Week in Review, Feb 22 to 28

Although I did play some Mass Effect 2 this week, it wasn't much, and I didn't accomplish anything of note, so it's all TV in this Week in Review.

The Week in Television

I watched a lot of Olympics events this week, much more than I did during the first week. I got sucked into the Canadian hockey drama, as well as curling and short-track speed skating.

When I wasn't watching the Olympics or the few series below that dared air opposite the Olympics, I was watching Torchwood. The show has grown on me a lot, improving significantly from a very rocky first five or so episodes. It's a much more adult series than Doctor Who, often surprising me with language and themes I didn't expect to see in the Doctor Who universe. The characters are the most important element here, much more so than the stories, and I have developed an attachment to every member of the main cast. The cheese factor I mentioned last week, most exemplified by "Cyberwoman," my least favourite episode of the series so far, has mostly subsided. The storylines improved as the Cardiff Rift, Torchwood's version of Buffy's Hellmouth, was explored with more detail, and the first season ended much stronger than it had begun, even though the series didn't have nearly the budget it would have needed to do its final twist justice. Early into the second season, the series seems stronger than ever, with tighter storytelling and interesting character development. I'm sad now that there are only two and a half seasons of Torchwood to watch.

Tuesday, February 23rd
Loved: Lost (6x5)

"Lighthouse" wasn't quite as good as last week's Lost, but Jack episodes are never as good as Locke episodes. There were some bones thrown to fans to say, "Yeah, we remember stuff from the first season," but the main revelation of this episode felt a little redundant after last week. It was still very entertaining, particularly thanks to some great lines from Hurley, and was obviously an episode about moving pieces around to setup a bigger payoff in the coming episodes. The flash-sideways storyline could have been a problem, what with introducing a new character and all, but it was actually quite emotionally effective.

Thursday, February 25th
Liked: Survivor (20x3)

I wonder if it was Boston Rob's idea to put Randy up against James--such a hilariously absurd match-up. This season's trend of only having a single challenge in each episode is new to me, but it seems so far to be a good thing, giving more screen time to the machinations of the players. One thing I've come to expect from Survivor definitely hasn't changed: the editors still make it obvious which tribe is going to lose the immunity challenge by giving that tribe much more screen time before the challenge.

Friday, February 26th
Loved: Spartacus (1x6)
Liked: Caprica (1x5), The Ricky Gervais Show (1x2)

"There is Another Sky" introduced a new area of V-world to Caprica and spent most of its running time with Tamara Adama, a character that I had previously thought would be a minor player at best. And she was pretty awesome, developing Neo-like powers and kicking all kinds of ass. Outside of V-world, the Adama family came together for an interesting ritual, and Zoe was forced by her dad to rip her own arm off in the episode's best scene.

"Delicate Things" was another kick-ass episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. This show is really bringing it now. The political machinations took an ugly turn last week, and that element of the show reached new heights of ugliness in this episode. Even good-guy Spartacus was lying his ass off and manipulating events to his purposes this week. In the end, Batiatus still managed to win with the dirtiest betrayal of all. And, holy hell, that bath scene...

I forgot to mention the premiere of the animated The Ricky Gervais Show last week. As someone that has not listened to the podcasts that this show is regurgitating (now with visuals!), I am greatly enjoying my first exposure to the inanity of Karl Pilkington. The second episode was not quite as genius as the first, but there was still copious amounts of funny.

Saturday, February 27th
Liked: Legend of the Seeker (2x13)

"Princess" was a strangely amusing episode of Legend of the Seeker, even though the setup and plot were completely absurd. This was another standalone episode, but the stalling on the Stone of Tears story wasn't quite as blatant as last week. The focus again this week was on Cara, but in a goofy way this time, and Tabrett Bethell actually brought the comedy like a pro. And the return of Nicci was welcome, although the new actress was awkward in the role.

Sunday, February 28th
Liked: The Amazing Race (16x3)

It amazed me how many teams had trouble with the "Horse Sense" Detour in this week's Amazing Race. Best of all was Joe, who thought he had it in the bag because his watch has a compass on it, but then failed miserably to understand the challenge. The cowboys continued to impress despite themselves. Jeff had the line of the night with "We definitely shouldn't reproduce," after failing to read his clue properly. And I certainly won't miss the Philiminated team who thought simply being moms made them special for some reason.