HIT ME LIKE A BOMB BABY COME AND GET IT ON: Def Leppard Concert Recap, Plus: HEROES Returns, and PRISON BREAK thoughts
Okay, so a lot to talk about.
First thing, I've yet to provide an update on Sunday's huge mega-concert attended by myself, Olsen Twin, L-Squared, and with a rare, special guest appearance by Kernal Bradd. The four of us convened in scenic Irvine, CA, within the confines of the mythical area known to many simply as The OC. But we were not there to party with Ryan Atwood or gaze at the blonde bombshells of Laguna Beach. No, we were there with a singlular purpose: to ROCK.
So how was the triple-bill of STYX, FOREIGNER, and DEF LEPPARD? Well, all in all it was almost too much rock for a single night - that much rock n' roll packed into one concert should almost be illegal, and may in fact be in some states. This show, for us, had a bit of a different atmosphere than the other big shows I've been to over the last several weeks. We had lawn seats, which meant that we were situated high up in the back of the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater on a very steep incline. It was almost surreal, being high atop this mountainous terrain, gazing down at the vast arena below. In fact, despite being so high up, we had a direct line of sight to the stage and were right dead center, clinging to our beach towels for fear of sliding down the slick, grassy hill into the throngs of rock n' rollers below us. But the atmosphere was suitably epic, and having a panoramic view of the entire, jam-packed arena gave the entire preceedings a bigtime festival feel.
Up first was STYX. Honestly, I need to see a whole concert featuring just Styx, as they played like 5 total songs on Sunday and it just wasn't enough - I gotta have more Styx! The band seemed really in sync, and the hits that they did play sounded great. Alas, they did not play my new favorite Styx song, Queen of Spades (I originally thought it was called Queen of Space, and thus dubbed it the greatest song ever ...), but they did bust out Blue Collar Man, RENEGADE (kickass! "OH MAMMA I CAN'T LIVE ALL MY LIFE ..."), and finally, COME SAIL AWAY, pne of my all-time fav songs, which was, as I had hoped, a transcendantly awesome experience to hear live. The band even did a nice little opening riff where they played the intros to a few classic rock tunes, then stopping and saying stuff like "nope, not our song," or "sorry, we didn't do that one." Then, finally, they played the opening lick to Come Sail Away, and reassured us that this one was, in fact, their song. NICE. My one question: what, no Mr. Roboto?!?!
My only other complaint which comes to mind right now is that the crowd was decidely there for Def Leppard, and especially in our lawn section, didn't seem properly psyched to hear classics like Come Sail Away live. Ah well, our little group was rockin' out.
So then, FOREIGNER took the stage. Okay, I had the preconception that Foreigner was the lesser of the three bands performing, even though I count songs like Jukebox Hero amongst my all-time faves. Well, lo and behold, Foreigner kicked all of our collective asses. Hell, even adult-contemporary staples like "I Want To Know What Love Is" were belted out with so much emotion that I found myself getting totally into a song that, back in the day, I would have begged my parents to change the radio station if it came on Light 100.5, their headache-inducing road-trip radio station of choice. But, luckily, Foreigner mostly stuck to the harder stuff, and rocked our socks with hits like HOT BLOODED (though the vocals on this one seemed slightly off), DOUBLE VISION, COLD AS ICE, URGENT, and HEAD GAMES. Badass. Now, I have to say something about Jukebox Hero. Foreigner played the #$#% out of JUKEBOX HERO, and the experience of being in a gigantic open-air arena for what just may be one of the quintissential arena-rock songs ... well, damn, it was awesome. Seeing the thousands and thousands of fans pumping their fists in time the the thumping bass of the chorus (Juke. Box. He-ro! Stars in his eyes!) was one of the coolest, most rocking concert experiences I've yet had. Kudos to Foreigner on that one, and it was yet another instance where me and Bradd agreed that seeing a full-on Foreigner concert with a full set was suddenly a pretty enticing proposition.
Now, the main event - DEF LEPPARD. I have to admit, I was a little fatigued by the time they came on after having just witnessed two legendary bands in a row. But Def Leppard came out with a bang, blowing the roof (if there had been a roof) off the joint right from the get-go, with a blistering rendition of one of my faves, Rocket (Rock It. YEAH. Say it LOUDER!). They then preceded to run through most of their biggest hits. While there were a few unfamiliar songs, most I knew from the countless times I've popped in their greatest hits CD on many a summer afternoon. We heard Animal (complete with accompanying video package depicting the band members as cartoon animals), Armageddon It, Love Bites, Hysteria, and a friggin' awesome rendition of my fav Def Leppard song, PHOTOGRAPH, that had me jumping around like a frog on crack. They broke out the accoustic guitars for a pair of ballads in Bringin' On the Heartbreak (or is it Heartache?), and Two Steps Behind. Bringin' On the Heartbreak was particularly cool, as they played the majority of the song with accoustic guitars, but then paused just before the big power chords kicked in and broke out the electrics. Niiiiiiice. The set ended with the obligatory Pour Some Sugar On Me, which was great to hear live, and then, a great encore of Rock of Ages - a fitting way to end a night of pure rock n' roll mayhem. Now, if I was a more discerning fan I might point out that the lead singer of Def has clearly gained a pound or two, and his voice was perhaps not as sharp as it once was. But from way up high on the top of the hill, with the sounds of so many classic rock songs thundering in the night sky, all that mattered was that rock n' roll was alive and kicking and flowing through thousands of people gathered together for that one same singular purpose. Styx and Foreigner knew they only had a short amount of time with which to spread their rock gospel, and they did so with energy and style. Def Leppard played a longer set filled with hits, and left us satisfied and on our feet. A great way to complete my recent trifecta of classic rock concerts - POISON, THE SCORPIONS, and now these three great bands. We emerged from the show worn out, weary, and dreading the return to normalcy that Monday would bring ... but for one night, we got rocked.
THE TOP 10 PERFORMANCES OF THE NIGHT:
1.) Jukebox Hero (Foreigner)
2.) Rocket (Def Leppard)
3.) Come Sail Away (Styx)
4.) Renegade (Styx)
5.) Photograph (Def Leppard)
6.) Bringin' On the Heartache (Def Leppard)
7.) I Want To Know What Love Is (Foreigner)
8.) Rock of Ages (Def Leppard)
9.) Armaggeddon It (Def Leppard)
10.) Animal (Def Leppard)
Honorable Mention: Hysteria (Def Leppard), Urgent (Foreigner), Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)
TV STUFF:
So ..... first off, I've yet to see any of FOX's Sunday night comedies due to the concert, but hope to watch soon.
Now, as I mentioned previously, Mondays are now just ridiculous in terms of TV. On NBC you have Chuck, Journeyman, and Heroes. On FOX there's Prison Break and soon 24, and CW has the very-funny new show, Aliens in America. So suffice it to say, TIVO's everywhere will be working overtime.
HEROES:
- I mentioned in my Fall Preview that Heroes was my #1 most-anticipated returning season premiere. I was very curious to see where they were going this season and felt that, with so many of the origins and character introductions out of the way, we could really focus on plot, and plant the seeds for some truly epic storylines.
So last night, I was kinda dissapointed with what we got. Oh sure, there were moments of coolness, mostly derived from the usual suspects. To preface, I recently rewatched by-far my favorite ep from last season, Company Man. That episode was written by uber-scribe Brian Fuller, who left Heroes to run ABC's Pushing Daisies, and I fear that his loss could be a huge one for Heroes. That episode had a degree of depth and character and sophistication that few episodes of Heroes have so far been able to muster, and that was evident last night, in an ep marred by a simplistic script.
The other big lesson of Company Man was that, really, Noah Bennett, aka HRG, is easily the show's most compelling character when given the chance to shine. He is basically the show's Batman, a non-powered guy trying to compete in a super-powered world, reliant on his willpower and brains to gain the upper hand. HRG is the character with the most longterm potential on Heroes, and I was very disappointed to see him relegated in the season premiere to a small and mostly comedic role, working at a paper company in a thankless job, while on the lam from The Company with Claire. Of course, the episode's one standout moment came when HRG turned the tables on his annoying boss, showing a quick but awesome glimspe of how badass he really can be when pushed. While that one moment was cool, there was an overwhelming feeling that HRG should have started off this season front and center. As it is, it seemed like they were squandering the full potential of the show's best character.
Getting back to the issues with the script, there was little that really jumped out as being particularl gripping stuff. The Claire high school scenes were very generic-seeming, and seemed like they were ripped from some lesser teen soap and inserted into Heroes. With Kristen Bell on her way to Heroes, it's hard not to draw comparisons to the quick-witted teen drama of Veronica Mars. Say, I wonder what some of those writers are doing now - Heroes, and Claire's high school subplots in particular, could sure use an infusion of the kind of zip and crackle that made Veronica Mars such a smartly-written show.
Hiro in feudal Japan was a plotline that seemed to be rife with potential for action, adventure, and comedy. And while we got a little of all three, there was also a lot of standing around and talking, in locations that looked somewhat bland and didn't exactly evoke times past. Much of the show's action came from the new borther-and-sister characters. They seem to have some potential, but we still no so little about them that it's hard to become too attached at this point. Right now, they seem to be in the midst of another generic plotline transplanted on to Heroes - that of the two young immigrants on a run for the border.
Much more intriguing were the hints at some of this season's big plotlines. The fact that a virus is killing off heroes, for example - sure, it's yet another plotline that seems to be ripped right from the pages of X-Men, but at least it has that element of intrigue and unpredictability. The plotline I was most excited to see explored this season was the history of the first generation of heroes, the consortium of individuals that included Hiro's dad, Mrs. Petrelli, and Linderman, among others. We got some cool hints of a killer from among the group picking off his peers one by one, in a very Watchmen-esque turn of events. But it was a lot of fun seeing George Takei react to his ominous note, and the interplay between him and Ando was very enjoyable. It seems like Heroes always tends to up the fun and over-the-top quotient with Hiro and his family, and it pays off in terms of giving the show some much needed "cool-factor" moments, so to speak. I mean, Sulu deciding to stay and fight his would-be assasin, telling loyal Ando only "I will need a sword" ? Now that is badass. A shame then, that Mr. Takei was apparently offed in this episode ... a true loss for the show if one of its most fun characters was indeed done for ... but, let's be realistic, in a show involving time travel, there's no way Hiro is gonna let his dad stay dead for long, not to mention, we still don't know what, if any, special powers are possessed by the man once known as Sulu.
The ending, with a memory-wiped Peter Petrelli turning up in Bourne-esque fashion, was a decent cliffhanger, and it will be interesting to see what happens with Heroes' version of Neo. The story of Molly and her visions of some yet-unseen Big Bad were suitably ominous, and there's another potentially very cool plotline waiting in the wings. So yeah, there was some cool stuff going on here, but it all seemed to kind of plod along, and there was nothing that really screamed "oh damn, business has just picked up." The writing just felt very basic and simplistic for the msot part, and that much-neeeded sense of awe and wonder wasn't quite present. I'm very curious, still, to see where things go, but at this point, Kristin Bell can't arrive soon enough, to hopefully provide this show with a much-needed shot in the arm, after what seemed to be a premiere that was more of a whimper than a bang.
My Grade: B
PRISON BREAK:
Last night, business picked up for Season 3 of Prison Break. After an interesting but slightly unsteady premiere, this was a reminder of why I deemed the show one of my absolute favorites of last season. This time around, Prison Break brought it - intensity, humor, action, and some great character moments combined for a thrill-packed episode. So much HAPPENED, which is definitely one of this show's strengths. Even the preview for next week was encouraging - where it seemed like Lincoln might be relegated to a very passive role, it's now clear that even as Michael is breaking out of Sona, Lincoln will be breaking in to the inner sanctum of The Company, carrying out a one-man rescue mission to free Sarah and his son. Badass.
Michael Scofield was in vintage form last night, playing the McGuyver-ish role of resourceful action hero to perfection. I loved how he enacted a plan to blow up Sona prison's pipes and therefore provide free-flowing water to its thirsty inmates. It was in and of itself a coll, self-contained little plan, but the fun of it is that it's merely one piece in Scofield's grand scheme to gain the allegiance of Lechero and gain a valuable ally in his attempts to break out Whistler. Seeing Scofield slowly implement one of his complex plans, in his usual intense yet slightly smug manner, is always a highlight of this show.
I was cool to see Fernando back as well - even if he was kind of shoehorned into the plot, he's a great character that is always welcome. William Fichtner though was just awesome, as usual, as Mahone. Seeing him fend off all of Lechero's goons while making a solo attempt to free Whistler was great. I love the fact that in only the second episode of the season, we've already witneesed an ultra-intense, three-way faceoff between Scofield, Mahone, and Lechero - it's a testament to the characters that there could be so much inherent drama in their conflict after only two hours of the season. Bellick was great as always, and he is perfect as just the lowest of the low, the scum of the earth, alternatively pitiable and fun to root for, yet easy to hate. His pleas to Michael for sips of water were hilarious in their patheticness. T-Bag is always a lot of fun, and I love him as Lechero's henchman, since you know it's only a matter of time before T-Bag turns the tables.
Again, the weakest aspect of the show is everything to do with The Company, but this ep did a very nice job of streamlining that subplot and hinting that Lincoln's story is about to get a lot more action-packed. This was, overall though, a great ep that got me back on board the Prison Break bandwagon.
My Grade: A -
Alright, that's it for now - I'll be back soon with thoughts on one of my favorite new shows of the season, CHUCK, as well as NBC's other big Monday premiere, JOURNEYMAN.
First thing, I've yet to provide an update on Sunday's huge mega-concert attended by myself, Olsen Twin, L-Squared, and with a rare, special guest appearance by Kernal Bradd. The four of us convened in scenic Irvine, CA, within the confines of the mythical area known to many simply as The OC. But we were not there to party with Ryan Atwood or gaze at the blonde bombshells of Laguna Beach. No, we were there with a singlular purpose: to ROCK.
So how was the triple-bill of STYX, FOREIGNER, and DEF LEPPARD? Well, all in all it was almost too much rock for a single night - that much rock n' roll packed into one concert should almost be illegal, and may in fact be in some states. This show, for us, had a bit of a different atmosphere than the other big shows I've been to over the last several weeks. We had lawn seats, which meant that we were situated high up in the back of the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater on a very steep incline. It was almost surreal, being high atop this mountainous terrain, gazing down at the vast arena below. In fact, despite being so high up, we had a direct line of sight to the stage and were right dead center, clinging to our beach towels for fear of sliding down the slick, grassy hill into the throngs of rock n' rollers below us. But the atmosphere was suitably epic, and having a panoramic view of the entire, jam-packed arena gave the entire preceedings a bigtime festival feel.
Up first was STYX. Honestly, I need to see a whole concert featuring just Styx, as they played like 5 total songs on Sunday and it just wasn't enough - I gotta have more Styx! The band seemed really in sync, and the hits that they did play sounded great. Alas, they did not play my new favorite Styx song, Queen of Spades (I originally thought it was called Queen of Space, and thus dubbed it the greatest song ever ...), but they did bust out Blue Collar Man, RENEGADE (kickass! "OH MAMMA I CAN'T LIVE ALL MY LIFE ..."), and finally, COME SAIL AWAY, pne of my all-time fav songs, which was, as I had hoped, a transcendantly awesome experience to hear live. The band even did a nice little opening riff where they played the intros to a few classic rock tunes, then stopping and saying stuff like "nope, not our song," or "sorry, we didn't do that one." Then, finally, they played the opening lick to Come Sail Away, and reassured us that this one was, in fact, their song. NICE. My one question: what, no Mr. Roboto?!?!
My only other complaint which comes to mind right now is that the crowd was decidely there for Def Leppard, and especially in our lawn section, didn't seem properly psyched to hear classics like Come Sail Away live. Ah well, our little group was rockin' out.
So then, FOREIGNER took the stage. Okay, I had the preconception that Foreigner was the lesser of the three bands performing, even though I count songs like Jukebox Hero amongst my all-time faves. Well, lo and behold, Foreigner kicked all of our collective asses. Hell, even adult-contemporary staples like "I Want To Know What Love Is" were belted out with so much emotion that I found myself getting totally into a song that, back in the day, I would have begged my parents to change the radio station if it came on Light 100.5, their headache-inducing road-trip radio station of choice. But, luckily, Foreigner mostly stuck to the harder stuff, and rocked our socks with hits like HOT BLOODED (though the vocals on this one seemed slightly off), DOUBLE VISION, COLD AS ICE, URGENT, and HEAD GAMES. Badass. Now, I have to say something about Jukebox Hero. Foreigner played the #$#% out of JUKEBOX HERO, and the experience of being in a gigantic open-air arena for what just may be one of the quintissential arena-rock songs ... well, damn, it was awesome. Seeing the thousands and thousands of fans pumping their fists in time the the thumping bass of the chorus (Juke. Box. He-ro! Stars in his eyes!) was one of the coolest, most rocking concert experiences I've yet had. Kudos to Foreigner on that one, and it was yet another instance where me and Bradd agreed that seeing a full-on Foreigner concert with a full set was suddenly a pretty enticing proposition.
Now, the main event - DEF LEPPARD. I have to admit, I was a little fatigued by the time they came on after having just witnessed two legendary bands in a row. But Def Leppard came out with a bang, blowing the roof (if there had been a roof) off the joint right from the get-go, with a blistering rendition of one of my faves, Rocket (Rock It. YEAH. Say it LOUDER!). They then preceded to run through most of their biggest hits. While there were a few unfamiliar songs, most I knew from the countless times I've popped in their greatest hits CD on many a summer afternoon. We heard Animal (complete with accompanying video package depicting the band members as cartoon animals), Armageddon It, Love Bites, Hysteria, and a friggin' awesome rendition of my fav Def Leppard song, PHOTOGRAPH, that had me jumping around like a frog on crack. They broke out the accoustic guitars for a pair of ballads in Bringin' On the Heartbreak (or is it Heartache?), and Two Steps Behind. Bringin' On the Heartbreak was particularly cool, as they played the majority of the song with accoustic guitars, but then paused just before the big power chords kicked in and broke out the electrics. Niiiiiiice. The set ended with the obligatory Pour Some Sugar On Me, which was great to hear live, and then, a great encore of Rock of Ages - a fitting way to end a night of pure rock n' roll mayhem. Now, if I was a more discerning fan I might point out that the lead singer of Def has clearly gained a pound or two, and his voice was perhaps not as sharp as it once was. But from way up high on the top of the hill, with the sounds of so many classic rock songs thundering in the night sky, all that mattered was that rock n' roll was alive and kicking and flowing through thousands of people gathered together for that one same singular purpose. Styx and Foreigner knew they only had a short amount of time with which to spread their rock gospel, and they did so with energy and style. Def Leppard played a longer set filled with hits, and left us satisfied and on our feet. A great way to complete my recent trifecta of classic rock concerts - POISON, THE SCORPIONS, and now these three great bands. We emerged from the show worn out, weary, and dreading the return to normalcy that Monday would bring ... but for one night, we got rocked.
THE TOP 10 PERFORMANCES OF THE NIGHT:
1.) Jukebox Hero (Foreigner)
2.) Rocket (Def Leppard)
3.) Come Sail Away (Styx)
4.) Renegade (Styx)
5.) Photograph (Def Leppard)
6.) Bringin' On the Heartache (Def Leppard)
7.) I Want To Know What Love Is (Foreigner)
8.) Rock of Ages (Def Leppard)
9.) Armaggeddon It (Def Leppard)
10.) Animal (Def Leppard)
Honorable Mention: Hysteria (Def Leppard), Urgent (Foreigner), Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)
TV STUFF:
So ..... first off, I've yet to see any of FOX's Sunday night comedies due to the concert, but hope to watch soon.
Now, as I mentioned previously, Mondays are now just ridiculous in terms of TV. On NBC you have Chuck, Journeyman, and Heroes. On FOX there's Prison Break and soon 24, and CW has the very-funny new show, Aliens in America. So suffice it to say, TIVO's everywhere will be working overtime.
HEROES:
- I mentioned in my Fall Preview that Heroes was my #1 most-anticipated returning season premiere. I was very curious to see where they were going this season and felt that, with so many of the origins and character introductions out of the way, we could really focus on plot, and plant the seeds for some truly epic storylines.
So last night, I was kinda dissapointed with what we got. Oh sure, there were moments of coolness, mostly derived from the usual suspects. To preface, I recently rewatched by-far my favorite ep from last season, Company Man. That episode was written by uber-scribe Brian Fuller, who left Heroes to run ABC's Pushing Daisies, and I fear that his loss could be a huge one for Heroes. That episode had a degree of depth and character and sophistication that few episodes of Heroes have so far been able to muster, and that was evident last night, in an ep marred by a simplistic script.
The other big lesson of Company Man was that, really, Noah Bennett, aka HRG, is easily the show's most compelling character when given the chance to shine. He is basically the show's Batman, a non-powered guy trying to compete in a super-powered world, reliant on his willpower and brains to gain the upper hand. HRG is the character with the most longterm potential on Heroes, and I was very disappointed to see him relegated in the season premiere to a small and mostly comedic role, working at a paper company in a thankless job, while on the lam from The Company with Claire. Of course, the episode's one standout moment came when HRG turned the tables on his annoying boss, showing a quick but awesome glimspe of how badass he really can be when pushed. While that one moment was cool, there was an overwhelming feeling that HRG should have started off this season front and center. As it is, it seemed like they were squandering the full potential of the show's best character.
Getting back to the issues with the script, there was little that really jumped out as being particularl gripping stuff. The Claire high school scenes were very generic-seeming, and seemed like they were ripped from some lesser teen soap and inserted into Heroes. With Kristen Bell on her way to Heroes, it's hard not to draw comparisons to the quick-witted teen drama of Veronica Mars. Say, I wonder what some of those writers are doing now - Heroes, and Claire's high school subplots in particular, could sure use an infusion of the kind of zip and crackle that made Veronica Mars such a smartly-written show.
Hiro in feudal Japan was a plotline that seemed to be rife with potential for action, adventure, and comedy. And while we got a little of all three, there was also a lot of standing around and talking, in locations that looked somewhat bland and didn't exactly evoke times past. Much of the show's action came from the new borther-and-sister characters. They seem to have some potential, but we still no so little about them that it's hard to become too attached at this point. Right now, they seem to be in the midst of another generic plotline transplanted on to Heroes - that of the two young immigrants on a run for the border.
Much more intriguing were the hints at some of this season's big plotlines. The fact that a virus is killing off heroes, for example - sure, it's yet another plotline that seems to be ripped right from the pages of X-Men, but at least it has that element of intrigue and unpredictability. The plotline I was most excited to see explored this season was the history of the first generation of heroes, the consortium of individuals that included Hiro's dad, Mrs. Petrelli, and Linderman, among others. We got some cool hints of a killer from among the group picking off his peers one by one, in a very Watchmen-esque turn of events. But it was a lot of fun seeing George Takei react to his ominous note, and the interplay between him and Ando was very enjoyable. It seems like Heroes always tends to up the fun and over-the-top quotient with Hiro and his family, and it pays off in terms of giving the show some much needed "cool-factor" moments, so to speak. I mean, Sulu deciding to stay and fight his would-be assasin, telling loyal Ando only "I will need a sword" ? Now that is badass. A shame then, that Mr. Takei was apparently offed in this episode ... a true loss for the show if one of its most fun characters was indeed done for ... but, let's be realistic, in a show involving time travel, there's no way Hiro is gonna let his dad stay dead for long, not to mention, we still don't know what, if any, special powers are possessed by the man once known as Sulu.
The ending, with a memory-wiped Peter Petrelli turning up in Bourne-esque fashion, was a decent cliffhanger, and it will be interesting to see what happens with Heroes' version of Neo. The story of Molly and her visions of some yet-unseen Big Bad were suitably ominous, and there's another potentially very cool plotline waiting in the wings. So yeah, there was some cool stuff going on here, but it all seemed to kind of plod along, and there was nothing that really screamed "oh damn, business has just picked up." The writing just felt very basic and simplistic for the msot part, and that much-neeeded sense of awe and wonder wasn't quite present. I'm very curious, still, to see where things go, but at this point, Kristin Bell can't arrive soon enough, to hopefully provide this show with a much-needed shot in the arm, after what seemed to be a premiere that was more of a whimper than a bang.
My Grade: B
PRISON BREAK:
Last night, business picked up for Season 3 of Prison Break. After an interesting but slightly unsteady premiere, this was a reminder of why I deemed the show one of my absolute favorites of last season. This time around, Prison Break brought it - intensity, humor, action, and some great character moments combined for a thrill-packed episode. So much HAPPENED, which is definitely one of this show's strengths. Even the preview for next week was encouraging - where it seemed like Lincoln might be relegated to a very passive role, it's now clear that even as Michael is breaking out of Sona, Lincoln will be breaking in to the inner sanctum of The Company, carrying out a one-man rescue mission to free Sarah and his son. Badass.
Michael Scofield was in vintage form last night, playing the McGuyver-ish role of resourceful action hero to perfection. I loved how he enacted a plan to blow up Sona prison's pipes and therefore provide free-flowing water to its thirsty inmates. It was in and of itself a coll, self-contained little plan, but the fun of it is that it's merely one piece in Scofield's grand scheme to gain the allegiance of Lechero and gain a valuable ally in his attempts to break out Whistler. Seeing Scofield slowly implement one of his complex plans, in his usual intense yet slightly smug manner, is always a highlight of this show.
I was cool to see Fernando back as well - even if he was kind of shoehorned into the plot, he's a great character that is always welcome. William Fichtner though was just awesome, as usual, as Mahone. Seeing him fend off all of Lechero's goons while making a solo attempt to free Whistler was great. I love the fact that in only the second episode of the season, we've already witneesed an ultra-intense, three-way faceoff between Scofield, Mahone, and Lechero - it's a testament to the characters that there could be so much inherent drama in their conflict after only two hours of the season. Bellick was great as always, and he is perfect as just the lowest of the low, the scum of the earth, alternatively pitiable and fun to root for, yet easy to hate. His pleas to Michael for sips of water were hilarious in their patheticness. T-Bag is always a lot of fun, and I love him as Lechero's henchman, since you know it's only a matter of time before T-Bag turns the tables.
Again, the weakest aspect of the show is everything to do with The Company, but this ep did a very nice job of streamlining that subplot and hinting that Lincoln's story is about to get a lot more action-packed. This was, overall though, a great ep that got me back on board the Prison Break bandwagon.
My Grade: A -
Alright, that's it for now - I'll be back soon with thoughts on one of my favorite new shows of the season, CHUCK, as well as NBC's other big Monday premiere, JOURNEYMAN.
posted by Danny B at 2:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home