Television

This week’s episode of Defiance, “Brothers in Arms,” was written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer and directed by Andy Wolk. This episode did a good job of fleshing out more of Nolan (Grant Bowler) and Irisa’s (Stephanie Leonidas) past in particular and the world of Defiance in the post-apocalyptic world in general. The show pretty consistently excels at teasing out exposition without feeling like they’re doing it, which is not an easy task. One of the on-going story threads is what exactly is the artifact that Quentin (Justin Rain) and Rafe (Graham Greene) found among Luke’s (Wesley French) things. It’s obviously tied to the past as Quentin’s “digging” into the past has uncovered. If it was buried during the 1811 earthquake, that would indicate that aliens were on earth a lot longer than the Pale Wars. Perhaps scouting for the Votans? Or is this yet a different alien race who may post a threat to Votans and humas alike? I’m not completely sold on Luke appearing to Quentin. Is this a factor of Quentin’s psyche/guilt over his brother’s death or an effect of the artifact? It would seem to be a function of the artifact protecting itself. Fionnula Flanagan gives her usual wonderful performance as Nicky. She’s gone from the nurturing matriarch to scary, schemer seamlessly. Rafe warns Quentin that Nicky is dangerous, and reminds him that Luke was killed with the artifact on him and that it endangers their whole family because it links them all to the Volge attack. Rafe clearly has a realistic sense of the power politics at play, and I wonder going forward if the Tarrs are going to have a really difficult time getting rid of him as they plan to do. I was sad to see the death of Mr. Birch (Steven McCarthy), however. I wonder who will show up to scheme with Nicky now – and if she’ll retaliate against the McCawleys or Quentin. This could set up an interesting dynamic going forward if the McCawleys have come under the protection of the Tarrs through the marriage of Alak (Jesse Rath) and Christie (Nicole Munoz). Speaking of whom – did anyone else miss Alak’s radio station this week? I was really hoping that would become a more integral motif. There doesn’t seem to be any progress in the relationship of the other young couple on the show: Tommy (Dewshane Williams) and Irisa. Tommy is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters, and I love watching the subtle touches Leonidas brings to Irisa. Tommy schooling her on the niceties of responding to an invitation is a great scene. It does make me wonder a bit about Nolan’s upbringing. Obviously, she grew up in a rough and tumble world, but I wonder if he didn’t also safeguard some of her heritage by not making her adhere too closely to human mores. I also loved the scene in the bar when she is first re-introduced to Uncle Eddie (Rob Stewart). She pulls away and then physically removes herself to watch warily from across the bar. Her watching over Nolan as he sleeps is also an animal-like response. Interestingly her “instincts” let her see that Eddie may not be who Nolan thinks he is – at least not entirely. They give her greater insight into his motivations. Her reactions are consistent in an other-worldly, alien kind of way, yet her “alien-ness” is still quite different from that we see in the other races, like the Castithans and Indogene which are also both showcased in this episode. We get some insight into the Pale Wars when Pol Madis (Daniel Kash) suggests that he recognizes Doc Yewll (Trenna Keating). Madis was the weapons designer and he implies that Yewll may have been his biological equivalent. Madis refers to some mysterious Biotyne Project and insists that Yewll was the head of it. Keating is brilliant at being able to emote fear in that scene and irritation when Eddie and Nolan come to interrogate her while wearing such extensive makeup. I’m looking forward to more of Yewll’s backstory. The “Pilot” intimated that there were things in her past that she was ashamed of,

J.J. Abrams has gotten a ton of flack over the last week for his choice of putting Alice Eve in glorious, glorious panties. The argument is that the scene is gratuitous T&A that we could all do without. I agree. It’s disgusting. Ew. Anyway. To combat the criticism, Abrams went to Conan to talk about his intentions. He’s actually been up front that he should have executed it better, but he just wanted to contrast her boobs with Captain Kirk’s or something. To further prove his point, he presented an EXCLUSIVE DELETED SCENE, Y’ALL!!!! The video features Benedict Cumberbatch showering. Hot stuff. Now he’s not a sexist anymore, so shut up losers. *spanks nearest woman and scampers away* The post J.J. Abrams Wants You To See This Deleted ‘Into Darkness’ Shower Scene So You Can Shut Up Now appeared first on UPROXX.

Nashville – Season 1 Finale – Recap: Whiskey Lullaby via Rickey.org Credit: ABC Recap and review of Nashville – Season 1 Finale – I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive: Nashville has gone through a lot of ups and downs in its first season. For every fascinating foray into the background of the country music business, there were at least two other stories that didn’t seem to matter. Now that we’ve seen a full season, and even with tonight’s prosecution/pregnancy cliffhanger, I’m still not sure what the whole political side of the show contributed to anything. Teddy’s (Eric Close) bid for Mayor could have been interesting stuff, ditto his affair with ex-partner-in-embezzlement Peggy (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and his power struggle against father-in-law Lamar Wyatt (Powers Boothe). Yet neither of those things really came to pass. Between all the talk of baseball stadiums and Federal Investigations, it’s like the entire plotline forgot to actually be interesting. This means that a significant chunk of the episode is spent on something about which we were never given sufficient cause to care. And, as a result, time is taken away from stuff that is vastly more interesting, such as the tragic downward spiral of Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten). With all that having been said, “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” is ultimately a pretty solid season finale, filled with moments that bring some characters full circle, while placing others back at square one. The episode has some compelling themes beneath the surface, such as the inconsequential nature of fame within the context of personal crises. Season one of Nashville has, in many ways, been obsessed with the concept of fame. Yet none of that matters once the proverbial s*** hits the fan. In a world where fame often comes first, it was fascinating to see it treated as a such an afterthought here. While this season finale didn’t dig nearly as deep as it could have, it still proved to be a compelling way to close out the first season, while providing intrigue going into the second. Credit: ABC So the secret is out: Maddie (Lennon Stella) confronts Deacon and reveals to him that he’s her father. After largely ignoring Rayna during their performance at the CMAs (alongside Brad Paisley, because why not?), Deacon confronts Rayna. She breaks down and reveals the truth, confirming that he’s Maddie’s biological father. This leads to an argument where Rayna basically reiterates her point from midseason, that she couldn’t bring herself to wait for Deacon because she had no way of knowing that the fifth trip to rehab would be the charm. She loved Deacon, but she also loved Teddy, and so she married him and allowed him to claim Maddie as his daughter in order to give the young girl stability. But Deacon still wants to know why he was lied to for 13 years, and Rayna doesn’t really have an answer. Thus begins the darkest part of the episode, as Deacon completely falls off the wagon, going on a bender in which he gets stupefyingly drunk while ignoring the phone calls of worried family and friends. He then confronts Teddy the next morning, jumping him outside the courthouse and accusing him of stealing Maddie away from him. Guards break up the fight, and Teddy rightly claims that Deacon was in no shape to be a father to anyone. He then declares that Maddie deserves better than Deacon, adding that Rayna deserves better too. Deacon is allowed back up, and he storms off to go buy more liquor to keep the buzz going. Strangely enough, it’s Gunnar (Sam Palladio), looking to ask Deacon about advice on Scarlett (Clare Bowen), who discovers that Deacon has fallen off the wagon. He calls Scarlett, who gets a hold of Coleman (Robert Wisdom), and the trio burst into Deacon’s house to stop him from tearing the entire place apart. But things only get darker. Credit: ABC It’s a

May 23, 2013 What am I paying taxes for if not to get my local streets fixed and properly repaired? If I lived in England I would be very upset. This is an egregious breach of the public trust. This could be bad- very bad. ANYTHING could come through that portal- Roman Centurions, anal-probing aliens from Betelgeuse, even an other-dimensional Kanye West where he is pregnant with Kim Kardashian’s baby. Frankly, I can’t have that. And the snake? Is no one else concerned that it could be Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent of Norse mythology whose final battle with Thor will be fought at Ragnarök? This could be end, ladies and gentlemen. You may be reading the last installment of Mr. Blog’s Tepid Ride and, indeed, everything else as well. So I say goodbye, internet public. Goodbye world. So long to all that I have known. This vortex is going to be the end of us all. And the local Brighton officials will have no one else to blame when the pregnant Kanye West comes after them. Filed under: Culture, health, humor, Life, news, politics, science, superstition, Technology, Travel Tagged: aliens, bmj2k, Brighton, Doctor Who, England, fix my street, Jormungandr, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Midgard, Mr. Blog, Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride, Mr. BTR, mythology, Raganrok, star trek, Thor, time travel, TNT Magazine, UK, vortex, wormhole

KATEE SACKHOFFAS SEEN IN:'The Big Bang Theory'"The Vengeance Formulation"TV STATUS:Dream FigureSYNOPSIS:When Howard Wolowitz was having relationship problems with Bernadette Rostenkowski, he sought advice from his fantasy figure, the star of 'Battlestar Galactica'.O'BSERVATION:In this case, 'Battlestar Galactica' is a fictionalized TV show within the main Toobworld. It was created by the "UNReel" group to keep people from discovering that the Galacticans had actually arrived in the Sol system back in 1980.From Wikipedia:Kathryn Ann "Katee" Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known mainly for playing Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program 'Battlestar Galactica'. In 2004, she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television for her work in the 'Battlestar Galactica' mini-series. In May 2006, she won the Saturn Award for the same role. She has also starred in the horror-thriller "White Noise: The Light" and the eighth season of '24' as Dana Walsh. She currently costars in the A&E series 'Longmire' as Deputy Sheriff Vic Moretti.BCnU!

HitFix's Liane Bonin Starr recaps the season finale of "Nashville," in which Juliette grapples with her mom's death, Deacon loses it, and Rayna will be lucky to make it through her latest problem. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/starr-raving

Oxygen Media scored its highest rated night in network history among all key demos fueled by the powerhouse combination of “Bad Girls All Star Battle” and “Bad Girls Club" Atlanta.

"Fast & the Furious 6" is widely expected to dominate the Memorial Day box office and potentially become the highest grossing film in the lucrative franchise's history. For a franchise keep growing as it enters its second decade and sixth installment is nearly unheard of in Hollywood, where sequels tend to burn hot and fast, dying out quickly. Yet Universal Studios has adroitly managed the car racing series by tapping into international markets, catering to under-appreciated moviegoing audiences and recognizing the power of Diesel fuel -- Vin Diesel that is. Related Articles: How an Extreme Movie Makeover Saved 'Fast & Furious' From Going Direct to DVD 'Fast & Furious 6' Review: Bypasses Logic and Drives Straight to the Pleasure Center read more