So nice to have decent TV

Both Lost and Veronica Mars had strong episodes this week. Lost was particularly intriguing, inserting a new element into the drama that could best be described as... supernatural? Magical? Or, as the hapless yet loveable Locke notes, "a miracle?" After last week's kind of bullshit flashbacks, it was nice to see a character's backstory fully explained, and the twist was unexpected and totally awesome. Props to my main man, David Fury. You done me proud, boy.

Speaking of twists, the solution to this week's Veronica Mars mystery also came as a surprise, which was nice, considering the last episode's was so damn obvious. The less said about Kristen Bell, the better, because I will simply embarass myself. Oh, I just want to take her out for ice cream and then go walk on the beach holding hands! Ugh, you see? Moving on...

At the other end of the spectrum, Desperate Housewives' second episode was less than stellar. While Veronica Mars has largely scaled back its irritating voiceover, the Magic Omnicient Narrtor of Housewives seemed to have every other line this week. Which would be fine if the voiceover provided new information, or told us things we couldn't possibly discern for ourselves, but it just narrates the damn action. It's like the creators never heard the old adage, "Show, don't tell." It's a visual medium, folks. As it is now it's like Chris Claremont wrote it. Ew. On the other hand, Felicity Huffman remains as great as ever and Teri Hatcher is surprisingly charming. So there's that.

You can, and should, read about all three of these series over at Television Without Pity, but I am too lazy too link all three series with their respective pages at that site.

Oh, and The Wire this season? C'est magnifique.