Monday Night TV in Review

Monday 08 October 2007
*** Spoiler Warning ***

Prison Break

[s3 ep04]: "Good Fences"

First of all, Lincoln sees what is in the box introduced at the end of the last episode. Is it a red herring? Nope, it really is what I thought it would be. It is the decapitated head of Dr. Sarah Tancredi. The actress playing her refused to return to the show, so after three episodes of seeing Sarah only from behind, photoshoping her face into photos, and using another actress's voice for Sarah over the phone, the makers of the show finally killed off the character.

Meanwhile, Michael is able to manipulate Luchero by staging an electrical failure and then offering to fix it. Bellick tries to double cross Michael, but it backfires on him. T-Bag kills the resident drug dealer in order to take his place. Noticing Mahone's extreme withdrawal, T-Bag gives him some free drugs, and Mahone takes them.

After hearing that Sarah is dead and that LJ is being held captive, Sucre agrees to help Lincoln and Michael. Part of Michael's escape plan involves a vulnerability in the electrical fence. By posing as the new gravedigger, Sucre is able to get close to the fence and subtley spray onto it a substance that eats through steal.

Okay, this episode was more like it. The death of Sarah was no big surprise, but the intensity was still there in Lincoln's reaction. Realizing that the company is not playing around, he appears broken and agrees to do *whatever* they want to get his son back. He even lies to Michael, saying that both Sarah and LJ are still doing fine. He knows telling Michael about Sarah now would keep him from completing the escape.

And, speaking of the escape, it's nice to see Michael finally laying the foundation of his new escape plan.

Chuck

[s1 ep03]: "Chuck Versus the Tango"

For Chuck's latest mission, he is forced to infiltrate a high society party to identify an arms dealer that no agent has ever seen. He attends with his CIA handler Sarah Walker, who is still posing as Chuck's girlfriend. Chuck is captured, but Sarah and NSA handler John Casey rescue him and apprehend the arms dealer. Another subplot involves Morgan and three more of Chuck's colleagues covering for him at work because they'd rather Chuck get the Asst. Manager slot rathers than Buy More bully Harry Tang.

This was another good episode. I continue to enjoy the interaction between Chuck and his encouraging sister Ellie and the romantic tension between Chuck and CIA handler Sarah. It's obvious Chuck would like Sarah to be more than just a handler, friend, or fake girlfriend. Sarah seems to genuinely like and care for Chuck, but it's unclear how much of that is professional and whether any personal feelings she has for Chuck could cross the line to romance. Even if there is that potential, she's probably still getting over Bryce right now.

Heroes

[s2 ep03]: "Kindred"

We see what happened to Sylar. He was dragged away from Kirby Plaza by master illusionist Candace who now appears as a redhead calling herself Michelle. Sylar has lost all his powers but none of his rage. He kills Candace/Michelle and carves up her skull to get to her brain as he does with all his victims. He understands what makes her power work, but he still cannot utilize her power. We then find out that Sylar is in a shack in the middle of a large forest or jungle bordered on at least one side by mountains, with no sign of civilization for miles.

Hiro, still in 17th century Japan helping Kensei look like a hero and get the girl, is able to tell Ando where he is via scrolls Hiro inserts into the hollow of Kensei's sword hilt. West doesn't buy Claire's excuses about her healing power, and he reveals to her, Superman-style, that he can fly. Mohinder finds out that the Company plans to use the loft apartment of the late Isaac Mendez as their new laboratory. In order to get information about his identity, Peter agrees to help the Irish guys pull a robbery. When one of them tries to double-cross the others, Peter uses his powers to incapacitate the guy and run him off in fear.

Suspicions of D.L.'s death are confirmed. Niki, in order to contact the Company to get her split personality cured, drops her son Micah off in New Orleans with a relative (I think a great aunt) played by another Star Trek actor Nichelle Nichols. In order to break her brother out of jail, Maya uses her power to "kill?/incapacitate?" all the guards, but her brother Alejandro uses his power to deactivate her power and "resurrect?/revive?" everyone. An American prisoner freed in the process offers to give them a ride to the states.

This was a packed episode. I feel things moved forward much more in this one. I'm not sure I totally understand or even like where this season is going, but at least this episode made things more intriguing.

Journeyman

[s1 ep03]: "Game Three"

This time Dan keeps traveling to the same day, the day of the big San Francisco earthquake, Tuesday 17 October 1989. It appears he's trying to save a certain a guy named Alan Pratt from gambling debts and suicide. By the end of the episode it becomes apparent that Dan needed to make sure Pratt enters a building before it collapses in the earthquake because Pratt must reach rockbottom in his life and then survive potential death in the earthquake in order to turn his life around. By Dan saving Him, Pratt becomes a lawyer crusading for wrongly accused people who have lost hope as he once did.

In his traveling to the past, Dan tries to save as many people as he can from the earthquake by warning people ahead of time. When that doesn't work, he tries to save his boss's sister. That doesn't work either.

This episode gave us several new tidbits of information. Livia had already been traveling in time before she met Dan. When she met him, the traveling stopped. When she left, she started traveling through time again. When Dan's watch breaks, Livia loans him her watch that he gave her a long time ago. At the end of the episode, Dan's wife Katie finds the watch after he lied to her that he hasn't seen anyone he knows on his time traveling.

We find out Dan is a recovering gambling addict and that he almost lost Katie over it at one point. Dan was studying abroad in Berlin during earthquake. We learn that Katie used to be a TV reporter on Channel 6, so she does well covering for Dan on the job while he's time traveling. Dan accidentally lets it slip to Livia that he married Katie, who Livia remembers as being the girlfriend of Jack, Dan's brother.

I'm really starting to feel good about this show. Every episode is interesting. Unlike Quantum Leap (itself an excellent show) which always focused on Sam Beckett completing a mission in order to leap, Journeyman uses time travel as a method for exploring current and past relationships among the four main characters. We haven't even gotten to an explanation of the sci-fi element yet which may add a whole new layer to the storytelling.

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Monday Night Winner: Tough to say because all four shows were so enjoyable and impressive. The best by a hair was probably: Chuck, [s1 ep03] "Chuck Versus the Tango"