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Friday 29 November 2013

The Vampire Diaries 5.5 "Monster's Ball" Review

                                               
Jesse (Kendrick Sampson) finds himself on Frankenstein's, I mean Maxfield's (Rick Cosnett) table and he's deprived him of blood leaving him with a massive hunger, as he's trying to turn him into a test subject or so it appears.  So since a vampire killed Megan was it someone Maxfield was trying to convert and that's why he was covering his tracks when he signed her certificate?

Tyler (Micahel Trevino) and Caroline (Candace Accola) get together and she wants him to sign up for Sociology, yeah that's all he needs after everything he's been through, sociology asTyler doesn' really fit the profile.  Anyway he's putting off the inevitable which Caroline doesn't want to see, that he doesn't want to study like her but wants a completely different life.  Which he tells her at the Whitmore Ball, yeah another ball already, thought only mystic Falls did those since it's only the start of term.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) has a plan to help Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) get Bonnie (Kat Graham) back, by Silas becoming mortal, he'll become his witchy self and can be killed, thus Bonnie will be able to return alive.  Jeremy wants this cos he wants to be able to feel her.  Bonnie thinks Silas has another plan other than destroying the veil between the two worlds.  But Jeremy doesn't tell Damon that Bonnie has her doubts and adds she's in.  You see, Damon met with Silas and wants to help him become mortal when he takes the cure and to do this he needs Katherine's blood, which is why he's after her.  Oh no, first Elena and her blood that Klaus wanted and now it's Silas's turn as Stefan's (Paul Wesley) doppelganger to get Katherine's blood as she's also Elena's doppelganger, will the cycle never cease.  Damon wants to get Bonnie back, Elena's best friend and in the process also help Stefan, perhaps.  But Stefan's guessed he wants to show her what a great boyfriend he is.

Elena writes her diary and invites Damon to the ball, where she believes she can find out more on Maxfield. She sees a boy at Megan's memorial and asks him who he is, someone from her hometown who doesn't think it's much if a tribute to her.  He knows Megan didn't kill herself.  Silas calls Nadia (Olga Fonda) for Katherine's blood and she doesn't care if he wants some blood, but Nadia tells her he wants all her blood, which will effectively kill her.  At the diner Nadia quizzes her on whys he killed her mother back in 16 something or another when Katherine was on the run.  She told Klaus's minions that her mother was Katherine.  Katherine sees her chance to escape and stabs Nadia with an umbrella seeing as she blabbed to her of being a vampire.  Later Katherine tells her about 1492 and that she's her mother.  She came looking for her but couldn't find her after she finally got away, are they forming a new bond now.

Caroline and Tyler dress as Bonnie and Clyde at the ball, would've thought Caroline would've gone as something more dressy and classy, ha.  Whereas Elena is Anne Boleyn and Damon is Henry VIII, really he was rather skinny, where's ya paunch Damon?   The boy is there again and Elena uses her compulsion on him to ask him what he's doing here.  He tells her his name is Aaron (Shaun Sipos).  He's acting shady cos everyone around him dies, story of anyone who lives at Mystic Falls there.

Stefan is there dressed as himself, oh wait he was James Dean.  He later joins Qetsiyah (Janina Gavankar) at the bar who's come as Cleopatra in search of her pendant, this will locate the anchor to her.  Which Silas is also looking for.  Silas switches with Stefan after Damon kills him and finds out she doesn't know the whereabouts either.  Though when they dance he does give himself away and then covers up.  He tries to convince Tessa that she still loves him.  Stefan wakes after being killed another time and this time kills Damon and finds Silas.  Tessa (it was shorter to type) reaches for his heart and turns him to stone.

Maxfield warns Elena to leave campus since people are watching her and her friends and he's meant to be dressed as Dr Jekyll, well he didn't look it.  Apparently he turns out to be Arron's guardian, who is really Henry.  Tyler tells Caroline he can't do this cos Klaus allowed them to be together and not cos they wanted to be together freely.  He leaves, yay cos Sociology is so not Tyler, ha.  Elena and Damon have Silas at the mansion and Katherine arrives.  Damon bites her neck and forces Silas to feed off her until he wakes. Katherine begs him to stop cos he doesn't want to die, well she's found Nadia now and will wonders never cease, Katherine remains alive.  Would be good if mother and daughter teamed up there and wreaked some havoc, maybe exact a little revenge on Elena, ha.

Silas saying a woman doesn't forget her first love, obviously a hint for Elena, maybe there's trouble brewing, yes let's break up Damon and Elena, they shouldn't have been together in the first place.  So Elena's writing in her diary again after so long, yes it's going back to season 1, but why is she doing this now seeing as she has Damon to talk to, or is he just not the same as Damon when it comes to caring and sharing, well we know he isn't.  Caroline and Tyler were really going nowhere so it's good they called it quits, she'll get with Jesse now, or rescue him or something.

I was about to say it would be pretty diabolical (ha) if Katherine didn't remember her daughter so who was her father?  Seeing as Katherine is good with diabolical monsters as Nadia tells her, I used that word too. Damon being such a monster here, we know he's ruthless when he needs to be, that's part of his appeal,  as he just throws Katherine to the dogs, erm, Silas without a care in the world and Elena just standing by and watching.  What happened to her humanity, even if it was Katherine.

Thursday 28 November 2013

Scandal 2.22 "White Hat's Back On" Review

                                                 
The gladiators need to find Billy Chambers (Matt Letscher) and the Cytron card as Huck (Guillermo Diaz) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) look for Billy.  Quinn hacks into the camera feed at Governor Reston's (Tom Amandes) mansion to find if he's been there.  Huck says he's worried about Quinn cos she's becoming like him and Olivia (Kerry Washington) asks if she's hurt anyone yet.  Well she spoke too soon since it'll only be a matter of time before she does.  Huck is also worried about her and who she's with, with Olivia finally saying she's worried about herself too.

They try to work out how the card was stolen and Abby (Darby Stanchfield) knows there's so many combinations to the safe so how could Charlie have found it so easily.  She doesn't get a chance to figure it out though.   Olivia, Cyrus (Jeff Perry) Hollis (Gregg Henry) and Mellie (Bellamy Young) have a crisis meeting to decide how they will handle Billy and are waiting for one more person. Obviously it's Fitz (Tony Goldwyn).  Hollis wants him taken care of once and for all but Fitz doesn't want anymore bloodshed.  Has he grown a conscience after he took care of Verna.  Mellie wants  to leave but Fitz forces her to stay and finally when she leaves Cyrus tells her Fitz is working through this and really wants Mellie back to run by his side.  However he has other plans, he wants to eventually marry Olivia and wants her to become First Lady when he wins a second term.  Olivia knows this is impossible, but they find the time to be together again right then and there.

James (Dan Bucatinsky) goes on TV being asked about Fitz and Mellie's marriage and he demands to know from Cyrus whether Fitz is seeking spiritual guidance from his pastor.  Cyrus refuses to tell him since The Washingotn Post will be all over it anyway cos Cyrus is feeding them info.

Th mysterious man, whom Cyrus calls Rowen (Joe Morton) tells Jake (Scott Foley) he wants Olivia brought in and he knows what will happen if he doesn't.  A woman stands behind him and Jake knows exactly who she is.  Rowen later meets with Cyrus and tells him he has the ammo but still refuses to release the 'sex tape.' Cyrus won't do that to his friends.  Olivia finds out Reston has the card and is meeting with Fitz right now but Cyrus doesn't get there in time as he has a heart attack.  Fitz denies everything Reston accuses him about Defiance but Reston wants to run as a joint ticket with Fitz and to throw Sally Langston (Kate Burton) side.

Fitz gives Olivia the leverage to fix how she will come to the Whitehouse with him and he tells this to Mellie when she visits Cyrus in hospital.  Fitz tells her they will divorce, he will support her political career and he will go out on some dates with women which the tabloids will report and then he will find love with his associate and friend, Olivia.  If Mellie makes a big deal about it then he will play the race card and accuse her of being a racist.  None of the women's groups will stand for that.  Cyrus tells him it would work but obviously as Olivia tells Fitz Cyrus wants Mellie by Fitz's side.

Billy needs the Cytron card as Reston wants it to show Olivia he has it and has proof of the 'allegations'. David (Joshua Malina) hands over the card after Billy gives him the whole spiel about how David was used and how Billy killed the CIA Director, Molly and Wendy and set him up for her murder.  David calls them his friends and after Billy admitting he set up David for murder it's highly unlikely he would go along with him now even if he had that intention in the first place, which clearly he didn't.  It was difficult to think David would actually have a bad bone in his body when he was always the guy out for justice.  Reston calls Billy eventually and they find his location.  Huck and Quinn torture Billy for the card but Huck can't go through with it.  Quinn takes over and uses the drill on him, without any hesitation or regrets.  Billy tells them where the card is.  But when Abby retrieves it she finds it's a fake.

They realize it was David who took the card.  All the time he was here he was figuring out the combination so he didn't see Olivia open the safe after all and worked it out for himself.  Olivia is at home with her usual glass of wine and asks Fitz if he wants to come over.  He can't and then she sees someone trying to get into her apartment.  She locks the door and is grabbed from behind by Jake.  The door opens and he shoots that woman between the eyes!  Taking Olivia back to her office where she'll be safe he tells her about B-613 and Olivia realizes he is part of it, but that's of no importance.  He saved her life twice and he's in danger now. He has to leave and tells her how his mission was to bed her.  She tells him to close his eyes and kisses him. Oh no Jake is for the hole!!  Cyrus gets out of hospital just to see Olivia and he tells her not to live in a fantasy world and act like Romeo and Juliet.  That Fitz killed Verna and he admitted it to him.  "Real life is not a romance novel."  She was being naive wasn't she so was Fitz, especially when he finally cracks it and shows Fitz that tape, well CD.  Saying he's the only adult in the room.  Wouldn't have said that after his showdown with James on a few occasions.

Fitz even tells Oliva he didn't care about Jake but they could start over and she doesn't want that.   He should get back with Mellie, leave behind his father, Defiance is dead (finally!) and he should win on his own terms.  Fitz goes to Mellie and lays his head on her her lap as she touches his head.  He was acting like a child here.  Abby finds an envelope for Olivia and Quinn returns looking as happy as Larry after what she did to Billy.  As Huck retreats into his corner and Quinn can't figure out why he's doing that.  Really Quinn, after what he's been through, did she think he'd be pleased at what she's doing.

David gives Cyrus the card but he wants something in return as Olivia listens to the recording he left for her, where he gets Billy's confession on tape.  Fitz gives a press conference where he says David is now the US Attorney and he did what no one else could do, bring down the mole who was selling secrets and behind the killings.  Does this spell the end of Langston?

Olivia sits at her desk and puts on her white hat as the title suggests.  As she also tells Fitz she took Harrison (Columbus Short) et al over a cliff and they need her, she can't leave them as she's "their gladiator."  As she leaves her apartment to happily go jogging you just know that smile is going to be wiped off her face. Especially when she's besieged by reporters who ask her if she's having an affair with the President.  Two men take her into the car, where surprise, surprise Rowen is waiting as she calls him "dad."  Can't say that really came as a big surprise.

Cyrus crushing the Cyron card with a figurine of Lincoln from his desk but then just discards it into the bin.   SO David achieved what none of them could do and still maintained face as well as getting his job back and his career back on track at the same time, without any double crosses or betrayal.  He never lost sight of the objective at hand though he might have had an ulterior motive, but he really was the one who wore the white hat this season and perhaps a true gladiator.

As expected Jake is thrown into the hole and will be tortured for his loyalty to Olivia, but at least he was ballsy enough to go against B-613 and all that it stands for even if it was for his feelings, whether or not he says he had a job, a mission, it's clear there was more to this than just his objective and he really did have some affection towards Olivia, otherwise he wouldn't have saved her, twice.  She thinks he's a good guy but he tells her he's not and though it was a little up in the air since he came onto the show, it's apparent he is one of the good guys after all.

Olivia still chooses the wrong men in her life and perhaps this was something her father must be blamed for. But it is amazing how she thinks she will get the fairytale at the end of the day or the five years after Fitz's second term in office and is willing to wait for it since it's a long time to do that.  Is Fitz really deserving of this anyway as he always gets his own way, always and the way he went to Mellie was rather creepy and demeaning in a way.  After everything that happened he will do anything to get a second term.  He just ended up where he started at the beginning of the season.  Of course the other question is who leaked Olivia being his mistress, was it Mellie getting her revenge for when he cast her aside at the hospital.  Or perhaps more likely Rowan.

Cyrus had some funny scenes this ep like being in the ambulance on his last legs and still on the phone, but apparently not, he pulled through.  Then he and James not forgiving each other.  But he also was the only one who saw reality for what it really was.  There is no way Fitz and Olivia can be together in the Whitehouse and in public.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

The Mentalist 6.5 "The Red Tattoo" Review

                                                
 A man (Kirk Zipfal) and a boy (Aiden Sussman) get into a lift with another man who appears to be in distress.  He pushes the boy aside and runs to his room.  Hotel security (Brian Leckner) later breaks down the door and finds the man has been stabbed as he falls to the floor, but no one else is around.  Lisbon (Robin Tunney) arrives after Patrick (Simon Baker) is already there and so does Ray Haffner (Reed Diamond) who arrives with Jason Cooper (Robert Picardo) from Visualize.  Haffner is here since the DB, Parkman (Jeff Griggs) was a member of Visualize.  He has a letter from the Lieutenant Governor authorizing Haffner to be present on the investigation.  Haffner adding, "I do really like working with you Teresa." Which sends shivers down Patrick's spine, so he has to leave.  They can't figure out where the killer went without being seen.  Patrick calls it a trick.

He leaves when Haffner arrives and he gets into the lift with him, where he tells Patty that Bret Stiles has them studying Patrick,  His moves etc and he tells Haffner he's angry and he can see it on his face.  Haffner adding, "you're so much smarter than anyone else."  Er, yeah he is.  He's smarter than the average psychic or criminal or law enforcement agent.  I was going to refer to Yogi Bear being "smarter than the average bear," but never mind! Ha.   Also adding he's about as good a psychic as he was a cop.

Cho (Tim Kang) and Patrick head to the gym where Parkman was a coach and Patrick talks to a parent, Ed Reed (David Starzyk) filming his daughter at gymnastics.  He knows Parkman was in Visualize as does the owner, Mylar (Ray Abruzzo) who lies about not knowing.  But Patrick catches him out.
A woman walks up to Cho and asks him about the pricing but Cho tells her he doesn't work here and she is curious when the murder is mentioned.  Oh no Cho wasn't attracted to her was he, another blonde like Summer.

Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) is at the car jacking scene where Devin Frost (Eric Pumphrey) was killed.  They suspect he killed Parkman and then was killed in his car, but how did he get from the hotel to the park.  Also the gun was found in the alley in between the two spots.  A bit of a conundrum for Patty cos as well as figuring out how the killer got from one place to the next he must watch Haffner. Which he doesn't do.

Rigsby tells Lisbon about the report of Kirkland being dead.  Apparently he tried to escape from custody. Rigsby calls in a favour from the detective on the case who gives him the report.  The young corrections officer was stunned at what he's done and has PTSD.  Rigsby smells a rat, a red rat, as he finds Kirkland was shot six times whilst not listening to warning calls.  Cho agrees.  The scene with Rigsby and Cho in the park was funny as Rigsby orders fruit and Cho doesn't like fruit.  He puts him off it when Rigsby tells him how he owes Cho for helping him with Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) and for making him take the risk.  He's going to find someone for Cho.

No one told Patrick about Kirkland's death and was that cos it's being saved for another episode and especially since Kirkland knew more than he let on and wanted to share this info with Patty.  Ooh I just thought of Kirkland when he killed Lennon in season 5 and how he got away with it.  He was psychotic as Cho calls him and nothing more?  Was it something to do with him that Kirkland wanted to reveal, since Lorelei knew him too.

Apparently Bret is missing and no one from Visualize knows where he is.  He disappeared shortly after RJ sent Patrick the video of RJ suspects as Lisbon tells him.  Did she get this from Cooper as she took off her jacket revealing a sleeveless top.

Kira (Beth Riesgraf) comes to the CBI under the pretences of buying Cho coffee and asks Van Pelt if she thinks she's being too stalkery.  Patrick asks what she was doing here and then realizes why she was here. He finds a bug in Cho's desk and confronts her about this whilst enjoying her muffin!  She's a PI and was hired by someone from Visualize she says, to bug the CBI.  Only she won't say who that is.  A shame Patrick doesn't realize she's in danger until it's too late since he and Lisbon arrive too late to save her, but not too late for Patrick to hear her as tells him Red John has a tattoo on his left shoulder, three dots.  SO if she was killed by Red John he didn't leave a smiley behind or he didn't have time, or was someone else sent to do the dirty work. We're meant to believe Haffner since he was missing at the end and didn't turn up to see Lisbon.  Patrick saying the tattoo gives him 'leverage.'  Oh boy was that an in joke!  What at this time of the show and important proceedings.  Surprised he managed to say that with a straight face!! Ha.  Beth Riesgraf was in the series Leverage!  Well there goes Cho's love interest.  Patrick: "That's my leverage.  I got him."

Anyway the murder wasn't as interesting as the little hints we were meant to pick up since Patrick figures out how Parkman killed Devin in his car with the shotgun before heading to the hotel.  He didn't reckon Devin would have a knife and would stab him and thinking he wasn't seriously wounded he returned.  He had to get rid of tee gun so he used one of those elastic gym bands and stretched it as far as possible for the gun to reach the alley.  Which Patrick demonstrates with a TV remote from the room and an eaten apple, having left Rigsby and Cho in the alley.  Parkman and Devin were lovers but the attraction began when Devin was a minor so needed it keep quiet.  Parkman thought Devin was leaving him and was being replaced and so he blackmailed him, but he was an Olympic coach so he couldn't let that happen.  Parkman's aorta ruptured when he pulled on the plastic.  Patrick: "The trick was there was no trick."

Patrick finds out Cooper didn't bug the CBI.  Thus only now realizing Kira is in danger.  Why would RJ bug the CBI now?  Also why not bug it himself.  Throwing doubts on Bertram being RJ and also Reede Smith.  Haffner would have bugged them himself cos he was here, so that leaves McAllister as a suspect and Bret Stiles, but he's not RJ, he would have needed a lot of energy to kill Kira in that way, unless he sent a minion.Which leaves Haffner or McAllister as suspects.   Unless it's going to be someone not on the list!  Oh I give up, at least until the next ep!!  Patrick wipes away the three dots from her arm so no one else sees them.  Then again Patrick didn't spend much time with Haffner and preferred to be away from him, was it cos of his interest in Lisbon?  Cos seeing as he's a RJ suspect he sure didn't look for any tell tale signs or clues from him.

Lots of running around from Patty this ep clearly he was being kept on his toes.  Let's hope Van Pelt and Rigsby leave happily and nothing happens to one or either of them since Rigsby keeps bringing up being so happy with Van Pelt, don't jinx it Rigsy!!

I'm seriously re-thinking my conclusion of Haffner being Red John in my Mentalist Red John Suspects piece on my blog cos he doesn't fit the profile for me anymore.  The way they introduced the spider and his phobia of spiders just seemed a little too tacked on, like adding it for the sake of throwing us off the scent or onto the scent.  Just like they did with McAllister.  He could climb a ladder but hated pigeons, was this some sort of reference to RJ and The Red Barn.  Clearly pigeons are found in barns and also are spiders.  Since we know from that ep Haffner was there at the time of the other murders.  Does he have some sort of phobia against animals.  I am seriously liking McAllister as RJ now but I discarded him before.  They keep bringing back the same suspects over again in an attempt to stymie us and keep us guessing to the last minute.  Especially when you consider that Patrick has only narrowed down two suspects and so still has five to keep him on his toes.  So what was this warning to Patrick from Haffner about him getting his comeuppance, since he has gotten on the wrong side of very powerful people and not just Red John and he also warned Lisbon and Van Pelt from working too closely with him.

It appears that whoever wanted the bug planted was more to do with the Tyger conspiracy than with Red John.  He wouldn't start making all these silly mistakes now would he after all this time.  Who knows if RJ has a tattoo, it could be anyone else and what if his minions all have to have those, or people in some sort of cult, though none of the Visualize members appear to have any.  It could just as easily be another red herring.


Monday 25 November 2013

The Vampire Diaries 5.4 "For Whom The Bell Tolls" Review

                                               
Finally we get to see Bonnie's (Kat Graham) memorial as her friends say goodbye.  Everyone needs her help, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) thinks she can help Stefan (Paul Wesley) recover his memories and Matt (Zach Roerig) thinks she can find what's wrong with him as he's losing time and doesn't remember what he's doing. With Jeremy (Steven R McQueen) bearing the burden of hiding the truth from everyone.  Caroline (Candace Accola) thinks she can get an advancement placement into Maxfield's (Rick Cosnett) biology class and has a study date with Jesse (Kendrick Sampson) who has other things on his mind than studying.

Damon takes Stefan on a drive to tell him about his past and how Stefan killed their father and turned Damon into a vampire, as well as telling them of their uncle Zack.  Stefan thinks Damon is boring and that he's the fun brother so Damon tries to prove him wrong by crashing the car, making Stefan change his mind, Damon's the fun brother.

Matt calls Jeremy for help as he's set up cameras to film what he does.  Later when he watches them back after finding a cut on his palm, Matt's possessed self speaks on the phone and then talks to the camera saying if he tells anyone he'll cut his throat.  His body has been taken over as we know.  Jeremy calls Damon cos he thinks it's about time they knew the truth about Bonnie.  The bell is rung for Observance Day in the town. Stefan and Damon drink and Elena (Nina Dobrev) arrives.   Stefan has a penchant for the barmaid, more like a craving for blood and tries to bite her.  Damon stops him cos that's not who he is now.  He needs to control his hunger. Damon hasn't told Stefan about her or about the two of them being together.  Elena takes him to places to make him try and remember and tells her about himself.  A the school she shows him how they bumped into each other after she came out of the men's room.  He wonders what she was doing coming out of there.  Noticing he's seen a boy with blood on his head she takes him outside and jumps to the roof.

She tells him to do the same and Stefan begins to have feelings for her but doesn't remember and tries to kiss her.  She tells him they're not together and he senses his hunger return and ends up at the cemetery where he bites Jesse.  Caroline stops him and is the only one who Stefan will trust.  She agrees to check up on him every hour, as Stefan goes AWOL and ends up at the Salvatore crypt.

Jeremy tells Damon Bonnie is dead cos nature needs a balance and she died when he returned.  Stefan tries to comfort Caroline at the crypt when she finds out and she's doing all she can not to cry and lose it.  Elena takes the news hard too and doesn't know what to wear for their farewell for Bonnie, where Jeremy speaks and tells them all what her hopes for them.   How she will always be here and never leave them. Tyler (Michael Trevino) arrives for Caroline.

Jesse returns back and Maxfield injects him to ensure he remains a vampire.  Oh no, not another Dr Frankenstein, or more liked Dr Vampire-stein.  These doctors an professors always have hidden agendas in this show.  Which seems to keep covering old ground. The Ripper, everytime Stefan is in trouble or has a crisis out pops the Ripper.  The love triangle which is as old as time too, first with Katherine and now with Elena again.  Let's face it, Elena wanted to kiss Stefan and it wasn't being swept away by the moment or trying to help him, she really wanted to.  Though it's surprising how Stefan could recall his feelings for Elena or be jealous of Damon when he doesn't remember either of them.

Highlights Damon in a suit and hugging Jeremy, so emotional.  I'm waiting for more new stories and some excitement to the show instead of endless repetition.


Sunday 24 November 2013

The Paradise Series 2 Episode 6 Review

A newly wed couple arrive at the Paradise and the wife, Mrs Lucille Ballantine (Liz White) can't stop spending her husband's money, buying dresses and the like, but she has no friends and has plenty of low self esteem.  The women all talk about her.  She was a nurse and nursed her husband, Campbell Ballentine (John Duttine) when he was ill.  She wants Clara (Sonya Cassidy) and Susy (Katie Moore) to come to her house and they can have tea, look at her chandeliers, something which excites Susy.  Denise (Joanna Vanderham) says she can have a fitting at home if she wants to and Lucille asks them to show her how to walk in her dress.  Clara tells her she has a husband who adores her and so should be happy.  At tea she again denigrates herself and thinks they all think she's not worthy of her husband.  Clara replies she's lucky to have found him and repeats the same throughout the episode.  Even when she wants to give Clara a ring to show her how glad she is of her friendship.  Clara rejects it since she could lose her job and she's not her friend, but Lucille's her customer.

Weston (Ben Daniels) and Katherine (Elaine Cassidy) hunt for Flora (Edie Whitehead) in the maze and when Weston finds her he tells her they're not to speak to Katherine as it's a game.  Katherine demands to know why he's been a ghost these past few days and why he is refusing to talk to her.  He takes out the pocketwatch and looks at the time again as he takes Flora into the maze once more, using the pocketwatch to torment her.  Leading to her confronting Moray (Emun Elliott) again for comfort.  She tells him how cruel Weston can be and how she's afraid of him.  Moray wants her to tell him when she needs him and he'll be here for her.  They hug and Weston sees them again.  Well it's not the first time he's seen them together.

Fenton (Adrian Scarborough) suggests they should put forward their plan to Weston to buy the store but Moray doesn't know what that plan is as he's disturbed by Denise.  Moray having caught Denise sitting in his chair feels she's undermining him and Dudley (Matthew McNulty) tells him they've all sat in that chair, including him and Arthur (Finn Burridge) since they all have dreams.  He berates Moray for his jealousy against Denise and her wanting to excel at the store.  Even Katherine tells him as much when she adds that Weston thinks Denise is even better than Moray and could take over the store and excel at it.   Fenton puts his proposal to Weston: that he and his brother have stores in Liverpool and Manchester and are looking to open down south.  He wants to buy the Paradise and says he will employ Moray as manager or even send "him into the wilderness," if he wants.  Weston doesn't know why he's revealing this since he can fight the sale but refuses to sell the store, otherwise he'll be seen as a coward.

Denise believes Ballantine would be a good investor.  He has a brewery he has built from nothing and thinks they could also stock his ales in the food hall.  Dudley thinks she has a good idea to get Ballentyine on board as an investor without telling Moray, which eh isn't happy about and helps her write up a business plan. Dudley believes she' the best person to present it since she's an entrepreneur and will bring her glamour to it. They hear creaking outside the office but there's no one there, obviously it's probably Jonas (David Hayman) skulking around again.

Jonas again gains Weston's trust further and Moray tries to tell Katherine about Weston knowing of the pocket watch being intended for her husband.  Yes Moray you were the one who told Jonas to go ahead with it and tell him.  Denise is upset that Moray still goes to see Katherine and he tells her he must since she's in fear of Weston.  Who she finds in her room at night and also tries to open the door when she locks it. Flora sees the scars on his back when he's changing his shirt and walks away.  Weston admits to Katherine that he's going to sell the store, he's her husband and he can do that.  He wants them to act like they're married, call a truce and they have Flora to think about.  He only came to her room cos he wanted to watch her, not hurt her.  Katherine promises Flora she'll never leave her, then writes to see Moray.  Is Weston really concerned about wanting to make things right for Flora's sake or does he still have another agenda.

Ballantine approves the business plan and wants to see Moray.  However Moray lies to Denise when he tells her he's going to see Ballaniyne when he actually goes to see Katherine.  Who tells him she has a child now, is a mother and must face her responsibilities.  She can't let go of Moray though and he tells her he loves Denise.  Katherine kisses him but he stops her.  She then can't get up from the bench as she falls back down but doesn't want Moray's help.  Weston finds her doubled over in the garden in tears and asks if "he did this to you?"  She replies, "I can't help myself."

Edmund (Peter Wight) thinks he should spruce up the shop with a coat of paint before anyone will buy it and knows Audrey is waiting for him but he can't let go of the shop.  He was the first owner on the street.  Sam (Stephen Wight) helps him out and he and Arthur think he should remove his name from the store as it won't be his and should replace it with "Draper."  Something he doesn't want to do as he finds it's not easy giving up his life.  He suffers a heart attack whilst on the ladder and Denise feels guilty about 'chiding' him and not looking out for him.  He's like a father to her.  Moray isn't there for her and she asks Dudley where he's gone.  Also Ballantine didn't get a note from Moray or even a personal meeting.  However she convinces him to invest.

Moray tells Denise he's sorry and that he was with Katherine but, "I have not betrayed you."  Denise can't bear to look at him since she wants to be alone with her uncle.  As the Paradise celebrates five years since it opened, Moray walks through the store in tears.  He's now a defeated man as his 'scheming' to get back the store has really resulted in him achieving nothing.  He played Katherine off against Weston and she ended up wanting him again when he knew she had feelings for him still and even Denise warned him about this.  Moray couldn't even see how Fenton was using him for his own ends when he came up with the plan of getting between Weston and Katherine.  He tells Katherine he loves Denise but really he has betrayed her too in his blind pursuit of the store.  Not to mention the fact Fenton wasn't even interested in helping Moray get the store back but was only going along with the intention of opening up his own store with his brother, since he was so ready to throw Moray to the wind.  See Jonas didn't tell Moray about this at their meeting, only that Weston has his issues from when he was a soldier.  Something he already told Moray about before.

Clara convinces Lucille she's got a good husband and she should be grateful for that.  Whereas for everyone else their lives have reached a turning point.  Showing how some marriages are perfect and Lucille couldn't see that whereas others are frought with anxieties and heartaches, even when the two parties aren't married to each other.

Even had some future topical references here, like Myrtle (Lisa Millett) saying sarcastically, like they will find rich men, or there'll be a woman PM, or a woman running the Paradise.  Well with Denise's ambitions and maybe society's attitude changing she may do just that!

SO what now for Denise and Moray since she doesn't feel she can trust him even if he loves her.  Will Weston get his 'revenge' on Moray for hurting Katherine, who clearly brought this on herself too.  There's a scene where Moray and Denise steal a kiss together when he tells her he wished they could go back to before and how innocent it all was when he wanted her.  She reminds him it wasn't innocent as he was engaged to Katherine and you can't help but think it was the same thing happening here again.  Moray this time pursued Katherine when she was married and ended up hurting both Denise and Katherine, even himself, as far from innocent as it could get.

Saturday 23 November 2013

Doctor Who: The Day Of the Doctor 50th Anniversary Episode Review

                                                 
Clara (Jenna Coleman) teaches at a Coal Hill school and is called by the Doctor (Matt Smith) from his TARDIS, as she rides off on her motorbike, he asks where they should go next and the very next second they're being lifted by a helicopter.  As Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) calls him.  They're heading to Trafalgar Square after he hangs out of the TARDIS and she decides they're not heading to UNIT HQ at the Tower of London anymore.  Cue the Doctor hanging from the TARDIS and Matt Smith actually did that stunt.  She has a letter from him sealed by Queen Elizabeth I (Joanna Page).  Inside the National Gallery he's taken to a painting from Elizabeth I with Clara and it's a scene of the Fall of Gallifrey as it burns in 3D, "The Fall of Arcadia"  A Gallifreyian city.

The Eleventh Doctor recalls the Time War, the war to end all wars and how he was a warrior, a War Doctor (John Hurt).  He takes the gun from a soldier as Gallifrey is in flames with the Daleks attacking and writes "No More" on the wall.  Then takes off in his TARDIS as some of the Daleks crash and blow up.  The Time Lords discover the Doctor has taken the weapon, the Moment, a weapon which also has a conscience.  If they do not stop fighting, he will use the weapon.  A fez is on the floor.  Then we get Bad Wolf Girl aka Rose (Billie Piper) sitting on the bomb and asking him if he really wants to burn Gallifrey, asking how many children will be killed and will die.  He hasn't set the weapon off and can still make the right choice.  She's going to show him his future through a time fissure.  She knows she was Rose and is now Bad wolf Girl and she is the way in which the weapon communicates, like its interface.

                                             

The Eleventh Doctor reads the letter saying Elizabeth needs his help and adds 'dear husband' in it too.  Kate takes him to another part of the gallery and on the wall is a painting of the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) with Elizabeth I.  As we go back in time to England 1536, where the Doctor takes Elizabeth horseriding and then treats her to a picnic.  Where he tells her she needs to eat and finally she says he will have to marry her.  But he's actually looking for a Zygon, an alien which is capable of shapeshifting into any shape or form.  She tells him she's not an alien but he doesn't believe her, not until the horse shifts into the alien.  Then becomes a clone of Elizabeth.  He tells her to run.

Back at the gallery the Eleventh Doctor is taken to the undergallery where there are kept many artifacts from the past, including his fez in a glass case and he can' help but wear it.  Clara commenting "one day he will walk past those."  He notices some stone dust on the floor and wants it analyzed by the science assistant.  A time fissure opens and  he goes through it.  Ending up face to face with the Tenth Doctor.  A lot of mention of faces here and how his face is different but he's the same, or he "doesn't forget a face."  They realize they're both the doctors as they pull out their Sonics and there's the timely, or common scene with "my Sonic's bigger than yours," which was kind of funny; as the Eleventh Doctor's was bigger by far!

                                                     

                                                    

By now the War Doctor also arrives and the three of them meet.  Where they share a conversation with the Eleventh referring to the War Doctor as "Grandfather", and the Tenth Doctor as wearing "sand shoes" which he protests against.  As well as the War Doctor wondering if the Eleventh can talk without "flapping his arms about."  Well no, that's his character trait, at least one of them.  They don't know if they can get back through the portal so the Eleventh Doctor throws in his fez which doesn't get back to Clara.  As does Elisabeth's soldiers.  She turns up too and has them arrested, but not before Clara speaks though the portal and threatens to turn the men into frogs, though she was rather rusty at the whole witchcraft thing.  Which she shouldn't have been since she was teaching.

                                             

Kate knows where the Eleventh Doctor end up and what he'll do since he says they need to be taken to the Tower of London.  He finds a piece of metal, that come in handy and begins to etch onto the stone. Kate takes Clara there and adds his companions need to be vetted which they did last time she was here, as there are photos of her on the wall and she doesn't recall being here.  They go to the Black Archives and to the vortex bracelet which needs a code to be activated.  However Kate reveals herself to be a Zygon and Clara takes the code as the picture with the code has been sent through to Kate's phone and disappears.

                                             

The Doctors talk of how the Sonic won't work on the door, it's wood as we remember, and Doctor Ten asks if they should get a better class of door.  As well as talking about how they look and have changed and the Time War.  The Tenth Doctor referring to the Eleventh as "chinney" was hilarious since that's what Clara did, when we first met her, saying he's got a big chin.  The Tenth Doctor regrets the War and the Eleventh one forgets it.  It's taken him 400 years to do so.  The War Doctor asks how many children were killed but only the Tenth Doctor answers.  Adding all this time and the Eleventh didn't know, the Eleventh replying he forgot about it and moved on.  As well as the War Doctor picking up lots of his mannerisms going such as his "timey whimey" phrase.  The War Doctor thinks he speaks like a child after all this time.

Clara arrives and opens the door, it wasn't locked, but no one checked.  As does Elizabeth, (the real one) and reveals their plan to them of taking over a better planet as theirs was destroyed during the early part of the war and they've chosen Earth.  As one of the Zygons steps through the painting and that's how they ended up in the gallery in 1975.  Which the War Doctor calls a space cube and number Eleven refers to it as "Cup-A-Soup" and the War Doctor doesn't now what that is.   The painting like the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.

Back at the Tower there's a stalmate as the sciency assistant with the scarf has found out Kate is being held but is still alive.  She returns and orders the self destruct with a nuclear weapon being buried under them which will blow up London and though many will die, billions will be saved.  Seeing as The War Doctor is facing a similar dilemma.  The Doctors return and find out about this but will make them work together to stop the self destruct.  They use their Sonics to make sure no one remembers if they're human or Zygon and so must talk with each other.

The War Doctor is impressed they have actually got them talking as he speaks with Clara.  She can see the sadness in his eyes, she's always seen it, he has much younger eyes.   She knows what's going to happen is in his future and how the Eleventh Doctor has talked about the Time War and tells him he hasn't done anything yet.  As Bad Wolf Girl appears, Clara can't see her but asks who he's talking to, was that Cup-A-Soup he was drinking in his cup?  He leaves with Bad Wolf.  At the weapon he decides he must use that to save the many.  Bad Wolf reminds him of the sound the TARDIS makes as it gives hope to many people, that's what it means to them, giving the other two enough time to arrive.

They all put their hands on the trigger intending to do it together so the War Doctor is no longer alone or carries his guilt alone, but Clara stops the Eleventh Doctor.  They came up with a plan and had all those years to do so but not sure if it will work.  They can freeze Gallifrey in a moment of time and the Daleks will fire on each other as it disappears.  They don't know if it will work but they can try and give Gallifrey hope. They relay this to the Time Lords as they get a message on the screen reading, "Gallifrey Stands."  They're not too thrilled at this prospect as Gallifrey will be lost forever.  But want this to go ahead.

                                             

We get the three Doctors in their TARDIS shouting their catchphrase: "Geronimo, Allons-y and Gallifrey Stands."  As we also get the other nine Doctors faces shown in their TARDIS and a glimpse of the face of the Thirteenth Doctor.  As Gallifrey is saved and so are the Time Lords.  The Doctors drink tea and have a final moment together. The War Doctor (he can't be called that anymore) returns to where he came from and the Eleventh Doctor tells the Tenth about Trensinor and how he will return there again.  The Tenth Doctor kisses Clara's hand and once again the Tenth Doctor utters "I don't want to go."  Just as he did in his final moments when he knew the end was coming for him.  Well we didn't want to see you go either.

Don't you wish you could see them together again, they really made a great team of Doctors.  Though we'll have to call them something else besides team.  The Eleventh Doctor thinks he could retire and become the Curator of the museum as the Curator shows up, none other than the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker).  They talk about the painting and how he regrets Gallifrey is "No more or Gallifrey  Falls."  Which the Fourth Doctor tells him could be read as "Gallifrey Falls No More."

SO it's off to Trensinor for the Christmas Special as Matt will bid farewell to his Doctor mantle, no, I don't want you to goooooooooooooooo!!  Really I don't and watching this 50th Birthday show just brought back all the memories of all the great fun we had with Matt and his bow tie-d Eleventh Doctor.  It was also sad saying goodbye to David once more as the Tenth Doctor.  These two were my faves and it was really heart wrenching to see they won't be the Doctor anymore.  These two really did make a great duo with lots of interacting off each other and the jokes too was all fun, but deep down we knew it was coming, the good times had to end!

Though having said that John Hurt as the War Doctor, or the Doctor in between number Eight and Nine made a good addition to the cast too.  Though there was a moment when he said "fire" and it took me back to Merlin and the ever-wise Dragon! Whose voice John did but just for a moment.  Which showed him to be less menacing than he appeared in The Name of The Doctor the series 7 finale and showed that he did have a heart after all, or rather two hearts and that he ensured the fate Gallifrey originally endured to stop the never ending war did not happen again; albeit he had help of all of his selves.  However it was good to see he was redeemed, they all were redeemed by taking an entirely different path, which you knew they would. Going back to being called the Doctor, as he should.  It was the 50th after all and we couldn't have a sorrowful episode.  (Though it was for many of us! Oh Matt!  Another series would have done us and made us ready for your departure!)

                                                 

Some great moments with Clara too as she makes the Eleventh Doctor remember he is the Doctor and not a warrior, the one people turn to for help the universe over and he does mention himself as "the Storm" and all that.  Some moments with the scarf reference as "nice scarf" from the eleventh Doctor, as was worn by Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, as well as the Tenth Doctor having a flash when he realizes who Bad Wolf Girl really is.  

Never got to ask this but think the Tenth Doctor got to snog the most women and companions too! ha.  Well he married Elizabeth I as we know and we got to see the wedding where the other two Doctors were present as well as Clara.  Rose/Bad Wolf girl making a reference to "clever boy."

A super scene at the end where the Eleventh joins the other regenerations of the Doctors and the end of an 'almost' era with Matt's leaving to come.  Okay I'll stop saying that whilst I go and shed some more tears!

Thursday 21 November 2013

Scandal 2.21 "Any Questions?" Review

                                                 anyquestions2
Cyrus (Jeff Perry) rushes to see Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) but he's still busy with Olivia (Kerry Washington) and Tom (Brian Letscher) won't let him in unless he's got a good reason.  Cyrus threatens to make him guard Ted at the playground and tells him he's having a heart attack. Cyrus bursts in on them both and tells him to "get up!" Don't know who locked more shocked Cyrus, Fitz or Olivia.  Olivia comes up with a strategy but Fitz will tell them what he wants to do.  She returns to work and hears news about Albatross.  They think the mole might be Sally Langston (Kate Burton) since she can get into those files too.  They have to find out everything they can on her.

Harrison (Columbus Short) tells Olivia the news will break and it's only a matter of time before her name is revealed by Mellie (Bellamy Young) and he wants her to be his client.  hHe will do anything for her cos she is his client.  Olivia listens to everything he has to say but in the end tells him she isn't his client and wants him to handle Langston.  She won't tell Harrison her endgame.  Huck (Guillermo Diaz) suggests sending a Trojan horse to Langston via email and when she opens it up they can see her password.  David (Joshua Malina) suggests they use her daughter cos she's easier to hack into and when she opens her email they'll be in. Suggesting send her an email about one of the mean girls who's just had her nose down.  Huck finds it wasn't Langston cos she was with Fitz when someone was hacking into her computer.  Langston with Cyrus going on about marriage being sacred and a "woman scorned" phrase which she claims is from the Bible, Cyrus tells her it's not, funny that, her not knowing where it's from, thought she was religious.   She is wallowing in how Mellie was the one who will bring him down.  Well he's not down quite yet.

Notice the change in Olivia this time round she's walking round as if she's on cloud nine or whatever it is cos she doesn't look like she's really thought about what will happen if Mellie actually reveals her name, thinking everything will come good in the end.  Which it won't, how will she recover being named as Fitz's 'whore.'
Charlie's (George Newbern) in the wind and they must find some way to find him.  Jake (Scott Foley) meets with the nameless man again.

Cyrus must take questions and must keep deflecting them, such as the affair being only alleged, whatever happens between Mellie and Fitz is their business, etc.  Even James (Dan Bucatinsky) is present but obviously Cyrus won't answer him either.  He must go over the same ground with the reporters.  Mellie however is not using the ace up her sleeve and isn't revealing Olivia's name just yet.  Deep down she hopes she can still salvage something from Fitz and hires a fixer (John Barrowman) like Olivia and wants to know why not use Olivia, cos she's Fitz's fixer.  Would have thought that was a little obvious as to why since it's alleged his mistress is someone within the Whitehouse, a Whitehouse worker, ain't it always!

Cyrus tries to talk to Fitz as to how they will spin this and handle it but he doesn't want that.  He's decided he doesn't want to run for a second term either.  Cyrus also takes his wrath out on James for being gullible and stupid at the same time.  Thinking he was the only one his boss would want to interview Mellie, it was Mellie's decision and she played him good.  James can't handle that thinking Cyrus always puts him down and first it was Defiance and now this story.  Cyrus talks down to him and and raises his hand too quite a lot. He leaves and James has no choice but to burst into tears.

Cyrus meets with Olivia and wants her to talk Fitz out of not running for a second term, in fact he's writing his speech and what he will say.  She tells him she can't do that and we're back to Defiance once more.  Olivia reminding Cyrus that park used to be a zoo and some would say, still is.  Olivia also adds that they already messed up the Republic once and really believes he and Fitz can just be happy, especially when there more powerful forces at work.  Cyrus has the footage with Jake and Olivia and can release that publicly so saving Fitz and his running for a second term, but why does he keep it to himself.  Well no sooner has Olivia turned her back when up rears the mysterious man.  Apparently he knows Cyrus and tells him Charlie is dead tt him, he doesn't want him being used by him since he's his operative.

Charlie needs to be taken care of and to this task cue Jake.  He sets up the bakery assistant as one of his own and Charlie's no fool after all he was trained by B613 and he suspects a rat in his pastry.  He checks out the bag which has a substance on it which will enable him to be tracked so he touches practically everyone on the street, though why they'd allow themselves to be touched by some madman like that without crying out murder is beyond me.  So Jake loses his signal and Charlie in the process.  Jake flashing his gun about!  So he meets with the man (Joe Morton) at the Monument and gives him the footage of him and Olivia after watching it one last time, can't believe he hasn't kept a copy though, just for insurance purposes. The man threaten him by telling him they could be meeting at the hole instead of here and that was a piece of serious foreshadowing if ever there was any in this show!  Apparently Jake was working for both the man and Fitz and had to get in between both Olivia and Fitz.

Fitz calls Olivia and then asks what she's wearing.  She hangs up and her phone rings again and she makes the classic mistake of thinking it's Fitz again and tells him she won't tell him whats he's wearing, but it's Jake and he asks her about him again.  Olivia tells him to take care and goodbye.  Maybe he should have taken her advice then cos nothing bodes well for Jake.

Mellie tells her fixer she needs to know what Fitz is writing in his speech and he's good at what he does so he must find out.  Which he does cos it's just been thrown out in the Whitehouse trash, since when was the Whitehouse so careless with its trash anyway?  Meanwhile we get Cyrus deflecting yet more questions and covering old ground as he refuses to give them anything.  Mellie reads the speech and finds he's not budging at all.  She still won't reveal the name.

Cyrus doesn't acknowledge knowing Charlie and so he comes to Olivia for help, holding David at gunpoint. They want the name of the mole and he doesn't give it.  He wants a deal in the same way Huck can live his life out in the open.  But Olivia didn't get him any deal.  Huck takes Charlie and gives him a doughnut before he'll finish the job. Charlie gives him a name and at the last instant Quinn stops Huck from shooting him. Thought Huck would have pulled the empty gun trigger on him to scare him but turns out he was actually going to to shoot him for ruining his life.  Olivia runs to the safe to open it and finds the card is still there, which was stupid of her, I mean she isn't thinking at all here.  Why open the safe in front of everyone.  She's just given Harrison the combination and her brown and black files, brown for those people who owe her favours and the written combination so if the worst comes to the worst, Harrison will take over and run the firm.  But lo and behold she reveals the combination to all and sundry.  Notice David getting a good look at the combination.

David and his remark of who the president banged and how the name will be revealed was kind of unnerving to Olivia as she just looks away ignoring him.  Olivia finds out from Cyrus that Fitz didn't sign the second term candidacy papers and they're still on his desk.  She asks him if he wanted to run and when he decided he didn't want to run and tells him he should run cos he wants it to be legitimate this time round, without his father putting him down and without Olivia et all cheating for him.  He gives a speech saying his marriage is "none of your business."  Then announces his running for a second term.  Harrison calls Olivia and they find out that Charlie's been released and Harrison finds the Cytron card is gone.  Olivia is given the name of Billy Chambers (Matt Letscher) as the mole, as we see him get the Cytron card from none other than David.

So the mole is Billy Cahmers and David turns out to be a turncoat too!  Well it's to be expected he wouldn't let Olivia and associates get away with him losing his job and every other humiliation he went through, not least the which was Abby (Darby Stanchfield) making a complete fool of him too when she lied to him and told him she didn't take the card.  That was one reason why he hung around there like a bad smell and kept going on about how he's "a Gladiator now."  Well who 'invited' him to become one anyway, no one.  But still they weren't weary around him and you know why not just give him all your secrets.  Surprised no one blabbed about Olivia and Fitz in front of him.  It was obvious it would be David and not Charlie, who would Charlie know they have the card, David was always the one who wanted it and knew they had it.

Had a feeling Fitz wanted to run for another term cos he wanted to prove himself and show he is capable of winning all by his lonesome, but how will this affair news fare for him?  Seems like Mellie will come running back too.


Tuesday 19 November 2013

The Mentalist 6.4 "Red Listed" Review

                                             
Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and Patrick (Simon Baker) are called to a CS by Reede Smith (Drew Powell) and find the DB is Benjamin Marks and Patrick remarks on how Lisbon gets nervous whenever she's around a Red John suspect.  Patrick tortured Marks in 4.23 Red Rover, Red Rover and Smith suspects Patrick of finishing the job after all he did torture him to make him confess.  He asks Patrick what he can tell from the DB who has had his face burnt and has been tortured.  Patrick notices the sticky substance on his leg which is sap and a pine needle in his shoe, so it's from a pine tree.  He also tells Smith that he didn't kill him cos he would have done it the first time round. Besides Patrick isn't a killer as he later tells Kirkland (Kevin Corrigan).

Patrick goes back to his attic with Lisbon in tow and tells her he didn't kill him but he's partly responsible for getting him killed since he was on his list of fake RJ suspects.  Lisbon wants the other names so they can offer them police protection.  Which Patrick reluctantly gives her since they're not exactly innocent Vics.   He also tells her that he's being watched by the FBI for a while and he's suspected it.  She calls Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) to come into work and then hands them out the names of the suspects.  She takes Richard Haibach (William Mapother) who is a paedophile and hides his secret in his basement.  He rejects the police protection.  Haibach was in the episode Blinking Red Light with Panzer, whom Van Pelt mentions.

Meanwhile Van Pelt tells Patrick that Madeleine Hightower's (Aunjanue Ellis) aunt told her about how she and the children were killed whilst on vacation.  They drowned.  Patrick pays his respect to her and takes flowers, but it's apparent that Madeleine is not dead.  He leaves a message for her on the condolences website which he gets Aunt Ruby (Sloan Robinson) to type and obviously it's a message for her to meet him. SO when did they put this secret message together.

Whilst looking out for another fake suspect Rigsby tells Cho (Tim Kang) that they haven't "done it yet" and he's surprised.  Apparently they were both tired and had to much to drink and passed out in the hotel, also they had work the next day.  Cho tells him he saw on the Internet that women lose interest after getting married.  Cue another chase with Cho and Rigsby tackles the suspect into the pool.

Smith calls Robert Kirkland and tells him he has been ordered his superior to fill him in on the case and they meet.  Always had my suspicions of Smith though I didn't place him high up on my list, I will now, especially since they're showing him a lot now and he's particularly creepy.  Kirkland was never my on my list of suspects.   True he had a different agenda which included getting his hands on RJ too, but he was never going to be Red John.  They meet and Kirkland has brought three different types of coffee cos he likes to be prepared.  Though I have to say at this point in time he wasn't really prepared and was rather careless.  He tells Smith about how the police, and other agencies are involved in dirty crimes, covering for each other and uses "Tyger, Tyger" on him and he claims he doesn't know what that is.  Kirkland wants lower level agents to come into the investigation as the higher ups are dirty.  Smith passes the test when he says that, but Smith didn't sound or look convincing to him.  He was putting on an act, that much was obvious.

What Kirkland doesn't know was that Smith was at that meeting with Bertram and McAllister and he has a pretty fair idea of what Patrick must be up to especially when he told Bertram about his news, with Smith questioning what Patrick meant and it was Bertram's responsibility to find out what Patty knows.  SO he already knows about the dirty business and presumably they must have been talking about that.  Also it struck me as odd that he would call Lisbon and Patrick down in the investigation.  Someone breaks into Haibach's house and kidnaps him, from the shoes it had to be Kirkland and Patrick isn't the least bit upset at this piece of news.  He calls Lisbon to give her the news about Madeleine but doesn't tell her where he's going.  Madeleine shows up and knows she's in danger and Patrick tells her he will get Red John and she can come out of hiding.  He asks her about being under investigation from the FBI and how Minnelli struck an agreement with Alexa Schultz to have Patrick watched.  That was nine years ago, which appears to be pretty much when Patrick become part of the team after his family was murdered.  She adds he was suspected of being Red John.  Also he didn't hear this from her.  So Patrick was suspected of being RJ wonder if this is why Minelli wanted him to consult for them and why he agreed to let Schultz in on it too.

Patrick meets with Kirkland and tells him someone broke into his attic and stole his list of suspects, i.e. his men.  Kirkland tortures Haibach but he doesn't say he's Red John.  Patrick is forced to go with Kirkland and he ties him up wanting to know the names on the real list.  Patrick realizes he's not Red John but Kirkland is after him too.  He does have a personal agenda and threatens to torture Patrick.  Lisbon can't get hold of Patrick cos Kirkland took his battery from his phone and Madeleine calls her telling her she can't get hold of Patrick and thinks she may have put him in danger.  Lisbon has Van Pelt find out if she can find any property owned by Kirkland which is near to pines and she finds one cabin in the name of Michael Kirkland. Who as Kirkland tells us was his brother.  Their father was a drunk and beat them all, their mother killed herself and Michael wasn't as strong as him so he couldn't leave.  He got in with Red John and believes he was responsible for his brother's death as he wasn't found.  Well that fits perfectly the mould of RJ as he goes after helpless Vics and their siblings.  A repeat of Lorelei's story with her sister and of course that didn't end well.  Thus it's apparent this will end the same way too.  You know foreshadowing and all that as far as RJ killing everyone off is concerned.

Patrick gives him a name, "Don Thurmy" as in 'don't hurt me' after Kirkland cuts off Haibach's thumb.  Just as Patrick is about to get his dose of torture and we know how he hates being hurt, Lisbon and Madeleine save the day with Madeleine's big gun, ha.  Madeleine tells him to leave her alone now and he kisses her cheek. Smith turns up and say they'll let county take care of him first and then deal with him at Federal level but he now knows Patrick wasn't involved and shakes Patrick's hand again!  Patrick talks to Kirkland but he can't tell him anything right now, he should come see him.  Again it's apparent Kirkland won't be around for much longer and that's why Patrick should have had that conversation right now.  I'm also sure Kirkland would have known his fate too.  Patrick assures him he will pursue this and kill Red John.  He deserves nothing less.

Sure enough Smith arrives when he's being transported in the van and tells him there's a safe place he can go. As well as telling him he's already known of the 'Tyger' conspiracy and is a part of it.  Kirkland reluctantly gets out and tells him to do it here, but he wants him to run, shooting him seven times in the back, was there a reason for seven shots!  You despicable man Smith!  This is obviously meant to throw us off the RJ scent and think he killed Kirkland to save his own skin cos of the dirty police business or he really is Red John now shown taking care of loose ends.  Still seems a bit doubtful though.  Which leads us to Bertram and he was the first one who coined the "tyger, tyger" phrase after RJ.

Patrick mentions they have five suspects left so it's within the ballpark and manageable which means he has crossed off Kirkland and Partridge from the list but McAllister is still on his list.  I have to say Smith is fast becoming my number 1 suspect, but he isn't intelligent enough to be Red John, at least it doesn't seem that way.  Then appearances can be deceptive.

Van Pelt gets a room for her and Rigsby and dresses in her undies and coat at the office.  However the janitor interrupts them in the lift!  Oh so much awaits Patrick in the next episode and perhaps the news of Kirkland's death will hit him hard.  But in true Patrick form he will get to the bottom of this and find out what else Kirkland knew.  It would have been great if we could have found out too but then that'd be giving away too much too quickly.

Patty seemed pleased Lisbon didn't have a case and was packing her off for a mani/pedi and was hoping she'd go for the massage.  Oh Patty so personal, ha.  He was smiling an awful lot this episode even if his fake list will lead to people being killed, criminals at that, as Lisbon tells the team, they have to protect ethically and morally, it's what they do.  But not what Patrick does.  Oh he will get RJ, maybe even kill him but with a song in his heart.  At least we got to hear that Patrick was suspected as Red John as a lot of us did so too earlier on, well yes I did!

As for Tiger or tyger, Partridge also said it to Lisbon before he died and so this must have been a clue as to his killer and now we know what that phrase entails it's meant to narrow down our suspects.  Seems Madeleine doesn't know about the tyger conspiracy as I call it, but what about  Luthor Wainwright, was he part of it too.

Hey just noticed after the RJ reveal in ep 8, the ep titles no longer contain red or variations of the red theme! Must be a good sign then!  Hopefully we won't get spoilers cos we've still got another 4 eps to go!!