Birthday Wishes

NOTE: I suck!  I was away from my computer on Thursday and completely forgot to send out these birthday wishes for a PTR fave!  So, these are a bit belated.

Cold Case's Kathryn Morris celebrated a birthday 1/28.

Happy (Belated) Birthday Kathryn!!

Your Friends at PTR

(photo courtesy Kathryn Morris UK)

DID YOU KNOW? Kathryn reportedly just signed on to co-star alongside Denise Richards in the black comedy Mother's Little Helper.  Look for it to come out sometime late this year.

'Bones' in the Ditch

I love U.S. history, especially the Civil War time period, so this episode of Bones started off on the right foot for me.  Of course, the Civil War theme didn't continue throughout the hour (even though I was sure the body was going to be a dead re-enactor), but that was O.K. because the rest of the episode was interesting and fun.  This show always seems to give us plenty of viable suspects, so I tend to be surprised by the killer reveal each week, but this week's was extra surprising.  Plus, there was an intriguing underlying theme going on with Booth that brought out an ugly side of him and revealed something very interesting about the effect that he and Brennan have on each other.

'Chuck' Will Always Have Paris (Sort of)

I have to admit: Chuck going solo made me nervous.  As in nail-biting, edge-of-my-seat, stomach-in-knots nervous for most of this week's episode.  In the end, he was fine (with a little help from Casey and Sarah -- via phone) and ironically, it was his non-spy qualities that got him through the mission.  The fact that he's about the last person you would expect to be a spy and the way he finds it difficult to lie so he tells the truth about 99% of the time (only concealing the parts that he absolutely has to) makes him a perfect spy in a not so spy way.  Of course, the Intersect 2.0 doesn't hurt either.  That thing is badass!  It seems that he's having an easier time controlling it and getting it to work when he needs it -- both good signs.  And I don't know about you, but, like Chuck, I was disappointed that he never got to use those nunchucks!  Oh well, maybe next time.  But this mission wasn't all about espionage and nunchucks.

'Fringe' Virus

Fringe gets more and more X-Files-ish by the week.  Last week's rural "they're not like the rest of us" outing was straight out of that show's playbook, and this week's virus-of-unknown-origin nail-biter also felt a lot like the former Fox series.  Maybe this is why I loved both of these episodes!  There was even a touch of Duplicity and Outbreak thrown in this week just to make things even more fun.  What wasn't fun, though, was the horrible spraying virus!  The sweating, the weird skin, and finally, the blood-colored spray that spread the deadly virus to anyone who ingested it.  And this wasn't even the scariest aspect of the situation -- that fell to the uber-frightening map that showed the deadly reach of the virus if just one infected person got out of the quarantined building.  There was only one problem: Olivia and Peter were locked inside.  And things were about to get a lot worse.

High Profile 'Bones'

This week's episode was very risky.  The show took on one of this country's greatest mysteries, one of our most tragic moments, and perhaps, the incident most cloaked in conspiracies and secrets: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  I wasn't sure how this was going to play out, but I LOVED it!!  They presented both sides of the argument, they drew some interesting conclusions and they left us with almost as many questions as the assassination itself.  Whose bones were those at the Jeffersonian?  Who were "the men in black?"  Why was the team investigating the cause of death of the individual on the table?  None of it was clear at the end, but honestly, I wouldn't have liked it any other way.  Taking on something as huge as the Kennedy assassination deserves an ending with as much intrigue as the real tragic incident.  However, there was one mystery that the gang was able to clear up before the end titles: the owner of that positive pregnancy test.  Oh, baby!

Devon Versus the Ring

When we first learned that Chuck was going to have these super powers in addition to his super info flashes, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it.  We're a few episodes in and I LOVE it!!  I feel like Chuck has been upgraded with the best upgrade ever!!  That scene with Lester was CLASSIC!  But it wasn't just Chuck's awesome new powers that made this episode another strong harbinger for a fantastic season ahead -- having Devon play spy again was such a welcomed return.  And as if all of this was not enough, there was a fantastically awesome twist involving Devon playing spy and Chuck that had me loving every moment of it.

Marshall Gets Kissed

Lily and Marshall crack me up.  Between his obsession with "The Reacher and the Settler" and her disbelief that Jenkins kissed Marshall, this episode was HILARIOUS!  Jenkins, who we're led to believe is a crazy guy who works in Marshall's office, is in reality, the hot new lawyer who happens to also love the Vikings and hails from Minnesota just like Marshall.  But it was the hotness combined with the crazy Jenkins stories that kept Marshall from correcting Lily when she erroneously assumed that Jenkins was a he.  So, how jealous was Lily when she discovered the truth?  That's when things started to get interesting (and really, really funny).

Private Eyes on the 'Case'

Just the sheer fact that this episode didn't end with someone killing someone over the second someone finding success and moving on was a HUGE improvement as of late.  That alone would have led to a positive review here at PTR (SIDEBAR: it's amazing how much lower my standards have become for this show.  It's sad, really), but there was a lot more to this episode than a better resolution.  The year (1974) and the way the show played up the "cheesy 70s" complete with a P.I., interesting characters, and of course, the twist (that I saw coming, but enjoyed immensely anyway) all contributed to a great outing.

'Bone' to Pick

All of these weeks off from Bones led me to two conclusions: 1) I really MISSED this show and, 2) I think I may have hit the frustration point when it comes to Booth and Bones.  The latter is a problem because it can quickly lead to total and complete apathy.  As of right now, I want to keep caring about whether they finally get together, but even that desire is beginning to dim.  I wasn't a fan of the cop out at the end of last season, but I thought that the season premiere offered a lot of promise.  There was something unmistakable about that look on Brennan's face when Booth chickened out before telling her how he feels.  And Booth -- so aware of his feelings for her for the first time and yet, so afraid.  Since then there have been glimmers (the wonderful Gordon Gordon and his table-for-two, Booth's grandfather, and that intimate moment at the exhibit), but most set-ups have led nowhere and Booth and Brennan seem to be no farther along than they were during season one.  I understand the show's struggle, but it is entering the place where it risks losing viewers' interest if it doesn't make a move soon.  Will the much-talked about 100th episode be the cure for what ails this stuck-in-neutral story line?

Spy On

Now that's what I call an entrance!!  If you're going to be off the air for far too many months, then coming back the way Chuck did this week might be enough to overcome the hole left barren in my TV schedule this past fall.  Three brand-spankin'-new episodes in the course of two back-to-back nights??!!  Three AWESOME spy-tastic cases??!!  Three hours of angst between Sarah and Chuck??!!  Yeah, it really doesn't get much better than this for a fan of the NBC spy thriller/comedy/love story/too- awesome- for- just- one- night series.  The only problem now, I'm totally spoiled.  I have to wait an entire week for more Chuck and then, I only get one episode.  But let's not dwell on next week because there is far too much to discuss from this week's triple play.  On the Chuck and Sarah front, things took a windy path through some ups and downs, but they ended in a pretty familiar place.

One 'Mother' of a Milestone

PHOTO: CBS

It's only fitting that when a totally awesome show like How I Met Your Mother reaches a HUGE milestone like its 100th episode, that one of its totally awesome characters should reach one as well.  Cue Barney and his first stretch completely, utterly suit-less!!  No suit in the bar, no suit in the apartment, and no suit to impress would-be conquests.  Yup, Barney gave up suits.  Of course, it was all in pursuit of a conquest.  See, of all the women that he had slept with, he had never bedded a "hot bartender," so when he set his sights on the new one at the bar (guest star Stacy Keibler), he knew what he had to do.  Unfortunately, she had a thing about men in suits: She hates them!  Barney was faced with a conundrum.  Meanwhile, Ted finally met the fabled mother. Or part of her anyway.

'Cold' Reality

Another year, another case, another person dead after they decided to leave someone behind.  Seriously, if you learn nothing else from Cold Case, please, please, please never leave for greener pastures without inviting along the neediest person in your life.  For I fear if you do, you will most certainly pay with your life.  And here I was worrying about CC tackling another military-centric case and once again ticking me off.  For once the military angle was well done, but unfortunately, the motive was tired and overly played-out this season.  It's even more unfortunate that after a long Christmas break here at PTR (partially induced by the lack of TV over the last few weeks and partially due to my own vacations), that this is the episode that will ring in the New Year here at PTR.  Yikes!  I hope it's not a harbinger for things to come.  Honestly, the rest of the episode was good.  The victim was very sympathetic and had me dreading his inevitable murder at the end.  Plus, I liked the development on the Lilly's alternate family front.  Yup, things were shaping up to make this one a solid episode and a promising start to 2010 until the final few minutes.