The Mentalist - 'The Red Carpet Treatment' (Season 3, Episode 4): Reconciliation and revenge

“Was it worth it? The man that killed your wife no longer exists. The time you took pursuing him, the pain the sacrifice, was it worth it?” - Jane

“Yes it was” - Max

Despite this episode being a little like someone has suddenly hit the brakes on this season's run of excellent main story arc-relevant episodes so far, it still has it's qualities and also minor links to Jane's past and his plight against Red John.

We have Jane's return to being on a talk show for the first time since the appearance that got his family killed - proving that, when he needs to in order to catch a killer, Jane can put others' needs before his own fears/compulsions.

Crucially, we also have the question in the above quote dealt with and explored; will revenge satiate Jane when he gets it? And is it worth it? Perhaps surprisingly, since so often many forms of fiction tell us the exact opposite, the answer given to that question here is 'yes'. Despite this show's showy comic facade, it has an underlying bleakness to it that I love. When it comes down to dark themes, it deals with them in a suitably dark manner. The character Max here shooting his wife's murderer many times in the head after he was dead just to get some form of revenge is another example of this.

Still a good episode, in a great run.

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Fringe - 'Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?' (Season 3, Episode 4): A monster's love

“Sometimes monsters aren’t all that bad. Sometimes, if you get to spend some time with them they can be very surprising. They can be incredibly sweet and pure and capable of great great love. And then, one of them might actually become your best best friend” - Ray (a shapeshifter)

Charmingly constructing its title by borrowing from the title of the Philip K. Dick novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', this excellent episode, like the novel, explores than unrelenting SF question of can an artificial life form (in the novel, replicants, and here, shape shifters) have emotions in the same manner that humans do?

Right from the episode's opening we are shown that these creatures are capable of love and kindness - the senator shapeshifter is kind to two young girls who are selling lemonade, without any ulterior motive as far as we can see. And his kindness is ultimately his downfall, since as he smiles as the girls' shouts that he forgot his change whilst looking in his rear view mirror, he is hit by another car and hospitalised.

We are then presented with another shapeshifter, this one living under the guise of a family man, who has clearly grown and retains strong emotional ties with 'his' child and wife. I found this man's story and the way he alters his mission (he doesn't shape-shift during it in the hopes that he can return to his family life afterwards) quite moving. And his ties are also his downfall; with Newton taking care of this potentially compromisable part of his organisation.

Through the theme of can an artificial being becoming too emotionally attached when undercover, we of course explore at the same time whether alt-Olivia has or is succumbing in the same manner. Newton - before his death, which I feel is a great loss for the show - confronts her on this and accuses her outright of warming to the enemy, stating that ultimately it would be here downfall; and based on the demise of the shapeshifters featured in this episode (both due to them loving humans), it seems that alt-Olivia is likely destined for the same fate. It makes me wonder if she will do something drastic now to try to disprove Newton's accusation (to herself); we know she is capable of killing innocence in cold blood, so I'm fearful about what she might do to any given member of our main cast when put in a corner.



I don't know how to read into alt-Olivia mounting Peter at the end; it could be her embracing her emotional ties to him, thinking 'stuff the consequences', but it is probably more likely her trying to disprove Newton (to herself again) by performing an act of deep emotion while retaining an aloofness to it in her mind - essentially a test for herself; can she remain emotionally disciplined even when sleeping with him.

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The Mentalist - 'The Blood on His Hands' (Season 3, Episode 3): A fractured mind

“Sounds like he’s jealous Patrick. Sounds like he wants to take away everything and everyone that you care about. It’s a form of love you know... It seems that your friend John is planning a surprise party for you” - Bret Stiles

So arrived our first Red John focused episode of the season, and although it wasn’t up to the usual standard of a typical Red John episode, this was still a decent effort.

Affairs for the first three quarters of the episode are pretty mundane, back to basics stuff, with the CBI team investigating the murder of a girl who belonged to an organisation that we have come across before, Visualise, led by Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell) – who himself, it is revealed here, possesses information on Red John; and it is implied more than enough for Red John to be caught, but he withholds all but an address, at which Kristina is found, in a poor mental state.

The humour here was sparser than the last two weeks, but still great; highlights being Jane getting the Visualise staff member in the blue shirt to lead him to Stiles’ location and the fear of culpability causing that staff member to run away afterwards, and also Jane’s very clever use of a paper bag to disrupt a Visualise seminar and at the same time uncover who the FBI’s mole is inside the cult.

It was nice to see James Morrison, of 24 fame, here (Bill Buchanan was always great).

The slightly mundane murder investigation aside, the key focus here was simply getting Kristina back. And boy is she screwed up mentally (or playing a clever game; for those who believe she either is Red John or is an accomplice of his) – her believing that she dead and is currently residing in the afterlife; Patrick only being able to talk to her by ‘summoning her spirit’ in the manner that she used to for her work.



I was more impressed with the first two episodes of this season, but we’re still hitting highs continually so far, and The Mentalist is still currently showing the most potential for a great season out of all the shows I am currently watching.

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Fringe – 'The Plateau' (Season 3, Episode 3): Probability juggling

“You know why you didn’t die today, right? Because you didn’t know the protocol... You did something that he couldn’t factor in; you kept running. You know why you did that... you’re not from this world Olivia.” – Peter [Olivia's subconscious]

Right from the off this was an excellent episode. Watching who was clearly this episode's antagonist manipulate probabilities towards securing a fatal outcome was immersing, and by the end of the opening you could just tell this would be one of those way above par Fringe episodes.

Walternate here reveals at least the first part of his plan for deluding our Olivia with regards to her identity – because she holds one capability that Alt-Olivia did not; the ability to cross between universes easily. If this is the only reason for undertaking such extensive effort to get her to believe that falsehood, I found it a little underwhelming. Also, surely making her reach ‘the plateau’ and fully become Alt-Olivia would mean she lost everything Olivia-like about herself, including the ability to cross over? And if she retained it somehow, then during the tests that they are about to put her through, using Peter’s clothes as a stimulant, surely such items would also remind her of her true identity, meaning as the experiment succeeds she’d essential turn against them anyway?

It is also revealed here that Alt-Olivia had a partner (in the relationship sense), with whom our Olivia is now with. The key question here is does her partner know that it isn’t his Olivia (i.e. has he been told)? If he hasn’t been told then surely someone as close as a partner would be able to tell the difference? And if he has – his insistence for her to tell Broyles could be sign that he has been told, or could simply be the caring worries of a partner – why is he so ok with the change? By threat from Walternate?

Probability manipulation/prediction as a topic here was an excellent choice. Everything this show boils down to is the fact that how a single decision, however minor, made in different ways can and will branch off into separate universes. Showing us Milo's perspective as he observes all the possible outcomes of a given situation - them using a segmented screen to show us all the variable outcomes at once - reinforces and highlights for us the idea mentioned above; that an infinite number of universes exist for each outcome of every possible decision we make (the 'many worlds theory').

This makes me wonder if this show will ever venture into focusing on more than two universes at a time. Charlie Jade managed three at once successfully (even if this confused some people, making them calling it 'complex' and probably thus was a minor contributing factor towards the show's cancellation), so I think at least one more could be added to the mix without things getting out of hand. After all, isn't the plot hole here that really there should be a bunch of other Walters who also stole a Peter from other universes, and subsequently a bunch of other Walternates bent on destruction? With all of those trying to cross over into other universes, why has only this one managed to access ours? Shouldn't there be a storm of them knocking at our Walter's door, thinking him the perpetrator of their theft?

Neatly slipped in is another reminder of just how different this universe is to our own, with Olivia’s mention (presumably through the implanted memories) of “how much did you pay for those?”, referring to some avocados; implying that avocados are considerably rare and thus expensive in this universe.



Overall, I think this is the best episode of the three we’ve had so far for this season. The Alt-universe (and thus odd numbered) episodes are proving more interesting so far.

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Supernatural - 'Two and a Half Men' (Season 6, Episode 2): The Alpha's offspring

“What the hell are we gonna do with it? We can’t just drop it off at an orphanage, they might get upset when it turns Asian” - Dean

I thought, from reading the synopsis, that this episode would be terrible and a drop in standards after last week; that it would opt for the cheesy comedy of the brothers being lumbered with a child all too much. But what we were given wasn’t bad at all.

We were given the return of one of the show’s best monsters – the shape-shifter – and this time more knowledge of its origin and its goals. It worries me that this season might opt for a succession of ‘alpa’ monsters (the first versions of each kind), but when they are this cool and unstoppable, I don’t mind too much if they do.

I still think that what Dean wants deep inside, despite his claiming the opposite, is to be a hunter rather than be a family man. Here, Lisa spots it – saying “You don’t wanna be here Dean” – and offers him a neat little get out clause that enables him to return to the hunting life, without the guilt of abandoning his family.

One of the cousins, Mark Campbell – the one who barely talks – is killed off so early on here that I do worry about the point of having all these cousins here at all if they are just going to be killed off rapidly. Christian is growing ever more interesting to me, with his immediate disliking of Dean and up front animosity towards him.

Who did Samuel promise the deliverance of the alpha shape-shifter to? Bobby, or perhaps the person or thing that “brought Sam up and Samuel down.”

The comedy with the brothers trying to look after the child wasn’t stretched out too long and was dealt with quite well I thought. Season 6 is gladly still turning out rather well.



And with regards to the main picture I have used for this post, I was puzzled as to who the guy on the right was for a while, but I believe it is a behind the scenes shot of alpha shape-shifter Dean holding up a stunt man against the wall (who is meant to be Dean) in the scene where the alpha shape-shifter takes the baby back, no?

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The Mentalist - 'Cackle-Bladder Blood' (Season 3, Episode 2): Carnies and con men

“My sister was the only good, clean and honest thing I had in my life, and you ran off with her... You got her killed. You just had to be a big shot, had to get on the TV and run your mouth. It’s your fault she’s dead” – Danny Ruskin (Jane’s brother-in-law)

“Yes, it is. I know that – it is my fault. And I just hope that one day you’ll forgive me, and maybe one day I’ll forgive myself... I’m sorry” - Jane

I am positively thrilled at how this season is unfolding so far. After a sharply witty opening that dealt with Jane’s attempts to distance himself from those he loves for their own safety, I thought we might be lumbered with a redundant, run of the mill, episodes that avoided the main story arc. What we were dealt instead was a non-Red John episode that was still crucial to the forward momentum of the show.

We are given a glimpse into Jane’s marriage – something relatively untouched until now – through meeting Jane’s con man brother-in-law, Danny Ruskin, who blames Jane for the murder of his sister, yet is still capable of maintaining a good relationship with Jane, which is used to brilliant effect here with their con men-duo act, to resolve the case at hand. The loss they have shared together affords us a closer look at Jane’s self-blame over the murder of his family, and also gives us Jane’s first visit to their graves – him claiming he has never returned there since the funeral “because they are not here” (meaning it is just their bodies that lie there, not his family themselves). And we are also given a sturdier insight into Jane’s past as a 'carnie' and the strong ties that he still holds with those people.

Whilst tackling all of this sombre content, the excellent level of humour from last week is still maintained; the highlight here being a scene where Jane pretends to die after being ‘shot’ by his brother-in-law, which is played intentionally very chessily by Jane (so much so that it’s hard to see how the killer falls for it), which makes it all the more hilarious; as he gets up, Jane states: “Connie, Connie, Connie, you fell for the oldest gag in the book, and one of the cheapest – $3.55 at a novelty store near you. Beats the hell out of the cackle bladder.”




Another funny moment is Jane’s old woman con-woman friend Nicki, after trying to con Van Pelt, stating: “This sweet piece of fruit is a cop?” and Jane’s subsequent threat that if she doesn’t provide them with the information that they are seeking, that “this nice piece of fruit will take you downtown and treat you to a cavity search.” And also Jane’s repeating of ”thank you Lisbon,” louder and slower than before, when she says “I didn’t hear that” to imply that she would look the other way on a matter.

It was wonderful to see M. C. Gainey, of Lost fame, here playing an old ‘carnie’ friend of Jane’s excellently.

This episode is brimming with taught emotion, brilliant humour and relevance to this show’s main story arc; all exactly what we need this season.

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Fringe - ‘The Box’ (Season 3, Episode 2): Ruthless actions

"You don't have to remind me whose side I'm on" - Alt-Olivia

Two episodes in and the game we seem to be playing is a slow and exploratory one. There is minimal forward momentum with the story arc; we even here have an episode that feels like a return to the stand-alone, case-of-the-week episode format – the only difference being that the object in question here plays a part in Walternate’s larger endgame. Last week we got to explore the alternate universe’s characters via Olivia’s struggle there, and this week we get to explore how Alt-Olivia is fitting in and accomplishing her mission in our universe.

I believe I read in SciFiNow magazine that for the first stretch of this season all of the even numbered episodes will be set in our universe and all of the odd numbered episodes on the other side, which the season has indeed so far followed. I think this is a cool touch – not only for the significance of the ‘odd’ number in relation to the universe that is 'strange' to us, but also because we are being given both a healthy dose of this new toy – the other side – without losing touch with our own.

Perhaps inspired by Matheson’s short story and Richard Kelley’s recent adaptation of such, the curiosity of what lays inside a mysterious box getting the better of you premise is only really used, I think, to parallel the decision that Walter must make about whether to further ‘cross the line’, as Bell suggests, and whether to look inside the safety deposit box.



For me, the key thing to take away from this episode is that Alt-Olivia far more unlike our Olivia and indeed far more ruthless than we perhaps thought; shown by her action of shooting the deaf man in cold blood, as well as her distracting Peter with her sexual allures. Before this execution of an innocent man, she seemed like she could hold the potential to warm to our side and universe, even if perhaps not straight away, and possibly even change sides. Early on here though, she tells Newton (though it is more directed at us, the viewer): “You don’t have to remind me whose side I’m on” – a statement that we should really have accepted at face value. Her encounter with the third man puts to rest any hopes we might have had – she is loyal, she is ruthless and she is deadly. Whereas we can see from where Walternate’s maliciousness and disregard for human life stems – the theft of his son – it is far more shocking to see Olivia act in this manner. Could small, differently made choices made in her life really have turned her into this?

Alt-Olivia also doesn't seem to be playing her undercover role very well - several times in this episode she acts differently to how our Olivia acts, on purpose; with the dance, the music admiration, and even the way she now wears a fringe like with her original hairstyle, leading me to believe that Peter will definitely figure out her true identity, if he hasn't already. She is making it far too easy for him, and I really can't see how such a highly trained professional could be so foolish and careless. Either meaning that maintaining her cover is perhaps less important to these people than we thought, or that this is perhaps a minor plot error at play?

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Supernatural - 'Exile On Main St.' (Season 6, Episode 1): Head trips in suburbia

"Come on Dean... did you really think you were gonna get to keep all of this?" - Azazel

Well, most of us bemoaned the news that this show would venture beyond its true ending, and into an unwarranted 6th season. News of what this extra season would entail didn't sound positive either - that it would focus on the brothers picking up the pieces after the apocalypse (not to mention the news that Kripke would no longer be a part of the show).

Based on this first episode alone though, ours fears are proving unjustified. Firstly, we are given the return of the Djinn (and not one Djinn, but three). 'What is an what should never be' is one of my and I think many people's favourite episodes of this show, and we have been starved of this very interesting creature since then (unless I have forgotten another Djinn episode somewhere in between - please enlighten me if so).

I feel that this episode can be seen as a complimentary piece to 'What is an what should never be', and what that episode (and its title) ultimately told us is that Dean (and Sam for that matter) can never lead a normal life; this shown by the fact that all of the people that Dean saved he finds have died in his alternate reality - although it may be unfair (as he points out), he is destined to be the hero and make sacrifices for the sake of others. And what I think last night's episode shows is that this wish to live a normal, happy life is a delusion that Dean enforces upon himself.

Whilst what Dean sees whilst in the Djinn-induced dream state is clearly his fears made visible - Lisa suffering the same fate as Mary and Jessica, and his son the same fate as Sam (plus Azazel's creepy warning that something is bound to get the boy eventually) - as any nightmare would do, I can't help but wonder if there is a wish-fulfillment element here. In WIAWSNB, what Dean dreams of is an idealised family life - his wish come true. Presumably, although the Djinns here are fighting and thus have no direct control over Dean's dreams, surely the state that the Djinn put people in is still tailored to make the victims dream of idealised scenarios, in order to make them want to stay in their dream (them being more willing delude themselves into believing that it is real if it is pleasant), so that they might remain a long-term victim for the Djinn to feed on.

I may be wrong, but I think that what Dean sees here whilst in the Djinn-induced state might be his true, subconscious desires coming to light. For any Lost fans, much in the way that in the episode 'Hearts and Minds', when Locke drugs Boone with hallucinogens, Boone's real desire comes forth - to be rid of Shannon (his sister) for good; and the death of the person being the only true definitive end to the problem they present to you. What Dean witnesses is the death of Lisa and the ruining of his child - arguably events that, if they were real, would relieve Dean of all his ties and guilt of abandonment, and allow him to become a hunter again, whilst also giving him a revenge kick off of which to feed. Dark, I know, but I think a possibility.

We know that Dean is unhappy with his family life; from the first instance of being poisoned, what does he see?: signs that a monster is in town, which would force him to resume his hunting life, even if only temporarily. This episode is about Dean's true desires, and what we (and he) discover here is that at heart he would rather lead the tortuous life of being a hunter than be a family man. Through previous seasons he has stated repeatedly that all he wants is the latter, but I think that this episode reveals (albeit ambiguously) that Dean has discovered that what he thought he desired is a fallacy.

Abstract theories aside, we are here introduced to a brand new set of hunters who will apparently work alongside the brothers, along with Samuel. It's not fair to judge them on their first appearance, but the one who resembles Gary Sinise a little seems the best one to me, and the girl seems like she will get very annoying very quickly.

It was also great to see Frederic Lehne back, however briefly.

We're led to believe that Sam and co. are up to some kind of mischief by taking the last Djinn hostage at the end, but I'm not so sure; perhaps they've resorted to dirty tactics to discover the location or weaknesses of these new types of monsters that they've "never even seen before" (if it is possible to torture information out of a Djinn).

I think that this is a strong start to a season that might prove nowhere near as dire as many of us were expecting.

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The Mentalist - 'Red Sky at Night' (Season 3, Episode 1): Lies and distancing

"Anybody who gets close to me - bad things happen to them" - Jane

If there's one character I missed in the summer hiatus for any of these seasons it has to be the sharp wit and mental acrobatics of Patrick Jane. And we return with the humour on top form; from a running gag about the power of suggestion concerning a dead mouse, to Jane's simple utterance of "professional-schmessional" as he vaults over a wall away from the team, headlong into breaking the rules, we are reminded from season 3's off that what makes this show so great is its humour, illusionist/mentalist content and the wonderful charm of Jane.

Season 2 ended with a close encounter with Red John, leaving us wondering just how Kristina fits into John's plans (whether she is an accomplice or a victim). The effect of Jane's mistake last season is carried over here in an effective manner; he, more than ever before, is concerned about the fact that those who get close to him end up having bad things happen to them. This motivation leads him to refuse to take part in the team's latest case, which in turn causes Lisbon to take the drastic measure of lying and conning Jane unashamedly into a situation where he can no longer refuse to take part.

We have, in the form of Gale Bertram, a brand new authoritative figure who Jane can take an immediate disliking to and is thus at odds with constantly; one highlight here being Jane tricking Bertram into spouting utter garbage live on television (even though it was a necessary play of Jane's in order to solve the case, as usual).

There is also a brief, awkward, spark-infused moment between Van Pelt and Rigsby, showing that the writers won't be letting that troubled relationship lie. I just hope we don't end up going full circle with it, with regards to it endangering their careers, like last season.

As for the case at hand, the affair is a simple one; highly placed figure goes missing, we find out he's not the saint everyone seems to believe him to be, the case turns into a murder investigation and a minor side character ends up being the culprit, all solved neatly, of course, by Jane.

What marks this as a great start to the season for me is the quality of the humour. Here's hoping this season treats us to many more Red John episodes than last time around (although the stand alone episodes are good, it's far too late in the game now for the writers to keep feeding them to us in such quantity), and the ball actually starts rolling towards a decent endgame.

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Fringe - 'Olivia' (Season 3, Episode 1): Identity crisis, Collateral-style

"Sometimes you just gotta believe in what you can't see" - Henry

'Fringe' is back for a new season and this will be the first show that I attempt to discuss every week, hopefully keeping up with every episode. Now, I fully realise that I don't have the TV analytical skills of someone like Alan Sepinwall, who can spot every popular culture reference (and there are always many) within a Chuck episode without blinking, and who offers key insights into such things as the writers' thoughts, but you'll just have to make do with the skills I do have.

Firstly, it's great to see the guest appearances for this show getting better; last season giving us such acting (and nerdy SF-reference) greats as Peter Weller, and now, interestingly - since there there is no clear geek culture link that I can see - Andre Royo of The Wire fame.

This episode shouted Michael Mann's Collateral at me continually; with the taxi driver hostage to a fugitive situation, whom towards he the taxi driver then becomes sympathetic and ever more entangled with, to the point of almost being complicit, and the taxi driver having a profound effect on the thoughts of our fugitive, etc.

Olivia struggles with her identity until she eventually buckles and seemingly believes that she is indeed alt-Olivia (presuming she isn't duping Walternate and co.), which we're told is a key move towards Walternate's unknown endgame.

Seth Gabel's character Lincoln Lee is treated to more characterisation here (and how cool does he look all scarred up and not giving a damn? - that's got to hurt like hell, no matter how good medicinal technology is in this universe), something that was necessary since this show has for a long time resisted introducing new long-term characters (though it could perhaps be argued that it is all the better for this) - presuming Lee is here to stay, since we know we are going to be treated to a great deal of time spent in the alternate universe this season.

I grew so used to Anna Torv's hazel coloured hair in this episode that seeing Alt-Olivia's blonde hair at the end gave me the same repulsed reaction I had when I saw the hazel do for the first time. I'm forced to conclude that they both look good on Torv, but just should never be viewed in quick succession of one another (something we unfortunately won't be able to avoid).

Overall, this was a great character piece for Olivia, excellently portrayed by Torv, which allowed us viewers to spend some much deserved time exploring this alt-verse, whilst also setting up some key plot scenarios to take forward. A great start to the season.

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The Charlie Jade rewatch: Episode 2, 'Sand'

“Back then, I could tell he was even more lost than I was” - Reena

The second episode of Charlie Jade is predominantly a character introduction piece, as well as the set-up of the protagonist’s main goal that will drive him throughout the show; to get home to his universe and to be with Jasmine again.

The episode starts with a heavy focus on the small blue stones that the little girl collects, the importance laid on these stones would of course become something that the show never got a chance to explain, due to its cancellation (and that Sawyer won’t even reveal the meaning of now, since he is hopeful that the show will return at some point).

Odd, askew (often diagonal) camera angels are here even more prominently used; I believe as a symbol (and subconscious effect) that everything in the Betaverse is not quite right for Charlie, and as he expected it to be (him of course expecting the Alphaverse and not knowing there was anything but). Again we have various hues of blue, importantly clearly distinguishing the Betaverse from the other universes by simple colour separation.

Several main players to the show are introduced here properly; 01 Boxer is shown to not only be a rapist, but also (possibly) a killer, Reena a complete innocent thrown into what she perceives as hell (reinforced by the flashback of her dead friend reading a biblical-like passage about these alternate universes), Essa and her hate filled relationship with 01 (Essa: “You’re a self indulgent sociopath who should be imprisoned”), Galt and his willingness to let 01 treat him in demeaning ways (often sexually playful; to add further degradation?), Lubinsky as the kind and unappreciated helping hand and guide to Charlie’s struggle.

Here, Charlie is shown to have a more vulnerable side to him than we saw in the pilot; at the loss of Jasmine, when he finds their empty and changed apartment, he breaks down on the spot and cries out for her. He is a little too persistent and un-accepting in the way he probes and asks questions of people – the man at what was Papa Louie’s house, the other Jasmine (Paula) at the bar – but then, just when would you drop all inhibitions about believing something ‘crazy’ and accept that you must be in a parallel universe, only marginally different from your own? Surely many would think it a Truman Show-esque trick that everyone around them was playing on him before they would believe the former?

By the end of the episode we have Charlie standing, panting (after having had Reena outrun him), with the effects of what he has seen and lost in this place alien to him showing vividly on his face.



A very different episode to the pilot, in that it focused far more on character development than action and cool set pieces. The ever beautiful soundtrack playing in the background (surely beginning to become addictive to fresh viewers and ears at about this point?) adds to the elegance of it all. An important and well-established character episode.

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The Charlie Jade rewatch: Episode 1, 'The Big Bang'

To get my blog underway, I’ve decided to start by re-watching and dissecting, one episode at a time, one of my favourite SF shows, Charlie Jade. This is only the second viewing of this show for me, which with a show as complex and layered as Charlie Jade is sure to mean I’ll uncover many hidden gems and insights that I missed picking up on the first time around.

The pilot introduces us to a man who seems to have it all – an interesting job with no one to answer to but himself, and most importantly, he quite clearly already has the girl of his dreams. Yet he is haunted continually by ‘visions’ of things that seemingly aren’t there, and also quite clearly by things that are under the surface too – hardened by the street, by his job and by what he perceives as ‘this rat hole’ he is living in, we can clearly see that Charlie quite the loner. He is a man stood apart from the system and authority (even if he is notably tied to Vexcor in one respect: through the shares Jasmine persuaded him to buy).

Charlie’s deeper vices are left unexplored beyond the surface though, giving way to the plot of major and greedy corporation Vexcor, who are ‘prepared to gamble it all away’ in their experiment to link the universes and move natural resources between them, and a girl who has crossed over after having suffered at the hands of 01 Boxer, the spoilt son of Vexcor’s owner. It is clear that Charlie will at some point have to both do battle with Vexcor and catch up with 01 Boxer, and these scenarios are something I personally couldn’t wait to occur on my first viewing, due to these villains being so well realised and painted as so venomous from the off.

This is a pilot deftly handled and a great start to what we can tell will be a series aiming to turn SF conventions on their head. The likeness to Blade Runner, in the sense that we are presented with a run down, neon-infused dystopia and a wandering, slick soul investigating throughout the city is striking, yet it is clear this is a completely different and unique story being told.

It sets up far more than a crime story that crosses parallel universes and a protagonist cooler than any I’ve ever seen, and makes clear that we are going to be addressing such questions as how ethical it is for a superpower (Vexcor) to take advantage of a less powerful people and place (the Gammaverse) for its own gain (and even more topically, later on – as we shall see – under the pretence that it is doing it for the good of the people of the Alphaverse; sound familiar?).

Other things I noticed:

•The use of mirrors and reflections is something done several times throughout the episode, as a symbolic and subconscious hint at the parallel worlds we are soon to explore and perhaps the dual Charlies that wait in them? We are not only shown mirrors with multiple reflections of Charlie (note in the pictures below that we see three Charlies in each - signifying the three universes that the show deals with), but in these shots Charlie seems to be directly assessing his reflection, with that usual saddened yet curious look on his face. Should this be read into that Charlie is confronting his own vices momentarily?





•There are other nods to there being multiple copies of everything, such as Papa Louie’s “one of a kind” plant.

•Alongside the Blade Runner-like aesthetic of the show are also some astonishing shots at many fantastical angles, one ‘what might happen’-scenario scene (another hint at the many worlds theory and parallel universes, in the respect that a decision can take you down a different path?), and a wonderfully addictive and continually flowing score/soundtrack. Such things, especially nailed perfectly so early on, lend clear evidence towards this being a show of classic and genius calibre.

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