The Walking Dead – Recap & Review – The Suicide King

photo: amc / tina rowden

The Walking Dead
The Suicide King

Original Air Date: Feb 10, 2013

Rachel – Sr. Managing Editor
rachel@thetwocentscorp.com

Picking up right where we left off in the zombie-heavy Woodbury Thunderdome, brothers Daryl and Merle come face-to-face for the first time in the history of the show (if you don’t count hallucinations). Too bad it’s a fight to the death. Andrea is shocked at the gladiator-ness of it all, and some of the Governor’s henchmen have to hold her back from stopping the evening’s entertainment. The people have spoken.

Let me take a moment here to clarify something: At this point in the series, I’m used to beloved (and not-so beloved) characters getting killed off in the blink of an eye. But so help me, if they kill off Daryl, I’m going to write a very angry letter.

Revenge – Recap & Review – Union

photo: abc

Revenge
Union

Original Air Date: Feb 10, 2013

Keith G – TwoCents Reviewer
keithg@thetwocentscorp.com

Last time we were in the Hamptons, Conrad and Victoria were warned against helping Daniel by the Initiative. To help his political career, Conrad paid the Ryan brothers to take partial ownership of the Stowaway. Nolan found out that Padma is working for the Initiative to obtain a computer program that he had written years ago – Carrion. When Aiden fails to murder Victoria, the Initiative sends him video of his sister being killed. He leaves Emily, promising to find his sister (if she is actually dead) and take revenge on the Initiative.

This week starts with Emily having a childhood memory of playing “wedding” with Jack. When we return to present day, Emily is holding the wedding ring she made for Jack out of pipe cleaners. She is having mixed feelings about Jack and Amanda’s upcoming wedding.

TwoCents and Five Questions with Kevin Bacon (The Following)

will he keep the following?

Kevin Bacon, Actor

Everyone knows Kevin Bacon from movies like Footloose, Apollo 13, A Few Good Men, and Mystic River. Who remembers, without cheating, how his character died in the first Friday the 13th movie? I’ll tell you at the end of the interview. For many years, Kevin watched his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, play on tv as Brenda Leigh Johnson on The Closer, as well as other TV roles. Now it’s his turn, as he’s taking a run at playing retired, but forced to return to service, FBI agent, Ryan Hardy, in FOX’s new drama, The Following. Ryan is the only agent who knows serial killer Joe Carroll, and he has escaped from prison and is activating followers all over the place. Can Ryan stop him? Will the show make it? And what does doing this interview make my Bacon number? A 1? Am I one degree from Kevin Bacon? Please read on to find out more!

TheTwoCents: The show can get very dark. Is that easy to kind of get out of your system at the end of the day, or does it kind of stick with you a bit?

ABC and Univision Introduce New Network – Fusion

ABC and Univision today announced their joint venture news and lifestyle network for U.S. Hispanics will be called Fusion. The ground-breaking media service launches in the second half of 2013.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Univision to launch Fusion. Our collaboration will bring unmatched reporting capabilities and understanding of issues and entertainment that resonate with the Hispanic community, one of the fastest growing and important demographic communities in the U.S.,” said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group.

CW Renews Arrow, The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural

photo: cw

The CW Network has given early pickups to three of its hit series for next season, including freshman hit ARROW, its top-rated drama THE Vampire Diaries and fan favorite SUPERNATURAL, it was announced today by Mark Pedowitz, President, The CW. All three shows will return in Fall 2013.

“We said last year that one of our goals was to establish building blocks to grow on, and now with our new hit ARROW and fan favorite SUPERNATURAL on Wednesday night, and the continued success of THE Vampire Diaries on Thursday, we’ve been able to do that,” said Pedowitz. “Not only do ARROW, SUPERNATURAL, and THE Vampire Diaries perform well on-air, they’re also extremely successful for us both digitally and socially. I’m thrilled to have all three shows returning to our schedule next season.”

The Simpsons – Recap & Review – Love is a Many Splintered Thing

photo: fox

The Simpsons
Love is a Many Splintered Thing

Original Air Date: Feb 10, 2013

Vincent C. – TwoCents Reviewer
Vincent@thetwocentscorp.com

Happy (almost) Valentine’s Day! Tonight’s episode features the return of Mary Spuckler, arguably Bart’s true love. By way of refresher, Mary first appeared in the episode “Apocalypse Cow,” when Bart joined the 4-H club and raised a cow. She returned earlier this season in the episode “Moonshine River,” in which Bart and Mary shared their first kiss. Even though the Simpsons characters seem to never age, I enjoy it when they bring back characters from the past and it seems like some amount of time has passed.

Onto tonight’s episode. An older Bart is flashing back to when Mary returned to Springfield. Bart and Mary reunite and seem happy. Bart even has dinner at Mary’s family’s place. There, he learns that Mary will enter the Hillbilly Talent Contest. Her family seems to have some musical abilities. Mary plays a blade of grass like a harmonica, and she plays it pretty well.

Once Upon a Time – Recap & Review – Tiny

photo: abc

Once Upon a Time
Tiny

Original Air Date: Feb 10, 2013

Wyner C – Senior Reviewer
wyner@thetwocentscorp.com

Humans can be such vile creatures. Our short history is full of war and murder – weapons created to maximize death. That’s one way to view our history – another is the love, the compassion and kindness individuals show when it’s to their detriment – the true heroes. Humans aren’t perfect but there’s good in us – it’s hard to see sometimes but I like to believe when it counts the most, it’s the kindheartedness that will persevere. In that, I’m an optimist.

In Fairytale (pre-curse), James (the real prince, not The Shepard) is a little player and kinda an asshole. We’ve never seen the real James and his personality – for a reason, dude is a douche. He’s cavorting with a pretty chick when King George tells him of a giant sighting in the countryside. It’s weird how the father just busts into his son’s bedroom when he’s bedding a woman – icky. James and lady-love goes giant hunting.

CSI:NY – Recap & Review – Seth and Apep

CSI:NY
Seth and Apep
 
Original Air Date: Feb 08, 2013
 
Maria – Associate Staff Writer
maria@thetwocentscorp.com

Previously, on CSI: Mac went to Las Vegas as a surprise holiday for his girlfriend Christine. However, he wasn’t able to get in touch with her, and tracking her cell led them to the manager of her restaurant, James Boyd. Boyd was in Vegas to pick up some diamonds, but a gang wanted money James owes them and was holding Christine and James’ brother hostage in New York as collateral. Mac headed back to New York, with the head of the Las Vegas crime lab, DB Russell, in tow.

An arrangement is made, so the kidnappers and James meet in New York but then they offer to take James to his brother, which wasn’t the plan. James starts asking too many questions and the kidnappers realize he involved the police so they shoot him. Flack manages to shoot one of the kidnappers in the back and another in the arm. Gang member Zane Kalim (played by Navid Negahban) is injured, but refuses to talk about Christine’s location.

Winners from Cartoon Network’s Hall of Game Awards

photo: cartoon network

At their third annual Hall of Game Awards on Saturday night, Cartoon Network counted the votes from the fans and awarded sports superstars and icons with the coveted GAME Award during a fun-filled evening which also included a special tribute to the stars of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and Super Bowl champions the Baltimore Ravens.

Hosted by basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal and the multi-talented executive producer of Cartoon Network’s Incredible Crew Nick Cannon, the Hall of Game Awards was a high-energy evening that included a performance by the U.K.’s hottest pop band, The Wanted (“All Time Low” and “Glad You Came”) to an all-star audience including: Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion, NFL stars Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers), Jacoby Jones (Baltimore Ravens), Bryant McKinnie (Baltimore Ravens), Jimmy Smith (Baltimore Ravens), JJ Watt (Houston Texans), Victor Cruz (New York Giants), David Price (Tampa Bay Rays), Swin Cash (Chicago Sky), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever) and Chris Johnson (Tennessee Titans), actors Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of The Rings trilogy), Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family), Raini Rodriguez (Austin & Ally), Jeff Probst (Survivor), Laura Marano (Austin & Ally), Bridgit Mendler (Good Luck Charlie) Lucas Cruikshank (Fred); the casts of Big Time Rush (James Maslow, Carlos Pena, Jr. & Kendall Schmidt), Incredible Crew (Shauna Case, Shameik Moore, Tristan Pasterick, Chanelle Peloso, Jeremy Shada, and Brandon Soo Hoo) and Level Up (Gaelan Connell, Connor del Rio, Jessie T. Usher, Aimee Carrero), Toby Turner (Annoying Orange) and Olympic superstars, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Allyson Felix, Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Nathan Adrian, Carmelita Jeter, Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber.

Nikita – Recap & Review – Brave New World

photo: cw

Nikita
Brave New World

Original Air Date: Feb 8, 2013

Andrew – TwoCents Reviewer
Andrew@thetwocentscorp.com

Sometimes, no matter how well you plan, or even improvise, there are certain twists that you can’t expect. In this week’s episode, Nikita goes solo to chase down Heidecker, the tech (or scientist?) who is supposedly responsible for recreating a deputy prime minister’s lost leg. Along the episode, we get some Breaking Bad shout outs. Meanwhile, Ryan cleverly manages the political precautions of Nikita barging into Kosovo.

Nikita is losing sleep over Michael again, who still hasn’t returned home. She runs to Birkhoff, who has tracked down someone who may be able to regenerate a fully-functioning flesh hand for Michael. The man, Heidecker (John Billingsley, Star Trek), has apparently done it for the deputy prime minister of Kosovo. Without any second thoughts or consideration of Birkhoff’s uncertainty, Nikita flies solo to Europe in search of Heidecker.