i'll try to speed up my nervous breakdown

My Yuletide Letter

mardia948@hotmail.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:21:41 GMT

First, you should already know that I am almost definitely going to love whatever you write. I want you to have fun with this (because what's the point of signing up if you don't have fun?) and I hope you're finding inspiration from my prompts. Anyway, I'm writing this letter just in case you wanted a little more detail.

General likes: happy endings, humor, outsider POVs, smut, angst that turns into a happy ending
General dislikes: character bashing, humiliation/embarrassment, character death (with the exception of my Chuck prompt, which I'll get to in a minute) non-con or dub-con, character bashing, incest, and darkfic.

The Good Wife:

Less than 10 episodes in and I already adore this show. One of the biggest draws for me is the Will/Alicia relationship and how complicated it is, and how much history there is between them. Like I said in my prompt, a het relationship is my preference, but seriously, I will be totally satisfied with a gen story as well. Being fascinated by their earlier history, I'd love a story that focused on the two of them pre-canon, at any point during their friendship, whether it's during law school, during the years they worked together at that first firm, or even in any of the years during Alicia's marriage to Peter. Huge, massive bonus points for showing Will as the knight in tarnished armor that I'm pretty convinced he is.

Temeraire:

Sometimes I'm still amazed that Laurence/Tharkay has somehow become my slash OTP for this series, but man...Victory of Eagles practically made that canon, as far as I'm concerned. I absolutely love these two, so pretty much anything you do with them post VoE is wonderful as far as I'm concerned, although I'd love something that focuses on how such different people are still so incredibly drawn to each other.

Standoff:

Hee, I'm sure if you poke around my LJ, you'll find out how I got sucked into this series, way after it was already canceled by Fox. (Short answer: Ron Livingston. I've been finding that I can blame a lot on him these days, including my viewing habits of late.) I love love love the trio of Matt, Frank and Cheryl (which isn't to say that I don't love Emily as well) and the history that's always been implied thanks to the three of them working together for so long. Don't even ask how many times I've rewatched that scene in 1x03 of Matt and Cheryl at the bar together.

Anyway. Any story focusing on the three of them is perfectly wonderful in my books, just as long as it's the three of them bouncing off each other.

Chuck:

Hee, this is where the caveat about character death comes into play. Obviously, Bryce is presumed dead at the end of S2--well, as presumed dead as he can be, given that Bryce has a history of, you know, coming back to life.

So that being said--I'm honestly cool with a fic that either ends with Bryce dead or alive. I know this might seem odd given that I said in my prompt that Bryce/Chuck is maybe the biggest OTP I have for the show, but I felt really satisfied with the way Bryce went out, because in my eyes, the S2 finale just confirmed what I've always believed, which is that Chuck was always the most important person in Bryce's life.

To get back to the prompt, I would absolutely love a Bryce/Chuck story that also works in, in whatever way you choose, the partnership that Bryce had with Chuck's dad to keep Chuck safe at Stanford. When did it start? How did they meet? Did they keep meeting over the years? How did it progress as the years went on? Was Chuck's dad in on the plan to expell Chuck from Stanford? The possibilities are endless, really, and I just want you to have fun with them, truly.

One careful note: while character death is cool for this one (as it relates to Bryce), please please, no Bryce/Steve or Chuck/Steve. Incest is really very much not my thing at all, and I'm not looking to see Bryce/Steve either.

Also, I love the rest of the characters in the Chuck world--Ellie, Sarah, Casey, and S2 filled me with love for Morgan and Devon and the rest of the gang, so if you can manage to work them in as well, I'll consider that a huge bonus.

I hope you have fun with these prompts, and thanks in advance for writing one of them! Happy Yuletide.

alright, I'm sure that everyone on my flist who cares about this already knows--

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:53:28 GMT

But. Ron Livingston and Rosemarie Dewitt got married. (No for real. No, seriously--for real.)

...MAN. YAY.

(oh God, those two are going to have the most adorable babies in the WORLD.)

The Good Wife 1x07

mardia948@hotmail.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:01:00 GMT

First, as I said to londondrowning in chat earlier, this is maybe the most blatant the show has been with the Will/Alicia hints, and I personally loved it. This episode could have been a major cliche, what with the new rebelling-against-authority guy popping in to try and shake Alicia up, except for a few things--

--one, Will wasn't shown as completely innocent of what Ryan was arguing about him. He did try that case, and if memory serves, in pretty much the same way Ryan said he did.

--two, and this is the part I really appreciated, Alicia was, IMO, not really into the flirting so much and, more importantly, said so. Because of the virtue of who Alicia is, and the last name she still has, people keep trying to shake her up and discomfit her, and what I love is that a) she doesn't allow that to really happen and b) she is unafraid to CALL people out on it. Seriously, every time somebody tries to pull the "Oh, you're THAT Ms. Florick", and try to make a thing out of it, I start grinning and wait for Alicia to fix them with her best smiling glare and quickly cut them down to size. And she always DOES. It's awesome.

--three, everybody involved acted like adults about it. Will was genuinely interested in getting this guy for the firm, and Alicia didn't turn into a teenager, and the minute the guy got exposed, she hung up on his lying ass and didn't look like she regretted it either.

I loved the little moment with Kalinda and Alicia in the beginning, where Kalinda said that Alicia never surprises her. That was really very sweet, and a nice glimpse into their growing friendship. And Cary being all freaked out and worrying about layoffs was another nice movement from last week, and I do dig that they're really stepping away from that smarmy punk he was in the first episode or so.

And augh, this must be said, I love so much that Will tapped Alicia for the case as a way to shield her against future layoffs. Eeeee.

Other notes of interest: I really liked the fact that Mr. Loeb was actually a fan of Peter's, and for a reason that made perfect sense as well. It was a twist on the constant refrain we usually hear when new characters are introduced to Alicia. And while the plot with Alicia's kid was the lamest part of the episode, I weirdly kind of appreciated that they at least didn't go the cliched route of having the kid just be into porn and hookers and have Alicia's trust and faith in her kid be proven wrong, because no, she is a good mother who knows her kids.

Finally, that promo department at CBS needs to be FIRED. Good God. The promos for next week make the episode look RIDICULOUS and way too cheesy, and I already have enough faith in the writers and the show to know that it's not actually going to be like that at all.

...I think I'm going to need icons.

Yuletide, Emma Thompson, and The Good Wife

mardia948@hotmail.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:43:57 GMT

First, in an act of complete and utter lunacy, given all that I have to do this semester--I have signed up for Yuletide this year. (Oh, God.) This is probably a really bad idea, given that all I seem to be able to write/brainstorm these days are 10,000+ epics that take months to finish, but what can I do, I really honestly love fic writing challenges, particularly Yuletide, which for some reason always forces me to up my game and put out fic that always leaves me feeling really accomplished and proud of myself. So what the hell, bring on the madness. (Although this year, I limited myself to signing up for fandoms that I really knew I'd be inspired to write in.)

In news that leaves me a little more hopeful for humanity as a whole, it looks like Emma Thompson might be removing her name from that godawful Polanski petition after all. If this is true, then seriously, bravo to that university student for having the sheer BALLS to confront a major celebrity, and yeah, bravo to Emma Thompson for actually listening, and being willing to change her mind and admit she was wrong, which is a pretty rare thing. (Side note: Emma Thompson's explanation for why she signed the petition makes a little more sense--which still not excusing it at all--she's known Polanski for years, she feels sympathy for all he's suffered, she got a great deal of pressure from mutual friends urging her to sign.)

(Note: I just checked the official site of the Free Polanski petition, and Emma's name is still on it, but given that these events apparently have only happened today, I'm willing to be optimistic and believe that it's going to happen.)

Seriously, PHEW. Now if every other celebrity who signed their names to that wretched thing could be made to see sense as well.

And finally--much to my surprise, The Good Wife has become one of my favorite shows this season, beating out Glee. I say surprising, because even though the concept was fairly intriguing, I wasn't sure if I was going to sign on...and then I found out Josh Charles was a regular, and I was like, "Okay, now I *have* to at least see the pilot.

And what I found, to my surprise, was a really well-crafted, well-acted, and very subtle show, with some of the most compelling female characters I've seen in a while.

First, this has to be said--Alicia is AWESOME. I think a great deal of this goes to Julianna Marguiles, who makes Alicia feel real--on paper, Alicia could be a Mary Sue, and the fact that Julianna Marguiles is, let's face it, an absolutely beautiful woman could have also added to that feel. But she's being really wonderfully restrained and showing not only how strong Alicia is--and seriously, Alicia is basically who I want to be when I grow up, minus the douchebag cheating husband--but how much effort it takes to be that strong, just how much weight she's carrying on her shoulders.

And I'm really in love with how complex the relationships are on this show. As the series goes on, it becomes clear that everyone is much more complicated than they appear--even Cary, who I was ready to blow off in the first few episodes, is growing on me and I like that they've established that while Cary and Alicia certainly aren't best friends, they do have a functional working relationship and are willing to back each other up when they need to. Would you look at that, people acting like adults in the workplace. (From shows like Grey's Anatomy, you'd think this sort of professional adult behavior is rare.)

And I also, weirdly, really love the shades of gray they're giving to Will. First, I love Will. I love his relationship with Alicia and every episode has me doing this insane tussle between never ever wanting Will and Alicia to get together and being all for it. (Every time they have a scene together and he leans his head in or says something that could be read a certain way, I'm always like Yes! No! Yes!) And yet, I loved that Will has noticed how Alicia can and does throw off the ASAs at trial, and that he sees that as a gain for them. Let's face it, Will's one of the partners of a major law firm--I expect him to be savvy and a little bit ruthless. And I also loved the fact that he didn't even blink twice at the prospect of throwing Peter under the bus some more.

Finally, it's crazy how much I'm loving Chris Noth as the cheating douchebag husband, and how well he's managed to make me sympathize--admittedly to a point, but STILL--with his character. The thing that gets me is how self-aware Peter is now--he does recognize how badly he hurt his wife, and doesn't seem to be trying to push for anything more than he deserves. Also, I do get the sense that he loves Alicia completely, that he doesn't want to lose her--and honestly, the flashbacks to their happy marriage work brilliantly in that you understand why Alicia hasn't dropkicked him to the curb and signed the divorce papers yet.

Needless to say, I both requested and offered The Good Wife in Yuletide this year.

rant on college and a wrap-up post on Defying Gravity

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:28:27 GMT

God, I hate college so much right now. Let me tell you guys, it is a bitch and a half to have a half-finished epic story on your USB drive, and you want to finish it, you know you can finish it, and your muse is actually willing to LET you finish it--but you simply do not have the time to sit down and write. And even when you do, say, have some free time, your mind's too busy running down all the homework/reading that you could be doing instead.

College is a bitch and a half. Nobody ever tells you this in the glossy brochures.

And because I kept watching this show for some godforsaken reason--oh, wait, I know exactly what that reason was, and it's Ron Livingston and his eyebrows--the last Defying Gravity post that, please God, I will ever have to make--

You guys. I do not know how it is possible for a show to be complete and utter crack and still somehow be boring as fuck anyway, but Defying Gravity has managed to pull off that bewildering combination. It amazes me, it really does.

I have to give out a shoutout to thepodsquad here, because if it wasn't for her being available for me to shriek in frustration with (and ogle RLiv with as well, let it be said) I probably would not have wasted as much bandwith/brain cells on this show as I did.

No, seriously, you guys, I am not even kidding--the show got more boring and somehow more crack-filled as it went on. At the same time. That strange thing they were hiding on the spaceship? People, it was FLOATING ALIEN GOO. NO, I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. IT WAS FLOATING, ALIEN GOO THAT GLOWED AND CAUSED MASS HALLUCINATIONS AS WELL AS GENETIC MUTATIONS IN THE CREW. WUT.

The entire point of the tour around the solar system? TO COLLECT MORE OF THE ALIEN GOO. THE ENTIRE SERIES IS ABOUT A SCAVENGER HUNT ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM. WHAT THE FUCK.

Oh, and please do not get me started on the characters. If I do, I will be here for days talking about how the show got to the point where I was fully willing to see all of the characters get thrown into the airlock, ala Laura Roslin's favorite tactic on BSG, minus of course, Donner and the hot doctor with the scars on his back, who turned out to at least be marginally competent and not-whiny, unlike EVERYBODY ELSE. Except for Donner, who wasn't so bad, but only because Ron Livingston was playing him and he at least bothered to do some actual work/figure shit out while everyone else seemingly had their thumbs up their asses.

And as for Zoe--you guys, I am not even kidding, the last two episodes, my gChat conversations with thepodsquad consisted of nothing but the two of us (and the imaginary Nick Jonas in our heads) hoping fervently that she would die. I am not even kidding, at one point, I was actually saying, "ZOE, FOLLOW THE GHOST SPACE BABY TO YOUR DOOM."

I'll spare you the suspense now--no, she didn't. Honestly, the fact that she ended up with second/third-degree burns wasn't really that much of a consolation prize at all.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this show makes me appreciate Standoff a LOT more. I mean, okay, Standoff is not actually that good of a show--the plotlines were ridiculous, and the basic premise of the show was flawed, and please please do not get me started on that episode in Mexico--but the cast, with one or two minor exceptions, was AWESOME, and the characters were entertaining and fun to watch. And I'm not just saying that because of all the episodes where we got to watch Ron Livingston make out with somebody. Defying Gravity proved that I can watch RLiv kiss somebody on screen and not be happy about it at all.

In conclusion: please, Ron Livingston, fire your agent already. A brain-damaged monkey could do a better job.

I can't believe I'm writing a post-ep reaction post when I have a paper to write.

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:14:34 GMT

Glee--spoilers for the latest episode.

I'm putting a warning up right now, this is not a rave review filled with joy and sparkles. So if you're looking just for squee, it's...not here so much.

...okay, here's the thing. I love the musical numbers. I think the dialogue is snappy and smart. That doesn't mean I think the show is actually well-written, because it isn't. Not only does this show routinely drop the ball on consistent characterization, I think the show is also dropping the ball when it comes to race and its female characters. It just does.

Frankly, Will's speech last week of "you're all minorities" sounds really awesome and sweet--until you think about it for more than two seconds. Because, okay, I want to be really super clear that I'm not talking about anyone on my flist, but in real life, living in the Midwest, I've met more than one person who might have the best intentions, but who simply "doesn't get it" when it comes to complicated issues of race/gender.

Will's one of those people, you guys. I'm sorry, but Finn being "dumb as a box of rocks" is not the same thing as Artie not being able to walk, or Mercedes being black, or Kurt being gay. It just ISN'T, and the comparison is ridiculous to make in the first place. Also, I think it IS a fair question to ask why the hell Mercedes hasn't been given the lead in any songs we know that New Directions will perform on stage, because she's got a hell of a voice. And don't get me started how Tina and Artie have yet to have a single plotline remotely focused on them. So far, Will's plans for Glee Club seem to involve Rachel and Finn singing the leads on every single song, and that is just stupid and wildly unfair. So sadly, I think I'm going to have to say that I'm actually a fan of Matthew Morrison more than I'm a fan of Will. (Side note, Matthew Morrison, where in God's green earth did you learn to dance like that, goddamn.

And okay, can I just say how much Sue's storyline tonight pissed me the hell off? I love Jane Lynch in the role, but Ryan Murphy, are you kidding me with this bullshit? The minute that Sue gets a guy, she stops being deliciously evil and starts being NICE? And the minute she loses the guy, she's back to being evil? Are you even kidding me? Do I honestly need to list the ways that plotline is lame and a disservice to the character, not to mention insulting to every person who has a pair of ovaries?

And that's another thing that drives me absolutely batty--how the characterization on this show zigzags back and forth based on what the plotline requires for that particular episode. First, Puck choosing Glee Club while Finn chose football at first--guys, this makes no sense. It isn't until this episode that we see that Puck actually has a solid voice, or that he might enjoy Glee Club. Finn, on the other hand, has loved Glee from day one, not to mention the fact that he knows it's his one serious shot at getting out of town on a music scholarship. Writers, if you can't be fucked to remember your own canon, then why the hell should I?

Can I also just mention--have we heard anything from the other "popular" kids about why they're in Glee? Clearly they enjoy it, but it would be nice to get some actual characterization from them, a moment of how and why they like performing in a club that does hurt their social status within the school.

I just--look, I'll keep watching, and like I said, the musical numbers are awesome. But this show has honestly got some of the sloppiest, laziest writing I've seen outside of daytime soap operas, and they need to start checking themselves.

I was going to do a long post about Brothers and Sisters and Gossip Girl...

mardia948@hotmail.com — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:23:29 GMT

...and how it actually looks like B&S might actually be finally getting good again, while it seems like Gossip Girl is circling the damn drain (I haven't watched last night's episode, but I'll probably force myself to sit through it--and the fact that I have to force myself is really not a good sign), but all of those things have flown right out of my head.

Why?

Because Emma Thompson has signed that stupid, horrible, fucking RIDICULOUS "Free Polanski" petition.

You guys. This time I mean it, I am absolutely going to have to quit Earth. What the FUCK.

Packers vs. Vikings.

mardia948@hotmail.com — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:56:24 GMT

I don't even care about football, I don't, but it must be said--

Somewhere in a world where the HIMYM world is real, Marshall Erickson is doing an incredible dorky victory dance. I AM JUST SAYING.

Look, I'm going to Madison, and I'm from MN, so my loyalties are somewhat torn most of the time, and even I think Favre is something of a tool, but when I started watching I realized that you can take the girl out of Minnesota, but you cannot take the Minnesota out of the girl.

Brothers and Sisters, and a meme!

mardia948@hotmail.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:25:39 GMT

Ah, Brothers and Sisters, how I have missed you and your wacky logic.

I am now totally convinced that any and all of the people who actually accept an invitation from the Walkers are looking to witness a trainwreck, because how else can you explain it?

Also, I'm oddly interested in where this storyline with Kitty goes--although I actually would have preferred Nora to be the one coming down with an illness. Not because I hate Nora and wish her ill, but it'd be nice to see Nora have a storyline that doesn't center around her douche of a dead husband or her kids. That being said, I'm still interested in where they go with Kitty this season, and I'm still extremely amused that Kevin basically is the third-wheel in Robert and Kitty's marriage, and that nobody seems to mind. (Just saying people.)

I'm somewhat disappointed in the Kevin/Scotty storyline, mostly because I feel like we skipped three steps--first, does anybody even remember them talking about having kids in S3? I know I had the Kevin/Robert goggles on, but I'd remember that! That being said, I love seeing Scotty dealing with his crazy in-laws (HE should be writing the tell-all book, not Kitty) and I weirdly sort of like that he's the one who needs to become emotionally ready for having a kid, and not Kevin. Kevin's position makes a little more sense--I feel like now that Julia and Elizabeth are gone, he's missing them and coming to the realization that yes, he does want to be a father. It just, you know, would have been nice to see it and not have to hypothesize about it.

And as for Justin/Rebecca--seriously, I do not get the angst over postponing the wedding. First, their relationship has been on fast-forward from day one, second, I see Justin's point. This is not the right time to be making TWO huge life-changing decisions. Medical school--especially the crazy fast-track program he's on--is hard, and difficult, and that's what he needs to focus on. Whatevs.

And that meme that's been all over my flist--

Name a fandom, and I will tell you my:
OTP:
Runner-up:
Honorable mention(s):
Crack pairing(s):
Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't:

Roman Polanski

mardia948@hotmail.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:33:59 GMT

MSNBC: Polanski will fight extradition to the U.S.

Oh my God. WHAT IS THIS FUCKERY? (warning, do not read if you don't want your blood pressure to hit the roof.)

Polanski has already “atoned for the sins of his young years,” Jacek Bromski, head of the Polish Filmmakers Association, told The AP. “He has paid for it by not being able to enter the U.S. and in his professional life he has paid for it by not being able to make films in Hollywood.”

This is a joke, right? This has got to be some kind of joke.

I know that Polanski is a famous director. I get that several of the films he made are classics. I get that.

He also drugged and raped a thirteen-old-girl and pled guilty to it. At this point, I don't think there is anyone in the world who would argue that he's innocent. He's been a fugitive for over 30 years. Did he SERIOUSLY think he was never going to be arrested? Did he honestly think that nobody was going to call him on the horrible crime he committed? Where the hell is the shock at his arrest even coming from? The man has been a wanted fugitive for thirty years, this is somehow NEWS to people? Are you kidding me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I was going to rant more, but seriously, this is pissing me off so much that I'm not even coherent right now

Edit: Sars over at Tomato Nation sums it all up much better than I could even hope to.

"Again, I don't think anyone can argue that Polanski didn't do it. What people dispute is whether he's accountable or whether it's justifiable, and you see any number of excuses made for him for any number of reasons — he wasn't in his right mind, the mother set him up, like that — so nobody has to accept that a talented, ambitious man, already benighted by more suffering than any one person should have to endure in a single lifetime, could also have committed such a sordid, selfish, opportunistic act."

Big TV post...

mardia948@hotmail.com — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:12:05 GMT

Oh my God, trying to keep up with all the premieres on TV this week is CRAZY. AUGH.

Honestly, the stuff with Ted was a little too cringeworthy for me, so I basically hit mute for most of those scenes of him lecturing, sorry. I'm also--I think I have a lot more patience for the whole 'who's the mother' storyline than more people, but if this season is going to be nothing but fakeouts, then I am going to get irritated fairly quickly. Marshall was adorable with the whip though, and who would have ever thought I'd say something like that?

Barney/Robin has always been an interesting thing for me in that I enjoy them on the show and I think they make perfect sense to pair together, but I have absolutely zero interest in reading fic about them or anything like that. I just feel like the show is handling that so well that I don't feel like there's much opportunity to bring anything new or different to the table and still really remain true to the characters. I'm also kind of hoping that the show doesn't lose sight of the fact that as much as Barney cares about Robin and as much as this is an opportunity for him to grow, a lot of the time--Barney Stinson is actually a pretty horrible guy, especially when it comes to women, so they really need to address that with Robin at some point.

Raise your hands if you thought at all that Blair was going to adjust well to college. Yeah, me neither. Heh.

One thing that I thought S2 of Gossip Girl did fairly well was give Blair some character development that actually stuck, and I'm glad to see that carrying through here. Because honestly, she does need this, because Blair Waldorf isn't the sort of person who breaks her bad habits and patterns, she needs quite often to have them smashed FOR her. So that was interesting, and I'm really curious to see where this is headed, particularly if it means continued interaction with her and Dan. (Oh please God, let it be so. And btw, WTF, why did they cut out the part where he touches her hair? AUGH.)

But seriously, I liked the Dan/Blair interaction here, even how it ended, because--idk, I feel like Dan always has this edge of reluctant affection for Blair, this sort of amusement that I find weirdly appealing? I mean, I'm not saying he particularly likes her or anything, but--hmm. It's as if he has a strange sort of appreciation for her brand of crazy. I dig that.

I also really dug that Dan was able to fit into the NYU scene much more easily than Blair could, because a) it makes sense and b) allows us to see a Dan that's relaxed and definitely more comfortable around other people and with himself, which is pretty cool. For so long, we've seen him be on the defensive, off his stride, that this is a seriously welcome change. Plus, it took me a little bit, but I am seriously seriously digging the longer hair on Penn Badgley. Dang.

Vanessa--eh. Also, more eh to the Scott thing, because honestly--I am not impressed by the actor playing him at ALL. For all of GG's faults, the casting on the show is pretty solid in that unlike most teen dramas, it's rare to find an actor that isn't very good, so on this show, he stands out even more, and not at all in a good way.

I'm glad we're moving on with the Serena storyline, because I mostly found her to be incredibly bratty for most of this episode. I do not like being on Chuck Bass's side here, people. QUIT THAT. Although I do dig the storyline they're doing between her and Rufus--now, I deplore Rufus Humphrey, and thanks to Band of Brothers, every time I see Matthew Settle I am all like, "GODDAMMIT, BRING ON SPEIRS!", but, in the list of Gossip Girl parents, he is generally the least awful, so that storyline between him and Serena actually makes some sense.

Georgina--oh, God, Daniel, have we learned NOTHING? I actually find Georgina fairly interesting in that I kind of dig how easily she can slip into a character she's created for herself, to the point where you're not sure if she believes the lies she's spinning as well. But yes, Dan, NO. Watch this shit blow up in your face.

I rarely talk about this show, but it's honestly pretty fun to watch. I dig Nathan Fillion in the title role, and I think Stana Katic does a great job of keeping up with him. Also, I dig Castle's family. Plus, I seriously dig the whole 'muse' aspect of Castle and Beckett's relationship, something I wish the show could go a little more in depth with--hi, he's writing a book that is BASED ON HER.

This premiere was seriously interesting to watch, because I think we saw Beckett take the lead in a way that we haven't before. For one thing, it was nice to see Castle scrambling to get her approval and trust back, and honestly--it was even more fun seeing her squash him every time he tried. Because let's face it--he deserved that, just like he deserved the brutal smackdown she gave him, because here's the thing, every word she said was the truth. Castle's investigation had nothing to do with what was best for her, and instead had everything to do with him and his curiosity to get at the story. So good for her in calling him on it. That being said, I'm also glad with the way she chose to handle bringing him back--because it was entirely on her terms, which is cool.

Oh, and I know the main focus of the show is Castle/Beckett, but I saw someone pointing out that it could be read like Esposito has a big and unstated thing for Beckett, and in rewatching some of the eps, dudes, I TOTALLY SEE IT. Holy crap.

I actually seriously dug this pilot, mostly because the cast is SERIOUSLY top-notch rather than any innovations in storytelling. Let's be real, the premise is pretty cool, but they had me from the minute I heard that Josh Charles was going to be on this show. Danny! And his character is a good guy! Awesomesauce.

Also, I really dig the developing friendship between Kalinda and Alicia, and this is partly why I dig procedurals--it's nice seeing women friendships that don't center around their love lives. So it's going to be pretty cool seeing them work together, I think.

Okay, I still think that Glee has been a little uneven, and there are still some kinks that need to be worked out, but let's face it--BEST EPISODE SO FAR. Right from the opening to the scene with the football team dancing to Single Ladies--loved it.

I loved that Kurt and his storyline took center-stage, and honestly, the actor who plays him is a serious standout, because he's played every scene to perfection, for real. In particular, I loved the way his voice broke on the word 'gay' when he was talking to his dad, and I loved that his dad a) already knew, because hello and b) that his dad accepted it, and Kurt, even though he wasn't entirely over the moon about it. It was just really sweet and realistic, and the fact that Kurt's dad already knew made his reaction to Kurt winning the football game even sweeter.

I also loved that Kurt actually got to win the game, and be the hero. That was really awesome, as was the fact that he and Finn were working together, and Finn was so supportive. Speaking of, how adorable and awesome was Finn tonight. From the hug with Will (and thanks to londondrowning I am now having some THOUGHTS) to his sweetness with Quinn, to backing up Kurt, and to his adorable awkwardness with the Single Ladies dance. So cute!

And maybe I'm alone in this, but I find Quinn to be a thousand times more sympathetic than Will's wife Terri. For one thing, she's sixteen years old, she's scared out of her mind, and I actually loved how contemptuous she was of Puck, because hi, she lost her virginity to this loser under some seriously sketchy circumstances (and yeah, consent is dubious here, at BEST) so of course she hates his guts.

And finally, Rachel. I am totally on Will's side here, and I honestly thought the way they handled this storyline was seriously well-done. First, thank God, we got more than five seconds of Tina, and she actually got to open her mouth and talk and SING. Second, honestly, this conflict was coming from day one, because--I've always liked Rachel, yes, but you can't lose sight of her obsessive need to hog the spotlight at all times. The fact that she doesn't really have any friends isn't entirely because of the whole social order of the school, it's because Rachel, as talented and pretty as she is, also has some really unattractive personality traits. I thought Will's point about bringing everyone out of their shells was really on point, because he's trying to do what's best for the club as a whole, trying to make them the best team possibe. Rachel, on the other hand, is looking out for herself. I'm not necessarily knocking that, per se, but she needs to realize that Glee Club is not simply a showcase for her. I also thought that she was seriously lacking in tact, and the quiet disbelieving reactions from everyone else--Kurt, Artie, Mercedes and especially Tina--really say something. As does the fact that Rachel was standing out on the outskirts of the group, nice symbolism there.

Finally, I'm glad that the show is finally starting to break away from the thin stereotypes and flesh these characters out--about TIME. And I'm glad to see the mixing of different cliques as well--seeing Britney, a Cheerio, dancing right next to Kurt and Tina, and having the football players join Glee was pretty awesome. So seriously, nice work, and I want more, so I'm glad it was picked up for a full season. Now let's just hope it doesn't end with some crazy cliffhanger like Popular did back in the day.

I never really talk about Bones that much, but I seriously do enjoy this show. One thing that kind of honestly bewilders me is all the frustration about Booth and Brennan, the focus on when their relationship is finally going to be 'consummated'. I don't really get that because for me, their relationship is already consummated...emotionally. I mean, this isn't just a relationship about the sexual tension or the build up, but about the fact that without even truly planning to, these two very different people fell head over heels in love with each other all without realizing it. Sure, will I be happy when they finally take the plunge? Of course. But I enjoy watching them as they are right now.

So I was perfectly happy with the premiere, and delighted by the last scene with them in this week's episode. I also love that we're getting to keep Wendell--seriously, I want Bones to just PICK AN INTERN ALREADY, and I really really want it to be either Wendell or Clark. Come on SHOW.

First, augh, Ra'mon! Man, I have seriously been rooting for both him and Christopher, not just because they're from Minnesota, but they, IMO, are pretty likeable and also more talented. Honestly, I was hoping for Nicholas to get kicked off, and I was really hoping that Christopher would win instead of him, because well, I just think Nicholas is seriously overrated, and mostly by himself. And now he's probably going to be even more insufferable. AUGH.

Also, I'm surprised at how much I miss Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. They brought a real continuity to the judging process that I think is lacking, so I was really glad to hear and see Michael Kors, at least, in the preview for next week's episode.

Models of the Runway was disappointing too, because I actually dug Fatma in the end, once the drama with her and Vanessa ended, and frankly, I thought her diss of Mitchell was HILARIOUS. So that was a bummer as well.

And overall, I thought the costumes this week were actually a little uninspired. It wasn't until Christopher's that I felt there was something truly inspired going on. And I thought limiting the challenge to 1 day was honestly a bad move by the producers for this particular challenge.

This is why I love thepodsquad and her Google-fu.

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:43:08 GMT

Because she does stuff like basically totally confirm that Ron Livingston and Rosemarie Dewitt are totally, TOTALLY dating.

There may have been too many totallys in that sentence. Guess how much I don't care.

Look at his hair, and those pics are dated August 20th. THEY ARE DATING. SERIOUSLY, we can just call it and go home. This plus the Craig Ferguson interview totally confirm it.

...God, I do not know how I got so invested in this. I really don't.

But yes. This is why thepodsquad and her google-fu rock the house.

Merlin 2x01

mardia948@hotmail.com — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:28:57 GMT

1. Is it just me or did everyone on this cast suddenly become more attractive? ESPECIALLY Arthur. No lie, every time Bradley James showed up, I was like, "...did he go to a spa right before filming this episode?" He just looks REALLY GOOD. IDK, maybe it's because he was wearing a lot more blue this episode, and surprise, IT REALLY SUITS HIM.

2. I don't know whose idea it was to have Bradley James shirtless so goddamn much this episode, or to START the episode with shirtless Bradley James, but that person deserves our thanks, for real. WOW. Also, I did not miss how apparently Merlin is sleeping in a room right next to Arthur's this season (or how Gwen's doing the same with Morgana) and what the fuck, are they TRYING to INCREASE the slash possibilities? ON PURPOSE?

3. "Everything I do is for him, and he just thinks I'm an idiot." WOW. WHAT. WHAT.

4. I love the fact that Arthur's reaction to the Cedric and Merlin fight is to literally *facepalm*. Bless him. (I make it a point to hardly ever think about the plot of a Merlin episode, but I have to say that Merlin's approach to telling Arthur the truth was particularly stupid--he didn't need to get into the whole sorcerer bit, he just needed to explain that Cedric is the only person who could have possibly broken into the tomb and that would have been it. I mean, it makes sense from a characterization perspective--he so badly wants to believe that Arthur will trust him without even thinking about it, but still.)

5. ARTHUR/GWEN ARTHUR/GWEN OMG YAY. Yes, I'm sure some of the hardcore shippers are freaking out, but IMO, I have pretty much adored Arthur and Gwen together from 1x10, to the point where I am probably going to be really pissed off if/when Lancelot shows up again to throw a wrench in things. A lot of that has to do with Gwen herself, because I just like her so much as a character--she's smart and competent without making a fuss over it, and I love that as Arthur said, she is constantly surprising him and making him think twice.

Part of this is also leftover relief that I do not need to hate Guinevere in this retelling, like I did for The Mists of Avalon (both the book and the movie) because OMG, if you want to figure out how to write a completely unsympathetic and truly hateful character, then look no further. So to have this Gwen, who is kickass and adorable and btw, has serious chemistry with Arthur, is SUCH A RELIEF.

6. Is it just my imagination, or did this episode seriously improve in quality in the second half? A huge part of that is the callbacks we're finally getting to the first season and to 1x13--Uther's panic over Arthur was no doubt partially triggered by the fact that he recently almost lost Arthur to the Questing Beast, the entire thing with the Dragon, etc.

7. Speaking of the Dragon, I actually thought that scene with him and Merlin was surprisingly well-done. Not only did it make sense, it was dramatic and gave some great foreshadowing for future conflict down the road--not only for the day when Merlin eventually has to keep his word, but for the occasions when he'll obviously have to turn to the Dragon again for knowledge and advice against his will.

8. I really really like that they're continuing to actually show the bond between Merlin and Gaius--that was one of the brighter spots of 1x13, and it makes complete sense that after everything that happened, Gaius would feel more comfortable showing his affection.

9. Since it was in the teaser, I feel no guilt over mentioning how thrilled I am to see Sarah Parish this season on Merlin. I've loved her ever since I saw her with Damian Lewis in Shakespeare Retold, not to mention Viva Blackpool as well.

Gossip Girl, Glee, and God help us, Defying Gravity

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:46:08 GMT

I finally got caught up with the second half of Season 2 just in time for the S3 premiere so, um, go me?

There were parts of this that I liked, parts of it that I was seriously meh on.

First, my feelings on Blair/Chuck have evolved--somewhat. No, I am still not a fan of the pairing, yes, I still want Blair with Dan (or really, with almost anybody else) and I'm still not really a fan of Chuck. That being said, I still have to give props to Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester, because those two do their damnedest to make each scene between them work, and their damnedest is actually pretty effing amazing. So props to that.

That being said, their storyline in this episode was seriously lame. Here's hoping it at least gets interesting--or that they break up for good and Blair ends up with Dan. WE CAN ONLY HOPE.

The whole Dan and Vanessa subplot was slightly strange and meh too, but I weirdly sort of dug it in a strange way. I really liked that in S2, Vanessa evolved from being boring and annoying to being the most relatable female character on the show--that scene where she confesses to Dan that she slept with Chuck Bass was amazing, and I LOVED that she brought up having to get an STD panel, because OMG, yes, this is EXACTLY what any sane person would do after having the bad sense to sleep with someone as promiscuous as Chuck.

Anyway, back to this episode, where...I think it's sort of interesting that the show is carrying on this theme of Dan being the 'ultimate insider' into the new season, and I think it's a fairly interesting evolution that I hope the show carries on. Dan's outburst at Vanessa, I think, was pretty justified and really very telling of the big issue in their friendship, which is that at her worst, Vanessa is the most judgemental person on this show. It's also interesting, I think, for the larger indication of where their friendship is at now--apparently things have not been going well for the Humphrey van der Bass clan at all, and it's obvious that until Dan's outburst, Vanessa had no idea. Which brings up the larger question of why he wouldn't have mentioned it, and why he was so sure she'd judge him for wearing nicer clothes and mixing in this world that, honestly, he's already been a part of for a while now.

Vanessa, however, was a lot less likable here than she was in S2--let's see if we can follow the train of logic here. She catches Dan out in what is actually a fairly white lie, and instead of waiting to discuss it with him at a later date, pretty much invites herself and her new semi-boyfriend to crash a party she knows he'll be at, and instead of apologizing, attacks him to the point where he has to get pissed off at her and set her straight, and then instead of realizing how wretchy her behavior is, storms off without ever really apologizing in the first place. VANESSA. This is not how we do!

One thing I think the writers sort of dropped the ball on was showing how fragmented and how hard a time the Humphrey van der Bass clan had been having, because Dan's outburst about CeCe and Lily kind of comes out of nowhere. So I think they could have done a better job with that.

Oddly enough, Serena's subplot was the only part of the show that made any real sense and was compelling, for several reasons. One, it gave us Dan and Blair working together--I love so much that Dan has the good sense to call Blair whenever he's got these sort of problems. Two, it gave us Carter Baizen and Sebastian Stan, who I am delighted to see after the sad cancellation of Kings. See, Sebastian can actually act like a mofo (which thanks to Kings, I knew) and he really helped sell the connection between Carter and Serena. Also, I kind of find it totally believable that Serena would come up with a plan this insane to get into contact with her father, even if on the surface, it is sort of offensive--party girl acting out only to get her daddy's attention? Really, show?

But whatever, I am just really looking forward to seeing Dan and Blair at NYU--please God, have this be the year that they finally hook up. PLEASE.

This show has honestly been sort of a rollercoaster for me. Unlike a lot of people, I was pretty 'meh' on the pilot right up until they hit 'Don't Stop Believing' and then I was finally like, "all right, this I can get behind." Then I LOVED the second episode to bits, and now this episode--I am mostly confused.

Because--with one notable exception--am I right in thinking this episode didn't make a whole lot of sense? First, I found it really hard--almost impossible to believe that Will would turn his back on Glee Club like that, given the insane hoops he's had to jump through to keep this club going. Or rather, it was hard to buy the way they presented it, because so much of the time and development of that was compressed into the first ten minutes of the show. In fact, the whole thing about Glee falling apart didn't quite work as a whole--I just felt like the whole thing was poorly constructed.

Now, that being said, the Acafellas were AWESOME. I kind of like the fact that Ken Tanaka has a really awesome voice, although I nearly choked when I realized they were singing a song by Color Me Badd, and not only that, but a song that VH1 declared one of the 'Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever'. Seriously? Not that they didn't sell it--particularly Matthew Morrison with that undone bow tie and tux. YOW.

I've read quite a few reviews of Glee by this point, both good and bad, and the ones that have grabbed my attention are the ones that point to the focus on the white, straight, able-bodied characters over everyone else as something that has hindered their enjoyment of the show.

I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of shocked by this. Not because they're wrong, but because I'm kind of shocked that people are even noticing this problem at all. Because, to be perfectly honest, I stopped expecting TV to display any kind of real diversity since I stopped watching Barney and Sesame Street in first grade. So it always feels sort of strange to see others dinging a TV show for something that I've grown accustomed to ignoring. I know I've made posts about it before, but you guys--if I didn't bring myself to compromise on the matter of showing diversity on TV in a proper and respectful way, I probably wouldn't be watching TV at all.

So on one hand, this episode of Glee had something that was really great--a subplot that focused on the members of Glee club that aren't all white and straight and abled. Now, I know Tina stutters, but if we could have her say more than one line, that would be awesome. Oh, and give Artie a storyline too, goddammit.

But yes, Kurt and Mercedes! Am I the only one who thought their storyline was the best and most well-written part of this show? In particular, I loved the way that Kurt was reaching out to Mercedes--there was this undercurrent of loneliness, this need for a connection that really just got to me somehow. And when it was revealed that he had a crush on Finn, I might have started flapping my hands, because oh my God, of course he does! And that final scene with Mercedes was a little heartbreaking, with the tear and the admission that he's never actually said he's gay.

And thank God, they finally made Mercedes something more than a stereotype. ABOUT TIME. Instead of the sassy diva we've seen for the first two episodes, we saw who Mercedes really is--a sweet lonely girl who feels like an outsider most of the time, and even more than liking Kurt in particular, just really wants to be liked and appreciated for herself. And this goes without saying, but that 'Bust Your Windows' rendition was the SHIT.

So yeah, I'm sticking with Glee for now, even if so far, I find it to be wildly uneven.

I can't believe I'm taking this show seriously enough to write meta on it, but whatever, I think it's been safely determined that Ron Livingston is a free pass for like, almost anything.

The premise of this show is cracked. I think we all knew that from the moment the phrase "Grey's Anatomy in Space" was first uttered. But it wasn't until I started watching this show that I realized the insane mashup of genres that this show is just cannot *work*. It's not so much the whole 'sci-fi soap opera about astronauts' that's the issue, it's the 'Grey's Anatomy' part of this show that straight up DOES NOT WORK.

I can see how this got started--apparently the creator of this show was an exec producer on Grey's--and I can sort of see why ABC went for it, because whether you like Grey's Anatomy and its ilk or not, it's a formula that has worked wonders for the network until now.

The thing is, and a part of me still can't believe I'm saying this with a straight face, but that whole Grey's vibe? That's the part of this show that stretches my suspension of disbelief past its breaking point.

Here is the point where all of you start shrieking at me about ghost space babies, and hallucinations, and fingers being cut off, and any of the ridiculous things that have happened on this ridiculous, ridiculous show. And I will not argue with you. But for me, at least, the whole "workplace romantic farce" vibe of Grey's, when combined with everything ELSE we have to swallow from this show, prevents me from taking any of it seriously at all.

And that's actually kind of a huge problem, especially given the characters we're supposed to be dealing with.

I mean, the characters on Grey's Anatomy are all, by this point, fairly damaged--but it's a normal sort of damage. It's the damage that comes from an unhappy childhood, or a series of bad relationships, or a failed marriage. This is sad, yes, but it's also normal, it's stuff you can relate to, because you've been through something like it, or someone you know has, or it's stuff that is something you can picture happening easily.

Maddux Donner? Yeah, he left his girlfriend to die...on another planet. Raise your hand right now if you know anybody who can relate to that situation. If you can relate to that in a direct way, then a) I am very sorry for you and b) I am wondering just what kind of fucked-up life you have led.

And...okay, the first season of Grey's wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and it actually had quite a lot of the same problems that Defying Gravity does now (if to a lesser degree) but...they had more than one interesting character on that show from day one. They also had a seriously awesome and talented cast that could and often did rise above the material when necessary. This show...not so much on either account, and I actually feel kind of bad saying that, but dudes, let's be real: Ron Livingston is acting RINGS around everyone else. He just *is*.

And it's not so much that the rest of the cast are BAD, per se, it's just that--their characters are actually pretty lame. And boring. (With the exception of Ajay, who is just adorable.) But yeah, nearly everyone else? Various degrees of boring and I cannot take them or their issues remotely seriously at all, because--it doesn't feel like any of these characters are developed enough for me too, and none of the acting is at a level where they're forcing me to give a shit.

I'm not saying the show would be more successful if they'd just stuck to the darker, Lost-like tone, but it probably would be a little more believable, and definitely more interesting.

And I'm sorry but Laura Harris--is just not appealing to me at all. Like, from the promos I was like, "Oh, is she supposed to be Ron's love interest? Oh dear." And she has...pretty much lived down to expectations. Which is such a shame, because all of my Matt/Charlie fics aside, I liked Emily Lehman on Standoff and liked her relationship with Ron's character.

But with this character Zoe What'sherface, I could not give less of a shit about her or her storyline. Which is actually a shame and kind of ridiculous, given the storyline she's got. Yes, yes, ghost space baby, but let's think about this for a minute--she had to have a back-alley abortion that went wrong, can't have kids, did this in order to stay on the mission and oh, yeah, she has to deal with the guy who got her pregnant in the first place, has no idea about any of it in the second place, and in the third place, she still has (supposedly) a ton of sexual chemistry/tension with.

I should be feeling a LITTLE sympathy here for the woman, that's all I'm saying. Instead I'm rolling my eyes and going OMG, cry MOAR. Which then makes me feel guilty and like I'm a bad feminist or something, which just pisses me off even more, and you see the cycle we get into.

And another thing--it's bad enough that the majority of the characters range from 'meh' to outright annoying, but the fact that they've so far focused only on the characters that I find the most annoying is just so aggravating, seriously. Who gives a crap about the annoying slacker dude who is obnoxious 95% of the time. (Please don't tell me we're supposed to find that Wassen-something dude appealing at all. This dude is no George O'Malley or Alex Karev, all right?)

No kidding, there are maybe four of these characters that haven't annoyed me the majority of the time: Donner, Evram, Ajay, and Jen. Donner because he's played by Ron Livingston, who at this point, I'm convinced could read food ingredients off a can of condensed soup and make it compelling. Evram because he's played by Eyal Podell, who I always like to see, and who's character (aside from Donner) actually has a seriously troubled past and unlike nearly everybody else, doesn't constantly whine or bitch or mope about it, but is competant and quiet and simply does his effing job. Ajay because he is adorable and probably the nicest guy there, and Jen because she's possibly the most normal person there, and aside from the whole rabbit thing, seems fairly sensible. And I give her credit for standing by her friend during that whole Halloween party, even though Zoe Whatsherface was making a damn fool of herself.

Also, they really needed to think this whole hallucination thing through more carefully. Or at least given it to the actors who can make it look somewhat dramatic and fill it with some tension, instead of making it look ridiculous. Seriously, in the seventh episode, there was this scene where the annoying girl who lost her thumb was freaking out about her dead dog, and the doctor guy next to her is having flashbacks to his time in war, and to the dead girl he couldn't save.

I am just saying, ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER. Former solider suffering from PTSD, versus a girl freaking out over her dead dog. Nobody in the writer's room thought this was a bad idea?

And finally--I can't believe I'm saying this, but they needed to focus less on the characters and the flashbacks and move the damn plot along. I don't care about Halloween parties and whatever stupid stuff happened five years ago, I want to know why there is a ghost space baby onboard the ship, and why there is a wormhole of effing TOMATOES. Play to your strengths, show, if this is going to be nothing but crack about some crazy alien force that brings on wacky hallucinations and routinely breaks the laws of physics, then by God, you need to bring us MORE OF IT. Embrace the damn crack and don't pretend to be anything different.

In conclusion, thank God that thepodsquad is writing a Certain Fic about A Certain Actor who gets his career together thanks to the intervention of...Another Certain Person. Because clearly, this intervention is necessary. AUGH.

Oh, Jesus, why does nobody TELL me about this, aka RLiv on the Craig Ferguson Show.

mardia948@hotmail.com — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:21:06 GMT

Okay, for all of us RLiv fans that have been boggling at his decision to do Defying Gravity, the most cracktastic show that any of us have seen in a while, here is his appearance on the Craig Ferguson show a couple of days ago (and btw, my entire Flist? YOU ARE ALL FIRED. Except for londondrowning, who finally gave me the heads up about this.)

Things to note: He totally gets the insanity of Defying Gravity ("It's kind of a soap opera about astronauts...and we all know how well those do.") He apparently has a girlfriend which makes that whole Facebook thing total BS (side note: is that girlfriend Rosemarie DeWitt?) He has a cat but is maybe not so much of a cat person (although considering what he has to do for this cat, I do not BLAME him, dear God.)

And finally, he is ADORABLE.

odds and ends from this week...

mardia948@hotmail.com — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:53:36 GMT

This week was fairly low-key. Some good stuff happened, some bad stuff happened, but it was all right, mostly. Still trying to get back into the swing of the new semester, but that should come eventually.

Some random things that happened this week:

--I spotted a cockroach on the floor during my Russian History lecture. It was fairly interesting in that, up until now, I hadn't quite realized just how bad cockroaches freak me out. It was this strange situation where I could pay attention to the professor for about a few minutes, then my eyes would slide over to where the (presumably dying) cockroach was and my thoughts would shift from "blah blah ancient Russians" to "COCKROACH COCKROACH OH MY GOD FUCKING COCKROACH."

Needless to say, I did not take a lot of notes that day.

--I'm taking a ballroom dancing class this semester, and part of the class requires that I go to three ballroom events at Memorial Union. I went, had a good time, danced with several people who have even less idea of what they're doing than I do, then I stood around for a while and watched people samba/salsa to Kevin Rudolf and Pitbull. Oh, and I watched people polka, which was a very big reminder that no, I am not just at college, I'm in the middle of Wisconsin. An added note of delight for me was watching this adorable old Asian couple bobbing along with everyone else.

Next time I think I am going to try the polka. That just looks like fun.

--I rented Labyrinth this weekend from one of the college libraries. Yeah, the Jim Henson movie with the muppets and David Bowie perving all over a not-quite-legal Jennifer Connelly. The oddest part for me is how much I still like the movie now, and how much I wish we could get something like that for girls today--a movie where the princess has an adventure, and does the rescuing herself, and tells the stalker prince to go and take his stalker self and fuck off? That is the sort of movie I can get behind. (Although I will cop to always getting shivers at that last confrontation between Sarah and Jareth. Whatever, don't judge.)

--For the BoB people, I am still planning on doing my last couple of rewatch posts, although spoiler alert, "Why We Fight" is going to have a lot of me rambling about why Ron Livingston is the best thing since EVER, and why I am sort of pissed off, and yet not surprised at all, that he didn't get nominated for anything for it. I mean, when Damian Lewis lost to James effing Franco--I have no issues with James Franco per se, but STILL--you cannot expect people to have any sense when it comes to this episode either. BUT STILL.

How much do I love Glee right now people?

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:25:15 GMT

THE ANSWER IS A LOT. Oh my God. Like, I'm not going to lie, the pilot left me a little cold until the last ten to fifteen minutes, but this hour was the most delightful thing EVER. WOW. Goddangit where are the icons?

Project Runway!

mardia948@hotmail.com — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:43:52 GMT

I've kept up with Project Runway on and off over the past few years--saw the second season and most of the third, skipped the last two, and now I'm watching again. I get a particular kick out of the fact that two of the designers, Christopher and Ra'mon, are both from my home state--MN, represent!

Thank God Mitchell's gone. No seriously, the stunt he pulled in this week's episode is really beyond belief--now, granted, I haven't seen much of the last two seasons, but I think a designer straight up being too lazy/unfocused to work, in addition to having poor construction skills has to be a first for this show. Let's recap this guy's record: first he sends a half-naked model down the runway in a sheer nightgown, then he creates a trailer-trash version of maternity wear for a celebrity with some godawful shorts, and this week, instead of performing poorly, he chose not to perform at all.

Personally, I was blown away by how restrained Ra'mon was throughout the whole thing, if that had been ME on the show, the producers would have had to bleep out every other word I said, because I would have cussed Mitchell OUT. But he didn't really say much--and you know that if he'd said something really bad, the producers would have totally shown it.

But yay for him that he won.

Friends-cut

mardia948@hotmail.com — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:50:21 GMT

I just did a friends-cut, because I'm starting school in a day and my flist was getting really very unwieldy and hard to keep up with. If I cut you, it's probably because I feel like our interests have diverged, we haven't talked in a long time, or because it looks like your journal's been abandoned.

And everyday is defriending-day here on my LJ--if you want to friends-cut me, feel free, no explanation needed.

yeah, this is just not kosher.

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:00:39 GMT

Okay, somebody please explain to me how it is that I can only seem to get any serious writing done late at night these days. Right at the time when my body is going, "Okay, sleep now", my muse is going, "Woohoo, time to start writing!" WTH, self?

Defying Gravity 1x05

mardia948@hotmail.com — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:41:25 GMT

You guys, I'm being completely serious when I say that I think omphale23 is dead-on when she suggests that Ron Livingston is pulling a Dorian Grey on all of us, because how else are we supposed to explain the level of hotness he's been rising to in this awful show?

You guys. He's not even playing FAIR now. Not that he ever was to begin with, I mean, the guy's getting me to watch a show that is accurately best described as Grey's Anatomy in Space, and when you've been burned by GA like I was, that is not really a great inducement to watch the damn astronaut show.

But RLiv didn't get that memo. And he didn't get the memo about how this show is ridiculous, and half of the characters are annoying as hell, and how it is doomed to be canceled (seriously, the ratings are bad and they didn't show the promo for next week, which is never a good sign).

Because Ron Livingston has decided he's going to act his ass off, and look indecently good while he's doing it.

I know I am nowhere close to being rational about this guy. I get that. But I can't be the only person looking at his performance and then at everybody else and singing, "One of these things is not like the others..."

He made the stupid baseball storyline work. He nearly broke my damn heart in that scene with his dead girlfriend's mother. He wore a leather jacket and looked insanely hot while doing so. He's making me buy into this stupid show, even though I know objectively that it is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in, like, ever.

Not. Fair.

And let me just add this quick thing--I'd love it so much more if his love interest was the Russian scientist rather than the whiny blond. I mean, at least she knows the proper response when you're faced with the possibility of a Ron Livingston of your very own, you jump that man's bones as much as you can, and you don't apologize for it either.

the cure-all to a bad day...

mardia948@hotmail.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:34:17 GMT

Seriously, I have to remember this trick the next time I'm feeling blue, just pop in Disc 6 of Band of Brothers and watch Ron Livingston's Video Diaries from beginning to end. I've watched these things how many times now and they are just as delightful now as they were the first time. Seriously, every time I watch these, I end up flailing at how adorable they all are.

lol, okay, WUT.

mardia948@hotmail.com — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:11:36 GMT

So, Joe Jonas is apparently going to be a guest judge on American Idol this season. The only way this could be more hilarious is if Nick was there with him, as I'm pretty sure the look on his face during the bad auditions would be amazing.

Defying Gravity 1x04

mardia948@hotmail.com — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:41:41 GMT

Right, okay, so I'm basically watching this show for the eye candy and because it's nice to see Ron Livingston on my TV every week. God knows I am not watching this show for the plot or even really for the characters, because less than half of them don't annoy me.

Apparently Ron Livingston did not get this memo. Because in the scene where Maddux (and seriously, I hate this name) sees the ghost of his dead girlfriend in space--wow, I can't believe I'm typing this out--he decided to tug on my heartstrings and act his ass off, and for real, this is not even playing FAIR. This show is ridiculous and cracky! It is bound to get canceled! For God's sake, he's playing the male astronaut version of Meredith frickin' Grey, he is not allowed to do this.

*shakes fist exasperatedly*

Band of Brothers rewatch: The Last Patrol

mardia948@hotmail.com — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:42:57 GMT

And finally, we have The Last Patrol.

This rewatch has been a seriously interesting experience, especially with this episode. For nearly all of the episodes (with maybe the exception of Carentan) I've walked away liking the episodes better than I did before, and for the small flaws I see, I usually come away with a better understanding of why I didn't like them, or why it didn't work for me.

For a lot of people, this is the weakest episode in the series. I completely understand why they think that, because there are serious problems with it, but for me, Carentan is still the weakest episode of Band of Brothers. (This isn't saying much, considering how unbelievably amazing this minseries is as a whole.) Here's why: every episode in this miniseries has a purpose, a point, an overall theme that they want to hit. And as a whole, I think that The Last Patrol succeeds a lot more at hitting its overall purpose and theme than Carentan does. However, when it comes to characterization--when it comes to one character in particular, The Last Patrol absolutely falls short. But what I found in rewatch was that if I ignored Webster a little more, and focused on the men around him, and focused on the contrast between Webster, Jones and the rest of Easy Company, I was a lot happier.

So let me get into what I absolutely loved first, and then we'll tackle the rest:

First, Malarkey. Absolutely everything to do with him, I loved. I'd watched ER on and off during its 9th season, and took vague notice of this annoying character named Morris, who was played by Scott Grimes. When I watched Band of Brothers for the first time, I straight up refused to believe that Malarkey and Morris were played by the same guy. Couldn't believe it. Just...everything about this character is a gut punch in this episode. The look on his face, the beard, the lank and greasy hair, the way he carries himself...it hurts to look at. You end up liking Jones and Webster all the more for their attempts to get Malarkey off this patrol, because he isn't in the right condition for it, and everyone knows it.

The whole Lt. Jones saga. I actually seriously dug it a lot more this time around, even though you can roll your eyes at the nepotism here, Colin Hanks is and does what's required for the character, and that's honestly all I ask. Visually speaking, he's a huge contrast in comparison to veterans like Liebgott or Luz or Malarkey. I was watching this episode with my friend Jenny, and she asked me, "Okay, so is this guy going to be like Dike?" And I shook my head and said no, and that's the truth, which is enough to get my stamp of approval. I liked that he wasn't incompetent or a glory-seeking jerk, he was just young and inexperienced, and that he was willing to learn--I really liked that small moment where he took off his class ring and put it on his dog tags, because he figured out that it wasn't a good move to be wearing that right then and not in front of those men.

Everyone in general. The first time I watched the Last Patrol, seeing everyone so grim and angry and battered was a serious shock. This time around, I knew what was coming--and that made it even better in a sense, because it felt like a completely natural turn of events. I'm explaining this badly, but--having this episode in mind when I was rewatching Bastogne and The Breaking Point made the attitudes of the men like Liebgott and Martin and Heffron and well, everyone make so much more sense. Of course they're pissed off at Webster. Of course they don't want Jones leading this patrol. Of course they're bitter and angry and sick of fighting.

For most of these posts, I usually try to grab a hilarious quote as the cut-tag, but I couldn't really do it here. There just isn't much comic relief here to be found, and that's as it should be.

The foreshadowing we get when it comes to Nixon. One of the many picspams out there (I think it's croakvegas's) describes this as the beginning of the emofication of Lewis Nixon, and you guys, it's really sort of true. The beard--which he already had in The Breaking Point but somehow makes more of an impact here--the attitude, the lifelessness in his eyes. The Nixon we're all used to is someone who--even for all the drinking--is really pretty stable, or at least that's what we've seen. He's there as the sounding board for Winters, as the charming guy with the exposition, but here, we get a peek at what's coming up in Why We Fight.

And you guys, that entire moment he has with Lt. Jones is just...I'm sorry, it's just awesome. His reaction to hearing that Jones graduated on D-Day is just hilarious and perfect, the perfect blend of 'are you fucking kidding me?' and 'lol, you n00b'. (On a shallow note, the smile he flashes at that moment is just...it gives me some feelings, okay?)

I liked the overall grim sense of this episode--there's really nothing glamorous here, there are no stunning shots of the scenery or anything like that, it's just dark and dank and depressing as all hell. I think Jackson's death tied in really well with this--it's brutal and depressing and awful to watch, and I think the writers were making a point with that, that this is what war is too--unglamorous, brutal and depressing.

Every scene with Winters. His demeanor and attitude is really telling of how battered Easy is at this point--I don't think it's a coincidence that even he needs to shave at the beginning of the ep. I also liked how short and impatient he was with Lt. Jones, because I don't think that in other, less fraught circumstances, that's an attitude he would take. And the moment when he decides not to send Easy out on the patrol is really cool, because in any other (lesser) movie or tv show, they'd play that moment with a sort of winking attitude--like, watch him stick it to The Man! But here, Damian Lewis rightfully plays it straight, because this is actually a fairly big deal in the military. Refusing to follow orders, refusing to send men out on a mission is huge, no matter if they get away with it. And you can tell that he finds no glee in this decision, he just can't stand the alternative.

Now, for Webster.

I think that what throws a lot of people, myself included, off when it comes to this episode is the ambiguity of it. IMO, I think this ambiguity is partially on purpose and partially accidental. What I remember most from the first time I watched TLP is that I seriously did not know who to be more sympathetic towards in the whole Webster vs. everybody else thing that was happening. (Yes, that's a gross oversimplification of what happened, but go with it.) Generally speaking, in BoB, we as viewers know who to root for, who to sympathize with, who to understand. This is doubly so for any episode that focuses on a single character--in Crossroads, we worship Winters, in Bastogne, we adore Roe, in The Breaking Point, you pretty much want to marry Lipton and have his kids.

The Last Patrol? Well...not so much. And I think that seriously throws people off, the breaking of this pattern that we've grown accustomed to. I think a lot of people see that and go, "Wow. Hanks and Spielberg really made a miscalculation with this character and how sympathetic we'd find him." Here's the thing--I don't think they did. I don't think that we're supposed to be that sympathetic towards Webster. I think we're supposed to find him a little off-putting, especially when he first shows up, wearing his clean uniform, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

In his rewatch of Band of Brothers, Alan Sepinwall had a really great theory about The Last Patrol and Webster's character in general. Basically, he posits that Stephen Ambrose, when writing Band of Brothers, developed a great deal of sympathy and affection for the real-life David Webster, and basically may have viewed him with more affection than did some of the men who actually served with him. We know this is fairly accurate, I've heard that the real-life Don Malarkey, for example, disliked Webster. So what Sepinwall posits is that during filming, a few of the veterans gave the writers their perspective on Webster, and that the miniseries tried to walk a fine line between the two versions of Webster's character.

Now, that doesn't mean they were entirely successful in this. Even with Sepinwall's theory, the character of Webster just does not work for me, at least in this episode. Part of that really is the weird schizophrenia of the character, where I'm not entirely positive of what the writers are trying to say about Webster and his position within the company. Part of that is just...you guys, Eion Bailey just does not pull this character off. I'm sorry, but he doesn't. I feel bad about saying that, because he's up against some of the best acting I've seen in..well, ever, and I feel bad for comparing him against that, and Webster's characterization is pretty murky to start with, but at the end of the day I just have to go, "Yeah, no, that didn't work." It just doesn't feel...natural, it feels off. And that voiceover of his...oh, boy. I'm iffy on voiceovers to begin with, I tend to ignore them under most circumstances, aside from the information we get from them. If a voiceover doesn't bug me, that's good enough for me and I leave it alone.

Eion Bailey's voiceover bugs. It really bugs. Forget Damian Lewis's awesome, awesome voiceover at the end of Points (people, that is how you do a voiceover RIGHT) but Webster's doesn't even hold up to Donnie Wahlberg's. I think part of this is the fact that he's reading off some of the stuff that the real life David Webster wrote, and while I really enjoyed the excerpts of Webster's writing that we got in Ambrose's book, there needs to be more...gravitas in Webster's observations and statements for us to take them seriously. And Eion Bailey doesn't pull that off either.

To wrap this up, I think the opaqueness of Webster is partially deliberate, and partially a result of Eion Bailey's acting--or the lack thereof, and I think that for a lot of people, this hinders their enjoyment of the episode. And I get that, I really do. It sure as hell doesn't help that this episode is between two of the most emotional, gut-wrenching, wonderful episodes of this miniseries. I mean, it's coming between The Breaking Point and Why We Fight, for crying out loud. Almost anything is going to come off badly in comparison.

But like I said, the parts of this episode that do work well for me end up canceling out the parts that don't.

And a little note: if anyone has any extra information on David Webster, the real life or fictional version, I'd love to hear it. Full disclosure, I haven't read Webster's book or Malarkey's, and I'm working off the memory of what I read in Stephen Ambrose's book when talking about RL Webster. So if anyone has read that and has insights of their own, feel free to say something.

In non-BoB-related news, apparently a Brazilian TV host has been basically killing people for ratings. Allegedly the guy was moonlighting as a crime boss as well as the host of a crime TV show, and would show up with his camera crew to the crime scenes of people he'd had murdered. Wow.

Also, this has already supposedly been debunked, but Michael Slezak's reaction to the idea of Posh Spice becoming the permanent fourth judge on American Idol is absolutely hilarious: he's created a protest anthem to the Spice Girl's song Wannabe. My favorite bit is "come on do the twist to early Aerosmith." Heee. (In a slightly more serious note, all this news we're hearing about Idol is making me more convinced that if I want to deal with Idol at all--and I basically have to, considering how big this show is--then I want to experience it through the gentle filter of fandom and EW's Idolatry page. For real you guys, I cannot be forced to deal with those judges. Give me So You Think You Can Dance over American Idol any day of the week.)