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Spooks: Episode #8.3 (2009)
Can somebody shut off the lights?
Eight billionaires meet at a luxury resort to smoke cigars, tell tall tales, and pat each other's backs. Crashing the party is a group of four anarchists who are going to try each billionaire for crimes against the world and then execute them.
Ros is at the party as a guest, and when all hell breaks loose, she gives MI-5 a heads up as to what is happening. The anarchists take the billionaires and their family and support staff down to a bunker under the resort. Their plan is to kill everyone and blow up the building.
However, before they can do that, they have to drill holes into all the concrete pillars to attach the bombs. Anybody with half a brain should have thought to shut off the electricity to the bunker. Nobody can drill holes without electricity. Nobody can send video of trials to the internet without electricity. The website should have been shut down too.
On NCIS, Criminal Minds, and The FBI, turning off the power is usually at the top of the list. Inside a bunker, without windows, the bunker would have been pitch-black if the lights were off. It seemed like MI-5 enabled the anarchists to broadcast the trial, the killing, and the website. Drama is great, but it would be better if the story made sense, and MI-5 were a step ahead instead of two steps behind.
Spooks: The School (2007)
No Climax to Shocking Story
Continuing the trend to exterminate cast members during every season, this time death strikes at the heart of the MI-5 team.
After several episodes, the final fate of Zaffar is revealed, and he won't be coming back. Jo gets kidnapped and assaulted. Adam gets kidnapped too.
Eventually, the MI-5 team tries to rescue Adam & Jo, and that is where it ends. No exciting rescue scenes, of all the bad guys getting killed. No reveal on who hired them, as they were shown to be in the torture building. There was no real climax or conclusion to the episode. You just know the MI-5 and SAS got there, and the next episode they are at Thames House working.
Spooks: The Virus: Part 1 (2007)
Goodbye Zaffar
MI-5 has more employee turnover than a Taco Bell. They are dropping like flies at MI-5. This episode features British mercenaries that may be working for the USA, trying to start a plague in the UK. It all started in Iran, with the US misleading the UK into trying to assassinate an Iranian biological warfare scientist. What the US really wanted was for the deadly virus to be released.
When a survivor gets to the UK, all hell breaks loose as everyone is pretending not to know, and others are trying to spread the virus while the MI-5 are trying to get the vaccine.
It is a pretty good episode, except sometimes there are so many sub-plots that it gets annoying and/or ridiculous. In the midst of all the turmoil, poor Zaffar gets captured and then lost, possibly forever.
Spooks: The Message (2006)
Ruth is gone too
Ruth (Nicola Walker) is an interesting character, but over the past couple of years she has identified as a spinster cat lady, and she always walks around like a little mouse and has a witchy face to go with that.
After numerous conspiracy theories from Ruth, and various times she has dodged the rules to do whatever she wants, Ruth gets set up for the murder of a private prison security firm manager. Thanks to Ruth's personal attempts to get information by burglarizing a home and following the victim around right before he died, all the CCTV videos of Ruth incriminate her as the killer.
In all fairness to Ruth, it seems like everyone at MI-5 does as they want, and the rules are more like suggestions at MI-5. As usual, Harry is in the middle of it all, fighting for power with Maise and other members of "the circle." The circle is a shadow government that wants to control all of the UK. Harry and others are often fighting its attempts at more power. Now Harry thinks they set up Ruth to get back at him.
In what has to be the lamest romance in the history of TV, Ruth and Harry are sort of "in-like" of each other, but Harry is afraid to make a move, since Ruth is his subordinate. Ruth just looks at him, but she does not seem to have any passion. So they never get any further than one dinner.
At the end, when Harry wants to tell Ruth how he feels before she goes, she tells him no. Ruth prefers to imagine a romance, rather than hear Harry express his feelings and ruin it for sure. Seems like very little was there at all.
The sad part is that Colin has not been replaced, and nobody seems to miss his skills at all, in spite of all the tech issues that are present in every story. Colin was a solid member of the team, yet he quickly went from indispensible to forgotten.
Spooks: Gas and Oil: Part 1 (2006)
Another One Bites the Dust!
Wow, they are dropping like flies at MI-5. It seems like at least 2-3 agents get killed off every season. I was happy with Danny and Fiona getting exterminated, as they were annoying. However, Colin was always a good guy and a team player. Killing him off was just unneccesary.
Even more ridiculous is that over the past season, the MI-5 never have communications working when they need them. So it creates dangerous situations, but it also makes MI-5 look like a clown show that buys their comms at Radio Shack. The constant bad comms is getting old, and very predictable.
Spooks: Syria (2005)
Suicide Mission
Fiona (played by Olga Sosnovska) is a snobby shrill cold fish member of MI-5, the wife of Adam Carter. Everytime she is in a scene, I expect her to start selling facial creams to the MI-5 staff. She looks and acts like a superficial sales model, and has zero credibility as an MI-5 agent.
In flashbacks we discover that Fiona made contact with a friend she knew is Syria, and eventually it is revealed that her friend told her that her former husband was not dead, and had killed another mutual friend. This is the motive for Fiona to suddenly want to be the lead pointperson in an attempt to turn a Syrian diplomat into an MI-5 agent.
Very stupidly, Fiona does not tell anyone, including Adam, about her ex-husband Farook. She lies to MI-5 because she wants a chance to kill her ex-husband. Eventually she gets her chance, and it is lame. She follows the most evil bad guy to a meeting room, and waits for Farook. Since everyone knows who she is, when she tries to pull out her gun, the are guns on her already. Really pathetic that she got a Syrian diplomat killed, lied to her team, and then accomplished nothing.
The rest of the story is the predictable rescue by Adam, which results in some good gunplay, and deaths. One glaring issue is that the main and most evil intelligence officer disappeared to allow Adam, Fiona, and Farook to shoot it out. He was standing a few feet from Farook, and should have joined in the gunfight, and killed Adam Carter or at least taken some shots at him. Later he meekly gives up his gun when the MI-5 back-up arrives, a few minutes after the gunfight.
The MI-5 show has some decent action, but when it gets to complicated choreography of gunfights this is not the first time that combatants disappear. Apparently either the stunt coordinator or the camera-people or both were not competent to film anything beyond 3 people in a gunfight.
Spooks: Love and Death (2004)
Zoe is Useless Drag
Every episode Zoe is complaining about something not being ethical or appropriate to her high moral values. Every episode Zoe is somehow dragging people down or holding back the team. Every episode Zoe is flaking out on Danny or her boyfriend Will, or somebody else.
So finally one time she has to earn her money by taking out a rogue scientist and she totally melts down and fakes morning sickness. I thought the whole point was going to be that she would announce that she was pregnant, but that never happened. Zoe had an anxiety or panic attack, laid down in her cabin bed, and did nothing but sleep.
Danny had to do the heavy lifting, and that gave him an opportunity to whine and complain too. I certainly hope the real MI-5 is not made up of useless cry-babies.
Spooks: The Suffering of Strangers (2004)
Bye-Bye Danny
Sullen, miserable, angry Danny is finally off the show. Hopefully all the characters on MI-5 who are concerned about their ethics, morals, etc. Will stay off this show. The constant whining and moralizing is annoying.
The most interesting part of this show was Badria Timimi, the woman who kidnaps Adam. She has a lot of personality, and she is interesting to watch and listen to. Even better was the shocking twist surprise that she showed Adam when she lifted up her blouse.
Spooks: The Sleeper (2004)
Nutjob Tom Finally Terminated
What a great episode for those who were tired of Tom Quinn (Matthew Macfadyen) and his never-ending drama queen persona. It seemed like Tom could not go buy a Happy Meal without getting several people murdered. Constantly demanding that his friends break the law and MI-5 rules to prove that they trusted him. Talk about non-stop drama queen. I was so happy when Harry finally told him to stuff it.
The actual story is pretty thin. Harry gets a science professor who retired 24 years earlier as an MI-5 agent to return to MI-5. He was allowed to retire as a "sleeper" agent. The professor was played by Ian McDiarmid, who was only 58 at the time, but looked closer to 80.
Of course, once the operation is going great, and MI-5 are about to catch the terrorists who want to buy Red Plutonium from the Professor, Tom flips out completely and decides he cannot put the Professor's family at risk. So he tells Harry that he wants to abort the op, and all the MI-5 folks tell him he is nuts. That just forces Tom to go rogue (again, for the 15th time), and he takes the Professor out of University to save his life.
Needless to say, MI-5 eventually catch up to Tom, and he finally gets canned and drummed out of MI-5. It would have been better if Harry blew his head off in payback for Tom shooting him.
Spooks: Project Friendly Fire (2004)
Tommy Wackado is finally gone
So even though Tom is exonerated of the assassination, he still shot his boss and killed the assassin in cold blood. How this does not even rate a suspension is insane. More insane is that Tom has a big attitude because Harry might have the new agent Adam run the operation. Adam is played by Rupert Penry Jones, who is a hundred times better actor than Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Quinn). It is not even remotely close.
As soon as I saw Penry-Jones I was hoping the end of Tom Quinn was near! Tom Quinn has the personality of a cry-baby. First it was all his pathetic drama with his girlfriends. Then it was him constantly violating the MI-5 rules. Then it was totally going off the rails, doing whatever he wanted, and shooting his boss. Also bullying his friends by forcing them to violate MI-5 rules as a show that they still trust him and are his friends. That is really vile for anyone to do.
Anyhow, in spite of all the stupid ways Tom has destroyed MI-5, Harry and the rest of the team are loyal to him. Tom doesn't get it, and continues to make everything about himself.
Spooks: Seventh Division (2003)
Tessa Betrays Informant
This episode was a bit annoying for several reasons. Kate like always falls into a puppy-love crush with every informant that the MI-5 find, and spends the entire episode whining and complaining about the danger to the informant.
Tom like usual, has personal relationship problems with his current CIA girlfriend. Tom never seems to be on-point with any woman, and I think the show would have been less annoying if he had come out as gay.
Tessa, the slimy trash that used to work for MI-5 is using Sam as a mole in MI-5 and has all the info regarding their investigation of the Columbian drug cartel. Tessa then sells that info to get the informant killed, and she sends a video to Harry telling him she got the informant killed. What does Harry do? Nothing. Very disappointing that a lot of stories have that lame resolution of "That's just the way it is for spies and their informants. Too bad. Walk it off"
Meanwhile, as often happens on this mostly-talky show, all the Columbian drug cartel guys are apprehended off-camera, and there is basically no action at all in this episode, just a lot of whining and complaining by almost every character.
Spooks: Nest of Angels (2003)
Doctor Bashir Shines!
Alexander Siddiq, who played Doctor Bashir on Deep Space 9 stars as an Algerian undercover agent working for the MI-5 crew. As usual, most of the MI-5 time is spent with nobody knowing what to do, and a constant indecision about everything among themselves. This part of the show is getting boring and old.
It also seems like Tom Quinn and his girlfriend drama may finally be over. Hopefully we will be spared the endless whining and nagging caused by his Mommy issues and need for love.
Siddiq infiltrates a mosque that is training kids to be suicide bombers, and Siddiq shows the members that he is committed to Islam, and he tries to reach the kid who is chosen to be the first bomber. The story has good twists and turns, so that you are not sure what Siddiq is really up to until the very end. The ending is action-packed, fast-paced, sad, and shocking. This is the best episode of this series so far.
Spooks: The Lesser of Two Evils (2002)
Nagging Mom and Annoying Kid
The part of this episode that dealt with the IRA and the terrorism attack on the energy plant was great. The infighting about Patrick McCann and his killing of British agents was good stuff. Tessa got exposed as a corrupt agent, and that was good. The personal drama of the characters was boring.
Unfortunately, too much time was once again spent of Tom's nagging girlfriend ("How can I trust you") and her moronically annoying kid. At the very end, Tom brings a bomb into his house, because he does not do any minimal checking of a laptop he got from a terrorist (McCann). So the bomb is in the house with Ellie and Maisie, and Maisie such a dumb kid that she wipes the door scanner with chocolate fudge cream, so it is disabled. One more annoying thing about the kid is that she is clearly at least 12 or older, but they have her act like she is around 5 or 6.
Fingers crossed, I was watching with the hope that the two dud characters were going to blow up into tiny bits.
Spooks: Traitor's Gate (2002)
Annoying Girlfriend and Incompetent Team
So Buffy the Vampire Slayer's handler (Anthony Head) was a top MI-5 spy. A flabby middle-aged guy in love with a hot twenty year old enemy spy. He betrays his country, and in the middle of it all the main cast are too stupefied to do anything.
The team of Danny & Zoe are assigned to maintain surveillance on Athony Head, but they get arrested by street cops because they are idiots. Head and his girlfriend get away to plot the assassination of visiting U. S. President Bush.
At the end of this story, there is a huge cut to a congratulatory speech indicating everyone was arrested, but none of that was shown. The previous scene indicated that thanks to Head, the enemy team had gotten away, and nobody knew where they were.
Another big goof is when Head goes to the University that has the Air Traffic Controller database and a geographic map records for the national database, nobody thinks to check that out? They just assume a top spy ring went to the University to steal computer towers that even in 2002 were selling for less than $500 each??
This episode was very disappointing in how incredibly stupid the MI-5 team had to be, in order for the terrorism menace to be possible.
Another annoying feature was the non-stop nagging by Tom Quinn's (Matthew Macfayden) girlfriend Ellie (Esther Hall). She was in about 4-5 scenes, and it was "I want to know this," "How can I trust you," "Who is Harold," etc. Tom also calls her 2-3 times per episode to let her know he is busy. What is that about?? Thank Heavens that James Bond was never so whipped.
I really got turned off on this series due to the combination of stupid characters and the personal drama of their soap-opera lives. This is not your Mission Impossible, or Bourne Identity, or James Bond. It is not even Man From UNCLE. You get more action and less personal drama on Midsomer Murders or Father Brown.
Dalziel and Pascoe: Under Dark Stars: Part 2 (2007)
Sad End to Series
After eleven years, the series manages to end as a sad trainwreck. Pascoe, who has always been the most professional police officer, feels sorry for Mark Croft, whose family has suffered two deaths related to the same killer. The killer was acquitted at trial, and Croft blames Pascoe.
So at some point, Pascoe is covering up a murder. There is another murderer out there who was a partner to the original killer, and she was friends with the last victim, but nobody suspects her.
There is another guy killing people in order to drink their blood, and he has the team wondering if it is related to the other serial killer. Eventually, most of the killers are caught.
Fat Andy calls out Pascoe at the end, when they visit the cemetary with Croft. Andy tells him he knows what Pascoe did to cover up for Croft.
Instead of ending on a hug or having retirement party, the series ends with DL possibly having to turn in Pascoe for covering up a murder. Very disappointing story, which ends the series by showing both of them as compromised coppers.
Gunsmoke: Ma Tennis (1958)
Dog-Faced Tennis
Ma Tennis was a huge, chunky, grotesque bull of a woman. She was stronger than a buffalo, and Marshal Dillon was afraid of her. She only demanded that her kids never hang, and that seemed like a reasonable standard for an illiterate backwoods hag. Unfortunately, even though her lowlife kids did not hang for their crimes, they still met Justice, as most characters do on Gunsmoke.
This is a typical John Meston story about the trashy nesters that came out West, and how they lived like animals. No happy endings was the John Meston motto. Not even the undertakers were happy, since most of the people that got killed off on Gunsmoke were poor.
Dalziel and Pascoe: Houdini's Ghost: Part 2 (2006)
Unprofessional Andy
Fat Andy is off-duty when he hears the call regarding a death at his old girlfriend's house. He immediately charges over and tries to stop any investigation of the death. Based on just looking at the body, Andy tells Pascoe and the team to mark it as a suicide. Then he goes over to his old girlfriend (played by Cherie Lunghi) and tells her he will do everything to protect her. Really classy copper, Andy is.
Like often happens, Andy is at odds with Pascoe and the rest of his team. As Andy tries to weasel his way into Cherie's life, Pascoe and the team are doing their jobs, and uncovering evidence that the suicide might be a murder.
This episode had a lot of twists and turns, a murder, a suicide, radioactive medical waste, and an epidemic of cancer victims that were covered up. After Pascoe does most of the detective work, Andy joins in at the end to hog the credit.
Scorpion: Pilot (2014)
Boring Nerd Losers
Tubby Tony, Sayonara Sally, Virgin Mary & her genius son Mopie, Golf Ball Billy, and Goldbag the ultimate genius all team up to be incredibly lame, condescending, conceited, and boring. Their main super-power is that they can talk fast when they are regurgitating useless facts and information.
This is a good show to put on for background noise while you are doing something.
The Andy Griffith Show: Wyatt Earp Rides Again (1966)
Martin Sheen?
Creepy Richard Jury looks like 1960s Martin Sheen. I had to look up the cast to make sure it wasn't Sheen. Back in the 1960s, before Sheen got star-power, he was usually skinny and played a few odd roles.
Pat Hingle was in his super-obnoxious role, which gets annoying after a couple of minutes. The highlight of this episode is that Richard Jury beats up Goober in a wrestling match, and he beats "Mayberry Arm-Wrestling Champion" Warren twice at arm-wrestling. Fortunately, this was the last time Jack Burns darkened the town of Mayberry with his comedy genius. I would like to think his character was banned from Hollywood.
Dalziel and Pascoe: Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Part 2 (2006)
Fugitive Andy
Andy gets released on bail thanks to Pascoe and the alluring Johana ter Steege working to find evidence of another killer. Immediately, Andy goes on the run, and leaves Pascoe & Johana with egg on their faces.
As the investigation continues, Andy is basically a homeless fugitive walking from place to place looking like a pathetic fat slob. He manages to intimidate the bartender that spiked his drink, and talks to Frida right before she is murdered. What did not make any sense was that the African government agent who killed Hendricks saw his boss go into the apartment, so why didn't he wait outside to kill him too?
This story was really pretty good, but it had a lot of boring parts, mostly watching Andy walking around in the same trenchcoat for days. How hard could he be to find? He really stands out, with his grimacing face, stout body, and tan trenchcoat. In every scene, all the other people were dressed for spring or summer, and Andy looked like a lighthouse keeper.
Dalziel and Pascoe: Glory Days: Part 1 (2006)
Too many twists
I liked the beginning of the story. It could have been about an angry father who wanted revenge, though killing an entire busload of players seemed a bit psychotic. Funny thing is that the train is never seen after the accident, which does not make sense. Just tracking down the evil Dad would have been fun, if the football angle had been taken in a positive direction.
Unfortunately, they toss in the murder on the bus of the coach. Even then, it could have focused on the angry Spaniard player, and it could have been a fun episode with a positive spin on football / soccer. But there it goes off the rails.
Half the show is tracking down a teenage girl who is presumed abducted but just ran away to visit her grandmother. There the sordid tale unravels, and it becomes another sick saga of a bizarre and unlikely set of murders and allegations of pedophilia and incest. There is a sleazy reporter pumping her friends for secret information, and the players and coaches fighting among themselves.
I would have liked this episode a lot more if it had been straight-forward police work instead of convoluted social services.
Dalziel and Pascoe: Dead Meat: Part 2 (2005)
Mean Spirited Ellie
Ellie makes an appearance to show her true vindictive colors in this episode. Ellie and Paskoe's daughter Rosie are visiting Ellie's mother, and she never lets Paskoe know. Ellie has stopped answering his calls, just to make sure he cannot see his daughter when she is in town. That is kind of vile if not outright evil.
The years have not been kind to Ellie. Susanah Corbett is now a few years older and a bit heavier. When she sees Paskoe she grimaces, and her face looks like a frog or Fat Andy. The resemblance to Andy is sad and scary.
Ellie always had a nasty streak to her character. From the beginning, it seemed like she was more interested in Paskoe to punish him than to love him. They were clearly opposites. In the early years, Ellie was mostly a whiny nag. Then she got a divorce and moved to the USA to make sure Paskoe rarely saw his child.
Now she is back for a few days, and when Paskoe tracks her down to see his daughter Rosie, he gets push-back from Ellie. She never lets him spend time alone with his daughter, and Ellie cuts the trip short and leaves the UK to meet her fiancee in Germany. What a totally lowclass act she turned out to be.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Sicario / Liam Neeson / Charles Bronson
The first Sicario was pretty awesome at every level. The story was great, the actors were outstanding, and the action was intense. The second one is a lot more like a Liam Neeson or old school Charles Bronson movie. Revenge, bad guys that kill people, tracking them down for a final confrontation, killing lots of people on the way. It is not awesome like the first movie, but as a standard lets kill lots of bad guys movie, it delivers the excitement, the gun-battles, and the body count.
The introduction of Isabella Merced as the kidnapped daughter of a drug-trafficker was supposed to provide drama, conflict, and angst to Benicio Del Toro, but in this type of film, it was mostly distracting. At first she is just annoying, but she develops into a more interesting character. I just did not think she made the movie better. A shot to the head, and move on would have been fine with me. Benicio Del Toro is not a social worker, he is a killer, like John Wick, Liam Neeson, etc.
Fatso (1980)
A great movie about regular family people
I really love this movie. It is not one of those I can see every year or two. It is one that just stays with you forever. All the actors play really human average normal people in a family. They have some family issues, but it is nothing tragic. You can watch this movie and think of almost anyone in it as a member of your family.
Dom DeLuise and Anne Bancroft are great as siblings running a small store, trying to deal with Dom's obesity. Ron Carey is awesome in this movie, as a brother trying to help Dom and Anne. There are lots of histerically funny moments, and some sad ones. They all ring true, in a good and positive way.
Great cast, simple story that stays with you.
Dalziel and Pascoe: The Price of Fame (2004)
Disappointing
Every season seems to have at least two episodes where Dalziel is suspended for some reason, or he has health problems that keep him from working. It is kind of annoying
Also annoying is that Paskoe clearly has no respect for Andy, and just tolerates him. In the past season he has also become the main informant against Andy whenever he violates legal procedures. That makes him a rat in my eyes, and I would hate to work with someone who is taking notes to get me fired or demoted.
By the same token, Andy is a pig, and he seems to get a drink at every place he visits, and he really digs into his balls when he grabs them, usually for about 15-20 seconds. Maybe all that characterization is in the books, but I think they could skip some of it for the TV series.
Overall, the story is very disjointed. There is a missing girl, and a missing diamond courier, and a missing friend of James Corden who is with another friend on a fake Bachelor's Party for a fake wedding. Why this was the last thing anyone figured out is another reason this episode was weak. It seemed like everyone was trying miss clues, and it was all about personal issues.
When stories toss in too much personal stuff, it is usually because the actual mystery writing is weak and sloppy, as it was here. With less personal animosity, this story could have been shaped up into a better mystery, and it could have been a fun mystery story. It had a lot of good actors, but I think they were mostly wasted due to the choppy story.