Tuesday, February 07, 2006

A New World Lies Beneath the 'Surface!' Plus, a 'Medium's' Slippery Slope

Well, it's over. At least for now, and hopefully not forever. Yes, you read that right. I did say hopefully NOT forever. You see, Surface kind of grew on me as its season progressed. I know the critics panned the thing from the time it aired its first frame of video, but my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to tune in despite the overwhelming criticism. I'm really glad I did. Yes, the show is cheesy and cliche, but it also told an interesting, thought provoking story in its first season that wrapped up last night. I also found myself falling in love with the show's characters, however wooden the critics may say they are. I would love to see the story continue for another season, but I just don't know if it will. Last night's episode promised to be thrilling and jam-packed, and it certainly delivered in a big way. From the moment it started until the moment it ended, it was non-stop action. I was literally at the edge of my seat for the entire hour. The entire 15-episode season was thrilling, and it took us on a wild adventure with plenty of twists and turns. I was entertained, and isn't that all we can truly ask of our television shows anyway?

While last night's finale, and the episodes leading up to it, did answer a lot of our questions, it also left some unanswered and ended in a small cliffhanger. What will happen to Rich, Laura, Miles and Caitlin? What about the rest of the show's characters? Did they get to higher ground before the tsunami hit? And what will happen to the world now that these man-made creatures have begun their take over? These are all questions that I hope NBC allows the show to answer. I think last night's terrifying tsunami theme was made even more relevant because of the horrible 2004 tsunami that hit parts of Asia. Seeing how the water was changing everything on the East Coast brought back memories of that tragedy. Was anyone else confused by the man that told Rich and Laura that no exit would help them and to follow the water? Why was he drawing a figure 8 with chalk around his shoes? I also was wondering where that subway system was leading. Laura said somewhere in the middle of the earth, so this seems consistent with the creatures emerging from the earth's crust under the ocean and forcing the tsunami. I thought that the scenes with the tsunami in the streets of Wilmington were frightening (although clearly CGed) as was the ensuing scene in the church with the steeple hatch that wouldn't open. It seemed that Nim was protecting Miles, but why? Is it that Miles raised him or that he is becoming more like Nim? See, more questions that I want answered!

Weren't those scenes inside the former killer's head really creepy last night on Medium? The way they were done with flicker effect made them seem like the legendary snuff films. The train noise just added to the creepiness factor. I liked the irony between the husband and wife. He had no idea that she used to be a prostitute or that her pimp is the one who shot him and caused his memory loss. She had no idea that he had been a serial killer before that run in with her pimp caused his new lease on life. And then there's the fact that he would have killed her had her pimp not intervened and shot him before he had a chance. At the end, it almost seemed sad that the guy that we knew now was going to have to pay for the horrible crimes the guy he used to be committed. Allison's visions just wouldn't let her drop the whole thing, either. I was really starting to think that her slip in the bathroom was causing her to have weird visions that she shouldn't trust. The MRI results that showed a "peanut" on her brain and Bridgette's brain were interesting as well, and I thought that Joe was onto something until Ariel's MRI came up empty. This was an intriguing episode that continued the show's trend of consistent, strong episodes.

About Last Night...CBS started out on top with comedies King of Queens and How I Met Your Mother, followed by ABC's Wife Swap and Fox's Skating with Celebrities. NBC's season finale of Surface landed in fourth place. At 9, CBS continued its dominance with comedies Two and a Half Men and Courting Alex, followed by Fox's 24 and NBC's Las Vegas. The final hour of the night went to CBS's CSI: Miami, followed by NBC's Medium and the final hour of ABC's The Bachelor. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - Fox's American Idol wraps up the audition phase tonight with the final city of Boston. Over on the WB, Emily tells Lorelai that she wants to get to know her future son-in-law better, Rory suddenly finds herself in a position of power at Paris' expense and she ends up in a sticky living situation because of it on Gilmore Girls.

@9 p.m. - It's the usual double dose of NBC's Scrubs tonight with two episodes featuring special guest star Mandy Moore. In the first episode, JD is intrigued with a clumsy new love interest (Moore). In the second, JD gets annoyed with the way his new love interest deals with funny things. Over on Fox, Sela Ward and Julie Warner guest star on House. And UPN premieres its new feel-good reality show Get This Party Started featuring Laguna Beach's Kristin Cavallari.

@10 p.m. - Rebecca De Mornay, Chris Potter and Betty Buckley guest star on a new episode of NBC's Law & Order: SVU. Over on CBS, singer James Blunt guest stars on Love Monkey as production on a video shoot spins out of control. ABC's Boston Legal finds guest star Michael J. Fox's character hosting his own mock funeral (postponed from an earlier date).



QUICK CUTS

*The popular music download program iTunes is adding more television shows to its repertoire. The music store will premiere the three unaired episodes of ABC's now canceled Night Stalker today for $1.99 an episode. These new unaired episodes will join the previously aired episodes of the series that are also available for download on iTunes. In addition to unaired episodes of Night Stalker, iTunes is also adding episodes of the Showtime shows Weeds and Sleeper Cell, which are also available today for $1.99 an episode. With the latest editions, iTunes now offers more than 50 television shows.

*And finally, Sunday's combination of Super Bowl XL and Grey's Anatomy brought in huge numbers for ABC. An estimated 90.7 million people watched the Super Bowl, and 38.1 million watched the Grey's Anatomy episode that followed the broadcast. The Super Bowl's numbers are the best since the 1996 game and the third best in the sporting event's history. The 38 million viewers for Grey's Anatomy is a series high for that show and makes it the most-watched entertainment program on TV since the "Friends" finale. Final numbers are due in later today.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the Scrubies (With special guest star Mandy Moore) and Law & Order: SVU! Plus, all the latest television news.


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, I did have some questions about the guy with the figure 8 drawing. I also have all the same nagging questions you do about the show. I thought it was awesome when Rich and Laura finally came together with Miles and they finally got to see Nim. About Nim and Miles relationship. I think Nim totally thinks of Miles as his parent since he raised him from an egg. The first thing an animal sees when it is born or hatched pretty much dictates that. You know what I mean?
Now on to Medium. I think this show and VM are by far the most cleverly written shows on TV. I have a great deal of admiration for their writers. Oh, and I agree with all your Medium comments.