Friday, October 07, 2005

Sydney Searches for the Truth, Ephram Tries to Avoid it, and the CSIs Find it!

CSI, Alias, Everwood plus a whole host of other shows, yes, it was another busy Thursday night. Let's start with a single-case episode of CSI. A young girl killed her step-mother by beating her with a cane, and her father didn't say anything in order to protect his daughter. Yes, it was another evil child episode of CSI. If you watch this show every week (as I do), you have to wonder how many child murderers there are out there. The episode focused on this one case, and the case just wasn't interesting enough to support the entire episode. Sure it had the seedy side with the husband meeting with the woman from the internet and allowing her to bite him, but overall, it just wasn't that gripping or interesting. I was disappointed when we learned it was the step-daughter (she was angry because her step-mom was having an affair) because it just seemed so tragic to me that her father lost his first wife to a stroke, his second to his daughter, and now his daughter to prosecution. And for some reason, this show never has the emotional impact of its counterparts Without A Trace and Cold Case, so I never feel a strong connection to the victims. Overall, an average episode.

I know fans all over the internet are very upset with Alias because of the assumed demise of Vaughn (Michael Vartan), but I am really enjoying this season. I loved Vaughn and I love Michael Vartan, but his departure has given the show a whole different, complex and interesting angle. My heart aches for Sydney, especially last night when she went to her sonogram alone and then when she asked her dad to go with her next time. The new characters seem interesting so far as well. Renee seems like she has Syd's toughness and she loves being a badass. And then there's the dead frozen guy. At the end, we saw his hand move, so he must be coming back to life. This guy must be super important and related to the Prophet 5 project since bad-guy Curtis allowed himself to be sucked out of the plane, without telling Sydney who ordered the hit on Vaughn, in order to protect the whole evil plot. His only hint was that she didn't want to know. I'm going to miss Weiss, but good for him (and his portrayer Greg Grunberg who is getting his own show) for getting the promotion. As I stated, I'm really loving this season despite the loss of Vaughan, and I'm excited to see where they go with this new direction.

This season of Everwood is simply awesome! This show has always been a character-rich series, but this season (so far) is delving even deeper into these wonderfully written and portrayed characters. I've always loved Amy, even during the second season when she had a bit of an emotional breakdown, because her character is so real and so relatable. Last night was no exception. After spending an entire summer trying to cope with losing Ephram, Amy is left to pick up the pieces when he comes back. As she told Ephram, she's "over it," but not over him, so trying to be friends just won't work right now. It was sad to see Ephram watch her close Nina's new restaurant thinking about how he messed things up so badly. Hannah and Bright are adorable! Delia's struggle to keep her family together is breaking my heart, but small pieces of it started to go back together when I saw the check in the refrigerator. I was not okay with the checks in exchange for Ephram's presence at dinner idea. Oh, and I'm really excited that Ephram is moving in with Bright. It was nice to see Ephram admit that he is trying to avoid the truth about everything that happened because eventually he's going to have to face it. Overall, another excellent outing and further conviction of why I heart this show so much.

About Last Night... CBS once again dominated a Thursday night by winning all three hours of primetime last night. At 8, Survivor: Guatemala easily beat NBC's block of Joey and Will & Grace, followed by Alias on ABC. The 9 o'clock hour was huge for CSI, and it almost tripled the ratings points of its next closest competitor, NBC's The Apprentice. Fox's MLB coverage landed in third. The story of the hour, however, is Everwood's huge increase from last week's so-so showing. The show was up in households and the coveted 18-49 year old category. For more on that, visit The Futon Critic. At 10, CBS easily won with Without A Trace, followed by NBC's ER, Fox's MLB coverage, and ABC's Primetime. For more information on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - It's a special two-hour edition of the new Amy Grant reality heart-warmer Three Wishes on NBC.

@9 p.m. - Molly and the Red crew search for an infected member after he's accused of killing a cop on tonight's Threshold on CBS. Over on ABC, it's the premiere of the new show Hot Properties at 9:30.

@10 p.m. - It's celebrity and murder tonight on CBS's Numbers as Don investigates a pop singer's stalker and discovers the murder of a celebrity photographer.


(Sunday Edition)
@8 p.m. - Lilly and the team investigate a 1978 murder involving the cult favorite horror flick Halloween on Sunday's Cold Case on CBS (it might start late due to football). Vinick turns the tables on Santos by bringing up the immigration issue, something Santos has been trying to avoid, on NBC's The West Wing.

@9 p.m. - Gabby and John meet again, Lynette's new boss forces her to miss a landmark in one of her boys' lives, and Bree's mother-in-law finds herself on the wrong side of the law on a new episode of Desperate Housewives on ABC.

@10 p.m. - Jordan races against time and a bad storm to find two young boys caught in a National Forest on NBC's Crossing Jordan.



QUICK CUTS

*Anna Belknap is joining the cast of CSI: NY in the wake of Vanessa Ferlito's departure in this past week's episode. Belknap will play a rookie CSI who recently moves to New York from Montana. Mac (Gary Sinise) takes her under his wing and shows her the ropes. The actress was last seen guesting on Without A Trace, but before that she was a part of NBC's short-lived Medical Investigation. Belknap's first episode airs October 12th on CBS.

*The WB is now confirming the cancellation of Just Legal that I wrote about in yesterday's edition. The low-rated show failed to grab an audience on Monday nights in its three airings. The show will be replaced with an encore airing of Related this Monday. In other cancellation news, FX decided not to renew its freshman off-beat comedy Starved.

*In other WB news, the network is ordering a full-season pick up for new drama Supernatural. The show has done consistently well in the ratings, retaining most of its lead-in's (Gilmore Girls) audience. The show follows the story of two brothers searching for the truth about their mother's death and their father's disappearance.

*And finally, Cynthia Nixon is set to guest star on Fox's medical drama House. She'll play a patient with a mysterious seizure illness who goes up against Dr. House and his team. The episode is slated to air this December on Fox.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for Cold Case, Without A Trace, and Desperate Housewives. Plus an all-new edition of Primetime Pass and all the latest television news!!

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