Weekly TV Thoughts: 03/01 - 03/07

I saw 2 movies in the theater this week; can't recall the last time I did that. First was Fanboys, which I recommend for big-time Star Wars fans (or big time Kristen Bell fans). The second was Watchmen, which I discussed (briefly) here.

-Heroes, Monday: The Rebel storyline only works if it actually unites all the characters together. If its just a mechanism to loosely tie all the stories to one common point (like it is now), the show's not going to get any better. But if they can tighten up the story and get everyone working together, the show's got some hope. I'm glad they finally had Parkman use his mind-control powers deliberately to achieve an end and not while he was under stress to save his life. He's ridiculously powerful; why don't they use him more? And how does strapping a bomb to Parkman help The Hunter reach his goal? People would have to know that a)people with abilities exist and that b)Parkman is one of them for it to be an effective stunt. Peter exposed the operation of rounding up US citizens to the public, but not the specifics as to why; people with powers are still unknown. The Claire-Alex storyline was only good because it gave Claire's mom, Sandra, something constructive to do. And Sylar's storyline? Just stupid. So his dad has TK and he sliced open his mom's head. Whatever. That toy car sparked his memory; did he call it Rosebud? That story needs to be finished.

-24, Monday: Who knew that it was that easy to take control of the White House? Just dive underwater, drill up beneath the subsurface, and with the help of a single man in the inside, you too can take the President of the United State hostage. It had a real James Bond-ish plan feel to it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm glad to finally see Jon Voight on the show; I think he's going to be an awesome villian. I'm also getting the traitor vibe from the President's daughter, Olivia. I didn't think that before, but now, it seems like it makes sense. Its the kind of left-field twist 24 is always good for. I'm also really enjoying Agent Walker's transformation from a by-the-book FBI agent to a do-what-is-necessary Jack Bauer clone. The ongoing struggle betwen her and Agent Moss is good to. Moss and Bauer and polar opposites and Renee is moving in between then. This episode also had my favorite 24 scene device- when a character has vital information that needs to be heard, so they tell a random person to call someone in charge so they know what's going on, but before that person can make the call, they're shoot and killed and the information remains unrelayed. Happens all the time in 24.

-Lost, Wednesday: I've read some review from people that didn't like this episode; I loved it. I loved the "Three years eariler/Three years later" construciton, filling in the gaps on the island between when Locke reset the wheel and when the O6 got back to the island. So we learn how Sawyer and company become a part of the Dharma Initiative. Sawyer, Jin, and Miles all work security; makes sense. Juliet works in the motorpool; not so much. But where is Faraday? We saw him a the beginning of the season working on the Orchid station; is he still in contact with everyone else, or is he off doing his own thing? Charlotte's death seem to send him off the deep end (if that was even possible), so its possible he his disassociated himself from everyone. My favorite scene was the conversation between Sawyer and Richard Alpert; what must be going through Richard's head at this point? He doesn't age, which one would assume he's aware of, so he had to know that the island has some special time properties associated with it. But what about all the time-travel? He seemed not to understand it when Locke talked with him in the 50's, and he seemed non-reactive when talking to Sawyer, like he didn't want to let on that he knew more than he was letting on. I'm starting to think that the reason Richard doesn't age is because he died and the island brought him back to life. There a lot of talk about an Egyptian connection to the island (the hieroglyphics, the ankh necklace, the statue); I think it would be awesome if Richard was part of the first settlement on the island, thousands of years ago, and he's been the same age ever since (because he's dead and doesn't age). And finally, new girl Amy's baby boy; he's going to be important. Why? Because the actress playing Amy said in an interview that she knows who her baby is and isn't allowed to say. That just screams important. The the child was born in 1977, putting him in his late-20's at the time of the Oceanic plane crash, and about 30 when the Ajira plane landed. So who could it be? Still pondering that one.

-Battlestar Galactica, Friday: Starbuck confesses her death to Baltar and Baltar rewards her by outing her secret to everyone. Well done, Gaius. I like the open, shared knowledge about how Starbuck, Hera, and the Final Five all experienced "All Along The Watchtower." One of my favorite parts about using this song has been how they've worked in lyrics into the dialogue. And in this episode, the dying Eight that requested seeing Tigh quoted a line herself ("Too much confusion"). First time a non-Final Five quoted a line. Important? Dont' know, but was a nice touch. I think its interesting that Sam is now plugged into Galactica hybrid-style; I hope they keep playing this angle before they abandon Galactica (which appears inevitable). While Boomer appears to be evil, it doesn't like she's completely evil. She obivously bonded with Hera and it looks likes she's going to save Hera from Cavil's experiments and return her to the fleet, at the cost of her own life. And we still need some answers to Starbuck. The longer they delay those answers, the more it looks like her answers are the answers to everyone and everything.

And finally, this weekend was the real start of March Madness. Or, the Mayhem Before the Madness, as the ESPN promos would tell us. Championship Week is just as good as the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament (which, let's face it, is the best part of the tournament). Little mid-major schools playing for a chance to be Cinderella, where you're only way in is to win because there is no bubble. The elation when a team wins and earns a ticket to the Big Dance, the agony of coming so close and losing. That emotion is why college basketball is lightyears ahead of the NBA.