Made In Chelsea 4x02: Recap and Review

Is it a date?

There is much confusion in this week’s edition, what constitutes a date? This is where we find ourselves at the beginning with Cheska, Ollie and Binky chatting about the Jinky (Jamie and Binky) date. Ollie remarks that is very confusing as Binky has agreed to also go on a date with Sam (could not agree more Ollie!) He also regards that it all seems a bit desperate, if there is one word perfect to describe Cheska it is desperate.

Across the way in Chelsea, Rosie and Millie are all chummy again after last series’ bitchiness. New chums Stevie and Spencer are off on a man-date to the gym.

We arrive at the Jinky date. *Awkward* it is the same date that he took Louise on last series, Golf. (A Producers stroke of genius perhaps?) Jamie is pleased as punch that it is a date however, his happiness is short lived as they are interrupted by the gruesome twosome Andy and Sam. Jamie is miffed to learn that Binky is going on a date later with Sam.

In the gym Stevie and Spenny engage in some awkward penis chat. Not entirely sure they have done a lot at the gym due to both scenes involving them sitting down. Spencer is trying to be the bigger man and invite the three to his birthday pardy. Although it seems it is a ploy by Spencer to try and steal Andy’s BFF.

We then get a juxtaposition of the two groups discussing the Jinky date. Binky is peeved that Jamie has not contacted her since the date, so she goes ahead with the double date between her, Cheska, Sam and Stevie. Cheska seems uncomfortable and nervous and drops Binky in it. Binky admits she has feelings for Jamie.

I’m not even going to mention the disaster that was Dannielle/Ollie/Ianthe/Richard’s bowling outing, it made for very uncomfortable viewing.

At the Pardy, the lost boys give Spencer his present, nipple tassels (mmmm great?) Jamie is jealous that Binky has been on the date with Sam. She presents him with an ultimatum, go hard or go home. He does not take long to think about it and goes for a kiss. I’m worried for Binky as it seems Jamie just wants a girlfriend, can he leave his player days behind him?

In other news, Spencer buries the hatchet with Andy. Rosie is actually being a decent human being for once and Gaby returns.

That is it for another week in Chelsea, we look forward to next week’s antics which looks to spell trouble for Jamie and Binky.

The Vampire Diaries 4x01: Recap and Review

 

4x01 Growing Pains

‘You feed or you die’ – Damon Salvatore

Damon’s words underlie this premiere episode. After the shock of Elena waking up as a vamp, we follow her transformation, sensitivity to light is the first one to which she responds by breaking a light bulb with her hand.

As it is Elena, the gang embark on a method of trying to reverse the vampirism. Damon is not optimistic, voicing the audience’s opinion. It is a bit of a pointless storyline as we know Bonnie will not be able to succeed. But it allows progression of Bonnie’s storyline into her use of dark magic. This allows us to see Grams again, warning Bonnie to stay away from dark magic.

In the season 3 finale, Alaric outed the gang to the council, and the pastor is on a mission to round up all the vampires. He captures Caroline and Rebekah and transports them to a modified cattle ranch. Klaus (In Tyler’s body) catches wind of this and rescues Caroline, whilst revealing his true identity to Rebekah. Caroline is relieved to find Tyler alive and they engage in a make out sesh. She uncovers that it is infact Klaus after he calls her love. This will make for an interesting secondary love triangle this season. Klaus will probably be sticking around as Rebekah destroyed his bags of doppelganger blood as revenge for saving Caroline and not her.

The pastor captures Stefan and Elena, he keeps Elena prisoner in order to draw Damon out. Again we see Elena struggling with her urges, looking hungrily at the meat the pastor is cooking. The cinematography for this episode is really excellent; it really heightens the audiences emotions whilst following Elena. The pastor suspects that Elena is a vampire after she tries to escape and puts her in the cells with Stefan and Rebekah.

Rebekah is pleased to learn that Elena has not fed and she can watch her die all over again. However, she softens when she sees Stefan and Elena saying goodbye and helps lure a guard in so that Elena can feed. Damon brings Matt to the ranch and uses him as bait. New vamp Elena bursts out though and attacks Damon. They then discuss Elena’s choice and she informs him that she remembers that they met first and asks why he did not tell her. He argues that he would have saved her over Matt because he wanted her to have a life and grow old. This shows his change as a character wanting only the best for her. The dialogue in this scene was brilliant as Damon says to Elena ‘I’m selfish but you already knew that’ in reference to when her compelled her to forget him telling her he loved her.

Klaus meanwhile is forcing Bonnie to put him back in his own body. But she has been warned not to perform dark magic, he threatens Tyler’s life and she has no choice. This results in the spirits taking it out on Grams on the other side.

The last scene shows how the pastor has gathered all the council members in his kitchen and blows them all up, leaving the audience to wonder for what purpose.

An explosive premiere, with everything that is good about the Vampire Diaries, and maintains the momentum by leaving a cliff hanger ending, A few things could have been left out such as Bonnie trying to save Elena’s soul, but I see how it was essential to her individual storyline. Praises to the acting from Nina Dobrev and Micheal Trevino played Joseph Morgan (Klaus) brilliantly. Though I am glad he was not Klaus for too long.

Hart of Dixie 2x03: Recap and Review

 



2x03 If It Makes You Happy

I have been following this programme since its debut last year. My main attraction was the casting of Rachel Bilson, as I am a big OC fan. Once you get past the irritating accents you find a Gilmore Girls-esque small town drama of a fish out of water, city girl, Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) which is not only charming, but draws the viewer into small town life and make you really care for the characters.

A little rundown of the main characters,

Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) – A doctor, inherited her biological father’s General Practice, originally from New York and she struggles to fit in to the Bluebell way of life.

Lavon Hayes (Cress Williams) – Ex-linebacker, Mayor and BFF to Zoe

Wade Kinsella (Wilson Bethel) – Zoe’s next door neighbour and love interest. Spent all last season pining for Zoe, before they got together in the finale. They have a love/hate relationship.

George Tucker (Scott Porter) – The other love interest for Zoe. She spent the first season pining for him, but when he finally left his fiancé Lemon for her it was too late! She told him to date other people as she does not want to be his rebound.

Lemon Breeland (Jaime King) – Ex-fiancé of George. Had affair with Lavon, causing the end of her relationship with George.

A busy first season, we join at episode 3 of the second one. Zoe and Wade have decided to stop sleeping together. Lavon is facing competition for his re-election in the form of his ex girlfriend, Ruby, a new character for this season. George is busy doing what Zoe told him to do and is dating again. Lemon, not willing to be outdone decides she needs a night out to find a new man.

Every episode seems to focus around a problem for Zoe, usually caused by her being an outsider. For this particular episode, a journalist from her school alumni magazine is coming to interview her and write an article about how she has changed healthcare in Bluebell. The problem being, she exaggerated to him about how valued she is within the community.

The journalist seems uninterested in town life, until Tom comes into the practice with a rash. Zoe identifies that one possibility could be leprosy, spying a good story for the article. Tom has recently been in contact with crazy Earl (Wade’s Dad) so Zoe enlists Wade’s help to investigate. A nice scene occurs at Earl’s where he refers to Zoe as Wade’s girlfriend, putting Wade on the defensive. Whilst Zoe seems pleased he talks about her with his dad. It turns out Earl has come into contact with an Armadillo, a known character of leprosy. So they set off to catch the armadillo named Randy.

George is enjoying his dinner date when Brick (Lemon’s dad) walks in and introduces himself as George’s ex-Father-in-Law-to-be, thus ruining the date. What follows is a much needed scene between the two characters as they have not addressed their relationship since the failed wedding. Lavon plays mediator between the pair and has an epiphany about why he likes being mayor.

Lemon has success at the bar after competing with Ruby for the same man. She hooks up with the guy but she realises she is not ready and it is not about beating George. She also decides that it is time to move out and Anabeth offers her the houseboat. She also needs a job and insists on being Lavon’s campaign manager. I predict fireworks with this storyline considering their history.

Meanwhile, Tom’s results are back and no signs of leprosy, so the article is a bust. Zoe is disappointed, but given a pep talk about happiness by Wade, who is very philosophical this evening. It obviously rubs off on her as she tells Tom, ‘It’s your life, you have to be honest with yourself about how you want to live it’

This leads to a good scene between her and Wade, we see Zoe relax and give into Wade’s charm. At first Wade seems annoyed that she has crashed his video game night. But id pleased when he finds out that she is there because she listened to him and took his advice.

Good things about the Episode: Lots of Wade/Zoe scenes, there is development and progression in their relationship, it is not just about lust anymore. Lemon is also changing as a character, showing the change from a traditional domestic role, being defined only by having a husband to a modern, independent woman, living on her own and with a career.

Bad Things: I am not sure about the new character, Ruby, she pops up everywhere but I guess her role will be to stir up trouble.

 

 

Made In Chelsea 4x01: Recap and Review

 

 

So we begin with a quick recap of last series' love triangle and the Kimberley debacle. Her whiter than white self is noticeably not present in series 4.

The first faces we see are Jamie and Francis, and their bromance seems to still be going strong. On their adventures in St. Tropez we are introduced to newbies, Andy and Stevie. These are Jamie's pals from his school days. (Can't help but notice they like a bit of pink) Also Francis seems a bit put out he has to share his Jamie.

Louise and Rosie are also on holiday, discussing Spencer, Louise claims she will play hard to get. Something tells me that this will not be the case due to previous record. In rolls Spenny having a small James Bond moment and appears to have not shaved all summer. Time for a serious chat with Louise, and she is being slightly coy about the whole affair.

Meanwhile, the most pointless characters, Mark Francis and Victoria, are discussing swimwear. First fact of the night 'Overly tanned stomach's are not chic'

Back in Chelsea, Binky is learning to drive, under Ollie's instruction. (A recipe for disaster?) In typical Ollie fashion, his method of teaching is 'watch me' Binky looks unimpressed.

Millie and Proudlock seem to be having a dull time back in blighty having been left behind.

Back to France, another series chat and the L bomb is dropped by Spenny, Louise is putty in his hands and it is the first smooch of the series.

On the boat, the boys are chatting girls, Andy drops the bombshell that he has a little attraction to Louise. (I smell trouble)

Switching back to London (feeling a bit dizzy at this point from all the travel) we meet Richard's new girlfriend, she looks very familiar to his most recent ex, Kimberly. Cheska approves of her though and her and Rich are all hunky dory. Ollie uses this opportunity to announce a big change in his life, he's having a trim! 10 Inches! Never thought I would see the day.

Jumping accross the channel again, and a 'chance' meeting leads to some major flirting between Andy and Louise.

The event is set, a poolside pardy for Victoria's swimwear launch. Event set, now let the drama commence. Jamie tries to warn Andy off Louise, but Spenny has caught wind and is jealous. Jamie and Spence reunite and engage in a random hippo, polar bear debate. I feel a serious chat coming on, sure enough Spenny is wanting a firm chat with Andy and throws down his dominance. Can't help but notice Spencer is looking like a bit of a wet flannel in his tshirt and shorts next to Andy's toned body.

The travellers return and Proudlock is pleased as punch to have his boi's back. The painting is revealed, and it is a 'Promamis', a mash up of Jamie, Francis and Proudlock's faces. The best quote from the night comes in this scene from Francis discussing Jamie's dry spell. 'I think its called a hosepipe ban'

Quite late on we meet another newcomer Sam, he joins Andy and Stevie, gets his game face on and then its off to the Pardy...

Yay! we now have a Binky and Jamie scene, not entirely sure if this is a sure date that they have agreed too. Before we have the chance to find out though, Jamie's new BFFs swoop in and steal Binky away from underneath his nose.

Millie is still rocking the hat from earlier, looking stunning, she is up on the roof terrace with Louise. Andy rocks in to spoil the chat and immediately pours some wine (he likes his pink doesn't he?) Serious chat no. 4 Andy apologises to Louise, but before its all rosy Spencer enters immediately getting the wrong end of the stick and there is no love lost between the pair.

That brings us to the end of the first episode filled with all we want in a programme. We have the emmergence of another love triangle Louise/Andy/Spencer, a smooch, and what the fans have been waiting for; the start of Jamie and Binky. I think however they should do away with Mark Francis and Victoria, they bring nothing to the episode other than background noise. For the next episode I want more Millie and Binky/Jamie and will we see a punch up between Andy and Spencer.

Frances Ward