The Cost of Living

Lost, Season 3 - premiered on Wednesday, November 1, 2006

LostFlashback: Eko returns to Yemi’s church after his death, where he is soon confronted by militia members who want to take most of the vaccines supplied by the Red Cross. Eko has his own way of dealing with this threat, one that is not fully in keeping with the Scriptures.

The Island: Eko has a vision of his brother, telling him that he must confess his sins. Still somewhat delirious from his wounds, he nonetheless leaves camp to return to the plane by the Pearl Station. Locke is also organizing an expedition to the Pearl with Sayid and Desmond, looking for a way to contact the Others using the hatch’s equipment. He decides to offer an open invitation, so Charlie goes along, as do Nikki and Paulo, who have been feeling left out of much of the excitement. The catch up with Eko, who has another confrontation with the black cloud. Inside the Pearl, Nikki realizes that they should be checking to see if they can observe any other hatches - which they briefly manage to do.

In the Others’ camp, Jack deduces that Ben has the spinal tumor, which seems to unnerve Ben enough to admit that their plans to win Jack into their confidence have been derailed. And Juliet seems to have her own ideas about how the surgery should go. But as always, the question is whether any of the Others are to be trusted.

Order the DVDswritten by Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen
directed by Jack Bender
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Kiele Sanchez (Nikki), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo), Michael Bowen (Pickett), Adetokumboh MCormack (Yemi), Muna Otaru (Amina), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Emeka), Jermaine Scooter Smith (Daniel), Michael Robinson (Trader), Ariston Green (Guard), Lawrence Jones (Soldier), Alicia Young (Blind Woman)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Torn

Season 3, Battlestar Galactica (New) - premiered on Friday, November 3, 2006

Battlestar GalacticaOn the Cylon ship, Baltar pleads for his continued survival, using the only bargaining chip he has - his conjectures about the location of Earth and the thirteenth colony. On Galactica, Baltar’s former chief of staff is back in uniform: Gaeta is also making use of Baltar’s notes, as well as the sacred scrolls, to find the way to Earth for the fleet. But Admiral Adama has weightier matters on his mind; Tigh and Starbuck have taken up residence in the rec room, telling anyone within earshot how much worse things were for the humans on New Caprica than they were for the members of the fleet who rescued them. Before long, a division appears among Galactica’s crew between those who were trapped on the planet and those who weren’t. En route to the site that he calls the road to Earth, Baltar finds himself with a new mission to investigate a Cylon ship harboring a disease that could spell the end to their entire race.

written by Anne Cofell Saunders
directed by Jean de Segoznac
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Lucy Lawless (D’anna Biers), Rick Worthy (The Doctor), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Matthew Bennett (Aaron Doral), Lucianna Carro (Kat), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Leah Cairns (Racetrack), Madeleine Parker (Kacey), Sebastian Spence (Narcho), Emilie Ullerup (Julia), Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Hybrid), Rachel Hayward (Blonde Woman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Cyberwoman

Season 1, Torchwood - premiered on Sunday, November 5, 2006

TorchwoodCompletely against standard operating procedure, Ianto admits a visitor to Torchwood - a Japanese doctor he’s called in to help with a special project. That project is Lisa, Ianto’s girlfriend, partially Cyber-converted and salvaged from the wreckage of the Torchwood London headquarters in Canary Wharf. He has kept her hidden away in the basement level, along with a complete Cyberman conversion pod which he’s managed to turn into a life support system. The doctor is able to help Lisa leave the life support system, but once under her own power, she exhibits little of her own personality - she’s a Cyberman seeking to complete her upgrade and then she’ll begin to convert the rest of the human race. Once Ianto’s project is exposed, Jack decides that yet another branch of Torchwood may have to be sacrificed to stop a Cyber invasion…but Ianto’s loyalties lie elsewhere.

Order the DVDswritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by James Strong
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Caroline Chikezie (Lisa), Togo Igawa (Dr. Tanizaki), Bethan Walker (Annie)

Original Title: The Trouble With Lisa

Notes: Ianto apparently worked at the London branch of Torchwood during the Dalek-Cyberman battle (Doctor Who: Doomsday). This marks the first time a female Cyberman has appeared on screen, though much was made of female Cybermen in the Doctor Who audio story Real Time.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Nothing To Hide

Heroes, Season 01 - premiered on Monday, November 6, 2006

HeroesPeter Petrelli is woken from a dream in which he shows Simone’s father his ability to fly. When he gets out of bed to answer the knock on his door, Peter is surprised to find Simone. She tells him that her father died an hour ago - after telling her about flying with Peter. When Peter asks Simone about Isaac’s paintings, she reveals that someone named Linderman bought them; knowing that Linderman has invested heavily in his brother’s Congressional campaign, Peter seeks Nathan’s help. After patching up his relationship with his wife, Officer Matt Parkman tries to return to his day-to-day job with the LAPD, only to find himself again pulled into the FBI’s hunt for Sylar. Another victim has been found - a charred body that looks like a normal burn victim, but is emitting enough residual radiation to treat the corpse as hazardous material. A fingerprint match is found, leading them to a man named Ted Sprague. But Parkman is alarmed when he realizes that he and his FBI contact are going in without backup - and possibly without anyone else knowing where they’re going. They find Sprague’s home trashed, with everything from photos to ceiling fans burned and melted, flooded with radiation. Sprague is tracked down to a local hospital, where he takes a hostage, but Parkman uses his ability to read thoughts to resolve the situation peacefully. Niki Sanders awakens to find that her ex is gone, and has apparently taken her son. She realizes that the only way to get her son back may be to let Jessica - the woman who looks like her in the mirror, and seems to take charge when she’s in danger - take over again. On the road, D.L. and Micah argue about leaving Niki behind, but stop when they see a car on fire in the road. Another car pulls up to help, this one driven by Hiro and Ando. D.L. pulls an unconscious woman from the car, but not before the flames reach the car’s gas tank; Hiro uses his ability to stop time just as the tank explodes, and gets D.L. and the woman out of harm’s way. But with Jessica hunting them down, and Micah manifesting his own unusual abilities, they won’t be able to run forever.

Order the DVDswritten by Jesse Alexander
directed by Donna Deitch
music by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman / vocals by Shenkar

Guest Cast: Clea Duvall (Audrey Hanson), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Lisa Lackey (Janice Parkman), Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli), Ashley Crow (Sandra Bennet), Matthew John Armstrong (Ted Sprague), Thomas Dekker (Zach), Deirdre Quinn (Tina), Rick Peters (Tom McHenry), Stephen Spinella (Oliver Dennison), Rena Sofer (Heidi Petrelli), Richard Roundtree (Charles Deveaux)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

I Do

Lost, Season 3 - premiered on Wednesday, November 8, 2006

LostFlashback: Hiding out in Miami, Kate is trying to settle down. She’s taken the name Monica and is about to marry Kevin, a police officer. At first she’s happy to have found a home. She even calls the marshal pursuing her to ask him to back off, but he replies that they both know that she’s going to keep running and he’s going to keep coming after her. When Kevin tells her to get a passport so they can take a delayed honeymoon to Costa Rica, and she briefly thinks she might be pregnant, Kate decides that it’s time to move on again.

The Island: In order to avoid distressing the castaways on the beach, Locke decides to bury Eko near the Pearl hatch. He takes a detour into the jungle to find Ekp’s prayer stick to use as a grave marker. But as he hammers it into the ground, a particular inscription catches his eye, telling him to lift up his eyes.

Kate watches Pickett threaten Sawyer, and becomes convinced that the man, grieving over Colleen’s death, means to kill Sawyer. Those fears are only raised when Alex storms into the quarry, attacking the Others with a slingshot, demanding to know what happened to her boyfriend – the man Sawyer saw try to escape. Sawyer, meanwhile, seems resigned and practically defeated. When Kate wants to escape, Sawyer tells her there’s no point – they’re on a smaller island, totally cut off from their own. There’s no place to run, but Sawyer didn’t want her to lose hope. They kiss, then make love, and as they lay together in Sawyer’s cage, Sawyer tells her that he loves her.

Jack tells Ben that he has about a week before the tumor becomes inoperable, but he doesn’t plan to do the surgery. After all, he has no reason to believe anything the Others tell him. Even when Kate comes in, pleading with him to do the surgery so that Sawyer won’t be killed, he refuses. Some time after Kate’s visit, the door to his cell opens. Jack makes his way to the surveillance room, where he finds a gun – and a monitor showing Kate and Sawyer huddled together. Ben appears behind him, admitting his surprise. Jack says he’ll do the surgery – anything to get off the island.

Once Ben is in surgery, Pickett storms out to find Sawyer. He’s clearly angry that Ben has put himself in Jack’s hands, and mentions that Jack wasn’t even on someone named Jacob’s list. He decides to get his revenge on Sawyer then and there. But Jack makes a sudden incision in Ben, and his vitals suddenly change. Jack demands that Mr. Friendly bring the walkie talkie into the operating room. He does, and tells Pickett to let them go and put Kate on the line. Jack tells her that she’s going to get a one hour head start on the Others, and that she has to run. When she’s away, she should tell Kate the story he told her the day they first met on the beach. Otherwise, Jack will let Ben die.

Order the DVDswritten by Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
directed by Tucker Gates
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Kiele Sanchez (Nikki), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo), M.C. Gainey (Mr. Friendly), Tania Raymonde (Alex), Michael Bowen (Pickett), Nathan Fillion (Kevin), Eden-Lee Murray (Suzanne), Mark Stitham (Minister), Frederic Lane (The Marshal)

Notes: This episode was advertised as the “fall season finale,” with the series taking an extended break in order to be able to run the remaining episodes of the season without any breaks or reruns.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

A Measure Of Salvation

Season 3, Battlestar Galactica (New) - premiered on Friday, November 10, 2006

Battlestar GalacticaAfter Baltar abandons the infected Cylon base ship - and deliberately neglecting to tell the Cylons about the unusual object he found aboard - a Raptor from Galactica finds the infected ship and calls for backup. Apollo leads a larger team into the heart of the ship, infiltrating the command center and finding the ship in shambles, with only a handful of survivors. Under interrogation, one of the Cylons says that they’ve been left to die with no resurrection ship nearby because the moment they die, the virus will download along with their personalities. Apollo suggests using this to wipe out the Cylons entirely - deliberately putting Galactica in the path of the Cylons, and executing the prisoners to force them to download the virus into the nearest resurrection ship. But Helo, who admits to being slightly biased because he’s married to Sharon, says that this would be genocide, making the Colonials no better than the Cylons themselves. Ironically, Sharon is immune to the virus because she had a half-human child, so she isn’t at risk. After much discussion, President Roslin orders Adama to go ahead with the plan, but when the time comes to kill the prisoners, Apollo finds that they’ve already been killed - long before the resurrection ship was in download range.

written by Michael Angeli
directed by Bill Eagles
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Lucy Lawless (D’anna Biers), Rick Worthy (The Doctor), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Matthew Bennett (Aaron Doral), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Leah Cairns (Racetrack), Eileen Pedde (Mathias), Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Hybrid)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Small Worlds

Season 1, Torchwood - premiered on Sunday, November 12, 2006

TorchwoodFreak weather conditions, strange sightings and deaths add up to one thing for Jack - a species that most humans would describe as fairies has returned, eliminating anyone who stands between them and their “chosen one.” Jack has seen their work before, when they wiped out an entire squad of men under his command during his time on Earth in World War II. This time, their chosen one is an ordinary, if lonely, child - and anyone who makes her life miserable, from her stepfather to school bullies, is marked for death. When Torchwood steps in to put an end to the killing, they’re marked too - even Gwen’s home is attacked. When it comes to ridding the human race of the fairies’ influence, what lengths will Jack go to and what sacrifices will he make to protect Earth?

Order the DVDswritten by Peter J. Hammond
directed by Alice Troughton
music by Murray Gold & Ben Foster

Guest Cast: Eve Pearce (Estelle), Lara Phillipart (Jasmine), Adrienne O’Sullivan (Lynn), William Travis (Roy), Roger Barclay (Goodson), Heledd Baskerville (Kate), Ffion Wilkins (WPC), Nathan Sussex (Custody Sergeant), Paul Jones (Man in street), Sophie Davies (Bully), Victoria Gourley (Bully)

Notes: Peter J. Hammond is also the creator of the cult British SF series Sapphire & Steel. Director Alice Troughton is no relation to the late Patrick Troughton, who was the second Doctor Who.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Seven Minutes To Midnight

Heroes, Season 01 - premiered on Monday, November 13, 2006

HeroesMohinder Suresh returns to India to scatter his father’s ashes, with no intention of returning to America to continue his research. Despite more tantalizing clues into his father’s work at home, he wants to resume his normal life. Even then, painful revelations surface when Mohinder’s mother reveals that he had a sister with special abilities, who died before Mohinder was born. In L.A., Parkman is once again dragged into FBI work, helping his Bureau contact interrogate Ted Sprague, who is facing charges of possessing radioactive material and a handover to the Department of Homeland Security. Parkman is more interested in Sprague’s story of how he came to have his powers - a story that parallels Parkman’s own experiences with his mind-reading ability - but he’s pulled off the case when the LAPD suspends him for assaulting his former partner (after Parkman overhead a stray thought that revealed his wife was having an affair with his fellow officer). In a diner in a small Texas town, Hiro meets a waitress with an amazing memory and a gift for languages, and grows attached to her - only to find her dead later, Sylar’s latest victim. Hiro decides to transport himself back in time to save her, promising Ando that he’ll only appear to be gone five seconds. When Hiro fails to appear, Ando can only assume that his friend has become the next victim…

Order the DVDswritten by Tim Kring
directed by Paul Edwards
music by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman / vocals by Shenkar

Guest Cast: Clea Duvall (Audrey Hanson), Nora Zehetner (Eden McCain), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Erick Avari (Chandra Suresh), Jayma Mays (Charlie Andrews), Matthew John Armstrong (Ted Sprague), Lisa Lackey (Janice Parkman), Stacy Haiduk (FBI Agent), Shishir Kurup (Nirand), Sakina Jaffrey (Mrs. Suresh), Kavi Ladiner (Mira), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Karri Turner (Lisa)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Hero

Season 3, Battlestar Galactica (New) - premiered on Friday, November 17, 2006

Battlestar GalacticaThree Cylon fighters appear near Galactica, but rather than attacking the Colonial fleet, two of the Cylons are trying to destroy the third. Starbuck and Kat take out the two pursuers, but Adama orders them to stand down when a human voice is heard over the speakers, identifying himself as “Bulldog.” The Cylon ship is brought in for a landing on Galactica, and a human male tumbles out of it - Adama recognizes him as Bulldog, a pilot Adama selected for a top secret mission (and wound up abandoning when his fighter was shot down) over a year before the Cylon attacks on the Colonies. When Bulldog pays a social call to his old friend Tigh, who’s still off-duty, Tigh reveals the real nature of Bulldog’s mission. Adama confesses the same to his son, admitting that Bulldog’s real mission was to determine whether or not the Cylons were still out there and preparing for a strike on the Colonies - and that his capture by the Cylons could have been the event that sparked the attack that came later. Adama confesses that he feels the weight of responsibility for causing the attacks that nearly wiped out humanity. And analyzing the desperate flight that brought Bulldog back to Galactica, Starbuck begins to warn her superiors that she thinks it’s no accident that the lost hero has returned home.

written by David Eick
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Lucy Lawless (D’anna Biers), Carl Lumbly (Bulldog), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Matthew Bennett (Aaron Doral), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Lucianna Carro (Kat), Barry Kennedy (Admiral Corman), Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Hybrid)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Countrycide

Season 1, Torchwood - premiered on Sunday, November 19, 2006

TorchwoodA number of disappearances in a rural area of Wales sends Torchwood on a camping trip - something to which Owen is just a little bit unaccustomed. But a body turns up nearby, and while the team is examining it, someone hijacks their high-tech SUV. They head toward a building on foot, finding an abandoned pub. Ianto and Sato are separated from the others, finding themselves trapped in a cellar, while Jack, Gwen and Owen discover that they’re not alone when someone shoots Gwen at point-blank range. Owen is able to perform emergency surgery under less than ideal conditions, but it gets Gwen back on her feet. Sato and Ianto are in the middle of an escape attempt when a woman shows up, pointing a shotgun at them and telling them that they’re being “collected.” When their captors demonstrate an appetite for human meat, Ianto gives Sato a chance to escape the human harvest. Has Torchwood discovered a nest of alien-possessed humans, or simply a cannibal cult?

Order the DVDswritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Andy Goddard
music by Murray Gold & Ben Foster

Guest Cast: Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Owen Teale (Evan Sherman), Maxine Evans (Helen Sherman), Calum Callaghan (Kieran), Rhys ap Trefor (Huw), Emily Bowker (Ellie), Robert Barton (Martin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green