Two Ladies & Their TVs

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

 

Lost: "Exodus"

So, it's been a while, but since both Ladies are on vaca right now (though I am the one closer to a computer at this point!), it's not unexpected.  Still, I feel as if I must comment on the last episode of "Lost" before too many details are forgotten, and theories go unspeculated. 

What an episode of shockers, eh?  I'm still lost for words almost a week after the show; it promises to be a show that will be talked about all season.  So, Arzt became the "Red Shirt" and blew up while handling dynamites.  Hurley jumping to stop the fuse when Jack and Locke were about to detonate the hatch - almost made you wonder if Hurley was going to join Arzt!  Then, there was Danielle taking Claire's baby.  At this point, I thought that perhaps Danielle was one of "The Others," but it turned out that she only wanted to exchange the baby for her own daughter.  There was also the realization that The Others wanted Walt, the other "boy" on the island besides Claire's baby; you began to wonder what exactly it was that The Others wanted with Walt.  Did anyone else suspect that the young girl who threw the hand grenade onto the raft was perhaps Alex?  For some odd reason, The Others need to increase their population, so they do it by kidnapping other people's kids.  Very strange.

Then there was the strange tale of the hatch, now that it's been blown open...and just like the mind-bender that "Lost" is, you were left with the ladder that led to nowhere inside the hatch.  And what are to become of Sawyer, Jin, and Michael, as they were left stranded out in the sea?  Did all of them survive?  Will any of them make it back to shore?  I had a sinking feeling when they came across the object on their radar - it felt entirely too soon, and unfortunately for them, it was The Others looking for them. 

What do we make of all of it?  I have no clue.  Minutes after the show ended, I franticly searched all spoiler sites/forums that I could find, and no one has any clue yet what's going on.  All that's left is to wait for the summer to pass by slowly and for new info to leak out.  In the meantime, we're left with a whole summer's dry spell, without "Lost"...  We Ladies will have to find other side careers until the fall season picks back up!

Posted by: merserene at 18:16 | link | comments
it s all drama

American Idol 5/17/05

I haven't cared much for reality t.v. this year.  Didn't care who won Survivor, don't care who wins The Apprentice (because there's no way Donald Trump is going to pick someone who didn't finish college), and I don't watch enough of anything else to have much of an opinion.  But American Idol's been a real pleaser this year, mainly because most of the singers can actually sing.  By far this is the strongest group of twelve they've ever had.

Last night the final three sang three songs: one by Clive Davis, one by themselves, and one by each of the judges.  Good, solid night with some definite highlights.

Vonzell: First up were Clive's picks, and even if he's got an ear for some incredible talent, man don't know how to pick songs for these contestants.  BOOOOOO-RING.  "I Know I'll Never Love this Way Again"-- maybe it's Dionne Warwick's voice, maybe it's the song itself, but both have always grated on me.  Blech, blech, I hate this song, and Vonzell was a bit warbly on it.  DW's voice is very smooth and mellow (and coma-inducing), and Vonzell couldn't match that; she has too much power and her voice isn't as naturally low.  I will give Clive Davis credit for telling her that this isn't a song you sing with a smile-- LOTS of contestants don't connect with their songs and smile through them when they should be falling down, smacking the ground crying.  She seemed to remember this with "Chain of Fools", because I didn't see hardly any smiles.

"Chain of Fools", her own choice, was her personal best last night; this was her audition song, so you know she's gotta be totally comfortable with it.  Her last song was "On the Radio", Simon's pick for her, and I gave a whoop of joy over that.  I have Donna Summer's greatest hits, I have loved this song since I was a kid, and it fits Vonzell to a T.  But... again, too warbly.  DS has such a powerhouse of a voice, it's hard to top.  Not Vonzell's fault; I think she did the best she could.  I really do love Vonzell-- such a sweetie-- and in a perfect world she'd make it to the top two, but she won't.

Carrie: Snooooooooooore.  I'm sure it's my kneejerk reaction to being bashed over the head with her greatness, but I've never connected with this girl; the only time I've loved hearing her sing is when she did "Alone" by Heart, which was a truly great performance (although you have to hand a lot of that to the backup singers).  CD's pick for her was "Crying", and I swear when I passed through the room that she was doing an old Linda Ronstadt song (did she cover Roy Orbison?  She's covered just about everyone else out there).  Second was her own pick: Air Supply's "Making Love out of Nothing at All".  Now, I liked Air Supply when I was a kid-- bubblegum syrupiness and I knew it, but she could have picked a better song of theirs.  This one sucks.  She was fine in the beginning and at the end, but in the middle, boy did she sound strained.  More screechy than anything else.

Randy's pick for her was Shania Twain's "(Man) I Feel Like a Woman", which is pretty good-- I can't stand that particular line and the way it's sung, but the rest of the song's pretty catchy.  I can't say I listened enough to care.  I was outside trying to finish the veggie garden while this was on, and taped it, and if I'm going to watch a tape you know what I'm going to do?  FF through the parts I don't like.  In this case, that would be Carrie's robotic parts.

Around the house I say, "Carrie's vanilla and that's what America likes right now." A fearsome generalization, because I prefer Chubby Hubby and I'm sure so do others, but the most vocal, and those with the most nimble voting fingers, like vanilla. 

Bo: I wish he spelled his name Beau.  That'd be so Southern and reminiscent of that guy in the Warner Brothers cartoon; you know, the one who always wants his hossenpepper.  I also wish he'd take off those damn shades, because a pet peeve of mine is people who wear sunglasses indoors when they have no medical reason to.  It's corny!

CD's pick for him was "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".  Now, that was the song that got Clay through in the Wild Card round back in season 2; fanatic fans of the show associate it with him, and I don't think it was a good choice.  He sang fine, and with confidence, but I couldn't put Clay aside long enough to appreciate it more.

"In a Dream" by Badlands was Bo's personal choice, and first, let me say Oh. My. God.  He sang this a capella, and what a wonderful choice.  Risky, yes, but truly smart-- what a way to set yourself apart from the other contestants.  People will definitely remember if you forgo the band and just sing with the mic.  I was truly floored by his performance (in fairness, though, I have to say his run at the end was a little off, but at least it was soft).  The thing with rock music is that it's not true singing music; many times the music is the real star, and the singing's not too important.  And a lot of rock singers can't sing.  It's not the kind of music you get into if you want to show off your pipes.  There are a few really great singers who've been in rock, but most of 'em are just in it for the chicks (oh, you know it).  "In a Dream" proved that Bo really can sing; his voice was powerful and controlled and I felt almost as if I was swept away by a spiritual.  Very moving and by far, the best performance of the night.

The judges needed to quit it with the 'Courageous!' comments, though.  "Courageous", no.  "Smart" and "Risky"-- yes.

Paula picked "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones for Bo to sing, and I groaned.  So not a singing song!  But are we surprised that loopy Paula didn't get that?  I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, though: it was energetic, all over the stage, and clearly had fun singing an iconic rock song (although not as iconic as "Freebird", thank God). Per Simon's comment, I wonder where these weddings are he's attending?  Because if wedding singers sound like that... hrm, where are my invitations for me and Mr. Calm's reaffirmation ceremony?

A pretty good night.  Bo rocked the house.  How nice to see Chubby Hubby making it to the finals.

Posted by: athenawj at 05:12 | link | comments (1)
reality check

ST: Enterprise "Terra Prime"/"These Are The Voyages..."

Initial reaction: Although "These Are The Voyages..." is the last episode, thus has nostalgic value, I liked "Terra Prime" better. 

"Terra Prime" is the continuation of last week's story arc involving RoboCop and his mission to rid Earth of all aliens.  This week, Archer and the away team cleverly "cloaked" the shuttle pod in a comet's tail as to fly towards the Terra Prime station without being detected.  Some comic relief as Malcolm gets incredibly air sick and Dr. Phlox basically gives him an air sickness bag.  We find out the child was "cloned" from T'Pol's and Tripp's genetic material that was stored on Enterprise.  There was a spy who apparently smuggled out the material to Terra Prime.

Also some nice moments when T'Pol got a hold of her daughter.  My favorite part has to be when she said, "Hello, I'm your mother.  You're going to need a name.  But we should probably discuss it with your father."  It was so cute, and yet so Vulcan, that it had me cracking up!  Although Vulcans suppress their emotions, you could see the anxiety and fear on T'Pol's face because the child is sick.  How sweet was it that T'Pol named the child Elizabeth, after Tripp's dead sister, and how sad it was when Elizabeth died because her cloning process was flawed!  Tripp bawled. 

Thank goodness RoboCop and Terra Prime were stopped, or else there wouldn't be a Federation.

On the last episde - Ricker was having some issues with a mysterious matter, which we didn't know about at the beginning of the episode, but for which Deanna suggested that he consult some of the old database on "disobeying orders."  This led to Ricker using the Holodeck to recreate the Enterprise right before it was due back to Earth to sign the Charter for the Federation, 10 years after it set off for the galaxy.  However, Shran the Andorian reappeared - apparently he had been "dead" for several years - because his daughter had been kidnapped by some former associates of his, demanding something that he didn't have.  Thus, Shran contacted Archer for help.  Archer reluctantly diverted Enterprise to set course to Rigel X, where Shran's daughter was kept.

It was nice to see Riker and Deanna in the last episode, reliving certain events of the Enterprise on the Holodeck, but I have to wonder why exactly Riker had to consult the Enterprise to make up his mind about reporting to Picard.  It seemed a little convenient.

Still, it was cute that Riker took Deanna's advice and put himself in the role of the chef on Enterprise, since in those days there were no counselors but everyone apparently confided in the chef.  Or when he became part of the crew, defending itself from alien intruders.

Good news was that Shran got his daughter back safe and sound.  Bad news was that Tripp had to sacrifice himself to save Archer.  I'm sure T'Pol had a feeling that she was never going to see Tripp again, not because they were about to go off on different assignments, but because Vulcans had this 6th sense.   I admit to not always liking Tripp in tthe past, but the fact he cried at his daughter's death and the fact that he didn't make it back to Earth made me incredibly sad and somewhat teary. 

After we relive this whole rendez vous with Shran, we find out that Riker was conflicted on whether or not to report to Picard about information he had on the Pegasus, which Riker was on previously and was only 1 of 7 who survived.  71 people died on Pegasus; it was attacked and destroyed, but the real significance was that Pegasus illegally used and experimented with cloaking technology, which was banned in the Federation.  The Enterprise reenactment gave Riker some inspiration, and Riker decidede to report the matter to Picard even though he had previously sworn to keep the secret.

The beginning of the Federation, and the end of an era, literally.  I'm going to miss "Enterprise."  And the funny thing is, after seeing this last episode, I really miss Picard.

Posted by: merserene at 23:00 | link | comments
scifi universe

News

Sorry, merserene.  It's speculation at this point, since the official news doesn't come out til Monday, but here's what CNN had to say about Trial by Jury and other shows I hope the news about The Office is right-- whoo-hoo!

Also, there's an unsubstantiated rumor that says FOX is renewing Arrested Development for a third season.  So... whoo?  I'm cautiously optimistic, but it would be Fan-Fucking-Tastic news if it's true!

Posted by: athenawj at 07:31 | link | comments (3)

L&O: SVU "Blood"

A late review, but here it is...

This ep was like the Mothership, in that it started with one case and ended with another (or, since it aired a day before, was the Mothership's like SVU?).  It began with a young woman being sexually assaulted and beaten in front of a nightclub, then her car was stolen and her baby thrown from the moving vehicle (in a carseat).  My question was like Stabler's, in that why did she have her baby in the car while she went into a club?  Anyway, they went after one guy she named, it turned into a case of Medicaid drugs either being stolen or sold, and finally a case of elderly abuse.

First, I want to say how nice it is to see Melinda Dillon, who played Jenny, the elderly woman.  She's the timeless mom from "A Christmas Story", and of course from "Close Encounters".  And how nice to see someone who hasn't given into plastic surgery.  I thought she played Jenny well; obviously torn on what the right thing to do was, eventually protecting her son, although I can imagine how bad he and his wife were to her.

Stabler's arc mirrored Jenny's-- and really, they need to quit doing this; not everyone is banged over the head in real life by their own events mirroring everyone they meet-- with his daughter being arrested for DUI, but did I get his daughter's reaction?  Did I get Cragen's?  No, not at all.  When has it ever been shown that Destable Stabler is like that at home?  For that matter, when was it ever shown (one instant of Stabler staying at a hotel, but that wasn't enough) that Stabler's marriage was on the rocks, but meh, I guess we're stupid viewers.  Anyway, that she said she was afraid of what he would do bugged me.  Stabler does love his kids, and I doubt very much that he would go nuclear ("nucular" for our spelling-impaired friends).  Boy, they played up the animosity between him and Cathy.

And, well, while Cragen's anger may be justified, I wasn't surprised that Stabler fixed the DUI.  Parents will do that to protect their children-- maybe protect is the wrong word; 'make things right' might be better--, and I imagine cops have the power to do that, and have done it.  No, you know, I didn't get pissy Cragen. I think maybe it's tied to a lot of other things Stabler's done, and Cragen either took the opportunity to lay it out, or he's fed up.

That leads to me wondering if Stabler did the right thing in putting the sting on Kevin after his murder charges were dropped (and could it have been any more obvious that Jenny was lying on the stand?  Not literally, folks).  I'm not sure.  Seems a little underhanded, but I have no doubt that Stabler's concern was genuine.  The bad part was that I wondered what would become of Jenny with both her DIL and son gone.  Who would care for her?  I couldn't figure out if she was really that forgetful and absent-minded; it wouldn't be good if she was to be alone.  So, while Stabler may have done the right thing to put Kevin back on the right track (although that just wasn't the motivation), I don't think he thought it fully through.

I think the arc about Stabler and his daughter was a little sloppy.  They could have followed up with Stabler talking to her, or doing the right thing, which would have been his daughter facing the charge, teaching her a lesson, but honestly, it only seemed put in to further show us the DeStablerization.  Sloppy, sucky.

I still liked the episode, and yes, I realize I sound like a total fangirly in this.  Won't talk bad about Stabler-- won't!

Posted by: athenawj at 05:48 | link | comments (4)
it s all drama

Lost: "Born To Run"/L&O: "In God We Trust"

Tonight on "Lost," we were taken back further through Kate's flashbacks to reveal the man whom she loved and killed.  Let me get this out of the way and say that when I saw the credits with "Mackenzie Astin" in it, my curiosity was piqued.  The last time I had seen him in anything was back in the days of "Facts of Life," where he played the blond little boy, Andy, who annoyed the heck out of all the teenage girls.  Thought he was cute then and was curious how he turned out.  I wasn't disappointed!  In fact, I could see traces of Sean Astin in him.  But I think little brother turned out cuter.

Ahem.  Anyway.  /end fan girl

Even though Kate felt responsible for Tom's death, it's unclear what exactly she was running from, and why she was eventually captured.  Although she didn't put a bullet through Tom's heart, she could have stopped and turned herself in, if she really loved him.  Looks like she has a history of hurting those she loves, as evidenced by her own mother's reaction when Kate visited her.  It must've been something really awful...and we still don't know what.  Though I must say, I wouldn't put it past Kate to poison Michael; the poisoning turned out to be her idea anyway, and I can't stand her always looking so rejected as if she's the victim who has been wronged all this time.  She is a bad person!  I wanted to feel sorry for her when Sawyer dumped all of the stuff out of her backpack, but I couldn't, especially not after we found out she tried to steal Joanna's identity/passport.  She's gotta pay for what she's done.

How about that, though, it was Sun who did it.  Out of love for her husband, of course, but accidentally hurting Michael instead.

Walt - no doubt that he is something special.  He knew about the discussions on opening the hatch from touching Locke.  I think it was then that he knew they HAVE to get off of the island, because something with opening the hatch is a terrible idea.  Speculations, speculations...

Not a bad episode, but like the previous episode it didn't advance the plot too much.  It's alll buildling up to stuff though.  We will see the raft set sail before the finale, and Danielle comes back.  Makes you wonder why she is so afraid of The Others, and why she cares to warn these plane crashed people to warn them. 

Instead of running away, we have a perp who chose not to run on "Law and Order" - an interesting episode that led the audience from one crime to another to settle on a cold case from nine years ago.  I liked how nothing was obvious from the beginning; you almost expect the trial would be on the murder of the police officer, except you find that it was an accident. 

Also, I like the episode because I agreed with everything Jack said.  He's my hero!  I don't care how reformed a person has become since he committed a crime.  He still needs to pay for what he has done.  We are living in the mortal world, in civilized societies where there are rules we must follow to be part of the societies.  Same reasoning as why Catholic priests can't and shouldn't be immune from prosecution for molesting young boys.  Nice try on the lady lawyer's part, though.  But it was incredibly disturbing when she said she could've hung the jury with today's world.

Looking forward to all the season finales!  Though that means I'll have to find other shows to occupy me through the summer months.

Posted by: merserene at 21:02 | link | comments (3)
it s all drama

ST: Enterprise "Demons"

Two episodes left after this one!  I can't believe next week will feature the series finale of "Enterprise."  Sigh.

Anyway.  Yet another very good story arc.  RoboCop...I mean Peter Weller plays Paxon, a human supremacist who wants to rid Earth of all aliens and return Earth to the humans.  He does this behind the facade of a mining operation on a mining colony, while leading the supremacist group called Terra Prime.  His lackeys talk about aliens who look like freaks walking down the streets of Earth, scaring kids into crying.  Their behavior is an eery reminder of the parallel universe we were treated to, where humans reign supreme.

The beginning of the story involves a baby that's the offspring of Commander Tucker and T'Pol - essentially your very first Human-Vulcan hybrid - except neither of the parents can figure out how the child came about.  Sure, they slept together, but T'Pol never got pregnant, and never aborted any embryos.  That mystery remains to be solved.

But in the mean time, we witness the beginnings of the Federation.  The Mayor from Buffy-verse...I mean Nathan Samuels, who is apparently the minister of Earth, presides over the forming of the Federation.  Harry Groener does a great job as well, playing the sketchy, unctuous politician type that he was so famous for in Buffy.  I almost expected him to morph into a 300 foot snake demon while he was giving that speech to the aliens!  (Buffy fans must've really appreciated this.)  So, this speech coincides with RoboCop's plans of taking over some beams on Mars, which he can then use to shoot down any vessel or celestial body in a sort of Death Star like fashion.  Meanwhile, Tucker and T'Pol are trapped on the mining operation con space ship (which reminds me of DS9), both drawn to the area because they wanted to see their child, but now awaiting whatever fate RoboCop has intended for them.

No chills down the back here, but it's a fantastic story arc because it makes you think.  You've got great acting by Peter Weller, who I saw in "RoboCop" for the first time just several weeks ago.  He was forced to act robotic then, but his eyes told the entire story.  And I admit that "RoboCop" made me cry.  So, it was a nice surprise to see him star in "Enterprise" as the villain.  With his robotic, stoic good looks and cold stare, I can't help but love him just for having been RoboCop, and forget that he's the equivalent of a white supremacist who wants to get rid of "unclean species."

And this is yet again why I love Star Trek so much - with racism being eradicated on Earth, it moves into inter-species conflict.  Although supposedly set far in the future, every episode has relevance in the here and now.  The xenophobia some humans still possess for people from other races or from other countries, it's all there in Star Trek, just on a much more galatic level.  It makes you wonder if that is the frailty of being human, to be afraid of something or someone with which we're unfamiliar, and that we're doomed to repeat our past mistakes because we can't apply each lesson in a larger context. 

Again, anyway.  Seems like before we get to the Federation, we are our worst enemy.  Next week is the conclusion of this story arc, as well as a look into the future/past, depending on your perspective.  With that cryptic note, I sadly conclude one of the few last reviews of "Enterprise."

ETA: I forgot to comment on the role that this episode gave Ensign Mayweather, the helmsman who usually sits there and looks pretty. They gave him a bit more tonight as he interacted with a former girlfriend who turns out to be a spy for Terra Prime. Can't say I care for the interaction between the two, or his acting. But he's got some nice biceps to show for.

Posted by: merserene at 23:36 | link | comments (2)
scifi universe

Without a Trace

I've never watched Without a Trace before; I only watched last night because John Krasinski from The Office was guest starring and I wanted to see him in something other than a comedy.  It was pretty good; a police procedural with flashbacks as they interrogate suspects and witnesses.  On second thought, there were a few flaws, though.  Last night's episode was about a girl who'd been missing for some hours, (13 years old), and how everyone in town thought a certain guy had killed her, because he'd been vaguely connected to the killing of a girl seven years earlier.

The Flaws:

Poppy Montgomery: She plays one of the FBI agents on the show, and while her acting's fine, I cannot buy her as a federal agent.  Uh-uh.  Something's off there.

The girl who played the runaway victim (as she turned out to be): Oh Lord, what a godawful actress.  Horrible.  All you could focus on was the atrocious acting.  Lord save us all if she gets more parts.

The accents: this show takes place in NY, and they went further upstate to investigate the crime, but some of the people and PM kept seguing into a Southern accent at times(including JK, who was fine, but they gave him some lame dialogue that even Olivier couldn't spice up).  First off, whuh?  No one up there sounds southern-- I don't care how rural a place you live in.  Secondly, I know a couple of them are from the north so I didn't get why their accents kept changing.

The Good Stuff: Cynthia Ettinger guest starred on this as well.  She's been on SVU a couple of times, and ER once, and I always enjoy seeing her.  She probably doesn't get as many roles as she deserves because she's heavier, but that doesn't stop her from being one of the prettiest actresses around, IMO.

Watching it once was fine, but I doubt I'll become a regular viewer.

 

 

Posted by: athenawj at 07:52 | link | comments
it s all drama

American Idol: Songs Then and Now

BWAH-HA-HA-HA!  Scott's gone!  Scott's gone!  Scott's Gone!

Here's what I would have said, had I been a judge sitting between Paula and Simon, to Scott Savol:

"For the past few weeks, it seems like your voice has gone downhill.  While tonight your low notes were drowned out by the music, you were better than you've been in awhile, and you even look a little better.  All that said, however, I couldn't get into it at all.  What you have isn't 'moxie' or 'confidence' (as Paula said), but attitude, and not a good one.  Your words to Simon about not leaving, your backtalk, and the faces you make, are obnoxious and completely detracting from what people should be focussing on, your voice.  What he's said to you isn't the worst that's in the world-- once you make it, you're going to be subjected to a lot worse, from a wide spectrum of critics and ordinary people, and if you can't get used to that now, you're going to have one hell of a time later on."

Ugh. The guy's a jerk.  I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a lot of folks, but I realized recently: not everyone can be smart.  Not everyone is nice.  Ya know?  And when will folks learn that there's no better way to turn off your fan base than to continually bitch at one of the judges?  Last night, Scott's 'moxie' finally turned off his fans, and his reign of terror ended.

Granted, I did feel a little sorry for him when I saw him continually chewing his lip, a good sign of nervousness, but it was belated; the guy was full of overblown ego for too long and he truthfully has been going downhill for weeks.  I'm prejudiced because I know of his police record, but his flat stare and fake Jesus affectations were also a turnoff, as well as his disrespect.  Be respectful of the chances you are given.  I always had the feeling this guy wasn't.  Just because you're the closest thing to a Regular Joe on this show doesn't mean you deserve it more than the others.

Time for the babbling to end.  I'm out.

Posted by: athenawj at 07:35 | link | comments (2)
reality check

L&O SVU/TBJ: "Night"/"Day"

I'm going to apologize in advance if I come off callous or snarky.  That's not going to stop me from doing it, but when someone gets savagely beaten, a normal person should feel something, right?

The case(s) revolved around a woman who was raped and subsequently murdered because of a heart condition; later, the detectives learned that sixteen women-- all illegals and young-- had been raped over the last three years.  I thought it was a good episode, solid, mainly because of the performances.  I did have to chuckle a little-- it was like an OZ reunion with Meloni, Rita Moreno and Kirk Acevedo, but the other guest stars were very good, too, with Angela Lansbury (who is still just so beautiful) and Alfred Molina ("Doc Ock!" said OD).  Anyway, the rest of the story-- the SVU side-- centered on trying to get a Bosnian rape victim to come forward, and how Casey got beat up by the victim's brother, who believed that Casey revealed to the world how his sister was no longer a virgin, therefore dishonoring her.

The Good Stuff: Alfred Molina's performance.  Just so odd, but spot-on, and even though the crimes were despicable, I didn't feel much despise for him.  Hrm, maybe that's not such a good performance, but whatever.  I just got the sense that he was in a constant state of bewilderment, and I felt a little bad for him when Stabler stormed his apartment, mainly because we all know what Stabler's capable of.

The confrontation in Cragen's office between Stabler and Angela Lansbury.  That scene alone made it clear how good she must have been in the original The Manchurian Candidate.  Cold but aloof and controlled.  I absolutely loved it that Stabler knew to be contrite, but that Cragen stepped in when she demanded he apologize to Gabriel (Molina).  I hate it when the rich families of perps on these shows use their status and wealth to throw their weight around, but I doubt very much IRL that simply speaking to the mayor and chief of police about a cop when said cop hasn't overstepped his/her bounds would really work, and I'm glad Cragen stuck up for Stabler in a way that satisfied everyone but didn't put Stabler in a position where he'd have to grovel.

The Bosnian woman and her situation was played very well, I think, and whoever played the lawyer made me sick of him pretty quick, so that was well-played, too.  I couldn't stand the constant witness tampering and scare tactics.  Ugh.

The Bad Stuff:  I'll start in a roundabout way.  When I watch Deadwood, I tense up through any scene in which I know there is going to be violence, and am shocked by it.  Same with SVU, and the simple reason is because I care about these characters and what's going to happen to them.  Even scenes where it seems there might be violence but isn't, I'm tense and ready to jump out of my seat.  I don't care about Casey, and sadly, didn't really care that she got beat up.  There's been nothing to the character, or the acting of the character, that makes me care that something horrible happened to her. And all I could think about during her hospital scene was, "Wow, she looks really ugly when she cries."

Moving on to TBJ...

I liked it more than I thought I would (love that theme song!), and Bebe Neuwirth didn't grate on me like I'd guessed (but I doubt I'm going to turn into a regular viewer).  However, the cops on this show seem like an afterthought; if I was an actor, I'd look for a better gig.  Just sayin'.

When the defense changed their plea to.... whatever it was, something wrong with Gabriel's way of thinking, I kept saying, "But that's not an excuse!"  Whatever was wrong with his mind, he wasn't beneath the IQ cutoff, he didn't have a psychosis that absolved him, and the degree of autism I didn't buy would excuse him from understanding what he'd done.  Therefore, I don't get why the prosecution seemed to be running scared.  What they labelled him with wouldn't excuse him in the least.  He was a rapist, and apparently one who raped with abandon.  Guy couldn't keep it in his pants even through the trial.  I have to say that any mild sympathy I had for him was lost during TBJ, mostly because he knew what he was doing was wrong, yet he allowed his defense to go through with it.  I was very happy to see the jury come back with a guilty verdict, although I wish the murder charge hadn't been dismissed.

The Bad Stuff: Wow, that daughter of the older rape victim sure is an ugly crier.

Posted by: athenawj at 07:24 | link | comments (1)
it s all drama

Lost: "The Greater Good"/L&O: "Sport of Kings"

It's been a while since we've been treated to a Lost/L&O double. (Note: Didn't watch last night's L&O double feature, thus no review for them yet...)

On Lost - we got more of Sayid's backstory, which sort of picked up after he left the Iraqi Republican National Guard and got into CIA custody.  The CIA made him a deal where it would tell him where his "girlfriend" (Nadia/Noor, from his previous flashback) was in exchange for contacting his college roommate, Essam.  Turned out that Essam moved to Sydney and got involved with some terrorists who wanted to send him on a suicide bombing mission.  What a difficult decision it must've been for Sayid - girlfriend, or college roommate?  Sayid chose the girl over his roommate, which led to Essam shooting himself in the head with a gun.  This also led Sayid to be scheduled on a plane from Sydney to Los Angeles, where Nadia now lives. 

Interesting episode, but not very compelling to me.  Though I understand Sayid had little choice, I am somewhat bothered by how easily he chose the girl and failed to try to save Essam until the very last minute.  Hassam was manipulated and used!  As if he wasn't already an emotional wreck because his wife got blown up while out shopping. 

And Shannon - never liked her to begin with, and whatever little sympathy I had for her went away tonight.  What a pompous little brat.  I would've been happy if she really was eaten by that giant dinosaur, but alas, that was only Boone's hallucination, and sadly, Boone's now gone. 

Jack is really getting on my nerves, too.  They have to stop dumbing down his character.  I can't take much more of the self-righteousness, especially when he now pits himself against my favorite character, Locke.  I'm really hoping it was just the lack of sleep!

But, there were good points too, like Hurley's impersonation of James Brown (which was really quite good), Charlie following Sawyer around with the baby, the baby being called "turnip head," and the fact Sawyer's voice miraculously calms down the baby even if Sawyer is reading a car magazine. 

Exciting bits on the preview for next week - What does Walt know about what's underneath the hatch?  Why does he tell people not to open it?  What do they decide to do with it?

On L&O -

I enjoyed this episode.  A horse jockey got murdered.  It could have been because he found out they were doping the horses and rigging the races, or that he was competing with other jockeys who want to ride the best horse, but no... It was because he stuck his nose into Varick's business when he questioned how much the horse was paid for, and could have found out that Varick was embezzling pension funds.  I don't watch racing, nor do I care for it, and little do I know about pension funds, but the setting and characters for this episode were different from the usual "someone got killed in Manhattan" type thing that it kept my interest.

What is Jesse L. Martin up to?  Why are they having his character stay in the hospital for so long while Michael Imperioli takes his place?  (Note: Just looked it up - I didn't even notice that Martin no longer appears in the credits, but apparently he left temporarily to fulfill some movie contract he has.)  That's not to say I'm complaining about Det. Nick Falco, because he's been enjoyable to watch.  And he seems to have the chemistry with Det. Fontana. 

Fontana redeems himself  when he is not having a 'tude about his partner.  It's amusing when he complains about ruining his Belgian loafers from working at the job.  Once again, what is up with that big wad of cash he carries around in his pocket?!  The producers/writers have to answer for that, eventually.  I am curious as to what he has on the side...

Posted by: merserene at 21:24 | link | comments (2)
it s all drama