666 Park Avenue 1.10 "The Comfort of Death" Review

                                           
Gavin (Terry O'Quinn) gives Olivia (Vanessa Williams) a surprise which she says she hates, but he tells her she loves them.  Later he introduces Sasha/Laurel (Tessa Thompson) to her and leaves them to talk.  She was driving and crashed the car, then she let her friend die and disappeared.  They mistook her DB for Sasha.  Olivia telling her she was selfish.  Don't think Olivia knows anything about Sasha and her meeting with Gavin.  Obviously he seems to have known she's alive for a long time for apparent reasons.  Henry (Dave Annable) watches the current councilman, Frank Sullivan (Richard Joseph Paul) being revealed in the news as having an affair with his 18 year old intern and later he accosts Henry by telling him he knew about the leak which hurt his family.  Henry turns to Sasha who tells him if he wants to get into politics then these things happen.  That he got what he deserved for messing around on his wife.  Henry tells her about his father being a good man.  Henry also tells Jane (Rachael Taylor) about being touted for Sullivan's place and there's a fundraiser in his honour.

Gavin meanwhile takes Jane to Maris's deserted apartment as it's in need of renovation.  He suggests removing the wall with the mirror and asks if she met Maris, which she denies.  Jane has another encounter with Libby through the mirror and she draws a symbol on the mirror which Jane copies down.  She calls Hayden (Teddy Sears) and tells him about the connection and needs to know anything about people connected with the Order of the Dragon.  The symbol appears a lot in Kramer's journal. Hayden discovers a Harlan Moore's (Richard Short) great grand daughter who doesn't recognize the symbol, well she looked like she did especially the way she stared at Jane's necklace.  Hayden asks why the deed is still in Harlan's name.

Jane feigns use of the bathroom and finds Harlan hooked to machine who tells her he's been waiting for her.  He's 117 years old  and the same man she saw as Libby when they sacrificed her.  He knows the symbol, it means 'door.' Libby must need her to rescue her and set her spirit free.  He also says he needs to find death.  Jane has to find the heart of the Drake, that's where the door will be.  Jane seems reluctant to tell Hayden what she found and she hasn't told Henry about any of this to protect him.  She also ignores his calls.

Gavin and Olivia decide to keep Sasha a secret and everyone will continue to know her as Laurel.  Gavin wants her to stay away from Henry, who tells Jane he's nervous about taking on the position.  She says they'll toss for it.  At the fundraiser, Hayden calls Jane, he was checking up on her as he hasn't heard from her.  She tells him there can be nothing between them, agh Jane still going for wimpish, boring Henry who can't think for himself, let alone stick to his decisions.  Jane thinks it's harsh the way she's treated Hayden and seems to have doubts about trusting him now.  Come to think of it, there isn't much we know about Hayden and his true motives for helping her out.

Brian's (Robert Buckley) play is complete and they want him to rewrite the ending but he doesn't want to cos of what he has to go through, i.e being with Alexis (Helena Mattsson).  Louise (Mercedes Masohn) wants him to consider it, which he does and he meets up with her.  He asks her what her dreams were but she refuses to answer after he tells her this is only an 'arrangement' between them and nothing more.  Alexis approaches Gavin once more wanting out of their deal and he immediately takes her legs from under her.  He found her when a driver ran her over and left her there.  She said she'd do anything just to walk.  She later mixes some drugs into Louise's drink and she falls down at the fundraiser as if she's been drinking.  Taking her back to the apartment, she confesses running someone over one night when she was drunk and Alexis realizes it was her who caused her paralysis.

Sasha talks Henry into running for the councilman's seat and plays Gavin up as a good guy, even after he admits he leaked the story.  Henry announces his decision to run along with Gavin and Jane is shocked.  She enters a basement and finds a mirror which she reads, "shine a light to cast over the city shadow" but nothing happens.  She later dreams of herself in bed with Hayden who tells her this is her dream, she can do what she likes.  Heading to the mirror again, she pulls Libby out and her spirit disappears.  Harlan also recovers and becomes young again, wanting a steak (or stake? ha).  Jane also drags some back sludge back through the mirror...

Strangely why does Brian ask of Alexis's dreams now since not long ago he wanted her gone and out of his life, he's changed his tune quickly.  Also laughable was the line Henry could even become Mayor, yeah must be a spot open for uncharismatic, boring political types like him!  There was nothing made as to her reasons for faking her own death and all of a sudden Sasha becomes her daddy's daughter going all out to get Henry involved in politics and playing the dutiful devil's spawn!  Even Olivia doesn't suspect anything, didn't ask her about the note she left, why she wanted to get away from her father, no, nothing.  What sort of a family reunion was that without any dialogue or explanations.  Jane should just run away with Hayden, ha, but looks like even he has a dubious side now, pretty rushed in trying to come to some sort of a plausible conclusion with only three episodes remaining.

Revenge 2.16 "Illumination" Review

                                                
Emily" To carry a secret is to play with fire.  Try to pass it on and you risk hurting someone else.  Hold onto it and eventually you'll get burned."

As the Grayson's plot and plunder their way through another fortune amassing scheme, this time round it's setting up a charitable foundation in Amanda's name for "invisible children" and seeking out another scapegoat, Daniel (Josh Bowman) is adamant he won't let another innocent suffer like Amanda.  This time the scapegoat looming on the horizon is Aiden (Barry Sloane) and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) thinks Daniel still shouldn't trust him.  Aiden is being touted as replacing Conrad (Henry Czerny) on the board of Grayson Global and as Conrad reminds Daniel of how he won his sculling medal and how proud he was at using his God-given strength, Aiden walks into the office to garner approval from Conrad for his seat on the board.

As for the foundation, invisible children is relevant to Emily (Emily VanCamp) and Eli (Collins Pennie) here since they were both foster children and timely that he should turn up now.  Emily turns up to give Victoria a cheque for $250,000 and wants to put herself forward as co-chairwoman for the foundation.  Cue Eli who happened to arrive at this moment too and Emily hands him a photo of Amanda with her tattooed wrist showing, was that clever of her.  Nolan (Gabriel Mann) calls and she leaves whilst Victoria invites Eli to the inaugural of the foundation.

Emily wants to corner Jack (Nick Wechsler) before Eli gets to him since Victoria blabs about giving him instructions to the tavern but he's already there when he arrives.  Emily tries to apologize to Jack but he doesn't want to know.  Eli knows she's really Amanda and calls her as such.  He met Amanda/Emily at a stripper bar and she tells him she changed her name to get away from the whole Clarke affair, she's not running any con.  Flashback to their foster home and Emily playing with matches drawing the infinity symbol over and over.  She hides when the woman asks if she's got the matches.  Eli was her protector and she promised they'd always be together but she burnt their home down and were separated.  Eli claims he deals in antique books, a sell he uses on rich people as well as being to Columbia and they fall for it as does Victoria.  Emily agrees to make his record disappear and give him money to start over as long as it's not here.  Obviously  it's easier said than done since Emily should have known better than to trust him.

Aiden invites Daniel for a drink where he gets into a fight with another man and Aiden rescues him.  Saving him from a fight and a lawsuit, Daniel isn't too pleased with that since he also has designs on his fiance, Emily.  Conrad calls to discuss Daniel and he's seated across the bar.  At the foundation launch, Daniel agrees with Conrad over making Aiden a scapegoat and going along with their plan to take millions from donors and to transfer their wealth into the foundation in case their assets are frozen.  With Aiden as treasurer they'll say he made off with the money.  This change of mind Victoria puts down to Daniel speaking with Emily after Aiden nudges Daniel towards her, as they need to talk.  Daniel tells Emily their plan. She then wants Nolan to use Carrion to hack into their account and steal all their money but Nolan is met with a hacker named Falcon.  He's the same one who the Grayson's used to frame David and he's back on their payroll now.  Emily suggests they go hunting.

Flashback to Nolan with David and him wanting to concentrate on Emily since she'll be going to juvie as she's burnt down another house.  He gives him the chest to give her when she's ready.  Emily tries to get Ashley (Ashley Madekwe) to ensure Eli is badmouthed in front of Victoria so he leaves the scene.  But Victoria doesn't bite.  Jack turns up and thanks the Grayson's for their work.  Eli donates the cheque Emily gave him as if it belongs to him.  Victoria makes him co-chair of the foundation.  Charlotte (Christa B Allen) also seems to take a shine to him and Declan (Connor Paola) is clearly jealous finding need to call himself her boyfriend Ah Charlotte, she's so fickle anytime someone arrives on the scene she has to drop everything, miss school, jut to get in with them..

Jack also finds out someone left him on the dock and asks the man who it was.  He bought the Rose Gray speedboat and he describes him as having sandy hair and blue eyes.  I would have thought Jack would have guessed Nolan after the buying the boat bit but clearly not.  Nolan and Emily are in his bad books again as he thinks they lied to him just to cosy up to the Grayson's, which is what he's doing too in a bid to carry on Amanda's quest for revenge.  Nolan convinces him it was Kenny and not him who rescued him, perhaps he had a change of heart.  He stops Jack from searching for him.

Victoria and Conrad created a charitable foundation after framing David and now they're doing the same with Amanda, so history repeats itself with this lot, but it just gets sillier every ep that Daniel can't see through their facade and even goes along with their deceit.  He talks about not letting anyone else suffer but that's all it turns out to be with him, just talk.  Since he goes back in doing a u-turn and sticks by his parents and the company.  Jack also seems to be playing both Victoria and Nolan, first he hugs Victoria and is grateful for what they're doing and then he hugs Nolan for talking him out of searching for Kenny cos Declan and Carl need him.  Now he's taken out a life insurance policy for Carl, it seems this has made him reckless.  He's in uproar over Eli telling him Amanda hated her father.  Yet this isn't the case, Emily loved him and she said this when she was younger after she was lied to and David was framed.

Emily appears to lose focus once more on her true revenge as Eli turns up and distracts her again, other than going after their money but even that got red flagged.

Once Upon A Time 2.3 "Lady of the Lake" Review

                                                
In the pit Emma (Jennifer Morrison) begins to tell Cora (Barbara Hershey) everything but luckily Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) wakes in time to stop her from blabbing.  She's Regina's (Lana Parrilla) mother and far worse than her.  Their leader wishes to see them and Emma says she had things under control and was finding a way to get them back to Storybrooke.   Their leader is Lancelot (Sinqua Walls) someone Snow knows, a most honourable 'fallen' knight!  She met him when she and Charming (Josh Dallas) were fighting against King George (Alan Dale) and he sent this warrior to do his dirty deeds, known as the Leviathan.  He spots Charming saying goodbye to Snow since he took so long to snog her and follows her.  Taking her back to King George who speaks of how Charming was not a worthy son and how his beloved was cursed never to have children. The same thing he's done to Snow as she drinks wine.  Well she shouldn't have drank it then.  She accuses Lancelot of poisoning her but he's on her side, it was the king who cursed her.

Together they go to find Charming as the King has sent his men to the cabin where Snow was meant to meet his mother, Ruth (Gabrielle Rose).  In a fight to the death, Charming takes care of the men but his mother is hit with an arrow, Lancelot calls poisoned.  She wanted to meet Snow before they were married.  Charming recalls how he used the water from the Lake to help in the past and so it will heal her now.  However when they arrive, the lake is dried up.  His mother gives Snow her necklace which can predict the sex of children and future children, if it moves North to South it's a boy, East to West is a girl.

Lancelot finds a smidgen of water, all that's left and Ruth refuses to drink but does so anyway, thinking Snow should have it to lift the curse, knew she didn't really drink it cos the magic would have worked on her. It's a parents duty to protect a child which Snow will come to learn, as she always has protected Emma.  Lancelot performs a marriage ceremony for  Snow and Charming, giving them wine to drink from the same cup, obviously he's put the water in there, remarking on the Holy Grail.  Together they go forward to reclaim their kingdom from George.

In Storybrooke Charming tells Henry (Jared S Gilmore) he did find the Hatter but he disappeared and Henry thinks they should look for him.  Henry wants to help Charming get back Snow and Emma but he'll be safer at school.  Henry misses school and finds Jefferson (Sebastian Stan) on the bench looking at a drawing his daughter, Grace drew.  He tells her she's at school and he should go see her, but he can't since he left her.  Henry's left here and he would prefer to know than not.  He also tells Henry about Regina's vault, so how did he know about that?  The one where she's kept those hearts.  See I mentioned that last ep review.  As Rumples also said to her last ep that Regina will hold the hearts of many in her hands.  Henry turns up at the crypt after calling Regina and arranging lunch with her.  Sh returned to find her keys missing and called Charming to get him.

Snow tells Lancelot she knows of a portal which may take them back but can't tell him where it is, cos Cora might hear, leading Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Emma back to their castle.  Aurora (Sarah Bolger) follows with vengeance in her mind and Mulan warns her not to confuse vengeance with justice.  The ogres have awakened and Emma confuses ogre for giant as in "fe fi fo fum..."  let's face it, Emma was out of her element here as Snow told her and well she should have listened and not try to be a know-it-all, after all mother knows best, especially somewhere she's never been.  Firing her gun when Aurora tries to stab Snow, thus alerting the ogre to their presence.  Snow shoots the ogre between his eye, it's been 28 years since she fired an arrow. Snow shows Emma her nursery which she saw in Henry's book.  As well as the magic portal which Geppetto carved.  Lancelot turns up saying he wanted to protect them.

Lancelot turns into Cora, she killed him and she wants the portal.  Emma uses powder from a bullet to set the portal on fire and save Snow too.  They return back to the island, with Snow now becoming leader and Mulan and Aurora will help them find a way back, well it wasn't going to be that easy.  Cora returns and puts some ash into a bottle, of course she'll use it to get home since she has magic, well not home but to Regina.  Henry wants to be like Charming and he will teach him how to sword fight, maybe even fight a dragon since he can't do this without Henry.  Jefferson shows himself to Grace who is pleased to see her papa.  George watches Henry and Charming, so how exactly did he manage to end up here?

This episode was all about families with Emma finally forgiving Snow for leaving her alone seeing what she had to live with, an empty nursery and she understands now.  George clearly doesn't since he wanted Snow to suffer the same fate as his beloved in not being able to conceive.  Yet she tells Lancelot she will be having  a girl after Charming uses the necklace, she didn't tell Charming, he wanted  a son, saying it's a surprise instead.  Regina tries to redeem herself still with calling Charming to get Henry, we'll see how long that lasts.  Hopefully she'll have to contend with and pit her wits and magic against Cora.

Jefferson was finally reunited with Grace so there's not much left for him to do, considering his 'portal jumper' no longer works.  Yet he was acting strangely after wanting her back so much and the lengths he went to last season to kidnap Snow and make Emma churn out a hat for him, he seemed to have given up so easily when she was right in front of him now.  Writers what were you thinking?  He's has so much low self esteem over the years that he can't face her now, that was truly mad.

Doctor Who 7.10 "Hide" Review

                                              
Professor Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott) and his assistant, Emma Grayling (Jessica Raine) are in a hunted house, Caliburn and have set up all the equipment to monitor a ghost.  Emma is a psychic empath and the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) arrive whom Alec thinks is from the ministry, calling him "Doctor What?"  That was different, the Doctor liked that.  Cue the Doctor having  a love fest over all the equipment in the house.  Alec shows them the photos he's taken and the notes which were left in the house for the "Witch of the well" so they think they're on a ghost hunt.  Clara wonders why Alec would buy a haunted house.

The Doctor takes Clara exploring round the house in search of a ghost and soon finds a coldspot in the house, then Clara tells him to stop holding her hand, but he has his hands.  Clara and Emma share some conversation and whiskey which she hates and refers to it as the eleventh horrible thing around. Oh there's that number eleven gain.  Asking Emma if she and the professor have, you know...it's obvious he has feelings for her as obvious as a "big chin."  Emma tells Clara not to trust the Doctor as he has a "sliver of ice in his heart", only the one heart then and not both?  Whilst the Doctor and Alec develop the photos he's just taken and he asks why he's here.  He feels haunted by his actions during the war and would like to say sorry if he could for all those people he led to their deaths.

The Doctor borrows his camera and sets off in the TARDIS where there's nowhere for Clara to put her wet umbrella.  He takes out his suit which is orange and hurts her eyes, belonging to the Tenth Doctor (David Tennent) and steps off into a fiery world to take photos as well as through various eras of time.  He puts on a slideshow and tells them they're not looking for a ghost but a trapped woman, a time traveller from the future who is trapped in  a pocket of time.  They have to rescue her and bring her back.  Clara says she hasn't been born yet in 1974 and he's also seen her death in the future.  They're all ghosts to him. He's interested in Clara since she's the biggest mystery of them all.
Clara: "So when are we going?"
Doctor: "That is good, that is top notch."
Clara: "the answer is."
Doctor: "We're going always."

He has to rescue the traveller whose name is Hila (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) and Emma must help him by using her abilities and the help of the blue psychic Metabelis Crystal.  So he ties himself to a rope and ends up in the pocket universe.  A bleak wood which is floating on the edge of space or in some space.  He calls out to Hila and finally meets her but the rope has moved and so they follow the echoes of Emma's voice and the echo of the house.  Where the creature follows them to and he uses his bowtie to hold the door shut.  Hila gets back but the Doctor is stranded.  He is chased by the creature which hides and tells him he's trying to scare him, which he adds works, "I am the Doctor and I am afraid."  Don't think so.

Clara has an encounter with the TARDIS which won't let her in and manifests itself in her image, finally allowing her in as she heads to rescue the Doctor who piggy backs on the TARDIS.  This wasn't so much a ghost story but a love story which is also mirrored by the creature, the Doctor gets Alec and Emma together, to hold hands for always and then realizes there are two of the creature; being credited as 'The Crooked Man'.  One inside the house which held Clara's hand, as the two must have been separated.  Thus he must go and rescue the other one and gets the creature to piggyback this time.

Emma tells him he didn't come here cos of the haunted house but cos of her.  He wanted to ask about Clara and he just describes her as a girl, a sometimes scared, ordinary girl.  But is she?  Seeing as we're still hoping for that mystery to unravel soon.  The Doctor introduces Hila as their great, a few times removed, grand daughter that's why there was the psychic connection between her and Emma.  Oh and he even gets his bowtie back.  Of course the Doctor and Clara can't be romantically linked, the scene where he puts his arm around Clara mentions love and then quickly moves his arm away.

So this episode showed you can do a ghost story in a Doctor Who episode but ten it borders onto a tale of love and lost love at that.  Perhaps the best part was Clara asking if he's "okay with that?"  with watching the world die and then going on about business as usual for which he didn't really have an answer, other than "wibbly vortex."  Probably the saddest moment the two have shared thus far in this series.  (Forget about the times where she's died twice.)  Since this was a love story we weren't going to get any explanations as to why or how Hila found herself in a pocket and how the creature ended up there too, sufficed to say, she was a time traveller which is probably the only explanation we need. Other than asking why Dougray Scott to me sounded a bit Orson Welles? ha.

Clara and her conversation via the TARDIS visual voice interface where she calls her a cow verging on a fight there of the feline variety.  The Crystal was previously seen in the episodes with the Third Doctor, Planet of the Spiders and The Green Death.  At least we got to hear "Geronimo" again.  An improvement many would say to the past episodes, especially The Rings Of Akhten but would have preferred a little more scary than love.

The Mentalist 5.18 "Behind The Red Curtain" Review

A woman falls from a balcony at a fundraiser for a show and Lisbon (Robin Tunney) arrives on the scene, she questions the producer Warren Dodge (Matt Servitto) director Brian McTavish (Erik Jensen) and publicist Sylvia Clare (Julie Claire) of the show, Torch which the producer aims to get onto Broadway.  Lisbon wants them up in the room so they can investigate and calls Patrick (Simon Baker).  She hopes he's not at the hospital which he what he tells her cos it's what she wants to hear. She can't have it both ways, either he's here or he's not.  She wants him at the CS.  Patrick waits in anticipation for Jason Lennon (Christopher Cousins) to wake up and ID Red John to him.  But fate has already been decided here as Kirkland (Kevin Corrigan) turns up and sends Patrick away.  Patrick has the nurse, Shelia (Rose Abdoo) on side though donuts will get you far!  As she later tells him she likes his smile and Patrick adds a smile goes a long way.  She doesn't like the FBI/Homeland Security agents, there's a vibe about them like they're aliens who will take off their masks and become lizard aliens.  Patrick knows what she means.

Patrick arrives at the CS and isn't given much of a chance to be introduced until later when Lisbon calls him a consultant now, as he carries on with the questions.  Lisbon is clearly peeved with Patrick and she tells him so, "you're creeping around Lennon, getting into Kirkland's business of course I'm glum...if you need to break the rules, break them on your own time"
Patrick: "When am I never on my own time."  True he's always doing something for them, but rather why is Lisbon so trustful of Kirkland, she hardly knows him and yet she wants Patrick to follow some rules for once. Why when obviously Kirkland doesn't.  Patrick wasn't happy with that line of on his own time.

Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) examines photos and surveillance from the night and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) returns, she hates California and is glad to be back.  Lisbon hugs her but Rigsby does not.  Though he doesn't mind when she sits next to him and hands her a file to help.  There's photos of everyone coming and going  and even one of the lead actress Deandra (Donna Murphy) who left by the back door.  Everyone assumes she was drinking and so is probably in some hotel bar.

Rigsby accompanies Patrick to the rehearsal and he gives each of the dancers a reveal about themselves - on what they're really like and how two of them, Mandy (Alexis Carra) and Bridget (Gabrielle McClinton) hated Sharon and didn't want her being second lead in the musical. As for the male singer, Howard (Nick Cobey)  Patrick calls him 'bitchy', loved his impersonation and eyeball rolling!  They hang around as Patrick tells one of the actresses, Maggie (Briana Cuoco) there for an audition that Brian hates jazz hands, she should pass it round.  Everyone gets the message except for Bridget who auditions in that way as Mandy didn't tell her and she wanted her off the production.  Patrick leaves the two squabbling and runs off as usual, leaving Rigsby to stop them fighting.

Rigsby also interviewed Sharon's boyfriend Racine (Derek Ray) who tells them about her being mugged and attacked, he was there to protect her.  Sharon also has a foster mother, Polly (Maggie Egan) who tells them about Racine abusing her.  Mandy attacked Sharon cos she wanted her to leave but didn't kill her.

Later when Deandra is rehearsing Patrick says she's Sharon's real mother and he was sitting in the chair in the dark listening to her sing.  Lisbon didn't see him him when she came in and neither did we.  Sharon knew about her MS and she went to get her meds from the room which is why she was there.  She hasn't had a drink in 14 years.  Patrick enlists LaRoache (Pruitt Taylor Vince) to help nab the killer after he sees a man in a scarf leaving via the fire escape in one of the photos, when they notice Dodge wasn't seen anywhere in the footage.  He's calling in his favour and gets LaRoache to act the part of Burt, an investor, only he doesn't exist and it's only until Dodge says he doesn't exist that everyone listens.  He wanted the show to go ahead and he was using his own money, Sharon caught him coming out of the room but she wouldn't stay silent.  She regrets what he did and Cho (Tim Kang) has nothing to say to him.

Sheila calls Patrick to tell him that Lennon's being brought out of his coma and Kirkland asks him if he knows him or recognizes his face.  He replies in the negative and Kirkland calls himself a 'friend.'  Either Red John's friend or Red John himself, either way he kills him, then innocently waits outside the room when Patrick arrives he knows Kirkland's been up to no good.  So you gotta ask why Lisbon was keeping Patrick away from the hospital since this is the first lead Patrick's had on RJ, why take him away from that since he's spent his entire time locked in his attic in search of leads.

Kirkland shows his true colours here though it was expected and anyone who thought otherwise was very naive.  Just left to work out who he really is now.  Why kill Lennon if he doesn't know him, what possible reason could he have for that, to stop him talking, from talking to Patrick, acting on RJ's behalf.  This ep once again brought on more questions than any definitive answers.  Kirkland tells Lennon he hopes a friend will do the same for him if he ends up in the same position and not have to go to jail.  IS that a loaded statement or what, will Patrick be the one to do this, but he's not a friend though it's always Patrick's intention to kill Red John if and when he finds him.
As for this 'freind' phrase, it's been bounded around quite a bit, what with Patrick saying the same of Kirkland in Red Sails in the Sunset, when he referred to him as "your new best friend" to Lisbon.  Perhaps he is seeing as she warned Patrick to stay away from him here.  But Lisbon wouldn't be compromised in any such way would she?

Good to see LaRoache return but thought it would have been for something more sinister than to help with the current case.  Best line: Patrick: " that's my arm you have two of your own." Great play on words here with the title, were we really behind the Red John facade with Kirkland, or was he just revealing himself to be involved  deeper than even Lisbon could suspect.

The Vampire Diaries 4.18 "American Gothic" Review

                                         
Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Rebekah (Claire Holt) show up in a small Pennsylvanian town and Rebekah thinks they should move on.  Elena's hungry and hones in on a woman and goes to bite her neck.  The woman calls her Katherine and tells her to bite her wrist instead like she told her.  Apparently Katherine's compelled her to listen to her voice and blank out anyone else.  Elena can't believe her luck.  Katherine is meant to be on the run and yet she can't be bothered to change her name.  They find her in a diner where Rebekah torments her by putting a fork through her hand.  They want the cure but she's not talking.  Her phone shows she's meeting someone, an "EM" at 2.  Oh look his initials and still no one would have guessed who that really was.  Elena takes her jacket and shoes and will go in her place.  So much for Elena being different to Katherine and acting differently she still looked the same and sounded like the same old whiny Elena!

The sheriff has located Damon's (Ian Somerhalder) abandoned car and Damon says he'll send her muffins.  Stefan (Paul Wesley) adds she also found the location of the car they stole, in creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania.  So he'll send her champagne too.  Elena meets Elijah (Daniel Gilles) and he kisses her. Katherine's using him to pave the way forward for her with Klaus (Joseph Morgan) so she can give him the cure and gain her freedom.  However he realizes Katerina is Elena.  She hasn't told him about killing Jeremy and we learn that Katherine and Elijah are intimate.

Klaus is in agony over the white ash left in his back and Caroline (Candace Accola) turns up, he needs help.  Only it's not really her but Silas, still tormenting Klaus.  The real Caroline does turn up after countless calls to her, phone stalking, whilst she's in the middle of planning proms.  She will help him if he gives his word that Tyler can return and he won't kill him.  She can kill twelve witches for Bonnie but she can't help him he tells her.  She wants him to learn what it means to be a friend.  Caroline doesn't find any ash in his back and after their little argument Klaus realizes the pain is gone.  Silas was in his head and she helped him once more.  As for Tyler he tells her he's not exactly chasing after him.  Even if he gives his word now, he could take it back.

Damon and Stefan find Katherine and Rebekah and Stefan goes in search of Elijah to talk and Damon and Rebekah hunt for the cure.  Katherine takes them to a house with a fishtank and a quilt which neither believes could be hers.  Katherine opens the safe and tells them the cure's not here.  Damon notices a treasure chest in the fishtank without fish and the water's filled with vervain.  She dunks Damons' head in, cos once again he's foolish enough to turn his back on her and she takes the cure.  Rebekah stops her and drinks it herself as Katherine escapes.  Rebekah passes out and when she awakes Damon says he can kill her now and throws a letter opener at her.  She catches it and her wound heals, realizing it wasn't the real cure.

Elena tries to convince Elijah that Katherine will always be Katherine and will never change, that she's only using him.  Katherine breaks Elena's neck and gets the cure from her friend.  She gives it to Elijah since he was right and she wants to change and no longer use him, wanting to find who she really is.  She leaves and Rebekah wants the cure but he doesn't give it to her.  He asks why she wants it since will things really be so different to now.  She's had twenty lifetimes with him and she wants to be normal.   Instead they head on back to have a family meeting with Klaus.

Damon admits to Stefan he had a lapse for a second and wanted Rebekah to take the cure but he realized it too late.  Stefan wants to move on after Elena gets the cure and he's fed up of making the same mistakes over again.  They fall for the same women, Stefan says they used to fall for the same women and they need to move on, Stefan needs to move on.  Before he goes riding into the sunset they have to help Elena.  Finding her back at the diner she wants them to leave her alone.  Killing the waitress and telling them it's their fault.  Stefan reminds her how she didn't give up on him but she's not Stefan.  Though they're really trying hard to
make Elena into her own special kid of ripper.  Everytime they try to talk her round and help here she'll leave Vics in her wake. Seems Stefan won't be riding into the sunset just yet.

So Elijah returned in a bid to get back his beloved Katerina but did he think it would be so simple.  Even if he is lovesick, he still manages to keep his cool and get the cure too, showing why he is big brother and why he's still around.  Being compassionate about Jeremy since he's lost a brother too, isn't that more than one he's lost.  So why does he still want Katherine and get back something from his past?  He's the one who always takes the moral high ground and Katherine is his opposite, she's ruthless and vain, so how is Elena also different  to her now.  Doppelgangers unite in their manipulation of men, yet are we meant to believe that Katherine truly wants to turn over a new leaf and develop some sort of vampiric conscience.

Elijah hates how Katherine took away Elena's only family in the same way hers was also killed and seems the lesson in conscience and compassion could go both ways and he should have given the same to Elena also.  Elena has no emotions yet she was trying to convince Elijah of what Katherine's really like or was that all for show.
Caroline also shows her real character when she says she should have turned her back on Klaus a long time ago, but can't, for reasons of attraction and others.

Katherine: "You don't know Katherine at all.  Did it ever occur to you that you have no idea who I really am?"
Damon: "Did it ever occur to you that you're not that deep." Great line as always from Damon.

Hey we've caught up with the US screenings of the show, we're one ep behind, that's 5 days away  until we watch ep 19.

666 Park Avenue 1.9 "Hypnos" Review

                                            
Jane (Rachael Taylor) is seen by Maris (Whoopi Goldberg) who gives her some chamomile tea and uses regression therapy on her.  She finds herself back in 1927 and at Jocelyn's birthday party at the Drake here she also sees Kramer (Jim True-Frost).  In the mirror she sees herself as Libby Griffith (Christine Evangelista) who was Jocelyn's babysitter.  The men with Kramer plan on using Jocelyn as some sort of a sacrifice, at least they want blood.  Jocelyn is taken to the room to find her doll and they hide in the closet when they hear voices.  Jane also sees Kramer place something behind a brick in the fireplace.

Henry (Dave Annable) has a meeting with Perez (Raul Esparza) who wants to back him in his political campaign.  Yes worthless Henry who can't even cook, bake actually, will do well as a useless politician, he has all the right credentials for it.  Jane wants him to do whatever he has to regardless of her.  Perez has Jane's psych report and advises she's just a girlfriend so he should ditch her since things like that don't help in politics.  Henry calls Laurel (Tessa Thompson) who gives him some dirt on Perez and his embezzling money.  She asks if he really wants to get into this type of business.  Henry uses the info to blackmail Perez into reconsidering and if he hadn't used Jane's report he wouldn't be doing this now.  Of course Perez rushes straight to Gavin (Terry O'Quinn) and tells him all about it.  Gavin has Jane's report so he prob leaked it but he also has Henry's file too in that same red coloured folder.

Gavin meets Jane in the lift when she leaves Maris's apartment and claims there was a maintenance problem.  Of course he wouldn't believe her and Jane got so nervous around him, what she couldn't take the lift from another floor.  Gavin talks to Maris and knows the symbol outside her door.  She wants to get out of here in return for telling him what Jane saw at the bottom of the stairs.  For the devil he sure isn't very perceptive.

Jane calls Hayden (Teddy Sears) and asks her to check up on Libby, finding she died on October 28 1927, the same night Jane was there.  She has the blueprints for the room and Hayden breaks the wall to reveal the fireplace.  He's doing this for her since he's on the job and there have been so many reports of incidences all from the Drake.  He doesn't believe it's just a coincidence unlike his captain.  She locates the brick and removes it to find whatever Kramer hid there.  Henry calls  and says Perez isn't going to back him but he's going to try and convince him again.  As they leave the room, Libby watches from the other side of the mirror above the fireplace.

Maris transports Jane back again and Kramer asks her to take Jocelyn and leave but she can't get out of the locked doors of the Drake.  She hides Jocelyn and reveals herself saying Jocelyn's run away.  The men take Libby instead and tie her up.  She's the sacrifice and a voice is heard, it's Gavin.  SO why ask Maris what happened at the bottom of the stairs.  Maris tells Jane she's connected to this place and her family has a dark legacy here, it affects her past and her future.  She asks about Gavin but Maris doesn't reply as a bird watches through the window.  Maris marks a page in the book for Gavin and he lets her leave.  He asks why she gave him the info so easily and she replies it's not something he wouldn't have found out eventually.  They all have a price to pay for ??

Elsewhere Olivia (Vanessa Williams) desperately tries to get hold of Sasha and calls from Shaw's (Nick Chinlund) phone.  She hears her voice and forces him to take her there.  She doesn't find her there but Kandanisky (Misha Kuznetsov) takes care of Shaw and shoots him.  Gavin meets with Laurel and calls her Sasha.  Oh darn should have guessed that was her, but she was around when Henry got his medal wasn't she, so how come no one saw her, including Olivia.  Makes you wonder what Gavin's playing at really if he knew all along she was alive, why act that way when Olivia told him she burnt her letter and didn't want to hurt him.  Should have known Gavin would trump Olivia to Sasha.  Then again should have guessed she was Sasha cos she was into politics and wanted Henry to go into this line of work too, also encouraging her to get rid of Jane.  Jane has an encounter with Libby as she touches her through the bathroom mirror, then Henry has to walk in and spoil the moment.  Jane tells him she was talking to herself.  Did she really have to say that, considering he already thinks her a loony.

Maris leaves and turns into white birds.  Who was she that Gavin was holding her here?  This show just comes up with endless questions and possibilities but no answers, no wonder people got bored and didn't stick around to watch it, hence cancellation.  Also Sasha was a bit like Gavin wasn't she.  Do you think she was working with Gavin all along to entice Henry into politics?  Kind of looks that way.
Jane sees dead people, ha and Whoopi had to be cast as a psychic bird?  Just fits her character really.

Once Upon A Time 2.2 "We Are Both" Review

Lots more background in this as we now get three realms into one land, well kind of, there's the Enchanted Forest or the corner that's left of it, with Regina (Lana Parrilla) admitting to Charming (Josh Dallas) that it still exists, then there's Stroybrooke and the Enchanted Forest, as was, when Regina was just starting out with her magic.  Here we flash to how she got magic, well Gold/Rumples (Robert Carlyle) had to be behind it, was it me or did his accent sound different back then. Regina desperately wants to get out of marrying the king but her mother, Cora (Barbara Hershey) insists she go through with it.  There's even one scene where a young Snow (Bailee Madison) looks at the necklace Regina's love gave her and puts it round her neck, Regina strangles her with it, but alas it's only a dream.  She hadn't turned completely evil back then, though she does have an evil streak.  She tells Snow her mother had him killed, or rather that he's dead.

She even laments to her father about not wanting to get married but she's powerless to act until Rumples gives her that little nudge and the book.  Which is how her flashback began as she wants magic back, that way she can get her claws into Henry (Jared Gilmore) once more.  Regina wanting Cora gone and pushing her into the mirror with that little pull from Rumples was fun to watch showing how she didn't want to resort to using magic, becoming her mother but circumstances and fate dictated otherwise, with that all important push over the edge from Rumples.

She sits in the garden and using the magic her eyes change colour and the apples on the tree turn red.  She then uses the magic tree to set a trap for Henry as Cora used on her, Capturing her with its tentacles when she was trying to escape the marriage.  Using magic Regina forces the townspeople into a stalmate and Henry must give himself to her in order for her to leave them alone.  Taking him back home he exits bedroom window and is held by the tree.  She wants him to stay cos she loves him but he just thinks he's a prisoner cos she loves him which isn't fair.

Charming needs to know how to use Jefferson/Hatter's (Sebastian Shaw) hat after Henry shows him his pic in the storybook.  Thus he has to turn to Gold who gives him a potion to use.  Charming asking what he wants in return, they agree to stay out of each other's way and Charming also tells him what the seven dwarves found out as they tried to leave town.  That when they cross the line, they become their Storybrooke selves and don't recall who they really were, after Sneezy (Gabe Khouth) drew the short straw and had to cross the line, pushed more like.

Charming uses the potion on the hat and he comes across Jefferson stuck inside a car, he was like that all the time.  Nice touch with the teaset and the rabbit cuddly toy.  He's no help, ahh Jefferson! and mentions the curse being inside his head, before making a run for it.  Well that's prob the last we'll see of him, more's the pity.  Well until next ep at least.  Charming tries to chase after him but Ruby (Meghan Ory) tells him about Henry and he also leaves the hat behind too.  Charming goes for Henry with the aid of his trusty sword and Regina has a change of heart and lets him go.

Charming then has to give a pep talk to the townspeople and stop them from leaving.  Giving them a rousing speech about how they are the townspeople and also the people from the Enchanted Forest.  "We are both." and they have to stay together and help each other as before.  Charming doing a lot of rallying round now that Mary Margaret/Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Emma )Jennifer Morrison) are no longer around but he hasn't given up on them.  Henry and Charming sit sipping their glass of cola and Henry tells Geppetto (Tony Amendola) about August.  He doesn't find him in the room but does find his hat.

Snow and Emma find themselves led to the safe haven in ropes by Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Aurora (Sarah Bolger) and Snow is hurt when they try to make a run for it.  After being thrown into the pit, Cora asks if she can help them.  Back in Storybook Regina almost burns the magic book but finds she can't.  Recalling how Rumples told her she was more like her mother than she knows.  Also Gold stands at the line, wonder what he was thinking, maybe he'll end up crossing it with his magic.

Best line had to go to Whale (David Anders) "Are the nuns still nuns, can they, you know, date.  Don't say it's me asking!" To be expected after Snow's ref to "once night stands" as far as he's concerned.  But last ep he wanted to kill Regina and this ep it's as if nothing's happened! ha

Did Cora get pushed and pulled "through the looking glass" and somehow end up in Wonderland?  Then how did she end up in the pit?  She could be the Red Queen.  As you'll recall Regina needed Jefferson's help with his hat to 'rescue' her father from Wonderland after she killed him last season.  One more thing, why doesn't Mulan recognize Snow, surely she must know who ruled here?

The people also retain their Storybrooke memories since Charming lets on to Henry he didn't know about the Mad Hatter when he was Charming but he's read Alice in Wonderland.  Thus wouldn't they have some sort of insane trip recalling these memories back there and here.  Isn't that one reason Jefferson was meant to be mad, he recalled the curse and he also knew what was happening here.
Jefferson: "Then all we'll do is both sit, stuck.  Two lives in our heads cursed worse than ever.  Two lives forever at odds.  Double the pain.  Double the suffering."
What happened to his daughter?  Also what happened to the crypt with Regina's collection of hearts?
As for Charming's speech, I think Jefferson gave him the idea in the first place with his two lives cursed speech to him, now his was much more of a pep talk!

Hopefully Sebastian Stan will be cast as the Hatter in the Once Upon A Time spin-off Wonderland, it won't be the same with another actor in the part!