Despite my fondest wishes to be a Buddha of television couch potatoness, I have not waded too much into the Fall television schedule. But I do want to give a few mini-reviews to the programs I have viewed so far, with each related posting in order of least to best.
Elementary: This CBS update of the Sherlock Holmes/Watson pairing features Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Holmes and Dr. Jane Watson, with Aidan Quinn as the American cop stand-in for Lestrade, Captain Tobias Gregson. Miller and Quinn are the strengths of the show, with Miller being the equal of the most recent and excellent British t.v. Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the reliable Quinn giving the proper world-weary cop flavor to his character. In the pilot and second episode, the weak link is Lucy Liu, due to writing, not performance. Hopefully, creator and early episode writer Robert Doherty (of Medium and Star Trek: Voyager, shows of spotty quality) and staff will give their Watson more of a feisty personality than the disgraced surgeon turned reluctant drug rehab counselor/babysitter for Holmes currently has. Hey, Liu was O-Ren Ishii! Otherwise, this series may turn into a prime example of stunt casting for a role that could be played by anyone of any sex, and just another detective/police case-of-the-week procedural. Rating: **1/2 out of ****.
Doctor Who: On Saturday, September 29, the final episode aired of Amy and Rory (Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill), one of the Doctor's longest running set of companions. Not a moment too soon. The time lord's sidekicks have been run through every plot permutation imaginable by multiple writers (including head writer Steven Moffat and even Neil Gaiman) and the latest season has them repeating themselves and getting to be a bit of plot baggage. It was revealing that this season's best episode for the Doctor's pals was when they were written off the show. The series should be fine without them. Matt Smith is still an amiable and amusing Doctor. The villains have been fabulous, from the Harry Potter series' David Bradley as a sadistic mercenary and collector of living beings to a hulking cyber gunman terrorizing a Old West town. And of course, there are the Weeping Angels. We liked thee, Amy and Rory, but Weeping Angels, you did that voodoo that you do so well. Rating: *** out of ****.
Fringe: This is the fifth and final season for the speculative fiction drama, which hinges just as much on character development as it does its crazy plot arc. So far the show is concluding in fine fashion, with Olivia (Anna Torv) being reunited with the old Fringe division team, including her lover, Peter (Joshua Jackson), after they extract her from an amber suspended-animation tomb in the year 2036. Peter and Olivia also meet their grown daughter Etta (Georgina Haig) in the process. Their offspring has been hardened by the absence of her parents and her rebel fight against the current world government. Walter (John Noble) is also back, still not getting former FBI Agent Astrid's (Jasika Nicole) name right and ever the mad scientist. However, this time he has been captured by the current less-than-benevolent rulers of Earth, the Observers, humans who are angel- or god-like since they have the accumulated knowledge of time travel and are from the far, far future. The invaders can interrogate people both orally and with psychic mind-reading ability. And inside Walter's head could be the plan to overthrow the Observers. Combining imaginative science fiction, poignant family and friends moments, and true peril, this season so far epitomizes the strengths of the program. If you haven't watched Fringe, pick up on it now and catch up later. For those who have been faithful viewers, the farewell has been must-see television. Rating: **** out of ****.
