The Directors Chair

I’ve just read this over at the IMdB, I’m surprised to say the least. No Lost?

The most-downloaded shows on BitTorrent sites have little in common with the most-viewed shows on television, according to a list compiled by the website TorrentFreak. Indeed, most of the top-ten downloaded shows, which also include those airing on cable, don’t even appear in Nielsen’s top ten. (The only one that does is ABC’s Desperate Housewives) They are: 1. Heroes, 2. Prison Break, 3. 24 , 4. Desperate Housewives, 5. Family Guy, 6. Smallville, 7. South Park, 8. Gossip Girl, 9. Fringe, and 10. Supernatural.

I still don’t understand how you can call this “pirating”. Sky+ and TiVo boxes allow you to record TV shows. All downloading a show is in essence is recording it from said box. I should have been on the PirateBay lawyer team.

Source: IMdB

Episode 713 – “Stew-Roids”
At Joe and Bonnie’s BBQ Stewie is playing with some dolls when new baby Suzie snatches one away from him. When he tries to take the doll back Suzie beats up Stewie which forces Peter to make him more of a man. Peter takes Stewie to the gym where an instructor offers Stewie steroids which Peter accepts. Stewie buffs up but doesn’t come face to face with Suzie. Instead he mocks Brian or B to the Ry and threatens him for money.

But the effect doesn’t last forever and one morning Stewie wakes up to find his muscles gone and flabby skin all that’s left. He falls out the window but manages to fly to safety. Meanwhile Connie D’Amico is tired of the jock boys and decides she is going to date a nerd and turn him popular. She chooses Chris but realises that he is a genuinely sweet guy and she falls for him. Chris becomes popular and at a party ends up cheating on Connie.

In order to get revenge and restore order at the school Connie teams up with Meg who has been trying to befriend Connie and together they embarrass Chris and return to their rightful places in the school social ladder.

Episode 417 – “Every Which Way But Lose”
Stan isn’t interested in anything Steve does, he thinks he is a loser and always finds a way to make him cry. Steve decides that to make his Dad proud he’ll join the football team and Stan suddenly takes a keen interest in his son. At the practice Stan is signed up to be a coach and his first act is to cut Steve.

With Roger, Steve decides he is going to make his Dad cry now by beating his football team, but Roger’s leadership skills are poor and the new team made up of duds and cut players are terrible. In the last game of the season they’re up against Stan and his team. They realise they can’t beat them so will have to cheat. Steve lubes himself up with stuff Roger secretes and slips his way through the other players.

By the time of the last play Steve’s team needs a touchdown to win but Roger is out of slimy juice, they have to resort to one of Roger’s plays that needs a magician, thankfully they have one on the team and they make the play and score a touchdown. Stan is distraught and tries to kill himself because he lost. Steve tries to make him see sense but at the country fayre Stan again tries to kill himself.

Steve tells a sob story to Stan about how his father cut him from the football team which makes Stan cry, he suddenly feels better and decides not to kill himself. Meanwhile Francine is trying to bake the perfect pie to win the competition at the fayre, she is always beaten by a mystery opponent who turns out to be Hayley! This year they face off but are both beaten by Roger dressed up as a contestant.

Episode 324 – “I Am Sylar”
After Nathan witnessed himself addressing the public, realising Sylar was impersonating him we see what happened in the eighteen hours prior. Danko has told Sylar to remain as one of the members of his team but Sylar is starting to lose his control. Going to bed as himself and waking up as the agent is confusing him and he’s finding his DNA is changing and taking a while to change back.

Danko tells Sylar to get a grip, find a constant that reminds him of who he is so Sylar gets a bunch of evidence from a local policeman that contains his mothers possessions. Later he and Danko are hot on the trail of Rebel and Sylar finds it’s Micah but can’t bring himself to kill him. Instead he takes Micah back with him and is told that he can be the one to stop all of this hunting, now he’s a shapeshifter, Sylar can be anything, or anyone, he wants.

Micah leaves as Sylar looks through his mothers things, she then appears to him and the pair have a conversation although it is revealed it is Sylar talking to himself. He seems to be suffering from split personality disorder. They decide that he can be anyone, even the President and so goes on to give the press conference.

The real Nathan decides that its time to end this, he needs to get to the President before Sylar does and he flies off, Peter wants to help but Nathan leaves, so Peter follows. Nathan and Sylar come face to face and Danko appears and shoots Nathan with a tranquilliser. Danko tells Sylar to turn back into the agent but he refuses and then Danko stabs him in the back of the head with a knife. But Sylar gets up, he wasn’t incapacitated, trouble looms for Danko.

Meanwhile Hiro and Ando ask Matt to tell them the way to Building 26 but Matt says he doesn’t want their blood on his conscience and refuses, instead opting to join Janice and his son. At her home Matt realises agents are coming for them so he sends them off the trail by getting into their heads. He then tells Janice they’ll always be coming for them unless he helps Hiro and Ando take them down.

Hiro and Ando are at Building 26. Hiro attempts to freeze time but gets a nosebleed and complains his head hurts. Mohinder is visited by the agents at Coyote Sands and is incapacitated and abducted as are Angela Petrelli, Claire, and Noah as they get stopped at a roadblock and swarmed by agents.

Episode 519 – “Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know”
After Edie died in the car crash, she narrates the episode and we have a tribute to Edie and her relationships with those on Wisteria Lane. We see how when she first moved to the street, her and Susan were good friends but fell out when Edie admitted to sleeping with a married man. We see how Edie was there for Lynette when she was feeling down due to the cancer and how Edie made her feel better. We see how Edie visited Orson in prison when Bree couldn’t bring herself to do it, then make her realise what a terrible wife she was being. We see how when Gabby and Carlos broke up that Edie was there to help her through it by taking her out on the town. All of these are revealed as the ladies head on a road trip to take Edie’s ashes to her son.

When they get there Travers doesn’t want her, thinking she was a terrible mother. Mrs. McClusky then recounts how she and Edie shared a tearful moment over how hard it was for Edie to be without her son, but she felt she was doing the right thing. Travers thanks the ladies for coming but asks them to keep his mother.

Back on the Lane and the ladies decide to scatter Edie all over the place because she was a big part of Wisteria and deserves it to be her final resting place.

Another episode that seemed to jump away from the story, whilst I feel this season has been strong with the storyline of Dave, there isn’t really any other sub-plots going on that can keep the other episodes on track when the main story needs to take a detour. Still, it was nice to see a tribute to Edie, but this late in the season we should be building tension and drama. I’ll miss Edie, she was a good character.

Y2Rating: 7/10

Episode 513 – “Some Like It Hoth”
In flashbacks we see a woman, Lara, looking around an apartment. Her young son interrupts and the landlord is put off by having a kid around. Lara gives her son a quarter for the vending machine but he hears voices coming from one of the other apartments. Inside is a dead body, the young child screams. The landlord and Lara rush in and ask a young Miles what is going on. Miles says he can hear the dead man call for Kimberley. The landlord says that was his ex wife who died over a year ago.

Years later an older Miles goes to visit his mother, she is bedridden, looking like she is about to die. Miles apologises for not coming sooner and he demands to know about his father. Lara says he wanted nothing to do with Miles and is now dead. Miles asks where the body is and Lara tells him somewhere he’ll never be able to find.

Miles visits a man whose son recently died, the man wants to know if his son knew he loved him. When Miles finds out the son is cremated he doubles his price, the man accepts. Miles takes his hands and then tells him that his son knew. Afterwards Miles is approached by Naomi Dorrit who says her employer wants to meet him.

Naomi takes Miles to a dead body and asks him to perform. Miles says the dead man was taking some papers to Widmore, they contained photos of graves and a purchase order for an old plane. Naomi says where they’re going they need Miles’ skills to track the person they’re looking for. Miles refuses but then changes his mind when Naomi offers him $1.6 million.

Not long after Miles is abducted and dragged into a van where a man named Bram talks to him. He tells Miles not to go to the island and asks him “what lies in the shadow of the statue?” which Miles cannot answer. Bram offers Miles information about his father but Miles doesn’t care, he only cares about money and wants $3.2 million not to go to the island. Bram says money won’t fill the hole in his heart and they throw him out of the van. Bram says Miles is playing for the wrong team, so Miles asks what team Bram is on and he says “the one that’s going to win.”

Miles returns to the man whose son was cremated, he gives him his money back and confesses he never spoke to his son. Miles says if he wanted to know if his son knew he loved him, he should have asked before he died.

On the island Sawyer tells Miles to accidentally lose the surveillance tape from today, before Miles can Horace walks in and when Miles tells him Sawyer is unavailable, Horace brings Miles into the circle of trust. He needs Miles to deliver a package to Radzinsky and then bring something from Radzinsky back to Horace. Miles agrees and is given a dead body by Radzinsky. When he questions what happens he isn’t given any answers so goes to get them himself by talking to the dead.

Back at the barracks and Miles now has to take the body to the Orchid but Hurley needs to go there too and forces himself along. On the way Hurley finds the dead body and wants to know what’s going on. Miles says the man is Alverez and he was working when he felt a pain in his mouth, a filling flew out of place and right into his brain. Hurley wants to know how Miles knows this and figures he can talk to dead people. Hurley says Miles’ secret is safe with him as so can he!

Kate returns to the hospital but so does Roger and he finds Ben is missing. Juliet says she was only gone for a moment when he vanished. Kate goes to Roger who is drinking on the swings, she says she knows Ben will be OK and this makes Roger suspicious. Later he finds Jack doing his rounds and questions him about Kate. Jack says he trusts Kate and Roger is just drunk and thinking crazy thoughts.

At the Orchid Dr. Pierre Chang isn’t happy that Miles has brought Hurley with him and threatens Hurley with polar bear cleaning duty on the Hydra island if he says anything. After unloading the body Dr. Chang wants to be taken to Radzinsky and Miles agrees. Whilst he goes to get his things Hurley says Dr. Chang is a jerk and Miles reveals that Dr. Chang is Miles’ father. On the way to Radzinsky Hurley drops hints about the paternal relationship between the two.

Chang stops the van and opens a secret jungle wall to reveal the place where they are building the Swan station. Hurley witnesses them branding the “serial number” onto the side of the hatch door. 4 8 15 16 23 42. As they leave Miles and Hurley get into an argument about Miles’ father and in a fit of rage Miles takes the notebook Hurley has been writing in and reads it. It’s Star Wars. Hurley says in 1977 Star Wars just came out, he’s writing The Empire Strikes Back to help George Lucas. Hurley tells Miles about his Dad issues but Miles says he doesn’t have any because his father left him when he was three months old.

Phil visits LaFleur, he has a video that shows Ben being taken to the Others. LaFleur invites him inside where he knocks him out and asks Juliet to get some rope.

Later, back at the barracks, Miles watches through the window as Pierre Chang reads to a baby Miles. He gets a phone call and has to leave, spotting older Miles outside he asks him to help him greet some scientists from the dock. Miles agrees and when they get to the dock they help unload the new arrivals. Miles helps one scientist who turns out to be Daniel Farraday. Miles says hello and Daniel says “long time no see”, implying this Daniel knows fully of Miles.

Episode 323 – “1961”
Peter wants to know why they’re digging up bodies and through flashbacks we learn what really happened at Coyote Sands. In 1961 a young Angela and her sister Alice are brought to Coyote Sands with their parents, they soon find that everyone there has an ability. They are being treated by Mohinders father, Dr. Chandra Suresh and seem to have faith in him.

Angela learns of her sisters ability, she is able to control the weather and it tends to storm when she gets upset or scared. Alice also forgot to pack any clothes with her and so is cold at night. Angela promises to get her some socks. Young Linderman, Young Charles Deveaux and Young Bobby Bishop are all at Coyote Sands and they decide to organise a break out. They tell Angela to lie to Alice because she can’t come. Angela tells Alice she’ll be safe if she stays where she is.

Whilst the four are away Chandra takes Alice to experiment on her, she gets scared and causes a storm, attacking one of the doctors with a lightning bolt. She runs to what we presume is her father who uses his power to attack a guard who is chasing Alice. Another guard shots him and Alice hides as a war breaks out.

Back in the present and Angela believes Alice is still alive. Mohinder arrives at Coyote Sands and rescues Noah from the storm that has suddenly picked up. Angela comes face to face with her sister who doesn’t want to talk to her, when she learns Angela lied she goes crazy and attacks Angela and Mohinder with lightning. Angela asks Alice to stop this and come home with her, Alice says no and vanishes. Angela says she’ll never see her sister again.

As they all set about leaving Mohinder decides to stay. Peter has found some film footage of Chandra and Mohinder doesn’t want to be the monster his father was. At a café later, Noah, Claire, Peter, Angela and Nathan agree to put the past behind them, they’re a family, not a company. Nathan says he’ll go to Washington and speak to the President, but Claire says he already has as she points to the TV showing Nathan addressing the public. Noah tells them it’s Sylar.

They’re losing it, they’re losing me again. They didn’t need to take a whole episode to tell us that Angela has a sister and she’s still alive. We learnt nothing from the young Linderman, Deveaux and Bishop only as an excuse to see them set up the company. Once again Nathan has changed his allegiance and they’re agreed to forget everything that’s happened this season.

Y2Rating: 5/10

I have restarted football training with the Hornets. I’m enjoying it even if I am totally unfit and feel like I’m going to collapse every time I so much as move faster than walking pace. But it’s enjoyable. I like being around the guys and although I’m not as good as some of the others there I think I’ve got something to offer.

Since moving from Pershore High School astro pitch to the Little Perdiswell pitch I’ve picked up a few knocks. None moreso than this week. My elbow is one big bruise and its been nigh on impossible to rest it properly at work today. The second is my leg, it has been sore, as though the skin is raw, for a couple of weeks but after this session it has decided to swell up. It too is red and bruised. But I soldier on. Here are some snaps for your enjoyment.

My leg – you can see it swelling out, eww.

My elbow from two angles and one with the flash on.

For Kaye’s 21st birthday I took her to the ‘Theatre of Dreams’, Old Trafford, to have a look around the stadium and learn some history. Being an Arsenal fan it was hard to see the gleam coming from the trophy cabinets but fairs fair, the place was pretty immense.

I’m currently uploading a selection of photos which I’ll show you later but here is one of my favourites taken in the mens changing rooms.

Episode 512 – “Dead is Dead”

We see a furious Charles Widmore ride into camp on a horse, he berates Richard who tells Charles that the island wants what it wants. Charles introduces himself to a young Ben who says he doesn’t want to go back to his Dad’s. Charles says just because he lives with them, doesn’t mean he’s one of them.

Later an older Ben and a young Ethan are at a beach camp. Ben sneaks in but awakens the occupant, it’s Danielle. He holds her at gunpoint and takes her baby. He tells her to never look for them and if she hears whispers, she should run. Back at the camp Charles tells Ben he was meant to kill them, Ben offers baby Alex to Charles and asks him to kill her, he can’t.

At the barracks, after the Purge, Ben is pushing a now young Alex on a swing. Richard appears and says the sub is about to leave, Ben says he has to be there so goes to the dock where Charles Widmore is being led away, his hands tied. Charles thinks Ben is there to gloat over his victory but Ben says that Charles broke the rules by repeatedly leaving the island and having a daughter with an “outsider”. Widmore says that one day Ben will have to choose between the island and Alex as he is put on the sub and exiled.

Off the island in LA Ben calls Charles Widmore who wants to know how he got this number. Ben says it’s not important as he’s looking at the boat Penny is on and he’s going to kill her. As Ben approaches Penny Desmond pipes up and Ben shoots him, but it looks as though Des has dodged the bullet. Ben introduces himself to Penny at gunpoint and she says she has no relationship with her father. Ben apologises when little Charlie appears, Penny tells him to go below, Ben looks shocked and in the stalling Des beats the hell out of Ben and throws him into the ocean.

On the island Ben tells Locke that he knew he’d be brought back to life and now Ben must face the consequences of leaving the island, he is here to be judged. Locke asks by whom, Ben says he doesn’t have a name for it but Locke calls it, the monster.

On the beach some Ajiria survivors are fiddling with a large crate. Ben speaks to Caesar about Locke saying he is crazy and doesn’t recognise him from the plane, he could be dangerous. Caesar shows Ben the shotgun he found and says he has Ben’s back. Later Ben is in the Hydra and finds a picture of him and Alex. Locke appears and wants to talk about the “elephant in the room”. Ben explains that it was the only way to get everyone back to the island but he couldn’t let Locke kill himself as he held vital information. Ben says he killed Locke because it was quicker than trying to talk him into it. Locke says all he wanted was an apology but offers to help Ben face the monster.

As Ben and Locke get ready to sail to the main island, Caesar and friends arrive and try to protect Ben. Caesar refuses to let Locke leave and goes to get his gun but it’s missing, Ben has it and he shoots Caesar in the chest. He throws the gun to Locke and says to consider that his apology and the pair sail off to the main island. When they get to the dock Locke says he knows Ben is going to be judged not for leaving the island, but for letting his daughter die. At the barracks a light goes on in Bens old home, in Alex’s room no less. Ben goes to investigate, but its Sun and Frank.

They each explain what they know and Ben is shown the Dharma photo from 1977 and looks surprised. Sun says that a man named Christian told them to wait here for John Locke so Ben shows them him. Ben goes to summon the monster and in the tunnel behind his bookcase he turns a knob under a puddle which then vanishes down a hole. Ben says he’ll be outside and leaves.

The monster doesn’t arrive so Locke says they’ll go to it, knowing where it is. Frank has left back for the second island but Sun wants to go with them. Ben and Sun follow Locke to the temple and Locke tells Ben they’re going under it. Ben asks Sun before they descend that if she ever gets off the island to tell Desmond Hume that he’s sorry.

When they’re underground Ben admits that Locke was right about the reasons for being judged. The ground gives way and Ben falls into a chamber full of more hieroglyphs and Egyptian drawings. Then there is the noise of the monster and it seeps out of a gate under the images. The black smoke surrounds Ben and flashes images of his past, of Widmore and Alex, including her death at the hand of Keamy. The smoke dissipates and then Alex appears behind him, Ben apologies to her, saying it was all his fault. Alex agrees and then pins him up against a column and tells him that he will follow John Locke and not kill him again. If he doesn’t listen and follow Locke she will “destroy” him.

Locke comes back with a vine to help Ben up and he says the island has let him live. Back on the Hydra island Frank is back but learns that Ilana and some others have guns and are taking over. Frank goes to investigate and Ilana asks him “what lies in the shadow of the statue?” Frank can’t answer so she knocks him up and tells her lackey to tie Frank up, they’re taking him with them.

AMAZING. I just can’t get enough of Ben and I could sit under his learning tree for however long it takes. Is he really going to change? If he doesn’t follow Locke he’ll be destroyed, can he change? I don’t know. All I know is I want more, more, MORE!