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The Walking Dead, Ep. 2.11: “Judge, Jury and Executioner”

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 11: “Judge, Jury and Executioner” Written by Angela Kang Directed by Greg Nicotero Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC Parts of “Judge, Jury, and Executioner” hum along better than most Walking Deads in recent memory, but a few things are still amiss. Credit where credit’s due, though: Dale …

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Doing the Time Warp: 8 Great Time Travel Episodes

In honor of leap day, those extra 24 hours we get every four years, a time travel list seemed in order. One of the most consistent and popular tropes of genre fiction, time travel opens up worlds of possibility and, when used in well, can allow writers avenues to explore character and story in creative …

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Fringe, Ep. 4.13, “A Better Human Being”: Visual flair and a serene Olivia make for a strong episode

Fringe Review, Season 4, Episode 13: “A Better Human Being” Written by Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen (teleplay), Glen Whitman and Robert Chiappetta (story) Directed by Joe Chappelle Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on Fox This week, on Fringe: Sean hears voices, Nina plays innocent, and Olivia remembers Genre fiction is full of cautionary tales …

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Fringe, Ep. 4.07, “Wallflower”: Promising episode undone by narrative-necessitated stupidity

Fringe Review, Season 4, Episode 7: “Wallflower” Written by Matthew Pitts & Justin Doble Directed by Anthony Hemingway Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on Fox This week, on Fringe: Lincoln isn’t sleeping, Olivia has migraines, Peter’s having trouble adjusting, and Eugene just wants to be seen After last week’s excellent episode, “Wallflower” has a lot …

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Fringe, Ep. 4.03: “Alone in the World”

Fringe Review, Season 4, Episode 3: “Alone in the World” Written by David Fury Directed by Miguel Sapochnik Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on Fox This week, on Fringe: Peter makes himself heard, Walter makes a friend, Olivia wants a flamethrower, and things get freaky for Lincoln Fringe does an excellent job of balancing its …

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Supernatural, Ep. 7.03: “The Girl Next Door”

Supernatural Review, Season 7, Episode 3: “The Girl Next Door” Written by Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin Directed by Jensen Ackles Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on the CW This week, on Supernatural: Sam used to date Kaylee, Bobby does research, and Dean is Dean, for better and worse. After a couple weeks of arc, …

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Supernatural, Ep. 7.02: “Hello, Cruel World”

Supernatural Review, Season 7, Episode 2: “Hello, Cruel World” Written by Ben Edlund Directed by Guy Bee Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on the CW This week, on Supernatural: Jimmy goes for a swim, Lucy plays with Sam, and Doctor Sexy, MD strikes Last week’s Supernatural episode functioned more as the season six finale than …

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Fringe, Ep. 4.02: “One Night in October”

Fringe Review, Season 4, Episode 2: “One Night in October” Written by Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen Directed by Brad Anderson Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on Fox This week, on Fringe: Walter goes from seeing things to hearing things, Olivia hangs with Clincoln, and there’s a thin Marjorie between a Starling and a Lecter. …

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Fringe, Ep. 4.01: “Neither Here Nor There”

Fringe Review, Season 4, Episode 1: “Neither Here Nor There” Written by Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman Directed by Joe Chappelle Airs Fridays at 9pm (ET) on Fox This week, on Fringe: Even with Peter out of the equation, Olivia doesn’t like Fauxlivia, Walter is worried about Walternate, and Lincoln Lee …

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You Want Answers with that Mystery?: The Series-long Arc in Genre TV

Over the years, serialized television has become increasingly more prominent. Condensed-time and arc-based series are the dramatic norm, on cable at least, with the most culturally significant and critically acclaimed series falling into this category. With television viewership dwindling, niche shows are increasingly sustainable, making cult, new-viewer-unfriendly programming less of a risk for struggling networks. …

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Torchwood: Miracle Day, Ep. 10: “The Blood Line”

Torchwood: Miracle Day Review, Episode 10: “The Blood Line” Written by Russell T Davies and Jane Espenson Directed by Billy Gierhart Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on Starz This week, on Torchwood: We get an expodump, re:Blessing, Jilly drinks the kool-aide, there’s blood-letting all over the place, and Rex wakes up It’s been a long …

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Torchwood: Miracle Day, Ep. 9: “The Gathering”

Torchwood: Miracle Day Review, Episode 9: “The Gathering” Written by John Fay Directed by Guy Ferland Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on Starz This week, on Torchwood: Two months pass, the gang gets back together and splits up again, Oswald Danes is revealed as a master of stealth, disguise, and hacking, Jack’s blood is magic, …

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10 Surprising TV Takes on Genre Tropes

One of the great things about the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror are that they allow writers to break the rules. If a topic is taboo or controversial, put it on a distant planet and it’ll usually get past the censors. If a character needs to confront their issues over a friend’s death, …

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Doctor Who, Ep. 6.08: ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’

Doctor Who Review, Series 6, Episode 8: “Let’s Kill Hitler” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Richard Senior Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: We met Mels, Melody, and River. Oh, and Hitler gets shoved in a closet. After a long wait, Doctor Who is back with the …

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Torchwood: Miracle Day, Ep. 8: ‘End of the Road’

Torchwood: Miracle Day Review, Episode 8: “End of the Road” Written by Jane Espenson and Ryan Scott Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on Starz This week, on Torchwood: Angelo returns, Rex calls in the cavalry, Oswald tries to turn over a new leaf, Jilly gets a promotion, Gwen is deported, Jack …

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Torchwood: Miracle Day, Ep. 7: “Immortal Sins”

Torchwood: Miracle Day Review, Episode 7: “Immortal Sins” Written by Jane Espenson Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on Starz This week, on Torchwood: A bit of Jack’s past gets filled in, Gwen chooses family, and the Torchwood team finally gets something right. Another filler episode. In “Immortal Sins,” Espenson drops all …

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Torchwood: Miracle Day, Episode 6: “The Middle Men”

Torchwood: Miracle Day, Episode 6: “The Middle Men” Written by John Shiban Directed by Guy Ferland Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on Starz This week on Torchwood: Rex gets captured, Esther gets her hands dirty, Gwen plays with explosives, Jack digs up some dirt, and the endgame (presumably) finally starts up. This episode is hit …

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Torchwood: Miracle Day, Ep. 5: “The Categories of Life”

  Torchwood: Miracle Day, Episode 5: “The Categories of Life” Written by Jane Espenson Directed by Guy Ferland Airs Fridays at 10pm (ET) on Starz This week on Torchwood: Vera joins the team, the gang goes undercover, Oswald gives a speech, Jilly gets noticed, and a tragic discovery is made. After a string of disappointing …

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Will We See District 8?

Empire has caught up with Sharlto Copley about the possibility of a District 9 sequel with director Neill Blomkamp, in fact, from what he tells Empire is that there may be a prequel in the works. I’m sure it’s not going to be called Distrcit 8, but perhaps that got your attention anyways.

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Surrogates

Surrogates 2009, USA Directed by Jonathan Mostow Written by Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato, Robert Venditti (graphic novel), Brett Weldele (graphic novel) Starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Ving Rhames The idea of creating an imaginary persona as a replacement for reality is nothing new, at least for those of us who try to …

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‘District 9’ is in the upper echelon of science-fiction films with a message, a moral, and a mech suit

Generally speaking, I don’t like to be lectured. It brings back painful memories of my childhood, when my father would continually admonish me for being untidy, killing the family pets, and digging up my dead sister for Saturday night ‘dates.’ I especially dislike preaching about race relations, because ever since flipping past The O’Reilly Factor while channel surfing, I’ve become convinced that only communist agitators and terrorists complain about racism. But I’ll make a special exception for director Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, because it mixes its didactic moralizing with giant bugs and the mechanized body armour from Robot Jox.

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