My Review of Ringer 1.10- That's What You Get for Trying to Kill Me

She's baaaccckkk!!  Siobhan returns to New York as things get even more complicated between Andrew and Bridget and everyone realizes the connection between John and Gemma's disappearance....

So, Gemma is now really dead.  Killed by John as she tried to escape from him after he thought he killed her before.  In turn, Siobhan returned and killed John.  No, this isn't complicated at all.  Somewhat surprisingly, Siobhan was crystal clear on the fact that she didn't want Gemma hurt or killed.  Rather, she just wanted Gemma to be kept quiet about Bridget.  And Siobhan has decided to stay in New York.  I wonder what this means for Bridget.  Nothing good, of that I am sure.

Bridget managed to complicate things with Andrew even more by sleeping with him.  Granted, it is a wifely thing to do, but not necessarily the smartest thing, particularly with Siobhan back in town.  This whole situation is going to get incredibly messy now.  Especially since she discovered an envelope with Siobhan's name and what appears to be an address from Paris in John's apartment.

I cannot believe that Juliet has accused her teacher of rape.  She was so obviously trying to get into his pants and he turned her down.  Now, I don't understand why he would kick a student out of the room, close the door, and talk with Juliet alone.  Not a smart maneuver.  I am going on the record now as saying that she is totally lying about the rape.  Could I be wrong?  Sure, but I seriously doubt it.  She is not used to being denied, particularly as bluntly as he denied her, and now she wants revenge.  Period.

To think that if Henry hadn't interfered, Gemma may very well still be alive as might John.  I hope he realizes that.  I do know that he was doing what he thought was best, but he did manage to screw everything up royally.

It was also nice to see Machado actually see through someone's lies.  It's taken him long enough.  And he's supposed to be a great cop?  Sigh....

And we'll be back on January 10th.  Until then....

My Review of Ringer 1.09-Shut Up and Eat Your Bologna

Oh my, talk about answers given and a little twist I didn't expect...

So, Siobhan seems to have had this whole thing mapped out from the beginning.  She had Charlie have one of his cop friends freak Bridget out and give her a gun so that she'd run to Siobhan.  Which means that I was totally wrong.  A few weeks ago, I said something about the fortuitous nature of Bridget's visit for Siobhan, but it was planned.  That is just, well, twisted.  I knew Siobhan was manipulative and whatnot, but this brings that to a whole new level.  She also planted seeds for running with her therapist.  Apparently, she actually meant for Bridget to die in the pilot, hence the paranoia the therapist noted.  Wow, this just makes her a total string puller.

Gemma is still alive!  Holy crap!  Not only alive, but being kept in the basement of Charlie's house.  By the way, Charlie is so not an addict.  Or if he is, he really isn't trying to get clean.  Hence the time he spends in the bar.  I wonder why he is leaving Gemma alive.  It seems that it would have been better to have just gotten rid of her.  Also, she barely seemed injured, so where did all the blood in her house come from that Henry was cleaning up?

And Olivia?  A complete bitch.  For the second time, she goes behind Charles' back to get to Henry's father-in-law.  And she knows about Henry and Siobhan.  That cannot be a good thing given the hostility she consistently displays.  You know she is going to pick the worst possible moment and exploit her new knowledge.  And this as Bridget is really turning her life around and making a good solid life for herself, albeit a life founded on a lie.

I am glad that Malcolm is helping Bridget out.  She needs the help and his being there for her is a good thing.  My only worry is his constant belittling of the life she is establishing.  I know, a life founded on lies is not a good life, but if she can continue to make this work, I think it will work out for the best.  And he was this close to helping Gemma out.

Well, mid-season finale in two weeks.  See y'all then!

My Review of The Secret Circle 1.09- Balcoin

That was a good mid-season finale.  Mostly wrapped up one storyline while allowing it to continue if needed and also presenting us with new questions that will give good storylines when we return in January.

So, Cassie's dad is John Blackwell who descends from an ancient, evil, and powerful line who were originally called Balcoin.  So her power comes from the Blake side which is one of the original witch families and the Balcoins.  This seems to mean that she has both dark magic and good (white?) magic inside of her.  The combination of these two sides; presumably; is what allows her to do solo magic even when her magic is supposedly contained.  Ok, that is a little scary.  Even scarier is the fact that supposedly another member of the Circle is descended from the Balcoins as well.  The obvious choice is Faye, so I have my doubts about that.  If it is Adam, I will be a little weirded out, although that would explain the inexplicable connection the two of them seem to share.  Another fairly obvious choice is Jake given his ability to do solo magic, although they have said that he isn't bound to the Circle, so that could be wrong.

Speaking of Jake, I feel sorry for the poor guy.  He obviously has feelings for Cassie and so was reluctant to have any harm come to her, but he was caught between a rock and a hard place.  Ultimately, I think he did the right thing is helping to free Cassie and then leave.  I also honestly think that he meant to run away with Cassie and get her away from the witch hunters and the Circle, both for her protection and theirs.  I do think that he wants to protect the town from more bad magic, even if he is not going about it the right way.  I so hope he comes back.

Watching Faye and Adam work together was very interesting.  Don't think we've ever seen the two of them cooperate so much before.  But then again, the need has never been quite so desperate.  I was also impressed at how quickly Diana was able to put her personal feelings aside and work with Adam again.  I do hope that Melissa gets more stories, I really would love to see her fleshed out.

Charles managed to screwup royally.  His spell has totally messed with Jane's mind.  He needs to figure out how to fix it and quick.  I am afraid that if he doesn't fix it, Dawn will step in and the consequences will not be good for either of them.

Until January....

My Review of Vampire Diaries 3.09- Homecoming

Oh my, talk about plans going awry for the most interesting reasons.  And the ending.....

Mikael is no more.  He was killed by Klaus after a betrayal by Stefan and Katherine, although the betrayal was not for the bad reasons you might assume.  Turns out that Klaus figured out that a betrayal was in the offing and so he threatened to have Damon killed if he died.  So, Katherine decided that it was better that he survive.  Unfortunately, in the process Klaus managed to get the stake made from the white ash tree and kill Mikael.  That was; I must admit; an impressive death.  The side effect is that we now have a very annoyed Klaus.  And then Stefan upped the ante by stealing the coffins with Klaus' family in them which just managed to piss him off even more.  I am so not looking forward to the revenge Klaus will inevitably take.

And while we are speaking of betrayals, can I also say that Rebekah is going to be incredibly pissed off at Elena for betraying her.  I get Elena's reason for doing it.  She just wanted to make sure that the plan went off well.  However, by literally stabbing Rebekah in the back, Elena burned a bridge that should not have been burned.  Hopefully, they moved Rebekah somewhere where she won't be revived to come back, although I fear that she will be back at the most inconvenient moment.

I have to side with Tyler in his betrayal of Caroline.  He just wanted to keep her as safe as he could which I totally get and applaud.  I am concerned at his willingness to accept his bondage to Klaus with such equanimity, but given what he was going through when he changed, being given the ability to control the change must be good for him.  But this puts a serious dent in his and Caroline's relationship.

Damon impressed me tonight.  He came up with an excellent plan that would have worked if Katherine hadn't sabotaged it in order to save his and Stefan's lives.  By having Katherine pose as Elena, he allowed Mikael to demonstrate his seriousness to Klaus without placing Elena in any actual danger.  And the nifty wolfsbane grenades were just an excellent weapon.  Unfortunately, he trusted Katherine too much and so ended up ruining his plan.  I am also impressed that he managed to get Bonnie to go along with the plan given their history.  But, maybe I shouldn't be too surprised.  Had it worked, the plan would have protected Elena and the town which Bonnie is more than willing to do.

Well, that's the last review until the new year, so I'll see y'all back in January with the next new episode!

My Review of Ringer 1.08- Maybe We Can Get a Dog Instead?

Andrew finds out that "Siobhan" is not pregnant, Juliet gets a nasty surprise from her teacher, Malcolm shows up in New York, and Tyler (aka Siobhan's boytoy) gets a serious shock when he is recalled to New York by Andrew....

Well, Bridget certainly had an interesting week, although the most interesting parts she doesn't know about yet.  Despite the fact that Tyler said that he slept with her, she didn't put two and two together and figure out that Siobhan is in fact still alive.  Am surprised about that to be honest.  I mean, if I had a twin who I thought was dead and then someone came up to me and said that he had been sleeping with me, putting 2 and 2 together would not have been hard.  Weird, granted, but not hard.  Although, in her defense, she had a busy week.  Between "losing" the baby, Malcolm showing up, and trying to salvage the marriage with Henry, Bridget is a busy little beaver.

And Siobhan got a rude kick to the head courtesy of Andrew, Tyler, and Bridget.  Boy, is she going to be pissed!  She loses her wonderful hotel room because Tyler got called back to the US (thanks to her!) and meets "Siobhan".  Ow.  Refuse to feel sorry for her though, at this point she has racked up *SO* much bad karma that she deserves this kick in the ass and oh so much more!

So Juliet has a crush on her teacher.  He's cute, sweet, helpful, and defended her to her dad and the principal.  I get it.  Unfortunately, by getting her out of his class, he guaranteed that she'll get worse.  That was so not the way to deal with the situation.  Honestly, I don't know what he should have done, but by getting her out of his class, he just made her that much more determined.  Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad....

Well, Malcolm is now trying to get clean, which is a good thing.  And he is with Bridget's new sponsor which is both good and bad.  Good because Bridget can keep an eye on him easier.  Bad, because the sponsor is Siobhan's plant.  And given the previews for next week, Malcolm gets suspicious of the new sponsor.

My Review of The Secret Circle 1.08- Beneath

Cassie shows her independent powers (along with a bitchy streak), Diana shows she can be petty, Faye is seeing things, and Charles and Dawn have a bit of a falling out....

So Cassie can get her bitch on.  Nice to know and while maybe a little overly harsh toward Faye, well, Faye deserved it.  And two times tonight, Cassie used solo magic (although in one case, she may have had help from Jake).  First, she lights a fire by thinking about it and then she raises the body of Faye's grandfather from the bottom of the lake.  She also taps into the memory that is haunting Faye.  Her power level is more than a little scary.  I think Jake is totally right to be wary of her.  The witch hunters had better be careful of Cassie.  Granted, they may be able to overpower her by surprise, but I suspect that if she sees it coming, they won't get very far with her.

Jake is definitely into Cassie.  The way he refused the kiss and the way he was talking about her to the witch hunter clearly show that there is more there than just simple curiosity about her origins.  He is also wise enough to not want to cross her magically speaking since I suspect that she could kick his ass up one side and then down the other.  If she were to be able to call upon the full power of the Circle, that would be truly scary.

Watching Diana be petty and bitchy was also an interesting sight.  She was so obviously testing Adam and he failed miserably.  She seems to be vacillating between wanting to hate Adam and Cassie and wanting them as friends (well, Cassie anyway).  Let's hope she makes up her mind soon.  And Adam needs to make a decision as well.  He loves Diana, but the attraction between him and Cassie is definitely there as well.

Faye was a little petty, but that is almost expected from her at this point.  She actually spent most of the night distracted by her memories of herself trying to point out where her grandfather's body was.  Given that, a little pettiness and bitchiness is understandable.

One of the more interesting parts was when Charles stood up to Dawn.  He isn't planning on letting her have control this time.  Instead, he kept the crystal for himself and proceeded to cast a spell on Cassie's grandmother in order to control her.   Given the ending there are three possibilities:

1. The spell isn't quite what he thought it was.

2. He isn't powerful enough to fully control her, but he could affect her memories.

3. The spell is working as desired.

I wonder which it was....

Next week, Jake is revealed to be a witch hunter and its the mid-season finale....

My Review of Vampire Diaries 3.08- Ordinary People

We find out some surprising information about the Originals, Michael (or is it Mikael?), and the Original witch.   Also, Damon has an interesting approach to helping Stefan...

So Michael; although I've also seen the spelling as Mikael; is the father of the Originals and the Original witch is their mother.  Those were two interesting twists I so didn't see coming until the last minute.  So Klaus has been running from Daddy for 1000 years.  Wow.  Talk about family issues.  So let's see if we can get this story straight:

The Originals moved to America from Europe to escape a plague and moved to a town of werewolves.  Klaus' mom had an affair with one of them and Klaus was born, causing his father to despise him because of wounded pride over being cuckolded.  Then one full moon, Klaus and his youngest brother (Henry?) went to see the werewolves transform and the brother was killed.  In response, Michael and his wife (Esther?) decided to ask a witch to give them the ability to protect themselves.  The witch declined, so the wife (being a witch) did the protective spell herself.  The spell involved each member of the family dying and then feeding on blood in order to be reborn.  Since the spell involved an old white ash tree, that tree could be used to kill them.  Also, each of their abilities had a downside.  They were immortal and therefore couldn't go out into the sun.  They also couldn't enter into the houses of the living without an invitation.  At some point, Klaus' mother cast a curse on him to restrain his werewolf side and so he killed her and then told Rebekah and Elijah that Michael had killed her by ripping out her heart.  Also either Klaus or Michael (I'm betting on Klaus here), destroyed most of the village.

That was alot of information to pack into an episode.  Very cool and interesting information, but alot.  The one thing that gets me is that if Klaus killed his mother, why did he record how he did it?  Wouldn't he have recorded that Michael did it like he told Rebekah and Elijah?  At least given the first scene, I assume he wrote the drawings on the wall.  It is possible that Michael or someone else did it so that the truth would be known.  I hope they answer this one definitively at some point, because I really want to know.

Now to Damon and his plan to help Stefan.  He frees Stefan and then takes him to a bar so that they can have some fun.  In the middle of this fun, Stefan dropped an interesting insight into Stefan's character.  Stefan is seemingly incapable of half measures where drinking blood is concerned.  Either he is the Ripper or he is Stefan, there is no happy medium.  This tells us that Stefan is an addict.  It is a classic addict character trait.  They either have to be on what they crave or not, they cannot be in between.  This is just a little bit of interesting information.  It has been implied (maybe said, but don't remember offhand) that Stefan is addicted to blood given the steps Lexi has to take to get him off of it, but this confirmation is just interesting.

I also found it interesting that Michael could not break Klaus' compulsion of Stefan.  Either he isn't strong enough yet or Klaus is just flat out too powerful.  I wonder which it is.  And the little loophole Stefan exploited was just interesting.  It sounds similar to the Asimovian laws of robots that he cannot directly cause harm to come to Klaus.  I wonder if this means that he cannot through inaction allow Klaus to be hurt.  In other words, would he somehow be forced to rescue Klaus or could he stand to the side in order to allow something to happen?

Next week, Homecoming and Klaus returns....

My Review of Ringer 1.07- Oh Gawd, There's Two of Them?

The answer to what happened to Gemma is revealed and the perpetrator is not someone who was expected.  Also, Bridget reveals her existence to Andrew and Henry....

Well, gotta hand it to Bridget.  When she wants to cover things up, she does every thing right that can be done.  She called in the tip about the vase and rags in the dumpster and then when the cops showed up proceeded to call herself up and leave a message (as Bridget) that she was leaving.  I am impressed.  Two things are going to foul up her plan.  One, Malcolm shows up.   Two, her sponsor is the person who killed Gemma and is working with Siobhan.  I totally did not expect that last part.  When I saw him talking with Siobhan and they showed what happened to Gemma, I was floored.  Maybe I should have figured it out, but I didn't.

As for Bridget telling Andrew and Henry that she existed, that was smart.  She did everything she could to ensure that the police would be looking for Bridget and not Siobhan or anyone else.  I am definitely impressed.  Until the two things mentioned above, she had her bases covered.  As for the two hiccups, neither could really have been predicted.  Ok, well, the first maybe.  The second, not so much.  And it turns out that Siobhan had Gemma taken out because Gemma knew about Bridget.  Ruthless much?

As for Henry showing up at the art gallery, I can understand why he did it.  First, it was his wife's work.  Second, if he hadn't showed up, it would have made him look even guiltier.  Basically, he had a lose-lose situation, so he made the best of it.  Seriously sucks to be him right now.

Can't blame Andrew for being upset at "Siobhan" for hiding Bridget's existence.  I am glad that they made up though.  Things have changed so much for them that had they not made up, I would have been annoyed.  Not quite as happy about the way he dealt with Juliet.  I know she seriously screwed up, but she was trying to do the right thing within the limits she had.  I know she should not have been driving at all and definitely should not have been drinking, but I think he slightly overreacted.  Well, we'll see how this shakes out.

Question of the week: How exactly did Siobhan meet Bridget's "sponsor" and who is he?

Until next week!