The Critical Myth Crew prepares for the apocalypse holidays by foretelling the future with Fringe (spoilers through 5.8), going survival horror with Homeland (spoilers through 2.11), and hitting the road with Burn Notice (spoilers through 3.15). Recorded 15 Dec 2012.

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Contributor: Henry T.

Screenplay by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Directed by Peter Jackson

The thought had occurred to me while watching “The Hobbit”: This feels like watching the Star Wars prequels years after watching the original trilogy so many times. You ( Read more... )

Contributor: Gregg Wright

Written by Scott Buck and Tim Schlattmann
Directed by Steve Shill

How’s that for an episode title, eh? Unfortunately, despite what the promo and title might lead us to believe, this episode does not mark the glorious return of Doakes to exact his revenge on Dexter. This finale is solely concerned with resolving existing ( Read more... )

Contributor: John Keegan

Written by David Fisher
Directed by Michael Hayes

I hadn’t heard much about this serial before watching it, but I had heard that the season was very uneven, and worried that this might turn out to be one of the weaker links. I was surprised, then, at how very watchable it really was. And a large part of that is the ( Read more... )

Contributor: John Keegan

Written by Kristin Cantrell
Directed by Tommy Gormley

It’s become a tradition for “Fringe” to have an off-format installment with Episode 19 of each season, but with only 13 episodes for the fifth and final run, that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Yet the writers wanted to keep the tradition alive in some sense; it ( Read more... )

Contributor: Gregg Wright

Written by Jennifer Salt
Directed by Jeremy Podeswa

As the mid-season finale, “The Coat Hanger” begins progressing the plot at a faster pace and slowly venturing back to explore some of the elements that have been somewhat neglected for a few episodes now. I’ve been a bit worried, because the episodes have started to blur ( Read more... )

Contributor: John Keegan

Written by Michael J. Cinquemani and Julie Plec
Directed by Pascal Verschooris

Leave it to “The Vampire Diaries” to use a Christmas hymn as the background music for a slaughter. The writers for this show don’t fool around when it comes to the mid-season cliffhanger, and that is triply so in this case. There are shows that ( Read more... )

Contributor: Bronzethumb

Written by Corinne Brinkerhoff and Craig Sweeny
Directed by Peter Werner

“It’s this case,” says Sherlock Holmes, as the episode moves towards its final act. “It renews one’s faith in the profession.” He may as well have been talking about the show itself, because just as it seemed “Elementary” was slipping further and ( Read more... )

Contributor: Bronzethumb

Written by Peter Blake
Directed by Phil Abraham

Even as it polishes some of its gems so they shine brighter than ever, “Elementary” is falling deeper and deeper into a rut with each episode. It’s determined to keep the most interesting elements of the show on the backburner and focus on a mystery that’s simply not very ( Read more... )

Contributor: John Keegan

Written by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg
Directed by John Dahl

Ever since the beginning of the season, there has been a sense that John Barrowman’s character was waiting for the right moment to strike. Even as relatively grounded as “Arrow” can be, given the emphasis on human relationships, Barrowman ( Read more... )