Wiiiiiiiiiii Have A Situation! - 24, Prisonbreak, E3, and More!

Oh man, intensity overload. Last night, between Prisonbreak, 24, and a tight game between the Suns and Clippers, I was totally on the edge on my seat. I camped out with a bag of chips, a bottle of soda, and an extra dose of gravitas as I strapped in for a night of pure televised intensity, and I wasn't disappointed. So let's get to it ...

24:

And so the endgame begins. Last night's 24 was kind of two episodes in one. We had the blockbuster movie opening half, with Jack doing his best to land his hijacked plane before Prez Logan could SHOOT IT DOWN. Then we had the more psychologically-bent second half, which focused on Logan's continuing descent into the abyss, only to be pulled up at the absolute last second by a snake in the grass. Great stuff overall, and the whole plane-landing-on-the-freeway scene had me on the edge of my seat, and Logan's desire to shoot down the plane vs. his lack of pretext to do so as Jack brought it into a landing formation ... awesome stuff.

- Heller lives! The man is impervious to DEATH ITSELF. And he doesn't even need to appear in the episode to PERMEATE THE SCREEN WITH GRAVITAS.

- Okay, I thout we had reached the maximum allowance for CTU moles in one season of 24, but now we get some rent-a-cop driver who is in league with Bierko? Come on, that was kind of pushing it. While it was nice to see them address the whole situation, the setup for Bierko's impending mole-enabled escape from custody was a bit much.

- Friggin' awesome stuff from Logan in this episode though. Gregory Itzin who plays Logan is just so good - he just makes you squirm along with him as he wrings his hands and scrunches his face and confronts his own mortality. Emmy nom, anyone?

- And how about Mike Novick? Give this guy some credit, he's been persistently advising and "strongly imploring" the president with unwavering waveringliness for five years now.

- Curtis Manning is clearly next in line to Jack Bauer in the realm of sheer omnipotence. I mean the guy can traverse Los Angeles County in mere minutes, defying all laws of space-time. Stephen Hawking would be proud. Or just very, very perplexed.

- Okay, I might be wrong on this, or just being naively optimistic, but I just gotta believe that TONY ALMEDA yet lives. Anyone else getting this vibe?

- And yeah, I wonder if the Bluetooth Brotherhood of Evil is going to be just the behind-the-scenes cabal of this season ala that bearded guy in season 2 ... or does their presence hint at a larger storyline for next season or even for ... THE MOVIE?!?! In any case, they sure do drink a lot of, um, what is that stuff anyways, Diet Coke? Would be appropriate if it was, I guess. And as for their true identity ... isn't it obvious from their mild-mannered facades that conceal a ruthless hidden agenda? I mean, clearly, they are NETWORK TV EXECS!!! Can't you see the resemblance between the main guy, Graham I believe his name is, and a certain chrome-domed peacock-net head? Coincidence, or something more ...?

- And about Miles, the sniveling ass-kisser who unsurprisingly rats out CTU to the Prez ... who didn't see this coming? On one hand, the scene of Logan finding an ally in Miles just as he is about to be, to quote Shinedown, "starin' down the barrel of a .45" - well, that was an awesome scene, insanely good acting from Itzin. On the other hand, come on, Karen was actually going to trust Miles after it was obvious he was only out for number one? On the OTHER hand, Miles being so friggin' annoying of a character is going to make it all the more satisfying when someone, preferably an incensed Jack, gives him the ass-whupping his momma should have given him a long time ago.

- Yeah, weird note to end things on with Chloe's confusion at having her data swiped. And PLEASE tell me they made copies. And how many times in 24 history has Chloe been removed from her CTU post and brought back?!?!

- Overall this was another great ep, but my problem wasn't so much with the ep itself but where it left things -- it just feels like there is a lack of momentum going into the final three hours, and that things have kind of been artificially extended. But I hope I'm wrong, and I am looking forward to seeing what twists this show can throw out there before the season wraps up. And hey, the previews at least hint at one more Jack vs. Robocop showdown for good measure. Daaaaaaaaaamn.

My Grade: A -

PRISONBREAK:

Now this one deserves a "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!"

Just an all around off the hook episode. Great, if long-inevitable character moments (ie DB Cooper not being able to make it - we all knew it was coming but it was still cool). This show is just so over-the-top crazy, I love it. Gotta love Wade Williams as prison captain Bellick howling for help while tied up beneath the prison. And Stacey Keach as the Warden brings the infusion of gravitas each week. This show is just filled with classic genre actors who really make their characters larger than life. I mean, T-Bag waving his tongue around like a snake upon hearing the dying DB Cooper mention his buried trasure ... just pure evil hamminess at its best. Oh man, they HAD to know that the fat guy was never going ot make it across that pole. And I have my doubts that the old man could have done it either, even if he had been healthy. But wow, I was definitely on the edge of my seat throughout this entire episode. And did the lawyer guy really tell his would-be murderer to "suck it" right before getting capped? Kind of an annoying character, but hey at least he had a great death scene. Great stuff, this show is just a lot of fun - it's like watching a serialized John Carpenter movie every week. Can't wait for the season finale, and curious if and how they set up Season 2.

My grade: A

TONIGHT ON TV: Last ever Palladino-written Gilmore! AND, Season finale of the best show on TV not called 24, VERONICA MARS, in what is sure to be one for the ages.

E3 THOUGHTS:

So this week is E3, basically the biggest event of the year in the world of videogames, where all the new companies trot out their new hardware, peripherals, and of course, games. But this year in particular is pretty bigtime, because Sony and Nintendo are both debuting their respective and long-awaited entries into the next-next-gen console market that will compete with Microsoft's still-fresh X-Box 360 - the Playstation 3 and the, wait for it ... the Nintendo Wii.

Yep, Nintendo's new system is called the Wii. As in We. As in "Wheeeeeeee!"

So yeah, what were they smoking? Look, I realize that they want to be like Google or Yahoo or whatever and have a name that is innovative and momorable and easily understood worldwide. But come on, Wii? It just ain't right, too many negative connotations.

But anyways, the name is different, and the console is different too - foregoing the usual quantum leap in graphics that comes with each console generation, instead focusing on an inexpensive pricepoint and a new motion-sensitive remote controller that you can swing around like a sword or a baseball bat or a golf club, or point like a gun or what have you. But we've known all that for awhile. What about the new info revealed at today's varius press conferences? The rundown:

SONY / PS3:

- Okay, first off - $500 for a PS3? Okay, kids, better start saving yesterday for this thing. I mean, that price point is unprecedented save for the NEO GEO and the 3DO, both of which FAILED as home consoles, in part due to being affordable to no one not named Bill Gates. Sure, the PS3 is tricked out with a nifty state of the art blue-ray disc player (will make your DVDs look like Betamax), but still. I mean, BluRay and HD-DVD do NOT look poised to make the same impact DVD's have anytime soon, it's just too soon post-DVD, the market is not ready and there is no real perceived need for higher movie quality save from hardcore movie fanatics. So yeah, the Blu-Ray is cool, but this is still a gaming console and $500 is VERY steep. I don't know, this price point MAY = Sony just shot itself in the foot.

- But, on the other hand, the games look SWEET so far. All this talk about nintendo being about the games and not Sony is crap. Compare the amount of 5-star games on the PS2 to those on Gamecube and that right there says it all. Metal Gear Solid 4, of course, looks amazing. And oh. damn. Final Fantasy 13. Check out the trailer. I must have it. Also, the new game, still untitled, from the creators of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, Naughty Dog, looks RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME. The new SONIC looks friggin sweet. Sony has GOT to lower that pricepoint so people will be able to afford all this. The games ARE there, but the price is going to kill 'em if they don't reevaluate.

- PS - why get upset over them keeping the Dualshock controller design? Personally I approve - it's the best, most comfortable design ever for a console and much better than the boomerang prototype.

NINTENDO / WIIIIIIIIIIIIII:

- Great design on the system and controller. Very I-Podish. Very sleek. Pricepoint still unknown but suposedly it's cheap, which is good. But on the other hand ...

- Graphics look basically equivalent to a Gamecube, PS2, or PSP. While I'm sure Mario Galaxies will be amazing, it LOOKS like Mario 64 with its simple geometrics and blurry textures. And the fact that they are porting the new Zelda from Gamecube says that the two systems are not much different in terms of horsepower.

- But, damn, that controller DOES have some potentially super-fun uses. Sword fighting, light-saber wielding, tennis, etc. But is it just a gimmick? Kind of, is what I am thinking. I mean do you always want to be waving your arms around like an idiot and jumping around every time you sit down to play with your Wii? (LOL). Still though - Mario, Zelda, Metroid. Those are the big guns, and they will likely rule it. But what else is there? Are other companies even supporting this thing? Well, if the price is right ... anything can happen.

MICROSOFT / 360:

- And look who is suddenly looking better and better. Good pricepoint sure to drop at any moment, already-established online presence, and some big games on the way like Gears of War and Halo 3. Personally I hate first person shooters though so I could care less, and that's why there's nothing that makes me desire a 360 right now or in the pipeline. A total lack of Japan-developed games and zero platformers, RPGs, fighters, or adventure games makes me unenthused. But again, this could change. It's all in the games.

Alright, enough nerd talk. I've been working on this blog entry all day on and off since the morning so it's time to post it already.

Back later with more. For now, it's game over.