I don't even know what to say about "Last Goodbyes." It's kind of a difficult episode to review because it was really all about Audrey coming to the realization that she has to fight to say in this world. How it went down, however, was pretty fun.

Since she's Trouble free, Audrey found out she was the only person in Haven awake on a day when, well, everyone else wasn't. It was pretty easy to figure out Amnesia Man was in a coma and his coming out of it was what put everyone else into one, and kind of funny that it was he who realized they were in comas and not just asleep. How did he know they were in comas? 

Nolan North played the part of Amnesia Man (Will Brady) so well. He has great comedic timing and he was perfectly cast to play off Audrey while Haven suffered the fate that was meant for Will. It was a sad tale, but an incredibly enjoyable hour to watch. Emily Rose and Nolan North had such great chemistry that I wouldn't have minded his role continuing. Check out some of the Haven quotes for a taste, and enjoy.

After their day together, I was very happy Audrey seemed to have a new lease on life, and that she decided it wasn't right for Will's family to give up on him. If he could hear what they were saying and was aware of what was going on around him, then they should all be fighting for him to come back, just like Audrey should be fighting to stay in Haven.

At the beginning of the episode, when Audrey and Claire vetted each other as not being the skin walker so they could then vet the rest of their group, I was getting the idea that whoever was behind the whole thing might be The Colorado Kid. Not because he really wants to hurt anyone, but to create this FrankenAudrey that can go into the barn and end The Troubles for 27 years, while he gets to know his mother for the first time. 

By this point, I'd have to imagine The Colorado Kid isn't in the best of shape. We have few details of his life, although we know he grew up in Nederland, Colorado. Did he know about his birth mother? Was he searching for her? Could he have been Troubled, and understood from where he came, wanting all along to have contact with her, but only getting the chance once every 27 years? That could drive someone over the edge and it would be difficult to blame him, much as it is difficult to blame the other Troubled people. I'm just thinking out loud.

Has anyone else had about enough of the Teagues? They aren't amusing with all of their secrets and denials. Their unwillingness to work with Audrey is holding everyone back and putting Haven and everyone we love in the town in jeopardy. I used to enjoy their antics, but now when they're on screen, I just want them off as soon as possible. Whatever quirky fun they originally brought to Haven has washed out to sea. Whether they can redeem themselves remains to be seen. Headline for the Haven Herald: Time Is Running Out!

As it turned out, my nightmare came true. In my review last week, I was fleetingly convinced (as much as I can be convinced of anything on Haven), that Claire was the skin walker. Dammit! Claire is dead. The Bolt Gun Killer is wearing her skin. I hate The Bolt Gun Killer. I have so enjoyed having Bree Williamson on Haven and, unless there is some miraculous save - such as a twin sister who also happens to help The Troubled - she's not long for this world. 

Brilliantly played episode, and with most of it shot with only two actors it felt almost like a stage play. With very few scenes or words, almost everything that needed to be said between Audrey and Nathan was also in the open. The dialog, clues and conclusion were sheer perfection. Am I wrong or am I right?

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/12/haven-review-last-goodbyes/

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

Cyrus is quite the charming gun guy, isn't he? Unlike the other rogue agents that the new Division has chased down, Cyrus was actually a decent guy.

In "Sideswipe," Nikita and Michael went after Cyrus as a means to an end. They wanted to use him to track down Amanda.

Even though I enjoyed the episode as a whole and loved the addition of Cyrus, I had a few issues with the storytelling. First of all, seriously, how could Nikita and Michael NOT see Cyrus' escape coming or at least take precautions to prevent it. Okay, sure they put an electrical tracker in him, so maybe I'm being a little harsh. Though, seriously, Nikita wasn't even paying attention to what was going on. At least, Nikita remembered the clues he gave her, which proved he wasn't working entirely against her or Division. He really was on Team Cyrus.

Why didn't they find out the full technological capabilities of the device before going? Okay, rant over for now. It did provide a nice set up for Amanda to capture Cyrus in order to bait Nikita. Showdowns between Amanda and Nikita have been going on forever, but this time was different. Amanda is obsessed with teaching Nikita "lessons." Amanda has always been smart, manipulative and in search of power, but this is new. For the first time, I question Amanda's sanity. She is fixated on Nikita in an unhealthy way.

Amanda wants to hurt Nikita in the most painful way, through loved ones. The threat is heightened now that Nikita got the better of Amanda; the student schooled the teacher. Nikita figured out the one thing she could do to save Cyrus, put her own life at stake. Amanda wouldn't know what to do with herself if Nikita was killed. At some point, one of them is going to have to kill the other, that's the only way out of it. Unless of course, someone else gets to one of them first.

I loved Michael's comment to Nikita: "If Amanda is here, push harder. This time kill the bitch." Previously Nikita couldn't pull the trigger, but the stakes are heightened now. Nikita will do what is necessary to save those closest to her.

While Michael and Nikita were facing off with Amanda, a drugged-up Alex lead a team to take down Ari. Unfortunately, it was a trap and they were ambushed. At the last minute, Sean literally fell from the sky to save the day. While it created a dramatic rescue, it was a little unnecessary. Why didn't Sean just accompany Alex on the mission? It came across as falsely created drama. Though Salex fans had to be happy with the huge hug in Romania. That closeness was a short-lived reunion, as Sean pushed Alex away back at Division.

Division was hit hard by Amanda and Ari. Their success can be attributed to the mole within the organization. Birkhoff finally was able to uncover and trace the communications and it came back to Sonya. When he realized that she had played him, he couldn't control the pain on his face. All was not as it seemed though. Birkhoff confronted Sonya and she explained how she was forced into helping Amanda. At first, I was a bit skeptical, but she sold it well.

Her kill chip was re-activated? Another mole was watching her? Wow. I believe the part about the kill chip, but the second mole could easily just be a fake threat to scare Sonya into complying. Now that Birkhoff knows about Sonya, will he let the rest of the team know? Tricky situation.

Despite a few storyline choices that felt more contrived than authentic, it was a decent episode. The addition of Cyrus to Division is exciting, because he bring a freshness and charm to the organization that they desperately need.

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/12/nikita-review-sideswipe/

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

"The Human Kind" brought back my Fringe. I know everyone else has been satisfied with the story of Peter going Observer and Olivia being a bit sidelined, but I wasn't. Despite what many want to think, it wasn't because I didn't want Peter to have a great story, or that I wanted single focus on Olivia. In this last season of Fringe, after four years of fighting to be together, I wanted my heroes to be just that - together. Tonight I got my wish, and great acting on the parts of both leads. 

The whole 'watch the video tape for clues' thing is getting kind of old. It was cute when first proposed, in a Myst sort of way, but it's dragged on too long. The best part of the tapes so far played out this week, through the personal story of Simone and her mother, holding the magnet at Walter's request for decades. As some sort of an oracle, not only was she waiting her entire life for someone to come for the magnet that would be used to save the world from the invaders, as she called them, but she could see things about Olivia, as well.

After hearing of Simone's story, and believing her, it was a terrible turn to find that Olivia had become so faithless, because I know she felt similarly about Simone, and in her own time would never have guessed a simple glass of water offered would be laced with sedatives. In the next scene, Windmark was telling Peter his emotions make him weak. That turnaround was very important. Emotions are what make humans strong, and that will be the key to the Observers annihilation.

If Etta hadn't deeply loved her parents, they might have died with her. It was emotion that gave her the strength to let go of her life in an attempt to take Windmark with her. Because when we love, we'll lose ourselves trying to save the ones we care about more than ourselves.

I've wondered before if Walter might be able to upload a virus to the Observers to bring them down, a la "Independence Day," and now I think the best virus would be one to inject into them so much empathy, passion and rage that they would go mad with the feel of it all. That would be a fitting end to the Observers. To die utterly inundated with what they never understood.

I was a little bit confused about Olivia's capture and escape. Wasn't the bullet Etta wore around her neck one of the bullets that killed Olivia in one of the previous universes? I've never fully understood (please don't yell at me, but also feel free to give the scoop in the comments) whether it was the bullet we saw in Peter's imagined future, when Olivia was gunned down in Central Park, or if it was the one that Walter shot her with on the ship when William Bell escaped. Either way, wasn't it already fired?

Here comes a surprise, I don't know much about weapons, other than I'd use one if I had to. If the bullet was used, would it have been able to shoot Olivia's captor? If not, then Olivia was spot on when she was telling Peter that Etta saved her life. It was a very MacGyver escape maneuver, and it felt good to see Olivia get her stones back, even if it was 'only' to rescue her husband, the man she loves most in the world. 

I had written the paragraph above about emotion before Olivia had her chat with Peter about it, as it was quite obvious where it was heading. Whether or not it would work remained to be seen. The catalyst was Windmark's error - showing Peter Etta's last memory before she died. Peter was doing a crack up job of forgetting about being a human until Windmark played for him like a movie what was going through Etta's mind before she died. 

When Olivia really drove home the points about Etta being with them, living through them and inside them, and then saying I love you, it was enough to bring Peter's memories of their lives together rushing back. Yes, I said lives. Because they have had more than one life together, making their love story all the more remarkable. 

When we first saw the gizmo Peter had installed in his neck from Anil early in the episode, I had no idea how large it was. It sure seemed like it was a lot easier to pop something like that out of a neck than it would have been to try to curve it, bend it around and jam it in the right place to get it situated properly in the first place. Kudos to Peter for accomplishing that when he did, without using two mirrors. 

The highest accolades to Peter for listening to Olivia, not shutting down his visions of the past and removing the Observer tech. He didn't even ask for help! The fight is far from over, but now our team is back as a fully functional unit again. They can support one another intellectually and emotionally.

Don't forget to read the Fringe quotes section to relive some of the finer points of the episode, and share your thoughts in the comments. This was the Fringe I had been awaiting all season. Now I want the team to kick some Observer ass and save the world! You?

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/12/fringe-review-the-human-kind/

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2012/12/amazingutterly-breathtaking-18th.html

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

We’ve posted the beautiful work of Barcelona-based illustrator, Giselle Vitali before on Street Anatomy. Her expressive take on medical illustration caught my eye and I’ve continued to follow this girl’s awesome work. Her latest series, titled Musculante, shows her incorporating anatomy into the web icons we’ve become so used to seeing, such as Facebook, Google +, and Twitter.

She says of the work,

Experimentar a fondo—las redes sociales nos invaden, no sabemos si ellas son parte de nosotros o nosotros de ellas. No sabemos tampoco, quien utiliza a quien. Basados en esto, supongo que deben de tener carne, mucosas y huesos, aunque no se, si sentimientos, como nosotros mismos!

Translation: Experimenting thoroughly—the social networks invade us, we do not know if they are part of us or we of them. We do not know either, who uses whom. Based on this, I guess they must have meat, bones and mucus, and even feelings, like ourselves!

View more of Giselle’s work on Behance and her site, gvitali.es.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/streetanatomy/OQuC/~3/3uCMcMHGca0/

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith