The X-Files 10.3 "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" Review

                                                
Two people getting high in the Oregon woods, played by Tyler Labine and Nicole Parker Smith were from the eps War of the Coprophages and Quagmire; notice a man's been attacked and find another one who's dead. Mulder  (David Duchovny) sits in his office throwing pencils at his 'I Want To Believe' poster as Scully (Gillian Anderson) walks in and asks him why he's throwing pencils at her poster.  He reluctantly says that everything he believed all have explanations.  Such as the moving stones in Death Valley attributed to ice.  Perhaps everything can be proven down to ice.  "It's amazing, going through these archives with fresher, if not wiser, eyes how many of these cases, whether it's the Amarillo Armadillo Man...can be explained away as fraternity pranks, practical jokes or people making stuff up simply because they're bored, and or, crazy."

Mulder now being the sceptical one again and she asks if Mulder's still taking his meds.  Yeah cos everything boils down to pill popping doesn't it.  Things not going well, okay pop a pill!  She tells him they have a case of a "monster."  It may be a human monster.

Heading out to the town in Oregon; what follows is undeniably classic X-Files.  With tongue-in-cheek humour and a return to the good old days, even if it does feel like it's been done already in great eps such as The Great Mutato, carnie creature from Humbug, which was directed by the late Kim Manners.  Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, etc. Mulder's willing to keep an open mind and they find there were two other bodies discovered too and one of them was naked.  The marks found by the autopsy conducted by Scully shows human teeth marks.  Thus the so-called monster could be human after all and a serial killer.

Mulder's surprised no one got a photo, they only have a sketch which gives him three eyes, and he downloads a camera app to his phone, which he doesn't know how to use.  So he just ends up taking photos of everything.  Even Guy (Rhys Darby) in the portaloo, yes Guy with an Aussie accent! Who we see has horns so is the creature.  That scene was a little silly considering Mulder saw the creature enter the loo and he couldn't have gone out the other way.  Scully finds anomalies in the blood sample she sent to be analyzed but doesn't get a chance to tell Mulder, who later notices the bite mark in one of the photos he took.

Homage to Kim Manners as Mulder steals flowers from by one gravestone and places them on the headstone with the name 'Kim Manners'.  "Let's kick it in the ass."  As he talks to Guy Mann, another comedic, sarcastic name.  Guy to man or man to guy, ha.  Anyway the man tells him he wants to kill Mulder and breaks a green bottle so Mulder will stab him in the appendix.  (How the creature could be killed in Humbug.)  All based on the rantings of a psychiatrist who tells him about the fairytales from the old country about werepires and lizard men who can only be killed by being stabbed in the appendix, but he doesn't know why.  Seems this loony was a loony himself who wrote a prescription for Mulder, as well as taking pills himself.  Which Mulder doesn't take.  Yeah since when does Mulder need to pop pills anyway?

Guy tells him the entire story about being bitten by a human.  Then he ran away and found himself turning into a human and next day he woke up naked and his human thought was to dress himself with the clothes he took from one of the dead bodies.  Then he had all sorts of human thoughts like having to get a job cos he needed the money to survive.  Even though he wanted to quite the job selling phones, he became manager overnight and it was a perfect job for him since he didn't understand what he was talking about, neither did his customers.  But he needed the job cos he needed to get a loan and a mortgage even if he didn't know what they were.

He ended up at the seedy motel and next morning found he had chnaged back into his natural form. Being woken up by the alarm.  He was happy and then saw someone watching him from the Jackalope head on the wall, which Mulder interjects was proven to be a hoax.  He couldn't live with humans so he got a pet puppy, who ran away.  Which explained the call the animal control guy, Pasha (Kumail Namjiani) got of a missing puppy as he told Mulder and Scully.  We even get a flashback to Scully walking into the store where he works after she locates Guy and proceeding to undress and have sex with him.  Mulder telling him that didn't really happen.  Er, neither did the motel manager see Mulder on the bed in a red thong/speedos!!  Ha.  Well of course he did the dirty peeping tom!

Guy tells him he saw what happened to the others and he saw a being killed by a human, after he saw the man who bit him and only had human thoughts of revenge.  He pulls out Mulder's badge and tells him he didn't believe him after all and was going to pin the murders onto him, an innocent man.  He runs away shouting Mulder's really the monster and Mulder takes out a green bottle of drink from his pocket and drinks, when Scully calls him after finding the lost puppy.  Of course it had to be Pasha, especially since as Mulder said at the beginning it had to be a serial killer.  Scully keeps the puppy as he reminds her of Queequeg.

Guy goes into hibernation for at least the next thousand years and was a pleasure meeting Mulder.   Of course it's one of those eps which was written by Darin Morgan and had a completely different role reversal, this time it's the creature who's innocent and sees the human committing the murder. Having the misfortune of having human tendencies after being bitten, whereas it's the human who takes on the familiar tendencies of the werewolf and changes with the full moon.

Mulder's red speedos, thongs, whatever, well they weren't tightie whities ha, was a harkback to season 2 episode Duane Barry, when Mulder was seen leaving a pool.  Of course Guy's outfit was that worn by Darrin McGavin when he played Kolchak Night Stalker, on which the X-Files was loosely based by Chris Carter.  Yep saw that!  Not to mention Mulder having the X-Files theme as a ringtone on his phone.  The dog, Dagoo is another character from Moby Dick, just like Queequeg. The pencils Mulder throws at the poster are those he threw into the ceiling in Chinga.  Mulder's line of wanting to be "mauled by a wolf, lion and a bear" and be naked when he dies is similar to what he was told in Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose by Clyde, that he would die by autoerotic asphyxiation. As for Scully not needing anyone's help, this was also from the same episode where she was believed to be immortal and she repeats that here too.  Jack Hardy, the other name on the gravestone was First Assistant Director on  The X-Files: I Want to Believe.  A line which Mulder also says to Guy at the cemetery.

The Vampire Diaries 7.13 "This Woman's Work" Review

                                        
Now we get to learn about Rayna - boring!  Isn't she like all the so-called 'huntresses' gone before, so that's nothing new.  I mean how many enemies have the vampires had and how they defeated them all.  Just when you thought it was safe from Julian (Todd Lasance)  we find that he began all this shaman curse huntress business after he killed, well made her kill her own father.  Also how her father taught her to fight and kill vampires.

15 Years Later

Rayna's (Leslie-Anne Huff) all grown up and he leaves her to fight vampires.
Saint Malo, Louisana 1857
Coming upon Julian as I said.  Thing is she's kind of a Buffy isn't she, only she has the Phoenix sword.
England 1903
Rayna finds them and she marks Julian with her sword, as well as Beau.  Julian says Lily will arrange safe passage for them to New York and Nora (Scarlett Byrne) complains about having to travel in a coffin, which is the least of her worries.  Once she marks them with her sword she will forever be on their trail.

Enzo (Michael Mularkey) isn't able to keep Rayna behind the glass, as she takes a flying leap and crashes through it.  Guessing she blackmailed him into calling Bonnie (Kat Graham) for the sword, otherwise she'd have used it on him, or just killed him.

Damon's (Ian Somerhalder) friend Krystal is running around in her undies and she has to leave cos Bonnie returns.  She wants a drink with her best friend and since he's her best friend right now, chancing upon her jeans skirt.  Bonnie thinks it's good Damon's having sex, cos Damon abstaining for 60 years is unimaginable and Elena wanted him to live his life.  He doesn't want Bonnie to know what he did as Enzo calls her cos she's not answering his calls.  He needs the phoenix sword which has now become Rayna's sword otherwise he'll spill about Damon killing Elena.  Bonnie needs to know what he's done but as her best friend, he's asking her not to pursue it.  Even to the point of asking why Stefan (Paul Wesley) hates him right now.

Caroline (Candace King) is rushed to theatre and the babies need to be removed but Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore) tells Stefan they don't want to be born as they're feeding off her magic.  Stefan compelled the doctors to do whatever they need.  She needs the help of the others to keep doing the magic and ensuring the babies can be born.  As Stefan tells Alaric (Matt Davis) he's needed back here.  Silly time for him to be away though.

Another flashback as we see Rayna being cursed by the shaman and giving her the sword, as each of the others kill themselves, they'll live on in her.  At Whitmore they find Enzo tied up in vervain ropes and Rayna turn up wanting the sword.  She hits Bonnie with an arrow and Damon throws it out the window for her to fetch.  It's a wonder no one outside picked it up by the time she got there to find it sticking up in the grass.

Damon saves Bonnie and she thanks him cos he didn't hesitate and didn't even take a second to think about it let alone three.  The others find out about Rayna as Beau's scar opens up and he bleeds at the hospital.  Nora and Mary Louise (Teressa Liane) need to take him away and go on the run with him so she doesn't catch up to them.  Valerie agrees to stay and carry on the spell without them.  Rayna catches up to Beau as the others run away and she sets him on fire.  Beau being the token extra to be killed off.  Damon tells Stefan he's on his way but Stefan doesn't want to know.  He'll doe everything he can to put this right, but Stefan doesn't want to hear it.  Bonnie asks him what he's done to make Stefan feel this way but it's something so bad Damon needs to put ii right.

As Damn confronts Rayna, hey I said they were trying to get an Elena carbon copy going on with Rayna and Damon says it too, about her looking like his "girlfriend and her three doppelgangers." Bonnie arrives to help and tells Stefan to help Damon or he's going to get himself killed.  Alaric arrives to see his babies being born.  Damon fights Rayna but isn't really a match for her as she's about to stab him with the sword, Damon tells her she wants to send him to hell, but he's already there, just as Stefan arrives and is stabbed instead.  Could see that coming.  Stefan goes on the run.

Alaric names the babies Josie and Elizabeth after Caroline's mother and she holds one.  Damon goes back for Enzo and decides he'll flip a coin to see if he lets him go or not.  Enzo telling him he didn't have a choice.  He then tells him Elena's alive and in his state he didn't realize he was burning an empty coffin.  Tyler moved her and she's in New York with Enzo's friends looking after her.  Damon doesn't believe him at first but it's true.  Well it had to be true.  Bit of a cop out there not wanting to bear the wrath of her fans!  Leaving it still open for her to return.  Darn it, still at least we had a moment watching her burn!  ha. Damon calls Stefan and tells him about Elena and how he will put this right and kill Rayna even if he has to do it with his bare hands.  He will get Stefan back.

Stefan tells Caroline he'll get back to her.  Ain't it always the way, after that touching scene with the fries, what is it with fries and vampires in this show?  Recall Elena also left her bag of fires on the clock tower!  Stefan: "pass me the secret stash of fries!"  Ha. Especially after he was inside Caroline's head comforting her when the spell was being performed.  Now she won't get to see him.

Three Years From Now

Caroline takes the twins and drives them to see her friend, who happens to be Klaus in New Orleans.

Yet more three years from now which is now being left to the end of the ep instead, as if we're not going to get it shown at all, can't fool us.  First the Heretics and now Rayna, is just too much to put up with and it all seems to have been done before; like with Silas and Qetsiyah.  How can she be such a match for them that she's been after them for three years. Especially as they didn't know about her and now cos of the Heretics and that sword and the phoenix stone, she turns up too.

The Vampire Diaries 7.12 "Postcards From the Edge" Review

                                         
Damon (Ian Somerhlader) regrets killing Elena as we know and stops a passerby on a road, has his little game of cat and mouse with him before killing him, cos that's what he's life's become now.  Oh the usual spiral you go down when you've killed the woman you're meant to love.  So he's looking for a deathwish now and doesn't really care if he gets killed or not.  That's not going to make him feel better since it'll just put him out of his agonizing misery.  He turns up at the Mystic Grill in search of pain.  But no amount of pain will help the hurt that he's really feeling deep down.  Oh look Bonnie (Kat Graham) doesn't have to worry about getting old and dying now for Elena to return, she can just get old now at her leisure!  Ha.  So Damon kills another one of Julian's (Todd Lasance) lackey's by taking his head off, a scene stealer from a Supernatural ep or two of course, oh wait, should that be head stealer.

Julian having waned him to stay away from his friends or they'll die.  Second mistake Damon made was telling Julian he'd killed Elena by burning her alive.  Julian feels partly responsible cos he lost Lily, then she was his touchstone and kept him sane.  After which he killed her and now he's going to do the same with Damon.  Who saved Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore) from him after she delivers Julian a postcard with a red 'X' on it.  All of the Heretics knowing this means it's from the huntress. Apparently she was spelled by a Shaman to kill them all and Rayna (Leslie-Anne Huff) is located by Bonnie and one of her locator spells she does with Nora (Scarlett Byrne).  Mary Louise (Teressa Liane) turns up and says she wants to go and find her in Cincinnati too.  Bonnie wants to go cos she's not trusting her friends' lives with them and calls shotgun.

She also knows Nora is using her to make Mary Louise jealous.  When they arrive at the mental institution, they find an old woman who doesn't appear to be Rayna and she pretends she doesn't know what they're talking about.  Later she tries to strangle Bonnie on the pretext of wanting the cookie fed to her and to undo her restraints when Enzo (Michael Malarkey) saves her, seemingly killing Rayna.  When Bonnie returns with the others to take the body away, he's taken her.  We see him burning her and she reemerges much younger.  Don't know what his game is just yet, seems like he escaped from Matt's 'shadowy' organization as he tells Bonnie.

Matt (Zach Roerig) and his new found lady deputy friend, lets him go and he returns to Mystic Falls after she lets slip about the fires burning out at someone's address.  Where he finds vampires and she follows him there.  She needs wooden bullets if she's going to wear a uniform in Mystic Falls and he tells her vampires are real.  She thought he was cute but now he's also brave in her eyes.

Stefan (Paul Wesley) goes looking for Damon after Valerie tells him about his behaviour.  Damon ending up at a vampire fight club.  Let's see, what hearts are ripped out in vampire fightclub, stay in vampire fightclub, or some such nonsense.  Julian tells him to fight and Damon relishes beating all the fighters, as well as being aided by a bar wench who throws  him a weapon so he can defeat the invincible fighter.  Julian's not happy with that and so he fights Damon himself next.

Caroline (Candace King) writes in her journal for Elena, somebody should tell her that's pointless now and soon, as Stefan brings her curly fries and a cheeseburger.  Should she even be eating the cheeseburger in her condition.  She passes out and at hospital notices her hand's desiccating.  Valerie says the babies are siphoning her blood and gives her a talisman bracelet which should help her. Which appears to work for now.  Caroline thanks her cos they should really be hating each other cos of Stefan.

Stefan gets to Damon in time and saves him from Julian ripping Damon's heart out cos that's what Damon really wants and tells him to do it.  Stefan tells Damon he will kill Julian right now and be killed for it if he doesn't let him help.  As they leave Stefan confronts him over what he's done and Damon admits he burned her.  Stefan punches him, loses it in the car.  Then tells Valerie he blames Julian cos he took Lily when he was little, killed their baby, lives in his home, then he stabbed Damon with the sword.  He will kill him.  Valerie says there's a difference between stupidity and revenge and Stefan isn't stupid, unlike Damon, but later helps him stake Julian.  Let's hope this'll be the end of the Heretics as we know them.  Let's not let it drag now.  Damon gets it on with bar wench and well, let's not have him go down that road again.  He may have told Stefan he's not going to pull his switch but we don't want the bimbos back in his life now.

Three Years From Now

Matt tells Stefan he let Caroline go before he injects him in the neck.  As Damon's tied up and we see the huntress again.

It was along time coming Stefan finally offing Julian and he had to be the one to do it, he did lose the most cos of him.  So if it was this easy why didn't it just happen before. Hoping they wouldn't do a three years from now, but they had to squeeze it in, not that it was necessary, we really didn't see much we hadn't already seen aside from Rayna getting a face.  Just what was Enzo doing with her.  I mean he pretends to kill her, she becomes ageless and then Matt's working with her in the future.

Mr Selfridge Series 4 Episode 7 Review

Harry (Jeremy Piven) and Mae (Kathleen Kelly) say goodbye to Victor at his grave and they'll miss him, whilst Jimmy (Sacha Dhawan) hides out at his mother's house.  She tells him the police are looking elsewhere and he can just say he was looking after is ill mother, Clara (Kim Thomson).  He will have plenty to lose and with his colour, though she doesn't say it in so many words, will lead him straight to the noose. Harry and Gordon (Greg Austin) welcome the Summer promotion, which they believe will steer the store out of its debts.  As they unveil Mae's first store windows.

Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes) and Connie (Sacha Parkinson) talk of George (Calum Callaghan) sitting up all night with his medals thinking of Victor.  He's taken it hard.  Kitty tells her she's still married to Frank and she's really excited to go to New York and be part of Elizabeth Arden.  Connie means about Frank, she must be nervous about leaving him.

Mae's seen the headlines of Victor being in league with the 'underworld.'  Mae doesn't want to speak with the press about interviews and he reminds her of how Crabb (Ron Cook) likes free advertizing. Gordon looks at the machinists problem and tells Ellis (Ria Zmitrowicz) to hire some more,as the women laugh at him being here.  Tilly (Mimi Ndweni) has more than her fair share of the workload all cos of making Miss Mardle's (Amanda Abbington) wedding dress.  Keene (Oliver Dinsdale) rears his ugly head again and Harry assures him the store will show more transparency.  He wants an office here a few days a week and will want to show more of his executive-ness.  Harry invites him to their monthly director's meetings too.  As Gordon's children arrive with Grace (Amy Morgan).  He invited them here for ice cream, as part of the Summer promotion.  Harry wants to get to know his grandchildren and invites them for dinner, Rosalie (Kara Tointon) was asking after Grace.

Gordon tells him about Wynnstay (Robert Pugh) issuing a writ against Harry for breach of contract. As Gordon calls the lawyers.  Connie gives George a letter from Temple and Victor's left a trust "for the future generations" of George's children.  George feels guilty since he hadn't been a good friend to him in a long time.  He didn't know how much he loves him, but Connie tells him he knew that's why he left it.  Kitty bids farewell and says how she started out cos of Harry and how he guided them and encouraged her, like part of the family.  It's a store he built and it made her into who she is.  Harry tells her it was pleasure working with her.  She'll never forget him.  George asks if she's said goodbye to Frank (Samuel West) and Connie's going to miss her.  There's nothing left  to say.  Harry tells Frank that being far apart won't help him get his marriage back.  He's already been there.  Frank thinks he's needed here to help with Wynnstay which he is, but he needs to go with her.  Kitty thinks the time apart will do them some good but Frank says she should stay.  They've been over that already and then he says he wants to go with her and make a new start.

Miss Mardle and Grove (Tom Goodman-Hill) enjoy the last days of their honeymoon on the beach and he tells her he's not scared anymore, as long as she's by his side.  He's prepared and will take what comes when it comes.  As they collect shells for the children.  She misses them.  Meryl (Lottie Tolhurst) finds Tilly has too much work and plans on doing something about it.  She tells Grove when he returns and Miss Mardle wants to have tea with her one day during her break.  She tells her about Mr Lyons (Sam Swann) and how he apologized to her once and then did it again when he came into the storeroom.  She has a lot to learn about men, cos he likes her.

Grove asks Ellis about Tilly and she says she's heard from the other machinists how she didn't leave on good terms.  She can't tell him boat what really happened as she was accused of dishonesty cos he wouldn't believe her, but it wasn't what her manager said said.  Wynnstay publishes that the provincial stores being sold off as part of Selfridge being in trouble and Gordon tells Harry it's cos of the writ.  They could be in trouble for months before the case gets to court.  Gordon asks if Harry would be willing to call a truce and continue the advertizing.  But Harry can't go to him as it's personal.  However Gordon going will be seen as a sign of weakness.  Which he does.  Gordon makes him an offer their counsel thinks is reasonable and Wynnstay refuses it, until Gordon tells him his board will hear how he turned down such a lucrative sum and they will hear of it.  Leaving him no choice but to accept.  He didn't realize Gordon wouldn't be such a pushover and a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Jimmy's back and he wants to make a new business deal. He comes to Harry with plans to take over Whiteleys of Bayswater and wants to be a 50/50 equitable partner.  The Whiteley brothers are in trouble and if anyone can turn the store around it will be Harry and Gordon.  They agree to the deal and Harry manages to convince the Whitely brothers to sell.  That won't be good news for him.  Mae is distraught cos of Victor and loses her temper at Harry.  They drink to Victor's health as she says they were both alike and started out the same.  She was a showgirl, a Lady and now a designer.  Even Jimmy avoids Mae as he tells her he was away visiting his mother.   He seems to be rather standoffish and acting suspiciously.  As she tells him she was shocked.

At dinner Harry announces he's making Gordon Managing Director.  Grove gives Tilly her references and two weeks pay and Meryl isn't pleased, well it was her fault for bringing it to his attention. Grove decides to retire and Miss Mardle thinks it's a good idea.  Wynnstay's lackey reporter tells them the police aren't pursuing Victor's murder anymore but he says that he mixed with some shady types, as he shows them photos of D'Ancona, Jimmy and Harry, which sparks Wynnstay's interests.  He wants him to dig further.

Whiteleys was actually purchased by Selfridge in 1927.  Seems like everyone's going into the black and out of trouble, as the show's building everyone up for a fall.  harry's going to be penniless, Gordon will run the store and Jimmy will get his comeuppance no doubt.  As it seems Harry will declare his love for Mae pretty soon.  Well we knew that was coming since series 1 and when he helped her escape her husband.  Still, three more eps to go!

The X Files 10.2 "Founder's Mutation" Review

                                                    
Back to normal with this episode if normal can be a word associated with the X-Files.  As Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the case of eugenics after an employee at a research facility kills himself after being subjected to sounds no one else hears.  Mulder manages to sneak out the phone of Doctor Sanjay (Christopher Logan) and Scully warns him about how that's illegal following a court ruling.  He tells her that Sanjay was a victim not a suspect and she says he committed suicide.  He meets with Gupta (Vik Sahay) and Scully says that Gupta also means 'protector.'  Yes but firstly and foremostly it's still a name.  He takes Mulder to the loo where he proceeds to attempt to undo his pants!! ha.  Steady on that's not what he's there for.  Mulder tells him Sanjay's dead.  But he didn't get in touch with him even after he left messages.

The Department of Defence is involved and anything at the facility is classified.  As they investigate Sanjay's apartment; fter Scully carries out an autopsy on him and finds he wrote 'Founders Mutation' on his hand. The founder being the name Dr Goldman (Doug Savant) is referred to as.  Mulder also notices that when the letter opener was inserted into his ear by Sanjay he took a 60 degree turn once inside.  At his apartment they set off a silent alarm and Mulder is subjected to the same sounds as Sanjay and Scully notices he was in agony.  They sit in front of Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) as he tells them the files are classified and they can't have access to them cos of their status just to appease the DOD agent there and after he leaves Mulder tells Skinner he managed to copy some of them, as Skinner welcomes them back.

They are able to speak with Goldman as Scully asks Sister Mary (Christine Willes) at the hospital where she works if she can arrange a meeting and Agnes (Kacey Rohl) tells them she doesn't want to stay here and there's something wrong with her baby,  At the foundation, Goldman shows them around and the children he's treating or rather researching and conducting experiments on.  They also find that his wife, Jackie (Rebecca Wisocky) is locked up accused of killing their baby son.  Paying a visit to her they find that her daughter Molly fell in the pool and survived but she didn't kill their son. She let him out.

Mulder finds that the video footage from the facility shows a janitor working in the office when Sanjay was subjected to those sounds and he was the killer.  Finding him at a farm, Kyle (Johnathan Whitesell) is Molly's brother and he attempts to attack Mulder again with the sounds, as the birds gather again.  Mulder having earlier explained that the birds were subjected to auditory sounds not audible by the human ear and so the worms would've felt the vibrations too causing an abundance of birds to gather.  They take Kyle to Goldman who shows them Molly, but she's not his sister who is in another room.  Kyle finds her and they escape after they both attack and kill Goldman until his eyes popped out rendering Mulder and Scully helpless.  Mulder's line of not being able to unsee his eyes popping out.

The episode appeared to be more of a connection or a way to bring up William. As Scully asks Mulder if he ever thinks about him and whether he thinks that's what happened to her fifteen years ago.  So we get flashes of what their lives would've been like with William growing up, such as Scully taking him to school and Mulder watching films with him and building rockets.  With William calling out to them at night and Mulder finding he's abducted by aliens or something else with bright lights.

These eps need to pick up some speed and action for me, they're a little too dialogue infused. Waiting for the next Werepire ep!!   Okay the Were Monster.

Mr Selfridge Series 4 Episode 6 Review

Harry (Jeremy Piven) storms into the club to see D'Ancona (Vincent Riotta) and to settle his debt, telling him he's not some two bit gambler who can be treated like that.  D'Ancona being adamant that he is cos he doesn't know when to stop.  He wants the debt paid in full by Monday and clearly he's not a man to be reckoned or reasoned with.  Harry asks Crab (Ron Cook) if he can get a loan with the store, but Crab tells him he assured the Civic Society that he wouldn't secure any of his personal loans against the store as a good faith gesture.  No one wants to offer him loans either since the newspaper article stating Harry was responsible for the store windows being smashed and his personal gambling habit.

Harry is furious with Wynnstay (Robert Pugh) who tells him he only agreed not to publish stories about his family, as Harry told him they didn't sign up for this life, but he did so he's fair game.  If his reporters dig deep and find dirt on Harry then that's not his fault.  Harry withdraws the advertizing from his paper and he tells Wynnstay it's not an idle threat.  Wynnstay later calls his lawyers to see if he can actually go ahead and do that.  Harry doesn't know where else to turn for help and so turns to Jimmy (Sacha Dhawan) who says he can come up with a plan to help him.  He decides Harry should sell the provincial stores and people are eager to buy the land as they're prime investment opportunities.  Harry disagrees since Gordon (Greg Austin) built those up and he can't do that to him.
Grove (Tom Goodman-Hill) makes plans for the wedding and has a suit made up for him.  He tells Miss Mardle (Amanda Abbington) he will tell Harry about his illness later in the day and she thinks she should get a dress for herself.  Meryl (Lottie Tolhurst) shows her dresses from Mae's (Kathleen Kelly) range but she doesn't want it in pink, maybe cream.  She can have those made up and she knows just the person to do it.  Of course adding to more work for Tilly (Mimi Ndiweni) who's given more sewing to do by Miss Ellis (Ria Zmitrowicz) which will take her all night.  Grove asks Crab to be best man.  He finally tells Harry who asks what he can do but there's nothing, except giving away Miss Mardle.  Suppose can't call her that anymore.  She asks Meryl to be her bridesmaid.  Also Grove talking about how family is everything.  Which Harry should know as he used to say the same once.

Later at home Grove sends the children upstairs as they're making too much noise and tells her he can't ask her to take on this "unruly mob."  She says he broke her heart when he left her but she didn't stop loving him and she's more than happy to take them on.  When she looks at him it's like she never left.  So their wedding goes off without a hitch and the happy couple head for a honeymoon.

Mae does a photoshoot at the Palmcourt for her outfits and she gets Victor (Trystan Gravelle) to model as a waiter and he recalls how he started out here.  She reminds him she was a Lady back then and how they seldom had their clothes on.  He's happy to oblige since it's like things have never changed.  Jimmy shows up and clearly he's jealous.  He invites her to the opera and then later suggests they can also got to Colleano's afterwards.  If that's the case why take her there.  Rosalie (Kara Tointon) turns up at the shoot with Tatiana (Abigail Eames) and Mae helps her to relax and look natural.  At Colleano's Jimmy just talks with his investors and Mae is bored with it all.  She speaks with Victor and some others and later Jimmy wants her to leave with him, but she refuses to go.  She talks with Victor again and tells him how Jimmy isn't for her and maybe it's not too late for them. They agree to meet for dinner and he'll close the club just for the two of them. She agrees.

The deadline for Harry to pay D'Ancona passes and he doesn't want to sell the stores since Gordon built them up and he doesn't want to take all that away from the families who run them.  Even if they will get a nice return.  Harry tries to reach D'Ancona but he heads o Harry's house, frightening Rosalie and Tatiana as he steals all the paintings, jewellery from the house.  Including a bracelet Rosalie had from her mother.  She tells him how their Pa was so wonderful and the would scoop them up into his arms.  Now she doesn't feel safe anymore and Tatiana was so afraid.  He tells her he can make them safe again but she replies she doesn't think he's safe even with himself.

The Dolly sisters rear their ugly bleach blonde heads again buying things thinking they'll still get credit.  Crab tells them they can't and Rosie threatens to speak with Harry.  He tells them to go ahead and do so.  Harry tells them there's no longer any credit and especially after that dance they pulled last time.  They apologize but he's still not biting.  Rosie (Emma Hamilton) suggests they should return to New York.  Harry tells Jenny (Zoe Richards) to watch out for herself.  He tells Gordon he's going to sell the stores and he knows Gordon worked on them for so many years.  Gordon wants to help him and he reminds him those years were all the missed ones between them.  He would have done anything to help his father cos all he ever wanted to do was to work by his side.  He wants Harry to sell as many stores as he needs to; even after Gordon had a visit from the Civic Society man, Mr Keen (Oliver Dimsdale) telling him about the newspaper headline and how the investors are worried.  It's no longer really Harry's store.

Frank (Samuel West) and Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes)  part ways as she tells him she's not that sort of a woman.  The type to accept everything and turn a blind eye.  She tells him to leave and even packs his bags for him.  All he can say is that "men makes mistakes."  Connie (Sacha Parkinson) is angry when she hears of this and so is George (Calum Callaghan) who wants to "biff him one."  Frank has nowhere to turn and has to stay with George and Connie who hates him being here.  Why didn't he turn to Harry?  George tells him he's a writer and that's all he could say.  He was jealous of her success and the job offer in New York, whereas he was getting nowhere with his work.  Yeah and didn't she offer to work whilst he had the time to write if they went to New York but it was all about pride.  He goes to talk with Kitty but she doesn't let him in. He tells her to take the job offer in New York if its still open.  Which she does, but she doesn't want him with her.  Or does she cos George can see how much they still love each other.

Victor waits for Mae as the club as he stands at the balcony looking down at the table.  Of course its so obvious what's coming next as jealous Jimmy comes up behind him and wants him to leave Mae alone.  She's too good for him.  He lunges at Victor and soon he goes over the top of the balcony. Well that's another one gone before his time in this show!  As if that's really going to get Mae back! Wonder who else will be meeting their maker before the series is finished.  Just the usual happening here with everyone getting into strife as we watch the last days of the Selfridge empire come crashing down!  As Harry reveals he has no money!

The X Files 10.1 "My Struggle" Review

                                             
The show returns after being absent for so many years in a limited renewal and attempts to pick up where it sort of left off in 2002 and began in 1993 as well.  The Roswell UFO crash and subsequent cover-up by the government with Mulder (David Duchovny) relating numerous sightings over the country through the years.  With governments and presidents signing off on the sightings and encounters as being real.  Even a flash back, or several to the initial Roswell crash as the surviving alien is shot and killed.  Well if this is how you treat 'alien' species...Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now working at Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital, hmm, apt name in many ways and is operating on children who were born without ears.  As she later tells TV presenter, Tad (Joel McHale) what God chose to omit from their biology.

She gets a call from Dep Director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) apparently looking for Mulder who's off the grid.  She calls Mulder and tells him to watch the show as Tad plans on exposing the truth.  That the government lied over the years (so what's new) and the fact they took over the alien technology since Roswell and have being using it for themselves and for nefarious purposes.  In an ever changing world.  There's a later exposition from Tad about how the elite plan to take over the economy and everything else, including the world.  Whilst Mulder explains the huddled masses will be able to do nothing and be systematically destroyed.

Scully and Mulder no longer together and it seems she couldn't keep up with him in their relationship. Tad drives them to meet Sveta (Annet Mahendru) whom Mulder met when she was little but he doesn't recall her.  She relates the stories of being continually abducted by aliens and then her foetuses being removed and taken from her.  Scully does a blood work up on her searching for alien DNA and Mulder says he knew about aliens and he investigated but he couldn't prove it.

Skinner called as he was looking out for him and wasn't a day that went by when he didn't pick up the phone and wanted Mulder to still be here in the basement and work on the 'X-Files.'  Mulder leaving him his number this time.  Scully does a re-test on the blood after finding Sveta doesn't have alien DNA.  As well as testing her own blood and doing a complete genome analysis.  She finds she does have alien DNA and mentioning they also had a child together.

Tad wants to expose the conspiracy as the 'government' goes about destroying evidence, the alien craft and killing everyone involved, as well as Sveta herself who lies on TV saying Tad made her say all those things.  Finally we get to see the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B Davis) who receives word on the X-Files being reopened.  Mulder's been suffering from depression then and Scully saying she's worried about him.  Yet, yet she was out on the town so to speak, with Tad enjoying her champers when she's interrupted in the moment by Mulder!  She didn't look too pleased.   Though we did get more of their arguing and disagreements like the good old days.

So it appears all those episodes and everything was a lie and a big hoax and we watched it all.  As we do so again now.  Or as said in the ep, "what if everything we were led to believe is a lie?"  Which sounds like a line Scully would get, the earlier Scully.  They began the first ep of the return as kind of a teaser challenging everything that went before and at the same time, cleverly disguising it as a bit of a summing up of the premise of the show, just for anyone who hasn't heard of it, or even watched it before!  Nice touch!  As were the opening credits remaining the same as the past.  A fitting homage too and reminding us all how young we were!

I for one am looking forward to the episodes that don't concern aliens!

The Vampire Diaries 7.11 "Things We Lost In the Fire" Review

                                               
Damon (Ian Somerhalder) realizes what he's done and feeds Matt *Zach Roerig) and Bonnie (Kat Graham) his blood before Caroline (Candace King) injects him.  He wakes up chained and knew this would happen. Stefan (Paul Wesley) tells him no one blames him for what he did, he thought he was still in the stone.  But he's been out of it for more than just a weekend and in that time the town has itself gone to hell, literally or however you want to put it.  Damon wants to get out of his chains but Stefan won't let him out until he shows he can behave himself.  Which of course was a big mistake.  Especially when he begins to hallucinate and sees Henry (Evan Gamble).  Who's here to remind him that he won't be free of Henry or what he's seeing until he finds his true self.

Stefan tells him they got him out first and he was also seeing Damon, so he didn't even notice when Julian (Todd Lasance) took over the town and made it his own.  They head to the seedy bar, well the Grill, where Julian tells them it wasn't part of their deal but it was Lily's home and now he's making it his own.  Damon wants at him, but of course he can't.  He tells Stefan he got out cos he lied about how he really felt about Lily and that was his closure.  But of course it wasn't.  Stefan kept seeing Damon and kept trying to kill him.

He tells Caroline that Damon is his downfall, the 'hellstone' is trying to tell him that to be free he needs to let Damon go and get away from him.  Also telling her about the quarry where Damon would drag him down whilst Stefan was trying to save him.  So Stefan realized the only way to be out, was if let him go and let him drown.  Always that quarry again.  Seems that never goes away.  As for Stefan telling Caroline about setting Damon alight just so he could be free of him and Caroline stopping him, that just seems like a reverse of what Julian was going to do to Stefan in Damon's hell reality.  Kind of a comeuppance for Stefan burning, but it wasn't real.  So Damon saying he smelt the smell on himself was the same smell he sniffed at the diner in last week's episode.  Maybe it just lingered on, you know how smells are reminders.  Had to use sniff otherwise too many smells would get in the way, ha!

Then again after he torches Elena's coffin, that was another reminder of that smell and how eager he was to set Henry alight so he'd vanish!  Damon, wasn't thinking though, I mean why or rather how could he be so out of it still, especially what he did when he ripped the heart out of Julian's man.  And why did Tyler (Michael Trevino) even bother taking him there.  So what happened to Tyler?  We know he's still around cos we've seen him Three Years From Now.  Won't he know about Elena, will he not see the coffin or will he believe Damon just moved her.  You see that's exactly the reason why Damon didn't want to know where she was, cos he can't help himself, or control himself.  Even if Damon threatened to commit mass murder the baby shower, there would've been others there who could've stopped him.  Bonnie was there and Caroline and Stefan eventually wound up there.

Has Elena finally gone then.  The other thing is after they've been through the hell of the phoenix stone, they haven't learnt their 'lesson'.  At least Damon hasn't, so what's new.  He still lies to Stefan and keeps things to himself like not telling him about Elena.  On the plus side is she really no more, for those of us fed up of hearing about her.  Which means she'll be brought up even more now with Damon's conscience and guilt.  Apparently Damon's dark and always will be which is why Elena needed to be destroyed so he could find his true self again and what he really is.  As he told Stefan, the light isn't him and he just keeps going back into who he is, like a dark regression.   It's like Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) all over again in a 'new' show, you know all this dark business, good, bad, evil and lying to each other, keeping secrets.  So much bro-angst!
Guess the title refers to Elena then! ha

Caroline throws a baby shower and invites Tyler, again a mistake on her part and what made Tyler even come to a baby shower, it's not exactly his thing.  Matt and Bonnie having previously taken care of Julian's vampires the night before when they were out drag racing, surprised he didn't realize they were gone seeing as he noticed one of them was dead after Damon hallucinated and tore his heart out. Plenty going on with Matt too and it's not just about revenge or wanting Julian and his clan out of his town.  And Tyler didn't make it any better when he told him they grew up here but this isn't his home. Matt getting arrested by a policewoman who hauls him in and then finds his stash of weapons. Why were they even searching his vehicle, he was a fellow officer and was arrested for drink driving, not committing some other crime.

Caroline then found out Alaric (Matt Davis) is leaving after the twins are born cos he doesn't want to bring them up here.  Guess that's why she also left for New York when we keep getting that three years from now everywhere.  She's upset cos she's attached to them obviously, but it's also the right thing for him to do.  Bonnie invites Bloody Nora (Scarlett Byrne) to the baby shower and she feels sorry for her but she tries to silence Matt cos he doesn't like her being here, or even her Heretics, so what's new then.  Bonnie reminds him and us that she helped bring Stefan back even if she did put him there.  Nora tells Bonnie about the huntress, she's part of the stone and once she has your scent, she doesn't leave you alone.  After she thinks Bonnie sent her a postcard with an 'X' on it.  Bonnie wants to help her, if it means saving her friends.

Three Years From Now

Matt gets Caroline out of the studio where apparently she's supposed to be hiding/kidnapped and tells her to go.  He'a working with the huntress and she can't believe it.  Well it was inevitable

It may alienate Elena fans that she was burnt, but it's a show where no one remains dead if that's how the story will go and whether Nina Dobrev returned to the show or not, or in a finale, really isn't the point.  The point is it's not really for actors to dictate where their storyline will go or not go and that they're willing to return if necessary.  She made her decision to leave, no one forced her and fans need to realize that.  It's the Cote de Pablo fiasco all over again when she left NCIS.  It was her decision to make and she made it.  But fans went after the cast and also those behind the show, when it's not their fault and has nothing to do with the choice an actor makes!

Mr Selfridge Series 4 Episode 5 Review

                                            
Double Trouble the Dolly sisters film is filmed at the store with the sisters playing a double act of being thieves, no typecasting there then, with acclaimed actor Bumby Wallace (Sam Attwater) never heard of him.  Meryl (Lottie Tolhurst) also has a part in the movie.  They both ask Harry (Jeremy Piven) for new shoes.  As Harry yells "cut."  He always wanted to say that.  Grove (Tom Goodman-Hill) takes photos of Meryl with Bumby and Harry tells her she's a part of the family. D'Ancona (Vincent Riotta) comes in to collect his debt but Harry doesn't have it and he doesn't want an instalment, telling Harry owning one of the biggest stores in the world means nothing.  The Dolly's make trouble and they're costing money.  The film producer, Stone (Robert Morgan) needs Harry to be around to keep an eye on them.  Rosie (Emma Hamilton) later tells him that Jenny's (Zoe Richards) the one making all the trouble and she'll keep her in check, but Harry tells her it's Rosie they're complaining about.  He also receives £10,000 bill raked by the sisters in gambling debts.  Only it's too late for Harry to realize they're bleeding him high and dry.  Rosie tells him he said they could have credit.

Harry wants a front page retraction from Wynnstay (Robert Pugh) for the article on Rosalie (Kara Tointon) and all his family stories are to be kept off limits otherwise he'll withdraw advertizing and he's the biggest advertizer he's got.  Wynnstay wants to deal with Harry and not Frank (Samuel West).  Wynnstay's also invited to the party being thrown by Harry for the film opening at the store. He calls Flick (Joanna Bobin) and wants her to come to the party with him, obviously to dig more dirt.  Harry knows Frank made a mistake but he doesn't have a wife to make it up to and needs to put things right with Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes).  As she ponders whether to accept the Elizabeth Arden offer.  She needs to reply by the end of the next day.  She asks Frank why he wants children as they didn't think about it before and it's different for him cos he's a man, she'd have to give up her job. She later asks George (Calum Callaghan) what she should do and why he wanted children, cos he's a man. He always did and got on well with them but if she still loves Frank then she needs to talk to him about it.  Also seeing how Connie (Sacha Parkinson) is now showing.  She tells Kitty she always wanted to be a mother.

Meryl was angry about Miss Mardle (Amanda Abbington) coming to see her father and they have tea. She's still at the hotel and Grove wonders why she didn't stay with Crab (Roger Cook) since he invited her to come.  They go for a walk in the park and he cries when he recalls how he wanted to retire and enjoy the years with his children and how he's so afraid.  They were apart seven years and went their own way.  He can't ask her to be here for him or the children.  When they return home, he's too tired and Meryl asks her to tea.  She asks if she's going back and Miss Mardle says she'll stay for a while, as long as he wants her to.  Meryl tells her she can't leave even if he asks her to.  Meryl's invited Miss Mardle to dinner and he shows them the photos he took.  They should start a family album.  He and Miss Mardle take a turn in the garden and he proposes to her; but doesn't want her to accept out of pity, or take on the children too.  She accepts and would love to take the children too. He even has a ring ready for her.

The London Civic society has been buying more shares in Selfridges and he asks Crab about the chairman's account being in the red, as Harry's combining his personal and professional costs.  Crab says he's a dog on a long rope and he knows exactly what the society's doing.  He's always been loyal to Harry.   Harry pays a visit to Wynnstay ensuring him if he doesn't stay away from his family he will withdraw the advertizing.  Adding money still talks.  Harry also finds that Rosie's cheating on him with Bumby and tells Mae (Kathleen Kelly) they were just using his money all this time.  Took him long enough.

At the party, they also make a spectacle of themselves doing a risque dance before Harry tells George to throw them out.  Victor (Trystan Gravelle) asks Mae to sing as Jimmy (Sacha Dhawan) arrives and he gets jealous of them.  D'Ancona sends his goons to smash the Selfridge windows.  Leading more costs for Harry to deal with.  It's too late for Harry now to salvage anything.  The only one with any sort of a decent storyline is Miss Mardle and returning when Grove needs her the most and more importantly staying with his family too.  As Grove asks how they just let it all slip away.

All relationships falling apart except George and Connie but Kitty finds out Frank did the dirty on her with Flick, as Flick lets slip on purpose that she didn't know Kitty would be so beautiful.  Well he should've been honest with Kitty or at least he shouldn't have let her anywhere near Flick.  Of course that's why Wynnstay invited her to the party, to make trouble and show Harry who's really boss.

Mae and Victor's singing, or rather miming was funny!  It was so obvious.