My Review of The Secret Circle 1.18- Sacrifice

John Blackwell is hiding secrets, a witch hunter who knows Jake brings bad news to the Circle, Faye and Melissa get help from Adam to get a guy, and Grant is not what he appears to be....

Well, that was some interesting insight into Blackwell when he was younger.  Turns out that the demon that possessed Amelia's friend and killed Nick had been raised by Blackwell to be used to fight the witch hunters.  Not exactly the sort of thing that is going to endear Blackwell to the Circle.  He was powerful enough to raise a demon and have it possess someone, but either he couldn't control it, or Amelia wouldn't let him because she bound the demon.  Either way, now Eben has managed to raise demons and they are possessing him.  That man has gone off the deep end entirely.  Blackwell is scared of him!  Or, maybe not.  I want to posit a scenario.  We know that Eben is working with a witch.  We know that Blackwell is (or was) powerful enough to raise demons, is still powerful enough to kill one, and that he has no problems lying to protect Cassie.  We also know that Blackwell has now convinced the Circle to get all of the crystals and bring them together after they had been separated by the Elders.  What if Blackwell is the witch working with the witch hunters in order to force the Circle to bring together the crystals so that he can get his magic back and destroy the witch hunters?  Convoluted, granted.  Out there?  Also granted, but it is possible.  Only problem is that it is a fairly obvious idea, so it may be totally off.  But it is one theory.

Watching Faye and Melissa compete over the hockey goalie was quite amusing.  Even funnier was the fact that each of them got Adam to help them with magic in order to get him.  Nothing serious like a love spell, but just a little something to make them more desirable.  The look on each of their faces when the other used magic was the greatest.  Then, when Adam saw that he had a girlfriend and went off, I was a little floored.  I honestly wondered if maybe the potion was having unintended side effects or if it didn't work on him either.  Turns out that he had been trying to remember his feelings for Cassie, but couldn't and it was driving him a little crazy.  Anyone wanna bet that they'll figure out a way around the potion before the season is over?

And Grant wasn't all he was cracked up to be.  Turns out he is a worker on the boat who lied in order to impress Diana.  Well, he did impress her, just not in the way he wanted to.  She had been planning on totally rejecting him until he persuaded her to give him one day to prove that he is a good guy.  Good idea?  Probably not, but there it is.

Watching Cassie confront the possessed witch hunter was impressive.  Stopping him in his tracks was nice and the use of fire on him was quite cool.  Unfortunately, she didn't realize that fire wouldn't kill a demon.  But her dad did.  And was she annoyed that he lied about using magic!  And she'll be even more annoyed when she finds out that there is a body buried at the site of the raising.  Two questions:

[1] Whose body is it?

[2] Did Blackwell kill them?

Until April 19th!

My Review of The Vampire Diaries 3.18- The Murder of One

Stefan and Damon work with the gang to take down the Originals and find out a horrific truth, Klaus uses a witch to undo his mother's magic, and Rebekah has fun at Damon's expense.

Well, the gang managed to kill Finn using a stake that was made from the Wickery Bridge sign.  What they didn't know is that when an Original is killed, their entire bloodline dies with them.  That means that if Klaus is killed, Tyler will die.  And since no one knows who turned Rose (who turned Katherine and then the rest of the vampires in the gang) they have the potential to kill all of them if the wrong Original dies.  Talk about a Pyrrhic victory! If all of the Originals had been killed, then all vampires would have died.  You have to wonder if Esther knew that when she bound her children together.  If so, she is even more cold blooded then I thought she was since she would have been committing one of the largest acts of mass murder ever.  Fortunately for the gang (well, unfortunately too), Klaus had kidnapped Bonnie and, by threatening Jeremy's life, got her to undo the spell just in time.  Good thing or not?

When they say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, I wonder if they had Rebekah in mind.  After what Damon and Sage did to her last week, she decided to take her anger out on Damon since Sage was needed to try and keep Finn in line.  And man, did she get revenge.  She kidnapped him, hung him from the ceiling using bear traps to hold his hands up, and bled the vervain out of his system so that he could be compelled.  Not a nice girl.  The interesting thing is that when Stefan gave up the stakes (well, 8 of the 11 anyway) for Damon, she was impressed and got a glimpse of how little she means to Klaus.  Not sure if much will come of that rift or not.

I have to say that the gang's plan was a good one, at least as far as it went.  Separate the Originals and stake one of them, thereby eliminating all of the rest.  Then the two small hitches occurred.  Number one, the whole bloodline dying and number two, the fact that Bonnie removed the binding spell.  And getting everyone in on the action was the only way it was going to work.  Too bad it was doomed.

I have to say that I admire Caroline.  She has every reason in the world to want Alaric dead, but she held off.  Not out of love for Elena (although that may have had something to do with it), but because she realized that she had done things as bad as Alaric had.  At least he was under the influence of forces outside of his control.  Caroline was being influenced by being a new vampire, but she still made a choice.  The fact that she was able to let go of the fact that he killed her dad was quite impressive.

Bonnie finally broke down tonight.  After everything that has happened to her, she finally was able to break down and start to heal.  I don't think she'll ever be able to forgive Damon for turning her mom or like the brothers because of what happened to her grandmother, but hopefully she'll be able to come back and be a part of the gang again.

And Elena was left with the Sword of Damocles hanging over her romantic life.  She loves Stefan; and he knows it; but she is also in love with Damon; which Stefan also knows.  Fortunately, he is willing to acknowledge his part in what happened and seems to be willing to let Elena go if necessary.  She has a choice to make.  The question is, can she make it without having a repeat of what happened with Katherine in terms of the brothers hating each other for the choice she makes?  Not a comfortable position.

We'll be back April 17th.  Until then!

My Review of One Tree Hill 9.12- Anyone Who Had a Heart

And the closure starts.  Julian revives the idea of using Lucas' book with a twist, Brooke reconciles with her parents, Haley is the MC for the Burning Boat Festival, Chase gets a surprise, Quinn also gets a surprise, and Mouth and Millie return.

Now that all the drama (hopefully) is out of the way, we are starting to close down the story of One Tree Hill.  This was a very nice, light episode after the series of heavier episodes that preceded it.  I really hope that the finale next week is drama-lite and focuses on saying good bye to the characters we've come to know and love.  But more on that in a future post.

This week, Nathan and Jamie were gone on a guys' weekend which I think they both needed.  Nathan needs to spend some time with Jamie decompressing given everything that has happened, so I am glad they got it.  It also gave us a chance to see Haley having fun again, which was really cool.

I loved that Julian wanted to take Lucas' book and make it a television show.  I also found it funny that they referenced "The Creek" which was Dawson's version of "Dawson's Creek" on that shows finale.  Wonder how they managed to get permission for that one.  Using Brooke's diary to flesh out the characters was nice, and it also gave Julian insight into who Brooke was that he may not have had before.  I am also very proud of Julian for reading Brooke's dad the riot act for how he has been treating Brooke.  That definitely earned him more than just a small measure of respect.

Seeing Ted and Victoria together was hilarious and a little creepy.  But Brooke's reaction was absolutely priceless.  If there is one thing people do not want to know, it is about their parent's sex lives.  And Brooke got it full in the face.  It was very nice that both her parents want to work with her on the new line.  This had better not be some storyline to pull the rug out from under Brooke again.  She really deserves the chance to make this work with her parents.  She has already lost so much because of them.  So, I will cross my fingers and hope.

Clay and Quinn are engaged!  And Logan has integrated himself into their family very well.  I suspect that he can do it because he has always wanted his parents and now he has his dad.  Since he was too young to remember his mom, I think that he is having few issues letting Quinn take on that role.  I so hope we get this wedding next week.  Or at least, a glimpse of it in a montage of some sort.

Chase now has a chance to own Tric.  Haley talked Karen into selling Tric to Chase.  Now he just needs the money.  I suspect that there will be a 10th anniversary benefit concert to raise money to let Chase buy Tric.  What will that mean for Red Bedroom Records?  I suspect that he'll let it stay because I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't.

It was very nice to see Mouth back in shape.  And he has his own sports show (or segment, didn't really say which) now and Millie has a new co-anchor in the form of Skillz.  Very nice.

Next week, the series finale.  Tomorrow, I will be writing what I would like to see in the finale and a look back at my memories of One Tree Hill.

Until then!

My Review of Ringer 1.19- Let's Kill Bridget!

There is another attempt on Bridget's life, the person behind the attempted killings is revealed, Juliet 'fesses up to Andrew about Catherine and they get revenge, Machado is suspended, Henry gives Siobhan an ultimatum, and Henry is taken in for questioning....

I was definitely cheering when karma hit Catherine in a big way.  Turns out that Juliet confessed her misdeeds to Andrew and the two of them decided to get revenge on Catherine.  Juliet mentioned to Catherine that Andrew was selling their house in Palm Springs and that there was an interested buyer.  Catherine decided to buy the property on her own and resell it to make a tidy profit.  What she didn't know is that Andrew set the whole thing up to get his money back and then he proceeded to threaten to have Catherine stripped of her parental rights if she came near him or Juliet again.  Justice is served!  Oh, and it turns out that Catherine is the one who tried to have Bridget killed, thinking she was Siobhan.  I knew that woman was trouble, but I didn't think she would go that far.

Andrew spent most of the episode putting out fires related to Olivia's leaving.  I don't know if things were as bad off as he said or if that was all a part of the scheme to get Catherine.   I would suspect a bit of both, but obviously I can't be sure.  I loved the revenge, but I do worry that maybe he pushed Catherine too far.  After all, we know she tried to have "Siobhan" killed, so maybe completely cutting her off wasn't the best option.  Here's hoping she doesn't push back too hard, although I suspect that hope is in vain.

I must say that I was honestly wondering if Bridget was going to reveal her identity to Machado.  After all, she did say she wanted to testify against Bodaway.  But, in an interesting turn, she proposed that "Siobhan" pretend to be Bridget and be coached by Machado to testify against Bodaway.  Very interesting idea that Machado totally did not go for because (so far as he knew) it would be suborning perjury.  Amusingly, it would not have been perjury, but anyways.  I was also impressed at her quick thinking in using the fake blood to pretend that she was shot and killed.  That was good use of intellect under fire.  If on;y she hadn't blinked....

I've been complaining that Machado seemed to be an incredibly ineffective cop and it turns out that someone agrees with me.  He was suspended from his job.  Granted, the immediate cause was that he beat someone up on a public street, but the underlying issue seemed to be his ineffectiveness in the current investigation.  Turns out that Bodaway had let go of the lieutenant whose body was discovered last week shortly after Malcolm escaped.  Oh, by the way, the lieutenant was killed before Malcolm disappeared, so we have his murderer running around still (presumably anyway).

Henry told Siobhan that either she give up her revenge idea or they split up.  While she seems to have dropped the idea, she definitely still wants to kill Bridget given the fact that she was fantasizing about it.  And yes, that was what was in the previews.  Should have expected it, but missed that somehow.  I did figure it out right before they revealed it, but it shouldn't have taken that long.  Oh well.

Speaking of Henry, his father-in-law has promised to take care of the information on the flash drive.  And he turned Henry into the cops for the murder of Tyler Barrett.  Not sure how he connected those dots though.  Can't wait to see that reveal.

Next week, Bridget tells Machado about the attempts on her life and figures out that someone close to her wants her dead....

My Review of The Secret Circle 1.17- Curse

Adam and Cassie face the fallout from a curse, Faye finds out what Eva did to Lee, Charles and Dawn team up again, and John Blackwell has something up his sleeve...

I have to say that seeing all of those dead birds around the house after Cassie and Adam slept together was weird.  I mean, I know sex sells, but I can't say I've heard of sex killing (ok, Angel is the exception).  That whole curse story was very believable and the curse on Jake was good reinforcement.  I hope Blackwell truly did not know that the potion would have no effect on Cassie.  The fact that he interfered as bad as he did was bad enough, but if he purposely hurt Cassie that badly, he would be beyond the pale.  What is it about the union of the Conants and Blakes that scares him so much?  He interfered with Amelia/Ethan and Cassie/Adam.  Is the joining of two powerful houses of white magic what scares him or is it something else?  The other interesting fact to come out is that Blackwell still has some magic (apparently sans crystal) but not as much as he once had, and not enough to protect Cassie from the witch hunters.  Now that Dawn knows about the witch hunters, will the adults and kids team up for protection?

When Eva was woken with Faye's powers, it apparently also made her mentally unbalanced, hence the actions of last week and then again this week when she tried to kill Faye.  I have to admire Faye for going after the truth about Lee.  She is also a good, quick thinker which was helpful.  It sucks for her that Lee is dead.  I wonder what she's going to do?

That scene where it was revealed to the Circle that Adam and Cassie slept together was actually funny and uncomfortable at the same time.  Faye's totally inappropriate humour was truly funny and snarky.  The look on Diana's face made it incredibly uncomfortable.  She was so hurt by what happened.  I hope she gets things sorted out with Cassie and Adam.

I am worried about Charles.  Why did he restore Cassie's grandmother's memories?  Isn't that dangerous to him and Dawn?  Is taking out John Blackwell worth the risks he is running?

Next week, a confrontation between the Circle and the witch hunters....

My Review of The Vampire Diaries 3.17- Break On Through

Elena gets Alaric some help, Stefan works on his control, Damon has a reunion with Sage and discovers what Rebekah has been asking around about, and Caroline helps Bonnie and Abby out.

Well, we got to see Alaric's evil side and it was not pretty.  Turns out he wasn't just going after people who he saw as a threat to Meredith, but he was going after members of the Council who were not tough enough on vampires.  So why did he stab himself?  I am guessing it is either because of his friendship with Damon or the result of some sort of battle between his two selves.  In the past he has controlled his dark side by hunting vampires (after a violent start) but the rung brought it out even further so he could no longer control it.  Fortunately, Bonnie had a spell to help suppress dark desires and was able to help him.  He has to continue taking herbs twice a day.  Didn't say for how long, but I am guessing it will be for life.  So now, he is under "house arrest light" apparently with Damon acting as the jailer.

Speaking of Damon, he let himself get led around by his head.  And I ain't talking about the one with the pretty eyes.  Sage knew how to manipulate him and did so masterfully.  I wonder if she planned the whole thing with Rebekah or she went to Rebekah after finding out what Damon was planning.  Fortunately for our heroes, Damon somehow figured out what was going on and managed to save the sign for the Wickery Bridge that was made out of the white oak that will kill the Originals.  One question: I thought it was a white *ASH* tree that would kill the Originals?  Am I misremembering?  Oh, and one more thing.  I want to thank the writers for the extended scenes of Damon in a towel!  :-)

Stefan is apparently getting better at control.  It seems like he can control his impulses if he has something else to focus on outside of himself (i.e. Elena).  However, if he does not have something else to focus on, the blood becomes an all-consuming passion.  That is just an interesting note because it implies that his blood problem is not strictly speaking an addiction, but more in the nature of a coping mechanism.  It was definitely nice to see Stefan and Elena together for the investigation.  I do wish Elena would lighten up on Stefan.  He is a vampire and does need blood.  Granted, Damon's methods aren't kosher, but neither are the problems, so let the boys solve their own issues.

Watching Caroline be a mentor was neat.  She has grown up and matured so much since she was changed.  She managed to get Jamie to interact with Abby, helped Abby learn control, and helped Bonnie and Elena reunite.  She is really a cool character and majorly underutilized.  It was also nice to see Bonnie flirting with Jamie.  Seeing her laugh and enjoy herself was very nice to see.

I so want to smack Abby around for abandoning Bonnie again.  I get that the incident with Jamie freaked her out and that she has no idea how to be a mom, but Bonnie is a good girl and Abby would be ok.

It was also nice to see Jeremy again.  That note from Alaric to continue the mission was chilling and the fact that Jeremy has died several times with the ring is not good.  I wonder when he'll be back.

Next week, Damon and Stefan arm everyone for war....

My Review of Ringer 1.18- That Woman's Never Been a Victim Her Entire Life

Juliet and Bridget have a talk, Machado has a talk with Andrew and Bridget, Henry has a talk with his father-in-law, we find out what happened to Tyler, and Siobhan nearly has a talk with Andrew....

Siobhan had a bad day.  Henry was convinced that she had hired someone to kill Bridget and demanded that she get out of his house and his life.  So, she decided to reveal all to Andrew.  Henry stopped her and they made up only to have him drop the bomb that he was the one who killed Tyler (accidentally) and that he gave the flash drive to his father-in-law so that he could get out of Martin Charles.  Sorry girl, you just got screwed.  What are you going to do now?  Beg for the flash drive back?  Maybe Henry's father-in-law will send the flash drive to the SEC and bring down Martin Charles for you.

Bridget had a day that was a little better.  She knows for sure that Andrew loves her because he jumped in front of a bullet for her.  That is about it for the good news.  Malcolm is still missing, Juliet told her about the plan from her mom, and Machado thinks that Macawi was behind the disappearance of Malcolm and the shot at Bridget.  His reason?  Macawi doesn't know about Siobhan and thinks that "Siobhan" is Bridget!  Talk about irony!  Oh, and the other reason that Machado thinks that Macawi is behind the events?  One of his chief lieutenants was discovered dead and buried in a park with Malcolm's wallet and ID near by.  I wonder how much longer until Bridget reveals what Juliet and Catherine did.  I hope Andrew will forgive Juliet because she was ripe for manipulation when she made that deal with her mom.

At last we get to see Machado as a decent FBI agent.  He has been on the sidelines and unobservant for too long, it is nice to see that he is in fact competent.  He did a good job chasing the guy who shot Andrew, divided up the investigation well, is putting the dots together well.  The only thing he is still missing is that he has not yet realized (despite numerous small slips) that Bridget is masquerading as Siobhan.  Granted, no one else has figured it out either, but I would expect him to be a bit more observant.

I guess when you get down to it, that is my only beef with the show.  Why has no one figured out that Bridget is masquerading as "Siobhan"?  There has been a complete personality change and no one is suspicious?  I know, it is necessary for the show, but you'd think that at some point people would figure it out.  After all, it's not like we're dealing with someone who has emotional issues or is a teenage hormone bomb with the emotional fluctuations to match.  Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

Next week, Bridget and Siobhan (apparently) have a face-to-face meeting....

Until then!

My Review of One Tree Hill 9.11- Danny Boy

Dan achieves redemption, Clay and his son are reunited, Brooke's dad comes to town, and there is a surprise guest....

Gonna start with Clay, then move to Brooke and end with Dan.  It just seems fitting.

Clay got to see Logan for the first time since telling Logan who he is.  Also, we got to meet Sara's parents.  I totally get their hesitancy to let Clay in and I am glad he got it too.  I am also seriously glad that he didn't give up and finally got to see Logan because they needed to talk.  Logan needed to know that Clay loved his mom and that Clay loved him too.  When Logan asked if Clay might wander off again and Clay said that he wouldn't because his wandering had been to find Logan, I teared up.  That was so perfect and so sweet.  Logan needed the affirmation and needed to be told that he is loved.  I was also glad to see that he was good to Quinn, because there was the risk that he would see Quinn as a replacement for Sara.

I could not help but feel sorry for Brooke.  Once again, she opened her heart to her dad and he played with it very callously.  He might not have meant to, but he did.  I wish he could see how amazing and how strong she is and that she is worth knowing and loving.  Sadly, I don't think it's going to happen.  Well, his loss.

And now for Dan.  He actually died.  After surviving a heart attack, being left in a fire, an attempted hanging, being hit by a car and kidnapped by a crazy nanny, and a 3rd world heart transplant, he died because he was shot while rescuing Nathan.  Damn, gonna miss him for the last two episodes.  At least he achieved redemption.  After everything he has done, he managed to make as much right as possible while not making excuses for the wrongs he committed.  I loved the scene with Dan and Nathan on the River Court.  Nathan's acknowledgment that no matter how screwed up Dan was, he knows that Dan just wanted what was best for Nathan was totally awesome.  And we finally got to hear about why Dan killed Keith, the one thing Nathan could not stop hating him for.  And to Dan's credit, he didn't shrink from that.  He acknowledged that Nathan had every right to hate him for that and that he should in fact continue to do so.  But Nathan gave Dan an incredible gift.  He told Dan that he loved him.  Dan needed to know that before he died and I am glad he got it.

I do wish that they would have had a line that Lucas was coming, but I get why he refused.  After everything Dan did, Lucas just could not forgive him.  I do hope Lucas doesn't regret that.  Watching Dan and Deb together was nice.  The two of them have formed a nice relationship where they can banter back and forth and Dan needed that.  Deb also needed to hear from Dan that what happened to Keith wasn't her fault.  Dan didn't try to kill Keith because of the fire (well, not totally), but rather because Dan felt that Keith got everything Dan ever wanted: Karen, respect, love, and approval.

It was also nice to see Haley have a nice moment with Dan.  Like Lucas and Nathan, she can never forgive Dan for killing Keith, but she can acknowledge all the good he has done since then.  Letting him hold Lydia and play with her was the best thing she could have done.

And Keith was back!  When they panned over to Keith after Dan died, my hand flew up to my mouth and tears started to flow.  Seeing Keith forgive Dan and tell Dan that he was Keith's +1 was totally awesome and really made it clear that Dan had in fact achieved total redemption.  I don't remember ever hearing that Craig was coming back and I have never been so glad to be unspoiled.  If I had heard that Craig was back, that moment would have lost most of its power.  That last image of the two of them walking off together was perfect.

Next week, Julian works on transforming An Unkindness of Ravens into a tv series....

My Review of The Secret Circle 1.16- Lucky

Cassie discovers one reason her father came back, a secret is revealed from the boat fire, Melissa offers sage advice, Phoebe and Eva come to (figurative) blows over Lee, Diana meets a guy, and Adam and Cassie fight about his dad....

Well, well, well, turns out that Ethan's drinking stems from the boat fire.  He gave the witch hunters the power to overpower John Blackwell and thus led directly to the fire that killed the Circle.  He wanted to be rid of John so that he could have Amelia all to himself.  Unfortunately, his plans went awry, most his Circle was killed, and the survivors had their powers stripped by the Elders.  Talk about unintended consequences!  And no wonder he drinks.  I am glad that he managed to snap himself out of it and worry now that he will start up again.  Also, when he attacked John, Cassie used her powers to attack him.  But I don't think he'll be saying anything or else John will reveal what Ethan did all those years ago.

When exactly did Melissa get so wise?  She was offering sage advice left and right tonight.  She encouraged Diana to chase Grant, kicked Phoebe's butt so she would go back to fight for Lee, and made sure Jake knew that Cassie was firmly with Adam.  It was nice to see, but I am unsure where this all came from.  Melissa is the one character I think is most underutilized on this show and that is a shame.  She really needs to be fleshed out more independent of anyone else, because so far she has always been defined by her relationships with other people: Nick's girl, Faye's friend, Diana's friend, etc.  Maybe this is a start for that which will be nice to see.

Speaking of Faye, she got a bit of a nasty surprise when she showed up to take Lee out only to run into Eva who still considers herself Lee's girlfriend because he neglected to mention Faye to her.  Not a good thing.  Even less good since it seems that bringing her back by magic has given her magical abilities that she used to kill Lee.  Ow....

As for Diana and Grant, this has potential, but I cannot help but suspect that he is more than what he appears to be.  We'll have to wait and see though.

Blackwell seems very concerned about Cassie.  We have seen what she can do when she is pissed and it is not pretty.  But, I think he is wrong.  He seems to want her to give up magic and I don't see that being a good thing because invariably, if you don't learn to harness a power, it will control you.  I agree that she shouldn't use the dark magic, but she does need to learn how to control it so that she doesn't lash out and kill anyone else.

Watching Adam and Cassie fight about his dad was not particularly fun to watch, but it was nice to see them make up again (in the casino).  It was very mature of them to accept each other's reservations and then to be able to set them aside.  The making up in the house was pretty hot as well.  But what was up with the birds flying around the house?

Until next week!

My Review of Vampire Diaries 3.16- 1912

We discover who the killer of the founding families is, the resurrection rings have unexpected side effects, and we learn more about Damon and Stefan's life pre-Elena...

Well, Bonnie always said that magic has consequences and we were served with a major one tonight.  Turns out that after someone has been resurrected by the ring enough times, they start to change.  And the change is not a good change.  Turns out that Alaric has been the killer of the members of the Founders Council.  That is what is called a serious kick in the teeth.  Not only does this affect Alaric, but now Jeremy is in a certain amount of danger as well since he has been resurrected by the ring on at least a few occasions.  Apparently, Alaric has been killing people he saw as a threat to Dr. Fell.  In 1912, there was a similar rash of killings of members of the Council and the killer turned out to be a Gilbert.  Not sure what her motivation was or if she even had one.  All in all, not a good thing.

Watching Matt and Elena play junior sleuths was interesting.  These two don't hang out much anymore, so it was definitely nice to see them doing so.  Getting caught by Dr. Fell in the closet was predictable, albeit a little funny.  And that conversation about previous loves was a little awkward.  Maybe it was supposed to be more, but it didn't really feel that way to me.  One nice thing about having Matt around is that it gives Elena a chance to talk to someone who is totally normal.  He may not be totally unbiased, but he is a good sounding board to help her sort things out, such as her feelings about the Salvatores.  According to Elena, she fell in love with Stefan because he won't be dying and Damon just snuck up on her.  I am not entirely sure if this difference is crucial, but there it is.

While not a whole lot new was revealed about Damon and Stefan, we were introduced to a vampire named Sage who is at least 900 years old and; according to Rebekah; is obsessed with Finn.  She is also responsible for turning Damon from the reluctant vampire to the evil fiend we saw during Season 1.  There wasn't alot with her this episode, but she'll be back next episode, so I think this was just a setup for next week.  This episode also set in stone something that had been heavily implied before (I don't remember it being stated anyway!): Stefan cannot go to middle ground when it comes to drinking blood.  He either totally abstains or he becomes the Ripper.  Neither is particularly good.  It was interesting watching Damon promise to help Stefan find that middle ground so that he can feed on human blood without going off the deep end.  Here's hoping it works!

Until next week!

My Review of One Tree Hill 9.10- Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Dan, Julian, and Chris go to rescue Nathan; Brooke has a confrontation with Xavier; and Clay and Quinn confront the past...

Oh my gosh, Dan might actually die.  Up to now, Dan has seemed unkillable, but now I am not sure if he is going to make it.  If he doesn't, he can go out knowing that he has redeemed himself completely and his story has come full circle.  From the first season, Dan has been the ass that everyone hated, the guy who ruined everyone he touched.  He abandoned Lucas and Karen (although she refused to take him back), was a horrible husband to Deb, nearly ruined Nathan until Haley helped him become a better man, came close to utterly destroying Nathan and Haley's marriage on several occasions, killed Keith, and nearly killed himself.  Over the past few years, he has made attempts to get back in Nathan's good graces only to be rebuffed over and over again because of his past.  Finally, he was left all alone and destroyed his own diner in a desperate attempt to reconnect with Nathan and his family.  Now, he has proven that he is in fact worthy of being redeemed.  By taking that bullet for Nathan, he showed that he did in fact place a higher value on Nathan's life than on his own.  It sucks that it took this event to prove his love for Nathan, but there you have it.  I am desperately praying that Mark doesn't pull out some twist like Dan planning the kidnapping.  If he does, I will be incredibly upset because it will have ruined this wonderful redemption arc that Dan has been on.

I loved watching Dan work with Julian and Chris to get ready for the assault to rescue Nathan.  When Dan talked about himself in the third person, I almost died laughing.  Groaned too, but still, it was quite funny.  I also appreciated that he did what he could to keep Julian out of the line of fire so that Julian could take care of his family.  Because say what you will about Dan, but in some twisted way, he has always cared for his family.  Well, Nathan anyways and maybe Lucas.  Nathan making that awesome shot was impressive.  When Julian clocked the police officer that was cool.  And Chris ramming the guard was just giggleworthy.  I so hope we don't miss the phone call where Haley finds out that Nathan has been rescued.

Brooke finally seems to have put Xavier down for good.  He vandalized the cafe and terrorized Brooke in the parking garage.  I was glad to see her really stand up to him and fight back.  Of course, now she has a lot more to fight back for than she did when he attacked her last time.  And the fact that the bitch owner of the other diner rescued her was nice.  It was quite amusing that they still didn't get along.  Here's hoping that she does sell the other diner.  That would be awesome.

Clay went to visit Sara tonight with Quinn.  It was something he needed to do since he discovered Logan and I am glad he did it.  Now, he can hopefully reconnect with Logan and Quinn can help him raise Logan.

Next week, Jamie is back and Dan is in the hospital.

My Review of Ringer 1.17- What We Have is Worth the Pain

Siobhan reveals her reasons for acting to Henry, Bridget searches for Malcolm, Andrew and Olivia panic, Machado is drawn back in, and Juliet finds out what Catherine has done....

Siobhan was exposition central tonight.  She laid out everything for Henry.  Assuming she told him the truth (always a doubtful thing), she spooked Bridget into running to New York so that she could fake her death, have Bridget take her place, and then kill Bridget and frame Andrew thus killing two birds with one stone.  She'd get her revenge on Bridget for her son's death and take down Andrew at the same time.  Unfortunately, things didn't work out and Siobhan's plan is now on a new iteration.  She still wants Bridget dead, she just needs to find a new way to do it and tonight she found that way.  Unfortunately, Andrew took the bullet meant for Bridget.  Ok, maybe not so unfortunately....

Bridget spent the whole time searching for Malcolm and avoiding Andrew.  She is scared of what he might do now that Tyler has been killed.  And when Siobhan visited Andrew masquerading as Bridget masquerading as Siobhan (yeah, that took a little puzzling out) it didn't help matters at all.  Bridget knows that Malcolm is missing and that Andrew visited him the night he disappeared.  Bridget also came *THIS* close to finding out about Catherine until the text from "Malcolm" arrived and she had to leave.

Andrew and Olivia are in full panic mode.  The flash drive was a fake, Tyler is dead, and the FBI is nosing around looking for Malcolm.  In addition, they don't know if "Siobhan" has the real flash drive or not.  Andrew desperately wants to believe that "Siobhan" is not behind this, but Olivia is not so sure, and with good reason.  Granted, "Siobhan" is not behind it, but Siobhan is.

Juliet now knows that Catherine sent someone after Tessa and I think she wants to say something.  Unfortunately, if she were to say something, she would be forced to reveal her complicity in the whole thing which would ruin her relationship with her dad.  I so hope she just bites the bullet and comes clean at some point.

And Machado is back in New York looking for Malcolm.  So, he ends up at Charles/Martin and talking with Andrew and Olivia about Malcolm.  I wonder how much longer it will be until he figures out who Bridget is.  At the end when he saw Bridget holding Andrew, there seemed to be something in his eyes, but I could be wrong.

Until next week!

My Review of One Tree Hill 9.09- Every Breath is a Bomb

Haley strikes a deal with Dan to find Nathan, Julian and Brooke go to drastic lengths to protect their family, Chase faces the results of attacking Chuck's father, Clay faces the reality of what happened after Sarah died, and Skillz helps Mouth start to get back into shape....

Wow, Haley is really determined to get Nathan back.  She is so determined that she is willing to set Dan loose to get the answers that the cops won't get for her.  I truly understand what she is doing, I just hope she doesn't regret it.  This is the age old question about whether the ends justify the means.  She wants to find Nathan so bad that she will turn a blind eye to, in fact she will encourage, Dan's breaking of the law and his violence.  Is it the right thing to do?  I have my doubts solely on a moral level.  The entire gang has turned their backs on Dan because of his violent tendencies, but now Haley is encouraging him to do what he needs to do.  Hypocritical?  Yes, but as I said understandable.  I do admire that Dan has Haley leave before he does anything drastic to spare her as much as he can.  Dan has transformed from a monster to a (dare I say?) decent guy who has been rejected so much that he will grab at any bits of affection or acceptance he can get.  Also, based on his jailyard conversation last week, he is convinced he is going to hell, so what difference does it make?

Brooke and Julian are playing with fire where Xavier is concerned.  Granted, he is purposely trying to get into their heads and get them to flip out and the bitch-owner of the other cafe is helping out where she can, but still, if they are not careful this is going to get even uglier than it already is.  And about him in their house holding one of their babies at the end?  That was truly freaky.  The really unfortunate part of this is that unless he actively breaks a law, nothing can happen to him.  <shudder>

I have to admit that at first I was very upset with Chuck for lying about Chase and his dad.  I do understand his reasons.  I mean, his mom was there saying that nothing had happened and Chuck has probably grown up with the idea that nothing should be said, but still.  I love that Chris came and very non-judgementally talked with him.  That was cool.  I also appreciated that Chuck did the right thing and spoke up in Chase's defense and that Chase made sure he knew that even though Chase was discharged from the Air Force, what Chuck did still made a difference.  That was really important and really cool.

Watching Clay trying to connect with Logan as a father was painful.  Clay was so awkward that I could barely watch it.  He knows that he abandoned Logan and he knows the reasons, but now he wants to reconnect.  The worst part was when Logan rejected him.  I am really hoping that Logan will come around eventually, but I think it will be a rocky road ahead.  

Watching Skillz and Mouth was just really nice.  I am not entirely sure how Mouth got so out of shape, but I am glad to see he is back on the road to taking care of himself again.  It was also nice to see him working on a sports blog and visit Jimmy's grave.  Here's to the journey.

Next week, Dan, Julian, and Chris go to get Nathan....

My Review of Ringer 1.16- You're Way Too Pretty to Go to Jail

Bridget reacts to the revelation that Andrew is behind the Ponzi scheme, Siobhan takes steps to ensure Malcolm is not around to protect Bridget, Machado hears from Malcolm and relives his past, and Tyler goes to the SEC which provokes a response from Olivia....

Tyler is dead.  Literally.  Even though Siobhan asked him not to go to the SEC yet, he went and Olivia found out about it.  She and Andrew then recalled Tyler to New York when Olivia fired him and then killed him (or had him killed, that was a little ambiguous).  Lovely woman, I am sure you'll agree.  I am willing to bet that Olivia merely meant to take the flash drive but when Tyler returned unexpectedly she killed him.  That will definitely put a wrinkle in Siobhan's plans.

Speaking of Siobhan, she is hellbent on ruining Andrew and letting Bridget go down as well.  When she said that she didn't want Malcolm around to protect Bridget, I am not sure if she meant physical protection or some other sort of protection.  Either way, when she posed as Bridget and told Malcolm off, she achieved her wish.  The interesting thing is that Malcolm decided to talk with Machado to make Bridget feel safe enough to return to her old life, which I don't see happening.  I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but Siobhan is a mistress of manipulation.  She knows which strings to yank to achieve her ends.  Unfortunately, Tyler slipped his leash to help her and now she's screwed on that end.

Bridget has been taking shock after shock and does not know how to react.  First, Andrew reveals that he planned the Ponzi scheme to save the company.  Then she overhears Andrew and Olivia talk about silencing Tyler.  Then she goes to visit Tyler after she sees Andrew seemingly go into the hotel and she finds him dead.  That poor woman is so shell shocked right now that I am surprised she is capable of doing anything.  You have to admire her guts to keep pushing forward in spite of everything that has happened.

I wonder what Andrew was talking about when he mentioned the "nuclear" option in relation to Siobhan.  Was he planning on getting rid of her?  I guess it's possible, but that does seem out of character.  Granted, he is a white collar criminal, but I don't see him killing Siobhan unless things were *ALOT* worse than we realized.

And we discover why Agent Machado is so hellbent on prosecuting the guy Bridget was going to testify against.  Turns out he was in love with the woman that was killed (who was also his CI) and she was pregnant with his baby.  This is extremely personal.

Next week, Malcolm disappears and Bridget is worried....