DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2013
Feb
18
 
 
This new episode has the gang offering different memories of their last encounter with the Captain (played by Kyle MacLachlan, who last portrayed the wealthy eccentric on this series two years ago). It allows for some fun comic exaggeration (as with Cobie Smulders as Robin, shown flirting with the Captain from afar) – but given the structure of this series, doesn’t it make this a series of flashbacks within one longer flashback? It’s a jumping-jack flashback – but it&rsqu
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
18
 
 
The granddad on Parenthood, Craig C. Nelson, was young enough to play the dad in this 1982 horror film, a Steven Spielberg thriller that used what were then state-of-the-art special effects to tell a scary story about a suburban family whose home becomes haunted by – well, let’s just call it paranormal activity. More than 30 years on, it’s fun to watch as a period piece, as well as on its own merits as a genre movie.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
18
 
 
I haven’t seen this episode – my preview disc ended with “Chapter Four,” last week’s installment – so I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight. I don’t know whether I care, either, to tell the truth. But on a slow TV night, it’s something new, and Kevin Bacon, so far, has kept it interesting. So for now, I guess, I’ll keep following The Following.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
18
 
 
If you were a fan of the old Dallas at all, tonight’s new episode of this 2.0 reboot has a sequence that’s not to be missed. J. R. Ewing, played by the late, great Larry Hagman, takes a morning phone call, and who’s on the other end? J. R.’s lifelong nemesis, Cliff Barnes – played, as always, by Ken Kercheval. What a treat.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
18
 
 
Part 7. If you’ve been watching, or re-watching, this 2005 Sundance nonfiction documentary series about a man convicted of murdering his wife, keep watching – because something you haven’t seen before is just around the corner. Eight years ago, The Staircase told its story in eight one-hour segments, of which tonight’s installment is the seventh. But after next week, the 2013 telecast of The Staircase will keep going – with two new installments updating the story.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
18
 
 
The new CW mystery-thriller has an inventive structure, and just might have enough smarts to create its own buzz and build more than an, er, cult following...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
17
 
 
So Alicia and Cary (Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry) are partners now – not romantically, but as two of the newest promoted members at their law firm. Tonight, in a mock trial, the two newbies face off against the old guard, Will and Diane (Josh Charles, Christine Baranski). It’s a fake duel that may have actual consequences, and may have viewers talking. At least it has Alicia talking – to herself. And she’s not happy.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
17
 
 
SEASON FINALE: Even when the Abbey folks, high-born and low, attend a fair, things aren’t completely without drama. And that goes for this Season 3 finale as well, which aired in the United Kingdom as a Christmas special – but delivered more than a feel-good romp for the occasion.  Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
17
 
 
Last week, The Walking Dead returned with a vengeance – and with an episode that weeded the number of Rick’s team even more, while setting even more powerful forces against them. It may have happened slowly, but it’s definitely happened: By now, our hardy band of survivors has less to fear from the roving packs of flesh-eating zombies than from the bloodthirsty humans determined to protect and expand their own turf.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
17
 
 
Last week, Girls took a one-person detour that took Hannah (Lena Dunham) down a rabbit hole of unexpected and confined drama, much like the classic Six Feet Under episode that focused entirely, and surprisingly, on Michael C. Hall’s David Fisher, as he was abducted by a young sociopath. (For a full review of last week’s Girls, see Eric Gould’s Cold Light Reader.) This week, Girls returns to its usual multi-plot structure, but still has its surprises – especially in its le