant to move vics from their cars).   Calleigh (Emily Procter) covers the DB woman so that her son wouldn't see her and be left with the trauma of replaying what he saw over in his mind.   Funny she calls him her son, when they haven't established who any of the passengers are yet.   Jesse tells her she's compromising evidence.   Leading to this week being Calleigh's turn to do something she reprimanded Jesse for doing in the Dude Where's My Groom episode, when he searched the suspect's bag without a warrant, or consent.   Which would lead some to comment on this being self-righteous on Calleigh's part.

Horatio (David Caruso) finds a girl who was thrown from the car and she's still alive.   He believes the car was driven by "somebody with something to hide" and you know he's right.   Ryan (Jonathan Togo) takes photos of the accident.   The second driver was driving a stolen car.   Jesse tells them they didn't know which car was at fault yet but Walter (Omar Miller) adds that innocent drivers don't run.   The seat was further back than his is so they're looking for a tall driver.   or as Jesse teases, they "must be looking for a big guy."  In relation to Walter.

Walter: "Word is tall."  Great to see them jibing each other like that, adding a fun dynamic.   Thus Jesse comments on the "good Samaritan, being not so good." The driver, Victor (Paul Gasol) pretended to be passing by and he wants to speak with a lawyer.  He was turning and the SUV came from nowhere.   Jesse notices he escaped without any scratches and this will be relevant for later.   He was returning the car for her sister, she took it from her boyfriend.   His sister Martha (Paloma Guzman) later tells Jesse he was returning it for her.   He always helps her out.   Victor later turns up DB in custody.   Why did they call out for Jesse to help, they're all officers but they can't handle an emergency inside the station themselves!

ME Tom (Christian Clemenson) notices this is the largest Vic he's ever examined.   He explains to Jesse why he died using a tub of jelly (jello).   The Vic's head and brain, before the crash was solid and after it got shaken around, his brain became all mushy.  He suffered a "diffusional injury from the impact."  His head "fractured with invisible cracks.   Tom says his brain stopped working, known as "Talk and Die syndrome."  He could have been like that for days and no one would have noticed.

Ryan comments on how Victor thought he had dodged the bullet and assumes that Victor drove into the SUV.   Without all the evidence being in, Horatio wouldn't be happy if he heard that.   Walter says the car was turning right and the SUV came from over the bridge.   Ryan sees the tyre treads are away from the centre of the road and so the SUV braked before the impact.   But why did it swerve?  Walter believes the driver could have been drunk.

Cue Tom once more.   The woman's blood/ alcohol lever was .115, she was over the limit.   They contact the Vic's husband, Ballard (Henry simmons) who tells them the children were at a Pep rally and Karen (Sherri Saum) was picking them up.   Calleigh passes her own judgements to him about having a drinker in the family and knowing how difficult it must be.   Again she hasn't grasped the full picture either and though her husband may have been unaware of certain things about his wife, he would know if she was a heavy drinker or a drunk.

Dave (Wes Ramsey) retrieves the GPS data from the car and finds Karen was at The Rum Room earlier in the day.   She left her glasses there and only ordered one drink, which was guzzled by her male friend.   She was having an affair.   Horatio believes they may have got a 'false/positive' from the blood test.   Calleigh tells him the blood was collected post mortem, thus bacteria built up producing ethanol.   The vitreous humour in her eye would clarify this, but the one eye that was still attached to her DB is compromised.   Leading Calleigh on the hunt for Karen's eyeball.   Walter has to show she was in the driver's seat before the accident.   Calleigh's looking for her eyeball and he doesn't want to know or help since eyeballs are like Kryptonite to him.   So that was horrible of Calleigh to scare him with the eyeball like that after she finds it.

ME Tom finds Karen's blood/alcohol level was .02.   She wasn't drunk.   Ryan analyzes the tread on Karen's shoe from the tread on the brake pedal and finds it doesn't match her shoe.   Karen wasn't driving.   Calleigh apologizes to Ballard for accusing his wife but she doesn't tell him about her affair.   She asks for their children's Lily's (Nieko Mann) and Greg's shoes.   Greg has a suspended licence so he couldn't drive.   From then on they should have realized this would have only left Lily.   Ryan and Walter discuss whether they'd want to know if his wife was having an affair and Ryan says he would.

The treads match Greg's shoes.   He drove two weeks ago and was racing that's why his licence was suspended.  Tripp (Rex Linn) adds he had Marijuana in his possession too.   They check out the SUV and Walter surmises that soft plastics do not need a high temperature to melt.   Greg could have been driving the car on another day and braked hard.   They need to trace the path of the passengers.   Walter explains friction would cause the fibres from clothes to fuse to the car panels.   Ryan has a go at Walter by saying he was "promoted from the nightshift and now he thinks he's God's gift to forensics."   Umm, could say the same thing about Ryan too.   He was promoted from his traffic gig and has been in trouble ever since.  Ha.   Though admittedly, sometimes through no fault of his own.

There's a match from Greg's jeans to the back door, so he was in the back, leaving either Lily or Karen as the potential drivers.  Calleigh believes there'll be evidence of Karen under the steering wheel.   Concluding Lily was driving.   Lily explains her mother didn't have her glasses, so she had to drive and swerved to avoid the alligator on the road.   The steering felt heavy and she couldn't control it.   Leaving yet more pieces of the puzzle to be solved and more likely for Horatio to check out the car.   He finds that the steering fluid was low and the pipe had been cut.   He thinks Ballard tried to hurt his wife, but why would he since his children would also be in the car.   Tripp is the one who breaks the news of Karen's affair to him.

Calleigh sniffs an odor coming from the car, which Jesse describes as Marijuana.   He asks why she's smelling him and then Ryan tells her he didn't do anything.   Yeah Calleigh suspect all of them and not yourself, ha.   Then she lets Jesse be the one to pull out the part from the car.   It was hidden in the car and Greg cut the steering line when he hid it there.   He was selling it to his friends only, as if that makes it any better.   So Greg's actions led to his mother dying and there was Calleigh saying he'll play what happened over in his mind, at the beginning.   Which he will do.   Now he'll have the guilt to deal with too.

Jesse tells Martha her brother saving a life and was a hero.   A bit of a long winded episode with many twists leading up to the son being the one responsible for the accident even if he wasn't driving.   With Walter, Jesse and Ryan all teasing each other again, as is the norm with them now.   Something that Speed (Rory Cochrane) and Delko (Adam Rodriguez) used to do in the early days.    

Eddie got to meet up with his former Sunset Beach co-star, Sherri, though not having much of a role, they didn't really get any proper scenes together.   As well as Jason George appearing in the first epsiode of this season too.   Another of Eddie's former co-stars.

Lie To Me - 1.10: "The Better Half" Review

Finally we get to meet Cal's ex and find there's still unfinished business between the two as far as their feelings are concerned when she asks Cal to look into a case of arson for her.

Cal's (Tim Roth) ex turns up for help on an arson case and Ria (Monica Raymund) gets to meet her: Zoe (Jennifer Beals) is the Assistant US Attorney.   A family's house was set ablaze and their grandmother died in the fire.   The boy, AJ (Griffin Cleveland) saw Jack Garcia (Kurt Caceres) a TV  reporter, at the house.   Cal talks to AJ asking if he knows about the boy who cried wolf.   AJ doesn't back down and is certain he saw Jack.   Jack claims he hasn't seen Frank Ambrose (David Harbour) the house owner in a while.   Cal watches the tape of the interview Jack did with Frank and notices the contempt shown by Jack for Frank.

Gillian (Kelli Williams) appears to be concerned about Cal working with Zoe - she always messes him up after she leaves.   Cal disagrees and asks Gillian what she's doing in the men's room.   Gillian corrects him, he's in the ladies room.   Proving her point.  As already we see Cal isn't over Zoe.   Jack doesn't like Frank as he asked him for money and was all high and mighty about it.

Gillian and Ria meet with Det Riley (James MacDonald) investigating  the murder of Dante Edwards, who worked for rapper, Little Sid (Harold 'House' Moore) the enemy of fellow rapper, Caden (Allen Donshik).   Caden and his cousin Benny grew up with Dante and Caden exhibits genuine sadness over his death.   A killer, says Gillian, wouldn't show remorse for his Vic.    Cal sits with AJ colouring in and pretends to have an invisible friend, Penelope.   AJ doesn't believe he has one.   Gillian asks AJ about Santa Claus, whom he thinks is real, he's at the age where he still believes this.   Gillian posits AJ can tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

Zoe finds that Frank's house was worth more in insurance burned out.   Cal realizes Frank's wife, Cheryl (Mireille Enos) was having an affair with Jack (aren't they always) and finally broke it off, though she was going to leave Frank at one stage.  She's sure Jack wouldn't burn the house down.  Eli (Brendan Hines) speaks with their daughter Maggie (Annalise Basso) who displays obvious anger towards her mother - she knew about Jack as she saw then together.   Cal asks Zoe why she didn't cheat on him, was he expecting her to at some point in their marriage.   She replies he would have found out, she wanted someone who didn't know everything about her.   Jack's wife, Sarah (Karis Campbell) is angry at Jack over his affair and he told her about it two weeks ago.

Eli watches a video of Little Sid at a party and he finds the hostility between him and Caden was faked in order to sell records.   Eli asks Ria to identify from two groups of men, those that exhibit the same expression as Dante.   She picks the ones from the left side, who Eli explains are gay.   A study has shown gay men all reveal similar facial expressions and so can be identified as such.   Little Sid's song displays animosity towards gays, but he insists it's just for record dales and he didn't kill Dante.

Gillian thinks someone has conditioned AJ to lie about seeing Jack at the house and it could be either parent.   Frank is genuinely shocked at the revelation of Cheryl's affair.   Roger proposed to Zoe and Emily (Hayley McFarland walks in to find Zoe is only now just telling Cal.   Cal says he enjoyed sex with Zoe since the result was Emily; who later goes through their family photos and Cal likes one of the photos Emily doesn't.   They were happy back then.   Cal misses the fights with Zoe.   Emily knows how her parents feel and that's why Zoe hasn't worn Roger's ring, she's still in love with Cal, giving Cal an idea as to who may be behind the fire.   It's not Maggie cos she wouldn't endanger their grandmother's life.   Cheryl tells her she'd never leave them and Maggie was the one who told AJ about Jack.

Ria realizes Dante and Caden were together  and if news got out it would affect record sales.  Ria sees Benny shows contempt towards Dante and he was the one who killed him to save Caden's name.   Caden answers he was prepared to lose everything if he still had Dante.   Another fire is reported on the news and the FBI thinks a serial arsonist is behind it.   The couple saw their house on fire but Cal watches the husband secretly smile, being happy about the fire.   He was glad the house burnt down as they were breaking up and didn't have any money.   His wife had an affair with Jack too, thus Sarah being the most obvious suspect as the arsonist, exacting revenge on the women he had affairs with for taking everything from her.

Zoe didn't find the right time to tell Cal about Roger, and Cal wants her to go ahead if it makes her happy, she should wear his ring.   They end up in bed together.   Gillian takes a backseat in this episode, with the two stories being about love affairs.   Finally we meet Cal's wife as she was mentioned before in the show, maybe an intro in the flesh much sooner would have been better.

Zoe: "You always did like them so young ...his proteges - they're usually young.   It's easier for him yo try to mould them in his image."  Which surprises Ria who thinks she means something else by the comment.    Cal ending up with Zoe at the end which anyone could see would happen, and even Gillian warned him to be careful and not take the case.

Torch Doctor

Matt looking cutesy and proud all at the same time!!

Wasn't it great to see Matt Smith carrying the Olympic Torch in Wales on 26th May 2012.  A huge crowd turned out to watch and Matt commented:  “I would do it in my underpants - it’s the Olympic torch. I would probably get a bigger crowd for that...I don’t even know where I am running to. I try and run in a straight line."

He also felt privileged and spoke of the "torch and the idea of the torch has been around  along time"  he ran from the Norwegian Church to the National Assembly building.

A bit of irony here, or not, as the tenth Doctor David Tennent in an ep of Doctor Who, Fear Her (2006) carried the Olympic Torch in 2012 Olympics when he went forward in time.  So the 'dream' become reality for one Doctor after all!

Doctor Who - 5.13: "The Big Bang"

The Doctor travels back and forth through time in an attempt to save Amy, the universe and himself from never existing. Lots of laughs, thrills and sad bits in this season finale...

18 years later...Amelia's house and she reads a Dear Santa letter at Easter, which is the same scene from 5.1 The Eleventh Hour.   She wants someone to fix the crack in the wall.   She has a painting with stars and her aunt Sharon (Susan Vidler) and another woman say there are no stars in the sky and none can be seen.   (No, cos Vincent Van Gogh painted them all, okay another bad joke!)    Whilst she's listening on the stairs a man drops a leaflet through the door - left by the Doctor (Matt Smith) of course.   Marking the Pandorica exhibition and the words, "Come along Pond."  Pointing to the museum.   Amelia (Caitlin Blackwood) stops at the Dalek exhibit before slurping her drink, so you notice her drink.   A Post-It note on the Pandorica reads, "Stick around Pond."  Since her aunt couldn't find Amelia why didn't the search for heh continue, or is that the norm in museums, to leave missing children, missing.

Amelia touches the Pandorica and it opens, revealing Amy (Karen Gillan) inside.   Amy: "Okay kid, this is where it gets complicated."  Well only parts of it.

1894 years previously...Rory (Arthur Darvill) holds Amy and tells her about the universe ending in 102AD.   Rory wasn't born twice and neither was she.   Rory asks for a "ridiculous miracle." And the Doctor appears sporting a Fez and a mop.   Rory must release him from the Pandorica.   He gives Rory the Sonic and then re-appears telling him to leave it in her top pocket.   Rory releases him and the Doctor asks how he did that.    The Doctor's still got his own Sonic with him.   It's down to different points in the time stream.   Doctor: "I've got a future - that's nice."  He explains all the Daleks, Sontarans etc, were echoes, after-images, as the universe never happened.   They're the last lot to go out.  

Rory killed Amy and the Doctor describes him as a "lump of plastic with delusions of humanity" from the Nestene conscious.   The Doctor says he'd rescue Amy if she had the time, she's not as vital as the rest of the universe.   Rory punches the Doctor.   He had to be sure he's really Rory.   He's got a "bit of a plan."  The Nestenes took Amy's memory print and he locks foreheads with Amy, leaving a message for her when she wakes.   The Pandorica is the "ultimate prison, forces you to stay alive."  It will scan her living DNA in 2,000 years to restore Amy.

Amelia touched the Pandorica, it's 1996 and Amy looks at the 'Pandorica As Seen Through Time' poster on the wall.   The Doctor uses River's (Alex Kingston) time/vortex manipulator to travel back and forth.   Rory stays behind to guard Amy inside the Pandorica.   He'll be completely conscious and she'll be safer with him around.   Doctor wonders why Rory is so human.  

According to legend, the centurion was there guarding it and he was last seen during the Blitz, dragging the box from the flames.   Amy cries.   The Dalek also awakens.   The Doctor arrives, "two of you, complicated."  Rory is also there with his torch and gun hand.   Amy and Rory smooch, well 2,000 years to catch up on!  As the Doctor tells them to breathe several times.   Doctor:"Well, somebody didn't get out for 2,000 years."  The light from the Pandorica affected the Dalek.   Amelia asks for a drink.   The Doctor wears the Fez and Rory tells him he also carried a mop when he gave him the Sonic and returns back in time to give Rory the Sonic.   Amelia gives him the leaflet for him to write on and put through the letterbox and he takes Amelia's drink, when she was in the crowd to give it back to her now.   The Doctor falls down the stairs.   It's him, "me from the future."  Future Doctor whispers to present Doctor.   When they showed his double from different angles, he had more rounder cheeks than Matt does.   He's got 12 minutes to live.

Amelia's disappeared.   History is still collapsing, they're all anomalies.   Doctor: "Today just dying is a result."  Amy is adamant he won't die and time can be re-written.   The Dalek awakens once again.   They go outside on the roof, for the Doctor to look for the TARDIS.   Every star in the universe hasn't shone, then the one shining is actually exploding.   It's the TARDIS and it makes it's customary noise.   It's been keeping the Earth warm.   Rory hears River, "I'm sorry my love" repeated over and over.   Rory: "trust the plastic" pointing to his ears.   The TARDIS put River into a time loop to save her.    The Doctor enters the TARDIS: "Hi, honey I'm home."  River asks what time he calls this.   River: "What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?"  Doctor: "Fez's are cool."  The Dalek flies up to kill them.   IT will kill him in 4.5 minutes.   The restoration field from the Pandorica, when it blew up caused a time explosion, every atom was blasted, except inside the Pandorica.   The Pandorica has a memory of the universe and  light transmits the memory, that's how they'll do it.

Transmit light from the particles to every single  area of the universe - he only needs a spark for Big Bang 2.   The Dalek exterminates the Doctor, but not quite.   Amy tells River he went down 12 minutes ago and died.   River stays to destroy the Dalek - killer that she is and this part showed her dark side.   Dalek: "Records indicate you will show mercy."   She's River Song and he should check the records again.  So the daleks had records about River too.   The Dalek begs for mercy and she kills it.   The Doctor isn't downstairs but in the Pandorica.   He told them he was dead.   River: "Rule number 1: the Doctor lies."  As he said last episode.   He's done what future Doctor told him to do.  

River says reality is collapsing, speeding up and he's working on Big Bang 2.   The TARDIS is still burning.   He'll throw the Pandorica into the heart of the fire, then "let there be light."  The light would explode everywhere at once.   The vortex manipulator is wired to the box so he can fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion.   They'll wake up where they're meant to be but won't remember what happened.   The Doctor will be at the heart of the explosion, the cracks will close and he'll be trapped on the other side, the nether side.   River: "All memory of him will be purged from the universe - he will never have been born." He doesn't know River yet, "now he never will."  But River will remember him, so all memory of him won't be purged.

The Doctor talks about the girl who waited in her garden.   Amy was worth the wait.   He lied (surprise, surprise) there was a reason why he took Amy with him.   Her house was too big, where were her parents.   Amy lost them, she can't remember.   The crack in time was eating at her life.   Amy Pond, all alone.  "The girl who didn't make sense, how could I resist...nothing is ever forgotten, not really." She must remember her family and they'll be there.   The universe is pouring into her head, she brought Rory back.   So will he be brought back.   Amy won't have her imaginary friend anymore.  "Amy Pond crying over me - guess what - gotcha."  River receives a message from the Doctor: "Geronimo."  He sacrifices himself, knowing Amy will remember and he'll return!

Flashes to past episodes, 5.11, 5.12 and he wakes up in the TARDIS.   "Bow tie, cool."  He tells Amy about the automated sand, but he's rewinding, erasing.  The crack appears in the monitor of the TARDIS.  "Hello universe, goodbye Doctor!"

Episode 5.11 The Lodger, shows Amy having put the card in the window and she can hear him.   The crack appears on the road.  Episode 5.5: where he told her she has to trust him.   What he told her when she was 7: she must remember and leaves.   This Doctor was from the future.

Amelia's house when she was 7, when she waited and fell asleep in the garden.   He carries her to her room and tells her a story, so she'll remember him.   If she could hear him, he could hang on.  "Silly old Doctor."  She won't remember him - only a little, a story in her head: "a daft old man who stole a magic box." (He borrowed it as will be said in 6.4 The Doctor's Wife.)  She'll dream about the box: "big and little at the same time.   Brand new and ancient and the bluest blue ever."  (What he really means is 'something old, something, new, something borrowed, something blue.')

The times they had still in her dreams.  "The Doctor and Amy Pond and the days that never came." The crack is closing and closes completely when he's on the other side, he doesn't belong here.  "I hate repeats - live well, love Rory.   Bye bye Pond."  Amy wakes to her wedding day and her parents are back.  Amy calls Rory, she's forgotten something important but she can't remember.   Her father, Augustus (Halcro Johnston) will need some more time for the speech.   Amy sees River outside but doesn't know her.   She left a blue book for her.   Amy's crying, she's sad.   River's journal is just like the TARDIS from the outside.  Rory reminds Amy of the old wedding saying.   The journal is empty.   Amy notices the bow tie on the boy and a man's braces.   A tear falls onto the journal.   Someone important is missing.   Amy recalls her imaginary friend.  "The raggedy Doctor, my raggedy Doctor - I remember you...and you are late for my wedding!" The brand new, ancient blue box.   Something old etc.

The TARDIS materializes (surprised none of the guest passed out from the shock.)   Rory remembers the Doctor.   How could they forget him.   He didn't expect that - so that's why he had his suit and bow tie now.   Amy wants to kiss him again!  But he's here to dance.   Doctor: "2,000 years, the boy who waited, good on you mate."  The TARDIS lands in Amy's garden and River asks if he danced.   He always dances at weddings.   "Spoilers."  There's writing in her journal but he didn't look.   (Hell, we'd have looked!) The Doctor asks if she's married.   River: "Are you asking?"
Doctor: "Yes."
River: "Yes."
Doctor: "Did you think I was asking you to marry me, or asking if you were married?"
River: "Yes."
Doctor: "Was that a yes or a yes?" He asks who she is and he'll find out soon.
River: "Yes and I'm sorry that's when everything changes."

The Doctor returns her vortex manipulator.   He tells her the TARDIS exploded for a reason, but why now.  "The Silence, whatever it is, is still out there."  The phone rings, there's an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express in space. Amy and Rory go with him.   That would have made for a good Christmas episode.

Rory tells Amy's parents the Doctor was a stripper at his stag do (from the Vampires of Venice epsiode) and that he was plastic, did they need to know.  The first scene of this episode is reminiscent of 5.1 but the Doctor doesn't crash into Amelia's garden.  The Doctor in the episode Flesh and Stone is from the future, as the current Doctor in that episode didn't have his jacket.   Amy stroking the cat wasn't seen in 5.11.   (But the Doctor later spoke with the cat on the stairs.)  The crack in the road wasn't shown in this same episode either.

The Doctor mentions his legs when he wakes up in the TARDIS and he said the same in the episode, The End of Time.   The Fez scene and the Doctor holding the mop was also done by the seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) in Silver Nemesis Part 1.   Amy's line is also repeated from the episode In Space and Time : "Okay Kiddo...complicated," when she was in two places at once.

Lots going on in this episode and plenty of tear jerking moments too and not just for Amy when she recalled the Doctor at the end.   Rory instantly remembered him too; as the Doctor said, she was the one who had to remember him.   The Doctor in 5.12 said to Amy he lies and River tells her the same here.   He even tells her later that he lied when he took her with him.

The Doctor and River now making those comments about being married or not; and if he's asking her, now asked by them two.   Before it was Amy who asked River and the Doctor and he seemed to answer dubiously, with a double meaning.   I.e.  you could take it to mean they were married, or they weren't.   But why will things not be the same between River and the Doctor, since everything has yet to happen between them: Amy and Rory - in their future.   River wasn't giving anything away again as to what happened to the Doctor in this episode, as she already knew.

There was a paradox here: the Doctor could only escape and tell Rory what to do; after Rory had gotten him out of the Pandorica.   One reason why it could be confusing to viewers.   Once again, Matt Smith portrays the Doctor with much emotion, especially when he's in the Pandorica doing what must be done; not once, but twice, since he then has to step into the crack in the wall, which is just waiting for him to no longer exist.   What a spectacular and elaborate scenario dreamt up by the Nestene conscious just to rid the universe of the Doctor; but why did they have the Pandorica keep him alive, making it possible for him to return and save the day and the universe.   Seems they didn't realize that or neglected to think about it when attempting to save themselves.   As well as not thinking about the consequences that the universe will be destroyed irrespective of them holding him prisoner in there.

No one said this, but it was as if the universe was enacting its revenge on the Doctor for interfering in matters and the world where she shouldn't have.   Also the Silence being mentioned for a reason, viz, for the purposes of season 6.

Merlin - 3.3: "Goblin's Gold" REview

Merlin lets loose a goblin on Camelot, which after entering Gaius' body demands gold from everyone. Great laughs in this one as we get away from the tensions of the past two episodes, before getting some more darker stories later.

Whilst on a quest for a book for Gaius (Richard Wilson), Merlin (Colin Morgan) chances upon a secret room in the library and sets loose a goblin, which proceeds to cause havoc on Camelot.   This is Merlin's comedic episode, as every series of the show has at least one or two episodes that are played purely for laughs.   A case of Merlin opening Pandora's box, instead of leaving things alone.

The goblin had been trapped in the box for over 50 years and now he's out; he's going to have fun...and breaks things.  The goblin appeared to be Merlin's answer to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

The goblin escapes Merlin's attempts to ensnare him and starts to throw books around, incidentally, actually throwing the one Merlin was looking for.  Then scours the castle in search of gold.

Arthur chances upon Merlin and his messy bed chamber.   Merlin was doing a bit of Spring cleaning.   The goblin steals Morgana's (Katie McGrath) healing bracelet.

Arthur (Bradley James) warns them not to laugh if they all value their lives, before he shows them Uther (Anthony Head) -- he's been turned bald by the goblin.   (Most probably their take on The King and I.  They can't help laughing, before Gaius tells Merlin what Uther would have done to the one who set the goblin free.

Arthur (shirtless, yet again!)  Merlin steals Arthur's gold coins to set a trap.  Arthur is awoken by Merlin's presence, so Merlin magically throws the bed curtain over Arthur.

Trying to lure the goblin with the gold, the goblin turns himself into a ball of light and enters Gaius' body, taking him over.  (How could Merlin not have seen that coming?)  Gaius, as the goblin, relishes licking the gold coins!  Then heads to the tavern.  Here Gaius arm wrestles for more gold and then tells the knight, "You don't look so good yourself, what's your excuse."

Next day, Gaius orders Merlin to fetch his breakfast from the market, whilst he has another lick of his gold coins.  Morgana asks Gaius for a sleeping draft as her healing bracelet has been stolen.  (Wonder why she couldn't just magic herself to sleep.)  Gaius refuses her request and can see right through Morgana.  She has a "cold heart."  She might be able to fool Uther, but she can't fool the goblin.  He tells her what she desires: to see Uther dead and Camelot destroyed.  "There is evil in your heart."  And Morgana fears the truth.  He casts a spell on her sleeping draft.  And suggests she should count sheep like everyone else.

Gaius goes around town giving remedies to people, only in return for money.  (Good to see Richard Wilson back in the comedy role for which he's well known for in the UK.)  He even manages to get a gold coin from Gwen.  If she doesn't oblige she'll end up with boils on her face.  He gives Uther a potion to help restore his hair, before engaging in some head slapping to restore the circulation in Uther's scalp.

Merlin challenges the goblin when he spies him licking the gold coins, but the goblin tells him anything he does will only hurt Gaius, if he kills the goblin, Gaius will die too.

Arthur explains the incidences of looting the night before, whilst Uther, Gwen (Angel Coulby), and Morgana all relieve their flatulence.  Uther has taken to wearing a hat for his baldness and demands a remedy for the affliction.  Gaius goes on to cure Uther from his baldness and his flatulence.

Merlin reveals his magic and his secret to the goblin, but the goblin is safe since he can cause as much damage as he wants to Merlin, but not vice versa.  Gaius is abusive to the librarian and tells him to "lose some weight, fatty!"

Arthur arrests Merlin and brings him before Uther, explaining he was responsible for their "afflictions."  Gaius tells of the magic book he found in in Merlin's chamber and says he's been taken over by a goblin, corrupted by magic.  Uther sentences Merlin to death for using magic.

Gaius heads to the tavern once more and here he insults the knights, before backing down, he's had too much to drink; then spikes their ale.

Merlin needs to get hold of the key to escape from the dungeon, but why, when he could have just used magic on the lock itself?  He seeks refuge at Gwen's house.  Gaius then accuses Arthur of incompetence and apologizes.  Merlin tells Gwen they need to force out the goblin from Gaius' body, she needs to convince Arthur of this.  However, Gwen is embarrassed and won't go to Arthur after her bout of flatulence!  Even though everyone does it, it's not in public and she wouldn't fart in front of Arthur because she has feelings for him.  Merlin reassures her Arthur likes her irrespective of her warts and farts.  She tells Merlin she doesn't have any warts.

Arthur offers Gaius a drink for ridding him of his lazy servant; he'll be hanged tomorrow.  (What, and not burnt.)  This was a test on Arthur's part and confirms his suspicions, as Gaius wouldn't want to see Merlin hanged.  Arthur is knocked out.  Gwen finds Arthur in his chamber, braying like a donkey and with donkey's ears!  He scratches behind his ear, to which Merlin can only laugh.

Merlin's plan is to make Gaius die so that the goblin will leave his body.  He can then trap the goblin back into the lead-lined box.  That was a big clue as to saving Gaius which Merlin missed, when the goblin said if he kills it, then he'll be killing Gaius too, which Merlin had to look up in a book!  The knights from the tavern have boils on their faces and Gaius wants gold before he cures them.

The antidote must be given to Gaius a few seconds after he dies.  Gaius licks the gold coins with the poison, but Gwen slips and drops the antidote bottle, mixing it up with the other bottles.  The goblin enters Merlin's mouth, but he manages to spit him out into the box.  Merlin administers the antidote.

Gaius confesses to Uther that he was responsible, allowing Uther to pardon Merlin.  Uther asks who let it out.  The goblin is put back into the vaults.  Gwen and Arthur decide not to mention their awkward moments.  Arthur still brays like a donkey when he laughs and Merlin tells Gaius he's leaving him like that for another day.

How could Merlin be able to undo the magic the goblin did, when he wasn't able to restore Uther's hair, or cure their flatulence, the boils and everything else the goblin did?  If the goblin sensed Morgana's evil, does this mean other magical creatures can do the same?  Also, showing that the goblin wasn't purely evil or bad, just greedy and mischievous.