BN: The Brandon Network
White Noise Book 4
6-03-08
Chapter 40 in which summer doldrums are officially no more
As
Lost and Battlestar Galactica wind down, I've felt like I've been
watching summer television, a whole bunch of reality shows, waiting for the real
summer shows (Mad Men, Weeds) to start. But more than that,
I've been loving my summer reality shows. First, the obligatory Tila
shout-out. A Shot at Love began as an ironic tune-in, but turned
into an obsession. Well, Season 2 has not been as great as the inaugural
season so far, but it's been fun in its own right. Tila Tequila is either
systematically horrible at choosing a good mate or a business genius, and I
think we all know it's not the first. Count me in for Season 3! More
importantly, The Mole began last night, and I'm already in love.
It's just as fun as I remember, the contestants given ridiculous reality-stunt
activities that I wish I could do while touring awesome sights of the world.
The host is no Anderson Cooper, but the cast looks really fun so far. And
the old lady or the model is totally the mole.
Meanwhile,
I've been watching a lot of Discovery Channel. Everything but their food
shows. Ice Road Truckers (on History Channel) and Deadliest Catch are awesome as
always. Then there's the show How It's Made, which is way too
interesting, and I'm not particularly interested in engineering shows. But
my favorite new discovery (gods, I'm witty) is The Alaska Experiment, in
which a few groups of "normal" people are sent to different places in Alaska to
survive the winter. The interpersonal drama is incredible, but the actual
survival/nature aspects are even better. Survivorman's got nothing
on The Alaska Experiment. And before moving on to my favorite
summer show, I'd like to plug Recount, now playing on HBO. Ryan and
Katie can vouch for this, but every time Laura Dern spoke, I couldn't stop
laughing. She's that good at inhabiting the freakball narcissist of
Katherine Harris. I'd feel bad for her, but she doesn't think I deserve
civil rights, so what can you do? In other news, John Hurt remains
phenomenal, and in fact the entire cast is impressive. There are a couple
scenes that betray director Jay Roach's less-than-impeccable filmography, but
overall Recount is a great movie that elucidates the minutiae of a single
state's electoral hubbub in 2000. It makes you wonder what hanky-panky
goes on elsewhere, but that road just leads to further disillusionment.
Finally,
Man vs. Wild has had an incredible season, as if Bear Grylls and the
producers countered the show's recent bad press by giving him even crazier
stunts to do. I do want to finally weigh in on the negative attention
given to the fact that Bear has stayed in a hotel a couple times and crew
members built the raft (among a few other set-up scenes). First, and most
importantly, I don't care. They've only done that a couple times, you can
look them up online to see what's "real," there are disclaimers now, and they
include the two-man crew more this season. It's not like Bear was
magically being filmed by the air this whole time. But also, the fact is
Bear Grylls can do those things. The guy is the youngest Brit to climb
Everest, he served in the British Special Forces, and we've seen him do any
number of stunts on his own on the show. Or, as I liken everything
outdoorsy to my own Boy Scouts experience, I've earned 3 50-miler awards, I've
been on several backpacking trips carrying my own and crew gear, and I've got a
sash full of merit badges (seriously onto the back). If I want to drive
somewhere, I've earned it. That's how I feel about Bear Grylls, and I'm
sure he would appreciate being likened to an overzealous Boy Scout.
Anyway, Bear only visits four sites (Sumatra, Zambia, Namibia, Siberia) for this
six-episode season, but the first four episodes are four of my all-time
favorites, as Bear swims among coral reefs to hunt sting ray, chisels a ladder
up a baobab tree, climbs down a rock face using only vines, shows us a landscape
full of elephants, fights a crocodile and wins, and takes off almost all his
clothes in order to dive beneath the ice in a frozen lake, which he can only do
for 20 seconds before succumbing to hypothermia and frostbite. Even last
year I didn't tune in regularly (but I always tried to catch reruns), but this
season has me anticipating every Friday. And now that there's only one
episode left, the actual summer shows are beginning, Kathy Griffin and
Weeds both arriving the week after Bear leaves my television again.
I'm just happy Man vs. Wild is coming back, and Bear's off filming for
next season right now.
6-03-08
Chapter 39 in which we're talking about time-traveling bunnies
It's
time to weigh in on the best season of Lost thus far. Aside from
Alan Sepinwall, my favorite television columnist is Mo Ryan for the Chicago
Tribune, and she recently fielded a question about her favorite season of the
show, saying the first season was so innovative and awesome that she had trouble
choosing between it and the current season. I have no such qualms.
Season 1, especially looking back now, was almost entirely a massive stall
designed simply to immerse us in the world of Lost without actually
advancing the plot. We didn't even know who Desmond Hume was, much
less Mr. Eko, Henry Gale/Benjamin Linus, Juliet Burke, Charles Widmore, or
Daniel Faraday. And as you can tell by the original 815ers dropping like
flies, apparently Season 1 really wasn't all that important, aside from beating
us with Kate's horse that Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke each have only one
character trait represented in all their flashbacks. I'm exaggerating, and
Season 1 remains firmly second place (although people mostly undervalue Season
3, which is mostly good), but Season 4, well I loved Season 4.
Let's
start with contracts. Apparently Claire is going to be recurring in Season
5 (as if she hasn't been since Season 2), but will return full-time in Season 6.
Read into that what you will (my theory is that she is currently dead on the
series, and will remain a Christian-like ghost next year, but at the end of
Season 5 or beginning of Season 6, the Oceanic 6 will go back in time and try to
set things right). Jin is alive and well, or at least not off the show.
And Michael, well, it was kind of nice seeing you again. It's annoying of
the writers to have brought him back for the non-shock (but intended shock) of
him being Ben's spy on the boat, after which he did nothing except get all
blowed up. And that's all I know on that front, but still, what a fun
finale. Next year promises to be fun in the future as Ben and Jack team
up, Sun and Widmore team up, Hurley and Eko team up, Kate and Aaron team up, and
Sayid owns the world. I just better get my occasional Desmond-Penny fix,
which I'm sure I will, since Ben (and presumably now Sayid...interesting) has
his sights set on Penny. Anyway, if Season 5's future scenes can hold a
candle to "The Economist," then I'll be a happy camper. But even better
for me, the people left on the island, now that they're rid of Jack and Kate,
are an awesome group of lostaways! Sawyer, Juliet, Rose, Bernard, Miles,
Charlotte, a swimming Jin, and maybe five extras on one side, Richard Alpert and
John Locke cum Jeremy Bentham on the other. Awesome! And frankly, I
wouldn't mind a show just about Daniel Faraday's raft, caught between a
disappeared island and an exploded freighter in the middle of who-knows-where!
And
by the way, that Terry O'Quinn can act, eh? He won Best Supporting Actor
at the Emmys last year--undeservedly...check out
who should have won--but
this year, to me, he's been even better. And Henry Ian Cusick can do no
wrong, except apparently in buttoning his shirt properly, but I'm not
complaining. More Desmond episodes, please! I
think the biggest compliment I can give this show is one of the things that kind
of disappoints me the most. Lost has gone to a place that I would
never have expected four years ago. I thought I was gonna watch a show in
the vein of Cast Away when I turned on ABC on Sept. 22, 2004 (which I
only remember b/c they reference it as the date of 815's crash). What I
got was something different, but interesting and awesome in its own right (also
NBC is launching its own Robinson Crusoe show this Fall). I'm a little sad
to say that even this season, Lost may not score a Best Drama BTA nom, but we'll
see. Regardless, Lost has some splainin' to do in 33 episodes (16 per
season and 1 from this season that will be made up some time), and as long as it
maintains its quality, I'll happily be along for the ride.
But before I go, a post-Season 4 Character Love Ranking:
1.
Desmond Hume, always and forever
2. Sayid Jarrah
3. Ben Linus
4. John Locke
5. Daniel Faraday
6. Richard Alpert
7. Juliet Burke
8. Sun Kwon
9. Hurley
10. Matthew Abbadon - give Lance Reddick more work!
P.S. I recently read yet another Lost theory this weekend in Zest, I think, and they had a theory that not only intrigues me as a Lost viewer but fascinates me as a seeker of immortality. I really don't put much energy into figuring Lost out, but it is fun come finale time every year. But I do like reading other people's ideas, and this one incorporated the time travel, the electromagnetism, and the other major mysteries. But the key to the time travel was how the bunny merely transferred its consciousness into the future. The body remained in the same position the whole time, but the mind could travel, as in Desmond's case (or Slaughterhouse Five, for that matter). This theory postulates that consciousness is activity on an electromagnetic field in your brain. Hence the reason ghost hunters point to similar electromagnetic disturbances and whatnot. The Lost correlation is incidental. The idea that consciousness could well have a physical manifestation, and one that could theoretically survive the body's death, thrills me. I've been interested in related studies for a while, and to my knowledge we still have no idea if the mind has any physical component--even though it almost has to. But if consciousness is indeed an electromagnetic field, then maybe there is a life after this one, but a physical manifestation of consciousness also concerns free will. Relatedly, time travel almost precludes free will. Anyway, random sidenote that I've been itching to talk about.
6-01-08
Chapter 38 in which the universe gets even crazier
Previously on
Battlestar Galactica: Everybody went
insane. We're talking Kara getting tortured and seeing phantoms, Saul
leading a resistance movement and then refusing to integrate after killing his
wife, Roslin sharing visions with cylons, Bill Adama of all people making
friendship bracelets with a cylon, Tory, Anders, Tyrol and Tigh hearing music,
Lee quitting the military, and Baltar going to all extremes to see if he's a
cylon. Nobody was sane last year. This year, somehow, miraculously,
the world keeps getting crazier. I think it has to do with everyone still
being their insane selves, but now circumstances and events are also getting
crazy. It's like Battlestar Galactica is setting out to prove
the second
law of thermodynamics. And I have been loving this season, which
started out kind of high drama, more focused on the characters than advancing
the plots of the search for Earth and the final cylon.
But
this last episode (and the one before it, actually) pushed everything out the
window. I unreservedly loved it, which I feel obligated to state at the
outset given the, let's say, dislike for the episode on Sepinwall's blog or
Television Without Pity and generally across this series of tubes. But I
felt the chaotic nature of "Sine Qua Non" is right at home in the insanity the
show has become (in a good way). The promo seems to put to
rest many Final Cylon theories, but you can't deny that the writers have been
giving us just enough tastes of random characters to keep them in the running
(aka red herrings). Doc Cottle has been in almost every episode this
season, and was prominently Natalie's final vision. Romo Lampkin returned,
as crazy as the rest of them, Zarek's posturing for power (and by the way, major
props to Richard Hatch's performance--"But I WAS elected to office!"), Gaeta's singing (and
we know music is a symbol of cylons), and Ellen returns regularly enough (to my
delight).
I don't think any of them is the final cylon, but I do think the writers are
trying their damnedest at misdirection.
Which brings us to one Laura Roslin. Ron Moore told
EW (and then confirmed to Mo Ryan in the Chicago Tribune) that nobody in the
picture is the final cylon (I literally just looked this up...he says "final
cylon"). In my mind, that means there is probably a
thirteenth cylon (like Earth, the thirteenth colony, a theory I've long held),
and that Roslin could well be the twelfth, but not final, cylon. Tricky
wording, but it fits in with what he said next, something along the lines of "I
shouldn't have said that, but there it is." During Roslin's cancer ward
episode with Major Kira from DS9, was she projecting the boat vision?
Baltar's had similar visions, but those could be explained by his Head Six.
Or he's also a cylon (but isn't he the most human of all of them?). And my
love for Roslin gives her two possible futures: If she's the final cylon,
then maybe she can die of cancer and resurrect. On the other hand, maybe
she's not the dying leader from the sacred texts. Now we have several more
candidates: Kara leading the Demetrius, Tigh leading the fleet, Zarek or
Apollo leading the government, Natalie leading the rebel cylons (and she
actually died already!)... Any one of them could be the dying leader of
prophecy.
The quorum have been annoying at best--I wish the writers
had put as much energy into developing them as they had the military--but in the
bigger picture, they nailed politics, wouldn't you say? I may quibble with
the inane arguments in all of the quorum scenes, but overall, as much gets done
as in Congress, so I can't really complain. And Apollo as president was a
plot we saw coming since he entered the quorum. I may have a problem with
this in another year, but Romo Lampkin practically calling him Barack Obama
intrigues me. Stranger things have quite obviously happened. If only
Obama's daddy were one of the Joint Chiefs. Normally I would have a problem
by now with the Sixth Sense gimmick of Romo's cat, but it wasn't a major plot at
all and added to the darkly bizarre mood of the show. Cylon babies, on the
other hand, I love. Tigh and Caprica successfully conceiving means the
final five are still further different from the sexy seven (or whatever they
want to be called), and it leaves Cally in the running for the final cylon
(though, ew). And finally, as phenomenal as the show has been at rendering
space scenes before, this season has been fantastic. Kara's viper flying
past the hot Jupiter, the season-opening battle, the basestar jumping to the
fleet and then away, the frozen raptor in the debris field, and Adama sitting
alone in a raptor have all been stunning.
And
I leave you with one of my favorite theories we've come up with regarding this
show, and one that is almost certainly impossible. The final cylon is
probably Number 7, since we know the numbers for the Sexy Seven cylons (1-6 and
8) and assume the Watchtower Four are 9-12. Well last summer, I had the
thought that they could get to Earth and end up with an Adam/Eve situation.
This came up because Dr. Brooks told us that Adam was Adama in Hebrew and means
something like "sacred ground." Anyway, if Adama becomes Adam, couldn't
Seven become Eve? And good god, how happy would we all be if Bill and
Laura finally get together in the very last scene of the show, even if it means
everyone else is either dead or gone! Now, we can be almost positive
they're actually going to find Earth just before the Greek civilization (right?
I mean, the zodiac, the gods, Thrace...it just fits, right?), but even if they
do land prior to all human civilization and are charged with restarting
humanity, then Laura Roslin is almost certainly too old to be a mother.
Right? Well I have two possible theories, and this is due solely to my
tremendous reservoir of love for Mary McDonnell's performance, but one is that,
if she's a cylon, then who knows what she's actually biologically capable of.
And secondly...maybe there are other survivors, and the Adama/Seven story gets
passed on about them being the figurative parents of humanity, rather than the
biological ones. Anyway, I'm having a blast with this show, and the only
thing I've been disappointed by this season is that we only get two more
episodes.
5-19-08
Chapter 37 in which strike-shortened seasons cease and spoilers swarm
I realize I haven't been updating this much, despite the
abundance of great, new television. But never fear, I saved it all for
this finale roundup. Let's start with the first of tonight's double dose of endings,
Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl has been good at best for the past
season, although the pluses have vastly outweighed the mini in recent weeks.
Leighton Meester is obviously the best actor on the show (outside of the guy
that plays Daddy Rufus), and as such Blair has become a delight every week.
I especially like how she took down Georgina. Michelle Trachtenberg has
been a heavy burden for this show, and if all goes well, she'll never work
again. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the season ended in a
wedding of two of the adults, one of whom is a main character who is the main
girl's mother and one of whom is old, bald, and wry, which isn't a reference to
Season 1 of The OC ending with Julie marrying Caleb at all. I swear.
Overall, Gossip Girl is no The OC, but Blair deserves to go down in history, and
I'm rooting for Rufus and Lily more than any of the kids. Oh, and I don't
care what they do to make Chuck seem approachable--it takes a lot more than that
to change my impression of him.
Oh, and
Gossip Girl, you could learn a thing or two about
gay storylines from the excellent Brothers and Sisters. Over on the CW,
they'll promo the hell out of a character coming out and being caught in a kiss,
but in the episode, the kiss isn't even shown (the character's back is to the
camera) and it's a supporting kid who's barely heard from. Meanwhile,
Brothers and Sisters climaxes with a gay wedding and a coming out, because that
show lives in a world where being gay isn't played for shock but humanity.
And once again, Matthew Rhys and Sally Field knock it out of the park.
I've said before that Sally Field's first season on the show was a bit
too melodramatic, even for a soap opera, but this season she has been consistently
impressive. Meanwhile, the Justin-Rebecca romance is hilarious and
fascinating, especially during the time where only Kevin knew Justin's secret.
But as annoyed as I am that Rebecca's not an actual Walker, I'm enjoying the
romance and pleased to see that the Walkers still treated her as part of the
family, especially in light of Holly's new evil. I'm dismayed with Holly,
too, since she started to become a fun, enjoyable part of the show, but now
she's back to being an evil bitch, and not a fun one like Julie Cooper. Oh
well, one small flaw in an otherwise overwhelmingly fun show.
House on the other hand has just had its best (or second
best, after the first) season yet, culminating in a preposterously fun and
dramatic two-parter where House and Amber get in a bus crash causing amnesia and
a coma, respectively. The ending was terrific, particularly for Wilson
(when he finds Amber's note is one of my favorite parts of the season), although
I'd hate to see this affect his relationship to House permanently, since I'd
consider that out of character. It's not really House's fault that the bus
crash resulted in Amber's death. That said, it's been a great season that
has gone from six to ten main characters fairly well, and it's given House a
chance to finally get close enough to death to realize he wants this life to
count. I was thrilled with the reality show half of the season, but this
second half has lived up to it, and it's to the show's credit that I'm actually
sad that Cutthroat Bitch is no more.
Lost isn't quite over, but like
House, it's either in the
midst of its best season or its second best season, after its first one.
And I'm pretty excited for the conclusion next week. Also like House, its
best season is relative. Neither show is necessarily great television,
though both are mostly entertaining. I'm not worried for Desmond at all,
given his story is essential to the show, so my favorite character seems safe.
That said, I'm more than a little annoyed at how the show has dispatched its
females (joining Shannon, Analucia, and Libby). Danielle Rousseau, after a
heavy dose of offscreen character metamorphosis, was fairly easily taken out for
someone who's survived on this island for sixteen years now, along with her
daughter Alex. And fans think
Claire abandoning Aaron to cavort with Christian is a sign that she died and is
now a ghost, or whatever it is Christian is, which is only acceptable to me if
it means she stays on the show as such. She's had almost nothing to do for
the past three years, and killing her after forcing us to invest in a dead end
is desperate. Enough speculation though. Daniel Faraday is still
awesome--I was particularly impressed to see him saving not only himself and
Charlotte, but random 815ers as well. And the Oceanic 6 are far more
interesting in flash-forwards than they were on the island. I'm excited to
see how they got to be the only ones rescued.
Saturday Night Live went out with mostly a whimper, but there was still plenty to enjoy from the Shia LaBeouf and Steve Carell outings. In particular, Shia's final sketch, usually a slot reserved for crap, was easily my favorite of the night, as Amy Poehler's Georgian mother comforts her daughters (Kristen Wiig and Shia LaBeouf) while they try on funky, New York-style dresses. No, YES! On the other hand, Steve Carell's finale started out surprisingly mediocre with a one-note opening sketch about funny names of the IP Freely variety. But there was some goodness to the episode, particularly in both of John McCain's appearances--the first, a commercial where he's the candidate with the oldness for the job, and the second, where he advises the Democrats to decide after the Convention and to bring John Edwards back into the race. Also, the Hills-Obama commercial was great, and I liked the Japanese version of The Office as well. Overall, the Steve Carell episode was disappointing, but it wasn't a complete bust, and this season of SNL has had far more great than bad, so shut up, already. And by the way, Kristen Wiig officially wins life. Everyone else can stop trying.
30 Rock's finale was one of the best of the second half.
I've heard complaints that the storylines were all separate, like the latter
seasons of Dawson's Creek, but that didn't bother me at all given how well they
were done. As much as I liked Jack at GE, I want to see more of the
crumbling Department of Homeland Security and Cooter Burger. The lamp
candle, the box of pen tops, the leak that's not a leak--we looked into it, and
it's not--everything in that storyline was the wacky 30 Rock brilliance I crave.
Also, please keep bringing back Edie Falco as much as she'll do it (although
fans should note that she's getting her own Showtime show! And since I'm a
recent Edie Falco convert, it looks like she's single? And she has two
adopted children! Where do I sign?). Dean Winters too. I do
have one major criticism for this half of the season though: Frank, Lutz,
Toofer, and even Kenneth are fun characters, but Jenna is one of the main four,
and I hope she gets more to do next season. It pains me to say that over
Kenneth even, but he gets plenty of fun subplots while Jenna has had very little
since the Strike ended.
Scrubs' finale wasn't meant to be the finale, and Bill
Lawrence has
some words for NBC on that front. Still, I thought the episode was
fun. It sounds like I'm alone in thinking Turla was hilarious, but that's
okay. Regardless, it wasn't Scrubs' best, and the gaping Kelso continuity
error pulled everyone out of the show. But click on that link and read the
interview. I can't help but have faith in Bill Lawrence and his team, and
it at least sounds like they're taking steps to correct the quality departure of
the past two seasons.
And
The Office, how I loved you. Let me get this
elephant out of the room: I am more than disappointed in the PB&J letdown.
It was realistic and well-acted and well-written, but it was the epitome of
anticlimax, and it made my first reaction to the episode bittersweet. But
I watched it again (thanks, Hulu) knowing that that plot was going to be
truncated by the poorly timed proposal of Nard Dog, and it reminded me of why I
loved the episode to that point. Amy Ryan is officially a genius. I
don't know what else she's done (besides The Wire, and Gone Baby Gone and
Before
the Devil Knows You're Dead during the Fall of Amy Ryan last year), but she once
again blew me away, both in her subplot with Michael and her subplot with Kevin.
I really hope Holly stays around at least for a little bit, but maybe she's
going to headline the Office spinoff? Speaking of which, this episode
threw so many balls into the air that I'm not sure who's even coming back to
this show. Ryan and/or Toby could be permanently leaving The Office,
although I doubt both go and I can't see any realistic way for Ryan to get
folded back into Dunder Mifflin. Also, I don't see Amy Ryan permanently
doing HR in Scranton, as much as I loved her, so unless she's heading up the
spinoff, which I also doubt, I bet she's out pretty soon into Season 5.
Which means Toby Flenderson probably returns. There's talk that Jim could
go corporate and Pam could stay in NYC, and they could head up the spinoff, but
as interesting as that idea is to me, lover of crazy ideas, I don't see any of
the core four leaving Scranton, since that's what made this show what it is.
Now that Angela is officially cheating on Andy with Dwight, people are
speculating Andy'll leave Scranton and head to the location of the spinoff, but
I hope not. I guess it just comes down to what the heck this spinoff is
going to be about, and since we have zero information there, I'm good with just
waiting. Jan's return makes me happy, because it gave her and Michael both
wonderful talking heads and keeps Melora Hardin in the family. And
speaking of talking heads, Dwight's post-proposal one is another great scene.
All in all, I give the finale an A for the greatness, but it loses the + for the
Jam anticlimax, however in keeping with the show it is.
So those are the big recent finales I've seen, although it should be noted, Battlestar's still truckin', and damn if they're not giving Mary McDonnell one hell of an Emmy reel. Also still keepin' on: A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. So yeah, I think there's still plenty of good television.
5-07-08
Flashback: Chapter 36 in which the Sopranos don't stop believin'
I'm
almost a year late on this, but for me, The Sopranos just ended, and I'm high as
a kite. I don't really know how to explain the effect the final scene had
on me, but I was powerfully engrossed in everything. It's one of my
favorite scenes on the show, certainly, but also of all television. I will
say that my reaction was less confused than people watching it when it aired
because I knew that it cut to black and that "Don't Stop Believin'" is played
first, so as soon as the song began, I was preparing myself for my final scene
with this family. Mostly, I wanted to weigh in on Tony's future. I
really liked the idea that Members Only gets a gun in the bathroom, comes out,
and shoots Tony, hence the black screen with the even more jarring soundtrack
interruption. But I have to believe that doesn't happen. Tony lives,
at least for the moment, and here's why I think so: First, we see the view
of Holsten's as Meadow approaches. Nobody else is in sight--no mobsters,
no hired killers, no feds. It's just Meadow nearing the door. And
just the right amount of time passes between when we see her outside and when
the door bells chime. So I think we can be reasonably certain that Tony's
last sight on the show is of Meadow entering the restaurant. That doesn't
discount Members Only, who's in the bathroom, last we saw. There are so
many hints that maybe he's about to whack Tony. First, the members only
jacket reminds us of the Season 6 premiere, "Members Only," in which Tony is
shot wearing the same shirt he wears at Holsten's. Then we remember Bobby
telling Tony you probably don't even see your death coming, a flashback that is
played in the episode prior. And finally, during Gerry Torciano's death,
everything slowed and Silvio didn't even recognize what
was
happening until he felt the blood splatter on his face. All great evidence
from within the story (and season) leading one to conclude that Members Only
shooting Tony is at the very least a possibility. But to me, the episode,
"Made in America," goes out of its way to show Paulie's folly for buying into
such superstitions over coincidences. The cat, the Virgin Mary, the cursed
position as captain of construction. But Tony convinces him to get over
the paranoia to provide for his family. Additionally, we have no hard
evidence to think Members Only is actually a killer, just the fact that he
looked at them a couple times. The paranoia is invented, but also
remember, there's no reason to expect a hit on Tony--New York signed off on the
Phil Leotardo hit. So while I still think it's possible Members Only is
about to whack Tony, I don't think it goes down like that. I think the
Sopranos eat their last supper, their leader is betrayed by one of his own
(Carlo, as has been established), and Tony goes to trial. Which probably
means, unless Silvio wakes up, the New Jersey mob goes down and Carmela and
Rosalie and Janice commiserate for the rest of their lives, although Carmela
does it more fabulously. James Gandolfini and Edie Falco maintain
perfection throughout. Much much more to come, but my general view of the
show is that it is great, overrated, brilliant, meandering, and evolves
beautifully.
4-19-08
Chapter 35 in which Medea meets The Odyssey
Finally,
the Battlestar Galactica I've been missing, "The Ties That Bind" gives us plenty
of character and plot developments without sacrificing the truth and complexity
of the characters. So far, I have enjoyed this season, but it has not been
nearly as mind-blowing as "Occupice." The second episode, in particular,
written by the dreaded Michael Angeli ("The Woman King," "The Son Also Rises"),
featured a whole lot of talking by characters who were too accurate with their
self-examinations. It's long been my view that people rarely say precisely
what they mean, and they even more rarely voice their own psychoanalyses, so
Angeli's episodes leave a lot to be desired for me. But finally, three
episodes in, we get the best of the season and one of the best of the entire,
brilliant series. "The Ties That Bind" is Cally's story the way "The
Passage" was Kat's and "Sacrifice" was Billy's, only this one managed to make me
care about the victim in a way those other episodes failed, especially rewarding
considering it's Cally. I actually found myself rooting for her, and this
is the woman who I have found loathsomely annoying since the miniseries.
She's a whiny, stupid, selfish shrew with no capacity for self-criticism.
And yet, she's also an immature young woman who joined the military that won't
let her leave to pay for dental school and offered her vast love to the man she
idealizes like a father just after he broke her jaw. I'm not heartless.
I thought for sure she'd immediately go to the Admiral with her news, but of
course, with Cally, it's all about Cally. Still, she admitted to herself
and Doc Cottle how messed up it is that she threw herself at her abuser, so she
finally began to show signs of maturity. But her deep-rooted bigotry
became her downfall, and Tory knew this was a woman incapable of protecting
them, so she did what she needed to do.
Tory,
by the way, is experiencing a flood of feelings, like she's finally alive now
that she's aware of her identity. She looked angelic trying to talk Cally
down, especially when she spread her arms, and when she examined her hands and
said, "I don't know [that I'm a machine]." And then we got to see how
powerful the Four can be. I guess that explains Tigh's resilience.
I'm not convinced the Four are not "good" per se, but I think it would be
helpful to scrutinize the effects of their actions lately. Tory covering
for Roslin at the press conference and talking to her while reporters were
questioning her could make Roslin look bad to her people, possibly leading to a
vote of no confidence. As someone else pointed out, Anders, in sleeping
with Kara, actually prevented her from finishing her painting right then,
perhaps in a subconscious effort to inhibit the search for Earth. Tory,
knowingly or not, sparked Cally's suspicions by touching Tyrol's arm at just the
right moment, leading the entire affair (no pun intended) to its inevitable end.
I'm still hopeful that the Four are not going to turn against the rest of the
fleet, but it certainly seems a possibility. I can't believe I just now
recognized the reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Two
riders were approaching...
But
again, I was in love with this episode long before Cally's fate was sealed.
God, it's good to have politics back. Mary McDonnell is phenomenal in
those scenes, here in the press conference where she publicly endorses Lee's
appointment to the Quorum and adeptly sidesteps questioning about the
Demetrius, and again at the Quorum meeting where she is an expert
manipulator, condescending to Lee ("the junior delegate") and fielding ceaseless
interrogation about a military decision that she opposed from the start.
All the while, she's on chemotherapy which is draining not only her vivacity but
her mental state--thank gods that Bill showed up to read her some Caprican noir.
I think it's obvious Zarek is using Lee to battle Roslin so he can step into the
president's chair; maybe he'll even have a portrait commissioned. And Kara
really did get the pick of the litter for the Demetrius, with every pilot
we know except Hot Dog growing restless aboard the one-time garbage scow while
their leader, like Roslin, is guided by visions and deals in secrecy. I'd
be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful direction by Michael Nankin--just
think of the shots of the star mobile in Cally's room, or Kara framed by her own
star mural, or the shot of Kara's viper flying by a gas giant, or Cally's
airlocking and that final, cold shot of Cally's dead body, or my favorite
oft-used feature of Battlestar episodes, the intercut flashbacks for both Cally
and Kara. That blood droplet alone says it all. Before I go, I want
to point out that Cally's death kind of makes her the lead candidate for the
final cylon, presumably Number Seven. Of course, Ellen Tigh's coming back
next week in the form of Number Six, so I can still pray for my favorite cougar
to be the fabulous final cylon, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't have
outlandish theories.
4-17-08
Chapter 34 in which it bothers me that you're not answering the question
Honestly, I'm not even that big of a fan of last night's The Office ("The Chairmodel," future Brandon), and yet greatness remains:
My grinch-heart thinks Jim bought the ring too soon and worries about Pam's disconcerting look while Jim walks away from her desk.
But The Office has always gives us good Jam surprises in the finales, so I think all will go well. Although I do count on being surprised by something other than the potential proposal.
I couldn't be more excited for the season finale. Battlestar who? I'm serious. It's happening. And when it does, it's going to kick your ass, Beesly.
4-10-08
Chapter 33 in which Who's Afraid of Jan Levinson?
Okay,
I'm sure you know that I have an immense amount of love for 30 Rock, but
tonight, The Office bested it for the first time in a while. I'm so happy
to have NBC comedies back, but let's start at the beginning, which is of course, MILF Island. Everything relating to MILF Island, including the clips we
see of the fabulous Deborah, Erection Cove, eating bugs to earn tampons, a
confessional shower sponsored by Dove Pro-Age, and the burning of the bikini top
ceremony, was amazing. And I liked how the rest of the show took on a
Survivor-like reality show vibe, with Pete's physical challenge and the strategy
game played with Liz and the rest. But, if you're going to take Rachel Dratch from me, you have to at least give me Jenna or Tracy in a prominent role.
While I appreciate the Tracy Jordan sketch involving the engine with too many
farts, he was mostly absent from the rest and Jenna was gone completely!
Let's save the best for last and move onto Scrubs. Having just rewatched
the entire season so far, I feel confident that Season 7 has been much more good
than bad, but we're still nowhere close to the highs that Scrubs used to be
known for. Once again, Dr. Kelso is comedy gold, and Turk and Carla make a
fantastic couple, and I'm glad someone finally noticed that Dr. Cox's monologues
haven't been particularly hilarious in a while. Oh, and the Janitor is
still perfectly toeing the line between hilarious and creepy. Which brings
us to Twinkie. I still prefer that Elliot and JD not embark on another
relationship, but I'm warming to what seems like the inevitable romance. I
really wish all this were set-up for them to become actual friends, but when
they do get together, I think I'll be a little bit happy. Recap: 90%
anti-JD and Elliot, 5% okay with the idea, 3% pro-Elliot and Keith, and 2%
pro-Elliot and Janitor. But really, would it kill them to let Elliot be
happy on her own at series end?
And
now, the greatest dinner party the world has ever known. On my 10 Favorite
Things About The Office This Season, I was eager to include Michael and Jan's
relationship drama, and here we get another spotlight for the two of them.
Steve Carell gets another episode where he gets to show the many faces of
Michael Scott: the socially awkward guy who has to manipulate people to
get them to come over, but still thinks they're his friends, the sad sack who
has to sleep curled up on a bench in his own condo with a virago taking up the
entire bed and two rooms for her work, the deluded man who still wants to take
the fall for Jan at the end and who immediately forgets all his disputes with
her at the sardonic suggestion of having a baby, and the guy who still thinks
he's too good to go home with Dwight. And once again, Melora Hardin
matches him in every way. I have always loved Melora Hardin on this show,
but this entire season she has knocked it out of the park. Her jealousy of
Pam, her flirting with Jim, the Andy Warhol of her face, her solo dance to
Hunter's CD, and every word she fires at Michael are simply perfect.
Speaking of, Hunter's song sounded like it was about Jan taking his virginity,
in which case we better find out more. Oh, and the camera in the bedroom
was the perfect touch on an already intensely uncomfortable evening. And
the scene where Jan calls herself the devil and then laughs maniacally while
wearing red and next to the fireplace was genius. Pure horror, and I'm not
joking. Jim was exactly right that "Michael and Jan seem to be playing
their own separate game, and it's called Let's See How Uncomfortable We Can Make
Our Guests. And they're both winning," and his delivery was perfect--he
was not the normal sarcastic Jim but genuinely uncomfortable. Later, in
another of the serious moments, Jim questions Michael about asking them to
invest in Jan's business, and the discomfort is evident all around, but it
highlighted another aspect I love in that Michael is a nice guy who just wants
to have friends and was clearly very sorry he let Jan manipulate him into asking
them for money--and one step further, the scene made me feel sorry for Andy who
immediately said yes. Back to Jim, I thought it was hysterical that he was
ready to sacrifice Pam to the dinner party when it came down to it, but she
played his game and won. And when Dwight showed up, my favorite part was
Pam saying, "Awesome!" Dwight, Andy, Angela, and Beth "Sometimes, I doubt
your commitment to Sparkle Motion" and/or "I have the cancer" Grant were each
great in their few lines, but of course they were all just an audience to the
game of Who's Afraid of Jan Levinson. Two more touches: the
direction inside Michael's condo was so tight and claustrophobic I felt trapped
in there with them all, and the closing montage to Hunter's song was beautiful.
The day after the Strike began, they all said this was their best table read
yet, and I was a bit wary. But I have barely begun to discuss the
perfection of this episode (which I may detail later), and I'm happy to agree
that this is one of my favorites.
4-09-08
Chapter 32 in which I got a disease and the only cure is more cowbell
Rethinking my list of favorite
television series (The Wire, Freaks and Geeks, and Twilight Zone go up, others
make room) I remembered I intentionally left out shows like The Daily Show or
The Colbert Report
originally. If I were to include variety shows, I think Saturday Night
Live would have a fair shot at the number one slot. But I've seen
relatively little other sketch comedy. I've caught some MadTV reruns, and
I'm generally unimpressed, while what little I've seen of Robot Chicken has
blown me away, particularly the Star Wars special. And some day I want to
get to the oldies like SCTV and Monty Python's Flying Circus. But to tide me over, I
recently caught up with mid-90s sketch shows The Dana Carvey Show and The Ben
Stiller Show, and if I could get my hands on Mr. Show with Bob and David, the
one I'd wanted to see most, I would watch it immediately. But of the two I
got to see (via Hulu, which I love, and Joost, which I do NOT recommend), I
liked The Dana Carvey Show better, though they were about the same in quality.
I liked them both all right, but Awesometown (and
all the rest of the Lonely Island sketches), is superior in my
opinion.
The
Ben Stiller Show came about in a pop culture moment that predates even Ace of
Base's "The Sign." Yeah. 1992 was that long ago. And I don't
want to say The Ben Stiller Show is mostly dated, per se, but I just don't have
the necessary referents to get everything. I haven't seen JFK or Cape Fear
or The Doors, much less been inundated with them via the media. Now, I
have seen Beverly Hills, 90210 a few times, and I found The Ben Stiller Show's
parody of it (Melrose Heights, 90210-24026) particularly perceptive, but again,
I simply prefer Awesometown's The 'Bu. Of course, some things are funny
whether you get everything or not, specifically Cape Munster wherein Eddie
Munster plays what I assume is the De Niro role in Cape Fear. And I LOVED
Woody Allen's Bride of Frankenstein, because I've seen both Bride of
Frankenstein and 1992's Husbands and Wives, but more importantly, the satire was
incredibly precise, and Andy Dick's Woody Allen impression was great.
Which brings me to another distraction: Ben Stiller is a tad too
distinctive for a lot of impressions. He did impress me (get it) quite a
bit, particularly with his Bono and Bruce Springsteen (and his No, No, No, Come
On character), but other times, playing Bruce Willis, for example, he missed the
mark. And Stiller's acting is not to blame--he never should have been the
one tasked with the Bruce Willis impersonation. But like I said, overall,
I enjoyed The Ben Stiller Show, and that has a lot to do with the supporting
cast and the guest hosts. Andy Dick is a freakball now, but in 1992, I
guess he was more worried about career safety and reeled it in, and Janeane
Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk were both incredibly consistent. I really can't
wait to see Mr. Show now.
The
Dana Carvey Show came about a few years later, during the media frenzy that was
1996. OJ, the Unabomber, the Election....in just eight episodes, Dana
Carvey and company got to lampoon a ton of famous topics, and not
coincidentally, they were targets shared with SNL at the same time. Where
The Ben Stiller Show felt very unique, and refreshingly so, The Dana Carvey Show
was more obviously influenced by SNL, and while that's not a bad thing, it's
less innovative. And like with Ben Stiller, Dana Carvey is actually my
least favorite cast member here. Again, that's not to say he's bad, but
like Ben Stiller, he's not perfect at every impression, and his Regis I found
particularly lacking, and it's even worse to think about the greatness of
Darrell Hammond's Regis over on SNL. On the other hand, I freaking loved
the Regis sketch for Jan Hooks' Kathy Lee and Stephen Colbert's Gelman.
Did I mention The Dana Carvey Show was the breeding ground for Stephen Colbert
and Steve Carell and the inaugural episode of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" (as well
as the original version of the "Gerald Ford Died Today" sketch later used on SNL)?
Yeah, Carell and Colbert were amazing in everything, which is why Carvey was my
least favorite part. Carell and Carvey have a recurring sketch as
pranksters who do stupid pranks like going to a fast food restaurant, paying for
their meal, and speeding off before they get their food, and they consistently
made me laugh. But even better, Colbert played Geraldo Rivera, Oliver
Stone, and one of two Skinheads from Maine, all of which were phenomenal.
I'm glad I got to see both The Ben Stiller Show and The Dana Carvey Show, though
again, I don't think either are as good as Awesometown or SNL while vastly
superior to MadTV. Now, bring on Mr. Show with Bob and David!
3-27-08
Chapter 31 in which Tommy Carcetti? Still hot.
Well
let's start with a Season 3 round-up. I know this was the politics season,
but I demand even more of Carcetti and the rest in the future. Sure we got
a good taste, but it wasn't nearly as heavily featured as the streets in Season
1 or the docks in Season 2. That said, it felt much more like a build-up
to me, like we were merely establishing the political arena to be dealt with
more heavily in Season 4's campaigning (and presumably Season 5 as well), and of
course it was more focused on building the bridge between the BPD and City Hall
via the Commissioners, what with the Comstat hearings and the under-the-table
deals between Burrell and Royce. I also felt like Season 3 offered up some
interesting possible solutions, or at least the beginnings of solutions.
At first, I loved the idea of a paper bag for drugs, but I thought Hamsterdam
reeked of ghetto, which was not a good sign. But as they dealt with the
problems of unemployed runners and whatnot, it seemed like maybe Hamsterdam
would have worked out after all. Of course, that's putting aside the
problem of heroin legalization. Whether you're in favor or not, it doesn't
seem like there's really any way to combat it; about the best we can do is offer
help to those who are going to use it anyway. And then there's Cutty,
someone who grew up like these hoodlums and reformed himself, now opening a gym
to help get them off the streets in a way that jibes with their lifestyle where
macho is king. To me, that's one of the best ways to keep kids from
falling into these violent crimes, but I think it's also a necessary condition
that their mentor be someone of similar circumstances, if you catch my meaning. Meanwhile, Tommy Carcetti
attends a couple town meetings that yield fruitful propositions. Cops
working in the field, getting to know the people in the area they're protecting
would actually be a great first step. And of course, turning a blind eye
to speeders, pot smokers, gamblers and the like. Legalize these things or
not, but only punish crimes that violate the harm principle.
Of
course, none of this can happen with the rampant police and city corruption, as
Carcetti made clear in Season 4, asserting that under Mayor Royce, the BPD has
been more concerned with job security than doing their jobs. I say,
Fitzhugh's been touting the FBI mandate for terrorism and political corruption
for three years now--let's get the old Major Case Unit and him working to take
down the political corruption we know exists. I mean, when Rawls is openly
speaking to Daniels about having replaced the Major Case Unit's lieutenant with
someone who is going to intentionally derail their efforts--when Rawls is that
audacious about his corruption, it's time to take them all down a peg.
That said, I love having the entire Major Case Unit split up across the town.
And Prez is adorable as an overwhelmed teacher, and his students are incredible
actors. I will say though, I just saw some kid slice another in the face,
and it was traumatic. Can you imagine being in Prez's position? I'm
not much bigger than those kids, either. And Carcetti is vastly different
from the Carcetti we watched last year, which is another reason I feel like
Season 3 was merely an establishing year for the politics. Carcetti, who I
presumed to be a bit of a manipulative sleaze like the rest of them, turned out
to be a charming idealist, an ambitious one, no doubt, but a guy who at least
felt bad that he was using a friend for power. That friend, by the way,
lost my love when he told Carcetti to fuck himself upon the latter's offer of
reconciliation. And now, Carcetti is perfectly disillusioned--I mean, it's
beautifully played by my new love Aidan Gillen. At least, he was, until
his debate where he got to pull out the murdered witness card and own Mayor
Royce. And speaking of corrupt political officials, I absolutely loved
seeing Sydnor serve Clay Davis a subpoena, especially since Sydnor wasn't so
keen on doing it in the first place. He pulled through like a trooper
though. To me, this season is off to the best start yet, and I'm surprised
because I absolutely loved the Barksdale crew and I despise Marlo Stanfield,
Chris, Snoop and the rest. I hope Bodie takes them out himself, or what
I'd really like to see is for Prop Joe to put his money where his mouth was in
Season 1, intimidating with words, but never yet offering proof of his ferocity.
Like I said, I'm loving this season so far and I really hope it maintains this
level, because they've been on a roll since midway through Season 3.