Monday Night TV Overload

Since when was Monday the most happening night of TV? I haven't caught How I Met Your Mother yet, but that still leaves 3 shows that had big enough episodes last night to be worth discussing.


Last night's Heroes premiere had something to prove: Could Heroes learn from its mistakes, or is it doomed for crappiness? By fixing many of its biggest criticisms, the premiere definitely leaned toward the former. The episode felt less cluttered by slowing down the pace to give every character some time. The characters were all back in the real world, instead of the sci-fi land they've been in the past two seasons. And we're back to just the core cast, as the only major new character introduced was villain The Hunter (Zeljko Ivanek). So anyone thinking about catching up on seasons 2 or 3 someday, don't. Just start now.

That said, there wasn't anything too exciting about the episode until the ending. I'm unclear why Parkman suddenly gets to draw the future. Isn't mind reading enough? Sylar's quest to find his parents seems completely separate from everything else going on (and I'm sick of him). I'm not entirely sure why HRG is working for the bad guys again. And Claire's annoying me. That's not really a new criticism, I just thought maybe she would have improved.

But the plane crash at the end leads me to think the season has promise. Promos for the rest of the season show everyone working together, which could end the era of many uninteresting stories competing for time. Fighting against government hunters is a nice twist from the usual Company/Sylar threats of seasons past. So for the moment, at least, I think Heroes appears to be worth watching. But in a season where Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Damages, and even 24 are all having pretty exciting seasons, is there really room for Heroes at the watercooler? It'll have to do a whole lot more to earn its place.


You know it's a good episode of 24 when a ton has already happened and it's only been 15 minutes. This was one of those big arc-ending episodes, where Jack and Team Buchanan successfully made it into Dubaku's headquarters and killed all his guys...but not him. Nice to see Freckles become one of the team, even seconding Bill in highest level of paranoia by fighting Jack in getting outside help. Also cool to see Jack, Tony, and Bill take on Duabku's whole crew without getting a scratch. That's the Jack Bauer I know.

We also got another type of classic 24 plot in Kidron, Ohio, in which a minor character was introduced only to soon be killed. He may have called Janis honey, but his heroic sacrifice held up a strong 24 tradition. Looks like Kidron, OH can take down those signs asking for Jack Bauer's help. Any thoughts on the odd scene with Duabku's waitress girlfriend at the end? Will she be played against Dubaku only to stab him in betrayal, a la Alexis Drazen's girlfriend from season 1? Will she be collateral damage? Is there any other option in 24 land? With little screentime for the First Gentleman, an all around good episode. Let's keep it up.

Finally, Gossip Girl. I'd like to take a moment to take stock of how many seasons' worth of material Gossip Girl has blown through so far. Let's see, there was Lord Marcus and the Duchess, Serena the Socialite, Jenny the Fashionista, Cyrus and Aaron Rose, Bart's Death, Uncle Jack, the Rufus/Lily baby, and now the sexploits of the Teenage Teacher. I think that averages out to an entire different story every two or three episodes. Way to go.

So this week, Teenage Teacher found herself mixed up with The Police, as Dan was humming. "Young teacher/the subject/of schoolboy fantasy." It's like that line about how if you show a gun in act I, it has to go off in act III. If a teacher is introduced who looks younger than the students, she has to end up sleeping with somebody (actually, on Gossip Girl, you could just say "if a character in introduced, he or she has to end up sleeping with somebody"). So, after denying it all episode, she and Dan did the deed. I guess that's what happens when teachers give their address to all of their students.

My big question is this: Dan and Serena have now broken up for, by my count, about 800 trillion times. And each time, the scene goes exactly the same way. This time they even seemed to be going through the motions, as if to say, "Do I really have to talk about the Bass brunch again?" So why not grant that wish? We know now that anytime they get together, they will inevitably break up within two episodes, so can't the cycle end? I doubt it. I'm predicting at least two more make-up/break-ups before the season ends.

Oh, and how could I have forgotten Chuck Bass' trip into Eyes Wide Shut? A little odd, but at least Chuck Bass is being Chuck Bass. The whole secret society that (probably) killed Elle for telling their secret is just wacky enough for me to be intrigued. I'll hold off judging until I see where it goes.