American Horror Story: Coven 3.05 Review: Protecting the Coven

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, titled ‘Burn, Witch. Burn!’, now is your last chance to do without the threat of spoilers. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

For an episode I was looking forward to, I was sadly disappointed with a lot of what this episode gave us. Don’t get me wrong, it was certainly a step above every episode from last season, but all of the filming techniques were just too damned distracting. Last week I thought, yay, this series is finally moving this season into mostly regular cinematography, and then this week I get blurred lens work, terrible lighting and focus, as well a lot of terrible angle work. The cinematography was back to being aggravatingly distracting. I mean, was I supposed to be able to pay attention to anything going on on screen? The blurriness was in the way of so much of it, that what was the point to adding it in? They weren’t dreaming, everything that was happening on screen was happening, and they weren’t drunk, so I just don’t get it.

 While the cinematography was horrendous, the writing direction of this season hasn’t been terrible. I like the way that they’re going with Zoe’s character more now than when she was first introduced in the season premiere. When she pulled out the chainsaw I thought, ‘Bitch with a chainsaw, nice.’ Even if her voice was a little squeaky and high-pitched every time she would yell at someone to run. It’s also nice to see Nan and this boy-next-door character finding a connection, although I’ve liked Nan all season. Fiona hit the nail on the head when she said Nan was smarter than all of them. Queenie has had some pretty interesting lines, but what she did two episodes ago was disgusting, and the idiocy she seems to have is a little unbelievable. I did greatly enjoy Fiona this week, especially in that scene where she brings the stillborn baby back to life, as well as how she was trying to be more protective of her daughter now that she’s lost her sight. The one thing I wasn’t too fond of was Misty bringing Myrtle back to life; I feel like they’re going to be working in cahoots soon, when I’d really hoped Misty and Zoe’s friendship would get more screen time.

That was definitely an interesting choice of music for the scene leading Myrtle to the witch-burning pole. The way that was filmed was mostly intriguing, with the two men in suits and everyone walking out to it. The song was strangely fitting for this point in the episode. I am now more confused with the whole daughters situation with Madame Lalaurie. I just don’t think this writing in this episode fit the scene quite well with the season’s premiere, but maybe I’m not able to match things up.

Overall, this episode wasn’t quite as exciting as I expected. I think I get disappointed every time I hold high expectations for this series, but only love it when my expectations are low. The trouble is, every time my expectations are surpassed, they’re higher for the next episode, so it’s almost like a rollercoaster, every other week I like the episode, the other weeks I don’t. We’ll see how this comes to pass in future weeks. I do hope we see Kyle again more, and that my belief that Zoe is the next Supreme (given the evidence of this episode leading it to be the most likely) comes to light. It would be a disappointment if she weren’t, being that there is more evidence of it being true of her, than any of the others.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I like a witch who knows how to fight.” – Fiona informs Zoe, after she fought for the coven.

“I doubt it. You are, after all, the maid.” – Fiona tells Madame Lalaurie, who thinks that their similar motherly circumstances could bring them closer together.

Okay, now I just have to wait for The Vampire Diaries, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Crazy Ones to air, before I can review any of them. Check back in a few hours for those reviews.

Revenge 3.05 Review: Vulnerability can Create a Strong Relationship

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Revenge, entitled ‘Control’, I suggest that you do so immediately. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

For a late night soap opera such as Revenge, this was a very good episode. The writing was tight, the acting perfect, and the little games afoot also spot on. The red herring of Charlotte being the one that caused the car accident (to which I actually thought she had been the one to commit it, and was almost doing a happy dance for having guessed correctly for once) only to turn out to have been caused by Patrick was beautifully written and acted out. I’m curious to know why he tried to kill Conrad, but I think it may have something to do with how the weird relationship he has with his mother, and did so to try and get her out of Conrad’s clutches. But I suppose we’ll learn the answers in coming weeks, I just hope it doesn’t interfere with his relationship with Nolan because Patrick is gorgeous and Nolan deserves some honest, well-intentioned love. Plus that scene at the end: hot, with a capitol H-O-T.

One performance I was enamored with in this episode was Jack’s. His anger during the confrontation with Aiden when he has every right to have wanted Conrad dead was brilliant. Then his whole heated speech with Emily where he asks her what happened to the sweet, little girl he used to know. He really gave it his all, and I’m actually starting to remember why I loved him so much during the first season, only to find him dull last season. While Emily VanCamp is a good actress, her acting as Emily in this series is not the main reason I watch the show. It’s for the intriguing plot and all the other actors that make up the cast, and this week Nick Wechsler brought his all as Jack.

Nolan, as always, I adored in this episode. His friendship with Emily is beautiful and perfect, just the thing she needs. He seems to be the only one she is ever able to fully count on, or trust, because we all know Aiden is a loose canon. Aiden, who tried to threaten Jack out of town, and I believe Emily only said those things to because she saw Jack moving on. I would’ve liked to have seen a little bit more of a loose canon from this week, and for his jealousy to come through a little more clearly, like it seemed to have done in the promo for the episode.

As Emily began to lose her control of Daniel, Nolan gave her a solid piece of advice, to give him a piece of herself despite her incredible aversion to him. She took it to heart and masterfully weaved a bit of her honest vulnerability into the life of Emily Thorne. The tears solidified her character’s ability to both act, and show the side of her she so rarely shows. And just like that, dimwitted Daniel is like putty in her hand. That innocence in his eyes as she told him part of her familial story just told me how naïve he really is. Compared to Charlotte, who is growing to become a younger, more polished version of her mother, Daniel is definitely the artist type.

All in all, I quite enjoyed this episode. Seeing the straining muscles in Patrick as he shed clothing and also while he painted. Also seeing Jack’s nice abs as he totted Carl around was wonderful. Emily was beautifully dressed for the launch party for the magazine Daniel works for, with her hair and jewelry perfect. As in most of this season, I also enjoyed Charlotte’s look a great deal throughout this episode, including her ensemble as she told Conrad she had been the saboteur, and her hair during the dress shopping. The emotions, the writing, the acting, it was all just great for this series.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Phones still have numbers?” – Nolan sarcastically asks Patrick in rebuttal.

“But then again, I’m just a self-made billionaire with a 170 IQ, what do I know?” – Nolan remarks to Emily, in reference to Aiden’s accountability.

Alright, folks, that’s all for tonight. Check back in tomorrow for reviews of How I Met Your Mother and The Blacklist. Bones and Sleepy Hollow don’t return until November 4^th.

Once Upon A Time 3.05 Review: An Honourable Pirate

For all those that have yet to watch tonight’s episode of Once Upon A Time, titled ‘Good Form’, I suggest you go and do so now or exit this screen until you have. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Not a bad episode this week, although I would’ve expected a little more from Hook’s backstory, it was still a more interesting flashback story of the week than last week’s Rumplestiltskin centric episode. It was incredibly weird seeing Hook before he was a pirate, with his incredibly stupid looking neatly done hair. I have to say that I much prefer the Hook that dresses in black – as opposed to white – and has the skillfully disheveled short hair. Plus he was so much the younger brother type, looking up to his elder sibling.

While it was awfully assuming of David to jump to the conclusion that Hook could in no way understand where he’s coming from, I still understand it. He’s the hero type to not understand at all how someone could do something for personal gain, but people come in all shapes and sizes, and I suppose David will just have to appear like he put his foot in his mouth for jumping the gun. Not only that, but Hook is much more like Emma than her father is, so despite how awe inspiring his will to protect her from bad men is, she grew up in the real world where people aren’t inherently evil or good, they’re mostly grey.

I’m very happy our good guys were able to get a message to Henry, because I was beginning to ask myself how much more stupid and naïve he could get. I mean really, you grew up in the Evil Queen’s household for ten years, why would you think a boy as inherently selfish as Pan would take you away from a good family for good reasons? If it was just to save magic, why not just ask? But then, maybe Henry’s not as curious and questioning as I was at twelve (or is he thirteen now?) years old. Really, though, no one kidnaps a person from good people for a valid reason. So thankfully, he’s gotten the message that his family is there to come rescue him, because that could’ve gotten way more out of hand.

A few other things I really liked about this episode, the first being the loving smile Snow gave David. For someone that has darkened her heart by knowledgeably assisting someone to kill someone else, as evil as she may have been, she has been able to put that aside and really bask in her adoration of her husband. The second thing was how much Hook smiled and was basically giddy as Emma thanked him and before the kiss. His face was just breathtakingly swoon-worthy. And, of course, the kiss, which will only happen “that one time”. Emma may have said that, but their chemistry is just palpable. I definitely agree with what people have been saying online, Neal may have been Emma’s first love, but he abandoned her to her destiny, that’s not something I think Hook would do. What Neal did hurt Emma in a way that I feel will always stick, but she can have something fresher with Hook. The last thing I greatly enjoyed was Pan as he spoke with Hook at the end, taunting him. The way he just brilliantly gives Hook information that could hurt his budding relationship with Emma whether she finds out from him, or from someone else. The way he needs to look at it is whether he wants a short, but possibly passionate relationship with Emma now – and lets someone else tell her Neal is alive and that he knew, or he waits for the possibility of a long relationship that may never happen – and tells Emma himself. I personally yearn for him to choose the latter because I think they could end up being a long-term thing in the end.

There are a few questions running around in my head after watching this episode. The first is obviously what will Hook decide, tell Emma now or pursue her now? Another one I have is, how long exactly has Pan been on that island? Obviously he’s older than Rumplestiltskin and Hook, but how old is he? And where did he first come from? I really want to know his background, but I expect that’ll come eventually. My last question is who is in the other crate next to Neal? It’s none of our heroes, or Rumplestiltskin, and I’m pretty sure the real Belle is back in Storybrooke. I doubt that shadows can be held captive, so it’s unlikely it’s Rumplestiltskin’s shadow, and the ones that brought Henry there were thankfully killed, so who is it? Someone we have yet to meet? Oh, maybe it’s Rumplestiltskin’s father! That’d be the most interesting choice that’s running through my head.

Anyways, this was definitely an improvement on the last episode, but then I’m a big Hook, Neal, Emma supporter, so those are my favourite stories to watch. I did like the Tinkerbell episode two episodes back, so I’m not against other flashback storylines, I just find some characters have had a few too many flashback sequences revolving around them. But that’s just my two cents.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I don’t do rum.” – Regina states, as Snow attempts to pass her the flask.

“What? You mean a one-handed pirate with a drinking problem?” – Peter Pan sums up who Hook is, after Hook says Emma’s coming around to him.

Okay, folks, I’m off to watch Revenge now. Stay tuned for that review soon.

New Girl 3.05 Review: Money Complicates Things

For all those that have yet to watch tonight’s episode of New Girl, entitled ‘The Box’, then I suggest you do so now. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

This episode made me more mad than it did make me laugh. The stupidity of Nick getting money from his dad’s estate, and thinking he didn’t have to pay his bills, pay his taxes, or worry about anything he didn’t want to do. That was just incredibly moronic storytelling. Is that what these writers think they should be putting out there? There are better, funnier ways of making someone look like they haven’t grown up, and thinking they didn’t have a responsibility to anything they didn’t want to do, was just plain ridiculous. You’re honestly making me hate Nick Miller. Really, what the hell is your problem? And just the idea that Jess should feel she’s in the wrong for sending in money to pay these bills was dumb as a post. Plus, wouldn’t he have gone to jail for not paying his taxes?

The other thing about this episode that made me angry was just the way they played up Schmidt’s self-centered arrogance. He’s going around wanting to be called a good man, when a good man wouldn’t be thinking solely of themself. Schmidt’s ridiculousness can be quite funny at times, but this was definitely not the episode. Honestly, whoever wrote this episode needs to go sit in a corner and be beaten until they realize they’re not funny. Okay, maybe that’s overkill, but that’s how strongly unfunny this episode was.

About the only scenes I did like were between Jess and Winston, and the scene at the end where Winston gives Schmidt the candelabra. The conversation between them about genies and wishes was the only hilarious moment in this episode. I really think Winston is the only thing keeping me watching this ever growingly moronic series.

My rating: 5.5 out of 10.

All right, I’m off to watch Trophy Wife, and hopefully that can actually make me laugh. Then it’s Supernatural, and finally The Originals. Stay tuned.