Supernatural 6x19 "Mommy Dearest"

I feel like I have to apologize right off the bat. My brain was going a million miles an hour last night when I watched the episode, and now I feel like I was only half paying attention. I shouldn't be admitting that, right? I should just pretend I am all knowing and great! Oh well. I like honesty.

In any event. "Mommy Dearest" featured a couple of things I was not expecting. First of all - Crowley isn't actually dead! What! What in the world! And on top of that - Eve now is! She sure didn't last long. The pace on the show has been picking up lately, with new twists and turns that I haven't seen coming, which is refreshing six seasons in. This episode itself, however, had kind of a weird pace, in my opinion. But then, I was really tired, so it could've just been me.

The episode started with Miss Mother Eve stirring up some drama in a bar in some unknown place (later revealed to be Grants Pass, Oregon. Oregon shout out!). That drama being touching some people and making them go crazy, feeding on each other and being generally violent. We're left to wonder what exactly she was doing until later, but here's a hint - she was making some new monsters.

Meanwhile, the boys and Bobby are trying to figure out how exactly to find Eve now that they've got the Phoenix ash, which, if you remember, is the one thing that can supposedly kill her. They figure the best way to be able to do this is with some angelic help, so they call upon our favorite angel buddy Castiel, only he doesn't really know where she is either. The second best way? Call upon a friendly monster to help. In this case, that turns out to be the vampire Lenore, who we met many moons ago in season two. She's reluctant to give them such information, but does anyway. Then asks to be killed, because it turns out that Eve has a sort of constant radio chatter going on in her babies' heads, forcing them to do evil. Sam and Dean don't want to kill her since she wants to be good, but Cas just steps in does his hand thingy on her head, burning her out of there. Well. Goodbye Lenore.

They head off to Oregon, but things appear to be perfectly fine once they get there. That is, until Cas tries to use some of his angel powers to take a quick peek around town to see if that's really the case. Because, it turns out, his angel juice is not so juiced. He's powerless. They've got to check out the town on foot, and end up finding some weird crap. Like eight versions of one guy all dead and gross. What in the world, you ask? It turns out, Eve had created some weird shapeshifters gone wrong. And not just shapeshifters, either. She had created some other part vampire, part wraith, part shifter, creatures, that Dean decided to stupidly dub Jefferson Starships (because they're terrible and hard to kill).

They end up having to battle some of these starships, and capture one to ask it where exactly Eve is hiding in town. While Bobby and Cas do the interrogating (with Cas really getting down and dirty, I might add), Dean and Sam discover a pair of brothers whose family had all been killed, and decide to drive them out to their uncle's place, much to Cas' chagrin, since he didn't want to waste time on a couple of kids when the bigger picture was at stake. It would turn out that he was right in this particular instance, but it was cute to see Dean see the two brothers and remember him and Sam at those ages.

Once they get back, they head out to the diner where Eve is supposed to be, and find it crawling with the starships, and Eve herself. And this is the talky portion of the episode, where Eve gets to ramble on a bit about her plight and her plans, even turning herself into the image of Mary Winchester to give the boys the creeps. She informs them that Crowley is not actually dead, and is instead wrestling up as many souls as he can. The boys are naturally flabbergasted by such news, as they were sure they had killed him earlier in the season. Eve's plan to thwart said soul-grabbing is to create a world full of monsters, so the souls will all go to purgatory when they're dead, and will therefore be hers. Apparently souls are powerhouses, as we've been slowly beginning to understand.

She presents the boys with a deal - that they work with her to thwart Crowley, and she won't kill them. Dean, naturally, is all hell to the no, thinking they've got some backup outside with Bobby and Cas, ready and waiting with their phoenix ash weapons (oh right, Eve had confiscated the ones they brought in with them earlier). But, Cas and Bobby are dragged inside at this very time to show that they have no choice. At this point, Dean starts baiting Eve to just bite him and get it over with. It turns out he wasn't just being stubborn about not wanting to work with her, because when she does finally get too annoyed, she bites him right on the neck... only to start freaking out. Because, it turns out, Dean was actually a smartypants for once, and drank some of the ash with his whiskey, thereby making his blood poisonous to her.

So, Eve's dead. That was quick. But, oh yes. I forgot this. Back when she was rambling on about her plans to create the perfect monster, she informed the boys that she had been experimenting up until she got it right - with one of the brothers they had saved earlier. That kid had gone crazy and bitten his brother, who also turned, and they killed their uncle. Cas strives not to shout "I told you so" at Dean, and they hurry over to the place to find it empty. The boys are on the loose! Except not, because they find them dead, with mysterious gunshot-looking wounds.

Just who killed them, you wonder? None other than Crowley, as we find out. The last scene of the evening had Castiel meeting up with Crowley in the diner of dead people. It turns out, the two of them have been working together! Wow, Cas is going to some great lengths to win his war, working with demons. Next week is the episode where we get to see everything from his point of view. Should be interesting!

Random Thoughts:

- I feel like the writers are deliberately making fun of the Dean and Cas relationship on the show more and more. Wink to the fans who are slightly demented, I'm sure. Um sorry, not to dis any fans, but I'm just not into that slash stuff.

- There was a lot of random technology featured in this episode. An iPad? Were they paid to put that in? And Sam using his phone to check for the shapeshifter eyes. The phone thing is more understandable, but an iPad? Oh well, I'll get over it.

- Though there has been a lot of mention of the power of souls, I do still wonder how they, meaning Cas and Crowley, for example, can harness that power. Is it once the people are dead and in Heaven or Hell? Do the souls get used up somehow? I guess we'll find out more about that next week.

- Speaking of souls, though, what about Sam's? His soul went through a lot down in Hell. I've heard we'll be revisiting that in one of the finale episodes.

Quotes:

"Why does it always gotta be me who makes the call, huh? It's not like Cas lives in my ass..." - Dean
Cas appears right behind him.
"Cas... get out of my ass!" - Dean

"I was expecting more Zombieland, less Pleasantville." - Dean

"Oh that's great, without your power, you're basically a baby in a trench coat." - Dean
Cas looks away.
"I think you hurt his feelings." - Sam

"I'm fairly unpracticed with firearms." - Cas
"You know who whines? Babies." - Dean

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

Okay, wow. This is why I don't usually make bread-type things unless I am making it for some specific occasion. I just realized I said "this is why" as if you already know what I'm talking about. So what am I babbling about?

The length of time it takes to make said bread. Said bread. It's a rhyme. Don't mind me. I'm clearly losing my mind. I blame being on my fifth week of sharing a conference room as an office with a bunch of other people, and finding out that my actual space isn't going to be much better. Oh goody goody gumdrops.

I digress. The bread. Back to the bread.

This bread takes a while to make. Facts is facts, yo. But, I am assured, that it was tasty and worth the effort. The fact that it was nearly devoured by an Easter brunch crowd should speak to its merits, yes? Yes. However, I think it would've been tastier with some kind of frosting, sort of like a bread version of cinnamon rolls. But I didn't have time to make some by the time the bread itself was done. And I didn't think about it until that point, naturally. Oh well!

Without further ado...

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf

per Joy the Baker

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned

In a large mixing bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted.  Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract.  Let mixture stand for a minute or two, to cool down a little.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes.  The mixture will be sticky. 

Place the dough in a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling.  Set aside.  

Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned.  Set aside.  Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.  Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long.  If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay.  Just roll it as large as the dough will go.  Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. 

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips.  Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again.  You’ll have six stacks of six squares.  Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book.  Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.  The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw.  A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board.  Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the  upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up.

In pictures:

 Flour and other sundry dry ingredients. Like yeast and stuff.

Melting together the butter and milk.

Mix the two together, and what do you get? Dough-looking stuff.

With the eggs mixed in. Yellow yellow hello hello.

With the last 3/4 cup of flour added in. It's sticky. That's how it's supposed to be.

Wrap it in plastic and pop a kitchen towel on top. It doesn't have to be a dorky one like mine. But also, a tip. If you don't have a warm spot to put it, I turned my oven on low and set it on top. Worked great.

Meanwhile, you will make this cinnamon-sugar stuff.

About an hour later. Look! It rose!

After kneading in a couple more tablespoons of flour. Use your hands, please. It will give you a sense of accomplishment.

Mine is not quite the right length and size, but as I don't actually have a rolling pin, this is the best I could do. How did I roll it if I didn't have a rolling pin? I used a salt container and wrapped it in parchment.

This is too much cinnamon-sugar. Maybe if I had gotten it to the actual right size, it would not have been way too much like this.

The strips all stacked on top of each other. Look at all of that extra cinnamon-sugar!

After you cut the long slices into six stacks, put them in the pan like so.

After you've had to wait another interminable amount of time with it covered with your handy dandy dorky kitchen towel, the dough should've risen, like so.

Out of the oven! Now you have to let it rest some more!

Wa-bam!

Ka-pow!

My bread may or may not have split down the middle when I was taking it out. But guess what! It's okay, because hey, it's a pull-apart bread. It's supposed to come apart. Maybe not when you first take it out. But still. Shh.

Supernatural 6x18 "Frontierland"

Well! You know what. Though many have been saying that season six hasn't felt like the same show as it used to be, and while I have somewhat agreed with that, I think it may be safe to say that the show has been really picking things up. And now I also think it may be safe to say that with this episode and The French Mistake, there are two new contenders for top 10 of all time material. Oh yes, I said it.

The episode started off in classic western style, a shootout at high noon in 1861 Wyoming. And just who was partaking in said shootout? None other than our very own Dean Winchester. I confess I already saw this part of the episode at the Paley Fest, so it was no surprise to me, and no surprise to probably anyone else who knew even the littlest bit about the episode. Just as they draw their weapons, BAM we go into the western-ized Supernatural title. Love it every time they do one of those for an episode!

Back in the present, Sam has taken Dean and Bobby to the Campbell's secret library lair in hopes that they have a book that will give them some hint as to how to kill Eve, the Mother of All (Evil Monsters). Luckily, they do find something. One of the books says that she can be killed by the ash of a phoenix. Or something. I confess, friends, I was so incredibly tired by the time I got to watch this episode last night, I may have missed some of the more detailed details. In any event, they then had to figure out if a phoenix even existed, and this time Dean was the lucky one.

While perusing some kind of journal with a child-like glee, he stumbled upon an entry in it that said the person had shot a phoenix and it left a pile of ash. And just whose journal was this, you wonder? None other than Samuel Colt himself, the very one who made the gun everyone now calls the Colt that can kill nearly anything. Dean's big idea? To get Cas to send them back in time to get the ash.

But when they try to call upon their angel friend, someone else shows up instead - Rachel, Castiel's lieutenant. And she has some fighting words for the boys, accusing them of only calling upon Cas when they need something for themselves (it's true, though, when you think about it) and berating them for not thinking about the fact that he's running an army himself and has his own problems. Before she can do anything drastic, however, Cas wings down there himself and tells her to shoo. She's not so happy about that, but she goes.

Cas agrees to the plan, but with a caveat - they have to return within 24 hours, or he might not have the juice to get them back. This is a classic thing to do in movies/tv, by the way. Giving something a clock automatically ups the stakes. So Dean gets dressed up in some sort of hilarious attire, while Sam just changes his shirt and adds a belt. And with that - whoosh - off to Frontierland, or, you know, Sunrise, Wyoming.

When they get to town, they are immediately witness to a hanging of Elias Finch, for reasons I have already forgotten, if they were even explicitly mentioned. They probably were. It's not so important. He warned them that he'd be back, but of course they were like MEH and hung him anyway. Sam and Dean go to the Sheriff to ask if they know Samuel Colt, and after they give them (mostly Dean) crap for his very clean and shiny outfit, direct them to the saloon owner.

The saloon owner informs them that while Colt was in town a few years ago, he since left, but supposedly has taken up residence about 20 miles outside of town. While they're having this chat, the most noble priest dude who was one of the ones to hang Elias, partakes in some saloon girl action, only to have Elias Finch appear in the room, stick his hand on his face, and burn him into a pile of ash. Have we found our phoenix? I think so.

Dean sends Sam off to find the other Sam (so many Sam's on this show lately! Was Samuel Campbell named after Samuel Colt?), staying behind himself to take part in the posse that's going to find Elias Finch in the morning. Time's a running out, so Sam's gotta be quick. The quickest way to travel in this time period? Horse. I bet these boys have never been on a horse in their lives (the Winchester boys, not Jared or Jensen, I bet they both have). So Sam awkwardly rides his noble steed over to see Samuel Colt, who has just dispatched a couple demons with his handy dandy special gun. But, though he does have the gun, and just finished making the devil's gate we saw way back in season two, he tells Sam he's done with the hunting trade. Sam tries to convince him to help out anyway, and demands he give him the gun even if he doesn't come along. We're left to wonder what he does as we go back to...

Dean. He shows up for the posse, only he's the only one there. Because it turns out that the Sheriff who was organizing the whole thing had also been killed by the phoenix dude. Who gets to be the new Sheriff? Why, none of other than Dean himself! He finds the third guy who was part of the group to hang Elias in the first place, figuring that's who Elias will go after next, and locks him up in the jail. They're running out of time, though, so Sam better get there quick. But Dean was right about one thing - sure enough, Elias comes looking for him, and we find out that the only reason he's so angry is that the supposedly noble priest, Sheriff, and Deputy all took part in killing his wife, even though they were living a normal, quiet life together. Though he is unable to do his hand-burny business on the deputy because he's locked behind iron bars, he decides to just shoot him. Yeah, Dean, you should've thought of that.

Dean runs for it, and lucky for him, Sam shows up just in time, the Colt in hand. The gun Colt, not the Samuel Colt. Dean takes it and steps out into the square, challenging Elias to a high noon shoot-out to solve this once and for all. Elias thinks he's got this one in the bag, but he doesn't know who he's up against, does he? Dean's the quicker draw in this round, shooting him square in the chest. It buzzes and blips and he slowly burns up into a pile of ash. The boys run for the pile, only seconds to spare on their 24-hour clock, and--

Time to head over into the subplot with Castiel! Muahaha. While the boys are off having their adventure, Rachel confronts Castiel about just what he's been up to in this angel war of his. She accuses him of doing some bad things, and thinks it's time to take him out of the top spot. They tussle, and she actually manages to stab Cas just a little with her angel-killing weapon. But Cas manages to get the upper hand on her, and ends up killing her good and proper, with the burned wings on the ground and all. But he's hurt.

He manages to make it to Bobby's, but he's not in such great shape. He puts some kind of blood symbol on Bobby's fridge before collapsing. Later, he comes around, and informs Bobby that the symbol was to keep other angels out. He also sadly informs him that he won't be able to get the boys back in his current condition. The only way to heal him quickly is if he can touch Bobby's soul and siphon off some of its pure energy. Only if he messes it up, he'll basically blow up Bobby. Well, delicate proposition, indeed, but Bobby steps up to the plate.

And when Cas gets all powered up, he goes back and snatches the boys - just BEFORE they are able to grab any of the phoenix ash! Of course! He couldn't wait two seconds more! They think they're completely SOL now, but then! Someone knocks at the door. They've got a package that's been waiting around since 1861 to be delivered to one Sam Winchester here at that address. And it turns out that Mr. Samuel Colt went and got some of that phoenix ash and set up the delivery! They've got some ammo against Miss Eve now!

Random Thoughts:

- Love the Back to the Future references! The ridiculous Western attire. Samuel Colt sending a package into the future to be delivered just when they get back. LOVE.

- There was all of this hoopla about the introduction of Castiel's second in command Rachel, and she lasted less than a whole episode! Ha. No need for such hoopla, I think we can agree.

- Dean was so giddy about the whole experience. I wonder how much of that was Jensen too.

- The saloon girl coming over to Dean, with that really disgusting mouth. OMG. So gross! "More germy than I pictured." Or whatever he said. Indeed. No real form of protection from STDs back then. Nasty!

- While I do appreciate the introduction of so many different mythical creatures on the show, I do wish that they didn't always look human. It's probably a budget problem a lot of the time, but even still. The dragons, and now phoenixes - all look like people? Then where did the stories of a giant red bird come from?

- The way Castiel was sucking on Bobby's soul made me wonder just what he may be doing with other souls. Can he suck them up and become more powerful, is that what Rachel was accusing him of? I'm guessing we'll find out soon enough.

Quotes:

"Either of you jokers ever heard of a phoenix?" - Bobby
"River, Joaquin, or a giant flaming bird?" - Dean

"Dude, no." - Sam
"Dude, yes." - Dean
"Well let me see it." - Sam
"Get your own." - Dean

"We'll Star Trek 4 this bitch." - Dean
"I only watch Deep Space Nine." - Bobby
"It's like I don't even know you guys anymore." - Dean

"Is it customary to wear a blanket?" - Castiel

"You know what that is?" - Dean
"Yeah, it's horse--" - Sam
"Authenticity." - Dean

"'Cause you know me, I'm a posse magnet. I love posse. ... Make that into a t-shirt." - Dean
"You done?" - Sam

"When you've done this job as long as I have, a giant from the future with a magic brick doesn't exactly give you the vapors." - Samuel Colt

"Well we can't just strand those idjits in Deadwood, can we?" - Bobby (doubly funny because Jim Beaver was on Deadwood)

"Yippee ki yay mother--" - Dean

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Underappreciated Gems: Dark Angel (2000-2002)

As I mentioned in my inaugural post on The Invisible Man, I'm starting a new series here about underappreciated shows from television's past. There are, admittedly, a lot to choose from. As I don't have a limitless amount of knowledge on the subject, I'm afraid these will mostly just be shows I liked that weren't given their due.

Up today: Dark Angel.

Yes, indeed, James Cameron was one of the executive producers, as the DVD so loves to remind us. And I know what you're thinking. Jessica Alba? But she does such terrible movies! It's true, she does. But back in 2000-2002, she was the star of this little show on Fox about a genetically engineered supergirl named Max (aka X5-452) living in post-Apocalyptic Seattle, trying to live a normal life while also trying to find out about her past.

I remember I was skeptical about the show, but being a scifi fan, gave it a chance. And I was hooked straight from the supersized Pilot episode. The first season is pretty much one of the best first seasons of TV I have seen. The story flows from one episode to the next, with emotional stakes and scifi action peppered with some humor, though admittedly the humor was not the biggest part of this show, and was mostly imparted through the side characters Max worked with at her day job - a Jam Pony bike messenger.

Season 1 Cast (L-R): John Savage, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Richard Gunn, Alimi Ballard, JC MacKenzie, Jessica Alba, Michael Weatherly, Valarie Rae Miller

What will really draw you in, though, aside from the mystery surrounding the government organization called Manticore who created Max and the other kids (a group of whom escaped when they were in their early teens) is the romance that develops between Max and Logan Cale (played by Michael Weatherly). Logan is sort of a freedom fighter, working against all of the government cover-ups taking place in the post-Apocalyptic world. And, let's admit, the fact that he (spoiler alert!) gets paralyzed in the Pilot and is then forced to be in a wheelchair just gives him that hot guy with issues thing we ladies love. Don't even deny it, ladies. Don't even try it.

Alec, X5-494, played by Jensen Ackles

But here's the thing. The show kind of went off the rails in season two. I will be the first to admit it. While they had one great addition to the cast in the form of another X5 kid who actually stayed back at Manticore when the others escaped (that would be Alec, X5-494), they did two big things that really hurt the show more than helped it.

Joshua, you're sweet, and I love Kevin Durand, but no.

First of all, they let loose all of these other mutants, which included a lotof what they called "nomlies," which are basically less-human and more animal-looking creatures, that ended up bringing a lot of unwanted attention to Max and her human-looking brethren from the public at large. On top of that, though, they introduced this whole other organization that was even older than Manticore that had been secretly breeding their own people, and whom Max was somehow connected to. I can't even remember what this group was called anymore, and maybe it's better that way.

That being said, season two still has its merits. While it can't live up to season one in total, there are certainly good developments, and Alec really brought a breath of fresh air into what could sometimes be a dismal atmosphere when Max and Logan got too angsty. And they could get mighty angsty.

Hopefully, for those who haven't seen the show, I haven't spoiled too much for you. It really is worth checking out, particularly if you are a scifi fan. Below, please find my suggestions for some top episodes and some episodes you should watch if you want to get a little taste of the show to see if you'd like it.

I will tell you, that while it does end prematurely (it was, sadly, only two seasons long, after all) - the ending is not a cliffhanger or anything. It ends on a hopeful note, so you won't be outraged when you get to the end. Trust me, I know how that feels.

Top Episodes:

• Blah Blah Woof Woof (1x08)
• Pollo Loco (1x17)
• Hit a Sista Back (1x19)
• ...and Jesus Brought a Casserole (1x21)
• The Berrisford Agenda (2x11)
• Hello, Goodbye (2x17)
• Freak Nation (2x22)

Best episodes to get you into the show:

• Pilot (1x01)
• Heat (1x02)
• Prodigy (1x06)
• Blah Blah Woof Woof (1x08)

Both seasons are available on DVD. Right now they're not on any streaming services, unfortunately, but maybe someday they will be. Enjoy! This was, total honesty, tied for my top favorite show during the same two year period as The Invisible Man. And both only lasted two seasons. I felt like I was some kind of awesome show curse back then!

Chuck 4x21 "...vs. the Wedding Planner"

I must confess, I have felt that this season of Chuck has been sort of lackluster. Not that it's been bad, but I haven't felt particularly compelled to watch each week. But! I actually really enjoyed this episode. It featured the return of Gary Cole as Sarah's dad, and also had some pretty hilarious hijinks. I always enjoy when the episodes bring on the funny.
As Chuck and Sarah's wedding grows ever closer, this week we saw them working with a wedding planner to finalize the details. A wedding planner that costs over $26,000! Holy crap, is that how much weddings cost?! That is ridic! Anyway, it turns out that this wedding planner, one Daphne Peralta, was actually a conwoman who took their money and ran. They try to track her down using their CIA skillz, but she's just too good. Not wanting to let her get away with it, Sarah decides to track down the one person who can help her figure out how to out-con a con. Her dad.

Jack suggests she get the CIA's help by faking something on Daphne, and gets Chuck to join in, pretending to flash on Daphne as having a connection to some evil guys. Things get a little out of control, though, when Chuck happens to say she has a connection to some particularly evil dudes, and the General puts together a whole team to take her out. Luckily, that doesn't happen, but Chuck and Sarah do get berated, and put on suspension. Even though Chuck has a real flash on some people in one of Daphne's other client's weddings.

When the General forbids them to do any spy work for a while, though, they decide they have to take things into their own hands. Because apparently there are these Klug brothers who carry around something called a Zephyr that is super important and whatnot. Let's face it, I care hardly at all about any of the actual spy work they do on this show. In any event, with Jack's help, they are able to set up a fake wedding and, after some shenanigans, of course, are able to take down the Klug brothers and their father, who was the one really in possession of the zephyr thingamajig. Job well done. Pats on the back. All is right in the spy world.

The episode also featured quite a few flashbacks to when Sarah was young, learning the ropes of the con from her dad. They had some father-daughter issues to work out. Like the fact that he never stayed around, and always left without saying goodbye. But though he might not have been the best father in the world, he does have good intentions, as he proves when he leaves her a bunch of money he has been saving over the years for her. She can have her fancy wedding after all. Aww.

In other father-daughter relationships, Alex wants Casey to finally come clean with her mom, Kathleen, that he is still alive. They've even arranged to have her come by the Buy More. Casey, however, does not want to have to lie to her and make her think he just works retail, and kiboshes the plan. But Kathleen spots him in there anyway, and later follows him to the fake wedding and confronts him. She thinks he just left her and now works some dead end job, but in the end she finds out the truth, that he's government agent keeping the world safe. Is this the last we'll see of her, or will they rekindle a little somethin' somethin'?

Only three episodes left of this season, and a possible fifth season is still up in the air. With the season finale called "Chuck versus the Cliffhanger," I'm not sure how fans will feel if it doesn't get renewed!

Song Choice:

Alexander Ebert - Million Years

Quotes:

"Oh, one of the Kardashian girls just got her GED.... allegedly." - Chuck

"Hey, cop face. Glad you could join us!" - Jack

"Spy high five." - Morgan

"Once you know all the cons you can never be a sucker." - Sarah

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 6x17 "My Heart Will Go On"

Okay. First of all, the reason this recap is so late is for two reasons. One: my power went out last night. For the second night in a row. Which means my DVR did not record the show. Two: I had to take my car in this morning, and it took literally six hours, even though they told me two. SIX. And my phone died. And I finished my book. I was really on the verge of losing it.

But now that I've got all of that crappiness off my chest, let's get back to Supernatural.

This week saw the boys facing off against none other than Fate itself. Or rather, one of the fates. You know, the sisters who weave destiny and decide when you're going to die? Yep. Those fates. But how is fate mucking with the boys? Well. It's actually not her fault! Who do we get to blame? That old angel Balthasar. Or so we think.

When the boys find out that a bunch of relatives have all been killed in mysterious ways (like being beheaded by their own garage door - which, by the way, I was surprised we got to actually see that happen and not have a cutaway!), we as an audience start to notice some subtle changes. First of all, the boys aren't driving their classic Impala - they're driving a Mustang with their original Kansas license plate! But the biggest change by far is the fact that Ellen and Jo are alive, and Ellen just so happens to be married to one Mr. Bobby Singer.

Of course, nobody in this world actually notices any of these changes, because to them it's normal. Not until they figure out what the connection is between a bunch of people dying (Jo is investigating her own set of deaths on the west coast) that they start to figure out what's going on. It turns out that Balthasar went back in time and stopped the Titanic from sinking, thereby creating an entirely new timeline, with 50,000 extra people in it. And Fate? She is not so happy with these changes, and has been killing all of those who were never supposed to have been born. Apparently she does not have time travel capabilities.

Though the easiest solution would be to have the Titanic sink, when the boys find out that that would mean Ellen and Jo would both be dead, they decide they should figure out something else instead. They try to go and talk to Fate, but she tries to kill them. Luckily, Castiel angelically teleports them out of an explosion just in time. He tells them that the only way to stop her is to kill her. She has a sort of vendetta against them because of how they stopped the apocalypse, changing what was supposed to happen.

So, the boys decide to tempt fate, as it were, until she tries to kill them again. When she does, Castiel stops time to talk with her. And here we find out the truth behind the Titanic's save. Cas was the one who ordered Balthazar to do it, so he would have 50,000 extra souls on the planet. Because the souls somehow tip things more in his favor in his war or something. I'm not exactly sure what the souls do to be honest. But in any event, she basically told him that if he killed her (which was the plan, Balthazar was sneaking up behind her the whole time), then her sisters would go after Sam and Dean out of vengeance. Cas decides to put things back the way they were.

Though no one else will remember how different the world was, Sam and Dean both do, because Castiel wanted them to. Because they represent the choice for free will or something, which he still believes is something worth fighting for. He doesn't tell them the truth about him being the one to order the Titanic's saving, though, rather pinning it on Balthazar's whims instead. It seems as though this is just one small taste of what Castiel has been dealing with in the Heavenly war.

Random Thoughts:

- I really loved Sam/Jared's reaction when the annoying lawyer dude got hit by the bus. His face was priceless.

- Speaking of, Dean's smirk when he saw the sign on the back of the bus was pretty hilarious too.

- Poor Bobby. At least he won't remember. I assume. It was nice to see Ellen again, albeit briefly. I do like that she was sort of okay with the idea that they would be dead, rather than fighting against it.

- Would it really only be 50,000 new people? I guess that's a lot, but it seems like it could be even more.

- Next week! Looks to be epic, I think we can all agree.

Quotes:

"Now you wanna stand there and therapize, or you wanna get me some coffee? Make it Irish." - Bobby

"I mean accidents don't just happen accidentally. ... You know what I mean." - Dean

"You totally butterfly effected history!" - Sam
"Dude, dude. Rule one: no Kutcher references." - Dean

"Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who's in love with you?" - Balthasar

"Too soon?" - Dean
"Yeah, Dean, I'm pretty sure six seconds is too soon." - Sam

"What did she look like?" - Dean
"Kind of like... a librarian." - Sam
"Your kind of librarian, or my kind of librarian?" - Dean
"Well she was wearing clothes, if that's what you mean." - Sam

"Who you gotta kill to get killed around here?" - Dean

"Why are you having my dreams, dude?" - Dean

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Breton Pear Cake

Uh oh, I'm using pears again! What is it with me and pears, you wonder? I like them more than apples. There, I said it. Apples can take a long hike off a short pier. Not really. Apples are good too. Most fruit is fairly delish. Except raisins. Don't even try to be giving me raisins.

Moving on. With all of these pears coming out of my ears again, I had to find a new recipe. And this one popped up on Baking Bites for Breton Apple Cake. So of course I swapped the apples for pears - and voila!

This recipe also asks for a springform pan, and while I'm sure that creates a prettier cake, it doesn't make it any more delicious. As I don't currently own a springform pan, my regular square one stepped up to the plate. I am also lazy and did not feel like sprinkling with powdered sugar. Sue me, I had only just cleaned the dang sifter thingy, I didn't want to have to clean it again!

Breton Pear Cake

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain yogurt (whole or low fat/greek-style ok)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
 1 large pear (or 2 smaller ones), peeled and thinly sliced


Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan (or you can just use a square pan like me).

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, followed by the vanilla extract and the yogurt. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt and mix just until all ingredients are well combined and no streaks of flour remain. Batter will be quite thick.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir about half of the egg whites into the cake batter (you can use an electric mixer on “low” to stir) to lighten the batter, then gently mix in the remaining egg whites. Fold in pear slices.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with only moist crumbs attached.

Cool for at least 40 minutes before serving.

Cake can be eaten warm or at room temperature.

In photos:

The butter and sugar.

Add some egg yolks and it starts to get very yellow.

And then kinda watery with the addition of the vanilla and yogurt. I only had vanilla flavored yogurt, rather than plain, and I think it actually made this taste even better. And looking back, I may actually have used 1/2 cup rather than 1/4. Whoops! Oh well, it turned out fine.

Adding in the other dry ingredients, it looks like most dough does.

Time to beat up some egg whites. I actually made sure to beat these long enough this time. But you know what, I am rather lazy when it comes to this stuff. Because having to dirty multiple mixers is just annoying.

The egg whites mixed in. Doing it by hand at this point.

And the pear bits. I would've like a little more pear, but probably only half of another one, because the ones I have are quite large. And as I didn't want to eat another pear when I'd be eating this pear cake later... well. Less pear in the cake. I told you I was lazy.

Batter in the lightly greased pan!

45 minutes later...

It's quite delicious, I must say. Very moist. It does start to lose some of its moistness after a couple of days, though, so it's not something to keep lying around too long. It's also very filling, so though you may want to eat it all up in a jiffy, your stomach will say nooo.

Chuck 4x20 "...vs. the Family Volkoff"

The word of tonight's episode was, by far, "cool." I think it was said maybe twenty times, no? Anyway! How has everyone been during this TV hiatus that's been going on? Good? Good. Let's get right down to business.
The main story of the evening had to do with this secret Volkoff weapon called The Norseman. The team caught wind of this weapon after setting up a meeting with Vivian, who had previously gone rogue. She gave part of the weapon to them as a sort of peace offering, but in order for them to figure out just what it was, they had to bring in the big kahuna - Alexei Volkoff himself. He informed them of the nature of said evil weapon - some kind of DNA tracking killing machine - and that it was missing a couple extra components, for which the team would need his help.

First stop on the zip a dee do da teleportation train was Somalia, where a pirate by the name of Ellyas had one of the components. They try sending in Chuck to get the stuff, but Volkoff has to make an appearance himself to get it. Oh, and did I mention that throughout the episode, Volkoff is claiming to be changed man - that he has seen the error of his ways, and wants to set things right with the people he has wronged? No? Okay, consider it mentioned.

Sooo they get the secret component thing, and then find out the next bit is some kind of super rare something or other that Volkoff has hidden in some sort of cave in the Swiss Alps. No problem when they've got their zip a dee do da teleportation machine! They can travel the world in a jiff! The team heads into the base and, yada yada, are about to get the last thing, when Vivian shows up. We're led to believe that she and her dad have been working together all along, but I totally saw it was a double twist brewing. She just wanted to get the thing for herself, so she can have all the power and do whatever. She claims that she wants to turn around the family business into something legit, but when you're going through such shady means to do so, it doesn't seem quite right.


Meanwhile, Ellie has been working more and more on her dad's computer, uncovering stuff about the Intersect, and this mysterious Agent X. Mama Bartowski, upon hearing of such things, promptly begins stealing files and handing them over to Beckman. Though she wants to stop Ellie from researching further, Beckman orders her to let it continue, as Ellie's uncovering Intersect knowledge that they don't even know. Mama B goes to Chuck about it, and Chuck decides that he's got to come clean about the Intersect in his own head, but decides not to when Ellie straight up lies to him about what she's been doing on the computer. Guys, you need to work together. Seriously. Especially when it turns out that Vivian wants to put back together The Norseman in order to find this mysterious Agent X. I kind of feel like Agent X is Ellie herself, but does anyone have other theories?

And in other subplot land, it's almost time for Alex's graduation. She wants to set up a secret meeting with Casey on the day of, since he can't be there, since her mom doesn't know he's still alive. Though he seems okay with this at first, after a comment by Sarah, he realizes that she's being pulled between two parents, which isn't fair for her. So either he doesn't go, or she tells her mom the truth, and he does go.

Finally, in the last subplot, we have Sarah giving Chuck a prenup to sign, completely out of the blue. Though normally this would be prime material for Chuck to agonize over and talk to death, he instead follows the advice of Casey and Morgan and plays it "cool." In the end, Sarah decides to tear up the prenup herself. It turns out she had it made because she has some money saved away in case her dad gets in trouble again, or some other family stuff and whatnot. I'm not sure why she feels the need to keep that stuff hidden from Chuck, pretty much nothing can sway his feelings for her.

Aaaand that's all, folks!

Song choice of the night:

Kingstonlogic 2.0 - Waterhouse

Quotes:

"Eddard, you don't let your kids keep a direwolf, that's a terrible idea." - Chuck (ha! Game of Thrones reference for the win!)

"It's true. I cut in front of William in the cafeteria line. I admit, I have entitlement issues." - Volkoff

"Do you have Uno?" - Chuck - and they do!

"As my grandmother used to say, play your cards close to the vest. And wear a coat over the vest, otherwise you look like a jerk." - Volkoff

"Target's on the move, hot mama." - Devon
"Copy that, six pack." - Ellie

"Yeah, can't trust a Limey with good teeth." - Casey

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Chocolate Chip Easter Egg Cookies

I am not a religious person, but one thing that I love about this Easter time of year is the glut of candy about. In particular, my very favorite kind of candy - Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. Seriously, they are SO much better than regular peanut butter cups. The peanut butter to chocolate ratio makes such a difference. More peanut butter is always better, is the lesson here.

But! Also, there are other kinds of Easter specific candies that crop up. Like these Cadbury chocolate egg things. Which I would probably have forgotten about in a peanut butter egg high had not a blogger mentioned them. Not only mentioned them, but mentioned using them in cookies. Cookies? Sold!

Chocolate Chip Easter Egg Cookies
(Via A Cozy Kitchen)

1/2 cup  shortening
1/2 cup  butter
1/2 cup  granulated sugar
1 cup  packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon  baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon  vanilla
2-1/2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 cup  semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup Cadbury milk chocolate eggs, broken into pieces

In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate pieces and broken egg bits.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Makes about 60 cookies.

In photos:

I am a lazy bum. I did not take photos of the dough-making steps. You can look back at various other cookie recipes on here and find them if you are really so inclined. It all looks the same.

Do you want to know how I broke up the eggs? Are you sure you want to know? With my TEETH. It's true. I became very cro-magnon and used my teeth to break the suckers. Because um, they weren't breaking with my hands alone. And the oven kills my germs, anyway, right? 

It's okay. I'm the only one eating these cookies. Because I made half a batch. So the lie of that picture is how much batter you'll have. Because you'll have a lot more!

About to head into the oven.

Ta-da!

Here is the sad truth about these cookies, though. They are really only good for one or two days, and then they veer off into that crusty crispy territory that cookies often do. That territory can be somewhat lessened by a quick 7 second zap in the microwave, but... You know what else? It might've done these cookies some good to spend some time in the fridge before heading into the oven's mighty heat breath. I've long postulated this is the secret to good cookies, and I am proven right once again. Huzzah?