Have I been losing IQ points? Heroes.

Ok, so everyone, everywhere is always hating on Heroes.  And every time I watch it, I usually like it.  I mean, I am not saying that is a perfect show. Not even close.  It doesn't have the humor or the emotional wallop of it's lead in, Chuck (watch Chuck!  You won't regret it!  Maybe I'll start covering it here now that Mad Men is over...) and plot holes always abound, but something keeps me coming back!  I think there are a few things that keep me hooked into Heroes even as other abandon it.

1. The Cast.  There is so much chemistry in this cast that it often overshadows (for me, obviously)

, a lot of the character flaws and inconsistencies that the show has.  It's not just the hotness, though, check out these Petrelli bros:

You're welcome.  Anyway, my point is the cast (male and female!) does a great job.  I can't say no to any scene with Claire/HRG, Peter and either of his brothers, Peter and Claire, Claire and her Moms,  Elle and anyone (VMARS till death!!)  Nathan/Tracey, Sylar/Angela...I mean come one people, these actors are great together!  They are rising above the material on an episodic basis  and they are totally hot!  How does that not count for anything anymore?  What kind of world are we living in?

2. It's fun.  It's fun!  So what if they wallop us over the head when they should be subtle (How did Peter survive that fall?  Hmm, I don't know maybe SYLAR SAVED HIM?  I am not sure, but I think that's what they were intimating by asking a million times, panning to Sylar and then out and out saying it!)  So what if the character motivations are a little murky.  (Daphne, what in the hell?  Mohinder, are you crazy or not?  Spider guy who cocoons people or meek scientist concerned with ethics?  Mr. Petrelli, you've faked your death so you can give everybody powers...or not.  All this effort is towards what end?)  So what if some people are in the exact same storyline they've been in since season 1 (I'm looking at you Hiro and Ando)!  It's still kind of fun!  I am always entertained, and that is the point of television, right?

It is clear that Heroes kind of thinks I'm stupid, and I'm beginning to worry that the show may be right!  Because whenever I watch it, I pretty much like it.  I understand that it could be done better, but I am certainly not ready to give up the show or anything.  Am I just blinded by the beautiful people, crazy mysteries and complicated back stories?  Maybe.  I mean, I also enjoy watching Soap Operas, so it could be I'm just not the person to ask.  

I Am The Heart That You Call Home: Mad Men Season 2, Episode 13, Meditations in an Emergency

This is how we act as the world ends. In this episode, worlds end as people fret over the end of the actual world. Professional worlds, fantasy worlds, and carefully constructed worlds go into a tailspin as the threat of nuclear crisis hangs over our characters.

For Betty, her world comes to an end in a doctor's office. Pregnant again, she knows that she can no longer live her life with an uncertain marriage. Betty has certainly been flirting with the idea of leaving Don for good, and as she says, mournfully "This isn't a good time" for her to come up pregnant. After considering abortion (11 years before Roe v. Wade), having a little consequence free sex (with Captain Awesome from Chuck!) and eating a big chicken leg, Betty's world gets a little smaller again as she decides to take Don back. Did she do it because she was pregnant? Because of his letter? (which I have to admit, I thought was lovely.) Because of her children? Because sleeping with Captain Awesome has finally given her some power in the relationship? Because she doesn't know what else to do? Or maybe, just because he loves her and she loves him, and she hopes that it will be enough this time. Of course, she took him back for every single one of those reasons, which is why that last scene between them was such a beautiful one. Both actors had so many emotions running across their faces, it was a great and expressive scene.

Much of this season has been about the the dissolution of the Draper's marriage and what it has done to them. In this last episode, we see them coming back together again, and it is clear that the last few episodes were about them finding out who they were alone, so they wouldn't have to be any longer. Another scene that I loved, and just grinned throughout, was the one with Don and the children in his hotel room. It was just so cute and imbued with real affection from all of the actors. It was at that moment, seeing Don as himself with his children that I knew Betty would take him back. I knew she had to take him back. Juxtaposed with her lonely scenes of anonymous sex at the bar, it was so clear which option was better. Because, surprise! Don is actually capable of truly loving people. He just needed to get away from his life to realize how much he wanted it back. (I loved Betty's line to him at the stables. "It must be nice, to need time, and to just take it..." I think it really speaks to so many gender issues of the time and of today.) Don knows that he has to make a go of it with Betty and his kids or he will literally become no one. ("I know you won't be alone for long. But without you, I will be alone forever.")

I loved seeing Don come back full force at Sterling-Cooper. When it became clear that one of the biggest parts of Duck's merger plan was to get Don under his thumb, Don came in and took him out swiftly with no looking back. Things did not look good for Duck when Mr. Sheffield (or whatever he is named on this show) said "He never could hold his liquor". Do not mess with Don Draper.  He will take out your world

Peggy finally giving into Father Gill and confessing (to Pete, not the priest, but close enough) about the birth of her child was such a sad scene. Pete was finally becoming a real boy, realizing he shouldn't have married Trudy and that, he might just love Peggy, short hair, happy career woman and all, and she just ends his world.  She knows it too, and almost as soon as it comes out her mouth, as a way to stop his advances, as a way to remind herself of the truth, as a way to unburden her soul, she knows it is the wrong thing to do.  This is the wrong man to tell this to, and some secrets should be kept.  Peggy's dialogue here was great, trying to explain to Pete that for her, a woman, success comes with a price, but that it is a price she gladly paid.  Poor Pete is left just utterly brokenhearted, and amazingly for the character, kind of likeable and rootable for once.  

Other thoughts:

I loved Roger (had to mention Roger!) acting as if Bert and his sister pushed the merger through as if Roger wasn't funding his divorce with the money.  Also, since I won't get to talk about for something like a year now, I LOVE ROGER!!!  

I think Jon Hamm did a great job making Don seem warmer in every scene.  With Joan, with Peggy, even with Roger, there was an affection to him that we haven't seen much before.  He is always superb.

I liked that this was a season finale and it actually wrapped up story lines.  There weren't any big surprises, but there was a lot of closure in the big stories, and that made it satisfying.  

I do wish we got a little more Joan though.  Ending her on the note of marrying her rapist is just cruel.  

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a great backdrop. It was kind of funny how Harry didn't even give a crap, he was more worried about "good canapes" in the office fridge!  This season has definitely show us that Harry is kind of a myopic jerk.  

A great ending for a wonderful season.  I will definitely be missing Mad Men!

"It's just a little wet, it's still good, it's still good!" Heroes

Ok, so this episode of "Heroes" was pretty good, and very creepy, but it seems like this show just won't give me what I want, which is starting to get a little frustrating. Why are they keeping the following could-be-awesome things from us?!

1. ADAM! He seems totally dead. This does not seem to be one of those undo able deaths, which makes me mad. David Anders has charisma to spare, and the character of Adam was pretty interesting to me. He was dark but also funny, evilly misguided but also pretty damn cute. I know we had to show Papa Petrelli's power taking-power (Which seems to be related to Peter's AND Sylar's! Could they be full bros?)before he got Peter, but damn show, that still sucks! I mean he was on the show for a total of what, 15 minutes this season? What a waste!!

2. Peter and Sylar. Peter and Nathan. Peter and Claire. Peter and anyone in his family with whom he has great chemistry and an interesting relationship. I loved the Peter/Nathan relationship so much in Season 1, and we are getting barely any again this season. Peter and Sylar are more and more interesting each time we seem them, and it would be great to see them begrudgingly (not petulantly, PETER) work together. Peter and Claire have almost too much chemistry (they are together in real life, which might be why they are kept apart on the show, because I mean, that is kind of gross. He's like 30 and she's 18.), and we only see them wanting to kill each other in the future. I mean maybe Peter and Papa Petrelli will be awesome together, but I think we need more Petrelli family interactions. It looks like we are going to get that next week, but I'm not counting on anything, because they really like to disappoint me when it comes to this.

3. Speaking of team-ups that they keep teasing and never giving us, what about a Claire/HRG team! When will they give me the Daddy/Daughter partnership of my dreams? It's like they are actively trying to keep apart the characters that are great together.

There were some good things going on too, though:

1. Claire kicking ass! Good thing that creepy guy wanted to play Russian Roulette, because who knows how they would have gotten out of there if Claire hadn't gotten killed! That dude was really skin crawlingly gross. That's what they were going for though. I liked Claire and her two Mommies as well.

2. Hiro didn't really kill Ando! Even though it was a fake-out, I liked it. Hiro and Ando are the only awesome partnership that this show will keep together, so I will continue to support them, even though they always have to be silly.

3. Sylar feeling love and all that stuff. I love Sylar, and so I love him feeling love. Obviously. Now if Peter wasn't such a little brat, they could be teaming up against their dad all hotly right now!

Other thoughts:

Mohinder isn't becoming "The Fly", he's becoming a spider! Gross. I hope Tracey and Nathan get there asses out of there quickly! FLY away from the spider Nathan! I like Tracey, she seems a lot less passive and annoying than Nikki. (Thanks for the help Daphne!)

Oh Matt Parkman, when will you be in a storyline I care about?

Oh wise African guy, when will you stop embodying stereotypes? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro

The way Daphne talks annoys me, and so does her terrible hair. I also don't really understand her weird blase attitude. It's like she's mildly annoyed by death and torture, but not enough to do anything about it or even agonize about her inability to do something about it.

Next week:

Petrelli family secrets! This show does well when it has a tight focus (Company Man, anyone?), so hopefully this will be a good episode.

And Did You Rush to The Phone To Call? Mad Men, Season 2 Episode 12, The Mountain King

I have to start here, with Joan, because in a episode where everyone is ready to become someone new, someone different, her "new" is the most heartbreaking. The image of Joan being raped by her fiance on the floor of Don's office, staring blankly, and the image of her trying to compose herself and go to dinner with him afterward were two of the most gut-wrenching scenes of television I have seen in a long time. He wants someone else, someone less aggressive, more innocent, and he will force her into her place. Poor Joan. She knows she is too good and too smart for her job, and even as she recites all of his attributes, she knows that she is far too good for her rapist fiance. And yet, it seems she feels she has no choice but to accept what society is willing to give her. Too smart, too sexy, too beautiful for her own good, she is not yet brave enough to ask for anything more. I think the scene with Peggy shows us that Joan respects Peggy and even envies her, but cannot find a way to follow her. Peggy may be without a partner, but as she surveys the office alone at night, it seems she has become successful and even happy in a way that Joan cannot imagine. For now at least.

(I had a few naive fantasies after that rape scene. That Joan would whip her engagement ring into the doctor's face, that Roger would find out and take him down quietly, that Joan would confide to Peggy, Paul, or anyone else in the office... all unrealistic but preferable to Joan deciding that this is who she has to be now.)

Speaking of Peggy, I loved that little scene with her and Roger ("Did I call you something else?", "Ginger, did you hear about this?!" Roger Sterling, comedy genius!) . I think it is interesting that when Joan and Peggy met back in Season 1, Joan looked down on her as some country bumpkin who didn't understand the rules of polite society. Now those rules are holding Joan down, and it is Peggy's breaking of them that is creating her a whole new life. Her pitch for Popsicle was pure Don Draper, and she did it beautifully. I also loved the scene with her and Pete, speaking plainly and as equals, making a few little jokes ("I'm sleeping with Don. It's working out very well.") and even making Pete a bit more likable. I also loved him trying and failing to approximate normal human behavior ("You should put some pictures up in here. Your family, or...people..."). In contrast to Joan, the new life that Peggy is building for herself has the potential for actual satisfaction. (Even only she didn't have that one little secret dogging her...)

Ahh, but onto what we've been waiting for since last week. The king of new personas and new lives, looking again for a new one. Don Draper/Dick Whitman or someone in between? We now know at least that Don/Dick/ whoever does has some idea of what a good marriage is, because before he met Betty, he was in one, with the real Don Draper's wife! Those scenes with him and Anna were a revelation. Here is someone with whom he can be his true self. Jon Hamm continues to amaze me as he bring another side of our main character to life. This is not stone cold Don Draper or cowardly Dick Whitman, but a different man, who is soft but not weak, who is comfortable in his skin, who can talk, who can listen, who can even SMILE and mean it. I don't think it is just because she knows his secret. There seems to be a bond between them that we have not seen him have before, not with Rachel or even Peggy, who is so like him.

We learn a few more details about Don/Dick's back story here: Anna caught him and didn't turn him in, they became close and spent a good deal of time together, he has been supporting her (or at least sending her money) since then, and they seem to have lost contact after he married Betty.

But the details don't even matter when you see Don/Dick with Anna, both in the present and in flashbacks. He is just so thoroughly someone else when he is with her it is incredible. He discusses his ever growing detachment with her ("I feel like I'm watching my life from the outside. I scratch at the surface, but I just can't seem to get in."), his problems with Betty, his fears, all of it. When we see him in a flashback, Don/Dick seems so happy, so filled with hope. His marriage to Betty may have been the turning point for him. Before that, Don Draper was just a name, a way to get out of Korea, away from his family, maybe even a little bit of whim. But once he marries Betty he is cemented in that lie. He cannot go back and losing his truest friend is just part of the price he pays. Don Draper goes from being a name to being a life that he was to live

Hearing Don describe what he loves about Betty ("She's beautiful and happy. I love the way she looks at me..") makes me wonder if was ever realistic about who Betty really was, or if living with a liar has just changed her so much that his description of her seems unrecognizable. (Happy?) I think people have a hard time finding the character of Betty very likable, and though she does have her awful moments (that entire conversation with Sarah Beth was terrible! I have to agree she was being a horrible person there), I can't help but feel sympathy for her. Living with Don does not seem like it was ever easy. I thought her conversation with Sally was lovely, and about as good as you could do given the uncertain situation. I also think that it signalled that Betty's new persona is going to be an adult. An adult who wears riding pants all the time, but a grownup nonetheless, which is much more than we could say for her in the past.

Pete, our other child-like grownup seems to be ready to take a step into the real world himself. Not allowing his father in law to make a decision that should rightfully be his and his wife's was probably the best move I've seen Pete make in the whole series. He did have temper tantrum about the baby with his wife a few scenes prior, but I still feel like it was a nice step forward, as was his sincere congratulations and admiration for Peggy.

To bookend the horror of who Joan is forced to become someone else, is another entirely sad new life for Bert Cooper. After the merger, he feels like he is nothing more than a useless old man staring down death.

Still, so many questions and just one episode left! Will Don come back, will he and Betty work it out, will he open up to her, tell her everything, something, anything? Will he still have a place after the merger? Will my secret dreams come true and Roger and Joan will run off together in hotness?

One more episode! Sign those contracts for season 3 ASAP!!

I Didn't Think, I Didn't Think of You, I Guess That's All There Is: Mad Men, Season 2 Episodes 10 and 11, The Inheritence and The Jet Set

I will be back to my once a week posting for Mad Men for the last two episodes of the season, but since these past two weeks were a bit crazy for me, we are going to have to do two at a time!

"The Jet Set" and "The Inheritance" are linked in many ways, and one is that they both have odd structures, different from any other Mad Men episodes we have seen, this season or last. In "The Inheritance, we spend most of our time out of the office and in the homes and heads of two characters that can not often be described as "likable", Betty and Pete. The scenes with Betty's father were heartbreaking, especially since we know that Betty's home-life is falling apart. I have to admit though, even with everything Don has done to her, I still kind of felt for him when she kicked him out again. "Stop it Don, nobody's looking!" was pretty harsh. I thought he really was trying to comfort her, and of course he thought that the late night romp meant things were going to go back to normal.

The scenes with Betty and Pete's families remind us why they are who they are. Just as learning about Don's abusive past helps us understand his pathologies, seeing Pete with his horrible mother, and Betty forced to play the role of perfect daughter (and wife!) while getting her only actual love and comfort from the maid let us see why they act out in the ways they do. We have been told more than once that Betty has the emotional maturity of a child, and it seems that she was set to prove it after the nightmare at her father's. Sitting with Glenn, drinking her Coke out of a straw, she looks like a happy little girl. But Betty defies the audience, her psychiatrist and most notably Don's expectations by eventually realizing the inappropriateness of the situation. She even has an adult conversation about divorce with Glenn's mother! I do wonder if the fear of being "in charge" is the thing that is going to convince Betty to take Don back. I do believe that she will, as the I don't think her character could continue on the show without Don and I don't think January Jones will be leaving.

I think Pete was a bit more likable in both of these episodes. He was pretty funny all on his own in "The Jet Set" getting clients to meet him by the pool, laughably hitting on pretty ladies, using his mothers name to try to impress people, etc. In "The Inheritance", I think it was pretty interesting that he was intrigued by bringing in new blood, since he seems to know that he and his brother aren't exactly ideal men. "Look how we turned out..." His scenes with his wife are always so sad. Poor Trudy.

After spending all that time with Betty and Pete, with Don on the sidelines, we get plenty of Don Draper in "The Jet Set". Or do we? In "The Inheritance", he is in full Don mode, cool, calm demeanor, unflappable even in the face of rejection. But in "The Jet Set" he much less the Don who is master of all he surveys. Away from eyes that know him, he is slipping further back into Dick Whitman, hobo wanderer. He even calls a mystery person and gives his name as Dick Whitman! Their really are two different people inside him at this point. Don Draper stands by his wife through her grief. Dick Whitman runs away to California when things don't go his way. Don Draper knows what to say in every situation. Dick Whitman is easily flustered in the presence of people he doesn't get. Don is how he wants the world to see him, but Dick is still the guy who pissed his pants after battle, causing the death of the real Don Draper. Hearing Don say his real name without hesitation is an incredible moment, considering he basically drove his brother to kill himself to continue the denial of who he really was. It was the moment of the episode, and it left me hungry with anticipation to see who it was he called, and who is going to see.


Other interesting threads in these two episodes include:

-Roger and Jane getting married. This is one mother of a mid-life crisis Roger is going through! I have a feeling it will be expensive in many ways for him.

-Paul registering voters in the South. It's incredible how far Paul will go to maintain his bohemian persona. He clearly was not comfortable on that bus. Let's hope he makes it home safe and maybe a little changed.

-Duck! Back to drinking and making a power play! Don might really regret being out of town when all this went down.

-The scene where Kurt came out was hilarious and heartbreaking all at once. Bryan Batt did such a great job as Salvatore, silently letting us know what he was going through.

-Oh, show, really, a gay guy who's good at hairstyling? I expected more from you. (Peggy does look better though)


Next week:
Who is Don/Dick meeting? That's honestly all I can even think about!

BEST. EPISODE. THIS. SEASON.- Heroes!

Okay haters, (I'm looking at you Mark!), even you have to admit that this was a pretty great episode. I thought it was paced well, the stories have all been kicked into high gear, and it isn't as if I wanted to yell at any characters for being total morons or anything! Everyone had fairly sensible motives for their actions (unless they were crazy spider people) and I thought it was suspenseful and I am excited for next week! I don't think I have truly felt that way since season 1 to be totally honest, so Angels and Monsters, definitely the best episode in a long time.

So, what in the HELL is going on?!! Everything is all topsy turvy!

Hiro killed Ando! He killed him! I do not care if he is going to go back in time and fix that, that is an effed up thing to do to your best friend! I know totally understand why future Ando electrocutes his ass! That is not cool Hiro. I do have to say that the score was really weird in that scene, all silly Ando and Hiro adventures. I am pretty sure that it was supposed to make us think he wasn't going to do it, but still, weird music for a tragic death scene, even if it will be undone. (Which it better be!) Also, I think we are supposed to like Daphne, so I think she should have been a little more than just mildly upset about Ando's death. I mean, she wasn't happy about it, but she wasn't as freaked as I would have liked her to be.

I absolutely loved the Sylar/Claire/HRG storyline. It was just done really well. With both HRG and Sylar showing us some true colors in unexpected ways. You could just see in Claire's face that she felt so sick realizing that Sylar was the person she actually believed and not her own father! I wonder if he got the implication of her "I understand" there. It's no secret that I really like Zachary Quinto, so it isn't too hard to make me start sympathizing with Sylar, but I think that even someone who did not have CrazySylarlove disease could see that he was the one who was trying to do the right thing there. This show is really starting to give new meaning to the term "gray characters"!


Stray thoughts...

-More Adam! I like that guy. The scene with him negotiating with Hiro was funny and madcap in a totally non-annoying way! Let's hope they keep that up.

-Nathan and Tracy confronted Angela, and Nathan does not have natural "abilities" was interesting. It seems like the people whose powers are natural have more evolving powers, where as the ones given by the company are more static. Just a theory.

-So, looks like Mohinder is some kind of crazy spider guy. Oookay. Maya should have taken him out with her black eyes.

-Poor Peter. Stuck with a shunt in his head!

-Daddy Petrelli is alive! And EVIL!!! Nobody actually dies on this show, and I kind of find that comforting.

-Maury! That guy creeps me out.

-The puppet guy made me completely shudder. The preview for next week was so creepy with he and Claire and her two Mommies.

-All in all this episode rocked. Hooray for a true return to form!

The Future Just Got Complicated- Heroes

Ok, I'm having a crazy week, so I'm doing Heroes before Mad Man, because writing about Heroes is much easier.

As usual, the future sucks and the end of the world is just around the corner! Also, tons of people have "abilities" so our heroes aren't even special anymore! Regular peeps cannot be trusted with powers so things are going amuck! (I loved watching Future Peter explain this Past Peter and have PP all cutely exclaim "But there's always good people! I love PP and his sweet and naive ways. FP seems like an ass though.) Mohinder is still Fly-ing out, Nathan is president and Tracy is first lady, oh and did I mention the coming Apocalypse?!! It's a bummer and Claire is pissed about it! Being pissed has obviously caused her to dye her hair brown, because that's what you do when you're really mad. Blonde people are statistically much happier and less pissed, and Claire needed to convey her anger somehow. She also wears black on the outside (black as she feels on the inside).

Don't worry, because for a moment at least, there are a few cute things left in the future. Present Peter, obviously, is one, but there is another that is even better. It is Gabriel (not Sylar anymore!), all cute and sweet and being a dad! A dad! To a kid named Noah! (What!? Yes. The partnership with HRG must have gone well.) He also lives in the Bennett's old house, possibly with their dog (Mr. Muggles! I missed you.), and is looking all nerdly again. WTF indeed! He's hugging Peter, telling him they are brothers and trying to help him save the world by giving him his figuring things out power (which will turn cutie Present Peter into some kind of merciless killer who must see brains, but I digress), and then Claire and Daphne (Married to Matt. Who cares?! Not me.) and that feeding- on-fears guy show up. They take out poor little Noah, and Sylar goes nuclear on their asses. And that's the end of Costa Verde. Oops.

Other events in this episode include:

-Tracy tries to kill herself. (Her DNA has been manipulated, by the Company, to make her Freezy-Girl, and she can't deal with guilt of killing the Greatest American Hero Reporter)

-Nathan saves her and then they mack. (Who can blame them?)

-The Haitian has locked up Hiro and Ando and they are still fighting comically. (Sort of comically.)

-Matt has to find his spirit animal so he can find his wife who is going to die tragically in the Sylar-plosion in the future. (Um, why would you even do that? I would try to not find her.)

-His spirit animal is a turtle. (Ha! That's actually pretty funny.)

-And last but not least, actually almost best, Mama Petrelli tells Hiro that hey has the key to saving the world, and the key is...ADAM (Kensei!) I loved that guy last season, especially his hot evil future (present?) self.

-Speaking of hot evil guys that I love, I'll leave you with this picture of Zachary Quinto and a cat. Meow!

9021-Oh I missed last week's episode but it doesn't matter because almost every single event in it was recapped repeatedly in this one.

Ok, first thing's first. Check out Naomi's shoes in this picture. They are ridiculous. Seriously.

Ok, now that we've gotten that out the way. Everything I liked in this episode had at lease one sucky counterpoint, sometimes more. Not a good way to reel me in 90210!

For example.

+ Lots of Brenda!!!

- Brenda is leaving.
- Kelly has apparently gone insane and decided that it was Brenda who stole Dylan away from her, when everyone knows that it was the other way around. WTF Kelly?!! My hate for you came back full force in this episode

-Kelly is leaving to go and see Dylan, and Brenda has to delete his SIM contact from her phone!!!
-Kelly is abandoning her sister who already has tons of issues to go see the father of her child that she hasn't seen in 5 years! I mean I love Dylan McKay, but even he is not worth it.

+I think Brenda totally hit it with the hottie teacher after the fashion show.
- He actually admitted that he would rather be with fricken Kelly!

+Silver and Dixon= Cute!

- Silver is supposed to be savvy, and yet she actually believed that the guy wanted to make her a model and wasn't hitting on her. She's only 5'7 for goodness sake, and both Heidi Klum and Rebecca Romijn have boobs, which Silver does not.

+Someone pointed out how lame that stupid pig prank was!
- It was a model who was supposed to be stupid.

+ 40 year old Naomi was cruelly humiliated by her father and dumped by Ethan!

- We had to watch 40 year old Naomi do stuff for half the episode.

+ The hottie who plays Daniel on the Young and Restless was on the show!
- He was on for about two seconds playing stupid Adriana's drug dealer.

+ The hottie parents sort of had a storyline!

- It was boring.

+Annie and Ethan are totally free to be together!

-I really don't care.

Next week: Adriana's drug problem gets Naomi in trouble! Annie is scandalized. And the characters I care about have left the show! Let's see if you can keep me watching 90210.

Heroes made me laugh, and I liked it.

This episode made me remember how much I love Zachary Quinto! When he started on Heroes, I had only seen him as Tori Spelling's friend Hassan on So NoTORIous, and I could not imagine him as a villain like Sylar or even as a nerdy guy like Gabriel Gray. In this episode, his versatility was really on display, he went from scared and confused, to cop-from-tv to pure evil effortlessly. I think some people have trouble with idea that Sylar could ever be working with any "good guys" or be at all reformed, but it think that, a. that's the point, there are no good guys so anyone could be reformed as they are pretty much all going to end up mass murdering psychos at some point, and some already have, and b. Quinto makes it work. He shows us the potential for a different person inside of Sylar, maybe even different than Gabriel. There are a lot of sides to Sylar, and one of them is hilarious! "That's disgusting Claire!", "You drink decaf, right?" I for one think it really works and adds some creepy levity to a show that definitely needs it. I mean though Hiro is always acting pretty cute and silly, this show does have more than it's share of moments of self-seriousness.

Other things that happened:

-Claire is angry and traumatized! I bet torturing her will definitely make it A LOT better! Good idea bio-mom!

-My sweet Weevil is dead. I knew as soon as Peter left his body he was a goner. Damn you Sylar!

-No Elle either! It was a tough episode for VMars fans.

-Ok, so now Hiro is stuck in boring silent movie. I get what they were trying to do there, be all madcap, but it was still not very entertaining. And it has already been established that Hiro and Ando are not actually morons, so they should really stop writing them as though they are.

-Yay! Present Peter is free from the body of Weevil! But, now he has to go to the future with the ass that is Future Peter instead of staying around and helping any of the present people who could actually use it. Is Milo Ventimigilia against working with any of the main cast! I feel like one of the big weaknesses of Season 2 was separating members of the cast that had great chemistry (Claire and Peter, Nathan and Peter, Peter and anyone besides that Caitlin chick, etc.) So why do they insist on doing it again! Get Peter with his brother(s) and let's get going here!

-Ok, so it has already been established that Mama Petrelli and Papa Nakamura had a thing, so do you think it's possible that Sylar is Peter and Nathan's brother and Hiro's brother! That would be awesome. As a person who loves soap operas, that twist would totally work for me.

-And finally, I have always hated Mohinder's lame voice overs/readings from his father's book, but now what we've established that: 1. Mohinder is completely insane (basically, he's the Fly) and 2. his father's research was completely wrongheaded and inaccurate, I don't really see why we have to hear him droning on like that in the beginning. He's probably peeling or something anyway, he shouldn't really have time to drone now.

-

And I Thought it was Strange You Said Everything Changed You Felt as If You'd Just Woke Up: Mad Man, Season 2. Episode 9 , Six Month Leave

Oh Freddy Rumsen. In an episode where characters were gaining and losing my sympathies like wildfire, there was one person who I always felt for, and that was good old Freddy. I loved that even so drunk that he wet his pants and passed out, Freddy still knew the pitch by heart and could do it perfectly. I loved that Peggy felt so awful about losing Freddy, that she acknowledged the way he brought her up from the secretarial pool, and that she even said to Don, "But I love Freddy!" I also love Freddy, with his crazy Mozart playing zippers and all. It was tough for Don and even Roger to let Freddy go. Sterling-Cooper is certainly a haven for alcoholics, but even Roger has to draw the line somewhere. And he does, to Don's and of course Freddie's dismay, draw it at peeing yourself and passing out right before you have to meet with clients. Even as both Don and Freddy try to laugh it off, they both know that Roger is right. Times are changing, and being seen as a drunk old boys club is starting to become a little outmoded. Freddy, like so many other characters this episode, has woken up to what his life has become. The problem is, he has no idea what do with that life.

Don and Betty are also becoming cognizant of the realities of their lives and their marriage. Don, who starts the episode loyal and moral on behalf of Freddy, ends it admitting that he doesn't even feel bad about hurting his wife, just relieved to be able to lie a little less. And maybe to be away from her for a while. Betty on the other hand is clearly depressed and angry. The scene when he drops the kids off is great, with Betty realizing what kind of person Don really is. "Did you just come up with that?!" Don on the other hand, is becoming more and more himself. He mentions his father in conversation to Roger, and lets his cool persona slip when he slugs Jimmy in the underground casino. (They actually let Jimmy be for real funy for a second there too! "How'd I take that Floyd?!") Betty and Don may be busying themselves with work and strange tormenting of "friends" (I wonder how Sarah Beth and Arthur's lunch went?), but they are in same boat as Freddy. Fully aware of things they have been working so hard to deny, but without any idea what the next step is, or what they want it to be. Stranded on an island of reality.

Over all of this hangs the pall of a star's death, a woman who seemed to have it all and yet could not be happy. Like Don, Marilyn Monroe only seemed to have everything one could ever want. I liked Joan's reaction to her death because of all the Marilyn/Joan references throughout the show. I also liked that Roger knew her well enough to know what was really bothering her. "You're nothing like her." Joan's suspicion that using your sexuality to go through life may be an empty way to live has just been confirmed, and she to is standing at the precipice. She knows she wants something else, but she doesn't know what that something else is.

Which brings us of course to Roger. My dear Roger, a man of action surrounded by all of these paralyzed people. When Mona said he was in love, I was sure I had missed some super-hot reunion between Roger and Joan! But instead he is leaving his wife for Jane, a pale imitation of the woman he wants. By the way Jane was sniffing around Don, Roger may be her second choice as well. Roger may have taken action, but I think he knew almost immediately that his plan was not as good as he thought it was. He has made an enemy out of his wife, and also of Don. Don knows that Roger used him, using the info Jane gave him about his marriage to get him to say the things Roger wanted to hear, and then again to blame for the idea of leaving his wife. Of course Don would want Jane away from, because he now knows that she is not "a discreet person" as she claimed to be.


This was a great episode for the Roger lover in me, (if you notice all of my pictures feature that silver fox today!) and I think it really moved the story forward on a lot of fronts. So many characters standing, facing the truth and yet unable to move beyond the stasis of their lives. I think in upcoming episodes there will be no choice but to move, either back to the status quo or in some entirely new directions.

No 90210?!! NOO!!!!

Something tragic has happened. My stupid DVR (I swear, I am going to get a new box soon. Damn you Charter Communications!!) went crazy and now, NBC has magically replaced the CW on channel 13. The info tells me that it is the CW, but the shows playing are from NBC. How could this happen on on 90210 night?!! At least I didn't miss Gossip Girl though. I am comforted by that. I do plan on trying to watch the episode online, but just in case that doesn't work out, I thought we could have just a little tribute to one of the greatest episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 ever, "Things to Do on a Rainy Day" AKA, The Color Me Badd episode.

This episode just happened to be playing on Soapnet today (thank god NBC hasn't replaced Soapnet! I don't even want to think about that) which I now take as a sign from above that we needed to remember it. Now this is a classic episode, filled with not only cheese, but also heart and after-school specialness, topped off with a cherry of Color Me Badd. Could I ask for more? Why yes, I could. We get almost no Brenda/Dylan action, and that is a bummer. But other than that, it is a great one.

Here are some awesome things that happen on that fateful rainy Saturday:

-Brenda, Kelly, Donna and David (who is pretty much classed as one of the girls in this episode, which always made me laugh) run around a hotel to try and get a glimpse of Color Me Badd. Many hijinks ensue.

-After Kelly steals a key to sneak up and finally acheive the goal of seeing Donna's favorite band, Donna learns that only bad things happen to wimps. She jumps out of the elevator in order to avoid getting in trouble and sees her mother getting all sexy with some dude who is not her dad! Her self-righteous crazy bout virginity mother! Donna was upset, and she did mention that her mother was a hypocrite, but she just didn't relish it enough for me. Brenda would have relished it a little. Anyway, the point is, never ditch your friend in the middle of hijinks!

-Kelly, of course, gets to meet Color Me Badd, because she has guts. David and Brenda already bailed because people were getting bitchy or something. It doesn't really matter. Kelly also gets backstage passes to the bands RADICAL AWESOME concert. I bet it was great.

-Donna gets to bask in the glow of awesome momness that is Cindy Walsh, who gives her the whole, "it's not your fault, your parents still love you runaround".

-Meanwhile, over in boys-town, (sorry David!), Dylan, Brandon and Steve decide to get a stripper. Of course they become friends with her (the goody- goodyness of Brandon is contagious) so she doesn't actually strip. Jim Walsh finds out about his teenager son's creepy patriarchal misogyny and just pats him on the back, and tells him about the first time he saw a stripper. It is so gross, and it just makes you remember what an ass Jim is to Brenda whenever she does anything even remotely wrong or disappointing! It is much like the time he finds out Brandon has sex and pretty much congratulates him, and when he finds out that Brenda and Dylan are doing it, he is ready to send her to a convent. I think it was supposed to be cute and protective, but it just made me really hate Jim Walsh.

-So we end the episode in the Peach Pit, and Donna is all bummed about her Mom's cheating ways, and who does Kelly show up with? That's right COLOR ME BADD! At this moment, Kelly is actually the BEST.FRIEND.EVER. (How quickly things will change...) They awkwardly serenade Donna in a way that would be totally excruciating in real life, but is totally exhilarating on 90210.

It's funny because Donna was such a lame character, but two of the most iconic episodes of 90210 are about her. (This and "Donna Martin Graduates") of course Donna doesn't really do anything great in either of the episodes, so not all logic is lost.

Keep your fingers crossed that my cable box will be all fixed soon!

Heroes! Villains?!

Here are some things we learned in the Heroes Season 3 premiere:

-All of the people we like are bad or will be bad pretty soon. Maybe. Except Hiro. Maybe, unless he does go bad instead of Ando. Or something.

-Future Peter has terrible problem solving skills. Was he just going to follow Nathan around constantly shooting at him every time he tries to say anything? That is a really bad plan.

-There seems to literally be no alternate future in which Peter does not have that scar on his pretty face. That bums me out.

-There seems to be no alternate future in which Claire gets to stay a blonde. Also kind of a bummer.

-We should laugh at the idea of someone living in Africa having a cell phone. Because they are savages, I guess. Real nice NBC.

-Matt is still pretty boring. But at least Molly has been sent away somewhere. No more "My Two Dads" for her!

-HRG is still pretty awesome! But when will he finally give in and team up with Claire-Bear?

-Mohinder has gone insane, leading to some very gross consequences.

-Maya can obviously not help but have sex with every single clinically insane man she happens to meet. I bet she would really like Nathan and all of his Malcolm McDowell hallucinations. Here's hoping she never wanders into a mental institution.

-Present Peter= Weevil! Yes, Weevil from Veronica Mars! Whom we can only see in reflection, just like on Quantum Leap! ("His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time...") Three awesome things combined into one! In the words of Jenn, "It's like Tim Kring read my diary!"

-Speaking of Veronica Mars, Elle is out on her ass! But at least she's not dead. And the fact that she electrocuted Sylar was pretty awesome.

-Hiro is silly. If you don't believe me, just check out the score to every one of his scenes. The music will let you know.

-Sylar's mom is ANGELA?!!!? For real?!!!

Now speaking as someone who didn't hate Season 2 with the same intense passion of most people, I think these first two episodes bode pretty well for Season 3. Peter knows who he is and isn't chasing around some annoying girl (still stuck in the horrible Shanti virus filled future I guess. Sorry Caitlin!) and Hiro isn't in ancient Japan, so right there are some big improvements. I am ready for Heroes to be awesome this season! So it better be.

The REAL Serena? Once again, it's time for Gossip Girl!

I'm ready, so let's just dive in:

THE GOOD:

1. I can't lie, I think I was way more surprised than Dan at how fast my sweet, earthy Serena went back to evil bitch queen!  Dan the douche did always think the worst of her though.  HA!  She will take you down jerkface!  She already did.  And it wasn't even hard. (I think America Ferrera was right!  Gossip Girl is making me mean! No, that's not it. I just really hate Dan.)  I hope she doesn't get too evil though.  Her hair will still be pretty no matter what. 

2. Marcus and the Duchess!  That woman has a hunger for young men that can not be satisfied. I cannot believe that Marcus started to cry when they were found out!  It made me think she was abusing him or something.  She is kind of scary.  He obviously has a thing for scary women.  

3. LILY!  It's true, I have a severe weakness for van der Woodsens.  I love them and all of their making-Humphreys-less-odious ways.  There is one to make you hate each Humphrey a little less.  Lily made me forget my Rufus hatred for about a minute by coming home from her honeymoon and basically attempting to date him without his knowledge.  He likes Repo Man! (That's some really odd shorthand for cool by the way.) Then the idiot shot her down when she said she needed a friend!  Because that's what you do when really love someone.  

4. I actually really love how half of the plot lines of this show could not happen without the aid of cell-phone photography.  As an avid cell-phone photographer myself (ask me about the epic "Krista in the Car" series sometime) , I understand the value of this technology.  I haven't caught any illicit affairs with my phone yet, but I am always at the ready.

5. Blair getting her revenge!  She didn't lie down and cry when she found out about Marcus and his gross mommy-schtupping ways!  She secured poor manwhore Nate's freedom from his bondage and got evil Catherine and simpering Marcus out of town! Oh I can only say "HA!" about that.  Except that all of it was undone, which leads me to...

THE BAD.

1. Vanessa.  How did it feel to be on my like list?  Did it make you feel warm and fuzzy?  Was it good?  Apparently not that good, because you didn't even try to remain on it!  If there is one thing you can trust Blair Waldorf to do, it is to take down those who have wronged her.  I loved how it was the classic TV "look at a situation for 10 seconds, decide what's going and then turn away just as it becomes clear that you were completely wrong about it" thing.   Maybe it could have been written a little better, or maybe this show truly wants me to think that Vanessa is a total moron.  I thought home-schooled kids were supposed to be smart!

2. Jenny.  Jenny has never been on my like list.  She was evil and now she's just insipid. I have no desire to see those weird flunkies who cannot act bully her all year.  They both act way too much with their necks.  It's very strange.  

3. Rufus, you suck!  (I had to mention it again.)  

4.  Why does CW.com hate Serena?  I can never find a decent picture of her on there.

5.  Dan.  Am I supposed to feel bad for him?  Well, if I am then this show should really have him stop yelling at Serena.  That makes me angry.

6.  Okay, I know they are all rich kids and everything, but are there really bars in NYC where high school kids can go and order Belvedere Martinis?  I am sheltered, so maybe they do exist.  The police should really crack down on those.  

THE AWESOME!

CHUCK is pulling the strings!  He was behind the entire crazy Dan/Serena battle for dating supremacy in some convoluted, evilsexy plan to have Serena usurp Blair, causing her to lose all self-esteem and come running to him!  Or something like that.  He probably made Catherine and Marcus do it and arranged for Vanessa to find them too!  He's probably done something to trick me into writing this paragraph about how awesome he is so that Blair will see it and realize that she is meant to be with him and his evilsexiness no matter how many airports and helipads he plans to abandon her on!  That's right, Chuck Bass has stepped from the land of fiction into reality to get me to write this.  That is how awesome of a puppet master he is.  Whatever you are doing right now, it is probably because of him.  

Next week:

Things are going bad between B and S!  I don't like it.  Not one bit.

XOXO!

Fringe- Episode 2: I don't want to love a freak!

I am definitely still into this show! I liked the plot-of-the-week and all of the creepy, disgusting things that went with it (instant pregnancy, old man baby, eyeball out of socket, horrid serial killing while the victim is still awake, etc.) However the story of the week/police procedural is kind of boring to write about (and read about I'm sure) So I'm just going to stick to larger plot points/character arcs for this show. Also, don't expect too many pictures, because the Fringe site is really terrible.

So here's the big question for me, is Peter/Pacey some kind of lab rat freak?! I really hope that Walter did not grow him in a lab. For one, Peter is going to be pissed if his dad did that and two, the idea really creeps me out for some reason. I think that I may be prejudiced against people who were grown by their dads in a lab. Just a little though. I mean I would still date him/marry him and have his little freak babies (were I single of course!).

Question two is, will Olivia start to grow a personality anytime soon? She did make a pretty funny joke at the end ("I told her you were going to give me a raise.") But beyond that she has no sense of humor about the fact that she is running around with a crazy man who mutters and does insane things that work and a hot genius who is not very good with a gun. I mean a more interesting person totally would have made fun of Peter for his terrible gun-handling skills. I know I would have, and I am very interesting.

The big questions for the show (as opposed to me) are... What is the deal with Massive Dynamics? ("What do we do? What don't we do." Great slogan.) Is that lady evil, or are we just supposed to think that? Is Broyles evil? Is the government evil? (Probably.) I know Abrams is really good at building these huge back stories and mythologies, but I also know that they are trying to make Fringe more "drop in friendly" so you don't have to see every episode to get it. So maybe we will find things out a bit quicker with this one than on other Abrams shows.

Another back story that is intriguing me is "Who was Walter Bishop? Because now he is an awesome and kind of weirdly sweet crazy person. But I have a feeling that he wasn't always working on the side of good, and he might have known it. The whole manslaughter thing could easily be something that someone from Massive Dynamics/the Government/and evil Shadow Government/The Others railroaded him into, but it could just as easily be true. He is definitely living with some heavy burdens.

I thought the end was really powerful, with Peter singing 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' to help his dad sleep. Right now I am pretty sure they are going to get all close and Peter will start to feel loving and forgiving and calling him "Dad" and all that, and then BOOM "You are a freak from a lab with no mother who would not exist if it weren't for my crimes against nature!" is going to come out. Also what was the deal with that last image? Were those just other "soldiers" that had been created in a lab by Bishop and that other crazy scientist guy? Did they look like the "son" who aged and died? Did they look like Peter?

In the words of Jay, OH SNAP! 90210!

Let's all congratulate me for doing a non-list post on Gossip Girl! Hooray me! Don't expect that to happen, possibly ever, for 90210 though. Because if you think that Gossip Girl is a shallow show with almost no thematic or philosophical underpinnings, then you must not have seen 90210 yet! 

Ok, so let's just start with the obvious, things

 that crazily enrage me...

1. DYLAN IS SAM'S FATHER! UGH!  I knew it was coming, and yet, somehow that did not make it easier.  Obviously, Brenda is much more mature than I am, 

because she seemed to perfectly fine with the fact that the love of her life and her "best friend" have a little kid together!  I don't like it at all.  I was actually just watching some classic 90210 today on Soapnet (Chuckie's Back!  Steve decides to go and find his bio-parents, among other things.) and Dylan and Brenda are so damn cute together!  He and Kelly never EVER seemed to like each other at all, a theory which I guess is supported by the fact that he lives as far away from her as humanly possible.  It was totally just sex with them, which is how Sam came about I suppose. Still, I just wanted it to be Brandon.  

That's actually the only thing that crazily enraged me.  

But all was not well in the rest of 90210 either, 

1. Ok, I know I keep mentioning this, but Annie and Naomi have some serious facial (acting?) tics.  I will admit that Naomi only flared her nostrils twice in this episode, but Annie cannot get through a scene without pulling some goofy-ass face!  I think it's supposed to be cute.  It's not.

2. Still don't care about Ty.  He seems like a smug jerk to me.  Also, and more importantly, still don't care about Annie, one of the main characters on the show.  I didn't love this chick on Degrassi either, to be honest.  

3. I can admit it.  Brenda needs a haircut.  

4. Naomi's mom freaks me out.  First of all, something about her face is creepy.  Secondly,  I don't really care about her or her daughter, but I love how she was totally cool with 

her husband just doing some random from Denver, and then was completely, like can't get out of bed depressed when she found out the woman lived in L.A.  It seemed like things would stay pretty much the same for her either way.  Was she really that shocked that her lying, cheating husband, was um, lying a bit to her about his mistress? 

Things that I liked:

1.  There was definitely some O.G. feel to this one!  I believe that Dixon's entire                               

story was lifted from an original episode minus being drunk when he hit someone.  Dixon and Nat were cute. I loved the way Nat stared off into space in that geriatric way of his and remembered the awesomeness that was Brandon Walsh.  Apparently Nat has not hired another West Beverly Grad in about 20 years, which strikes me as odd, as everyone who goes to that school seems to frequent the Peach Pit.  It is possible that he waxes nostalgic about Brandon whenever anyone mentions West Bev. though. He really loved Brandon.  I wonder whatever happened to Nat's 50 year old pregnant wife... 

                                                                                                                                                                   

2. Dixon seems to be successfully channeling the things that they

 always told you made Brandon so great (responsible, only makes mistakes in an honorable way, hard worker, etc.) without all the things that made you want to smack Brandon's face.  (self-righteousness, doucheyness, goody-goodness, weird aggressiveness "YOU TOOK THE JOB?!")  He's a cutie.

3. I like that they are kind of addressing the whole Black kid/white family thing.  I mean at least they're mentioning it.

4. Dixon and Silver are still cute!

5. BRENDA!  She was being a good friend, a good teacher and a good director in this episode!  There was even a "Donna Martin Graduates" shout out.  Attention makers of 90210, keep reminding me of the old show, and I will keep watching.  It's sad, but it's true.

6.  The scene where the kid who Dixon hits with his car asks him to go to the Laker's game with him was so Brandon and Dylan first date/first meeting!  I hope these two find love the way Dylan and Bran did.  That kid had way more charisma than Ty.  Or Ethan for that matter.  And I don't even remember what he looked like.

7. Naomi was kind of cute with Ethan's autistic brother.  (I will not say something offensive here, but I am thinking about my first impressions of Ethan.)  When she is not with him, I will go back to my regularly scheduled not giving a crap about her.  

7.   And of course, the single greatest (sort of) original character on this show, TABITHA!  She got to have layers!  She was funny and crazy and nice and self-aware!  There must be just a pinch of Rob Thomas magic television show dust around the CW, and Jessica Walter just snapped up every last bit.  Sing from your ass people!