Seasonal TV Viewing - Hell On Wheels

Hell On Wheels 

Hell On Wheels is one of the shows I like to marathon mainly due to it's very strong narrative structure that really pays off if the viewer pays attention to all the little details in the over arcing story of not only each season but the whole series.
In this fourth season we learn what has befallen Cullen Bohannan while still a prisoner of the Mormon community, his wife is close to delivering his child but still the Swede is ruling with an iron silk covered fist. The railroad has hit a big problem and the government sends out a group of men to well turn things around which means the brutal enforcement of laws and regulations intended eventually to bring pretty much everything under the rule of the Washington elite, it ends in tragedy and bloodshed but as we know progress can be stalled but never stopped.
This fourth season was like those previous, epic in scope and design, the production is first rate with some truly grand vistas on display coupled with the everyday grime associated with a railroad town with no drainage or sanitation. We'll see some people rise and others fall and through it all Bohannan will seem to lead a charmed life while others pay for what are in part his mistakes.

Game of Thrones Season 4 Trailer

Season four returns to HBO on April the sixth and on SKY in the UK the day after.

Fringe Season 4

The fourth season of Fringe was once again under the threat of being the final installment so a lot of the episodes and arcs were geared towards bringing storylines to a reasonable conclusion however the loss of Peter in the mix at least early on kinda brought about more of a reset feel. For me that didn't really work very well even with Lincoln doing some able work with the Fringe team and for Stargate fans we got a very small glimpse of Joe Flanigan in the first episode. We have a new breed of shape shifter which strains the cooperation and trust between the now two linked universes and no denying that having the alternate universe in play once again adds nice depth. In regards to the reset it's probably a little negative to look at it that way because in story terms the world has been reset thanks to Peter and his removal from the timeline, it does open up some interesting storylines once he is back in play especially with the observers and ultimately the question of David Robert Jones and his plans or those of someone else pays off big time as this season draws to a close.

The two main highlights for this season was the fantastic appearance of Leonard Nimoy once again bringing William Bell to life and maybe just maybe my favourite episode of the series (certainly this season) being "Letters of Transit" which introduced us to Etta and her world which was expanded upon in the fifth and final season. There must be something about episodes which twist the shows premise that I like, my favourite episode of Stargate Atlantis does something along the same lines.

Anyhow this isn't the greatest season of Fringe especially after the wonderful third season but there are plenty of good episodes and some excellent performances, I dare you to have a dry eye when Astrid and he counterpart are playing off each other:)

Favourite Episodes...

• Letters of Transit
• One Night in October
• Welcome to Westfield
• Making Angels

Lost Girl Season 4 Teaser

Some of the content from season 3 but lets not be worried about that, it's going to be a different experience if the finale is anything to go by.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 21

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 21
Season 4 Disk 1

Storm Front Part I & II
Archer wakes up in 1944 a world where the Nazis swept across Europe and took a very
strong foothold in the Americas helped by alien technology provided by a faction fighting
the Temporal Cold War. Daniels critically injured through temporal conflicts offers what he
can to the crew of the Enterprise and together along with Silik (nothing can kill that guy)
they attempt to defeat the aliens and right what went wrong which will reset the timeline.
The show made great use of standing backlot sets and the costuming department as well
a few familiar guest actors and while wrapping up the temporal cold war seemed a little
pat maybe it would be something relatively simple to cause it to collapse in upon itself.

Home
T'Pol returns to Vulcan to visit her mother and she takes Trip along for the ride, well you
know what I mean. Her mother T'Les played by Joanna Cassidy  isn't too happy with
having a human guest but we learn she lost her post thanks to the "scandal" of T'Pol and
the destruction of the monastery.
Meanwhile back on Earth and undercurrent of bigotry has broken out against aliens and
Phlox experiences a distasteful interaction with such men and Archer to has debrief with
Starfleet Command and the Vulcans whilst baring his soul to the new Captain of the
Columbia played by Ada Maris.
A mixed bag but an interesting look at the planet Vulcan more of which we'll see later
in the season and the seeds for the human first backlash.

Borderland
Human augments hijack a Klingon bird of prey and in response the man who helped create
them Dr Arik Soong played by Brent Spiner  is placed on board the Enterprise to search
them out. Upon entering the Borderlands the ship is raided by Orions and a number of crew
taken to be sold as slaves and Soong agrees to help.
However he refuses to help the ship search for his "children" but that is solved when the bird of
prey attacks them and Soong escapes leading his own towards their future and past.
An excellent opener to a three episode mini-arc dealing with augmented humans whose
brethren were responsible for the Eugenics and third world wars and a fantastic role for Brent.

A very strong opening for the final season of Enterprise, ok maybe space Nazis are a little
cliched but the time travel/alternate reality worked well for the show. We got a very good
look at Vulcan as well which is going to pay off and of course the first part of the Eugenic
storyline and introduction of Soong, again big bucket of pay off.