What can I say about Criminal Minds that hasn't been said in the last 10 years? It's the little show that could. I've been a fan since the first episode when Mandy Patinkin was the show's leader. His departure left the show with a hole it was swift to fill, and I have to say it hasn't missed a beat since. The rest of the cast has been solid for most of that decade, and they've evolved into one of the best teams on television. Because of this show we all learned what an unsub was and have become pretty aware of the things that go on in a killer's mind. It was the perfect sister show to CSI for years on Thursday nights. CSI dealt with the physical evidence, while Criminal Minds dealt with the mind. What a combination.

Let’s not take anything away from the show’s true force here. This is an excellent cast being fed brilliant scripts playing to an awesome crew. Everything just clicks on this series, and it only got better in the second year. I am truly impressed with how much these characters are fleshed out and how much we learn about them without the need of office romance. No precious show time is squandered on excessive personal life stories. We’re given just enough to bring the characters alive beyond their team dynamic, which is quite strong. Each character is constructed through the subtle nuances the actors infuse their performance with. From the moment you watch your first episode, you will find this team believable enough to care about them and their work. Surprisingly, the show often gets muddled in a ton of exposition, but somehow it’s carried off by the cast so that you never find yourself going numb with clinical information overload. Granted, the material itself is attention-worthy, but these guys pull it off no matter how interesting the information might be. Add to the stellar portrayals a writing team second to none in the industry. The support teams do everything they need to make sure these talents are never wasted.

Perhaps if I knew a little bit more about Amadeo I prior to going into this film, I would have enjoyed it a little bit more. Luis Miñarro’s Stella Cadente, or Falling Star, focuses on the short-lived reign of Amedeo I as the King of Spain. Originally hailing from Italy, Amadeo was elected King of Spain in 1871. Upon his election, his primary backer was assassinated, leaving the foreign king alone to deal with the restlessness of Spain’s government. Falling Star sets up this sequence of events well enough to follow, but soon thereafter dwindles into a slow-paced fictionalization of the difficulties that faced Amadeo I.

No matter how accurate or inaccurate a foreign period drama is, I typically enjoy myself while watching. Falling Star gave me no such pleasure, but I have a really hard time pinpointing why. Everything that bothers me about this film never bothers me in any other film I have seen. Perhaps it is the culmination of multiple faults into a single film that really made this film less enjoyable than it could have been. As with many period dramas, the pacing of the film is rather slow. I expected this, considering that the DVD case advertises the look of an Art House film. While many art films move at a snail’s pace, I am always able to enjoy one aspect of the film, normally the acting or the cinematography.

"Trauma is messy."

So begins life at Grey-Slone Memorial Hospital without Dr. Wang, and for the show Grey's Anatomy, the loss of Sandra Oh. But there won't be time to dwell on that loss as the story shifts to the departure of another of the show's most popular characters and actors. Patrick Dempsey spent more than a decade as the show's McDreamy, one of the more compelling talents in the cast. It's another season, and mixed amid the medical emergencies, struggling relationships, and tragic events, it's time to say goodbye once again. 

So do depravity and nobility go hand in hand? Well, that is how it seems to be in the Royals, the EW channel’s faux depiction of the English ruling family. The show does not gain any points for characters, as many of them are cliché archetypes: the unsure heir to the throne, the drug-addicted socialite daughter, the self-absorbed and media-obsessed mother, the depraved and jealous brother of the king, and the noble albeit naïve king. As I say none of these character types are new; but their depiction in this series did manage to pique my interest as well as push the boundaries of what is permitted on network cable. (Let’s face it, eventually all those censors will be done away with completely.) The Royals is a series that will probably have you wondering: is this really how the class really behaves?

The series begins on a somber note as the family is just informed that the eldest son and heir to the throne has died in a mysterious military accident. As expected, this revelation brings about the immediate realization that the second-born son, Liam, is now the heir apparent to the British monarchy. Liam, who never expected to succeed to the throne, now finds his world turned upside down as he must now step up and become the embodiment of what is expected for a king. It is also worth mentioning that the news of his ascension comes the night after engaging in drunken one-night stand with the daughter of the head of his father’s security detail. See, drama already, as not only is Liam’s life changed, but also the life of Ophelia, who found herself drawn to Liam but is unsure now how to fit into his new world. Let’s take a brief pause; this is not new either, so in terms of breaking new ground, there is not a whole lot of that happening in this series. That said, like it all things, it is more about the journey, and it is worth noting that this relationship is one of the biggest influences of the show as well as the purest relationship of the series. Trust me, that will become abundantly clear after you get a load of the other relationships.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Meet Hutch, the once-great golfer, now mediocre golf course owner. Hutch has been down on his luck ever since failing to impress at the Pro Tour and now owns a mediocre golf course (or really bad golf course, depending on who you ask). Hutch has also been hitting the bottle since his life started on a downward spiral, and this drinking leads him to put a golf club into someone’s car window. The golf club incident leads him to serving time on community service, where he will try to teach a team of underprivileged children how to play golf. Some kids don’t have the means to golf in the areas where they live; some of the kids don’t have parents that understand their craving to play it. Whatever their reason, they are now stuck in Hutch’s hands…. for better or worse.