Russell-overrated?

I apologize, I’ve yet to do a recap of Lost this week.  I’m rather intimidated by it. Three solid hours (well two) is a lot to cut through and so much to absorb.  I’m still thinking on it.

What I want to blog on is another show long waited to premiere and that’s Survivor.  Another all star season that has split the returning cast members into two categories, villains and heroes.

I thought I was done with the last season.  But I was rather dismayed at how many people I’ve come across insisting that Natalie stole Russell’s rightful claim of being the winner. What?  Am I the only one who saw through the CBS propaganda of lunacy?  Were people really fooled into thinking he was this brilliant strategist? Maybe I was missing something and I just over thinking the situation.  While I don’t mean to suppose that Natalie was a superb manipulator herself, I do think she deserved to win as much, if not more, than Russell. So I’ve decided to go ahead and go over the Russell history from Samoa and recap.  I hope to not miss anything, and now that we have the ability of hindsight, really analyze his moves in game play.

The beginning

This group shot is only needed to prove we had other players besides the same six they kept featuring over and over.

It’s really funny to think back to the beginning of the season, that first episode where we “met” twenty people.  What’s funny about it is, I never learned half their names. It really did revolve around Russell, the other Russell, Natalie, Jaison, Shambo, Erik and a few girls from Galu who together resulted in a “Mean Girls” clique.  Even before the show aired, CBS was calling that this season of Survivor had the greatest villain we would ever see!  Wow, really?  Greater than Rich?  Greater than Jon who lied about having a dead grandma?  Really?

Well, the first few episodes started.  Let’s run down Russell’s game play from the start.  First, he lies about being a Katrina victim.  Now granted, that’s certainly a manipulation of one’s heartstrings and to try to conjure up sympathy.  But it’s not exactly original nor do I consider it a good strategic move.  Johnny Fairplay already did that several seasons ago, and way more successfully, orchestrating with his best friend way before he even started. It angered many people, and rightfully so.  Russell elected to use the great tragedy of New Orleans’s hurricane, which is still fresh in many REAL survivors minds, as his “dead grandmother”.  First, he did it straight off the bat, the very first night it looked like.  It’s as if he didn’t know how to keep something to himself (a weakness we will discuss later).  Second, again, using the Katrina situation would be seen the same as someone pretending to be a 9/11 survivor.  The public doesn’t take well to such claims and it minimizes that real people have experienced and attempted to overcome on their own.  Seeing a con man on TV attempting to use that so he can win a reality TV show sets a bad taste in my mouth.

But wait, there’s more.  Also from this first episode, Russell goes about sabotaging his tribe.  Yes, during a time when winning competitions is the best way to stay on this show, he is over there emptying water buckets and burning socks.  (Yes, I said burning socks). Now, CBS seems to think this goes under villain category.  I think the term villain is so misused here.  One can be a jerk without getting the respect of being called a villain.  Russell’s actions caused a bit of turmoil in the short run, but in the long run, it hurt his tribe and started them off badly.  One could argue they never recovered from this and that’s why they went into the merge so outnumbered.  After that, Russell’s game play seemed to just target the women on his tribe who were seeing through him.

Immunity Idol

The question of the immunity idol gets it’s own category.  I will give props when it’s due, and Russell definitely deserved it.  The idea of searching for the idol right away without a clue is so simplistically brilliant, it makes you wonder why no one thought of it before.  Russell was taped running around camp, searching diligently for anything that looked like a hiding place.  One hilarious moment has him waist deep in the bottom of a tree, his legs wagging while a fellow tribemate ignores him by sleeping in a hammock.  It’s quite comical, but makes you wonder the mindset of the people he’s up against, who don’t show the slightest concern at what he could be doing.  I also don’t begrudge Russell using that idol the first time.  Laura seemed to take some great victory in that move, but I didn’t think so.  Russell had the idol, he couldn’t be sure he was safe from the vote so he used it.  That’s what it’s for, and better to use it then be stuck walking out with it, like Erik.

But what does bug me is Russell finding it not one more time, but two more times.  That is not a testament to Russell’s genius game play.  It is simply evidence that Probst’s survivor team as well as Russell’s enemies were lazy and refused to bother to truly hide it.  The second time he found it “one afternoon” while his competing tribe was away on a reward.  It was under a man made bridge.  When I saw that, I was convinced Russell was not a real player.  The show putting it there was ridiculous as it’s an easy place to look.  I also wouldn’t have been surprised if the show was helping him at that point, since the tides had turned and Fao Fao was the underdog tribe (and who’s fault was it that Fao Fao seemed to never gain the upper hand from the first challenge?)  The third time he found it was outrageous.  He freaking had a PICTURE of it.  No, he actually a video of it in a 360 degree angle.  The moss on the rock made it clear that there could be only one place to find it.  The hardest part was he had to ditch THE ONE GUY from Galu who was trying to follow him to find it.

The Merge

Ahh, yes, the merge.  It looked like Fao Fao’s days were numbered and no matter how “evil” Russell truly was, nothing could take down the high numbers of Galu.  Well, this is where I think Russell didn’t seem to do much of anything.  He worried and fretted and tried to make alliances. He targeted Shambo, who had already been to his tribe several times and felt like an outcast by Galu.  Of course, Shambo didn’t need much to betray her tribe.  They ostracized her over and over, something Fao Fao was fully aware of, and it’s hardly masterful game play to select the most likely person to flip to your tribe.

The problem was even with Shambo they were still way down.  They needed a target from Galu and they found one in Erik.  He had made his own enemies on his tribe and decided he was going to be the new leader of the merged tribe.  Seeing their chance, Fao Fao approached Galu about taking advantage of their high numbers and voting off Erik, that thorn in their side.   They would still have plenty of time to destroy Fao Fao later, why not use this lull and remove their biggest headache when they had a chance?  This manipulation worked, and Laura from Galu seemed to buy it hook, line, and sinker along with the rest of her tribe mates.  I think this was probably the best move of the game, because after this, we had Fao Fao start to chip away at Galu’s numbers and work their way up. Of course, the person who stepped up and talked to Galu was not Russell. He was nowhere near anyone to do anything like this. Jaison and Natalie discussed it, and it was the latter who orchestrated it by using her girl power talks with Laura and the Mean Girls gang. For this alone, I am fine with Natalie winning at the end because it proved when the chips were down she was willing to step up and take the heat, but she did it in such a way that nobody really remembered to blame her later.

Now from there, I will admit Russell’s idol collecting came in especially handy for the tribe.  They were able to fool Galu into thinking they didn’t have it the first time which picked off another of their team, then used Shambo’s betrayal to pick off another.   But as stated earlier, Russell was practically given the 2nd and 3rd idols and the true amazing feat was he was able to keep his mouth shut about them (Well, the first two anyway.  Well, to most people on his tribe.  More like to most people on his tribe and Shambo.  Oh, and that other guy he told).  Russell was never one to keep his mouth shut period.  He liked to talk, and he liked to share secrets.  He liked to tell people about his idol and how awesome he was in finding it.  He also liked to create alliances. He alliances with everyone on his own tribe after the merge.  This goes to the myth he “screwed” so many players. Nope, he actually only screwed Jaison and I don’t blame him for choosing to cut him off since Jaison would have made mincemeat of him at the final tribal council.   His only alliance to Galu was Shambo at first but he didn’t seem to make it clear to her he would keep her over his own original tribe, thus no hard feelings when she was voted off. I did laugh myself silly when the last Galu member remained, Brett, and in speaking to him, Russell was prompting him to do an alliance. Yes, an alliance, with the one guy who was everybody’s best friend.  In the end he changed his mind, but it made no sense to even suggest it, and it clouded any chance of a Brett vote Russell could have expected.
Finally, I can’t begin to even touch on how often Russell told everyone he was already a millionaire.  (Something that’s tough to believe given his bad oral hygiene).  First it was just to us.  Then, it was to his alliance mates.  Which was three people.  Then he told Shambo.  Then he found out someone told Galu and went berserk even though it was clearly a trick from a Galu member.  I just think if anyone has paid attention to Survivor, the last thing you want to do is let them know you already have money. That puts you with the biggest target on your back but I think Russell is someone who can’t NOT talk about himself or share perceived accomplishments.  He’s got the biggest head of the game, even before he thought he won it, when he didn’t and cried nearly like a girl on live TV over it.

Now Russell did win that last immunity challenge (though the Internet is quite vocal about a moment got on camera where Russell does have his hand below the illegal line and should have been disqualified.  Supports my theory CBS wanted him to win but whatever).  He did get into the F3.  But I strike that up to being cast opposite some of the worst players I’ve ever seen in this game, (not just Shambo).  I’m very interested in seeing how Russell will fair against people who have played this game before hard.  He actually does have an advantage over them, the timing of the filming prevented everyone in seeing how Russell played.   I’m very curious to see when up against people with actual brains and ambition, how far will Russell really go?

New FF: Getting what you want

Yes, I have begun a new FF.  Yes, it’s about L&O, a show that is typically shipless and very formulatic.  Indulge me as I write this, when I get on board with a ship, I usually raise the sails full mast and go forward!  (Enough with the metaphors)

Getting What You Want-After Cutter must remove himself from a case due to conflict of interest, Connie gets the chance she’s waited for, first chair on a big case. It’s what she’s been waiting for, but something is missing. Mike/Connie

A Month In

So we are a month into the new year. I’m already behind on one of my NY’s resolutions as I promised every weekend I would come up with an update.  So sorry, but I did post mid-week with that cute Lost video.  Doesn’t that give me some leeway?

I wasn’t exactly inspired to write about TV shows.  Survivor is coming out soon and I’m really tempted to focus on how Russell is NOT the greatest player the game has ever seen.  But that should be its own topic, not as a footnote in a summary blog.

So where to begin?  Right now Chuck is on and I’m letting Tivo record it.  Now that they have given us Agent Douche, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have to have the FF button ready.  It’s not that he’s the newest threat to the Chuck/Sarah ship, but it’s just I realized he doesn’t have any flaws.  He’s got a past and obviously was crushed when his fiancée agent got killed on assignment.  And of course that will go hand in hand in Sarah’s wariness about her feelings for Chuck now that they are still part of the spy business.  My problem is he doesn’t have any flaws.  Chuck is insecure and prone to panic, Casey is fairly callous, and Sarah is overprotective of Chuck (Agent Douche is right about that).  While on that note, I do like this new Hannah chick but the show is dangerously close to making her pretty perfect too. I really do hate Mary Sue type characters, no matter, what gender.

I’m still watching CSI and I go about my life watching and enjoying the few times I see Greg on the show.  But my eyes did not deceive me that they gave us a freaking “Sandle” moment.  OMG, yes they did!  Sara and Greg actually shared a little bit about her *cough*disgusting*cough* marriage and how she seems happier in LV without her husband. I’m trying not to let me get sucked in.  But if Slynn begins writing a new FF, we will know the cold weather is because hell hath frozen over!

Heroes will be coming on soon.  I’m sure my girl Nolebucgrl is waiting patiently for me to log in so we can shake our heads and cringe at the dialogue/plot/character/non-twists we are forced to endure.  It really is quite extraordinary how this show has at least half a dozen chances to make something interesting, and they take the path of most boring every single time.  Tonight should feature Sylar and Peter locked in Sylar’s mind, no thanks to Matt who is supposed to be walking on the dark side this season, but only comes across like a teddy bear trying to convince kids baby aspirin is a narcotic.  If only he would turn against his wife Janice with the bad hair, she looks eerily like Kurt from Glee and it’s driving me insane as I do not want to see break into the numerous songs about Superman.

I’m also trying to wait patiently for Law & Order.  I thought there would be a new episode last week but alas, they broke my heart by giving me a rerun.  It’s Jay Leno’s fault I’m sure.

Lastly I know there is something I should be excited about.  What could that be?  I’m thinking up 8 different choices, but instead I get 15 answers which turns into 16 more questions that in 23 hours might happen.  What could it be?

Will Lost answer all it’s questions?

The last season of Lost and there are so many questions to get through.  The producers have already gone on record to state not ALL QUESTIONS will be answered, but since the show has usually met or exceeded expectations, I’m going to see how things fall into place before I call them out on that.

Meanwhile, a hilarious parody has shown up on youtube and I must say, having to endure Petula Clark on my parent’s record player and 8 track, it’s about time someone took “Downtown” and put it to better use:

Honestly in watching the video, I had forgotten a lot of these questions and I suppose it’s worth nothing some I really don’t care about (like if the bird said Hurley’s name or not).

Chuck So Far

So I believe we’ve had four episodes now of S3’s Chuck.  The finale last spring had Chuck uploaded with the Intersect 2.0.  An improved upgrade for sure, as he would be able to access skill sets loaded into it’s vast database.  I was worried this would turn Chuck away from the endearing yet nervous geek who’s ordinariness made him stand out as a unique yet reluctant hero.  I needn’t have worried, they have managed to keep Chuck’s low self confidence and typical tendency to panic which affects the Intersect’s ability to flash when he needs it most.  So while he can certainly be awesome, the inability to depend on him to use his newfound skills makes him a dangerous asset to have.  Finally, a small hint to an unknown danger was brought to us in the premier.  The new Intersect  might be unstable itself, especially given that Chuck was never meant to host it.  What could this mean?  I have no idea.  I would like to express my thoughts on the season thus far and the rest of the standard cast.

Casey-He hasn’t had a lot to do.  I adore Adam Baldwin and love it when he is used either as the straight man with Chuck or any of the other OTT Buy More employees.  Playing Carina’s “young” uncle was one of my favorite Casey moments.  Baldwin’s got great facial reactions and it’s been fun to watch his constant surprise when seeing Chuck being taken over by the Intersect.  He hasn’t had an episode about him yet this season, and I hope they don’t forget about him given all the other stuff evolving with the show.

Sarah-I was worried about how they would put distance between she and Chuck.  Since we weren’t sure if Chuck would get renewed, the show made sure to at least try to give some small closure to the couple, and let them admit their feelings for each other. I wasn’t really happy with that, I think Sarah’s feelings for Chuck were rushed in S1.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve wanted the geeky guy with the spy girl and love the concept, but find if Sarah can get her head turned by Chuck so quickly, her heart was never really in the spy business to begin with.  That said, if the show had been canceled, I’d have wanted to see Sarah go ahead and admit those feelings to Chuck because we would never get to see them after all.

Now that established, the show returns and now we’ve got to deal with Sarah and Chuck as a couple.  But it’s too early to deal with them as a couple so the show has to separate them.  Chuck breaking up with her is not something I would have thought they could pull off, but they did it well, and made it believable for us to believe his real intentions (saving the world for Sarah) while hurting her enough so now she’s going to try to keep that distance permanent.  Now that Bryce is out of the way, this is probably the only way they could introduce the new interloper.  I’m not sure what I think of using Superman to be the new Superspy.  He’s hot, but almost too pretty.  Is it just me or does his face not look real?  It’s what bugged me about Superman Returns.

Ellie/Awesome- Well, Ellie hasn’t been featured much at all this season except to be shown worried about her husband, Devon.  I didn’t expect to get so much into Awesome’s story, I remember how one note he was at the beginning.  But I’ve really enjoyed him being put into the one type of job you almost expect he could excel at, but wind up sucking.  He isn’t of spy material, and forgive me for saying how awesome it is for Devon to be in awe of Chuck for a change.  I even have to laugh that Chuck flashing to protect Devon triggered him to break out of his typical adjective usage, and call Chuck, “incredible.”  How awesome is that?

Morgan-He has been always my least favorite character.  Spare me the irritating, moronic and usually pathetic sidekick of the main hero of a show.  I think we were to ship he and Ellie together but, of course, no way would I wish him on any likeable female character so his relationship with Anna Wu was just fine, as she was the next character in line I detested.  All that said, THIS SEASON, I find myself really liking Morgan.  I don’t know what’s happened.  Maybe it’s because they have allowed him actually to grow a backbone.  Sure it’s a comedic one, but he not only stood up to Carina and told her “no”, but standing up to Lester who was being truly awful was pretty courageous for him.  I could get behind this Morgan, one who is out to do the right thing , even it means people really hate him for it.  I also liked (I can’t believe it) the scene between he and Carina after they had sex.  Telling him she had better but not many was kind of tender.  I might actually possibly ship them.

Buy More-I know, I’m supped to love this side story.  The geek part of me does, any technical references to gadgets or computers makes me smile.  But I used to work in retail, and I should be able to get into this sidestory, but it usually just irritates me.  Yes, I can let reality take a seat to the “spy” business or even the fact Sarah would give a damn about Chuck in the first place.  But I can’t enjoy the Buy More because it’s too over the top.  But watching Morgan finally set the law and get Lester in trouble was a step in the right direction.

I am not sure about the new superspy guy, or how long they can make Morgan likable and Awesome notawesome.  But I think this season so far has definitely been worth the long wait.

Law & Order: Blackmail

Look at me posting twice in one weekend!  As I previously posted, my renewed fondness for L&O isn’t so much my eternal love for a long-standing crime show but more for the emerging ship of Mike and Connie.  We didn’t get much between them this past episode, if anything at all.  I’m not a crazy shipper who insists that hints of smiles or glances means they have full-blown feelings for each other.  That type of stuff is so subjective.  The way Law & Order restricts the information about the character’s personal lives, I think it quite possible we won’t get anything definitive for quite a while, and certainly nothing obvious like “For the Defense.”

This past Friday’s episode, a long time coming, was a standard, formulaic episode.  They remained consistent to their “ripped from the headlines” plot devices, this time tackling the Letterman blackmail story, except in this case it was a lesbian affair the host wanted to cover up.  The first half of the episode was stronger than the second half as the big twist for the cops was Jack McCoy showing up before the 15 minute mark, declaring that their prime suspect (the TV host) had approached McCoy that she was a victim of a blackmail scheme.

Immediately, as a longtime L&O viewer, I doubted this story, but as the show went on, it turned out to be true.  The blackmailer was revealed as the murdered victim’s editor/lover.  Once Cutter and Connie get involved, the whole thing begins to unravel where the blackmailer is being blackmailed by his accomplice.  McCoy then decides to then blackmail the TV host to force her to testify against blackmailer #1 so he would turn on blackmailer #2.  Confused?  Really it was just a bit convoluted.  I do want to thank the writers for at least not making the estranged husband be the obvious suspect, as I’ve grown quite weary of that typical scapegoat on this show.

However, what led me to write-up this post, was more on something I’ve only paid attention to on occasion: the telltale TITLE cards that introduce new date/segments of the show.  They intrigue only because crime dramas play loosely with time lines, especially when lab tests that usually take days will seem to take merely hours or even minutes (I’m looking at you CSI: Miami).  L&O has been using them for years, though to be fair, DNA evidence was not something they relied so heavily back in their early days.  What got my attention this time was the fact that this all came down during the week of Thanksgiving. I know, because my birthday is on November 22nd.  That day was a Sunday and I noticed when the cops were questioning suspects on Monday, November 23rd.  They got that part right, and I knew that Thanksgiving was that Thursday.  Sure enough, after the arrest, Connie arraigned DiPalma on Thanksgiving day, when you know court is NOT in session, and Cutter/Connie were following up with witnesses on Black Friday.  Now the next time we see Connie and Cutter, they are in jeans* in his office so I imagine that was to be Saturday though no title card officially declared it.

I know, I’m analyzing this to the point of lunacy, but it irritates me because obviously they have some sort of calendar program they plug here.  The “‘jeans” for Mike* and Connie to wear had timed to fit on Saturday so the title cards could work with that.  In this day of computers, why not plug-in national holidays as an added bonus of realism?  Just a suggestion.

Now my other problem with this episode was the “stakeout” where police waited for the blackmailer to approach Vanessa (the TV host).  Detective Lupo couldn’t have been more obvious if he had worn NYPD blues and shouted a megaphone ordering her around.  It was in his body language and in his manner while looking for anyone approaching her.  Thank GOD DiPalma was a moron himself and not only failed to notice Lupo staring at him on his approach to Vanessa, but in the fact he failed to recognize him as the investigating officer of his employee/former lover.

Since this episode was basically just average, the issues above stood out like two sore thumbs.  Something else that seemed random but was coming for awhile was Van Buren’s dressing down of Lupo and Bernard’s shoddy bearded look.  Apparently the real NYPD frowns upon their policemen, especially detectives, walking around with 5 o’clock shadows, and Lupo’s especially was looking pretty grubby.  The Internet rumor provided by Anthony Anderson is that Dick Wolf’s own wife had issue with their beards and told to shave them.  I find that hilarious,  even leading actors on a TV show will be subject to the whims of eccentric owners (like former companies I worked for).

Now we have to wait for two more weeks to see what comes next, which looks like a really good episode.  Hopefully it won’t disappoint.

*I know I asked the show to incorporate more realism when it comes to using dates on this show, but having Mike Cutter in jeans is something that can help the inaccuracy go down much smoother.  Perhaps McCoy could issue some casual Fridays for his DA’s, and Mike show up in t-shirts soon?  I understand New Yorkers are quite fond of spring.

Heroes-making all the wrong moves

I’ve been seriously lapsed in my postings on my blog lately.  I’ve certainly not given up on TV as I’ve been adding shows.  So I’m going to try to make a NY’s resolution to at least get one post on a weekend (unless it’s a holiday).

TV shows that have been added includes Bones, but I’m not really ready to blog about it yet, as I’ve only seen maybe one full season of episodes.  I’m worried as TV getting added, one show might have to go away, and the show most likely for me to cut out?  Heroes.

Every week, I tune into Heroes live (to see some of the pretty boys in HD makes it the sole reason to watch at all).  Nolebucgrl, tunes in at that time as well, and we chat during the program.  lately I’ve been severly distracted.  Every week it’s something new that grabs my attention, but the fault isn’t with what’s on my mind at the time, but the fact that Heroes can’t hold my attention, even when Peter is on.

I have a friend who now wants to tune into the show but would like to start with S1.  I so hesitate lending her my DVD seasons.  That season was by far the best year.  But since then, the show has progressively worsened.  I’ve made excuses for it.  S2 obviously suffered because of the writer’s strike. Then S3 began with what was a promising storyline, Fugitives, but it crashed into a pile of garbage (figuratively and literally).  The end of S3 began to pick up with it’s new volume but overall the season was a great disappoitment.

Now we are winding down S4 and it’s mind boggling Heroes has bottomed out.  It’s not so much the carnival theme, I kind of dig Samuel and his crazy eye make up.  That “dirt” power can be pretty effective when he wants it to be.  But I don’t dig his cloudy motivations that have changed almost from episode to episode and now have resulted in being all about his long lost love, Vanessa.

Meanwhile, we’ve got Hiro who I detest as strongly as a supernova.  Then comes Mohinder who couldn’t remain gone forever I suppose.  I would have ranked Tracy next, but Lauren is a pointless character who seems to replace HRG’s love interest in Tracy but w/o any ties to anyone whatsoever.  Then comes Tracy who we’ve not seen in ages but I’m sure is lurking around, probably naked, ready to pop up.

Also, there is Claire who will get a twisted kiss from Sylar Monday night while she appears unconcious.  Some posters online have insisted that Sylar “raped” Claire when he opened up her brain and took her power.  I don’t know how I feel about that, I do think he violated her and I certainly do NOT want to see the two of them together in platonic or romantic form.  But a bigger problem for me is I don’t know what the show is doing with Claire.  First she’s a college student.  Then she’s a lesbian college student.  Then she just wants to belong.  Then she finds a carnival to belong.  Then she sees Samuel with “papers” and now he’s no longer trustworthy so she goes back to college (making that “drop college to join circus-leave circus to have normal life” cycle complete).

Who I do like is Peter but he’s a dimbulb like Mohinder (though at least he isn’t proclaiming himself to be a scientific genius).  Peter’s mysterious sponge power has altered to a point where it makes no sense to either me or Nolebucgrl.  He’s mourning the loss of his beloved brother who he was always too attached to, and now finding a connection to colorful Emma who plays a mean cello (emphasis on mean).  I wanted to like them, but their story is just as disjointed and pushed as everything else in this show.  While Peter has connections to so many other characters, Emma does not, and you ostracize him when you put them together.

I also love HRG but most of the time they partner him with already mentioned Lauren and I get irritated again.  Why does he need to talk to her?  It’s not like he’s had to have a person to bounce ideas off before.  I realize he might want to meet his physical needs, but he’s insisting on bringing her into his WORLD SAVING MISSIONS.  He has connections with EVERYONE, why bring in a totally useless character?

Finally, we have the never ending Sylar, hopefully Nolebucgrl will forgive me for this, but should have never been allowed to remain a psychopath for so long nor should have been given such a high place on this show.  Zackary Quinto is an awesome talent, and his charisma is what made Sylar so popular in shirtless and shirted forms.  But you can only do so much with an unrepentant psycho.  The show is about HEROES and when you keep an antihero around, he either becomes a shell of a cartoon villain (Cobra Commander, Skeletor comes to mind) or we wind up giving him a new personality.  The show didn’t quite do either, but now Sylar is on his fifth identy crises (I think, let’s count).  The first was who he always felt he could be by obtaining powers, then there was trying to get back who he had become (after he lost his powers), then he wanted a real family.  The beginning of this season he lost his memory so he had to remember who the hell he was.  And finally, now he’s apparently looking for love (or something).Again, please don’t hate on me you Sylar worshippers, I still think ZT is awesome and hot.  Plus, I think sadly for how wrong it is to make him the main part of the show, he’s the most interesting character ON THE SHOW right now.

So what now?  I just am trying and I’ll tune in on Monday night but the show’s leapfrog storylines, the evolving/non evolving superpowers, and the unconnected new characters who can only fit into one story have hurt the show far more than all the Mayas, Janices, bugged Mohinders and Gretchens in the world.  I’m almost scared to see where we go with it now.

Sherlock Holmes on TV

So, while everyone is speaking about the new Sherlock Holmes movie that recently came out, I’d like to take a moment and remember one of the best versions of Sherlock Holmes, on small and big screens, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett.

The series ran for a short period of time during the 1980s.  Brett arguably filled the role of the brilliant detective that seemed to satisfy even the most hardcore Holmes fans.  Unlike the recent movie with Robert Downey, Jr, Holmes is not supposed to be a sexy action star, but a hands on scientist who sees a world of information in the smallest detail.  The series in its excellence was not limited to the selection of Brett as Holmes, we had David Burke as Dr. Watson and my favorite version of the long suffering Mrs. Hudson played by Rosa Williamson.  The series would spend one hour (maybe two) on most of the Holmes cases, including the most interesting to me, The Final Problem (the death that Sir Conan Doyle wrote for Holmes and his nemesis Dr. Moriarity.)

The new movie, Sherlock Holmes, has some good points, including a fine portrayal of Dr. Watson by Jude Law.  His version of Watson is the one I wanted to see on screen, and though Brett’s TV series did not make Watson an absent minded imbecile, I still think the character could have improved upon.  People don’t realize that Watson was in the army, he was a distinguished and reputable doctor and deserved some respect from Hollywood who liked to use Holmes partner as a comic timing device.  It isn’t fair to Watson, and honestly it’s not fair to Holmes either who would never have put up with anyone that would be considered stupid in general.

I don’t like to post a review so much on a movie right after I’ve seen it; my initial reaction to the picture has more to do with the energy one experiences in a movie.  And this movie had many loose ends it needed to tie up, which it did, but basically all at once in what I can state felt like a blast of a shot gun pattern so walking away immediately I was left to try to digest everything so fast.  I’m told this is more of a Guy Ritchie (the director) tactic and while it might work for other movies, it didn’t suit Sherlock Holmes.  Yes Holmes will sometimes keep his inner knowledge to himself about certain clues he comes across, but I’ve never seen it take this long for him to reveal or more important, this many “clues” being revealed all at once.  It felt like an afterthought from the writers, like they were getting ready to roll the closing credits, and then remembered they had to explain how Holmes arrived at his conclusions and shoe horned some in the only two places at the end where it would go.

My other issue with the movie is in Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler.  Or maybe, it’s just the fact that Adler had to be in this movie at all.  I know there is much hoopla of the bromance between Holmes and Watson.  If I’m going to roll my eyes at this relationship and how contrived it is, I have to roll my eyes at the romance with Holmes and Adler.  First, McAdams is way too young to be Adler.  She’s already described in A Scandal in Bohemia as a woman who’s already had quite a past, and we presume some years have passed since that case.  Second, Adler was no more in love with Holmes than he was with her.  I think what is interesting about the couple is both really underestimated each other in their initial meeting.  For Adler to underestimate Holmes is not so notable, part of the fun of Holmes is how he is able to use what seems like an unassuming gift to capture some of the world’s most evil minds.  But Holmes being fooled by her is quite extraordinary.  It doesn’t happen very often and certainly not by a woman.  Holmes did keep Adler’s photograph but I believe he had it tossed in some drawer, not kept out in the open to see everyday.  Holmes was too much of an egotist to want to be reminded of any failure.

But overall I did enjoy the movie.  If I let my two issues above go, it’s fun to watch and I really think most of the public will be unaware of any problems in the story not reflecting the canon.  (I have no problems with alternate versions or remakes of my favorites, but I do not care that these new versions will interpret the characters outside their original personalities such as any romance with Holmes would).  I didn’t get into the portrayal of Robert Downey, Jr as Holmes because he will always fall short to the great and late Jeremy Brett.  I especially liked the slow down of action to help explain why Holmes was so adept at fighting his opponents.  That’s all I can really say without giving away spoilers.  What did everyone else think?

Return of Stephen Nichols

So the news has made it that Stephen Nichols will be returning to soaps.  Young and the Restless has hired him to replace William Russ, for a character that has yet to air.

I’m so happy for him, given the horrific way he and Mary Beth Evans were treated when they were let go.  I think I read MBE is doing a play in LA right now, what I would give to see her on a soap again, being used with her talents.

I remember SN and MBE were the reason I RETURNED to soaps.  The reason I came back to Days of our Lives.  And the reason I became this saddened, dejected, and cursed individual.  Ok, that’s an overstatement but sometimes I regret ever returning.  The thrills I got from Steve/Kayla and Chick were outnumbered by the disappointments that their storylines and treatment the actors received.  When Darin Brooks became an Emmy winner, I psychologically closed the door on soaps.  It’s one thing when Ken and Dena reward that butterball of an actor with horrific written storylines that he hammed his way through, but it’s another issue when the entire industry gives him an award for it.

See?  SEE what that show has done for me?  I can’t even be happy that SN has found a job where I just pray he gets treated better.  All I can do is focus on the past tragedies.  Oh how my ditterness has not left me!

Law and Order anyone?

Yes, I’m talking about the original flavor series here.  It’s been around now for twenty years.  I didn’t start watching in year one, but by the time Kincaid appeared I was devoted to the series.  I knew the premise of the show and loved the format.  You went from enforcement to prosecution in one hour.  There were a number of characters (in the beginning, all men) and I loved it.  One of the reasons I continued watching is because the show managed to keep that original spirit even when we’ve had character(s) changing out all the time.

That said, as a shipper type person, it’s not like this was a show I could get into in such a way.  I think it’s first entry was with Jack McCoy and Claire Kincaid, a coupling I felt was so wrong and rather icky.  I love Sam Waterson and I realize this is 10-15 years ago but I didn’t get this whole “Woman magnat” thing they had for him.  When he was hired, they made sure to let us know he was famous for sleeping with his assistants and thus getting with Claire (though thankfully offscreen) just reaked to me.  Of course, as much as I loathed the pairing, I hated they killed her off.  Of course, taht’s not the most horrific character killing (Alex Borgia won that prize.)

So why am I dedicating a blog to shipping and this show now?  Well if you caught last night’s episode, you would know why.  It was super heavy on shipping potential with Mike (the Exec DA) and his assistant, Connie.  I’ve always liked them.  When Jack McCoy got promoted, I thought I would be mad they didn’t find a female DA to take his place but Mike was always a breath of fresh air.  And he’s had natural chemistry with Connie.  I usually don’t care for boss/employees falling for each other, but this time, it’s more equal.  We even had Lupo refer to Connie as Mike’s “partner”.

Anyway, I think another reason I like it so much, is while he probably had a small crush on her, she’s had a definite hate on for him.  I think the interesting aspect is, there is no wide eyed crushing daddy replacement issues here.  A few weeks ago, Connie stated Mike had no soul.  Usually the character is much more sympathetic and fair minded, but there is no denying Mike pushes her buttons and he’s a big ass a lot of the time.  Connie also sees him doing his job which can get cutthroat fast and is turned off by many of his methods he uses to win a case.  So I have no idea how she feels about him in return.  I believe there is an attraction on her side but she obviously knows it’s too risky to go there (as we learned, she has had an affair with another DA who wound up being last night’s villain.  I presume it makes her even more skittish in allowing Mike to get too close).  Now that Mike’s feelings for her are like a giant flashing sign while they have been ordered by McCoy to work long and late hours, she’s probably wishing now Cutter would stick to being a typical jerk so she can ignore those strange new feelings bubbling up inside her.

Meanwhile, Cutter coming to terms with his feelings was an awesome but unusual (for this show) moment.  Having him talk it out with Jack McCoy was actually awesome, simply because Sam Waterson’s facial expressions while listening to Mike were priceless. And now suddenly I’m happy to have a remindor to McCoy/Kincaid as well as other indescretions Jack had.  A few weeks ago, when Mike had really pushed Connie’s buttons, she requested to be transferred to another department away from Mike.  Jack refused quite vocally that they were both having to get along together and now he reminds them again but with different underlying implications.  Some aren’t happy with Jack being a glorified babysitter for his staff but I found it refreshing and reminded me how charming Waterson can be while still bring that firm stand he’s known for.

So bottom line, I may have finally found a new ship to join, assuming the show doesn’t go too long without revisiting it again, something they’ve done before.  I’m not suggesting we make this a show all about Cutter getting it on with Connie, but I do think if they are serious on this, they should at least throw a remindor here and there in the next episode or two so it can be clear the sexual tension is still there.