Homeland Series 2 Episode 9 REVIEW

The tables are turned as Brody faces betrayal from all corners in this week's 'Homeland'.

Warning: Spoilers ahead! 

Misfits Series 4 Episode 5 REVIEW

Finn searches for answers about his birth father, and ends up with more than he expected...

Warning: Superpowered SPOILERS ahead! 

Hunted Series 1 Episode 8 REVIEW

The first chapter of Sam Hunter's story concludes in one suitably bloody and frenetic hour... 

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!!!

 

Homeland Series 2 Episode 8 REVIEW

Has Brody's time of playing a double agent finally run out in this week's episode? Warning: MAJOR spoilers ahead!

Misfits Series 4 Episode 4 REVIEW

Zombies + femme fatale + bum slugs = rather unconventional Misfits. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Hunted Series 1 Episode 7 REVIEW

The mysterious case is opened, Stephen chooses a side, and Sam's in the greatest danger of the series so far in this week's episode of Hunted. 

I tuned in to episode 7 of Hunted with the knowledge that the series would not be returning for a second season (or at least, not in the BBC incarnation that we have been introduced to). Although I'm disappointed that we won't get the chance to explore this world further, I'm glad we found out now rather than after the finale; this way, I'll be able to watch the finale aware that it's not just the end of this story arc but the series' final hour, and respond to any final questions or unresolved plot-lines with that in mind.

And judging from this week's episode there are bound to be a number of things left open-ended. Sam's luck hasn't improved any since we last saw her. Following his seeming discovery of her secret identity last week, Stephen is torn and betrayed; it isn't long before he's pulling Sam away for a confrontation about her secret identity. In a surprise twist, Sam manages to convince him of her innocence before dad Jack turns him the other way again. I now feel rather sorry for Stephen; he's been ceaselessly used as pawn by both Sam and his father. Hunted paints a rather bleak portrait of familial and romantic relationships. 

No one was more gutted to hear of 'Hunted's cancellation than Sam herself

This brings me to another 'family' relationship, of sorts - the compelling father-son relationship that has developed between Fowkes and Dave Ryder. The two characters met a few episodes back in a staged accident that mirrored Sam's introduction to Stephen in the premiere - initially a chalk 'n cheese (where does that expression come from? As if chalk goes well with anything!?) duo shouting at each other at any given opportunity, they developed a surprisingly tender companionship that was greater explored (and then destroyed) in this week's ep. It was one of Hunted's more subtle and interesting character studies, a bitter old man and a loose cannon special agent forming a bond in an East London boozer. It's also something that's been tragically neglected by critics writing about the series, and it's clear that Fowkes is genuinely in pain following Dave's demise. 

As suspected, it turns out that the team's employer has far more sinister motives than they would have believed - but who would have thought that it would be Polyhedrus, the enormous corporate behemoth, that was pulling the strings all along? This concept of fighting 'in the belly of the beast' could have been an interesting development for a second season; hopefully next week's episode will provide us with an insight into how each character deals or struggles with this knowledge. 

Once again Melissa George is on top form, appearing to effortlessly move through some rather demanding fight scenes as well as conveying Sam's complex emotional state. It's been enjoyable watching her as Sam Hunter, and I can only hope that Cinemax make the right decision and allow the show to continue. 

Seven down, one to go. 

What did you think of this week's 'Hunted'? Do you think the BBC made the wrong decision not to continue with the show? Share your thoughts below!

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 5 REVIEW

It's all broken relationships and torturous decisions as the survivors struggle to cope in the aftermath of last week's events...

Homeland Season 2 Episode 7 REVIEW

Carrie and Brody's twisted relationship takes further unexpected turns and Dana's secret is out in this week's return to form for Homeland... 

Misfits Series 4 Episode 3 REVIEW

Dark Rudy makes an appearance. Curtis draws closer to the trainee probation worker. Jess spills her darkest secrets. And Finn has a rather unconventional family reunion. 

The plot thickens in this week's Misfits. 

Enduring Love: Joss Whedon's 'Firefly'

10 years after network execs pulled the plug on Joss Whedon's sci-fi western, the fandom around Serenity continues to grow. 

Here's my thoughts on why this ship will never run out of steam... 

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 4 REVIEW

There's the pitter patter of putrefying feet in the most traumatic installment of The Walking Dead yet... 

WARNING: Major trauma after the jump! 

Misfits Series 4 Episode 2 REVIEW

A woman chained to a bed. A telepathic, racist dog. Rudy finding an inventive use for cling film. Just your average week on community service. 

John Luther to return in 2013

John Luther (The Wire's Idris Elba) will be returning to UK screens in 2013 for a highly-anticipated third series

That's right. I'm not pulling your leg - or any other limb, for that matter. 

The BBC have released a brief teaser video confirming that Idris Elba's John Luther will be returning for 4 spectacular episodes in 2013. 

With filming due to begin this month, I would give anything to get an on-set pass (or a script commission) for series three of one of the best shows on UK TV right now. I loved series two (especially the final two-part storyline, was that freaky or what!?) so I'm looking forward to seeing what Elba and creator Neil Cross have planned for us next. 

Check out the BBC video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rU1kQI3HuOA

Are you as excited as I am to see John Luther strutting his stuff in Londontown, 2013? Comment below!

The Devil's in the Detail - Hunted Series 1 Episode 5 REVIEW

This week, Sam took some time out from the good old world of espionage and discovered the joys of Yoga and Nando's... 

I'm fibbing, of course. Find out about this week's life-or-death goings on after the jump. 

The Dark Side - Homeland Season 2 Episode 5 REVIEW

This week's episode served up another series of unexpected twists and turns - how will Brody get out of this one? 

Find out after the jump! 

Misfits Returns!

So - here they are, listed in order: my Top 10 'Misfits' episodes so far! What are your thoughts? How many of these do you agree with? Share your thoughts below! 

Shane Returns!!? - Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2 REVIEW

What begins as a fairly low key episode descends into mayhem and delivers a great final act! What is it about this week's episode that had me reminiscing about season 2? Find out after the jump!

Phantoms of the Cinema

I was recently thinking about the movie-going or television-watching experience and realised that the time and place when you watched something for the first time and fell in love with it are often inseparable from your memory of the story itself.

I don't think this is quite the case with novels or some other art forms - I don't remember exactly where I was when Gandalf first knocked on Bilbo Baggins's door in The Hobbit or when the kids discovered the 'monster' in Lord of the Flies. Somehow my immersion in those stories made my physical location rather redundant, particularly as I very likely read large chunks of the book in several different locations. 

The exception of this would be my 'reading chair' in the living room, where I've passed both rainy and sunny afternoons sipping a Nescafe Irish Coffee with a clear view of the street outside. The reason why this is important is because it is in fact a ritual reading spot, and for that reason has become linked to my experiences of narrative immersion. 

Movies and television work in exactly that way - the ritual of going to the cinema, or sitting down in your favourite chair to watch your favourite show. They're our culture's modern day campfires, the frequently visited runways that allow us to astral project into the lives of our favourite characters. 

I still remember the first time I watched Cabin Fever in boarding school with two of my best friends, huddled around my laptop screen in my room after dark (when they weren't supposed to be there), turning down the volume every time we thought we heard someone in the hallway. I'm not saying I think Cabin Fever is a great film, but what I did have was a great experience - a shared journey into an unexpected world made all the more heightened because we knew it was forbidden. 

I remember the first time I saw Citizen Kane (a Friday, after school, McDonald's for lunch, tie undone but blazer still on, in the living room of my brother's house) or Rear Window (late night, on VHS after recording it on BBC2, also at my brother's house). I remember watching The Wizard of Oz on the tiny TV in my parent's bedroom in my childhood home and being utterly, utterly traumatised. Somehow, when I watch those movies again, I become that child or teenager.

It's like there's a ghostly version of myself sitting right there and enjoying the movie with me. I think that's one of the reasons why going to the cinema always feels like a bit of a homecoming for me. I occasionally visit the cinema in my hometown and remember which films I saw in which screens - when I bought Ben & Jerry's and when I couldn't scrape together the cash, etc. 

People think it odd that I sometimes go to the cinema on my own. 

'Isn't the whole point to go with other people?' 

Not always. Sometimes I like to go alone, with only popcorn or cheese nachos for physical companionship, to sit around the campfire with ghostly apparitions of my former self.

TV Characters I Love to Hate! - 2 of 2

It’s arrived! Part 2 of the most fondly hated characters on television. Did your favourite make the list? 

TV Characters I Love to Hate! - 1 of 2

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but then I'm not trying to produce an Encyclopedia of Characters I Love to Hate (all in good time, my friends).

But I've decided to focus on TV characters in this particular post - after all, you might sit in a movie theatre for two hours resenting someone, but TV villains tend to stick around for a tad longer...

Check out the list - do you agree with those represented? Warning, may contain SPOILERS.