The 'Cold,' Slow Death

The entire time I was watching tonight's episode of Cold Case, I had that pain in the pit of my stomach that's usually reserved for things like The Notebook or Stepmom (which incidentally, I refuse to ever watch again). You know where the story is leading, but the process to get there is actually worse than the end result. That pain in my stomach was two-fold tonight as we watched Jay succumb to his non-operable brain tumor and Lilly come to some sad resolutions regarding her mother (more on that later). CC is gifted with paralleling story lines without beating us over the head with the similarities, but tonight's outing was off the charts. I couldn't believe how perfectly they worked this one out. Not only were they beautifully congruent, but each made the other even sadder. Yes, these story lines had a symbiotic relationship that made this one even more powerful than it would have been without the double impact. As interested as I was to learn who had helped Jay end his suffering, I was even more interested in his mystery flashes involving "Louise" and the beach. Loved that it ended up being nothing more than a happy moment with him and his family. And I'm not sure why, but that last seagull at the end after Jay died made the entire scene that much more poignant. For some reason, I'm not a crier with this show (which is VERY weird because I cry at pretty much every sad movie -- I was convulsing at Stepmom, hence the decision to never watch it again). The thing about the sad movies, after they're over and I leave the theater, I'm pretty much over it. However, the problem with CC (despite the no-crying thing) is, these episodes stay with me a while and haunt my emotions. I'm just not sure which is worse. Either way, I walk away moved and impressed that an hour-long episode about characters I'll never see again (excluding the regulars, of course) managed to accomplish such a feat.

Lilly's "Mama Drama" (TM Look Again) is moving me more than I ever would have expected. The show has done a beautiful job developing this complicated, emotional story line. We know that Lil is big on only remembering the bad times -- it's her coping mechanism because it allows her to keep enough distance from the person so they're unable to hurt her in the future, however, I didn't think that she'd lie to her mother about not remembering the bedtime stories. All that resentment and anger has allowed her to cope, but it has also done her a huge disservice, and I think that her mother's (assumed) pending death and this case may have woken her up. I feel sad for Lilly because she's losing her mother and all she can do is stand by and watch. But, I'm also sad for her because she has wasted so many years filled with resentment toward the woman who, admittedly wasn't mother of the year and made a lot of mistakes, but at the same time loved her. You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, so Lil is forced to make the best of the time that she has left so she doesn't make the same mistake that Tommy did with his father. So, she opened the old box filled with happy memories and pulled out The Velveteen Rabbit to read to her mother just as her mother had done for her in one of those previously repressed happy memories. It just might have been the most poignant scene of the night, and that's saying a lot for an episode that kept that sad feeling in the pit of my stomach working overtime. Cold Case moves to 20-2-1 on the season with this exceptional outing.

I did want to give huge props to Kathryn Morris for her emotionally charged performance tonight not only during the scenes with Lil's mother, but also for that kick-ass interrogation scene at the end that deserved a standing ovation. She always brings the right amount of emotion without taking it too far, leading to a subtlety that makes the character that much more real.


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Sunday's News & Notes

~Primetime Pass~
(a look at what PTR is watching tonight)

Cold Case (Sunday 9 p.m. CBS) - "The Good Death." When a nurse confesses to six mercy killings, the cold case detectives re-open the 1998 case involving a terminally ill man who died under a cloud of suspicion. Emmy Award Nominee Meredith Baxter ("Family Ties") Guest Stars


The Amazing Race (Sunday 8 p.m. CBS) - "Oh My God, the Teletubbies Go To War." While in Guam, one Team is overcome by feelings of patriotism while visiting the U.S. military bases. Not even the thrill of zero gravity can stop one Racer from urging the crew of the plane to race faster. And for the first time, two all-female teams compete for spots in the final three.

Without a Trace (Sunday 10 p.m. CBS) - "One and Only." As the team investigates the disappearance of a divorce court judge, their suspects include a long list of husbands the judge ruled against in recent cases as well as an unknown man who was recently seen threatening him.

QUICK CUTS
*My fellow TV blogger Tube Talk Girl has an interview posted with Nip/Tuck's Kelly Carlson (Kimber). Of course, Everwood fans will recognize Carlson as the girl who broke up Hannah and Bright on the much-missed series. Click on over to Tube Talk to read the exclusive interview and get the dish on whether or not we can expect to see Carlson on Dancing with the Stars, what it's really like to shoot those hot and steamy scenes with costar Julian McMahon, and what she thinks about all the famous guest stars who have appeared on the hit FX series.

*Fans of Fox's House can own one of their favorite "House-isms" in the form of new t-shirts for charity. According to the press release, "The shirts are emblazoned with the phrase 'Everybody Lies' – one of the first and perhaps best-known of the phenomenon known as “House-isms,” the biting but always accurate one-liners uttered by the brilliant diagnostician Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie). The tees are high-quality American Apparel 100% cotton shirts, and also come packaged with a special thank-you card from the cast." Each shirt is $19.95 and proceeds will go to NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Illness. Click on over to www.housecharitytees.com to get your piece of the hit medical drama.

*And finally, thanks to the good folks at CBS, PTR has a great shot from tomorrow night's new episode of How I Met Your Mother. In the episode, Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) meets Bob Barker and gets all the way to the Showcase Showdown on Barker's popular Price is Right gameshow. The hit comedy airs Monday nights on CBS. Here's the hilarious shot from tomorrow night's outing:



Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

'Scrubs' Matures... Sort of

More than any other show on television, I think I'd like to be friends with the characters on Scrubs. They seem like a fun, crazy bunch that would always make life interesting. Take JD acting like a 15-year old girl when he got jealous over the time that Eliot was spending with her sorority siste or Turk's incessant need to get Dr. Cox. Yet somewhere in between all the fun immaturity lies their more adult side like Keith's decision to ask Eliot to marry him or Dr. Cox's moment when he stood up for Turk. And these weren't the only great moments from last night's outing. There was the game of macaroni, a tornado (complete with a flying cow) caused by Eliot and her sorority sister's screaming, Turk's Booty Breakdown, the ghost who haunts pediatrics, JD's $100 appletini, and Turk's trick on Dr. Cox complete with a group bow. Now, here's a look at the best, funniest and all around awesome lines in this week's edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"Lloyd, you're 40 years old and a delivery man, so you should be suffering from a pretty severe case of the Where-did-I-go-wrong-sies." Dr. Cox to his patient

"Now it's really over." Turk to Dr. Cox while they were sending their hypochondriac patient back and forth
"Oh yeah? What'd you do, kill him?" Dr. Cox

"You know what? I'm going to pay 100 dollars for that appletini. I like you. You're a good bar man. You never tease me when I order the tinis." JD to the bartender when he had to pay with a hundred dollar bill and the bar didn't have enough change

That's this week's edition of the Scrubies. If you have a line that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, drop me a comment and I'll publish it in a future edition. As always, if you would like to discuss this week's Scrubs episode, leave me a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this hilarious outing, check it out on iTunes.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

No Easy Answers on 'Lost'

Sun got some mixed news while Hurley got some that left us all shocked. Here's what Turtlemama and I have to say:

Turtlemama says: She's taking the week off due to a sick baby and a lack of anything to say about this one. She's hoping next week's outing is more inspiring. Aren't we all?






TVFan says: I'm just going to go ahead and say this - I'm sick of the flashbacks on Lost! I would much rather watch the characters interact on the island than see bits and pieces of someone's life without any indication as to some sort of timeline. It's not that Sun's past isn't interesting, it's just that I'm tired of watching it play out (along with all of the other characters). Flashbacks aside, Lost is still a very good show, and last night's episode managed to throw in a few surprises. First, the baby is Jin's. Sun seems to have spent most of her life (since meeting Jin) making sacrifices for him. The latest include asking her father for $100,000 to prevent Jin from finding out that his mother was a prostitute and his father may not be his real father, and more than likely dying because her baby was conceived on the island. In addition to healing Locke's paralysis, killing pregnant women, and bringing people back from the dead (Eye Patch Man's alive??!! Perhaps that security system isn't as deadly as we thought), the island can also increase sperm count (or Juliet lied to cover up the research they've been doing). So, now Sun's pregnant with Jin's baby and she only has about two months to live (or in Lost time, 2 seasons). As she said to Juliet, she loses either way. Speaking of Juliet, it seems that my prediction about her motivation for helping Ben and the Others was correct. He's promising her something in return (more than likely a one-way ticket out of here) because there's no way she'd help someone she "hates" otherwise. I had to cheer when Juliet said that after she recorded her update for him. I really don't want to hate her, so I'm glad she seems to be good. Finally, there was the night's most shocking moment all the way at the very end. According to the parachuter, authorities found the wreckage from flight 815, and there were no survivors! Could the Lost island be some sort of Purgatory (as viewers have speculated from the beginning)? Were the authorities mistaken? And most importantly, how did this outsider find the island and what does she have to do with Penelope and Desmond? As usual, so many questions and very few answers, thus is the burden of being a Lost fan.

So, what did you think about last night's outing? Leave us a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at abc.com. The screencap in this edition is courtesy of Lost-Media.com.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

TVGuide's Hot Spoilers on the 'Cold' Finale

TVGuide Magazine has the scoop on Cold Case's 4th season finale set to air May 6th. Check out this scan from the April 30th issue (click image for larger view):

The heart-stopping season finale airs May 6th on CBS. In the meantime, check out an all-new episode of the hit crime drama this Sunday at 9 p.m. EST.

'Scrubs' Lets us Hear from the Supporting Players

You know, it never would have occurred to me that listening to The Todd, Jordan and Ted narrate an episode of Scrubs would be funny. Clearly, this is the reason why I don't write for this always-original show. Pretty much everything in The Todd's head was hilarious, while Jordan's was insightful and Ted's, well, was about as pathetic as we expected. But it wasn't just the break in the narration format that made this one lots of fun. We also had the exciting news that The Todd decided to go into plastic surgery (how apropos), Dr. Kelso's Needle Day, Eliot's do-it-yourself stripper pole, Ted's insanely hot coffee and the brilliant narration about it, The Todd's high-5 inner process, Janitor's tanning light at Sacred Heart, and The Todd's emotional flash with his "son" Rod. Now, here's a look at the best, funniest and all around awesome lines in this week's edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"It doesn't matter that he's a dude. People should know, you're well-endowed." The Todd (narration) to himself after telling the Coffeebucks employee that everything on The Todd is jumbo

"I know this is a slow down, but I can't really work any slower than I normally do, so I pretty much have to come to a complete stop." Janitor to Dr. Kelso after the nurses decided to stage a "Slow Down" until Kelso met their salary demands

"Perry, I think there's something wrong with me." Jordan
"Now that is the understatement of this still very young century." Dr. Cox

"Oh yeah! Suck it, bitch! I will murder you!!" Ted (narration) to Dr. Kelso

That's this week's edition of the Scrubies. If you have a line that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, drop me a comment and I'll publish it in a future edition. As always, if you would like to discuss this week's Scrubs episode, leave me a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this hilarious outing, check it out on iTunes.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

Someone Else Gets 'Lost'

Lost brought in a parachuter last night. Are the existing characters that tapped out?? Here's what Turtlemama and I have to say:

Turtlemama says: I have one word to describe this week’s episode of ‘Lost’…. What? That’s all I can say. We seem to be veering back into the carpool lane where new stories pop up to confuse us even more, the main story is put to the backburner while we waste an episode wondering why there is a helicopter crash and why the writers are giving us yet ANOTHER person to question. It’s an endless stream of curiosities and new questions.
Seriously…we should have most of the mysteries figured out by now and the survivors should either be A) making a new society, or B) figuring out ways to get rescued. I would assume that they would be doing A. Why they didn’t just take over the abandoned dorms from ‘The Others’ I’ll never know.

Then I guess it would take away from the crazy story they’ve brewed up that even they don’t know the conclusion. This episode really was more filler. Sure, another story comes from this, maybe it’s the prelude to their rescue, but who would be sorely disappointed if the survivors
were rescued without getting all the answers to the mysteries of the island? I know I’d be ticked off.

I don’t know what else to say about the episode, maybe I was spoiled with the past few episodes that were classic ‘Lost’. I hope that things pick up next week, but I have feeling it’s going to be yet another side story to take our minds off the fact that we still don’t have any
real answers. Maybe they’ll surprise me and I’ll be back next week admitting I was wrong…but I’m a pretty proud person, so don’t bet on it!


TVFan says: Not such a fan of the casting news gods anymore. I knew that Las Vegas alum Marsha Thompson was joining Lost and that her character wasn't going to be someone who was already on the island. Enter the parachuter (literally) and a crashing helicopter, and it wasn't difficult to put two and two together. Needless to say, the question of "Is it or isn't it Penny?" was completely ruined for me. Putting that aside, I enjoyed this episode (although, not as much as the other recent outings). I'm sure all of your TiVos were working overtime as mine was last night during that scene with Desmond and the monk. For those not digitally blessed, the photo on the monk's desk showed him and the fate lady from the jewelry shop in a previous Desmond flashback. Is she the monk's mother? Did the monk find Desmond on the street that night to prevent him from marrying the other woman, and therefore, ensuring that he met Penny (he did set them up at the end when he suggested that Desmond catch a ride with her)? And what about Charlie? Did Desmond alter fate when he saved him from the arrow? Time, and Desmond's visions, will tell. In the meantime, I'm excited to watch this tempting fate story play out.

So, what did you think about last night's outing? Leave us a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at abc.com. The screencap in this edition is courtesy of Lost-Media.com.

Wednesday's Primetime Pass

Here's a look at what PTR is watching tonight

America's Next Top Model (8 p.m. The CW) - "The Girls Who Go Down Under." The girls get the low-down on how to be a great host from ANTM veteran April Wilkner. Tyra makes an unforgettable entrance and reveals that the final six are going to Australia. The moment they land, the girls are immediately put to work and must interview the locals using Aussie slang. At the crack of dawn, they head to the Outback for a Cover Girl commercial, but one girl struggles to remember her lines.

Lost (10 p.m. ABC) - "Catch-22." Desmond coaxes Charlie, Hurley and Jin on a trek across the jungle after experiencing one of his future-prophesizing "flashes" -- but is he purposely placing Charlie's life in harm's way? Meanwhile, Kate turns to an unwitting Sawyer after seeing Jack alone with Juliet.




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Every Team Wants Kung Fu Fighting

Here's this week's "live" thoughts on The Amazing Race.

Can't wait to see how this "Yield Karma" (TM Charla and Mirna) plays out this leg. Eric and Danielle seem pretty peeved. Oh snap! The two teams are sharing an elevator at the airport. Can we say awkward??!! Meanwhile, it seems that the "Yield Karma" (TM Charla and Mirna) is working overtime as Danny and Oswald just got ahead of the blondes on the stand-by list for Malaysia air. And they and Charla/Mirna just got first on the China Air list as well.

Why?? Why does everyone dislike the blondes for using the Yield, but no one has a problem with Mirna telling an airline to bump ticket-holding people off the plane?? Or, conspiring to knock off the blondes?? Or using Oswald/Danny's stand-by code to cut ahead of the blondes? The HATE for Charla/Mirna runs so deep for me. I couldn't race with them because I'm pretty sure I'd kill Mirna before it was all said and done. And now she just cost Eric and Danielle their spots on the flight.

Awesome! The Detour includes a Kung Fu fighting option, which only lends itself to the most Awesome. Headline. Ever!! Between the action movie stunt, Kung Fu fighting and the Detour option labeled "Lost in Transition," I'm beginning to think that TAR has gone Hollywood. What's next? Phil getting his own trailer and having assistants fan him as he waits at the Pit Stop?

Charla/Mirna can't decide on a Detour and their taxi driver is lost!! Meanwhile, the blondes just completed Kung Fu and are on their way to the next clue. How's that "Yield Karma" workin' for you, Mirna?!

Umm, Mirna?? The Kung Fu fighters are like a HUGE part of this Detour!! They're not going to go away to "make love instead of war." Sorry. Oooh, things just got so good because Charla and Mirna got on the WRONG FERRY!! "Mean, Horrible Person Karma" (TM PTR) is a beyotch!

And now this week's Thought to Ponder... Do you think that Danielle's ample chest is always in the shot because the cameramen love to focus on it, or is it impossible not to film because she wears the lowest cut workout attire ever constructed? Hmm....

Danny/Oswald just crossed the finish line at the Pit Stop in first and completely broke. Unforch for them, Phil isn't feeling their pain.

Product Placement Alert!! Teams have to get their Travelocity Roaming Gnomes across the pond safely. I hope Charla/Mirna's is more like a troll. Yeah, a troll that purposely jumps off the mini boat into the pond so they have to starPublisht over again.

The blondes just finished in 2nd, in front of Charla/Mirna, so it seems that the "Yield Karma" was a non-factor this leg. The "Mean Horrible Person Karma," however, is still going strong. Charla/Mirna are stuck in rush-hour traffic as Eric and Danielle slowly catch-up. Yay, I win.

I'm starting to get that non-elimination feel. There's only 4 teams left, and the editing is not tricking me into thinking that these last two are very close. This has to be non-elim. And they didn't do the "Who can it be now?" shot as one team approached Phil. Now, Phil is giving that psych-out look, proving that this is definitely non-elim.

Ha! I knew it! No one was eliminated, thankfully. This gives me hope that Charla/Mirna won't make the final three. I just don't think I could take 2 hours of them running around alternating between "Poor me!" and their self-righteous BS* at every turn.


*It should be noted that while I loathe Mirna for obvious reasons, I actually have nothing against Charla. The two just get lumped together. My apologies to Charla because she's actually quite enjoyable.

Were you surprised that this was non-elim? Or did you see it coming as well? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. The pictures in this edition are courtesy of cbs.com.


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Lilly Buries Herself in the 'Case'

Faithful PTR writers will know that I HATE deceptive promos. They drive me so crazy that there was a time when I swore ads off all together, but curiosity got the better of me, and now I'm back to watching them. So, I suppose it serves me right that tonight's episode of Cold Case was a victim of the deceptive promo. According to the ad, this one featured "an ending that you won't believe" and we were led to think that it had to do Lilly's mother going on another alcoholic binge. Now, there were some shocking moments tonight (The Boss was a woman!!?? Lil's mom has late stage cirrhosis??!!), but none of them was at the end. A technicality I suppose, but annoying all the same. Luckily, this deception didn't ruin what was otherwise another strong episode for TV's best crime drama. And yes I know that the whole Russian sex slaves has been done on Law & Order: SVU (another excellent crime drama), but as usual, CC had its own spin. And who says that SVU has a copyright on sex crimes anywho? This one wasn't about sex crimes as much as it was about the murder of the man who tried to keep one of the young girls from becoming one. Mike's devotion to Lena was admirable, if not extremely dangerous. He gave up everything he had, including his life, for her and it still didn't set her free. I'm still recovering from the shock that the Boss was a woman and not just any woman -- the one who was suppose to be helping these girls get visas and hopefully, a better life. Instead, she was exploiting them. Is it wrong that I'm totally worried about Kiril? I thought Scotty was going to get him out of the general prison population?? It's not as if the guy is up for sainthood, but I'm not sure he deserves her wrath. Hell hath no fury like that woman scorn!


I'm aware that at some point in a lot of people's lives they swap roles with their parents. The child becomes the parent, and the parent the child. The problem with Lil and her mom is that Lil has always had to be the parent. If she wasn't raising her little sis, she was nursing her mother's hangover or tucking her into bed all before she was old enough to drive. Not fair for any child, but she survived. Only, the next stage is about to begin and it looks like it's going to be the most difficult to date. In addition to her mother living in her house, Lil is single-handedly responsible for keeping her sober and away from the liquor cabinet (which I sincerely hope she has emptied if it was even full to begin with -- this is Lil we're talking about). Oh, did I mention that she has a demanding job that keeps her at the office for hours on end? I have to admit that I gasped when she told her mother that she has late stage cirrhosis, even though it's not as though it's some sort of huge shocker considering her history with the bottle. And I can tell that Lil's conflicted. Part of her wants to say that this is what her mother deserves for refusing to get her problem under control, and the other part wants to sit in a dark corner and cry for hours on end over the mother that she loves and never had, but could lose in the blink of an eye. But, something tells me that she'll go with the former and suppress any thought of tears in her usual stoic manner. Another good blend of case and personal, so CC moves to 19-2-1 on the season.


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Eliot Gets Her Caboodle in Gear

One thing is certain when it comes to Scrubs: the show does drama as well as it does comedy. This week's outing managed to blend the two to give us an excellent half-hour that dealt with the continued aftermath of Laverne's sudden death. It's never easy to lose a beloved character, but the writers knew the exact dose of comedy to help ease and honor her death. In fact, this one was loaded with funny moments: JD's celebration to "It's a Beautiful Morning" after Jordan agreed to name her daughter Jennifer Dylan (JD), Ted's band fighting over why the church choir at the funeral sounds better than they do, JD's imaginary funeral complete with that hug he has always wanted, Dr. Cox's 20 minutes for himself, the revelation that Janitor knows sign language, Eliot's decision to use the word "caboodle" instead of a$$, JD and Turk's sign language plan at the movies, and Dr. Kelso watching (and commenting) on Eliot and Keith. Now, here's a look at the best, funniest and all around awesome lines in this week's edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"I don't want to do Britney and KFed anymore. Ever since the divorce, it's too sad." Keith to Eliot regarding their role playing

"It's a new word I'm trying out to replace ass. I have loose morals and I'm living in sin, so still hoping that not being a potty mouth will get me into heaven." Eliot on why she's using the word "caboodle"

"Before I disappear for 20 minutes, I want to make sure all my patients are alive. A simple 'Still here' will suffice. Sound off like you got a pair." Dr. Cox to his patients

"I'm glad it's not Marg. It would not end well. Hell hath no fury like a Helgenberger scorned." Ted (regarding actress Marg Helgenberger) after thinking that Dr. Cox's "starts with an M and ends with an R" clue was referring to the CSI actress

"You know Carla, sometimes you can be a real caboodle-hole!" Eliot to Carla after she told her that she's afraid to love Keith

"If one more person interrupts my 'me time,' I'm going to go ahead and get a tattoo of my hand giving the middle finger on the back of my head." Dr. Cox to Dr. Kelso

That's this week's edition of the Scrubies. If you have a line that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, drop me a comment and I'll publish it in a future edition. As always, if you would like to discuss this week's Scrubs episode, leave me a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this hilarious outing, check it out on iTunes.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

Juliet Keeps the Survivors 'Lost'

An hour choke-full of clear answers?? This is not the first half of the season's Lost, and we like it! Here's what Turtlemama and I have to say:

Turtlemama says: Remember that episode where the promos were touting “The three biggest questions…ANSWERED on this week’s Lost!”? Yeah, I think they meant THIS week…they just ran the incorrect ad that week and had to save face and run with it. Boy did we learn a lot in this episode. I’m almost to the point where I want to say that ‘our’ Lost is finally back! But there are still five episodes left, so let’s not jump the gun just yet.

We learned why Claire was kidnapped, why Juliet was sent to the island in the first place and the story of the island before the plane crashed. We also learned that Juliet infiltrated the camp to…..well, we don’t know. Maybe it was to save Claire? Or maybe they impregnated Claire and now they need her back to see if the serum really works?

At any rate, we now know WHY they took the children…we still don’t really know WHERE the children are (Not here! as they say). But children aside, this episode was pretty interesting, so much so that I couldn’t even take my eyes off the TV.

Learning that Juliet was sent to the island under the guise of research confused us just enough to debate whether Jack was right; Juliet wants off the island just as badly as the flight survivors, or does she?

Seeing the communications center and how they could access information on anyone, anywhere, anytime was uber creepy. Speaking of creepy, wouldn’t a guy with what looks to be tattooed eyeliner creep anyone out? Seriously, some creepy superhero wannabe with eyeliner tattooed on his face wanting me to go do top secret stuff in some top secret site with top secret people would just be one big, red flag…I’m just sayin’.

Back to the point of this post….all the Lost answers! What was the one question that was answered which you’ve been wondering about? Mine was Claire’s kidnapping. I had actually forgotten about that, but once they mentioned it I had that moment of “OH YEAH! THAT! I totally forgot!” Did you have any of those moments?

And of course with all the answers we’ve got even more questions, but at least we can strike through some of the earlier questions and just add the new ones to the bottom of the list. *Sigh* But boy was that a good episode or what?


TVFan says: Look at Lost getting all awesome on us these last several weeks! I look forward to this show again, and that's a very good thing. We finally know we most definitely cannot trust Juliet. I've never trusted her because I've always felt that she had her own hidden agenda, but I will admit that by the scene where she and Jack spoke on the beach, I was pretty sure that I had been wrong about her. The very next moment, we learn that she's playing the survivors once again. Her involvement in the camp, Claire's illness, and being left behind was all planned. Why? Because, as Jack said, she wants to get off the island more than anything in the world. She has a (supposedly) cancer-free sister and nephew that she's never met waiting for her back home. I can't say I blame her, but I am surprised at how ruthless this desire has made her. Anyway, we found out the women on the island aren't able to have babies (their bodies turn on them and they die), which doesn't bode well for Sun. This is the reason they took Claire, although, the reason probably had more to do with studying her to find out why she wasn't exhibiting symptoms versus preventing them from occurring as Julia claimed. One of the most interesting reveals of the hour had to do with Julia's trip to the island. They gave her a tranquillizer because the last leg is "really rough." She left from an airport, but awoke on a submarine (probably the one that Locke just blew up). Most important, we finally found out how The Others know so much about the survivors -- they saw the news coverage of the plane's disappearance and they started their research. Finally, how did Ben get cancer if the island is suppose to be cancer-free?? Does it have something to do with curing Julia's sister of the disease? Time will tell, I suppose.

So, what did you think about last night's outing? Leave us a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at abc.com. The screencap in this edition is courtesy of Lost-Media.com.

'Friday Night' Finale Dominates the Competition

It's difficult to write entries on Friday Night Lights because I begin to sound like a broken record. Hands down, this show is the most consistently amazing series on television. I don't know how the writers, actors, and production crew manage to turn out episodes week after week that would put many shows to shame. I guess it's all a part of the allure of this show. Last night's season finale may have been the highlight of the season. It made me laugh, move to the edge of my seat, cheer, and tear up as the Dillon Panthers attempted to put the crowning jewel on their rollercoaster season. As usual with this show, some of the best moments happened off the field. Landry's roadtrip with Tyra's family, Matt's grandmother and Lyla Garrity was pure comic gold while Lyla's continued struggle to accept her parents' divorce (and her father's infidelities) was moving and tragic. But the night's best moment was saved for my two favorite characters -- Coach Taylor and his wife Tami. These two often share the best moments of the series, but last night's highlight is my new favorite scene from any show this season. Like Tami, I wasn't sure how Eric was going to react to her news. She's pregnant!! And Eric couldn't have been happier -- shocked, but happy. I just loved his reaction, and Tami's huge sense of relief. It was a moving, funny, tearful scene that stands as a microcosm of everything that is so wonderful and perfect about this show. This scene alone should garner both Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton Emmy noms, but we all know how unfair that system is every year.

Somewhere in-between all of those wonderful personal moments, we had a football game. As usual, the balance between the two was perfect. I went into this episode thinking that the Panthers weren't going to win the state championship. The controversy surrounding Coach Taylor's decision to take the job at TMU was bound to leak out, and I knew it would have an adverse effect on these kids. And I was right -- for the first half of the game anyway. Coach Taylor's halftime speech was his most moving yet, and it was just what the players needed to go out there the second half and win the game and the title. The win was emotional for everyone, but perhaps, the most for Coach Taylor. So, the question remains -- will he leave Dillon for TMU? He had his mind set on staying after learning about Tami's pregnancy, but she made a strong argument for him to take the job. Once back in Dillon, he seemed more torn than ever, especially when his team gathered as Jason spoke about celebrating today and preparing tomorrow because the team is now the biggest target in the state next season. As Tami said, he's a good man and I know he'll make the right decision (i.e. stay in Dillon). Either way, last night's finale was the brilliant cap on an amazing season. Let's just hope that it was the perfect ending to the season and not the series.

Stars Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler chatted with fans last night at nbc.com. Chandler alludes to the show getting "a second chance" next season (Yay!), and TVGuide.com's Mike Ausiello concurs as he reports from multiple sources at NBC that the network has ordered 6 more scripts. Neither is a guarantee that we'll get a second season, but they're both good signs in that direction. To read all of Chandler and Britton's comments, click HERE to go to nbc.com.

If you missed last night's episode (or any this season), click over to nbc.com to watch it for free. The pictures in this edition are courtesy of nbc.com.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

Teams 'Race' Through Cookies in Malaysia

Here's this week's "live" thoughts on The Amazing Race.

Well, things are interesting already, and we're only 5 minutes in! (Pulls out her best Phil impression) Will Joyce and Uchenna make their connecting flight?? If they do, will the extra 45 minutes give them the advantage they need to forge ahead??

HATE! Charla and Mirna! The beyotches hogged both computers at the hotel and then had the audacity to ask other teams to allow them to go up to the counter to ask a question (BTW, realizing that you're being a beyotch by asking to move ahead in no way excuses your behavior)!! I really can't take another week with these girls. And if I hadn't been rooting for the blondes before, I would definitely be now because they hate Charla and Mirna too!! Yay!

We're all supposed to be worried that Joyce and Uchenna will miss their flight, but I have been watching this show long enough to know that the commercial break holds magical powers. It's able to cure whatever is ailing the team with the slow-mo "Oh no" look just before the break. Oh snap! It didn't work its magic this time. Joyce and Uchenna are sunk.

It's times like these when Charla/Mirna have a 2-hour lead over the other teams that I wish for a dreaded TAR catch-up point. In fact, I'm wheeling and dealing with the TAR gods right now. Please, please let the other teams catch up!! Make Charla/Mirna take the wrong bus or train or better yet, both!! Oh the insanity! They're doing everything right while the blondes just took the wrong dang train. I can't win!

Phew! The blondes found the caves ahead of two other teams. All is well again.

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike the Yield??? It's really silly this time because Joyce and Uchenna are way behind (unbeknownst to the other teams of course).

Did Charla/Mirna need a further boost to their already over-inflated egos?? People of Malaysia unite against the evil that is Charla/Mirna! Well, at least the cookie-makers of Malaysia are against them. The girls went from first to vying for second with two other teams. Perhaps the TAR gods have answered my prayers.

For the millionth time, never choose the needle in the haystack challenge! In the immortal words of past contestant Rob the former POW, these challenges are like "looking for a needle in a haystack of needles."

The blondes just won (Yay!), and Phil tried to fake them out. I'm telling you, you have to watch that Phil -- he's tricky!

And now it's time for this week's CBS Cares courtesy of Mirna. Kids, stay in school and off drugs and you'll become a professional just like Mirna!

Where the hell are Joyce/Uchenna??!! Still stuck in Frankfort? Man, did they get screwed by flights. So many teams seem to have suffered that fate this season. Now, there's only 10 minutes left, and still no Joyce/Uchenna! Did they ever get out of Frankfort or are they still stuck there to this day? Finally! They made it folks, no need to call the authorities. They are safe and sound at Elimation Station. I love this team, but they've won before, so I'm OK with their bad twist of fate this week.

Were you bummed to see Joyce/Uchenna go home? Or were you OK since they won this race in the past? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. The pictures in this edition are courtesy of cbs.com.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

Lil Looks Back on an Old 'Case'

Sometimes I think that we expect a little too much reality from our favorite fictional TV shows and that can cost us the enjoyment of a pretty solid story. I went into tonight's episode of Cold Case feeling pretty sure that no police department in America would reopen a case from 1919 because all of the suspects, witnesses, and evidence would be gone. Nonetheless, I was still interested to see how the show would deal with such an old case, and it turns out the answer is -- effortlessly. Because I went in knowing I had to suspend a little bit of reality (something I think we're supposed to do with any show on a regular basis), I was able to sit back and just enjoy the story, and what an excellent story we had tonight. It's hard to sit at my computer in 2007 and imagine what it would feel like to have my husband speak for me, tell me what to do, and relegate me to a "domestic angel" without having a say in any of it. I can't imagine it because it's not in my nature, and thanks to women like Francis, it doesn't have to be. As the women's studies professor said, we take our right to vote for granted today because we can't begin to understand what our foremothers went through in order to secure it for us. Because of this, I found the entire theme fascinating and the story engaging. We had an accidental death tonight, so the fact that no one paid for Francis' death was easy to swallow. Her mother grabbed her arm, and when Francis pulled away, she lost her balance and fell over the railing to her death. But, it was her mother who never recovered as we heard in her poignant recording. Lots of clever story telling devices tonight: the record, diaries, letters, relatives, gossip columns and other devices allowed the detectives to fill in the blanks so we could see the story unfold. The flashbacks were beautiful with a dash of sepia and understated hues to take me right back to a foreign time. An excellent effort all around.


This episode wasn't content to rest on its strong case laurels, though. We also had a nice little helping of Lil's personal life (always a crowd pleaser, especially here at PTR). Some things never change, and for Lilly, those things involve her mother. Another broken relationship, another drunken binge, and Lil is left to clean up the pieces of her mother's life once again. Ellen's entire self worth is dependant on whether she has a man in her life. She has no sense of taking care of herself, and I think this is the driving force behind Lilly's strong streak of independence. She grew up watching her mother move from man to man, losing a little bit of herself with each break up and finding solace in the closest bottle of Vodka or whatever else was handy, and she decided that no man was going to define her. Thus, we have the fiercely single Lilly Rush of today who isn't quite sure what a real, lasting relationship should look like because her mother's tended to end the next morning. It's dysfunction junction, and it continues now as Ellen vows to clean herself up again (this time for good) so she can once again find a man. Where does this leave Lil? In an endless cycle of bailing her mother out of jail, filling her fridge with something other than alcohol, throwing out the various hidden bottles and feeling torn about the mother that she loves despite it all. Cold Case at its best ( and it looks like things are only going to get better). CC moves to 18-2-1 on the season.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

'Lost' Goes Up in Smoke Again

It was ladies night on Lost this week as Kate and Julia teamed up against Kate's will. Turtlemama is taking the week off because of the holiday, but here's what I have to say:

TVFan says: I know the producers swear up and down that the island's "monster" is not a dinosaur and we've all seen several times now that it's... wait for it... black smoke (WTH??), but I'm convinced that Lost stole the sound effects from Jurassic Park. Either that, or it's really a T-Rex with a camera pretending to be black smoke. I kept yelling at my TV screen, "Stand still! T-Rexes can't see you if you're not moving!" Man, Kate and Julia needed to see that dinosaur blockbuster. It just goes to show that you never know when these things will come in handy. Of course, the only thing that kept this monster from killing them Eko-style is The Others' sophisticated security system. For that reason alone, I'd be moving to their camp and ditching the beach, but that's just me (plus the whole living in a house idea!!). Back on the beach, Hurley had Sawyer thinking that the rest of the survivors were going to vote to banish him from the beach, but I knew all along that he was just trying to get him to be nice. I'm surprised that con man Sawyer didn't see through it as well. Speaking of cons, I'm pretty sure that Kate's teaming up with Sawyer's ex is one of the most closely connected character pasts thus far. Sure, the fact that Claire and Jack have the same father takes the cake, but this one is pretty juicy. Think about it; these two helped each other out and then Kate wound up meeting and sleeping with the horrible guy who left her partner in crime unbeknownst to her! I used to think that these connections were clever, but now I strongly believe that they are the secret behind this entire show. The survivors of this Oceanic Flight were not random. Now, if I could only find out why The Others know so much about them... maybe in another 3 seasons (if I'm lucky). But, that will be OK as long as the show keeps giving us these rich, character-heavy episodes like the last several outings. I'm Lost once again, but this time in a good way.

What did you think of this week's outing? Leave us a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at abc.com. The screencap in this edition is courtesy of Lost-Media.com.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

Picturing the 'Champ'

PTR has been updating you on fave (and Cold Case star) Kathryn Morris' summer movie Resurrecting The Champ. The film stars Morris, Josh Hartnett, Samuel L. Jackson, Alan Alada, and Teri Hatcher. It follows a reporter (Hartnett) who stumbles upon an interesting story when he meets a homeless man he believes used to be a boxing champ (Jackson). Morris plays Hartnett's wife in the film that it set to premiere this August. The cast and director Rod Lurie made a splash at Sundance earlier this year (and of course, PTR covered it), but now I have two pictures from the film courtesy of ComingSoon.net:

Morris stars in Resurrecting the Champ

Morris and Hartnett

You can checkout more (non-Kathryn) photos from the film over at ComingSoon.net.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get anPublish Postother season.

SVU is Responsible for Taking a Stance on Underage Drinking

By Trublu
PTR Staff Writer

NBC Recap

The opening scenes of “Responsible” have us all asking: what would it be like to find a random child dead in your home? We learn that if you never want to know the answer to this question, you should never hire a dog walker that you meet on the street that out sources her business.

How ridiculous do those two sentences sound? The first thing we get is an assumed murder scene of a teenager, only the people who own the place don’t know who she is. After a bit of chatting and a long game of “degrees of separation,” we find out that the dog walker the owners hired while they were on vacation out sourced the job to a random “trusted” teen dog walker, who in turn loaned the keys to her friends so that they could throw a party. They were all under age and drinking, so after another long list of chats, Benson and Stabler narrow down what happened: the girl was drinking and passed out, but no one thought to call 911. The things people will do to avoid getting in trouble.

It wasn’t like there was a ton of evidence on them anyway. Casey tells Elliot and Olivia to pick up the three teens, but there was really no way she could charge them with anything. They all claimed to have left before the girl passed out, and nobody can pinpoint where they got the alcohol. Whoever supplied it is the real culprit.

The kids might actually deserve to be in jail, though, because after Donnelly lets them out with a court order to abstain from alcohol, they post on their web pages where the next party is and who is bringing the booze. Now, this is the extremely fuzzy, “what in the world was Donnelly thinking” part of the episode, because she lets them go again! Its only when they post a video online (how stupid can these kids be?) making fun of Elliot and Donnelly, while drunk, that Donnelly finally puts them in jail.

Munch: You could start a bonfire with all the alcohol this one drank. What’s your poison, honey?
Reagan: Shut up you dirty old man.
Munch: Who you calling old?

If you didn’t fall out of your chair at that comment, shame on you! Not only did we get to see Munch for more than five seconds, but he says something classy like that!

Boy: You can’t do this, I want my parents!
Munch: Yeah and I want the troops home, the Kyoto protocol signed and an oil job from Miss February.

*Falls out of chair again.* Can you say that on national TV? I guess so! Of course, references like that have been made before, but I’ll let you bask in this one.

The truly sobering (pun intended, sorta) part of this episode was the car crash that kills Jordan and Reagan. It highlights on of the most tragic drinking and driving incidents; Reagan was totally sober, but she got into a car with Jordan, who was too drunk to see straight, let alone drive. It was so extremely important that the writers created the scene this way because it will help people understand that getting into a car with someone who is drunk is just as dangerous as driving when you’re drunk.

Casey: So your daughter is not an alcoholic?
Lillian: No. I live with her, I would know!
Casey: What planet are you on? She’s in rehab.
Lillian: Those places say everyone’s an addict. I love chocolate, maybe I should check in.
Casey: That’s a great idea. (Lillian starts walking out the door). Maybe you’ll gain insight into your problems, like why you have sex with teenage boys or why you’re so desperate to be liked that you buy kids’ friendships with alcohol. It’s pathetic!

Some comic relief, definitely. I was on my floor laughing at Casey during this scene. And yet, its also part of the most serious and devastating section of the episode, Becca’s ordeal.

The entire time she had been drinking, right under Benson and Stabler’s noses. Even when I was watching her at the beginning, I didn’t suspect a thing. But she was good at hiding it, so nobody noticed. Even more appalling was the fact that Lillian, Becca’s mother, had been supplying everyone with alcohol the entire episode. The only thing that got her to admit what she had done was the photographic evidence of Becca’s brain and liver that showed them slowly being eaten away.

Elliot burning Kathleen’s license? Priceless. Extremely belated, and it seems like it would be an incredibly stupid thing to do, but the best thing none the less. While Daddy bailed her out of a record and charges, she has no license, is probably forbidden to get a new license, and will probably have to pay for a new one once she is allowed to get one.

I’m willing to bet that one common reaction to this episode was the question: why was this a SVU episode? It was truly a SVU episode because in essence, Lillian was endangering the children around her. It’s true that they probably could have gotten alcohol without her (as exhibited by Kathleen easily ordering a drink in the restaurant, without being carded), but Lillian provided them with alcohol and mistakenly made the assumption that as long as she could control their drinking, then it was okay that they were under age. Common, and deadly, mistake.

I’m really glad that the writers came up with this episode. Hopefully it shows one teen or one parent how dangerous drinking really is. This was taken from the end of the episode:

2,449 youths under 21 were killed in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2005. That's an average of 7 deaths every day.

'Scrubs' Hard Goodbye

Scrubs has made me laugh so hard that my sides hurt after, but tonight it made me cry. It's not the first time this show has moved me this way, but it was one of the more difficult episodes of the series. It's one thing to lose a guest star, but another to lose a beloved character. I guess I'm a little like Carla in that I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Laverne. The show won't be 100% the same without her. In the middle of all of this sadness, there were some funny moments. We had the contrast between the way the different characters dealt with Laverne's coma, a bad news robot, JD scared of robots (see previous funny moment), an 80s coma patient who woke up, JD's Dr. Cox impression, Dr. Cox and Jordan's "emotional moment," JD's Jennifer Dylan (JD) name suggestion for the baby, Eliot's weird soda quiz story, a shadow puppet show, and the revelation that JD gets to be the godfather (by default) and Jordan agreeing to name the new baby Jennifer Dylan. Now, here's a look at the best, funniest and all around awesome lines in this week's edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"Yes, and that's what we call a lie or when you're married, communication." Dr. Cox to JD after lying to Jordan about telling everyone about their new baby

"I know this reasoning is about as rational as your parents actually thinking they could raise you as a boy." Dr. Cox to JD

"You know Laverne if this were a horror flick, I'd be so scared that I was next. They always kill the black folks off first." Turk to a comatose Laverne

"Not even a killer threat coupled with that new psychopathic alien head could keep me from telling the world." Eliot to Dr. Cox (regarding his new haircut) after he tried to keep her from telling everyone about the baby

"I knew before everyone! In your faces! I knew. Tell them, Perry. It was a long saga..." JD to the gang regarding the fact that Dr. Cox told him about the baby first

That's this week's edition of the Scrubies. If you have a line that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, drop me a comment and I'll publish it in a future edition. As always, if you would like to discuss this week's Scrubs episode, leave me a comment with your thoughts. If you missed this hilarious outing, check it out on iTunes.

And if you were loving that ending song that played over Carla's goodbye, then you'll want to know that it was Keane's "A Bad Dream." You can get it now on iTunes.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

'Friday Night' Decision

I still feel confident that Coach Taylor will be back as the head coach of the Dillon Panthers next year. And yes, I'm aware that he took the position at TMU last night, but coaches in real life have been known to change their minds before they even order their new jumpsuits. I have complete faith in Tami and her power of persuasion over her husband. I get both sides: this job is a huge boost for Coach Taylor's career and more than likely the stuff that dreams are made of for him, but Tami and Julie are settled and happy in Dillon. It's a huge decision that needs to made carefully, not because TMU is basically giving you an ultimatum. But, I have faith in Coach Taylor the family man, so I'm not worried -- yet. Now, something I don't have any faith in (and haven't for a long time) is Lyla and Jason's "engagement." Whether or not Lyla caught him with Susie kissing in her truck is irrelevant because the (further) damage was done the second he asked Susie out after running into her in Dillon. It's like I have been saying for a while now -- neither is ready to commit to the other, so why bother being engaged? Oh well, it seems the whole thing is off now anyway.

Tyra's terrifying assault last week continues to haunt her, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Throughout the episode, I kept thinking that Landry needed to tell Tami. I was so relieved when he finally did. Tyra was furious, but I knew that she would come around and realize that Landry told Tami because he cared about her. And while Tyra was wrong for assuming things about Landry, he was just as wrong to assume things about her at the banquet roast. Tyra Collette is not the same girl from earlier this season. She has grown and matured in a way that has allowed the character to become one of my faves. Speaking of that banquet roast, it was so real that I felt like I was sitting there in that lodge while the various characters cracked jokes about each other. It was just one of the many delightful scenes that makes this show feel like you're watching a real slice of life instead of a fictional TV series.

CONGRATULATIONS to Friday Night Lights for winning a Peabody Award!! The prestigious awards, given out by the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia, honor the best of television programming and news. More winners HERE (including PTR fave Scrubs!!). The Peabody committee had high-praises for the drama saying, "No dramatic series, broadcast or cable, is more grounded in contemporary American reality than this clear eyed serial about the hopes, dreams, livelihoods and egos intertwined with the fate of high-school football in a Texas town." This honor ought to help with NBC's "tricky" decision regarding the show's fate.

If you missed last night's episode, click over to nbc.com to watch it for free. The pictures in this edition are courtesy of nbc.com.


QUICK CUTS UPDATE: NBC has decided not to air two more episodes of its ratings plagued Black Donnollys. The show has been yanked off the air immediately. The remaining 6 episodes will stream at nbc.com.


Veronica Needs Your Help!! Click HERE to find out what you can do to help Veronica Mars get another season.

Quick Cuts

*The fate of some of your favorite shows has already been decided. Here's a quick rundown courtesy of TVGuide.com and TV Guide magazine:

The Black Donnollys (NBC) - Cancelled, but will air two more episodes before it goes off the air April 16th.

The Wedding Bells (Fox) - Cancelled after 7 episodes.

Six Degrees (ABC) - Yanked off the air (again), effective iPublish Postmmediately.

Prison Break (Fox) - Renewed for another season.

Ugly Betty (ABC) - Renewed for another season.

Men in Trees (ABC) - Renewed for another season.

Brothers and Sisters (ABC) - Renewed for another season.

7th Heaven (CW) - Bows out officially (again) and will air its SERIES finale for the last time on May 13th.

Just a reminder, Veronica Mars needs your help to get another season. Send The CW a postcard showing your support of this brilliant drama. Click HERE for all the details.

*Ghost Whisperer fans can check out original scripted webisodes of the CBS drama on the network's internet channel INNERTUBE. The internet-only series, dubbed Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side, follows the perspective of the ghosts that visit Melinda. Click on over to INNERTUBE to watch the series now.

*And finally, it's TV on DVD Tuesday. Look for the third season of Entourage (part 1) to hit shelves today along with Law & Order (season 5), The Brady Bunch (the complete series), Roseanne (season 7), and Twin Peaks (season 2). For more on today's releases, visit tvshowsondvd.com.

SVU Commits a “Sin”

By Trublu
PTR Staff Writer

NBC Recap

A million apologies for being so late with this. School rules my life. :D

Melinda Warner: No clothes, no ID, no eyes.

What an interesting way to start off an episode, don’t you agree? And just about the most interesting thing that happened too, seeing as this story line is getting tired. Not only has SVU covered a killing of a homosexual man to cover up a relationship before, but the original Law & Order series recently aired an episode dealing with a preacher who kills his lover (“Church” 17.14), and so did Law & Order: Criminal Intent (“Brother’s Keeper” 06.15) I’m totally all for episodes that portray gay characters, believe me there aren’t enough shows on television that do that. But why not mix up the storyline a little, or hey, random thought, toss a lesbian character in there?

Captain Cragen: That’s why you’ll all be playing doctor at St. Marks.
And he really does send them to play doctor! They have costumes and everything! (I bet many people had flashbacks to the days when Mariska was on ER.)

This was the beginning in a long line of questionable actions taken during the episode, more so than usual. I’m pretty sure that impersonating a doctor is not the way to catch a perp, and as it turns out the only person they caught was the victim’s mother. While it helped them put a name to the face, it was so awful to watch the mother walk into the hospital room expecting to see her son in a coma (how they released it to the press) and instead finding a dummy and a gun pointed at her.

Defense Attorney: My client signed that before he was coerced into confessing.
Judge Arthur Cohen: With what, a rubber hose?
Casey: Oh please, what did he do, hurt your feelings?

Later, of course, Elliot takes Jeb Curtis to his church in hopes that he will confess to murdering Richard. He does, but is a church the right place to obtain a confession? No witness to the interrogation and Elliot is basically threatening Curtis with his religion if he doesn’t confess which would be a form of coercion, big time. The judge agrees too, and throws out the confession.

The detectives’ other major screw up was in the form of their DNA testing. Again. For some reason over the past few weeks, everyone has forgotten how DNA tests work. Six alleles are definitely not enough to connect two samples of DNA; alleles are a tiny part of just one chromosome, and there are 26 chromosomes that make up a person’s DNA. They caught the wrong perp according to evidence that was very wobbly. They should have realized that his kids could also be suspects the moment those DNA samples didn’t match, instead of waiting until Curtis’s wife shot him to take a guess.

Casey and Elliot’s fight in this episode was so unexpected! They were actually trying to shout over each other at one point, which was totally cool, minus the sexual undertones that came screaming through. At least we were given some solace at the beginning of the episode.

Elliot: (on his cellphone): I know, I'm sorry. I gotta go.
Olivia: Everything okay?
Elliot: I'm supposed to be meeting Kathy for drinks tonight. I'm moving home.
Olivia: When?
Elliot: I'm not sure, that's why we were having drinks.

But, here’s the same old, same old. Kathy left Elliot in the first place because of the job, and here it is again, still in the way. Kathy, from the way Elliot was answering her on the phone, didn’t seem too happy with the turn of events. We can only hope that all Kathy really wants is more time than they were spending together.

Overall, I was in no way invested in this story after seeing two ones like it already. Ripped from the headlines loses meaning after it’s been ripped so many times. Perhaps if you don’t watch the original series or Criminal Intent it wasn’t such a bore for you, but even without those episodes it was too easy to figure out what happened. It was definitely one of my least favorite episodes of the season.