definitely, possibly, maybe

simply sliding between realities

2010-02-09T09:57:00.010-05:00

it's taken a week for my thoughts on "lost" to settle. that's how mind-blowing the premiere was. as last season came to a close, i was adamantly against a reset. for one thing, i felt it would eliminate the five seasons that came before. i should have realized that there didn't need to be an either/or situation for the producers. because lost has excelled at training it's audience to follow two completely disparate storylines, showing us a reset of flight 815 and the continued story from the island is simply brilliant.

the new flash sideways structure allows us to explore both possible outcomes to the hydrogen bomb's detonation, and ultimately i think that was the absolute right decision for the show. lost will struggle to find the absolute right ending, or rather it will struggle to find the absolute right ending that will satisfy one and all. but these first two hours of the final season proved that the writers know what they're doing. and that the best thing to do is go along for the ride.

it's so nice to see sawyer again. i missed him on my screen. and it will be interesting to watch his arc this season, dealing with his intense grief brings him closer to the angry, uncaring guy he was in the first season. but we know he has changed, and it will be fascinating to watch his journey this season. meanwhile the person sawyer is on the plane is more lighthearted and flirtatious than the person he was in the pilot.

it will actually be interesting to see who emerges as leader this season. because jack is as lost as sawyer on the island, crippled by his apparent failure to reset their lives and the deaths of juliet and sayid that weigh on his conscience. jack is a fixer, and unfortunately he hasn't been able to fix the situation on the island, seemingly he's only made things worse. and this season will be about him coming back from that. hopefully, it will be interesting for once. [sorry, he's still my least favorite character.] on the plane jack is less assured, more scattered than the jack we met that first episode. in some ways it's as if the experience on the island already weighs on him, but it hasn't happened and it never will. the parallel journey will be just as fascinating to watch, because i think we will see what it is about this group of people that keeps them in each other's orbit.

ultimately that is the central conceit of the show. that is the ultimate question i would like to see answered, what is it about this group of people that caused their paths to intersect in so many ways both on and off the island, in the future, in a parallel reality, and in the past.

in the parallel reality it was nice to see a couple of familiar faces. boone. artz. frogurt. charlie.

how the lives of those who died or were left behind will be reflected in the parallel reality will be good television.

in the meantime, the show has already started getting us some answers. for one thing locke isn't locke anymore. he's dead.

the locke that has been walking around. that locke is probably the same man in black we saw talking with jacob in the fifth season finale. that locke, that man in black is also the smoke monster. yes, we FINALLY found out what the smoke monster is. and it's awesome to finally have an answer.

how notlocke will affect the passengers of flight 815 will be another thread to watch this season.

images courtesy of abc.com.

simply all about chuck

2010-02-03T21:59:00.006-05:00

after last season's surprising turn of events and unexpected renewal, there were, at least in my mind, a lot of questions about what would happen next on "chuck". how would this show manage to evolve without losing what made it so charming in the first place? i have a well-documented love of spy shows, see "alias", and it's also no secret that when i was little, in the height of the cold war, i thought that being a spy would be a cool career. which all feeds into why i love "chuck" so much. the premise that a regular guy gets involved with a spy world that is over his head is an excellent fodder for both drama and comedy.

but when chuck downloaded the intersect 2.0 into his brain, giving himself a whole new set of abilities that make him an even more powerful asset for the u.s. government, you had to wonder where it was all going to go. what is great about the writing staff on this show is that they recognized that their characters needed to evolve in order to further the story, but they didn't force change on them that wasn't natural or organic to who their characters were. and having watch so many hours of television in my life, and seen many a writer force a character into acting completely out of character for a simple plot point, this was a wonderful turn of events.

the first six hours of the third season have been phenomenal. chuck still has to prove himself as a spy, but is clearly growing into his role and getting better at it all the time. but he still needs casey and sarah, it is interesting to watch his former handlers manage chuck's transition into the full-time spy world. casey is both protective and ready to throw chuck out into the world, willing to give him a chance to prove himself, but always ready to be there as back-up should he fail. and because chuck's emotions often get in his way, he is certainly lucky that he has casey there as back-up. sarah's role as handler is even more complicated. in many ways she is like a mother hen, refusing to let her chick leave the nest. but both sarah and casey's superiors, the general and the mysterious shaw, believe that it is past time for chuck to step up to the spy world he wants to be a part of.

this provides some interesting conflict. from the first two episodes we learn that sarah tried to escape with chuck. she commits the ultimate no-no in the spy business, falling in love with her asset, and she wants to protect and preserve the things that make chuck, chuck. she knows that the more time he spends in the spy world, he will lose something of himself, and she knows this because she has lost so much of herself in this life that she's chosen. but chuck isn't ready to give up on the spy world, not because he thinks it's cool and badass after so many years of being a lovable loser at the buy more, but rather because he understands that what he can do, can serve the greater good, he can't turn his back on his responsibilities, not for his own personal gain. because he does love sarah. and she loves him in spite of herself. but because everything has changed, they can't go back to where they were.

and so they forge on ahead. but the conflict between them, and between their emotions, lies just beneath the surface. and it has been fascinating to watch. it has also been endlessly satisfying to see chuck grow into his own as a spy. yes, he isn't ever going to be the best. chuck is no james bond. but he gets things done in his own offbeat way and his ingenuity and ability to complete missions are things that the cia should be happy with.

but the more involved he gets with the spy world, the more his personal relationships suffer. by necessity he must lie to everyone, needs to keep his nearest and dearest in the dark. the sole exception, awesome, who found out about chuck's double life in the finale. watching devon deal with his knowledge of chuck's second career has been great, because we learn that there is one thing that devon is not good at. he is a terrible liar. and as chuck gets him through some sticky situations, awesome comes to appreciate chuck's abilities.

devon's initial reaction to chuck's spy life was to see it as something cool and exciting. but then when he's accidentally involved in a mission, and he begins to see the downsides and the complications that this spy life brings into his own life, and realizes that there are a lot of reasons not to envy chuck for it.

chuck as spy versus chuck as regular guy. chuck's spy life versus chuck's personal life. and how the people around him react to these conflicts will chart the course of the season. what a wonderful season it has been so far.

simply the year in review: extremely overdue

2010-01-21T11:48:00.003-05:00

the start of the year is always so hectic, you both want to start things fresh, but you have so many things hanging over your head from the previous year. that's why it's always nice to reflect on things. 2009 was a strange year. a lot of celebrities died unexpectedly. life itself has been insanely busy. i traveled so much, that now as i face a year with less travel, i'm not exactly sure what i should do with myself.

the nice thing about a new year is that you get to figure it all out. but before i get to that, here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2009:

the good

grey's anatomy's creative resurgence
at the end of 2008, grey's had sunk pretty low. izzie was having sex with visions of denny. the show had ceased to be compelling. but then, a turn-around marked by the new year, izzie's cancer storyline went full steam ahead, the character's suddenly grew up, with meredith and derek finally committing to each other in a meaningful way, alex and izzie took the plunge into marriage and adulthood, all of this leading to an amazing season finale that ended it's final moments in a cliffhanger that put two main characters in peril. the reveal that george was the john doe whose body was so inured and mangled that he was rendered unrecognizable, was shocking and was a twist worthy of some of the show's better moments. the fall 2009 season has continued the excellent balance of medical and personal story, as well as the personal growth of the characters. things aren't all rosy in grey's land, but that's actually a good thing, and it seems like we'll have some juicy story to go along for the rest of the season.

chuck gets a third season
chuck is really the little show that could. in the closing moments of the 2009 season finale, chuck managed to both resolve all of it's storylines and set up the series for even more amazing storylines. (i've got a post pending on how that's turned out.) when nbc surprisingly renewed it for a third season, it was the best news of the summer.

90210 becomes a guilty pleasure
the first season of the 90210 reboot was hit and miss. it spent a lot of time trying to build on nostalgia for the original, without playing to the strengths of the characters and actors it was developing. with a new showrunner in by the end of the first season, you could start to feel the difference. focusing on the characters that really clicked with the audience, bringing in some new blood, the show is actually firing on all cylinders. yes, it is preposterous and ridiculous. but it is also so completely fun to watch.

lost
was so amazing it blew my mind. i pretty much covered every episode on this blog, and it was great. it was the year of sawyer in my mind. and that made it even better. what a great season. what amazing things does the final season hold for us? i can't wait to find out.

vampires rule the world
true blood and vampire diaries take over the television airwaves and all is good. there are pretty people, juicy storylines (both appropriate to the medium they are broadcasting in), and vampires. if anything 2009 was the year of vampires. surprisingly, the only vampire thing i didn't participate in, was the one thing everyone else did. twilight. i still haven't read you. and i'm not sure i'm going to. it's also unlikely that i will watch the movies. for now, both true blood and vampire diaries are enought to whet my bloodlust.

the bad

how i met your mother stops being awesome
when the fourth season finale hinted at a barney-robin romance, i was thrilled. here were two characters with incredible chemistry, who were both emotionally stunted, who could have a fantastic opportunity to grow together. unfortunately, the writing staff didn't see it that way. instead of having an unconventional romance develop between two characters who don't do conventional romance, they forced them into a completely traditional relationship. even worse, they lumped them in with lily and marshall in ways that were just not funny. what's amazing about the whole thing is that it's proved that ted really is the glue that holds the whole series together. the show needs to move something forward this coming year, introduce us to the mother, something needs to happen that will actually let these characters grow without them losing their personalities. because they will become caricatures of themselves if they don't grow. and the show will really stop being funny. and that is the opposite of awesome.

gossip girl neuters chuck
suddenly the show is a lot less interesting. there are several issues in play here. 1) the fact that most of the core cast have graduated high school is a problem. 2) chuck should have more to do week on week than being the voice of reason. the fact that chuck is the voice of reason is a major problem. 3) they need to figure out better ways to bring the whole cast together. right now the cast exists in these different story bubbles, but the show works so much better when the bubbles intersect with each other not when they float along each in their own merry way. 4) the show should spice things up in ways that are organic to the story and not just to make media headlines. the threesome storyline was actually a snooze. maybe the problem was the fact that both vanessa and hilary duff weren't the more interesting characters to be involved with it. nonetheless, the show needs to be better about adding the right blend of spice to the story.

the ugly

general hospital
so this was the year i broke up with gh again. nothing good is happening in port charles, at least from what i can tell. i wish sonny wasn't billed as the hero of the show, especially considering his blatant hatred and mistreatment of women. you would think that the writers would consider the audience, but they don't. i read a bunch of vintage romance novels this year, and what is amazing about this is that often times the novels from the 60s and 70s i've read have more advanced views on women than gh does. that is a terrible thing to realize. and having to make the effort to watch became too much. i can only hope that it doesn't win yet another daytime emmy for best writing. because, seriously, it's not okay.

something from the archives: magic, or the holiday special - part 2

2009-12-25T11:07:00.000-05:00

and here's part two. merry christmas to those who celebrate it!

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Magic, or the Holiday Special
*part two*

“Snowflake…how many kids do you think there are?” Kyle asked Maria as she peeked out into the crowded room. They were in full Christmas regalia, and were trying to stand as unobtrusively as possible behind the tree.

“I don’t know Santa, but I’m guessing 500.”

“They’d better be grateful for all the wrapping.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll be the kid’s favorite part.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING BEHIND THE TREE?” Isabel demanded shrilly.

“Nothing,” answered Maria, “We’re just scoping out the place.”

“Isabel, the sheer number of kids is frightening,” Kyle complained getting himself an elbow in the stomach from Maria and a glare from the Christmas Nazi herself.

“Don’t you dare complain. Santa in the chair now! Snowflake, you stand next to him! And if I hear any words of complaint you will live to regret them. This better go off without a hitch!”

*****

What on Earth could she get Michael for Christmas?

Her parents had been more than happy to include him in their small celebration. It always surprised her how much they genuinely liked Michael. But he had become an invaluable part of the Crashdown, and she knew her parents appreciated how hard he had to work to make a living, how hard he worked to keep his independence.

They weren’t the only ones proud of him. Liz had seen the changes in Michael, he was a far different person from when they had first met. He was so much more open, so much more willing to accept things happened. Even when he couldn’t control them. Although it was almost a relief he hadn’t changed so much that things he couldn’t control still made him crazy.

But this line of thought wasn’t helping her divine what the perfect gift for Michael would be.

Music? No, he probably already owned every Metallica CD available.

Books? Other than Ulysses she couldn’t think of what else to get him. Although if he liked Joyce, perhaps he’d get a kick out of Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury. That was definitely going on her list.

Films? She’d seen his movie collection, she didn’t think she had anything to contribute, especially not anything he’d appreciate.

She didn’t just want to get him a book.

Why was it always so complicated to go shopping for guys?

Clothes? Well his favorite gray t-shirt was definitely wearing thin, and she knew he needed more shirts, he was always using the same button-down. So maybe a nice button-down shirt, in black. Michael would look good in black.

House wares? While he could use some things for his apartment, she couldn’t see him appreciating anything from Crate and Barrel for Christmas.

Maybe he needed a new wallet? But that was boring.

He’d probably like a video game, but she had no idea how to purchase that for him.

She flipped through the latest issue of Real Simple it had an article that was list gift ideas, maybe that would help.

Pajamas? Michael wearing a pair of black silk pajama bottoms, his muscles rippling as they got ready for bed…Liz shook her head suddenly. Where on Earth had that thought come from? A definite maybe though.

Soaps he wouldn’t appreciate. Candles even less. No makeup or jewelry.

Dominoes? Didn’t every guy need a set of dominoes. And according to the article it was a gift that gave a sense of perspective. And they were pretty.

Black button-down, black silk pajama bottoms, set of dominoes, and a copy of The Sound and the Fury. Perfect. Michael was guaranteed to at least like one of them.

*****

“Ok kid, here’s a special treat from Santa,” Kyle shoved the gift Maria was handing him into the boy’s lap and pushed him towards his parents. “Was that one the last one?”

“Yep.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Kyle grabbed Maria’s hand and together they made a run for it.

*****

“Wow, dinner was great,” Michael said to Liz as they climbed up to Liz’s balcony.

“Really?”

“No, not really. It was just the holiday special.”

“I know, it’s kind of the point.”

“But your parents were really great. Very welcoming.”

“Well, I’ve told you before they think you’re great.”

“I know. I guess I thought you were joking.”

“I thought you didn’t think I had a sense of humor?”

“Why would you say that?” surprised by her words, Michael looked at Liz. “Liz, you may not be known as a comic genius, but I never doubted that you could laugh. The truth is you don’t laugh enough, and you should. You have a beautiful laugh.”

“Um…ok…do you want to open your presents? Mom and Dad insist on waiting an hour before heading out to the rink.”

“Ok…I brought you something as well.”

“You didn’t have to Michael.”

“I wanted to.”

Liz looked at the packages Michael placed in her lap, and slowly opened her gifts, beholding them in silence as she realized the thought and caring that had been put into assembling the packages. “Oh Michael, did you draw this?”

“Yeah. Do you like the songs?”

“What? Oh on the CD, yeah, they’re great. But Michael I can’t believe you drew me.

That was so thoughtful,” Liz flung herself into Michael’s embrace, the detail of his present overwhelming her senses momentarily. His arms clenched reflexively around her and he held her tightly.

*****

“Kyle, Maria…I’ve been looking for you two.”

“Please Isabel no more…” Kyle’s voice trailed off into a groan.

“Guys, I just wanted to thank you. You were great sports. And the kids loved you as Santa.”

“And you looked sexy in your suit!”

“Ahem. Did you not learn anything?” Isabel asked pointedly.

“Yep, that Kyle looks good when he’s being goofy.”

“You two are hopeless,” Isabel flounced off barely dignifying the pair with a goodbye.

“So Snowflake?”

“Yes Santa?”

“How ‘bout we go get some food.”

“Sounds good to me.”

*****

“It’s not a big deal Liz. Do you think you can let me open my presents?”

“Michael, this is the best gift ever. I love it. And Michael, it is a big deal to me.” Liz said as she settled onto Michael’s lap and handed him his packages.

“Ok, I can’t wait anymore,” Michael tore through the wrapping paper. “Dominoes?”

“Yeah, do you know how to play?”

“Not really…but it probably comes with instructions. Thanks Liz.”

“Keep looking. That’s only the first of the guy gifts.”

“Ok. What are these?” Michael asked pulling out two different black pieces of fabric.

“A shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms.”

“I like the color.”

“Me too, I think you look hot in black.”

“Really?”

“Did I just say that out loud?”

“Yeah. Liz, a copy of The Sound and the Fury! I love it!”

“I knew you’d like at least one.”

“Are you kidding me? I love them all. Thanks.” Michael tightened his hold on Liz, inclining his head to give Liz a quick peck on the cheek, only to unintentionally press his lips against hers.

They both drew back startled, and looked deeply into each other’s eyes.

“Michael?” Liz whispered.

“I’m sorry.”

“No—“ Michael silenced Liz’s protest, kissing her once more, and this time their embrace spiraled out of control. Taking a breath Michael leaned his forehead against Liz’s.

“You know what Parker?”

“No, what?”

“I think that was my favorite present.”

“Really. Well, here at Casa Parker we like to make the holidays special.”

“You sure do!” Michael smiled at Liz, promises shining in his eyes. “Let’s go ice-skating.”

“Okay,” Liz said as she followed Michael back into her bedroom. “Michael?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it just Christmas magic?”

“Nah,” Michael scratched his eyebrow and looked into Liz’s eyes. “It’s our magic.”

“Good.”

The End

something from the archives: magic, or the holiday special - part 1

2009-12-24T10:28:00.007-05:00

hmmm, i thought this one was a challenge, but i must have simply been inspired to write a roswell christmas tale. this one focuses on kyle and maria, and of course, michael and liz. this takes place sometime during the final season, since isabel is married to jesse. it's a cute little story, so i hope you enjoy it. i'll post part two tomorrow, in the spirit of the holidays.

by the way, happy holidays to all! and enjoy the story after the break.
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Magic, or the Holiday Special
*part one*

“I think Santa’s sexy.”

“You’re insane. He’s an old fat guy in a bright red suit,” Kyle glared at Maria quizzically before munching on a Saturn Ring.

“He’s not—“

“Give it up Deluca, it’s all very Oedipal.”

“Where the hell did you learn that word, Kyle?”

“On occasion I read.”

“Hey guys!” Isabel walked into the Crashdown with a load of bags and an excess of cheer.

“Hi Isabel. Perfect timing, Santa—sex god or skanky geezer?”

“What?”

“Deluca here thinks Santa’s sexy, I say he’s not.”

“Santa? Sexy? Skanky? What on earth is wrong with you people? I can’t believe this. Kyle come with me,” Isabel proceeded to grab Kyle by the ear and lead him out the door calling out, “Maria, you better follow if you know what’s good for you.”

“Oww. Isabel that hurts,” Kyle complained as he rubbed his ear. Isabel didn’t appear to hear him as she walked back into the diner for Maria.

“Ow ow ow! Kyle, why did you involve her?” Maria smacked Kyle on the arm as she mirrored his actions. Isabel had also dragged her out of the diner by the ear. And had gone to pick up her packages.

“I forgot the whole Christmas Nazi persona.”

“What was that Kyle?” she asked as she met them on the sidewalk.

“Nothing, Isabel,” he muttered.

“Good. You two are coming with me. And I better not hear one complaint.”

“But Isabel, my shift—“ Maria tried to explain.

“Ah ah ah! Not one complaint. Now walk.”

Kyle and Maria begrudgingly began walking in the direction Isabel commanded, both with the sinking suspicion that they should have gone while the going was good. And with the knowledge that messing with the Christmas Nazi was a dangerous thing.

*****

“Is it safe?” Michael whispered his question from behind the shelf in the supply room.
Liz looked out the door and listened carefully for a few seconds. Before opening it again and stepping out. Cautiously she tiptoed over to the windowed doors that led out to the restaurant’s main room.

“Yeah. I think it’s ok to come out now.” She called out.

“You think or you know?” Michael replied from within the depths of the pantry.

“I know.”

“Good. I wish I could feel more guilty about leaving Kyle and Maria to suffer the wrath of the Holiday Führer,” Michael said as he came to stand beside Liz at the doors.

“I know. We should get back to work.”

“You’re covering for Maria?”

“Yeah. I mean…I didn’t try to help.”

Michael snorted, “As if there were any way to help. Valenti and Maria dug their own graves.”

Michael and Liz got to work. The diner was packed to overflowing and there was little time to talk for the remainder of the afternoon. As they shut down the restaurant they worked in a companionable silence. Liz was filling the sugar containers at the counter while Michael lounged on a stool next to her, the mop he had been using propped idly next to him.

“So what are you doing for Christmas this year?” Liz asked.

“Don’t know…Maria and I are still very over, so I’m guessing I won’t be spending it with her. And the Evans are still upset with both Isabel and Max and aren’t really filled with the holiday spirit. Isabel did invite me over to have dinner with Jesse and her, but it scares me.”

“Oh, well, I mean…if you want you should come over.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s just me, my mom, and my dad, we have dinner and then go ice-skating.”

“Ice-skating?” Michael asked dubiously.

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun.”

“What do you guys eat?”

“The holiday special.”

“No shit.”

“What? It’s tradition here at Casa Parker.”

“Well, it sounds real nice Liz. You’re sure your parents are cool with it?”

“Sure, they love you.”

“What about Max?”

“What about him?”

“Liz.”

“Michael, he’s searching for his son. He’s feeling all tortured and anguished and suffering separation anxiety for someone who can’t survive on this planet. I feel bad for him. But I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep being okay with this situation. Because I’m not okay. And he doesn’t even notice.”

“Liz.”

“What?”

“Have you talked to him?”

“Yes I have, but he refuses to listen. I can’t be like this anymore. He doesn’t see me. He’s consumed by the past, and I…I have to move forward with my life. Because this is killing me. I feel like I don’t exist anymore. Michael you understand, right?”

Michael looked at Liz and saw her chocolate-colored eyes fill with tears. He put his arms around her, pulling her face against his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I do. Liz, please, don’t cry. It’ll be all right. I promise.”

They stayed that way for a long time, until Liz’s tears subsided and Michael got up again to finish up the mopping.

*****

“Come on you guys, there are two-hundred more packages to wrap!”

“Isabel, I have a paper cut, you don’t want me to bleed on the presents.”

“Maria Deluca, one more whine out of you and it’ll be round the clock elf duty. In fact, I have the perfect little costume for you, Snowflake!”

“Oooh,” Maria groaned and went back to diligently wrapping the stack of presents for needy children Isabel had placed before her. At the rate she and Kyle were going they’d never finish.

“Kyle, you are spending way too much time per package, and your corners are sloppy.”

“Isabel, I’m a guy. I don’t know how presents look pretty. My dad and I use newspaper, okay?”

“Well, do better or it’s Kris Kringle for you,” Isabel flounced off after delivering that parting shot, and as soon as she was far enough away Maria and Kyle let go of the boxes they were in the process of wrapping and leaned back in their seats.

“How long before she’s back?”

“I have no idea, but we’d better hurry.”

“I’m never ever talking to that woman about Christmas again.”

“Me either, although if you were to dress as Santa, wouldn’t you say that was sexy?”

“In a weird, totally strange way I guess if I were dressed as Santa you could say Santa was sexy. Now let me tell you something. Elves are totally hot,” Kyle leered at Maria jokingly and waggled his eyebrows.

“Don’t say that too loudly or the crazy Christmas Nazi will come in here and torture us,” Maria laughed.

“Yeah, we got to get out of here Snowflake.”

“Why are you calling me that?”

“Cause you know we’ll end up doing it as punishment for escaping this workhouse.”

“So should we stay?”

“Hell no. If I have to wrap one more box I’ll lose it.”

Maria and Kyle pushed open the window and had started clambering out when they heard a shrill voice behind them say:

“NOW WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU”RE GOING?!”

“Nowhere,” Maria explained as they turned around, “Kyle and I just needed some fresh air.”

*****

Michael was stumped. He needed to get Liz a present. He wanted to get Liz a present, but he had no idea what to get her.

It wasn’t like he knew she needed anything, although perhaps that approach would be the wrong tack considering the way things had gone down with Maria and the bumper. He didn’t want Isabel to pick out his gift to Liz. He wanted it to be something special.
Jewelry didn’t seem appropriate. And he didn’t want to get her shampoo or bubble stuff. He considered getting her a CD but somehow that didn’t feel special enough. Maybe if he burned her a special mix, songs that reminded him of Liz. There were so many after all.

He sat down to compile the song list and had pretty much decided what would go on the CD when the phone rang. It was Monk, one of the guys he worked with, apparently he was having girl trouble. Absently he listened to Monk gripe and moan and started doodling in the margins of the legal pad he’d been working on. Eventually Monk realized that Michael was just as clueless as he was regarding girls and hung up. It wasn’t until then that Michael realized what he had been drawing.

He doesn’t see me…

Liz’s voice rang through his head. A special mix CD and a sketch of her. That would be his Christmas present. Because he did see her, she was beautiful and amazing and he prayed he could do her justice with just a charcoal pencil and some drawing paper.
Michael looked for the supplies he kept hidden in his closet and for the picture of the group he kept lying around. He hoped Liz was smiling in the picture because even he realized how little she smiled. It always made him glad that he could still startle her into laughter, even when she was laughing at him, even though it only lasted a moment.

something from the archives: after vegas - part 3

2009-12-22T15:05:00.004-05:00

so here is part 3, which gives all the other characters a chance to chime in. hopefully it isn't too repetitive. also i've found a holiday story i wrote as part of another challenge. i'll post that around christmas eve & christmas day. it will give me something to do while at the in-laws. enjoy.

anyway you can read the third chapter after the break.
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Part 4

*Tess’s journal*

I’ve never spent so much time with humans in my life, than I have been forced to do in the past two weeks.

Strangely it wasn’t as bad as Nasedo used to make it sound.

I have a family now. Jim and Kyle, they care about me, they are my family. The way the Deluccas are a family. A little fucked up but real. I never realized how much I was missing out on with Nasedo. I never knew what being a family was.

All my life I’ve thought I’d find family when I found Max, Isabel, and Michael. But it took a group of humans to show me what being a family actually was. I guess I understand now why they are so tied to this place.

Kyle and I have outing privileges again. Finally.

Even though I’ve been I’ve been enjoying this family thing, it’s nice to know I can get away from it.

I really want to see Max. I know, I know. It’s sad. But I’ve missed him.

My entire life I’ve missed him.

*Isabel’s journal*

Max is so boring.

I snuck out last night last night with Kyle. There was a party at the old soap factory.

Of course I didn’t tell Max anything. He’d just pull his “I’m the King and you shouldn’t be behaving irresponsibly act”. Have I mentioned how sick I am of his self-righteousness? We’re teenagers. We should be having fun.

Las Vegas reminded me of that. Spending time with that man, I realized that I have so much to do before I’m ready to be an adult. I want to have some fun. So I called Kyle. I mean I know what he dreams about, and that boy definitely knows what it is to be a teenager.

The party was awesome. I wore my black halter with the rhinestones decorating the front and my favorite pair of red leather pants. Kyle’s reaction when he saw me was priceless. It was kind of funny to see the guy who’s still freaked about belonging to the “I know an Alien” club react so positively. I felt beautiful.

The lights and music of the party are what dominate my memories. I think I danced the entire night with Kyle.

It’s kind of weird because after mingling a bit at the party my next memory is someone running their fingers through my hair and kissing me good night.

“Good night, Princess,” were the last words I heard. But I’m pretty sure Dad didn’t put me to sleep, because I wouldn’t be free to go out again tonight. And it wasn’t Max, because he would have been a jerk and not sweet if he had caught me out. But was it really Kyle? Or was I already dreaming?

Anyway I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending more time with Kyle. He’s about as mad at Max as I am.

*Maria’s journal*

Lord, if I have to spend one more evening chaperoning my mom and the Sheriff I’ll die.

Seriously.

Not that spending time with Tess, Kyle, and Sean hasn’t been fun.*

*Yeah. I know. Weird huh?

Anyway, so Alex and I have been working on a few songs. I’m so psyched. This is our latest. It’s called “All”; I think we should dedicate it to our fellow Czechoslovakians.

I feel so much
Every time my lips touch yours
It’s not enough
Because I want more

When you look
Into my eyes and see me
It’s not enough
Because I want more

I need to feel
What is within your heart
I need to know
What you hold within your soul

You’ve always held back
Hidden behind yourself
And I want more
I want it all

I want you
I want it all

-words by Maria Delucca, music by Alexander Whitman

I’ve realized that singing is all I want to do. Alex is really the only person who understands it. And supports it. Mom totally flipped out on me when I told her, geez I even had to give her some of my cedar oil.

But I’m in the band.

Even though they call me Yoko.

I’m the lead singer of the Whits!**

I even wrote out my Grammy acceptance speech.

Work has been crazy. With rehearsals and schoolwork and Valenti-Delucca family nights. I’ve barely had a moment to myself.

I haven’t even had the chance to tell Liz any of this.

I think things are over with Michael.

I haven’t been able to talk to him because Mom hates hearing the name Michael, even if it’s not Michael Guerin I’m referring to. In fact, she hates him more than the thought of me having a singing career. And if I were forced to make the choice between Michael and singing. I know the choice I’d make.

Singing makes me happy.

Everything with Michael is so complicated. It’s such a struggle to get him to be there for me emotionally. I want so much more than he can give.

**Alex just called we have a gig Friday. I may have to cut off my left arm to get my mom to let me go. But oh my God! We’ve got a gig!!!!

*Kyle’s journal*

I should have known that alcohol made aliens act loopy.

I got Isabel Evans drunk last night.

I swear it was completely accidental.

I got every Roswell High guy’s wet dream drunk last night accidentally. Even I don’t buy it.

I just didn’t think a sip would be all it took.

She looked amazing. Wearing some shirt with sparkly things, her breasts, I mean her figure looked…

Buddha says I should practice abstinence. Well let’s just say I wasn’t feeling like abstaining when I saw Isabel. I always thought she was hot, but never thought I’d have a chance with her. But we danced all night. I couldn’t let her out of my sight. Especially since she was drunk. It was like the Ice Princess was gone, and instead there was this fun, warm person grinding with me.

Blame it on the alcohol, right? But I think she had fun too.

The trouble I went to sneaking her back home was totally worth it.

I just sat with her, threading my fingers through her hair. She has amazing hair, it’s really soft. So I kissed her good night and left.

Max caught me while I was leaving. Asked me what the hell I was up to. So I said the first thing that came to mind.

Isabel is so going to zap me with her death ray.

I told him Isabel and I were secretly dating.

I think we have a date tonight.

I’m so zapped.

*Max’s journal*

I think I’ve finally figured out why Michael hates to play Monopoly with Isabel. She cheats.

I should have figured that out ages ago, but in my defense she’s really sneaky about it. Mom and Dad don’t have a clue.

Today Iz and I get our freedom back.

And as much as I love my parents I can’t wait.

Things between Liz and me look like they’re finally going to change for the better. I saw a flicker in her eyes when I told her about the flash. For a moment it felt so real. I know that I want to get back to that again.

I think we might be able to move forward. Get back our relationship to what it once was.

Right. Michael would say I have my head in the clouds.

Not only has she been spending time with Sean Delucca, but also she slept with Kyle.

We won’t be able to move forward until I forget that.

But how do I forget?

Oh and the weirdest thing happened last night. I caught Kyle leaving Izzy’s room. What the hell is going on with them?

What is up with Kyle? How is he with all the women in my life? But if they’re really dating, then maybe I do have a chance with Liz. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince Liz I’m a much better catch than Sean.

I love her.

Why isn’t that enough?

*Alex’s journal*

Why is it that all the women in my life are just friends?

Isabel couldn’t risk making herself vulnerable. So she stuck me on the friendship shelf.

I adored her. I made a fool of myself for her. I allowed myself to be treated like shit.

So when I went to Sweden I found someone new. Someone who wouldn’t stick me on the friendship shelf. But Leanna did. Only she at least waited until I was across the Atlantic.

Lately I’ve been spending time with Maria.

And I’m afraid I’m stuck on the shelf.

simply loving the new 90210

2009-12-21T14:28:00.002-05:00

i know i've said this before, but when the new 90210 started i watched for a while and then gave up on it. it was boring. the lead guy [i forget his name, it was ...who knows, he left the show] was cute but boring. the lead girl [annie] was annoying and just terrible at acting, which made her interest in said profession all the more preposterous. the main arch-rival [naomi] was written inconsistently. the parents [deb and henry] were no jim and cindy.

but now, while deb and henry are still no jim and cindy. and annie, who seems to have been demoted from lead status to supporting player is still as terrible and annoying as ever. however, at least her storyline now works with the terrible-ness and annoying-ness of her character. meanwhile, naomi has been given more to do. and we've been able to see her softer, more vulnerable side, while at the same time maintaining a high level of ridiculous fashion and boy craziness that makes her character really fun to watch.

and adrianna, the drug addict who was only supposed to be on a handful of episodes became a regular and is awesome even when her storylines are completely ridiculous. they sound like they're getting juicier, so that's something to look forward to.

silver is still my absolute favorite character. what's great about silver is that she is the one character who has concrete ties to the original, she's david silver and kelly taylor's half-sister. i actually love her romance with teddy. and i like how they've complicated it with dixon's realization that he had a good thing with silver.

dixon has spent the last few months on his high horse, yet for no good reason because he definitely made some really bad choices. like pretending he was a music executive and much older than he really was in order to get into the older woman's pants. also how anyone would ever believe that he is older than twelve is beyond me, when you see him with the other actors you think he is years younger (even though there isn't that big an age difference in most cases, except for teddy's).

but anyway, teddy and silver. i love them. i'm rooting for them. and the mini-cliffhanger that ended the last new episode is still killing me. i can't believe i have to wait until march for more 90210. at least until then i'll get to check out life unexpected (with shiri appleby!).

something from the archives: after vegas - part 2

2009-12-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

chapter two picks up the story from liz's side of the story. one of the challenges of writing this particular story was that i had to make sure that i was making each journal entry in each character's distinct voice. i'm pretty sure i did okay with michael and liz, but the others i'm not so sure about. we'll see what you think when we get there.

anyway you can read the second chapter after the break.
show more

Part 2
*Liz’s journal*

Sometimes you get so bogged down in the what ifs and what could have beens that you don’t even realize what is going on right now. That road trip we took to Las Vegas was supposed to help me get over the future I was supposed to have. The future I gave up to save Max.

On our last day there Max told me he had a vision of us while he left the hotel. We were dressed for a wedding, our wedding, and I was in his arms and he was twirling us around. How was I to tell him that it really happened? That two years from now we would have gotten married in an Elvis chapel, and would have lived so very happily together.

And that it could never happen because it would mean the end of the world.
That our love for each other would destroy the entire world. How messed up is that?

How could I explain that what he saw was like some glitch in the matrix, where a future moment in time still hadn’t let go of its stranglehold and coexisted on the same plane as us for a second before being forced to let go.

Of course, that explanation wouldn’t work if time were linear, but I feel like I’ve had enough evidence that time exists on a plane and that the point of intersection can theoretically affect the human psyche if it were hyper-aware, which would feasibly explain the existence of psychics, as people who are aware of time on more than one level. But I don’t really have the space to get into all the specifics. Although if I were to continue along that vein it could very well lead to proof that time as we conceptualize it does not exist, therefore…

Right, suffice to say that hearing Max tell me about the flash, I felt my heart get ripped into shreds. Dancing in his arms was like a special sort of heaven and hell. We held hands all the way back to the suite. For those moments before Valenti caught us, I thought that maybe it was our chance to reconnect.

Unfortunately (or is it fortunate, I no longer know) I had time to regain my focus. I can’t betray Max. Even though he may not exist anymore. I can’t let him know what I’ve done and haven’t done. I can only hope he knows in his heart that I truly love him, that I did it all out of love for him.

I’ve really got to move on.

Since getting back to Roswell I haven’t seen much of him. I haven’t seen much of anybody. Well, that’s not completely true.

Alex is always stopping in at the Crashdown. He didn’t really get into a load of trouble. Not like the rest of us. Excluding Michael of course.
Maria, I think has it the worst. Max and Isabel just have been spending a lot of time with their parents, but they like doing that anyway. Kyle, Tess, and Maria have been spending a lot of time with each other as well, basically forced to chaperone Valenti and Amy. Pure torture. And loads of ick factor.

At school Maria and Alex have been holed up together working on some singing project. I thought after the whole deal on Valentine’s Day last year, Maria and Alex would never play together again. But it looks like they’ve gotten past those issues. I think
Maria is well on her way to being an official member of The Whits. And I guess I’m really excited for them. Although I do feel a little excluded. They have this thing they can do together and love to do. And I’m not a part of it, and considering my singing voice, I shouldn’t be.

With Maria in so much trouble with her mom, I barely get to see her. When we work, it’s been a madhouse at the Crashdown and then she has to go straight home. Her mom picks her up and drops her off. Not even Sean is allowed to, Amy’s really keeping tabs on her daughter.

Speaking of Sean, I think we’re really becoming good friends. At one point I thought, “maybe he’s the guy who can help me get over Max”, but after the whole thing in Vegas. I guess I’m looking for more than whatever I can have with Sean. I want a real connection. I need a connection if I’m going to move on.

Something like my connection with Max. Just as strong. Or stronger. I can’t help but wonder if it’s an alien thing though. Because if it is…

This is getting to be depressing.

I’ve also been spending time with Michael. I know, how weird is that? I swear instead of returning to Roswell, we’ve been sucked into the twilight zone. Michael even had dinner with my parents and me.

It was surprisingly nice. Dad’s always liked Michael. And even Mom warmed up to him a bit. Which is amazing, she doesn’t tend to warm up to anyone. She doesn’t like Alex, for goodness’ sake. How Michael won my parents over is something I’ll never figure out.

Ok, so last night I had dinner with Michael. I mean he made me dinner. My favorite, fajitas.

Did I mention he made them himself? It was really sweet of him.

I was surprised he knew that they were my favorite. He wouldn’t tell me how it was he knew.* I guess Maria told him.

It was a really nice dinner. I had a really great time. We actually had civilized conversation for an entire evening. And we had never managed that before. But after Vegas, things in the group are all different. And maybe my improved relationship with Michael is one of those things.

It’s funny because I’ve been spending a lot of time alone with Michael. I mean we’ve never really talked before. Mainly because he’s not much of a talker. And also because
I thought he didn’t like me.

But I guess that isn’t true.

Spending time with him is so wonderful. He is not at all demanding. He doesn’t need me to play a role. Be someone I’m not or someone I can’t be.

Unlike Max.

And Maria. And my parents for that matter.

It’s weird how well Michael knows me without me having to say a word.

*I just remembered how he knew about my love of fajitas. He read my journal. The jerk. Which is probably the reason he knows me so well. Although remembering his words when he brought it back, I guess that’s why I’d forgotten about the whole thing. What did he mean when he said “Thank you for giving me one more reason to envy Max Evans.”? How can you be mad at someone who says something like that to you?

I should really be mad about it, but it’s kind of a relief. Knowing that I don’t have to explain myself. That he knows.

That he understands. Which is probably the best part of it all.

In a way I think I know him too. I understand him.

It’s so nice to be able to sit in complete silence with someone and not feel pressured to make small talk. After dinner we sat and watched an old Hitchcock movie, The Birds, which really freaked me out. I mean the special effects were so cheesy, but it was such a chilling film. Michael was really cool about it. He made sure I felt safe.
Michael even had to walk me home because I was so freaked. We had some ice cream on my balcony. We didn’t talk much. At all actually. I just watched him as he drew. Pretending to be writing in this journal. But I was mesmerized by the way he held the pencil in his hands, the way he concentrated on the blank piece of paper. Changing it from nothing to everything.

It was really late when he left.

And he’d left behind his sketch. So I took a look. I mean, he’s read my journal. And he left his sketch behind, so obviously he wanted me to see it. Right?

He had drawn me.

I don’t know what to think. I mean what does a drawing mean? Did he leave it behind on purpose? Did he mean for me to see it?

Because it was beautiful.

And I don’t know what to think.

simply too much to laugh about

2009-12-12T22:40:00.009-05:00

last year i probably would have said that "how i met your mother" and "the office" were my top two half hour comedies. it doesn't take too long for things to change.

the fall season's fresh crop of comedies--"modern family", "cougar town", and "community"--have proven to be enjoyable, smart, funny shows. even as the shows grow into their own in fits and starts, the writing has been working on a consistently higher level on these three shows than on either "the office" or "how i met your mother".

maybe it's that they've hit the fifth season slump, but while i still make both shows appointment tv, more often than not i am let down by the episodes. one of my favorite things about how i met your mother last year was the barney-robin romance, this season there were so many ways the writers could have gone about addressing the pairing as a couple. unfortunately for us viewers, they picked the worst possible way. lily forcing barney and robin to declare themselves boyfriend and girlfriend was the worst. the fact that the show then had both barney and robin act completely out of character and forced them into a conventional relationship when what made them interesting in the first place was the fact that as commitment-phobes their relationship would be a challenge for them both. theoretically it should have let them both grow as characters while still keeping them interesting.

massive fail and so many missed opportunities. by putting the focus on how their relationship changed the dynamics of the group, instead of it just being a natural step in the group's evolution to adulthood, the show stopped being funny. and except for ted, who for some reason remained unscathed, the rest of the characters became annoying caricatures. so they broke barney and robin up. and barney has regressed to being the same player he always was, and robin is robin. and so i feel like the show wasted three months of my life to have things go back to where they were before the whole storyline started.

so yeah, i'm a little bitter about that. especially when you take a look at how "big bang theory" handled putting leonard and penny together. i love that the relationship has been allowed to progress with no major manufactured dramas, and that the dynamic between the friends hasn't really changed. because the romance is not the focus of the show, it's just something that is going on incidentally, the occasional episode where it is the focus isn't unwelcome.

with the office the problem has more to do with the complex corporate issues they keep throwing into the mix. having michael and jim as co-managers puts too much focus on their own power struggles and less time on the ensemble. angela, meredith, stanley, ryan, kelly have really been missing this year. though with ryan in on dwight's diabolical plot there may be some comedy forthcoming. the problem with this, however, is that the show has consistently put pam and jim as the show's "good guys". they are the characters who are supposed to be most in tune with reality. and though their wedding episode was very sweet and a perfect cap to the five seasons of their relationship, since then they've become a bit smug, annoying, and patronizing. the fact that jim is a manager means he's actually trying to make this job work, when in previous seasons he was brilliant as the foil or instigator to the various dwight plots.

i miss that jim. the one bright spot has been the slow-burn romance between erin and andy. both characters are so sweetly oblivious, that they consistently misread each other's interest. i can't wait until they figure it out. they have become the couple to root for on the show.

something from the archives: after vegas - part 1

2009-12-11T03:26:00.000-05:00

so back when i wrote fan fiction i penned it under the name etoile1. this story is a challenge i took up from another roswell fan named CarolRoswellFan and the conditions were as follows: the story needed to be set after the "viva las vegas" episode and it needed to explore the relationships of max/tess, maria/alex, kyle/isabel, michael/liz. i remember really liking this challenge because the conditions weren't too tough, and because it required tackling relationships that included all the teenage characters on the show, i decided to use a journal-style narrative. and because i was (still am) a michael and liz fan, i spent more of my time on them. anyway, so this story is called "after vegas" and at the time i rated it r for language, though i think now-a-days it's probably a pg-13.

anyway you can read the first chapter after the break.
show more

Part 1
*Michael’s journal*

Roswell, NM.

I hate this place. What I want to know is why the fuck whoever sent us down here left us in fucking Roswell, NM? Cause the joke’s on them.

Vegas. Now that was one hell of a town. Things happen in Vegas. Crazy fucked up shit.
I enjoyed Vegas. Even if I spent most of the time in jail with Max. Although I guess I’d of rather been spending time with…well never mind that.

Anyway, after the sheriff caught onto our scheme, we all trucked our way back to fucking Roswell, NM.

You can see how happy I am about this right?

Although I was lucky. No parents meant not getting grounded. Yeah. Lucky me.

Max and Isabel were condemned to endless family nights. Whatever. They love to play fucking Monopoly. Now that’s a game I never understood. To finish it takes forever. And Isabel cheats. She changes the money with her powers. Not that anyone else ever managed to catch on. Hell, I just followed her example. Which explains the fact that we’ve never finished a game.

Maria was really unlucky. I haven’t seen her since we ‘d gotten back. The Sheriff told Amy about the whole deal. And Amy went ballistic. I don’t think I have a girlfriend anymore. Access to the Jetta has been revoked completely and the only outings Maria gets to go on are to family dinners with Kyle, Tess, Sean, her mom, and Valenti. Not what I’d call fun.

Tess and Kyle’s punishment are those same family dinners. I think that they were all forced to play charades. Another completely pointless game. Personally who wants to look like an idiot while people are trying to figure out what the hell you’re trying to act out without laughing? Not me. I hate to be laughed at. Not big on laughing either.

Alex only lost computer privileges for a week. I think his parent’s were actually a bit thrilled to know that he had other interests beside computer games. He wasn’t happy about it, but he certainly sneaked his way around that one. He’s hung out with Maria practicing songs with her after school or something. I’m pretty sure that he checked his email when there. In fact I think that’s how he found out he’s been dumped by his Swedish girlfriend.

Now he and Maria were drowning their sorrow in music. Ever since she’d asked him to be her accompanist in Vegas they’d been seriously pursuing the idea of performing together.
Whatever. I guess they sound good. What do I know of music?

I hadn’t really seen anyone since we’d gotten back.

Well, except for Liz. Whose punishment apparently was to put in a ton of extra hours at the Crashdown. I’m guessing she doesn’t get paid. Not that you earn a lot in the first place. Although with everyone out of commission I’ve even been putting extra hours and making a little extra cash. So it actually hasn’t been so bad.

Liz.

Lately she’s been in my thoughts a lot. I guess because she’s the only person I’ve been spending any sort of time with. Hell, I even had dinner with the Parkers one night.

Yeah. I was surprised too.

I’m not known for being family dinner material. But somehow it was okay with the Parkers.
We’d both finished closing the diner up, when Jeff, Liz’s dad, announced that dinner was on the table, and invited me to join them.

The thought of making myself dinner when I’d already been offered one was too tempting to resist. There was no way I was turning down a decent home cooked meal. I work at a grease joint; my cooking isn’t what you’d call five-star caliber.

Dinner with them was so different from dinner with the Evans. The Parkers were not the All-American family, loving and supportive the way the Evans are. Nancy, Liz’s mom, was a…well she was a bitch. Liz is nothing like her. Jeff is a lot nicer, but he’s too twitchy. I think that drives everyone else in the family crazy.

I’d never noticed that Liz really didn’t get along with her parents. I always thought she was a complete goody-two-shoes. You know Shirley Temple. The little princess who has it better than anyone else. But I was totally off-base. I’ve been off-base about Liz Parker so many times, I can’t help wondering how she’ll surprise me next.

What was great about the Parkers was that even in their dysfunction, they were so cool to hang out with. I was totally okay for them. They didn’t need me to be this perfect kid; all they needed for me to fit in was dysfunction. And after years with Hank as a parent, I can tell you dysfunction comes as second nature. Hell, it’s probably my only nature.

The Parkers don’t play family games after dinner.

How fucking amazing is that? The Evans made me participate in that form of torture one time too many, what can I say?

Instead Nancy, who is anal as all hell, seriously I thought Isabel was bad, but Nancy takes the cake on being a control freak, anyway she starts cleaning. Everything. She even mops the floor. Their floors are spotless.

Jeff goes out to the alley to have a smoke. After spending time with Nancy, I totally get him. I’d take up smoking if I had to spend a lifetime with that woman.

And Liz, well she goes to her balcony. She invited me to hang out there with her. We didn’t talk much. Just sort of sat around in silence. Looking up at the stars. Liz wrote in her journal for a while and I borrowed a piece of paper and doodled for a while.

I don’t think Maria and I have ever spent that much time together without speaking. Well, unless you count kissing. But just sort of hanging out alone without needing anything more than the person’s presence. I don’t think I’d ever had a more amazing night.

Which quite frankly scares the shit out of me.

Liz finished serving her time today. And on impulse I’d invited her over for dinner. You know as a thank you. I even made fajitas. Home-cooked not out of a box. Mexican food is her favorite.
How do I know this? Well, I read the girl’s journal once. I think that’s why we’re so oddly comfortable in each other’s presence. I know her secrets and she knows mine. Hell, she even saw where I lived when Hank was still around. She’d even seen Hank.

Yeah, so I’m scared shitless.

Fuck, I’ve even picked up the place.

That’s what’s worrying me.

Why am I so excited about Liz coming over to hang out? I mean its not like I want to date her or anything, I mean I have Maria. Right?

Shit.

I can’t be in love with Liz Parker.

God, I hope not. She’s exhausting.

Fuck. I’d like her to wear me out anytime.

I did not just write that down.

I’m not in love with Liz Parker.

I’ll admit I’ve done stupid things in my life. Blowing fifteen thousand dollars in Vegas was probably one of them. But falling in love with Liz.

That would take the cake.

simply unable to contain all my glee

2009-12-10T14:46:00.007-05:00

omg, you guys. i'm so bummed that there will be no more new episodes of "glee" until april. even more so because "glee" will be airing against the final season of "lost" and since i share a television with the husband who watches "lost" and not "glee" i think i know what i will be staying up late for on tuesdays this spring.

anyway, right now i'm consoling myself by listening to "glee - the music, vol. 2" which is awesome and oh-so-cheesy. i don't know what it is about this show that i love so much. especially since the writing is totally inconsistent, there are too many characters and often when something deeper is revealed about them it is immediately forgotten in the next episode, the suspension of disbelief required to get through watching a single episode is pretty astronomical, but in spite of all of that, i LOVE this show.

one of the more fascinating things about the show is the character of rachel berry. she is annoying, a total diva, incapable of understanding social cues, but she is also so very endearing. her personality rubs so many the wrong way, but all rachel has ever wanted is to be part of a team. it's why she's a member of every club she can be a member of. she tries so hard, and it often doesn't get her to where she wants to go. ultimately, the glee club understands that she is a cornerstone to their road to victory, and that to have rachel on their team makes them a better team, no matter how annoying she is.

i happen to love rachel. i love her relationship with finn, the clueless quarterback. one of the more interesting things at play during "sectionals" was the fact that the entire glee club was aware of the fact that quinn's baby wasn't finn's but was puck's. i personally never bought the rationalization from mercedes that quinn chose finn to be the father of her baby and that everyone else needed to respect that, because i felt that it didn't take into account the fact that finn's life was also being ruined. not that having a baby means your life is ruined. but finn has dreams and aspirations and having a baby before he graduates high school wasn't one of them.

in both the pregnancy plots this season it was very clear that the rights of the father weren't considered to be of importance. and while rachel was partly being selfish in telling finn the truth, she also did it because he deserved to know. he was bearing a weight on his shoulders that wasn't his to bear. it was a secret that needed to be told, and in the end, i think it made a difference that it was rachel who told him. i happen to like finn and rachel together. though apparently there is a larger puck and rachel fandom. i didn't mind the episode they were together, but i also think the point of that episode was that neither of them was really free to be in a relationship, because puck is hot for his baby momma and rachel loves finn in spite of his stupidity.

it took to long for the show to reveal the baby drama, especially since the whole plot meant that we were supposed to believe that mr. schue and finn were barely intelligent enough to function.

i love that mr. schue left his lying wife behind. i really hope it sticks because my favorite moments in this episode were all will-emma moments. this one is my absolute favorite:

squee! they totally kissed. and it was such a climactic moment, even though anyone with half a brain could call it in. i still love it. i'm such a sucker for forbidden romance. here are some more moments from a fan video:

love it. i really hope that the storyline actually progresses. the situation is complicated, but will and emma have some good chemistry. and even though terri and ken are still around, i'm hoping that the obstacles ahead of them aren't so insurmountable. because really their romance isn't really the main thrust of the story. so theoretically you don't need all these challenges in their relationship. them being together or not doesn't really affect the outcome. right? i just happen to like them together. i can't help it. i'm a total sucker for romance.

something from the archives: a new feature

2009-12-09T23:14:00.005-05:00

so a long time ago i was obsessed with the television show "roswell", in fact, i felt so strongly about that show that i became a pretty active member of the online community. the other day i decided to google myself, in part because i wanted to see if my real name was associated with any of the fan fiction i wrote during that period of time. it's not. but i also found that a lot of the archives that contain my fan fiction are incomplete which is kind of a bummer.

i also spent a lot of time rereading the stuff i wrote, and while some of it isn't polished, it's actually not that bad. i really liked some of those stories. i never finished some of those stories. and i don't know, but i think it's time i focused on my writing again. and as ridiculous as some people think fan fiction is, it's also great practice for writing. most of my fan fiction was alternate universe and involved unconventional couples. in roswell fan speak i was a dreamer, a polarist, and a loyalist. mostly i loved the character of liz, and as i watched the show there came a point where i believed the writers lost sight of who that character was, and fan fiction gave me an outlet. i met some great people on those fan sites, and every once in a while i still think of them.

so here's what i've decided to do. since i've been feeling uninspired when it comes to talking about television and romance here, i'm going to repost my roswell fanfic. i'm not going to post all of it at once, i'm actually going to try and take a look at what needs some work, some editing. i've noticed typos and choppy sentences and weird transitions. so i'll work on those things. and some of the stories remain unfinished, so i'm going to try and complete them. it will take me a while to do this, but it's also kind of a fun project for me. and let's face it, i mostly write this blog for myself anyway. [i mean that in a good way, i do appreciate my readers.]

so going forward any posts labeled "something from the archives" will be a fan fiction post, and it should be easy to ignore if it's not something you're interested in. i'm actually pretty proud of a lot of the stuff i wrote back then, even the sex scenes. [any posts containing explicit scenes will be labeled as such.] here's the thing, i really, genuinely loved the characters, and i felt like i knew them well. well enough to write almost an entire novel! some of the stories are really that long. anyway, this will be a fun experiment. and i'm going to try to be better about posting so that i'm mixing this older content up with new content.

simply need to post something before the month is out

2009-11-30T21:23:00.004-05:00

um, oops.

so, i just finished watching the amazing (!!) thanksgiving episode of gossip girl. every year, they manage to make a good thanksgiving episode. in part, i think because it's the one holiday a year that they can contrive to have everyone together in a way that is somewhat natural and also manage to propel the story forward.

this year's episode was a doozy. i wish i knew what the hell was going on. here are the highlights:

1. serena and tripp are k-i-s-s-i-n-g
and of course everyone finds out. chuck spills the details to nate when it's captured on his hotel's security tapes. tripp's wife hears it from nate, after lily raises some red flags when she invites maureen and tripp over for thanksgiving dinner. and everyone (except maybe rufus) finds out when maureen decides to blab about it over rufus' lame thanksgiving joke. i don't know what the joke was, but it probably had to do with music since the punchline is "plymouth rock" and we all know how rufus is a washed up rock star.

2. cece is a-ok
and lily is a big fat liar. and somehow her big fat lies have to do with the first (and really only) dr. van der woodsen. what he wrote in his letter for serena is the big mystery that leads us to next week. when maureen will more than likely blow it out of the water. again, poor rufus gets the shaft here, i don't know why he thinks he can keep up with the van der woodsen women and the lies they tell.

3. jenny and eric are friends no more
and i'm actually intrigued by this storyline. it's actually giving them something to do this season, i like eric's association with kira and can't wait to see what happens when they go to the trenches. i think the mean girls will have some fun, though i ultimately hope these two find their magic again.

4. dan and vanessa are still boring
and vanessa's mom is a pill. honestly, i love anna espinosa, but she's so crunchy granola and self-righteous on this show that it's a pleasure when she's not on the screen. at least we know where vanessa gets her wet blanket jeans from. also jessica szohr is a very pretty girl, why is she always made to look so hideous on this show? i don't get it.

what i also don't get is how penn badgley can be so hot and not have any chemistry with anyone except blake lively. the thing is everyone has chemistry with blake. we need to find dan an interesting girlfriend.

5. chuck bass needs more to do
i mean, it's great that he is acting the superhero lately. my friend, miss l, says he has a batman voice and he just swoops in at the last moment to save the day and prevent his friends and family from acting stupid while he wears purple suits and ascots. all of this is great. but, chuck bass is more than that. and him and blair could be something more than what they are at the moment.

6. dorota is preggers
a cute subplot, though i'm not sure whether vanya and dorota's love affair should evolve any more than it has. but perhaps there will be a wedding in dorota's future. at least that will be an interesting event that will get our series regulars in the room together.

so next week we wait for the fall out. and i have to say after weeks of spinning its wheels, gossip girl feels on track. that might have been the most insane, nonsensical episode, but i loved every second of it. may the trend continue.

simply working too hard to make platinum

2009-10-27T21:39:00.005-04:00

so i feel terrible. i really meant to post more before now. but a 16-day vacation overseas and craziness at work has really gotten in the way of my being able to write anything. but i promise i'm working on things and hopefully as this blog turns 1 year old, i'll be able to keep up with it more regularly.

upcoming posts will talk all the usual, tv (especially glee and greys) and books (i've made a lot of progress on my grandmother's books, i just haven't written about any of it) and movies (i'm positive i've seen a few that i can talk about here), i'm also going to focus more on the romance aspect of things instead of plot, because that's my favorite part of it all.

p.s. i did actually make platinum on my frequent flier program on this last trip. part of me is thrilled, the other part of me feels lame for traveling all the time.

simply more season openers

2009-09-21T21:16:00.023-04:00

so i started writing the previous post last monday, and it took a week to post because the carpenter redoing the basement door decided to cut our cable and "fix" it with electrical tape, ensuring that our cable, internet and phone were completely out for over two days, and then we had out of town guests for the rest of the week.

so, even though it took me all weekend, i've finally caught up with television that aired last week.
show more

monday's premiere:

"gossip girl"
oh, upper eastsiders how i've missed you and your ridiculous parties. and even more ridiculous clothing. and utterly ridiculous lack of plot and character development. "reversals of fortune" feels like a transition episode from start to finish, the gang is recovering from their summers and are eagerly anticipating their falls, and the show tries to balance recapping everyone's summer with some teasing of storylines to come, but it's just not that good at it.

here's what we know:

blair and chuck are together and still going strong. even as they struggle to make their relationship work for them. blair and chuck are unique, and for them to work as a couple, they can't be quite like just any other couple. their attraction to each other is a bit twisted. blair looks prim and proper but she isn't sweetness and light, she loves chuck because he can express the darkness that she represses. their relationship cannot be totally vanilla for them to work as a couple. [granted because it is essentially a teen show on a teen network it skirts around the possibilities.]

nate can't help being boring. he's caught up in a romeo-juliet type plot with the daughter of a rival political family. but at least he's pretty.

serena looked gorgeous in this peach-colored gown. except she was also a little overdressed for the occasion [a polo match]. she is also involved in some crazy scheme to get her father's attention by misbehaving and having her photograph plastered all over the tabloids. carter baizen also has something to do with it, but they chose not to let us in on the secret just yet.

rufus is stuck with the van der woodsen and humphrey kids in the hamptons, and his look of confusion here accurately reflects his state of being throughout the episode.

eric and jenny continue to be adorable together. it's just too bad that they don't have any sort of interesting plot line.

tuesday's show:

"90210"
the second episode of the second season continues to demonstrate the show's improvement. "to sext or not to sext" further expands on the relationships developing on the show, and for once, it's not that focused on romance, but rather on the friendships.

naomi, adriana, and silver continue to be besties, in the most ridiculous way possible. they are observing the boys trying out for the surfing team, and preening on top of naomi's car.

the boys are also adorably excited upon making the surf team. they are also instant buddies in a way that defies explanation. liam needs a haircut.

meanwhile at the blaze, navid tries to make things interesting but ends up being forced to interview teddy and act like a jealous douchebag. ade is appropriately upset with him, though if she stopped being angry at navid for a second she would realize that a little reassurance from her would go a long way. [in the background you may spot rumer willis, beginning her guest stint as a student at west bev.]

wednesday's show:

"glee"
i'm going to admit that i didn't love "acafellas" as much as other people. i think because i enjoy the characters interacting, and not all doing their own thing. there were a couple great moments. and i think jayma mays is amazing as emma. her understated performance and the tension teeming between her guidance counselor and matthew morrison's spanish teacher is hot.

i did also love seeing victor garber and debra monk as mr. schuester's parents. [ok, i admit, i can't remember his first name.] i really hope we'll get to see garber sing a song or two at some point. he usually plays such a badass that his musical theater background is easily forgotten.

thursday's premieres:

"the office"
office gossip spins out of control culminating in the big reveal of jim and pam's pregnancy. what is great about the reveal is that michael spreads it as a falsehood to hide the fact that he accidentally spilled the beans on stanley's affair with his physical therapist. but because michael is inept in all things, he bungles his revelation by masking it with fact, and all hell breaks loose at the office. it's up to jim and pam to salvage the situation. and they do. of course, they can't stop michael from revealing stanley's affair to his wife and the last shots of stanley bashing in michael's car were priceless.

"community"
in the opening moments of the show, we are given the stereotypes of people who attend community college. these stereotypes inhabit the cast, and in an unlikely series of events all end up in the same made-up study group run by joel mchale, a lawyer who has been disbarred for faking his credentials. he tries to con his way through community college and into a fellow student's pants, but all of this manages to backfire on him. because it seems that this time, he'll actually have to work hard to succeed at something. and somehow the premise works. mainly because the characters are funny.

abed is my favorite so far. but they all have their charm and i will keep watching to see if the show can keep up with all the comedy. in a nice touch, after numerous references to the breakfast club, the pilot episode is dedicated to john hughes' memory.

"vampire diaries"
ok so not technically a premiere, but the second episode picks up pretty much where the first one left off. this time there is more damon. ian somerhalder is the most interesting actor on this show of pretty people. in part because his character is so juicy, but in part because he is actually more than just a pretty face. he is completely different from every other role i've seen him play. and he seems to be having fun with it.

stefan needs to lighten up a bit. otherwise, he's just a boring goody-two-shoes who happens to be a vampire. [i might have to admit to having a thing for bad boy vampires: spike, eric, and now damon are all on the list. angel and bill, and now stefan don't do much for me as the dark, brooding vampire filled with nobility. blah.] i also happen to like jeremy. in part because the actor is steve mcqueen's grandson, and i think it's possible i just like the actor more than i like his storyline.

this show really works because of its eye candy. because so far, story-wise it hasn't done all that much. but i'm giving it a chance, because sometimes it takes a couple episodes for the stories to really gel. at least that's what i'm telling myself.

images courtesy of cwtv.com

simply blood and gore

2009-09-20T20:56:00.002-04:00

it seems that vampires are all the rage, no? so after a summer of avoiding "true blood" [for no specific reason, dh and i just never got our act together.], i spent the weekend catching up on the show just in time for the season finale. and what a season it was.

watching it almost all in one go, i think, gave me a sense of what worked and didn't work this season. in list form, here are my thoughts on season 2 of "true blood":

1. maryann and the zombie-eyed orgies
one of the challenges i face when i watch this show is that i really love the books. and i've read the books. so going in i knew that maryann was a maenad. what alan ball did with the character expanded on what happened with that character in the books. and it did give tara a significant storyline for the season, obviously an area that ball will tend to have more creative license with, since her character in the books is almost tertiary.

the story about maryann was the frame for the whole season. this was the season's over-arching mystery: what is up with maryann? and ultimately, the answer to that question wasn't really interesting. seeing the bon temps townfolk get zombie-eyed and have crazy, orgiastic sex [including, apparently, the sodomizing of a pine tree. i ask how can one sodomize a pine tree? isn't a pine tree lacking in parts that one would be able to sodomize?], wasn't interesting after the first two times, especially since the naked girl parts were all displayed by cute, youngish girls, whereas the naked boy parts were all displayed by old fat men. not cool hbo. not cool.

when the vampire queen of louisiana, sophie-anne, finally tells bill how to solve the problem of the maenad, i kept hoping that maybe she told him the wrong thing. i wanted her to be wrong or to have willfully misled bill because something more dramatic than making maryann believe that the ritual worked this time needed to happen. and while sam's "sacrifice" and sookie's reactions were all dramatically compelling, it still was a big letdown.

2. dallas and the nest of vampires
so i've been to dallas. in fact, one of the worst trips i've ever taken was to dallas. i had a cab driver who accused me of being an fbi profiler trying to pin a murder charge on him and the adam's mark hotel checked someone else into my room--while i was clearly using it! i've never quite forgiven the city for these things. and i also hate that america's team is considered to be the dallas cowboys. i am not a fan of the cowboys. i wouldn't be married if i were.

anyway, the trip to dallas for sookie and bill isn't exactly a success, what with all the kidnapping, near-rape, suicide bombers laced with silver, and general creepiness associated with the newlins and the fellowship of the sun [more on them later]. but where the book concentrated the action on the events in dallas, the dallas interlude on the show was much shorter.

spending a little more time on the vampires--the politics, the hierarchy, the opposing factions--all of that stuff is dramatic and can serve as a metaphor to any number of social groups. learning more about isabel and stan, and where they stand in the vampire pecking order, and how that compares with eric's position, would have been nice. godric isn't eric's maker in the books, but it i thought that particular change worked well within the realm of "true blood" the show. it gave us insight to another side of eric.

a side very much worth seeing.

3. fellowship of the sun and other kooks
in the books jason never joins up with the fellowship of the sun, but if he had, well, i don't think things would have turned out much differently. the character of jason is fascinating, in the books he is petulant, selfish, and has a real mean streak. in the show, he is dumb as bricks, self-absorbed, but has a good heart at the bottom of all that prettiness. his relationship with sookie is much more contentious in the books, sookie is more critical of her brother, even though they do have as little to do with each other on both the show and the books.though they did have some sweet moments this season.

tv jason means well, he is just easily distracted from the path of righteousness. and abstinence is certainly not his strong suit. watching the interaction between the newlins and jason, it was obvious that "god" was going to point sarah toward jason's pants [or rather what's in jason's pants]. and it was also clear that reverend steve and his wife exist on completely different wavelengths. this is highlighted in one of their last appearances on the screen this season, and i can't help but think that they'll be back and just as dysfunctional as ever.

all this being said, the light of day institute stuff, the plan to "force" godric to meet the sun, wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been, but was also kind of boring. luke was possibly the least interesting character they could have introduced, and his death by suicide bomb had little impact because he was a jackass competing with jason half the time, and an earnest lost soul the other. gabe was also introduced clumsily, and as boot-camp instructor, reverend steve's lackey, and near-rapist he had a thankless role, but the character could have been developed with a little more depth.

4. the young lovers: hoyt and jessica
one of the great things that alan ball has done with the show [even though i am occasionally frustrated by this] is to treat the source material as a roadmap. he hasn't been afraid to put his own spin on things. and the calculated risk of introducing jessica paid off big time over the course of the second season.

deborah ann woll does an amazing job playing jessica, who is at times a petulant, rebellious teenager; a naïve young woman forced to adapt to difficult, life-altering circumstances; and a person capable of monstrous things, who needs to learn to control her baser impulses. when they first introduced her in the first season, i thought it was a terrible idea. but she won me over, and her sweet, tender romance with hoyt fortenberry has done a lot to counter a lot of the violence and ugliness that comprises the show's dna.

there is something so pure about first love, and the fact that it is first love for both these characters, makes the journey for them that much sweeter. but they have some tremendous obstacles ahead. hoyt's mama is a force to be reckoned with, the fact that she's kept her boy so tied to her apron strings that he's reached the age of thirty without having sex is pretty amazing, especially considering he is close friends with jason stackhouse, the sex machine. he is such a mama's boy that even as she insults him and jessica, he can't bear to shut her up, and quickly comes to her defense when jessica bites her.

it's a tough scene, and it is completely understandable that jessica wouldn't have been able to control that impulse. and it's not surprising that hoyt choses his mother, she's been the main woman in his life for so long. it's not until mrs. fortenberry reveals some horrible things about hoyt's father that he is even able to stand up to her. it's only then that he choses to seek jessica out, but it might be too late to save their relationship.

because jessica is still reeling from the realization that she will forever be a virgin. her first time with hoyt will be the first of many first times. and this knowledge makes her a little crazy, as does her fight with hoyt. when we last see jessica, she's feeding off a trucker at a rest stop after having told him she's a virgin. it's an act of rebellion, it's seedy and repulsive, the complete opposite of her first time with hoyt. and the scene at the rest stop is nicely contrasted with a scene showing us that hoyt has gotten all dressed up, he's bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and knocks patiently at jessica's door ready to ask for forgiveness.

forgiveness given and granted will be the thrust of their story next season. because the obstacles keep rising up between them, and how they cope will make for an interesting turn of events.

5. eric is awesome
i still say there wasn't enough eric. alexander skarsgård is delightful as the sheriff of area five. this season we learn more of eric, he is a manipulator, an enforcer, and a loyal friend. he's been a vampire for so long that he has little empathy or time for regular humans, but he in his efforts to help godric he is forced to be in touch with his feelings. godric, sheriff of the dallas vampires, is his maker. it is a complex relationship between a vampire and his maker, and unlike bill and lorena, there is a deep love between godric and eric. they've known each other for at least a thousand years.

this connection humanizes eric. at one point, while helping sookie escape the fellowship of the sun, eric and sookie have the following exchange:

sookie: he's your maker isn't he?
eric: don't use words you don't understand.
sookie: you have a lot of love for him.
eric: don't use words i don't understand.

eric may not understand love anymore, but it is obvious that he feels it for godric. and as he continues to struggle with his fascination with sookie, it will be interesting to watch how he handles emotions that he hasn't been in touch with for a long time. [a key indicator that he feels something for sookie is when he is discussing bill and his human with sophie-anne.]

ultimately, there wasn't enough eric in the season finale. the show works best for me when it's dealing with vampire stuff. and while i understand why the focus on bon temps, and know that the were and shifter stories will pick up next season, the show needs more eric. a LOT more eric.

6. and they're cousins: tara and lafayette
in a major departure from the books, lafayette is kept alive. but after being held hostage by eric as a punishment for dealing v [vampire blood], lafayette has lost some of his pizzazz. tara has also lost her pizzazz after discovering that the psychic who performed an exorcism on her and her mother was a big old fake.

the cousins have a pretty rough season of it. tara is inextricably caught up with maryann the maenad, and lafayette needs some serious recovery time from dealing with the vampires. with a little help from her friends, tara is released from the maenad's influence. but lafayette is not necessarily as lucky. released as part of a deal by sookie, eric forces him to again trade in v, which is later revealed to be part of a plot by sophie-anne and maybe something bill has unfortunately mixed himself up in.

7. sophie-anne, the capricious vampire queen of louisiana
as played by evan rachel wood, sophie-anne is child-like, frivolous, and likely full of mischief. we discover early on that sookie's cousin hadley is living with her. which will very likely play into future seasons' storylines. when bill goes to see her, it is unclear whether or not she is simply toying with him. when she dismisses bill for eric, we discover that she enjoys wielding her power. as the head vampire of the state of louisiana, eric and bill have no choice but to submit to her whims.

when bill threatens eric over what he believes to be eric's trafficking of v, he doesn't realize how deep the waters he is stepping in are. eric, we discover, is trafficking v on sophie-anne's orders. not only that, the blood that he is trafficking happens to belong to sophie-anne. this opens up the suspect pool to bill's disappearance in the closing moments of the season. is it eric? is it sophie-anne? eric acting on sophie-anne's orders? or is it the spurned lorena?

the black gloves could mean it was either a vampire wielding a silver chain or just a general criminal covering their tracks. and the fact is, i'm just hoping we get a little less bill and more eric as a result of whatever happened.

[i'm not even going to talk about the proposal.]

images courtesy of tvguide.com

simply watching the new season begin

2009-09-12T15:49:00.017-04:00

ah, it's back. network television in the fall. professional football. reasonable weather in new england. these are all good things.

this week started off light, giving just a small taste of the fall television goodness to come, but i think that was a good thing considering i essentially stopped watching television this summer. [i'm not one to turn on the t.v. and flip. i'm the absolute opposite of a channel flipper and happen to be very lucky to not have married a channel flipper. we lose track of the remote so often in our household we wish it would come with a pager from the cable box. why hasn't anyone invented that yet?]

anyway, so this week the cw premiered about half of its fall schedule and fox premiered "glee" [if other channels premiered things i don't know about them, the aforementioned lack of channel flipping and the fact that most of what i watch i schedule on the dvr and watch when i'm in the mood to.]

anyway, here are my thoughts on the premieres i watched this week:

1. "90210"
so last season i definitely had a love-hate thing going on with this show. i watched the first couple of episodes and then decided that it was incredibly boring. so i deleted it off the dvr, but then i read about how it was getting better so i checked it out again and kind of got into it, and since i wasn't watching anything else on tuesdays at 8, i figured i might as well. but then i forgot to watch the last two episodes of the season, which were apparently spectacularly ridiculous.

but i was excited to put it back on the dvr, and i really enjoyed the season premiere. it finally feels like it is becoming the show it always aspired to be. the new season opened at the close of summer, but did a good job of making sure that the repercussions of the season finale were still being felt. one thing that was slightly weird was the close friendship between naomi, adriana, and silver, but i really enjoyed seeing them as friends, and am willing to overlook that it doesn't exactly follow that they would be that close.

sometimes it is easier to forgive these things when i think back and remember high school. friendships were so fluid then, the ones that last, the ones that survive college and life and marriage and divorce and all the crap, those friendships are worth treasuring. but high school is such a strange moment in life, when you look back on it, it's as if you were a part of a sociological experiment that you never agreed to participate in. that is probably the reason it provides so much fodder for drama and comedy and story on television, and reliving it again with the beautiful people on the television screen is always enjoyable.

"90210" has a new showrunner who is committed to making a show that fulfills its aspirations. and i think that so far, so good. from what i've read online the second episode of the season improves on the first. and the first was already an improvement on last season. if only they could dump lame annie [poorly played by shanae grimes], though they've definitely moved in the right direction with her character. she's no goody-goody anymore, and her "brenda-fication" can only be good for the show. shanae does okay at snide, bratty teenager, but she can't really emote much else.

annalynne mccord, as naomi, is being dressed less like a forty-year old woman, which can also only help. [the fug girls often refer to her as drunkface, and sadly her acting often causes her to pull said face into use.] she's best when she's not trying so hard. let jessica lowndes [adriana] and jessica stroup [silver] pick up the slack on the emoting and the show is a million times better. luckily as the former drug addict and pregnant teen, and the bi-polar girl who filmed a sex video with her [now-ex] boyfriend, respectively, they do have the meatier stories.

the introduction of teddy [pictured above], will also be good for the show i think. i like his chemistry with silver, and will be interested to see where that goes. especially since teddy was the sole witness to annie's hit-and-run from the finale. he has an agenda at west beverly, and i can't wait to see it play out. elsewhere on the guy side of things, dixon, navid, and liam remain, and their relationships with the girls are definitely in flux at the moment. but i think it is a good thing. the boys need to interact on their own, what made the original flavor 90210 work was the enduring friendship between the guys. the girls switched allegiances weekly, but brandon, dylan, and steve, and sometimes david, were fast friends. and you understood why these people stuck together. the new version needs to work on forming some stronger relationships between the guys in order to succeed too.

2. "glee"
this show actually premiered after "american idol" last year, but i didn't watch it then. and throughout the summer i've read a ton of good things about it, so i decided it would be worth checking out. as a former glee club member, how could i not watch a show about glee club? though having watched it, i don't know about you guys, but my glee club was never quite like the one on this show. we existed to supply music at church and hold an annual spring concert, these kids aim slightly higher than that.

as i watched the first two episodes of "glee" last week, i was stunned by how much i enjoyed the show. i think what makes it work, is that it is so different from anything else on television at the moment. the way it tells stories is unique, and i really like how you [as viewer] shift from the leads' point-of-views seamlessly, learning a little bit about them [in each segment] that none of the other characters know. the colors are bright, and the show is imbued with a note of surreality, a hint of sadness, and a burst of unrestrained joy that reminds me of "pushing daisies" without the saccharine-sweet cuteness.

the story at the heart of the show hails back to the breakfast club [with labels adjusted slightly for the times] but you have the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess and the criminal [well, okay, let's replace criminal with the gay kid] forced to spend time together for one specific reason. there's a dash of footloose in there as well, and some heathers in there for good measure.

ultimately, the fact that it isn't that original a story doesn't matter, because it's the way the story is told is what makes this show work. and i will definitely keep watching.

3. "the vampire diaries"
so many comparisons have been made between this and twilight and "true blood". but i don't think that it is fair to compare "the vampire diaries" to "true blood" and whatever similarities it shares with twilight, the fact remains that the source material for this show was written well before stephanie meyer wrote her first book.

vampire diaries isn't anything new or groundbreaking, but the leads are all such pretty people.

[ok the girls are also pretty.]

how can anyone resist? i don't have a lot to say about this show as yet, other than i thoroughly enjoyed the pilot. and that knowing that the creative genius behind "dawson's creek" is behind this, means that we can only expect some amazing teen angst. and boy, am i looking forward to it!

photo credits: cwtv.com and fox.com

seriously romantic: a few old favorites

2009-09-02T22:36:00.004-04:00

i've been reading a lot lately. my dvr will attest to this, i have over a month of "general hospital" episodes, almost the entirety of season two of "true blood" [there are only two episodes left], and well, i still haven't watched the finales of "dollhouse" or "fringe" [and i really like these shows, well excluding "general hospital" which i love to hate or something like that]. so anyway, i've been reading a lot lately and viewing nothing at all and i keep feeling like i have nothing to write about except with the ten+ books a week i've been reading i have plenty to review.

i want to adhere to a more frequent posting schedule, and once fall tv kicks up i hope to get back to a regular routine. but in any case here are a few of my favorite romance/chick lit reads:

1. something borrowed by emily giffin
i know girls who hated this book. they couldn't get past the fact that the main character, rachel, sleeps with her best friend's fiancé, dex. and though i understand that reaction, the fact that rachel isn't perfect, that she and dex do selfish and hurtful things, that the love story as it develops in this story is far from ideal, are all reasons why i absolutely love this book.

rachel, who is the book's narrator, doesn't shy away from acknowledging that she is trying to justify the unjustifiable. she recognizes that she is not being a good person. but she is also incredibly sympathetic, and as you read the novel you are so very clearly on her side. but darcy, the best friend, isn't completely unsympathetic.

her flaws may be played up more during the course of the story, but there are reasons she and rachel are friends and if she isn't simply a terrible human being who deserved to get cheated on, neither is she so totally and completely innocent of wrong-doing. we get to see her side of things in the follow-up to this, something blue.

me, i like shades of gray. the murkier the better. my sister-in-law could never read this and be okay with rachel's actions, because she has been cheated on one too many times, that to even consider this happening to her with her best friend would be devastating. but i think it would be too easy to say that rachel and dex are in the wrong, that isn't the story being told here. the story is that love can be found at the most inconvenient times, in the most inconvenient places, and when these things happen, you have to make a choice. and sometimes following love is the selfish choice, but it is also the correct one.

i can't say how many times i've reread this book. it's one of my favorite plane reads. i also happen to love the book design, i think all books should be so well-designed.

2. devil in winter by lisa kleypas
i don't know what it is about sebastian and evie, but i love their story. this is another book that i've started re-reading as soon as i finished.

we first meet sebastian in it happened one autumn, where he plays the dramatic foil to marcus, earl of westcliff. our last glimpse of sebastian in the closing moments of that novel, he has been beaten up by westcliff for nearly raping lillian. needless to say that in the opening moments of devil in winter you are surprised by the fact that he seems to be the hero of the tale.

but what a hero he is. devil in winter is a story of redemption. even though the series is focused on "the wallflowers" in this book, evie clearly takes a back seat. that isn't to say that she isn't interesting or compelling. in fact, i would say that evie and daisy were my favorite wallflowers, though daisy gets the edge because she's just more vibrant. that's the problem with evie, she's sweet and giving and kind, and not at all vibrant. but her chemistry with sebastian is unbelievable. and amazingly she is the one that melts the ice in his veins.

through evie, sebastian gains a new direction in life. instead of losing himself further in vice, instead of surrendering his soul to waste, sebastian learns that love has a place in his life. what could be more romantic than that?

nothing.

3. his wicked promise by samantha james
historical novels that take place in medieval times [this one dates to the 13th century] aren't really my favorite, but this is one of those books where i enjoyed the characters and the story so much that it didn't really matter when the book was set. glenda and egan have a spark between them. but glenda, still grieving for her husband and stillborn child, isn't prepared to open her heart to love again. and egan has been in love with glenda since she first arrived to be married to niall mckay.

now that i think about it there are some similarities in theme between this and when he was wicked an old favorite i've talked about several times before. i guess we know what my kind of story is. actually all the books on this list are stories of finding love in complicated, unexpected places and making it work.

that's what egan and glenda do. there are plenty misunderstandings: a marriage of convenience, an unexpected pregnancy, miscreant neighbors, kidnapping. but ultimately, love wins out. and that's all this girl wants to see.

seriously romantic: butterfly tattoo by deidre knight

2009-08-18T15:50:00.004-04:00

i've been a bad blogger lately, but the last two weeks have been a whirlwind and among my excuses are: birthday, work travel, personal travel, my niece's christening, and crazy deadlines at work, plus my recent obsession with cataloging my books instead of reading and writing about them [which i am blaming on my dear husband] and all my excuses amount to the fact that i haven't really been writing in part because i have been to busy to write and in part because i couldn't bring myself too. but that isn't to say that i haven't had anything to write about, i've had blog posts going on in my head for days now!

so i discovered butterfly tattoo while reading smart bitches-trashy books. twice recently, it came up on their top romance picks, and the first time i read the description, i thought--well, that sounds interesting--but being a judgy bitch myself, i couldn't get past the cheesy cover art [displayed in all it's cheesy glory above]. when it came up a second time, however, i figured maybe i should really give this book a chance. i mean we all know the saying regarding books and their covers. [sadly i will admit that i have often chosen not to read books because of their covers, and that one of the nice things about owning a kindle is that i read a lot more things that i probably wouldn't have read before because i can't see the covers at all.]

realizing that i was being silly about this cover, especially since i was going to download the book onto my kindle [since it isn't available in print just yet] i decided to go for it. and then i read. [actually what i find even more astounding is that samhain publishing prides itself on its cover art, but from what i've seen it's usually terrible and not all that sophisticated. though that is most likely the graphic design snob in me--not all their books are terrible looking, but a lot of them do look cheap, ahem...]

it's a beautiful story. it's about love and healing and hope and second chances. it's a story about two people with complicated pasts and how they overcome their pasts to make something of their lives together. it's actually a common enough story, but butterfly tattoo takes the tropes and turn them on their ears, and that, on top of the wonderfully evocative writing, make for an excellent reading experience.

the story follows michael, a widower still in the throes of grief and struggling to connect with his young daughter, and rebecca, a former actress who was viciously attacked and left scarred by a fan [the story is told in alternating chapters from each character's perspective]. rebecca is still learning to trust that others aren't out to hurt her, and in part because she is still in hollywood, a location renowned for it's superficiality and hunger for beauty, her scars inhibit her healing fully. michael works as an electrician on the studio lot and they run into each other in the dark, perhaps because of this they both open up to each other more than they would have otherwise.

because michael has secrets. secrets about his young daughter [i won't spoil it here but this one was pretty obvious from the get go] and secrets about his sexuality [i don't think i mentioned this, but michael's spouse alex wasn't a girl], and these are such big secrets, and they are so wrapped into his grief, that michael's journey, as it unfolds in the book, is utterly amazing.

michael is such a unique hero. his capacity for love is astounding. more than anything, that is what struck me about this novel. he is a tough guy but he is such a romantic, i don't know that he could exist anywhere but on paper. i loved michael. i loved all the characters in the book actually, all of them were beautifully drawn.

the one issue with the book, i think, is the rushed ending. the book develops the relationship over the course of weeks, months. i'd say the pacing is slow, but i mean that only in the best sense of the word. the book has a serenity, a wistfulness, a weight that is both light and heavy--it's so hard to describe. so after an event that causes rebecca to reconsider the relationship, and whether or not michael is ready to get past his gried, the couple spends about a month apart. and they do some healing, and then they meet up. and then the story is over. and it kind of goes from zero to sixty, and i think that speed struck me as unnatural. because the rest of the book had been so meticulously paced, it felt like all of a sudden they realized that the book going to reach three hundred pages and they wanted to wrap it up.

regardless this is a beautiful story. i loved it, and would highly recommend it.

simply what i end up watching when i'm not home

2009-07-29T20:22:00.002-04:00

i had said i'd write this up a long time ago...there is something shall i say, special about television viewing while away from home. when i'm traveling for work, staying at hotel rooms all across the country [a sampling of the cities i've visited since january this year: san diego, cincinnati, chicago, las vegas, new york, philadephia, detroit, denver] life takes on a sense of unreality. channel line-ups are so weird in hotel rooms and so often it is impossible to find a piece of paper telling you what the channel line-up is so you have to go through every channel available in order to find the one you want.

and this may be just me, but i can honestly never remember the channel numbers in hotel rooms. it's weird, it's like you can only ever know two channel line-ups at one time. i know my parent's television channel line-up and i know mine [obviously we live in different states], that's it. so in a hotel room, even once i've found a channel i like, when i accidentally start flipping because of a commercial break, it usually takes me so long to find the channel again that i end up missing a chunk of the show.

i find i miss my dvr incredibly while i'm away. i like fast-forwarding through commercials [or even scenes that i find incredibly boring or storylines that don't interest me] when i'm traveling during the regular television season i've ended up staying up late to watch new episodes of my favorite shows online on my laptop.

i forget when things are on, you see, and i miss the convenience of being able to watch whatever i want whenever i choose to watch it. when i do watch the television in the room, i'm often stuck watching "hannah montana" [a show i've never watched while at home, i can honestly say that the only time i've watched it is while traveling. and actually, i've kind of enjoyed it in that it reminds me a lot of watching "saved by the bell" in it's acting style and production values.] or "law & order: svu" [which i usually find too grisly and usually have better alternatives to watch while i'm at home.].

all in all i end up watching things while i travel, but it definitely is an odd mix of things compared to the things i usually sit down and watch at home.

slightly silly [print versus screen]: confessions of a shopaholic

2009-07-29T13:22:00.001-04:00

so i recently watched confessions of a shopaholic, and well, it wasn't good. having read the books [at least the first three in the series] i knew that i couldn't expect too much of the story or the characters, but i love isla fisher, so i decided to give it a chance anyway.

i often wonder at how popular this series is. i mean, the books themselves are not badly written, but rebecca bloomwood has to be one of the most singularly idiotic characters ever written. from book one she has a hard time managing money, goes to crazy lengths to hide the extent of her shopping addiction and inevitably ends up hurting the people she is closest to and then making it up to them. [even bridget jones exhibited some growth in edge of reason.] and then becky does the same thing over again in shopaholic takes manhattan and in shopaholic ties the knot.

the thing is, if it were a novel about drug or alcohol addiction where the character struggles with relapses and destroys their life without everything coming up rosy in the end it would be one thing. but her addiction is played for laughs. it's serious and yet not so serious. becky never learns anything from her mistakes because there is always another credit card or another person with money willing to bail her out.

granted, i'm not sure what happens once she has a baby and finds her long-lost sister, but i can't imagine anything changes.

anyway, even though isla fisher is really charming, and hugh dancy is super-cute, the problems with the story are still there. becky is a liar and she's inconsiderate of others, she does a lot of unforgiveable things in both the books and the movie. and if i did like her better in the movie it was only because i happen to love isla fisher.

interestingly, the movie changed the setting to new york city from london, which does actually happen in the second novel. but becky was also made american instead of british. this is really only interesting because isla fisher herself is british, so i find it amusing that they had her lose her accent for this. particularly because even though it takes place in new york it really could have taken place in any big city. so why not london? there must be something with american movie audiences not going to films with british leads speaking in their british accents, because that's really the only reason that would make sense and would mean anything. since as we learn in the movie, everything is about money.

so i didn't love the movie, but i liked it better than the books. so i guess that says something.

♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥♥

seriously romantic: the introductory set

2009-07-24T11:27:00.009-04:00

so there are these three books that appear early on in my grandmother's collection of harlequin romances that look slightly different from the rest. and as i was reading another of the books [love is eternal by yvonne whittal] i noticed a blow-in advertising an set of four harlequin romances to introduce new readers to the series. the cover images on the ad looked pretty familiar! and when i looked a little closer, lo and behold, three out of the four books in the introductory set matched ones in her collection. i can only assume that she didn't particularly like the fourth book [she used to throw away the ones she didn't like, however due to the wonders of ebay i've managed to track it down and will post about it once i've had a chance to read it].

from what i've gathered from her collection, she must have bought a few one-offs before subscribing to the service.

#884 cap flamingo by violet winspear

back cover copy:

"you must marry me right now!"

fern gazed at ross kingdom disbelievingly.
she couldn't just marry him because a few
people mistakenly thought they'd spent the
night together. marriage was sacred; not
meant to be a cover up for scandal.

but then, ross was a well-known journalist; his
sister was a movie star. anthing that happened
in his family made news--the kind of news
that could ruin fern's reputation forever.

"all right," fern said quietly. "i'll marry you!"

originally published in 1964 by mills & boon ltd [a uk romance publisher that is now part of harlequin enterprises, the companies maintained an informal arrangement until harlequin acquired mills & boon in 1971], violet winspear's cap flamingo is a fascinating read. the story itself is a pretty standard tale of romantic heroine and hero get caught in compromising position and must marry, a series of obstacles and misunderstandings take place and then in the last few pages they finally admit that they love each other. what makes this so interesting to read has to do with how much society has changed since this was written.

in perhaps the most shocking [for me] instance, early on in the book, fern is talking about one of the house servants:

"a few minutes later edwina rang for a servant to show fern to her room. a
dusky, turbaned negress appeared and edwina boomed at her: 'delilah, doesn't
this child look exactly like mama used to look in her magnolia print?'"

i was definitely startled by the description as i was reading. but then when i reflected on it further i realized that when this was written, negro/negress were the politically correct terms to use to describe someone of african descent. there was nothing implicitly or explicitly racist about the story, if anything the book was more about the struggles between different socioeconomic classes, but even then there was nothing overtly classist in the story. there are many harlequin romances about poor, working-class girls finding love with rich, upper-class men.

i was also surprised by how closely [plot-wise] cap flamingo resembled a regency historical romance. ross is caught spending the night in fern's room--in her capacity as a nurse, she had given him some medication for a headache that put him immediately to sleep--and an ill-mannered gardener/fix-it man begins to spread rumors that culminate in ross proposing to fern in the scene quoted on the back cover.

all things considered, the book was a pretty fun read and even though it felt a bit like a blast from the past, it put me in the mood to keep reading my grandmother's books.

#1302 teachers must learn by nerina hilliard

back cover copy:

"on ladrana island laurel fell in love

stephen barrington and his sister, anthea,
were descendents of portuguese overlords and
pirates. so laurel wasn't really surprised
when stephen stole her heart. or when anthea
maneuvered laurel and stephen into an engagement.

stephen, laurel believed, was aware that anthea
wanted to deter roberta fransom from making
a play for him.

but laurel knew that to roberta she was no
deterrent at all!"

this is a slightly less memorable novel. originally published in 1968 by mills & boon limited, the plot follows a young teacher taking a break at her brother's home on a tropical island named ladrana. orphaned at a young age [and this is a classic plot device for these harlequin books] laurel and her brother, kennedy [known as ned], manage to get entangled with the barrington family, namely siblings stephen and anthea, who in spite of their very english sounding last name are actually of portuguese descent. laurel and stephen find each other at cross-purposes, but when anthea decides to pretend they've gotten engaged to discourage one of stephen's previous girlfriends, they are forced to spend time together. the usual misunderstandings of who feels what about whom take place, and are only resolved after laurel and stephen perform a dance as persephone and hades.

like a lot of the harlequin romances from about this time period there are some [shall we say] old school ideas about a woman's place in the world and how being married is the state of being that one should aspire to. but you can see the changes coming, anthea is very much a free spirit, she has many boyfriends and doesn't want to settle down much to poor ned's dismay.

nerina hilliard is the smallest name in the introductory set. anne hampson, anne mather, and violet winspear were among harlequin's most prolific authors. so it is fitting that this book seems to be the lesser of the four included in the set.

#1451 the arrogant duke by anne mather

back cover copy:

escape! juliet savored the word

for years, juliet's father has used his wealth,
power and influence to rule her life. but now
she was free to make her own decisions. she had
assumed a new name and identity, and had run away
to a job on this beautiful west indian island.

but had she jumped from the frying pan into the fire?

bad as her father had been, her employer, the
duque felipe ricardo de castro, turned out to be
even more domineering. and what was worse
--juliet fell in love with him!

anne mather was a pretty big name back in the day [and now, she's actually still writing]. she's the author of the first harlequin book made into film leopard in the snow [my goal is to track down the film so that i can do a print versus screen blog about it]. i always think that the spanish hero books are kind of silly [technically the duke is portuguese, but the same ideas apply]. the heroes end up being super macho and it plays to latino/hispanic stereotypes that i can't say i am fond of. also i can't help but think of the three amigos whenever someone calls a character the duque. [i know the bad guy was el guapo, but the way i read the duque in my mind sounds like the way everyone talks about el guapo in the movie].

but anyway, originally published in 1970 by mills & boon limited, this book follows the adventures of a rich girl named juliet, who is tired of being a lazy socialite and decides to use her friend's passport [and name, she pretends to be one rosemary summers] and take a job as a paid companion to a young girl who recently lost her parents in a car accident and hasn't walked since. the young girl is the duque's niece, and she is bizarrely in love with her uncle, as is her aunt [who isn't related to the duque]. the duque is oblivious to all of that, instead choosing to focus on rosemary/juliet since he is [rightly] convinced that she is hiding something.

eventually, juliet makes progress with the girl, encouraging her to walk again and let go of her silly infatuation. the duque discovers juliet's real identity and when she runs away confronts her and confesses his love. [which she of course reciprocates, her being in love with him the reason for running away when the truth was threatened to be revealed.] and the aunt gets left out in the cold, her machinations exposed.

the story itself is enjoyable and juliet is surprisingly a great lead character. so many times in these harlequin books, the heroines are a bit too demure, too retiring, [or if they aren't they tend to be a bit too argumentative, too prideful]. because juliet is actually interesting, the story itself becomes more interesting. which really goes to show the importance of liking the lead characters. you have to like the leads in order to care about what happens to them. and anne mather does a good job of this here.

and there you have it, the introductory set to my grandmother's collection. i definitely enjoyed reading these books. even if i'd read them before [and that may have been over 15 years ago], they have been a pleasure to rediscover. i'll certainly be reviewing more as i continue my quest to read her collection.

simply why watching sometimes feels like a chore

2009-07-15T10:59:00.008-04:00

i've caught up on a week's worth of episodes of "general hospital" and have to admit that it is always a roller coaster ride. [except the more i think about it, the roller coaster would be a pretty terrible one that mostly stayed straight and close to the floor and had an occasional loop that would exhilarate you and then nauseate you just a quickly.]

from the sublime:

robin and patrick singing "i had the time of my life" was possible one of the most enjoyable things to happen on gh in a long time. the best thing about the whole karaoke evening was that you could clearly see how much fun everyone was having. you could see that these people genuinely enjoy each other's company. there's not often a lot of joy on gh so every little bit of it counts.

and picking a song from dirty dancing was actually genius. song choice being key to every karaoke perfomance, both kimberly mccullough and jason thompson sold it. i started watching gh the summer karen, brenda, jagger, and jason were all hanging out by the lake. there was romantic tension there...at the time jason and karen were sort of dating, but karen was starting to fall for jagger...but it was also fun and frothy and sweet. sonny and the mob weren't really in the picture, action usually took place at the hospital, elq, the quartermaine mansion, kelly's, and the brownstone. the show's palette was much lighter then. and it wasn't like it was all so innocent...there was the whole thing with ryan chamberlain, serial killer...and several marriages were on the verge of imploding...but it all felt soapy. and the shows leads weren't criminals.

it's still hard to think of the darkness that would come and how much the show has changed since those days. it's frightening for me to realize that it was almost twenty years ago that i started watching!!

to the ridiculous [and i'll begrudgingly admit, cute]:

i wish i could like this pairing. this whole scene was very sweet. but i just don't see it long term. i would like spinelli just a little bit more if he were just a little more self-aware. in fact, during his bouts of self-awareness, like when he realized that he was a terrible singer after overhearing maxie on the phone talking about it, he actually becomes more tolerable as a character. his speech is less convoluted, his facial tics are less spazzy, he shrieks a lot less, that old adage of less is more really rings true here. also, i have to admit, i have no idea what age he's supposed to be playing.

maxie was maybe six years older than lulu, she was also at least four years older than georgie. those age differences were erased in later years, so she may now be a year older than lulu and georgie. but now it's like she's the same age, and i think spinelli is the same age as lulu and georgie. but for a twenty-three to twenty-four year old it's like he has been living in a cave his whole life. he has no social awareness at all. very limited social skills. the fact that he lives with a brain-damaged mobster and he comes off as the one who needs to be taken care of is rather frightening.

what does he think is going to happen if he and maxie get married? they move into jason's apartment? spinelli doesn't seem like a fully functional adult, able to live independently. he needs twenty-four hour care. maxie can't and shouldn't provide that. she's going places, her promotion to assistant editor at crimson is wonderful. as a character maxie has been redeemed so as to be one of the more enjoyable and refreshing elements of the show. why can't the writers give her a romance worthy of that. as cute as spinelli and maxie are together i just don't buy it as a long-term thing. mostly because spinelli doesn't have the capacity or maturity to be in a long-term functioning adult relationship.

and the absolutely terrible:

there are no words to convey how wrong this scene is. or even the scenes that follow:

more than anything, these scenes creeped me out. mostly because they were so demeaning. the women are merely victims. the men are users and abusers. i don't want to watch this. what woman wants to watch this? who thinks that this is okay behavior? it's scenes like this that leave such a bad taste in my mouth that i think, yeah, maybe i won't keep watching. and i'm sure that many other of the female viewers still watching this show feel the same way.

viewership has been on a steady decline for soaps in general. more tellingly, general hospital is only bringing in more viewers than two other soaps [and one of those will be off the air permanently sometime this fall], this was not the case several years ago [okay, so i just checked again and it looks like the three abc soaps earn more or less the same number of viewers with minor shifts that cause all three of them to rank in different order, so basically there are the top three soaps (y&r, dool, b&b), the abc soaps (gh, oltl, amc), and then atwt and gl]. what needs to happen before the show tries to fix things? because the way things are headed, everything just looks terrible. so many squandered opportunities. the cast is talented and all that talent is being wasted on lazy writers with no creativity in their souls.

slightly silly: a review of "the proposal"

2009-07-12T01:23:00.001-04:00

i'm the kind of girl who needs to go to the movies with people. i don't like to go by myself. since most of the movies i enjoy don't require a big screen for maximum enjoyment, i have made a habit of watching things on dvd or on-demand. but every once in a while, especially when i have the rare opportunity to spend time with my best friend (we live in different cities), i actually make my way to the theater.

over the july 4th weekend, while visiting her in manhattan, we decided to go to watch the proposal. most of the reviews i'd read were positive, but beyond that i had a feeling that this film would become a favorite. how could a movie with ryan reynolds, sandra bullock, and betty white not be enjoyable? i mean betty white is just plain awesome. ryan reynolds is a cutie and was so dreamy in definitely, maybe. and sandra bullock was in one of my favorite chick flicks ever, while you were sleeping.

i don't know what it is about romantic comedies, but even though i know where the plot is going, and even though i can predict what is going to happen next, i love watching them. i always feel good and happy and fulfilled. [i get the same warm fuzzies from romance novels.] i watch movies like this and i immediately want to watch them over and over again, because there is something about watching characters fall in love that i love. it doesn't matter how trite and predictable the story is, it doesn't matter that i know the actors are really married to other people/gay/hate each other off screen, if they have the right kind of chemistry i am happy to watch them on film for hours at a time.

ryan reynolds and sandra bullock have the right kind of chemistry, and say what you will about the movie and its plotting, this chemistry really makes the movie. mary steenburgen, craig t. nelson, malin akerman, oscar nuñez, and the fabulous betty white round out the cast and work together very well on screen. i really think that the main reason i enjoyed the movie so much is that the cast was so very genuinely likeable.

a few final observations: 1. sandy b. can really shake her booty, 2. ryan r. is ripped, although the scene where he drops trou makes absolutely no sense, 3. malin akerman's character doesn't make a lot of sense in the movie especially since she adds nothing to the central conflict, 4. i really love ryan r's voice, 5. i don't know how sandy b. made it through production wearing those ridiculously high stilettos, though they were amazing looking, 6. i also really love ryan r.

grade: ♥♥♥♥♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥♥

images courtesy of jaunted, cinemaspartan, and grit.

seriously romantic: what happens in london

2009-07-10T09:21:00.011-04:00

i've written about julia quinn's books before. when he was wicked is probably one of my all time favorite romance books, it is one of the most poignant, most emotional books i've ever read. quinn's ability to express the constant yearning, the aching sadness her two leads live with is actually surprising, because when you consider the bulk of her oeuvre she's well known for her characters' witty repartee and comedic situations. i loved, loved, loved when he was wicked and i know that a lot of people don't, because they read for happy stories.

and that's usually why i read too, but i also like the stories to evoke something. and while quinn's other novels are amusing, i'm not usually laughing out loud. except i totally did while reading her latest novel, what happens in london, a delightful romantic comedy that leaves you just feeling happy at the end. we had first met the bevelstoke clan during the secret diaries of miss miranda cheever, quinn's first book post-bridgerton. at the time, i don't recall being particularly enchanted by them, because i know i haven't reread that particular novel and i continue to not have much interest in it. i think i found miranda cheever annoying. but that's beside the point.

this encounter with the bevelstoke clan showcases olivia, a delightful young woman who is blessed with uncommon good looks and a sharp mind. she isn't necessarily smart, but she is not the average debutante. our hero, harry valentine, is a war veteran whose knowledge of russian is integral to the plot. harry moves in next door to the bevelstoke's and when drawing room rumors prompt olivia to spy on harry who catches her at it pretty immediately, the story starts moving pretty quickly. olivia is suspicious of harry, harry thinks olivia is a bit of an idiot, but the more time they spend together [as in all romance novels] they come to realize that their first impressions shouldn't stick.

a running joke throughout the book, harry gifts olivia with a terrible gothic novel entitled miss butterworth and the mad baron, which previously made an appearance in it's in his kiss. [the smythe-smith girls and their musicales make another appearance here too, and the bridgerton family gets a small mention in a throwaway line.] the gothic novel ends up not only shedding light on the leads characters and their likes and dislikes, but also on the character of some of the supporting players. in a hilarious drawing room scene the book ends up being read aloud and much silliness follows.

interestingly, the person initially set up as the villan of the piece ends up coming off better from all the silliness and by the climax of the novel is revealed to be a non-threat. this is perhaps the only plot point that didn't work. harry and olivia were initially thrown together because of this, but the threat is dealt with rather quickly and the kidnapping and resolution all come off haphazardly and rushed. and the person ultimately revealed to be the bad guy is someone we never even knew was a threat.

the proposal at the end ties things together nicely, and i hope we get some more books set in the bevelstoke-valentine corner of london. some of the supporting players showed some hero/heroine potential. especially sebastian grey and winston bevelstoke, they seem as if they might be dreamy.

also, here is something i thought i'd share, apropos of nothing other than the fact that julia quinn is quoted in this usa today article. it's highlights that there are some seriously educated people writing and studying romance books. i think that this is really a great thing, and i can't help but love the fact that in spite of ted* [or maybe due to ted], harlequin is seeing sales growth.

images courtesy of juliaquinn.com.

* ted=the economic downturn

slightly silly: a review of "if lucy fell"

2009-07-07T15:40:00.002-04:00

sometimes trying new things on on-demand doesn't pay off. but i was bored and there wasn't anything on that i was truly interested in and i figured that i didn't have to finish watching it if i hated it. and well, i didn't hate it.

but it wasn't good either. if lucy fell is the story of two college friends who find themselves approaching thirty and not having grown much since college. lucy [played by sarah jessica parker] is a commitment-phobic psychologist with daddy issues who's idea of true love involves her partners passing a hug test and answering yes to questions like "would you drink my spit?" joe [played by someone not all that attractive][eric schaeffer who is the lead actor, writer, & director of the film which makes him an artiste and also explains a lot as to why this movie isn't very good] is a loser art teacher deeply in lust with the next-door neighbor [elle macpherson].

lucy and joe have a death pact dating from their time in college, where if by the age of thirty [specifically lucy's thirtieth birthday] they haven't made progress on their life goals, they will fling themselves off the brooklyn bridge. predictably they set out to reach their goals, discover that their dreams weren't all they were cut out to be and realize that they are actually in love with one another.

there are no plot elements in this story that would make it interesting. and because the attractiveness of the two leads is suspect [personally i like sjp, i'm just never sure where to rate her on the attractiveness scale], there isn't really a reason to watch the film.

however, if you happen to be a huge scarlett johansson fan or you need to watch every movie ben stiller has ever been in, i guess you will want to give this one a shot. scarlett plays an art student of joe's and her signature raspy voice is in evidence even at such a young age. ben stiller on the other hand plays a zoolander-like buffoon, an artist that is set up to be a rival of joe's though the rivalry isn't really the main focus of that particular subplot. i personally am not a fan of the zoolander-like buffoon type that stiller so often plays. i like him much better when he is being mostly normal.

grade: ♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥♥

images courtesy of geocities and impawards.

simply catching up on all things general hospital

2009-07-01T22:18:00.005-04:00

hmmm, it's been months since i've blogged about gh. partly this is due to the fact that i fell behind while i was traveling. partly because all the outrage lapsed into disinterest when i realized i couldn't bring myself to care anymore and everything that was happening was just so trite and boring.

some days i still feel that way. and there are still whole storylines that i either hate or just fast forward through. but there are some good things too. in no particular order, here are my thoughts on the goings-on in port charles:

1. soras [and why re-casting roles works on soaps even if you do miss the original actors]:
the new, older versions of sonny's kids are turning out to be quite enjoyable. [although hilariously, cameron whom i believe is older than molly is now younger. and because cameron is so cute, i'm kind of hoping they won't fix that. we also haven't seen spencer in ages, so he may be approaching 50.] in any case, at this point we've only seen michael, morgan, and christina age up. and as much as i loved the old morgan and kristina, i think the recasts were all really good.

drew garrett has been really good as michael, and as annoying and angry as he is, he's playing a teenager who has lost a year of his life really well. i know a lot of people miss dylan cash, but i think the new guy is doing a really great job, and i think that aging michael up provides a lot of good storylines for everyone involved. and drew garrett has been great, he's played off all the major players really well. the kid has chemistry with everyone [more on that in a second], and he's a cutie as well.

lexi ainsworth has also done an admirable job at portraying the rebellious kristina. i'm really enjoying getting to know this character and think the casting department did a good job here.

and as much as i loved old morgan, the new morgan is cutely dorky. his scenes in the woods with dominic were priceless.

i can't wait to see the new molly. i think the recasts and the aging of sonny's kids are likely to be good things.

the only slightly creepy thing about the recasts are the crazy amounts of chemistry evident between michael and kristina. and i was also recently reminded of the fact that michael and kristina aren't related at all. which has me slightly worried that we will see a weird romance a la justin and rebecca on "brothers & sisters" in the future.

2. who killed the mayor's mistress
i'm as happy as the next person to have alexis on the front burner, but does it have to be at the expense of her overall intelligence as a woman? to be fair, she has had an atrocious track record when it comes to the men she is attracted to. but i still don't see why alexis needs to be involved in the mayor's downfall. although, i am looking forward to scenes between nancy lee grahn and martha byrne. somehow i think that that might be spectacular. [i might have just jinxed it.]

but anyway, it's cute watching maxie and spinelli and robin and patrick working together on the mystery. and i'm also happy that matt is somewhat involved in a front burner story. i like matt hunter, and i really want to know more about him. i'd like it if they integrated him more into the cast and gave him a real storyline. instead of just giving him a twitter feed.

3. maxie and spinelli
kirsten storms and bradford anderson are very cute together. but first there was the essential person thing, and now there is this courtly love nonsense. i mean, maybe this makes me shallow and all, but i'm with maxie--sex is important to relationships. and the fact is, maxie may love spinelli, but she isn't attracted to him. so their romantic relationship is doomed from the get-go. and it's very sweet of maxie to try and be the person spinelli wants her to be, but she is doomed to fail. you can't change who you are for someone else. and that's why i don't like this pairing.

personally i think kirsten storms and brandon barash are great together, but i also really like james cook. i'd be interested in seeing maxie and johnny or maxie and matt try things out. and maybe with his heartbreak spinelli can grow up a little bit. he should be old enough to take care of himself, he should be able to function as a slightly awkward member of society, but the way he is written sometimes it feels like he's mentally deficient.

i can't remember if it was on night shift or regular flavor gh, but there was some hint that perhaps spinelli was mildly autistic or had asperger's. that storyline would [in the hands of good writers] provide bradford with some really good material, as well as some really good material for maxie and jason. too bad it won't happen [and even if it did, the whole storyline would turn into some insane parody of itself considering the current gh writing staff].

4. ethan, rebecca, nicholas
this is the most boring love triangle. on the one hand, i definitely hate ethan a lot less than i did when he first started airing. i may not agree with what they've done to rewrite the spencer family history, but i'm happy to accept him as a spencer and move forward. i just can't stand rebecca. i can't stand rebecca and nicholas. in part because willful stupidity isn't fun to watch [see the latest episode of the bachelorette for something similar.] this whole storyline is a mess and it makes less and less sense as it progresses. although i should probably admit that i haven't actually watched it in its entirety since i tend to fast forward through all the nicholas and rebecca scenes, though i maintain that i haven't missed anything by doing so.

the sad thing is that i really loved nicholas and emily together. and having this emily lookalike storyline-love interest is really killing any residual affection i had for the couple.

5. johnny and olivia
i know a lot of people hate olivia. but i've actually liked her a heck of a lot more than i ever liked kate. and i have to say that this johnny and olivia storyline is hot. i'm really enjoying them together and can't wait to see what happens when dominic is revealed to be dante, her long-lost son with sonny. [right? that's where this is going...i haven't read spoilers, but it seems the most obvious plot twist.]

6. claudia
some days i think they are redeeming this character just a little bit, and then she acts like a hateful shrew. i just don't know what to think of her. i love sarah joy brown. i wish that the writers would pick a side, she's either consistently good and misunderstood or consistently bad to her zacchara core, but the way she flip flops and schemes and generally does insanely stupid things is enough to drive any person mad. also, she could maybe mix up her wardrobe a little.

i have this coworker who only ever wore black, gray or white, and then decided she would add a color to her closet and chose brown as the color. i want to say to claudia what i wanted to say to this coworker. a little bit of color can do amazing things. claudia would look amazing in a bright, bold [non-red] color. she doesn't always need to look like the angel of death/sex.

7. ric's departure
i'm glad he didn't leave in a body bag, and am especially glad that the actor got out of dodge before the show further wasted his talents. too bad that the show was just starting up something interesting for him to do. [though rick hearst totally made the right decision. i hope they treat him well over on "the bold & the beautiful"] though why he couldn't say goodbye to alexis or molly on-screen goes a little beyond me.

8. stuart damon
so happy for him that he can finally say farewell to the tracksuits. after being unceremoniously fired from "general hospital" during the metro court crisis, he's back on soaps in a new role on "as the world turns". good for him.

photos courtesy of zinester, soapoperasource, soaps.com, ghgeneralhospital.blogspot.com, about.com, and soapnet.

slightly silly: a review of "new in town"

2009-06-19T18:23:00.000-04:00

i could try and explain my rationale in why i chose to watch this, but then i realized that there is no plausible reasoning that would explain why i rented this movie [for free, i swear] of comcast's on-demand service. in any case, i did it with the full expectation that this movie would be terrible.

and in many ways it was. first off, what on earth happened to renee zellweger? she was so cute in jerry maguire:

and since then she's either lived hard, or had tremendously bad plastic surgery. because in new in town she looks more like this:

there must have been a bad plastic surgeon involved with the second picture, right? because her mouth looks completely different. it's like they were striving for pouty and accidentally left her at pinched. and i don't bring this up because i like to make fun of bad plastic surgeries or the celebrities that have indulged in bad plastic surgeries, i bring it up because it's kind of shocking to see her face in the movie. and you don't really want your audience to have that reaction when you make a romantic comedy. because it wasn't a good kind of shocking, it was "what happened to her?" shocking.

anyway, the secondary characters all play up the minnesota stereotype. except for harry connick, jr who plays a down-in-the-dumps widower/union president as the male lead, he's actually not originally from minnesota so that they do have something in common. he's charming, but at the same time, this fish-out-of-water story focuses more on the city-girl-thrust-into-the-backwoods storyline rather than the romance between the two leads, which is somewhat in the tradition of "baby boom" but ends up being considerably less charming.

which is ultimately the major flaw of the film. all the elements of the traditional rom-com are there, and as a non-discerning viewer it's not anymore painful to sit through than say she's all that.

grade: ♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥♥

seriously romantic: my grandmother's books

2009-06-19T15:47:00.002-04:00

when i completed my master's project, i dedicated it to my two grandmothers, two women who have had an incredible presence and effect on my life. my maternal grandmother, in particular, shaped my likes and dislikes in ways that i am still sometimes surprised by. she passed away just before the new year, and one of the things i inherited was her collection of harlequin romance books.

she started collecting them after her mother died. she had cared for her mother as she aged and during one last illness and suddenly found that she had a lot of time on her hands. so she signed up to receive six books a month from the harlequin reader service. the bulk of her collection runs from 1977 to 1988, which coincides with my grandfather's death. she didn't save every single book, only the good ones [of the later years she kept very few, which indicates that the books were getting a little, shall we say, spicier and this more than anything likely contributed to her cancellation of her subscription to the service], and she was so organized she kept them in numerical order and had each book listed in a composition notebook by number. when i was younger borrowing one meant my initial was penciled into the book, so that she would know where it was. my grandmother was such a stickler.

i am slowly making my way through the series. as a fairly modern, contemporary woman, reading the older books [some of them are reprints from the 1960s] is on some levels a bit horrifying--the things a young, single woman could and couldn't do at that time are shocking, what is considered scandalous behavior is astounding to me. however, the overall tone of the novels actually convey an innocent earnestness.

the primness and sexism evident in the novels at the time lead to amusement more than a call to arms to militant feminism. these books were written by women for women, so it's clear that the sexism is a mere reflection of the times rather than an ideological manifesto. more often than not, i end up laughing at the more egregiously sexist passages.

in any case, to share my enjoyment of these books, i'm going to be posting some reviews and thoughts on them over the summer. my goal is to read all of them by summer's end. i probably won't review all of them, but will do my best to note down my thoughts as i read them.

slightly silly: a review of "step up 2: the streets"

2009-06-17T11:45:00.013-04:00

i believe my love of silly romantic comedies has been well-documented. and because during the [supposedly] long summer months most of my television viewing consists of [torturing myself by] watching "general hospital" and/or on-demand movies, i decided to spice things up around here with a new feature, focusing on the aforementioned on-demand movies.

last night i watched step up 2: the streets, a follow-up to the surprisingly entertaining step up. to be honest, i'm not entirely positive step up is actually as entertaining as i think it is, but i simply enjoy it because...well, perhaps i'll just show you:

i don't know. i just happen to think this guy [channing tatum] is so hot. [you know, i don't often spend a lot of time thinking about how much my television viewing habits are influenced by the "hot guy quotient" but i think it might actually work out to be a pretty high percentage of my viewing choices are based on who i think is hot.]

anyway, i really enjoyed step up and because i was bored [the hubby was out for drinks with the sister-in-law] and knew that no one would object, i decided to take a chance on the sequel being as entertaining as the first movie. did it succeed?

well, sort of:

i mean, the guy [robert hoffman] is cute. but. he just isn't as hot as channing tatum. otherwise, i think in both films there are issues with the story, but in the first movie it seems to flow a bit more smoothly. the sequel is more concerned with dance montages. all well and good considering it is a movie about street dancing, but i think that the story/plot suffers pretty significantly because of this focus. in the first film there was some real tension between the characters' backgrounds and family life. though the second film tries to build this up, it doesn't do it very successfully.

all in all, the movie is ultimately really sweet and fun. and totally worth watching if you enjoyed the first one. is it a movie to watch over and over again? probably not, though if i caught it on tbs the way i have the first one, i might end up rewatching. but that says more about my lack of high standards when it comes to the films i like to watch.

grade: ♥♥♥ out of ♥♥♥♥♥♥

p.s. just found out there is apparently a movie called step up 3-d in development. hmmm.

simply dead and gone

2009-06-12T16:44:00.010-04:00

the latest season of "true blood" will kick off this coming sunday, and in honor of the occasion i thought i'd share my thoughts on the latest installment of the sookie stackhouse-southern vampire mysteries, dead and gone. since i first read the first eight books, i've gone back and re-read several of them...okay fine, i'll admit it, i've read dead to the world and from dead to worse multiple times solely because of the eric and sookie relationship. i have no problem confessing to the fact that i'm obsessed with eric! not only the fictional book character, but also the actor who plays him on tv: alexander skarsgård is freaking hot!!

anyway, the latest installment of sookie's story begins on the night that were-creatures and shifters come out of the metaphorical closet, an announcement that seemingly upsets the balance between the supernatural and natural worlds. surprisingly this isn't the chief conflict of the book. instead the supernatural populace currently tormenting sookie are the fairies, and even as her great-grandfather niall does all he can to protect her, she finds herself in the thick of it as per usual.

meanwhile sookie is also juggling her relationship with eric, which has been complicated by the fact that he has regained his memories of the time he spent with her during dead to the world. and she struggles with his need to protect her, her uncertainty about his real feelings, and her own uncertainty regarding her feelings. there is a really nice scene between the characters that gives us some insight into eric's character--where he comes from, who he was before he became a vampire.

ultimately i felt like the book didn't spend enough time with the characters we all know and love by engaging in all the nonsense about the fairy kingdom and its strange war with humans. and i think the issue of the were-creature and shifter reveal really got the shaft in this volume. hopefully now that the fairy story has been seemingly resolved, we can focus on the weres and vampires, and more specifically on sookie and eric.

they make huge strides in their relationship in this book, but these strides aren't given enough time to really sink in. not only do the readers not have enough time to absorb it, but sookie herself doesn't seem like she's really tracking what's happening. in some ways, in this book, sookie is given to more lassitude than usual, she doesn't seem to react as strongly or as viserally to things as she has done in the past. in some ways it's like she's wandering around in a bit of a daze. one can only hope she snaps out of it soon enough.

so overall i liked it, i loved the sookie and eric moments, and i can't wait until the next one. which needs to publish pronto!!

photo courtesy of filmonic.com.

simply gone to white

2009-06-12T11:45:00.001-04:00

so in the final moments of "lost"'s fifth season finale we are treated to one of the more shocking visual moments ever on "lost". instead of the traditional fade to black with LOST spelled out in its thin white lettering, we get this:

which in the context of a possible h-bomb explosion, fits in perfectly. but it is also so disconcerting and ominous. and i can't help but wonder where the series will go from here.

but i'm getting ahead of myself, this two-part episode sees the flashbacks focus on the mysterious jacob and his interaction with the future passengers of flight 815, and the opening scene lets us know that jacob has been around for a very long time:

throughout the episode we see jacob visit with kate, sawyer, jack, sun, jin, hurley, sayid, and locke. (juliet gets an unrelated flashback to her childhood that is supposed to supply us with some motivation as to why she keeps changing her mind regarding stopping jack from detonating the h-bomb.)

i have to say that i had mixed feelings about these flashbacks, while i enjoyed seeing some of these seminal moments--kate begins her life of crime at the age of 10, sawyer's parents' funeral, jack counts to 5, sun and jin get married, hurley gets out of jail, sayid's wife is killed in a hit and run, and locke gets pushed through a window--the most significant thing about each of these moments is that jacob touches each of the characters and you are left feeling as if being touched by jacob is supremely important and these characters were all destined to meet, that jacob's touch somehow brought them to the island.

the only character who does not have a flashback with jacob is juliet. her flashback takes us to her childhood, the day her parents' tell her and her sister, rachel, that they are getting a divorce. juliet's parents say that "just because two people love each other doesn't mean they are supposed to be together." this is supposed to provide us with juliet's motivation with regard to assisting jack in detonating the bomb. but i don't think it works. 1) why was juliet's flashback the only one without jacob, her flashback was an outlier meant to explain something that didn't really need to be explained. 2)that her flashback doesn't tie in with the other flashbacks made it really dissonant, obviously juliet's destiny differs from the rest of the characters included in the flashbacks, but this could have been accomplished by keeping jacob in the flashback and having him not touch juliet.

also problematic is the focus on jacob, whom i do not find a compelling mystery. i don't mind the time travel stuff, i like the flashbacks because i love the character stuff, but i really don't care for the island mythology crap. i don't care why the island is special. i don't see that as the enduring mystery of the show. i want to see where the survivors of 815 go from here, where they end up, if they can ever reclaim their lives. a big part of me suspects that there is no going home from here, but i really hope that they don't all die in an h-bomb explosion. i also really don't want to have the timeline reset. i don't think it's possible for it to be reset, mostly because i subscribe to the "what has been lived cannot be unlived" school of thought (this was one thing i always found really confusing in the back to the future movies). but i just can't imagine starting over. to have flight 815 land in l.a. as if nothing ever happened would be the most disappointing ending to this story. because so much has happened!

what i really hope we get to see in season six is the cast to come back together in one time period. the time travel has been cool, but it's time for everyone to go back where they came from. here's hoping that juliet's actions in causing the h-bomb to detonate actually sets off the incident that proved to be so pivotal in the history of the dharma initiative.

leading up to the scene around the future hatch were some very good moments with rose and bernard, a confrontation between jack and sawyer that had been five years in the making (interesting that jack and juliet each use their love for kate and sawyer to justify the decision to blow up the bomb, in both cases i think their logic isn't really sound, and that the magnitude of the decision doesn't really mesh well with the motivation behind it), and the discovery that john locke is really dead. by the end of the episode we know that sayid and juliet remain in mortal danger, jacob and locke are dead, and the man in black (a lot of theories abound about who the man in black is, and i like the ones that speculate that he is somehow the smoke monster. somehow that seems about right to me) from the opening scene has clearly taken over locke's body (the loophole he's been looking for).

all hell breaks loose at the hatch, and jack's simple plan to detonate the bomb turns into something like the shootout at the ok corral. as the electromagnetic forces begin to pull in anything and everything metal, juliet gets caught up in some metal chains and is dragged down into the hatch hole. sawyer tries to pull her up, and in one of the most emotionally raw moments of the series she says goodbye. both josh holloway and elizabeth mitchell sell the hell out of this moment. one can only wonder where sawyer goes from here.

for that reason, i can't wait until the final season begins. (of course i will have to wait until january 2010.) but my hope is that the show will focus on answering the questions it has raised over the course of five seasons. what a ride it has been...i can't wait to see where we end up!

screencaps courtesy of abc.com and docarzt. video courtesy of abc.com.

simply a change is gonna come

2009-06-11T14:24:00.022-04:00

i feel like i've been working on this post for weeks (because i have been). anyway, i've had a lot of time to think about the season finales of my favorite shows, and a lot of thoughts to share. just not a lot of time to write them up. but i haven't abandoned this and since agreeing to edit a friend's ~600 page novel, i've been excited about writing again. sometimes it is so exhausting, and when i'm traveling, as much as i want to write out what i'm thinking...i find myself watching television in my hotel room instead (i have a whole blog post forthcoming on what i inexplicably end up watching when i am traveling for work).

but to get to the point, here are my thoughts on the some of the game-changing season finales i watched last month:

chuck
this show couldn't have gone out with a better bang. and knowing that we'll get at least 13 more episodes to explore what happened makes the whole thing somewhat sweeter. in the final two episodes of the second season, chuck bartowski manages to get the intersect out of his head, quit the buy more, establish that his feelings for sarah are reciprocated, get a nice paycheck from the us government, ruin ellie's wedding and then save the day by throwing his big sister the wedding of her dreams, and finally being the hero we all know he is by chosing to download the second intersect into his brain before destroying it to avoid it falling into the wrong hands.

the big twist here being that this second intersect somehow allows chuck to tap into some special abilities. his final line of the episode "guys, i know kung fu." it was an especially great cliffhanger because even if the show hadn't been renewed it's cliffhanger was so very clearly a high point. no one's life was in peril, the characters weren't fighting over some silly misunderstanding, the cliffhanger simply allows the story to move to the next level. how lucky for all of us that we get to see how it plays out on our screens. this is definitely one show i'm eager to see back on our screens--though thanks to nbc's insane scheduling decisions, who knows when that might be.

grey's anatomy
what a season this has been. from the insanity of ripping off bad soap storylines (ahem, ghost sex) to some amazing moments for meredith and derek (finally, they're engaged!), the final two episodes of the season (aired consecutively as a two-hour event) pack a pretty big emotional punch and a lot of action that results in one hell of a cliffhanger.

the final scene with izzie in her prom dress and george in military dress uniform in an elevator is an absolutely beautiful moment, katherine and t.r. look amazing in the final shots, but to be honest, i wasn't really appreciating the beauty of the moment when i first watched it. no, i was literally screaming at the television, horrified by the realization that there wasn't any more time left. (see my immediate reaction here.)

there were so many other good moments during the finale, meredith and derek get married via post-it note (which makes me wonder if they'll ever actually get around to the legal thing), christina and owen take a step forward in their relationship (finally!!), mark and lexie continue to be adorable (i want to see more of them, and hope that now that chyler has had her baby, we'll get more mark and lexie scenes), bailey reveals her marital troubles to the chief, and alex mans up (justin chambers is often so underrated, he is fantastic as alex).

all in all, in spite of a shaky start to the season, i think the season five finale really delievered. now i'm dying for season six to start so i can find out who dies. my pet theory is izzie lives and george dies. here's why: 1. it would be more shocking and would provide some pretty juicy storylines for the entire cast, 2. having izzie die on alex would be like kicking a puppy, 3. it's what i want to happen.

private practice
so here's the thing, everybody hates noah, i find him kind of hot. i love charlotte and cooper. and violet and naomi bore me to tears. ultimately, this season finale seemed to be unnecessarily gruesome, and i think this show is still struggling to figure out how to hit the right tonal notes.

so, "lost", "gossip girl", and "dollhouse" are still forthcoming. one i've seen but deserves it's own post, and the other two i have yet to watch but will someday soon.

simply looking on the bright side of life

2009-05-21T23:18:00.005-04:00

i don't watch very many half-hour comedies, in fact we can limit them to four: "how i met your mother," "the big bang theory," "the office," and "my boys." but i love these shows. they are all quite different, but have one quality that i think encapsulates why they are great: the ensembles have terrific chemistry.

how i met your mother
this season has been a strange mix of episodes that felt like filler, episodes that contained some pure comedic genius, episodes that felt like "how i hid your pregnancy" should be the show's new title (alyson hannigan and cobie smulders, the show's two female leads were both pregnant for most of the season), and episodes that really moved the show's story along. you know what, even with the filler episodes, i think that this season has been fantastic. i enjoyed sarah chalke's arc as stella. i think it makes perfect sense that he needed to meet her before he actually meets the mother. i think the reveal that she was in the first class he taught as a professor of architecture is pretty good. because it will let the show "try out" some of his students as prospective love interests (hopefully in a non-skeevy way), and let them hit upon the right person to be the mother. because we have to like the mother and i would like to know her a little bit before the show tells us who she is. and that is a risk.

another risk has been the barney and robin relationship. but i think that the season finale handled the reveal masterfully. all season long we've known that barney has a thing for robin, and slowly the rest of the group has been made aware of it. and when robin finds out, of course she is horrified, and she decides to "mosby" barney into pulling back. when lily lets barney into robin's tactics, what follows is a pitch perfect scene that captures both characters' wariness about relationships and commitment, while still allowing their amazing chemistry to shine through. i really think they are perfect for each other.

the big bang theory
this show has grown on me. the characters are so likeable, and the show is quite hilarious. penny and sheldon's relationship is one of my favorite things on television. ultimately what makes this show great is its good-heartedness. the guys may be socially awkward, but i never feel like the show is making fun of them, instead it is making fun of the rest of us.

the office
season 5 had its ups and downs. there were quite a few changes at dunder mifflin scranton, and not all of them have worked out. but this season did have some great jim and pam moments: his proposal in the rain, their almost elopement, and the reveal of pam's pregnancy. i enjoy the office, even when it is uneven, and i know many people watch for michael and dwight or the supporting players, but i watch for jim and pam. and my interest in them has nothing to do with the longstanding bet i have with a co-worker that they will not break up. i've had two season's worth of free lunches. i'm looking forward to more.

my boys
i'll admit that i am not the biggest p.j. and bobby fan. but they have been inoffensive as a couple and ultimately, the reason i watch the show is because i feel like i'm just hanging out with friends. and it's comfortable and funny and just plain easy to watch.

simply treading water until the big finish

2009-05-21T22:55:00.007-04:00

so i know i'm behind. but before i get to the "lost" season 5 finale, i feel that i should cover "follow the leader"...but what to say about it. i'll admit that on first viewing i didn't love it. and on second viewing my mind didn't really change. it's one of those episodes that is so clearly moving the chess pieces. everything and everyone is being positioned, getting to where they need to go in order to allow "the incident" to play out.

as someone who has a degree in writing (bet you didn't know that with my unfortunate run-on sentence habit) i understand the need for this type of plotting. but it's still not what interests me about the show. i'm one of those people who is big into character development. and clearly have my own biases as to whom i find interesting and whom i do not. so the entire subplot taking place in 2007. not of much interest to me.

i find it ooky when locke refers to the others or whomever it is who camp out with richard alpert as his people. i'm annoyed by the constant talk about jacob and the need to follow him. to be fair, i'm not the most likely to follow the leader, i've always been the independent type and i respect those who follow the beat of their own drum more that i do those that blindly follow. this has always been my problem with john locke. his idea of being a man of faith was being a man who didn't ask questions, a man who followed direction without questioning the source--and this doesn't only apply to the island, it applies to ben, to richard, it applies to his birth father, and to his birth mother too! john locke has been led astray so many times, that this new decisiveness, this new knowledge of "his path" seems suspect.

jack has always been positioned opposite john locke as the man of science. the man who questions everything and only believes what is laid out right before his eyes. this season however, he's become more that man of faith. and if he annoyed me before with his sense of righteousness, he's even more annoying now as he waits for his destiny to come up and hit him in the gut.

and once it does hit him, he decides to listen to crazy science guy and go detonate a hydrogen bomb. [sarcasm] yeah, that seems like a great idea [end sarcasm].

sawyer and juliet spend most of the episode tied up and being interrogated. they don't really give up the goods, but eventually negotiate passage to the "real world" after phil punches juliet in the mouth. interesting that phil is the one to figure out sawyer's weak point. if they had punched him out for the count he wouldn't have said anything. but for juliet he would do anything. even sell out and choose to leave the island and abandon his friends.

the episode closes with sawyer, juliet and kate sitting in the sub, sayid (yes, sayid, i forgot to mention earlier that we do get to see him once more) and jack in the tunnel with the hydrogen bomb, and miles, jin, and hurley watching everything go down. and we must wait too, because "the incident" will eventually answer the question of what happens next, though perhaps not as completely as one would like.

simply not enough time in the day

2009-05-14T11:44:00.002-04:00

i don't know what happened. if it is the fact that turning 30 means that time slips by that much faster, or if this year my travel schedule for work is really just that insane, or if i continue to overcommit to things that i should just say no to, but regardless, i have a lot of things i want to discuss, a few posts i've started but have yet to complete.

hopefully that will happen over the next few days.

simply changing the story

2009-05-01T22:03:00.003-04:00

i think it's funny that abc's hyping of the six-year-old shooter seemed to render that storyline the least interesting. i don't know if it was the little girl, who was very cute, but i didn't think she was very good actress. wouldn't you think there would be something more fundamentally broken about an abused child who shot her father 17 times? i don't know. and though i often get annoyed when the patients they are treating parallel the doctor's lives or emotions too neatly at least this case brought out some juicy stuff for meredith.

that final scene between meredith and the chief had me in tears. and i think the storyline, meredith's plea that the battered mother do something, anything to change her daughter's story, so that she doesn't grow up to be the girl so broken by her father's abuse, really shed light into meredith's childhood. all of the adults in meredith's life abandoned her. and they all pretended that it was okay.

it goes back to when derek proposed and he told her that he saw her dark and twistiness as a strength because she has been through the worst and survived. finally someone gave her some positive spin on her past. and this episode someone finally tells her that they are sorry, that they should have looked out for her, and that seems to finally put her on the path to healing. in the past two seasons it has been amazing to watch meredith grow.

she is finally a person. i know there is a ton of meredith hate on the boards, but she has always been my favorite female character. i like how complicated and tortured she is, and having made the journey with her, i like how she is healing. my favorite character, one alex karev, is on a similar journey. as much as izzie has annoyed me in the past, i find myself hoping that she doesn't die. i want alex to be happy, to believe in something. i want him to heal too, and i'm afraid that if izzie dies, that he'll be broken in a way that won't let him come back together again.

also, owen and christina are awesome. sandra oh and kevin mckidd really bring it. i can't wait to see where their relationship goes from here. it won't be easy, but there is a lot of love there. just more healing needs to take place.

finally, i just have to say that i love mark and lexie together. he went to meet her dad. how cute can they be?

i think i just love how everyone is growing up. i'm really enjoying these more mature relationships, and i like that the doctors are all interacting with each other again.

simply why time travel is a bad idea

2009-05-01T01:27:00.012-04:00

poor daniel faraday (and spoiler alert if you haven't watched this week's "lost"). killed by his own mother while trying to change future events. i have a feeling that dan's brilliant plan to stop the chain of events that brought everyone to the island is going to blow up in everyone else's faces. dan had finally come to the conclusion that the survivors were variables because their present is their present and free will should overcome destiny.

except all his actions jibe with what will happen. his plan is likely what sets everything in motion that gets everyone to where they once were. he says that there will be an incident where they are building the swan station and he knows there is an incident because his past was the future. so he comes back early and decides that the way to counteract the incident, the way for them to alter the current timeline is to detonate the atomic bomb we were introduced to in "jughead".

i'm pretty sure that the bomb is going to go off. but i'm also pretty sure that this bomb's detonation is what causes the incident and is the root cause of everything that happens. this is what eloise faraday knows that dan did not, could not have known. this is why it is jack's destiny to be on the island, because he is the one who detonates the atomic bomb. at least that is what i think.

dan's arrival definitely shook jack out of his complaisance. and sawyer's reversion to calling kate freckles certainly raised juliet's hackles. i still have a hard time knowing which pair to root for especially having been a skater for so long, but if i'm honest i'm really enjoying sawyer & juliet.

he's just so damn hot.

i like him grown up with juliet and all, but i also love the bad boy who calls his girl freckles. ah well. i am more than a little worried now that radsinsky has sawyer and juliet in custody. i guess it's a good thing that we know that desmond and penny are for the most part ok. considering they are the only real successful love story that this show has had. of course desmond may regret his assurance that he'd never leave her. those seem to me like they might be famous last words.

some good reveals about dan's connection to the overarching plot, though no real surprises. eloise was indeed the same ellie we met in 1954. and charles widmore is also dan's father. i wonder who penny's mom is.

one last thing, when penny left charlie alone in the waiting room with the nurse did anyone else think that eloise was going to spirit him away to the past somehow and he would become charlie pace? even if that makes no sense my mind still went there.

photos courtesy of abc.com

simply everyday heroes

2009-04-28T15:41:00.006-04:00

so "general hospital" has been particularly terrible of late. i've said before that i can't stand the lead-up to the drawn-out reveal to the "who is responsible for michael's shooting" non-mystery. at this point half of port charles knows it was claudia, and like most rational people they think it is despicable that she ordered the hit, but they still do NOTHING with the information. why? because actually prosecuting someone in a rational manner is INCOMPREHENSIBLE in port charles, and that alexis davis is so just busy eating brownies in random storylines. this leaves it to sonny and jason to decide that their own brand of justice is what needs to prevail.

here's the thing, them needing claudia to pay for her part in the conspiracy makes no sense because it is so hypocritical. their need to kill her doesn't quite equate michael spending time in a coma. (especially since we all know he is going to recover). the whole thing is stupid and sucks up so much time on this show. and it's BORING. the there is the never-ending ppd storyline and ethan the toothy australian who may or may not be luke's long-lost son.

so it's funny to realize that the most awesome thing about "general hospital" recently was this piece of news:

Dancing With the Stars champ and General Hospital fixture Kelly Monaco shimmied for safety in her hotel bedroom early Thursday morning after a robber broke into her Las Vegas penthouse.
The 32-year-old actress was asleep at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino when she heard a burglar rummaging in the living room, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She ducked quietly behind the bed but the intruder never entered the bedroom.
Kelly called police after the thief left, and a man was arrested later that day. There are no details about what was taken.
source yahoo news via eonline.

simply all star wars references are awesome

2009-04-20T19:46:00.007-04:00

"some like it hoth" put enough of a taste for "star wars" that i ended up watching the original trilogy this weekend. this is always something that puts me in a good mood. growing up, my family spent some time in argentina, and we didn't have very many viewing options in terms of english language television, so the three star wars films and "back to the future" were pretty much the only things that my siblings watched (aside from the six hour tapes of "pinwheel" that my grandparents sent us, but those were considerably less cool and not as fun to watch).

anyway, that's an aside. but last week's episode of "lost" was not necessarily my favorite. miles isn't my favorite character (and it goes without saying that there wasn't enough sawyer in the episode for my taste. by the by, people are calling him jim and james these days, and i mean, i know that sawyer was always his alias, but i just don't see him as a jim or a james. so i think i will continue to refer to him as sawyer, no matter what he might be calling himself on the show.) so i wasn't so interested in learning more about his backstory--in fact i had guessed most of his backstory so seeing it unfold didn't exactly make for riveting television. but there were a few gems:

if there were a spin-off called the miles and hurley show, i would totally watch it. they are really funny together and provide some nice relief from the heavy themes and dark pasts this show is constantly exploring.

we also learned more about the swan, about when and where it is being built. so does hurley, and who knows what mischief he'll get up to trying to prevent the plane crash that originally brought him to the island. i'm sure that dan faraday will have plenty to say about that since his theory has been "whatever happened, happened" and i'm sure that "the variable" will give us some further insight into what is going on with the island and the time-traveling. at least i hope it does.

simply dead is dead

2009-04-20T16:44:00.005-04:00

so this is two week's overdue and i will keep it short:

michael emerson is just an amazing presence on "lost," i mean, who knows what ben is really up to? he says one thing and turns around and does another. this episode was a nice look at ben's past. it clarified widmore's and ben's past on the island, let us see how alex came to be ben's adopted daughter, and showed us what was up with penny and desmond.

and even though i was happy to see desmond, i was still sad that there was no dharma initiative storyline this episode. and the thing is when sawyer isn't on, i'm less engaged. i mean i still enjoy the episode but i have less to say.

one thing that is interesting is the idea of the smoke monster casting judgment on the characters. since mr. eko's death we've theorized that this is the case, but finally we get to see how it works. interesting that john locke knows something that ben himself does not. and even more interesting that the smoke monster's punishment is to inform ben that he must follow locke's lead. seeing how the dynamics of this pairing changes through the rest of the season will be very interesting indeed.

for sun's sake, and for the rest of the lostaways stuck in the past, i hope that locke figures out how to reunite everyone in the same time. i can't wait for that reunion.

photo courtesy of abc.com

simply watching a bit too much tv

2009-04-14T17:03:00.005-04:00

i've been a bad blogger of late. here's a quick rundown of all the shows i've been watching lately.

1. dollhouse
this show has gotten mixed reviews all over the place, but as each episode progresses and as they tie the story elements together more closely, i like it more and more. i'm terrified that it will all come to nothing. just another show that was too out there, too cultish, asked too many questions without revealing enough. but i like it.

i really like agent ballard. i think claire and boyd have a little chemistry going on and i like it. though topher is a bit annoying, his scenes with adele just work. eliza dushku does an amazing job with echo. i love the victor-sierra coupling and can't wait to see what happens as the dolls start to awaken--that seems to be where they are going. this is the kind of show that feels like it will really get into gear in season 2. i can only hope that we get a season 2.

2. my boys
i love this show and pj and bobby as a couple are very cute. but i still prefer pj and brando. the best part of the show though is when they are all together, sitting around the table, shooting the breeze. they have conversations i've actually had with my friends.

3. the unusuals
i checked this out because amber tamblyn is the female lead. i've been watching her since she was little emily bowen on "general hospital" and couldn't stop now. the show isn't bad, though a little heavy on quirk. we'll see how i feel about episode two.

4. fringe
pacey witter--oops i mean, peter bishop is back! as are walter and olivia and the rest of the fringe group. it's wonderful being back in the lab and i have grown fonder of olivia. she's warming up as a character, and showing her home life makes her more of a person.

but really peter is the reason i watch. and i can only hope that we see more and more of him as the first season comes to a close.

5. chuck
is really bringing its a game lately. with the reveal that chuck's father is orion and the original creator of the intersect as well as chuck challenging the general more actively, things are definitely coming to a head. how fantastic is it that sarah and chuck have gone off the grid to look for chuck's father?

i can't wait to watch what happens. i think it will be game-changing no matter what it is. and i really hope the show gets a 3rd season to show us what results from the conclusion of season 2.

simply wishing i could find something different to say about gh

2009-04-07T15:42:00.001-04:00

some days i feel better about "general hospital" other days i feel worse.

here's what makes me feel worse:

1. all things related to claudia zacchara and michael's shooting. this includes jerry's reappearance in dvd form, ric's smarmy blackmail scheme, jax and olivia knowing, johnny and claudia plotting al the time, jason and sonny vowing to find the person behind michael's shooting.

here's the thing i don't understand. ian devlin shot michael. yes, claudia organized the hit. so when they talk about finding the person behind michael's shooting, it befuddles me, because jason already killed that guy! and organizing the hit is different from shooting michael. at least in my mind.

2. the slow destruction of robin and patrick. i know that not all people love robin and patrick as a couple, but as one of the few romance-oriented storylines on gh i have always been disposed to like them. i think the actors have fantastic chemistry and i have enjoyed watching them come together. and now that they are happily married and have the cutest baby girl, do they get to enjoy it? of course not. i wouldn't mind robin's post-partum depression storyline so much if it didn't have to shoehorn in sonny and jason. mac's refusal to believe that there was anything wrong with robin was great to see, more scenes like this, focused on the scorpios as they deal with this is more interesting to me than to see robin expound on her wrong-headed point of view to sonny and jason who serve merely as enablers.

3. rebecca and nicholas. i don't remember being so annoyed by emily before natalia livingston left gh the first time. but watching rebecca and nicholas deal with rebecca's breast cancer scare is worse than boring, it's excruciatingly boring. especially since both actors don't even seem to want to share the same space. i almost miss tumor emily.

yes, i said it. i'd rather tumor emily came back than have to continue watching rebecca unravel her mysterious past and be revealed to be emily. at least we'd get to emily quicker that way.

4. another baby for sonny. the last thing sonny needs is more children. although i suppose that also means that i'm agreeing with something sonny has said. THE HORROR!! this entire plot verges on the ridiculous, and if it were ridiculously fab that would be one thing, but it's just so seedy.

just thinking about this storyline makes me want to take a shower.

here's what makes me feel better:

1. the younger set. with the exception of winifred, lulu, and ethan, i have to admit that i am enjoying the show's under 30 set. maxie and johnny or maxie and matt are pairing i can root for. and i don't mind maxie and spinelli, though at this point they either need to move forward as either friends or lovers. the ambiguity that is killing spinelli might also kill me. i can't wait to see what happens with the younger set once they SORAS sonny's kids.

2. carly. when did carly become such a grown up?

and yes, that is about it.

simply got to stop running sometime

2009-04-06T11:14:00.007-04:00

last week's kate-centric episode of "lost" answered quite a few questions. first and foremost it told us what sawyer asked kate to do for him in the helicopter. it also gave us a little insight into how by going back in time the oceanic survivors affected their own immediate past with the island.

ok, so perhaps that doesn't explain anything. but this episode also gives us the answer to hurley's question. ben doesn't remember the survivors because when the others saved him, when richard took him to the temple, his memory of what happened was lost, as was his innocence. this is how ben becomes the unsentimental being that he is. this is how his destiny is so closely intertwined to the island. he was saved by the island, he owes the island his loyalty. and sayid, jack, kate, juliet, and sawyer are all directly responsible for this.

their actions in 1977 have a direct correlation to what they experienced in 2004. they made ben who he was, sayid by shooting him, jack by refusing to assist juliet during his surgery, juliet by realizing that the others could save him, and kate and sawyer by giving him up to richard. all of this happened. it had happened by 2004, and the reason they needed to go back was so that what happened could happen.

jack doesn't realize this yet. none of them do. but i believe it will become clear in the remaining episodes of the season.

meanwhile, on the relationship front, some very intersting insight into the jack and kate, sawyer and kate, and sawyer and juliet relationships. one of the reasons jack refuses to help juliet with ben is that he has already saved ben once for kate and he doesn't feel the need to do this again. kate tells him she doesn't really like the new jack, and he responds that she didn't really like the old jack either.

in her flashbacks we learn of her relationship with cassidy, sawyer's baby mama. she has told cassidy the truth behind the crash and aaron's parentage. she and cassidy clearly share a close bond, they have both loved sawyer, and according to cassidy he has broken their hearts. cassidy believes that sawyer's jump from the helicopter has less to do with honor but rather more to do with his own cowardice. when kate confronts him about this in 1977 he says that they would have never worked out off the island. when she asks him about juliet he acknowledges that he has done a lot of growing up in the past three years.

having kate back on the island has been a very interesting viewing experience. i have always been a kate/sawyer fan, their cage sex was so hot, and i've always found the characters to have great chemistry and they have always seemed to be made for each other in a way that kate/jack weren't. mostly i just loved the way sawyer looks at kate. everything is different now.

"lafleur" sold me on the juliet/sawyer relationship, something i would have never thought possible. but i like them together. i don't know why, but i do. sawyer and juliet have built a good life together. and the oceanic sixers have come back to ruin it. now there are definitely cracks showing, but it is unclear when everything will shatter around them. "what happened, happened" tries to draw the lines out in the sand, and for the first time in the series it seems that everyone is on sawyer's side and not jack's.

and to be honest, i kind of love it.

simply tripping the light fantastic

2009-04-01T23:05:00.004-04:00

pretty awesome. that is what i have to say about "lost." each episode this season has gone about filling in the blanks and propelling the story forward in a compelling manner. "he's our you" isn't likely to figure into my favorite episodes ever, but i simply continue to enjoy where the show is taking us.

how awesome was it that the others idea of torture was to give sayid some acid in order to get him to tell the truth. of course when he did spout the truth it was so far out there that no one believed him, instead choosing to believe that they gave him a bit too much lsd to inspire some real truth-telling.

the episode followed the old flashback format, and though it did fill in some of the blanks with regard to sayid's journey, it left a major question unanswered. what happened between sayid and ben? there's the shooting in russia where they part ways and then they next see each other when ben comes to see sayid in santo domingo. at that point sayid is already incredibly hostile toward ben. what happened between those two moments? what haven't we seen yet?

i know that the producers like to parse out information on a need to know basis, but i think that there may have been some additional emotional heft if we had been able to discover what brought sayid to the point that he would shoot a child. was ben behind nadia's shooting after all? what is the genocide that sayid is referring to?

and because i love to talk about sawyer, the poor guy is doing his best to protect everything he has built and his friends, and of course it is all falling to pieces on him. i love seeing his growth as a leader, but i also love that he is still continually exasperated by the people who surround him. he is in his element as lafleur. and everyone else, the original castaways, they are making his life very difficult.

this week's installment is about kate and provides quite a bit of information. i'll parse it out in a later post.

simply foolish

2009-04-01T22:39:00.009-04:00

this could be an april fool's day post. and technically today is april fool's day. but the fools i'm talking about inhabit port charles. somedays i don't know why they are still around. after all "guiding light" -- the longest running soap -- was just canceled. gh has managed to hit a new threshold of terrible.

in list form, here is everything that is wrong with gh:

1. the now non-secret that claudia zacchara was behind michael's shooting

this particular terribleness (is that a word? if not it is a good descriptor for everything on gh lately) is compounded by

2. ric lansing's skeeviness

i mean ewww. do we need to see claudia prostituting herself? way to appeal to your viewers guza...i mean, isn't the average soap opera viewer a woman? what woman would want to watch ric blackmail claudia for sex? speaking of women viewers and what they don't want to see

3. robin's post partum depression

i'm sorry, i wouldn't have a problem with this storyline except that it has managed to bring out the robin scorpio that i detest, you know, the shrill, defensive, unreasonable one, and the patrick that is not hot, you know, the misogynistic, passive-aggressive, unreasonable one. also, why is it that robin can talk to sonny and jason and not to her own husband? and why has elizabeth suddenly become patrick's confidante? the actors have nice chemistry but i'm not ready to see elizabeth and patrick as a couple...though it seems that is where they are headed.

4. waste of the younger set

what the hell are they doing with johnny, maxie, matt, spinelli, lulu, ethan, winifred, etc. first of all, ethan and winifred could just exit the canvas and i'd be a much happier person. secondly, they've insinuated pairing maxie with johnny and matt, though she continues to talk about loving spinelli and not really acting on it in a consistent manner. she makes out with other guys randomly. could they just pick a guy and stick to that pairing? meanwhile, give lulu a storyline that doesn't revolve around a guy for once. i know this is a soap, but as a legacy character with interesting family relationships it might be better having a storyline that revolves around a family mystery rather than her wanting to keep a guy. cause it isn't really working for her.

5. random characters coming in and out of the canvas

the revolving door needs to stop. there is so much talent on gh. in fact that is one of the most frustrating things about the show, the waste of talent. rick hearst, megan ward, nancy lee grahn, greg vaughn, jason cook, leslie charleston, john ingle, jane elliot, becky herbst, that's a pretty impressive roster of talent. not one of them is involved in a storyline that does them justice.

6. mccall and jackal pi

enough said.

7. jerry jacks is alive and well

seriously, why isn't he dead? and why would he send his brother a dvd with information he'd be better off not knowing? who does that? his rationale for sending jax the dvd makes no sense. seriously not one iota of sense.

8. rebecca and breast cancer scare

i wasn't watching gh when emily survived breast cancer. but i think it's a cheap shot if gh decides to rehash the same storyline with the same actress but a different character. although i do think that this is all going to lead to a helena cassidine plot reveal and that rebecca and emily are one and the same person. meanwhile, i'm creeped out by her interactions with nicholas. surprising me even more is that i actually enjoy her scenes more with lucky, of course, since lucky has just been dropped to recurring and this storyline seems to be moving front and center that doesn't seem to indicate that i will be getting a lot of lucky and rebecca. of course, there is also the fact that olivia is also recurring and she manages to get at least 10 scenes a week in, so well, maybe being dropped to recurring isn't such a bad thing.

9. nothing makes sense

i mean it. nothing this show does makes sense.

screencaps courtesy of laurieluvsliason.

simply goes to show that all workplaces endure their share of soapiness

2009-03-31T22:10:00.002-04:00

finally, "grey's anatomy" has turned a corner. it's as if the whole "i see dead people" kick the show was on has been put out to the curb. my biggest problems with the ferry boat episodes and then the dead denny walking storylines have been with the fact that this show deals in realities of a type that don't translate well into the supernatural. grey's takes place in a world where life happens, so when it would leap to the other side it didn't feel true to the story and seemed to be a way to cheat and seek out some cheap emotional depth to the story.

the last two episodes have been fantastic. the fallout of izzie's illness coming out has given us some bravura storylines for all of the cast members. finally this is a story that means something. it affects everyone, even if they aren't close to izzie.

alex karev has always been my favorite grey's character. seeing him deal with the knowledge that izzie is sick, that she might be dying...well, you can see for yourself, it just leads to just an amazing scene between him and meredith:

i love scenes between alex and meredith, i think that beyond all the other friendships on the show, alex and meredith get each other in some intrinsic way. they are similar in spirit, they both come from dark places and somehow manage to survive. that is why i find them so interesting.

and it's clearly why derek loves her:

they are engaged! it's finally happened. i love it. hopefully the show continues to show them growing as a couple.

meanwhile, owen and christina continue to be grey's hottest couple. the scenes between them are fraught with emotion, with heat. as his ptsd burgeons out of control, christina is given every reason to abandon him, but she stays by his side, until she realizes that staying by his side also means that she has to live with the fear that he will hurt her. as he seeks treatment from derek, we can only wonder how the two of them will find their way back to each other. and i really hope that they do, because they are such a hot couple.

simply namaste and let sawyer run the show

2009-03-18T23:10:00.013-04:00

i'm still totally squeeing over sawyer. i just love the guy. he's too cute for words and he's crazy hot, and i have an insane crush on him.

ok, so now that i've gotten that off my chest, here are my thoughts on the latest episode of "lost." first of all, i wonder why sun and locke and ben remained in the present, when everyone else went back 30 years? oh my god. i've just realized that sawyer, jack, kate, and hurley, were all chosen to appear before the others when michael was trying to free walt. could their presence on the island 30 years before have been a factor for being chosen as special? is this why ben wouldn't let juliet leave?

just considering the fact that the castaways have probably played some kind of role in their own past blows my mind. but clearly the fabric of their lives is intricately tied to the island. picking apart the threads in order to weave together a clear picture is likely to be the basis for the remainder of the series.

and what role will dan faraday play into all of that? we can guess that he may have used the orchid station to travel through time and space, but where would he have ended up? i think that the day where all the characters connections to each other will be revealed will be a mind-blowing one.

amy and horace have a son named ethan. we know ethan survived the purge, and he must have grown up on the island. why is he special and what is the significance of his birth. is he the last child born on the island before the incident? and are we going to witness the incident next week? those previews were seriously intense.

one of the great things about having the oceanic six come back to the island, is that three years have passed. and the island that they've returned to, isn't the same island they left. and the three years that the left-behinders shared together on the island, means more than the three years that the oceanic six spent apart and away from the island. this is sawyer's island. i think that the rest of them are going to have a hard time having his back.

my favorite moment of the episode: when jack goes to sawyer's cabin. first he sees juliet face to face for the first time since returning to the island, and he's blindsided by the realization that sawyer and juliet live together. he then confronts sawyer about what the plan is. it's a powerful moment, because now sawyer really is in control. he's changed in the intervening years, he's established a role for himself, and he's protected the people that he cares about. jack needs to trust sawyer, but because jack can't forget and has proven to be really bad at forgiveness, this will be a challenge. especially since their leadership styles are so different.

obviously, my opinion is biased because of my insane love for sawyer, but i love this show best when it is told from sawyer's perspective. i love his reactions to the events. i love that he is this guy who most likely grew up in a trailer park, who had nothing but revenge in his heart, and who is one of the smartest, most well-read characters on the island. he's changed from the guy who was only thinking of himself, going off half-cocked. he's the guy who wants to protect the people around him, protect the life that he has built for himself, and reunite with his friends. he's a guy who has made mistakes, and who has learned from them. i really love this guy, and i love how well the story flows when it is told with him as hero.

i don't think "lost" is jack's story at all. i think it's sawyer's story. because being on the island, and everything he has gone through, the sacrifices he made, the blood he has on his hands, all of that is a story of redemption. jack has always seemed to be searching for the path of the righteous, but i'm not sure that this is where the show belongs. i'm just interested to see what the show does with the character dynamics. i really think that sawyer is the guy to watch. i trust him to get them all out of this, or at least get them to where they need to go for the next piece to fall into play. and who knows where or when that might be.

screencaps courtesy of abc.com.

simply unable to stop obsessing about all the things wrong with gh

2009-03-18T09:18:00.007-04:00

i love kirsten storms and her portrayal of maxie jones as much as anyone else, but i definitely do not love this:

or this. (also, it's a lot frightening to see how little her arms are, especially if you think about how the camera adds 10 pounds.)

i know that there are a lot of maxie-spinelli fans out there, but i'm just not entirely sold on this pairing. maxie has definitely made spinelli a more bearable character, since brad anderson tones down some of the spastic tics and expresses himself (albeit in a slightly more shakespearan manner) with a modicum of normality when spinelli addresses maxie. (note that it spins out of control when spinelli and winifred talk to each other. gh needs to seriously consider adding a health warning when those two are in scenes together: may cause fits of rage or hysteria when consumed for intervals longer than 20 seconds.

i could post a youtube video of some of their moments, but i will spare us all. instead i will focus on my original point, which was that while i do not mind that maxie and spinelli are friends, i still don't want them together as a romantic pairing. he doesn't need a clone of himself, but perhaps someone nice and wholesome, who he isn't obviously attracted to, but with whom he has good chemistry and who's forgiveness of his quirks makes a lot of sense...oh yeah, he had that...with georgie. so all these scenes where maxie essentially manipulates spinelli by confessing her attraction to johnny were a little on the absurd side. because if he is her essential person, then she should want to do what is good for him. and though she is selfish and self-whatever to the core, she also has a knack for seeing the truth of a situation, and it doesn't really fly that she would be so blatantly manipulative and hurtful. she isn't that oblivious.

now here's the thing, i actually really like johnny. i've liked brandon barash from the get-go. my problem with his storyline is that being with lulu makes him the most boring and miserable human being. mostly this is just due to the fact that lulu is the worst character that ever lived. to think that she was such an adorable baby and has turned into a shrill harpy...tsk tsk. anyway, johnny and lulu suck the miniscule amount of joy this show has right out of the screen. not to mention the fact that brandon barash and julie marie berman often look like they would rather swim in dog poo than share the screen together. so it's not surprising that i get a kick out of this:

but, i also really enjoyed this brief flirtation between matt and maxie, and think that a doctor is more appropriate for maxie than another mob guy. i mean, there is some serious soapy goodness that could come from a matt and maxie pairing. the connections between their families, her health issues, both of them have been neglected by their parents, and they are both legacy characters. here's the last time they shared the screen together:

and then the ball gets dropped in favor of the hospital crisis and neither of them have been on screen together since. why won't gh commit to any one storyline these days? especially love stories, am i wrong in thinking that the love stories is why most people start watching soaps in the first place? gh is all guns and misogyny and violence and the mob, it's about damn time we got some romance. and it's past time the show appropriately took advantage of its wonderful cast.

i know that a lot of people disagree with me, but i'm glad that carly and jax have found their way back to each other. i really think the writing for carly has shown a lot of growth for the character. she's actually behaving like a grown up, and has been significantly less shrill. if you ask me it makes sense that carly and jax have found their way back to each other, and i'm genuinely glad that they get to make another go of it. and it was very romantic.

screencaps courtesy of laurieluvsliason.

simply speculation

2009-03-17T22:33:00.005-04:00

hmmm, so apparently helena is swinging back by port charles to wreak vengeance on her darling grandson, nicholas. i wonder if resident "bad" girl rebecca, figures into her plan. here's hoping that emily quartermaine is being brought back to life.

though, i am enjoying rebecca and lucky together. and i enjoyed today's confrontation between lucky and nicholas. it's at least something not related to the mob. i'm kind of hoping that emily comes back to life and she and lucky have a thing and we delve into how elizabeth and nicholas have to deal with it.

i think i like this storyline so much because when i started watching "general hospital" lucky, liz, nicholas, and emily were the 4 musketeers. and i really enjoyed watching them all interact. here's a little reminder:

youtube is a wonderful thing.

simply getting together with the five families

2009-03-17T11:28:00.011-04:00

i have a confession to make. i watched the godfather trilogy for the first time this weekend. (ok, well, i'd seen pieces of it before on television, but it was re-edited for tv and aired the saga chronologically, which funnily enough was pretty confusing and completely off-topic.) i really enjoyed the movies, and i now understand why so many people rate at least the godfather or the godfather: part ii in their top ten movies of all time lists, and perhaps because i had been warned that the third one was terrible, i even enjoyed that one.

watching the story of a family that is built on and then ultimately destroyed by the mob, could only bring into relief how pathetic "general hospital"'s attempts to portray the mob have always been. i caught up with gh yesterday and could only chuckle at claudia and sonny's plan to have a cocktail party with the five families (why are there always five families in mob stories on television and movies? i don't understand. i suspect that they are all influenced by the godfather.)

but it got me thinking about the way the mob story is told in port charles. clearly we are meant to see the parallels between michael "sonny" corinthos and the corleone family leaders: vito corleone, santino "sonny" corleone, and michael corleone. obviously, sonny is in some way meant to be an amalgam of the three. i personally think sonny is most like sonny--irrational, misogynistic, volatile, concerned with power and preserving the family's place in the world. jason, i think, is most like michael--more deliberate, more tortured. and based on the movies, the guy you really want in charge is the michael character.

in the godfather trilogy, being the godfather, having that power, came at great cost. in some ways michael and vito had to sacrifice some of their humanity to take on the role of mob boss. sure they were the movie's heroes, but that didn't mean that every decision they made was to be applauded. the fact was they couldn't escape the mob. it was encoded in their dna. gh's greatest flaw in this whole mob storyline is that the characters lack the depth of feeling to pull it off in a believable way.

jason and sonny have talked about the cost of their choices to their loved ones, but they never really internalize those costs. coming back to the mob could have been a powerful storyline for sonny, imagine this...sonny is in love with a woman who refuses to have anything to do with the mob, his son is shot in a mob hit gone bad and left in a permanent coma, he leaves his position as mob boss to protect the rest of his family and his new love, sonny struggles in keeping his distance from his old life, he visits michael regularly and is reminded and resolved on his path to go legit, another "botched" mob hit guns down his prospective bride and he goes on a warpath, however this time he has no power base to rely on and must rebuild things from the ground up, marrying into another mob family putting him at odds with everyone from his former life, he gains the revenge he seeks and continues on his path to power, making enemies of old friends...

i mean, i'm not deviating too wildly from the actual events as they happened. i just think that there could be more heft to his motivations, and i think that jason giving sonny back everything he had given up is such a cheat. that after all this time, and all these things, we end up back at square one is such a waste. if jason were to give things back to sonny, have it happen for better reasons. for example, the fbi storyline forces him to work on the right side of the law and he finds he has a knack for it and wants a chance at a normal life where he can kill the bad guys without prejudice and in doing so sonny wrangles control of the business. or, while trying to work both sides of the law he suffers another head injury--this one wiping out his memories of jason morgan. adjusting to life as jason quartermaine, he struggles with the knowledge that he did some very bad things when he was jason morgan, he can't bear to even speak with sonny or anyone from his life as jason morgan, giving sonny back control of what was once his.

i don't know. i think these things would actually be interesting. but sadly, i'm just a tortured viewer and have no sway with the writing staff. especially since no matter how i complain, i can't seem to stop myself from watching.

seriously romantic: all head and no heart

2009-03-13T13:57:00.003-04:00

sometimes romance novels are surprisingly well-written. thought-provoking. intelligent. i've read a ton of romance novels in my time, and find that the writers i truly enjoy are really good writers first and foremost.

stephanie laurens is a great writer. her stories are often very intelligent, and at times the writing is truly lyrical. she has developed the long-running cynster series, of which there are about 14 to 15 semi-connected novels. where the men are dominant, protective, fiercely intelligent, hot, and have not only the ability to recognize love, but the ability to recognize that they are in love with the heroine within the first 100 pages of the novel. and the women are independent, headstrong, beautiful, fiercely intelligent, extremely competent, and who struggle to accept love can be freeing with the right man.

every romance writer has a template of sorts. especially the prolific ones. and the only problem with that, is that the more you read their novels, no matter how well-written they are, they start to get kind of boring. i just finished reading where the heart leads and as much as i wanted to like the novel, i found myself wishing that the characters would break out of the mold.

i wanted them to think a little less about their feelings and instead act on them. there's this difficult balance between showing and telling when you are writing a story. spending as much time as we do in both barnaby and penelope's heads takes away some of the romance. and then what is the point of reading the book in the first place?

i think there are highlights and lowlights in every long-running series. as wonderful as it is to catch up with characters you know and love from previous books, there is also the danger of falling into a rut, of repeating yourself accidentally. i think the cynsters are reaching the end of the line. and according to stephanie laurens' website there are 5 cynster females remaining, and hopefully that will close the series out and allow laurens' to shake up her formulas a bit.

in any case, my three favorite books of the series are on a wicked dawn, the perfect lover, a taste of innocence. i think in part because these books do alter the formula a bit. the pairings in these novels act on their emotions, they do a bit more than rationalize and think so much about everything. besides luc, simon, and charlie are all just swoonworthy heroes.

one of the best things about this series is that almost all of the novels stand on their own. and you don't need to read them in order, or even read them all to enjoy the stories. so i recommend reading the descriptions and picking up the ones that interest you the most, and putting aside the ones that don't. maybe pick those up on a rainy day where you have nothing else to read and no plans to go anywhere.

simply an absurd way to behave

2009-03-12T19:47:00.009-04:00

so the other day on "general hospital" robin brings emma to kelly's and runs into elizabeth. elizabeth says hello, asks mike for her grandmother's order, and just starts taking emma out of her stroller...

who does that? i'm not a mom, but i'm telling you right now, it doesn't matter if it's my closest friend, they're not picking up my baby without asking me first. meanwhile, this whole ppd storyline needs to be resolved. robin is never fun to be around when she's strident, unreasonable, and defensive. it's not surprising that patrick is walking on eggshells around her, since she is so unpleasant when she gets that way. but at the same time this storyline needs to make some progress.

also, what is sonny thinking? what kind of person, especially one who has witnessed some tension, asks a wife to keep a secret from her husband? i mean, robin and patrick have enough to deal with in their own lives, why do we need to involve sonny and carly in their marital drama? robin isn't okay. and she may end up seeing something that helps michael, but at what cost to her? patrick? emma? ugh. i'm so annoyed with the whole thing. on top of that, he knows how carly feels about robin...why would he decide to go behind her back on something so important, with someone he knows she won't appreciate?

here's the thing, and i am ignoring carly's irrational behavior as to robin's hiv status, i've always understood why carly doesn't like robin. when robin told a.j. that michael was his son...i just remember not being okay with that. first of all, it wasn't her truth to tell. and though to some degree i understood her reasoning, i also thought that it was the cruelest thing she could have done to jason and michael. and ultimately, no matter how she whitewashed it, she did it because she was jealous of carly. considering how things ended up, who knows what might have happened had she just minded her own business.

ugh. rewatching that...i just hated robin then. i also really hated that haircut.

but boy, gh was so juicy back then. there was real drama, even if it took a while to get to a conclusion there was always tension, and people made complicated decisions that had emotional heft. there were love triangles that were actually complicated. there was some real soap opera magic. so it's tragic to see all that history be squandered and killed off willy-nilly by this writing staff.

one last thing...i'm kind of digging lucky and rebecca. natalia and greg have some pretty good chemistry. and i like the potential problems it will create for liz and nicholas, who have a harder time separating rebecca from emily.

simply why i am madly in love with sawyer

2009-03-06T12:19:00.005-05:00

ok. it's no secret that i love sawyer.

this scene made me love him all the more:

how dreamy is he?? i actually really like him and juliet together. the episode did a great job of filling us in on what happened to the left-behinders and moved us to a point where all the stories can come together. i wonder how the stories will be told, though i'm not entirely positive that everyone is in the same time, so there will probably still be some flashing between timelines. we shall see. anyway, back to my original point...

what i really liked about the episode is how it developed sawyer and juliet's relationship. showing her having his back, even if she thought whatever it was he was planning was stupid. that's more than kate ever did for him. here's the thing, i've always been a fan of kate and sawyer, but i've come to realize that it has less to do with liking kate and more with just how much i love sawyer.

this episode really showed us how much sawyer has grown and developed as a character since season 1. i think it's part of what makes him so fascinating...he is so complex. here is a guy who is capable of really horrible things, and yet underneath it all he's just a big softie. i absolutely love that about him. compared to kate and jack who have remained the same in essentials--jack is still the guy who needs to fix things and kate is still running--sawyer's character development really makes him the show's heart. at least in my mind...and apparently doc jensen's.

i know, i know. i'm obsessed. i just can't help it. and i really can't wait to see what happens next. and of course i have to wait two weeks.

simply inexplicable

2009-03-05T18:22:00.006-05:00

i bet you all are thinking that this is another lost blog post, but it's not. it's actually about the hot mess that is "general hospital." i'm embarrassed to admit this, but i'm actually traveling for work and have been catching up with the episodes online, via abc's full episode player. in any case, sometimes i wonder why i bother catching up with episodes i've missed instead of just skipping them over. i suspect it's some sort of masochistic tendency on my part.

here's the thing, i think one of the biggest problems gh faces is that the writers have continued to write themselves into corners that they can't wriggle out of and they relentlessly cling to storylines that do not work while refusing to take the tired stories in newer, possibly interesting directions.

i've been doing a lot of lists lately, but it's the best way to highlight all the things wrong with this show.

1. claudia zacchara
in all honesty, i like claudia. i think sarah brown is fantastic, and i think that the writers have made a mess of her character. the one night stand with sonny that brought her back on the canvas didn't bother me, it was the misogynistic behavior that resulted from every quarter in port charles that did. somehow claudia was wrong to sleep with sonny, when he was the one who was so in love with someone else. how was she to know that he was in a committed relationship (even if kate and sonny were totally on a break)? granted they made her behave like a stalker when they ran into each other again, but sonny was really awful to her.

she made some horrible choices too, and putting out the hit on sonny that resulted in michael's shooting was a bad idea. but at the same time, i don't see her as responsible for the shooting. she didn't pull the trigger and michael was never the target. he wasn't supposed to be at the warehouse. i think i'd be a terrible mobster, because i just don't get mob justice and accountability. i don't see how claudia behaved any differently than jason or sonny, only that her actions had really bad consequences for an innocent party.

i also think that in some ways the people who do know about the hit, must think like me. here's the thing, sarah brown excels at playing claudia's vulnerable side. she cries A LOT, but she's also been treated like crap by all the men she's ever loved--even johnny flip flops on his treatment of her. every woman in town treats her like she's the town whore, rather conveniently forgetting their own poor choices in the sleeping around department.

when claudia interacts with nicholas, spinelli, jason, and johnny, she's surprisingly great. during the hospital crisis her scenes with carly were fantastic. and now that sarah brown has extended her contract for another year, there is no easy way out of the "who ordered the hit that resulted in michael's shooting" scenario. so they're trying to redeem her, but when you make someone behave irredeemably, that is impossible. and nothing makes sense.

i like claudia, i really do. and i think that claudia and sonny together are more interesting than sonny and kate ever were. as much as they like to put sonny in triangles with the angel/whore dynamic, what they seem to forget every single time is that it never works out with the angels. sonny is into whores--see lily/brenda, carly/emily, kate/olivia, kate/claudia, etc. sarah brown and maurice bernard have fantastic chemistry too, it's amazing to contrast it with the snoozefest that was kate and sonny.

what's annoying about the claudia zacchara situation is that obviously at some point the truth will come out. and it sucks that she'll have to pay for it. especially considering how much jason and sonny get away with, how much blood they have on their hands.

2. emily quartermaine/rebecca shaw
killing emily bowen quartermaine was possibly one of the stupidest things this show has ever done. i'm not a natalia livingston fan, but i have always been a fan of emily. so when natalia decided to leave, i'm not sure why emily couldn't have been recast. or at the least terribly injured and sent away to recover for the 10 months it took natalia to reconsider her employment status on "general hospital." if she really wanted to change her look, you could always say she woke up from her coma feeling like a different person. jason did that, why couldn't emily?

i don't care about rebecca shaw. everything having to do with her is boring. and her eye makeup couldn't be more terrible. it reminds me of when amber tamblyn first started wearing makeup as emily, when she went through a little rebellious period with lucky, and i don't think that it is their intention to remind me of that.

in any case, if rebecca arrived on the scene with a nefarious purpose, they need to get to it. because it's so boring watching everyone react to her doppelganger status. especially since nicholas had a doppleganger while he and emily were together and this was a major storyline for both characters. and the thing is, i can't warm up to rebecca really, because i don't understand why they just can't bring emily back from the dead. maybe helena kidnapped her during the black and white ball and had a minion who looked exactly like emily killed and this emily who has come to town is brainwashed much like lucky was when he was kidnapped by helena.

having rebecca around is ultimately less soapy and creative than if they had found a way to bring emily back. and they need to do something to make this character a bit more interesting and way less annoying.

3. jason and sonny
why are we reverting back to everything the way it was before?

ugh. just ugh. i can't even use words to explain how annoyed it all makes me. because michael's shooting was supposed to have consequences, it was supposed to change everything. but it hasn't because jason and sonny are the same as they have always been. and even though the story has been more interesting having them on separate teams, i can't believe we're going back.

and if ultimately the consequences of michael's shooting aren't long-lasting. and if they do bring michael back--which is clearly what they are planning to do then what is the point in having claudia take the fall for the shooting in the first place?

it's just so wasteful. so many potential storylines. all of them going to waste.

and that's the theme on "general hospital": wasted potential. i watch because i fool myself into thinking that they'll catch on and tell a good soapy story the way they did in the 90s (when i first got hooked) but it's not going to happen. especially not as long as there is no change of leadership in the writing and producing staff.

simply all about locke

2009-03-05T09:48:00.008-05:00

oops, i know that the latest episode of "lost" has already aired, but i wanted to write about my thoughts on each episode, so here is what i think of "the life and death of jeremy bentham":

1. i enjoyed how this episode explained locke's journey to speak with the oceanic six. and the less than successful results he had with each of them. except, unltimately he did succeed, and clearly his journey wasn't in vain.

2. charles widmore is about 71! man is looking good. i am more confused than ever about the power struggle (maybe even the war) going on between ben and widmore, and i'm not sure that having that power struggle be the series raison d'etre works. we know our main cast is important to the island for some reason, but it seems to me that the reason should be more mystical than "they are key players to the war between widmore and ben in trying to gain control of the island." i often think that maybe we shouldn't get an explanation for "why these people? what is so special about the lostaways?" because there will be no satisfying answer. though, i do trust the producers to do their best, and they do have a chance of being successful.

3. no sawyer. i miss him.

4. what did kate mean when she asked john if he'd ever been in love? that scene is so filled with subtext, except that i have no idea what the subtext seems to be saying. sometimes watching this show makes me feel stupid.

5. and then i ask questions like what was up with ben? why did he pull john off the ledge of suicide and then kill john himself? is that the way it needed to happen to get them back to the island? i can't wait to see how ben explains himself to john when they next see each other.

in the end, this episode simply filled in the blanks and gave us some background as to how the existence of jeremy bentham helped propel the oceanic six back to the island. but i am glad we are now back on the island. i can't wait to see what happens next. and i'll leave you with the following graph:

simply unreal

2009-02-26T08:35:00.002-05:00

i'm not a huge fan of alternate reality episodes, usually because i feel like it's a way of cheating, used only to justify the current writing staff's decisions with regard to their characters. but sometimes, because the alternate reality allows the writers to pair up actors who don't usually have a chance to work together, you see some interesting possibilities open up as a viewer (sadly these rarely seem to open up to the writers) and there are opportunities to see the characters in a different light.

"general hospital"'s what if barbara jean jones had lived, and maxie jones had died episode, got off to a somewhat painful start. having maxie provide commentary while surrounded by some weird white background was bad enough, but then to have her talk on and on about how lulu and johnny were supposed to be in love? what was that about? maxie has always said that lulu and johnny weren't right for each other, and in her heart to heart with johnny during the blizzard what she said made a lot of sense. the blizzard JUST happened, so how did she change her mind so completely??

what's ironic that by having the episode center around kirsten storms so completely, you realize how she is a chemistry magnet and how amazing this show would be if it focused more on the scorpio-drake-joneses instead of mob golden boys sonny and jason. it was funny to see johnny playing owner of the paradise lounge, it's always good when they can work in a jab at sonny's seedier beginnings.

i also enjoyed the nod to carly's history--having her interact with b.j. and acknowledge her homewrecking ways--was great. it's a little weird that this is the second alternative reality episode where they've paired her with patrick, but the actors look good together and i'm not going to complain.

emo spinelli is a sight more enjoyable than regular-flavor, mostly because he is able to turn down the spastic effusiveness that characterizes regular spinelli. i don't mind spinelli when he tones it down, above all i think that should be something the powers that be should keep in mind. though it is irritating that even in maxie's alternate dreamworld, he still is her white knight. because i think that maxie can do better than spinelli. even if i do enjoy them together.

simply stop talking about heart healthiness...please

2009-02-23T21:40:00.019-05:00

"general hospital" has outdone itself in promoting women's awareness of heart health, and by outdone, i mean managed to ruin at least three consecutive episodes with some stultifying, stiff dialogue as well as some eye-gouging-worthy scenes.

1. max & milo counsel diane on her heart health. i fast-forwarded through this, and i recognize that this is a ridiculous thing to share, but this scene sums up how awful and ridiculous and incompetent the gh writing staff is, and does an admirable job of showcasing the tawdriness of the product placement:

yes. it really is that bad. and what's worse is that this lasted for three days. i'm hoping that today we saw the last of the heart healthiness, though we do apparently have a "it's a wonderful life" alternate reality episode coming up with maxie tomorrow.

if the above scene was awful, the scenes below might be even worse, i actually sat through these the first time too. why would max sit on the bed that carly and jax had just been having sex on? who does that? why do i watch this?

2. why didn't kate just do us all a favor and die one of the two times she was shot? her revenge plot makes no sense. she wants to wait to tell sonny about claudia's role in michael's shooting until the moment it will hurt him the most, and then she'll tell him. oh yeah, SHE'LL TELL HIM. if only sonny were a rational mobster. to be fair he is remarkably consistent in his irrationality. everyone in his life betrays him. doesn't kate realize that by not telling him immediately she is BETRAYING him? he isn't in love with claudia, he'll probably just kill her (what a lovely romantic hero he is, isn't he ladies?) when he finds out that she was behind michael's shooting.

to be honest, i'm still wishing the show hadn't ever gone there. but with half the town knowing that claudia was behind the hit, it's only a matter of time before sonny finds out. the thing is, i don't really see how the michael getting shot in the head thing is her fault. she may have hired ian devlin, but the target wasn't michael, it was SONNY. and michael wasn't supposed to be in the warehouse, SONNY brought him there without his mother's permission. beyond that, SONNY had just kidnapped johnny and had threated to kill claudia multiple times. what is the common thread there i wonder...um, yes SONNY!

this show is so messed up, it has me rationalizing children being shot in the head. the thing is we all know that this was a ploy to get dylan cash off the canvas so that they could eventually soras michael to a teenager. i just hope that morgan doesn't get soras'd too.

but back to my original point. kate was a smart career woman who didn't take shit from anyone, didn't condone sonny's lifestyle or his choices, and wasn't about to be pathetic over a man. how sad that all she is now is a whiny, shrewish waste of air time. please megan ward, go back from where you came from, you and your fabulous hair deserve better.

(just another aside, but the claudia/kate scenes were kind of funny to watch because you can see how much taller megan ward is that sarah brown. since sarah brown and maurice bernard are about the same height (or at least the same height when she's wearing heels and i don't believe she suddenly took off her heels in her scenes with megan ward) i can only imagine that mo was standing on crates or megan ward was in ditches for some of their scenes together, because the height difference wasn't always so obvious. just look:

i'm not making this up.)

3. robin seemed to have a breakthrough with emma during the hospital crisis. but as soon as patrick is back on the scene she suddenly can't stand touching emma again. it started off subtly, but in an effort to drag out her diagnosis the show is stretching the storyline too thin. patrick and robin have the same conversation every day. he says something really sweet, she attacks him. he questions why she's changing her mind about the length of her maternity leave, she calls him a sexist pig and yells at him for insinuating that she has ppd. dude's a doctor, he should know who to call to get help for this.

i understand the idea that people avoid dealing with their emotional and mental health until something breaks, but the fact is that patrick is concerned about this, and even if it pisses off robin, shouldn't he, for his daughter's sake try harder to get robin the help she needs. even if (sadly) that means having the oh-so-competent drs. lee and winters get involved in helping their so-called friend.

i understand that plot contraivances are often created to draw certain events out, but i really hate when characters behave somewhat out of character in order to make a certain plot point work or to extend the timing of the "big reveal." we all know robin has ppd. let's move forward.

4. ok, so i actually kind of adore maxie. her scenes with johnny were so cute, you could tell that the actors were enjoying themselves. once johnny and lulu were alone together, it was all misery. and then maxie went to see spinelli, who toned down the geek and was actually really adorable and heartfelt in his declaration of love. except that...oopsies...maxie suddenly developed narcolepsy on top of her heart condition and that begins the "it's a wonderful life" story break. so awesome, i can hardly bear it.

thanks, gh for giving me something to look forward to...oops, i meant FAST-forwarding to.

screencaps courtesy of laurieluvsliason.

simply a letdown

2009-02-20T14:20:00.005-05:00

i don't know. i mean...i had been enjoying the "grey's anatomy"/"private practice" crossover event, but...meh. i think that they could have done way more interesting things with it than they did. the heart of the crossover had a pretty great mix of the grey's cast interacting with the pp cast. but as it wound down, it didn't really deliver any real goods.

here are a few thoughts on what grey's should do to improve things:

1. spend less time in surgery
i know they are surgical residents, but the surgery scenes are challenging to watch because the actors all have their surgical masks in place and are stuck emoting with their eyes. it gets boring to see meaningful glances exchanged over the body being cut open.

2. when focusing on patients don't line up each patient so perfectly with the doctor's own story line every single time
having the events in patients lives echo what is going on for our main doctors is okay sometimes, but it's getting repetitive and obvious. instead of making the patient storylines seem like anvils foreshadowing what the doctors are feeling and where their stories are going, it would be fun to see them mix up the doctor/patient dynamics. so maybe grief-stricken woman gets assigned to meredith and a commitment-phobe gets assigned to izzie, have a scene with the doctors talking about their patients. the lunch room scenes are some of the best moments of the series because all the characters are there together.

3. have the characters spend more time together
honestly i don't watch "grey's anatomy" for the medical stories, yes these should be interesting, but more than anything, we should be seeing the characters interact with each other. the relationships are the heart of the series, and so far this season the scenes away from the hospital involve 2-3 of the characters and are about thirty seconds long. the cast works best as an ensemble, and they've lost a little of their magic, but can get it back by spending just a little more time at joe's.

i love that meredith and derek are a committed couple, but for a couple they spend such a small amount of time on screen together that it's hard to remember why there was so much magic and chemistry in the original pairing. this episode, when addison finally prompts meredith to speak to derek, it highlights the fact that we only ever see them together for brief glimpses. they are the show's anchor couple, they can spend more than two seconds together on screen, and it would be even better if they actually had conversations. sometimes it feels like all they do is talk at one another.

meanwhile "private practice" winds down from the crossover madness by not really going anywhere. addison is back in los angeles and cries about her no-good brother a lot. pete continues to ignore violet. sheldon takes a small step forward with violet in the couples therapy group. cooper continues to be a baby stealer, but finally makes progress with charlotte after she confesses to sleeping with addison's no-good brother. it didn't make sense, but i was happy for it.

simply coming back to the place where it all began

2009-02-19T10:16:00.005-05:00

so how eerie was it to see the oceanic 6 get on that plane? especially considering the mysterious circumstances that gets them to come together: jack bringing the dead body of john locke, hurley with his comic book and guitar case (something of charlie's perhaps?), sayid filling kate's role of fugitive, and ben running into the airplane just in time, much like hurley did for flight 815.

here's the thing. i'm not a big jack fan. his hero complex, his need to fix things, his idea of what is right, i find it all so annoying. i don't understand why everyone is so willing to follow his lead, because most of the time i wish he had just died the way the original script intended. most of this is due to the character, but some of it also has to do with matthew fox and how i couldn't stand him on "party of five" because he just had to be right and keep the family together.

kate is a more complex character to understand. i can never fathom her motivations. i'm never sure what her true feelings are. which makes her interesting to me. (it's no surprise to anyone here that i love love love sawyer and because he loves kate i want them to end up together, but if he decided he was in love with someone else, namely me, i would be so happy.) i've been thinking about the sex that jack and kate presumably had. and i wonder if kate is chancing pregnancy to "recreate" the original circumstances of flight 815. with no aaron there, there is no claire, and no pregnant person. her anger and coldness toward jack indicates that there was something darker at play, something that provoked kate's behavior. i can't wait to find out what that is.

interesting too will be seeing if lapidus, the marshall accompanying sayid, and the guy who offered jack his condolences will be making further appearances on the island. and i also wonder if all of them landed on the island at the same point in time. if perhaps because the circumstances weren't exactly the same, and they were different enough that as the blinding light took them from the airplane they landed in different time periods. (considering that sun isn't with kate, jack, and hurley, who have just run into jin, i think there will be some very pissed off koreans making appearances on our television screens.)

one last thought. when ben left to run his errand, i couldn't help but think that he had gone to kill penny. did he succeed? how long will we be kept in suspense? and if desmond wasn't on the plane, will he still find his way back to the island?

simply fringe science explaining life's deepest mysteries

2009-02-18T22:33:00.006-05:00

so remember how i had those 6 episodes of "fringe" stored on the dvr? yeah, they became a total of 9 episodes. but i took advantage of president's day and having the day off work and watched them all. (well, actually only 7 of them, i had to watch the last two episodes last night.) (also, i am a bad friend because what i should have been doing on monday was read my friend ian's novel and send him feedback on it, but i'm having a hard time getting around to it since he sent it to me on paper and it's 600+ pages in this huge black binder that i can barely carry.)

anyway, i finally watched all the episodes, and have to say i'm glad i did. the show seems to be settling into it's formula, and the characters are interacting together more naturally, more organically. i still think anna torv as olivia dunham can be a little to dreary (a major problem is her voice/speech and this is likely due to the fact that she is masking an australian accent, unfortunately i think her american voice is a little too flat and i also think she has a hard time maintaining it. to me she often sounds canadian), and i 'm having trouble getting past the fact that she's a two-face. but by introducing her sister and niece, and by giving her some story outside of loving john scott, i think olivia is actually developing a personality. the more she interacts with pacey (yes, i know his name is peter on this show, but peter-pacey=same difference), the closer the characters get to each other and the more the fringe division becomes a unit, the better the show is.

i am amused at how much of "alias" i see in the show. it's strange, because "fringe" has less personality, less character in it than "alias" but is the more successful show. the latest revelation that olivia had been part of a secret pharmaceutical trial on a military base just reminds me of sydney discovering her father had put her through some tests to develop her spy sense. i'm intrigued to see where this goes, and what kind of effect this knowledge will have on olivia.

on the other hand, i keep hoping they ramp up pacey's involvement with the cases. i like that he is the guy they turn to for his special contacts in the less legal markets, but he still does little more than help out at the lab. i want to see more of him, all the time. he manages to lighten up olivia in a way others don't, and having them work together more frequently can only help the show avoid some of the dreariness.

anyway, i'm all caught up now and get to wait until april before they air the remaining 7 episodes of the season. i wish i had known i didn't have to stress about catching up. (i still do need to read ian's manuscript.)

simply making my head hurt

2009-02-18T10:28:00.005-05:00

it's getting to the point where it's not just the lostaways who have aching heads and nosebleeds (well, okay, i actually haven't had a nosebleed), what on earth is going on with time on the show? scratch that, what on earth is going on?

i was very sorry to have charlotte die. i thought that there was more for her to reveal, particularly as a dharma dweller. i actually think it's likely that we will see her again, and that daniel will try to protect her from the island. a mistake that will exist on an endless loop, since you can't stop the island from getting what it wants. i imagine that charlotte's mother left the island to protect her.

i wonder what happens to the lostaways now that locke is gone, and the closest thing they have to leaders are sawyer and juliet. sawyer starts the series not really caring about his fellow survivors, but over time that's changed. what happens now, when he is their pseudo-leader. and how soon do we think jack will be back to take that power away from him?

so we know that eleanor hawking is faraday's mother. is she also ellie from the 1950s? i think this theory is very plausible and hope that the mystery isn't dragged out too long. ben's face when he discovered that she is related to faraday was interesting. i don't think he knew that. and i wonder what the information means to him. what is mrs. hawking's relationship to widmore?

what are ben's motivations at all? we had him professing to be working for the good of the oceanic 6 and the remaining survivors of flight 815, but i think that the caveat there is he is working to their good, only in the sense that their good is in his best interest too. christian shepard tells us in this same episode that listening to ben never does anyone any good, in particular locke, who has been bitten in the butt several times for listening to ben.

i wonder if we get any closer to a reunion this week? we do get a kate and jack kiss, which i will say i am not at all happy about. kate belongs with sawyer, not jack. and nothing anyone says or does will change my mind on that.

seriously romantic: all about the written word

2009-02-17T23:31:00.012-05:00

so i never meant to post solely about television. i just happen to watch a lot of it, and unlike high school, where my friend, alex and i would call each other to dissect the latest gh events every afternoon, my friends and i talk about more adult topics nowadays, like how much we hate work, or politics, or babies. this has proved to be a great channel for my thoughts on tv.

but i also read a lot. and one of the reasons i read a lot is that i read a lot of trashy romance novels. the thing is, i don't think of them as trashy. there's a lot of stuff being published, and some of it is real crap, but some of it is really well written and entertaining. and well, i've decided to track some of them here, in my new feature: seriously romantic.

this week i'm going to cover julia quinn's bridgerton book series: the duke and i; the viscount who loved me; an offer from a gentleman; romancing mr. bridgerton; to sir philip, with love; when he was wicked; it's in his kiss; and on the way to the wedding. the series covers the romantic pairings of the bridgerton siblings--anthony, benedict, colin, daphne, eloise, francesca, gregory, and hyacinth.

quinn's style tends to light, warm-hearted fare, with humor and tragedy/suspense delicately balanced in order to create emotional resonance. the books vary in mood and atmosphere, taking into account the characteristics of whichever sibling's story it happens to be. i didn't read the series in order, but it doesn't really matter what order you read the books in, since the stories standalone for each sibling. i started reading the books with romancing mr. bridgerton, and then read the original three, and the rest as they were published.

though i think most people would list the duke and i or the viscount who loved me as their favorites, i actually prefer when he was wicked. it's the darkest in tone of all the novels, but was the book that evoked the most emotion in me, and the passion, the desperation that the two character's felt for each other as you read seeps from every word, every page. i've read it at least ten times and do not get tired of francesca and michael's story.

i actually think that writing when he was wicked may have taken quinn to a darker place than she intended, since the remaining two novels in the series are so fluffy light and almost silly that they are undoubtedly the weakest links in the entire series. [and yes, i am aware that on the way to the wedding won a rita award, i just think quinn has published more deserving books.]

i don't know, maybe i think romance books shouldn't really go over 4 in a series. i think that as great as it is to have this little universe to visit, ultimately staying with the same characters for so long inhibits the authors and they get stuck in a rut, albeit unintentionally. [speaking of ruts makes me think of next week's subject, stephanie laurens and the bar cynster novels.]

simply a primetime round up

2009-02-10T17:58:00.010-05:00

i've been focusing a lot on "general hospital" and "lost" lately, so here are my thoughts on some of the other shows i watch.

chuck
so last week's 3-D episode was good, but also a bit of a let down. i thought that the tension between chuck and sarah after he witnessed her shoot a fulcrum agent in cold blood would hold over a few episodes. instead they address it after a few scenes of chuck behaving oddly in sarah's presence. while chuck is still uncomfortable in his spy role, he's been playing a larger part in the missions and as the end of the episode shows us, is clearly committed to the work that they do.

how i met your mother
this show is so brilliant. i'm really loving the robin-barney love connection. i think they've been able to mine a lot of great comedic material for barney, and it's been fun watching the other characters realize that barney has the hots for robin. right now lily and ted are the only other people aware of his feelings, so it will be fun to see marshall find out, and what happens when robin realizes what's going on. i love this show because it is the one show that i can empathize with. though obviously a television show, the show often has scenes/bits of dialogue that resemble moments i've shared with my own group of friends.

grey's anatomy/private practice
it's the big crossover event. and the first two episodes of said crossover event were pretty ho-hum. there was a bit too much setting up the groundwork for the crossover event that i think the abc promo department should have held off those promos until this week. though apparently "private practice" did better than ever before so maybe those promo guys know what they're doing.

on grey's i'm loving the lexie-sloan hook-up. i just think the chemistry works and that lexie has shown an attraction to bad boys (see karev, alex) that it makes sense for her to be attracted to mark. she makes him a better person, we already knew from his affair with addison that he was capable of deeper feelings. and what makes the pairing work is the fact that he geniunely fought his feelings for her, he wanted to be good for derek's sake. and when she told him that the only way they could continue this relationship was for him to admit that they had one to derek and meredith, he actually tried to tell derek. but the timing wasn't exactly right, you don't really want to piss off a guy who's trying to go all out when proposing to his girlfriend.

that's right. derek is ready to propose to meredith. and even though he was interupted by addison, we know that it will happen at some point. the emotional growth these characters have shown this season has really done wonders for the show. instead of being stuck in a constant rut the characters have been able to move forward in a manner that doesn't compromise who they are. that is key. i've broken up with shows who are unable to do this for that very reason.

finally, owen and christina live out their victorian romance. the scene where they walk together and their hands barely touch. pure sex. it was all hot glances and heavy sexual tension with them this week. and judging from the promos, things are about to get juicier for this pairing.

meanwhile on pp, i'm not that interested in violet's baby dilemma. and am annoyed that this is the latest stumbling block to charlotte and cooper. i love those two together and think it is mega-annoying to keep them apart for this reason. they are always taking one step forward and two steps back. grr.

flight of the conchords
last week, jim gaffigan made a hilarious cameo as murray's friend jim. this season has been pretty good so far, although i am still a little surprised when other characters get their own musical sequences. i think "sugar lumps" is a fantastic song. i'm still really enjoying these wacky new zealanders.

simply reminding me of my high school french class

2009-02-09T10:12:00.012-05:00

"On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
[One cannot see well except with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.]"

i don't know how many times my high school french teacher, mme. alio, repeated this line to us as we read antoine de saint-exupéry's le petit prince. so when i found out the latest episode of lost was named "the little prince" i couldn't help but think that by choosing to name the episode after a book about two castaways, the writers/producers we giving us a critical clue to understanding the story that is unfolding on my television screen every week. i think, perhaps, that john locke, richard alpert, and benjamin linus, are the only characters who have ever been able to understand the island without questioning it. and the struggle to understand what the island is asking for is what has dogged the lostaways since they first crashed there in 2004.

and maybe as the island skips through time and the oceanic six struggle to live normal lives off the island, the lostaways are finally beginning to understand the things that they couldn't comprehend earlier. once you are directly faced with the past, how do you best respond to it? sawyer witnesses the moment of aaron's birth and chooses not to intrude, telling juliet "what's done is done." he's devasted by his vision of her, the one person sawyer loves above himself is kate. on a show where everyone's motives are suspect, it's nice to know this. locke realizes that they are at a moment in time where he is questioning the island, and because he believes he needs that pain and doubt to get where he is now, he chooses not to alter anything.

daniel did warn not to change the past, but he's also not the most consistent person on this subject, since didn't he alter the past and future by speaking with desmond when he was still in the hatch? i'm fascinated by daniel, because though he seems empathetic and lovestruck, he's a bit squirrely, and i'm not sure he should be trusted. when he says to juliet that he's glad that the "time travel jet lag" is happening to charlotte and not everyone else? him? he's not clear in the sentiment, but all the same it seems a rather callous statement for someone who claims to be in love with the person suffering.

we do learn a little more about the "time travel jet lag," in particular, that onset relates to the amount of time spent on the island. from charlotte we know that she believes she was born on the island, and she is the first to experience the nosebleeds. miles and juliet follow, and though we know juliet has been on the island for about 3-5 years, miles' previous life on the island has not been alluded to, unless we are to believe that he is marvin candle's/pierre chang's son--and we do know that he had a baby back in his filming days with dharma.

meanwhile, off-island, getting the band back together is a little bit harder than it looks. kate and sayid are not at all inclined to trust ben, especially since he gleefully admits to being a manipulative bastard. and then we have sun, whose agenda is completely unclear...though we do know that she is in possession of a gun sent via box of chocolates and that you should never ask her to babysit...poor aaron!

speaking of aaron, does kate know that jack is really related to aaron? or does she think when he says "aaron is his family too" that he is either referring to her words when aaron was born "this child is all of us" or the fact that they were almost married? she cries, but any of those things could have provoked tears. i guess the ambiguity is fine in this case. i just don't like being reminded of the jack and kate connection. especially when i've just witnessed some awesome sawyer pining.

sawyer probably had one of the best lines this episode. "thank you god" when a flash occurred to get them out of a sticky situation involving a shootout on a canoe. and then "i take that back" when they end up in a bad rainstorm. it was just a brilliant moment of comic relief, and so utterly true to sawyer.

the skips of time into the future and then back to 1988, were pretty dramatic, and i can't wait to learn more about the island in both time periods. for example, who is chasing the lostaways in the future? is it versions of themselves? is it the oceanic sixers who don't realize that is who they are chasing? clearly there are some new castaways if the ajira airlines water bottle is to be believed. i love how time has moved differently for the lostaways and the oceanic sixers, when they meet up again, if they meet up again, it will be very interesting to see how the series moves forward.

and let's dwell on 1988, the year the french expedition lands on the island--before rousseau has her baby stolen and becomes the crazy survivorwoman of 2004. having her and her team save jin was simply a great moment. and yes, jin is alive. now all we got to do is get him back with some of the original crew. it's time to start threading things back together.

i can't wait.