Lost was kind of ho-hum last night. The episode was solid, but there weren't a lot of big reveals. Well, Sawyer screwing Charlotte, throwing her out, and her being awesome and not forgiving him and his big puppy eyes was kind of a surprise. Go, Charlotte!
But the best part was seeing Sawyer in the sideways flash. He's a cop. And his partner? Miles! As soon as I saw them together the only thing I could think of was, "I would totally watch that show." I'm not a fan of cop procedurals in general, but Sawyer and Miles: two smartasses out to clean up the mean streets of LA....sign me up. If ABC was smart they would have these two signed for a new show to take Lost's place ASAP, because you KNOW people would watch.
And who knew Miles would look so cute in his cop gear?
Since we no longer have traditional tv “seasons” this month the major networks are launching new shows. Each network has put all their chips into one new show. For NBC it’s Parenthood. For our readers not current on their late 80s movies, Parenthood was a parenting angst movie starring Steve Martin with EXCELLENT cameos from Keanu Reeves (pre the bus). The movie was all about the hardships of being a parent from late developing kids, to kid geniuses, to teen angst and even adults with childlike tendencies. It was a great movie and I assume Ron Howard is trying to capture the chemistry in his new show. (For the record they tried this in 1990 and failed)
I have to admit Parenthood (the tv show) is well thought out, constructed and even well written. It is clear that the writers spent time developing the family dynamic and characters. It is a family of two sisters and two brothers and each of their extended families. In the first two episodes, the teens got arrested, one of the kids was diagnosed with Asberger’s and an illegitimate child has shown up. The plot, though predictable, is also well put together. The family dynamic is there.
The high point in the show for me is the return of Lauren Graham to television. I know Gilmore Girls is a hit or miss show with readers, but for me it was a staple. Her character is charismatic and Lauren is doing great so far. The original pilot starred Maura Tierney in Lauren Graham's role, but due to her ongoing breast cancer treatment she couldn't continue. Though Maura will be missed, I am certainly happy they filled the role with Lauren. I also am loving Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) and Sam Jaeger (Eli Stone). Both are complimenting there “marital” counterparts well and making me chuckle. The low point is CERTAINLY Dax Shepherd. Why anyone would cast him in a real role perplexes me. His comedic role is lacking and his general presence annoys me. Hollywood continues to cast him in movies and shows despite his poor line delivery and lack luster emotions. Additionally, Erika Christensen is not holding up her own. Erika plays Julia, a high powered attorney trying to get to know her daughter, and its just not getting there for me. Perhaps there will be room for growth.
Overall, I have added it to the list. Plus I could sell it to my husband since Craig T. Nelson is in it. Try Parenthood tonight at 9.
One of the perils of DVR is that you sometimes fall behind on stuff. I can often fall a full week behind in watching some shows, including Chuck (I can hear Jeff's gasps of unbelief even from several hundred miles away).
So imagine my surprise this morning when getting ready for work I discovered that Morgan has FINALLY learned that Chuck is a spy. To which all I can say is...
HALLELUJAH! Also, Morgan is kinda badass. Who knew?
I think this is going to be great for the show. I've been whining/complaining/bitching that the old "I have to keep this secret from all my friends and family" route was getting old. And I always thought that Morgan would be great to have in on the whole spy thing. And look at that, I was right!
I'm so glad that instead of blowing up at Chuck for lying to him for 2.5 years he was thrilled to learn Chuck's secret. It was an unexpected twist, but fits perfectly with the character. And seriously, who wouldn't want an awesome international spy for a best friend? Chuck's mad Duck Hunt skills will definitely come in handy.
So cheers to Chuck! This season is moving right along at a good clip, and I really like the addition of Brandon Routh to the show (a.k.a. Superman). I know a lot of fans didn't like the idea of a new romantic interest for Sarah, not to mention Hannah, but I actually like the execution of both. After all, you need to come up with some reason to keep Sarah and Chuck apart. But now that Chuck has admitted to himself that he loves Sarah (to himself at least), who knows what the future holds?
Oh, and Chuck producers, writers, and directors?
Thanks for the many shirtless Captain Awesome shots. It definitely made my Monday.
Heroes hit the airwaves in 2006 among a tremendous media blitz, soared through a stellar first season, and eventually hit upon the rocky shoals of viewer discontent. Yeah, I realize that sentence mixes three or four metaphors. Deal with it.
Now, the scuttlebutt around the web is that Volume 6 (Brave New World) may not come to pass. As a fan who's stuck with the show for this long, I was of two minds about this news. On one hand, when Heroes was good, it was amazing. On the other, it hasn't been amazing for four seasons. Then it occurred to me - a simple way to save the show in its purest, most awesome form.
Kill every-damn-body.
Peter Petrelli? Gone. I've had enough of his stroke-victim face and his weirdly (even for me) close relationship with his brother. MohinderSuresh? Outta there. As much as it pains me to say it, this show hasn't needed my darling 'Hinder for a long while now. Noah Bennett? He made the show when we only knew him as HRG, but now he only gets to be bad ass once in a blue moon.
And none of this half-assed dying that's been going on so far. It robs character death of its emotional resonance. Nikki Sanders' death was major, but then the actress shows up again as Tracey Strauss. There's another triplet out there, too - Barbara. God knows when they were planning to bring her in. Same with Nathan Petrelli. Maybe they thought having two death scenes (one where he physically dies, one where Sylar's personality pushes Nathan out of their shared brain) would make us twice as emotional. Actually, it just made sure that when Nathan was gone, I was glad to be done with him.
What I envision is a spin-off show focusing on Claire Bennett. Maybe 1,000 years in the future, when everyone around her has either been blown to bits, eaten by sharks or just died in their sleep. Is she a hero - or a villain? Does she have a sidekick? An arch nemesis? I want all the usual comic book tropes, but turned on their heads. That was the promise of Heroes - that it would bring something new to television.
Well, Tim Kring? I'm waiting...
--
Maggie Cats, I feel like you've proposed this solution before. Anyway, it bears repeating. Kill! Kill!
I had never heard of Bonekickers until Netflix recommended it a few weeks ago, but I decided to give it a try since there's pretty much no British show I won't check out (which trust me, does not always work out--Demons, I am looking at you. But more about that in a future post).
Bonekickers is pretty easy to sum up: it's a BBC show about a group of archaeologists. I thought it would be a pseudo-Indiana Jones type thing, with archaeologists traveling around the world investigating supernatural objects and having incredible and often wacky adventures. But there's really nothing supernatural about it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's more like CSI meets...well, it's really just like CSI but with really really old stuff instead of murders.
It's only got one season, but I was pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of the program. Each episode investigates a different period in history: ancient, medieval, colonial, WWI, etc. etc. and it's not just limited to British history. The characters are a team of archaeologists who work at the fictional Wessex University. The show tries to drum up interest in a season long arc as every episode contains a reference or clue to a certain ancient sword. A sword that the main character, Dr. Gillian Magwilde, is convinced is the sword of King Arthur. I'm 4 episodes in out of the total 6, but honestly right now I am kind of meh on the whole magical mysterious ancient sword thing.
Overall, it's a solid British procedural with an interesting twist and tells some pretty interesting stories with its characters. I can't speak as to the authenticity of the science and archaeological techniques, but I do appreciate how the show doesn't flinch from showing that most of what archaeologists do is dig in the mud and look up shit in really old books. It's kind of refreshing not to depict archaeologists as running around the globe having ridiculous adventures all the time.
Oh, and the best part of the show is Hugh Bonneville, whom you might recognize from Notting Hill. He's kind of hilarious, and yes, he wears a fedora. Apparently all male archaeologists do.
All in all I give the show a solid B. If you like history, old stuff, and socially awkward people, consider giving it a try.
NB: I would just like to point out that I spelled the word "archaeology" wrong every single time I typed it in this post. That takes talent, people.
There's a lot of information out there about Lost. You could scour the Internet for hours trying to track it all down, but why bother? That's what I'm for, right? As soon as I've finished the most recent episode of Lost, I hop on the Internet and visit my favorite sites. Here are some of the best comments and thoughts from around the webs for this week's episode, "Sundown."
Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney over at The Washington Post have a weekly Lost "dueling analysis" column as well as an online chat.
Plano, TX: I think we'll look back on this episode as the one where we really understood what the sideways universe was all about.
It's not sideways, it's not flash-forward: It's Sideways/forward. The choices that the Losties make in this war indicate what happens to them in the alternate universe. Choose Flocke, you're damned to repeat the same cycle you were in (Re: Sayid and killing, Kate and running). If you chose Jacob, you'll find some resolution of your issues (Jack and his daddy-issues/son- issues). Thoughts?
And of course, any Lost trip around the world wide web isn't complete without paying a visit to Doc Jensen's column over at Entertainment Weekly.
"For years he has been trapped, but now Jacob is gone. He is free. This man will not stop until he has destroyed every living thing on the Island. ...He is evll incarnate.''
"I'm thinking Dogen was getting it wrong, too, either because he's misinformed or biased because of what Jacob did for his son: spared him from death. In fact, think about the wondrous things associated with Jacob. Richard's eternal youth. The resurrection hot spring. And, if you believe Ben from season 3, a cure for cancer. Jacob isn't ''good,'' per se — he's just capable of giving life. Put another way: Jacob is the god of beginnings. He is The Alpha. The Man in Black? Not evil — he's the god of endings. He is the Omega. The beginning and the end. Polar, warring opposites, but absolutely necessary for life to bloom (Alpha) and to have form (Omega). Both are necessary for anything to have meaning. Jacob unchecked leads to chaos; Man In Black unchecked leads to annihilation. Both need to exist in balance; both need to be equally weighted rocks on the scale."
USA Today's pop culture blogger, Whitney, rounds up the 10 best Lost thoughts from the comment threads of Pop Candy every Friday. :
froglegggz:The flash sideways are showing us what happens if they "take the deal" from Flocke/Jacob. Dogens deal w/jacob was that he would take his new job... keepin the temple safe... and he would be rewarded with his son never having died... his sacrifice would be that he was never allowed to see him/leave... So i think it was very clear tonight that we saw Sayid after he took Flocke's deal... Nadia would be alive...and his sacrifice was HE COULD NEVER BE WITH HER?
What if someone had never seen Lost and was working their way through the final season? They would probably be pretty confused.
When I went to start last night’s episode I noticed Said was spelled Sayid in the cable guide description. Fine. I was using the spelling a college friend uses, but it’s their show so I am going to honor their wishes by adding another letter in there. I’m not counting this on my ignorance tally. It’s pretty high already.
And finally....bonus music video! Miley meets Hurley.
Oh, Evan Lysacek. You were this close to being my secret boyfriend of the week, and then I had to go and read that you are appearing on Dancing with the Stars. How you intend to do that and train for the upcoming World Figure Skating Championship, I don't know, but that is neither here nor there.
YOU ARE AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER. AND YOU ARE APPEARING ON ONE OF THE TACKIEST SHOWS EVER.
Now, I know people who watch and enjoy this show. It's cheesy good fun. Who doesn't like seeing celebrities" (and I use that term loosely) with ostensibly little or no dance experience take on the challenge of ballroom dancing, all while wearing sparkly, feathery, and ridiculous outfits. People who should be on the show: Kate Gosselin. Shannen Doherty. Pamela Anderson. People who should not be on the show: OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNERS.
Apolo Ono I am also looking at you. The fact that you won your season does not mollify me.
Oh, who am I kidding. Figure skating is half-way to the ridiculousness of most ballroom dancing anyway.
This picture alone makes my argument a loser.
You know who would be awesome on DWTS? Johnny Motherfucking Weir. He and that show were MADE for one another.
Here's something you don't see on the blog very often. A post about sports! Guest-blogger Jason weighs in on the Canada vs. USA match-up at the Olympics on Saturday and has some...shall we say...strong feelings for one of the Canadian players. Not those kind of strong feelings! Get your mind out of the gutter, people.
In the aftermath of the Olympics, that biennial event designed to bring the world together in staunch but healthy competition and international friendship, I’m just going to come out and say it: I hate Sidney Crosby. The centre for the Pittsburgh Penguins has got to be one of the most over-hyped hockey players ever. I mean, he's talented, but he rarely ever delivers for Pittsburgh, usually only providing assists rather than out-in-out goals. He believes his own hype, however, and will now have more reason to believe it because he actually managed to score the final tie-breaking goal over the USA hockey team last night playing for his native Canada.
For the official record, I'm wicked fine with Canada winning as many gold medals as they want. They kind of deserve to have a medal for something other than modesty. Which doesn’t even get a medal because if it there was one, who would wear it?
So wherefore my ire? As a die-hard hockey fan, I somehow cannot get behind the spirit of cooperation that the Olympics are all about the second the puck hits the ice. I think this is because hockey is the only sport I know of where bad sportsmanship is actually encouraged. It’s kind of why I love it, actually. I have the worst cognitive dissonance watching the Olympic hockey matches because while I’m trying to get behind What It All Means, all I really want to do is yell things about the mothers of the opposing team’s players doing amorously inappropriate things with moose. The Olympics is about healthy competition. Hockey is about bloodsport.
And frankly, Canada fascinates me. I grew up in one of the only places in the entire continental United States where you had to drive south (yes, south) to get to Canada. A love for our neighbors to the north is not an easy one to nurture – one who is obsessed with England is an Anglophile, one who loves all things French is a Francophile. Even those with an affinity for the Irish can be called Hibernophiles (Never heard of it, but I like it --Maggie Cats). So far, we’ve yet to come up with a similar concept for those of us who have a predilection for the witty, modest folk who share our borders. Of all the people competing, surely these are the ones that we can all agree not to be angry with because they played hard and fair, right?
Yeah, you’d think that. And then I remember that up until these games, the USA was the only team to ever win the gold in hockey while as the host country for the games. And we did it twice. And Sidney Crosby wasn’t even born the last time it happened. And suddenly I’m right back to the old hockey fan that I have been bred over 30-odd years to be.
Thank God the regular NHL season can now go back to its standard programming and I can go back to insulting players without my brain hurting.
Tonight (actually, right now) the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics are taking place. And HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS CANADA WON HOCKEY GOLD.
Sorry, for the all caps, but seriously, how awesome is that? I mean, I know that I should have been rooting for the US to take it, but silver is nothing to scoff at and it's such a great end of the story for the host country. And y'all know this isn't the first time I was rooting for Canada.
I think NBC's closing ceremonies might be my favorite part of the whole shibang. Not only are they showing the actual ceremony, but highlights and stories from throughout the entire Olympiad. So for someone like me who only had the time (and really desire) to watch the figure skating coverage, it provides the chance to see all the other incredible moments that I missed. And I don't have to wade through hours of aerial jumps, cross-country skiing, or half-pipe snowboarding. Or the endless commercials. Dear god, the commercials.
But with all this Olympic coverage, no matter how awesome it may be, the one burning question in my mind has not been answered.
Why are the medals this year so fugly? I mean, damn.
Hold on to your butts, Glee fans. Our guest-blogger Jason is back with some harsh words for our beloved show...but he also makes a good point. Check out his thoughts on the show in general, and everyone's favorite Cheerleading coach.
It’s probably going to get me shot to admit this, but I kind of can’t handle Glee. I know, I know. Everyone loves it. It’s about hope and joy and sunshine and tiny, tiny puppies. It just never grabbed me, despite its popularity and a clear yearning to be a dark comedy. So I tried to figure out why it is that I’m not a fan, aside from my usual contrarian tendencies.
It certainly has a lot going for it that I like – witty dialogue, smart characters, and it’s not another reality show, which I’m always in favor of. Somehow, though, I just haven’t been able to get into it. To borrow a phrase, there just isn’t a lot of there there. After much soul searching, however, I figured it out – the show has too much emphasis on the singing and not nearly enough Sue Sylvester.
I know I’m not alone in loving the show’s resident Big Fish/Small Pond power-control freak. And while I really don’t care about any of these kids with their jazz hands and hipster-chic show tune-y style pop numbers, I seriously want to see more characters on television like Jane Lynch’s masterful creation.
But the reason Sue Sylvester works so well isn’t because of how well the character is written or the brilliant acting behind it, it’s because she’s wisely used sparingly. Sue is at her most icily brilliant when she gets to let loose a couple of quick zingers dripping with disgust and then saunters off into the hallways to yell at some cheerleaders off-screen.
So how can people like me get more out of Glee than what the show’s creators are clearly able to give? Clearly it’s time for Ms. Lynch to star in a collection of webisodes called The More You Know with Sue Motherfucking Sylvester. Modeled after the public serviceannouncements of the 1980s, those of us who are fans of the biting social commentary of the show but don’t want to have to sit through the music numbers could finally have our due.
Try opening an adult video store in Salt Lake City. That’s hard.
Think about it – any old star can give you unwanted advice in commercial form. It’s all rather drab and overdone to hear yet another Heroes cast member talking about being nice to each other and not sticking foreign objects into our bodies. Now lie to me and tell me that you wouldn’t give real money to listen to Sue Sylvester tell you about the hard-learned life lessons of bullying, anorexia, drug use and national security.
We can’t have an entire show about her, but damn if we can’t get a couple of two-minute manifestos starting with, “you think that’s hard?”
Like most Americans, I've been watching the Olympics. Unlike most Americans, I am very selective about what I watch. Specifically, I only watch figure skating. Apollo Ono is the most decorated winter Olympian ever? That's nice for him. US Curling team not doing so hot? Oh, well. Women's snowboard half pipe (or whatever) is on? Have fun with that!
Basically, I am only in it for the figure skating. I love it all: pairs, men's, women's, ice dancing...if it's on skates with toe picks I'm there*. The rest of my Olympic viewing consists of fast forwarding through all the other events in a valiant search to find the figure skating coverage. Because NBC ain't no fool, they know people want the figure skating so they allow tantalizing glimpses throughout the evening but make you wait until 11 o'clock through midnight for the good stuff. Thank god for DVR, because you know I can't stay up that late.
Last night was the conclusion of the ice dancing competition which has usually been my least favorite of all the figure skating events. But this year, things got more interesting. Maybe it's because the routines were better, or the costumes less crazy (although did you see those Russian aboriginal outfits?? Yikes.), but I was really into the ice dancing this year.
And I wasn't even rooting for the Americans. Actually, let me rephrase. I was of course rooting for the Americans. Davis and White were my top pics and I adored their Bollywood-inspired original dance so I was hoping for them to go all the way. But there was just something about the Canadian couple, Virtue and Moir, that had been cheering for them too. They were on their home ice, the crowd adored them, and they were both so darn attractive. Even though I didn't find their free skate as engaging as the Americans, I just wanted them to win. And they did!
Awwwww.
So this morning, while putting on my coat to walk out the door to catch the bus, I saw the Canadians stand in the center of the medal podium, the judges put gold medals around their necks, and the crowd went crazy. And when the Canadian national anthem started playing...I got a little teary-eyed.
How can you not love them? Look how adorable they are!
Does this make me a bad American? I was still really happy we got the silver medal. As with most things in life, I think the appropriate response is just to blame Canada.
Eh?
* Tooooooooooooooooooooe pick!
Addendum: I know there has been some kerfluffle about a few Canadian announcers making homophobic remarks against my secret boyfriend Johnny Weir, but they have apparently apologized and I refuse to let the nastiness of a few taint my view of a whole. Everyone knows Canadians are, with a few minor exceptions, some of the nicest people in the world. So we'll just move on and pretend this whole gross thing never happened.
Just popping by to share a link from the LA Times - The Kardashian phenomenon. Click for a lengthy article about how the Kardashians became idols for the cult of celebrity without having any skills or talents whatsoever.
Depressing quote:
"There's an aspirational quality to somebody who has become a celebrity for -- and I don't say this in an offensive way -- but for not doing anything celebrity-worthy," said Matt Delzell, an executive at Davie Brown Entertainment, a company that helps corporations choose celebrity endorsers. The young women to whom the Kardashians appeal, he said, "tend to think that's pretty cool. That's something I might be able to achieve."
Is it just me, or is this guys saying that Khloe, Kim, and Kourtney are role models? Shoot me in the face.
If you haven't been watching Make It Or Break It over on ABC Family, you've been missing out. Of course, you would probably only agree that you are missing out if you are a girl who once dreamed of becoming a gymnast. And enjoys stories of high school aged girls and the drama that follows them around.
Drama, like a love triangle!
You see, our young heroine, Emily, has found herself in the middle of a classic dilemma. She is trapped between two adorable boys and doesn't know which to choose! It's a standard plot of every television show, book, and movie aimed at a female teenage audience. And the reason why it's a standard plot is because it works. All you have to do is look at rabid fans arguing about Team Edward and Team Jacob to get an idea of how seriously people take this shit.
But let's come back to Emily. She's an independent smart girl, with a bit of an attitude. She might even be a little bit too independent since she's kind of the wild card at the gym. She's a great gymnast...when she can focus and listen to the her coach, but she's often inconsistent and then flies off the handle when she doesn't succeed. She's also seen her Mom date a near constant stream of losers who have abandoned them so she has definite trust issues.
There are two guys vying for Emily's affections. The situation is further complicated because the two guys are best friends. Awkward!
In this the red corner is Razor.
Pros: Lead singer of a band. Smart. Adorable. Goofy.
Cons: Terrible name. Bad hair. We're talking "Egon on the animated Ghostbusters" type of bad hair. Also possessive. He made his initial attraction to Emily clear, but then left town telling his best friend to "keep an eye on her." When he came back and found out they had begun dating, he was majorly pissed. It was like he had peed on her and marked her as his own or some macho crap.
And in the blue corner is Damon.
Pros: Lead guitarist of a band. Aspiring songwriter. Badboy vibe. Sexy. Pouty lips. Cons: Whiny. Low self-esteem and needs constant reassurance of own self-worth. He also needs to grow a backbone; he has no problem playing the guitar and writing songs, but gets paralyzing stage fright if he has to sing in front of people. Seriously dude, just get yourself to a bar with karaoke and work it out. Also questionable loyalty. He made a move on his best friend's crush and then lied to Emily about his lack of success when he ran off to LA to "make a name for himself."
So there you have it. Neither guy is perfect. And they tend to fall into the classic good guy vs. rebel cliche. And yet...I'm hooked. There's just something about the love triangle that draws us in. Will Kate choose Jack or Sawyer? Is Guinevere a giant slut for sleeping with Lancelot when she's married to and also loves Arthur? Should Joey have ended up Dawson or Pacey? Who is right for Lorelai: Luke or Chris? Was Andi right to choose Blane over Duckie? Chances are you know who all these people are and have an opinion as to who was the "right" choice. And dare I say it...Edward or Jacob?
So who will Emily end up with? Tune in on Mondays at 9 pm on ABC Family to find out! And you get a bonus Kaylie/Carter/Lauren love triangle for good measure. Although that one is far less interesting because Carter kind of sucks.
Planet Green, in their attempt to enlighten us to the conditions in the garment sector of India, has begun airing Blood, Sweat & Tshirts. Originally produced by BBC, Planet Green is currently airing on Monday nights.
The premise of the show is something that really appealed to me. Having read "Travels of a T-shirt in a Global Economy" by Pietra Rivoli, I am quite familiar with the conditions and lifestyles that people endure in order to bring me my cheap tshirt. However, seeing it first hand and getting to experience it along side twenty somethings like myself, really caught my attention. Unfortunately, the show is more about 6 BRATTY SELF INVOLVED British kids "coping" with living in these atmospheres.
In the first episode the kids had to sew in a REALLY NICE sweat shop. Within hours, one had quit, and another had had a mini temper tantrum. I was so embarrassed to have been a Caucasian watching these kids openly mock the workers and their lifestyles.
Now, if you are interested in how a tshirt in India is made, the show is somewhat informative. The kids are living in conditions similar to the workers and are trying to get by on the working wage. Additionally, you do get to see the cotton mills, and sewing shops. However, I just watched 5 young adults argue over who was going to clean the squat toilet they stopped up, so my spirits are low.
If you are interested check out the listings on Planet Green for Blood, Sweat and Tshirts....
Past Life stars Kelli Giddish as Dr. Kate McGinn, an expert in past life regression, who teams up with former police detective Price Whatley (Nicholas Bishop) to solve crime. As soon as I heard that, my eyes started rolling around in my head. Memories "recovered" under hypnosis have proven specious time and time again. From my POV (admittedly biased by being Hindu), past life regression is nothing more than a ruse designed to prey on the emotionally vulnerable. But then I figured I shouldn't dismiss the show out of hand, and decided to give it a shot.
... in the face.
From the start, an essential weakness in the plot becomes apparent. "Regressions," in which Dr. McGinn's client has flashbacks to their former life, would never be accepted as evidence in a court of law or the basis of a criminal investigation. And it wouldn't be enough that they find, for example, a bloody knife with the suspect's fingerprints on it. Because they can't prove chain of custody, and the lawyers out there can correct me if I'm wrong, anything like that would be inadmissible. So "regressions" have to uncover something that, in and of itself, proves the killer's guilt/the victim's innocence. In the episode I watched, a girl's memories lead them to the video testimony of an eyewitness, recorded hours before he met an untimely end. That's great an all, but how many different ways can you find incontrovertible evidence like that?
Furthermore, Dr. McGinn comes across to me as what fangirls would call a "Mary Sue." This is a character so perfect that even her flaws are flawless. She's beautiful enough to seduce information out of a man half her age, she's feisty enough to kick in doors, and she's caring enough to cry when her patient's crying. She does wildly inappropriate things, like yelling at her patients and taking steam baths with them, but no one bats an eyelash. Basically, it seems like she can do no wrong - and if the hero's always right the story gets to be hella boring. It's mentioned in passing that, instead of being in a relationship, she lives with her mother. Really? That's the best you can come up with?
If we were talking about a show where a plucky con-woman used her skills in observation to help the police solve crime (a la Psych or The Mentalist), I might have been able to stomach it. As it is, too many things in this show ring false to me. The presence of the beloved Richard Schiff from The West Wing and my homeboy Ravi Patel (apparently he was on Scrubs?) notwithstanding, I think I'll give Past Life a pass.
Last week, once again, we were snowed in. This has been a record-breaking winter for snowfall in the DC area, but luckily I had something to keep me occupied! Specifically, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Now, Monkey Sri covered this show extremely well in a cartoon round-up about a year and a half ago. You can find it here. If you want a great discussion of the show's themes and hilarious commentary, I'll refer you to her post. All I really want to add to the conversation is this:
The Last Airbender is completely badass.
Other than reading Sri's post, it was never really on my radar until recently when I saw the trailer for the live action version coming out in July (and directed by one of my favorite people, M. Night Shyamalan) and thought "that looks awesome." I then mentioned it to a couple of friends who were fans of the cartoon and they recommended I watch it. A quick check of Netflix revealed that the first season (or "book") was available for instant viewing. And from that point on, my fate was sealed. In the sense that I was hooked and spent the next 2 days watching all 20 episodes of the first season.
But seriously, you guys, this show rocks. It's got amazing action and fight scenes, is really funny, and, as noted by Sri, is surprisingly deep for a children's show. It's got something for everyone, most importantly of all, it has a ten-ton, six-legged, giant flying bison with an arrrow on its head.
His name is Appa and I love him. He might possibly be my favorite part of the whole show.
I cannot recommend Avatar: The Last Airbender more and I really hope all of you get a chance to check it out. The live action movie also looks completely amazing, but please note that it simply called The Last Airbender to avoid confusion with the recent James Cameron movie. Here's the trailer (with cutie pie Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionare) and although he's not in the trailer, the movie has Aasif Mandvi from The Daily Show! But what's up with them casting an American kid as Ang? I guess they just figured they can shave his head and call it a day. Of course, his mad kung-fu skills might have something to do with it...
So this weekend amidst the Blizzard of 2010 and its sequel, I caught up on back episodes of Chuck. Unfortunately they lined Chuck up against House this season and for me there is no contest. Though I thoroughly enjoyed Chuck's past seasons, the wit of Levy is no match for House. Additionally, since I am not technology inept I am tivoing HIMYM on CBS while watching House. And we KNOW the cast of Chuck can't compare the with Cast of How I Met Your Mother.
That's the beauty that is the Internet. I have spent some time catching up and....I would like my time back. The premise of this show was nerd thrown into spy world. I know characters have to grow and blah blah blah, but they have worked it so its just another spy show. The pizazz of Chuck is gone. It is boring and I am fighting to get through each episode.
I give it one more season max. It can't hold its own in the time slot AND its slipping fast...
I sat in at the Spartacus: Blood and Sand panel at Comic Con and was really looking forward to the show. And I believe I made it clear that the reason I was looking forward to it was the violence and nakedness. And on that front, it definitely delivers.
The show is basically a retread of 300 with more gratuitous sex and violence (if that's possible), and it's not going to win any awards for acting. Or writing. Or direction. Or anything, really, but you know what?
It has the pretty!
Now boys, don't fight over me.
I caught the pilot episode on Netflix which apparently has some special deal going with Starz, so you can find it there or by other, shall we say less legal means, if you wanted to look around. I would recommend it, but don't expect great art. I'll say it's fun and leave it at that. And Andy Whitfield (who plays Spartacus) is nothing to sneeze at. He has some scraggly looking hair in the first episode, but based on these pics, I would say it gets cut pretty soon and it definitely ups his stock. And those abs go a long way towards making up for any hair issues.
Here we are again, gentle readers. Another day, another snowstorm. While I was able to escape the first storm this month by fleeing north to Atlantic City (who flees north to escape snow?), I got back in plenty of time for round two and am now firmly dug in to my condo to wait out the blizzard-like weather.
And as before, I have spent my time sitting on the ass watching tv or reading, but mostly watching tv. A little Lost, Human Target, Gilmore Girls, What Not to Wear, House, Chuck, and anything else languishing on my DVR is up for grabs.
While I have not succumbed to cabin fever yet, I can pretty much guarantee that the government will be closed tomorrow and day 3 of being trapped inside could be the breaking point. But as long as the cable works, I should be able to stave off the worst of the effects. And there is always the car waiting to be shoveled out. Sigh. Have car, will shovel.
Anyone found a more exciting way to spend the snowpocalypse?
Or as ABC is calling it, "Lost: The Final Chapter." Dramatic much, eh?
But it is dramatic. For Lost fans, this is the season that has promised to answer many questions(though surely not all of them), and bring our favorite characters stories to an end. And last night was definitely a step in the right direction. Although, as with anything Lost, it posed new questions for each one that was answered.
First off, here's some stats for the sixth season premiere:
Number of times I said WTF: 5
Number of times I said, "I have no idea what is going on": 3
Departed characters that returned: Rose and Bernard, Boone, Charlie (!), Greg Grunberg as the Oceanic Pilot (!!!), and the flight attendant whose name escapes me. My eagle eyes also spied the John Lennon-esque guy from the Temple (whom I recognized from Deadwood) sleeping under a blanket on the Oceanic 815 flight.
And holy crap you guys, the Man In Black is the smoke monster! Which as soon as I figured out made so much sense I wanted to kick myself for not figuring it out sooner. And I'd just like to say what a pleasure it is to watch Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn play against one another in scenes. My how the tables have turned; Locke (or the guy walking around as Locke) is the one manipulating everyone for his own use while Ben is left feeling like a pawn of fate. Love it!
But of course it wouldn't be Lost if there still weren't 1,000 lingering questions. Mainly, what is going on with time? The Losties are still on the island and got blasted back in the present, so why are they still on Oceanic Flight 815 never having landed on the island? And why can Jacob still appear and talk to peeps when he got stabbed and then burnt and is, in his own words, dead? And who are the people who live in the temple and were also on Flight 815? Have they been on the island this entire time but we just never saw hide nor hair of them? What is the Man in Black's plan now? And why the hell bring Juliet back just to kill her again two hours later? I mean, really. It's not like Elizabeth Mitchell just sits around hoping the producers give her a call.
There may be a ton of questions for the coming season, but that's really what makes Lost. If everything was answered it wouldn't be any fun, would it? I for one could not be more excited for this season and it's clear the show is off to an awesome start. So bring it on, show, I'm ready!
I blame it on the snow. I had been stuck inside all day, hadn't had any human contact for hours...and it just sort of happened.
I watched the Miss. America pageant.
I was hoping just to catch the evening gowns, but I basically tuned in at the beginning. And then! Miss. Virginia and Miss. DC got into the semifinals! So I really didn't have any choice but to keep watching because someone had to cheer on my hometown girls.
Swimsuits were meh...host Mario Lopez talked about how the point was to show athleticism, fitness, and confidence, but come on. It's pretty girls in bikinis. They're shoes were pretty awesome though. The evening gowns were a pleasant surprise, only one or two were ridiculously pageanty dresses, and most of them were really pretty and sparkly. I'm kind of a sucker for sparkly.
The talent competition was also better than expected. Miss. California kicked ass with her opera, and there was some ballet, piano playing, lots of singers, jazz dancing....but no batons. Which sorely disappointed me.
The last hurdle for the contestants is the "interview," or question and answer period. This year they had folks on the street ask questions of the ladies, and for the most part they were kind of lame. Miss. Virginia pretty much blew it out of the water with her response to the question, "how can we stop childhood obesity?" Her answer was for parents to turn off the television, take away the videogames, and get their kids' asses off the sofa and outside to play. Of course, she was much more eloquent than that, but you get the gist.
By this time, I had managed to drag my friend Monique into watching the pageant with me. And then came the big moment. The winner would be announced! And it was....
Miss. Virginia! You go, girl! I'm convinced that it was because I was watching. After all, I am a big Virginia fan and am always sticking up for my home commonwealth. So she owes the win to me. Or maybe it's because she had such a great answer to her question and sang really beautifully.
Nah, it was all me.
There she is.....Miss. America....just remember who got you there, honey.
The 2 hour pilot episode of Caprica (the Battlestar Galactica prequel) has been available on DVD for months. But I haven't watched it. Why? A whole host of reasons: laziness, a backed-up DVR, reliable sources told me it wasn't engaging, but mostly laziness. Now that the show has actually premiered I finally sat down and watched it. Here's the thing though.
I had no idea what was going on.
I mean, I knew what was happening on the screen, but I had no idea what was going on in the grand scheme of things. Our story takes places on Caprica almost 60 years before the destruction of the colonies by the cylons. Ok, got that. Apparently, Caprica is basically an orgy of excess, think of it as a futuristic Gomorrah. Teens like to escape into a virtual reality dance/sex/killing club, but some teens are using it as a base for their One True God group (since Caprica is a polytheist society). And one of the teens, Zoe, is planning on running away from her super rich parents (including her computer genius Dad).
But one of her friends decides to turn all terrorist and blow up the train they are on to get people to worship this one God? But Zoe created a virtual avatar of herself using some new tech crap so the avatar actually has all her memories? And her Dad finds out about it and gets obsessed with building a mechanical body for the avatar to download into? And that's how the cylons started?
Oooooh, now I get it.
But having to wait two hours to figure out what the point of the show was not a great way to start. Look, people know this is BSG prequel. But other than featuring Adama's Dad (and Adama himself as a kid), there didn't seem to be much of a connection. If it's an origin story, maybe they should have made that a little more clear up front. If I hadn't chatted with my friend Dave at work about the show and he clued me in to where it was headed, I can't guarantee I would have stayed watching.
Even though we're off to a slow start, I'll keep up with the show; I found the BSG miniseries to be unbelievably boring, and look how awesome that show turned out. So I'm not going to judge this one based off the first episode. But they need to step it up quick. Get the plot moving, give me a general idea of where it's heading, and try to be more up front about linking it to the previous series. Or they're going to lose me.
What a bummer. After a kind of lackluster season last year, the show has really been on top of it's game this season. I think we can all agree that this is due to the move to Friday evenings in the fall, or as it's known, "the time slot of death." While ABC moved it back to Wednesday for the spring, I think the damage was done and people just stopped watching.
Sadness.
"I've had to say good-bye more times than I may have like, but everyone can say that. And no matter how many times we have to do it - even if it's for the greater good, it still stings. And although we will never forget what we've given up, we owe it to ourselves to keep moving forward. What we can't do is live our lives afraid of the next good-bye because chances are they are not going to stop. The trick is to recognize when a good-bye can be a good thing - when it's a chance to start again." --Betty
"Oh, great," I thought. "Here we go. The CW must have gotten bored with all it's scripted dramas focused around shallow gorgeous teenagers so they're trying to recapture some of their former WB family-oriented drama glory by creating this new show, Life Unexpected. So now it will be focused around a group of shallow gorgeous hipsters and a teenager."
Yeah, I was wrong.
This might comes as I surprise, but I am perfectly willing to admit when I am wrong. Especially when it has such a nice result. My judgmentalness (I...don't think that's a word) towards Life Unexpected turned out to be completely unwarranted, since after seeing two episodes I can state that it is in fact a sweet, touching, and funny show. Some critics have compared it to Gilmore Girls and Everwood (both aired on the WB, natch), but it definitely has a different vibe than them. But still, it's good and you should watch it.
Premise: After spending her life bouncing from one foster family to another, 15-year-old Lux has decided to become an emancipated minor. Her journey through the legal maze leads Lux to her biological father, 30-something Nate "Baze" Bazile, who lives like an aging frat-boy and is astonished to learn he has a daughter. Lux is equally astonished to learn that her mother is Cate Cassidy, a star on local radio, along with her boyfriend, Ryan Thomas. When a judge grants temporary custody of Lux to Baze and Cate, they agree to make a belated attempt to give Lux the family she deserves.
Yes, it sounds twee, but it's not. And yes the people are pretty, but they are realistically pretty, not tv-land pretty. It shouldn't work, what with the hipsters! and foster teens! and wacky plot twists that result in joint custody! but it totally does. Maybe because the actors are all so likeable, or because when you think the show is steering into "lesson of the week moments" it holds back just enough to avoid sappiness. I don't know how or why, all I know is that I like it and I plan to keep watching.
"We have a daughter?? Oh, shit! I mean...great!"
I mean, there are some concessions to the tv world. Lux has ridiculously awesome hair for a down and out teenager, and her attic bedroom would be FREEZING in Portland, but it is the CW after all. And I can't really think of another complaint, which says a lot right there. It's just a really nice little show.
I'd basically given Castle a pass until I went home a few weeks ago. My brother brought the first season on DVD and the whole family plunked down in front of the TV to watch. Four episodes later, all of which I had already seen, we had to be pried away with a crowbar and hustled off to bed. My interest in the show was rekindled in a big way, so I made a point of picking up the new season when I returned to DC. I was all excited, but when show time came ... meh. I puttered around my apartment (not just during commercials), surfed the web, even put the show on mute so I could read for a bit. Which left me wondering ... why is TV so much entertaining at home?
Then, it hit me - sometimes, the difference between a good show and a great one is the company. At home, my mother will pop up every few minutes and bring back snacks. My father will alternate between admonishing the main characters and taking unintentional naps. And my brother and I will indulge in our old game of guessing aloud "whodunit?" Without them, the show wasn't enough to hold my attention. With them, Castle becomes fun for ... wait for it ... the whole family.
I remember watching the ads for Human Target and being pretty excited. First of all, it stars three of my favorite actors: Mark Valley (who first landed on my radar back in the day with Keen Eddie), Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies, FTW!), and Jackie Earle Halay. It also looked pretty badass, with lots of BANG, POW, and BAM! Oh, and explosions. You gotta have explosions.
While it might be harsh to say that I found the show disappointing....if I'm honest, I need to say that I am a bit disappointed. Granted only two episodes have aired so far, and the show is shaping up to be a solid action procedural, but I was hoping for some kind of Big Bad arc-type thing. Think more Alias (with less Rimbaldi, yeesh). But, I am going to keep watching, because like I said, there have only been two episodes and it is definitely a solid show.
Here's the basic premise: Christopher Chance (his name is Chance, subtle, no?) is in private security and, "when there is an unusual or imminent threat that can't be solved through 'normal' means of protection, Chance is hired to completely integrate himself into his clients' lives - to become the human target." So basically, instead of just protecting people, he tries to draw out the person trying to kill them and take them out before they get the chance to do the same to the client.
He's aided by his business partner, Winston (Chi McBride) and a "hired gun," Guerrero (Jackie Earle Halay). Here's another itty bitty complaint: if you get such great character actors like Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Halay, you need to use them. Sure Chi has gotten some opportunities to be funny and put upon, but not that many, and sure Jackie has gotten to do his patented, "I am so motherfucking crazy I could kill you where you stand," but again, not many. I hope the show finds a way to give these guys material that lets them do what they are capable of, because right now I ain't seeing it. Maybe we'll start delving into their backstory and see more soon...
So if you're looking for a solid action procedural, this is definitely the show for you. If you were looking for something with a little more meat and perhaps a non-paranormal themed season long arc, this might be the show for you, but right now I'm not so sure. I'll definitely stick with it for love of the actors, but it needs to step it up or I could quickly get bored.
With all the technology surrounding us in 2010, who would have thought that as a society we would still be using the 1950's telethon. Granted, they are slightly more high tech than turning numbers on the big board. Last night was the Hope for Haiti telethon, orchestrated by our modern day Jerry Lewis of telethons, George Clooney.
I have no idea how anyone who watched tv could have missed the marathon. It aired on 31 networks, including all the majors ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and then some lesser cable networks, HBO, Comedy Central, MSNBC, CNN, E and the Green Network. Twitter was a flutter with the fact that Fox News was the only major news network not airing. In fact, O'Reily actually went against the telethon live.
I have not yet viewed how they did, but according to the thousands posting on twitter, the phone lines were impossible to get through. Perhaps celebrities are not the most efficient operators (*yes I am aware they aren't really operating the lines).
The highlights of the event included an excellent performance of Halo by Beyonce, a beautiful rendition of Lean on Me by Cheryl Crow, Keith Urban and Kid Rock, and Brad Pitts DISGUISTING beard. Madonna also did a rendition of "Like a Prayer" but it wasn't her best work.
The music is all available on itunes for download and you can still make donations at http://helphaitinow.org/.
Alright, this is it. This is the moment. I have officially given up on Heroes. I know, I'm like 2 years behind the curve on this one (since most people stopped watching during the lackluster second season).
But still, it hurts.
I mean, I've been a fan since the beginning. It may not have always been the best show, but it at least had pretty people and some good performances (Jack Coleman, woot!)...but I'm sorry. I just can't do it anymore. Its lost its verve and spark, and the episodes this season have been languishing on my DVR when I can't bring myself to watch them. And that's what really clinched it for me. Watching the show has turned into a chore, and who has time for that? There are real chores enough, and trying to slog through Heroes shouldn't be one of them.
I'll just have to hope that Zachary Quinto can forgive me and that Masi Oka finds a role that takes advantage of his talent and doesn't make him constantly act like a retarded 12 year old.
The Golden Globes last night may have been semi-entertaining, but Ricky Gervais was frankly a little disappointing, there were very few obviously drunken celebrities, and most of the people I was rooting for didn't win.
I mean, James Cameron? Really? His speeches were the worst of the night for realsies.
But there was at least one bright spot! Glee took home the award for best televisions series comedy or musical. Even though Jane Lynch was robbed in the supporting actress category (seriously, she is brilliant), at least the show in general got recognized for making such a funny, entertaining, and joyous show.
Other than that, meh. Meryl Streep's win was definitely deserved, but I was really rooting for Katherine Bigelow to win Best Director (for The Hurt Locker), Hugh Laurie to win for House (mostly because his acceptance speeches are usually awesome), and Gabourey Sidibe to win for Precious.
Sidenote: even hearing people talk about Precious is enough to make me want to cry. It looks like an astounding film, but honestly, I don't know if I could handle it.
While it was nice to see the broadcast and the celebrities acknowledge the situation in Haiti, it's a little hard to get excited about gowns, jewels, and acting awards when there are people struggling for survival and to find the most basic of human necessities. I'm not sure what could have been done about it, other than what NBC did do which was to remind people to donate and promote the upcoming George Clooney telethon, but it still made for a weird night. And James Cameron waving his Golden Globe around and yelling for the Hollywood millionaire establishment to "give itself a hand!" during his Best Picture acceptance speech certainly didn't help my feeling of discomfort.
Oh, NBC, why must you be so consistently retarded? When all this mess is said and done, it looks like we are going to end up right where we began: with Jay Leno hosting The Tonight Show at its usual time. Conan is going to exit stage left (but not before NBC gets in one last dig, telling the New York Times this is all Conan's fault because ratings were so bad on The Tonight Show while he hosted) and move on to hopefully greener pastures.
I haven't weighed in on the this whole late night kerfluffle before now for one clear reason: I don't really give a shit. Look, I think Conan O'Brien is quite funny, I enjoyed him hosting the Emmys a few years ago and when I was in college I would occasionally watch his show. And I am sure that Jay Leno is a very nice man and old people think that he is very funny. But I do not understand why people care about this late night stuff so much. I mean, who are the people that can stay up until 2 in the morning watching talk shows? Don't these people have jobs?? And are there so many millions of them that it's really worth all this annoying network bitching and back-stabbing?
I get that The Tonight Show is part of television history and people still really really love Johnny Carson. But I think those days are behind us. I think most everyone can agree that there will never be another Carson and it seems to me that he was really what made The Tonight Show worth watching. From what I've seen Craig Ferguson is a pretty funny guy, and of course there's always David Letterman, but I guess my opinion on the whole late night tv genre is that I just don't care. I don't watch it, nobody I know watches it, and I don't have the free brain space to devote to arguing or debating about it.
So if you are avid Conan/Leno/Letterman/Ferguson/Fallon fan, good for you and I hope this all shakes out in a way that pleases you. But I think most people are in this whole debate just for the drama aspect of it and haven't watched a minute of late night tv in years. Because, like me, they have jobs that require them to get up at 5:30 in the morning, so watching someone crack wise after midnight isn't really ranking high on the priority list over, say, getting some actual sleep.
Everyone's favorite spy has returned to airwaves, and if you recall from last year's finale...he knows kung fu. Or more accurately, he can sometimes access the Intersect to download various skills directly into his brain ala The Matrix. Unfortunately, it doesn't work when he's emotional and if you know Chuck, you know he is often very emotional.
It doesn't help that things are still complicated with Sarah; I get that it can ruin a show when characters resolve their sexual tension, but now that Chuck is officially a spy, having him and Sarah trying to balance a real relationship and a fake-spy relationship would (I think) be pretty interesting. But having them continue to dance around one another after three years of the same old same old is starting to get a little ridiculous. Especially after Sarah came out and asked Chuck to run away with her. To which he said no, the patriotic fool.
Of the three episodes that have aired so far, yesterday's episode where the team and Captain Awesome try to keep a communist dictator alive from assassination was by far the most entertaining. I've always thought that Chuck was at its best when it had all parts of Chuck's life interacting with one another around a mission. When Awesome finally found out about Chuck's double-life, it injected new life into the show and having him involved in last night's plot made it all the more interesting.
(side note: thank god Awesome isn't dead because otherwise I would be really really pissed).
Next week looks to have more Awesome, which is always a good thing, and perhaps Ellie will finally find out about Chuck? Honestly, I'd rather have Morgan jump on the bandwagon, I think he would be hilarious working alongside the spy team and there's about a 50/50 chance he would be actually useful! I mean, he has a lot of knowledge about, oh, video games, slacking, and Star Wars. Maybe the team will have to break up a ring of lazy World of Warcraft-playing evil masterminds who enjoy dressing up as stormtroopers.
Last night was the season premier of Big Love and I had mixed feelings. It really does pick up where the show ended last season. Plot lines centered around the new casino, Nikki's daughter, Nikki being accepted back into the family and the death of Roman. The episode was good and it was a good premier. Unfortunately I have one major complaint.
They Changed the Opening Credits! This baffles me. I will never understand why shows do this. I understood when the Simpsons shortened their opening theme music (and relengthened it again) and I respect the creators of Lost bypassing the whole opening credits for the "Lost" logo. But why would you change the opening mid series. It seems to be the trend in the premium networks. Who can forget the debacle of Weeds getting rid of its "little boxes" opening that was complete gold.
And to be honest, I couldn't get passed it. I wanted my fill of "G-d only knows what I'd be without you..." and in fact, I am still singing the old theme song this morning.
Here is the new opening for you Big Love Fans who couldn't tune in last night
When I posed the question to my Dad, "what should I write on the tv blog?" his response was that I should talk about what we are doing right now. And I thought, good idea, Dad.
Wednesday nights are typically spent over at my Dad's. It's kind of a remnant of our scheduled "every other weekend" visits (since my parents are divorced), and having a regularly scheduled visit ensures that I get good quality time with the Dad and ES (that's short for Evil Stepmother).
Of course, you have to remember that "quality time" in this family means that we sit on the couch on our asses watching television. Hey, don't judge. The point is that we are visiting. So what if I have to watch my Dad endlessly flip through crime show procedurals (CSI, NCIS, Bones, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, etc.). Actually, to be honest I don't like procedurals, and it's kind of annoying watching someone flip channels endlessly, but it's all worth it to soak up the family time.
Plus we have a tradition, that I think I have mentioned before, where we work our way through a show episode by episode. Usually we go with premium channel shows since I don't get them and they are available on-demand. We're juuuuuuust about done with the first season of Nurse Jackie (which I'll probably post about next week after we finish it), but the more violence, profanity, and nudity the better. Except watching those sex scenes with the Dad can be a little awkward.
Next up on the television night docket: the latest season of Dexter. I've been able to remain spoiler-free (which is basically a miracle) so I'm really looking forward to it.
Best Wednesday night with Dad quote: "I like the second season of True Blood a lot better than the first because what's her name shows her boobs a lot more."
These are the precious moments I will carry with me forever.
(spoilers for Doctor Who: The End of Time Parts I and II below!)
I suppose it is only appropriate to bid farewell to David Tennant as The Doctor with a Hamlet quote; after all, we received five Doctor Who specials instead of a complete season this year because of his run as Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company (available on DVD in the UK but not in the US...yet).
Alas, poor Doctor Who fans...
But this is it. The end. The Tenth Doctor is no more...he has regenerated into a younger Eleventh Doctor who, frankly, seems to have even wackier hair. If such a thing is possible.
So what did I think of The End if Time? After the end of Part I, I couldn't wait for Part II, obviously. I mean you can't tease something like the return of the Time Lords without giving me an almost heart attack, but overall, I thought Part I was kind of lame. So...the Master comes back and he has all these wacky powers like super jumping and then he rewrites the genetic code of all humans to turn them into him? LAME. Although seeing John Simm in drag was kind of hilarious.
But Part I managed to make the grade for me for two scenes. The Doctor and Wilfred in the cafe and the Time Lords at the end. Other than those two scenes, frankly I could take it or leave it. But the cafe scene and the very end were just amazing, even though they couldn't be more different. One was quiet, consisting of nothing more than a conversation between two people, while the other showed thousands of Time Lords cheering for the end of time. But each one struck a nerve and were collectively the highlight of the episode.
And so we come to Part II, which basically caused me to freak out the entire time. I knew what was coming, and unless you were living under a rock for the past year you have known what was coming too. Even the Doctor knew what was coming, and despite his best efforts to avoid it, when he heard Wilf knocking on that glass you could practically see his hearts break. I think I cried about three times during this episode, which might be a record for me.
When I initially read that David Tennant's time on the show was ending, I was sad of course, but I also thought it could be for the best. He'd had a good run, but it did feel that his story arc was coming to an end. But actually watching it happen...yeah, maybe I wasn't as ready as I thought. When the end finally arrived, I didn't want it to happen, I was begging for it not to happen. I was literally sitting on my couch talking to the television saying, "don't go!" And apparently the Doctor felt the same way, for when he whispered, "I don't want to go" that's when I really lost it. Well, actually I had really lost it when Wilfred was locked in the nuclear chamber thingy and the Doctor was ranting about the unfairness of it all, but still, David Tennant made me cry all over again.
And then....he was gone.
"Even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away. And I'm dead."
He had enough time to say goodbye to his friends (bonus points for including Sarah Jane and Alonzo), and there were still some shocks to be had. Martha and Mickey got married?! The Doctor tracked down Joan Redfern's granddaughter (who was named Verity, natch). Luke's gotten that tall?! But mostly it was just sad. Especially seeing old Rose and Jackie. But I think it made for a fitting tribute, not just to the Tenth Doctor, but to Russell T. Davies' characters, after all, this was his swan song as well.
I wish I could do better about summing up how the episode affected me beyond describing my reaction as "sad," but I'm not sure I've got the talent. There's no denying the show is a cornerstone of sci-fi culture, and as someone who has embraced that genre wholeheartedly, it's hard when great change comes. While Christopher Eccleston was my first Doctor (and I thought I would hate David Tennant at the beginning), David Tennant has come to represent the Doctor for me. I've spent the last two days rewatching some of my favorite Tenth Doctor episodes on DVD, but now he's gone. It's almost like grieving for real, which I guess is pretty pathetic since it's just a television show. But I suppose tv has become as much a ritual as anything else in our culture these days, and being without David Tennant as the Doctor just feels wrong. At least for now.
So here we are. New Doctor, new season, new show-runner. But I don't think I'm ready for it yet. I guess that puts me in the denial grief stage, eh?
In case you are ready to see what's next, check out the Series 5 trailer. I'm cautiously optimistic. After all, with Steven Moffat in charge, it can't go that wrong. Especially since I spy weeping angels. Eek!
But the best part was seeing Sawyer in the sideways flash. He's a cop. And his partner? Miles! As soon as I saw them together the only thing I could think of was, "I would totally watch that show." I'm not a fan of cop procedurals in general, but Sawyer and Miles: two smartasses out to clean up the mean streets of LA....sign me up. If ABC was smart they would have these two signed for a new show to take Lost's place ASAP, because you KNOW people would watch.
This could be the next big buddy cop show, y'all.
