Gossip Girl S01E17

“Woman on the Verge”

Now this is what I look for in an episode of Gossip Girl. It had everything that is needed for a trashy piece of drama. And it makes me a little upset that we only have one episode left.

The episode was set into motion by Serena’s avoidance of Dan. The lie that she told him about cheating on him the night before was the first domino that led to the chain reaction at the end. I was very happy to see that the killing was handled in a believable way. If it had been something where Serena had actually killed a man, it would have been incredibly unbelievable and it could’ve dragged the entire episode down with it.

This lie that she told to Dan was one of the more frustrating things in the episode. I understood it, but it was clearly the wrong thing to do and it had me yelling at the television. If she hadn’t told this lie, and I could understand her not being completely honest, then the entire thing with Georgina could’ve been avoided at the end.

The glimpse we had of her breakdown was awfully entertaining and I’m upset that we won’t get to see more of it. Though, if she has trouble getting Dan back next week, it is entirely possible that we could have more wild and crazy Serena.

I loved Chuck, Nate, and Blair coming together to help Serena. The tension and friction between the three was the most entertaining part of the show. Not only that, but it was great when they all came together in order to defend the honor of Serena.

Another great thing about this episode. No Jenny. We got a breather from her desperate social climbing, which was much needed.

Yet, for all the Jenny-free time that we had, we had to deal with Rufus and his wooing of Lily. Which culminated in a kiss at the end of the episode. I just don’t care about it, make it stop, please.

And that brings us to the Georgina-Dan pairing which was implied by the end of the episode. Most likely, the writers will back out of having anything big happen there. At most, a little making out. But it puts us in an awkward position, for a lot things to happen in the next forty-two minutes.

Tests are done. I’m back home, though nowhere near unpacked. And I spent all of last night catching up on television that I missed during the week. For most shows I’m going to do quick blurb rundowns before getting back to the big reviews this week. Let’s do this in alphabetical order.

30 Rock “Cooter”

This was by far the strongest post-strike episode. It’s pretty painful, then, that this was the season finale. What hit the perfect note for me was the evolution of Jack and Liz’s friendship. The parade of voice mails that Jack listened to were heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time. Liz’s pregnancy scare was pretty good, if only because we had another chance to see Dennis, who in small doses is amazing. Jack had the best storyline of anyone in the episode. There were a number of hilarious gags the occurred at the Homeland Security office. Everything from the ceiling leak, the candle under the lampshade, the lack of pens, and the subsequent box of pen caps was just continually topping itself. Kenneth’s attempt to go to Beijing was the low point of the episode. I never really found the whole page conflict to be that interesting. Though the story was somewhat saved by Jenna, who has been all but absent in the second half of the season.

Battlestar Galactica “Faith”

Thankfully, the mutiny situation was dealt with fairly quickly. They made it to the basestar and Starbuck was able to speak to the hybrid. I was afraid, after seeing this scene in the previews, that it was going to be held until the final five minutes of the show. It was great that the prophesy was deciphered so quickly, normally it’ll take characters forever to figure that kind of stuff out. Roslin slowly becoming more spiritual, and in doing so is beginning to think that Baltar may be on to something. I really want to see how this plays out in Roslin’s belief that she is the dying leader. Clearly if someone else can offer spiritual leadership, it undercuts her own prophesized position

Gossip Girl “All About My Brother”

This was an incredibly strong episode and it makes me excited for what is going to come. Serena is falling back into old habits, Jenny is on outs, and Eric is gay. Georgina is here to for a while and things are going to be exploding very soon. Just please let’s not even think about Rufus’ snore-inducing pursuit of Lily. Plus it is going to take a deft touch to make Serena killing someone into a believable story.

Lost “Cabin Fever”

John Locke is the savior of the island. He has been all his life, except he is the last person to realize it. Move the island?! What we had here was the ultimate plot mover. Everything is now set up for the explosive three-hour season finale that begins on Thursday. The question that I can’t help but ask, what is going to happen to Desmond? It doesn’t appear that he gets off the island and he seems unwilling to leave the ship, so it seems like something big is going to happen.

Medium “Being Joey Carmichael”

Again, the mystery was underwhelming. Though a great turn by Miguel Ferrer as the eventual killer. The sparks were provided by Kelly Preston and her inappropriate fixation on Joe. It looks like he is going to be leaving his dream job because of some inappropriate behavior. Which will add just the right amount of tension back to the DuBois marriage. Just after things were getting back to normal following Joe losing his job.

The Office “Job Fair”

A ho-hum episode. It had some good moments and some bad ones. Jim getting the sale was one of the lower moments of the episode. The job fair was the main attraction and it was worth it. It was ridiculous without being over the top. And now we only have one episode left. The big question is what is going to happen with Jim. He’s been put on warning about a job that he doesn’t like. He fought for it this episode but will he continue to? Pam was told that for graphic design she has to go to New York or Philadelphia. Could they be setting up the couple moving to New York as Jim takes Ryan’s job as he spirals out of control?

The Paper “Deadline Duel”

Amanda is becoming quite the sympathetic character. Alex has taken charge and everyone is shocked to see Amanda taking it. Adam’s trip to High School Musical on Ice was great, and I’m pretty sure that the synchronized dance number between him and the cast finally answered anyone’s lingering questions about his sexual orientation.

I apologize that I haven’t been keeping up with shows for the past five or six days. It’s finals time here at Georgetown and I’ve been hunkered down in the library without much access to television.  I will spend this week slowly catching up as my school year winds to a close. Thanks for your patience.

Lost S04E10

“Something Nice Back Home”

So, this week was a step back from last week, not a big step back but a step back nonetheless. On the beach we had Jack’s life endangered by appendicitis. Jack’s not-so-idyllic home life with Kate in the flash-forward. And lastly, Clare, Sawyer, and Miles returning to the beach. Well, let’s get on with it already.

The Jack Pack

It struck me as strange that they were going to threaten the life of Jack, when we all know that he is going to survive, as evidenced by his presence in many of the flash-forwards we’ve already seen. Without any tension there, I was forced to turn my attention to the trip to the medical hatch. I love how Daniel and Charlotte are slowly being made into larger characters, and more three-dimensional ones. Daniel’s crush on Charlotte was a nice distraction from the tedious other love triangles that the island seems to create. I’m also a fan of Charlotte speaking Korean, a connection perhaps to the Korean underworld, and as a result Sun’s father?

The Flash-Forward

While there was much predictable about this flash-forward, I stilled enjoyed it. We didn’t learn too much new information but the pieces are slowly moving where they have to move. I particularly liked watching Jack and Kate, unable to change who they are, slowly self-destruct. Kate lies and hides things from Jack, and he’s convinced that she’s cheating on him like Sarah was. Until these two overcome their self-destructive personal habits it is impossible for them to have lasting relationships with anyone else. I saw Jack hallucinating about his father coming from a million miles away, but I was thrown when he yelled at Kate that she’s not even related to Aaron. Does this mean that Jack knows that this is his nephew? It certainly appeared like it from the way that he worded the question. Which leads us to the last story of the evening.

Marching with Miles

This story, sadly relegated to C-status, provided all of the excitement for what’s about to come. First Miles uncovers the bodies of Rousseau (RIP) and Karl (meh), which shoots to hell my hope for seeing Rousseau again, though it appears like we’ve been seeing ghosts all over so maybe all is not lost. Then Miles keeps taking an unnatural interest in Clare, asking if he wants her to hold the baby. Could he see her impending death coming up? How else would Kate end up with Aaron? We had the run-in with the pilot who saved their lives from the commandos, followed by some high tension moments. But the big question, where is Clare? Why did she see her father? Was it the smoke monster? Is she about to die a la Mr. Eko? Word is that all will be revealed next week, I can only hope so because I’m on the edge of my seat.

Thoughts or comments always welcome below.

In all of my posts I dissect and analyze television. Yet, as anyone who has watched television knows, it does not exist in a vacuum. Pop culture seeps into television and television bleeds into other pop culture. I understand that I am coming from a specific point of view and I believe that I can do this best when my point of view is understood. It allows you to get a better grasp of who I am and hopefully it will start a conversation of other forms of pop culture.

This will be an inventory of the books, movies, television (that is not reviewed on a weekly basis), magazines, and any other form of pop culture consumed during the week.

Books

Songbook by Nick Hornby

The Wanderers by Richard Price

Movies

Die Hard

Sunshine

Syriana

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut

The Last Watz

Juno

Magazines

The Economist

Sports Illustrated

Television

Aliens in America

The Sopranos (Season 3)

Albums

Asking for Flowers Kathleen Edwards

Accelerate REM

Mr. Love & Justice Billy Bragg

Strangers Almanac Whiskeytown

Volume One She & Him

Feel free to mock or make suggestions.

Medium S04E14

“Car Trouble”

Once again, this is a little later than I would’ve liked and I’m doing my best to catch up on this week’s TV. This week’s episode had a rote mystery that had little if nothing to do with anything. That said, it also established the potential for a great storyline.

The mystery about the husband shooting his wife was incredibly lame. We had no reason to be invested in any of the characters involved. The only thing that was vaguely interesting was the fact that it appears the car killed Joshua Molina’s character. But even that couldn’t hold my attention.

What is going to carry this show forward, and has carried it this far, is the DuBois marriage and family life. And a potential bump in the road revealed itself this week, Joe’s new business partner. It appears that she has the hots for Joe, and Allison dreamed that Joe isn’t exactly opposed to the idea.

Given the tension that has existed between the two this season, and to an extent, throughout the life of the show Joe having an affair isn’t a completely ridiculous scenario. Though I doubt that he is going to go through with it, the temptation and his struggle to do the right thing will be incredibly compelling. As will the inevitable paranoia that is no doubt going to begin plaguing Allison in the coming weeks.

As this story line develops I will write more of it, but seeing how strongly I disliked the A-story tonight, I’m going to end it here. Reactions and comments are welcome below.

Gossip Girl S01E15

“Desperately Seeking Serena”

Sorry that this is a little later than I thought it was going to be, I’ll work to do better in the future. So Georgina has arrived, and it appears that she is as big an evil bitch as we all could’ve hoped for. What I was afraid was going to happen this episode was another thirty-five minutes of build-up and a reveal of Georgina only at the very end. Yet, as this freshman season has demonstrated, this show gives the goods that it promises.

Georgina is back and we see Serena very quickly regressing into her old ways, which I found slightly unbelievable. If it is that easy to have her slip back into wild partying, I think we should be much more worried about her than we currently are. It shows that her grip on “new” Serena is much more tenuous than we thought, because it is obvious that at some point in the future of the show they were going to show Serena regressing into her hard-partying ways. I just hope that this isn’t the start of it already.

The one thing that I didn’t understand was the end of the episode, with Georgina meeting Dan in the park. Are we supposed to believe that Dan is ever going to cheat on Serena? It will never happen, Dan is head over heels in love with her, though Georgina obviously doesn’t know that. He has been since the day that he met her, though she never realized it. If their relationship ever ends, and I’m doubting that it will, it will be Serena who does the ending. Dan is in it till the end, he is incapable of pulling out, no matter what pain and torture she puts him through.

I have to say, I was not a fan of Blair trying to take down Nelly Yuki. It appeared like a really lame attempt to keep Blair in the episode at her maximum bitchiness. It just felt forced. And the fact that Nelly’s boyfriend would help Blair in order to take her down shows what an utter douche he is. As much of a problem as I had with this storyline, at least it contributed to the overall SAT arc that was present throughout the episode.

Jenny’s hunt for a man couldn’t even claim that slight sliver of dignity. The second that Asher made his appearance, especially with Jenny’s bitchy comment about a “king, not a jester,” it was clear that the two would be dating in the near future. Not only that, but it made me have to see Rufus some more. That physically pains me because he is by far the most boring character on the entire show. God knows that if I was his wife I would leave him too.

Now to the SAT exam, which was the string that ran through all of the stories. I loved the montage at the beginning of the episode, it is the sign of the great teen drama that it can regularly pull of the music montage. While many shows can overuse it (see: 2nd season Rescue Me), Gossip Girl manages to deploy it at the right moment. I like that Dan is a bad test-taker, every flaw he is given makes him that much more of an appealing character.

I have yet to talk about Nate and Vanessa, and I’m going to keep it that way. Other than the look on Blair’s face when she sees them together, it was just a work-horse story. In the upcoming episodes I hope that it is going to become more interesting, and I’m interested to see how a gender-reversed Serena and Dan is going to work out.

It appears next week we get to see what Georgina has on Serena. From what I’ve seen, it looks like it’s going to be a sex tape, though I have no doubt that the writers will spice it up. Thoughts and reactions?

The Paper S01E03

“Friday Night Fights”

The student body has sport on the brain, and Amanda is somewhat displeased by it. “It’s not called a sports-paper,” she casually reminds the viewer. Yet, it is sports that is the catalyst for the episode. I have to say, even though this show is likely edited to within an inch of its life, I do love the thematic unity of the episodes. In this short period of time, it is incredibly easy to get to know and understand these characters.

Tonight, the new character was Dan, who is in the opening credits but we’ve yet to really meet, other than the occasional word or two. Dan is part of Alex’s plan to practice with the football team for a day. From the physical that they took together to the way that Dan laid out Alex on the field, it is clear that their is quite a bit of homo-erotic tension simmering in the background.

While I normally love the reality of this show, I have to say that the scene in the doctor’s office was so forced it wasn’t funny. I’m pretty sure that it’s slightly inappropriate for the doctor to perform the two physicals together, I understand that they’re on TV but they are still entitled to a little bit of privacy. And I’m not even going to get started on the hot female doctor who made them drop their pants. Though, I did love Dan saying thank you after the exam. Classy.

Furthermore, it was Dan’s birthday and the kids decide to throw him a surprise party in order to celebrate. Only one small problem, Amanda wasn’t invited. We are treated to split-screens of Amanda singing “The House of the Rising Sun” and the “Best Party Ever.” It’s at times like this that you feel bad for Amanda, because she has been trying to get people to like her and her newspaper work has been suffering as a result. Yet, the other kids still won’t let her into their circle. At one point, Amanda and Cassia were deciding whether or not to crash the party and I was anticipating the awkwardness that would ensue.

Following last week’s Amanda and Alex moments, it appeared only a matter of time before they hooked up. I’m not ready to rescind my prediction but it appears much less likely following his accusation of her laughing at him during the football practice.  It is clear that Alex is very hurt by this, because he is secretly in love with Amanda. Though we learn he also has the hots for Alix. The fight with Amanda is enough to send him texting into the arms of Alix at a Dave Matthews concert. We know that this is going to hurt Amanda when she finds out, why else the melancholy montage, but it is clear that Dan was hurt the most by Alex’s new lady friend.

Thoughts or comments?

Thursday is quite a busy night for television, especially quality television. 30 Rock, The Office, and Lost all within a two-hour period. It’s hard enough keeping up with those shows on a regular basis, trying to follow any more would be quite difficult. Considering myself someone who likes to overcome the difficult, I’ve been following Scrubs and Grey’s Anatomy as well this season. After the latest installments of both shows, I’ve realized that I now have definitive proof that I am an psychological masochist.

These shows are clear cases that I don’t know how to quit a television show. As I’ve said at other points on this blog, I’m a television addict and I’m Irish-Catholic, which makes quitting especially hard for me. As Matt Damon’s character, in The Departed, says to his girlfriend, “If we’re not gonna make it, it’s gotta be you that gets out, cause I’m not capable. I’m fucking Irish, I’ll deal with something being wrong for the rest of my life.” Once I get into a television show, which usually takes five or six episodes, I’m in it till the end. I just can’t quit, I’m with it until that show decides to end the relationship or, as is more often the case, is canceled. Both Scrubs and Grey’s Anatomy are past their prime, yet I can’t stop myself from keeping up with them on a weekly basis.

Watching Grey’s for any stretch of time required quite a suspension of disbelief. You had to take with a grain of salt the fact that these characters could do anything short of blowing up the hospital and still keep their jobs. That said, the first two seasons were amazing. While a touch melodramatic, the story lines were compelling and kept you hooked. Not only that, the show was all forward motion, it didn’t dally and dither in dead ends.

Scrubs was similarly great in the beginning, though it never achieved the popularity that Grey’s Anatomy enjoys. It had an absurdist sensibility that made it hilarious, but the characters were the cause of forward momentum. It was a comedy with a heart, and in its own way, it was an influence on The Office, another comedy that does not shy away from emotion.

Saying that both of these shows have jumped the shark is not a point worth arguing. It is impossible for anyone to say that Grey’s has the cultural relevance that it once did. Remember, this is the show that launched a thousand Mc’s, from McDreamy to McSteamy to McVet. Even those who didn’t watch the show would understand the references. It was a cultural force to be reckoned with.

There are many moments that could be pointed to as the moment when the show jumped the shark. The three-part ferry crash is probably the most obvious. Devoting three hours of television to one of these catastrophes, the kind that later seasons of ER has excelled at, and dragging out story lines to the point of absurdity. Meredith drowning, Izzie putting a drill into a man’s skull, and the emergence of Eva the disfigured amnesiac.

The real problem for the show has been one character, Izzie, played by the charming Katherine Heigl. She has become a nagging, self-involved, holier than thou, train wreck. This started way back in the second season. When she fell for a patient I began to have doubts about her. At that time it was possible to overlook it because the other characters were so compelling. But as they became more and more predictable, it became more and more difficult to overlook the inanity of Izzie. When she eventually put him in mortal peril in order to move him to the top of the transplant list, well that was the last straw for me. Izzie had to go. She has yet to do anything since then to make me change my mind.

Over at his blog “What’s Alan Watching,” the television critic for the Newark Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall clearly enumerated what has been wrong with the past two seasons of the show:

Look, I get that the competitive nature of a surgical residency is one of the key components of the series, and in general I like those moments when Cristina or Karev treats the latest case as nothing more than another rung on the ladder. But between Izzy torturing Cheech and Meredith taking out her own romantic hang-ups on her patient and his poor wife (even though she was right), I feel like [creator] Shonda [Rhimes] took things too far. There’s passive disinterest in your patients as human beings and then there’s actively causing them harm because of your own neuroses, and the latter just makes me hate these people even more, whether or not they appeared to learn their lesson at the end.

These characters have slowly but surely morphed into horrible horrible people. They have no care for anyone else around them, and without empathy it is difficult to be empathetic to the situations that these characters find themselves in.

Scrubs has also suffered from a case of melodrama. The problems with Scrubs are essentially the same that plague Grey’s Anatomy, though on a much smaller scale. I may cringe while watching Scrubs, but I’ve yet to become as enraged and frustrated as Grey’s Anatomy has made me. The Izzie of Scrubs would most definitely be Zach Braff’s JD, the epitome of whiny annoyingness.

Lucky for me, Scrubs only has one season remaining, next year on ABC. Grey’s, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon. Which means that I am in store for a quite bit more masochism.

So, what shows can’t you stop watching, no matter how bad or painful it becomes?

Battlestar Galactica S04E04

“Escape Velocity”

You can feel that the end is near. Since their time on New Caprica, the show has only gotten darker and this season has magnified that trend. The desperation and hopelessness is present in every character, in every action that they undertake. Everyone is just looking for the clarity that would allow them to know what to do. As Caprica Six asks, after pummeling Col. Tigh, “Can you feel it, Saul? Can you feel the clarity of it all?”

While the story lines aren’t as divergent as they currently are on Lost, I think that is still easiest to break this up by character. In a story as expansive and complex as this one is, it is difficult if not impossible to run through the episode comprehensively.

The Final Four

Our chief is slowly losing it. He is beginning to slip away and losing all sense of who and what he is. The death of Cally is the last straw. She was his last link to humanity, the tenuous rope that prevented him from being pulled under by the weight of these new revelations about who he is. Nicki won’t be able to save him because as we saw from his talk with Adama, Nicki is a half-breed abomination. With Cally gone, Tyrol is sinking, and fast. He can no longer focus at work, and his confrontation with Adama in Joe’s Bar shows how little regard he has for his own well-being or anything that once mattered to him.

The conversation with Tigh and Tory, following the funeral, provided a scary preview of what is coming for these characters. Tory is already slipping away from her humanity, shutting off her guilt like the machine that she believes she is. It is clear that the Final Five are different from the other Cylons, but even the seven models we know have feelings. Tory is essentially using the knowledge that she is a Cylon to allow her inner sociopath to come out. I have to say, Tyrol looked like he was getting pretty suspicious of Tory following that meeting, it is only a matter of time before he learns that she killed Cally.

Tigh had quite a bit of revelation tonight, we learn that he has been visiting Caprica Six in her cell everyday. He is trying desperately to come to grips with what he is, to understand what is real and what isn’t. Tigh is essentially exploring what it means to be human, and Caprica Six is telling him that not much separates humans and Cylons. Now when he sees her, Ellen appears to him. Tigh is looking for absolution for what he has done, to understand what is expected of him. Caprica Six tries to tell him that clarity can only be found in pain, and proceeds to beat him. It becomes clear that Tigh is not looking for clarity, as she guessed beforehand he needs absolution. It is clear that Caprica Six knows that the Final Five are near, following her make-out session with Tigh, do we believe that she knows he is one of them?

Gaius Baltar

Baltar’s cult is growing in size and influence. The brutal assault on his compound and his believers, allowed for a glimpse of Baltar’s true colors. He was hiding behind a bulkhead as his followers were beaten. Chip Six is clearly pulling all the strings here, but Gaius is the one who is suffering. He is feeling the pain and by the end of the episode it is obvious that he is beginning to get glimpses of clarity. Slowly but surely, Baltar is becoming the leader that he has to be.

By far, my favorite scene in the episode was Roslin’s conversation with Baltar in the brig. She knows that the end is nigh and is doing her best in order to secure the well-being of the fleet after her passing. The way that she spoke to Baltar just goes to show what someone who truly believes they are acting on prophesy looks like.

The Government

Roslin is continuing to push her agenda through supra-democratic means. She is signing executive orders and pushing legislation when the Quorum isn’t meeting. He conversation in sick bay with the Admiral was quite telling. When she spoke of the “right thing” as a luxury, it became clear how she sees the world. It is more pronounced now because she is going to die soon, but Roslin was always aware of the “pragmatic realities,” as she refers to them. This is the woman who was willing to steal an election. She will do what has to be done then, and only then, will she worry about what is right.

Lee continues to be a thorn in her side. He leads the Quorum to overturn her restrictions on public assembly. When these two spar it is difficult to pick sides. Roslin has carried us so far, enduring so much, yet she is the one who is slowly eroding democracy to preserve order. Lee, on the other hand, is fighting for what is right, no matter the cost or consequences. I get torn, and it breaks my heart to see the fracture that has occurred between Roslin and “Captain Apollo.”

* * * * *

The season is continuing to move forward at breakneck speed. We didn’t get any glimpses into the Cylon camp since Cavil destroyed Natalie and her followers. The preview from next week shows that a Leoben survived the cleansing. Who else do you think survived? And how long until D’Anna is unboxed and willing to tell the identity of the 12th Cylon?