We love our shows so much we created a blog for it.
athenawj is a writer-mama-artist-editor-blue ribbon junkie who can't get enough of her favorite t.v. shows (and the ridiculous amount of videotapes in her house proves it). She's owned various t.v.s for awhile, but only recently discovered the joys of OnDemand.
merserene is a professional-turned-student who has an unhealthy addiction to some shows. She bought her first TV last year and is particularly fond of old reruns and British comedy.
Alias
Coupling
Desperate Housewives
Fawlty Towers
Keeping Up Appearances
Rick Steves' Europe
Sex And The City
Two And A Half Men
What Not To Wear
Not guilty.
That would've been my vote if there was actually any voting going on at NBC.com. But after the last half an hour trying and watching clips of what we've already seen, there was no voting system in sight. Not fun!
So, I come down on one side of the story, and had been since the beginning. Myra, the victim, was simply unbelievable to me. Didn't really believe she was raped because of how she was acting. Accusing Stabler of sexual harassment?! That was an even bigger shock to me than the other piece of big news (of which I was spoiled, but still), and convinced me that she tells nothing but lies. On top of that, her own boyfriend doesn't even seem to really believe her. Maybe he is of the jealous type, but it seemed he knew Myra had a thing for her professor.
That's not to say Ron Polikoff, the professor, was completely innocent, either. Coaching his daughter like that was very wrong, and maybe he did get her to write that email. I was hoping the show would delve further into his version that they had sex only after Myra had shown him her portfolio, and he thought it was crappy. That would be a pretty good reason why Myra would want to accuse him of rape as an act of revenge. Of course, Myra disputed it.
As much as I disliked Myra, I can NOT stand her sleazy lawyer, Ms. Scarry. What an appropriate name! That was so wrong of her to air out Stabler's dirty laundry in front of everyone. I wasn't expecting the truth to come out in such a degrading way and felt bad for Stabler the entire show. Then, there was the crap Ms. Scarry tried to pull about how all the men's organizations would be after her client, and that Polikoff must've contacted them - what proof did she have for such allegations? Absolutely none. She definitely came off as a Femi-Nazi, and I don't even like the term.
In the end, though, the conflicting stories leave me not so sure about the rating for this episode. That major twist in the end - asking viewers to vote - was totally unsatisfying for me. Add that to the fact I can't really vote for my verdict, I'd have to give this whole TV blended with the internet experience a 7 out of 10.
Before I begin, I can't remember: why is George Sr. considered dead? Or were we even told?
It's killing me that Michael can't remember Ann's name: "Anne Hog", whatever else he's calling her. And then they leave her in Mexico. Part of me is saying, "Awww", but then it's just too funny. I wasn't surprised that he didn't like her after the trip home. I don't either-- I still remember the eggs and mayonnaise.
Buster in "Mexico"-- heh. Did anyone notice the banner at Buster's party? "Buster, You're Killing Me". Their mother really has a selective memory.
The bounty hunter, Ice, was on New York Undercover years ago. He was supposed to be the Next Big Thing. Just sayin'. Personally, I didn't watch it. But I do remember him from the third or fourth season of Law & Order.
Lastly, is the theme of this season "See how many times we can hurt Tobias and have him live through it"? Oh, yeah-- he blue himself again. God, that won't stop being funny.
Anne Parisse has been cast as ER's replacement on the Mothership. From what I've read from people who've watched her before, she actually can act.
We'll see. She's very pretty-- reminds me a little of Claire.
ABC has announced that they're changing the timeslot for "Alias" to Wednesday nights once the show resumes in January.
I'm probably one of a few who actually cares, because it's my absolute favorite show and because it's CRAPPY timing. Wednesday nights have been my TV nights for a while, but damn, I don't have 2 sets of eyes or more than 1 TV! I won't be able to get anything done - Lost, Alias, and L&O, with 1 & 3 overlapping with 2 & 4. Then, with the potential list of my classes next semester, I'll have to miss about half of both Smallville and Lost.
Oh yes, the networks should definitely plan around my schedule!
Hello, boys and girls, welcome to another edition of "Look! Serena is Stoned!"
Can't tell whether it's because she continues to grate my nerves, or because she was especially cardboardy last night. She did have that wide-eyed look throughout - didn't even catch her blink once.
The series takes place in New York, but how many times now have they used the mafia as subject matter?
At the rate they're going I'm not sure season 16 would be a good idea.
Sayid is hot. That is all.
Tonight's episode left me very uneasy and with a huge distaste in my mouth. Perhaps it's the terrible subject matter that elicits a gutteral disgust, but I am not sure I like tonight's episode.
First off, what was with the forced shrink sessions? I'm sure it was horrific walking in on all those children murdered. The job itself is a hard one, and there were definitely cases where people died gruesome deaths. Why the shrink now? It was as if L&O was trying to tackle philosophical discussions about the job, but assumed the audience is too dumb to figure out that a job at the SVU is difficult.
Although the editors tried to be clever and overlapped the detectives' sessions with Huang, their confessions (is there a better term?) seemed forced and almost un-genuine. Tutuwola having to take a break voluntarily - the mere concept of Ice-T having to take a break from his job - made me incredulous more than anything else. Yes, beat me over the head again with how Stabler is getting unstable (heh). Now, I usually like Olivia, but I didn't really buy her breaking down like that. Just to make sure the audience gets how tough the SVU job is, Olivia pulls a Stabler - as much as she can anyway - and yells at Sarah for being responsible for all the deaths. Eh. I could've done without all of those.
Abraham, the David Koresh-type character, was creepy and yucky. He did remind me of Charles Manson, but not so satanic as crazed. Putting on my superficial hat here - he was too unattractive to have any "charisma," IMHO - can't even bear to look at him! The little girl, Melanie, only 12 years old and having already had a baby - that's just wrong. She didn't even look like she hit puberty yet! And the mom, sticking by Abraham until she finally saw her dead husband's wedding ring...ugh. Parents who are unwilling to protect their children should lose their right to be parents. The whole cult thing bothers me too, and my gut reaction is always, "How can people be so stupid? What does it take to wake these people up?" These type of things never fail to make me more angry than intrigued, thus it's possible that my bias prevented me from liking this type of subject matter in a show.
On top of that, I felt things were very predictable. Nothing shocked me, surprised me, or invited me to think harder than usual. The characteristics that are normally SVU seemed to be missing tonight.
Rating: 6 out of 10. Really could've been a lot better.
Look! We now have post titles!
Gah, my hate for Gob waxes and wanes. The guy's so friggin' funny it's hard to keep up the full-on hate, but jeez, he's an ass to Michael. Perty Michael, ahem. At least in the end, rock won out over scissors (never in my life did I learn how to play that game-- we always did Hot Potato).
Buster's going into the army. I was really hoping that he'd get hurt and not have to go!
So, I wonder why George Sr. is muerto? Did they kill him because of the Cornballer scars?
I loved seeing Thomas Jane. Guy's been in some crappy movies (with the exception of Boogie Nights), but I always enjoy watching him. No, not because of that, although it helps.
Figures that Tobias would get into that diamond cream. Hee!
That girl Anne, Egg... she grossed me out with that egg. And that mayo story! Oh, I felt like Michael did... not so good. Blech.
When's Henry Winkler coming back? Oh, that's right-- the lawyer's in jail.
ER 11/11/04
This one was probably the best of the season. Ray Liotta's wonderful (although the NBC promos don't do his career justice; his role of a lifetime was in Goodfellas), and he gave a great, understated performance. I liked the real-time setup, too; it made it seem more real... duh. Nobody played the hero here, either, and THANK GOD Shane West and his smushy face didn't clutter up my t.v. for more than a minute this week.
Pratt was indeed a royal prick at the beginning of it, but I'm really tiring of it, and was glad to see him simmer down and slink back into his human costume. But that short conversation with Luka? Pratt asks him why he rides him so much, and Luka simply answers, "You're good... you could be great". Oh, pluh. Last time he said that to someone, she kissed him. Well, I guess I should be thankful Pratt didn't slip him the tongue.
No real need to dissect anything else, it was really good. I sort of wished I'd cried, though. I actually expected to, since I'm so friggin' weepy usually. But I was wholly absorbed all the way through. 9/10.
Best Mothership eppy I’ve seen in a long time. Wow. L&O should really stick to tackling difficult social issues instead of doing the “Ripped from the Headlines” deal that it had been doing.
Where to even begin? Memorable moments: when Arthur Branch said, “Looks like the cowpie has hit the fan,” that got a chuckle out of me. The most surprising part was the ER actually acted when she got pissed at Jack: “What, are you making social policy now?” It was still crappy but much better than usual. You could actually hear some emotion in her and see her facial expression change! Must be a Wednesday night trend for actresses to act with more emotion. But 1 instance isn’t enough to convince me she should stay on.
Lots of “law” in this eppy. Many twists and turns that I didn’t expect to see. Felt very bad for the couples whose marriages got annulled. The court was obviously conflicted, with 3 dissenting. To strictly construct the Constitution (as Scalia always does), or not? What a hard issue they had to tackle! Definitely didn’t see that
The court room battles were very exciting, especially in the Court of Appeals. Jack arguing to shoot down gay marriage rights was…quite something. Although my politics stays where it has always been, I can see it from his POV, as well as the POV of the people who think individual states should choose their own stances on gay marriage (thus not be decided by so-called "activist judges" or mayors). He’s principled, isn’t he, that Jack, doing his job as it requires him (which is to convict people) regardless of politics. I’m not being sarcastic, either. A good lawyer is supposed to be able to put aside his personal convictions to argue for his client. For the defense, it'd be the individual or corporation; for the prosecution, it'd be the government and the people. Everyone wants to convict those who are clearly guilty, but not everyone wants gay marriages.
One of the hardest things for a prosecutor to grapple with, I'd imagine, is the fact that we do have three separate branches of the government, so Jack is right that it is not the judiciary's job to set social policy (though some courts have certainly tried, until further review). It's the legislature's job. Once we open the door to blurring the lines between the separate branches, then we start having the executive branch making policy too (which we know Shrub has done, ugh). Thus, as much as I applaud the courts that have forced the gay marriage issue into the spotlight, and as much as I think that marriage is a fundamental human right regardless of state lines, I'm conflicted on what should be done. It's such a delicate balance.
Dang, have I become a moderate watching this eppy?
Last thing –
8.5 out of 10.
Maybe R is right that "Smallville," the pre-Superman lore about Clark Kent's exploits in Smallville (hah), Kansas, may have jumped the shark.
The show isn't targeted at my age group (it IS on the WB, after all), but how can a geek like me resist anything connected with sci-fi superheros? So, I've been faithfully watching this show from day one. They've taken a few liberties with expanding the Superman mythos, but nothing that contradicts the basic premises, as the "Superman" movies provided us with very little information about Clark Kent's background before Metropolis. But, I may have to draw the line now that they've added magic into the mix. And when magic in a sci-fi show defeats the sci-fi, well, there's something wrong with that.
Last episode, they introduced the "Mxyzptlk" character, who is supposed to be a being from the 5th dimension who occasionally shows up to play pranks on Superman. From my research, he is a character developed by DC Comics. (Since DC Comics is what started Superman, they do have the monopoly on what is accepted in the Superman universe.) Point being, as Mxyzptlk is a DC Comics creation and a being with unexplanable powers, I can accept the fact his powers can affect Superman.
But, in today's eppy, Lana Lang, Lois Lane (Lois showing up before Metropolis? that's an issue in and of itself), and Chloe Sullivan (a high school friend of Clark's and a character developed for the TV show) were possessed by French witches from the 16th century and whooped Clark Kent into submission with their magic, at one point depriving him of his "powers" altogether. Further, these witches, before they were burned at the stake, were on a quest to obtain Kryptonian crystals that could help them dominate the world. We're talking about witches who use ingredients to make potions and who cast spells. In a sci-fi show? Needing Kryptonian crystals to strengthen their powers? "Stripping" Clark Kent of his "powers" when his powers come from the fact he's Kryptonian living on Earth, which has a gravity much weaker than that of Krypton?
See my problem here? What is it, science or magic? I know science fiction and fantasy are often categorized together, but they are distinct genres. Science and magic, the respective themes, operate on totally different realms. When a show starts mixing the laws of physics with magic, I can't buy it. It's about as wrong as having a vampire from "Buffy" show up in a "Star Trek" episode the ST crew starts dusting/staking them instead of using phasers, and I'm not even talking about Holodeck simulations. Or something equally bizarro. Maybe I'm a purist, but science and magic are supposed to be mutually exclusive. One can't be based on the other (unless we start talking about the Techno-mages in "Babylon 5" who manipulate science to create the illusion of magic, which is still based in science but I'm going off on a huge tangent, and they're not applicable here anyway). Logically, when magic and science interact, they must cancel each other out. They're not supposed to both work at the same time.
Conclusion: I dig what they have done with the mythos so far, but "Smallville" needs to get off of the magic train, pronto, before it really falls off of the tracks.
Lost
Whoa, this one was good and tense. I'm not going to comment on it much, since I have two screaming twelve-year-olds who are distracting the hell out of me, but I hadn't expected a Sawyer-centric episode to be so engrossing. The letter, that he was the one to write it when he was a kid, the torture by Sayid, that kiss (which I thought was pretty hot) between Sawyer and Kate (who made her face move a little more this episode)-- every little bit of it was excellent. No complaints from me. And I was glad to see Sayid show remorse; I liked him, and it re-humanized him.
However, I have no idea why Sawyer would invite the hate, and not tell them that he didn't have the asthma medication. As an aside, Sawyer has a really nice chest. He could lose the stubble, though-- black bristles with blonde hair... eh.
I started crying while the girl (names, names) was having her asthma attack. Ever since I saw pieces of a documentary years ago, where kids with asthma were given camcorders and told to record video diaries, and when they had their attacks, seeing even fake asthma attacks break my heart. It's truly one of the most horrible things to watch, and seeing her struggle, and Jack calm her down, really got to me.
10/10. Best episode yet.
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