Oh Limitless, you never cease to surprise me. One week you're a dark and brooding drama, the next you're a laugh filled riot fest and then you go and do something like you did Tuesday night...and decide it was time to try something incredibly new and in the process combine all of the things we know and love about the show while adding a little dash of parody to all of it.

If it seems like the show tried to accomplish a lot of things storytelling wise this week, well then you would be correct, and if that seems like a risky venture, well you're right again. But this is a different kind of show, one that loves to take risks and the end result of this grand experiment was nothing short of fantastic and for good measure they even managed to throw in a little bit of suspense as well that was so high quality I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat on several occasions. But, I'm getting ahead of myself because so much happened in "Stop Me Before I Hug Again", so let's kick off today's breakdown with the first thing that caught my eye, that parody I mentioned.

Turns out that this week's episode...felt the need to give the wealth of crime shows out there a little jab at their ultra seriousness by changing up that formula a little bit. Take a few nasty murders, and throw in Brian Finch's wild mind and a hallucinatory moment with a childhood hero and what do you get? Ugly words replaced with happy ones, replace killer with hugger for example, and any dark and disturbing nickname for a serial hugger with say...an ice cream flavor and you end up with one creative little parody that actually works like a charm. It made for plenty of laughs and allowed for the show to return to the formula that's worked so well this year where Brian can dig in and solve an extraordinary crime that appears to be impossible to crack.

But the suspense, well that came from the follow up to the last episode, "The Assassination of Eddie Morra" since we discovered the Rebecca simply won't let up on this case despite Brian's best efforts to get her mind off of it and well...I think I enjoyed this plot thread more than I did the crime show send up because of how well done and smooth this turned out to be, especially when it came to the evidence locker segment. This was the stuff that left me on the edge of my seat because for a moment there, it really seemed like Brian was going to be caught by Rebecca in the middle of swapping out Senator Morra's coat, and the fact that Brian was willing to be so helpful toward Morra and Sands was quite the surprise since he's always so suspicious toward the two of them.

But that all appears to be one big trick. Because despite the happy ending this week and the fact that our impossible case was solved...there is a new question that continues to stick in my mind. Is this Brian's attempt to bring down Senator Morra? After all, Brian's imaginary friend Josh-O-Saurus was right...he was on NZT, he had the chance to perfect the chip on the button of Eddie's jacket...but he screwed that part up, knowing full well Rebecca would find the discrepancy. Was this his best opportunity to start the process that eventually might prove the Senator is on NZT? Either way, that quick decision will have some big implications on the rest of the season, can't wait to see what happens next because of it. Until then.

The fact of the matter is, I watch a lot of television, probably too much to be honest but hey...it's a fun little hobby and TV always helps me to unwind after a long day. But one thing I rarely talk about, are the shows that I find to be guilty pleasures, the ones you know you watch simply for the fun of it because a show is just that silly or that crazy and well, you've heard from the entire rest of the staff on their guilty pleasures television wise, so it's high time I told you about mine. 

Hell's Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares
I have to admit that I can't get enough of shows with Gordon Ramsay in them and I make it a point to tune in as often as possible for his two "cooking" shows. I love Hell's Kitchen simply because it is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. The man is relentless in making sure his teams deliver and it's incredible to see him not only fly off the handle with creative insults and powerhouse tirades, but the level of perfection he expects is almost out of this world and well...this is a show that sucks you in for wild reasons. On one hand, you root for the blue and red kitchens to deliver on dinner service because you don't want to see Ramsey rip them to shreds...but on the other hand, you're waiting anxiously to see who screws up because not even the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket is as brutal and creative with his insults as Gordon is. 

But, if I'm not in the mood for a pressure cooker environment (see what I did there?) I tune into Kitchen Nightmares instead because it does feature a low key Gordon Ramsay and well...it's title is spot on. We all go out to dinner on a regular basis but we never think about the inner workings of the restaurants we visit and this show makes you think you should when you see some of the awful and nightmarish food served up and some of the crazy owners out there as well. This is one I watch simply for the wow factor because the things I've seen on this show are absolutely breathtaking...in the wrong kind of way and really, this show has that train wreck factor...where you know you want to look away but you can't.

Man vs. Food
I am noticing a theme here that I watch a lot of shows on the side that revolve around restaurants and eating. I'm okay with this. It's a little known fact that I love to cook when I actually have time and these shows motivate that in their own twisted little way, but this show...well it appeals to my competitive side and my chef side since how can you go wrong with a show that features great eats, recipes and oh yeah...an eating competition? The answer is you cannot and it's amazing to see the tasty places that Adam visits across the country and it's more amazing to see him eat so much freaking food. The dude's a champ, seriously.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
I don't care what anyone says, inappropriate humor is and will always be hilarious and there is no show that embodies this better than Sunny. The characters are horrible people and they do incredibly crazy things...and it's beyond hilarious. I mean seriously, the jokes in this show are nothing short of genius, to the point where I own every season on disc, something I rarely do and quite frankly, it's the only comedy I've ever seen where I have to pause it on my DVR or DVD player to get all the tear filled laughs out before moving on. So far, "The Nightman Cometh" holds the pausing record at eight times. In fact this is truly one of my favorite shows out there and a great way to unwind from a stressful and wild week.

So there you have it, just a few of the guilty pleasures I indulge in when it comes to television and I'll probably talk about a few more coming up here because let's be honest...every single person's list of guilty pleasures is a big one whether we like it or not. Now if you'll excuse me, the new season of Hell's Kitchen is on tonight and I feel the need to watch this week's Sunny one more time before it airs...until next time.  

Once in a great while, a season finale comes along that is so incredibly good and so incredibly powerful that you're left feeling abandoned when the episode comes to an end simply because you cannot believe how good it was and because you're dying for more of the story. It's rare, but as I recently discovered, that's the kind of finale The Man in the High Castle was happy to bring to the table and I am still in awe of how damn well they wrapped up season one and set everything up for season two. 

Now a lot happened in this finale, and quite frankly, it would have made more sense to extend this episode to an hour and half, but oh well, it was still damn satisfying and while a lot happened, two key plot threads are still dancing in my mind and we'll get to those in a moment because first...let's wrap up the easy stuff. For starters, Inspector Kido found out the Germans were behind the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince to start a war, meaning he could not reveal this fact to keep the peace but in the end Ed took the fall for the whole thing. Plus Juliana was willing to help Joe escape because she believed that he was not as evil as the films indicated. So, with all of that wrapped up and done, let's talk about the stuff that still has me in shock.

Let's start with the continuation of the whole mess between Heydrich and John Smith because this plot line was downright terrifying. It turns out that Heydrich wasn't going to just turn his gun on John and blow him away in the middle of the woods, that would be too crude. No instead they hiked to a remote cabin where Heydrich revealed not only his plan to remove Hitler from power, but to get the German war machine restarted and deal with the Japanese and well...any other race deemed inferior and to top it off...there were quite a few top ranking Nazi officers willing to go with him. It's the first time ever in the show I was rooting for a Nazi because I wanted John Smith to find a way out of this mess and deal with Heydrich accordingly because his plan to upset the peace that had been found after the war left me unsettled.

But the show wasn't done with its surprises just yet. Because as John dealt with the traitor, Wegener arrived at Hitler's mountaintop castle and well...this scene was absolutely stunning. Because as it turns out, Hitler was not as ill as we were led to believe. In fact he is in perfect health, just aged by father time and in possession of a small library of the films, which he spends his days watching. But not only is he healthy physically, his mind is still incredibly sharp since the Führer if fully aware of the assassination plot from Heydrich and he knows that Wegener doesn't have the strength to kill him. Turns out he's right and Rudolph commits suicide. But not before Hitler makes a call to Heydrich. Surprised to hear the Führer alive, that brief distraction gives John the chance he needs because he was smart enough to call for backup and after some brief gunfire, he has the drop on Heydrich and is able to inform Hitler that he has captured a traitor. 

But the most stunning moment of the episode came courtesy of Trade Minister Tagomi as he left work to find a place to meditate and decide his next move with war on the horizon. He went to the center of San Francisco and as he took the time to settle his soul and focus on the world around him...something magnificent happened...the world around him transformed. Suddenly the Japanese Pacific States were no more and the streets were filled with red, white and blue as he found himself in the middle...of the United States of America. Somehow he had transported to our world, well, the 1962 of our world and this final moment of season one oddly enough seems to move the show into a realm of science fiction and left me with so many questions.  

Does it mean that the films are in essence slices of alternate universes? Because it's clear now that two different worlds exist and Tagomi has traveled between both of them. Not to mention, is there another person out there like Tagomi who can travel these worlds and is leaving the films behind in an effort to save lives and show them a better way? It's hard to say but I'll be damned if this episode didn't get my imagination going and seeing as to how a second season of the show has been announced, I'm excited to get the answers to these questions and to see what happens next with the Greater Nazi Reich since we now know that there is a large contingency of top Nazi commanders ready to start a new war and see Hitler go away. Either way, this was a stunning first season for this show, I'm still in awe of how amazing it turned out to be. Season two cannot get here soon enough, I have to know what happens next. Until then.

I've made it no secret that I am a huge fan of Limitless the show and Limitless the movie. It was a unique concept on film and the weird world of NZT has only managed to become all the more fascinating courtesy of Brian Finch's adventures week in and week out on CBS, but let's be honest...Eddie Morra has become the grand mystery on the show and I've been waiting with baited breath to finally get some answers on what kind of man Eddie has truly become after the motion picture came to an end. 

This week's winter premiere of the show, "The Assassination of Eddie Morra" finally gave us all the answers we could ever need or ask for when it came to the titular character, but I have to admit that I was unprepared for the consequences that came with it all. This is an episode that showed us just how much Eddie has evolved after all these years and unfortunately none of it is for the better since, at least in my mind, there is no more doubt he's the true villain of this story and it's also a little scary just how smart he has truly become on NZT in what was one of the show's finest episodes to date. 

As the title indicates, someone came after Senator Morra and that opening sequence with him figuring out who it was that was preparing to fire a gun at him from 3,300 yards away was impressive and this is what I meant about how smart Eddie had become since he was able to not only time the shot but know exactly when to avoid it. It was downright freaky how he was able to pull that off and that intense opening led us into a different kind of episode for the show. This particular episode actually felt like it was ripped right out of the movie of the same namesake with a little bit of spy drama thrown in for good mix with the cat and mouse game between Brian and Piper, the girl who tried to put down Eddie once and for all.

But while Piper's story was fascinating, and while I enjoyed all the back and forth and the double cross that Brian put together to keep Piper alive and keep Eddie satisfied that she was dead, none of it compared to the moment when Eddie and Brian met in Finch's tiny office for a short but loaded scene. It's here where Eddie asked Brian the all important question as to when he was going to let go of the man he used to be and embrace the one he was becoming and that's when I personally had a big question answered. I've speculated for some time as to whether or not NZT changes the personality of someone in addition to their intelligence and well...it does, with a little willingness, since Senator Morra was happy to explain how the drug allowed him to finally be free of his former "loser" self and allow that particular Eddie to become nothing more than a distant memory so he could evolve into a "better" person.

That subtle revelation was quite disturbing to say the least. It means all the clues that Eddie might be the one pulling the strings and making sure people disappear from this earth are fact now, and it means that the future of the world on the show is murky at best with Morra announcing his bid to become president. But it's obvious Brian knows stopping him will be difficult to say the least and as of right now, the man is untouchable. But I do like the fact that Rebecca seems to be putting the pieces together on her own time about Eddie and who he is and I am an even bigger fan of the fact that Brian is staying true to himself in every single way. Either way, our villain is finally out of the shadows and this story will never quite be the same. I can't wait to see where we go from here. Until next time.

I have to say that this was a special episode of The Man in the High Castle for me for several reasons. Finding out how Joe and Juliana get out of their pickle with the Yakuza was at the top of that list, but also because it was clear in the last episode that the show was about to unleash the storytelling floodgates, and with this being the penultimate episode before the season finale, I expected nothing less than one hell of an episode...and I got one. 

After all, this is an episode that gave us quite a few answers while bringing forth some terrifying revelations. Case in point, the mystery of who tried to assassinate Obergruppenführer John Smith in episode two finally came to light and wow, it was a doozy since it turned out to be SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Yes, this powerful man in the Nazi regime gave the order to Smith's assistant to leak the info to the resistance in the hopes of seeing Smith out of the way. Why exactly isn't clear at first but it does give John the chance to exact a little justice/revenge of his own by pushing his assistant off of the roof of a building. But John's struggle doesn't end there since Heydrich makes a personal visit to his home to entertain his family and to request that John accompany him on a hunting trip come dawn. It's an ominous offer to say the least after what John discoveres.

That little twist only adds to the mystery of Heydrich in this episode and thankfully the show is happy to peel back more layers of this historical monster. As the episode progressed we spent a few other important moments with him and in the process got a solid idea of what he is up to and well, his plans are outright terrifying to say the least and I give the show credit for revealing them to us in slow and steady fashion since it turns out he needs Rudolph Wegener's help to carry out something important and if Rudolph declines, things will be bad for his family and friends back home. So naturally, Wegener agrees to help Reinhard to keep his friends and family safe and that's when the big reveal falls into our lap when Rudolph asks exactly what he is supposed to do for Heydrich and it turns out he is to return home to Berlin and meet with the Führer...and kill him.

But the fun doesn't end there. In San Francisco plenty of other wheels are turning. Thankfully Juliana is freed from the Yakuza by the Resistance, who pay a hefty price for her and can no longer afford the film. But Joe is left behind and in order to get him free, she has to convince Frank to pay the Yakuza the 46,000 yen he earned in the deal with Robert. Frank reluctantly agrees and quickly comes to regret his decision since Joe decides to up the ante and take out a few of the Yakuza to get his hands on the film, putting himself, Frank and Juliana on the run.  

While they try and regroup, Trade Minister Tagomi's plan to keep war at bay completely blows up in his face. While his plan to get the schematic for a nuclear bomb to the Science Minister was a rousing success, his hopes that it would put the Japanese Empire on a level playing field disappear when the military shows up demanding information on uranium deposits because the Crown Prince is ready to make his own nuclear bombs and use them on the Reich. That little moment right there manages to only sink your spirits further in an already bleak episode but of all the surprises we've talked about today...nothing beats the final moments when Frank and Juliana get their hands on the new film at last and view it...only to be treated to visions of horror. This film doesn't feature parades or victory over the Nazi's, no, instead this film provides our intrepid heroes with a view of a San Francisco devastated by nuclear war and Frank being gunned down by a familiar SS Officer...Joe. 

So, needless to say, this particular chapter in the story left me on the edge of my seat because holy cow, it was not messing around. This was more or less one powerful moment after another and it seems like neither the audience nor our characters can catch a break this go round. But while the episode remains devastating on so many levels, it also ignites the imagination with this new film because questions abound come after seeing it. First and foremost, what the hell are these films? One minute they're a window into a better world, the next they show a world worse than the one we are currently in and the fact that they can change like this only deepens the mystery. But that issue I'm not sure will get resolved in the season finale unfortunately, but I am looking forward to seeing what happens when Joe runs into Frank and Juliana again and well, this whole mess with Heydrich and John and the sneaky plan to deal with Hitler is no doubt going to be a focus as well. So once again, I'm sorry to leave you all, but it's high time to find out how season one comes to an end. Until next time.

The Man in the High Castle has done such a fine job of sucking us in with it's powerhouse world and vibrant characters and their beautiful stories that as the episodes have progressed, something important has managed to go the wayside when it comes to the story...the all important films that show a world where the Allied Forces won. 

So clearly it was high time for the show to bring that all important element back into the story, even going so far as to start the episode with Lem and the Resistance being summoned to get their hands on a new film. But while the films seemed a little easier to transport and deliver earlier in the series, the hunt for this one would turn out to be extremely difficult and costly as the series decided to ramp up the storytelling on our way to the season one finale.  

But, before we get into that, we do need to take a moment and discuss the wonder of John Smith's story. After all this is a guy who started out as a secondary character but he has slowly started to come to the forefront and this was his breaking out episode if you will since our first clues as to who tried to assassinate finally come in and well...he faces his biggest personal challenge yet. For as it turns out, his son has a debilitating disease now in its early stages and there was something quite powerful about watching the head of the American SS be faced with the fact that at some point or another, he would have to follow the rules of the Reich and put his son to death. 

But his troubles didn't end there since a slice of real history came to life before our eyes on the show when Smith is visited by SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich at his office since Heydrich has come to America to retrieve the traitor Wegener and from the get go, it's a strange cat and mouse game in Smith's office where it becomes clear the two men tolerate but don't necessarily respect one another and an odd move by one of Smith's assistants gives him pause and concern because it's clear said assistant has been talking to Heydrich on a regular basis and John leaves the meeting with the feeling that his assistant and Heydrich could be working together to get Smith out of the way. 

That mystery however will have to be on hold for another time because while Smith deals with messes in New York, Robert and Frank's plan to sell the fake artifact to the collector actually goes off without a hitch, netting Frank a lovely 46,000 yen to get the hell out of dodge and he begins to make arrangements to escape to the Neutral Zone with Juliana. But before she can leave, there is the matter of the new film to deal with since it has fallen into the hands of the Yakuza and they want 100,000 yen to hand it over, meaning she will need Joe's help and some serious Nazi cash to make it happen. 

It also means that Joe wants in on the action, since it's his money he wants to be the one to retrieve the film. Granted the resistance has no clue that his intent is to get it back to the Greater Nazi Reich, and because of that relent and allow him to snag the film. But there is a problem waiting for Joe, the Kempeitai have laid a trap to capture whomever comes for the film and Juliana discovers this courtesy of info from her stepfather, forcing her to leave the bus behind and save her friend and while she manages to pull it off, their escape from the Kempeitai matters not when the Yakuza snatch them and the film up, leaving us essentially with a cliffhanger as Joe and Juliana find themselves locked away, without the film and without hope.  

Needless to say the return of the films made for powerhouse storytelling as the pace for this show suddenly picked up and well, I'm dying to see how Juliana and Joe get out of this particular mess because this is a good one to say the least. But what surprised me the most in this episode was John Smith's storyline since we finally went beyond the SS uniform and saw him for what he is...a good father and family man. It's strange to humanize someone we should hate, but this is the episode where you discover, at least I did, that you kind of like the guy and are rooting for him because man...Heydrich is about as evil as they come. I mean come on he brags about murdering the Jewish population in Europe no less than a minute after we meet the man and I can't lie, I hope he is indeed the one behind the attack on John so John can exact a little revenge upon him. Either way, the end of season one is in sight and I simply must know more so I'm off to watch the next episode and I'll meet you back here to discuss it a little later on, until then.

As the end credits rolled on the seventh episode of The Man in the High Castle, my immediate first thought after I recovered from those horrifying final images was that the show had finally brought forth its first filler episode. At first glance it felt as though the plot wasn't progressed at all so I gave it another viewing right then and there because a little tickle in my brain told me I was wrong, and it turns out I was. 

This is a show that refuses to settle into television norms such as things like the filler and the progress that I sought was there all along, I just let myself get lost in the surprisingly gentle and heartbreaking moments in this particular tale and well, that's not a bad thing. This was quite an emotional episode to say the least, one that closed off a major storyline and brought forth new ones and I think the fact that the show allowed us to feel something other than fear for a change confused me. 

So let's get going by getting into Joe Clark's story, simply because that's where we pick up immediately after the last episode. With Joe exposed as a man too curious about the films and whose loyalty with the Reich is now in question. It puts him in the hot seat with John Smith and he is forced to head out San Francisco way to redeem himself. Seems there is talk of a new film and the Nazi's want it. This demand from Smith finally gets us a solid view into Joe's life for the first time ever on the show before he heads out. He has a girl, she has a kid, and it was strange to see him play the family man while desperately waiting to hear Juliana's voice once again.

But the bulk of this story in this episode is set in San Francisco, as we rejoin Frank and Juliana as she settles into her new career with Minister Tagomi and Frank finally finds some peace in his life after being able to grieve and this is where the episode became so gentle, specifically when it comes to Juliana and the Trade Minister since he turns out to be so extremely kind to her, going so far as to give her information on where she can finally find her sister to get the same kind of closure Frank did, more on that in a moment. 

We also revisited our favorite shop owner Robert Childan as he appeared to land the client of a lifetime, since he is invited over to a prestigious dinner with a collector, only to discover there will be no discussion of sales, it is merely an opportunity to pick his brain on former American culture and well...make a mockery of him. It leads to another chance meeting between he and Frank, because Frank wants to make money to get the hell out of San Fran and the two men figure out a way to get it done by making a flawless fake artifact from America's past to sell to the collector for a high price. But as Frank gets to work on that, Juliana finally visits her sister's final resting place in what turns out to be one of the series' most powerful moments. Her body is merely lying in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere, amongst other traitors and the silence of that scene, combined with the pain on Juliana's face, well it left my heart heavy and my eyes full of tears. 

Of course the episode couldn't just end there, instead we leave our two lead characters reunited in a way, with Joe following Juliana closely on the streets of San Francisco. So, like I mentioned before, this story felt like filler because so many things happened at once and it seemed like so much was going nowhere, but upon that second viewing all of this feels like a setup. While the Trudy story is now done in my mind, how will the transaction between Childan and his collector go when all is said and done? I don't see revenge against the affluent Japanese going well, so I'm curious to see how this turns out and of course...a new film possibly being out and Joe being in San Fran can't be a good thing, especially when Joe is doing exactly what he must because no doubt his life is on the line. Should be interesting to see where it goes, and I love the fact that the show slowed things down for a bit this go round, it made for some nice storytelling. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to press play on episode eight, so I can find out where this setup goes. Until next time.