Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

[Rylen]

The recap:

Med: Med over all had some interesting stories playing out. Story A focused on a young man who thought he was a vampire. Story B focused on a military officer who was testing out a new bionic arm. With very "robocop" level of sci-fi. Story C was a heart breaker that tested the limits of one of the med students. They also advanced the Cancer arc. Showing some more of the Chemo treatments and Maggie meeting a new fellow. Some personal drama also played out with Crockett clearly being the New Orleans style charmer. Glad Choi didn't see his attempt. Over all a good ep.

Fire: The humor story was about Cruz's new fire fighting tool being copied. The end of that story delivered a rather funny pay off that was worth it. Story A however focused on a hostage issue that lead to a nasty conflict between a cop and Herman. Story B saw Serveride being transfered to Arson by the fire chief. Not sure how this will play out or if this is an indication of Serveride leaving the show. But I do get the hint this is the season arc that will be playing out.

PD: A wild ride on this ep. The main story was about killer drugs and informants. Very bloody an violent in some cases. Also a bit of "instant karma" in the fact that a drug dealer was taking out by his own poison laced drugs. The main focus of the ep was on Upton. Which helped to develop her character a bit more. While it looks like the main season arc is slowly starting to develop as a bit of a conflict between Voight and an informant from a ep or two back. Sill a wonderful ep.

That's all for now.

[Silver_Surfer1]

Your last recap sounds very interesting, especially the " Med " segment with the vampire and the bionic arm. I may try to see if I can find some of these past episodes online somewhere and try to watch them.

Thanks for the recaps. They are interesting.

[Rylen]

The bionic arm segment was crazy. It honestly looked like something out of that RoboCop remake from a few years ago.

You can probably catch the eps on NBC's website.

[Rylen]

Now time for the reacap:

Med: I wouldn't call med a wild ride. But at the same time it was a powerful ep. Story A's focus was on a social media influencer who was allowing his followers to decide his fate. Such as in treatments and such. Ending in such away that it serves as a tale of caution. Story B ties in events from a few previous eps which sees April's brother fighting for his life. Story C's focus on Maggie's new friend and the toll that cancer treatments take. Over all a good ep.

Fire: Fire had a few stories going on. The main story focused on Herman fighting a big corp over the safety of it's furniture and the fact that it doesn't take much for fire to consume them. The ep ties in events from a few previous eps including the one where Otis got killed. Story B was on one of the paramedics taking on a spin class. Story C focused on Severide's new role as a fire investigator. Over all a good ep with a tear-jerker ending.

PD: The main story's focus was on an investigation that leads to a woman who was kidnapped back in 2008. While the second story interwoven about Burgess being pregnant and her decision on what to do about it. The ep has a few twists and turns which leads to a major confrontation with the suspect. Burgess makes an important decision at the end of the ep and it will be fun to see how it plays out over all. More so since this is directly tied into part of the ending of the Infection Cross over.

Next week is the infamous "Fall Finale" Which means all three eps are going to pull out all the stops. It will also be the first break in the action. Thanks for reading.

[Rylen]

The Fall Finale is a new concept. A chance to boost ratings and a chance to give the shows a break for a few weeks. How did the shows turn out? Time for The Recap:

Med: Sad is a word that probably best sums up the entire element of this ep. The stories were in some ways heart breaking to watch. Nurse Sextant found out some troubling news about her ability to have children. Which put strain on her relationship with Choi. Dr Charles is facing the reality his wife will die soon from cancer. Maggy almost lost her new boy friend. The shocker and perhaps the most heart breaking moment came in the from of the wrap up of the Dr. Manning amnesia arc. The good news? She now remembers her feelings for Halstead. The bad news. After telling Halstead this fact the last shot was of her crying her eyes out. Powerful ep with a lot of twists and turns.

Fire: The appearance of Case's ex wife Dawson threw everyone for a loop. The main story was about Severide and an arson investigation that leads to someone being cleared of the crime. Story B was about Kidd and the fact that she was pretty much burning the candle at both ends which has some major consequences. Story C was a touch back to Otis and repairing a drone. It was kind of hard to watch given that the fire house is still dealing with his death at the start of the season. We also had a "blink and you miss it" reference to Antonio from PD and his fate. The ep ended with one of those infamous cliff hangers relating to one of the stories. Could be rather explosive in the long run.

PD: Stories on this show run a bit of a gambit where the lines between arcs are often blurred. This was a classic example of this. The story focused on the kidnapping of Jay Halstead and the team's efforts to find him. The story also links several events from the entire season and ties directly into events from a few eps prior. The good news is that they found Halstead. The bad news? Well just when you think someone is safe doesn't mean that they are. We won't know if Halstead is still alive till the season resumes.

That is all I have for this specific post. In the next post I will cover a few points from each show so far and thoughts I have for the direction of the show. I want to see how close I am to being right.

[Rylen]

So now that we are in a break till Jan 8th when new eps resume. I figured I would cover a few thoughts on each of the shows arcs and my thoughts on where they might go. Might be semi spoilerish given that I might mention stuff that wasn't covered in the reviews.

Med: Maggie's Cancer Arc: This one has been hard to watch given that my mom went though it. You never realize the battles that someone faces and how alone you can truly feel. I think this has the makings of some classic drama.

Manning's Arc: They have been playing up the Halstead/Manning arch for a few years now and it is hard to tell what might happen. I'm not fully sure this arc is concluded and suspect it might keep going for the rest of the season.

Choi/Sextant: This is another couple that had have twists and turns over the last few seasons. To be honest Choi comes across as a bit of a blankhole in how he treats those around him. Along with the drama and the infamous kiss Sextant gave Crockett near the end of the last ep. I suspect this couple is done for.

The Charles Arc: Dr Charles is one of the most underrated characters in the show. He's also one of my personal favorites. He is very much a flawed character who has his heart in the right place. Losing his wife will have a major impact on him. It will be interesting to see which direction things will go in.

Over all the season has been fun to watch.

Fire: Severide Arson: Not sure what to make of this arch. It is good to see the character grow in his over all talent and ability. But his partner is ultra annoying and seem to be a bit to pushy. She really wants him badly and doesn't seem to mind that he's in a relationship (with Kidd).

Kidd: Not sure what the writers have planned for her over all. But it has been fun to see where things will go. Some of the events from last night's ep came out of left field but were not unexpected. This could go into a fun direction.

Cruze: This guy has had some hard luck. It seems that Otis's death still has a major impact with in the series and it shows in the writings. He does have a wedding coming up so should be good to see.

So far it has been a good season and I'm enjoying the twists and turns.

PD: Voight: He's never been afraid to play the dangerous game and looks like that will be the case for this season. I suspect he will be pushing some bad guys over the edge.

Burgess: She's expecting her first kid. So should be fun to see if she can strike the balance with her work life and her personal life. More so since Ruzak is the child's father. That add a bit more complications to the mix. Given that those two have been and off/on couple since season one. Not sure how this one will play out. Part of me suspects their will be added drama and things will not be going smoothly.

Halstead: NBC has always been misleading when it comes to the promos of this show. So I honestly don't know if Halstead makes it out alive. Everything I see points to repeating Alvin's fate from a few seasons ago where he was stabbed in the end of that season but died at the start of the new season. Wouldn't be the first time a character make an unexpected dramatic exit.

I'm enjoying the season. Pretty typical in terms of how things are going. But the main arcs in this case are way more subtle than in previous years. So it should be fun to see things play out.

Final notes: One thing that I've been getting a kick out of in all three shows has been the references to Michigan. Case in point in PD they make a comment about going to Troy and coming back a [Detroit] Tigers fan. In Med they talk about going up to Mackinaw Island. These are small things which really stand out for me. Mind you I'm in MI so it's easy for me to spot.

Thanks for reading. The Season resumes after Christmas on Jan 8th. So we shall resume the reviews then. Let me know if you have any questions. I might have the answers.

[Rylen]

Tonight is the night where I see if I'm right/wrong or off the mark. Review will be tomorrow sometime.

-

[Rylen]

Time for the recap:

Med: Med seems to be going down the path of good drama with stories that have a few twists and turns. The main story Halstead dealing with a woman who had an addiction to pain killers. Someone who he had treated a few years before. Crockett had to make some choices of his own in treatment of an auto accident victim. While one of the new residents had to content with a woman who had severe panic attacks. The one thing about this ep is that about the half way point all three stories had a major crisis (almost at the same time). Each story was resolved with a decent conclusion however Halstead's didn't end on a happy note. The Nurse Sextant/Choi/Crockett arch came to a conclusion as well with Choi giving a surprise proposal. The Maggy cancer arch moved a little bit with a few surprises you have to see to believe. Over all a pretty good ep and a nice way to launch into the second half of the season.

Fire: This picked up right at the end of the previous ep with Kelly in danger and being fired from Arson for being too good at his job. The main story saw the team going after a group of street racers who swiped one of their Jaws of Life and using it commit crimes. Mouch was also on a personal quest to find the owner of a letter he found stuck to his boot. The story behind the letter was tragic but well worth checking out.

PD: Much like fire PD picks up right at the end of the previous ep with Jay Halstead on his way to the ER and the team picking up a new investigation dealing with high powered military guns. Voight's deal with one of the criminal mastermind is put to the test yet again. Atwater has a bit of a surprise during the investigation and one that could be looked at in future eps. It's not will the halfway point that we find out Halstead will in live. The conclusion leaves us with more questions than answers. But that is normal for this show. Over all fun to watch and curious to see where the rest of the plots develop.

One last note: The promos for the next eps are always misleading so it is hard to tell what will really happen. Anyway that's all for now.

[Rylen]

The recap:

Med: This ep was a wild ride. Cases dealing with some of the dangers of IVF. One of the CEO's of the hospital leaving her kid in the car. A talk on the heroin epidemic. A plane crash in the opening segment leads to a heart breaking revelation about one of the doctors. (Who was suppose to be on the plane) and a truly "Law & Order twist" moment when that doc turns out to be very much alive. It was a fun episode which had some truly powerful moments.

Fire: The tensions between House 81 and House 20 carry over after it turns out Herman brought bed bugs to the station and 81 is forced to bunk at 20. That leads to a powerful confrontation between the two units that gets settled when 81 saves some of the other fire members lives. Midway though the ep though a meeting that seems totally random brings a bit of a sucker punch in that they talk about the dangers of cancer. It was truly a powerful moment on the show and one that ties in to the ending later on.

PD: this one was a strange ride. The main focus was a story about new shop owners being harassed by locals of a tight nit community. Something I had never really heard of before till this ep. The secondary stories were about Atwater and him trying to get some sense into his brother and the ongoing story of Burgess being pregnant. A pretty decent up and it will be fun to see how things play out over all.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

[Silver_Surfer1]

Thanks for the updates Rylen. Sounds like some interesting episodes.