Cultural Cuisinart

Zombie stories are almost never about the monsters themselves, when you get to the heart of it. Zombies have no personalities, no real reason or motivation for what they do (save for a love for tasty, tasty brains). What they provide is a framework to see how regular people respond to a specific set of parameters: a high-danger, post apocalyptic world, where your loved ones can turn on you at the drop of a hat. Zombies aren't the villains of these types of stories - WE are, because we're forced to do horrible things to each other in order to survive. You can rationalize all you want, but it's still a terrible thing for a character to be forced to shoot his wife between the eyes, while their son cowers and cries in another room.

The reason you see so many zombie stories out there is because they provide a framework to tell a multitude of stories. I'm not tired of zombies yet, because I think there's still a lot of new and interesting ways to examine those stories. That's why it's a bit disappointing to see the pilot episode of The Walking Dead repeat a lot of tropes we've already seen many times before.

Pilot episodes are burdened with having to set up the universe and establish the main characters. Still, I'm not convinced that The Walking Dead needed to take 90 whole minutes to set up what should be fairly familiar to audiences. Sheriff deputy Rick Grimes was already having a no-good, very bad day. His partner Shane is an idiot whose views on women begin and end at the sentiment, "Bitch, are you too stupid to turn off a light bulb?" He's having marital troubles with his wife Lori. Then to top it all off, he gets himself shot, because apparently in Georgia, engaging in idle chatter with your partner is a priority over clearing the crime scene. He then wakes up in a hospital some indeterminate amount of time later (a la 28 Days Later) and quickly finds out that a zombie apocalypse has occurred while he was sleeping. I say "quickly" but really, it's 30 minutes into the 90-min episode before Rick actually figures out that the shambling, rotting things in the street are zombies.

Look, just because certain shows on AMC are slow and methodical, doesn't mean ALL the shows have to follow that model. I think the show could have benefited from getting to the action a little faster. Did we really need a sequence where Rick's saviors - a man and his young son - dance around the issue with Rick for at least 5-10 minutes, with lots of nonsensical yelling and using ambiguous terms like "walkers"? In the original graphic novel, this bit of exposition is wrapped up in just 6 panels, with the actual explanation happening "off screen." Zombies are a well-covered topic in American pop culture, so I'm pretty sure that no one would have a problem with a character going, "Oh, didn't you know? There was totally a zombie outbreak and now the world has gone to hell. Don't forget to shoot them in the head, which you should probably already know, since this has been covered dozens of times over the past 20 some years of cinema."

However, despite these quibbles, there's plenty to like in this episode as well. There are some lovely sequences, such as when Rick returns to find the female zombie he first encountered after leaving the hospital. Andrew Lincoln does great work here showing the compassion and sorrow in Rick's face, as he commits an act of mercy by putting down the pathetic creature, who has been reduced to an emaciated torso and head only. Another gorgeous shot involves Rick literally riding into Atlanta on horseback, a duffel bag bursting with rifles and shotguns strapped to his back, his deputy's hat fixed firmly on his head.

In addition, the last third of the episode introduces some nuggets that are interesting enough to pique interest for where the story is going to go. The most immediate and terrifying plot point involves Rick trapped inside an abandoned tank in downtown Atlanta, with zombies literally swarming over the tank and feasting outside on the remains of his poor horse. We end the episode there, just as a mysterious voice comes over the CB radio, chiding him for stupidly getting stuck in the tank.

Of course, Rick is only in that situation because he's in Atlanta looking for his missing wife and son. Luckily for Rick, they survived the apocalypse and are safe outside the city in the care of his partner Shane. Unfortunately for Rick, Shane's definition of "caring" seems involve shoving his tongue down Rick's wife's throat. Even worse - Lori seems to welcome the attention. Uh oh.

Again, I wished they had covered a little more ground, instead of dwelling on establishing whatever atmosphere they were shooting for. There are only 6 episodes in the season, so a little more sense of urgency would be nice. For those of us watching because we trust AMC and we know the source material, waiting an episode or two isn't going to be hard, but I'm not sure that as a stand-alone episode this really did a good job grabbing a more neutral audience. Overall, though, the quality of the show was evident, and the leading man was compelling enough that I'm looking forward to seeing where Rick's story goes from here.

So, there's been much wailing and gnashing of teeth out in the blogosphere about the state of network television. Yes, I'm as horrified as the next person about the fact that mediocre shows like Outsourced, The Event and Chase have been given full orders, while awesome shows like Parks & Recreation remain in limbo.

However.... there are several shows out there that I'd like to submit for your approval.

The Walking Dead. DVR ALERT: This show premieres this Sunday at 10pm on AMC. You must record and watch it. Why? One, because zombies are awesome. Two, because the graphic novel it's based on is excellent, which means there's a high probability that the show will also be excellent. Three, because it's on AMC, which is 2-for-2 so far in terms of making interesting quality shows (Breaking Bad and Mad Men). Four, because I'm flirting with recapping it, and my recaps are much more fun if you actually watch the show.

Quick summary, for those of you who haven't heard about the show: zombie apocalypse goes down, rag-tag group of survivors must make their way through the world. If the show follows the plot of the book closely, expect a lot more examination of the relationships between the various characters than zombie action. The zombies are certainly a concern for the characters, but the first two volumes of the graphic novel were more about the group coming together, experiencing conflict with one another, and dealing with logistics such as lodging and food. I'm not sure how much violence the show will actually put out there, but rest assured - people will be chased and eaten by zombies too.

The Walking Dead airs on Sundays at pm on AMC.

Terriers. This is hands down the best new show of the season so far. It's one of those shows that suffers from both incredibly poor advertising decisions by the network (FX) and the fact that it's a very difficult show to "pitch" to friends. On a surface level, the show is about a pair of private investigators, Hank and Britt, played by the excellent Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James (Rene from True Blood) respectively. Both men have pasts that make them good at what they do - Hank is a former cop and Britt is a former thief. Each week they investigate different cases.

Move past your initial impression of the show, however, and you find that the show has a richly realized universe that it exists in. The recurring characters are excellent - particularly Hank's sister (played by Donal Logue's real life sister) and Britt's girlfriend. While sometimes the focus might be on a one-off plot, there are really interesting and complex subplots weaving across multiple episodes. There's a dark undercurrent of drama, balanced nicely by the lighter moments (Donal Logue is a funny dude when he wants to be). In many ways, it reminds me a lot of how FX's Justified evolved over time. Like Terriers, that show felt like it was going to be a mystery-of-the-week show before the larger world and story arcs emerged to make it worthy of a Season Pass in my DVR. In fact, this show makes a natural pairing with the sensibilities of Justified, and might have had a better audience if FX had waited till Justified returned, in order to pair the shows up as timeslot buddies.

In any case, I love this show, it's on the bubble, and I really urge you to check it out while you still have a chance.

Terriers airs on Wednesdays at 10pm on FX.

Raising Hope. My final suggestion is a show that I almost skipped because I saw a couple of poor reviews before it premiered. However, I went with my gut, and my gut says that anything starring Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt can't be all bad, so I tuned in anyway. I loved the pilot episode, and subsequent episodes have made this one of those shows that I make a point to watch the same night it airs.

The show centers around Jimmy (Lucas Neff) and his family of low class, but lovable, misfits who unexpectedly find themselves raising Jimmy's infant daughter after her serial killer mother is executed. Yes, you read that right. It sounds like it should be a horrible concept, but the show manages to make the image of Jimmy holding Hope (nee Princess Beyonce, as her mother originally named her) on his lap while the mother gets zapped in the electric chair the most hilarious thing I've seen all year.

Now, to temper your expectations, let me say that I'm not selling this show as the greatest comedy of all time (or even of the year). But it's a solid source of laughs each week - on par with another favorite of mine that I've urged you to check out: The Middle. If you liked My Name is Earl (Greg Garcia created both that, and this show) and/or Malcolm in the Middle, I think you'll really enjoy this show. It's funny, and it can go to some dark sounding places, but it's never mean spirited. Martha Plimpton is excellent as Jimmy's mother (the math works out, since the show explains she had him when she was 16 years old). The baby they've cast is absolutely adorable. And much like My Name is Earl, the show seems to be building a larger world than just the home that the main characters reside in.

Raising Hope airs on Tuesdays at 9pm on FOX.

And then there was one. There's nothing worse than going an entire season without a win. Just ask the Detroit Lions what that did to their psyche. The Carolina Panthers took advantage of Alex Smith's injury and pulled out the tough first win of the year for them. Credit to coach John Fox, who prematurely benched QB Matt Moore earlier in the year, for admitting his mistake and reinserting Moore this week.Studs of the week. This week was the sort of game that showed what the Raiders were looking for when they drafted Darren McFadden (196 total yds, 4 TDs) in the first round. After the Redskins DEF got raked over the coals last week for not being able to catch a ball, DeAngelo Hall responded this week with a dominating performance (4 INTs, 1 returned for a TD). Kenny Britt had an amazing day for the Titans (7 catches, 225 yds, 3 TDs). Consider that those gaudy numbers came in a game where Britt was benched for an entire quarter for off-field problems. Roddy White doesn't get as much attention as other WRs, because he's pretty much the anti-diva. All he does is keep his mouth shut and perform week after week. This week he was devastating, posting 11 catches for 201 yds and 2 TDs. Finally, how great is Peyton Hillis? He touched the ball at least 10 times in a clock-crushing drive in the 4th quarter, not only ripping off touch runs, but even throwing a pass at one point.

Welcome to 10 Easy Ways to Lose a Football Game - the week 6 edition.

1. Fail to make the easy interception. Yes, good for the Redskins defense for forcing 3 fumbles. But the defensive backs were simply terrible last night, dropping not 1, not 2, but 3 INTs. The first drop by Carlos Rodgers (who has the worst hands in football) would have given the Redskins the ball at midfield. Instead, Manning converted the first down on the next play, and then proceeded to lead the first of many time consuming, point producing drives that ended making the difference in this game.

2. Play undisciplined. The Cowboys could have beaten the Minnesota Vikings, but yet again were undone by penalties and stupid turnovers. Yes, I know the celebration penalty is stupid, but since the Cowboys' Marc Columbo got that called on him last week (a penalty which ended up largely costing them the game), you'd think that the Cowboys would have been smart enough to avoid any sort of activity post touchdown that might draw a yellow flag (spoiler: they weren't). The Cowboys had 11 penalties called on them yesterday. To me, that reeks of a team lacking in discipline.

3. Play poorly on special teams. The San Diego Chargers have one of the elite QBs in the league, and they're ranked #1 in both total offense and defense. Unfortunately, they also have given up 4 TDs on special teams, had 9 fumbles, several blocked punts (one of which resulted in a safety) and pretty much been eaten up by the opposition. Makes you wonder just what they were thinking when they let special teams ace Kassim Osgood go.

4. Suffer too many injuries. Last year, it was the Atlanta Falcons who were the highly touted team that seemed unable to overcome injuries to key players. This year, it's the Green Bay Packers, who seem to have lost half their key starters to some kind of injury this season.

5. Have a rookie QB start his first game against the Steelers defense. Honestly, Colt McCoy showed a lot of promise in the loss to Pittsburgh, so that's good news for the Cleveland Browns. But they still lost because QBs forced to start before they've had time to sit and learn usually don't have what it takes to beat a halfway decent team. Again, McCoy showed a lot of promise, but the original plan had been to "red shirt" him a year behind veteran QBs so he had time to fully absorb the game.

6. Allow your QB to get hit too much. Poor Jay Cutler was sacked 9 times against NY two weeks ago, before he was finally knocked out of the game with a concussion. You'd think that Mike Martz would have come up with a way to fix the protection scheme in the two weeks since. However, it was more of the same this week, as Cutler returned to start, only to suffer through another 6 sacks against the Seahawks. At this point, Chicago is going to lose a lot more games, especially since Cutler will only be MORE prone to panicked throws (leading to INTs) the more he gets hit over the course of the season.

7. Fail to pressure the QB. #6 points out that you will lose if your QB gets hit too much, but the inverse is also true - if you DON'T hit the opposing QB, he is able to just sit comfortably in the pocket and wait for one of his receivers to eventually get open. This applies both to the Redskins last night (yet again, Peyton Manning's pristine white jersey doesn't need to washed at all after the game) and the Atlanta Falcons, who only managed to get to Kevin Kolb once the entire game. Kolb played lights out against Atlanta, which handicapped what they were able to do offensively, as they were forced into passing most of the game due to the early points deficit.

8. Be a team from California. Really, that's the only explanation I have for the poor performances this year of the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. The only reason one of them won yesterday was because they were playing one of the others (in this case, San Fran triumphed in a dreadfully boring 17-9 game).

9. Fail to consistently run the ball. Matt Forte has had some amazing games this year, but he's also had several dreadful rushing games this year. Part of his gaudy stats in the wins were due to catching short passes out of the backfield, but when forced to be a traditional run attack, the Bears are woefully inconsistent. I've harped on the Broncos lack of a running game as well, and yet again it took inserting Tim Tebow to finally get a decent run and score from the run attack. The Broncos' backs are poor runners, and suffer from injury to boot. Expect to see more Tebow as the year progresses.

10. Play against better teams. Yes, it sounds simple, but it's true. Sometimes teams benefit from a weak early schedule and seem better than they actually are (see: the 2008 Buffalo Bills, who got out to a 5-1 start against terrible teams). This year, it seems like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were who were thought they were - a young team with some talent that still needs to grow more before they can run with the big boys in the league. They started strong, but against weak opponents like the Bengals, Panthers and Browns, but against the Saints and Steelers, it wasn't even close.

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." - Kurt Vonnegut.

Tonight's episode is entitled "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?" and much like the Philip K. Dick story that inspired the title, the episode is concerned with the question of what it means to be human. The episode explores the notion that faking an emotion for long enough can have the effect of causing an actual real emotion to form, even in the most hardened of hearts (synthetic or otherwise). It brings up the question: who is more human here? The artificial Ray, who sincerely felt love for his family, or the organic Alt-livia, who can only fake affection for Peter and who uses the appearance of emotion to forward her own sinister goals?

This week's post is a little shorter (and probably more incoherent) than usual, because I am very tired this morning.

Say goodbye to perfection. Last year we were biting our nails late into the season, with both the Saints and the Colts looking like they might make a run at 16-0. Well, we won't have that problem this year, since the Colts defeated the only remaining undefeated team left this week. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - I must admit that last year and in 2007 when the Patriots did go 16-0 in the regular season, it was a bit annoying to have the topic brought up on every single pregame show each week. I imagine it might the sort of thing that actually distracts a team.

Buffalo... There are no words to describe how lousy you are. However, on the flip side it is also massively distracting for a team when the opposite happens and they continue to be winless as the season progresses. While it's annoying to field "Do you think you can go 16-0?" when being interviewed, it's likely 100 times worse to hear "Is it possible that you'll go 0-16?". Right now, I see one team playing as poorly as the legendary 2007 Detroit Lions squad: the Buffalo Bills. I am fairly sure that the other 0-5 teams, the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers, will figure out a way to win somehow. However, there's just SO many things wrong in Buffalo right now that I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel:

1) They cut their starting QB, even though he played well enough to win the job in training camp.

2) They don't seem to have any building block players in place. Other teams may be losing, but there are players secured on the roster for the future. For example, St Louis only won 1 game last year, but they had young defensive players from the 2008 and 2009 draft that were still learning their craft. Those players are now starting to blossom and the team has already doubled the number of wins from last year (hanging in there at 2-3). In addition, St Louis used this year's draft to select their QB of the future, and it seems like Sam Bradford (though he may have times he struggles this year), will be in St Louis for a long time. In other words, there's promise there on that roster. Contrast that with Buffalo. For every promising player, such as CJ Spiller, that they add, they lose 2-3 others: former 1st round draft pick Marshawn Lynch was the latest loss, they cut 2008's 2nd round pick WR James Hardy at the beginning of the year, not to mention that the WR corps was futher diminished because they wasted money and a roster slot on a guy (Terrell Owens) that they knew they weren't going to keep around for more than a year.

3) They have poor management in place. It's fine to give up on Lynch, because you've got two other good RBs. However, with several teams in the league desperate for a starting RB (Green Bay pops to mind immediately), you'd think the Bills would get good value. But instead they trade him for a 4th round pick in 2011 and a conditional pick (5th or 6th round) in 2012. That surprised me, because I assumed that some other team would have topped that. Well, per Jay Glazer, other teams DID want Lynch and would have traded a higher set of picks for him - but the Bills never bothered to call anyone to ask.

4) The team is in chaos. Safety Donte Whitner described his team as "the laughingstock of the NFL". I can't imagine that the locker room is a fun place to be right now. This is the sort of team that quality players run screaming away from (see: the Oakland Raiders of past years), and also the kind of team that quality players won't easily be persuaded to join and help turn around.

Medic! Two weeks ago the Packers were done in by penalties. This week injuries played a major role in their loss to the Redskins. The most significant injury was to TE Jermichael Finley, because it completely changed the way the Packers had to approached the game. Finley is a major component of their passing attack Their second TE Donald Lee went out shortly afterwards, which really limited what Rodgers could do. Meanwhile, the defense could have taken advantage of the fact that the Redskins offensive line is terrible, but they were without sack master Clay Matthews for most of the game after he pulled a hamstring (not to mention the fact that they were already without starting LB Nick Barnett, who is out for the season with a wrist injury). Finally, one more key injury may impact the team moving forward - QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion late in the game, as given how that's affected other starting QBs around the league, it's possible that the Packers may be without their star QB for at least a game. This team had a ton of promise at the beginning of the season, but at this point, I don't think this battered and mistake-prone squad has a Super Bowl in their future this season.

Studs of the week. Hakeem Nicks (12 catches, 130 yds, 2 TDs) had a stellar game in the Giants victory. Ray Rice finally broke through this week with 159 total yards from scrimmage and 2 TDs. QB Josh Freeman might not be putting up huge numbers, but he is the real deal - when the game has been on the line, when a first down HAS to be made, Freeman has been clutch the whole way. Matt Forte continues to baffle, as this week he puts up great numbers (166 yds, 2 TDs) and will probably suck again next week.

Duds of the week. Drew Brees absolutely killed his team with his interceptions. Alex Smith continues to be maddeningly inconsistent, and worse, appears too mentally weak to fire himself up to be a real leader. Dwayne Bowe, long criticized for his inability to catch the ball, dropped what might have been a game changing TD.

Teams I like this week. The Baltimore Ravens look better every week I see them, and very soon they'll get back superstar Ed Reed. While everyone was busy praising the Rams for their improvement and rookie QB Sam Bradford was getting featured on Fox's NFL pregame show, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were quietly working their way towards a 3-1 start. Congrats to the plucky Oakland Raiders this week for their upset win over San Diego (and congrats to Jason Campbell, who really deserves a break one of these days, God).

Teams I don't like this week. Undisciplined. Lacking in leadership. A collection of individuals versus a coherent single team. These are all things that describe the Dallas Cowboys this year. Joining them on the "Way too packed with talent to be this bad" list are the San Francisco 49ers, who find new and terrible ways to lose games they should probably win. I also don't like the San Diego Chargers, who make too many mental mistakes.

Teams I can't figure out this week. The following teams are so wildly inconsistent with how they win and lose so far this season that I've officially decided that I have no idea how to predict their play from week to week: N.Y. Giants, Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals.

The red hued credits of Fringe welcome us to back to Earth-2, where ballpoint pens are rare collectible items, the Aruba war is still fresh in people's minds, and avocados are worth their weight in gold.

This week's episode features a Monster of the Week style storyline involving a Fringe suspect named Milo, whose medically-induced prognostication powers allow him to make seemingly insignificant occurrences cause murderous chains of events. The opening scene demonstrates this ability, as Milo drops a pen, which attracts the attention of a man nearby who goes to pick up the pen, putting him into the path of a bike messenger who swerves and crashes. The spectacle then distracts a passing bus driver long enough that he accidentally runs a red light, plowing over a female pedestrian (Milo's intended victim all along) in a horrifically realistic manner. Milo smiles creepily and heads off as the credits roll.

This week Olivia is still under the impression that she's Alt-livia, which is to say that she is acting like a fun and pleasant co-worker while going about her day at Fringe Division. Broyles and Walternate know the truth, however, and as they watch Olivia through the glass of Walternate's office, Broyles grouses about having a fake version of his agent hanging around. Walternate patiently explains that Olivia can travel between dimensions without damaging herself, and that if they can convince her that she's Alt-livia then she'll be more likely to submit to the series of nefarious experiments Walternate has planned for her. Broyles admits that that would be a handy power to figure out. He also talks earnestly about having the ability to defend themselves against Earth-1 - another nice touch that explains that while Earth-2 Fringe agents might be super intense and willing to cross some ethical lines, they really do seem to believe that they are the "good guys" in this scenario.

There's some more chatter and... I'm sorry, but honestly Lance Reddick is rocking this tight black t-shirt and the man has zero bodyfat and an upper torso that is triangle-shaped, and it's all just very distracting. Go rent The Wire and enjoy the uncensored HBO version of what Lance Reddick brings to the table, folks. Meanwhile, I applaud Earth-2 Fringe Division's commitment to tight fitting t-shirts and sensible cargo pants.

Anyway, Agent Lincoln Lee is back again, and looking slightly less scaly this week. While he and Charlie help work the bus accident scene, Olivia is momentarily distracted by visions of Peter in his adorable pea coat. The Fringe team discovers the pen used by Milo, and realize that it's a significant clue. They head back to the lab to check in with the Earth-2's Asperger's Syndrome version of Astrid.

Earth-2's version of Charlie is much more saavy than Earth-1's Charlie (which is probably why he's alive while original Charlie is not) and he correctly hypothesizes to Lincoln that perhaps the woman before them is really the Earth-1 Olivia, and not their own Alt-livia. Lincoln dismisses that idea, and he and Charlie spar over who knows and loves Alt-livia better. These shenanigans are interrupted by word of another bus accident.

After narrowly missing Milo at the crime scene (he escapes thanks to his ability), the team eventually tracks down his origin story. Milo was mentally handicapped, and had been undergoing experimental drug trials to increase his cognitive ability. Even though one dose of the drug made him able to memorize Pi to a thousand digits, the doctors decided it would be a good idea to give him four more doses before attempting to revert him to his original mental ability at around an IQ of 54. Milo thought better of that, and began using his abilities to kill the people in charge of the drug trials so that they couldn't take his abilities away. It's very reminiscent of Flowers for Algernon, right up to the tragic conclusion of Milo/Charly's story.

Olivia and Charlie get back on Milo's trail, but he's hunting them at the same time. The team attempts to outsmart Milo, drawing on Astrid's help to decide whether or not to follow a clue that might have been left behind to lure them into a trap. Astrid gets into a logic loop that invokes Wallace Shawn's famous rant in The Princess Bride about which cup has the lidocaine powder. They decide to take the bait and follow Milo.

Milo has predicted this of course and knows that a series of events will occur that culminates in Olivia crushed to death under a pile of cinder blocks. What he fails to predict, however, is that the Olivia that is chasing him is slightly out of sync with the world, and because Olivia fails to pull a key memory from Alt-livia's knowledge bank (specifically that one should stop to get a respirator when entering particular toxic zones), she breaks the pattern and manages to apprehend him.

The episode ends with Milo locked away in a facility. While he gets his wish to hold onto his new found mental abilities, it's a hollow victory, as his brain power increases to a point where he can no longer process the base physical world around him, and he is unable to relate to (or even perceive) his beloved younger sister beside him. Meanwhile, Olivia is dealing with some mental tweaks of her own, as she's once again visited by a vision of Peter, who kisses her and reminds her to hold on to who she really is. That sound you just heard? That was all the fun getting sucked out of the room, as Olivia's smile fades away and that old familiar sourpuss expression emerges. Which can only mean one thing: Olivia is back, baby!

I really enjoyed this week's episode. While Milo was a one-shot villain this week (albeit a very creepy and effective one), his storyline does tie into the larger themes that the show has been exploring for some time. The show began in the very first episode with the idea that seemingly random strange events tied into a larger Pattern (with a capital "P"). Similarly, the Fringe agents use patterns in their day to day work as detectives to spot anomalies in crime scenes and to predict how suspects might behave. This is exactly what Milo can do, but he takes it to the extreme due to the medication that enhances his ability. The fact that he has this ability only because Earth-2 scientists crossed a line with their medical experimentation also echoes back to last week's episode, where we saw that Earth-1's Walter struggled with the temptation to use science to cross boundaries that perhaps shouldn't be crossed. Milo's fate is a reminder that the other characters should be careful what they wish for.

Speaking of recurring motifs and uncomfortable applications of science, one of the final scenes between Walternate and Brandon the scientist reveals that we the viewers are about to see a familiar pattern: the infamous immersion tank that featured so heavily in the first part of season one. Hooray!

Summary: Never fall victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against Olivia Dunham when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...*thud*

Welcome to week 4, where old dogs still have a few tricks left in them and quality QBs are in dangerously short supply.

Lovable Losing Lions. I know this sounds crazy, but the Detroit Lions might be better than 40-50% of the league, despite having a 0-4 record. They might be losing, but aside from a blow out against Minnesota, they've played extremely tough against some pretty good opponents. They have some great young talent - Matthew Stafford has a huge arm and has shown good leadership, Jahvid Best has game breaking talent, and Ndamukong Suh has been exactly as advertised (he already has 3 sacks this year). The next few weeks against the young St Louis Rams and the struggling N.Y. Giants might be their chance to turn their losing ways around. They're probably still looking at a losing season overall (I think 6-10 would be optimistic at this point, given their schedule). But I think that the Lions have a good foundation for the future, and meanwhile they're at least making it exciting to watch them for the first quarter of this season.

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*photos from the NFL.com official website