TV Reviews Archive

Picking up right where last week’s episode left off the show continues to explore the ramifications that their mysterious powers have on our heroes’ lives while still finding time to further the overall plot and introduce some new characters.

Mohinder Suresh meets a friend of his father’s and finds that the cockroach isn’t the only bug in his apartment. He also makes a discovery that may lead him to what his father referred to as “patient zero.” Suresh may not have any superpowers but Sendhil Ramamurthy manages to make him interesting enough that we’re never bored when he’s onscreen. He also has the perfect voice for delivering the philosophical opening and closing narration each episode.

Single mother and internet stripper Niki heads out of town with her kid, along with a couple of dead guys in the trunk. How did they get there? And what’s at the destination marked on the map she finds in the shiny new convertible? It seems her blackouts hold the answer. Ali Larter was one of the more recognizable members of the ensemble cast having had a major role in the first two Final Destination  films and made a memorable appearance in Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. As mom on the run Niki Sanders she conveys the scared intensity of the character perfectly and I can’t wait to see where her story leads next.

With this, the third episode in the series, we’re treated to the opening credits from When the Whistle Blows. Once again, I’m left hoping for a return of the wonderful movie send-ups we saw at the start of the original series and the first episode of this one. It’s not that When the Whistle Blows doesn’t hit the mark; it’s just that it’s getting further away from the “extras” part of Extras.

The rest of the episode sees a return to the style of the original, with Andy and Maggie working together on the same film, although, Andy does have a bigger part in the movie, thanks to his newfound TV fame.

The film the pair find themselves working on is a fantasy movie starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. Radcliffe enjoys himself, playing against his squeaky clean Potter image. He’s a sex obsessed teenager (so a normal kid then), who tries to use his star power to score with any female he finds on set, with disastrous (and hilarious) results.

Also working on the film is Warwick Davis, who has a scene with Andy’s agent that, in anyone else’s hands, could have been offensive (it’s full of small people jokes). But in Gervais’ hands, it works. We’re not laughing at Davis, but rather Millman’s imbecile of an agent. With friends like this, Andy doesn’t need enemies!

A group of disparate individuals all begin to manifest strange abilities. It’s hardly an original idea. George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series of books has a not dissimilar theme, as does The 4400. Marvel comics New Universe from the 80′s (shortly to be reborn as newuniversal) dealt with the emergence of super-powered humans on earth. Still, when a show is as entertaining as this one, who cares?

The opening onscreen text gives the show an epic feel, and the fact it’s billed as “Chapter One: Genesis” only enhances that.

The tale starts in India where Mohinder Suresh, a genetics professor, learns of his father’s death in New York. His father had been looking for the next step in human evolution and Suresh heads to the US not only to find out what happened to his father, but to continue his quest as well. He takes his father’s old apartment and gets a job driving a cab.

Also in New York are a male nurse, Peter Petrelli, who has a recurring dream of flying and his politician brother who is running for congress. Can Peter really fly? That’s a mystery the episode waits until the end to reveal. It’s an unexpected twist that nicely wrong foots the viewer’s expectations.

Shark is a series built of clichés, from the title on down. I’m sure the producers probably wanted to name the lead character Sebastian Shark. Thankfully, they stopped short of that and went for Stark instead.

The show starts with Stark in court where he gets a client who’s accused of attempting to murder his wife off scot-free. Shortly thereafter, he is shocked to discover that the man has murdered his wife. He clearly has never watched L.A. Law or Boston Legal or … you get the idea. This makes me wonder why Mr Stark has such a high reputation. He’s defending a guy who’s accused of attempted murder and the supposed victim is on the side of the defence! Some hotshot lawyer, I could probably have got him off.

After spending a month of remorse at home, he’s contacted by the Mayor. He wants him to head up a new high profile prosecution team, under the D.A. played by Jeri Ryan.

Accepting the position, he finds he’s been burdened with the misfits of the District Attorney’s office. For their first case they will be prosecuting a wholesome pop star accused of murder. Early on he gives them his three rules of trial law -
1. Trial is war – second place is death.
2. Truth is relative – pick one that works.
3. In a jury trial, there are only 12 opinions that matter.
It’s soon clear that, while he may now be on the side of the angels, he hasn’t changed his methods.

What a wonderful place Jericho is, it’s like the idyllic small town. The perfect place to meet the apocalypse? Or perhaps the sort of place that would have you wishing you’d been incinerated instead?

Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) returns home after years away to claim his inheritance and try and put his life in order. Encountering old acquaintances who ask where he’s been he responds with a different answer each time, so it’s clear he has a secret past. After failing to get his money from his father, the town’s Mayor, he heads back to the big city. And that’s when things get a bit more interesting. But only a bit.

After the opening ten minutes of family squabbles and a soundtrack that suffers from a severe case of bland rock overkill, I was starting to lose interest. Thankfully, this is when a nuclear explosion goes off destroying Denver. Not that I have anything against Denver. It’s just that if that hadn’t happened, I think I might have fallen asleep.

After checking that the radiation is below danger levels, the Mayor organises a search party for his son and a missing school bus. He attempts to calm the concerned parents only to be told, “That’s easy for you to say, you don’t have a child out there.” Cue clichéd cut to Jake.

This episode concentrates far more on the main characters than the celebrity guest stars although when David Bowie does make an appearance it’s well worth the wait.

It starts with an excerpt from Andy Millman’s sitcom ‘When the Wind Blows’ rather than the usual spoof movie clip and while it’s not without comedy value, it’s something I’d prefer didn’t continue every week.

Throughout the episode, Andy discovers that fame is a double-edged sword. An encounter with a beggar has him concerned that he’ll be presented in a bad light if he fails to give generously enough, while an attractive new neighbour has him attempt to “use his new powers for evil” as Maggie puts it.

The episode really has two double acts this week. On top of Andy and Maggie we also have Stephen Merchant as Millman’s agent and Shaun Williamson as his only other client who he always refers to as “Barry from Eastenders.” While they’ve appeared regularly, this episode gives them more exposure than normal and it doesn’t really work as they serve the series best as supporting characters.

When Andy is recognized in a pub by a couple of freaky fans he can’t wait to get away and at Shaun’s suggestion they head off to an exclusive club. Here he’s recognized again only this time by people slightly less fanatical about his new comedy show. He manages to take some short lived shelter from the abuse in the cordoned off VIP area, short lived because having barely sat down he’s asked to move when a real star, in the shape of David Bowie makes an appearance.

Ricky Gervais’s comedy series Extras made a welcome return to British TV screens on Thursday 14th September. The series follows the misadventures of Andy Millman and Maggie Jacobs, two would-be actors who despite their best efforts can’t seem to rise above the level of extra.

Or can they? The end of last season saw Andy sell the idea for a sitcom to the BBC and this episode picks up pretty much where we left off, with the first episode of When the Whistle Blows about to be filmed in front of a live studio audience.

Yet things are not as bright as they may seem for Andy. The BBC wants alterations to his work of comic genius to broaden its appeal and then there are last minute cast changes. There are shades of Gervais’s own problems with the BBC here, over what channel the show would air on. They wanted the mass appeal of BBC1, he refused to do a second series unless they showed it on the more ‘arty’ BBC2, comparing appearing on BBC1 to being a door to door salesman. Ricky won but he had the success of The Office behind him,. Andy’s not so lucky. Parallel to this we get to see Maggie, still working as an extra this time on a legal romcom starring Orlando Bloom.

Ricky Gervais is on fine form as Andy torn between success and his principles and the wonderful Ashley Jensen shines as Maggie. How can you not love a woman who can’t see the appeal of Mr Bloom?