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Perception is Back: Thoughts on Season 2 & Scott Wolf

Posted on August 4, 2013 Written by ripitup

perception-season-2-poster-eric mccormack — Eric McCormack as Dr. Daniel Pierce. Image via collider.com.

And my favorite show is back. Perception is currently my favorite show, including the winter shows. In fact, if I had to make a list of all time favorites, Perception would have a spot in top 3.

Perception, starring Eric McCormack and Rachael Leigh Cook, is in its second season, having aired 10 episodes last summer. For the background of the characters, and general plot, you can check out posts On Perception and other TV Crime Drama Series with Genius Yet Problematic Characters and 10 Reasons Writers Should Watch TNT’s Perception starring Eric McCormack.

(There’ll be spoilers for season 1 below, so keep reading at your own peril)

Where Season 1 Left Us

Season 1 had established that even though Kate (Rachel Leigh Cook) and Daniel (Eric McCormack) had feelings for each other, it wasn’t a great time to pursue them as Daniel’s symptoms got more serious, and he had to check himself into a psychiatric hospital.

That’s where we had gotten the twist of the season: While the hallucination that is Natalie (Kelly Rowan) – Daniel’s ex-girlfriend from college/a fellow psychiatrist – was indeed based on a real person, there really was no Natalie. He had never dated or met “Natalie”.

Instead, he had seen Dr. Caroline Newsome (Kelly Rowan), his treating psychiatrist from afar, but had never gotten to nerve to talk to her. But his symptoms had started pretty aggressively that summer, making him believe they had actually had a relationship.

After Daniel had some time to digest that, he realized that his symptoms weren’t that bad. In fact he was right on a complicated case- so he checked himself out, despite Caroline’s objections. And he also tried to use her skills, since he was on meds and wasn’t seeing Natalie anymore, he needed another smart brainstorming/crime-solving partner.

Afterwards she visited Daniel at the university, excusing herself as his therapist due to his “relationship” with Natalie but offering her friendship.

Season 2 – Relationships, Addition of Scott Wolf

Season 2 starts with Daniel spending a lot of time with Caroline, eventually turning it into a romance. But he is keeping secrets from her-like that he has given up on his meds due to side effects and Natalie has returned…

Donnie (Scott Wolf) is introduced-he is the ADA, as well as Kate’s soon-to-be-ex husband. It turns out that he is cocky, self-serving and still hooked up on Kate. While Kate is still rightfully mad at him (he did sleep with her best friend!), he gets to collaborate with her on several cases, and takes advantage of her friendship with Daniel as long as it serves him.

It seems that Daniel keeps his new romance with Caroline a secret, and he and Kate seem to be spending less time together.

Of course eventually Daniel can’t keep up the act, and Caroline leaves him.

From then on, we get more Daniel and Kate interaction, though their attraction for each other seems to be held more at bay this season. And Donnie keeps butting in, suggesting stuff like Kate is into Daniel, but she should be with someone that is neither like Daniel nor himself.

Season 2 : Cases

I’ve liked the cases so far, my two favorites being episodes 3, 5 and 6 (this week’s episode).

In Episode 3, Blindness, we are introduced to a very intriguing murder case where the killer replaces the victim right after, and manages to escape without anyone noticing. It questions our perception, attention and how sometimes our expectations and experiences “blind” what we actually see.

I loved who the killer turned out to be, and what his motives were and how he chose his victims. It is always more interesting when the victims’ actions piss you off, and the situation is just grey.

In Episode 5, Caleidoscope, Kate and Daniel have to take part in an interactive online game where the victim and the murderer originally met. Daniel enjoys the freedom of the game, where people choose avatars and can do whatever they want with them while using their own voices to talk. He also seems to meet another potential love interest, and the case takes some cool turns.

It was a great episode about being yourself, letting go, connecting and the lengths you would go for what matters the most…

In Episode 6 (Defective was a lot of fun), partly because it guest-starred Alexis Denisof (who’s best known as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce to Angel and Buffy fans), as well as David Alpay, who I recently watched as Professor Shane in The Vampire Diaries (season 4). Of course their roles couldn’t have been more different than the shows I mentioned.

Denisof plays a neurosurgeon who also comes across as a loving husband. And Alpay plays a brilliant violinist whose tremors were stopped due to a brain implant. When he almost dies to due a suspected defect, the manufacturing company gets involved, Donnie gets suspiciously interested in the case and when more deaths follow, Daniel forms an unlikely partnership with Donnie to get the company, to Kate’s dismay.

The episode didn’t have one pointless or boring minute, as it got Daniel to question how he is managing and perceiving his disease and leading his life and we got to see a more humane and much less annoying Donnie.

Perception is still strong, though the ratings for this season have been generally lower than the first season. I really hope they go up, or at least stay at a level that satisfies TNT.

Because Perception brings up wonderful cases and complicated questions about life, being yourself and being human in every episode – with the right touch of humor, drama and mystery.

And of all the eccentric, incredibly smart and sometimes socially difficult geniuses, Daniel is sure one of my favorites…Would love to put him in the same room with House, Lightman and Jane and see what they would talk about. Though they would probably solve any case in 5 seconds if they do work together…

And I might be in the minority because while a lot of watchers complain about the addition of Donnie, his character and Scott Wolf’s portrayal of him, I am having a lot of fun with both his presence. But then again, I’ve always liked Scott Wolf. He co-starred in one of my favorite 90s movies, White Squall (1996) along with Jeff Bridges. I strongly recommend the movie. He has also taken parts in some of the shows that I religiously followed (Spin City, V).

And is it just me, or does he also remind you of Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox (two actors I love watching) at times?

Awkward TV Series: Modern, Hilarious, Entertaining

Posted on June 8, 2013 Written by ripitup

Awkward's trio: Brett Davern, Ashley Rickards and Beau Mirchoff. — Awkward’s trio: Brett Davern, Ashley Rickards and Beau Mirchoff.

I don’t watch MTV. I am, however, on the constant lookout for a fun comedy, and I’ve caught this little gem thanks to IMDB’s suggestions (which sometimes work well.)

Oh, I used to watch MTV growing up, when it wasn’t all about reality shows and pop or rap music.

Jenna (Ashley Rickards) isn’t in the in-crowd. She’s just a normal (the meaning of which is open to interpretation) teenager living with her young parents who had her when they were in high school.

She has two best friends, Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) and Ming (Jessica Lu), and a blog where she can share all of her angst and other feelings, along with her huge crush on the popular cutie Matt (Beau Mirchoff , Danny Bolen of Desperate Housewives, season 6).

So when Matt has sex her in the closet at the end of camp (and takes her virginity), she is over the moon.

But it seems like Mattie only hooks up with her in private, and this starts bothering her. Add the recent attention of Jake (Brett Davern), Matt’s best friend –who doesn’t know Matt is with her – and things get a bit more complicated.

Don’t worry. Awkward is hilarious. It has its cliches, but it has mixed those up with great humor. For instance popular bitch/cheerleaders’ captain, Sadie (Molly Tarlov) is an “overweight” girl who has “bought” her popularity.

The stupid blonde cheerleader, Lissa (Greer Grammer) is obsessed with religion and tries to be celibate while dating Jake.

While Matt is friends with Sadie, he sees her as the bitch as she is and he is into Jenna, and not the cheerleader squad.

Our lead girl loses her virginity at camp, under very unromantic circumstances – but Matt keeps hooking up with her. He likes her, but he doesn’t know how to go about dating an “outcast”, so he screws up things big time.

Jake is a total sweetheart. He’s nice, fun, romantic and a virgin. Not exactly the popular jock we’re used to seeing.

You’ve got to love Jenna’s parents, only 17 years older than her. Her dad (Mike Faiola) is pretty cool and mature enough, though her mother Lacey (Nikki Deloach) is obsessed with popularity and her daughter’s wardrobe.

There’re the typical gatherings, but also some decent plot “twists”, like the author of the letter (-a mysterious anonymous letter listing all Jenna’s faults and tips on how to improve them.)

There have been a lot of shows set in high schools, but none really went out of their way to use uncensored language this much. Sure, it gets beeped a bit – but the stuff they talk about and how they talk about tend to sound more natural than other “teen” shows out there.

The great thing about Awkward is that it is unpretentious, honest, light and pretty funny with lots of laugh-out-loud moments. And it’d be a shame to dismiss it as a teen/MTV show.

And you’ve got to love the way Jenna blogs…

Awkward is currently in its 3rd season, and rated at 7.6 on IMDB (voted by over 17,800 users).

Other Comedies I Recommend:

3^rdRock from the Sun (first season)

Body of Proof: Now That’s What I Call A Series Finale

Posted on May 29, 2013 Written by ripitup

Body of Proof Season 3 Cast.Image via i1.cdnds.net.

Body of Proof series finale, Daddy Issues, aired on Tuesday this week.

It just sucks when such a fun series is cancelled.

Yes, all good things come to an end. But I wish they didn’t while they still had great storylines to explore.

Yeah, yeah, we get it. It’s about ratings and advertising revenue. But it’s not the healthiest sytem, and hey, the show’s time slot also affects things.

But let’s not get into the whole archaic Nielsen thing, or the advertisers’ inability to make the most of the show’s social media followers and international viewers…

I read that the creators are looking to find another network, but I’m not holding my breath. Survival after cancellation has been known to happen, but none of my favorite (cancelled) shows had such luck.

But at least, Daddy Issues was a great finale. It tied up all the loose ends, and even though their final choice of the main villain is a bit implausible (and questionable), it makes up for it by:

(*includes spoilers for season 3, episode 5 (Eye for an Eye), where Henry Ian Cusick first guest-starred.)

1) letting us finally know what happened to Megan’s father and why.

2) bringing back my favorite “villain” – therapist Dr. Trent Marsh (Henry Ian Cusick) who was the only guy that got away from Megan. He was intelligent enough, and he was worth sympathizing over. Even though he had killed 3 people (in episode 5), all those people had committed cold-blooded murder. One of the victims was Marsh’s wife.

3) Megan (Dana Delany) finally beginning to see how there might be shades of grey when it came to “bad guys” and “good guys”

4) Megan finally having a non-evasive talk with Tommy about where they stand.

The finale works, both as a season and a series finale.

Even if I don’t get any more of Megan Hunt, I’ve got closure- something prematurely-cancelled (but awesome) *Lie to Me or *Awake couldn’t provide.

Now, if you want to find out more, dig into a spoiler-rich plot summary:

Megan is too busy solving her dad’s murder to get into the case-of-the-week, so it’s Ethan (Geoffrey Arend), Kate (Jeri Ryan) and Curtis (Windell Middlebrooks) working on it.

Megan and Tommy (Mark Valley) are shocked to find out that her father’s grave is empty. This proves Megan’s theory one more time. They try the next logical angle: going after some old records, which they also find that were taken by the killer.

And as Megan is trying to deal with the emotional strain, Marsh “runs into” her. She’s a bit “easier” on him this time, as she’s more concerned about catching her father’s killer.

After Megan finds a hidden key in her father’s belongings, she finds a hidden file on an assaulted and killed woman, supposedly by a serial killer (Kurtwood Smith, Red of That 70s Show), convicted for several other murders.

But he tells Megan and Tommy that she wasn’t one of her victims, and their search takes them to the cop in charge of the case years ago.

Megan is adamant that he’s the killer, but they only have a theory. Marsh finds her, and tells her he can help her. Megan refuses, though she seems to be less judgmental of him now.

When the cop is shot in the back, it makes you wonder whether a certain “villain” didn’t keep his promise.

But the victim in Kate’s case turns out to be the partner of the cop. When Megan goes to the police station to find Tommy, she runs into Tommy’s boss – who “kidnaps” Megan.

As it turns out, the killer is none other than Tommy and Adam’s (Elyes Gabel) boss Chief Angela (Lorraine Toussaint) (yeah, her connection is explained.)

And when she is about to shoot Megan, it is when Marsh comes and shoots her, saving Megan’s life. A shocked Megan can only whisper “thank you” after he is gone.

After Tommy arrives at the scene, she tells him who saved his life. But when they go to his office, he is gone- having left his book, along with the note “You’re Welcome” for Megan, who doesn’t seem that bummed that he has eluded them.

She makes up with her mother.

The she goes to Tommy’s house, finally admitting her feelings to Tommy, and we see their first on-screen kiss.

I’d kinda hoped Megan would hook up with the therapist (at least before we found out he was the murderer.) Even then, I was kind of hoping that Megan would understand him. This episode I got that chemistry again- and I had a feeling……wouldn’t mind.

But I’ve always liked Mark Valley (Boston Legal, Fringe), and Tommy’s been a very entertaining character. So it was about time they got together. But Marsh would have made a risky, grey and interesting love interest. Oh, well…

And if you want to see Cusick play a real villain (as in a villain killing anyone who gets in his way and gets off on it), watch his guest appearances as Tommy Volker on The Mentalist.

Lie to Me’s ending wasn’t good for a series finale. It was barely good enough as a season finale. Don’t get me wrong, it was a first-class episode. It didn’t move anything forward, apart from Lightman finally admitting to his daughter that he loved his partner Gillian- something we always knew.

Awake’s finale, had it been a season finale, would have been one of the best in the history of television. But as a season finale, it was just disappointing that we didn’t get the answer to the show’s promise: which of the worlds he was living was real?

Body of Proof answered everything we needed to know, moved the story forward, avoided the cliche of Megan winning over every criminal….

Yeah, I’ll miss the show. If another network buys it, I’ll keep watching.

What did you think of the finale?

Also on Body of Proof

Body of Proof starring Dana Delany, Nicholas Bishop & Jeri Ryan

Body of Proof is Back for its 3rd Season: And It’s Even More Fun!

The Following’s Awesome Seasone Finale: Summary, Best Moments & More

Posted on April 30, 2013 Written by ripitup

thefollowing_finale_kevin bacon — Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy in The Following’s season finale, episode 15.Image via tvline.com

There haven’t been many popular shows in television that were as hated as The Following (and also Revolution). Sure, a lot of people loath a lot of things, but few are as vocal as these shows’ haters. Not to mention the active haters of The Following don’t mind tuning in week after week to pick the show apart. It’s funny, because when I can’t stand a show, I just stay away from it.

That’s not to say I don’t think The Following has more than its share of faults, implausiblities, and “oh no, he/she/they didn’t!!!!” moments.

But it also has a great cast, an engaging plot, good acting, badass moments and just the right amount of gore.

And as opposed to shows who have lost their intrigue and I either stopped watching or kind of watch in 10 minutes (at most) in fast forward mode, I was glued to the screen with The Following for the most part, and that’s all that matters to me – I’m in it for the entertainment after all.

Alright. Let’s roll:

A quick reminder to where we are after 14 episodes:

– Paul (Adan Canto) was injured badly after the FBI raided their hideout. Jacob (Nico Tortorella) had to kill him to prevent him from further suffering. This was Jacob’s first murder.

– Jacob later joined Emma (Valorie Curry) and others at the town mansion where Roderick and other followers had created a high-tech fortress and Joe was working on his novel.

– Joe (James Purefoy) was reunited with his son Joey, and after the FBI failed to find him and a lot of people were killed to protect Claire (Natalie Zea), Claire willingly left Ryan’s (Kevin Bacon) side and got caught by the followers to see her son.

– Claire kept rejecting Joe, and Roderick (Warren Cole) kept rebelling.

– When Mike (Shane Weston) finally made Roderick, Roderick tried to escape with Joey- but was killed by the followers and a conflicting Jacob left Joey to Ryan.

– Joe tried getting Claire to love him, it backfired and Claire tried to kill him. This made Joe decide to kill Claire, so that he’d finally see Ryan unravel to the point of no return.

– Followers kidnapped Debra (Annie Parisse) and put her in a coffin and buried her alive.

Episode 15- Season Finale – Full of Spoilers!!!

– Emma sends the clue to what happened to Debra in a creepy way, and the FBI tries to hold her online and locate her.

– Joe has taken Claire to a Lighthouse as he waits for Ryan to find them.

– Ryan and Mike find Debra, after going badass on a follower, but they are too late. Then Ryan finds Joe’s manuscript hidden in the coffin, and realizes that it was his plan all along.

– He leaves Mike behind for his own safety and sets out to find Claire. He’s delivered unconcious and finds himself by a fireplace, hands tied across Joe and a tied-up Claire. He mananages to distract Joe eventually, and saves Claire. Joe escapes to inside the lighthouse, a fire starts during the fight. Ryan escapes, Joe can’t.

– We’re lead to believe that Joe is (probably) dead, though we are not believing it till season 2, where he will probably be back.

– Emma is alive and well, and apparently upset over Joe’s apparent death.

– Ryan takes Claire to his house for the night, where they get both stabbed by Ryan’s psychotic neighbor Molly.

Favorite Badass Moments & Favorite Lines

– To be able to find Debra, Ryan and Mike “question” the follower who was quite surprised at their willingness to torture. They are FBI, right? But even other agents don’t mind crossing the line when one of their own is about to die.

The follower: You’re not going to kill me! I’m not talking.

Ryan: We’re not going to kill you. But we’ll get really, really close.

– They can’t save Parker, and the follower makes infuriating comments. Ryan walks towards him, all common sense having replace by furry. He walks towards him and shoots him in one shot shutting him up for good.

Joe claims Ryan can’t get under his skin, but Ryan keeps going with all the triggetr words: “bored with Poe”, “flop”, “second rate”, “no” talent”,”wannabe”

Ryan: My hands are tied, Joe. Doesn’t quite make for a fair fight.

Joe: I’ve been stabbed with both a knife and a fork so I don’t think that there’s gonna be any more fighting.

Oh, No, He Didn’t!!!

Ryan is my favorite character, and I cut him a lot of slack due to the traumas he has gone through and how cool Kevin Bacon is but his lack of broad thinking just annoys me to no end. How can he know so much about the cult’s wide network and know how the followers integrated themselves into their lives so seamlessley, and yet still not suspect his neighbor a bit? How predictable is it to go to his own house? Come on, even if Joe is dead, and especially if Joe is dead, how can he not expect an angry follower or two to stake him out??? The last scene serves him right for being so naive. Dude, you should have known better!

Despite the FBI’s constant failures and Ryan’s occasional stupidity, I loved the show. I will be back the next season to see if it is still entertaining.

How about you? Are you still following?

Also on The Following

The Following 1×08 Welcome Home Review: Mike Weston Proves He’s More Than Computers

The Following: Why I’m Still a Follower & Summary for 1×07 Episode Let Me Go

The Following: When Both The Protagonist and Antagonist Are Writers

Mad Love: The Following Episode 4 Review – The Mad Get Madder

The Following 1×03 The Poet’s Fire Review: What’s with the FBI?

The Following 1×02 Chapter Two Review: Still cool, and yes, Hardy Needs to Toughen Up. But how?

The Following starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy: Epic Start