Two Ladies & Their TVs

We love our shows so much we created a blog for it.

 

Lost: "Deus Ex Machina"/L&O: "Sects"

I don't even know where to start about tonight's "Lost." Well, it was all about Locke, and took us further back into his past than our last glimpse of him.

Superficial moment first: Locke had hair! Nice fake hair that you couldn't even tell wasn't Terry O'Quinn's unless you knew he was bald. Locke with hair, working in a place that had Wal-Mart like uniforms. I think they meant to portray Locke as being young, perhaps even middle-aged (as opposed to now).

Brief recap for the Lady, and total spoilers about tonight's episode -

Locke was working in Wal-Mart and setting up a game of "Mouse Traps" during the opening scene. A little boy came along and Locke told him "Mouse Trap" was his favorite game when he was young. Locke then noticed a woman kept looking at him and following him. Upon confronting her, he found out she was his mother. (Note: Played by Swoosie Kurtz, who is sure as hell not old enough to be O'Quinn's mother! He's only 8 years younger than her and looks about her age. Anyway.) Turned out Locke had been living in foster homes all his life. So his mom told him he was immaculately conceived, that he was "special." (Note: Could this be why Locke is close to Walt?) That triggered Locke on a search for his mom's background as well as who his real father was. Turned out she had been institutionalized a few times for schizophrenia. Turned out that his dad was this rich old guy who lived in a large mansion.

Locke went to find Dad. Dad looked happy to be reunited with his son; supposedly he didn't know Mom was pregnant, but then when he did, Mom had tried to extort money and Dad somehow lost contact with her (?). Anyway, Dad invited Locke to go hunting on Saturday. Locke very happy to have found Dad. Showed up an hour early on Saturday, finding Dad on dialysis machine. Dad told him not to worry; they went hunting and started to develop a relationship. Dad told Locke that he's an old man anyway, and the donor list is long. Locke, being the good person that he was, decided to donate a kidney to Dad.

Upon waking up, Locke didn't see Dad. Nurse told him that Dad had already checked out and was recuperating at home. Locke was confused (and in much pain) when Mom showed up to tell him the truth: That it was Dad's idea. (See where I'm going with this?) Point being, Mom needed money, as always, and Dad asked Mom to find Locke so he could get a kidney from his son, and for that purpose only. Locke made his last ditch effort to see Dad; you could see Locke was bleeding from the back where they had taken out his kidney not too long ago. However, Locke met resistance from Dad's front gate security guard, who wouldn't let him in. Locke drove away, pissed, and totally devastated. (Note: I was expecting Locke to be in a car accident, which probably left him paralyzed, as he was obviously not paying attention to driving. But that wasn't how it turned out.)

B-story: Locke and Boone built a trebuchet to try to crack open that metal hatch, which is nearly exhumed. The trebuchet actually cracked and broke and made no dent in the hatch. Meanwhile, a shrapnel had lodged itself in Locke's leg, but Locke apparently didn't notice until Boone told him. Locke and Boone were talking when suddenly, they both noticed a plane crashing down not far away. Locke asked Boone if he saw what he saw. Suddenly, Boone turned completely bloody, mumbled something about "Theresa falling down the stairs." Mom was there too, pointing at the sky where the plane was seen. Locke then jolted awake from his dream (everything after the shrapnel part).

In real life now, Locke woke up Boone at the crack of dawn, told him he had a dream, a "sign," and that they must go find it. On their way there, Locke was having more and more difficulty walking. He actually lost the ability to walk, and Boone had to help him. Boone was previously very surprised to hear Locke mention "Theresa," and at this point told Locke that Theresa was his nanny, who did fall down the stairs and broke her neck. They then found some rosary beads hanging from a tree, when Locke observed and caused to fall a dead body in what seemed like a priest's uniform. When Locke couldn't walk anymore, they just happened to stop at the exact spot where a plane did crash - and was lodged in the trees. Since Locke was pretty much paralyzed, he asked Boone to climb up to see what was in the plane, as Locke was convinced that what was in that plane could help them open the hatch. Boone made his way up, but of course, the plane was in a precarious position and began to sway. Boone found some map of Nigeria, then a whole bunch of Madonna statutes; got pissed, and threw one down at Locke - apparently Boone had immediately realized that those Madonna statutes were used to smuggle drugs. The statue shattered, exposing pouches and pouches of heroin. (Note: Charlie would've been happy to have found that some time ago!) Locke was totally disappointed, even somewhat frantic, as he was so convinced that his dream/vision brought them there for some reason.

At that point, the plane crashed to the ground, with Boone in it. Boone had refused to get out of the plane even though Locke repeatedly told him to get out because Boone had found a radio in the plane - which worked. Boone got the radio to work, with very staticky signals; Boone even identified himself as a survivor of the Oceanic flight (to which I believe the voice at the other end said "There are no survivors to the Oceanic flight.") Anyway, Locke struggled/crawled his way over to the plane, finding a very badly hurt and bloody Boone. (Note: Semi-spoiler vibe here about who was going to die this season. Was very convinced it was Boone throughout the entire time he was up in the plane.) Locke somehow gathered up strength/adrenaline and carried Boone back to the others. Jack wanted Locke to tell him all that happened, but Locke would only say that Boone fell off of a cliff. Jack needed emergency clothes and water and tried to get Kate and Locke to help, but Locke had already disappeared. Boone was BADLY hurt, with flesh exposed and all that.

C-story, the comedic relief: Sawyer had been having headaches for about a week, and they only start around mid-day. Tried to get Sun to help him with herbs but that didn't work. He stubbornly didn't want to see Jack until Kate dragged him. Sawyer was worried that it might've been brain tumor because he had an uncle who died of a brain tumor. Jack performed an exam asking Sawyer to follow the pencil with his eyes, then proceeded to ask Sawyer if he ever had a blood transfusion (no), if he ever slept with a prostitute (yes), if he ever got a STD (silence but presumed yes), and when was the last time it flared... At which point Sawyer realized he was being made fun of, got up, and left. Jack then told Kate that Sawyer needed glasses, presumably because Sawyer had been reading a whole lot since they crashed. Jack had a whole box of glasses (presumably collected from the wreckage) and tried them on Sawyer. We then see Sayid using a metal rod put to fire to burn off the bridge to the pairs of glasses, then actually melding a pair of glasses together from two different prescriptions. We actually see Sawyer wearing that pair of made-up glasses. BTW, and I know you'll appreciate this, athenawj, but Hurley said to Sawyer, "Dude! Looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter!"

Returning to the A story, which was the last scene: Where did Locke disappear to? He had been thinking about how Dad betrayed him, and was currently pounding at the hatch, crying his heart out. He yelled, "I've done everything you've asked me to do. Why won't you open (or why isn't anything working)?" Suddenly, the window to the hatch lit up. The end.
* * * * * *
Ok, damn, that was a lot longer than a brief recap. I'm sorry but I have the inability to be succinct, and you're not going to get a more detailed recap than that!

Reaction to the episode? Shock. Sadness. So shocked at Dad's cruelty that I couldn't even cry. So sad that Locke was actually a good, normal person who wasn't given many breaks by life. And totally shocked at the ending as the machine was responsive. But we know what "deus ex machina" means, so the plot thickens yet. I tried to include as many details as I could remember, so all the little clues and foreshadowing were there.

As for L&O -

Interesting episode and much better compared to last night's SVU, which used to be an impossibility when Serena Cardboard was around. We've seen the cult story line before, but this had a different twist to it, which made it unusual and engaging. A son who kills the former nanny, with whom he was forced to have sex since age 6... His traumatized sister (and her friend) who was one of the few lucky ones who got out of the cult...

And that pscyho, cold-blooded Mrs. Shelby, who was the founder of Children of the Divine...she looked like such a sweet, innocent, god-loving woman, BUT that was what made her acting great. Those mild-mannered types who are capable of immense depravity and sickness, yet somehow convinced themselves they've done no wrong - that seems to be the formula to a great villain. Mrs. Shelby reminded me of Shirley Jones/Mrs. Partridge, for heaven's sake! I was almost afraid that the jury wouldn't convict her because she looked like Mrs. Partridge. Thank goodness, they saw through the facade.

I was also hoping for Jack to go for her jugular like a pitbull, but he didn't, so I was a little bit disappointed. But at least the ending was just.

Yay & double yay for tonight's episodes!

Posted by: merserene at 23:02 | link | comments (2)
it s all drama

L&O: SVU "Intoxicated"

Got busy last night and didn't get a chance to write up the SVU review; now that I'm waiting for tonight's line up extravaganza, here I go!

After Martin Short's stellar performance in the last episode of SVU, this week's episode and guest star seem to pale in comparison. Maybe I've grown quite weary of  teenager story lines, but these episodes where teenagers are victims are starting to trigger an automatic response of boredom. The previews sure were misleading, showing Stabler calling the kids "Romeo & Juliet," when the story deserved no Shakespearean reference except for the fact it involves a young woman and a young man who are in love with each other. I was expecting a family feud of some sort, which in honesty, would have been a more interesting plot to me.

Cathy Moriarty as the crazed, drunk mother: Not a bad job at all coming off as a crazed, drunk mother. She seemed totally paranoid and wacko until the bottles and bottles of hidden vodka explained it all. Does she remind anyone of a younger Faye Dunaway?

But lemme get to the teenage daughter, Carrie: Maybe because of the defense concocted for character...I felt her acting lacked something. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder or not, I couldn't really believe that she was the type who would get so angry that she'd whack her mother on the head. Repeatedly. Carrie didn't seem the type to have been abused, or to have been abused as much as she supposedly had. Of course, what would I know, not having first-hand experience nor am I psychologist. But as a laywoman audience, I didn't find her convincing.

PDD defense: What a bunch of crock concocted just to get Carrie off of murder. The defense attorney is supposed to help the client, true, but she can't make up something that's not true. Far-fetched, even. But I suppose that happens a lot.

Attorney Bryce: Something about Glenne Headly bothered me, too. Too soft-spoken and a bit hesitant to convince me that she's a lawyer, I guess. Character-wise, I didn't like what she did. She was an attorney, not a guardian for Carrie. The PDD defense is just bad.

Olivia: Wow, did she act unprofessionally by calling in Bryce! I figured there was some sort of connection there between Olivia and Bryce, and we find out in the end that Bryce had helped Olivia go through almost the exact same thing that Carrie did with her mom. Oh, that explains why Olivia was so trigger happy to call Bryce in, but I found that aspect somewhat lacking, as well... Theoretically, it's interesting that we know more about Olivia's personal background, that her mom (besides being raped) was also an abusive drunk. The delivery should've and/or could've been more compelling. I mean, the audience was supposed to be shocked to find that out about Olivia, right? Yet I, as an audience member, didn't feel so much shock as I did "plot device."

Casey: Pleading out Carrie because she felt sympathetic for Olivia, perhaps? For all the times that she objects to getting warrants and whatnot on grounds of ethics, that to me looked like breaking her own standards. You could see that she was obviously moved by Olivia's story, but perhaps a bit too obvious, with the quivering lips. And I usually like Casey/Diane Neal, too.

Eh.  It could all just be my PMS talking.

Posted by: merserene at 17:46 | link | comments (2)
it s all drama

What Not To Wear: Laurie

This show is generally fun (for the hosts can be very brutally honest in their comments) and informative (I've learned so many tricks to dress for my body type), but on occasion this show makes me cry.

Tonight was one of them, as they decided to help a woman who has been stuck back in the '80s, sporting a huge mullet with a braid and very baggy clothes. At times it was hard to tell she was even a woman. She was so eager to learn and to look like a sexy mama. Apparently, she had spent an entire decade caring for her grandmother, and when that decade passed, she was stuck where she was in terms of fashion, not having paid any attention to herself. But when they were done with her, she looked like a nicely-dressed, middle aged woman who was full of confidence. She was so grateful that she was in tears at the end, and I couldn't help but feel good for her.

I'd kill to have her body if I were her age. And that accent? I could tell it was from Beantown right away. She kinda reminded me of my old landlady, actually. Not the mullet thing but the Bawston accent and the sorta non-feminine attire, and on top of it all a very good-natured chattiness about her.

I hope they never cancel this show.

Posted by: merserene at 23:11 | link | comments
reality check

The Apprentice: Pandora's Box

I absolutely adored last night's Apprentice.  Very good showing with all the drama we reality viewers need.

The task was for Home Depot, to set up a DIY workshop.  The revamped Net Worth (now not my favorite), after discussing crown molding, decided to go with a small mobile kitchen island.  Di-saster.  Erin decided since she'd never been in a Home Depot, wasn't going to learn anything about Home Depot, and pretty much checked out.  She was relegated to handing out flyers.  Their presentation was a disaster; after telling the folks who'd come that it only took fifteen minutes, it took much longer than that, and lordy, they kept messing up.

This was Erin's private interview comment: "I'm a former beauty queen who knows all about crowns, but nothing about crown molding."  Uh, honey, I don't know much about either, but if it was me on the task, I'd sure as hell learn.  Now's not the time to be a slacker.

Magna decided on a box, under the PMmanship of Craig, who couldn't convey a clear idea if it came out of his mouth in a pretty box with a bow on top.  His team was definitely not behind him, and really didn't work the first day, but he got them together in the morning, called them out for it, and they decided to back him.  While I wasn't crazy about the box idea, it ended up being brilliant.  Simple chests were set up: one with a chalkboard covering, and several others painted plainly.  Kids were invited to dip their hands in paint and put their handprints on the boxes (as a mom, this really made me wish I'd thought of this when the girls were younger!).  Other kids colored on the chalkboard one, and lots of parents came over to build a box.  It appealed to the entire family, it was something the customers could build on their own right there, and the HD people were thrilled.

Who won?  Duh, Magna.  And they got to go on that Zero-G plane, which although I'm a white-knuckle flyer, looked pretty cool.

The boardroom was brilliant.  Beforehand, Erin knew she was going, and said that whatever she said in the boardroom was 'poignant', that Chris (CRAZYMAN) was 'unarticulate', and that he was the one who would be sent home.  Angie, NW's PM, returned to the boardroom with Erin and Chris.

I've thought this season that Trump had a thing for Erin. I think she's weird-looking, but she's got those things that guys look at, and up til now's been pretty clever, so I sincerely thought she'd stay.  Plus, as soon as she had an in, she brought up Chris's tobacco chewing.  Well, it's nasty to me, too, and I'm a smoker, but Trump has a hard-on for belittling Chris about it.  Anyway, there was no reason for Erin to bring it up, it was conniving and see-through, and Chris rightly called her out on it.

However... I'm seriously convinced Chris has more than an anger-management issue; the guy is friggin' scary, and it makes me think he's... well, never mind.  Rather than slander, insert what you think a really fucking angry guy would do to people who pissed him off.  People say, "He looked like he was going to bite her head off." Add "literally" to that quote, and that's what Chris looks like when he gets mad.  A self-aware zombie from "Night of the Living Dead".

Trump kept saying that Erin was a better presenter, but I wish Angie had gotten the chance to say that because Erin didn't bother learning how to make the damn island, all her presenting skills in the world wouldn't have mattered.  They would have failed even more disastrously!  Anyway, the end came when Trump said that George and Carolyn loved Angie, and he had to listen to them, and Erin piped up with, "Do you HAVE to?" then giggled and winked at Trump.  He answered yes, but then called her a wiseguy, and Carolyn, with this particularly delicious look, said, "That was dumb".  "Erin, you're fired."

HEE!!!!!!!!  Say goodbye to the pink bathmat and constant grooming at the board table.  Gladly.

Posted by: athenawj at 07:06 | link | comments

AI 3/24/05

And... I was right!  Mikalah's gone!  Fran Drescher can now go back to The Nanny.

Posted by: athenawj at 06:48 | link | comments
reality check

AI 3/22/05

Y'know, I was watching American Idol last night, and I have to grudgingly admit that out of all the groups they've had in the past, this one is technically the best.  I can't say that they're emotionally any more proficient, because they're not (whatever the reason, life experience or what, they're too concerned about how they sound over what they should be conveying), but they sound a helluva lot better.

I was really surprised by Carrie.  I got all excited, erroneously thinking that she was going to sing "What About Love?", then sorta sagged when I reaslized nope-- it was "Alone".  But girl did really well.  Wow.

I thought Anthony sounded off, as well as Anwar... hrm.  It sounded like those songs were being played half a beat slower than they should have been, and Anwar-- who sang another song that I absolutely LOVE, "Ain't Nobody"-- was a voice that was all over the friggin' place.  Anthony sounded better, but it was still that soulless delivery.

Bo did fine, although if Jim Croce were my hero, and I were to pick a song by him, it'd be that Jim song, which I'm not sure of the title to, but I sure as hell know all the words.  Hrm, maybe they're not allowed to sing songs about men getting beat up in bars.

Constantine, Oh Chinless Wonder, sang probably the worst song I would have wanted in my head, and he did so with gusto (I still wish he'd go away)!  Second on that list at the moment is the one I heard in its entirety in the friggin' grocery store the other day, of all places: "Don't Give Up On Us, Baby".  Shit.

I got sick yesterday, so I was unfortunately out of the room for Vonzell's performance, another friggin' song I love, so I only saw the little clip at the end.  Same for Nikko, but they both sounded good, from what I heard.

Mikalah sounded awful.  I don't know what the deal is with her voice, but she sounds bad when she tries to hit those low notes.  She's probably one of the few who can sing with emotion, but otherwise she hasn't sounded good to me since they started the competition.

Nadia-- whoo, Mohawk Lady!  Although I allowed myself to get into Matchbox Twenty's version of "Time After Time" when my sister and I went to see them, I can't friggin' stand that song.  Uck.  I don't care that she mixed it up, blech.

Who's the last girl who sang?  Whatever.  Like Anthony's song, she sounded a half beat off.  Good voice, but then again, she didn't even try to hit the high notes that are in the original (and Bonnie Tyler, scratchy voice or not, did hit), so I took off points for that.  Emotionless delivery again, and I didn't like her playing to the cameras at the end.

Who did I forget?  Oh, Scott.  I swear, I didn't look at the boy at all while he was singing.  Not once.  I can't-- nope, not gonna do it anymore because he still creeps me out.  But the boy sounded good. 

I think Mikalah's going home tonight.

 

Posted by: athenawj at 07:05 | link | comments
reality check

SVU-Who?

Wasn't last night's SVU supposed to be new?  And yet it was a repeat.  merserene, am I going crazy, or did you catch the previews for a new one last week just like I did?

Posted by: athenawj at 19:58 | link | comments (4)
it s all drama

L&O: SVU "Pure"

Both "Lost" and "L&O" were repeats tonight, so here's the review for last night's SVU. (Very sleepy and busy yesterday to be punctual about the review.)

So I made fun of Martin Short before even seeing the episode, but can I say something? His character grew on me and got so increasingly creepy  that I got pretty uncomfortable watching him. Martin Short + psychic + getting in people's way at the precinct = some weird comic relief, which sort of got annoying. Until you figure out that he's the perp, and that he had a partner working with him the whole time!

Lemme just jump around for now and say that Mary Mara, who played the Carlene character, was also very good. She was so perfectly dumb and insecure yet freakily psycho and brainwashed all at the same time that I felt uncomfortable watching her confession, too. I'd want to slap her so badly, but then realize she's got some MAJOR issues if she thought killing people for Sebastian/Henry (including carving a fetus out of its mother's womb, no less) would somehow get him to love her.

And there was Sebastian/Henry, so ready to manipulate her because of her obsession with him, who started the whole thing. Wanting to have sex with virgins - strike that, rape virgins - because he likes seeing the expressions on their face? And the satisfaction he got from watching everyone in the precinct  stressing out over the victim? That he refused to have sex with Carlene because she was "damaged goods"? When  he mentioned the word "soupçon" - how he liked to have sex with virgins because their faces "always show a soupçon of pain" - rather than sounding pretentious, which it did, it also sounded so utterly creepy to me. Put psycho + the easily manipulated together and you have a match made in heaven/hell.

In conclusion (am I writing a school report?), Martin Short did a heckuva lot better than I expected him to do, and I was disgustingly/pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 8 out of 10. 9 out 10 for Martin Short's performance alone.

Posted by: merserene at 22:12 | link | comments (1)
it s all drama

L&O:TBJ "The Abominable Showman"

Well, I did sit down to watch "Trial By Jury" tonight, even though I knew I can't afford to watch yet another L&O, but I really wanted to see Jerry Orbach's last few episodes. Although that was my original motivation, I'm afraid I feel a little addiction already.

"In the Criminal Justice System, all suspects are innocent until proven guilty, either by confession, plea bargain, or trial by jury. This is one of those trials." The same L&O theme, as in the Mothership and all the spin-offs, but with a twist. This one is interesting; while the Mothership theme can be described as a chamber music piece, this TBJ's theme was like a symphony - more sounds, modern, and a little bit space-agey (?). That's probably not the right description. But it wasn't bad.

The format is different of course. It started right off with the DAs talking about the current case and what to do with the accused. The detectives didn't come in until a bit later, when they interact with the DAs to talk about what they found, the strategy, etc. The quick and dirty gist of it is that we get to see the strategy from both the defense and the prosecution. We see the accused talking to his lawyer, going over the accused's case. We see the grand jury indictment in detail, which we don't see very often on L&O. We see all the DAs (including Sam Waterston in this episode) sitting together in a meeting room discussing this case. We see the prosecution talking out loud and worrying whether there was a good case, and the type of things to do to get the defense to trip up. We also get to see behind the judge's chamber and the jury room and the jurors' thought processes.

It was great eye candy, a look into how the system works from behind the scenes and from both sides. For folks who like purist cop shows, this may not be for you, but for folks who savor the "law" portions, this is definitely for you.

In this particular episode, we find out that a girl has been murdered, and the accused is a famous Broadway producer who is 30 years her senior. The prosecution was sure he had killed her, but there was no body and no witness. The first defense attorney got fired because he was a man - with the judge and the 2 ADAs all being women, the accused decided to hire a woman instead. He confessed how he killed the victim because the "bitch" wouldn't terminate her pregnancy (at this point, I had to wonder why the woman attorney didn't refuse to take his case because he was such a misogynist). So they went through ideas on how to make him look not guilty, including shelling out $250K to hire jury consultants, who used sophisticated jury polling programs and live people to test out the defense. We learn that there are certain potential jurors who are have the perfect profile for this case. (No wonder jury selection takes so long in real life.)

On the prosecution side, Bebe Neuwirth and Amy Carlson's characters (the latter was apparently on "Third Watch" but also appeared in L&O "Dead Wives Club") worry over their entirely circumstantial case and whether the grand jury will indict at all. Arthur Branch worries about getting re-elected, which seemed to be his overarching concern in the office - a side of him we don't see very often. When the ADAs found out who the new defense attorney was, they tried to come up with a plan so she would ask the wrong questions in the court room. They coached a witness into a specific Q&A pattern to bait the defense attorney, which worked like a charm. The defense opened the door completely, and the ADAs got to portray the accused as someone who kills dogs/things to solve his problems. The jurors, as an aside, had trouble voting unanimously. A few held out because they didn't want him to be convicted for cruelty to animals, or were unsure because there was no body, but after pressure from the rest, they finally relented. End result: He got convicted, which is ultimately the right result because the cops eventually found the body.

Anyway. I loved the planning, the strategy, and seeing the trial from beginning to end. The series delivers what it promises. And, 100x better than "Criminal Intent." Different, yet so good.

Tomorrow, in TBJ's regular time, will be Jerry Orbach's last episode. Also, Carey Lowell will guest star - neither as a prosecutor nor as a defense attorney!

Posted by: merserene at 21:49 | link | comments (2)
it s all drama

Lost: "Numbers"/L&O: "Dining Out"

The plot thickens. Doesn't it always on "Lost"? That's why this has been such an awesome show. My my, it may have overtaken "Alias" as my new favorite drama!

Anyone who's at least a little bit spoiled should've figured out Hurley's big secret: That of winning the lottery. Anyone who's a bit more spoiled knew that he went looking for the French woman, Danielle, because she had something to do with his numbers. But I'll bet no one except the insiders saw what was coming at the end, eh?

Locke and Boone (who wasn't in this episode) have been working away at the machine/window thing they found episodes ago, and we got to see much more of it. Is it a submarine? A machine of some kind? A ship? The "whoa!" moment was when we saw that the numbers - those used by Hurley for his lottery, chanted by his friend at the psych ward, used by Sam Toomey to win a prize, transcribed by Danielle, transmitted by the radio tower near the black rock... All these pieces, linking back to their origin, were skillfully put together to create back stories behind back stories. Loved it.

As to what the numbers truly stand for, or if there really is such a thing as a cursed sequence of numbers, only time will tell.

Yet another coinky-dink and tie-in between characters: Hurley apparently invested in mutual funds that included stock of a box company out of Austin. Locke was supposedly a regional manager for a box company. Most likely the same one.

Hurley's story won't be Hurley's unless there was comic relief. Even though all these horrible things were happening to him and his family, I couldn't help but snicker a little bit when I saw his grandpa keel over right after Hurley mentioned he had a pacemaker, or when his newly-bought house was mysteriously on fire, or when his mom looked at him so suspiciously and crossed herself when he was wrongly arrested, or when he was about to be hit with a booby trap but managed to hurl himself to the ground to escape it because he was "sprite." And then, with him being who he is, you'd think it wasn't the brightest idea for him to test out that suspended bridge. One almost expected the thing to collapse under him, but that'd just be too predictable, so equally predictably, it did not, but instead gave way when a light weight like Charlie crossed it.

How sweet was it of Locke to have built the crib for Claire? Oh, BTW, there was a nice article about Locke/Terry O'Quinn on CNN today.

Over all, a very nice episode to set us up and make us beg for more.

On the Mothership -

(The folks at ABC are deliberately running "Alias" over time, so whenever I'm done watching that and the previews, I've already missed the opening teaser for L&O. It's been happening ever since "Alias" came back on the air in January. Damn ABC. Anyway.)

I enjoyed this episode, even if it wasn't profound or groundbreaking. It's like a popcorn movie - good for the entertainment value when you just want to watch something and not think too much about it. Different kind of perp and different types of people this time: A famous chef committing a crime to save his TV show, which is being cancelled by what seems like one of the most unlikely people who'd be involved in running/cancelling a show.

That juror...ugh. I couldn't figure out if she was utterly dumb or infatuated with Aberto or both. She had that permanently deer in headlights look about her and behaved as someone who was either too naive or had a screw loose. Did she really think she was going to get away with writing a book on the trial and commenting on Aberto's innocence and guilt without getting caught? That was irresponsible of her. Who was she trying to kid anyway, interpreting the law as if she understood it, right in front of the judge, when she was obviously in court because she read the law to her liking?

On the other hand, I do feel a bit bad for her. I'm sure she was itching to get published, and it seemed like no one paid much attention to her, publishers or Aberto included.

And, because this is still such a breath of fresh air after 4 years of watching cardboard talk, I pay lots of attention to how Annie Parisse plays her character. Alexandra always strikes me as adorable new mint green, especially that look on her face when she realized she wasn't about to grab any dinner with her bosses.

Although it's good to know why criminals did what they did, it's becoming a little convenient when the *music cues* and they start admitting everything because they felt they've been wronged.

Speaking of which, I'm trying really hard to resist, but I just might have to watch "Trial by Jury" tomorrow and Friday, for old time's sake. They're showing the first 2 episodes on consecutive nights, and these were the only episodes that Jerry Orbach filmed before he died.

Posted by: merserene at 23:42 | link | comments (2)
it s all drama

L&O: SVU

 I'll top this off by saying that I really did like this episode: tense, dark, different.  Sometimes changing format can turn into a disaster, but this time it paid off well.  However, tptb returned to a bit of formula as well-- integrating all the main cop characters-- and that was great to see, too.  I also think that what was so good about this episode is that there were so many good moments to savor, from beginning to almost-end.

Although I'm not such a big fan of voiceovers, I enjoyed the action in the beginning, with Stabler prepping the interrogation room.  I wish I could remember how many sweaty perps they've had now, heh.

Oh, not-so-good: Matthew Modine.  Yes, he played it well-- and when he was screaming that he was a "psycho killer!" he was at his best-- but... it's Matthew Modine.  Next week it's Martin Short.  I think we'd be less distracted if they simply used good, no-name actors.  Anyway.

Now that I've gotten past that, onto the good: Fin peeking out from beneath the hoodie.  Benson simply staring at MM (much more effective than the one ep she tried to copy Stabler's style), then asking him if he wanted to check if Stabler was in the viewing room (and heh to Cragen's comment: "I wish she wouldn't do that.").  Munch saying that his coach called him "a retarded gazelle".  How they kept asking him why he left CA.  Stabler's food order with extra onions.

The interrogation was very good, the way it changed tempo and tone.  Of course, this was a blatant showcase for Meloni, but it worked; showing that he's an excellent actor.  I didn't like the spitting, though-- gross, and just another assault by Stabler.  The best part of the interrogation was the end of it, with Stabler quietly explaining what he's learned.  What was sad about the whole thing was Stabler saying that if the job, his family were taken away he'd be just like MM.

I don't agree with that. Maybe he said it because then he'd have uncontrollable rage like MM, but it made it seem more like he'd become a killer.  And Stabler was right-- he's not.  So, I felt sadness because it was a little unfair to the character.  But this whole season's been like that, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

I didn't mind MM coming home while Stabler and Benson were downstairs; a bit too handy, but it surprised me, raised the tension level.  I didn't for a second believe that Stabler would shoot him, mainly because it would wreck Stabler's career and CM's contract isn't up for awhile, heh.  What I would have liked to have seen in that scene is silence from Olivia; after the interrogation, Stabler could have learned something, and not have to be told that it was over.  I did appreciate that she knew she had to step in.  I wasn't a fan of the 'saving' spoiler, but this time Stabler needed it.  (ETA: after my second viewing, I saw that Stabler raised his gun after walking over to MM, so she did have to speak up and tell him it was over; snap him out of it).)

I don't know what I took away from Stabler and Benson's last scene.  After all the times they've offered each other subtle help-- talks, dinner, coffee-- and turned each other down, I wasn't too surprised that he said no to her.  I think he may have been more upset with himself than her for 'stepping in'.  After analyzing it, I know that I'm sick of where this relationship stands right now: at first, Stabler was the 'wiser' of the two because he had more experience in SVU; then they were equals, and now Benson is played as having all the answers, and so much wiser.  I would like to see Stabler learn something-- I certainly hope the case was cathartic-- and the two return as equals.  Again, I have to say that it's lifting one character  up at the expense of another.

The last scene: meh.  But at least he hit a locker.

Posted by: athenawj at 05:45 | link | comments (3)
it s all drama

Fear Factor "Reality Stars"

 Last night was a two-hour "Fear Factor" with reality stars.  At least they picked 'stars' from the bigger shows: American Idol, The Apprentice, The Amazing Race, Survivor, The Bachelorette.  I knew pretty much all of them: Ethan, Jenna (Survivor: the Amazon), Ryan from The Bachelorette (although I don't watch it, you can't escape him and Krista sometimes), Nikki from the first season of AI, some guy from TAR, and Beeyotch from Hell.  Oh, excuse me-- Omarosa from the first season of The Apprentice.

I thought the stunts were really good, and most of them were really civil and acted friendly toward one another.  That's one thing that's begun to grate on me about Fear Factor; that everyone has to be an ass to each other.  Most of them already had a lot of money, except for Nikki, and it was just a good game for them.  Although I never rooted for Nikki on AI-- she has a nice voice, but didn't deserve to go that far-- I was happy to see her win $20,000 for being the best woman in the first stunt.  She's a single mom and doesn't have a lot of money.

Okay, onto Omarosa (how I wish I could call her what they call her on TWoP!).  All of their comments were about her after the first stunt, in which she laid into them in the limo for making fun of her.  It wasn't mean ragging; just teasing her for the reputation she's gotten.  It's sort of deserved-- who wears a bathing cap on Fear Factor, and carries around a little pocket mirror to check and recheck her makeup?  And the perception I get is that she expects everyone to become her instant friend.  What was hilarious is how Joe was ragging on her in their interview before the task, and she finally got this pouty look on her face and wouldn't look at him.  She called him drunk.  She switched around his words to make it seem like he'd said something else.  She was... just like she was on The Apprentice.

My hate was sealed for her with this show.  While waiting their turns for the second stunt (involving snakes, locks and worms-- blended and not), she called Nikki the equivalent of trailer trash, and after Nikki sang-- well, I might add-- said she saw why she didn't win AI.  The trailer trash comment was beyond belief, especially the snooty way she said it.  She told Joe Rogan that it's all part of her plan, to get everyone to focus on her instead of the task at hand, but I don't buy it.  The woman's this way, period.

Ethan won the time in the second task.  Yay!  I love Ethan and his crazy hair.

Waiting for the third task (which Omarosa was given a pass on, as she can't swim)... apparently Nikki had told the group some things about her life in private that Omarosa decided to spill on t.v..  Nikki walked away and said she wasn't going to cry on camera, and Omarosa told her that if she didn't want her to talk about them, she shouldn't have said them.  Nikki rightly told her that things said in private aren't the same.  Gah, this woman is awful.

In the fourth stunt, Omarosa got sent home first, after Ethan beat her time (I don't think she should have been allowed to even do the stunt because she couldn't participate in the third stunt, but whatever).  Everyone was happy to see her go, including me.  Ryan had already said that with Omarosa in the game, it stopped being fun.

Ryan won the show, and I was impressed with him: a quiet guy who hasn't given up his day job of being a firefighter.  I would've loved to see Ethan take it, but I was surprised that I don't hate Jenna anymore, one of the least deserving winners of Survivor.  Omarosa... gah.  Words don't even describe how pathetic and fake she is.  I wish her fifteen minutes were over, but the lady is apparently a cockroach.

I wish they'd get back to the regular format of Fear Factor, but next week is twins.  Creepy ones, probably.

Posted by: athenawj at 06:26 | link | comments (1)
reality check