Dexter, Spartacus and Hank Moody....

 Can't Wait for Seaosn 7....

With the TV season close to wrapping up for some shows and the Blockbuster movies season just beginning (as I hinted at in my last Blog), I thought it would be appropriate to start looking at a few shows that are wrapping up their seasons, a couple of new shows that are set to debut and some other entertainment thoughts that have crossed my mind.

Since I will be mentioning some shows that others may not be caught up on, I will be giving you alerts about some sections that may include what happened in their latest season.

Lets start with Dexter <SPOILER ALERT!!!>

Season 6 was a a bit of a departure for Dex as he began to contemplate things such as God and faith and how it may even be possible to "Kill" his dark passenger off for good through faith. The Doomsday killer twist was a brilliant piece of writing but in a much more direct way then even they may have intended as we got to see someone who is just as delusional as Dex had he not been subjected to Harry's "Code" and instead was brainwashed into believing the end of the world was near. The fact that Colin Hanks was able to pull off such a vile (and yet at times sincere) character shows he may have inherited some of his acting ability from his famous parents (Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson).

Season 7 has one killer cliffhanger on its hands..."Oh God!"

Season 7 and Season 8 have been ordered so we can expect at least another 2 seasons of our favorite Serial Killer/Blood Splatter expert but for now, we have another, much more serious dilemma to consider....How exactly is Season 7 going to start with such a massive cliff hanger weighing so heavily on the entire show? What will Deb do now? How does Dexter get out of this one? And, for good measure, if the entire season revolves around just those 2 topics, how will it remain relevant and entertaining? All serious questions to consider when it comes to one of the darkest yet best written shows on television right now.

<Dexter Spoiler Alert now Over>

On to another Cable show; Spartacus: Vengeance. Cable shows seem to be the best to watch anyway as they tend to involve much more realistic language and sequences on reality as opposed to broadcast shows which, if they are an hour long only give you about 42 minutes of actual show (if that) and use language that won't offend the bible thumpers that reside deep in the American South. In case you haven't seen any of the (now 3) seasons, after the original Season (Spartacus: Blood and Sand), the lead actor, Andy Whitfield came down with Lymphoma which delayed the start of Season 2. While just about everyone involved with the production waited for Andy, a prequel was created which was a total of 6 episodes called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

The only one missing in this picture is Ashur, the engine that keeps this show purring along....

This show somehow manages to intertwine incredible language (the manner in which they combine simple words to create such foul, nasty words and phrases is almost comical in its brilliance) and grotesque violence along with graphic sexual scenes and absurd amounts of both male and female nudity would never have been allowed on anything other then cable TV. This show is not for the weak at heart, that's for sure, but it has such twists and turns that heading into the 2nd last episode of the season, I can't wait to see how it plays out.

<SPOILER ALERT: SPARTACUS>

As of the 8th episode, Glaber (played by Craig Parker), the central figure behind the entire show and the reason why Spartacus became a slave then Gladiator, had completed his metamorphosis into the kind of villain that Quintus Batiatus was in the original season (Played amazingly by John Hannah, Jonathan in the Mummy Series). In other words, he is doing things that we all know are horrible but, in a twisted way, understandable. So far this season, he has killed slaves, cheated on his wife (after he found out she wanted to end their marriage, thanks to Ashur) killed her father and his main nemesis in Capua (when an opportunity presented itself that he could blame Spartacus for both), has employed Ashur (played brilliantly by Nick Tarabay) as his new right hand man (and we all know how well that went for Quintus before him, but Ashur is the best character on the show...PERIOD! So it doesn't matter) and basically thumbed his nose at all who would oppose him and his ways.

Arguably, he and Ashur have been the driving force behind a strong 2nd full season for the show. They have allowed Liam McIntyre (the man who took over for Andy Whitfield after he became deathly ill before passing away from Cancerous Lymphoma last year) to grow into the role and make it his own as he has had to do with his version of Spartacus. To be honest, if there was ever going to be a time when a new actor took over the role, this was the ideal time as the character has had to change this season from a marauding brute, hell bent on destroying and killing all those in his way, into a more cerebral leader of slaves. He has had to become a general who has had to train, motivate and take care of those around him instead of having a singular focus as he did when he was a Gladiator.

 Liam McIntyre has filled in perfectly, and at the right time too...

The first episode of the season was enough evidence of that as he could no longer think of only himself and be the selfish man he had been before. Now he had to devise a real plan and see it through in order to keep his newly freed legions alive and safe before any real "Vengeance" could be exacted.

With only 2 episodes left until the end of this season, I just hope, for the life of me, that they don't make the same mistake they did at the end of the 1st season, and kill off a key villain. If you watched season 1 and its finale, you saw a pure, unadulterated blood bath (caused by Ilithyia). While it was a spectacle to be sure, it robbed us of John Hannah's character and his acting ability being on display in this series. Sure, he did in fact need to go in order to push the story along but I am sure, had they really known how popular the series was going to be, they may have reconsidered his death the way it was played out (I would have possibly had him thrown off the cliff, making it LOOK like he was dead only to have him return down the road, battered and beaten but at least alive and, with his own want for vengeance).

Either way, here is hoping they don't kill off too many characters in the finale.

<SPOILER ALERT: Californication>

David Duhovny basically plays himself on this show...but why the 2 1/2 year jump?!?!

Another show I have been watching (since it began), Californication stars David Duchovny as a sex crazed, angst filled writer appropriately named Hank Moody. The start of this season really threw me for a loop. Why on earth would you do a fast forward of 2 1/2 years on a show and then proceed to take the first 2 episodes (really it was closer to 3) before you really explain everything that happened in that time Hank was living in New York? I mean considering how much he pines for Karen (Played by Natasha McElhorne), how could he have stayed away from her for so long? It's just not logical to me.

The one good thing I have to say about this season is that at least Hank seems to be maturing as the year comes to a close. He isn't all about the sex (not to say he hasn't had some really interesting sexual situations) but at least he seems to be trying to push his character from the overgrown man-child who can't get over his adult version of a Peter Pan complex, into a mature, functioning adult able to handle real life situations like, well, a real MAN! He's taken responsibility for someone else having sex with a prostitute by lying and saying she was his girlfriend (when Drea Di Matteo guest starred) all in an attempt to spare Karen from finding out her new husband cheated on her and he has done his best to stay out of his daughters' (Becca Moody) relationship to an Ashton Kutcher-clone he can't stand (and who now has stolen his job and his agent).

 Still don't know why Karen takes all his crap...and Runkle is just a mess

I just wish they would stop having him pine away, over and over again for Karen like he does. He had his shot, he blew it, she moved on (twice marrying other men) and yet he thinks he can just walk right back into her life almost 3 years later and win her back? Who in their right mind thinks that way? This is yet another reason why the fast forward thing they did with the time difference from the end of season 4 to the start of season 5 makes NO SENSE whatsoever. Lets hope the last couple of episodes this season give us something to look forward to in season 6.

<SPOLIER ALERT: Game of Thrones>

Sean Bean was the central figure of Season 1...Who will be that figure in Season 2?

Having never read the books, I didn't know what to expect when I first started watching this series. What I found was a rich and intricate quilt being sewn together with so many different patches and vibrant stories that I could not stop watching (Thanks Shannon for suggesting it by the way). The first season was riveting on so many levels that the last scene of the 2nd to last episode could have really been the season finale.

For those of you that don't know, this is a series based upon the novels of George R.R. Martin (who is also involved directly with the writing on the series as well) about a fantasy version of England (or another land similar) set in what could have been the late 16th or early 17th centuries. The writing on this show rivals any show out there.

 Emmy Award winner Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister

The amazing thing about this show is that the only real known actor involved (at least the only one that I had seen in anything before this series) was Sean Bean (who plays  Eddard Stark) and he was killed off in the scene I mentioned above. The only other actor who one could say had any modest success before being on this series would only have been known to the fans of Stargate: Atlantis as Jason Momoa (who plays Khal Drogo) was on the show as well but he too was killed off in the same episode as Sean Bean's character was. Peter Dinklage (who plays Tyrion Lannister) won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the series BECAUSE of how good the writing is on this series, not because of being a known commodity as an actor because I doubt anyone had ever heard of him before this series.

Jason Momoa was the only other actor I had even seen anywhere else from the cast....

With Season 2 about to start, all out war seems to be on the door step of the child-King Joffrey (who looks like a fairy and needs to get his ass handed to him for the way he prances around even though he doesn't deserve to be King). Rival factions are building their forces all around him about to challenge for the Iron Throne and he doesn't appear to have as firm a grasp on the throne as he seems to think he does. This season the main question I have is when will the carnage begin? And who will end up as the King when everything is all said and done? Stay tuned as this is a series worth keeping your eye on.

Some 6 weeks ago, I was told by my doc that I had "Dangerously High Cholesterol" which required one of two things on my part. I could either change my diet or go on medication. I choose to change my diet, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy. I had to cut out fatty foods, red meats, steaks, burgers, bacon, whole fat cheeses, basically everything I had been eating in abundance for years. The point of this change was to see if my levels change dramatically or if they stay the same. If nothing changes, then clearly it is a hereditary thing and another course of action will need to be followed. If there are major changes in my levels, then clearly I was an idiot who needed to be shown the right path and my diet was a mess.

 Too much of this stuff, as I have learned, is unsustainable and not healthy

Well, 6 weeks in and I have held strong to my diet, eating mostly turkey, chicken and salmon with lots of veggies and oatmeal. My snacks now consist of grape tomoatoes or bell tomatoes instead of chips and I have had a ton more tuna then I had had in the past 2 years combined. The results are pretty clear: I'm down 12 pounds overall and I have a ton of stamina that I did not have before I started on this diet. The only problem? I REALLY miss having a steak, or even a nice, juicy Quarterpounder or Big Mac.
 

Damn........I DO want one though....

But I have stuck with this diet and, given the results, I think I will stick with it for a while longer (at least until a couple of weeks after my next Cholesterol test results come in, if they come in the way I think they will). I really do miss having a nice burger though. I realize now I was just overdoing it when it came to my intake of burgers (whether it was McPukes, BK or at home). My laziness was my main issue when it came to preparing food and now that I have overcome that issue, I really feel like my dietary issues are a thing of the past.

 Instead, I have been eating Salmon, like this, and it's been pretty good so far....

Of course, one of the other main issues in this regard was having to break it to my mother that I could no longer eat all her food. She took such offence to this (and still continues to make little remarks here and there) but I had no choice. Her being hurt because I have to do this is no match to the fact that I have to do this for my own health. At least now we are at a point where she seems to understand more then she did at first.

Next week I will be doing a political blog breaking down the idiotic Republican nominees (Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum), the Wildcat Strike by Air Canada staff (and why it was the right thing to do) and why Mayor Rob Ford needs help from the Premier (and won't get it) and the PM (and WILL get it) with regards to forcing the city of Toronto into a 22nd Century transit model instead of a 19th century one that the City Council seems intent on wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on.

Until next time....