Man oh man oh man, trust the best show on TV not to go quietly to its death. Instead, the show hits the ground running, and never lets up for an hour, it deviates wildly from the source material, finds its own voice, and yet seems vaguely reminiscent of things we’ve seen before. True, in a week we’ll be done with this show forever, and that’s sad and frustrating, but when the episodes are this good it’s hard to care about our imminent Kings-less future.

If last week was all about hope, this episode is about the death thereof. The king, once so open to the future, trusting, and full of promise, has seen his faith betrayed and learned that no matter how he may wrestle with David’s destiny, the future has no place for Silas. Once again closed off, and all the more tragic for it having shown his heir the soul of the man beneath the crown, he seamlessly shifts gears in to defensive mode, protecting what he sees as rightfully his. And as with all megalomaniacs, what the king sees is his is everything…

PLAY BY PLAY

Eros, Agape, Phileo, Platonic, Paternal, Maternal, Uplifting, Pure, Forbidden, Eternal, Fleeting and so many others - there are a million different kinds of love, and really none of ‘em make a bit of sense, and they all have one thing in common: love can be damned inconvenient on occasions.

The best Science Fiction series of 2009 lurches back from the grave, zombie-like, while NBC burns off it’s remaining unaired episodes. It’s strange to think that this was once considered the replacement for “ER,” before cooler heads prevailed. Just ten months ago, this show was eagerly, excitedly touted by the network as “The Next Lost,” and they gladly plunked down $4 million per episode on a twisty, turny, weird biblically-derived alternate history the likes of which American TV has never seen before. Nor, I don’t doubt, will we ever see anything like it again. Which is our loss, all our losses: the network, the viewing public, even the world if we factor in the overseas markets. Sad to see it walking-dead like this, lumbering from one grave to another, from hiatus to cancellation. It deserved better, and, once again, I’m annoyed with NBC - all too common in recent years - and their mad drive to outfox FOX in becoming the place where brilliant high-concept shows go to be brutally neglected and beaten to death by drooling troglodytes who call themselves executives.

But, shameful affront to genre, cast, crew and audience aside, “How was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”

I’m happy you asked: Pretty damn good, actually! Pretty damn good indeed!