This Week in Buffy History: January 31-February 6

February 4
2002 - Angel Episode 3.13 “Waiting in the Wings” airs on The WB
2003 - Episode 7.13 “The Killer in Me” airs on UPN
2004 - Angel Episode 5.12 “You’re Welcome” airs on The WB

February 5
1951 - Robin Sachs born (played Ethan Rayne)
2002 - Episode 6.13 “Dead Things” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 4.11 “Soulless” airs on The WB

February 6
2001 - Episode 5.13 “Blood Ties” airs on The WB

Happy Birthday PooZ

Great Moments in January 31st History:

- 1606 - Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament
- 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
- 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
- 1950 – President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1960 - Chris Puziak Born

Yep, that's right, my podcast partner turns 50 today. He looks remarkably good for being AARP eligible.

Or, um, actually, today's his 29th birthday, and I'm just bustin' his balls for being one year away from 30 (and also making sure he still checks this site). Happy Birthday PooZ.

Series of Tubes: Dollhouse “Epitaph Two” Rapid Reaction

The most surprising thing about "Epitaph Two", the series finale to "Dollhouse", wasn't Paul Ballard's death, or Alpha's hero turn, or the way that Victor/Tony and his group of freedom fighters had started using the tech in their own twisted way. Sure, those were all surprising, but the MOST surprising thing was that, for the most part, "Dollhouse" gave us a happy ending.

Now, given that this was a Joss Whedon series, it couldn't be a perfect ending. This is the guy who killed Anya in the last episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Wesley in the last episode of "Angel" and both Wash and Book in the "Serenity" movie, so you knew not everyone was making it through. But we'll get to that.

The episode picked up shortly after "Epitaph One" left off, with Mag, Zone and Caroline (in the body of a 10-year-old girl) headed to Safe Haven -- which just happens to be right near Rossum's Tucson headquarters. Of course, it just so happens that Ballard and Echo have gotten themselves captured and brought to the headquarters, now called Neuropolis, as a means of breaking out Topher, who was really the key to the entire episode.

If you thought Topher was a tragic figure in "Epitaph One", that storyline gets amplified in "Epitaph Two". It turns out that Rossum -- or Clive and Harding in new bodies -- has been forcing Topher to work on new advanced tech, and killing one person in front of him each day he didn't finish. While this was mentally draining on Topher, he wasn't about to help them again, and instead had been working on a way to reverse the imprinting tech, so Ballard and Echo break him out and take him to Adelle, Priya and Priya's young son.

I don't want to give you a play-by-play of the whole episode, so let's just focus on some key moments. It was obvious when Echo and crew (including the trio from "Epitaph One") arrived at Priya's farm that Victor/Anthony was noticeably absent. It wasn't clear at first whether he had died or he and Priya/Sierra had just split up, but it was definitely tough to see that they hadn't made it as a couple. Throughout Whedonverse history, most of our favorite couples HAVEN'T made it, so I think most of us were rooting for Priya and Anthony. But the seeds of their breakup were planted in the previous episode, when Anthony got his "upgrades" and really seemed to like them. He decided to keep going down that road with the tech, leading to his schism with Priya, who was very anti-tech. Amazingly, despite the Whedonverse tendency to avoid happy endings, they were back together at the end (and we'll get to the actual ending soon enough).

When the group finally made the decision to go back to the L.A. Dollhouse (for two reasons -- Topher needs something there, and it's the only place people with active architecture like Echo, Priya and Anthony will be able to keep their personalities and memories once Topher fixes everything), they run into some resistance, and Ballard suffers a very Wash-like fate. Adding to the parallels, Echo doesn't immediately freak out about Ballard's death. She sticks to the mission, then eventually breaks down when trying to explain to Priya that Anthony still loves her (kind of like how Zoe stuck to the mission, then eventually went near suicidal against the Reavers when the gravity of everything hit her).

Inside the Dollhouse, the group met up with Alpha, who was not only friendly with them, but completely non-crazy. It was very different from how we'd ever seen him before, and a little jarring without any explanation of how he went from crazy Echo-obsessed Alpha to co-leader of the salvation of the human race Alpha (of course, you can't explain everything when you only get 26 episodes and a one-hour finale, so I'll let them slide on that).

Eventually Victor's techies try to revolt, since they don't want Topher to turn the world back to normal, but Victor isn't with them, and Alpha and Echo subdue them. Also, Mag and Zone say their final goodbyes, with Mag (played amazingly again by Felicia Day) stuck in a wheelchair due to being shot just before Ballard bit it. But this was all secondary to Topher's story. After re-visiting his shrine of insanity (as seen in Epitaph One) and watching a video of Summer Glau's Bennett (in an incredibly touching moment at the scene of her death), he completes the tech, and lets it slip that it comes in the form of a bomb that has to be detonated manually. The interaction between Topher and Adelle during this scene was heartbreaking, probably more so than any of the goodbyes during the entire run of the series. At varying times throughout the run of "Dollhouse", Topher and Adelle were portrayed as being evil, manipulative or just plain amoral. But in the end, they both redeemed themselves.

It's just too bad Topher's redemption had to come with his death. The scene with him setting up the bomb as Adelle led all the empty shells out of the Dollhouse was well put together. Topher seems resigned to his fate, then notices the collage of pictures on Adelle's office wall. Something on the wall catches his eye, and there's a brief moment where he says "oh" and it's like all his insanity is gone, then, in a blink of an eye, the bomb goes off and wipes him out, while wiping all the actives/shells back to their original personalities.

Yes, Topher and Ballard did die, but on the whole, the episode had a happy ending. Topher's death made him a martyr for the human race and redeemed him for having invented the tech in the first place. And even Ballard's death wasn't in vein, as Alpha left his wedge (which he'd probably been hiding for about 10 years, since they couldn't find it earlier this season when Alpha wiped Ballard) in the chair, and Echo uploaded Ballard's personality into her brain, where they were able to have a touching -- if not somewhat creepy -- reunion.

Meanwhile, Priya and Anthony worked out their issues and Priya introduced Anthony to his son -- Anthony. Zone helped up the little girl who was previously Caroline, keeping a promise to Mag to take care of her. Adelle prepared to rebuild the world, and Echo went back into her bed, finally able to rest, and "let Paul in".

I don't think it was a perfect episode by any means, but it was a nice ending to the series, and a very well-written episode. Mo Tancharoen and Jed Whedon deserve a lot of credit for capturing Joss Whedon's tone, and his ability to balance humor and pathos. There were plenty of cute quotable moments (in particular Victor's "we were born ready… OK, not technically" line) and it wrapped up a lot of the loose ends from the series. I'm sure there'll be plenty to dissect in the days to come, but for now, I'll paraphrase Eliza Dushku and say we were all glad "Dollhouse" could entertain us "for a little white".

Friday Five - National Anthem Performances

The NFL recently announced that country music “star” Carrie Underwood will perform the national anthem at Super Bowl XLIV. If recent history is any indicator, Underwood will pre-tape her performance, and go with a safe, mostly-traditional rendition of the anthem.

I’m not a fan of Underwood, and I truly doubt her performance will crack the list of my favorite national anthem performances of all-time.

No. 5 - Maurice Cheeks and Natalie Gilbert

I think the former Blazers coach should be in the Basketball Hall of Fame just for this. By the way, the Blazers were down 3-0 in this 2003 playoff series against the Mavs (this video was the anthem just before Game 3), but came back to force a Game 7, one of the only times that’s happened in NBA history.

No. 4 - Kelly Clarkson

Kelly gets extra credit for rocking a throwback jersey during her performance. As if I didn’t already love her enough.

No. 3 - Wayne Messmer

This is more for the crowd than anything else. Messmer performed the anthem at the 1991 NHL All-Star Game, held in Chicago just days after the start of the Gulf War. I’m pretty sure everyone in that crowd was ready to run through a brick wall as Messmer finished his rendition.

No. 2 - Whitney Houston

The standard bearer for all Super Bowl anthems. I have no idea if it was pre-recorded or not, but I don’t care.

No. 1 - Marvin Gaye

This should be the official version of the national anthem. Only Marvin Gaye could make that song sound sexual. When the crowd starts clapping along in rhythm, it’s amazing.

Four Thoughts on the iPad

I watched today’s Apple iPad announcement online, mostly to find out if this product -- Apple’s long-rumored tablet device -- was something that fit my needs. As Steve Jobs kept announcing features, specs, applications and more during today’s media event, I found myself asking, “what exactly are my ‘needs’?”

So, with that in mind, here are some thoughts on Apple’s new device.

- The computer for the couch
I found it interesting that the majority of the event featured Steve Jobs demoing the device while sitting on a couch, because that’s exactly how I’d use something like this. I have a MacBook Pro, but I purchased it with the intention of being my primary computer. I have a desk set up for it, with an external keyboard, mouse and monitor, but more and more I find myself using it on my couch, just to browse the web and keep up with Twitter/Facebook while I’m watching TV. But the MacBook Pro is really too big, too heavy and too hot for that. The MacBook solves some of these problems, but I’ve got one of those too and it’s still not perfect for couch-browsing. The iPad seems like it’s the device for that, and the entry-level one is half the price of Apple’s cheapest notebook.

- Where’s the multitasking?
Notice above I didn’t write “browse the web OR keep up with Twitter/Facebook”, I used the word AND. Even in its couch-browsing mode, my MacBook Pro is usually running iChat, Mail, Safari and TweetDeck. I sometimes even set up my desktop so I can see all the windows at once (thus defeating the purpose of Apple’s solid Exposé window-management software). Right now, the iPad doesn’t support multitasking, so I either have to use the mobile web versions of everything or constantly go back and forth to the home screen to switch between apps. This is a weak compromise.

- iBooks seems nice. Can I get iComics and iTV?
The implementation of iBooks, from both a design and distribution standpoint is pretty nice. One problem: I don’t really read books so much anymore. Oh, there was a point in my life when I read books constantly. But at some point I shifted from reading books to reading web sites, magazines and, yes, comic books (don’t laugh, some of them are incredibly well-written). The iPad obviously handles web reading just fine, but I’d love to see some kind of newspaper and magazine content deal for the iPad. Also, because of the size of the device, comics seem like a natural fit. While they couldn’t work on other eReaders (because of the black-and-white screens) and weren’t a huge hit on the iPhone (because of the size), I can see some type of comic subscription model being huge on this.
Also, I’d love to see Apple work out something with TV networks to provide content in a manner similar to Hulu, or even a pay model that’s less cost prohibitive than individual episode or season-pass purchases on iTunes. With a device like this, streaming TV seems like a natural. Imagine sitting on your couch or in your bed and calling up the latest episode of “Modern Family” or “Lost” or even something not from ABC/Disney (I know, crazy, right?).

- WiFi is WiFine by Me
There are two models of the iPad (well, technically six, but it’s really two models with three storage levels each), one with WiFi and one with WiFi and 3G. You’ll notice all the use cases I listed above suggest me sitting on my couch. If I’m traveling, I’m still bringing a real notebook with me, so I have full access to all my desktop apps. And since I have WiFi at home -- and at work, and at my parents’ house and most of my friends’ houses -- I don’t see how 3G would enhance my iPad experience. Of course, I already have an iPhone, so that’s my 3G connection right there.

Honestly, I can see myself eventually buying an iPad, but it’s not something I absolutely need right now, and I’d really like to see what third parties do with their iPad apps before I commit to something like it.

Jersey Monday: Peyton Manning

I was all ready for Jersey Monday to spotlight the Adrian Peterson jersey I got earlier this year, but then Fumblor struck again, and the Vikings suffered another horrible crushing defeat, so Peyton Manning it is.

This is an old school Starter replica jersey, back from when five or six different companies were allowed to make officially licensed NFL jerseys. The Colts shoulder stripes are on the sleeves for some reason -- probably cheaper and easier for Starter to do it that way -- and they’re screened on, rather than inset in a different fabric.

This isn’t my favorite of my Colts jerseys -- that honor falls to my white Marvin Harrison authentic -- and it isn’t even in my closet anymore, since I moved the majority of my jerseys to boxes in my basement. But it is probably the closest thing I have to a jersey to represent this year’s Super Bowl. And as the designated home team, the Colts will probably wear blue in a Super Bowl for the first time since Super Bowl III. As you know, they lost that game, but they’re 2-0 in Super Bowls wearing white. Hmm... maybe they won’t wear blue after all.

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile.

Georges Jeanty weighs in on “Buffy” comic’s Twilight reveal

NOTE: This post has spoilers, though at this point the news has been out there for a couple weeks. If you still haven’t read about the identity of Twilight in “Buffy: Season 8”, then stop reading now.

While plenty of people were shocked in early January when Dark Horse Comics accidentally revealed that Angel was Twilight, a handful of people knew all along. One of those was series artist George Jeanty, who signed on to do the artwork for Season 8 around four years ago, and has known ever since.

I met Georges in October at Baltimore Comic-Con, and asked him multiple times that weekend who Twilight was. He didn’t spill back then, but once the cat was out of the bag, he was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

In the interview below, Jeanty addresses his initial reaction to finding out Angel was Twilight -- years before we knew -- and how fans will react once they actual have Issue #33 in their hands.

Q: You've said in the past that you didn't start watching "Buffy" until you started working on this series, and even then you started with the later seasons. So when you first were told Twilight was Angel, what was your reaction?

A: I didn't have much of a reaction because I didn't as yet understand the history of what was being done. I had known about Buffy and Angel through pop culture, but it was more along the lines as a Romeo and Juliet, than a Vampire and a Slayer. And given that that 'Big Reveal' was years off I didn't give it much thought at all. I can see, now, where this is a huge deal! But not in the way you think. The reveal was never the big pay off, it's what happens after that. In a weird way it's a great piece of promotion, because you have people so focused on who Twilight is they never ask what it means after the revelation. Keep reading and tell me if you agree.

Q: How hard was it for you to keep this secret for four years?

A: Again, it wasn't hard at all because Twilight would come in sporadically and then go off for issues at a time, so to keep this secret was very easy. The only thing I might have had to look out for was that I might be talking to someone like the Editor Scott Allie and in the course of the conversation we might have mentioned Angel while others might have been listening, but nothing like that ever happened. Thankfully! I knew once we got into the last ten issues or so if was going to heat up, but at that point I would have been 3 or 4 issues ahead so I was more worried that someone might come by the studio and see some pages they weren't supposed to and go on the internet with this world shaking exclusive! It's funny after all this has happened I kept thinking about that Simpsons episode when Bart or someone wanted to know the details of the new Star Wars movie and you see this whole thread of internet sleuths and at the end you there's some kid with a computer under Lucas's table as they're having a meeting at Skywalker Ranch about Star Wars dictating everything they were saying. I must have looked under my table once or twice after the news broke!

Q: How do you think fans will react to the reveal once they actually see it in the issue, as opposed to just on a cover?

A: The great thing about that issue is that you are seeing all that happen from Buffy's point of view. You know when she knows and I think general fan reaction is going to be a lot like Buffy's reaction and you're going to be taking sides with her actions after the fact. It's a great issue that ends on a high note that will have you sitting on pins for the next 30 days!

Q: Knowing at some point you were going to have to draw Angel (aside from his brief cameo appearances in issue 3 and issue 20), have you been working on his character model over these past four years at the same time as the other characters?

A: No. I had all these other characters I had to work on so I left Angel until the end of last year. Now, I'm drawing him often, but before I had no real cause to draw him aside form the odd art commission at a convention. I look at things like our cast has grown and I have a file on Angel now. I ended up having a big file on Andrew not thinking he'd be in Season 8 all that much. Joss likes to throw in surprises like that. I think he understands how much people love these characters and he does too, so he's always trying to find a way to put them in.

Q: It was funny to read Scott Allie's story about how he almost blew the secret at Baltimore, considering how much he freaked out about you almost revealing the Buffy flying thing. I'm guessing the Angel slip would have been a much bigger deal.

A: Oh yeah! I cornered Scott after that Baltimore show and we were looking at each other like man did we just dodge a bullet and said are you crazy? You almost let slip something we've been closed mouth about for 3 years! He was like, I know! It's just a secret we've been keeping so long and we've talked about it over the years so casually that it doesn't even feel like a secret anymore! Little did we know just a few months later....

This Week in Buffy History: January 24-30

January 24

1969 - Stephanie Romanov born (played Lilah Morgan on “Angel”)

January 25

2000 - Episode 4.12 “A New Man” airs on The WB

2000 - Angel Episode 4.12 “Expecting” airs on The WB

January 26

1987 - Andrew J. Ferchland born (played the Anointed One)

1999 - Episode 3.13 “The Zeppo” airs on The WB

January 27

1998 - Episode 2.15 “Phases” airs on The WB

January 28

2004 - Angel Episode 5.11 “Damage” airs on The WB

January 29

2002 - Episode 6.12 “Doublemeat Palace” airs on UPN

2003 - Angel Episode 4.10 “Awakening” airs on The WB

From the Archives: Yes

For the past couple of months, I’ve had a serious case of writer’s block when it came to writing any kind of fiction. That finally broke tonight, and I’ll be getting back into a writing mode very soon. In honor of that, I wanted to share one of my favorite pieces of writing. I wrote this story as part of a descriptive writing assignment in freshman English in college. Enjoy this one from the archives, and hopefully I’ll have something new to share with you soon.

The scene was perfect for love. Under the dark night sky, the field had an almost serene sense to it. Lit solely by the distant, glowing stars, it had turned from a gridiron of war to a patch of meadow in a distant land. The only reminders of football were the faded yard lines, memories of goals long since passed and barriers long since broken. The echo of each cold, metallic step as we walked down the field had more of a warm sound now, a soft instrument playing its song of peace just for me. As we carefully stepped down onto the playing field, making sure not to disturb even the smallest detail, I reached down to feel the grass.

Covered in thin, late-night dew, the large patch of grass seemed not like a football field at all, but a garden. A garden bigger than any you’d ever seen, one where any minute beautiful, colorful flowers would spring up from the loving soil, only enhancing the serenity of the scene. The trees and bushes that surround the far side of the field acted as a fence of sorts. They were tall, leafy guards making sure that no one would disturb this last fortress of solitude, this final bastion of peace on an ever-increasingly-stressful campus. As I sat down at the 35-yard line, I had memories not of the warriors who’d battled for ultimate supremacy just hours ago, but of poets long since past, wordsmiths who could take an harmonious scene just like this, and using just two tools would build the greatest invention mankind has ever seen.

I quietly glanced at my female companion and realized just how lucky I was. The girl was the picture of pure beauty; she had a caring and sweet soul, and combined it with a physical figure so perfect that it would make Aphrodite jealous. Her face was like a soft peach just after a cool, summer morn, soft to the touch, and as pure as an uninterrupted field after a winter’s snowfall. Her hair, red as the fires of Hades, contrasted to perfection with her heavenly body, shaped by the hands of the Lord himself. Her dress that night was so beautiful it had to have been sewn by the greatest seamstresses of Europe; a purple silk that lay on her body as to enhance, but not flaunt, every flawless contour of her figure. She let her hair free from the binding it had been held in, and slowly shook it around, as if she were a supermodel walking down a Parisian runway. As she lay back on the soft grass, she slipped off her shoes, allowing her toes, with their perfectly colored nails, to run through the wet grass like thoroughbreds running through an endless field of blossoms.

I prepared to speak my first words of the evening when she turned to me and put her outstretched index finger over my mouth to prevent me from ruining the tranquility of the situation. Slowly she leaned over and kissed me softly on my cheek; a kiss filled not with passion but of pure love from the heart, a love so rarely seen in our society, which focuses now not on true love, but on physical attraction. As she removed her soft, supple lips from my cheek, she moved them towards my ear. Still not allowing me to speak, she broke the silence with a soft whisper, a sound so quiet that it couldn’t have been heard anywhere but in the pure calmness of the cinematic meadow we’d created for ourselves.

The scene was perfect, so much so that it seemed more fiction than reality, and was made even more perfect by her words. They rolled off her lips like a sonnet written for a prince, and like Cinderella did with her glass slipper, my companion’s words stole my heart in an instant. They were not the “I love you” I’d expect, or even a simple “this is perfect” to describe the scene. Instead she turned back to Hollywood and in a soft seductive tone, tears of joy forming in her deep blue eyes, she whispered, “You complete me.” The single line from a classic film so close to my heart was completely unexpected; yet at the same time it was exactly what I wanted to hear from her. I was so touched, touched in the heart in a way I’d never felt before, that I was moved to tears.

As we both had quiet rivers flowing down our cheeks we realized that we were meant to be together; together not just at this moment, or even for a short time into the future, but forever, lovers so destined for each other than not even the crossed stars of Romeo and Juliet could keep us apart. I moved closer to her and moved my hand slowly up her back like an artisan taking painstaking care in his craft. As my fingers caressed her neck we connected and shared the most passionate kiss any two humans had ever shared since Adam and Eve were first placed together by the Heavens. The kiss defined passion, not just for its length or physicality, but for the fondness exchanged in that period of time.

The tenderness of her sweet lips was matched only by the devotion that the kiss created. For that short moment, lasting no longer than a single solitary minute, it seemed as if we were the only two people in the world, a world which at that twinkling in time was free of war, famine, and destruction. If that split second could have been bottled and given to all the people in the world, human kind would finally achieve the nirvana promised by all the ideals of Eden; a perfection so sweet that it can only be captured by two young lovers caught up in a romance for all times.

I knew at that moment that there was no situation under which we should be kept apart; it would be like separating rhyme and rhythm from poetry. Maybe it was impetuous, maybe it was immaturity prevailing over sensibility in a moment of uncontrollable emotion, or maybe it was pure fate, but the next words out of my mouth would change our lives forever. Slowly, unsure of myself like a young student in the final round of a spelling bee, I asked her the question every girl hopes to hear from their lover at some point in the long and winding road of a relationship: “Will you marry me?”

Upon hearing the words come out of my mouth, I expected her initial reaction to be one of shock, or at least mild surprise, but it was nothing of the sort. Instead the river of tears halted, then flowed as if someone had just broken open the valves on the Hoover Dam. She came close to losing her composure, but was able to bring herself together for one final word, the last word either of us would say that night. In a voice that spoke so quietly, she said the single word that echoed louder than and celebration ever had in the setting of the football stadium. She said yes.

Thoughts on Sideshow’s New “Buffy” Line

During their 12 Days of Christmas celebration, Sideshow Collectibles gave a sneak peak of a new “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” line of maquettes, and last week the company started taking preorders for the first statue from that line, “Buffy Summers: Throne of the Slayer”.

Being the obsessive “Buffy” collector that I am, I immediately put in a preorder, but I’m still unsure about the viability of this line.

First, Sideshow has a mixed track record when it comes to Buffy related products. During the run of 12-inch figures, Sideshow released four different Buffy Summers figures. The first one, “Hush” Buffy, was mediocre, but nothing too bad. “Graduation Day” Buffy was probably the best one. “Prophecy Girl” Buffy is one of my favorites, but I’m in the minority there, since the rooted hair looks awful. The last one, “Nightmares” Buffy (aka Vampire Buffy) was average, but nothing special. Then, after discontinuing the 12-inch line, Sideshow released a pair of Premium Format Buffy Summers figures -- the first of which was plagued by hair design issues that were never resolved, and the second of which was just a re-dressed version of the first one with a different hairstyle.

Sideshow’s non-Buffy Summers figures from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” have been just as up and down. All the Angel figures they did were amazing, but the Willow and Faith figures look nothing like the source actresses (and really are an insult to Alyson Hannigan and Eliza Dushku).

Now Sideshow has released the prototype images for the new Buffy maquette, and I fear we’re going down the same path toward mediocrity.

In general, I don’t understand the theme of the maquette. Aside from non-canon novels, Buffy’s never been a Queen, and she’s never had a throne. Toss in her seductive pose, and it seems more like it’s a statue of Buffy’s evil twin, or Buffy after being turned by Angelus, so they can rule over humanity for eternity (and I can say even without looking that I’m SURE someone’s done that fanfic). Also, something seems off about the facial sculpt. In some of the photos, I can see the Sarah Michelle Gellar likeness, but in others it’s just not there.

Overall, I have to say I’m underwhelmed by Sideshow’s first effort in this relaunched line. In recent years we’ve already lost multiple lines from Sideshow and Diamond Select due to lack of fan interest in increasingly poor products. I have to hope the final shipping product of this maquette looks better than the preliminary photos, otherwise this latest “Buffy” line may be short-lived.

Jersey Monday: LaDainian Tomlinson

A couple years ago I was working at a part time job where I only worked on Mondays. I would show up to this job every week wearing some kind of jersey -- usually football or basketball. When I left the job, my co-workers continued the tradition of Jersey Monday, and so now I’m continuing the tradition on this blog.

Every Monday (when I remember), I’ll tell the story of one of my jerseys.

Today, that jersey is my LaDainian Tomlinson Chargers powder blue authentic throwback jersey.

I got this one about four years ago, as part of a 50% off sale at a local sports shop (I bought a Steelers jersey and a John Elway Stanford jersey the same day). It quickly became one of my favorite jerseys in my collection, and even when the Chargers changed their jersey style a couple years ago it remained in my rotation.

I wore the jersey a couple weeks ago, and it might be the last time I wear it. With the Chargers out of the playoffs, I’m not going to wear it again this season, and if Tomlinson retires, I might retire the jersey with it.

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus

Sometimes a movie is so bad it's good. Well, "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus" is exactly that kind of movie. PooZ came across the movie while flipping through an issue of "Entertainment Weekly" at my condo, and we pulled it up on Netflix Instant Streaming.

The trailer doesn't do it justice. The movie has horrible dialogue, continuity errors, some of the worst special effects this side of iMovie, and even a scene where they forgot to put the key in over a green screen. Footage is frequently re-used, extras appear to have been pulled off the street, and I'm pretty sure the entire thing was shot in a day and a half.

I've seen "Catwoman", "You Got Served" and every one of the "Bring it On" sequels, but this was by far the worst movie I've ever seen. And I enjoyed every second of it.

This Week in Buffy History: January 17-23

January 18

1955 - Ken Lerner born (played Principal Flutie in Season 1)

1962 - Jeff Yagher born (played the Leader of the Fell Brethren in Angel Episode 5.19)

2000 - Episode 4.11 “Doomed” airs on The WB

2000 - Angel Episode 1.11 “Somnambulist” airs on The WB

January 19

1998 - Episode 2.13 “Surprise” airs on The WB

1999 - Episode 3.12 “Helpless” airs on The WB

January 20

1998 - Episode 2.14 “Innocence” airs on The WB

January 21

2002 - Angel Episode 3.12 “Provider” airs on The WB

2003 - Episode 7.12 “Potential” airs on UPN

2004 - Angel Episode 5.10 “Soul Purpose” airs on The WB

January 22

2003 - Angel Episode 4.09 “Long Day’s Journey” airs on The WB

January 23

2001 - Episode 5.12 “Checkpoint” airs on The WB

2001 - Angel Episode 2.12 “Blood Money” airs on The WB

Series of Tubes: Dollhouse’s Penultimate Episode Soars

On some level, I expected tonight’s episode to be the first of a two-parter, but really, it was the second, wrapping up all the storylines from last week, while leaving one episode to deal with the post-apocalyptic future we saw (or didn’t see, because FOX never aired the episode) in “Epitaph One”. I should have expected that, since I knew the series finale was called “Epitaph Two”, but it was still a mild surprise to see so much wrapped up tonight.

After last week’s cliffhanger, we immediately jumped into a flashback, continuing the Boyd-Caroline meeting scene. Boyd gave us some nice exposition on Rossum, and how they got all the brain scans they used to create the personality profiles for the Dollhouse and set the stage for the rest of the episode’s revelations about Caroline.

Back in the present, Anthony (Victor) and Priya (Sierra) returned to an abandoned Dollhouse. Before we got anything more from that development, we got Boyd and Topher scrambling to bring a drugged-up Echo to Ballard, Adelle and Mellie. At this point, no one in the group has any idea Boyd is the head of Rossum. Strangely, Boyd keeps pushing Echo’s gameplan, for reasons that will become disturbingly clear later in the episode.

Back at the Dollhouse, Priya and Anthony come across a note on the imprint chair and debate whether to use it or not. I thought it was interesting that Priya used the phrase “no more technology”, since that was pretty much the mantra of the actuals in “Epitaph One” (remember “ditch the tech”?). Eventually Anthony gets in the chair, after a touching moment with Priya, and ends up imprinted with Topher, giving us another glimpse of Victor-as-Topher, which was probably the show’s comedic high point this season.

On to Rossum headquarters, where Whiskey is now imprinted with Clyde, Rossum’s No. 2 (behind Boyd). The scene plays out pretty much as expected, up until the end when Whiskey/Clyde says “this world is for people who can evolve.” Adelle responds “And does that include us?” to which Whiskey/Clyde asks forebodingly “Isn’t that what you’re here to find out?”. It’s a subtle hint to Boyd’s master plan.

Back at the Dollhouse, Victor/Topher eventually remembers he installed a secret camera and puts two and two together re: Boyd after seeing the footage. Meanwhile, Adelle pretends to go along with Whiskey/Clyde, as an underhanded way of finding out more about Rossum’s secret plan and hopefully meeting the founder (who she still doesn’t know is Boyd).

After some more fun with Victor/Topher, Priya re-imprints Victor with his original personality plus “enhancements”, that turn him into a super badass ninja fighter. He’s pretty fucking awesome, but I miss Victor/Topher. Also, I kind of wish Topher and Victor/Topher had gotten to interact. At the same time that Victor/Topher is going away, real Topher has figured out that Echo was drugged (he just doesn’t know by who) and he accidentally spills the beans about his Topher 2.0 Victor-Sierra plan to Boyd. It’s amazing how Boyd kept up appearances -- as Victor/Topher put it, “I don’t know whether to be pissed at him or ask him for his autograph.”

Finally, 23 minutes into the episode, things pick up, when Echo wakes up from her drugged state and remembers Boyd is the Rossum founder. Before she can get to Boyd, he has Topher finish off the remote wipe laser that he designed, under the auspices of using it to disable the Rossum guards without killing them. It’s amazing that Topher did it, even though he knew the potential for evil that it had. All along, we’ve seen how his scientific curiosity gets him in trouble, and with a scene like this, you can easily understand how he ends up in the state he was in during “Epitaph One.”

It seemed like Boyd was about to spill the beans to Topher, when Echo busted in and started kicking his ass. Then, before she could do any serious damage, Whiskey showed up to break up the fight, threatening to kill Echo and Adelle (who she was holding at gunpoint). Boyd admits to being the Rossum founder and explains the reason he brought everyone to Tucson:

“You’re here ‘cause you’re my family. I love you guys.”

Holy fucking shit. How fucked up is that? It’s the first really insight we’ve gotten into Rossum-Boyd’s mind, and it’s clear, at least to me, that he’s a special kind of criminally insane. Plus, the line itself was just laugh-out-loud funny. Eventually Boyd talks about how the imprinting technology is going to destroy the world, and how it can’t be un-invented.

“Do you want to be the destroyed? Or the destroyers?”

Before he gives that speech, he gives the twisted reason he picked Topher, Adelle and Echo, whose physical makeup makes her immune to imprinting.

“You’ve proven yourself in so many ways, I wanted you all with me,” he said. “Except for Paul. There’s always one relative you can live without. And frankly, I never understood what you saw in him.”

Speaking of Paul, while all this is going down, he and Mellie are busy destroying the cooling systems for Rossum’s servers, hoping they’ll overheat. The Paul-Mellie storyline was supposed to be touching, but I felt like I was over that in Season 1, so I didn’t need to see it here. Apparently Boyd agreed with me, since he activated Mellie’s sleeper functionality (using a recording of Adelle, since Adelle wouldn’t do it herself). Mellie was supposed to kill Paul, but their love for each other was too great, and she killed herself instead. It’s kind of sad to see Madeline/Mellie/November suffer this fate, but someone had to be lost in the fight.

Anthony and Priya show up to save Echo from the spinal tap, while Rossum security keeps watch on Topher and Adelle. This scene is definitely the beginning of the Topher guilt meltdown, which at least happens in comedic Topher fashion:

Topher: “I did this. I’m the one who brings about the thoughtpocalypse.”

Adelle: “Thoughtpocalypse?”

Topher: “Is brainpocalypse better? I figure, if I’m responsible for the end of the world, I get to name it.”

I had to pause the episode at this point to allow my laughter to stop, so I wouldn’t miss anything else. Major props to the trio of writers on this episode for keeping a humorous tone throughout what could have easily been an incredible downer of an hour.

Another funny moment comes just seconds later, after Anthony busts in and breaks them all out. Topher asks if Anthony is still Victor/Topher and Priya responds, “He’s Anthony... with some enhancements.” At that point, Adelle interjects with a “really” that wouldn’t be so funny, if it hadn’t been for the whole “Miss Lonelyhearts” storyline.

Strangely, the following Whiskey/Clyde vs Echo fight fell kind of short. While that was going on, Boyd and Paul had a reunion and Boyd went right into acting mode, before the trio ran into each other. Boyd was still trying to get Echo to go along with his plan, but she wasn’t having it, and they started fighting. I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out, but it turns out Boyd’s own plans backfired on him. Topher used the remote wipe/imprint device to turn Boyd into a shell.

I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of the ending, with Echo handing Boyd a grenade and having him talk into the center of the Rossum server room to blow it up. Also, Echo’s miraculous escape from the explosion was both fake looking and a little too unbelievable. For a minute there, it seemed like everything wrapped up a little too fairy tale-esque for Dollhouse. Cut to splash screen:

10 Years Later

See Paul and Echo battling through a post-apocalyptic wasteland and we’re all set up for next week.

As you can probably tell by this point, I loved the majority of this episode, and even the “fairy tale” ending turned out not to be so bad, since we got the glimpse of horror right after it. I would have liked to see Boyd’s story end a little less anticlimactically, but I did like that even he -- the head of the entire Rossum corporation -- wasn’t immune from the “thoughtpocalypse” he created.

On the whole, I didn’t think this episode was as good as some of the previous ones -- and there was nothing in this episodes along the lines of the Boyd mindfuck from last week -- but it was definitely among the best we’ve seen from Dollhouse. And after the unsatisfying conclusions to “Angel” and “Firefly”, it’s nice to get to see a Joss Whedon-helmed series at least get a proper ending of some kind.

Series of Tubes: Thursday Roundup (Bones, Fringe, 30 Rock)

Thursday is usually one of my busiest TV nights, but last night was a little lighter due to the fact that "FlashForward" and "The Vampire Diaries" are still on hiatus. Even so, with new episodes of "Bones" and "Fringe" and a double-shot of "30 Rock" -- all before the Cavs game at 10:30 pm -- it was a full night. Let's jump right in.

Bones - The X in the File

I have to say I wasn't impressed with this episode. It seemed like there was a lot less forensic detail than most episodes, the characters were incredibly one-dimensional and the plot itself was lame (and mostly an excuse to make a bunch of X-Files-esque alien references).

As the B-plot to this episode, we got more advancement in the relationship between Angela and one of the Jeffersonian interns. I'd actually completely forgotten that they'd even hooked up, thanks to the show's insistence on rotating through a group of 4-5 interns on a weekly basis (and also taking a month off between episodes). This was literally the first time we'd seen Wendell as a character since Nov. 5, 2009. It's hard to care about a relationship between one character we see every week and another we see once every two months.

I did think it was kind of neat to actually use the X-Files theme music as the cell phone ringtone in the pre-credits scene, but otherwise, the episode fell flat.

Fringe - Johari Window

Technically this was the second "new" episode of "Fringe" this week, but the first one was actually a runoff of an unused episode from Season 1. That may have colored my opinion of last night's episode, but it ended up feeling a lot like a Season 1 episode. It was another one of those "Walter's old experiments gone bad" episodes that we got a lot of last season, and less of this year.

The one thing that set this episode apart from last year's (aside from the lack of Charlie, who was "resurrected" for Monday's old episode) was Walter's increased development. I'm particularly liking his relationship with Agent Farnsworth, mostly because it's rare to see a TV that has two characters who care so much about each other without making it sexual.

On the whole, this was a solid, but not great, episode. I am, however, incredibly intrigued by the promo for next week's episode, which looks much better.

30 Rock - Klaus and Greta/Black Light Attack!

Two episodes of "30 Rock" on the same night? What did I do to deserve this great gift?!

There was so much going in each episode that it'd be hard for me to summarize it here. From the first episode, my favorite part had to be the James Franco storyline, which saw Jenna in a fake relationship with the "Spider-Man" star to cover up his weird sexual habits. But as always, "30 Rock" is less about the plot than it is the random jokes. My favorite from the first episode:

Liz [walking into an elevator, where Tracy is waiting]: Hey, Tracy.

Tracy: Finally! Over the break I forgot what floor I worked on.

Liz: Six, Tracy.

Tracy: Six! I knew it was a character from Blossom, but I couldn't find a Joey Russo button.

So random, yet so funny.

The same could be said of the second episode, which featured Liz and new castmember "Danny" (who is actually named Jack, but was re-named by Jack Donaghy so there wouldn't be two Jacks) having a relationship, which was interfering with Jack's "bromine" with Danny.

I laughed out loud multiple times during the episode, but rather than heap praise on "30 Rock" continually (it is, in my opinion, the funniest show on TV), let me point out where the writers missed the boat.

The character of "Danny" is Canadian. And in one scene, he and Jack were at a hockey game. However, not only was Danny pictured wearing a New York Rangers hat, he wasn't even that into the game -- and ended up leaving to go hook up with Liz. I couldn't believe they put a Canadian character at a hockey game and didn't even make one stereotypical joke (they wasted a "hoser" joke with Jack and Danny at a Knicks game). I expect my Canadians and hockey to be depicted like Robin on "How I Met Your Mother". C'mon "30 Rock" writers. You're better than that.

Still, you redeemed yourself by continually making fun of Lutz. Sure, it's easy, and appeals to the lowest-common denominator, but it's still funny as all hell.

Review: Buffy #31 - “Turbulence”

While everyone in the Buffy comic reading community is awaiting the Twilight reveal in Issue #33 (even though it’s been spoiled for most of us), this is the issue I’ve been anticipating for months.

COVER TWO
And the reason I’ve been anticipating this issue? That would be the Georges Jeanty cover -- the one that’s sitting above my desk in my house since mid-October. Yeah, I have Jeanty’s original artwork for this cover, which is an homage to the pop art of Roy Lichtenstein. Seeing it in color, with the actual dotted style, is a nice touch. While I have an obvious preference for the Jeanty cover on this one, the Chen cover is pretty cool too. Also, I really like that the A cover (Chen’s) deals with the A story, while the B cover (Jeanty’s) deals with the B story. That’s a nice touch that doesn’t happen very often.

THE WRITE STUFF
Counting the Willow one-shot, this is actually the second consecutive issue written by Joss Whedon himself. However, this isn’t a one-shot, but a bridge issue, wrapping up the loose ends from “Retreat” and setting the stage for “Twilight”. Just like with the cover, my preference in the story was in the B story, which focused on Buffy’s reaction to the Xander-Dawn relationship.

Buffy started coming on to Xander, and amazingly, Xander rejected her, knowing that Buffy wasn’t doing it for the right reasons. This actually paralleled Season 2’s “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered”, when Xander said no to Buffy because she was under a spell. I also loved Willow’s reaction to the news at the end of the issue.

As for the part with the Tibetan Goddessess, I thought it was a little convenient how quickly Buffy took care of them, but a super-powered Buffy (even when it was just Slayer powers) has always been a kick ass Buffy. Plus, that storyline had gone on just long enough anyway. No need to drag it out.

There was also a nice scene with Twilight and some of his captives (including Giles and Faith), but it’s hard not to read that completely differently now that I know who he is.

THE ART STUFF
Aside from my love for the cover, I adore Page 2 (the first full page of the issue), which is 75% a huge picture of Buffy flying. I love her facial expressions throughout her flying scenes, and Willow’s reactions to getting her powers back are drawn beautifully.

For some reason, it took me a little while to figure out that Buffy was was talking to Riley in the first scene among the injured soldiers, but that’s mostly because we haven’t seen him out of uniform that much, so I’m not used to Jeanty’s character model for him. I finally figured it out thanks to the hair (very Blucas-esque).

Jeanty still does a great job with the little things. I loved the Domo shoutout on Kennedy’s shirt, and the detail on Dawn’s shirt was very well done. Also Dawn’s shirt sleeves had the number 18 on them. I wonder if that was a subtle shoutout to Dawn’s age, so we wouldn’t think Xander was a “disgusting pedophile” (Buffy’s words, not mine).

WHO IS TWILIGHT
This is now public information. I’m not going to repeat it here, but let me just say that the dialogue here from Twilight might have pushed me in the direction of who it was. I won’t say more, in case you still don’t know.

GRADING “TURBULENCE”
I’m giving this one a 5. This was WAY better than the Willow one shot. I loved this issue, and now I can’t wait for the “Twilight” arc.

<-- Previous Issue (Willow One-Shot)

Next Issue (#32: Twilight, Pt. 1) -->

Series of Tubes: Nothing Suits “How I Met Your Mother” Like A Suit

Last night's episode of "How I Met Your Mother" was the 100th episode of the series, and might have been one of the best.

The "A" story of the show featured Ted on a date with guest star Rachel Bilson, who turned out to be the roommate of the future mother -- a character who's been referenced since Season1 but has never been seen on the show. When Ted picked up the yellow bus, then they showed the shot of it behind the kids, and Bilson's character said "that's my roommate's", it was a twist along the lines of the first episode's "and that's how I met your Aunt Robin" (and having an episode one-esque twist was a nice touch for this anniversary episode).

Realistically, I knew there was no way Bilson was playing the future mother, since that's not a role you cast with a guest star. Still, this is probably the most development in the series' major story since the Stella breakup.

As for the "B" story, it featured Barney trying to score with a new hot bartender (played by Stacy Keibler, who briefly attended Towson University at the same time as me -- yeah, I loved college), and having to ditch his suits to do so. I loved this entire plot, particularly the part where Lily tried to get Marshall to admit that the bartender was hotter than her (as an aside, I agree with Marshall. I'm more attracted to Hannigan than Keibler, but that's mostly because I have a thing for redheads and Hannigan played one of my all-time favorite TV characters). In the end, the Barney plot was resolved the only way it could have been: with a rousing, musical number. It was legen... wait for it...

...dary. Legendary!

Series of Tubes: What the “Chuck”?

First some quick hits on the three episodes of "Chuck" that aired over the last two nights, before I get to my primary issue with what we've seen so far of Season 3.

- I was a little disappointed with the lack of Ellie and Awesome in the 2-part season premiere Sunday night, but that concern was addressed with Monday's Ellie/Awesome heavy episode. Chuck is going to have to do a delicate balancing act with its large supporting cast this year (and has already eliminated Buy More manager Emmett and Morgan's girlfriend Anna to take care of some of that).

- Speaking of Emmett's departure, it cleared the way for the return of Big Mike to the Buy More. He's definitely my favorite of all the Buy More-centric characters (I don't count Morgan among those, since he's seen frequently outside the store).

- The more Casey backstory we get -- even just as an aside to the main plot like in last night's episode -- the better.

- Speaking of backstory, I loved the brief scene with the General, after she'd ended communication with Chuck and crew, showing that she answers to someone even more mysterious than her. I hope that becomes a bigger part of this season.

- Speaking of things that were supposed to be a big part of this season, where was the much-hyped Subway integration that was supposed to happen. NBC made such a big deal of that back in May, but come the first three episodes of the season, there was no Subway at all. There was an interesting in-character series of Honda ads, which were actually kind of interesting (still don't care about the car, but the ad was decent).

- I rarely watch the "next week" promos, but I'm glad I did yesterday, because for a brief second, I thought they'd killed off Awesome. But he was in the promo for next week, so clearly they didn't. Good for them.

OK, enough of the quick thoughts. On to the big story, the continued problem of the Chuck/Sarah relationship.

In the first episode of the season, we found out that Sarah had given Chuck the opportunity to just run away with her and leave spy life behind. Instead, Chuck decided to go to spy training. They tried to explain this with a rambling monologue during the second episode, with Chuck saying he made the decision he did BECAUSE he loved Sarah, but I don't buy it.

The Chuck we saw in the first two seasons was desperately in love with Sarah. Unless Intersect 2.0 actually did something to his personality, I can't see how THAT Chuck would turn down the opportunity to be with Sarah in favor of becoming a spy. Had they said he turned it down because he couldn't just abandon Ellie and Awesome and Morgan and even Jeffster forever, then I could have bought that. But the explanation they gave seemed even lamer than the decision.

Now we're right back to where we were in Season 1: Chuck loves Sarah, but can't have her; Sarah loves Chuck but has to act like she doesn't, for Chuck's sake; and Chuck and Sarah have to pretend like everything's all right, when it's not. We've been down this road before -- and it's a road that nearly resulted in the show being canceled. I was hoping for a new creative direction this season, possibly with Sarah and Chuck having to balance spy life with relationship life (think Sydney and Michael in certain seasons of Alias), but so far, that's not what we're getting.

Mark McGwire Finally Reveals the “Terrifying Truth”

Mark McGwire took steroids.

This is not shocking by any means, but apparently when McGwire admitted this today, it became huge news.

I found it interesting that this news came the day after "The Simpsons" celebrated its 20th anniversary, because that show actually summed up the Steroids Era years before we knew such a thing existed. In 1999, McGwire made a guest appearance on the show, in an episode where Bart discovered MLB was spying on the entire world. McGwire showed up to alleviate everyone's concerns (and also steal the data) and said this line:

"Do you want to know the terrifying truth? Or do you want to see me sock a few dingers!"

Back then, McGwire could have been addressing baseball's leadership, media and fans. We didn't want to know the "terrifying truth". We just wanted to see him break the home run record.

Trust me, I was at Spring Training in 1998, and you could see that McGwire's body didn't resemble anything a human could do naturally. His biceps didn't even fit into his jersey. I didn't give a flying fuck. I saw McGwire hit five homers in person that spring, then saw him hit his 50th of the season at Shea Stadium (and his 51st, in a double-header that day).

It wasn't until Barry Bonds -- someone the media loathed to begin with -- starting jacking homers at a McGwire-esque rate that anyone complained about steroids being bad for baseball.

Between McGwire, Bonds and others like them, all the hallowed baseball records are fucked anyway. Multiple NFL players, including a punter, have been busted for PED use in recent years. Hell, even Rashard Lewis, one of the NBA's spindliest players, got busted. I'm fairly certain the percentage of athletes using some kind of PED is much higher than testing shows. And, as Bob Knight pointed out on ESPN today, what exactly is the line between "helper" and "banned substance". As he pointed out, Gatorade enhances your performance. In the season opener this year, Adrian Peterson got an IV drip at halftime and went out and had a huge second half. Isn't that "performance-enhancing".

There are two main reasons to be against PED use: health issues and competitive balance. So rather than banning them, why not regulate them? Doctors already prescribe HGH for multiple valid reasons. And with league-regulated distribution, there wouldn't be competitive balance issues either. There wouldn't be any terrifying truth to hide anymore. So we could just sit back and watch players sock a few dingers, no strings attached.

Series of Tubes: Dollhouse “Getting Closer” to the end

After this week’s revelation of Twilight’s identity, I really shouldn’t be surprised by any revelations in any Joss Whedon project. But last night, when the head of the Rossum corporation emerged from the shadows, and it was Boyd Langton -- Echo’s former handler and the current L.A. Dollhouse head of security -- well, let’s just say I wasn’t expecting that.

Still, upon further review, this fits Whedon’s m.o. He’s had a history of turning heroes into villains (Angel in season 2 of “Buffy”, Faith in season 3, Wesley in season 3 of “Angel”). In the “Firefly” pilot, he even played on our own expectations, setting up Simon as the villain, when it turned out to be one of the other travelers entirely.

So from that perspective, the Boyd revelation shouldn’t have been a total shock. Also, given how little we knew of his past, it kind of makes sense. We’ve always been told that Boyd is a former cop, but we’ve never seen any evidence of that. And in one episode, he was able to make a single call and have someone “disappeared”, which is probably something a former cop couldn’t really do. In fact, Boyd is kind of like Shepherd Book in that he was capable of a little too much to just be a former cop.

Of course, Boyd’s secret wasn’t the only one revealed in this episode. We got a lot more background on Caroline and how she first hooked up with Bennett (Summer Glau’s character) and got involved with Rossum. It’s interesting to see that Echo isn’t the only one that’s having misgivings about Caroline’s original personality. Obviously because of the arm incident Bennett hates her, Adelle didn’t seem too fond of Caroline, and Boyd has his own secret motivations. Plus, now that Paul’s connection to Caroline/Echo has been removed (that was the thing that Topher overwrote when he reconstructed Paul’s brain map), there’s really no one there that has any personal motivation to bring back Caroline. The overarcing motivation of taking down Rossum remains, but it’s pretty safe to say that’s not Boyd’s motivation.

As for what Boyd’s motivation is, I have no idea. He showed feelings for Dr. Saunders, who made her first appearance in quite some time, and he killed Bennett before she could completely reconstruct Caroline. All I know is these last few episodes have been amazing, and advancing the plot at a breakneck pace and I can’t wait for the next two episodes. And yes, I’m going to keep calling them the “next” two episodes, as opposed to the much more depressing thing I could call them.

Dark Horse Reveals “Twilight” Identity Early (Spoilers Below)

For those of you following the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Season 8 comic, you know the big mystery of the series has been the identity of Twilight, the primary villain in the series. There has been plenty of Internet speculation, lots of questions asked of the creators of the series and very few clues within the pages of the book.

Well, last month the news broke that the characters identity would finally be revealed in issue #33. That revelation came alongside a joke cover with President Obama’s head on Twilight’s body.

Well, yesterday’s cover news was no joke. The April solicitations for Dark Horse Comics came out and had both the Jo Chen and Georges Jeanty covers for issue #34, which would obviously be the first covers post-Twilight reveal. And those covers had the same exact character from Buffy’s past, leading everyone to make the connection that this character was Twilight.

{Spoilers from this point on...}

A-Team Trailer Leaked to Internet

There was a point in time when I was skeptical about the new A-Team movie (Rampage Jackson as Mr. T? Really?) but after seeing the trailer, I'm firmly on the side of "this is going to be amazing".

Unfortunately, YouTube has disabled embedding of pretty much every copy of this thing out there, but you can see it on the site. I'm definitely going to be seeing this thing opening weekend.

Review: Buffy Season 8 “Willow” One Shot

After a few weeks of shipping delays, my local comic shop finally got the “Willow” one-shot in stock, so I finally get to share my thoughts on it.

COVER TWO

The Jo Chen cover is fabulous. She always does an amazing job with Willow and I love the mysterious feel of the cover. I feel like the Moline cover wastes a lot of space with the design at the bottom, but his rendition of Willow is solid. Also, I didn’t like the tiny “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” logo -- it almost caused me to miss this issue on the shelves, since I usually scan for the logo.

THE WRITE STUFF

This book is set before Season 8, and starts to tell the story of what happened to Willow between the end of “Chosen” and her appearance in Season 8. That said, it doesn’t tell the whole story, and for something that’s a one-shot, I’m not sure that’s sufficient.

Joss Whedon wrote the story himself, and therefore it really feels like the dialogue came right from the show. Willow alternates between being funny, serious and mystical -- just like she did in her later seasons. The scene between Willow and Kennedy was pretty much exactly how I would have expected the two characters to act. Also, Willow had a beautiful moment with Tara -- I’m glad she got to make an appearance in this series, and I’m glad it was Joss who wrote it.

Still, given everything that happened in this issue, I didn’t really understand why Willow made the decision she made at the end (I won’t spoil it for those that still haven’t read it) and I feel like we need at least one follow-up issue to continue this story and fill in more of the gap before Season 8.

THE ART STUFF

Obviously once you get used to one artist on a series (in the case of Buffy, Georges Jeanty), it can be jarring to switch to a different artist. But Karl Moline did an arc of Season 8, and he’s done Whedon-related work before, so he’s familiar with the characters and does a good job with them. I also thought Moline did a nice job bringing some of the unique characters of this book to life, particularly the guides at the end, who shared a similar body shape but each had their own individual looks. And, again, the moment with Tara, particularly Willow’s tear, was amazing.

GRADING “WILLOW”

I almost want to give this an “incomplete” in hopes there’s another issue to continue this story. But as a standalone issue it gets a 3.5 (out of 5). It’d be at least .5 higher if there were a satisfying conclusion, but that near “to be continued” style finish leaves me wanting.

<-- Previous Issue (#30: Retreat, Pt. 5)

Next Issue (#31: Turbulence) -->

Memo to AT&T and Luke Wilson: Please Stop These Commercials

I love my iPhone. I currently have the iPhone 3GS, which I got in June after nearly two years with my original iPhone. It’s a great device that lets me do pretty much everything I’d want from a phone. I’m also lucky enough to live in an area covered by AT&T limited 3G coverage map, so my service is actually pretty good.

That said, I acknowledge that AT&T has some serious service problems -- problems they’ve chosen to address by having Luke Wilson appear in a series of increasingly condescending ads that do nothing to address the actual issue at hand.

My frustration with these commercials reached a breaking point last night, when I was “watching” the Orange Bowl (I put watching in quotation marks, because I wasn’t really paying attention to the game at all -- it was a meaningless BCS game between two slightly above average teams). Look, AT&T, I get that you got burned by Verizon’s “there’s a map for that” commercials, but there were two appropriate responses to that commercial:

1)improve your 3G network to increase coverage throughout the country

2)remind people that you sell the iPhone (the No. 1 smartphone on the market) and they don’t

Instead, you decided to have Luke Wilson come out and insult Verizon while telling half-truths about AT&T’s spotty 3G network. Apple has even jumped in with new iPhone commercials that spotlight functionality that neither Verizon nor the Motorola Droid support, but they aren’t as annoying, mostly because they’re accurate, they show real-world uses of the phone, and they don’t have Luke Wilson.

Now, while I love my iPhone, I don’t have a preference for any particular mobile provider (well, save for that stupid AT&T contract). I’ve had T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T at various points over the past 10 years, and each one had their pluses and minuses. The problem, from my perspective, is that I AM now married to the iPhone. I love the iPod/iTunes integration. I love the app store. I love just about everything about the device. I’m not sure I’d switch phones, even if the Nexus One does live up to the hype. So I’d much rather AT&T fix their network instead of trying to trick people into thinking there’s nothing to be fixed.

Oh, and AT&T, even if you do insist on continuing with this misleading line of advertising (remember, 3G speed doesn’t equate to 3G coverage), please get rid of Luke Wilson. I want to punch him in the face, and I don’t need to think of him every time I go to use my phone.

Series of Tubes: Please let “Heroes” Die

Think back a couple years, when “Lost” was stuck in a creative rut. ABC decided to give the creators of the show a set end date, so they could advance the plot toward the conclusion they’d already planned.

At one point, I thought the same idea would help “Heroes”, but after watching tonight’s two-part episode, I’m not sure a future end dat would help this show. In fact, I’m fairly certain the only thing that could help this show is just flat-out ending it.

Looking back, this show had an incredible ending planned -- only it reached it at the end of Season 1. There seemed to be some idea of where to go after that, but the show never recovered from the writers’ strike in Season 2. Now it’s just kind of ambling around at random -- last season was actually two seasons slapped together with immense plot holes being ignored -- with no end in sight. People have given all sorts of ideas on how they could fix the show (I even chimed in myself a little more than a year ago), but this show is beyond fixing. The characters don’t remotely resemble who they were when the show started, but there’s also been little-to-no character growth. It was clear tonight with mind-fucked Hiro acting pretty much exactly the same as Season 1 Hiro.

In a season when so many sci-fi shows have bit the dust, I’m loathe to call for the end of another one, but at this point, I can’t see any way “Heroes” can recover. I know I’m not sticking around to see it fall deeper into the abyss. Tonight was my last episode of “Heroes”. Sorry Hayden. I just can’t do it anymore.

Re-Enjoying Ultimate Spider-Man

So for the holidays (yes, I'm using the generic term, because I've never been a follower of a religion that celebrates Christmas) PooZ got me the first four trade paperbacks of the "Ultimate Spider-Man" series. Sometime a few months ago, I mentioned to PooZ that I'd read the entire series and eventually wanted to pick up all the trade paperbacks. He kept that information filed away, and got me started on my collection.

Then, last week I went to my local comic shop, and they happened to be having a 50% off sale. It's not often you come across a sale like this at a comic book shop, particularly one as well-stocked as this one, and I picked up all but two of the trades (they didn't have #11 or #18 in stock).

Since I got them, I've been re-reading the series, a book a night. I can't say this with any kind of certainty, given the narrow focus of my collection, but Ultimate Spider-Man might have been one of the most consistently good series of the last decade. Everything is just as powerful on re-read as it was the first time -- particularly the Peter/MJ relationship stuff.

With Marvel looking like its going to screw up the main storyline in Amazing Spider-Man again in 2010, I think I'll just stick to re-reading this series and continuing with the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man book and hope for the best from Brian Michael Bendis.

Good Riddance to the Zorn

Understand one thing: I hated the Jim Zorn hiring from the beginning. Check those related posts links - the day he was hired I pointed out it was a stupid decision, and said I’d be shocked if he lasted two seasons. And no, despite this firing happening this morning -- after 32 games as head coach -- I do not consider Zorn having “lasted” two full seasons. He was all-but-fired when the Redskins brought on Sherm Lewis to handle the play-calling. His fate was extra-sealed (if that’s even possible), when Daniel Snyder finally cut the umbilical cord on Vinny Cerrato and brought in Bruce Allen to run football operations.

There is nothing about the Zorn era in Washington that will be remembered as good. The 6-2 start in 2008 was a mirage. The Skins went 6-18 in Zorn’s last 24 games as head coach (though, again, the last 10 or so of those were strictly in title only) and have just succeeded in wasting another two years of Jason Campbell’s career.

Apparently now the Redskins are moving quickly toward hiring Mike Shanahan. I’m not entirely sold on him specifically, but it’s probably a good idea to go with an experienced head coach.

Since Joe Gibbs left Washington the first time (back in 1993), the Redskins have had their most success with coaches with previous experience, rather than hot coordinators (or in the case of Zorn, assistants with no coordinator or head coach experience). First-time NFL coaches Richie Petitbon and Steve Spurrier were disasters and Norv Turner won exactly one playoff game in seven seasons. Then there was Zorn (d’oh). In that time, the ‘Skins hired two retreads. Marty Schottenheimer went 8-8 and missed the playoffs in his only season, but his 8-8 years was the complete opposite of Zorn’s (an 8-3 finish after an 0-5 start). The ‘Skins also had some success under Gibbs 2.0, reaching the playoffs twice and finishing .500 in another season.

A young coach cutting his teeth on the NFL will not be successful with this team. There is talent here (though not as much as some players on the team would like to believe) and they need someone who has experience molding that talent. Shanahan is someone along those lines, and is someone who had his most successful seasons when he was just coaching, rather than dealing with player personnel as well. The Redskins already have Bruce Allen as a GM. Shanahan would be free to just coach.

My Super Bowl XLIV Prediction

Now that the NFL Playoffs are set, sans Bears and Redskins, I'm gonna go ahead and make some playoff picks. Actually, I'm just gonna say I think the Chargers are going to beat the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Don't know why. Just a gut feeling. I guess we'll find out at PooZ's Super Bowl party in five weeks.