Glee - The Purple Piano Project

After the incredibly disappointing season two finale, I have returned to Glee to give it another chance to keep me watching and I have to say, the season three opener, directed by Eric Stoltz, has given me another boost, (but as I am writing this late, I have missed a few episodes this season, and I really don't feel as bad as I thought I would).
Anyway, it is a new year for the kids of McKinley High and while we have lost the useless Lauren as well as Sam (who probably didn't get as much of an opportunity to shine as what he deserved), Quinn has also left the group and changed her look and joined the bad girls.  She refuses to rejoin New Directions. This could have a good storyline as long as she redeems herself.
So Mr Shuster decides they need more members and places three purple pianos around the school and asks the kids to spontaneously perform around one if they see it.  One of the best numbers for a while is The Go Gos "We got the beat" that the kids perform in the cafeteria.  It was really great but no one in the cafeteria was really getting in to it, until Becky throws food at the Glee Club and starts a massive food fight.  That didn't go well.
You see Sue Sylvester is up to her old tricks again and has tasked both Becky and Santana to sabotage the Glee Club at any opportunity.  She has already cut the strings of the first piano!
They only get one recruit, Sugar, and she can't sing for crap!  Thankfully Mr Shuster knocks her back.  I hope they don't keep her in the show. 
They do however, gain Kurt's boyfriend, Blaine, who leaves Dalton College to be closer to Kurt and he sings Its Not Unusual, with Santana and the rest of the Cheerios as back up dancers.  But Santana and the girls dowse the last piano in lighter fluid and Quinn flicks her cigarette onto it, causing it to burst into flames!  Because of this, Mr Shuster throws Santana out of New Directions!  Gee, they'll end up with no one soon!
And speaking of Kurt, he and Rachel want to try out for a college in New York but are intimidated by the awesome talent of the rest of the group there.  Are they not good enough?
This was a much better return to form for the show with some great numbers and storyline setting up the new season.  I hope it can maintain the excellence.

Parenthood - Nora

Adam discovers that Crosby's idea of a sure thing with a rapper as a customer is not entirely true and he has to go to the rapper's house (mansion!) and convince them they are the right people to work with.  Crosby suggests he 'hips it up', meaning loosen up a bit but Adam in a panic finds he has nothing hip in his closet and goes to a rapper clothing store to try and fit in.  Before he goes in for his meeting, he realises what a fool he looks and calls Crosby to go to his house, pick up some 'normal' clothes and meet him for the meeting.  Crosby arrives at the house and Kristina tears him a new one over his handling of the business.  Problem is, her water breaks and Crosby is the only one that can take care of Kristina and get her to the hospital.  Meanwhile Adam has to go in to the meeting and is waiting for Crosby to come, while Crosby is trying to ring Adam.  Eventually Crosby calls one of the rappers who passes on the message that Kristina is having the baby!  Unfortunately, he doesn't make it in time and Crosby has to be there for the birth and help Kristina through it all.  The Braverman's have increased by one with little Nora coming into the world!
They aren't the only ones with good news on the baby front as Julia helps Zoe through Braxton Hicks.  She goes back to Julia and Joel's house and see how they interact with their daughter and she decides to give them her baby, but she is not overly happy about it.  I am sure this won't end out well.
But wait, there's more going on this week!  Max gets detention over last week's fight with Jabbar, but he doesn't understand because he didn't start it.  Amber agrees to sit with him and she works with him to help him understand that it was really his responsibility as the older boy to not fight and now he needs to apologise for his behaviour.  What I loved about this was Amber not only got him to write an apology but got him to really understand why he had to write it and that this awareness allowed him to apologise in person.  Wow.
Oh and Amber's Dad, Seth, is back on the scene and I am sure he is going to cause problems between Sarah and Mark.  She insanely decides that she should look after Seth and tell Mark he will just have to in essence, sit on the sidelines and wait.  Nuts!
Another fantastic episode of Parenthood.  Love this show!  Welcome to the world, Nora!

The Defenders - Nevada v. Greene

Unfortunately, this was the last episode of The Defenders that I got to see.  For some reason, I missed the final episode.  Not happy!  I have said this before but I really don't understand why this show got axed.  It was fun, brilliantly written and acted and really deserved more time to gain an audience.  Especially considering some of the crap that gets renewed.
Anyway, for MY final The Defenders episode there are again, two stories going on.  The main story has Nick's past coming to seek him out when a mob boss needs Nick to defend his son who is accused of murdering a girl.  She is found dead floating in a spa after a huge party and the accused was so drunk he passed out and can't remember if he did anything or not.  Nick and Pete have to work together to find the killer.  Was it the accused or was there someone out to get the girl?  Or was there another reason for killing the girl?  A very clever storyline.
The second storyline guest stars the very funny Kathy Griffin who is being sued by an 'overweight' person for picking on him during her stand up routine.  It caused him humiliation, especially when his date left him.  This was pretty funny.  I wonder if Kathy wrote her own material here because she delivered it like it was naturally her voice, not some character she was playing.
Another great episode and I am sorry to see this series come to an end, but I am very happy to have been able to be a part of its audience.
I am very interested to hear from others out there if they enjoyed the show too (or even if you didn't!).

Blue Bloods - Hall of Mirrors

Finally, Blue Bloods returns to Australian television.  We didn't even get to the end of the first season when it was first on!  Thankfully, they have started exactly where they left off, and this episode is an excellent example of why this show is so good.
I liked that the title of the episode is reminiscent of the storyline where not everything is as it appears.  Firstly a man is shot dead in Central Park and the Commissioner gives the job to his son, Danny, to investigate because he is the only one he can trust with the real story behind the investigation.  The dead man was an undercover cop who had infiltrated a terrorist cell who is about to unleash a bio-terrorist attack on New York in just 48hrs.  Danny must not only find out who the killer is, but also if the cop has been compromised, because there is a second undercover cop.  If the first cop was compromised, then they need to pull out the second but then years of work will be undone and a terrorist attack may not be able to be stopped.  Against his better judgement, Danny cannot tell his partner that the dead man was an undercover cop and she is wondering why he is doing so much on his own.  Why was he really killed and will the terrorist attack be stopped in time? 
Also, Danny brother, Jamie, who is a cop on the beat, gets called to a woman's apartment who believes someone keeps coming in and moving things around.  She thinks she is going mad.  Instead of seeing her as a crazy person, Jamie believes she is telling the truth and discovers that someone is getting in and moving things around and more importantly why they are doing it.
In the background of this show is the story of the death of another brother, Joe, who was murdered.  There have been small tidbits about secret groups within the police force and that Joe was investigating people in that group, perhaps even his own family.  Another small piece of the puzzle has a Detective Molevsky come up to Jamie and tell him he used to work with his brother and he says ominously "It can be dangerous out there."
Another excellent episode.

The Mentalist - Where in the World is Carmine O'Brien?

A title for an episode that doesn't evoke the colour red?  What's with that?  Probably not my favourite episode, being about the body of a female police chief being found shot to death, but it was made watchable by Lisbon's brother, Tommy and his daughter , Annie.  Tommy is played by E.T's Elliot, Henry Thomas, who is now a bounty hunter and the case he is working on seems to be linked with Lisbon's.  He's a bit useless and his 14 year old daughter frequently saves his butt, but Lisbon continuously shoots him down which is a bit unfair but she believes she is the cop in the family and he should just do something safe to look after Annie.
So who killed the cop?  Was it the womanising Russian mafia slob or the crack head druggo?  Or is there someone who links the two together?
Not one of the better episodes.

Merlin - Aithusa

##Beware, LOTS of SPOILERS Ahead!!##
A thief steals something from the Druids, but it is only a part of an artifact that has a few components that go together.  The thief then turns up in Camelot and it turns out he is Julius Borden (played by the wonderful James Callis from Battlestar Galactica) who used to be a pupil of Gauis and he goes to Gauis asking for help to steal the last part of the artifact, the Triskelion, which is in Camelot's vault.  He says he knows the location of the last Dragon's Egg.  Of course, Gauis refuses to help him, unknowing that Merlin has overheard the conversation.  As the Last Dragon Lord, Merlin wants to protect the egg and agrees to help Borden.  But Borden isn't out to protect the last egg, he wants it for himself, to give him power.  After Merlin steals the keys to the vault and opens the way, Borden knocks Merlin unconscious.
When Arthur learns of the theft and what the Triskelion is for, he gathers his knights to capture Borden and to destroy the last egg!
Gauis is furious with Merlin.  He always knew where the egg was and wanted to ensure it remained hidden to protect it.  Merlin vows to stop Borden.
While hunting Borden, Borden throws some poison into the knight's food who start to get sick and pass out.  Merlin does what he can to save them but they are left asleep, leaving Merlin to go on alone.
He follows Borden to the Tomb of Ashkanar where they find the egg and Borden reveals he will never give it up.  Merlin fights him and knocks him out with his magic.  He grabs the egg and the sets off a booby trap that destroys the tomb and Borden with it.  Merlin tells Arthur that the egg was destroyed in the Tomb.
Later, Merlin calls on the dragon Kilgharrah for help on what to do with the egg.  He is very thankful that Merlin has found the egg and explains that only a Dragon Lord can call forth the new dragon by naming it.  He calls the dragon Aithusa, which means 'the light of the sun'.  A new white dragon is now in the world. What impact will Merlin's actions have on the world of Camelot, now that there is another dragon?
This was a really great episode of Merlin.  It really highlighted two things for me: we should trust our elders.  If they say no, there is probably a very good reason for them saying no.  However, there is also a lesson for elders.  Instead of just saying no, perhaps they needs to explain why they are saying no so there is full understanding on both sides (makes for crappy story telling though!).

Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past

I can see the executives sitting around the table discussing the genesis of this movie: "It's a Christmas Carol, except Ebenezer Scrooge is a hot sex-crazed fashion photographer, Tiny Tim will be his brother who is going to be getting married and Jacob Marley will be his long-dead benefactor Uncle who taught him everything he knows about women." At least 'Scrooged' had the good sense to keep it about Christmas.  Charles Dickens material as a romantic comedy?  Strangely, this fun little movie actually works!
One of my wife's favourite talking bare chests (sadly my chest is not on the list), Matthew McConaughey, plays Connor Mead, the sexy photographer who can break up with multiple women over the internet and (almost) get away with it.  He doesn't believe in the institution of marriage, so when his little brother asks him to be his best man at his own wedding, Connor believes he needs to stop him from making a terrible mistake and do everything he can to prevent the wedding.  Everything is happening at his late Uncle's mansion, and on the night before the wedding, Uncle Wayne, played by the always brilliant Michael Douglas turns up.  There were two things wrong.  One, he told Connor that he was wrong when he taught him about marriage and that he needs to do everything he can to save the marriage, and two, he's been dead for ages and is a walking ghost!  He tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts of girlfriends past, present and future and to change his ways.
To complicate things, the one girl that could have been the love of his life if he had treated her properly is also at the wedding.  She is Jenny Perotti played by the incredibly talented and beautiful Jennifer Garner.
After doing his best to destroy the wedding, can Connor save the day, bring the love birds back together, and save himself, letting his heart be captured by one woman?
The bride's parents are played by Robert Forster and the still sexy Anne Archer.
This was a great little movie which I fully recommend to anyone wanting to watch a good quality romantic comedy. 8/10