American Idol: Saving the Best For Last

You know how you can pretty much always tell if an auditioning singer is going to suck just by looking at them?

Well, last night’s “American Idol” auditions in Kansas City (hey, isn’t that where David Cook is from? I’m not sure after last night) made that almost a lot more difficult by making the controversial decision to showcase more successful auditions than bad ones. The result was one of the more interesting and satisfying audition episodes in the show’s run. Isn’t it wonderful that it only took the show eight years to figure this out?

Don’t get me wrong. The show far from abandoned the train-wrecky appeal of bad auditions (I’m looking at you, tragically-attired opera guy). On top of that, I could easily make the case that the judges were a bit TOO generous in who they allowed to advance to the Hollywood round last night (I’m looking at you, Chris Tucker-soundalike Dennis Brigham, who actually resorted to semi-begging the judges and did, in fact, as Simon said, “dupe” the judges into letting him through.)

I just admire the decision by the producers to focus the bulk of their behind-the-scenes video packages on contestants who were actually worthy, and relegate the awful singers to shorter segments or even montages.

Let’s get the poopy stuff out of the way, shall we? Besides opera guy Brian Hettler, only a few other bad singers stood out. I’m not even sure Andrew Lang counts, since the thing that made him stand out where his two cheerleader/fans/stalkers. Of course, the worst had to be Michael Nicewonder (sounds like a Care Bear), who “treated” the judges to original songs he’d written for his mother and grandmother. The problem was that both gloomy songs sounded exactly the same. The bigger problem was that they both sounded like love songs. Double ick.

The rest was a collection of strong-to-more than adequate singers, including two who I could easily envision in the top 12.

I mentioned a few paragraphs back that the judges could be accused of being overly generous last night. However, for the most part, I give them a pass especially when vocal ability is evident. I like to think that if a person can flat-out sing, they can more easily be coached to learn restrain or change other aspects of their performance.

That’s why I was totally ok with the judges allowing former YouTube sensation Von Smith to advance to the Hollywood Round, despite the fact that his audition was MILES over-the-top and that he pretty much beat every note in “Over the Rainbow” to death with a brick. Although, the kid has apparently never met a song he couldn’t over sing, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he can learn some restraint in Hollywood Week. Similarly, it was obvious that Asa Barnes could sing, but his “The Way You Make Me Feel” felt rushed and a little too high. I think he can do better with a different song and some coaching because, as I told my girlfriend Erica, he has genuine star power. (Erica then went on to get me to confess that “genuine star power” meant that I thought he was good looking — she’s like “The Closer”.) So far, though, his adorable daughter is more popular.

Then there were the singers who skated by more on pure cunning than singing talent. I’m thinking marginally-good India Morrison is some sort of mini-genius for realizing that if she auditioned with her less-talented singer Asia that she would look better by comparison. Similarly, there’s no way a guy who seems as smart as Anoop Desai honestly thought it was a good idea to audition in too-short khaki shorts and flip flops. Let’s just say I wouldn’t be shocked if the geek-tastic package was designed to make the judges seem that much more impressed by his solid singing voice. Also, do we really think Ashley Anderson would’ve gotten on TV last night (or advanced to Hollywood) if she hadn’t decided to sing the Simon Cowell co-written “Footprints (not Footsteps) in the Sand”?

Is there any way Michael Castro makes it to the second round if he’s not related to third-runner up (not “fourth runner-up,” Ryan — he came in fourth) Jason Castro? You can say he’s got a stronger voice than Jason (and I just did), and I DEFINITELY like his laid back, confident moxie (as opposed to Jason’s laid-back cluelessness), but he just wasn’t THAT good. And where does he get off calling someone else’s hair “girly”? Rufio called — he wants his hairstyle back.

I was also kinda meh on welder Matt Breitzke. Sure, his version of “Ain’t No Sunshine” was impressive, and his story about giving up music to raise a family was relatable, but I just don’t see him making it very far in this competition and I just don’t think he’s that different from a thousand other guys who’ve done the bar thing. I was considerably more impressed with Jessica Furney, who lives with her 93-year-old grandmother and delivered a solid version of “Cry Baby.” Mostly though, I just liked her, but I fear she’ll get lost in the shuffle at Hollywood Week. Hopefully her non-teenybopper voice will make her stand out more than the likes of Casey Carlson, who is very pretty, but delivered a pretty forgettable version of “A Thousand Miles.”

My two favorites of the evening, and the two I could see in the top 12, were Danny Gokey (pictured, right) and Lil Rounds (pictured, left). Even if we hadn’t gotten Danny’s heartbreaking back story about his young wife dying, his audition would’ve put him among the best male singers we’ve seen so far this year. The fact that he absolutely seems sincere in wanting to honor his wife with his singing (as opposed to wanting to score screen time) makes him that much more appealing. I was genuinely invested in Danny being good after the back story and after his friend Jamar Rogers made it though (he turned out to be better than Jamar).

Finally, there was the memorably-named Lil Rounds, who didn’t have any deaths in her back story, but still dealt with plenty of tragedy after a tornado destroyed the house where she lives with her husband and three kids. I thought she was certainly the best singer of the night, but I also felt like the judges were in a bit of a hurry to over praise her. A combination of Fantasia and Mary J. Blige? Really, Randy? Are you guys TRYING to start a backlash for this girl before she even gets to Hollywood Week. She’s VERY good, but let’s take a deep breath.

So what’d you think of this episode? Wasn’t Kara mostly a non-factor in her second outing as a judge (let’s hope saying a singer has “chops” doesn’t become her thing)? Will Von Smith ever sing a song by a male artist? Did you see anyone with top 12 potential? Finally, what was more awkward? David Cook’s stepdad and mom oddly crossing the street and “accidentally” running into a Seacrest interview or Seacrest pretending to make conversation with contestants’ families right before they come out of the room after their auditions? (Do we think that stuff is written for Ryan or he just improvises it?

Nip/Tuck/Thoughts: Big Babies

Last night’s episode of “Nip/Tuck” was strange.

Ok, so, EVERY episode of “Nip/Tuck” is strange, so imagine how out-there it had to be to make me notice.

Unfortunately, this was NOT always a good thing. There were at least two different times during “Gene Shelly” where the events that were occurring were so weird or out-of-whack, that I was convinced one of the characters was having a dream sequence. In one instance (Christian and Liz having sex), I was happy that what we were seeing was really happening, while in the other (Christian and Kimber’s scene) I was disappointed and confused to realize the mess I just saw couldn’t be explained away by a dream).

Mostly though, I enjoyed the episode due to the usual, outlandish shenanigans (Sean in a diaper!) I’m also liking Christian being down in the dumps, Liz being there to pick him up (although maybe not anymore after last night). Most of all, I’m loving Raj!

The episode opened with the young know-it-all offering to tell the androgynous Gene Shelly and his equally-androgynous wife what he didn’t like about themselves. Of course, no matter how good Raj is supposed to be, it seems absurd to have a 17-year-old sitting in on consults and performing surgeries (somewhere Doogie Howser is scoffing), but this is “Nip/Tuck” and Raj is funny as hell so I’m happy to let it go.

In turn, Raj was happy to receive oral sex from Mrs. Shelly (how did THOSE two hook up?) until he found out he had a penis — which was attached to her balls. Altogether now — EWWWWWW.

Fortunately for him, his colleague Liz was having her own sexual-identity issues after a quickie with Christian and was able to offer advice to the “freaked-out-I-may-be-gay” Raj. My take’s always been that liking musical theatre, or having an appreciation for interior design aren’t the things that make you gay — sexual activity with other guys makes you gay. Then again, Raj thought Mrs. Shelly was a woman, so he’s straight, right?

For her part, Liz fell for the ol’ “pretending that I’m asleep while we have sex trip” (who among us hasn’t fallen for that one, right?) I was surprised by how much I didn’t mind this sexual encounter. I’ve always been a fan of Liz and Christian’s relationship, and I was enjoying her taking care of him while he watched “Ellen” (oh, the indignity!) I was worried the sexual encounter would ruin all of this (especially after Christian admitted he was awake and gloated like the immature jerk that he is) and I was right. Then I realized that Christian and Liz being buddy-buddy would’ve gotten old fast and that, in a perverse way, Liz DID help Christian get back to feeling better. The other reason it worked was because it was kinda hot.

It’d been a rough night for Christian. First he was rejected by an apparently schizophrenic Kimber. I’m glad the character’s back, but what was up with her scene with Chrsitian. We learned the character is still with porn producer Ram (and Eden!), so why the hell is she so readily willing to bone Christian again? I also didn’t buy her laughing in Christian’s face about the scar on his chest, though her observation that it served him right for all the emotional scars he’s inflected made sense. Her character’s always been troubled, but I don’t remember her ever being cruel (unless you count the one time she had to pretend to be cruel to Matt). Mostly Kimber came off as an insane, multiple-personality loony in this scene.

I also enjoyed Christian’s disastrous encounter with the garlic-breathed prostitute who didn’t quite match her picture online. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she kicked his ass, took his money AND his pills. Not fun times for him.

Sean (pictured, left) wasn’t having a much-better week. We learned at the end of last week’s episode that he was faking not being able to walk, and I was happy to get some insight this week as to why.

First, he had to contend with an overzealous student who apparently has a fetish for babies. Let me be clear: I’m not saying that she really likes babies, I’m saying that she, apparently, would like to have sex with a baby. Altogether now — Double EWWWWWWW.

Still, this subplot WAS pretty hilarious and I actually felt bad for the little freak when Sean exploded at her and revealed he could walk (everyone has their weird stuff, right?) Unfortunately for him, Julia saw him from a distance and told Matt and Christian, who decided to confront him.

I actually really enjoyed Julia’s reappearance last night. We learned that she’s still with Olivia and still mad at Sean for lying to her about them being married while she had amnesia. Most importantly, she had one of the best lines of the night when she told Christian “I thought it was you” upon seeing Sean kicking a woman out of the apartment and walking around in a diaper.

A little later, Christian confronted Sean and told him that he understood why he would want to stay in the chair. For years, Sean had been the responsible one taking care of everyone else, so he didn’t begrudge his friend if Sean wanted someone to take care of him (and change his diaper) for once. In the end, Sean walked over to the sick, weak Christian and put his hand on his shoulder to help his friend. Or maybe he just realized that everyone (not just the harsh personal trainer) were on to him. Either way, it’s perfect timing for Christian because I have a feeling Liz won’t be his nurse anymore.

So what’d you think of this episode? Did we have to see Christian throwing up so much (I lost count after the fifth puke)? Did Christian really make Liz have an orgasm or do we think she was faking? (I’m thinking it was real, which is why she was so alarmed and mortified that he was actually awake.) Finally, were you happier to see Julia or Kimber back?

American Idol: Praising Arizona

This...is the first of what’s sure to be many, MANY “American Idol” recaps over the next few months.

That number would be even higher if I ever decided to recap the (time-wasting, soul-ravaging) results shows. Still, I don’t even pretend like I’m not going to get sucked into “American Idol”-mania. You know who you are, and you know that if you tune in for a few minutes you’re in for the rest of the season.

Heck, I was already in, but the opening montage of the show’s greatest (and not so much) moments got me surprisingly excited all over again. It’s a good thing too because these audition episodes can be an absolute chore to write about.

I mean, the audition episodes are usually (un)evenly divided between the good singers and the train wrecks, with a lot of fluff video packages thrown in (though I’ll give the producers credit for the entertaining fluff video packages last night). What am I going to tell you about the singers who suck? The judges know they suck, and we usually know they’re going to suck before they even open their mouths. The only people who don’t know they suck are the deluded fools themselves. On the other hand, if a singer is good, there’s always a slight chance that they may not turn out to be a favorite of the producers, which leads to a very good, infuriating chance that we’ll never seen that person again.

So I personally hope for extremes. Since I know the producers are never going to show mostly good singers, I want the few talented Idol-wannabes to be amazing. On that same token, I want the train wrecks to be ESPECIALLY train wrecky (like the one from “The Fugitive”, for example).

By those standards, last night’s season 8 premiere in Arizona was a bit of a letdown. Sure, there were several memorable moments (and a new judge to introduce), but I didn’t really see anyone who was a shoo-in for the top 12. On the bright side, the show didn’t stoop to showcasing potentially mentally-handicapped people to score laughs.

Not unless you count potentially mentally-handicapped Ryan Seacrest asking a blind guy to give him a high-five.

Unfortunately for Ryan, that was only his second most-embarrassing moment of the night. His most embarrassing was the comical look of repulsion he had on his face after “Bikini Girl” (more on her later) made good on her promise to make out with him. (Thank you, producers for piping in “I Kissed a Girl” for Seacrest’s sake during the smooch.)

But enough about Seacrest. Let’s talk about the fairly significant change to the number 1 show on TV.

I really liked judge Kara (not Kah-ra, nor Karen) DioGuardi. I like that there’s now a seemingly-reasonable person on the panel besides Simon, who does NOT go out of his or her way to be an ass. Say what you will about Paula, but she definitely serves her good-cop, tipsy purpose on the show. Randy, predictably, remains totally useless. I don’t know if “reasonable” is the most exciting reality shot persona, but it’s only one episode, and I feel confident she’ll become the second most interesting person on the panel (not that it’s a HUGE task).

Her showdown with “Bikini Girl” (pictured, left) was the much-hyped highlight of the audition episode, and I have to say — their confrontation actually sort of delivered. Not so much the fact that Kara and “Bikini Girl” (no one cares what her real name is, right?) eventually engaged in a sing off, but the reason “Bikini Girl” felt compelled to become “Bikini Girl” in the first place.

I know a few incredibly talented people who’ve tried out for this show and never made it past the pre-screening phase. “Bikini Girl” is a mediocre-at-best singer who, despite her cockiness, probably realizes this fact and did what she needed to do to get noticed. So I’m not really mad at her. I’m more disappointed in that Simon, Randy and the rest of the producers fell for such an obvious ploy that is, fundamentally, no different than dressing up as the Statue of Liberty or a lobster. Then again, Simon knows as well as anybody that “Bikini Girl” has zero shot at advancing past Hollywood week.

Fortunately for her, there were plenty of bad singers to make her look better. My favorite’s were deep-voiced Elijah Scarlett, who received my favorite backhanded compliment of the year when Paula told him he had a voiceover career voicing monsters. I also laughed almost as much at Michael Gurr as Randy did, the only difference is I didn’t have to put a sheet of paper in front of my face to hide it.

Other failed auditioners I didn’t enjoy so much were rocker/poser Randy Madden (just desperate and sad), and the guy who called himself X-Ray (the guy had already become tiresome before Simon told him he was becoming tiresome).

Still, there were more than a few things to like. I liked Michael Sarver almost as much as the judges did, mostly because I didn’t know “roughneck” was an actual profession. Still, I fear 70 percent of his appeal as a singer is the fact that his voice is surprising for his appearance and 30 percent is actual talent. I also really liked Alex Wagner-Trugman, not so much for his singing (and his crazy eyes), but because of his great, muttered comeback when Simon made a stupid joke about Alex being more like a cocker spaniel than Joe Cocker (“that joke would’ve been funny if it made any sense”). Zing!

The inspirational story of the night was certainly the aforementioned, legally-blind Scott MacIntyre. I love that he ballroom dances and indulges Ryan Seacrest, and his rendition of Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” is lovely, but I doubt he has the pipes to win the competition. Still, that won’t stop him (and his memorable story) from making him a contender in a few weeks.

My favorites of the evening were Emily Hughes, Cody Sheldon and Deanna Brown.

Sure, horror-movie aficionado Sheldon doesn’t have the strongest voice in the world, but he has an interesting tone (which my girlriend Erica, REALLY liked) which set him apart from the many Boyz 2 Men-sounding wannabes. Hughes delivered a strong version of Heart’s “Barracuda”, but how much of it was simply an Ann Wilson impersonation? Still, I have a feeling she’s really got the goods, which is bad news for her band, which’ll have to cancel that European tour. (How much you wanna bet we’ll see that breakup go down?)

Finally, Deanna Brown (pictured, right) won the judges over with her freakily blue eyes and a distinct (Kara is absolutely right that her voice would be instantly recognizable on the radio) version of “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.” Simon asked her why she hadn’t made it before, and she answered that it hadn’t been her time and that she hadn’t gotten her chance yet. The real answer is because people in the music business like Simon are more fixated on the “Bikini Girls” of the world instead of the people with actual talent.

So what’d you think of this episode? (I thought it was a solid, if unspectacular, start to the season.) Wasn't "Bikini Girl" kind of a butter face? Did you seen anyone with top 12 potential? What’d you think of the new judge? Finally, what other potentially-insensitive things can we have Ryan Seacrest ask blind people to do? (I’m thinking he could ask them to “watch where they’re going” or throw a football at them and yell “catch!”)

Doubt Review

It’s not too often you get to see two of the best actors on the planet square off, but that’s exactly what you’ll get if you go check out “Doubt.”

(And if you go the AMC theatre in Brandon, Florida, you’ll also get the impression that only little old ladies are shelling out money to see “Doubt” in theatres. Honestly, my girlfriend Erica and I were the only two people in the crowd who were under the age of 60 — I’m not even exaggerating.)

“Doubt” is based on the 2005 Pulitzer and Tony-winning play by John Patrick Shanley, who also wrote the script for and directed the film adaptation (we’ll get into why that’s not such a great thing a little later).

The story centers on Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Academy Award winner Meryl Streep), the severe, old-fashioned principal at a parochial school in New York in 1964, who squares off against the progressive, popular, charismatic Father Flynn (Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman) after the naive Sister James (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams) accuses Flynn of an unspeakable act toward a student (Joseph Foster). (Ok, maybe if you’ve watched the news the last 10 years, the act isn’t such a shocker.)

I never saw the play on stage, but since Shanley adapted his own script, I imagine the film adaptation remains mostly unchanged (saved for the addition of a few secondary characters). As such, “Doubt” doesn’t just explore issues of faith and, well, doubt, but it also deals touches on discrimination based on race and sexuality, male/female hierarchy, and progressiveness versus the status quo.

In fact, the only problem with Shanley adapting his own play is that he decided to take on the role of director as well. His only previous directing credit was “Joe Versus the Volcano” almost 20 years ago, and his inexperience shows at times. Shanley just doesn’t bring anything to the table as a director (though cinematographer Roger Deakins does a fine job) making some of the scenes appear stage-y. Not only that, Shanley feels the need to hit the audience over the head with repeated and overt symbols like a burnt out light bulb, a windstorm and thunder crashing during a key scene.

It’s too bad because, really, all he had to do was get out of his actors’ way.

Streep is great (as usual) as Sister Aloysius, easily projecting the authority needed to convey the feared principal. There are also enough moments in Shanley’s screenplay and in Streep’s performance to suggest Aloysius isn’t a complete monster and is mostly completely ill-equipped to handle the changing times in her church and in the rest of the world. If I have one minor gripe about Streep’s performance is that she tended to veer too close to “over-the-top” territory and I was very conscious of the fact that she capital A “Acting” a few times.

Hoffman is even better as Flynn. His deliberate facial expressions and mannerisms give almost nothing away about Father Flynn’s innocence or guilt, but still manage to convey a multitude of thoughts and emotions. I think I actually liked his first, more controlled face off with Aloysius more than his louder blow up later in the film.

Amy Adams is also solid as the pure, impressionable Sister James. The character, by definition, is sort of the blank slate and moldable sounding board for Flynn and, especially, Aloysius, so it’d be very easy for Sister James to come off as weak or easily dupable. Still, Adams infuses her performance with enough heart and humor to make us care for her. (There are actually quite a few funny moments in this movie, mostly from Aloysius and James’ interactions.)

However, there are no laughs when Viola Davis shows up for her brief and devastating turn as the young boy’s mother. Of course, you’ve heard about how great Davis’ one big scene is (strong enough to earn her a bunch of nominations, including an almost-certain Oscar nod), but it’ll still feel like a punch in the gut. Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that it’s probably the first time in 20 or 30 years that an actress has blown Meryl Streep off the screen.

In that uninterrupted scene with Streep and Davis, Shanley does display the good instinct to simply film the two actresses in an extended, uninterrupted. Despite the fact that I slammed him a few paragraphs back, I like that Shanley allows several of his scenes to be carried by his actors and unfold at a leisurely pace.

“Doubt” is an interesting story that will probably promote discussion afterwards, and features phenomenal acting. Then again, that’s probably almost exactly what people said about the play, so I still can’t help the film adaptation was somewhat of a missed opportunity to take it to the next level.

Doubt...B

24: Nice To CTU Again

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Sorry, I’m still pumped up from that one scene in last night’s “24.” I was seriously looking for someone to high-five afterwards, but the only person around was my unbelievably tolerant girlfriend, and that would’ve been inappropriate.

You know which scene I’m talking about — it came at the very end of the first hour of last night’s two-part episode. Jack hotwired the car, pushed the pedal with his hands, let out that awesome scream (AAAAHHHHHH!!!) and crashed through the parking garage barrier (and landed not too far from Tony actually). I thought Tony’s own jump from the parking garage (leading to the car’s windows blowing out when he landed on them) was impressive, but our man Jack just had to one up him in the awesomeness department.

The scene was vintage “24” — intense, excellently-staged (this show has the best action sequence on TV) and featuring just the right amount of implausibility. It’s implausible enough to make you shake your head and chuckle a bit, but not so silly that it completely takes you out of the show.

The best parts about hours 3 and 4 (especially hour 3!) is that a lot of it made me feel the way I did after the parking garage scene — I wanted to stand up and high five someone.

Don’t get me wrong. The show still has gaps in logic big enough to drive a truck (with your hands on the pedals) through (how did the sniper know about the Matobo kidnapping if Emerson himself didn't know until he got the call?). More importantly, is the very real possibility that the show is going too far out of its way to win back fans after the poorly-received season 6. (In case you’re wondering I ended up getting the DVD — because I’m a fool.) Think about it: if producers sat around and tried to think of ways to make fans happy again, bringing Tony back from the dead would be right at the top, quickly followed by re-introducing the likes of Chloe and Bill.

It didn’t take long for Jack and Tony to face off in the interrogation room. The episode opened with Sangalan baddie Ike Dubaku notifying President Taylor that he had every intention of using the CIP firewall device unless she agreed to withdraw the American forces poised to invade his country. Since Taylor ran on a “not negotiating with terrorists” campaign, she implored the FBI to try to push Tony into telling them where the CIP device was located.

Jack convinced a reluctant Moss (who seems like the kind of guy who reluctantly agrees to a LOT of thing) to let him talk to Tony by telling Moss, “Right now, I’m your best option.” We all know Jack is pretty much always the best option, but that’s neither here nor there.

The interrogation scene began with Tony stonewalling Jack, but delivered all the explosive goodness we could hope for. When Tony told Jack that Jack was spitting on his dead wife’s grave by working for the government, Jack tossed a table (always fun) and threatened to kill him (and keep him dead). That’s when Tony muttered “Blue Sky” into Jack’s ear before he was taken out of the room by an annoyed Moss (when isn’t this guy annoyed?)

Turns out “Blue Sky” is some sort of old CTU emergency code. Jack called a secret number and on the other end of the line was an unshaven Bill Buchanan (pictured, left) and a still-snarky Chloe. Hell. Yes.

In yesterday’s recap, I theorized that Tony may not be all bad since he didn’t allow the two planes to crash. So it wasn’t exactly a shocker to me (and, probably, most long-time fans) that he was indeed working undercover. Despite the fact that Tony’s good-guy turn was somewhat predictable, it was still effective and impactful.

Plus, it led to a great, vintage “24” action sequence with Jack and Tony escaping FBI headquarters (culminating in that parking lot), while Chloe directed them from her computer station (this is the way things SHOULD be). The one wrinkle thrown in was that Chloe was facing off against another formidable, snarky techie in Janeane Garofalo’s Janis, which the show slyly acknowledged by having each character compliment the other. At least I thought that Chloe’s “it’s really pissing me off” counts as a compliment.

After picking them up in his blue van (which the Feds were inexplicably unprepared to chase), Bill explained that the makeshift CTU was running an operation to investigate an American connection to Sangalan interests in the highest levels of government (the usual, “no one can be trusted” thing). The thing I found most interesting (other than James Morrison’s startling resemblance to Neil Patrick Harris and Bill Buchanan now dressing like a Sprocket ) was the revelation that Tony actually WAS turned against the U.S. government after his resurrection and only came around to the good side after the CIP firewall job. Now, Tony and Jack had to convince Tony’s boss, Emerson, that Jack had also gone rogue, in order to gain his trust and gain access to Col. Dubaku.

Tony’s been working for Emerson, who recruits disgruntled former government agents and who he genuinely seems to admire. He will almost certainly present a conflict when the time comes for Tony and Jack to take him down. I thought Tony might be forced to make a decision sooner than he wanted when Emerson tried to have Jack killed, but Jack made a convincing case for employment with Emerson’s group. I also thought it was interesting that Bill was strangely ok with Jack potentially being killed. Then again, the guy doesn’t even bother to shave anymore, so why would he care if his friend dies. (I can’t help but wonder what became of Bill’s wife Karen Hayes.)

After quizzing Jack a bit further about his motives for becoming a traitor, he seemed satisfied with having Jack in his group. However, I’m still betting Emerson doesn’t trust 100 percent trust Mr. Bauer. Either way, Jack has to help Emerson get into that panic room and kidnap Prime Minister Matobo if he wants to get face time with Col. Dubaku and uncover the conspiracy.

Hot on his trail is the betrayed Agt. Walker, who was so furious that the seemingly traitorous Jack duped her that she decided to enroll in the undergraduate program of the Jack Bauer Institute of How To Get Stuff Done (she’s also too clueless to notice the borderline creepy crush Moss has on her). First, she was a little too willing to use dubious methods while Tony was still in custody, but she let her Torture Flag fly freely when pressing a gun against the wounded sniper’s abdomen and later cutting off his air supply to get information. I’m still not fully behind Agt. Walker and her junior badass routine, but I don’t think she’s the FBI mole anymore.

Janis thought she’d discovered the mole was fellow techie Sean. He didn’t help his own cause by creepily sneaking up behind her right when she found out he’d worked around the company’s security lockdown. Turns out Sean was just checking on his wife, who is on one of the flights threatened by the CIP passenger dilemma. Still, it’s not like Sean is above lying — he later pretended to be Moss in order to get his wife’s flight moved to the head of the queue for plans that were going to be grounded. I have to say, despite being extremely illegal, I’d probably do the same thing.

I haven’t spent too much time talking about the events in the White House because they’re not terribly interesting.

I’m not even bashing the First Gentleman Henry’s (I thought Ne-Yo was the First Gentleman) ongoing crusade to prove his son’s death was a murder. He got confirmation of his theory last night. His son Roger was killed and framed for insider trading because Roger had found a connection between a high-ranking member of the White House and Sangalan interest. Another interesting revelation is that Henry’s personal Secret Service Agent Eddie appears to be in on the plot (I actually Eddie genuinely cared for Henry). Of course, I’m solely basing this on the semi-sinister look on Eddie’s face after Henry’s meeting with Samantha.

By far, the least interesting stuff was the scenes with the president. Yes, Cherry Jones is doing a fine job, but every scene with her and White House aide consisted of him reminding her (and the audience) of her options, him pushing for a withdrawal of American troops, and the president refusing to make a decision. This seriously happened like five times last night. I’d hate to be a Monday Morning President, but why not give the order for the American forces to remain where they are until the very last second — if the Feds (or Jack and Tony) can’t get the CIP firewall, (thanks for reminding us AGAIN the deadline is 1 p.m. Ethan!) then you withdraw the troops. Duh!

Also, it’s so screamingly obvious that Ethan is playing for the bad guys that I’m surprised someone who’s supposed to be as smart as the president hasn’t seen it. I’d bet anything he’s not so much protecting American lives as he is looking out for Sangalan interests. Mostly though, I just have never trusted Bob Gunton since he played the evil warden in “The Shawshank Redemption.”

So what’d you think of this episode? Did you want Chloe and Jack to hug when they first saw each other? (I wanted them to WANT to hug, but not actually do it — which is what happened.) Anyone else think Jack telling Agt. Walker "don't fight it" when he subdued her was a little rape-y? Got any new ideas on who the FBI mole might be? (I’m now feeling Janis — she’s nervous all the time and I don’t think it’s JUST because she’s socially awkward.) Finally, are you ok with Tony’s explanation about how he’s alive? (Some chatter about a hypothermic compound.)

Random Thought of the Moment: Sure-To-Be-Unpopular Opinion Edition

Nobody likes Kate Winslet more than I do. Well maybe her husband, kids and a few other people do, but not many.

However, I was surprised by how completely turned off I was during both of her Golden Globe acceptance speeches last night. I get that she’d been obscenely overdue for a Golden Globe and remains obscenely overdue for an Oscar, and I’ve always hoped the latter situation resolves itself within the next two months.

Still, a potential Winslet victory might be a little less special if she turns into the blubbering, over long indulgent mess she was last night. I know I’m sounding like a bit (ok, a LOT) of a Frosty the Snowman here, but get a hold of yourself woman! It’s not even the Oscar! Also, you’re the best actress in your generation — you really had NO idea you could win?

Also, if you’re going to be emotional, at least pull it together long enough to sneak in something significant like Halle Berry did during her hysterical Oscar speech (too bad that win looks more like a jinx every passing year). I WILL say her forgotting Angelina Jolie's name was totally unintentional and pretty funny.

I understand that I can’t dictate how any person should act upon winning an award that’s very important to them. I have no idea how I’d react! I guess, for some reason, I expected better out of Kate Winslet. Hell, I even enjoyed Colin Farrell’s rambling speech more than Winslet’s words, which singlehandedly made the show go over time.

The second order of business is “30 Rock.” I know my girlfriend Erica’s gonna kill me for the Winslet bash, but she’ll have my back in this one — I hate to sound like one of the haters Tina Fey told to suck it, but does “30 Rock” really need to win EVERYthing? Yes, it’s a very funny and witty show, but is it THAT much better than all the other comedies on TV that the other shows don’t stand a chance.

Full disclosure: I’m an “Office” freak who thinks the people at Dunder Mifflin put on the best show on TV. However, I think “Weeds” had a remarkably strong season. Also, “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives” have impressively sustained their creativity to merit consideration.

I’m not saying any of those shows is DEFINITELY better than “30 Rock” (actually, I AM saying that “The Office” is better), I just wish TV critics would get over their obvious crushes on Tina Fey and Co. We get it critics — you like the show because it’s about TV and about a world you’re intimately familiar with. However, I WON’T go as far as to say that the “30 Rock isn’t clever”, which may or may not have been something Erica said.

Do I have a point with either of these two gripes or (as I suspect) am I totally nuts?

24: New Jack City

FINALLY.

After almost two years since the last original episode of “24”, the show came back last night with the first part of its customary two-night, four-hour premiere. And, no, I didn’t forget about the TV movie “24: Redemption” — it’s just that “Redemption” felt more like a sample you get at the supermarket. It wasn’t until last night that the “24” we know and (and, if you’re reading this, I assume) love came back.

And I have to say I was slightly underwhelmed by the first two hours of season 7. (Insert needle scratching on record sound.) Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the show’s crap or that this season has no chance. It’s just that, as “24” season premieres go, this one was missing a little something. Actually, it was missing a BIG something, the sort of earth-shattering effect that leaves fans shaken and sets the stage for the rest of the season.

The gold standard of course was the season 5 premiere (I’ll not spoil it for the more sensitive viewers), but even season 2 had Jack beheading a guy by the end of the first hour. The big shocker for season 7 was that Tony Almeida is alive and well, and working for a terrorist group with ties to the African terrorist group we saw in “Redemption.” Of course, Tony’s reappearance would’ve been a lot more shocking if it weren’t part of all the show’s promo materials as far back as a year ago.

Of course, it’s completely possible (and actually kinda likely) that the show will deliver that wow moment Monday night by the end of the fourth hour (I still haven’t forgiven the show for killing the person they killed at the end of season 6’s fourth hour).But instead of speculating about what’s going to happen tonight, let’s talk about what happened last night.

Jack Bauer, who don’t need no stinkin’ lawyer, was facing a Senate committee led by Red from “That 70’s Show” (aka Kurtwood Smith). The Senator wanted Jack to answer for all the times he circumvented the law in order to protect our country. While Kiefer Sutherland was great in this scene (and in the first two episodes), I found his standoff-ish demeanor curious. I thought part of the reason he was in Africa was to help atone for all the things he’d done back in the States, but now here he was telling Senator Red that he regretted nothing. I figure Jack just doesn’t feel like he has to apologize to the Senator or any of the other suits in Washington.

The hearing was interrupted by Renee Walker of the FBI who needed Jack’s help with an urgent matter. It seems the loving father who was kidnapped in the episode’s opening sequence (those car crashes WERE badass) is Michael Latham. Apparently, Latham helped design our country’s CIP firewall which is responsible for protecting, um, everything. As my girlfriend Erica pointed out, it doesn’t seem very prudent for a security system which is so crucial to our country to be so vulnerable. Honestly, if all anybody had to do was kidnap Latham, then that guy should be as heavily guarded as the president.

Speaking of the president (that’s a professional segue way people), I’m liking new president Allison Taylor. After the fiasco that was Wayne Palmer, the show seems content to going back and trying to replicate the uber-goodness of original prez David Palmer. President Taylor is adamant about the U.S. interfering in Sangala, the fictional war-torn African country where “Redemption” was set. The president’s gender or inexperience wasn’t an issue last night and I liked that. Cherry Jones is so authoritative as an actor that she can completely chew out her Secretary of State and not have it seem like a stretch at all.

I’m considerably less into her husband Henry’s escapades. Henry is obsessed with the idea his son Roger’s death wasn’t a suicide. Since we saw in “Redemption” that a co-worker of Roger’s was murdered for poking his nose where it didn’t belong by a Big Bad group led by Jon Voight, I’d say his hunch is probably right. However, since Roger wasn’t much of a memorable or sympathetic character in “Redemption”, it’s hard to get behind or care about Henry’s crusade. And that’s assuming you watched “Redemption” and realize that Henry is probably right — otherwise you might think he’s a maniac the same way the Secret Service agent assigned to protect him does. Hopefully, they won’t drag this out too long.

On the other hand, I realize “24” is a fast-paced show, but I wish they would’ve dragged a couple of things out last night. For example, it would’ve been nice if it would’ve taken more than a little over an hour to find and capture Tony. Also, it might’ve been cool if their fight had lasted more than 10 seconds. But let’s back up a bit.

Jack had to agree to play by the FBI’s rules in helping to catch Tony. After Agt. Walker (a blank slate whom I’m still trying to decide if I like or not) revealed that Tony was behind the current threat, she explained to an incredulous and skeptical Jack (and the incredulous and skeptical “24” fans who watched Tony die) how Tony was still alive. Apparently after his heart stopped, he was revived a few minutes later by EMTs. For some reason, I’m strangely ok with this explanation.

Maybe it’s because it’s good to have Carlos Bernard back on the show. I always thought he had some of the very best chemistry with Kiefer Sutherland (maybe that’s why the writers were in a rush to get them in a room together). Tony didn’t have any prolonged scenes, but Bernard has adjusted his performance enough (beyond cutting his hair and growing facial hair) to make us believe Tony is now a wounded and bad man. Then again, maybe he’s not COMPLETELY bad since he prevented those two planes from crashing into each other at the last second. Despite the fact that Walker said the FBI checked with every agency, I still can’t help but feel Tony’s working undercover for — somebody.

Jack, on the other hand, was worried about the leak within the FBI, which became apparent when a sniper conveniently took out the forger who was about to help Jack and Agent Walker find Tony. It became even more obvious that the FBI has holes when a dirty agent was sent to help the sniper get away. Fortunately, Jack spent some time as a fashion policeman and was able to spot the brown-booted sniper in a crowd.

I also enjoyed the scenes in the FBI offices. On top of the familiar faces (Billy Walsh from “Entourage” as sour techie Sean! Janeane Garofalo!) my favorite thing about the FBI scenes it’s that it was a sort of a bizarro CTU. With CTU now disbanded, Jack has to deal with a bunch of stiffs in suits in harshly-lit office (major contrast with the always-dark CTU). At least there’s still a buffoonish boss (Agt. Moss) who Jack gets to disobey when he doesn’t listen to our hero’s advice.

The show probably wants us to think Moss is the leak within the FBI, but I’m actually thinking Agt. Walker might be the leak. Besides Moss, she’s also known all the moves Jack has made and she could’ve been lying to Jack about Tony not working undercover for anyone.Either way, I’m thrilled the show is back. Despite the literal and figurative lack of explosions in the first two hours, I think it’s going to be a good season.

So what’d you think of this episode? Who do you think is the mole in the FBI? What does the group Tony’s associated with want? (He said “we’ll find out”) Didn’t Janeane Garofalo’s face look weird? What kind of pen would YOU use to torture someone? Finally, which other deceased character do you wish had been “rushed to the EMTs and revived a minute later”? (I’m going with former President Logan, who was mentioned as being under house arrest when Jack was talking about the people involved in Michelle’s death who “were either dead or in jail.”)

Desperate Housewives: (In)Law and (Dis)Order

I’ll talk about why NOW is the perfect time to kill off Susan a little later.

I realize it’s not exactly an original idea for this mostly annoying character, and I also realize it’ll never happen in a million years, but I’m going to politely ask you to hear me out in a few paragraphs.

As you probably gathered from the fact that I’m contemplating killing off a major character, I didn’t much care for last night’s episode of “Desperate Housewives.” Only one of the storylines grabbed me, and the show seemed to be in a rush to wrap up storylines in preparation for the 100th episode extravaganza next week.

After five and a half seasons, somebody finally stood up to Bree, in the form of Andrew’s fiancé Alex. Well, I should say a MAN finally stood up to Bree, since Alex’s trashy mom Melina showed no fear last week.

During a get-together at Bree’s house, Alex criticized Bree for repeatedly emasculating Orson (who DOES seem way too use to being emasculated). The frozen look of shock, contempt and anger, while trying to maintain a friendly façade, on Bree’s face was Emmy-worthy. What was even better was that Alex didn’t back down, and things escalated until Alex announced that he didn’t feel comfortable living in the house Bree bought for them if it came with strings.

Although I’m actually kind of on Bree’s side in this matter (it IS rude of Alex to criticize someone else’s marriage in that person’s own home), I liked this storyline because it had Bree acknowledging that she’s become a somewhat colder and harder person since her homemaking empire took off (a fact I noted, and didn’t care for, earlier in the season). I’m also glad that Alex (pictured, right with Bree) is more than just doctor/boyfriend window dressing, and I look forward to him getting into with Bree because there’s a zero percent chance she’s going to change the way she is.

Another thing I liked about this episode was, um, NOTHING!

Ok, that’s not exactly true. I’m happy that the “We didn’t start the fire” storyline is over and that the Scavos can go back and play something light. However, the way things were resolved felt WAY too rushed and anti-climactic. Porter’s case was dropped off-screen and only addressed with a few lines of dialogue (I guess that Bob IS a hell of a lawyer). Also, it was a dirty trick to tease Lynette getting into a car accident all week long in previews, only to have it be a way of getting Porter to show up at the hospital (ok, that was a very effective trick, but still dirty). I wasn’t the only one with hurt feelings — fortunately, Lynette and her estranged mom made up by the end of the episode.

Her mom was still angry about Lynette sticking her in a nursing home and this storyline actually wrapped up with a lovely scene between Felicity Huffman (still the best actress on the show) and Polly Bergen dealing with a completely relatable subject — if you have parents, the nursing home thing WILL come up one day.

However, Gabby’s storyline was a COMPLETE waste. The fact that her home life would suffer with Carlos back at a job he hated was totally predictable. The only mild chuckle came from Juanita saying she was happy before and Gabby telling her to watch her language. I’m not really sure if the writers’ goal is to get us to hate Gabby, but that’s where things are headed after forcing her husband to do something he dreaded and showing off her more-than-dubious parenting skills. Also, congratulations to the show on trotting out a well-worn cliché (big scary black guy) for an unfunny scene. Honestly, the best part about the Solis’ storyline is that Carlos shaved that terrible beard.

The “scary black guy” is still far behind the “two characters who don’t like each other get trapped in a small space and bond” thing on the cliché-o- meter. Susan and Edie arguing and pratfalling in a basement is not funny. Or interesting. Eventually, the two came to grudgingly understand each other. Here were the big revelations: Susan can’t stand to be alone (DUH! We’ve known that forever) and Edie is the way she is because of daddy issues, which is something we didn’t really need to know. Honestly, does anyone care why Edie is the way she is?

Susan had announced that she was leaving down to move with Jackson, while Edie was bummed after kicking Dave out for keeping the fact that he was married a secret. For his part, Dave seemed perfectly content to live with Mike and work on his garden, I mean, revenge scheme, which is starting to take shape.

Katherine (who’s become more a guest star on this show) got an offer to move in with her daughter in Baltimore (I can’t even remember anymore if it turned out that she was her real daughter) and was feeling Mike out to see if he wanted her to stay. Eventually, Mike convinced himself and Katherine (but not me) that he was in love with her, which is great news for the couple, but not so great news for Katherine, who will likely become Dave’s new target.

Here’s where my brilliant plan for killing Susan comes in. Despite what Mike says, I don’t believe (and neither do you) that he’s completely over Susan. So, with Mike and Katherine now a couple, how about having Dave kill Susan (on purpose or accidentally)? Maybe Dave kills her on purpose because she’s still the mother of his children or maybe he kills her by accident because she interferes in one of his schemes. Either way, everyone would be distraught over Susan’s death, especially Mike, which would complicate his relationship with Katherine and give Dana Delany something to do! Most importantly, an annoying and currently superfluous character would be out of the way.

As I mentioned before, this will never, EVER happen. Teri Hatcher was the biggest star of the show when it started and she’s just not going anywhere. It’s not like I WANT Susan to die. I like Teri Hatcher, and I think she can deliver Emmy-worthy work if given a chance. However, the writers don’t seem to want to give her that chance, so they should kill the character while the character’s death still has a chance to mean something.

So what’d you think of this episode? Is there a show with a worse track record for black character than “Desperate Housewives”? Where do you think the Susan/Jackson storyline would have gone had Gale Harold not been injured in that motorcycle accident? Finally, I’m not the only who thinks that Dave is the one who sent Katherine the roses, right? (They had that mini-convo about the roses.)

NFL 2008 Divisional Round Picks

Excluding the Ravens/Dolphins game (poor Miami was SO overmatched) and the second half of the Eagles/Vikings game (Minnesota's "offense" was like a dark vacuum of nothingness"), I thought we had a pretty exciting wild card weekend (3-1 week, 3-1 playoffs).

Up next is the divisional round, where the home teams historically have a great advantage because they've been sitting at home resting and game planning for a week, while their opponents were busy killing themselves to even get to this point.

Do I dare take all four home teams for the win? I don't know about that yet, but here's an early (semi)bold prediction: After going 0 for 4 last week, one of my (semi)bold predictions will finally come true! Read on to see all the other ways I'll probably be wrong this weekend.

BALTIMORE @ TENNESSEE
Baltimore is (justifiably) a team everyone loves after their demolition of Miami last weekend. Their defense is on fire and safety Ed Reed is apparently a psychic (did you see that second interception?) and probably their second or third most productive player on offense (never mind that he plays defense).

On the other hand, the Titans still seem to be that team that people quite don't believe are as good as its record. Both of these teams want to run the ball, play great defense and try to keep the game out of their quarterback's hands if possible. If the game DOES fall to the quarterbacks, I like Kerry Collins more than I like rookie Joe Flacco. That being said, I don't think it's going to come to that, and I think the Titans will be able to run the ball. (Semi)bold prediction: Titans RB Chris Johnson will run for 125 yards and 2 TDs.

ARIZONA @ CAROLINA
Ok, so the Cardinals actually winning a playoff game automatically disqualifies them from the "worst playoff team ever" discussion, but I'm not taking back anything I said. This team embarrassingly packed it in the last couple of weeks of the regular season. I also don't think they can succeed unless they're in a dome/warm weather and at home.

The problem for them is that they have to travel to Carolina where the Panthers have one of the best rushing attacks in the league. I know that the Cardinals totally shut down Michael Turner last week, but I'll doubt they'll have the same success on the road (without the benefit of crowd noise) and with TWO solid runners to deal with.

The Cardinals had a nice season and it was nice to see that the rumors about Edgerrin James being alive were true. Yes, I can speak in the past tense about the Cards because whenever a team gives their coach a Gatorade shower after a first-round win at home, they're announcing to the rest of the world, "We're done. We did what we came for." (Semi)bold prediction: DeAngelo Williams will run for four TDs. (I know he's run for four TDs before, but predicting that sort of output for a playoff game is bold, right? Right?!)

PHILADELPHIA @ N.Y. GIANTS
The Eagles have been the hot team everyone wants to pick to have a Super Bowl run even longer than the Ravens. In fact, people want to make them out to be — last year's Giants.

The problem is that last year's Giants never had to face a team as well rounded and as motivated as this year's Giants. Everyone wants to pick the Eagles (who really should send Tarvaris Jackson a thank you note for being so terrible), and people want to believe the Giants can't win because they don't have Plaxico Burress, because they're just not talented enough to repeat as Super Bowl champions, etc. I honestly think people are still stunned this team beat the Patriots last year. The Giants are GOOD. Step back and look at this game objectively, and it really shouldn't be that close (especially with the perpetually banged up Brian Westbrook for the Eagles). (Semi)bold prediction(s): Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward will each run for over 100 yards and the Giants will win by three touchdowns.

SAN DIEGO @ PITTSBURGH
I think this is where the ride ends for San Diego.

It's not just because they'll be without starting running back Ladainian Tomlinson, I just don't think their offense is good enough to score on the Steelers. I don't think the Chargers newest superstar RB Darren Sproles will be nearly as effective on the Steelers sloppy field as he was last week in San Diego.

Ben Roethlisberger is coming off of suffering a concussion in the last game of the season and, if he's ok, I like this team to go all the way to the Super Bowl. (Semi)bold prediction: Hines Ward (pictured, left) will catch two TDs and go over 100 yards receiving.

Nip/Tuck/Thoughts: The Breast of Friends

You know what I like about "Nip/Tuck"?

After five and a half seasons of wonderfully creative and deprived insanity in Miami and, most recently, Hollywood, there's nothing the boys (as long as they insist on acting like kids, they'll be "boys") at McNamara/Troy can do that would surprise me. Yet, in a time when TV viewers are more seen-it-all jaded than ever, the show somehow still finds a way be consistently shocking. I mean, did you see those previews for upcoming episodes? Kimber injects baby Jenna with collagen?! A son being asked by his father to perform a penis enlargement surgery?! Christian and Liz having sex?!

I think the reason it's worked for "Nip/Tuck" is because the show's cast and crew have long ago realized they're not working on a serious drama (I'm still waiting for the people behind "Grey's Anatomy" to realize this). As a result, the humorous moments are funny ON PURPOSE, while the most ridiculous aspects of the show are played with the same straight faces you see on a lot of daytime dramas.

Of course, the main difference between this show and "General Hospital" is that, in my opinion, "Nip/Tuck" one of the most stylish and best-produced shows on TV. It simply looks and sounds better than most other shows on TV (and a lot of movies).

This was on display during the opening sequence of last night's episode "Ronnie Chase."

If you recall, it was almost a year ago that we were left hanging after Sean was brutalized by his crazed former agent Colleen. The show wasted no time in addressing many fans questions of how Colleen could've slipped in unnoticed and whether or not Sean would survive.

While I question the idiotic security guard who would allow a person with their face covered in bandages into the building, despite the fact that everyone was on the lookout for Colleen, I thought the opening sequence was pretty terrific. I particularly liked the use of The O'jays "Backstabbers" (see what they did there). It was also good to briefly see the great Sharon Gless (she deserved that Emmy nom) back on the show briefly as Colleen.

At first, I thought it was kind of a waste of time to rehash the attack on Sean, and I felt like the episode was a bit subdued, especially for a season premiere. Then I remembered last night's episode wasn't exactly a season premiere, but more a continuation of season 5's story. We also learned that Sean used his last bit of strength before blacking out to stab and kill Colleen.

The action picked up four months later with Sean in a wheelchair and not ready to get back to surgery. It was a shame because his first patient was going to be Liz who wanted a breast reduction. I was delighted to see this, not just because the crude/caring relationship between Christian and Liz (pictured, right) is one of my favorite things on this show, but because it meant more screen time for Roma Maffia.

During an examination by Christian, he noticed a lump in her breast which brought about the breast cancer scared. Turns out she was right to be scared, though she wasn't the one with the disease. It was Christian, who'd also noticed a bump in his pecs who was eventually diagnosed with stage 2 cancer, which is apparently very serious (sorry, I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV).

I've seen the "breast cancer on a guy" thing before on "Oz", so the plot twist wasn't necessarily shocking. However, for the uber-macho Christian it seemed fitting that he would end up with "tit cancer", even though I don't believe there's any chance he'll actually die from it, the same way I never believed Sean would die from his stab wounds.

Meanwhile, Sean seemed to be enjoying his teaching gig, and especially took a shine to Dr. Raj (Adhir Kalyan), a junior, talented, arrogant know-it-all. I enjoyed watching him pester Christian during a procedure and I'm glad to see Dr. Raj is in upcoming episodes, because I think Kalyan will be a good addition to the show.

Another interesting development in last night's episode was Sean's description of an LSD-fueled flash forward, which fans of the show recognize as the future episode "Connor McNamara, 2026." I absolutely hated this episode when it aired because I thought it was a stab at cheap humor, but now that that future scenario seems plausible (Matt seems on his way to becoming a doctor) I find it to be considerably more tolerable.

Between the cancer and the proud poppa moment between Sean and Matt, I almost didn't recognize this show for a bit. Then, the boys picked up to young women at a bar, took them back to their place and had sex with them in a vintage "Nip/Tuck" sex montage. (Major tip for the fellas: Giving a girl a breast exam during sex is not as helpful as you think — apparently, it's a turnoff.

Two final thoughts about Sean. 1.) He had my favorite line of the episode when he showed up at Colleen's wedding ("I just wanted to make sure she was dead.") 2. Oh yeah, it looks like he's completely faking about being able to walk!

So what'd you think of last night's episode? I thought it was nice of FX to sprinkle in some "Nip/Tuck" in between the footage from "Bride Wars" and "Damages" (honestly, could those commercials have gone on any longer?) Why do you think Sean is rolling around in his wheelchair? (He's going to have to do the reconstruction on Christian's jacked-up chest, right?) Finally, which storyline or character's return are you most looking forward to this (half) season?