Once Upon A Time 2.4 "The Crocodile" Review

                                            
Belle (Emilie de Ravin) sees Gold (Robert Carlyle) spinning, er, gold and then next day she asks him what he was doing.  He lies and she runs away.  Prompting Gold to think about his own wife, Milah (!) (Rachel Shelley) who he found at the tavern with a pirate.  He wants her home as she has responsibilities but she hates it there, and only goes since Bae (Sebastian Wilkinson) is here.  Rumples wants her to stay and try to be happy but she hates it and thus runs off with said pirate.

Belle ends up at Granny's and meets Ruby (Meghan Ory) who thinks Granny may have a room for her.  Belle's in need of a job and likes books, so she sends her to the library, where she's abducted by William Smee (Chris Gauthier) the same man who offered the Dark One the magic bean in exchange for eternal life.  He abducts her for her father, Moe French (Eric Keenlyside).  He wants her to stay with him and to promise not to go near Gold, but she wants her own life.  He gets Smee to take her away.

Charming (Josh Dallas) helps out in the mines but not for long as he's acting sheriff now and Gold comes to him in search of Belle since none of the townsfolk will help.  Not surprising since he turned the butcher into a pig and all sorts of other magic.  He asks why he can't use magic like the tracking spell he gave him for Jefferson, that only works if they have something of the person's.  Gold asks Charming about him and Snow and how they work.  Is he asking dating advice?  He replies honesty, from the heart.

Rumples sees the pirate back in town whilst in the tavern and he confronts him.  He refers to Rumples as a crocodile.  He has a showdown with him and wants a duel the next day so he can recall his life now.  He, Killian Jones (Colin O'Donoghue) tells him Milah's dead.   Yeah that's the type of yarn gold would spin, no pun.  They fight and Rumples would like to kill him with his own sword, said Captain having no name yet. Milah turns up to save him from having his "heart ripped from his chest."  She loves him and she has the magic bean in exchange for their lives, as she shows him the red hat/beenie worn by Smee.

Ruby denies seeing Belle, Charming pleads with her, he's got him covered, she should trust him.  She has wolf scent now and can track her from her cape and leads them to her father's shop.  He won't let Rumples destroy Belle like he does others.  Gold realizes he's sending her across the town line so she can forget about him, even if she forgets her own father.  Charming sees dust on his hands, she's going through the tunnels which lead out of town.  They've got patrols so people don't cross by mistake.

Rumples says to Milah how she has the family she couldn't have with him and she throws Killian the bean.  Rumples doesn't forgive her, instead he rips her heart out and turns it to dust, just like Regina does.  She left Bae and he had to tell him she was dead.  She was miserable since she never loved him.  The pirate refuses to give the bean and so Rumples takes his hand, he can now use a hook, hence his name, Captain Hook.    Obviously there's no bean there.  He's left alive to suffer.  Notice when Gold opened the hand it was a real hand, but then turned into a fake one when he overturns the table.

                                     

Smee places Belle in the cart and Gold manages to use his power to pull her back.  He's too cowardly to speak to her and she doesn't want to see either one of them again.  Ruby gives her a box left for her, the key to the library.  Gold: "we may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth."  He made enquiries about her interests.  He's here cos she's right about him, he's a coward and has been his whole life.  Collected power and it became important so he couldn't let go, even when it meant losing Bae.  Wanted to find him down many paths and found a curse to take him to the land where he could find him.  He had to wait for the curse to be broken to find him, he's got magic here cos he's still a coward, "magic has become a crutch."  He can't walk without it.  He can't leave here cos he'll forget him and won't know him.  "Magic comes with a price,"  he has to break this new curse, that's when she saw him in the basement.  He doesn't want to lose her again without telling her everything.  Belle asks him for a hamburger sometime.  Could you picture Gold eating a burger, hey reference to the crocodile wanting more meat, ha.

Killian takes the the bean and heads off to Neverland.  He meets up with Cora (Barnara Hershey) who shows him her bottle of ash, he refers to as "sparkly dust," it's the  portal to the other world.  Where she is and so is he.  Gold asks Smee about Hook/Killian and wants to know where he is.  Well obviously if he's not in Storybrooke, he'd be in the Enchanted Forest.  Sure they didn't want to call William Smee, Will Turner.  Okay I know he's from Peter Pan, as was the Crocodile.  "Tick tock" reminds me of the town clock and how it stood still until Emma came in season 1.  Though obviously it's an allusion to the Disney movie where the "Tick Tock Crocodile" ate Hook's hand

Apparently Hook has made a huge impact with fans as they like he didn't have a fake wig, together with pirate swagger, but plenty of eye make-up and a bit of a looker to boot.  At least this version has known the tragedy of lost love and is after the crocodile in revenge for Milah.  Thus he would team up with Cora since they both have a common purpose: to get to Storybrooke.  SO why can't Snow hitch a ride and why hasn't Mulan come across Hook?

Gold, like Regina in some ways, is trying to be good in Storybrooke as we interchange and delve into his evil past and deeds before the curse.  Also we get an explanation as to why he wanted the curse and why he gave it to Regina to use.  He was motivated only by fatherly love.  Let's see if Belle does have a lasting effect on him and whether he will fully change, but don't hold any purple breath though.  Speaking of Belle she really tries to be independent and stick up for herself instead of letting the two men she loves dictate her life to her and what she should do.

Gold making breakfast so we could get a glimpse of the kettle, re Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast, since we get mention of the library already.  Of course her father's shop is called 'Game of Thorns'.  Ruby with her trusty basket of food, re Little Red Riding Hood when she gives Henry (Jared S Gilmore) the muffin.  Gold's quote to Belle in the library was from the book The Pleasures of Life, written by British banker from the nineteenth century, John Lubbock.

Doctor Who 7.11 "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" Review

The Doctor (Matt Smith) gets Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) used to the TARDIS, hoping she will accept her but a salvage vessel spots the TARDIS and uses their gravitational tractor beam to take hold of it.  A grenade type object lands inside and Clara picks it up before there's an explosion.  The TARDIS is inside the vessel and the three brothers, Bram (Mark Oliver) Tricky (Jahvel Hall) and Gregor (Ashley Walters) notice the Doctor lying outside.  He sneaks up behind them and tells them they need to rescue Clara and will give them the greatest salvage they've ever seen.  The TARDIS is leaking toxic gases and they need to wear breathing masks, prompting the Doctor to ask why androids would need such gear.  Once inside he sets the TARDIS to self-destruct mode giving them an hour to find her, then reduces that to 40 minutes.

Clara finds herself exploring all sorts of corridors and rooms of the TARDIS and has a burn on her hand.  She comes across an alien figure with glowing red eyes which chases her.  Clara manages to reach the TARDIS library and a book telling the History of the Time War and surprise, surprise she learns his real name.  The first of many teasers.  Gregor wants to steal from the console and sends Bram back to strip it clean.  Whilst he comes across the room where there are replicating pods, which can replicate any form of material, well it's the TARDIS architectural reconfiguration system.  The TARDIS reacts against the pods being stolen and removes the door.  The TARDIS sets about turning  herself into a labyrinth of corridors and deathtraps, where they find themselves coming back to the same corridor.  A scene that was reminiscent of The God Complex from season 6 when the camera stayed in one place and they showed them running around the corridors of the hotel.

We also got glimpses of the swimming pool, the fuel core and finally the heart of the TARDIS too.  With the Doctor blaming himself for what Clara is going through, he brought her here to be safe.  He realizes the TARDIS has set up other areas of the console so that they are safe from the creatures and manages to pull her through to where he is.  They reach the heart of the TARDIS where there has been a frozen explosion and as they reach what appears to be the outside the Doctor realizes all they need to do is to jump.  But before that there's hugs aplenty again which she likes and most people won't cos again they're getting too close to stepping into that love fest for the Doctor territory, especially since Clara's mentioned all those snogging lines in the opener with her.

As for the brothers, well when the TARDIS metal tubes begin to fall in and trap Tricky, Gregor has to reveal he's not really an android but it was a game they made up.  Thus they bicker and the Doctor tells him to cut the metal and not his arm.  Also telling them Gregor showed a shred of decency when he couldn't cut his arm.  Alas it was all for nothing as the brothers throw the two Clara's off the edge but weren't meant to touch one another, which they do and thus they too become like the creatures.

The creatures chasing them are revealed to be past and future versions of Clara, she burned and died again.  She asks why again and he reminds her and us of how she saved him from the Daleks and then died, she was a nanny in Victorian London and again she died cos of him.  Clara also tells him she knows his real name but he stops her from saying it, as she repeats what he said about needing to keep some secrets. He asks who she is and she says she's just Clara, she doesn't know who they were.  Don't think the mystery has been solved though, they can't leave it like that, it's still so up in the air.

The Doctor solves the problem by finding the rift in time and throwing the grenade type thingy through it, thus the Doctor gets hold of it now with the message "Big Friendly Button" written on it.  Well he'd never have worked that out if he hadn't gotten hold of Clara's hand, see more hand holding!  That's what was burned onto her hand.  Thus Clara will also forget his name.  The brothers are back in their salvage vessel cos none of this happened with time being reset and Gregor repeats what the Doctor said about having some decency in him.  Those creatures were more menacing when we didn't know they were meant to be Clara, cos they didn't frighten after that.

There are various voices heard throughout as they clamour through the corridors, some of them including Rose when the Doctor (Christopher Ecceleston) was inside of her, about the hoards of Genghis Khan not being able to get through the doors, Tom Baker from The Robots of Death, "that's transdimensional engineering a key Time Lord discovery."  More from the episodes An Unearthly Child, with Ian Chesterton saying, "a thing that looks like a Policebox standing in a junkyard, it can move anywhere in time and space." Colony in Space, The Robots of Death, Rose, The Beast Below, and Smith and Jones.  Clara also comes across the cot from A Good Man Goes to War and the TARDIS toy that Amy and Mel had in Let's Kill Hitler.  Thought that time rift looked awfully like the crack from season 5 and the Doctor went though it in the exact same way he did in Cold Blood.

The explosion of the TARDIS engine has also created a crack in time and the Eye of Harmony is also seen which was in the movie with Paul McGann. Also noticed the key the Doctor uses has "Smiths" on it, now what was all that about.  Several references to the Doctor's Wife here and the Doctor expressing frustration, "I look at you every single day and I don't understand a thing about you."  What's significant about him saying "there's no way I can save her now."  Any possible future ramifications here, with reference to Clara, also has she really forgotten everything, especially his name.

The Mentalist 5.19 "Red Letter Day" Review

                                         
Knew something was up when Patrick (Simon Baker) leaves the toothpick on the door to his attic to ascertain when someone's entered.  It was timely leaving it there but not a coincidence as Cho (Tim Kang) collects him for the CS.  Patrick recognizes it's Cho from his footsteps, as Cho asks him.  Since Lisbon's (Robin Tunney) busy, yes Lisbon is busy having coffee with Kirkland (Kevin Corrigan) who's on a fact-finding mission, i.e finding out what facts Patty knows about Red John even picking Lisbon's brains about what he might know, as if she'd tell him.  Hopefully she won't fall into that trap.  He's enjoyed having coffee with her, more like thinking he's lulled her into a false sense of security that he's on the level about Homeland Security drawing a blank with any further RJ developments.  Liked the way Patrick was beavering away at his desk and didn't even let Cho enter, who didn't seem too perturbed about it.  Not sure if this is their first meeting for coffee since Kirkland first spelled it out after he introduced himself to her but he was getting awfully cosy with her, calling her Teresa. She even talks about herself in contrast to Kirkland who doesn't really say anything, except "I like to think I grew up in America" what kind of an answer was that, talk about being cagey so as not to give anything away about himself.

Later she tells Patrick about this meting and how there was "something odd" about Kirkland, she realized this since he didn't talk of himself or was rather interested in Patrick's findings.  In contrast to last episode Behind The Red Curtain where she was more defensive of Kirkland being allowed to do his job and that Patrick should follow more rules. When she returns to the office she notices it's cold in there (and not just a reaction to her coffee with Kirkland, ha).  Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) tells her the AC's off, conveniently.  Thus giving Kirkland's men a chance to break into Patty's attic and photograph everything and not notice anything was amiss with the toothpick, and you call yourselves Homeland Security!

Cho and Patrick are sent to a Wild West show where the owner, Hollis Percy (Stephen Macht) has been killed, hit over the head with the butt of a pistol.  Patrick even points to where it was stored.  He refuses to shake the coroner's hand since it has blood on it, or brain matter as she adds.  Then leads onto the usual motives for murder, love, jealousy,  money power and she concludes revenge.  Ahh that word would appeal to Patty since that's his entire reason for going after RJ.  Who has plenty of blood on his hands, blood of his family, of countless other people.

Patrick and Lisbon then question Percy's widow, Joanna (Wendy Phillips) and son, Ian (Eyal Podell) asking each of them to write down the name of the person that's just popped into their heads, that'll be Francisco Navarro (Harry Groener) who runs the show.  Patrick takes his time to trick a so-called magician (Kevin Cahoon) at the show teasing him about the nugget under the three cups trick and stealing the nugget from him, then his wallet and finally leaving the nugget in the boy's pocket.  They then head for sarsaparilla at the bar where trusty bar wench, Lily (Tamara Mello) who tells them she's from a nearby town.  Okay jumping forward a little it was no surprise when Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) interviews Joanna and finds out he was a player, having several affairs since it was apparent Lily was his daughter!  That I ascertained without it being pointed out that she and his son both touch their ears.  Also she asks Van Pelt if she's married which she says she isn't yet and again a timely plot point since Rigsby has given her an orchid, which everyone knows was from him. Van Pelt adding "it sounds like fun."  She's changed since her failed engagement to Craig.

Patrick and Lisbon question the sheriff, Emmett Cook (Antonio Jaramillo) who wasn't at the CS since he was looking into fires in three cabins.  Patrick makes a snide comment about him not being there.  Fires he says were started by meth labs.  Cho later is sent with Rigsby to look into the cabin and Rigsby finds it strange the fire was located in the centre and didn't spread.  Then notices fire retardant gel near the window so the forest didn't catch on fire.  Lisbon sends them both back to investigate the arson and they feign getting their equipment ready into one SUV to investigate.  At the cabin they find the sheriff setting another fire by dousing gasoline.

He admits he set the fires to buy the properties on the cheap and then sell them off when the mall is developed but he didn't kill Percy.  Infact Percy was oblivious to what was going on since he was drinking again.  Patrick returns to the town, where the magician is now setting up a card trick and talks to Lily.  She likes what he does, that he can read people and she wants him to try it on her.  Asking her what she'll have for breakfast tomorrow and to write it down and seal it in an envelope.  Obviously it was another clever plot to catch the killer.  Cho later turns up since he wants to question Francisco and probably predicts there'll be trouble, even if he tells Cho he just wants to talk.  By now we know it's Patty's forte to start a fight and run off.  Which he does when he asks Percy was drinking again.

Patrick calls Lisbon to meet them at the show but first he must get rid of this unruly, two bit magician by stealing his cards and denying it.  Francisco replaces him in the Medicine Man show since he has the card numbers 2 and 3 in his pocket, proving his skills.  Just to get everyone warmed up, he picks a couple and guesses where they're from and where they're going.  There must be some knack in working this out by watching them write it down just as he did with Van Pelt in previous when she wrote down Rigsby's name.  Since he gets Lily to act as his assistant and she reads out Albuquerque and they're heading to Seattle, Washington.  Again no coincidence she turns up as he recalls his breakfast mind 'trick' with her and tells her to open the envelope.  However it contains the name of the killer, Ian, wow now was that not a big shock.  Only Ian doesn't want anyone to open the envelope which contains his motive for the killing.  SO he confesses instead, saving her face and name.

As it's revealed they were brother and sister (guessed already) and Percy revealed this to Ian after he had already fallen for her.  He accepted no responsibility for his actions in not telling him and blamed Ian for his falling for her.  Ian loses it in a moment of frenzy and hit him several times, saying he felt good for a few seconds.  Since Percy finally understood in his dying moments what he'd done.  Patrick tells Ian he must tell Lily one day.  As she opens the envelope and finds it's a blank piece of paper.

Great to see Rigsby demonstrating his arson investigating skills again, which were mentioned as far back as season 1.9 Flame Red.  Though he and Van Pelt and their awkward moment outside the lift, remember stuff happens out there all the time with Patrick, important stuff, as it did with these two.  Just as he's about to come clean about his feelings, in walks her new beau, Duncan (Brian Ames) she met at he training place.  Ugh Rigsby, too late.  I'm not one for 'shipping' and all that, but with these two, they deserve each other and make a great couple.  Was that a Freudian slip by Van Pelt when she says she "met Wayne" in California?  Even Duncan picks up on it whilst Rigsby makes a dash back to the office.  SO it's timely (again) that next ep they both go undercover as a couple!  Ahh lots can happen here!

Liked that grin Patrick had on his face when he finally returned to his precious attic and picked up the toothpick, knowing he had foiled his nemesis.  Also thought the evidence he had on his board was fake and he had  put it up for just this purpose.  After all what better way to throw Kirkland or even RJ off the scent  by planing useless evidence.  At least I'm kind of hoping he did that.  Either that or he has some other cunning plan up his sleeve.  Never can tell with Patrick and his brain working on overtime.  Kirkland naturally takes over the deciphering of the evidence from his men and finally by ep's end puts together Patrick's wall of RJ evidence.  Evil look on his face!  Quick you'd be mistaken for thinking they should have given him a twirling moustache scene here!  Oh and Kirkland drinking a Blood Mary, Jane's drink in when he was remembering his family! in Red Rover, Red Rover, also Kirkland  being stuck in his own private office with big window, like Patrick, this is all very familiar or leading up to a big twist in that Kirkland is a red herring after all and one of the good guys!!??  But the way those blinds made that imposing shadow of bars on the floor was sinister.

Only qualm bro/sister love thang already done in Red John's Friends with Undine and Jared.  Loved Cho's line about "you're still in love with her, but instead of telling her you bought her a plant."  But it wasn't any old pant, it was an orchid.  Also making him decide his feelings by use of the bagel imagery was good.  Since Rigsby picks one and then puts it back, we don't now what he picked in the end.  Van Pelt also had an orchid on her desk in My Bloody Valentine when she put Craig O'Loughlin's necklace onto it.  Oh what happened to that necklace anyway, always thought it had a bug inside?  As for orchids, mentioned in Devil's Cherry, as well as Patrick meeting Lorelei on Orchid Lane a few eps back and Patrick's comment of "well chosen Rigsby" when he's lounging on his sofa.

Patty being called an agent this ep and he doesn't correct it!

CSI 13.9 "Strip Maul" Review

                                          
Nick (George Eads) and Sara (Jorga Fox) accompany two other officers from the Mobile Patrol Unit as they patrol the Strip.  Crawford (Alimi Ballard) tells Nick he'll be becoming a detective soon which he thinks its great. Ah Nick never has a bad word to say about anyone, unless it's a crim.  A prostitute named Chastity (Inbar Lavi) is arrested as they look for other trouble makers.  They then come across a drug deal going down and one of the men drops the baggie to the ground.  Crawford knows Adrian Dinan (Anthony Azizi) and this will be his third strike.  The other man, Bobby Reed (Mat Vairo) seems to be a buyer and they need his statement in exchange for his freedom.  They come across a man in a bloodied shirt who is holding a decapitated head, there's chaos and he hits another man with the head.  Sergeant Weiss (Lilly Walton) says the head isn't real and a girl in the crowd wearing a hoodie runs away holding a video camera. They chase the man and arrest him next to a car in which the driver is slumped inside.

At the station the people are processed and Weiss talks with a transgender named Joslyn (Andrew Elvis Miller) who seems to be agitated and in distress, claiming she's having a baby and it's coming out.  They try to subdue her by putting her in a chair with restraints but Weiss later lets her out.  She grabs a scissors from a paramedic there to help her and stabs himself repeatedly.  Doc (Robert David Hall) finds he wasn't high and David (David Berman) brings in X-rays showing she was a drug mule.  Doc cuts open her intestine and finds a burst condom which caused her to behave in this way.  Joslyn is known as Josh.

Greg (Eric Szmanda) talks with Marko (David Magidoff) and tries to get info from him.  Finn (Elisabeth Shue) processes the man who was attacked with the head and finds he's had some sort of a reaction on his hands.  Greg needs to know what the blood was as Finn's test shows it's non-human.  It's pig's blood and it may be contaminated so they need to know where the girl is.  Greg needs a map of everywhere they went to see who they came into contact with.  Finn finds the blood is clean so there's no immediate threat.  Sara notices the map and says they were at their CS.  They need the video to see what evidence may be on the camera.

Marko can't get Lydia to answer her phone and when she finally does Sara wants to meet her for the camera.  She suggests an ally where she should drop it near to the Strip.  Wasn't that a bit premature and amateurish if they need it for evidence how do they know the killer wouldn't be after it too.  Sara and Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) arrive to pick the camera up and Morgan notices blood which leads them to Lydia's DB.

Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) interviews Chastity after Morgan tells him there's something he should see and he interrupts his conversion with Ecklie (Marc Vann) who's thinking about resigning.  Sheriff Liston  wants him to take over her job.  The ring has an inscription on it and it's from Brass's ex-wife, given to his daughter, Ellie.  Chastity, real name Heather says she bought it for $200 from Jersey, another pro.  Brass is upset over this since it means Ellie's in trouble but couldn't come to him, especially when he finds out she was in Vegas.  Chastity is linked to the DB found in the car and she was in their hotelroom and stole the credit card.  She denies seeing him later on.

The drugs found in Joslyn match the sample found from Adrian, but he says he was sampling and Bobby was the seller.  Adrian works for Mad 10 gang leader Roland Zahl  who didn't want his turf taken over so they suggested they might want to work the Strip together.  Bobby is the son of  lawyer, Dennis Reed (Patrick Cassidy) but is released by Crawford.  Morgan finds the stolen card was used to rent the car in which the DB was found, who is identified as Keith.  They find a video of Keith with Chastity in the car and Bobby in the backseat and think it could have been a case of mistaken identity since they both look similar.  Chastity admits she was told by Zahl to go after Bobby and Keith, he's her pimp, but claims she wasn't there.  Obviously the video shows she was but says she left.  She texted Zahl with info on where Bobby would be.  Brass wants to use her to help them and he will buy her a bus ticket home where she can start over.

Hodges (Wallace Langham) talks In the Line of Fire and comes up with the theory that the killer used a gun which only fired once, like John Malkovich in the movie.  Which DB (Ted Danson) also mentions.  Hodges thinks it was a gun made from plastic or some sort of polymer and proves his theory right when he finds a 3D printer.  The gun was printed out and used once but could have been reprinted out over.  The printers are expensive and Hodges traces one to an autoshop.  However no printer is found there.  Finn recognizes the components of the polymer as those found on the man, Anthony Pak's (Ming Lo) hands, so he was the shooter.  He must have been heading straight for Lydia to take the camera when he was hit with the head.

They use Chastity as bait to get Pak as Greg monitors his moves on CCTV.  Pak knows where the cameras are located and goes out of camera shot.  He eventually catches up with Chastity but it's Weiss in disguise, could tell she had a wig on.  He's arrested for the murders but they have nothing to link to Zahl.  Brass finds Chastity's gone and she left him the ring and a note saying she hates bus rides.  Morgan has lunch with Ecklie and she seems to think she isn't worth his time but he sets that straight.  He's been thinking about leaving for a while.  They seem to be bonding as Brass is even more distant with Ellie.  DB tries to understand and be there for him but he has a perfect family and may find it a little hard to understand what's happening with Brass.

All this trouble started with Bobby just cos he's fed up with his father and being rich, well not wanting to study and become something normal and it doesn't seem fair that he gets away unscathed, aside from prison when everyone else is killed when they had nothing to do with it.   Apparently Joslyn was Bobby's cousin but it's not clear how his dressing as a woman contributed to the story or whether he really was a transgender, transvestite or anything more.  It appears he was just there to move the story along and connect it to the drugs.

An episode where the arrest of the suspects came together to be related into one big story and at least this episode was different, introducing a new character in Crawford, who will be back again.  Nick was complimentary in telling Hodges he proved his theory about the 3D gun.

The Vampire Diaries 4.19 "Pictures of You" Review

                                           
Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) try to figure out how to get Elena (Nina Dobrev) to flip her humanity switch or rather switch it for her and Stefan comes up with a few plans.  Plan A is the prom where they will attempt to make her remember.   Caroline's (Candace Accola) prepared another night of partying for everyone and simply gets no gratitude for her hard earned work.  The theme this time round is 'Pictures of You,' where there are pics of the student's past and Elena really can't see the purpose behind it, more on that later. Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) appears to Bonnie (Kat Graham) and tells her to wake up, she does so and realizes the couch is on fire.  She still can't control her expressionism.

Accompanying Caroline to her dress fitting, they meet Elena and Rebekah (Claire Holt).  She's still hopeful for the cure and Elijah (Daniel Gillies) tells her she must convince him of how badly she must have the cure.  To this end she must act human all day.  Elena still being a right old 'bitch', yes I have to say it.  She's horrible to them both and they were meant to be best friends.  Caroline later finds Elena has stolen her red dress in which she was meant to look positively hot in and she asks Klaus (Joseph Morgan) for another one from his 'vintage' dresses, yes Klaus and dresses, wonder if he's tried any on, ha.  He's still debating the cure and he thinks it's better if they give it to Silas, even if all supernatural beings return, at least they will have their brother back.

The 'pictures of you' on the TV screen, show one with Elena and Matt (Zach Roerig) one which Elena's mother took.  Once again Elena goes to the dance with Stefan and Damon, who forces her to wear a corsage.  Caroline wants to tear strips off her for stealing her dress but Stefan comes along and she has to feign a compliment.  Rebekah wants to be prom Queen but April (Grace Phipps) refuses since she has to be voted in.  Elena however is more forceful and wants April to oblige, seeing as that's what Rebekah would have eventually done, but she tells Elena she wouldn't have.  Elena's taken on Rebekah's vicious streak here for her.

Rebekah asks Matt if she'd make a good human and he tells her she wouldn't since she's never done anything good in her life.  Stefan dances with Elena and attempts to rekindle some sort of humanity by telling her how well they danced together and she liked it when he put his hand on her waist, as she almost appears to be giving in and recalling the memories.  But obviously not, Damon just gets jealous watching the two of them and shares a flask with Caroline.

Jeremy appears to Bonnie and she dances with him, only it's Silas and not Jeremy.  She wants him to leave her alone and she hates how she didn't say anything nice to him the last time she saw him.  Then she realizes it's Silas and wants him out of her head.  Stefan comes up to Damon and stabs him after telling him how he and Elena share a lifetime, so many memories together, whereas all he has is a one night stand as a result of a sire bond.  Silas has done the same to Stefan by pretending to be Damon and luring him into the woods.

Matt and Bonnie are crowned prom king and queen and Rebekah is disappointed but Elena thinks it's a good idea to kill Bonnie that way Silas won't have his witch to get the cure and perform the spell.  She also bites April and Matt pleads with Rebekah to save her life, even if she's trying to be human.  She does this and Matt thanks her and apologizes for before.  He promises not to tell Elijah.  Klaus turns up and she realizes he's up to something.  Elijah gives Rebekah the cure since she's proved herself, only it's Silas and not Rebekah who calls him only seconds too late.  Oh come on how could Elijah not realize it's not Rebekah and just hand over the cure like that.

Caroline finds Tyler (Michael Trevino) waiting for her at home and Klaus can't get in cos Matt's got the deed now and Tyler had to be invited in.  They dance but he leaves soon before the others arrive for the after party.  Klaus catches him outside and tells him he'll give him a five second headstart.  Elena goes for the kill with Bonnie but she uses her expressionism on her and Elena is attacked until Stefan stops her.  About time Elena was given her own medicine.  Stefan injects her and Damon and Stefan realize fear may be the key to breaking the switch. She's locked in the Salvatore dungeon.  Damon will be left to see Elena through it when her memories come flooding back since Stefan aims to be long gone by then.  Even if he wants to be rid of them both falling for the same girl, it's obvious from the dance that he still has feelings for her.

Bonnie finds the real Silas and he has the cure, she sees what he really looks like after Kitsia cursed him so no woman would look at him.  Katherine leaves a note for Klaus telling him about a witch who can help him in exchange for his leaving Katerina alone.   he must travel to New Orleans.  Thus the Pilot of The Originals.

Matt survvives a prom without being attacked and Rebekah is actually nice to him, calling him "loyal, kind, honest and so beautifully human."  Rebekah and this being human fad of hers, it'll probably last a night and she'd be open prey, is she that certain that she'll be left to grow old, especially if supernatural creatures are let loose.  It's like a fantasy of hers that she hasn't really thought through.  More like a teen angst stage she's going through rather than acting like a vampire who's been alive for thousands of years.  Anyway Silas took away that problem from her and resolved it for everyone.

Elena saying if Jeremy came back he'd spend the entire time tying to get her back to the old Elena, clearly showing she has no emotions, except fear.  Bonnie being able to heal herself and being more powerful than Elena was a great touch since we haven't seen Bonnie doing much and it's great Elena couldn't bite her and finish her off.

Elijah and Klaus's conversation where Klaus says he'll kill Katherine just so Elijah never knows a moments love.  Now is that any way to talk to big brother.  Elijah remaining cool comes back with a quick retort, "it's such a hollow, little life that you lead Niklaus."

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.