Monday, June 8, 2015

Stitchers: Solving Crime One Dead Body's Mind at a Time.




In the new ABC Family series "Stitchers," to kind of put it into prospective, it's a crime solving teen drama that tracks down clues from memories of the victims or criminals. I was recommended of this series from a friend and after watching the pilot, I think it's a pretty good series.

The series follows Kirsten Clark (played by Emma Ishta), who has been recruited into a somewhat secret government agency to be "stitched"  into the memories of people who have recently died and investigates the murders and the mysteries that are unsolved.

When she meets Cameron (played by Kyle Harris), a brilliant neuroscientist, assisting Kirsten in the secret program that's headed by a skilled covert operator, Maggie (played by Salli Richardson-Whitfield from "Eureka").

The series also adds Camille Engelson (played by Allison Scagliotti from "Warehouse 13" & Drake & Josh").

The pilot tells the story of Kristen, who surfers from a disorder that can't so any emotions. A college student who just got busted by her roommate and is suspended. Later on, she gets word that her "father" committed suicide, but she doesn't think that he killed himself.

She ask more questions to the detective than he ask her. Later when hacks into a professor's computer to look into the photos of the crime scene of her "fathers," a group of agents swat their way in and take her to a secret location at a Chinese restaurant.

That's where she meets with Maggie and they have this less than five minute chat. After their chat, Maggie shows Kirsten the "stitched" project that they want her help with.

There she meets with Cameron and have one hell of a meeting and discussion that I found interesting and amazed because of the chemistry that they show on screen.

When they brief her about she will be doing, she accepted. Going into a fish tank that has a chair, she sits in it and she travels into the dead victim's mind who happens to be a bomber, Peter, and they're trying to figure out why and find where the other bombs are at.

From what she sees at first is a bit freaky but when she follows the events, Peter having a girlfriend, Julie, having dinner and sleeping together. When Kirsten has been in there a bit too long, she had to pull out and just in the nick of time she does, but when she comes out she gets up walking towards Cameron and talks to him as if she was Julie.

Peter set the bomb not on accident but on purpose for the love that he had lost. Two executives, Jane and Fred, took the idea of Julie and that very much upset her. That upset her so much that she walked away from Peter and as she walked into the streets, she got hit.

Peter took it very hard and act on revenge. Kirsten and Cameron went out to search for Jane and Fred. They needed help so Kirsten went to Camille, who's still upset with her.

They located Jane just before the bomb in her home goes off and asked her where Fred is at. They found him in the basement with a bomb around him along with a motion detector remote. Kirsten tires to think of how to stop the bomb and when she remembers hearing phone numbers being pressed. She goes to the phone and looks and find the code that was "Julie."

After all this, Kirsten wanted out because for the first time she felt what emotions are like. She felt happy, sad, mad and all them other feelings all at once. But when Maggie comes in and give her a file of her dead "father" she wants back in and knows who killed him, her real father.

After watching pilot, I was pretty much amazed of the characters in the series. My friend who recommended the series to me, told me that Kirsten is a bit of between two characters of Abed from "Community" and Sheldon Copper from "The Big Bang Theory." I would agree but also add that the character has this Taylor Swift look as well.

Solving crime through the memories of a dead person's body does seem interesting. I'm looking forward watching more episodes to see where this series will go. ABC Family does take the teen drama and add along with cop drama and adding syfy as well. I believe that's the network's formula.

You can watch "Stitchers" Tuesday nights at 9/8c on ABC Family.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

NBC's Fall New Series: Blindspot



It's one of fall's buzzed about shows, from the executive producer Greg Berlanti ("Arrow" & "The Mysteries of Laura") comes "Blindspot."

When a vast international plot explodes when a beautiful Jane Doe is discovered naked in Time Square, completely covered in mysterious, intricate tattoos with no memory of who she is or how she got there. There's one that's very clear, however the name of FBI agent Kurt Weller, is emblazoned across her back.

"Jane," Agent Weller and the rest of the FBI quickly realize that each mark on her body is a crime to solve. That leads them closer to the truth about her identity and the mysteries that will be revealed.

The in this series includes Sullivan Stapleton ("300: Rise of an Empire"), Jamie Alexander ("Thor"), Rob Brown ("Coach Carter"), Marianne Jean-Baptiste ("Broadchurch" & "RoboCop"), Ashley Johnson ("Growing Pains" & "The Avengers"), Audrey Esparaza ("Power" & Madam Secretary")  and Ukweli Roach ("The Royals" & "One Day").

Martin Gero ("SGU Stargate Universe" & "Bored to Death")  serves as the series writer and executive producer. Along with Berlanti, Sarah Schechter ("The Mysteries of Laura," "Arrow" & "Supergirl") and director Mark Pellington ("Cold Case") also be executive producing.

Checkout the trailer for the series.

"Blindspot" will premiere Monday, Sept. 21 at 10/9c on NBC.


Casualty: A Medical Drama that Still Holds True




It's the longest-running medical drama in television series and is called the most enduring medical drama that's shown around the world. "Casualty" is the hit British drama series on television since 1986. That's nearly 30 years.

Hell, we have "The Simpsons" over 25, "Law & Order" & "Gunsmoke" at 20, along with "ER" at 15, which is America's most extended medical drama on television.

If you saw "Casualty," that's okay. I hadn't heard of it until a couple of years ago. The series is set in a fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the doctors, nurses, and patients who come through those doors and into the Emergency Department.

Somehow, this show has stood for nearly 30 years, with viewers still tuning in each week. Of course,e with every character, there's a chance that they might die or get to leave and move on in one piece and be happy. And usually, British television shows know when it's time to end a series.

In its 29th season, the show still has one character from the beginning, Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson), the senior charge nurse of the ED. There are also characters like the clinical lead Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing), consultant in emergency medicine Zoe Hanna (Sunetra Sarker), the awkward but brilliant Dylan Keogh (William Beck), and not to mention the registrars of Ethan Hardy (George Rainsford), Caleb Knight (Richard Winsor), F2 doctor Lily Chao, and the clinical nurse manager Rita Freeman (Chloe Howman).

There are a lot of characters that come and go, as you can see in the cast.


The series featured many feature stars, from Kate Winslet to Orlando Bloom, Minnie Driver to even ER alum Parminder Nagra. It also brought a lot of spin and special series from Holby City, HolbyBlue, Casualty 1900s, and the crossover series of Casualty@Holby City.

As I said, I heard of this show a couple of years ago. I only found out about the series when I was looking up medical drama shows and found this series. I only get to watch it on YouTube, and there are episodes from the past seasons.

 I find the characters interesting and just listening and watching what the health care in the UK is like and what it's like over here in the US.  Even though, to our own eyes, it might be a bit dull at first, once you get used to it and pay attention, it's an excellent series.

I do recommend trying to find this series and watch it. You might like this season's version more than the past ones. It makes Grey's Anatomy look like a wrong medical soap opera. Hell, at least Casualty knows how to surprise the audience when a character is killed off.

Casualty is a medical series that, for nearly 30 years, still holds to keep the story fresh, medical issues tangible, and not make it too soapy.

You can see Casualty on Saturday nights on BBC One.

Complications: A New Thrilling Series




From the creator and executive producer of the iconic hit series "Burn Notice." Matt Nix brings a new and unpredictable thriller to USA Network, "Complications."

The series centers on a disillusioned suburban Dr. John Ellison (played by Jason O'Mara, "Vegas"), who while still dealing with the emotional effects of his daughter's death, he unexpectedly becomes a vigilante hero when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting, saving a young boy's life.

When John learns the boy is still marked for death, he's compelled to save him at any cost. Through this journey, he must compromise his morals, often doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons.

This series also stars Jessica Szohr ("Gossip Girls") as Gretchen, a reckless but capable nurse. Ben Riesgraf ("Leverage") as John's wife, Samantha, who while attempting to support her husband, is also struggling with her own issues. And Lauren Stamile ("Burn Notice") as John's by-the-book coworker, Dr. Bridget O'Neil, who finds herself dealing with the aftermath of his actions.


Take a look at the official trailer.

The series looks like a fast pace, thrilling medical drama. From what the trailer had shown, it looks very interesting to see what this show shows in stories for these characters.

You can catch "Complications" Thursday, June 18th at 9/8c on USA Network.

The X Files: I Guess You Can Go "Home Again"




The X-Files Season 10 Home AgainI guess you can go home again. Well, that's where Mulder and Scully will be heading back.

According to TVLine exclusively, that the second episode of the revival limited series will have a sequel to the Season 4 episode "Home."

With the second episode titled "Home Again." It's written and directed by Glen Morgan, who also wrote the "Home" with co-writer James Wong.

TVLine also mentions that "both installments are the second episodes of their respective seasons, and the Jan. 25, 2016 air date for "Home Again" comes almost 20 years to the day after the Oct. 11, 1996 broadcast of "Home."



Friday, June 5, 2015

NBC's "Chicago Med" Pushed to Fall.

Dr. Hannah Tramble (Laurie Holden, left),  Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gelfuss) and Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) in the  "Chicago Med" pilot. | NBC~Elizabeth Morris


It's reported by Deadline on Friday that NBC has pushed "Chicago Med" from midseason premiere to it's fall schedule.

The "Chicago Fire" spin off will air Tuesday following "The Voice" at 9/8c in September. The pilot of "Chicago Med" aired in an episode of "Chicago Fire" in April.

The original fall time slot spot was for another medical drama, "Heartbreaker," whose star Melissa George is pregnant and has prompted scheduling shuffle. The series will air sometime during midseason.

The fourth season of "Chicago Fire" is being held til November. That 9pm time slot is being held for Neil Patrick Harris's new variety show, "Best Time Ever."

With the scheduling change means that when "Fire" returns later in the fall, it'll have "Med" as it's lead-in, continuing the Dick Wolf dynasty of four dramas on NBC (having Law & Order: SVU and Chicago PD staying on their Wednesday night time slot this fall).

Deadline also reports that "Chicago Med" has been quietly preparing for an earlier production start. And also that the show has added Andrew Dettmann ("CSI" and "Body of Proof") as showrunner to the series.

Chicago Med stars Laurie Holden ("The Walking Dead" &'Dumb & Dumber To", Colin Donnell ("Arrow" & "The Affair") Nick Gehlfuss ("Chicago PD" and "Shameless"), Oliver Platt ("The Big C") and S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order").


Jurassic World: Thoughts Before Seeing The Film


We're just a week away til the release of the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise: Jurassic World. Let me just say that Jurassic Park is literally my favorite movie and book of all time and with the new movie coming out I thought I write a bit of a my retrospective of the franchise.

Of course, Jurassic Park was release back in 1990 when author Michael Crichton had an idea of bring back dinosaurs with DNA.

The idea was mind-blowing and when Steven Spielberg heard of the idea from Crichton when they were writing the first draft of a film that they were going to do called ER (soon turned into a hit and legendary TV series). Spielberg stopped ER and moved towards Dinosaurs and DNA concept.

Soon in 1993, Jurassic Park was made and it became the highest grossing movie of all time until Titanic came and then Avatar came and bump it down to third. The film literally changed the game of film making with the  computer animation of the dinosaurs that looked so real. I assuming that when folks saw it that they wet their pants of something like that when they saw the T-Rex come out of it's play pin.


I never saw the film in theaters. I was a bit too young to see it. But it was later when my grandfather rented the movie and had me and my grandmother watch, I was like mind blown and addicted to it. And by the way, I didn't put two and two together until later that Michael Crichton was the guy who created ER and Jurassic Park.

I was interested in dinosaurs after that, but of course a teacher I had in grade school, who happens to dress up like Miss. Frizzle, had told us that those dinosaurs didn't live in the Jurassic era. I didn't care, it was still the greatest movie and story I've ever seen.

Later after Jurassic Park, the fans demanded a sequel. Boy, sequels were a thing and even still to this day I believe. Even Spielberg wanted to do a sequel too and Crichton wrote the book sequel called The Lost World: Jurassic Park.


The book was amazing. It's just like The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle's version. And in 1997, the sequel to the film was released and it was a big success.

There might be some that didn't like it or thought it took a bit away. But hell, I thought it was great and it was the first Jurassic Park film that I got to see instead of waiting for it on VHS. Yes, VHS was a thing back then and in my opinion it still is. I still have a VHS player to this day.

Now of course, fans want more and so does Universal Pictures too. I don't blame them that this is the biggest film franchise until Furious series came about. But soon Jurassic Park III came and it was okay. I didn't see it when it came out.

 I did see it years ago when it was on television. I liked it, it had my favorite character Dr. Alan Grant in it. But I think that a search and rescue was a bit out there.

But now here we are 14 years after Jurassic Park III, the park is finally open in Jurassic World. I think that from the trailer it looks freakin amazing! And I'm a bit glad that Spielberg had taken sometime to figure out what to do with this story. I really hope that he had Crichton in his thoughts because it's his creation and I really don't want anything bad to happen with anything he created. Hell, Crichton helped changed the game of medical dramas.



The story concept looks great from what I've read. The park is finally open and when things go well enough. Of course, business wants to do more to bring people back, so they make a hybrid dinosaurs and well, as Ian Malcolm would say chaos rules all.

I literally can't wait to see it next week (June 12th). I'm still debating if I should go see it in just IMAX or IMAX 3D. I saw the trailer in 3D IMAX when seeing The Avengers Age of Ultron and as I told my brother with a shocked look on my face, "Holy F**k! We have to see this in 3D."

Jurassic Park is literally my all time favorite movie. It has adventures, great characters, a great story and just enough scariness to scare me and plus dinosaurs. And I can't forget to mention but it's also got the greatest soundtrack and theme song in movie history.

John Williams is a music iconic genius. The theme has made me cry but also got me on the edge of my seat in certain scenes. He knows what to do in a movie and he's been part of Spielberg's film career for a long time but in this new version, he isn't but they are honoring the themes.

Jurassic World premieres in theaters everywhere on June 12th.