The Simpsons: Stop or My Dog Will Shoot

Bart: You can't send him away. He's a dog, not Grandpa.

You know, if Santa's Little Helper is the main focus of an episode, chances are it's not going to be very good. I didn't laugh very much during this episode, but here's what I did like:

• The man exposed at the cornucopia contest exposed for "stuffing his horn"
• Homer freaking out in the maze when Marge says they should "split up" (she means they should "split up" to find their way out, Homer thinks she wants a divorce)
• The police animal training school scene where dogs attack Eddie (in a protective suit), followed by horses and crocodiles doing the same
• Santa's Little Helper filled out the police report himself?
• The pet shop owner keeping the python on a wheel and selling it by the foot like twine
• The Microsoft paper clip popping up on the computer screen as the python swallows it: "you look like you're trying to eat me. Need some help?"

The rest of the episode, though, felt really flat, and Santa's Little Helper was way out of character. The Santa's Little Helper I know is not nearly as smart as the dog in this episode. He's loyal and fun-loving, yes, but he's also rather dumb, which is part of his charm, and also the reason he works better in small doses, rather than the main focus of the entire episode.

DVD Review: The Good Shepherd

Edward Bell Wilson (Matt Damon) is a young idealist who believes in America and its place in the world. He loves democracy and opposes anything that is a threat to his country and the way of life it has developed. Edward is true patriot who knows no moral barrier or cost that would prevent him from his duty. In him is an idealist to the utmost who is willing to sacrifice anything or anyone.

And that is his problem.

The Good Shepherd is a story about a man who sells his soul. Not to a religious belief, money, a woman, or anything that is physical or concrete. Edward Bell Wilson sells his soul to an "idea" and he discovers that his choice has costs that he himself had not foreseen. In the end, The Good Shepherd is a tragedy for not just one man's life but countless others around him.

Shown through a series of flashbacks starting from the early 1960's, Edward's story begins as a young student at Yale. After entering Skull and Bones, an elite club of spoiled students which allows him access to a close group of influential men, he finds himself offered the chance to serve his country in Europe before America's entry into World War 2. Joining the 0SS, Edward enters the life of a spy and from there finds himself with a front row seat to the mid 20th century's most important events.

However that is where the costs of his decision begin to mount almost immediately. Upon entry to Bones he meets Margaret Ann Russell (Angelina Jolie), a sister to one of his closest friends. A quick night of passion results in a pregnancy which forces Edward to sacrifice his relationship with Laura (Tammy Blanchard), a fellow Yale student, in order to marry Margaret. In doing so he loses perhaps the only woman he has loved and while finding himself in a loveless marriage which will have unintended consequences for the future. A pattern begins which will trap Edward and cause his relationship to his son Edward Jr. (Eddie Redmayne) to suffer. Edward sacrifices his personal love for personal responsibility but he remains distant from the reality that creates.

The creation of the CIA by General Bill Sullivan (Robert De Nero) forces Edward into a world of fear and hostility between fellow agents, Soviet spies, and double agents. The overthrow of Guatemala ruler Jacob Arbenz, the failed Bay of Pigs operation, and the discovery of a possible spy within their own ranks draws Edward farther into the halls of power and international relations but also more away from his wife and son. He becomes a man with a mission but without a soul. He thinks and acts like a puppet whose strings are pulled from above while himself pulls those beneath him. There is no doubt or reason to believe that he is wrong or that he is acting in a way that is perhaps blind at best or morally empty at worst. He has become devoted to an idea and that idea is the CIA and the United States it attempts to serve.

The greatest challenge to that belief is the discovery that his son's lover, a young Congolese woman, is a Soviet double agent who is perhaps responsible for the leaking of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Edward realizes that there no way he can allow that woman, who is now engaged to his son, into his family without the risk of more information being given to the Soviets. On her marriage day she pays the price of betrayal, without Edward Jr. knowing about it at first, after being forced from a plane during flight.

It's this last move on Edward's part that reveals his true character more than any other action. Even as his son weeps in his arms at the news of his fiancée's death, he himself shows no real sign of remorse for the pain he has caused even if it was the right choice to make. He is a soldier and he knows what he must do, a man such as him is one who cannot be expected to do anything but what is expected of him. That makes Edward Bell Wilson, a man who can only see the world through the eyes of the CIA, a defender of freedom but also one who sacrifices his own without second thought.

Is Edward Bell Wilson a good man? That is the question The Good Shepherd asks. The answer depends on who is asked and what that person values the most: freedom, love, or duty?

CSI: The Good, The Bad, The Dominatrix

"So now you're building your own?!?" -Catherine

A fan favorite returns. This was only Melinda Clarke's fourth appearance as Lady Heather on CSI, and I'm fascinated with how much they've developed her character in that short time frame. It just proves that good writing can go a long way, especially when the notion of "less is more" is kept in mind.

The episode started off quite unexpectedly, as I was reintroduced to Heather in a situation that didn't exactly jive with her own beliefs. She's a dominatrix, so why has she put herself in a submissive role? Do I recall what she told her late daughter Zoey in her very first appearance? Something like, give your body and heart to a man but never your power? Well now Heather is ignoring her own advice. Sounds like a good premise for an episode to me.

The story itself was extremely well laid out and I loved how it tied into Heather's previous story-lines. After the death of her daughter Zoey, Doc Robbins informed Heather that she had a granddaughter out there somewhere. Once found, Heather lost any visitation rights to her ex-husband (the child's grandfather). Being a dominatrix isn't exactly a good profession in the mind of the court. You could really see how this was affecting her though. Heather was clearly depressed and despite her diabetes, she developed quite the taste for rare single-malt scotch. So rather than do nothing for her granddaughter, she was willing to sacrifice herself to a violent client in exchange for over $800,000 to fund the child's future. Not your typical tear jerker, but it was still touching.

It brought to light the relationship that Grissom shared with Heather though. He gets her and this definitely did not sit well with Sara.

Elsewhere, I finally got a whole episode where Warrick said more than one line. He and Greg worked together on a standard hit and run case involving some bad blood between two cabbies. Now I admit that I've missed a few episodes here and there, but Warrick mentioned that he had a kid (when he picked up the heavy purse). Is that the first mention of him having a child or did I miss something? Besides, I thought things weren't going too well with his wife Tina?

Also worth talking about...

Before discovering that dead guy, Brass and Catherine were gossiping and Brass was about to talk about something "juicy?" I assume he knows about Grissom and Sara.

What's with Grissom's miniature replica of his own office? What's he trying to achieve?

Now that Greg is on loan to Ecklie and the day-shift, am I not going to be seeing him in the finale?

So yeah, the next episode is the end of the seventh season as I just mentioned. I'll finally find out the identity of the Miniature Killer and I honestly can't wait. I haven't been this excited about an episode of CSI since the Tarantino directed installment from a few years ago.

Book Review: Suspect by Michael Robotham

Michael Robotham, a former investigative journalist from Britain and Australia has crafted a marvelous debut novel. "The Suspect" is a very tight, exciting thriller that stays intently focused on character and psychology supported by the leanest of realistic plots somehow managing, despite this simplicity, to be both bizarre and frightening at the same time! How wonderful is that?

Joe O'Loughlin is a successful career psychiatrist blessed with a wonderful loving wife and child. But when Catherine McBride, a former patient who once filed suit against him for sexual misconduct, is found murdered, horribly mutilated and buried in a shallow grave, O'Loughlin finds himself at the top of the list of the police suspects. Coincidentally occurring on the night of the murder, his alibi is his sole marital misstep with ex-prostitute Elisa but a misguided sense of honour, coupled with an all too human male fear of the results for his marriage, means he keeps mum.

Unlike other more mundane, mainstream thrillers, "The Suspect" makes no attempt to lead the reader too far astray with a typical collection of twists, turns or red herrings. The culprit, Robert Moran, another very deeply disturbed patient of O'Loughlin's practice is revealed to us early in the novel. The goose bumps in this novel are forced on us by the dark, creepy dialogue of Moran's therapy sessions and O'Loughlin's heart-rending attempts to maintain honour, professionalism and client confidentiality in the face of the almost certain knowledge of more murders to come. DI Vincent Ruiz piles up an astonishing array of circumstantial evidence and like The Da Vinci Code's Bezu Fache, the proverbial bull terrier with a bone who will not let go, Ruiz doggedly pursues O'Loughlin as his prime suspect in the brutal string of murders.

The characterization and humanity in the novel is served up in monstrous helpings with lots of garnish - O'Loughlin deals with the onset of Parkinson's disease and its effects on his daily living; Elisa, the reformed prostitute struggles bravely with her past and strong affection for O'Loughlin; Catherine McBride, the first victim, is a very troubled victim herself dealing with the mental demons of a difficult up-bringing and self-mutilation; and Ruiz, realizing his old-style, blunt, brutish methods of policing have dated him and are threatening his career, is determined to bring the murderer to justice against all odds.

A complex novel, no doubt, but so well-constructed that I had no difficulty following all of the well-maintained threads and plots! "The Suspect" is a fast-paced, nail-biting, believable and authentic thriller. He is definitely a new author that I will continue read.

Lost: The Man Behind The Curtain

This episode of Lost was the episode I have been waiting for: the long anticipated back story of Henry Gale/Ben. It was sometimes slow and often infuriating, but an incredibly revealing episode, to say the least. It also needs to be said that it ranked high on the "Lost" scale of moments that made me say "WTF?!"

Was I the only person who half expected Emily to give birth to some weird alien spawn in the opening scene? Maybe it was just the eerie music playing, or maybe I just secretly wanted island babies to be superhuman.

I was kind of surprised and disappointed that Ben was born in Oregon. I don't know why, considering he's almost never been an honest kinda guy.

The palpable shift in power between Ben and Locke is awesome. I love that the Others are all about Locke now, and it gives me hope that maybe the Losties and Others can all get along someday after all. Although that probably wouldn't make for great television.

"The Man Behind The Curtain" is Ben. Hey, does anyone else remember who the man behind the curtain was in the Wizard of Oz? He was a total phony, and kind of a wuss. Sometimes I wonder why Locke just doesn't kick his ass, like he did Charlie. And his father. And Mikhail.

"Namaste" is how the Dharma people greet each other. Wonder if they have any other cool catch phrases.

Horace mentions the "island's abundant, diverse...wildlife." Well, that's one way to gloss over "smoke monster and polar bears."

Young Ben is all about little Annie, and clearly he's still affected by her in real time. However, we never find out what became of her, or whether or not she was gassed like the rest of the members of the Dharma Initiative. Something tells me we may find out.

So Mikhail survived because the fence wasn't turned up to the highest voltage. Lame! Why would the fence ever be on lower voltage? Also, didn't he claim that he survived because the island provides special healing powers? (By the way, tell that to Boone!)

I can't wait until I learn more about Alex and how she came to be Ben's "daughter."

Trying to sort out the "who's who" of the Dharma Initiative hurts my brain. So Ben goes to school, lives in the community — but is his part of the island in cahoots with experimental guys like Kelvin, Desmond's hatch buddy?

Ben sees his dead mother, like Jack saw his dead father, and Shannon saw Walt. I've tried to make connections between these three incidents, but Walt really throws me off the track by being alive and all.

So Ben's dad is an alcoholic and blames Ben for his mother's death. Ergo, Ben has serious daddy issues.

Juliet changes sides more times than anyone I've ever seen.

So Richard was once a "hostile/native" but he looks like a hippie. He doesn't seem to have really aged from Ben's flashback to real time, unless the "Lost" producers expect us to believe that a haircut ages a guy a good 30 odd years.

Did Richard and the hostiles coerce Ben into killing his father and the rest of the Dharma people or was it the other way around?

The whole Jacob extravaganza was really irritating. I didn't find it creepy, intense or mind-blowing. I was just really irritated. Also, I think it would've been awesome if the writers had just made Henry Gale insane.

So Ben kills his father, takes over and becomes leader of the others, can talk to what may or may not be an imaginary friend. Locke kills his father (kinda), starts gaining respect of the Others, can talk to Jacob too... this doesn't bode well for Ben, which is why he went and shot Locke. However, I don't believe for a second that Locke is a goner.

The Riches: Cinderella

One of the most interesting aspects of The Riches is that, because of Dahlia's jail term and the family's Traveler history, any disruption that the writers can throw in the Malloys' way seems at least somewhat plausible. Heck, I think the only thing that would make me roll my eyes is if Godzilla came to visit Eden Falls. And even then, I would give the story at least a half hour to play out before dismissing it completely.

Up until this episode, I didn't know much about what Dahlia went through in her two years in prison. I still don't know everything, but after meeting her Chunky Kay, we know that Dahlia's two years could have been a whole lot worse if not for her "cellie." We also know that friendship on the inside doesn't necessarily translate to friendship on the outside.

Davenia McFadden did a nice job as Chunky; I know that deep down she's a good person, but life circumstances -- she killed her abusive husband and readily admits it to Wayne and the kids -- and has a bit of an anger control problem. Despite the fact that her idea to market rabbit meat was a little stupid, and her way to get back at Hugh was to have him snort coke (or was it heroin?) off her boobs, she still seemed sincere in her desire to honestly get ahead in life. But Wayne knew things weren't quite right with her: seeing her sniffing glue was the biggest clue. He was right on the money when he told Dahlia that they were most likely "drug buddies" than anything else, and I'd imagine he now knows who helped make his wife the addicted mess she currently is.

Well, make that was. She didn't take what Chunky offered her after she asked her cellmate to leave. You want to respect Dahlia's efforts to want to share the Malloy's new-found wealth, but every effort to poke an opening in the walls she says they're building around themselves is another opportunity for their cover to be blown. It's going to be a constant fight for the Malloys; how do they make their way in this buffer life and not let their emotions cloud their judgment?

Speaking of judgment-clouding... Wayne came awfully close to becoming a partner at Panco, didn't he? Luckily, he decided to hold off singing the agreement Hugh put in front of him at the dinner party. It would have just been too much too soon for the Malloys; they're still Travelers, and Hugh being a partner would have made him into a buffer far too quickly, and Dahlia let him know that. But I also think he passed on the partnership because he saw Hugh being a raging lunatic tweaking out on his first snort in eight years, and I'm sure he thought that maybe ownership wasn't the best thing for him.

And Hugh was certainly hitting his stride when he publicly outing the Riches' neighbor Jim. How he knows Jim was gay is beyond me; maybe that's better left unsaid. But now I know why Nina sucks down those pills like they're Skittles; she's been in a sham of a marriage for 18 years. How sad for her that the only thing that keeps her going is the thought that people who drive past Eden Falls on the highway are jealous that she's living there. Compared to Nina and Jim, the life of the Malloys seems a whole hell of a lot more fulfilling.

What were those adjectives Chunky gave Hugh to convince him to make Wayne a partner? Or were the adjectives hidden under her bra? We'll never know, I guess.

The kids weren't particularly involved in the story this week. I still want to see more of Sam, but I was happy that the writers briefly explored some of his cross-dressing tendencies in this episode. "It's just a barrette," he says as he chafed in his dinner party suit. But I knew that, as soon as he eyeballed the lipstick in his hand, that he'd come to dinner in his prettiest Sunday brunch wear. Nice cover by Di Di; Hugh is enough of a prick that he would have never let Wayne live that down, while ripping Sam a new one in the process for not being part of the "B" team ("B" for "boy").

This was an entertaining episode, with a nice mix of humor and drama. There were a couple of loose ends presented (will Chunky seeing Doug Rich's degree come back to haunt the Malloys? How about her calling Dahlia by her real name in front of all the guests?) that may or may not get resolved. But it was well-plotted and well-acted as usual.

The Simpsons - Homer makes domino videos

This is too funny and why I love this show.