Buffy Rewind Review – “Angel”

Angel (Daniel Boreanaz) and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) can't fight this feeling anymore and they've forgotten what they started fighting for.

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Season 1 – Episode 7
“Angel”

Oh, thank God; a mythology episode. The last episode, “The Pack” was pretty horrendous, and “Angel” was a welcomed palette cleanser. This episode is more in keeping of what I want to see from this series.

True Blood – “Night on the Sun”

Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) realizes that a shotgun is more reliable than glowing hands.

Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 8
“Night on the Sun”

The third season of ‘True Blood’ continues to be the strongest of the series. The first was engaging due to the newness of the show and a season long mystery. The second season felt clumsily cleaved in half; a stronger half about the Fellowship of the Sun and Godric gave way to the disappointing resolution of the Maryann plot. Despite a few subplots that I’m less invested in (I’m still looking at you Jason Stackhouse and Arlene Fowler), this season as a whole has felt tighter conceptually than the previous two.

Mad Men - "The Good News"

Don (Jon Hamm) and Anna (Melinda Page Hamilton) share the end of 1964 together.
Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Mad Men'
Season 4 - Episode 3
"The Good News"

Structurally, "The Good News" is an odd little episode of 'Mad Men'. For the most part, this is very Don Draper heavy installment, but we get sprinkles of Joan's private life interspersed throughout. Also, via his interactions with both Joan and Don, Lane Pryce is given more illumination. Throw in a very brief and concise ending scene (Joan asking the partners of SCDP "Gentlemen, shall we begin 1965?") and we're left with an impression that the epilogue portion of season four has concluded and the real Texas belt buckle sized meat will start hitting the plate next week.

DS9 Rewind Review – “The Passenger”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’
Season 1 – Episode 8
“The Passenger”

“The Passenger” is extremely pedestrian Star Trek. There are no surprises, the mystery is clumsy, and the solution is steeped in techno-babble. Sadly, the core concept of a criminal that lives on in someone else’s mind as a stowaway is actually interesting. Unfortunately, the execution isn’t very good.

True Blood – “Hitting the Ground”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 7
“Hitting the Ground”

Wow. That ending certainly took the title of the episode literally. While vampire politics took a backseat to the perils of Sookie Stackhouse this week, their implications are certain to have a dramatic impact on this series moving forward. Edgington’s extremely bold power play at the end could result in a civil war amongst the vampire establishment. Given his age and power, plus an army of daywalking werewolves at his disposal, this could get nice and messy.

Mad Men – “Christmas Comes but Once a Year”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Mad Men’
Season 4 – Episode 2
“Christmas Comes but Once a Year”

These first two episodes of the fourth season are really driving home the sense of isolation that Don Draper feels, now that he is separated from Betty and not around the kids that often. For someone in his position, the holidays can be the loneliest time of the year. So lonely that he’s making passes at the nurse from down the hall or engaging in a sudden romp with his personal secretary, Allison. In both cases, Don has been extremely drunk.

Cultural Wormhole Present: X-Nation Episode 2

In this installment of X-Nation, Antony and Paul are joined by Liz as they discuss the news from the San Diego Comic Con in the X-Buzz, take a look back at the Month of X for July 2010, and travel back in time for more Days of X-Men Past. Plus, Corwin fills us in on July's Deadpool books in the Merc Report.