Review - WHITE COLLAR 4.12: 'Brass Tacks'

Just because an episode introduces a promising villain and points the show in a seemingly-good and entertaining direction, doesn't mean I'm about to sing the praises of "Brass Tacks".

The back-half of Season 4 needed both a good antagonist and a clear goal to wrap up this storyline in order to learn more about Neal's father and his past. With Titus Welliver's character of Senator Pratt, it seems as though this episode of 'White Collar' is the precursor to doing just that.

While all this makes me encouraged moving forward, I didn't exactly love how we got to this point.

ONCE AGAIN it appears as though Peter and Neal may be at odds, because Peter knows he was lied to and won't be able to trust him. (Stop me if you've seen this storyline before) I do love the idea of both of them working and competing against each other regarding the key-map without Neal's knowledge, but I'm just sick and tired of that tired charade.

Damn you, Elizabeth, for not telling Peter the truth. You could have prevented this from happening again. My anger at Mrs. Suit aside, nice work from Tiffani Thiessen as usual. Great scene with her and Matt Bomer -- she always sells the emotional moments well.

No one loves Neal Caffrey as a character more than me. You guys must know by now that I'm a sucker for all episodes that involve Neal going undercover, doing something shady and channeling his con-man abilities -- but this episode is the exception. I know Neal is the master at infiltrating anything, but his turn as a master architect might have been the most ridiculous and far-fetched one this show has ever done. And that's saying something.

And yes, I liked Senator Pratt, and he looks like a good villain, but what does having Hughes removed from the bureau-- and not Peter or Neal -- really accomplish here? Stupid. A real villain knows that maneuver will only fire up and motivate his enemies even more. Plus, Hughes was never a threat to Pratt, anyway. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

This installment leaves me excited for the upcoming ones, but also irks me in the meantime.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--ELIZABETH: "If you have to lie to his face to keep him safe, you damn well lie to his face."

--HUGHES: "And I bet you always wanted to be an architect, right Caffrey?

--HUGHES: "You're a real son of a bitch, Neal. But you're the best damn son of a bitch I've ever seen."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--Mozzie-related things that I enjoyed: He apparently doesn't play well with others and he calls Jones "Quantico", "Suit Jones" and "Wingtips."

--Gee, what a shock, Neal peddled his own agenda in the intial interview with Senator Pratt -- forcing Peter to kick him out of it.

--One thing about this show that should get more credit: the Burke's have one of the best marriages on TV.

--Enjoyed Mozzie improvising on the phone with Pratt, but I could have done without the ridiculous phone-swapping shenanigans.

--Damn you, Jones. I hate when the suits are competent when dealing with Mozzie.

--That car accident didn't even look that bad. I would have walked out of that crash without a scratch.

--Riddles are awesome, as are keys that are really maps.

--Neal/Mozzie vs. Peter/Suits ... who ya got?

--I miss Alex Hunter. Gloria Votsis, when are you returning, dammit!?

THE GRADE: C-

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Guest Review - ARCHER 4.02: 'The Wind Cries Mary'

Shawn Mahone guest writers another review of ARCHER! Tell him what you thought! -- HGF

You know the exact moment this episode had me? the moment when I realized that this show does not simply lazily get in a guest star and riff the easiest thing in the world to riff on? the moment where you know this series even in its low moments is going to be great no matter what in the end!

The answer is when Archer asked Luke how he was passing out and Luke was ok and Luke replied that the reason was because he coated the glass....the smile on my face was huge and then suddenly I shed a tear (RIP Maggs Bennett, RIP indeed). You see it would have been so easy to get Tim Olyphant in last years Bloody Harlan and use him there, it would be so easy to have this episode about two of the manliest men alive going around blowing shit up and banging women because Olyphant has to be Raylan Givens right? no! and this show is the better for it.

What makes this episode more and more funny is the fact that Luke is gay and he is especially gay for Archer and he basically has the biggest hard on for him. It is funny because Archer seems to be the only one who does not realise this and Lana's "Called it" was superb comic timing and delivery. This episode had some other great moments too while expanding the shows universe but also clueing in potential new fans. Krieger gets to do the great ant experiments while also being a total weirdo, Pam is the HR director who gets no respect (and in a great line delivery by Amber Nash works in a chicken shit outfit), Cyrill is the weasily accountant, Cheryll/Carol is just a bitch that I love, Lana is the hot headed babe with big hands, Mallory the self obsessed narcissist who has this controlling unhealthy relationship with Archer and then this is Archer himself. The episode is a check, check, check, check....check episode in a way but it is still funny and seamingsly done so that not to annoy returning fans.

Well done show, well done.

So we have the HR evaluations being done all episode long and the banter between Lana and Cyril was expertly done and enjoyable. If I had to mark this episode down slightly it would be killing off of Luke, his death bed confession was fantastic...just popped in an Al Green CD and some hand lotion and...... So to not see him again kinda irks me a little. Him and Archer just riffing with each other and getting along really well made me want to see more of Luke because we know Archer has no other friends and opening up Archer has made him a better character. Archer lets him tease him about his mom and he lets him out Archer him and so it is good to see someone who can do these things, but all in all.....

Great Stuff, just.... GREAT STUFF ALL AROUND!.

There was a ton of other stuff in there but this week I want you guys to fill in some of the blanks and let me know what you think! You bitches need to work a little!

I am going to try and do the grading system this week, I saw it on another blog and thought why the fuck not!

GRADE: A-

-- Shawn Mahone

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Furycast 64 - Chuck Versus the Colonel Viewing Party

Jess, KJ, Wendy, Bailey, and Magnus all watch Chuck Versus the Colonel and lose their minds along the way. Join them in their madness. THIS IS A TOTALLY UNEDITED PODCAST! BEWARE!

WARNING: Some adult language seeps out, causing us to have to give money to charity.

This is either autoplaying right now or you need to press play. Choose wisely.


You can also DOWNLOAD this podcast by RIGHT CLICKING ON THIS LINK and saving the file to your computer.
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Review - SUITS 2.12: 'Blood in the Water'

Before I ramble on and on like a mad-man trying to figure out how I felt about this episode, let me begin by talking about something I know for sure: Rachel and Donna are bleeping awesome.

Neither of them get as much screen time as I'd like, but Donna is consistently the most entertaining character with her witty repartee and humor and Rachel has been dynamite these past two weeks in her confrontations with Mike.

But if we're talking 'Suits' and confrontations, we have to begin with Harvey and Louis once again at odds. Both always have valid reasons for being pissed at the other and the argument in Louis' office was great as usual. That rivalry is perhaps my favorite part of this show in general, so I didn't love how just 20 minutes after Harvey explodes on Louis, all is forgiven by the end of the episode. And of course it was inevitable because Louis clearly wasn't going to leave the firm and Harvey had to fix things at the end to make it happen.

I get it. But I just don't like it in this case, because this is the second time now that Louis has essentially gotten another job and threatened to leave and the fight between the two this week was so heated that Harvey made it clear that they were completely done. This time that fight should have stuck. But with Jessica giving Louis the validation he's been searching for since the series began and Harvey ripping up the resignation letter, Louis stays and it's almost as if that fight never happened.

One more quick Louis-related complaint: why does he consistently let EVERYONE push him around? He lets Mike bully him into giving Harold another chance when he very clearly doesn't deserve it. If Harold really had made all those mistakes that Louis talked about, he would have been fired 1,000 times by now. They didn't do a good job of showing why he was any good, does a really good essay mean he's some genius lawyer or something? C'mon, he's terrible. And why do we even care? Was that all just a way to get rid of a character so the show can save some money?

On to more pressing matters ... I was a bit tough on Mike in last week's episode (although not nearly as harsh than Shawn Mahone was haha), but after getting yelled at by Harvey and beat up by Tess' husband, I think he's endured enough. He's gotten rid of the drugs, ended the affair and returned to being the brilliant legal mind and problem solver that he is.

Although that's not nearly enough penance as far as Rachel is concerned, apparently.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--DONNA: "Do you want to talk about it, I have ice cream!"

--DONNA: "OK, you caught me, I don't even eat the bananas."

--HARVEY: "Maybe Hardman wanted me dead, but you're the one who went out, got the gun, aimed it and fired it at my head."

--HARVEY: "You're the guy that nobody wants, but we can't get rid of."

--ALLISON: "You say we, but I don't see your name on the door."

--MIKE: "I want you to know it was after I ended things with Tess."
--RACHEL: "I want you to know that I just don't give a shit."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--The first 10 seconds of the episode was quite the unique endorsement of whatever brand of vacuum cleaner that was!

--"Pearson Paulson" does sound pretty good! I'm with you on that one Donna.

--Can we get Michael Jordan on an upcoming episode, please? (They've mentioned how he's a client of Harvey's like three separate times now) I mean, we all know he can act, he was on 'Space Jam' after all.

--Moral of this episode: Michael Jordan was really good at playing basketball, but not very good at choosing who is good at playing basketball. On a related matter, Jessica knowing his record as an executive makes her instantly more attractive in my mind. One last Jordan note: anyone who says he isn't the best basketball player of all-time is a colossal moron.

--Question: If someone is kicking your ass because you slept with their wife, do you even have the right to fight back?

THE GRADE: B-

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