She turns 42 today. This photo, from her official website, was taken in April.

Not since the golden era of The X-Files have I been so outrageously furious about a season finale … in a good way. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since X-Files veteran Vince Gilligan created Breaking Bad and pulled both writing and directing duties on this episode.

"No half measures." That's what Mike told Walt last week, and Walt took those words way, way, way more than seriously. Here we see the ramifications of Walt's actions … and a domino effect of game-changing choices that will define a fourth season that needs to be airing now, now, now, now, now.

This is truly, confidently, and completely the stuff great television is made of.

I've turned several of you on to this show, so I'll give you plenty of room to stop reading if you're not caught up. Full discussion and spoilers to follow.

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Wow.

From Hank's last-second, hail-mary take-down of the Mexican Terminator Brothers in "One Minute" to Walt's hit-run-and-gun dispatching of Gus's thugs who were about to kill Jesse at the end of last week's episode, I've spent a lot of time inching back and forth across my couch in nervous excitement and pure shock this season. The first season was great, and the second season was even better, but season three has seen this show hitting an entirely new level. It's easily my favorite show on television right now, which isn't an easy thing to say, because I'm watching more good shows right now than I have in years.

When Bryan Cranston won his second Emmy, I hadn't yet watched all of seasons one and two on Blu-Ray yet. And I remember thinking, "Bryan Cranston again?"

Now that I've seen all the episodes, I know there was simply no other choice.

I loved the cinematography of Walt's desert meeting with Gus. I loved the reveal that Jesse was still in town. I loved that when Walt told Jesse that he knew what they had to do, I didn't immediately piece it together that Walt meant to kill Gale.

Just last week, when Jesse wanted to poison the thugs who'd ordered the kid to kill Combo, Walt told Jesse that he wasn't a murderer, even though Walt killed Krazy 8 all the way back in the third episode. But we all know how Walt can lie to himself just as well as he can lie to everyone else, and I'm sure Walt justified that to himself as self defense.

But what he did for Jesse at the end of "Half Measures," even though it was done in Jesse's defense, shows that Walt has fully embraced the dark side. And I love it.

Earlier this season, as Walt struggled to whitewash his own guilt, Jesse was telling us he was okay with being the bad guy. And I was furious when he decided to sell meth to his support group, though, in typical Breaking Bad fashion, that storyline didn't go where I expected it to. Watching the two of them switch roles has been fascinating.

I was initially a little disappointed in the coincidences. After having Walt share a second season beer with Jane's father while discussing fathers and daughters immediately before he allowed Jane to die, it was a bit much to swallow that the girl Jesse chose as an easy target from his support group just happened to be the big sister of the kid who killed Combo.

Whatever. I'll allow it. Because the results of that storyline just keep paying off in outrageously awesome ways. And I love how Jesse's plan to hook her on meth immediately ended when he found out she had a kid. A nice callback to the protective streak we've seen Jesse have for children in the past.

This was easily the show's finest hour so far. Walt's steely reserve when outlining Gus's options directly to Gus's face in the desert, when Gus could easily have had him shot at any second, was awesome. And Gus continues to be the devil, so softspoken and reserved, but possessing great and terrible evil inside him. We saw more hints of it tonight than we've ever seen before, and what we're bound to see next season terrifies me.

Mike's big action sequence was bad-ass beyond belief, with Jonathan Banks continuing to do spectacular work here.

God bless whoever hired Bob Odenkirk to play Saul.

And what about that ending? I was heartbroken and angry and shocked that Walt would give up Jesse to Mike and Victor so easily … until the epic moment when Walt shouted the score to Jesse on his cell phone and turned the situation around against Victor and Mike. Walt's intelligence is a marvel to behold, and that entire sequence is pure perfection in its execution. When Walt spouted off Gale's address and raised up to his full height while straightening his collar and using his voice to blow a bigger whole in Mike's night than any bullet ever could, I was cheering.

We're left with so many things to wonder and worry about until season four begins. Did Jesse really kill Gale? Aaron Paul was devastatingly amazing in those final moments, and after a season of thinking that Jesse deserves what's coming to him, I'm right back to rooting for his redemption.

I don't think he really did it. But it would be so much more powerful and shocking if he did. What do you think?

And let's say that Jesse really did kill Gale. How is he going to escape from Victor, who's on his way to stop Jesse from doing what the final shot — literally — tells us he's possibly already done?

And if Jesse does escape, and if Gale is really dead, will Gus really let Walter go back to cooking his meth? Walt is hedging his bets that Gus's operation can't sustain itself without constant production, and Gus's actions certainly support Walt's assumption.

My theory about the finale was that Walt would kill Gus and set up his own enterprise in the car wash next season, but that's entirely out the window. Or is it?

And what about Hank? Now that he's out of the hospital, it's only a matter of time before he finds out his medical care is being paid for by Walt's "gambling money." How is Walt going to feel about that, and how long will it be before his investigation brings him to Walter's doorstep?

(Anna Gunn's performance as Skyler spun that lie to Marie several episodes ago was one of the season's finest.)

So many things can go wrong from here. So many things can get worse, and have to, and will, in ways we won't be able to predict.

Hands down, there's just nothing better on television right now. Thanks to everyone involved for an exciting, challenging season that upped the stakes infinitely in its awesome, awesome finale.

The first season of FX's excellent new series Justified gunned its way to one hell of an ending last week, posing new questions and teasing new directions between every shot fired.

And though I'll never get tired of watching U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) zing bullets into bad guys who've got it coming, the show's greatest strengths continue to be its characters and the things they say, which always make the writer in me extremely jealous.

If you're new to the show or haven't seen the finale yet, you should stop reading right now, because I'm going to talk about everything up to and including the ending.

Extreme spoilers in 10 …

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Okay.

Bo Crowder (M.C. Gainey) is probably dead, and that's definitely good. But what did you think about the season-long arc of his son, Boyd (Walton Goggins), who claims to have found Jesus even though he still loves to bazooka things?

For most of the season, I thought Boyd was faking it, just as I'm pretty sure he was faking white supremacy in the pilot. After all, Boyd's a sneaky soul, and Raylan has already suggested that Boyd would do, say, and pretend to be anything if he thought it would get him a leg up on the criminal competition. And Boyd certainly seemed to be living up to the accusation, though the sheer awesomeness that Goggins injected into each of Boyd's biblical monologues was enough to make you believe he was a believer.

In the finale, it seems that not even Boyd himself knows how full of shit he really is, and I love that. And just as Boyd has repeatedly expressed his hopes that his newfound salvation would rub off on Raylan, I think we have to assume that a surprising amount of Raylan has rubbed off on Boyd. In other words, I think it's possible that the "right" in his righteousness might actually be sincere.

Other topics of discussion, observation, and curiosity:

1. What kind of story is Raylan going to come up with to explain how Boyd got away — because Raylan allowed him to — at the end? And what kind of new dynamic will that create between Raylan and Boyd next season? Boyd has been set up to be Raylan's archenemy, but after the finale, they're seeming more and more like brothers every day. The cartel in Miami probably just bumped Boyd up to number two on their Most Wanted list behind Raylan. And Raylan's got enough heat on himself from the Marshal service already after shooting Tommy Bucks in Miami and half the human-sized varmints in Harlan County (and a couple of gun thugs in Los Angeles, too), so I'll be curious to see what his status is when the show returns next season.

2. After Winona (Natalie Zea) gave Raylan that sweet, sincere explanation of why she chose her new husband, Gary, over him in the episode "Hatless" (which featured outstanding supporting work from Jere Burns, who's also been amazing on Breaking Bad this season), I found it a little surprising that she showed up at Raylan's motel room for a good, old-fashioned Kentucky hammering in "Fathers and Sons" a couple of weeks ago. Their awkward courthouse scene in "Bulletville" was played with plenty of unspoken heat by Zea and Olyphant, and I'm almost surprised we didn't see more of them together in the episode. That's why I think the season premiere, by default, can only begin with Raylan and Winona in bed together. As if he needs any more complications right now.

3. Timothy Olyphant's facial expressions and body language are the stuff great actors are made of. With Raylan being a man of relatively few words, especially when he's surrounded by so many characters like his daddy Arlo (Raymond Barry Jr.) and Boyd who get to give such great speeches, some viewers might be tempted to think that Olyphant isn't doing a lot. But watch him. He's terrific.

4. If I had to choose between Winona and Ava (Joelle Carter), I have no idea what I'd do. But Raylan had better figure it out, because that's bound to be an issue in season two.

5. Raylan shooting Arlo in the arm was awesome.

6. Raylan shooting not one but both of the thugs who came to collect him from the motel room was awesome.

7. Raylan's ninja-like disarmament/shooting of Bo's henchman while simultaneously kicking Bo's gun out of his hand was awesome.

8. Raylan's under-the-window brain-spattering of the bad guy trying to sneak into the house was awesome.

9. I loved the toy gun sound Raylan made as he let Boyd get away.

10. Even though Ava seemed disgusted by Boyd at the end, I can't help but wonder if the writers aren't considering pushing those two together next season.

All in all, an absolutely excellent first season bristling with memorable characters, kills, and dialogue. This can't come back soon enough.

Click it to see it full size.

The episode, Hostage, airs May 7!

But he's not the only familiar face we'll be seeing in that episode. McKean's real-life wife, the outrageously gorgeous Annette O'Toole, reprises her role as Clark's mother, Martha Kent. She's been missing from the show for quite some time after the writers decided that Martha needed to move to our nation's capital to be a senator.

(As much as I still enjoy Smallville, I've never been happy with how the writers treated Clark's parents in the aftermath of the poorly handled killing off of Clark's dad, Jonathan Kent, played with so much warmth by John Schneider. The dynamic between Clark and the Kents was one of my favorite aspects of the show's early seasons.)

McKean has been posting all kinds of Smallville goodies on his Twitter, including a couple of really great photos of him and "the Missus" with Clark actor Tom Welling and Erica Durance, who in addition to playing Lois Lane on the show also owns a mighty chunk of my heart. Seriously. I love this woman.

McKean's Tweets of interest:

1. "Off we go: Martha Kent and Perry White are on their way back to Smallville. Mmmm, smell them cornfields!"

2. "Fun Smallville shoot today. Nice to see Tom, Erica & the crew; the Missus did a lot of hugging."

(That's massively sweet. I'd love to get a hug from Annette O'Toole; I miss her, too.)

Here's the photo of Annette with Tom Welling …

… and here's the one of Erica Durance with a very, very, very lucky Mr. McKean:

(Click the links to see them at full size.)

Smallville, currently in the home stretch of its ninth season, has been renewed for a tenth.

And have I mentioned how in love I am with Erica Durance?

Trivia: Annette O'Toole played Lana Lang opposite Christopher Reeve in Superman III.

Eleven years later I'm still cranking out articles for Impact, the Global Action Entertainment Magazine, which John edits and contributes a massive amount of writing to. But since John writes so much more than any one magazine can contain, he's also self-publishing his own amazing Verbatim.

You can find out more about it — and order the latest (and previous) issues — right here. Each installment is filled with John's gorgeous exclusive photos and equally exclusive interview material you'll not find anywhere else. Verbatim is a real treat for anyone who loves science fiction, horror, and action films — and it makes a great gift for the movie lovers in your life.

Check it out.

I wrote so many articles for the June issue of Impact that I barely remember what all of them were, but you can find my review of Wolverine and a Terminator Salvation preview article summarizing previous Terminator incarnations on film and in the pages of novels and comics.

And if you're a Vin Diesel fan, check out my Fast & Furious review and my Vin Diesel career retrospective in the May issue. Just click the links to order or subscribe.

Impact means a lot to me, not just because it allows me to see several articles published each month but mostly because John allows us to dig deep into what makes movies tick.

(And Neal's layouts consistently make this the best looking magazine I've ever seen.)

I've been able to interview the likes of Adrian Paul, Dina Meyer, Kelly Hu, Alexander Nevsky, and David Duchovny in these pages, and next month I'll have a five-page chat with Sandy Collora, whose new film, Hunter Prey, looks like something literally out of this world.

Thanks as always for your interest and support!

One of the best thing about growing up in the home I grew up in was getting to watch whatever my parents watched. From a young age, I got to see all the best moments from all the greats — Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, Burt Reynolds, etc.

One of my favorite personalities from that late '70s/early '80s heyday was Dom DeLuise, who never failed to make me laugh and smile. He was often doing something related to food, which is a topic near and dear to my own heart.

DeLuise passed away at the age of 75 yesterday, and he will be missed.

(Here's an example of one of his classic bits with Dean Martin, in which Dom played a terrible magician called Dominick the Great.)

Thank you for the laughs, good sir! And don't let God hog all the meatballs.

John had seen an early screening of the pilot and raved about the show's ingenuity and originality. I missed the show when it initially aired but finally caught up with it on Blu-ray a couple of months ago, especially after further recommendations from Bob and Courtney.

If you're not familiar with the show, it's about a guy named Ned (Lee Pace) who makes pies. He also makes dead people come alive again with a touch, but there's a catch. He has to touch them again within a minute, upon which they die again — permanently. If he doesn't touch them, they'll stay alive — but someone else within the general vicinity will die.

Ned's heart gets the best of him when his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel), gets murdered on a cruise she booked with the Boutique Travel Travel Boutique. He brings her back to life, hides from her the fact that someone else had to die, and also hides the fact that the day he learned how his powers worked was the day he unknowingly killed Chuck's dad to bring back his own mother when he and Chuck where just kids. The problem is that even though he and Chuck are dearly in love, he can never touch her or she'll die again forever.

Ned owns a pie shop called the Pie Hole and solves murders with a private detective named Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), whose interests include guns, knitting, and learning how to make his own pop-up books.

And of course there's Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth), the Pie Hole waitress who loves him and can't understand why he's always mooning over a girl he won't even touch.

The show is sweet, colorful, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, occurring in a reality that's not quite real. Never have I ever seen a cast take so immediately and completely to the material they're given, especially when the material is as unique as this.

Lee Pace is perfect as Ned, who's so afraid of what he can do that he's hesitant to do anything.

But Chuck brings out the best in him, and Anna Friel is one of the most vibrant and beautiful women I've ever seen. She plays Chuck with a lust for life and the little things that makes her absolutely irresistible.

McBride is hilarious as Emerson; you'll run out of fingers and toes counting the hilarious line deliveries he gives in each episode.

And Chenoweth gives one of the most deliciously delightful portrayals I've ever seen in anything.

And maybe it makes me a bad person, but the wardrobe on the show is a big part of its charm, and Friel and Chenoweth always look very boob-tacular, especially in high definition. (Don't even try to tell me you haven't noticed.)

The nine episodes of the first season were lovingly spread across three Blu-ray discs, and the extra room really lets the colors breathe. As a comparison, the same studio, Warner Bros., crammed the 22 episodes of Smallville's seventh season on the same number of disc, and the episodes look squished and compressed.

I've only seen the first season. ABC stopped showing the show before I ever even watched the Blu-rays. They never aired the final three episodes filmed, nor did they give series creator Bryan Fuller the opportunity to write and film a true finale.

But at least the second and final season — including the three unaired episodes — will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 21.

You can read more about the initial announcement right here, with even more information (and tons of great info about the show) right here.

This is great news for me, because I haven't seen any of the second season and I'll have 13 new-to-me episodes to look forward to.

And if you haven't seen the show, I suggest seeking it out as soon as you can. Prepare to fall in love with it immediately.

I did.

(It helps if you like Dallas, too.)

I had the honor and the pleasure of working for Adrian and his children's charity, the PEACE Fund, which he estasblished to Protect, Educate, and Aid Children Everywhere. I'm happy to report that, even in real life, Adrian is one of the good guys — a kind-hearted, hard-working performer who puts every bit of himself into everything he does.

That's why I'm excited about these new CDs to be released between April and July, with a launch at this month's convention in Los Angeles by the equally hard-working folks at Highlander Worldwide, the official international Highlander fan club. They feature a brand new Highlander story read by Adrian, and the descriptions for each episode sound awesome.

You can also check out Adrian's official site here. There can be only one Duncan MacLeod. Don't ever forget it.

And if you want to give a few bucks to the PEACE Fund, I promise it'll go to kids who need it.