America's Next Top Recap: Weighty Issues

For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised with how sensitively this show handled London’s (pictured, right) weight gain issue.

I say “surprised” because “sensitively” is not a word usually associated with “America’s Next Top Model.” I say “for the most part” because Ms. J’s immature slams about London’s weight during the judging panel were an unnecessary cheap shot. Then again, I can’t say I’m shocked the most useless judge has to strain to try to remain relevant and show that he/she shouldn’t be replaced on the panel by someone else.

We’d gotten hints that London’s weight was going to be an issue when London herself brought up the fact that she’d gained about 10-15 (noticeable) pounds since the start of the competition. (My girlfriend Erica for the second straight week: “Are we sure she’s not pregnant?” Me for the second straight week: “Ouch.”)

Before the issue came to the forefront, we learned that what the models REALLY wanted to do was direct. Well at least what’s what Mr. Jay wanted them to WANT to do. The week’s challenge had the models serving as the creative director for a fellow models shoot.

Most of them — except for time-wasting Aminat — did well. Allison came out of her shell, but was a bit disorganized during her model’s shoot, Celia did a great job, but had a bad crop on her chosen photo and Teyona styled Celia very well, but didn’t pick the photo Mr. Jay would’ve picked.

In the end it didn’t matter because Teyona won the challenge and a chance to take part in a Seventeen magazine photo shoot. She got to pick two friends to bring along, so she selected BFF Aminat and Celia, her partner for the challenge. I thought it was a smart, fair move for Teyona to reward the person who helped her win, but that didn’t stop Fo from feeling slighted because she’s Teyona’s close friend. Personally, I had no idea Fo and Teyona were supposed to be that close. (Apparently, neither did Teyona.)

As the girls were hanging out in the house, they got an early wake up call from Mr. Jay (Allison totally DID look like a bewildered woodland creature). While they were getting ready, they got a knock on the door. Teyona answered and shrieked at the sight of singer Ciara. I know Ciara, and I enjoy her music, but I probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. I think it would’ve been funny to see someone like me answer the door. (I would’ve been like, “Oh hi, come in. Your name is Ciara? Like the singer?)

The week’s photo shoot had the girls acting like an obsessed Ciara fan(?) that got tangled up in microphone wire on her way to the singer(?!) but apparently decided to do a sexy pose anyway(?!?). Despite the rampant silliness of the concept, London was seriously worried about having so much of her body exposed, and it showed during her tense shoot.

Afterward, Mr. Jay pulled her aside and gently asked her about the matter. Sure, the whole “your body is a temple when you’re a model” thing was a bit trite, but I liked him quietly taking London to the side and addressing the issue in a firm, sensitive way instead of doing something like calling her a fat ass while she was on stage.

The rest of the girls (except for janky faced Aminat) did pretty well. My favorites were Natalie (capital-F Fierce), Fo (great angle on the body) and Teyona (best combination of fierceness and body placement.)

The bottom two were predictably London and Aminat. Though I like London and I thought she took some very strong photos during the competition (CERTAINLY stronger than Aminat) I can’t argue with the judges keeping Aminat, who’s simply more model-y.

Goodbye London, I won’t so much miss your preaching (which mysteriously reappeared in this episode), but I WILL miss your fantastic bleach blonde hair, eternally smiling eyes, and the fact that you don’t look like a flamingo.

So what’d you think of this episode? Do we really consider Ciara a music “icon”? (Um, no. I think Clay Aiken is more of a music icon.) Where does the Portuguese-speaking pool boy with the Brazil nuts rank among the insane ways the show has revealed its overseas trip. (I still say it’s not nearly as crazy as the Chinese dragon from a few cycles back.)

Lost: Dead Men Talking

I probably wasn’t supposed to like this episode more than last week’s Ben-centric “Dead is Dead”, right?

I mean, I didn’t even realize that I WANTED a Miles flashback episode revealing the first manifestation of his ability to communicate with dead people (in a pretty chilling opening sequence) and his journey to the Island. Whether my expectations were too high for last week’s episode (or too low for this week’s outing), all I know is that “Some Like It Hoth” absolutely delivered.

(At the very least you have to admit that the hair and makeup department did a MUCH more convincing job of making Ken Leung look like a young man than they did with Michael Emerson.)

Of course, I should’ve known that any episode with a reference to my favorite “Star Wars” movie in its title (Hoth was the ice planet in “Empire Strikes Back”) would be my cup of milk (sorry, I don’t love tea). It also makes perfect sense that this consistently WTF show — in which pretty much every major character has serious daddy issues —would reference the movie with the biggest paternal WTF in pop culture history.

Despite featuring a seriously good performance from Leung — how great is this show that the 12th most important actor in the cast gets a showcase like this? — this was definitely one of the lighter and funnier episodes of “Lost.” I believe we have Jorge Garcia to thank.

With other, more serious-minded characters running around shooting kids and debating whether to save those same kids from dying because of how it may affect the space-time continuum, how fantastic is it that Hurley’s big contribution to altering the past is rewriting “Empire Strikes Back”? It’s such a geeky, sweet, stupid, innocent and, well HURLEY thing to do. I also loved his idea for preventing global warming and watching him gently, unsubtly annoy/try to help Miles by asking Dr. Chang questions about his infant son named Miles.

The fact that Miles Straume is Dr. Pierre Chang’s son isn’t exactly a huge shock. The show was smart enough to know that by having Miles confirm the news to Hurley (and us) early on in the episode. Still, the scene where Miles delivers the dead body to douche-y Dr. Chang was great, thanks largely to Leung’s great, subtle work. (I watched it a second time and I loved the way Miles could barely look his father/boss in the eye.)

The reason Miles was carrying around a dead body was because LaFleur/Sawyer was missing and Horace Goodspeed needed someone to pick up and deliver a “package” from Radzinski, who was working on the Swan station in Hostile territory. After not getting a chance to erase the incriminating tape of Sawyer and Kate taking Young Ben to the Others, Miles completed his task and found out that the man (Alvarez) was killed after one of his fillings was yanked through his skull. The electromagnetism in the Swan has sure caused a LOT of trouble! (In case you think Jorge Garcia is just a clown, take a look at the deadly serious/pensive look on his face when he realizes Dharma was working on the Swan/Death Star.)

I counted two interesting developments with the Dharma Initiative. 1.) It’s become increasingly clear that the DI weren’t just a bunch of peace-loving hippies. In fact, there’s a streak of cruelty in the way members of the “circle of trust” treat those they consider to be below them. (Kinda makes me not-quite-as-sad that they get wiped out.) 2.) There seems to be dissention within the upper ranks of Dharma as well, given the way Dr. Chang dismissed the polar bear experiments on Hydra Island as a waste of time. Seems odd, since the polar bears were likely trained to turn the time traveling wheel in the Orchid station that Dr. Chang was working on, so you’d think the two projects would be related.

In a not-at-all interesting development, Kate was back to acting stupid. I get that she’s drawn to damaged men the way Hurley is drawn to garlic mayo, but come on! Her heart was in the right place in trying to comfort Roger Linus, but she pushed the “Everything’s going to work out” thing WAY too far. I’m not totally convinced Jack’s gentle bullying to his fellow workman will make a difference. Even if it does, Sawyer and his increasingly crumbling world have to deal with a knocked-out Phil, the Dharma guy who found the tape of him and Kate taking Ben into the jungle.

Anyway, let’s get back to Miles, who we learned was raised by his mother. On her deathbed (she was dying from cancer, we can assume), he asked about his father, and she revealed that his father had sent them away when he was a baby and that his dead body was someplace Miles could never go. We also learned that Miles needs to have a dead body to communicate with for his ability to work after he conned a father that had cremated his son.

Up until this episode, the Miles we knew was 92% sarcasm and 8%, um, snark. In this episode, we saw he was less a 100% cold-hearted hustler and more of a damaged young man who used money to try in vain “fill the hole” inside of him (in the words of Bram the van guy) left by his unresolved daddy issues.

Money is what drew him to the Island after Parachute Naomi auditioned him and hired him on Charles Widmore’s behalf to go to the Island and find Ben. Two curious things about this scene were 1.) the guy Miles talked to died while trying to deliver photos and evidence of the Oceanic 815 fake crash site cover-up to Widmore. 2. We learned why Miles asked for $3.2 million when he tried blackmail Ben last season. It was double the amount what Widmore was paying him. (I seriously thought that was one of the most random things EVER.)

So after spying his mom in a Dharma cafeteria line, Miles realized he finally had a chance to reconnect with his father. Sure, the two don’t travel “in the same circles”, but after some gentle nudging from Hurley throughout the episode (LOVED the comparison to Luke/Vader), Miles seemed willing to give the relationship another go. Putting aside all the paradoxical weirdness this could create(how could adult Miles’ interactions with Dr. Chang affect baby Miles’ life?) I like the idea. Watching Dr. Chang play with baby Miles at the end of the episode was sweet (and Leung’s acting in that scene was touching) and it makes me think that the reason Dr. Chang sent his wife and baby away in the first place was to protect him from whatever horrible thing is coming.

So what’d you think of this episode? Are Bram (seen last week on Hydra Island with Illana) and his van-dwelling, statue-riddling buddies with Ben or are they a completely different group? (I’m thinking they’re part of the same group the mysterious butcher shop lady in L.A. — who hung on to Locke’s body while Ben tried to get back to the Island earlier this season — belongs to. Meaning they maybe work with Eloise Hawking.) What did Dr. Chang do with Alvarez’s body? (“What body?”)

What did you think of Faraday’s return? (Daniel’s new self-assuredness, black wardrobe [also worn by Radzinsky and the Swan hatch crew in the episode] and disappointing lack of an inappropriate necktie oddly make me feel like he might be up to no good.) Finally, what improvements can Hurley and his horrible grammar make to “Empire Strikes Back”? (Methinks he should’ve chosen to rewrite “Return of the Jedi” instead.)

Heroes: Alice DOES Live Here

After critics (ok, ME) called last week’s episode “stupid”, “Heroes” hit us with one of its patented flashback episodes last night.

As the show revealed what happened at Coyote Sands in “1961” we didn’t get a ton of forward movement on this volume’s “Fugitives” plot. That was to be expected. However, I was a little surprised that, in my opinion, we also didn’t get much in the way of interesting new information.

Sure, we met Angela Petrelli’s “Storm”-y, weather-changing sister Alice (pictured, right). We also saw how Mrs. Petrelli/Ms. Shaw first hooked up with Company co-founders Charles Deveaux, Charles Linderman and Bobby Bishop at Coyote Sands, a compound surrounded by armed guards where people with abilities and their families were taken.

However, Angela’s interactions with her fellow teenage mutant non-ninja mutants weren’t very developed beyond, “Let’s sneak out and have fun with our super-powered selves.” Oddly enough, telepathic Charles Deveaux, so benevolent in the present time of season 1, seemed to have the darkest (I don’t mean literally) edge.

Still, what the show may have lacked in exciting new twists, it more than made up for in intriguing character development. While the flashback scenes may not have revealed too much about this season’s current plot, they proved to be relevant to the present-day characters and they helped shine a light on Angela Petrelli, arguably the show’s most enigmatic character.

Why is Angela always so obsessed with bringing her sons together now? Maybe it’s because she knows what it’s like to live with the pain of abandoning her own sister almost 50 years earlier. During the Coyote Sands days, Alice had become so upset when Angela snuck out with her friends that she caused a storm during an examination by Dr. Chandra Suresh which escalated into a shooting, and (supposedly) the carnage at Coyote Sands (we don’t know because the show cut away right when the killing started).

Even if the show doesn’t revisit Coyote Sands again, we can thank this episode for giving us the best Nathan/Peter material in years. LOVED their scene in the café where Peter revealed that he could see through Nathan’s snake oil salesman charm (older sister Angela definitely “conned” Alice by lying to her about where she was going the night all hell broke loose). I also loved that by the end of the episode, Peter had finally found it within him to forgive Nathan.

Hayden Panettiere even got to shine a bit during the scene where she realized how unaffected she is by the current crisis given all traumatic experiences in her life. Sure, she wasn’t exactly forced to fend for herself in the desert as a little girl, but Claire has still been through a lot.

Oh did I not mention that Alice somehow survived the carnage of Coyote Sands and has been living in the desert for nearly 50 years in a state of mild psychosis/batty old lady-it is. As unbelievable as Alice surviving for so long with no one at all finding her is, I can see where it makes sense from a storytelling perspective. When Angela’s family saw what had become of Angela and Alice’s relationship, maybe they glimpsed their own future unless they worked on their severed family ties.

In my opinion, only good things can happen when you have the core characters from this show together and interacting with each other.

Except for Mohinder. I felt like his appearance and participation in this storyline was a bit forced. (Though I generally feel that way about him.) I get the point that, like Mohinder, his father was well-intentioned, but WAY over his head in dealing with people with abilities. I also get that he thinks his father was partly responsible for the atrocity at Coyote Sands (despite HRG’s assurances to Mohinder [and himself] that not everyone involved with a catastrophe is necessarily bad) but instead of contributing to the Petrelli/Bennett new plan and atoning for his father’s perceived sins, he seems content to go all emo on us in the desert. Then again, maybe stranding Mohinder in the episode alone isn’t the worst thing.

Either way, the plan is now for Angela, HRG and friends to go back to the way things were and start their own company. Before that, Nathan has to fix the mess he made. The problem is that he’s too busy because he’s already on TV. Oh wait, that’s shape-shifting Sylar (perhaps during the start of his disguised-as-Nathan march to the White House foretold in season 1).

So what’d you think of this episode? Was it boring because of the flashbacks with people we don’t really care about or interesting because of the stuff we hadn’t seen before? Is starting a new company really the best idea? Finally, how long could you survive in the desert with nothing but strong winds and an old children’s book to sustain you?

American Idol: Movie Blandness

You may or may not know this about me, but I love movies.

As a result, I always get extra excited when “American Idol” brings back its “Songs from the Cinema” theme (or “Idol Goes to the Movies” or whatever the heck they want to call it during any given year) since so many indelible movie moments are tied to specific songs.

In addition to that, all of the different types of movie genres allow the contestants to pick from a wide variety of eclectic and exciting musical styles. At the very least, we should at least get an amusing peek at what kind of movies these people are into.

With all those possibilities, what we got was (needle scratching on record sound) Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Aerosmith’s softest, most overplayed song and Bryan Adams (x 2). If I could allow myself to recap last night’s episode, I’d do so thusly — “UGH.”

It’s not that I’m totally anti cheesy ballad. (Lord knows I love me some warm, cheese-tastic fun.) I guess I just expected more imagination and excitement from musical artists in their 20s (and teenage Allison) than the playlist from any random night of Delilah’s radio show.

Which is why Kris Allen’s performance was my favorite of the night, BY FAR.

I won’t go so far as to say that he was the best singer last night (Anoop was better yesterday, and Adam is just on a different planet). I was just SO grateful that Kris chose a beautiful song that obviously meant something to him, (to be fair, Danny did this too) that was also recorded in the last 10 years and has a chance of being played outside of your local Lite FM station (sorry, Danny) that I’m willing to overlook any minor technical faults.

Sure, his “Falling Slowly” started off too low and a little rough, but Kris certainly pulled it together and I actually don’t mind minor technical snafus when they’re supplanted by genuine emotion. My only other comment about Kris’ performance is that if he was going to sing a song from “Once” he should’ve picked the more dynamic “When Your Mind’s Made Up” instead of the more-famous “Falling Slowly.” (That being said, I don’t agree with Randy that the song didn’t work.)

I suppose I should also give Adam “One for them/One for me” Lambert credit for lightening things up. Anyone can now see that he’s semi-officially alternating between his howling rock god persona (what he really seems to prefer doing) and his more sensitive performances (what the “critics”, like me, seem to prefer.) As far as his “rock god” performances go, I’d put “Born to be Wild” toward the top. (Certainly better than the stupid, completely pointless, “Play that Funky Music.”) Don’t get me wrong: “Born to be Wild” was still kind of pointless, but those howls at the end were fantastic (as usual) and I actually enjoyed the slight changes to the arrangement. Whether he’s actually “dancing on the path to greatness” remains to be seen, since no one (but Paula) knows what the hell that means.

Gimme a second to whip out the wine (or whine) because the rest of the performances were unabashed cheese.

Anoop Desai was the most successful, despite not roughing up “Everything I do, I do it for you” quite as much as mentor Quentin Tarantino would’ve liked. Still, he gave a very confident and emotionally connected vocal. The problem is that Anoop now seems stuck in balladeer mode which, for a guy with so much obvious smarts and personality, is kinda boring.

Danny Gokey did what Danny Gokey does — picked an old-fashioned song that started out sort of rough, but finished very strong. The difference was that Simon finally called him out on the pattern. I really like his voice — and when he was good last night, he was REALLY good — but he desperately needs to prove he’s going to be a relevant artist in today’s musical landscape next week. Maybe a trip to the bottom 3 on Wednesday will be the kick in the pants he needs.

Otherwise, he could end up as the next Lil Rounds.

I actually thought Lil gave her best performance of the finals. However, after so many lackluster, underwhelming, unoriginal performances, she needed to hit a home run to prove that she was a real contender in this competition. Instead, she hit a nice double down the line (at best). I give her credit for doing a better job of working the verses than usual and for adding a little gospel flavor to her rendition of “The Rose.” However, I have to take points away for once again not really ever showing us what kind of artist she’s going to be. (Unless she’s going to be the kind of artist who sings suckier covers of famous songs). I also have to take points away for her defiant/bratty spat after Simon’s (valid) criticism. (There’s just no winning a spat against the judges, unless you’re quick-witted Scott McIntyre.) She just seems like she’s totally over this competition. Oh well, at least she didn’t sing “I Will Always Love You.”

Since I’m pretty much pronouncing that Lil Rounds is done (maybe not this week, but she can’t win), that leaves Allison Iraheta as the last best hope for the women. While it was fantastic to FINALLY see Simon acknowledge this fact, it was puzzling to see him do so after her most lackluster performance. It wasn’t that her take on “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” was bad. It was just more unoriginal (David Cook did a take on the song with the orchestra just last year) and sloppier (she kind of lost it with some of those high notes after the first verse) than her other work.

Still, she held it together more than Matt Giraud (pictured, left), who unfortunately fell apart during the bridge of “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman.” It’s too bad because I was digging the vibe of him at the piano and — holy hell, I just sounded like Randy Jackson. I’ll just stop and say that it’s probably going to take a mad rush from Matt’s fans to save him today.

So what’d you think of this episode? What’d you think of the judges only being allowed to talk two at a time? (This was idiotic — if they just ditched all the nonsense from the judges at the start of the episode about how they ran out of time last week [or if they just ditched Randy], there’d be plenty of time for everyone to talk.) What’d you think about Tarantino as a guest mentor? (I thought he had some good advice — if only anyone had bothered to take it. I’m looking at you handsy Danny and still-too-soft Anoop.) Finally, who do you think is going home tonight? (My money’s on Matt.)

Dancing with the Stars: Ready To Rumba (and Jive)

Apparently, we’re at the halfway point of the competition.

It seems like just yesterday that Denise Richards was making us uncomfortable by being uncomfortable in her rehearsal footage, Belinda Carlisle was making us uncomfortable by performing a handstand and exposing her Go-Gos to 20 million people, and Steve Wozniak was making us uncomfortable by going ahead with his “dances.”

I don’t like to focus on the negative, but it’s on my mind coming off of the weakest performance episode since the early weeks of the competition. Even the entertaining dances at the top of the leaderboard had their faults (sorry people, but Len was right pretty much every time). Why don’t we talk about them right here, in order of appearance, as they took on the jive and the super-challenging rumba.

Ty Murray and Chelsie: His body movement wasn’t quite as Terminator-esque as last week, but it was still closer to week one than it was to his better work. His performance was a good line dance, but not a very good jive. Despite being next to last on the leaderboard, he’s the most charming contestant, by FAR (he managed not to look stupid playing on a trampoline and with a hula-hoop) so he should be fine.

Shawn Johnson and Mark: VERY Nice follow-up to their tasteful Viennese waltz last week. It was my favorite rumba of the night. Mark somehow still manages to not come off creepy after performing a sensual dance with a 17-year-old. Coming up with an “I recreated your prom for you” stunt straight out of an 80’s movie probably helps, making him seem sweet instead of skeezy. The judges once again called Shawn adorable, but I thought her dance was sexier than they gave it credit for. (Great, now I look a little skeezy. Don’t call “Dateline” on me.)

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta: Probably not a good sign that LT had more fun in his brief visit from Warren Sapp than he has in the entirety of this competition. The judges gave him his highest score yet, but I honestly didn’t think his jive was any good. Len called it “basic,” I thought it was slow, plodding and boring. Methinks LT is done this week.

Melissa Rycroft and Tony: Probably the BEST rumba of the night . Despite the awkward moment where he told her to imagine she was wearing a ring (ouch!), Tony’s just gotta be so thrilled to have a partner under the age of 50 for a change. I haven’t been able to put my finger around why I’m not loving Melissa’s dancing. I’m not sure that Len’s advice to be more “earthy” is exactly it, since I’m not too sure what that would entail. I think it may be closer to Carrie Ann’s critique that she’s too balletic at times. When it’s appropriate, she needs to stop being so prim and proper and just get down and DANCE!

Lil’ Kim and Derek (pictured, right): Now THIS is what I’m talking about when I say “get down and DANCE.” Derek Hough is a genius at choreography, the song was perfect (“Jailhouse Rock” with ex-prisoner Lil’ Kim as a busty cop) and it was my favorite performance of the evening. That being said, I would NOT give it a 10 because, as Len said, the jive elements were lacking. If that had been a freestyle, I would’ve given it an 11. Finally, is there ANY way these two actually drank those ginormous milkshakes? (Ok, maybe Lil’ Kim, right?)

Steve-O and Lacey: This week’s lesson: Steve-O is really gross. (Insert mildewy farting noise). He thinks of Lacey as his sister, and his cute dog as the love of his life. Finally, the guy may be able to move to music, but he CANNOT dance. Sorry.

Giles Marini and Cheryl: Last week it was martial arts, this week Giles extracurricular activity of choice was showing off some nice soccer skills (and some weird affection for artificial grass). Maybe next week it’ll be cooking or something. The judges slammed his jive for being too fast and frantic. I don’t mind that it was fast because the jive is supposed to be fast (and because Giles can actually hit his steps). What I didn’t like was that the dance was too “hard.” The choreography was too hard, instead of being light and fun, and the leather outfits were too hard. We’ve apparently found Giles weakness — he may be able to do sexy in his sleep, but he can’t really do fun or goofy. Not yet, at least.

Chuck Wicks and Julianne: Definitely the hottest rumba of the night, though that’s mostly due to Julianne’s choreo-, um, well just Julianne. (My sources tell me Chuck also performed.) That being said, it was also the most desperate rumba of the night (“See people, we DO have chemistry!”) and the whole thing ended up being a few shades too porn-y/stripper-y. On the other hand, it was the most interesting thing Chuck Wicks has been involved in with this competition, so I guess that’s good. Unfortunately, watching the couple recreate their first date (aww honey, a camera crew — just like last time!) was considerably less interesting.

So what’d you think of this episode? I’ve had Lil Kim/Shawn battling for the “third-best” slot in the competition, but could Lil’ actually win this thing? Finally, who do you think is going home tonight?

24: I'm Sorry For Your Moss

Things were going WAY too well, weren’t they?

At least they were for the first half hour of last night’s episode of “24.” The surface-to-surface missiles carrying the bio weapon had been neutralized by Tony, Jonas Hodges was under arrest and Larry “I now have no problem attacking Starkwood without an official presidential order” Moss (pictured, left) had become more likable than ever.

Then — as they tend to do on this show — things went to hell.

Before that, the good guys were kicking ass. Tony had noticed a truck with RP-7 — which we ALL know is the fuel used for surface-to-surface missiles, right? — and sniffed out Jonas Hodges’ plans for the bio weapon and passed them along to Jack and Renee who called the president. Fortunately, Tony had some C-4 in his backpack — totally standard for kickass ex-CTU agents — and after some sneaking around and a brief scuffle with Stokes (who got to sneer the classic bad guy line, “You’re too late!”), was able to blow up the missiles right before they were launched. (Um, guess he wasn’t too late, Stokes.)

Despite his heroics, Tony was taken into custody by the FBI — but not before Special Agt. in Charge of Working His Way Into Our Hearts Larry Moss gave him a brief speech about how he didn’t agree with what was happening.

The entire operation had been unofficially sponsored by the president right before her meeting with Hodges. Our man Hodges arrived in the White House beaming with his right-hand man (and my boy) Seaton looking slightly uncomfortable as usual. As Hodges once again complimented Seaton’s fake out of Tony and Moss, an uneasy expression crawled across Seaton’s face, leading me to think that Seaton didn’t ALWAYS intend to double-cross Tony and Moss for his boss’s benefit. (Then again, I may just WANT to believe this because it would help the Seaton double cross make more sense.)

Nevertheless, Hodges introduced him as a remarkable young man (despite the fact that he doesn’t “look remarkable”) and laid out his “demands” to President Taylor. (To call it “blackmail”, would be describing it in the worst possible light.) Basically, he wanted Starkwood to become the fifth branch of the U.S. military and a “seat at the president’s table.” President Taylor balked at giving into a man who’s killed so many people (including her son). Shortly thereafter, Homeland Security Tim interrupted the meeting with news of Tony’s successful mission.

That prompted the arrest of Hodges and Seaton, and another lunatic-y “I care about my country” rant from Jonah. Before being taken away, Hodges hinted that he was merely a small cog in the day’s events and that the president would soon see what he meant. Maybe it’s because of the Super Mario Bros.-style revelation that the boss we just defeated isn’t the last one, or maybe it’s Hodges rehashing the “I’m a patriot” rhetoric, but I was underwhelmed by the Taylor/Hodges showdown. I guess my expectations were too high.

Conversely, my expectations were pretty low for another faceoff we all knew was coming — Jack’s reunion with his estranged daughter, Kim. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m one of the many “24” fans that just isn’t a Kim Bauer fan. The character often solely existed to be a victim (usually in WAY contrived scenarios) for her father to rescue. On top of that, while Elisha Cuthbert is very pretty, she’s just not a very good actress.

That being said, I liked everything about Kim’s reunion with Jack last night. I liked Jack’s initial anger at budding-girlfriend Renee for calling her, which we ALL knew she would do. (Turns out Kim had been trying to contact him for a LONG time.) I liked Jack and Kim’s initial awkwardness. I liked the fact that the only thing that could break tough guy Jack is the torture of having his daughter watch him die. I liked the hug at the end.

Finally, I liked that Jack expressed that he was becoming sick so he could send Kim away — except that he wasn’t shaking because he was sick, he was shaking because he was about to sob uncontrollably. The writers were very smart to purposely bring Kim back as a potential hero (saving Jack’s life) instead of a victim. I’m curious to see how they handle this for the rest of the season (could she actually die from helping save Jack’s life?) especially with Jack’s conditioning worsening to the point that he loses his train of thought while talking to the president.

I’m also curious to see what the hell is up with Tony.

Turns out the bio weapon wasn’t entirely destroyed and a Starkwood operative escaped with a canister after killing two FBI agents. Moss (with a captured Tony in tow) pursued in a helicopter. After the pilot was taken out, the firefight was taken to the streets. Moss was eventually injured and Tony decided to check on him. As the Starkwood baddie approached, Moss tried to warn Tony — who waved the Starkwood guy off with a casual wave.

Oh. No.

As the same “Oh.No.” look came across Moss’s face, Tony suffocated him as the episode came to a close. R.I.P. Larry Moss. Jeffrey Nordling brought a surprising amount of understated quirkiness to the role of “Guy Who Foolishly Doubts Jack Bauer” before becoming full-blown likable towards the end of the character’s life.

As for Tony, we don’t yet have an explanation or hint as to why he’s gone to the dark side (not anything beyond repeated, ominous Carlos Bernard reaction shots throughout the hour). Since the writers have been so good this season (and since the twist came at the very end of the episode) I’m definitely giving the writers the benefit of the doubt on this one. I’ll trust that they’ll start to answer some of the questions on our mind (“Why would Tony destroy most of the bio weapon only to get away with one canister?) next week because, to be honest, right now it’s feeling like one twist too many.

So what’d you think of this episode? What did you think of Kim’s return to the show? Who is the Bigger Bad Hodges hinted at? (Perhaps, the briefly-seen, undeniably-slimy VP?) Finally, do you like the twist with Tony being a bad guy? (Unless, of course, they decide to make him a good guy again in four episodes.)

Hell's Kitchen: Closed for Business?

In my three seasons of watching this show, I honestly don’t believe I’ve seen Chef Gordon Ramsay as angry as he was last night.

Of course, he’s had plenty of classic, cruel, volcanic tantrums, but last night (as my ever-astute girlfriend pointed out) he actually looked like he was going to have a heart attack. (Or that his head was going to explode.) The fact that what set him off was someone meekly saying “I’m not a (bleep)face” out of the corner of his mouth.

Before all that, the continuation of “Hell’s Kitchen” found Ben still shocked that Ramsay had spared him instead of Carol. Ben, once again, was inexplicably filled with confidence and reasoned that Ramsay must see something in him. Yeah, what he sees is the opportunity to keep a delusional, pompous jackass to kick around for at least one more week.

Case in point: the faux elimination the next morning (shame on you for thinking this could be real, Danny — you’re smarter than that). Ramsay asked Ben and Andrea to remove their blue and red jackets, respectively. However, before they could leave “Hell’s Kitchen” Ramsay announced everyone would be joining the newly-formed black team.

Before the team got a chance to work together, each chef participated in the season’s first individual challenge. They had to create a dish for Ramsay to taste out of 14 ingredients that included wine, penne pasta, rosemary and chicken.

In the most shocking turn of events (DEFINITELY more “shocking” than the moments the show constantly tries to pump up as “shocking” in its promos) all six finalists created a dish Ramsay liked. Despite slamming Andrea’s presentation again, and advising Robert about the way he cut the chicken breast, Ramsay was generally positive with his critiques. (Sample Fox promo: “NEXT WEEK, on the most SHOCKING “Hell’s Kitchen” EVER. Chef Ramsay gives out CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!!” Cut to a shot of Andrea hysterically saying “I feel like I’m gonna cry!”)

The final two came down to Danny’s tasty meal and Ben, who was the only person that dared to cook the drumstick. Ben got the nod, couldn’t conceal a “yessss!” and earned a culinary field trip to San Francisco. He got to choose someone to accompany him, and, apparently, most people assumed it would be Danny (since he almost won). Instead, he picked Robert, and that sound you heard was Danny shitting a brick. (Grr! Clink.)

I actually didn’t think that Ben picking Not Bobby was as big a faux-pas as everyone else. Ben and Not Bobby had a lot of tension last week during dinner service, so taking him along on the trip seemed like a show of good faith. The two even got to ride around together on a private trolley. (I couldn’t help but wonder if the producers’ renting out a private trolley was a more subtle dig at Robert’s weight? Like they were saying a trolley filled with other people wouldn’t be able to contain his weight. Probably not, but I wouldn’t put it past them.) Not Bobby was just happy to be there, expressing gratitude to Ben — but not in a “gay way.”

Back in “Hell’s Kitchen” the others had to prep while intermittently picking up food dropped off by a delivery truck. I get that it’s punishment, but why would a chef have to do this personally and so frantically? That’s what Giovanni was asking himself as he struggled. He refused to sprint along with his younger teammates and dropped a box filled with what looked like wine. (To be fair, Paula dropped a box with glass stuff too.) It would prove to be just the start of a rough week for Giovanni. Witness his fed-up order to Paula to “Eat some Cheerios, have a cigarette and f--- off!” (I’m surprised I’ve never heard that one in a Scorcese movie.)

When Ben returned, he was his long-winded, pompous self describing the field trip. The guy is so delusional that I don’t actually believe he realizes no one wants to hear him brag. This week he added some condescension to the mix by stating he chose Not Bobby because of how much he’d evolved in the competition. (Since Ben is such a great evaluator of talent.)

Despite repeated assurances that this was the right final 6 (I believe Ji would’ve easily made it this far had she not gotten hurt) the dinner service was a disaster.

Andrea’s brain did the same thing Lacey’s did when she forgot how to cook meat. In this instance, Andrea lost the ability to comprehend the orders Ramsay was barking out. (I’ll admit that his machine gun delivery is hard to follow for me, but I’m not trying to be a chef.) Unfortunately, no one else seemed to know what the hell was going on. Ramsay still ordered Andrea (pictured, right) out of the kitchen, and I thought she might become the third person to be eliminated mid-dinner service this season. Instead, she got a gentle, encouraging pep talk from Coach Jean-Philippe. How come we haven’t seen more of this good cop, bad chef act before?

Fortunately for her, Giovanni was even worse. He served the chicken from Ben’s recipe bloody (ewww!), burned Not Bobby because he kept a blazing hot pan in a fridge (um, WHY?) and Not Bobby grabbed it (second degree burn, owww!) However, what really pissed Ramsay off was when Giovanni said he wasn’t a f--- face following one of chef’s insults. Chef Ramsay got all in Giovanni’s personal space and came close to head butting him as he jutted his head toward Gio like a (bloody) chicken. The only people who did anything right were Paula (nice job on the dressing) and Danny (not a peep from him during the dinner service, which is actually excellent).

Since Paula was complimented on camera, she got to choose two nominees for elimination and picked Andrea and Giovanni. Despite Andrea’s repeated appearances on the chopping block and the likelihood that Giovanni is a better chef than her but just had a REALLY bad week, Gio was sent home. He didn’t seem too broken up about it, giving a variation of Danny Glover’s shtick from “Lethal Weapon” (“I’m too old for this s---.”)

For some reason, though, the episode wasn’t over. That’s because Ramsay had one more “shocking” twist up his sleeve. He woke the chefs up from their beds at 2 a.m. and announced that he was disappointed with them and that “Hell’s Kitchen” would be closed. (Cue the lights dramatically being turned out.)

Whatever. As a viewer of the show, I was surprised but unaffected since there’s no way this is any sort of long-term development. (By “long-term” I mean “more than two episodes.”) As a consumer, I’d really be devastated by the fact that I won’t be able to go to a restaurant where I could be served bland appetizers and undercooked entrees two hours late.

So what’d you think of this episode? Is there any way this whole “Hell’s Kitchen is closed” nonsense won’t be a colossal waste of time? (There’s no chance it sticks, right?) Finally, can anybody crash the inevitable Danny vs. Paula finale? (Um, no.)

America's Next Top Recap: Feat of Clay

I guess when someone keeps waffling between whether they want to be a model or not, one of the best things you can do is take the decision out of that person’s hands.

That’s what happened on “America’s Next Top Model” after Wednesday’s elimination, but we’ll get to that toward the end of the recap.

This week, we got the reliably entertaining episode in which the contestants try to act. Because since these girls BARELY know how to model, it’s a perfect time to throw a completely different skill set at them.

Before that, we had more “drama” in the house as Aminat and Natalie faced off for the second week in a row. Aminat got in Natalie’s face after Natalie made a smug joke (she WAS kidding, people) about the rest of the girls doing the dishes for her following a big meal.

Natalie fretted that the rest of the girls hated her because she was such a good model and comes from a rich family (maybe there’s some truth to that). Aminat called Natalie “arrogant” (DEFINITELY some truth in that). The winner in this tired confrontation? No one. The loser? Us.

After that, the girls met up with Paulina in a theatre to work on their acting skills. The girls were challenged to deliver lines with amusing predetermined adverbs like “pitifully” (good job being pitiful, Celia) and “threateningly” all the while Paulina delivered her typically harsh-yet-amusing critiques. Soon thereafter, the girls got to act in a scene with theatre legend and noted actor — Clay Aiken! (Needle scratching on record sound.)

Seriously though, while not the first (or 2,000th) person I’d think of in an acting challenge (“Spamalot” credit, notwithstanding) Clay (pictured, left, with Paulina) did a really good job during his scene about an out-of-work model arriving for an audition. (Sorry Clay — it was a “go-see!”) The only people who were better were an over-the-top Celia, and an on-point London, who won the challenge and $5,000 worth of jeans. Predictably, Tahlia struggled to come out of her shell.

Back at the house, London generously shared her reward with her more svelte housemates. London expressed concern about her body (future storyline alert) and they were confirmed during panel, when Paulina told her that her shorts were “not becoming.” The fact that my girlfriend asked me if I thought London was pregnant (and she wasn’t kidding) is probably not that good.

This week, the girls filmed a Cover Girl commercial in two groups of four. Natalie, Fo, London and Tahlia were in one group, while Allison, Celia, Aminat and Teyona were in the other.

Oddly enough, the first take we saw (with Celia in the lead role) was BY FAR, the best of the night. The rest saw some squintiness (Teyona), meanness (Aminat), lack of presence (Fo and Tahlia when they WEREN’T in the background) and odd ghetto-ness (London). The only other person who did sort of well was Natalie.

Celia was awarded top commercial/photo, whileAllison (same face AGAIN, but different outfit at panel thanks to switching with Teyona after the judges noticed that one of Allison’s dresses was making a repeat appearance) and Tahlia were in the bottom two.

While I’d expected Allison to be sent home, since she only has one facial expression and Tahlia had performed well in recent photo shoots, I can’t really disagree with the decision. Guest judge Clay summed it up perfectly — it didn’t seem like Tahlia would EVER come out of her shell.

I’d been critical of Tahlia for saying she wants to be an inspiration, but then acting like a whiny drag for a significant portion of her time on the show. However, I still say she deserved to stay this week, and I commend her incredible bravery in putting herself out there in front of millions of people (The CW still gets “millions” of viewers, right?) and conducting herself with class on this show, right up until her elimination.

So what’d you think of this episode? Did Tahlia deserve to go? Would you rather be in the lead during one of the commercials or a scene-stealing background player (less pressure) Do you think London’s weight is going to be an issue? Finally, do you believe Tyra when she says she never used a teleprompter during her modeling career?

Lost: Where There's Smoke

Unfortunately, the laughably awful hair pieces alone prevent this installment from getting on my personal Top 10 list of best “Lost” episodes. (You’re SO much better than that, “Lost”.)

Otherwise, there were more than enough reasons to like the twisty “Dead is Dead.” Reason number one is that the episode gave the incredible Michael Emerson a terrific showcase. The second reason is that we got some freakin’ answers!

As Ben revealed to an increasingly powerful (and smug) Locke that he’d come back to the Island to be judged by the smoke monster, we learned how Ben first clashed with Charles Widmore over the kidnapping of Danielle Rousseau’s baby and eventually ascended to a leadership role with the Others. (At least until Locke showed up to apparently unseat Ben.)

In fact, this Ben/Locke role reversal played a major part in the episode from early on when Locke sat in Ben’s old office chair to address the “elephant in the room” (you killed me, buddy!) to the episode’s symbolic final shot as Ben literally looked up at the man he’d just begrudgingly sworn to obey.

But first, they had to talk about that elephant. As most of you (including my girlfriend Erica) suspected Ben told Locke that he’d killed him to help inspire the Oceanic Six to come back to the Island, but only after he’d gotten some crucial information out of his bald frenemy. (His line about simply not having time to convince him to commit suicide again was funny.) Ben also said his wide-eyed surprise at seeing Locke alive was attributed to the difference between believing something could happen and actually seeing it.

Of course, the genius of Michael Emerson’s performance is that we can’t ever tell if anything he’s saying is true. We KNOW, Ben is a pathological liar/manipulator and we’ve seen enough that we shouldn’t ever believe ANYTHING he says. Still, Ben (thanks to Emerson’s unblinking dead-eyed conviction) is always able to convince the other characters (and the audience) that at least SOME of the stuff he’s saying might maybe possibly be true. For example, I believe that his explanation for killing Locke is the truth, but I don’t believe that he ever expected to see him again. (“I’ll miss you John. I really will.”)

Fortunately, the guy he’s dealing with is not your father’s John Locke. Despite the fact that Ben was up and outwardly manipulating people (Cesar, R.I.P. — for now) against Mr. Born Again, Locke was able to sniff out at least one of Ben’s lies. Ben wasn’t being judged for coming back to the Island (that whole “whoever turns the wheel can never return” thing turned out to be a crock) — he was being judged for letting his daughter die.

And so we got the story of how Ben came to be baby Alex’s daddy circa 1988-89 (the plane crash year 2004 -16-year-old French girl = unfortunate late 80’s hair). I know that Emerson is a great actor and the show wanted to utilize him as much as possible, but having him play in his early 20’s was beyond absurd. (I’m assuming Ben was born around 1965, since he’s 12 years old during the 1977 Dharma days.)

Turns out Charles Widmore — who’d resented Ben’s Jacob-approved presence since the Island first healed the boy — had ordered Ben (and Ethan) to kill Rousseau. Instead, Ben, the guy who always longed to be reunited with the mother who died giving birth to him, couldn’t go through with it, spared her life, told her to steer clear of any whispers (more on THAT eventually, please) and took her baby. (Was this the Others’ first official kid-napping?)

Ben challenged Widmore to do the deed himself (“Is this what Jacob wants?”) before Charles backed off. (Noticeably missing from these flashbacks was “Ellie” Hawking, who’d been apparently leading the Others along with Widmore during the time Sawyer and Kate handed young Ben over Richard Alpert.) Eventually, Widmore was expelled from the Island for crimes like fathering a child with an outsider (hello, Penny!) and leaving the Island frequently (though judging by all the passports we know Ben has, he seems guilty of doing some travelling himself).

Widmore left with these not-so-lovely parting words about Alex: “If the Island wants her dead, then she’ll be dead.” (Note to self: apparently the course correcting Island wanted her dead.) This also makes me think that when Ben famously exclaimed “He changed the rules” after Alex’s death, he was referring to Jacob, not Widmore.

What’s not debatable is that Ben wanted Widmore’s daughter dead as retribution. As we guessed, the reason Ben was bloody a few episodes ago was from his attempt to kill Penny. The show further made us believe Ben had killed Penny (or Charlie) by having him ask Sun to tell Desmond that he was “sorry” before the unsuccessful assassination was eventually revealed. (Calling Widmore right before was ice cold.)

While the scene was undeniably tense (Desmond getting shot was a jolt), and Ben sparing the life of a second mother in this episode was great for us Desmond/Penny fans, this action sequence was actually the most puzzling part of the episode. Why was Desmond relatively ok after getting shot? (Was the “Island’s not done with you yet” mojo protecting him?) Why did Ben’s arm end up in a sling? What happened after Ben got dumped in the water? (Man that was a LOT of blood!) Did he simply swim 50 feet away and run away after that or did Des try to get at him some more? Finally, is it written in Michael Emerson’s contract that Ben gets his face beaten in as soon as his current wounds heal? Even though the book seems to be closed on this scene, I’m kind of hoping we revisit it at one point, because right now it’s coming off as sloppy and confusing.

Back in the present, Ben and Locke had hooked up with Sun and Lapidus back in Ben’s old house. (I loved that Sawyer and Hurley’s “Risk” game was still intact.) Sun announced that a creepy guy named Christian had told them to wait for John Locke (insert nonchalant wave). More importantly, Ben seemed genuinely surprised that Jack and Co. had been a part of the Dharma Initiative, pretty much confirming that he DID undergo some sort of memory wipe in the Temple. (Since the Others were still living in the jungle during the Alex kidnapping in ’88, I’m guessing the Purge hadn’t happened yet, which means Jack and Co. are probably safe — unless the writers are planning on keeping them where they are for 11 years.)

Ben tried to summon the smoke monster though a basin that looks like what happens when my bathroom sink gets a little clogged up. Eventually, Locke led Ben and Sun into the jungle and into the Temple. Actually, as Ben announced, it’s the wall that supposed to keep people like Sun and Locke (and me) from actually seeing the Temple. Given the Others’ theatrical penchant for playing dress up, I wouldn’t be shocked if the “Temple” is some sort of modern-ish structure.

In the show’s climax, Ben entered a subterranean chamber and was judged by the imposing, billowy smoke monster. So why did I think this scene was a bit of a cheesy meltdown? Emerson did his best, but having the monster judge Ben by literally replaying footage we’d already seen of some of Ben’s “not-so-greatest hits” as Alex’s father (Previously, on “Ben”) seemed pretty anticlimactic.

Fortunately, things picked up immediately afterward when “Alex” appeared and bullied Ben into serving Locke. We pretty much know “Alex” was really the smoke monster appearing in human form (like when it manifested as Mr. Eko’s brother, Yemi) and seeing into Ben’s heart. (I know you’re already planning on killing John again!) This also makes you wonder if the other “dead” people who appear on the Island are all Smokey. (Note that Locke was conveniently absent during Ben’s judgment and that we distinctly heard the smoke monster noise in the jungle right before Sun and Lapidus met up with Christian a few weeks ago.)

Ben had no choice but to comply. However, knowing firsthand what it’s like to be replaced as the “chosen one” to lead the Others, I still expect Ben to have one more big trick up his sleeve.

So what’d you think of this episode? Were the toupees heinous on purpose? (I’d like to think they were, since this is a pretty big show with a decent budget, but they still took me right out of the Island flashback scenes.) What’s in that crate Illana was fiercely protecting? Is it possible the Ajira survivors’ weird, aggressive behavior can be attributed to the same sickness that struck the French? Where DID Locke go when he wandered into the jungle? (To locate the Temple?) Finally, what lies in the shadow of the statue? (No worries — I won’t hit you in the head with a rifle if you don’t know.)

Heroes: Everybody Dig In

...and now the show is back to being stupid.

Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted anyway.

Except for incredibly strong performances by Jack Coleman (HRG), Ashley Crow (Sandra Bennett) and Greg Grunberg (Parkman) in “Turn and Face the Strange”, the show mostly went back to the lazy writing and nonsensical characterization that has plagued “Heroes” the last two seasons.

Last night, Sylar and the writers were CLEARLY having fun with the character’s new shape-shifting trick. However, instead of hunting people with abilities, Sylar set his sights on making HRG’s life a living hell. That turned out to be a good idea since it had taken HRG roughly 10 minutes to figure out the dead body from last week was not Sylar.

Complicating matters was the fact that Mrs. Bennett was in town to talk face-to-face with her husband (since Noah was avoiding her calls) after their daughter had fled the country. Sylar first disguised himself as Danko and introduced himself to Sandra. Later, he disguised himself as Mrs. Bennett and crushed HRG’s heart by serving him with divorce papers. Sylar was so pleased with himself that, when he transformed from Sandra back to himself in an alley, he didn’t seem to mind the fact that he was wearing women’s clothes.

I WILL commend the writers for doing a good job in conveying the sense of paranoia Bennett is now feeling — ANYONE in any given scene can be Sylar. This all led to the episode’s (season’s?) most devastating scene with HRG holding his wife at gunpoint and slamming her facedown on a table until a call about Mr. Muggles’ (how I miss you) medication proved that she was his wife. Well, she won’t be his wife for long after that display.

It was at this point that I wished the writers would make up their minds about HRG. Is the brilliant company man so stressed and paranoid now that he can’t think straight enough to immediately recognize his wife’s forged signature? (I’m not married, but I could easily pick out my girlfriend’s signature on anything.) Or is he still in-control and canny enough to fool Danko into admitting Sylar was alive? (LOVED that he went in without the glasses.) Oh no, wait, he’s back to being desperate enough to shoot a man he was only “pretty sure” was Sylar before running away and hilariously knocking over a few people. Turns out the guy HRG shot WAS Sylar, but by that point all the shape shifting was starting to hurt my head. (Hopefully, the writers won’t lean on this storytelling crutch so much that it breaks.)

Besides almost getting Sylar killed, Danko had to deal with a revenge-obsessed Matt Parkman.

It’s not Greg Grunberg’s fault that I never, EVER bought his “love” for the late Daphne, it’s the writers’ fault for basing that “love” on some vision from a silly spirit walk. As a result, the motivation behind Matt’s revenge kick felt faulty and difficult to believe from the start, as did the idea that he could ever actually kill someone.

Matt’s quest to hurt someone Danko cared about led him to Alena, a hot Russian who, according to my girlfriend Erica (and anybody with eyes), was WAY out of Danko’s league. (I believe my exact thoughts were, “Why would she be into someone who looks like a corpse?”) It all made sense when Alena was revealed to be an escort, but then it all went back to not making sense when it turned out that she DID care about him. (How bad are the rest of her clients that humorless Danko/Jacob is the one she falls for?)

After marching Alena to Danko’s apartment, Matt threatened to kill her, but (despite Grunberg’s terrific emotion and intensity) he couldn’t go through with it to the surprise of no one. Danko turned and shot Parkman, but fortunately, Hiro appeared at that very moment to stop the bullet and wheel Parkman to safety. It was also at that moment that I called “Bullshit!” (I get that Mohinder had told Hiro what Parkman was doing, but how in the hell did Mohinder or even Hiro know Matt’s exact location, and how did Hiro know to freeze time before he went in — once again, BULLSHIT!)

Of course, the less said about Hiro (and Ando) the better. In addition to fixing things, last night we found out Matt Parkman Jr. had the power to stop things from working — like all of Hiro and Ando’s scenes — when he’s not happy. Does anybody remember when Hiro and Ando were credible, fallible, well-meaning, noble characters? Now, they’re just clowns (make the face, Ando!) At least, the funny southern-accented Japanese truck driver Sam Douglas was SUPPOSED to be a joke.

The episode ended with the Petrellis/Bennetts meeting up in Coyote Sands. There, they will dig up a secret to the past (regarding a “Project Icarus”) revealed through Angela’s dream and through a mysterious file belonging to Mohinder’s father that nobody had heard of until it became convenient to reveal it just now.

Sigh. At least it was good to see so many of the core original characters together and united toward the same goal. Despite the rampant stupidity this week, I’m interested to see next week’s episode (titled “1961”) to find out just what that goal is.

So what’d you think of this episode? Didn’t Matt Parkman Sr. forget about his revenge kick and switch to happy-daddy mode a little TOO quickly when he met his son? How scary is Sylar when he’s dressed in drag? (Ok, at the very least the outfit was bisexual.) Finally, what secrets are buried in Coyote Sands? (Keep digging.)