Terminator 206: The Tower is Tall but the Fall is Short

I had stopped watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles after a few episodes in Season 1 because Ms. Connor was just too mopey. I missed the tough Linda Hamilton. Sure, Lena Headey is eye candy, but that's never what I loved about Sarah Connor. John Connor was much too emo, too. I had decided that cute, little Summer Glau wasn't enough to keep me a fan.

Last night, though, I wanted to watch something "new." I had heard good things about this show. I didn't really trust those "good things" though, since the accolades came even when I wasn't enjoying the show. Still, I gave the latest online episode a shot.

So many pleasant surprises! Brian Austin Green plays John's uncle and Kyle's brother, Derek Reese, and he's come a long way since 90210--he no longer looks like he's trying too hard to be cool. Shirley Manson plays a T-1000 (I am assuming that's her model) trying to connect with the child of the woman whose body she is imitating. Cameron has an amazing fight with another terminator, which ends up with the other terminator being Kama Sutra'ed out. This was far more exciting than I remember, so I'm giving season 2 a try.

Heroes 306: Dying of the Light

We learn more about zee powers:

Daddy Petrelli, like Peter, can gain others' powers, but unlike Peter, Daddy doesn't share. Can he kill while sucking powers, or did Adam just die from being unnaturally old? Daddy will start having Sylar's hunger, I suppose. See, Peter, you didn't have to worry about that for long.

I thought Knox was another Nikki, but Knox's power is less powerful than I originally thought--he only gets strength from others' fear.

Usutu expands his precog range to himself and Hiro. Nice not to paint Parkman for awhile, huh?

And for crying out loud, Isaac has been dead for awhile now. Can we stop with the faux-comics fonts and crap?

The Office 503: Baby Shower

I suppose for comedic purposes, Jan shall ne'er return from cuckoo-land. But if I missed Season 1 in any way, Angela reminded us of her Anne Geddes fetish with her attempted "Nature's Bounty" baby photo shoot.

If the awkwardness of hurt feelings is the show's signature, this episode did it well--though I wish Michael felt a connection with Astrid, as the situation certainly wasn't the kid's fault. Still, all was salvaged when Michael asked Holly out, despite Jan's request. Or was it inspired by Jan's request?

Speaking of romances, the Jim-Pam relationship has officially crossed the line tonight into hamville. Make it funny or make it die.

Supernatural 405: Monster Movie

With Heaven and Hell on their backs, the Winchester Brothers deserved a good, old-fashioned monster hunt. This episode, however, was more style than substance, and the style portion was phoned in.

Dean saw Sam's secrecy as a major betrayal, but their relationship jolted back to normal in this episode, as if nothing ever happened. I know I complained last week that the Rugaru's plight resembled Sam's, but I prefer that to this--no plot is propelled forward by "Monster Movie." Oh, except--Dean "loses his virginity."

The monster is simply another shapeshifter who identifies with monster movie monsters, especially Dracula. The damsel in distress is an average-looking, charisma-less waitress (yes, she may be hot in real life but not in the Supernatural universe, where models litter the street). Better a waitress than a demon, though, right, Sam?

The Office 502: Business Ethics

I love Kelly, and I think she made a good point during the first business ethics seminar. How come watercooler talk is time theft, but not numerous smoke breaks?

Not all smokers take more than their scheduled breaks, but I know of at least one smoker at the last place I worked who took at least 5 breaks an hour. Now I'm all for time theft, but even that is excessive!

Highlight: Jim torturing Dwight by talking to Andy about Battlestar Galactica, describing it completely wrong.

Lowlight: More Dwight and Angela action.

Heroes 305: Angels and Monsters

• Looks like someone is spreading The Wire love, as Andre Royo, aka Bubbles, appears in this episode as Vortex man. Let's get Lance Reddick in, too, please!

• I don't like Parkman (Jr.), I don't like Daphne; but when you combine them, I like them both. What an interesting chemistry equation!

• Maya earned some smart points when she left Suresh's apartment quietly, after she saw the blood tracks. Then she went all horror-movie heroine by coming back alone.

• Hiro piercing Ando with a sword just like that? Completely out of character.

• I thought maybe the writers forgot Sylar's super-hearing. They certainly didn't show it, but somehow he knew what was going on with Noah, Claire, and Bubbles. So was it the ears that tipped him off?

• I like how Meredith thinks she can do anything because she's got sweaty palms.

The writers have yet to grasp that there is so much you can do with these characters without forcing 2-4 plot twists every episode to keep us interested. I really can't keep up with all the machinations.

Supernatural 404: Metamorphosis

How fortunate the monster-of-the-week has amazing parallels to Sam's plight so that we can explore his psyche and descent. My concerns this week, besides that this episode being a snoozer, were as follows:

1. The two Rugarus we knew of married normal humans, but their babies seem to be 100% Rugaru. What happened to the 50% gene split? The Rugaru gene should get diluted with time. Even if Jack Montgomery's father was 100% Rugaru, he should only be 50%, and his baby 25%. Of course, these are supernatural beings, and genetics be damned, but they are not so different from humans that they can't breed with us.

2. I've perhaps beat the Rapist Sam angle to death, so let's discuss Ruby. When demons take over human bodies, presumably they don't feel what a human would feel, because the human could be dead and the demon inhabiting the person could still truck on (this is arguable, but let's just assume for the sake of argument). So do demons get horny? I suppose centuries of not having sex could do that to an ex-human demon. But could they really feel human pleasure (sex) if they don't feel human pain? (Though if they can't it doesn't mean they won't have sex just to mess with someone, like, say, Sam.) And who's to say that a demon can only inhabit bodies of people of the same gender? Maybe Ruby was really a man. Demons lie, don't they? This demon Ruby certainly lies down.

3. Let's have a little more respect for the girl Ruby possessed, shall we? Not only is Sam doing deeds with her in the dark, frustrated Dean goes after her with a knife exactly two weeks after he hears from Meg's spirit? R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Even though Dean wants Sam to quit using his powers, it would be nice to have Sam send Ruby back to hell so this girl can get her life back, if Ruby hasn't damaged the body beyond repair already.

I can't see Supernatural playing as far as Season 5, since Dean = God's Helper vs. Sam = Demon Spawn is pretty darn epic. How do you top that? Then again, Smallville seems milked to death but just keeps going, and going, and going . . . not unlike an Energizer demon (who hasn't met the wrath of Sam).

Supernatural 403: In the Beginning

That's young Jeffrey Dean Morgan to the left, and Matt Cohen, who plays young John Winchester, to the right. Not too bad. In fact, young Jeffrey Dean looks a bit like Dean.

As much as I felt for the young Winchesters and the Campbell family, I wished the show would tread the path less taken. Young Mary sealed the deal with the yellow-eyed demon for the life of John, who was killed by the demon only moments before. This bargain-for-life deal has been done in this show so many times before that I was hoping for something more intricate. But, everything must have its precedent, and so we begin at (possibly) the first such deal made in the Winchester family.

This was an emotional episode, and I felt as Dean did when he returned to the future; I was really disappointed that he couldn't change anything, and that his parents weren't alive. I suppose I will have to watch Season 2's "What Is and What Should Never Be" for my fix of the near-perfect Winchester life.

Heroes 304: I Am Become Death

Being a Heroes watcher but not avid follower & theorist, I am having a lot of difficulty keeping track of the various futures. At least all of us who thought the woman in the paintings resembled Daphne were correct, and some watchmakers/watch repairers out there are pretty psyched.

As for Sylar, sweet Sylar, I have one word for "Gabriel" kissing his dog: ROFL. I suppose there was no way to keep the bad boy a villain forever, because he is pretty much unstoppable. He had to have survived the Costa Mesa explosion if Claire did, but I'm not sure we're returning to that future again.

I have a suggestion for Peter. Since he can absorb anyone's powers, why doesn't he just (1) absorb, (2) cut open his own head, (3) look into a mirror and figure things out, and then (4) heal himself. That way he can satisfy his hunger into learning how things work, plus not hurt anyone. If he wants to understand more than just powers, I can't help him there, but what more does he really need? He can read minds. He can dissect his own brain. If he's still hungry, he should lick the brain of a McDonald's "cook."

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