Actually, I suppose I haven't gushed all that much about House. Not like, oh, say, Veronica Mars, of which I've posted about something like 27 times since I started this thing. Still, the gushing for VM, Kristen Bell, and Rob Thomas in general is highly deserved.
Anyway, I still haven't forgotten about "Merry Little Christmas," and I still plan on really deconstructing the House/Cameron relationship. Yes, there is UST, and yes, they're hot, and yes, I love the long, lingering gazes -- but it's more than that. Screw Wilson. Cameron is truly the only person who cares about House.
This scene? Proves it. Wilson's busy doing "what's best" for his "best friend" by going behind House's back and collecting his 30 pieces of silver from Tritter. Cuddy's concerned about House only because if he's convicted and goes to jail and/or has his license suspended, her hospital's reputation goes down the crapper. Foreman and Chase are just concerned about job security.
Cameron, from Day 1, has understood House's motivation. She can practically read his mind; she understands his metaphors, even when he's not making any sense, like in this scene. She's worried about what his escalating addiction is doing to him as a person, not just as a doctor. Yes, she's in love with him, and Tritter reminded us all -- and probably Cameron as well -- of that a few weeks ago when he called her on it. But like I said, it's more than that -- she truly loves him.
Jennifer Morrison, frankly, deserves an Emmy or Golden Globe nomination, because her transformation of Cameron over these past three seasons has been remarkable to watch. Truly remarkable. And completely realistic.
Sometimes people are really, really, really perplexing.
Anyway, one of my favorite Kristins interviewed my other favorite Kristen, and here's the end result: (Taken from E! Online.)
Lest anyone ever try to tell you otherwise, remember this: Kristen Bell is a freaking goddess. In real life, the girl we know and love as Veronica Mars is witty, charming, kind and willing to take time out, even on an extremely busy night, to answer all my inane questions, like what it's like to kiss Jason Dohring. (Oh, you know you wanna know, too!)
This has always been my experience with the lovely Ms. Bell. And Thursday night, at a party launching the new seenon.com (a Website where you can buy your favorite TV character's fashions), was no exception...
Okay, girl. Can we talk about that finale? So, so good!
Thanks! It was awesome, because it was [creator] Rob [Thomas]'s episode. He wrote and directed it, which is always a treat for us, because he is the end-all of the storyline. He is the creator, and he knows everyone best, and his voice is so specific when he writes.
So, are you and Logan done for the season?
There will be some parts before the end of the season, I think. I am not positive, because I've only read up to episode 14. I know that we're done for a little bit, so each of us might have new love interests—we may or may not.
I love Logan. Don't get me wrong. But I'm also kinda digging Piz. Should I feel bad about that?
No! Isn't he a sweetheart? I think Veronica definitely needs someone who isn't brooding all the time and isn't always "woe is me." She needs someone fun, someone who won't complicate her life. At the beginning of the season, Rob said he wanted to do something that was the polar opposite of Logan. Which is goofy, light and funny, which is Piz, basically.
Rob dropped a bit of a doozy on me last week: that Veronica might no longer have big mysteries but, instead, stand-alone episodes. How do you feel about that?
I think because it was seven more episodes instead of nine and because we are all ending on the same week on the CW, I think it would be interesting. And I actually like the idea of keeping it fresh and not constantly trying to do the same thing. That is what the writers have been doing from day one, keeping it fresh and always turning the tables. I think if they have four episodes instead of six if they are like, "We don't want to make it so convoluted and confusing. Let's just give them some really good single storylines and single-arc episodes."
Anyway, I am always thrilled to read interviews from KB, because she is one of the most awesome people. (Well, I mean it seems like she's awesome, seeing as how I haven't met her or anything.) But yeah. Last week sometime I was wandering around LJ and found a post from this girl about how she's not going to watch Veronica Mars anymore because of how Veronica treated Logan, and how Veronica didn't deserve to be loved, and lastly, how she was so sick of Kristen Bell.
I was like, dude, firstly? Logan and Veronica? ARE NOT REAL. And secondly, wow, go see the wizard and ask him for a heart. And also maybe some intelligence.
I have very little patience for people with little-to-no common sense.
ETA: I just read Kristin's review of "Fallout," and she indicated that Peter and Matt are both sick with the same illness, Peter because he was around Matt during the questioning. That makes a lot of sense. And also sucks. Also, apparently Claire is related to one of the heroes...hmmm....which one?
So. There's this show that you may or may not have heard of.
Heroes.
It kind of rocks my world.
I didn't talk about last week's episode, "Six Months Ago," because I figured I'd just wait till Monday's fall finale, "Fallout."
First things first.
Hiro's time-travel thing probably still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but given that none of the stuff on this show is possible, I think I'm okay with it. (Also because I try and avoid the pounding in my head that usually happens when I start contemplating the whole bending time and space continuum thing.)
We do learn that the past cannot be altered, just the future. Charlie was meant to die after all, at Sylar's hand or not.
The Jessica and Niki thing makes a lot of sense, and it's a lot like I thought. The first time we started seeing Niki's abilities, I was reminded of one of my favorite Mary Higgins Clark books, All Around the Town, about a girl with Multiple Personality Disorder who's framed for a murder. As a child, she suffered horrendous sexual abuse, and to cope, her mind fragmented into several personalities. One was much stronger and tougher, and only emerged when the girl needed taking care of. Kind of like the whole Jessica/Niki thing. Only in this case, Jessica's obviously evil, and the Heroes-like twist is that Niki's psyche absorbed the personality of her sister.
I really don't like Nathan Petrelli. At all. He's self-serving and smug, and he cares more about his stupid election than his family. I've never liked him (and that might tie into my general dislike of Adrian Pasdar), but that dislike was solidified when he so casually sought to cheat on his paralyzed wife in Vegas and then had the audacity to tell Niki that he was both married, and happily married. What an ass.
Eden. Like her. A lot. That's all I have to say till we address Fallout. Sigh.
Which I guess is now.
Someone else I don't like? Claire's dad.
All this time I've thought that, questionable tactics or not, Claire's dad was really just motivated by love for his daughter. I don't think that's the case any longer. For one thing, he's obviously not calling the shots, which opens up a whole different question: who's behind this whole witch hunt? Because that's what it is. You can dress it up and call it concern, but basically Claire's dad, Eden, and the not-so-mute-after-all Haitian are targeting people with powers and making the wholesale decision to silence them.
I was so angry that Mr. Bennet had Haitian take Zach's memory. Claire's only friend, the only one who knew her for what she really was and still liked and supported her anyway, gone. And Lyle and Mrs. Bennet, too. Poor Mrs. Bennet. No wonder she's kind of loopy -- God knows how many times she's had her memory violated.
I'm curious as to what Haitian meant when he told Claire that, even though he was told to wipe her memory clean, she "must remember." Which makes me think back to when he supposedly wiped Matt's memory, too. Because obviously Matt still remembers what happened. So is Haitian working against Mr. Bennet? Is he good? Is he even worse than Mr. Bennet? Is he working for whoever Mr. Bennet's boss is, and is that guy good or bad?
Question: (and now I feel like Dwight Schrute) if Sylar really could penetrate that glass all the time, how come he didn't try and kill Mr. Bennet? Is it just because Mr. Bennet doesn't have any powers that Sylar wanted to add to his repertoir? Poor Eden. I really liked her a lot, and by helping Isaac get in touch with Hiro and Ando, it's clear she's not bad, and that she is, at least in part, working against Mr. Bennet. I'm glad she was able to kill herself before Sylar absorbed her powers, though.
Speaking of Sylar, ultimately I was wrong about him -- he's targeting people with powers because he's greedy and wants to be all-powerful and indestructible. But I still think he's warring with guilt and anger towards Mohinder's dad for awaking him to his possibilities. (As evidenced by his mea culpa room and the "you made me what I am" message he left in Mohinder's dad's voicemail.)
Matt and...crap, I forget Clea Duvall's character's name. Huh. Anyway, so now they're in Texas, along with Nathan, Peter, Isaac, Hiro, Sylar, and Claire. The scene where Peter absorbs Matt's power was cool. Also, exactly what is wrong with Peter, and how did it happen? His vision of being the "exploding man" that Hiro talked about was interesting -- it indicates to me that he must at some point absorb Theodore Sprague's power. But was that really a vision? How was he able to see that?
I guess I should touch on Niki, D.L. and Micah. That's the plot that I really could care less about. I do not like Niki/Jessica and was really hoping that Niki would decide to kill herself so that Jessica died, too, and that way, she'd be the character death the previews alluded to rather than poor Eden, who was so much more interesting.
Okay. That's it for the fall arc of Heroes. This show is so frakking addicting. My DVD recorder is working overtime this week, churning out three different sets of these first 11 episodes for various interested parties.
Can't wait till January 22nd -- the return of Heroes, plus the new season of 24 (which premieres January 14-15.)
Adrenaline overdose, anyone?
(Warning: Veronica Mars Season 3 spoilers to follow)
"It's exactly like we never left Neptune High."
Those words, uttered by any other character on any other TV show, might prove to be flippant, a throw-away remark.
But when they're spoken by Veronica Mars in Episode One ("Welcome Wagon") of Season Three, count on them being neither flippant nor throw-away.
Poor Veronica. In Season Two, all she wanted to do was get back to something resembling normal. Nothing doing.
This season, she figures that she's graduated from high school, going to an entirely new school filled with new people. You'd think that would mean she could start fresh, where hardly anyone knows her infamous past.
Wrong again.
Shortly after matriculating at Hearst College, she's got a whole new host of people who hate her guts: the Pi Sigs, the Theta Zetas, the Lillith House psychos feminists, Tim the TA.
Yep -- as she tells Mac, it's exactly like they never left Neptune.
Last week concluded the first of two mystery arcs this season. I was a little skeptical at the plan of mini-arcs instead of a season-long mystery, as had been the case in Seasons One and Two, but I did understand the reasoning: if there were mini-arcs, it would allow new viewers to get caught up much more easily, and also, with this plan, there would be no repeats during the mini-arcs. The CW's decision to order 20 episodes rather than the standard 22 put a crimp in the three mystery arc plan, and so Rob's decided to continue with the original Mystery #2 as planned, and have the remaining four episodes stand alone.
The Hearst Rapist: The first mystery was actually set up last season in "The Rapes of Graff," when Veronica and Wallace visit Heart College. There's a guy who preys on unsuspecting coeds, spiking their drinks with GHB. They wake up having been raped and with their heads shaved. Veronica gets involved because a guy from her past, Troy Van Der Graff, is accused of being the rapist. She initially suspects the Pi Sigs -- and Chip Diller -- but by the end of the episode, all she's discovered about them is that they're utterly despicable.
Veronica, Mac, and Wallace arrive on campus to find tension between Lillith House and the Pi Sigs escalating at a fever pitch, and by the end of the episode, she's drawn right back into the Hearst Rapist mystery when Mac's new roommate, Parker, becomes a victim.
I really thought the whole story played out very well. I did suspect Moe in the beginning, but as seems to be the general consensus, nobody really thought him capable of master-minding the entire nefarious scheme. Rob did a little ingenius misdirection when he served Mercer up as a prime suspect, thanks to Parker's hazy recollection, only to have Veronica herself prove his alibi. And then when he was in jail when Veronica was attacked, well, I kind of dismissed him altogether.
I should've remembered that this is Veronica Mars, after all, and paid more attention to the B storylines. Mercer and Moe both participated in that whole psychological prisoner/guard experiment that Wallace and Logan participated in, and it was during that time that Mercer exacted his control over Moe. I did wonder at the seemingly awkward mention of Horshack and the other guy a couple episodes ago.
"Spit and Eggs": All I can say is an emphatic WOW. This episode had me on the edge of my seat the entire hour. I liked the gimmick of starting with a bloody Veronica running through the halls, desperately trying to find help, and then flashing back to two days prior. That just upped the tension.
Somebody -- supposedly the rapist, but more likely it's one of the Lillith House chicks -- has placed an ad in the newspaper warning that "he" was going to strike again at the big Pi Sig party that night. Parker and the others at Take Back the Night are handing out these little coasters that can detect the presence of any drugs in drinks, and Veronica collects a few and enlists the help of Wallace, Mac, and Piz.
(By the way, Mac's "Ask me about my STD" shirt was frakking hilarious.)
Veronica spots Mercer talking to Logan, and then he leaves, presumably to host his radio show. Remember, it's been previously established by Piz (and verified by Veronica) that his show is live, and a call-in show, which means he's got to be there the whole time. It's not until later, when she hears the glitch in the tape over the speakers, that she realizes he's taped the entire thing.
Wallace, Piz, and Mac find someone's drink that's been spiked with GHB, and Logan offers to drive them to the girl's apartment. Turns out it was the girl's sister who'd borrowed her ID, and she was, in fact, on her way back to her dorm room. Veronica heads for the dorm, calling in a bomb threat as she does so, but Sachs ignores it, and Veronica has no help.
She and Mercer fight, and she manages to stab him with a glass unicorn horn, and then we're right back where we were in the beginning -- her stumbling through the halls, looking for anyone to help her. She collapses outside Piz and Wallace's room, and that's when Moe finds her. It's not until after she's already ingested some of his GHB-spiked tea (while he's supposedly calling for help) that she spots the pictures proving his connection to Mercer, and she realizes what's happened.
Thank God for Parker's presence of mind in giving Veronica the rape whistle, because God knows what would've happened to her if she hadn't had it.
Logan and Veronica: I'm still torn. Logan and Veronica have had a number of romantic and/or angst-filled moments (usually accompanied by really good music) over the past couple of seasons, but realistically, I still don't think he's the best guy for her. Not now.
The break-up was sad, but I felt more for Veronica. Insisting to Mac, Wallace, and Piz that she was fine, only to completely break down, alone, in the shower, was heart-wrenching -- and completely keeping in character.
Veronica doesn't trust. She hasn't had any reason to. Everyone she's ever trusted has stabbed her in the back in some way. And Logan? He's done it more than once.
I know. It's easy to get caught up in Jason Dohring's brilliance, in his hotness, in his soulful eyes, in the heart-breaking background of a character who's been pretty much abandoned by everyone he's ever loved, too. But don't forget all the crap he's put Veronica through. I don't care how dreamy he is -- when someone's done to you what Logan's done to Veronica, it's kind of hard to all of a sudden trust him beyond all reasonable doubt.
Veronica and Piz: I'm not sure if there's ever going to be anything romantic between Veronica and Piz, but I can't say that I'd be entirely against it. Someone like Piz is exactly what Veronica needs right now if she's to learn how to trust someone. He's unassuming, sweet, funny, and what's more, he's from a completely normal background, sans any closet-lurking skeletons. As far as we can tell now, he has no predilections towards gambling, alcoholism, hosting bum fights, smashing up cars, hooking up with his friends' step-mothers, or any of Logan's other hobbies.
Really, I'm just glad that Veronica's got Piz -- and Wallace, Mac, and Parker -- around right now as she copes with yet another tragedy in her life.
How that girl's still able to function without the use of any psychotropic drugs is beyond me.
Poor Dean O'Dell: So it looks like the dean's murder will be Mystery Arc #2. Obviously it's not the professor or Mrs. O'Dell, because that's way too obvious. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out. New episodes return in February. (I think.)
Anyway, a most excellent start to the new season, and I was beyond psyched to hear that "Spit and Eggs" garnered the highest ratings ever for both the show and the network.
And it goes without saying that Kristen Bell is a genius. Yes, I am a broken record. And I'm okay with that.
My friend and I had one of our typically long conversations last night wherein we dissect various TV shows and other pop culture notions. I completely respect what he has to say, because he has no problem talking about the shortcomings of shows that he still likes and watches.
I seem to suffer a condition that I hereby dub...erm...Cheerleaderitis. (Which apparently translates literally into "inflammation of a cheerleader" but whatever.)
Anyway, I have a problem being critical about stuff that I like, to break it down simply and without fanfare. It's not that I am unaware of flaws, or of the belief that just because something is created, for example, by J.J. Abrams, it is perfect in every way (hello, have you not seen Six Degrees, What About Brian, and that one episode of Felicity where Felicity goes back in time...or something?)
It's just that when I like something, I prefer the whole glass-half-full approach rather than breaking down its every flaw.
That's not to say I can't do it, and it's not to say that I won't abandon a show when it starts seriously stumbling. I stopped watching Alias, which I used to adore, about three episodes into Season 4, and couldn't even watch Season 5, despite the addition of one of my favorite TV actresses, Amy Acker.
I wrote this whole post when I used to be over on Blogspot called The Death of Seth Cohen, about how Adam Brody's arrogance and jackassery completely ruined Seth Cohen, one of the best and brightest characters on TV, and subsequently started The OC on its downward spiral. I used to love The OC. Season 1, despite the horrificly wooden acting (if you can call it acting) of Mischa Barton, was excellent. Even Season 2 was decent. I gave up before Season 3 could even reach its Chrismukkah episode, and even though ding dong, Marissa's dead, and Rachel Bilson is as cute as ever, and Ben McKenzie is an Austin native, I can't bring myself to watch Season 4.
So I can be critical. But when there is 90% goodness and 10% not-so-much-goodness, I prefer to focus on the goodness. Which is why I rarely, if ever, have a bad thing to say about shows like Veronica Mars, Grey's Anatomy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Heroes, House, etc. *Most* of the time, the complaints about shows like this are from fickle viewers that can be explained away by something known in the scientific community as logic.
The friend I mentioned above has some problems with both Lost and Grey's Anatomy, and his opinions are extremely valid. But as is the case with most shows that I watch -- at least dramas -- I watch for different reasons than most people I know. I guess it has something to do with the writer in me, but I care more about the characters in a show than the plots into which they are inserted.
I guess, when it comes down to it, I'm just loyal. Pure and simple. Probably loyal to a fault. Like a Golden Retriever. The loyalty can be broken (see Alias, The OC), but it takes a lot.
Which is why I'm perplexed over my reaction to last night's episode of The Office.
Don't get me wrong -- I liked it, and thought it was hilarious. I knew it would be, considering it was penned by Ricky Gervais, but my reaction to the Jim and Pam interactions was surprising. I thought John Krasinski, as always, nailed his performance. That one look he pulls off after Andy hits on Pam the first time by her desk killed me. We rewound it, like, four times. Ed Helms was effing brilliant. That guy seriously cracks me up, and I prefer him to Dwight in so many ways. There definitely was not enough Karen, but what there was, was adorable. I have such a freaking girl crush** on Rashida Jones. (Speaking of, I've been watching that TNT series Wanted, and to see her in jeans and ponytails and kicking people and wielding guns is so surreal now that I've seen her as glamorous, sophisticated Karen.)
But the Jim-Pam stuff felt...I don't know. Kind of stilted. Maybe because Gervais was writing them instead of the usual team of writers. Maybe that's it. I hope it is, because with Rashida's arc coming to an end (supposedly she and Ed Helms are only on board for 10-ish episodes), I need to be back on board with Jim and Pam. But last night? All I wanted was more Jim and Karen interarction.
See? I CAN be critical about a show with which I am still completely in love!
Veronica Mars break-down by Sunday. (But I caution you, there will be no criticism, especially about an episode that drew the show's highest numbers to date, and drew the highest numbers of the whole CW to date.) And I'll wait to dissect Heroes till the fall finale Monday, but suffice to say, "Six Months Ago" was all kinds of wonderful.
**Girl crush: refers to that fervent infatuation that one heterosexual woman develops for another who may seem impossibly sophisticated, gifted, beautiful or accomplished.
Grey's Anatomy ruined me for new episodes of Prison Break and Heroes tonight.
I haven't watched, because I decided to watch the extended Thanksgiving episode.
I'm still a little numb.
I am definitely not one of the people who have said the show's let down this season (and apparently 22 million people agree with me), but if I ever needed another reminder of why I absolutely love this show, "From a Whisper to a Scream" proved it.
There have been many profound moments over the past two and a half seasons that have stayed with me: Cristina unable to stop crying in her hospital bed after finally beginning to grieve for her miscarried child; the look on Meredith's face when she realized there was a Mrs. McDreamy; Meredith instinctively sticking her hand in a man's bomb-filled chest cavity and muttering over and over "What did I do?" as Michael Stipe and Chris Martin's cover of Joseph Arthur's "In the Sun" played in the background; Izzie curled up next to Denny's body in her prom dress and then Alex picking her up and comforting her; and after the latest episode, the sight of Cristina stumbling down the hallway with blood splattered all over the front of her scrubs, her mask, and her face as the haunting "9 Crimes" by Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan played.
Call it what you will, but Grey's Anatomy is not just a hormone-filled nighttime soap like its former lead-in, Desperate Housewives. Sure, there's some sex, and there's lust, and there's hot guys in scrubs, and quip after clever quip, but Grey's will punch you in the gut when you least expect it, and then when you're bent over trying to catch your breath, it'll rip your heart out. Just because it can.
Sandra Oh has once again proven that she deserves a whole truckload of Emmys. T.R. Knight turned in a stellar performance, as did Isaiah Washington...heck, the whole cast was amazing.
Excuse the somewhat geeky post title. I couldn't really think of anything. Well, actually I was going to go with something along the lines of Here comes Peter Cottontail, but then I realized that although I absolutely loved last night's episode of Veronica Mars, "Lord of the Pi's," I really wasn't going to talk much about anything other than Veronica herself.
Like I've said before, I very rarely read anyone's analysis of VM episodes unless I know them and/or share their opinions. Otherwise I would've pulled out every hair on my head by now. Seriously. I mean, I guess I kind of understand why some people would watch the show and not like the show's namesake and main character, whose perspective every episode is based around, because by about Season 4 of Buffy, I pretty much didn't like Buffy that much anymore. But in that instance, while Buffy wasn't my favorite character, I still absolutely understood why she did the things she did.
The people, like the Entertainment Weekly chick who gave last night a D minus and complained about Veronica's lack of perkiness, must've forgotten everything this girl has gone through in the last four years.
I'm not going to go in depth, although believe me, I could, because I'm saving that for one of my first columns when Forces of Good relaunches after New Year's.
But I will say this: imagine you're Veronica.
Your mother has abandoned you, only to come back into your life, steals your life's savings as well as the Kane check that would've ensured you wouldn't have to pay for college loans for the rest of your natural born life, and disappears again.
Your father, who was once respected and admired, was thrown out of office and became the laughing stock of the entire town.
You went from upper middle class to barely scraping by.
Every single friend you thought you had at school turned on you, and not only that, goes out of his or her way to make your life a living hell.
Your very best friend in the entire world was brutally murdered, and you got to see her dead body, head split open, lying on the ground.
Your first love dumped you without a word. Later, you find out that your true love might in fact be your brother. You were roofied and raped at a party, and you have no clue who took your virginity.
Your once good friend Logan becomes the world's biggest, cruelest asshole, and then you later endure his mother's suicide, and when you realize you have feelings for him and vice-versa, you find out that not only was he linked to the events at the party that caused your rape, but he also suddenly had no alibi for your best friend's murder.
You then find out that your is-he-isn't-he boyfriend's dad had an affair with your best friend and then killed her, and then he almost kills you and your father.
Logan is then arrested for murder, and he may or may not have done that, too. He goes on trial, and he and his childish friends start a vandalism tear that causes your head to nearly be blown off in a drive-by retaliation shooting.
A bus full of school kids, including your friend Meg, is blown up and goes off a cliff, and you were almost on it.
You find out Meg's pregnant with your first love's baby. He eventually kidnaps said baby after your friend Meg dies and leaves the country. You've been abandoned once more.
Your best friend Wallace abandons you to go live with his real father in Chicago.
You find out that the mayor's been molesting boys, and you find out one of them was the one who not only raped you and gave you a sexually transmitted disease, but also blew up the bus.
For a few horrible hours, you think he's blown up your father's plane, which would mean abandonment by the last person you cared about. You have a gun put to your head before witnessing the boy jumping to his death off the roof of the Neptune Grand.
You're back together with your ex-boyfriend, but he's got his father's temper, and he's got mood swings and a penchant for gambling, drinking, and clandestine Tijuana trysts. He's not exactly trust-worthy, and you haven't had a lot of people who've proven they could be trusted in your life, which is not a good combination.
Good frakking grief. Is it any wonder that Veronica isn't...er...peppy? I think she's earned the right to be cynical, untrusting, and a little bit suspicious. She doesn't give Logan enough credit, but again, it's not like she doesn't have example after example of why she's wary. Everyone she's ever loved has either abandoned her, failed her, or all of the above.
She is who she is. She's flawed. She's not always right. She is head-strong and impulsive at times, and it gets her into trouble. But to complain that the character isn't consistent -- um, again, have you been watching since the pilot?
I love this character. I love the way Kristen Bell inhabits her. And while I like Logan, and think on his own he is also fascinating, he and Veronica are a disaster waiting to explode.
Okay, so I went on longer than I expected. But trust me, there will still be plenty more analysis for the column. You might not know this about me, but I can be pretty analytical sometimes. But only about things that don't matter, like fake television show characters.
I got done with my doctor's appointment early, so I hurried home and managed to cram both PB and Heroes in before I had to go downtown to the paper. Well...okay, I was a half-hour late. But still. I had to find out if the cheerleader -- and thereby the world -- was saved! (And also whether Sara drowned or not.)
Prison Break first: Every time those beautiful blue eyes of Wentworth Miller's fill up with tears, *my* not-so-pretty green eyes fill up with tears. Call it a Pavlovian response. Or something. I hate when he cries, because it's so damn contagious. Poor Michael and Lincoln -- they're truly all alone in the world now.
I hear Bellick's bound for Fox River, but this time as an inmate -- talk about your poetic justice.
I seriously had to fast-forward through the scene where Sara stitched herself up. Holy crap. And um, I don't think I'm ever going to plug my iron in again. Ever. But me thinks Agent Paul's in big trouble.
I *knew* those pre-paid cell phones were going to come up again. As soon as Sara left two weeks ago, I was like, oh wait, the cell phones -- I bet they have each other's numbers. So yay. Except now that Mahone has the boys in his (gun) sights, there may be a little delay before Sara and Michael's paths cross again.
I'm SO glad the show's coming back after Christmas now rather than March.
Heroes: Eden is so awesomely eerie. I like that she's understated -- she's not necessarily "bad;" neither are Mr. Glasses and Creepy Bald Dude. They're more grey. Not as undeniably noble and/or "good" as Peter, Hiro, Claire, etc.; but their intentions are, as far as we know, good. Or at least not bad. But yeah. Eden is cool. And I would definitely want her power of persuasion. It can definitely get Sylar under control. Now that they have him and Ted the Radiation Guy in custody, I wonder what on earth they're going to do with them.
I adore Zach. He's awesome. He's very Xander-ish -- the perfect best guy friend. I wish I had a Xander/Zach.
I had a feeling the Jackie/Claire thing was going to come into play somehow. Claire should definitely thank Jackie (post-mortem, of course) for being such a fame whore. Because, you know, it saved her life. Also? Hayden Panettiere is really, really short.
I am now wondering if Mohinder's father is really alive somewhere and being held by Mr. Glasses and his crew.
I really wish Niki/Jessica would go away. Because I really don't care much about her character, other than her story eats up screen time from the people who are actually interesting. (And also not evil, body-mangling psychopaths.)
Yay! I think Hiro saved Google Girl. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of that story next week.
I hear Peter becomes scarily powerful, in a Sylar-Peter-showdown kind of way. Hmmmm. Interesting.
Okay.
Deep breath.
I LOVE Jim and Karen.
*ducks*
I don't know what's up with that. I mean, when I heard they were bringing on a new love interest for Jim -- and that it was John Krasinski's ex-girlfriend (or actual girlfriend, everyone's got a different opinion), no less -- I was like, okay, ew. Because I was all about Jim and Pam. I didn't even start watching this show till last season's finale. And I only saw the last five minutes of it at that. Those five minutes were enough to make me fall in love with the entire series, and of course, Jim and Pam.
Don't get me wrong. I understand Pam's motivation for turning Jim down (twice!) and even for not being able to bring herself to call him in the six months that occurred between calling off the wedding and Jim moving back to Scranton. I understand about needing to find her identity and creating her own space, her own life, apart from anyone else. She'd been with Roy since high school.
But at the same time, how is any of this Jim's fault? He told her -- twice -- how he felt. He most definitely didn't beat around the bush in that regard. He risked his pride, their friendship -- everything. And she threw it back in his face. Why shouldn't he move on?
Rashida Jones is awesome. She has totally fit into this cast. (Plus the girl is just damn beautiful.) I really like Karen. A lot. She and Jim have a great rapport, and the actors' friendship bleeds into their characters' chemistry. It works for me. They work for me.
Maybe now Pam will see how it feels to be in Jim's place, to be the one pining after someone else for a change.
So yeah. I guess you could say I'm Team Karen right now -- and Team Pam when Pam, you know, finally gets her act together.
Please don't hurt me.
I'm feeling a little bit like Damon Lindelof right now.
Confusing statement? Let me explain. A couple of nights ago, I finally got around to watching Disc 7 of the first season of Lost. That's the one with all the bonus features, including a little segment on the genesis of the show. The original script sucked, so ABC brought in JJ Abrams. JJ was busy with other stuff -- namely Alias and a pilot for another show, which I'm assuming was Six Degrees, or maybe The Catch, which was never picked up -- and so he asked for help. Enter Damon Lindelof.
Lindelof describes their first meeting after he'd read the same original dreadful script and said as listened to JJ talk, he felt like anything he said afterwards was just going to make him sound like a sychophant -- because apparently they'd had the exact same thoughts and ideas.
A long little anecdote to explain how, when I say I figured out what Sylar's motive was from the episode Matt Parkman was introduced, nobody will believe me since it was revealed last night. You know, before I said I knew what it was.
Sigh.
Regardless -- there was something in me that said, hmmm. I bet Sylar hates himself and what he is, and the strange power that controls him, and so he's striking out against similar individuals. That theory was all but confirmed when Mohinder and Fake Rachel Bilson Eden discovered Sylar's Mea Culpa room in his apartment.
I don't remember reading anything about it, especially since I avidly avoid storyline spoilers for this show. So it's very possible that I actually figured something out for a change.
Wow. So there is a first time for everything. And here I thought that was just a really bad cliché.
Two new heroes -- Ted the Radiation Guy and Waitress Who Remembers Everything. I, um, can't remember her name. How cute were she and Hiro? That guy is definitely my favorite character. Also, I guess, judging from the picture on the bulletin board, that he was successful in his bid to go back in time. Time will tell if he was able to thwart her murder. (Time as in six days from now.)
I guess the marks on Matt and Ted are the result of whatever the Haitian dude does to them. Which probably means Nathan and Isaac have them, too.
So Mr. Glasses ISN'T bad. I knew that, too. Although that I read. I can't claim credit for two original ideas in one night. It makes sense -- he really is trying to help, although sometimes for him, the ends, however terrible, justify the means. And in this case, the ends meant the death of Claire's mother. I wonder what her powers are -- they're not necessarily passed from parent to kid. After all, Micah's got different powers from Niki and DL.
Oh -- and what exactly is Eden's power? Possibly the power to hypnotize and therefore control her target? Who knows. Interesting, I tell you.
I don't care what Matt Roush says about the show being disjointed in places -- it's damn fascinating and addictive, is what it is.
