Spoilerville

We’ll be conducting a full review of the Smash finale, Bombshell later today, but first we wanted to chat about how things wrapped up with the Julia, Frank and Michael Swift storyline.

Here at Unreality TV, we thought that Julia’s affair was one of the quiet successes of this first season. Often, the sub-plots in a TV series are dialled in, but Julia sleeping with Michael Swift was a highly nuanced storyline and one that promises to deliver more drama when Smash returns for Season 2.

The Julia/Frank/Michael love triangle

For a start, Julia’s stressed out. Her teenage son is starting to push back and rebel. Her husband wants to adopt a child and she’s distressed at the lengthy process involved with adoption. And then Marilyn, The Musical lands in her lap, a project she quickly becomes passionate about. And then her former lover, Michael Swift, appears in the picture. He knows about the pressures of working in theatre, and he’s interested in Julia as a woman, not a wife, mother or songwriter. And that’s sexy. We get it.

But when her son and husband Frank find out about the affair, Julia quickly realises what she stands to lose and works hard to rebuild their marriage. Of course, she handles it clumsily, and makes a ton of mistakes along the way – like neglecting to mention she’d had an affair with Swift in the past. But it’s these details that make the relationships between these character seem more realistic.

What happened in Bombshell?

Julia's babydaddy? We think so.

The Bombshell episode dropped a few hints about the future for Frank and Julia. Let’s recap, shall we?

1. Michael Swift’s wife has left him. She found out about the affair and moved out, taking their son with her.
2. Frank has trust issues after seeing Julia talking to Michael on stage. He puts on a brave face in front of their son, but things still look shaky between them. However, he seems to thaw toward Julia during the final moments of Bombshell, when he holds her hand. Yes, we cried. Didn’t you?
3. Julia tells Tom that she puked, thinking it was from the opening night nerves. But she hasn’t vomited like that since…she was pregnant. Yes, it looks like Michael Swift may have left a little present right next to Julia’s ovaries!

What’s next for Julia (and Frank, and Michael)?

If we’re reading the signals correctly, Julia’s clearly knocked up. And we’re figuring that it’s Michael Swift’s baby, because, well…it’s a drama! How boring would it be if it was Frank’s child?

Frank couldn't master the tango...

Here’s where Smash played things beautifully: at the start of the season, Frank and Julia wanted to adopt, but the adoption process was arduous and drawn out. Now, at the end of the first season, Julia could be pregnant, so technically they baby that they longed for is coming to them. Unfortunately it may not be Frank’s.

We’re dying to find out how this will play out. This couple get what they always wanted – but it could be a permanent reminder of Julia’s infidelity, and there’s no telling how Frank will take that. Will he raise the baby as his own or will he walk away? Will Michael find out about the baby and want to be involved? There’s all this drama simmering under the surface.

We may go into cryogenic hibernation until Smash comes back!

Okay, this news was a bombshell to us – this first season of Smash is only 15 episodes long, and the finale airs…tonight. With an episode entitled Bombshell.

We’re totally unprepared for this: we’d just anticipated a 22-24 episode season like Smash‘s FOX counterpart Glee. So we’re approaching this spoiler post with a mixture of disappointment and excitement. After all, there’s a lot of story to wrap up before the season finishes.

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What’s the biggest lesson that Season 3 of Glee has taught us? Well, since you clearly don’t know, I’ll tell you. It’s that teenagers should never text while driving or even walking. We all know what happened to Quinn Fabray when she texted en route to Finn and Rachel’s doomed wedding. But slightly more fun than being left wheelchair-ridden is Glee’s Props episode, in which Tina bangs her head and wakes up in an alternate version of McKinley High where all her friends have swapped bodies.

And perhaps most unnerving of all – Tina has body-swapped with Rachel Berry.

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You could say that the state of Vampire/Human relations in Bon Temps is at an all time low when season 5 of True Blood rolls around. And as the Vampire King of Louisiana, Bill Compton’s head is likely to roll whenever the vampire authority decides to crack down.

Let’s face it, Bon Temps is right up there with Sunnydale, California when it comes to out of control supernatural activity.

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Hey, remember that hurricane that ripped through the Cougar Town cul-de-sac last week? Well, it turns out that ol’ Grayson’s house took a bit of storm damage and, well, he’s forced to move in with Jules for a while. Which could turn out to be good practise for then they get married. If they get married. It the photo above is anything to go by, we’d be surprised if Jules and Grayson make it through the next therapy session!

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And just like that, the Fringe season finale is over. The second part of Brave New World saw William Bell monologuing like a lunatic, spilling his plans to create a brand new universe to Walter upon his very own cross-dimensional arc.

So the dinosaur footage we saw on the teasers for this episode was a bit of a fakeout. I’m glad, because essentially Bell was trying to recreate Terra Nova, and we all know how that ended.

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The Dunphy, Pritchett and Delgado clan paid a visit to the ‘happiest place on Earth’ this week when they took a trip to Disneyland. One of the cast went all Wall Street while an adorable doofus made a surprise return to the show. I wonder if you can guess who?

Rather than do a full, waffling review, today we’re going to take you through the five best moments from Modern Family’s Disneyland episode. So here we go:

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If you’re not watching freshman comedy Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23, then you’re missing a treat. And no, we won’t censor the ‘bitch’ part, because we’re hardcore. (Seriously, why give a series a title containing a swearword, then censor the swear? That’s just lame.)

It’s a series that might just overtake the brilliant 2 Broke Girls in our affections here at Unreality TV: Two radically different roommates, one blonde, one brunette getting into a series of scrapes each week? Could be the same show. Except for Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23‘s secret weapon: James Van Der Beek. Playing himself, no less.

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What you’re looking at is a movie trailer for the two-part Fringe season finale, Brave New World. Yes, a movie trailer. If that doesn’t set the stage for an epic, cinematic finale, I don’t know what will!

Today, FOX have released a one-minute long teaser for Brave New World. One one hand, it seems to assemble scenes we’ve already seen, like Walter’s dream theory that scar-faced David Robert Jones is attempting to collapse the dual universes into one that he controls. Let’s take a look at what we can glean from the trailer video, shall we?

Is David Robert Jones the true antagonist?

Under the heading “A vision to destroy the world”, we hear Walter’s assertion that DRJ wants to create a world in which he controls the laws of physics. Jones has indeed gone to great lengths to play the boundaries between universes. But he’s never struck me as the classic megalomaniac type. At this point in time, I’m inclined to think Walter’s way off base on this one and that there’s something else afoot.

Olivia’s powers may reach fruition?

Interestingly, the trailer implies that Olivia Dunham’s powers may be the key to thwarting whatever plan Jones has. I think the footage in the clip is actually from an earlier episode this season where Olivia was captured. Clearly there’s more to Olivia’s powers that she’s yet to discover? An ability that could save us all…

Only One Will Survive?

Let’s take a massive logical leap here, shall we? September says that in all possible futures, Olivia Dunham must die. And the inference from Letters Of Transit is that Olivia had a child before she died. But…there are two Olivias, aren’t there? I’m going to speculate that Fauxlivia will actually be the one to die. And you know what else? Fauxlivia had a child to Peter in an alternate timeline, which would wrap that story arc up neatly. Oh, and it would also piss Lincoln Lee off enormously, moving across universes for a girl he fancies only to have her die.

Belly’s Back!

A fortnight ago, William Bell turned up in the distant future encased in amber. And then he promptly disappeared. And there’s speculation that Bell is in league with Jones. I was going to say “cahoots” but that’s become a kind of comedy word these days. The trailer shows Nina Sharp telling Walter that she doesn’t believe that Bell would try to destroy the universe. But considering many Fringe characters have crossed the line between good and evil (Walternate and Broyles to name two), it’s entirely possible that there’s a version of Bell out there and doing bad things to the fabric of the universe.

What’s really exciting about this – aside from the possible return of Leonard Nimoy – is that William Bell is an intellect on a par with Walter. And not only that, but Walter has a rose-tinted fondness for his old friend – it would nearly destroy him if Belly turned out to be working with the bad guys.

I’d love to hear how you guys think the season finale will play out. Drop me a few comments and let me know your thoughts. Brave New World airs May 4 and concludes May 11 on FOX. And then we wait for the awesome season 5! Good times, Fringe fans!

James Wilson took center stage in a rather hit and miss episode of House this week. The C Word was all about Wilson and his recent cancer diagnosis. Unfortunately, there was a patient of the week storyline thrown in which kind of got in the way.

Let’s get the tedious Patient-Of-The-Week drama out of the way first. This storyline actually started out pretty well: as a parent, I respond emotionally to sick child storylines. And this was an intriguing one, not least because the parents were separated and the mother – also a doctor – was seconded to the team to help diagnose the child’s issues.

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