But I don't think they punched that up enough.

Just a note for all the SPN fans: I'm almost done watching S1.

"Salvation" kicked ass. It's a shame that most shows only end up delivering episodes like this at the end of the season, but I'm glad to have gotten one. I was practically on the edge of my seat when Sam and Dean were trying to stop the Demon, and I may have let out an almost inaudible "Whoa" when Dean saved the baby ONE SECOND BEFORE THE CRIB LIT AFIRE.

For those interested, I have weighed in on Supernatural.

BSG: Wow, I think my sympathies just switched over entirely from Lee to Anders in that last scene between them. I'm mostly a Lee/Kara shipper, despite her craziness, and I like seeing the dynamic between them, because it's so fucked up; but Anders knows what it's like to love her, and to be with her, and he's not walking away, and he'll risk his life to save her, and suddenly I LOVE him.

Also, a question: Didn't Admiral Adama know that Hera was still alive? In the scene where he confronts Roslin about Hera being at her school, he was really angry with her for keeping it from him, but I thought he knew already. What am I missing?

No need to whitefont that, Kate.

As for sympathies, mine are totally not with Dee. Other than that, I barely care. Anders should bail on Kara or stop complaining.

Oh, you're right. Duh. Too much watching of non-U.S. TV shows.

I'd kind of like to see Anders divorce Kara's ass - screw what she thinks about it. He needs to rescue her, then dump her flat. Not that that seems where it's headed. A girl can dream...

Well. I guess I'm fairly clear on where my sympathies do not lie. As someone(s) said above, I kind of like that the writers are willing to write in a way that makes me want to smack two of the leads right upside their self-involved heads and yet they're still behaving in character.

Also, re: Doctor Who: I agree that this season hasn't hit the highs (or even just the consistency) of last season. I don't know how much of that is due to the writing, and how much is due to Tennant vs. Eccleston (and I like them both quite a lot, but Eccleston will forever be MY doctor), or other factors. I'm still enjoying it very much, but I think if this season had been my introduction to the show, I might not have fallen for it like I did.

That said, I quite liked "Fear Her", especially since I'd been led to believe I wouldn't like it very much. I like when Rose gets to be smart and save the day, and I liked the concept of the lonely alien creature that would just eat up everything in its path if it couldn't get back to where it belonged. (They're really hitting the theme of loneliness hard this season, aren't they? And it's strange to me, because I thought Nine was a much lonelier man than Ten is, so I'm a little puzzled that this is the theme they've chosen to play up for Ten -- or at least, for this season.)

Rose has been bouncing all over the place, to me, this season, and, on the whole, been a lot less relateable.

I agree that her characterization hasn't been as consistent as it was last season, but I identify so very much with her that it's hard for me not to love her, no matter what she does. I love her when she's smart and when she doesn't need the Doctor, and I sympathize with her when she gets all mushy over him, even though she and I both know she can't ever have the kind of relationship with him that she wants. I love her when she's stubborn and when she's stupid, and when she doesn't know what she wants, only what she's already lost. (Again, though, if I were just meeting her this season, I don't think I'd feel the same way about her.)

Re: Torchwood.

I'm still wondering why they felt the need to do a show whose ultimate theme was "letting go". Is this somehow an essential theme for the season? Will we be watching further developments of the theme? Daniel breathed a sigh of relief that at least it did not have the same ending as every other similar ep. of every other sci fi show ever.

Windsparrow, what ending was Daniel expecting it to have? I wasn't puzzled by the episode's theme, but to tie it into the rest of the season, I'd say the major theme is death, and how we approach and accept it.

I liked a lot of things about this episode. The scene where the dad goes to visit his son in the nursing home was very affecting, and I liked the friendship between Gwen and the younger woman. (Can't remember any of their names!) Actually, the scene with Gwen explaining modern attitudes toward sex was really great, with Gwen's hilarious faces and earnest attempt to be both honest & forthright and also protective & cautious. I liked the two of them together the best. Owen/pilot lady, enh. I'm still too creeped out by Owen to buy that he feels that strongly about this woman he just met -- no matter how awesome she is -- or to feel like I should care about his sorrow. I did like the scene where he confessed to her that he was scared, but it didn't feel quite right for the character. I thought he was still being manipulative, but then it seemed like we were supposed to believe that he was genuinely in love with her. Although the look on his face when she shut the door of the plane on him was perfectly awful: cold and mean and bitter. That was well-played, and was the only moment when I really saw how he felt about her.

We also got to see a side of Jack that hasn't been shown much so far, a more vulnerable, less cocky guy, which I liked. And I thought John Barrowman really sold the scenes with the dad when he's trying to talk him out of killing himself, and then when he acquiesces and lets the dad die: Captain Jack Harkness, the spirit guide, the Angel of Death, who'll carry you there himself but can never walk through the gate with you. It felt a bit contrived, like a lot of things about this show, but ultimately it worked for me.