One of these hexenbiests needs to go... and I don't mean Adelaide

Well, the series finale of Grimm has taken place, and what an interesting season it's been, although I admit to missing Trubel for most of it. **SPOILERS AHEAD***

Long oblivious to the world around him, this season saw Sergeant Wu enlightened as to the truth about Wesen and become a part of the team. An enthusiastic part, now that he no longer thinks he's crazy because of the things he's seen.

Captain Reynard had issues of his own to deal with. Shot and almost killed last season - I take that

back, he did die, and his mother brought him back - now he is suffering from the strangest flashbacks, where his healed wounds inexplicably bleed, and he wakes to find himself in strange places with no knowledge of how he got there. Turns out that when he died, he crossed paths with the spirit of Jack the Ripper, which possessed him and caused him to start murdering whores in Portland. Luckily, Rosalee and Monroe figured out how to save the captain and vanquish his alter-Cockney self.

Adelaide has not had an easy time of it herself. She discovers she's pregnant again - with Nick's child! And she's still being used by the Royals, even as she works to recover her stolen child. I, for one, think they were totally in the wrong to kidnap the child, and place her with Nick's mother. Judging by past performance, I don't think much of her as a mother. I'm sorry, but she abandoned Nick, for whatever reason, and I don't like her. Didn't like her. Yes, past tense.

The royals used Juliette to lure her to Nick's  house, and then t hey decapitated her and presented her head to Nick in a box, on the same night that Trubel returns.

And now here we come to the crux of the matter, what for me was the ruin of this season - the situation with Juliett. As you might recall, because of the potion used to change her into Adelaide so Nick would become a Grimm once more, Juliette became a Hexenbiest. The gang do everything they can to help her, but when they concoct a formula for her to drink, which will allow her to control the hexenbiest within, she destroys it, declaring she likes who she is. Suddenly, she's becomes Miss In-Your-Face, Miss Loose Britches, and Miss Super Bitch, all tied up in one loosely wrapped bundle. She tries to kill Adelaide, esp after she finds out she's carrying Nick's baby. She acts like a ho in bars and gets off on using her power. She treats Nick and all his friends like shit, and even moves in temporarily with Captain Renard (shades of the past!)

One of the worst things she does, besides getting Nick's mom killed, is she goes to the trailer and torches it, losing them valuable reference material and weapons.

This change in Juliette is both upsetting and bizarre... and totally inexplicable. Why are they doing this? It doesn't even make sense. Granted, she was never my favorite character before, but now I loathe her. I even like Adelaide better, and I never liked her. Not that I want Nick and Adelaide to get together, but they should at least get along, they're having a baby.

I hate what they've done to Juliette, and to be honest, I'm beyond tired of it. She really crossed a line when she torched the trailer, and then setting up Nick's mom and working with the royals to kidnap the child.... that was beyond reprehensible. I don't see how she can come back from that, or how Nick can possibly forgive her. I don't think she really wants to be forgiven. All I ask is that she die horribly and quickly next season, and please, take the Royals with her. I'm tired of them too.

Guess only time will tell.

Highs and lows - separating the good from the bad

If I wanted to be evil, I'd tell you something like guess what? I just got signed with Random House for a six novel contract! And then follow it up with April fools!

But I won't, because that would be silly. Plus, when it happens, I want to be believed, not have everyone put it down to a trick or joke or something. So I'll just move on and talk about other stuff, because Random House hasn't signed me. Yet.  *grins*

There's a great new series on History Channel that I look forward to every week. It airs on Sunday nights

but I record it and watch it Monday mornings. It's called Vikings and stars that gorgeous blond Travis Fimmel. I always thought Travis was hot, but he's matured into a very good-looking man. He plays a Viking named Ragnar, married with two children, and he has a brother Rollo (standing to his right, in the picture). He lives in a village presided over by their chieftain, the Earl, played by Gabriel Byrne. The Earl is not a nice man. He tells them where to raid, and takes his share of their booty. But when Ragnar says they should go west, rather than east, the Earl says it can't be done and won't listen. So Ragnar has his friend Floki build him a boat, assembles a crew, and heads west, proving the Earl wrong by sailing to England. They raid a monastery, bring back the spoils, including some monks as slaves, but the Earl confiscates most of it. Ragnar ends up with one of the monks, Athelstan, as his slave. Athelstan speaks their language, having traveled some. I really really enjoy this show. It's doesn't sugarcoat the Vikings, it presents them as they were, and I definitely recommend it, even if some claim there are historical inaccuracies. Floki is played by Gustaf Skarsgard and yes, he's one of those Skarsgards, brother of Alexander and son of Stellan. Great pedigree, and Floki is a very interesting character.

Recently, A&E premiered Bates Motel, a series which looks at the life of the young Norman Bates, of Psycho fame. I was confused as to why they updated the time frame of the series, since Psycho was in the early 60's, and I assumed this would take place before that. But they moved it to modern terms, perhaps thinking the audience wouldn't connect if they didn't. I watched two episodes and decided I couldn't connect, not for that reason but because I didn't find it particularly interesting (if you watched Deadwood, Dan shows up in the first episode as a former owner of the motel). So I've already stopped watching it. Ditto with Cult. I watched that basically for Robert Knepper, but after two episodes even he can't keep me watching. The main character is played by the actor who played Alaric in Vampire Diaries, and this is also a CW offering. Note to self: Stop watching the CW, it never ends well.

Hannibal premieres Thursday night on NBC, and we'll be watching, and hoping. I have to say I'll be really critical if they don't do this right, since I am a huge fan of the books and the movies and won't tolerate anything second-rate or half-assed. The previews aren't enough to tell me what it's really like, so we'll just have to see. I'm still unhappy with them over what they did to Awake and Do No Harm.

Grimm is back on Friday and doing well. I love this series so much!  *SPOILERS AHEAD*** Nick found out about Juliet and the Captain, and Rosalie is helping everyone to get back to where they were. Juliet is having hallucinations as her memory returns, and Monroe accidetnally let it slip about the trailer, so she insisted on going there. Meanwhile, the Royal Family is trying to get the key and things are really heating up.



Once Upon a Time is leading up to the season finale. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Mary Margaret is torn

apart by her part in the death of Cora, Neal's fiance is in town and she is not what she appears to be - she knows about the magic in the town, even though she pretends not to. She knew August from before and she is involved with Owen, who is searching for his father. August was changed back to a real boy, but unfortunately he was unable to warn about her. I'd love to see Hatter come back, but I suspect Sebastian Stan is busy filming the new Captain America.  I wonder if Bucky will show up in the Avengers films at some point?

Not much going on with the cooking shows - still watching Chopped and Restaurant Impossible. Chopped All Stars starts soon. Watching Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen. Oh yes, new season of Hell's Kitchen started. ***SPOILERS**** There was a very obnoxious woman named Gina who had a puppet she annoyed the others with. I was hoping she'd get sent off by Chef Ramsey, but she didn't. However, she did just up and quit one day, next best thing. Usual fights and stupidities and yelling from Gordon. So far entertaining.


That's about it for now, back to my writing. I'm finishing Trapped in Time for eXtasy, and I want to work on more Stan and Ollie.

Have a great day!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Playing catch up

I apologize for my laxness in keeping up with my blog. I got a temp job in June, full time, and it severely constricted my time to do other things, including editing, writing, and blogging. But I promise to do better in the future, as much as possible. I'm doing data entry, and while the work can be strenuous at times - we have to wrestle with heavy files and push often heavy (and stubborn) wooden carts around, I like my co-workers, and I'm grateful to have this job.

A little update on my writing. I am currently writing the fifth book in my gay YA series, Southern Comfort - well, co-authoring. The first three books have been released, but the fourth is still in edits, what I like to refer to as the edits from Hell. I requested the first editor be removed after his insensitive remarks about "guys that date trannies" and knowing people "of that species", not to mention he tried to tell us we were wrong for only putting one space after periods instead of two. The book should have been released August 4th, it's in the hands of some other editor, and I won't even go there because the situation is past ridiculous. Thank God the fifth book does not have to be subbed there.

Other than that, I wrote my first horror story, and Muse it Up accepted it, for which I am delighted to no end. I don't have a contract or release date yet, but I'll keep you posted. It's called Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, and it's something different for me in that it is not a m/m story. I think it's good to be diverse. I don't want people to think I'm a one trick pony.

WIPs - I'm working on a story for a winter/holiday anthology for a group I belong to, It's Raining Men. That will be done by September 1st. I also have two books that I'm working on. When Will I See You Again is a m/m paranormal that I am almost 48 into. The main characters are Raoul Marchand and Alexx Jameson, and it takes place in the seaside town of Crescent Bay. Raoul is a werewolf, part of the strongest families around. He's a cynical, pleasure-seeking man, who has been shaped by tragedy in his life. Alexx  works in the mailroom of the Crescent Bay Chronicle, and yearns to be a crime reporter. When he's given his chance to write a story, although it isn't quite what he wanted, he finds himself at Raoul's nightclub, Charisma, and that is where they meet.

I'm also writing my first PI novel, which will be the first in a series about the main character, Holden Heidegger. The first book is called Personal Business, and it's what happens when your past catches up with you unexpectedly.

I watched the season premiere of Grimm this morning. As you'll recall from the end of season one, Juliette is in a coma, thanks to Adalind, who was a bit pissed after Nick drained her of her powers and became vengeful. No one knows where she is now, including her mother, the hexen beast. Also, Nick came face to face with the woman who was stalking him and lo and behold discovered it was his thought-to-be-dead mother. Nimura, who tried to kill Nick for the coins, was taken into police custody. Monroe and Rosalee work to concoct a serum to combat what was given to Juliette, racing against time. Funny thing is, someone else is shopping for those same ingredients. James Frain appears as a guest star, and things are really getting interesting. I look forward to seeing more of this.

 

The Glades just ended its third season, and it was an excellent one, what with Jim and Callie's relationship being tested with her being in Atlanta to work and study for her boards, and him having his methods called into question by a state investigator, Jennifer, who showed too much interest in Jim for my liking. There were a lot of interesting cases, and this season was strong in all the right places, including plot, acting, character development.  *****SPOILER ALERT****  I have to say that I was on edge for the last episode, as the previews made it seem that Jim was going to leave Callie, unable to take the current situation, but I was thrilled to be wrong, and I admit I cried over what did happen. I can't wait to see season 4.

Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef are both drawing to a close. Frankly, this season of Hell's Kitchen isn't up to snuff in my opinion. I really don't care much for any of the chefs and can't imagine making any of them head chef in one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants. That being said, I think the two I do like the most are Christina and Barbie, and thank God Robyn finally got cut. In Master Chef, last new episode, David Martinez got cut. I was sad, even though I didn't expect him to make it to the end. But the sadness was ameliorated when Graham told David that when he went back to Chicago there would be a job waiting for him there in one of his restaurants. I think that was the best possible outcome for him, and one that he very much wanted. Of the remaining chefs, I am rooting for Monti and Christine, and I hope Frank gets eliminated soon. I think he's a major ass.

On Top Chef Masters, the two gay partners were reunited when the second one was eliminated. This season isn't my favorite, I have to say, but there are some interesting chefs on it. I like Takashi and Patricia the best, and hope they do well.

Hell on Wheels began its new season, but I haven't seen it yet. I'll get back to you on that. The new season of Flipping Out starts September 3rd and Once Upon a Time September 30th.  I think October for The Walking Dead. It remains to be seen how well I'll keep up with these shows, but I'm going to try. We're taping a BBC show tonight, Copper. I'll let you know about that too.

That's about it for now. Thanks for bearing with me! Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

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An Unexpected Twist in the Borgias, Chopped All Star Finale, and more

The Borgias is going well, thanks in no small part to the hotness that is Cesare Borgia (Francois Arnaud), and this season is off to a great start **Spoilers ahead** We've seen Lucrezia's lover murdered, and the Pope bed a young male artist (except he's really a she, in disguise), watched Cesare bluff the French king with plaster cannon in defense of Rome, and watched the same king torture a man gruesomely. Saw Della Rovere poisoned, leading him to become more cautious about his food and drink. Saw the French king take out his frustration at  not being able to attack Rome on a convent (the one where Cesare's lover was), watched Cesare take a more active, albeit secret, part in the sport of war. But what was totally unexpected and most delightful came when Cesare traveled to Forli to deal with Caterine Sforza, cousin to Giovanni (husband of Lucrezia). He took Micheletto with him, who was from Forli, and was able to see his mother, who believes he's studying medicine in Rome - a delusion which Cesare did nothing to dispel. Later, as Micheletto waits for Cesare in the cemetery, an old friend approaches, they exchanged a few words, and then began to disrobe - and yes, they were lovers and it was glorious! I love the Borgias even more now!

Sunday night came the Chopped All Star finale which brought together the four winners from the competitions before - Michael Symon, Jeffrey Saad, Penny, and Marcus Samuelsson. I hated that Penny beat Vic to get in, I didn't think she was worthy, and I prayed for an early defeat. An unfortunate error of omission tossed Michael Symon out in the first round, and then Penny was routed after the second, leaving Jeffrey  face to face with  Marcus. While I find Jeffrey a very amiable fellow, I just knew his talent wasn't the same caliber as Marcus', and thus is proved to be the case, as Marcus won in the dessert round! Congratulations to a very talented chef!
Next week, Food Network Star begins a new season, should be interesting.



***SPOILERS****

Once Upon A Time comes to a dramatic close next week,and it looks  like Emma is going to do what she was meant to do - break the curse and free the inhabitants of Storybrooke. We've learned August's secret, that he is Pinocchio. Mary Margaret is free from the charge of killing Catherine, since she's still alive. And Regina got poor deluded Sidney Glass to confess to setting it all up. A desperate Regina has brought the very sexy Hatter back, and he's helped her retrieve a bit of magic from her world in the form of a poisoned apple. But her plan backfires when Henry eats the apple, not Emma. I have to wonder if that will be the jolt that Emma needs to finally believe and set everything in motion. I also wonder once the equilibrium is restored - what next? Will there be a season two, and where will they go? I'm actually coming to like Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin - I hope he's around next season too.

Grimm's season finale is this week, tonight in fact, and from what I've seen of the previews, Hank is going to see Monroe in his blutbad form - oh my! This show is highly imaginative, and very creative, and I'm excited that it's been renewed for a new season. Personally, I'm sort of hoping Juliette finds out what's going on and leaves Nick - I don't think she's much of an asset to him or the show. I like Monroe's new love interest, the lady apothecary. And Renard makes a sufficiently evil, albeit handsome villain.

Interior Therapy, Wednesday nights on Bravo, with Jeff Lewis is a fun show. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I do.; In each episode, Jeff and his assistant Jenni stay in a client's home while they  help solve his decorating issues. This week featured overly large furniture crammed into a small house by the wife, while the husband had no say-so. By the time they left, the house looked really nice, and the husband turned out to have better taste than his wife. Last week's featured a man with a bow tie fetish, who was redecorating his home before his gf moved in, but from the get-go, you got the idea he didn't really want her to move in and didn't care what she thought. By the time Jeff and Jenni left, I was pretty sure that couple was heading for Splitsville. Next week is the season finale, which is sad, but I hope that they get Flipping Out back on the air soon; I miss seeing Gage, Jeff's SO.

Hawaii 5-0 had a cross-over episode last week with some of the cast of NCIS. Unfortunately, I didn't know this ahead of time, or that the second part of this would be shown on NCIS the next night. By the time I even watched the first part, it was already too late to record NCIS. I'll have to catch it online, which is annoying. CBS should have handled that a bit better for those of us who don't watch both shows. And no, there were no promos the week before because there was no Hawaii 5-0 the week before. Just food for thought. So I'm behind on that til I catch up, but I saw that this week's episode features Wo Fat, which I'm looking forward to seeing.

Well, that's it for now, I'll save the rest for later - Awake, Vampire Diaries, Restaurant Impossible and Sandwich King.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Family Love in Renaissance Italy - the return of the Borgias, and more

Last night was not only Easter, it saw the start of season 2 of Showtime's series, The Borgias. Season one was so successful that the show was renewed for a second season less than one month in. It has everything one could hope for in a show - a dysfunctional power-hungry family and the panoply of the Renaissance and all its historical glory. Love, hate, murder - the things that keep a family together, right?

I adored this show from the beginning, so eagerly awaited the second season, and am thrilled that it's back. Although I must say I didn't feel quite the same energy in the first episode as I'd hoped for, but hopefully that too shall pass as they gear up once again.

**SPOILERS AHEAD*** There were definitely some interesting developments last night, including the attempt on Della Rovere's life, perpetrated through the use of a willing altar boy. The look on Rovere's face when he looked into Cesare's eyes was priceless. Too bad it failed. There you have the biggest reason that I watch the show (not that I wouldn't anyway, but this is definitely the icing on the cake) - Cesare Borgia (Francois Arnaud). However, he seemed to be missing a little of the fire of the first season, I'm hoping that 's a temporary thing. And that we see more of his "impossible love" - ie, that his feelings for his sister Lucrezia, who now has a fine baby boy, courtesy of the groom Paolo.

As you'll recall from the first season, the Pope (Rodrigo Borgia, played by Jeremy Irons) deflected the intentions of King Charles of France by giving up Naples which, as it turned out, was in the midst of a plague, brought about by an insufferable little twit of a prince. Charles took ill, but he survived, vowing to have his revenge on the prince. When he was caught, Charles introduced him to his father's gruesome torture chamber, his screams an accompaniment to the music enjoyed by the king and his entourage. However, we know it's just a matter of time before he settles the score with Rome, Rodrigo's only bought himself time, not a permanent solution.

As usual, Rodrigo has a mistress, Julia Farnese that we met in the first season. Now he's taken a fancy to an artist's apprentice. But before you go suspecting him of buggery, I'll add that the apprentice is actually a girl, in disguise. Which leads to some interesting scenes between her and the Pope, as well as her and Julia. Rodrigo wishes his people to have some fun, so he decides to throw them a festival, let the cost be damned. This only serves to enhance the rivalry between Cesare and his brother Juan. There's already jealousy there, because Juan was given the military career Cesare would have liked, and he was forced to take the cloth. Juan doesn't fight fair. In a race, he causes Cesare's horse to fall, throwing him and causing him to lose. But Cesare reciprocates at the dance. I suspect at some point these two will come to a head in a life or death struggle. I only hope that Cesare wins.

From what I can see of the previews, there is a great deal to look forward to, including the reappearance of Lucrezia's groom. And don't count out her degraded and humiliated, cruel husband. Under other circumstances, I'd say he's sexy, but his dire cruelty prevents me from thinking so about the character. This is a series definitely worth watching, and I'm glad it's back.

A new season of Chopped All Stars also began last night, and the first episode featured something never seen  before in the Chopped Kitchens - four Iron Chefs competing together. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** The chefs were Michael Symon, Cat Cora, Marc Forgione, and Jose Garces. Leading up to the main event, they showed last season's episodes. It was fun to revisit them, especially the battle between Aaron Sanchez and Geoffrey Zakarian. In the new season, the caliber of the chefs set the bar high, and this was reflected in the quality of the food which the judges were served. In the end, the unflappable Michael Symon prevailed over Marc Forgione, and will move on to the championship round.

A few of my shows are on temporary hiatus, including Once Upon a Time and The Vampire Diaries. Grimm has only six episodes left in the season. This week, Nick took his girlfriend away for a little R&R - but things never seem to work out well for him. He ended up being next door to a man who was keeping his wife hostage, because of her intrinsic value to him. Nick has to help, of course, it's in his nature. The strain of the secrets he's keeping is taking its toll on his relationship with Juliette, and his marriage proposal isn't exactly met with the enthusiasm he'd hoped for - or the answer. Meanwhile, Hank finds himself drawn more and more to Adelaide, his behavior crossing over the border into stalkerdom, and Monroe is getting closer to the new owner of the apothecary shop, as they have a great deal in common.

I've found that Cooking Channel shows Iron Chef Japan, so I'll be watching some of those, and talking about them, later, as well as other episodes of Chopped and Restaurant Impossible and Jeff Lewis' new show, Interior Therapy.

All for now, need to get busy - yard work and guest blogs to write, books to edit and write!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Of Teddybears, Fairy Tales and Things that go Bump in the Night

Californication is back for its fifth season, and now we're several episodes in and I'm all caught up. **SPOILERS AHEAD***  It starts out a couple of years after the fourth season ended. We're all done with Hank's probation over the statutory rape of Mia and hopefully she won't pop up again. But having said that, one never knows. Karen is married to Richard Bates (you may remember him as the psychotic drunken writer who likes to show his schlong at inappropriate times), Marci and Stu are still together, and they have a child Stuart, who is actually Charlie's son, conceived after his vasectomy was found not to have taken. At the age of two and a half, Stuart doesn't speak, which disturbs Charlie, but Marci says it's normal. And now Becca, Hank's teenage moody daughter has a boyfriend. And damned if she didn't pick a guy just like her old man. Which he learns, when he catches said boyfriend cheating on her. What's Hank doing? He's writing a script for a rapper named Samurai Apocalypse, who's making the transition to actor, and it's called Santa Monica Cop. Don't dare compare it to Beverly Hills Cop, Sam gets really ticked off. On the flight from NY to California to see about doing this project, Hank meets a lovely lady on the plane and they do it in the bathroom. Of course, being Hank, Karma bites him in the ass when he discovers that he just boned Samurai A's girl.

Besides sharing custody of his son, Charlie isn't doing very well in the romance department (not that Hank is doing much better - he broke up with a girl in NY who turned out to be all kinds of crazy and torched his apartment, played by the actress who plays Winona Hawkins on Justified). Charlie's problem is that he treats women the way he sees them treated in the porn he loves - and that doesn't get him very far.  Now let's talk about Charlie for a minute. As an agent, he's had his ups and downs. If you'll recall, he was fired from one agency because he was caught too many times in the act of self-love while in his office. Hank's his main client, but Hank had a dry spell. And then the whole Mia stealing his book thing. He worked briefly for Kathleen Turner, who demanded he service her when she wanted it. It was through her that he met Rick Springfield and Marci got to have her fantasy fuck. Then there was the whole Vagina Town debacle, and his liason with the girl who became the porn actress.

 In last night's episode, Charlie got a long time wish when he and Hank went with Samurai Apocalypse on a ride along with the police department, to prepare for the role. Of course things got horribly fucked up. The policeman had a seizure at a donut shop and they had to call 911. At that point, they should have taken the car back and found something else to do. But that would have been sensible, right? Especially after Samurai learns his girl, who left him two weeks before, is out with some dude. Things go from bad to worse. After that, Hank gets a call from Becca. Her bf has gotten Richard drunk and he's exposing himself in public. In attempting to deal with that, the bf recognizes Samurai as one of the group that beat the shit out of him after Hank caught him cheating, and now Becca and Karen think he had something to do with that, which he didn't. And then Charlie ends up getting a blow job from a tranny hooker, which Hank and Samurai are bound to never let him forget.

Charlie Runkle. Yes, he's not perfect, far from it. But there is something about him. He's a teddy bear. He's cuddly and adorable. If I had to choose between him and Hank for dating purposes, sorry Hank, but I'm taking Charlie. Hank is not only hopelessly in love with Karen, he's also incapable of commitment and being in a long term relationship. Charlie has possibilities. I think with the right woman, he'd settle down and be a great husband and father. He has very pretty eyes. And bald is sexy, so yeah...

Grimm is still going strong, and I hope it stays that way. I enjoy the stories, the writing and acting are good. It's a definite twist on a police show, and I know there are interesting things ahead. I especially enjoy the relationship between Nick and Monroe, his werewolf friend. In one episode, Monroe suffered bodily harm from other supernaturals because of his relationship with Nick. But he decided he wasn't going to give in to their pressure, he'd help Nick all he wanted to. The make-up and cgi work is really great. The last episode was based on Hansel and Gretel and concerned a black market for human organs. They take familiar fairy tales and give them a modern twist. I'm not sure what the ratings are, so watch it while  you can. It's definitely worth it.

***SPOILERS***Once Upon a Time is getting really good too. After the death of the Sheriff, Emma was elected as his replacement, to Regina's dismay. Mary Margaret and David try to fight their feelings for one another, as David is trying to be a good husband to a wife he doesn't remember, but their love is too strong.  After a storm, Regina has had Henry's secret play area torn down, to his distress. And his book is now missing. Emma tries to catch her in misappropriation of town funds, but only succeeds in making her look better when it's revealed that she's planning a park for the children, including Henry, to play in. Emma turns to Sidney, whom Regina has cast off, to help her take the Mayor down, and we learn about Sidney's story - as the wicked queen's one time lover who became the genie in the mirror. What Emma doesn't realize is that Sidney is not what he appears to be, and he's still in Regina's pocket. A stranger has come to town, and Emma and Henry both wonder why and who he is, cause strangers never come to Storybrooke - other than Emma. I suspect he's Henry's father, but we'll just have to see. Sunday nights on ABC - definitely worth watching.

Top Chef Texas is winding down, hopefully they have a great replacement waiting in the wings. Not the best Top Chef season they've ever had. In last week's we were down to five chefs, and I was afraid Edward was going to be axed, but he's still in. I'm really happy that Beverly got taken out, I just hope she doesn't come back with that little survivor thing they have going on after each episode. I think we'll find out this week. Apparently, she beat Nyesha, so let's hope someone beats her or we'll see her back again. I'm rooting for Edward all the way!

There is a new Restaurant Impossible this week and a new Chopped. Looking forward to those. No Iron Chef America, instead it was a night of Cupcake Wars. I watch that sometimes, but it's of limited interest. New Alcatraz tonight, looking forward to it. I'll talk about the new season of Vampire Diaries another time.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

AMC's Got it Going on (Beware of spoiler)

AMC has two new hits on its hands, and you can find both series on Sunday nights - The Walking Dead, now in its second season, and the new offering, Hell on Wheels. Both original, and both well done shows in completely different genres. Kudos to AMC for going outside of the box and doing more than simply showing movies. I hope that they find more such worthy candidates in the future, although not to the exclusion of the movies, of course.

Hell on Wheels is a very visually appealing series. I enjoy the look of it, as well as the feel of it. The character development is great. There's a great deal of social commentary here, threaded in with the history. It doesn't sugarcoat the attitudes of the times toward the various groups; they're all represented here. From the former slaves to the Indians, to women and Christians and even the former Confederate soldiers who are simply trying to get by. ****Spoilers ahead*****  Last episode, we saw Cullen kill the foreman of the railroad gang, because of what he did to his wife, for which he was incarcerated by the Big Swede (who's actually Norwegian, but that's another story), made his escape and boldly asked Colm Meaney for the dead man's job - and got it. This week we watch as he finds the clue to the other man he needs to kill to avenge his wife's death. And we see more of the widow with the plans. And the two Irish brothers who run the show, and are looking to make their fortune. I love history, and this series just brings it to life very well. I hope it continues for some time to come.

As for The Walking Dead - next week is the mid-season finale (it seems as though most of the shows are shutting down until January - bummer!) This week, we watched as Lori tried to abort the baby she carries, and fails, and confesses to Rick about her and Shane. His reaction wasn't what I expected. Also we learn about the walkers in the barn and why they're there. Sophia has been missing for several episodes now - I have to wonder if she'll ever be found. Everyone is learning to defend themselves, and Carl wants to learn too. He has a tendency to turn to Shane for parental permission, and I have to wonder if this will create friction between Shane and Rick at some point. It's a harsh post-apocalyptic world, one I'm not sure I'd want to survive in. It's also about the survival of the human spirit.

I'm really enjoying Grimm, Friday nights on NBC. Last week's episode was Lonelyhearts and dealt with a Bluebeard who attracted women to himself and killed them. In this episode we saw more of Captain Renard, in his dealings with a grim reaper - my speculation is that the Captain is the devil. We'll see. I'm really liking Wolfy more and more, he makes a great, albeit unwilling sidekick, to Nick. I hope this show continues for a while. I believe more scripts have been ordered.

Last night the theme of Next Iron Chef was Improvisation, as the chefs were taken to a comedy club in LA, where Kevin Nealon was the host. With the participation of the audience, he made a list of ingredients, and pared it down to four which the chefs had to use in their challenge - octopus, kumquats, tortillas, and marshmallows. Quite the challenge! The winner of that challenge was Chef Chiarello. At the bottom were Chefs Samuellson, Zakarian and MacMillan, but Marcus lived to cook another day, and the other two had to face off. The secret ingredient was coconut. Chef Geoffrey did two dishes, despite the repeated warnings from the judges that it's not a good thing to do. Luckily, he made something really really good, and he squeaked through. Good-bye Chef MacMillan. Sorry, not sobbing over this one. I like seeing more of chefs I never got the chance to actually see in action - such as Alex and Geoffrey. I think both are strong contenders, but I think Anne Burrell is even more so. From now on, the competition will only get fiercer.

Alas for no Sweet Genius, but I hear they are recruiting cast members for a second season, so that's wonderful news. As I mentioned before, Justified will be back in January. A lot of shows are going on hiatus til then, I've noticed. I hope Californication comes back soon, and The Borgias. Cesare Borgia - well, he's to die for, he's so hot.

My dream job would be to someday have a series of my own on cable. I dream of seeing To The Max as a series. I'd also love to do a historical, something that makes history more real and interesting to people. Most history teachers seem determined to make their students dislike it because of the way they teach it. If I'd ever have become a teacher, it would have been history, I love it that much. And I'd have tried to make it alive and real, like it was when it happened. I hope I do that with the historicals that I write, anyway.

That's all for now. Back to editing and writing! Working on something secret (not writing, a craft type thing), but I can't say too much, it's a secret. When I'm done, I'll take a picture and post it. Home made gifts rule, I think.

Until next time, take care!
♥ Julie

Hell on Wheels, Next Iron Chef and more

Last weekend AMC premiered another new series, Hell on Wheels. It airs on Sunday night, same night as their other original series, The Walking Dead. Hell on Wheels is the name of a town, it's set post Civil War and concerns the building of the Transcontinental railroad. Colm Meaney (DS9) is determined to not only get that railroad built but to make as much money as he can in the process - no matter what the cost. Anson Mount plays Cullen Bohannan, a former Confederate soldier, who's bent on revenge against the Union soldiers that murdered his wife.  ***spoilers*****  In the first episode, we see Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs, Monk) in a role that reminded me of the one he played in Wild Wild West, General Bloodbath McGrath. Minus the ear trumpet. Alas, that's the only episode we'll see him in. Colm Meaney makes a good bad guy - ruthless, money hungry and cold - quite different from the Chief O'Brien we knew and loved on DS9. The show looks really good. The cinematography is very well done, I really enjoyed the look of it. I found the story interesting, the characters too, and I look forward to seeing more.

This episode of Next Iron Chef took us to the San Diego Padre stadium, where the chefs were told to change  up some ballpark food, utilizing ball park ingredients. Alex Guarnaschelli hit a home run with her dishes, so much so that the judges had nothing to say to her - they were perfect. Geoffrey Zakarian made great food, but they warned him he wasn't following the rules. He found himself in the bottom three but squeaked by, leaving Robert Irvine and Michael Chiarello as the bottom two who had to do the sudden death mystery basket face off. The secret ingredient, in keeping with the ball park theme, was peanuts. Unfortunately, the casualty was Chef Robert. I've come to like him on Restaurant Impossible. I was sorry to see him go. Marcus received a warning that if he continued to overcook, he would have to choose the two he wanted to represent him in future. Sarah and I think Anne Burrell has a good shot at becoming the Next Iron Chef.

I watched last night's Grimm this morning. The episode was entitled "Beeware", and concerned a flash mob murder. A guy gets on a bus carrying a duffle bag. Everyone looks nervous, especially when he opens it. But then he pulls out a boom box and "YMC A" begins to play and everyone rocks out. They all get off at the same stop - except for one woman. She's dead. This episode involves bees, and the guest star was Nana Visitor (Kira from DS9). I am really enjoying this series, and we are learning more about the mysterious blonde woman who tried to kill Nick's aunt. He is forced to protect her in this episode. I really like his wolfy sidekick too, his reluctant henchman. I hope it lasts for a while.

Hawaii 5-0 was good, as always.Danno is dealing with moving to smaller digs in the form of a sleazy motel,  and this episode sees him gain a four legged friend, whose owner has been killed. In this episode, Greg Grunberg guest stars (Matt Parkman, Heroes) and it was funny to see him and Max (who played Hiro on Heroes) reunite. Max kept asking did he know him. Great scene. Beautiful scenery, great banter between Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) and Danno (Scott Caan), and any scene with Alex in it! Hope it lasts for a while.

Vampire Diaries - what can I say? The only thing it has going for it, as far as I'm concerned, is Damon Salvatore (Ian Sommerhalder). Sometimes the writing verges on the ridiculous, the plots are stupid, and I hate the flashbacks to the past. God knows what they're going to do with the cave drawings they've recently found, unless it's just what they're doing now - tieing it all in with Klaus and Michael. ****Spoilers******* When Stefan screwed up Damon's carefully laid plan, I wanted to choke him. Until I found out why he did it. Then I had to forgive him, of course. He has his humanity back - oh joy. Now I guess we'll be forced to endure him and Elena as a couple again. Not that I think that will stop Damon, alas, from pining over her. What does he see in her?  I'll never know.

More later about Once Upon a Time and Top Chef Texas.

Til next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Once Upon a Time, Grimm, and more

Once upon a time. Sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale. And so it should, because it is. But it's also a new  program on Sunday nighs on ABC which I decided to give a try, despite the fact that I probably haven't watched anything on ABC since NYPD Blue aired, which has been a while. But I gave this show a chance, and I'm glad I did. It's more than just a show about fairy tales, it takes what we know and reinvents it in a very interesting way. It has to do with Snow White and Prince Charming - and the Evil Queen, of course. What fairy tale is complete without one? She lays a dark curse on the kingdom for the slights done to her - imagined or otherwise - and the only hope for the inhabitants lies with the child of Snow White and the Prince, an infant girl named Emma, who's wisked to safety. It is prophesied that she will save them when she's 28. Okay, fastforward a bit. We meet a tough hard-hitting bailbondsman named Emma, who is approached by a ten year old boy who claims she is his birth mother. Not a stretch, as she did give up a child ten years before. But she never expected to see him again. The boy's name is Henry, and he has a book of fairy tales. He says the town where he comes from needs her, she is their only hope. Thrown for a loop, she doesn't know what else to do, so Emma takes Henry back to Storybrooke. Of course she doesn't believe his claim that the inhabitants are under an enchantment, and don't realize they're all fairy tale characters. Who would?  But when Emma arrives, things begin to happen. Such as the town clock, which hasn't run within everyone's memory - starts up again.

This is a well-told, well-acted show. I am already engrossed in it and enjoying it, waiting to see what will happen next. *****possible spoilers******** From the first show, you realize that Emma is the child of Snow White, who turns out to be Henry's teacher. The Evil Queen is the Mayor of Storybrook - and Henry's adopted mother. So far we've also seen Rumpelstiltskin, Gepetto and Jiminy Cricket, while Prince Charming lies in a coma in the hospital.  I highly recommend giving this show a try.

Also on Sunday was the start of a new season of Next Iron Chef. This is my first time watching it. I presume the winner will become an Iron Chef on Iron Chef America, but I honestly don't know how it works. All I do know is that some of the chefs I know and some I don't are competing in this challenge. ****spoilers**** It was interesting to see these chefs compete, as some I've only seen as judges, never chefs, such as Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelssonand Geoffrey Zakarian. Anne Burrell I've seen cook, and Spike from Top Chef. I wondered why he was even in such company, he isn't even of their calibre. Well, I won't have to worry about him any more, he was the first casualty. In the first show, Spike lucked out and got an advantage. He was able to choose his own partner, and put the other chefs into teams. He tried to set them up so that conflicting styles or personalities would trip them up, while he chose to work with Marcus. The competition is set up in such a way that the two lowest chefs of each episode face off in a sudden death surprise ingredient challenge. Spike and Marcus ended up on bottom, and Spike's grand strategy ended up by him shooting himself in the foot. The secret ingredient was scallops, and Marcus beat him. End of story. Next week takes place in the San Diego ball park, should be interesting.

My daughter Katie talked me into trying two other shows - Grimm and American Horror Story. Grimm is about a man who suddenly starts seeing strange things, and finds out that there are aspects of his family he knew nothing about. The pilot episode involves the disappearance of a little girl. Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) is a homicide detective who is apparently descended from a line of Grimms, who fight and destroy supernatural creatures. The first episode is a take off on Little Red Riding Hood. I enjoyed it greatly, and look forward to seeing more. I believe it airs on Fridays on NBC>

You'll find American Horror Story on FX. It stars Dylan McDermott as a therapist who has an affair and is caught by his wife, so he uproots his family and moves them across country to a gothic Victorian house with a history.  In the pilot episode, you learn that twin boys died here under very mysterious circumstances. They were warned not to go in by a Mongoloid girl named Adelaide. When the Harmons move in, she and her mother are their next door neighbors (the mother is played by veteran actress Jessica Lange). Adelaide has a disconcerting habit of walking in the house whenever she chooses, obsessed with it, and also with telling people they're going to die. Ben works at home, and one of his patients is a young boy with homicidal fantasies who takes a liking to Ben and Vivien's daughter Violet. Violet is having a hard time at the new school, and at first she welcomes his attentions. But things rapidly turn creepy. Ben and Vivien have been estranged, even before the affair, since Vivien miscarried a child at seven months. They're trying to put things back together. Vivien hires Frances Conroy, who was the previous housekeeper (the mother from Six Feet Under). The weird thing is that when Ben looks at her, he doesn't see an older Moira but a young hot one - who keeps coming on to him. He's doing his damnedest to resist this temptation, but when he spies her pleasuring herself, he runs off and jerks off alone. I have to say we get some very nice footage of Mr. McDermott's derriere (no frontal, alas!). The show is creepy, the characters damaged, and the premise very interesting. I'd love to own this house! (sans spirits lol).  I'll keep watching, for sure.

This week's Hawaii 5-0, which aired on Halloween night, was sufficiently spooky, with a guest appearance by horror master Robert Englund. Tonight is Person of Interest and Sweet Genius and Vampire Diaries. More on  those later.

Back to writing and editing and cleaning house!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie