CSI 11.6 "Cold Blooded" Review

                                               
Nick and Greg look into the murder of a father, whose daughter went missing 5 years ago and Ray investigates a dead body found in the desert, with a little help from Hodges.
Ray (Laurence Fishburne) and David (David Berman) are called in after a DB is found in the desert.  Along with a nylon bag, containing styrofoam.   David finds a key chain on the Vic; who appears to have puncture marks on his back, which Ray points out are uniform in pattern, resembling bite marks.   Ray supposes the bitemarks are from "Godzilla."  Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) comments on the monster on the loose.   COD is brain injury caused by sudden deceleration, such as a car accident.   There is perforated skin, muscle.  Hodges (Wallace Langham) can't resist getting involved in the investigation, after his analysis on the bag reveals what was found inside is used to construct simulated muscle.   Thus there are dinosaurs in town! Hodges wants to "go now, go now" in the words of the song.

For the first time, this season, CSI delves into two separate cases.  Nick (George Eads) and Greg (Eric Szmanda) investigate the death of the father, Phil Kohler (William R Moses) whose daughter was abducted and killed 5 years ago.   Det Reed (Katee Sackoff) surmises that the TOD was last night.   Nick tells her about his daughter being murdered 5 years ago.   Along with her friend Rachel.   Their bodies were never found.   Nick met Phil and his wife, Sharon (Marta Martin) who were divorcing now.   Greg finds no tearing around the wound, there are random powder burns around his face and the gun must have been held away from his head, which is strange for a suicide.   Also there's the presence of brunette hair.   His gold watch is missing.  (No, this isn't a case covered in  earlier seasons, as I remember them all, no really I do, all the episodes that is.)

Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) questions Sharon, who was the one who gave him the watch.   Coincidentally, she bought the watch as he was going to become a father, so the significance is obvious and poignant at the same time, especially in the flashback to come where he gives it to Carly.   Showing not only he's given up on finding Witney and therefore on closure, but that it might help Carly come to some closure in her life.   Also signifying his end was nigh.  That's a bit of a morbid thought.

Phil had an affair with Carly Beck (Jessica Hect) Rachel's mother, calling it "shared grief."  Greg conducts a 'distance determination' pattern, showing the gun was 36-48 inches from Phil's head when it was fired.   Phil's arm is 30 inches long.   Nick: "that's murder."  The hair is a match to Carly.   Reed apologizes for the remark she made at the house earlier on, as she's been working on her 'sensitivity ' before proceeding to break down the front door to Carly's house.   Yeah, that's sensitive.    Nick sees there are items missing from Rachel's room, as well as a computer and printer.   He finds a photo on the floor of a decomposed body.   Rachel had a grey sweatshirt on and Witney Kohler was wearing purple.   The photo is of Witney's remains.
Kyle (Brett Tucker) hot on the heels of his appearance in the opening episode of season 7 CSI:NY was rather over-doing his Aussie accent here!  Also he didn't turn out to be the killer again.   Hodges comments that one of the dinosaurs ate a man.   He also says they need to see some dinosaurs fight each other, to which Ray replies, no they don't.   Ray finds one dinosaur with blood on its teeth.   Henry (Jon Wellner) identified the logo on the Vic's keychain as being from the university's Paleontology programme.   The Vic's name was Brian ( Nate Hartley).  His fiance was also a student too.   Henry asks Ray to call if he needs help since Hodges called in sick, as we know to take photos with a dinosaur, on the sly!

In contrast to last week's episode, Nick here bats for Carly telling Catherine they don't know that she killed Phil and she couldn't have done it; when Catherine says she could have tried to extort money from Phil, or confronted him about the DB in the photo.  Nick believes Holt  killed the girls.   Nick tells Carly in a flashback to 5 years ago, that he goes out "110% on every case and only work with the evidence, and the evidence tells him only Witney was in the van."  He promises to do everything to help.

Doc's studied the photo and finds that she was probably killed 5 years ago but there's no way to tell how long the DB has been there.   Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) informs Nick that Holt's been in a coma after a suicide attempt.  Carly wrote him letters begging for him to tell her where Rachel is.   Greg enhanced the photo of Witney and saw billboards in the background.   Identifying these he was able to ascertain where that particular billboard is located.   Nick and Greg find Witney nearby.   COD was strangulation, 2 fingers were severed and an attempt was made to sever the third finger also.   The likely tool is a bandsaw.

Reed interviewed Holt's cousins to find his uncle had a place where Holt used to spend time.   Greg recalls how this case was his first week in the field and feels he should've done more to help.   Nick agrees that sometimes with certain cases you don't feel you are doing enough.   Nick spots a new shovel with a fibreglass handle amongst the old tools.   Greg finds a bag with the initial 'R' on the front.

Jane, (Nora Kirkpatrick) Brian's fiance tells Ray she went back to her dorm, Ray shows her footage of her pashing (to use the Aussie term for making out!) another boy, Travis (James Immekus).   The dinosaurs made her hot under the collar to put it mildly.  Ray conducts a test on Jelloman, by placing him in the mouth of a dinosaur's head, on loan from a colleague at university.   The bite from the T-Rex didn't cause Brian's wounds.   His injuries are more indicative of a fall, so he fell onto the lower teeth from a height.  Ray goes up on the lift and finds blue and yellow fibres in the dinosaur's mouth, similar to those from Brian's clothing.

Reed shows Catherine items Carly pawned for money and the watch.   She is chased and arrested when it's found Carly sold her car.   Nick finds a note in her bag from Holt.   He demanded $5,00 for a map for each girl, showing where he buried their bodies.  She was given the wrong map.   Brass rebukes her for leaving Witney in the desert without telling anyone.   She told Phil, but he wasn't interested and was about to call the police.   He gave her the watch to sell.   She got a call from a friend of Holt's asking for more money for the other map.   The map was sent to her 3 days ago.   Brass tells her Holt has been in a coma for 10 days.

Ray tells Travis he used his credit card to pay for tickets which wasn't very clever.   He knew Jane from before.   There was dirt on his tyres, prints on the control of the lift and blood in his car.   Travis admits it was an accident, Brian wanted a photo with the dinosaur, Jane knocked him off the lift and he fell into the mouth of the dinosaur before falling onto the floor.   All very convenient for Jane.   Ray asks what I was thinking, if it really was an accident, or she just didn't want Brian anymore.   (Remember the fiance is almost always guilty, like the one in the Blood Moon episode.)  She craved red meat and so got a burger on the way home.  She pretty much confirmed she killed him, when she lawyer-ed up.   The red meat being an analogy for Travis, since Brian was a herbivore and she didn't want him anymore.

Nick and Brass find the letter was sent from outside of prison.   Holt got a notepad and wrote to Carly and drew 2 maps.  Richter (Michael Bowman) found Holt and said there was no suicide note.   Nick, Greg and Reed go to Richter's house and Nick recovers part of the map before it's completely burned.   Richter wanted money, he watched Holt hang himself and killed Phil since he'd call the police.   Brass says he should have burned his shirt instead, since they found Phil's blood on it.   Hodges analyzed the shovel, so he got back in time to actually do some lab work!  To find evidence of seeds, soil,  which Greg followed up to a company who specifically used those in a specific area and finds the map led to an intersection.   Here they recover Rachel's remains and Nick has the unenviable task of informing Carly.

Such a different episode to last weeks as far as the Nick/Greg storyline went.   Nick had no compassion for the hoarder in last week's episode, even though she had also lost her daughter.   Infact, she lost 2 daughters, as one was a serial killer.  Yet he showed so much feeling and sympathy towards Carly now and 5 years ago.   Similar to Greg, who last week told Ray he couldn't stand the DBs, but this week he was okay.   Even though he did feel he should have done more back then.   Nick was right when he said he gave more than a 100% on each case, since it's in his nature to go the whole 9 yards, as shown by his meticulous dedication working on the map to finally give Carly closure.

Sara's (Jorga Fox) turn to be absent this week.   Catherine had very little to do for someone who is meant to be leaving soon.

Also why the addition of Katee Sackhoff (that's Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica to most people) when they've got Brass in the show, as it relegates the permanent cast members to bit parts when this happens.   It's okay when there are more cops needed, but Ray didn't have anyone helping him, other than Officer Mitchell (Larry Mitchell) and that was only in the beginning, so Brass wasn't being utilized anywhere else.

Supernatural 6.22 "The Man Who Knew Too Much" Review

                                             
Sam wakes having lost his memory and tries to avoid the police. Apparently his wall breaks and he comes across other versions of himself. Cas is on track with his plans to take the souls.

 Sam (Jared Padalecki) is being chased by the police and runs into an alley and a bar where he meets a bartender - Robin.  (Erica Cerra)  He can't recall his name.  "I don't remember anything."  He woke on the park bench and doesn't have time for a doctor as he needs to be somewhere to stop something important.   Sam's wall breaks as was expected since he got his soul back and now that finally happens.   Maybe that shouldn't be wall but levee.   Sam finds an HP Lovecraft book on the shelf.   Then has flashes where he he finds a hotel on a computer - where he's staying.

Robin goes with him.   Sam: "I could be anybody."  Ooh eerie echo of Meg's words from season 1 ep Scarecrow when she met Sam hitchhiking and said she could be some dangerous "freak." He had the room with the fire escape cos it's the quickest route for a getaway.   Room number 07, heading for season 7 of the show perhaps?  His room is filled with clippings, just like Dad used to do.  Jimmy Page is his fake ID, Angus Young, Neil Pert.  Ellie (Kim Johnston Ulrich) is found in an alley after she went missing, where she's dying.

Ellie could have handled the demon (Crowley) not the angel, Cas (Misha Collins).   She told the two about purgatory and they needed the blood of a purgatory native.   The moon and eclipse are tomorrow when purgatory can be opened.   Bobby (Jim Beaver) loses someone close again.  Cas apologizes.   Dean (Jensen Ackles) tells him he's lost the plot but he needs to stop Raphael.  Cas can save Sam when it's all over and only if they stand down.

Cas made Sam forget.   He remembers his name is Sam.   He was with two men and one was "a male model type" obviously another reference to Dean, his looks and Jensen's days as a model.   Sam has an address for Bobby in his diary - why would he have an address for him written down; when he knows the place and location.   He also has Dean's Impala.   Someone fires shots at them outside, it's Sam.

Dean meanwhile sits by Sam's side again as in 2.21/22, All Hell Breaks Loose, when Sam died and he was conflicted over what to do.   Here we now see that Sam's wall has definitely broken and he's in agony.   Dean's desperate to help him Bobby says they don't know what's happening in Sam's head and they can't afford to lose another man if Dean falls apart.   Sam smells whiskey.   Sam's locked inside his head.   Dean shines a light into Sam's eyes and it's day in his mind.   Great effect.

Sam finds weapons in the car and Sam wouldn't really be driving the Impala.   He goes in search of the Sam who fired at them.   That's soulless Sam.   "Am I really that gawky?"  He's dreaming.  Cas brought his wall down and Sam the "pathetic infant" shattered.   Hey he got that line from Dean when he called Cas a child.   He was strong without a soul.   "Souls are weak," says soulless Sam, who is shot by Sam.   There's another Sam.   The real one has a fit and recalls everything he did over the lat year.   Sam recalls Robin being held by a demon and he shot her to get the demon.   He's sorry, he was meant to care.

Balthazar (Sebastian Roche) turns up and calls them "mudfish."  Giving them Cas's location and he's decided to help them.   In the process he's betraying "a very powerful friend."  Who has lost his scruples and his marbles.   Anyway Cas has betrayed them too and he made the first move.   He needs half monster and half virgin blood and Crowley (Mark Sheppard) comments Cas looks "more constipated than usual."  Going back to what Dean said to him when he attempted to vanish in the episode when they were after Eve, Mommie Dearest, and he couldn't do it.    Cas is going back on the agreement - by demanding all the souls.   Crowley can leave or die.

Sam finds another one of himself in Bobby's kitchen.  the one from the cage.  "The one that remembers hell."  Dean leaves the address behind for Sam if he wakes up.   Sam knows he's at Bobby's and smells whiskey again and old spice.   Sam needs to know everything he did.   He can't leave Dean alone since it all comes down to family as always.   Sam is given a knife to end it all and his memories return.

Cas knows Dean's here, there's a Judas among them and he kills Balthazar.   So much for friendship in his blind quest, he didn't even blink.   As Dean said he's off the rails.   (Similar to what Dean said to Sam in season 4.19 Jump the Shark; "he's so far off the reservation" with his demon blood fest.)   Demon smoke attacks and Dean likens them to a T-Rex.   Courtesy of Crowley.   Cas's power doesn't work on him and he has a new partner, Raphael, (Lanette Ware) in a woman's body.   His new meat suit from season 6.15 The French Mistake.   Crowley says he's got "sweaty hands."

Cas will destroy him, obviously.   It's not real blood they have.   Raphael wants to be the new 'god.' Crowley repeats Cas's line of "flee or die."  Didn't they think of that.   The car's overturned outside and and nothing happens when Crowley chants.   Raphael catches Dean's knife.   Sam got here quickly and he has flashes of being tortured.

Cas returns with the proper blood and goes nuclear.   All that power - all in him.   Crowley "sounds sexy." Crowley makes a hasty exit since Cas has plans for him and Raphael is killed by Cas.  So just how many angels were left after this killing spree.

Cas is arrogant and he saved them.   They doubted him, fought him but he was right.   Dean wants him to return the souls where they belong before the eclipse ends.   They were family once.  "Before I'd have died for you - I did a few times."  Dean doesn't want to lose Cas and Cas thinks he's only saying that cos he won.  Sam stabs Cas but nothing happens - he's not an angel.   Cas: "I'm your new god."  He demands they bow before him or he'll destroy them.   - Er don't think so!

Parts of this episode was an anti-climax to the season which had its share of ups and downs as far as episodes were concerned.   It wasn't consistent as past seasons of the show.   We know Cas was going to succeed with opening purgatory one way or another  and that Crowley and Raphael were going to be powerless against him.   Cas has become even more arrogant of late so with that purgatory power trip, there was nothing else left left for him but to proclaim himself god.   He thinks no one can fight, challenge or destroy him now.   There's a danger in becoming too familiar and caught up in one's own greatness.   There'll always be someone out there who's better and more powerful

Sam's wall breaking was to be expected but  Cas's part in helping it along the way wasn't.   What's more  is Cas believes this would be a distraction for Dean, leaving  him free to charge ahead full speed with his plans.  His arrogance and paranoia (delusions of grandeur) is further shown by demanding all three kneel before him.   Had a flashback moment to Zod in Smallville  and his line of "kneel before Zod."  Sorry

As an avid fan  (who wrote a book on the show, not plugging here) but Supernatural did far better season finales than this and was a big letdown in terms of plot and cliffhanger, what cliffhanger? To think that the brothers and Bobby fought off every kind of monster and demon conceivable and possible, Azazel, Eve even, without any outside help and now they were stymied when it came to Cas.   A friend/ frenemy now and they knew all Cas's moves.   Especially since Dean taught  him how to be who he is, so he took this freedom way too far.

This episode's saving grace had to be the scenes with Sam, in my opinion.   Working out who he is with his memory loss; finding out he killed Robin in order to kill a demon when he was soulless and repenting for his past actions was the highlight.   Giving Jared a chance to play soulless, vindictive, guilty, sorrowful Sam and redeemed Sam all in one.   Finally meeting his dejected self from hell and the cruelty inflicted upon him by Lucifer and Michael was truly breathtaking and sad.   With Dean being helpless and unable to help once more.

Dean had his hellish moments as well in season 4 as he was made to torture in hell, which don't compare to Sam's ordeal (not to belittle Dean's experiences of hell) Sam's were of a different making and what made it worse was he had no soul when he returned and couldn't remember all of it, whereas Dean did.   At least Sam came to join in the fight at the end, not that there was much of a fight.

CSI 11.5 "House of Hoarders" Review

                                              
Nick, Sara and Greg discover bodies in a house where the owner hoards every item she ever came across, as a piece of her life. They believe her to be responsible for the murders of several boys, all buried in the garden.

Officer Mitchell (Larry Mitchell) and his partner are on a call out.   When they try to get into the house, they need to break the door down.   After several attempts, the door gives way to reveal the house if brim full of clutter and junk.   The owner, Marta Santiago (Bertila Damas) suffers from a hoarding obsession/disorder.   She was ordered by the court to clean out her house.   Nick (George Eads) asks Sara (Jorga Fox) how people can live like this.   Sara replies it's more like "somebody died like that."  Nick manages to find a DB when he puts his foot into the remains.   Greg (Eric Szmanda) jokes about Nick "stepping in it."   The body can't be moved until they clear a way for David (David Berman) to get in.   Marta is helped out of the room by Sara.   Marta's whole life is in this house as she tells Sara.   Also that she's living with 'ghosts'.   Marta notices Nick going through her things and loses her temper at him.

Greg is tasked with helping David remove the body from the house.   Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) describes the Vic as being in her '20's.   COD was an epidural haematoma (blow to the head.)  Ray (Laurence Fishburne) comments her wound is akin to a barcode and if she was killed with something from the house, then it's still there.

Nick, Sara and Greg sift through the contents of the house.   Brass (Paul guilfoyle) attempts to track down other family members.   Sara notices blood drops and follows the trail.   Luminol won't show up so Sara suggests they use hydrogen peroxide, which will foam wherever there is any blood.   Nick thinks Marta killed Diana because she tried to clear the house and her mother hit her.   In much the same way as she got angry with Nick.   The blood trail leads to a grandfather clock.

 Sara talks to Julian (Ramon Ocampo) her son, telling him they're investigating a homicide.   Tears well in his eyes when she tells him it's his sister, Diana.   He's not aware of the whereabouts of his other sister, Alisa (Georgie Flores) but tells Sara how hard it was for them growing up in this house.

Dr Prescott (Annie Wersching) informs Ray that Marta doesn't have it in her to be violent.   She's a hoarder and hoards everything family orientated.   She didn't know about Diana and kept her body there for so long because she suffers from "clutter blindness." Marta's  level 5 on the scale of hoarding and so it's likely she would never have found her body.   Marta claims to have a bad memory, but when Dr Prescott tries to throw away her pen, Marta wants it since Diana used it.   Ray comments her memory is good for her to recall this.   He shows Marta the photos of the grandfather clock, which is an heirloom.   The blood belongs to Diana.   The blood trail goes on and leads to a pile of magazines and Greg identifies the barcode pattern on Diana's wound.

Marta tells them Diana found something when she was clearing up and things fell down.   She doesn't tell Ray what Diana found.  Presumably that was a DB then.   Greg accidentally knocks a gun which goes off, causing Nick and Sara to burst into laughter.  Nick commenting he's the one who stepped in it now.   The skeleton is that of a male - his hands were tied in front of him with a red coloured ribbon.   Nick and Sara have an altercation as to what Marta thought was more important - her home and not her family.   Sara believes she suffered a trauma.   Nick: "You can be traumatized, but still take out the damn trash." Very judgemental on Nick's part in not even attempting to understand Marta's compulsive hoarding and what could have caused it.   He's prejudicial to an extent, if her house had been spotless, he'd be more inclined to agree with Sara.   Since Marta's a hoarder, it automatically means she's a killer and it's much easier to hide the body.   As Sara tells him, he's getting too far ahead of the evidence.   Sara offers to process Marta, as they had an understanding, probably in an attempt to get away from Nick and his blind attitude too.

The male DB is described as being between 15-17 so it can't be Marta's husband, unless she married young.   Doc allows Ray to take a bone marrow sample for analysis.   Sara finds it difficult in having to fingerprint Marta.   Henry (Jon Wellner) finds the Vic died of acute arsenic poisoning.

Sara tells Greg that Nick's not in touch with the case.   Ray takes Dr Prescott to the house and she also tells Nick Marta isn't a killer.   She organizes her house visually.   Nick wonders if they're "trash whispering" and Ray replies if they listen very carefully, they may find something and they did.

Marta's organized some storage boxes on a different side of the house and Dr Prescott thinks they're time capsules, containing Alisa's items, such as her prom dress.   They come across Alisa's room which is completely empty.   Sara calls them to the garden, where three DBs have been discovered, bound in the same way as the second DB.   All the Vics died from acute arsenic poisoning.   Three are identified as runaways from a halfway house where Julian worked.   He also got Alisa a job there.   One Vic, Matthew, had been seeing Alisa.   Brass believes they were all potential boyfriends of Alisa's and Julian killed them.   He lawyers up.

From the storage boxes, Ray believes Marta was regressing and attempting to put Alisa back into her womb.   They find another door and inside they find Alisa, handcuffed to her bed.   Nick talks with her in hospital, removing his cap, so she'll recognize him.  Yeah Nick, she'll remember your hair or lack of, ha.   He asks who did this to her and that he can protect her; she replies it was her mother.   Well that's all he wanted to hear.

Greg tells Ray he could handle the trash but not the bodies.  This is unusual for such a comment coming from Greggie too, since he has been surrounded by plenty of DBs in his time in the field.   Also in last weeks episode where he was confronted by more blood and gore, such as the Vic killed in the carwash, he wasn't affected by it in the same way as here.   Some strange thinking and writing going on from the writers in this episode where Greggie and Nicky are concerned.

Sara believes something isn't quite right.   Greg analyzes the handcuffs and the scratches where someone tried to remove the serial number.   They were purchased from a local gun store by Julian.   Nick wants to know why Sara can't see past Marta's guilt.  Sara thinks Julian killed the boys and hid them there; having some sort of a hold over his mother.   Ray tells them they have to look at the evidence, being the voice of reason and attempting to tell Sara she needs to walk away, which is what she does before he's finished his sentence.   Nick wants to speak to Marta, but before he can do so, Julian has a lawyer for his mother.

Ray and Nick find the ribbon ends can provide them with a time-line for when the Vics were killed.   The ribbon was torn using teeth and this will give them DNA.   Dr Prescott tels Sara and Greg where to look for the ribbon, in its original packet.   Sara finds a box of rat poison, in it's original box, and the ribbon too.   The poison contains arsenic.   Ray tells Alisa they have her DNA as she killed the boys.   Her mother handcuffed her attempting to stop her from killing.   She blames her mother and that she made everyone leave.   Julian also blames their mother for Alisa's condition, but Sara tells him Alisa is more disturbed than anything her mother did to her.

Sara relays the story of her schizophrenic mother stabbing her father in the heart one night.   Sara survived her traumatic childhood, as did Julian.   Marta won't be prosecuted if she helps with the case and the rest is up to her and Julian.   Ray and Nick in yet another discussion (in Blood Moon they talked of the monsters they come across in their work) and here Ray tells him about consumption and hoarding - that in the '60's people had less in their houses, whereas today, it's all about having.

Nick cleans out his desk and he and Sara have another chat about Gil (William Petersen) since we know he makes an appearance soon.   He finds the blue marble Gil gave him and Sara has one too.   They got back to being on speaking terms very quickly and without any apologies either, suppose they don't need to apologize having known each other for ages.   Nick realizing he was wrong about Marta, but he didn't admit as much.   It was good to see some tension between the two, they haven't had an argument like that before.   Nick not understanding how Sara could bond with Marta in the way that she did.   Or that Sara was blinkered when it came to Marta being guilty.   But Sara was right, she didn't kill anyone and wasn't responsible for Alisa's affliction either.   She was just a cold-blooded serial killer, who thought she could use her mother as justification for killing those boys.   No one drove her to murder except Alisa herself.

Nick and Sara have a brother/sister relationship in a way,  but after knowing her for so long, he still doesn't really know her.   She also told Julian about her mother and not anyone that she works with, having more of an affinity with what they both went through as children.   She also believes telling Julian about her own mother will help him deal with his, since in the beginning he wasn't moved or emotional when he asked if his mother was dead when Sara told him about the homicide.   His reaction upon hearing it was Diana was more emotional.

Nick was rather out of character this episode, as he's the last one to make such insensitive comments and strange the writers having Nick being the one to talk and act like he did.   Ray, as usual is the voice of reason, this time between Nick and Sara, but she's not listening when she walks out the lab.

Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) was missing this time round.

This episode of the show embarked upon a topical issue as hoarding is in the news at the moment, but not so in the UK, though lately the UK is getting its own epidemic of hoarders.   The US seems to be affected by it in a big way.   CSI choosing to shed light on such a major disorder.

NCIS - Meet The New Ziva?

                                                
Reports out on TVLine: Emily Wickersham may replace Cote de Pablo on NCIS.  Cote whose departure came as a shock to many fans and still is a sore topic will leave in the early episodes of season 11.  Emily will play a character called Bishop who is described as "attractive, talented, intelligent, athletic, and academically brilliant."  As well as being "socially awkward".  Again?  ha.  Seems NCIS can only find these sorts of female characters in the show.  No really, I mean remember Nikki Jardine (Susan Kelechi Watson) she had OCD but that was fun.  I liked her and she spoke Arabic, Kurdish and didn't overstep the boundaries into Ziva territory with being proficient in those languages either.  Would have been good to see her again not that any one can replace Ziva David, but someone who has appeared on the show before should have been a more likely choice.  Someone whom fans could ease into since they have seen her before.

Emily has been contracted for three eps but could become  a series regular in the future as her contract has this option.  She is set to appear at November sweeps time, which many think may be a suitable transition period between Ziva's swansong and Bishop's appearance. Will anyone even notice since we'll still be lamenting Cote's departure, which will be felt on and off screen for some time to come.  I mean I have come to terms with Cote leaving, many haven't.  Of course NCIS will go through the motions again of introducing characters for Ziva's job who won't stick around, as they did before, when Tony (Michael Weatherly) had to interview the prospective candidates in Truth or Consequences.  Ohh wonder how many thought this would become a reality at that time, almost foreshadowing.

Perhaps Tony won't warm to her too easily.  At least we won't be getting a long and drawn out, "will they/won't they" scenario as we got over 8 years!  Emily can be seen as guesting on The Bridge and appeared in The Sopranos.  I actually hope we get to see more of McGee (Sean Murray) and Abby (Pauley Perrette) who haven't really been a focal point for quite a while now and it's only fair they get their share of the limelight!

Cote's non presence will be felt for quite some time to come for many fans.

CSI:NY 9.8 "Late Admissions" Review

Students take drugs and sit their SATS on a high.  There is one Sat paper which hasn't been opened and this probably belongs to the same student found dead in the library.  Mac (Gary Sinise) finds signs of blunt force trauma and also Flack (Eddie Cahill) finds a piece of a  broken mug on the floor.  Mac wonders why his parents didn't notice him missing and Flack comments on wondering what sort of a home life he has.  Hawkes (Hill Harper) processes the CS and collects the evidence, hey Mac didn't even bag the broken mug either.  He finds lots of books and also dextroamphetamines used for ADHT.  The Vic is identified as Luke Stevenson (John Bain) a name that Mac knows.  He has to break the new to Luke's father, Frank (Gareth Williams). He tells him about Luke's friend, Nate who died of a drug overdose.  He didn't notice Luke was missing cos his door was shut so he assumed he was studying or asleep.

Sid (Robert Joy) finds the Tox screen was negative so Luke wasn't taking the drugs but he may have been dealing.  But Nate's blood screen was through the roof.  Hawkes process the plastic bag containing the drug and finds a fingerprint which matches Billy (Michael Welch).  He attends the same school as Luke.  Billy tells them the drugs were his but he didn't want to carry around a prescription bottle as he doesn't want people to know.  He fought with Luke cos he accused him of copying his answers.  Wouldn't be that easy.  The fight was stopped by Principal Connors (Mark Moses) (a most obvious suspect, well when has Mark Moses not been involved in playing a criminal! ha).

The strand of hair Sid found on the DB belonged to Melanie (Abby Pivaronas) a swimmer since the hair was dry and tinged green cos of the chlorine.  She was dating Nate and the wrist watch on Luke belonged to Nate and had her prints on it.  She tells Jo (Sela Ward) she gave the watch to Luke cos it belonged to Nate. Adam (AJ Buckley) goes through Billy's phone records and finds he has simple algebra problems.  Hawkes puts together the pieces from the mug but hasn't found any algebra texts or books in Luke's belongings other than a notebook.  Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) finds a page has been torn out and notices the imprints of the pencil can be seen on the next page.

SO we get the old working out what the writing says and Danny finds Luke was writing a letter to the NY Times exposing the incidence of drug taking at the school.  SO with this much rampant drug taking, it's obvious the principal would be involved in covering it up.  Flack and Mac watch Billy who meets up with some friends and is about to deal to them.  Mac notices Frank arrive and he stops him from entering, thinking he may have a concealed weapon.  He shows him a subpoena from a judge who owes him a favour which shows Billy was a patient with four different doctors and Mac tells him they don't have any proof of who killed Luke.

Adam tells Jo he cracked the code as the texts of algebra problems are really telling Luke where to bring the drugs and how much each person wants.  One was sent by Melanie who admits she needed to take them just to keep up and Billy said he'd take care of it.  Which he did by going straight to the Principal who covered it up cos he didn't want his academic achievements lost.  Flack arrests Billy after a brief chase - yes saved this ep from being utter boredom, such as was Lindsay's (Anna Belknap) storyline, was it necessary??

Billy wants to deal, not surprising cos that's all he knows how to do and gives them Connors, but they have no proof.  Mac tells Hawkes to work on the prints and they can use it to call his bluff.  Connors admits to killing Luke cos he refused to stop the 'vendetta' and wanted go public.  His job was in jeopardy and he mentions his family and daughter.  Should have thought of that before and Luke was right, but Luke should have done the right thing and gone to the authorities or his father, not the papers.  He certainly shouldn't have blabbed to everyone.

To the tedious storyline, Lindsay awakes to cows mooing as she's back in Montana, subtle hint, like we didn't know.  She's back and sees her father, Robert (James Read) who takes her fishing on his boat but she doesn't do much of it.  They have a father daughter heart to heart (yawn) and she has flashbacks to her friends and how they spent their time doing usual girl stuff.  She wants to see the killer executed for the murders and visits him in prison.  Asking how much he took form the till and she feels sorry for him.  He insists he's innocent and that sole testimony was based on one eye witness.  She watches him executed after he apologizes for what he did.

She goes home and Danny's waiting for her on the steps, wait it's that same mug on the ground next to him. (Quick use it, ha!!)  They hug.  Oi Lindsay, take your fingers off Danny's butt!!  The flashback to Lindsay in the bathroom when her friends were being killed came from Sleight out of Hand and quite frankly I have no idea why this had to be revisited.  Is watching someone die actually giving her closure, revenge, retribution.  Everyone has their own thoughts on the death penalty but it's not something I advocate.

Anyway, she doesn't answer Danny's call but listens to his voice message in the beginning, which kind of harks back to that previous episode in season 3, since they weren't really communicating well and he want to Montana to support her through Daniel Katum's (Jason Dibler) trial.  Also to show you why she wanted to name their daughter Lucy, after one of her friends who was killed.  But it was actually Danny who wanted that name and Lindsay was against it, as we now know why.  (Did anyone really care?!)  See Greater Good ep.

Frank tried Mac's first case in 1995 which is about all the info we get on him, other than they seem to have been friends ever since.  He was brought out of nowhere too for the purposes of the story.  More Flack funny lines, when he opens Billy's locker; "Do a wash my man, cab drivers smell better than this."  Hawkes having to piece together the mug cos he's got "surgeon's hands" as Danny reminds him.

James Read was wasted in this as her father and wouldn't he have liked to ave seen his grand daughter too, considering this is the first time he's been mentioned.  Granted it may not have been a good time to bring her down but she could have stayed with him and spent time with her Gramps.  She could have shown Lucy where she grew up.

Supernatural 6.21: "Let It Bleed" Review

                                   
Crowley kidnaps Lisa and Ben in the hopes of keeping the Winchester's from interfering in his plans for purgatory along with Cas, who still helps Dean.

March 15th 1937  Providence, Rhode Island

As a writer types, the door opens.   HP Lovecraft (Peter Ciuffer) is killed.   Sam (Jared Padalecki) comments at least Dean (Jensen Ackles) tried with Cas.   There's nothing in the journals on how to stop Cas (Misha Collins) from opening Purgatory.   Moishe Campbell of the New York Campbell's made a copy of the journal and Cas took the original.   Sam knows the name HP Lovecraft.   Dean was "too busy getting it on with women."

Cthulu Talisi by Lovecraft is read by Ben (Nicholas Elia).   Lisa (Cindy Sampson) watches TV with her boyfriend who is killed and she and Ben are abducted.   Ben calls Dean but doesn't get out of the widow quickly enough.   It could only be Crowley's (Mark Sheppard) plan of course, using them as insurance.   Calls Sam, 'Jolly Green' as in giant.   Dean must assume Cas knows.   Sam and Dean summon Balthazar (Sebastian Roche).   Cas told him about Crowley.   Dean thinks maybe he's decent and he's asking him for help.   Sam wants to call Cas instead.

Bobby (Jim Beaver) meets a man as a journalist who has a collection of Lovecraft's letters.   He's too late as Cas has already been here as he describes a man with a "Columbo trenchcoat."  There was a party on the 10th March of a black magic cult and they opened a door to another dimension.  Bobby talks to one man who tells him about the maid and her son.

Dean tortures a demon for info.   It was obvious he would break the circle.   It's Dean's fault.   Sam doesn't listen to him and goes ahead and calls Cas.   Who shows up but doesn't reveal himself to Sam and confronts Dean instead.   Crowley's "top- coiffed heroes" a reference to Sam and Dean.   Cas only stop Crowley if he finds purgatory.   Balthazar calls for Cas who lies about Crowley.   Balthazar calls him a rotten liar since he wants to take all the souls into himself and if he explodes he'll take the planet with him.    Bobby tells the son he believes in monsters and he admits the spell worked and something came through and took his mother .   Bobby is the first person to say sorry about her and shows her photo.   Bobby looks surprised but he knows the woman.

Dean is being careless when he breaks the circle himself and Cas arrives to save him again.   Dean can't believe him.   Cas thinks of him like family and he did everything he asked, he answered Dean's calls and wanted one thing.   Cas feels he's earned purgatory.   Cas: "Stand behind me the one time I ask."  Dean will find Lisa and Ben himself.

The boy's mother was Ellie (Kim Johnston Ulrich) who is hiding out but Bobby found her easily enough.   This house isn't safe and he knows what she is.   She's from purgatory and is a friend.   Ellie came though the door but didn't open it and likes it here.   Dean took the sword to stop Eve.   Bobby needs to know how to open the door.   Think she should have listened to Bobby about protecting her cos she couldn't protect herself.

Dean drinks some more.   Balthazar didn't like Cas's answers and wants to help him.   He's changed his tune pretty quickly after calling them "howler monkeys."  He's found Lisa and Ben and he takes them there.   Sam's caught out again.   Lisa's possessed courtesy of Crowley.   She calls Dean Ben's real father but she's joking and lying like demons do.   Lisa would have been better off if she didn't meet him.   Dean's about to exorcise her using his Latin and he doesn't need a book to read from now.   She stabs herself and Dean exorcises her.   Sam's still out cold.   Ben has to use a gun now, something Dean never wanted him to do.

Cas arrives at the hospital and heals Lisa and Dean wants him to make her forget about him and their lives together.   Cas is sorry and Dean must thank him but nothing's changed.   Cas knows he wanted to fix what he could.   They were both in a car crash and Dean pretends to be the other driver.  "Their lives can get back to normal now."  One thing I have to add quickly is what about the things Lisa may still have at her house about him, photos or other stuff, won't she wonder who that is, presumably she still recalls where she lives.   Also Ben might still have something of his too.   Saying goodbye was hard for him.

Dean doesn't tell Sam he knows.   Dean threatens to break Sam's nose if he talks about Lisa or Ben.   That's not nice!  Ellie is caught by Cas.   At least the Lisa and Ben storyline was finally concluded this season, they were kind of out of place the way they kept creeping back into Dean's life when he'd left them.   Cas would always be one step ahead of the Winchester's as they always have been struggling to find his plans.   Bobby should have been more insistent and more instrumental in protecting Ellie knowing she was up against Cas and Crowley and what they're capable of.

Dean not knowing of HP Lovercraft especially when he's into movies, but he's also heard of books too, even if he hasn't read them, such as The Da Vinci Code.   Also what hasn't he head of Metallica's "The Call of Ktulu."  Great scene between Cas and Dean, as always, in that Cas still wants to help Dean after what they've done to each other and in terms of Cas's betrayal of them.   Still after everything Cas had done for them, Dean can't see his way of approving Cas's plan for purgatory and his dire need for those souls.   It's another question of free will.   Dean has that freedom  to choose and he knows opening purgatory isn't in the best interests of humans and earth.   Yet Cas also now fully grasps this same concept of free will, needs those souls and will do whatever it takes.

A particularly heart wrenching episode for Dean having to deal with saying goodbye to Ben and Lisa for good and still battling Cas and his pans.   No wonder he threatened to break Sam's nose if he talks about them.

Bobby wouldn't really be shocked for sleeping with Ellie -a creature from purgatory, that was summoned from purgatory by Lovecraft and his black magic circle.  All of the Winchester's have faced such demons.   Sam and werewolf, Madison.   Dean kissed the crossroads demons several times and a vampire in season 1. Ben reading Lovecraft when this episode mentioned him and was about Lovecraft opening the door to purgatory.   Ben's graphic novel, entitled, Cthulhu Tales Volume 2: Whispers of Madness, published in 2008.

Scandal 2.11 "A Criminal, A Whore, An Idiot and A Liar" Review

This episode flashes back to how Fitz's (Tony Goldwyn) closet advisors rigged the election so he would win the Presidency, whilst in the present Fitz struggles to return to the Whitehouse and his duties after the shooting.  As the action goes back and forth, we can see how deeply invested Olivia (Kerry Washington) was in Fitz and not just his public life either and wanting him to win at all costs.  Those costs we saw turned out to be rigging the election.  Didn't think she had it in her.  Langston (Kate Burton) is ready to tell the people about the letter and that he's unable to do his job when Fitz walks in.

Hollis (Gregg Henry) believes that Fitz will hang himself with a noose of his own making, showing he's unable to do the job.  He will be prone to many side effects from the shooting his doctor tells Fitz, including aphasia (no, first Mac Taylor in CSI:NY and now Fitz too.)  Which he demonstrates when he takes the meeting with the military advisors and authorizes a SEAL team to take the President of East Sudan. He can't finish his sentence as he doesn't recall his name or the country.  Which Langston does so on his behalf though not out of any compassion.

Before the election Fitz is lagging behind ten points and they feel his father, Jerry (Barry Bostwick) should be brought in to help but Fitz is dead set against it.  His father is self made, been a governor etc and knows how politics work in comparison to Fitz.  Mellie (Bellamy Young) wants him to do just that and wants Olivia to convince him, which she does, but only cos Fitz wants to get down and dirty with her and agrees to make her stop talking about the campaign.  Hollis knows someone who can get the vote rigging going but they all need to be behind this.  Fitz is at loggerheads with his father and pretty much estranged as he's into "whores" and cheating on his mother as his past behaviour has shown.  Well Fitz is no saint and even if he's not cheating with a whore, he is still cheating on Mellie, so the apple hasn't dropped far from the tree.

Leading to the present where Edison (Norm Lewis) works out that Olivia must be sleeping with Fitz and that he's the boyfriend she doesn't talk about.  She's his mistress.  This riles her up, yes it being true aside, she screams he's being sexist and that he has no choice but to go in and tell them about the letter and it was forged.  He asks if there's anything she ants to tell him otherwise he can't help her.  She accuses him of calling her a criminal, cheat, a whore, which is what some would say too, ha.  Olivia calls Harrison (Columbus Short) telling them they're in trouble.

In the flashback she brings in her team to help with the election as Jerry tells them they need to dig up dirt on Governor Reston (Tom Amandes) otherwise Fitz will lose.  Olivia introduces Harrison to Abby (Darby Stanchfield) who tells them he has a meeting with his probation officer and then in walks Huck (Guillermo Diaz) still smelly and long haired.  Abby and Harrison go dumpster diving and find pills belonging to Reston, anti-depressants.  Jerry tells them to use that in the debate when he talks about the military and not leaking it to the press as Olivia believes.

Fitz is angry at his father and he doesn't want him in Florida, bringing up the dirt on him being a cheat.  Then a drunken Fitz comes onto Olivia in the lift and is caught out by Mellie who thinks he's behaved like that cos he's drunk.  She reinforces how much they both need Olivia.  Fitz is angry that nothing is ready for the debate and Olivia asks him what he really wants.  He talks about what they want but no one really knows him, she does cos he's let her know him.  At the debate he doesn't mention the drugs, but when asked about a woman's son going to join the military, he talks about his own experience and how he was afraid everyday of not returning home.  So as their Commander-in-Chief, he will know this and what it means to be afraid.

He's still down in the ratings and Olivia still doesn't agree to the rigging.  Then he gets a call saying his father died from a heart attack after telling Fitz he will "never be a winner" like him.  After the funeral Fitz can't cry for him until Olivia asks him what he wants?  Cyrus (Jeff Perry) tells her they are the people and they will be the ones who will be voting for the President.  She cries and finally agrees to the vote rigging.  Well Hollis was quick to jump onto that bandwagon cos he 'll be owed!!  SO that's how they all came together.

Think Olivia did that more for Fitz cos deep down she knew he was hurting over his father but also that he was right and Fitz was going to lose bigtime, so he wouldn't be able to live with his father's last words to him.  She had to prove Jerry wrong but also cos Cyrus told her how Fitz is really good and they need someone like him running the country.

Edison comes begging for forgiveness and admits he loves her and wants to marry her.  Just as Fitz asks Mellie for a divorce cos that's what he wants (now.)  There was Mellie thinking things would be different cos cos he'd been shot, well he didn't exactly lose his memory.  So nothing much happened this episode aside from Fitz saving himself and being able to stand up in the press conference until the end even Langston had to give in and give him her letter reinstating him.  Though she still has ulterior motives and no she wasn't convincing at all when she told him she was worried about the country.  She was worried about herself and wanting to remain the first female President for good.

Guess if you think about it, each one of those words in the title could apply to those who agreed to the vote rigging too! ha.  Also Hollis was brought in specifically for season 2 and to add more weight to the vote rigging idea since there was no mention of him or the rigging in season 1.  Showing it was his brainchild.  They needed a bad guy now that Cyrus seems to have moved on from that role in season 1.

CSI:NY 9.7 "CLUE:SI" Review

                                                    
A ballerina finds the DB of a fellow ballerina hanging from the balcony after a feather falls on her.  Flack (Eddie Cahill) tells Mac (Gary Sinise) she was doing one of those "twirly things" which Mac recalls is a pirouette, cos it's not an easy word to recall.  Hawkes (Hill Harper) tells them she was strangled and then hanged from the rope.  The Vic was Ellen White (Sierra Hoyle) and her understudy, Alex found her DB. Danny (Carmins Giovinazzo) processes the rope from the CS and also Ellen's belongings.  He finds trace of black powder, the type manufactured before the Civil War, used in an antique gun.

Mac tells Christine (Megan Dodds) about his aphasia and she wonders why he didn't share this before, but knows why, cos she knows him; he very thing that she likes about him is why he couldn't tell her.  His pride as I said previously.  Sid (Robert Joy) quotes Martha Graham, "a dancer more than any other human being dies two deaths." He tells them Ellen was bulimic and also self-mutilated.  She doesn't have any defensive wounds, so she knew her killer.

Adam (AJ Buckley) runs from the lab (and I don't blame him!) telling Danny to tell his wife he didn't do it. Lindsay (Anna Belknap) has blue circular marks around her eyes after falling for a prank, she looked through the microscope.  What would be even better is if black was used instead giving her dark circles, ha. Oh Lindsay you're so dumb, call yourself a CSI, who said that would have been intended for her, well she did, cos everything's about her.  She promises to get to the bottom of it.  But it's obvious who it was, Danny of course, if you hadn't already guessed.  But obviously he wouldn't have meant it for her!  SO she goes around wearing a large pair of sunglasses, as if everyone hasn't seen it by now! Ugh!!

As Hawkes tells her, he's more interested in the case, as were we and not her pathetic little 'crusade.' Lindsay was testing a gun, also an antique which was used to kill a Jane Doe in the alley.  The powder from the rope matches the powder from the gun, but how did it get there?  A man points a gun at a woman in an alley and he's arrested.  It's the murder weapon.  Did we really need Lovato (Natalie Martinez) present in the interrogation again, not like she was needed or contributed anything, aside from face pulling that is! Oh and mumbling her lines!  The suspect is Sam Cross (Benjamin Ciaramello) who left the gym and saw her in the alley, with his record he didn't call the police, but he took some jewellery, cos she wouldn't be needing it and also the gun.  He doesn't know Ellen and he was with a woman at the time.

Lindsay tells Jo (Sela Ward) she found methylated blue was used on the microscope and also found some letters on the side of the bench.  Obviously from a shield, but took her ages to figure it out! She found anti-depressants in Jane Doe.  Christine tells Mac she wants to help him and regular as clockwork, Lindsay arrives wearing those shades! Trioxiphil was the drug and it is in the clinical stage, the FDA is working with selected psychiatrists to try it out.  Carly Emerson (Tara Summers) is one such doctor and identifies the Vic as Lisa who had bipolar disorder.  Ellen was also her patient.

Sam's alibi crosses him off the suspect list  nd Adam finds the gun was brought by Carly, but she really couldn't have been the killer.  Except for that Brit accent she was murdering! ha, even if she is British.  Mac was so impatient for Adam to tell them about the gun, but it was okay for Lindsay to go on and take forever.  Also if it had been anyone other than Lindsay getting pranked, he'd have gone ballistic!  Especially if Adam was involved as seen from past behaviour.

Flack finds Carly is missing and also Polaroids on her desk.  Hawkes finds the photos only had Carly's prints on them.  Mac puts the clues together and works out White was killed in the conservatory with the rope. (Well she was actually strangled first, so the killer was adapting the game to fit his own version).  Lisa was killed in (Hells) Kitchen with the gun and she had scarlet hair.  Thus she was Miss Scarlett from a game of Clue or Cluedo as we call it here.  (They call it Clue, cos they don't have a Cluedo, ha.)  They find the next Vic should have been Mustard but he's missing and so the next Vic after him will be Green.  Lindsay shows up at the next CS where a man has been killed on the golf green with a candlestick holder.  But she tells Mac she can't figure out the room, well if you had looked, you'd have seen the ballroom, love.  Ugh strike that love part ha!

Mac follows the blood trail showing the Vic was dragged.  Flack tells him Carly couldn't have lifted him and dragged him all that way here.  He was struck from behind .  Lindsay finds a piece of hair-like trace besides the Vic and it turns out to be a hair from a snow leopard.  Prompting Danny and her to end up at the zoo. She thinks Danny could be behind the prank since the letters show it could only have been a detective.  The leopard keeper, Robby (Joe Nieves) is the only who who handles it and he doesn't own a car but hires one. The next person who hired the car could be the killer. It was Steve Davis (Jake Thomas).

He was Carly's patient since he was 12 and he suffered from OCD and depression.  Carly no longer treated him since he fell in love with her.  At his apartment they find Carly tied up and the board all laid out and his next Vic will be Plum at the library.  Also finding a schedule which Carly recognizes as her fiance's, Clayton (Jay Boyer). Blood stains in the rented car match Shane's the golfing Vic.  In the library the students are made to leave but they find nothing.  See Lovato undo her hair to go suspect hunting! Huh!  Jo says the university was built in the 1800's so there's another library.  Adam finds the location on the old maps.  They find Clayton already stabbed and Mac gets to Steve before Flack does.  Yeah Lovato slowed him down!!

Steve is surprised Clayton is still alive.  He told Carly he loved her but she told him she didn't feel the same way.  He saw the photo of the two of them together.  When he was her patient, Carly told him to pick any game to play so that they could get to know each other.  He chose Clue.  Why would she have such a game in her office anyway?!  Carly was Mrs Peacock and he was Col Mustard.

Danny brings Lindsay roses to take her to dinner and confesses it was him, but it was meant to be Adam in ballistics, not her.  She was too overly pissed so he didn't tell her.  Mac tells Christine he loves her.

Flack's remark of not needing a white coat to determine what happened, "I may not be the owner of a wonderful white lab coat, but it sounds to me you're saying somebody strangled her and then strung her up." Kind of funny him mentioning the colour 'white, seeing as the Vic was called Ellen White and the ep was about the game, well based on the game.  Also he couldn't resist adding, "Mac Taylor in the lounge with the Glock."  Even Lindsay had to get in on this when she says it was Messer in the ballistics lab" Danny adding, "with the methylene blue."   Since it was Danny she forgives him, poor Adam he'd never have heard the end of it if it was him and she'd be getting her own back on him too!! To quote her, "whoever did this is going down," and he would have too!  Bigtime.

Flack had to finish Mac's word of "building" this ep and Christine later mentions the "blue" in the lab for him. Clearly Flack saw something was wrong but Lindsay didn't, too caught up in her own world.  Jo also notices how he's struggling but of course she can't say anything.

Martha Graham was a modern dance pioneer and the quote is from her 1991, 'Bloody Memory' memoir. Parts of this episode reminded me of the one with Stella  when her 'stalker' Drew kept leaving those clues behind which turned into a  puzzle.  He also turned out to be Mac's '333' stalker.  In 4.10 The Thing About Heroes, he had the team on the subway train which went on a ride of its own.  Always loved that part.  Especially how Stella was the first to run through the train both times, thinking of herself first! Ha and how Danny saved them cos he got left behind.

Once Upon A Time 2.22 "And Straight On 'Til Morning" Review

                                             
Henry (Jared S Gilmore) is on the swing, isn't he too old for that and clearly school's out, or he doesn't bother going anymore, with Granny (Beverley Elliott) keeping guard as Gold (Robert Carlyle) shows up and has yet another one of his flashes, he makes the rope break so Henry will end up on one of the rocks.  He tells the others he lost Bae but he can still watch his grandson.  As Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) break the news to him about Bae being shot by Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green).  You'd have thought being the Dark One, he would have wanted to avenge Bae but no such luck there.  He lets his son go for a second time really.  He showed more passion when he was after Milah and Hook (Colin O'Donoghue).

Hook is with Tamara and Greg (Ethan Embry) as they set off the Failsafe to destroy Storybrooke, needing one of the dwarf's pick axes to do so.  Hook resigns himself to dying too to set their plans in motion, at least on the surface.  Regina (Lana Parrilla) wakes and finds the device has been activated, saying goodbye to Henry cos she knows she's never coming back, which is what Emma (Jennifer Morrison) tells her.  Regina is more resigned to the fact that it's better to be alive even if Henry will be alone in Storybrooke since he was born in this world.

Snow and Charming think they can find the beans and get everyone to safety.  Hook tells them what they plan to do and has a change of mind, he doesn't want to die.  The folk of the two are more willing for Snow and Charming to lead them as they have done so in the past and Archie (Raphael Sbarge) leads them on to agree to this.  Grumpy (Lee Arenberg) comes to the store to find Sneezy's (Gabe Khouth) beer mug and he tells him it's not stealing if it belongs to them.  Also the Blue Fairy has found a formula to make him remember.  She needed Pinocchio's hair for the final ingredient.  Grumpy gives a vial to Gold for Belle (Emilie de Ravin) so she won't have to die as Lacey.  She made him remember who he was once and he wants to help her now.

Gold mends the cup and gets Belle to drink from it, after she uses Bae's robe to mop up the spilt whiskey.  So they find each other, okay that's Snow and Charming's line but works for others too.  She's sorry he lost Bae.  He's sorry he brought her back to this but he needs her.  Charming and Hook arrive at the cannery, for the amount of time Tamara and Greg have been here, you wouldn't think they'd have brought so much with them and files too, in this day and age of technology and computers.  SO clearly whoever is behind the Home Office is not that big on technology again suggesting it goes back centuries, at least.

Charming says he's doing this for his family but Hook says he's doing this to save himself and that's motivation enough.  They fight and Hook manages to get his hands on a magic bean which is all they need. Tamara and Greg run and Hook doesn't let Charming go after them.  Only for Hook to take the magic bean even after Emma's speech of not being alone and he will be here.

Hook recalls rescuing Bae (Dylan Schmid) and finding out whose son he really is as the Lost Boys come on board to search for him.  'He' wants him.  Hook teaches Bae to sail the ship (which is why he knew how to sail it in when they brought it back to Storybrooke with Gold dying.)  Bae finds out Hook's father abandoned him too just like his own and also finds Milah's picture as he threatens him with a sword, as the Lost Boys take him this time.  Suppose Hook mentioning the mermaids was a reference to the Little Mermaid (wonder if he came to Bae's rescue.)

When they arrive at the mine, Emma finds Hook tricked them and took the bean, yes Emma don't bother checking the pouch when he gave it to you.  She thinks she can help Regina stop the Failsafe and together they do that, but Henry is taken by Greg and Tamara.

He says he doesn't want Bae but rather Peter Pan is in  search of Henry as we're shown his picture, that's why Tamara and Greg took him and jumped through the portal with him.  So there must be some connection involved with Wendy here.  Hook sails away but returns cos he wants to do the right thing and save the town, which he's told has already been done.  He can take them through the portal on his ship.  Gold wants Belle to stay and cloak the town cos the others will come and he doesn't think he'll be back. Cos Henry is his undoing but he's his grandson.  Well about that, there are plenty of boys involved and the Seer didn't exactly mention Henry by name, we've also got Peter Pan, the other Lost Boys, as well as Bae who ends up in the Enchanted Forest and is found by Aurora (Sarah Bolger) Phillip (Julian Morris) and Mulan.  Thought that was poetic justice for Bae to end up there now since he was away from it all those years and even wanted to leave it, not wanting anything to do with magic.

What with Gold showing some remorse and shedding tears over Bae and Regina crying cos she won't see Henry and it was all her fault, we finally get to see the villains show some compassion after being associated with evil for so long.  Especially since Hook comes to his senses and finds he no longer wants revenge on Gold, so they can use his ship.  Gold uses his globe once again and Hook tells him they're heading to Neverland in search of Henry.  SO everyone together on one ship.

Charming punching Hook cos he owes him and then threatening to use the gun on him if he doesn't spill (the beans - ha.) As for Tamara and Greg wanting Henry now and taking him to 'Him', it's like something thought of at the last minute.  Cos Henry's been around here  along time and no one thought of it.  SO they came here to rid their world of magic and yet used the magic bean to open a portal to escape, using magic, very clever! To end up in another magical world!  Oh can we just ensure we don't have to see them two next season.  Let's have Peter Pan get rid of them and feed them to the mermaids. Those mermaids must be pretty dark, aren't they meant to be sirens and not mermaids, which aren't really equated with being evil.

Thought Charming took that bean from Hook at the cannery, yet Emma let Hook swipe it back.  Also how could they have taken Henry when he was with Snow and Charming, not very clever losing him like that.  But how long can they keep evil away from Gold and Regina next season and will they go back to it.  Also how long will Hook try and help before being sucked up again by his own selfishness. Why couldn't the Blue Fairy protect Storybrooke? Or help with the Failsafe even if Regina made it.