Making the world a better place, one show at a time.

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Washington, DC, United States
I guess you would like to know a little bit about the person making all these proclamations upon good taste and horrid characters. I'm Andrea and when I was 15 I fell in love. An hour after meeting "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" I was forever altered in the way only love can, and I never questioned for one minute afterwards that television offered me an amazing chance to experience lives and moments that I could never imagine. So now, when I'm not getting distracted by my real life, I write about TV. I also read, am finishing a Master's degree in English Literature, travel, am attempting to learn vegan cooking, am the 5th of 6 children, and drive my roommate nuts by constantly cleaning our already clean apartment. Now that we're old friends, time for you to take my opinions as the be all and end all.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Sons of Anarchy: Who Will Crack First?

“Small Tears”

How is Tara possibly going to keep Gemma’s abduction a secret? Gemma’s reasoning to not tell Jax or Clay is fairly solid, since it was an attack on the club and therefore any form of retaliation, which her family would (and will) inevitably engage in, would in some way be giving the League the upper hand. But if there is ever a time to have a violent-prone family, this would be the time! And Gemma is enough of a tough bitch that she will hold onto her information, but Tara isn’t as calculating or battle-weary. She might be okay patching bullet wounds, but since she insisted that Jax be honest with her, her resolve will crumble soon.

But what will Jax resolve to do about Clay? In deciding to blame the Niners for Opie killing one of the Mayans, Jax has inadvertently created conflict between the two, and the League is exploiting this conflict. Jax couldn’t have possibly foreseen that consequence, but now he has put himself in a position where solidarity with Clay is necessary. And considering that Opie walked out into open gunfire, his “revenge” hasn’t really done any good. The good-of-the-one vs the-good-of-the-many might turn into the good-of-none.

Was that Tom Arnold as an icky porn guy? And did Jax make a Sopranos reference? Now, backing Luann will give the club a legitimate business, aiding Jax in his moves away from gunrunning, but I have to think that there may be some unforeseen problems involved in the “adult entertainment” industry.

Just a question, because there were no subtitles and I therefore am hoping I heard incorrectly, but did Tig say that he threw pregnant girlfriend out of a moving car and she was hit by oncoming traffic? I can only hope that I misunderstood.

What is impossible to misunderstand is how frakking cute baby Able is. Adorable.

The TV Girl

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Random Comment/Funny Story: NCIS

I usually don't watch NCIS when it airs, but every time I go on vacation I end up watching hours and hours of it in my hotel room. This has been happening quite a bit lately due to my funemployment-induced-traveling. Well, the last vacation I took was with my mom and my sister, and I won't say that my mom got hooked on NCIS, because she would never lower herself to do something so silly as actively follow a current TV show, BUT last night we finished dinner at exactly 8pm, and I said "I think I will watch the season premier of NCIS," and instead of the eye-rolling-while-leaving-the-room that I was expecting, SHE STAID TO WATCH THE WHOLE HOUR.

I don't know if she and I are forming some kind of new Tuesday tradition, but the only other shows of mine that she approves of are The Big Bang Theory and Psych, so this is kind of a big step for me and my mom.

The TV Girl

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Office: Stanley, You Have Achieved the Dream.

“Gossip”

Stanley, the cheating bastard, has done what so many have wanted to do: Hulked-out on Michael Scott’s car. Not that Stanley should be applauded for stepping out on his wife, not sorry at all that he got caught, but swing that tire iron for all of us.

Best rumor: Kevin has a tiny man inside him controlling him. Though Andy’s orientation-confusion rates a close second, Kevin is just too funny.

A little less Dwight than last season, and I am okay with that. Off to a good, and painfully awkward, start show. Good job.

The TV Girl

Random Comment: Gossip Girl

Sorry to be such a 90's dork, but Sonic Youth is going to guest star! Wonderful gifts like this, and Lisa Loeb in S1, make me feel better about being older than GG's target audience.

The TV Girl

Community: I Do Heart Joel McHale.

“Pilot”

I adore Joel McHale, but I am not entirely sold on this show. I am going to keep watching, see how it progresses, and there is plenty of potential. We’ll see.

The TV Girl

Supernatural: THERE WAS MUSIC!

“Good God, Y’all”

My Mom: “Demons…”
Me: “I don’t want to hear it. Leave me alone with my theologically questionable but amazingly wonderful show.”
My Mom: “I just think you should watch something more cheerful.”

Now, someone tell me, what wasn’t cheerful about Thursday’s episode? Oh, yeah, everything. But I did do some cheering, cheering about how kick-ass that episode was.

Jennie and I had an over-the-phone happy-dance that our show is awesome again.

First of all, I could not be happier that instead of dragging it out forever that the logical conclusion of God is not only being spoken out loud but also actually being pursued. Not that I am a huge fan of ridiculously obvious metaphor, but lets trace this one out. Castiel took Dean’s necklace (is there another word dudes use, I wouldn’t know) because it will “burn hot in the presence of God” therefore forcing Dean to give up the physical symbol of the I-understand-that-you-will-always-take-care-of-me relationship between him and his brother. (Of course this prepared us for the end of the episode and Sam going off on his own.) If this is so, doesn’t that mean that there is redemption out there for Sam, since he is the one who gave Dean the necklace. Isn’t it really that Sam is leading all of them to God?

A God who better fix Bobby!

Say what you will about it, but I think Castiel had every right to yell at Dean. End of the world and all, everyone is loosing something and being ripped a new one by a (sort of) angel might be just the thing to keep Dean from going back to all sorry for himself. And yay for Ellen for forcing him to rely on his instincts and his knowledge to figure out what was going on in the town manipulated by The Horseman War, but not actually possessed by any demons. Not that I am anything but distraught that Bobby is broken, but Dean and Sam went for two seasons without having to call Bobby every single episode, so you cannot be upset with me for being really excited that Dean and Sam have stopped being LAZY hunters, aka dumbasses.

And how cool was the answer? War speaking for itself? No one actually possessed? Social commentary on the Irish? BADASS!

Sorry, I will stop being excited. We all knew this was coming, we knew that there would be a moment when Sam and Dean would part ways, but did Dean have to make it so easy? No fight at all, to just let Sam go. I feel like I need to touch the Impala like Sam did before he got into someone’s car; say goodbye to what was. Don’t misunderstand, I know that this season is about bringing them back together, but they will never be the same.

I would add another cliché here and say “you cannot go backwards, only forwards” but that looked a whole lot like Jessica in the preview for the next episode.

The TV Girl

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Supernatural: It Will Be Ok Sam, I Promise.

“Sympathy With the Devil”

One of the best things about a new season of Supernatural: new title design. The blood= very very creepy and totally awesome.

But on the not awesome side of things, I put up with a lot from this show; the occasional truly terrible episode, close-ups of people eating (which as my younger brother can tell you bothers me almost more than anything on this earth), gory scenes of dismemberment, the odd acting anomaly that Emily refers to as “the Bateman voice.” But I do not feel that I have to put up with any more Dean and Sam having sex references, innuendos, jokes or otherwise. I get that it is supposed to be a gentle tribute/slight rebuke of those fans of the show who have taken things WAY too far, but the point is made. Show, please drop it. Fans, please stop. All of you are grossing me out.

Can I ask the nagging question? How did Bobby get possessed? Isn’t he the one who taught Sam and Dean how to protect themselves? Was he asleep or something? And how could they not tell that it wasn’t Bobby? As he said in the hospital, he would never ever say something like that to Sam. Obviously Dean accepted Bobby yelling at Sam because it is how he feels, but from all that Bobby said while they were trying to stop Sam from opening the last seal, Dean should have known something was up.

Even so, Dean is back! Real Dean who tells assholes where to stick it and refuses to be some pawn. And as much as it breaks my heart that Dean told Sam he couldn’t trust him anymore, that kind of honesty is the way he should be, neither secretive nor self-pitying. And giving hope to Bobby, as a gesture of appreciation for Bobby paralyzing himself to save him, is just the kind of foolish determination that makes Dean amazing. And who knew he had a GED?

The scenes involving Lucifer and his vessel were brilliantly done. The process of tragedy being turned into horror though mental manipulation was perfectly paced and incredibly sad. Lucifer has his vessel and Michael doesn’t, proving once again that rhetorical approach is everything.

In the spirit of honesty, I am just going to say it so that it is out there: who saved Dean and Sam from the convent, who cleared up Sam’s nasty blood addiction, who put Castiel all back together again? God. I will try to act surprised as this (painfully) slowly comes out this season.

Even though everything is as more frakked up and depressing than ever, I haven’t laughed so much during an episode of Supernatural as I did in the first half of this one in a long time. I shouldn’t have laughed so much when Chuck picked the tooth out of his hair, but come on, it was priceless.

The TV Girl

Glee: I Actually Know Someone Who Lost a Thumb in a Shop Accident.

“Showmance” and “Acafellas”

I am going to spend the day with “Poison” stuck in my head aren’t I?

Maybe it’s worth it, since I couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous the Acafellas were, both line-ups. It is a toss-up which was more inappropriate: grown men forming a “boy-band” or the Glee Club performing “Push It” for a school assembly. Well, neither was really in good taste.

I don’t feel right saying how awesome their performance of “Gold Digger” was considering how, shall we say, inappropriate Kanye West has been over the last few days. It was, but I can say no more.

But there must be more Mercedes singing! “Bust Your Windows” was fantastic. And I really want her and Kurt to be friends again because they are non-romantically adorable.

Yay for Rachel standing up for herself and not letting Finn push her around (even if he would be doing so out of SHEER STUPUDITY and not malice)! Good for him for standing up to her too, but you have to respect the girl for sticking to her, slightly skewed, principles. She’ll relent as soon as Finn figures out how to look up “cliché” in the dictionary, but that may take a while.

Poor little Emma could take a lesson from Rachel. Just because you cannot have the guy you want, because he is inexplicably in love with his crazy of a wife, does not mean that you should hitch your wagon to the pot-smoking short-shorts wearing gym teacher. Especially since it is obvious even to the wife who you really want.

The crazy of a wife who is not really pregnant! What! I feel kind of sorry for Terry, grasping harpy that she is. Even if she manages to get pregnant, one assumes Will can count, so she is going to have to fess up at some point. At least she didn’t insist on buying the house after she found out she was having a hysterical pregnancy.

Speaking of hysterical, it is completely redundant to praise Jane Lynch but I just cannot help myself. I cannot think of any other actress working out there who could so perfectly deliver the line “it is my personal recommendation that these students be hobbled.” It sucks for Party Down to have lost her, but could Sue Sylvester be so deliciously evil played by someone else? I think not.

I do have a complaint, besides just how uncomfortable it was to watch a performance of “I Want to Sex You Up” for a PTA meeting. I think that it was wrong to have Victor Garber as a guest star and not have him sing. Come on, he plays Will’s dad, how is it not logical that Will’s talent is genetic! He better be back and he better sing, or else.

The TV Girl

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sons of Anarchy: My Hands Were Over My Eyes A Lot.

“Albification”

(Due to Hulu’s posting schedule I am a week behind, but I am okay with that.)

I feel that I need to say again that this show is not for the faint-of-heart. In this first episode of Season 2 a man was shot in the jaw, then the head, then a huge A was carved into his chest (thank you so much subtitles for scrolling “flesh being carved” across the bottom of the screen at that moment), then his corpse was shot multiple times to cover that up, as well as a woman was repeatedly rapped.

My biggest question right now is, in the wake of Donna’s murder and her instigating role in it, will Agent Stahl become more or less determined to bring down SAMCRO? For the sake of the innocents and semi-innocents that can get caught in the crossfire I hope that she is at least smarter about her approach.

I understand Jax’s reasoning behind keeping his, Piney’s and Hale’s suspicions about Clay’s responsibility for Donna’s murder from Opie, but I personally felt sick to my stomach every time Clay or Tig hugged Opie or patted him on the back. How much can Jax compromise and conceal before calling Opie his “brother” will be as hollow a mockery as it is for Clay and Tig? It isn’t just that they murdered Donna, but now they have made Opie into a murderer, and a bit of a sadistic one at that. In scapegoating Opie’s revenge onto the Mayans they have destroyed his soul as utterly as they destroyed Donna’s body.

As unbelievably ridiculous as their ideology and rhetoric is, there is NOTHING funny about the Aryan Nationalists that are setting up in Charming. I cheered for Hale when he got up and left the meeting with Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin), refusing to trade one gang for another. His principles may not be in any way effective, but you have to be proud of someone for having some. I have a feeling his opposition to SAMCRO is going to be compromised when he realizes what a threat Zobelle and Assoc pose to Charming. Since Gemma was a crazy bitch before, I can only imagine what is going to happen in the fall-out of her abduction and rape. I don’t think anyone stands a chance in the face of her wrath. I wonder how valid Tara will see Gemma’s advice to "learn to love the club" in light of what it has now cost her?

I am rooting for Piney like me life depends on it. He is willing to say what needs to be said, even when he cannot say all this is true. His encouragement to his son to be a good father is of course qualified. The standard of good parenting is ever shifting in this landscape. As right as he is that if present Opie must be involved, Piney’s demand that Opie take up his responsibilities would carry much more weight if Piney and John Teller had had the sense as parents to not impose a world upon their sons (from the moment of their births) with rules and expectations those sons may be temperamentally unqualified for or morally opposed to. There is a good argument to be made that Opie’s children would be better off without him (as much as I love him), but it is the great tragedy of fundamentally compromised people that such clear-sighted understanding of a situation is unavailable to them. Similarly, the viewer must ask upon what grounds Unser tells Gemma that Jax will be a “good dad?” There is no doubt that Jax is in many ways a better person than Clay, but Able is just as doomed as all the others by the fact that he has been born to people who hang framed mug-shots on the wall with the pride of family portraits.

The TV Girl

My Weekend Fling: Leverage, Season One

Kay Pea asked me to watch this show, and since she has awesome taste, I acquiesced.

I will be upfront. I cannot whole-heartedly endorse this show for a really ridiculously personal reason that does not apply to anyone but me. I cannot get over Christian Kane’s hair. Not only is it creepy on its own, it makes him look frighteningly like a guy I know (whose wife is probably reading this, hi Calah!). I fully subscribe to the philosophy that art is an imitation of reality, I just get kind of distracted when it is happens to be a duplication of parts of my reality. It makes it impossible for me to really suspend my disbelief and enjoy the show.

And there are things to enjoy about this show. It seems to me that this show is marketed improperly, because it is much more funny and much less drama-y than I expected it to be from the commercials that I have seen. Not that there are not drama-y elements. Timothy Hutton stars as Nathan Ford, as former insurance claims investigator who manages a group of thieves, whom he previously pursued, and they steal from the corrupt on behalf of the needy and oppressed, while he trys to manage his drinking problem. He has turned his back on law and order because his company refused to pay for treatment that would have prevented his young son from dying. (So see, sad drama-y stuff.) Tech specialist Hardison (Aldis Hodge) is really hysterical and kind of reminds me of Mos Def in The Italian Job. I was pleasantly surprised by how funny this character is, and how funny Hodge’s performance is, since on the two other shows I have seen him on (Supernatural and Friday Night Lights) his characters were surly or stoic, therefore he hadn’t had a chance to display his talent for comic delivery. Ninja-esque Parker (Beth Riesgraf) is sad and damaged, but it makes her socially incompetent and blunt to the point of rude, but not at all whiney or self-pitying. Also pleasantly surprising is Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux, the grifter extraordinaire. Anyone who has seen Coupling (which EVERYONE should have seen by now) knows that Ms Bellman can play absurdly-crazy-but-sane like nobody’s business, but here she is lovely as the diabolically-minded but kind-hearted voice of reason and grounding force for Nathan. Sophie’s attempts at a legitimate acting career give a wonderful showcase for Ms Bellman’s capacity for over-the-top antics. (In one episode Sophie plays a nun in a fake movie and I laughed so hard there were actually tears in my eyes.) Not to mention that an occasional guest star is Mark Sheppard, who plays Nathan’s insurance-man-nemesis Jim Sterling, just happens to be a favorite “that-guy” of mine. (You should know him from roles on Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and Dollhouse.) The cast is a strong element of the show.

The particular episodes, the various heists, are for the most part entertaining and relatively clever. On occasion the conclusion is a bit too convoluted to fully follow (specifically the episode with the race-horses, I totally didn’t get it), but the viewer doesn’t necessarily fell like the writers have cheated and tried to pass off totally illogical plots with quick cuts, which is a feeling one can experience with the poorer quality of these types of stories. Interestingly, this show displays a respect for somewhat traditional values. One episode centers on a wounded soldier, another on a Catholic priest, and in both the subjects are treated with deference and appreciation for their contributions to society. Where one might expect to find snark and loaded social commentary one finds an instance where people who inhabit roles others may not agree with are considered worthy of the same justice to which everyone is entitled.

Leverage is really good summer TV: well crafted and fun without being either shallow or self-important. Now if the evil-hair-of-evilness would just be cut I would be a much happier camper.

The TV Girl

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Summer Suggestion: 10 Things I Hate About You

I am trying really hard to like this show, but I am struggling.

Do you ever have that movie that seems like it was made perfectly for you? It came out at the exact right moment in your life, it appealed to your personality and tastes, it was well-made and not matter how many times you see it you still love it. For me, one of those movies is 10 Things I Hate About You. When it came out my high school classmates, who only spoke to me to insult me, kept coming up to me and telling me how much I reminded them of Kat. I took that to mean that there was a hot Australian guy in my future that would sing to me in a horribly embarrassing public display. Still waiting for that. Be that as it may, this wonderful Shakespeare-adaptation of a movie is immensely close to my heart, so I was none too thrilled to find out there was going to be a TV show.

My curiosity, and the recommendation of a good friend, got the better of me. If you are interested in watching this show through a combination of the ABC Family web page and YouTube you can find all the episodes; there have been 9 so far, and the season finale airs next Tuesday.

My main gripe with this show is that the casting is, well, kind of terrible. Kat (Lindsey Shaw) and Bianca (Meaghan Jett Martin) are pretty good, and don’t seem like they are doing caricatures of their movie-counterparts. On the other hand, Cameron (Nicholas Braun) and Michael (Kyle Kaplan) have to be two of the most miscast actors ever. There is nothing charming or sweet about either of them separately and together they just seem like boyfriends who don’t know it. I think it is supposed to be a joke that Bianca thinks Cameron is gay, but it doesn’t play as a “cute misunderstanding” because it really does seem like he and his little buddy are in a very creepy version of a romantic relationship. Chastity (Dana Davis) has a voice that could cut glass and mannerism that remind one of an evil robot; it’s too much, too over the top. I am torn as to whether Chris Zylka, who plays Joey, is giving an astounding performance or is actually an illiterate incapable of more than one facial expression. As for Patrick (Ethan Peck), this show really hasn’t done anything with him so far, so maybe he seems a little, well, blank because of the plot/writing.

But, there is always room for improvement, I guess. Limiting the show to a half-hour format was a wise choice because the brisk pace prevents endless scenes of emo-teens. The show would be well served to give a little bit of family context to all of the characters, because despite the fact that Kat and Bianca are the main characters, without rounding out the supporting/auxiliary cast, the show will always remain stunted. This first season has made all the standard-teen-pit-stops (sneaking out, fake IDs, parties, dances) so maybe the future can focus on sharper writing and character development.

Maybe I am just being a bitch.

The TV Girl

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Greek: EVAN CHAMBERS I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!

“The Day After”

No joke if I could find a way to reach into my computer and strangle a fictional character I would end the existence of one ex-rich-boy named Evan Chambers. I am sure that there is a rational part of my brain that would say he made a somewhat decent point that Cappie and Casey have certain incompatibilities and that the possibilities of it not working out in the end might be hurtful for future-Cappie, but I don’t care about rational right now.

Okay, I am going to breath and then maybe my brain will be able to form the words that will result in a recap of events. After blowing off his make-up lab to hang out with Jordan at the End of the World Party, Rusty had to enlist Casey’s help to get into the locked lab, because if he didn’t he would fail out of the honor’s physics program. Finding out about this from Dale Cappie decides to help Rusty, who he thinks is acting distant, which is accurate since Rusty is mad at Cappie because he thinks Cappie’s instigation is the reason that Casey broke up with Max therefore causing Max to move back to England (in one night mind you). He helps by sacrificing himself to campus security when all three are about to be caught in the building, but not before Casey sets Rusty right about who-pulled-who-into-the-closet at the party. Dale is feeling guilty about having sex with his girlfriend and decides that the way to make it right for his conscience is to propose to her. Like any good cougar, she breaks up with him. Witnessing his dilemma, Calvin decides to take it slow with Grant, who is adorable btw. Pressured to reveal her mystery hook-up, Rebecca offers to pay the now broke Evan to pretend to be her crush so that no one finds out SHE HOOKED-UP WITH FISHER at the party! Yes, that’s right, Ashleigh’s boyfriend Fisher. And that was happening while Evan was convincing Cappie, who finally decided to take Ashleigh’s sage advice and be with the love of his life, that Casey will dump him at the end of her senior year, frightening Cappie, therefore disappointing Casey’s hopes for a fairy-tale ending.

AND MY HOPES!

I am glad that Cappie and Evan are friends again, I think it is best for both of them and that storyline was getting a bit old, but what terrible advice to give. I am so mad.

Not just at Evan. How dare Rebecca and how dare Fisher! Ashleigh is so sweet and kind and she has actually been a friend to Rebecca and a good girlfriend and she doesn’t deserve to be cheated on. Well, no one deserves to get cheated on, but Ashleigh is going to be devastated. At least this time Rebecca seems to feel bad about her not-so-good behavior.

I’m not mad at Cappie for getting scared, since anyone would freak out if someone told them they would end up dumped. And Casey isn’t giving up, so, yay!

Poor, sweet, newly-un-virginal, Dale. At least his downfall has helped Calvin realize that he wants a relationship with Grant and not just sex. Of course, having a real relationship is a bit difficult with Grant still in-the-closet-ish, but at least it is a step towards Calvin’s future happiness. Happiness that is will be the opposite of how Ashleigh will feel.

Now I am getting all upset thinking about how upset Ashleigh is going to be.

The TV Girl