Revenge 2.8 "Lineage" Review

                                            
This upside takes us back to 2006 showing how Emily (Emily VanCamp) met Aiden (Barry Sloane) and saved Ashley (Ashley Madekwe).  Seems like Emily already knew Takeda (Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa) and she helped him take Aiden under his wing.  The Grayson's aren't without their own flashbacks, as Victoria's (Madeleine Stowe) mother, Marion (Adrienne Barbeau) drops into town for Thanksgiving, new man in tow, Mr Greevey (Matt Riedy).  She plans on marrying him and Victoria reluctantly lets her stay.  Daniel (Josh Bowman) is still at college and is into poetry in a big way. To the point of actually getting Conrad (Henry Czerny) to read some of his poems, as if he'd actually approve of a son of his writing poetry.  Perish the thought, as he did with his poems!

Jack's (Nick Wechsler) father, Carl (Brian Goodman) has a run in with Joe Ryan (Michael Rose) who is nothing more than a thug extorting protection money from the businesses at the wharf, as are his sons, present day.  It's funny though how Jack doesn't recall the name Ryan, unless he never heard it, since he would have recalled them now and been weary of starting a partnership with them.

Ashley apparently was about to 'sell' herself in return for money  and Emily sends her away with money after getting details on the whereabouts of a Dmitri (Timothy v Murphy).  He's into girls and trafficking them.  Was going to say nothing's changed with Ashley then, ha.  Emily tells Aiden who is tending bar, his Russian stinks. Takeda tells her about Colleen who is missing and turns out she's Aiden's sister.  He foils Emily's plan to get in with Dmitri but she saves him from Aiden shooting him.  However that was shortlived as Aiden manages to get his revenge on Dmitri and shoots him anyway, all that for nothing.

Victoria flashes back to the men her mother knew, who always liked her back when she was 15 and how she became who she is now cos of her.  Victoria tells Greevey of the time her mother threw her out, and how beforehand she had her shoot Thomas otherwise she'd never see her mother again.  Maybe that would have been a good thing.  Victoria wrecks her mother's last chance at making a 'life' for herself, well ensnaring another rich man and afterwards she and Conrad comment on how he paid Greevey the money for staging the meeting with her mother.  SO she got her revenge, as did Conrad, kind of by burning Daniel's poetry.  He's good but Conrad wants him to run Grayson Global.

Carl's friend shoots Ryan with his father's gun and they let that storyline go all season 1 until now, until his brats take over from him. Nolan's (Gabriel Mann) CFO, Marco (EJ Bonilla) tells him the accountants have discovered the account in the Cayman's is missing over a billion dollars and he comes clean about David Clark being an investor and how he couldn't let his daughter suffer.  Seems like Nolan gives his heart too readily to people who stab him in the back, as Padma will probably do the same.

Present Day

 As Dcclan (Connor Paolo) tells Kenny Ryan (JR Bourne) [surprised no one's heard of them and their dirty dealings,] they can't sell expensive booze and Kenny mentions what his father used to say.  Aiden can't believe he ended up with her six years later and she shows him her father's conspiracy box, with the affinity symbol which he sees on her wrist.  Ugh don't trust that Aiden cos there's more to him than meets the eye, especially the way he looked at her tattoo.  Emily remarks about "a never ending journey."  Is that her revenge or the time the show will be on air, ha.

Daniel calls Marco for news on NolCorp and he's more than happy to oblige.  Victoria wants Conrad's help to protect Daniel and he regrets how perhaps he should have let him become a poet after all, now he's in the firing line.  They have to stop him from taking over the board.

It was good how the pieces from six years ago all came together in the present day, of how Victoria got revenge on Marion but then she and Conrad turn around and basically manipulate Daniel into doing what they want him to do and became his father in essence.  Victoria of course not learning from her past and her mother's mistakes, is destined to continue making her own.  SO no matter what revenge she got on her mother, she still isn't any better than her.  As for Conrad he was married before meeting Victoria and it seems that Victoria probably manipulated him into marrying her too, judging from that painter lover of hers from season 1 and everything that happened between them.  Including Conrad's affair with Lydia.

They keep adding more facets to the Flight conspiracy as Aiden knows about it and his father was a baggage handler at Heathrow, but says his father would never do a thing like planting a bomb, if I heard right.  So what did the Russian mobsters have to do with the plane, or was that just one of Takeda's missions since he tells Emily after she pulls this one off, she can get back on track to her own revenge.  Let's hope this part of the plot doesn't get too confusing as they get more people involved in it.

Funny Victoria having spent time in a mental institution when she was 15, didn't help though, ha.  She and Emily's mother, Kara also being in the same boat of being put away due to circumstances beyond their control.  But what did David see in Victoria to begin an affair with her anyway.  Wonder if Victoria saw a reflection of Marion when she looked in the mirror and not of herself?  She is after all, her mother's daughter.

Oh and it seems everyone had the same hair styles post 2006 and circa 2006!!  This flashback episode was similar in many respects to that of season 1's episode 20 Legacy, back to 2002 when Emily was about to get that cheating guy of hers with the toilet seat.  here Ashley locks herself in the toilet and Emily has to save her.  Back then Nolan had to rescue Emily and have a talk with her, also his hair was long in 2002, just as it was in the present day.  here it's short in 2006, just as it is present day.  Really no wigs available??  Jack had long locks in the 2002 flashback and also had Carl.  The infinity symbol was also shown and how Emily had it tattooed onto her wrist, as it was alluded to here again this time by Aiden.

Mr Selfridge Series 1 Episode 8 Review

                                      
This episode opens with another distinguished store owner coming to dinner with Harry (Jeremy Piven) from across the pond; FW Woolworth (Michael Brandon) and he is to opening a new store in Brixton.  Whist his wife, Jennie (Lisa Eichorn) and Rose (Frances O'Connor) share pleasantries, the men engage in some rivalry.  With Woolowrth talking about how he intends to open a store for everyone, be thrifty, whereas Selfridge's is for the wealthy.  Harry should stick to the duchesses.  Harry doesn't believe that having a store like Woolworth on Oxford Street can be good for business.  Rose sees that Jennie is suffering immensely and doesn't look well.  Jennie remarks on how she preferred it when they were "coming up" in the world since they had each other and spent more time together.  Something that must have rung true for Rose too.

Rose speaks with Lady Mae (Katherine Kelly) about Rosalie's (Poppy Lee Friar) coming out and Lady Mae suggests she move onto the next step of meeting eligible bachelors.  She invites her to the next soiree and Harry accompanies her too.  Where surprise, or not so surprisingly, Rose finds Rosalie talking with none other than Roddy Temple (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) alone.  Well it's no secret he'd worm his way back in somehow and Rose doesn't like him being here.  Let alone spending time with Rosalie.

So on Sunday Rosalie feigns illness to get out of going to church and when Rose returns home she finds Rosalie with Roddy and very cosy they looked too.  He claims he was giving Rosalie a drawing lesson but Rose wants him out in no uncertain terms and wants him away from her daughter.  Telling him Harry will be home soon and will have very different ideas about the impropriety in a drawing lesson.  Yeah should have let Harry beat the crap (sorry) out of Roddy too!

Harry sets to work on the store, asking his staff what he can buy for a penny.  Answer being hardly anything.  Thus he comes up with the idea of a mid-season sale.  Anything for a penny, or as cheap as chips, open to all and not just the rich.  Taking on Woolworth's "pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap" ethos.  Especially after Crab (Ron Cook) tells him Mrs Crab (Wendy Nottingham) will be frequenting Woolworth's for her cheap shopping.

Lady Mae gets Victor (Trystan Gravelle) to make ice cream for her guests and he's just realized, I so wanted to say, the penny's just dropped, ha;  she won't be funding his restaurant anytime soon, if ever.  She wants him to leave the back way so her guests don't see him.  Also she thinks he's rushing things and she doesn't like to be rushed.  Agnes (Aisling Loftus) gets closer to Henri (Gregory Fitoussi) and spends the night with him.  He's more into refined things and the opera and she doesn't even know what that is.  She likes the way he can tell a story and admits one day she'd like his job, but that's not why she likes him.  Agnes takes him to Spitalfield's and he notices a display where everything is packed together.  Giving him an idea for a store window display.

Agnes finds Victor waiting for her when she returns home and invites him for coffee.  Him thinking he may still have a chance with her.  He comments on her large bouquet of flowers, probably from Henri but she doesn't tell him that.  He mentions not being able to get the investment since she made him roll over and beg like a dog but he didn't get a biscuit in the end.  he mentions the 'she' word freely now whereas before it was a slip of the tongue and he didn't know the possible investor was a woman.  At the Palm Court, Ellen Love (Zoe Tapper) wants her usual table as she brings Tony (Will Payne) in tow.  But Victor tells her it's Harry's table, however she's insistent.  Harry wants some menus revised so that the ordinary customer can eat there too and when Victor suggests the menu change he's cut off by Perez (Timothy Watson).

Harry has to endure Ellen and Tony who tells her she's starring in his new play, having to make smalltalk with them.  He tells Perez to let him know when they're here next time since he doesn't want to bump into them.  Grove (Tom Goodman-Hill) decides on the assistant for the Accessories department, he opts for Doris (Lauren Crace) which I said, but Miss Mardle (Amanda Abbington) makes him change that to Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes) as Miss Mardle knows her own mind and his, better than he does his own.  This comes after their little 'altercation' when Grove needs more time to decide what he wants to do about their 'relationship.'  He was with his wife for 12 years and doesn't know whether he loved her or not.

Grove gives Doris his wife's clothes for Miss Bunting (Pippa Haywood) and tells her Harry has refused a reference as he's not willing to do that for someone who steals.  Victor comes up with an idea of selling ice cream and candies for a penny throughout the store during the sale, which Gordon (Adam Wilson) thinks is great and so does Harry.  Kitty sells Mrs Crab a hat but we don't now who she is until Crab introduces her to Harry.  She's done an awful lot of shopping and Crab will be amazed.  That he will, especially at his bank balance, ha.

Rose returns home to find Roddy with the children again and when she tells him to leave he attempts to  blackmail to make her come to his studio and then he won't have to come here.  She hates how he's using Rosalie to get to her and calls him "insufferable."  Well he is cos he can't take the hint that she doesn't want anything to do with him.  As he leaves he bumps into Harry on the street but doesn't know who he is.  Oh they should just set Harry onto him and be done with it.  What makes him think Harry or Rose would deem him a suitable match for Rosalie, he's practically a penniless painter! And nothing more than a cad, besides he doesn't want Rosalie but Rose and what better way to get to the mother than through the daughter. Did he think he was fooling anyone by being so obvious.

Woolworth tells Harry he's done wonders with the sale, which is to last for another two weeks, but he's leaving cos Jennie isn't well and he should have seen the signs before.  Family is everything at the end of the day.  He'll be opening a store in Croydon.  That may have opened Harry's eyes and made him rush home to the family, but don't think it will last that long.  Was Miss Mardle really looking out for Doris when she wanted Kitty to have the job saying she won't be so easily taken in, like she was.

Lots of loosening of corsets and purse strings in this episode!  Not to forget Crab getting excited at the prospect of an "automatic nutcracker."

Wonder how long Agnes will have her head up in the clouds as far as Henri is concerned, especially considering she was kind of a rebound for him from his other love.  Also the way Agnes keeps calling him a "fairytale prince" living in a castle.  A Chateau, he responds, but he says it wasn't such a good life.  As for Lady Mae's dress didn't think she would wear that to her 'soiree' and Rose appeared as if she was about to fall out of hers any minute now!
Also wonder if Harry would stock My NCIS Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to NCIS the TV Show??  Anything for a quick buck you know, ha!!  Seeing as he was "prepared to sell anything from an aeroplane to a cigar."

The Mentalist 5.10 "Panama Red" Review

Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and Cho (Tim Kang) are called to a CS where the DB of a dead climber is found at a gym.  She calls Patrick (Simon Baker) but he already had news of the call as he sits on the makeshift bed in the attic.  He's still enthusiastic about having shaken hands with Red John and so has met him.  Lisbon thinks he's obsessed.  She texts him Jeremy's apartment address and he meets her there; telling her someone's already been over the apartment.  There's a photo of Jeremy and his advisor, Alice Burns (Susan Gibeny) at his graduation.  Plus this time round, Patrick is intrigued by a puzzle box.  Well we all know about Patrick and Puzzles.  There's a hidden safe behind the books which he tells them are in the wrong order and the safe is empty.

Alice speaks with Lisbon and Patrick about how Jeremy was brilliant and gave her a puzzle box too.  She's also dying but has marijuana cigarettes to smoke.  He was working for a Matthew Gold at Westerly Organic, where they grow the stuff.  Matthew (Troy Ruptash) laments about not being able to grow more than 99 plants and how he was once a businessman, well once a businessman, always a businessman.  There's motive right there and he was my number one suspect.  Patrick noticing the seeds he's shown them.  Patrick then chats with Carson, another worker who is high and tells them how Jeremy paid him $8,000 to have his car fixed.  Patrick telling him to use eyedrops and breath mints.

Patrick uses a magnet to open the puzzle box and finds a keycard to JG Allen Tobacco company, letting himself in, he gets caught of course and tells Lisbon he left message on heh voicemail.  Patty asking if he should get down or put his hands up, only from Patty!  Jeremy's boss Francesca (Nicole Bilderbeck) says he was working for her on a project developing seeds, called Turbo Wolf.  Patrick tells them Lisbon's not his boss, but she adds she is.  He finds out that Jeremy's work area was bugged and Jeremy stole the seeds when he found out they were to be put into storage.

The security guard, Elwood (Michael Whaley) is brought in for questioning but doesn't say much.  Patrick finds Jeremy's notebook but can't decipher the code, so he makes up the name of a pharmaceutical guy, Olivier and copies part of the code from his notebook.  He gives a copy to the security guard, one to the boss and one to Matthew.  Thinking one of them will be able to decipher it.

Cho is brought onto task again by Tamsin Wade (Monica Gabriela Curnen) as part of the Rapid Response Unit and they break a counterfeiting ring.  Whilst in pursuit, Cho comes across Summer (Samarie Armstrong) at the raid.  She claims to be a bystander, but Wade wants to press charges. Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) tells Cho he dodged a bullet with her, also cos Summer is pregnant and is engaged but the baby's not his.  She was visiting with Chuck.  When Cho and Rigsby go to arrest him, there's another chase, as usual and Cho gets the brunt of it.  Oh Rigsby you need to speed it up a little.  Chuck (James Jordan) is willing to testify against the ring if he's given a deal which includes Summer being released.  ADA Osvaldo Ardiles David Norono) is on hand to make the deal and he didn't want to prosecute a pregnant woman anyway.  But Wade did and she's annoyed Cho went behind her back and she can't trust him, though she would have shot him down if he had told her what he wanted to do.

Patrick and Lisbon get Rigsby to play Olivier and see who comes a-calling at the hotel room.  Soon enough Francesca tells him she has the seeds and lets Rigsby sample the product, which immediately gets him high.  Matthew also arrives thinking he's got the real seeds.  Patrick thinks they should split the $4 million between them and Francesca refuses.  Matthew wants to and lets slip how he broke into the safe for the seeds, as well as killing Jeremy.  Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) tells him Francesca changed the seeds so he killed Jeremy for nothing.

Patrick hides Lisbon's keys in the puzzle box and then she smashes it with a hammer from her desk, he can't believe she keeps it in her desk and she tells him he doesn't know everything about her.  Hmm wonder what that was about then, you know Lisbon having secrets, just like Patty does.  Also a brief parallel at the beginning when they met with Alice and she tells them that Jeremy could be secretive, ring any bells here, as said.

A fairly routine episode, a little slow in places since there wasn't much on Red John, not that we expected there would be.  At least Summer came and went, so we don't have to put up with her anymore, didn't like her storylines either, she wasn't quite right for Cho.  Didn't think much of Wade either, calling them "ladies" when she walks in.  Her character is a bit too much like that of Det Wallowski, that Monica used to play in Lie To Me.  Infact she seems to have similar character traits here too. Then referring to Lisbon as "your cute boss" to Cho, what's up with that?  Maybe she has designs on Cho, romantically, maybe she's another one who's up on the CBI and its nuances, perhaps even in league with a certain RJ, but that sounds a bit far fetched, even for me to mention.

Patrick: "I know I met Red John now, shook his hand."  Which is just more teasing on his part for viewers, cos not much will come of this anytime soon.  Of course that could mean just about anyone under the moon and also a convenient way for producer and writers to name just about anyone as RJ when they feel like it.  Patrick could just as easily have met him on screen, in TV speak, meaning the meeting didn't really take place until it's actually written in somewhere along the way in a script.  Also his saying "it's a curse some people live by" when Alice tells him Jeremy would be impressed he figured the puzzle.  Reinforcing what we know about Patrick already, he is gifted and is good at what he does. Yet has to suffer those with less intellect than him.  Must be frustrating especially since it sometimes makes him come across as a bit arrogant at times.

 Liked Patty coveting the puzzle box as soon as he found it, "it's mine"  me adding to that line perhaps, "me precious."  Haven't seen him that possessive before.  I would have called Patty cute here, never mind Lisbon, ha.  His hair kept changing almost every scene too.  His was back to his old self here a little his RJ 'obsession' aside and especially the way he sympathized with Alice when he asked her what's wrong with her.

Lisbon: "You only think you know everything about me."  Isn't Patty supposed to know everything, even about Lisbon.  The way she smashed the box showing she doesn't really have time for his 'games' and if she wants to, she will take the lead and be his boss.  Though Patty was gobsmacked and a little heartbroken I guess that she didn't ask him how to open it, or indeed how he did manage to open it.  In that respect, Alice was more interested in than Lisbon.

Rigsby hungry again and wanting the cheese, as does Patrick when he finds his con is getting interesting!  Some funny moments from Simon and Owain here showing us just why even Red John aside, this show is so riveting.  Even if Poor Van Pelt is left to interview the suspect after arrest and always break the bad news to them of how they needn't have bothered committing the crime, or it was futile.

CSI 11.4 "Sqweegel" Review

                                          
Everyone's heard of the Anthony Zuiker 'Digi-Novel' Level 26: Dark Origins and this is an episode which takes a character from that, Sqweegel, and is incorporated in a CSI episode. Very dark and creepy too.

The CSIs are called to investigate the brutal attack of Margot Wilton (Ann-Margret) in her own home by a masked intruder.  Nick (George Eads) runs into Ryan Fink (Mitchell Fink)  whom he saw on TV and calls him a "real hero" for saving children from a fire.  Ray (Laurence Fishburne) comments on the photos on her wall being cut up and the scrapings are found on the floor.   Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) notices the number of awards she's received.   An award on the wall has also been turned upside down.   Ray: "...up to us to turn it right side up."  The case that is.   Nick finds the glass on the French doors in the kitchen have been cut through.   Ray notices blood on the walls, the bed and the headboard, as well as the cast off on the walls, indicating the attacker was on top of her.   He also spots the trail of blood on the floor, the prints being unusual as they go from footprint, handprint, handprint, footprint.

Outside, Greg (Eric Szmanda) takes some scrapings on the window ledge for analysis.   Nick tells him he's found the entry and exit, so too has Greg.   All the other windows were varnished shut, and there's a dust void on the sill, showing he's been through the window many times.   So they're looking for someone small.   Or says Nick, a "leprechaun."

Nick has more questions than answers now and Ray wonders if Margot is "lucky to be alive, or left alive by design." Since all the messages he's left behind, show the attack was personal.   There weren't any fingerprints so Nick posits they need to examine the evidence he didn't leave behind.

Margot describes her attacker as being 'slippery', wearing gloves and African American.   She recalls his eyes and he had braces on his teeth.   Ray removes her stitches so he can take photos of the cuts sustained during the attack.   Her son died.   She asks why the 'cute resident' stitched her up at all.   Ray: "I'm not cute?"  Tells him to 'gotta hell'.   For all her philanthropy, she was a nasty piece of work, in the sense that even though her backstory is sad and you can sympathize with her, she appears abrupt.   She would've preferred cute Greggie to have taken photos instead!

Catherine still checks the bedroom for prints and Greg remarks his Papa Olaf would say, "when the going gets rough, keep your chin up."  Greg's so into looking up isn't he, especially since he did the same thing in the first episode of this season when looking for the remote controlled plane.   Also looking up is clearly something these people don't do.   He finds the attic, but Catherine tells him "I don't do attics - I'm dirty enough."  Well, she did in Nick's stalker episode from season 2, entitled, Stalker.  She joined Gil (William Petersen) in the attic then.   I thought of this same episode here and then Catherine said it later.   Great minds think alike! Ha.   Greg finds a hole in the ceiling, her attacker was watching her and calls him a 'kinky rat' who can use a lipstick camera, and finds mouldy orange peels in one of the drawers.   He was living up there.   Nick walks in with Margot's mail, which the attacker had been reading and Catherine states: "You and Margot have something in common - stalker."

Nick: "That was a long time ago."  He was very dismissive in tone about her remark, so he's clearly over that incident in his life and has put it behind him, otherwise he didn't want to bring that up again.   I think he just didn't want to remember it, as it was a "traumatic memory" for him, to swipe Ray's phrase.  Either way, it's good to see that he doesn't like to dwell on the past and particularly, bad things like that, since it would put him off concentrating on this case.

Nick says they were sleeping together; he would lay under her bed.   We get Ray's new concept: 'the hourglass of evidence'.   In the absence of evidence they must turn over the hourglass.   Thus comments Greg, "the absence of evidence is evidence."   They have to analyze everything they've 'found' and fill the bottom of the hourglass, eventually leading to the "truth."  The evidence must be examined again.

Hodges (Wallace Langham) notices the attacker's void on the carpet from under Margot's bed smells like urine.   Nick sniffs  and says it's not urine.   Hodges telling him that Grissom would've tasted that.   EEww.   But he's not Grissom.   Lots of mentions of Gil lately.   Just incase he may be forgotten, which isn't very probable.   Nick tells him if it's sweat then they can get epithelials from it.   After Hodge's analysis he finds the attacker has a fetish.   The amylase stain was sweat with trace amounts found in latex fetish spray; slide on latex suits with a zipper on the back.   Which made him sweat.   Hodges: "time to get kinky."  Just in time for Catherine to see his little dance.

Greg brought up the kinky rat phrase and next thing you know, Nick and Catherine visit a sex store.   Catherine making particular reference to the Doberman mask being real.   She tells Nick that all sex crimes begin with fantasy and she's been here purely in a professional capacity only.   Nick tells her he had to ask and if she's okay.   Catherine replies by asking Nick if he's okay.   Hey this scene reminded me of the episodes of CSI:NY, whenever Flack (Eddie Cahill) and Stella (Melina Karakanades) were on a sex case, or a new-found fad craze, they'd come up with such comments and steely looks and Stella would always be one step ahead, knowing all about it.   The store owner helps Catherine out on her cases and he recalls selling the spray 6 months ago, with some custom-made head-to-toe latex suits.   He has photos from which can only be glimpsed the one brown eye and one blue eye of the attacker.   Nick repeats here what Hodges said about him sweating because of his zipper.   The man left his name as "Ian Moone."  The obvious question to ask is why he'd leave his name behind if he hasn't left anything else.

This Ray deciphers as an anagram, to read "I am no one."  A woman is attacked in the carwash with her daughter in the backseat., as she makes a call.   This was the reason she was murdered.   Catherine and Greg find traces of the woman's blood in the car and Greg discovers he was hiding in the boot (trunk) where the spare tyre was kept.   Hey I said he was hiding in the car already.   He left behind an 'A' on the windshield of the car in blood.   Catherine shouts "a 425a: suspect on the premises" - which she was a little slow off the mark with.

Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) asks Alise (Emily Skinner) what happened and relays the questions as if he's talking with her doll.   She tells him "Sqweegel."  Her husband, Jason Jones, (David Julian Hirsh) tells Brass his wife, Carrie (Laurie Fortier) was appointed to the Family Values Committee and was another "hero."  David (David Berman) finds old wounds on her body.   Jason speaks of a break-in they had and she was cut.   Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) examines her as being cut twice.   David identifies the weapon as box cutters or a straight razor.   She had injuries to her neck and a severed carotid artery.

Ray stipulates she had identical wounds, all similar in length so it has to be the same attacker.   Under Carrie's bed they find voids indicating the attacker was also here.   Brass lets them know about the "Sqweegel" comment which he assumes was the noise from the squeegee on the window, but if Alise had her headphones on, how did she hear the sound.   Greg's traumatic image being 'deja vu'.  The same Mo.   They look up to find a hole in the ceiling.   oh come on, who cannot see that gaping hole in their ceiling, either that or they don't clean very often!   Nick finds a DVD in the bed.   This contains video of her having an affair with another man, which explains the 'A' on the windshield, Ray describes as a 'scarlet letter'.   Jason remembers the attacker telling her, "I know, confess."  Brass thinks she was hiding her dirty little secret and was given a chance to repent, as was Margot.   Ray tells her the same line, but she insists on going home.

Also figured out she killed her son, even if she considered it a mercy killing and he asked her to end his suffering.   Margot finds fresh orange peel in the drawer, whilst searching for her letters.   Nick's called out to an abandoned car belonging to Ryan.   He finds blood inside.   The attacker chases Margot.   The slimy slithering was creepy.     She confesses to him and then shoots him but he gets away, having replaced her gun with blanks.   Greg takes her letters and steams them open.   Ray finds Ryan's DB under her bed, dressed in a latex suit.  Ryan Fink has the same scars.

Brass hears on the tipline how Ryan started fires, just to save the children from them.   Ray asks: "the biggest secret of all, who is Ian Moone?"
Who replies, "I am no one..."

The first CSI case where the killer leaves behind no evidence - other than some sweat on a zipper - which isn't much to go on, presenting the team with a dilemma.   Also why would he reveal his different coloured eyes in a photo, when he's hidden/masked everything else about him.   To throw them off track, provide them with false evidence of his true description.

For fans of the Digi-novel, or for those who haven't read it yet, you can still read it and watch this episode without there being any dangers of spoilers.

Personally I liked the allusion Catherine made to Nick's Stalker episode, not only to keep up the continuity for older viewers, but to alert the more newer viewers to such plots.   Making sure some of CSI's best episodes aren't forgotten and also how some cases still have an impact on the CSI's personal lives; even though they don't like to admit it.

Sara was conspicuously absent this episode, just like Brass was last time.

666 Park Avenue 1.1 "Pilot" Review

                                                           
From the outset people like me need to suspend any notions of shows/films they have watched before to look at this show with fresh eyes, for me that would almost entirely be Supernatural. Yeah okay, out with the moans and groans! The first scene opened with the Doran's at a concert watching a violin player, when said violin player arrives home it's clear he's made some sort of a deal since Gavin calls him and tells him his ten years are up, with him begging for another year.  Instantly the thought that occurred to me was making deals and selling one's soul are the realm of Supernatural.  Especially the early seasons.  You see the crossroads demons, if they feel generous will give you ten years in any deal you make, which is a signed and sealed contract.  After which it's collection time and collection's a bitch, or in this case hell hounds.  This violin player gets dragged back into the Drake though a hole in the door and is never heard of again.  being sent to warmer climes.

You see Gavin Doran (Terry O'Quinn) owner of the Drake and his wife Olivia (Vanessa Williams) are demons you might say, okay he's the devil it appears; who occupy the penthouse of the Drake, that being on the 13th floor and obviously the number 999 Park Avenue is really an inverted 666. The devil's playground you might say.  Cue naive couple, except they're not married Jane Van Veen (Rachael Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable).  She's an architect and he's a lawyer working for the mayor which is convenient for Gavin as he's into buying and selling ad not just property, but also souls and making deals aren't the usual sense of the word to you and me.  Their plan is to get Henry.  Thus I had to wonder what sort of a contract Jane and Henry signed when they were hired as resident managers.  Not being able to resist the lavishness and decadence of the apartment they were provided with.

At first Gavin rejects Jane giving him any input on the building and what should be changed but later on after they've been to the concert themselves and Olivia has bought an expensive red dress for Jane, Gavin is more than willing to let Jane look over the plans to help him renovate the Drake keeping as many original features as possible.

The couple also meet Brian (Robert Buckley) a struggling playwright who spends his time playing voyeur watching the woman across the street, whom his wife, Louise (Mercedes Masohn) hires as an assistant and then conveniently gets her head struck in between the lift doors and ends up in hospital.  Also there's John Barlow (James Waterston) who Jane meets when his hand is dripping with blood.  He's just killed a judge for Gavin.  John now gets Mary back.  Half expecting her to return as a zombie which she probably was, but she's not long for this world, unless John kills another vic, this time the man whose property Gavin is after.  Oh hold on, John and Mary really?  As in John and Mary Winchester from Supernatural, no, they couldn't find any alternative first names!

SO anyway at the concert Jane feels Gavin trying to kiss the back of her neck and Henry puts this down to her drinking.  Also Jane's found a dragon mosaic which was part of a fraternity.  That night she sees Mary jump off the building telling her to leave here.  She thinks she dreamed it but when we see her dirty feet we know it really happened.  There's also Nona (Samantha Logan) a thief who even warns Jane about little things going missing, you see she's a clairvoyant and remarks on how beautiful Jane's necklace is, which she steals.  Olivia also remarked on the necklace.  Anyway Nona has a vision of Jane running in her red dress, probably in 'hot' pursuit by Gavin.  That's another aspect that's meant to draw us back in for the next ep.

Also John can't come through with killing another vic so he's sucked through the wallpaper, so much for wanting his wife back, really do these people think they will get what they want.  Even if it's just on TV. So gullible.  Wonder if Brian will ever get past tying the title, "Disappearing Ink" before he disappears along with the show.  Oops, sorry it already has.

The show based on the novels of Gabriella Pierce, aims to lure viewers in with the thrill of the supernatural and the occult and its lavish setting, with this down on their luck couple who just might not be able to resist the lure of hitting it rich and striking a deal or two of their own.  Though the show has been cancelled by ABC in the US, there are still two episodes to air.  As for me, well I'll have to reserve judgement until another few eps since for me there was a strong sense of deja vu, but then again, that's just me!

Rachael Taylor was in shortlived Charlie's Angels remake and Dave Annable was in Brothers and Sisters.

The Vampire Diaries 4.10 "After School Special" Review

                                                                                
School's out or in whichever way you want to look at it as the residents and students of Mystic Falls say farewell to their beloved mayor Carol Lockwood.  The sheriff (Marguerite MacIntyre) gives a rousing farewell and then has a meeting with the new interim mayor, Rudy (Rick Worthy) who as it happens turns out to be the Alpha vampire from Supernatural, oh wait he's Bonnie's (Kat Graham) father here.  He accepted the job after six people turned it down and she lets him into how Carol really died and the general goings on in the town.  Which being Bonnie's dad shouldn't be news to him.  He tells Bonnie he's there to protect her and she shouldn't need to protect the town using her 'gifts.'

Rebekah (Claire Holt) gets hold of Elena (Nina Dobrev) Caroline (Candace Accola) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) and compels them to reveal their feelings.  She gets Elena to admit sire bond aside she's in love with Damon (Ian Somerhalder) ho hum, not really news to us but mainly for newcomers or those with short attention spans and memories, ha.  Rebekah wants Stefan to suffer the pain she suffered for 900 years with a song in her heart, and relishes how Stefan has a dagger through his heart now and the pain he feels at her rejection.  The same thing she felt when Klaus (Joseph Morgan) compelled her to forget Stefan.  She offers  to compel him to forget Elena but then refuses.  Seeing as she's Klaus's sister through and through of course she wouldn't oblige.

She wants info on the cure and they tell her about Shane (David Alpay) who gives Bonnie a witch's necklace, it's real bone.  He's also been deceiving Bonnie when he tells her 'expressionism' has nothing to do with black magic since Stefan tells Rebekah what that is.  Rebekah enlists Kol's (Nathanial Buzolic) help to torture Shane into revealing where the cure is and Bonnie uses a protection spell to save him, which gets misfired and ends up with April (Grace Phipps) feeling everything that he does physically at least.  Stefan has to save April who then blabs to the sheriff and new mayor about how her father didn't kill all those people but was made to do it by Shane.  Funny Bonnie not recognizing Kol straigtaway when he passes her at Shane's.
Rebekah uses Kol to torture Shane for the info on the cure and he tells them about the immortal Silas and how he wants to bring them into the world leading Kol to impale him.

Rebekah meanwhile plays her game of truth or dare after compelling Stefan, Elena and Caroline and Elena tells Stefan she loves Damon, sire bond or not.  That she loves Stefan but isn't in love with him, well if Stefan didn't have a puppy dog look on his face!  She also refers to him as a broken toy and Damon makes her feel alive.  Bet many were calling Elena many names right about now, especially 'bee-ach' for one!  So what's so special about Elena anyway, no really?  Rebekah has also roped, okay compelled Tyler (Michael Trevino) into coming to save Caroline and then compels him to turn so he will kill them, not that she wants them dead.

Poor Tyler had it bad this episode finally breaking down over his mother's death and blaming himself for not being able to save her and ending up in the same hall where the memorial was held at school.  Damon helps Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) at boy's camp and keeps him and Matt (Zach Roerig) from pizza, well someone had to stop them eating too much junk food, until Klaus arrived wanting to speed the process up of Jeremy hunting vampires.  Damon gets to shot Klaus in revenge for Carol, but not like that hurt him.

Elena running after Stefan as if he wants to hear anything she has to say with her 'we need to talk' just to ease her conscience.  What could she possibly say that would make him feel better.  As if admitting she's in love with Damon wasn't the final nail in the coffin.  Rebekah tormenting Stefan with her offer to compel him to forget everything about Elena which he falls for but she refuses so he can feel the same pain she felt for 900 years.  Particularly after Klaus compelled heh to forget Stefan.  Stefan and Rebekah forge alliances since Stefan tells her Damon has Jeremy and Klaus, kind of, Klaus has the sword, Shane has Bonnie and they have nothing.  Rebekah wants the cure to use on Klaus to watch him become mortal.

Klaus meanwhile has fresh prey waiting for Jeremy to hunt at the bar and Elena tells Damon Stefan knows about them, yet the Salvatore hate continues once more with Stefan hating Damon again, just after they 'found' themselves again a few episodes ago.

Good to see Rebekah having fun for a change  with her game, well she hasn't had any in a long time.  Damon wants to find the cure for Elena, thought Stefan wanted that and Damon wants Elena to drive to him, huh so much for brotherly love.  Turns out Damon doesn't want Klaus to find another way of speeding up the mapping process on Jeremy's body but instead agrees with Klaus, yeah only cos of Elena.

April: "It's time the entire town started telling the truth" yeah like that'll happen.

Revenge 2.7 "Penance" Review

                                       
Emily: "penance is a sacrifice.  A voluntary punishment to show remorse for a sin.  The more grievous the sin, the greater the self- inflicted suffering.  For some, the ultimate penance is death.  But for others it is simply a means to an end."

Lots happening this episode beginning with Kara (Jennifer Jason Leigh) sneaking up on Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) or rather scaring her in the process, to tell her she's leaving and needs a credit card, obviously Victoria volunteers thinking the sooner she's out of her hair the better.  Mason (Roger Bart) confronts Emily (Emily Vancamp) with the revelation that she and Amanda (Margarita Levieva) were at juvvie together, is that all, would have thought it would have been the revelation everyone was talking about, that Emily is really Amanda.  He thinks she and Amanda were lovers.  So he will expose everything in his next book which will make the New York best seller list as did his first one.  Emily threatens him with a libel suit when that happens, but he doesn't give up there.

Aiden (Barry Sloane) plans a meeting with Daniel (Josh Bowman) and will give him the ammo necessary to prove David Clarke had a large share holding in NolCorp and provided finance for it, thus Grayson Global is entitled to a large chunk of the company and more importantly profits.  Daniel wants to use this to take over Grayson Global with a no confidence vote in Conrad (Henry Czerny).  The plan is skank Ashley (Ashley Madekwe) will ensure Conrad is held up at the meeting with investors whilst Daniel will reveal his plan to the other investors, including Helen Crowley (Wendy Crewson) from the Initiative.  Little does Daniel know who she is.  Victoria listens to Daniel's plan and tries to tell Conrad, but Kara holds them up in their room.  She demands questions and answers about David and how they framed him.  Conrad attempts to stall until Victoria can get her gun, taking the blame for everything, cos David was stealing his wife and he wanted him to hurt as much as he did.  Think Victoria was a little shocked at that.  Too late the gun's not there.

Kara takes them into their dressing room and Victoria tells her Gordon killed David as she has the other half of the photo to prove it.  Yes that photo that everyone has seen, well Emily at least and found its way into Victoria's possession.  Kara makes them wear blindfolds and get down on their knees.  Victoria and Conrad manage to hold hands in what they believe is their final moment.  So how did Kara arrive here...

Well Mason was to blame for that and partly Emily too, as he contacts Amanda for the truth on Emily.  She can't talk to him at the bar but she will at his house as Amanda plans to get rid of him once and for all, you know, using her old tyre iron ploy as weapon.  Before that she confronts Emily about Mason and how she hasn't told her anything about him.  She tells Amanda to cancel lunch with him and to threaten a restraining order if he doesn't oblige.  Emily arrives in the nick and wants Amanda to go home and think of how lucky is she is with what she has.

Daniel tries o get info from Kara about David and his investments before she leaves but she tells him he was very secretive and hid things so there might be something.  Emily arrives with a present for Victoria and she has it placed with the rest of the unopened gifts.  Wonder if Emily bought her an empty box just as she did when Emily was engaged to Daniel.

We meet up with Ryan's (JR Bourne) brother Nate (Michael Trucco) this episode and how they're trying to get all the ships and other businesses in the area, er, out of business cos they're nasty people, including Jack's  (Nick Wechsler) father.  But Ryan tries to tell him that Jack and Declan are good.  Nate meets Jack.  Oh no Declan and Charlotte missing this episode and I didn't even notice, maybe they ran off together, ha!

Aiden needs Nolan's (Gabriel Mann) help since he wants to help Emily, saying he wronged her and wants to make it right, when Nolan asks him why he's here, considering he took away his best friend.  That's aiden's penance.  Aiden reminds him of how forensic accountants will be able to locate the extent of the shareholding, including that of Emily's.  So Nolan gives him David's cheque for NolCorp so Daniel can use it to take over Grayson Global.

Funny moment when Victoria finds Conrad on the beach, thinking he was going to end it all, did that last episode too.  He's not going to do that since there are enough people gunning for him.  Victoria suggests they play along with the Initiative for now.  Amanda tells Mason that Emily is stalking her and is obsessed with her since her first day inside and is about to hit him with a tyre iron when Emily stops her.  Finally admitting she's the real Amanda Clark and needs his help.  Suppose it was only fitting that Emily should reveal her own real identity instead of Mason or anyone else doing it for her.  Mason calls Kara and whilst he meets with her to give her Gordon's pocketwatch, Nolan plants evidence at Mason's implicating him in Gordon's murder and conspiring to frame Conrad.  Well that's one way to skin a writer.

Emily gets Aiden to rescue Conrad and Victoria by using chloroform on Kara and taking her out.  She's allowed to leave and her message for Amanda, she "tried to be a good mother."  Well at least Emily got to heat that, kind of meant  for her ears only.  Conrad and Victoria think the Initiative have more uses for them which is why they probably saved them from Kara since she's disappeared.

Nolan asks Padma (Dilshad Vadsaria) if she still wants him if tomorrow everything changes and he's no longer who he is.  Wish they'd get on with that storyline cos I for one would like to see the back of her!  Jack also tells Emily he's proposed to Amanda and Emily gets to use Mason by getting him to confess to Gordon's murder and that she holds the real evidence for getting him out of prison, i.e her confession.  Which she will do when she's ready to.  Also he can now write his second book about her and David.

Emily: "To properly do penance, one must express contrition for one's sins and perform acts to repair the damage caused by those transgressions.  It is only when these acts are complete that the slate can truly be wiped clean.  And amnesty gives way to a new beginning."  Emily can resist Aiden no longer as they passionately kiss, surprised no one was watching them from the famous balcony!

Seems Emily's plans get side tracked quite a bit in her quest for revenge, whereas she was firmly of the belief that the Graysons were her true enemies and the ones she had to bring down, lately she hasn't really been concerned with doing just that.  Here she even says that Conrad isn't her endgame and the one she wants to bring down.  Other people keep getting in her way and she always finds she must come up with some other plans to salvage what she can of a bad situation, or to save someone and then leave her schemes for another day.  Here she enlists Nolan once again to help and he will do anything for his real family as he puts it, which doesn't include leaving Padma though, he's still enamoured of her for some reason.  Well I'm still waiting for the ultimate betrayal from her!  Oh loved Nolan's matching blue shoes!  Matching his jacket that is!

Mr Selfridge Series 1 Episode 7 Review

                                        
Today marked the occasion of the visit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (John Sessions) a bit of a coup and especially since he holds a seance with his friend and medium, Mr Crenell (Todd Boyce).  Not something to go down well in those times.  Yet as we know Harry's (Jeremy Piven) game for anything particularly if it beings in sales, or rather punters, I like saying that for some reason. Though it's actually held for the staff.

Rose (Frances O'Connor) chases after Harry as he opens the lights in the house and puts the clocks five minutes forward to give them more time.  She thinks he's crazy and she's crazy too cos of him.  He's sorry for putting them through all that pain and he promises he'll always be there for them.  Then invites her to lunch with Conan Doyle and she can get her books signed.

Agnes (Aisling Loftus) beautifies herself in the mirror before leaving for work and tears a piece off her petticoat to use as a ribbon for her hat.  George (Calum Callaghan) comments she'll make someone a good wife, but she's not ready for that just yet.  She assures George he'll find someone too.  The store is abuzz as usual and Harry greets hi staff, not out of the lift this time, but from the balcony.  checking the counter glass for dirt, as Miss Mardle (Amanda Abbington) asked Doris (Lauren Crace) to clean properly not five minutes before.

Frank (Samuel West) is happy to see Harry return and asks Harry for a quote, "life must go on."  Well didn't need a quote there then.  Frank needs a new pencil and asks Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes) for some samples, but not before there's flirting to be had.  Her hair is natural strawberry blonde and Kitty is taken with him.  He buys the pencils and before you know it, she gets a note, "sweets for a sweetheart" and a box of humbugs.  Kitty thinks she has a secret admirer and believes it could be Frank, with Doris jumping the gun and calling her Mrs Frank Edwards.  Obviously it's not Frank, but George, well the way he looked at her outside the teashop was a giveaway.

Irene (Anna Madeley) asks Harry for Agnes in her fashion department and she seems to be the apple of everyone's eye.  Though Henri (Gregory Fitoussi) seems to be a little cold towards her, especially when she tells him news of her promotion, but he's already heard.  Miss Mardle seemed reluctant to let Agnes leave but she's eager to go.   Kitty and Doris see Miss Bunting (Pippa Haywood) at the teashop and Doris feels sorry for her as she can't find work without a reference.  Doris speaks with her but Kitty chooses to ignore her, all right and proper, she doesn't associate with common riff raff.  Doris gives her a coin to help her buy some buns.  Her mother has passed now.

Doris later asks Grove (tom Goodman-Hill) if he will give Miss Bunting a reference since it would be something she'd ask for her own mother. Grove will have to speak with Harry and gives her a farthing for her to tide her over and for her to return same time next week.  Grove comments Kitty is "soft of heart."  In comparison to Miss Mardle whom he was rather standoffish towards, especially when she tells him she gave him her child bearing years and waited for him, and waited...even at the seance when a woman with the initial 'H' (Hettie) told him to marry again and thanked him for looking after her.  Grove finds it too much and walks off.  Seems he was only interested in Miss Mardle as long as his wife was alive and he didn't have to offer her any sort of commitment, but it was fine for him to use heh like that! Just stringing her along, seemed that way.

The seance also reveals a man, very hostile who Crenell doesn't allow to speak or convey his hostile message, especially since it's meant to be Harry's father.  Conveniently it had to be him, since Harry's been having all those nightmares, made worse after his accident.  Harry refuses  a private seance with him since it's the past and he's moved on.   He's more worried about his mother, Lois (Kika Markham) and especially after the conversation she had with Rose, he doesn't know anything about, of how Harry acts reckless and Rose thinks he may be born that way.   Or she can think like Rose and imagine they made him that way.   They also prepare Rosalie's (Poppy Lee Friar) dress for her coming out which she will attend with Lady Mae (Katherine Kelly) and without her parents.  So naturally she's nervous.  Who wouldn't be with Lady Mae around, who keeps on with her affair with Victor (Trystan Gravelle) who didn't seem to be at work, nor did he attend the seance.

Musker (Tim Woodward) talks to Harry about not being so eager to float the stock and issue shares so suddenly and the bank suggests a few weeks for this, Harry prefers a day.  He instructs Crabb (Ron Cook) to bring the bankers to the store for a meeting, which he actually manages to do.  But Musker also has Lady Mae up his sleeve, who puts in a good word for Harry and how he's so progressive.  Not to mention the way he held the seance too, so very daring.  As well as the reception of Conan Doyle.  With Sherlock Holmes being bounded around just for good measure and for anyone who doesn't know who Conan Doyle is. Thus the bankers arrange a meeting with Harry for the Monday.  Lady Mae also cautions him about the public floating of shares since they also mean publicity for his family.

Kitty isn't too pleased when she finds out it's George who's been sending heh the sweets and she agrees to tea with him anyway, seeing as she likes cats.  Oh not another cat comment, seem to recall she made one about Agnes in the first part and Agnes replied she had a cat named Kitty.  Agnes meanwhile gets flustered over ol' Henri and asks him for help with dressing the mannequin for the store window.  Taking a chance and kissing him in the process, yeah we know it was just an excuse asking him for help, just to check as she wasn't sure if she kissed him right.

Harry tells Lois he knows about his father and how he left them, he wasn't really a war hero and understands why she lied to him. To not go through the pain she did. But he promises he won't do that and doesn't want to be like him. Well, he may not leave the family for another woman, but that didn't stop him from having his fun and dalliances, affairs of the heart.  Speaking of, no Ellen Love this episode, a relief, ha.

Not much happened this episode but seemed to be more of a way to make Harry get back into the stride of things and thinking to the future, which is what he always does.  Kind of a way to tie up some loose ends in
that his brush with death was put aside and he's ready and eager to move on.  Think one of the best lines coming from him was when he said he'll leave his legacy and the store will continue on even without him.  Which rings true as we know.  "What we leave behind is more important than ourselves."

Oh and Roddy's Paris show is a success as Lois tells her Rose's portrait will be worth quite a few dollars.  Rose is glad she made the right choice then. Right choice in not going with him, but he's not gone for good and next episode will rear his ugly head again, to cause more trouble.

Oh and there's that lift scene again with Harry coming out to meet the bankers, though it wasn't that prominent as in the past, see more serious business, and which proves successful for him.  Those exits from the lift usually do!  Seems we didn't get much of a mystery with Conan Doyle around after all, though Rose was acting all shy over not getting the book signed in her own name.  He refers to her as 'Rosa' and not Rose, wonder if that was relevant, or just a slip of the tongue.  Though Conan Doyle didn't turn to spiritualism until the death of his wife Louisa and his son in World War One and his brother.  Here he's already portrayed as being into the spirit world, most probably due to Louisa dying in 1906.

Simon Baker Receives Star on Walk of Fame

                                                    
Simon Baker, 43 year old Aussie actor and star of The Mentalist today received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Wowing fans and critics in how soon he received this.  Some actors have to wait practically a lifetime for this honour, but it's nice to see lovable and generous Simon, received his so early on in life.  Just goes to show what a good show and how an Aussie can make it big in the US.  It was star number 2,490.  The ceremony was held outside of Beso, the restaurant owned by Eva Longoria.

Simon was accompanied by his wife, Rebecca Rigg and their three children, Harry Friday, Claude Blue and Stella Breeze.  As well as his co-star Robin Tunney, The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller and Naomi Watts.  This was a bit of a surprise for many fans and followed hot on the trail of the UK release of his most recent movie I Give It A Year.

How fitting he received this star today of all day's, showing the love, appreciation and admiration Simon so rightly deserves.  Congrats Simon!

Without A Trace 3.23 "Endgame" Review

                                                   
A man named McCreedy brings a woman a cup of coffee at work and she remarks the cup is made from paper and not Styrofoam.  She spots a man and hides behind her desk.  McCreedy tells his boss she needed air as she disappears.  The man was Det. Beaumont from the NYPD and he wanted to ask Paige (Anna Belknap) some routine questions.  Her room mate said she didn’t come home.  Paige Hobson is a data analyst for Infomerge and has worked here for 2 years.  Jack (Anthony LaPaglia) tells Martin (Eric Close) the NYPD told him Beaumont doesn’t exist.

24 Hours Missing

Paige is an activist.  McCreedy wasn’t her type as he’s “too shallow.”  They were working on something for Fit’n’Thin who has the potential to target 10 million customers in the 25-49 demographic.  Paige says they target white women because they’re more concerned about their weight.  She commented on the technology here whilst children are going hungry, have no textbooks and people are without healthcare.  She doesn’t make a difference and he suggested she should get laid.  Jack asks if she took his advice.  He doesn’t know the man’s name.

The doctor tells Viv (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) the procedure during her operation.  Her heart will stop beating for an hour but the bypass machine will keep the blood circulating around her body.  He’s carried out a lot of these procedures.  Martin tells Jack the coffee vendor outside recalls Paige getting into a yellow cab.  Jack has a stop to make before he gets back to the office.

Paige’s roommate tells Danny (Enrique Murciano) and Sam (Poppy Montgomery)  that she doesn’t have any enemies and has a sister in Cincinnati.  Danny checks her computer.  Paige was dating a man 2 months ago, she was secretive about him but she was happy.  Danny finds a photo of the mystery man.  Julia Gomez (Shontae Saldana) came to see her here, she was one of her mentors from her high school.  She told Julia she was pregnant a week ago and wants to keep the baby.  The father wants her to have an abortion.  He’s a policeman and he’s married.  Danny thinks the policeman is probably the man who went to see Paige.  Danny and Sam show Julia a photo of the man, Beaumont but he’s not her boyfriend.  Paige called and she told her she was leaving.  She gave her $50,000 for the baby.  Danny asks for the money.  Jack visits Viv, she doesn’t want him there and tells him her operation is at 3pm.  He wishes her luck and wanted her to know he was thinking about her.

26 Hours Missing

Sam tells Danny, Internal affairs is investigating the policeman.  The $50,000 was withdrawn from a bank account by a Sarah Reynolds from the Borough National Bank.  The licence number matches a photo of Paige.  Martin can’t help watching Sam talk with Danny.  Martin finds the security software on Paige’s computer wipes everything, but finds a photo of the same man they found at her place.  Martin and Sam question Paige’s sister.

She identifies the man as Adisa Teno (Jason George).  Paige met him 4 years ago in Makeba, Africa when she worked for an aid agency.  He was at her place 2 weeks ago.  He arrived in New York 2 months ago as he’s not welcome in his own country.  General Gamba (Frank Emeka) is in charge and there is nothing but famine, disease and death squads there.  Paige expresses her abhorrence at the pharmaceutical drug companies which experiment on children there.  Adisa changes the subject.  They were in love and he wasn’t looking for a Green Card.  Paige always had a soft spot for strays.

Danny finds Paige had a million consumer records a week on her computer; identity, socials.  Sam thinks she was involved in identity theft.  Jack says she sold the identities to fraud companies.  He finds Adisa is part of the Makeba Liberation Front and is on the terrorist watchlist.  $250,000 million were transferred to a JF Holdings.  Jack asks Sam how she is and she thinks he’s checking up on her and Martin.  Jack will wait outside the Makeban embassy and Sam heads back to put a name to the face of the fake detective.  Viv undergoes surgery.

Sam deosn’t find any African names on the list and will ask at the State Department.  Jack talks to a man. He’s the security attachment and asks what interest he has in Paige.  Their Intel has told them Adisa is part of a terrorist group and will be making an attempt on the General.  The MLF are a threat.  He calls Adisa brutal and ruthless.  Jack tells him that’s what people here also think of the General.  He leaves and tells Jack he’s in the buffer zone, on African soil.  Martin tells Danny Paige changed cabs at South Street and Fulton.  Danny tells him JF Holdings have a warehouse 2 blocks away from there.

28 Hours Missing

The FBI raid the warehouse and Jack arrests Adisa.

29 Hours missing

They confiscate their stockpile of weapons.  Jack isn’t concerned about the General but only about Paige.  Adisa tells Jack he works for the General because his colleague will want his deportation and he’ll listen, when he arrives at the airport he’ll be shot.  The General gave the order and Jack obeyed it.  He hasn’t seen Paige.  Jack says being in love with her isn’t so noble.  She took data from her work to fund their cause.  Jack says this isn’t about love.  Adisa betrayed her trust.  She came to him for help when a man came to see her at work.  Jack calls him a killer.

Danny and Martin question one of Adisa’s men.  Danny says they can detain him alone on the weapons charges for an indefinite period.  Martin tells him they’re helping him by not deporting him and that there won’t be bait on the General.  Paige turned up at the warehouse and was told about the General.  She thought the money was going to be used for relief supplies.  The weapons were the relief.  Deep down she knew the money was really for arms.  Adisa told her of his family being murdered and he was the only survivor.  Nothing can jeopardize their work.  He couldn’t let Paige go.  When the man returned she was gone.  Danny asks what he did with her?

Jack speculates Paige knew too much so Adisa killed her.  He apologized for deceiving her and said he loves her,  he gave her a gun.  Jack says it wasn’t for protection but he probably shot her with it.

Sam finds the man is Emil Dornvald (Charles Mesure).  He served in the army and then was a mercenary and even worked for the CIA.  Martin finds Paige bought a ticket from Grand Central station to Cincinnati.  Danny thinks she’s going to her sister.  The train leaves at 2:42pm and they have it held.  It’s 3pm Jack looks at the station clock.  Viv’s heart doesn’t start at the end of the operation.

30 Hours Missing

Danny looks at Viv’s photo with Reggie on her desk.  Martin looks up the record on Paige’s phone.  She had 2 calls at 2:38pm and a picture message.  Jack and Sam are called to a crime scene in an alley where Julia’s body is found.  She was shot through the head.  The time of the 911 call was 2:42pm.  Sam thinks she called Paige.  Jack tells her it wasn’t Julia who made the call, but someone else.  A black SUV was seen leaving the scene.

32 Hours Missing

Danny puts out an APB, Interagency alert and stop notices at the airport on Dornvald.  Jack, Martin and Sam watch the embassy.  Jack phones the hospital, Viv is still in surgery.  An SUV arrives with the General.  Jack says they’ll take Dornvald out of the buffer zone if they have to, but he’s not with them.  Jack spots Paige but she shoots the General.

Paige tells Sam she wasn’t the shooter but she was about to leave when she got the phonecall and everything changed with Julia’s murder.  Dornvald told her there wouldn’t be an assassination and wanted the names of all the MLF members, then he’ll stop killing her loved ones.  She told him she’s at Hartford, Connecticut.  Dornvald will pay for what he did.  Sam tells her she’ll be charged with murder as the General’s dead.  Paige wanted to make a difference, maybe she has now.  Jack tells Adisa news of the assassination has reached the rebels and the government, they fortified the palace.  Adisa tells him it’s a battle now.  He asks about Paige.  Jack watches him from outside the interrogation room.  Martin removes photos form the board and leaves Dornvald’s on the suspect board whilst the news shows pictures from Makeba.

Sam takes Paige away as Danny and Martin take Adisa away in handcuffs.  They watch each other.  Jack visits Viv at the hospital.  Her husband, Marcus (Joseph C Phillips) nods his head when he sees him.  Danny and Martin transport Adisa in a car.  Jack calls Danny and tells him Viv’s fine.  A van pulls up and stops in front of their car.  Dornvald and others get out and shoot at the car…

A routine episode in many ways  as all the missing pieces all fall into place easily: i.e. the warehouse connection leading them to find Adisa so easily, Paige taking 2 cabs thinking no one will find her, they did.  So you know something's about to happen , so much for Danny saying, “it’s over.”

A first for the show ending on a cliff-hanger – of course one of them will be shot!  Danny being rather preminitious (ok my word) first he says “it’s over” which is far from the truth then his last words of the season : “at least we’re ending the day on an upnote…”  Yeah, on a shoot out.  Those were the highlights of this rather tedious episode, the last few seconds with Danny and Martin!  But it is over for Viv who’s out of surgery, it’s also over for Paige and Adisa, but only just beginning for Makeba and it’s struggle.  Though the story isn’t very original, African country being ruled by a despot whilst its people suffer disease, death and famine… There were some uplifting moments, such as the revolution being sparked, albeit by a plot twist , with Paige turning assassin which she wouldn’t have done if Julia hadn’t been murdered, if Adisa hadn’t given her the gun and the call to arms: "Sending rice is not the solution…it requires one moment to spark a revolution, to take action…”
Repeated by Paige when she tells Sam her reasons for the killing, “Sam: “you don’t seem the type.”
Paige: “I’m not…Adisa says there’s a moment that makes people take action – that was my moment.”  Well it would have meant much more if the lines hadn't come from Lindsay from CSI:NY, so boring here and in that too!!

Jack having an empathetic moment when he tells Adisa about Paige, “she’s not the girl you first met.” Watching him on the other side; sympathizing with their predicament, kind of.

Martin: “So I have you to thank for all the junk mail.”  A repetition of his from episode 18 when he mentions he gets so much junk mail from a certain bank.

Fit’n’Thin rears it’s head again from season 3 episode 5, American Goddess when Danny had a lot to say about it too.

Viv: “for that hour I’ll be dead.”  Just like she was shot and died in episode 3.22, Jack’s dream.

Viv: “oh you think I want you to see me like this.”  She’s worried about her operation but she could’ve been more appreciative of Jack’s visit, after all, he’s seen her collapsed on the roadside and in the ambulance.  Also whatever happened to Viv’s brother, they don’t get on as mentioned in season 1 episode, but he is still family.

Danny: “She gets around.”

Martin watching Sam speak to Danny, jealous much maybe?

Danny: “She’s in deep.”

Jack: “How are you – how you doin’?”
Sam: “it’s not affecting my work Jack – me and Martin.”
Jack: “I’ wasn’t talkin’ about Martin.  I was just trying to have a damn conversation!”  Think Jack was trying to be more communicative with his team, i.e when he spoke to Sam, she was defensive for no reason – they are meant to be over.  Ha, funny how they always say the wrong thing, whatever made Sam think Jack would bother asking about them too anyway?

Viv’s out of danger as Danny and Martin are entering into it...

Jack: “African soil, looks like Park Avenue to me.”

Jack: “you are taking our Second Amendment just a little bit too far.”  The Second Amendment being the right to bear arms.

Ooh Danny making more threats of indefinitely holding…!  Danny and Jack are the only ones who think of Viv, Sam doesn’t but Martin’s relieved at the end she’s okay.

Viv’s photo of her with her husband seems to have vanished from her desk.
Funny Paige’s last name being Hobson, re Hobson’s Choice, she had a choice and she made it.  The wrong one but I can't sympathize with her, it's Lindsay after all!!  Just think if Medical Investigations had continued she'd never have made it onto CSI:NY!!

Jason George was in Sunset Beach and  Stargate SG1, to mention a few shows, and Lisa Sheridan was seen in the new alien drama series Invasion.  With Eddie Cibrian, also Jason's co-star in Sunset Beach.  Charles Mesure went on to Crossing Jordan and Desperate Housewives.

CSI 11.3 "Blood Moon" Review

CSI does vampires and werewolves once more. This time it's a convention but with people who actually believe they really are vampires and werewolves.

Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) and Vartann (Alex Carter) 'gettin' it on', interspersed with the Vic being chased and killed - and the five announcer (UK channel where the show is aired, warning us of violent scenes from the outset.)  This scene not left to our imaginations.   (Wonder what Marg made of it all, ha.   I know it's only acting...) They then arrive at the CS and Vartann tells Catherine that the speed limit isn't a "suggestion."  Catherine: "You gonna give me a ticket, copper?"  A DB is found with his head on a spike and Ray (Laurence Fishburne) comments on the terror in his eyes - he knew he was going to die.  Or rather it wasn't just the terror, but who actually did the dirty deed.   (See later.) Catherine tells from the amount of blood on the ground that he was still alive when beheaded.   Ray notices the blood moon and that it could be a  ritualistic killing.   Referring to the Book of Revelation and specifically the precursor to the End of Days.

This was CSI's  answer to the Twilight saga and the battle between vampires and werewolves.

Nick (George Eads) doesn't find any tyre tracks or footprints or an ID.   Ray: "Where is the bugman when you need him?" Nick answering his call.  A longhorn beetle crawls out of the DB's mouth and some hair from an unknown source is also found.   Ray's reference to 'bugman' immediately made me think of Gil and Nick mentions him too, later on.   Nick has also become the 'bugman' now in the absence of Gil.   In the season opener, Nick noticed the behaviour of the cockroaches too.  

Ligature marks are found on his wrist and chains were used to hold him in place, there are also abrasions on his chest, indicating he ran into the barbed wire.   David (David Berman) tells Nick that Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) wants the head on the spike and the body with the fence brought back.   David and Doc attempt to remove the head off the spike, Doc: "...like trying to get meat off a shish kebab." That'd be enough to put you off any sort of skewered meat!  Lots of foody references in this episode.   The spike went straight in the Vic's brain.   David brings up the Lizzie Bordon poem, but Doc corrects him that the number of whacks she gave weren't 40, but 29.   They can't determine the type of weapon used, until the flesh is boiled and the toolmarks are examined.

Sara (Jorga Fox) comments on how the will to kill is very strong.   Ray remarks on the absence of body hair on the Vic.   Sara finds traces of wax.   Vartann doesn't find the Vic in the system and then throws a bombshell, by asking Catherine to move in with him.   Overheard by Hodges (Wallace Langham) who dotes on what could have been with Wendy (Liz Vassey).   The ingredients in the wax were rosemary, lemon juice and olive oil.   Leading Catherine to identify the hotel which gives such waxes.

Ray finds the Vic was about to be married and Nick finds a yellow contact lens on the floor of his hotel room.  Ray discovers the Celtic love knot ring.  The venue for the wedding is chock-a-block full of vampires.   Nick asks Ray for garlic.  The Vic was Michael (Thad Luckinbill) and he was seen yesterday.   Julie (Laura Breckenridge) his fiancee, says it's her fault what happened (and she's right) since she wanted to get married at the Convention.   Her hand, Thomas 's hand (Max Beesley) and Michael's all had scars.   Thomas comments they're not 'Sanguinarians' and their blood is symbolic of the life force that flows within.   (Sorry maybe I always say this, but my first suspect was Julie) also because Ray made particular comment to the Celtic knot ring, signifying 'tying the knot'.

Mentioning Sanguinarians, or sanguine was more like the CSI:NY episode, Sanguine Love (season 6) written by Carmine Giovinazzo - not that I'm biased - hang on I am, jut a little!) but I thought that episode was exceptional.   Kudos to Carmine for his great writing and creative talent! Everyone in their various groups also took their beliefs seriously in that episode.

Greg (Eric Szmanda) comments that to kill real vampires their heads need to be lopped off.   Sara says he wasn't a real vampire.   She doesn't believe in them.   She's more of the scientific believer.   Gil (William Petersen)would theorize over their existence, alluding to various cultures around the world.   As did Ray when he mentioned the werewolf.   Sara matches the stria, indicating the marks were made from one tool.   Greg thinks it's an axe or a hatchet.

At the convention, Ray dons red contacts and vampire fangs and admits they make him feel powerful.   They dress up to embrace their dark sides.   The lens are similar to the one found in the hotel room.   Nick tells Ray he scared of him.  They get an axe from a weapon's seller who claims he's a direct descendant of Van Helsing.   Back at the lab, Ray strikes 'Jello-man' with the axe, splattering Nick with fake blood.   Nick finishes off the job, counting 16 strikes of the axe, beating the killer's strikes of 18.  Ray surmises the Vic was struck from all sides, thus there had to be more than one killer.

Hodges identifies the hair from the Vic's mouth to be from Canis Lupus, i.e.  wolf.   Vampires were once slaves to werewolves, as legends go.  Catherine tells him that as a scientist, "wanna-werewolves can't transform into wolves."  Hodges gets personal with Catherine asking her who's going to move into whose place, since he had a chance to love and lost.   Greg finds the wolf in the system, named Timber, owned by Kurt Francis (Michael Grazladei).   The wolf took part in a fight.   Sara states they should blame the owner for the fight, not the wolf.   Wolves hunt in packs.

Whilst attempting to question the werewolves at the Convention, Ray demonstrates his ability to subdue Kurt, without the use of a gun, or any other weapon.   Nick, meantime, has to draw his gun again to hold back the others.  Nick's funny/sarcastic comment that werewolves and vampires are in the same movies.   So they have plenty in common.   His DNA was on the contact lens, but he claims he doesn't recall where he was.   It was a full moon and he "shifted."

Sara and Greg examine Kurt's truck, to find dog collars, which could have been used to hold Michael as they have the same ligature patterns on him.   Blood spatter on the door checks positive for blood and Sara smells vomit inside, which Nick objects to mentioning since he's eating.   Yeah, about time someone said it.   Greg tells him he's always eating.  Someone drank Michael's blood and was sick, as humans don't have the enzymes necessary to digest blood.    Ray asks what a vampire was doing in Kurt's truck?  He mentions, Porphryia the vampire disease.   Allowing Nick to recall the case they had a few years back about the woman who had the disease and used to grind up meat into protein shakes.   (CSI episode Justice is Served, pun there.)  Ray almost chokes on his shake! They're looking for a Sanguinarian.   Ray opens the curtains at the Convention room and Thomas's skin burns.   Nick: "the great thing about science is that it always sheds light on the subject."

Thomas tells them Michael was already dead and he got a ride back with Kurt.   Why would a vampire kill one of their own?  Nick was right when he said it was about the girl, Julie.   They examine Thomas and Kurt's clothes and conclude there should be more blood spatter on them.   Catherine deducing as cast off was present, they were both there.   Hodges analyzes the cloak showing traces of a flowering herb, which grows at 2,500 feet in the mountains.

Nick: "Grissom, is that you, Gil" to Sara.   Who tells him Gil wouldn't like him calling him by his first name.  Sara asks Nick if he knows that a "12 letter word for 'beyond the forest' is Transylvania."  Sara finds the axe buried in the ground and Nick finds pieces of a torn photo.   Why not just take the objects with them, they had all that time to bury everything up there.   So why not bury Michael too.  Kurt's in the photo and so is Michael.   He used to be a werewolf, but became a vampire after falling for Julie.  (As Nick said it too.)

Ray and Sara notice marks on the handle of the axe during analysis and Ray mentions the marks on their experiment were from his wedding ring.  The marks are from a Celtic ring.   Julie admits to killing Michael since "love based on a lie" isn't love.   She was whacked out!  She won't testify against the others to avoid the death penalty.  Well, not being cynical, but being who she professes to be, don't see her lasting long in any prison with the kind of inmates she'll come across, so the death penalty will be the least of her worries.   Also what about Nick and Ray's findings during their experiment that there had to be someone behind Michael to have killed him.   Shouldn't that be admissible at trial too for the jury to decide for themselves.

Catherine doesn't want to move in and bicker over small stuff, she's happy as they are.   Ray and Nick watch the Nosferatu (1922) movie, which scared Nick when he was 7.   Ray can't explain why there's such evil in the world, and how people can commit such violent acts.   They wouldn't have a job if there wasn't any evil.   Getting another call out.   Ray: "let's go hunt some monsters."  Hey Nick didn't even get to finish his sandwich!

This isn't CSI's (TV) first foray into vampire territory, see the episode Suckers, where Catherine and Warrick (Gary Dourdan) looked into the death of a teenage girl who thought she was a vampire.   Also the episode, Werewolves, which dealt with Hypertrichosis.   Allusions to werewolves too in the CSI:Miami episode, Sunblock.

I've said it to my friends and I'll say it again, why does George feel the need to go 'short back and sides, and get a haircut when he doesn't need to, He does that every season without fail and I come up with my comment, every season without fail! Ha.

Nick and Ray have a great rapport going, not just in terms of CSI to CSI, but as friends too and Nick still calls him 'Dr Ray'.   They make a great team.   Having been paired together last season, glad it's continuing this season too, they also really click and understand each other.

Supernatural Never-ending With Season 9

                                      
It was inevitable, bound to happen and was just a matter of time that Supernatural would get a season 9.  There were no ifs or buts about it, though some would wonder why.  Yes those cynics out there who believe the show should have exited stage left by season 5. But we won't give in to their pointless machinations or rantings of our show.  Supernatural kicks ass!

Even with so many different stories, characters and the addition of angels, ha, Supernatural is one show that still stands out from the rest.  From its humble beginnings back in 2005, the brainchild of creator Eric Kripke, it showed grit, out of this world stories and plots.  Fiendish demons and ghosts and above all it was a show about family.  That through the ups and downs at the end of the day family is what everyone needs.

Yet the show wouldn't be complete without its amazing stars, Jensen Ackles and Jarad Padalecki.  They deserve plenty of credit for making the show what it is and for making us the fans believe in them and Supernatural.  Of course the crew, writers and everyone else involved also merit attention too, including the rest of the cast in Jim Beaver, Misha Collins.  All completing and complimenting the circle and adding so much more to a wildly, entertaining concept.  Always ready to try out new avenues, monsters, bringing in angels to counteract and interact with the demons and taking the risk.  I recall certain people arguing the show was wrong for doing that as it headed down the religious path, but that wasn't the case at all.  Especially since this was a piece of fiction, it wasn't reality.

Above all Supernatural showed us it was okay for men to cry, real man tears and not be ashamed.  On the verge of adversity, experiencing harrowing and painful death, of their father, of losing Sam, then Dean, crying was an out, a way of expressing emotion and bringing fans to tears also.  Helping us to face our own heartbreaks in reality when we lost someone close to us.  In my case my father and this coincided with Sam and Dean losing Dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).  Somehow it helped put it all into perspective.  This may not be the right outlet or medium for such an outpouring of grief to occur and some people may not agree or feel the same way, but for me and for many others, it gave us a better understanding of what these two brothers were going through in their own loves, even if they were just characters on a TV screen.

We live Supernatural, their loves, lives, hunts, jokes and above all their brotherhood and always being there for each other.  They went through hell and back, purgatory and so much more but their spirits never faltered.  Their hearts remained loyal and true to each other, to their cause and "helping people."  If not the Winchesters, there'd be no one to protect the world.  Not forgetting to mention Dean's baby, the Impala!

From the Pilot and beyond, Supernatural is and will always be my fave show ever! Some shows you can never be without and this is one of them.  Who knew the tagline used here, "scary just got sexy," would prove to reign year after year.  Drawing us forever more into the Winchester world.

Supernatural Season 9 we salute you!!