The Mentalist 6.8 "Red John" Review

                                               
Patrick (Simon Baker) was in the church and finally ends up in his attic again.  Lisbon (Robin Tunney) arrives for work to see the last of all the fixtures of the CBI being removed and Abbott (Rockmond Dunbar) asks where Patrick is, she doesn't know but he doesn't believe her.  The others hide out in the parking garage and Lisbon tells them the CBI is gone and they're on their own, she's no longer their boss.

Bertram (Michael Gaston) enters a store to call Patrick but is made by a policeman and Cordero (Joe Nieves) shoots him.  As he's on the phone, wonder if Patrick heard the gunshots.  Bertram is not RJ and Patrick new that from last ep, he just wanted Bertram out of the way, or get him on the run cos he knew he'd lead him to Red John eventually, so really Bertram was bait and boy was he bait!  Patrick buys someone's phone in the park and uses it to call Bertram, so how did he know the payphone number.

Patty and his "beady eyes" comment was a reference to RJ of course and that being McAllister (Xander Berkeley).  It was no coincidence that Patrick was sitting by the pigeons feeding them since that's what McAllister's phobia was, well at least he hated them.  So if you hadn't got the clue by now and figured out who Red John is then well I have no idea what you were watching, ha!

Bertram wants to talk to Patrick and sort things out telling him "the game is over...we could both use a little closure."  Which is exactly what they got.  Bertram is right when he says he could have killed him many times but since he's not RJ, he was probably ordered not to do that.  Question is why now, I mean why kill Patrick now, now that the game's afoot and the Association is no longer secret, RJ could have just got away and none, other than Patrick would be any the wiser as to his identity.  They will meet and Patrick suggests Alexandria cemetery.  He doesn't tell Lisbon where he's meeting him.  Patrick doesn't want the FBI to get him, "you knew this day is coming" and he doesn't want her involved in this anymore.  That's an understatement.  He needs her gun as a prop.  He was right about that cos he had planted one there already. "Theresa, trust me, please just trust me."  Sure, always, ha.  As he runs away.  Obviously the FBI turn up cos they bugged Lisbon's car.  Lots of running from Patty in this ep and doesn't he do it so well!

He's cornered whilst making his getaway and pleads with Abbott to let him go and he'll give himself up in one hour.  Think Patty could have rammed his way through the cars? Ha.  Lisbon shows up and promises to bring him in as do the others.  Apparently Patrick's pleading falls on deaf ears.  Cho (Tim Kang) being so bold tells Abbott to let Patrick go and they all pull guns one each other, with Abbott telling them they're no longer CBI.  Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) asks how they know they're FBI and not part of the Blake Association, adds Rigsby (Owain Yeoman).  Abbott doesn't want anymore bloodshed so their guns are lowered and the CBI team are arrested.  Once again Lisbon tells hims he doesn't know where Patrick is headed but he doesn't care since he bugged her car.  Lisbon tells him it's their duty to Protect Patty cos they don't know he's not in danger.

Patrick heads to the cemetery and we're shown the graves of his wife and daughter but for the reason that they're finally going to get closure too, as well as Patrick and it was no coincidence that Patrick chose the cemetery to meet.  Patrick sees he's being followed and leaves the car outside a store to be stolen and runs. He stops a driver and hitches a lift.  Oh come on I know you don't give lifts to strangers but how could that woman resist picking up Patrick!!

Cordero searches Patrick and takes the gun from him. yep that was the prop angle.  Bertram talks and tells him he's not Red John.  He's higher up and he's just lower down in the Association.  Of course Patty knew that cos he looks around the church as if he's expecting someone else to be there, which of course he is.  The others sit in the SUV under arrest and the FBI agent tells Abbott that Patrick wasn't in the car as Lisbon and Van Pelt laugh.  Rigsby tells him, "Sir we really don't know," his whereabouts  As Cho berates him for calling him 'sir.'  Rigsby calls Cho 'Dillinger' and tells him they're under arrest so he should calm down.  Cho asks why, they'll get a better cell.

Cue Red John, it had to be McAllister so no drum rolls there!! As Patty says "I'm disappointed" well so am I!  For reasons below.  Bertram tells him that's the last lie he'll tell him, of course Patrick knew that, which is why he asks him to say it twice.   Bertram thinks Cordero will kill Patrick now but he turns his gun on Bertram which was obvious was coming.  Bertram's not happy but the Association doesn't like loose ends. Patrick pleading for his life was priceless cos once more he's in trouble and all alone!  Bertram's last words: "hey."

As always Patty's always on the ball.  As for the bombs, Patrick tells him they were two, one a concussion bomb to stun them in which case he removed Smith, Bertram and Patrick from the room and then exploded the second bomb, killing Haffner and Stiles.  He then got Partridge to plant his DNA on another DB and left it there to ensure they would think he died.  Not very clever RJ! Of course Partridge was a minion since he was such a weasel, it was apparent he was so contemptuous of Patrick for those reasons.  But I did mention that in my last review about Partridge or any other tech being able to manipulate evidence and DNA.  McAllister is the Blake Association and intended for Bertram and Patty to die together, with Bertram being taken for RJ.

Patrick is meant to die after all these years, McAllister disguises his voice again, and Patrick tells him it's not a game. he's an "evil sexually perverted sociopath with delusions of grandeur," he owns that as McAllister says, but not the delusions part.  He built a secret empire and controlled lives of thousands of people, that's grandeur.  Patrick: "The ravings of a squalid ego maniac."  His family is dead cos he's arrogant and disrespectful.  Patrick is nobody.  McAllister: "You can't imagine anyone smarter than you, which is why I've been ahead of you."  I want to know how he knew the names on the list.  Patrick doesn't know since it was a good trick.  SO was Patty's trick with the breadcrumbs and the pigeon and RJ actually loses his composure. How did Cordero not find that? Ha. Magic.

Patrick shoots him and somehow you'd think he'd get some satisfaction but it's not over yet.  As Red John pleads for his life, how can he be so small and insignificant since he is such a psychopathic killer.  Not so brave in the end for someone who was one step ahead.  Er, think he needed to rethink those words of his. A woman tries to distract Patrick so he can make his escape. Patrick: "It's theatre like the bomb...whatever the truth looked like, the opposite had to be true."  He's savouring the moment and not hesitating.  "You're Red John."  SO the chase ensues and ends by the lake.

Patrick gets hold of his neck as he straddles him and asks him if he regrets killing his family, mentioning them by name, he blinks twice for yes.  He's afraid to die.  Patrick squeezes the life out of him as we hear gurgling sounds from him and the evil life leaving his body and leaves the gun in his left hand.  Patrick kicking him over like the dog that he is.  He calls Lisbon leaving a message to say he's done it, it's over  - "I want you to know I'm okay, I'm gonna miss you" as he runs.  Yeah slow motion running, such a great scene! Ha.  I know so shallow after what happened in the ep I talk about Patty's running! Ha.  I will play that scene several times over!

Funny moments Van Pelt and Rigsby fighting, she can break the window with her head and they can all jump out.  Rigsby knowing that there's no use getting angry or fighting.  Abbott using a paper map to find where Patrick would have met Bertram and it's something Patrick would do.

So reasons to be disappointed like Patty: McAllister was far from charming or charismatic and yet he heads this entire organization and kept everyone under his thumb with fear and obedience.  Then McAllister with women, as Patrick calls him "sexually perverted" exactly, I mean Lorelei and him were together.  Rosalind Harker, the blind woman also fell for him and all that piano playing for him, his drinking tea in a cup like Patrick all went through the window with the final reveal!  McAllister was only in the second episode of season 1 Red Hair and Silver Tape, where they played paper, rock, scissors in their first meeting, so he was the sociopath.  Naturally I got he was RJ after the pigeon incident but yeah majorly disappointed.  It was anticlimactic.  Now Red John is gone people have been asking how long the show can continue without that big evil hanging on.  But I didn't watch the show for Red John that was just something which was a premise of the show.

Red John wasn't decided by Bruno Heller, creator, until a few years ago, so everything about him which featured in the show, was kind of playing up to and was written without a definite suspect in mind.  In Which case he should have just made it Kristina Frye and have done with it.  I have to say Bret Stiles and Haffner had more going for them than McAllister.  Who at the end of the day was a boring RJ! Or even Patrick himself as the dastardly killer would have contained more 'humph' to a dull story.  Or perhaps even ending it when Patrick killed the so-called RJ at the end of season 3.  Even Simon Baker said, "I was eventually satisfied with the way I killed Him" and nothing more about RJ's identity.

But Simon played choking RJ to the hilt and this was more important, that after ten years he finally had his revenge, using a much more hands on approach than a gun, which would have been too easy as he was afraid to die and he did what he set out to do with no one around and exactly what he told Lisbon.  That he would kill him.  But she can't arrest him cos she's under arrest herself, even though she did say that RJ eventually deserves everything he gets and deserves to die.  So that was one dilemma solved.

Patty running at the end was to gather his thoughts, to be free of this non-entity that haunted him for so long. It wasn't to escape the FBI, he said he'd turn himself in and he is a man of his word but eh didn't owe Abbott anything since he wasn't the one who let him leave.   He was running after not having to think about being hounded by Red John anymore, his wait was over and vengeance was his.

As for Red Tape and Silver Hair, I suppose playing rock, paper scissors looking back on it was effective since Patrick won him each time and he got frustrated.   If RJ's identity had been decided back then it would have made for an appropriate episode and title.  As well as McAllister acting suspiciously and being a suspect in the investigation. Not to mention the suspects actually being serial killer couple.  Well serial killer would have been appropriate under the circumstances.  Wonder if McAllister would have planned to meet with Patrick and had a part in those murders taking place here and that couple being his acolytes.

Some foreshadowing here as Patrick used Van pelt as bait in this episode he used Bertram as bait to lure red John out cos he just couldn't resist showing his hand.  I also draw your attention to the conversation between Patty, Lisbon and McAllister,
McAllister: "Who is this guy?"
Lisbon: "He's a consultant.  You want CBI assistance he comes as part of the package."  Patty's a package, ha.
McAllister: "Consultant, what are you clairvoyant or some gizmo?  You got psychic powers?"
Patrick: "No, no powers, I mean I had them once, I mean I pretended I had them obviously."
Again this was leading up to season 6, if only RJ was really RJ here and them thinking RJ was psychic and that's how he found out the list of suspects, but I have no idea why this question wasn't answered here and Patrick told him he doesn't care how he knew, er did the writers know.
Patrick later says, "no such thing as psychic powers."

Patrick also tells Frankie, he caused his daughter's death, "Out of arrogance... stupidity. I made an evil man very angry and he killed them to teach me a lesson. To make me sorry for what I've done... and I am sorry. Being sorry is far worse punishment than being dead, everybody dies... very few people ever feel truly sorry for the bad things they've done."
This speech was so relevant here when he finally gets RJ and kills him. He gets RJ to admit he regrets killing his family and yes everybody dies.  I wonder if this episode was alluded to when 6.8 Red John was written? There are so many relevant quotes in it.  Subtle little nuances which really kind of make you understand why McAllister was chosen as Red John.

Oh and a word about Patty's suit, he wore something similar in the second ep of season 1 when he met  McAllister and maybe I'm wrong but it looked like he wore similar clothes here, white shirt 'n'all.

So we have to wait to next year for the aftermath and what happens next, though it's been easy finding out beforehand, but I really wish Channel Five had shown this in sync with the US episodes so we would have got 10 at least or the usual 9 but this year we only got 8. Huh! Big sulk.

Atlantis 1.11 "Hunger Pangs" Review

                                           
This episode was seen as more of a break from some of the more serious episodes during the past weeks, when Hercules (Mark Addy) was about to give his life in sacrifice to save his beloved Medusa (Jemima Roper) and for the two part season finale to come. I wasn't actually going to write a review for this but have been persuaded, okay a little arm twisting on the part of friends!  But funny it should be this episode!  I'm saying nothing more!

Seems that hunger has caught up with Jason (Jack Donnelly) once again as he tries to buy some bread but the seller's owed money by Hercules who hasn't paid him for three weeks, so what's new? Ha.  There's some leftover bread to feed the pigs so Jason steals it and is chased by the seller, so who's minding the stall now?  Anyone could have stolen the rest of his loaves.  The bread ends up in the fountain and falls to pieces as Jason discovers a prime cut of meat in a hut which looked suspiciously like a temple/shrine.

Meanwhile Hercules is drowning his sorrows in the tavern as he drinks himself silly to forget not having Medusa, so how does he pay for that then?  Pythagoras (Robert Emms) tells him they'll find a cure for her, not likely.  Jason returns home and finds his friends aren't there but he can't resist the meat so he cooks it and devours it entirely; having to hide the evidence when Pythagoras returns without Hercules cos he refuses to take him home.  He can smell cooked meat but Jason throws the plate out when Hercules arrives home. Hey at least it hit someone down in the street below.

Jason leaves the house at night and wakes up with the chickens, which is where the laughs come in and Jason of course in the buff! Using only a chicken for coverage, as he hopes you "don't peck me there."  Funny the wolf he turned into didn't eat all the chickens.  Poor woman who set eyes upon him in the market, but coincidentally, or not, she had to be old! Ha.  Jason arrives home in the buff still and (and by next ep he'll get his clothes back, which he stole to begin with when he arrives in Atlantis)  is stared at by Hercules who covers Pythagoras's eyes but he manages to look too!  Really.

He doesn't know what happened to him and Pythagoras gets it out of him though when he tells him he ate the meat.  Pythagoras's search of the place leads him to deduce it's the shrine dedicated to Hecate, the Goddess of witchcraft.  He also searches for a cure for him as he escapes again that night and attacks a goat.  This is reported to Heptarian (Oliver Walker) at the palace but they find it hard to believe that such a creature could be on the loose.  Also at the place just to show us King Minos (Alexander Siddig) is getting worse and is still being poisoned by Pasiphae (Sarah Parish).

Pythagoras is at the library and looks through the scrolls and finally finds a cure.  As Hercules shoves Jason into the secret hole without any clothes of course!  They need silver but don't have any, except for Ariadne (Aiysha Hart) who does. Hercules gives her a note and she gathers silver for them.  But they can't meet her at the temple cos the man who hired them to clear his stockroom of rats takes them prisoner until they complete the task.  Allowing Hercules to eat all the food there.  They miss their meeting with Ariadne and it's hard to believe she passes them on the street without seeing them.  Not very alert or aware for someone who's sneaked out alone.  Heading to their home she finds Jason in the buff, cos you know you really open the door without clothes on!  He doesn't let her in since it's nearly dusk and begins to change.  Yes it's the scene from Carry on Screaming -almost!  Funny it's the hairs that grow first on his hands.

Hercules and Pythagoras arrive back and hustle Jason in the other room where he makes noises, he's afraid of the dark, Hercules tells her, yeah like he hasn't been out in the dark before to see her.  Jason escapes and Pythagoras melts the silver which he must drink, surprised that silver didn't solidify back when they left it there overnight.  Chasing after Jason who is also pursued by Heptarian as they find he attacked some guards. Probably his search would have doubly intensified had he known who he was in search for.  They manage to lock him in a room and take him home the next day where he's given the cure.  He hopes he didn't say anything to Ariadne and the others make growling noises mimicking him.

Next episode Jason has to recall his promise to kill Pasiphae, as I said, they forgot that storyline.  Also hasn't anyone missed Jason back home?  A fun episode like I said to lead into the darker events of the last two eps.  Don't know about you but Ariadne seems like a loose end and half the time really doesn't have a clue what she's doing and comes across a bit dense.  Can she really trust her new servant?
Pythagoras gets to think of inventing a device to tell the time and comes up with a pendulum, spending the entire night thinking whilst keeping an eye on Jason.  But he didn't attack his friends when he turned the first night he was back and left the place to hunt when he had food right there.  Seems he only hunted animals!

Heptarian's scenes were rather uneventful as he didn't even get to catch the beast in all his false modesty. Oh and before anyone asks Jack wasn't entirely naked as he said he had a double sided tape and a piece of material to conceal his modesty!

The Vampire Diaries 5.7 "Death and the Maiden" Review

                                               
As if things couldn't get any worse, or much worse, Silas decides he wants to take back the scenic route to Mystic Falls which involves telling his thousands year old sob story to a couple at the bus stop who think he's seriously loopy, well he is.  He kills the man cos he's a witch and likes to make people suffer.  Bonnie (Kat Graham) doesn't think there's any hope for her and so tells Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) this but he has three things he wants to tell her.  The usual about thanking her for bringing him back, how he loves her but she doesn't want to know everything so she can have something to look forward to.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) watch Amara who they consider to be crazy as she looks to be talking to herself, but also wants to embrace death and no longer be the anchor.  Elena (Nina Dobrev) is still ruing over not being there for Stefan and he's having dreams about Silas meeting him, "hello my shadow self" repeatedly, enough to drive anyone crazy.  So Damon gets the idea that if Amara wants to off herself and Silas wants her dead too, then she should bring back Bonnie by doing so.  He tells Tessa (Janina Gavankar) about this, who was expecting Chinese and she's willing if she can get her revenge on Silas.  He asks what   she needs and since there aren't any comets or full moons floating around Damon tells her he's got plenty of doppelgangers she can use if she needs blood.

Nadia (Olga Fonda) comes to see Katherine cos she wants them to be together and do some mother/daughter bonding they missed out on over the past centuries or so but she doesn't want any part of it. Especially after she finds out from Maxfield (Rick Cosnett) that she's ageing and there's not much she can do about it.  Caroline (Candace Accola) drags her away to give blood.  Bonnie's Grimoire is used to spill their blood over and the spell appears to be working, look it's the Charmed symbol appearing on the page, ha. Until Silas shows up and scuppers the spell.  The lights go off and Stefan makes off with Amara so he can kill Silas and get his revenge, something he needs to do.  It's also a lure to get Silas away from the house.  But Silas has his own plans and after a bout of throwing things he stabs Tessa with the poker.

Amara wants to die cos she can't look at him and he takes out his knife and grazes her neck.  But Stefan stabs him when they fight as he goes for Silas's knife and Amara stabs herself.  Agh, vicious stabbing circles going on here.  Damon tries to save Amara as Tessa tries to complete the spell and she dies.  Bonnie wants to say goodbye to Jeremy but he touches her and the spell worked.  Yawn.  Er, Katherine wants Tessa to keep her promise of helping her stop ageing and she tells her to use cream.  Tessa's killed herself by cutting her wrists so she can be together with Silas, so much for not wanting him.

Stefan buries Silas and Elena wants him to be happy now since she had it all, a magical Summer of love and she got Bonnie back too, but she couldn't get him back.  All the while he was suffering in his safe and Stefan tells her he wanted Elena to rescue him, Elena and Damon.  Stefan later has a spot of pain.  Oh great Silas! Before Tessa leaves and passes through Bonnie to the other side she tells how she's the anchor now and every dead supernatural creature will go through her to the other side and she'll feel pain and lots of it.  Cue Bonnie feeling pain!  No wonder Amara waned to die rather than go through all that.

Perhaps the highlight of the ep was Stefan getting his memories back and how the ones he loved couldn't bring him back, nah, they weren't even looking for him.  Reminding me of season 8 episodes of Supernatural when Dean (Jensen Ackles) finds out Sammy (Jared Padalecki) was off living his own life and having 'fun' (Dean's definition) with some random vet he met and he wasn't even trying to get him out of Purgatory, or even helping people and continuing on with the family business.  Shock to the system when your own blood doesn't feel they need to help!

Hope the doppelganger/Silas/Amara/Tessa story is over now, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of them!

The Mentalist 6.7 "The Great Red Dragon" Review

                                           
Lisbon (Robin Tunney) enters the house and comes across someone's severed foot.  She then finds Reede Smith (Drew Powell) and thinks he's Red John as she sees the three dot tattoo on his shoulder and pulls her gun on him.  Bertram (Michael Gaston) runs out since he's making his getaway.  Reede fires at Lisbon and she shoots him back.  She then finds Patrick (Simon Baker) passed out.  In the hospital, Lisbon waits for Patrick to wake and Cho (Tim Kang) also arrives.  Bertram hears them talking about Smith being RJ, since DNA was found belonging to Haffner, Stiles and McAllister.  Bertram finds a scalpel and tries to get Lisbon out of the room so he can kill Patrick, but he wakes up.  He tells her that Bertram also has a tattoo.  Patrick wants his clothes and leaves.

Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) talks about the bomb and gives the other agents a lead to look into as he and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) head for a doctor's office as he was once associated with Smith in an investigation, a doctor Alex Lavrov (Arthur Darbainyan).  A policeman, Wiehagen (Peter Douglas) already arrives at the office and hears Smith screaming inside as the bullet is removed from him.  Cordero (Joe Nieves) also arrives and tells him to tale care of Smith round the back, after exchanging their "Tyger, tyger" code.  Rigsby and Van Pelt arrive and he tells Van Pelt that Cordero was the officer who looked into the Kirkland killing.  He doesn't want them helping but Patrick calls Rigsby and tells him not to trust any officer.  They head round back and find the policeman about to shoot Smith, he took his time.  There's a shoot out and Smith and Cordero escape.

Cho interviews Wieghagen) but he's not talking.  Patrick takes over since he's got a lousy poker face and asks him questions about the conspiracy and if Smith or Bertram is Red John.  He gives away a lot but he doesn't know about RJ.  Patrick tells Lisbon he needs to see them both face to face to work out which one is Red John.

Van Pelt can't get a lead on Smith's GPS and hates they can't trust anyone.  Smith calls them and asks for help, surrendering to them.  Bertram enters his safety storage facility and takes money and three passports. Cordero tells him about Smith being found by their association and Bertram orders him to take care of it this time, giving him a CBI badge.  Smith takes his time getting into the boot of the car and Cho arrives taking Smith in.

He tells them about police, judges, all being involved in the conspiracy, anyone who's got a secret to hide is part of it.  They covered up his drug addiction. He wants immunity but Lisbon only offers him a Federal prison cell.  Patrick asks him if he killed his wife and daughter but he tells him he didn't.  Also adding Kirkland knew of the conspiracy that's why he shot him.

Patrick gives a brief press conference identifying Bertram as Red John after ten years of hunting him down.  A bartender (Terry James) tells Bertram he's on the news and Bertram murders him with a bottle.  Should have kept quiet about it.  This again was to throw us off the scent as we get to see the extent of the conspiracy and how far Bertram will go to cover it up and escape, as well as his ruthlessness.  So he's in the wind. Until Rigsby finds there's an aunt's house near the bar where he killed the bartender and SWAT arrives.  Patrick realizes he called them all to get away in the confusion, in a scene straight out of Supernatural season 2.12 episode Nightshifter, where they escaped dressed as SAWT officers.  Can't believe Patty missed him leave and the car drive away, shouldn't he have bee standing in the street where he could see the traffic.  Bertram's hungry.

At the CBI FBI special agent Dennis Abbott (Rockmond Dunbar) arrives with a writ and taking over the investigation.  All agents are relieved of their duty and Patrick's couch is also removed.  The FBI want to interview Patrick later and tells him the search for Red John is now theirs as a man drops his teacup on the floor.  That was Patrick's fave cup and he leaves.  Does that signify new beginnings for him and finally catching up with RJ.  He tells Lisbon to go home and he's not pursuing it anymore, he's "leaving it behind." She doesn't believe him cos he's not really doing that.  After 10 years and coming so close, he won't give it up.  Suppose Patty's attic is gone too, for now!

They can't leave it like that obviously but as said it's not Bertram as he's in far deeper corruption than that and he was the one who mentioned Tyer, tyger as well.  Also it's a little amazing Lisbon didn't know why Smith called it the 'Blake' organization since she knows where the words come from.  Which means one of the other three suspects isn't dead.  But since RJ is part of the conspiracy and we get flashbacks to Rebecca who killed three agents including Bosco and RJ got Smith to poison her, all through a phonecall, which means RJ is part of the conspiracy.  This means it must be McAllister (unless partridge faked his own death) and Patty was on the right track with his list of suspects.  Haffener didn't have a tat and Stiles didn't pull his sleeve all the way up but it's unlikely to be him.

Patrick is probably aware of this which is why he wants to go after him alone saying he is moving on.  He needs to kill RJ once and for all and lay his ghosts to rest!  Not to mention Van Pelt tells them Patrick could decipher the code they found on a flashdrive disguised as a  lighter.  Which will probably reveal the names of everyone on the list.  As for Partridge and Patrick wondering if he had the tattoo or not since he said, "tyger, tyger," they deduce he was asking for help from Lisbon since he didn't know if she was part of their organization or not.  Cho photographs Partridge's arm and finds the tattoo has been burned off.  Thus showing anyone and everyone is involved, including forensic techs etc, as lower level people in the organization.

As well as Lisbon and Cho's conversation at the hospital, Cho:" They found the remains of three people. Positive IDs for Bret Stiles, Ray Haffner and Thomas McAllister."
Lisbon: "Are you sure?  I would think Bret Stiles would survive a nuclear attack" and for all we know he could have done just that.  OR it was a bit of foreshadowing to ensure we know one of them isn't really dead, cementing that doubt in our minds.

The Paradise Series 2 Episode 8 Review

                                              
Clemence (Branka Katic) returns to the Paradise as Sam (Stephen Wight) is selling some material to a customer.  She talks about the colour and how scarlet is the rage in Paris, as she sports a dress of her own in the bright colour.  She bets the lady a game of dice, Hazard, if she wins the number Sam calls out then she must take the red material, if she loses, then she will take her own choice of blue.  Sam picks the number 7 and Clemence loses but the lady takes both colours and the dice, which are not yet on sale here, but the Paradise is the only place where they will be available.  She talks to Moray (Emun Elliott) about stocking them.

A man comes into the store and has a fainting fit, he is helped by Sam and adds this "is Paradise, the Paradise."  Clemence brings a special gift for the ladies department which she shows only to them, rouge, which is extremely decadent of course and painted faces aren't seen on respectable women, even if it is the talk of Paris.  She wants Denise (Joanna Vanderham) to sell it.  Denise comes up with an idea of a boudoir, where on the dressing table, a string of  ladies necklace has been discarded carelessly along with a man's cufflinks, a dance card, a fan and a touch of blush on the cheeks can be applied.  Susy (Katie Moore) needs to get a glass of cold water and Clara (Sonya Cassidy) adds she needs a cold shower more like it.

At breakfast Weston (Ben Daniels) talks of a visitor who came to their house in error and he sent him in the right direction.  He is in a good mood as Flora (Edie Whitehead) tells him perhaps for this reason and the fact he knows he's still tormenting Katherine (Elaine Cassidy).  Later by the river, Katherine stares into the river and appears to want to throw herself in.  Jonas (David Hayman) appears and warns her to be careful, infact stopping her from jumping in.  He has passed that river several times he tells her when he was in a turbulent and troubled way.  He also says he has failed and has messed things up when he was trying to help. Referring of course to Moray and the Paradise.  Katherine tells him he's her salvation and he saved her so they have that in common.  Jonas probably harbours guilty feelings and knows the extent to which Weston is inflicting his torment on her, for which he was also responsible.

Sam realizes the man has died and they find he has several tattoos, he is a sailor and has a large sum of money in his pocket but no identification.  Dudley (Matthew McNulty) doesn't feel it right he should go to a pauper's grave when he has money and Moray wants him buried properly.  Weston arrives as Dudley tells him what is happening and Clemence may be able to help with his identity.  However she claims she doesn't know him, obviously she was lying and Weston knows this.  As he too has a secret up his sleeve.  It was obvious he knew who the man was and why he was here since he came to see him at the house, which is hwy he is so jovial and why he turned up to Moray's office.  He also wants them to find somewhere to put it since Moray cannot work with a dead man in "his office."  Wonder why he used the word, 'his' since it was frequented by all and sundry throughout the series and didn't really belong to him as he was not the owner.

Referring to the sailor's tattoo, a nice joke from Moray later to link this to him as Weston suggests he should advertize his success, Moray adds he was thinking of a tattoo.

Clemence plans a lady's night out with the four of them including Myrtle (Lisa Millett) who has a new bustier she can wear.  Sam: "God help us all."  Denise tries to sell the rouge to a customer, placing it gently onto her cheeks but she fears her husband wouldn't approve.  She sits in front of the mirror and talks to herself, of how it's not "rash" but "sweet and gentle..." how soft the feathers are to apply it.  Moray listens to her.   They must find a place to put him and Dudley thinks of Denise's uncle's shop, so Moray must ask her.  Which he does, Dudley forever trying to get the two back together.  She agrees and gets the key for him but he doesn't come into her room.  That which was Miss Audrey's room, he tells her it's too painful to be close to her and have to walk away.

Katherine feels faint and Flora tells her she has the grown up sickness which she had a few weeks ago, she realizes she is pregnant.  So she had to look up the dates in her diary did she, ha.  On their evening out, Weston has a word with Clemence and tells her he knows who the man was, he came to his house and he bought Clemence's debts from him.   Thus in order for her to stay out of prison she must become his mistress.  So she has to miss their night out.  There goes Myrtle's new bustier which Clemence notices she was wearing anyway.  As Myrtle tells Sam how only a woman would notice such things in another woman.

Denise puts some rouge onto Myrtle's hand and she smells the Otto of roses.  She can suss the ingredients in anything as she knows how to make creams.  Denise asks her if she knows how and they set about making their own cream by trial and error and Denise adds the rouge to give it a slight tint of pink.  Weston tells Katherine he will be dining out and has found someone else to offer him comfort, as she did with Moray.  

Clemence gets drunk and is taken back to the Paradise by Denise and Clara, as Jonas watches them in the pub.  Denise has to talk with Weston and make him see what he is doing is wrong.  Jonas wants to come with her but she must go alone and he tells her about the Indian mutiny and how Weston has sword cuts on his back, he was a coward and was the only survivor.  He urges her to take a gun but she refuses.  Yeah imagine Denise with a gun, after last ep's slap, now a gun, don't think so, she's not really the violent type. Weston ignores Denise and her words of how he will  be hurting her and it's not right to do this.  She brings up his wounds and he is angry she knows after he has another turn in front of Denise this time.  Is nothing sacred.  So he wanted Clemence to be his mistress, so how would he explain his scars to her.  Denisse runs away as he won't budge, Jonas comes out of the shadows and Weston realizes he told Denise and is not his friend.  Jonas again repeating he "works for the Paradise."  Weston casts him aside with his stick and continues with his blackmail of Clemence.

Denise and Clara wake her up and give her a ticket to America and some of their own money, which she refuses to accept.  Moray finds them and is told of what is happening.  Weston refuses to give him time to buy Clemence's debt since Moray realizes Clemence isn't a "possession or your property" but her own person.  Finally the penny drops as to what Denise was saying to him.  He bets Weston in a game of dice that if he wins he will get her debt and if he loses he will leave the store and the country forever, which is what Weston wants him to do all along.  Highest number wins and Weston throws a ten, Moray throws eleven and wins, knew he was going to do that.  Weston isn't content with that but wants Moray gone and he bets him the Paradise, department by department.  Moray wins again for a second time.

Katherine wakes up Flora and she had a dream that Katherine would leave her.  She takes her to the store since Flora makes her brave and Denise hears the carriage and takes her to Weston.  By this time, he's won half the store and Katherine tells him she no longer has the dream of wanting Moray anymore.  She no longer feels for him and she wants them to start again.  As they once did, when she would send the servants away and comfort him.  He replies, "that dream is dead" also.  But she wants them to have a new dream, one with Flora and the child that is to come.   Denise shows Flora the shop at night and Flora says she would walk around it at night if she lived here, which is what Denise tells her she did.  They leave together.  actually Flora has been at the store at night when they had that music hall entertainment, though she wasn't alone.

Moray wants Denise to have the store, he gives it to her but he won't be a part of her life like she wants.  He realizes she's not his possession, but "my equal" and only when she is like him and has what he had will she be happy, otherwise he can't bear to see the light fading from her eyes if she stays here.  It was what Dudley told him when he said Moray had nothing when he got here and that's exactly what he's got now.  Denise has the idea to sell the cream and she sends Arthur (Finn Burridge) with a letter and he must return with a rely.

Denise walks through the entire store looking for Moray as she passes everyone in the store and finds him outside the front door.  She tells him Ballantyne has agreed to be her backer in selling the cream which she will sell in her uncle's store as a Beauty Emporium and she will be right here.  Then she will come to him and ask him to marry her and will he accept her.  He says yes and at this point people would say, "get a room," as the kiss outside.

So the Paradise ends on a high after the excitement in this the last episode.   Clemence bringing back the usual mystery and decadence to the store, just as she did in the opening episode of series 2.  Bringing out the villain in Weston once again.  He didn't get her last time, nor did he get Clara either last episode, but she feels sorry for him for what he's been through, as she warns Denise, but yet again he thinks he can gain a mistress even if only for a night, but he wants her again.  Clara knowing what it's like to be lonely and doing anything for a moment of comfort.

Denise can now become her own business woman, she must thank Clemence for the encouragement but of course Clemence was in debt so this should serve as a warning for Denise.   Funny no one wanted to buy her uncle's shop it was just sitting there for the taking by Denise.  Moray was acting quite the put upon 'woman' in this episode, everytime he rested his head against the wall, in earnest and in pain! Ha. As only a woman knows how.

Moray finally got his ambition and his winning streak back and it was no mean feat winning back half the store since he wanted it all and as Dudley told him, he had nothing when he came here and wanted to build it up.  No news yet at the time of writing as to whether there will be a third series, but it would be good to see how Denise fares and whether Moray will be a man of his word and be able to live with Denise's success, especially since she will be competing with him for profits.  Also want to see how Katherine deals with Weston since she was the one who reigned him back in and eventually stood by him when he lost half the store (though technically it was her store were it not for society's rules giving her wealth to her husband.) Wonder if she's really over Moray or if she only said that for the sake of Flora and the baby, though she was convincing.  Will Weston really be so accommodating and stick by Katherine faithfully since he still harbours ill feelings towards Moray and suffering humiliation at his hands, only being made worse by Moray winning him and also by Jonas's betrayal. Weston really doesn't have any friends at all.

 What of Clara and will she become head of ladies wear this time round as she proved herself to be a loyal friend to Denise even if she was in competition with her for the position.  Denise telling her to "take charge" when she went to Moray, was that some foreshadowing.  Will Clemence still be around or will she make her way to America, after all she did have a ticket.  Oh and we do want to see Dudley's wife too!

The Vampire Diaries 5.6 "Handle With Care" Review

                                               
Katherine awakens and goes on a food binge! But her hair's turning white, everyone keeps complimenting her on her hair do.  Damon (Ian Somerhalder) knows they'll be interrupted any moment and counts down until Silas appears and now he's a witch, he agrees to help them with Bonnie (Kat Graham) if Damon offers to find the anchor with him.  Not so much as offers, as he's got no choice in the matter.

Now we've seen it all, the so-called anchor everyone's looking for is actually a who, not a what.  It's Amara, huh, now we get another version of Elena/Katherine, as if the doppelganger wasn't enough, we get a triple-ganger, or whatever they're called! Ha.   Seems this show is going all out for the sell on Angel/Buffy storylines and other objects, such as  the key in Buffy was Dawn.  SO at the end of the day what exactly is going on here as we get more twisty turns than Damon can find witchy words to describe, er witches!

Katherine walks into the Whitmore party, right first a ball, now a party, so when exactly do they get to study and work.  She claims to have forgotten her invite and is allowed in with everyone thinking she's Elena.  Then she makes a beeline straight for the buffet and doesn't recognize Aaron (Shaun Sipos) cos she didn't meet him.  After scoffing herself and stuffing her bag too (look free food!) her tooth drops out.  Eeww, that'd be a turn off, to think she could have sued!  She doesn't know what's happening and thinks she could be dying. Well she isn't the cure anymore after Silas's feeding fest and talks Maxfield (Rick Cosnett) well more like blackmails him into helping her with her tooth decay problem.

But before all that, Caroline (Candace Accola) holds Maxfield hostage and they remove the vervain from his blood from a drip as she questions him after compelling him on his plans and the Secret Society which is called Augustine.  She asks about forging her roommate's death certificate (wonder if Aaron knows what his guardian is up to, probably not) and is shocked to lean there's an Augustine vampire.  Oh man what is this Frankenstein's monster, I know I've said it before!

Silas turns up now mortal and wants to find the anchor so he can destroy the other side, thought he didn't want to do that.  Lost the plot anyone?  Just joking.  Stefan's funny line of needing to be drunk to understand the story, sums up the plot of this episode and season really.  Ha.  He's willing to do this so Bonnie can be brought back, but she's still against it even if Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) still wants her here.  SO Jeremy and Damon head to New jersey with him as he cracks a silly knock knock joke about who is the mayor, no one cos he killed him, lame or what? Stefan also reminding Damon how the universe keeps creating doppelgangers of Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) cos Silas and Amara were meant to be together.

Elena thus traipses off to find Stefan who happens to be holed up, help up at Quetsiyah/Tessa's (Janina Gavankar) cabin.  The three become trapped there courtesy of Silas's meddling magic and Tessa finds time to explore culinary pursuits, such as pineapple being added to pizza, does she even know what pizza is/was. Stefan offers to cook for her cos secretly he wants to find a way to save Elena since she's going to be supper by sunset and even if he can't remember he still has to save her.  Again even if they didn't come to his rescue. So he stabs her and they make a run for it.  Heading to chez Salvatore, Stefan finds Tessa already there. She doesn't want to be healed but wants him to recall everything he did in his lifetime.  Killing their father, turning Damon into a vampire, his bloodlust.  Elena turning up cos Tessa tells her she and Stefan are sleeping together, which Tessa tells Damon shows her jealousy.  It is obvious she still has feelings for Stefan, she must, prophecy aside.

Tessa wanting Damon to kill Silas before he can destroy the other side.  The question then arises of whose life is more important, Elena's or Bonnie's and naturally Jeremy opts for Elena, she's his sister and Bonnie is already dead which she keeps telling him.

Meanwhile at the warehouse, Damon encounters some Travellers who try and get the better of him, but this is Damon and he's dealt with witches before, but these Travellers are no match for him as he pulls the heart of one and stabs another.  Silas brings Amara back to life and she feeds off him, then stumbles around, bumping into Damon.  He takes her back to Chez Salvatore also and Elena is surprised at seeing another version of herself.  Yawn.

Katherine and Caroline teaming up was new and at least they got something done, unlike Elena.  So no more Stefan doppelganger and somehow killing Silas seemed too easy after the big bad he was last season.  SO is he on the other side now where Bonnie can get to him?  Had to ask.  Yet throughout all this Matt disappears and no one is bothered with what was happening to him and what happened to Nadia as well?
Damon referring to Jeremy as Pocahontas with his crossbow!

The Mentalist 6.6 "Fire and Brimstone" Review

                                            
Patrick (Simon Baker) arrives at his family home with a shotgun and prepares to meet the Red John suspects.  As well as taking out another gun from a case.  Lisbon (Robin Tunney) calls him telling him he's in danger and he can't do this without her. Someone opens the door.

Two days earlier Tuesday (hey that was today for us!)
Patrick in his trusty attic tells the others that he's going to invite the RJ suspects together and now he knows about the tattoo he can find out who RJ is.  Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) asks why they don't just confront them and get them to reveal the tattoo, that's cos red John doesn't know Patrick knows.  SO they set about luring the suspects into Patty's so-called trap.  Reede Smith (Drew Powell) is at a hanging case and he tells one of the agents to get the DB's wallet as he's afraid of heights, thus showing us he's agoraphobic, just as mentioned in his meeting with Sophie Miller.  A bit late showing us that now since he doesn't appear to be high up on the list of suspects, at least not my suspects!  Patrick tells him he's made a breakthrough in the red John case and needs to meet him to talk about it, but not here, on Thursday, Smith reluctantly agrees and he'll be in touch with the place.

Lisbon meets with Haffner (Reed Diamond) for coffee and asks for his help with Red John, they've made headway and can't offer him protection against Patrick, if he doesn't turn up then Patrick will come after him, but Haffner tells her he's not afraid of Patrick.  Then it clicks that she suspects him of being Red John, oh Lisbon you couldn't keep a straight face when you saw the comment coming.  One reason why Patrick didn't want her to know of the suspects when he found out.  He agrees to be there but only after Lisbon offers him a deal, a favour when he needs one and in his line of work, he'll need one eventually.  Thought was either bold of her or rather stupid considering if he turned out to be RJ, what would he do with her favour.  Thus crossing him off the list, darn and I so wanted it to be him.  But refuses to tell her where Stiles is hiding out.

Patrick calls McAllister (Xander Berkeley) who is out hunting game and also asks to meet with him since he said he'd oblige Patrick with anything he needs.  But why,a  clever rouse to throw Patty off the scent.  Jason Cooper (Robert Picardo) tells Cho (Tim Kang) and Rigsby that Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell) is preparing to enter a new spiritual plane, his body and mind are to leave this world and Rigsby comes out and asks he's dying, which Cooper thinks is rather crude.  Stiles is shown performing a ritual with Visualize members, one involving blood and gets a message, "Patrick Jane wants to see you."  Of course he ignores this as he's wanted by the FBI and Rigsby and Cho found out he came in on his plane and is hold up at the Ecuadorian Embassy.  Lisbon sends Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) to talk with him since he's more attune to her.

Stiles finds she married that oaf, Rigsby and that she's changed when she threatens him with informing the FBI if he doesn't show up.  As he tells her he's on foreign soil, which she should know anyway and besides the FBI would already know where he is.  He refuses.  Lisbon and Patrick get Bertram (Michael Gaston) to also agree to meet by telling him he knows who RJ is and of course Bertram wants to be there on the reveal, so he won't refuse his request.

Patrick picks up a gun from a man and yes it was a gun what else would it be and as Lisbon tells him, "are you sure it's big enough?"  She wants to be there with him and changes her mind about Red John now saying he deserves everything he gets and doesn't deserve to live.  Patrick suspects her of changing her mind a little too readily after twenty years of law enforcement.  But he still doesn't want her there, she may get his way of killing RJ.  Patrick sees Stiles and wants him to be there cos he's a suspect and if the FBI is the only thing holding him here, he figures out a plan to get him out of there by using his car himself.  Yes FBI, Stiles is going to use his own car to get our of there!  No, instead he's taken to a flower truck and Patrick texts all the suspects the location of the meeting.

Thursday he drives to his house with Lisbon but stops off to see the sunset and Lisbon joins him.  He thanks her for being there for him and he should have done it a long time ago.  "You have no idea what you meant to me, what you mean to me" and then grabs her to hug her to take her phone of course, but she doesn't realize what he's doing. Though I think the hug and what he said to her was genuine.  As was many fans reaction, thinking there'd be a kiss there.  He has a surprise for her and rushes to the car where he drives of leaving her stranded.  Ah Lisbon you fell for the oldest trick in the book!

At his house he goes to the room with the smiley face and takes deep breaths.   Before putting the shotgun in place as he gets his call from Lisbon.  He then prepares himself and Stiles is the first to arrive, whistling the same tune as Bertram and Smith.  He gathers the suspects and orders them to remove their guns as he accuses one of them of being RJ, which some of them seemed shocked about, McAllister didn't protest much.  He pulls the shotgun on them and he will shoot them as he's deadly serious and tells them to show their left arms.  McAllister has the tattoo and surprise, well not really, as Stiles tells him to look, so do Bertram and Smith.  Obviously they're part of the Tyger conspiracy, but also one of them is Red John.  SO he narrows his suspects to three.

Lisbon commandeers a car and arrives only to hear a gunshot and later witnesses an explosion.  Patrick will be fine of course and so will Red John, but who brought the bomb along, or was it already planted?  The look of terror on Lisbon's face.  She could have had the agents stake out Patrick's place once she knew where he was headed.

As for the title, likened it more a reference to explosions rather than the wrath of God raining down, since well, maybe Patrick see that explosion, or not.  Anyway good to see Patrick finally letting the others into his attic, though more could have been made of them actually being involved more, but Patty wanted to go it alone.  Patrick and sunsets hey, first Lorelei and now Lisbon.  Maybe and just maybe if something went wrong he wanted to tell Lisbon what she means to him, but she didn't see it coming.

As for the whistling, Haffner whistled when he was at the hospital, but it didn't sound like the same tune to me, perhaps a red herring.  Stiles was wearing a vest but didn't roll his sleeve all the way up.  Patty having fun watching them when he tells them to "take it off!" Ha.  me thinks you enjoyed it a little too much.  Then he left the guns lying around on the floor and someone may have had another concealed weapon, as these law enforcement officials usually do.

Kind of coming round full circle here as we go to Patrick's home once more as in the pilot.  That time he found his family and this time he's here to find RJ and make RJ him pay in the same place he killed them, so it was rather poignant if not poetic.  Also showing the game is on and almost up...

The Paradise Series 2 Episode 7 Review

Weston (Ben Daniels) invites a photographer to tale a family portrait of himself with Flora (Edie Whitehead) and Katherine (Elaine Cassidy) he tells Flora to stand behind him as she's not her mother and she shouldn't call her "mama."  Katherine is being punished in the most cruel way again by Weston for her 'dalliance' with Moray (Emun Elliott) and into thinking he could desire her once more.  Weston thinks it's a brilliant idea if the photographer takes photos of the entire staff and they could hang them in a gallery.  He asks Denise to come up with an idea of how they can use Christian Cartwright's (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) services as a photographer for the Paradise.

Susy (Katie Moore) and Myrtle (Lisa Millett) read a ghostly story, 'The Hose on the Hill' published in a magazine and believe what they read.  Sam (Stephen Wight) makes fun of them in that there's no such things as ghosts.  The final instalment of the story will be published later in the week and this gives the others a talking point, as well as Sam an idea to scare Susy.

Moray is a wreck as his encounter with Katherine leaves him estranged from Denise (Joanna Vanderham) who can't find a way to forgive him, especially not after Katherine tells him the kiss they shared was nothing more than an "arduous tearful" goodbye.  Denise is shocked Moray didn't tell her everything as all he said was that "nothing happened."  Katherine expected more fire from Denise and can't believe she is so perfect that she doesn't say anything.

Denise tells Clara (Sonya Cassidy) how she can't see Moray everyday and work with him knowing what's happened, it's too painful.  Clara says she is a little happy at her fate but only a little, she's the one who's there for her especially when she warned her about Moray and what would happen.  She consoles Denise by telling her if she lets this get her down and defeat her, then Kathrine will have won in her arduous endeavours to break them up.  Denise must not let her win.

Cartwright takes photos of the staff and  uses Clara as an example in response to Arthur's (Finn Burridge) question as how he can be a photographer and a scientist.  He talks about her having biology and chemistry and physics, but most of all how he sees the pain in her eyes.  She's taken aback by this and refuses to have her photo taken.  But the others do.  Cartwright asks Sam how he can get Clara to have her photo taken as she's his muse and Sam doesn't believe there's any way she will be part of his 'musings' now.  Cartwright got an apprenticeship with the photographer on the street where he grew up but it got too boring for him to hang around, so now he travels wherever he wants.  Weston pursues Clara describing her as deliciously "wilful" as she defies Cartwright.

Jonas (David Hayman) tells Moray he should use the Indian story to go after Weston but he doesn't want to do that and regrets listening to Jonas to being with.  Jonas tells him when he hears someone go after the store and Moray an animal instinct takes him over and he can't help it.  Moray doesn't want him to leave so he can keep an eye on him if he's here.  Would have thought Jonas would have jumped ship then and gone over to Weston's side but nothing so far.

Weston tells Moray he took a gamble and he lost after Fenton illuminated him on his plan.  He thought he wanted to be rid of the Paradise but now he finds he wants to keep it.  He didn't fire Moray either for his plotting against him and all Moray can do is use the excuse of wanting the Paradise, their dreams as an apology to Denise, as she comes up with the idea to use her uncle's shop as a 'Postcard from the Paradise', where customers can have their photos taken and take their memories away with them.  Since they will all have portraits of their own anyway.

Dudley (Matthew McNulty) thinks using the ghost story would be a great way to lure customers to the store, but Moray isn't in the mood to listen, what with his hair hanging over his face! The photos of the staff and managers are developed and Susy has a ghostly figure in hers, which she thinks is a ghost and she's being haunted, suddenly feeling the cold at the back of her neck.  Cartwright says it's just a ghost on the negative, or some customer must have passed by and got into the frame.  He visits Clara and wants to order a hat in emerald green to match his eyes but he's just joking.  He wants her to meet him and he takes her to the pond where he shows her reflection to her in the water.  She already has seen her face and she doesn't want to see it in a photo.  He wants her to live for now, for the present, no matter what happened in her past or will happen in her future.  When she goes to the shop later, he tells her she should be kinder to herself and she tells of giving up her daughter after being with a married man.  SO here Weston is now, a married and pursuing her, but only for himself since he knows there's nothing long term in it and so does she.

Weston thinks Katherine should go away but Flora will stay here with him.  Weston seems like he's driving her mad for her 'indiscretion' with Moray and is willing to do anything to make her pay and there she was saying Weston is no longer cruel.  So I'd like to know where and how they met and got married, though it was when she was in Europe with her father and possibly after his death, we haven't got many details about that, not in depth anyway.  Weston doesn't want Katherine having anything to do with HIS daughter and Katherine is devoted to her which he knows and so uses her to get back at Katherine.  But what he can't see is that in the process he's being cruel to Flora also who has deeper feelings for her and does see her as a mother.  Wonder if there's any real mystery behind Flora's mother and her death, seeing the sort of man Weston really is.  Maybe Katherine sees herself in Flora as she too was raised by her own father.

Sam rigs Susy's uniform with wires and makes it move so it looks like there's a ghost moving it but Denise sees him and he reveals himself too.  Denise cries on Clara's shoulder for a moment.  Dudley thinks Moray should use the publishing of the ghost story to their advantage and at the same time he can show Denise the man she fell in love with.  The one with all the ideas and ambitions, which she already knows and this one big ambition of his for the store really fell to pieces.  Dudley tells Denise she's need to help Moray and asks if she can't work with him then what is the point of her being employed here anyway.

Denise and Moray do work together and come up with an idea that the story will be sold here first and the publishers have agreed to it.  If the outcome is a success then they will have more issues sold here too.  She decides they need some fog and Myrtle will become Mary from the story and bake some poisoned plum puddings.  All the customers will be taken around the store.  Cartwright can take photos and add some fog to the store.  They can then buy the magazines at the end of the 'tour' of 'The house on the Hill.'  With Susy playing Grace of course, slowly being poisoned without realizing it.

Katherine has a photo taken with Flora just incase they part, Flora reminding her of her promise that she would never leave her.  Katherine glams herself up for the Paradise event but Weston makes her stay home, like a scolding father adding she does look a little pale.  Next we'll get Weston poisoning Katherine in true mystery, moustache twirling style and then he can get all her fortune, which he already has by reason of marriage.  He tells Katherine, well reminds her of the humiliation he suffered when she was throwing herself at Moray.

The haunting of the Paradise is a success and Dudley comments on Weston taking advantage over it with the publishers and all the credit.  Weston wants to meet Clara and will wait for her in his carriage.  Moray and Denise hold hands as they're taken in by the moment of the ghostly proceedings, but only for an instance. Denise realizes she does love him after all and is willing to take him back, until he puts his foot in it by saying, "you are my most prized possession, even above the Paradise."  Which seals his fate cos she tells him he still doesn't understand and she isn't his possession and won't be happy living in a box marked "my little champion."  She's her own person. That slap she gives him was a whopper and so unexpected though he does deserve it for treating her so despicably!  Like Weston Moray didn't realize just how cruel he was being to Denise in the process of wanting the store.  Even after Weston tells him he envisages Denise running the store one day, which of course was to humiliate him some more.

Clara dresses up and Weston waits for her, obviously she doesn't go with him but instead has her photo taken and kisses Cartwright.  Who seems to have awakened a passion in her, not only for showing her how to be kind to herself but that she doesn't have a future with a married man.  Seems the transformation of the Paradise into a haunted house was echoing the haunting taking place by Weston at his home, Katherine's home, by playing the ghostly husband who will drive her to despair and carry on with his own manipulation of everyone he crosses paths with.  He still uses Denise as a tool against Moray, using her ambitions to drive a wedge between them.  The scheming and heartache makes up for a show which would otherwise be full of sweet nothingness, ha.

Funny Jonas didn't have his photo taken.  The last ep sees the return of Clemence and Moray wagering Weston that if he loses he will leave the country.

The Vampire Diaries 5.5 "Monster's Ball" Review

                                               
Jesse (Kendrick Sampson) finds himself on Frankenstein's, I mean Maxfield's (Rick Cosnett) table and he's deprived him of blood leaving him with a massive hunger, as he's trying to turn him into a test subject or so it appears.  So since a vampire killed Megan was it someone Maxfield was trying to convert and that's why he was covering his tracks when he signed her certificate?

Tyler (Micahel Trevino) and Caroline (Candace Accola) get together and she wants him to sign up for Sociology, yeah that's all he needs after everything he's been through, sociology asTyler doesn' really fit the profile.  Anyway he's putting off the inevitable which Caroline doesn't want to see, that he doesn't want to study like her but wants a completely different life.  Which he tells her at the Whitmore Ball, yeah another ball already, thought only mystic Falls did those since it's only the start of term.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) has a plan to help Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) get Bonnie (Kat Graham) back, by Silas becoming mortal, he'll become his witchy self and can be killed, thus Bonnie will be able to return alive.  Jeremy wants this cos he wants to be able to feel her.  Bonnie thinks Silas has another plan other than destroying the veil between the two worlds.  But Jeremy doesn't tell Damon that Bonnie has her doubts and adds she's in.  You see, Damon met with Silas and wants to help him become mortal when he takes the cure and to do this he needs Katherine's blood, which is why he's after her.  Oh no, first Elena and her blood that Klaus wanted and now it's Silas's turn as Stefan's (Paul Wesley) doppelganger to get Katherine's blood as she's also Elena's doppelganger, will the cycle never cease.  Damon wants to get Bonnie back, Elena's best friend and in the process also help Stefan, perhaps.  But Stefan's guessed he wants to show her what a great boyfriend he is.

Elena writes her diary and invites Damon to the ball, where she believes she can find out more on Maxfield. She sees a boy at Megan's memorial and asks him who he is, someone from her hometown who doesn't think it's much if a tribute to her.  He knows Megan didn't kill herself.  Silas calls Nadia (Olga Fonda) for Katherine's blood and she doesn't care if he wants some blood, but Nadia tells her he wants all her blood, which will effectively kill her.  At the diner Nadia quizzes her on whys he killed her mother back in 16 something or another when Katherine was on the run.  She told Klaus's minions that her mother was Katherine.  Katherine sees her chance to escape and stabs Nadia with an umbrella seeing as she blabbed to her of being a vampire.  Later Katherine tells her about 1492 and that she's her mother.  She came looking for her but couldn't find her after she finally got away, are they forming a new bond now.

Caroline and Tyler dress as Bonnie and Clyde at the ball, would've thought Caroline would've gone as something more dressy and classy, ha.  Whereas Elena is Anne Boleyn and Damon is Henry VIII, really he was rather skinny, where's ya paunch Damon?   The boy is there again and Elena uses her compulsion on him to ask him what he's doing here.  He tells her his name is Aaron (Shaun Sipos).  He's acting shady cos everyone around him dies, story of anyone who lives at Mystic Falls there.

Stefan is there dressed as himself, oh wait he was James Dean.  He later joins Qetsiyah (Janina Gavankar) at the bar who's come as Cleopatra in search of her pendant, this will locate the anchor to her.  Which Silas is also looking for.  Silas switches with Stefan after Damon kills him and finds out she doesn't know the whereabouts either.  Though when they dance he does give himself away and then covers up.  He tries to convince Tessa that she still loves him.  Stefan wakes after being killed another time and this time kills Damon and finds Silas.  Tessa (it was shorter to type) reaches for his heart and turns him to stone.

Maxfield warns Elena to leave campus since people are watching her and her friends and he's meant to be dressed as Dr Jekyll, well he didn't look it.  Apparently he turns out to be Arron's guardian, who is really Henry.  Tyler tells Caroline he can't do this cos Klaus allowed them to be together and not cos they wanted to be together freely.  He leaves, yay cos Sociology is so not Tyler, ha.  Elena and Damon have Silas at the mansion and Katherine arrives.  Damon bites her neck and forces Silas to feed off her until he wakes. Katherine begs him to stop cos he doesn't want to die, well she's found Nadia now and will wonders never cease, Katherine remains alive.  Would be good if mother and daughter teamed up there and wreaked some havoc, maybe exact a little revenge on Elena, ha.

Silas saying a woman doesn't forget her first love, obviously a hint for Elena, maybe there's trouble brewing, yes let's break up Damon and Elena, they shouldn't have been together in the first place.  So Elena's writing in her diary again after so long, yes it's going back to season 1, but why is she doing this now seeing as she has Damon to talk to, or is he just not the same as Damon when it comes to caring and sharing, well we know he isn't.  Caroline and Tyler were really going nowhere so it's good they called it quits, she'll get with Jesse now, or rescue him or something.

I was about to say it would be pretty diabolical (ha) if Katherine didn't remember her daughter so who was her father?  Seeing as Katherine is good with diabolical monsters as Nadia tells her, I used that word too. Damon being such a monster here, we know he's ruthless when he needs to be, that's part of his appeal,  as he just throws Katherine to the dogs, erm, Silas without a care in the world and Elena just standing by and watching.  What happened to her humanity, even if it was Katherine.