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Monday, December 30, 2013

'Person of Interest' GifTweetCap: Finch and Reese Are SO DONE!

"Person of Interest" continues with the episode "Lethe," minus Det. Carter. Fans won't forget her for a long time, and the characters are not forgetting about her either. Everything has changed. It is almost as if we are watching a new series.

The two characters most visibly affected by Carter's death are Reese and Finch. Reese reacts by drinking and ignoring people in need. Finch reacts by no longer answering pay phones calling out via the Machine with new numbers.
Root has not shirked her responsibilities to the Machine, however, continuing to receive numbers despite being locked up in a part of the library with supposedly no form of digital communication with the outside world.
The number revealed by Root belongs to Arthur Claypool (Saul Rubinek, from Warehouse 13, yay!), a terminally ill patient at a hospital with a brain tumor. One side effect of the tumor is trying to convince his doctors that he's not crazy by rambling on about things that sound crazy.
Shaw, undercover as a doctor, realizes that Claypool isn't so crazy after all when she notices that the Secret Service is protecting him. He is clearly important to the government, and his broken brain must contain some dangerous secrets! Evidence that Claypool is holding important information is confirmed when one of the secret service agents is poisoned by his Chinese food while questioning Shaw (who had been caught snooping on Claypool).
After the agent's death, Shaw immediately gets to work trying to convince Claypool and his wife Diane to come with her to safety. Claypool is unconvinced that either Shaw or Diane (whom he doesn't even recognize) are trying to help him. Then Finch walks in, and Claypool's face lights up. Shaw and Diane are both surprised to find that the two men are old friends.
As the group escapes the hospital, they realize who is after them: Vigilance, the group that has been trying to protect people's privacy by dropping lots of bodies of those who don't agree with them. Shaw lays down some cover fire from the window of the escape vehicle.
It turns out that Claypool was working on his very own Machine called Samaritan. The Samaritan project was discontinued, and Claypool's machine destroyed, when someone else "got there first" (Finch does not mention that he was the one who got there first).
It all goes sideways when Claypool suddenly remembers that his wife is dead. The woman posing as Diane is an impostor! She calls in her goons, revealing that she is part of "Control," Shaw's old organization that used to pull numbers from the Machine separately. Not only that, Fake Mrs. Claypool is the boss lady, and threatens to kill the either Finch or Claypool! The first man to hand over the location of the technology behind their respective machines gets to live. And then the episode ends, leaving us hangin' by a thread!
Meanwhile, Fusco tries to convince Reese to rejoin the team. He begins by sitting down for a drink, minus the alcohol. The tough-guys-don't-drink look Fusco gives Reese after putting in his order is priceless.
Reese refuses to stop drowning his sorrows in booze, so Fusco offers to straighten him out the only way Reese will listen to reason: by attempting to kick his ass. But this is Reese we're talking about: he doesn't need to be sober to win a fight.
The two men get out their aggression as best the can before getting caught by the cops. Oops!
Throughout the episode, we also get glimpses of Finch as a kid. As a young boy in 1969, he was already under the impression that machines would be built better if the builders did not intend you to open them up and take them apart.
As a slightly older boy in 1971, we learn why Finch built the Machine: because his father had a degenerative disease, and Finch wanted to figure out a way to store all of his dad's memories in a machine so he would never again forget anything.
By the time Finch was a teen in 1979, he was hacking payphones to make free calls to Paris in order to impress his friends, and his dad was wandering off and forgetting where he was.
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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

'Grimm' GifTweetCap: Santa Claws is Coming to Town!

The second episode in the two-episode midseason finale (the first was "Cold Blooded") was "Twelve Days of Krampus," a Christmas special about an evil Santa. This Santa is a Wesen with a bad attitude and a big appetite!
The episode starts with two grinch-kids stealing a bunch of presents. "Santa Claws" doesn't take too kindly to that, and decides to nab them and put them in his bag-o-kiddies before leaving a lump of coal. He's unable to reach one of them, however, as the other kid has hidden in a crunched car. Instead, Wu finds him, initially believing he is reaching for a dead body.
The next time Santa strikes at the heart of naughtiness, he's spotted by a bystander.
Nick and Hank have some trouble finding the Santa culprit, chasing after and arresting the first Wesen-Santa Nick spots. Of course, the whole debacle is recorded on a phone, and Juliette later chides Nick for being on TV arresting Santa.
Santa continues his rampage, against the naughty, stuffing children into ornament baskets for his version of a Christmas tree. That's one way to get into the holiday spirit!
Monroe, Rosalee, and Bud get in on the act, with Monroe and Rosalee deducing that "Santa Claws" is a Krampus Wesen who will keep the children in the tallest tree at the tallest spot in town before eating them and leaving at midnight, and Bud knowing the location of the tallest spot in town.
The entire gang goes out to find the tree, initially having believed it to be a legend. But there it is, a tree full of kids, ready to be devoured. As they begin saving the kids, Nick uses his newfound super-hearing to hear Krampus in the distance. He fights with the Krampus until the creature grabs him by the neck. At this point, zombie-Nick makes an appearance, knocking out the Krampus with a single punch.
Unfortunately, the Krampus doesn't even know he's a Krampus. Once midnight passes, he's just a regular guy, completely dumbfounded and seemingly innocent. They have no choice but to let the poor guy go, simply keeping an eye on him until next year rolls around and he begins collecting young children, once again.
Meanwhile, Monroe gets Juliette's help in surprising Rosalee with "a few" Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, Rosalee hates the holiday, because her favorite aunt and uncle were killed in a car accident when they were on their way to Rosalee's family's house on Christmas.
Later, Monroe tries to fix the situation by taking down all the decorations, making Rosalee feel even worse with guilt over Monroe's sweetness.
After a talk with Juliette, Rosalee decides to create some new Christmas traditions that she can share with Monroe. One tradition Rosalee remembered from childhood was when her aunt would leave out beer and a cigar for Santa in lieu of milk and cookies. She redecorates the house, adding her own family's tradition to the mix, in honor of her favorite aunt.
Meanwhile, Renard is still off taking care of family business after the death of his brother. He has learned that Adalind is pregnant, and that the child could very well be his. He visits Adalind's room, and spots the corpse-blood-cream Adalind uses on her pregnant belly. Not knowing what he's getting himself into, he goes into full Hexenbiest woge after sniffing the putrid stuff. He then leaves a note, informing her of the snoop-cam, and telling her to meet with him later.
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'Grimm' GifTweetCap: Is Nick Becoming 'Cold Blooded'?

Grimm had a blow-out two-episode midseason finale last week, beginning with "Cold Blooded." That's two -- count 'em two -- monsters of the week in one week! The second is "Twelve Days of Krampus."

The first monster is a sewer-dwelling alligator man with a mouth full of teeth, and he enjoys stealing objects for hoarding in his little tunnel alcove. Unfortunately, a kid comes home during the creature's latest burglary, and gets shaken to death, losing an arm in the process.
The next victim is Jimmy, a city worker who just happens to have a blockage-clearing job right near the alligator Wesen's home. He leaves his sandwich to go get the job done, but it doesn't quite work out the way he expected. The pulley Jimmy's attached to is cranked to the max as he's pulled and shaken to death, losing a leg in the process.
Nick, Hank and Wu are called in to find the criminal, but Wu is the first to find some evidence: it's Jimmy's leg!
Wu is terrified that alligators are the culprits. He admits to having peed the bathtub as a child because of his fear of alligators. If he only knew what was really going on. He'd be soiling himself all day long! Perhaps it's best he not know the truth.
Monroe is doing dinner and doesn't have time for Wesen talk, but decides that he would have time as long as Nick brings his trailer books over to the house for a nice cozy Grimm-book reading party. It's quite the occasion, and the gang decides that the alligator-man must be a Gelumcaedus Wesen, one if the oldest known Wesen. They used to protect aqueducts back in the day.
The best defense is something called a vambrace, which Nick happens to have hiding out in the trailer... He just never knew what it was for. Hank decides to stick with his rifle while Nick tests out the vambrace. Both men seem to have an overly-excited testosterone reaction to the sight of the large blade popping out of the weapon.
Nick and Hank go back down to the tunnels to search for the Gelumcaedus, and they find him fairly quickly. His name is Gregorek, which seems to fit the large, terrifying creature. Nick doesn't get to use his fat blade though... The only action his vambrace sees is a fat jaw clenching. Before they take him into the precinct, Gregorek sees Nick's true form, but the usual surprised "Grimm!" Is replaced with "Decapitare!"
Nick calls up Monroe while he's "knee-deep" in fixing a clock to ask the meaning of "Decapitare." Monroe says that's the old-time name for a Grimm, as in "one who decapitates."
Unfortunately, the Gelumcaedus has a brother, and Hank is abducted while Gregorek is still locked up. Hank unwittingly becomes a damsel-in-distress, up for trade in return for Gregorek.
Nick is surprised to learn that Gregorek actually has two brothers, but they're no match for him. This time, Nick puts his vambrace to good use: killing the alligator brothers, and living up to his name as the decapitare. Gregorek is the only survivor, and is sent back to jail. Nick seems to be more pleased with himself than usual at the fact that he got to decapitate a couple of scumbags.
Meanwhile, Renard is hanging out with the resistance, despite the fact that he's half royal. Not everyone trusts him, however. Renard gets a dangerous twitch, showing that he's affected by the death of someone on the other side. The reaction does not go unnoticed, but a quick smile afterward eases fears.
Adalind is also up to her usual odd behavior, continuing to rub on some rotting-Frau-corpse-blood-cream, which takes the shape of a spider on her pregnant belly. Unbeknownst to her, there is a spy cam in her room, and her every action is being watched by her royal hosts.
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Monday, December 23, 2013

'Elementary' GifTweetCap: Is There a New Guy? But What about Bell?

"Internal Audit" is a bittersweet episode of Elementary, hinting that one of the characters could be leaving (that is left up in the air), but that a fan-favorite character may be sticking around a little more often. The highlight in this episode is the characters, so character issues will be covered first this time around, followed by the mystery.

The episode starts out with Bell having trouble writing with his injured dominant right hand. Watson brings him some ready-to-eat dinners, which is just about the sweetest thing she could do for poor Bell. He recoils a bit when she asks whether he'd like to talk about his troubles, but softens quickly thinking about the sweet gesture. Fortunately, Bell is offered a choice job with a "demographics unit" (as in, surveillance). It's much better than being forced I to a desk job, but not so great for fans if it means that he leaves the show. At least the character would be happy.
Meanwhile, Alfredo (fan-favorite Ato Essandoh, who was also fantastic on Copper. You can catch Season 1 on Netflix and Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon) is watching Sherlock try to break into a half-million dollar car. With the guilt of being partly responsible for Bell getting shot after provoking the shooter, Sherlock is feeling a bit testy, although he continues to claim that he did nothing wrong. Still, he has trouble working while Alfredo watches, and winds up kicking the car when the alarm begins sounding and he fails to break in.
Alfredo convinces Sherlock to come to a meeting, but he mostly wants to introduce Sherlock to fellow addict Randy. Sherlock begins the introduction with a slight insult, wondering whether Randy is a name or adjective. Then, Alfredo "ambushes" Sherlock with a proposal: for Sherlock to sponsor Randy. Initially, Sherlock merely states that his job leaves him no time, and he skips out as soon as he gets a text from Watson, leaving without giving a complete answer.
Watson reminds Sherlock that nobody else "has time" to sponsor someone either, and basically tells Sherlock that he should get over himself and sponsor Randy. Sherlock responds by continuing to be upset and selfish, breaking into Alfredo's house and car in the middle of the night in order to ease his mind.
Later, Sherlock finally decides to sponsor Randy, but that decision is not entirely obvious when Randy enters Sherlock's home. Sherlock stands straight and rigid, making Randy believe he is only there to be rejected. After a long uncomfortable silence, Sherlock finally explains that he will be a strict sponsor rather than a friend; he is there to help him stay sober, nothing else.
The mystery part of the episode begins with a man named Donald Hauser getting kneecapped as he's about to commit suicide. He is then tortured before being murdered. Tough luck.
When Sherlock and Watson are called in to help, Sherlock begins his odd process by sniffing Hauser's mouth, then pulling out some residue and rubbing it to feel the texture.
Sherlock initially suspects Chloe Butler, Hauser's personal chef, because she acts a little jumpy. It turns out that Watson knows Butler from when she was a client, and Butler didn't know how to act when seeing Watson at the crime scene. She's also a recovering addict, like Sherlock.
It is assumed that Hauser was tortured and prevented from committing suicide (the easy way out) because he was similar to Bernie Madoff, stealing millions of dollars in a Ponzie scheme. But then Rosalie Nunez, a journalist who exposed Hauser, is herself tortured and murdered. Sherlock continues his process by licking the residue left on a door from the bottom of a shoe, and offering Joan a taste.
The residue is from a certain species of orange that can be found in a park that is popular with skateboarders. Sherlock suggests checking the footage of the narcisisstic genetalia-crushing, meme-seeking skateboarders, hoping to spot something unusual. Watson does the work, clearly having learned Sherlock's multi-screen viewing skills.
She actually spots someone she recognizes, who used to be friends with Butler. Butler insists that she hasn't seen the man, Nelson Maddox, ever since she was an addict. Butler wants to keep her connection to him quiet because she's in a custody battle for her child.
Watson is adamant that Sherlock cannot inform the police of her friend's connection to the case, knowing that Butler had nothing to do with it. Sherlock protests until Watson reminds him of what happened to Bell: dragging Butler into the case could have serious repercussions for her, and for no good reason.
Watson does hand over the footage, and enough information for the cops to possibly solve the case without involving Butler. There had been a laptop missing from Nunez's apartment, and Maddox appeared to be carrying it on the video. The cops release the video on TV to find leads to his location. Weiss, a non-profit director who worked with Hauser, calls in a tip stating that he recognizes Maddox, and that Maddox was connected to the art world. The information leads to a gallery with disturbingly bad "artwork," including a pile of crocheted dynamite.
Oh, and there's a body in the dumpster behind the gallery. Sherlock has a rare gross-out moment, pulling out a tissue to lift a bag, revealing Maddox's body. They also find evidence that Maddox killed Hauser and Nunez, and gallery girl Fabiana tells them he was a silent partner of the gallery, and the gallery was a client of Hauser's. But why did Maddox kill Nunez, and who killed Maddox?
Sherlock then notices something peculiar: the red dots indicating that a piece has been sold are dispersed at every three pieces, indicating that someone simply slapped down the dots at regular intervals as they walked through the gallery. This leads Sherlock to conclude that the gallery is a front for money laundering. Nunez had discovered what was going on, so that explains why Maddox killed her.
Weiss' non-profit is actually a front for a Holocaust charity. He did help some folks, but also embezzled millions, laundering money through the gallery. He was the one who had Maddox torture and kill Hauser when he decided that stealing from Holocaust victims was too low, even for him. He had told Nunez what was going on, so Nunez wound up on the hit list as well. And when Maddox's face appeared on TV as the killer, he killed Maddox as well to cover his tracks.
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