Big Bang Theory/Vampire Diaries/Mentalist/Fringe

The Big Bang Theory – The Alien Parasite Hypothesis

     I loved the Rat Man, Mouse Boy superhero, sidekick discussions between Howard and Raj.  It seemed silly that they would resort to wrestling to decide who would be the hero and who would be the sidekick though.  Being that they are both intellectuals, why wouldn’t they settle it with their brains?  Was it because they believe a superhero needs brawn more than brains?  Whatever, that question was never answered, nor was the question of which of them would be the hero.  They just circled around each other for hours, never touching each other.

     I am glad Mayim Bialik was made a regular cast member, but I really didn’t want to see a whole episode centered on her and on Amy’s baser instincts.  I like that she is Sheldon’s intellectual equal, because even though all our guys are smart none of them really match Sheldon equally. 

     I know that they had to cut back on Penny screen time while Kaley recovers from her accident and is in a cast.  It’s frustrating though that Leonard has been relegated to back burner and supporting character while that plays itself out.  I don’t think he had more than 10 lines this episode and that’s just a shame.

The Vampire Diaries – By the Light of the Moon

     My first comment after I watched this episode was this: Tyler broke my heart.  I have watched a lot of horror movies, a lot of werewolf changes, not all of course, but a lot.  I have never seen someone show the physical pain so well.  He was heartbreakingly brilliant.  And we saw just enough to know what was happening, but not so much that it went into the cheesy, bad special effects realm.  The special effects and makeup were perfect, but honestly Michael Trevino completely and totally sold that transformation.  He was a revelation tonight. 

     Nina Dobrev just keeps acting the hell out of her Katherine scenes.  I think Elena has taken second chair to Katherine, but only because Katherine is getting all of the meaty scenes lately.  I didn’t really expect the sex scene between Katherine and Stefan to be real, since they showed it in every ad for the show all week, so it wasn’t a surprise or disappointment when we found out it was her messing around in his mind/dreams.

     I am glad Tyler wasn’t the one that bit Rose, but I am really interested to find out who it was, if it was Jules, Mason’s friend, or another werewolf.  I am also really intrigued to see whether the bite does kill Rose, and if it is as slow and painful a death as it looks like it might be. 

     I am developing a crush on Elijah.  He’s hot, powerful, strong, dangerous, and mysterious.  He is exactly the kind of vampire that definitely gets my attention.  He is Damon, if Damon had been around for several centuries, instead of less than 150 years.  He is what Damon would be like if he was an original, instead of a relative newbie. 

     I read in one place that Elijah took down the vamp barrier in the cave just long enough to get Stefan out, and then put it right back up.  I don’t think that is correct, I think the barrier is gone and Katherine could get out at any time, but Elijah compelled her to remain right in there as if the barrier were still up.  Just more proof of how powerful Elijah is, and another reason I think I am going to really like him.

The Mentalist – A Jolly Red Elf

     Patrick’s obsession with Red John just cranked up another notch in this episode, and I am honestly kind of tired of it.  There are so many shows that try to keep up a weak through line, an overarching story that runs through the entire series, and for this show Red John is it.  It really frustrates me that they haven’t captured him yet, or that Patrick hasn’t found and killed him.  I know they want to keep things going and that if the Red John story ends there would be no reason for Patrick to keep consulting, but I am sure they could figure something out.  At this point I am afraid the show is going to get cancelled before Red John is found out.

   

Fringe – Marionette

     My first thought was that someone on the staff is a big Dexter fan!  The sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling, the cellophane keeping the victim attached to the table, all of it shouted to me DEXTER.  But then, of course, came the Fringe twist:  the victim’s heart was removed, yet he was still alive and speaking for 3 minutes after paramedics arrived.

     Reanimation has been in the popular lexicon since before Frankenstein was written, so this story wasn’t really new.  The particulars were a twist of course, but the basic premise has been around for centuries.  What I really enjoyed was that the puppeteer could tell just from looking into her eyes that whatever he created wasn’t the girl he was trying to bring back.  It had shades of Stephen King’s “Pet Cemetery” but also really reflected what was happening with Olivia in this episode.

     I thought Anna Torv continued to rock the storyline this week.  Her anguish at having had someone completely invade and take over her life, wear her clothes, do her job, and having no one realize it was an imposter weighed heavily on Olivia.  She is hurt and angry that Peter not only didn’t know it wasn’t her, but doesn’t seem to realize how that is affecting her now.  She spent the majority of the episode downplaying how upset she was, but when she sat with Peter and said, “She wasn’t me; how could you not see that?  Now she’s everywhere: she’s in my house, my job, my bed, and I don’t want to wear my clothes anymore, and I don’t want to live in my apartment, and I don’t want to be with you.  She’s taken everything,” and she walked away, I felt so much pain from her.  It was a very impressive scene from both Anna and Joshua Jackson.  He sat there and took it, let her vent and knew that he could say nothing that would make it better.  It was a beautiful, devastating scene.  Kudos and well done to both actors.